The economic downturn — combined with the crashes of the sub-prime mortgage and housing markets — has hit Arizona especially hard. Yet as Valley residents struggle to stay in their homes, perennial congressional candidate David Schweikert is circling overhead, preying on homeowners and profiting from Arizona’s foreclosure crisis.

“Stabilizing our housing sector is critical to Arizona’s economic recovery, but David Schweikert is banking on its failure,” said Luis Heredia, Arizona Democratic Party executive director. “After mismanaging his second failed campaign for Congress and racking up a half-million dollars in campaign debt, I can see the desire to make a quick buck. But doing so on the backs of suffering families who are being foreclosed on and forced onto the streets is despicable.”

For two years, Schweikert has not been forthcoming about his real estate dealings, particularly how they relate to the housing and foreclosure crisis that continues to rock Arizona’s economy and ravage our neighborhoods. He has remained conspicuously vague when discussing his occupation, describing himself as “a small business man” or the owner of a small “real estate business.” But the fact is, he is a predatory real-estate investor – the type of investor that real estate experts often call a “vulture” or “bottom feeder” because they profit from failed, foreclosure-ridden markets.

“Arizona is second in the nation in foreclosures. And in this market, our loss is literally David Schweikert’s gain,” Heredia said.

Today, the Arizona Democratic Party is launching www.yourlosshisgain.com, so Arizona residents can read the facts for themselves and see how Schweikert’s foreclosure investment scheme blooms in an unstable, falling economy by profiting off the misery of others and threatening Arizona’s long-term recovery.

Among the website’s highlights:

* In some of the most hard-hit neighborhoods in the Valley, Schweikert has expanded his foreclosure scheme to include more than $11 million in real estate holdings [Source: Maricopa County Recorder]

* While claiming to revitalize neighborhoods, Schweikert’s company has been cited repeatedly for blight and neglect, facing thousands of dollars in fines. [Source: City of Phoenix]

* Schweikert’s foreclosure investment scheme has the potential to further shake Arizona neighborhoods by thwarting long-term investment, with short-term rental gain. Law enforcement experts say that the large numbers of rental homes in the Valley make their jobs more difficult because criminal human smugglers and Mexican cartels frequently use rentals as “drop houses” used in the trafficking of illegal immigrants and drugs. [Arizona Republic, Aug. 31, 2008]

* Schweikert has made hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last year operating his home foreclosure investment scheme. [Source: 2009 Schweikert Personal Financial Disclosure Statement]

Follow The Money

Shortly after his second failed congressional campaign came to an end in 2008, Schweikert announced he was going to run for Congress again. [Source: The Arizona Capitol Times' Yellow Sheet, “Schweikert: Another ‘Crazy’ Run in 2010,” November 10, 2008].

Since then, he’s racked up a half-million dollars in campaign debt to self-fund another congressional run. Not only are the profits from Schweikert’s foreclosure investment scheme lining his own pockets, they are lining the pockets of his business partners, who in turn, are contributing heavily to his third, debt-ridden congressional campaign. [Source: The Federal Elections Commission, August 12, 2010]

“Unfortunately, it’s not the first time shady real estate dealings and shell games have ensnarled political officials in Arizona – just ask Rick Renzi or Fife Symington,” Heredia said. “While David Schweikert says he wants to clean up Washington, it’s clear that his clean-up exercise should start in his backyard(s). He should start by disclosing the size and nature of his predatory scheme, who his investors are and how much they’ve already made off the backs of Arizona families.”

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“Another provision of health insurance reform to give greater health care security to American families is moving forward with guidance released yesterday on the benefit for young adults to stay covered under their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.

“The effective date of this new policy is September 23, 2010, but due to outreach by Democrats to encourage insurance companies to act early, every major insurer has said they will provide continuous coverage for young adults immediately. This means that many students graduating from college this spring will be able to retain coverage as they begin their adult lives and launch their careers.

“So instead of going through their early 20’s crossing their fingers and hoping they stay healthy, young adults will now have an option for affordable health care, and families will have the peace of mind that all their loved ones will be covered.

“This benefit is one of the many that have taken affect in the seven weeks since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law – and one that Republicans would take away if they ever succeeded in repealing reform. Rather than deny Americans benefits that give them more control over their health care, Democrats will continue working to make health care work better for families and small businesses.”

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Young Democrats of America Vice-President Colmon Elridge of Kentucky issued the following statement regarding the actions of Senator Jim Bunning:

It is unfortunate that Senator Jim Bunning has been away from Kentucky so long that he has forgotten the values that have shaped our Commonwealth and the spirit of commitment to the common good that is present in communities from Pikeville to Paducah and everywhere in between.

Because of the actions of the Junior Senator from Kentucky, one million Americans stand to lose their unemployment insurance. One million Americans, their families, and their communities will suffer because one person has put politics above people and partisanship above compassion for his fellow man.

The people of Kentucky deserve a Senator who shares our values. “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” are more than just words on our state flag. They are a reminder that how we survive as Kentuckians – and Americans – is to offer a helping hand to those in need and to work in a spirit of good-faith to shape America into that more perfect union.

Senator Bunning’s actions prove that a strong Democratic presence is needed in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This incident stresses the importance of wining in November and returning a Kentuckian to Washington that shares our values and speaks to the common decency. Young Democrats are dedicated to shaping a Kentucky and an America that rise above these petty political maneuvers and put people first. My only wish is that, as so many Kentuckians who have served us in our nation’s capitol have done before, Senator Bunning would have retired a statesman and not a tyrant.

Colmon Elridge III
Vice-President
Young Democrats of America

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As Democrats approach the end of their first year of the 21st century in control of both Congress and the White House, we are reminded of a hard truth: progressive change is much more difficult than conservative retrenchment.

Throughout history change has always faced an uphill battle against the seductive forces of fear, hatred, dogma, and tradition. In fact, major progressive change is so difficult and occurs so infrequently that such victories are historical outliers. As Mike Lux points out, only four or five decades in the history of the United States have proved to be fertile ground for such change.

Some believed that the 21st century would be different, that the proliferation of technology and the internet would be a panacea. However, this view ignored those aspects of this century that make change more difficult. While it is true that the internet has enabled more public participation and government transparency and allowed people to compete with the media power of corporate television and radio, it also allowed people to self-select their news, information, and facts. No longer can a Walter Cronkite turn the tide of American public opinion against a war with a single statement. The internet is a value-neutral platform and it spreads conservative messages just as effectively as progressive ones. Life expectancy is dramatically longer than in the past, slowing generational change and keeping old prejudices and fears alive (this is where conservatives will convince themselves that I am arguing for death panels as a progressive conspiracy). Change today will be just as difficult as it has been in the past.

Also extinguished a year in is the naïve belief in bipartisanship, that we can convince Republicans to join with Democrats to do the right thing for the American people. Bipartisanship only exists when there is a Republican in the White House, and such bipartisanship has had devastating consequences (see Iraq War, Bush’s tax cuts to the wealthy, deregulation).

Republicans view government as a zero-sum game. Health care is not a service for the American people but a battle to be fought for political gain. Helping the uninsured and those who have had the American dream shattered by health care costs is nothing compared to the potential to recreate Waterloo. The conservative platform is dogma, with their evangelists castigating those who do not show proper devotion to the faith. To them, legislation is but a chessboard where black and white move their pieces through amendments and procedures to ultimately topple the opponent’s king.

Change takes time. The Presidency, control of the House, and a 20 member majority in the Senate is not a sufficient condition. Democrats need candidates that are not just electable but also effective, as well as the courage to believe that standing firm for our ideas can actually be a winning strategy. We need to enlarge the electorate by putting serious effort into engaging Millennials and minorities. Progressive victories have proved us to be on the right side of history–ending slavery, universal suffrage, the New Deal, and Medicare–and we need representatives that will make the right decision now and not worry about whether history will move fast enough to prove them right before the next election.

Change requires sacrifice and effort, new strategies, more profiles in courage, and a dream that will never die.

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One of the big conservative talking points attempting to lure the youth vote is that the current health care bill would include a mandate to purchase health insurance without increasing affordability.

What they fail to mention is that it has been the GOP and a few conservative Democrats that have stripped away those things that would have made insurance more affordable.

It’s like someone sold you a bicycle and John Boehner jumps out and smashes it with a hammer, only to say “can you believe that guy sold you a broken bicycle?”

And what are these conservatives who are apparently so concerned about the plight of young Americans doing for us? Shutting down the Senate for 12 hours.

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Now that John Shadegg has proven that he can understand the innermost political desires of infants, it’s only a matter of time until his skills improve to the point where he can become:

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