Drug violence....

What should the United States do about the cartel violence that threatens both the security of the United States and the Stability of Mexico?  The drugs are being sold in the U.S. with the profits going into Mexico.  We are responsible so what should our actions be?  Something would be preferable to nothing, which is all we seem to get now.

Calderon: U.S. help in drug war is 'insufficient'

Mexican President Felipe Calderon says U.S. cooperation in the fight against drug cartels has been "insufficient."
Calderon says the United States should help by reducing drug use and stemming the flow of automatic rifles to Mexican drug cartels.
Calderon tells the Mexican newspaper 'El Universal' that relations with the United States were strained when secret U.S. diplomatic cables criticizing Mexico's anti-drug strategy were leaked to the public.
Calderon said in the interview published Tuesday that some of the leaked cables show U.S. diplomats' ignorance about Mexico's security situation, and that that's why some reports distort or exaggerate.
More than 35,000 people have been killed since Calderon launched a crackdown against drug gangs in December 2006.
The statements came on the same day that family members buried slain U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jaime Zapata.
The Brownsville native was killed in the line of duty in the State of San Luis Potosi where another ICE agent was also wounded in the attack.
No suspects have been officially identified or arrested in the attack.

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Save Texas Schools

SAVE TEXAS SCHOOLS

Cartel Violence

The Mexican drug cartels have shown that they can reach and kill almost anyone.  The DOD/State Department has declared Mexico to be threatened as a nation. The DOD is concerned that the legitimate government of Mexico will fall because of the rise of the cartels.  The cartels are running many parts of the country.  What can be done about it?  What is the response of both Washington and Austin?  The threat is very real.  Texas as a border state is threatened but it is not limited to Texas. The drug cartels have member and influence throughout the United States.  There have been major busts in Georgia to California.  The threat is real... this cannot be stated enough.


The majority of the cartels profits are marijuana so when marijuana does kill!!!! This one fact changes the whole decriminalize argument about marijuana.

Statement from ICE on death of agent Jaime Zapata

WASHINGTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Jaime Zapata was shot and killed in the line of duty Tuesday afternoon after he was attacked by unknown assailants while driving between Monterrey, Mexico, and Mexico City.
During the attack, a second ICE special agent was shot twice in the leg. He has been transported back to the United States and is in stable condition. Both special agents were assigned to ICE's attaché office in Mexico City.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Zapata family for their tragic loss," said ICE Director John Morton. "May the work we continue to do as an agency be worthy of a sacrifice as great as the one made by Special Agent Zapata."
Special Agent Zapata joined ICE in 2006. He was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Special Agent in Charge in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force.
He most recently was detailed to ICE's attaché office at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
Special Agent Zapata began his federal law enforcement career with the Department of Homeland Security as a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona.
A native of Brownsville, Texas, Special Agent Zapata graduated from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.
U.S. law enforcement agencies continue to work closely with Mexican authorities who are investigating the shooting to ensure the perpetrators of this unconscionable crime are captured as quickly as possible. The full resources of the Department of Homeland Security are at the disposal of our Mexican partners in this investigation.

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23 cartel members dead, 31 arrested, Mexican military says

REYNOSA, MEXICO — Twenty-three alleged cartel members were killed this past week, while 31 others were arrested, according to a news release from the Mexican military.
Officials from the military’s 8th zone, which includes Reynosa, did not specify how or where the alleged criminals were killed. They simply noted the deaths and listed items collected during a seven-day span from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. The names of the dead were not released.
Soldiers seized more than 11,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 2,24 pounds of cocaine and a small amount of crack cocaine, according to the release. They also recovered 76 “long guns,” 10 handguns, 11 grenades, three grenade launchers and one grenade launcher attachment.
More than $75,000 in both U.S. and Mexican currency was seized, along with 42 vehicles, two of which were armored, officials added.
Soldiers also obtained two tractors, two bullet-proof vests, four cell phones and nine radios.
No other information was provided.

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Both Ways?

I guess the gov. wants to be the leader in non-business regulation while at the same time imposing hefty taxes on Amazon.  He needs to decide which way he wants it. Is he for no regulation or is it only because of the budget crunch?

Amazon closing Texas center over sales tax fight

AUSTIN (AP) — Online retail giant Amazon.com will close its suburban Dallas distribution center after a dispute with the state over millions in state sales taxes.

The Associated Press obtained an e-mail Thursday sent to Amazon employees by the company's vice president of operations. Amazon's Dave Clark writes that the center will close April 12 due to Texas' "the unfavorable regulatory climate." It was not immediately clear how many employees work at the facility.
Last year the Texas comptroller's office demanded $269 million in uncollected sales taxes. Amazon subsequently filed a lawsuit against the state, demanding it produce the audit that generated the figure.
The state contends that Amazon.com is responsible for sales taxes not collected on online sales in Texas.
The company has been the target of numerous lawsuits filed by states seeking sales taxes on online purchases.


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Perry moves to restake his ground on eminent domain Governor proposes constitutional amendment after having vetoed 2007 legislation.

Gov. Rick Perry moved Thursday to quiet grumblings that he isn't protecting private property rights, suggesting that the state constitution forbid the acquisition of land for nonpublic uses through condemnation proceedings.
His support of the amendment lets Perry play offense on the issue of eminent domain, but for some, it doesn't go far enough. The constitutional amendment would not address key tenets of 2007 eminent-domain legislation that Perry vetoed over the objections of the Texas Farm Bureau and some others who have previously supported him.

Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS (enlarge photo) Gov. Rick Perry, with ally Sen. Robert Duncan, wants to prohibit condemnation proceedings to acquire land for nonpublic purposes. Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS (enlarge photo) Susette Kelo, lead plaintiff in a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld taking private property for economic development uses, backs Gov. Rick Perry's eminent domain proposal.

Property rights were already a touchy issue for Perry because many rural Texans see his ambitious transportation plan — once dubbed the Trans-Texas Corridor — as a threat to their land. The 2007 veto widened an opening for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is likely to challenge Perry in the 2010 Republican primary, to criticize him. "Our state government ignores private property rights," she said in a recent fundraising appeal.
The constitutional amendment would seek to strengthen a bill that lawmakers passed overwhelmingly in 2005 to bar the acquisition of land for private use. The legislation was a response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that year that a government can transfer land from one private owner to another for economic development purposes.
"Unless we take action on these protections, private property rights in Texas will begin to erode and undermine the very character of our state," Perry said.
But the 2007 bill that he vetoed — House Bill 2006 — dealt with other issues related to condemnation proceedings, including the question of "diminished access," which has been a point of disagreement between Perry and some of his historic allies.
State law says that a property owner can be compensated for diminished access if condemnation proceedings substantially decrease the owner's access to roadways. The legislation that Perry vetoed would have made compensation possible for "any diminished access," and Perry said it could result in taxpayers paying large sums to landowners who still had most of their access intact.
For the Farm Bureau, diminished access is crucial. Though Kenneth Dierschke, the group's president, cheered Perry for supporting a constitutional amendment, he said, "any eminent domain reform must also address fair compensation and consider all factors between a willing buyer and seller — especially diminished access."
The Farm Bureau, which represents 422,000 Texas agricultural families, could provide a critical endorsement in the 2010 primary.
Perry spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger said Perry does not think lawmakers should revisit the issue of diminished access. "He thinks that many elements of the original HB 2006 should be addressed again this session and looks forward to working with legislators on getting those passed," Cesinger said.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Thursday that he'll work for an eminent domain bill that is similar to the one that Perry vetoed.
"I do know that the governor would like to reach a consensus on the bill, and I for one stand ready to play shuttle diplomacy," Dewhurst said.
As for the constitutional amendment, it would provide a clear definition of public use and balance out the Legislature's historic tendency to freely grant eminent-domain authority, said Sen. Robert Duncan, a Lubbock Republican who is working on it.
"The purpose of a constitutional amendment is to require the Legislature to provide more scrutiny in its grants of eminent domain authority and also allow property owners the ability to defend their property," Duncan said.
Duncan said he expects a robust debate about the definition of public use.
Part of that debate could center on how highway construction is defined when private companies are heavily involved in the roads' financing — a key pillar of Perry's transportation plans.
"In Texas we understand the concept of having as a last resort the process of eminent domain to build our schools, to build our roads, to make sure we have electrical power to drive our economy," Perry said.
jembry@statesman.com; 445-3572

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We can't afford to cut education

No one envies our governor and state legislators as they set to the daunting task of trying to figure out how to close the state's biennial budget gap that some estimate is as high as $27 billion.

For the good of our state and our future, I urge them to do everything they can to protect our students.

However, not all the challenges facing our schools are about shrinking budgets. The education of our children is a partnership — a partnership among the schools, the parents, businesses, churches and the rest of the community.

Right now that partnership is failing. Our schools are in crises:

•  We rank 36th in the nation in high school graduation rates. An estimated 3.8 million Texans do not have a high school diploma.

•  We rank 49th in verbal SAT scores, 47th in literacy and 46th in average math SAT scores.

•  We rank 33rd in the nation on teacher salaries.

•  Despite our outstanding universities and colleges, we also lag behind in several critical higher education criteria. For example, California has nine nationally recognized research institutions, New York has seven and Pennsylvania has four. With the University of Houston's recent designation by the Carnegie Foundation as a top research institution, Texas, the second largest state, has four.

In light of these statistics, can we afford to cut the number of teachers, increase class sizes, eliminate scholarships for underprivileged students and close several community colleges?

At a time when the United Way estimates that the price tag for dropouts to Texas taxpayers is $9.6 billion every year, can we really afford to cut state funding for our students?

The answer is a resounding "no."

Yet, everyone understands that Texas must and will live within its means. Nobody is going to get all that they want. Which is why it is imperative that all of us take steps right now to help our schools address their immediate and long-term needs. We cannot afford to sit and wait for Austin to figure this out. They cannot do this alone.

Let's start with the parents.

Some parents forget they are their children's first teachers, and the home is the first school. When our kids come home from school, do they read a book, or do they sit glued to the television or the Internet? Do they see us reading? Do we eat together, or does everybody "grab a bite" and dash out the door? Do we talk and listen? Do we help with homework? Are we active in the PTA? Do we make sure we attend all parent-teacher conferences, or do we use work as an excuse to skip out occasionally? It's easier to be a lazy parent than a good parent, but with parenthood comes responsibility and accountability.

Many parents face daunting challenges - health and financial issues, single parenthood, or a poor educational background. They need our help.

There are wonderful programs such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters that try to make sure every student who needs one has a mentor. I know several business and government leaders who donate one lunch hour a week to tutor a student, and others who give time to after-school programs. But the need is always greater.

That is why business and church leaders, parents and grandparents, friends and neighbors all must become partners in the education of our children. The best place to start: The school you likely drive by every single day on your way to work or the grocery store or the golf course. My guess is the people inside could use your help.

I wish each of you - every elected official, parent, educator, businessmen and women - would see the documentary Waiting for Superman. That film explains in vivid, powerful terms what is at stake for our nation's schools, including Texas.

There is cause for hope. A reform movement under way in the country is gaining momentum. We must find the courage in Texas to not only join that reform movement, but lead it. There really is no other choice.

We Texans are no strangers to hard times, and yet there is more can-do spirit here than in any other state. We think big, live big, dream big. We wake up every day believing there is no problem that cannot be solved.

Working together, we can and must solve this one.

Bush is a former first lady of the United States.

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Electricity debacle bearing down on Texas unless ... Legislature must empower PUC to protect consumers

It's time to admit "the emperor has no clothes." Electricity deregulation has failed to lower utility bills, as was originally advertised. The Texas Legislature should immediately give our Public Utility Commission more power to protect Texas' economy and consumers. Without improved regulatory authority, we risk the type of instability that devastated California.
TXU's actions highlight the need for more accountability to independent, expert regulators. Texas' biggest utility raced to obtain permits for 11 coal-burning power plants, which would emit tons of mercury and other pollutants into Texas' air. After the company claimed "fast track" approval was needed to avoid blackouts, TXU changed its course, announcing sale of the firm to private investors, with large stock options given to the president.
Texans depend on reliable, affordable services such as water, transportation and electricity to plan budgets and create a strong and stable business climate. That is why Texans across the political spectrum supported public ownership or strict regulation of these services for a century.
With the benefit of hindsight, the basic factual assumptions behind deregulation have long proved to be wrong, as most industry experts at least privately acknowledge.
Firms, led by Enron, claimed deregulation would lower prices because: (1) new natural gas-fueled power plants could generate clean electricity at substantially lower costs than the average price of the older plants; and (2) consumers would shop around. Regulated utility monopolies feared and fought deregulation based in part on the same assumptions.
The 1999 deregulation legislation "split the baby," with old utilities getting paid extra by consumers for their older plants, and the PUC losing all authority over retail prices in January 2007.
However, since 1999 the economic reality changed completely. Higher costs for gas turbines and natural gas have made clean new power plants much more expensive to build and operate than the older plants. In addition, consumers — particularly lower-income families and seniors struggling to get by — have stuck with their old suppliers even at higher prices, partly because of fear of change. So, many who can least afford it now pay the most.
These changes altered completely the impact of deregulation. As any first-year economics student knows, market pricing will be lower than prices based on average costs when the cost of incremental supply is less than the average costs. In contrast, prices based on "what the market will bear" will be higher if the cost of the incremental supply is higher than the average historical cost of all supply.
Guess what's happening. As with the case of some of its accounting, Enron's idea sounded good, if it weren't for the reality.
Wall Street investors know how to profit from Texas' deregulation scheme. The largest plants serving the Houston region have already been both bought and sold twice, at enormous gain. Now, electricity consumers throughout the state have been forced to pay billions of dollars to the old utilities for those power plants based on the false assumption that deregulation would make them less valuable. (We have been fighting this absurd payment in court.) And consumers of municipally owned utilities in cities such as Austin and San Antonio, which were exempt from deregulation, get fairer and more accountable rates.
Texas must learn from California's mistakes. Consider what we found when I served on an expert commission that warned of the California power fiasco in 2001. Like Texas, California had previously regulated power prices based on the average cost on investments. This historical regulation also incentivized spare capacity and energy efficiency as insurance against blackouts or extraordinary spikes in the prices. But after deregulation in California, as now in Texas, no one had the authority and responsibility for ensuring that retailers secured enough supply in advance. So those outside California and the municipally owned utility in Los Angeles locked up the power in the region, and the state found itself more than 10 percent short going into the summer of 2001, and facing either massive blackouts or "take it or leave it" prices. The transmission companies went bankrupt and, to avoid blackouts, the state had to borrow tens of billions of dollars, destroying its credit for a generation.
Of course, we can't put the market back to where it was before 1999, where old power plants have been sold to new owners at higher costs, and competition can have some benefits. But our Legislature should give the Public Utility Commission the authority to:
•Determine the adequacy of base and peak power supplies that have been contractually obligated at predictable prices to those selling power to consumers, and provide regulatory incentives as needed to secure standby capacity to meet peak summer power requirements.
•If necessary, provide cost-based incentives to obtain clean power, an authority which was used successfully several years ago when Reliant and others invested heavily to reduce smog-related emissions from their facilities.
•Establish maximum levels of debt acceptable for transmission and distribution companies, those maintaining the wired "grid," so that they make needed investments to make power delivery efficient and reliable.
•Set rates for transmission and distribution to ensure adequate cash flows available to make needed investments, regardless of weather or the volume of power usage.
•In the absence of an adequate fund to ease the burden on low-income consumers, which was originally promised, establish regulations to ensure that retail rates actually paid by low-income consumers do not exceed the average rates paid by all others.
•Review and approve any corporate reorganizations, with rules to reduce long-term risks to public interests, such as avoiding excessive debt on retail or transmission providers or concentrating ownership of power supplies in too few hands. The rules need not dictate who owns utilities.
•Report back to the next Legislature on any other changes that should occur in the regulatory structure to allow Texas businesses and consumers to have affordable, clean, reliable power.
The Legislature can outline required objectives and give our independent regulators the responsibility to fine-tune, using its access to expert staff and procedures for open public hearings and appeals. The Legislature is in session. Utility rates are pressing Texas' families and businesses. California showed the risks. Our state must define the conditions for the TXU acquisition. The time to act is now.

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Grenade explosion reported near B&M bridge

Officials are on alert following reports of a grenade explosion near a popular hotel near the B&M International Bridge in Matamoros.
Residents reported a grenade explosion reportedly near Best Western’s Hotel Residencial off Alvaro Obregon Boulevard around 8 p.m. Monday.
Mexican authorities told Action 4 News that they were sent to the area to investigate.
A person at the hotel, whose identity if being withheld, said he heard a noise nearby but did not believe the hotel was attacked.
Brownsville residents in a neighborhood near the B&M bridge reported hearing explosion followed by a Mexican helicopter flying the sky.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesman Eddie Perez said American officials received a report about an incident in Matamoros.
Customs officers are on alert but Perez said all three of the international bridges between Matamoros and Brownsville are open in both directions.
Perez said customs officers in constant communication with their counterparts in Mexico and are waiting for more information.

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Hays sheriff puts inmates to work at jail to save money

Small Type
SAN MARCOS — Once blanketed in mold and riddled with holes in the walls and ceilings, the Hays County Jail now smells so strongly of disinfectant, it can make a person's eyes water.
The jail's spotless floors and hospital-clean cells are thanks largely to one group of people: its inmates.
Under a new program by Sheriff Gary Cutler, certain inmates may volunteer to help spruce up the once beleaguered facility in exchange for a reduction in their sentences. Inmates now work to clean the kitchen and cells, paint walls and floors, trim trees outside, and even wash the vehicles of the sheriff's office.
The result is a cleaner facility for inmates and jail staff, and Cutler estimates that the inmates' work is saving the county $12 an hour.
County spokeswoman Laureen Chernow said that while the county doesn't have a hiring freeze, budgets for maintenance are tight, and the sheriff's program can be helpful in saving money.
"Some of this labor is semi skilled," said Chief Deputy Jamie Page . "You have plumbers, ironworkers, tradesmen in here."
Cutler has put those inmates to work on projects normally done by county staff or contractors.
"We're proud of our progress, and we did it with inmate labor to save the county money," Cutler said. "Many of them would rather work than be in their cells."
The Travis County Jail has a similar work-credit program, as do many jails in Texas, said Travis County sheriff's office spokesman Roger Wade.
Having inmates work on the 362-bed Hays County facility, once in such a poor state that the state nearly closed it in 2009, is one of many changes that Cutler has made since taking office after his election in November. About 290 inmates were in custody there last week .
Not all inmates can be used for labor, Cutler said — only those with lesser convictions, such as driving while intoxicated or owing unpaid child support, are eligible. Those headed for prison or those with lengthy sentences are excluded.
The inmates who work are always supervised, jail officials said. They are not paid wages but can earn enough work credits to reduce their sentences by up to a third. State law allows a judge or the sheriff to reduce the sentences of jail inmates.
The reduction in jail time, as well as the repairs to previously unusable parts of the jail and better population management, will allow Hays County to end its practice of sending inmates to nearby Guadalupe County because of overcrowding — a practice that cost Hays County more than $800,000 last year.
The jail failed two state inspections in 2009. Inspectors noted holes in the walls of the cells, floor tiles that were cracked and missing, mold and mildew in a walk-in freezer where food was stored, and a roof that leaked so much buckets were needed when it rained.
The jail's medical care also came under fire. One inmate, Torrey Lamar Smith , died there in 2008 of an attack of sickle-cell anemia that was largely ignored and then mistreated by jail staff, according to an internal investigation.
After the investigation, one medic was fired and another employee left the sheriff's office. A lawsuit from Smith's family cost the county $245,000 .
Last year, the county addressed the issues, saving the facility from closure by the state. But Cutler said he was determined not to have the headaches previous sheriffs had with the facility.
In addition to inmate labor, he has instituted sweeps of cells for weapons and contraband, something he says was never done in the past.
"We moved all the inmates onto buses, and shook that place from top to bottom," he said.
Cutler also tapped an employee with a master's degree in nutrition to plan better meals, replaced more than 1,000 light bulbs and moved "lights out" for inmates to 11 p.m., from 1:30 a.m., to save electricity. That will be cut back to 10 p.m. soon, he said.
Another new rule: All inmates have to be cleared by medical staff before they can be admitted.
"That's all part of keeping a humane jail," Page said.
The general public can view some of the changes outside: Inmates and county staff cleared away huge amounts of brush on the property and properly disposed of a massive pile of rusty junk that was in a nearby creek.
"This is our home, and we need to take care of it," Cutler said.

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Furloughs, pay cuts for teachers urged as option Under law, layoffs are now the only way to deal with funding shortfalls

AUSTIN — School districts should be allowed to give teachers unpaid furloughs and cut their salaries to help deal with a funding shortfall that one estimate says could cost 100,000 jobs, a leading state senator says. State Senate Education Committee Chairman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said the layoff projection could be whittled if school districts could take less drastic steps, an area she said loosening state restrictions could help temper the effects of a budget shortfall. Under starting-point state budget proposals filed by legislative leaders, school districts would get $9.3 billion to $9.8 billion less through the next two years than under current funding formulas to cover enrollment increases and a projected drop in local revenue due to lower property values. One expert has estimated the higher figure could cost up to 100,000 school district jobs in Texas through the next two years. “One of those burdens that we have placed on our school districts is that they cannot decrease your salary. They can’t have furlough days. It’s not allowed in the law. The only option is to fire,” said Shapiro. “We need to give them the ability to lower teacher salaries.” Shapiro said she hopes to have a committee meeting “the very first thing out of the box” on so-called unfunded mandates, such as the salary issue. “The last thing we want to do is put people on the unemployment rolls,” she said. “So we’ve got to make sure that that particular part of the law is erased.” One teacher group said the idea is another example of the state looking to go backward to close the funding gap.

180 instruction days

Under current law, the standard teacher contract is a minimum of 187 days, including 180 days of instruction and the rest for purposes such as professional development. A school district can reduce pay for noncontract workers — janitors and cafeteria workers, for example — and it can reduce teacher salaries from one year to the next if notice is given at least 45 days before the first day of instruction, Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said. However, under a provision meant to safeguard a state salary increase, teachers and several other classes of employees who work for a school district in the 2010-2011 school year cannot get a salary cut if they stay with the same school district.

Furlough flexibility

Superintendents are pushing for flexibility that would allow them to furlough employees, if necessary, on non-instructional days. “It’s something that superintendents are looking for flexibility on,” said Jenny Caputo, spokeswoman for the Texas Association of School Administrators. “Certainly nobody wants to furlough employees,” Caputo said, calling furloughs a lesser evil than layoffs or eliminating positions. “With the Legislature looking at cutting HISD’s annual budget by as much as $348 million, we’d appreciate any flexibility they could give us in achieving those significant cuts,” said Houston Independent School District spokesman Jason Spencer. “These would be the most drastic cuts to Texas education since World War II.” John Folks, past president of the Texas Association of School Administrators and superintendent of Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, said if his district furloughed administrators and other employees — as it can under current law — that would save $700,000 a day. Adding teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses to the mix would bring the savings to $2.5 million a day. “Furloughs would be one of the last things I would want to do,” he said. With furloughs, however, “Everybody shares in the pain, and we’re preserving jobs.”

‘The wrong direction’

Richard Kouri, a Texas State Teachers Association spokesman, said his group is split on the issue of furloughs and salary decreases. It does not want to limit options to deal with the funding crisis but believes the state should be increasing professional development days and “getting our salaries out of the bottom third in the country” to recruit and retain the best, he said. “If we’re going to look at a long list of things that are bad options that are going to take public education in Texas the wrong direction instead of the right direction,” he said, “they might as well be on the list of things that are going to take us in the wrong direction.”

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Hughes and Reyes: Lawmakers must 'Make Education a Priority' in Texas

By Patricia L. Hughes and Marty Reyes / Special to the Times

Posted: 01/30/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

Faced with a $27 billion budget shortfall, our state legislators are challenged with difficult decisions this session. As they consider legislation, it is critical that they make education a priority.
On Jan. 5, the Far West Texas School Boards Association launched their "Unite to Make Education a Priority" campaign with board members and superintendents across the region signing a proclamation to educate the community and legislators on how cuts in state fund ing could negatively impact our students, teachers, and community.
On Jan. 11, we united in Austin with other legislators, superintendents and board members from along the Texas border. We voiced our concerns that reductions in funding impact our communities even more than the rest of Texas because of our demographics and location.
School boards and superintendents from more than half of the school districts across Texas have united with the same message, "Make Education a Priority," to emphasize that the public-school system represents an essential economic driver in developing the quality of the work force and influencing the future of Texas.
On Monday, these resolutions will be delivered to the State Capitol to show Texas school boards' unity.
The main cause of the current school-finance crisis is 2006 legislation that has fallen short of properly funding Texas public schools. The state mandated a cap on school property taxes, cutting taxes by one-third, without establishing a new stream of revenue

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to make up the difference.Public-school districts do not benefit from increased property appraisal values. When property values and taxes increase locally, the state lowers its share of funding, thereby shifting funding of education to the local taxpayer. In addition, voters must approve tax increases for public education, unlike other governmental taxing entities that are able to raise fees and/or taxes annually.
In the past two legislative sessions, legislators have been unsuccessful in addressing school-funding shortcomings. Currently, more than half of the school districts in Texas are forced to dip into their fund balances for daily operating expenditures -- a practice that is neither financially sound nor sustainable over an extended period of time.
Adding to the problem are inflationary costs and unfunded mandates from the state.
For example, STAAR, the new state accountability exam, will replace the TAKS test in 2011-12. Districts need to fund resources such as textbooks, curricular components and teacher training for the new test. School districts want to meet the high accountability standards, but require the necessary funding to prepare students to meet the state's academic goals.
Our school districts have already made tremendous reductions. In EPISD, $43 million in budget cuts and cost efficiencies have been made and reinvested in programs since 2006 to achieve remarkable academic progress. In YISD, there have been budget cuts of more than $41 million since 2006 without student impact. Additional education funding cuts will negatively impact the classroom and would be detrimental to the education of all students in our school districts.
We strongly urge legislators to look at every option possible to raise the revenue to fund public education, especially in light of our low targeted revenue amount. There are numerous solutions that will impact us less, including providing relief on some of the unfunded mandates, utilization of the Jobs Bill, accessing the state's Rainy Day Fund, or revamping current tax structures, rather than focusing solely on reductions.
We understand the challenges facing our legislators, and we offer our assistance and support in passing legislation that will benefit the children of Texas, our future, for years to come. "Make Education a Priority!"
Patricia L. Hughes is president of the EPISD Board of Trustees and TASB Director, Region 19A. Marty Reyes is president of the YISD Board of Trustees and TASB Director, Region 19B.

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Rep. Ron Reynolds Statement on the Proposed State Budget: HB 1

AUSTIN, Texas (Jan. 26, 2011) -- On Wednesday, Jan. 19, Chairman Pitts (R-Waxahachie) filed House Bill 1, the proposed state budget for fiscal year 2012-2013. The released draft was a reality check on the highly anticipated, yet dismal financial condition facing Texas as a result of a $26.8 billion shortfall ensuing from a structural deficit within the budgeting system. "It is clear now more than ever before that we need to identify new and stable revenue streams if we are to prevent such drastic shortfalls in the future," Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Fort Bend) commented. "The introduced House budget does not take into consideration the population growth in our state. As our population continues to grow, our resources will be spread even thinner."
The projected budget appropriates a combined $156.4 billion in state and local funds, which is $31.1 billion less than the prior biennium, while the state general revenue appropriation of $72.2 billion is $8.4 billion less than the previous two-year budget.
"This budget proposed by the state's leadership underscores the uncertainty for the future of Texas' working families, children, students, and senior citizens," stated Rep Reynolds.
The current working draft proposes a 23 percent cut to public education, zero funding for some of the smaller community colleges, a reduction in healthcare and social services, cuts to higher education and research funding, and the elimination of the TEXAS Grants (the state's primary financial aid program for new college students).
"More alarming," expressed Rep. Reynolds, "is the daunting reality that school districts will be compelled to lay off good teachers, increasing the likelihood of even more of our children being left behind."
Analysts estimate that the proposed cuts could adversely impact approximately 10,000 state employees and over 80,000 teachers, costing them their jobs.
Rep. Reynolds continued, "I am very concerned, to say the least, that no consideration has been given to tapping into the state's 'Rainy Day' fund, which is currently $9.4 billion dollars. With a proposed budget that eliminates Pre-K, depriving nearly 200,000 Texas children of an early childhood education -- I'm no meteorologist -- but, if this is not a rainy day, I don't know what is."
"This proposed budget fails Texans, specifically our most vulnerable communities: our children and seniors. In spite of what lies before us, my unshakable faith and commitment to serve fuels my passion to work tirelessly with leadership to protect Texas families and to help maintain the quality of life that we as Texans enjoy," added Rep. Reynolds.

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Mexico: Calderon is winning

Since Mexico’s President Louis Calderon began his war against the drug cartels over 30,000 people have been murdered. That’s just the reported ones, the many more individuals that have disappeared, never to be found, is scary.
A sane person would call the battles in Mexico outright war. Reports say that the Mexican government is deploying an additional 3,000 troops to the northern Tamaulipas area and they have been arriving there since November 13. This is in addition to the Mexican marine forces already in the area and special operations forces will be sent into the area as well.
Military officials have said they will be establishing checkpoints on the highways and one hundred per cent of all vehicles will be stopped. Mobilizing that much armed manpower into one area sounds impressive, but it’s small compared to areas like Chihuahua which has over 10,000 troops on guard.
In the Greater Reynosa area, a city of just over a million people, drug traffickers have complete control. Armed Thugs openly patrol the streets shooting any opposition. In Reynosa, those who can leave have done so and the others are forced to live like hidden mice.
Also in the same general area residents had to flee because gunmen began running through the town yelling at people to get out. These incidents occurred on November 5 in Cuidad Mier because the Los Zetos cartel wanted the town for a staging area.
Reports indicate that about 300 residents have found shelter in the town of Miguel Aleman where a couple of temporary housing settlements have been established.
The killings have taken on a bizarre evil twist as beheading and dismemberment are taking place following torture. In that wonderful exotic resort Acapulco, four beheaded bodies were found in a park.
The Mayor’s body in Santiago was found with its eyes gouged out. In the pretty community of Cuernavacas four decapitated bodies were hung from a bridge for all to see.
One reporter for the Los Angeles times says that it’s hard to cover any story in Mexico because there is no one to be trusted. The local police are corrupt, the mayor is on the cartel payroll, the cab drivers are informants and every business is probably linked to the cartels.
In the last weeks of 2010 federal authorities began to make major gains with more than a half dozen cartel leaders being shot or arrested. As of this date, the La Familia cartel is having serious trouble surviving.
On November 5 the leader of the Gulf Cartel, Tony Tormenta was killed and that has weakened his organization’s fight against the Los Zetos cartel. Sinaloa cartel leader Jesus israel de las cruz Lopez was arrested by federal forces on January 5, 2011 which is another blow against these evil cartels.
It is regrettable that the President of The United States, Barack Obama will not make the same efforts from the United States side of the border. We do hear of some arrests and tunnels are found and closed, but those are having a very small effect on the overall war.
The United States and Mexico border needs to be sealed with only controlled crossings. Pandering to the large Hispanic vote in the United States is not helping the war inside Mexico. One can understand the emotional fear for family that exists in the southern United States, but the cartels must be stopped.
We can only hope that President Calderon will continue his gains and we should pray that his successor in 14 months will continue the battle. The President of Mexico is brave indeed, and he is fighting for the life of his country.
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U.S. missionary fatally wounded in Mexico

Reporting from Dallas —

A U.S. missionary died at a southern Texas hospital Wednesday after her husband rushed her, mortally wounded, over the Rio Grande from Mexico.

Sam Davis told police that he and his wife were traveling about 70 miles south of the border when gunmen in a pickup truck tried to stop them. When the couple sped up, the gunmen fired, wounding his wife in the head, he said.

Nancy Davis, 59, died in a McAllen hospital about 90 minutes after her husband drove the couple's truck against traffic across the Pharr International Bridge, according to a statement issued by the Pharr Police Department.

Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas said Mexican authorities had confirmed that the shooting occurred near San Fernando, about 70 miles south of Reynosa. The area is controlled by the Zetas drug cartel and is one of Mexico's most dangerous. It is the same area of Tamaulipas state where 72 Central and South American migrants were found slain in August, a massacre blamed on the Zetas.

Pharr police and U.S. customs agents converged on the Davises' truck just before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, after Sam Davis stopped in the middle of bridge traffic to seek help. Nancy Davis was bleeding from a head wound in the passenger seat.

A police statement said the Davises live in the lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas but did not specify where or provide details about Nancy Davis' missionary work.

The Mexican Interior Ministry released a statement expressing its condolences. It said Mexican authorities were investigating the shooting but gave no details.

In late September, an American tourist was killed on a border lake about 170 miles northwest of San Fernando, and concerns about the investigation prompted Texas Gov. Rick Perry to call for a stronger response from Mexican authorities. David Hartley's wife says he was gunned down by Mexican pirates while riding a jet ski on the Mexico side of Falcon Lake. His body was never found.

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U.S. missionary dies from gunshot after crossing to U.S. from Mexico

PHARR — A woman died after she suffered a gunshot wound to the head in Mexico earlier today.
The woman, identified as Nancy Davis, 59, was rushed to the hospital after she showed up at the Pharr point of entry with a gunshot wound late Wednesday morning.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers encountered Davis and her husband, Sam, both U.S. citizens.
Only Nancy Davis had suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head. She was transported to an area hospital via ambulance.
"She arrived at the Pharr point of entry and emergency procedures took over and she was removed by ambulance," said Felix Garza, a local U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
A source at the bridge said the woman arrived in a truck that had been "riddled with bullets" from an apparent attack in Mexico. The source confirmed the woman, in her late 50s, died from the gunshot wound.
Sources said the woman was in Reynosa doing missionary work. It remains unclear what led to the shooting, though it appears the truck had been shot from behind.
A tweet posted by the Beavertown God's Missionary Church in Beavertown, Pa., said Davis "has gone to heaven as a martyr."
"Missionary Nancy Davis has gone to Heaven as a martyr," the online post states. "This afternoon, after 38 years of missionary service she paid the ultimate sacrifice."


A telephone call to the church was not immediately returned.
Garza deferred further comment to Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas, who could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
The bridge remained open during the incident.

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Gonzalez, 7 other Texas congressional Democrats protest Voter ID measure

Civility is in style in Washington, D.C. But in Austin, well, they don’t like the way bad old War-shington does things.
So what happens when DC Texans deal with combative, Rick Perry-style Republicans?
They wage political war. Respectfully.
That’s what happened when eight Democratic members of the Texas congressional delegation wrote a letter to state Sen. Letitcia Van de Putte declaring that they are “saddened” by the “misguided voter identification law” that has been called a state “emergency” by Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

Congressional photo Rep. Charlie Gonzalez

“Study after study has found almost no evidence of organized voter fraud, in Texas or anywhere in the country,” stated the letter signed by Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Gene Green of Houston, Ruben Hinojosa of Mercedes, Silvestre Reyes of El Paso and Al Green of Houston.
“There is simply no reason to believe that voter fraud is a pressing problem for Texas. But we know with certainty that voter idenitification laws prevent eligible voters from exercising their constitutional rights.”
Democrats argue that Republicans in the Texas legislature are targeting minority communities, which vote overwhelmingly Democratic, in an effort to scare legal voters away from the polls.
The congressional Democrats predicted that as many as “hundreds of thousands of Texans” would be prevented from voting under the Perry-backed proposal, called Senate Bill 14, “the majority of them people of color, senior citizens, the disabled, students and low income voters.”
Instead of spending time on the Voter ID bill, the Texas Democrats suggested that Perry and state lawmakers spend their time on “education, job creation and providing Texans with access to affordable, quality health care.”

AP photo Rick Perry

The Democrats’ letter echoed the views of Texas Democratic leaders, who (much less diplomatically) complained about Perry’s political machinations.
“It appears the ‘emergency item’ driving Rick Perry’s priorities is his quest to become a national GOP celebrity at any cost,” Texas Democratic Party chair Boyd Richie said yesterday. “While the governor’s hair may be camera-ready, he only wants the spotlight when it suits his own partisan politics. When it comes to the real emergency — our state’s $27 billion budget deficit and massive program cuts — Perry tries to distract Texans with divisive issues that are not ‘emergencies’ at all.”
Perry, never one to sit back and let his opponents set the political agenda, yesterday ridiculed critics who suggested that lawmakers could not balance the many “emergency” tasks before them with budget-balancing other “non-emergency” state issues.
“I guess we need to introduce ‘em to some of you ladies, who certainly know how to multitask,” he told a Lubbock crowd.
One Democratic congressman, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, did not sign the letter. He is a former Texas Secretary of State appointed by Perry.

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Shot woman shows up at Pharr bridge

Jared Taylor

The Monitor

PHARR — Emergency crews rushed a woman to the hospital after a truck she was riding in was "riddled with bullets" in Mexico.
The incident occurred Wednesday at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers encountered a northbound woman who suffered at least one gunshot wound, said Felix Garza, a local agency spokesman.
The woman was transported to an area hospital via ambulance. Information on her condition was not immediately known.
"She arrived at the Pharr point of entry and emergency procedures took over and she was removed by ambulance," Garza said.
A source at the bridge said the woman arrived in a truck that had been "riddled with bullets" from an apparent attack in Mexico.
The woman's immigration status was not immediately known, Garza said.
Garza deferred further comment to Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas, who could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
The bridge remained open during the incident. Further details were not immediately available.

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Cartels a cause of Valley's street-gang effect, cops say

Naxiely Lopez

The Monitor

McALLEN — Local street and prison gangs are more dangerous than Mexican cartels to the people of Hidalgo County, Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

The county’s top cop cites a disparity in local crime statistics as the basis for his argument.

“We’ve already had incidents in Hidalgo County perpetrated by our gang members that have been detrimental to the security of our community,” he said. “We haven’t had any outright cartel activity in Hidalgo County that has hurt us.”

Although brazen street battles among cartel gunmen and the Mexican military have not spilled over the border and into Valley streets, hundreds of locals have been killed, robbed or assaulted by members of the local organized crime community in recent years, Treviño said.

As of 2005, the sheriff’s gang unit, which he boasts is the largest in a six-county area, has identified more than 70 gangs and more than 11,000 gang members in Hidalgo County, he said.

Identification is made possible through the county jail, as every person arrested in any of the 20 municipalities within the county on charges of a Class B misdemeanor — such as criminal trespassing — or higher has to go through the jail before he or she can post bond.

Investigators have several ways to obtain identifying information from individuals upon their arrival, including self-admittance, prior admissions and by looking at their tattoos.

“Those markings and tattoos tell you their life history,” Treviño said.

Identifying cartel members is difficult because they don’t carry any tags or signs on their body, the sheriff said. Investigators must rely on intelligence-gathering to connect culprits to bigger organizations.

Since 2005, gangs have been responsible for 125 homicides, 325 robberies and have been involved in 1,780 narcotics arrests in Hidalgo County, according to data from the county jail.

No such county statistics exist for members of Mexican drug cartels, Treviño said.

“When you compare numbers on gang membership and number of gangs to cartel groups and cartel members, how is the scale going to tip?” Treviño asked.

It’s not a black-and-white answer, San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said.

“I do agree that gangs are a bigger threat to us,” he said. “But their purpose is being fueled and supported by criminal organizations on the other side (of the border).”

SUBCONTRACTING

It’s no secret cartels are using gangs to hide, transport and sell narcotics, but to what extent?

“I don’t know if anyone can answer that,” McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said. “When any of us talk like that, it’s basically loose talk. It’s an effort to simply grab a blanket and wrap everything in it and not be challenged.”

Treviño said there is a definite relationship between gangs and cartels in the Valley, but it’s not as pronounced as it is in El Paso, where the Barrio Aztecas work closely with the Juárez Cartel.

“We haven’t gotten to that point,” he said, “but that’s why I want to keep tabs and continue putting the pressure on these guys so that it doesn’t get to that point.”

There’s a particular local gang that worries the sheriff, the Partido Revolucionario Mexicano, he said. Members must be criminal, illegal aliens in order to join, which makes the threat of conglomeration more feasible as they have what the sheriff calls “the Mexican connection.”

Regardless of ethnicity, street gangs offer cartels another perk: home-field advantage.

“They were born here; they were raised here, and they train themselves as gang members here,” the sheriff said. “They know the back streets and the back roads and how everything operates in Hidalgo County.”

Most cartel members are foreigners. They were born and raised in another country and are not familiar with our way of life, he said.

That’s exactly what makes forming a relationship between both entities more enticing, Gonzalez said.

“If the cartels want to transport narcotics through Texas, they’re not going to ask the average citizen to do that,” the San Juan police chief said. “They’re going to ask people who have been involved in criminal activity and are somewhat organized, and the only people that do that are street and prison gangs.”

“They’ve already been involved in aggravated robberies, extortion, home invasions and violent crimes.”

It’s nothing new that a more sophisticated group will use another to be its muscle, FBI spokesman Erik Vasys said. However, he would not comment on the extent of the local association between gangs and cartels, saying those are aspects of ongoing investigations.

“The whole idea is to make money,” he said. “Everyone has the same motivation.”

Vasys also refused to give an opinion on which criminal group poses a greater danger to the people of Hidalgo County, but did say one of the biggest threats is street crime — which is mostly perpetrated by gangs, according to the sheriff.

“The major source of income (for gangs) is to deal street-level drugs,” Treviño said. “That really contributes to the overall crime rate because in order for these fellows to get money to buy a load, they’re going to steal a car, they’re going to have to burglarize a home and steal a TV or they’re going to have to go commit an armed robbery.”

But it’s not only gangs with ties to cartels that are committing these crimes, Vasys warned.

“Crime is about people,” Rodriguez said. “The more people we have, the more probability of crime.”

It’s difficult to gauge which organization causes the most problems for law enforcement because they are both closely related.

“How much responsibility falls on cartels for our local crime problem?” Treviño asked. “A vast majority because it all originates with them. But how many cartel members come over to this side to commit crimes? Very few.”

Treviño acknowledges that there has been cartel-related crime in the county, but said the general public has not been the target.

“It’s always been between the cartel people and members of their own organization or those that have harmed that particular organization,” he said. “The general public has not really been harmed by it other than by reputation.”

----

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Texas's love/hate relationship with Washington's money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration's 2009 stimulus program to spur the economy and assist cash-strapped states.
Perry also likes to trumpet that his state balanced its budget in 2009, while keeping billions in its rainy day fund.

But he couldn't have done that without a lot of help from...guess where? Washington.
Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Even budget deficits are bigger in Texas

Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.
"Stimulus was very helpful in getting them through the last few years," said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers, said of Texas.

Even as Perry requested the Recovery Act money, he railed against it. On the very same day he asked for the funds, he set up a petition titled "No Government Bailouts."

"Join our fight and add your voice to a growing list of several thousand Americans who are fed up with this irresponsible spending that threatens our future," Perry wrote on his blog on Feb. 18, 2009.
A governor's spokeswoman played down the money's role in shoring up Texas's finances.

"Texas would have balanced its budget regardless of the presence of stimulus dollars," said Lucy Nashed, Perry's deputy press secretary. "This money came from the pockets of Texas taxpayers, and we are committed to getting our fair share of these dollars, which would have otherwise been disbursed to other states."

Difficult years ahead

Unfortunately for Texas, and for most other states in the union, the stimulus safety net has dried up. So they are now facing draconian spending cuts as they try to close yawning budget gaps for fiscal 2012, which starts July 1 in most states.
Texas is in trouble too. State lawmakers unveiled Tuesday an austere budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal years that cuts $31 billion in spending. Schools, colleges, Medicaid and social services for the needy will be hit especially hard.
The state won't replace any of the federal stimulus funds with its own revenues, said Rep. Jim Pitts, who is writing the budget bill for the Texas House. It doesn't have the money. The state comptroller estimated that revenues will be $15 billion less in fiscal 2012-2013 than the previous two-year period.
Gone are the $4.3 billion in stimulus funds for Medicaid and $3.25 billion for public education. The resulting cuts outlined in the budget means schools would likely close and class sizes would get bigger. And because the budget proposes a 10% cut in Medicaid reimbursement rates for doctors, physicians will likely leave the system, making it harder for the poor to get health care.

0:00 /5:26Texas governor fed up with D.C.

Other areas are being hit too. For instance, the state would have to lay off 565 caseworkers who investigate child abuse. And stimulus funded child care and job training programs would also end.
Of course, stimulus alone could not have plugged this year's revenue hole. Lawmakers are suggesting a wide range of cuts to bring the budget back into balance. In all, nearly 9,300 government jobs would disappear.
"The federal money bought us some time and that time has run out," said Eva De Luna Castro, budget analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which focuses on low- and moderate-income Texans.
The budget introduced earlier this week is only the first step in a long process to crafting a final spending plan. Lawmakers and Perry will weigh in over the next few months. The state's fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
But a vocal chorus of Democratic lawmakers and advocates are already urging the GOP, which controls the Texas legislature and governor's mansion, to tap into the state's estimated $9.4 billion rainy day fund to blunt some of the spending cuts and replace the stimulus money.
Stimulus "helped us save our rainy day fund for an even rainier day," De Luna Castro said.


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Grotesque cartel violence spreads to quieter parts of Mexico

A Canadian senior was shot with an AK-47 in Mexico last week.
He wasn’t in Ciudad Juarez, or one of the northern border towns known for their brutal violence, where it isn’t uncommon to see mutilated bodies hanging off billboards warning locals they’ll be next if they report drug cartel activity to the Federales.
He was in Mazatlan, a popular vacation destination.
He was in a “safe” area, in broad daylight.
The same day, Canadian couple Rebecca Rutland and Richard Coleman accused Mexican police of arrestingthem, beating Coleman and gang raping Rutland. They were visiting another popular vacation destination, Playa del Carmen.
Mexican police claim the couple attacked each other.
In the last five years, more than 100 Canadians have died in Mexico.
This is apparently because Canadians are loud, aggressive and prone to falling off balconies, leaping in front of moving vehicles and locking themselves in the trunk of their own burning vehicle.
Of those approximately 115 deaths, 15 are considered to be murders or “suspicious.” This, for the most part, doesn’t include the 29 Canadians who have died as a result of “falling” off balconies (to be fair some really did fall).
Perhaps Mexico needs a national balcony registry because it seems guns, crime and cartels aren’t a problem for Canadians in Mexico, rather it’s the crazy, dangerous balconies.
Maybe Mexican police are slightly lacking in their investigative capability. I still have a hard time believing two Canadian soccer moms were once considered plausible suspects when fellow Canadians Domenic and Nancy Ianiero had their throats slit in 2006.  
Police departments in Mexico are notoriously corrupt and many are infiltrated by the cartels. Mexican citizens will not call 911 because they know who is coming to respond — drug thugs.
The former police chief of Cancun drove around in a dark SUV pumping out Narcocorrido music — songs celebrating the exploits of drug lords. He was arrested this summer for the torture and murder of a retired Mexican general who had been appointed to a new drug-fighting task force.
The country is quite literally in the middle of a drug war.
Deluding yourself into believing the risk of violence is the same in Mexico as it is here at home is just plain dumb. There aren’t 15,000 murders a year in Canada, people’s heads aren’t dipped in acid, and police chiefs don’t murder generals in Banff.
Mexico is taking the right steps, but it is struggling to hold its ground and the Mexican government will admit to this. At least the government in Mexico City will, in the hopes of drawing more international aid to fight the cartels. The tone is notably different from Mexican officials in Canada, who appear concerned about tourist dollars.
Mexico has experienced a 70% increase in violence over the last year alone, which means things will get worse before they get better.
Do the math — if violence is increasing, so is risk, and unfortunately that includes traditionally safe areas.  Especially when cartels like Los Zetas have political control of the area. The Zetas are former Special Forces soldiers who tied up and shot 72 unarmed, innocent migrants in the fall to have more extortion leverage in the future.
Cartels shoot up teenagers’ birthday parties, rehab facilities and supermarkets. They don’t care. Cartels are unlikely to target you, but this past week was an example of an AK-47 bullet, a Canadian and wrong place, wrong time.
The focus should be on why Canada isn’t doing more to help out Mexico in a real sense, not just pouring money into cartel-owned areas. What are we doing to help them reform their justice system or rebuild an honest national police force?
Meanwhile, I’m terribly sorry if pointing out the facts is bad for business, but lives should matter more than dollars — both Mexican and Canadian lives.
— Stephenson will appear regularly on Sun News Network
mercedes.stephenson@sunmedia.ca

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Shootout In Reynosa

Authorities are asking area residents to avoid three neighborhoods and two major roads following reports of explosions, a shootout and narcoblockades.
Reynosa residents reported on the social media network Twitter that they heard two loud detonations on the city's northwest side around 3 pm Sunday.
City officials later confirmed a "situation of risk" in the Colonia Rancho Grande, Colonia El Olmo and Colonia Hidalgo.
Reynosa officials also reported blockades along main thoroughfares such as Blvd Hidalgo and Praxedis Balboa.
City officials confirmed that numerous bridges throughout the city also have blockades.
Reynosa officials are asking residents to avoid those areas and roads until an "all-clear" signal is given.

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Texas University Chancellors Brace for Budget Cuts

Here are some numbers that every chancellor of a university system in Texas knows by heart: Out of $1,250,250,767 that Texas cut out of its current, 2010-11 biennial budget, $518,424,781 was drained from higher education. That’s 41.47 percent of the 5 percent total reduction among all state agencies demanded by the state's leadership. Higher ed’s overall share of the state’s budget, meanwhile, is 12.5 percent.
The chancellors are adamant that their institutions not be hit disproportionately in the next round of cuts.
Of the state’s six chancellors, four — Mike McKinney of the Texas A&M University System, Lee Jackson of the University of North Texas System, Kent Hance of the Texas Tech University System and Brian McCall of Texas State University System — served in the Texas Legislature. McKinney was also Gov. Rick Perry’s chief of staff. They all agree that the 82nd legislative session — with the state facing a budget shortfall of between $15 billion to $27 billion — will be the toughest they’ve seen.
In the coming months, the chancellors — a group that also includes Francisco Cigarroa of the University of Texas System and Renu Khator of the University of Houston System — will come to the table fully aware that there is less to go around than in past years. The Texas House is starting from a base budget that includes a $594 million drop from current levels of university funding. In the community college community, talk of shutting down institutions has already begun. If the same numbers appear in the final budget, as state Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, has noted in his criticism of the bill, the state's largest financial aid program will serve 69 percent fewer students in 2013 than 2011. In short, it's pretty bleak.
“We’ve been very much together in times of growth,” Jackson says. “Whether we can remain together in times of retrenchment remains to be seen.”
When it comes to the case to be made on behalf of higher ed, McCall insists, “There is no division amongst the chancellors,” though he acknowledges that each one has been hired to promote his own system. McKinney puts it this way: His check may come from Texas A&M, but he says he really works for all the people living in this state. "It would be wrong for me to do something that benefits the Texas A&M University System that harms the rest of the state," he says. "We're not going to be that selfish. But we think that a lot of things that benefit A&M also benefit the rest of the state."
Some specific issues inspire widespread agreement among higher ed officials. All institutions would like to cut back on the costs incurred by state-mandated reporting of a variety of metrics they feel are duplicative and unnecessary, for instance. But other potential changes provoke mixed reactions among the group.
For example, some lawmakers and state education officials are talking about altering the formula for how the state allocates money to universities, moving from one based on enrollment to one that rewards high graduation rates. Officials from the University of Houston System intend to make the case that the expected cuts in state funding is already an enormous challenge even without changing the formula. Over in College Station, McKinney says, “My personal prejudice is that the best time to do things is when it’s hard. We’ve already proven that when we’re flush, when we have lots of money, we won’t make hard decisions."
But first things first. They are at least unified around the basic pitch to lawmakers for this session: a plea for fairness.
Texas Tech’s Hance says the universities are not opposed to cutting their budgets. He anticipates that the 7.5 percent cuts they’ve made in the last year could ultimately be one half to one third of what the total will be when all is said and done. “But we don’t want the budget balanced on our backs,” he says. “If they’re going to cut us, they ought to cut transportation, public education, welfare, health, and everybody else.”
What worries UNT’s Jackson is the discussions that have cropped up in states like California, Florida and Nevada — states suffering through even deeper, more protracted budget problems. “They have discussed what are in effect rationing plans,” he says. These include limiting enrollment, restricting transfers from community colleges and deferring pursuits of lofty goals like recruiting top faculty. Such measures have yet to be discussed in Texas, which, Jackson says, has been emphasizing “more enrollments, more degrees, more research and more student access” even as cuts loom. “You can’t have a lot of expectations and not recognize the cost,” he says.
Barry McBee, vice chancellor for governmental relations for the UT System, notes that for his system, every 5 percent cut amounts to $500 per student at academic institutions and $7,000 per student at medical and nursing institutions. But the loss, he says, is greater than those numbers indicate — because unlike other areas of the budget, money spent on higher education is money invested.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates that the state gets an eightfold return on every dollar invested in public higher education.  “We hate to pit ourselves against other parts of the budget,” McBee says, “but other parts of the budget do not represent the same opportunity.”
That’s why Texas State’s McCall, who only recently left the Legislature, is optimistic. “The legislature has always been good to higher ed in Texas,” he says. “There’s just too much cause and effect.”
Ultimately, Texas’s public universities will pass along at least some of the state budget cuts to their customers. “We either get the money from the student or the state,” Hance says. And the trend in recent years has been for students (and their parents) to bear a growing share of the load. In 1990, Texas Tech University received 56 percent of its total funding from the state. In 2010, it only received 36 percent. Much of the rest came from tuition and fees.
Meanwhile, many experts believe Texas universities should be expanding, not cutting back. With enrollments reaching record levels, it would take a $700 million increase in funding just to maintain current levels of service.
If the Texas State University System continues growing at its current rate, it will be 60 percent bigger by 2020.  That’s just one example of why many in the higher education community feel now — with historically low construction costs and interest rates — is the time to be issuing tuition revenue bonds to fund construction projects.
As precedent, McCall points to the famous UT Tower, built in the middle of the Great Depression. UT’s McBee concurs that such an investment  “would send a signal nationally that there’s still a long term strategy, vision and focus in Texas.”
All told, the Texas public university systems have submitted a wish list of construction projects totaling more than $3 billion. Not all of them, if any, will ultimately get approval. Jackson says that even if the legislators can’t make major investments, he thinks they may be able to conduct “a pretty regular review and approve a list of needed facilities."
But new buildings are not at the top of everyone’s priority list. Hance acknowledges that his Texas Tech system needs some and recognizes that it’s a good time to build. But, he says, “it doesn’t make much sense to build buildings when you can’t fund day-to-day operations.”
The relative unity among the chancellors may be strained when it comes to issues that affect only a select group of institutions.
The highly touted state-sponsored race to become the next “national research university” — or tier-one school, as it’s commonly known — does not involve every institution. For the seven universities who are competing, it’s critically important. The University of Houston, for example, credits the legislation that created the competition for helping it set a new institutional record for awards won in research — $115 million — in the last year, paving the way for a recent announcement from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching that it has upgraded UH to its highest classification for research universities, the same level as the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.
But McKinney, whose system has no dog in the race (Texas A&M is already a tier-one school), says, “We need to quit worrying about spending money toward prestige. If you do your job, prestige will follow.”
The Texas A&M System may not worry about tier-one legislation, but like other systems, it has institution-specific issues for policymakers to address. It is the only one that includes state agencies — seven in total, including the Texas Forest Service — in addition to academic and health institutions. That means it is the only system that has to go through the sunset process, in which state agencies have to justify their continued existence. The University of Houston System’s governing board is one of only two in the state that is legally obligated to meet in April, though budgeting cycles often necessitate a follow-up in May. UT’s McBee says that any discretionary dollars that might become available unexpectedly should be given to the University of Texas at Austin — “as the flagship.”
The systems can deal with these individual issues and any minor differences “after the fact,” McBee says. The main push will be what he calls a “rising tide philosophy” about the overall importance of higher education.
But how receptive to that philosophy will the anti-spending, small government forces that control the state legislature be? Conservative legislators, state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, recently issued recommendations for balancing the budget that included slashing spending on central administration by 30 percent, reducing the state’s largest financial aid program by 20 percent, eliminating some of the money for tier-one development and more. Following its release, they applauded the base budget. In a survey conducted by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texans strongly favored not only slashing administrative budgets, but delaying new facilities.
At least one chancellor promises that lawmakers won't hear him whining. "They have to make hard choices," McKinney says. "There's more good to be done than they have money to do. I'm certainly going to do my job not to make theirs harder."
Ed note: An earlier version of this story misstated the total amount universities have requested in construction as $4.6 billion. It has been corrected to $3 billion.

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Texas budget cuts may shift burden to locals

AUSTIN — Conservative lawmakers who dominate Texas politics make their political careers on promising to cut state spending and block new taxes. But when the budget slashing is done, city and county officials must pick up the pieces — and possibly raise taxes.
State legislatures across the country are facing budget problems brought on by the economic recession. California, Illinois and Georgia face shortfalls just as bad as Texas, but they plan to raise taxes to avoid dramatic cuts. The Texas governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker — all Republicans — have promised to make the state live within its means without new taxes.
When the legislature released the first draft of the new budget this week, the proposed cuts were staggering. All told, if lawmakers want to avoid raising taxes, they need to cut $27 billion from what it would cost to maintain the current level of state services.
Texas lawmakers from both parties have always been fiscally conservative, explained Sherri Greenberg, interim director of the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School for Public Affairs in Austin. Texas spends less per person on state services than any other state, and the Texas Constitution forbids a personal income tax.
"It's one thing to say `no new taxes,' however, that doesn't mean there won't be all kinds of fees increased," Greenberg said. "Things are just pushed down to the local level."
Cuts set off a domino effect: Historically, public schools raise property taxes when the state education agency sends smaller checks. Cities and counties have to pick up the bill when the sick go to the emergency room because fewer doctors accept Medicaid. And when the mentally ill don't receive treatment, local law enforcement often steps in.
Texans pay for these services in one of two ways. Local authorities collect property taxes, and 64 percent of the state budget comes from sales taxes. Less spending during the recession has meant reduced state revenues. The state also collects a business tax, but that has never produced as much revenue as lawmakers predicted, Greenberg said.
The draft budget assumes no new taxes and over the next two years takes $9.8 billion away from schools and could cost 100,000 school district jobs, according to Moak, Casey & Associates, a school finance consulting firm that analyzed the budget. This at a time when Texas schools is projected to add 160,000 new students, according to census figures. The Houston Independent School District alone could lose $348 million in financing, something that could result in teacher layoffs.
"You could take to your voters a tax increase . but in this economy it's tough to even think about that," said Melinda Garrett, the chief financial officer for Houston schools. "We are 80 percent people, so you can't cut the budget without cutting people."
Some schools are already charging the maximum rate allowed without voter approval, but the Houston school board can still raise taxes 3 cents per $100 of real estate without a referendum. That is one option Garrett will present to the board — along with proposed cuts — once the state budget is finalized and becomes law in May.
Hospitals and doctors will likely absorb the $2.8 billion the state plans to cut from Medicaid programs. The state is considering reducing what it pays doctors and hospitals to treat Medicaid patients by 10 percent. Based on past cuts in Medicaid fees, the result will be fewer doctors accepting Medicaid patients and more people relying on emergency rooms when they fall ill. Hospitals cannot turn away emergency patients.
Parkland Health and Hospital System is one of the largest public hospitals in Texas, treating more than 93,000 low-income patients who depend on the program each year. Ron Anderson, the CEO, said state cuts in health care merely shift the costs to counties and hospital districts, which rely on local property taxes. Parkland relies on medical school faculty and students to provide services, so cuts to the higher education budget will compound the cuts to the health budget, costing millions in local taxes.
"Sometimes you think you're saving money with one budget, but your actually transferring the costs to somebody else and the costs might actually be higher," Anderson said. "The taxpayers who pay these bills are actually the same taxpayers."
Texas ranks 49th in the nation in per capita spending on mental health programs, and the draft budget would cut spending by 40 percent. When mentally ill people can't get the help they need, they often end up in jail or worse, said Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia.
"Officers and the mentally ill will be having confrontations that will result in arrests, tazings and, regretfully, even shootings," Garcia said. "That should not be the way that families or individuals resolve their mental health issues, but that's generally how it works because there is a lack of service."
Garcia and other sheriffs across the state have repeatedly asked the legislature to increase spending on mental health programs to divert people away from jail and into treatment programs. About 25 percent of the inmates in the Harris County Jail already require psychological treatment and psychotropic drugs, costing the county $27 million a year. Many more would qualify for other treatments, he said. Now the Texas Sheriff's Association just wants the state to maintain the current funding.
"We have been working hard to control spending in the sheriff's office, but when these folks come into my custody, I have no option, I am constitutionally obligated to provide them with the care they need," Garcia said. And funding for that treatment comes from county property taxes, he said.
The draft budget introduced on Wednesday is only a start to the budget process, and the final budget will look much different. But as debate begins, local authorities will be visiting state lawmakers to try to protect their piece of the budget.

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