Governor Brewer needs Unite and Conquer, ASAP

It's been over two weeks, and the state legislature is still at a halt. The reason? Governor Brewer and many Republicans are refusing to work with the Democrats and moderate Republicans. The Governor and the Republicans have been fighting in public and they're leaving the impression that they'd rather shut the state down than come to a negotiation.

I mean, I'm in politics and I can't believe this behavior. It takes me back to, oh, I don't know, Junior High. It's interesting that in any other profession, behavior like this would ultimately lead to the party that's refusing to work with others' termination. So many politicians take the view that it absolutely has to go their way or they won't budge (sounds like a childhood tantrum, huh?), but they need to adjust their attitudes and get over their specific goals and outcomes and focus more on coming up with a plan that we all can agree on, a plan that’s for the common good.

To find out more on what you can do to help influence the budget negotiations, please visit strongerarizona.com.

School's out for summer...and they might be cut from the budget

It’s no shock that many states, and the nation, are facing large budget deficits. In order to combat these deficits, many legislatures are erring on the side of large budget cuts – often looking into making cuts in areas where people are most vulnerable, like education and healthcare.

Governor Jan Brewer’s plan would only mean cuts these areas. Just to go into education, decreased spending is very dangerous. The best way to communicate to legislators why education cuts can absolutely not be cut is to communicate values. Values associated with education include opportunity and future. If you’re lobbying for your state to not make cuts in education, make it clear that every child needs a great education in order for our country to remain competitive with other growing nations in the future. It also will provide them with more opportunities in the future, which inevitably will help affect our nation’s future economy as well.

As far as Arizona goes, budget cuts only mean that our education system will continue to be one of the worst in the nation, and will ultimately leave more students unprepared for college and future career opportunities.