Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's fact-twisting and fear-mongering continued this week as she repeated her unfounded claims about beheadings and violence in Arizona. Why call for a boycott when Brewer does such a great job of scaring people away all by herself? Her reckless comments are hurting Arizona's tourism industry and economy. The Washington Post's Dana Milbank writes:
The Arizona governor, seemingly determined to repel every last tourist dollar from her pariah state, has sounded a new alarm about border violence. "Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded," she announced on local television.
[...]
But those in fear of losing parts north of the neckline can relax. There's not a follicle of evidence to support Brewer's claim.
[...]
Brewer also recently claimed that "the majority" of people immigrating illegally "are coming here and they're bringing drugs, and they're doing drop houses and they're extorting people and they're terrorizing the families. That is the truth." No, Governor Brewer, it isn't. The Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has apprehended more than 170,000 undocumented immigrants since Oct. 1, but only about 1,100 drug prosecutions have been filed in Arizona in that time.
Here's even more of the truth: Arizona has a net loss of 98,900 jobs since Brewer took the reins as governor in January 2009. She has no credible plan for Arizona's economic recovery. Our unelected governor has turned SB1070 into a never-ending publicity campaign to further her political career - and it's costing our state untold amounts of money.
Brewer's primary opponent, Republican Buz Mills, announced Tuesday he will drop out of the governor's race in Arizona. In his statement, Mills said:
"SB1070 has regrettably taken the focus off of job creation and fixing the state budget."
Mills was the wrong candidate to lead Arizona into the future, but his statement got something right: The solutions Arizona needs have been hijacked by our extremist Legislature and unelected governor.
Mills' exit means the general election effectively starts today. Attorney General Terry Goddard is the only candidate in the race with the experience, leadership and integrity to fix the problems facing Arizona. He is the only candidate who can stop lawmakers like state Sen. Russell Pearce -- who has known connections to hate groups -- from pushing more extremist bills through the Legislature. Brewer will sign anything Pearce puts on her desk. In other words, Goddard is the last exit before Crazy Town.
Jan Brewer is now the only thing standing in the way of electing a real leader. Arizona can't afford to go down that road. We've paid too high a price already.