Border Blogs: Expressing our Border Culture

The list of wrong policy approaches goes on. The doobeous, tax and spend and intrusive government advocates in power continue to push through what is increasingly an anti-business, anti-taxpayer agenda. Tobacco - City government has already taken away 1. the liberty of business people to decide what to allow in their business and 2. the liberty of consumers to decide which businesses to jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

    Gov. Rick Perry is proposing a tax break for employers who give high school dropouts time off to finish school.

   Perry, who shared his plan in El Paso today, said it would cost the state $15 million in sales tax credits over a two-year period if 5,000 dropouts participate each year.

    His proposal would have to be approved by the legislature before it can be implemented.

    "A single dropout is one dropout too many, so we must continue pursuing sensible education options that give every Texan a shot at a better life,” Perry said in a statement.

    Under the proposal, employers would grant adult college dropouts two hours a week of paid time off to return to school or attend GED preparation classes.

    Employers would receive a $1,500 sales tax credit once the employee gets a diploma or a GED.

    Perry's opponent Bill White has released his own plan to improve education that looks at expanding prekindergarten, improving career and technical education and making college tuition more affordable.

    Katy Bacon, a spokeswoman for the White campaign, said Perry had decade to improve education but failed. 

   "After ten years of doing nothing, career politician Rick Perry is trotting out election year sound bites," Bacon said. "Students are slipping through the cracks every day, and Perry still refuses to answer or provide a real solution for the 3 in 10 Texas students who don’t graduate on time."    

    Perry's campaign said White's proposals do not offer new policy initiatives to improve education.

    Read more in Wednesday's El Paso Times.   

   

 

    U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez lost his temper during a meeting with constituents this weekend when a woman accused him of lying about the cost of health care reform.

    "Ma'am, don't accuse me of not saying the truth," the Democrat said. He then slapped a newspaper against a table.

    Rodriguez's flare up became fodder for conservatives who quickly circulated a video clip.

    Right-wing media magnate Andrew Breitbart's "Big Government" website first posted the video.

     Rodriguez's Republican opponent Francisco "Quico" Canseco pounced on the incident.

    Canseco issued a statement saying that Rodriguez "has a history of cursing and yelling at people who disagree with him. It shows how much contempt he has for the people of this district and their concerns about the economy, exploding federal deficits, and reckless government growth.” 

    Rodriguez, whose district includes a part of El Paso County, shot back and accused his opponent of trying to sabotage his event.

    "Unfortunately political operatives associated with my opponent's campaign tried to turn it into something else -- attempting to hijack a 'congress on your corner' event merely to engage in uncivil, cynical videotape baiting tactics," Rodriguez said in a statement. "The people of Southwest Texas deserve better than that."

    Still, Rodriguez said he was sorry for his behavior.

    "That said, I apologize for losing my temper at an event that should always be a civil and respectful exchange of ideas," he said in the statement. "I look  forward to continuing to listen to folks all across southwest Texas, as we work together to create jobs and get this economy back on track."

   

   

Pues si, esto cada vez esta peor y peor.  Como es posible que con tanta vigilancia los homicidios sigan y sigan aumentando.  Acabao de leer un articulo en un periodico local que este fin de semana, en Juarez, fue uno de los mas sangrientos del año.  Hubo 42 muertos.

Hasta cuando se va a dar cuenta el gobierno Mexicano que la estrategia en contra del narco no esta funcionando.  Lo malo es que esto va a seguir y seguir hasta que el narco se lleve entre las patas a tanta gente.

Con esta clase de vigilancia, de la cual no se espera mucho, no nos queda de otra mas que esperar tener suerte y que no nos pase nada a los que no estamos involucrados en la mafia.

The recent announcement the city will seek a tax increase, during a period of time in which the populations is suffering high unemployment, housing foreclosures and repossessions, is outrageous. In response to this announcement, Citizens for Good Government, a conservative non-partisan advocacy group that favors a freeze on property taxes and reducing public debt, has come together again. It jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

Gov. Rick Perry sounded some familiar themes in a speech today at the National Council of La Raza conference in San Antonio.

Some of the governor's remarks were aimed at appealing to nearly 2,000 audience members who sat waiting to hear about his positions on immigration reform, Arizona's controversial law and raising the quality of life for Latinos.

After hitting his typical points by touting job creation and the state's economic standing, Perry briefly touched on the new Arizona law that has been criticized by some who say it encourages racial profiling and discrimination.

He said the law "may be right for Arizona but it ain't exactly right for Texas."

The comment drew applause from attendees though Perry did not specifically say what part of the law was not "exactly right" for the state. He also did not make any promises to veto similar legislation in the state.

Perry repeated his criticism of the federal government's approach to border security. He said Texas has invested in keeping its residents safe from spillover violence because the federal government failed in its duty. 

And, he said, the federal government's failure to secure the border is the reason states like Arizona have taken on immigration policy.

"Until America secures the border, a rational debate on immigration policy is not going to happen," Perry said

The governor talked about the state's business climate and economic achievements in recent years, and he seemed to take a jab at his Democratic opponent Bill White.

"This isn't rocket science," Perry said. "When it comes to keeping this state going and keeping the economy of Texas happening, you don't have to have a degree in economics or a degree in public policy from, what is it, Harvard."

White, who will speak to the group Monday, graduated from Harvard University with a degree in economics before earning his law degree at the University of Texas at Austin.

El Pasoan Robert Sanchez was named Assistant Attorney General of the Year for his work with children.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott recognized Sanchez as the top attorney for the 21-county region that includes El Paso.

Sanchez, an assistant attorney general for the Child Support Division’s El Paso Cent ra l office, works to establish legally recognized relationships between  children and their unmarried parents. He also establishes, enforces and modifies court orders for child support and medical support. 

“Robert Sanchez’s hard work and dedication helped ensure thousands of young Texans have the child support they need to grow healthy and strong,” Abbott said in a statement. “A committed and selfless public servant, Robert stands out as one of the state’s most dedicated and impressive lawyers. We are grateful to Robert Sanchez for his commitment to Texas children.”

Two environmental groups plan to sue Exxon Mobil Corp., arguing that the company illegally released 7.2 million pounds of toxic chemicals at a Texas plant, according the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity.

A report by the nonprofit investigative journalism group says Environment Texas and the Sierra Club plan to file a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil this summer. The groups said the company released pollutants linked with cancer and risked the health of thousands of nearby residents.

According to the report, the company released 5.9 million pounds of "dangerous air pollutants" and 1.3 million pounds of toxic substances over a five-year period at its Baytown complex.

The Center also reported that about 85 percent of the incidents at the complex in Baytown during the past decade were categorized as “avoidable” or “preventable” by the TCEQ. The complex had to pay about $1.2 million in fines, said the report.

Exxon Mobil told the Center in a written statement that since 2001 the company invested $700 million on environmental improvement projects. The company declined to provide the Center a comment on the lawsuit.

Theresa Caballero Attorney at Law 300 E. Main St., Suite 1136 El Paso, TX 79901 915.565.3550 915.562.5250 fax Stuart L. Leeds Attorney at Law 1715 Wyoming Ave, El Paso, Texas 79902 July 7, 2010 Mr. Steve Ortega. Esq. El Paso, TX 79901 Dear Mr. Ortega: We understand that you will be reporting to the courthouse tomorrow to comply with your obligation of representing an indigent person accused of a crime. We have a copy of a letter you sent to the council of judges seeking to be released from that obligation. The rule, as you know, is pay $600 and be relieved of the duty, or keep your money and take the criminal case, which you will be paid for. Many lawyers who do not practice criminal law and who feel that they would not possess the requisite skills to represent a person in a criminal case pony up and pay the $600. Despite your written protests that you have “never handled a criminal case and do not feel comfortable morally or professionally doing so,” it appears that you will stick with your cash and take the appointment. This is a grave responsibility. Criminal cases are the most severe in our system. A person stands to lose his freedom, his right to bear arms (affecting his right to protect himself and his family), his right to vote, his right to hold office, his right to serve on a jury, his right to seek certain occupations, his right to compete for certain school loans. Everything is at stake for an accused person. How can you educate your children if you are in prison or a convicted felon? Generations of people stand to be harmed and pay the price for a criminal conviction. That is why the burden of proof in a criminal case, beyond a reasonable doubt, is the highest burden in American law. Another important point is that everyone who walks into court is presumed innocent and is absolutely entitled to that presumption and absolutely entitled to an attorney who will fight tooth and nail to preserve that presumption. Defenda ..

If you want to check out your favorite reporters, anchors, photographers and radio hosts in action, go check out the Media Charity Softball Tournament at at Cohen Stadium this Sunday. Fielding teams this year are KTSM-TV Channel 9, KINT-TV Channel...

Mexico, according to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is in fifth place in the proportion of individuals who read newspapers on the Internet for private purposes, just below Korea, Norway, Iceland and Japan, of all the 31 OECD members list.

This finding goes along with the data that inform us that the circulation of “traditional” newspaper has fallen, implying a further decline in advertising revenue. In the study “The Evolution of News and the Internet” of the OECD, it is also mentioned that both the decrease in traditional newspaper readers, such as increased use of electronic means to that end, is directly proportional.

Although Mexico is still lagging behind compared to other OECD countries in terms of broadband connections and Internet access, we can see that the use of these resources is high. The number of readers of recently printed newspapers (for the day or day before) tells us that in Mexico readers fell from 36% to 34%. On the other hand, and as mentioned before, Mexico is among the first places in the world where the population uses internet to read the news, with 60% of users reported using the internet to download or watch any news, above the United States and Finland, both with 57%, as well as Sweden with 45% .

One very interesting data from this study is that reveals that most Internet users are young people, which could increase the number of electronic media usage significantly. According to the OECD study, “The reading of print newspapers is usually lower among young people, who tend to attribute less importance to these media, however print newspapers still have a future.”

It is necessary to increase the capacity and infrastructure in technology in Mexico to achieve leadership. This contrasts with our perception about Mexico, that we are not able to adapt and conceive technology as part of our daily lives. This is a perfect example of how technology can be used to close gaps, in this case, information.

http://journalistsforjustice.wordpress.comThe Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

Here is an op-ed that Stuart leeds and I wrote and that appeared today, July 4, 2010, in the El Paso Times rebutting an op-ed City Reps Steve Ortega and Robert O'Rourke wrote about a case Stuart Leeds and I won last week. The case involved El Paso Police Sgt. Louis Johnson brutalizing our client, lying about it and the City Reps. Susie Byrd, Steve Ortega, Robert (Beto) O'Rourke an Mayor John Cook covering up for the problem. Details show complexity of case, weakness of DIMS in justice system By Stuart Leeds and Theresa Caballero \ Guest columnists Posted: 07/04/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT Last week, a jury returned in an hour with a not-guilty for our client. They then took the unprecedented step of writing a collective letter calling into question the El Paso Police Department and District Attorney Jaime Esparza's DIMS arrest program. City Reps. Ortega and O'Rourke wrote an op-ed condemning the court process, the basis of the jury's verdict and the jury's opinion. Here is what they omitted. It was Thanksgiving and our client was outside his apartment when his life changed forever. El Paso police Officer Louis Johnson had been dispatched to a domestic disturbance when he saw our client littering. Johnson, who was training Officer Moreno, totally abandoned the wife-beating call and became fixated on our client. Within minutes, Johnson had brutalized our client, entered his apartment without authority, and pulled his gun on the terrorized family. Johnson then arrested my client. Instead of taking him to a judge as per the law, Johnson called the district attorney, who said arrest him for assault on a peace officer (felony); here is the bond amount; don't take him to a judge before you take him to jail. That's too time-consuming. Skip the judge. This way, you get to be investigator, "victim," bond-setter and judge all at once. It's great. It's called DIMS. Reps. Ortega, O'Rourke, Byrd and Mayor Cook have consistently funded DA Esparza's DIMS despite ..

Abe Lubetkin, the weekend morning anchor at KVIA-TV Channel 7, is leaving the station. His last day is next Sunday. Lubetkin is also a reporter and producer at Channel 7. He spent two years in El Paso. Lubetkin has accepted...

Republican Gov. Rick Perry and his Democratic opponent Bill White will both speak to the same group next week but don't expect fireworks between the candidates.

Perry and White will address the Texas Farm Bureau County Presidents’ Conference at different times July 8 in San Marcos. White will talk to the group at 11 a.m. and Perry will speak at 1 p.m.

“We are very pleased that both candidates will appear at our meeting,” Kenneth Dierschke, president of TFB, said in a statement. “We are anxious to hear of their plans for agriculture and for the future of Texas, particularly on eminent domain.”

The farm bureau's political action arm endorsed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison during the primary. Back then the group said they did so because of concerns over property rights.

Dierschke said reforming eminent domain continues to be a key priority.

“We anticipate the opportunity to work with the leadership of the legislature and with the governor’s office to achieve that,” he said.

The group has not selected a candidate to endorse in the general election.

Andrew Chung, the meteorologist and reporter at KVIA-TV Channel 7 (cable Channel 6), is leaving the ABC affiliate later this summer. He has landed a job at the ABC affiliate in Austin, KVUE-TV. Chung came to El Paso in 2008...

Attorney General  Greg Abbott today sent a letter to President Barack Obama demanding that he provide more troops and resources to the Texas-Mexico border.

Abbott and Gov. Rick Perry have often said that the federal government is not doing enough to secure the border.

Today, he said news that bullets may have traveled from Juarez to El Paso's City Hall shows the need for immediate action from the federal government.

Below is the complete letter:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

Deadly violence from drug cartels and transnational gangs in Mexico is knocking on the United States’ door with ever increasing frequency. Yesterday, gunfire from the cartels pierced that threshold and struck City Hall in El Paso. Fortunately no one was injured or killed. But that good fortune was not the result of effective border control – it was mere luck that the bullets struck buildings rather than bodies.

Luck and good fortune are not effective border enforcement policies. The shocking reality of cross border gunfire proves the cold reality: American lives are at risk. As the attached news article notes: “More than 1,300 people have been murdered in Juárez this year as a war continues relentlessly between the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels.” Americans must be protected as this deadly war bulges at our border.

Law enforcement officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and your own U.S. Customs and Border Protection will reveal the hard truth. Our state is under constant assault from illegal activity threatening a porous border.

The time for talk has passed. The time for action is now. The need is urgent. Each day that passes increases the likelihood that an American life will be lost because of the federal government’s failure to secure the border.

This threat demands immediate and effective action by your Administration to secure our border. As the Attorney General of Texas, I urge you to make border security your top priority so that no more innocent lives are lost to border violence.

Talking about taxes is always a difficult issue. In fact hardly anyone likes to think about paying them. However, according to a KPMG study, Mexico is a country where the tax burden is relatively low compared with other Western countries. In a study of 10 developed countries, including France, Japan, Italy, Germany, United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Holland and Mexico and the result is that Mexico is the country with the lowest load of taxes in terms of corporate taxes.

A lower tax rate compared to other countries results in a direct benefit to the country’s economy. It becomes a competitive advantage, since it encourages direct investment in the country, and this always translates directly into new job sources for Mexicans.

Mexico has the lowest Total Tax Rate (TTR) in all countries studied, with a score of 59.9. This means that Mexico’s tax rates are 40.1% lower than those in the U.S., which is the country with the highest rate of all countries studied, with a TTR of 100.

It is true that in Mexico there is a widespread complaint about the application of taxes, and on equality with which we split the payment thereof, but the reality is that Mexico has a tax scheme very accessible to its citizens and investors. In fact, Mexico is a tax haven. The study shows that taxes in Mexico are not as high as they might seem. Our revenue as a percentage of GDP amounts to 11% when the Latin American average is 18%, according to United Nation´s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL).

This clearly is advantageous. However, the cost of having such low levels of collection is that it reduces opportunities to allocate public resources to meet needs of different population groups and to strengthen social policies and human development. Moreover, in the case of Mexico, the government compensates for the low recovery with the proceeds from the revenues from the national oil company.

It is important to note that the Government of Mexico makes an effort not to raise tax rates to be at the level of other developed countries, much less emulate our northern neighbors. In fact, taxes are not a way in which the government exploits us or gives luxuries to public officials.

In fact, Mexico has the lowest government spending measured as a percentage of GDP of all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country members. This comparison shows that Mexico has a low tax collection and is possible to run the required government structure and functions with that budget.

What would it be possible if instead of complaining about the high taxes and collection, we realize that we are fortunate to have to pay low rates? What would be possible if everyone of us cooperates with our taxes to support the government in developing our country´s needs?

Zoltan Csanyi-Salcedo, the news director for KINT-TV Channel 26, announced on Tuesday that the Univision station has hired a new reporter. David Stout replaces long-time Channel 26 reporter Pedro Villagrana, who left the station earlier this spring. Stout comes to...

    U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said in a statement Tuesday that El Paso's recent selection as an ‘All-America City’ is well-deserved.

        Hutchison, whose daughter lives in El Paso, said the award honors the work of residents and leaders who make the city a welcoming place for families and businesses.

   “El Paso is a wonderful city with a rich history and a vibrant culture,” Hutchison said in the statement. “The city has so much to offer – a strong military presence, a bilingual workforce, and a pro-business environment that welcomes entrepreneurs and the jobs they bring to the area."