My Turn – District 7 Senate Primary

As a legislator, integrity means acting upon and voting according to the values and principles voters expected when they cast their ballot for me. By supporting bills and crafting budgets that restrain government, restore individual rights, protect the most vulnerable, stop illegal immigration (including SB 1070), oppose unconstitutional Federal mandates, and support accountability, standards and choice in education – I have proven to consistently and effectively represent my constituents.

Experience alone shouldn’t be the reason voters return any lawmaker to office – but it matters.

Government, by its very nature, increases and expands.  Revolving lawmakers must figure out how agencies and their funding schemes work, often missing critical opportunities to substantially change them. Restructuring government is a tedious process, but it must be done.  I am prepared to continue this work while promoting a business-friendly tax environment to create jobs.  [Read more]

AZ Republic endorses Barto for Senate

Barto well-spoken and gets the job done

Ray Barnes and Nancy Barto have spots in any legislative trivia contest. Barto replaced the first legislator to be removed from office for Clean Election violations. Barnes suffered a heart attack on the House floor, his life saved by an intern who knew CPR.

Now the two District 7 representatives are facing off in the district’s Senate Republican primary, along with two other candidates. This isn’t a race pitting a moderate against a conservative. Both are solid conservatives. The choice for voters comes down to style and effectiveness. [Read more]

Gun laws criminals love to ignore

Restrictive gun laws imply we’re more worried about lawful citizens carrying guns than criminals.   After all – who actually obeys these laws?

- that’s why the Arizona Legislature restored “constitutional carry” rights and passed several other pro-2nd amendment bills this session. 

Click to see a brief synopsis of bills passed this session, including SB 1108, eliminating the government-required CCW permit to carry a weapon openly in Arizona (where legal to do so, of course).

Some argued removing the training and CCW permit requirement to openly carry would result in anarchy and mayhem but Prof. John Lott’s work and a recent MSNBC report (from SAF.org), “More Guns, Less Crime”, disprove the notion that increased training  and permit requirements reduce mishaps and deter crime.   They do one thing very well, though - they deter lawful citizens from carrying a weapon and defending themselves, which increases crime. [Read more]

Support for Arizona law reaches Congress

Citizens here and across America aren’t the only ones in support of Arizona’s SB 1070.  Count many in Congress, too. 

Read Congressman Trent Franks’ press briefing: 81 Members of Congress File ‘Friend of the Court’ Brief Supporting Arizona in US v. Arizona

Of course, now we’ve learned that U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton issued an injunction blocking major provisions of the law until the courts further deliberate. 

Read what’s blocked and what’s not in the Arizona Capitol Times report.  For the complete amended version of SB 1070, click  here.

The Obama administration brief argued that “a state may not establish its own immigration policy or enforce state laws in a manner that interferes with the federal immigration laws. The Constitution and the federal immigration laws do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.”

Funny – the Feds don’t seem to find cities, like San Francisco that blatantly violate federal immigration laws  problematic – only states that try to enforce them!  [Read more]

Balancing egg donation and infertility treatment