The other 30%

70% of Americans support Arizona’s illegal immigration legislation.

 

How about the other 30%?

 

What are the major sub-categories of this 30%?  I suggest these six groups?

1)     We need to do a better job at our borders but we need to leave the state and federal identification system alone.

2)     We need to enforce our borders but we also need to improve our state and federal identification system.

3)     We need to allow anyone into the US.

4)     We can’t allow everyone into the US but we need far more new immigrants so we should leave the existing system alone.

5)     We need to keep the situation "as is".  These illegal immigrants provide a valuable and cheap labor pool for America.

6)     We need to keep the situation "as is".  These illegal immigrants are future voters and they are far more likely to vote with the left than the right.

 

Unfortunately the 30% tend to be lumped together.  But my guess is that there are radically different views within this 30%.  What sub-groups am I missing?  If you are one of the 30% how do you describe your position?

Posted via email from John's posterous

We are so thrilled that Johnny got accepted to Brown to study Gender Studies

A story about college student loans abused, misused, wasted and ultimately paid for by taxpayers.

The article is wrong about it being difficult to walk away from student debt.  Under the recent health care legislation a new provision allows former students to walk away from their student debts if they have not paid them off in 20 years.  And then it is up to you and me.  However even before this legislation the number of defaults on these loans was growing steadily and you and I picked up the tab anyway.

But here is the most glaring void in this article.  There is no mention of what this former college student learned?  What did she study?  It really does matter if one gets a degree in sociology, ethnomusicology, gender studies or in electrical engineering. 

There are no jobs for psychology graduates.  And no one wants to talk about it.  You might land the same job at Home Depot that you could have gotten prior to college (but there are times that it will actually be harder to land a basic job with a non-practical degree).  The world is not hiring anyone today based on their Medieval History degree. 

Parents are so thrilled that Johnny is heading off to college that they do not want to “discourage” the poor lad from studying an obscure subject for six years even if it almost certainly means he will end up living back at home and unemployed.  It is simply not polite to ask Johnny’s parents what they are thinking.

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You belong here!

We expect you to show us proof of car insurance before you drive, proof that your car is registered when the police stop you for running a stop sign, and proof of a driver’s license. We need to see your proof of homeowners insurance when you get your government guaranteed mortgage, proof of your SAT scores in order to receive your government sponsored scholarships, proof that you live in Northern California in order to get your lowest price for a round of golf at the Harding Park golf course in San Francisco. And please show us your proof that you bought a home in order to get the tax credit from the federal government, proof of income, proof of birth when you get your social security number, and proof of state residence to get in-state tuition at the University of California.

Most importantly, please show us your proof of vaccination to get your dogs kenneled, proof of membership to shop at Costco, proof of address to enroll your child in the neighborhood public school. And you will be harassed unmercifully unless you can show your proof of installation to get your tax credit for your tax credit on your new solar panels. Of course we need your proof of the value of your donation to satisfy the IRS for your tax deduction and proof that you are old enough to buy cigarettes or alcohol at the store.

Don’t bother showing up unless you have proof that you are old enough to join the US military. And the owner will get shut down if he does not demand proof that you are old enough to play in a Nevada casino.

We require proof of your identification in order to fly on a commercial flight in the US. You must show an ID to check into a US hotel. You need to give your zip code when you try to use your credit card to buy gasoline.

And now we need proof of health insurance under Obama’s new health care legislation. We need a US passport to gain entry into Canada, proof of vaccination to enter grade school. And don’t think you will get to bat if you don’t have proof of age to play little league in the US.

We don’t trust you to tell the truth on these things but we are going to take your word that you are in the US legally.

You belong here and we don’t want to trouble you to show your identification.

Sanctuary advocates not only tolerate illegal immigration they encourages it

In the debate about Arizona’s illegal immigration law, there are three general view points:

1)     The “all for Arizona” crowd who want this country to be far more aggressive in solving the problem.

 

2)    The “we have a problem but Arizona’s solution is wrong” camp.  They hate the notion of giving police such great power to use “reasonable cause” to require someone for proof of citizenship or their right to be here.

 

3)    The “Sanctuary” advocates feel it is inhumane to keep people out of this country - no matter what the law is, what their fellow citizens want or what the economic consequences are.  They feel a special duty to “help the downtrodden” - the poorer the immigrant the harder they fight for their right to sneak in here.  The San Francisco city council is a prime example for this movement.  They want to provide a home and shelter for illegal immigrants in the name of humanity.  They pass laws that flatly obstruct the state and federal governments from managing immigration.  The San Francisco Board of Supervisors first declared San Francisco a "sanctuary city" in 1989. The designation, which many U.S. cities across the country took on during the 1980s.    San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said “I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these (immigration) raids. We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it."

 

I happen to be in the first category but I understand the arguments of the “solution is wrong” gang.

 

What I don’t understand is the Sanctuary advocates and how they get a pass from the general media and the federal government while breaking the law.  This third group will use any argument that works to stop effective immigration control at the border.  They assist illegal immigrants in breaking our immigration laws.  In most areas of the law, the act of assisting someone break the law is itself a crime - but in this case they are never prosecuted because the base crime (of crossing our border illegally) is only a misdemeanor not a felony.    This group fights against additional funding for border control, any requirement for restricting the rights of illegals, and are an impediment to reducing the expenditures that government spends to feed, house, school and provide medical treatment to illegal immigrants.   And then these Sanctuary advocates are the loudest critics of all about Arizona taking the problem into its own hands.

 

The Sanctuary clan not only tolerates illegal immigration it encourages it.

 

The vast majority of Americans are in the first two categories.  As a member of the first group, I ask the second group to find an effective and not too expensive way to get the job done.  As for the 3^rd group it is time to make illegal immigration a felony and start prosecuting those that assist these criminals.

Posted via email from John's posterous

Ranking the states on corruption

Interesting but disturbing article that ranks the states from most corrupt (Tennessee) to least corrupt (New Hampshire).  A very important subject no matter if one agrees with their specific ranking methodology.

I would use a different ranking system because certain kinds of corruption are just more threatening than other types.  I am suspect of any ranking that shows Illinois as only the 47^th most corrupt state.  I would rank corruption from most dangerous to least dangerous in these six major categories:

1.       Judicial corruption.  It doesn’t get any worse than when judges are taking kickbacks (think of the dirty judge in a John Grisham novel).  There is no place to turn in most cases because these folks have so much discretion and most of their decisions can not be appealed at a reasonable cost or in a timely way.  The case in Eastern Pennsylvania where two judges have been indicted for sending kids to a private juvenile hall for far longer than normal and then receiving kickbacks from the owner of the facility is particularly scary.  Another form of judicial corruption is when prosecutors determine whom to prosecute based primarily on political considerations or when they withhold evidence in discovery because it is inconvenient to their personal goals.   Think back to the county prosecutor, Mike Nifong, who withheld evidence that would have helped proven the innocence of the Duke Lacrosse players.

 

2.       The second worst kind of corruption is when the police are dishonest.  If these “enforcers” plant evidence, knowingly arrest and investigate the innocent or abuse the warrant system by lying to judges the system really looks far more like a KGB type operation.   If the police are getting kickbacks from one drug gang and putting the clams down on the rival gang, the net result is they are not working against gangs in general.  If you are arrested simply because you are disliked or are a minority, trust in the system absolutely breaks down.

 

3.       Political and regulatory corruption.  This by far the most common kind of corruption in our system.  Politicians sell their votes for campaign contributions all the time and get away with it. But too often politicians actually accept cash bribes (like former Massachusetts state senator  Dianne Wilkerson).   Illinois has had seven governors arrested or indicted for corruption since the 1850s.  When a politician lies about what legislation includes (think back to the recent health care bill) or plugs in something entirely unrelated to the legislation on page number 2050 this is pure deception.  When Alaska senator Ted Stevens was indicted for lying on his Senate financial disclosure forms how many times do you think he lied to the public or stole from the government and never got caught? In cash-strapped California, San Bernadino County District Supervisor Bill Postmus and his aide were arrested on charges of accepting $100,000 each to induce the Board of Supervisors to pay $102 million in 2006 to settle a dispute with a private developer.  That is expensive.

 

4.       Fraud by government workers.  Harriette Walters plead guilty in 2008 to issuing fraudulent property-tax vouchers (which generated cash for her and her friends) and stole $48 million from the city of Washington DC. 

 

5.       Fraud by the public against the government. From Medicare fraud where health care providers submit false claims or contractors that pad their invoices for work done on a public road project.  These are serious matters, but to the extent that we move more services from the government to the private sector and shrink government, this category becomes less significant.  When that happens, the private sector can use more common sense and intuition to sniff out when they are being defrauded.

 

6.       Fraud by and against the private sector.  At least in this segment, the buyer has civil remedies and can use common sense to fight it.  So even though I support more prosecution of private fraud, it is far less devastating to society than the public sector corruption above.  It is far harder to defraud a small businessman than a state government (although the consequences to the perpetrator are usually not nearly as severe).  Business is far more likely to keeping an eye on the details and looking for ways to make their businesses more profitable.  So the private sector  catches the scams far more frequently and far sooner than government bureaucracies. 

 

In the first three categories, the corruption rots the core of our society.  These services can generally not be outsourced or performed by the private sector; there is no alternative.  For fraud against the government by the private sector, this can be reduced dramatically by privatizing more services and getting the government out of our lives when we can.  And finally private fraud is a smaller problem and if the judicial and police functions are honest and efficient then they can sometimes assist the victim recover damages.

Posted via email from John's posterous

Illegal immigration

My father immigrated into the United States before I was born. But he
entered the country legally and took the test to get naturalized as a
US citizen.

I am all in favor of legal immigration. It adds hard working people
into the country. My belief has nothing to do with the race,
religion, or language of the immigrants (although I think they need
to learn English before their second generation).

I also think that immigrants add vibrancy to our country. I happen
to think that immigrants work on average harder than the average US
born citizen.

But I feel strongly that we need to stop illegal immigration into this
country. In Arizona, in Texas and in California especially. Either
we decide to manage our borders or we allow the rest of the world to
bring the US down to the economy of Ghana, North Korea or Bolivia.

Posted via email from John's posterous

In celebration of getting away with not paying your bills.

In 1861, Mexican President Benito Juárez stopped making interest payments to its creditors (France, England and Spain). England and Spain cut a deal with Mexico but France attacked Mexico to force payment of their debt. France also had hopes of taking over and occupying Mexico (imperialism was still in vogue).

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexico's unlikely defeat of the French at a time when the French army was considered the finest in the world.  Mexico beat the larger French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.  Some will argue that this was a David and Goliath story (and it is) but I prefer to characterize it as a celebration of Mexico not paying its debts.  And getting away with it (for awhile).

The Mexican victory didn't hold up for long. A year later, thirty thousand French troops defeated the Mexican army, captured Mexico City, and installed Emperor Maximilian I as ruler of Mexico. However, the French victory was also short-lived.  After the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1866, Napoleon III, facing tough Mexican guerrilla resistance, the threat of war with Prussia, and concerned about a conflict with the United States, started retreating from Mexico. On June 5, 1867, Benito Juarez finally entered Mexico City where he installed a home-grown Mexican government.

But alas, the holiday is not celebrated as "Cinco de Junio".  

Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen explanation of the AZ law

This is one of the best explanations of why

the AZ legislature passed the law.

I'm Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen. I want to explain SB 1070
which I voted for and was just signed by Governor Jan Brewer.

Rancher Rob Krantz was murdered by the drug cartel on his ranch a
month ago. I participated in a senate hearing two weeks ago on the
border violence, here is just some of the highlights from those who testified.

The people who live within 60 to 80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico Border
have for years been terrorized and have pleaded for help to stop the
daily invasion of humans who cross their property . One Rancher
testified that 300 to 1200 people a DAY come across his ranch
vandalizing his property, stealing his vehicles and property, cutting
down his fences, and leaving trash. In the last two years he has found
17 dead bodies and two Koran bibles.

Another rancher testified that daily drugs are brought across his
ranch in a military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in
front, 1/2 mile behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind
them are the drugs, behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards. These
people are violent and they will kill anyone who gets in the way. This
was not the only rancher we heard that day that talked about the drug trains.

One man told of two illegal's who came upon his property one shot in
the back and the other in the arm by the drug runners who had forced
them to carry the drugs and then shot them. Daily they listen to gun
fire during the night it is not safe to leave his family alone on the
ranch and they can't leave the ranch for fear of nothing being left
when they come back.

The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away
with check points that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not
allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run
around chasing them, if they get their hands on them then they can
take them back across the border.

Federal prisons have over 35% illegal's and 20% of Arizona prisons are
filled with illegal's. In the last few years 80% of our law
enforcement that have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal.

The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried

about. The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people
coming they are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.

The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help
the border states . We have been over run and once they are here we
have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education
cost have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of
dollars. Our State is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many
serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to
care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop.
The border can be secured. We have the technology we have the ability
to stop this invasion. We must know who is coming and they must come
in an organized manner legally so that we can assimilate them into our
population and protect the sovereignty of our country. We are a nation
of laws. We have a responsibility to protect our citizens and to
protect the integrity of our country and the government which we live under.

I would give amnesty today to many, but here is the problem, we dare
not do this until the Border is secure. It will do no good to forgive
them because thousands will come behind them and we will be over run
to the point that there will no longer be the United States of America
but a North American Union of open borders. I ask you what form of
government will we live under? How long will it be before we will be
just like Mexico , Canada or any of the other Central American or
South American countries? We have already lost our language,
everything must be printed in Spanish also. We have already lost our
history it is no longer taught in our schools. And we have lost our borders.

The leftist media has distorted what SB 1070 will do. It is not going
to set up a Nazi Germany. Are you kidding. The ACLU and the leftist
courts will do everything to protect those who are here illegally, but
it was an effort to try and stop illegal's from setting up businesses,
and employment, and receiving state services and give the ability to
local law enforcement when there is probable cause like a traffic stop
to determine if they are here legally. Federal law is very clear if
you are here on a visa you must have your papers on you at all times.
That is the law. In Arizona all you need to show you are a legal
citizen is a driver license, MVD identification card, Native American
Card, or a Military ID. This is what you need to vote, get a hunting
license, etc.. So nothing new has been added to this law. No one is
going to be stopped walking down the street etc... The Socialist who
are in power in DC are angry because we dare try and do something and
that something the Socialist wants us to do is just let them come.
They want the "Transformation" to continue.

Maybe it is too late to save America . Maybe we are not worthy of
freedom anymore. But as an elected official I must try to do what I
can to protect our Constitutional Republic . Living in America is not
a right just because you can walk across the border. Being an American
is a responsibility and it comes by respecting and upholding the
Constitution the law of our land which says what you must do to be a
citizen of this country. Freedom is not free.

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Posted via email from John's posterous

Fighting for entitlements in Greece

The left goes violent in Greece just like they may do in California when the austerity measures kick in for the Golden State.

The Greeks were told that they didn’t have to work as many hours, could retire early and could be paid benefits in Greece even though the government was simply borrowing to fulfill the entitlements.

The Greek government borrowed money that it can never pay back in full.  An entire welfare generation expected the government to pay for their “good life”.

And of course the general media is accepting of the protesters rights to express themselves and the protesters rights to their entitlements.

These programs were established decades ago and once these unsustainable entitlements were established it became politically impossible to eliminate or reduce them.  Sound familiar?  Think California, New York and New Jersey?

And even though Greece never met its promise to restrain its public debt to 3% (when it joined the euro zone) of the country’s gross domestic product it got to 120%.  Now they are recommitting to this promise to get the amount of their debt down to the 3% standard by 2014.  It’s never going to happen - think default!  The result of Germany and others lending to Greece will simply delay the default.

Posted via email from John's posterous