Let's Play...

...YOU be the Immigration Judge.

Here's your case:

Modesto Rosales

• Male
• 23 years old
• Arrived in the USA on a B2 visa 21 years ago
• Speaks English fluently
• Father of two, though not listed as so on the birth certificates
• Provides some support to his children
• Filed tax returns
• Enrolled in “Transforming Incarcerated Dads”
• Married to a U S Citizen

But wait, there’s more…

Juvenile rap sheet:

•  residential burglary
• disorderly conduct
• aggravated battery
• resisting an officer

Adult convictions:

• driving under the influence
• driving on a suspended license
• possession/consumption of alcohol by a minor
• domestic battery/bodily harm
• unlawful possession of a firearm

Immigration charges

• Overstayed his visa (Charged August 2009)
• Firearms possession (Charged January 2012)

Personal life

• Wife plans to divorce him

So, what do you think?  Should the judge give him a Green Card or order him deported?

(drum roll, please) The answer is:

Judge Robert P. Owens ordered that Rosales’ application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident be granted.  Translation:  He was given a Green Card.

One is left wondering who would be considered deportable.

Well, the judge surely blew this one.  The judge ruled in April of this year.  On June 23^rd Rosales and another man invaded the home of his former girlfriend (and mother of the five-year-old), beat her, beat the man in the home with an iron…all this while his son watched on (so much for the “good father” part).

Here’s the story from The Courier News:

Accused home invader won prior bid to stay in US

By Mike Danahey mdanahey@stmedianetwork.com June 27, 2012 10:18PM

Updated: June 28, 2012 5:12PM

ELGIN — One of the men accused in last weekend’s home invasion and brutal beating of two people was allowed to stay in the country by a judge in April, federal documents indicate.

According to U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review Immigration Court documents obtained by The Courier-News and dated April 12, 2012, Judge Robert P. Owens ruled in favor of Modesto Rosales during removal proceedings against Rosales.

Owens ordered that Rosales’ application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident be granted.

According to reports, Rosales, 23, and Jaime Zarate, age unknown, are accused of invading a home along the 400 block of Raymond Street early Saturday morning, where they beat a man in the face with an iron and also beat Rosales’ former girlfriend in front of her 5-year-old child. Elgin police arrested the two men later that morning after a short chase near Rosales’ home in the 300 block of Wilcox Avenue, reports stated.

Reports stated both had been out on parole and were charged with home invasion, a Class X felony, and four counts of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony. Rosales also was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony. The men remain in Kane County jail Wednesday with bail set at $500,000 for each, and both are to appear in court again Friday.

“The Court finds that the respondent’s equities in this case tip the scale, ever so slightly, in the respondent’s favor,” the document states. “Clearly, the respondent’s criminal history is substantial and extremely troublesome, However, the Court is persuaded that the respondent has shown sufficient remorse, maturity and rehabilitation to merit a final opportunity to stay in the United States.”

The adverse factors Owens considered were that Rosales “has been convicted of driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, possession/consumption of alcohol by a minor, domestic battery/bodily harm, and unlawful possession of a firearm,” the document states, noting these offenses took place between July 24, 2003, and March 18, 2009.

Rosales also testified that he had been arrested on several occasions as a juvenile on charges including residential burglary, disorderly conduct, aggravated battery and resisting an officer, the document states.

Favorable factors considered by Owens included that Rosales has been in the United States since he was 2 years old, had never left the U.S., and that he is more comfortable speaking English than Spanish.

The document also notes Rosales’ strong family ties in the U.S. and a citizen wife, “although she testified that she plans to divorce him when she has the time and money to do so,” the document states.

According to the document, Rosales has filed tax returns, is a good father and has two children who are U.S. citizens whom he provides for though “he is not listed as their father on their birth certificates.”

In October 2011, he enrolled in “Transforming Incarcerated Dads” to improve his parenting skills, the document states, and Rosales also enrolled in several classes to increase his job skills while last incarcerated.

An immigration hearing was conducted March 12, the document states. On Aug. 5. 2009, the Department of Homeland Security served Rosales with a notice to appear in court for remaining well beyond well beyond the six months allowed as a B2 visitor who came to the United States through Brownsville, Texas. On Jan. 19, the DHS served additional charges regarding Rosales’ Dec. 28, 2010, conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm, a deportable offense.

Source Link:

http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/crime/13451821-418/accused-home-invader-won-prior-bid-to-stay-in-us.html

The King of Taxation

When the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare on the basis that it is a tax and that government has the right to tax us, they created the mother of all unintended consequences.

Obama will now forever be known as the president who lobbied hard and won the distinction as the man who imposed the largest and most ominous tax in history.

How could it be otherwise?  This tax will impact all of us and continue to grow in size and scope.  Medical costs are the largest expense we have.  And the costs have grown wildly, outstripping the rate of inflation year-after-year.

And what a legacy for Obama.  No wonder he's denying it is a tax.  But you can't have it both ways, Barack.  Unless you call it a tax you don't have the right to impose it.

Obamacare is the largest tax in history and it must be noted that Obama and the democrats hold all the blame here.  They were told repeatedly by the GOP and the American people not to pass it.  You deserve the crown of taxation.

Gagging again

Once is more than enough.

• Do you remember how Obamacare failed twice in Congress?
• Do you remember the costume party at the White House where white lab coats were provided for the photo op with the doctors who supported it?
• Do you remember that Obama cut a deal with pharma early on so they would stand aside during the public debate on Obamacare?
• Do you remember all the deals and procedural dancing to get it passed?
• Do you remember Pelosi telling us to get it passed so we can find out what's in it?
• Do you remember that Obama claimed there was no GOP alternative?

We gagged and Congress passed the bill on a week end.

Now I feel like the Supreme Court just shoved it all further down our throats.

Let us hope there is a strong gag reflex on November 6th.

Taking Stock of the Situation

(In the aftermath of the U S Supreme Court ruling of Arizona SB1070)

If I’m an illegal alien (or a future one) I’m feeling pretty good these days.

For example, worksite raids have ended thanks to Obama’s selective enforcement (or lack thereof) of federal laws prohibiting people to work without authorization.

So, the feds won’t check up on you…and as of today the U S Supreme Court has forbidden the states from checking.

Illegal aliens can go ahead and work with confidence.  In fact, the only suckers are the citizens who dutifully fill out their I-9 forms and provide the required ID to employers.

Speaking of ID, remember that pesky rule that’s on the books requiring immigrants to carry their papers?  That is so yesterday.  Once again, the feds don’t bother to check and the states are forbidden to do so.  “We don’t need no stinkin’ papers.”

And if you drag your children across the border they have Obama’s blessing that they can take our jobs and get an automatic work permit.  Sweet.

What’s even better is that Obama’s opponent in the November election sounds like he’ll do the same thing or something similar.

So, if you’re an illegal alien you should be breathing easier these days.  The rules you thought you were breaking are not being enforced.

For the rest of us, I wonder just how this soft approach is going to serve to deter future illegal aliens.  Just how is this supposed to help?

Sun Times Sniffing Around

The Chicago Sun Times has traditionally been the newspaper of the left in town.  These days it’s hard to find any rag that doesn’t shill for Obama.  But The Sun Times is going out on a limb to criticize Obama.

Staff reporter Dan Mihalopoulos wrote a story today about David Axelrod, Obama’s PR manager who left the White House last year to work full time on the campaign.

It seems that Axelrod’s old PR firm, the one that he founded, is knee-deep in Chicago business.

Of course, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was Chief of Staff at the same time Axelrod worked in the White House.  Hmmm.

And although Axelrod left the PR firm to work in Washington, he’s still drawing $200K a year (Does that make him a 1%-er?) from the firm and his new firm is on the same floor in the same building as the old.

Did I mention that he still has an office in the old firm?

Did I mention that two of the projects Axelrod’s old firm is working on are very lucrative, long-term programs – renovating Wrigley Field with public money and an infrastructure investment scheme using private funds.

But all the answers are lined up to assure us that everything is legit.  [Of course they are.  Chicago politics is always clean.]

Here’s a sample of the official explanations:

• Axelrod says he had no role in landing those contracts and isn’t involved in the work ASGK is doing for Citibank…or for the Cubs.
• Axelrod says he didn’t even know Citibank was an ASGK client until a reporter told him.
• Axelrod says the terms of his deal with ASGK “are fixed and unaffected by these deals” with Citibank and the Cubs.
• “If you think hiring Axelrod’s old firm will get you special access or privileges, you are sorely mistaken,” says spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton. “No person or company has an inside track into City Hall.”
• The firm’s executives don’t register as lobbyists because they say they don’t ever directly lobby — contacting public officials on behalf of their clients. Rather, they say they help clients get their stories out in other ways — with “media relations, message development, advertising, social media and constituency relations.”
• Another Axelrod-founded firm — AKPD Media and Messaging — recently produced ads critical of the Chicago Teachers Union, which is embroiled in a contract dispute with Emanuel.
• AKPD oversaw Emanuel’s ad blitz during his mayoral campaign, and the firm is a paid consultant to his political committee, state records show.
• “I rent space in my old offices, but I work full-time out of Obama headquarters these days,” Axelrod says.
• Ald. Will Burns (4th) — who voted for the trust — works for ASGK. Its website lists him as a managing partner. Burns says he doesn’t work on the Citibank account and had been unaware that Citibank is an ASGK client.

Absolutely the best photo depicting the matter is this one:

But you’ve got to trust the Chicago Machine.  There’s nothing to see here.  Really.  Especially in an election year.

A tip of the hat to Mr. Mihalopoulos for his political courage.

Source link: http://www.suntimes.com/news/13149087-761/david-axelrod-no-role-in-firms-deals.html

David Axelrod: No role in firm’s deals

BY DAN MIHALOPOULOS, Chicago Sun Times Staff Reporter

dmihalopoulos@suntimes.com

Last Modified: Jun 18, 2012 02:10AM

David Axelrod — the top campaign adviser to President Barack Obama — sold his ownership stake in ASGK Public Strategies in 2009, when he became a senior White House adviser.

But Axelrod didn’t cut his ties to the Chicago public relations firm completely. He still has an office there. His name is on the door. His old partners are still paying him the five annual $200,000 payments they agreed to when they bought him out.

Now, two of the firm’s clients — Citibank and the Chicago Cubs — have a lot riding on decisions to be made by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Axelrod friend and former White House colleague who ran on a pledge to reform a City Hall he described as riddled with influence-peddling.

Axelrod says he had no role in landing those contracts and isn’t involved in the work ASGK is doing for Citibank, which wants to help finance Emanuel’s highly touted Chicago Infrastructure Trust, or for the Cubs, who want Emanuel’s help in financing a major renovation of Wrigley Field.

Axelrod says he didn’t even know Citibank was an ASGK client until a reporter told him.

“I knew they represent the Cubs — I’m a huge fan,” says Axelrod, who’s back in Chicago from Washington to guide the president’s re-election campaign, which is based here. “But I have not been involved in the [Wrigley] project and don’t know the details of it.”

Axelrod says the terms of his deal with ASGK “are fixed and unaffected by these deals” with Citibank and the Cubs.

Emanuel’s top spokeswoman says hiring ASGK won’t win Citibank and the Cubs any favors from City Hall.

“If you think hiring Axelrod’s old firm will get you special access or privileges, you are sorely mistaken,” says spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton. “No person or company has an inside track into City Hall.”

Still, the public is rightly skeptical when companies with insider connections are involved with government, especially when the stakes are high, says David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Yepsen says the Cubs and any firm that wants a part of the potentially lucrative Infrastructure Trust should engage in “total transparency” about who’s helping their efforts.

“I don’t want to say they shouldn’t be doing business with the city, but they have to do their ‘moving and shaking’ in the open,” Yepsen says. “Rahm Emanuel, Axelrod’s old firm, these banks — they don’t need any inference of impropriety or cronyism. They have to show they have nothing to hide and that what they are doing is in the public’s interest.”

ASGK quietly has played a role in a number of major issues at City Hall, among them helping win City Council approval in 2008 for the Chicago Children’s Museum’s now-abandoned plan to move from Navy Pier to Grant Park.

The firm’s executives don’t register as lobbyists because they say they don’t ever directly lobby — contacting public officials on behalf of their clients. Rather, they say they help clients get their stories out in other ways — with “media relations, message development, advertising, social media and constituency relations.”

Another Axelrod-founded firm — AKPD Media and Messaging — recently produced ads critical of the Chicago Teachers Union, which is embroiled in a contract dispute with Emanuel. AKPD oversaw Emanuel’s ad blitz during his mayoral campaign, and the firm is a paid consultant to his political committee, state records show.

Like ASGK, AKPD continues to pay Axelrod for selling his stake in that firm. AKPD owed him $2 million, to be paid over four years, when he became a White House aide, Axelrod told federal ethics officials.

Both AKPD and ASKG are housed at the same River North address that’s also home to Axelrod Strategies, the firm he founded upon leaving the White House last year. “I rent space in my old offices, but I work full-time out of Obama headquarters these days,” Axelrod says.

ASGK’s managing partner, Eric Sedler, won’t talk about the work the firm is doing for the Cubs and Citibank.

Dennis Culloton, spokesman for the Cubs’ owners, won’t say what ASGK is doing for the team but says it was hired in the past year and answers to Michael Lufrano, the team’s general counsel and executive vice president of community affairs.

The team needs support from Emanuel and the City Council to advance its $300 million plan to rehab Wrigley. In April, Emanuel said negotiations for a Wrigley deal were in the final stages. Then, the mayor reacted angrily to reports last month that Joe Ricketts — patriarch of the family that owns the Cubs — was part of a conservative group considering a since-dropped plan for a $10 million attack ad campaign on Obama.

Emanuel has since declared that that won’t affect negotiations with the Cubs, but Hamilton says City Hall currently isn’t engaged in any Wrigley talks. “If and when they do resume, the mayor will make his decision based on what is best for taxpayers,” Hamilton says.

Citibank and a fund called Citi Infrastructure Partners — which won’t talk about ASGK’s work — were two of the five financial institutions that Emanuel singled out at a March 1 news conference with former President Bill Clinton at which he announced the formation of the Chicago Infrastructure Trust. Citibank and Citi Infrastructure Partners told city officials they’re considering investing as much as $200 million apiece in the initiative, which is designed to use private dollars to pay for public works projects.

Asked how the firms came to be involved in the initiative, which hadn’t been approved by the City Council, Hamilton says Lois Scott, Emanuel’s chief City Hall financial officer, relied on her 30 years of experience in the private sector and “made calls with an open invitation . . . to express investment potential.”

A newly nominated, five-member board will screen applicants to finance Infrastructure Trust deals. With only seven aldermen dissenting, the Council quickly approved an ordinance creating the trust in April.

Ald. Will Burns (4th) — who voted for the trust — works for ASGK. Its website lists him as a managing partner. Burns says he doesn’t work on the Citibank account and had been unaware that Citibank is an ASGK client, though Citibank is listed as a client on the firm’s website. “I don’t do a lot of work for ASGK, to be very frank,” Burns says, adding that city ethics officials assured him that his vote for the Infrastructure Trust wasn’t a conflict of interest because “any number of financial institutions can participate in the trust.”

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Copyright © 2012 — Sun-Times Media, LLC

Once Again, Timing is Everything

Obama has pulled off another pre-emptive strike.  Not in Syria or Afghanistan.  In Pennsylvania.

Romney was slated to make a campaign stop in Weatherly PA, less than ten miles from Hazelton, home of the famous Hazelton illegal alien ordinance.  No one knows if Mitt was planning to use the illegal alien problem as a rallying cry while in the area, but it is interesting that Obama chose that same day to come out with his program to stall the deportation of teens and young adults.

I am concerned that Romney didn’t turn the tables on him.  He could have used the Hazelton cause as a prime example of the lack of action by the executive branch to enforce the law.  The Hazelton story is one of frustration and political courage.

Instead Romney chose to agree with Obama on the need for a work permit program.  He even invoked Marco Rubio.  What none of them understand is that giving illegal aliens what they want will only encourage more families to come here. 

One commentator said amnesty equals citizenship and this program doesn’t offer citizenship.  Well, a quick look at the low naturalization rates will reveal that illegals don’t care about citizenship.  They just want to work.  And renewable work papers are all the amnesty they need.

So, Obama pulled one over on Mitt while he was nine miles from Hazelton.

The GOP is going to have to find some courage or they will clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Plouffe Spills the Beans

David Plouffe is credited as the new media mastermind of Obama’s 2008 win.  And he was on the air Sunday spouting the talking points of the campaign.

He was dancing around Obama’s poor performance on the economy by going back to the “Blame Bush” meme.  Plouffe told Fox News Sunday, “Listen, this was a deep hole caused by same policies Romney wants to go back to.”  Perfect!  Blame Bush and paint Romney with the same stripes…all without a rational thought.

Hidden in his excuse is the fundamental difference between the candidates.  Obama believes he can fix the economy with higher taxes, mandated benefits programs and more government workers.  It’s more like socialism than a free market economy.

On the other hand, Romney believes we ought to foster the business environment with lower taxes, fewer government-mandated programs and fewer government workers.

Obama takes no blame for the mortgage crash or the failed bailouts.  He deflects any criticism of cash-for-clunkers or Solyndra.  Obama takes no blame for strangling business loans with new regulations.  His whole excuse is that Bush left him with a mess and it’s going to take another term to fix it.