Monday, March 30, 2009

Decisions, decisions

There are times in our great nation when we need great leadership. And sometimes only one man is uniquely qualified for TWO position. Woe is me! If only we could clone him.

We need a Secretary of Automobile Production...
...and a Surgeon General
But Michael Moore is only one man.
Well, I guess Ralph Nader could run Detroit in a pinch. He knows cars.

Such is the plight of an all-knowing Washington.

Obama announced the take-over of GM on a Sunday. Pearl Harbor was on a Sunday. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

A big step...

...in the wrong direction!

I took a double-take at that headline. It read,
"GM Boss to Step Down at Request of Obama"

And the story was just as the headline said. Washington is in the car business in a big way.

Here's the scoop: DETROIT (AP)General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House, administration officials said Sunday. The news comes as President Obama prepares to unveil additional restructuring efforts designed to save the domestic auto industry.The officials asked not to be identified because details of the restructuring plan have not yet been made public. On Monday, Obama is to announce plans to restructure GM and Chrysler LLC in exchange for additional government loans. The companies have been living on $17.4 billion in government aid and have requested $21.6 billion more.

Do you understand the implications here? Putting aside the absurdity that government can manage anything, let alone something as complex and the auto industry, think about the symbolism of nationalizing a car company.

Think of FIAT. Yikes! Think about the stockholders and directors who were shoved aside in this unilateral move by the White House.

Then there is the precedence set here. What if the UAW decides they don't like a CEO somewhere. And so the UAW makes a big campaign contribution (Chicago style) and suddenly the White House removes the CEO. Not a stretch at all, folks.

Wow. This is big.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Joining Al Gore

Tonight at 8:30 local time we are all supposed to turn off the lights to show our support for Al Gore and the global warming gang.

I'm ready:

I have installed a 300 watt bulb in the front window.
Outside I will have the halogen construction site lights burning bright. All other lights will be ON for safety.
I've already sent my job offshore, along with the profits from all the junk we buy somewhere else.
I'll be d****ed if I'm going to send them money in the form of an international tax called "carbon offsets."

Thursday, March 26, 2009

As Crocodile Dundee would say

That's not blocking a street...

THIS is blocking a street...
What is the Mexican Government complaining about?


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Battle of Rio Danubio

Mexican politicians are angry because the United States has occupied Mexican territory. They have taken over Rio Danubio.

Those lousy Americans just moved right in and took it over for themselves. They don’t have the right to do that.

"It seems to me to be a lack of respect, and it is also a violation of national sovereignty," said Tomas Pliego of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party.

What a mess. And Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit soon.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, of the same party, also has taken up the cause of Rio Danubio.
"The Embassy has not had, nor does it have, authorization to occupy public spaces," Ebrard told reporters. "They shouldn't be the ones who occupy the city.”

You know, I’ve felt the same way. Mexican citizens here without papers have no right to occupy our schools, hospitals, and factories. They shouldn’t be allowed to just waltz in here and help themselves to this country.

What is Rio Danubio, you ask? It is a one-way side street that runs alongside the US Embassy. Officials blocked it off fifteen years ago and covered it with a canopy to give the 2,000 Mexican citizens a day in Mexico City someplace to wait while they apply for a visa to leave that God-forsaken pit of corruption and killing. You are thinking 2,000 people a day waiting in line seems like a huge number. In perspective, here is the official tally of green cards issued to Mexico over the years. (Hint: Mexico gets more of them than any other country.)
2000- 171,445
2001- 204,032
2002- 216,924
2003- 114,758
2004- 173,711
2005- 157,992
2006- 170,042
2007- 143,180
Now, keep all this in mind when Obama and the rest of them talk about “going to the back of the line” as part of the amnesty program. It doesn’t make any sense, does it?

You can get the satellite view of Rio Danubio on Google by calling up a map of
"United States Embassy, Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City". It's the little side street just west of the embassy complex itself.

Picking your battles











Warning: I do not approve of puppy mills. I do not hate dogs.

Tom Dart is the Cook County Sheriff. His mug was all over the place yesterday as he personally assisted in the public raid of a puppy mill on Chicago's south side. In all they hauled out 67 puppies.

Dart was on camera over and over again as part of the lead story on all Chicago TV stations. Why, he even upstaged Obama.
So, staff must be short at the Cook County Sheriff's Office if the Sheriff himself is called out on a non-violent case like this one. Well, let's just say it ain't Mayberry. This from the CCSO website: "The Cook County Sheriff's Office is the second largest Sheriff's Department in the United States, employing more than 6,800 officers, deputies and civilians..."
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? That Dart wanted to be at this photo op? And how did they get all that press there on a moment's notice to record the removal of all those animals?
And Dart himself told the reporters about the deplorable conditions on dogs in bird cages and stacked on top of one another so that when one eliminated, the dogs below were struck by falling "debris."
But Chicago Animal Control said this: The dogs have been taken to the city Department of Animal Care and Control, Sgt. Mark George said. He said it would be up to the department to evaluate the condition of the dogs, but he noted all seemed in fair condition.
He said while it was an unpleasant scene, it was "not as bad as other homes we've seen with less dogs." The house "was in bad shape, but not as bad as you'd think."
Indeed, all but two would be available today for adoption, and the other two were not far behind.
Now, Sheriff Dart missed this "trivial" event a day before (Monday). Congressman Mark Kirk held a press conference to roll out federal legislation to combat alien gangs. It turns out that Illinois has more gang members per capita than any other state in the nation.
Two Illinois Sheriffs stood beside Kirk at the news conference; Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran and Kendall County Sheriff Richard Randall.
Where was Sheriff Dart? Getting ready for his photo op with the puppies I presume. Sheriff Pat Perez of Kane County? AWOL as well.
Now Dart has a fine line to walk. Chicago and Cook County proudly wear the title of "Sanctuary." What's he going to say when reporters ask him how many illegal aliens are in custody in Cook County Jail? "I don't know," doesn't sound very professional, does it? Maybe it's best he stayed home.
One thing's for sure, Cook County is going to the dogs.
Kirk's press conference wasn't picked up by the press. ABC 7 TV did a short blurb on it, but that was it.
The media heaped coverage on Rep Gutierrez/Cardinal George and their rally in favor of illegal aliens. And, of course, the puppies. But they stayed away in droves when a Congressman talks about illegal alien gang members.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sybil Napolitano


At a press briefing in Washington today, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was discussing the Mexican drug violence and her efforts to contain it south of the border so it doesn’t move into the United States.

First, you should know that the $400 million of Merida Initiative money scheduled for 2009 has magically become $700 million of Obama Bucks, effectively blowing the wad allocated for next year as well.

Not to worry. The official response at the press briefing was: “Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg: The $700 million is the existing appropriations for the Merida Initiative. As you know, we've committed a total of $1.4 billion over three years. And so we'll be looking forward to additional funding in the FY 2010 budget for Merida.”

It’s as simple as that; we’ll just go back to the well for more.

I like this new approach. No more worrying about running out of money. Like last year when the money ran out for construction of the border fence. Under Obama you can just keep on spending future budget money. Consequences don’t exist anymore, remember?

Enough about money. The best part is the explanation by Napolitano about the objective of moving all that equipment and officers down to the border. She said: “What we want to do is to better secure the border area against further violence and make it a safe and secure area where, of course, the rule of law is upheld and enforced.”

Can this be the same woman who told Congress on February 25th that she was going to investigate why ICE agents were upholding the rule of law by arresting illegal aliens working in Bellingham, Washington?

It appears Napolitano has a selective interpretation of the rule of law depending on how close you are to the border.

What a joke this all is.

Protesting in Chicago

The Luis Gutierrez amnesty roadshow came to Chicago on Saturday. The guest star was none other than Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago and Chairman of the US Council of Bishops.
They packed the church with busloads of people brought in from churches all over the area. One was from Evanston, most didn't have a town name, just a St_____ on the placard. At least one I saw said SEIU on it.

We showed up and began walking back and forth in front of the church. On the public sidewalk.

A Chicago cop in a white shirt with a book in his hand told us we needed to move across the street and keep moving.
A bit later the same cop advised us that we had to move down the street, past the alley.
Keep in mind that Troy is a one way street so moving us downstream of the church would insure that Gutierrez and George would never see the signs or the American flags. Only the bus drivers would see our signs. Now isn't that clever of them? Daley's father used to crack skulls to get his way. Ritchie doesn't have to...he just sweeps the protests under the rug.
Speaking of Daley, Al Sanchez was convicted on four counts of preferential hiring, filling city jobs on orders from the Hispanic Democratic Organization.
Our Teflon Mayor says we need more reform in city departments to prevent renegades like Sanchez from doing such sinful things.
Is anyone still buying Daley's line? I'm thinking most of us have caught on that he's only avoided prosecution because he never gets his hands dirty.
Three cheers for the Bill of Rights, even if it isn't in force in Chicago.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Consequences

Stephen Covey has made millions teaching some basic principles, like the law of the harvest. He teaches that our actions have consequences; consequences we cannot control.

He often teaches the lessons of farming to an urban society. You must work hard to prepare the soil, a process that sometimes takes years. And you must plant and water and weed and contend with all the external forces…and if you are lucky you’ll have a harvest. (A harvest which requires labor, planning, and luck.)

I am hearing some disturbing things coming out of Washington. They are repealing the law of the harvest by holding in abeyance the consequences that follow our choices.

You see it with mortgages, abortion, banking, investments, manufacturing. In waltzes Uncle Sam with cash to bail us out of the messes of our own making.

And you see it with amnesty for illegal aliens. The roadshow of congressman Luis Gutierrez came to Chicago Saturday. Cardinal George was there calling for an end to the immigration raids.

And they bused in people from all over Chicagoland, mostly (95%) Hispanic. The placards on the buses read Saint this or Saint that. One read SEIU, whatever that means;)

At the rally they had a young girl read a short speech telling the cameras that both her parents are illegal and she is an anchor baby. What would she do if they deported both her parents?

(Well, first of all, they don’t deport both of them. They have had a humanitarian procedure in place for years that forbids that.)

Then Rep. Gutierrez talks about “breaking down the door in the middle of the night” to haul off parents whose only crime is that they don’t have papers to work here.

Gutierrez is either a fool or a lousy actor. They are not hauling people out of their homes in worksite raids. The only people they haul out of homes are fugitive absconders who have been through the courts and defied deportation orders, a process that comes years after a worksite raid.

As for committing no other crimes, he ought to know better. Someone working here without papers has either committed fraud or tax evasion. There are no other choices.

Anyway…back to the idea of consequences. Who is responsible for these people coming here in the first place? Who brought their children with them? Who fathered children into a life-situation like this? Who chose to purchase fraudulent documents? Who was working for cash-under the table?

There is something else amiss with the rally in the church. They commented that they were seeking justice. Actually, they should be pleading for mercy.

Cardinal George invoked the need for family security as the road to peace. I wonder if he ever thinks of the minority workers with few skills, unsuccessfully competing with illegal aliens for jobs? They have families, too. Or the way this glut of laborers keeps wages low and benefits scant? If he does, he never lets on.

The play was complete with the token white man, a young man from Poland whose father was deported a few years ago. It was another sad tale.

Make no mistake, it was a Latino event.

Welcome to the new America. You are not responsible for your own actions. Nanny is here to make all things right.

Have you sent out your tea bags yet?

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Go figure, California

California announces that unemployment there is at 10.5%.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is telling an audience of illegal aliens and their advocates that they are "very, very patriotic" and it is "unamerican" not to grant them amnesty.

And a majority of our elected officials in Washington agree with her.
Heaven help us.












Thursday, March 19, 2009

A new favorite

My old favorite descriptor for illegal aliens came from Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid (the one on the right): "Undocumented Americans" ~ June 4, 2007
My NEW favorite way to describe illegal aliens comes from Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (The one on the left):
"Very, very patriotic." March 7, 2009
Pelosi gives us the finger:
Reid does the same:
One big, happy family:

Broadway's got nothing on these guys

There is some fine play-acting going on in Washington these days. The prez and congress have perfected the emotion of social justice indignation. And they are getting the news coverage to go with it.

But lets step back and analyze this AIG executive bonus stuff. It really sells well these days because America loves the underdog. And poor old Uncle Sam is getting robbed by the big, bad corporations.

Well, the truth is that the bailout we were so anxious to sign before the economy fell apart altogether included a provision for bonuses. AIG had contracts with these executives and our bailout contract with AIG allowed for them to give these bonuses. Suddenly, everyone is a Robin Hood in DC.

The thing for congress to do is pull back any bailout money that has not been committed (if there is any) and rewrite the bill preventing bonuses for future bailout money. Instead they turn on the cameras and get subgovernment cranked up to fever pitch.

As for AIG they have taken the role of submissive servant, which is the PR move. They should have given details of the actual performance of these executives and why they earned it. For all we know these execs were actually the ones saving the company. And if I were AIG I'd remind them of the language of the bailout allowing them to pay the bonuses.

Geithner, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Durbin...all the talking heads KNEW about these bonuses months ago and said nothing at the time. Suddenly they go ballistic. Why? Because the bailout didn't work. It backfired on them. And rather than admit to themselves (and America) that they were hasty and didn't understand what they were doing, they shine the spotlight on this issue.

Barney Franks drooling over the microphone to talk about bonuses for failure is the picture of hypocrasy. What say we pay congress based on their approval ratings? How about a congressman's base pay of $100K. Heck, make it $200K.

Then they get paid based on their approval rating. They ended 2008 at 20% so $200K x 20%= a salary of $40K/year for 2009. How do you like that, Barney? Sure, lets pay congress on performance.

Then there is this matter of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mack. Did anyone actually take away Barney's money for letting that mess take place on his watch? Did Barney Franks ever step in front of the camera and say he was going to work for $1 a year because he felt responsible for the subprime mortgage mess?

Instead we get this "Mistakes were made" excuse whenever Washington fails to detect the unintended consequences before it is too late.

And this federal interference in private business is the nightmare of Socialism we all hoped would never come but feared it would under Obama.

Like I say, they're not much when it comes to leadership, but they are great actors.

A very rich update: Sen. Chris Dodd finally comes clean and says that he and Treasury put the "bonus payment" wording in the stimulus bill to avoid legal entanglements over contract breeches for companies that didn't pay the agreed-to bonuses.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Obama compared to Bush

Word just came down that Obama will be visiting Mexico in April. Bush visited Fox in Mexico in February of his first year in office.

Bush was hopeful about amnesty for illegals very early on and as a result he was light on enforcement right from the beginning in 2001, lighter than Bill Clinton when it came to things like worksite raids.

It made sense at the time. Why bother rounding up the very people who would soon be standing in line for legalization applications? It would be a shame to go to all that trouble to deport people only to grant amnesty to their compadres.

And so Bush hung back.

Obama is making the same mistake. His message, delivered through Janet Napolitano, is clear: It’s OK to go after the business owner who hires the illegals, but it is forbidden to go after the workers themselves.

What Bush learned is that it is impossible to pass reform without first demonstrating to the American people that we can enforce immigration laws effectively. Bush finally learned that lesson in 2006 and began being more vigorous and visible with raids and deportations.

To be fair to all, Bush prosecuted more business owners but he did not just let the workers go. They were processed and deported.

This time around there is a media blitz by congress painting illegal workers as victims. Pelosi went way overboard at a Latino church, calling illegal aliens “very patriotic.” (That ought to get some excitement going among veterans, don’t you think?)

The Luis Gutierrez road show has been selling the victim message for a couple of months now.

Keep a list of all these politicians who have violated their oath of office by encouraging others to break the law.

As for Obama, we can only hope that congress will get cold feet again when it comes to reform and he’ll learn that enforcement comes before amnesty can be considered. Then again, the numbers have changed. Maybe they’ll pass amnesty this time against the will of the American people.

It’ll be interesting during a time of 8%+ unemployment to increase the size of the labor pool through legalization. Good luck, Senators. Can we set another record for low approval ratings?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Does Obama know what he's doing?

…or is he just doing what he knows?

Like all of us, Obama’s worldview is informed by his life experiences. (How’s that for psychobabble?)

And just what are those experiences?
-His mother was a hippie.
-His father (a socialist) abandoned the family when Obama was young.
-Then when he was a child his step-father took him to the third world to live.
-Even the most “conventional” part of growing up, his time living with grandparents, was tainted by his being farmed out while his mother was off on a crusade for years.
-Then it was college as a minority student, with all the special handling that entails.
-Followed by his days as a community organizer and defender of Acorn.
-He spent time working social causes with the Chicago Political Machine under Mayor Harold Washington.
-Then more of the same in the Illinois State Senate.

He was shrewd enough to vote “present” over a hundred times, yet never explained why. Clearly it was a political calculation on his part.

My point is that his world has been one where government social programs are the answer to the problems of life. He easily falls into the thinking that big government can help solve our problems, regardless of what those problems are or how expensive the solution.

The only proof of effectiveness is the imaginary, “Think of how bad it would have been if we hadn’t begun this program.”

Folks talked about this before the election but now we see it in action. And he has surrounded himself with like-minded folks. This could be an expensive four years with government taking a greater role in all our lives.

"Undocumented" ICE Agent

Only in Utah...
Feds say a man conned victims by posing as an LDS immigration agent
By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune Updated: 03/12/2009 06:32:30 AM MDT

Federal prosecutors say a Salt Lake City man impersonating an immigration agent stole thousands of dollars from undocumented immigrants hoping to become legal residents, finding some of his victims through church meetings.

A complaint unsealed this week alleges Hillmar Ivan Jerez, 37, did nothing to help his clients and threatened them with deportation when they questioned why no progress had been made in their cases.

According to an affidavit by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Jerez charged $1,500 to $5,000 per person to handle the legalization process. He allegedly claimed to work for ICE in Murray but met immigrants at his home to fill out paperwork.

Jerez -- who his alleged victims knew as Ivan -- met some of the immigrants through mutual friends in The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints and told two of them that he was honored to "fulfill prophecy" by helping to return natives of Latin America to the United States, the affidavit says.

It recounts the experiences of five immigrants who paid Jerez in the past year to help them, and says some of them -- including one who tipped off authorities in January -- said they knew other foreign nationals who were conned.

The tipster said he paid $6,500 for application help for himself and other family members but never got a receipt because Jerez said that would cause a delay. Jerez allegedly claimed that cash would allow him to back date their cases for faster processing.

One woman, identified in the complaint as Z.C., said that after she filled out some forms at Jerez's home, he demanded sex from her and threatened to have one of her children deported when she refused.

Z.C. said she received "increasingly hostile and aggressive" phone calls and text messages from Jerez in the next month demanding either sex or more money to complete the legalization process. She also said Jerez took photos of her child at an LDS dance activity they both attended.

A software engineer listed as M.J. alleges that he paid $5,000 but had no progress in his case.

Several months later, in December, Jerez asked for help with his home computer and M.J. said he made a copy of the hard drive. Later, at his own home, he allegedly found files titled "How to Manipulate People," "Terrorist Handbook/Bomb Making" and "How to Kill Someone Without Getting Caught," among others.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

More training needed



From the Police Blotter in today's CourierNews:
• Counterfeit bill: A person reported Tuesday that a $50 counterfeit bill was taken from a bond envelope at 151 N. Douglas Ave. about 1:40 p.m. Saturday, according to a police report. It was rejected after it was suspected counterfeit by Kane County's counterfeit detector, according to the report.

And in the Daily Herald:
• A counterfeit $50 bill was found Monday in the money posted for bond in Elgin, reports state.

"151 N. Douglas Ave." is the address for the Elgin Police Department.

"Hey, Shemp. As your lawyer I've got some good news for you. They are dismissing your drug charge. Now, do you want me to represent you on your counterfeitting charge?"

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Word search

They are finally filing charges in the Chandra Levy case, and Gary Condit isn't being charged.

The man they have charged is Ingmar Guandique.

Here's the word search: See if you can find the words "illegal alien" in your local story about him.

Many newspapers won't use that term, so look for "undocumented" or "unauthorized."

Heck, see if "immigrant" comes up.

FoxNews and CNN both failed the test.

As recently as February of this year it was OK to finger this guys as illegal, but somehow that's getting omitted from the story this time around.

We are getting close to the time when congress takes up immigration reform again. You don't suppose the word is out to avoid bad press?

Nah. The Left isn't that organized.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Mexico in the news

First it was Nightline doing a segment about kidnappings in Phoenix and pointing fingers at the Mexican Drug Cartels and human smugglers.

Then there were all the warnings courtesy of the State Department telling the college crowd to avoid Mexico as a spring break destination.

Then last night 60 Minutes piled on with a report about the vicious Mexican war between the Calderon government and the drug lords. If memory serves me correctly, they said 2,600 people had died in 2008, mostly in border towns.

Even Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano told 60 Minutes that she is very concerned about our border with Mexico and closely monitoring the situation. She stopped short of the “troops at the border” idea.

Why all the coverage?

Well, some of the buzz ties in to the money we’re giving Mexico to fight this mess, about $400 million a year for three years according to the Merida Initiative signed by Bush last year.

And it gives the media an opportunity to take a jab at the United States by saying that the weapons used by these gangs came from us. And the demand for drugs also comes from us.

Now, where immigration is concerned there are significant implications.
1) People want to get out of Mexico. Who’d want to live in fear of crossfire and kidnapping?
2) A secure border also gives some protection against this curse spreading north.
3) Obama can play this into a strong enforcement strategy by telling us he’ll focus on the felons. The unspoken flip side is that those who are here illegally but less dangerous pose no threat to us.

We are seeing signs that his enforcement strategy will focus on the most violent ones and the employers.

There are problems with that strategy.
1) Who are the felons and violent ones? What about the DUIs? Or those in our judicial system who commit major crimes but aren’t convicted of felonies? And who decides?
2) The message of deterrence isn’t conveyed if you only send home the felons. The message is that coming here illegally and overstaying visas is not a crime. Therefore, the majority of our future illegal aliens see sneaking in as “worth a try.”
3) This type of policy fails to address quotas, family unification, and true reform.
4) Failure to deport makes a mockery of our immigration enforcement.
5) It does nothing to remedy the local impact of immigration (legal and illegal).

But as a political strategy it is safe. No race card. No human rights complaints. No pictures of crying children. Elvira and Saul would have been able to stay here under the Obama plan.

We are thus back to the 1986 amnesty program with the same results.

Look for advocacy groups like La Raza (NCLR) to preach “enthroning the rule of law,” meaning that they will allow criminal illegal aliens to twist in the wind, in exchange for an Obama policy of no worksite raids, no deportation of workers, and no family separation.

That seems to be the Obama plan at this point. Down the road comes a reform package that will almost certainly pass with an amnesty component and perhaps higher quotas and more guest workers.

There is less pushback from the right than there was last year. Far less. Congress will ignore the public as they have before. They will ignore the sour economy and vote with their special interests – labor, latino groups, and big business. After all, it’s time to pay back their friends.