Palin v. Gibson

Once again, Day by Day cartoon nails it.

What we didn't hear from Palin was this:
"Well, Charlie, I was thinking...I ought to just whip up a batch of brownies and fly over to Russia and sit down with Putin, or whatever that new guy's name is. I mean, we need to just talk this through. We need to understand each other. We need consensus."

No, that would be Obama foreign policy and Palin wasn't going there!

Are Obama and McCain the same?

When it comes to immigration policy people like me aren’t too happy about the choice we have this year. McCain teamed up with Ted Kennedy and put his name to the last reform bill effort.

And he gets a little upset with his colleagues when they claim he’s an opportunist on immigration. Remember the spring of 2007 when fellow GOP senators chided him for parachuting into the process after being away campaigning?

Remember his expletive-laced insistence that he knows more about the issue than any of his fellow GOP senators?

McCain claims to have won 75% of the Latino vote in Arizona last election. Surely his stance is pleasing to the builders, landscapers, and farmers of Arizona as well. So, there are some political reasons for him to be pro-illegal alien; reasons that go beyond the brown vote.

But just how deep does his philosophy go?

Obama reads like an open book on the issue. He’s all for redistributing wealth through taxation and trade. He’s for a socialistic approach to the services and functions of government.

It’s hard to tell with McCain.
He’s pro-NAFTA.
He’s promising job training and income subsidies to help the unemployed.
He’s in favor of keeping business taxes low, especially small business.
He’s offering a low-interest, government-backed mortgage replacement program.
He’s got a health plan that will make insurance affordable for all.

My question is, which one will motivate the most illegal aliens to come to the United States? The signals Bush sent created part of the invasion.

I have to believe that either choice will encourage illegals to make their move. I also tend to believe that Obama will resonate with more of them. His style is more charismatic. His party is more behind him.

On that alone, McCain is slightly less objectionable than Obama.

Watch the remittances. Right now the money sent back to Mexico is DOWN about 7% in July compared to last year. Year-to-date, it’s down 2.9%. If that trend continues, we’ll know there is a reason to pack up and go home.

If it begins to rise based on pre-election polls, we’ll be able to tell who the Mexicans are backing; more precisely, who they think can deliver an amnesty plan.

Mopping Up

Paul Green is a poli-sci professor in Chicago. He’s also a rather entertaining political consultant for the media.

Green says the new president in November will have won with MOP.

Michigan
Ohio
Pennsylvania

The dems have been downplaying the gender issue by warning people not to play the gender card. That is a dead give-away that they are worried about Palin.

And yesterday Biden thoughtfully told reporters that Hillary may well be a better candidate than Joe himself.

His exact words while praising Mrs. Clinton: “She is qualified to be president of the United States of America, she’s easily qualified to be vice president of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me.”

Rather odd talk, I’d say.

So, what’s going on in the Obama camp? Only time will tell. Some candidates have changed horses after the convention but it is rare. But don’t put it past the dems to try something like that. Obama was trained by Emil Jones and there are no rules in Machine Politics.

Could it be that the magic to winning this year is Mom, not MOP?

Stay tuned.

Issues please

I’m tired of the “phenoms” Obama and Palin. The GOP really did a number on the Obama campaign with the selection of Sarah Palin. She has shot up like a rocket on the national stage, hogging (watch those pig-like references) the stage.

Driving home from a meeting last night I tuned in three talk radio stations. They were all talking about Sarah and so pleased that someone has upstaged Barack. One host has been taking 100% of his calls from women ever since Palin was nominated. And there is no lack of call activity.

This comeuppance is fun for a few days, watching Oprah make an absolute fool of herself as she snubs Sarah, and (by extension) all the women with special needs children and/or a real family.

It is fun to hear some of the negatives about Sarah’s past like, “Do you realize she shoots wolves from aircraft? How cruel!”

But there comes a time when the people really want to see some plans for America. And we want to analyze those plans to see what they cost, and who will benefit, and how likely they are to succeed.

Instead we get these strategies about attacking, getting tough, or fighting back. Typical mudslinging.

What we need is a serious evaluation of the direction these different leaders want to take us. Ross Perot got out his charts and graphs. Let’s see some evidence that these candidates have spent any time at all on the details.

Or are we so enthralled by reality TV that this is just another episode of American Idol. Which party has the best entertainer? Do we want to look at/listen to Obama for four years or Palin?

The way it looks now, this is all a beauty contest. Let’s hope we see something more in the next few weeks.

Citizenship on sale

A year ago the citizenship office (USCIS) was swamped with applications for naturalization. People were all of a sudden anxious to become citizens.

Why? Well the price was going up. The fees jumped from $400 to $675 and they wanted to get in before the increase.

So, in this election year, how are things going? Not so good. In fact, worse than before they announced the increase. Here’s the tally for each year (January through June):
2003 269,689
2004 379,276
2005 321,578
2006 397,299
2007 686,816
2008 281,198

Latino activists blame the decrease on the economy, saying these immigrants can’t afford the additional $275. That’s an indictment on our failed system if you ask me. We obviously are not inviting immigrants who are self-supporting if after at least seven years in the United States an increase of $275 keeps them from obtaining the most important piece of paper in their entire lives!

Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez said, “Citizenship shouldn't be for the wealthy.”

And Obama said at the time the new fee schedule was announced, “Setting sky high immigration application fees could deter immigrants from following a legal path citizenship, sending those that played by the rules into the shadows.” (Or they could go on in their Green Card status until they saved the $275. He can’t explain that one because it doesn’t make any sense…but typical Obama rhetoric sounds soooo good.)

And Jan Schakowsky said, “Instead of making it more expensive and more difficult to become a citizen, we should create a fairer system that provides immigrants with an affordable and reasonable path to citizenship. Under the current proposal, the USCIS would discourage immigrants from becoming full and active participants in our society.”

And all these groups agree with these politicians that higher fees are unacceptable, even if they are the actual costs of processing the applications:

The National Council of La Raza, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the National Immigration Forum, the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Asian American Justice Center, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Legal Momentum, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, and the Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

Link here: http://obama.senate.gov/press/070307-obama_gutierrez/

Three observations from Alien Rants:
1) The price wouldn’t be so high if we hadn’t left the door open on 9/11, causing much more careful background checks.
2) Why do we insist on allowing such a high number of low-skilled people from the Third World who need a subsidy for the processing fee?
3) It’s too bad some of these politicians aren’t going to get those new voters they were counting on.

Mitt's grateful

So Sarah Palin is under the microscope for all sorts of things from beauty contests to basketball to her expense account.

One interesting attack goes like this: She belongs to a church that prays for the souls of homosexuals. Can you believe it?

I ask: What would Mitt do?

Well, the Mormon Church has entered the battle on same-sex marriage in California, seeking to motivate its members to vote against it in November.

What is the Mormon position on homosexuals? Well, you can read it here at the Church website:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/public-issues/same-gender-attraction

The nitty-gritty is that the Church recognizes that some people struggle with same-gender feelings. It is not a sin to have those feelings. It is a sin to act on those urges and engage in sexual acts with others of the same sex.

It is also hoped (prayed, if you will) that the individuals will seek counseling. The church sponsors an addiction recovery program (not specifically for sexual addictions) as a way to assist people to overcome at least the habits of homosexuality.

I know, they can’t help it…it isn’t an illness…there’s nothing wrong with that choice…studies show their brains work differently (so do the brains of alcoholics but we don’t encourage them to drink themselves silly)…they have a right to live as they choose…

Save it! There are millions of people in America who view homosexuality as wrong. They don’t put on leather Speedos and parade around carrying protest signs, but they do believe gays and lesbians need rehab, not validation for their “choice.”

If this is your election deal-breaker, I would guess that you will also disagree with Palin on many other issues.

But if you think open gayness has gotten out of hand, maybe you’ll agree with Sarah’s church.

Then again, progressives aren’t much for organized religion. They get nervous when anyone, including evangelicals, feel strongly about something. But it gives a little relief from the bitterness.

That’s it! Obama feels threatened because religion offers an antidote…and Barack is the antidote. There can be no other solution.

I’m thinking Mitt is a grateful man as he watches from a distance the examination of all things Palin.

A Mexican Standoff at the courthouse

Three guys walked into a Mexican grocery store last January. They tied up the owners and proceeded to rob the place. But the owner of the store works his way free, grabs his pistol, and begins shooting at the robbers.

Two of them get away; the third was not so lucky.

It’s against the law to rob a store. As it turns out, it’s even more “against the law” to shoot at the robbers.

Now, here’s where it gets a little complicated so get out a piece of paper and map out what has happened here.

Rafael Diaz is the owner of the store. Because he fired at the robbers as they took off down a busy street, he was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm. As far as we know, he didn’t hit anyone (not even the robbers) with his shots.

So Diaz failed to show up in court to answer the charges. He has “fled the jurisdiction” as they say.

Two of the robbers were never picked up. Sad Sac robber number three, Efrain Castanon, came to court and the charges were dismissed. The prosecutors sort of needed Diaz to testify and he wasn’t around.

They talked him into pleading guilty and placed him on probation.

But Castanon still doesn’t walk. He was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Now, what are the chances that this fellow gets deported, only to run into “Dead-eye” Diaz hiding out somewhere in Mexico? Just a thought.