This op-ed appeared in the Scottsdale Republic recently. John Greco responded to it in-print this morning, but I want to throw in my 2 cents-worth.
If Ms. Turley-Hansen wrote the headline (always in doubt with the Republic), then she contradicts herself. Every other complaint in her column is about her (and my) fellow Republicans…or at least those who are registered Republicans, because I feel strongly that Ms. Turley-Hansen is one of the RINOs about which she complains.
Everyone who supported Jan Brewer is now shown to have erred. Ditto many other Republican politicians, including Scottsdale mayor Jim Lane, for whom elected office is an exercise in crony capitalism.
As far as Obamacare is concerned, Brewer doesn’t care about party ideology. She’s acting at the whim of big healthcare institutions and insurance companies in embracing this new model.
Brewer and Lane, along with other party hijackers like Michelle Ugenti are busy trying to circumvent the Constitution (both US and AZ) in re-writing election laws to perpetuate their cronyism.
Being Republican shouldn’t be about cheating at election time or looking out for your buddies at the expense of taxpayers. The “scourge” is not the blue of the Democratic Party. It’s the green money of cronyism changing hands underneath a red Republican tablecloth.
I reprint Turley-Hansen’s column here, for what it’s worth:
We must stop blue scourge taking over AZ
You’ve got to hand it to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer. She cleverly played her politics over the past few months as she made her puzzling shift toward Obamacare to expand the state Medicaid program.
We must assume money talked. It told her Arizona needs to become more reliant on federal dollars. And she did it with pizzazz. She created a bipartisan coalition of legislators, mostly Democrats, with enough RINO Republicans to achieve the shift.
Perhaps you’ve heard that conservative Republicans are outraged. Petitions are being circulated to put the Medicaid issue on the ballot. The protestors say Brewer, along with more than a dozen Republicans, passed the expansion without allowing public scrutiny or comment. They accuse the coalition of corrupting and dishonoring the legislative process by suspending rules. Maybe we’ll never know how, but it appears that progressive creep found its way into the Governor’s Office, along with a new $9 billion budget. The dots don’t connect.
This is a governor who has been applauded nationwide for her conservative dedication.
Something has changed. Despite opposition from the majority of Republicans, who control both chambers, the deal was pushed through.
Prepare for the final battle over the shift of Arizona from a red state to blue. Note: We can no longer confirm voter ID, and we can’t protect our borders. And now, Medicaid expansion, taxes increased, etc., etc.
If you’re among those in the East Valley who care about the poor and believe they can be aided without enslavement to government, if you’re looking for information on how to extend your influence toward checks and balances, there are groups and bloggers who will welcome you. Inform yourself if you wish to be more than a victim. Include multiple publications and Internet sites including these two: sonoranalliance.com and www.GilbertWatch.com. I regularly follow GilbertWatch.
Founder Anita Christy stays at the helm day and night, keeping conservative vigil. Christy is a published author in the American Thinker. And, among other awards, this year she received the Ronald Reagan Outstanding Achievement Award by the Maricopa County Republican Committee.
Christy says, “Our Republican state is finished as long as the citizens of Arizona keep allowing themselves to be swayed and manipulated by the left, especially by the media.
“Conservatives and ‘tea parties’ are continually branded ‘extreme right wing,’ ” she says. “However, we are, very simply, Republicans who stand firm for Republican principles.”
As for Brewer’s actions concerning Medicaid expansion: “It violates nearly every Republican principle,” Christy says.
We are well aware that nationally, the Republican Party is in trouble, and with the apparent dramatic shift of this once conservative state, we are forced to do serious soul searching.
Many of us have left the party, preferring to call ourselves independents.
However, there is no question as to the importance of keeping the party of conservative values afloat. Some believe the RINOs are the problem and their re-elections are now in question.
Time will tell.
Maybe it’s too late, or maybe it’s not.
But for sure, every single conservative best get in the game because something smells in Arizona politics.
FYI: Besides sonoranalliance.com and GilbertWatch.com, there are other conservative sites you’ll want to visit, including: armorandshield.blogspot .com and seeingredaz.wordpress.com.
Turley-Hansen is an Arizona syndicated columnist and former Phoenix TV anchor; turleyhansen@gmail.com.