The Real Reason for AZ SB 1070

WARNING: Political con­tent ahead.

I’ve been say­ing all along that AZ SB 1070 was never about actu­ally deal­ing with undoc­u­mented immi­gra­tion, or even racism for racism’s sake. Instead it’s noth­ing more than a trans­par­ent ploy by the GOP to rally the racists in Arizona for the next elec­tion. Here’s some proof to back up my thesis.

Barry Wong is a Republican run­ning for Arizona’s Corporation Commission. For those out­side of Arizona (or who are merely igno­rant) the Corporation Commission is a body that, amongst other things, reg­u­lates the rates that Arizona’s pub­lic util­i­ties can charge (the irony being that AZ’s “pub­lic” util­i­ties are mostly for-profit pri­vate cor­po­ra­tions). Barry has come up with the delight­fully ironic idea of forc­ing the util­i­ties to check the res­i­dency sta­tus of their cus­tomers. Think Progress quotes the New York Daily News:

One Arizona politi­cian has made a vow to make ille­gal immi­grants pow­er­less — lit­er­ally. Republican Barry Wong, a can­di­date for the Arizona Corporation Commission, an elected body that decides pub­lic util­ity issues, says he would require the util­i­ties to check the immi­gra­tion sta­tus of cus­tomers, he told the Arizona Republic.

“I’m sure there will be crit­i­cism about human-rights vio­la­tions,” said Wong, who held a tem­po­rary spot on the five-person Commission in 2006. “Is power or nat­ural gas or any type of util­ity we reg­u­late, is that a right that peo­ple have? It is not a right. It is a ser­vice.” Cutting elec­tric­ity, water, nat­ural gas, even tele­phone lines at the homes of ille­gal immi­grants, he said, would lower costs for the rest of the state’s cus­tomers. He believes the pop­u­la­tion spike caused by ille­gal immi­grants forces the state to build new power plants and then raise rates for customers.

Of course, any­one with half a brain can sniff out the bull­shit here. Arizona’s pub­lic util­i­ties are hardly char­i­ties. Any filthy ille­gal wet­back who has the elec­tric­ity turned on is, ipso facto pay­ing the fuck­ing elec­tri­cal bill. If they weren’t the elec­tric com­pany would shut off the gods damned lights off.

No, this is just a way to rally out the hon­keys to vote another pro-corporate GOP tool onto the com­mis­sion that reg­u­lates cor­po­ra­tions in Arizona. And what would Barry do if he were on the com­mis­sion? Well, from his cam­paign web­site:

Demanding Diverse and Reliable Energy – includ­ing Nuclear

Gee whiz Barry, wouldn’t that require build­ing the very power plants that you were just bitch­ing about?

Unrelated, but addi­tional irony:

From Barry’s website:

Barry Wong is an American-born son of Chinese immi­grant parents.

Memo from the crack­ers of Arizona, you’re next you Jackie Chan look­ing mother fucker.