Mom was wrong - again!

She said beggars can’t be choosers, but they can.

At least if the beggars are the Mexican government.

You see the United States Government (that means the taxpayers) was generous enough to offer to help Mexico fight the drug cartels. Bush was meeting with his old pals south of the border in March of 2007 and said, “Heck, we’ll help. I’ll get you $500 million next year and about the same for the next two years after that.”

Except that Bush doesn’t hold the checkbook. Now our congress wants to attach a few strings to that money. For example, they want to make sure that human rights violations committed by Mexican officials are investigated by an independent group.

Well, that’s unacceptable to Presidente Calderon.

According to Mexico’s Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino: “The initiatives approved by both chambers of the U.S. Congress incorporate some aspects that, in their current versions, are unacceptable for our country.”

It’s a good thing I’m not in the White House or I’d be telling Calderon to look elsewhere for assistance in cleaning up the corrupt mess he has in law enforcement in Mexico. I’d take that $500 million and clean up the Chicago Police Department.

Here’s the State Department’s official explanation of the program:
“If approved, the Merida Initiative will provide funding for:
*Non-intrusive inspection equipment, ion scanners and canine units for Mexico and Central America to interdict trafficked drugs, arms, cash and persons.
*Technologies to improve and secure communications systems that collect criminal information in Mexico.
*Technical advice and training to strengthen the institutions of justice – vetting for the new police force, case management software to track investigations through the system, new offices of citizen complaints and professional responsibility, and witness protection programs to Mexico.
*Helicopters and surveillance aircraft to support interdiction activities and rapid response of law enforcement agencies to Mexico.
*Equipment, training and community action programs in Central American countries to implement anti-gang measures and expand the reach of these measures.”