State of the State = Red Meat Feast

Governor Brewer gave her first official State of the State address to the Arizona Legislature and selected guests Monday afternoon.

It was long on red meat and short on blueprints (sorry...) for pulling the state out of the economic downturn.

She managed to blast both former Governor Janet Napolitano and current Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. She also took a shot at Attorney General (and governor-hopeful) Terry Goddard.

She even took a shot at one in her own party, Arizona Treasurer (also a governor-hopeful) Dean Martin.

The first real round of applause Brewer received was right after accusing the federal government of offering "unfunded mandates and sweetheart deals [which] steal Arizona's freedom and threaten to bankrupt our state." The statement is amazing really.

First, if not for the infusion of $1 billion in federal money into the state this year thousands of Arizonans would be out of a job and without basic services. Second, it was that icon of Republicanism, President Ronald Reagan, who ended the no-strings-attached "revenue sharing" which allowed states to spend federal dollars as they pleased. Third, I hope the Governor and everyone else is keeping their fingers crossed that the various financial institutions will continue to rapidly pay back their TARP and other bailout monies so it can be redirected to the states for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

If not, we are screwed.

Or, as the Tucson Citizen's Mark Evans put it, "The state’s Republicans have long advocated for limited government. Arizona is going to find out what that looks like in 2010."

Here is a link to the text of the governor's speech.