“EN MI
OPINION” IN GOD WE TRUST.
.No 347 Domingo, Marzo 31, 2013 Editor Lázaro R González Miño.
Subida y automatización de peajes provoca rechazo
MDX
impondría un cargo de ocho dólares ida y vuelta para quienes viajen de un
extremo a otro de Miami-Dade “Si automatizan y suben el precio, no
conduciré por el expressway”, asegura un vecino de la zona
Por Jesús Hernández DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS
MIAMI.- La propuesta de la autoridad condal de autopistas en Miami-Dade (MDX) sobre automatizar el sistema de pago e incluso aumentar el valor del peaje en el 836 y 112, mejor conocidos por Dolphin y Airport expressways, provoca la disconformidad del comisionado Xavier Suárez y el descontento del público.
“Todo parece indicar que MDX desea imponernos un cargo de 8 dólares ida y vuelta para quienes viajen de un extremo al otro de Miami Dade”, manifestaba el comisionado Suárez en una carta oficial, de la que Diario Las Américas obtuvo copia, dirigida a la autoridad condal de autopistas.
De hecho, la propuesta pretende imponer el sistema electrónico prepagado e instalado en el vehículo, o factura por correos, como únicas formas de pago, además de crear más estaciones de control y peaje que cobrarían según la distancia recorrida, lugar de entrada o salida. Una medida que dista de la actual regulación que cobra 1.25, si es dinero efectivo, sólo en dirección este, y 1 dólar a la altura de la avenida 107 en la 836, dentro de los límites de la municipalidad Doral.
La suma añadida estaría aparentemente dirigida a recaudar unos 400 millones de dólares que serían empleados, junto a otros 400, para financiar las mejoras del intercambio de vías 836 y 826 (Palmetto), así como la anunciada ampliación del Gratigny Expressway hacia el oeste.
Respecto a la automatización, el comisionado Suárez menciona la confusión causada “a trece millones de turistas cuando ven un letrero que dice No Se Acepta Efectivo o Todos los Vehículos con Efectivo Tienen que Salir del Expressway”. Confusión que es igualmente causada a residentes de la región.
“Si automatizan como dicen, además de subir el precio, pues no conduciré por el expressway”, comentaba Mario Alonso, vecino de la zona del aeropuerto. “Ya tenemos bastante confusión con los letreros y el pago que va en aumento”, señalaba. “Quieren controlar todo. Saber todo. Hasta la hora que uno conduce por allí”, recalcaba.
“La propuesta de nuevas estaciones de peaje, que conlleva a un aumento del costo de vida, es un castigo cruel e inusual a los residentes que tienen muy pocas alternativas (de transportación) por culpa de la ineficiencia y el alto coste del transporte público”, determinaba el representante público condal.
Asimismo, Suárez planteaba “MDX obtuvo la custodia de cinco expressways hace unos 16 años y asumió la deuda de unos 60 millones de dólares que el Estado adeudaba entonces, a cambio de la autoridad y el control otorgado. Desde entonces la deuda ha aumentado a 1.2 mil millones de dólares. Lo cual significa que ustedes (MDX) ha incrementado la deuda en la asombrosa multiplicación del 2 mil por cien”.
“Luego de aceptar la responsabilidad de cinco expressways esencialmente terminados y cobrar a los usuarios la expansión por venir, MDX ha empeorado la iniquidad de la ecuación beneficio versus costo, si nos comparamos con el esto del Estado”, exponía.
“Por eso, los exhorto a posponer esa decisión hasta que consideren cada alternativa posible”, concluía.
Diario Las Américas contactó a la directiva del MDX y Cindy Polo, directora de comunicaciones, respondió “MDX recibió la carta del comisionado Suárez. Expediremos una respuesta escrita y oficial sobre las preocupaciones del Comisionado y proveeremos una copia a ustedes (Diario Las Américas) tan pronto esté terminada”.
De cualquier manera, MDX planea convocar a reuniones públicas para plantear proyecto y escuchar opiniones. Criterios que no parecen ser muy favorables a la fecha.
“Ahora pago un dólar en Dolphin porque uso el SunPass y tengo descuento”, explicaba Luis Rodríguez, vecino de Hialeah Gardens, cuyo trayecto al trabajo en Downtown Miami transcurre por la autopista Palmetto primero y Dolphin después.
“Pero si aumentan y construyen más estaciones de peaje, tendré que conducir por la calle”, adelantaba. Conducción por las calles de la ciudad que sumaría el doble de tiempo, así contratiempos al normal desarrollo de la vida diaria.
“Es hora que administren el dinero”, acentuaba. “Que reciben bien los gastos. Tanto dinero gastado y apenas tenemos un par de trozos nuevos de autopistas en casi 20 años”, subrayaba.
Improve mass transit to ease commute by car. By Xavier Suarez.
In the last 10 years, Miami’s traffic congestion has gone from bad, past worse, to intolerable. Dixie Highway leaving downtown Miami in the afternoons is a parking lot. The Dolphin Expressway heading west at rush hour is a nightmare, even when there are no accidents or construction. But accidents are frequent, and construction, thanks to the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), is ever present.
MDX, created 16 years ago to manage five existing highways in the metropolitan area, seems dedicated to spending transportation dollars to correct badly designed intersections. An enormously expensive project that illustrates the disconnect between MDX and the county’s mass-transit system is under construction on the west side of the county, and seeks to improve traffic flow where SR 836 meets the Palmetto Expressway at a cost of $560 million. How traffic flow can be improved on main thoroughfares by improving the ramps connecting them is beyond comprehension.
Now consider how that money could’ve been spent to improve public transportation in Miami-Dade. Our annual revenue from bus and Metrorail fares is around $100 million. The $560 million spent on one intersection could have instead been applied to eliminate all transit fares in the county for five and a half years! That fare holiday would’ve provided the best possible way to test price-elasticity of demand. It would imitate what we do now with the Metromover system, which is free and by all accounts the best functioning part of the county’s system of public transportation, as it carries roughly 35,000 passengers per workday.
But that’s water under the bridge. What is not is the proposed expenditure of $320 million to improve the junction of SR 836 as it flows east into I-95. I’m keenly aware of the confusion and congestion that occur when vehicles emerging from the cash-only, right-lane toll booths meet vehicles merging into the right lane from the 12th Avenue entrance, just a few hundred yards from where all such right-lane motorists, who would like to head north on I-95, must enter a narrow ramp on the extreme left. So I asked: Wouldn’t it make more sense to replace the cash-only toll lanes with plate-reading equipment and either close the entrance from 12th avenue or restrict it for southbound and eastbound vehicles, saving almost a quarter-billion dollars in the process?
Imagine if we could use that quarter-billion dollars to reduce all public transportation fares to $1 from $2 for five years, thereby testing the consumer demand for lower fares while easing the pain for working-class commuters who cannot afford the use of a car. The bureaucrats’ easy answer is that the MDX wasn’t set up for the purpose of improving mass transit, but to manage the highway system.
But if you improve mass transit for commuters, doesn’t that ease traffic for automobile commuters?
Xavier L. Suarez, Miami-Dade County commissioner, District 7, Miami
1Read more Letters to the Editor stories from the Miami Herald
Risky stadium financing
Many thanks to Rick Rodriguez Piña’s well-thought-out and cogent analysis of public investment in private team facilities (Put Dolphins to the ‘Shark Tank’ test, March 22, Other Views). There are too many studies proving the lack of return to the community from public stadium financing. Basing public assistance or financing of the Dolphins Stadium should be made on a risk/return basis that Piña brilliantly outlined. Hypocrisy is taxing
Those who have been the most vocal about no new taxes seem to be simultaneously hard at work raising them in a variety of other ways: Building and renovating sports stadiums, limiting Medicaid expansion, asking public employees to take furlough days, frustrating efforts to add common sense as an ingredient in fast-food guidelines, blocking the registration of firearms and limiting access to birth control. These and similar actions are all forms of taxes — generating immediate and long-term public expense in dollars, time, health and lives. Get the 5-Minute Herald
VIA EMAIL
Join the
Discussion
The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.
Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.
This affects comments on all stories.
Copyright 2013 . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Miami Herald Web Search powered byYAHOO!SEARCH
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/28/3311863/improve-mass-transit-to-ease-commute.html#storylink=cpy
Obama’s Newest Partner In Crime
On February 27, 2012, WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of emails hacked from Stratfor, aka Strategic Forecasting, Inc., which some have called “the shadow CIA.”A group of hackers responsible for the breach of Stratfor was led by Jeremy Hammond, now facing decades in prison and a multimillion dollar lawsuit from Stratfor. Like many nabbed by our current President, Hammond has been held indefinitely in solitary confinement and has not been granted a trial.
Hammond was also aligned with Aaron Swartz, inventor of the web feed format RSS and founder of the hugely successful social news site Reddit. Swartz had hacked into a university database containing hundreds of thousands of fee-based academic articles and was planning on releasing the article database to the public. Directed by Attorney General Eric Holder to throw the book at him with possible decades in prison under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the emotionally fragile Swartz, age 26, hung himself.
The hundreds of thousands of Stratfor emails hacked by Jeremy Hammond, while being released to the public, have gone largely unread, even by WikiLeaks.
An investigator is currently trudging through Stratfor’s emails and has come to some troubling finds concerning the Obama administration, which we will be reporting on in the coming weeks.
One such discovery is that it appears Obama and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Erdogan (who is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood), conspired to topple the governments of Libya, Egypt, and Syria.
As a background, Obama has been frantically trying to get the European Union to accept Turkey as a member despite the country’s ties to Islamic radicals. Most recently, Obama forced Israel to apologize to Turkey for killing nine so-called “humanitarian activists” when a Turkish-based six-ship flotilla tried to break the Gaza blockade. This was Turkey’s ninth attempt and was in defiance of Israel’s legal blockade to stop Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood—all groups that have vowed to annihilate Israel—from shipping weapons to the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza strip.
Why exactly is Obama so close to Erdogan? Turkey is not an ally of the United States and in fact is aligned with Islamic extremists, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet Obama made two visits to Turkey in 2009, while neglecting to visit Israel even once during his first term.
Why indeed?
Like a couple of teenage girls, according to the hacked Stratfor emails, Obama was on the phone with Erdogan almost constantly in the lead up to the toppling of Libya’s Gaddafi, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, and the attempt to topple Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
During the Tahir Square so-called “protests”—which were orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood—Obama secretly phoned Erdogan on January 29th, February 5th, and February 12th of 2011. Per one hacked Stratfor email:
SABAH has accessed the details of three telephone conversations made by the American President to Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in order to discuss the crisis in Egypt. The first call was made by President Obama to Erdogan on January 29th to discuss the start of the public uprising in Egypt, while the last call took place on February 12th.
Of course, it is perhaps coincidental that, as we discussed previously, the current Libyan and Egyptian governments are headed by the Muslim Brotherhood. And perhaps it is coincidental that the so-called Syrian “rebels” are aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Of course, perhaps it is also coincidental that the Syrian rebels are headed by a naturalized American citizen—Ghassan Hitto—who grew up in Texas and who was vice president of the Muslim Brotherhood front group Council on American-Islamic Relations—a group that the Obama administration has had literally hundreds of meetings with.
But there are no coincidences with Barack Hussein Obama. Everything is orchestrated, scripted, and planned.
And Act Two is about to begin.
Obama Is Preparing For War Against U.S. Citizens
Consider the evidence and the growing alarm expressed from many quarters:
“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”
-Barack Obama, Colorado campaign speech, July 2008
The American people have been patient and far too accommodating. For many years, we have respected the rule of law, even as those who rule over us break the law. We have been too accommodating. And now, it is clear that our worst enemy is our own federal government.
When things collapse (and it won’t be long), can there be any question that the resulting disorder will be catastrophic? Imagine an energy or monetary crisis so severe that trucks cannot deliver food. Imagine stores stripped bare. Hunger makes people crazy.
Barack Obama is out of control. Even though he says “I am not a dictator,” it’s clear he is working to become one since he hates Congress and threatens the Supreme Court. He would rather have a free hand, something he is close to achieving.
Bottom line: either we throw a net over this bugger; or he will destroy our country, vaporize our liberty, and confiscate our property.
The outrage known as ObamaCare should have been sufficient cause for rebellion.
By corrupt means, he rammed this atrocity through against the will of the majority; and now, we have Sen. Orin Hatch claiming it was purposefully designed to fail so as to make way for complete government takeover.
. . . within the immediate future the Democrats are going to throw their hands in the air and say, ‘It’s not working. It’s unaffordable. And we have to go to a single-payer system,’”Hatch said, adding, “. . . where the government controls everybody’s lives.
All of this thoroughly trashes our Constitution, ushering in an age of despotism we once thought of as impossible in America.
The Poser is purposefully destroying our economy. You have to be blind not to see it. He is selling us down the river to our enemies. You have to be deaf not to hear the war drums. He is destroying our liberty by centralizing control in the executive branch. You have to be dumb not to perceive it.
The clearest signal of all: the combined efforts to disarm American citizens and the massive weapons build-up within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS does not have war powers. With whom are they preparing to fight? We’ll give you one guess. Take the Los Angeles riots (or better, the riots in the 60s) and multiply them many fold, nationally. Get the picture?
Ask yourself: Why does DHS need billions of rounds of ammunition, much of it hollow point? Hollow point rounds are specifically designed to blow giant holes in people, not to wound but to kill.
Why does DHS needs thousands upon thousands of assault rifles, the very rifles the Poser wants to ban generally?
Why does DHS need 3,000 armor-plated troop carriers, detention camps, and ready-made plastic coffins by the thousands?
And why does DHS refuse to answer any of these questions?
Congressional representatives are increasingly alarmed about these developments, and they are demanding answers, among them Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) and Rep. Timothy Huelscamp (R-Kansas.)
And get a load of this razor sharp letter written by a retired Army captain and sent to Sen. John Cornyn, Texas:
It is with gravest concern that I write to you today concerning the recent appropriation of weapons by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that can only be understood as a bold threat of war by that agency, and the Obama administration, against the citizens of the United States of America.
Captain Terry M. Hestilow, United States Army, Retired
Capt. Hestilow urges us to raise hell with our elected representatives. Amen. I suggest we raise hell with the media as well. Why are they ignoring this as they ignored Benghazi? Obviously, most have been bought off.
Finally, a recent editorial in Investor’s Business Daily reminds us of an important attitude articulated in a written report by the head of DHS in 2009, targeting conservatives and the unemployed. The report was titled: “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”
“The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment,” we were warned.
This IBD editorial provides even more alarming evidence citizens must consider very seriously, for we can no longer be accommodating or patient.
If our so-called representatives cannot or will not stop the maniac we call ‘president,’ then We The People will have to take matters in hand (or the military will have to restrain this idiot.) Short of military intervention, the only realistic option is a general strike where citizens refuse to pay taxes and occupy the Capitol.
Obama Ready To Raise The Price Of Gas Again
Obama admin chooses to cut border security
By
Washington Times
March 29, 2013 12:25 pm
Text
Size: A A A
It was the trash that first
drew Roger Barnett's attention.Piled a foot-deep on some trails, his 22,000-acre Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., had become a major route for illegal immigrants headed north. The ranch sits in what law enforcement authorities called the "avenue of choice" for people trying to sneak into the U.S. There were so many moving through so often, he said it looked like a "slow motion invasion."
"Literally, I felt like the guy with his finger in the dike, and I just didn't think I could hold back the flood," he said.
Mr. Barnett began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 after they started to vandalize his property - destroying water pumps, killing calves, vandalizing fences and gates, stealing trucks and breaking into his house. Some of his cattle died from ingesting the plastic bottles left behind.
"We're still overrun, but not like it used to be," Mr. Barnett told The Washington Times. "But it will get that way again, and rather quickly, as they pull U.S. Border Patrol agents off the line. I hate to see them go."
Mr. Barnett, like a growing number of border residents and Border Patrol agents, is fearful that
sequestration will result in a security setback in the government's claim - made just last week in testimony by Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher - that the border is "more secure than ever before."
They said efforts to secure the border that took more than a decade and cost millions of taxpayer dollars could suffer a serious setback in the government's bid to block the entry of illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and terrorists to the U.S.
"I don't know who thought this was a good idea," said one agent assigned to the Border Patrol's busy Tucson, Ariz., sector. "There's no doubt that alien and drug smuggling will increase once the smugglers see what's going on. And don't doubt for a second they aren't watching and waiting to take advantage of a drop in manpower along the border."
As part of sequestration, work furlough notices have been sent to thousands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel, including Border Patrol agents, because of required budget cuts. The agents would be mandated to have a furlough day each pay period resulting in a cumulative loss of 5,000 agents in the field. Beginning in mid- April, the agents each will lose 14 workdays through September.
On March 2, the Border Patrol's normal 10-hour work shifts were ordered cut to eight hours. The cuts were necessary, CBP officials said, to account for $754 million in mandated spending reductions for the agency as a result of the failure of President Obama and Congress to reach an agreement on the budget to prevent sequestration.
'Calculated, willful neglect'
Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican who serves on both the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees, has expressed "outrage" over Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano's response to sequestration - including the overtime cuts and the furlough notices to Border Patrol agents, which he said could leave "portions of our borders unmanned for hours at a time."
In a letter this month, he asked Ms. Napolitano to explain why the department is targeting CBP law enforcement personnel instead of nonsecurity personnel for furloughs. Mr. Cornyn, who is ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, refugees and border security, said the furloughs "call into question the department's commitment to its core missions and raise serious concerns about the judgment of DHS leadership."
Mr. Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general, said Homeland Security's ongoing effort to identify $3.1 billion in cuts for fiscal 2013, a 5.1 percent reduction of total discretionary spending, would result in a reduction of more than 5,000 Border Patrol agents. He said border security and the detention of those who violate U.S. laws are at the core of Homeland Security's mission.
"When the secretary of Homeland Security decides to pull thousands of Border Patrol agents from their posts instead of making already identified, common-sense administrative cuts, there can only be one motive: using fear to make a political point," he said. "Her homework's been done for her; it's time for Secretary Napolitano to target real excess in her department and trim her budget without putting our national security at risk."
Mr. Cornyn described the Obama administration's actions regarding the Border Patrol as "nothing short of a calculated, willful neglect of what should be a president's top priority: protecting the homeland and keeping Americans safe. The fact that the administration would needlessly jeopardize the safety of American citizens as part of a continued misinformation campaign surrounding the effects of sequestration is outrageous and reprehensible."
Concerns about the furloughs and overtime cuts come at a time that top Homeland Security officials have acknowledged to Congress that they don't have a way to effectively measure border security - a revelation that lawmakers have said could doom the chances for passing any meaningful immigration reform legislation this year. The admission stunned lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, who said that without a way to measure border security, they may not be able to convince voters to accept a new legalization plan.
In 2007, the last time the Senate debated immigration, the bill failed because voters didn't believe the government was serious enough about gaining control of the border. And now, six years later, no one can tell Congress how successful the government has been in its multimillion-dollar effort to upgrade manpower and technology to better secure the border.
10-hour workdays
Border Patrol agents normally work 10-hour days, part of a program known as "administratively uncontrolled overtime". It is how the agents were hired, most of whom signed on as part of a recruitment drive that promised an "excellent opportunity for overtime pay."
Uncontrolled overtime covers employees in positions that require substantial amounts of irregular, unscheduled overtime work that cannot be controlled administratively, with the employee generally being responsible for recognizing, without supervision, circumstances that require him to remain on duty.
Under sequestration, the elimination of overtime pay could cost field agents an average of $7,000 a year and spark what some say could be an exodus of veteran agents to other agencies.
The Border Patrol is a popular place for other, better-paying federal agencies to look for experienced law enforcement officers who can be laterally transferred. Border Patrol agents start at $36,658 a year compared to $49,347 for the FBI and $49,746 for the Drug Enforcement Administration. The cut significantly affects those agents who have two-hour drives to remote duty stations.
"CBP will continue to make every effort to minimize the sequester's impact on public safety and national security," the agency said in a statement.
CBP also acknowledged that 12 Border Patrol agents-in-charge quietly received pay raises just days before the furloughs and overtime cuts were announced, but said they had nothing to do with sequestration. In a statement, the agency said the raises were part of a "long-term initiative, begun by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2008, to ensure that job responsibilities and pay are appropriately aligned."
Brunt of cuts
Ms. Napolitano acknowledged during a White House briefing in February that sequestration would have an impact on national security. She said the department would not be able to maintain the same level of security at all places around the country and that the furloughs and loss of overtime pay would decrease the number of hours Border Patrol has to operate between the nation's ports of entry by as many as 5,000 agents.
"I don't think we can maintain the same level of security," Ms. Napolitano said. "If you have 5,000 fewer Border Patrol agents, you have 5,000 fewer Border Patrol agents."
The loss of those agents also concerns Carmen Mercer, a longtime businesswoman and resident of Tombstone, Ariz., who thinks the furloughs and overtime cuts bode poorly for long-suffering border residents.
"It means one thing: We going to be overrun again," she told The Times. "When we got to 20,000 agents, it did make a difference."
Ms. Mercer, a native of Germany who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, is no stranger to the problem of illegal immigration.
She helped organize more than 4,500 Minuteman volunteers who participated in the first 30-day vigil along the Arizona border in March 2005 to protest what they considered lax U.S. immigration policies. They manned observation posts along the border and were credited with forcing thousands of illegal immigrants to find other areas to cross into the U.S. - proving that more personnel on the border was a deterrent.
Many rank-and-file Border Patrol agents continue to think that the agency gets short shrift in both pay and manpower. In 1992, the Border Patrol had 4,200 agents patrolling 7,500 miles of border with Mexico and Canada. Today, there are 21,400 agents, the vast majority of whom are stationed along the Southwest border. Most of that growth occurred from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush.
More than a dozen Border Patrol agents contacted by The Times, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, think the agency has been singled out to bear the brunt of sequestration.
They noted that CBP proposed overtime cuts totaling $285 million, but the Border Patrol share of that amount is $248 million. Cuts for two other CBP agencies were listed at $35 million for the Office of Field Operations and $2 million for the Office of Air and Marine.
'Enormous disparity'
"One thing that should leap off the page is the enormous disparity of overtime cuts between the three components," said the National Border Patrol Council in a statement.
While the Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations have about the same number of people, the patrol council said OFO is mandated to make up 6.4 percent of the budget cut while the Border Patrol "appears to be picking up the lion's share of the tab" with 87 percent of the proposed cuts. The council, which represents all 17,000 of the agency's nonsupervisory personnel, said CBP has historically targeted Border Patrol agents with pay reforms that single out the agents for huge pay reductions.
J. David Cox Sr., national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said Homeland Security singled out the Border Patrol for the largest financial penalty of any other group of federal workers.
He said the furloughs and loss of overtime will reduce an agent's paycheck by 35 percent - more than even civilian Defense Department workers who face 22 days without pay.
"Guarding the border is not a 9-to-5 job. Overtime work is routine, and when they are hired, agents are informed that they will almost never work a regular eight-hour shift," he said. "Instead, they are expected to work at least 10 hours every day and often more because they do not stop when they are in pursuit of drug and gun smugglers and others engaging in criminal activity on the border."
Mr. Cox called sequestration "good news for criminals and others who would enter our country illegally, but very bad news for Americans who rely on the courage and devotion of Border Patrol agents who risk their lives every day to keep drugs and guns and gangs outside our borders."
Mr. Barnett does not want a return to the days when some of his ranch's established trails were decimated with the trash left behind by illegal immigrants: "When you are actually out here on the line and see what's happening firsthand, it is very frustrating."
The EPA, of course, says the gas price increase will be much smaller – only a penny or two per gallon – but as Charles Drevna, head of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, ruefully noted to Fox News, “I haven’t seen an EPA rule on fuels that has come out since 1995 that hasn’t said it would cost only a penny or two more.” For what it’s worth, the American Energy Alliance notes that the price of gasoline in California, where these fuel standards are already in effect, is 38.9 cents per gallon higher than the national average.
It should come as no surprise that much of this proposed gas price increase is a tithe to the bizarre Church of Global Warming, which soldiers on even after the total debunking of “global warming” mythology over the past two years. In fact, according to CNS News, the Obama Administration is now amusing itself by issuing reports that say we were going to have a brutal Ice Age, but “because of humans, the next ice age has been ‘delayed indefinitely.’” That’s how the cult leaders are claiming that global warming is real, despite the utter lack of verifiable evidence that any significant “climate change” is occurring. So… another wing of the Administration wants to spend billions to reduce the very same emissions that are protecting us from a new Ice Age?
But leaving the radical environmental lunacy aside, there could be significant health benefits from the new regulations due to reduced sulfur emissions, and the corresponding health care savings might offset, or even outweigh, the increased gasoline cost. Some auto manufacturers think the new standards will also improve fuel efficiency, which would ameliorate sticker shock at the pump.
Estadísticas Populares sobre las Riquezas. AMENPER.
La
estadística más popular sobre las riquezas en que el 1% de la población
controla las riquezas, los cual es una injusticia para el resto de las
personas.
No voy a
discutir este punto, aunque creo no sólo que no refleja a clases acomodadas que
no llegan a este 1% y que la estadista es un manejo político. Pero quiero
notar otro típo de estadística, la estadística que refleja como los individuos
llegan a obtener estas riquezas.
Hay estudios
enseñan estadísticas de personas de carne y hueso, no estadísticas de
multitudes. Estos estudios enseñan, que la mayoría de las personas que estaban
en el estrato inferior del 20% de los más pobres, salieron de este
estrato en los últimos 20 años. Dicen los estudios que las personas que
estaban al nivel más bajo, tuvieron un aumento más alto proporcionalmente que
los que estaban en el 20% del estrato más alto.
Pero lo que
vemos en la prensa es una estadística impersonal y abstracta de la diferencia
de las riquezas no hablan de la oportunidad que tuvieron las personas para
salir de la pobreza..
¿Creo en
esto? No me queda más remedio que creerlo, porque he vivido más años de lo que
quisiera haber vivido, y la experiencia me dice que esto es una realidad en
este país.
No estoy
hablando por lo que he leído, pero por lo que he vivido y no estoy ahora
hablando de estadísticas impersonales, sino de estadísticas dentro de este
correo electrónico.
Estoy escribiendo
en español, hay veces que escribo en inglés, pero este correo electrónico
es sólo para mis amigos hispanoparlantes. En la lista de este
correo, creo que puedo apreciar que en general todos tienen una posición
económica, más o menos desahogada. Algunos de ustedes, al menos tres que yo
sepa, quizás más, son multimillonarios.
¿Qué quiere
decir esto?¿Es esto una prueba de que yo sólo me rodeo de personas acomodadas?
Ahí está el
detalle, la mayoría de ustedes son mis amigos por muchos años, y en ciertos
momentos en este exilio, tanto yo como ustedes éramos unos inmigrantes pobres
de solemnidad.
Recuerdo
cuando uno de ustedes, que hoy es multimillonario, empezaba su negocio, que un
banquero se burló de su osadía de aspirar a un préstamo de $1000.00.
¿Te acuerdas? Yo me acuerdo, y es algo que siempre me hace
reafirmar mi admiración al sistema de libre empresa.
Nosotros
somos el microsoma del sueño americano, si la tendencia es seguir ignorando la
realidad de la oportunidad individual, y siguen usando las diferencias
abstractas de unos números equívocos para expandir un estado de asistencia
social de corte socialista, todos seremos iguales, pero iguales en la ignominia
de la falta de oportunidades para desarrollar nuestro bienestar de acuerdo con
nuestra ingeniosidad y nuestro trabajo. Esto será el fin de los Estados Unidos
que hemos conocido.
Mientras
tanto en la cúpula otros serán más “iguales” pasando sus vacaciones en
Hawaii jugando golf y viajando en jets personales, porque las diferencias
económicas existen más en el socialismo que en el capitalismo, y esto es algo
que sabemos bien los que lo hemos vivido.
El socialismo
no será malo simplemente para los que están el en estratos más altos, será peor
para los que están en los estratos más bajos, porque no tendrán la oportunidad
de salir de su pobreza por mucho que se esfuercen, porque el socialismo es la
igualdad de la pobreza.
Me agobia el
pensar que este pudiera ser el futuro para mis nietos.
La
Guerra Contra La Familia Normal Creada De Hombre / Mujer Esta En Su Última
Etapa... Acaban
de PONER en Londres el ULTIMO CLAVO AL ATAÚD de la FAMILIA OCCIDENTAL... tal como la conocemos hasta
hoy...
Un juez en Londres PROHIBIÓ que se haga
campaña contra la homosexualidad... NO SE PUEDE NI SIGUIERA MENCIONARLOS...
Las mujeres normales... las madres que
hoy son las que apoyan a los homosexuales... van a ser sus primeras
victimas...
Dentro de poco el matrimonio no va a
existir... el “Pegar los cuernos va a ser la NORMA... LOS PADRES ABANDONARAN
los hogares... y el estado regirá las relaciones...
Todo comenzó abiertamente con la
publicación hace más de 45 años, con la publicación de la
revista Playboy.
Enseñando desnudos a los hombres es la
forma más fácil de controlarlos e inducirlos a la perversidad... Esa es la
razón por la que siempre por siglo fue prohibida... Comenzaron por decir
que es “ARTE” cuando todos sabemos que los desnudos en la
historia siempre surgieron en los momentos de DECADENCIA de la sociedad... es
pornografía...
El siguiente paso en contra de la familia, fue darle "libertad"
a las mujeres... hoy una enorme cantidad de mujeres
han sido inducidas a acostarse en la primera entrevista...
La libertad enseñada en la escuelas y conseguida al darles la píldora anti-Baby. Desnaturalizaron a las mujeres... en una escala masiva, nunca antes visto en la historia humana!
La libertad enseñada en la escuelas y conseguida al darles la píldora anti-Baby. Desnaturalizaron a las mujeres... en una escala masiva, nunca antes visto en la historia humana!
Por último, sabemos desde siempre que se dice que el diablo exige sacrificios humanos...
todas las culturas “ANTES DE ABRAHAM” realizaban sacrificios humanos a SATÁN”...
QUE ES EL ABORTO autorizado por la Corte Suprema... un sacrifico humano... dándole el "DERECHO" a la mujer a matar a bebés antes de nacer.
50 millones de asesinatos... lo que
automáticamente crea el derecho de
matar a los viejos... y a los que son
carga publica... Cosa que ya está incluido en el OBAMA CARE...
Tenemos pues gracias a todas esas leyes la
sociedad, que nos merecemos! CERO CRECIMIENTO
DE LA POBLACIÓN.
El envejecimiento de la población, con más los jubilados que los estudiantes!
El envejecimiento de la población, con más los jubilados que los estudiantes!
Enfermedades venéreas, VIH y el SIDA y UNO DE CADA CUATRO NIÑOS ES UN HIJO DE una madre soltera la
madre soltera... quizás se hizo embarazar como negocio... o por razones que
ella solo sabe...
El hombre es un IRRESPONSABLE... QUE
DEBÍA DE SER ESTERILIZADO...
Ahora EL PASO FINAL en la guerra contra la familia es el matrimonio ANTI NATURAL... que va a conducir a la larga a legitimidad todo tipo de ABERRACIONES... y al final a la Libre Unión De Todos Con Todos...
Ahora EL PASO FINAL en la guerra contra la familia es el matrimonio ANTI NATURAL... que va a conducir a la larga a legitimidad todo tipo de ABERRACIONES... y al final a la Libre Unión De Todos Con Todos...
Las madres van a ver como los homosexuales... va a
enamorar a sus hijos e hijas... y como la sociedad lo ha normalizado... no
lo podrán prohibir... y si lo hacen serán acusadas...
He aquí la prueba de Londres
He aquí la prueba de Londres
. “EN MI OPINION” .
“THE FREEDON NEVER IS FREE”
Editor Lázaro R González Miño.
