Pelosi care is more of the same, 2,000 pages of government takeover
The House leadership has put forth their massive 2,000 page health care bill, while there may have been minor tweaking; much of the bill remains the same.
“The plan unveiled today by House Democrats represents more of the same,” said Congressman Duncan Hunter-R CA. “Despite the need for responsible health care reform, this proposal once again amounts to nothing more than a massive government takeover of our health care system.”
There is no question that health care reform is needed and most Americans would like to see some changes, but this package is just too large for the taxpayers to understand.
“The status quo is insufficient, but what has been proposed today comprises a partisan overreach that will destroy the basic foundation of our health care system, eliminate jobs and drive up already record debt levels,” Hunter explained.
Hunter also expressed his disappointment that his amendment to protect small businesses, despite being accepted by the House Education and Labor Committee, was substantially weakened by Democratic leadership.
The legislation also contains the same loopholes in the prior House bill that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits.
“It is disappointing that despite assurances by President Obama and promises by Senate Democrats, the latest version of the House healthcare bill contains the same loopholes in previous legislation,” says Lamar Smith-D TX. “When will House Democrats listen to the American people? Taxpayers do not want to subsidize people who are here illegally.”
The House Democratic leadership hasn’t even included the verification mechanisms in their bill that the Senate Democrats added in order to curb illegal immigrant’s participation in taxpayer-funded health care.
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CIS chronicles 287(g ) immigration enforcement tool
Congress created 287g in 1996 as program to enhance the cooperation of local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration services. In an effort to pander to the Latino organizations that helped propel Obama into the White House, the reigns of 287(g) rules are being pulled back.
Despite unsubstantiated criticism from civil liberty groups, 287(g) remains an effective piece of legislation assisting local law enforcement with illegal immigration crime-fighting tools.
Protecting the homeland remains a top priority for many federal and local agencies and like many arms of law enforcement many tweaks have been implemented along the way.
According to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than 81,000 immigration arrests were made by 287(g) officers during January 2006 and November 2008.
This program is responsible for flagging a large number of known serious/violent offenders, ICE reports the number in 2008 was more than 45,000.
While most agencies that use 287(g) mainly identify and process illegal aliens who have committed additional crimes, Congress has never intended the program to be limited to that use alone, according to Center for Immigration Studies.
“Participating agencies credit the 287(g) program as a major factor in reduced local crime rates, smaller inmate populations and lower criminal justice costs,” CIS stated.
CIS also dispels the myth that 287(g) causes racial profiling, discrimination or other abuse of authority.
Due to the program’s success, the federal government currently has a one to three year waiting list for local law enforcement agencies to obtain their 287(g) status and training. However, the Department of Homeland Security has rejected dozens of applications due to federal funding shortfalls in the last few years.
Recently there were 54 Democrat and Republican members of Congress who sent a letter to President Obama expressing their support of 287(g). The letter came just days after the Obama Administration implemented limits on state and local law enforcement agencies.
“Thanks to the 287(g) program, thousands of illegal immigrants that are identified in jails and through task force operations are being identified and deported,” explains Rep. Lamar Smith-R TX. “The open borders crowd doesn’t like the 287(g) program because it is working – thousands of illegal immigrants are being identified.”
“Local law enforcement agencies deserve our thanks for helping to remove illegal immigrants from our communities before they threaten American lives and property,” Smith said. “The Obama administration should not limit local agencies’ ability to help enforce our nation’s laws.”
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Migrant camps with drug paraphernalia discoved in Northern San Diego County
Nestled in the canyons of San Diego are well-hidden migrant camps complete with fire hazards, drug paraphernalia and evidence of prostitution. These third-world living conditions are located next to a small creek quaintly named “Little Gopher Canyon” and a large strawberry field.
Imagine taking a hike in a scenic canyon looking for wildlife or wild flowers and you stumble upon a migrant encampment with so much trash and fecal matter the smell is nauseating. This sight is totally out of place with the large country homes and estates dotting the nearby hillsides in the rural area of San Diego.
Two local day labor sites are also likely feeding the illegal squatter population in the canyon. Again, angry neighbors were quick to speak their minds. This time, once the Sheriff’s Department was notified, swift action was promised.
“The San Diego Sheriff’s Department Vista Station makes every effort to stay on top of transient encampment as they are located,” says Capt. Tim Curran from the Sheriff’s Department.
In Vista, the Sheriff’s Department offers a program working with residents in order to control the migrant issue. “Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS), has a Deputy assigned to handle the camps, the homeless population and the problems associated with them,” Curran said.
Captain Curran promised to forward the photo’s taken yesterday along with approximate site locations to Deputy Kirsten Lorek and report back in a couple of days.
This comes as good news to Suellen Shea who lives near the migrant encampment. “We have lived in this house for more than 35 years,” she explained. “We are petrified of the fire danger that comes along with the squatter camps.”
Several butane cans and stoves were photographed in and around the illegal migrant camps.
Shea explains that the canyon is peppered with illegal camps containing numerous fire hazards that may cause serious evacuation problems as the main road is a one-way in and one-way out road for all community homeowners.
“The lack of exits concerns many of the residents here,” she said. “Having illegal migrants living in canyons without any regard for us is very frustrating. We work very hard to keep our property clear of fire hazards every year and plant ice plant s around our property so our home doesn’t burn down.”
Some residents are angry that their fate rests in the hands of local government to keep them safe.
Farmers who apparently employ these foreign migrant workers fail to provide farm-worker housing as required by the U.S. Visa regulations; unless of course they are employing illegal aliens to skirt their legal responsibilities and obligations. In that case, a multitude of laws are being broken.
Many of these migrant encampments contained drug paraphernalia and evidence of large amounts of alcohol. There were leftover condoms leading one to wonder if prostitution has returned the fields of Vista.
In 2003 a Los Angeles TV News station conducted an undercover investigation and found prostitution taking place with very young girls being trafficked in for the illegal migrants. (See the video link is below)
“It is appalling to think about the prostitution and drug use happening so close to our home. We live a quarter-mile from the migrant encampments,” Shea says. “It has been so bad in the past I could not let my daughter ride her bike to her friend’s house. Let’s just say, I am worried about her safety.”
The camps uncovered yesterday appear to be located on or next to Bonsall Farms property, but when they were contacted for comment, calls went unreturned.
Follow this link to the young girl’s sex trafficking caught on film by Ch. 4 News in 2003
The Fields of Shame
http://www.youtube.com/user/SanDiegoMinutemen#p/c/D677671BE1F7B00B/6/BQEltSyzL38
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Lieberman to filibuster health care reform with GOP
In an announcement after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid-D proposed a public option plan, Lieberman said he would join the GOP in standing against the embattled Democratic Party health care reform efforts.
Lieberman, an Independent, caucuses with the Democrats while touting his fiscal responsibility to the American people. In a report from Politico, Lieberman said he would oppose any reform bill that included a public option even if the states can opt-out.
“We are trying to do too much at once,” Lieberman explained.
His reasoning behind splitting from the Democrat Party stems from the fact the country simply cannot afford another entitlement program where the taxpayers are on the hook.
With the defection of Lieberman, the Democrats are unable to beat a Republican filibuster. It looks like it will be back to the drawing board for the Obama Administration and their quest to change the health care delivery system.
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Border Patrol captures illegals arriving by boat, including MS-13 gang member
Approximately 40 miles north of the U.S./Mexican border officials nabbed 20 illegal aliens attempting to break into the country via panga boat.
California Border Patrol agents greeted the illegals when they arrived on the sand at South Ponto Beach, Carlsbad. Among them were 16 males and four female illegal immigrants including a suspected MS-13 gang member.
“Two suspected smugglers returned to sea aboard the boat before the agents approached the scene. The United States Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Marine Interdiction agents conducted a search of the area but were unable to locate the vessel,” according to Mark Endicott of Border Patrol.
The gang member was identified at a local Border Patrol station using biometric information. The MS-13 gang member was identified as Carlos Henriquez-Perez, 26-years-old and part of the Mara Salvatrucha limb of the violent gang.
Henriquez is currently in federal custody and will face prosecution for reentering the U.S. as a prior deportee.
According to the Border Patrol, San Diego remains vigilant regarding the high number illegal immigrants who attempt to cross into American via the waterways.
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Mexican Consulates urge those in U.S. to participate in 2010 Census
The 2010 Census count has yet to begin and there are already efforts in place on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border to influence those residing in America illegally to participate in the population count.
Mexican Consulates in Los Angeles and Miami have began pointing out that Mexicans residing stateside will be fundamentally responsible for the more than $300 billion set aside in America annually for social programs in the next 10 years.
The Mexican government explained in a report that the 2010 Census will be crucial to how federal and state funds are allocated as well as how they will be applied toward Mexican nationals.
They specifically note the U.S. government will be spending money in the following areas; transportation, health care, education and other infrastructure and assistance to help vulnerable populations, included those who do not speak the language.
In past census counts about a third of the Mexican population living in the U.S. did not participate in the process because they were afraid of being deported.
The Mexican Consulate believes it is imperative for all in America to fill out the paperwork so they can take advantage of the money being given out in future social entitlement programs.
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Murder, kidnapping and drug activities are common place south of the border
While many so-called media entities cover up the fact that ‘what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico, violence along the southern borders continues to escalate.
Tijuana in particular has seen kidnapping and murder rates soar. It is not uncommon to see tortured and murdered victims hanging from major roadways near military installations. “They are putting the bodies in these locations for a reason. It’s to tell the Mexican government that they do not control the country,” said a resident of Tijuana.
In a recent trip to the wild, wild south, evidence of violence is everywhere. “You are not safe at five star hotels, five star restaurants or behind the wheel of a police vehicle,” explained a source that monitors the escalating violence.
There is also evidence violence is creeping across the U.S./Mexico border. Many Mexican nationals are moving across the border into San Diego to escape the constant barrage of kidnappings. By doing so it is alleged that cartel members are following them across the border,snatching victims on U.S. soil and bringing them back to Mexico.
The number of kidnappings taking place on U.S. soil in San Diego county is officially low. Sources contend many kidnappings in San Diego County remain relatively low because families who must pay ransoms are hesitant to report the crime, fearing the kidnap victim will be murdered.
Also, many reports in the U.S. often discount a crime if they feel it is related to the Mexican drug cartels.
However in a study from the Mexican Council for Law and Human Rights claims 90 percent of Mexicans who have been the target of kidnappings have no link to narco-traffic or other criminal activities.
The study showed that 22,875 citizens have disappeared at the hands of organized crime in the past three years. It also stated that 7,433 have been victims of criminal gangs.
Of these victims, 75 percent were males, 15 percent were minors and 10 percent were females. The criminal activity generally increases with the presence of narco-terrorist groups like La Familia, Los Zetas, Los Pelones and La Linea.
Readers of the study in Mexico who read the full report stated the claim of 90 percent of the crimes having nothing to do with organized cartels were flat out lies by the Mexican Council for Law and Human Rights. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/635480.html
Meanwhile, back in Tijuana long-time law enforcement authorities claim there are more than two kidnappings per day. “It has become a legitimate business. Money is so hard to come by that many turn to crime,” authorities said. “It is entrenched in young people’s minds as a way to get out of poverty; however it often results in death.”
Murder and kidnappings have become so commonplace in Tijuana that Friday’s murder rate of four becomes just a day in the life. What most American’s will find disturbing is the brutality of the murders.
Bodies are thrown in the street to make a statement. And when they are recovered, victims routinely have no fingernails, show signs of torture and have no heads.
With a yearly murder rate that eclipses the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined eight year total of deaths, one questions if we are fighting the right war.
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DHS loses track of 18 percent of illegals placed in Intensive Supervision Program
Nearly 20 percent of illegal immigrants placed in a highly-touted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), failed to appear in court on deportation orders.
The program which allows those caught in the U.S. illegally, to remain under the guise they will appear in court at a later date on deportation charges suffers many red herrings.
“This data is not surprising. Individuals who broke our laws to come here illegally in the first place will not automatically comply with our laws after they are caught and ordered to leave,” said a spokesperson from Congressman Lamar Smith’s-R TX office. “We cannot afford to pretend they will, particularly when history and common sense dictate otherwise.”
In a report from the Houston Chronicle, the Obama Administration promotes this “catch and release program” and didn’t request any further funding for detention beds despite a Congressional order to do so.
Illegal aliens enrolled in the program are required to check in via phone, wear ankle bracelets and obey curfews, yet approximately one in five simply disappear.
According to the Justice Department’s Inspector General, only 13 percent of non-detained aliens with final removal orders were actually returned home. Even more disturbing are only 6 percent of non-detained aliens from countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism who had deportation orders were actually deported.
The Judiciary Committee was also provided data during the Bush Administration that revealed one-third of the supervised aliens in the ISAP program ignored their deportation orders.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) claimed once the illegal aliens absconded, ICE simply terminated their records from the ISAP program; or essentially allowing them to continue living in the U.S. despite breaking yet another law.
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$787 billion jolt to economy falls flat
The $787 billion stimulus package the country could not survive without in February fell flat as President Obama’s top economic aide said the package has already seen its biggest impact on the economy.
Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors explained, the $194 billion spent in the second and third quarters of this year provided the largest bang and any additional money infused into the economy would not contribute to any significant growth in the economy next year.
In other words, the stimulus failed.
In a meeting with a congressional panel, Romer said the impact of the stimulus will continue to level off.
Romer also pointed out the $787 billion saved or created 600,000 to 1.5 million jobs. She also warned the congressional panel that unemployment would hover around the 10 percent mark through the end of 2010.
The grim unemployment numbers will further dampen economic recovery and slow growth for the average American looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.
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Migrant squatters move closer to a high school, fire dangers persist
Read all about it Kimberly Dvorak posted a new story;
More than two weeks after a prostitution ring was uncovered in a suburban San Diego canyon, the SDPD made and broke plenty of promises. The residents were promised action and cooperation, but they received the same empty actions.
Last week the SDPD placed their mobile command center near McGonigle Canyon in an effort to show the community they were on top of the illegal migrant squatters and crime in the canyon, The canyon which is owned by the city as well as private owners and real estate companies, remains home for many migrant workers. httphttp://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m10d22-Migrant-squatters-move-closer-to-a-high-school-fire-dangers-persist