the arizona strategy
SonoranNews.com
Ward Connerly
Although I am a resident of California, I have become an avid fan of the leadership of the Arizona Legislature: Kirk Adams, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Bob Burns, President of the Senate.
It is no secret California is in serious trouble. Our educational system is in shambles. Unbridled immigration has contributed to our fiscal problems in education, law enforcement and health care. Many cities and counties and our state government are on the brink of bankruptcy. Employers and a
significant number of businesses are fleeing the state. You name the problem and we have it in the "Golden State."
At the root of our troubles is a legislature that has never found a new government program or a tax it doesn't like. In addition to being overtaxed and overregulated with a state government that has become too intrusive and too unwieldy, the people have a legislature that can only be described as a bunch of spendthrifts. And, now that there is insufficient money to spend to support all of the programs they have created over the years, they lack the stomach to make the cuts that have to be made. In their perpetual attempt to provide a "safety net" for some, they have essentially eliminated the ladder for others to climb to the top.
Adams and Burns and the caucuses they represent, on the other hand, are seeking to keep government limited in Arizona and they want a state in which every able-bodied person carries his or her own weight. They want equal opportunity for every man, woman and child and preferences for none on the
basis of their skin color, ethnic background or gender.
It is this latter aspiration that has attracted my attention.
Several weeks ago, it came to my attention that Senator Russell Pearce had introduced a measure to allow the people of Arizona to vote in 2010 on the issue of affirmative action.
The operative clause of Pearce's constitutional amendment is: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or
national origin."
Two members of my staff - Jennifer Gratz and Max McPhail - and I arranged to meet with Senator Pearce and offered our assistance to him.
During the course of our visits to Arizona, we also happened to meet Representative Steve Montenegro, a freshman legislator with one of the brightest political futures in the nation. As we discussed Pearce's
constitutional amendment, Montenegro was passionate about his objection to the patronizing presumption that is inherent in affirmative action: "As a 'minority,' I am expected to tolerate the appalling belief that I can't compete without a preference," he said. When approached by the leadership of the House, Montenegro readily offered to be the sponsor of Pearce's legislation in the House of Representatives.
Nearly a month later, Adams, Burns, Montenegro and Pearce, the fellow members of their respective caucuses and some very able assistance from their respective staff, had done what no other legislative body in America has ever done: give the people a chance to vote on whether they want race
preferences or whether they want every person to be treated equally by the government.
The battle to accomplish this objective was not an easy one primarily because of the solid opposition of the Democrat members of the Arizona Legislature who seemed to embrace the rationale of Representative Cloves Campbell, the only "African-American" member of the House, who responded when asked how much longer affirmative action preferences should remain in effect: "400 years! How about that?" It is noteworthy that Campbell identified me as a "pseudo-black" man.
It bears mentioning that the leadership of the Arizona Legislature had the wisdom of their action confirmed when the United States Supreme Court, on June 30, handed down its ruling in the Ricci firefighters case. In that ruling, the Court reaffirmed the principle that all Americans are entitled
to equal treatment by their government.
On November 2, 2010, the people of Arizona will have a chance to express their thanks to the Arizona legislative leadership and all those legislators who voted for this fundamental principle of fairness and equal rights.
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