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<![CDATA[Be sure to sign the Beverly Hills Referendum Petition! Volunteers dragging the massive 15.5 lb. petitions with luggage carts are your neighbors, giving of their time and money for the good of our city. Support them, and do your part! Click on the link below to see how. <a href="http://beverlyhillscitizen.com/" rel="nofollow">http://beverlyhillscitizen.com/</a> If you are a registered BH voter and you haven't signed yet, contact us. We'll arrange a convenient way for you to sign a petition and we will have volunteers with petitions at the Farmers Market on Sunday, and at other public places. Let's get this issue on the ballot so we can decide whether or not the Hilton Expansion goes forward. OUR CITY, OUR VOICE, OUR CHOICE! CITIZENS RIGHT TO DECIDE COMMITTEE 6303 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 201 Los Angeles, CA 90048 Voicemail: (323) 944-0910 ]]>

<![CDATA[Google trends shows the relationship between media coverage and popularity. Despite almost no media coverage for Ron Paul there is no contest, he is the runaway most popular candidate trumping all three other zionist stooges combined! <a href="http://google.com/trends?q=ron+paul%2C+john+mccain&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0" rel="nofollow">http://google.com/trends?q=ron+paul%2C+john+mccain&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0</a> Ron Paul for president. Prison for the rest.]]>

<![CDATA[What are you scared of?! You keep flagging posts which contain views you don't like or agree with.]]>

<![CDATA[This post was found in the RR section. Not the OP but thought it also belonged in the political section. Many Californians can probably relate. If you do take the time to read it keep in mind that it's possible that nothing can or will change and things will only get worse because most people who could do something about things can't for many reasons such as; Just waiting it out for Retirement--pension Political correctness Discrimination/hate crime laws Paid off by lobbyists Teacher Unions Government and Corporate Bureaucracy Institutionalized Corruption Weak Minded--Immoral-Unethical People Greed, Power and more money Keep job--don't rock boat Foreign government interests and more ________________________________________________________________________________ A Commentary on Life in Southern California -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply to: pers-683585823@craigslist.org Date: 2008-05-16, 3:52PM PDT You can flag me, you can hate me, you can do whatever you want to me. But the message is out there, the truth is out there. And you know why I think this keeps getting flagged? It's because people don't want to face the ugly truth that this is reality, this is the way things are. You want to stick your head in the sand and pretend this is a perfect world where every culture and every race gets along and the world is full of shiny, happy people. It's not. That's the same mentality that believes the lady who spills hot McDonald's coffee on herself deserves millions of dollars because McDonald's didn't make a safer cup. If you awaken to common sense and reality you'll see what is happening here. I've been accused of being angry, being a troll and being a racist. I'm none of the above. I'm a smart, educated, normal, average person who truthfully doesn't hate anyone or any race. I'm just disappointed in all of us. Myself included. I'm disappointed because the people who don't get it should, they need to understand more than anyone. And I'm disappointed in those of us who know because we're too afraid to do anything about it. I fall into that category. I can't stand on a street corner and say these things, I can't even say it in a Starbucks or in my own yard because I'd be run out of town, called a racist, hurt, maybe murdered. All because I speak the truth. We should never be afraid to speak the truth or know it. Now read this, and think about it. Before you judge it, before you do the cowardly thing and flag it, read it. And think. You know, I see a lot racist things posted on here and I see a lot of people bagging on the people who post them. But you know something? That sad part is, generally speaking, it's true. Yes, I'm a white man in my late 20's. I'm not from California. I'm from the east coast. I've been living here about ten years. That's the lowdown on me. There are a lot of naive people who grew up in California and these cultural melting pots of white people, brown people, black people, reds and yellows and whatever else. Asians, middle easterners, India Indians, blacks, French, Russians, Mexicans, you name it. California has it all. And there are, like I said, a lot of naive people here. Most of them are white, I'm sad to say. See the problem is, they've been exposed to this their whole lives. They think it's normal. They think it's like this everywhere. Well, it's not. Look around you sometime and what do you see? I mean at a store or restaurant. What do you see? A lot of cultures and a lot of people and most of them are, for lack of a better term, savages. You go into bookstores and you see piles of books and magazines lying around in stacks. You go into a retail store and you see clothes in piles on the floor. A fast-food place has a mess falling off the tables onto the floor. You don't see this kind of nonsense back east. Why? Because where I was from you didn't have a population full of primitives. White people would go to a store, if something fell on the floor they'd pick it up. Here, people step on it and step over it. They go to a bookstore and they don't throw the books and magazines on the floor after they finish reading them. They browse, get what they want and buy it. They don't go into a restaurant and slop things everywhere and belch at the tables in public. Problem is, I see a lot of white folks do this here. But that's usually white people who were born here and were raised around the filthy people who do this. They think it's normal and right because everyone else does it. Back east, no one would think of doing these things. People work their whole lives and don't ask for help from the government. People don't go on welfare or use government housing money unless they need to. If they're on welfare they're driving a car that barely runs, not a $60,000 Mercedes or other foreign luxury car. They don't have six generations of family living in the same apartment because "it's their culture." That's not a culture, that's mindless. No one would think of passing on the right. No one would think of stealing shopping carts from the grocery stores and leaving them on a neighbor's lawn. These things are illegal, you see. But there's no law for the people here. Because they come from countries where there are no rules and no laws. Where everything is filthy and corrupt and savage. You don't need to look at history, you only need look around you right now. The most successful nations on earth are white nations. America, England, France (yes even them), Canada. All predominately white nations. All ruled by white people at least. And look at the rest of the world. Russia. Barely surviving. Middle East. A lost cause, people living in clay shacks and chopping each other's heads off and slicing the clits off little girls. Africa. People still running around naked and invading villages, chopping people to bits and blaming everything bad that happens on ghosts and witches. India. Rats roaming the streets, lepers, disease runs rampant. China and Japan. Repressed. Wealthy, but repressed and not altogether civilized, half their houses are made of paper and women are still third or fourth class citizens. Mexico, Latin America, South America. Using a condom or a pill is a sin that'll send you right to hell but having 15 kids you can't feed who have 10 of their own by the time they're 25 and they can't feed is the way God intended it. And blacks in general have a chip on their shoulder. They still blame the white man for all their problems. I don't deny white people try to avoid blacks and keep them out of their clubs or businesses or neighborhoods. But do you blame them? Everywhere black folks go they ruin it. Long Beach used to be nice way back when. Lots of places did until black folks moved in. They turn it into the ghetto. Black people don't intentionally seek the ghetto, they just bring it with them wherever they go. It's sad to say, genetic. People like to gloss over the historical truth that the majority of black folks here are descended from slaves but that it wasn't the economic poverty of slavery that still burdens these blacks, but rather, their genetics. Most of the black slaves that were brought here were the criminal element of the tribes. The white slave traders didn't run ashore and grab a bunch of blacks, that's not how it happened. The people brought here on slave ships were sold to the slave traders by other Africans. The slaves were the poor, the criminals, murderers, thieves, the outcasts and filth of the African tribes, sold to white people and slave traders to get rid of them. You can see it with people are born into criminal families. Despite the best chances given them, they revert to the ways of their forbearers, as do the blacks today. You see what I'm saying? People born in California are naive. They think to act without thought is acceptable. They think Armenians like white people when they really hate everyone but other Armenians. They think middleasterners can live with everyone else without wanting to kill them praise Allah. They think blacks can get along with other people. They think Asians are cultured and refined when really they're just repressed. They think Mexicans have a right to be here just like everyone else and called "undocumented" when they're really just illegal immigrants. They think these people are normal because they think the behavior is normal. It is not. It is savage and uncouth and animalistic in nature. They come from backwards and brutal cultures and bring it here and make people think it's the way things should be. I know it's just because I'm from a place full of mostly white people I can see this. I'm from a place where people respect each other and take care of their belongings. Where we act in a respectful nature when we go into a public place. Where we are civilized human beings. And now I'm here. I see this. I see this cesspool that masquerades as a melting pot and I'm saddened and disgusted. More so by the naive white folks who don't get it than anything else. You're going to call me a racist. But I'm not. I have friends of every color and creed and religion and ethnicity. I hang out with them, I talk to them, I work with them. I will argue they have every right to live and breathe and walk this earth. I don't want them living in my neighborhood. Because they don't know any better. I live amongst people who come from places like I come from, because they understand. I don't want to live in squalor and filth, I don't want to live with people who secretly hate me and would side with someone of the same skin tone as them over me even if I'm clearly right. I don't want to live around an animalistic people. I want to live around my own kind. (Somehow it's racist to say that if I'm white but it's celebrating a culture if you're black or Armenian or Asian or Mexican. Why is that?) There are a lot of people who know I'm right. There are a lot of people who feel exactly like I feel. They're just too afraid to say it. Allow me to say some closing remarks: I am a Democrat. Because I believe life should be better for all people. I'm a college graduate. Because I worked hard to do it. I am also not holding all white people up as the height of humanity, there are plenty of white trash and filthy, loser, nasty useless white people. But, as a whole...And I live in California because I like it. I'm not moving from California, now or ever. I like it here. There are many opportunities, there are beautiful things to see, perfect weather and landscapes, better jobs. I love this place. I just wish it could be normal. <a href="http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/rnr/683585823.html" rel="nofollow">http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/rnr/683585823.html</a> ]]>

<![CDATA[You contend that Prop 98 would drive people into the slums. Well, that's a boldfaced lie. Rent control is wrong. You aren't entitled to stay in my apartment for less than what the going rates are for apartments in the area. You have no right to force me to accept less money. This is socialism and theft. But even as wrong as rent control is, Prop 98 doesn't eliminate it for those currently living under rent control. It allows you to leech off of a property owner until you move or die. Of course if you move, the property owner who rents out his property should be able to raise rents to market rates. Only an idiot would suggest otherwise. If you can only afford to live in the slums, that is where you should live. Move to Ohio, it's much cheaper there, and you will have nicer neighborhoods for the price. But if you want to live in California in 2008, you should pay California rates for 2008. Rent control is like me going into your house, putting my stuff in your master bedroom and telling you I will only pay $5 per month, and screw you if you don't like it, or want to make me move.]]>

<![CDATA[Reply to: comm-683605414@craigslist.org Date: 2008-05-16, 4:09PM PDT Shame on you! How dare you say that our soliders died in vain? How dare you give us all of this cutesy-cute drivel about "King George"? How dare you give us all of these lies about free speech and democacy being dead? Look, bozo. You are speaking pretty freely. I do not notice "King George" and his Gestapo swooping down on you. The fact that sorry-ass losers like you get to mouth off all of the time is all the proof that anyone needs that this is a free country. As for the war being such a disaster, do you remember 9/11? How many times has it happened since then? The country has been kept safe from attack, and all you jackasses can do is drone on and on about how evil the President is who has protected your sorry ass. What is really a shame is that our troops have to die protecting ungrateful spoiled children like you; it is too bad we can't tell Al Queda to just come get you, because you don't want to fight them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not the OP, but I want to just chime in. First off, so what if they call Bush "King George"? Is that a bad thing, to mock the president? Really? We can't call the president names and openly mock him? We should be ashamed of it? Well, well, well. I must say, this is a remarkable change from the attitudes I saw demonstrated when Bill Clinton was President. He got mocked and ridiculed for everything from his waistline to his affairs. Nobody saw anything wrong with mocking him, and the idea of "showing respect for the office" meant nothing. Now Bush is suddenly immune from mockery? Did the rules change? Just because we still have the right to post on Craig's List does NOT mean that our rights haven't been compromised. Bush wants to spy on our phone conversations, or didn't you read the Military Commissions Act? He even wants to know what books we borrow from our local library, or didn't you read the Patriot Act? Or would you just rather we sit in silence until he has tanks patrolling our streets? At what point in the erosion of our constitutional rights is it okay for us to protest? It reminds me of the old parent threat "quit crying or I'll give you something to cry about." Next, YES we remember 9/11. We remember who was president then, too. Bush and his supporters love to tell us how he has kept us safe. Really? Tell that to the 3,000 civilians who died on 9/11/2001. Tell their families how safe they are thanks to George W. Bush. Tell it to the passengers of that flight that crashed in Pennsylvania. Remind their families how safe we all are in George W. Bush's America. And while we're on the topic of reminding, let me remind you of a little memo dated August 6, 2001. It was titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack in U.S." Ring any bells? Do you want to tell us all again how Bush kept us safe? Finally, those troops didn't have to die to keep me safe, or anyone else. Those troops, honorable men and women all, died in a war based on lies to satisfy a madman's agenda. Bush lied about the WMD's. We know that now. If we had known it on 9/12/2001, we never would have consented to this war in the first place. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Did you expect us to forget that? None of the hijackers were Iraqi. None of the training happened in Iraq. Iraq didn't finance it. And as to the idea that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who killed his own people, save your breath. The only reason he was in charge in Iraq at all was because he was propped up by Reagan and Bush Sr. in the 1980's to fight Iran for us. We MADE Saddam Hussein. And secondly, we've killed more Iraqi citizens than Saddam could have ever hoped to. So who's the monster that needs to be replaced through regime change? GEORGE W. BUSH. And we're not getting duped into voting for McCain, his little acolyte, no matter how badly you try to smear Obama. Your day is done. You had your fun, you all got rich, and the party is about to end. Show a little dignity now and walk away.]]>

<![CDATA[Getting rid of eminent domain is great but this seem to be only a guise. The removal of rent control will drive many of us into the slums. those who claim this is a lie, fail to acknowledge that under prop 98 your rent will remain controlled only until you move. I think most of us live in more than one home during our lives so this would effectively raise our rents. Rent controls laws are here for a reason. if we can get rid of eminent domain laws lets do it but not along with rent controls! So to those in favor of Prop 98 please admit that 98 does not continues to protect those of us with controlled rent. it only protects you until you move. after that your new landlord will have the power to raise your rent at will free of the rent control laws that have protected common people from land owners exploitation.]]>

<![CDATA[Hey Jackass! Unlike you, I actually do remember 9/11. You know what I remember? Not one of the people who hijacked planes was here illegally, and none of them were from Iraq or Afghanistan. And yes, each and every single American soldier, marine, or sailor who went to Iraq did so in violation of the Constitution and their oath to uphold it. Each and every one who died, did so in vain because America is not more safe. In fact, America and the rest of the world are in MORE danger. Not one member of the U.S. Military in Iraq or Afghanistan is protecting America, they are endangering it and helping to recruit more terrorists. George W. Bush hasn't protected anything other than his oil investments. You can't seriously be stupid enough to suggest that Bush's attacks on our civil rights and our Constitution have prevented terrorist attacks in America and are using the lack of attacks in America as your evidence. That's like me saying, "My shirt repels polar bears. I can prove it. You don't see any polar bears around me do you?" You are a psycho and a neocon, freeper, dittohead, moron. You didn't just swallow the kool aid, you filled your pool with it and drowned in it. That's why you are brain dead. ]]>

<![CDATA[<h3 class="entry-header">The Deep Dishonesty of Prop. 99</h3> <div class="entry-content"> <div class="entry-body"> Proposition 99’s backers—that is almost entirely government groups who love eminent domain—are running an enormously dishonest commercial arguing that Prop. 99 is the “only” way to get “real” eminent domain reform, and smearing the alternative <a href="http://www.hjta.org/yeson98" rel="nofollow">Proposition 98.</a> I have rarely seen such brazen misinformation. The fact is that Prop. 99 would not protect anyone in California from eminent domain abuse. It would not apply at all to small businesses, which are the most common victims of eminent domain. It would not protect people living in apartments at all. It would not protect farms, or churches. It would only protect “owner occupied residences.” And in fact, it would not even protect them, because the small print in the initiative eliminates such protections in almost every case of eminent domain abuse—<a href="http://eminentdomain.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/what-would-prop.html" rel="nofollow">click here for an explanation.</a> Proposition 98, by contrast, would prohibit the government from taking away small businesses, apartment buildings, farms, churches, and homes, and giving the land to private developers. If you are outraged about Kelo v. New London and the abuse of eminent domain, the only genuine protection is Proposition 98. It was written, not by evil greedy landlords, but by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, for decades the strongest defender of California’s homeowners. Prop. 99, on the other hand, was drafted by the League of California Cities, a group made up of city bureaucrats who are hoping to use their initiative to derail any attempt to protect property rights in California. Do not be fooled by their cynical scheme. What about rent control? One charge routinely leveled at Prop. 98 is that it would hurt the poor by eliminating rent control. But here are the facts: 1) Rent control is already illegal in most California cities. Under laws passed a decade ago, California cities are not allowed to adopt new rent control laws in almost any case. 2) Prop. 98 would not eliminate rent control for any person who is currently living in rent controlled property. It would phase out rent control only when people leave their apartments. It does not allow landlords to evict people for paying low rents. It does not allow landlords to raise rents for people living there. Prop. 98 would not throw people out on the street at all. That is nothing but a lie being spread by Prop. 99’s backers to again fool people into voting against eminent domain protections. 3) Rent control is a bad idea that hurts the poor and actually drives up the cost of housing—and it violates property rights. If you make it illegal to charge what something is worth, businesses are going to provide less of it. Rent control laws create housing shortages by deterring people from putting places up for rent. They also lead to poor maintenance because landlords don’t find it worthwhile to maintain their property since they can’t get what the property is worth.  That is why rent control is already illegal in most of California. Worst of all, rent control violates property rights by forbidding landowners from charging what they want for their land. You can’t say you believe in your property rights, but not in the property rights of “the rich” or “evil landlords.” 4) Even if you think rent control should be retained, Prop. 98 is the only proposition that protects property rights from eminent domain abuse—you would be better off voting for it and then later going back and repealing the rent control sections if you think they are bad. Prop. 98 is being attacked by government bureaucrats and their supporters who want to fool Californians into voting against eminent domain protections. It’s absolutely sickening, and voters should not fall for it. If you think Kelo v. New London went too far, and if you think eminent domain abuse must be eliminated you should vote yes on Proposition 98 and no on Prop. 99.]]>

<![CDATA[THE FACTS ABOUT: Proposition 98: California Property Owners & Farmland Protection Act. California Constitutional Amendment. Protect Property Rights for all Californians. Californians for Property Rights Protection is a coalition of homeowners, family farmers, small business owners, and other property owners (small and large) led by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, California Farm Bureau Federation, and The California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights. Together, this powerful coalition has qualified Proposition 98, the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA), for the June 3, 2008 ballot. The CPOFPA is a constitutional amendment. Changes to the constitution made by this initiative can only be made by a majority of voters in the state, not the State Legislature. Summary of key provisions in the initiative: <ul><li>Private property may not be taken by eminent domain for private use under any circumstances (e.g. to build a shopping center, auto mall or industrial park).</li> <li>Property may be taken by eminent domain only for public use (e.g.. freeway construction, parks, or schools).</li> <li>Property may not be taken by government and used for the same purposes (e.g. residential housing cannot be used for government housing).</li> <li>Family farms and open space are protected from seizures by government for the purpose of selling the natural resources. </li> <li>If a public agency takes property under false pretenses, or abandons its plans, the property must be offered for sale to the original owner at the original price and the property tax would be assessed at the value of the property when it was originally condemned. </li> <li>If farmers or business owners are evicted by eminent domain, they would be entitled to compensation for temporary business losses, relocation expenses, business reestablishment costs and other reasonable expenses.</li> <li>Government may not set the price at which property owners sell or lease their property. However, tenants who live in rent-regulated communities will continue to receive the benefit of those regulations as long as they live in their residences.</li></ul> Key Issues: <ul><li>The Constitution of the State of California provides that, "All people by nature are free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property . . ." Prop 98 reaffirms and strengthens the private property protections set forth in our state constitution.</li> <li>Property rights are a fundamental, core value among California voters. Statewide survey research shows more than 67% support for an eminent domain reform ballot initiative - Republicans, Democrats, Independents, seniors and baby boomers all support the initiative. </li> <li>Enhanced farmland protections provided in this amendment increase support for this measure among environmentally concerned voters. Prohibiting sale or lease price regulations protects property owners when they sell or lease their property to others. At the same time, Prop 98 protects current tenants from unanticipated increases in their rents.</li> <li>Nothing in Prop 98 would prohibit or limit legitimate land use decisions, zoning, work place laws, or environmental protections. Nor would it expose public agencies to costly litigation. </li></ul> See <a href="http://www.yesprop98.com/fs/global:file/publish/publish_jkb2iv10czgg5ew_files/file/id/jpghu97znscqrd?_adctlid=v%7Cwynx8c5jjesxsb%7Cx4dgcxxsuis3km" rel="nofollow">a comparison chart </a>between the Prop 98 and the League of Cities' sham initiative, Prop 99. <a href="http://www.yesprop98.com/fs/global:file/publish/publish_jkb2iv10czgg5ew_files/file/id/jkf01aokyc697?_adctlid=v%7Cwynx8c5jjesxsb%7Cx4dgcxxsuis3km" rel="nofollow">Download a copy of the Fact Sheet here.</a> ]]>

<![CDATA[Shame on you! How dare you say that our soliders died in vain? How dare you give us all of this cutesy-cute drivel about "King George"? How dare you give us all of these lies about free speech and democacy being dead? Look, bozo. You are speaking pretty freely. I do not notice "King George" and his Gestapo swooping down on you. The fact that sorry-ass losers like you get to mouth off all of the time is all the proof that anyone needs that this is a free country. As for the war being such a disaster, do you remember 9/11? How many times has it happened since then? The country has been kept safe from attack, and all you jackasses can do is drone on and on about how evil the President is who has protected your sorry ass. What is really a shame is that our troops have to die protecting ungrateful spoiled children like you; it is too bad we can't tell Al Queda to just come get you, because you don't want to fight them.]]>

<![CDATA[Then of course there's the huge future hidden tax known as the national debt the Republicans are handing our kids. And what else would you call this ever-ballooning Iraq war budget and the gross theft going on there? Like Keith Olbermann says, the only point of this war in Iraq is to make sure there is a war in Iraq. Jesse Ventura put it best: The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats are pay as you go, while the Republicans say just put it on the credit card and let somebody else down the road pay for it.]]>

<![CDATA[Republicans love to lie in spite of facts, logic, and reason. They claim George W. Bush has given us a "Tax Cut" when in fact this was the government borrowing money from China, which we'll have to pay back with interest. Republicans love to act generous with your credit, and leave the bill to you and your children. Those who claim Bush decreased taxes are lying. George W. Bush increased taxes but like most Republicans he was sneaky and hid the tax increase. One might ask, "How did he do this?" The answer is simple; deficit spending. George W. Bush, and other Republicans spend as much or more than Democrats, but rather that increase taxes, they circulate more dollars and reduce the value of the dollar. They know their supporters will hate them if they increase taxes to pay for their unconstitutional programs, and they know they'll be unpopular if they cut costs and eliminate unconstitutional programs so rather than do those things, they simply tell the Fed to fabricate more money. Right now, the value of a dollar is lower than it's ever been in U.S. History thanks to George W. Bush. Rather than do the right thing by reducing spending, he starts 2 unwarranted, unprovoked, and blatantly unconstitutional wars of aggression against nations that posed no threat to our own. He's spent a trillion dollars on this fiasco, and gotten thousands upon thousands of Americans killed or crippled, while murdering about a million people who had nothing to do with 9/11. Republicans love INVISIBLE taxes. Our dollar has about half the spending power it did when Bush took office. Thanks to Bush and the Federal reserve, America is in more danger not less, is on the brink of financial collapse, our great, great, great grandchildren will be born into debt, and America has become the laughing stock of the world. Thankfully soon-to-be President Obama will work hard to fix some of the damage caused by Bush and his Republican Congress during his first 6 years.]]>

<![CDATA[Sound as though you have some Homophobe issues....Know what they say, you fight it so much means you are one.....tsk tsk Me thinks thou protests a bit too much]]>

<![CDATA[cut funding for kindergarten! Said Texas couldn't afford it. Then he turned around and jammed through a HUGE taxcut. Isn't that special? <a href="http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/education_governor.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.bushfiles.com/bushfiles/education_governor.html</a>]]>

<![CDATA[Amnesty Amendment Added to Iraqi War Funding Bill! Call Your Senators Now!! Late Thursday afternoon, the Senate Appropriations Committee attached several immigration amendments - including an amnesty amendment - to the Iraq War Funding Bill. By doing so, members of the Senate Finance Committee not only snuck controversial amendments into a bill that funds our servicemen and women, but they chose to attach guest worker amnesty provisions that the American people flatly rejected in 2007! These amendments are designed to allow corporations to import hundreds of thousands of additional guest workers at a time when the U.S. economy is struggling. The Iraq War Funding Bill could be on the Senate floor as early as NEXT WEEK as Senators try to finish business before the Memorial Day recess. FAIR is asking all members, activists, and friends to call their Senators NOW and tell them you oppose these measures! Two of the amendments adopted in the Senate Appropriations Committee were provisions rejected in last year's Bush-Kennedy Amnesty Bill (S.1639). These include: (1) The Feinstein AgJOBS Amendment. This amendment, authored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), grants 5-year amnesty visas to 1.35 million illegal alien agricultural workers plus their families by granting them "emergency worker status." The amendment also: * Grants work authorization to beneficiaries and their spouses; * Grants travel authorization to beneficiaries and their families; * Otherwise treats beneficiaries as green card holders (legal permanent residents); and * Prohibits beneficiaries from being prosecuted for social security fraud and related identity theft crimes. To qualify for the amnesty program, an illegal alien must show he or she was employed at least 150 days or earned at least $7,000.00 in the agricultural sector in the 48 months ending December 31, 2007. The alien will then pay a fee of $250.00 and receive an identification card evidencing his or her legal status. (2) The Mikulski H-2B Amendment. This amendment, authored by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), will increase the number of unskilled H-2B guest workers by reinstating the returning worker exemption for a period of three years. This exemption (which expired last year) allows guest workers who entered the U.S. through the H-2B guest worker program in the previous three years to return without counting towards the 66,000 cap. This exemption could lead to exponential growth in the H-2B program, potentially increasing the number of unskilled H-2B guest workers by over 200,000 in just a few years. But the Senate Appropriations Committee didn't stop there! It adopted two other immigration amendments intended to appease special interests and corporations. The Murray-Gregg Amendment, authored by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Judd Gregg (R-NH), increases the number of employment-based green cards available for multinational executives and so-called "high-tech" workers by "recapturing" approximately 218,000 unused visas from as far back as 1994. The Leahy Amendment, authored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), extends the duration of a program that helps rich investors obtain green cards. Please call your Senators NOW and tell them you are appalled that these are the priorities of the United States Senate! Tell your Senators that the only immigration legislation you want taken up in Congress is true immigration reform legislation that restores common sense to our system, secures our borders, and imposes tough sanctions on employers who exploit cheap foreign labor. To find the phone numbers of your Senators, click here. <a href="http://www.fairus.org/site/R?i=YPz0oL5Z9WiDCpk5du1RrA.." rel="nofollow">http://www.fairus.org/site/R?i=YPz0oL5Z9WiDCpk5du1RrA..</a> ]]>

<![CDATA[Couple of big problems with this one for instance. "6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004." <a href="http://media.www.wsusignpost.com/media/storage/paper985/news/2007/11/26/News/AbstinenceOnly.Sex.Ed.Makes.No.Difference-3115310.shtml" rel="nofollow">http://media.www.wsusignpost.com/media/storage/paper985/news/2007/11/26/News/AbstinenceOnly.Sex.Ed.Makes.No.Difference-3115310.shtml</a> <a href="http://www.newwest.net/main/article/the_failure_of_abstinence_only_sex_education/" rel="nofollow">http://www.newwest.net/main/article/the_failure_of_abstinence_only_sex_education/</a> And btw: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/12abortion.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/12abortion.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin</a> But hell, since when have the facts ever stood in the way of the misogynist Republicans from believing in fantasy?]]>

<![CDATA[George W. Bush's Resume of his Past work experience and accomplishments: * Ran for congress and lost. * Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie. * Bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt shortly after he sold all his stock. * Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using tax-payer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox. * With fathers help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas. Accomplishments as Governor: * Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. * Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America. * Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money. * Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history. * Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of his fathers appointments to the Supreme Court. George W. Bush: accomplishments as president * Attacked and took over two countries. * Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury. * Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history. * Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period. * Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market. * First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner. * First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record. * First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history. * After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history. * Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history. * In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job. *Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history. * Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period. * Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history. * Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television. * Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history. * Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed. * Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have. * Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans. * Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. * Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history. * My presidency is the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history. * Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history.(the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Exxon oil tanker named after her). * First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt. * Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world. * First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation. * Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States. * Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history. * First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission. * First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board. * Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history. * Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant. * Withdrew from the World Court of Law. * Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. * First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections). * All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations. * My biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation). * Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history. * First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community. * First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1) * First US president to establish a secret shadow government. * Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history). * With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years. * First US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability. * First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea. * Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. * Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts. * Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'. * Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capital building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects. * In the 18 months following the 911 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States. * Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history. * In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war. * Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down. ]]>

<![CDATA[FACTS ARE LIKE KRYPTONITE TO A LIBERAL! I guess it's a good thing conservatives never use facts and constantly lie. Read the facts and then watch President John McCain continue the march! Emotional, lower class, losers will have to learn to read and comprehend! You're hardly one to talk about low class. You've displayed nothing but virulent hatred and disgusting hostility without a modicum of class. Each and every thing you mentioned is BAD FOR AMERICA! Attacking the rights of women to do what they want with their own body or its contents is an attack on freedom. Starting unprovoked and unconstitutional wars while lying to the American people to gain support for teh war is not only bad for America, it's treason. Thank you for this list. It shows how many destructive things Bush has done to America. Bush has wrecked the American economy, violated the U.S. Constitution, openly admitted to treason (spying on Americans), knowingly lied to the American people, murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent people, unnecessarily gotten thousands of Americans killed and tens of thousands crippled, make America hated throughout the world, endangered America and the world, increased terrorism around the world, violated civil rights, violated habeas corpus, and the list goes on. Bush is a criminal. He should be tried for treason and for war crimes and hung. Anyone who would support this man after the damage he's caused to America, or even worse, praise him, should be locked up in an insane asylum or better yet, sent to Gitmo without charges, without access to a lawyer, without being able to go to court or present evidence, etc. and they should be waterboarded. If they don't like it, we should send them to another country where they can have a blowtorch taken to their nuts by foreigners. ]]>

<![CDATA[Funny,,, you know when people compare anything to Hitler, they usually have no other relevant issues to use. All the Bush haters also all fall into the same category....( BUSH IS A FACIST WHO HAS TRIED THREE, COUNT 'EM, THREE TIMES TO PUSH A BILL THROUGH CONGRESS ALOWING HIM TO REMAIN IN OFFICE INDEFINATELY SO LONG AS THE U.S. IS A WAR. MY PREDICTION: THERE WILL BE ANOTHER 9/11 ATTACK JUST BEFORE THE ELECTION AND BUSH WILL DECLARE MARTIAL LAW.) Low class (I WAS RAISED IN AN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS ENVIRONMENT) No job (I OWN MY OWN BUSINESS) Welfare recipient (NEVER) Living in a small dark apartment (LARGE, BRIGHT ONE BEDROOM APT IN REDONDO BEACH) Lazy and blame others for their failures (OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS? I DO AND I'VE NEVER WORKED SO HARD.) Giving their opinions based on emotion, not facts. (FACT ONE, BUSH PLANNED TO INVADE IRAQ 9 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENTS OF 9/11.) Living paycheck to paycheck, hoping the rich will give them some! Besides, President Bush has been THE best President for America! The Economy is great for those who are successful. (THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS CHECKS WILL MOSTLY GO TO BUSH'S BUDDIES AT THE BANKS TO PAY CREDIT CARD INTEREST.) He has generated more tax revenue for America than any other President in history. ( WHO HAS BANKRUPTED OUR COUNTRY, LEAD US DOWN THE WAR PATH, LEFT OUR BORDERS WIDE OPEN, EXAUSTED OUR MILITARY, TRYING TO CREAT A NORTH AMERICAN UNION, TRYING TO DESTROY THE MIDDLE CLASS, ETC.) He has told the world not to mess with the SuperPower. (HE HAS MADE US THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE WORLD.) He has protected us from terrorists and will continue to show thugs, we will not stop until they are exterminated! ( THE ONLY TERRORISTS ARE IN D.C. IF "AL QAEDA" WERE REAL WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ATTACKED BY NOW. 9/11 WAS A TOTAL INSIDE JOB AND YOU KNOW IT.) So go get a job and stop looking to blame our President Bush. (IT'S A FREE COUNTRY, NOT ACCORDING TO BUSH WHERE WE CAN BE ARRESTED FOR FREE SPEECH.) Remember, if you ask 80% of Americas STUPID PEOPLE an intelligent question, you will get a Stupid answer! (NO, NO, IF YOU ASK 100% OF AMERICA'S STUPID PEOPLE YOU WILL GET A STUPID ANSWER 100% OF THE TIME.) When the lemmings speak, they need to talk to the hand! (YOU'RE LISTENING TO LEMMINGS?) ]]>

<![CDATA[4,435 DEAD IN VAIN <a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12314" rel="nofollow">http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12314</a> Supporting our troops and working to ensure that they not have died in vain are notions that no longer apply to the soldiers who died in the fields of Virginia. The statute of limitations has expired, and the 4,435 who died to rid America of a King George are now in fact required – as a matter of patriotic duty – to have died in vain. In vain their deaths to free us of a unitary executive. In vain their deaths to establish freedom of assembly. In vain their deaths to separate church and state. In vain their deaths to create freedom of speech. In vain their deaths in the cause of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. In vain their blood spilled in rivers to establish the right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. In vain their ultimate sacrifices to create a representative democracy based on checks and balances. In vain the heartache of their families suffered in the name of an end to empire. All in vain, all unsupported. Welcome to the world of free speech zones, detention without charge, no access to a court of law, no prohibition on torture. Welcome to the end of the veto and the birth of the signing statement. Welcome to an executive branch that neither obeys Congress nor so much as informs Congress of its actions. Welcome to wars of aggression for a theocratic plutocracy. Welcome back, King George. King George is opposed by almost all Americans who identify themselves as democrats or Democrats. Only 9 percent of Democrats approve of his "handling the situation with Iraq," according to a CBS poll. The so-called Republican Party, on the other hand, is split. 71 percent of Republicans approve of the king's war, a number that is steadily declining. So, I have to say it annoys me a teeny little bit when the military industrial media complex calls the Democratic Party split and makes that alleged split the focus of reporting. What they mean is that a little band of plutocratic leeches living in the swamps of the District of Columbia displays different tendencies from the citizenry. Within this inbred sect, Republicans are almost united and Democrats quite split on the question of whether to slaughter more Iraqis indefinitely. All the Republicans are for it, and half the Democrats are for it too. But half the Democrats have come over to the side of the American public to receive the scorn of the pundits and preachers of Objectivity. What nobody is making note of, though, is that the anti-war Democrats in Congress can balance the scorn that the media bestows on them with the implicit gratitude of the soldiers of the War for Independence, the war in which we were opposing, not creating, a foreign occupation. I fully expect, one day soon, to wake up to this headline: "Dems split on torturing grandmothers," followed by words to this effect: "Republicans forced a deeply divided and uncertain Democratic Party onto the defensive this week, bringing to a vote their long-planned GT bill. The Grandmother Torture Act of 2006 provides the President with the freedom he needs in handling the rising threat from seniors engaged in terrorist activities, said several Republican leaders. The defeat is expected to hurt the Democrats in November, Diebold executives reported. Of course, on the question of building permanent military bases in Iraq, it is the Dems in Congress who are united and the Republicans in Congress who are very much split. But that story is not a story, so it doesn't really matter who's split or not split or anything else. Nor is historic justice being served the way it should. Every member of Congress working to create permanent bases in Iraq for unwanted and illegal foreign troops should have two dozen reenactors of the American Revolution occupy their office and live off their campaign funds while endlessly reciting the Declaration of Impeachment: <a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/declarationofimpeachment" rel="nofollow">http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/declarationofimpeachment</a> ]]>

<![CDATA[Your list fails to include his accomplishment of becoming the most unpopular President in our nation's history lol Reply to: comm-683344996@craigslist.org Date: 2008-05-16, 12:43PM PDT FACTS ARE LIKE KRYPTONITE TO A LIBERAL! Read the facts and then watch President John McCain continue the march! Emotional, lower class, losers will have to learn to read and comprehend! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abortion & Traditional Values 1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs. ]]>

<![CDATA[La Raza whore DIANNE FEINSTEIN, always busting her corrupt as for her big biz contributors, her pimp, Richard C. Blum, and her paymaster for WAR PROFITEERING, George Bush, is now, once again, fighting for floods of illegal farm workers. Not like there’s a shortage of illegals in California. Half the state is now Mexican illegals. Lou Dobbs Tonight Friday, May 16, 2008 Tonight, we’ll have the latest from the campaign trail, including Sen. Barack Obama’s response to President Bush’s controversial comments at the Israeli Knesset and a look ahead to Tuesday’s primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. Plus: * The Department of Homeland Security has faced criticism and even lawsuits for his efforts to enforce immigration law in this country. The latest is from the Texas Border Coalition, arguing that the federal government did not thoroughly discuss the construction of the Texas border fence with property owners in the area. *AngryRenter.com appears to be a grassroots website, collecting thousands of online signatures to petition against a government mortgage bailout. But in fact, the site is run by Freedomworks, a lobbying firm, chaired by former House majority leader Dick Armey. * Some in Congress are once again trying to push piecemeal immigration reform through the back door. Sen. Diane Feinstein of California attached a farm worker program to the multibillion dollar Iraq war funding bill yesterday which would grant temporary amnesty to 1.3 million farm workers and their families over the next five years. * Derek Tidball, a Congressional candidate in Arizona is running as an independent. He’s a 29-year-old Army veteran of the war on terror in Afghanistan. His two main issues are better treatment for returning troops and securing the border. * In our weekly tribute to the men and women who serve our nation in uniform, we’ll have the story of Army Specialist Rick Yarosh. Yarosh has always loved to cook. During his tour in Iraq, his best friends in his unit were killed by an IED and Yarosh lost a leg. Recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center, Yarosh is cooking again, making fettuccine alfredo for lunch and dreaming of someday opening his own restaurant to cook for wounded soldiers, a place he will call “The Purple Heart.” Lou’s new radio program, the Lou Dobbs Show, debuted in March. Join us weekdays from 3-6 p.m. Eastern, for a look at news and politics aimed at independent thinkers. Check your local listings at LouDobbsRadio.com, or listen live online. Today, Lou will be joined by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is under fire from the governor of Arizona for his efforts to fight illegal immigration in the Phoenix area. Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America will be on to talk about the GI Bill. William Donahue, president of the Catholic League, will discuss how religion and faith have been influencing the presidential campaigns. ...................................... Immigration rule targets farmworkers SOCIAL SECURITY CARD CRACKDOWN WORRIES AREA CROP OWNERS By Julia Scott MediaNews San Jose Mercury News Article Launched: HALF MOON BAY - Farmer John Giusti will be watching the mail with apprehension this fall. He's waiting for letters from the government telling him that some of his workers have been using fraudulent Social Security numbers to earn wages on his farm. Immigration officials are unsympathetic. "The laws regarding the hiring of unauthorized workers have been on the books for two decades," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the federal agency. "What is new is that we are expanding our efforts to prosecute employers knowingly violating the law." The new rules challenge the "don't ask, don't tell" policy many employers use when they hire workers, but don't make it easier to screen for bogus documents like a fake Social Security card or picture ID, which employees ............................................... September 17, 2007 WASHINGTON — Three months after Congress failed to pass a broad immigration overhaul, lawmakers are quietly returning to the hot-button issue, discussing narrower measures that address illegal immigrants and low-skilled laborers. Already, critics are promising fireworks. As early as this week, Democratic senators are set to introduce an amendment that would give conditional legal status to young illegal immigrants. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) hopes to bring up a visa program that eventually would allow farmhands to gain citizenship, whereas Republican senators are discussing a short-term guest worker program for low-skilled laborers. Republicans also are considering a bill that would overhaul visas for high-skilled foreigners. In the House, Republicans have been steadily introducing initiatives aimed at ensuring that illegal immigrants could not gain access to federal benefits. "We may be heading for another immigration battle," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said of the measures headed for the Senate floor. "Hopefully it can be avoided." After the Senate failed in June to pass the broad immigration bill, rebuffing President Bush, who supported it, many on Capitol Hill predicted the issue would lie fallow until after the 2008 presidential election. But that has not been the case. THE DEM WHORES AMNESTY BIT BY BIT IS ALIVE AND WELL! The Bush administration in August unveiled a roster of aggressive enforcement initiatives, provoking a legal challenge from labor and business groups and outrage from immigrant advocates. The Department of Homeland Security has continued its stepped-up raids on work sites that use illegal laborers, and in August it deported a high-profile illegal immigrant activist who had spent months in a Chicago church, declaring it a sanctuary. Immigrant groups nationwide have staged vigils, protests and letter-writing campaigns to demand changes in policy. Groups that want to limit immigration also have kept a sharp eye on Congress, on the lookout for any attempts to pass what they view as "amnesty" -- proposals that would open the way to legalization for illegal immigrants. Since the comprehensive bill's failure, some of the focus on immigration has served political goals. Republican senators quickly brought up an enforcement bill, a hit with their conservative base. The Democratic-sponsored measures generally appeal to Latino voters. Staff members from both parties say immigration-related amendments could turn up on any major piece of legislation expected to pass. Some of the measures now in the works don't have much bipartisan support, limiting their chances of success. And some lawmakers express doubts that it is possible to restructure the immigration system through separate bills rather than sweeping legislation. "I'm personally very skeptical of a piecemeal approach," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a member of the bipartisan coalition that tried to pass the overhaul earlier this year. "The hardest thing to do . . . is take care of" the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. "The minute we start doing the easy things, like taking care of agribusiness interests because they need the workers, . . . then we're leaving the hard things" unaddressed. The central conflict that tripped up the comprehensive bill remains the question of whether illegal immigrants should be given the chance to earn legal status. That question will be an issue in at least two of the measures headed for the Senate. The first to come up is expected to be the "Dream Act," a bill championed by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) that would give conditional legal status to immigrants brought to the U.S. at a young age. To qualify under it, they must have been in the country for at least five years, have a high school diploma and meet other requirements. Over the next six years, they would have to spend two years in college or the military, after which they could become legal permanent residents, a step toward citizenship. Durbin plans to attach the bill as an amendment to a defense funding measure scheduled to come before the Senate today, his staff said. The bill has broad support, prompting immigration restrictionist groups to send alerts warning that the Senate was planning "to pass an amnesty act by hiding language in the defense authorization bill." Feinstein has championed an AgJobs program with increasing intensity as farms have struggled to find labor. The program would allow up to 1.5 million agricultural workers to gain legal status through a "blue card," provided they did farm work for a certain number of days every year. Those who met the criteria could apply for legal permanent resident status after five years. The bill's prospects are uncertain. Feinstein lost a crucial AgJobs ally when Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) recently announced he would resign because of the scandal surrounding his arrest in a Minneapolis airport restroom. In July, Feinstein and Craig had won a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that the AgJobs proposal would be considered, possibly as an amendment to the farm bill expected to be debated in the early fall. "We know that virtually all of the agricultural workforce is undocumented," Feinstein said. "Today there are shortages. . . . AgJobs is a pilot program that would provide a reliable workforce to plant and harvest crops in this country." Sessions is actively campaigning against both Durbin and Feinstein's initiatives, arguing that the two proposals would give more than 4 million illegal immigrants eventual citizenship. He said he would support a plan under discussion among Republicans, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), to create a version of AgJobs that would limit workers to short-term stays in the U.S. and not provide any kind of longer-term legal status. Stripping legalization provisions from a farm worker program would vastly increase its chances of passing, Republicans say. THE REAL ANGLE.... AGRI FARMERS DON’T WONT’ TO INVEST IN HARVESTING MACHINES. NOT WHEN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE SUBSIDIZING THEIR LABOR COST per FEINSTEIN! If that happens, Muzzi plans to replace many of his workers with expensive harvesting machines from Europe. Giusti would be willing to sponsor some of his best workers through a work visa, if necessary. He agrees the worker registration system is "broken," but thinks American workers could be accounted for with a solution that promotes stability, such as a guest worker program. AKA AMNESTY! "This new rules have created a big problem - this fluctuating work force, that's going to be a disaster," he said. ............................................... FEINSTEIN WHORE FOR AGRI BIZ She predicted that more American farmers would move to Mexico for the ready work force and lower wages. Ms. Feinstein favored a measure in the failed immigration bill that would have created a new guest worker program for agriculture and a special legal status for illegal immigrant farm workers. In the past, some Americans have planted south of the border to escape spiraling land prices and to ensure year-round deliveries of crops they can produce only seasonally in the United States. But in the last three years, Mr. Nassif and other growers said, labor force uncertainties have become a major reason farmers have shifted to Mexico. While there are benefits for Mexico, as American farmers bring the latest technology and techniques to its crop-producing regions, American farm state economists say thousands of middle-class jobs supporting agriculture are being lost in the United States. Some lawmakers in the United States also point to security risks when food for Americans is increasingly produced in foreign countries. Tramping through one of his first lettuce crops near Celaya, an agribusiness hub in Guanajuato, Mr. Scaroni is more candid than many farmers about his move here. He had made six trips to Washington, he said, to plead with Congress to provide more legal immigrants for agriculture. SCARED SHITLESS OF HAVING TO PAY LIVING WAGES “I have a customer base that demands we produce and deliver product every day,” he said. “They don’t want to hear the excuses.” He acknowledges that wages are much lower in Mexico; he pays $11 a day here as opposed to about $9 an hour in California. But without legal workers in California, he said, “I have no choice but to offshore my operation.” The Department of Labor has reported that 53 percent of the 2.5 million farm workers in the United States are illegal immigrants; growers and labor unions say as much as 70 percent of younger field hands are illegal. As the American authorities tightened the border in recent years, seasonal migration from Mexico has been interrupted, demographers say. Many illegal farm laborers, reluctant to leave the United States, have abandoned the arduous migrant work of agriculture for year-round construction and service jobs. Labor shortages during harvests have become common. THERE IS NO SHORTAGE, JUST A SHORTAGE OF LIVING WAGES! CRYING WOLF................ IT’S ALL ABOUT AMNESTY BIT BY BIT BY BIT!!!!!!!! Some academics say warnings of a farm labor debacle are exaggerated. “By and large the most dire predictions don’t come true,” said Philip Martin, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis. “There is no doubt that some people can’t count on workers showing up as much as they used to,” Professor Martin said. “But most of the places that are crying the loudest are exceptional cases.” But some recent studies suggest that strains on the farm-labor supply are real. Stephen Levy, an economist at the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, in Palo Alto, compared unemployed Americans with illegal immigrant workers in the labor market. “The bottom line,” Mr. Levy said, “is that most unemployed workers are not available to replace fired, unauthorized immigrant workers,” in part because very few of the unemployed are in farm work. Mr. Scaroni said he started growing in Mexico reluctantly, after seeing risks to his American operations. At peak season his California company, Valley Harvesting and Packing, employs more than 1,000 immigrants, and all have filled out the required federal form, known as an I-9, with Social Security numbers and other identity information. “From my perspective everyone that works for me is legal,” he said. But based on farm labor statistics, he surmises that many of his workers presented false documents. An impatient man in perpetual motion, Mr. Scaroni marches through his fields shouting orders to Mexican crew leaders in rough Spanish while he negotiates to buy new trucks in Mexico on a walkie-talkie in one hand and to sell produce in the United States on a cellphone in the other. Frustrated with experts who say that farmers with labor problems should mechanize, he plunges his hands into side-by-side lettuce plants, pulling out one crisp green head and one that is soggy and brown. After his company invested $1 million in research, he said, “We haven’t come up with a way to tell a machine what’s a good head and what’s a bad head.” He also dismisses arguments that he could attract workers by raising wages, saying Americans do not take the sweaty, seasonal field jobs. “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I did that I would raise my costs and I would not have a legal work force,” Mr. Scaroni said. Still, transferring to Mexico has been costly, he said. Since the greens he cuts here go to bagged salads in supermarkets in the United States, he follows the same food-safety practices as he does in California. Renting fallow Mexican land, he enclosed his fields in fences and installed drip-irrigation systems for the filtered water he uses. Los Angles County Board of Supervisors Population 10.2 million, 12% illegal. Over $1,000,000,000/yr taxpayer cost in public safety, healthcare, social services and education. 160,000 illegal immigrants, via their U.S. born children receiving government aid until they are 18. Nearly half of all students do not speak English. Only 44% of the 727,000 students received a high school diploma The county has to pick up the majority of funding for Federal Government mandates. Leroy D Baca, Sheriff of Los Angeles County 40% of inmates in custody are illegal and 26% get state Criminal Alien Assistance funding' A large % of criminal are arrested again after being deported. A new 6 month program has processed to Fed immigration 1,431 of 3,317 adjudicated cases Terrorists have blended in with the millions of illegals living undetected within the country. Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation. Testimony focus on fiscal effects of low skill immigration. Immigrant, who has not completed high school, will cost taxpayers $100,000 over his lifetime. $30,000,000,000 additional Medicaid cost/yr if the current illegal immigrants are granted amnesty $50,000,000,000 additional welfare cost/yr due to the Senates bill (S.2611) Citizens, through amnesty, will have the right to bring his parents to live in the US About 1/3 foreign born persons in the U.S. are Mexican and half are illegal. Mexican women emigrating to the US have a considerably higher fertility rate than those in Mexico 44% of adult illegals are women. 60% Latin American and Mexican immigrants lack a high school education vs. 6% for native born. 1st Generation Mexican immigrant median income was $323/wk in 2000 (54% of general population) 1980 immigrants saw their relative wages shrink in the 1990 Immigrant households were 50% more likely to receive means tested aid than native born. 81% of illegal immigrants are from Latin America or Mexico (57%) 30.7 blacks, 23% Hispanics and 7.9% non-Hispanic whites received some form of government aid. 11.8 % of all poor children have illegal immigrant parents, but they are only 6% of the population. 67% of blacks and 45% of Hispanics have children born out of wedlock, with high % on welfare. Progressive Fed taxes issuer tax credits to offset low income Social Security tax payments. Average cost to educate a child is $8,000 per year in U.S. primarily locally funded. The cost of low cost housing support was not investigated. Kevin J. Burns CFO University Medical Center Corporation, Tucson, Az. "How does illegal Immigration Impact American Taxpayers and Will the Reid-Kennedy Amnesty Worsen the Blow? "Introduction. We believe that the currently proposed legislation may worsen the financial burden on our Nation's healthcare system and tax payers as the proposed legislation may result in a greater number of immigrants entering the United States with no provision for covering their healthcare cost" 54% increase in Trauma volumes since 2003 Majority of non-paying foreign nationals arrive as trauma patients/emergency department UMC receives no reimbursement to help defray the cost of non-paying patient's care. 1 infant admitted to UMC's Neonatal Intensive care cost more than $75,000 (had 15 last year) 1/2 funds come from Government programs that do not cover cost. ICE avoids financial responsibility for illegal aliens they request care for by not taking custody. Wayne A Cornelius, Director, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California-San Diego Even if apprehended and sent home, the vast majority (~95%) will keep trying to enter until they succeed. 60% of Mexican population have relatives in the U.S. Border enforcement resulted in ~ 90% illegals hiring people-smugglers (Coyotes @ $3,000/head) Coyotes have detoured around heavily fortified segments of the border. Mexicans can fly, visa-free, to any Canadian city and be smuggled across our northern border. ..................... THE FIGURES YOUR GOVERNMENT DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THE “CHEAP MEXICAN LABOR” THAT DID NOT BUILD THIS NATION. LOOK WHAT IT DID FOR MEXICO! Subject: From the L.A. Times Newspaper 1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County (L. A. County has 10 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. Los Angeles County reports 2 billion dollars in the underground economy is lost. 2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens. There have been 2000 Californians murdered by illegals who then fled back to Mexico to avoid prosecution. 3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens. 4. Over 2/3's of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers. 5. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally. (Currently they’re letting out felons early due to the jail overcrowding. Many immediately commit crimes.) Los Angeles County spends millions in jail cost for illegals still actively drug trafficking. To solve this problem, the county dispersed the Mexican drug dealers to jails over the states. This only propagated the drug dealers operations. The County spends millions in fighting Mexican gangs which have spread all over the United States. The County also spends millions on graffiti abatement. 6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages. 7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border. It’s assumed the vast majority of the other half are Mexicans living here legally. 8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal. 9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking. They united Mexicans in protest demanding “rights” they presume to be entitled to. (They seem to have one program. Convince the Mexican invaders this country actually belongs to the Mexicans. ) 10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish (10.2 million people in L. A. County). ( How many Mexicans do you know that have contempt for the English language?) Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 29% are on welfare. (Los Angeles County spends $750,000 on social services to illegals. No wonder there isn’t enough money for education.) Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration. OTHER SOURCES: Similar figures LOS ANGELES TIMES reports that California spends 9 billion on social services for illegals. 60% of the counties in the United States have serious meth problems. Meth that comes from Mexico. Part of Mexico’s 5 billion dollar drug export business. An estimated 8,200 Illegal Immigrants cross the border each day. 57,400 a week . 250,000 a month. 84 hospitals in California alone have closed or are scheduled to close due mostly to rising costs of caring for uninsured Illegal Immigrants since 1993. It is estimated that 50% of their services went to Illegal Immigrants who did not pay their bills. According to the American Hospital Association the estimated uncompensated cost of care in 2000 was $21.6 billion. Roughly 6% of total expenses. The government allotted only $1 billion to help cover those costs. Anchor babies account for roughly 10% of all US births. In 2003, anchor babies accounted for 70% of all births in San Joachim General Hospital in Stockton, California. US taxpayers spent an estimated $7.4 Billion in 2003 to educate illegal immigrants. 34% of students in the Los Angeles school system are illegals or children of illegals. Two thirds of Illegal Immigrants adults DO NOT have a high school degree or equivalent. The illiteracy rate for Illegal Immigrants is 2.5 times higher than that of US Citizens. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are illegal aliens from Mexico. 29% or a whopping 630,000 convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually; not to mention the tragedies in death, drugs, crime and misery they have caused American families. ***************************************************************************** Illegal aliens cost California billions By Jerry Seper THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published December 7, 2004 (NOTE THESE FIGURE ARE FROM 2004. SINCE THEN THERE’S BEEN ANOTHER 10 MILLION ILLEGALS CLIMB OVER THE BORDERS. THE PEW REPORTS THAT APPROXIMATELY 40 MILLION !MORE! MEXICANS ARE PLANNING TO JOIN THEM FOR THE AMERICAN GRAVY TRAIN) Illegal immigration costs the taxpayers of California -- which has the highest number of illegal aliens nationwide -- $10.5 billion a year for education, health care and incarceration, according to a study released yesterday. A key finding of the report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said the state's already struggling kindergarten-through-12th-grade education system spends $7.7 billion a year on children of illegal aliens, who constitute 15 percent of the student body. The report also said the incarceration of convicted illegal aliens in state prisons and jails and uncompensated medical outlays for health care provided to illegal aliens each amounted to about $1.4 billion annually. The incarceration costs did not include judicial expenditures or the monetary costs of the crimes committed by illegal aliens that led to their incarceration. "California's addiction to 'cheap' illegal-alien labor is bankrupting the state and posing enormous burdens on the state's shrinking middle-class tax base," said FAIR President Dan Stein. "Most Californians, who have seen their taxes increase while public services deteriorate, already know the impact that mass illegal immigration is having on their communities, but even they may be shocked when they learn just how much of a drain illegal immigration has become," he said. California is estimated to be home to nearly 3 million illegal aliens. Mr. Stein noted that state and local taxes paid by the unauthorized immigrant population go toward offsetting these costs, but do not match expenses. The total of such payments was estimated in the report to be about $1.6 billion per year. He also said the total cost of illegal immigration to the state's taxpayers would be considerably higher if other cost areas, such as special English instruction, school meal programs or welfare benefits for American workers displaced by illegal-alien workers were added into the equation. Gerardo Gonzalez, director of the National Latino Research Center at California State at San Marcos, which compiles data on Hispanics, was critical of FAIR's report yesterday. He said FAIR's estimates did not measure some of the contributions that illegal aliens make to the state's economy. "Beyond taxes, these workers' production and spending contribute to California's economy, especially the agricultural sector," he said, adding that both legal and illegal aliens are the "backbone" of the state's $28 billion-a-year agricultural industry. In August, a similar study by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, said U.S. households headed by illegal aliens used $26.3 billion in government services during 2002, but paid $16 billion in taxes, an annual cost to taxpayers of $10 billion. The FAIR report focused on three specific program areas because those were the costs examined by researchers from the Urban Institute in 1994, Mr. Stein said. Looking at the costs of education, health care and incarceration for illegal aliens in 1994, the Urban Institute estimated that California was subsidizing illegal immigrants at about $1.1 billion a year. Mr. Stein said an enormous rise in the costs of illegal immigrants in 10 years is because of the rapid growth of the illegal population. He said it is reasonable to expect those costs to continue to soar if action is not taken to turn the tide. "1994 was the same year that California voters rebelled and overwhelmingly passed Proposition 187, which sought to limit liability for mass illegal immigration," he said. "Since then, state and local governments have blatantly ignored the wishes of the voters and continued to shell out publicly financed benefits on illegal aliens. "Predictably, the costs of illegal immigration have grown geometrically, while the state has spiraled into a fiscal crisis that has brought it near bankruptcy," he said. Mr. Stein said that the state must adopt measures to systematically collect information on illegal-alien use of taxpayer-funded services and on where they are employed, and that policies need to be pursued to hold employers financially accountable. ]]>

<![CDATA[FACTS ARE LIKE KRYPTONITE TO A LIBERAL! Read the facts and then watch President John McCain continue the march! Emotional, lower class, losers will have to learn to read and comprehend! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abortion & Traditional Values 1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs. Budget, Taxes & Economy 1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year. Character & Conduct as President 1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days: Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing." On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation. Education & Employment Training 1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers. Environment & Energy 1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species. Defense & Foreign Policy 1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed. Globalization & Internationalism 1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty). 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." Government Reform 1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security. 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals. Health 1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes: A 10-year privatization option. Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine. More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors. New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford. Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration 1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack. Judiciary & Tort Reform 1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims. Politics 1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes. Second Amendment 1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism. Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism 1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself." 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6.Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles: Equal Justice Freedom of Speech Limited Government Power Private Property Rights Religious Tolerance Respect for Women Rule of Law]]>

<![CDATA[Libertarians are not anarchists. They are minarchists. They want a small government that does only what is listed in the Constitution and nothing else. They are against using government force for political gain or social engineering such as imposing religious morality onto others through legislation. If so, guess some Libertarians will have to rethink what they are truly supporting. Why would they want to rethink supporting freedom? And your source for this amazing fact Ireland? I don't have any amazing facts about Ireland, but I have plenty about legalized prostitution in Nevada having written a research paper on it. But online you can easily find plenty of sources to prove that there has never been a single reported case of anyone getting sick from going to a legal and regulated brothel. The girls are checked twice a week, condom use is mandatory, there's no kissing, and you can't even insert your fingers into anything. The girls also use condoms in their private lives not just for their protection, but to protect their clients. Feel free to read the reference material listed at the bottom of this Wiki. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Nevada" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Nevada</a>]]>

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<![CDATA[Just because same sex couples can marry, it does not mean you HAVE to. So what is your problem? Gay marriage is not an assault on hetero marriage. Divorce is. One could make the argument that marrying too young is. Cheating is. So what specifically is 2 girls, or 2 guys who love each other such an affront to marriage? 'you said that all gays had the rights as everybody else does, that is not true. A gay person could be fired from their jobs just for being gay in almost 40 states. They don't have the rights as Heterosexuals to proclaim their love for their partners or get the state recognized benefits of marriage, like visiting partners on their deathbeds. Who are you or me ,or the majority of Americans to relegate a fellow American to 2nd class citizenship? The rights of the individual for the pursuit of happiness,and being recognized as equals in the eyes of the state trump your petty bigotries. Marriage is a function