Opening Monologue: Thursday, June 28, 2007

[Rush Limbaugh had plenty to say the day the Amnesty Bill died a well deserved death. Nothing inflammatory... just good ole common sense and astute observation. Yes, I listen to Limbaugh. No, I am not ashamed of it.]


RUSH: 46 to 53, and it is over. We have some audio sound bites from the debate that happened on the floor of the Senate this morning. It's truly astounding, and I want to you hear these sound bites. Here's what's going to happen next. Just a little prediction here, and I told you, we went out on a limb yesterday and predicted to you this thing would go down in flames.

There were 18, as I counted, 18 switch votes, and, by the way, I want to tell you one thing, everybody is going to try to portray this as a loss for the president, which it is. And everybody is going to try to portray this as talk radio running amuck, "We gotta do something about it." In fact, I know for a fact that Democrats were telling Republicans in the Senate yesterday, "Well, just go ahead and vote for this thing, by the time you're up for reelection, we'll have dealt with talk radio." There were Democrats telling Republicans that they shouldn't worry about it because we're going to deal with talk radio. Now they're really going to deal with talk radio. This Fairness Doctrine stuff is going to really heat up. What's going to make it different this time, I think, at least on the side in the Senate is that Republicans are going to join Democrats in all this. But don't worry, folks, we are geared up for this and ready for it. In addition to all that, I think what's going to happen is there will be propaganda now from the open borders Republicans like Lindsey Grahamnesty. I say this because some of the things that he said on the floor of the Senate today, not just Grahamnesty, but a bunch of others are going to say that you and I are now going to be responsible for Hispanics voting for Democrats because we opposed this bill.

You're going to be tarred and feathered as a vocal and loud minority, and racists, and all that, but they can't say you don't count. When the rubber hit the road, that's why one of the reasons I was fairly confident about this and not panicking yesterday, one of the reasons, when the rubber hit the road, they listened to you. They listened to the polling on this. You shut down Washington's whole phone system today. Passport offices, everything was shut down. In the Senate I think they shut down the phone system, Jeff Sessions said something like that, just to avoid having the whole thing get shut down. They had to limit access to it because you were being heard. American people in this country, on balance-- not in every instance --but they get what they want. In this case, this bill is dead for two years now because Dingy Harry says he can't bring this up next year, it's the presidential election. Well, fine and dandy. This debate needs to be part of the presidential race, folks. Make it a national debate and have it out in the open, not behind closed doors with amendments that nobody reads, amendments that did not have a chance.

By the way, all this talk about the Fairness Doctrine and there's too much one-sided opinion on talk radio, how about the Fairness Doctrine applied to the Senate. Dingy Harry literally shut down debate on this at a point yesterday. I have some comments from senators on that in the audio sound bite roster as well. We are in our current situation with this whole immigration imbroglio because people like senator Lindsey Grahamnesty and others who have served in Congress for many years and who have sworn to uphold the law have failed to uphold the law. Let's be clear about this. Grahamnesty and his fellow amnesty supporters have used rhetoric and arguments that have undoubtedly inflamed various ethnic groups, not us. We have to go on the offense about this, rather than being defensive, because you and I, all of us that ganged up on Washington, we are going to be accused here of all kinds of racism and hate and bigotry. And we have been. It's going to continue. It will probably expand and increase. If there are riots, if the illegals come out of the shadow and riot, and there's talk that they might -- oh, well, it would be funny if they did. We can't find them, but they'll come to us. But there's talk, you know, people trying to stir the excrement out there, if you will. They're going to say, if that happens, talk radio did it. "This is what happens when you have lack of balance in the media," so forth and so on.

You will all be included in this rhetoric, but the rhetoric that has been used by the open borders crowd has inflamed a lot of ethnic groups. By the way, do you realize the Democrats run the Senate and Harry Reid couldn't get this bill through? Now, you can sit there and blame talk radio all you want and you can sit there and blame the American people and racism and hatred and bigotry and all that. Democrats could not get this done, and he couldn't get enough of his own senators to vote for this. The primary group of senators he couldn't corral were the freshman Democrat senators who were very, very much concerned about this. He lost Mary Landrieu. Why do you think Landrieu was opposed to this? She's up for reelection, and she's also concerned about what the unchecked invasion of illegal immigrants might do to Louisiana, might do to New Orleans and so forth and the culture that she was born and raised in. This whole thing that this is a racist idea and issue is absurd in the first place.

Border security is what this was all about. Border securing and complying with the law is what this was all about. That shouldn't be a pro or con Hispanic issue. Yet that's how Lindsey Grahamnesty and a bunch of other proponents on this, these open border supporters, have defined the issue. And, of course, the Drive-By Media happily repeats it. Now, if we lose seats in '08 and if we lose Hispanic votes, I'm not going to take the blame here, folks, and you shouldn't take the blame, either. If we lose seats, these guys are responsible for their elections. They're the ones that go out and get the votes. If people vote against them because of this, they will have their own actions to blame. I've been talking about Lindsey Grahamnesty. Let me explain why. Go to audio sound bites one and two here, just to give you an idea from the Senate floor today. Here is Senator Grahamnesty.

GRAHAM: You're never going to deal with this issue until you embrace the 12 million. No Democrat is going to let you build a fence and do all the things that we want to do without addressing the 12 million. That's never going to happen. I want to address the 12 million. The reason I want to address the 12 million, it bothers me that there's 12 million people here that we don't know who they are and what they're up to. I wish they would go away, but they're not. It is a problem that America has to deal with, and we want someone else to do it, because we're afraid that if we do a plea bargain, it's amnesty.

RUSH: What in the world -- did you hear this? "The reason I want to address the 12 million, it bothers me there's 12 million people here that we don't know who they are and what they're up to." I thought they were doing the jobs the American people won't do! All of a sudden we're getting a new characterization of who these people are. They're a bunch of renegades and ragtags running around. We don't know who they are or what they're doing? But he basically said, "You people that want border security first had better check it at the door because it ain't going to happen. We gonna deal with these 12 million." He said the Democrats aren't going to let this happen. So we find out that he's been kowtowing to the Democrats. He said the Democrats are never going to let you build the fence and do all the things that we want to do without addressing the 12 million, and he said our job's to go there and work with Democrats. No, it's not. [Their job is to] Go there and debate them and defeat them. I'm going to just assert this. We did the job that Lindsey Grahamnesty should have been doing, as an elected Republican, and a number of other Republicans. We, you and I, did the job they should have been doing. Here's the second sound bite from Senator Grahamnesty.

GRAHAM: The 12 million will be dealt with. They're not going to be ignored. They will be dealt with firmly and fairly, eventually. They're not going to be deported, they're not going to jail, they can't be wished away. So we need to come together in a bipartisan manner, have principled compromise, where we deal with 12 million, we deal with broken borders, we get a temporary worker program. To my Republican friends, remember this day if you vote no. You will never, ever have this deal again.

RUSH: That's right. Because we're going to get a better deal next time. We'll never, ever have this deal again. We're gonna get a better deal. We didn't want this deal. This was a bad deal. It was the wrong deal to make. It was the Comprehensive Destruction of the Republican Party Act of 2007. Here's Dingy Harry Reid's response on the floor of the Senate after the cloture vote failed.

REID: The vote has been cast. As I told a number of my Republican friends, even though the vote is really disheartening to me in many, many ways, I think as a result of this legislative work that we've done the last several months on this legislation that there's been friendships developed that weren't there before, trust initiated that didn't exist before. So I say to my friends...

RUSH: Stop the tape! I want to translate this for you. What it means is, we bought off a bunch of Republicans and made 'em see the world our way. And that's called trust. When Republicans cave to their own principles; when Republicans give in and have as their main objective getting along with people like Harry Reid, "Harry, this is great. We've made new alliances. We've come up with new friendships. We've formed new bonds of trust here." And all that means is we suckered a bunch of these Republicans into going along with us. Here's the rest of this bite.

REID: ...Democrats, Republicans, that this is -- this is a legislative issue, that will come back, it's only a question of when. We're only six months into this Congress. We have so much to do. And hopefully this lesson we've all learned will be one where we recognize that we have to work more closely together. And I hope we can do that. So I say to all of you...

RUSH: Stop the tape a minute. You can work as closely together as you want, but when you're wrong, you're going to hear about it. When you do something that's so tone deaf; when you're so out of step with the citizens of this country who have elected you, you're going to hear about it. Whatever the new legislation, I don't care if you're talking about taxes, because what people have learned here, Senator Reid, is that you can be stopped. What people have learned here is that they do have power, that their vote does matter, that what polls say reflecting their opinions does matter. People all over this country for years have thought they shouldn't get involved because their vote, their action, their involvement, was irrelevant. They learned today just the exact opposite. They learned it during the Dubai Ports deal. I still love saying those three words. They also, Senator Reid, have learned something else. They have seen the arrogance and conceit of a bloated, inefficient, big government. That is the thing that ought to cause some Democrats to quake in their boots more than anything. The idea of how big government works, how arrogant and condescending it can be, and even insulting, has been on full display. So those are the opportunities I see. The opportunities Dingy Harry sees to go on and convince more Republicans to cave and give in and join with Democrats and to him, that's a plus thing, but if they're wrong in what they're trying to do, they will hear about it.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Interesting story, funny story today in the New York Times. "Immigration Bill Prompts Some Menacing Responses." We've been hearing this now for two or three weeks. Dianne Feinstein, in her 15 years in the Senate, she's never gotten more angry, hate-filled, racist messages in her e-mail, and phone calls and so forth. This story is about much the same thing. I want proof of this. I want to see what some of this hate-filled rhetoric is and I want to see who it's actually coming from. They come out and they say all this stuff, and there's no backup for it. Prove it. Show us. Give us the text of some of these messages. Senator Grahamnesty said, "There’s racism in this debate. Nobody likes to talk about it, but a very small percentage of people involved in this debate really have racial and bigoted remarks. The tone that we create around these debates, whether it be rhetoric in a union hall or rhetoric on talk radio, it can take people who are on the fence and push them over emotionally."

Now, why is it that the things that Senator Kennedy says during this debate don't do that? Why is it that some of the debate that the senators engage in doesn't cause people to get emotional? Well, we know it does. How come we're not entitled to get emotional when we're lied to, when we're told that we're racists, we're told that we're bigots, and when we're told that we don't know what's in the bill? This $4.4 billion emergency spending procedure, the supplemental spending bill that was going to build the fence, get started border security, Jim DeMint, a Senator from South Carolina said, (paraphrasing) "Guess what? There's a provision in this thing that allows that money to be used for the amnesty purposes of the legislation, and it's so designed." So they didn't even tell us the truth about that. There was a caveat in the $4.4 billion. We spend that much on rubber bands in this government every year. $4.4 billion for fence security and so forth. Yeah, it's only the rhetoric here on talk radio. By the way, the underlying notion here is that you people are continuing to be mind-numbed robots. There's still no respect for the fact that you are informed, engaged, involved citizens who vote. You're just sponges without minds of your own, and you are filled with, what did he say, racism and bigotry, and it pushes you over the edge emotionally.

Let's see. This is not a quote from anybody. This is just the New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny. "At the heart of the opposition rests conservative hosts on talk radio and cable television, which often are a muscular if untamed piece of the Republican message machine." How in the name of Sam Hill do you come to that conclusion? Because all these years what I have heard is that I'm in the back pocket of the GOP. I'm just sitting here getting their faxes. I'm getting their e-mails from the White House, and I get my marching orders from them and then I go out and say what I say, then it ends up on Drudge. It ends up on all other talk shows. It ends up on the Internet, and I'm just my own mind-numbed robot, whatever the White House says, do it. Now all of a sudden I am an untamed piece of the Republican message machine.

After all of this, how I can be called a piece of the Republican message machine... But this is the template, and this is the bias of the Drive-By Media, that there is no independence here like there is in the Drive-By Media. There's no independent thought, there's no individuality whatsoever. We're all just mind-numbed robots on the right, folks. We're kooks because we are conservatives. Untamed piece of the Republican message machine. "Several senators said Wednesday that they did not care to be identified speaking critically of the broadcasters, fearing the same conservative backlash that befell Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, this month when he declared: 'Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.'" So a lot of Republican senators apparently wanted to launch but were afraid of the backlash caused by us untamed pieces of the Republican message machine. Dingy Harry, we have time to squeeze this in. This morning on the Senate floor before the vote.

REID: Talk radio has had a field day. These generators of simplicity -- now, Mr. President, I want everyone to know and I want the record spread, I do not believe that anyone who is a United States senator that votes against this motion to proceed is filled with prejudice, with hatred, with venom as we get in our phone calls and our mail. I don't believe that. But I do believe, Mr. President, that we have an issue before us that we must resolve.

RUSH: Okay, so now a untamed member of the piece of the Republican message machine, but now we are 'generators of simplicity' here on talk radio, and here we're back again to these assertions that those of you who have been calling Dingy Harry and his colleagues are racists, full of hate, and venom. If there's any venom being directed at you, Senator Reid and colleagues, it's simply because you haven't been listening and you haven't been telling us the truth. You've been insulting us.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: A New York Times story by Carl Hulse: "New Senators Resist Overhaul of Immigration." This is a story about the problem that Dingy Harry had: "Freshman Democrat Senators Among the Wary." There's a subhead on the story. In fact, that is the subhead on the front page above the fold of the paper. The Internet version of the story does not have that subhead, "Freshman Democrats Among the Wary," but the one thing missing in this story is Reid and Democrats fail in the majority -- and Pelosi is not getting much done over in the House of Representatives, either. Back to the audio sound bites. Nancy Pelosi was on Charlie Rose on PBS last night, and he asked her this question: "Have the proponents of this bill done a good enough job to sell it to the country?"

PELOSI: Uh, there is an element in our, uh... Well, talk radio --

ROSE: Yes.

PELOSI: -- or in some cases, hate radio where they just go on and on and on and are xenophobic, anti-immigrant, and it's interesting because, in -- in my faith I'm a -- I'm a Catholic and, um -- and we always talk where there's hatred, may bring love, where there's despair may we bring hope...

RUSH: I'm throwing up here. I am literally going to throw up.

PELOSI: ...where it's dark, light, and to forgive is to be forgiven -- and all a sudden all these people of faith are just very unforgiving.

RUSH: How can you speak that way, after some of the hate-filled rhetoric that you and the people you empower have offered up against President Bush? After all the things that you have said to demoralize the troops serving this country, risking their lives, all of the investment in defeat that you and Senator Reid have made it plain your party is for, you dare sit there and talk about hate speech and unforgiving speech, hate radio and so forth? I think these people owe us an apology. I think Senator Graham in South Carolina owes all of you in South Carolina an apology for his rhetoric and his comments about you. This whole debate has featured elected officials insulting their constituents one way or another. We either haven't read the bill when we have, or we haven't got minds of our own, or we're racists or bigots -- and now there's hate. I'm going to tell you something. The hate on balance in this country resides on the left side of the aisle. What is going on with Senator Leahy trying to subpoena and harass the Bush administration? This is nothing more than harassment. You might say it's politics, but you can't convince me these people don't viscerally hate George W. Bush, and they have hated George W. Bush since the Florida aftermath.

I wonder if Nancy Pelosi asked the people calling her office, as she's talking about this, if they were people of faith, or is that just more religious profiling? Is she just saying that the people who called her were a bunch of southern hayseed conservative Christian hicks? Remember, the people that work on bias and prejudice in this country are the people on the left. They're the ones that form opinions of people based on where they live, based on their accents, based on their skin color, based on their gender, based on their sexual orientation, and based on whether or not they can fit into a nice little liberal created victim group. Anyway, I told you at the beginning of the show. This is only gonna heat up, and it is going to manifest itself in more calls for "fairness." One element of the media should not be so out of balance as is talk radio. Keep a sharp eye. Want to hear some funny stuff from Ted Kennedy, yelling today during the immigration debate? He said this about those who oppose the immigration bill. This is before the vote.

KENNEDY: We know what they're against! We don't know what they're for! Time and time again, they tell us, "We don't like this provision! We don't like that provision! We don't want that part of it!" Well, they ought to be able to explain to the American people what they are for! What are they going to do with the 12 and a half million, erra, who are undocumented here? Send them back? Send them back to countries around the world? More than $250 billion, buses that would go from Los Angeles to New York and back again? Try and find them. Develop a type of Gestapo here to seek out these people that are in the shadows? That's their alternative? That's their alternative!

RUSH: Well, this is laughable. Senator Kennedy, perhaps you don't remember that there was an amendment offered, the touchback amendment, and this is where all of these 12 million (as you say, we think it's closer to 20) but have to go back to their home countries. Now, just how in the world were they going to be found and forced to do this? If we can't find 'em now, if it's going to cost too much money and all this, how in the world...? Oh, oh, oh, I get it! They were going to obey the law on their own. Oh, they knew that. You think that was going to happen? They wouldn't trust that provision for a second, and they know there's no reason to leave, because the odds that they're going to be rounded up are no better than they've ever been, so why? Why go back and touchback when the overriding theory you have is you might not get back in unless you come in illegally. There's so many contradictions in all of this, but we have shouted from the rooftops -- I'm sorry, from the golden EIB microphone, Senator Kennedy -- and we do know what we're for, and that's enforcement of current law. Enforce of existing law! It's not complicated. Here's more of Senator Kennedy.

KENNEDY: And we have a process, er, that said, "Look, okay, you're here and undocumented, and you're going to have to pay a price. We're going to take people that are in the line, that have said that they want to play by the rules. They go and they wait and you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait, and you pay and you pay and you pay. You pay, uh, your fees. You pay your processing fees, your adjustment fees. You pay, uh, not only for yourself; you pay for the other members of the family. You demonstrate that you're going to learn English. You demonstrate that you've worked here. You demonstrate that you're a good citizen. You demonstrate that you haven't had any run on in on crime [sic], and then maybe -- and then maybe -- you get on that pathway with the green card and perhaps in 15, 18 years you'll be able to raise your hand and be a citizen, eh, here in the United States.

RUSH: (Laughing.) Fifteen to 18 years to be a citizen! (Laughing.) You know, this is why it's laughable when they insult us for not knowing what's in the bill. The simple fact of the matter is that there's no need for these people to pursue the path to citizenship because the minute this bill would have been signed, they're legal! You all know all this. We're going blue in the face talking about it. If this bill ever does or did become law, the minute it's signed, they're legal -- after the mythical 24-hour background check. (Laughing.) How are we gonna do the background check if we can't find 'em? But they don't have to pay the fines if they don't pursue citizenship. This really is a disconnect here. I don't know if it's just tone deaf. I think they have, Senator Kennedy and some of these people, such a lofty view of these people that he thinks that they all want to be full-fledged citizens (crying), and that that's what they're dying to do, and that's what they came here for, and we're standing in their way (sobbing), because these bigots and racists and restrictionists and talk radio! All we want them to do is be citizens in 15 to 18 years.

But they don't have to do any of that and that's the only way they get out of paying the fine. We also know that if they did pursue citizenship, it wouldn't be long before the senators would say, "Well, you know, this $5,000 fine? That's a bit high. It's a bit punitive. Why, we're taking food out of the mouths of starving children who are someday going to be American citizens." All of this was poppycock. What it boils down to is, very simply, the American people -- you --didn't believe what your elected officials were telling you, and you didn't believe that they could do what they said the bill would do, and that's why I said this is an opportunity. People got a great illustration here of the inefficiencies and the unworkableness of a bloated, over-the-top-size government, and believe me, folks, that's a premise I'm not going to abandon. It's going to be a reminder I'm going to continue to make, because that's something that people may not even notice themselves until it's pointed out to them, until they're reminded of it, but this was one of the fabulous aspects of all this that happened.

END TRANSCRIPT

Here's more

Eight Random Facts...

[I'll play along so long as no one minds my not tagging anyone else....]

...about EL-- within a single sphere of interest...

1. EL is fascinated and enthralled by the sea. She calls to him even now....

2. The best job EL ever had was on a crew-boat off the Louisiana and Texas coasts

3. EL's dream vacation would be two weeks on the island atoll of Hikueru in the South Pacific.

4. EL, while cruising the intercoastal waterway in Louisiana saw a porpoise mother nudging her newborn to the surface. The calf was unresponsive and she was crying.

5. While out in the middle of the gulf on a clear moonless night, EL discovered it is possible to read by starlight.

6. Piloting a 110 foot vessel through 35-40 foot swells is the most afraid EL has been on the open sea.

7. The smell of the sea makes EL feel safe, warm, and welcomed home.

8. EL hasn't been on the water in 15 years... a lifetime ago...


Just call me Ishmael-- it's only a matter time.

Here's more

HALLELUJAH!

It's Dead! And the American people still have a voice!

Now begins the Liberal war ON that voice... on Free Speech and the First Amendment.

Here's more

My! What confidence we have! -- UPDATED!!!

Only 3% of American's, according to Zogby, believe Congress is doing a good job on Immigration.

Harry Reid's approval is still sitting at 19% (Rassmussen)

Congress' approval rating as of today is 14% (Gallup)

The President's approval rating as of the 14th was 32% (Gallup)

There should be a law against speaking out about the performance of others when one's own performance is judged to be worse.

Here's more

Questions to Consider...

[In regard to Palestinians and violent Muslim extremism in general]


Could it be that the tribe accustomed to conflict and war, inured to violence and degradation, cannot peacefully live within borders governed by democratic civility?

Do we expect too much of people whose existences have been constrained by centuries of tradition both soaked in blood and the bitter dregs of personal hegemony?

How do children born of malice; whose meat has been assassination and honor killing, meekly accept political defeat and the slow progress of democratic statesmanship without resorting to AK's and suicide belts?

Has it been the greatest conceit of the West that she could change a millennia and half again of senseless brutality with a few elections?

Perhaps we expect too much of such unruly children...

And if that be the case, what is to be done about it? We can't allow it on our shore... How then do we contain the animal instinct? By caging ourselves in? Or by culling the herd and fencing in what remains, exercising a system as of yet unfathomed, by which they are kept perpetually in check? At what cost to us? And is it a price worth paying when one considers what is to be lost should the beasts proliferate and propagate their 'statecraft' within our borders?

Here's more

Now that that's out of my system....

Can I please have my goat baaaaa-ck!!?

Here's more

Fair Warning One and All...

From here on out, NO one gets to use 'the Fact-Based' in their handle when commenting. I will, the moment time permits, delete and re-post any comment whose author chooses to label themselves as such. No one is truly 'fact-based' in this arena... myself included. Facts, like taffy, can be stretched beyond all recognition. So! If anyone thinks I've stretched the truth, speak up! But don't assume I'll let anyone attack from a position of self-superiority, on a pedestal of personal conceit. If I think your facts are screwy you can bet I'll say as much, but I won't do it from the aforementioned position and pedestal.

Having said all that, it's not like unimpeachable facts can't be found here and elsewhere, only that 'facts' tend to be 'subjective' dependant upon their wielders.

Here's more

Old News that Bears Repeating

...especially in light of Reid and Pelosi's latest attempt to lose the war for America.

From the DesMoine Register, May 23, 2007:

A tired and disgusted Iowa soldier fired off an e-mail a few days ago, telling family and friends how things are going in Iraq.

A Blackhawk helicopter pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Jim Funk has flown more than 80 combat missions since he arrived there in October.

He described his Boone-based unit's successes after 5,000 hours of flying out of LSA Anaconda, a huge American base north of Baghdad. He talked about the tragedies he and his fellow Iowans have witnessed and his worries of becoming complacent as he goes on mission after mission.

Morale?

"We're treading water. We continue to kick butt on missions and take care of each other, even though we know the American public and government DOES NOT stand behind us.

Ohhhh, they all say they support us, but how can you support me (the soldier) if you don't support my mission or my objectives. We watch the news over here. Every time we turn it on we see the American public and Hollywood conducting protests and rallies against our 'illegal occupation' of Iraq.

"Hello media, do you know you indirectly kill American soldiers every day? You inspire and report the enemy's objective every day. You are the enemy's greatest weapon. The enemy cannot beat us on the battlefield so all he does is try to wreak enough havoc and have you report it every day. With you and the enemy using each other, you continually break the will of the American public and American government.

"We go out daily and bust and kill the enemy, uncover and destroy huge weapons caches and continue to establish infrastructure. So daily we put a whoopin on the enemy, but all the enemy has to do is turn on the TV and get re-inspired. He gets to see his daily roadside bomb, truck bomb, suicide bomber or mortar attack. He doesn't see any accomplishments of the U.S. military (FOX, you're not exempt, you suck also).

"Let's give you an example. A couple of days ago we conducted an air assault. We lifted troops into an area for an operation. The operation went well and our ground troops killed (insurgents) and took several prisoners, freed a few hostages and uncovered a weapons cache containing munitions and chemicals that were going to be used in improvised bombs.

"The next morning I woke up and turned on AFN (Armed Forces Network) and watched the nightly news (NBC). Nothing, none of that reported. But the daily car bomb report was reported, and the file footage was not even from the event. There was a car bomb in the Sadr City area and your news report showed old car bomb footage from another part of town from some other time.

"So we really set the enemy back that night but all the enemy had to do was turn on the news and be reassured that the enemy's agenda (objective) was still going to be fed to the American public.

"We, the soldiers, keep breaking the back of the enemy. You, the media, keep rejuvenating the enemy.

"How hard would it be to contact the PAO (public affairs officer) of the 1st CAV, 36th CAB, 25th ID or the Marines and ask what did you guys accomplish today - good and bad? How about some insurgent blooper videos? Now that would be something to show on the evening news.

"Media, we know you hate the George Bush administration, but report both sides, not just your one-sided agenda. You have got to realize how you are continually motivating every extremist, jihadist and terrorist to continue their resolve to kill American soldiers.

"I am just tired of busting my butt over here and coming home every night and turning on the TV (Armed Forces Network) and hearing how we are failing miserably..."

The media doesn't want you to win, Sir. That would mean they'd have to recognize Bush as something more than a tongue-tied idiot.

What complete and utter losers both Reid and Pelosi, AND the media are.

Here's more

The Age of Pyramids...

gives way to...


"The Age of Cynicism"
by Rich Lowry

Three Quotes:

"In five years, we built the Hoover Dam. From 1931 to 1936, the Colorado River was diverted with tunnels blasted into the Black Canyon walls, a town was built to house a small army of workers laboring in the desert, and 3 1/4 million cubic yards of concrete were poured into a dam reaching 726 1/2 feet high -- two years ahead of schedule."

Impressive only-- to my mind at least --because of the time and available technology...

"In the 1930s, the Empire State Building was built in 410 days; more than five years after 9/11, the World Trade Center site still features a gaping hole."

Wow! 102 floors in 1 year, 1 month, and 15 days.... that's 4.02 floors a day! Double wow!!! That's the American "Can-Do" spirit for you.

[ Hmmm. Now where did we lay that "Can-Do" spirit? Well, wherever it is it'll be in the last place we look.]

"The best thing that might have happened to Republicans lately is their loss of Congress, which means that Democrats have gone from attacking a spectacularly unpopular Congress to running a spectacularly unpopular Congress."

Harry Reid's approval rating as of the other day was 19%. NINETEEN PERCENT! That's even lower than President Bush's!

But here's one Lowry left out... and that's the number 2,504. 2,504 days. Six years, three-hundred fourteen days. Care to guess? That's right! Very good! On September 12, 1962 President Kennedy announced, "We choose to go to the moon..." And it only took 6 years, 314 days [including leap days] to get there.

One day in April of next year will mark 6 years, 314 days since Ground Zero was cleared... And yet it remains empty. A sad testament to the lack of Pyramid Builders in America today.

But this shouldn't surprise anyone. Think about it! We could build the Hoover Dam, the Empire State Building, and send a man to the moon..... amazing feats all! But we can't build a measly 700 mile fence along our southern border, let alone stop arguing long enough to do something with that big gaping hole in Lower Manhattan!

Let alone do something with that big gaping ideological hole in Washington D.C.

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Yes, it's true. Sixth century religions have a place in the modern world.

At least the Egyptian government is rightly embarrassed.

From the New York Times:

"First came the breast-feeding fatwa. It declared that the Islamic restriction on unmarried men and women being together could be lifted at work if the woman breast-fed her male colleagues five times, to establish family ties. Then came the urine fatwa. It said that drinking the urine of the Prophet Muhammad was deemed a blessing.

"For the past few weeks, the breast-feeding and urine fatwas have proved a source of national embarrassment in Egypt, not least because they were issued by representatives of the highest religious authorities in the land.

" 'We were very angered when we heard about the Danish cartoons concerning our prophet; however, these two fatwas are harming our Islamic religion and our prophet more than the cartoons...' "

Unbelievable!

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Let's face it, the Immigration Bill is a farce...

...and it puts the cart before the horse!

Didn't a bill get signed into law last year mandating a 700 mile fence be built along the border? Let's enforce THAT law first! If the boat is sinking, by all means begin bailing, but bailing won't save you from having to swim to shore! You got to find the leak and plug it! Same concept here. Table the Amnesty debate. The Illegals aren't going anywhere. And if we're going to grant amnesty to all these people shouldn't we at least see that the leak is plugged?

Build a fence first. THEN talk amnesty.

I don't want to hear any talk of immigration from my representative or senators that do not mandate we enforce the laws ALREADY ON THE BOOKS first! ESPECIALLY the fence. Do these clowns in Washington expect me to believe they'll enforce the laws detailed in their new farce of an immigration bill when they won't even enforce the bill they gave to Bush last year for signing?

Nuh, uh! I'm not buying. And neither should you.

I'm not against allowing these people some measure of protection and chance of becoming citizens, but they are not and should not be our primary focus. They're here, they're not going anywhere. Let's keep anyone else from coming in illegally first! Only then should be demonstrate the compassion America is still famous for [except in Liberal circles] and talk Amnesty, or a 'Path to Citizenship'.

You want to talk bigotry? Fine. Let's talk about the bigotry on the Left which demands we show preferencial treatment to Illegals who pour across our southern border, while denying, in droves, millions of people who want to enter legally, who have degrees, and skills this nation needs to compete in technology and the sciences.

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And Democratic candidates insist tax increases are desperately necessary?

Huh? Wha!!?

Wait a minute! The federal budget deficit is shrinking... and getting smaller every month! As of the end of May '07 the deficit is down 34.6% from May of '06. The deficit is now sitting in the neighborhood of 149 billion. Didn't we spend more in the first year of the Iraq War than what our current deficit reflects? Wasn't it somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 billion we the taxpayers shelled out for Iraq. So why is the deficit plummeting? The Bush Tax Cuts... IN SPITE OF 9.11 AND THE WAR ON IRAQ!!!

WOW! Imagine that! Tax cuts allow for greater prosperity across the board. Let's see, there are more jobs, less unemployment, booming business, and cash and opportunity to be made. No one is exempt who is willing to work to achieve that goal, that dream, that Mercedes Benz.

But Dems, especially the candidates, want to raise taxes on the evil rich. They want to squash prosperity. Hillary wants to adopt the oft-discredited Marxist Maxism:

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"

That's right she wants to reshape the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave into Stalinland. Yeah, that's hyperbole, but that doesn't mean she isn't pushing a socialist ideal. Said Candidate Hillary:

"It's time for a new beginning. For an end to government of the few by the few and for the few [I agree, it's time the Senate and House stop acting like enthroned rulers. The American people are not your peasants, you work for US!]. Time to reject the idea of an on-your-own society and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity. I prefer a "we're all in it together" society. [Can America survive another 'It Takes a Village' attack on America from socialist shill Hill?]"
[bracketed portions added]

Tax cuts work. They help everyone to prosper. America should not be in the business of punishing those who succeed HOWEVER much they have in the bank. What incentive, after all, is there for the poor and middle-class to make it rich if Government is going to punish them for it. And not simply punish... but steal from them.

_______________
Sources:
US budget deficit narrows sharply in first eight months of this fiscal year
WE HAVE TO GET THE TAXES RAISED ... AND FAST!
U.S. Deficit Climbs $67.7 Billion Last Month

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"Half" Hearted Endorsement

ER posted links to an old LP Record called "Flight F-I-N-A-L"

He's called it allegory, but I won't go that far. It's more symbolic than allegorical, and I really hesitate to label it that as it's a pretty straight-forward account-- albeit dramatized and illustrated in terms modern men and women can grasp --of life and our ultimate destination on the other side of Death.

It's worth a download and a hear.

I give this a "Half" hearted endorsement ONLY because I haven't yet had time enough to listen to "Side B"


Here's your links:

Flight F-I-N-A-L:

Side A
Side B

Thanks go out to ER.

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The more Dennis Miller opens his mouth...

...the more I absolutely love him!

Has anyone out there seen Joel Surnow's 'The 1/2 Hour News Hour' yet? This weeks episode ended with Dennis Miller's stinging... I mean absolutely SCATHING critique of wimp-master Harry Reid. TOO funny! Sadly, it's not yet up on the 1/2 Hour News Hour's page, but you can watch President Limbaugh's address to the nation from the southwestern White House in Cabo.

You can watch a number of segments, including this one depicting President Limbaugh and Vice President Coulter on YouTube. And for those of you who don't recognize the name Surnow, he's the guy who produces '24'.

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The Avandia Deal: Revisited

It has been reported this last week that Avandia does indeed raise the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack) resulting in death. I've had my own run-in with Avandia in the past-- check out my original post on Avandia here.

What never ceases to amaze me is how anyone can take the FDA seriously... I mean, that they are seriously in the business of saving lives. After all, why create a monstrous federal agency to regulate food and drugs if not for the sole purpose of saving lives? Congress has even stepped into the fray questioning and demanding answers. What kills me is this: while questions from Democrats appear to be motivated by a genuine concern for the health and welfare of diabetes patients taking Avandia, motivation for questions coming from some Republicans seem to stem more from a concern over the drop in stock value of drug companies, and their bottom line. I understand the need to protect business from over-zealous "tax and oppress" Democrats, but come on! Do any of these Republicans know what it's like to have to rely on medication to control diabetes? Do they understand how devasting this news about Avandia is to people who rely on it to control their diabetes? We're talking about life and death here.

What's completely horrid about all this is the naivete of almost every single American in regard to their own health. No one is responsible for your good health except you. Doctors, contrary to popular belief do not necessarily enter the medical profession because they have a desire to mend and heal the sick, or to save lives. A good number of men and women enter the medical profession do so to make money, and lots of it.

Another gross misunderstanding is that your doctor actively desires to cure you of your ailments. This is undoubtedly true of a good many physicians, but there are also oodles and gobs of doctors out there who aren't genuinely interested in seeing you cured... only managed. After all, there's more money in managing disease than there is in curing it.

I am appalled that so many people out there take their doctors word as though it came from the lips of God Himself. Prime example: I've encountered a few people (all women) who are on Avandia and other diabetes medication because... get this... it will help prevent them from GETTING diabetes. That's right! These women are not diabetic, just over-weight. But their doctor's all think that because they are at risk, they need to be on diabetes medication as a preventative measure. My mother was one of those women; though thankfully, she told the doctor "Hell no" and immediately sought out a new physician.

Why would any rational doctor prescribe diabetes medication to someone who isn't diabetic? Would you listen to your doctor if he told you that because your mother or father died of cancer that you should begin taking Chemo? Would you listen to that idiot if he told you that because your sister died of breast cancer that you should have your breasts removed? And yet many women agree to do just that. It's insane.

Create an environment in which disease cannot flourish and you all but eliminate the need for physicians. Look at the people who live to be a hundred, one-ten and higher. Two things separate these people from those who die in their sixties and seventies.

1- They do not eat the modern American diet, and
2- They didn't listen to their doctors, who told them not to drink, cuss, smoke, or take in salt.

Ask yourself this: Why are you taking medical advice from someone whose profession boasts an average life expectancy of 57 years? Their vast stores of medical knowledge didn't do them any good! Why on earth do you think it'll do you any good?

Here's the truth. Plain and simple....

YOU are responsible for your own health. It is incumbent upon YOU to learn what you should put into your body, and how you should treat disease when it does rear its ugly head. Sometimes doctors are necessary. Sometimes surgery is necessary. But given the choice, would you rather pay more for healthy food and a clean lifestyle now? or pay through the nose to a doctor when your body begins to fail?

It's not easy, either. I'll be the first to admit it. My diet has stunk the last several weeks DESPITE all the pearled barley, quinoa, raw vegetables and fresh fruit I've been taking in. Why? Because unless I make the effort to prepare meals ahead of time I will find myself in a drive thru 8-10 times a week... which is 8-10 times too many.

Case in point: Guess what I had for dinner this evening? KFC

And I wonder why I feel like crap most of the time. This is where a poor diet will get you. Don't be stupid like I was. Take better care of yourself, and you may live to see 100 in good enough health to actually enjoy it.

Oh! And stay away from Avandia whatever you do!



____________________
One final note: The book of Revelation has something to say of this... of where it will lead and just what all this means spiritually.

Rev 9:21 "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their SORCERIES, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

Rev 18:23 "And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy SORCERIES were all nations deceived."

In both those verses the word translated as "Sorceries", is, in the original Greek: "Pharmakeia" which means 'Medication', or more literally, 'Pharmacy'

Medications can be good. But I think America goes too far. We are, whether we care to admit it or not, a nation of drug addicts. We've got a pill for just about everything except 'stupid' and 'ugly'.

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That was weird... don't know how that happened...

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Immigration/Amnesty Bill Loopholes

Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions has released a report detailing 20 loopholes in the Immigration/amnesty Bill. It's an eye-popping read. By all means, let's be compassionate. but let's be intelligent about it. Call your senator and ask that they vote "No" on this piece of legislative madness...


20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill


* Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement:

Amnesty benefits do not wait for the "enforcement trigger." After filing an application and waiting 24 hours, illegal aliens will receive full "probationary benefits," complete with the ability to legally live and work in the U.S., travel outside of the U.S. and return, and their own social security card. Astonishingly, if the trigger is never met and amnesty applications are therefore never “approved,” the probationary benefits granted to the illegal alien population never expire, and the new social security cards issued to the illegal alien population are not revoked. [See pp. 1, 290-291, & 315].


* Loophole 2 – U.S. VISIT Exit Not In Trigger:

The "enforcement trigger," required to be met before the new temporary worker program begins, does not require that the exit portion of U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system first required by Congress in 1996 that is already well past its already postponed 2005 implementation due date – to be in place before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the U.S. VISIT exit portion, the U.S. has no method to ensure that workers (or their visiting families) do not overstay their visas. Our current illegal population contains 4 to 5.5 million visa overstays, therefore, we know that the U.S. VISIT exit component is key to a successful new temporary worker program. [See pp. 1-2].


* Loophole 3 – Trigger Requires No More Agents, Beds, or Fencing Than Current Law:

The "enforcement trigger" does not require the Department of Homeland Security to have detention space sufficient to end “catch and release” at the border and in the interior. Even after the adoption of amendment 1172, the trigger merely requires the addition of 4,000 detention beds, bringing DHS to a 31,500 bed capacity. This is far short of the 43,000 beds required under current law to be in place by the end of 2007, or the additional 20,000 beds required later in the bill. Additionally, the bill establishes a "catch, pay, and release" program. This policy will benefit illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico that are caught at the border, then can post a $5,000 bond, be released and never show up for deportation hearings. Annual failure to appear rates for 2005 and 2006, caused in part by lack of detention space, doubled the 2004 rate (106,000 – 110,000 compared with 54,000). Claims that the bill "expands fencing" are inaccurate. The bill only requires 370 miles of fencing to be completed, while current law already mandates that more than 700 miles be constructed [See pp. 1-2, & 10-11, and EOIR’s FY2006 Statistical Yearbook, p. H2, and The Secure Fence Act of 2004].


* Loophole 4 -- Three Additional Years Worth of Illegal Aliens Granted Status, Treated Preferentially To Legal Filers:

Aliens who broke into the country illegally a mere 5 months ago, are treated better than foreign nationals who legally applied to come to the U.S. more than two years ago. Aliens who can prove they were illegally in the U.S. on January 1, 2007, are immediately eligible to apply from inside the U.S. for amnesty benefits, while foreign nationals that filed applications to come to the U.S. after May 1, 2005 must start the application process over again from their home countries. Last year’s bill required illegal aliens to have been here before January 7, 2004 to qualify for permanent legal status. [See pp. 263, 282, & 306].


* Loophole 5 – Completion of Background Checks Not Required For Probationary Legal Status:

Legal status must be granted to illegal aliens 24 hours after they file an application, even if the aliens have not yet "passed all appropriate background checks." (Last year’s bill gave DHS 90 days to check an alien’s background before any status was granted). No legal status should be given to any illegal alien until all appropriate background checks are complete. [See pp. 290].


* Loophole 6 – Some Child Molesters Are Still Eligible:

Some aggravated felons – those who have sexually abused a minor – are eligible for amnesty. A child molester who committed the crime before the bill is enacted is not barred from getting amnesty if their conviction document omitted the age of the victim. The bill corrects this loophole for future child molesters, but does not close the loophole for current or past convictions. [See p. 47: 30-33, & p. 48: 1-2]


* Loophole 7 – Terrorism Connections Allowed, Good Moral Character Not Required:

Illegal aliens with terrorism connections are not barred from getting amnesty. An illegal alien seeking most immigration benefits must show "good moral character." Last year’s bill specifically barred aliens with terrorism connections from having "good moral character" and being eligible for amnesty. This year’s bill does neither. Additionally, bill drafters ignored the Administration’s request that changes be made to the asylum, cancellation of removal, and withholding of removal statutes in order to prevent aliens with terrorist connections from receiving relief. [Compare §204 in S. 2611 from the 109th Congress with missing §204 on p. 48 of S.A. 1150, & see missing subsection (5) on p. 287 of S.A. 1150].


* Loophole 8 – Gang Members Are Eligible:

Instead of ensuring that members of violent gangs such as MS 13 are deported after coming out of the shadows to apply for amnesty, the bill will allow violent gang members to get amnesty as long as they “renounce” their gang membership on their application. [See p. 289: 34-36].


* Loophole 9 – Absconders Are Eligible:

Aliens who have already had their day in court – those subject to final orders of removal, voluntary departure orders, or reinstatement of their final orders of removal – are eligible for amnesty under the bill. The same is true for aliens who have made a false claim to citizenship or engaged in document fraud. More than 636,000 alien fugitives could be covered by this loophole. [See p. 285:19-22 which waives the following inadmissibility grounds: failure to attend a removal proceeding; final orders of removal for alien smuggling; aliens unlawfully present after previous immigration violations or deportation orders; and aliens previously removed. This appears to conflict with language on p. 283:40-41. When a direct conflict appears in a statute, the statue is interpreted by the courts to the benefit of the alien.].


* Loophole 10 – Learning English Not Required For A Decade:

Illegal aliens are not required to demonstrate any proficiency in English for more than a decade after they are granted amnesty. Learning English is not required for an illegal alien to receive probationary benefits, the first 4-year Z visa, or the second 4-year Z visa. The first Z visa renewal (the second 4-year Z visa) requires only that the alien demonstrate an “attempt” to learn English by being "on a waiting list for English classes." Passing a basic English test is required only for a second Z visa renewal (the third 4-year Z visa), and even then the alien only has to pass the test “prior to the expiration of the second extension of Z status” (12 years down the road). [See pp. 295-296].


* Loophole 11 – Earned Income Tax Credit Will Cost Taxpayers Billions In Just 10 Years:

Current illegal aliens and new guest workers will be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a refundable tax credit designed to encourage American citizens and legal permanent residents to work. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this loophole will cost the U.S. taxpayer up to $20 billion dollars in just the first 10 years after the bill’s enactment. To be consistent with the intent of the 1996 welfare reforms – which limited new immigrants from receiving public benefits until they had been legal permanent residents for five years – the bill should withhold EITC eligibility from amnestied aliens until they become legal permanent residents. Closing this loophole will save the taxpayers billions of dollars. [See p. 293 after S.A. 1190 was adopted, p. 307, p. 315, §606. All that is required for EITC eligibility is a social security number and resident alien status. Nothing in the bill’s tax provisions limit EITC eligibility. The issuance of social security numbers to aliens as soon as they apply for amnesty will ensure they are able to qualify for the EITC.]


* Loophole 12 – Affidavits From Friends Accepted As Evidence:

Records from day-labor centers, labor unions, and "sworn declarations" from any non-relative (acquaintances, friends, coworkers, etc) are to be accepted as evidence that the illegal alien has satisfied the bill’s amnesty requirements. This low burden of proof will invite fraud and more illegal immigration – even aliens who are not yet in the U.S. will likely meet this burden of proof. DHS will not have the resources to examine whether the claims contained in the "sworn declarations" of the alien’s friends (that the alien was here prior to January 1, 2007 and is currently employed) are actually valid. [See p. 293: 13-16].


* Loophole 13 – Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel and Arbitration:

Free legal counsel and the fees and expenses of arbitrators will be provided to aliens that have been working illegally in agriculture. The U.S. taxpayer will fund the attorneys that help these individuals fill out their amnesty applications. Additionally, if these individuals have a dispute with their employer over whether they were fired for "just cause," DHS will "pay the fee and expenses of the arbitrator." [See p. 339:37-41, & p. 332: 37-38.]


* Loophole 14 – In-State Tuition and Student Loans:

In-state tuition and other higher education benefits, such as Stafford Loans, will be made available to current illegal aliens that are granted initial "probationary" status, even if the same in-state tuition rates are not offered to all U.S. citizens. This would normally violate current law (8 U.S.C. §1623) which mandates that educational institutions give citizens the same postsecondary education benefits they offer to illegal aliens. [See p. 321: 8-31].


* Loophole 15 – Inadequacy of the Merit System:

The "merit system," designed to shift the U.S. green card distribution system to attract higher skilled workers that benefit the national interest, is only a shell of what it should have been. Though the merit system begins immediately, it will not increase the percentage of high skilled immigrants coming to the United States until 2016, 8 years after enactment. Of the 247,000 green cards dedicated to the merit based system each year for the first 5 years, 100,000 green cards will be reserved for low-skilled guest workers (10,000) and for clearing the current employment based green card backlog (90,000). From 2013 to 2015, the number of merit based green cards drops to 140,000, and of that number, 100,000 green cards are still reserved each year for low-skilled guest workers (10,000) and for clearing the current employment based green card backlog (90,000). Even after 2015, when the merit system really begins (in 2016) by having 380,000 green cards annually, 10,00 green cards will be reserved specifically for low skilled workers, and points will be given for many characteristics that are not considered "high-skilled." For example, 16 points will be given for aliens in "high demand occupations" which includes janitors, maids, food preparation workers, and groundskeepers. [See p.260: 25 – p. 261: 20, p. 262, & The Department of Labor’s list of “occupations with the largest job growth” available at www.bls.gov/emp/emptab3.htm].


* Loophole 16 – Visas For Individuals That Plan To Overstay:

The new "parent" visa contained in the bill which allows parents of citizens, and the spouses and children of new temporary workers, to visit a worker in the United States is not only a misnomer, but also an invitation for high rates of visa overstays. This new visa specifically allows the spouse and children of new temporary workers who intend to abandon their residence in a foreign country, to qualify to come to the U.S. to "visit." The visa requires only a $1,000 bond, which will be forfeited when, not if, family members of new temporary workers decide to overstay their 30 day visit. Workers should travel to their home countries to visit their families, not the other way around. [See p. 277:1 – 33, and p. 276: 38-43].


* Loophole 17 – Chain Migration Tippled Before Being Eliminated:

Though the bill will eventually eliminate chain migration (relatives other than spouses and children of citizens and legal permanent residents), it will not have full effect until 2016. Until then, chain migration into the U.S. will actually triple, from approximately 138,000 chain migrants a year (equal to 14% of the 1 million green cards the U.S. currently distributes on an annual basis) to approximately 440,000 chain migrants a year (equal to 45% of the 1 million green cards the U.S. currently distributes on an annual basis). [See pp. 260:13, p. 270: 29 – pp. 271: 17]


* Loophole 18 – Back Taxes Not Required:

Last year’s bill required illegal aliens to prove they had paid three of their last five years of taxes to get amnesty. This year, payment of back taxes is not required for amnesty. The bill requires taxes to be paid at the time of application for a green card, but at that time, only proof of payment of Federal taxes (not state and local) is required for the years the alien worked on a Z visa, not the years the alien has already worked illegally in the United States. Though Senator McCain’s S.A. 1190, adopted by voice vote, claimed to "require undocumented immigrants receiving legal status to pay owed back taxes," the amendment actually only required proof of payment of taxes for "any year during the period of employment required by subparagraph (D)(i)." Since the bill does not contain a subparagraph (D)(i), nor require any past years of employment as a prerequisite for amnesty, the amendment essentially only requires proof of payment of taxes for future work in the U.S., not payment of "back taxes." [See p. 307, and p. 293 as altered by S.A. 1190, amendment p. 2: 19-20.]


* Loophole 19 – Social Security Credits Allowed For Some Illegal Work Histories:

Aliens who came to the U.S. on legal visas, but overstayed their visas and have been working in the U.S. for years, as well as illegal aliens who apply for Z visa status but do not qualify, will be able to collect social security credits for the years they worked illegally. Under the bill, if an alien was ever issued a social security account number – all work-authorized aliens who originally came on legal visas receive these – the alien will receive Social Security credits for any "quarters of coverage" the alien worked after receiving their social security account number. Because the bill requires social security account numbers to be issued "promptly" to illegal aliens as soon as they are granted "any probationary benefits based upon application [for Z status]" (these benefits are granted 24 hours after the application is filed), an illegal alien who is denied Z visa status but continues to work illegally in the U.S. will accumulate Social Security credits. [See pp. 316:8 – 16, and pp. 315: 32-39]


* Loophole 20 – Criminal Fines Not Proportional To Conduct:

The criminal fines an illegal alien is required to pay to receive amnesty are less than the bill’s criminal fines for paperwork violations committed by U.S. citizens, and can be paid by installment. Under the bill, an illegal alien must pay a $1,000 criminal fine to apply for a Z visa, and a $4,000 fine to apply for a green card. Eighty percent of those fines can be paid on an installment plan. Under the bill’s confidentiality provisions, someone who improperly handles or uses information on an alien’s amnesty application can be fined $10,000. Administration officials suggest that the bill’s "criminal fines are proportionate to the criminal conduct." Why, then, is the fine for illegally entering, using false documents to work, and live one-tenth the fine for a paperwork violation committed by a government official? [See p. 287: 34, p. 317: 9, p. 315:6-8, & remarks made by Secretary Gutierrez on Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4:00 May 31, 2007]

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The Address to the Nation no president today could give....

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day without rest - until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a countenance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, June 6, 1944
The Invasion of Normandy

Have has the courage of America fled?

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"Disgraceful" x 3

What a bizarre couple a' days! Democrats hold their second, even more banal of a debate. What a bunch of socialists! Baby communists! There was absolutely nothing of substance in that debate. The Hill showed her true colors on immigration... English as the "Official" language would disenfranchise millions of potential voters. Right, choosing to allow citizenship without requiring immigrants acquire a working knowledge of English will keep them away from the polls. All these socialists care about is increasing their voter base. Is this all the Hill and other Dems care about? That these amnesty recipients be allowed to vote? and vote Democrat?

This morning William J. Jefferson, Democrat from Louisiana, is finally indicted. The Bush White House, after several huge missteps finally gets something right. Pelosi, claiming she'd fix the culture of corruption in Congress once elected Speaker, has since refused to do anything about Jefferson. Dems, is seems, are all for rooting out corruption so long as it's not from among their own ranks. Jefferson should resign immediately. He should be MADE to resign. But Dems needn't fear that they'd lost a seat in Congress, Democratic Governor of Louisiana, Ms. Kathleen Blanco, will surely appoint an interim Democrat until a special election can be called.

And finally...John Murtha blames the JFK terrorist plot on... drumroll please..... U.S. Troops! From NewsBusters....

ABCNews.com: "Murtha Ties Foiled JFK Plot to U.S. in Iraq"
Posted by Noel Sheppard on June 3, 2007 - 13:21.

On Saturday, a NewsBusters headline asked the following question: “JFK Terror Plot: How Soon Before Media Blame Bush For Timing of Arrests?”

Well, Sunday morning, ABCNews.com actually went one better by using a statement made by John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) on "This Week" as the headline for the video of George Stephanopoulos’ interview with the Congressman: "Murtha Ties Foiled JFK Plot to U.S. in Iraq."

In reality, Murtha was brought on to counter the “things are getting better” in Iraq after the surge viewpoint expressed by the previous guest, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Yet, about one minute into Stephanopoulos’ interview with Murtha, the Congressman said:

You heard earlier where he said this incident in the United States is being driven by al Qaeda, is being inspired by al Qaeda. This is the kind of thing that is happening because of our troops in Iraq.

Amazing. So, the planned attack on New York’s JFK airport is all because America is in Iraq. And, that’s how ABCNews.com chose to advertise this ten-minute video at its website, even though the bulk of the segment was a discussion specifically about what’s going on in Iraq, and what the Democrat plans are to get troops out.

How disgraceful.

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Will the citizens of Pennsylvania please put this old fart in an old folks home!? Personally, I don't know what's worse, a democratic crook indicted on bribery charges or a democrat 'hero' who blames everything the terrorists try to do to us on the troops. What a disgrace. Put that man on a boat and allow no mention or news of the United States to ever reach his ears or eyes!

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