Rick Perry moves Troops to Border – Without Firing a Shot – Illegal Immigrants reported to Reroute through New Mexico due to National Guard – When will NM’s Martinez Do the Same?

Rick Perry has been criticized by the right and the left for moving Texas National guard to the border, the left, for obvious reasons, and the right, for political reasons (upcoming 2016 Presidential election and inability to understand strategy). Perry can now be justified for putting on show of force at the border. A Border Patrol report obtained by Fox News Media in PDF here contains the following (see page 75)



The above image is an excerpt from the report available at http://public.media.foxnews.com/20140730151121_2.pdf

It goes without saying that should the Governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, do the same, which the press would demean, and she would stop the flow – the same goes for all Border States. Note while reading the report the influx of adults for a variety of countries from all continents. This would send a strong message that individuals attempting to illegally enter may encounter military on the border.

Rand Paul – Network in 50 States - Message – Take Me Seriously – and We All Should

The Washington Post’s article yesterday outlined Rand Paul’s networking operations, which are extensive, in an article titled “Rand Paul Building National Network Courting Mainstream support for Presidential Bid” (Washington Post). The article outlines Paul’s efforts at building a 50-state support group focused on fundraising, and goes on to suggest that there are others with the same plans – yet no one has ever move so quickly in any recent election memory. The fact that Paul is becoming a successful fundraiser, through all channels, should send a clear message to the national GOP and other detractors that he is capable of running as a national candidate. What is not mentioned is his enormous appeal to those millennial, who have been waiting for an icon – and they have found one in the Kentucky Senator. That enthusiasm puts boots on the ground in every state of the union. Include members of both political parties, and include Libertarian and Tea Party supporters and one can well imagine what Paul can accomplish by the time 2014 comes to a close (or the official start of the 2016 Presidential Sweepstakes.

What might be most appealing to those who despise the political dynasty bids, and those bids by both parties for the “came in second last time, will be the frontrunner this time”, is that Paul is, in a word, fresh. He does have a family political name, but from his Libertarian father, who ran unsuccessfully as both a Libertarian and a Republican for the highest office. That, in a nutshell, does not compare to the Clinton or Bush Dynasties – in any way, shape or form. His appeal extends beyond the millennial, as his message appeals to women (wait, he’s against women if one is on the left, but, it now rings similar to a boy who cried wolf – women are concerned about their pocketbooks.)

It will be interesting as it unfolds and the inside bickering develops – as Paul is a take no prisoners legislature, expect the same in a campaign. This lends to the appeal, rather than the usual nonsense seen in both parties general election process.

Therefore, as he becomes more mainstream, and as he positions himself to appeal to the base – pick a base – his positions transcend – his demeanor is sincere. That is why he will be the frontrunner, for now, and depending on how the right reacts (and the standard bearer for the National GOP), he may well be the frontrunner through the end. It may happen regardless of any support or sabotage from the National Party – perhaps, just perhaps, the people will surprise them, and their chosen candidates and for once, those of us who have been holding our noses to pull a lever for someone who just might do the nation some good, will finally get the chance.

Where Are Your Senators? Ted Cruz – Still Standing On Senate Floor- #MakeDCListen – Trending Twitter 13 Hours After Start of Filibuster – Why Cruz is doing His Job

Some may call the epic Filibuster of Ted Cruz against voting for Cloture on the Continuing Resolution without the one amendment to that bill, put forth by the Congress to Defund Obamacare grandstanding on the part of this Senator from Texas, but they, themselves are confused, or arrogant to believe that the only purpose of a member of the Senate or the Congress for that matter, is to tow a “party line”, or to put themselves and their political futures above the people who sent them.

Senator Cruz, still making sense after standing for a ridiculous and painful 13 hours, is battling for the Texans who sent him to the Senate. He is battling for the “lost generation” – those 18-25 year olds who are working part time, at lower wages, without the hope of having a home of their own, or an ability to move forward, get a better job, pay off their student loans, and participates in what once was referred to as the American Dream. He is fighting against the ability of one man, Harry Reid, the Senator from Utah and Majority Leader of the Senate, to run roughshod over the American people, time and time, by refusing to allow discussions on the subject of the monstrous bill made law – The Affordable Health Care Act.

Senator Cruz does not, at this point, appear to give a whit about what the media, or care about his political future, he is speaking from the mind and heart about the rights granted under the Constitution, for all citizens, both Democrats and Republicans. He is speaking of the reality of the economics of the Affordable Health Care Act, which some in the GOP and the DNC are politically avoiding voting against, as it does not apply to them personally – as they are the Political Class. He is speaking as a Patriot of the first order. Having read the Federalist Papers, and the biographies of the founders, Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, and their peers, as a history geek who learned to love the nuances of historical and political poetry at the feet of a grandmother who had emigrated to this great nation as a sixteen year old, following her dreams of prosperity and rights not available in an increasingly volatile Europe, it is difficult to imagine in today’s America, the fact that there are not more Ted Cruz’s to defend each and every citizen in this nation.

Those who rail against the establishment of a political class, so wealthy and powerful that the divide between the have’ s and have not’s is palpable, are considered by those who are part of that political class or wish to be, to be either “dangerous” or mentally less understanding than they are, or simply ill-informed and less educated. They are both Democrats and Republicans or Unaffiliated politically, they are educated or not, they may or may not have Ivy League degrees, they may or may not have wealth or jobs or careers that are tied to Washington’s largesse, they are simply put, in disagreement with the policies, and the bureaucracy and the Political Party System (so loathed by our founders), running roughshod over the Constitution of the United States and not giving a whit about the individual and the liberties granted under the Document that grants each and every one that is privileged enough to be a citizen of this nation, the rights contained therein.

Senator Cruz, and his peer, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, standing alone in the well of the Senate, speaking after hours and hours into the dawn of the day that the Senate must take up a vote of Cloture, begging, daring those absent colleagues to vote No on Cloture – they are asking for an up or down vote on the Legislation of the Act known as “Obama Care” – the Affordable Health Care Act. They understand, clearly, they are railing against the “system”, and it is not for political gain, it is for the people who sent them.

There is a reason that the founders felt that the formation of political parties, who might grow and obtain so much power that they would, in deed and in purpose, outstrip the values of a free Republic, and undermining the liberties granted under the Constitution.

These two Senators standing are impressive, historically, they are not stalwart followers of a Political Party nor a political class, they are, in words and in actions, following the paths of those long buried and most often forgotten founders of this nation.

Whether or not one would agree, politically, those who are avoiding this debate, those who the people from their State sent them to the Capitol to do their bidding, should be debating these gentlemen, and doing the job that, according to the Constitution and the laws upon which this nation has been founded, bound to take up.

The American citizens of these United States of America deserve to have those they sent, regardless of whether they are Democrats, Republicans, Socialist, Libertarians, or simply unaffiliated, stand up and fight, not for their political party, or their own political futures, but for the citizens of their given state; with honesty and integrity for their deeply held belief, one way or the other on this issue of the Funding of the Affordable Health Care Act, or any piece of legislation put before them.

It is true, that the odds of the aforementioned behavior happening are slim to nothing, given the sad State of this Union and the elected political class, but what a fine day it would be for all of the United States citizens and those hoping to become citizens, if that very scenario would occur. We all, regardless of political affiliation owe a debt of gratitude for the Senator’s Cruz and Lee, who are doing what their colleges should be doing. A few of them did, notably, Sessions, Rubio, Rand, and Durban, and they deserve the credit, not those who have done nothing, regardless of which “party “to which they subscribe.

These Senators standing make this individual, first generation, American year for a day when this call for debate is a norm, not an anomaly.

Harry Reid (D-NV) Questionable Push for Chinese Solar Firm in Vegas – Son Works for Company – While Solar Panel Prices Fall – What About U.S. Co.'s?

Harry Reid - Nepotism Trumps National Solar Firms - image Heraldtribune.com

In an op-ed written by Steve Sebelius at the Los Vegas Review Journal, questions are raised about Harry Reid’s dismissal of coal powered plants in NV, and his push for a particular Chinese firm to produce green energy for Nevada. There are two issues, according to Sebelius: 1) a lack of interest by consumers (as there would be an increase in costs) and 2) Harry Reid’s son works as an attorney for the firm.

There was some backlash in comments regarding Solar Energy firms on another opinion piece in the Journal written by Sherman Frederick on the Reid – Chinese Solar Company – Reid’s son and why the need to “outsource” solar energy to a Chinese Firm. What was amazing, was that there were comments about Solyndra, ostensibly noting that the company went under because they failed to get “enough subsidies from the U.S. government”- somehow the blame lay with Mitt Romney and the Republicans. That said, the commenter was comparing apples to oranges in this case – the Chinese Firm building an energy plan, rather than manufacturing panels like the bankrupt Solyndra, but, the problem with solar panel manufactures appears to be global in nature. According to NBC news arm MSNBC -the falling prices of solar panels, globally, are pressuring U.S. companies:

Average selling prices for the photovoltaic modules that turn sunlight into electricity have dropped to 80 to 85 cents per watt, a decline of more than 10 percent from levels near 95 cents recorded at the end of 2011, a year that saw prices fall by about 50 percent.
Those price drops have helped boost solar sales and made solar power less dependent on subsidies to compete against fossil fuels. But they also have virtually erased profits at the major manufacturers, such as China's Suntech Power Holdings , Yingli Green Energy Holding, Trina Solar Ltd and U.S.-based First Solar.
First Solar, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer and the world's lowest-cost producer, has seen its shares drop nearly 90 percent from 2011's peak to their lifetime low at $20.02 hit earlier this month.
Global demand for solar panels grew by about 40 percent last year, but excess manufacturing capacity has created a glut of supplies that forced companies such as Suntech, Yingli, Trina and SunPower to slash prices.”

(MSNBC – April 15, 2012 via Reuters)

Therefore, any failure on the part of U.S. solar panel manufactures can be tied to a glut on the market for a product that no-one appears to want, not a lack of subsidies – and Harry Reid is pushing the concept at Nevada?

The Citizens of Nevada have Harry Reid on their hands until 2016, when he is up for re-election (or retires like Frank (D-MA-4) or Dodd (D-CT). Unfortunately, in his current position as the Senate Majority Leader, he also has an impact on the rest of us – that position would change, if the balance of power in the Senate moves to the Republican column – which is entirely possible in 2012. At that point Reid would be either voted, by a body of his peers” as the Senate Minority Leader, or relegated to the background as a rank and file member of the Senate. Either way he’d still have a bully pulpit to spout nonsense but less power. As a resident of a state with more corrupt politicians (Boston rivals Chicago), one is able to recognizes the “good old boy” cronyism that exists, from the state level to the federal level – and either ignore, or vote the offending “politician” out of office – or register a protest vote for a cartoon character.

Mitt Romney’s “Attempt” to Compare Obama to Carter – Romney’s Clear Sense of History – “Those who Ignore the Past are Doomed to Repeat It”

Carter and Obama Comparison - from the Wall Street Journal

In an article from Reuters this morning, the headline “Romney wants voters to see Jimmy Carter in Obama”, leads into an article that makes anyone with a sense of history (or who lived in reality during the Carter Administration) shrug – the story line:

“Romney accused Obama of being anti-business and compared him to Carter, seen by Republicans as an example of a weak Democratic president. Carter served from 1977 to 1981.”

(Reuters)

During the Carter Administration errors were made that had not only “Republicans”, but a majority of the voters sitting up and taking stock of one Ronald Reagan (or anyone actually could have replaced Carter) – at the time, Democrats were so disenfranchised from the administration that they voted for Reagan in droves, coining the term “Reagan Democrats” – after four years of Carter, Ronald Reagan made a clean sweep of the electoral map, and one has to note, that included Massachusetts. There were the bailouts, the jobs bills, the budget, the cost of oil and gasoline, and then the scarcity and the gas lines, the Middle East fiasco and Iran – from the economy to foreign policy – Jimmy Carter was a disaster. That is not, however, how he is portrayed by the modern day press nor by the Progressive professors – Carter is portrayed as someone who got the raw end of a deal. It is best to blame the Republican predecessor - familiar? Those “rascally Republicans” getting the blame once again for something they warned the public about!

However, in the late 1970’s, individuals were introduced to the misery index (a combination of the rate of inflation and the unemployment rate under Jimmy Carter), a man who was elected as a nice Governor, who was a peanut farmer, and purportedly had a sense of busies and government combined – he was also a first term Governor.
Warning bells should have gone off left and right, however, desperate to see a fresh face (the American Way) in office, the people duly voted party line, (hook and sinker) for the man who would “save America”. They did so without thinking that someone with little to no experience might not be the best fit for the job of CEO – it’s a risk American’s take, when choosing a President, one might have reams of experience or not, a vision or plan or not, and in Carter’s case, the systematic destruction of the economy, his bailout of Chrysler, his jobs plans that relied heavily on the government rather than the private sector – one could go on.

The problem is – it sounds all eerily familiar – as if someone took a blueprint of what not to do to the United States of America, and did it anyhow. Surely Mitt Romney (given his age) would have seen some of the effect of the Carter era; many others might recall giving up a car for public transportation since there was little use in paying for insurance on a mode of transportation for which there was no fuel. Hamburger became the new steak, and those on fixed incomes, well; they started to find cat food to be quite the delicacy. Although at the present time, we are nowhere near that catastrophe, we are at a point where there are significant numbers of people out of work; we see the costs of groceries, and clothing rising, due to the rise in gasoline and diesel prices (bringing the goods to market). We do see bailouts, and we do see Job’s programs, and we do see a pattern. Some are Republican’s, others are not.

Therefore, Romney is not looking to make it appear that Obama is like Carter, he’s just giving everyone a simple history lesson. It is not as if the Obama Campaign isn’t comparing Romney to Bush (of course, they are using Bush as that is considered recent history, and it is quite obvious to those who have followed the Obama Administration from day one, that Romney’s comparison is – honest.

It is not that this blog is enamored of Mitt Romney, one only needs to read the material contained herein to understand there may be some flaws involved when it comes to Romney’s path to balancing budgets (get ready for fee’s!), however, set that aside, and one finds a man who actually understands business, and the business of running a government, (States, even small Sates like the Bay State count), and now we find, understands history – making him less likely to repeat mistakes made by say, George W. Bush. Therefore, comparing historical knowledge of both candidates for Presidency and the ability of one to grasp facts, while the other ignored the facts, and followed the Carter path, makes Romney infinitely more appealing to those who would prefer not to live in “misery”, and in addition more qualified from the perspective of being able to look at past mistakes and take a different tactic.

As to Carter-Obama Comparisons, one is invited to peruse this blog, and one would think others, whose opinions link to credible news sources from the late 1970’s – with a bit of personal historical recall included. Exhibit A: ”Obama - Shades of Jimmy Carter! – Unemployment at 8.5%, Government Creates 60,000 Temporary Jobs – Cuts Defense – Analysis” (the Date: May 9th 2009)

Exhibit B: ”Obama Repeating History – Calls for Increase in Tax Revenue – Increased Public Sector Stimulus, Recipe for both Fiscal and Electoral Disaster” (the Date: Sept. 19, 2011)
(There are more, depending upon the year, but available in search of blog or simple Google)

It was in amazement that one was able to watch the Obama Administration mirror the tactics of the Carter Administration, knowing full well that there was sufficient data available that would have allowed one to read and understand – what one was about to unleash on the American Public, had been tried before and filed – miserably.
Therefore, in fairness to the Obama campaign comparing Romney to Bush – yes, they are both Republicans. However, Romney on the other hand, is going a bit beyond the party affiliation and to the core of what went wrong, and how it could have gone so right – had President Obama done exactly the opposite of Jimmy Carter, he may have been extremely successful, (yes, even the deficit under Carter, adjusted for inflation, is equal to the current deficit), and Romney merely a foot note.

However, as it stands now, one can see the writing on the wall come November, even if, there is a miracle and the economy makes a slight recovery – to have that happen, gas prices would have to drop significantly before summer, otherwise, there simply will not be enough time for the economy to adjust, specifically when it comes to prices of food and necessities that are driven to market, and affect the daily lives of the population. Cutting the corporate tax rate to zero now, would not show effect until 2013 – again too late (See the Reagan plan, and the rocket that was the economy in his hands.)

Therefore, to all those who know that Carter was well-meaning and a giving and caring man (see Habitat for Humanity), as the leader of the free world, he was – in a word- disastrous – One can re-write history, but one cannot erase the memories of millions of Americans (now in the largest voting bloc in history (baby boomers) who saw the similarities from the beginning. To Mitt Romney, kudos for the history lesson, although the Press is not pleased that you may have gotten a point or to right and that you have the nerve to try to equate Obama and Carter – as if on purpose!


Bush Romney Comparison - rather old/new tactic from the Obama Administration - it may have worked on McCain - but that is history - image via Salon dot com