PRD reacts to AMLO's "leave of absence"; AMLO would "step aside" for Ebrard

PRD rejected AMLO's request from a "leave of absence" - so that he can again campaign for other parties to the detriment of PRD - and quite logically so, as this mechanism simply doesn't exist in the party statutes. The party openly lamented AMLO's decision and asked that he reconsider, as many leading members also criticized the decision. National deputy Jesús Zambrano put it most starkly:

"If he doesn't want to serve in the party, then say so clearly, and don't go around with ambiguities... It seems like the desire of Andrés Manuel is that the PRD is under his command, or otherwise he won't help the party. Either he has a party at his liking, or he won't be in the PRD... why don't he say it clearly." 

(In the PRD, notably, its national political commission also voted in favor, 9 to 3, of having the poll in Mexico State over the possible PAN-PRD alliance, which AMLO adamantly opposes).

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, PRD's founder and once-political godfather of AMLO, also opposed the move.
Notably, though, AMLO did not succeed in his plan to have Alejandro Encinas do the same thing; Encinas' respect for the party is supremely higher than that of AMLO. While I doubt that an imminent AMLO-Encinas break is imminent, this is nonetheless highly significant: Should Encinas leave as well, the party would receive a truly tremendous blow.

Finally, Marcelo Ebrard also lamented AMLO's move, as it clearly will damage the party, and emphasized the importance of a single 2012 presidential candidacy for the left. In an interview, AMLO did declare, though, that if Ebrard will become the PRD's candidate, he would not only accept it, but to campaign for him.

I find that very, very hard to believe.

On Calderón's proposed tax breaks for education

Last week, president Felipe Calderón issued a presidential decree where a family can deduct from their taxes the cost of tuition in private schools, from the pre-school up until the pre-college preparatory school level.

For those who can afford to send their children to private schools, it's clearly a gain, and this will be popular with many sectors of the middle class. Yet it will also cost around 1.1-1.3 billion pesos in lost tax revenue, and as such is clearly a subsidy for the the rich on the expense of the poor - as simple as that.

Marcel Ebrard soon responded that rather than this tax break, the government should create a national program of scholarships for students of low means in secondary and pre-college levels - essentially implementing on a national programs the highly popular programs of Mexico City. If the goal is to reduce income differences and give the poor a push to get out of poverty - rather than, say, winning the middle class for the 2012 election (PRD Senator Carlos Navarrete denounced it as electioneering, and rightly so) - Ebrard's proposal makes much more sense.

Now, UNAM rector José Narro Robles also came out against the decree, pointing out how much these 1.3 billion pesos could have helped out in terms of improving public access to education on the university level for Mexico's poor.

According to the Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas (IMEF), those likely to benefit are families with incomes around 50,000-100,000 pesos per month - hardly those with the most pressing needs in Mexico.

Yet given the outrageous comments from Ernesto Cordero yesterday, where he argued that one could well live on 6,000 pesos and still afford a house and a car in Mexico, one might seriously question how connected to reality some PAN policy makers really are.

PT in Mexico City signs and accord and breaks it days later; Ricardo Monreal approves

Recently, the PRD, the PT, and Convergencia agreed on a common candidate for mayor of Mexico City, rejecting both running with separate candidates, as well as an alliance with PAN.

How little it took for the "workers party" - a gross misnomer for this quintessentially opportunistic outfit once founded by Salinas in the early 90s - to break the deal. The PT a few days ago presented its own candidate for mayor, Ricardo Monreal Ávila. It lead to a bit of internal turmoil as well, as some petistas noted that the postulation of Monreal indeed broke their fresh promise.

Monreal, in any regard, said he appreciated the gesture. He is, notably, a former governor of Zacatecas, who was a PRI member until 1999, then joined the PRD, and then ditched the party for the PT.

Clearly there is precedent for this: Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, to be sure, was once governor of Michoacán, and then became Mexico City mayor in 1997. Yet to put it bluntly: Monreal, you are no Cárdenas.