Author: rraz-admin22

Most Republicans are very concerned about the masking up of our K-12 children and university students, vaccine mandates, vaccine passports, and discrimination in schools based on who is or isn’t vaccinated. While we have made our voices heard at our local school boards, five of the major school districts in Pima County (TUSD, Amphi, Sunnyside, Marana, and Catalina Foothills) are mandating that our children wear masks in the classroom. At least 14 Arizona school districts have implemented COVID-19 mask mandates since schools opened this year. While Governor Ducey has said those mandates are illegal, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that districts currently could require masks because the law does not take effect until September 29th. Governor Ducey has offered the “carrot rather than the stick” by creating two grant programs that would provide funds to families and school districts that reject mask mandates. As you would anticipate, State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman called Governor Ducey’s plan an “outrageous attack on public education”. School districts that follow all state laws and avoid closures of in-person instruction can apply for a per-pupil funding boost from the $163 million of federal grant funding. Schools must come in compliance by August 27th.

The City of Tucson

The Pima County Republican Party supports the efforts of our Precinct Committeemen who are leading the charge at our school district meetings, rallies for our healthcare workers, and rallies for our First Responders who are being forced to vax. The Tucson Police Officers Association requested a judge place an injunction to stop the city’s vaccination policy from taking effect. TPOA argued the measure was against state law signed by the governor earlier this year preventing local governments from enacting vaccination mandates. The city attorneys argue that the law doesn’t take place until September 29. Judge Gordon ruled in favor of the City of Tucson. This overreach of local government is alarming.

What Can We Do?

The question that I keep getting is what can we do about it. Pima County Republican Party had a briefing from the Goldwater Institute on Saturday regarding Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and it was excellent. During the Q & A, I brought up that Pima County is just short of anarchy with our City Council and Board of Supervisors ignoring the Governor and the rule of law. The answer was not the one I was hoping for—remove the funding from the districts and shut them down and defund the City of Tucson, pull all state funds from the Board of Supervisors and shut down the county. Unfortunately, the answer that I got was in line with what we are doing—attend school board meetings and use the Call to the Public as an opportunity to voice your concern. Attend the city council meetings and board of supervisor meetings and voice your concern. Write emails. Make phone calls. Hold rallies.

As of Monday, August 23, I will suggest this:

To Governor Ducey: There are 37 days until September 29th. Governor Ducey, effective September 29th, the citizens of Pima County are asking you to ARREST every GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER in school districts that require masks; ARREST the Tucson City Council members and mayor who vote to continue requiring masks of our city employees, ARREST the Board of Supervisors who vote to require masks of our county employees. The democrats have made this political and the Republicans are going to do what is in the best interest of the people of Pima County.

To our Precinct Committeemen:

Approximately one-third of our voters are PND or Independent. They do not agree with the debacle that the Biden, Romero, and Bronson administrations are implementing. Our Governing Boards who have relinquished their power and authority and are following the NEA, ASBA, and AEA have lost touch with the children, parents, and taxpayers. Contact your PNDs and INDs and re-register them.

Elections have consequences, and we are living them right now. Join me as we change Pima County.

Want to receive the Moderna, Pfizer, or J & J vaccine? Republicans believe that you should have the right to receive the vaccine, and you should also have the right NOT to receive the vaccine if you so choose.. Additionally, you should not be discriminated against regardless of whether you are vaccinated or not. Masks are optional for Republicans as well. If you want your children to wear masks to school or if you want to wear masks to go to the grocery/restaurant/meetings, then please feel free to do so. The point at which this crosses from personal freedom to politics is when the government overreaches and mandates masks, vaccines, and reduction of pay which discriminates against those who have not received the vaccine.
Pima County Board of Supervisors Masking Kids and mandating vaccines?? While the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to not mandate masks in our schools, BOS 2 (Matt Heinz) has put a resolution on the agenda for August 16 to mandate masks in schools. Let’s see if he throws another temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his way; a leadership style generally reserved for those most ill-prepared to lead. Is the goal to keep voting until you get the result you want? The City of Tucson voted 6-1 to mandate city workers to receive the vaccine with three of the city labor unions against the mandate. Thank you Ward 4 Councilmember Nikki Lee for standing for freedom. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of the Arizona Legislature writing into law that none of these actions can be taken. No masks; no vaccine passports; no mandate on vaccines—no breaking the law!
Masks for thee, but not for me! Democrats have never been the party that follows the rule of law and so there is nothing that will get them to start now. Obama, Tlaib and Pelosi lead the way in the new “masks for thee, but not for me” movement the democrats are leading nationally; stayed tuned to see our local officials violate their own laws as well. While the power grab takes place in Tucson and Pima County, we are also suffering from the first 6 months of Biden’s presidency with prices exceeding wage growth every month, wiping out pay raises and making the money Americans earn worth less.
Biden’s America · Everywhere Americans go, prices are up:

• Used cars and trucks prices are up nearly 42% over the past year, bad news that comes after last month’s record-setting increase.
• The cost to eat out at restaurants saw its largest monthly increase since 1981. (And they will get higher—see below)

· Grocery shopping is more expensive, with Americans and especially our seniors, seeing higher prices year-over-year for many kitchen staples:

• Eggs are up 5.7%
• Milk is up 6.2%
• Fruit is up 5.2%
• Fish is up 8.5%
• Chicken is up 5.2%

· Rent prices, which have grown 9.2% nationally since the beginning of 2021, are set to continue ticking up as the “tremendous amount of stimulus…has potential to create upward pressure on rent prices.”
Where do You stand? For our Party Not Declared (PND) constituents out there–it’s time to pick a team. To our Independents– you will have a vote, but not representation. Republicans, here’s what we are facing…voter integrity (that is NOT over), redistricting, precinct realignment, Bidenflation, mask mandates, vaccine mandates, vaccines passports, water issues (City of Tucson v. Pima County), Critical Race Theory (CRT) in our schools, social/emotional teaching/counseling in our schools, county government overreach into our schools, expanding county bureaucracy with contact tracing and medical management of citizens, overrides in spite of the millions of dollars flowing into our schools, $15/hour minimum wage initiative, and California unions trying to unionize employees of our Tucson restaurants. And the most important of all, VOTER REGISTRATION and PRECINCT COMMITTEEMEN appointments. Generally, I end with saying “please join me” but today…I need you to get in the game and make a difference.

The Pima County Republican Party definitely showed up this weekend. On Friday evening our Trunk and Tusk members were treated to dessert and a briefing from Congressman Andy Biggs. Congressman Biggs discussed some of the political antics that are taking place in the House of Representatives. It became very clear that we all need to work and get conservative Republicans elected. The swamp is deep in DC and some of the moderate Republicans are not negotiating and holding the line against the democrats. As our candidate season begins to unfold, we need to question our candidates and hold them to the promises they make following the primary and their 2022 election.

Saturday and Sunday the Independent Redistricting Commission was in Tucson on a listening tour. The Saturday session was held at the Westin La Paloma and approximately 200 people were in attendance. The Republicans had a great showing and out of the 59 speakers, about 90% were Republicans. We were impressive. There was a common theme: KEEP US OUT OF TUCSON! Many speakers suggested making Tucson a Legislative District of its own and creating a “backward C” from Green Valley/Sahuarita through Corona de Tucson to Vail and around to Tanque Verde, the Foothills, Oro Valley up to Saddlebrook and back around to Marana. This could be two conservative Legislative Districts. All of our speakers were excellent, and we outnumbered the Ds by about 5 to 1. You want to know how effective we were? Within a couple of hours of the meeting ending, democrats like Kyrsten Sinema (US Senator), Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Pima County Recorder), and the Pima County Democrat Party were tweeting out to attend the session on Sunday. The PCDP tweeted:
“The IRC meeting will be held tomorrow at the Sheraton , 5151 E Grant Rd, from 10AM to 1PM. Please send me a message if you can attend. We need to show the IRC that the GOP gerrymandering plans do not represent the desire of Southern Arizona.”

Another democrat tweet said “…At the IRC meeting today, 40 of the 50 speakers were Republican.”
Meanwhile, tucked away with his keyboard, BlogforAZ, whined about Republicans crowding the meeting—translation, ‘there were way more of them than us!’

On Sunday at the Sheraton on Grant, about 125 people assembled to speak and listen. Again there were 50+ speakers and the ratio of Rs to Ds was about 1:2. The Republicans continued to speak about communities of interest—shopping, worship, entertainment, industry—while the democrats couldn’t get off the word ‘competitiveness’. They want the districts competitive. I couldn’t agree more! With Legislative District 2 at a deficit of 12,000 more Ds than Rs, LD 3 at a deficit of 34,000, LD 4 at a deficit of about 6,000, LD 9 at a deficit of 20,000, and LD 10 at a deficit of 15,000 I understand their concern that the lines have not been drawn such that all parties have a competitive chance. And, as one speaker noted the City of Tucson should also be concerned about competitiveness and have ward only voting in the general election. Board of Supervisor Grijalva and County Recorder Cázares-Kelly joined the speakers on Sunday and spoke about the importance of keeping Native Americans together and Hispanics together. Not communities of interest; communities of race. I will leave it at that.

Thank you to all of those who came out this weekend to ensure that the next decade in Pima County is not a repeat of what we have seen since 2011. To those of you who were not able to attend one of the meetings, may I ask that you please complete the Community of Interest Survey to provide the Commissioners with your input. Pima County Republicans, we are playing a long game and this is the first move. Congratulations on the work you did this weekend. Please join me in keeping the pressure on.

Joe Biden is mandating that federal workers and contractors will have to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or else wear masks, engage in social distancing, and submit to regular COVID-19 testing. The Defense Department will investigate “how and when” they will require members of the military to be vaccinated. This is about 2.18 million civilian employees and 1.4 active military members.  Now I could go on and on about the cost to the tax payers, the management of the vaccination data and the new regulatory requirement it places on federal agencies, or even the fact that some employees will be asking for reasonable accommodations but instead let’s just talk about FREEDOM.  You see this week I want you to remember what FREEDOM looks like, what it feels like, and how you act when you are free–because you are losing it.  The Union Square Hospitality Group has also chimed in and said to eat in their restaurants you will need to vaccinated.  Netflix is joining Facebook and Google in requiring vaccination to work on site too.  So the “unvaccinated” will no longer have the freedoms that the “vaccinated” will have.  Some of you may say “just go get the vaccine”!  And to that I would say if you want to get the vaccine, you have the freedom to get the vaccine.  As a matter of fact, I believe Joe Biden will be handing out Franklins ($100) to those of you who do! You have the freedom to get the vaccine, but you are losing your freedoms if you choose NOT to. 

 

Let’s be clear.  If 60% of the 2.18 million federal employees already have the vaccination (1,260,000) that leaves 840,000 employees who chose FREEDOM.  Of those 840,000 about 85% of theme are teleworking (714,000) so that leaves about 126,000 employees across the United States who if they continue to choose FREEDOM will ask for a reasonable accommodation for religious or health reasons.  Joe’s going to get shot down by the federal unions and they are going to be negotiating more remote positions and teleworking into their Collective Bargaining Agreements. Our government services will become less effective and even less efficient.   And remember, not one federal employee, legislator, judge, or elected official lost one day’s pay during the pandemic.  Businesses closed, people lost their jobs, children didn’t go to school, universities sent students home and they are preparing for round 2. 

 

From masking to social distancing to forced vaccination.  You witnessed it; don’t believe it stops there.  Private industry is jumping on the bandwagon as they are led by Biden, Harris, Pelosi and Schumer.  If this pandemic has shown nothing more than one thing, it has shown us how quickly we gave up.  Remember when we masked up for two weeks?  That was 17 months ago.  Remember when they told you the vaccination would protect you from getting COVID?  Now you will need annual boosters.  Remember when you made your own medical decisions?  That was July 29, 2021. 

 

Elections have consequences and we are suffering the consequences of the 2020 election now.  We can’t allow the democrats to continue these power grabs. Let’s get to work and ensure that our 2022 elections are fair and secure. Time to get to work.  

We are 6 months into the most disastrous administration I have ever seen. While President Trump was able to lower the water table on the swamp and unveil some of the most corrupt, unprincipled and untrustworthy politicians, civil servants and lobbyists in Washington DC, they are building their ranks and destroying our nation again. In his first 100 days in office, Biden signed more than 60 executive actions, 24 of which were direct reversals of President Trump’s policies. Ten of the twelve actions on immigration are reversals of President Trump’s policies. And before the democrats start telling you that President Trump did the same thing, at that point in his presidency, President Trump had signed only 39 executive orders. Our country is being destroyed. As President Trump said in Phoenix on Saturday:

• Violent crime is surging as democrats defund the police
• Nearly 190,000 border crossings in June; a 450% explosion over last June
• Illegal aliens are pouring over the border in historic numbers and breaking historical trends
• U.S. consumer prices jump the most since 2008, topping all estimates
• Even Biden admits his employment benefits has “kept people from going back to work”
• Biden’s $1.9 trillion in new debt is nothing more than a blue state payout
• Critical race theory is being forced into every facet of our society
• Free speech is being crushed
• Protesters arrested for trespassing are still held in jails 7 months later
• Men are being allowed to compete in women’s sports
• Our infrastructure is being hacked by Russia and China
• Democrats are controlling the narrative; it doesn’t have to be true, they just need to keep saying it and people will believe it

And right here in Arizona

• BoS Republicans in Maricopa County are defying requests for election information
• Tucson is called out on the national television as a sanctuary haven for illegals
• Tucson and Pima County are rapidly moving to a $15/hour minimum wage destroying small business
• The murder rate is likely to double in Tucson while our police are reduced by 50%

Had enough yet? There’s much more to come unless we get organized and start fighting back; not fighting each other. The Calls to Action are going to be coming this week. We have a great deal of work to do. The first thing you have to do is this. If you have opened this E-Tracks, you are one of about 40%+. Share if with your fellow Republicans. Use the talking points to talk with your constituents. The democrats have nothing to stand on but ideology; you have the facts to show that Joe Biden and his puppet masters are destroying our country. The ball’s in our court. I am ready for the fight. Will you join me?

The democrats’ laundry isn’t the only thing on display this week. There are pictures; lots of pictures. While the Texas democrats have left the Texas legislature on their private jets and headed to Washington DC, they have abandoned their tax-payer funded jobs and turned to theatrics and lies. Some brought their spouses; some brought their children, but one thing they did not bring is the masks they mandated on everyone but themselves! You and I have to mask up when we enter an airport and continue to mask up on the flight . But not democrats. No masks for them! When they flew, they took pictures to show us that masks are no longer necessary when flying. They also took a group photo, a class picture of sorts, to let us know who is there. Drinking beer, not wearing masks, contracting COVID-19, and washing their underwear in the hotel sink tells me that these legislators are: (1) not serious about their taxpayer-funded jobs, (2) attention seekers, and (3) unwilling to engage on election integrity. I am not going to let the media draw all my attention to them and their kabuki theater. What’s really important?

What’s really important is that Americans have fallen prey to the hidden taxes of the Biden-Harris regime as prices continue to rise every day. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows producer prices have spiked at the highest pace on record (April 6.2%; May 6.6%; June 7.3% on an annual basis). In June, consumer prices hit at a 5.4% annual rate—the highest rate in 13 years. Core inflation rose 4.5%, the highest jump since 1991. And what does that mean for us? Our real wages are going down. We are getting less with the money that we are earning. Forty-eight percent (48%) of small businesses have been forced to raise their prices; the largest percentage in 40 years. We are paying more for just about everything—used cars and trucks are up 45.2%; restaurant prices 4.1% higher than last year; home prices increased 15%; airfare rates have increased about 10% per year and gas prices haven’t been this high since 2014 (the Obama regime). This is what should be on display not the stories that the media are trying to convince you are important. And these are the facts that we need to share with our Republican and Independent constituents. Couple the poor economic news with the rising crime rates nationwide (Chicago gang members outnumber Chicago Police 10 to 1); over a million people illegally entering the United States this fiscal year, 180,000 alone in June 2021; and 93,000 people dying from drug overdoses in 2020. Our work is cut out for us in Pima County, but the message could not be easier. Those elected to the Tucson City Council, Pima County Board of Supervisors, Legislative Districts 2, 3, 9, 10 believe what the Texas legislators believe. They have managed the Old Pueblo, Pima County, and Arizona into higher crime, reduced law enforcement, pot-hole filled streets, homelessness, increased drug use, shuttering businesses, and high unemployment. And stay tuned for their story on the $15 an hour minimum wage! Time to get to work Pima County Republicans! The democrats are making our job so much easier.

Secretary Xavier Becerra (Health and Human Services) argued that the federal government is entitled to know who has been vaccinated against COVID-19. “Perhaps we should point out that the federal government has had to spend trillions of dollars to try to keep Americans alive during this pandemic, so it is absolutely the government’s business. It is taxpayers’ business if we have to continue to spend money to try to keep people from contracting COVID and helping reopen the economy.”

Government overreach, control, and manipulation all rolled into one statement. Good luck with that Secretary. One thing that Republicans don’t like to hear is “you have to ‘cause I said so.” As Republicans, we understand the importance of individual rights and freedoms, and we make decisions that are in the best interest of ourselves, our families, and our communities. Democrats love the group think, the collective.

The good news, my fellow Republicans, is that even the Ds are getting sick of it. Teachers are starting to say that the NEA and AEA don’t represent them. Parents are saying that they can no longer follow the group think on schooling for their children, and parents never believed their children should have to grow up in communities where there is no public safety. People realize that it is the Ds who are keeping our economy from reopening, and it is the Republicans who are fighting for our small businesses and the return of our economic freedoms. Yes, Republicans do not like overreach, control, and manipulation, and we don’t stand for it in our own party and we certainly won’t stand for it from the current administration.

As we begin to welcome the walkaway democrats into the ranks of the party of freedom-loving people who understand the importance of maintaining our checkbook, protecting our individual rights, keeping our streets and communities safe, schooling our children, supporting our businesses and demonstrating compassion and love to every human being, it is time for us to pull together and show our leadership, our compassion, our competence as we take back Pima County. Together we will do this, Pima County!

Alexander Scammell was an officer in the Continental Army who wrote a stirring letter to a friend in 1775 about the urgency to join the war. This excerpt from his letter implores the recipient, John Phillips, to join the cause.

“Brother Phillips

Tyranny and oppression yield their iron rod over our country; they begin to shake the very foundation of our constitution [and] the voice of our forefathers’ blood cries to us from the ground, to define the rights, the liberty, and the territory which they so dearly purchased….Every man of true honor and virtue will rather contend for the honor of first spilling his blood in so glorious a cause….”

The fundamental principles and established precedents which Alexander Scammell wrote about were the driving force for citizen fighters to stand up and lead the way for the United States we know today. As the Second Continental Congress gathered and adopted our United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, they embodied the spilled blood and sacrifice of men like Alexander Scammell. Abraham Lincoln called the Declaration of Independence a “rebuke and a stumbling-block to tyranny and oppression.” Today we continue to fight for the freedoms given to us by our Founding Fathers. As the party of Abraham Lincoln, Republicans fought to end slavery in the Civil War, and we continue to fight so our children will be neither oppressed nor the oppressor. So that our businesses do not fall under the tyrannical rein of corrupt governments, our families are free to worship as they choose, and our citizenry are individually free to speak and own a firearm. We are a people who
…hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Today as we conclude our celebration of Independence Day 2021, we celebrate those 56 delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence, we honor those who left it all on the field so we can be a free people, we remember our history—the good and the bad, and we continue to fight to preserve Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Finally, we will always stand for the Red, White, and Blue. May God continue to bless America.

Post-Script:

Non sibi sed patriae.

Alexander Scammell was injured in the fall of 1781 near Yorktown, and died in October in Williamsburg. John Phillips was the founder of Phillips Exeter Academy, formally opened in May, 1783, which is located in Exeter, NH.

It’s hard to listen to the news, read the paper, or even follow social media. As we are watching what is going on around us, a sense of shock almost overcomes us. Remember we kept saying that “elections have consequences?” We are seeing it now with the appointments that Joe Biden is making and the confirmations from the Senate.

Kiran Ahuja was appointed to be the Director of the Office of Personnel Management; the head of all human resources for the federal government. She just became the Director of 2.1 million civilian workers and oversees the retirement payments of millions more of retired civilian workers. She was appointed in a tie-breaker when Kamala Harris stepped in and broke the 50-D to 50-R tie. Citing her ties to critical race theory through her nonprofit organization, Philanthropy Northwest, and her activity with anti-racism activist Ibram X. Kendi brought all the Republicans together and demonstrated just how divided this country is right now. So I guess you can see where Sinema and Kelley fell on that vote.

In May 2018, President Trump signed Executive Order 13839, Promoting Accountability and Streamlining Removal Procedures Consistent with Merit System Principles. In the EO, President Trump stated that the government should focus on competency assessment and testing for the workforce rather than solely rating individuals on whether or not they had a college degree. President Trump acknowledged when he presented the EO that we were disenfranchising minority applicants by requiring college degrees which statistically are attained disproportionately by whites. President Trump was working for those in poverty who could not afford an education but had skills, drive, and commitment to serve in public service. He was working for the two-thirds of Americans who do not get college degrees–regardless of their race, ethnicity, or gender. President Trump, a businessman, knew that a college degree is not what makes a good employee. Regardless of what you think about President Trump, no one can question that he worked for the American people—rich people, poor people, men, women and all colors. You want to see where racism starts? You want to see the division of people? Look no further than the appointments, policies, and EO of the current administration. Listen to the news; read the papers; follow social media. The wolves in sheep’s clothing have arrived.

Oh yeah, Joe Biden rescinded Executive Order 13839 on January 22, 2021—his second day in office.

Summer in Tucson–heat waves, rattlesnakes, empty streets, quiet days, taking naps in the heat of the afternoon.

While the quieter days of summer are here, the democrats continue with (1) Joe Biden at the G7 summit decimating our standing as the most powerful nation in the world, (2) effective border policies being canceled and border crossings increasing, (3) U.S. military leaders following Ibram X Kendi and indoctrinating their troops, (4) “squad” leader AOC gaining power in the House of Representatives only as a political move by Nancy Pelosi, and (5) students being ridiculed and ostracized because they have refused an experimental vaccine. Let’s break that down to three points: POWER, GREED, CORRUPTION.

The democrats are creating their POWER base. They are allowing leftists to re-write your children’s social studies lessons, they are dividing the country along lines of race with critical race theory and vaccines, and they are importing new voters through “inviting” immigration policies. In business we advertise and market for new customers, convince them our product adds value for them, and tell them we can do it better. The democrats are finding new constituents (immigrants), offering them lots of free stuff (value added), and bloviating through every communication media available that they “can do it better.” In their search for POWER, there is a secondary motivator—GREED. Why would you want to add millions of new people to a country that is already struggling to care for our veterans, end homelessness, protect and educate our children, support our elderly, rebuild our infrastructure, and secure our borders? To fill jobs. While our citizens are at home making more on unemployment than by working, we have created a demand for workers. Now this is where the CORRUPTION comes in. Fill the positions at minimum wage (we just drove down the hourly wage because we are hiring unskilled workers), and then bring forth initiatives to raise the minimum wage to a “living wage” with the support of the base of immigrants that you imported (POWER). Demonstrate to your funders that have helped them by providing workers (GREED). Then pull the rug out from underneath them with policies (CORRUPTION) that kill small businesses, open the borders, skyrocket the debt, weaken the nation, and kick off an era of inflation.

Wow! Love those summer afternoon naps. I dreamed that while the Republicans were working to care for our veterans and our elderly, open our schools and protect our children, house our homeless, build our infrastructure, support our small businesses, and ensure freedom and liberty for all people, there was another group of people trying to destroy all we are doing. But I know I was dreaming because Republicans are winning every day and getting ready to take back our Congress, re-enforce our numbers in the State Legislature, secure all our state races, and build our school boards!