The 2014 AZ Gubernatorial race (Phoenix: apartment, student loans, employment)

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by kytoaz

So investing in education is a deal breaker for you?

We've "invested" record amounts in education since the creation of the Department of Education but skills are going down. Throwing more money at the problem isn't going to solve the issue. The education system, like all others, is beholden to special interests. Let's just go back to the basics. The generations that came before mine had less bells and whistles and they turned out better than my generation.

[that412]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

The generations that came before mine had less bells and whistles and they turned out better than my generation.

They also lived in a time where you could roll out of bed with next to no education and get an unskilled labor job and within ten years be set up comfortably for life.

[Hschlick84]

Hate to bring this up but we elected a 'moderate' Democrat governor Hickenlooper in 2010 for Colorado, and look where it got us into. Be careful what you wish for. As a future resident in 15 months, I hope the same thing doesn't happen in the fine state of AZ.

Barry Hess would be a good candidate to vote for, but not sure what he stands for. Doug Ducey looks ok.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

Hate to bring this up but we elected a 'moderate' Democrat governor Hickenlooper in 2010 for Colorado, and look where it got us.

Boatloads of cash from pot tax?

[Hschlick84]

Nope, not that. The tax revenue is helping the state.

The gun controls, magazine bans more than 15 rounds, granting Nathan Dunlap clemency, bad mouthing the rural areas by calling them backward thinkers. Hickenlooper is anti-marijuana and says its a bad experiment. He's a weak leader overall.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by kytoaz

So investing in education is a deal breaker for you?

If the government is involved, and tax money is being used to "invest" (and I use that term very loosely) in education, then yes, any candidate who wants to throw more of my money away into that enormous black hole known as the public school system will lose my vote. Anybody who wants to invest in education is free to do so, but they should use their own sources to pay for it ... not other people's tax money!

Originally Posted by thinkalot

Spending on education will always be a sore spot with voters in Arizona, since the court has ruled illegals have a right to an education, the number of separate districts, Spanish centric anything, and many other reasons.

The funny thing is that practically every ballot proposition in which more money would be allocated to schools has passed with the majority of voters. But look at the results. In 2000, the public voted to raise sales taxes to fund education. Guess where the extra money went: administration ... not to the classrooms. People keep saying we need to fund education more, but we have already allocated a vast majority of the state budget as well as property taxes & other taxes to public schools, and nothing has improved. Throwing more money at the beast doesn't solve anything, and we have the proof of that, but the liberals just don't seem to comprehend.

Originally Posted by Bondurant

We've "invested" record amounts in education since the creation of the Department of Education but skills are going down. Throwing more money at the problem isn't going to solve the issue. The education system, like all others, is beholden to special interests. Let's just go back to the basics. The generations that came before mine had less bells and whistles and they turned out better than my generation.

Absolutely! I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Potential_Landlord]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

Hate to bring this up but we elected a 'moderate' Democrat governor Hickenlooper in 2010 for Colorado, and look where it got us into. Be careful what you wish for. As a future resident in 15 months, I hope the same thing doesn't happen in the fine state of AZ.

Barry Hess would be a good candidate to vote for, but not sure what he stands for. Doug Ducey looks ok.

This has no meaning for AZ as the legislature will be a big GOP majority. We need a Democrat Governor to balance this somewhat out. In CO the legislature and governor are both DEM-(majority). Look what we got here in AZ when the governor does not stop our extremist legislature enough.

[Jaggy001]

I'm not wild about Ducey or DuVal. They both look like insiders to me who will further their own and their party's interests before those of AZ. I am actually leaning towards voting for Hess.

Absolutely agree with Valley Native on education. Throwing good money after bad isn't the solution. We need to take a fresh look as to why the public school system is so bad.

[Ponderosa]

Either way we end up with a better governor than we now have. I don't know where Ducey really stands because he ran to the right to win the primary but his entire education and career suggest he is a centrist - very much like Romney in 2012. Republicans have to act a fool to win primaries. DuVal did not have a primary opponent but his background suggests he is a solid centrist as well. Watching the debates on TV, neither of them has a viable plan for what ails us. Both recognize that we need to get the AZ economy back on track, but neither actually knows how to accomplish that.

The greatest threat to Arizona is the legislature that is out of touch with the voters. I doubt either of them is going to tolerate the shenanigans from the legislature that we have seen under Brewer. Ducey knows how badly our image hurts business. I will probably vote for DuVal though. He will certainly not put up with it and the legislature won't let him go crazy with spending. It's a standoff that has always worked well in Arizona.

[kytoaz]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

If the government is involved, and tax money is being used to "invest" (and I use that term very loosely) in education, then yes, any candidate who wants to throw more of my money away into that enormous black hole known as the public school system will lose my vote. Anybody who wants to invest in education is free to do so, but they should use their own sources to pay for it ... not other people's tax money!



The funny thing is that practically every ballot proposition in which more money would be allocated to schools has passed with the majority of voters. But look at the results. In 2000, the public voted to raise sales taxes to fund education. Guess where the extra money went: administration ... not to the classrooms. People keep saying we need to fund education more, but we have already allocated a vast majority of the state budget as well as property taxes & other taxes to public schools, and nothing has improved. Throwing more money at the beast doesn't solve anything, and we have the proof of that, but the liberals just don't seem to comprehend.



Absolutely! I couldn't have said it better myself.

I know three school teachers, two of whom live in studio apartments, who can barely survive on a teachers salary in Arizona. It seems foolish to think we can attract more good people to teach our youth while they have to live on the poverty line while doing so.