AS A CALIFORNIA TAXPAYER I SAY "HELL NO"

CA Democrats Want More Money To Offer Free Healthcare For Illegal Immigrants

Because everyone’s a voter. And some count twice.

Reuters reports: “California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Thursday he expects lawmakers to pass a budget by month’s end instead of meeting a June 15 deadline because of disagreements over whether the state should fund health care for illegal immigrant children.”

Disagreements? Who woud support illegals?

With over $7 billion more in state revenues than had been expected, many lawmakers initially had expected to break the two-decade-long streak of missed deadlines because this year they did not have to haggle over spending cuts.

But last-minute differences emerged after a committee of lawmakers from both chambers of the Democrat-led legislature last weekend passed a spending plan to rival the Republican governor’s $131.1 billion budget proposal for the 2006-07 fiscal year starting next month.

Republicans, whose votes are needed for a two-thirds majority to pass a budget, balked at Democrat-backed provisions in the legislature’s plan to boost spending on health-care for children, including children who are not legal immigrants.

Ladies and gentlemen, witness politics in action.

You see, some politicians talk about creating efficiencies and reducing the burden on taxpayers, but any time there’s a surplus (e.g. $7 billion “more in state revenues than had been expected”), you can count on Democrats wanting to spend it.

“It’s a very bad idea,” said Republican Assemblyman Rick Keene. “We would be giving legitimacy to folks who are here breaking the law.”

State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman added: “We don’t believe we should be setting up incentive programs to have more illegals come to California.”

Exactly. Makes total sense.

So, why are Democrats pushing for it?

Democrats have political reasons for taking the opposing position as California is increasingly Hispanic because of legal and undocumented immigration, especially from Mexico.

“A lot of Latinos are in Democratic districts,” said Pitney, adding that many could become Democratic voters if the U.S. Congress approves an amnesty for undocumented immigrants.

Well, there’s the answer.

Democratic Assemblyman John Laird said the legal status of children should not be of concern in emergencies: “We shouldn’t have doctors whose first question of a three-year-old brought into a hospital for meningitis is, ‘Is he here illegally?”‘

Didn’t we hear enough violins yesterday?

That’s like saying, some stores shouldn’t have to ask whether or not a customer paid for an item before leaving the building. The comparative logic is: By not questioning or caring about the status of citizenship (illegal=criminal), the state is widening the opportunity for rampant abuse. Free health care, come one, come all! It promotes it and most definitely creates incentive. Obvious to anyone. Just like shopping at a store that doesn’t charge for goods or service. It’s going to be very popular, until it goes out of business. Sounds like California.

And why should we care? If Mexico doesn’t provide free health care to their own people, why should we? Especially when they enter our nation illegally.

At a press conference, Schwarzenegger outlined his position on the dispute, which is midway between what Democrat and Republican lawmakers want. He would fund programs already providing health care to children, including undocumented children, but not expand the programs because of the costs.

“We should not politicize the children and drag them into this … But I would not go in the direction of expanding the Healthy Family program because we cannot afford it,” he said.

This is fact. And their should be no further “disagreements.”

Democrats and Republicans also are odds over whether to use about $1 billion to pay down debt or to build a reserve.

Unfortunately, some are not working with facts. And because these Democrats are in power, there’s only one thing they’re that familiar with building in California – and that’s more debt.

ONLY FOR PROFIT: "SELLING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THE AMERICAN DREAM"

So reads the headline of the S.F. Chronicle’s exclusive report today on how illegal aliens are working the system to not only secure good jobs, but also taking advantage of lax policies, lack of law enforcement, and complicit banking institutions.

Cue the violins and commence the media whitewashing:

Ramiro and Marisol looked on proudly as their 3-year-old son, Alexis, took out his toolbox and pretended to fix a closet in their new San Jose home. He was imitating the flurry of work his parents had put into the one-bedroom condominium over the past two weekends, installing new linoleum and carpets from Home Depot, painting and repairing.

With a shy giggle, Marisol, 27, pointed out where she plans to put the sofa and the TV in the tiny living room while Ramiro, 32, talked about being able to grill carne asada on the tree-shaded balcony.

They joked about how rarely they see each other. Ramiro works six days a week in a sheet-metal factory and attends night school to get his high school diploma. Marisol goes to business classes in the mornings and works afternoons as an office assistant while Alexis attends preschool.

It was a typical new-homeowner scene with one exception: Ramiro and Marisol, who asked that their last name not be used, are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. They’ve been in the country for four years. Marisol entered on a tourist visa. Ramiro hid in a car.

In other words, and according to U.S. law, they are criminals.

And their son, well, he’s an “anchor baby.”

Soon, if not already, little Alejandro will claim another seat in our public schools, taking advantage of a “free” education at taxpayers’ expense. (Oh, pardonme, they pay taxes, too. Of course.)

Their immigration status did not prevent them from buying a home. It is legal for undocumented people to purchase property in the United States.

That won’t fly in Mexico. In fact, only natural-born citizens can hold permanent title to any land. That way they don’t sell their country away to foreigners. Interesting concept.

The problem has been borrowing the money to pay for it. Ramiro and Marisol have stable jobs, but many undocumented people have spotty or nonexistent credit histories. Often, they’ve worked off the books.

No kidding. But still we’re supposed to believe they pay taxes? Right. Just like the employers are paying avoiding payroll taxes. That’s why it’s “off the books.”

Another issue used to be an absolute deal breaker when undocumented people applied for home loans: Until recently, people had to have a Social Security number to qualify for a mortgage.

Now, a handful of banks, including some major institutions, have begun offering home-mortgage loans to people who don’t have Social Security accounts. Instead, borrowers can use individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, which are used to file income tax returns. These lending programs also allow borrowers to use unconventional ways to demonstrate their creditworthiness.

The Internal Revenue Service issues taxpayer IDs to both resident and nonresident aliens so they can pay taxes. A significant number of the 8.6 million holders of individual taxpayer IDs are illegal immigrants, according to the Government Accounting Office.

So, that implies that of the estimated 12+ million illegal aliens hiding “in the shadows” of America, there’s millions that don’t pay taxes. Confirmed.

“For those families who have the American dream, but don’t have access to documentation, the (the taxpayer ID mortgage) is a way for them to be able to buy a home, lay down roots and build wealth for their family for the future,” said Janis Bowdler, housing policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil-rights organization in Washington, D.C.

SPIN ALERT: “Dont have access to documentation?” Pobresito, try this. Leave the country and come in the front door legally, and we’ll give you all the documentation you need. Then, and only then, have you qualified to pursue the American dream.

Opponents of illegal immigration deplore mortgages for undocumented people. Some say the banks making taxpayer ID loans are guilty of aiding and abetting criminals.

Yes, that’s because, um, they are! And this article confirms it. It’s obvious to any reasonable person concerned about enforcing our immigration laws. Evidently, banks seeking profitablity in “untapped markets,” regardless of our laws, don’t see it the same way. Profit motive prevails.

U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, a Republican from Roseville (Placer County), has introduced a bill that would ban issuing residential mortgages to illegal immigrants.

“The government should not be in the business of creating incentives to encourage illegal behavior. Nor should companies be permitted to reward those individuals in clear violation of our laws,” Doolittle said in a statement when he introduced the bill in October.

The bill, which also would require expedited deportation of people caught entering the United States illegally, is pending in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.

We trust our legislators, those elected to preside over the public interest, will vote accordingly. (Note to file)

“People traditionally talk about the undocumented Latino population as furtive people in the shadows who are very marginalized,” said the study’s author, Rob Paral, a research fellow with the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C. “What’s really changed is that a lot of people who are undocumented have fairly decent incomes. They have spending patterns and social behaviors which include an interest in buying a home and an ability to do it.”

Someone talks about illegal aliens as “people in the shadows?” Really? Who? But they’re not? And they’re making good income? (Doing the work that legal Americans won’t?)

Great news. Thanks for the clarification.

Using Census data on income and age, he estimated that 216,000 currently undocumented households could buy homes — admittedly ones at modest prices. About a quarter of those potential home buyers are in California. “This is a large, untapped population from a financial point of view,” Paral said. “If it were not restrained, it could be pouring a lot more money into society.”

Interesting logic. Think we heard someone say the same thing about marijuana crops and legalizing drugs.

Banks have gotten that message loud and clear. U.S. banks now routinely accept both taxpayer ID numbers and a Mexican ID called matricula consular to open new accounts. Many reach out to the Latino community with Spanish marketing materials and bilingual bank tellers.

The latest twist is the taxpayer ID mortgage. Pioneered by small community banks, mainly in the Midwest, the loans slowly have begun to spread. As of September 2004, one credit union and 18 banks were offering such mortgages, according to a report by independent researcher Mari Gallagher. In California, Wells Fargo and Citibank both offer taxpayer ID mortgage loans, albeit in small programs.
. . .

Marisol and Ramiro got their mortgage through the Citibank/ACORN Housing program, which offers interest rates a full percentage point below the published rate and $3,000 toward closing costs or down payment. In addition, their Realtor, Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano of Protelo Group Realty in San Jose, gave them a rebate of $2,500 to help pay their closing costs. At less than $260,000, their small condo was the lowest-cost listing in Santa Clara County.

Sounds like a great service. Guess that’s what corporations mean about multiculturalism and understanding the needs of their “community.” Some might simply call it racism: doing business by catering to specific ethnicities.

“In the Latino community, we don’t like to have debt,” said Frances Martinez Myers, chairwoman of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. “We transact in cash, so there’s no credit history.”

Finally, a true word is spoken.

Marisol and Ramirez, for example, “used very nonconventional credit,” Gallardo-Serrano said. ACORN Housing verified that the couple had paid their bills on time for the past two years to PG&E, San Jose Water, their landlord and a health club. In addition, they showed two years of tax returns and employment history.

Looks like they’re well out of the shadows and even spending time working out at the gym. Good for them. Arnold approves of that. Now if only we could get all the homeless in America the level of customer service, we might end poverty afterall.

Lez Trujillo, field director with ACORN Housing Corp. in Chicago, said the program with Citibank, which is available in about seven states, has made 804 mortgages worth $153 million since early 2005. Of those, 387 were in California, primarily Northern California. An additional 1,300 borrowers are now in the pipeline, either in contract or shopping for a house.

Affirmative-action in action.

Wells Fargo has offered taxpayer ID mortgages since December in a pilot program in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The bank declined to discuss the program, instead sending a short statement saying it will continue to evaluate it.

The biggest barrier to such loans is that they cannot easily be sold on the secondary mortgage market. Most banks sell the mortgages they originate to bring in more money to make more loans. Instead, banks must keep taxpayer-ID mortgages in their portfolios, tying up capital.

Sounds like a credit risk. If nothing else, tying up a bank’s capital can’t be a good practice. But do shareholders really care? Has anyone asked them?

[Independent researcher Mari] Gallagher, who specializes in research on undocumented Mexicans and the mortgage market, said that despite the shifting political winds, she thinks taxpayer ID mortgages will grow because the market pressure of so many immigrants who want to buy homes will be so strong.

“This is the match that could light the next fire in the mortgage industry,” she said.

That kind of talk ignites wrath among anti-immigration partisans.

“It’s simply wrong for foreign lawbreakers to be enabled to plant roots in this country by way of obtaining a mortgage,” Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that wants to curtail immigration growth, wrote in support of the Doolittle bill that would bar mortgages for undocumented aliens.

It’s hard to believe we are having these kind of conversations without widespread ridicule. Guess that’s what happens when money is involved.

We’re talking about criminal activity. Illegal aliens, entering the country by breaking our immigration laws and ignoring our national sovereignty. If we start referring to criminals as customers, why stop at the border? There’s many more illegal markets to pursue. Does anyone see the folly?

Ramiro and Marisol don’t see themselves as lawbreakers. They hope to become citizens. And they hope that their condo will appreciate in value so they can trade up.

“After I finish school, I want to have another baby, a girl,” Marisol said. “Then in three years or maybe two, we can buy a house.”

Until our national leaders — finally — listen to the majority will and get really serious about immigration reform and law enforcement, there will be millions more who want to be livin’ la vida loca like Ramiro and Marisol.

In the meantime, some banks and other greedy corporations will continue selling-out the American dream to anyone who can pay their fees.

There Are Lies, There Are Damn Lies And Then There Are The Democrats

That's A Crock A Shit! That’s the only thing I can call Harry Reid’s statement after President Bush’s news conference. Let’s start with his most insulting accusation:

Bush Sets Up Straw Man: Unnamed Democrats Want to Raise Taxes While Bush Has Been Fiscally Responsible. “Our job is to work with Congress to have wise fiscal policy. And wise fiscal policy means not only keeping revenues low, (sic) but it also means being wise about how we spend the people’s money…(Democrats) will couch it in all kinds of language. But really what they’re saying is, ‘We’re going to raise your taxes.’” (Press Conference, 6/14/06)
FACT: President Bush Turned Record Budget Surpluses into Record Deficits. President Bush inherited a unified budget surplus of $236 billion from President Clinton, the largest surplus in American history. Budget surpluses were expected to continue for another ten years when President Bush took office in January 2001. By 2002, however, the unified federal budget had returned to a deficit of $158 billion and has since reached historic highs. This year, the budget deficit is expected to reach $336 billion. (Office of Management and Budget; Congressional Budget Office, 03/06)

When Reid represents as fact that “President Bush Turned Record Budget Surpluses into Record Deficits”, he’s conveniently forgetting about this thing called 9/11. In the aftermath of 9/11 a couple trillion dollars were pulled from the American economy. Factor in the cost of waging a war we had to fight to the lost tax revenue and it would’ve taken an act of God to not run huge deficits.

Of course, Reid doesn’t want people to think that the deficit is shrinking because that would doom Democrats’ chances this November. Too bad. We’ll continue trumpeting the latest deficit reduction figures that the CBO is reporting. What’s more is that the deficit is dropping like a rock as a percentage of GDP.

Notice, too, that Reid doesn’t knock down the President’s “straw man” that Democrats would raise taxes. He’s hoping you won’t notice. Sorry, Harry, but that won’t work with the Right Blogosphere translating your misstatements.

Here’s another bunch of BS:

Last year, the Congress called on the President to make 2006 a year of significant transition in Iraq and yet halfway through this year, the President is simply maintaining the same tired mantra, ‘as Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.’ Yet at the same time more Iraqi security forces are in the field, U.S. force levels have actually increased in recent weeks. This is not a real plan and is not acceptable. The President must take responsibility for laying out a strategy for stabilizing Iraq and bringing our troops home.”

TRANSLATION: Last year, most Democrats and a few faint-hearted RINO’s said that they didn’t like President Bush’s strategy, that it wasn’t fast enough. They told him that they didn’t have the steadfastness and fortitude to stay the course.

Democrats are the only ones now who think that we don’t have a plan for victory. That’s because they haven’t expressed a consistent desire for victory. Instead, all they’ve offered is an endless litany of complaints. Chief among those complaints was that we hadn’t killed or captured Zarqawi. The minute the report broke that he’d been killed in an airstrike, they switched to saying that this was a nice accomplishment for the military but that it was mostly a symbolic event. RIGHT!!! They first said that killing Zarqawi should be our first, second and third priority, then they say the military’s killing him was only symbolic. And these idiots can’t figure out why they aren’t taken seriously on national security issues? Scary.

KILLING AMNESTY SOFTLY

By Michelle Malkin

With his words...

Hopes for a quick compromise on immigration were dealt a blow Tuesday after House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he wanted to take a "long look" at a Senate bill offering possible citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.

Hastert said hearings on the Senate bill should be held before appointing anyone to a House-Senate committee to negotiate a compromise immigration bill. Later, he said he was unsure what the House's next move would be.

"We're going to take a long look at it," Hastert said late Tuesday.

House Majority Leader John Boehner agreed. "I think we should know clearly what's in the Senate bill," Boehner said. But he added there are lots of ways to understand its contents.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also scheduled a hearing for Monday to review provisions in the bill requiring employers to verify that their workers are legal.

Cornyn said he opposes a provision allowing workers to use up to 20 documents to verify they are legal workers. Also, the Department of Homeland Security has raised concerns about how quickly it must have in place an electronic system that employers will use to verify their workers legal status, Cornyn's spokesman Don Stewart said.

"This will give us a chance to look at it in more detail," Cornyn said.

Sending a bill that has already passed the Senate to hearings would be a highly unusual move and make completing a final bill before Congress goes on its summer recess in August far less likely. Disagreement on procedural issue has kept negotiations from starting, but there were hopes that could be resolved this week.

"It's an obvious retreat from where we are," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

And that is progress.

PRESIDENT BUSH MAY MEET VOW TO HALVE THE DEFICIT - THREE YEARS EARLY

Investor’s Business Daily reports: “Aided by surging tax receipts, President Bush may make good on his pledge to cut the deficit in half in 2006 — three years early.”

Tax revenues are running $176 billion, or 12.9%, over last year, the Treasury Department said Monday. The Congressional Budget Office said receipts have risen faster over the first eight months of fiscal ‘06 than in any other such period over the past 25 years — except for last year’s 15.5% jump.

The 2006 deficit through May was $227 billion, down from $273 billion at this time last year. Spending is up $130 billion, or 7.9%.

The CBO forecast in May that the 2006 deficit could fall as low as $300 billion. Michael Englund, chief economist of Action Economics, has long expected a deficit of about $270 billion this year. Now he thinks there’s a chance the “remarkable strength in receipts” will push the deficit even lower.

With the economy topping $13 trillion this year, a $270 billion deficit would equal less than 2.1% of GDP, easily beating the president’s 2.25% goal. Bush made his vow when the White House had a dour 2004 deficit forecast of 4.5% of GDP, or $521 billion. The actual ‘04 deficit came in at $412 billion, or 3.5% of GDP, before falling to $318 billion, or 2.6% of GDP, in 2005.

A CBO analysis last week noted that withheld individual income and payroll taxes are up 7.6% from a year ago, with the gains picking up in recent months.

“Those gains suggest solid growth in wages and salaries in the national economy,” CBO said.

While gains are broad, those at higher-income levels are enjoying bigger salary hikes. Because they pay higher rates, federal tax revenues soar when they do well.

Those making over $200,000 now pay 46.6% of total income taxes, presidential adviser Karl Rove recently said. That’s up from 40.5% — despite Bush’s tax cuts.

Nonwithheld income tax receipts are up about 20% vs. a year ago. That may reflect year-end bonuses and capital gains.

Corporate income taxes are up about 30% from last year’s pace.

We rest our case.

THE CRYING YOU HEAR IS HOWARD DEAN AND THE REST OF THE DEOMOCRATIC PARTY

That’s the sounds emanating from DNC chairman Howard Dean’s office and from the nutters at DailyKos and Democratic Underground after hearing that Karl Rove won’t be indicted in the Plame investigation. In the meantime, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman is demanding an apology from Dean and others for their “rush to judgement” about Rove. Fat chance that’ll happen.

“We believe that the special counsel’s decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove’s conduct,” Rove attorney Robert Luskin said in a statement. “In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation.” Fitzgerald’s decision ends speculation into the investigation that started in 2004 that Bush could lose his longtime political aide if criminal charges came down against him.

You’d think that it would but Mrs. Wilson’s attorney is already hinting about a civil suit. Talk about a politically-motivated vendetta. I can’t say that it’s surprising, though, considering how vindictive Mr. Wilson is. When dealing with people who willingly accuse the President of wrongdoing when they know the facts aren’t on their side, it’s hard to expect them to do the right thing.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats were quick to call for an investigation into the CIA leak and the connection to Rove, arguing that the controversy was just another reason for the president to clean house. “Good news for the White House, not so good news for America,” Howard Dean, the Democratic Party chairman, said Tuesday in a cable television interview.

It’s time for these whiners to sit down and shut up. This is proof that they don’t believe in letting the facts speak for themselves, which isn’t suprising considering how willing John Murtha is in ignoring the Constitution’s guarantees of a fair trial and due process. In their mind, if a Republican, or someone in the military, is implicated in allegations of wrongdoing, then it’s presumed that this person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Shameful, huh?

“This is an enormous burden lifted off his shoulders. He always believed that he was totally innocent and that nothing would happen,” former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said of Rove. Gingrich added that Rove’s situation shows that something is wrong with the current legal system. “There’s something wrong when your entire life can be under this kind of threat for two full years, you spend lots and lots of money on lawyers, lots of time going to the grand jury and there’s nothing there,” Gingrich said.

There certainly is, Mr. Newt. There certainly is. And they’re known as Democrats. We can find a cure for all kinds of cancer but they haven’t found a cure for this specific type of cancer. We can all hope.