To fix Washington, look to Mexico (CS Monitor)

[pinto]

Interesting Op-ed. ~ pinto

To fix Washington, look to Mexico

Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto’s political grand bargain among rival parties has helped usher in long-needed reforms. The US has something to learn from Mexico’s willingness to put country ahead of party.

By Carlos Heredia, Op-ed contributor / October 17, 2013

Mexicans are puzzled looking at the political crisis in the United States, if only because for a long time we have been lectured from up north about the importance of getting our act together to become governable.

But now, unusually, Mexico’s main political parties are cooperating to solve pressing national problems. Perhaps the US has something to learn from them.

Hollywood often uses the term ”Mexican standoff” to describe a confrontation among mutually hostile participants armed with guns, where there is no safe way for any party to either kill the other or safely withdraw.

Maybe we will need to rephrase that and call it a ”Washington standoff.” During 2013, the US has undergone a budget sequestration, government shutdown, and a near-breach of its debt ceiling. Political gridlock and ideological extremism have turned the standoff into a chronic condition.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Common-Ground/2013/1017/To-fix-Washington-look-to-Mexico

[Xipe Totec]

1. They are out of their freaking mind

Peña Nieto? Seriously?

He's getting ready to turn over Mexican oil fields to foreign oil companies and returning to a laissez-faire policy towards narco-traffickers.

That's what the CSM is holding up as an example?

Get Real.

[pinto]

2. I must admit, I know little about the guy. So I read it from a broad political perspective.

Who do you feel is best for Mexico, politically? I'm a little embarrassed at how little I know / follow about our neighbor's politics.
Thanks.

[Xipe Totec]

3. I don't know that there's a way out anymore.

There are armed rebellions in the state of Guerrero and Michoacan because the people no longer trust the federal authorities and feel they have to protect themselves from the narcos. So the town's citizenry is fighting the narcos and the federal government at the same time. In the North it's open season on citizens and federal troops alike. Kidnappings and murders are rampant. We're taking body counts in the tens of thousands. The town where my mother was born, Mier, is now a ghost town. The narcos took it over as a base of operations and told the citizens to get the hell out. They did. And although the army went back and retook the town, none of the citizens have dared to return. The place is abandoned. The border is a war zone. Two months ago an armed patrol with five MPs was ambushed and set ablaze in the middle of Reynosa - right across the border with Texas.

This is no longer a political situation.

[pinto]

4. Stunning, well done video analysis. Thanks for posting it.

And sorry for your mom's hometown. ~ pinto

[Guaguacoa]

5. Obviously they do not live here.

Pena nieto was governor here in Mexico state and he was a crooked cheat then. Prices have shot up under him and along with that crime. Gas is higher than some places in the US and it NEVER gows down once it goes up. He canceled calderon's help program to poor with children. Before he was elected PRI came around and signed up people and gave everyone cards for help for food. It never happened, just false promises as many knew. He just started a program called sin hambre where some (very few qualify) get a card and they take it it have pesos loaded on it. 1000 (about 77.00 us, 38.50 a month) for 2 months, which is FAR less than calderon's program. People that qualified got 2000 per child per month (still hard to qualify, but sin hambre several hundred applied in our pueblo and 24 qualified and it's a poor pueblo). Then the next day they have to travel back to the same place where they hand them certain items (no choosing or buying elsewhere) and remove the 1000 pesos from the card. The items are vastly overpriced and it's a small amount of unheard of brands. I'm sure it's a money making deal for pena nieto and people that supported him. I would be surprised if you could not buy the same in a store for 300 pesos.

The laws protect businesses, not buyers. Most business it's buyer beware with no recourse. The US stores are an exception, but even those will fight you on a return compared to the US. Many things are behind the US, like technology, tools, etc. but cost more. That's why companies flooded here from the US. Example is that a new iphone from apple itself (they sell the same technology here and the us) is well over 800.00 even with nafta (I rarely see an iphone, even in Toluca).

Fruit, veggies and labor are cheaper than the US. Cars, technology, etc. much higher than the US.

The police are not trusted and do not come if you call them. Stores are robbed by gun in broad daylight because (mostly) only the bad guys are armed and the police do not care. Even if you jump through the hoops to get a gun legally, you cannot take it out of your house. Your business is off limits. Small business are robbed at will, owners beaten and if female often raped.

I love my birth country, but I cannot believe someone is ignorant enough to hold this government up as a model one. Work is a big reason for those going to the us, but in no way the only one.

Sorry, this type of thing gets me started. Especially with Pena Nieto.

I almost forgot. He also raised the tax considerably for a small business permit, it's harder now to start a small business than it was.

Where we live PRI is considered "Narco Gobierno".