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Sen. Cornyn in El Paso today

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, will be in El Paso for a roundtable talk about improving international commerce along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee, will meet with trade representatives and business leaders from both the U.S. and Mexico. He plans to use the discussion to include some topics into an updated version of the Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding Act of 2009, which he will introduce next month.

He will then tour Secure Origins Inc., technology services company, to learn about advanced technology being created to monitor cargo entering the United States from Mexico.  Customs and Border Protection has developed a pilot program with the company to transport cargo more effectively through the country's ports of entry. 

Participants in the discussion will include the presidents of the Border Trade Alliance, El Paso Chamber of Commerce, El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and representatives from the Coalicion Empresarial Pro Libre Comercio, a Juarez-based trade and commerce group.

 

 

Updated: State Rep. Quintanilla considering County Commissioner seat

State Rep. Chente Quintanilla is considering a run for a seat as an El Paso County Commissioner.

Quintanilla, D-El Paso, dismissed talk that he was likely seeking the position as rumors but he would not completely write off a bid for the seat. He also would not give a clear confirmation that he would seek reelection to his state House seat.

"That's the problem, people start rumors and it spreads like wildfire," he said in a telephone interview. "I don't know what I want to do. Let me put it that way.  I'm not ready to make any kind of decision. As far as I'm concerned, I'm still committed to doing my state representative work."

He said he has been approached by people "wanting a little action" who have asked him to run against County Commissioner Willie Gandara.

"People are talking to me about it," Quintanilla said. "Let's put it that way. It's not a commitment I've made or anything."

Quintanilla said he enjoys being a state representative and mentioned that after the current round of redistricting he has a greater chance of winning reelection.

"I created, when I worked with the delegation, a district that would be fail safe for me so that's another thing that I've got to consider," he said.

Quintanilla said he never announces his plans before December because he waits to see who else will jump in the state House race.

"I guarantee you after Labor Day and after everybody starts making moves I will announce for one or the other," Quintanilla said.

 Update:

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, announced that his communications director Vincent Perez resigned "to pursue other career opportunities"

Perez is also considering running for the County Commissioners seat.

“Vince is one of the most dedicated and talented communicators on Capitol Hill, and I appreciate his tireless service on behalf of the people of El Paso,” Reyes said in a statement.  “He has a very bright future ahead of him, and I wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”   
 

Perry leading the pack in new poll

Gov. Rick Perry has taken the lead in the Republican race for president, according to a Rasmussen Poll released today.

Perry, who entered the GOP field for president on Saturday, received 29 percent support in the poll of 1,000 likely Republican Primary voters Monday night.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in second with 18 percent support from those surveyed. And, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who won the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, was third with 13 percent support.

About 16 percent of voters polled said they still had not chosen a candidate.

“Governor Perry is enjoying a bounce from entering the race at precisely the right time” Scott Rasmussen said in a statement.  “Now the difficult part begins for the new frontrunner.  It’s much easier winning support when people are hoping you will get in the race, than retaining support when you are the frontrunner.”

In a poll released Aug. 1, before Perry's announcement, Romney came in ahead with 22 percent, compared with Perry's 18 percent and Bachmann's 16 percent.

 

Karl Rove criticizes Gov. Rick Perry

 

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was not feeling the love from Republican strategist Karl Rove, who this morning on Fox News criticized recent comments made by the GOP presidential contender.

Rove was asked about comments Perry made in Iowa claiming Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke could be committing "treason."

“If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y’all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas," Perry said, according to news reports and a video captured by liberal group Think Progress. "Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous or treasonous in my opinion.”

Rove told Fox News that it was an "unfortunate comment." He also said it "diminished Perry."

While on the show, Rove also took issue with a comment Perry made to Fox News  about the differences between the Texas governor and former President George W. Bush. Perry told the news network "he's a Yale graduate. I'm a Texas A&M graduate."

The political strategist said Perry may be going too far by trying to contrast himself from Bush in a manner that is "dismissive of the former president."

"I know from the perspective of the former president that he has a cordial, personal, strong friendship of nearly two decades with the Governor," Rove told Fox News. "I think that's true for the Governor too but why he falls into this pattern of sounding like he is being dismissive of the former president is not smart politics, strategically or tactically."

Rove also told Fox News, "The question for Perry is going to be whether over the weeks and months ahead he is going to make other misstatements like the one on, in my opinion, Ben Bernanke, that he is guilty of treason or making these comments about Bush that artificially create in some people's minds that there's a divide between the two men."

 

The two Texas presidential candidates

All eyes are on Texas since Gov. Rick Perry jumped into the Republican race for President, further pushing another candidate from the Lone Star state into the media shadow.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a Tea Party candidate, came in a close second to Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann  at the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa. News headlines have since focused primarily on Perry, Bachmann and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the front runners in the race.

Comedian Jon Stewart of the Daily Show provided his take on Paul and the media last night.

 

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Paul has released an ad warning against "smooth taking politicians."

The ad, which resembles a movie trailer, features his opponents in the GOP race for President: Perry, Romney and Bachmann. At times it places them next to images of President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Here is the ad:

 

 

Perry announces Presidential run

Gov. Rick Perry has put the following letter on his campaign website announcing his run for president:

What I learned in my 20’s traveling the globe as an Air Force pilot, our current president has yet to acknowledge in his 50’s – that we are the most exceptional nation on the face of the earth.

As Americans, we believe freedom is a gift from God, and government’s prime function is to defend it.  We don’t see the role of government as a nanny state, and we recognize there is no government money that wasn’t once earned through the sweat and toil of private citizens.

That’s why we object to an Administration that sees its role as spending our children’s inheritance on failed economic theories that have given us record debt and left far too many unemployed, threatening not only our economy, but our security. Our reliance on foreign creditors and sources of energy  not only compromises our national sovereignty, but jeopardizes our national future.

America’s place in the world is in peril, not only because of disastrous economic policies, but from the incoherent muddle known as our foreign policy.  Our president has thumbed his nose at traditional allies such as Israel and Great Britain.

We will not sit back and accept our current misery…because a great country requires a better direction…because a renewed nation requires a new president.  That’s why, with faith in God, the support of my family, and an unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I am a candidate for President of the United States.

And I will work every day to make Washington, D.C. as inconsequential in your lives as I can.

As governor of Texas I have led based on a few guiding principles. One, don’t spend all the money. Two, keep taxes low and under control. Three, keep regulations fair and predictable. And four, reform the legal system so frivolous lawsuits don’t paralyze employers that are trying to create jobs.

Over ten years, we have followed this recipe of fiscal restraint to produce the strongest economy in the nation. While millions of jobs have been lost over the last decade nationwide, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been added in Texas. Texas is home to one in 12 Americans, and yet since June of 2009, we have created more than four in ten American jobs.

The change we seek will never emanate out of Washington…it must come from the windswept prairies of Middle America…the farms and factories across this great land…the hearts and minds of God-fearing Americans who will not accept a future that is less than our past…who will not be consigned a fate of less freedom in exchange for more government.

It is up to us…to this present generation of Americans…to take a stand for freedom…to send a signal to Washington that we are taking the country back from the grips of central planners who would control our healthcare, spend our treasure and micro-manage our businesses.

My mission as your president will be to get America working again!

With God’s help, and your courage, we will take our country back.  I hope you will take a moment to join the team and consider a donation to the campaign.  

Thank you, and God bless America.

Perry for President

It's official.

Well, sort of.

Gov. Rick Perry's spokesman Mark Miner told the Associated Press that the Texas governor would announce that he is running for president Saturday in South Carolina.

Miner was not immediately available for a comment to the El Paso Times. 

 

Stephen Colbert gives Rick Perry an "A"

Comedian Stephen Colbert, who recently got approval for his Super PAC from the Federal Election Commission, gave viewers a preview of how the political action committee will spend some of its money.

Colbert's PAC— Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow—has released a commercial, focusing on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's likely entrance into the Republican primary race for president.

The commercial urges voters in an Iowa straw poll to write in "Rick Parry" instead of "Rick Perry."

Perry is not on the ballot for the Ames Straw Poll this Saturday because he has yet to announce his candidacy. Supporters of the Texas governor have been urging voters in the straw poll to write in Perry's name.

Colbert's commercial urges them to write in a different candidate—a Rick Parry that spells his name "with an A for America. With an a for Iowa."

 

Perry presidential ad runs in Iowa

Just in case you did not know what a presidential campaign by Gov. Rick Perry would focus on: it's Texas job growth.

A political action group known as Jobs for Iowa, not affiliated with Perry but encouraging him to run, will start airing television commercials today in support of the Texas governor, who has not yet announced a presidential bid, according to POLITICO.

POLITICO reported that the group, with funding from wealthy Texans, will pay $40,000 for the commercial to air on the FOX News Channel in Iowa for two weeks.

The ad calls Perry a "conservative with proven leadership in tough times."

It touts Texas job growth with "no state income tax and no deficit." Texas had an up to $27 billion shortfall for the 2012-13 biennium and a more than $4 billion deficit in the current budget cycle.

Below is the ad:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Associated Press reported that Perry came in a distant second in a straw poll of the Western Conservative Summit this weekend in Denver.

About 48 percent of the 508 people surveyed in the poll selected Georgia businessman Herman Cain, while 13 percent selected Perry. Both spoke at the event, though Cain spoke right before the poll, the AP reported.