It's been clear since his first term that President Bush has a soft spot for Mexico. It became a serious issue during the debate on the "shamnesty" bill and his elitist attitude when he hit the blogosphere/talk radio brick wall that derailed it.

Now he's reached his nadir with his plan to allow Mexican trucks to cross the border and deliver anywhere in the United States beginning Saturday:

Teamsters leaders said they planned to seek an emergency injunction Wednesday from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

..."What a slap in the face to American workers, opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year," said Teamsters President Jim Hoffa.

..."Before providing unconditional access throughout the country to tens of thousands of big rigs we know little to nothing about, we must insure they meet safety and environmental standards," Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said.

I actually agree with the Teamsters and the Sierra Club (an uncomfortable feeling to be sure). As one who lived in San Diego County for nearly ten years, you should see some of the vehicles that cross the border.

Another issue is that this truly is taking jobs from American workers and giving them to Mexicans. The status quo works just fine; the Mexicans haul the goods to the border, American drivers take over from there. It's worked for nearly a 25-years so why change? I'm not a big union supporter even though I am forced to work with them, but Hoffa has a point.

That was the suggestion of President Felipe Calderon during Presidents Bush's visit to Mexico. Calderon thinks better jobs in Mexico could remove the incentive to leave. While that is certainly true I don't think the US should be responsible for creating good jobs in Mexico. I think that is more up to Calderon.

And what really bugs me is that he sort of compared the attempt to build a 700 mile fence with the Berlin Wall. Well let me explain to Mr. Calderon the difference. The Berlin Wall divided my home country into East and West Germany. The fence here in question divides two countries. It is a totally different scenario.

Republicans in the Senate have their work cut out for them. Competitions that should be relatively safe are quickly turning into horse races. These contests include battles involving Republican leadership, meaning that during what will likely be one of the toughest election cycles the GOP has faced in years, the caucus will be dealing with leaders focused on their own re-elects.

What races are emerging as competitive contests?

New Mexico: Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) probably shouldn't be in trouble. Even with New Mexico's slight blue-ing trend, the long-time incumbent is still in a very much purple Western state. Of course, landing in the middle of a giant ethics scandal has a funny way of changing things up. And Domenici looks to be in very hot water. The Justice Department is saying that Sen. Domenici contacted multiple officials at DOJ to complain about a U.S. Attorney that claims he was pressued by Domenici to expedite enforcement actions for political reasons. Others involved in the scandal are tendering resignations. And Domenici stands accused of violating Senate ethics rules by interfering in pending court cases. U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) is also in the middle of this scandal. With New Mexico a potential swing state at the Presidential level, the last thing the GOP wants is the party being dragged down by corruption among the Congressional delegation. This whole thing could set the stage for an easy Democratic sweep in the state -- causing a major headache for the right. 2008 Race Tracker: NM-Sen

The U.S. government and workforce can do anything we put our minds to. Why would the Border Patrol have to resort to asking for volunteers from its ranks to finish construction of 70-miles of fence then?

The U.S. Border Patrol is asking for volunteers among its agents to help build fences on the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Bush is withdrawing half the National Guard troops he sent there last year to build fences.

A memo circulated last week to Border Patrol sector chiefs said fence-building efforts on the Southwest border were going to fall short of Mr. Bush's goal of finishing 70 miles in fiscal 2007, which ends Sept. 30, "so the Border Patrol is now going back into the fence-building business."

I work with many companies are capable of putting in 70 miles of fencing in less than a month. Why can't the federal government procure the services of qualified construction companies and have them start on both sides and meet in the middle like they did with trans-continental rail system? The answer, of course, is thatPresident Bush doesn't want to seal the border, to the increasing ire of conservatives everywhere.

It's been a long time coming but President Bush has sold out his party and supporters for the last time.

Today, the GOP agreed to an immigration reform bill that is in essence an amnesty bill. Sure, there are little caveats in the bill where illegal aliens will be required to get "Z-Visas" and some will be sent home but most will be granted amnesty and we are back to square one. Border fences will be ordered built but funding will never be appropriated. More border patrol agents will be hired and new rules will neuter their powers. To sum it up, Bush sold out to Mexico and the political left. Note that every time he agrees with Teddy Kennedy, our nation gets less secure.

Republicans have two major issues that trump all others: national security and as an extension of that, control of our borders. The Democrats say that they are two separate issues, but all one has to do is look at how three of the men arrested in the Fort Dix terror plot entered the country. Yes, according to Newsweek writers Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball (no conservatives they) they entered illegally from Mexico into Texas:

The source familiar with the Duka case said that the three Duka brothers-Dritan, Eljvir and Shain-are believed to have first entered the United States illegally in 1984 by crossing from Mexico at Brownsville, Texas.

The Democrats have been in high spirits over their victories in the west, especially Jon Tester in Montana. But not so fast says Stuart Rothenberg at RCP:

Former President Bill Clinton carried four Mountain States -- Colorado, Montana, Nevada and New Mexico -- in his 1992 election victory over then-President George H.W. Bush, and he won three states four years later: Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. It's true that in the two elections since Clinton, Democratic presidential candidates have carried only a single state, New Mexico (very narrowly, in 2000), but that's more a statement about the party and its nominees than about the region's inherent competitiveness.

New Mexico and Nevada definitely are competitive in presidential contests, but only Idaho, Utah and Wyoming are beyond the Democrats' reach in those elections.

Much of the hype about Democrats in the Mountain West stems from the party's victories in gubernatorial races. Democrats retained three governorships last year and added a new one (in Colorado). Democratic governors now sit in Montana, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Wyoming -- five of the region's eight states.

But that's nothing new in the region. I went back to 1980 and found that Democrats won five of the past seven gubernatorial elections in Colorado and Wyoming (yes, that's right, Wyoming), four of the past seven in both New Mexico and Nevada and three of the past seven in Montana and Arizona.

I agree, Democrats have always been competitive within these states, but they are usually quite a bit to the right politically of the national democrats from the coasts. This explains why the Democrats don't do so well in the mountain states in the presidential elections. National Democrats such as Al Gore and John Kerry didn't play so well there.

A proven vote-getter in a state that is 24 percent Hispanic. A politician with a portfolio of accomplishments and experience. A man who has been elected and re-elected over and over again has announced that he intends to run for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. This man is Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico. He is barely a blip in the polls but I think that he will become a formidable force. He has served as a congressman, governor and ambassador to the United Nations.

They say that Clinton has the lead and Obama is close behind. Hillary has been running for president since Bill left office. Obama just found out where Washington was. It's hard to believe that when people start to listen to Richardson, he will not rise in the polls.

Will Latino voters support Richardson? His mother was Mexican. How will this impact Cuban and Puerto Rican voters.

Richardson opposes the "wall" concept of preventing illegal aliens from entering the country.

"Richardson will first propose to expand the number of visas available to those seeking employment. He'll propose an increase in the size of the Border Patrol. He'll promote engagement with Mexico, having met recently with Mexico's new president. The goal is for Mexico to acknowledge that illegal immigration to the US is an actual problem. Richardson will call the concept of a border fence "ridiculous" -- ineffective and unworkable. And he'll call for a "reasonable but tough" path for illegal immigrants to earn their citizenship."

Want a preview of the election? A couple of southwest states might be giving some early indicators. I'll offer this with the usual caveats: no votes have been counted, nothing's official, but information is information. Let's take a look at early voting in Arizona and New Mexico. Arizona first. Some early voter patterns:

According to our October 29 to 31 survey of 745 likely Arizona voters, fully 30% of the Arizona electorate has already voted. We expect that perhaps up to two-fifths of the voters in this election will vote early or by absentee ballot. In our October 8 to 31 tracking polls (since early voting started) we have interviewed a total of 594 early voters. Among these early voters, Jim Pederson is leading Jon Kyl by 4 points: 44% for Pederson compared to 40% for Kyl, with 4% for other candidates and 12% refused. This 4% Pederson lead is all the more remarkable since registered Republicans and Democrats are equally likely to have voted early, and in fact there are more Republicans than Democrats in this early-voting sample of 594 respondents.

So, could there be an Arizona surprise brewing? Maybe.

Let's say a GOP lawmaker in Congress wants to help loyal rural constituents. Is passing a generous farm bill – which comes up for renewal every five years – a good way to do it?

Not so fast. A recent New York Times Magazine article says aid to American farmers can mean bad news abroad. Author Michael Pollan writes that "the farm bill helps determine the price of corn in Mexico and the price of cotton in Nigeria and therefore whether farmers in those places will survive or be forced off the land, to migrate to the cities - or to the United States."

Pollan doesn't use the term "illegal immigration" in this quotation, but I think it is fair to assume that some of the ex-farmers who immigrate here do so illegally. Economist Gordon Hanson suggested the impact of a struggling economy: " Mexico's baby boom entered the labor force during Mexico's two decades of dismal economic performance and decidedly lackluster growth in labor demand. The result has been the surge in Mexican immigration that we have been witnessing."

What's a conservative to do? Bob and Edgar discuss in the latest "Running Gags."

Hat tip to my source in Cambridge...

It looks as it the Bush Administration's plan for Mexican trucks carrying cargo into the US has hit a major brick wall in the Senate as the Senate overwhelmingly voted against funding for the pilot program that would have allowed Mexican truck drivers access to American roads. This has proven to be another major failure in the Bush Administration's attempt to lesson the restrictions on commerce between the USA, Canada and Mexico. According to the AP, the vote on Sen. Byron Dorgan amendment barring the trucks was a veto proof 74 – 24 with much of the reasoning behind the ban centering on concerns over the safety and reliability of the trucks. This vote came on the heels of the recent tragedy this week when a truck carrying mining equipment exploded in Mexico in a tragic occurrence that killed many bystanders.

Of additional concern was the impact that the inclusion of Mexican trucks on US roads would have on American trucking jobs. The Teamsters Union was strongly opposed to such a measure mainly because lower cost labor would had serious negative effect on its members. Teamster President James Hoffa Jar was a vocal critic of the program and had appeared on numerous media programs to denounce the pilot program.

Tip to Hotline. Governor of New Mexico and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson is trying the humor gambit in what is a great way to introduce his great resume.

Funny, effective, gets the point across. This advertisement gets an A grade from me and proves that whatever Bill Richardson is lacking in the polls, he has some smart people on his staff and a sense of humor.

An AP story from the Santa Fe New Mexican contains an embarrassing revelation about Democratic presidential (or is it vice presidential?) candidate Bill Richardson. It seems he is in the habit of telling a tall tale in stump speeches around the country.

This case of embellishment ironically centers on an accomplishment that Richardson should be proud of, and that needs no further exaggeration. Richardson pushed for legislation to up New Mexico's National Guard death benefits for veterans to $250,000. It was a good measure, and Richardson should tell everyone about it on the campaign trail. But in campaign speeches, especially recently in New Hampshire, he goes further with the story by reporting that he was prompted to raise the benefit by a conversation with the mother of a son who was killed in Iraq:

Three years ago, Richardson attended a memorial service for Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin, 21, who died in April 2004. As he campaigns for the Democratic nomination, the New Mexico governor often recounts an emotional conversation with Austin's mother, saying she thanked him for the federal death benefits she had received and even showed him the government check.

But he continually botches the story, and even has lied about the conversation:

In speeches in New Hampshire, Richardson has gotten Austin's name wrong at least once and age wrong at least twice. He also has called Austin the first New Mexico soldier killed in Iraq - instead of the third.

But that's not what bothers the Marine's mother, De'on Miller, of Lovington, who says the conversation about money never took place. "I didn't exchange words at all with the governor there except when he gave me the flag. And those few words - whatever was exchanged when he handed me the flag and the Spirit of New Mexico award - certainly had nothing to do with money," she said Thursday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The scenario is similar to another event in his life that he's long told stories about, but turned out not to be true -- his being drafted by baseball's Kansas City Athletics (Richardson was forced to retract the claim). That case, like the one reported today, is yet another example of a politician, this time Bill Richardson, lying about something that he or she didn't have to lie about to look good. Is their need for self-aggrandizement that pathological?

This is just Richardson shooting himself in the foot needlessly. And it doesn't help his political aspirations at all, be they presidential or vice presidential. People uneasily view politicians as habitual liars in the first place. Leaving such a paper trail of the lies, however, is particularly unhelpful in overcoming that perception.

Today's announcement:

The Interior Department has dropped claims that Chevron systematically underpaid the government for natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, a decision that could allow energy companies to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties.

The department's Minerals Management Service said it would have been useless to fight Chevron. In return for the right to drill on fed lands and in fed waters (that would be OUR lands and OUR waters), energy companies have to pay the government a share of the proceeds.

While the Interior Department has sweetened incentives for exploration and pushed to open wilderness areas for drilling, it has also cut back on full-scale audits of companies intended to make sure they are paying their full share.

That sounds about right. Last week, Chevron released their most recent earnings report and announced a 49 percent increase in profits to $4 billion dollars. Profits.

Ed Morrissey (of Captains Quarters fame) examines Bill Richardson and comes to a soon-to-be-common conclusion:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's entry into the 2008 presidential sweepstakes Sunday garnered little notice, overshadowed as it was by the announcement of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the day before.

The mainstream media appears to already have its narrative set for the Democratic primaries, pitching Clinton against Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as establishment vs. the outsider. However, the punditry and the Democrats may just be overlooking the one candidate that the Republicans should fear the most and, perhaps, Clinton should as well.

And then details Bill Richardson's extremely long resume. Bill has plenty of experience as governor, UN Ambassador, White House cabinet, etc.

President Bush has finished his visit to Latin America. Among the destinations on his itinerary: Brazil, Colombia, and -- most recently -- Mexico . He's met resistance.

"Protests have broken out in many countries on Bush's itinerary," the AP reports, "and local police have responded forcefully and kept demonstrators far away from the U.S. president."

Despite the number and intensity of the protests, this Latin American excursion was a wise move for Bush, and for any candidate who wishes to succeed him in 2008.

The region is growing in strategic importance, as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela seems to want to inherit Fidel Castro's mantle of leadership. Chavez has sought to provoke some of the anti-Bush sentiment -- Reuters reported that he " has shadowed Bush on a regional counter-tour hurling insults from a distance" -- following up on his past criticisms of Bush at the United Nations.