Recalled ex-Senate President Russell Pearce doesn't seem to be putting in long days at the office in his new job with the Maricopa County Treasurer.
For the second day in a row, protesters showed up to the office demanding that county Treasurer Charles "Hos" Hoskins fire Pearce for comments Pearce made on his radio show, calling for the sterilization of women on Medicaid, and only sacks of rice and beans for those who need government assistance to feed themselves and their families. And for the second day in a row, the protesters were told Hoskins and Pearce were out of the office.
"Why is [Hoskins] never at work?" Citizens for a Better Arizona organizer Ramiro Luna asked an employee at the treasurer's office. "If any of these people miss a day at work, they'll be fired."
See also: -Pearce Disses Government Programs for the Poor, While Helping to Run One -Pearce Resigns as AZ GOP's First Vice Chair Because of Sterilization Remarks
The protesters left large sacks of rice and beans for Hoskins and Pearce to share, before heading upstairs in the county building to try to demand Pearce's firing at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors' office.
Pearce resigned from his post as the first vice chair of the Arizona Republican Party for his draconian proposal for reforming welfare programs, but he hasn't quit his new gig at Hoskins' office -- an $85,000-a-year post that, as part of his duties, calls for Pearce to promote a program that provides assistance to low-income seniors.
But Pearce's remarks, as originally reported by Stephen Lemons, show an apparent contempt for the poor. Lemons obtained Pearce's e-mails from his county account, which include comments further evidence of that, as well as Pearce's old habit of blaming various societal ills on immigrants. (The latter, of course, was the reason why Citizens for a Better Arizona spearheaded the recall of Pearce in 2011.)
"We have 47% that pay no taxes," Pearce wrote in one of his e-mails to Hoskins. "We have the wealthier in the most part because of the free market concepts and entrepreneur risks and rewards. He really wants redistribution from those that work to those that don't work. The invasion of illegal aliens and legal immigrants from 3rd world countries is a huge contributor to this growing class of poor. We are importing our poverty to bring cheap labor to the Chamber of Commerce type folks."
The protesters have promised to return to Hoskins' office every day until Pearce is out of a job.
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