Pay to Play, Say Bureaucrats

It seems our Glorious Leader is not the only one skilled in "The Chicago Deal".

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar's minions are good at it, too.

They are shaking down the Border Patrol for millions of under-the-radar dollars meant to cover environmental damage stemming from their everyday duties along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Shaking down you and me, really. It's our tax dollars they are playing fast and loose with.

"The Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Border Patrol, last year signed a deal with Interior -- the administrator of America's park lands -- to cough up $50 million for environmental "mitigation" needed in the wake of the construction of a border fence. That was after DHS had already spent or committed millions more for expected environmental damage caused by the Border Patrol over the years."--Fox News

Here's some of the rat-holes that Interior is pouring money down:

-- $200,000 to study the extent of unauthorized vehicle routes in the habitat of Sonoran pronghorn, which are endangered.

-- $1.75 million to close and restore those vehicle routes.

-- $20,000 to move pronghorn back to the Valley of the Ajo if they don't migrate by themselves in three years.

-- $14,000 to do weekly aerial surveys of the pronghorn during the 2010 fawning season.

-- $35,000 for monitoring the maternity roosts of lesser long-nosed bats.

-- $140,000 to study "unknown roosts" for lesser long-nosed bats.

Never mind that the drug cartel convoys, the hordes of illegal immigrants with their trail of discarded trash, human wastes, abandoned possessions, and the beaten paths so many have worn through these areas.

Never mind that Americans cannot use their own national parks and wilderness areas.

Never mind that we have lost control of these areas to the drug cartels and human smugglers.

We gotta protect those bats and pronghorns. Kumbaya.

The environuts are feasting on this as well:

In talking about the funds chiseled out of the Border Patrol to pay for "mitigation" of environmental damage resulting from securing the borders as listed above, mentioning the towers which house cameras and other sensors, DOW weighs in.

Matt Clark, southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife(DOW), described those examples as "well-thought-out mitigation measures." He said the towers might not look harmful to the environment, but that the generators attached to them and the vehicle traffic necessary to maintain them make a dent."--Fox News

"If anything, he said Border Patrol should be putting up more money to pay for damage. He described the harm from the border fence as "insidious," separating species from their own kind as well as food and water supplies. Though not an ideal situation, he said the mitigation money can be used to purchase land elsewhere and preserve habitat for the affected species. "--Fox News

"I think mitigation dollars can be put to good use," he said."--Fox News

Time to ClearOurBrainZ !

There is legislation in the works to address this, and allow the Border Patrol to do it's job. But, it doesn't address the "fees" being charged the Border Patrol by Interior. The Border Patrol needs all it's resources just to do its job.They are supposed to be safeguarding our nation, not acting as a piggy bank for Interior and the evirodummies. Let's fix this legislation and face reality.

Don't get me wrong....I'm in favor of preserving these areas. I'm in favor of taking good care of the environment.

But people, and the security of our nation, must come first.

It won't do much good to preserve and protect these "sensitive" areas if they are overrun with drug convoys and hordes of illegals.

It won't do any good to protect these areas if we have ceded control of them to Mexico and the drug cartels.

People first.

Our nation's security first.

We can do both. Protect the environment, within reason, and secure the borders.

Bureaucratic infighting and empire building is unacceptable. All I see in this administration in finger pointing.

Where is the leadership?

Good question.

Your comments, please.

Invasion USA

The Chuck Norris movie, depicting a mass of terrorists attacking the US, was fiction.

The novel by author William W. Johnstone, is fiction.

The closure of 5 federal land areas on our southern border to the public, is FACT. It's happened.

Violent drug traffickers and Mexican drug cartels have taken over these areas, along with the human smugglers bringing illegal immigrants across our borders in a ceaseless flow.

Escorted by squads of automatic weapons-bearing thugs, truckloads of drugs and people are entering our country in droves.

Law enforcement officers are being killed.

Citizens and landowners are being killed.

People who live in these areas are living in fear of their lives.

Our country is being invaded by criminals and thugs, with the apparent complicity of the Mexican government. At the very least, Mexico is doing little to stop the flow.

Here's what's happening RIGHT NOW !

1) About 3,500 acres of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, closed.

2) At Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which shares a 32-mile stretch of the border with Mexico, visitors are warned on a federally-run website that some areas are not accessible by anyone.

"Due to our proximity to the International Boundary with Mexico, some areas near the border are closed for construction and visitor safety concerns."--Organ Pipe Cactus NPS website

3) Ironwood Forest National Monument, a 129,000-acre federal parkland in the Sonoran Desert, visitors are warned of dangerous illegal activity in the area. The federal NPS website for Ironwood Forest NM says "look for fast-moving vehicles and pedestrians on back roads."

4) Dennis Godfrey, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management's Arizona office, said roughly a dozen signs were posted earlier this month along the Sonoran Desert National Monument advising that travel in the area is not recommended due to "active drug and human" smuggling.--Fox News

5) Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and the Coronado National Forest, which covers nearly 1.8 million acres in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, too dangerous to use.

The federal government, and the Department of the Interior, say they have no plans to re-take or reopen these areas.

They have effectively ceded these lands, part of the sovereign territory of the United States of America, to Mexican drug lords and bands of illegal immigrant smugglers.

The hands of local and state law enforcement and the Border Patrol are tied. Federal rangers and the Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior are only allowing law enforcement and the Border Patrol to enter these areas on foot or horseback. This is to protect the environment and preserve these fragile areas, they say. Of course, the bad guys, the drug smugglers and the human traffickers, ignore this like they ignore the rest of our laws, roaring north in rugged off-road vehicles, escorted by thugs armed with automatic weapons. Even the illegals entering on foot these days are often escorted by armed "coyotes".

Kind of makes it hard for the "good guys" to do their jobs, don't you think?

No, really? Ya think?

Invasion USA.

More and more areas, further inland, 30, 50, 80, 100 miles north of the border, are being invaded. Lawlessness is becoming pervasive. People are afraid. People are being killed, gunned down by thugs who flee back to Mexico.

They need our help.

However, all is not lost, in spite of how bad it sounds! Help is on the way!

Our government is responding!

They are sending 1500 clerks in National Guard uniforms to do paperwork. Hurrah!

They are filing lawsuits against the state of Arizona to keep them from enforcing the law. Hurrah!

They are announcing their plans against Arizona in foreign countries before informing Arizona, or us....thanks, Madam Secretary.

They are applauding the President of Mexico for telling us how terrible we are. Hurrah!

They are grandstanding on television and across the media spectrum every day, showing us all that they are in charge. Hurrah!

They are thumbing their noses at their oaths of office, and the Constitution.

Their motto seems to be: "No problem is too large to be ignored, and it will go away if we ignore it long enough."

Somehow, I don't think this will work. I can hear the defenders of the Alamo spinning in their graves all the way up here in Tennessee.

Time to ClearOurBrainZ !

What is the reality here?

Our federal officials have failed to protect and defend the United States of America as required by their oaths of office. And, as required by the people of this nation.

Failed. Not misspoke, misstepped, or erred, but FAILED! We need some new blood in these positions, and as the Duke would have said:"We're burnin' daylight!" Time is running out for us to act.

Soon, we will be left with no choice but to take military action to reclaim our land. We need to move now to stop this invasion, and move forcefully. With overwhelming strength. No one, not one drug lord, gangster, coyote, or illegal immigrant, no terrorist infiltrator, should be left with any doubt as to our resolve and commitment to defend the territory of the United States of America. There should be no doubt that we control our borders.

None.

We need to get tough.

We need to get mean.

We need to face reality.

That our government is tacitly accepting this situation is totally unacceptable.

Call your Congressman.

Call your Senator.

Email them.

Write them.

Write the White House, the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service.

Demand that they do their job. Demand that they reclaim our lands.

Raise hell. That is what it will take. They are afraid of us, afraid we will fire their butts.

They are right.

Perform or perish, ye elected and appointed ones.

Your comments, please.