State Rep. Sam Crump

Today it was learned that Kerry Martin, wife of Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin, died yesterday from complications during childbirth.  Kerry delivered their first child, a son, named Austin, who is now in serious condition.  And now prayers are being said for all of them– Kerry in Heaven; Austin in his struggle for life; and Dean in his sorrow.

The Martins have been a tremendous inspiration to so many in the political world.  As residents of District 6 they have provided leadership on many levels.  And always present at Dean’s side was his wife, Kerry.  She was an important part of his political life, but she was clearly so much more– a soulmate.

God bless this family.

I want to thank the voters of District 6 who voted yesterday to return me to the Arizona House of Representatives.  I am honored to serve as your Representative and I look forward to the next legislative session.  We will be faced with the difficult task of more budget deficits.  However, because you have returned conservatives, you can be assured we will be doing our best to reduce wasteful spending.  And you can be assured I will NOT be supporting any new taxes.

PRESS RELEASE

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 19, 2008

Anthem, AZ – Today Arizona State Representative Sam Crump (R-LD6) announced that he is endorsing fellow Republican candidate Carl Seel in his race for the State House of Representatives.  Crump’s announcement comes after news reports confirmed that the third candidate in the race, Tony Bouie, has lied on several occasions about his party registration.

“I endorse Carl Seel for the Arizona House of Representatives,” said Crump.  “Carl has demonstrated a solid commitment to conservative Republican values for many years and has been a tireless worker on behalf of the GOP.  I am confident that Carl will be a solid conservative vote when he is elected by the voters of Legislative District 6.”

Crump’s endorsement was announced the day after it was learned that Tony Bouie was caught lying about his past registration to two newspapers and a group of voters.  Bouie had been roundly criticized by Republican party members for having been a life-long Democrat until he registered as a Republican only five days before filing to run for State Representative.

Bouie had never denied his past registration as a Democrat until the last couple of weeks when he mysteriously began accusing others of distorting the truth and claiming he had previously been a Republican.

“My opponent will tell you that I’ve been a Democrat all my life, which is very untrue,” said Bouie at an August 12, 2008, candidate forum in Desert Hills.  “For nine years, over half my voting life, I’ve been a Republican — but he won’t tell you that.”

Bouie’s lies about his registration were not limited to that one instance.  The Arizona Capitol Times recently reported on this subject as follows:   “’The fact is, I’ve been a Republican half of my voting life.  From 1995 until 2003,’ Bouie said, he was registered as a Republican.”

The most recent lie by Bouie was on August 14, 2008, in front of the editorial board of the Arizona Republic, the State’s largest newspaper.  At that interview, which Crump and Seel also attended, Bouie again stated that he had been a registered Republican in Hillsborough County, Florida, from 1995 to1999.   However, after investigating Bouie’s claim, the registrar of voters in Hillsborough County confirmed to the Republic that Tony Bouie had never been registered as a Republican, only as a Democrat.

In an effort to explain his lies, Tony Bouie issued a press release on August 18, 2008, stating that he never was a registered Republican. . . . “Unfortunately, I did not complete the voter registration paperwork to make this switch official,” Bouie stated. “I hope this clarifies any confusion about my party past.” 

Sam Crump stated that Bouie’s attempt to cover up his blatant lies is not acceptable.  “For some bizarre reason, Mr. Bouie has attempted to start his political career by lying to the voters,” said Crump.  “This demonstrates a serious character flaw that is unacceptable and I call on Mr. Bouie to immediately withdraw from this campaign.” 

Has anyone else noticed a phrase that keeps popping up in Barack Obama’s campaign?  The phrase is “make sure” and it is used in just about every other sentence. 

“We need to make sure that high income earners are paying their fair share of taxes.”

“We must make sure that our tires are properly inflated.”

“Parents should make sure their children can speak Spanish.”

This obsessive use of the phrase “make sure” seems to be the new buzz word for “government program”.  In other words, Obama thinks it is important and he wants to make sure you know he thinks it is important and when he is President he will make sure to work on all the things he said we should make sure we are doing. 

It also smacks of the good old “nanny government” way of thinking.  Make sure you put on your coat before going outside.  Make sure you don’t spill that milk.  Make sure you come right home after school.  All good things, but not from my government.

I watched some of the fireside chat that Rev. Rick Warren held with the two candidates.  I couldn’t believe my ears when he asked Obama what we should do about the 143 million orphans in the world.  His response, of course, was “we must make sure we have a plan to make that a top priority.”  Really?!  Let alone what that plan might be, is that really going to be the focus of the next President of the United States?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for helping orphans around the world (in fact, I have founded one in Uganda - www.SunriseHouseUganda.org), but I don’t know that it should be a major issue for our next President. 

If you share my concern about all the things that Obama wants to make sure of, then make sure you vote.

The State of Arizona is facing a combined deficit of $3 billion for the two fiscal years of 2008 and 2009.  And yet the Governor seems committed to continuing her big spending ways.  Despite the fact that we have been overspending for the last six years (average increase of 14% per year), the Governor has proposed less than $100 million in cuts.  That’s less than 5% of the deficit we are facing, and it amounts to about 1% of the general fund budget. 

It’s time to get serious and make significant spending cuts.  Those who believe that the Legislative effort to permanently repeal the County Equalization Tax on property is a bad idea need to remember that if we had limited spending increases to the rate of growth in population and inflation, we would have a $500 million surplus right now.

Once again, it is over spending that has us in a serious deficit– not tax cuts.  In fact, the Governor herself declared during her campaign in 2002 that she would be okay with 10% budget cuts across the board to solve that year’s deficit.  Sounds good to me.

This is my new blog on my new campaign website.  I’m very excited about my re-election campaign in 2008.  I hope you will return here frequently for updates on what is happening in the Legislature and on the campaign trail.

If you’d like to get involved or receive my e-newsletter, please be sure to sign up on the front page.

All the best.  –Sam Crump