How Do We Address Illegal "Protectionism?"
Here are some cogent facts....
Illegal Mexicans enter the USA by the hundreds of thousands across the Mexican/American border.
Mexico, the country, and their leader, Vincente Fox (In the Hen House?) actively support and encourage illegal immigration.
Mexico, the country, and their leader, Vincente Fox (In the Hen House?) actively support STRONG military enforcement of anti-immigration.....
at their southern border!!!While enforcing this strong protection for the Mexican southern border, they also impose a prison term of up to two years for violators!Illegal Mexicans send home enough BILLIONS of US dollars annually to exceed the gross national Mexican export of agricultural goods!!! (Estimate by some in-the-know is
20 Billion)
The social/healthcare/economic cost of the illegals in the USA annually is estimated at
26 billion dollars!Thus the annualized cost to the USA for these Illegals is about
46 Billion Dollars!!!Those benefitted by the illegals presence in the USA? - Businesses who use these folks, while pretending they are legal, and pay them the lowest wage with which they can succeed....
SO-o-o-o-o......
As I see it, we, the taxpayers are being asked to deliver to Mexico and its citizens
46 Billion Dollars annually to benefit some businesses in the USA which otherwise would have to pay the prevailing wage to hirees....
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE????Well, for one thing, it is the fact that a sitting President, and a majority of the US Senate are willing to enforce this idiocy by trying to tell us they will solve the problem by proposing to do the SAME thing that was proposed in 1986..........Something already on the books....except, of course, for the "stair-steps to legalization".....A-M-N-E-S-T-Y!!!!! By ANY other name!If you can locate your House representative's name, give him a call...an email...or BOTH to let them know you also feel, as they do, that criminals must first be recognized and identified... then a FENCE must be built.....not across 1/7th of the border....but instead across ALL of the border.
This is life-shaping........no, it is country-shaping as it means we could find illegals here again in 10 more years at double to triple the 12-20 million now in the USA....without penalty!
This is Country-threatening stuff folks!
Duke
Quiet Rage - Maybe Not So Quiet!
In his Piece at RCP (Real Clear Politics), John McIntyre speaks of the "quiet rage" growing:
"There is a quiet rage building among average middle class folks on the illegal immigration issue, and if the Republican leadership doesn't take control of the problem very soon they will allow the more extremist wings of the anti-immigration debate to become the face of the Republican party on immigration. That would be a disaster for GOP hopes to grow their new found majority in the years to come." He continues......
"It is clear that most in the Washington establishment are living in a bubble when it comes to where the average American is on illegal immigration." It seems to me that is the current story of the entire political scene. Dems and Reps are both living in their little bubble and either ignoring the true public position/perception, or following the basic referred ruls as outlined in a Chris Muir cartoon recently as he mis-quoted Mr. Hastert, "
With only two choices? Voters have nothing to lean on!" The problem is that seems to be their attitude. Read the entire piece by McIntyre
and understand!Time for a wake up call folks......anybody in Washington got an alarm clock?
Duke
Perspective on Illegals.....FOCUS PLEASE!
Time to ignore the whines and curses, displays and demonstrations, and to get down to the facts of just what the Mexican "invasion" vis-a-vis illegal immigration is really all about!
At Wizbang the facts are well-displayed in this bit:
"As John Kerry discovered through marriage, life is a lot simpler when you can get someone else to pay your bills.
And that principle is a large part of why I get so bent out of shape over the illegal alien problem.
Every single nation in the world has its poor people. They are, to be blunt, a burden. An expense. A liability. They consume far more in services than they will ever provide in revenue.
But they are also a fact of human nature, and providing care for them is one of the fundamental duties of any legitimate government. In the United States, we may argue about the level and form of that support, but only the most extreme ideologues argue against it completely.
Mexico, and some other nations, though, have found a solution to this problem. In fact, they've managed to turn them into assets. Their solution? Send them to the United States.
By some estimates, Mexicans working in the United States send home about $20 billion a year to their families. That number exceeds the amount Mexico gains from agriculture exports and tourism, and is a huge boon to the Mexican economy.
Why, this is a stroke of economic genius! Just how do these foreign nations manage to do it, and can other nations follow the same example?
The answer is simple: like the spammer, like the junk faxer, they are cost-shifting, but on a scale the scammers would blush at. By dumping their poor on the United States, they free themselves of the cost of support -- and stick Uncle Sam with the bill.
By the best estimates I can find, illegal aliens contribute about $16 billion to the US economy each year. But they use about $26.3 billion in social spending, meaning that the United States loses about $10.3 billion a year supporting other nations' poor.
Mexicans make up about 57% of all illegal aliens in the United States, so let's round off the numbers and say that Mexican illegals use about $5.7 billion of that cost. Add that number to the $20 billion that they send home to Mexico, and we see that we are subsidizing the Mexican government to the tune of almost $26 billion dollars a year. That's above and beyond any direct foreign aid; that is money that Mexico is directly taking from us via its illegal aliens.
In direct violation of our laws." Jay Tea, the Wizbang blog-piece author sums as well as he describes:
"The Mexican government has found its goose that lays the golden egg, and it's the big nation to its north. It has discovered how to take its poorest citizens and encourage them to go north, in direct contravention of United States law and in violation of our national sovereignty, and turn them into productive citizens that are a huge asset to its economy. And now it's trying to cast this program of economic exile into a moral issue, insisting that it is not only justifiable, but ethical and necessary that the United States continue to act as a relief valve for Mexico's poor, dispossessed underclass -- the very people who, if not presented with the very attractive choice of illegally coming to America, might very will rise up and overthrow their own corrupt, inefficient, callous government.
By tolerating the continuing flow of millions of illegal aliens into the United States, we are helping corrupt, oppressive governments to sustain their power and bleed off those who would be most motivated to make changes in their homelands. We are preserving a status quo that, by any moral, economic, or pragmatic standard, should not be sustainable. And we are doing it to the tune of $10 billion a year -- and rising.
It's easy to look at the illegal alien and feel compassion and sympathy. He only wants to support his family back home. She has children to care for. But it's a trap. By bending the rules today, we are sentencing untold future generations to the same fate as the guy mowing your lawn, the crew fixing your roof, the women who clean your office. We are rewarding the governments that made them into economic refugees.
It's a simple rule of economics: you get more of whatever you subsidize. We are subsidizing illegal immigration, and there is absolutely no reason why the immigrants will not continue to come -- and no reason why their governments will not continue to tolerate and encourage it.
It's an immoral model. More importantly, it's an economically unsustainable model. And sooner or later, it has to end.
If we're lucky, we'll end it before it ends us." This places the thinking and focus exactly where I believe it belongs. No control, no solution. All else, including whatever flavor of amnesty you decided to enjoy, only continues and expands the problem....it does not provide a solution.
Duke
p.s. For those who might like to read Jay Tea's entire article you'll find it
here at Wizbang!UPDATE: The site for a petition by the Minutemen to direct our Congress to take action to seal the border..... is right here.
Immigration Deal "At Risk"????
Yeppers, folks....the FACTS are getting in the way of the politics from GWB!
The facts are.....the general public DOES NOT LIKE AMNESTY! & to make matters even worse for GWB, the general public feels the proposal by Bush vis-a-vis the Senate luxury pool is NOT OK!
The reports are summarized quite well by Jim VanderHei & Zachery A. Gioldfarb at WaPo...
in a MUST read!!!!The Pres is in trouble and his stubborn efforts thru the Senate to force his ideas are doomed!
The public is N-O-T buying it! They are OPPOSED to finding the illegals to be "traffic ticket" illegals.....
BS....
We can hope for backbone among the vulnerable GOP for this fall....and we CAN support THEM!!!!! Do so, and make it happen.
Give GWB a slap-of-reality alongside his smiling face!
& HELP THE GOP Cause......
I guarantee the results of passage of the Senate version of the Illegal Immigrant law will be
DISASTER for the GOP this fall....
The voters have spoken! Via many polls
not controlled by the GOP!
Duke
No "Bond" Present....nor Anticipated!
Barry Bonds, most likely supported by the bionics of drugs, has moved to 2nd in the home run list for all time.
I care not for what he achieves......I care not for what his numbers are.....He is not a
contender!!!He is
flawed...he is full of the mystique of what he might have done IF he had NOT....
But then, he did, and he himself has admitted he did, but "did not know".....
RIGHT!!!!!
& I am one of those with whom you can trust your daughter cause I have a fine smile.......
I will N-E-V-E-R recognize any record set by "Mr. Steroid".....His numbers make baseball a joke. The fact that baseball has not yet decided to limit his numbers and his impact speaks to the fact of baseball's decline in the public image.
Can you not feel it, Mr. Commissioner?????
I am a "Stan-The-Man" baseball observer.....where have you gone baseball?????
Duke
But, What about the FENCE???
The buzz today from Captain Ed to Dafydd is on a memo by a RNC Stratigist which claims strong support for SOME illegal-dealing bill.....and, believe it or not, those polled seem bent upon the plan as non-amnesty!
At
Big Lizards Dafydd
explains his take.Captain Ed at
Captain's Quarters also emotes upon the apparent acceptance.
Am I the only one who notices the quite deft management of the "multiple" polls by RNC Strategist Dowd to provide fodder to project GWB as a winner in the eyes of the public....all the while ignoring ANY mention of the FENCE!
If someone asks the right question; "Should a fence be built to cut off the flow of illegals across the Mexican border prior to any amnesty program?"; I'd bet you 90% of those polled would issue a resounding YES!.
GWB and his stalwart protectors, Dowd included, are shoving the complete fence under the rug while tossing out bon-bons of a 370 mile fence on a 2,000 mile border.
How bout such a poll? Actually there have been polls which indicate just what I suppose; nothing original by me at all. Those polls seem oddly missing now in this current presentation. Perhaps because it would "muddy" the waters as the House is asked by GWB and the Senate to drop most of their proposals.
Where's My Fence?
Duke
Memorial Day 2006 - A Day to Remember
I'll post this a bit early so we can savor the meaning of Memorial Day a bit longer than a single busy day.
Time to honor our Military. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. Each and every service has given in the form of men and women lost during conflicts over the past 200 years.
I'll center on two things important to me.....one close and personal, another a bit more general.
1st LT. Paul K. DeLand, Sr., my Father....retired with three purple hearts and a mind wounded much more than any damage the flesh wounds caused him. He fought thru much of Italy, and a part of S. France before suffering a breakdown then labeled "battle fatigue".
His military doctors retired him and told my Mother he'd never work again. He defied them and worked for many years including in his own business, a printshop. He never spoke of the war; nor did he spend any time I knew reliving it, although in quiet times I am sure he had no choice.
He did tell of the times on R&R in Italy, and awakening one morning with loudspeakers informing he and his three companions...thru the Italian Wine Fog which he said was deadly...to tell him he was parked in his jeep in a mine field. They managed to walk them out. Other less-serious events also were retold. Nothing of the actual war.
He was a credit to his family, his country and to freedom we all enjoy and which was partially bought with his body and soul.
A salute to a loving father who is always remembered.
My second salute is to the United States Coast Guard....probably the most-overlooked of the services and one serving at war and peace.....As a retired National Staff Branch Chief in the USCG Auxiliary, I joined every year of my active service in the annual memorial for the USS Blackthorn, sunk in Tampa Bay with the loss of 11 Coasties. Semper Paratus!
You too are remembered.
The salute, Semper Paratus, has also been offered by
David at Gratuitous Advice.
A Memorial Day gathering of salutes has been initiated by
Lorie Byrd at Wizbang, her new blogging home.Join me in reflection this weekend, my friends and fellow benefactors of the lives, limbs and hearts given so freely by our Military!
Duke
Cogent Thought vis-a-vis the Immigration Illegals!
Yes there is such a thing!
Read it here from the PowerLine folk in the person of John Hinderaker.....
"The Bush administration and Republican Senators have badly misjudged both the attitudes of most Republicans (and, of course, most Americans) toward illegal immigration, and the intensity of those views. While we have opposed the Senate plan, we have been pretty mild-mannered about it. So I'm turning the microphone over to my friend Bob Cunningham. No one I know of argues immigration-related issues more cogently. Equally important, no one I know of conveys the white-hot anger and sense of betrayal that millions of Americans feel about this issue more effectively.
We know that this site is widely read in the White House and in Congress. To all Republicans in Washington: please, please read what follows with care, and understand that Bob speaks for most Americans and the overwhelming majority of Republicans:
Here's what they're missing, and it is the principal reason, in my opinion, WHY the anti-ILLEGAL forces are so upset -- and so powerful.
It has to do with the bad faith, calculated deceit, Orwellian propaganda, dishonest sophistry, misdirection, arrogance, presumption, indifference to, and, indeed, contempt for the beliefs of huge numbers of ordinary Americans -- including LEGAL immigrants and Hispanic natives! --- on the part of political/media elites.
Let's recognize that the political process has --- democratically --- designated the illegals AS illegal. Why? Because we, as a nation, decided that their presence -- NOT themselves per se (as the false attribution of racism would have it) --- but their presence in such numbers for such purposes (the phony Jobs Americans Won't Do/Jobs Americans Are Not Doing) is undesirable. There are perfectly reasonable grounds for that judgment. When did we vote for the Mexification of America? ANS.: NEVER....Indeed, going back to the 1965 immigration "reforms", assurances were REPEATEDLY given (Kennedy) that such reforms would NOT lead to an influx or demographic change. And guess what? The burden of proof is NOT on the nation to justify this stance.
Period. Full stop. End of discussion.
Since these elites don't like that decision now they want us to accept a fait accompli..and more! They feel perfectly justified in collaborating in the subversion of our democratically enacted immigration regime --- with crass, narrow, economic special interests and with others having perhaps more sinister designs. Their objectives --- open borders, a free flow of cheap labor --- are plain now for all to see. Some no longer even bother to pretend otherwise.
Given that, there is NO REASON to believe ANY of their promises --- the "wall," enforcement of "tough" conditions for a "path to legalization/citizenship" or limits in a "tough and smart" "temporary" "guest workers" indentured servant-helot program. We also know that the very underlying rationale itself for "temporary" "guest workers" (the economically illiterate JAWD/JAAND) is in DIRECT CONTRADICTION to ANY arbitrary "limits"....Indeed, the very claim itself that deportation is "impossible" renders the enforcement promises self-refuting! We should all ignore the false promises and intentional non-feasance in the past?...and do I even have to mention the Simpson-Mazzoli fraud? "This time it's different"?....we REALLY mean it now?....
The ultimate retort of the immigration celebrationists --- let us call it the "immigrants are good people" argument --- is totally beside the point. It is an assertion that no one would disagree with, but it is also an argument that has NO internal LIMITING PRINCIPLE. There is, on its own terms, no non-arbitrary basis for excluding ANY ONE of the 6 billion non-Americans. Other than criminal disqualification, most of them, are, indeed "good people"....so what?
Well, we already decided the question of numbers and limits...and the political/media elites, in conjunction with the scofflaw employers, do NOT have standing to subvert the democratic decision made, upon deliberation, several times in reliance on what we now can see were plainly false promises.
Never again."Nuff Said.........
Duke
What The Hell Are They Thinking?
The GOP Leadership (an oxymoron if ever there was one) has managed to muck further into the mire of election loss.......
Here is the bumper sticker already produced....
and then we manage to find the clarity of Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) who sums it so eloquently in so few words....
“I’d say ‘heh,’ but it’s too accurate to be really funny.”
Tain't funny MaGee....as one old timer said!
As the title of this post suggests, I am wondering just what the hell these GOP "Leaders" are thinking....are they truly ready to let the clueless Democrats lead for 2-4 years?????
My God, we are doomed as the "Red State Party"
Duke
UPDATE: GWB has locked up the resulting evidence of the FBI search for 45 days..... Mistake to the nth degree! He is as much as admitting the Executive branch has questions about the procedure used......Check the polls, Mr. President.....People....you know, the voters, are ready to assume the check of a judicial issue of the warrants was solid enough......
Clueless still applies.....to GWB and the GOP Leadership.....and I am a registered Republican?
Hastert is W-R-O-N-G !!!!!
Man-o-man, Will someone in Washington tell the Republican leadership to get their collective heads out of their axxes?
Hastert is so bent upon losing this fall that he seems to have become the Dems secret weapon.
Let's examine just how roughshod the DOJ was in their quest to search the offices of Mr. Jefferson, that pillar of salt from Louisiana.
1st, there was a search warrant issued by a federal judge
2nd, The FBI team which searched Mr. Jefferson's office was not connected to the case. This team searched under strict search warrant limits which allowed them only items which were connected to the case.
3rd, the team left the offices and passed the information to a new FBI team, also not connected with the case, which reviewed the materials gathered to insure they were within the warrant guidelines.
Only then did the information get passed to the FBI team involved in the actual case.
Talk about treading softly!
Check the full story as offered by
Andrew McCarthy!In the face of this outline, it will be interesting to see if Hastert continues his suicide mission. Most likely he will.
Does anyone else notice that the GOP is becoming as loud and abusive and without common sense as a certain donkey party?
Shame on them!
Duke
My God, They Believe This Stuff!!!
Amnesty International is know as the anti-America.....they just love to criticize the USA.....Even when millions are being killed in Africa, etc., they still find the USA a rich target.....
Little Green Footballs has this
as a report on the AI "bias"...I find the entire Amnesty, UN, and other world-wide support organizations to be so anti-USA as to be groups which we should shoulder out of the way and abandon in funding!
Duke
"An Inconvient (Un)Truth!"
WOW! The AlGore has a major movie next week........a major lie! No, that is not the title....it is the content.
AlGore seems to be so sold on global warming he finds it very necessary to ignore the real facts as determined by legitimate scientists.
Check this little number at
The National Center for POlicy Analysis.Seems AlGore finds the Chinese food principle most adequate for his purposes....you know, "pick one from column A and two from column B" and then ignore the rest, particularly if the rest seem to disagree with your point.
How many arguements are so incredibly strong when only one side has been presented!
Meanwhile, over at
Junk Science.com the months, days and hours add up since AlGore was invited to debate the facts of global warming. Seems AlGore fears that debate as much as he feared those he lost to GWB back in the 2000 campaign. He will not respond. Perhaps it is the facts with which the Junk Science folk are
armed-to-the-teeth!I just love it when these things roll around and the MSM and AlGore run about proudly exclaiming that their story is right and by-the-way, there is NO other story to read...
Duke
Gas Prices.....Forever!
Why is it the prices never seem to follow the news?
Ever notice it? A few weeks ago the prices shot up and the newshounds were yelling...nee, screaming, that they would top $4 per gallon, and might edge toward $5 per gallon.
Here in Tampa I, as a new motorhome owner, watched the prices closely. Our 1st trip of any length is approaching in the 1st two weeks of June.
Tops for regular unleaded at our usual station.......$2.89 per gallon.
This morning as I drove by the sign said.......$2.69 per gallon.
The national news this morning announced a 1.4 CENT drop in gas prices. Where did the other 18.6 CENTS go?
Maybe the liberal media calculators operate differently than mine!
Duke
GOP Benefits How?
2006 elections! Quite the topic. I, for one, still am absolutely enraged by my GOP; both GWB and the Senators, including our own Mel Martinez. I expected Nelson, our Democrat, to be anti-everything re: control of illegal immigration. I did not expect Martinez to so chose....so much for my wishes.
However, John Hinderaker at Power Line, issues this common-sense analysis of the 2006 elections:
"Once again, the Republicans can take comfort from the fact that they don't run for election against newspaper headlines; they run against Democrats. My prediction: come November, the Democrats will once again be wondering how they let their golden opportunity slip away."The entire article, interesting reading, is available at Power Line
I am still going to be completely opposed to the bent of the illegal immigrant dog and pony show, and what I am sure we can all point fingers at in a couple of years and say "I told you so!".....right after NOTHING is actually done to stem the flow of illegals.
One final comment: It is time to arrest those folks who are so very enamored of a 10% Mexican emmigration to the USA as to want to go to the border and assist them. They are assisting in the commission of a crime.
Duke
Saudi Duo Has Bond Revoked!
It seems the two Saudi men who boarded a yellow school bus bound for Wharton High School here in Tampa have created some genuine concerns.
Judge Monica Sierra revoked the $250 bail set for the two and ordered them held without bail until a Tuesday hearing. The reasons include lack of a clear explanation of their intent. The State's Attorney's office wants time to find out more about the pair who apparently lied several times to authorities.
Here is the tbo.com local story on the judge's action and the current situation involving the two young men:
go and read....This is a quite scary situation. How is a bus driver going to defend a bus load of students in the event someone boards and takes control? Perhaps a silent alarm on each bus to trigger awareness at the bus offices would not be out of line. After all, what damage could a terrorist produce commandering a bus full of local high school/grade school studnets. I don't wish to think too far in that direction.
Michelle Malkin has also concerns about the situation and covers it well in her
exploration of the developing story.As a grandparent of 9; 6 of whom are in school and ride buses....I am concerned. The media needs to take this as seriously as they should have Saudis and others trying to learn to fly in the USA!
Duke
Beach Blanket Bingo! - Senior Style
The Duchess and I are at the beach this week.....St. Pete, FL.
Lovely....This is the view from "our" beach North across John's Pass to Madiera Beach (known locally as "Mad Beach").
Weather great, unfortunately I had to drive back to Tampa Mon-Thur to work....off tomorrow so I can sleep in and we can enjoy!
Duke
CIA - Get Out of The News! (Hayden)
Ya gotta love it! General Michael Hayden's plans for the CIA bobbed to the surface in his confirmation hearing this morning faster than a helium balloon under water!
FOX is reporting:
The four-star Air Force general said if he were confirmed as director of the nation's pre-eminent human intelligence agency, he would make sure the CIA focuses on the job of spying and not politics.
The intelligence community in general "has too much become the football of American political discourse," Hayden said. "CIA needs to get out of the news as source or subject and focus on protecting the American people by acquiring secrets" from U.S. enemies. This man is really, really needed by this disfunctional, politicized arm of US intelligence. I have a feeling the anti-ulcer liquids are flowing freely in the CIA offices this morning.He is not only right, but approaches the problem so directly and without any fluff in his words that it makes me want to watch the hearings! That is something I usually would never consider.
I find it simply delicious!
Caged Canary? - CIA Leaks Deliberate?
Jay Tea over at Wizbang has a sort-of theory on two recent events involving CIA leaks. I find myself interested in the theory, and perhaps leaning toward believing it.
I had already been wondering about the events; The "secret prison" story and the more recent "NSA data-mining" events, both of which seem to have unraveled.
Go read Jay's theory
and ask yourself, could it be true?
Hmmm! A Leaker-seeker? Very Rovian!
Duke
Hello GWB; Hello GOP; Hello Big Spenders!
ARE YOU LISTENING????Speculation runs rampant among the base.....It is on all the blogs and the mouths of the radio-columnists/et al. Beware of Fall, 2006 and a revolt by the party faithful (particularly the conservatives).Now some PROOF that this is not idle speculation. Captain Ed has the story from elections just held in
Pennsylvania!13 incumbents could lose their seats.....several already have, including a 32 year office-holder! OUCH!
Are you listening GWB? How about you, GOP?
Ignore the border, fiscal restraint, etc. some more.
Imagine, FOR REAL, a Demo majority elected by a recalcitrant, stubborn, ideology bankrupt GOP....without any form of actual Democratic campaign platform.
IT COULD HAPPEN!
By the way, I am beginning to more and more agree with Ed at Captain's Quarters. WE need to stay engaged and clear out the flotsam and jetsom...
Duke
Read; Then Scratch Head In Wonder!
From Bill Hobbs, a simple look at reality.....just read this:
Ripley's Believe It Or Not
Amazing but true:
Think back to September 12, 2001. Imagine that an omniscient seer had told you then that four-and-a-half years later, the U.K. and Spain would have experienced al Qaeda attacks in their own countries; France's appeasement-oriented government would have been rocked by Islamic riots in Paris and other cities, Denmark would have had its citizens and embassies targeted for Islamic terror attacks on account of political cartoons portraying Muhammed; Russia would have endured a deadly hostage siege by Islamic terrorists at a school full of children; and in all that time, the United States would not have experienced a single additional terror attack on its own soil. Imagine the seer had told you further that the United States would, in the same period of time, wage and win two wars in the middle east, overthrowing the Taliban in Afghanistan and midwifing the formation of a parliamentary democracy there, then driving Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and bringing that destitute country to the verge of its first parliamentary government, elected by nation-wide vote and backed by a western-trained police force and a non-Baathist army, while Saddam himself sat in the dock awaiting the verdict of his trial for crimes against humanity. Imagine he had told you that American combat deaths in these two wars over three years time would not have exceeded 5,000. Imagine that he also told you the American economy would have fully recovered from the 9/11 attack in this timeframe, returning to employment, interest, inflation, and growth rates rivalling if not exceeding those of the Clinton years, despite wartime budget deficits and huge increases in gasoline prices caused by the inevitable uncertainties in the middle east, while the socialist economies of Europe stagnated or shrank. Then imagine that he told you George W. Bush's approval rating just six months after his reelection would stand at 29 percent.
George W. Bush isn't at 29 percent because he's lost support among moderates and liberals - he's at 29 percent because he has been too willing to cave in to moderates and liberals.
The recipe for restoring his popularity to above 50 percent is simple: Bush must screw the Left every chance he gets.The above is truth! The odds of GWB, Mr. Stubborn "I know I am Right!", ever doing any such thing are so low as to be non-existant. That does not make the idea less appealing...perhaps it only makes it more frustrating as a libertarian/conservative leaner.Hobbs goes deeper......he offers the actual steps to be taken to screw the Left....
Example: Immigration Liberals want open borders, amnesty, and quickie citizenship for all the illegals who are here, and millions more who cross the border tomorrow, next week and next year. Why? To add to the government dependency rolls and the Democratic Party voter rolls. But even if Bush gave them that, they'd never be for Bush or vote Republican.Solution: Give the Left exactly what they don't want: troops on the border, and then construction crews building a wall. And no amnesty-lite guest-worker program. Yeah, some GOP moderates and business types won't like that last part. So what? They're not going to switch over and vote for tax-raising, regulation-loving Democrats. And if a few stay home, well, they'll be more than offset by a surge in support from conservatives. And from the thousands of newly-employed construction workers working on that wall. Just make sure no illegals are doing the work.
Example: Spending A Republican president can not spend enough to make Teddy Kennedy and his ilk happy. A Republican president can not spend enough to make Democratcs vote for Republicans. Yet that's what GWB has tried to do. However, you can spend enough to make conservatives lose faith in you. Or you can restrain spending enough to attract "Reagan Democrats" - moderate Democrats who lean conservative. Solution: Slash spending. Now. Propose wholesale cuts to everything but defense. Propose a balanced budget no matter what you have to cut, other than defense - and make the Democrats defend deficit spending.Example: Oil Oil is now a national security issue, what with us needing so much of it and so much of it coming from the same part of the world that breeds terrorists bent on killing us, and with it being so important to the continued health of the U.S. economy. Solution: Issue a presidential finding declaring it to be in the national security interest of the United States to begin immediate oil exploration and production in the coastal plain of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. And along the coasts. The environmentalists and the dog whose tail they wag - the Democratic Party - will howl. But so what. They aren't for Bush and never were. Adults who drive cars will support it. So will the thousands of new and well-paied oil field workers.Example: War on Terror The Left never really supported the war on terror - to the Left, terrorism is a criminal act rather than an act of war, and terrorists need to be "understood" and the "root causes" addressed, and by "root causes" they mean "American foreign policy," not "Islamofacist wacko-ism." A majority of Americans understand that Islamofacist terrorism must be defeated.Solution: Up the ante. More troops killing more terrorists. And get more confrontational with Iran, the root cause of most Islamic terrorism in the world today.Example: Everything Else More moderates lean conservative than lean liberal. Figure out what the Left wants, then do the opposite.You can read Hoobs entire presentation
HERE!My thoughts? Remove Rove even further from Bush and hire Hobbs! It just might work.Duke
Jobs WE Won't Do!
Seldom does Chris at Day-By-Day Cartoon let me down....and today he earns at least a couple of "do-overs".....like he'd ever need them!
Duke
???National Guard???
Note: Read and then follow the update below....Note 2: Read and then check the 2nd update also....Note 3: Capt. Ed notes the group helping the "We need a Fence" crowd!You have got to be kidding!
President Bush is already allowing leaks re: his speech this evening.
What will he offer us?
From the leaks it appears this is a bait and switch routine. If, in fact, he requests National Guard troops to free Border Patrol folks to actually patrol, it will do precious little to actually impact the influx of people from Mexico. In addition it will be stop-gap and temporary and simply expands the problem.
1st, the National Guard is under the control of the various states, not Bush.
2nd, The Guard is already stretched thin and, by the way, is there going to be funding?
3rd, this carrot and stick routine is, in my opinion, aimed at deluding folks into a temporary feeling of "doing something" while in actual fact just temporarily providing a bit of a show....much like the few arrests recently of illegals at businesses around the country. This gave the false impression something was being done. Those arrests, of course, led to simple media exposure and then the release of the illegals back into the good ol US of A. Nothing accomplished.
The one point utilization of the National Guard will accomplish is to help Bush avoid the "FENCE"....In one slick move he can try to get the House to drop their twin-pronged approach to the problem; prosecution and fence-building; while in fact doing nothing of any lasting impact.
I have not heard the plan and already believe we are about to see the old shell game in action.
I hope I am wrong! I do not believe the public is ready to swallow such a load of bad news. I believe firmly that GWB is still misreading the intensity of public opinion on this issue and attempting only a sleight-of-hand deception which might just backfire on him!
If, indeed, this is his plan, I sincerely hope it blows up in his face.
Duke
UPDATE: Michelle Malkin gets much further into the points I made above in her post "Too Little Too Late!".If you feel as we do, contact your Senator and Congressmen and let them know Bush is barking up the wrong tree. He is actually becoming insulting to the majority of Americans who know their minds....and know they are the opposite set from the President.
UPDATE2: Hugh Hewitt goes further and speculates that failure to mention the fence by Frist in a major interview spells doom for the proposal.....and, if true, doom for Bush's chance to right the ship of state!I could not agree more!!!! If you have question about my position, read the following post....
It's The FENCE, Stupid!UPDATE3: Captain's Quarters has the plans for helping the we need a fence crowd... and they're not who you might suspect!
It's The FENCE, Stupid!
FENCES.....stop, NOT help the opposition defy our laws.
Somehow that message is not getting through to GWB & Company.
I could go into it, however, Michelle Malkin has rounded up most all you need to know to justify sending an email to your congressmen/senators asking some really pointed questions.....
Read Michelle here.Not only are our laws being ignored, and not-in-the-least enforced, but also we are now notifying the Mexican Government where our Minutemen will be? That is beyond the pale!
Bush better do something about this and soon, or his credibility will be so shot he'll welcome a 10% approval rating.
Most important here, politically, is the fact that as Michelle notes this Immigration approach by the administration, coupled with the info being passed to Mexico, is a direct slap at the conservative right....the ONLY group which to this point continued to support Bush.
I am personally disgusted, and will continue to send my
Pesos to the GOP, Mehlman and anyone else contacting me about GOP support.....
Duke
An Impeachable Offense!
Ignore the WMD controversy.
Pay no heed to the many faults, misreading, etc. of Iraq information pre-during and post war.
Ignore the other so-called impeachment potentials by our waaaaaay left Demos.
However, there seems to me to be substantial justification for an impeachable offense against GWB based on his lack of enforcement of the laws regarding the Mexican Border....and....on the complicit involvement in communicating to Mexico both where the Minutemen are patrolling, and how to avoid reporting on Minuteman successes.
Mr. President, you are irrational and out-of-touch with your entire country (except, of course, your beloved 13 million...and growing hourly....illegals)!
Jump with me to
DailyPundit who has the story, and then follow the comment trail. It is priceless, and delves deeply into the problem and Bush's possible exposure.
This issue bothers me more than any other of the Bush Presidency. Check my earlier posts:
Viva La - WhateverWe want our rights!March of The Illegals!This is a field of complete idiocy by this administration.
Duke
Cuba is Selling Our Oil???? Impossible!
Check again folks, it is happening, and it is happening right under our noses while the idiotarian enviro-wackos keep us from curing our own oil dependence on the Middle East & hostile S. American countries.
No need for a long dissertation here, just read about it at
Captain's Quarters where Ed has his usual well-organized and thought out analysis.
There seems no limit to the lengths possible for the anti-drilling/exploring/refining group to go.
Duke
NMAM - May 2006! Let Them Know You Care!
National Military Appreciation Month! May
Just go and check out
Michelle Malkin's Story and you will know what is necessary......
It is time folks.......Celebrate Our Military! Join with me!
Duke DeLand, BC-MSN, USCGA, Ret.
Semper Par!
3rd Party? - Time May Be Approaching!
Even Chris Muir at
Day By Day Cartoon joins the crowd beginning to seek a third-party alternative to the current mess:
I am a firm believer in the possibility of a third party. Probably not beginning as a real favorite with a possibility of winning, but almost certainly a potential spoiler for one of the "parties of antiquity".....
Duke
Pesos for the GOP!
I just love it!
& I am already doing it...........Please join me......
It works like this....
Sacred Cow Burgers has designed a very special "Peso" to send to the GOP when they ask for money...
They email me from several places.....my 1st response was to Ken Mehlman who asked me to "help grow the GOP".
I mailed him a "peso"...
If we all do this....as suggested by SCB and endorsed and used by
Michelle Malkin....We
will have an impact!
Duke
Just Who Is Here Illegally?
How nice, a professor has determined that all we anglo folk are also "wetbacks".....Illegals????
How very nice.....Read it here at
Michelle Malkins and just simply marvel at the reverse logic employed!
This nice teacher-person (cannot in my mind call this drivel the product of a professor)....feels sincerely (or perhaps more honestly) for deceptive purposes... That all of us came here illegally.
Sorry Prof!
We came according to the laws open and applicable at the time.
I do not care HOW you try to paint it, there is a MAJOR difference between those who came here through the front gate and those who cross into the USA via means which are clearly, without a doubt against the law!
Duke
Down Go The Prices?
Yep, as I reported in my last post (below), we returned from a trip in our new RV (yes, I have a 33 ft RV) and the gas was less when we returned here in Tampa.
Today I refilled our "Toad" (the name for towed vehicles behind RVs), and the gas price was down by 7 cents from a weeks ago. I also noted today the oil prices dropped more than $1.50 per barrel......
Maybe, just maybe, we have already seen the peak?
Possible as I believe firmly that hype built a large part of the sudden gas price surge.
What could prove me wrong? Sudden activity by oil producing countries.......
Duke
Gasoline Price.....Whose Price, Whose Future?
I guess I am ever the skeptic......
I find on my return today, from Disney's Fort Wilderness, that gas prices in Tampa are
DOWN.... Yep, they are lower than last week. The 2nd step in lowering prices!
Is there an anti-thesis to the projected $5 by July theme?
Were some of our MSM, and projection experts WRONG?????
Hum!
I find the prices lower here today by .06 than a week ago!
No, not a lot, but a lowering when the pundits predict HUGE price increases!
Hope I can say.....I told you so!
It is not in the cards, folks.....The prices will reflect the demand, and the future...Our supplies are STRONG!
I hope I am right and THEY are wrong!
Duke
