Category Archives: Illegal Immigration

The Crazy Years

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Robert A Heinlein’s ‘Future History’ had a period during the latter half of the 20th Century called the Crazy Years. From a late 1940s, 1950s viewpoint, Heinlein, in some of his books, included headlines that would seem farcial when viewed through the lenses of the common culture at that time.

One definition of ‘Crazy Years’ was proposed by writer John C. Wright.

The main sign of when madness has possessed a crowd, or a civilization, is when the people are fearful of imaginary or trivial dangers but nonchalant about real and deep dangers. When that happens, there is gradual deterioration of mores, orientation, and social institutions—the Crazy Years have arrived. — John C. Wright.

How accurate! People up in arms about being offended at common words while ignoring the infusion of our enemies through their ‘open border’ policies.

Heinlein’s future history has been documented in his novels and short stories. While the fictional time period of the Crazy Years, as viewed by Heinlein’s timeline, was in the past century, if you use Wright’s definition above, the Crazy Years are now.

http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/1439133417/143913341701.jpg

One technique used by Heinlein was to include fictional headlines in his stories, headlines that may have appeared on some tabloid of the time. One such headline, if I remember it correctly, was, “Two-headed boy born to…” We only need to view the headlines on Drudge to see the parallels of our current condition to the Crazy Years Heinlein foresaw over half a century ago. Below is a random sampling from Drudge. If you read them as if they appeared in one of Heinlein’s stories, a viewpoint of the early 1960s, no one would believe they were real.

State Department hires firm to coach witnesses on Congressional testimony...

Mystery 'Water Vigilante' Cuts Flow to Homes...

Border Patrol: Feds Releasing Murderers Into USA...

School District Defends 9th Grade Sex-Ed Book Detailing Bondage...

Heinlein would have been astounded…well perhaps not. He had a cynical view of people. Writer Sarah A Hoyt has a more descriptive view of our current times. She calls them the, “fracking insane years.”

I’m here to tell you these are not the crazy years, these are the fracking insane years.  Yesterday I went for a long walk and because I didn’t have my son – he was volunteering at the hospital – and therefore had to stay off the more interesting parts of downtown, I took an audio book to keep me company.  The book, because I’m writing space opera and trying to internalize his rhythms (and also because I really am trying to avoid using his terminology, etc, by reminding myself what it is.  I grew up with it, and to me it just means “science fiction” but of course it’s more than that), was Methuselah’s Children by Robert A. Heinlein.

When he hits the description of the Crazy years – you know, kids striking for less homework, more pay (for going to school) and eating clay sandwiches and such, I thought “Brother, you didn’t know from crazy.” — Sarah A. Hoyt.

Sarah Hoyt is right! Look at the mess along our southern border. Obama has created an environment where our country is actually being invaded, not by armed troops, although some of the drug gangs will substitute nicely for that, but by teenagers and younger children sent here on a false promise of prosperity. A horde of potential, and some actual, parasites with no skills, no education, nothing to allow them to actually build an independent life within the United States.

The libs say the invasion is irresistible. Others say it’s not but it would be disruptive from the infiltrators already in the country. The inflow can be halted. We’ve done it before. But the disloyal opposition, the libs and open border advocates, is ably abetted by the establishment politicians of all parties in Washington.

How, do you ask, could be end the invasion? It’s simple—enforce the laws currently on the books, deploy troops along the border to combat the armed incursions from Mexico and the cartels, end all benefits and assistance to illegals in the US regardless of their method of entry, and finally, cut ALL federal money to any city, county and state that refuses to enforce those immigration laws, i.e., the Sanctuary Cities.

I would bet, when the federal funding ends, San Francisco and the other Sanctuary Cities, and states like California, would quickly change—or succumb to chaos. On second thought, the libs and their Marxist supporters would probably welcome chaos believing they could win a coup—at least at the state level. Considering California, I’m not sure if that would be any different from the current state of the state’s politics.

The bottom line is that we could reverse the influx of illegal aliens if we had the desire and backbone. Unfortunately, we have neither in the federal government. We truly live in “fracking insane years!”

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Is it time?

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Washington, DC, and the nation abounds with rumors of impeachment for Obama. Everyone also knows that any impeachment bill that gets out of the House will be killed by Harry Reid in the Senate.

Or, will it? Dems, mainly those in the House and Senate imperiled at the polls by Obama’s dictatorial Executive Orders, may, in fear of their positions, agree to impeachment and the Senate trial.

Paul Ryan has declared Obama has not committed any ‘high crime’ sufficient for impeachment. He and others equate ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors‘ as it is written in the Constitution, with civil crimes, like theft, murder and extortion committed by the Hoi Polloi.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Senate-Johnson-Impeachment-Trials.jpgNot so, Mr. Ryan. For impeachment, ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors‘ means whatever the Congress says it is. President Andrew Johnson was nearly impeached for firing one of his cabinet secretaries. Congress can use almost any issue to impeach a President. All they need are the votes. In Obama’s case, his failure to uphold his oath of office by failing to secure our borders, is sufficient for impeachment.

The possible charges against Obama are many. Some accuse him of failing to uphold his oath of office. Failing to secure our borders is one example. His flagrant use of Executive Orders, many designed specifically to by-pass Congressional approval, is another. His attempts to infringe upon religious freedom in violation of the 1st Amendment adds to the list of acts that could be used for impeachment.

A number of years ago, I posted some notes I’d made from Thomas Wood’s book, “33 Questions about American History You’re not Supposed to Ask.” In Wood ‘s book, one chapter was about the rise of the Imperial Presidency. The method used by presidents to create that Imperial Presidency was Executive Orders.

We can thank Teddy Roosevelt for the proliferation of Executive Orders.

What is an Execute Order? An Executive Order is a directive to those departments of the Executive branch of government. Initially, it was the act of implementing legislation passed by Congress. However, in some cases, Orders were written that were not supported by preceding acts of Congress. During the early years of our republic, those orders were submitted to Congress requesting concurrence, i.e., ex post facto Congressional approval of the Executive Order. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Presidents were extremely reluctant to issue an Executive Order being cognizant that Congress could subsequently reverse and not approve the order. This trend continued through the Civil War until the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt.

It was TR who pioneered rule by executive order as a governing style among American chief executives. Many Americans rightly howled during the 1990s when Clinton aid Paul Begala famously said of executive orders, “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool.” But Clinton, who once called Theodore Roosevelt his favorite Republican president, was only exercising a power that TR had made a major feature of the presidential office early in the century.

…

To appreciate the transformation that occurred in American government under TR, consider the number of executive orders issued by the presidents of the late 19th century. Presidents Hayes and Garfield issued none. Arthur issued 3, Grover Cleveland (first term) 6, Benjamin Harrison 4, Cleveland (second term) 71, McKinley 51. TR issued 1,006.— Crucis’ Court, July 21, 2009.

The current push for impeachment is Obama’s excesses in issuing Executive Orders that violate the Constitution by by-passing Congress. The use of Executive Orders by Obama, or EOs as some call them, is the usurpation of power granted solely to Congress, not the Executive branch of our government.

Ted Cruz, according to a Washington Post article, says the illegal use of EOs to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens is sufficient to impeach Obama.

Cruz: It’s about executive power – WaPo: “The fate of a Republican proposal to address a brewing immigration crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border was cast into doubt Wednesday after a tea party senator lobbied against it to House members. The effort by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), who made his pitch to a group of House Republicans in a closed-door evening meeting, marked another direct shot at attempts by Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to deal with the influx of illegal immigrants arriving from Central America…’The only way to stop the border crisis is to stop Obama’s amnesty,’ Cruz said in a statement. ‘It is disappointing the border security legislation unveiled today does not include language to end Obama’s amnesty. Congress cannot hope to solve this problem without addressing the fundamental cause of it.’” — FOXNewsletter, July 31, 2014.

But just who is it that is talking the most about impeachment? It is the democrats. They are using impeachment as a fundraising tool.

THE PARTY OF IMPEACHMENT
“You bet we’re going to run on a Congress that is just obsessed with lawsuits, suing the President, talking about impeaching him, instead of solutions for the middle class, talking about jobs and infrastructure. You bet that we’re going to ask people to support us based on that contrast.” – DCCC Chairman Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y. told CNN Wednesday To wit – Washington Examiner: “Just as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., stepped onto the House floor to blast the lawsuit as ‘another Republican effort to pander to the most radical right-wing voters at taxpayer expense,’ the House fundraising arm sent out an email from Pelosi asking for donations ranging from $5 to $250 or more, to ‘support the president.’” Ummmm… – Daily Caller: “In a speech on the floor of the House Wednesday, Texas U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee claimed that Democrats never sought to impeach President George W. Bush. Not only is that claim false, but Jackson-Lee actually co-sponsored a 2008 bill to do just that and spoke in at least one House committee hearing in support of the effort.” — FOXNewsletter, July 31, 2014.

The most telling quote came from Judge Andrew Napolitano. “The choice is between two more years of government by decree or two years of prosecution. It is a choice the president has imposed upon us all.” It is time to end government by decree. Taking back the entire Congress in 2014 if the first step.

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News and Views

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Obama went to Texas this week. He went for another fundraiser. He had no intention to visit the border—and didn’t over the protests of his own party members, such as Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX.

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Perry.Hannity.pngGovernor Rick Perry met Obama on the tarmac of Austin’s airport to ask Obama to go with him to the border. “He flies in a big airplane. It’s only 350 miles to the border,” Perry said in an interview with Shawn Hannity last night. Perry and Obama did meet to discuss the border, a meeting that resulted in Obama’s presser yesterday that said nothing and continued to blame Republicans for the border crisis.

Obama wants billions to ‘fix’ the border. He doesn’t need more billions; he can do that immediately by ordering the DoD to secure the border. In fact, Obama has a duty to do so. But he won’t. Instead he’ll dither as usual and do nothing while the problem compounds itself. The crisis is nearing the boiling point from Texas to California. Obama could not care less.

What will happen next? No one knows…except that it won’t, while Obama remains in office, get any better.

***

There is a bill floating in the Senate that Dems hope with give them some creds with Second Amendment activists. The bill has a lot of good changes in it…and a poison pill for anyone who votes for it.

EDITORIAL: No free pass on gun rights for red-state Democrats

Republicans must deny endangered incumbents a phony vote

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES, Wednesday, July 9, 2014

If Democrats regain a majority in the House and retain the Senate, the first order of business after a tragic shooting — any shooting will do — would be to enact strict gun control. Everyone knows it, and that’s a problem for Democratic senators trying to keep their seats in states where people aren’t afraid of guns.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid let Sen. Kay R. Hagan, a Democrat with an uphill re-election struggle in North Carolina, bring up her Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act, which would actually make several useful changes in the law. It would modernize licensing for duck hunting and encourage the use of federal land for fishing, hunting and target shooting. It would even allow hunters who legally shoot a polar bear in Canada to bring the pelt back home to the United States.

But, as always with democrats, it’s a sham.

In 2012, Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, was fighting for survival and pushed such legislation to shore up his pro-gun credentials. After he won re-election, Mr. Tester joined the liberals in his caucus to support President Obama’s actual gun-control agenda. Mr. Tester voted for the “background check” requirement that the federal government track sales of firearms between friends and family, inevitably creating a national registry. It came within a handful of votes of passage.

Several tough, realistic Republicans aren’t eager to give endangered Democrats an undeserved break and insist on adding language to reveal which senators actually believe in the Second Amendment and which only pose as believers.

A number of GOP Senators want to add some amendments to the bill. Senator Reid won’t allow any. He wants a simple ‘hunting-friendly’ bill to help those Senators in danger of being booted out of office.

When the bill comes up for a vote Thursday, senators won’t be allowed to freely amend the bill. If the measure clears the Senate, House Republicans must resist the temptation to pass the bill as is to put it on Mr. Obama’s desk. It’s so rare that a bill gets past Mr. Reid’s legislative blockade that it would be hard to scold Republicans for taking the poisoned bait.

Voters deserve to know where their representatives really stand on gun control, so House Speaker John A. Boehner should encourage the addition of genuine pro-gun amendments that would doom its chances for Senate concurrence. Better to allow a positive but mostly symbolic bill to die than to give Mrs. Hagan and her colleagues a trophy to fool their constituents.

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Missouri GOP Party Chairman, Ed Martin, has been watching the Mississippi fiasco and he isn’t pleased. This week, he has called for an investigation into Mississippi’s primary and that of Halley Barbour.

MOGOP — ‘Missouri GOP head seeks party probe of Mississippi ads alleging racism,’ The Washington Post: “The head of the Missouri Republican Party on Tuesday asked Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to appoint a task force to investigate what he called “racially divisive ads and robocalls” critical of state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate in Mississippi, marking the latest instance of lingering intra-party discord following Sen. Thad Cochran’s narrow victory over McDaniel last month. Missouri GOP Chairman Ed Martin e-mailed letters to Priebus and RNC members Tuesday afternoon expressing concerns over ads reported by Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper that sought to link McDaniel to a Ku Klux Klan ally, suggested that the tea party has “racist” ideas and warned that a vote for McDaniel could mean losing food stamps and other government programs. Martin’s concerns came a day after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) slammed the “D.C. machine” for “racially charged false attacks” against McDaniel. And they arrived as McDaniel’s campaign was gearing up to challenge the results of the election, which were certified. Martin, who said he was neutral during the primary and runoff, said his concern is that Republican National Committee member Henry Barbour could be partially responsible for the ads. The Daily Mail report suggested that Barbour, who ran a pro-Cochran super PAC, could have ties to the group that ran the ads, Citizens for Progress. The group has no record at the Federal Election Commission. …

Martin asked Priebus to “appoint a special committee of RNC members to investigate this matter and report to us at our August 7th Members meeting before the August 8th general RNC meeting.” Martin said in a telephone interview that he already had received a response from one RNC member volunteering to join the special committee.” — The Washington Post, PoliticMO.

I’m glad to see I’m not the only Missouri Republican who is concerned about the RNSC’s actions in that mess in Mississippi. There is potentially another RNSC fiasco brewing next door in Kansas and that’s too close to home to ignore.

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At the Border

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I’m not referring to the restaurant of a similar name. I’m talking about the disaster Obama has created in our border states using the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/06/article-0-1E874CDC00000578-695_634x474.jpg

Hundreds of immigrants believed to be in the country illegally from Central America and Mexico being held in crowded concrete rooms similar to a jail cell

If you have read the news on the internet, listened to FOX or read some foreign news outlets like the Daily Mail in the UK, you will have heard about Obama rounding up children entering this country illegally and dumping them in Arizona—some being dumped at Arizonan bus stations. Speculation is that his orders are retribution to AZ Governor Brewer who has opposed him in multiple ways.

All across Mexico, Central and South America, the news is being spread wide and far: if your kids can reach the United States, they will, in effect, get a free-ride, food, healthcare and education, possibly for life. It doesn’t matter whether the tales are true or not, it is what they’ve been told and believe.

Obama, with the active support and assistance of Eric Holder, has created and supported this view by blocking the enforcement of existing immigration law. What is more egregious is the Washington GOP establishment’s active contribution to this disaster.

Child Alien Crisis Obama’s Fault, But GOP Won’t Pounce

Posted 06/09/2014 06:52 PM ET

Immigration: Republicans should take the president to task for unlawfully enticing thousands of “unaccompanied illegal children” from Latin America to cross the border. Instead, a GOP leader asks for an amnesty deal.

What is at the top of the Republican wish list? A vibrant economy? An America strong and respected in the world? Capturing the Senate? A Republican elected to the White House in 2016?

Nah. The GOP wants amnesty for illegal aliens.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., made that abundantly clear in an interview with a local Virginia TV station WTVR last Friday. He said he told President Obama that “we can work on the border security bill together. We can work on something like the kids.”

And Breitbart reports that Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is secretly gauging House GOP support for action on amnesty legislation before August.

On almost every issue, it makes more sense to wait until Republicans fulfill their current excellent chances this year of getting a Senate majority and retaining the House before considering dealing with Obama. But on immigration it makes no sense at all to make a deal.

Democrats use immigration to smear Republicans as racists. Expanding immigration will give Democrats millions of new votes in the coming decades, destroying forever the political forces that oppose big government.

The more than 90,000 children who crossed the Mexican border into the U.S. and were apprehended this year, and the more than 140,000 expected next year, could and should turn the immigration issue into a GOP weapon against Democrats.

Instead of sending them back home to their parents, Attorney General Eric Holder made it a priority to hire taxpayer-funded lawyers for them. Why don’t we hear Cantor, Ryan and other GOP leaders shout that Democrats are exploiting children to further their political agenda?

Moreover, this whole crisis is of the administration’s making. Its Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program two years ago prevented minors’ deportation for two years, and now Obama has added two more years. As the immigration system becomes overloaded, disease and hygiene issues are coming into play.

Cantor himself is suffering for defying his base. A June 2 Daily Caller/Vox Populi poll found him at only 52% against GOP primary challenger Dave Brat.

Obama is equating immigration law enforcement with cruelty to children in the public’s mind. Instead of holding him responsible, Republicans are asking how they can help him.

By some estimates, over a quarter of a million illegal alien children have arrived in the US over the last two year, 90,000 since the beginning of this year according to the article above. This influx is destroying Child Services in the border states. It has reached a point that these illegals are being transported—not back home, but deeper into the interior of the US. There is a deep concern these children, who have never had childhood inoculations like their American counterparts, will be accompanied by diseases, some long thought extinct here at home.

This is not some distant crises, one that can be deferred into the future. This is a disaster occurring NOW…and neither the administration, nor the GOP are doing anything except to make it worse.

Paul Ryan and Boehner are already making noises about another immigration—make that amnesty bill that would whitewash the whole issue. Such an act would do nothing to solve the situation. It would only compound it.

I’ve spoken before about unintended consequences. That is not the situation here. Amnesty for illegals is an intended consequence that benefits no one…except those needing a dependent constituency to maintain their sponsor’s positions in government.

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Monday’s Moments for July 1, 2013

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A collection of miscellany for today. Today is the date a series of new state laws take affect across the country. The Senate, the dems and fifteen ‘pubs, passed their Illegal Alien Amnesty bill. The House rejected the Food Stamp and Pork bill with the help of democrats and Heritage Action for America had a presentation at a local Tea Party gathering.

Starting with the last item, last Friday night, Mrs. Crucis and I were invited to attend a Tea Party meeting where the regional Hertiage Action representative Ben Evans would be speaking. It was an interesting session. The HA representative was accompanied by the MOGOP Political Director, Steve Michael.

That, by itself, was an interesting connection. The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action purport themselves to be non-establishment. The Missouri GOP is the establishment…at least at the state level. The question is, is Heritage Action supporting the establishment or is the MO GOP establishment distancing themselves from Washington?

The actual presentation was about what I expected. I did have my opinion confirmed that sending emails to our elected US Representatives and Senators was useless. At best, they are just counted. Some officials may tally by subject. A few, a very few apparently, may note the number of pros and cons on a subject. For the most part, emails, unless addressed to a specific staffer, go into the bit bucket. Unfortunately, the same applies for phone calls. Unless you connect to the specific staffer working the issue, your call is ignored.

Signing online petitions is worth even less. There are a few exceptions when the petitions are conducted by some lobbyists. They use the petitions to brow-beat pols into believing whatever position the lobbyist represents.

What does work? Personal visits and actual snail-mail letters according to Heritage Action. I have my doubts on the former. I’ve spoken several times with my local US representative on a number of issues. Regardless, she votes the Washington establishment line.

What did I take away from this meeting? Personal meetings and letters work for some but I’m not convinced it will be all that effective.

A woman at the meeting, in the Q&A session, asked if our ‘Pub representatives really understand how angry people are becoming. The answer? “No, they’re not.” Apparently, once in office, our representatives become isolated behind their hired staffers—staffers whose job it is to formulate policy and to isolate their boss from the public.

Many of these hired staffers are long-time members of the establishment. When a Congressman leaves office, they migrate to another Congressman. In their view, contrary positions from constituents are ignored and public trends are modified to support political positions of the Washington establishment. Establishment staffers insure inexperienced Congressmen toe the establishment line.

Not only do our officials not understand how angry people are, neither, I believe, do the Heritage Action rep and the MOGOP political director. My impression is that these two heard what they expected to hear.

I have been a Heritage Action member since it was created over a year ago. I will continue to be a member. Unfortunately, I’m coming to believe the Heritage Action leadership and by extension, the Heritage Foundation are behind the curve. Both the HA and HF believe in action by lobbying ‘Pub politicians. I no longer believe that tactic works.

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One aspect of the HA meeting was the Heritage Foundation scorecard of Missouri’s U.S. elected officials. I was surprised to hear that Billy Long, Congressman from Missouri’s 7th District had a score above 90%. The score reflected how consistent Billy Long voted on issues—conservative vs. non-conservative, as judged by the Heritage Foundation.

During the last primary, I heard a lot of criticism about Billy Long. I had no real basis to judge, I’m not in his district. In retrospect, if Billy Long was so bad, how did he acquire such a high score? I have some opinions why but those aren’t the subject of this post.

Newly elected Jason Smith (R-MO-8) who was recently replaced Jo Ann Emerson, had a very low score. Jason Smith had only voted once when the last scoreboard scores were calculated. He voted, “Yes,” on the Food Stamp bill, in contradiction of his campaign rhetoric. He campaigned that he’d vote, “No.” Jason, you disappoint me. In office a week and already you’ve already reneged on meeting your campaign promises to your constituents.

But, Jason Smith wasn’t alone. Every Representative in Missouri voted for that monstrous welfare bill—as did all the ‘Pubs from Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and other midwestern states. It lost because 71 ‘Pubs, and the House dems (who wanted MORE welfare,) voted against the bill.

It’s a sad tale when we have to rely on dems to kill a wasteful bill. Yes, Jason Smith, disappointed me. I’d hoped you’d be more than just an establishment rubber-stamp.

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The Senate, with the help of 15 ‘Pub Senators, passed the Illegal Alien Amnesty bill—a bill masquerading as an immigration ‘reform’ bill. The primary spokesman for the ‘Gang of Eight’, Marco Rubio staked his political career on the vote and will likely now bear the consequences. Rubio used the Tea Party to get elected. I doubt the Tea Party members in Florida will repeat their mistake.

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Today is July 1st and across the country new laws take effect. Here’s a summary.

Around the nation, July 1 marks the start of new fiscal years and the date recently passed legislation goes into effect, although states often mark their independence by enacting new regulations on their own calendars.

The laws and effective dates vary somewhat from state to state, but an overview of legislation set to hit the books July 1st shows that state lawmakers took positions on the following five topics of national debate:

– GUNS: State legislatures across the U.S. discussed gun laws in the wake of mass shootings that shocked the nation in 2012. Most efforts to pass restrictions faded amid fierce opposition. Only a handful of states enacted new limits, some of which go into effect Monday. Among them Colorado is notable for requiring background checks for private and online gun sales and outlawing high-capacity ammunition magazines. At least 18 states, however, have gone the other way and loosened gun laws. Kansas laws set to take effect will allow schools to arm employees with concealed handguns and ensure that weapons can be carried into more public buildings.

– TECH: Dozens of states examined technology laws. Recently passed legislation in eight states will prevent businesses from demanding passwords to social media sites as a condition of employment. The law in Washington state also stops employers from compelling workers to add managers as “friends” so their profile can be viewed. Four states updated tech laws to allow drivers to show proof of car insurance on an electronic device, such as a smartphone.

– CARS: A handful of states have restricted cellphone use while driving. Starting Monday in Hawaii and West Virginia motorists will have to put down handheld devices. Meanwhile, in South Dakota beginning drivers will face similar restrictions. Utah also enacted limits for newbies with a law that has already taken effect. A few states have banned texting while driving. Other state laws affecting drivers will make it illegal to smoke in a car with a child, raise highway speed limits, crackdown on drunken drivers and raise gas taxes. NOTE: in Kansas, texting in an automobile is illegal even when the auto is stopped or not moving.

– ABORTION: Nationally, state lawmakers proposed more than 300 bills that would have restricted abortions, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. At least 13 state legislatures passed new limits, though two are waiting for governors to sign off. Notably, a bill that would have closed almost every abortion clinic in Texas was defeated by a Democratic filibuster and a restless crowd in late June. The Texas governor, however, has ordered another special legislative session to push the bill through. North Dakota has passed the nation’s strictest abortion law, which takes effect in August, banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

-DRONES: An Idaho law taking effect Monday forbids anyone from using an unmanned aircraft for spying on another. Virginia has passed a ban preventing authorities from using drones for the next two years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Four other states approved anti-drone regulations, though legislation aimed at law enforcement in Texas isn’t effective until fall.

…

Not all of the measures set to take effect were matters dominating national political discussion. The following five examples of recently approved legislation show state-level updates can cover a variety of topics:

– SEXIST LANGUAGE: Washington lawmakers are completing work to strip the state’s books of sexist language. References to “his” will be changed to “his or her,” college “freshmen” will become “first-year students” and “penmanship” will be called “handwriting.”

– JACKPOT: Wyoming residents might soon consider 7, 1 and 13 as lucky numbers. A Cowboy State law kicking in Monday calls for the state to establish a lottery for the first time, leaving a dwindling list of only a handful of states without such a prize drawing.

– ELECTION DAY DRINKING: Kentucky has lifted a ban on election day drinking. It was one of the last states with Prohibition-era restrictions on the sale of alcohol while polls are open.

– EDIBLE LANDSCAPING: Maine lawmakers this session have directed officials to plant edible landscaping, such as fruit trees or berry shrubs, around the Statehouse.

– TANNING: Dozens of states this year considered keeping minors out of tanning beds. New Jersey and Nevada restrictions kick in July 1, and an Oregon limit takes effect in January.

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What’s Really in the Immigration Surrender Bill?

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The Senate ‘Pub leadership sided with the dems and didn’t fight cloture on the Gang of Eight’s bill. McConnell and others thought it would be too much work to fight this monstrosity and caved—as usual.

The bill contains all the worst that could be imagined. Amnesty for 30 million illegals and their families and much, much more. It also has some surprises.

  • grants immigration benefits to American citizens’ gay partners
  • secure the border before any of the bill’s provisions could be utilized.
  • illegal immigrants have to wait until the borders are deemed secure before they can get any legal status
  • allows DHS, Janet Napolitano, to decide when the border is secure (yeah, right,) and when the other provisions of the bill become effective (citizenship.) This negates the previous bullet item.
  • guest-workers would be allowed into the country to compete for jobs with American citizens and be given preferential treatment
  • make English the official language.
  • allow businesses to declare English-only policies in their workplaces

…and, more. The problem with these provisions is that they are all amendments and each amendment must be voted before the Senate and receive at least 60 votes. Given Harry Reid’s ham-fisted treatment of amendments on other bills, I doubt any contrary amendments, if any, will be presented for votes. Our best hope is that this entire bill dies on the Senate floor.

On top of it, Marko Rubio has destroyed his reputation as a conservative and any chance for higher office—or, perhaps, his re-election. He sold out to La Raza, hook, line and sinker. For all of his claims to conservatism and limited government, Rubio has proven that he will sell out those principles. He has lost our trust.

Rubio still claims that stiffer border security is in the bill. Obama has proved, many times, that he can ignore law at will and his lib syncopates in Congress will turn a blind eye on any such actions.

I don’t know if Rubio is a dupe or a willing accomplice. Either way, he cannot be trusted on any conservative issue—he’s proven that he, like McConnell, McCain, Graham, and Boehner, will sell us out on any issue.

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The Return of the Vigilantes

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California has a history matched by few states. It has a history of dealing justice when the “official” law enforcement organs can’t or won’t meet their obligations. The Vigilantes of San Francisco first appeared in 1851 and a few years later in 1856.

The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance was a popular ad hoc organization formed in 1851 and revived in 1856 in response to rampant crime and corruption in the municipal government of San Francisco, California. It was one of the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of the American Old West.

These militias hanged eight people and forced several elected officials to resign. Each Committee of Vigilance formally relinquished power after three months. — Wiki

Now, move forward 157 years. The Vigilantes have returned for the same reasons, unconstrained criminality and the refusal of law enforcement to perform their function.

Oakland Neighbors Policing Their Own Streets As They Lose Faith In Cops

February 26, 2013 11:22 AM
This surveillance image shows three men preparing to break into an Arcadia Park neighborhood home in Oakland. (CBS)

This surveillance image shows three men preparing to break into an Arcadia Park neighborhood home in Oakland. (CBS)

OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – Oakland’s crime problems have gotten so bad that some people aren’t even bothering to call the cops anymore; instead, they’re trying to solve and prevent crimes themselves.

KPIX 5 cameras caught up with a half dozen neighbors in East Oakland’s Arcadia Park neighborhood Monday as they walked the streets on the lookout for crime. The vigilance has never seemed more necessary than now; 25 homes in the neighborhood have been burglarized over the last two months alone.

In a neighborhood that has started to feel like the wild west, people have even started posting “wanted” signs.

“You have to walk around in your house with a gun to feel safe here,” said Alaska Tarvins of the Arcadia Park Board of Directors.

Over the weekend, one home was burglarized twice in a 24 hour period, once while a resident’s nephew was inside.

“He was on with 911 when those men tried to kick into his room. That was very frightening,” said the woman, identified only as Inca.

Now, Arcadia park neighbors are taking the detective work into their own hands.

KPIX 5 found a woman who identified herself as L.E. patrolling her neighborhood by car. She said she recently chased down a couple of robbers herself.

“There was an armed robbery in progress and the owner yelled ‘help me’ and I ended up going after them,” L.E. recalled.

The people who live in the area are nothing if not gutsy, but they need help. A plan to gate their community has been stalled. With the police force stretched painfully thin, they may be forced to follow other Oakland neighborhoods and hire private guards.

“We don’t have a choice. Either die or we hire some security ourselves, because we can’t depend on the police department,” said Tarvins.

Remember the adage loved by 2nd Amendment supporters, “When seconds count, the cops are minutes away.” In Oakland, they just don’t come at all.

Some lefties like to boast that California leads the nation. I surely hope not. I don’t want anarchy to come to Missouri like it is, increasingly, in California. Decades of overspending, higher unsupported debt, massive influx of unrestrained illegal immigration and infiltration of gangs and the drug cartels, all the failed and frankly unworkable liberal policies are coming home.

The cities in California pay their elected officials multi-hundreds of dollars salary all while cutting the budgets of their police and fire departments. This is leading to some innovative solutions by Californians—by individuals, not the municipalities. The article below leads with events in New Jersey and continues with similar activities in California.

Alana Semuels,  February 21, 2013

Roles once held by police are now becoming commonplace for private detectives and security firms.

CAMDEN, N.J. — In an office in a sleepy town in southern New Jersey, Harry Glemser’s phone rang. With no buxom secretary to take a message, he answered it himself.

It was a dame, looking to hire a private eye.

But this was no scene from a noir novel. The woman was calling because someone in a car kept lurking in her driveway, the engine running, when her husband wasn’t home. She’d called the police, but they couldn’t help. She hoped Glemser could.

Detectives like Glemser across cash-strapped states have been getting more calls like these as cities and towns cut their police forces to contend with deep budget cuts. New Jersey alone lost 4,200 officers from 2008 to 2011, according to the Policemen’s Benevolent Assn., which tracks the state’s most recent data. As police focus more on responding to crime rather than preventing it, private detectives and security firms are often taking on the roles that police once did, investigating robberies, checking out alibis, looking into threats.

“The public is frustrated by the police,” said Glemser, a retired cop of 63 whose gold chains, white hair and bulky body might make a stranger worry he’s on the wrong side of the law. “The citizenry is quick to say that the police don’t do anything for them. They should be saying the police can’t do anything for them because of this budgetary issue, this manpower problem, this directive we have that came down from the chief.”

…

In California, where many cash-strapped cities cut police budgets during the recession, residents are turning to detectives, security firms and even the Internet.

After police cuts in Oakland, resident Dabney Lawless encouraged 400 neighbors to sign up on a website so they could send alerts to one another when they noticed suspicious people around; she also pays extra to an alarm company to drive through the neighborhood. Ron Cancio, the manager of a Stockton security firm, said that since the city’s budget battles, residents often have called his firm for minor complaints, because they know he’ll respond more quickly than the police.

…

Roger Arrella, the owner of TSInvestigations in Corona, said he’s getting a lot more calls from people who say police won’t help them in investigating burglaries, suspicious suicides or identity theft. But once they hear his rates, which are around $150 an hour, they usually balk.

“We get the phone calls — people are upset that someone broke into their house, or stole their car, and the police aren’t doing what they should be doing,” he said. “But then you tell them the price, and they say, well, maybe it’s not worth it to me.”

It’s another facet of how income inequality is playing out in America — as cities are forced to cut their budgets, even police protection is more accessible to those with cash.

“Wealthy neighborhoods are buying themselves more police protection than poor neighborhoods,” said Samuel Walker, emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the author of 13 books on policing.

Those who can afford it use private police—retired officers, detectives and security firms. Those who cannot afford that price are left with themselves to prevent crimes…and dispense justice. We call them Vigilantes.

We, here in Cass County, are fortunate to have a Sheriff who understands duty and commitment. It’s too bad, Californian elected officials aren’t like him.

Welcome to the Progressives’ world.

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