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Cherny: Gratitude must be earned, governor

Posted on 04/22/2011 @ 06:09 PM

Next year, we will celebrate Arizona’s centennial and honor the brave, bold, visionary leaders—Democrats and Republicans—who took a desert and made it a vibrant home for millions. That is our legacy of leadership. On the other hand, The Arizona Republic’s editorial board saw fit today to take me to task for not saying “thank you” to Governor Brewer for vetoing a bill to demand President Obama’s birth certificate (“Dems pick up where GOP extremists left off,” April 22, 2011). Have we truly come to expect so little of our leaders that we now should be grateful to them for not enshrining a fringe conspiracy theory into state law?

I believe that public officials should clear a little bit higher bar before I need to rush out and buy them a thank you note. I am, despite The Republic’s assertion, far from “graceless.” My mother raised me right. I’d be much more than happy to say thank you to Governor Brewer, Senate President Russell Pearce, and the other Republicans who now control every aspect of Arizona state government. In fact, I’d even throw in flowers. If it’s my gratitude that they’re after, here’s some of what they could have done over the past few months and years to earn it:

• After five years of the worst job loss in Arizona history, they could have taken a single, solitary action that would help businesses create, not shed, jobs—and a lobbyist-sponsored giveaway that takes effect three years from now doesn’t count.

• They could have listened to business leaders like former Intel CEO Craig Barrett and invested in our schools instead of slashing public education and they could have funded it by collecting some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes owed, but not paid, by our biggest corporations.

• With Phoenix facing the highest property crime rates in America, they might have not forced our local governments to take cops off our streets.

• When our hospitals and doctors offered ways to avoid massive cuts to health care, they could have worked with them instead of eliminating tens of thousands of jobs and overcrowding our hospital emergency rooms.

• They could have reformed government to make it work better and waste less instead authorizing runaway spending that imposed more debt on my children than in all the rest of Arizona’s history combined.

• When Russell Pearce had a virulently racist letter read on the floor of our state legislature, even one single Republican in high office could have had the courage to stand up and denounce him.

If Governor Brewer and The Republic believe that vetoing nutty mutterings while raising taxes on the middle class, selling off our State Capitol to Wall Street, and failing to help small businesses means that I should show my appreciation, they’ll have to keep waiting. I’m sorry if it makes me seem an ingrate, but I think we should start expecting more from our leaders.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to lead Arizona Democrats toward becoming a mainstream, big tent party that works with Democrats, independents, and fed-up Republicans who want a stronger economy, safer streets, and better schools. The contrast between our agenda and approach and that of the Russell Pearce Republicans couldn’t be clearer. Our ideas—from reforming public education to fiscal responsibility to helping entrepreneurs create jobs—show our credibility and our seriousness. We don’t ask for a thank you note, but hope to earn Arizonans’ trust come Election Day.

Andrei Cherny, a business consultant and former Arizona Assistant Attorney General, is the Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.