I am so bummed about the propositions

[mrreowwr_kittty]

What were people thinking? Every one of the hateful, bigoted anti-immigrant measures passed by a wide margin. Prop 106, which would have conserved thousands of acres of precious landscape while raising badly needed funds for the schools failed. That horrible, horrible so-called eminent domain initiative. It could cost the state billions in claims from out-of-state speculators and will make it difficult for localities to plan communities and protect the environment. The anti-meth one. Treatment is far more effective than prison and taking discretion away from judges weakens one of the pillars of our democracy.

The bright spots are the marriage amendment being defeated and the minimum wage. But overall, I am very disappointed in many of my fellow Arizonans. :cry:

[noahmijo]

1. Me too but you know what nothing's going to change

These propositions are nothing but feel good propositions and really aren't going to impact any of the current practices or policies that are not aready in place in the state as it is.

Cheer up fellow zonian we trounced Graf, Janet's back, Hayworth got owned, we're the first state to reject gay marriage ban, min wage hike passed, and 204 (no more cruelty act) passed


:pals:

[lonestarnot]

3. That is some sweetness that would cheer anyone!

Thanks friend! :hug:

[lonestarnot]

2. Damn! I've been trying to find the results somewhere. They

passed the bait and switch eminent domain crap? People deceived once again! Where can I go to see the results?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. azsos.gov. Go to election results and you'll see the breakdown. n/t

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. Oh, and my candidate almost beat Huppenthal!

Donna got 48% of the vote!

[lonestarnot]

6. Damn you still have to live with Huppenthal?

I hate Arizona sometimes! Thanks for sharing the website for props.

[silverojo]

7. They weren't anti-IMMIGRANT measures

They were anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant measures. There's no bigotry in wanting laws enforced...on the news, it was said that 50% of Hispanic voters in AZ also voted for those measures. You can't say that Hispanics are bigoted against themselves, LOL.

Nor can you say that people here illegally have the "right" to education, etc., when they're not citizens. If a white, blonde, blue-eyed Swedish woman comes here illegally, she doesn't have citizens' "rights", either.

This isn't a race issue. It's a law issue. Mexicans and other Central Americans need to learn that they can't just jump ahead of all the people in line who are trying to become U.S. citizens. Nor should they expect U.S. citizens to learn their language; if every immigrant group did this, Americans could never communicate with each other.

I'm an open-minded person, who's very interested in other countries' languages and cultures (in fact, I rarely listen to music in English anymore). But when it comes to doing business...in most nations of the world, English is the second language because it's the language of commerce and the internet. If people who DON'T live here are willing to learn English, people who DO live here should realize the practical advantages of it. Stubbornly refusing to learn English only annoys American citizens and keeps those Hispanics from advancing to better-paying jobs.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

8. So let's get this straight

You support English as the official language proposition AND the one disallowing teaching English to undocumented residents? How pray tell would you have them learn English? Also, there was one that prohibits illegal immigrants from suing for damages. Unscrupulous employers in Arizona now need not fear lawsuits from unsafe working conditions. What is that but an incentive to hire illegals? Then there was one to deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with a felony. Okay, fair enough, but do you really think judges are so dumb that they don't already realize that they are a flight risk? Let's take more discretion away from our judges, why don't we. Always a good thing for democracy.

The fact is these props won't do a damn thing to control undocumented immigration. If you think someone is not going to jump the border looking for work because English is the official language and they can't sue for damages or get bail I've got some real nice beachfront property in the middle of the Grand Canyon that I'll let you have for a low, low, price. :eyes:

Notice how the one thing missing from the collection of initiatives was...ahem...employer sanctions. Why might that be? Hmmm....Maybe because the Chambers of Commerce wouldn't stand for it. AZ Speaker of the House Jim Weiers opposed requiring employers to use a simple data base to verify employment status. He said "I don't want to burden business."

I really wish people would do a little research and critical thinking about the consequences of these types of measures. Nobody is pro-illegal immigration. But some of us don't happen to think poor people should be persecuted and demonized while the REAL criminals, those who profit from the exploitation, get a free pass.

*edit to add* And bullshit on it not being a race issue. I don't know if you live in Arizona or not but I do and the hateful things coming out of people's mouths make that abundantly clear. Listen to some rightwing radio here sometime if you don't believe it.