Follow the Money in AZ, and Keep Grijalva in Congress!
2010 Elections: Follow the Money in AZ
By Judith Le Blanc
Yesterday the truth came out. Corporations met, discussed, and voted on the language for AZ Senate Bill 1070 (SB 1070) a law legalizing racial profiling. Then they colluded with the AZ governor and right-wingers in the legislature to pass it.
NPR broke the story on the two bedfellows who are playing a huge role in the 2010 elections in AZ and around the country: corporate greed and ugly, racist fear mongering.
“NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona SB 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.”
Last night on MSNBC, Congressman Raul Grijalva responded to the revelations saying, “We have been battered by the opposition for 6 months for our opposition to SB1070. It wasn’t about immigration or border security. It‘s about building private prisons, filling them and taking a profit from the federal government.”
I am helping to coordinate a phone-calling center for the Grijalva campaign in Tucson. It is energizing to see scores of folks coming to volunteer, young and old, all colors, sizes and ages.
A good number say they never volunteered before. They were afraid of what might happen, if they didn’t get involved this time.
I have the luxury of listening in on their conversations once I get them set up on the computers, which dial the calls. They make the most compelling arguments for why we need Raul in Congress. They sometimes list the causes he has championed. But today volunteers are saying that he was right to support the call for organizations to not hold their conferences or conventions in AZ as a protest boycott. They proudly said that we need more elected officials, like Raul, who will stand up against the rich and powerful who try to divide the poor and working people.
Think Progress (a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a nonpartisan organization) found the same kind of ties between private prison groups and candidates or legislators in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Money has been pouring in from undisclosed sources for the Tea Party candidate Ruth McClung who is challenging Raul. You still have an opportunity to contribute what you can for the Get Out the Vote efforts here in AZ.
Dear Ms. Le Blanc: Has it ever occurred to you that Gov. Jan Brewer also has a duty to protect her AZ state citizens? Has it occurred to you that California Registered Sex Offenders and other hardened criminals, who have no future job prospects in California, may cross into Arizona, en route to Nevada and elsewhere, placing other US citizens’ lives in danger? Arizona is fully aware that California’s ex-convicts are being released on good behavior after having served their 25 years, as a result of the 3 Strikes law, which was passed over 25 years ago. See Megan’s Law. Has it occurred to you that such felons may reunite with their gangs in Mexico? Has it ever occurred to you that dangerous international, as in Mexico-Europe-Middle East mafias (drug cartels), operate and attempt to get aircraft over the AZ desert? Has it occurred to you that members of the Holy Roman Empire and Middle Eastern nobility, royalty and aristocracy reside in Arizona, and they are apart of the Hispanic community? Has it occurred to you that protecting their lives is more important to world peace and security and to Christendom and to Israel’s security, than your group’s constant grumbling about civil rights and racism? Has it occurred to you that other members of America’s aristocracy and pop culture reside in Arizona and are demanding to feel safe and secure? The State of Arizona is over 65% American-Mexican, but there are some who did break the law by crossing the border illegally. Those law breakers set a bad example and contribute to a negative stereotype that Mexicans and others who cross over the border illegally cannot be trusted to respect American laws. On the surface this statute, which I have not fully reviewed, appears to target Mexican nationals only, but there is great anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, anti-Semite climate in the Southwest and the vigilante movement is here. No one disputes that Mexicans look very similar and are almost indistinguishable to Arabs and Semites. All we hear on the Arizona and national airwaves is national security and Islamo-phobia. The State legislature has been under pressure to be tough on crime. The bottom line is, illegal, undocumented persons, who failed to obey international and US immigration process and procedures, are in violation of American immigration laws.
The best thing these undocumented workers can do for themselves and their family, is to immediately seek and retain a lawyer. Those who need political asylum, whether Christian or not, often seek and receive assistance from the Roman Catholic Christian Church.