Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts

Sunday, April 14, 2013

WHO NEEDS AMNESTY? Millions of Illegal Aliens Ripping Taxpayers Off for $20 Billion a Year in "Tax Credits"

As the White House shuts down tours and air traffic control towers go dark thanks to the budget sequester, millions of illegal aliens will collect as much as $20 billion in cash from the taxpayers thanks to a widespread scam facilitated by the Obama administration. Ed Rubenstein, president of ESR Research and former chief economist for the Grace Commission on Waste in Government, has issued a new report entitled Defrauding the American Taxpayer: The Earned Income and Additional Child Tax Credits [PDF].

Rubenstein states that, "the IRS knowingly allows illegal aliens claiming children to get Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) cash payments of up to $5,891." Furthermore, “the General Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that 23 percent to 28 percent of EITC payments that totaled $55.7 billion in 2011 are issued improperly every year. The IRS facilitates this tax rebate fraud by issuing individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) to people who lack valid Social Security numbers because they are not authorized to work in the U.S., and encourages them to file for tax credits.” A 2010 government audit found that 72 percent of tax returns filed by people using ITINs, rather than Social Security numbers, claimed the child tax credit.


That's not all, according to Rubenstein. He says that “the Child Tax Credit (CTC) program pays as much as $1,000 per child to families with children and incomes as low as $3,000. The IRS sends checks to anyone claiming the benefit, whether they have Social Security numbers or not. When a tax filer’s Child Tax Credit payment exceeds their tax liability, the IRS sends the filer an Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) refund check for the difference. Individuals can get an ACTC refund checks even if they had no income tax withheld or paid.”


Rubenstein asserts that the IRS has refused to stop the massive ACTC fraud by illegal aliens, which the Treasury Department says costs taxpayers $4.2 billion in 2010.

Fraudulent claims by illegal aliens cost taxpayers about $20 billion through abuse of the EITC (more than $15 billion by some estimates) and the ACTC (more than $4 billion). Worse still, many of the illegal aliens claiming the credit aren't even in the United States -- and many others may not exist at all.

Read the whole thing [PDF] -- and pass it on.

And every time Democrats whine and cry about higher taxes, tell them you're waiting for the IRS to stop the Illegal Alien Tax Credit scam that costs us $20 billion a year.


Saturday, April 13, 2013

Illegal Immigration Propaganda [Simpson]

Guest post by James Simpson, Accuracy in Media

As we once again face the specter of illegal alien amnesty, and the permanent Democratic majority it will guarantee, it is critical to understand how the Left plays. They are unethical to the core, but we are so frequently deluded by their tactical use of language and emotion, that we are unequipped to deal with them effectively. The result: they win. This cannot happen again, unless we are all willing to start calling Obama “President for Life,” and Democrats, the “Commissars.”

Introduction

Changes in public perception happen gradually. This is a natural human survival strategy that mistrusts the unfamiliar. A campaign of public education has become necessary to help convince a wary public to accept new ideas or policies that might otherwise take too much time. But there is a difference between education and propaganda.

Our society relies for its security, stability and prosperity, indeed, its survival, on the rule of law. So the idea of giving special privileges to individuals whose very presence is prima facie evidence of lawbreaking, is instinctively rejected. It cannot be otherwise. To grant special privileges to criminals upends and subverts the rule of law on which we depend.

Our nation’s laws constitute a contract that every citizen implicitly agrees to respect. Those who violate it face sanctions of corresponding severity. If certain individuals can avoid sanction and gain special privilege through political power—despite their blatant violations—then the rule of law becomes meaningless, and is replaced by a society based on political power alone. That is called dictatorship. Yet this is what the illegal immigration lobby wants us to accept.

When individuals or organizations attempt to introduce ideas that are self-evidently destructive, like Nazism or communism, for example, a campaign based on propaganda is necessary. Unlike factual information, propaganda manipulates, using fear and instinct in combination with known psychological reactions. It is evident that the illegal alien lobby uses these methods.

Sunday, April 07, 2013

WHERE ARE THE CALLS FOR ANTI-DEPRESSANT CONTROL? Like Other Mass-Killers, James Holmes Was Taking Violence-Linked Antidepressants

Isn't it amazing that antique media hasn't highlighted the one common thread between the spate of mass shootings here and abroad? Not firearms, mind you, but the use of anti-depressant pharmaceuticals.

About a month before the Aurora movie theater rampage left 12 dead and at least 70 injured in July, James E. Holmes told a psychiatrist he was having homicidal thoughts and she concluded he could pose a danger to the public, according to documents released Thursday.

University of Colorado-Denver psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Fenton told a campus police officer about her concerns June 12, the day after she met with Holmes for their only session. Her fears were revealed Thursday when the new judge presiding over the case unsealed a host of search warrants and arrest documents.

Fenton also told Lynn Whitten, a campus police officer, that after she stopped seeing Holmes he "threatened and harassed her via email/text messages," the documents said.

Whitten deactivated Holmes' ID so he could not get into university classrooms and laboratories, the documents say. That appeared to contradict what university officials have said: that Holmes was not banned from the university because of a threat but because his ID was deactivated as part of the normal student withdrawal process.

Along with chemicals used for explosives, rounds of ammunition, pistol cases and paper targets, police seized movie posters, video games, apartment lease papers, numerous computers, 48 containers of beer and other liquor and stacks of school textbooks. They found prescription medication for sertraline, a generic version of Zoloft used to treat depression, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder; and Clonazepam, usually prescribed to treat anxiety and panic attacks.

...The documents also shed some light on a notebook that Holmes mailed to Fenton, which was found in a university mail room after the shooting. The notebook was described in search warrants as brown with a placard on the cover that said "James Holmes." Also written on the outside of the notebook were the words, "My Life."

...The notebook, which is still sealed, has been a bitterly contested issue. The prosecution says it should be admitted into evidence, but the defense says it is part of doctor-patient privileged communication...

The ties between young people, anti-depressant drugs and violence are so well-documented that the FDA requires bold warnings for the use of psychotherapeutics, including possible fantasies about suicidal and homicidal behavior.

Among psychotherapeutics’ black box warnings are:

• “Increased risk of suicidal ideation in short-term studies in children and adolescents with ADHD.” (Strattera, SNRI)

• “Antidepressants increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in short-term studies in children, adolescents and young adults with major depressive disorder and other psychiatric disorders.” (Zoloft, SSRI)


• “Monitor appropriately and observe closely for clinical worsening, suicidality or unusual changes in behavior for all patients who are started on antidepressant therapy.” (Parnate, MAOI)

• “High potential for abuse; avoid prolonged use. Misuse of amphetamine may cause sudden death and serious cardiovascular events.” (Adderal, sympathomimetic amine)

A helpful infographic at VizWorld depicts the real-world challenges associated with Zoloft: "A Blockbuster Drug with a Black-Box Warning: Zoloft."

Of course, this morning the propagandists on the Sunday talk shows were not interested in dealing with the root causes of violence. They were instead fixated on redistributing wealth to illegal aliens and relieving citizens of their Second Amendment rights.


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Lies, Damn Lies, and "Comprehensive Immigration Reform"

As the "Gang of Eight" secretly negotiates some sort of grand, "comprehensive immigration reform" bill -- in conjunction with La Raza and the government of Mexico -- let's step back for a moment and consider the context:

• The union representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been shut out of "negotiations"

• All negotiations are occurring behind closed doors -- in smoke-filled rooms, one would presume -- without any of the traditional legislative process that would permit the public (or most Senators, for that matter) to read and debate the bill

• In back-to-back interviews on Spanish language television, President Obama said that he is "confident that we can get it done" ("it" meaning Amnesty and open borders, one could surmise).

But let's drop back even further. Let's remember some key promises.


Do you recall all of the president's promises regarding Obamacare? How health care premiums would drop by an average of $2,500 a family? How if you liked your health care plan you could keep it? Remember all of the endless, Chavez-like speeches?

Yep, we do. Then please consider the following headlines from the last 24 hours alone:

Federal healthcare law could boost some California premiums by 30%: Los Angeles Times
Health insurance cost expected to skyrocket in 2014 under Obamacare: Times Free-Press
Study: Claims costs that drive premiums will rise 32 percent in under health law: Washington Post
CNN Reports On Rising Health Care Premiums Due To Obamacare: RCP
Health Care Law is Creating a Nation of Part-Time Workers: Free Enterprise

Insurance Prices Could Jump: Wall Street Journal
Health care law changes will be drastic for many: Star Beacon
Health care reform making many woozy: American Farm Bureau
Insurers expect premiums to rise sharply next year for some: UT San Diego
Sebelius: Some Insurance Costs Could Increase When Law Is Implemented: Kaiser Health News

When it comes to the Stimulus, Cash-for-Clunkers, Dodd-Frank, Obamacare and every other exercise in central planning, this president and the Democrat Party in general have a record only the 1962 Mets could love.

Obama makes Pinocchio look like George Washington.


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Your Amusingly Juxtaposed Illegal Immigration Headlines o' the Day

For your consideration:

Napolitano Expects Fees to Cover Immigration Reforms: "[The DHS head] said the costs of some of the key reforms backed by the administration would not be borne by taxpayers, but by the immigrants who opt to pursue any new pathway to citizenship enacted into law..."

Most Illegal Immigrant Families Collect Welfare: "Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs [and even] before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives."

Border security in exchange for immigration reform? Napolitano says no deal: "Napolitano’s comments were one more bit of evidence, if Republicans needed any, that the Obama administration does not intend to make enhanced border security a precondition of immigration reform."


Obama Leaves Border Open and Guardless After Sequester: "The border is about to become 25% less secure. Agents will no longer work a full ten hour shift. Thereby leaving the border unattended, naked, for up to two hours at a time during each shift change."

As if to highlight this egregious and criminal behavior, an illegal alien climbed an 18-foot fence right in front of the nitwit "Gang of Schmucks" (which is the phrase they prefer, I hear) who happened to be visiting.


By the way, the fact that illegals can waltz into the country without any sort of scrutiny does not mean you can fly from Dallas to Des Moines without getting a fondlectomy.


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Drug Cartels Now Control the Southern Border So Thoroughly That U.S. Media is Too Scared to Report on Border Crime

JudicialWatch reports that the U.S. southern border is so porous -- and violent illegals so prevalent here -- that American media has been frightened into submission.

Mexican, U.S. Media Too Scared To Cover Border Crime


Violence along the southern border has gotten so out of control that both Mexican and American journalists have stopped reporting it out of fear that drug cartels will retaliate against them and their families.

This means Americans will be kept in the dark about the crisis along the porous and increasingly dangerous Mexican border. We certainly can’t expect the truth from the government. Remember that the nation’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, insists that the region is “as secure as it has ever been.” This delusional assessment has been repeated by Napolitano over and over again in a seemingly desperate effort to make people believe it.

...First Mexican journalists dropped like flies, either as victims of drug-cartel violence or out of fear, and stopped reporting crime in the region. U.S. journalists located in American border cities soon followed and have stopped reporting on drug-related violence.

“Mexican journalists, because of fear for their own lives and the safety of their families, are increasingly reluctant to cover drug cartels’ violence and mayhem,” according to Lee Maril, the director of the Center for Diversity and Inequality Research (CDIR)... "What has occurred in recent months is that American reporters located in American border cities also have stopped reporting on drug-related violence across the border for the same reasons as their Mexican counterparts.”

That means no one really knows the true magnitude of the violence, though it’s apparent that the U.S. government is downplaying it. “It would seem that drug violence only stops at the Mexican border in the imaginations of Washington politicians,” Maril says, offering a recent example in Reynosa, the twin border city of McAllen in south Texas. A small local newspaper reporter dared to publish this: “Fear and panic filled the streets as rival gunmen battled during a three-hour firefight that saw automatic weapons and grenades used.”

Judicial Watch has for years reported on the discrepancy between reality and the administration’s line that the Mexican border is secure. The truth is that overwhelmed federal agents are increasingly attacked by heavily armed drug smugglers and the U.S. Border Patrol has ordered officers to avoid the most crime-infested stretches because they’re “too dangerous” and patrolling them could result in an “international incident” of cross border shooting.

The violence has inevitably spilled into U.S. communities near the southern border, forcing local law enforcement agencies to create special units dedicated to combating criminal activity related to illegal immigration and Mexican drug cartels. In the absence of federal action, border crime has risen sharply in the last decade and will only get worse, according to statistics provided to congressional leaders by frustrated Arizona authorities.

To sum things up:

• The Obama administration is preventing states like Arizona from enforcing immigration laws and reducing attendant violent crime.

• It is also trying to prevent states like Arizona from enforcing voter ID laws to ensure only legal citizens are able to cast ballots.

• And now that millions of illegal aliens are here -- including tens or hundreds of thousands of violent gang members -- the White House is letting them loose on our streets and insisting we put them on a path to citizenship (while keeping the border wide open).

Is it okay to question the Democrats' patriotism yet?


Image hat tip: PoliceMag.com.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Will Politico's Mike Allen Report That DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano Lied to His Face About Freeing Dangerous Illegals?

That's a rhetorical question, of course. Politico, which has the unofficial tagline "Why read White House press releases when you can read us?", generally has no interest in exposing mendacity, duplicity and corruption if the letter "D" appears behind a politician's name.

Consider the blatant lie that DHS strongman Janet Napolitano told Politico's Mike Allen:

Napolitano: Immigrant detainees story 'not accurate'


Napolitano ... addressed reports that DHS has released immigrant detainees from detention centers as a cost-saving mechanism due to budget uncertainties tied to last week’s sequestration and other looming budget fights. Napolitano said that “several hundred” detainees were released — not “thousands,” as news reports from last week had indicated...

...She stressed that those moved from detention centers were low-risk, and that the process would continue “for the foreseeable future... With sequestration looming and the end of the [continuing resolution] in a couple weeks, it’s like the perfect storm,” Napolitano said. “We really have to manage so many different things because we don’t have a budget.”

Just 10 days later, Napolitano's lies were officially exposed. Please consider "ICE Admits It Released More Than 2,000 Illegal Aliens, Including Serious Offenders:"

After weeks of denials, the Obama administration acknowledged Thursday that it had, in fact, released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants from immigration jails due to budget concerns during three weeks in February. Four of the most serious offenders have been put back in detention...

The administration had insisted that only a "few hundred" immigrants were released for budgetary reasons, challenging as inaccurate a March 1 report by The Associated Press that the agency had released more than 2,000 immigrants in February and planned to release more than 3,000 others this month. Intense criticism led to a temporary shutdown of the plan.

The director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Morton, told a congressional panel Thursday that the agency had actually released 2,228 people from immigration jails over the course of three weeks, starting February 9, for what he described as "solely budgetary reasons." They included 10 people considered the highest level of offender.

Perhaps the headline of Mike Allen's follow-up article will be headlined "Janet Napolitano Lied and People Will Die."

And then again, maybe Barack Obama will embrace capitalism.


Hat tip: BadBlue News Service.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

LAWLESS: Head of Immigration Enforcement Union Says Illegal Alien Groups are Setting Border Policy

Chris Crane is the president of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) union council 118. Testifying today before the House Judiciary Committee, he leveled withering criticism at the lawless behavior of the Obama administration, Eric Holder, and Janet Napolitano.

In particular, he stated that ICE is "now guided in large part by the influences of powerful special interest groups that advocate on behalf of illegal aliens":

Crane further goes on to drop a bombshell:

"These influences have in large part eroded the order, stability and effectiveness of the agency, creating confusion among all ICE employees. For the last four years it has been a roller coaster for ICE officers with regard to who they can or cannot arrest, and which federal laws they will be permitted to enforce. Most of these directives restricting enforcement are given only verbally to prevent written evidence from reaching the public.

Most Americans would be surprised to know that immigration agents are regularly restricted from enforcing the two most fundamental sections of United States immigration law..."

Crane’s testimony is revealing in many ways, as he sites several disturbing examples on how ICE agents are demoralized and how they have been hamstrung due to the influence of amnesty advocates inside and outside the Obama administration.

I just wonder how many more laws have to be broken by this administration before the establishment Republicans start fighting back?


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

If we can only save one life? How about 1,200 lives?

Joe Biden and Barack Obama routinely resort to the Statist's traditional rhetoric in pushing their anti-Constitutional agenda.

The quote they frequently employ -- "if it saves only one life" -- is demonstrably specious.

Last month, ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) released statistics on the tiny fraction of illegal aliens who were actually deported in 2012.

Just this small slice of the illegal alien population was determined responsible for:

1,200 murders

5,550 rapes and other sexual offenses

40,000 drug crimes

36,000 DUIs

Thousands of murders. Thousands of rapes. Thousands of sexual assaults. Thousands of pedophiles. Thousands of drug crimes. Thousands of DUIs.

If it only saved one life?

These Leftists are the lowest of the low.


Friday, January 25, 2013

HECKUVA JOB, NAPPY: DHS Lets Naturalized Terrorists, Spies and Criminals Keep Their Citizenship

Well, this is a man-caused disaster waiting to happen:

An astonishing number of naturalized U.S. citizens have been convicted of grave national security crimes—including terrorism, espionage and theft of sensitive technology—yet the government allows them to keep their American citizenship.

As unfathomable as this may seem it’s simply business as usual in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the massive agency created after 9/11 to keep the nation safe. The agency rarely strips foreigners of citizenship even when they prove to be national security threats who hustle the system. In fact, DHS has no system in place to examine such cases or weed out future threats.

The alarming details of this inept operation are outlined in a scathing report (“Upholding the Value of Our Citizenship: National Security Threats Should Be Denaturalized”) published this week by an organization that researches legal and illegal immigration into the United States. DHS rarely denaturalizes individuals, even after they have committed serious national security offenses, the probe found.

This can't come as any surprise to those following the career of Janet Napolitano. She has consistently refused to enforce the nation's immigration laws and has illegally concealed documents related to the agency's activities.

Because with this crew, it's all about consolidating power by changing the electorate. It has nothing to do with enforcing America's laws.


Friday, January 18, 2013

QOTD: Can't see the forest for the trees

Wall Street Journal Commenter Marth Brunner offers an important -- and heretofore ignored -- point regarding "gun violence".

Nowhere in the discussion ... is the idea of 'Sanctuary Cities' for illegal immigrants mentioned.

But a policeman in LA who sees a person who he knows is a violent gang member, who has illegally come back into the U.S. after being deported (a felony) can't do anything about it without being disciplined.

Liberal politicians who protect violent gang members with 'sanctuary cities' rules want to pretend that they want to reduce gun violence? Baloney.

If you hadn't guessed, "gun violence" is the progressive's favorite new code word for gun control. And since they're into code words, I say the phrase "gun violence" is racist.


Sunday, December 02, 2012

IT'S AN OPEN BORDERS EXTRAVAGANZA! 14 Illegals Bail Out of SUV During Routine Traffic Stop

Aren't the Democrats' open borders policies funtastic?

What police say began as a traffic stop eastbound on Interstate 40 on the west side of El Reno has resulted in the arrests of 13 people, according to officers.

Police said the SUV was following a tractor-trailer too closely, with less than a car length between them, resulting in the stop. When the driver handed an officer a driver's license issued in Mexico, the officer asked the driver to step out of the car.


Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards told KOCO Eyewitness News 5 that 13 illegal immigrants, along with the driver, jumped out of the vehicle and fled. After a search that lasted much of Tuesday afternoon and included Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers, sheriff's deputies, the state Agriculture Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and K-9 units, 13 people were taken into custody...

"I couldn't fathom that they had gotten that many people in that car," said Cody Palmer with the Canadian County Sheriff's Department.

Three of those arrested are women. The driver of the car was also an illegal immigrant and police say he will face 13 counts of human trafficking.

But I'm sure the driver was licensed and insured -- and that all of the passengers had been buckled in before the traffic stop.

If you had lost a family member in a traffic accident caused by an illegal alien -- an all too common phenomenon in the era of Obama -- you'd probably have a far different view of open borders than the typical Democrat pol.


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

EVEN IN MASSACHUSETTS: Lawmakers Slam Obama Administration's Hard-Sell of Welfare Benefits for Aliens

The U.S. government is running trillion-dollar deficits every year. And the Obama administration is trying its level best to spend more on food stamps and health care benefits for illegal aliens:

‘Outrage’ over fed EBT push for aliens


Local lawmakers are fuming over an Obama administration policy promoting welfare and EBT benefits for immigrants, with a “welcome” package and promotional website that encourage new arrivals to take advantage of the nation’s generous government largesse.

...The fight over welfare for recent immigrants is unfolding in Washington, where a group of GOP senators has sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack demanding answers as to why food stamps and other welfare benefits are being promoted to new immigrants. The agency’s Welcome toUSA.gov website includes a comprehensive handbook directing immigrants on how to obtain food stamps, Medicare, disability and other taxpayer-funded aid...

“The federal government now is giving packets to people when they come to the United States ... that promote welfare benefits,” said U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican and ranking member of the Senate budget committee. “That is contrary to law and sound policy.”

...Sessions and three other GOP senators sent a letter to top Obama cabinet members in August asking how many people were given visas who are now on public assistance. A follow-up letter sent last month seeks to determine how much federal money is spent annually on food stamps for noncitizens, as well as explanations on why the USDA is actively promoting welfare expansion...

• The USDA signed a pact in 2004 with Mexico requiring 50 U.S.-based consulates to hand out information to Mexican nationals on how to obtain welfare and other benefits.

• The agency created a Spanish-language ad in which an individual is “pressured” into accepting food stamps, even though she says her family is self-sufficient.

• The USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly known as food stamps — has a website that includes a “community outreach partner toolkit” that says local communities “lose out” when eligible people don’t apply for benefits. The site claims that boosting participation will generate billions in “new economic activity.”

A SNAP pamphlet says Electronic Benefits Cards, which allow welfare recipients to withdraw cash and pay for food and other items, “make it more difficult to commit SNAP fraud.” The ad also states: “Everyone wins when eligible people take advantage of benefits to which they are entitled.”

Another site gives SNAP recruiters tips on how to “overcome the word ‘no’” when seeking to sign up new recipients...

Are there no Democrats with virtue who will decry this madness?


Hat tip: Olli.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

CHART: The Democrat-Lite Party's Amnesty Delusion

The Democrat-Lite Party is what I call the RINO establishment. With data from Pew Research (hat tip: Free Republic), let's examine the historic trend line of Hispanic support for Democrats and Republicans.


Please note: whether Republicans support amnesty or not, the share of the Latino vote captured by Republican candidates stays in the same narrow band.

Because, as has been explained over and over and over again, Hispanic support for Democrats has nothing to do with "amnesty".

Hey, Boehner: you listening?


Saturday, November 10, 2012

SUICIDAL IDIOCY: Boehner, GOP Establishment Ready to Deal on Amnesty, Creating a Democrat Vote Factory

As if we needed more proof that John Boehner has all of the intellectual firepower of an addled goldfish, not only did he begin negotiating against himself this week, but he also floated the idea of an "amnesty" deal.

This is the brainchild of a panicked Republican establishment, suddenly concerned that demographic changes are responsible for Mitt Romney's shocking loss.

Sean Trende, writing in Real Clear Politics, has already done an excellent job of debunking that assertion.

In the 2008 final exit polls (unavailable online), the electorate was 75 percent white, 12.2 percent African-American, 8.4 percent Latino, with 4.5 percent distributed to other ethnicities. We’ll have to wait for this year’s absolute final exit polls to come in to know the exact estimate of the composition this time, but right now it appears to be pegged at about 72 percent white, 13 percent black, 10 percent Latino and 5 percent “other.”


Obviously, this surge in the non-white vote is troubling to Republicans, who are increasingly almost as reliant upon the white vote to win as Democrats are on the non-white vote. With the white vote decreasing as a share of the electorate over time, it becomes harder and harder for Republicans to prevail.

This supposed surge in minority voting has sparked discussions about the GOP’s renewed need to draw in minority voters, especially Latinos, usually by agreeing to comprehensive immigration reform... [But] I think these analyses are off base. First, there are real questions about the degree to which immigration policies -- rather than deeper issues such as income and ideology -- drive the rift between the GOP and Latinos. Remember, passage of Simpson-Mazzoli in 1986 was actually followed two years later by one of the worst GOP showings among Latinos in recent history...

...in terms of the effect on the electorate, [any demographic shift] is dwarfed by the decline in the number of whites. Again, if our assumption about the total number of votes cast is correct, almost 7 million fewer whites voted in 2012 than in 2008. This isn’t readily explainable by demographic shifts either; although whites are declining as a share of the voting-age population, their raw numbers are not.

As The Manhattan Institute's Heather Mac Donalid explains, pandering to Hispanic voters on the issue of immigration reform is a suicidal strategy for the Republican Party.

It is not immigration policy that creates the strong bond between Hispanics and the Democratic party, but the core Democratic principles of a more generous safety net, strong government intervention in the economy, and progressive taxation. Hispanics will prove to be even more decisive in the victory of Governor Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30, which raised upper-income taxes and the sales tax, than in the Obama election.

And California is the wave of the future. A March 2011 poll by Moore Information found that Republican economic policies were a stronger turn-off for Hispanic voters in California than Republican positions on illegal immigration...

...And a strong reason for that support for big government is that so many Hispanics use government programs. U.S.-born Hispanic households in California use welfare programs at twice the rate of native-born non-Hispanic households. And that is because nearly one-quarter of all Hispanics are poor in California, compared to a little over one-tenth of non-Hispanics. Nearly seven in ten poor children in the state are Hispanic, and one in three Hispanic children is poor, compared to less than one in six non-Hispanic children. One can see that disparity in classrooms across the state, which are chock full of social workers and teachers’ aides trying to boost Hispanic educational performance.

The idea of the “social issues” Hispanic voter is also a mirage. A majority of Hispanics now support gay marriage, a Pew Research Center poll from last month found. The Hispanic out-of-wedlock birth rate is 53 percent, about twice that of whites.

Mac Donald concludes that amnesty for primarily low-skilled immigrants -- most of whom are dependent upon government services -- will create what I call a "Democrat Vote Factory".

Furthermore, aside from those simple truths, an idiotic deal by Boehner and the GOP establishment would serve only to enrage the Republican base of Constitutional Conservatives.

Writing at Protein Wisdom, Jeff Goldstein offers the only rational course of action for Republicans:

It’s clear the left wishes to keep an open border in order to bring in future Democratic voters — specifically, those who make most use of government services and whose lack of social capital, from struggles with the language to poor education, from the start prevents them from moving into higher-paying jobs. That is, the left is importing future clients, whose votes can be had for a growing of the welfare state.

That the tone-deaf leadership in the GOP and the “conservative” opinion outlets are even considering the pragmatism of identity politics pandering is already quite depressing. But even more so is that they are in such a rush to copy the left’s playbook that they can’t even be bothered to understand what their own should be telling them. That goes for the editorial board at the WSJ, too, whose open borders stance is less about principle than it is about cheap labor.

The way forward with the Hispanic vote is to seal the borders, preach first principles, reaffirm the necessity of assimilation, show the way out of dependency, and reject things like “comprehensive immigration reform,” which won’t help you with Hispanics and will most certainly cost you what’s left of your base.

And I'll add the following:

John Boehner needs to go. He is an intellectual midget, the antithesis of a statesman, and has proved to be an utter disaster at building on the momentum of the 2010 midterms that shoved him into power.

I will support (and marshal friends) to support anyone who opposes him for House Speaker.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Friday, September 28, 2012

GOOD NEWS: ABC and Univision Join Forces to Attack Immigration Law

It would seem that ABC and Univision have teamed up to -- wait for it -- keep an eye on law enforcement. In this case, the two channels are doing their level best to promote illegal immigration.

How? They've started by monitoring Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Long-term, they've said they intend to create a 24-hour channel. Short-term, they're documenting every move the Sheriff makes. It's for the children, I suppose.

Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio was denied an appeal yesterday that would have let his deputies take Arizona's SB 1070 a step further.

The "show me your papers" law says that police must first engage in a lawful stop -- broken tail light, reckless driving, whatever -- before they can start asking someone about immigration status. Arpaio's office was in court yesterday trying to skip the broken tail light phase and go straight to the "papers, please" part...


[However,] there has never been a finding by a court that Arpaio's office has racially profiled Latinos...

In related news, 50 convicted sex offenders, pedophiles, and other criminal aliens were just arrested by ICE.

The Obama strategy? Support unchecked illegal immigration, let unvetted aliens commit the most heinous of crimes, and only then try to find them.

So maybe it's not for the children.


Hat tip: J.T.

Friday, September 07, 2012

Paradoxical Quote o' the Day

Major Mark writes:

Paradoxical quote of the day from Ben Stein:

Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen.

Now add this:

Many of those who refuse, or are unable, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance... because they have proven they are citizens.

This is how a society implodes.

Remember in November.


Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Democrat Panderfest Hits Another New Low: Illegal Alien to Speak at DNC, Presumably to Recruit More Illegal Voters

I'm just wondering: which laws do Democrats believe should be enforced -- and which ones should be ignored? That's a rhetorical question. We know that any laws are optional if they help Democrats retain their white-knuckled death grip on the reins of power.

Tonight, for the first time, an undocumented immigrant will speak at a national political convention. Benita Veliz was brought to Texas from Mexico by her parents when she was 8 years old. She was threatened with deportation in 2009 after rolling through a stop sign and getting stopped by police.


An activist for the DREAM Act, which would grant permanent residency to some immigrants who graduate from U.S. high schools, Veliz was spared deportation last fall. President Obama, by executive order, subsequently stopped the deportation of some illegal immigrants who were brought to the country as children and allow them to apply for work permits. That policy went into effect in August.

As Frederic Bastiat wrote in his seminal work The Law:

"...unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions. And when it has exceeded its proper functions, it has not done so merely in some inconsequential and debatable matters. The law has gone further than this; it has acted in direct opposition to its own purpose. The law has been used to destroy its own objective: It has been applied to annihilating the justice that it was supposed to maintain; to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense.

...No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them." --Frédéric Bastiat, The Law, 1850

The Democrat Party's wanton usurpation of the law to pursue its political ends will cease one way or another, either at the ballot box in November or through an inevitable breakdown of the civil society.


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Horrific Crash in Texas Kills Five Children, Leaves Two More in Critical Condition; "Language Barrier" Prevents Communicating With Other Occupants

A horrific crash east of Dallas killed five children and critically injured two others yesterday afternoon.

There were no child safety seats and not enough seat belts in the vehicle. And a "language barrier" prevented investigators from communicating with occupants.

An SUV packed with children veered out of control and overturned on Interstate 20 in East Texas on Monday, killing five children and injuring nearly everyone else inside.


The Texas Department of Public Safety said two adults and 10 children from near Marshall were inside the GMC Envoy, which had no child safety seats and not enough seat belts.

It rolled into a ditch about 2:15 p.m. near Van, about 70 miles east of Dallas, ejecting nine occupants.

Three girls, ages 13, 6 and 2, died at the scene.

A 5-year-old boy was pronounced dead at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. A 3-year-old died late Monday at Renaissance Hospital Terrell.

Two more children were in critical condition at Children’s late Monday.

Another five, including the two adults, were taken to a hospital in Tyler, according to Trooper Jean Dark with DPS. One child was later discharged and the other two were in stable condition. Only one of the adults turned out to be injured.

It was unclear late Monday what caused the the single-vehicle crash.

“There’s a language barrier between investigators and the occupants,” Dark said.

Our prayers go out to the victims of this horrific accident.

Regarding the lack of seatbelts and child seats: What makes you think if the parents broke our immigration laws that they would follow other laws?

Which laws do people get to break in this country without punishment (or with the outright encouragement of the Obama administration)?


Images: Fox News Latino and Hispanically Speaking News.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Today begins the mad rush by illegal aliens to take advantage of Obama's illegal amnesty order

"No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them." --Frédéric Bastiat, The Law, 1850

Over the past five decades, no laws in the United States have been more abused by the political class than immigration laws. And no administration has been more breathtakingly lawless than the Obama White House, which has directed the federal bureaucracies to ignore immigration laws altogether.


Through an Executive Order, President Obama recently implemented the so-called DREAM Act by fiat, when it could not pass muster in Congress, even with a Democrat supermajority.

The result: millions of illegals began entering the workforce today without fear of punishment and millions more are certain to enter the country in violation of federal law to take advantage of Obama's lawless actions.

Obama’s lawless bypass of Congress in granting blanket amnesty to millions of illegal aliens began this morning across America.

Tens of thousands of illegals lined up early, and flooded into DHS centers to apply for nearly automatic 2-year stays from deportation and work permits, with far looser provisions and requirements than were ever imagined in any version of the 3-times defeated ‘Dream Act’ in Congress.

Thanks to Obama’s decree on June 15th, blanket amnesty for illegal aliens under 30 begins today as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) begins accepting applications for “deferred action” and work authorization.


To soften the public relations blow, the White House estimated that about “only 800,000″ illegal aliens would be covered under this amnesty, when Obama issued his edict – a complete fiction that he knew the media would not challenge. However, the figure was disputed by the Pew Hispanic Center, which estimated about 1.4 million beneficiaries. Then last week, the pro-amnesty Migration Policy Institute estimated that 1.76 million illegal aliens will be eligible.

In reality, the numbers will be higher – FAR higher. Why? Because, as House Judiciary chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told DHS Secretary Napolitano in an August 13th letter, there are no mechanisms in place to detect, deter, or to punish fraud.

Well, that should do wonders for unemployment.

No country is guaranteed to survive from generation to generation. And with political hacks like these in office that actively promote lawbreaking -- against the will of the people, Congress and the law itself -- the very fabric of the civil society is beginning to tear.

I will say it again: if we don't vote this pathetic excuse for a political party -- the entire Democrat machine -- out of office in November, this country could well be lost forever.