Cute Trick, Ken.  Stupid, but cute in a very childish way.  Tying the Bill of Rights Monument bill to the Republican budget (a 19% increase when it should have been cut) so Janet, (whose equally repugnant budget proposal of a 21% increase) will veto it just so your can say, "She vetoed the Bill of Rights" was not a good choice of tactics.  Janet does not need your help in proving the incompetence of her administration.

I told you of my commitment on this issue, and I intend to make good on it.  You obviously think that your termed out lame duck status makes YOU immune to political opposition and activism--and maybe it does.  But you might want to reconsider, on behalf of the Republicans you leave behind.  The lists of those specific members who went along with these shenanigans are already being drawn up.  They WILL suffer for your actions in the polls.  Do you really want to be 'the guy who destroyed the Republican Party in Arizona?'  If so, I predict you are well on your way.

We've had enough of this nonsense.  You know what I think of Kyrsten, but I wouldn't even consider depriving her, or Karen, of their rightful due.  This bill is bigger than that, and it's bigger than you.

Your tricks are out in the open, and everybody knows what's going on.  I wouldn't be surprised if you received a lot of communication from all over the planet as these threads make their way through the cyber world and they probably won't be very nice.  Is this little tiny bill, forwarded on behalf of sincere Citizens who just want to give Arizona a special gift, really worth it to you and to those people who go along with you?  You might want to answer that question in private.

This is our government, not yours to play with.

I am asking you this one last time to take the bill to the floor as a stand alone and to make the vote tally public before going sine die--that's it.

...and what about the voting integrity bill, so that the people of Arizona might re-gain a little confidence in their government and in the 'real' vote counts?

Thank you for your consideration on these matters.

As always, I remain at your service--
                                                          Barry Hess
                                                          Vice-Chair, Arizona Libertarian Party and candidate for Governor
                                                           AZGovernor@Earthlink.Net

---

Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett has turned himself into the Icon of what is wrong with government.

 

Last Chance for HB 2682

Dear MyBOR.org Supporter;

Your voice has been heard loud and clear by Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett. His office has told me and other supporters that they've been "inundated" with messages concerning the fate of HB 2682, our Bill of Rights monument bill. Unfortunately, his disappointing response has been to use a parliamentary maneuver to backhandedly kill HB 2682, while having his office tell many of you he's working to pass it. My email to Mr. Bennett (below) tells the full story of this deception.

Sad and angering though his actions are, there is still time for Senator Bennett to do the right thing. I'm asking you all, Arizona and non-Arizona residents alike, to call and email his office this weekend, (kbennett@azleg.gov - 602-926-5584) and to enlist one friend to do the same, so that when Senator Bennett returns on Monday he will know that his attempt to mislead has failed.

Your message should include the following language, urging him "to place HB 2682 on today's third read calendar, and make Arizona the first state in the nation to so honor the Bill of Rights, not the first in the nation to refuse to." Feel free to add whatever else you wish to say, but the specific mention of the third read calendar tells the Senator exactly what we expect, and how much we understand the game he's playing. And please, be firm, but take the high road with your comments as much as possible under the circumstances.

No matter whether or not this final appeal to the Senator's better angels works, MyBillofRights.org will continue to move forward with our plans, in Arizona and elsewhere. We have alternate plans already in motion in Phoenix, and will begin organizing the Texas campaign with a trip to Austin next week. But Senator Bennett needs to know that he's not fooling anyone, and that the people still expect him to uphold his oath of office, and do honor to - not play petty politics with - the Bill of Rights.

My email to the Senate President follows.

Chris Bliss, President

MyBillofRights.org

 

June 2, 2006

Dear Senate President Bennett;

Your aide, Judy, has just left me an extremely disappointing message, both in tone and content, about your latest actions in regard to HB 2682. There were no false accusations made about the politics being played with this bill, and my insistence that you explain why the bill was not scheduled for a vote was firm, but polite. It is my obligation to our contributors to be as forceful as necessary to see the right thing done, especially considering the disingenuousness of the responses I have gotten from your office, and your refusal to speak with me directly. I and my contributors have been told everything but the truth about your intentions. While our bill was held up, supposedly because of the budget, many other widely supported and uncontroversial measures have made it on to the third read calendar. I noticed that on Wednesday the Battle of the Bulge monument bill had no problem making it through and going to the governor's desk. Now you have taken this highly unusual and deceptive tactic of amending it on to the budget resolution, where it has no business being as it requires no appropriation of funds. I am fully aware, and my contributors and the press are being made fully aware, that this is not about passing HB 2682, but about either killing it, or taking it away from its original sponsor should this budget by some miracle not be vetoed. If the latter were to happen, then my organization would be forced to go through a potentially hostile legislative liaison in all of our dealings with the Mall Commission on the design and location of the monument. That would be difficult enough, but the real intent in attaching it to the budget is to kill it, because should this budget be vetoed, the session ended, and a special session called, then HB 2682 no longer exists. Of course, you are well aware of this. Now you know that I am, too.

Your office has been telling our contributors a deliberately misleading story about the fate of HB 2682. It's bad enough to inject political score settling into something as positive and patriotic as honoring the Bill of Rights. To deliberately mislead our contributors, many of whom are veterans, disabled veterans, and the plain hard working people who built this country (our average contribution runs $40), and all of whom still believe in the true promise of America, is disgraceful.

Senator Bennett, have you no sense of decency? On behalf of our contributors, I request that you schedule HB 2682 on Monday's third read calendar.

Chris Bliss, President

www.MyBillofRights.org