Posted on 08/07/2003 2:23:49 PM PDT by hsmomx3
Just when you think it can't get any worse, it gets worse. I'm referring to the reporting in the Arizona Republic.
The August 6 edition shows what happens when newspapers are anti-diversity. No, not racial diversity. I'm referring to a diversity of political and economic thought.
In addition to a lead editorial that repeated the education establishment's canard about the state ranking 49th in per-pupil spending, the edition carried a news story on the migration of 385,000 Californians to Arizona and Nevada from 1995 to 2000. True to form, the story relied on opinions from liberal sources and none from conservative sources.
It relied on the opinion of the director of the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University, the opinion of the director of ASU's Center for Business Research, and the opinion of a senior fellow at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, which is located at ASU. In other words, all the sources were from a public university and on the public payroll. Naw, no pro-big government and pro-tax bias in those circles.
Not surprisingly, none of them mentioned taxes as a reason why Californians are moving to Arizona and Nevada. None said that in 2000, Arizona ranked 42nd in tax collections per capita and 30th in tax collections per $1,000 of personal income. Nevada ranked 29th and 33rd, and California ranked 6th and 12th.
Although taxes were not mentioned, one of the three sources did say, "Arizona needs to worry about adequate infrastructure -- streets, sewers, water, education and all -- and I don't think anyone is."
Yes, indeed, there is sewage running in the streets, and no one in local government has thought about installing more sewers to handle the growth.
Another said, "As this area grows more complex, I think it's inevitable that it will require an increasingly regulatory climate."
Maybe he means that Arizona should adopt California's regulatory climate.
Jeff Chapman, the chap from the School of Public Affairs, said that he moved here from California in 1999 for a better job but that he can only guess why so many Californians are moving here.
Could it be, Jeff, that they get to keep more of their hard-earned money?
Apparently, the thought never crossed his mind, just as it never seems to cross the mind of Arizona Republic reporters to have a diversity of opinions in news stories.
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Mr. Cantoni is an author, columnist and business consultant. He can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.
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