lframerica.com Blog

April 2, 2008

Immigration Debate Focuses on $2M In Tax Money Going To Aid Group

http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/?p=6175

http://www.casademaryland.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246 

Mar 31, 2008, by Jason Flanagan, The Examiner

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Walter Abbott lost his house, his drywall company – twice – and now his freedom.

When he discovered Maryland funds pro-immigration group CASA de Maryland, he fired off an angry letter to Gov. Martin O’Malley containing a threat on the governor’s life.

“It was out of frustration,” Abbott said.

Now is he on home detention awaiting a trial. “[CASA] helps find them a job – an American’s job that they help take away. They took away my job,” said Abbott, 44, of Parkville.

Abbott epitomizes part of the hotly contested immigration debate.

Many people are furious that governments from the General Assembly to the city of Baltimore give millions of dollars to CASA de Maryland, which assists legal and illegal immigrants in finding work, social services and legal aid.

“The state cuts [Chesapeake] Bay funding in half but found millions for CASA’s new headquarters? That’s bordering on criminal if it’s not already criminal,” said Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, a group opposing illegal immigration.

However, CASA officials said taxpayers’ money should help anyone in need, even if they are here illegally.

“The government should serve everybody – [immigrants] are the house cleaners, the kids going to school. They are part of the community, and part of government’s role is to help the poor and vulnerable,” said Jennifer Freedman, director of development for CASA.

Some state lawmakers tried to halt CASA’s funding and introduce bills to curb illegal immigration. But those bills failed, while bills to support CASA’s efforts passed.

Del. Ron George, R-Anne Arundel, said groups such as CASA make Maryland friendly to illegal immigrants who burden the state’s infrastructure, such as the Motor Vehicle Administration. MVA was processing 1,000 driver’s license a month last year; now it is processing 2,000 a week due to illegal immigrants’ ease of obtaining licenses.

WHAT CASA DOES

CASA does provide humanitarian work such as AIDS/HIV testing, youth counseling and financial education to low-income immigrants, and is considered the largest and most organized group reaching the immigrant community.

But the political and legal aspect of CASA has many questioning government support.

A pamphlet by CASA tells immigrants not to say anything, answer the door or provide identification to immigration and law enforcement officials. CASA asks its members to carry a card saying the person will not speak and demands a lawyer.

Each time Freedman was asked why CASA serves illegal immigrants, she referred to CASA’s mission statement of helping all low-income immigrants.

“We can do that without asking immigration status,” she said.

When asked if CASA would report its clients if they were found to be here illegally, Freedman again said, “We serve everyone in need who walks through our door.”

She added that CASA’s policy is no different from other nonprofits like Catholic Charities, which did not return calls for comment on its policies.

At CASA’s Baltimore center, where immigrants can find work, a man who identified himself as Ennrique said, “The community here is united, and [CASA has] been helping the community.”

About 2 percent of the city’s population is Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which does not ask for immigration status, just ethnicity and place of birth.

WHO PAYS?

More than $2 million in money from local governments this year went to fund CASA, mostly from Montgomery, which has the highest Hispanic concentration in the state, according to the Census Bureau.

Baltimore City gave much less, mainly for grants to promote job placement and AIDS health education.

Mayor Sheila Dixon’s office did not return several calls for comment.

The state government doled out $628,000 in bonds and grants in 2005 and 2006, and is considering paying another $500,000 next fiscal year for CASA’s multicultural center in Prince George’s.

Since 2005 the project has received $4.2 million in tax credits for required renovations of the historic mansion the center will occupy.

“Why should we be taxed in order to fund groups of people who shouldn’t be eligible to be funded?” said Dee Hodges, president of the Baltimore-based Maryland Taxpayer’s Association.

No other Baltimore-area counties fund CASA, mainly because the group hasn’t solicited funding.

“Illegal means illegal, and citizens of [Anne Arundel] resent taxpayer dollars going to those who break the law,” said Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who opposed funding CASA but supports aid for groups that help people here legally.

WHAT TO DO

To deny CASA funding would be a great disservice to the community, advocates say. Less than half of CASA’s funding comes from governments, but the group uses the money to leverage private donations, Freedman said.

Some have suggested requiring CASA to ask for immigration status from its clients as a reasonable solution.

But CASA will not do such a thing, as it would go against its policy as a humanitarian organization, Freedman said.

CASA’s remedy is to enforce current immigration laws, not create new ones that anti-immigration supporters say are needed to compensate for failing federal laws.

“We recognize it’s a broken system and we look to the federal government for comprehensive immigration reform,” Freedman said.

Others say no matter what CASA does, all of its funding should be cut.

“There should be no CASA de Maryland,” Abbott said.

jflanagan@baltimoreexmainer.com

Truckers Protest High Fuel Prices Along Expressway 83

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/fuel_85574___article.html/prices_martinez.html

ALAMO - About two dozen truckers parked their semi trucks at a waypoint along Expressway 83 to protest what they say are excessive diesel fuel prices.

A cacaphony of air horns rang out from other semis that passed by the scene to support the truck drivers, who said they barely make any money hauling goods with the expensive cost of fuel.

Art Martinez of San Juan said it costs nearly $1,200 each time he fills each of his trucking company’s four semis.

Martinez said the fuel crunch has hit smaller trucking outfits like his the hardest. He said many of his vendors have refused to raise the prices of the goods his company hauls to compensate for the higher fuel costs.

“Each day is getting more difficult,” Martinez said. “The diesel is going up and we get paid the same.

Those higher fuel prices without taking in more money from his customers led to today’s protest, which is mostly made up of smaller independent truck operators, he said.

Martinez, 51, operates Better Hauling Services, based in San Juan. He’s been hauling since 1976, but said he has never seen business get this bad.

“I think it’s OK to raise the price of fuel, but raise prices, also,” Martinez said. “I don’t want to get rich; I just want to feed my family and pay the bills.”

March 31, 2008

World Bank Warns Of Shift Away From U.S. Dollar

Filed under: Uncategorized, United States News, Economy Crisis — Administrator @ 9:35 pm

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23447777-664,00.html

STATE-backed sovereign wealth funds are likely to diversify their investments and move away from US dollar-denominated assets, a World Bank official says.

Central banks are likely to follow suit, shifting away from the US dollar over the next “three to five years,” World Bank principal investment officer Arjan Berkelaar told a business conference in Sydney yesterday.

Sovereign funds, which are either government-owned or controlled, will increasingly switch from high-grade fixed-income assets such as government bonds to equities and broader-based assets including infrastructure and commodities, he said.

Alternatives would include investments denominated in the euro and pound, with some possible interest in the higher-yielding Australian and New Zealand currencies.

But any moves by central banks and sovereign wealth funds to move out of the dollar will be a “slow process,” Mr Berkelaar said.

He cautioned that moves by sovereign wealth funds to buy offshore assets may cause concern for some Western governments.

“There is a danger that sovereign wealth funds will cause protectionism and capital controls by Western governments,” he said.

There are about 50 sovereign wealth funds globally, with 10 holding 77 per cent of a total of $US5 trillion ($A5.45 trillion) in assets .

Berkelaar said the rise of these funds had been driven by a significant accumulation of foreign exchange reserves by central banks, huge fiscal surpluses by commodity export-driven countries and rapidly ageing populations in developed economies.

March 29, 2008

Schwartzenegger Says California Budget Not Affected By Illegal Aliens

http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/002736.html

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger must have been living under a box for the past 4 years as hospitals closed around him and schools overflowed with more and more children of illegal aliens and the sprawl and congestion in cities throughout the state exploded. He actually had the nerve to tell the people of California that illegal aliens have no impact on the budget crisis and that people should not point fingers.

I have no other comment at this complete idiocy other than pointing out a couple of numbers below.

Sacramento Bee

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called it a “big mistake” Wednesday to blame illegal immigrants for the state’s looming $8 billion budget gap, just as Republican lawmakers have proposed a rollback of benefits for illegal immigrants to save money…. Diane Blakeslee, mother of GOP Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, asked Schwarzenegger how the state should handle financial burdens created by illegal immigrants.

“There is, you know, always a time like this where you start pointing the finger at various different elements of what creates the budget mess, and, you know, some may point the finger at illegal immigrants,” Schwarzenegger said. “I can guarantee you, I have been now four years in office in Sacramento, I don’t think that illegal immigration has created the mess that we are in.

Assembly Republicans on Tuesday said illegal immigrants cost the state $9 billion annually, citing a Federation for American Immigration Reform study released in 2004. The group estimated that California spends an estimated $7.7 billion alone on education for undocumented students.

Diane Blakeslee, 75, said in a telephone interview that she asked about illegal immigration because “it’s like the 800-pound gorilla in the room and nobody wants to talk about it.”

“This doesn’t really have to do with discrimination or anything,” said Blakeslee, a certified financial planner. “It’s a matter of respect for the law. … We’re sacrificing our own kids to take care of people who don’t believe in following the law.

OK, I lied… one other comment… “undocumented students”… really?

March 16, 2008

Fed Chairman Promises To Help Distressed Homeowners

Filed under: Uncategorized, United States News, Economy Crisis — Administrator @ 12:48 am

March 14, 2007

Star Tribune:  By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Fighting to stem a dangerous wave of home foreclosures, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged Friday to do all that is possible to help struggling homeowners.

The Fed is “strongly committed to fully employing our authority, expertise and resources to help alleviate their distress,” Bernanke said in a speech to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s annual meeting here.

Record-high foreclosures are aggravating problems in the housing market and for the national economy, which many fear is on the verge of a recession or in one already.

Bernanke didn’t offer new recommendations — as he did earlier this month — but rather spoke of the various steps the Fed already is taking to address current problems and to prevent another crisis of this sort.

The Fed, for instance, has proposed a rule to protect homebuyers from some of the same dubious lending practices that contributed to the housing and credit debacles now shaking the country. Subprime borrowers — those with tarnished credit histories or low incomes — have been hurt the most, although problems have spread to more creditworthy borrowers.

“Far too much of the lending in recent years was neither responsible nor prudent,” Bernanke said. “The terms of some subprime mortgages permitted homebuyers and investors to purchase properties beyond their means, often with little or no equity,” he added. “In addition, abusive, unfair or deceptive lending practices led some borrowers into mortgages that they would not have chosen knowingly.”

At the end of last year, more than one in five of the roughly 3.6 million outstanding subprime adjustable-rate mortgages were seriously delinquent — meaning they were either in foreclosure or 90 days or more past due. That rate is about four times higher than it was in the middle of 2005, he said.

Meanwhile, in 2007, about 45 percent of foreclosures were on prime, near-prime or government-backed mortgages, he added.

The meltdown in the housing and credit markets are not only straining homeowners but also have forced financial companies to rack up multibillion losses. The situation has unhinged Wall Street, put the Federal Reserve and the Bush administration in crisis-management mode, rattled the public and sent politicians — including those vying to be the next president — scrambling for solutions.

Underscoring the urgency: Bear Stearns Cos., one of Wall Street’s venerable investment banks, received a rescue package by the Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Friday — just hours before Bernanke spoke. It was a last-ditch effort to save the institution.

The Federal Reserve responded swiftly to pleas from Bear Stearns that its coffers had “significantly deteriorated” within a 24-hour period. The bank, which had made a fortune in mortgage-backed securities, has ran up $2.75 billion in write-downs since last year, and faced a possible collapse without some kind of lifeline.

Before launching into his prepared remarks, Bernanke mentioned that he had a “busy morning.” He did not elaborate.

To help brace the economy from all the fallout, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut a key interest rate, now at 3 percent, next week. The debate is whether it will be a half percentage point or an even bigger three-quarter-point reduction. Bernanke, in his speech, did not provide clues on that front.

Instead, the Fed chief’s speech stuck closely to steps the Fed is taking to prevent prospective homebuyers from getting burned in the future when they take out a mortgage.

On this front, the Fed has a proposal that would restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay loans off early, require lenders to make sure these borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance and bar lenders from making loans without proof of a borrower’s income. It also would prohibit lenders from engaging in a pattern or practice of lending without considering a borrower’s ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home’s value. The proposal also would curtail misleading ads for many types of mortgages and bolster financial disclosures to borrowers.

“The combination of stricter regulation and better disclosure will not solve all the problems,” Bernanke said. “We do believe, however, that this proposal will give consumers much better information,” he added.

In addition to this effort, Bernanke said a “strong uniform oversight of different types of mortgage lenders is critical to avoiding future problems.”

The housing collapse dragged down home values, clobbering borrowers. Many were left with mortgages that exceeded the value of their homes. They were further socked by low introductory rates on their adjustable mortgages, which then reset to higher rates, making their monthly payments difficult or impossible, to afford.

“For a number of years, rapid increases in house prices effectively insulated lenders and investors from the effect of weaker underwriting, providing false comfort,” Bernanke said.

In a speech earlier this month, Bernanke urged lenders to help distressed homeowners by lowering the amount of their loans. At the time, Bernanke suggested such a longer-term permanent solution may work better than shorter-term and temporary ones, where the distressed homeowner could find himself in trouble again.

To date, permanent home mortgage modifications that have occurred have typically involved a reduction in the interest rate, while reductions of the principal balance of the loan have been quite rare, he said.

March 15, 2008

Fed’s $200 Billion Debt Swap May Help Economy, But Slowly

Filed under: Uncategorized, United States News, Economy Crisis — Administrator @ 11:49 pm

March 15, 2008

Our economy is in deep trouble and the endless supply of long term fixes or short term quick fixes that will not offer any true improvement is not helping.  As American’s struggle to hold on to anything in the storm, Government keeps producing leaking rafts.  

StarTribune 

From Little Fork to Luverne, Minnesota home buyers find mortgages harder to come by. Hospital chains cope with soaring interest costs on their debt. Twin Cities-area companies write down millions on investments. Lenders pass along higher costs to many student borrowers.

They’re the collateral damage from U.S. financial market tremors that have spread from subprime mortgages to corporate debt over the last year.

There’s not likely much immediate relief in a Federal Reserve plan to calm credit markets with a temporary $200 billion swap of U.S. Treasury bonds for private IOUs in the subprime mortgage market, experts say. To many, the end to the current troubles may be months away, and some believe the ultimate solution will be a bailout that could demand $600 billion to $800 billion from taxpayers.

The Fed last week offered to lend major banks $200 billion by swapping Treasuries for a like amount of mortgage-based securities for 28 days — offering banks an easy-to-sell asset in return for securities nobody wants to buy at the moment.

“Now they can borrow against them rather than sell at a fire-sale price in the market,” said Keith Hembre, chief economist at FAF Advisors, an arm of U.S. Bancorp. “It’s beneficial, but kind of at the margin at this point.”

Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis, called the Fed move “an odd solution to an odd problem.”

“It’s a good try. Will it work?” he asked. “Ultimately, I don’t think so.”

The larger issue is that restoring investor confidence is a complex, multi-layered process, just as it took time and the coming together of a variety of factors to derail that confidence in the first place.

“If it’s accurate to call this a panic, I’m not sure you can un-panic the market in 28 days,” said Kenneth Goldstein, senior economist at the Conference Board, a New York City-based business research firm.

Goldstein thinks the latest Fed effort holds more promise than its previous moves, which were confined largely to reducing interest rates. But he argues that the federal government will have to raise the ante on aid substantially and turn to an outright bailout of mortgage and other financial markets in the range of $600 billion to $800 billion.

The Fed will show its hand again Tuesday, when its Open Market Committee meets. Economists foresee the Fed cutting a half-point to a full point from its the federal funds rate, a key short-term interest rate that serves as the basis for many home equity, auto and credit-card rates. That rate now is 3 percent.

That benchmark percent rate is 2.25 percent lower than it was in August, when the financial crisis first bloomed. Yet many companies and people are finding their debt burdens harder to carry and financing harder to find now than it was then.

NorthStar Education Finance, based in St. Paul, last month told student borrowers that it was suspending a “repayment bonus” that in the past 16 months had saved students nearly $18 million. It blamed a sharp rise in credit costs.

Park Nicollet Health Services last month reported that failed auctions on outstanding debts could drain $23 million a year from its coffers if the debt markets remained in gridlock. Fairview Health Services was struggling to avoid the same fate. Neither responded to calls for comment last week on their financial situations.

Even companies with top credit ratings are finding their bonds going begging, said Si Matthies, Wells Fargo’s head of trading/institutional brokerage and sales.

“There are thousands of Triple A credits trading at 70 cents on the dollar,” Matthies said.

Confidence undermined

In part, that’s because investors discovered that the finances of some Triple A companies were more shaky than solid, undermining faith in credit ratings, he said. Another factor at play is that an investor buying a bond at 70 cents on the dollar gets a bargain only if the bond doesn’t end up trading at 60 cents or 50 cents days or weeks from now.

“Players in the market now are really being very careful,” Matthies said. “There’s a lot cash piled up in the short end.”

But Goldstein at the Conference Board believes greed will overshadow fear before the year is out, if not sooner. First, the Fed, and market conditions, will have to convince market players that the value of homes — and the bonds that finance mortgages and other debts — has bottomed out.

“By some measures, we might be looking at the loss of $4 trillion in [housing and financial] assets,” Goldstein said. “That sounds like a big number. Back in the tech wreck, we lost $6 trillion.”

The tech bubble bursting was followed by a short, mild recession.

In the months ahead, Goldstein foresees a federal bailout similar to the creation of Resolution Trust Corp. that ended the savings and loan financial crisis in the early 1990s.

The government ended up buying everything from homes to hotel resorts — pumping money into credit markets — and ultimately made a profit selling properties as the real estate market improved.

A similar strategy should work in 2008, Goldstein said.

“It’s hard to maintain a panic when you’ve got a lender of last resort that’s ready to act in showing they’re willing to put their money — our money — where their mouths are,” he said.

High Wheat Prices Raise Grocery Costs

Filed under: Uncategorized, Communities, United States News, Nation Wide, Economy Crisis — Administrator @ 12:45 am

This is rapidly becoming a nation where people can not afford to feed themselves and their family, and there is no end to this insanity in sight. 

WJLA

f you think the cost of gassing up your car is outrageous, wait until you need to restock your pantry. The price of wheat has more than tripled during the past 10 months, making Americans’ daily bread - and bagels and pizza and pasta - feel a little like luxury items. And baked goods aren’t the only ones getting more expensive: Experts expect some 80 percent of grocery prices will spike too, and could remain steep for years.

“It’s going to affect everything … impact on every section of the grocery store,” said Michael Bittel, senior vice president of King Arthur Flour Co. in Norwich, Vt.

Consumers such as Maria Cardena feel trapped by the prices. She said the bread she buys has jumped from 69 cents a loaf to $1.09 in recent weeks.

“You have to buy it,” said the 29-year-old mother from Lubbock, Texas. “You can’t go without it. Everything has gone up.”

The wheat market has been pushed higher by a combination of agricultural, financial and energy issues.

Poor wheat harvests in Australia and parts of Europe and the U.S. have caused China and other Asian countries to buy up more American crops, which are especially attractive because of the weak U.S. dollar.

At the same time, the American crop is shrinking because of federal incentives to grow corn for ethanol. And skyrocketing gas prices make it costlier to get any wheat to market.

Those same pressures have also made it more expensive to supply feed grains for dairy and beef cattle and poultry, driving up costs throughout the grocery store.

At Bob’s Red Mill flour company, wheat flour has typically been subject to retail price adjustments every five years. Now those increases are happening almost monthly.

“You look at the price and you say, ‘Oh, my gosh,’” said Dennis Gilliam, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the company in Milwaukie, Ore. “It keeps climbing every day.”

Wheat historically trades at $3 to $7 a bushel.

But this week, futures of spring wheat - which produces the flour used in hearth breads, rolls, croissants, bagels and pizza crust - were close to $18 a bushel on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. They climbed as high as $24 in late February.

Consumers pay an additional penny on wheat products for each dollar the price-per-bushel increases. “It’s a huge impact,” said Steve Mercer, spokesman for U.S. Wheat Associates, an industry group.

White bread cost an average of just 85 cents a pound in 1998 and $1.03 in February 2007. The price rose to $1.32 a pound last month, according to federal data.

And that’s on top of overall food price increases of 4 percent last year and an additional 3.5 to 4.5 percent expected this year, according to federal data. Most years see 2.5 percent increases.

During the past few months, the price of cereals and baked goods has risen nearly 6 percent over the same time last year, federal officials reported.

Consumers can try to minimize costs by buying fewer wheat products, but the nation’s bakers, pizzerias and other flour-dependent industries don’t have that luxury.

Panera Bread Company is paying more than double what it paid for wheat in 2007 - an additional $26.5 million this year, according to its latest earnings report.

At Kraft Foods Inc. producer of Ritz crackers and Chips Ahoy cookies, the cost of commodities including wheat were up 9 percent last year, or about $1.3 billion. Spokeswoman Lisa Gibbons called that unprecedented and said the company doesn’t expect prices to ease anytime soon.

The company has offset most of those costs by finding savings elsewhere, such as switching its Miracle Whip sandwich spread from glass to cheaper plastic bottles.

At the online baked goods retailer 1-800-Bakery.com, the price of wheat has meant a hiring freeze and curbing low-profit products. So far, those measures have been enough to avoid price increases. But Stephen Pazyra, the company’s chief executive, said prices will go up unless there is relief soon.

Sometimes the only option is to bake less.

Four months ago, Tony’s Old Fashioned Bakery in Midland, Texas, was paying $7.50 for a 25-pound bag of flour. This week the cost was $23 a bag - for a company that uses 25 to 30 bags a week.

To stretch their dollar and flour, Carmina Aguilar said her family’s bakery is making fewer pastries for display and stopped taking many last-minute orders.

Meanwhile, some consumers are taking the opposite path - baking more. King Arthur’s Bittel said that while store-bought bread is running between $3 and $5, a home baked loaf will cost about 60 cents.

That’s up from 40 cents from a year ago, but Bittel said his company nevertheless has seen growing sales of bread-making machines.

Some experts said wheat prices may be close to topping out. But whether prices come down, and when, is a guessing game.

Global wheat stocks have hit a 30-year low following seven of eight years in which world consumption exceeded production. Federal projections show America’s supplies at their lowest levels since the late 1940s.

Earlier this week, representatives of the U.S. baking industry went to Washington to ask the Bush administration and Congress to address the record wheat prices.

Lee Sanders, senior vice president of the American Bakers Association, said her group isn’t asking for a wheat export moratorium, which counties such as Ukraine, Russia and Argentina have enacted. But the industry does want export policies reviewed to ensure domestic bakers have enough affordable flour.

March 14, 2008

Canada Gets It, Why Can’t Our Government?

If Canada understands the sheer cost of illegal immigration to the fate of the United States, why is it so difficult for our own government to grasp what is logical?   

Canadafreepress 

Why Illegal Immigration is a Threat to the United States and How Local Communities are Fighting Back.

by Tom Deweese, Wednesday, March 12, 2008

n June, 2007 a solid eighty percent of the American people let Congress know they wanted the government to put the brakes on illegal immigration; they turned thumbs down on the President’s guest worker amnesty plan; and they wanted tax-paid services to illegals stopped.

Most Americans understand that new laws are not needed to stop illegal immigration. What is necessary is repeal of some laws granting taxpayer-financed services to illegals along with enforcement of existing laws. These two acts would be enough to stop the migration. In simple fact, they are called “illegal” because they are breaking the law.

In truth, the battle over the Senate’s guest worker-amnesty plan is really a battle over attempts to open the border as called for in programs such as North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). Both plans call for open borders and economic integration of North America. Open borders are required to fully implement the plans.

The Bush Administration and those promoting illegal immigration were frankly stunned at the force and determination of U.S. citizens to reject the Senates immigration plan. Proponents played a very heavy hand in attempting to force the scheme on a resisting citizenry. Such powerful forces are not used to losing. Today they continue to seek new ways to work around the opposition and pass the legislation, as a whole or incrementally.

However, the anti-illegal fervor refuses to abate and in fact, dramatic new developments are taking place in local communities across the nation that may well stop the unpopular Federal schemes.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to weaken the resolve of opponents, they are called fringe fanatics. A common tactic employed by immigration proponents is to accuse opponents of racism. They charge that opponents want to deny a new breed of immigrant the chance to become Americans as many of our immigrant forefathers did. They paint a Norman Rockwell-type picture of honest, hard working immigrants, planting gardens, working in fields, doing the work “no Americans want to do.”

So, in town after town across the nation the battle rages. And that is really the point. Illegal immigration is not just a border issue. It is a national issue affecting every large city and almost every small town. It must be understood that illegal immigration is not just a matter of some unhappy peasants hoping to seek a better life. It is a $300 billion a year industry, combining the interests of multinational corporations with those of drug cartels and Latino street gangs. Caught in between are American communities and the American way of life. Some cities, especially those along the points of entry at the border have become dangerous no-mans lands, where no property is safe, no American citizen is able to leave their home unarmed and some politicians turn a blind eye as they profit under the table. As a result American civilization is beginning to break down. That is why so many Americans refuse to back down on the issue, continuing to demand a crack down, no matter what name calling they must endure.

THE ECONOMIC COST OF ILLEGALS

Federal law (the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act) mandates that all hospitals with emergency-room services must treat anyone who shows up - including illegal aliens. In most cities across the nation, illegals now use the emergency rooms as free primary care. And the hospitals have to keep taking them.

Health Care

The annual cost for uncompensated emergency care to Mexican Border States (California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas) is $200 million. California taxpayers paid $79 million for illegal alien health care. Four major Los Angeles hospitals were bankrupted and shut down in 2004. Texas paid $74 million. Georgia ran a $63 million deficit for 64,000 unpaid doctor visits in 2002. Cochise County, Arizona spent 30% of its annual budget on uncompensated care to illegal aliens. University Medical Care in Tucson, Arizona spent $10 million on uncompensated care to illegal aliens. 77 hospitals in the four Border States now face financial emergencies. Legal citizens are forced to fly emergency patients to other cities for treatment. Taxes are going up to compensate.
Meanwhile, as a result of the Federal Emergency Medical Act, Mexican ambulance drivers are transporting hospital patients unable to pay for medical care in Mexico to facilities in the United States. The ambulances are driving through unguarded potions of the border with “little resistance” at the instruction of Mexican officials.

Education

Federal laws and a Supreme Court decision mandate that schools cannot deny free education to illegal aliens. Over 300,000 pregnant women enter the nation illegally every year. Taxpayers pay for food, housing medical care and school. The average annual cost per child for education is $7,161, totaling $109 billion to educate illegal aliens annually. The average cost of bilingual education is $1,200 per illegal student. U.S. schools annually educate 1.1 million illegal children. Schools have become over crowded and unruly. Teacher shortages (especially those who speak Spanish) are a growing problem for local school districts.

One teacher has reported what it is like in the classrooms in schools where federal tax dollars pay for free medical, free baby sitters for student mothers as young as thirteen, and free breakfasts (where “the waste of food is monumental, with trays and trays of being dumped in the trash uneaten”), new computers are “carved with graffiti by students.” “I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than three months who raise so much hell with the female teachers, calling them “Putas” (whores) and throwing things that the teachers were in tears” she reports. Such is the atmosphere in today’s schools which are overrun by illegal aliens who speak no English and there is no ability to control or discipline.

Moreover, state run colleges and universities are being forced to allow illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition discounts that are supposed to be reserved for residents of that state. In California, a law, (Assembly Bill 540) allows undocumented high school graduates who have been in residence for three years to enroll in community colleges and the California State University and University of California systems without paying nonresident tuition. The same is true in many other states across the country.

The Jobs Americans Don’t Want

In 2003, illegal aliens displaced American workers at a cost in excess of $133 billion, while American college and high school students can’t find summer jobs in yard care, landscape, fast food or service jobs – because illegal aliens work those jobs at a third of the wage – often under the table.

Crime

Crimes committed by alien criminals, such as rape, murder or drug distribution costs U.S. taxpayers $1.6 billion in prison costs alone. The figure doesn’t include the cost of lost property, medical bills of the victims, time lost from work to recover, higher insurance costs, etc. Today, illegal aliens make up twenty nine percent of the U.S. prison population - or 500,000 illegals.

Latino gangs like Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS13) constitute most of the crime from the ranks of the illegals. They originated in El Salvador and today their U.S. leadership still comes from there. They steal cars and use them to run drugs over the border. They terrorize local citizens with violence. They are the chief source of drug sales for the cartels. And they are racists.

MS13 is the largest and most violent of all gangs in the US today. They have overtaken the Crips and the Bloods both in size and violence. MS13, which began its operations in Los Angeles has now moved east and is prominent on the East Coast.

In Los Angeles, Mexican gangs declared “ethnic cleansing zones” in specific parts of the city. They kill whites and blacks. In New Jersey, recently, MS13 gang members killed three college students in execution style.

NO MANS LAND AT THE BORDER

No legal citizen of the United States of America, living under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should have to live as those who reside near the U.S. / Mexican border. Here there are no property rights, no ability to be safe in their homes, and no peace. One dare not go to the movies, the grocery or visit a relative without carrying a weapon for protection. Through out the community the streets are teaming with drug dealers, loiterers and gangs bent on violence.

The illegals flood across their property having just crossed the border. As they pass over the ranches and private property they leave a trail of trash, human waste and dead farm animals and pets. Found in the trash that is dropped all along the trail are pieces of paper containing contact phone numbers. Also found are Korans dropped by obvious Muslims who have made their way across the border.

Sometimes the illegals walk right in to the living rooms and steal what they want. Many homes on the border are now little more than prisons for the residents, surrounded by barbed wire, searchlights, with loaded guns at the ready.

The Tucson, Arizona area is one of the prime crossing points for illegals. The organization for transporting illegals is almost a precision military operation. On the Mexican side of the border is a landing strip where planes fly in on a regular basis with their cargo. Some of it human; some drugs. It’s all the same to those providing the transportation.

The planes land and the cargo is loaded onto busses with the windows whited out. Young girls prepare for the trip by taking birth control, for they know what awaits them on the trip across the border from their “travel assistants” - rape. It’s just part of the price for crossing the border into the promised land of America.

The busses drive to a specific location on the border. Here the cargo is unloaded and the process of walking across the border begins. Each of the human cargo is given information on what to do once they reach the other side, including a phone number of someone to call. The number is not necessarily a local number. It may be a location in Virginia, or Maine or Utah. Anywhere in the U.S. The person on the other end gives instructions on how to gain transportation to their location where they will be brought into the illegal community in that city.

And so the journey across the border begins. Somewhere in the middle, between Mexico and the U.S. is a tree. From the branches of that tree hang women’s panties. It’s called the panty tree. Why? Trophies from the raped women of previous journeys. It’s just the cost of doing business with the “Coyotes,” the murderous thugs who run the illegal immigrant trade. They don’t care who lives or dies. These are the ones who will leave illegals locked in trucks without food or water or ventilation. They charge enormous fees – up front. To them the cargo is all the same. They carry the drugs with the humans. They make deals with terrorists for the same trip. They rape, maim and kill. And go back for another load. Business is booming.

Once the cargo is inside the U.S., more buses are there to pick them up and transport them to drop off points. Here the phone calls are made for arrangements of more transportation across the nation. And in that highly organized manner, illegal aliens make their way into American cities.

Some are “Sanctuary Cities” where politicians have decided it’s good for the community to encourage illegals to live. In such communities no one can ask for the country of origin, even if a crime as horrible as murder is committed. The sanctuaries permit 20 million illegals, drug smugglers, child sex rings, ID forgery networks, and an assortment of run of the mill criminals to live lawlessly inside the United States. They are provided with income, identification, driver’s licenses, credit, housing, education, and medical care at taxpayer expense.

As stated, it’s a $300 billion a year industry. That buys a lot of politicians. Along the Border States no one talks about it. And, no surprise, a lot of politicians do nothing to stop it. Our fear and their greed are destroying the American dream.

MEANWHILE IN YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY…

How a community treats the illegals is key as to how many come there. The main magnet is the establishment of a day labor center. The nation-wide illegal network knows where to send them. If a community opens its arms, of course they flock there. If a community stands up to them, they leave.

But that is easier said than done. First, federal laws or lack of enforcement hampers efforts against the illegals, no matter the sentiment of the community. Federal courts strike down local laws, such as just happened in Hazleton, Pennsylvania when a federal judge degreed that laws the community had passed to crack down on illegals were unconstitutional. Federal agencies say it is illegal for local police to ask if anyone is an illegal. The federal government argues that immigration is a federal issue and for local communities to take action interferes with U.S. foreign policy.

On the local level too, there is great pressure on elected officials to do nothing. Strong lobbying arms protect the illegals. The ACLU, of course, threatens lawsuits. But many Americans would be surprised to learn of the Hispanic forces behind much of the pressure applied to their local officials.

Many immigrant groups are joined together through the La Raza movement. These are the groups which organized the massive demonstrations in cities across the nation last year. It is past time for all Americans to know what is at the root of those demonstrations and the extent to which our nation is at risk to the La Raza movement.

One of the most prominent Hispanic organizations pushing for “immigrant rights” is the National Council of La Raza – the Council of “the Race.” The mainstream media and most members of Congress depict La Raza as little more than a Hispanic Rotary Club. In 2005, La Raza received $15.2 million in federal grants, of which $7.9 million was in U.S. Department of Education grants for Charter Schools, and undisclosed amounts to get-out-the-vote efforts supporting La Raza political positions including lobbying for open borders and amnesty for illegals. Had the Senate’s immigration bill passed, several million more dollars were budgeted for La Raza.

Behind the respectable front of the National Council of La Raza lies the real agenda of the La Raza movement. This radical agenda, pushed by secondary groups contains the reasons behind the demonstrations and the strong lobbying efforts in our communities.

Key among those secondary groups is the radical racist group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or Chicano Student Movement of Astlan (MEChA). MEChA seeks to carve a racist nation out of the American West. MEChA opposes assimilation into American society. MEChA is a leader in the effort to “Reconquista” or reconquest our western states.

MEChA’s founding principles state: “In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal gringo invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny…Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and no to the foreign Europeans…For La Raza to do. Fuera de la Raza nada.” That closing two-sentence motto is chilling to everyone who values equal rights for all. It says: “For The Race everything. Outside The Race, nothing.”

These words don’t come from a fringe radical element. These come straight from the official MEChA sites at Georgetown University, the University of Texas, UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Oregon, and many other colleges and universities around the country.

Another leading Hispanic group involved in community organization, promoting the pro illegal position is Mexicanos Sin Fronteras. The translation of the name means “Mexicans Without Borders.” This group is active throughout the country and many times works with the “Zapatista Army of National Liberation.” These groups seek to radicalize the Latino community. The official website of the Mexicanos Sin Fronteras states that it is “anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist in the capital of the most terrorist country of world-wide history” (Washington, DC). It goes on to say it pledges its support to “other campaigns” of the radical illegal Hispanics with material and financial assistance.

In Manassas, Virginia the Mexicanos Sin Fronteras and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation are the two most prominent “pro-Hispanic” voices. In fact, these two groups are spearheading the illegal alien lobby in Prince William County, where Manassas is located. This is the “mainstream opposition” to efforts to curb illegal immigration in that community. Together, these groups are holding rallies and calling for boycotts and even the violent overthrow of the United States. Again, these groups are not fringe radicals. They are the most prominent voices for the illegals.

The photo on this page is of a meeting in Mexico with many of these groups. It is interesting to note that speaker in this picture, with his face covered, is Arnoldo Borjas a member of Mexicanos Sin Fronteras and a resident of Woodbridge, Virginia. He is one of the main leaders in that local movement. Further, in Prince William County, there are several candidates running for local office as well as the state legislature who are closely aligned with these two radical organizations.

FIGHTING BACK

While Congress fiddles and the Bush Administration issues meaningless pronouncements on “get tough” programs it never intends to enforce, local communities and state legislatures are beginning to fight back. And they are meeting with success.

State Legislatures, forced to deal with the failure of the federal government to fix the immigration laws, have considered 1,404 immigration bills this year and enacted 170 of them. These laws are aimed at curbing employment of illegals and making it more difficult to obtain state identification documents like driver’s licenses.

In May, Oklahoma passed the “Taxpayer and Citizen protection Act” which denies illegals state identification, and requires all state and local agencies to verify citizenship status of all applicants before authorizing benefits.

On the local level incredible success is being achieved in Northern Virginia. Last year two residents of Herndon, Virginia, with no prior political experience, began an effort called Save Herndon. The issue was the establishment of a day labor center in the community. The center would give illegals a gathering place in the community to help them get jobs, identification and benefits from the community.

The two began a campaign that at once made a major issue out of the establishment of the center. When the mayor and the city council moved forward and voted to establish the center over the objections of a majority of the citizens, Save Herndon began a campaign to assure these representatives were not re-elected. They succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, helping to out the mayor and everyone on the city council who voted for the center.

Now the movement is growing across the Northern Virginia area. There is now Help Save Manassas, Help Save Loudoun (County), Help Save Fairfax, Help Save Virginia and Help Save Maryland. Together these purely grassroots movements have succeeded in enacting legislation in Loudoun County (the nation’s fastest growing county) and in its neighbor, Prince William County which stops county tax-payer services to illegals. Incredibly, under challenge from federal and state officials, the members of county commissioners are holding tough behind the laws.

The key, as stated earlier, is the day labor centers. If your city has one, then the message has gone out to the illegal infrastructure that your community welcomes them. Get rid of it and send the message that they are no longer welcome. If faced with lawsuits from the ACLU and La Raze, welcome them. Tell them you will gladly have a news conference to discuss their suit in front of the cameras. Do not be afraid.

Here are a few guidelines to help organize locally and face the coming onslaught of charges of racism.

DON’T express anger at what is happening to your community. DON’T express annoyance because illegals refuse to assimilate into your community or abide by your customs. DON’T make the issue economic and safety issues. Overcrowded housing and commercial vehicle zoning violations or that specific individuals are illegal aliens.

The pro-illegals will try to tell the public that there is uncertainty as to who is illegal, creating doubt. They will talk about how impossible it is to check everyone’s legal status. It will be easy to charge racism.

Instead, make the issues about the abrogation of law. Focus your efforts against the individuals, businesses and politicians who create this problem and cheat honest business owners and workers by allowing illegal hiring practices under the table. In short, make the issue about enforcement of the law, cost and corruption. It’s working in Virginia.

Today, we have the chance to not only stop the flood of illegal aliens, but in the process, deflate the size and power of the federal government in the process. It’s time to organize Help Save America.

March 13, 2008

Pilgrim’s Pride To Cut Jobs

March 12, 2008

PITTSBURG, Tx — With the surging cost of feed as a result of corn-based ethanol production.  Pilgrim’s Pride is expected to cut 1,100 jobs by closing a complex and  and six of it’s distribution centers.

March 11, 2008

Hispanic Illegal Alien Exodus Proof of a Bad Marriage Partnership

In much the same way that a bad marriage is not healthy if one partner is in it for what they can get out of it, and the other is co-dependent on that partner. Illegal immigration is unhealthy for the co-dependent country involved.

Almost daily we hear how our crashing economy is causing an exodus of illegals returning to their homelands when the work, money, and handouts runs out. Many of these are represented in the media as hardship stories built to display the “poor undocumented worker”, “poor businesses”, and in some cases “poor community” who are being affected by the loss. While no one can dispute the effect this loss has on those elements, they are in essence, no different then those who are co-dependent marriage partners who suddenly find themselves struggling to learn to survive.

What needs to be understood, and understood firmly, is that illegal immigrants are not here “for better or for worse”. They will not hang around when this country struggles. They will not hang around if the country falls. Their loyalty is not to this country at all and they will return home to the place their loyalty lies, or move on to another country that has what they desire. In this case money, work, and someone to take care of them.

American citizens and many legal immigrants have a deep loyalty to the United States. No matter how hard it gets in the nation, they will hold on, they will struggle through, and they will work to improve the situation of the home they love unconditionally. “For better or for worse” is not even a thought for them, it’s a way of life.

Just as one would not support a loved on, or friend in an unhealthy relationship. America needs to not support this unhealthy relationship that’s been created by illegal immigrants and their advocates. Americans need to support and advocate for healthy relationships with Citizens and legal immigrants who had a deep unseated love for this country. Who will stick with her through thick and thin, no matter how thin it gets. It is that, and that alone that makes for a healthy relationship and a healthy nation.
As for the “woe is me” tales, well just like the co-dependent partner learns to live again. These co-dependent individuals, businesses, and communities will also learn to live again. In many cases they will learn to be stronger, stabler, and healthier then before when they were in the unhealthy relationship. In some cases they might not ever break the bonds of co-dependency but above all they will learn what the signs of co-dependency are and be able to advocate against it, while helping awake other co-dependents to be able to survive the “life without” too.

Hispanic exodus is under way
Workers leave Lee as jobs disappear
The News Press
March 9, 2008

In this case, cold, hard statistics don’t tell the story.

“I am not aware of anyone who would track that locally,” said Glen Solier, business development specialist for the Lee County Department of Economic Development.

“Those people are off the grid. Undocumented,” said Susanna Patterson, economic analyst for the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

But the oh-so-human snapshots of everyday living are revealing.

Like a weekend soccer league down from 32 teams to 25 because more than 100 players have had to leave.

Or a church that has cut two Sunday services to one because about 200 former members have returned to their homeland.

Or the western-wear clothier who gave up one of his three shopping center units and said business is off by 40 percent because customers are gone.

Put these and other pictures together and the collage tells the story of Hispanics who are leaving Southwest Florida to find work or to return to the support of their families back home.

“There is a loss in the number of Hispanics in our communities,” said Robert Selle, director of the Amigos Center, which aids Hispanics with immigration issues and offers other services in Lee County. “The underlying reason is economic; the same reason they came here in the first place.”

Population drain

The loss comes from a good portion of Lee County’s population. The U.S. Census Bureau listed the county’s Hispanic population at more than 90,000 - about 16 percent of Lee’s 571,000 population - in 2006.

What the statistics further show is that work is gone. Unemployment in the Fort Myers-Cape Coral region has risen this past year, from 2.7 percent to 6.3 percent.

Many of the lost jobs are in construction, which has been put on hold as the sluggish market struggles with a glut of unsold houses.

Because many Hispanic construction workers are believed to be illegal immigrants, because construction and agricultural workers are a mobile population anyway, because many are single with families back in their native lands, and because their leaving was often spur-of-the-moment, no governmental or social service agency is keeping accurate records of this exodus.

Lee County School District reported a loss of Hispanics in all grades totaling 388 pupils through January of this school year - this after growing by almost 3,000 Hispanic students a year earlier.

But the white student population dropped as well. The big difference was while dropout rates tend to increase as the year goes on in the upper grades, the Hispanic population was the only one also to lose ground in the kindergarten through fifth-grade range. It fell by 87 pupils - an indication their families moved from the district, according to Michael Smith, director of planning, growth and school capacity.

“Many workers in the construction industry and related industry are leaving the area and following the money,” said Barbara Hartman, spokeswoman for the state’s Career and Service Center in Fort Myers. “It seems to be an increasing number of people who are temporarily relocating. I wish we did track that.”

Hartman said she knows people are leaving because they tell counselors when they come in seeking work, saying they need the higher construction industry wages, which begin at $10 to $11 an hour for the most unskilled, to maintain their standard of living……..

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