Written by In a “gotcha” article from the Tucson Weekly, they try to portray CD8 candidate Jesse Kelly’s stand on limited government as hypocrisy based on the fact that his father bids on and is awarded government contracts.
The Weekly seems to be perfectly OK with a congresswoman working for a large federal grant for the city streetcar (outside of her district) while the city leases her family’s land. But I digress.
Espresso Pundit figured he’d see Nintzel’s bet and raise it by one pinata party on Jesse. We can have our opinions on the motivation for the story, but they kind of missed a point: what is the role of government?
The Kelly family construction business is involved in infrastructure projects, from what the articles state. You know, the kinds of projects governments do. This, of course, is equated to the level of criminal behavior by the Tucson Weekly.
So then the question gets back to “what is the government supposed to be doing?” Infrastructure seems to fit in that category of what they are supposed to be doing. I mean, wasn’t government inattention to infrastructure widely criticized in the wake of the bridge collapse tragedy in Minnesota several years ago? So should we let our infrastructure crumble?
Now as for other government activities lately: Building civilian cars? Providing free rent to restaurants? Subsidizing solar energy? Running a health care system? Extending the free public school system to K-16? Some people think these are also the role of government. They are the ones who are likely to be losing a lot of elections come this Fall. But there’s your point: what is a proper function of government? That’s the issue that is completely overlooked in this tempest.
Patterson is a ‘Paton guy’, as I see it. But he is usually more honest than this.
Isn’t the bigger issue the fact that Don Kelly construction received all this stimulus money, and that a lot of Jesse’s campaign contributions come from his dad and various employees? Couldn’t that stimulus money easily be laundered through payroll straight to his campaign?
You are going to see more of this. Various components of the “big red machine” are going to trash Kelly on behalf of Paton. The same will occur as Hayworth challenges McCain.
Some of the Hayworth bashing has already started at Sonoran Alliance.
‘Question’; you could try to imply all kinds of stuff or start any number of rumors if you are in to that kind of stuff. I really dont know why you would want to though unless you have something concrete, or maybe if one wants to say whatever it takes to get your guy/gal elected.
x4mr, you are correct.
I’m not a fan of all this double-speak. Is he opposed to government spending or not? Is he opposed to stimulus or not? Is he opposed to earmarks or not? I’m finding this hard to follow… Jesse also trashes Randy Graf in another item. And why does he keep saying “I don’t have a clue.” Is he even a Republican?
SITTING OUT THE PRIMARIES
Republican Jesse Kelly, who hopes to unseat Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in November, first has to get through a four-man primary that includes state Sen. Jonathan Paton and political newcomers Brian Miller and Andy Goss.
But if Kelly votes in the August GOP primary, it will be the first time he’s ever cast a vote in anything other than a general election in Pima County.
Kelly has only voted in three general elections, in November 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Kelly only recently registered as a Republican, but as an independent, he could have voted in primaries if he had wanted to. But he says none of the candidates on primary ballots measured up to his standards.
“I get out there to vote when I find someone who excites me to vote,” Kelly says.
Kelly chuckles when asked if Republican Randy Graf, the conservative firebrand who was on the primary ballot in Congressional District 8 in both 2004 and 2006, was just not exciting enough for him.
“Yeah,” he says.
Kelly also sat out bond elections and the 2006 Regional Transportation Authority election that established a half-cent sales tax in Pima County for roads and public transit. Why didn’t he vote?
“I don’t have any clue,” Kelly says. “I don’t remember why I sat that one out.”
x4mr – Last time I checked Jim Nintzel was not part of the “big red machine.”
Bidding on government projects may be typical protocol in the construction industry. That is NOT the issue here. The issue is the hypocrisy in Jesse’s rhetoric vs. his actions and his lack of candor. He should not be coming out so emphatically against Giffords’s stimulus vote, saying that the stimulus vote is what motivated him to run for Congress (which I read on a blog post), when his family is substantially benefiting from stimulus dollars.
So, Jesse was FOR the Stimulus before he was AGAINST it… OK. There was no “swinging” by anybody, merely a statement of facts. Jesse and his family are feeding at the stimulus trough, but Jesse says the Stimulus is wrong… FOR EVERYONE ELSE!
(Do as I say, people; don’t worry about what I’m doing!)
But hey, if he and his family can score a few cool million bucks and help roll that money nto a congressional campaign, well, what the heck? He, like so many other politicians, is banking that the “rubes” (we the people) won’t be able to see past our disgust with incumbents and give him a pass.
The dude has got to look in a mirror at some point. Good Lord! Can’t he (and the folks still standing by him) see how this is going to used to destroy him by the Giffords campaign and the Democrats?!
This is unaceptable!!! PERIOD!
“I don’t believe in a government that protects us from ourselves.”
Ronald Reagan
The American Form of Government
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXTiMLSYXF0
Wow……you people are way off base. So, he is suppose to quit his job since the company he works for received stimulus money they did not ask for? Last I checked…..any infastructure project is awarded via an open public bidding process. I agree that government should be limited but government does have a proper function in some cases and infastructure is one of those functions. Do we want government employees building our infastructure or a private company that employees people and saves money.
I guess next time no company should build infastructure and will wait for the magic government wand to go “poof” and make it appear.
Paton’s lap dogs will have to do better than this to hide his vote for then Gov. Napalitano’s budget that has bankrupted this state.
Andrew – why are you attacking Paton when the story revolves around Kelly? We are all just seeking information here. We are still getting to know Kelly and it’s important to have reporters do their due diligence in finding out more about him and sharing that information with voters. They have been doing that with Paton for years.
Rumour has it that Kelly is pulling out of the race.
Blah, quit spreading lies. Paton wishes.
And KK, the espresso pundit story that “revolves around Kelly” was written by Paton’s BFF. This has nothing to do with reporters doing their due diligence. It’s a smear attempt at Kelly and a weak one at that as pointed out by Chambeau.
What I don’t understand is the cognitive dissonance. Making a living off of earmarks and infrastructure projects, and then bashing earmark spending in order to get elected. Being bankrolled by family and co-workers who get their money from Stimulus bills, and then railing against the stimulus.
Jesse Kelly is a hypocrite in my book. The definition of it. And if I’m wrong then he’s just plain ignorant. I don’t want to hire either to represent me in Washington.
I still don’t understand. So does Jesse now SUPPORT the stimulus?? The original post by Ro Chambeau seems to defend the stimulus.
First, I don’t support the stimulus. In fact, that and a few other key votes have made Giffords vulnerable. And I’m not plugging for any CD8 candidate. I’m not set on my vote until I get my ballot. That’s the nice thing about a primary, you get to know who you are selecting.
If you, or a newspaper, are going to smash Kelly for his father’s business with the government, then, I think, that the Giffords land deal downtown is certainly fair game. Particularly in light of the streetcar grant.
Is Jesse hypcritical in his comment? Should only “big government proponents” bid on government contracts? Should government stop doing any infrastructure work? If government curtails spending and cuts taxes, will the private sector recover faster? You sort those out and get back to me.
Now we know the Weekly’s threshold of newsworthiness, we’ll have to see how equally that is applied. Will they report on all simlar issues with that depth?
About government spending in general I’ll say this: I’d rather spend a dollar on infrastructure than a dollar subsidizing somebody else’s electricity bill because they have solar panels on their roof. I’d rather spend a dollar fixing a crumbling pipeline than buy someone’s food who can afford what most view as extras. All other things being equal.
It’s the same at the city level, if I have to pay for a city service, I’d prefer it be public safety or road maintenance/improvement rather than paying a restaurant’s rent. The things government is supposed to do, it SHOULD do and do them efficiently. The priorities here and nationally have gotten really screwed up. The $200M on Rio Nuevo and the $150 now on the streetcar…$350M. Will that be worth it?
You can get pros and cons on any of the candidates if you look hard enough but any of them would be an improvement on the representative we’ve got now. I hope in the primary scrum we don’t lose sight of that. No matter what the Weekly would like us to do in terms of a 2006 repeat.
Now I understand those “who is jesse kelly?’” bumperstickers. He’s the guy that’s both for and against the stimulus package. He’s against it unless he’s got a piece of it. What a guy!
Well, if he reads this he knows there is an issue he’s getting pounded on and he knows there are a lot of commenters harping on it.
I’ll say it again, you can list pros and cons of any candidate and then you vote.
I’ve also hear Jesse is pulling out of the race, as he should. Folks listen, when you TAKE stimulus money you can’t run an ANTI stimulus campagin against Gabi, I dislike her as much as anyone but she’s very smart. If Republicans are onto Jesse’s stimulus scam I’m sure she is too.
Look guys the ad writes itsefl! “Jesse was for the stimulus before he was against it”
I’ll vote republican no matter what, but Jesse CANNOT win against gabi, not after this
I hear it’s the other way around Ted. Paton is thinking of staying in the senate to finish out his full term because it is embarrassing for him to see first hand how poorly his campaign is going in CD 8.
To all you Kelly defenders:
Imagine, just for a moment, that Gifford’s family company was receiving millions in stimulus dollars. We would all be losing our collective pundit minds.
Paint it anyway you want, the story stinks. And, Andrew, to say that the Kelly family company received stimulus dollars that they “didn’t ask for”? Please! I agree with K.K…sounds like more of “Do what I say, not as I do” politico-speak to me.
X4mer is correct about the attacks on Kelly. Kelly needs to keep moving forward, getting endorsements, raising money, and bringing out voters.
BUT …did you all see the story about how the GOP is trying to shut out the portions of the tea party from this race? They want to keep independents from voting in THEIR primary. I wonder why? Huh? For people like McCain? Paton?
Paton supported the stimulus money coming to Arizona in his votes in the Senate. Am I wrong?
It has nothing to do with Tea Party, kral. It was voted on by the state party in February. A lot of people think that it is wrong for outsiders to pick our candidates.
Your blog is definitely a breath of fresh air in comparison to the typical rubbish I read on solar power. There’s a lot of frauds out there. Thank you for helping me out.