Saturday, April 24, 2010

BORDERING ON RACISM? A TOUGH ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW PASSES.

You may have heard of the bill recently passed in Arizona which establishes increased penalties and enforcement capabilities involving illegal immigrants. The bill, Arizona Senate bill 1070, contains sweeping changes in policy, and has drawn much ire from liberal groups, up to and including the President himself. Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahoney went so far as to call the mandate to show legal papers to prove legal status in this country bordering on "Nazism" (your papers, please).
Here is the bill in a nutshell...
"a law enforcement officer, without benefit of a warrant, may arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that a person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the United States"
"...it is unlawful for a person who is unlawfully present in the United States to knowingly apply for work, solicit work in a public place, or perform work as an employee or independent contractor"
"...it is illegal to transport an illegal alien if they know or recklessly disregard this law"
"it is illegal to conceal, harbor or shield an alien from detection in any building or means of transportation..."
"...an employer shall not knowingly employ an illegal immigrant, and shall keep records of all immigrant workers status for a period of 3 years through the federal e-verify program..."
The bill also contains a very narrow definition of entrapment on the part of law enforcement agencies, especially if the employer is "predisposed to hire such labor." It establishes strict fines, criminal penalties, and allows for the confiscation of motor vehicles in the case of blatant disregard for the laws. It also allows people to sue their local or state government agencies if they believe the immigration laws are not being enforced.
Will this lead to massive sweeps of known places immigrants congregate, especially where they have been known to look for work? Yes. Will this result in some citizens being forced to show proof of citizenship merely as a result of their appearance or heritage (racial profiling)? Yes. Will it require everyone be able to provide proof of citizenship on demand of any law enforcement agent, even if they are not presently involved in criminal activity? Yes.
And so you would expect a bleeding heart liberal such as myself to be screaming bigotry and fervently against such a bill. Better sit down...I cannot. Yes, in Arizona,this bill will severely effect Hispanics. If passed elsewhere, in Florida it will effect Haitians, in New York, it will effect Puerto Ricans,and on and on.
The bottom line is, this is a great country, and if you want to enjoy immigrant status here, carrying papers to prove you are here illegally is not to much to ask. If you are an employer who frequently hires illegal immigrants, you should be held to the law. I am not crazy about law enforcement agents in sting operations trying to catch you, but the courts will protect you from overt entrapment.
This is merely a drastic step to protect its citizens from the unfortunate situations on our Mexican border....illegal drug smuggling, illegal immigrant smuggling, Mexican criminals seeking refuge here in the United States, illegal immigrants here to commit crimes in the United States, and illegal gun and weapon smuggling in the United States. Carried out correctly, this will be a small thing. Will law enforcement take this way too far? Possibly, but if enforced judiciously and to the letter of the law, it will be yet another tool to protect our borders and weed out the criminals in our society here illegally. I am holding my nose slightly, and I am biting my liberal, card carrying ACLU bent somewhat, but I am 60-40 in favor of this bill. Good Lord help me....but I am siding with the GOP on this one....and praying I will not hear stories of massive abuse of this law by bigoted law enforcement agencies.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

THE TEA PARTY: STEEPED IN IGNORANCE

I love protests, I love anyone in this country who cares enough to form an opinion....if it is an informed one. But criticism for criticisms sake with no solutions offered is just whining, which is exactly why I think these zealots either need to come up with a solution, or shut the f*ck up.
Take a portion of their platform...smaller government and a reduction of taxes. Makes sense to me, where do I sign up? AND this is easily done...we just have to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, avoid an armed conflict with Iran, raise the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare, and we can reduce the deficit and lower taxes...and reduce the size of government. Where do I sign up?
Oh wait, the Tea Party is actually against reducing Medicare and the raising of the age for Social Security (their supporters are..let's be kind and say "mature"), and FOR the dual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as taking a hard line on Iran (and who knows where that will lead us)....so considering these are overwhelmingly our largest expenditures, how exactly does that work? Hello.....tea partiers, hello? Anybody?
They want to end any socialist program to help the poor and disadvantaged, yet seem to forget that is what Social Security and Medicare does (programs that do not pay for itself since long ago in the bubble generation)......how about we drop you sorry asses from these programs...it would save a fortune, and the savings could be used to reduce taxes for everyone.
They are decidedly anti-Obama (with insultingly immature signage and slogans) and his spending, but fail to remember his one year performance was overwhelmingly affected by the sorry state of the economy he inherited from his predecessor (and his multiple tax cuts, pathetically run wars with massive amounts of funds still unaccounted for, his unfunded mandate called Medicare-D, and two sorry attempts at regime change in the Middle East).
They want government to stop as they say "rewarding failure"....so I can only imagine this means an end to lunch programs in school, unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamp programs, and the like. And I can get on board....because my religion says screw everybody. I have long said this country would be better off with more people starving and living on the streets. More people losing their jobs, their homes, and watching their children go to sleep hungry. I am with you...where do I sign up?
Maybe I should ask your spokesperson, the Governor who quit her job and quit on the people who elected her for an all out assault on the American pocketbooks, as she refuses to even speak to an American college without six figures and a humiliating list of diva like demands. Where do I sign up....and do I have to be white to join? It seems all your members are white and middle aged. OK, I qualify. But do I have to mirror your bigotry? Maybe I won't join. I just can't get into your little protests and the insipid signage you carry, and the limited intelligence you possess.
Sure, I like to criticize...do it all the time. But at least I think of solutions in my own way. Maybe I won't join your little group. Cause I don't need to be a card carrying member of your little cult to aimlessly scream into the darkness.

IT'S OFFICIAL...WE HATE EVERYONE!

According to recent polling, you would be hard pressed to find anyone in politics today who poll favorables over 50%...especially in the Senate, where only 6 out of 50 poll favorables over 50% (and barely at that).
In early 2012 polling, Obama has dropped to 47%, Romney 44%, Gingrich 43%, Pawlenty, once thought to be a contender is at 42% in his home state, Huckabee is at 40%, and ex-Governor (and current public speaking / money ho) is at 37%, although polls incredibly high among the Tea Party cult. BTW, the Tea Party itself is polling favorables at 41%.
So does this mean we have yet to meet the next President, or the race is wide open? Not hardly. The only question is who Romney will take for his ticket, and (I hope not) if Obama retakes the invisible man Joe Biden once again on his ticket.
Clearly, anyone in politics today is about as popular as a child molester in a Chuck E. Cheese. Obviously, this dark period opens up all kinds of opportunities for fringes on both sides to organize and achieve some level of acceptance (witness the Tea Party). Anytime unemployment reaches double digits and the economy is sluggish as it is, the political scene will be rife with critics and 15 minutes of fame celebrities. But, as strong as the American citizens disapprove of both sides of the political scene, it will only mean a lower turn out at the polls. Clearly the fever pitch of engagement by the citizens is waning to say the least.
Can either side achieve any momentum in 2012? Not to 2008 levels in my mind. Clearly the right has the big "MO" at present, but if the economy continues to improve, the left can only benefit (and take credit), which would even the score by primary time.
But at present, the early numbers lead me to ask...who the hell do the American people want (or approve of)? The more I read, the more I wonder if they even know. As engagement decreases, so does knowledge on the behalf of the electorate, and this is a scary proposition to say the very least......as each party distorts and retorts the truth in order to curry favor. This is a scary time indeed.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

THE COMPLETE LIST OF THE MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OUR VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

Just kidding, the man ain't done shit.
At least he hasn't made the news by
saying something stupid lately.
What a great choice our Pres made.
The invisible man.
His only accomplishment has been standing next to Pelosi
and clapping during the State of the Union.
The only positive I can think of for Joe Biden is
he has good taste in women.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

20+ REASONS TO APPRECIATE THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

stabilized the stock market
health care reform
expansion of SCHIP program
more money for education
stimulus package signage
no lobbyist rule
pay freeze for WH staffers over $100k
closed the secret CIA prisons
ended water boarding, no torture policy
freedom of information act
reversal of stem cell ban
more $ in college Pell grants
lowered taxes for middle class
higher auto fuel standards
credit card reform bill
increased earned income tax credits
new car purchase tax breaks
withdrawal of troops from Iraq
focusing on Afghanistan
assisting Pakistan to stay strong
DIPLOMACY
lifting restrictions to Cuba
recent job growth (165k)