On his January 3rd television show, conservative Glenn Beck reported that since President Obama took office, the federal government has added some 40,000 new laws and regulations to the books:  laws and rules that affect the way we work, play and live our lives - and thousands of those regulations made without the consent of Congress.  The real impact of those 40,000 rules will not have an immediate effect as their impact will take time to realize.  However, the expansion of centralized federal control has already been felt by one community.  Yvonne Sanchez, President of the Valencia County Hispano Chamber of Commerce has recently been pulled right into the middle of one such regulatory nightmare.  Each year that organization sponsors a Matanza for the county and sells tickets to that cultural event.  This year, they had to call it off because the USDA said they had to meet federal guidelines for food processing that could not be met at a Matanza.

For those of you who are new to New Mexico, a Matanza is a fantastic Hispanic heritage event where a pig is butchered, wrapped and cooked in the ground on hot coals similar to the way luaus are conducted in Hawaii.  Once thoroughly cooked, the ham is pulled up out of the wrappings, sliced and served with all manner of side dishes.  According to the Valencia County New-Bulletin, USDA compliance investigator Robert Leskowsky told the Hispano Chamber of Commerce that since tickets were being sold to this cultural event, the meat must be butchered and packaged at a USDA-certified facility; and if they went ahead with the event he would red tag the meat and confiscate it.  Sanchez said, "If we are going to do that, we might as well walk across the street and buy our meat at Walmart."  In effect, all the cultural and traditional aspects of the event would be lost because of the USDA stand.

The Albuquerque Tea Party stands with the Valencia County Hispano Chamber of Commerce in its attempt to hold this traditional Hispanic cultural event.  As President Obama's centralization of government grabs hold, Americans are going to see more and more regulations and rules taking away their liberties.  Come November, it will be time for all of us - Democrats and Republicans - to stand for less government control by voting out those Progressives that want to regulate every aspect of our lives.