The Raw Politics of Immigration Reform Should Lead to Legislation

There are numerous reasons why it would be wise for Washington to address the nation&'s failed immigration policies sooner rather than later and finally fix a system that no one on either end of the political spectrum believes is either functioning properly or serving the best interests of the people . Even though studies show that reforming immigration would be a boost to the economy at a time when it could surely use one, and human rights issues make reforming the system a moral imperative, many still believe that it's an issue too politically hot to handle.

Since nothing yet has provided the requisite motivation to those in Washington to move forward and tackle reform, it&'s time to start to look at it through a prism they can understand: Pure Machiavellian political calculation.

As has been rightly pointed out, reform cannot be a one party affair, and to get it accomplished there will have to be some reaching across the aisle and bipartisan compromise. Yet, given the current polarization in Washington, accomplishing such a task might seem to be impossible ... until of course we look at the alternatives.

It's quite obvious at this point that the American electorate is furious, with discontent across the political spectrum from left to right ... and more importantly the middle.

Confidence in Washington is approaching record lows with few having faith in elected officials to fix the serious problems facing the nation. 60% believe that the country's heading in the wrong direction. The elation of 2008 that a new era of change was upon us, and that the gridlock and partisan politics of the past might finally give way to effective governance, has quickly given way to distrust and cynicism.

Those from both parties now face an angry public more intent than ever to throw the bums out of office.

On the right, all but the most hard-core reactionary conservatives face challenges from the far-right extremes of their party. In Florida, one-time party favorite, Charlie Crist, looks like toast with teabagger Marco Rubio crushing him in the polls. Former standard bearer, John McCain, daily tries to distance himself from every past position he's ever held in hopes of warding off primary defeat. In NY23 the pitchfork and torch crowd lunched a successful coup, driving out the party favorite, ultimately handing the election to the opposition.

Fueled by the vitriolic rants of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, and living in an information isolation-bubble created by the FOX News noise machine, the angry mob has become emboldened and threatens to tear their party apart in a frenzy of fratricide.

On the left, the inability of the administration and its Congressional allies to deliver on their promise to usher in a new era in Washington has had a different effect. While the right-wing base is energized, the historic coalition that Obama built of youth, ethnic voters, and independents is withering away due to ambivalence and disillusion.

As we saw in NJ, VA, and most recently in MA, the Obama coalition simply failed to show up at the polls. And those that did were the disenchanted independents still looking for change who thought they'd find it in a pick-up truck driving, faux-populist, "independent Republican."

But as much as both parties are having problems with their respective bases, it's the magic 40+% unaffiliated voters who now create the most problems for both.

They're sick and tired of the partisan bickering, political posturing, and gridlock that prevail in Washington.

They're scared. They see a faltering economy, endless wars, high unemployment and an uncertain future, and they want something done.

They watched the protracted political sausage making that mired down the health care debate, the convoluted economics of the stimulus bill, and the daily theater of the absurd as obstructionist Republicans did everything in their power to derail an Obama presidency ... and they're fed up.

They want to clean house, and few incumbents will be safe from their wrath.

Realizing this, both parties have telegraphed their electoral strategies.

Republicans will attempt to run as outsiders, trying to convince voters that somehow Washington careerists are in fact, fresh faces with new ideas, all along stalling and trying their damnedest to prevent anything from getting accomplished that might make Obama look good.

The Democrats, with Obama in the lead, will hammer away on those very same stall tactics and try to lay the blame for all the gridlock and partisan rancor in Washington at the Republican's feet.

But both these plans contain Achilles heels that could doom them to failure.

As a new poll just released by non-partisan independent pollster Research 2000 of over 2,000 self-identified Republicans shows, the base has moved so far to the extreme they could become toxic for incumbents in all but the reddest of red states. Particularly given Obama's still very high personal popularity.

• 63% think Obama is a socialist
• only 42% believe he was born in US
• 39% want Obama impeached.
• 53% think Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama
• 23% want to secede from US
• 24% believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win
• 31% believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates White people
• 73% think gay men and women shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools
• 31% want contraceptives outlawed

In order to paint themselves as outsiders, Republicans, who make up only 22.5% the electorate, will be forced to embrace those in their party who have already firmly staked out that ground ... the teabaggers and birthers who flocked to last summers town halls to "take their country back."

Having to cater to this constituency not only to ward off primary challenges or raise funds, but to appear "mavericky" enough, Republicans run the risk of alienating the independents and moderates essential to winning general elections. In many ways, in order to remain viable in general elections dominated by centrist independents, Republicans will need to distance themselves from what now appears to be the public face of their party.

A recent Gallup poll shows just how risky catering to the base could be. It's still a very blue country:

Overall, 49% of Americans in 2009 identified as Democrats or said they were independent but leaned to the Democratic Party, while 41% identified as Republicans or were Republican-leaning independents In total, 23 states plus the District of Columbia can be classified as solidly Democratic, with a 10 percentage-point or greater advantage in party affiliation in favor of the Democrats. This includes most of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, most of the Great Lakes region, and the Pacific Coast.

Another 10 states can be considered Democratic leaning, in which the state's Democratic supporters outnumber Republican supporters by at least 5 percentage points but less than 10 points. These are Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Indiana, and Tennessee.

Four states are solidly Republican, with a better than 10-point advantage in Republican affiliation -- Wyoming, Utah, Alaska, and Idaho. Alabama qualifies as the lone Republican-leaning state, with a 6-point advantage in Republican affiliation.

That leaves 12 states that are competitive, with less than a 5-point advantage for either party. Among these 13 states, 6 tilt in a Republican direction: Montana, Nebraska, Mississippi, Texas, North Dakota, and Kansas. Six tilt toward the Democratic Party: Georgia, South Dakota, Louisiana, Arizona, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

Gallup

Republicans would need to replicate their "Massachusetts Miracle" across the electoral map in order to succeed … something far easier to crow about, than do.

For Democrats, the "blame it all on the Republicans" strategy is risky also. Congressional Democrats' approval ratings are in the toilet, only slightly higher than the Republicans:

PARTY	APPROVE	DISAPPROVE
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS:	37	59
CONGRESSIONAL GOP:	21	63

This low standing in most part due to their perceived inability to get anything accomplished and getting mired down in the toxic partisan bickering that has marked this Congress.

Attempting now to point fingers at the opposition is a dicey proposition.

With all his substantial personal charms and political skills, even Obama would be walking the fine line between criticizing partisanship and engaging in it… A risky move even in a far less volatile political climate.

It's even riskier when attempted by far less well-liked and politically talented Democrats who run the risk of sounding like they're just making shrill excuses for their bad behavior.

But perhaps both parties would be better served if they actually just did the people's bidding and found a way to get something done. It would serve them well to roll up their sleeves and put partisan political gamesmanship aside long enough to get at least one piece of major legislation passed this session. It would be in both their political best interests.

Republican's would be able to defuse Democratic attacks about being obstructionists and have some claim to the middle at a time when the extreme base of the party appears to be anything but, and Democrats would prove they can get something done.

It's for this reason that the time to address immigration reform has come.

• It's the kind of "tough issue" that polls have constantly shown the American people want tackled.
• It has the support of a broad coalition that includes labor, business, and faith-based organizations.
• Good arguments have be made for the economic benefits of enacting reform
• The demographics work…neither party can survive long-term without the Latino and New American vote
• Polling shows the majority of Americans favor reform
• It's received bi-partisan support in the past
• Restrictionist campaigns have consistently failed at the polls

From a purely political point of view this seems to be a no-brainer.

 

 

 

-----------------

SOME USEFUL INFO ON REFORM

1. Fact Sheet: How Immigration Reform Would Help the Economy
by the Center for American Progress

A fact sheet summarizing recent research on the benefits of legalization.

2. “The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform”
By Raul Hinojosa for the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center

This report finds that comprehensive immigration reform that includes a legalization program for unauthorized immigrants and enables a future flow of legal workers would result in a large economic benefit—a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. In stark contrast, a deportation-only policy would result in a loss of $2.6 trillion in GDP over 10 years.

3. Restriction or Legalization? Measuring the Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform
by Peter B. Dixon and Maureen T. Rimmer for the CATO Institute

A report which finds that legalization of low-skilled immigrant workers would yield significant income gains for American workers and households. It would also allow immigrants to have higher productivity and create more openings for Americans in higherskilled occupations. The positive impact for U.S. households of legalization under an optimal visa tax would be 1.27 percent of GDP or $180 billion. 

4. The Economics of Immigration Reform: Legalizing Undocumented Workers a Key to Economic Recovery
by the Immigration Policy Center

April 2009 analysis of how legalization would protect our workers, raise wages, and get our economy moving again.

5. Policy Brief: New Immigration Reform Bill Supports America’s Middle Class
Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

A Legislative Analysis of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009(H.R. 4321) sponsored by Representative Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and 92other co-sponsors

6. The Labor Movement’s Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
AFL-CIO and Change to Win

Announced in April 2009, this is the labor movements unified framework for comprehensive immigration reform.  This framework is a critical sign of support for the Administration and Congress to address immigration reform -- and to ensure that it remains a priority on the legislative calendar. It is also an important sign that immigration reform is an important part of economic recovery.

7. Loving Thy Neighbor: Immigration Reform and Communities of Faith
by Sam Fulwood III for the Center for American Progress

This report documents how  a wide range of faith groups are showing a new, unexpected, and grassroots-led social activism that’s rooted in theological and moral ground. While loud and shrill anti-immigrant voices dominate much of the media attention regarding immigrants and especially the undocumented, faith community activists are caring and praying in the shadows of public attention.

8. The Role of Local Police: Striking a Balance Between Immigration Enforcement and Civil Liberties
By Anita Khashu for the Police Executive Research Foundation

While this report focuses on and provides critique of the role of local police and immigration enforcement, one of the major findings is the need for enactment of comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

 

 

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Sheriff Joe to March Immigrant Detainees to Tent City in Chains

Tomorrow afternoon, Sheriff Joe Arpaio plans to parade 220 chained immigrant detainees, carrying their own bedding, through the streets of Phoenix from the county jail to their new home in a newly expanded area in Arpaio's infamous "Tent City"

Having expanded his tent facility to house 2500 of the 10,000 inmates currently incarcerated in the county jail with a newly authorized $1.6 million dollar grant from the state, Arpaio vows to fill it with immigrant detainees.

Surrounded by an electrified fence that Joe jokes will be one that immigrants "won't want to scale," the tent facility will eventually become the new home for those caught in Arpaio's racial profiling roundups.

As usual, Arpaio has invited the press to document the hour long march in order fuel his colossal ego and need for constant media attention.

PRESS RELEASE

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Lindsey Smith
Media Relations – M.C.S.O.
Spokeswoman
Office: 602-876-1802
L_Smith@MCSO.Maricopa.Gov

ARPAIO ORDERS MOVE OF HUNDREDS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS TO THEIR OWN TENT CITY

Electric Fence to Minimize Escape Risk

(PHOENIX, AZ.) At 1:00 PM tomorrow, Wednesday, February 4, 2009, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will order of approximately 200 illegal aliens to be chained and marched into a separate area of Tent City, their new place of incarceration until their sentences are served and the illegal aliens are deported to their home countries.

The move to Tent City frees up much needed space in the Sheriff's hard facilities serving as a management tool for potential jail overcrowding, Arpaio says.

More importantly, the move is a financially responsible alternative to taxpayers already over burdened by the economic drain imposed by a growing number of illegal aliens on social services like education and healthcare.

The move also facilitates security and transportation issues as well as provides easier and quicker access for foreign government visits to these inmates, the Sheriff says. The move to Tent City also makes room for the future. Now that the Arizona state government has given Arpaio back his $1.6 million dollars slated for fighting illegal immigration, more arrests by the Sheriff's human smuggling unit and crime suppression operations are anticipated.

"We have expanded the tents to be able to house as many as 2500 inmates out of the 10,000 currently incarcerated in the jails," Arpaio says. "As we planned the expansion, I decided to have a special area to house this particular population of inmate more effectively and safely. Starting tomorrow, Tent City will be their new address," Arpaio says.

Tent City is Arpaio's canvas incarceration compound which he opened in August of 1993. Since then, it has been a safe and cost effective way of housing inmates and has gained worldwide attention as a model jail program. The consolidation of a large number of illegal aliens into Tent City, Arpaio says, should pose no substantial security problems as the area where they will be housed is protected by an electric fence.

"This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape," the Sheriff says. "But this is a fence they won't want to scale because they risk receiving quite a shock - literally."

Tomorrow's move is expected to take about an hour as the illegal aliens make their way from the Durango Jail complex to Tent City on Gibson Road. Traffic will be rerouted during the transfer, Arpaio says.

The inmates will enter Tent City through the west gate and pick up their bedding before making their way to their section of the tents.

They will be treated like all other inmates incarcerated here with two exceptions. Arpaio wants them to be instructed in American immigration laws, as a way to help them understand that the violation of these laws has serious consequences not only to them but to society as a whole. And anyone found to violate jail rules, may end up on a chain gang. This chain gang will work to clean the areas of the valley, which have been impacted by human trafficking trade.

The inmate march begins at 1:00 PM on Wednesday beginning at the entrance gate of Durango Jail on Gibson Street. The 220 inmates will march east to Tent City. Interested media are asked to park on the access road west of Estrella Jail at 2939 West Durango. SEE MAP ATTACHED. Sheriff Arpaio will answer questions at 1:30 PM from inside Tent City. Call the on call Media Relations person for more information.

How much longer is this racist clown going to be allowed to continue his one man war on the undocumented.

Forced marches in chains, outdoor tent cities surrounded by electrified fences, forced labor on chain gangs as punishment for misbehavior ... all that's missing from this nightmare scene are the search lights and trained attack dogs....but who knows, maybe Arpaio has those also.

Why not give Joe a call, or drop him an e-mail to let him know just how much you appreciate the fine work he's doing out there in Maricopa Co

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Hearts of Darkness: A journey into the nativist lair.

A couple of days ago I received an e-mail from one of my blogmigas about an upcoming press conference hosted by anti-immigration group, The Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), to discuss "the implications of the recent elections and (their) agenda for immigration reform in the 111th Congress."

Figuring that it's always good to know what the opposition is up to, I decided to sign on to the conference call to get a feel for what strategies they were planning for the upcoming congressional session.

Little did I know that listening to the world according to FAIR President, Dan Stein, would be like falling down a rabbit hole where black is white and white is black.

Backed up by media spokesman, Ira Melman, and Executive director, Julie Kirchner, Stein managed in his 45min presentation to rewrite recent history, rehash long-discredited talking points, ignore or misinterpret reams of factual evidence, and flat out fabricate his own alternative reality.

As we've come to expect from far-right ideologues, Stein opened up his presentation with a statement intended to stir up maximum resentment and fear. He spoke at length about the changing political climate due to economic instability and how only strict enforcement and severe limiting of all new immigration would be accepted by the American people.

Against this backdrop of economic uncertainty, he couldn't resist the temptation to blame the nation's entire economic collapse on "illegal aliens" and their allies who managed to force well-meaning bankers into giving them mortgages they had no intention of ever paying:

"We see in areas like the housing crisis, where immigration has played an important role. Organizations worked very hard to encourage Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac to get into financing mortgages for people who had ...didn't even have the right to work in this country.. Didn't even have the right to be in this country ..um.. the same political interests that argue we should allow people to work in this country who lack work authorization...

This effort to push banks to underwriting mortgages that were...uh.. essentially based on faulty financial analysis ..Why do you want to give a mortgage to someone who doesn’t have a lawful income in this country...and yet many of those same people seem to be getting rewarded in this administration with political appointments...so..ah...I don't think the issue is going to go away"

This theory of course has been roundly discredited by both economists and the press.

Even fellow conservatives like UCLA professor Stephen Bainbridge, said that these kind of "ravings ...should be taking place in a padded room in Arkham Asylum not in the public discourse.... the freezing up of the credit markets doesn't have anything to do with either affirmative action or illegal immigration, and people who believe it does are on a par with the conspiracy theorists who think fluoridation is a Chicom plot....."

But more importantly, it's been long rejected by the American public, who know that it was the unmitigated greed and incompetence in both Washington and corporate boardrooms that robbed the public of billions and their financial security.

But the statement did provide insight into Steins twisted worldview, and set the tone for what would be a journey through the FAIR looking glass.

Next, Stein moved on to his interpretation of the election results.

Once again, "contrarian" would be a polite term to describe Stein's take on this past election cycle.

Despite overwhelming evidence that anti-immigrant candidates have had their clocks cleaned in both local and federal elections, he claimed that overwhelmingly, the public supported anti-immigration candidates.

He went on to contradict one of the biggest stories of the election cycle where the unprecedented growth of political power of Latino voters and a huge shift to the Democratic Party played a major role in many key races, claiming that Latinos had no discernible effect on "any election outside of California's Prop8" (nice touch there Dan ...always looking to fuel divisive fires).

Stein of course is border-line delusional in these claims:

Facts on Latino Vote in 2008:

As post-election analysis from pundits moves from discussing how the Latinos turned out in favor of Democrats at historic levels in 2008 to analyzing why this shift occurred, many have recognized that immigration was the driving factor behind Latino mobilization and their break towards Democratic candidates.

The Latino vote comprised 9% of the electorate nationwide in 2008, a figure that totals over 11 million voters. This turnout represents a jump of over 3 million voters since 2004, when 7.6 million Latinos cast ballots, and is approximately double the Latino turnout of 2000. Ominously for Republicans, the Latino vote broke overwhelmingly Democratic in 2008. After supporting Democratic candidate John Kerry by a 56-44% margin against George W. Bush in 2004, Latinos gave Democratic candidate Barack Obama their support at a 67-31% margin against John McCain. As the New York Times showed, Latinos' movement towards Democrats was one of the biggest demographic shifts from 2004 to 2008.

The reason behind this shift, according to political pundits and strategists of both parties, was the Republicans' tarnished brand related to the issue of immigration. As Latino polling expert Sergio Bendixen stated, "the debate over immigration started driving Hispanic voters toward the Democratic party, and the economic black hole clinched it."

Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), stated on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "the very divisive rhetoric of the immigration debate set a very bad tone for our brand as Republicans...there were voices within our party, frankly, which if they continue with that kind of rhetoric, anti-Hispanic rhetoric, that so much of it was heard, we're going to be relegated to minority status."
link

Facts on Anti-Immigrant Success at the Polls:

Following (is an analysis) of competitive House and Senate races in 2008 where the Republican candidate tried to use illegal immigration as a wedge issue against a Democratic challenger. The ... analysis focused on the “swing districts” that the Cook Political Report considered in play as of October 2, a month before the elections.

Based on our review, 20 of 22 winners advocated immigration policies beyond enforcement-only. This includes 5 of 5 Senate races and 15 of 17 House races listed in the “toss-up,” “leans Republican,” or “leans Democratic” categories of the Cook Political Report. Clearly, the Republican illegal immigration wedge strategy has proved a spectacular failure in these competitive districts and states.

Until now, the conventional wisdom has been that illegal immigration is a wedge issue that works to mobilize “the base” in the Republican Party, win over swing voters frustrated with the problem, and hurt Democrats who support comprehensive immigration reform. Conventional wisdom has also held that the number of Latino voters who could hold anti-immigrant politicians accountable for their rhetoric is too small to make a difference outside of Democratic strongholds.

This election stands that conventional wisdom on its head. Swing voters chose Democrats overwhelmingly, including many candidates that stood up for a more comprehensive approach to immigration reform than their hard-line opponents. Latino voters turned out in record numbers and fled the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the Republican Party in droves. Their participation in the 2008 elections contributed to Senator Obama’s wins in key battleground states like Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Florida, and also helped Democrats win contested House and Senate races in these states and more. Meanwhile, the anti-immigrant forces that have all but hijacked the Republican Party proved to be inconsequential at best, except for their role in potentially driving the GOP into the political wilderness

link

At this point Stein turned the discussion over to Julie Kirchner for further analysis....or as any rational person would call it... grasping at straws.

Kirchner, following Steins lead, tried to prove his claim that anti-immigrant rhetoric actually won many elections for strong restrictionist candidates.

Her examples to prove this undeniable fact:

• Incumbent, Sen. Jeff Sessions managed to win his run-off election in one of the most Republican states in the union.



• Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn managed to beat a weak opponent in Texas



• Rep. Duncan Hunter JR was able to capture his father's seat in California's most right-wing district



• Incumbent, Rep. Brian Bilbray managed to eek out a five point win in a +5 Republican district.

This is hardly an overwhelming display of anti-immigrant power given the devastating loses the anti-immigrant caucus has suffered in the last three cycles.

Then there was Kirchner's unique analysis of the failed attempt by Hazzelton mayor, Lou Barletta, to take Pennsylvania's 11th district.

A restritionist poster boy, who was the darling of the anti-immigrant movement, Barletta received hours of free air-time from blowhards like Lou Dobbs yet still came up short. But according to Kirchner, his loss can be attributed to the fact that the Democrats threw all their heavy guns at the hometown favorite.

She claimed it took the combined efforts of Barack Obama, and both Clintons to defeat Barletta:

"They pulled out all the stops. It took two Presidents and a future Secretary of State to beat Barletta." Said Kirchner.

But of course she failed to mention that John McCain, Cindy McCain, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani all made numerous appearances in Barletta's district.

As a key presidential battleground, both parties spent enormous resources trying to win it.....none of which had anything to do with Barletta...whose own party pretty much ignored him.

But then again, in FAIR's alternative universe....anything is possible.

Eventually, Stein and friends finally got around the meat of their presentation....their strategic plan for the coming Congressional session. .. which seemed to consist of one thing ...renewing the government's E-Verify employee verification system.

No mention was made of any new legislation or initiatives ... just E-Verify, which Stein characterized as the "first battle of the new administration"

The renewal of the controversial system, which requires the use the Social Security Administration's error-ridden database, that contains 17mil faulty entries, as a method to verify employment eligibility for millions of workers, has stalled out in the Senate and will expire in March of 2009. Stein, looking to expand its use through legislation like last years STRIVE Act, sees the renewal as key towards forwarding his enforcement-only immigration policies.

But Steins wishful thinking doesn't change the fact that the E-verify system is so unreliable that it's opposed by employers and unions alike and the veracity of the database has been challenged successfully in federal court.

Errors in the database that E-Verify checks to determine work authorization status impact millions.

• 4.1%: error rate in the SSA database



• 17.8 million: number of discrepancies in the SSA database



• 12.7 million: number of database discrepancies pertaining to native-born U.S. citizens



• 1 in 25: number of new hires that would receive a tentative nonconfirmation based on error rates



• 55 million: approximate number of new hires per year in the U.S.



• 11,000: number of workers per day who would be flagged as ineligible for employment if E-Verify were mandatory for all employers



• 25: workers per work day per congressional district who would be flagged as ineligible for employment if the Shuler or Johnson bill passed, making E-Verify mandatory for all employers

But outside of that, Stein seemed mostly content to spend the next four years playing defense, doing his best to make sure that no actual reform gets enacted.

"We're going to be extremely vocal if we see at a time when hundred of thousands or millions of Americans are losing their jobs the administration is pushing legislation that’s going to dramatically increase labor completion...

We would anticipate that certainly house republicans are going to be more vocal on the restrictionist side ..ah.. because .. they were reined in first by the Bush folks and then by McCain folks... "

Lastly, he touched upon workplace enforcement. ...and once again wandering off into realm of the ridiculous ...making up his own facts and reality:

"In our view this would be a very divisive move to simply end workplace enforcement when the President elect said that enforcement and employer sanctions were one of the cornerstones of his reform policies,,,

There is evidence, and I think its pretty substantial, that where the meatpacking operations have taken place for example, lawfully admitted immigrants, refugees, ...refugees in need, have stepped forward to take these jobs. Wages have gone up, bargaining leverage and unionization rates have increased ,,, and this is what the American dream has always been about, and so we will very vigorously denounce that move if that’s something he's going to do"

I guess Stein must be talking about Postville Iowa, where the plant has been shut down and all the workers left jobless...including the "refugees in need" that Agriprocessors flew in from the island nation of Palau.

Or maybe it was it was Pilgrims Pride that just filed for bankruptcy after it's plants in five states were raided last April.

Or was it the Smithfield, where they still used prison labor to fill the ranks of missing workers

Or Crider, where they were busing in felons on probation from a state prison and residents of a homeless mission from nearby Macon, and later tried to bring in Laotian Hmong immigrant workers and their families from Minnesota and Wisconsin to fill jobs no locals would take.

Yeah...these raids have created a workers paradise according Stein....but then again he seems to live in a reality of his own making.

Unfortunately, he has enough money and a big enough megaphone to try to make others believe in his reality also.

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Dispatches from the Lunatic Fringe

While the rest of the nation will spend much of election night glued to their TV screens or computer monitors awaiting results from key battleground states, William Gheen and his octogenarian army at the anti-immigrant hate group, ALIPAC, will be monitoring police-band radios and setting up an on-line "command post" in anticipation of the "unrest and mayhem" that he believes will result on election day.

Warning that "police departments across the nation are going on high level tactical alerts for election day and the day after," Gheen assures his followers that his internet "command post" will "remain functional .. in the event of any major national man made or natural disaster"

One can imagine Gheen spending Nov 5th scanning the skies for the black helicopters he's sure will be circling his home any minute.

I have just one word of warning for Gheen's army of the aged:

When he starts talking about selling all your worldly possessions and moving to the "new compound" in the hills of Montana, don't accept the new white Nike's and black sweat suits

…. And whatever you do, stay away from the purple kool aid

ALIPAC's RED ALERT for Election Day 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008 11:43 AM

Friends of ALIPAC,

Many thanks to all of you who have contributed and worked hard on this year's candidate endorsement and support efforts. It has been a lot of hard work and you all deserve a great deal of thanks.

… For Election Day, election night, and the day after, we request that our core activists gather on the alipac.us website in the Discussion Groups area. We need our supporters from across the nation to help us monitor the situation.

Our goals will be to

A. Report election results regarding the over 170 candidates we have endorsed.

B. Report any problems with voting or election integrity issues.

C. Monitor and report any unrest or mayhem that may occur across the nation.

We have compiled the many reports in the media that police departments across the nation are going on high level tactical alerts for election day and the day after. The 2008 elections have been filled with stories of violence and aggression, unlike any prior modern election. The majority of these reports of actual assaults and vandalism are from Obama supporters towards McCain supporters. Again, we are not taking sides, this is just what is being reported.

In response to the attacks, ALIPAC's President William Gheen stated yesterday, "Some of the radical left are engaging in the equivalent of burning crosses in yards during this election."

To review our collection of information about what law enforcement agencies are preparing for and have responded to already, please visit this link...

Acts of Violence and Threats: Police Prepare for Unrest
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-798881.html#798881


While we hope and pray that election day will go smoothly and without any major incidents, we believe in being prepared for all contingencies.

We have made arrangements for the ALIPAC.us website to remain functional or only be down for a limited time, in the event of any major national man made or natural disaster.

We ask that our supporters monitor election results, local police radio bands, and local news casts to report any significant developments. We also ask that you submit any personal observations or eye witness accounts into our General Discussion Area, in the Discussion groups at alipac.us

Our moderators will mark initial reports as UNVERIFIED, until they can be confirmed by multiple or official sources. Once we have confirmed reports, they will be marked CONFIRMED.

We advise all of our supporters to use caution regarding any unverified information that may circulate on the web. We will work quickly to try and verify any reports you submit.

With your help, we have the ability to quickly and accurately share information about what is really happening in the country.

Let's all say a prayer for America tonight, do our best on election day, and then organize to observe and report.

May God save America,
The ALIPAC Team

It must be exhausting to live in such a state of perpetual fear, paranoia, and hate.

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Pearls of wisdom from Chuck Norris

We all know that Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants., but even for a deep thinker like Chuck, his latest screed at the World Nut Daily exemplifies a new height in wingnuttery.

Fearful that 105 million scary brown people will flock up the NAFTA superhighway, flanked by terrorist who despise our country and despite our victories in Iraq still pose an imminent threat, Chuck believes he's come up with a perfect solution to protect our sovereignty and way of life.

….just post "manned trucks" along the border with instructions to use deadly force against all who try to cross. …just like we do at the super secret space-alien research facility at Area 51 in the Nevada desert

Last week Customs and Border Protection officials reported that two months after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff approved a $20 million virtual fence along a 28-mile stretch in Arizona (called Project 28), the fence was scrapped as impractical and ineffective.

…Our government has failed to produce a suitable resolution to the illegal immigrant crisis. Amnesty is not the answer. And immigration laws aren't effective if we continue to dodge or ignore them.

….Unfortunately, illegal transport of immigrants, terrorists and other contraband is only going to worsen, especially with the possible creation of a North American Union (with Canada and Mexico) and the so-called NAFTA Superhighways. Unless of course we stop it! (How is it that we can militarily overthrow a government like Iraq, yet we can't militarily keep illegalities from crossing our borders?)…


Now more than ever, we must protect our borders and sovereignty by providing genuine solutions to the dangers of American boundary fluidity. With estimates showing that by 2060 America will add 167 million people (37 million immigrants today will multiply into 105 million then), it is imperative for us to do more to solve this crisis. Now is the time to beat the doors of change and save the boundaries of America.

It is not a matter of if but when America will be attacked again from terrorists who despise our country and us. I'm not an alarmist, but I believe threats of terror remain real and imminent. Unfortunately, too many Americans are still living in denial, forgetting 9/11 and being more worried about the government's intrusion into their personal lives and bank accounts. Do people really believe ceasing a war in Iraq will quench our enemies' vindictive fire and revulsion to destroy our country?

…a friend of mine has a Texas-tough alternative and answer to replace the government's virtual fence failure. In fact, he says, we don't need a security fence at all. All we need to do is to post signs and position manned trucks at key points, just like our government does at Area 51, the top secret military airfield in remote central Nevada, around which there are no fences or walls. There is never a breach or unwanted border crossing there, at least that we hear about! And why? Because the boundary sign reads and is never questioned, "Warning: Use of deadly force

World Nut Daily

Thank God we've got level-headed, intellectuals, like Chuck thinking day and night about how to protect us ….

Too bad Huckabee never really caught on, I'm sure there would have been a cabinet position just waiting for Chuck in that administration …but then again there's still "bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb-Iran" McSame … maybe Chuck can work something out with him.

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Tancrazy jumps the shark

Tom Tancredo is quickly reaching the point where he's become nothing more than a bizarre self-parody. Even for the nation's premier fear-mongering, racist lunatic, this one seem like a stretch. If I didn't know better, I might think his newest campaign ad was a skit on the SNL or a report from Colbert.

Unfortunately in a double-wide somewhere, there's a guy combing his mullet, yelling, "hell-yeah" as he watches this newest Tancredo ad.

I don't know whether I should be scared, or amused by this nutcase. Thankfully, he's giving up his congressional seat, and will hopefully sulk off to some cave somewhere once his campaign money runs out....maybe mullet-boy will save him a cold one and a stick of jerky, and they can have a par-tee.

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Immigrant-Bashing Strategy fails in Virginia Election

The results are in on one of the first statewide tests of a Republican campaign strategy to use immigrant-bashing as an electoral wedge, and it appears the plan has gone down in flames. Trying to distract voters from not only pressing local concerns but a national dissatisfaction with Republican policies, many Virginia Republicans tied their campaigns to a strong anti-immigrant message.

Jittery Virginia Republicans, whose grip on state politics has been weakening steadily for several years, are facing further setbacks in this fall's elections for the General Assembly, possibly including the end of GOP control of the Senate for the first time in nearly a decade. In their desperation for a vote-getter, they have seized on the whipping boy of illegal immigration, which they blame for ills ranging from the erosion of the commonwealth's values to the difficulty of being admitted to state colleges.

...It's an ugly strategy and certainly not one unique to Virginia. It seeks to distract voters from core state issues such as transportation, fiscal prudence and good governance.

Washington Post, Sept. 8, 2007

But the strategy seems to have failed - with Republicans losing control of the commonwealth's Senate and several House seats.

Democrats Win Key Senate Races in Virginia
Governor Says Party Will Control Senate, Pick Up Some House Seats

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) claimed victory last night in the legislative elections, saying his party had seized control of the state Senate and made historic gains in the House of Delegates.

In a speech to Democratic Party activists at a hotel in Tysons Corner, Kaine hailed the political changes that have swept through Virginia, beginning with the election of Gov. Mark R. Warner in 2001, his own election four years later and last year's victory by U.S. Sen. James Webb.

…snip…

In an interview moments later, Kaine said Democrats picked up four seats in the Senate, with two races still outstanding.

In claiming the Senate, Democrats prepared to install longtime Fairfax Sen. Richard L. Saslaw as majority leader and seize the chairmanships of key committees that control social legislation, crime issues, land-use and transportation policy.

Saslaw said the results proved that efforts by Republicans to focus voter attention on illegal immigration did not work.

"I did not think that immigration in and of itself would carry the day," Saslaw said. "The results are proving that while immigration is a concern to people -- and it should be -- it is not returning the votes that they thought that it would."

However, in Prince William, Republican Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart succeeded in winning reelection after making illegal immigration a focus of the campaign. He had led the board to impose tough sanctions on illegal immigrants, making national news.

Robert D. Holsworth, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the "decline of the Republican brand" rallied Democratic activists, bringing forward credible Democratic candidates and attracting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to Democratic campaigns.

Washington Post

Although Republican, Corey Stewart, poster-boy for the anti-immigrant Right, did manage to retain his position as Chairman of the Prince Williams County Board of Supervisors by running perhaps the most virulent anti-immigrant campaign yet seen, the strategy didn't pay off with the kind of big numbers that should lead Republican strategists to try to replicate his tactics on any national scale.

Stewart's 2% rise in the polls since last year's run can hardly be seen as an overwhelming vindication for a strategy that failed to gain any traction outside the confines of Prince William County, and very well might have caused backlash in some of the state's other key races.

Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman

2006 results

Corey A. Stewart-----44,519----53%
Sharon E. Pandak-----38,710----47%

link

2007 results

Corey A. Stewart-----30,318----55%
Sharon E. Pandak-----24,336----45%

link

If the Republicans were looking at immigrant-bashing as a silver bullet to stem the national tide against them, surely tonight's results in Virginia should give them second thoughts.

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Of Manassas and Guernica, tomorrow's battle in Virginia

On April 26, 1937, twenty-four bombers of the German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" with the help of a subordinate Italian expeditionary force, dropped forty tons of bombs, on the town of Guernica in the Basque Country of Spain. Up to 1,600 people were killed and three quarters of the city's buildings were reported completely destroyed. The raid, called Operation Rügen, is generally viewed as the Luftwaffe's first test of the tactics of terror-bombing that would become the hallmark of the Nazi blitzkrieg as it swept through Europe two years later.

Just as Franco's Spain was used as a testing ground for the tactics, men and machines that would later wreak havoc on a global scale, tomorrow in Virginia, we will be witness to a test of a new blitzkrieg of sorts. The Republican Party will be testing, on a statewide basis, its latest strategy and weaponry for the coming 2008 election cycle… the immigration wedge.

Tomorrow is Election Day. Here in Virginia, 140 state legislative seats are at stake.

Our airwaves have been dominated in recent days with campaign ads. Interestingly, just about all of them mention immigration, and none of them accuse the opponent of being too harsh….

Tomorrow will be an interesting test case on the power of the immigration issue...

If Republicans exceed expectations - and things have looked pretty gloomy for the state GOP in recent cycles - and the issue of illegal immigration is key, you will hear a lot about that issue from coast to coast next year.

National Review

Back in September, an opinion piece in the Washington post summed up the coming fight:

Jittery Virginia Republicans, whose grip on state politics has been weakening steadily for several years, are facing further setbacks in this fall's elections for the General Assembly, possibly including the end of GOP control of the Senate for the first time in nearly a decade. In their desperation for a vote-getter, they have seized on the whipping boy of illegal immigration, which they blame for ills ranging from the erosion of the commonwealth's values to the difficulty of being admitted to state colleges.

William J. Howell, the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates, worried aloud the other day about the presence of so many newcomers in the Old Dominion. Mr. Howell said that the state's newest residents, particularly in Northern Virginia, may not embrace "the shared values we have in Virginia," according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He didn't specify which "shared values" he had in mind, nor did he draw a distinction between legal and illegal newcomers.

A week earlier, he unveiled the GOP's immigrant-bashing agenda for the legislative session that will begin in January….

…snip…

It's an ugly strategy and certainly not one unique to Virginia. It seeks to distract voters from core state issues such as transportation, fiscal prudence and good governance.

Washington Post

Nowhere is the fight uglier than at its epicenter, in Northern Virginia's Prince William County.



This past weekend the Post again looked at what's shaping up to be the 3rd battle of Manassas.

Candidates for the Virginia General Assembly entered the final sprint yesterday toward a hard-fought election Tuesday in which two major forces are likely to determine which party controls the Senate: the resurgence of Democrats in vote-rich Northern Virginia, and the Republican advantage in the emotional debate over illegal immigration.

…Democrats have maintained all year that the Republicans' 23-17 majority in the Senate is in jeopardy. Although Democrats don't expect to take control of the Republican-heavy House of Delegates, they think they can gain as many as six seats.

…But Republicans have benefited in recent weeks from the growing intensity in the immigration debate. They have promised to block illegal immigrants from obtaining more public services and to do more to start deportation proceedings against them, particularly those who have committed crimes.

Which force prevails Tuesday -- the state's Democratic tide or sentiment against illegal immigration -- will set the tone for next year's crucial battle for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Republican John W. Warner…

…Tuesday also could determine how important Virginia will be in next year's presidential contest. A continuing surge by Democrats could put the state in play in presidential politics for the first time in a generation.

If the election turns on the immigration issue, however, it could put Democrats under pressure in the coming year to appear responsive on that issue without alienating immigrants, who traditionally have made up an important part of the party's base.

Washington Post

"It's a tough issue to solve," said Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Manassas), who has become one of the most vulnerable incumbents of the year, in large measure because of the immigration debate

Nowhere has the immigration debate become louder than in suburban Prince William County. Colgan, 81, soft-spoken and well-liked in Richmond,… and such a close friend to Sens. John H. Chichester (R-Northumberland) and H. Russell Potts Jr. (R-Winchester) that the two have crossed party lines to endorse him.

Colgan enjoyed such advantages that Democrats never guessed earlier in the year that he would be so vulnerable. The change came after his opponent, Republican Robert S. Fitzsimmonds, 55, began accusing Colgan of not being tough enough against illegal immigration.

…

Similar issues have dominated local races. Corey L. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, has led the charge against elected officials he believes aren't doing enough to crack down on illegal immigration.

Washington Post

Tuesday's election will most likely set the tone for the Republican strategy for the next 12 months. If voices like these win out, who preach a twisted vision of morality and law, we can expect 12 months of continuous hate and fear. One listen to Greg Letiecq of "Help Save Manassas" explain how he's doing God's work and express his views on slavery and other topics should be enough to scare any rational person.



If they fail, and the Republican Juggernaut is stopped dead in its tracks, it will be a victory for reason, compassion, and true American values.

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First they wanted to see your papers…now they want your DNA

Ok, I know America's all filled up, and that bombing Mecca would solve all our foreign policy problems. I even know that Miami is like a third world country and that the only way to solve all this nation's problems is to build a giant wall and outlaw the Spanish language.

But now even by his own absolutely insane standards, Colorado Congressman, and Republican Presidential candidate, Tom Tancredo, may have actually stepped over the rather narrow line that separates wingnuttery from sheer lunacy.

On the same day the diminutive, Coloradoan, tough-guy registered as the first Republican Presidential candidate in the New Hampshire primary, he introduced a bill in Congress that would require all foreigners seeking visas to join family members in the US to supply DNA samples to prove their family ties.

Of course their citizen, or legal-resident family members would also be required to supply a corresponding sample to it check against.

Now, of course Tancrazy sees noting troublesome in requiring US citizens, accused of absolutely no crime, to volunteer up samples of their tissues or body fluids simply because they have foreign-born relatives that they'd like to have join them.

It's not like they're real Americans, protected by the Constitution or anything. Having foreign relatives makes them kind of "foriegnish" anyway….they probably have accents and are most likely brown or yellow. ….and if not, they're most definitely French...like I said….not "real Americans" like little Tommy Tancredo.

Tancrazy claimed the move was necessary because documents provided by immigrants to show they are related to U.S. citizens or permanent residents are sometimes sketchy and unreliable.

"This will help protect the integrity of our immigration system," said Tancredo, who has based his presidential campaign on curbing immigration. "It will give us one more tool to make sure that the beneficiaries of these visas are who they say they are."

Apparently, this newest proposal even caught Tancredo ally, and fellow wingnut traveler, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona off guard….forcing the Senator to issue a "whoa boy, slow down there a minute", kind of statement regarding Tancrazy's newest harebrained scheme

"I was not aware there was a big question whether the chain migration of relatives was potentially bringing in people who are not related," Kyl said. "If this is a big problem, obviously we would want to look at it and understand it, but I don't know this solution proposed by Tom Tancredo would be the right solution."

Surprisingly, this doozy of a proposal comes right on the heels of a Tancrazy plan to force women seeking abortions to submit to sonograms in order to discourage them from going through with the procedure.

Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Friday said he would support the use of sonograms for women considering having an abortion and try to halt federal funding to clinics that perform abortions, the Des Moines Register reports.

"As president, I will do everything in my power to support and promote the use of sonograms so that women are informed about their unborn child before making the decision to abort," Tancredo in a statement said after visiting the Women's Choice Center in Bettendorf, Iowa. The center provides no-cost sonograms and other services to discourage pregnant women from having abortions.

He also said that he would try to stop "any type of federal funding for Planned Parenthood" clinics and that he believes Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that effectively barred state abortion bans -- should be overturned. Jill June, president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, said that the best way to reduce abortions is to provide more funding for contraception programs, adding that Tancredo "really doesn't have the facts, and he's out of touch with mainstream voters"

Link

Forced DNA samples and government mandated sonograms….It looks like Tom will be having quite a platform when he starts his third party run next year ….perhaps he can find a videographer from the Riefenstahl school to film the whole campaign for posterity.

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Wingers start beating the DREAM Act war drums

Not content with their minor victory in California - where the onetime "illegal alien" Governator once again pulled up the drawbridge behind him, denying thousands of children of fellow immigrants the ability to follow their American dream - the wingnut brigades are once again beginning to beat their war drums over the impending federal DREAM Act legislation.

While there has been no confirmed schedule for the Senate to take up Sen Dick Durbin's Dream Act legislation that would allow millions of students, brought here as children by undocumented parents, the ability to earn legal status through attending college or serving in the military, wingnut groups like NumbersUSA and the John Birch Society have claimed that DREAM could come to the floor any day now.

Now, I usually take what these nutcases say with the same skepticism I reserve for carnival fortune tellers and tent-show faithhealers ….but just to be safe, we should keep our eyes and ears open.

You can read a copy of the most current version of Durbin's bill, SA 2919 here

As to the vote numbers right now:

NumbersUSA claims they have 21 confirmed against the amendment:
Listed Here

By my count we have somewhere around 45 confirmed yes votes so far.

With that said, here's my hot-list of those undecided Senators that most need to be contacted. There will a National Call-In Day action for DREAM when the bill comes up for consideration... I'll be posting details shortly.

-DUKE'S HOT 19 -

Murkowski (R-AK) 202-244-6665
Stevens (R-AK) 202224-3004
Pryor (D-AR) 202-224-2353
Martinez (R-FL) 202-224-3041
Inouye (D-HI) 202-224-3934
Brownback (R-KS) 202-224-6521
Landieu (D-LA) 202-224-5824
Collins (R-ME) 202-224-2523
Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344
Conrad (D-ND) 202-224-2043
Dorgan (D-ND) 202-224-2551
Dominici (R-NM) 202-224-6621
Voinovich (R-OH) 202-224-3353
Smith (R-OR) 202-224-3753
Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Johnson (D-SD) 202-224-5842
Cornyn (R-TX) 202-224-2934
Warner(R-VA) 202-224-2023
Rockefeller (D-VA) 202-224-6472

And just in case you forgot what this fight is really all about …..take a minute to listen to the story of yet another DREAM Act student:

Link to Video

More about the DREAM Act:
here
here
here
here

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Fred Thompson: Undocumented immigrants equal "suicidal maniacs."

And This Guy is supposed to be the last great hope for the Republican Party?

Fred Thompson, a potential Republican presidential candidate, suggested that the 1986 immigration law signed by President Reagan is to blame for the country's illegal immigrants, and he bemoaned a nation beset by "suicidal maniacs."

"Twelve million illegal immigrants later, we are now living in a nation that is beset by people who are suicidal maniacs and want to kill countless innocent men,
women and children around the world," the former Tennessee senator said. "We're sitting here now with essentially open borders."

He made the comments Thursday night as he discussed the 1986 immigration reform bill and the Senate's current legislation to overhaul the immigration system during a speech at the annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner in Stamford, Conn.

AP, Via the Arizona Republic

You would have thought that Thompson would have at least extended a professional courtesy and not criticized a fellow B-movie actor....but then again that's what happens when actors go off-script and start to ad lib ... sometimes they say whatever pops into their heads, no matter how stupid it is.

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A look at Lou Dobbs' leprosy "expert"

Last Sunday, Lou Dobbs appeared on 60 minutes for an in-depth interview with Leslie Stahl, were he finally admitted that he believes the government could track down and deport millions of undocumented immigrants if it only made the commitment to do so.

But more importantly, after years of playing extremely loose with facts and figures in order to make his case, Dobbs was finally caught in one of his big fat lies in front of a national audience.

Both Media Matters and Dave Neiwert at Ornicus have done excellent jobs of dissecting the story, so I'll just cover the basic facts here and refer readers to those two stories to get more in-depth information.

It all started with the following exchange:

Following a report on illegal immigrants carrying diseases into the U.S., one of the correspondents on his show, Christine Romans, told Dobbs that there have been 7,000 cases of leprosy in the U.S. in the past three years.

60 Minutes checked that and found a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying that 7,000 is the number of leprosy cases over the last 30 years, not the past three. The report also says that nobody knows how many of those cases involve illegal immigrants.

"We went to try and check that number, 7,000. We can’t…," Stahl says.

"Well, I can tell you this. If we reported it, it’s a fact," Dobbs replies.

"You can’t tell me that. You did report it," Stahl says.

"I just did," Dobbs says.

"How can you guarantee that to me?" Stahl asks.

Says Dobbs, "Because I'm the managing editor. And that’s the way we do business. We don’t make up numbers, Lesley."

link

So it came as no surprise that the following day, Dobbs took time out of his nightly hate-fest to answer 60 minutes charges. He reiterated numerous times that despite the obvious discrepancy between his figures and those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - he never "makes up numbers":


video lnk

So there it was for all his loyal viewers to see. According to Dobbs, a doctor writing in a medical journal had reported those statistics, so obviously 60 min (and the US Dept of Health and Human Services) were wrong….case closed …if he reports it, it's a fact.

But as Media Matters and Ornicus report, it's not quite so cut and dry.

Madeleine Cosman does in fact hold a doctorate degree… but it's in English and comparative literature. …Dobbs' minion, Christine Romans, neglected to mention that when she descibed Cosman as a " a respected medical lawyer and medical historian writing in the "Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons".

So exactly where did this doctor of English literature get her hard medical data?
From medical studies or research? … of course not. She got her figures from a story gleaned from the New York Times.

But there was just one problem with Cosman's excellent research work. Dobbs' expert academic source had managed to actually misquote the Times in her article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, skewing the numbers to make her case.

According to Cosman:

Leprosy, Hansen's disease, was so rare in America that in 40 years only 900 people were afflicted. Suddenly, in the past three years America has more than 7,000 cases of leprosy. Leprosy now is endemic to northeastern states because illegal aliens and other immigrants brought leprosy from India, Brazil, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

Illegal Aliens and American Medicine, Dr Madeline Cosman, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Spring 2005

A quick check of Dr. Cosman's footnotes reveals her source was a New York Times Article from February 2003 that actually said something quite different.

While there were some 900 recorded cases in the United States 40 years ago, today more than 7,000 people have leprosy, or Hansen's disease, as it is now called.
New York Times, Leprosy, a Synonym for a Stigma, Returns, Feb 18, 2003 ( alternate link to cited article)

There's no mention of "the last three years" in the original article. It says there were 900 cases 40 years ago not "900 cases in 40 years". It also said that in the following 40 years that number had increases to 7000 cases, not "more than 7000 in the last three years."

But then again if Dobbs reports it –it's a fact.

(To see the complete 60 minutes segment on leprosy and Dobb's reaction - see this great video from Media Matters)



The question now raised seems to be - beside the fact that she supplied numbers that he liked and that made his case - why would Dobbs ever want to stake his reputation on the faulty scholarship of Dr Cosman?

Because, like many of Dobbs' guest experts - she' s clearly a NUTJOB:


video link


video link


video link

Oh Yeah, I remember why Dobbs would rely on Dr Cosman's research ….

Because once Dobbs reports it -it becomes fact

Related
Truth, Fiction and Lou Dobbs, New York Times, May 30,2007

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Republican claims Satan behind "illegal immigration"

At the Utah County Republican Convention this coming Saturday, perhaps one of the most bizarre resolutions dealing with immigration to come down the pike in quite some time will be debated by delegates.

The resolution called, "Opposing Satan’s plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion," written by District 65 Chairman Don Larsen, claims that the "quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants" is part of Satan's great plan to "establish his 'New World Order' and destroy the freedom of all people as predicted in the Scriptures."

Larson's resolution calls for the "closing of our national borders to illegal immigration to prevent the destruction of the U.S. by stealth invasion" adding that "we must control our borders to illegal immigration, have a well regulated temporary worker program, as needed, or face extinction. The destruction of the U.S. by the forces of evil is a top priority of Satan."

So who's been tasked with doing Satan's work according to the District Chairman? … Atheistic, left-wing politicians and their "godless globalist elite" allies of course.

It is obvious that most promoters of massive immigration and open borders do not like the ideas of patriotism, national identity, sovereignty, our Christian culture and freedom. Many consider themselves cosmopolitans or world citizens. Their religion is atheistic humanism. They are found primarily among the elite of foundations, universities, big business, left-wing politicians, Hollywood, ACLU (Anti-Christian Lawyers Union [sic]), CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), the American power elite and the liberal media. They prefer a world without borders ruled by a one world tyrannical government.

I guess the US Conference of Catholic Bishops must have missed the memo Larsen received about Satan's involvement in the immigration reform movement when they were formulating their immigration policy and began advocating for comprehensive reform.

The same must be true for faith based groups like No More Deaths and Humane Borders who work tirelessly to save lives along the border and change the policies that force hundreds of migrants each year to loose their lives trying to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Larsen claims all those who support comprehensive reform are part of "Satan's axis of evil" and Americans have to make a clear choice between closing the borders or the destruction of the nation.

Resolution opposing Satan’s plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion

Whereas, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9)

Whereas, in order for Satan to establish his “New World Order” and destroy the freedom of all people as predicted in the Scriptures, he must first destroy the U.S. There are ways to destroy a nation other than with bombs or bullets. The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nation the way open warfare does, but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness.

Whereas, Americans will have to make a choice: either close our borders to illegal immigration, which is now vastly greater than any time in the past, or witness the passing country [sic]. The proof of this statement is the record of history. It is a history littered with the gravestones of great nations and civilizations which allowed invaders to overrun them. If we fail to learn from the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them.

Whereas, all polls show that the American people overwhelmingly want limited immigration, reform and control of our borders as mandated by the Constitution. But many do not realize the extent of the dangers ahead because of the lack of accurate media coverage and public debate. An important reason for the lack of understanding is that the powerful commercial, political, ethnic, and the godless globalist elites who control the major media do not want the issues of illegal immigration to come to national attention.

Whereas, it is obvious that most promoters of massive immigration and open borders do not like the ideas of patriotism, national identity, sovereignty, our Christian culture and freedom. Many consider themselves cosmopolitans or world citizens. Their religion is atheistic humanism. They are found primarily among the elite of foundations, universities, big business, left-wing politicians, Hollywood, ACLU (Anti-Christian Lawyers Union [sic]), CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), the American power elite and the liberal media. They prefer a world without borders ruled by a one world tyrannical government.

Whereas, we cannot benefit the world by eliminating our borders and sovereignty as advocated by Satan’s “axis of evil”, if we do, the world will pull us down to its lowest common level and we will have committed national suicide. In that case, the U.S. will no longer be a free and prosperous land or light of liberty for all nations. Once he has destroyed the U.S., Satan will be able to establish his “Satanic New World Order” and destroy the freedom of all people.

Whereas, the national security and the future of the nation and the American people depends upon how well we do our job and defend our borders. We must control our borders to illegal immigration, have a well regulated temporary worker program, as needed, or face extinction. The destruction of the U.S. by the forces of evil is a top priority of Satan.

Now therefore, we (delegates) are obligated to support the Utah State and Utah County Republicans Platforms regarding the mandates to support the “Rule of Law” and the Constitutional mandate to protect and secure our national borders.

Now therefore, because we support the “Rule of Law,” the Constitution and the principals that made America the greatest and freest nation in history, the Utah County Republican Party supports the closing of our national borders to illegal immigration to prevent the destruction of the U.S. by stealth invasion.

Submitted by: Don Larsen, District 65 Chairman

Link

Over the past few years we have heard numerous arguments calling for an end to immigration and the complete closing of the US borders. Many based upon misguided ideas or misinformation. Larson has now taken this argument to the ridiculous. Yet unfortunately, while many might reject the extreme nature of his twisted rhetoric, they essentially agree with his basic premise and indeed look for grand conspiracies and attribute evil intentions to those they disagree with regarding this issue. When listening to the rhetoric of Tancredo or Dobbs one often hears just how close "mainstream" anti-immigration adherents can sometimes come to the rants of the lunatic fringe like Larsen.


Related;

Satan behind illegal immigration, Utah County Republican claims, Salt Lake Tribune


tags: immigration, Utah , Satan, Don Larsen, wingnut

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