We hear that Arizona is launching an investigation on how those ATF guns ended up with the Mexican cartels:
"Arizona's state legislature will open its own investigation into the Obama administration's disgraced gun-running program, known as "Fast and Furious," the speaker of the state House said Friday.
Speaker Andy Tobin created the committee, and charged it with looking at whether the program broke any state laws — raising the possibility of state penalties against those responsible for the operation."
Thank God for the Arizona legislature! I'm glad to see that someone up here cares about the violence tearing up our border.
Of course, there is urgency here because the US-Mexico border is as dangerous as ever:
"According to the Mexican government, from January through September 2011 2,276 deaths were recorded in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which borders Texas and New Mexico.
A Nov. 2011 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that over nearly the same period – January through October 2011 – 2,177 civilians were killed in Afghanistan, where a U.S.-led war against the Taliban is underway.
It did not provide a breakdown of responsibility for that period, but said that in 2010, 75 percent of civilian deaths were attributed to the Taliban and other “anti-government elements.”
Per capita, a person was at least nine times more likely to be murdered in Chihuahua last year than in Afghanistan. (Chihuahua has 3,406,465 inhabitants, according to Mexico’s 2010 census; the CIA World Factbook reports that in July 2011 the estimated population of Afghanistan was 29,835,392.)"
We obviously sympathize with the good people of Mexico and their daily struggles against the cartels. Our consumption of illegal drugs is creating the demand that the cartels are supplying.
The horrific violence in Chihuahua confirms the importance of tracking down these ATF weapons and making sure that they are not being used to kill more Mexicans or US nationals.
It's time for Pres BO to explain to Mexico how 2,000 weapons ended up south of the border and in the hands of Mexican cartels! We need to hold someone responsible for this and it should start with AG Holder!
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"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
Saturday, January 21, 2012
DEBT and why the US is now #10 in the freedom index!
The Heritage Foundation is out with The Freedom Index:
"The United States’ economic freedom score of 76.3 drops it to 10th place in the 2012 Index.
Its score is 1.5 points lower than last year, reflecting deteriorating scores for government spending, freedom from corruption, and investment freedom.
The U.S. is ranked 2nd out of three countries in the North America region, and its overall score remains well above the world and regional averages."
We are behind 9 other countries, including Canada, Chile, New Zealand and Australia.
The Index looks at "rule of law", "limited government", "regulatory efficiency" and "open markets".
Our ranking is still high and the US is indeed an excellent place to invest and do business. We also have a deep respect for property rights and contract law.
Our biggest weakness is debt, or exactly what we are NOT talking about in these presidential debates.
We spoke about the Index with Dr Johnson on the Friday show:
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The Texas maps: A victory for voters and a defeat for unelected judges!
We've been following the story of the Texas maps and the legal battles associated with them.
The issue is this: Who gets to draw the maps? The legislature? Unelected judges?
The answer is the legislature, or the people elected by voters.
It looks like the Supreme Court agrees. They threw out the Texas map drawn up by unelected judges.
Don't get me wrong. I am sensitive to the history of segregation or vote intimidation in the old South. It is a fact.
However, we live in 2012 not 1952. We need to get over the past and live in the present. We do not have any structural vote intimidation in today's Texas.
Here is the bottom line: Redistricting is political not a judicial matter. The legislature, not judges, draw up the maps.
Click here for the Friday and our chat with Tom Washington:
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Tags: The Texas maps and the Supreme Court To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!