Thank You Dan Schweiker

As Scottsdale voters were preparing to vote on city council candidates during the 2012 election the Arizona Republic rightfully called businesswoman and preservationist Virginia Korte one of the finest, most qualified people to seek the job. Korte is now the Vice Mayor of Scottsdale. Such plaudits are appropriate for her friend, just across a town boundary, Paradise Valley Town Councilman … Read More

Republicans and Blacks

By Thomas Sowell Recently former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice added her voice to those who have long been urging the Republican Party to reach out to black voters. Not only is that long overdue, what is also long overdue is putting some time — and, above all, some serious thought — into how to go about doing it. Too … Read More

Rebuilding Detroit, One House at a Time, to Create Homes for Writers

From the New York Times: The message implicit in the prizewinning documentaries “Detropia” and “Searching for Sugar Man,” in Detroit’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2013 — in even a casual drive along Gratiot Avenue, past mile after mile of burned-out or boarded-up houses and stores — is that Detroit is in a pitiable state. Yet when Toby Barlow reflects on … Read More

Saving Scottsdale

By David N. Smith. 2014 Candidate for Scottsdale City Council Dear Friends… Last week, I became involved in a citizen initiative to save Scottsdale…pretty exciting stuff! What it really involved was appealing to the Scottsdale City Council not to sell the historic little church building that now functions as the Community Design Studio.   You see, the city has a … Read More

Phoenix Mayor Stanton Gets It. Big Apple Mayor Doesn’t

Broader school choice is as inevitable as the great civil rights fights before it. Individual battles may be lost along the way but history’s tide unquestionably flows in its direction. Most Democrats have yet to realize this. They are exemplified by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the blunt instrument of unions always seeking self-interest over student achievement. Data, … Read More

City of Peoria Taking Dead Aim At Glendale’s Westgate

A new type of urban warfare among Valley cities is upon us. And it is taking place in the West Valley. There, the City of Peoria has announced plans to greatly expand its commercial core around the Peoria Sports Complex, with the unquestioned intent of seizing spending from the current entertainment epicenter just down the 101 at Westgate. If successful, … Read More

Freedom vs. Free Stuff

Forget those foolish people who parrot the line that there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. There is. There is an even greater difference between conservatives and liberals. The challenge for conservatives is that they want to give people liberty, which is often the freedom to go get your own stuff without interference, and liberals want to simply give … Read More

Paradise Valley: Honoring The #1 Job of Government

During a heated 2012 campaign between Scott Lemarr and Maria Syms to be Paradise Valley’s Mayor a well-known couple was murdered in the province. It shocked the Valley. Around that time too were a rash of burglaries in the northern part of the community. While Mayor Lemarr won re-election there was undoubtedly nervousness in the town. But he acted. And … Read More