A bilingual Newsblog for the bilingual community.

I attended a grassroots political event for Governor’s Perry Re-election campaign. Turning 30 at the end of next week gives me a different perspective on the regional situation here in South Texas and Northeastern Mexico and how everything that this guy does in the next many years affects my community, the region, Texas, Mexico and how it influences the Nation in a time of economic and therefore political uncertainty.
I’m now more than ever concerned with how the State can support the economic growth of my new home state of Texas. I am blessed with living at the correct place in the continental US where economic growth is thus far sustained and constant. The Rio Grande Valley grew in larger part due to the success of NAFTA, and for that we have the visionary and effective administration of Bill Clinton to thank for. Texas benefited tremendously from the agreement (now in danger by the current administration’s agenda) and the border towns grew economies based on strong trade and tourism with Mexico. Laredo a town of 233,000 habitants is the countries’ largest inland port McAllen and Brownsville are on pace to replicate that success IF our business community and Gov. Perry ‘s administration can cooperate in public/private financing models to support the necessary infrastructural development necessary to take our region further into the future. The opportunity is here; our region for better or for worse has enjoyed the national spotlight in the media. Some of that publicity was a well engineered dagger to the Valleys Medical community. I worked with Senator John’s Edwards campaign and welcomed him to the valley for a presentation to these same doctors back on Sep 19, 2007 at a time when he was a favorite riding into primaries; of course prior to getting schooled by Obama and Hillary. I saw these same doctors back Hillary and then ultimately Obama as a block. These doctors are blue voters in a red state but the point is not their representational democratic power, rather the hypocrisy of requesting support of people whom the administration is now making an example of. Important because even at that early date, Zeke Emmanuel, Obama’s main man’s older brother had already published 3 books and gathered the necessary search to sell us the current proposed health plan.
Perry said today that the current bill would “bankrupt” the state. If this was coming from a Fox news anchor or editorial I’d have a hard time believing them. Coming from a man that leads a state where balancing a budget is not a lifetime’s accomplishment (remember Clinton’s beautiful shut down of government) rather a constitutional mandate this sounds like the truth. The way I see it, if the parents decide to buy something they can’t afford today on credit cards (independently of it being a smart purchase) they shouldn’t force the kids to use up their credit to get it right? The dilemma here is the balancing act that has made this country successful, that give and take of power between states and Washington.
The governor is the CEO of a State enterprise worth 1.09USD Trillion, second highest in the US and ‘IF’ Texas was a country of its own (which I have no doubt would make Perry the happiest lottery winner) it would represent and equivalent to the GDP of India or Canada (11th and 12th Largest) with a population of 24 Million. An international powerhouse and one that will CONTINUE to lead this country out of the republican by means of a moderate…Arnold got his with the marriage to the Kennedy’s (God keep you all) and Perry remember, was a shoe in from the late Compassionate Conservative that carried the moderate job to an almost lost campaign, here’s my shout out to Miami Dade County ! Texas is an interesting red state with a blue mega liberal capital, blue borders and pockets within San Antonio, Houston, Dallas…and for the most part parties keep a together yet separate approach that seems to work. The legislative sessions in Texas happens once every two years (thankfully said the governor) which I found rather interesting. I contend that he runs the state like a CEO because the system allows the administration to sell us a two year business plan, and then let it play out for two years. As a business consultant I see tons of businesses that have been hurt by their own banks, changing or now all-of-the-sudden enforcing their risk investment’s terms. All while the business is in it’s infancy. Most businesses in America are funded by the development of business plans, researched analysis that entrepreneurs utilize to forecast business investment performance over a period of time. In Washington, these plans are put into motion only to have the following assembly change them before they have been fully implemented and matured. The Texan system gives the executive the ability to perform under the rules of the game set forth. Gov. Perry is very aware of this advantage and utilizes it to highlight the reason why so many businesses chose to relocate to Texas’s little-government interference environment. (Not that Texans are good stewards of their vast land). He has become the best pitchman of any state. Gov. Perry’s weight is the financial strength and conservative fiscal responsibility that he brings to the table. A table that is fast receiving new members, governors and people of influence that believe that the federal government is taking control of too many aspects of our lives. Texas is famous for the “if it ain’t broken….” And if the state government is strong and responsible, why wouldn’t I support it with my vote for another term? I don’t care that he’s a Republican Party leader, I care more about his ability to manage a business that can consequently generate the economic force that can move this region from being the poorest in the country to the most prosperous.
The Texas Valley region, what I consider Laredo through South Padre and south of San Antonio, is a region that can represent the second largest mega metropolis in Texas. The Texasplex is the growing landmasses of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin and San Antonio, a geographic triangle that will be one of the worlds most populated metropolitan areas. Three professional basketball franchizes in one state might not be sufficient for the yearly increase of migrants both the Latin Americans via the south and winter Texans, unemployed out of state folks and relocated employees. The Texas Valley is a unique region of cultural concentric circles. Politics are interesting in that they are a scary hybrid of the best and the worst of both the US and Mexican politics. Just until a few bailouts ago, the most corrupt peoples where undoubtedly in Mexico, but as we do with Olympics medals, US politicians and their wall street cronies took the historical gold.
Gov Perry’s vision of the border is important as Texas becomes more and more significant to Mexico. Northeast Mexico has had a history of revolt and succession as did Texas. And today you will hear cries from the Republic of Sierra Madre from some minority and a large sense of disgust to the distribution of funds from the central government in Mexico D.F. “Regios” as people from Monterrey are known, believe that as the industrial and technological center of the country they should have more authority to chose how to utilize their vast resources. Mexico of course is almost three countries in one, The northeast, Mexico of the south (largely supportive of leftist Lopez Obrador) and Mexico DF (led by genius politician Marcelo Ebrard). Mexico’s union strength is as fragile as ever, the federal gobernments has been unable to control the Zetas (led by Heriberto Lazcano) school of the Americas trained as well as “El Chapo” Guzman of the Sinaloa cartel. The current President Calderon (PAN) has had a monkey on his back throughout the one six year term presidency by the name of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to such a degree the guy goes by the initials AMLO. It is clear that American culture is inherent in the youger Mexican generations, that specifically in the north grew up watching dubbed American programming, or saw it live in English via dish or the internet. Mexico of the north has more afiinity with Texas and share a common thread of revolutionary traditions. Whether or not these regions separate from the larger politically and legally is unimportant, regions are made not through geography but rather economic interests. Mexico of the north is of Most important interest to texas. The region as a whole, including San Antonio and south to Monterrey contains a population of nearly 13 Million people. I know that if I own a retail outlet in the valley, I can spend years going after new leads (even from a phone book) and not run dry any time soon.
In times of need, humans migrate to higher ground. In the valley we have no higher ground but we do count with a strong state government that manages the state’s assets in the responsible manner that a fiduciary should. Not all is peaches of course, Texas has an embarrassing education record (Mrs. Bush did not get it right) it’s guns laws are loose specifically assault weapons, which end up in the hands of folks mentioned before, and many other interstate issues. The give and take with the federal government works a little different since this state can still pay its bills. Unlike California, no state parks are being seized by the Fed just yet. If Gov. Perry is a watch dog for all of us Texas residents, I feel fully comfortable entrusting him the next few years of my life within this community.