Has Barber decided to ignore progressives?

by

by David Safier

I got Ron Barber's constituent campaign newsletter yesterday [Note: I mistakenly called the email a "constituent newsletter" when in fact it was a campaign newsletter. I regret the error]. Very nice. Very bland. Very incomplete.

The first heading is BIG VOTES IN CONGRESS. Listed are his votes for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill and against subsidies for the oil industry. Also mentioned is an amendment he offered to help homeless veterans. Not mentioned are his votes for waiving environmental protections at the border or for the civil contempt measure aimed at Attorney General Holder.

I guess the game plan is to ignore the concerns of progressive Democrats, make it through the primary against Matt Heinz, then get progressives to vote for him in the general because it's either Ron or Martha McSally. And the strategy may work. But it doesn't instill much confidence out here in activist land.

Another vote that went unmentioned was an amendment that would close the Essential Air Service program,

. . . which subsidizes daily commercial flights to more than 120 smaller cities and rural outposts nationwide. The amendment sought to shift the program's $114 million fiscal 2013 appropriation to deficit reduction.

Barber voted for the amendment to close the program along with Franks, Quayle, Schweikert and Flake. Voting no were Pastor, Grijalva and Gosar.

I've never heard of the issue before, so I won't comment on which was the better vote. But I do know Barber was one of only 9 Democrats voting for the amendment, while 74 Republicans joined Grijalva, Pastor and the remainder of the Democrats voting no.

Discover more from Blog for Arizona

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

7 thoughts on “Has Barber decided to ignore progressives?”

  1. Ron barber did not deserve to serve out Gabby’s term. He was in recovery himself and only did four hours of work a week. The rest of her staff worked their tails off last year. Do they get a seat in congress?

  2. Progressives should be jumping out of their skins regarding this primary. I totally get and support the idea of Ron serving out the remainder of Gabby’s term. It was the right thing to happen. But a new term in a newly drawn district is an entirely different matter, and it’s offensive that the establishment Dems would step on the promising careers of three good people (Farley and Aboud, in addition to Heinz) by putting their thumbs on the scale to tilt the election in favor of a Blue Dog.

  3. Is Ron Barber the best non-Latino congressmember the Democrats can elect? Maybe that says something about Arizona and Barber’s perception of the voters.

    Or maybe it says something about Arizona Democrats.

    There is an alternative in the primary.

  4. I will vote for any candidate wise enough to see the practical sense in FairTax (H.R. 25 and S. 13); Grijalva spouts the ignorant line that implies FairTax is not progressive and I do not yet know where Barber is on the important matter. Everyone agrees we need basic tax reform, but who is so out of touch as to think Congress foxes have the courage to give up their power to control the people’s henhouse through the income tax legislation? That is not going to happen! So we need the FairTax, a consumption or sales tax that replaces IRS terrorism and inefficiency altogether. No one spending less than $30,000/year is taxed on necessities, but EVERYONE else pays their fair share. Presidential candidate Gary Johnson understands and endorses FairTax; it’s time for all of us to Google him and fairtaxnation(dot)com; this is the way to make a good difference THIS election cycle.

  5. Here is a link to wiki on the Essential Air Service. This is a subsidy that maybe pushing the boundary of fairness. Goser voted “yea” because all the airports in Arizona that get this government assistance are in Northern Arizona. I’m interested to see how Ron will vote on the Farm Subsidy which is one of the biggest cooperate welfare checks written by Congress.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_Air_Service

  7. The answer to your question is: YES, he’s ignoring progressives.

    Re: the Essential Air Service Program, that is a terrible vote by Barber. The Tucson airport isn’t tiny like the Benson airport (also in his district), but it is definitely a smaller airport. Tucson needs better air transportation to compete economically. That’s a vote AGAINST economic development.

Comments are closed.