Rick Perry - Another Texan, but NOT another Bush

To get Obama unelected we need a strong candidate that can connect across party lines and beak through the polarization created by almost three years of Obama's class-warfare. That won't be easy, but Rick Perry may be just the ticket. The rabid media will have a hard time trashing Perry, he's been successful, in fact their attempts to do so may just backfire. The democrats and the rabid liberal media will not have much to work with trying to bash this guy. Unlike Bachmann, who I admire, Perry is more electable.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, 61, made his decision to enter the race last week. He sat out the debate in Iowa, which may prove to be a stroke of political genius, he has separated himself from the pack already. The new man in the ring, with his Texas swagger, has wasted no time since his entrance, taking on contenders left and right. In less than 24 hours, the 2012 presidential race's newest candidate managed to call President Obama the "greatest threat to our country," raise questions about rival Mitt Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts and suggest that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might be close to committing a "treasonous" act, those three statements immediately got my attention.

Fiscal Conservative

Perry has distanced himself from his former patron Bush, criticizing his stance on government spending, immigration and education. In 2007, Perry bashed Bush at a Republican House party in Iowa. He says, as captured in YouTube video, "George Bush was never a fiscal conservative, never was. I mean, '95, '96, '97, '99, George Bush was spending money." Of Bush's No Child Left Behind law, Perry harshly criticized it, calling it a "monstrous intrusion" in an interview with National Review.

Texas Job Growth

Perry has touted Texas' job growth under his tenure, which was twice the national average. Indeed, of all the jobs created since June 2009, 30 percent were created in Texas. As governor, Perry has made international recruitment the framework for his economic policy and more than two dozen Chinese companies are now in Texas.

Family Values

Perry is anti-abortion and opposes government funding for elective abortion. In 2011, he signed a bill that prohibited taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. In 2005, he signed a bill that limited late-term abortions at the third trimester and required girls under the age of 18 to have parental consent before an abortion.

Immigration

In 2001, Perry touted a new law that extended in-state tuition to children of undocumented workers. He said at Border Summit , "We must say to every Texas child learning in a Texas classroom, "We don't care where you come from, but where you are going and we are going to do everything we can to help you get there." To pacify the anti-illegal immigration conservatives, Perry pushed for a bill
that would have prohibited Texas cities from acting as safe havens for illegal immigrants and would allow local law enforcement to become more involved in immigration enforcement but it failed to pass.

States Rights

In 2009, Perry made comments that sparked questions about his thoughts on the possible secession of Texas. Perry responded to a reporter's question about secession, saying, "Texas is a unique place. ... My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.

When Rick Perry announced his campaign for president last weekend in a speech to the RedState Gathering in Charleston, S.C., he saved

his best line for the end. “I’ll promise you this,’’ he said to exuberant cheers and applause, “I’ll work every day to try to make Washington, DC, as inconsequential in your life as I can.’’

I think we have learned from experience not to put too much faith in politicians and waste time on silly idol worship, they WILL fail us eventually. Perry looks solid though, and will be able to handle the pissing matches with the media. His record speaks for itself, he is experienced, and successful.
If he can survive the media onslaught and connect with voters across party lines, he will be the next President of The United States.

Great interview with Gorbachev on the end of the Soviet Union

SPIEGEL Interview with Mikhail Gorbachev

'They Were Truly Idiots'

Great interview by Der Spiegel with Mikhail Sergeyevich on the final days of the Soviet Union. You come away from this interview with an appreciation for the insanity of trying to obtain freedom in bits and pieces, and without ever really conceding power to the people, only the illusion of it. One thing is clear, world leaders love their power and glory, once they take it away from us we may never get it back.Click here for full interview. Here are a few nuggets:

Part 3: 'I Was Tired and at My Limits'

SPIEGEL: You always sought dialogue, probably for too long. When the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus met near Brest in December 1991 and dealt a death blow to the USSR behind your back, the deputy head of the Presidential Chancellery advised you to send out two or three helicopters with a special unit and to place the three men under house arrest. Would that have been an option? You had the results of the referendum to support you.

Gorbachev: It wasn't like that. Yeltsin had discussed the trip to Belarus with me and said that he also wanted to invite the Ukrainian president, (Leonid) Kravchuk, to attend. He said that it would become difficult to convince the Ukrainians to participate in the new union agreement after the Kiev referendum on independence. I argued that this would not stand in the way of their signing the agreement at all. After all, all other republics had already declared their independence, as a sign of greater sovereignty. Then Yeltsin asked: But what happens if the Ukrainians refuse to sign the new agreement? I replied that they would undoubtedly sign it, but that it was a decision for the Ukrainian parliament to make, and that Moscow would not oppose Ukrainian independence. Then I reminded him that after his return, a meeting was to be held, and that I had already invited the presidents of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan to attend. Yeltsin and his supporters were in fact acting as secret conspirators against the constitution. When this became clear, I said immediately that three people alone could not dissolve the union.

SPIEGEL: Are you saying that you couldn't have used force against the three presidents?

Gorbachev: That might have led to a civil war, which was to be avoided at all costs. Secondly, the country was in a state of shock. The press was silent, and no one went out into the streets to defend the union. The people were confused. They didn't understand what sort of a "Commonwealth of Independent States" Yeltsin and his allies had launched. It sounded harmless, like something that would provide more freedom for the republics in the union. It wasn't until later that they realized that this large country had imploded. Even today, a majority of people surveyed say that they regret the fact that the USSR collapsed. But only 9 percent say that they would want it back.

SPIEGEL: Nowadays most people, including Americans and Germans, claim that they would have supported the preservation of the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev: Because they didn't know whether the parts would descend into chaos after its demise. Because what had happened before that? President Bush held back the Ukrainians, even though others in Washington were already rubbing their hands together, even secretly working to bring about our downfall. When I went to the G-7 summit in July 1991 and asked for loans to address the difficult economic situation, the Americans and the Japanese were opposed, while (then German Chancellor) Helmut Kohl said nothing. Only (then French President Francois) Mitterand and the European Commission supported me.

SPIEGEL: Kohl was opposed? That's not what he says today.

Gorbachev: What I said was that he remained silent. (German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich) Genscher was in favor. We expected $30 billion, but it was in vain. Our partners lacked vision.

SPIEGEL: Then came the coup. But the Americans had already warned you against it early enough -- two months earlier, in fact. And they had even named names, including that of KGB chief Kryuchkov. Is that true?

Gorbachev: Bush called me. He referred to information from the Moscow mayor, Gavriil Popov.

SPIEGEL: You didn't believe him?

Gorbachev: The conservatives had announced several times that they wanted to get rid of Gorbachev, and they had already tried it in various committees, but without success. By then, we had the anti-crisis program, which was supported by all republics. The new union treaty was to be signed on Aug. 20, and an extraordinary congress was to reform the party. The opponents of perestroika had suffered a defeat, and then they organized the coup.

SPIEGEL: And you chose to go on vacation in Crimea at a time like that?

Gorbachev: I thought they would be idiots to take such a risk precisely at that moment, because it would sweep them away, too. But unfortunately they were truly idiots, and they destroyed everything. And we proved ourselves to be semi-idiots, myself included. I had become exhausted after all those years. I was tired and at my limits. But I shouldn't have gone away. It was a mistake.

SPIEGEL: What would be better today if the Soviet Union still existed?

Gorbachev: Isn't that clear to you? Everything had grown together over the decades: culture, education, language, the economy, everything. They were building cars in the Baltic republics and airplanes in the Ukraine. We still can't get by without each other today. And a population of 300 million was also a plus.

SPIEGEL: Are there other things that you did that still torment you today?

Gorbachev: My goal was to avoid bloodshed. But unfortunately there was some bloodshed, after all. It also troubles me that I didn't resolve the problem with the Communist Party in time. And that I underestimated the fact that the establishment in the other national republics wanted to decide issues relating to their own lives on their own, without anyone from the central government getting involved. Now they have this possibility.

SPIEGEL: Let's jump forward in time to present-day Russia. When Putin came into office in 2000, you supported him. Had you already known him for some time?

Gorbachev: He helped me when I ran in the 1996 presidential election.

SPIEGEL: You thought he was clever at the time. Now you say that under his leadership Russia came to resemble an African country, where dictators rule for 20 to 30 years. What do you suddenly find so objectionable about him?

Gorbachev: Careful: It is you that is using the word "dictator." I supported Putin during his presidency, and I still support him in many ways today.

SPIEGEL: You asked him not to run for president again.

Gorbachev: What troubles me is what the United Russia party, which is led by Putin, and the government are doing. They want to preserve the status quo. There are no steps forward. On the contrary, they are pulling us back into the past, while the country is urgently in need of modernization. Sometimes United Russia reminds me of the old Soviet Communist Party.

SPIEGEL: Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev want to decide between themselves who will be the next president in 2012.

Gorbachev: Putin wants to stay in power, but not so that he can finally solve our most pressing problems: education, health care, poverty. The people are not being asked, and the parties are puppets of the regime. Governors are no longer directly elected. Direct mandates in elections were eliminated. Everything works through party lists now. But new parties are not being allowed, because they get in the way.

SPIEGEL: Like the social democratic party that you have tried to found several times.

Gorbachev: And yet we need new forces to bring progress to the country. And we need parties that bring together the interests of politics and the economy, can achieve a social partnership and guarantee democratic development.

Miami may be the first major city to declare bankruptcy

If you were wondering which major America city would be first to declare bankruptcy, Miami is looking like a pretty strong bet.

Miami Declared a Financial State of Emergency. Miami is in a disastrous financial state because of unions. Bankruptcy would be the best solution. A bankruptcy agreement could dissolve the unions and all their agreements. Unions, not taxpayers should suffer the consequences of this mess.

Bloomberg reports Miami Declares ‘Financial Urgency’ as It Moves to Cut Worker Pay, Benefits

Miami, facing a $61 million fiscal 2012 deficit, declared a state of “financial urgency” for a second straight year, moving toward wage and benefit cuts.

The declaration gives unions for municipal workers two weeks to agree to contracts for the year that starts in October or be subject to actions imposed by the City Commission. Workers including police and firefighters absorbed about $80 million in reduced pay, health insurance and pensions in fiscal 2011.

“In order to balance the budget, sacrifices have to be made by everyone,” Pat Santangelo, a spokesman for Mayor Tomas Regalado, said today by telephone. The city is the state’s second-largest by population, after Jacksonville.

Miami is bankrupt. Unfortunately the city refuses to admit it.

In an enormously foolhardy attempt to make ends meet, in spite of the fact that Miami home prices have been hammered and 1-in-8 are unemployed, the County keeps pouring on the painful tax and fee increases.

Pawlenty Quitting Republican Presidential Race

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty Quitting Repubican Presidential Race

Tim Pawlenty, the former governor Minnesota, dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential race on Sunday.


Mr. Pawlenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday morning that he would announce later in the day that he was ending his campaign after a disappointing finish in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday. The poll was a test of organizational strength and popularity in the state whose caucuses lead off the nomination fight.


Mr. Pawlenty had struggled to gain traction in Iowa, a state he had said he must win, after laying the groundwork for a campaign for nearly two years. He’s been eclipsed in polls in recent months by his Minnesota rival, Representative Michele Bachmann. She topped the straw poll on Saturday.

Read More here

Border attacks in Europe - More signs of deflation

From: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

In an "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" retaliation to French farmers throwing Spanish produce in the streets, Spanish farmers have threatened to "look for French interests and cause the most damage possible."

Agrarian Association of Young Farmers in Catalonia announced Friday that blocked the return of French tourists to their country by cutting the road to La Jonquera response to the boycott of Gallic producers and recent attacks on trucks from transporting fruit Peninsula and vegetables.

Asaja coordinator in Catalonia, Albert Castelló, has said that already run out of patience, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth," and said it is absurd to continue with good words and wait for action by governments.

It has also warned that if they attack at the border now and the end of the month "automatically go looking French interests and cause the most damage possible." He called on the Catalan police to be "gatekeepers" and to defend the interests of Catalan and Spanish when these attacks occur, as has ensured that the security forces do Gauls.

Asaja has hit back against the Government for its "immobility" when taking concrete steps to defend the interests of local producers, which this week have been suffering more attacks on the border.

The European Commission has indicated it has not been formally informed of the latest attacks of French farmers against trucks carrying fruits and vegetables from Spain, but has made ​​clear that it condemns "all sorts of illegal and destructive action" and has reminded France that European Union countries should take steps to ensure the free movement of goods.

Courtesy of Google Translate please consider Spanish farmers threaten to block border with France

Hallmarks of Deflationary Times

Trade wars are hallmarks of deflationary times. Disputes between farmers in Spain and farmers in France are a case in point. When there are ample jobs, everyone is happy. When not, people blame their neighbors.

Bear in mind more austerity is coming to Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. A massive European recession is on the way, complete with rising unemployment and civil unrest, and ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet wants to hike rates. It is economic madness.

To be fair, the market should set interest rates not Central Banks.

Where would the market set rates for Europe?

I do not know, nor does anyone else, especially central bankers. However, I do know "one size does not fit all" when it comes to interest rates when countries have widely varying fiscal conditions and problems.

As one of the founding fathers of the Euro, Trichet is in a mess of his own making.

For more on the mess in Spain, please see Numerous Spanish Towns Face Bankruptcy.