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Aug 20, 2010

Campaign Watch: Brewer caught padding her resume with federal funding, projects

Last week, we put Gov. Jan Brewer on notice about using federal stimulus projects to pad her lackluster resume on jobs and the economy. She already has a well-established pattern of bashing the feds but taking credit for federal efforts to help create jobs and stabilize Arizona’s schools, industries and workers.

In the last nine days, Brewer has tried to do this at least five times -- and she's hoping nobody will notice. Most recently was on Thursday at the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce luncheon, where Brewer listed several companies that are coming to Arizona, but she failed to disclose which ones were coming as a result of federal help such as stimulus tax credits.

Brewer's press-releases use the same strategy. Here is a sample of headlines from the past nine days:

Aug. 11
Headline: “Governor Jan Brewer and City of Surprise Welcome Rioglass Solar to Arizona”
Not even mentioned in release: Rioglass Solar received $10.6 million in federal stimulus tax credits to locate its facility in Surprise.

Aug. 16
Headline: “Governor Jan Brewer Announces Energy Innovation Grants”
Buried at end of release: The grants are funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). (Pssst, ARRA is the federal stimulus program).

Aug. 17
Headline: “Governor Jan Brewer Announces Success in Obtaining College Access Challenge Grant to Aid Low-Income Students”
Barely noted in release: The program (CACG) is a federally funded formula grant.

Aug. 17
Headline: “Governor Jan Brewer Hails Success in Securing Funding for Arizona Forest Restoration Initiative”
Sort of noted in release: The $2 million in funding comes from the U.S. Forest Service. (yep, they’re the feds.)

"Jan Brewer is trying to have it both ways by bashing the feds when it helps her politically but taking credit for any help they send to Arizona," said Luis Heredia, Arizona Democratic Party executive director. "Arizona families need jobs, not a marketing campaign."

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