Thursday, January 22nd, 2009...4:03 pm
Pompous Circumstances
I was on an airplane so I missed the ceremony that Jan Brewer held for her swearing in. It led me to wonder how many other appointed governors have held similar coronations.
I called around to some folks that were around for the swearing ins of Bruce Babbitt, Rose Mofford and Jane Dee Hull. All three, according to my witnesses, had a simple ceremony where the oath was administered. Mofford, for example, was sworn in in her office with no where near the hullaballoo of the full blown inaugural ceremony that Brewer had. Granted, two of those three, Hull and Mofford, came to power after their predecessors were forced from office and one, Babbitt, became governor on the death of his predecessor. It would have been in poor taste to have a lavish public ceremony in those instances.
The last person to become governor under these sorts of circumstances was Wesley Bolin, who became governor in 1977 when Raúl H. Castro was appointed ambassador to Argentina. One person I spoke to about this didn’t think that Bolin had any more than a swearing in, but I have got other calls out to verify this.
I realize that this was probably not a huge amount of money, but it seems to be a poor message to send to people to use state resources to hold a ceremony which has little, if any, precedent in our state’s history while at the same time advocating huge cuts in state programs.
As for the content of the speech: if there was any besides nonsensical bumper sticker platitudes (“Stimulus is Freedom” or something), I might take a little more time to comment on it.
13 Comments
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
People get that the Laffer Curve is, well, a joke, right?
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
The whole idea of her calling it an inauguration would be laughable if it weren’t for the implications that she sees this as a mandate for her policies. Brewer seems to think that she has ‘political capital’ to spend and she plans on spending it. She was pretty vague on how she plans on going about trimming government, though she took shots at Janet and President Obama (and McCain by way of his support for the bailout) in touting her own stimulus plan. (which will very likely be in the forms of tax cuts and wholesale slashes to Education and healthcare).
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I read that she wants to make college affordable but at the same time stop spending any money.
How does she expect to manage that? With magic beans?
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
she meant affordable to HER budget…. you know, fund as little of the Universities as she can…. let only the rich be able to go to school…. Build an uneducated, untrained workforce to replace all of those illegals that came and took those jobs…. The Republican Plan, uneducated workers so desperate for jobs they will do those jobs they wouldn’t take before that were filled with ‘those illegals’.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I got the impression from her speech that she wants to keep college affordable, but I don’t know how she is going to do that, keep all-day kindergarten (which I’ve heard she supports), lower taxes for business, not borrow, etc., and take care of an estimated $3 billion deficit in FY10.
The other thing I wonder about is the freedom-as-stimulus for business. What state regulations is she referring to? The state can’t undo federal regulations? And how much control does the state have over city and county regulations? So which regulations is she referring to?
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:49 pm
BTW–I don’t see any problem with her having an inauguration ceremony–providing a platform for her to present her vision, her “state of the state”.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
freedom to not pay taxes! (applies to big corporations only) freedom to fire people at will without reason! Freedom for cheap land as state sells off vast tracts to largest contributors! Freedom to learn how to suffer with pain and illness without interference from pesky doctors as healthcare for children and the poor are no longer available!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 am
Brewer isn’t bright enough to figure out how to resolve the problems the state faces. None of the current Republicans are, which leads me to 2010 elections. The Dems will be in a great position to grab power. Hopefully–if the don’t screw it up this time…
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:42 am
Kind of late, but, mB, an economist major friend of mine told me once that libertopian-types forget that the Laffer curve is a CURVE, meaning that at one point less government spending becomes a very bad thing.
But, of course, free market fundamentalists are immune to thinking government is ever good, and the concept itself is an attempt to measure a vaguely understood field.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:33 am
Freedom is not a platitude! Freedom is freedom! Nothing more, nothing less.
That being said, Governor Brewer’s speech was a brilliant statement of the principles that made America the great nation that it was until Tuesday. It was positively Palinesque. Never in the time I have been in this state (about two years) have I seen someone in the Governor’s office that actually wants to make the tough choices, rather than pandering to the radicals who want us to raise taxes and spend money on roads and schools.
Even Tedski has to admit that cutting taxes always leads to greater prosperity. This is a known fact, universally accepted by every credible economist. The way out of this recession is to cut taxes. Its that simple.
Governor Brewer speaks to the real Arizona, an Arizona of green suburbs where the cheerleaders date the football players and not each other. Its about time that someone in the Governor’s office understands real Americans and the true meaning of freedom.
Let the democrats have Washington. The new birth of freedom will happen in Arizona under the visionary leadership of Governor Brewer.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:09 am
Republitard – Now I get it! You have only been in Arizona for two years. No wonder you think about green suburbs and cheerleaders – decidedly not Arizona heritage. Have you heard about the water conditions in the DESERT? It is definitely UnArizonan to keep up green suburbs. I suggest your “real America” may be in some other setting. Also stay and watch the political scene a little longer before you wax eloquently about the views of the new gov. Some of us have watched her for a quarter of a century and have a little better handle on her actions and words.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Sometimes good irony is just wasted on some people….sigh.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Maybe the reason for the elaborate ceremony was precisely because she is trying to send a message that the next couple of years won’t actually be as bad as everyone is saying, and that there is room to splurge a little.