Thread: AZ: Martin launches campaign: Wants to militarize border

Martin launches campaign: Wants to militarize border

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 10:09 AM MST

PHOENIX Dean Martin launched his gubernatorial campaign Wednesday with a promise to use armed National Guard troops to militarize the international border.

“What’s the difference of guarding the Arizona border and guarding the Afghan border or guarding the Iraqi border,’’ the 35yearold state treasurer said. “It’s a very similar role.’’

And Martin said the move actually would help the soldiers.

“The training that they could obtain in helping us secure our border is very easily translated to possible deployment overseas,’’ he said.

But in making his announcement, Martin concentrated on the theme of recent speeches and appearances: the state’s financial situation.

He said Arizona has been spending money faster than it has been taking it in. Martin said while the problem predates Jan Brewer’s becoming governor a year ago, he faults her for not doing more to fix the problem.

Martin specifically said he opposes Brewer’s proposal for a temporary onecent hike in the state’s 5.6 percent sales tax to balance the budget until the economy improves.

“You cannot balance this budget by taking more money from the taxpayers we have left,’’ he said.

And Martin also said it was wrong of the Republicancontrolled Legislature to try to come up with some immediate cash with a plan to sell off $735 million of state buildings and then lease them back for the next 20 years. He also was critical of the lawmakers’ decision to try to balance this year’s budget by taking cash from special funds which never were meant to finance basic state operations.

“Each of us has to live within our own means,’’ he said. “And since government lives off our means, why should they be any different?’

He said state spending has to be brought back to the level it was five years ago to match current revenues.

But Martin repeatedly refused to provide specifics Wednesday of exactly what programs and services he would cut. The treasurer said he currently lacks sufficient information to do that because the governor has not yet released her spending plan for the coming year, a plan that will detail what state agencies are currently spending

The closest Martin came to actually proposing a cut was to repeat what Brewer proposed Monday in her State of the State speech: Ask voters to reconsider their 2000 mandate that the state provide free health care for everyone below the federal poverty level.

There are currently about 1.2 million Arizonans getting free care; returning to pre2000 levels would trim the rolls by about 300,000.

He said voters were told in 2000 that the expanded coverage would be paid for entirely from the state’s share of a nationwide settlement with tobacco companies. Those revenues, however, have not kept pace with the increasing number of people who now qualify for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

But Martin had a twist on what Brewer proposed. He said voters should be given two options: Fund only the number of people whose care can be provided with the approximately $100 million a year the state gets in that settlement, or ask voters if they’re willing to permanently hike taxes to keep what he called the “Cadillac program.’’

That failure did not go unnoticed by the Brewer camp.

Campaign spokesman Doug Cole said the governor, as required by law, will present a specific linebyline proposal to the Legislature on Friday of her plan to balance next year’s budget. He said others who want to run for governor should present “substantive, realistic proposals ... on how they plan to fix the state’s fiscal crisis.’’

Martin said he intends to use public funds to seek the Republican nomination despite his opposition to the system. In fact, Martin was one of the plaintiffs who unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the system. And he is a plaintiff in the current case in federal court seeking to void a matching funds provision.

But Martin, citing that provision, said he has no choice.

“No one has run for this office successfully as a traditional candidate,’’ he said, though Martin managed to get elected state treasurer in 2006.

That move provoked a jab from Tucson attorney John Munger who is also in the hunt for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Munger, unlike Brewer, Martin and Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, is not taking public cash. He accused Martin of “hypocrisy’’ for taking the money but suing to have the system declared illegal.

The other highprofile announced Republican candidate is Owen Buz Mills, a Paulden business owner, who already has put about $2.1 million of his own cash into the race.

If U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver bars paying matching funds to publicly financed candidates, it will leave Brewer, Martin and Parker with that $700,000 allocation, no matter how much Munger and Mills eventually spend.

The survivor of the GOP primary will face off against Attorney General Terry Goddard, currently the only highprofile Democrat in the race. Goddard is expected to use public funds for his race.

On the issue of militarizing the border, Martin said he did not have a cost. But he said it certainly would be less than Arizona now spends arresting and incarcerating illegal immigrants who commit crimes and providing benefits to those not here legally.

And Martin said he has no problem having armed Guard troops looking for illegal immigrants.

“You don’t deploy individuals without providing them the proper resources and protection,’’ he said.

http://oneoldvet.com/

www.douglasdispatch.com

Martin better read the Posse Comitatus act of 1878, as it is still in force.
From wikipedia:

The Act prohibits most members of the federal uniformed services (today the Army, Air Force, and State National Guard forces when such are called into federal service) from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police, or peace officer powers that maintain "law and order" on non-federal property (states and their counties and municipal divisions) within the United States.

This is the reason that GWB sent 6,000 National Guard troops to the southern border, but they were unarmed and acted in a back-up capacity.

“Each of us has to live within our own means,’’

Not when you are in the country ILLEGALLY!

Also not when the Country is being invaded....as is happening..if it isn't invasion explain to me what it is...our troops belong there....

Kathyet