This is the third article in our ongoing series of articles about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Arizona as a result of the abandonment of this state by the federal government. Our first article, A Line Has Been Crossed, detailed how the President of Mexico figuratively trashed Arizona in the United States Congress to the raucous approval of the elected and appointed Democrats present. El Presidente Calderon actually admitted that it was "his" people who composed the army invading Arizona. No doubt his folks invading Arizona are really just a bunch of tourists because they are too thrilled with the fabulous job he is doing running his own third world hell hole to actually want to permanently leave it.
The second article, There is a Difference, detailed how illegal immigration has been a partisan issue all along and Arizona has been bearing the brunt of the Democrats' wrath for daring to try and do what the federal government will not. It also pointed out that Arizona is actually being invaded by a partially armed army from a foreign country. Like all invading armies, it tends to lay waste the territory it invades. General Sherman's march through Georgia is such an example. Laying waste is primarily a historical term but the modern term is to trash a country.
Today we are offering pictorial proof that this invading army is literally trashing Arizona. You need to see what is really happening in Southern Arizona to get a real grasp of what is going on.
H/t to Dr. Sam Nigro for pictures
No doubt you are wondering about the dead silence from the Environmental Protection Agency or the Sierra Club. Oh wait, this is a red state and not a blue state. Liberal Democrat cities like New Orleans count but conservative Republican cities like Nashville do not. If a Republican President is not Johnny on the spot in a place like New Orleans, there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in the fifth column that passes for news media in America. But in the home of that uniquely American country music in a red state, all it gets is a yawn when Obama does not even mention that a terrible disaster has struck that city let alone ever doing anything about it. Oh wait, he is a Socialist Democrat so that is okay.
Oh well, the next strong rain will fill this wash and dump some of this trash into the Santa Rita river and return it back to Mexico from whence it came. No doubt the El Presidente Calderon will file a formal protest with Obama about the state of Arizona dumping its trash in Mexico which will result in a major summit meeting with much posturing and pointing more fingers of blame on hapless Arizona.
Look at these pictures and then tell us beleaguered Arizonans that the term invading army is too strong a term. Over 5,000 backpacks on this one trail does not an army make? In military terms, isn't that about the size of a regiment? But this is just one of many such sites in Southern Arizona. Don't several regiments make up a division? If an heavily armed division of uniformed soldiers invaded the United States wouldn't our military rush to repel the invaders? Okay, only the drug runners and coyotes are armed with assault weapons like AK-47's.
That weapon is not used to hunt deer, just ranchers and deputy sheriffs. Oh, by the way, El Presidente, the AK-47 is a communist weapon and is not manufactured in Arizona so the ending of the assault weapons ban in the United States had diddly squat to do with the influx of such weapons into Mexico. Those AK-47's are being brought into Arizona from Mexico and not the other way around. On the other hand, there are arms manufacturers in Arizona. In fact, Sturm, Ruger & Co has a plant just a few miles from my home so at least we will have something to shoot back with should push come to shove.
So listen up El Presidente and get your own act put together. This is a red state where guns are still legal and not a blue state where only the police and criminals have them. Arizona is an open carry state and now you do not even need a permit to carry a concealed weapon here starting July 28th. You know why the Arizona legislature passed SB1108 repealing the law requiring a permit and Governor Brewer signed it? Know why it takes effect the same day as our new immigration law that you are so upset about? Look in the mirror for a clue.
The Trashing of Arizona
Pity the Democrat Members of Congress
A lot of Democrats in both the House and the Senate are going to lose their seats in November. The heck of it is that the ones who most deserve to lose are not the ones who will lose. The people pushing the socialist agenda of Obama like Pelosi are not going to lose their seats. Republicans could not get elected dog catcher in their districts. No, it is the Democrats in marginal and certainly in the conservative districts who are going down. They are the ones whose arms had to be twisted to get them to vote for Obama's agenda.
The strange thing is that though these Democrats have poll numbers in the toilet, President Obama's are not. Oh, they have fallen drastically but they were unrealistically high to start with. Right now his approval ratings exceed his disapproval ratings by one point give or take a point. We find this strange that his agenda is hurting the Democrats badly in Congress but not causing him that much trouble when it is his agenda we are talking about. On top of that are his very visible personal failings. He seems to think nothing of telling outright whoppers which all but his most sycophantic followers know are not true. His decisions on dealing with the war on terror are incomprehensible and his appeasement foreign policy is a total joke. Yet still his ratings are not near as bad as those vulnerable Democrats in congress.
Right now, the Democrats are on the verge of losing both houses of Congress and unless things improve soon that is exactly what will happen in November. If Obama's agenda is killing the Democrats in Congress and it clearly is, why isn't the voting public just as annoyed with Obama? Why is that? Why is his personal approval so much higher than ratings for his agenda? There has to be some reason why this agenda has not pulled down Obama's approval to match that of the Democrats in Congress. We think it is because a lot of voters have been unwilling to admit they made a mistake in electing him. Perhaps others are less than truthful to polling companies because they do not want to be considered racists. Let's face it, the Obama administration has relentlessly played the race card and very effectively.
That brings up the question of why the Democrats in Congress have been willing to fall on their swords to advance this agenda when it only hurts them and not Obama. One would think that the vulnerable Democrats would have long since have seen the handwriting on the wall and told Obama they were all through paying such a heavy price for advancing his agenda. The election of Scott Brown does seem to have been the necessary wake-up call for a lot of them. Perhaps that is why his agenda has suddenly screeched to a halt. The odd part of all of this is that Obama is still pushing his far left agenda seemingly oblivious to the damage it is doing to his party. If you truly believe Obama's claim that he is not an ideologue then we have this great bridge in Brooklyn we can make you a great deal on.
We can understand why those Democrats from safe districts can enthusiastically support this agenda because it is no skin off their electoral hides. Not only that, but their constituents undoubtedly favor socialism or else why would they continually vote for these leftist wackos? But what about the rest of those Democrats who only got there in 2006 or 2008 at the expense of a Republican incumbent? Whatever possessed them to commit political suicide for this idealistic and yet totally unrealistic nonsense? Did they truly think the American electorate would let them turn this country into Sweden lite? If so they totally misread the message that the voters were sending them in 2008 as is now readily apparent to anyone who does not have blinders on. Enthusiasm for our first black President is not a mandate for socialism.
Some people just have to learn things the hard way so pity those blue dog Democrats who really were not very enthusiastic about this agenda and who are now paying the price for those who were. It is too bad that those who are all for this nonsense are getting off Scot free and so is Obama who will not get his comeuppance until 2012.
Pinch Us Because We Must Be Dreaming
There is no way that what is happening can be real so I must be dreaming as are we all. I can prove to you that this must be the case and that we must all be having the same hallucinatory dream. Think back to 2003 for a moment. You are in a bookstore and you see a best selling novel set a few years in the future in Washington DC that is all about political intrigue. In this novel the author has made up this scenario whereby you are asked to imagine this future he has created.
In this future set just a few years ahead, we are asked to believe America has elected a black male President when blacks make up only 12.3% of the population and we have done this before even electing a female President. Okay, that is realistic enough since there are a lot of intelligent competent black Americans who have the necessary credentials to run this country. One can image Colin Powell being President or even getting a two for one by electing a black female President like Dr. Condoleezza Rice. However, the author wants you to believe that instead we have elected a black male who was known for having strong socialist tendencies based on his own statements. Not only that, but he has clearly associated with unsavory characters who have been known unrepentant domestic terrorists, blatant racists and convicted felons. Now who is going to believe that we would elect anyone who could not get a security clearance to be his own bodyguard and essentially give him the highest security clearance of all?
Everyone knows what a field day the news media would have pointing all of this out to the American public. After all, you get Pulitzer Prizes for pulling down a politician with a track record like this. There would be a news media feeding sensation with each of them trying to outdo the other to reveal in a breathless voice the next documented (or maybe even undocumented ones like Dan Rather did) scandal. What publisher would accept a manuscript with such a cockamamie premise? If that is not enough to invoke disbelief, the author wants you to believe that we would elect a man President who spent his formative years going to a Muslim school in a place like Indonesia. How could he be a "natural born citizen" under such circumstances even if he was born in Hawaii? Why would anyone believe we would elect a man with Muslim sympathies a mere seven years after 9/11?
We are all willing to suspend belief for the sake of a good story but this is getting ridiculous. Finally, this man has no experience in business and has never had to meet a payroll. Most businessmen would not hire him to push a wheelbarrow and even then only to satisfy an affirmative action quota. But actually he has been an affirmative action bonus baby all the way. He has never had to earn anything because it all has been handed to him on a silver platter because of the color of his skin. The author wants us to believe that the American people would actually do such a racist thing because of some imaginary guilt complex about slavery on the part of the 74.3% of the American people who just happen to have white skin.
But wait, it gets even better. Along with electing this black President, the American voters gave his party control of both houses of Congress including a filibuster proof Senate. They in turn have tried to jam a legislative agenda down the throats of the American people that is opposed by a clear majority of the people. They have ruled that carbon dioxide is a "pollutant" and giving the EPA authority to regulate anything producing more than 250 tons of carbon dioxide in a year. That includes the vast majority of all businesses, and all schools, hospitals, shopping malls, etc in the entire country. They are passing a so-called health care reform bill that requires everyone to obtain health insurance or pay a fine for not doing so. Failure to pay the fine gets you a jail sentence. The bill even contains language that makes it impossible to ever repeal certain provisions of it.
Everyone knows that the cardinal rule of politics is to get re-elected. This author actually wants us to believe that even though they do not have one single vote from the opposing party, that politicians would commit political suicide by passing such a bill. Such foolish things are only done by ideologues and they make poor politicians. Not only that but the author has them get the necessary votes to do so with out and out bribes right out in front of a credulous public. When this is pointed out to them, their attitude is: Too bad because we are going to do it anyway. When it is pointed out that the Constitution does not give them the authority to do this, their attitude is: The Constitution allows us to do whatever we feel is necessary because we can always find enough liberal activist judges who agree with us. What politician in the real world could ever be so credulous and naive?
Even political novices know that messing with social security and medicare is the third rail of politics. How can the author want us to believe that any politician would pull $500,000,000,000 out of medicare for any reason whatsoever when some of them represent districts where one out of every four voters is over 65? He wants us to believe that the largest association of retired people would sell out their membership by approving this bill. He wants us to believe that the AMA would do the same thing. Obviously this author does not know the first thing about American politics. You really just cannot make stuff like this up and get anyone to believe you. That is why this cannot be some book published in 2003 that has all this nonsense in it.
That is why this must be a dream. We must all be having this dream at the same time because it just cannot be true. It makes no sense whatsoever. What a total nightmare! Pinch us all so we can wake up and know this was just a bad dream. I just pinched myself and I am still having this dream. How about you? Are you having the same dream? If you are not, help me wake up. Please? Pretty please with sugar and molasses on it?
We Cannot Just Say No
If those of us who are opposed to the current administration and Congress let those same folks ingrain the idea in the body politic that we are merely obstructionist, we are doomed. To just say no is to say we support the status quo and are convinced that since nothing is broken, nothing needs fixing. There are many things in America that are broken and need fixing and everyone should agree on that. The argument is over how to fix what is broken.
Liberals think that the government can fix all these broken things if we will just give them the authority to do so. The rest of us know better because what has government ever done right? History shows that government screws up everything it touches beyond all reason and belief. Civil servants have no vested interest in getting things right. They are only interested in covering their asses so they can keep their position at the public trough. Individuals and competitive profit making business have a vested interest in getting it right.
We need a forum for our proposals on how to fix what is broken. General principles can be done easily such as the ones at: PUMA Coalition Positions. The problem is that philosophical positions are not grabbers with the general voting public as opposed to political activists. To convince the non-activists to join us requires that we have specific solutions to solve known problems. We are going to take a stab at offering some fairly radical ideas on providing these fixes in the order that they are important to the American People as delineated by Rasmussen Reports.
These are: Gov't Ethics/Corruption, Economy, Health Care, Nat'l Security/War on Terror, Social Security, Taxes, Education, Immigration, War in Iraq and Abortion. Each of these problems is laid out along with our proposed solutions at www.marstonchronicles.info
Automaker Bailout Gets House Approval
To the sum of $14 billion, and a House vote of 237-170, the "bridge loans" to the automakers was passed. However, it is said that it will face tougher opposition by Senate Republicans.Opposition is not limited to only Republicans, House Democrats are also opposed to this bill. Fox News reports that:
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana announced he was against the measure because of a provision to bail out transit agencies. The bus and rail systems could be on the hook for billions of dollars in payments because exotic deals they entered into with investors -- which have since been declared unlawful tax shelters -- have gone sour.
The voice of some House Republicans, Fox News reports that:
House Republicans swiftly voiced their opposition and called for a plan that would instead provide government insurance to subsidize new private investment in the Big Three automakers, demand major labor givebacks and debt restructuring at the companies, and encourage them to declare bankruptcy.
With an encouragement to declare bankruptcy, $14 billion of taxpayer money would not be put into jeopardy to keep these failed business models afloat. However, many would speculate that, come March 2009, they may opt for that choice if they provide no clear progress.
But, then again, most of the House members felt it was neccesary to pass this Bill to claim a pay-raise for federal judges that was written in.
A copy of the Bill is provided here:
Photo Courtesy of AP
Has it really come to this, America?
Cross posted at the Partisan Report
As if the capitalist gods are not already upset with our lawmakers for having shown disdain for the free market system that has produced unmatched wealth and a standard of living to America unseen anywhere else in the world; the Democrats in Congress are really about to bring down the thunder.
To ensure they do not lose vital support of their urban base the Democrats are on the verge of delivering $15 billion bail out plan to General Motors and Chrysler, and Ford will receive help too bringing the total to around $35 billion (I may be off by a billion but does it really matter? It’s only paper money) that will restructure the auto industry.
The money comes with oversight. We will now have a “car tsar,” or a “Minister of Interior Production” if you will. The Democrats are pushing for a seven-member board that will set up guidelines for the auto-industry to operate by. If Ford, GM and Chrysler, or the Big Three as they have so affectionately become known by, falter or do not meet satisfaction the “Minister of Interior Production” will recall the money.
What is wrong with that, you ask?
As I said earlier, union workers and urbanites keep the Democratic Party fed and clothed so there is no way that the auto-industry and its unions in Detroit will disappear. The laws that govern the markets are as perfect as the ones that govern nature. Unfortunately, our lawmakers govern us, and they are very imperfect.
My point is this; we are still going to pay regardless. We will prop up the auto industry whether it succeeds or falls. If it does indeed fall, the federal government will be the owners of the auto-industry. The new CEO will be the “Minister of Interior Production.” We pay. And we pay. Those are the options. That is the decision formulated by the brightest minds in Washington.
Never mind that the economic environment in our country can no longer sustain our automotive industry. It is not even supported by the current economy and consumer choice. Alas, that is where our tax dollars come in. Once again, we pay. Once again, they are the lawmakers.
The Democrats are stipulating that benchmarks will be drafted so that they will have major say so on executive pay, bans on stock dividends while the loans remain outstanding. They would even have to seek government approval for any business transaction of $25 million or more. The new “Minister of Interior Production” can also convene on meetings of stakeholders in the auto-industry.
These are all just concessions, of course. The real problems are not being addressed. That includes our trade policies, where we remain at huge disadvantage, and our corporate tax that handcuffs us in the global market. It’s the second highest in the modern industrialized world. Why, to protect unions so they can make $85.00 an hour of course.
And it is union labor has driven the auto-industry off a cliff (no pun intended). When an average foreign mid-size car be built in the South, where the work force is labor free, and can offer $1200-1800 more in modern features because that money is not used to pay inflated labor cost, pensions, and retirement, it is a no-brainer for the consumer.
I am as patriotic as any American. I buy American products and support America. However, I own two Toyotas — don’t worry they were built by American labor. Furthermore, by me purchasing the Toyotas I helped to feed American families and helped to secure a number of jobs for Americans. I chose not to buy a car with vastly limited features at a higher cost and, best of all, the market provided me that choice.
That is the fundamental problem that is facing our American auto-industry. It is a failed model from antiquity and no amount of money, oversight, or restructuring will change that. The industry must adapt to the demands of the modern consumer or…we will support them, unwillingly, through our tax dollars?
Not quite the desired effect I had in mind.
Sadly, that is the reality of the situation. For years the Democrats bought union workers with handouts and protection. It looks like now we will be buying their support for them.
More Fiscal Wizardry
Well here is looking into the crystal ball with an Obama Presidency and Liberal controlled Congress.
After consulting with Barack Obama, Democratic leaders are likely to call Congress back to work after the election in hopes of passing legislation that would include extended jobless benefits, money for food stamps and possibly a tax rebate, officials said Saturday.
The bill's total cost could reach $150 billion, these officials said.[1]As pointed out SEVERAL times before, this money is not free. It is a long term loan that we have to pay back. So, let's spend more money in the wake of this. And of course nothing about spurring investment or creating more private sector jobs. No we will give you infrastructure projects paid for by the government. I am sure all of you getting ready to graduate college are happy to hear after four years of college you are now qualified to swing a hammer. This is not 1933 and we don't need a New Deal solution, it didn't work anyway.
The federal budget deficit hit a new record in the just-completed 2008 budget year under the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.Yeah these are the geniuses that are bringing change and reform to Washington. In reality the only change they are making is breaking us worse. But don't worry there is always this to consider.
The record $438 billion for the budget year that ended last week is up from $162 billion posted last year. The previous record of $413 billion was posted in 2004. [2]
The deficit is virtually certain to balloon even higher next year as the government sorts out the financial crisis and taps a $700 billion Treasury fund to buy toxic mortgage-related securities.[2]Right now there is a lot of debate as to what to do about our economic crisis and Liberals have been fond of bringing up the New Deal as the hope to solve all of our problems. Try again, there were some factors they are leaving out. The first is the massive increase in industrialization as a result
The Depression continued with decreasing effect until the U.S. entered the Second World War. Under the special circumstances of war mobilization, massive war spending doubled the GNP ; Civilian unemployment was reduced from 14% in 1940 to less than 2% in 1943 as the labor force grew by ten million. [3]Secondly, believe it or not it was Roosevelt's impressive attempts at fiscal conservatism.
Fiscal conservatism was a key component of the New Deal, as Zelizer (2000) proves. It was supported by Wall Street and local investors and most of the business community; mainstream academic economists believed in it, as apparently did the majority of the public.[3]Of course I am not suggesting let's go out and start a war or increase the spending. It is counter intuitive to suggest that the solutions are not opposites. But taking a Burkean approach to learning from history you can look at this and be pragmatic about it. If the government is going to get involved in the private sector do so in a fashion that is going to re-industrialize this nation, simple infrastructure projects are not going to cut it. Nor is handing out money to financial institutions. Could you imagine what private industrial firms could do with $700 billion dollars of venture capital? Secondly, we have got to stop spending our way into oblivion, this is beyond ridiculous.
The Liberals, meaning the Repubs also, only grab the plays out of the playbook they like and ignore the other factors involved. Free market did not get us here. Out of control spending, greed, and inane regulatory laws did and that is the fact.
-OP
[1] Tax rebate, food stamp money possible in aid plan
[2] Budget deficit hits record $438 billion, CBO says
[3] New Deal
