Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • A20

the of STAIN 20A SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2018 THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Opinions THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC Founded in 1890 A Gannett newspaper REPUBLIC EDITORIAL BOARD Joanna Allhands, Steve Benson, Phil Boas, Nicole Carroll, Elvia Abe Kwok, Robert Robb and Linda Valdez OF THE MOMENT A collection of voices, tweets and posts from the week. TWEETS OF THE WEEK Kathie Juengling Hi Many states would be more than happy to have you, your and your principled stance on the I bet would welcome you with open arms. Mary Ruth Jones If Trump make one move to taking away one little right of our is will be known for taking away the guns from the people. i have been one of his greatest supporter- i will bail as fast before a pen can drop to the Jan Brewer Watched Sean press conference. I believe him when he said done nothing wrong.

Hang in there Coach! Jon Wilner Sean Miller: delivery of the statement ESPN better get lawyered up Sandy Bahr the AZ Senate President understand that the whole issue with redistricting was the influence of the Legislature? We want the Independent Redistricting Commission to be independent of the machinations of legislators. THEY SAID IT Trump is building a new Republican Party, which is much broader than the party that existed when he announced his candidacy in Newt Gingrich Fox News hallowed halls of once-great education institutions have become little more than intellectually hollow echo chambers, grand structures that serve little purpose outside the parroting of platitudes from romantic yet impractical philosophies that, despite their repeated historical failures, simply will not Greg Jones The Federalist Sandy Bahr Jan Brewer This column is part of the series 40 days of Lent, 1 one goal: Find common ground with people normally dis- agree with. Arizona Sen. perfor- mance since writing his anti-Trump book Conscience of a Conservative is turning out to be almost perfect. When the book came out about six months ago, it looked like political sui- cide because it was.

Donald wrath was swift and the core supporters were equally vindictive. The Republican senator abandoned his re-election bid, freeing himself to lash out at the president and turn his at- tention to defending core conservative principles outlined in his book, such as free trade and limited government. But the political suicide mission has also thrust Flake into another strato- sphere that of presidential magnitude. This month, Flake is heading to New Hampshire to give a speech at the Insti- tute of Politics, where he will talk about Over That sparked a buzz because, as Arizona Dan Nowicki noted, the state hosts the na- presidential primary and the institute features presidential hopefuls. Should Flake pursue a presidential bid in 2020, he would complete a circle of Arizona politics, which has been ideologically inspired by Barry Goldwa- ter.

Goldwater, the 1964 presiden- tial pick, has inspired modern- day politics and courage to express his ideas over protecting his Senate seat. Flake even borrowed the title of his book Conscience of a Conservative from that of book. Thus, easy to see how these two men are inherently connected to the Goldwater Institute. Flake was the Phoenix-based conservative think executive director in the 1990s. Flake embodies the mis- sion and values, risking it all for the sake of country over party, for the sake of preserving his dignity and his political principles.

And thus, the Goldwater Institute is my pick of the week. Though the work is largely driven by ideological val- ues contrary to mine, it is also driven by fact-based evidence something we should all appreciate. I disagree with the libertarian-lean- ing group on all sorts of policy positions, such as its heeds of harmful from an increased minimum wage, its sup- port of right-to-work laws and expan- 40 DAYS OF LENT, 1 GOAL Goldwater Institute setting a good example Elvia Columnist Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK See Page 21A MARIJUANA: A legislative referred initiative to legalize recreational pot has a decent chance of passing, even in a red state like Arizona. Viewpoints COMING SUNDAY Do Arizona voters have the to who is funding campaigns for and against candidates and propositions? We believe the answer is un- questionably yes. However, in recent elections huge sums from carefully hidden sources (or have been spent on Arizona election campaigns.

Secret manipulators of our elections can hide their identity because Arizona law makes it easy. We believe it is time to declare our right to know by putting it in the Arizona constitution. Our Outlaw Dirty Money constitutional amendment, if approved at the polls in November, will ensure that we know what person or corpora- tion was the original source of all major contribu- tions seeking to an Arizona election. All we want is transparency This initiative would give to Arizona much the same transparency in elections that Montana adopted two years ago. The sponsor of the Montana legislation, Republican state Sen.

Duane Ankney has put the need for reform this way, someone is going to shoot me in the gut, I want to know who done the Our initiative states: People of Arizona have the right to know the identity of the original source of all major contributions used to pay, in whole or part, for a campaign expenditure. This right requires the prompt, accessible, comprehen- Voters should change the Arizona Constitution, declare their right to know who pays for elections Your Turn Noel Campbell, Paul Johnson, Tom Horne and Terry Goddard Guest columnists See STAIN, Page 21A RICK ONOP A TOD AY NET WORK.