Glassman enlisted in the Air Force Reserve after completing law school and joining the Arizona Bar. He now works at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, often meeting with troops days before they deploy to war zones. This experience has made him wary of any open-ended commitment of forces in combat without specific goals to achieve.

Glassman took a break from his “Turn the Page Express” tour to receive the promotion at Davis-Monthan and on Friday will resume traveling to each of Arizona’s 15 counties talking about issues that matter to Arizona.

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Rodney Glassman
Candidate for U.S. Senate

So, instead of federal immigration reform, Arizona got SB 1070, a wrong-headed approach that will do nothing to secure the border and will have little effect on illegal immigration nationally. What it will do is subject police officers to frivolous lawsuits, and friends and neighbors who look a certain way to unconstitutional treatment from law enforcement.

What we need is a way to address the problem with an all-of-the-above federal approach.

We must secure the border. Securing the border means hiring the appropriate number of Customs and Border Protection agents to get the job done. (Oddly, John McCain has attacked me for saying this.) It means unmanned aerial vehicles flying watch over the border. It means ground sensors to monitor illegal crossings. And it means working with Mexican authorities to help snuff out the drug traffickers before they reach the United States.

Securing the border doesn’t just mean building a fence or a wall. Walls didn’t work in China, the Maginot Line didn’t work in France during World War II and a fence alone won’t work in Arizona. John McCain once called the fence the least-effective way to secure the border. Now he says he supports it. Where will he stand tomorrow?

When we have those border agents hired on the job, their primary mission should be to protect America from drug runners, human traffickers and the gangs like MS-13 — not to chase down those who would like to come to our country legally, pay taxes and work. As long as there is a demand for labor, illegal immigrants will continue to cross the border.

We must address the fact that our nation’s current economic realities do not match our immigration policy. Legislation like the AgJobs bill, crafted in a bipartisan effort with the United Farm Workers and American Farm Bureau Federation, highlight how cooperation and collaboration can lead to solutions. This is also legislation John McCain refuses to support.

At the same time, we need to streamline the process for legal immigrants to come here. It shouldn’t take 10 years to get paperwork in order, and I’ve worked with people whose paperwork has been bogged down that long. It can cost $10,000 for an immigration attorney — most people are not likely to be able to afford that.

An all-of-the-above federal approach also recognizes reality. We are not going to arrest and deport the estimated 12 million people here illegally now. I do not support amnesty. They need to pay a fine, pay back taxes and learn English before getting on a path to legalization. That path must exist or we will always have an illegal immigrant problem. John McCain once co-sponsored legislation to address this. Now he opposes a comprehensive approach to immigration reform. Where he will stand in January is anyone’s guess.

Compassion must be part of the plan. There are kids living in the United States whose parents brought them over when they were too young to be legally held accountable for breaking the law. They know nothing of their home country and are as American as any of us. They didn’t have a choice to be here, and deporting them would be a violation of basic human rights.

That’s why I support the DREAM Act, which gives young people who had no say in coming here illegally a way to get on a path to citizenship, so they can go to college and serve in our armed forces. John McCain co-sponsored the DREAM Act three times. Last month, he voted against it.

The issue has been talked to death for years. It’s time for action. John McCain has been on all sides of the immigration. I’ve been on one, and it’s the right approach.

Rodney Glassman is the Democratic candidate for Senate from Arizona.

Editor’s note: Sen. John McCain did not respond to invitations to write an op-ed on the topic of immigration reform.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

In yet another attempt to highlight the issues facing Arizonans and after being repeatedly ignored by the current Senator, the Glassman campaign released the satirical video, “Sweet Home Arizona.” This spoof on the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic “Sweet Home Alabama” features Glassman, complete with backup band, performing an homage to Arizona as well as trying to counter some of the negative press his state has received of late. The lyrics are a tongue-in-cheek expression of Glassman’s pride for Arizona and his campaign’s core message that John McCain has failed to serve his state, and how that failure has cost his state in a big way.

The song begins,

Big oil, keep on drillin’
What about solar for our kids?
Housing market’s in the toilet
Gotta get our families working again

Relevant captions scroll across the bottom of the screen, highlighting facts like McCain’s support of $39 billion in subsidies to oil companies (whereas that money could be going to research into renewable energy sources) and that Arizona’s unemployment rate is currently 10 percent.

In a message to supporters, Glassman explained his decision to release the video: “Arizona has its own distinct style. We’re a little unconventional. We have our own way of seeing things and our own way of doing things. So I thought I’d get a little unconventional myself. “  He continued to say that this video is another manner in which he is using humor to talk about the pressing issues facing the state. “I have tried and will continue to try to talk about job creation, educational reform and alternative energy methods.  I urge my opponent again to talk about these pressing issues.  If this video helps in that dialogue, then great.”

The Glassman campaign has traveled to all 15 counties in Arizona and has challenged McCain to debates all across the state. McCain has refused, denying Arizonans the ability to make an informed choice in November. During the 2008 election, McCain called for “as many [debates] as we can possibly get.” In this general election he has only agreed to one.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO

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The Tucson attorney/businessman, the Democratic opponent to Sen. John McCain, has five college degrees, including his juris doctor.

The former Congressional Aid sounds as Conservative as McCain when he talks about his goals.

“I am not running for Obama, nor against McCain. I’m running for Arizona.”

Glassman has five degrees from the University of Arizona, “which means I had five sets of friends who graduated and had to leave the state to find work.

During his early college years he ran an ice skating rink. He has been in real estate and worked with developers and home builders. In addition to his work with Congress, he was vice mayor of Tucson.

He says he suggests a three-pronged attack on his number one priority, jobs for Arizonans.

“We need to expand the Arizona economy with solar technology and other forms of renewable energy. Portland, Or. receives more support for solar energy than Arizona, and we have 340 days of sunshine. Meanwhile our current Senator leads the pack in support for the oil industry.”

He says that if the country had solar energy standards – like mileage standards for the auto industry – “companies from around the country would invest here to get access to our sunlight.

“Algae use little water, and wastewater at that. Take wastewater and sunlight and you get algae.”

Algae can be used to make bio-fuels. Experts currently believe algae-based bio-diesel is the only way to get enough to replace carbon-based diesel. Estimates are that algae could produce 5-30,000 gallons of diesel annually. Even with the large spread, it’s at least seven times more than it’s closest competitor, Chinese tallow.

Glassman’s second prong of the attack would be to facilitate the private sector.

“We need to cultivate investment, and the way to do that would be to make (former) research and development tax credits for companies permanent. President Ronald Reagan had to sacrifice these tax credits in the 1980s to get tax cuts passed.

The third point of attack, according to Glassman, would be a Senator who brings home tax dollars for Arizona infrastructure.

“We have a Senator who doesn’t believe in earmarks,” he says, “but the average state gets $50 per person back for projects. We get $18. We need to invest in quality of life for Arizonans.”

As an example, he points out that while there are 10,000 armed forces veterans on the Navajo reservation, there is no V. A. hospital, or even a clinic.

He talks of water reclamation projects and the Chula Vista Bridge, which needs replacing.

As for health care, he suggests that “every American should have access to the same health care that every member of Congress has.”

“I got into this because my wife and I are having a baby this fall, and I want to make life better for that child. This is not a Republican or Democratic year, it’s a year to take care of Arizonans.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

While John McCain has been on all sides of this issue, all he seems to be able to say now is “Drill, baby, drill.” For 28 years he has made a career of refusing to bring Arizona’s tax dollars home — money that could be invested in clean energy, green industry and the kinds of jobs that will define the new century. The city of Portland, Ore., receives more federal solar energy dollars than does the entire state of Arizona.

Arizona has abundant sunshine, enough to make it the solar capital of the world. It also has some of the top researchers in the fields of ecology, water resources, optics and other sustainable fields. Glassman’s plan includes bringing these researchers and innovators together with industry leaders to chart a course for Arizona’s green future — a future that includes more investment in clean energy research, as well as tax credits to spur innovation and sustainable industry expansion.

“With the right investments and the right leadership, Arizona can be an engine driving the new economy, creating jobs and improving our national security,” Glassman said.

Countries like Germany and China are not waiting. They are pouring massive investments into clean-energy research. In 2009, Germany overtook the United States as a key location to invest in technologies like solar and wind. In the second half of last year, China increased its renewable-energy investment subsidies to consumers by almost 200 percent, according to Ernst & Young. To compete on the global stage, we need to elect lawmakers who are ready and eager to support initiatives necessary to spur innovation and sustained growth in these developing industries — industries that will continue to bring jobs and stability to Arizona’s economy.

“We can’t keep sending money to oil-producing countries that fund our enemies,” Glassman said. “America should settle for nothing less than standing at the forefront of the evolving global economy and cannot afford to simply maintain our current practices and hope for the best. ‘Drill, baby, drill,’ is not a plan, and we can’t afford to wait.”

Facts:

• Germany leads the United States in photovoltaic energy production, adding 2,600 Megawatts in 2009. The United States added just 500 megawatts of photovoltaic production in 2009.
• China now invests $34 billion in renewable energy production, nearly double the $18 billion the United States invests.
• A 2009 study by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, in partnership with the Center for American Progress, found that investing $150 billion in clean energy produces a net gain of 1.7 million new jobs and reduces the unemployment rate by one full percentage point. It also creates pathways out of poverty by expanding job opportunities to low-income working Americans, with roughly 870,000 out of the projected 1.7 million clean-energy jobs accessible to workers with high school degrees or less.
• A 2004 study done by the nonpartisan Perryman Group in Waco, Texas, in conjunction with the Apollo Alliance, found that a $300 billion investment in a clean-energy future would create more than 3.3 million new jobs spread across every state in the country.
• A June 2009 report from Pew Charitable Trusts shows that clean-energy jobs grew by 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007, while total jobs grew by only 3.7 percent. The industry is ready to take off, with the right leadership.
• According to the 2009 Green Collar Jobs report from the American Solar Energy Society, renewable energy and energy efficiency industries can create 37 million jobs by 2030 as long as policymakers support their development.
• Governments last year gave $43 billion to $46 billion of support to renewable energy through tax credits, guaranteed electricity prices known as feed-in tariffs and alternative energy credits, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That compares with the $557 billion that the International Energy Agency recently said was spent to subsidize fossil fuels in 2008. The oil industry is not winning a fair economic fight.
• The clean-energy sector produces more jobs per dollar than the fossil fuels industry because a larger share of clean-energy expenditures goes to manufacturing, installation, and maintenance — far more labor-intensive than the extraction and transportation sectors that comprises most fossil fuel jobs.

Glassman 21st-century Jobs Plan:

Create the National Institutes of Sustainability, modeled after the National Institutes of Health, to distribute research grants throughout academia and business, which would encourage knocking down barriers between academia and industry. NIH funding led to the discovery of DNA, and continues to advance the fundamental research necessary to push American medical science to new frontiers. The National Institutes of Sustainability would help to dissolve the barriers between academic institutions, such as Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, and the industries that rely on ASU graduates and their research.

Invest $30 billion annually into energy innovation research and development, including support for development and implementation of advanced manufacturing processes to lower costs and improve efficiency of green energy platforms. And we would still trail China.

Phase in reductions of fossil fuel subsidies and divert that money into direct investment to create a clean energy grid. The federal government subsidized the oil, coal and natural gas industry with $72 billion between 2002 and 2008. Renewable, 21st-century energy received just $12.2 billion not related to ethanol.

Make permanent the solar and research and development tax credits that are set to expire in the short and immediate term, denying businesses the certainty they need to make long-term investments. These credits come in the form of income tax credits, production tax credits and grants based on the property value of solar industries. They are set to expire in 2016.

Call for a Clean Energy and Water Resources Summit to bring industry experts, leading researchers and the appropriate government agencies together with venture capitalists to discuss how to turn Arizona into a world leader in sustainable technologies. There are other ideas that could be pursued if we bring people around the table and listen to them. This summit would focus on 21st-century industries that will allow for economic expansion without environmental devastation. Arizona’s universities are already leading the way in these fields.

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After sharing his platform with the two-plus dozen Maricopa residents – including city council members Marvin Brown and Marquisha Griffin – on hand, Glassman said he specifically wanted to come to the Amtrak site because of the how important the issue of a grade separation at Arizona 347 is to the people of Maricopa.

Adding that all of his stops across the state are aimed at proving that he’s most focused on local issues, Glassman said that his opponent, incumbent republican John McCain, has neglected focusing on what’s closest to citizens of locales like Maricopa.

“This job is about having a U.S. Senator who cares about our state and cities,” Glassman said.

Added Brown: “Whereever he’s been, he’s mentioned the need for that locale. In Maricopa, that’s the grade separation.”

For more information on Glassman’s campaign, visitwww.rodneyglassman.com.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE