Reporting suspected illegals said to be racial profiling

A Sheriff in Arizona is coming under fire by civil rights groups for setting up a hotline to enable folks to report suspected illegal immigrants.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has said he will not shut down the hotline, which was just launched on Friday, in spite of Latino civil rights groups denouncing the hotline as racial profiling.

Sheriff Arpaio is used to such accusations, in light of several sweeping changes he has instituted in jail operations since being elected in 1992. Among those changes that affected inmates were the following: began serving inmates surplus food (not as tasty but much cheaper and enough to keep them alive), banning salt, pepper and coffee, removing pornographic materials and weightlifting equipment, banning smoking, reinstated chain gangs and the black and white stripes historically worn by inmates.

But perhaps Sheriff Arpaio is most notorious for "Tent City". Having grown tired of watching convicted criminals released early from jail because of overcrowding and not having $70 million to build a larger facility, Sheriff Arpaio spent around $100,000 on military tents, cement pads, fencing and fans and set up "Tent City" to accommodate more inmates.

During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit (higher than average, even for scorching hot Phoenix) Arpaio said to complaining inmates, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths" However, inmates were given permission to wear only their pink underwear. (According to a July, 2003 Associated Press story.)

Somehow I doubt the civil rights folks will be able to do anything about the hotline...

As for the racial profiling, I for one am sick to death of hearing that phrase. I'm sorry, Latinos are the ones sneaking over our border by the millions, of course they would be at a greater risk for being reported as possible illegals in Arizona. . Odds are good Latinos will be the ones suspected of being here illegally. I hardly consider that racial profiling just as I hardly considered it racial profiling to more carefully search Middle Eastern people attempting to board a plan after 9/11.

States rights not just for Dixiecrats anymore

Having finally grown tired of the Federal Government doing nothing to curb the influx of illegal aliens, Hazelton, Pennsylvania took matters into their own hands, passing ordinances that would fine businesses who employee illegal aliens and fine landlords who rent to them. Several other small towns across the country followed Hazelton's example.

However today a US judge ruled the local ordinances "unconstitutional", stating Federal Law prohibited towns and cities to enforce such ordinance.

Read news reports on this here and here.

By Friday morning there will probably be a lot of folks throwing around the term "states rights" which has been historically used by southern states to defend slavery and later, segregation. Damn shame a Federal court will not allow local governments to protect their citizens when the Federal Government will not.

Of course, why would the Federal Government care anything at all about curbing illegal immigration when the they plan on erasing the borders for the Security and Prosperity Plan (North American Union) anyway?

Last time states rights were a major issue this country found itself in a bitter civil war, from which it never entirely recovered. Seems as though we're heading down that road again.

An American Candidate

Now this guy sounds like an American!

Want to know where YOUR money's going?

If you're anything like me, I'm sure you would be angered to see exactly where billions of our tax dollars are being spent.

The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 (H.R.2764) has been passed by the US House of Representatives, sent through Senate Committee and is now being reported in the Senate where it will soon come to the floor for a vote.

While I am certain someone has what they consider to be good reasons for these expenditures, I fail to see how many of them are in the best interest of the American people when our nation is on the verge of economic collapse.

Here are just a few examples:

• For a grant to the Asia Foundation, as authorized by the Asia Foundation Act $16,000,000 (The Asia Foundation is a private, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization under the section 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code that "collaborates with partners from the public and private sectors to build leadership, improve policy and regulation, and strengthen institutions to foster greater openness and shared prosperity in the Asia Pacific region.)

• For expenses necessary to enable the Broadcasting Board of Governors, as authorized, to carry out international communication activities, including the purchase, rent, construction, and improvement of facilities for radio and television transmission and reception and purchase, lease, and installation and operation of necessary equipment, including aircraft, for radio and television transmission and reception to Cuba, and to make and supervise grants for radio and television broadcasting to the Middle East, $662,727,000.

• For necessary expenses of the United States Institute of Peace as authorized in the United States Institute of Peace Act, $25,000,000. (The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide.)

• For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of chapters 1 and 10 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, for global health activities, in addition to funds otherwise available for such purposes, $6,531,425,000. (Keeping in mind this appropriation is under the Foreign Assistance Act, this amount shall be made available for such activities as: (1) child survival programs; (2) immunization and oral rehydration programs; (3) other health, nutrition, water and sanitation programs which directly address the needs of mothers and children, and related education programs; (4) assistance for children displaced or orphaned by causes other than AIDS; (5) programs for the prevention, treatment, control of, and research on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio, malaria, and other infectious diseases, and for assistance to communities severely affected by HIV/AIDS, including children displaced or orphaned by AIDS; and (6) family planning/reproductive health)

• For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of section 491 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for international disaster relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction assistance, $322,350,000, to remain available until expended, of which $20,000,000 should be for famine prevention and relief.

• For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, $3,015,000,000. (This is listed as the Economic Support Fund, you've got to read the full text to fully appreciate it. Funds going to preserve wildlife in Lebabon, scholarships in Egypt, etc.

• For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989, $294,568,000.

• For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of chapters 11 and 12 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the FREEDOM Support Act, for assistance for the Independent States of the former Soviet Union and for related programs, $401,885,000.

• For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, $1,200,000,000. (The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a United States Government corporation designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world. Established in January 2004, MCC is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and investments in people.)

• To support counterdrug, economic and social development, rule of law, and other activities in the Andean region of South America, $415,050,000

• International Military Education and Assistance, $85,877,000. (That funds appropriated under this heading that are made available for assistance for Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Libya, and Nepal may be made available only for expanded international military education and training.)

• For the United States contribution for the Global Environment Facility, $106,763,000 to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development as trustee for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), by the Secretary of the Treasury. (GEF is an independent financial organization that provides grants to developing countries for projects that benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.)

• For payment to the International Development Association by the Secretary of the Treasury, $1,000,000,000. (The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. Established in 1960, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing interest-free loans and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve people’s living conditions.)

• Up to $13,500,000 of the funds made available by this Act for assistance under the heading `Global Health Programs', may be used to reimburse United States Government agencies, agencies of State governments, institutions of higher learning, and private and voluntary organizations for the full cost of individuals (including for the personal services of such individuals) detailed or assigned to, or contracted by, as the case may be, the United States Agency for International Development for the purpose of carrying out activities under that heading.

• Of the funds appropriated by this Act, up to $1,057,050,000 may be made available for assistance for Afghanistan, of which not less than $75,000,000 should be made available to support programs that directly address the needs of Afghan women and girls, of which not less than $12,000,000 shall be made available for grants to support training and equipment to improve the capacity of women-led Afghan nongovernmental organizations and to support the activities of such organizations, and not less than $3,000,000 should be made available for reforestation activities.

And then we have the following:

• For necessary expenses of the Department of State and the Foreign Service not otherwise provided for, including employment, without regard to civil service and classification laws, of persons on a temporary basis, representation to certain international organizations in which the United States participates pursuant to treaties ratified pursuant to the advice and consent of the Senate or specific Acts of Congress; arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament activities as authorized; acquisition by exchange or purchase of passenger motor vehicles as authorized by law; and for expenses of general administration, $3,885,375,000.

And here are some of the things otherwise provided for:

• For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General, $35,508,000. (OIG inspects each of the approximately 260 embassies, diplomatic posts, and international broadcasting installations throughout the world, to determine whether policy goals are being achieved and whether the interests of the United States are being represented and advanced effectively.)

• For expenses of educational and cultural exchange programs, as authorized, $509,482,000.

• For expenses, not otherwise provided for, necessary to meet annual obligations of membership in international multilateral organizations, pursuant to treaties ratified pursuant to the advice and consent of the Senate, conventions or specific Acts of Congress, $1,374,400,000. (Such as the United Nations)

• For necessary expenses to pay assessed and other expenses of international peacekeeping activities directed to the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security, $1,352,000,000.

Oh and here's an interesting tidbit included in this appropriations bill:

International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico

• For salaries and expenses, not otherwise provided for, $30,430,000

• For detailed plan preparation and construction of authorized projects, $88,425,000

The appropriations listed here barely scratch the surface of federal spending. Read the full Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 (H.R.2764) here. This act alone contains billions more and doesn't even begin to address domestic issues. Can we really afford to continue giving away so much money?

Congressional Resolution against the North American Union

On January 22, 2007, Rep Virgil H. Goode, Jr. [VA-5], sponsored and introduced a resolution "Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada."

Read the full resolution here.

See a complete list of the resolution's co-sponsors here.

The resolution was of course promptly referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, who in turn, sent it to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

And in committee it will stay until the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi brings it to the floor for a vote.

Until then, I certainly hope the committee members are actually weighing the pros and cons of this thing. However, for some reason it is much easier for me to envision them playing golf with their special interest buddies or plotting around a poker table, using our tax dollars as the ante instead of actually doing the job we elected and pay them to do.

When the Dow Sales

Dow Jones & Company has received an unsolicited takeover offer (estimated around $5 Billion) by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Dow Jones sound familiar to you? It should. The Dow Jones Industrial Index has long been considered THE gauge to determine the state of the stock market. Dow Jones & Company publishes the Wall Street Journal, a daily publication with an international circulation. The Wall Street Journal has remained a highly respected source of news, in spite of the public's growing distrust in most major new outlets.

News Corp is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, controlling many media outlets, including FOX. See a complete list of News Corp assets here. Almost 70% of the company's sales come from its US businesses, yet in 1999, The Economist reported that News Corp Investments had made £1.4 billion ($2.1 billion) in PROFITS over the previous 11 years but had paid no net corporation tax.

Rupert Murdoch, who has a long history of using his media holdings to promote the political and financial policies he supports, has made it clear he expected The Wall Street Journal to come under his editorial control if the sale was to go through.

It is hardly as though the Bancrofts, the family who controls Dow Jones & Company, are suffering financially. The sale would merely propel them into another level of filthy, stinking rich.

I am certain we were taught in Civics that the Federal Government had regulations in place to prevent monopolies, yet here we have two media giants about to come under control of one man. Is it really a good idea to allow one individual to control that big of a piece of the public opinion pie?

Read the New York Times coverage of this story here.

The State of our Finances

One of the most basic functions of government, at any level, is to demonstrate financial responsibility, being good stewards of tax dollars.

The Controller General of the United States does not seem to think our Federal Government is handling our money in a very responsible way.

David M. Walker, the nation's chief accountability officer and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or Controller General gave his opinion to Congress at 10 a.m., Tuesday, January 23, 2007.

He summed it up quite neatly by stating the following:

• Our current financial condition is worse than is widely understood.
• Our current fiscal path is both imprudent and unsustainable.
• Improvements in information and processes are needed and can help.
• Meeting our long-term fiscal challenge will require (1) significant entitlement reform to change the path of those programs; (2) reprioritizing, restructuring and constraining other spending programs; and (3) more revenues—hopefully through a reformed tax system. This will take bipartisan cooperation and compromise.
• The time to act to save our future is now!

He continued to explain:

A great deal of budget reporting focuses on a single number—the unified budget deficit, which was $248 billion in fiscal year 2006. This largely cash-based number represents the difference between revenues and outlays for the government as a whole. It is an important measure since it is indicative of the government’s draw on today’s credit markets—and its claim on today’s economy.

And:

To understand the long-term implications of our current path requires more than a single year’s snapshot. In this regard, the long-term outlook has worsened significantly in the last several years. That is why for more than a decade GAO has been running simulations to tell this longer-term story.

Then, he says:

Our long-range imbalance is growing daily due to continuing deficits, known demographic trends, rising health care costs, and compounding interest expense.

And:

To “grow our way out” of the current long-term fiscal gap would require sustained economic growth far beyond that experienced in U.S. economic history since World War II.
Similarly, those who believe we can solve this problem solely by cutting spending or solely raising taxes are not being realistic. While the appropriate level of revenues will be part of the debate about our fiscal future, making no changes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other drivers of the long-term fiscal gap would require ever-increasing tax levels—something that seems both inappropriate and implausible. That is why I have said that substantive reform of Social Security and our major health programs remains critical to recapturing our future fiscal flexibility. I believe we must start now to reform these programs.

Ok, it seems as though most intelligent people in this country understand that, after all, we've been told all this for years now. He really spells it out in his 24 page report to Congress. If you can suffer through all the dead weight of so many budget and finance terms, you can glean a lot of interesting points out of it. I can't help but wonder how watered down it was by various well-meaning individuals before it ever reached Congress, and the public.

Read his full report here.

So where's all the money going?

Sheesh...no wonder some want to transform our economy into a continental one, our own seems to be on the verge of collapse.

Independence Day

Today we celebrate the founding of our nation, our independence from the tyrannical rule of England.

We celebrate with beer and barbecues, fireworks and big sales and holiday pay, paying little mind to the rights and responsibilities that independence affords us.

Consider these words of the Declaration of Independence, the framework of our nation:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

The consent of the governed you say?

The approval rating of the President and the United States Congress does not reflect a people who consent to the decisions and policies being carried out by their elected government.

I wonder if Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness means enough to the people of this country for them to exercise their right to alter it, allowing their voices to be heard.

It saddens me to see veterans, who fought for this country's freedom, back when that was a soldier's mission, now ashamed of the failures of their leadership, ashamed of their fellow countrymen's unwillingness to speak out and frustrated that their voices are unheard against the drone of the lobby machine.

The Declaration of Independence included a long list of the King's slights to the colonies, including those listed below:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation.

Modernize the language a bit and the words are eerily akin to those found in many of today's newspapers.

If our forefathers could come together to stand toe to toe with the King of Great Britain, surely we can come together to ensure that our government, which was founded and supported on the backs and lives of the American people, follows the will of the people who elect them.

This July 4th, make sure your voice is heard.