Bush and the Senate try to filch $4.4B from your pocket.

This is a release from Sen. Jim DeMint’s office….

June 27th, 2007 – Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) released Wednesday a report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) which says the new Senate immigration bill contains a major loophole in border security. Supporters of the bill say it provides $4.4 billion in immediate mandatory spending for border enforcement, but according to the CRS analysis, the funds could also be used immediately to implement the amnesty provisions in the bill.

“This is just another example of how this bill claims to do one thing but does something else entirely. It’s another example of an empty promise being used to buy votes for amnesty,” said Senator DeMint. “The supporters of this bill have been running around trying to convince people that this money will be used to secure the border first, but now we know that’s not the case. If you read the fine print, the bill says this money can also be used for amnesty.”

According to the CRS report provided to Senator DeMint, the mandatory spending in the bill could immediately be used for Z visas. It says, “(r)eceiving, processing, and adjudicating applications for the Z visa authorized by Title VI of the Act is one of the trigger mechanisms outlined in Section 1; this means that funding from the Immigration Security Account could be used for this purpose.”

In addition, the report says the funds could be used for Y visas and other programs once the trigger mechanisms have been met but it does not require the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify the trigger. The report says, “S. 1639 does not explicitly stipulate whether the certification required by Section 1 would have to take place prior to funding being made available for the additional purposes outlined in Section 2(C).”

“Not only can this money be used for things other then border security and enforcement, it looks like another backdoor trick to promote amnesty,” said Senator DeMint. “If Congress appropriates money later this year for the border, the money provided in this bill will turn into a slush fund the Administration can use to ensure illegal immigrants are legalized.”

So you see, It’s one big back-door scheme to re-allocate money from Border Security to fasttracking illegals for ‘voting status’.  Nothing about ‘immigration’ will be ‘reformed’ in this bill.  Those whose choose to remain here illegally will do so.  The voter base will grow as a result of the $4.4B slush fund to speed up ‘applications’.  The tax base will not grow because, as the Heritage Institute study points out, the people in question equal a net loss in government revenue.  We will have sent a message that we only enforce the laws that provide the lawmakers with political leverage.

And most importantly, we will remain a fundamentally ‘unsovereign’ nation.

Call the White House and your Senators.  Enough is enough. 

Hellooo! Anybody home? Not at the White House.

This nice little nugget of voter sentiment arrived via e-mail from TheLoft. 

If President Bush is looking for a legacy, he may have found it. Talk is that the president sees the overhaul of America’s immigration system as his gift to the country… his crowning achievement. It’s hard to believe that the walls of the White House are so thick, that not a single voice from the grassroots is getting through. As seen in GOPUSA’s latest survey, President Bush is losing the Republican base, and the party is suffering because of it.

Ya think!

In a survey conducted this week (view full survey results here) by GOPUSA’s Grassroots Survey Team, respondents were asked to comment on the on-going debate over illegal immigration reform and to indicate their approval of the job President Bush is doing.
Since GOPUSA created the Grassroots Survey Team, we have tracked presidential approval and for all of 2006, the number was relatively high and consistent. In March 2006, survey team members gave President Bush an 81% approval rating. In June of the same year, it was 77%. In September, the rating was 80%, and in October, the rating was 84%.

Then, as the immigration debate resurfaced and President Bush continued to push legislation that is completely counter to the feelings of not only Republicans but the general public, his approval among survey team members has taken a nose dive. In April 2007, presidential approval sank to 65%. But in this week’s survey of over 2,700 respondents, the president’s approval fell to a dismal 40%.

I think it was about a year ago that I and another poster had an argument over the issue that would ultimately divide the country and create enough of a maelstrom to create change.  He chose Iraq, I chose Illegal Immigration.  I’d love to seem some poll numbers on how those two issues have trended as a ‘priority’ with voters over the last year.

It is startling that the President and some members of the Senate just don’t get it. A recent poll by Scott Rasmussen looked into why the immigration bill failed in the Senate. According to Rasmussen:

The immigration bill failed because a broad cross-section of the American people are opposed to it. Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters are opposed. Men are opposed. So are women. The young don’t like it; neither do the no-longer-young. White Americans are opposed. Americans of color are opposed.

But wait! I thought is was just uppity white people with racist motivation that opposed this bill.

The last Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll found that just 23% of Americans supported the legislation. When a bill has less popular support than the War in Iraq, it deserves to be defeated.

Then, Rasmussen, in his discussion of the poll results, hit on a key conclusion that the White House misses (or refuses to see) over and over again.

In the minds of most Americans, immigration reform means reducing illegal immigration and enforcing the border. Only 16% believed the Senate bill would accomplish that goal.

It wasn’t amnesty or guest-worker programs or paths to citizenship that doomed the bill. Each of those provisions made it more difficult for some segments of the population to accept. However, most voters were willing to accept them as part of a true compromise that accomplished the primary goal of reducing illegal immigration.

The key to winning voter support was to accomplish that primary goal.

Rasmussen is right, and the results of GOPUSA’s Grassroots Survey Team support his conclusions. When asked about various areas of the illegal immigration issue, 97% of respondents said that it was “very important” to focus on “border security and reducing the number of people who enter the country illegally.” That number drops to 43% on the topic of “resolving the legal status of the illegal aliens already in the U.S.” Only 18% felt it was “very important” to set up a temporary worker program.

Duncan Hunter hit it on the head in our interview from a couple of months ago.  He said the fence is the law, follow the law (in reference to the Secure Fence Act).
Whether current office holders or seekers of office.  Whether Democrat or Republican.  The policy makers in this country better get it through their thick heads.  Americans want our borders and ports of entry secured.  Period!  Don’t talk to us about other facets of the issue until you accoplish that basic task.

On the flip side, 91% of respondents said it was “very important” to focus on “enforcing employment laws against the hiring of illegal workers.” Respondents also thought it was “very important” (68%) to focus on the issue of “children born to illegal aliens being automatic U.S. citizens.”

The survey team wants border security and employer enforcement. In other words, just as Rasmussen noted, Americans want illegal immigration stopped, yet the White House just doesn’t get it! Even in their latest statement, the Bush administration talks about the dangers of doing nothing to fix the “broken immigration system.” Hello! Right now, the American people don’t care about the overall immigration system. They want illegal immigration to stop! That can be done right here, right now by building the border fence and increasing the number of border patrol agents (under legislation already passed) and enforcing existing employer laws against hiring illegals.

One thing is clear. Republicans are passionate about this issue, and they are willing to take the time to make their feelings known. When asked if they supported the “illegal immigration legislation that was being debated in the U.S. Senate,” 93% of respondents said “no.” In addition, 76% of respondents said that within the last two weeks they contacted their senators and asked them to vote against the legislation.

This fairly well rebuffs the stories in the MSM that Americans, WITH LITTLE ORGANIZATION, helped kill the bill.  You folks better wake up. 

It’s really simple guys. We want a fence.  A law was passed to build that fence.  The money was appropriated to build that fence.  You guys aren’t building the damn fence.  Until you do, expect to here from us.

Taken to the cleaners UPDATE

Man! What a sad sack this guy seems to be.  This entire story is just one big fiasco.  Crying in court over some pants?  Come on dude, get a life! 

WASHINGTON (June 12) – A judge had to leave the courtroom with tears running down his face Tuesday after recalling the lost pair of trousers that led to his $54 million lawsuit against a dry cleaner.
Administrative law judge Roy L. Pearson had argued earlier in his opening statement that he is acting in the interest of all city residents against poor business practices. Defense attorneys called his claim “outlandish.”

He originally sued Custom Cleaners for about $65 million under the District of Columbia consumer protection act and almost $2 million in common law claims. He is no longer seeking damages related to the pants, instead focusing his claims on two signs in the shop that have since been removed.

He alleges that Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki Chung, owners of the mom-and-pop business, committed fraud and misled consumers with signs that claimed “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service.”

Pearson, representing himself, said in opening that he wanted to examine the culture that allowed “a group of defendants to engage in bad business practices for five years.”

An attorney for the Chungs portrayed Pearson as a bitter man with financial troubles stemming from a recent divorce who is taking out his anger on a hardworking family.

Full Story.

Judge takes little guy to the cleaners.

This ought to show you how badly we need tort reform in this country.  Jeez!! Now even the judges are filing frivolous suits (pun intended). 

This morning in the nation’s capital, a local judge will go to civil court to claim that he is owed $54 million from a local dry cleaner who he says lost his pants.

The case gained national attention soon after the lawsuit was filed. The pants are expected to be introduced into evidence, although the judge says the pants are not his, and the correct pants are still missing.

The sartorial loss caused Washington, D.C., administrative law judge Roy Pearson to suffer what he calls severe “mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort.”

The defendants, who own Custom Cleaners in the Fort Lincoln section of the district, told ABC News last month that they, too, are feeling inconvenience and discomfort.

The trouble began over a $10 dry cleaning bill for a pair of prized pants, Pearson said. That figure ballooned to $67 million dollars, but in recently amended court filings, Pearson now said he is only seeking $54 million. Last week, his term on the bench reportedly expired. It’s unclear whether it will be renewed.

The lawsuit is based in large part on Pearson’s contention that he was taken in by the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign hanging on the store’s wall. Pearson said at one point in court papers that he planned to call 63 witnesses. Pearson is expected to testify in the civil trial..

Defending themselves against the suit — for two years running — are Korean immigrants Jin and Soo Chung and their son, who own Custom Cleaners and two other local dry cleaning shops.

Pearson said this is not the first pair of his pants Custom Cleaners has lost. In court papers Pearson said that he took a pair of pants into Custom Cleaners in 2002 and the pants were lost.

So the Chungs gave Pearson a $150 check for a new pair of pants. Three years later, Pearson said he returned to Custom Cleaners and, like some real-life “Groundhog Day” nightmare, another pair of trousers went missing. Again.

It was May 2005 and Pearson was about to begin his new job as an administrative judge. He said in court filings he wanted to wear a nice outfit to his first day of work. He said that he tried on five Hickey Freeman suits from his closet, but found them all to be “too tight,” according to the Washington Post, which first reported the story. Pearson said he brought one pair in for alterations and they went missing — gray trousers with what Pearson described in court papers as blue and red stripes on them.

Seperation of Church and State repealed in NY

What the heck is going on in NY?  I should know better than to ask.  I could go over all the basic points here.  But they are glaringly obvious.  I won’t wait for the ACLU to show up.   Cowards.  

  

By Melanie Pritchard

Watch the story

In December, 1992, parents and students in the Williamsville School District protested the elimination of religious music and symbols in schools. A letter sent Monday to parents of sixth graders at Mill Middle school about a class trip is stirring up the controversy again. “We don’t have Christmas in school, we don’t have Easter, we don’t have Halloween. All that stuff’s been taken out.”
On Wednesday, the students will visit the Universal School and Islamic Community Center on Heim Road and the Hindu Cultural Center on French Road. The letter says the trip is meant to “develop a broader understanding of these religions’ beliefs and worship practices.”
A dad who wants to remain anonymous says his son won’t be going on the trip. He wonders why parents were given just two days notice, when they typically get at least a week. He also questions the destinations. “You just happened to pick two of them that everybody wants to be politically correct with. You didn’t pick a church, you didn’t go to the Jewish center.”
“In the Williamsville School District, there are so many different religions,” said Heather Neuss, Co-President of the Mill Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association. “So I think they’re just learning about what some of their friends believe.” Neuss says no one raised any objections last Fall when the PTSA discussed and approved a request to help fund this field trip. “As far as the PTSA goes, it’s the bridge from the community to the school. So it was fine as far as we were concerned.”
The letter to parents also says girls must wear a scarf while visiting the Islamic Community Center. School officials call a sign of respect, but this dad says it’s going too far. “To me this is more of an indoctrination into a religion than teaching.”
The school district did not want to comment on the issue.

The punchline to the Nifong joke.

What a joke Mike Nifong has become.  And check out the quote from his attorney.  That’s just laughable. 

The North Carolina State Bar has charged Nifong, the district attorney in Durham County, with several violations of the state’s rules of professional conduct, all tied to his handling of the lacrosse case.

Former Duke Lacrosse Prosecutor Faces Trial

By AARON BEARD

AP

RALEIGH, N.C. (June 12) – More than a year after shocking allegations emerged about Duke University’s lacrosse team, prosecutor Mike Nifong  is heading to trial – as a defendant

Among those expected to watch from the gallery of a packed North Carolina Court of Appeals courtroom are Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, two of the once-charged and now cleared players. Several defense attorneys and family members of the three players are also expected to attend.

Nifong is expected to testify at the trial.

Nifong’s attorney, David Freedman, did not return calls seeking comment Monday. But last week, he insisted his client had no plans to heed calls from his critics to resign.

“Public opinion is not going to weigh in on how the proceeding develops and will not weigh in on the ultimate decision by the bar,” Freedman said. “Our purpose is not to sway public opinion but to present his case to the State Bar.”

Full Story.

Screaming Paris Hilton Going Back to Jail

Spoiled little brat!  I’m sick and tired of these bratty kids whining and crying over having to be responsible for their actions.  Suck it up, girlfriend!

Heiress Receives Full Term After House Arrest Mishap

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP

LOS ANGELES (June
9) – She was taken handcuffed and crying from her home. She was
escorted into court disheveled, without makeup, hair askew and face red
with tears.

Crying out for her mother when she was ordered back to jail, Paris Hilton ‘s cool, glamorous image evaporated Friday as she gave the impression of a little girl lost in a merciless legal system.

“It’s not right!” shouted the weeping Hilton. “Mom!” she called out to Kathy Hilton, who also was in tears.

The 26-year-old hotel heiress tried to move toward her parents but was
steered away by two sheriff’s deputies, who held her by each arm and
hustled her from the courtroom.

Superior Court Judge
Michael T. Sauer was apparently unmoved by the pleas of Hilton’s
lawyers to send her back to home confinement because of an unspecified
medical condition. He ordered Hilton returned to a Los Angeles County
jail to serve the rest of her 45-day sentence for violating probation
in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

The judge gave no explanation
for his ruling. But his comments showed he was affronted by county
Sheriff Lee Baca’s decision to set aside his instructions and release
Hilton after three days in jail to finish her time in the luxury of her
Hollywood Hills home.

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John Edwards on Poverty.

John Edwards has an example to teach University of California at Davis students how to avoid poverty — charge $55,000 for a speech.

That’s how much the 2008 Democratic presidential candidate negotiated for his fee to speak to 1,787 people at the taxpayer-funded school in January 2006, according to financial disclosures.

According to Joe Martin, the public relations officer for UC Davis’ Mondavi Center, the fee for a speech entitled, “Poverty, the Great Moral issue Facing America,” was worth it to school officials.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274513,00.html

Thanks to Joe @ PD.

Big Pharma at it again.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amgen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson are paying doctors hundreds of millions of dollars every year in return for prescribing anemia drugs which regulators now say may be unsafe at commonly used doses, the New York Times reported on its Web site on Wednesday.

The payments are legal, the Times said. But it cited critics as saying that the payments give doctors an incentive to prescribe the anemia drugs known as EPO at levels that might increase risks of heart attacks or strokes.

The paper said Amgen and Johnson & Johnson had not disclosed the total amount of payments to doctors, but it cited estimates from industry analysts that such payments total hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Companies cannot pay doctors to prescribe drugs that are given in pill form and purchased from pharmacies, but they can rebate part of the price that doctors pay for medicines that they dispense in their offices, the Times said.

Johnson & Johnson and Amgen could not immediately be reached for comment.

But the Times quoted Johnson & Johnson as saying that its rebates were not intended to induce doctors to use more medicine, and instead “reflect intense competition.”

Amgen told the paper that the rebates were a normal practice and that it had always properly promoted its drugs.

“Amgen is dedicated to patient safety,” the paper quoted a spokesman as saying. “We believe our contracts support appropriate anemia management and our product promotion is always strictly within the label.”

The Times also cited analysts as saying that DaVita, the biggest owner of dialysis clinics in the United States, gets a quarter of its revenue from anemia drugs.

DaVita could not immediately be reached for comment.

The paper quoted David Van Wyck, senior associate to the chief medical officer of DaVita, as saying the company did not overuse the medicines.

Doctors determine how much to use, the Times quoted Van Wyck as saying. “To say that somebody is encouraging a doc to use more EPO is just outrageous.”

Why did they get Laptops in the first place?

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. — The students at Liverpool High have used their school-issued laptops to exchange answers on tests, download pornography and hack into local businesses. When the school tightened its network security, a 10th grader not only found a way around it but also posted step-by-step instructions on the Web for others to follow (which they did).

Chris Barry, 16, carrying his laptop at Liverpool High School in Liverpool, N.Y., where they are being phased out.

Scores of the leased laptops break down each month, and every other morning, when the entire school has study hall, the network inevitably freezes because of the sheer number of students roaming the Internet instead of getting help from teachers.

So the Liverpool Central School District, just outside Syracuse, has decided to phase out laptops starting this fall, joining a handful of other schools around the country that adopted one-to-one computing programs and are now abandoning them as educationally empty — and worse.

Many of these districts had sought to prepare their students for a technology-driven world and close the so-called digital divide between students who had computers at home and those who did not.