The drums of war echo throughout Arizona, as handfuls of Republican candidates step out of the woodwork to challenge Brewer’s incumbency in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Joining their ranks is John Munger, an accomplished businessman and entrepreneur from Tucson, whose sophisticated economic vision and lovable mustache make him a candidate to keep an eye on as the August primaries draw near.

“The people of Arizona need someone who understands how economics works in the real world, who understands how government effects business and the creation of jobs and economic growth,” Munger said in an interview earlier this month at his office in Paradise Valley.

“I am a former State Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party and the former President of the Arizona Board of Regents, so I have extensive political experience, but my life has been spent in the private sector creating jobs in my own companies.”

If elected, Munger plans to promote this economic growth in a way many of his Republican opponents have already suggested: lowering the corporate income tax. However Munger additionally is wants to completely eliminate the personal property tax on business equipment.

It is the hopes of Munger and other fiscal conservatives that these measures will make Arizona a more business-friendly state and (in the case of the latter tax elimination) promote an increase in manufacturing and technology jobs.

This proposed “private free enterprise system” would undoubtedly promote economic growth in the long run, but lowering taxes would also mean less money with which to balance out the federal budget.

To this end Munger plans to bridge the gap with loans, with the intent of paying those loans back once the Arizonan economy begins to improve.

“There’s nothing wrong in business with borrowing money if you have a clear plan to pay it back and you know how it is going to be paid back,” he said, “The problem is when you’re borrowing money and have no clue how you’re going to pay it back, which is where we are today.”

Munger next spoke as a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents in disgust of the current K-12 education system, which he condemns as “bloated and wasteful.”

“There’s plenty of money in the system,” Munger said. “But the money’s being spent on bloated administrations instead of being spent where it should be, which is on teachers. We grossly underpay our teachers in the K-12 system, and therefore we aren’t recruiting the best teachers because we don’t attract them.”

It is Munger’s hope that through administrative reform — both K-12 and secondary — and his short- and long-term economic growth and revenue generation plans that he would be able to avoid further draconian cuts to Arizona’s education system.

Why does Munger believe the students, faculty, and alumni of ASU should offer him their votes?

“Because I am the best candidate to create jobs in this state for when they graduate,” he said with stern enthusiasm. “I am the best candidate to make sure that the economic system is going to provide them the ability to support themselves and their families with real jobs, high-paying jobs when they graduate, and because I am the candidate that is most committed and the most vociferous about increasing the quality of education at the K-12 and university systems.”

Munger has tremendous faith in the caliber of his plan.

Whether or not Arizonian voters will share his confidence … well, we may just have to wait until the primaries in August to see.

Hal turned 20 yesterday.
Wish him a happy transcendence into adulthood at
hscohen@asu.edu