Illegal Immigration: The Facts

Let’s look at some facts concerning illegal immigration in this country. According to the American Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR), 18% of illegal immigrants fall below the poverty compared to 11% of native born Americans, and they are twice as likely to try to obtain some form of taxpayer based assistance. Did you realized that between $11 billion and $22 billion dollars is spent by state governments annually to provide aid to immigrants? That’s our hard earned tax money NOT at work, at least for us. Approximately $2 billion a year is spent on WIC, food stamps, school lunches and the like. $2.5 billion is spent on Medicaid for illegals, while $17 billion is spent on “anchor babies”; that is, babies born in the States to mothers here illegally. Thus the child is automatically a US citizen, and “mom” gets to stay here, in large part at your expense, as the caretaker.

The Center for Immigration Studies in Washington DC estimates 1.1 million illegal children attend taxpayer funded schools. Not surprisingly, the majority don’t speak English. So, guess who gets to pay for the in-class translator? Yelp, you and I do. According to the California Department of Education, the cost of educating its three million children of illegal parents will cost their taxpayers $38 billion dollars. In Colorado, which has an estimated 200,000 illegal aliens, the cost to its taxpayers is $140.6 million dollars according to the Colorado Department of Education. Even in Georgia, it’s costing their citizens $230 million dollars to educate the children of illegal aliens. FAIR estimated that residents of Kentucky (which has a hard enough time educating its own students) spent $51.6 million dollars just in 2004 to educate the children of illegal residents and that number keeps increasing. The PEW Hispanic Center estimated that in 2005, there was between 30,000 and 60,000 illegal immigrants living in Kentucky (http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_researche5a6).

Let’s talk a little about crime. Statistically, illegal aliens have a crime rate more than double White non-illegal residents. Currently, the US has the highest population behind bars than any other industrialized nation. Of that, 30% are illegal aliens. $3 million dollars a day is spent to incarcerate illegals in US jails—that’s per day folks complete with three squares and free medical care. Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin at the Violent Crimes Institute (www.drdsk.com), located in Atlanta Georgia, wrote in 2006 that she conducted a year long in-depth study of 1500 sex crimes committed between January 1999 and April 2006. Her conclusion was that Americans face a serious threat from sex predators crossing the border.

Dr. Schurman-Kauflin reported that based on a population of 12,000,000 illegal residents, in which young males make up the largest portion of the population, the proportion of sex offenders was higher than that of the general population as a whole. To break the numbers down into understandable terms, it means that an estimated 93 sex offenders and 12 serial sex offenders cross our border every day. The 1500 offenders in this study had 5999 victims; that’s an average of 4 victims each. 53% of these were child molestations; 24% were rapes; 41% were sexual homicides and serial murders. Of the child molestations, 47% were Hispanic, while 36% were White. Asians, Blacks, and other nationalities made up the remaining 8%, 6%, and 3% respectively (I bet you've at least thought about checking on your kids at this point).

Of the rape cases, an amazing 64% knew their attackers. Hispanic and White victims made up 34% while Black women and other nationalities made up the balance. And these weren’t simply rapes (which is bad enough). 70% of the victims were beaten, and weapons were usually used. The average age of the victim was 23 years old. 3% of the rapists were categorized as serial rapists. Each serial rapist averaged 5 victims each. 6% of those raped and murdered were also mutilated according to the study. The most common method of murder was bludgeoning. The next most common method was stabbing. Both White and Black women were most often the victims of rape and murder (Whites had a higher percentage). Their average age was 42 years old and apparently socioeconomic class was a factor, the majority were in affluent areas. You can read more of Dr. Schurman-Kauflin’s study by visiting her site at
http://www.drdsk.com/articles.html#Illegals.

While “hard” figures are difficult to come by, an estimated 4 to 10 million people entered the US illegally along our Southern Border (you remember our Southern Border don’t you? It’s the one we were promised would have a fence along it with adequate security personal. The same one that folks in Washington keep failing to fund). According to the National Policy Institute, it would cost upwards of $230 billion to deport the illegals we already have in this country (gee, would be nice to have that fence wouldn’t it?). Here’s an interesting little fact; did you know that illegals send approximately $45 billion dollars back to their native country? Wow, that sure would go along way to offset the money they’re costing us. Shame our government can’t freeze those funds.

None of the three contenders for President have offered any serious avenue for change. So what do we do? Well, for one thing, the President doesn’t make the laws. That’s the job of Congress. For now, we need to make sure we elect responsible leaders to Congress (yeah, I snickered when I read that out loud too) who will get off their backsides and address the illegal immigration issue while we still can. Email them; write them; call them at every opportunity and badger them to start protecting America and Americans. Secondly, demand that companies have an “English Only” policy. No more “Press 1” for anything. Write or emails companies and demand “English Only” on their product labels. Report crime and form block watches and neighborhood associations. Insist that your children are exposed to a broad spectrum of cutural and language classes in school and not be resrticted to Spanish only language classes (as is the case in Kentucky public schools---frankly, they’d be better off learning Chinese). Lastly, don’t stop fighting for what’s right…ever.


Rush Limbaugh and Illegal Immigration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHPm_TEQ0PA&feature=related

Pay close attention to the last part of the video.

We have another article by our very own “Moderate Man”. Take a look at what he has to say:

Politicians Promoting Themselves

I don’t have any problem with politicians promoting themselves, regardless of party. In fact there can be unexpected benefits that come from the experience. What we can learn from the issue is their character, values, morals, priorities, behavior, beliefs, etc. Yes, it could be corny or it could be confrontational. It is a good way for the voters to learn about the elected official, beyond the election canned agenda and information. Let me first say, there are many good politicians who follow the rules and laws. But I do have a problem with elected officials who use public money to promote themselves. Money that should have been used for the tasks that they were elected to. I have always believed that if you do a good job, people will remember that better than any other method. Many politicians promote themselves using public money. So many that the public seems numb and apathetic about it. These examples are but a few that come to mind. The past governors (you name either party) of Kentucky traveling around the state passing out ceremonial large checks for budget items. They should have just put the check in the mail. How about a United States President who has a letter mailed to inform recipients of a future tax rebate to its citizens.

Many politicians travel to events supporting lower and upper ticket candidates and especially around election time. Some try to mix in elected business travel to make it appear they happened to be in the area. Some try to stiff the taxpayer with the bill for travel till a public outcry makes it an issue. Some lower ticket candidates try to attend events for popular upper ticket candidates. They mug for cameras, try to get interviews, pass out their campaign materials, etc. They may try to pass the travel cost on to the public, by driving in a public supplied car, helicopter, etc. hoping they don’t get caught and coming up with a lame excuse to attend in it. One method of self promotion that is practiced by our Jefferson County Clerk. Every few years as required by law, she returns surplus budget money back to Louisville Metro Government in a December city council meeting with another one of those large ceremonial checks for 2-3 million dollars. It makes her seem like a trusty financial steward of taxpayer money. However, her office is given 6 to7 hundred thousand dollars in each yearly city budget. The council should eliminate this and let her operate on her fees and her surplus. The city money can be used for other Louisville Metro Government needs in these trying times. Just mail in the check.


Poll Results

Our last poll asked if public meetings should be mandated by government. 100% of you said “yes”. I couldn’t agree more. They work for us, not the other way around.

Louisville’s Metro Government and Public Input

A few weeks ago I received an email from Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins (R-25) announcing an urgent meeting at the Metro Government Center on Dixie Highway, in the Southwest part of the county. The subject of the meeting was the placement an ordnance storage facility on the levee wall which was responsible for the water supply to the residents in this part of the county, thus, could prove disastrous if something horrific should happen.

The meeting was well attended by some 75 seriously irate residents. The meeting was kicked off by Mr. Hawkins expressing his concern not only about the safety of the facility, given its close location to several resident neighborhoods, the local water supply, and several local schools. Hawkins claimed the 8x16x8 metal and wood unit could be used to store hand grenades, ammunition, and unexploded biological or chemical ordnances, not to mention shells, blasting caps, and so forth.

The local Metro Police were on hand to refute any inaccurate statements and alleviate any confusion about what would and won’t be stored there. And in that job, they were outstanding. However, their “matter-of-fact” answers about the technical specifications of the facility did little to defuse the crowd, whose main interest was why the Southend was chosen, and whether any other location was ever considered. The spokesman for the Metro Police explained (with incredible patience I should add) that when Mayor Jerry Abramson sold the Southfields Training Facility in the eastern part of the county (to generate funds for his downtown projects), provisions for the two state-of-art storage locations weren’t made. The existing ordinance storage was shifted to the Algonquin site; described as a “leaky” metal container located near Louisville’s West End. The police could not address issues such as the affect the unit would have on neighboring property values, although it was generally conceded that adjacent property values could be adversely affected. They did assure those in attendance that the unit was well protected and all safeguards to insure public safety were in place.

But what I found to be the most damning comment was that Mayor Abramson had sole authority to put this unit anywhere he wanted without consideration to the Metro Council, the police or fire departments, or any other Metro agencies, and certainly not to residents. Although residents were “assured” that the ordinance disposal unit would not present any danger, no one present representing the Metro Government could explain why there wasn’t a public hearing or, if the unit didn’t pose any danger as suggested, why the Mayor didn’t put it three blocks from his resident at the Crescent Hill Levee as a show of confidence. The meeting wrapped up with the announcement that the following Tuesday would be a “Mayor’s Night Out” as the Fairdale High School. Here, I thought, would an opportunity to ask the man himself.

“Mayor’s Night Out” was conceived as an opportunity for residents to meeting with various departments within Metro Government; ask questions and get answers to nearly anything on their minds. Well, I was there, along with 100 other residents. Everyone was in their seats waiting for the meeting to begin. After Mayor Abramson made his usual customary introductions, two ladies asked the Mayor about the ordnance storage unit and why it was being located in the Southend along with every other project the City doesn’t want. What came next was totally unexpected.

The Mayor immediately held up his hand and announced that he wasn’t going to answer any questions regarding the unit. He made the decision to put it at the Southend site and that was that. There would be no questions or discussion. He would not address the matter further. The matter, as far as he was concerned, was closed. With that, the majority of those in attendance meekly walked out.

Now perhaps it’s just me, but I thought the Mayor worked for us, and as such, had the duty and obligation to answer any question put to him by the residents of Jefferson County. Apparently I was mistaken. It has been Mayor Abramson’s increasingly autocratic attitude which is earning him outright contempt in parts of county, and even among those who work for Metro Government. Here is a Democratic mayor who has as much use for unions as a dog has for ticks. He has kept some unions on hold for three years now without as much as a cost of living increase. He has repeatedly tried to rein every agency he could find. There will be no independence of thought under his regime. Is it any wonder he is openly referred to “the King”, “Mayor-for-Life”, or “His Excellency”? Bossism is alive and well in Louisville Kentucky (for those keeping track, Abramson served three terms as Louisville Mayor, then after aggressively pushing for a City-County government merger, was elected the first Metro Mayor. He is now on this second term in that position. The residents in the county are still waiting on city services promised by the merger).

What I don’t understand however, is why unions, who rarely support him, and the numerous community groups and activists (especially those in the county) don’t band together to get rid of this home grown “Boss Tweed”. With the first Saturday in May fast approaching and the running of the famous Kentucky Derby, wouldn’t that be a terrific time to stage a protest; with the world’s media right there? Wouldn’t that force the Mayor to address issues like stale contracts; the lack of government services for county; the different taxing districts between city and county residents; and arbitrary decisions without public input? Perhaps the time has come to put aside differences and focus on government reform right here in the River City—Louisville Kentucky.

Our occasional guest writer, “Moderate Man”, has decided to wade in on this issue too:

The Southend has been bypassed like a road around a progressive town. We have a mayor who didn't deliver on a retail shopping center like Kohl's at the old Bacons Shopping Center in Shively. A long time regional Christmas event called the Iroquois Winterfest at Iroquois Park was killed and the lights and figurines were taken and absorbed into the mayor’s event, called Light Up Louisville in front of his office downtown. The old 3rd District LPD command center was turned into a training center after the mayor signed off on the sale of the Southfields training center. They were moved into the Central Park 4th District, leaving a delayed response time for those in the 15th council, as they were farther away from their southern beats, including Iroquois Homes housing project. Community Development Block Grants to fix up residential housing in the north half of the 15th council, have been hijacked for downtown housing thus allowing a greater South End rental market with tenants who lack pride in ownership. The mayor tried to have Christopher 2X place a memorial in the Wyandotte Park renovation to honor abused children who were killed. Why wasn't it placed in Jefferson Park with all the other memorials, instead of at a Police training building? Guess the mayor didn't want to look at it out of his office window, as south end residents will now get to drive by it daily on Taylor Blvd. Iroquois Homes is being demolished over a 5 year period and the Abramson administration has no plans currently what will replace it. This includes the Dumeyer Community Center. Where are the kids in this area to play? Two pools, Hazelwood and Wyandotte have been closed and no pool replacement is called for by the administration for the South End. When will someone stand up for the Southend other than the Mayor's puppet council people?


Dark Clouds on the Horizon

The New York Times recently published a chilling set of statistics. According to the April 4, 2008 article, Americans of nearly every demographic are sick and tired of being sick and tired with government and the economy. 81% of those polled said they believe that “things have pretty seriously gotten off the wrong track”. That’s up from 69% just last year, and 35% from 2003. 78% of respondents said the country was worse off than it was five years ago (I’m reminded of then presidential candidate Ronald Reagan asking voters if they were better off now than four years ago, referring to his opponent, President Jimmy Carter). The article went on to point out that there is now a national consensus that we are facing serious problems (duh). Also of interest was that the article pointed out that public opinion usually hits lows only in the months and years after an economic downturn, not at the beginning of one. That's a very bad sign folks.

The public holds both political parties to blame for the current economic and political malaise. 58% of the respondents said they would support an increase in taxes on households making more than $250,000 to pay for tax cuts or support programs aiding the working poor (Napoleon once quipped that the only use for religion was to keep the poor from murdering the rich). However, no breaks would be tolerated for businesses. 43% said they would support a larger federal government that provided more services, which is the highest number since the poll began in
1991. Interestingly, however, 43% said they would support a smaller government that provided fewer services. Basically, people are looking for an out anywhere they can find it.

Historically, its numbers like these which have often produced great social upheavals, and even revolutions. With raising gas and oil prices, a pending health crisis, a recession, an increasing public division on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, global climate change, and now the possibility of food shortages, whoever is elected president in November will have their work cut out for them. There will be absolutely no room for mistakes or “on-the-job” training. The next president is going to have to hit the ground running hard. They will have to have all their players in place and ready to put to their plans in action starting from Day One. And what’s more, they had better tell their lobbyists friends to sit the next four years out. This has to be a populist term. Failure to do so, may bring America to the brink…or worse


Poll Results

Our last poll asked you whether or not you thought we there was a global crisis coming. 70% of you thought so. That’s good enough for me!

The Coming Storm

Gas at $4.00 dollars a gallon by the beginning of summer in most parts of the country, and at or near $5.00 in places like California, Hawaii, or even in Chicago or New York City. Outrageous? You bet it is, but read on. Oil companies continue to post record profits. In 2007, the three biggest oil producers posted $806 billion dollars in revenue. Exxon made $404.6 billion dollars in revenue. Of that, $40.6 billion was pure profit. Chevron had revenues of $214 billion in revenue, of which just under $19 billion was profit. Bringing up the rear was ConocoPhillips which raked in $187.4 billion in revenue, with $11.9 billion in profits. At the same time, these same oil companies get some $18 billion dollars in tax breaks and public tax money. For Free Marketers, that’s wonderful. For consumers, it’s a disaster.

Then there is global warming. Now whether or not you believe global warming or climate change is man made or simply a natural occurring phenomenon doesn’t matter. The fact is that something is happening, and it’s affecting our weather, and thus our food supply, and coupled with the raising costs of fuel, that’s a recipe for disaster on a global scale. Let’s take a look at some examples.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, some 250 million Africans could be without adequate drinking water by 2020. That’s just 12 years away, and doesn’t even take in consideration the rapidly growing populations of India and China which numbers in the tens of billions already (for that matter, not even Mexico or South America). The prices of basic food staples have increased worldwide 80% since 2005. In March of this year alone, rice, one of the most basic staples, hit a 19 year high while wheat, the other big staple, rose to a 28 year high. The UN Food Bank, which is responsible for food monitoring and distribution, estimates a food shortfall of $500 million dollars to meet current demands. That’s needed to supplement both existing needs and an estimated 70 million additional people in 80 countries.

So why the sudden shortages? Simple. Oil prices. While oil prices continue to shoot up and their stockholders, corporate executives, and speculators rake in obscene profits, people go hungry. Farm acreage formally devoted to producing crops like rice and wheat are now being converted to corn. In 2005, President George Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act which increased the amount of corn based biofuels (ethanol) available to be added to gasoline in an effort to reduce harmful green house gas emissions thought to be responsible, in part, for global warming. It also, more subtly, was a way to “water down” gas in order to extend the supply as world oil supplies dwindle amid increasing global demand, especially China. Kind of like what folks did during the Great Depression by adding extra bread crumbs to make a meatloaf last longer. Speaking of meat, the price of meat continues to rise because there is less corn available for livestock feed, which is now being diverted for human consumption.

The result was a decrease in wheat and rice production by ¼ acre. This relatively small reduction in acreage saw wheat and rice prices skyrocket, which cascaded across the board as we filled our weekly grocery carts. Meanwhile, corn prices jumped from $2.00 a bushel in 2005 when the policy was signed to $6.00 a bushel so far this year. Again, why? The answer is, once more, the spiraling demand for cheap fuel and now, for food stuffs. Egypt for example, which has long subsidized wheat prices, and the second largest recipient of US aid behind Israel, is facing bread riots because the price of wheat has risen so high that the Egyptian government is having trouble affording it. Some 20% of Egypt’s 76 million people live at or below the poverty line; Bread is the basic component of their diet. The same could be said for rice in Asia.

In my opinion, the near term indicators are that we’ll see an increasing global food crisis and a demand for cheap fuel to power economic growth. At the current time, there’s little that we can do to have both. Climate change will play an increasing factor as crop production, fresh water supplies, and basic infrastructures are challenged to or past the breaking point. There are only two scenarios as I see it. The first is to continue on our current path. This will likely result in increased shortages, unaffordable prices, and war as nations fight for natural resources in order not to create domestic economic growth, but simply to sustain current demand. If they fail, riots, crimes, and even violent revolutions are on the horizon.

The second scenario calls for global economic cooperation on a scale we’ve yet to see. It means putting aside national and ideological differences and focusing on human survival. It may mean international cooperation on an unprecedented scale to develop immediate controls on fuel production and consumption, as well as creating alternative energy sources. For places like Detroit, Stuttgart, and Nagoya, it will mean development of more fuel efficient cars. No more lobbying delays for watered down legislation. It will mean an overhaul of our transportation system, including the implementation of mass transit such as light rail, and bringing back trolleys and trams. It will mean new and more environmentally efficient homes. Given the rapid depletion of oil, it may also mean nationalization of the oil companies as a matter of national security since oil has become a strategic resource, and as such, should not be at the whims of corporate greed.

While that may help with energy shortages, it should also help with diverting acreage now under corn back to wheat and rice. Reengineering through genetic research of crops could produce greater yields on smaller plots of land; Perhaps even using less water and capable of growing in more arid areas. But wholesale education of populations is also need to educate them on more effective growing techniques. And with that, education in birth control to minimize both population growth as well as the spread of diseases such as AID despite outdated and irresponsible religious dogma against birth control. Not only is existing technology in water purification desperately needed, but so are simple tools for digging wells and improving irrigation.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, is the vigilance of people everywhere to the excesses of corporate greed and governmental indifference. People must stand together to demand a stop to food and water being used as tools of wars; being held hostage as it were by petty thugs for weapons and money. We must demand incessantly that government control the obscene profits of oil companies and the like while they hold their hand out for tax breaks and incentives to the tune of $18 billion dollars that you and I pay for; A figure that’s expect to increase to $28 Billion dollars over the next five years. If we fail to do this, you and I may in the short run be able to avoid the coming storm, but our children and their children surely won’t. In short, “We the People” must lead now so that government will be forced to follow.

Here’s an interesting article submitted to AO which I think you’ll like.

Making Tax Day Less Painful While Reducing Deficits
By Andrew L. Yarrow
Author of Forgive Us Our Debts

Marie Antoinette is said to have asked Louis XVI’s finance minister," What are you going to do about the deficit?" To which, the good minister—not unlike many an American politician today—purportedly answered: "Nothing Madame. It is too serious."
With a national debt of $9.3 trillion and rapidly growing, federal debt is serious, and failing to balance spending with revenues portends serious long-term pain for the American people, economy, and government if nothing is done.

The elephant in the room is entitlement spending, but it is worth considering the role of our tax system, not tax rates, in exacerbating America’s debt. Liberals and conservatives can disagree about tax rates or types of taxes, but few disagree that how the United States collects taxes could not be much more dysfunctional.

Almost no one likes taxes, despite Oliver Wendell Holmes’ injunction that they are the price for a civilized society. Moreover, almost no taxpayer, expert, or politician likes the current U.S. tax system, which is insanely complex, grossly unfair, and horribly inefficient.

There are several basic problems: 1) filing taxes wastes stunning amounts of time and money; 2) huge amounts of owed taxes go uncollected because of rampant tax cheating; 3) too many Americans pay no taxes; and 4) many tax subsidies are corporate and special-interest welfare.

Income taxes, with 900 or so IRS forms, devour 3.4 billion hours of Americans’ lives every year, or 25 hours per taxpayer. They cost the average filer $200 in out-of-pocket expenses, the U.S. economy untold billions in lost productivity, and IRS compliance costs are one-tenth to one-seventh of the amount of taxes collected. Between the costs of preparing taxes and the lost income from time that could be spent productively, or more enjoyably, paying taxes costs our country between $240 billion and $600 billion in 2005, according to the Government Accountability Office –all to raise about $2 trillion.

Secondly, as Will Rogers once said, "The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has." About $300 billion in taxes owed – more than recent deficits – go uncollected, as polls have found that at least one-fifth of Americans publicly say that it’s OK to cheat on your taxes. That’s only those who admit, in essence, to being liars.

In addition, one-third of Americans pay no income taxes, up from one-fifth in the mid-20th century. While many are low-income, there are good citizenship reasons for all Americans to pay taxes, even if this is not a big revenue-raiser.

The fourth arena – called "corporate welfare" by Ralph Nader liberals and Cato Institute conservatives – involves hundreds of billions of dollars in forfeited revenues from market-distorting tax breaks to business and special interests. Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that these $800 billion a year in "tax expenditures are really spending programs designed to look like tax cuts." These range from farm subsidies to the $225 billion-a-year exclusion for employer-based health care, which exempts corporations and individuals from paying taxes on the value of health insurance.

These four issues are areas where bipartisan agreement would be relatively easy. While the devil may be in the details, tax simplification is a no-brainer. We could eliminate most forms for most taxpayers; go to return-free filing, putting the onus on the government, as Grover Norquist has suggested; and/or adopt a Simplified Income Tax proposed by the Urban Institute’s Leonard Burman, with a single family credit, a refundable work credit, a 15 percent mortgage credit, no state or local tax deduction, and a built-in 401(k).

To collect owed taxes, honesty could be encouraged and we could beef up enforcement, as the audit rate falling from 2.15 percent in 1978 to 0.58 percent in 2001. The employer health-care exclusion and many agricultural and corporate subsidies are often seen as prime candidates for elimination.

Reducing long-term debt requires many other reforms—notably of entitlement spending—but we could address much easier, tax-system reforms that could win broad support across the political spectrum.

— Andrew L. Yarrow, Washington director and vice president of Public Agenda, a nonpartisan think tank, is a professor of U.S. history at American University, and the author of Forgive Us Our Debts, a book about the causes, consequences, and cures for America’s national debt, published by Yale University Press this spring. Yarrow's book Forgive us Our Debts is available from Yale University press http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300123531

Poll Results

We had a pretty good response to our poll asking you what you thought about our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. 30% said they supported the war while 40% opposed it. The remainder said they backed our involvement in Afghanistan only. Thanks for voting!

Bush's War

Normally I don’t watch KET, unless it’s during their fundraising drive, which seems to be the only time they have any programs worth watching on. However, while flipping channels Tuesday night I came across a special on Frontline called “Bush’s War”. With nothing else on, I decided to watch it, and I’m glad I did. Talk about “shock and awe”. If you think we still live in a democratic Republic, this program will quickly remove that foolish thought from head. Even if the events are only partially accurate, we appear to have far more in common with Fascist Italy or Imperial Japan than the type of government our forefathers set out to create. “Bush’s War” outlines the history and planning of our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq through interviews with the players involved, from the Pentagon and CIA to the National Security Council and State Department. The program also includes actual footage of the war not shown on the evening or cable news programs (including some very graphic and disturbing scenes).

The program is raw; exposing a total lack of planning, understanding of the ethnic, religious or politics of the region. Perhaps worse of all, this program shows a complete disregard of our system of government through deceit, vanity, petty power struggles and the failure to recognize the consequences a war of this type would bring by the most senior of elected officials. There’s no other way to put it. I bet that after you’ve watched it, you’ll have a very different perspective of the war and of the Bush Administration. I know I did. The program is in two parts and about two hours long each, but well worth watching. You can check it out for yourself visiting PBS.org at the address below:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_frontlinebrbushswar_2008-03-26


Moderate Man has new article that should interest everyone—taxes! Take a look:

A Hidden Tax

Louisville Metro Government has currently 123 parks covering more than 14,000 acres, including the 6,191 acre Jefferson Memorial Forest. The parks system is to be expanded without a voter referendum, like the library issue was. Mayor Abramson wants add 1,600 acres of a Floyds Fork flood plain into park space, (2,360 acres were acquired by the 21st Century Parks non profit), expand the area in the Jefferson Memorial Forest, add riverfront land and wharfs along the Riverwalk Trail and Levee Trail, and connect a 110 mile walking and biking path around the entire city called the Metro Loop. Currently 25 miles of the Metro Loop have been completed. Who is going to pay for the upkeep and security of these expanded parks, in mostly the non urban service district? Can you imagine just how much the maintenance of this expanded park space will cost current and future taxpayers, say for the next 200 years? This is a hidden tax! This is on and beyond the original cost to acquire the land.What happened to Mayor Abramson’s pledge of no new taxes or cuts in services due to merger? Guess its ok to have cuts in city services due to a downturn in the economy, but we won’t blame it on expanded services to the non urban service district, such as increasing limited garbage collection and street sweeping routes. This is a hidden tax! Or don’t mention garbage collection in the urban service district reduced from twice a week to once a week. This is a service cut! Let’s not talk about street sweeping reduced from four times a year to three times a year. This is a service cut! Don’t talk about the city finances that are maxed out on project bonding for years to come. Did any of those bonds cover any projects in the non urban service district? I think not.

There are other parts of the community Mr. Mayor, than the downtown. What happened to the UNITY campaign to bring all the parts of the community together? How come we still have different taxing rates in both the urban and non urban service district, years after merger passed? This has happened on your watch, for an issue you campaigned for Mr. Mayor. Use your political capitol to provide this community a unified taxing rate. Let’s talk about park security. There is only the LMPD. And they have their hands full with prioritizing felonies first. When it comes to lesser crimes, like quality of life issues in neighborhoods, they are not too enthusiastic. With the added acreage of the parks, it will require a dedicated independent parks policing force. This is a hidden tax! Louisville with a population of 701,500 will need a parks police force similar to Nashville’s Park Police. Nashville with a population of 613,856 has 113 properties with over 10,570 acres and 7 city golf courses, is very similar to Louisville Metro in terms of parks pre-expansion size. Nashville has 25 parks officers with vehicles. These Metro Parks hidden taxes are the most expensive items in the budget and the mayor did not put it to a voter referendum. The Parks Dept will need dedicated funding, similar to a taxing district, to provide the expanded services in the Mayors vision. But, let’s not ask the voters and put it on a ballot. Instead, let’s take it out of operating expenses. The voters may say no, like the library issue, in these tough times.

Moderate Man


This is an article submitted to AO for consideration. I read it. I liked it. I think you will to.

Ready for Another War between the Generations?
By Jean Johnson and Scott Bittle
Authors of Where Does the Money Go?

In primary after primary this year, journalists have remarked on the tendency of older voters to support Senator Clinton while younger voters flock to Barack Obama. On the face of it, this suggests that older and younger Americans have different ways of thinking about the country’s problems. Fair enough – the two groups are at different life stages. It’s reasonable enough that they’d be focused on different issues and concerns.

Meanwhile, the DC speechifying set is pointing out how much of the federal budget is spent on programs for older Americans compared to how little goes to benefit the young. At $586 billion in 2007, Social Security now takes up the largest slice of the federal budget. We spend more on Social Security than we spend on defense – and that’s with two wars going on. And Social Security dwarfs the $24.6 billion the federal government spent on higher education.

With 78 million boomers starting to receive benefits beginning this year, there’s no question that Social Security and Medicare costs present a major financial challenge for the country. To headline writers and the chattering classes, who often confuse conflict with genuine policy debate, this new “war between the generations” colors everything from the 2008 elections to how to tame entitlement spending.

The country went through a generation war back in the sixties and seventies, and a lot of boomers are probably surprised to find themselves painted by some as a bunch of greedy has-beens soon to be a millstone around the neck of the young. But leaving aside the feelings of the boomers themselves, we can’t help thinking that revving up a new war between the generations is such a patently bad idea. If younger people and older people begin to see each other as automatic political adversaries, it could well derail a lot productive ideas for solving our problems.

For one thing, the two putative “sides” in the supposed generational war actually have a lot in common, especially when it comes to their initiation into national politics. Both entered adulthood in the wake of shocking national tragedy – for one generation, the assassination of JFK (and Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy not too long after); for another, September 11. Both have had to contend with a deeply unpopular, costly, mismanaged war (feel free to insert the adjectives you prefer). This time around at least, we’ve avoided blaming the soldiers for the errors of their elders. Some members of boomer generation were stupider and crueler back in the day. Even so, can we really say that the two generations are such political opposites?

But beyond this, setting up political discussions as a war between the generations seems a bit odd. Nearly all members of both generations have someone they dearly love in the other camp. Based on the opinion research we’ve seen, most parents recoil at the idea of saddling their children with humongous Social Security and Medicare debt. Most young people don’t want to see their parents anxiously scraping by in old age and failing health.

We suppose families view these things differently, but most probably want a choice about whether 30-something junior lives upstairs or whether to renovate the garage so grandma can move in. Having to make these choices because younger workers can’t make ends meet or because widespread elderly poverty has once again spread across the land isn’t what most of us are aiming for. A wealthy country like this one can avoid these scenarios if we just stop procrastinating and start working on this problem now. And not every solution needs to be either-or. For example, controlling rising health care costs is vital for dealing with Medicare, but it’d be good for everyone.

So let’s stop the generation war hyper-ventilating. The boomers and the “next’ generation live together in the same country, and as individuals, we mostly care a lot about each other. Realistically, both groups are going to have to do a little adjusting and rethinking to reach any kind of consensus on what to do. There are a lot of ways to talk about what our options really are, but this war between the generations thing isn’t a very good one. It’s so been there, done that.
Crisis and editors of PublicAgenda.org.

Copyright © 2007 Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson

Authors
Jean Johnson and Scott Bittle are authors of Where Does the Money Go? Your Guided Tour of the Federal Budget. For more information, please visit http://www.publicagenda.org/


Poll Results:

In response to our poll, "Should English be our National Language?", the results were 90% in favor and 10% oppose. There were no votes for a dual language. So, English it is!

English Language--The Candidate's Position

There are a lot of serious issues facing America these days. It like we’re coming apart at our seams. However, as in most crises, there’s safety and strength in numbers. Every time America has been threatened, we’ve pulled together, rolled up our sleeves and got busy. These days, however, the threat is a much internal as it is external. Chief among the key threats is illegal immigration as I’ve so often written about, and our unsecured borders. Despite an overwhelming majority of Americans who demand that our government put an end to open borders and stem the invasion of illegals, our so-called leaders in Washington choose to either give their usual lip service or outright ignore us; both at their political peril I should add.

Closely tied to illegal immigration is the steep decline of English being spoken immigrants. How many times have you called a service provider and was either greeted with a message in Spanish or had to “push 1 for English”? Heck, I even had one service provided in Indiana ask me to “press 2 for English”—it wasn’t even a first choice! How often have you’ve gone to a store (like Wal-Mart) at night and except for the cashier, not heard a word of English?

The failure of a nation to adopt a common language will lead to the failure of the nation. As I’ve often said, language is the thread that binds the fabric of a nation together. It allows us to develop common values and integrate our cultures into this grand melting pot that we call home. It creates strength out of diversity. However, in the name of politically correct “multiculturalism” immigrants are encouraged to “preserve” their heritage by opting out of society. The children of immigrants in many school systems across the nation aren’t even require to take their taxpayer based classes in English. Instead, taxpayers have to pay for them to have in class translators. Driver’s license tests and other public services and documents are now provided in languages other than English. How do we survive as a county and not run the risk of devolving into a balkanized nation if everyone is allowed to opt out of this most basic of requirements? The short and direct answer is we don’t.

With this in mind, and having examined in the last issue where the candidates stand on illegal immigration, I thought I’d see where they stood on English. None of the candidate’s camps would agree to answer my question “Where does your candidate stand on making English the national language of America”. So, I was left with researching their position online.

First up was Hillary Clinton (D). Her comment was the making English the national language would have “negative consequences”. She went on to state “That means in a place like New York City you can’t print ballots in any other language. That means you can’t have government pay for translators in hospitals so when somebody comes in with some sort of emergency there’s nobody there to help translate what their problem is for the doctor.” http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/immigration/entries/2007/06/04/democratic_hopefuls_reject_off.html

Next was the Junior Senator from Illinois, Barak Obama. During the New Hampshire Presidential debate in June of 2007, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked each of the candidates about making English our national language. Senator Obama’s commented with “this is the kind of question that is designed precisely to divide us. You know, you're right. Everybody is going to learn to speak English if they live in this country. The issue is not whether or not future generations of immigrants are going to learn English. The question is: How can we come up with both a legal, sensible immigration policy?” (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0706/03/se.01.html)

Republican Senator John McCain responded to the issue by stating, “I think the most practical value is to make English used by all Americans and all citizens, and all who come here. The only way we move up the economic ladder from the bottom rung is to know English. And I would emphasize the importance of every person who comes to this country to become a citizen and enjoy its liberties & beauty is to learn English. And I will do everything I can to help them do that." (2007 Republican primary debate on Dec 9, 2007)

It should be pointed out that both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama did not support a resolution to make English our official language while Senator McCain voted “yea”. You can see their vote, along with that of the other Senators by visiting US Senate Roll Call Votes 109 Congress—2nd Session site at: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00131

Finally, I found it interesting that, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll taken in June of 2006, Eighty-five percent of Americans believed English should be our official language (www.rasmussenreports.com). With that said, the obvious question is why are our elected officials so blatant in ignoring the will of the American People?


Parkland Hospital

Speaking of illegal immigration and language issues, a friend of mine sent me this article about Parkland Hospital in Dallas Texas. For those of you old enough to remember, Parkland is where President Kennedy was taken when he was shot. It was later where his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was taken. I’ve check the story out on Snopes.com. It’s true. I’ve also include the address at the bottom article for Snopes.com so you can check it out too.

Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons:
1. John F. Kennedy died there in 1963
2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after
3. Jack Ruby-who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died there a few years later by coincidence.

On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year. (That's almost 44 per day---every day).

A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants. That's 11,200 anchor babies born every year just in Dallas.

According to the article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8 million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5 million.

The average patient in Parkland 'S maternity wards is 25 years old, married and giving birth to her second child.

She is also an illegal immigrant.

By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on their immigration status or ability to pay. OK, fine. That doesn't mean they should receive better care than everyday, middle-class American citizens. But at Parkland Hospital, they do. Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine prenatal clinics. That's right- NINE.

The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third child---her previous two were also born at Parkland. Her first two deliveries were free and the Mexican native was grateful because it would have cost $200 to have them in Mexico. This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10 per visit and $100 for the delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that it matters, the hospital won't turn her away. (I wonder why they even bother asking at this point.). How long has this been going on? What are the long-term affects?

Well, another subject of the article was born at Parkland in 1986 shortly after mother entered the US illegally - now she is having her own child there as well. That’s right; she's technically a US citizen.

These women receive free prenatal care including medication, nutrition, birthing classes and child care classes. They also get freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and formula. Most of these things are available to American citizens as well but only for low-income applicants and even then, the red tape involved is almost insurmountable.

Because these women are illegal immigrants, they do not have to provide any sort of legitimate identification - no proof of income. An American citizen would have to provide a social security number which would reveal their annual income - an illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and the hospital must take them at their word.
Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County residents who earn less than $40,000 per year. (They also have to prove that they did not re fuse health coverage at their current job. Yeah, the 'free' care is not so easy for Americans).

There are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars for un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not qualify for free treatment because they resided outside of Dallas County so the hospital is going to sue them! Illegals get it all free! But U. S citizens who live outside of Dallas County get sued! How stupid is this?

As if that isn't annoying enough, the illegal immigrant patients are actually complaining about hospital staff not speaking Spanish. In this AP story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset that she had to translate comments from the hospital staff into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was trying to explain the situation to the family and the mother was forced to translate for her husband who only spoke Spanish. This was apparently a great injustice to her.

In an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff, Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for applicants who speak Spanish. Additionally, medical students at the University of Texas Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital is the training facility will now have a Spanish language requirement added to their already jammed-packed curriculum. No other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous multi-semester (multi-cultural) requirement. (Sorry for the length, but this needs wide circulation particularly to our 'employees' in Congress.)
Remember that this is only ONE hospital is Dallas, Texas. There are many more hospitals across our country that also has to deal with this.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp

Illegal Immigration: The Candidate's Positions

As you all know, and as I’ve made very clear in this blog, I oppose illegal immigration. I see it as a threat to our national interest. It’s a threat to our economy. It’s a threat to our social safety net and our healthcare system. It’s a threat to law and order. It’s also a threat to our jobs. But, if you’re like me, you’re confused as to where the presidential candidates stand. Well, I’m going to eliminate some of that confusion for you. Below, you will find their positions--Republican and Democrat--on illegal immigration taken straight from their websites. I’ve also included their webpage if you want to learn more. I hope you’ll find this as eye-opening as I did.

First is the Republican, Governor Mike Huckabee:

On January 16, 2008 Governor Huckabee signed the Numbers USA: No Amnesty Pledge.

Governor Huckabee believes:
Securing our borders must be our top priority and has reached the level of a national emergency.
I support the $3 billion the Senate has voted for border security. This money will train and deploy 23,000 more agents, add four drone planes, build 700 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and put up 105 radar and camera towers. This money will turn "catch and release" into "catch and detain" of those entering illegally, and crack down on those who overstay their visas.
In this age of terror, immigration is not only an economic issue, but also a national security issue. Those caught trying to enter illegally must be detained, processed, and deported. As Governor, I ordered my state troopers to work with the Department of Homeland Security to arrest illegals and enforce federal immigration law.
I oppose and will never allow amnesty. I opposed the amnesty President Bush and Senator McCain tried to ram through Congress this summer, and opposed the misnamed DREAM Act, which would have put us on the slippery slope to amnesty for all.
I oppose and will not tolerate sanctuaries for illegals. The federal government must crack down on rogue cities that willfully undermine our economy and national security.
I oppose giving driver's licenses to illegals and supports legislation to prevent states from doing so. In 2005, I signed legislation that prevents illegals in Arkansas from getting driver's licenses.
I will stop punishing cities which try to enforce our laws and protect the economic well-being, physical safety, and quality of life of their citizens.
I oppose and will not tolerate employers who hire illegals. They must be punished with fines and penalties so large that they will see it is not worth the risk.
I oppose the economic integration of North America that would create open borders among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. I will never yield one iota or one inch of our sovereignty.
I will take our country back for those who belong here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals.

I know that securing our borders must be our top priority and has reached the level of a national emergency. I am as sick and tired as you are that it is harder for us to get on an airplane in our home town than it is for all these illegals to cross our international border unchallenged.
We cannot stem the tide of illegals until we turn the tide. Before you fix the damage to your house caused by a leaking roof, you have to stop the leak, which I am determined to do.
I supported the $3 billion Congress passed this summer for border security. This desperately-needed money will train and deploy 23,000 more agents, add four drone planes, build 700 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and put up 105 radar and camera towers. This money will turn "catch and release" into "catch and detain" of those entering illegally and crack down on those who overstay their visas.
But where is this $3 billion? The President threatened to veto the bill it was part of! Now the Senate has again voted for this money as part of the Defense Bill. I will continue to fight until we get these funds.
In this age of terror, immigration is not only an economic issue, but also a national security issue. We must know who is coming into our country, where they are going, and why they are here. All those who are caught trying to enter illegally must be detained, processed, and deported. As Governor, I ordered my state troopers to work with the Department of Homeland Security to arrest illegals and enforce federal immigration law.
I oppose and will never allow amnesty. I passionately rejected the amnesty bill that President Bush and Sen. McCain tried to ram through Congress this summer after secret meetings of an under-the-radar cabal of amnesty-loving senators.
I opposed the misnamed DREAM Act, which was a nightmare because it would have put us on the slippery slope to amnesty for all. Because once we open that door even a crack, we'll never get it closed again.
I oppose and will not tolerate sanctuaries for illegals. The federal government must enforce our existing laws by cracking down on rogue cities and towns that willfully undermine our economy and our homeland security by giving benefits and protection to illegals. The consequences for illegal entry must be swift, certain, and uniform throughout our country.
I oppose giving driver's licenses to illegals, such as Governor Spitzer tried to do in New York. I support legislation that would prevent the states from granting this privilege to illegals. In 2005, I signed legislation that prevents illegals in Arkansas from getting driver's licenses.
I will stop punishing cities which are trying to enforce our laws. I will appoint judges who will uphold the law, not side with the ACLU against cities like Hazelton, Pennsylvania, which are trying to protect the economic well-being, physical safety, and quality of life of their citizens.
I will not tolerate employers who hire illegals - they must be punished by fines and penalties so large that they will understand it is not worth the risk. Once again, as with Hazelton, liberal judges are gumming up the works. Right now, a court in San Francisco -- Pelosiland - has delayed enforcement of the "no match" letters for Social Security numbers that the Department of Homeland Security will use to crack down on those who hire illegals. If illegals cannot find work, they will go back where they belong. I will do everything I can to hasten their trip home by denying them employment.
I strongly oppose the economic integration of North America that would have open borders among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. I know we must have closed and secure borders. I will never yield either one inch or one iota of our sovereignty. I will recognize no authority but our Constitution.
I will take our country back for those who belong here and those who are willing to play by the rules for the privilege to come here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals.
I will implement a broad-based strategy that commits the resources of the federal government to the enforcement of our immigration laws and results in the attrition of the illegal immigrant population. http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

Now, here’s Republican Senator John McCain’s position on illegal immigration:

Immigration is one of those challenging issues that touch on many aspects of American life.
I have always believed that our border must be secure and that the federal government has utterly failed in its responsibility to ensure that it is secure. If we have learned anything from the recent immigration debate, it is that Americans have little trust that their government will honor a pledge to do the things necessary to make the border secure.
As president, I will secure the border. I will restore the trust Americans should have in the basic competency of their government. A secure border is an essential element of our national security. Tight border security includes not just the entry and exit of people, but also the effective screening of cargo at our ports and other points of entry.
But a secure border will contribute to addressing our immigration problem most effectively if we also:
Recognize the importance of building strong allies in Mexico and Latin America who reject the siren call of authoritarians like Hugo Chavez, support freedom and democracy, and seek strong domestic economies with abundant economic opportunities for their citizens.
Recognize the importance of pro-growth policies -- keeping government spending in check, holding down taxes, and cutting unnecessary regulatory burdens -- so American businesses can hire and pay the best.
Recognize the importance of a flexible labor market to keep employers in business and our economy on top. It should provide skilled Americans and immigrants with opportunity. Our education system should ensure skills for our younger workers, and our retraining and assistance programs for displaced workers must be modernized so they can pursue those opportunities
Recognize the importance of assimilation of our immigrant population, which includes learning English, American history and civics, and respecting the values of a democratic society.
Recognize that America will always be that "shining city upon a hill," a beacon of hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life built on hard work and optimism.
Border security and our failed immigration system are more examples of an ailing Washington culture in need of reform to regain the trust of Americans. In too many areas -- from immigration and pork barrel spending to Social Security, health care, energy security and tax relief -- business-as-usual politics prevents addressing the important challenges facing our nation. http://www.johnmccain.com/

This is what Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton has to say:

Our immigration system is in crisis. The laws we currently have on the books are inadequate and no longer serve our best interests. As a nation, we place a premium on compassion, respect, and policies that help families, but our immigration laws don't reflect that.
Hillary has consistently called for comprehensive immigration reform that respects our immigrant heritage and honors the rule of law. She believes comprehensive reform must have as essential ingredients a strengthening of our borders, greater cross-cooperation with our neighbors, strict but fair enforcement of our laws, federal assistance to our state and local governments, strict penalties for those who exploit undocumented workers, and a path to earned legal status for those who are here, working hard, paying taxes, respecting the law, and willing to meet a high bar.
Hillary strongly believes we need to do more to know who is in our country by securing our borders and ensuring that employers comply with the law against hiring and exploiting undocumented workers. She supports deploying new technology that can help stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country and an employer verification system that is universal, accurate, timely, and does not lead to discrimination and abuse by employers.
Along with these changes, Hillary believes we need to repair those broken portions of our immigration system that irrevocably damage families and force citizens and lawful immigrants to choose between their newly adopted country and living with their spouse or children. We have a national interest in fostering strong families. This is why she introduced an amendment during consideration of the immigration reform bill that would have taken steps to protect the sanctity of families. Our American values demand no less.
And Hillary understands that our immigration policies have a direct impact on American workers. She opposes a guest worker program that exploits workers and creates a supply of cheap labor that undermines the wages of U.S. workers. Hillary believes all workers deserve safe conditions and decent wages. She supports an Ag Jobs program, which will keep our agricultural industry vibrant while enabling agricultural workers to receive the fair wages and labor protections they ought to receive.
When Hillary is president, comprehensive immigration reform will be a top priority.
Hillary has advocated for policies to help smooth the transition of legal immigrants once they arrive in the U.S. so that they can add to our economy and culture.
• She championed the Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act, which would give states the option to provide federally funded Medicaid and SCHIP benefits to low-income legal immigrant children and pregnant women.
• She wrote the Access to Employment and English Acquisition Act to meet the growing demand for English language courses and other job skills.
• She strongly supports the DREAM Act, which provides a path to citizenship through military service or higher education for children who were brought to the U.S. by their parents.
• She offered an amendment to make family reunification the guiding principle of our immigration system. http://www.hillaryclinton.com/

Finally, Senator Barack Obama weighs in with his comments on illegal immigration:

Undocumented population is exploding: The number of undocumented immigrants in the country has increased more than 40 percent since 2000. Every year, more than a half-million people come illegally or illegally overstay their visas.
Immigration bureaucracy is broken: The immigration bureaucracy is broken and overwhelmed, forcing legal immigrants to wait years for applications.
Immigration raids are ineffective: Despite a sevenfold increase in recent years, immigration raids only netted 3,600 arrests in 2006 and have placed all the burdens of a broken system onto immigrant families.

Barack Obama's Plan:

Create Secure Borders: Obama wants to preserve the integrity of our borders. He supports additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.

Improve Our Immigration System: Obama believes we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.

Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally: Obama will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

Bring People Out of the Shadows: Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Work with Mexico: Obama believes we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration.

Barack Obama's Record

• Crack Down on Employers: Obama championed a proposal to create a system so employers can verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S.
• Fix the Bureaucracy: Obama joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to introduce the Citizenship Promotion Act to ensure that immigration application fees are both reasonable and fair. Obama also introduced legislation that passed the Senate to improve the speed and accuracy of FBI background checks.
• Respect Families: Obama introduced amendments to put greater emphasis on keeping immigrant families together. www.barackobama.com/

I just finished reading a terrific book written by Mr. Douglas E. Schoen entitled “Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two Party System”. Here’s a review I wrote for the book. I strongly urge you to buy it, read it, share it, and most of all, implement his suggestions.

Declaring Independence: A Review

Douglas Schoen has seen the political future of America, and it’s centrist. Americans are sick and tired of being sick and tired of partisan politics which has done nothing but produce gridlock and inefficient government while refusing to address the serious issues which affects average working Americans. If you think the Taliban is a threat to the average American household, take a look at Washington and our local legislatures. Mr. Schoen, a campaign consultant, not only presents well documented arguments, augmented with compelling examples, for the rise of (and indeed, the urgent need for) Independents and third parties in his book, “Declaring Independence”, but has also given us a roadmap in how to carry out nothing short of revolt of Common American. If you’re as tired of “do-nothing” politicians, special interests groups, and the decline of America, I urge you to read and share Mr. Schoen’s book “Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two Party System”. This is the best book yet about how “We the People” can reclaim America. Thank you Mr. Schoen!

Our occasional guest writer, “Moderate Man” wants to talk about our public library system. See what you think:

Another Way

Let’s talk about the future of our library system in Louisville Metro. Louisville finds itself in a situation that is shared with many urban library systems-how to meet customer demands for access and materials with a shrinking budget that does not match rising costs and expectations. Louisville’s main building is 100 years old and has 16 branches plus two bookmobiles. I’ve been in many libraries around the country and several towns have impressive ones. Chicago has the new $144 million dollar, 10 floor Harold T. Washington Memorial main library building, that has plenty of shelve space, new books, computers everywhere and even a winter garden on the 9th floor. This is in addition to 79 satellite branches around the community. The Library of Congress in Washington D.C. has over 130 million items in its collection and is one of the largest libraries in the world. The Detroit Library has an aging 87 year old main building with 23 branches and a heavily used bookmobile service. This, in a town with a decreasing tax base. I’ve been in towns that have small privately funded libraries that charge for admittance and have a non circulation policy.

Our town and our children deserve a better library than we now have. With the expansion of merger, there is now a greater customer need for those citizens in the non urban service district. However, the voters of Louisville Metro have spoken on 3 different occasions, stating that they don’t want to pay for library expansion. The last time was to turn down a referendum to implement a 0.2% increase in the cities occupation tax rate for the $200 million master plan by a vote of 67% against and 33% for. Councilman Hal Heiner believed that merging of city and county government over 3 years age meant that no new taxes would ever be needed. Yes, efficiencies were met, personnel were reduced, and savings were achieved. But the councilman had other ideas, believing that bond money would be available after a couple project bonds were paid off. What’s the difference? Mr. Heiner claims that the tax would be permanent.

Well a council strong enough to increase a tax rate can be strong enough to remove it once the need is gone. This has happened several times before. Folks said times were bad and the economy is sinking. Just how much do we value our children’s education? It should be the primary priority in Louisville’s budget. The mayor says that other priorities will have to come first in the 08-09 budget. The children of this town have lost this battle. No wonder the youth leave to move to other towns, leaving Louisville Metro with only a 2% population growth in 25 out of the last 30 years. The mayor and the council must be held accountable. I suggest another way to increase library funding. It can be only accomplished with local and state political will, corporate pressure and another referendum by the voters.

In 1871, Louisville’s library raised money for the Free Public Library so books could be borrowed without charge, by creating a lottery at which the lucky ticket holders would win a portion of the funds, some as high as $35,000 which was awarded. Louisville needs a City Lottery for the sole purpose of raising funds for implementing the original $200 million Library Master plan and providing operating costs for it. This, along with an increased corporate participation in the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation, could realize Louisville Metro a 21st century library system that our leaders and children will be proud of, thus increasing the regions population and attracting employers.

A Billboard and a Lost Child

I was sitting at a stoplight downtown recently. While waiting for the light to turn, I happened to glance over at a billboard. There, I saw picture of a stern looking bald Black man balancing a child on his knee. In the background, superimposed, were the gray images of a Hispanic looking woman on one side and a smallish Hispanic looking boy. The faces looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place them. I read the message that ran alongside the images. It said something about a helping Erica fight crimes against children “in memory of Cesar “Ivan” Cano”. Ah yes, I thought, just as the light turned green, I now remembered the faces.

The man was Christopher 2x (born Christopher Bryant) and minister for the Nation of Islam. Chris has developed something of a minor reputation locally as a “family spokesperson” mainly in Louisville’s West End and Portland areas. These families are usually reeling from a murder or other tragedy of some sort which has generated some media coverage. He took a big leap forward by becoming a “spokesperson” for the mother of “Ivan” Cano and the high profile murder of her child (how he does this, I don’t know since 2X speaks no Spanish that I know of, and his mother speaks little to no English. I assume she has a Spanish speaking spokesperson to speak to the media “family spokesperson”).

Ivan was a young child of about 4 years of age as I recall who had been murdered. His body was found in the back of a city garbage truck after he was finally reported missing. The police have been mum about the exact nature of his death, but it's assumed that he may have been the victim of a child predator (and indeed, a previously convicted child molester, Cecil Eugene New II, was arrested several weeks later. New has pleaded not guilty to all charges).

The investigation also revealed that his mother was here illegally and was being illegally employed at Churchill Downs as a horse “hot walker”. The reports said that little Ivan was usually left by himself while his mother went off to work every morning a few blocks away. On one occasion, Ivan was even hit (bumped may be a better descripition) by a car as he tried to cross busy Central Avenue (presumably looking for his mother). Neighbors tried to watch out for Ivan the best they could, but apparently because his mother was here illegally, no one bothered to call any of the child protection agencies, and most certainly not the police (which is why no "Amber Alert" was ever issued). Of course, if they had, Ivan may still be alive today, albeit back in his native Guatemala rather than buried there. As for the mother, she was allowed to escort the body of her son back to Guatemala, and with the permission of the Metro Louisville Police Department, allowed to return while the investigation continued (never mind the fact that she had already been thoroughly questioned and could add nothing to investigation. Her initial statement at the time said that back in her Guatemalan village, everyone watched after everyone else’s children. I presume it was pointed out to her that she was no longer in Guatemala). Churchill Downs publicly stated she could have her job back upon her return.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Christopher 2X announced that he wanted to build a monument to Ivan at a cost of $75,000.00. A sculptor was selected, and a fundraiser was held (not especially successful. It raised only about $8000). Chris has since been making the round try to find some money, but seemingly with little success. Then, in a move I can only assume was designed to force the issue, 2X showed up unannounced with the media in tow at a meeting on January 31st being held by Metro Councilwoman Marianne Butler (D-15). This was the third of four planned meeting was to focus on Wyandotte Park’s renovation.

Christopher 2X announced unexpectedly that he wanted the approximately 7 foot statute to be place in or near the center of the park. Needless to say, the residents in attendance were far from pleased (some of whom felt completely blindsided at the suggestion). Not only is the park not that large, especially with the renovations planned, the statute was viewed as being inappropriate at best by many of the attendees. The statute would seem to imply that the Southend has a problem with child molesters (which is does not) and would at the very minimum create a negative impression of the Southend (which residents are already trying to overcome). Secondly, more than one child has lost their life as a result of murder, be it random violence, drugs, robbery, drunk drivers, or sadly, parental neglect. Lastly, this murder would have likely never occurred had Ivan’s mother acted more responsibly, or had neighbors reported her behavior to the authorities.

As for my opinion, I say not at Wyandotte Park. Sorry. No way. The Southend has enough problems without that label. Ivan’s death was a tragedy, but one that could have likely been prevented. And let's get one thing straight, any memorial, if there is ever to be one, regardless of where it is placed, should not in any way dedicated to one child. There are countless victims of child abuse out there. That money--all $75,000.00 Chris 2X is trying to raise--would be better spent on organizations that protect children and not on some cold impersonal rock. These kids need love. They need people who care, and these agencies desperately need the resources to help the children. This crime has also refocused the need get serious about the illegal alien problem once and for all.

Ivan was the victim of possibility a child predator, but also of parental neglect and whose mother, had she not been an illegal alien, would have (and should have in my opinion) been reported to the child welfare authorities. Had those who witnessed his neglect done so, Ivan may still be alive. I suppose they thought they were helping her by protecting her illegal status, but at what cost to Ivan? His life apparently. Nevertheless, it is my personal opinion that it may be Ivan’s memory that is now being abused. Let’s look to real solutions, not to cold stone.


Local Southend activist, Ron Gambrell wrote an interesting article recently about the separation of Church and State. I thought it would be a fitting addition to this week’s AO. With Ron’s permission, here it is:

Separation of Church and State
by Ron Gambrell

In the Courier-Journal's Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007 Forum, Mr. Siddique Malik discussed common ground between Islam and Christianity. He was right on the mark when he wrote, “The problem that Muslims face is not a lack of religion in their lives but an excess of it.”

If Islam and Christianity do have common ground, it should be a desire for world peace. A goal that can never be accomplished as long as nations allow religious leaders to determine their style of government. Thousands of years ago, a big part of what we now call the Middle East was known as Mesopotamia, one of the world’s first major civilizations. Yet, the further we get away from there, the more civilized people are. Why is this? Why are many of the countries in and around that part of the world still living so far behind times? Why are their women still being discriminated against in ways civilized peoples never tolerate?
Could it be because those countries governments are overly influenced by religious leaders? Men who consider and treat all women as subordinates? Men who believe and teach that denying basic civil rights is the desire of their god? Men who are quick to assassinate the likes of Benazir Bhutto, a highly educated woman who devoted her life to a dream for change?

In America, in the late 1600s, religious fanatics burned innocent women at the stake because of a ridiculous fear of witchcraft. Fortunately, our founding fathers considered such atrocities when determining that in The United States of America, religion is a right, not a requirement. We keep, as a rule, our religion and politics separated. I’m not saying that our political leaders should not be religious. Often, their character can be gauged by their beliefs. However, our political leaders should never be pressured to rule according to the wishes of any particular religion.

I am a practicing Catholic, and yet I do not want my Pope to determine the policies of American politics. His opinion on world issues is important and welcome, but it is not law. Our law wisely forbids religious leaders from preaching politics at the pulpit. As a Christian, it is hard to say that I am for separation of Church and State. But as a responsible American, I must and do. Otherwise, we could backslide to the chaos seen in religiously governed countries.

We should all look forward to the day when peoples around the world wake up and quit allowing their religions to rule their politics in ways that deny basic human rights to citizens. In the mean time, those moving to this country from Muslim regions must be aware that in America, freedom reigns over religion. In this country, religious leaders do not make the law, and if they break the law, we put them in jail. In this country, religious leaders have no more or less rights than anyone else. In other words, when you come to America, you are welcome to practice your religion, so long as it does not deny anyone the civil liberties and basic human rights that our forefathers fought for. Rights that we as Americans demand.