Arizona's governor is no 'Commie Katie' for nixing a do-nothing bill on China

Suddenly, 'Cartel Katie' is now 'Commie Katie.'
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has apparently jumped out of the pocket of the Mexican bad guys and is now in league with the Chinese bad guys.
Or so the story goes, if you're inclined toward fantastical tales and conspiracy theories.
Republicans are losing their minds over Hobbs vetoing a bill that was advertised as barring the People's Republic of China from buying or owning property near military bases in Arizona.
'A total disgrace,' charged the bill's sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp, after Hobbs' June 2 veto.
'A disgrace to Arizona and a threat to our national security,' thundered Karrin Taylor Robson, who is running for governor.
Naturally, Fox News picked up the story, activating the MAGA lynch mob on X.
'Katie Hobbs needs to be investigated, YESTERDAY, for ties to China,' one member of the MAGA Nation said from atop her high horse. 'This is outrageous and dangers AF.
'Katie Hobbs is a Chinese asset,' said another.
'TREASON!' cried still another.
Naturally, Team Kari Lake was there to pour on the gasoline.
'Communist China already thinks America is for sale,' said Kari Lake War Room, which has morphed from handling Lake's campaign to Lake's PR. 'It seems like Crooked @katiehobbs is open to hearing offers.'
Or maybe … Hobbs just read the bill?
The idea behind Shamp's bill is a good one, what with reports of China buying up property to spy on military bases and critical infrastructure and such.
Shamp told a House committee in March that China recently tried to lease property near Luke Air Force Base.
You don't have to be a genius to figure out why China would want proximity to Luke, where pilots train on the F-35 stealth fighter.
Or to figure the damage our enemies could do from within. (See: Ukraine's drone attack on Russia's air force.)
That's probably why an agency of the Treasury Department already can review foreign land purchases around sensitive installations.
Still, it can't hurt to have a state law reinforcing our defenses.
Senate Bill 1109 started out strong, barring governments, officials or businesses from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from buying property in the state.
Other than permanent U.S. residents, no citizens of those countries would have been able to buy property here.
The lone exemption would have been for homes on less than two acres that are at least 50 miles from a military base or 25 miles from a military practice range.
But the bill was watered down to apply only to the Chinese government and its administrative subdivisions.
And even then, not all the time.
Opinion: Arizona's do-nothing Legislature lives up to its name
'The People's Republic of China may acquire real property or any interest in real property in this state by devise or descent, the enforcement of security interests or the collection of debt, if the People's Republic of China sells, transfers or otherwise divests from the real property within three years after acquiring the real property,' the bill says.
So … the bill says Chinese President Xi Jinping can snap up a piece of Arizona? He just has to sell it within three years?
OK, I feel safer.
Hobbs' office called the bill a 'political stunt.'
'The final version of the bill does nothing to protect America's military from the People's Republic of China,' spokesman Christian Slater told me.
'In fact, it allows the PRC to own land in Arizona for three years. And then, it opens the floodgates to allow the Chinese Community Party proxies, including party members, party-aligned businesses and other community-aligned organizations to own land near military bases and critical infrastructure.'
Shamp didn't respond to my question about why her bill offers a three-year grace period for China to own Arizona property … even property near military bases.
I guess she figured there was no reason to.
It's better, for purposes of maximum echo chamber outrage, to skip over such inconvenient details.
Far more believable — in some corners, at least — to simply insinuate that Hobbs is in league with spies and saboteurs and otherwise odious enemies of her lifelong home.
The MAGA Nation eats that stuff up.
Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz, on Threads at @LaurieRobertsaz and on BlueSky at @laurieroberts.bsky.social.
Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why did Katie Hobbs veto a China bill? Easy. She read it | Opinion

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With design and materials that limit its ability to be detected by enemy radar, the B-2 is thought to be the only aircraft equipped to carry the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or GBU-57, known as the "bunker buster." The entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers is based at Whiteman, southeast of Kansas City, with the 509th Bomb Wing, part of the Air Force Global Strike Command. Fox News reported six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Iran's Fordow nuclear site. -Dinah Pulver Democrats in Congress erupt at Trump Democratic members of Congress expressed outrage over the strikes, which they said they learned about from social media. 'According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop,' said Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, in a post on X. Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman said Trump's handling of the situation was 'disgraceful." He asserted in a post that the U.S. was now at war with Iran. 'And so the United States goes to war with Iran without so much as a by your leave to the American people,' he said. 'No statement, other than on social media; no notice to Congress; no serious deliberation.' He added: 'This is the stuff of autocrats. Disgraceful.' War is something only Congress can formally declare. Lawmakers have also passed resolutions that authorized the use of military force like when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Trump has not said whether he plans to continue the bombing campaign, which he described as a "military operation" in a post on the attack. At least one Democrat came to Trump's defense, however: Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. "As I've long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS. Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I'm grateful for and salute the finest military in the world," Fetterman said. Democratic Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that was critical of Trump that Congress should "fully and immediately" be briefed in a classified setting. – Francesca Chambers Can the president bomb a country without Congress? The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war. The president is the commander in chief of the military, which means he carries out wars that Congress approves. However, presidents of both political parties have perennially used the U.S. military to bomb or invade countries without formal approval from Congress. There have even been allegations that the Korean War and the Vietnam War were illegal. Congress attempted to limit presidents from using this type of power when it passed the 1973 War Powers Act. Trump was most recently criticized for potentially violating the War Powers Act when he bombed the Houthis in Yemen, notoriously discussed on the SignalGate chat that embarrassed top officials in his administration. -Erin Mansfield B-2 bombers conducted strikes on Iranian targets B-2 bombers conducted a series of strikes on targets in Iran, according to a senior Defense Department official. There were no casualties. Measures to protect the nearly 40,000 U.S. troops in the region have been incrementally increased over the last two weeks, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly. The Army has been at third of four levels of alert at most places in the region, the official said. -Tom Vanden Brook More: U.S. hits Iran nuclear facilities, braces for counterattack Trump to address nation at 10 pm ET President Trump posted on Truth Social that he will be speaking to the nation at 10 p.m. ET on June 21. "I will be giving an Address to the Nation at 10:00 P.M., at the White House, regarding our very successful military operation in Iran," Trump wrote. "This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!" -Swapna Venugopal Republican lawmaker says Iran strike is 'not constitutional' Trump's decision came under immediate criticism from at least one Republican in Congress: Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie. The lawmaker shared Trump's post on social media with the message, 'This is not Constitutional.' Massie had previously introduced a bill to prevent Trump from going to war with Iran without congressional authorization, which drew cosponsors that included progressive Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khanna of California. The GOP lawmaker was one of two members of Trump's political party who voted against his tax bill in the House of Representatives last month. Trump called him a 'grandstander' ahead of the vote and said he should be 'voted out of office.' Far-right GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an ally of Trump's, publicly pushed for the U.S. to stay out of the war, a half hour before Trump announced the attack. 'Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war,' she said in a post on X. Greene has been one of the most outspoken opponent's within MAGA of American military involvement in the conflict that exploded on June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear sites. 'There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first,' she said on June 21. 'Israel is a nuclear armed nation. This is not our fight. Peace is the answer.' –Francesca Chambers State Department evacuations from Israel Earlier in the day, the State Department began evacuating American citizens and permanent residents from Israel and the West Bank, U.S Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on social media. 'The Department of State has begun assisted departure flights from Israel,' Huckabee wrote in a post on X on June 21 asking people seeking government assistance to fill out a form. -Swapna Venugopal How the war started The strikes followed days of Israeli bomb and drone strikes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at disrupting Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon, to which Iran responded by launching missiles at Israeli civilian targets. Netanyahu had been pressing President Donald Trump to enter the war, knowing the Pentagon possesses the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capability. In his first term, Trump pulled out of the Iran deal brokered by President Barack Obama in 2015, saying it did not do enough to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. As the war between Iran and Israel has spiraled in recent days, he has repeated that Iran "cannot" get a nuclear weapon. Iran has threatened that the U.S. would suffer "irreparable damage" if it becomes directly involved in the conflict. The U.S. "should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on June 18. Only US warheads could penetrate Iranian nuclear site The U.S. Air Force has the unique capability to destroy deeply buried, fortified structures like those that house Iran's nuclear facilities. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or GBU-57, has a 'high-performance steel alloy' warhead case that allows the weapon to stay intact as it burrows deep into the ground, according to Pentagon documents. In 2012, the Air Force conducted five tests of the weapon at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Data and visual inspections showed that each bombing run 'effectively prosecuted the targets.' More: Israel wants to demolish Iran's nuclear facilities. Does it need US military help? There's only one warplane in the Air Force that can carry the bomb. Each B-2 Spirit stealth bomber based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri can hold two of the penetrators. Israel had sought the Pentagon to drop the bombs because their penetrating weapons cannot reach the depth necessary to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. -Tom Vanden Brook