Immigration
Passed in April of last year, Arizona Senate Bill 1070 gave police unprecedented authority to stop and check anyone they suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
The bill incited a wave of protests in more than 70 U.S. cities.
The U.S. Department of Justice and several rights groups filed suit against the new law, declaring it unconstitutional and contrary to civil rights law. The lawsuits prompted a U.S. District Court judge to issue a temporary injunction against the bill's more controversial elements. A three-judge panel is mulling the injunction.
Eventually legal arguments over the law are expected to reach the Supreme Court. A collection of rights organizations are now challenging the legislation's remaining measures, including a ban on hiring day labourers off the street.
State governments in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Michigan, Minnesota and South Carolina are contemplating similar legislation.
Elton John, Kanye West and outspoken Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen all publicly endorsed a national boycott against Arizona. Some estimates suggest the boycott cost the state upwards of $140-million.
One population survey found that 100,000 Hispanics have left the state since the legislation was passed.
Health care
As soon as Obama's health-care bill came into effect, 13 states led by Florida filed a legal challenge to the legislation in U.S. District Court. Arizona eventually signed on.
In November Arizona joined Virginia in approving a measure that would change the state constitutions to ban forced participation in health-care plans, a clear denunciation of President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul.
On the night the House of Representatives passed Obama's health-care reform bill, someone smashed a glass window at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords's Tuscon office. Vandals also attacked supporters of health-care reform in New York, Virginia, Michigan and South Carolina.
In 2009, unruly crowds protesting Obama's health-care overhaul disrupted several events held by Arizona lawmakers. Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick had to cancel one appearance due to the rowdy mobs and Rep. Giffords was confronted by a hostile crowd at a “Congress on Your Corner” event. The antagonistic approach was soon adopted by Obamacare opponents across the country.
Sub prime
The online foreclosure monitor RealtyTrac predicts that 2011 will bring another record for national foreclosures. California, Florida and Nevada lead the pack.
Arizona's foreclosure rate remains among the nation's worst, posting repossession records in each of the last three years.
Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the U.S. employment rate would not recover to normal levels for four or five years, due in part to the economic drag of a depressed housing market.
Tea Party
One of the country's best organized Tea Party groups shifted Arizona's political landscape in the 2010 midterms, ousting two Democratic representatives and giving Senator John McCain such a strong challenge that he dropped $21-million on his successful re-election bid.
The state House of Representatives passed the “birther bill” requiring presidential candidates to show proof they were born in the Unite States. The Senate later killed the bill after intense national ridicule. Similar bills have been proposed in Oklahoma, Florida and Missouri.
Thousands of Arizona Tea Party supporters have turned out for dozens of rallies opposing Obamacare, sales taxes, big government and excessive government spending.
Gun control
In January, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer passed a law that gave Arizona some of the country's most lax gun laws. Anyone over the age of 21 can pack a concealed gun without a permit.
Democratic Rep Carolyn McCarthy of New York announced on Monday plans for legislation that would restrict the type of high-capacity ammunition clips like the one Jared Lee Loughner allegedly used during the shooting spree.
The Arizona legislature is now considering a bill that would allow professors and students to carry guns on campus.
No comments:
Post a Comment