The bottom line is here's one governorship
that will NEVER go over to the democrats
this time around and anyone who's running
against her is committing political suicide.

I think its odd to complain about the general
state of parties - neither the democrats nor
the republicans are coherent - they are all
a mishmash of special interest group deals
that are now mostly at fundamental odds with
the needs of American citizens - especially
in the case of salary, which, in this case,
would be something I'd love to see copied
from this candidate into both parties.

Think its gonna happen?

SETH

I'm not saying that every politician is either rich or a career politician that can't do anything else, but I do believe that if we want top quality leadership, we should pay competitive wages.  If we expect to have governors with the types of skills to run a large complex state government, then $65K (even with the housing) is ridiculous.

To be honest, although we laugh because its a Republican complaining about it, this is really an issue that means as much if not more to us.  Republicans are more likely to come from the corporate sector where they either made a lot of money, or will get taken care of by their corporate "sponsors" when they get out of office.

If you want good government, you have to pay for it.

We're not talking about CEO compensation here.  Let's pay people vaguely what they're worth.  

Competitive to what?!? The Jones' with their half-million dollar house and an SUV they bought with their tax cut but now sits and rusts in their driveway because they thought they'd be the cat's ass -- the envy of town -- showing it off at the filling station and squirting $80 work of the required gas-a-ma-hawl it takes the fill the tank but instead got laughed at by the wage-earners driving Dodges and Saturn hatch backs who only drop $20?!? Fuck the Joneses and all those who stupidly try to compete with them in order to pretend to be something that they're not (and never will be). They are their own worst enemy and, unfortunately, they've been taking working class America down with them.

As far as your "incompetent and too lazy to make money in the private sector" comment goes, it's time to get realistic -- I weigh all things in matters of importance. After seeing X-rays of my spinal collumn last year, being able to do simple things like walking from one room of the house to another without the need of being doped up on Vicodin and Soma or picking up and playing with my 4 year old daughter is more important to me than help making tax-break loving Republican CEOs and Wall Street business cretins richer at the expense my health, my faith, my rights, my freedoms, my fellow man, and my family.

I beleive the only reason why you say this is because you yourself can't fathom being able to afford your lifestyle on $65-$95K a year. Allow me to disappoint you. I'll GLADLY serve the state of Michigan on the Democratic ticket (I'd love nothing more than to give Granholm a good clean kick in the ass) for $75,000 a year for as long as the people will have me. Why? Because I don't require much to serve my people. Besides, by the time I'm done serving, that money is going to be decent sized nestegg for me. Hey, I'm running "a large complex state government" -- when the fuck am I going to have time to spend that money I earned?!? And if I ever needed more money, well I've got two choices as former-governor-returned-to-private citizen. First one is easy enough -- go back to punching a time-clock like everybody else. The second one is typical politician slease -- I could walk up to a podium and say, "I want to write a book about my experiances!" and I'll have so many damned publishers hitting me with up proposals with 6-figure advances than I could count .......... and the saddest thing about it is I wouldn't have to be a GOOD politician. I could suck more than a choir of sump-pumps running full throttle and still get a goddamned book deal.

The point here is it shouldn't really be about the money. Politicans who serve -- regardless how much the tax-payers pay the stooge anually -- are damn near guaranteed forever employment somewhere in this country just because of the "politician" factor alone, which is more than I can say about the millions of people who've lost their jobs from outsourcing in the past 5 freakin' years.

You need good people. Real people. Selfless people who'll simply shoot straight with you with no thought or concern of their own petty selves, and would just as soon do it for free. And when the citizens get sick and tired of 'em, those people take a bow, thank the tax-payers for the honor, and exit stage left.

Some of her subordinates in the state universities earn the following:

Arizona St. football coach Dirk Koetter makes $750,000/year base salary plus bonuses.

Arizona football coach Mike Stoops makes $600,000/year base salary plus hefty bonuses.

On the other hand, Sizemore has it right.  Anyone who can't leverage four years in the governorship of any state into a lucrative post-service career is damned incompetent.

However, I just wanted to respond to some of the horribly close-minded comments above.  Republicans are not awful people, despite what some of you would like to think.  Living in Arizona, and growing up in an über-conservative family, I should have a pretty good idea of what the typical Republican is like.  Many of their fundemental beliefs I am abhorred by, but that doesn't change the fact that I admire and respect some of them as the best people I have ever known.  

Furthermore, to say, "any republicn over minimim wage is a rich bastards they should work for free for us and screw the rich bastards republicns" is not only terribly misguided, but it is also a very horrible thing to say.  

The vast majority of Americans make much more than minimum wage, does that mean that Americans are "rich bastards"?  Of course not!  This countries economy is the strongest in the world because it encourages its citizens to be intelligent and productive in maximizing profits.  

To wrap it up, I am not a "rich bastard" because two years ago, when I was 14 I began making $5.50 an hour working 12 hours a day outside in 115 degree heat doing farm work.  I guess I should give all my college savings to the above mentioned "gentleman" and start working for free as a government employee so that I can go on welfare by the time I am 18.

LOL, I guess I went off a bit, but I felt strongly about defending mainstream Republicans (and I would do the same if it were any group of people, btw).

Here's that post I promised:
I am proud of my state's governor. Despite the strong opposition that she has been facing from the state senate, and the horrible mudslinging that she suffered from candidate Salmon in the last election, she has been very composed and proper in dealing with her attackers.

Napolitano's refusal to approve higher than necesary wages is an excellent example of her strong commitment to her morals and to the people she represents.

How ironic that this state's conservatives would be pushing relentlessly for lower budgets by cutting spending on schools, roads, commercial and scientific development while at the same time griping about why they need to increase spending in order to increase their "low" wages.

All I can say is, keep up the good work, Governor! Arizona couldn't be more proud.

Yeap, at the cost of their health, their faith, their families, their standard-of-living, etc. In other words, we must be ready to drop and sacrifice anything and everything we hold dear at the beck and call of the rich, monied elite and the Corporatocracy ... because if we don't, they might be the ones reduced to standing in a welfare line for a change. Oh, just picture it! Imagine the likes of Kenneth Lay having to stand in line amongst those dirty, smelly, swarthy, trashy folk at the Department of Human Resources. Just picture in your mind the idea of Dick Cheney reduced to whipping out a foodstamp booklet or a bridge card at the grocery store. Why, I hear weeping. Yes, I hear much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Aww, look -- it's the Baby Jesus!

The Baby Jesus is crying because the rich and lofty have come tumbling down from their ivory towers because the middle and poor people dare to display a speck of insolence, and that ol' dirty terrorist called gravity brought their ever-so-exhaulted and protruding bellies slamming into the ground to reside for a spell amongst us mensch. Oh, let's try to cheer the Baby Jesus up ... Hey, bee-bee! Kooochie-koochie-k-POP what in the hell is this?!? One if it's eyebrows just came off! Check that shit out. Since when the Baby Jesus have false eyebrows? Let me check the other one here POP oh, hot shit, it came off, too. Hey, wait a second -- I smell embalming fluid. Whoa! This ain't the Baby Jesus; it's BOB NOVAK!

Heh. C'mon, do you really believe what you just posted? Seriously?!?

I mean, just a few short years ago, two competing companies staffed by seperate groups of people with human brains developed the computer processors we use today - the Pentium 4 and the AMD Athlon - and yet while the Pentium 4 had the edge in raw horse power, it was the AMD Athlon that was able to kick the hell out of it. How does that happen? How does a cheaper and slower processor kick the hell out of a more expensive and faster Golaith?!? EFFICIENCY! That's how it was done. AMD was able to more with less. Why can't that logic be applied to our own government and economic system? Why does our DOW and NASDAQ have to be booming with huge, large numbers ... but isn't efficient to the point where everybody benefits  instead a select, elitist few? Because for too long in this country, we've subscribed to the idea that BRAWN trumps BRAINS; that the bigger is better than the smaller; that the majority should always run roughshod over the minority. Howard Dean is on to something when he talks about "The Culture of Corruption" but I think we've got another culture problem right here on Main Street America -- "The Culture of Instant Gratification At All Costs". A myopic, apathetic binge towards being entertained or distracted along with a favorist bent towards materialism that has got our priorities so out of whack that it's not really any wonder than we can be hoodwinked into rolling over to whatever big business or government wants us to roll over to. As long as we get our toys, trinkets, and baubles, to hell with everything and everybody else.

No offense to you personally but I gotta shoot straight -- although I, too, have conservative Republicans in my bloodline, I can't defend mainstream Republicans because of what mainstream Republicans have done to people like Bob Dole and Barry Goldwater. I don't care much for Bob Dole, but like Goldwater, he was old-school. They had principals as solid as stone. Today tribe of Republicans have principals that are about as malleable as a marshmallow. And if I were to dissent with either Dole or Goldwater, at best I'd be called "misguided" and at worst I'd be called an "idiot". I doubt Dole or Goldwater would ever call me a "traitor" or somebody who "hates America" or "hates Jesus". Such jargon is common with mainstream Republicans today who would immediately label Dole and Goldwater as "liberal hippies" and as a result, they can reap what they sow and ultimately burn in Hell. Goldwater himself once ranted that the entire Eastern seaboard could break off and float out to sea for all he cared because he was frustrated that the liberal Northeast wouldn't vote Republican. Today, I agree with Goldwater's sentiments but instead choose a different geographical region -- all the red states south of the Ohio River could break off tomorrow and float out to sea along side Cuba for all I care and I initially wondered what was Howard Dean thinking with his fund-raising campaigns down there. Apparently, he believes there something down there worth saving and, although I remain skeptical as all hell, I do hope and pray he's right (yet I still prepare to be disappointed). I'm in my "Believe It When I See It" mode.

As for the Conservative Republicans in my bloodline, it's very ironic that while Goldwater still drew oxygen, they'd nail only their sin to their cross but ever since Goldwater died, they've seemed to have reclaimed their sins from up off the cross ... and replaced it with their cerebrum. A day will come when I'll make that observation known to them (and it may also be the day I'll cease getting Christmas cards from them, too!)

You people are mean, I don't think she tried to do anything bad .. in November 2005, Time magazine named her one of the five best governors in the U.S., that's not little you know.

_____
Nouveau Riche

I guess that this guy did not attend a fake college because with this kind of mentality all people can clearly see that she is trying to prove a thing and she is managing quite well in doing this. Bravo!!!!