Shuckins - Issac is going to miss... New Mexico


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Youth Might Finally Realize What the Obama Economy Has Done to Their Futures

Washington Examiner - Younger voters, angry with the lack of jobs and a stalled economy that's cut their entertainment budget and forced many to live with mom and dad, are expected to flock to the polls in even greater numbers than 2008 when President Obama's inspirational message of hope and change drew millions to the polls.

While 51 percent of Millennials age 18-29 voted in the 2008 election, 76 percent plan to vote this fall, according to a new poll from the influential group Generation Opportunity, a 50 percent jump.
While the group did not ask who younger voters prefer in the presidential race, they are inspired no more and are clearly driven by anger over the economy and the fact that they might not have lives as good as their parents. The poll of 1,003 adults aged 18-29 was conducted at the end of July. It has an error margin of plus-or-minus 3.1 percent. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Romney in Hobbs: Jobs Are "Right Underneath Our Feet"

Mitt Romney
Presenting a basic vision for fixing what is wrong with America, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke the obvious in Hobbs today. Pointing to something quite basic that has somehow escaped the consciousness of all but a handful of Democrats nationwide, Romney simply explained how to put America back to work.
The Romney vision for encouraging profitable domestic energy production stands in stark contrast to President Obama's energy boondoggles. Investing billions of taxpayer dollars in a trail of bankrupt solar energy companies like Solyndra is the cornerstone of the Obama vision for the nation's economic future. And Obama's blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline is what the White House is doing about job creation in the present.
Romney said this to his Hobbs audience, “3 million jobs come back to this country by taking advantage of something we have right underneath our feet. That’s oil, and gas, and coal. We’re going to make it happen. We’re going to create those jobs. Let me tell you what else it does. It adds $500 billion to the size of our economy. That is more good wages. That’s an opportunity for more Americans to have a bright and prosperous future. It also means, by the way, tens of billions, potentially hundreds of billions of dollars, of tax revenues going into states and the federal government which can make sure we have a military second to none and schools that lead the world and care for our seniors, better roads and bridges.
"Companies Like Solyndra Are Our Future"
Accomplishing what I’ve described right there also means lower energy prices for American families and by the way, for American businesses, so that as businesses are thinking about where to build a factory and they look at the cost of production, let’s say, of a particular product, and they look at the energy cost, they see that here in North America, we have ample energy and it is low cost. And that will bring businesses back here. So you are going to see more manufacturing come back to the United States as a result of doing what is so clearly in our best interest.” You can watch the video of Romney here: News New Mexico

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Mitt Romney sees path to energy independence

Courtesy of Jae Hong
Los Angeles Times - Mitt Romney will unveil an energy plan Thursday that he says will allow North America to be energy independent by 2020 and decrease costs to consumers by increasing domestic production. The plan, released to reporters Wednesday, includes approving the Keystone XL pipeline bringing oil from Canada to Texas — President Obama has put off a decision until after the election — and increasing domestic production to spur job growth. Romney outlined a handful of specifics to accomplish his goals, among them streamlining existing environmental laws and "aggressively" opening new offshore areas for drilling, starting with Virginia and the Carolinas. The 21-page plan also calls for allowing the states, rather than the federal government, to handle permitting and oversight of energy production, and for conducting a full assessment of the nation's untapped energy resources. The plan is focused on supply, not demand. Read More News New Mexico

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Boxing champ Johnny Tapia died of heart disease

Johnny Tapia
ReutersFive-time World Boxing Champion Johnny Tapia died of heart disease exacerbated by prescription drugs, an autopsy report released on Wednesday concluded. The 45-year-old boxer, who was found dead at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 27, died as a result of complications from hypertensive heart disease. Prescription drugs were a contributing factor, the autopsy report said. The cause of death was an accident. Tapia's wife first released the results on Wednesday, saying her husband died of heart disease and had no illegal drugs in his system. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s, and eventually won five world boxing championships in three weight classes: super flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight. His final professional boxing record was 59 wins, five losses, and two draws. Thirty of his wins were knock-outs. In 2007 he planned a comeback bout against Ilido Julio dubbed "The Final Fury." A month later he was found unconscious of a cocaine overdose and was eventually taken into custody for violating his parole stemming from a prior cocaine offense. Tapia was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His father was murdered when his mother was pregnant with him, and his mother was later brutally murdered when he was 8 years old. Read More News New Mexico

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Politicans Lie, Interest Rates Tell the Truth

Jim Spence (left)
Commentary by Jim Spence - Are you wondering with all the back and forth in politics what the real status of the economy is? The mainstream media has downplayed the longest stretch of 8% plus unemployment in U.S. history. When President Obama and fellow Democrats finally get around to admitting the economy is not performing well, they can be counted on to do two things immediately. First, they are sure to blame George W. Bush for everything that is not right. Second, they are sure to try to convince those who are not so wealthy in America….to blame those who are. Senior citizens face unique dilemmas. Unlike working age people who know first hand that jobs are really hard to come by, seniors are not out there in job market looking for work. All of their sense about the economy has to come from news reports. And unless seniors are watching Fox News, they need to realize that almost all of the economic news America gets on television and in newspapers is first passed through the anti-Bush and pro-Obama filters. The drumbeat is steady. "Things aren’t so bad. And if they are, well, it is Bush’s fault and rich people’s fault."
The truth is the U.S. economy stinks. The U.S. economy has stunk for the entire term of this president. How do we know this? A quick glance at the actions of a desperate U.S. Federal Reserve Board tells us all we need to know about the economy. The Fed has held interest rates to near zero for the entire Obama presidency so the government and large corporations can borrow cheap. The Fed constantly argues we need incredibly low interest rates and suggests the economy is doing so poorly this has to be done to help.
The Fed isn't helping everyone. Small businesses and individuals are unable to borrow at low rates. And seniors, who have accumulated savings to live on during their retirement years, have earned practically nothing on their deposits since Obama became president. Abnormally low interest rates are killing the financial security of seniors, forcing them to invade their principal.
How will we know if the economy improves? You don't have to listen to the president or his opponents. Just watch the Fed. Watch what they do with interest rates. When the Fed decides starving seniors out of a reasonable interest rate on their deposits is no longer required to “help” an economy that is flat on its back, we will know things are improving. In the meantime, if you are tired of zero interest rates and having to invade your principal while the government borrows your savings practically for free, you might want to think about making a change when you vote in November. It may be the only chance you have for the next four years to make your views on interest rates known.

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Unemployment Claims Up.......Again

Daily Finance - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, suggesting the labor market is healing too slowly to make much of a dent in the unemployment rate.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the highest level in five weeks. The data keeps pressure on President Barack Obama ahead of his November re-election bid. His Republican challenger is trying to focus voters' attention on a lofty unemployment rate that has dogged Obama's presidency.
Many economists think the Federal Reserve could unveil a new bond buying program to prop up economic growth as soon as its next meeting Sept 12-13, although an improvement in hiring this month could make that less likely. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Environmentalists Fight Use of WIPP, Again

You knew it was coming. Like night follows day radical environmentalists get in the way of any plan to ship tons of plutonium. This time the destination is located in New Mexico, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Eddy County.
There is one thing these anti-nuclear "activists" have going for them. They have the "time" to go to public hearings and voice objections. Of course they never offer solutions to the storage problem only roadblocks to any solution.
It is a head scratcher for people in Eddy County near Carlsbad. There the government and private sector invested hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in the WIPP plant decades ago. Now there are just enough of these activists and policymakers listening to them to make sure the plant is mostly a waste of taxpayer investment.

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Harbison: Competence Over Popularity

Jim Harbison
Commentary by Jim Harbison - Polls have consistently reflected that President Obama is a popular, personable, and likeable individual. Many people think he is a good family man and would be a great neighbor. Compared to Mitt Romney, Obama’s likeability index is off the charts. My response to that is SO WHAT! I am more concerned about someone who can achieve results rather than some popular and charismatic individual who fails to get the job done.
One of the problems with modern media fascination is that we have become a celebrity focused society. If you are not physically attractive, well spoken, and charismatic, your odds of being elected are significantly diminished. Competence is not one of the qualifications that a celebrity worshipping public demands. By today’s criteria Abraham Lincoln would never have made it through the primary election process. He was simply too awkward and unattractive to be President. Many said the same about Steve Forbes even though he has long record of demonstrated professional business competence and success.
Good leaders are always honored to overhear someone say that they did not like them personally but respected them for their leadership abilities and professional competence. Wouldn’t our society be much better off if we decided to elect individuals with proven leadership abilities rather than the “pretty” or likeable people? Shouldn’t we rate and elect individuals to represent us at all levels of government by their skills and abilities to accomplish the business of government? For President, how important is it really to be able to play the saxophone, sing and dance, to play sports or be socially personable. Let there be no mistake about it running our government is running a multi-trillion dollar business and competence matters.
Like most of us I only know of Governor Romney and do not know him personally. My exposure to him has been through TV appearances and news articles. In my opinion he is not a great public speaker that motivates and excites his audiences. He sometimes seems awkward and uncomfortable in front of the public. This does not in any way diminish his professional competence or record of success. He certainly must possess confidence and competence in his business dealings because he has been tremendously successful. Undoubtedly, he possesses the analytical, problem solving, and negotiation skills that are necessary to achieve very high levels of success. Read rest of the column here: News New Mexico
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