The Republic ran an item this morning on questions about the committee to oppose the Russell Pearce recall.
The questions revolve around whether Team America PAC can solicit corporate contributions for the group Citizens Opposed to the Pearce Recall. The Secretary of State’s office says no, since this is clearly being done to influence an election. Yes, trying to make sure an election doesn’t happen is influencing an election.
Lisa Hauser represents the group and says nope (not a big surprise). No election has been called, so these contributions are okay.
An aside here: it wasn’t long ago that Hauser was passed over for a contract with the Independent Redistricting Committee, which caused all sorts of consternation. But, not to worry: no well connected Republican goes long without political work in our state. Arizona’s democracy exists only as a full employment program for conservative politicos.
It’s an interesting argument, but it begs the question of why the state would require a political committee to be filed in the first place. If this is not to influence an election, there would be no need for that, right?
Challenges to petitions can be expensive, but it’s hard to believe that should the election go forward, all of this corporate money will be gone and not one dime of it will be spent on Pearce’s re-election. Maybe it will go to reimbursing the Fiesta Bowl committee or bailing out Joshua.
Even if the corporate money is not spent on an election (big if), it makes me wonder how corporate money raised in this effort will have no influence over Pearce. If we ban corporate donations from candidate committees because we don’t want elected officials to be bought, how is a donation to this committee any different?
Legal niceties aside: this committee exists soley to support Pearce in the same way a re-election committee does. After the jump, I’ve copied a solicitation that the “Citizens Against…” committee sent me last week (and no, I didn’t donate). It is ostensibly from Pearce and sounds like a campaign solicitation.
But this is totally different than a candidate committee, right?
NB: You know you wanted to sing the song when you read “Team America PAC.”
Dear Friend,
Yesterday, a group of liberal labor organizers and a former AFL-CIO state director who oppose Arizona’s tough anti-illegal immigration law filed recall signatures against me.
My fellow Patriot, the only reason they filed this recall is because I wrote and sponsored Senate Bill 1070.
Senate Bill 1070 is the landmark legislation that allowed the state of Arizona to enforce immigration laws President Obama refuses to enforce. It gave law enforcement officials the ability to question the immigration status of those who they believed were in our country illegally.
President Obama sued us for passing this historic legislation, but we continue to hold the line and will continue to fight to secure the border!
Since I stood up for America and Securing Our Borders, the liberal left is targeting me.
Will you stand with me today and help stop their efforts?
Make no mistake, this “recall effort” is nothing more than the national liberal elite’s attempt to stop our effort to secure America’s borders.
Our opponents have already spent thousands of dollars to pay signature gathers to put the recall on the ballot. They have pledged hundreds of thousands more in an attempt to remove me from office.
I need you to stand with me now during this vital moment in our battle to secure the border and oppose Amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Please click here today to make your most generous donation.
Your donation will be put to use immediately to verify the signatures turned in by our opposition. As is typical with the liberal left and labor organizers, they didn’t follow the law and even admitted so yesterday to a local reporter.
“they acknowledge that thousands of those might be duplicates or signatures of people who live outside the district.”
The Arizona Republic, May 31, 2011
This proves our opponents to securing our borders will stop at nothing to silence our efforts!
Please click here now to make your most generous donation as soon as possible.
Only with your immediate help will we be able to expose the thousands of those signatures that might be duplicates or invalid.
Thank you for your support. May God Bless you and our Country.
Sincerely,
Russell Pearce
President, Arizona State Senate
Author and Sponsor of SB1070
3 Comments
Wow Russell, you say the recall “cartel” (your name for us) has “hundreds of thousands of dollars” coming in to help with the recall? We had no idea….can’t wait for all that loot to come rolling in. Especially since we are trying to follow the rules and not use corporate donations and a lot of outside donations like you are doing. In fact, 90% of the $25,000 dollars we’ve collected (at $25 dollars here, $10 dollars there) was from ordinary Arizona citizens. So who is allowing outside special interest groups to take over this recall? It certainly isn’t the “extreme liberal leftist anarchists” as you call us. Hey “folks” (as Pearce loves to call people he actually likes) if you believe this letter from Russell Pearce I have some swamp land in Florida I’d love to show you….
According to Pearce’s solicitation letter, “Your donation will be put to use immediately to verify the signatures turned in by our opposition.”
Now how exactly can he use money to verify signatures? This is already being done by the county recorder’s office, not by some paid Pearce lackey… unless his supporters are just too dumb to ask these kinds of questions.
Pearce is beyond words that describe what a dishonest politician is. I used to be a Republican and after watching Brewer,Pearce and Arpaio……I changed parties. It is much more then just his immigration issues(and I call them issues because he has ISSUES) He has shown a deep seated hate for the Latino people. He is in bed with the private prison system which I am sure means money in his pockets. He has black listed people from the capital building because they confront him on issues.He wouldnt know Patriot if it was tattood across his forehead like his sons neo-nazi tattoo is on his neck. But reading a letter from Pearce begging for money has made my day.There is justice in this world…..long overdue….but justice.