Saturday, November 29, 2008
Another curse
“The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can't repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can't make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating.
“They end up worse off than before.”
I read in Business Week about another curse we have placed upon the poor:
Mexicans in US return home for holidays with less
The Associated Press November 28, 2008, 2:33PM Business Week
By JULIE WATSON
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico
Nearly 1 million Mexican migrants living in the U.S. are expected to head home for the holidays, but relatively few are returning loaded down with gifts and cash this year.
Many are simply moving back after losing their jobs in the U.S. economic crisis, a disappointing turn for an annual journey that has become a cherished tradition in towns and villages across Mexico.
In many impoverished hamlets, migrants are usually welcomed home with lavish festivities. Townspeople admire their new vehicles bought with U.S.-earned dollars, and children scramble to see what is inside boxes as if Santa Claus had just arrived.
Mexican police even accompany returning migrants to protect them against bandits who target vehicles overflowing with toys, appliances, televisions and bicycles.
This year, there is less to protect.
Wearing an Old Navy sweat shirt, Enrique Gonzalez, 38, said all he was bringing back to Saucillo in northern Chihuahua state was his deported uncle's furniture.
"There are no gifts, thanks to the recession," said the Phoenix, Arizona, hotel employee as he waited for a permit for his truck and trailer at a Mexican Customs office in Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
Rosemary Guerrero said she and her husband could barely afford the trip to their native Durango state, despite falling gasoline prices. Her husband, a construction worker, has only been working about one day a week in Los Angeles for months.
Mexican Immigration Commissioner Cecilia Romero expects the usual number of Mexicans to return between Thanksgiving and Christmas, despite a spike in drug violence along the border, but says "some who are coming back are deciding to stay in Mexico for awhile."
Greater border security, the U.S. crackdown on its undocumented population and the economic downturn have discouraged would-be migrants from heading north, legally and illegally. The Mexican government says emigration has dropped 42 percent over the last two years.
Many Mexicans already in the U.S. also are giving up on the American dream. Even before the economic crisis, in first-quarter 2008, Hispanic unemployment was at 6.5 percent, well above the 4.7 percent rate for all non-Hispanics. Another key indicator is that money migrants send home -- Mexico's second-largest source of foreign income -- has fallen this year for the first time since record-keeping began 12 years ago.
Mexico is preparing to receive this wave of returnees in the next few weeks. In Mexico City alone, officials predict the usual number of returning migrants will rise by as much as 30,000 because they cannot find work in the U.S.
"Before, we would arrive and everyone would be so happy to see us and they knew we would take them out," Guerrero said as she sat with her mother and 13-year-old daughter in their pickup outside the Mexican Customs office. "But this year we're only bringing back used things. You feel bad coming from so far away to bring back used items. Now we're the ones who feel like we need to be asking them for money."
Jose Moreno, 25, said he'll be asking his relatives in his home state of Zacatecas for help in finding a job.
Two months ago, he was laid off at a Los Angeles factory, where he worked making springs for garage doors.
After spending nearly all his savings and losing his girlfriend, Moreno decided it was time to go home, despite the risk of not being able to get back over the fortified U.S. border.
Moreno endured a six-hour walk across the Arizona desert and another six hours squashed under people hidden in the back of a truck to get to California in 2000.
"I struggled so hard to get into the United States, but I couldn't support myself after losing my job," said Moreno, leaning against a pickup truck with his belongings. "I'm going to wait things out at my parents' house until the economy recovers."
Manuel Medina, 34, said only about half the migrants from Teocaltiche in the Pacific coast state of Jalisco returned this year to celebrate his town's patron saint.
"In past years, we would show up with candy, statues of Christ, other church souvenirs and gifts from other migrant families," said the truck driver from Tulane, California. "But this year, we didn't have anything because of the economy."
(end of story)
It was so nice of us to help. But the curse hit us before it hit them. We’ve got teenagers who can’t find entry-level work and other low-skill workers on welfare. How did we figure this was good for us? And why do we continue to push for legalization?
There never was a shortage of American workers, just a living-wage problem exacerbated by businessmen who convinced their political puppets that they had to have slaves to be competitive.
How bad does it have to get before Harry Reid and John McCain shut up about amnesty? Money still screams and the hotels of Las Vegas and agribusiness of Arizona must have their say in the political process.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Diplomacy for a new America
Already he's paved the way for President-elect Obama to meet with Raul Castro. All the pre-conditions have been taken care of. They may now begin serious discussions.
Out and about
It seems the president of Russia has been sneaking around.
Our Russian friend seems to be as popular as ....well, as Obama. That can't be good. Hell hath no fury like a messiah spurned.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Here it comes, folks
That was then; this is now.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Detroit Free Press on the 23rd that Comprehensive Immigration Reform has a green light.
Q: With more Democrats in the Senate and the House and a Democrat in the White House, how do you see congressional efforts playing out on such issues as health care and immigration?
Reid: On immigration, there's been an agreement between (President-elect Barack) Obama and (Arizona Republican Sen. John) McCain to move forward on that. ... We'll do that. We have to get this economy stuff figured out first, so I think we'll have a shot at doing something on health care in the next Congress for sure.
Q: Will there be as much of a fight on immigration as last time?
Reid: We've got McCain and we've got a few others. I don't expect much of a fight at all. Now health care is going to be difficult. That's a very complicated issue. We debated at great length immigration. People understand the issues very well. We have not debated health care, so that's going to take a lot more time to do.
Harry seems to be overly simplistic because the Democrats didn't have agreement before. The devil is in the details...such as:
Back taxes- Do they pay? For how many years? Can any of them afford it?
Background checks- Do they get a free pass if you can't find anything in 72 hours?
Border- Is more fence a prerequisite?
Worker protection- What do we say about jobs for citizens?
Fines and fees- How much?
Going forward- How do we hold back the next wave?
Benefits- When can they access federal social service benefits? What about Social Security?
And last but not least...How do we avoid calling it amnesty?
The strategy will be to do it early so as to avoid the backlash close to the mid-term elections. Since voters have short memories this is a solid strategy.
It is a question of courage. Will there be anyone willing to go before the cameras and tell America this is a sell-out? And will the cameras even be there to cover it? Or has this election struck additional fear in the hearts of politicians...fear of special interest groups?
Sing along, everybody!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Did I know this? Did you?
The journey began 12 MILES from Baghdad and ended in Canada.
Now, Obama has been cold on nuclear power. You don't suppose he was deliberately avoiding that topic in the hopes that WE wouldn't talk about this shipment?
Well, maybe not, but it says something about the Bush administration. Was he being too much of a gentleman to say, "I told you so!"? Or would this news have served to boost McCain's stand on the war just a little bit?
In any event, this news was available around the 4th of July. It got a little more play earlier this month. Has anyone called it WMD material? Well, no.
If the media talks about it at all it downplays the WMD angle and simply says that it is a good thing the material has been removed from the unstable middle east to a nation that can safely use it. And how nice it is that it was sold for millions of dollars to help the war-torn Iraqi people.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Merchandising
But he's still taking money from his supporters despite the hundreds of millions he collected before the election.
So, we have a president who knows how to campaign. He's got a machine in place to sell all sorts of things to all sorts of people. One wonders what will happen when he comes up against a problem that is unschmoozable.
Stay tuned.
Monday, November 24, 2008
The economy for dummies (like me)
It explains why we are awash with credit card offers…no one is particularly concerned when our savings rate dips below zero…a TRILLION dollars of revolving debt is no big deal…and banks are courting illegal aliens to participate in our economy with home loans and credit cards.
It helps us explain how we could “give” $125 BILLION of government money to bail out Savings and Loans in the 1980s…and why the ante is richer today…and why economists aren’t all jumping off bridges…
And maybe it helps us understand how the Clinton Administration was able to turn our federal deficit into a surplus so quickly and how quickly it disappeared. We blamed it on the dot-com boom and bust, but that isn’t exactly the entire story.
It helps explain why manufacturing isn’t that big a deal to politicians…and how factories and inventories aren’t able to save the auto industry.
Maybe all this nonsense of NAFTA, CAFTA, and the EU come into sharper focus.
Ponzi schemes are against the law…unless they are big enough to ruin the economy if broken up.
(A mugshot of Charles Ponzi)
There is a test after the video. We are living it.
Video: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18205.htm
Some sage advice
This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.
A warning about the evils of special interests
All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
~George Washington’s Farewell Address, September 17, 1796
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Political Science 407
Course description: An overview of the current political landscape in the United States.
Prerequisites:
Statistics 305, "Polls and poll analysis"
Political Science 319, "Centrist politics through the ages"
Western Civilization 222, "Failed Empires"
Syllabus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT0AP3Nqvuo
Saturday, November 22, 2008
People are traveling less these days
Government statistics show that 1.2 million people left Mexico in 2006 and only 814,000 in 2007.
Now, best guess estimates are that the real number in 2006 was more like 2.1 million (I hate it when dyslexics become statisticians!) but even so there has been a decline in people coming to the United States from Mexico.
The Mexican economy is in trouble just like most of the world, but the keys to the downturn are visible enforcement (worksite raids) and unemployment. I find it interesting that in both cases the key component is JOBS. They come here for jobs, live like peasants, and send money home. (Which reminds me, remittances back to Mexico are also down substantially.)
So for now it ain’t worth it. Silent amnesty isn’t a big enough prize to risk the trip north.
But there are some huge incentives looming. First, that Obama and the democrat congress are poised to fast-track amnesty, and the name of the game with amnesty is to prove that you’ve been here a long time. In 1986 the test was at least four years documented proof that you were undocumented in the USA. (Sounds funny, doesn’t it?)
The second incentive is a perception that under Obama the USA is wide open to opportunity in the form of socialist programs (which already exist, with more on the way) and protection from discrimination.
Obama stumped full opportunity for all for the last two years. If you want to you can go to college, get health insurance, get a job, have every dream fulfilled. That sounds a lot better than street battles and corrupt officials in Mexico.
It will be interesting to see the numbers starting around November 5, 2008 going forward.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Liberals learn where turkey meat comes from
Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8
Below the funnel is a blood-red trough, evidence of hundreds of other such slaughters.
Palin calls it “fun” to be on the turkey farm. Well, she’s no stranger to hunting. She’s dressed a carcass in the field. It’s blood. It’s part of life. You don’t have meat without it.
And the media is going nuts over it.
Well, did you think they just dropped out of the sky plucked and frozen? Only on the WKRP sitcom does it happen that way.
Read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair if you want to know where your hamburger, steak, chops, and bacon come from. On second thought, don’t. The last half of the book is a pitch for socialism and that’s the last thing you need to read.
This display of how life really works opened some eyes. There will now be more PETA members and vegetarians.
Now, if we could just get them to view how an abortion is performed…
The cupboard is bare
The key is this: There is no free lunch.
Mormons understand this and have one of the best welfare programs to be found anywhere in the world. It is as old as Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob in the Old Testament.
When times are good you lay up a store of food. Then when the economy goes south you live off the food you have stored.
You can do that as individuals (which you should) and as a church.
Mormons fast once a month for two meals and then give the money they would have spent on food to the church to feed the poor among them. Of course, most of them give much more than the value of two meals, maybe $20…or $30…or $40 a month.
The church administers the program locally and the minister is advised by Salt Lake that there are four principles that must be taught when someone comes to them for help:
1) The recipient must work for what they receive. It might be cleaning the church, or service at the library, or reading to kids at the hospital, or helping someone move, or knitting booties, or working at the storehouse. (More on the storehouse later.)
2) The assistance is temporary. The minister arranges for the recipient to get help working out a plan to look for work or learn a skill. Right up front people are told that help will only last for a few weeks.
3) No cash is handed out. The church gives food and pays bills directly to the utility company or the landlord.
4) The church doesn’t care about maintaining the lifestyle of the recipient. The assistance is to sustain life. They don’t pay the cable company or the cell phone bill or the payments on the Escalade. In fact, they will sit down with the recipient and go over the bills in detail, pointing out the foolishness of some of their purchases.
Now, about the storehouse. The church maintains storehouses where emergency food and supplies are kept. Canneries around the world are staffed by volunteers who give their time to can peaches, green beans, corn, catsup… And the canning isn’t in glass jars; the products are canned just like you would buy at the store.
The canneries also produce pasta, gelatin, tuna…pretty much all the basics. Bread, meat, and produce, along with dry goods are purchased locally. All of the money to run the canneries comes from those fast offering donations. And nearly all of the labor to stock the shelves, pull the orders, and deliver them is donated as well.
So you see, the Mormon Church doesn’t just ask reporters to take a picture of empty shelves and do a story about the need for donations. They WORK to keep the shelves stocked through donated labor and donations from members. Those fast offerings become a blessing either way…if you don’t need help from the church you consider yourself blessed for your prosperity. If you do need help you are grateful that you have donated to the fund over the years.
There is no free lunch, but if you plan a little you won’t go hungry.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Napolitano for Homeland Security
It appears official that Obama has chosen Arizona Gov Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security.
She’s had some good press about getting tough on illegal aliens in Arizona but most of it has turned out to be fluff. She walks that fine line but at the end of the day fails to deliver on enforcement.
Why must we pick lawyers? These lawyers then fill the management spots with DOJ lawyers and they spend their time doing what lawyers do best – think up reasons NOT to get tough.
She goes way back with VP Joe Biden. They roasted Clarence Thomas together.
But she’s the governor of a border state and understands the impact of illegals, you say? So was GWB and look where that got us.
So she can fall back on her record of supporting tough border enforcement and do only as much as the president wants her to do.
Remember Chertoff? He did his best work as lobbyist for amnesty on the Hill. Otherwise he was soft when Bush asked him to be and tough when Bush asked him to be.
The danger here is that people will think they’ve got a “Law and Order” Secretary when in fact they do not. Her appointment may serve to give a Democrat Congress permission to proceed with amnesty, but we all know we need to look at the numbers (if this administration will publish them). Numbers like:
-Fence construction
-Border agents
-Detention beds
-Worksite raids
-Employer prosecutions
-E-Verify participants
-Border captures
-Deportations
And watch her moves regarding No Match Letters and E Verify for federal contractors.
Sadly, if people bought the campaign, they’ll buy Napolitano for DHS.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Obama executes...
The Obama coverage is getting pretty thick. Sort of like the Tiger Woods syndrome. "Tiger Woods did not play in this tournament and instead had baked salmon for lunch." or "Woods put on his left sock first this morning, a clear departure from habit."
Even when he isn't doing anything, Obama is the topic of the day. I saw a headline the other day about Michelle wearing high fashion and JC Penney outfits with equal ease. Whatever.
But there is some important news that points to trouble for Obama and perhaps a little relief for us - Executive Orders. BO is already making a list of things he's going to decree in the first few days in the White House.
Go right ahead, Mr. President. But take a look at your old pal Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois. Rod is the king of the executive order. If he wants to do something, he just does not.
The trouble comes with funding his little fiefdom. We saw it with health care. We saw it with alien welcome centers. He decrees and throws a little money at it to get it started and the legislature fails to fund his pipe dream.
And why should they? He's gone around them. He's playing king rather than using the checks and balances.
So I say, Go ahead Obama. Get the congress mad at you. Show us your authoritarian side. You'll have the federal equivalent of Illinois politics...one party in power paralyzed by infighting.
And that just might save the country.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Getting the last laugh...
Husband's coffin kills woman on way to cemetery
The Associated Press
2:03 p.m. November 11, 2008 San Diego Union Tribune
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Police say a woman has died on the way to a cemetery when a traffic accident hurled her husband's coffin against the back of her neck. Police said 67-year old Marciana Silva Barcelos was in the front passenger seat of the hearse when the accident occurred Monday in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Barcelos died instantly.
Her 76-year-old husband Josi Silveira Coimbra died Sunday of a heart attack while dancing at a party.
The driver of hearse and Barcelos' son suffered minor injuries.
(Perhaps it would help to know WHO he was dancing with when he died.)
Friday, November 7, 2008
Honeymoon for the Hopers
And in true Entertainment Tonight/American Idol fashion they are doing it up right.
Case in point is the Oprah/Mr.Man stir. So, the richest woman in the world (and probably the most-recognizable) rests her arms on your shoulder and suddenly you are a hero.
The good news is that Oprah didn't have him arrested for blocking her view; or perhaps for ruining the photo ops.
The bad news is that this is news to the Hopers.
The other bad news is that Oprah is either getting too old to stand up or she's gained weight again. Either way, that woman needs a chair, not a shoulder.
The McCains were all about sacrifice. Go to war, adopt children, watch your children put on the uniform... The Hopers give you a medal for allowing someone to lean on you.
And another thing...what happened to that three-legged dog? I don't think the Obama White House ought to have a designer dog like the goldenpuddle or whatever they call it. No sir. An inclusive president ought to adopt that three-legged dog.
By the way, did Obama go to the funeral? I didn't read anything about that.
Note to Oprah: Pay the $156K your mother racked up and cut up all her credit cards. That woman is playing the role of victim plus.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
You ain't seen nothin' yet
First, look at the news around the world regarding Obama’s victory. The American dream. Freedom. Hope. The land of equality. America is the place to live with Obama in the White House. He came from nothing and became president.
Second, Rahm Emanual, the new Chief of Staff. Like Obama, Rahm sees immigration as a good thing. His voting record indicates he is in favor of amnesty, chain migration, and lax enforcement. Obama is surrounding himself with other strong liberals.
Third, Obama himself. He favors an express lane to amnesty and has disapproved of worksite raids.
We could easily see a wave of immigration (legal and illegal) to far outpace the activity of the past decade.
And with that wave comes even less scrutiny of those who enter. There is no way they will be able to screen legal immigrants for self-support or terrorist inclinations. Surely Obama will not tolerate paperwork being held for two years while possible terrorists are vetted.
As for illegals, the past year has proved that enforcement can discourage entry. No one seriously believes that this president will conduct worksite raids or require Social Security Number screening. I think we’ll see a halt to the fence-building and increased Border Patrol as well.
By next summer I expect comprehensive immigration reform to pass, sending strong signals of “y’all come” around the world.
Assimilation is a problem now. It will be more so with an Obama who encourages us to learn Spanish in order to cope.
Conservative states will have no choice but to pass their own laws. And the feds will likely trump them as fast as they are written.
There is little good news on the immigration front as a result of this election. One can foresee a shift in the balance. Latinos may have more competition from places like Kenya and Indonesia. Judging from the world press of his victory he may very well achieve the immigration diversity he seeks. (But Mexico is king of the illegal aliens and that is not likely to change.)
If you think Obama will institute controls designed to regulate the immigration problem, think again. He is a champion of free health care, fair housing, rights of criminals, and education for all. It’s not likely he will come down hard on immigrants and illegals.
E pluribus chaos.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Obama Victory
Now we'll see what they can do. It will be tough with the economy in the tank and tax revenue tanking with it.
We've seen great campaigners who turn out to be lousy leaders. Obama clearly knows how to campaign. He's got the hi-tech thing down which brought on all the young voters. (Of course, McCain had nothing to offer them anyway.)
And there is a huge contigent of voters who wanted to make history yesterday. Is it a racial thing to put the color of skin above all else? I suppose a stronger GOP candidate would have been a better test of that idea.
Clinton fared rather well with his transition from campaign to leadership. It seemed at times to be a continuation. He'd get up in the morning, read the polls, then act accordingly. If the polls showed we should have a "measured response" to the bombing in Yemen, that's what he'd do.
Maybe that's what a president is in our generation...an extension of public opinion.
I'm curious to see how Obama leads. Will he be like Carter, surrounding himself with clueless people from his hometown? Not likely.
Well, the majority rules. That's how it works here.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Catch
OK, now he's going after global warming and he taxes coal out of the market. Who is that going to hurt? Well, the coal miners of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania...and all the industries built around them.
But it won't stop there. If you get your electricity from coal-fired plants YOU will pay more. In fact, even if you don't alternate fuels will suddenly become more valuable since coal is gone.
Now, those living on the edge will need help with their utility bills, right? One way or another, through charity programs at the electric company or government checks to the poor, YOU will help these people out.
And he doesn't have to tax you to get more of your money. If you've ever lived in Illinois you know what I mean. Fees aren't taxes. Tolls aren't taxes. Push the burden somewhere else and you don't have to raise taxes.
Beyond Dan Rather
George Mason University analysis of news coverage:
http://www.cmpa.com/media_room_press_10_30_08.htm
Newsbusters calls it like they see it:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2008/10/28/politico-acknowledges-media-favor-obama-ideological-favoritism-nil
And author Orson Scott Card talks straight to fellow journalists:
http://www.linearpublishing.com/orsonscottcard.html
I worry about the new voters who don’t study the issues. They see the election as just another American Idol contest.
I worry about the Limited-English voters and how they will interpret the candidates. (I also worry about their citizenship and their allegiance to our country.)
I am hopeful that some of the shoe-in Democrats won’t be shoe-ins at all…The Hillary supporters who can’t stand Obama…The intellectuals who see how thin Obama really is and don’t appreciate the constant hype that is supposed to be a substitute for substance…The wealthy ones who know how costly socialism is and don’t want another round of experiments…The union man who sees him leading his brothers down the path to lower wages and fewer benefits by opening up the borders.
Most of all I worry about the lack of quality among the candidates. It is sad that between the corruption and the selection machine good people don’t/won’t enter the race. The people we have to choose from tomorrow are neither the best nor the brightest in our nation.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Ha, ha, ha...
Criticism number one is that Barack was letting his aunt live in poverty right here in the US of A.
Criticism number two is that Auntie Z doesn’t have her papers. She’s an illegal alien.
So, McCain and his strategists huddle together to see how they can score points on this one. Here is a super-secret transcript of their strategy session…
John McCain: “Well, she lives in Boston and Romney was governor there five years ago. Let’s go after Mitt.”
Steve Schmidt: “No, John. The primary is over. You won. Mitt’s our friend now.”
John: “Oh, yeah. Well, she’s an illegal. We can go after Obama for catering to illegal aliens.”
Steve: “Uh, John. You have the same position as Barack on that one.”
John: “The fence. We’ll tell people that Obama’s position on the border fence caused the breach.”
Steve: “Well, she didn’t sneak across the border with Mexico so that won’t work.”
John: “Well, I guess there isn’t much difference between us on that issue.”
Steve: “You’re right. We’ll just have to let the media beat him up.”