Two Weeks - By Mark R. Kerr

According to reports in and on the corporate hack media outlets, Arizona’s share of the stimulus funding, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), is in the mail (with the letter allegedly sent on Mar. 5 but not received and posted on recovery.gov) headed to the Grand Canyon State.

Arizona’s Department of Transportation Board approved a laundry list of projects, 41, to improve Arizona’s roads and bridges, eight of these were located in Southern Arizona, reported the Tucson Citizen.

Paul Senseman, the accidental Governor, Republican Jan Brewer’s, spokes-flunky said in an interview that the state could see the effects by this Summer.

In an interview with the ASU Web Devil newspaper, Arizona’s School Superintendent, Republican Tom Horne, said that his department expects to get more than a billion dollars alone from (ARRA), despite the fact the figures from the stimulus package show Arizona getting more than just $800,000,000 for everything, according to recovery.gov.

Recently, the accidental Republican Governor has blathered on about not taking part of the stimulus funding for unemployment benefits, just like Republican Governors “Kenneth the Page” Jindal of Louisiana, Texas Governor “Good Hair” Perry, Utah’s Governor Jon Hunstman, or Mississippi’s Republican mushmouth Governor, Haley Barbour.

A small problem with that “Pachyderm Political Play,” according to recovery.gov, they’ve filed their ARRA initial certification or other such documentation to receive funding and in Mississippi’s case, the Legislature overruled Governor Mushmouth.

As of press time and as previously reported, under Section 1607 of ARRA, in order for a state to receive funds from the ARRA, governors have till Friday, April 3, to certify in a letter that they will first of all "request and use" funds from the ARRA and second of all, use them to create jobs and promote economic growth.

For other ARRA funding, such as for transportation projects, under Section’s 1201 and 1511 of ARRA must be filed and the state is one of thirteen who hasn’t filed the initial certification or any other such documentation to receive one dime of ARRA!

In previous comments, Brewer said she’d consult with Legislative Leaders, the Republicans on whether to accept the money and if so, how to use it. This coming from an elected official who wants to hold a special election, at taxpayer expense, to raise the state sales tax rate because Arizona’s Republican-led Legislature won’t face the reality of the times and the needs of the state.

Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature could do the right thing and actually lead and certifying those two conditions itself, as ARRA states:

“ACCEPTANCE BY STATE LEGISLATURE - If funds provided to any State in any division of this Act are not accepted for use by the Governor, then acceptance by the State legislature, by means of the adoption of a concurrent resolution, shall be sufficient to provide funding to such State.”

Whom are we kidding since that won’t happen because the Republican-controlled Legislature is more concerned about: what is discussed between a woman and her medical provider; pigs and dogs fighting in a ring; telling others, such as the City of Tucson, how to run their affairs; making more cuts in the state budget and not in the financial needs of the state, something ARRA would help, by creating jobs, increasing the sales tax revenue, decreasing foreclosures and improving the financial circumstances that government in this state relies on.

So it is back to Brewer and the letter. At a press conference, House Minority Leader David Lujan, a Phoenix Democrat, said applying for the funding is "a very simple process,” adding "it comes down to what we value as a state," he said.

Lujan’s remark is telling since it raises the question of the Arizona Republican’s values and whether they have any to lead this state, especially during these times.