While in no way surprised at the recent findings of the Fiesta Bowl investigation, I am infuriated, as we all should be. Apparently, this is becoming par for the course for the Republican leadership in our state. All Arizona Republicans should be embarrassed by the inexcusable ethical shortcomings of our leaders who claim to be the purveyors and bastions of the very morality they themselves lack. Ethics are not something that can effectively be applied on a situation by situation basis. The argument in defense of President Clinton by his supporters during his impeachment was that, what he does in his personal life has no bearing in how he acts in his professional life. The naiveté of this statement is tragic, yet it absolutely pervades our culture. It is long past time to admit that most simply apply their ethical standards to those with whom they disagree or dislike. If it is someone that supports our political ideology we turn a blind eye. We go on the attack of the accuser. This is not a problem that any single political party is privy to; it saturates both sides of the aisle.   The problem we face is not systemic in nature, it is cultural. 

"Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.  He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." - Samuel Adams 

We participate in a republic that places the responsibility of selecting our leaders squarely on our shoulders, thus we have no one to blame but ourselves. We have sat idly by, defending the indefensible as long as the person agrees with our stance on immigration or the economy, or we become silent. We castigate the accusers of those we support, without diligently and honestly looking at the evidence. I am not talking about making a mistake, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. No, I speak more to a lack of accountability and repentance when mistakes are made and to a consistent pattern of questionable behavior over a legitimate period of time. 

Truthfully, the names we see coming out of the investigation should surprise none of us. Do your own research.  Beyond the individual patterns of ethical shortcomings, there is an indisputable culture of selective application of conservative values. Over the past year I have repeated ad nausea that the problems we face are not political in nature, they are cultural. Over the next days and months you will hear the usual defenses. “Everyone is doing it.” “This is just a witch hunt.” ”They told me it was o. k.” “She grabbed the gun out of my glove compartment, but I didn’t think that was important enough to tell the police.” Excuse after excuse, reason after reason, with very little personal accountability. While each is responsible for his or her own choices, make no mistake, these people have been the enabled. Our party has treated those with severe ethical flaws as heroes, emboldening them in their behavior. 

Until we hold our leaders to a higher regard, not based on whether or not they agree with us, we will continue to have to defend their actions.   The tragedy is that their actions are doing great damage to our cause. They give credence to our opponents’ arguments and it takes up precious energy and resources. Hypocrites cannot inspire, they cannot motivate, and they most certainly cannot further our conservative ideology to any reasonable degree for an extended period of time. When you claim the moral high ground you must hold yourself to a higher standard, because you represent the cause. It ceases to simply be about you and becomes about the masses you represent. We are all muddied by the unethical behavior of those we support, that is just the way it is. 

The fact is our audience is not the 15% of the culture that agrees with us, or the 15% that is on the other end of the spectrum. It is the 70% of those that are the undecided. It is those who see all sides of the issue, the independents (not necessarily the political party) who agree with some of our issues and not others. I believe that those are the people that don’t have to necessarily agree with us, they simply want to know that they can trust us. But trust is earned through behavior and integrity over an extended period of time. By gaining their trust, we earn their vote and thus are elected to positions that allow us to further our Republican values.

In 1981, President Reagan broke the air traffic controllers union. In 1984, he won the single most lopsided presidential election in history. He carried forty-nine of fifty states, 525 of a possible 538 electoral votes (97%) and nearly 59% of the popular vote. To say that he did so because everyone agreed with him would be naive. People voted for him in such large numbers because they trusted him. He was a man of character; not selectively, but universally. Simply applying Reagan’s policies are not enough, if it was that simple we would have seen numerous Reagans since. What made Reagan unique was his character and character cannot be impersonated through policy replication.

I am quite curious to see where this issue takes us. Will we continue down a path of enablement, or will we finally see the damage that our political leaders’ ethical shortcomings do to our party? Will we continue with the status quo because we are so engrossed emotionally with platform issues that we cannot clearly see that the damage caused by the unethical actions of these leaders outweighs the positives of their policies? There are people out there who can be both ethical and champions of the conservative cause. Are we going to raise them up, holding the Republican Party to a higher regard or continue to blindly follow the egos of the status quo? For the fate of our Republic, I pray that you decide the former rather than the latter.

On this most special of days, the day we celebrate the declaration of our freedom from England, I ask that we give pause and answer the question, why do we fight? Is it simply to defend our Constitution? A noble cause indeed, for without it, our government would have the ability to infringe upon the very freedoms it swears to protect. However, it is still simply a piece of paper.

In today's culture, many of the more "enlightened" minds of our time believe that the Constitution is an outdated prescription. A set of rules that had a place in a culture far less intellectually able to comprehend the future evolution of the human species. In short, we have developed intellectually to such a degree, that the paper of the Constitution must evolve and change making it a living, breathing document. The truth is, I wish it were so. I wish that we in our humanity had the ability to learn from past mistakes, to grow to such a degree that we could achieve a universal utopia. Unfortunately, those with this view have a sad ignorance both of world history, human nature, and the very real existence of evil. So while the Constitution is of the utmost importance to us as Americans, what is far more important, what gives it its true power, is the source from which it came.

Our Constitution is simply a byproduct of something far greater and until we realize as a culture that we must return to a time beyond our founding so that we can understand its purpose, we will continue to fall short in returning American to her former glory.

Our freedom is not the result of our Constitution, our Constitution is the result of our freedom, a freedom that can only be afforded to us by our Creator. If we try to use our laws to implement our morality, we will forever fall short, as is evidenced by the last fifty years. Without leadership that truly acknowledges as Thomas Jefferson did that we are a people that needs, "... the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence and our riper years with His wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join in supplications with me that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures that whatsoever they do shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations," then we are truly a lost nation.

When we fight for the Constitution, it is as if we are a physician that is trying to treat the symptoms of a disease and not the cause.

So on this most sacred of days in our country's lore, let us remember to focus on the true meaning of the United States of America. Let us take this day to ask ourselves the true purpose of the fight in which we engage. We stand on the precipice of not just losing the single greatest bastion of freedom the world has ever known, but we live under the threat of losing it because we have lost sight of why we fight. We fight for the byproduct and not the cause. We must fight to return our land to a country that fully and wholeheartedly acknowledges the need of our Sovereign Lord and His son Jesus Christ and until our leaders turn and lead us down this road, we will be a shell of what our God intended.

God bless you and yours on this unique day in all of history. A day that commemorates that all men are endowed by their Creator, not by their Constitution or any laws of man, with certain unalienable rights, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness!

In His Service and Yours,

Brett M Petillo

Institutional politics. It is a term that I have just heard recently and as I go through the process of the campaign, I am beginning to garner a greater understanding of how exactly it plays a role and the damage it has done to our government. Now, to be fair, we the electorate have no one to blame but ourselves. Our malaise and failure to engage over the past decades has allowed these institutional politicians (and I mean not only the elected representatives, but the small minority of overzealous that work behind the scenes as well) to really subvert the will of the people. Let me explain.

You see, due to the overabundance of type “A” controlling personalities on both sides of the aisle, there has accumulated over a period of decades an obscene amount of technicalities. A simple example of this is something that I personally, and apparently at least three other candidates in a neighboring district, experienced just a couple of weeks ago. There is a statute in place that allows anyone to challenge the qualifying petition signatures that candidates must submit in order to qualify for the ballot. Now a challenge isn’t just simply filing a form, you have to actually file a lawsuit in the county court system, thus not only causing court costs, but the individual must now defend themselves and incur the costs of that defense. It is an important and necessary part of the process used to prevent fraud. Apparently, there are some unethical people out there that would forge signatures, go figure. As with any well intended government statute, this is all on the up and up until institutional politicians figured out that it can now be wielded as a threat, both idle and acted upon, to other candidates to “thin the herd” and eliminate competition. 

The truth is, no matter how legitimate the collection of signatures is, they can be disqualified for a number of reasons, not just falsification. Someone might sign on the wrong line, they might not have changed their address yet, the name is not legible, etc. You see now you get into the question of the importance of intent and process. In my case, I personally collected over 90% of my signatures by going door to door in my district for months. I know where they came from as did those that threatened to challenge me. My integrity was never once questioned; it was this small group of institutional politicians (5-20 people at the most in a district of 71,000 registered Republicans) that took it upon themselves to “thin the herd”, their words, not mine. While I am sure that the majority of those involved with the potential challenge were well intentioned and earnest in their attempt to do what was in their minds right, their threat of a challenge to me was not about the integrity of the process, it was about their opinion of the race.  The result would have been how they inadvertently were going to use a a well intended statute to deny you the people of the opportunity to choose the candidate you prefer, only after allowing the democratic process we have established to play out. I am the only candidate in our particular race that has real world experience and has not been a part of the institution and you would have unfortunately been denied that debate. Now, obviously as I write this I am still calling myself a candidate, so cooler heads prevailed and for that I am most thankful, but this caused me to take a hard look at our process, now as an insider.

You must ask yourself, which is more important, the process or the result? In our culture today we pick and choose, to suit in our own self interests, when the Darwinian model of survival of the fittest is appropriate and when it is unfair. Many of you might be saying, hey you do what you have to do to win. Fair enough, but I would argue that when we take that approach we feed the institutional beast and we abandon our intellectual honesty and integrity. You don’t believe me? How many of you were outraged about how Obamacare passed?  I know I was. You know what bothered me the most? The use of a parliamentary gimmick called the Slaughter Rule (which dramatically lowered the required number of votes for passage) and a slew of backdoor deals. Everything from money to the life of the unborn, were bartered to garner votes and eventually pass the most overreaching government intrusion in history. The life of the unborn was nothing more than a chip on the table!  Yet the day after it passed many called it a victory. Regardless of whether or not you liked the bill, they got the win and apparently, somewhere in our convoluted system of laws, technicalities made all of the deals legal and the overwhelming will of the people could do nothing about it. That should scare us all, yet according to institutional politicians that was acceptable. Make no mistake, I guarantee you, to a person, those who wanted to challenge my petitions were furious at how Obamacare was pushed through, by way of the Slaughter Rule and pay-offs, yet, whether realized or not, some were more than willing to do the exact same thing because it benefitted their world view. The integrity of the process must be paramount! Institutional politicians are using the “rules” to control our lives and we all as God fearing Americans should be outraged. This is what our system has become, all the way from Washington to here in LD-22. 

Just because we can, does not mean we should. Don’t let fear and the naysayer of this world press their insecurities on you. We can win the day and honor the integrity of the process, it is not an either/or proposition, it is an and/both.  This battle, on most levels, is not right versus left, Republican versus Democrat. The institutional politician is alive and well on both sides of the aisle, the question becomes what are we the people going to do about it? Are we going to sit idly by watching our flat screens and posting on Facebook while the institutional minority manipulates our lives? Or are you going to stand with me in the face of what seems like an unstoppable force, as our founders stood up to the British, and say the manipulation of our system stops, starting right now. My friends, process and purpose is every bit, if not more, important than the result. I believe we can have both, but I can only do that with your help. God Bless!

In His Service and Yours,

Brett M Petillo

Who can stand against the Federal Governments of these two nations profiting by lax border security and illegal immigration enforcement, and who can stand up for the citizens of Arizona?  Our state can.  And I, as a state legislator hopeful, stand ready to learn the issues well enough to propose Arizona State legislative action to protect us.

I have begun to educate myself by collecting many facts about the immigration policy and border security.  I am sharing with you my first installment of facts and history so that you too may be better informed and better prepared to lend your support to those who propose realistic solutions. Real problems demand real answers and with wisdom and guidance from our Creator and sincere men and women, that is what I intend to achieve.  Please acquaint yourself with the facts that will help us transition from an emotional response to fact based legislation.

Immigration is far from being an isolated issue. It is an issue that, regardless of what side of the debate you fall, becomes extremely convoluted by special interests, each manipulating statistics to further their own agenda. Neither side is free from blame. But in truth, these special interests more than likely fall on the outskirts of the general populace and are far more the exception than the rule. They simply make the loudest arguments. To achieve any sort of real change and consensus, we must remove our personal biases from the equation and speak in truth, not in an attempt to prove our own agenda, but in the best interests of our society as a whole. Tough questions must be asked, light shed on darkness. Personal accountability on the part of not only the government, but the individual is a must. I have no interest in getting bogged down in semantics. 

Facts

·         Approximately 75% of illegal workers, contrary to popular belief, are paid above board and are subject to the same tax system that any other employee is subject to. These taxes are withheld and paid by the employer.[1] Thus, illegal workers are in fact a revenue stream to governments at both the state and local levels in an amount between $7.5 and $9 billion per year between Social Security and Medicare. This creates a major problem when trying to get the government to earnestly secure our border when by doing so they will shut off a revenue stream that they will never have to pay back.

·         As of 2003, $10.8 billion dollars was being sent back to Mexico by immigrants here in the United States. This, at that time, was the second largest source of income behind oil exports.[2] The illegal drug trade from Mexico to the United States is between $15-25 billion per year.[3] According to World Bank, Mexico's GDP is approximately $1 trillion.[4] In 2009, this number shrank by 6.8% which was the worst decrease in over thirty years, catastrophic by many standards.[5] That being said, money being sent back by immigrants and the drug trade make up between 2.5% and 3.5% of Mexico's GDP. Removing these dollars would result in between a 36.7% and 52.2% increase in the GDP reduction. If 6.8% is considered a catastrophe, the 9-10+% would be crippling. The bottom line, the Mexican government has no vested interest in assisting the United States in securing its borders, in fact they would prefer they stay at the status quo.

·         Employers in the United States are manipulating illegal immigrants. Using fear tactics to pay repressed wages, avoid workman's comp claims, no discrimination lawsuits, no vacation pay, etc. Feeding off of the fear created by the knowledge that illegal immigrants have no rights and have very limited means by which they can support themselves and family. This creates a modern day slave trade.[6]

·         The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (signed on February 2, 1848) paid Mexico $15 million and established the current Mexican/ American border. This gave the United States of America the right to establish laws by which the U. S. citizens and any who cross their border must abide. The moment anyone, regardless of reason, does not follow proper procedure in crossing said border they are in violation of U. S. Code Title 8, Section 1325, and are committing an illegal act.[7]

·         A wide open border is a contributing factor that Arizona has the second highest number of kidnappings in the world, second only to Mexico City.[8]

·         In March, 2005 FBI Director Robert Meuller told the House Appropriations Subcommittee that individuals from known Al Queda connections are changing their Islamic surnames and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish, and pretending to be Hispanic immigrants.[9]

·         According to a report from the U. S. Joint Forces Command, Mexico is at risk of a rapid and sudden collapse.[10] This is a danger to the United States in general and more specifically to the state of Arizona.

·         The Iranian backed terrorist group Hezbollah is using Mexican drug routes to get into the United States.[11]

·         In early 2009, Al Queda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi was seen on video explaining how they could exploit our southern border. He stated, “Four pounds of anthrax- in a suitcase this big- carried by a fighter through the tunnels of Mexico into the U. S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread into population centers there...”[12]

Summary

“A country that cannot control its borders really isn't a country anymore.”

Ronald Reagan, 40^th President of the United States of America

We have a problem on our southernmost border. Illegal immigration is only a piece to the puzzle. Both the Mexican and American governments are culpable in the mess we find ourselves today. Truth be told, we can no longer trust them. Their own special interests have evidently made it impossible to do what is actually right and proper for the citizens of each country. They are neglecting their duty to be sure, but that does not excuse Arizona for neglecting ours. This is not just about immigration, this is every bit as much about protection, if not more. The surplus of undocumented, thus illegal, immigrants is simply a symptom of the greater problem, unsecured borders.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are more than 500,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona.[13] According to the U. S. Census Bureau there are 6.5 million people in the state.[14] In other words, 7.7% of our population is in violation of U. S. law. This is not disputable. What is disputable, however is what to do with them. We have already shown the culpability of not only the governments of both countries, but the employers who manipulate the system. This does not however excuse the reality that these people have in fact broken the law and according to said law, there are various punishments that can be passed down. Further, the question must be asked, if someone is willing to disregard one law for their own best interest, would they be likely to do the same when presented with a different difficult situation? It is a slippery slope to begin picking and choosing which laws we are going to enforce, a decision that no society can allow to be made on an individual level. Inevitably, this will lead to chaos.

As shown above, we have a drug problem in America being supported in large part by the Mexican drug cartels. A border fence would go a long way in disrupting this output. For those that argue the drugs would simply begin to be made here in the U. S., I simply say, better here where our law enforcement have the tools necessary to combat such endeavors than in Mexico where the government either doesn't have the will or ability to.

There are people in this world that want to kill American citizens simply for being American citizens. Although, many here at home have managed to forget the magnitude of 9/11, we cannot. This is in no way to be an alarmist, as evidenced above, it is simply a fact that those who wish us harm will manipulate any weakness that we have, in this case a porous border, to accomplish their goals. This is not a time to let economics and greed override the constitutional mandate for the Federal government to protect its citizenry. We must have a secure border and if the Federal government refuses to do its job, then so be it, we will do it in spite of them. 

Plan

For numerous reasons we need to secure our border. The questions are:

•         How do we build a wall and what does that look like?

•         How and what do we do with the illegal/undocumented that are already here?

•         How can we support the Mexican citizens in fixing their problems at home?

What does the wall look like? There are many options out there and I am open to all ideas. But it must encompass the entire Arizona border and it must be done in the most cost effective manner possible. It has been suggested that we look into Israel's border and the system that they use. I have also heard the idea of building two walls. One at the border, 150 yard buffer zone and then another. The point is that it must be done and it must be real. No gimmicks. 

So who is going to build it? I believe that this can also address the undocumented migrants in Arizona today. Though various means (pay-stubs, proof of residence, etc.), illegal individuals must prove that they have been Arizona residents for a certain period of time, that they have not broken any other laws and that they are supporting their dependents properly through maintaining their education and well being. Those heads of household that can prove these things will be eligible to become laborers on the project. They will be paid a livable wage (including room and board on-site) commensurate with their experience and their work ethic, but far below the current wage rates. This accomplishes two goals. First, it dramatically lowers the construction costs and second it allows the individual to pay retribution for violating the laws and sovereignty of the United States. In the evenings, they will attend classes in which they will learn English and American history. Their room, board and education expenses will be deducted from their wages. Their dependents will be allowed to stay in their current situation and as long as the participation requirements are being met, this will remain so. The workers will be allowed to return home on the weekends (perhaps even working four, ten hour days in lieu of five eights) to take care of their duties as the head of their households. Upon completion of the project, the workers and their dependents will receive their work visas, allowing them to continue employment, legally in the United States.  These people can never, under any circumstances become United States citizens.

Anyone who does not initially qualify for the program or fails to live up to the required standards will, along with their dependents be immediately returned to their country of origin. No exceptions. These will include any and all individuals in our state and federal penitentiaries. 

Any and all employers using illegal workers must and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Currently, 24 states have economic development offices in Mexico and of those only three (Arizona, Idaho, and Kentucky) do not have an office in Mexico City, a metropolis of 20 million people and the country's business hub.[15] Mexico is our southern neighbor, it only makes sense that by expanding our business ties there, we can accomplish several goals. First, we can open up a nation with the world's 13^th largest economy to the export of goods produced right here in Arizona. We can work out employment agreements, helping both nations. By becoming partners, we can gain a greater influence with the people of Mexico, facilitating their ability to clean up the challenges that they face in their homeland which necessitate them crossing our borders for a better life. Perhaps we can gain a greater influence with the government of Mexico, working in unison to fight the illegal drug trades that are ravaging both countries, while concurrently preventing the incursion of terrorists that threaten the stability of the United States, which by default threatens the stability of Mexico. These are just some of the plethora of possibilities that could come to pass if we set out a long term relationship building strategy with Mexico.

Conclusion

What we have are two distinct issues that overlap. The first is border security and the second is immigration. Both the Mexican and American governments have a multi-billion dollar incentive to not secure our borders. As a state, we cannot allow the allure of money and those corrupted by it, to manipulate and endanger the citizens we have been given the duty to protect. The border must be secured once and for all.

Immigrants that cross the borders of the United States without moving through the proper procedures immediately violate the sovereignty of the U. S. and are in violation of law. However, we cannot deny the culpability of not only the employers here in America, but the governments of both countries. Further, we cannot deny the fact that we have not responded to the plight of so many millions of our neighbors. A plight that is so great that they are willing to risk their very lives in order to attain what America has to offer. Neither side is free from blame so we must step outside the box, intellectual honesty must prevail and we must implement strategies similar to those outlined above so that we can move forward not only as citizens of our respective countries, but brothers and sisters in humanity.

Leaders lead. They do not sit idly by while the people they have sworn to protect remain exposed, point fingers and for lack of a better term, whine while negligent government bureaucracies continue the inexcusable dereliction of their duty.  When you elect me to the Arizona House of Representatives, this will stop. I welcome the opportunity to work with all sides on these issues, but there is no more time to tolerate those who are either unwilling or simply incapable of moving forward. Whether they are paralyzed by fear, ignorance, partisan immaturity or just a defeatist mentality is not for me to decide. The people of Arizona deserve better and I will, by the Grace of God, give you better.

In His Service and Yours,

Brett M Petillo

All-
There has been an interesting bit of misinformation regarding my stance on Proposition 100.  Somehow, it has been making the rounds that I am in some way for Proposition 100, I was even called a traitor.  Well, for those who have been misinformed, please read below and watch the video of my talk by following the link at the bottom of the page.
 
I was asked, along with all of my fellow candidates, to take part in an event called a Pro- Education rally.  When I spoke to the event's coordinator, I was quite clear that I was against Proposition 100 and she said that she was inviting all of the candidates, both those for and against to have a balanced forum.  To this I enthusiastically agreed.  You see, it is easy to go to Tea Parties and Republican Meetings and share my views with those who share my general philosophy, but does that further the cause?  We are not going institute the change necessary by simply getting applauded by those that agree with us.  The only way to move our ideology forward is to go to the people who do not share it and attempt to counteract the misinformation that they have been receiving.  That is leadership.  In the end, I was mocked, laughed at, scorned and called a traitor in front of my wife and children, but to further the cause of our founders, I would do it again in a heart beat.  Last night I made more headway for our cause than any other candidate because I put my own personal comfort aside to address over 100 people that, if it was left up to my opponents, would have never even been addressed.  While many scoffed, many admired.  The handshakes that I received from those telling me that they respected me for standing up for what I believed in an arena that was not my own, on enemy turf, made explaining to my seven year old daughter why people were so mean to her daddy, all the easier.  I could tell her that for every five people that ridiculed at least one listened and in the end that was what mattered.  It wasn't about me, it was about America and Arizona.  What we experienced last night has been rampant in the legislature for at least a decade, that is why the state is in as poor shape as it is.  We give rallying speeches to our fans and stir it up on the floor, but we are ineffective in engaging the populace.  Our ideology appeals to the heart of every man, woman, and child because it was placed there by our Creator, but if we don't take the message to them, who will?  Christ didn't hang out with those who shared His ideology, He spent time with those that needed clarity.  He is the greatest example of leadership the world has ever known and though I will always fall short, He is the leader that I will forever emulate.
 
To view the video of my speech from last nights event:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN2KsJYvJgs
 
To see a copy of my outline with links to the statistics from the event:
 
http://servantleader.blogtownhall.com/
 
To get updated as we go become a fan on Facebook @ Brett Petillo for Arizona State Representative.
 
My fellow citizens, you have to make a decision, are you going to continue to support the same course of action that we have had over the past decade, or are you going stand side by side with someone who has the courage to take our message to places it otherwise would never go?
 
In His Service and Yours,
 
Brett M Petillo

“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?”[1]

Thomas Jefferson

As we watch our liberties incrementally be taken away by an ever dominant governing body, we do well to note, as Thomas Jefferson did, where exactly the origin of these liberties truly lies. Current President, then Senator Obama stated in a 2007 speech, "Whatever we once were, we're no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers."[2] Since no one can argue that any of these referenced faiths view morality, laws, penalties, etc. in the same way, if what President Obama says is true, we must take his statement through to its conclusion and address their ultimate ramifications.

It might surprise some of you that I happen to agree with our President's statement, but as to where he then takes his thought in the direction of moral relativism, I go in an entirely different direction altogether. You see, America, the institution, cannot be anything more than amoral, it is inanimate. It is a business model so to speak, the Constitution and Bill of Rights its employee manual, but when it comes to the integration and implementation of these processes it becomes a sum of its parts. If the parts are moral, the institution is moral, if the parts believe the end justifies the means, then that is who the institution is, and so on and so forth.

No rational being can argue that the original settlers of the United States were anything but overwhelmingly Christian. For example, the Mayflower Compact, which John Adams and many historians point to as the foundation for the U. S. Constitution over 150 years later, stated in part, "Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia."[3] When creating the compact, the signers believed that, "...covenants were not only to be honored between God and man, but between each other." Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson, the man who actually penned the misunderstood statement, "...building a wall of separation between church and state,"[4]not in the Constitution but in a letter to Baptist ministers, closed his 1805 inaugural address with these words.  "I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications, that he will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do, shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations."[5] According to these and innumerable other examples, the Christian faith heavily influenced the infancy and riper years of this great country.

But for those who say that we evolved beyond such naive assumption as a dependence on a Supreme Creator, I must reference The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Written as the unofficial anthem of the Republic at the start of the Civil War, almost 200 years after the Mayflower Compact and over 70 years after the U. S. Constitution, its words leave no doubt as to the reason behind the quest for the abolition of slavery. Succinctly, slavery had to be abolished because it was in direct contradiction to the tenets of the Christian faith. Slavery needed to be abolished to glorify the Lord. But don't take my word for it:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.[6]

Although ever so briefly when compared to the overwhelming evidence, we have now established that from approximately 1620 to 1865, the direction of the United States was heavily influenced by the teachings of the Christian Bible. But again we must ask, is the United States a Christian nation or have we evolved into something else? The fact is, there is no religious requirement to be an elected official of the U. S. Furthermore, the establishment clause is quite clear that the government cannot make laws respecting the establishment of any religion[7]. So by the inanimate corporate policies of the United States, we are not a Christian nation. But before you leave your scathing comments, follow me through to the conclusion. 

We are not a Christian nation, but we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people and as I stated above, any institution is simply a sum of its parts. I will take that a step further now and say that in a representative republic as we are, like it or not, your elected representatives are a reflection of you, a spokesperson if you will. While we are not, by letter of the law, a Christian nation, we are traditionally a Christian nation and for centuries our country reflected that. Our leaders, who implement our laws, used to be elected with this in mind, but the sad truth is Christians today have become negligent in their behavior at the ballot box. Church leadership has been neutered by the ridiculous 501c3 tax code, turning their back to a Scriptural mandate to lead their flock, giving it away in exchange for a tax break. The United States is the first country in the history of mankind in which Christians not only can, but for centuries did, use the Scriptures as their moral compass in shaping the direction of the country and God honored that. Christians have compromised Scriptural command for feeble excuses such as, "They are not one issue voters," or, "I separate my faith from my politics." Believe it or not, there are not many issues that I would say are clearly defined by the Scriptures. However, there are some; abortion, marriage, protection of the weak and the death penalty are a few that come to mind. But one must keep in mind, these are not requests of our Creator, but commands of our Creator. If you have the choice between someone who is for these and someone who is against, and you choose the one who is against, you are in direct disobedience of God. 

So, to answer the question, are we a Christian nation? As it stands today, no we are not. But traditionally we were and we can be again. We have turned our back on our Creator, placing hope in human beings and the comforts of this world.   We have put our trust in those who would prefer moral relativism, over obedience to the Being about whom Thomas Jefferson said, " ...in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power." As tools of our Creator, we can stand in this gap and He will heal our land, but those who call him Lord must shake of the apathy with which they are consumed. Each of us was created, the hair on our heads numbered, our names written on the palm of His hand, and placed in this very time, this very place. In a country unique in all of history, where we can use the resources of the most powerful country in the world to glorify our Creator far more by actions than by words. The liberties that we have are not something that we earn, or are endowed by man, but by our Creator. You will stand before Christ and when He asks, "I put you in a time and place where you had the freedom to influence in ways most people never dream, what did you do with it?" What will be your answer and what will you do with the liberties that you have been given?

In His Service and Yours,

Brett M Petillo

Tomorrow the United States House of Representatives is set to vote for the single greatest power grab not only in the history of our nation, but arguably, since the dawn of civilization. They are about to pass a law that will encompass at least 16% (in conservative estimates) of the U. S. economy. They are about to undertake the unprecedented feat of criminalizing a) individuals not having health insurance and b) employers not providing health insurance[1]. One company, Caterpillar, estimates that the new legislation will cost them at least $100 million[2] in the first year alone. The bill as it stands right now will use tax dollars to fund abortions[3] and the since there has been little time to analyze the bill as it undergoes changes, there is no way of knowing what the bill will actually cost[4]. The bill is such an abhorrent piece of legislation that the Democrats are being forced to make up rules as they go just to sneak it by the system of checks and balances, instituted by our founders through our Constitution, to protect the citizenry of the United States[5]. 

Of the 47 million uninsured in the United States 9.7 million are not citizens, at least 14 million are already eligible for other government programs, in 1997 17.6 million made over $50,000 per year (9.1 million over $75,000) and 18.3 million were under the age of 34, many simply choosing not to purchase health insurance[6]. I undersatnd that these numbers can be overwhelming, so where does that leave the number of uninsured? A 2003 Blue Cross Blue Shield study found that the actual number of long term uninsured that were too poor to purchase health insurance but made too much to qualify for government assistance was actually around...wait for it...8.2 million. Based on a population of approximately 300 million people, that means that our Democratically controlled Federal Government is undertaking  all of the above and more for 2% of our population. Make no mistake, this is not about taking care of the least fortunate, there are innumerable ways of accomplishing that goal without completely destroying the greatest healthcare system the world has ever known. No, it is unfortunately about something far more dire. It is simply about control. It is about a political ideologue's agenda that simply thinks the United States of America is a horrible place. It is about taking what has made us the envy of the world over for the better part of the last 234 years and scrapping it so that we can be controlled. The original tea party wasn't actually about the price of tea, it was about an over accumulation, a centralization if you will, of power. Bank bailouts, Wall Street bailouts, AIG, government takeover of Chrysler and General motors, Cap and Trade, crippling debt and attempt to take over 16% of our economy with one program all in the last 12 months, all in violation of our Constitution. These are simply the indisputable facts.

But fear not fellow citizens, our founders were truly the recipients of inspired wisdom. Article I, Section 8 of our great Constitution specifically lays out the twenty specific powers of the Federal Government[7] and the Tenth Amendment retains all other powers for the states and the people[8]. The challenge is whether or not our state will have the courage to simply exercise those rights. In all candor, our Attorney General Terry Goddard has been derelict in his duty as general counsel on behalf of the citizens of Arizona, but it isn't too late. Whether or not Attorney General Goddard fulfills his sworn duty to the citizens of Arizona, I will make you this promise.  When you elect me to the State House of Representatives, those who are negligent in their sworn, solemn duty to protect our citizens from an illegal attempt to shred our Constitution and forever change the country which I love, as God as my witness, they will be held accountable!

Tomorrow will hopefully bring the last of the tyrannical takeover of our healthcare system and more than 16% of our economy. But if it does not, please do not fret, the fight has only just begun and when you send me to the Legislature we will send a message to those who wish to remove the United States from the role of the exceptional. Every generation there are those who wish to snuff out the light of liberty, the beacon of hope that is the United States of America. A charge that was entrusted to our founders  by our Creator. And each time evil has reared its ugly head, normal every day men and women stepped up in extraordinary ways to keep this charge and thwart the aggression, turning back death at its door. This time shall be no different. We stand not at the dusk, but at the dawn. At the rise of the next great American generation. Arizona will return to the forefront as a bastion of Freedom and by the Grace of our Creator, we will lead the way in returning America to the greatness that makes us the exception, not the norm. God bless the citizens of Arizona and the United States of America!

In His Service and Yours,

Brett M Petillo

Now that the "temporary" sales tax is heading to the ballot, I think we must shine a light on the predicament we find ourselves in.

The legislature kept referring to it as a revenue increase as if they were rolling out some new product line that would increase sales.  Government of any kind, at any level, is not a revenue generator, they are overhead.  In life you have the revenue generators (in this particular equation, you and me) and then you have the corporate office (the government bureaucracy).  After closing my doors last year, I returned to work at a $1.2 billion per year company.  While as solid as any company could hope to be, they too were feeling the impacts of the current economic climate.  We had meeting after meeting about how we (the revenue generators) needed to increase our output to account for the decrease in revenue.  Concurrently, the non-revenue generating side of the business (which had increased dramatically in the economic boom of the previous years) magically never retracted.  You see, once a bureaucracy is in place it is near impossible to remove, it becomes an entitlement.  So to make up for it, the overhead, in a few short years going from non-existent to a necessity, now requires more output from those that remain.  Various portions of a bureaucracy that didn't even exist four or five years ago are now deemed too important to do without.  Between 2005 and 2010 our discretionary budget practically doubled and now, according to the legislature, it is our duty as citizens to get out and help pull the cart. 

Can anyone share with me what has changed so greatly between 2005 and 2010 that we would need to have twice the discretionary government expenditures?  I thought not.  Schools were open, criminals in jail, hospitals were treating patients.  You see, they added program, after program, bureaucratic layer, after bureaucratic layer....because they could, not because it was needed.  And now it is up to you and I to flip bill.  I am still looking into what percentage of the legislature was in place from 2004 to now as this obscene increase took place, but I can tell you for certain that most of the legislators who voted to send this out to a ballot were.

The fact is we have a representative republic and not a true democracy for a reason.  Everyday citizenry are too busy going about the job of being America and more specifically Arizona, to possibly grasp the details of a multi-billion dollar budget.  Our founders understood this, thus we elect representatives whose job it is to learn the budget (in this case) and make educated decisions based on the information that we first elect them and then pay them to understand.  If this is "beyond their pay scale", then in all candor they should respectfully step aside and give others a chance.  Here is the best part about sending the tax increase out to the masses.  It is a no lose scenario for the legislature.  If the public votes for it, then they cannot complain that they are overburdened through excessive taxation, it was their choice.  If they vote against it, the legislature can then make the necessary cuts and say it isn't their fault, they gave the people a chance and they chose not to have longer waiting times in the emergency rooms, overcrowded classrooms, criminals on the streets, or whatever other doomsday, melodramatic scenario they can come up with.

Governing is not easy.  It takes courage and intellectual honesty.  I am still waiting for just one of our representatives who were around from 2004 on to come out and say, you know what, we messed up and we are sorry.  We failed you.  We allowed the power to go to our heads and did not keep the spending within means as you, the people entrusted us to do.  If you choose to elect other leaders that are more responsible we understand, but until that time we will make the cuts necessary to bring the expenditures within the revenue and not lay the responsibility for our negligence at your feet.  We will suffer the consequences of our poor choices.

Leaders lead.  They make the tough decisions that are for the benefit of all whom they serve, not the special interests that line their coffers.  The State of Arizona must take measures to ensure that an irresponsible government can never again outspend their means.  We must pass legislation that simply states that the state cannot, under any circumstances, spend more than projected revenues and within ten years have a system in place that operates on revenues collected in lieu of revenues projected.  This will not be easy and it will not be painless, but I don't think the Revolution was without cost, nor the Civil War, in fact, I challenge anyone to show me with any consistency, when the right thing was the painless thing.  We have a long tradition here in America of people sacrificing, at times to the point of death, to do what is in the best interest of the country, even to their personal detriment.

We can turn this state around.  I believe in you, it's people and I believe in the system our founders established.  Together, we can stand in this gap and say, this lack of governance goes no further on our watch.  We will not sacrifice our children's future for special interest and lack of personal accountability.  Work hard, be responsible and you have a home here in Arizona with a government worthy of such great Americans.  A state that when times are tough, the citizens, not the government, will come up beside you and raise you up until you are able to stand on your own again.  However, freeload and look for handouts and there are forty-nine other states that I am sure would love to add you to their census numbers so they can receive more federal subsidies. 

God bless the United States of America and the citizens of Arizona, if there ever was a time that we needed the Grace of our Creator it is now.

In His Service and Yours,

Brett Petillo

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to those of you who took time out of your lives to talk with me at various times on Saturday, it was a true pleasure.  Over the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to speak with many people both within and without of the political system.  What amazes me is the contrast between the two.  Most who are within, tend to think someone like myself doesn't belong.  Those from without love the idea of supporting someone who understands what sacrifice means and lives his life in such a way.  Many of those from within want to tell me all that can't be done.  Those from without have hope that the system can be changed.  We can do this together.  Our founders were wise enough to understand that by constitutionally leaving the majority of power at the state level, if the state has the courage to exercise those rights.  To date, Arizona has not.  Very briefly let me list some of the points, in no particular order, at the forefront of my campaign.  Please keep in mind that at this point these are more broad than they will be, as the campaign progresses we will be sharpening each up with specifics as to what I intend to propose when I join the legislature.
 

• We need a comprehensive study of Federal Expenditures to determine the constitutionality of each and every one as laid out in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.  Once that report is complete, we must exert our Tenth Amendment rights.  I understand the magnitude of this and that there have been challenges before, but never before has our federal government been so derelict in their duties, placing burdens of debts upon our grandchidrens' grandchildren.  The most recent federal budget released today will triple the federal deficit in the next ten years and by the end of this decade we will be paying $800 billion in interest!!!  We must use the power of the state to remove the burden that is holding back the citizens of Arizona.
• Abortion is unacceptable unless it is an instance of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.  A state that does not defend the life of the mother is not a state in which I wish to live.
• We need a review of the Arizona Revised Statutes removing those that take governance to the level of micromanagement.  If you don't believe me please visit http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ArizonaRevisedStatutes.asp , our republican controlled legislature has proposed over 850 bills in this session alone.  My success at the capitol will be based on how many statutes I can get removed as opposed to how many I can add.
• We must address the "Voter Protection" act.  We have a representative republic and not a direct democracy for a reason.  It is up to the duly elected representatives to review revenue and set a budget to match.  It is simply a practical issue that 6 million Arizonans cannot possibly comprehend the intricacies of a multibillion dollar budget, that is the job of the Legislature and if they are not doing the job effectively, the people have the right to elect someone else.
• We have to recognize the need to create the best conditions for business in the United States.  We have to come out with programs that counteract all of the repressive federal government regulations and taxes.  We are in competition with not only the other forty-nine states, but with the rest of the world and we are woefully behind.
• We need to remove the state income tax and replace it with a flat sales tax.  This will base what you pay on what you spend as opposed to what you make, thus encouraging hard work.
• We must set and achieve the goal of making Arizona the number one state in terms of education in the country.  There are so many potential opportunities that I can't even begin to get specific here, but I will say that competition invariably produces results.
• We must secure our border.  In all candor, I tire of listening to this topic.  If the federal government chooses to be derelict in their duty than so be it, we will deal with it on a different front, but we cannot continue to use it as an excuse to be derelict of ours, the stakes are too great!
• We have to become more active in our own communities taking care of each other, so that people do not feel that their only option in times of personal distress is the government.  I am already talking with various faith based organizations to pool and focus their resources to do things within LD 22 such as set up multiple food stores that will provide the same services as food stamps, under similar requirements.  I do not know what these will look like in their final form, but over time, private programs like this will begin to eliminate the need of the government to provide what are real, necessary services, but services that the government is neither properly equipped nor constitutionally permitted to perform.
• On all of the above, we must be proactive as opposed to reactive, offensive verses defensive.  We must stop allowing our opposition to frame each important argument of our day.
  

The above are by no means an exhaustive list and as I stated earlier, the specifics will follow over the next months, but I think they will give you a good sense of what I stand for.  The task before us is not small, but nor was that which stood before our founders over 250 years ago.  As those before me, I have walked away from the comforts that this land has afforded me, so that those that come after me will be afforded those same opportunities.  For each of us, our sacrifice is different, none better nor worse, just different.  I have chosen to do this so that I might free those who would honor me with their support to go about and be America and Arizona.  Not the America of today, but the republic which our founders established by the grace of the Almighty.  I do not serve a God of impossibility, but of miracles and blessings. As the majority of those who sacrificed so much to establish this great land, I believe that He, as He has done throughout our history, will again grace us with His bounty, if we will have the courage to stand and say that this will go no further as long as I take a breath.
 
 
In His Service and Yours,
 
Brett M Petillo