September 1, 2010

I was making my way toward Las Cruces yesterday when I saw a long time friend along the highway, and stopped to visit with him and his wife. Tom and Pam are ranchers east of Mayhill.  They have endured the rigors of ranching for decades in this very rural part of New Mexico. 

Tom told me yesterday that government regulators had completely wiped out the sheep ranching business in New Mexico. The US Fish and Wildlife Service implemented new regulations that prohibit ranchers from controlling the population of nearby predators, such as mountain lions and coyotes. As a result, Tom and Pam have completely quit raising sheep. Just a year or two ago New Mexico had 20,000 sheep grown and marketed here. Now it is zero. The jobs are gone. 

The revenue to the state is gone. The vitality of our nation’s economy is shrinking and prosperity is disappearing, because of our own government.   

Information below from the Rio Grande Foundation

Posted on April 30, 2010 at 11:51 am by Paul Gessing

Be Part of the Solution to America’s Budget Nightmare

The Rio Grande Foundation is working with America Speaks , a non-partisan organization that attempts to spur dialogue on the most important issues of the day. You are cordially invited to participate in an unprecedented National Town Meeting to discuss our budget and our economy

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, thousands of Americans across the country will join together in a National Town Meeting to discuss the fiscal future of our country. Albuquerque is one of the six primary locations across the country where participants will be connected via satellite video, webcast and interactive technologies. Additional smaller gatherings and discussions will take place simultaneously in other cities across the nation and those locations too will be connected to the primary sites via webcast and interactive technologies.

In Albuquerque we will begin this historic Town Meeting at 9:30 am and the meeting will run to 4:00 pm.

We will meet at the Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd Street NW, Ballroom A

We invite you to join the discussion.

I have come to know and appreciate Rep. Thad McCotter (R-MI), for his passion and dedication to ideas which will transform this nation to an even greater future.

His floor speech is printed here but, with Rep. McCotter the greater beauty is in the telling so we have linked to his speech, given during the floor “5 minute” speeches.  One of the things Congress does most successfully is time the floor speeches, so I guarantee you will invest no more than 5 minutes, the government allowance.

Also, please download his brochure and distribute it to your friends. In this dry land, parched for ideas, he is a refreshing wellspring of conceptual thinking.

Joe the Plumber…

…says we are just doing our civic duty when we gather to protest. 

He pointed out the tea parties are not about Republicans or Democrats but about Americans.   

He spoke in Roswell, Hobbs and Carlsbad yesterday.  We were on the same podium at each of the events.    Joe expresses things I greatly agree with.

He said we, each one of us, is responsible for the decline of our country and the dramatic move to socialism that is occurring.  He points out that most of us have been politically inactive for the better parts of our lives but now Americans are alert and engaged.  He asked us all what we had done before this year to back our values, where we had spent money getting a message out  helping a candidate or volunteering.

He declares it is not just our right to be involved politically that it is our responsibility as Americans to be involved politically.

Short video of Steve speaking at  the Pre-Primary GOP State Convention

People across New Mexico are becoming angry, frustrated, and desperate. They are writing, calling and emailing their Senators and Congressmen, and receiving form letters and broken promises in return. 

“They are not listening!” the people shout

Enact Voter Photo ID System To End Voting Fraud

By Victor S. Contreras Jr.  - Chairman, Hispanos Unidos

(Hispanos Unidos is a non-partisan PAC based in Dona Ana County, formed to address election reform issues in New Mexico.)

New Mexicans know our election system is broken. I have learned this first hand as I have traveled the state for more than a year giving presentations on voter fraud. Only members of state government have spoken out against election reform. Citizens ask me, "How can we help?"

Some highlights of what happened in Dona Ana County during the 2008 election:

Spending Hits Shocking All Time High For A Single Month

November 12, 2009 AP article by Martin Crutsinger and Daniel Wagner

The federal deficit hit a record for October as the new budget year began where the old one ended: with the government awash in red ink.

Economists worry that if such deficits continue it could push up interest rates, further dragging on the fragile economic recovery.

The Treasury Department said Thursday that the deficit for October totaled $176.4 billion, even higher than the $150 billion imbalance that economists expected.

The deficit for the 2009 budget year, which ended on Sept. 30, set an all-time record in dollar terms of $1.42 trillion. That was $958 billion above the 2008 deficit, the previous record holder.

October was the 13th straight month to show a monthly deficit — another record. It was the fifth-largest monthly deficit ever.

The imbalance came mostly from lower receipts of individual and corporate taxes. Receipts were $135.3 billion, a 17.9 percent drop from last October.

Spending dipped 2.7 percent to $311.7 billion. Last October's outlays were inflated by the $33 billion spent on the first round of financial bailouts at the peak of the financial crisis.

 Video of Steve giving a brief speech at a Cowboy Dinner & Dance in Hidalgo County in September.