LIGHTHOUSE BLOG

Grant Woods' Selection Is Bizarre Choice For Brewer

Perennial politician and current Governor, Jan Brewer, announced her intention today to seek a full term as governor in next year's election.

Brewer has had difficulty appealing to the fiscal hawks of her party, and, with the selection of Grant Woods as her campaign's co-chairman, probably sealed her fate as Arizona's first female Republican governor never elected to her own term.

Grant Woods garners little respect in the Republican Party, a party he has almost left on several occasions.  About being a Republican, Woods stated, "I'm trying to remember why I became a Republican in the first place."

Woods was also instrumental in making sure Matt Salmon was not elected governor, thus installing Janet Napolitano, which resulted in the major economic catastrophe Arizona finds itself in today.

Brewer made a major misstep here if she was trying to heal her party.  Instead she apparently is trying to ride the coattails of New York 23 congressional candidate Dede Scuzzafava.

Most of us will never forget...

 

Republic Comments on Senator Gorman Idiotic

The Arizona Republic chastised Arizona State Senator Pamela Gorman yesterday for failed leadership when she was Senate Majority Whip.  Yet not two sentences later, they chastise her for not "being a team player."  Huh?

A person who is a leader is by definition not a team player.  Leaders lead, followers are team players.  That the Republic doesn't get this is not surprising, but to be so obviously inept is embarrassing. 

The Republic, always in favor of liberal "ideals," more likely just wanted to throw a few arrows at Gorman because its writers don't understand principled leadership. 

Lighthouse Blog applauds the leadership or Senators Gorman, Gould & Crump for leading the charge against tax increases in the face of intense pressure from political lemmings.

Hypocrisy at Basha's?

Eddie Basha is running around the state begging Arizonan's to support his homegrown company.  The company has apparently been hit with hard times due to people no longer eating during the economic downturn.  Or it could be mismanagement, we're not sure. 

Many other business leaders, including Ira Fulton, whose company also filed for bankruptcy, are helping in the drive to keep Basha's alive.  The rallying cry is essentially, help your neighbor and save one of our own by shopping at the Arizona-based supermarket.

Today the Arizona Republic reported that Basha's has hired an ILLINOIS-based real estate company to help renegotiate it's leases at its supermarkets. Are there no Arizona-based real estate consultants?  So much for supporting Arizona based businesses.  This reeks of hypocrisy.

Pamela Gorman - Arizona's Sarah Palin?

State Senator Pamela Gorman seems to be caught in a Sarah Palin conundrum regarding the state budget - follow your conscience and do what's right for your constituents, and what they elected you to do, or bow to political pressure and be a party lemming.  Admirably, Gorman is standing up to the pressure, and refusing to agree to a tax increase.  Either way though, she will be chastised.

Senator Gorman showed similar Palin-like courage by resigning her post earlier this month as the Senate Majority Whip, as a matter of principle.  Principle is so rarely seen anymore, that political critics of both women have labeled them quitters and cowards.  Yet they simply do not, or chose to not, know these women.

Gorman and Palin seem to have many similarities, and it's a compliment to both.  Both are savvy politicians, conservative, very attractive, pro-life, successful career women, wives and mothers - the exact formula for eliciting extreme hatred from the vice-ridden left, and the confused middle.  Nothing is more evil, from he perspective of the left, than a pro-life mom with a successful career.   George Bush had it easy compared to what Sarah Plain has endured.

While I have disagreed with both women on a few issues in the past, I applaud the resolve of both.  In the face of intense scrutiny and pressure, both Palin and Gorman have proven that conscience, principle and character do matter. Kudos to them, and the people they serve.

Save the Phoenix Coyotes!!!

On the heals of a great Stanley Cup playoff, it has become apparent that Phoenix is indeed a hockey town.  More and more people are interested in hockey in Phoenix each year.

I have lived in a couple of great hockey towns - Detroit and Denver - and though Phoenix isn't quite yet in their caliber in terms of fan base, that will come with both time, and an owner who knows what he's doing.

The Coyotes have had difficulty in Phoenix due mostly to poor ownership decisions.  One major mistake was putting the arena in Glendale, far from the sports center of the metro area. 

Having the arena in Glendale cut our attendance in half, not so much because of the distance but because of the fact my kids are young and we couldn't watch a complete game AND drive home in any kind of reasonable time on a school night.  Though the arena will stay in Glendale, my kids will not stay young.  They watched the Red Wings lose last night, unfortunately, but were glued to the TV with interest in the game.  Up until the bankruptcy issue came about, we were already planning to attend more games next year.

Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the US, and can easily sustain a profitable hockey team given smart decisions from the owners.  We have lacked that heretofore.

I really hope the bankruptcy judge, and the NHL, will give Phoenix fans another chance to prove themselves, in Phoenix, under new ownership.  (Perhaps we need to do a white-out at the courthouse!?!?!)   In any case, we deserve a second chance, and so do the Coyotes!!!!!!

Obama Nominees: Ethnics Over Ethics?

Obama has yet another nonimation scandal on his hands.  One has to wonder whether, when he proclaimed ethics would lead his administration, he didn't mean ethnics.  By ethnics, I am not referring to race, but instead the liberal culture which is so often corrupted by power, influence, and a lack of values. So many of his appointees have had problems with the law, that one can't help but wonder about the derth of scandal free liberals.   Read story...

Banks Ignoring Short Sale Offers, or Exhibiting Extreme Incompetence

In the last several months, I have submitted four short sale offers to Citibank and Countrywide.  Despite having fax receipts, the banks claim they never received the documents, several times.  And on another occasion, Countrywide, having waited several months to review the documents, decided the documents were too old and needed to be re-created, including the offer itself.  Huh?

Citibank, for its part, completely ignored a short sale offer for nearly five months, at which time the buyers walked.   Two more short sale offers submitted to Citibank have not been responded to by the bank.  One of those buyers is about to walk away.

Countrywide has been sitting on an offer for nearly six months.  When I called the buyer's agent the other day to check in, the agent told me that the buyer was walking becuase the buyer beleived that the home's value had dropped below his offer price. 

On one of the many calls I placed to Citibank, where the documents, though sent three times, "had not been received," I asked if the documents could be emailed in.  The response was that documents could only be faxed.  When asked if I could communicate directly with the person in charge of that particular property, I was told no.  And on that same call, when asked what was the current status of the short sale, the phone representative said she "could not interpret the notes."  I asked the same representative just how I was supposed to get information if I couldn't speak to the person in charge of the account, and the representative couldn't interpret the notes.  She didn't know.

Early last year I had an opportunity to sell a few dozen builder properties for $.85 on the dollar.  The banks, not Citi or Countrywide in this case, would not go for the deal.  They later sold the same properties for much less. 

Working with Citibank and Countrywide has been a nightmare.  Neither bank appears interested in working with their mortgagees to keep their homes, and neither is willing to sell the properties to a buyer.  Yet the federal government has dumped billions into these banks.

It seems to me that if the economic downturn started in the housing market, then that's where the government should focus its attention.  President Bush was right when he said last fall that the feds have the patience to buy up properties, as it did with the Resolution Trust Corporation back in the '80s, and wait for the market to improve.  To date, I haven't seen the government doing that, despite the enormous success of the RTC program in terms of profit for taxpayes.

It don't know the exact solution, but it seems apparent that banks are working neither in thier own best interests, nor that of the taxpayers or homeowners.  The feds, for their part, seem to be focusing on sysmptooms of the housing mess, and not on the problem itself. 

In the meantime, lives are being destroyed.

American Made Auto Dealers Still Feel Entitled To American Buyers

Listening to KKNT this morning, I couldn't help but hear the ad from Tempe Lincoln Mercury, essentially claiming an entitlement to American buyers since they sell "American" cars.

Auto dealers, along with the automakers, apparently still don't get it.  Americans buy cars for a variety of reasons, but perhaps the most important are price, design, quality, and resale value.  Less important is the ethnicity of the automaker, as most buyers know that many "foreign" automakers build cars in America, and many "American" cars and parts are made oversees or in Mexico and Canada.

I grew up in Detroit, and in a Ford family, so when I went to go buy a pick up in 2005, I axiomatically went to a Ford dealer to look at the Ranger.  I had owned a Ranger STX years before, and was quite pleased with it.  Upon reviewing the Ranger line at the dealership, I discovered that Ford no longer made the high-end STX, but only made a less comfortable (seats) XLT.  And, that XLT was built on a ten year old chassis and design.  I left the dealership unexcited about buying a Ford Ranger, and having made the decision to look at other brands.

Among other vehicles I looked at, including the yawn-inspiring "American" brands, I decided to check out the all new, completely redesigned Toyota Tacoma.  The Tacoma, built in California, had a strong engine, great looks, awesome ergonomics, incredible features such as AC power in the pickup bed, comfortable seats, many compartments, 4 doors, built-in bed liner, great stereo, and came with many features included.  I was sold, and bought the vehicle.  Having owned two Ford Rangers in the past, and an F-150 pickup, I can honestly say the Tacoma was a much better vehicle, and, when it came time to get another vehicle, it held its value very well.

I now own a Toyota 4 Runner, and except for the pedals being a little too close together for my size 12 feet, I love the vehicle.  In fairness to Ford, I have owed two Explorers and a Mountaineer in the past that were also excellent vehicles.  However they did retain much value at trade-in time.

As a Detroit native, and fan of the auto industry, I'm a believer in the idea that Detroit needs a major shake-up.   Bankruptcy may in fact be the best thing that ever happens to the automakers, and will allow them to break the union stranglehold on innovation, production, and profitability. 

Whatever happens though, until the automakers compete on a wider range of buyers desires, beside brand ethnicity, many Americans will continue to buy cars from "foreign" automakers, myself included.

Brewer All Wrong On Tax Increases

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has expressed that Arizona may need to raise taxes to cover budget shortfalls. 

Imagine walking into your boss' office and saying, "Boss, I realize I only make $40k per year, and I knew that in advance, but I went ahead and bought a Porsche anyway, and need a raise to cover my screw up.  Fork it over."

Anyone want to guess how that conversation will turn out?

Yet that's what our new Governor is doing.  And while I agree she inherited this problem from our previous nightmare governor, and sometimes politically impotent legislature, she nonetheless should find ways to cut, re-cut, then re-cut one more time prior to holding out a tin cup.

We are in a recession, and never in the history of the world has a government taxed its people into prosperity.  Governor Brewer should remember that, and stick to her allegedly conservative principles.