Refuse the Juice

Indictments today

LJ and GS are indicted. Must appear today.

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Violence Spilling Over? Depends on Your Definition...

So the guy that got assassinated (that's how it was explained to me by a police friend) on the Eastside was a cartel member.  Big whoop. 

It was quiet.  It was discreet.  It was everything I'd hope for when the cartel decides it needs to vacate it bowels of yet another... well you get it.

This has been happening for years.  Cartel, or drug related, murders have been taking place in El Paso since at least the 70's.  Remember, one of the infamous Chagras was killed over here in El Paso.  The Aztecas have been handing down death sentences to those who cross them for quite some time - we've been watching the local and federal authorities round them up for more than a year now.

The fact is that the cartels still operate on this side of the border and always have.  However, the "violence" as seen in Juarez isn't coming to an El Paso street near you.  There will not be 1,000 round shoot outs at Montana and Hawkins.  It's just not going to happen.  They will not come to this side of the border and turn it into the set of the next Terminator movie. 

Those of you who want to be dramatic and say the sky is falling, go ahead.  You're as safe as you have always been amidst a raging drug war south of the border and quiet, but violent one north of the border.

Don't get involved in drugs and you should be just fine. 

Doubling Gas Prices Should do the Trick!

As gas prices have inched up on us nearly 65 cents over the last two months, Congress has been quietly working on a bill that would raise the federal gas tax on a gallon of gas from 18 cents to 58 cents.  If the Democraticly controlled Congress wanted to shed even more popularity points, they've found the exact way to do just that.

You might remember last summer when gas was around $4 here and more than $5 in other places.  Both President Bush and Congress' numbers found all time lows during that time.  It wasn't until Bush declared that he was lifting the off-shore drilling ban did world prices start to drop.  Too bad neither Congress nor Bush's numbers ever recovered.

Note: Americans buying less gas did contribute to the price drop as well. Speculators really didn't think we'd stop driving so much!

Now that fuel is on the way up again and a huge gas tax increase is on the table, one has to wonder if this will end up being the chink in President Obama's armor.  Will Americans blame him for high gas prices?

You have to remember, the tax increase isn't without its merits.  The money collected from drivers will be used to fix roads around the nation.  Yeah!  Except for the fact that the stimulus bill was supposed to do that, right?  If they already paid for these improvements, why do they need to raise the gas tax?

Well, the stimulus didn't actually have that much money in it for infrastructure.  The press reported on this a couple of months ago, but it went largely unnoticed by the general public.  The question is; are we getting taxed to pay for the stimulus that didn't build that many roads and being lied to about it?

Yes and no. 

First off, the price of fuel is going up because the future demand seems to be in jeopardy.  You can mark the time the administration started talking about new CAFE standards and see where the price of a barrel oil started going up significantly.  Look at the changes starting in early may when Obama started talking about CAFE standards on this Chart.

When oil futures buyers think that there's going to be a reduced demand for oil, they buy like crazy knowing that some people can't do without the stuff.  They'll drive the price up hoping to make big bucks off of the people who have to buy oil.  After all, if the overall demand goes down, so does their profits.  If they fixate on those who can't live without it once the demand falls, they can maintain those profits by selling less at a much higher price. 

Remember, a tax on fuel is really a tax on people who drive for a living.  We've been over this a thousand times.  The best example is the over the road trucking industry. They pass their increased prices on to you, the consumer.  But what else happens?

The cost of basic infrastructure construction goes through the roof as well.  All of a sudden that $1 million road rehabilitation costs $1.25 million.  Why?  Because the construction industry is dependent on gas.  You're getting the same product, only for a higher price.  "Consumables" as they are called in the construction industry are the enemy of the person paying for the construction.  It's the one factor that fluctuates the most in price and it means a more expensive end product with zero increase in quality or size.

So, we know that the gas tax will automatically increase the cost of constructing infrastructure improvements.  Remember, the goal here is to raise money for infrastructure projects.  This doesn't make much sense, does it? 

What happens when Americans do like that did last time gas prices got ridiculously high?  When people stop buying gas the government doesn't collect their taxes.  If no one drives, no money is generated from the gas tax.  How are they going to pay for all these infrastructure improvements?  I guess they'll have to tax people for not buying gas!

Here's another look at this tax that you may not have been thinking about.

The government is now in the car business.  The average American is reluctant to buy a new car when gas prices are very high.  The only people who can afford to purchase hybrid vehicles are the rich.  Hybrid vehicles are rather pricey.  So why is the American government looking to decrease new cars sales by passing a higher gas tax when they are in the car business?  Doesn't make sense to me at all.

Don't believe me when I say that Americans don't buy cars during a gas crunch?  How do you think the big three got into a crunch in the first place?  Last summer, when gas prices were $4 or more, consumers just stopped buying cars.  The big three spiraled downward out of control after that. 

Of course, bad management and ludicrous union wages were a part of the problem.  Nobody denies that.  It was the lack of buyers for their cars that put the nails in their coffin in the end.  The government is poised to repeat history at the cost of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.  Yeah for us!

The bottom line here is that everything I've mentioned above are just the byproducts of an even more sinister plan.

Who doesn't have to pay gas taxes?  The government.  Who wants control of the distribution of goods around the nation?  The government.  Who wants to keep Americans from moving freely about the country?  The government.  Who wants you solely dependent on them?  The government.

Restricting the commerce and movement of people is something a government must do to maintain order.  The Democrats don't want you going around doing whatever you please.  It frightens them.  All that freedom can't be a good thing.  Free, self sufficient people don't need the government and might even move to eliminate it all together if it became useless to them.  That would be bad for Pelosi, Reid and Obama - none of them have ever done an honest day's work.  If they weren't politicians, they'd be nothing.  They can't actually do anything other than protect their power by taking your power.

Why do you think democrats love creating ghettos? 

First off, they know that people in the ghettos are easy to control.  They usually put the ghettos where no good work is available in close proximity.  They stack government handout centers very close to the ghettos so the population doesn't have to wander too far away to get the basic necessities of life.  The formula for poverty means these people can never leave - ever.  And guess who they'll vote for every single time?  The very people who put them in their little prison.  

So the real deal here is to strip you of mobility in all aspects of your life.  The guise that somehow this tax is going to improve roads is a lie and I think I have proven that quite well.  The government is here to help you - give away all your freedom and power to them.  Get your travel in now, because it's going to be nearly impossible later. 

Oh yeah, pat yourself on the back for electing Barrack Obama.  It's going to be a fun ride.

Voting - Not Just for Citizens!

Voters gone wild

This article details what the Obama Department of Justice thinks about anyone trying to make sure only citizen of the United States vote.  They obviously want non-citizens and purely non-existent people voting.

Without anyway to verify whether people are who they claim to be there's room for wide spread fraud.  Currently anyone can sign up with no real proof of identification.  Here's the Texas voter registration form on line Registration Form.

Shocking that you could make up a name and put in your address and all of a sudden you have another voter registration card at your house. Since there isn't a requirement that you put a social security number down or any other specific qualifier showing that you are in fact who you say you are, anybody can be anybody!

Who's to say that 1,000 El Paso republicans won't all fill out a new voter registration card under an assumed name.  That's 1,000 extra votes for the republicans in the next election. All they have to do is vote in the early voting period using their false registration and then again on election day using their real registration. 

It's easier to pass yourself off as "Tony Romo" during early voting since you can vote anywhere in the city where the election workers won't recognize you and by law can't ask your for a picture ID.  On election day you can show up at your normal polling place where everybody knows who you are, and you can vote - again.  One person, two votes - and no way of anybody tracking it down.

Yep, that's right.  Hundreds of thousands of Texans could vote twice, three or even four times if they wanted and no one would know about it.  After all, the local registrar has been told by the Department of Justice that it is illegal to verify anyone's identity when it comes to voter registration.  This where people like Senator Shapleigh and Norma Chavez get off saying, "there's no evidence of voter fraud!"  Of course, there isn't any evidence! It's illegal to collect evidence!

Now, if you had to show a picture ID at the polls, none of this could ever happen.  If you're name is Juan Lopez and you want to vote, you by God better have some form of ID saying you are Juan Lopez.  If you have a voter registration card saying you are Juan Campos, and your ID says Juan Lopez - you're going to jail!

With the new developments of today, I want you to tell me who's planning on stealing the next election.

Why are Conservatives so Mean?

Well, this guy has an answer for you.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC6MnwknfmU

Doesn't Look Good fo Which Candidate?

David Crowder put together a synopsis of the northeast city council race today.  You can find it HERE.

He puts out some interesting facts and gathers all the usable information in one place for the readers to read.  I like that.  I haven't been over there beating the bushes for information and I think this article gives me at least a small idea of what's going on.  

I often hear people say "75 percent of the people in her district voted against her," when they talk about Castro's second place finish in that election.  "Her" being Melina Castro.  I have to laugh about that way of thinking, though. 

Yes, people are more likely to vote when they are mad rather than when they are happy with an office holder.  That doesn't mean that everyone who voted for President Obama, voted against Senator John McCain.  Many of them didn't even consider John McCain and voted for the guy they liked better and not against anyone or against anything.  Some did, however.

To say that everybody who voted for someone else in the northeast was voting against Melina Castro is disingenuous.  It's also a little demeaning to the many candidates in that race who went out and earned their voters. 

Now the EP Times is saying that Robinson has a 20 point lead on her and that's a good thing for him. I guess... I wonder what the crowd who claims 75 percent of the voters in the district voted against her are saying now.  She closed the gap 55 points in a couple of weeks... if you read what I'm seeing here.  Or at least taking into account the fallacy that all the voters who voted for someone other than Castro are going to show up and vote for Robinson.  If that's the case, he's in big trouble.  Nobody slides 55 points in a week unless they kill a puppy on live TV or worse.

Castro is sitting pretty.  Anybody who's left supporting her is a rabid, go to the mat supporter and they are worth 50 casual supporters of any other campaign.  They will be there voting on Saturday if they haven't already voted in the early voting.  They'll be dragging people to the polls for sure.

Robinson has been shown to be a little distracted and is trying to rally his base again along with people who chose to vote for someone else entirely the first time.  That's not easy.  Bitterness toward the top vote getter is always strong.  Even though all the candidates supported him, that doesn't mean their supporters do.

Robinson is herding cats while Castro is leading her well trained army.  Okay... Platoon.  It's El Paso and never have voters ever been described as an "army."  Although, we are given to using hyperbole around here when describing things.  We've been calling that nearly dry creek running west and south of us a river.

I'm not so tuned into this race that I can say for sure who's going to win, but I think Castro has an advantage here.  But I wouldn't be surprised if she lost either.  The north east is one wild and wacky place!

Somebody Get Him a Spokesperson!

I caught the KLAQ morning show on my way into work today.  They are usually pretty funny and fill the short time I'm in the truck each morning pretty well.  Today's guest was Alfrank Catucci the German tourist.  Boy was it good for the short time I could listen.

I get him being a little put off by losing.  He tried pretty hard and admitted he made mistakes.  What he didn't admit is that his biggest mistake was working with Jaime O. Perez.  That's what he should be admitting. 

He could also have just used "Al" or "Frank" as a name instead of the proper noun mash-up he uses now.  I can't tell you enough how odd names make for unsuccessful campaigns.  If your name is Spritz Dingelberry, you aren't going to win any election, anywhere.

The sad part was when he talked about the El Paso Times being a shoe-in for Cook.  Maybe they were, but he doesn't need to be crying over the EP Times.  They endorsed John McCain and look how much good that did him.

While he was bitching about them it was brought up that the EP Times reported that he hadn't voted in El Paso in the past.  Catucci, the German tourist, said he had voted via absentee ballot in Florida that whole time... while living in El Paso, Texas.  Right...

While not registering to vote at your new address and voting at your old isn't a crime, it's a little fishy.  In Texas you're supposed to change your driver's license and register your cars within 60 days of moving to the state.  You don't have to change your voter registration, though.

The claim that he voted via absentee ballot is a bad excuse.  If was ever interested in El Paso he would have registered to vote here.  This is a typical case of some guy waking up and saying to himself, "I'm pretty popular, I should run for mayor!"  He was not prepared and nobody took him seriously.  It should be a lesson to all of you that just because you sleep with hot chicks and own a popular bar, it doesn't mean you can be mayor.  That's two entirely different groups of people.

Catucci needs to run his comments by someone before saying them on live radio or TV.  They make no sense and hurt much more than they help.