NEW STUDY IS BAD NEWS FOR ROSIE AND OTHER MOONBATS

Posted by Bobby Eberle

A new study from Purdue University must have Rosie O’Donnell and other conspiracy theorists shaking their heads. “Oh no! The government has gotten to Purdue too!,” they must be saying. For Rosie and the moonbats who believe the government somehow engineered the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, the Purdue research is not welcome news. For the rest of us, it’s a great piece of research into what a jet airplane being used as a missile can do to a skyscraper.

As noted in the story Simulation Finds 9/11 Fireproofing Key, the Purdue research “supports a federal agency’s findings that the initial impact from the hijacked airplanes stripped away crucial fireproofing material and that the weakened towers collapsed under their own weight.”

See the clip below from youtube.com:

“One thing it does point out… is the absolute essential nature of fireproofing steel structures,” Hoffmann told The Associated Press. “This is something that wasn’t done originally in the World Trade Center when it was built. It wasn’t code at that time.”

Mete Sozen, a professor of structural engineering and a lead investigator on the simulation, said Purdue researchers hope their work leads to better structural design and building codes to prevent similar collapses.

Some conspiracy theorists believe that the collapse of the towers was the result of a government-led controlled demolition. The Purdue report, however, “concludes that the weight of the aircraft’s fuel, when ignited, produced ‘a flash flood of flaming liquid’ that knocked out a number of structural columns within the building and removed the fireproofing insulation from other support structures.”

Ayhan Irfanoglu, a Purdue professor of civil engineering, said half of the building’s weight-bearing columns were concentrated at the cores of the towers.

“When that part is wiped out, the structure comes down,” Irfanoglu said. “We design structures with some extra capacity to cover some uncertainties, but we never anticipate such heavy demand coming from an aircraft impact. If the columns were distributed, maybe, the fire could not take them out so easily.”

Even though the tin-foil crowd will likely disregard this academic study, as they have with other findings in the past, it would be much better to move on and focus on the real enemy: al Qaeda. This organization of radical Islamists is bent on the destruction of the United States, plain and simple. They are the ones who brought down the Twin Towers, and they can strike again. We need to do everything we can to wipe them out. This is, indeed, a war, and we are fighting for the ultimate stakes… our survival.

BORDER AGENTS SMUGGLING MEXICANS

Three National Guardsmen were arrested this week for arranging the smuggling of Mexicans across the border. They pocketed big bucks, at the expense of American security. They found 24 Mexicans in the van when one of the Guardsmen was arrested. Is this where circuses get those clowns they stuff into small cars?

Let's take a look at the names of the Guardsmen: Rodrigo Torres, Julio Cesar Pacheco and Clarence Hodge Jr. Well, two out of three ain't bad. It's safe to assume that the first two are Hispanic – most likely Mexican. Let's see ... if we do, in fact, have an invasion going on here, just what would call a federal officer who aids the invasion force?

This case just goes to show that borer security should be the number one issue. Forget amnesty, guest-worker programs, Z-visas, blah blah blah ... we can't even control our current border situation. Close the borders. And make sure that you do it properly by employing U.S. citizens. If those citizens are sympathetic to the Mexicans' cause? Fine. But in the end, you have a job to do. And if you don't do it properly then you should be fired.

As for these men ... send them to jail. Make them sit there and realize that U.S. border security is not to be compromised. They have made our agents who do believe in the rule of law, look like fools. Instead of getting free time in jail, they should have to go to the border and pick up the millions of pounds of trash their Mexican compadres leave behind as they head to Houston, Atlanta .. wherever..

While I can't be too optimistic, maybe this will be another wakeup call for the American people. Don't let Bush get away with this amnesty bill. We clearly need to focus on border security.

KEEP THE IMMIGRATION PROTEST GOING

by Jay D. Homnick

Okay, class, settle down. Today’s subject is immigration. Oy vey, yelp my non-Jewish readers (who are comfortable using Yiddish colloquialisms.) Goodness gracious, groan my Jewish readers (too self-conscious to employ Yiddish expressions.) Not that again?! Haven’t we discovered and covered that enough? Must we recover this subject? Can’t we recover from this?

The answer is yes we must, no we can’t. We don’t need to beat a dead horse but in politics it never hurts to keep beating a horse that looks moribund -- until the coroner declares it officially deceased. To make our point, let us begin with our favorite immigrants as children, the friendly Italian shoemakers who were posted in storefronts at two-block intervals all around the Brooklyn of our youth.

The old joke went that a man pulled his wedding tux from the closet after 30 years, pleased to find it would still fit him perfectly for his daughter’s upcoming nuptials. He sticks his hand into the pocket and pulls out a colorful piece of stiff cardboard. It is his tag from the shoe store. He had snagged the heel of his wedding shoes dancing and brought them to the shoe repair guy that same day. They had lain there forgotten for three decades. He drives back to the old neighborhood and sure enough, the guy is still there, wizened and stooped. He takes the tag, goes into the back, then returns empty-handed with a terse message.

“They’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Politicians practice a variation on this theme. When something they propose draws constituent ire, they stall it or withdraw it until such time as the clamor dissipates. Once people have spent their passion, the pols can jump in and spend their money. This happens with regularity at the school board and town council level. In Cincinnati, for example, a levy to raise two hundred million dollars to build a new jail was defeated last year. This year the initiative is back, now puffed up to seven hundred million.

But even in a fishbowl like Washington, with all its relentless media scrutiny, this is often accomplished successfully. As the old saw goes: “If you don’t let them through the front door, they will come sneaking in the back door.” One day when the country has its attention focused elsewhere, dealing with a hurricane or something, the bill may waft its way over the transom.

While it is true the initial outraged response to this immigration bill (in its second coming, don’t forget, it first visited in mid-2006) has representatives reeling, any letup in the indignation will provide an opening. Remember, if it gets to the President’s desk, he will sign it proudly. The only winnable front, the last line of defense, is in the Congress. Making noise only gives a bill a headache; it takes an incessant cacophony, a farrago of flak, a fanfaronade of feedback, to make it explode irreparably.

Even while the bill is tabled, or off the table, the scurrilous attacks against its detractors will continue apace. We will hear all day everyday that only people of utter ill will could conceivably oppose this panacea. Anti-amnesty types are people with no forgiveness in their hearts, with no compassion for the stricken and the battered. Like the other classic joke about the Jewish immigrant with the heavy accent who complains he is being rebuffed in efforts to be hired as a radio announcer. To what does he attribute his failure? “It’s those anti-Semites!”

That charge won’t stick against my position. I have been campaigning in at least four years of articles for the policy toward Haitian immigrants to be changed; they should be treated like Cubans and given preferential treatment. Citizens of a neighboring country with a broken system of government (no, Mexico is not in that category) should get better treatment from the United States. Legal immigration should be more efficient and our populace must always remain open-hearted in helping new arrivals to learn the language and acclimate.

That being said, common sense must govern in setting rules and quotas for entry but beyond that the rule of law must be next-to-sacrosanct. With rare exceptions for obvious anomalies and unintended injustices, the system should be run well and honestly. It is that law which provides the shield those immigrants seek from the harshly avenging and scavenging forces loose in the Third World. Making that law into a mockery threatens us with the anarchic fate they are so bent on escaping. This is why the class reviewed this subject today. Now let’s do our homework.

AMNESTY BILL--------DEAD????

They had a little test vote in the Senate late yesterday ... to see of they could get the votes necessary for cloture and bring the amnesty bill to the floor for a vote. Not enough votes .... so the amnesty bill was withdrawn. Withdrawn for now.

The Democrats immediately went into defense mode. The media has been reporting for weeks that this bill was belonged to Ted Kennedy and John McCain. McCain was distancing himself from the bill earlier this week ... so that pretty much left Kennedy hanging out there alone. So here comes Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to tell all the world that this bill actually belonged to George Bush.

What an amazing tactic! When the bill is born you brag about the bipartisan nature of the bill and showcase your icon, Ted Kennedy, as a major mover and shaker behind this wonderful effort, and then the bill falls on its face. Suddenly it belongs to George Bush. The problem is that the government educated myrmidons of this country will buy Reid's story. He knows it.

This whole affair is particularly distressing to Democrats and the left because it presented them with clear evidence that the right is not dead. Perhaps they thought they dealt a death crushing to conservatives with last year's elections. Maybe they thought the death blow could be delivered with the election of President Rodham next year. Now we have conservative America standing up to this transparent Hispandering bill -- this amnesty bill -- and the support started to erode.

Do you know that they couldn't even manage to pass an amendment that would have eliminated illegal aliens with criminal records from the amnesty provisions?

Speaking of criminal aliens. I suppose it didn't help things this week when some illegal Mexican .. a Mexican who had twice before been deported .. got drunk, stole a car and killed a man in a grinding collision. How many people are killed by illegal alien drunk drivers every day? Some studies put the number at around 12 or so. Nice going.

Politicians who see these illegal aliens as a great source of future political support aren't going to give up. Don't go to sleep on this one. This bill is coming back.

SHAMNESTY ON THE SENATE FLOOR, DAY 2

Menendez amendment fails, Kyl amendment passes
Hillary and Obama make appearances
Lindsay Graham has a hissy fit; Inhofe's English declaration passes
Clinton, Obama fail; Dorgan sunset passes

By Michelle Malkin

Update: 12:40am Senate adjourned until 10am...Reid has called for a vote later today on a motion to limit debate to 30 additional hours...It's the "moment of truth" now...Sen. Jeff Sessions, who has been an eloquent and stalwart amnesty opponent, says tonight: "I think enthusiasm is waning for the legislation..."

Chicago Tribune says Dorgan amendment "may have critically jeopardized the measure as it enters final days of consideration." More from Sen. Sessions:

Supporters of the bill claimed victory not only over the temporary worker program, but over the bill's entire process.

"No one has the right to meet in secret with special-interest groups and write a bill and ram it down the throats of the United States Senate," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a critic of the bill who voted to kill the guest worker program. "I hope today people begin to see that a small group of senators … don't have the power to say we can't have an amendment and we can't change it."

Update: 12:20am 6/7...Scroll for amendment updates...not on the Senate page yet, but hearing that the Dorgan amendment to sunset the Y visa program after 5 years, SA 1316 passed 49-48...confirmed...here's the roll...

The Dorgan amendment had failed by one vote two weeks ago. Six senators changed their votes and one senator who hadn't voted sided with the yeas. Here are the vote-switchers:

Switched from nay to yea:

R - Bunning, DeMint, Dole, Enzi
D - Menendez

Switched from yea to nay:
R - Grassley

Switched from no vote to yea:
Dodd

AP reports on the vote as a potential deal-breaker:

Shortly after midnight, the Senate voted 49-48 to end a new temporary worker program after five years. The vote reversed the one-vote outcome on the same amendment — offered both times by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. — two weeks ago. Six senators switched their votes, reflecting the issue's political volatility.

The temporary worker program is crucial to many business groups, and the bill's backers vowed to try on Thursday to undo the damage. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he or his allies would slightly reword Dorgan's amendment and hope for a change of heart by one or more senators who "don't want to kill the bill."

Dorgan, who contends that immigrants take many jobs Americans could fill, said no one in the debate "is talking about the impact on American workers."

"There are a lot of people here who want jobs and can't find jobs, and find downward pressure on their incomes," Dorgan said.

Allah mulls it over: Is this the killer amendment?

Update: Here's more on Lindsay Graham's embarrassing hissy fit against Barack Obama and on behalf of John McCain, which continued off the Senate floor...

Update: The White House thinks we are all idiots. Message to White House: Look in the mirror. Conservatives not amused.

Update: Latest AP coverage--"Immigration deal survives Senate threat...A proposed immigration overhaul narrowly survived strong Senate challenges Wednesday, boosting its backers' hopes that the fiercely debated legislation might soon win passage and advance to the House..."

Picking up from my liveblogging earlier today, debate on S.1348, the shamnesty bill, resumed tonight on the Senate floor at 6:45pm. Numbers USA previewed tonight's action:

* The main thrust of Sen. John Cornyn's (R-Texas) SA 1250 is that information provided illegal alien applicants for amnesty, as provided for by the compromise proposal, could be shared with intelligence and law enforcement officials at all levels, thus encouraging real enforcement of our immigration laws.

* Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is offering SA 1331, which would prohibit any provision of this bill from impacting the Internal Revenue Code's treatment of illegal aliens' eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

* On the flip side, Sen. Jeff Sessions' (R-Ala.) SA 1234 would prohibit guestworkers imported pursuant to this bill and illegal aliens granted amnesty under this measure from claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit unless their status is adjusted to lawful permanent resident.

* A proposal considered a "deal breaker" by some of the bill's Republican proponents – notably, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the lead Republican in the "compromise" negotiations (see below) – SA 1194, sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), would add 110,000 green cards a year for adult children and sibling backlog reduction and revise the cut-off date for reducing the “backlog” of family-sponsored immigration applicants from May 1, 2005, to January 1, 2007 (i.e., the same date by which illegal aliens must have been unlawfully present in the United States in order to receive amnesty under this bill). Sen. Kyl is offering a counterproposal to the Menendez amendment, SA 1460, but text of that amendment is not yet available for review.

* Finally, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is proposing SA 1191, which would make it more attractive to aliens seeking to game our already broken immigration apparatus by encouraging refugee and asylum fraud.

The Menendez amendment, 1194, failed, 53-44. It would have changed the cut-off date for reducing the “backlog” of family-sponsored immigration applicants from May 1, 2005, to January 1, 2007, the same date by which illegal aliens must have been unlawfully present in the United States in order to receive amnesty under this bill. Would have added 110,000 green cards a year for adult children and sibling backlog reduction.

Cornyn's SA 1250 passes, 57-39. It bars illegal aliens seeking amnesty under S1348 from submitting “sworn affidavits from nonrelatives” as proof of unlawful work or unlawful presence in the United States. Eliminates provisions protecting the confidentiality of the information contained in amnesty applications and, instead, requires the sharing of application-related information upon the request of a law enforcement agency, intelligence, or national security agency, or DHS component when requested in connection with a duly-authorized investigation of a civil violation.

Sessions SA 1234 passed 56-41: Prohibits foreign workers imported through this bill’s new Y “guestworker” program and illegal aliens granted “probationary status” (i.e., amnesty) from claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit unless their status is adjusted to lawful permanent resident.

Reid SA 1331 passed 57-40: Prohibits any provision of this bill from having an impact on the Internal Revenue Code's treatment of illegal aliens' eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Bingaman SA 1267 (for himself and Sen. Obama) failed 41-57. Would have removed the requirement that Y "temporary" nonimmigrant workers (as provided for in the underlying legislation) leave the United States before they renew their visas – not by modifying the length of their authorized stay (i.e., up to six years), but by mandating that they be given visas that expire after two years and that are renewable twice.

8:24pm Eastern. At this moment, the Senate is voting an amendment by Kyl. There's no text available, but it is SA 1460--a "side-by-side" amendment with SA 1194 (Menendez) that addresses concerns related to the family-sponsored immigration backlog.

The vote: Kyl amendment is approved.

Yea - 51
Nay - 45

Next up: SA 1182, the Thomas amendment. Supports the Shadow Wolves program for border tracking and apprehension. Passes without debate.

Now: SA 1272, Schumer amendment. Passes without debate. No text available.

8:32pm Eastern. SA 1183. Hillary Clinton on the floor. Her amendment would reclassify the spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives. "It is our view that we must make reuniting families a priority of our immigration system...reform immigration to bring families together...This amendment is not considered a bill-killer...I hope this chamber would endorse this act of compassion and common-sense..."

Specter: Effect of the Clinton amendment would be for current green-cardholders to bring in a potential of 800,000 spouses and minor children. In addition, after 8 years of backlog-clearing under the current proposal, the 12 million illegal aliens on a path to citizenship would then be able to bring in all their minor children and spouses.

Kyl notes that Clinton amendment would obliterate the right between a citizen and LPR to bring over spouses and minor children.

Time up for Hillary. Discussion of Inhofe and Salazar amendments on English language, Vitter on exit tracking.

9:25pm Eastern. Obama takes his turn to attack the merit-based point system. Proposes SA 1202 to sunset the point system after 5 years instead of 14 years as written in S1348. "We're not proposing to strike the system from the bill...but should be reexamined..."

9:34pm Eastern. Ugh. Lindsay "You are all bigots" Graham is on the floor. He is all worked up about Obama's amendment. The camera can't keep up with his gesticulating. "Bipartisanship is music to the American people's ears...some of us have been beat up...thank you to my friend, Sen. McCain...what a sweet idea it is to give people a second chance in life...when they say why can't you work together, this is it!!!"

What the hell?

Obama assails Graham's histrionics. I have to agree. NumbersUSA points out: "The timeline for granting permanent resident status to illegal aliens granted amnesty – be it in five years or in 13 years – is of little consequence considering they have already been given what they came here to obtain: jobs and legal status."

9:40pm Eastern. Sen. Hutchinson squeezes in a few last words about her amendment 1415. Sen. Inhofe pitches his English language amendment 1151.

9:47pm Eastern. Kennedy opposes amendments by Ensign and Vitter.

12:20am updates...

Obama amendment 1202 to sunset point-system rejected.

Vitter amendment 1339 to require exit system in place before guest worker programs triggered rejected.

Inhofe amendment to require English as official language passes. Salazar amendment 1384 on English also passes.

Ensign amendment 1374 to improve point-system rejected.

Clinton amendment rejected.

***
Previous:

June 6- Who voted against the Cornyn amendment? Which Repubs voted for the Kennedy amendment?
June 6- Shamnesty on the Senate floor, Day 2; Sen. Sessions knocks sense into the Dems; Specter sides with Kennedy; 12:25pm Kennedy amendment passes; 12:37pm Cornyn amendment fails
June 5 - Shamnesty on the Senate floor; Allard amendment rejected; Durbin amendment passes; Reid, McConnell spar on amendment limits; Reid--"We're going to file cloture on this bill today"; Hutchison, Cornyn call out Dems stalling

AMNESTY BILL UPDATE

Senate action on the amnesty bill. Here's what they accomplished yesterday:

Members today voted down (31-62) an amendment sponsored by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) that would have ensured that green card applicants who entered the country illegally were not given preference under a merit-based processing system over those who have waited outside the country for their immigration status to be approved. So ... we forgive the law breakers at the expense of the law-abiders. Sound like amnesty to you?

The Senate adopted an amendment (71-22) sponsored by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that would eliminate provisions authorizing the Department of Labor to waive requirements that employers in "labor shortage areas" offer jobs to U.S. workers before seeking to import foreign workers. Well now ... there's something positive to celebrate.

Notice, please, the absence of amendments give priority to securing our borders. Politicians are more concerned about getting the Hispanic vote than securing America for its legal citizens.

In the meantime, Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions released an excellent report of 20 different loopholes he found in the bill.

• -Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement
• -Loophole 2 – U.S. VISIT Exit Not In Trigger
• -Loophole 3 – Trigger Requires No More Agents, Beds, or Fencing Than Current Law
• -Loophole 4 -- Three Additional Years Worth of Illegal Aliens Granted Status, Treated Preferentially To Legal Filers
• -Loophole 5 – Completion of Background Checks Not Required For Probationary Legal Status
• -Loophole 6 – Some Child Molesters Are Still Eligible
• -Loophole 7 – Terrorism Connections Allowed, Good Moral Character Not Required
• -Loophole 8 – Gang Members Are Eligible
• -Loophole 9 – Absconders Are Eligible
• -Loophole 10 – Learning English Not Required For A Decade
• -Loophole 11 – Earned Income Tax Credit Will Cost Taxpayers Billions In Just 10 Years
• -Loophole 12 – Affidavits From Friends Accepted As Evidence
• -Loophole 13 – Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel and Arbitration
• -Loophole 14 – In-State Tuition and Student Loans
• -Loophole 15 – Inadequacy of the Merit System
• -Loophole 16 – Visas For Individuals That Plan To Overstay
• -Loophole 17 – Chain Migration Tippled Before Being Eliminated
• -Loophole 18 – Back Taxes Not Required
• -Loophole 19 – Social Security Credits Allowed For Some Illegal Work Histories
• -Loophole 20 – Criminal Fines Not Proportional To Conduct

Are those not enough reasons for you? Can Bush still claim that criticism is nothing more than empty political rhetoric? No. The loopholes point to the fact that there is no middle-ground way to tackle immigration reform. There are too many holes in the bill that will only drag down the immigration process for those who come legally. And for those who are illegal ... they will only continue to benefit from the lack of enforcement and new reforms.

Oh ... and by the way ... as we discussed yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office has come out with its own study [pdf] which shows that if the current amnesty bill is made law it will only stem illegal immigration by about 25 percent. Now that's something to brag about, isn't it?

FOX NEWS ISN'T REAL NEWS?

Anyone who thinks that any news source out there is unbiased is fooling themselves. You have been brainwashed by liberal media outlets to believe that their news is the "right" news ... that it is balanced and lacking expression of political beliefs or opinions.

Sorry .. but that is flat out wrong. It is impossible to rid the media of political bias. Media is not just about how you say something but what you choose to talk about. The New York Times putting the Muslim JFK plot on the 37th page—liberal media bias. Not acknowledging the fact that the conspirators were Muslim in their on-line digest, liberal media bias.

I say every day on this radio show that if you believe everything that I say and don't check it out for yourself, then you are making a big mistake. You are relying on one, clearly opinionated, source for your news and that does not make someone educated. You might be interested ... heck, you might even find it entertaining! But to assume that any media news source is the be-all-end-all of the "truth" is just just not all that bright.

That brings us to Bernard Shaw, one of CNN's most well-known retired anchors, Shaw says that Fox News isn't really news. He says it's "commentary and personal analysis." Sorry .. but I think Shaw has it wrong. There have been non-partisan studies of the major news sources on television, and these studies have pretty much shown that most, if not all, of the major broadcast news organizations are very much liberal in their viewpoint, their choice of news stories and their presentation. I said most. There is an exception. These studies have shown that Fox News can't be defined as liberal. Nor can it be defined as conservative. That would be Fox News. Fox presents its news in what these studies have described as a centrist manner. The commentary? Well, that would be something else. Perhaps the problem here is that our government educated people can't really differentiate between commentary and news.

Shaw says, "Unfortunately, Fox News is the ratings leader . . . on the cable side of the business, and what Fox puts on the air is not news." I think what we're dealing with here is a bit of sour grapes. How dare Fox bring higher ratings than CNN! Who do they think they are?

Well there you have it. Anchors at CNN deliver the "right" news, while Fox News is simply discredited. This is a typical liberal tactic. Rather than refute arguments or ideas presented on Fox, liberals just slap a conservative label on it and call it a day. There is no point in arguing. Liberals know best, and nothing else it worth addressing.

MURTHA: IRAQ IS TO BLAME FOR JFK PLOT

How long was it going to take before a Defeatocrat came up with this one? John Murtha—our favorite moonbat from Pennsylvania—says that the terrorists arrested in the JFK plot were a product of the war in Iraq. Basically, if we had not gone into Iraq, this terrorist plot would never have come about. He is the boat with 9/11 conspiracy theorists and all those who sympathize with "freedom fighters" and the "peaceful" religion of Islam.

What has this man been smoking? If this was the excuse for the JFK plot, than who does he blame the 9/11 attacks on? He does not understand that the fundamental hatred of terrorists is not based on our presence in Iraq. Rather, this hatred is based on a general hatred for our culture. It almost seems as if moonbats like Murtha want nothing more than to see America defeated by Islam. Why? It can't be that they don't recognize the threat! Is there anger over losing power in Washington in 1994, and the election to Bush in 2000 so intense that they would actually endanger their country to exact revenge?

The intelligence gathering of this plot should be commended, as our understanding of what it takes to fight radical jihadists grows under this administration. Rather than bow to the wishes of such extremism, we will face it. Yes, mistakes were made it Iraq but that has nothing to do with the long-standing hatred of radicals, like the terrorists arrested in the JFK plot. John Murtha is full of horse-squeeze. It is comments like this that make me wonder about the people that continue to elect this man into office.

THE TOP TEN REASONS WHY ANOTHER AMNESTY IS SWELL FOR AMERICA

By Don Feder

Some of you out there think amnesty is a four-letter word. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke for you when he warned, "The announcement... that the White House and a group of senators have reached an agreement on 'comprehensive immigration reform' should have the same effect that the word 'iceberg' had on the passengers and crew of the Titanic."

Erroneous! Another amnesty for an estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens is just what the doctor ordered -- if Jack Kevorkian is the attending physician.

Here are the top ten reasons why another amnesty will be the best thing to happen to America since the influenza epidemic of 1918 and the Wall Street Crash of '29.

1. We can't send them all back -- The argument conjures up images of swarms of heavily armed agents in jackboots, all dead ringers for Major Strasser in "Casablanca," kicking down doors and dragging away terrified occupants. That only happens if the feds are coming for 6-year-old Cubans fleeing Castro's gulag, and Janet Reno is Attorney General.

` Posing an impossibility (deporting every illegal in the land) as the only alternative to an absurdity (amnesty) makes the latter look realistic.

We can't catch every murderer, rapist, child pornographer or drug dealer either. So -- what the heck -- let's stop enforcing those laws too.

I know. I know. We really don't have to catch them all -- just dry up their sources of employment and most will leave voluntarily. But, keep it to yourself.

2. They're taking jobs Americans don't want -- This is another way of saying that corporations, contractors, restaurants, landscapers, etc. want cheap, docile labor (and are delighted to have you, the taxpayer, make up the difference in increased social service/law enforcement costs). In reality, almost anyone will take any job at the right wage. Corporate America wants low, subsidized wages.

Thomas Sowell points out that even in the agricultural sector (generally thought of as the province of border-jumpers), only 24% of all workers are illegal. Where did farmers find the Americans to handle the other 76% of their labor?

On the other end of the spectrum, many of those employed in rebuilding areas devastated by Katrina were illegal. Bet you didn't know that carpentry and welding were jobs Americans don't want.

3. An amnesty will help control our borders -- If we no longer have borders, controlling them will be a breeze. Last year, Congress authorized a fence along 700 miles of our 2,000 mile-long border with Mexico. Guess how many miles have been built to date? Two. But as every savvy proponent of comprehensive immigration reform knows, the way to control our borders is with magnets, not barriers. Build it and they won't come?

Just imagine, if this amnesty goes through, anyone who can procure two documents (a utility bill, a rent receipt) purporting to show that they've been here since January 1, 2007 can apply for a "Z" visa. Rest assured, this will not set off a mad dash for the border, as millions more from Mexico seek economic asylum -- any more than this amnesty will lure future illegals here in hopes of yet another.

4. Diversity is our greatest strength -- Bringing in hordes of people who want to live in America, but not to be Americans, will make us stronger. Admitting those who are contemptuous of our history and heritage will make us stronger. Legalizing aliens who question our right to exist as a nation will make us stronger. National suicide will make us stronger, as a nation.

This year's pro-amnesty demonstrations featured arrogant mendicants marching with signs that read "We are indigenous! The ONLY owners of this continent." What a great way to start their journey toward citizenship and assimilation.

If the presence of millions upon millions of Mexicans who think we stole their country will make us more vibrant, just imagine what a growing population of those who call us infidels for not embracing their religion will do for our national unity. A recent Pew Research poll of American Muslims showed only 26% believe the war on terror is a sincere effort to reduce terrorism, 40% think Arabs did not carry out the 9/11 attacks, and a hefty 26% of religion-of-peace-niks under 30 believe suicide bombings are justified. Can't get more diverse than that.

5. English is sooo boring! -- In 1980, 11% of adult Americans spoke a language other than English at home. By 1990, that figure rose to 14%. In 2000, it was 18%. Do you discern a trend here?

Isn't it fun to get an automated answering machine that instructs you to press "1" if you want to continue in English? (Wait until we're given the option of pressing "8" to continue in Swahili and "9" to continue in Arabic.) Don't you enjoy going to a shopping mall and hearing the new Americans jabber in their native tongues? Bilingualism has proved such a blessing for Canada. Wait till we have multilingualism here.

Besides, under Executive Order 13166, the federal government now requires grant recipients (including hospitals) to provide interpreters for everyone who can't communicate in the language they're supposed to speak when they come here. And think of all the trees we can sacrifice for government forms printed in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Urdu and Tagalog.

6. It's a great way to grow the welfare state -- Amnestied illegals are immediately eligible for Medicaid and nearly 60 other welfare programs.

The undocs (undocumented workers) made kosher will eventually bring in a score of family members, through aptly termed chain migration. Among other benefits, children of the newly legalized will get public school educations worth $9,600 a piece, on average.

The Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector estimates that, in government benefits alone, this amnesty will cost us approximately $2 trillion. More government spending means more government workers and more power in the hands of politicians. This is just one frequently overlooked blessing of amnesties.

7. It's compassionate -- Especially for the working class and urban minorities -- who are on the receiving end of this particular brand of compassion.

In testimony before Congress, T. Willard Fair (president of the Urban League of Greater Miami) recalled that back in 1965, Ted Kennedy, architect of that year's comprehensive immigration reform, assured us: "The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs." (And we were dumb enough to believe him!)

Harvard scholar George Borjas found that immigration (legal and illegal) has cut the wages of American men without a high school diploma by roughly $1,800 a year. Fair says that since 1965, one-third of the drop in black male employment can be attributed to immigration.

There aren't a lot of surgeons, lawyers, newspaper editors and foundation presidents wading across the Rio Grande. It's those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder who get knocked off by illegal aliens. How can we deny Ted Kennedy another opportunity to feel compassionate on the backs of the native-born poor and working class?

8. Cops don't have enough to do -- 29% of all federal inmates are criminal aliens. In the last 5 years, 72,000 aliens have been arrested on drug charges alone.

More than 30,000 illegal-alien gang members operate in 33 states (including the notorious Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha 13), dealing in drugs, arms and prostitution. All a gang member has to do to be amnestied is to sign "a renunciation of gang affiliation" form. (How about notes from their mothers saying they promise to behave?)

In Indianapolis, 27-year-old Jonathan Castillo is under arrest for raping a 7-year-old girl. According to the local news, Castillo is an undocumented rapist. Clearly, we don't have enough indigenous perverts, drug-dealers and gang members, and so needs must import them.

9. Terrorists Deserve a Fighting Chance -- Under the Comprehensive Immigration Deform act now before the Senate, the government has 24 hours to do background checks on amnesty applicants. If nothing turns up, Abu Illegal gets a provisional amnesty that he can use to run around the country legally.

But there's no unified database. Information about those with terrorist ties is buried in the archives of dozens of foreign governments, and can take months to dig out.

Of the 6 terrorists recently arrested for plotting an attack on Fort Dix, three were in the country illegally for at least 20 years. The standard argument for our Iraq intervention is that if we don't fight them (Al Qaeda, et al) there, we'll have to fight them here. Whatever happens in Iraq, thanks to Comprehensive Immigration Reform, we'll have plenty of chances to fight them here too.

10. It's good politics -- Pro-amnesty politicians operate on the premise that, while Middle Americans (normally comatose) won't retaliate, amnestied illegals on their way to citizenship and their supporters will show their gratitude at the ballot box. It's a classic case of sacrificing the national interest to scrounge a few votes. Think of it as a going-out-of-business sale -- for America.

If the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bomb is detonated, you can begin your journey to bilingualism by practicing the following phrase -- "Hasta la vista, America!"

THINKING ABOUT THE TB GUY

Now ... let's address all of this hysteria over the TB Guy. It turns out that he's an attorney. A personal injury attorney, no less. His name is Andrew Speaker.

Everyone seems to be in a lather over the idea that he endangered an entire plane load of people by coming back to the United States on a Czech airliner.

Methinks we're approaching the point of hysteria here.

According to Speaker, all the time he has been diagnosed with TB he has been interacting with his family, his daughter and his finance, now wife. He had been told repeatedly that he did not present a threat to others. Did they tell him not to travel to Europe? Yes, they did. But Speaker has a tape of these people telling him not to travel to Europe not because he was a threat to others, but because they felt they had to warn him not to travel to cover their own rear ends.

I believe that the bottom line here is that this man felt that his best chance of recovery was to get to that TB hospital in Denver. He also believed that he did not present a contagious threat to others. Doctors had repeatedly told him that he was not contagious and not a treat. Then they tell him that he can't come back home.

Put me in his place... same circumstances ... same promises that he wasn't a threat .. and I'm going to do everything I can to get around the government bureaucracy and get to Denver. The American government would just not be worthy of my trust in this situation. The CDC says now that they were working hard to get him home. Somehow I'm having a hard time believing that.

We need to stop hammering this guy and try to figure out why our great Homeland Security system couldn't keep him out of this country. He was on a no-fly list. His name was on a computer at every border crossing. Yet he got through. Let's study that situation, and leave this guy alone to try to recover from his disease.

Oh ... and before we move on, we need to say this. Andy Speaker is a personal injury lawyer. Turn the situation around just a bit. Let someone who was on that airplane contact him for representation. How long before we would see the lawsuits fly!

Bottom line. The guy has a life-threatening disease. He wanted to get home. He was told that he wasn't a threat to other people. He saw the impossible American government bureaucracy getting in his way. He did what he had to do to protect himself. You would do the same.