Al Jazeera Kids Channel Coming to the US
Retired CIA Officer Traces History of Espionage in NM
NM Ranks 7 in the Nation for ID Theft
Feds Caught 663 Illegals Suspected of Terrorist Ties
Miller: Not Willing to Do What it Takes
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| Jay Miller |
Inside the Capitol - SANTA FE - The United States never again will be a world leader in education. Our culture, traditions and the American way will preclude it from happening again. It's a bitter pill to swallow but we must admit that our society is unwilling to do what it takes to be first again - or anywhere near it. The major component of our decline began around the middle of the past century when psychologists decided children should have fun and enjoy their childhood. Contrast that with the trip newswoman Diane Sawyer took to China recently. Many of us saw her on the newscast she anchors asking a classroom of Chinese students what they liked least about school. The answer was "the pressure."
Then Sawyer asked what the children liked most about school. Again, the answer was "the pressure." The responses were too choreographed to have been unrehearsed. But the message likely was very accurate. Read about Chinese tiger moms and learn that Chinese children don't like pressure any better than American children but when the pressure forces them to master a subject or activity, it is a source of lifelong joy. We've heard about the high teen suicide rate in Japan and the same may be true in China because of the pressures put on their youth. But it's not going to make Asians less demanding of their children. Read full column here: News New Mexico
Obama Administration Complicit in Juarez Violence
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| Jim Harbison |
This week we experienced another action by the Obama administration that clearly demonstrates his contempt for the Constitution and our laws by his willingness to selectively pick and choose which laws his administration will enforce. We have already witnessed the refusal of his administration to enforce the immigration laws or allow the states to enforce them and his failure to provide the direction and leadership, manpower and resources to control our borders. He praised the success of his Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano who indicated we have control of 44% of our border with Mexico. In any other setting 44% is a failing grade but the Obama administration considers our border security “the safest it has ever been.”
Instead of “discharging the duties of their office” and enforcing gun laws the Obama Administration created an Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) operation named “Fast and Furious” which required federal law enforcement officers to look the other way while assault weapons were being illegally shipped across the border. This wanton disregard of our laws resulted in the death of an American Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent several weeks ago and arguably contributes to the deaths of other Mexican citizens. The Obama administration continues to circumvent their constitutional responsibilities to enforce all our laws and instead selects those that move his agenda while endangering society on both sides of our southern border. He has exceeded the authority of the Executive Branch and unilaterally declared some laws unconstitutional, which is the sole responsibility of the Judicial Branch.
He failed to prosecute others because they are minorities and refuses to support existing immigration laws. Instead of securing our borders he submitted a budget that supports the hiring of thousands of additional IRS agents to enforce the tax implications of his Obamacare. When Rahm Emmanual was President Obama’s Chief of staff and long time political ally he declared “never let a good crisis go to waste” which seems to be the mantra of the Obama administration. Was the action by the ATF to ignore illegal gun shipments to Mexico another case of Obama fabricating a crisis so he can force through another piece of his socialist agenda? 
This whole program appears to be part of his anti-gun agenda gone terribly wrong. Is it possible that the violence in Juarez and other Mexican cities is some of the unintended consequences of his plan to crack down on legal weapons business by creating a crisis and then exploiting it for political purposes?
His administration chose to become complicit in the shipment of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels resulting in increasing violence on Mexican citizens, especially the border towns like Juarez and Reynosa and smaller quiet villages like Palomas. How can Americans allow him to ignore or violate the spirit or intent of our laws which results in the deaths of so many Mexican citizens and the destruction of their families as well as the societies south of our border? 
Amendments Provide 2 Year Reward for Lawlessness
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| Peter Wirth |
The reality of these amendments (by Senate Democrats) is to send the following message: If you decided to do an end run around people in line who are actually following U.S. immigration laws, and then you successfully sneaked past the Border Patrol checkpoints, when you show up at a New Mexico Department of Motor Vehicle office seeking a license that will give you the appearance of BEING SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT VIOLATED OUR LAWS, your pattern of illegal behavior will be rewarded by the State of New Mexico. This state will sell you for a nominal fee the valuable evidence of legitimacy you need to remain here illegally, vote, and....... the state will also grant you a two-year documentation requirement waiver. This is not "compromise," it is sleight of hand. Some Senate Democrats seem to be doing everything they can to ignore 80% of the citizens who have made their views clear on law-breaking. They should stop creating excuses to reward lawlessness in any way.
Punishing Ambition and Rewarding Stagnation
In New Mexico the basic governing technique has been to ignore the consequences of incentive structures. If one simply examines the Medicaid programs around the nation, New Mexico stands out as one of the saddest examples of what happens when dependency on government is actually encouraged through mindless punishment and subsidies. Years ago New Mexico established the eligibility for Medicaid at 235% of the federal poverty line. Supposedly the logic of a more liberal definition of "poverty" was that it would enable those well above the actual line to grab more "free" federal dollars. In effect, many New Mexico citizens were actually encouraged by our state elected officials (using matching state and federal taxpayer dollars) to become permanent dependents of the Medicaid system.
Anyone with a lick of sense can see that our incentives are in exactly the wrong places when it comes to behaviors. It would seem that our legislature has not had a lick of sense. Accordingly, these days efforts by individuals and families to gradually break free of Medicaid benefits by improving their job skills will actually result in the LOWERING of their living standards. In New Mexico, when a person attempts to climb out of poverty, their first experience is to no longer qualify for the huge government giveaways they could enjoy without the burdens of ambition and effort. 
Medicaid recipients are human beings not voting units. They react predictably to incentives. If they can remain eligible for a higher handout rate by simply languishing and stagnating they will do so. Why is stagnation ENCOURAGED by the incentive structures in New Mexico? Common sense would dictate that people who are at the bottom of the job skill ladder should never be punished with lower living standards for successful attempts to increase their job skills. Taxpaying citizens of New Mexico are funding these ridiculous programs through state and federal income taxes. If these structures trouble you, once again you must contact your elected officials and begin the steady drumbeat of discussion. Only a complete paradigm shift by voters that creates the pressure of change on the culture in Santa Fe and Washington will suffice. If voters want a change from encouraging government dependency to rewarding the setting higher goals and aspirations they will now have to fight for it.
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