State Department Issues Travel Warning for Mexico – Says Vacation Resorts Safe – 14 Murdered in Acapulco!

The First Mexican American War - image britannica.com


The State Department has issues a travel warning to those visiting Mexico. This warning, includes the removal of dependents of U.S. Government personnel, specifically children. The warning goes on specify places that might be “safe” in Mexico:

(from travel.state.gov)
It is imperative that U.S. citizens understand the risks involved in travel to Mexico, how best to avoid dangerous situations, and who to contact if one becomes a victim of crime or violence. Common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas during daylight hours, and avoiding areas where criminal activity might occur, can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable. U.S. citizen victims of crime in Mexico are urged to contact the consular section of the nearest U.S. Consulate or Embassy for advice and assistance. Contact information is provided at the end of this message.

Therefore, the U.S. State Department would lead travelers to Mexico to believe all is well in say resort areas such as Acapulco. Apparently violence from the drug wars, which has resulted in bombings, beheadings, kidnappings and other forms of violence, has spread over the border into the U.S., specifically Arizona. Arizona has been fighting to protect its citizens against the violence being imported from Mexico; however, the Federal Government, to date, has done little to protect the border, and in fact, has filed lawsuits against the State of Arizona for trying to protect itself.

That said, if one chooses a “safe tourist” area to visit in Mexico, it is suggested to choose one in another country - The City of Acapulco, one of the most famous tourist destinations in the drug cartel run nation, has seen only 14 murders recently.

The question arises, if the violence is bad enough to bring home dependents of U.S. government employees working in Mexico, then why on earth would the State Department tell U.S. Citizens it’s safe to go anywhere near that country? Apparently, they are less interested in protecting the Citizens of the U.S. than insulting the Mexican Government. Due to the millions of dollars the U.S. sends to Mexico each years to prevent drug smuggling, etc., one has to wonder why the open border policy and specifically why our government would put our citizens on risk, both inside the United States and in the Country of Mexico itself by noting tourists areas are safe, when the opposite is true.

The deployment of 500 national guard troops along the Arizona border hardly seems like drop in the bucket, especially in light of the fact that soldiers deployed cannot detain any illegal’s caught crossing the border, rather notify the border guards, who are already overwhelmed. One has to ask how long it will take for the first casualty of the Mexican-American border war to take place, and how long it will be before sufficient troops and fencing is put up along the Mexican border to protect U.S. citizens.

New Bedford Fishing Industry Targets Obama on Martha’s Vineyard – End “Catch-Share” Regulations

Port of New Bedford, Fishing Main Industry of the MA 4th Congressional District - hindered by regulations image working waterfront.com

New Bedford Massachusetts is known for its Fishing Fleet, one of the nation’s largest fleets, and the largest employers in the 4th Congressional District. NECN (New England Cable News)reported that several New Bedford based fishing boats headed out to Martha’s Vineyard, where the President is vacationing to protest the “Catch-Share” Rules put into effect in May 2010 by NOAA’s “Office of Sustainable Fisheries” .

Catch-Shares limit the number of fish by species to be taken in any given season, and was instituted in Congress in 2006 under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Management Authorization Act of 2006 by the 109th Congress, Barney Frank, the 4th Congressional District Representative, representing the City of New Bedford, argued that local fisheries have a “stake in the shares”. However the Bill, originally instituted in the house and sponsored by retiring 10th District Congressmen Bill Delahunt (D), was based on science, some argue, that is not specifically sound.

The initial legislation was pushed by environmentalist concerned about the population of the oceans fish, and “shares” were designed to be sold, by the government to businesses, allowing for a type of “currency” which could be sold, the “share” is essentially the number of fish one can legally catch by species as enacted by Congress. In other words, the government also regulates the fishing industry.

The question is who is standing up for the small business owners, those fleets that sail out of New Bedford and Gloucester in Massachusetts to the Crabbers of Alaska? Ironically, the same individuals who implemented the bill in the first placed are now asking to relax the rules in order to allow for a little relief. Senator’s John Kerry (D) and newly elected Senator Scott Brown (R) were joined by several Congressional Representatives, including Delahunt, Frank, Tierney and McGovern in the request to add flexibility to the rules n several areas (Gloucester Times. Perhaps they should have thought about possible changes in scientific data and allowed for flexibility when writing the original legislation. (Brown excluded)

Brown, in the same Gloucester Times article states the areas high unemployment as reason for relaxing the rules. Once a “fleet” has met its catch limit, they are essentially “grounded” for the remainder of the season, to allow for the fish to repopulate.

How important is the fishing industry to the United States? The Top 10 U.S. Seaports, by Tonnage (most recent date 2006 are by order of most fish caught:

1. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, AK: 911.3
2. Intracoastal City, LA: 400.7
3. Reedville, VA: 372.5
4. Kodiak, AK: 332.8
5. Empire-Venice, LA: 285.7
6. Pascagoula-Moss Point, MS: 212.1
7. New Bedford, MA: 169.9
8. Los Angeles, CA: 164.5
9. Astoria, OR: 164.1
10. Gloucester, MA: 148.4

By Value the top port is New Bedford, MA, making the industry critical to the 4th district and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts ranks 3rd worldwide, behind first place China, and second place Japan.

Although highly unlikely that Obama will hear the pleas of the Captains of the Fishing Industry while out on Golf Course, it is also highly unlikely he would or could do anything about the plight of the fishing industry as those purse strings are controlled by members of the House and Senate(i.e. Congress) This coupled with the fact that Obama’s preference is to appoint academic experts to look at a given situation for months prior to coming to any conclusion, if there is one, would make that request futile (the Gulf Oil Spill comes to mind).

Congress and the Senate combined with the help of Obama since 2008 have regulated and added more formerly self-directed businesses to government control than any in history. From health care, to student loans (government interest rates on student loans are at 10% plus - where the banks were at prime and no longer allowed to issue student loans), to the auto industry, to mortgages and that list includes the now suffering fishing industry. (As nothing has been done to repeal or de-regulate any aspect of this industry under the 109th or the 110th congress.)

What are the fishermen and fleets out of New England, Alaska, Louisiana and other top ports to do? Vote for those who would be most likely to deregulate and hope the 111th Congress will reverse the most egregious of ACTS passed into law which have done nothing more than add to the nations economic woes.

The port of Gloucester was brought to national attention by the film “Perfect Storm” in 2000, a film which highlights the intense dangers of the fishing industry.

The Dawning of Reality – D.C. Democrats Realize House Might be Lost – Some Run as Republicans

The possible 2012 Top of Tickets - unless Clinton goes back to Repbublian roots, this could be the Face of the GOP image: newsbusters

FromPolitco: The headline: “Democrats privately fear House prospects worsening”,is with 68 days left until the mid-term elections, a day late and a dollar short considering the mood of the electorate towards the Congress. Considering that Congressional Approval has dropped significantly since Democrats took control of both Houses in 2006, with only one in four voters approving of the job Congress is doing, according to combined polls at realclearpolitics.com, this should come as no surprise.

One has to ask, are the individuals who the voters send to Washington so isolated from their own states, districts and the mood of the country that they had no clue that, with very few exceptions, their jobs were in jeopardy? If the answer is yes, then they don’t deserve to represent the people in their respective districts and states. It is not that there hasn’t been ample warning from constituents: from explosive “town-hall” meetings where constituents vehemently opposed health care reform legislation, and massive to mini rallies held across the country by Tea Party members to protest government waste and spending, and specifically hard polling data, from both outside pollster and internal polling – these “endangered” representatives have to know the proverbial “jig is up”.

Therefore, they are now “privately” voicing their concerns and the DNC is frantically attempting to cover as much ground as possible in order to preserve a few seats in Congress and a glimmer of hope of maintaining control of the Senate. The option of painting a GOP Tea Party candidate as “extreme” is one way to go, however, it does not appear to be working – especially in the case of Sharon Angle – where incumbent, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid is neck and neck in polls with Angle, after an ad blitz against Angle, painting her as “the extremist”. In fact, in viewing the polls, since the primary results, Reid initially had a 7 point lead, which has now resulted in a 2 point deficit (within the margin of error) with no signs of improvement on job performance polls either.

Can one expect to win in this climate, if their job approval is in the tank? Therein lays the crux, high profile and not so high profile politicians are being held responsible for, perhaps, the first time in history by a vast majority of American’s and, further, it crosses party lines.

The Congress goes through cycles, where it is “cleansed” of one party then another and this generally occurs during a mid-term election (election which does not include the office of the President). In recent history, 1994 saw the Republicans take the majority of both houses, in 2006, the same occurred when the Democrats did the same. Therefore, the natural ebb and flow of politics would indicate that some seats would be lost in 2010, enough perhaps to change party control.

Of course, that was prior to the Tea Party Movement formed out of frustration over an every growing Federal Government under this Congress and the Obama Presidency. Although cast in a negative light by most of the “mainstream media”, the Tea Party is made up of members of all backgrounds, and all political affiliations, and like other smaller political parties (i.e. Progressive Socialist and Libertarians), will put up candidates who run under a “major party label” in order to have a better shot at being elected. The problem that has occurred in general for most Democrats is that they now have two labels: Progressive and Democrat, and those hardcore Progressives (sic: Socialists) are part of their election woes.

There is a growing backlash and distrust, even among what’s become known as “Conservative Democrats” against their “progressive Democrat” counterparts. See argument for Progressives versus the Conservative Democrats and Republicans here)
It has gotten to the point where, according to Politico, two Democrats are running against their peers, essentially running against their own party this election:

“Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly, a second-term congressman from South Bend, is airing a new TV ad in his South Bend-area district pointing out that he voted against “Nancy Pelosi’s energy tax on Hoosier families.”
“The Donnelly ad is who he is,” said Parker. “He’s independent.”
It’s a spot that is strikingly similar to one Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire is running, which features supporters praising the second-term Democrat for “stand[ing] up” to Obama and Pelosi. “

Some Democrats have changed party affiliation, and are now running as Republicans: Sean Bielat, a Republican candidate for the Massachusetts 4th Congressional district, is taking a hard run against incumbent Barney Frank. Beilat, who was, until recently a “life-long” Democrat, was “outed” by a local journalist, who went so far as to dig up voter registration on the young Marine. Bielat in response blamed Barney Frank, the blatant “Progressive Democrat” who is wedded to the Freddie and Fannie disaster as responsible for the disclosure. Registered Democrats coming out of the Conservative Closet is on the upswing in Massachusetts especially, which gives Mr. Beilat an edge of sorts, as he will appeal to those Democrats who are either actively switching political party, and/or about to vote for a Republican.

It was not the Republican’s or the Independents or the Tea Party Activist that put one Scott Brown in what has become fondly known as “the People’s Seat” – it was Democrats. The math does not support any other conclusion.

Therefore, it boils down to several factors, all of which do not bode well for incumbent Democrats (nor for some incumbent Republican’s who apparently have gotten caught up in the same anti-incumbent sentiment). The latest casualty, AK Senator Murkowski, who is now waiting for absentee ballots in the hopes that she can maintain her seat – it does not appear likely. Her opponent, Tea Party and Sarah Palin backed Joe Miller, will, in all likelihood, be the GOP candidate, and in all probability the next Senator from the Great State of Alaska.)


The Factors:
Successful integration of Socials Progressive throughout the Democrat Party, including its leadership, has caused an internal party rift.

Counting on the popularity of the President – whose job approval ratings are beginning to look a lot like Congresses.

Running negative ads against “dangerous or extreme” Tea Party Candidates

Excessive use of the George Bush blame game – which has resulted in the #1 Tee-shirt for Obama’s visit being: Miss Me Yet? Image: George Bush

Finally, and the most amusing - The DNC in a desperate attempt to hold onto what has been, in essence already lost - Poltico:

"In Washington, Democrats are testing a new strategy of trying to make the national conversation about Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) – who would become speaker of the House with a GOP takeover -- a tough proposition given that most voters have never heard of him."

John Boehner, the Congressional Representative of Ohio and Minority Leader of the Senate is someone who voters do recognize, in fact, those who were less than thrilled with the stimulus, and other massive bills that were rammed through Congress and the Senate, only need to recall the Ohio Congressman throwing a large tome on his desk and asking – “How are we expected to read this in under 12 hours” The same Congressman who, when Nancy Pelosi in 2008 decided to shut down Congress to go on a book tour, with gas prices through the roof, Boehner and a band of Conservatives stayed in session, in the dark, after Pelosi shut off the cameras, eventually forcing the Congress back into session.. Outside the beltway, people do pay attention and Boehner has become somewhat of a folk hero. Therefore, the casting of John Boehner as a possible GOP Speaker to replace Nancy Pelosi as an advertisement paid for by the DNC – is deliciously ironic. Note to future House Speaker Boehner, should the DNC follow through on this, have you staff send them at the very least a note of thanks.

How out of touch are DC Democrats both “party hacks” and the elected officials that are more Party Faithful, than constituent centered? We will all find out just how out of touch they are on the morning of November 15. One industry that should, by all accounts do very well, specifically with journalists and progressives, is the mental health agency – Bush Derangement Syndrome will pale by comparison should these elections go forward as predicated (note anything in politics as in history is up for grabs). Then it is from that point forward, crunch time for 2012. One has to already feel the angst of the media and those pundits who are also realizing that Obama is, in all likelihood a one-term Jimmy Carter president.

Therefore, as they cast about for possible replacement it becomes apparent that two of the most viable candidates are: women – one, a former Goldwater Girl who had one of the strongest records on Defense in the Senate during her tenure representing the State of New York, and one who has already proven her ability to govern, her ability to work with business and give back to the pole of a state, and most importantly, that she can survive and surpass the likes of CBS has been Cattie Couric. The Two, polarizing, yes, smart women, yes, and capable - yes. It’s not being suggested that it’s a “woman’s “turn” to hold the highest office – it is being suggested that either of these women would do a better job, and hold the congress accountable, no matter what party world be in power, and especially, work for the American People and not necessarily the party to which they are affiliated. Women can multi-task; one would think that critical to the Office of the Presidency.

Either way, the nation wins, in a race between the two fermented – of course, as the shift to the right has Democrats switching parties to Republican to run in Massachusetts Districts, perhaps Hillary Clinton would be able to channel her inner Goldwater Girl and run on the GOP ticket – either way, it world work to the advantage of the nation. As to the survival of the Democrat Party, should it continue to assimilate more hard-core Progressives (which accounts for approximately 20% of the population (polls) it is not out of the question that within a decade the once Proud DNC will be lining up in debates next to the Green Party and Libertarian Candidates while the Tea Party and Republican front-runners battle it out.

Are the Democrat in trouble – “you betcha!”