“What do you call a Nazi-loving, anti-American, tax-hiking Arizonan? Blake Masters. The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy. Our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times — our democracy depends on it.” 1
The Arizona Republican Legislators are Giving Your Water Resources Away
“So when Arizonans are forced to cut back and a foreign company gets to pump however much water they want for cows in Saudi Arabia, it gets me fired up.” Kris Mayes 2
“Arizona is leasing farmland to a Saudi water company, straining aquifers, and threatening future water supply in Phoenix. Fondomonte, a Saudi company, exports the alfalfa to feed its cows in the Middle East. The country has practically exhausted its own underground aquifers there. In Arizona, Fondomonte can pump as much water as it wants at no cost. Groundwater is unregulated in most rural areas of the state. Fondomonte pays only $25 per acre annually. The State Land Department says the market rate is $50 dollars per acre and it provides a 50% discount because it doesn’t pay for improvements. But the $25 per acre price is about one-sixth of the market price for unimproved farmland with flood irrigation today, according to Charlie Havranek, a Realtor at Southwest Land Associates.” 3
“Four hours east of Los Angeles, in a drought-stricken area of a drought-afflicted state, is a small town called Blythe where alfalfa is king. More than half of the town’s 94,000 acres are bushy blue-green fields growing the crop. Massive industrial storehouses line the southern end of town, packed with thousands upon thousands of stacks of alfalfa bales ready to be fed to dairy cows – but not cows in California’s Central Valley or Montana’s rangelands. Instead, the alfalfa will be fed to cows in Saudi Arabia.” 4
“How much does unlimited pumping of groundwater in the Butler Valley, a desert west of Phoenix, Ariz, cost? Nothing, at least for Saudi corporation, Fondomonte, who has been growing alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia over the last seven years.” 5
“Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said that she’ll sign on to the Democrats’ climate bill—after advocating for a few adjustments that she apparently didn’t care to explain to anyone.” 7
“U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona Democrat who single-handedly thwarted her party’s longtime goal of raising taxes on wealthy investors, received nearly $1 million over the past year from private equity professionals, hedge fund managers and venture capitalists whose taxes would have increased under the plan.” 8
Emily’s List, the national group that backs female Democrats who support abortion rights, said Tuesday that it will no longer endorse Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) because she opposes changing Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation. 8
The abortion rights groups Emily’s List and NARAL pulled their support from Sinema over the filibuster vote. 9
“I’m livid. I can only call her a turncoat,” Dunn said. “I feel betrayed.” 10
U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is growing increasingly isolated from some of her party’s most influential officials and donors after playing a key role in scuttling voting rights legislation that many consider essential to preserving democracy. 11