Fed Survey Tells What We Already Know

Banks in the U.S. eased standards and terms on loans in the second quarter, even as demand for business and consumer credit was little changed at the majority of lenders, according to a Federal Reserve survey. Respondents to the Fed’s quarterly survey of senior loan officers, released today in Washington, reported easing standards and most terms on lending to businesses of all sizes. The Fed described the change as “a modest unwinding of the widespread tightening that occurred over the past few years.” It was the first survey since late 2006 that showed a loosening of standards on small business loans. Read more here:

Fed Survey Tells What We Already Know

Star Parker - In Washington Money Talks

Star Parker

Washington’s latest bailout of bleeding state governments, $26 billion worth, has gotten attention because, among other things, almost half the bailout is financed by cutting $12 billion from food stamps. But isn’t food stamps a signature program for the liberal Democrats who passed this spending bill? Isn’t government money for the poor what Democrats are supposed to be about? How, in these tough times, do Democrats who control congress decide who’ll get funded and who not? Read more here:

Star Parker - In Washington Money Talks

Where Are the Lawyers When You Need Them?

Joseph Phillips

I am fascinated that the same people who have been able to find a Constitutional right to government control of education, healthcare, and the energy industry are unable to divine from that same document any rational basis for the government to prevent a mosque from being built on Ground Zero. Of course, the issue is not whether the American Society for Muslim Advancement has a constitutional right to build a 13-story, mosque, and community center within 600 feet of Ground Zero. There are a number of things citizens have a right to do—things that the constitutional protection of speech protects—that people of good conscience choose not to do and that others might view as offensive or insulting. Read more here:

Where Are the Lawyers When You Need Them?

Subsidies to New Mexico For Price Controls

New Mexico was one of 45 states to win $1 million Monday to help crack down on health insurance premium increases, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced. New Mexico plans to use the federal dollars to strengthen how the state reviews health insurers’ requests to raise premium rates, a process that has come under considerable fire in recent months. Read more here:

Subsidies to New Mexico For Price Controls

Wilderness Bill - Bring Violence Closer to Home?

Mexican Grey Wolf

The controversial "Wilderness Bill" being pushed by New Mexico Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall may well have the unintended consequence of providing a needed assist for drug cartels to expand the area they keep under threat of terror and violence. U.S. Senate Bill S.1689 -- Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Wilderness Act will make it illegal for U.S. Border Patrol officers and other law enforcement officials to perform routine patrols areas in Southern Dona Ana County. In the meantime, over the weekend the total of body count of people murdered in Juarez soared to more than 40.

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On Sunday there were mass murders at two separate locations. According to the El Paso Times at around 1:00 AM Sunday, several gunmen crashed a party and fired more than 70 rounds. When the shooting finally stopped five people were dead and several others were wounded at a home in the Infonavit Solidaridad neighborhood according to Chihuahua state police. Later, armed men fired at a second gathering on Sunday afternoon.  There were multiple victims again but a precise count of fatalities is still unknown.

Is it time to re-think how "pristine" Southern Dona Ana County will become if we citizens stand by and allow our naive elected officials pass laws the effectively create a safe haven for drug and human smugglers on the border? You need to decide. Contact information for elected officials in on the home page of the News New Mexico site.

Wilderness Bill - Bring Violence Closer to Home?

As open land fades, wildlife is squeezed

Editorial from the Santa Fe NewMexican.com - Does New Mexico have too many bears? Or too many people? The state Game and Fish Department is gathering comment from the homo sapiens bloc — all 2 million of us — on its proposal to allow 733 black bears to be killed next year — 327 more than this year's quota. That quota includes animals hit by traffic, exterminated as nuisances and shot by hunters. And, say state officials, the numbers reflect the growing population of ursus americanus. But the game-and-fish folks don't really know what that population is; they're making educated and computerized guesses based on what their wardens see in the wild. Judging from this summer's close encounters between bears and campers, there might indeed be a population spike — although conservationists are making a case that the run-ins could be a matter of food: shortage of forage from late frosts in the high country, along with lots of it being left by recreationists, cabin-owners and campers where it invites cuddly-looking, potentially dangerous, visitors. Read more

As open land fades, wildlife is squeezed

Steve Pearce to Appear on NewsNM Today

Steve Pearce

Former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce, the GOP candidate for U.S. Congress in November, will appear on News New Mexico this morning at 8:30am. Pearce opposes freshman Congressman Harry Teague this fall. Teague won Pearce's old house seat in 2008, the same year Pearce was defeated by Tom Udall in an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Pete Domenici in 2008.

Steve Pearce to Appear on NewsNM Today

Bulletin Warned of Drug Violence in El Paso

From the El Paso Times - City police radio dispatchers Sunday alerted officers about potential violence in El Paso stemming from Mexican drug cartel rivalries. Detective Mike Baranyay said the bulletin sent out over the police radio frequency was based on unconfirmed intelligence that police received from the Alliance for Combating Transnational Threats. Baranyay said he could not release what was in the bulletin because it was coded "law enforcement sensitive," but the broadcast that dispatchers repeated several times on Sunday mentioned Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera, plans for a kidnapping in El Paso, the Aztecas gang and an alleged hit man nicknamed "Carnicero" (butcher). Read more here:

Bulletin Warned of Drug Violence in El Paso

School Starts in Las Cruces Today

The Las Cruces Public Schools re-open after summer vacation today. There will be children in crosswalks and school zones with flashing yellow lights. It is time for all drivers in the area to become extra alert on the roads so that everyone is more safe.

School Starts in Las Cruces Today

Weekend Update: In 2 Days, 13 More DEAD in Juarez, 10 More in Chihuahua, 23 total

Armed Drug Cartel Members

Drug-related clashes in Mexico's volatile northwestern border state of Chihuahua have resulted in the deaths of 23 people in 24 hours. According to Chihuahua state prosecutors, 13 people were killed between late Friday and Saturday in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from the US city of El Paso, Texas. Ten others lost their lives in separate incidents in other locations around the volatile state. According to officials, one of the deadly incidents took place during a car theft, while a couple was killed in an attack on a shopping mall, AFP reported. Since 2006, Ciudad Juarez -- the scene of violent drug-related crimes -- has been the epicenter of a wave of drug-related violence between rival drug cartels, which have left some 28,000 dead. Read more here:

Weekend Update: In 2 Days, 13 More DEAD in Juarez, 10 More in Chihuahua, 23 total