1/9/2010 6:57:00 PM Editorial: State of the State: Tough times for Brewer
It has been a rough year for Jan Brewer. She gained the governor's office she long coveted but only just in time to hit an economic hurricane. After years of being a pitbull for Republican causes, she promptly received the cold shoulder from GOP legislators when she begged unpopular decisions from them.
Now Gov. Brewer is set to make another State of the State address four times this week. If it is not obvious by now, the State of the State is not pretty. In fact, it is repulsive. So the governor's speech has even more importance now than it did a year ago, and that is significant.
Any impact on Brewer's political future aside, she must not be afraid to be unloved and attacked. Last year, when she spelled out a plan to fight the deficit she dealt in theories, gently. This year, she has the deplorable facts in black-and-white, facts about what happens when cutting funds is the only strategy employed by a legislature.
The people of Arizona have begun to feel those facts, and Brewer must connect the action-reaction dots for them. She can say, "I told you so." She can explain why Arizona has out-spent its revenues for five of the past eight years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. She can explain how ongoing budgeting maneuvers have built only a house of cards for the state economy.
As long as lawmakers - and their constituents - think gutting education and destroying the state parks system are better economic strategies than a 1-cent rise in the state sales tax, Arizona will slide backward in programs and services. This week, the governor has her best chance to explain that, as ruthlessly as possible.
Last year, Brewer tried to play the good cop. This year, she has to play the bad cop. That portends yet another rough year for the governor, and possibly her last.
