Jan Brewer, governor of Arizona gave her State of the State address this week. Arizona will have a budget surplus this year. The one percent sales tax increase approved by the people will phase out as promised in 2013. A tax phased out, unheard of in politics.
But, the media in Arizona blasted Brewer. Lamenting the cuts that she put in place and suggesting without fact that social services and education have suffered.
The media loved Janet Napolitano, Brewer’s predecessor, the one who spent Arizona into the huge deficits Brewer faced. Brewer was instrumental in getting Arizona 1070 passed. The immigration law, still going through the courts, that the people of Arizona wanted to enforce the federal immigration laws.
Napolitano’s incompetence has been evident since day one on her new job. But, she and Obama are clearly on the same page when it comes to spending. And, the media in Arizona shares that page.
One might think that a governor who has turned a $3 billion deficit into a surplus, brought 50,000 new jobs into the state, with help from Sheriff Joe saw 100,000 illegals deported or self-deported, saw crime hit a near record low, and engineered a housing turnabout that is rated number one in the nation, would be celebrated. But, no, somehow, the media liked the old days better than the new Arizona.
I have a good comparison. Starting from almost the same place, Illinois has seen the deficit get worse, the housing market still on the decline, a temporary 50% increase in state income tax look permanent, and jobs and people fleeing the state.
Perhaps the media in Arizona should move to Illinois where political business is done to their liking.
