SB1070 Update: Why do Brewer, Pearce hate Arizona’s economy?

by David Safier

Wasn't it bad enough, all their legislative attempts to completely cripple Arizona's economy in the short and long term? They had to add SB1070 to the mix?

In a best case scenario, Arizona has to climb out of a deep, deep economic hole. Nothing is ever "best case" with the Republicans in power, of course, the party that has never seen a tax break or a tax credit for big business and the wealthy it doesn't like.

But still, there's no reason to dig the hole any deeper by creating a craziest-in-the-country anti-immigrant bill. Yet that's exactly what they did.

Immediately, the bill created all kinds of official and unofficial boycotts across the country, making Arizona the U.S. equivalent of apartheid-era South Africa. Convention, concert, business and tourism dollars that would have been ours are staying away, costing us who knows how many millions.

Then, to make sure people who might decide to come to Arizona anyway change their minds, Brewer and Pearce made us sound like the crime capital of the world, when the fact is our crime rates have been falling steadily for years.

And now, a few articles are talking about how the possible Hispanic exodus from Arizona will further decimate our real estate markets.

Some illegal immigrants own homes. Others rent. If they leave, that puts houses and rental units on the market, helping to flood an already over-saturated real estate sector. And reports indicate legal Hispanic residents may be picking up and leaving as well, leaving more homes and apartments empty.

Of course, other potential home owners and real estate investors, seeing this trend, will predict further price declines and be even more wary about investing in Arizona housing. And so the cycle of foreclosures and plummeting prices feeds on itself.

Our ideologically driven Republicans should think about the consequences of their actions. They couldn't have picked a worse economic moment to chase people out of the state while discouraging others from coming in.