Saturday, November 20, 2010

AMLO's logic, seemingly increasingly removed from reality

It is increasingly harder to follow AMLO's tortous logic, which if taken at face value is hardly logical at all.
Consider the statements he made yesterday regarding the recent surprise announcement that Yeidckol Polevnsky will be his candidate for governor in Mexico State: "They will not agree to this, those who have as candidate Peña Nieto for the presidency of the republic, that is obvious."

That is obvious? AMLO is presenting his own candidate, before any other party has done this, a candidate that lost badly in 2005 and came in third after PRI and PAN, at the height of AMLO's popularity, and the only thing "obvious" is that his candidate will split the vote for the left - PRD will present its candidate, likely with PAN - thereby ensuring the victory of Governor Enrique Peña Nieto's successor.

Does anyone in their right mind think that Peña Nieto is opposed to Yeidckol Polevnsky's candidacy? It is hard for me to believe AMLO truly does so, but if he does:  Estaría mal de sus facultades mentales. That is obvious.

The Vatican's dangerous hypocrisy: Defending hate speech as "free speech"

It defies belief in its brazen distortion of reality, and I truly wonder if the Mexican clergy truly believes its own  nonsense. According to Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, part of a delegation of visiting Mexican clergy to the Vatian, the lawsuit of Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, and other criticism of the church, "constitute an attack on religious freedom." In the Vatican meeting, the cardinal said,

"one complained that the bishops can not speak out against the homosexuality laws, the adoption of children by homosexuals and gay marriage because one says that they are against the government."

To recall: Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, the most active of clergy "speaking out," has directly accused Ebrard of bribing the Supreme Court, and has viciously denounced gays, including calling them "faggots" in a press conference. To make this an issue of "free speech" is utter nonsense, and the church knows this.

Yes, it is true that the Mexican Constitution explicitly state that clergy can not interfere directly in politics such as calling for people to vote for a party - or against it. This has not, of course, prevented them from doing this - in 2000, bishop Onésimo Cepeda actively favored the PRI, and others, such as Hugo Valdemar, has called on catholics not to vote on a "fascist party" such as the PRD.

Even so: Exactly why is it that the Mexican Constitution is so seemingly curbing of "free speech"? Because the Catholic Church as an institution up until recent years fought against every initiative to change the status quo toward a more free, democratic and just society: From the Independence wars two hundred years ago and onward, in every major events of the 19th and 20th century, the church has stood on the wrong side of history.

Speaking of events the Church opposed tooth and nail, hundred years ago, to this day:
VIVA MÉXICO, CABRONES! TIERRA Y LIBERTAD!

It's the elections, stupid: 55% rise in social spending proposed in Mexico State

For a state that still holds the highest number of people in poverty - seven million - that Mexico State should want to increase its social spending should on the surface be good news - hadn't it been for the timing and unprecedented jump in the suggested spending for next year's budget, which strongly hints at naked electioneering: In 2011, the successor to itting Governor Enrique Peña Nieto will be elected. What better way to buy some support than to crank up social spending 55 (!) percent?

Raúl Murrieta Cummings, Peña Nieto's secretary of finanze, handed over the proposed fiscal package for 2011 to the state congress that includes a whopping 55 percent jump, from 2 to 3 billion pesos, in social spending. 

Also of note: The state Electoral Institute (IEEM), on which the Ley Peña drastically reduced the representation of opposition parties - while before all parties participating in a coalition would have their own representative, now they will only have one for the entire coalition - has been proposed a budget of 1.637 million pesos - a 224 percent jump from the current year. 

Also of note: Of the recently approved federal budget, Mexico State will receive 118.441 billion pesos. Mexico State will only bring in 15.563 billion of their own money, or 12.8 of their total budget. It is quite stunning that despite the diversification in Mexico State's economy, more than 87% of its income still come from the federal government

There are persistent rumors of a massive budget hole cover-up in Mexico State; should the opposition against all odds win against the PRI candidate in 2011, we might be in for some interesting reading on how much and where Peña Nieto spent the state's money.