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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Perry to send a thousand to the Texas-Mexico border. An Arizona paper says it's stupid, but then, it's Perry. One big question ---

Coverage a-plenty, Fox here, CBS here, the Arizona "it's stupid" item, here; the latter source stating:

In a wildly popular political move Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced that he will deploy about 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Mexico border, a decision that will cost the state about $12 million a month. Perry also has said that he would commit $1.3 million each week to the state's Department of Public Safety to assist in border security.

[...] So what will the National Guard do beside cost Texas taxpayers money?

It will help Perry, who wants to be a player in the next presidential election.

"If the federal government does not do its constitutional duty to secure the Southern border of the United States, the state of Texas will do it," Perry said Sunday at a Republican barbecue in Iowa (home of those early presidential caucuses.)

The move makes Perry look like he's doing something.

And he is.

He's costing Texas taxpayers a bundle of money.

Which is exactly what the Republican candidates in Arizona's race for the governor's job are promising to do.

It's the kind of tough talk that does nothing except waste cash and gain votes.

[...]

The ellipsis material covers why the thing is regarded as stupid beyond it being a Republican spending binge.

(Those tax-and-spend Republicans, their send-in-the-troops first move for every situation, is there no end to it in sight?)

Curiously, the entire Arizona item is without mention that Arizona has a Mexican border too, and how that might factor into opinions presented in an opinion piece out of Arizona, about Perry's use of his Guard troops.

In any event, CNN weighs in, this way:

Key questions about Rick Perry's border plan
By Leigh Ann Caldwell, CNN
updated 7:20 AM EDT, Wed July 23, 2014


Why did Perry call on the guard? [...]
But isn't this a crisis about kids? [...]
How does that stop the influx? [...]
So what will the border patrol do? [...]
What won't they do? [...]
How much will it cost and who will pay for it? [...]
Will it work? [...]
When will this take place and for how long? [...]
Is politics playing a role? [...]
Has the National Guard been sent to the border before? [...]
What is the situation on the border? [...]

Yes. If you want info beyond the sequencing of those sequential outline questions, the article format blurbs, follow the link. Make it a game, guess how CNN handles each question, write down your guesses, then calculate a score of your percentage of correct guesses. I leave it there since I did not read the thing.

My big question in all of this:

Will Rand Paul now try to set a new Senate filibusterer record, as a Tennessee politician's [i.e., no Mexican border to its south to grandstand over, only Missippi and Alabama] quid-pro-quo in the I want the White House as mine I can almost taste it, I need press attention, sweepstakes?

That's of interest, isn't it? The beat goes on.

Has the Tennessee National Guard been sent to any border before? The Arkansas border? Keep the Clintons at bay?

__________UPDATE__________
let them cross to come to my store
photo credit
How's immigration playing as a GOP hot-button issue in Minnesota? MPP, here. BluestemPrairie, here, re a Willmar rally at the library; and an interesting look at GOP money in the CD8 contest involving FleetFarm scion, Stewart Mills III's wannabe-politico-lust, while securing the Canadian border seems a non-issue. (FURTHER UPDATE - Quisling hunting in GOP CD8, aka the circus comes to town.)