Non Socialist

The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity is joining the National Tea Party Protest Day this Friday (July 17) with protests at the local offices of key members of Arizona’s Congressional delegation.

The leftists in Congress are twisting arms right now, trying to complete the national government’s takeover of American health care. The same folks who have taken over private banks and the auto industry now want to take over even more of the health care sector. The same folks who make you wait in line at the Post Office want to create a system in which you will have to wait weeks, months, or even years for life-saving or life-improving medical services.

Some of the central planners in Washington want to give government the power to say which doctors you can go to, and which medical procedures you can and can’t have. President Obama is not sure whether the government should have allowed his own grandmother to get a hip replacement. Imagine how Washington bureaucrats will treat OUR grandmothers!

We must take a stand NOW to protect elderly patients, to maintain the high quality of health services in America, and to preserve the essential doctor-patient relationship. Government has already distorted US health insurance markets by making private health insurance too expensive for many Americans, and by making American workers dependent upon on employer-provided insurance. But if you think things are bad now, wait until government completes its takeover of the medical sector. We must STOP the relentless march of socialist medicine!

Here in Arizona, it appears that U.S. Reps. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Pima County), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Prescott/Flagstaff) and Harry Mitchell (D-Scottsdale/Tempe) are not hell-bent on creating a single-payer, Canadian-style system of government-directed health care. But they are under intense pressure from President Obama and their hard-left colleagues in Congress. We need to give them some grassroots pressure in the direction of freedom!

In MARICOPA COUNTY, protesters will meet at the office of U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, at 7201 East Camelback Road, Suite 335, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (on the SE corner of Scottsdale Road and Camelback) on Friday, July 17, from 9 to 10 a.m. Please bring protest signs and water. AFP Arizona will bring literature, as well as iced coffee and doughnuts. For more info about the Harry Mitchell event, contact Tom Jenney at tjenney@afphq.org.

In TUCSON, members of the Tucson Tea Party will protest outside of the office of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, on the southwest corner of Swan and Pima, on Friday, July 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. The Tucson Tea Party org suggests that everyone wear red. For more info on the Tucson event, contact Trent Humphries at tucsonteaparty@yahoo.com.

In PRESCOTT, members of the Prescott Tea Party will gather at the office of U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, at 240 South Montezuma, beginning at noon on Friday, July 17. They will walk over to the office of Sen. John McCain, at 122 North Cortez Street. The Prescott Tea Party suggests that protesters wear hospital gowns, nurses, scrubs, and/or lab coats (or just wear blue). For more info on the Prescott event, contact Mona Patton at prescottteaparty@gmail.com.

In SIERRA VISTA, members of the 912 Project of Cochise County will gather at the Sierra Vista office of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, at 77 Calle Portal, Suite B-160, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 17. For more info on the Sierra Vista event, contact 912projectcochisecounty@gmail.com.

IMMEDIATE ACTION: If you haven’t already done so, please go to JoinPatientsFirst.com and sign our Hands Off My Healthcare petition: http://joinpatientsfirst.com/

Also: This week, be sure to check out a new TV ad from Patients United Now, entitled “Shona.” It will air on a number of national cable news outlets, including Fox News, CNN, Headline News, MSNBC, and others. Shona Holmes, the subject of the commercial, is a Canadian citizen who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Under the Canadian government-run health care system, Shona was told she would have to wait six months to see a specialist, but her condition needed immediate treatment. She and her husband mortgaged their home and came to the United States to get the care she needed, which saved her life. Unfortunately, her story is one of so many in Canada and Great Britain in which those who are sick are not getting the care they need. You can watch the TV commercial online at www.patientsunitednow.org.

Finally, be sure to visit www.azhealthcarefreedom.com for more information about the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act, coming to the statewide ballot in November 2010.

For Liberty,

–Tom

Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
(Arizona Federation of Taxpayers)
www.aztaxpayers.org
tjenney@afphq.org
(602) 478-0146
http://www.afphq.org/071409-friday-health-care-tea-party-protests-scottsdale-tucson-and-prescott

Reverend Al Sharpton
106 West 145th Street
Harlem, New York City, New York 10039
Fax: 212 690 3070

Dear Reverend Sharpton:

I have read about you with much interest since learning of the protest you plan to lead against me in Maricopa County in June as a way to force my resignation or removal from office.

Your public proclamation leads me to the conclusion: not only do you not understand Arizona; you also do not understand democracy. As the elected Sheriff who, so far has been elected to five consecutive four-year terms, I answer to the four million residents of Maricopa County. I do not answer to the whims of the media, or locally and nationally elected officials who want open borders and who have their own agendas. Nor do I answer to a publicity hound outside interloper who has demonstrated no interest in looking for the truth before making loud uninformed noises.

While your public outcries are colorful, there are several instances where you have inserted yourself into other people’s affairs without knowing any of the facts. Poor judgment has caused you plenty of trouble in the past and promises to do so again. Most earnest people want to learn by their mistakes. You seem to glory in repeating them.

I would like to help you avoid further embarrassment by assisting in your understanding of the illegal immigration problem here in my county. When and if you do make the trip here, I invite you to call me to talk about these false allegations.

We can discuss how my deputies are extensively trained by the federal government to properly combat illegal immigration and how the laws of this state allow this Sheriff’s Office to question and investigate the immigration status of those people deputies detain in the course of our everyday law enforcement duties.

Don’t make the same mistake made by the four Democratic Congressmen calling for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of this office. They and other politicians relied solely on media reports and anti-law enforcement handouts that are replete with inaccuracies. They have brainwashed a handful of local residents to believe these lies. Rest assured that the men and women of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office do not racially profile anyone.

However, we do enforce the state and federal illegal immigration laws. And we will continue to do so as long as these laws are on the books. You can parachute into town, stomp your feet up and down and hold more press conferences against me — that is a hallmark of democracy too — but you will not stop me, nor slow me down for one second, from doing what is right.

Before you bring your circus to town and take to our streets by marching against this Sheriff, let’s get you fully informed for a change. Congressman John Conyers did not have the courtesy to respond to my invitation to visit with me personally. I hope you will consider my invitation. Surely, a man like yourself — a reverend — who famously preaches from the church pulpit understands the infinite wisdome of these words: You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Let’s talk about the truth, Reverend. I await your response.

Sincerely,

(signature)

Joe Arpaio
Sheriff, Maricopa County