Congresswoman Davis' town hall gets rowdy

A ruckus crowd in California confronted Democrat Congresswoman Susan Davis on health care. The noticeably ‘no’ on HR3200 audience grilled Davis and held her accountable about her forthcoming vote on the health care issue.

The town hall began with a short speech reiterating the need for health care reform; this would be the last time Davis had control of the conversation as questions spurning the $1.6 trillion health care proposal in the House were front and center.

A robust debate ensued with tough questions like; “Are you going to vote how your constituents want? A poll you put up on your website about health care asked ‘Do you want health care reform?’ 85 percent of the voters said no.”

With all due respect this poll is not scientific.

Davis danced around the topic but eventually she indicated that she was in favor of a public option. The standing-room only crowd erupted with boos at the prospect of another congressperson not voting the will of the people.

The district which Davis resides is an upscale neighborhood of La Jolla. Several attempts to reach Davis were fruitless as her San Diego and Washington D.C. offices did not want to wade into her health care vote.

When a constituent asked how Washington D.C. expects to pay for this expensive plan when the national debt and deficit stand in the trillions of dollars? “We will raise taxes on the wealthy.”

That must be music to the ears for the rich folks who live along the prestigious California coastline in Davis' district.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Tea Party event concludes (Part Three)

The day-long Tea Party rally in Sacramento fired up more than 10,000 Patriots and dispelled myths and argued facts about a variety of hot-button issues, including the plight of Central California farmers, logging industry, health care and cape-and-trade.

Longtime motivational speaker and probable California congressional candidate Mason Weaver revved up the crowd with his humor and more importantly, candor.

Weaver, who happens to be black, says “we are all American’s no hyphen required.”

He went on to explain how the current administration is busy taking away basic freedoms and compared the current administration to plantation owners. “You have 100 percent employment, you have a house, you have food, but what they forget to remind you of is you have no freedom!”

“American’s voted for hope and change, but what they got was rope and chains,” Weaver shouted to the excited audience. “If this is a mob, where do I sign up?”

In an effort to corral all the industries threatened in the state, Dr. Bill Wattenburg talk show host of KGO AM 810 fame, urged truckers to use their vehicles as anti-campaigning vehicles and target politicians who oppose industries required to keep California afloat.

A mish mash of booths encouraged voters to get involved and ensure their voices are heard. One such booth targeted Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams for recall. Eagle-eyed voters are taking him to task because he voted for a tax and spend budget in California. “We’re not going to take it anymore from either side,” they said.

So far the recall Adam group has raised $100,000 and has gathered nearly enough signatures. Chandra Chell of “Recall Adam” said, “We are very close.”

Another Republican recall was announced against state Senator Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield. His constituents were furious of his ‘yes’ vote for a tax and spend Sacramento as well.

California’s anti-business policies continue with the proposed ban on big screen televisions. “In three weeks the California Energy Commission is set to ban the sales of big screen TVs in California by 2011,” Charlie Martinez said. “I stand to lose a large part of my business. How many jobs, money and taxes does California want to lose to other states?”

The electric buzz throughout the day only ignited the already mad voters looking for ways to make a change. It is clear the 2010 elections are going to have a big impact throughout the country and many have noted the “sleeping giant has been awakened.”

Starting from a grassroots level, Virginia Fuller, a black emigrant from the Netherlands plans to run for office in the minority-based, 7th district. “I will stand for smaller government.”

Her first big speech was greeted warmly and she spoke with enthusiasm, Leslie Eastman said; “She is very dynamic and charismatic.”

Many of the organic protesters had a bone to pick with California’s Air Resources Board. This particular California regulation department will hit the trucking industry hard. Shelly Archer has an 18 employee trucking business in Ukiah, CA.

The state will be phasing out diesel engines used by truckers beginning 2011-2013. “The cost is $40,000 per engine and there is no way I can change over my 18 trucks and stay in business,” Archer explained.

The last time Archer was part of the political process was during the Ronald Reagan governorship. “I took 35 letters from my high school to the Capital in order to get smoking out of our bathrooms in high school. Reagan himself came out and talked to me!”

While the event was taking place there were more than 200 truckers circling the California capital, all were on their own time and paid for the fuel in an effort to alert the country that California truckers are under siege. According to one trucker, law enforcement stated there would be an $800 fine for honking their horns. California can find a way to tax everything.

Hundreds of homemade signs circulated through the sea of voters. Save a farmer, eat a fish, and Term limits! Honesty!! And Politicians pay your taxes!!! Is a sampling of the many creative signs.

Daniel Linder of California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) says that California has the most regulations in the U.S. “It is so expensive to just get a degree and a license in the Forestry industry."

“As a state, California imports 70 percent of lumber for building, while our over-stocked forests are responsible for devastating wildfires that creates 55 million metric tons of pollution each year,” Linder explains. “Californians pay $1.4 billion each year on taxes to fight wildfires rather than use the lumber.”

The tea party rally insisted California state legislature repeal AB 32 (cap-and-trade) and reduce government regulation – not pile on more.

By the end of the day the message could not have been any clearer.

***
For part one;www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m8d28-Tea-Party-Patriots-take-Californias-capital-by-storm-Part-One

For part two; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m8d29-Tea-Party-Patriots-sound-off-in-Sacramento-Part-Two

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

A special thank you to my eyes and ears, Leslie Eastman!

Tea Party Patriots sound off in Sacramento (Part Two)

Kicking off the patriotic ceremony was a dramatic tribute to the veterans and those serving in the military –Americanism was in the air. Thousands of tea-party attendees stood at the steps of the California state capital, each with their own reasons for taking time from their day to listen and learn.

Key Note Speaker, Mark Meckler, national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots explained that this event was not about any single event, but a culmination of issues that threaten California’s very existence.

He explained that third generation families of truckers, loggers and farmers are going out of business because of California’s strangling regulations. “I’m very concerned and wanted to bring everyone together. There is just too much government and they need to get out of the way.”

It is clear the state is in trouble. California sits at the bottom of the list in education and cost of living remains the highest in the country. Unemployment is higher than the national average at nearly 12 percent.

“Every industry is under attack,” Meckler said. “The environmentalists are uses the divide and conquer strategy to put all industries out of business.”

Meckler also touched on the Tea Party successes. “We’ve shelved cap-and-trade, we’ve stalled health care and we solidly defeated a tax increase in California.” The crowd went nuts.

The speaker also made note of President Obama’s recent $10 billion loan for oil exploration in Brazil, sending more money and jobs overseas. This drew cheers from the angry protesters.

“It was like Woodstock without the drugs,” said Leslie Eastman, co-founder of the Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition located in San Diego.

Some in attendance were afraid of giving out their name in fear of retaliation from Service Employee International Union (SEIU) leaders may find out. However, it didn’t stop a nurse who is trying to start a new Health Care Nurses Union to get out from under the SEIU.

Another sponsor of the event was Debra John, of Tea Party Express said, “Our Constitution says ‘we the people’ not we the Congress.”

While Americans are awakened throughout the month of August, some politicians aren’t getting the tea party news flash.

In an effort to combat everyday citizens who are hopping mad at the left showing up at town halls and tea party events across the nation, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has written a letter to her supporters in order to raise $100,000 to fight the will of the people.

She says, “The fight for meaningful health insurance reform is too important to be sidetracked by misinformation and false attacks.”

“The real enemies are the radical environmentalists who have taken over our government,” said Devin Nunes, said a Californian Congressmen. “It has been 701 days since I’ve asked the politicians to stop this man-made drought in California.”

“We will hold the politicians accountable on how they vote,” Nunes said

“Here is a personal message to President Obama, ‘we don’t want your welfare, we want the water turned back on,’” He finished and the crowd responding boisterously.

Another California Republican Congressman, Tom McClintock, added his two cents when it comes to state and national issues plaguing everyday Americans.

“We need everyone to focus on the new media like, the internet, facebook and twitter. It’s a great way for voters to get connected,” McClintock noted.

He explained that it was important to not get news from the main stream media because often they are not in touch with the folks in small town USA.

What’s with the czars, says the Congressman. “The concept came from Russia and all they do is oppress the American people.”

“The American spirit is returning,” McClintock said. “The Obama Administration didn’t count on that.”

Moving along Water for All founder, Piebad Ayala had plenty to say about the Central California water crisis. “Nobody (politicians) is being effective with the water issue and we continue to receive about 10 percent of what our farms require.”

“The people have been great today. We are on the right side and will not stop until we get our water back,” Ayala said. “They (politicians) are blaming farmers for the problems, but we have video of sewage being dumped straight into the Delta.”

“It’s sad the government is siding with the fish over the humans. This is a human issue," he finished.

The attendees were a truly blended-crowd.

Loggers have also been on the chopping block in California. For example, Mike Anderson owns a logging business and would like to pass it on to his son one day, but with all the regulations coming down the pike he may not be able to pass anything to his son.

“The California, Air Resource Board (ARB) will force me to replace my diesel engines in the next couple of years. I wouldn’t even be able to sell the old parts because it would be illegal,” he says.

According to Anderson, the Fort Bragg logging industry would be wipe out completely, again generations of families would be left unemployed.

The Chairperson of ARB says, “There’s nothing that can’t be done without money.” This further illustrates how out of touch bureaucrats and politicians are with the everyday working Americans.

***

Up next is part three.

For part one; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m8d28-Tea-Party-Patriots-take-Californias-capital-by-storm-Part-One

For more information on the water issues plaguing California visit; www.waterforall.com/

For more stories;www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Again a shout out to my eyes and ears on this story Leslie Eastman

ABC News teams up with left-wing open-borders groups to attack Patriot organizations

In a series of newscasts, ABC’s San Diego station takes aim at a local Minutemen group inferring they are dangerous and hateful. The repeated stories offer no proof or legal cases that substantiate their claim.

The recent segments only offer conjecture and speculation regarding the San Diego Minutemen who just won a large settlement from CalTrans in a discrimination lawsuit over the adopt-a-highway program.

Instead of covering the resolution of this national Constitutional case, Channel 10 News quoted two local illegal immigrant activists and used their old, baseless allegations.

In an “I-Team Investigation” on supposed hate groups located in San Diego which ran the evening of Aug 14. Channel 10 News claimed to have evidence of increased hate crimes and hate groups in San Diego County. They showed a black man whose van was allegedly graffitied by a white teenager. No other evidence is given of any “hate crimes.”

The continued bias comes from Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) attorney James McElroy. In the August 14th TV report McElroy says, “In my opinion Jeff Schwilk is a dangerous fellow and any group he is associated with should be considered a hate group.”

“Such blatant media smear campaigns on political activists are seen in third-world dictatorships and their state-run media, but we’ve never seen anything quite this bad on an American newscast,” says Jeff Schwilk, who has guided the SDMM to many successes fighting illegal immigration in San Diego in the past four years.

“The radical alien activists have a long history of smearing American activists, but we’ve never been called ‘dangerous’ or accused of being associated with white supremacists before,” Schwilk explains. “That is a new low for local media. It appears the pro-Mexico agents are getting desperate.”

Schwilk has good reason to be angry at Channel 10’s smear campaign. He served honorably in the Marine Corps for 21 years and is also part Hispanic.

“My great-grandparents emigrated legally from Spain. They came to America, learned the language and respected their new country – something today’s illegal aliens seem unwilling to do.”

In the past four years, Schwilk along with the group’s hundreds of SDMM members have had no incidents with law enforcement. However, there have been 28 attacks on them via their website by pro-alien forces.

Legal immigrant from Mexico and member of the San Diego Minutemen, Francisca Galvan says she has never heard Schwilk speak vulgarly toward anyone. “He has been nothing but great. He is just doing what any citizen does to protect their country from corruption.”

When the topic steers to local Mexican activist Enrique Morones, Galvan says “without a doubt he works for the Mexican government as part of an active cell in San Diego. The only racial slurs I’ve heard come from Morones and El Grupo when they are calling me a traitor to my former country.”

Not to worry, Galvan refuses to back down and continues to fight for the country she now calls home - America.

The problem secure border activists have with the continued defamation reports on ABC is that La Raza organizations continue to post these propaganda stories across the internet trying to smear and discredit the Minutemen with even bigger lies.

When the producer of the ABC TV segments, J.W. August was contacted via email regarding the dubious reports he claimed, “I normally don’t reveal details about the broadcasts.”

August also told another critic in a separate email, “We don’t provide equal time in regards to a story that our news department has produced.” The recent segments made that point clear.

Several attempts to reach McElroy proved fruitless and he apparently does not want to comment on his reckless statements about Schwilk and the SDMM.

The SPLC has a long history of attacking pro-American Patriot activist groups and trying to tie them to hate and supremacist groups.

Another staffer of the SPLC, Mark Potok, contends, “Patriot groups will result in a terrorist attack like Waco or Oklahoma City.”

Again the left-wing organization has no proof to back up these wild accusations and Secretary of Department of Homeland Security denounced the recent Right-Wing Extremist report that was published earlier this year.

In another unrelated ABC incident, the broadcasting company had no problem airing an hour-long infomercial on President Barrack Obama’s health care bill, but would not allow any opposition groups to air commercials during the broadcast.

To link to the San Diego Minutemen site;www.SanDiegoMinutemen.com

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Tea Party Patriots take California’s capital by storm (Part One)

Sacramento California became a firestorm of angry voters voicing their concerns about the current state and national issues impacting the economy.

The protesters started to arrive at the capital steps around 8:00 in the morning by 10:00 the crowds had swelled to more than 1,000 people and noon saw the number increase to 6,000. Among them were 35 San Diego residents that made the grueling all-night drive to Sacramento.

Petitions circulating around included the California Taxpayers Protection Act of 2010, which will limit the benefits illegal immigrants can receive from the government for their American born children; the part-time legislature bill and the repeal of AB32, California’s version of cap-and-trade.

The diverse crowd carried home-made signs with slogans like “No cap and trade, our electricity is too high; fruit trees are dead, so are your political careers; and no hate…not all wee weed up!”

Lynn Miller of San Diego also made the trek to Sacramento to ask Governor Schwarzenegger to repeal AB32 as well as, “Turn the water back on and get the 40 percent of unemployed workers back to work in the field.” Gene Buel concurred and said, “Stop creating a desert in our central valley.”

The plight of many farmers in the central Californian region is daunting at best. Chester Andrews is a third-generation farmer who works a couple-hundred acre farm in Mendota. Along with his three sisters, Andrews’s family has toiled on the farm for more than 100 years.

“I’ve been targeted by environmentalists simply because we incorporated our farm to save precious tax dollars,” he said. “But we are a family-run farm.”

Their almond and pistachio trees are threatened by the lack of water and the only thing keeping them alive right now is the well water the farm procures. However, this year the level has dropped by 60 feet and Andrews fears his water will completely run out within a couple of years.

All this anguish is created by the Delta Smelt fish. Families are losing their livelihoods overnight – all for something they cannot eat and something that threatens the state’s bread basket’s very existence.

“They are killing us,” Andrews said about the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Patriots drove from all corners of the state to show their displeasure with the government. Christina Michas, of Palm Springs, said her most memorable moment so far was when she made a pit stop at Harris Ranch in Coalinga.

“The employees told us about all the hardship in the Central Valley and they all knew some affected by the current crisis. It was very, very sad.”

While Michas was dining and talking to the locals; California Senator Diane Feinstein walked in with her Secret Service entourage. “Let’s just say she isn’t very popular here.”

Earlier this year, Feinstein said she would make sure the food pantry’s received money and food to ease the crisis, yet simply turning on the water would solve the problem and allow the residents to earn a living and not take money from the government.

In an interview this week with the Fresno Bee Feinstein said, “There are 30 lawsuits on the biological opinions and two separate opinions, one for the Smelt and one for the Salmon. The rules need to be reconsidered.”

Do you think?

****

The rally begins. (Part Two)

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

This story could not have been written without the help of Leslie Eastman who has been my eyes and ears on this protest in Sacramento

Stimulus dollars find their way to rapists and murderers

“Nobody messes with Joe,” said President Obama about the vice president. When it comes to protecting the $787 billion of stimulus money, eagle-eye Biden was supposed to monitor all the money being sent out. Unbeknownst to the vice president, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has sent out nearly $1 million to convicted criminals across the country.

In a report from the Boston Herald, the Social Security Inspector General, is now looking into the nearly 4,000 criminals who received $250 checks that were sent out to those residing behind bars.

Spokesperson from the Republican National Committee Sara Sendek said, “President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill has done more to help convicted criminals than it has to actually boost our economy and create jobs.”

I guess crime does pay.

According to a Social Security representative, generally the incarcerated are not able to receive any benefits and none of the prisoners receive monthly Social Security checks which means they should not get any stimulus money.

At least nine of the inmates in Massachusetts that received $250 checks were convicted on crimes ranging from rape to first-degree murder, according to the State Department of Correction.

The $250 checks were mailed out to Social Security beneficiaries, federal railroad retirees and veterans as part of the $13 billion in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Social Security office says this mistake is relatively small in comparison the overall $787 billion package.

Are these really the people we want running an additional one-sixth of our economy via health care?

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

President's weekly address contain untruths according to CRS

In a report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the organization took the President to task over his weekly radio address that claimed to expel myths in the health care bill.

“There is just one problem: his (the President) statements don’t match the facts,” CRS said.

The President’s address began with a “false claim that illegal immigrants will not get health insurance under reform.” CRS reports that there are numerous loopholes in the House legislation will offer benefits to illegal aliens.

“Democrats can keep claiming all they want that illegal immigrants will not be covered in this bill,” says House Judiciary Committee ranking member, Lamar Smith-R-TX. “Democrats have rejected opportunities to close the gaping loopholes in this health care bill that will allow illegal immigrants to participate.”

According to CRS, the H.R. 3200 health care bill does not contain any restrictions on noncitizens- whether legally or illegally present or in the U.S. temporarily or permanently – participating in the newly formed Health Exchange.

“American people are more intelligent than the President gives them credit for,” Smith said. “They understand that simply saying illegal immigrants can’t participate without providing verification is like putting a speed-limit sign on a road, then setting a policy that prohibits police from patrolling the road; it won’t stop speeders and this bill won’t stop illegal immigrants from benefiting.”

Provisions within the House bill would leave such decisions to a Health Choices Commissioner (Commissioner). Under section 142(a)(3) of the bill, it is the responsibility of the Commissioner to administer the “individual affordability credits under subtitle C of title II, including determination of eligibility for such credits, according to CRS.

It is also worth it to point out that there are nearly two million families in the United States where illegal parents have U.S.-born children, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The current health care bill doesn’t draw clear distinctions in this situation.

The White House continues to say there are 47 million uninsured people in the country and that they will cover everyone- really?

Included in that number are people residing in this country illegally, approximately one-third of those numbers are illegal aliens.

So what is it Mr. President are you going to cover illegals or not?

For more information regarding the Congressional Research Service; opencrs.com/
For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

A new CIS report states immigrants top list of uninsured

According to a study by the Center of Immigration Studies (CIS) report, immigrants, legal and illegal account for the highest ethnic group to not carry health insurance.

According to the study, the numbers were compiled from the U.S. government in March 2008 Current Population Survey (CPS) collected by the Census Bureau about insurance coverage for the 2007 calendar year. The government numbers conclude that 33.2 percent of all immigrants did not have insurance compared to 12.7 percent of native-born American citizens.

The report also notes that more than 25 percent of the country’s uninsured fall into the immigrant population. Approximately 14.5 million and their U.S.-born children do not buy health insurance, nearly one-third of the entire uninsured population.

Of these uninsured immigrants, legal and illegal, 47.6 percent were either uninsured or on Medicaid, nearly double of natives and their children which account for 25 percent, according to Steven Camarota, Director of Research at CIS.

CIS concluded the high level of uninsured among immigrants can be explained by the lack of education which keeps them in jobs that may not provide health care benefits or afford them the ability to pay for insurance.

A link to the CIS report; cis.org/HealthCare-Immigration

To read more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Constituents focus on health care despite Obama’s attempt to redirect to CIA matters

While the President enjoys his time away from the health care quagmire taking place around the country, town hall attendees continue their push to enlighten their lawmakers.

In a veiled effort to change the country’s talking points, the White House decided to announce that a special prosecutor would be named to investigate a dozen CIA interrogations during the Bush Administration.

Political pundits say this is just another ploy to change the topic from health care. This particular witch hunt into the CIA could backfire because the majority of American’s do not want this investigation, according to Rasmussen Polls.

Many questions remain direct and focused on health care issues. A biggie is, 'Will the health care reform bill include coverage for those in this country illegally?' The President continues to say absolutely not.

However, there have been many attempts to add safety measures to ensure illegal aliens do not receive care and all have been voted down. A plan known as the Heller amendment was written by Rep. Dean Heller, R-NV, and wanted to include clauses that mandated checks similar to E-Verify in order to qualify for government subsidized health insurance.

The Heller amendment went down on party lines.

This amendment would include prospective applicants to pass through two programs the government already uses. The two identification processes the Heller amendment would use are programs the federal government already employ; The Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE).

The Heller amendment author said, “It would better screen applicants for subsidized health care to ensure they are actually citizens or otherwise entitled to it.”

A recent Rasmussen reports poll states, 80 percent of Americans oppose covering illegal immigrants in the $1.6 trillion health care bill.

Lawmakers have being telling constituents Section 246 of the House health care bill states; “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payment for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”

However, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates there are more than 8 million illegal immigrants have legitimate jobs in this country.

Leading one to question why not add the two verification processes the government already uses for entitlements programs in order to quell the concern?

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

GOP offers a 6-point health care plan for seniors

n a slow week for Washington D.C., Republican National Committee Chairman, Michael Steele announced that the GOP has a 6-point health care plan to protect the greatest generation, seniors.

Aiming to gain some attention in the health care debate, the GOP states they have an alternative to the Democrats attempt to ‘raid not aid’ Medicare. According to Steele, the current plan to cut a half of trillion in Medicare costs to fund the President’s health care experiment is wrong.

“By cutting hospital payments and Medicare Advantage, means the White House will reduce treatment options for seniors,” Steele claimed in a statement to the press.

Tapping into the anger senior citizens are expressing across the country at town hall meetings, Republicans says the greatest generation deserves better and put forward a six-point plan.

*Protect Medicare and not cut in the name of health care reform

*Prohibit government from getting between seniors and their doctors

*Prohibit efforts to ration health care based on age

*Prevent government from interfering with end-of-life care discussions

*Ensure seniors can keep their current coverage

*Protect veterans by preserving Tricare and other benefit programs for military families.

After the release of the new plan, Steele believes it’s not too late for the President to work toward a bi-partisan health care plan. “Reversing course and joining Republicans in support for our nation’s senior citizens is a good place to start.”

To read the complete GOP plan; barackobamaexperiment.com/posts/1502#more-1502

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Got government health insurance?

Government health insurance is NOT government run. Top health insurance companies like Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Aenta provide employees with the best choices, something the average Joe could only dream about.

Lawmakers and employees start their Federal Employee Health Benefits process at the Office of Personnel Management office (OPM). This site directs employees through the maze of coverage that is provided by the government with prices starting at $35 per month.

The one-stop website is a smorgasbord of choice for health, vision, dental, life, flexible spending accounts as well as long-term care. The list gives government workers 43 pages of insurance options including all the highest-performing private health care insurance companies in the U.S.

Sign me up for government-run health insurance. Wait a minute, this program would not be provided to everyone in the country, only the special government workers.

The ‘Gold-Plated’ plans cost the U.S. taxpayer more than $15 billion per year to cover the estimated 8.5 million local, state and federal employees. Does your employer cover 65 percent of your health care costs? The government does, according to OPM.

Yes, the government worker not only receives a wide variety of choices at discount prices, but they have the ability to purchase insurance across state lines, something congress isn’t adding in their $1.6 trillion health care overhaul. Nor will Americans be able to get the quality and choices Congress now enjoys.

Each time members have had an opportunity to remove their families from the luxurious medical insurance plans, the lawmakers took the low road and voted no. What is good for the goose is not good for the gander in this situation.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the gang would like to continue their lifetime, yes lifetime benefits just the way they are. There have been several GOP lawmakers who have tried, and failed, to add amendments to the proposed package that would force Congress and their families to sign up for government-controlled health care.

Among the GOP members demanding what’s good for the collective is good for the Congress are, Rep. John Fleming- LA, Rep. Tom Price- GA, Rep. Dean Heller- NV and Senator Tom Coburn- OK. All of the proposals by these lawmakers were nixed by Democrats.

Some extra special options federal employees receive with their health care plan is the ability to choose plans with a ‘no coverage limit’ clause and tailor make their plan to cover spouse/children who may be chronically ill at lower costs. These added benefits result in protecting government workers from financial peril. The government really does care about the little people.

There is no probationary waiting period and no need to worry about pesky preexisting conditions for members of Congress and their families. Congress also has a health treatment center located between the House and Senate building, how convenient.

Due to the extremely high costs to the employer, the government, it would be impossible to offer this type of health insurance to the rest of the country.

Currently the only member of Congress to go without government provided health insurance is Steve Kagen-D, WI. He recently had knee surgery and bargained with all the providers in order to cover the costs.

Kagen contends that if all lawmakers went without health care, knowing this could be the night I lose my house because of a health care emergency; “The health care problem would be fixed in a week.”

Government health care site; www.opm.gov/insure/federal_employ/index.asp

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

California's unemployment numbers rise despite $787 stimulus

California’s jobless numbers spike to 11.9 percent well above the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau and Statistics. While President Obama promised lower unemployment figures if the massive stimulus package was passed, California continues to shed jobs at an alarming rate.

California Senators, Democrats, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein voted for the $787 stimulus package in February despite the ire of many Californians. Both Senators also support the cap and trade bill that now resides on a shelf in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

The cap and trade bill would accelerate joblessness and increase the country’s energy cost dramatically, hardly a ringing endorsement for a state that is about to fall into the Pacific Ocean.

“As Californian’s suffer through record unemployment rates, where is Barbara Boxer’s promise that the so-called ‘stimulus’ bill would ‘put Californians to work’ and would offer ‘help and hope?’” asked Amber Wilkerson of the Republican Senatorial Committee.

“With the health care battle and other critical issues in Washington looming, Californians deserve to know: Will Senator Boxer put taxpayers first and stop voting for bills that drive up the national deficit, or will she toe the party line for Harry Reid and President Obama when it comes to critical issues facing her state?”

Senator Boxer’s office was contacted for comment on the state’s rising unemployment numbers, but she did not respond.

Also in an important side note the Obama Administration released numbers regarding the national deficit figure. Their projected $7 trillion figure will now rise to an unprecedented $9 trillion dollars.

Leading to a question for all Americans, how can we pay back $9 trillion national deficit, $11.8 in debt and throw $1.6 trillion for health care reform into the mix?

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

U.S. deficit $2 trillion higher than White House projected

On a Friday afternoon before the President heads out to Martha’s Vineyard for a week-long vacation, White House officials at the Office of Management released new 10-year budget projection of $9 trillion up from the previous $7 trillion mark.

A longer than usual recession and a decline in federal revenue sparked the dramatic increase in deficit numbers. The Obama Administration has misjudged the dollars and cents once again.

In a report from the Congressional Budget Office expected out next week, the one-year budget deficit will fall somewhere in the $1.825 trillion. Again, this doesn’t include the health care projected $1.6 trillion price tag.

The U.S. debt now stands $11.7 trillion, leading financial analysts to believe the recession will have a lingering effect on the already lagging economy. Financial gurus also note that this type of deficit is not sustainable and the only way to pay it back is through inflation.

Coming on the heals of a failed $787 billion stimulus package that 72 percent of Americans want the President to return to the taxpayers, September is shaping up for a tough fight even though Democrats hold large majorities in the House and Senate.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

A new 65-page health care plan emerges

A San Diego business man has proposed an overhaul of the health care industry in a 65-page report that saves the taxpayer’s 34 percent in overall costs and keeps the government completely out of the health care business.

So what prompted a private citizen to come up with a plan to save the health care industry? “The realization that government has been systematically devaluing the family and the role family plays in the foundation of our way of life,” says Michael Bond the author of this plan.

His company, Quantrex Research has been working to develop multiple family initiatives to dismantle federal bureaucracy; The Family Managed Health Care System is the result.

His efforts concentrate on personal and family accountability. By using the technological advances in the banking system, his plan would cut bureaucratic quagmire and implement the ATM-card technology to pay health care providers instantly eliminating most bureaucracy.

“The plan will require medical providers to post their prices on the internet and a family ATM-style medical card will allow payment to any provider. This will create instant competition,” Bond claims.

While no plan is perfect this one seems to offer alternatives worth paying attention to. “I believe the solution to the problems facing health care and the federal budget could be found in approaching the problems with a new system-level approach,” Bond explains.

The three main components this plan puts forward are; Families will be responsible for using the system and not over using it. A family grouping would rid the system of pre-existing conditions, add portability and the account would cover everyone in the family group as each person would pay into it.

Second, employers benefit from fixed hourly rate of $2.11/per hour to provide health benefits, this levels the medical insurance playing field and averages out at $4,000 per year, much less than the current $10,000 the government is now paying. Part time employees could work multiple jobs to meet a national average and employers do not have to pay to administer in-house plans. Bond also feels the $2.11 cost could be driven down as the plan becomes more established.

Third, the plan uses tried and true existing technology and systems to replace outdated risk mitigation in making payments to medical providers, thus reduces health care costs by 34 percent immediately.

Bond contends public awareness is critical to getting alternative health care reform plans into Washington D.C. “This plan addresses all the criteria required by both major political parties, yet it removes government from the equation.”

Another aspect of this plan involves how the current system will absorb 47 million new patients. Every plan floating around Washington D.C. puts the burden on administrative issues with the doctor.

“Currently it takes doctors 40 percent of their time writing up justifications for procedures to get approval. Under the Family Managed Health Care System these requirements would go away,” Bond says. “This would result in free time for doctors.”

Another issue this plan includes is tort reform. “All doctors would be charged an additional 1 percent merchant fee to be put into a malpractice fund in order to cover any lawsuits,” Bond said.

The malpractice portion would include an arbitration board that must review all claims of malpractice and make a determination of an appropriate settlement before the case can be taken to court, according to Bond.

As the health care reform legislation heats up, Bond feels the time is right to insert his ideas into the negotiations. “I think this plan will gain traction as people begin looking for a solution that is compatible with the principles of free market, non-government intervention and individual responsibility.”

Like most Americans who are speaking out across this country at town halls, Bond intends to do his part when it comes to health care.

“Health care is the family first issue that strikes directly at the heart of the social mandates that government has been using to undermine the family,” Bond explains. “I intend to correct the mistakes of the last 40 years and create systems that incrementally move the nation back to one founded on the strength and value of the American family.”

Doctors hold all the power, according to Bond. By publishing their rates online, the free market will create a downward pressure therefore reducing overall health care costs. Once the family is in charge of their own health care, the industry will see a shift into the preventative mode.

The current focus of asking doctors who they want to work for, the government, insurance companies or themselves is front and center. This is the only plan that makes it possible for doctors to remain in control of their business and receive direct payment for medical services.

For more information on this 65-page health care alternative; www.smart-web.org/fmhc

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Obama Administration moves towards amnesty, alienates anti-amnesty groups

Janet Napolitano head of Department of Homeland Security chaired a White House meeting today on immigration reform. However, a large chunk of organizations that do not want amnesty were missing from the table.

Following through with a promise for comprehensive immigration reform, The White House invited more than 100 Union and amnesty advocacy groups to meet and discuss immigration reform.

In a statement to the press, Napolitano said, “Today’s meeting on comprehensive immigration reform was an important opportunity to hear from stakeholders and build on the significant time I’ve spent on the Hill meeting with members of Congress on this critical subject.”

She continues, “I look forward to working with President Obama, my colleagues in Congress and representatives from law enforcement, business, labor organizations, interfaith community, advocacy groups and others as we work on this important issue.”

The Center for Immigration Studies was not happy about being excluded from this meeting.

“The administration has made the unfortunate decision to exclude significant expertise from these meetings,” says Janice Kephart National Security Policy Advisor for CIS.

Kephart goes on to explain there is another DHS meeting planned next week for immigration enforcement as required by law under Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, P.L. 110-53 (Act). “I was a counsel to the 9/11 Commission, and I have testified 10 times on these types of issues. I was not invited to next week’s meeting.”

“A reality check is clearly not their purpose,” Kephart finishes.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Repeal of E-Verify no-match rule hurts American workers

The Department of Homeland Security repealed the “no-match” rule which helps employers identify individuals who may be working in the U.S. illegally.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith-R-TX, criticized DHS as the proposed rule was filed in the Federal Register.

According to Smith, the no-match letters are sent to the Social Security Administration (SSA) when an employer’s tax forms show names or social security numbers do not match what the SSA has in its files.

“This is just another decision by the Obama Administration to weaken immigration enforcement efforts that preserve jobs for legal workers,” Smith explains. “No match letters help employers who want to follow the law to identify employees that may be working in the U.S. illegally.”

According to Smith there are at least seven million illegal immigrants working in the U.S., taking jobs from Americans He contends that there are as many as 12.7 million Americans looking for jobs.

A recent Center for Immigration Study report flies in the face of the claim “Illegal immigrants do jobs Americans won’t take.”

According to the report, many jobs often thought to be overwhelming immigrant dominated fields are not. For example;

*Maids – 55 percent are native-born
*Taxi drivers and chauffeurs – 58 percent are native-born
*Butchers and meat processors – 63 percent are native-born
*Ground maintenance workers – 65 percent are native-born
*Construction laborers – 65 percent are native-born
*Porters, bellhops and concierges – 71 percent are native born
*Janitors – 75 percent are native-born

The national unemployment rate for native-born Americans is 9.5 percent while the broader U-6 measure was 16.3 percent or a total of 21.7 million unemployed American workers. The U-6 measure includes people who would like to work but have not looked for a job, as well as those working part-time involuntarily, according the CIS.

These numbers do not bode well for American citizens.

“By repealing the no-match rule, the administration is putting illegal immigrants before the best interests of the American people,” Smith said. “This proves that President Obama is not serious about reducing illegal immigration and saving jobs for American citizens.”

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Health care alert - Congress you first!

When you think about good solid politics, Louisiana doesn’t come to mind. However, Congressman John Fleming, a practicing physician, has proposed an amendment to the health care bill that would require members in the House and Senate to receive the same health care coverage Washington D.C. is proposing for all Americans.
“Under the current draft of the healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, they will be keeping their existing health plans on Capitol Hill,” says Fleming.
“If members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard-working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them (politicians) lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating.”
The Congressman is encouraging all Americans to visit his website fleming.house.gov/ and sign his petition. The more people who sign the petition will hopefully result in Congress stepping up and enacting real change.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Health care alert - Congress you first!

When you think about good solid politics, Louisiana doesn’t come to mind. However, Congressman John Fleming, a practicing physician, has proposed an amendment to the health care bill that would require members in the House and Senate to receive the same health care coverage Washington D.C. is proposing for all Americans.
“Under the current draft of the healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, they will be keeping their existing health plans on Capitol Hill,” says Fleming.
“If members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard-working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them (politicians) lead the way. Public servants should always be accountable and responsible for what they are advocating.”
The Congressman is encouraging all Americans to visit his website fleming.house.gov/ and sign his petition. The more people who sign the petition will hopefully result in Congress stepping up and enacting real change.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Gang of seven protesters meet with Senator Boxer’s office

A meeting of the minds took place today and it was agreed to disagree inside Senator Barbara Boxer’s office.

It was clear from the start the gang of seven anti-health bill HR3200 weren’t going to agree with Boxer’s Senior Staff person Caridad Sanchez.

The meeting erupted with each participant giving a brief description as to why they came to Boxer’s downtown office. After each spoke, the concerned citizens made the point that they were not part of a mob and hadn’t been paid to demonstrate their First Amendment right. All were employed and all were extremely concerned about the turbo pace of the Barrack Obama Administration.

Small business owner and Real Estate Agent, Kay O’Hara says she’s lost all trust for the government officials and the media. “I’ve read HR 3200, and it will not work for me or my life.”

Linda Reddy echoes that sentiment. “Change, reform, re-brand, now the President is making the insurance companies the bad guy. Nobody trusts Obama anymore, and don’t even get me started on the czars, it’s the usurping of Congress.”

Another concerned constituent Valerie Sherriff, lamented the fact that she was tired of the media and unscrupulous politicians labeling protesters as something they clearly are not. “They (politicians) are not getting what we (the people) are all about – we are real.”

While the ladies each expressed their views on health care and other topics, Sanchez clearly did not identify with the non-believers. Sanchez would write furiously and then stop in exasperation when the group’s decibel level would rise.

When asked what would happen with all this data being taken down, Sanchez said, “I’ll write a report and then it gets sent as a memo to the Senator for her to read through.”

“I think my story will be very interesting for Boxer to hear. I’m on Medicare for a rare disorder and rely on the government aid for specialist treatment,” says 56-year-old Amy Fihn. “I may or may not have access in the future and I’m worried about the cuts Obama is considering.”

Once the discussion made its way around the office, the outcome became evident, all wanted HR 3200 killed. “The people are smart, they know the new co-ops will be nothing more than the government setting protocol,” Reddy said, who is an intervention specialist. “If they can’t run Medicare, Social Security or Cash for Clunkers, why should we believe they can run an even larger health care plan that will cover everyone?”

Small business owner, O’Hara said all this regulation is nothing more than job killing measures.

Along with a host of concerns, Amy Todorovich explained she didn’t want to pay for health care for those in this country illegally. “This bill doesn’t contain tort reform or any other cost savings. I’m certain this will end up costing us taxpayers much more than Obama is stating.”

On the competition front San Diego resident Carol Derbis thought the government could solve that problem fairly easy. “If insurance companies could compete, I am quite sure you would see an immediate drop in costs.”

She also contended that if, “We no longer had to provide free health care to millions illegals, health care providers could cut costs to U.S. citizens.”

As the meeting edged closer to the conclusion, the town hall meeting issue arose. “Why isn’t Senator Boxer holding a town hall, this is a big issue? Can you have her get back to me on that?” Larry Naritelli asked.

He did not get the response he was hoping for. “This is the least of my worries,” Sanchez chided.

“She (Boxer) is making law from falsehoods and environmental nonsense,” Naritelli finished.

Very few questions were answered during the 45-minute meeting of the minds. The senior staff member just took notes; however, she did say the Senator wasn’t paying much attention to the current legislation as she sits on different committees in Washington D.C.

“The committees the Senator currently sits on are environment, transportation/commerce/science, ethics and foreign affairs,” Sanchez explained. “If voters have any questions they can email, phone in to a local office or send a letter through the mail.”

It’s been fairly well documented that Senator Boxer has been scouting book shops across Northern California in August rather than meeting with voters. Boxer has published her second fiction book that is loosely based on her life. “They say you have to write what you know,” she says about the book with a liberal Democrat who pits herself against an evil Vice President.

The fact the Senator had time to stomp the pavement to promote her book and not hold town halls didn’t sit well with Sally Zelikovsky. “We found out that (Boxer) had a book signing on August 12, at Book Passages in Corte Madera. It is infuriating that these elected officials have time to self-promote and luxuriate with sponsors and supporters, but not meet with their constituents.”

Senator Boxer failed to return any phone calls or emails made to her headquarters to discuss the town hall and book signing issues. Currently, Boxer is on record for supporting health care reform and providing a public option.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

HR 45 takes aim at the Second Amendment

With the country busy talking about cap-and-trade, illegal immigration and health care, Congressmen Bobby Rush of Illinois slithered into committee legislation to curb American’s Second Amendment rights.

The Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record Sale Act of 2009 or HR 45 is set to amend the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Pursuant to the legislation, a person would have to be issued a firearm license and states such a license would have to renewed on a yearly basis.

Uncle Sam wants money from gun owners on a yearly basis and would most likely collect those fees through the 1040 tax form.

The new law would prohibit transferring a firearm to any family members unless they provide a valid firearm license. The license must be checked by a dealer by using an special authorization number.

The proposed legislation directs the Attorney General to establish and implement a federal record of the sale system. This would create another bureaucratic level for gun owners to jump through on a yearly basis.

HR 45 also seeks to charge gun owners with a crime if they do not comply with the instant criminal background check, fail to report a loss or theft of the gun within 72 hours, fail to notify the Attorney General’s office with a change in address within 60 days and keeping a firearm loaded.

Lawful gun owners have written the government regarding HR 45 stating the following; “Currently there are more than 20,000 existing gun laws on the books and most do nothing to curtail criminals…Where ever lawful ownership flourishes, crime rates, by what ever measure are reduced.”

There would also be a yearly fee attached for gun owners in order to pay for a new bureaucratic office the government would need to set up.

Gun rights’ activists are extremely hawkish when it comes to new legislation and this bill is no different. “If this bill passes, Democrats would likely lose control of their chamber in upcoming mid-term elections in 2010,” said Lawrence Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

According to Keane, more than 80 million U.S. citizens currently own firearms.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Women partake in Open Carry gun event in Encinitas

The quiet streets of this San Diego seaside community were awakened to the Second Amendment rights as 12 Californians walked the sidewalks with their firearms. Six of the 12 open carriers were women and six additional non-carriers handed out informational fliers to anyone who was interested.

Most of residents were curious about what was going on, some thought the open carriers were a part of law enforcement and a few were offended, but the morning event ended with educating the public about their right to carry a gun in the state of California.

Of coarse there are a few rules to be followed when taking your gun outside your home. First you need to be a registered gun owner, the weapon must be in a holster in plain site and it cannot be loaded. Ammunition is normally carried, but separate from the gun.

Once the group met, they notified the local law enforcement, as a courtesy, that they would be walking the downtown district of Encinitas.

“It’s awesome, we as Americans have the right to carry our guns and it can’t be taken away from us,” said Rochelle Howes, fellow open carrier participant. “This is my second open carry and it amazes me that some law enforcement officers don’t know we have this right.”

Fellow gun advocate, Mari Hayden, says this is her first open carry event. “This is great. I just talked to an off-duty officer who said they were creeped out by this right, but I told her I was creeped out that she was a cop.”

Another fellow carrier was Rosa Garcia, a Mexican immigrant who came here legally with a sponsor; “I do this to share quality time with my sons.” The Garcia’s are belong to the San Diego Minutemen group and since they’ve lost their business due to illegal immigration, they depend on the kindness of the Minutemen for help to get by in the tough recession.

When it comes to the importance of being able to carry their firearms, many open carriers had different reasons for the educational walk through Encinitas.

“I will save a liberals' life even if they won’t save mine,” says Pendry Boteler. “I don’t mine though because I’ve been around guns my whole life.”

The goal of this group is to exercise this right in every North San Diego County city in order to educate as many Americans as possible, says Jeff Schwilk founder of the San Diego Minutemen.

Not everyone was convinced this was a good idea. A few residents left their table outside a café and said, “You people are nuts and paranoid. You shouldn’t want guns in your Christian nation.”


However across the plaza the group ran into current City Council member and former Encinitas Mayor Dan Dalager. “I’m not used to seeing people walk down the street openly carrying guns. I’m not endorsing it, but I’m not freaked out by it either.”

He continued to say that growing up he used guns and referred to them as tools that they used on the property to get the fox out of the chicken coop.

Finally one of the carriers drove down from Orange County to learn about the organization in hopes of bringing a chapter to the Orange County area in a few months.

Vincent Burke is a lifetime National Rifle Association member and assists the U.S. Border Patrol on the U.S./Mexico border in counter-narco terrorism activity. “It’s tough work, but someone’s got to do it.”

Once the streets were safe and the group hungry, they all ended their day at Giovanni’s Italian restaurant on Hwy 101 for lunch, guns and all.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Protesters to Senator Boxer – you’re fired

San Diego- This is termination of employment from ‘we the people.’ It was clear outside California Senator Barbara Boxer’s office; ‘we the people’ were giving her a pink slip for a variety of reasons.

“She is not holding town hall meetings, she is not coming to San Diego and she refuses to answer questions about her votes in Washington D.C.,” says Linda Reedy a furious California voter.

Approximately 200 protesters from both sides of the isle stood outside Boxer’s office, parading their signs for all to see. From the onset, the Tea Party movement had a clear message that resonated with passerby’s in the downtown location.

Many of the people walking by stopped to thank the protesters for doing everything they were doing. Also, many passing cars and trucks honked their horns in support of the anti-health care protesters.

The health-care protest 'mob' attracted younger people to senior citizens.

“Doesn’t the government and people recognize this will cost our country a trillion plus dollars?” said Ann Holley, a senior who came to see what all the fuss was about. “Why hasn’t there been more discussion about community clinics similar to what we have in my town?”

Others were concerned about the free market in this country. Recent college graduates, Jessi Bridges, 24 and Britni Chadwick, 24 said, “We care about the direction our country is going and we care about our future.” They found out about the protest at an online community – not the Tea Party Patriots where a lot of the demonstraters are learning about protests and town halls across the country.

The lunchtime festivities were also recorded by the local news. One broadcaster found himself in the middle of a rude and in your face proponent of a single-payer health insurance program.

Another senior citizen who was holding her sign along the street said, “I was given the middle finger one-inch from my face by a young person with no respect for me whatsoever. It was my generation who sacrificed the most.”

In the meantime, small groups of protesters were escorted up to the Senator’s office to hand deliver their letters and petitions.

Once inside the office the group was greeted by a single employee who had no knowledge other than the fact that Senator Boxer has not been in the office for at least two years.

“You want to know why we are upset? She won’t even meet with her constituents, she is disrespecting the people,” Reedy said. “How is it she can vote on issues when she hasn’t bothered to visit San Diego in two years?”

The argument is the same across the country and as August continues, canceling or not holding town halls will only lament the anger constituents feel about their lawmakers. Protesters are hopping mad and they are not going to take it anymore.

“And by the way, no one is paying me to be here,” Chadwick said.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

DHS 'right-wing extremist' report deemed unreliable, rife with flaws

In a report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in April of this year, department officials charged Americans who believed in topics like anti-abortion, illegal immigration or disgruntled military members may fall victim to domestic extremist groups similar to Timothy McVeigh.

The report in question garnered information from internet websites and news stories found on the internet rather than relying on hard facts and statistics from agencies such as Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearm (ATF) or Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). James Carafano, Homeland Security expert said, a good report would included credible sources from the DEA, FBI and ATF.

The DHS report sparked outrage back in April from military groups, veteran’s groups as well as ordinary citizens.

Consumer advocacy group Americans for Limited Government decided to file a Freedom of Information Act request a few days after the DHS report was released in order to find out what was really going on.

ALG was stunned to find the lack of research used by a governmental agency charged with protecting the United States.

“Under Napolitano’s watch, government officials who were supposed to be gathering real intelligence on domestic terror threats were instead surfing the web and reading wacky websites, all to create the public perception of right-wing extremism,” said Bill Wilson of ALG.

Included in the DHS response to ALG was reference to website the officials used at least 11 times www.whatdoesitmean.com. “We are demanding that DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano resign her post for the Department’s use of a crackpot conspiracy website in drafting and issuing this ‘right-wing extremism’ threat to law enforcement in April,” said Alex Rosenwald of ALG.

He goes on to say that the use of a ‘kook’ website used to indict the American people in the right-wing extremist memo without using proper intelligence gathering is deplorable, highly dubious and extremely insulting to tens of millions of Americans who were targeted by the DHS memo.

Wilson said, “The DHS assessment was actually a political document designed to fuel the public’s perception of right-wing extremism, nothing more.” He continues, “Taking part in a deliberate intimidation campaign against the American people under the guise of protecting them is wrong. The only honorable thing for Napolitano to do is step down.”

DHS declined to comment on the report.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Democracy alive and well at town hall meetings

While the Administration ushers in a new era of health care reform, town halls find democracy alive and well across the country. As these meetings unfold, Rasmussen Polls reports health care is more unpopular and nearing double digit 53-42 deficit.

Getting to the nitty gritty of the health care bill isn’t easy. There are up to six bills floating around Washington D.C., making it hard for legislators to either defend or defeat an industry that consumes one-sixth of the U.S. economy.

The White House is trying to re-brand its health care reform package to health ‘insurance’ reform; thus painting the insurance company as the bogeyman. The shift in tactics, however, has done nothing to sway public support and the numbers continue to move away from the White House plans.

Town halls across the swath of the nation have generating genuine passion and California has been no different. Although, the crowd in San Diego early in the day, seemed to be fairly split, one thing was clear; there was anger on both sides of the issue.

Congressman Brian Bilbray-R, Calif. braved the packed senior center to answer questions about the Obama Administrations attempt to push through health care reform. Questions varied from rationing, to costs and what will be covered.

Oddly, when it came to the insurance companies themselves, the Congressman placed the blame squarely on the U.S. government and stated that “Washington will create the monopoly with health insurance companies, if people were allowed to buy insurance across state lines there would be a lot more competition and less price fixing.”

When the discussion moved to true reform, “cleaning up waste, fraud and abuse,” the entire room erupted in laughter. Bilbray said, “Why do we need legislation to fix this problem, we should be doing that anyway- it’s your money.” Again, the majority agreed.

“If it doesn’t pass the smell test, something is wrong,” he said. “Listen to all the points on this issue and we can build a consensus.”

Among the many agreements within the room was the inclusion of those here illegally. Most did not want to cover people who were not citizens in this country and the Congressman stated he would not vote for legislation with coverage for illegals.

The ability to afford health insurance is a problem for the recently unemployed, young people, self employed and small business owners. Bilbray said “Washington should be eliminating the walls for the individuals and allowing them to get together and purchase reasonable health care.” Again, there was consensus among the audience on this topic.

Most walked away from the hour-long Q &A believing the free-market system was the way out of this with insurance reform, not government control.

“I was just looking for answers and I found out we are all talking about something that really doesn’t even exist yet,” says Bob Crowe of San Diego.

“What the government is doing is a travesty,” said Gary Odaffer, a San Diego resident. “Our government is worthless; it’s all about big business and Troubled Assets Relief Program, TARP.”

Others were looking to see if the Republicans had any alternatives to the Democrat plan. One resident asked the Congressman if they were just the party of ‘no’ or if they had a plan out there as well.

“The Republicans are not allowed to bring anything to the floor without 218 votes. We currently have only 178 Republicans in the House a number well-short of what is needed,” an exasperated Bilbray said. “We are not even allowed to write amendments, the House Republicans have been completely shut out of the process.”

“However, the House and the Senate Republicans both have a plan,” Bilbray says. The following sites contain Republican options.www.gop.gov/solutions/healthcare or House plan www.house.gov/ryan/healthcare/index.htm .

When the government gets involved in handing out an item, such as health care, and when it becomes a scarcity, it is common sense to see there will be rationing. Bilbray pointed out that if the 47 million number is accurate, then where we are going to find all the new doctors, nurses and facilities required to treat the influx of new people.

The Obama Administration also seems to be driving a fissure between his party and the senior citizens as they oppose this bill in a 56 -39 percent. This is a double-digit unfavorable rating for the Presidents’ health reform bill.

Some continuants noticed the current health care bill will only be implemented in 2013 and wondered why. “Sticker shock,” replied Bilbray. “The President wants to win a second term and if he announces that health care will cost $1.6 trillion for six years; voters may have buyer’s remorse.”

After meeting with several doctors, Bilbray noted the need for health insurance portability and the fact there will be a shortage of doctors and nurses in the future. “I wanted to talk to people with a vested outcome in health care reform.”

Physicians have pointed out that medical schools have already seen a fall off in students looking to the medical profession. Before long America will have to look to India for medical field professionals, the Congressman noted.

At a later town hall in San Diego with Democrat Susan Davis-D, Calif., the ruckus crowd could not squeeze into the community center, leaving hundreds outside to make their voices heard.

With San Diego Police Department out making their presence known, the voters on either side of the debate were chanting political slogans like, ‘yes we can and health care now.’ Clearly there were grass roots members from the tea parties to the right and the White House’s Organize for America in attendance.

“We must be respectful inside and out,” said Edith Smith of San Diego. “We all need to contribute when it comes to health care; the status quo is not working.”

Another San Diego resident, David West said, “The leaders need to create a list of what is broken and try to fix it.”

The bottom line for voters to keep in mind is to, read, listen and question with boldness everything the elected officials put before the taxpayer. And maybe cooler heads can result in something everyone can live with.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Democrat leadership adds a health care ‘war room’ to White House

As August heats up, the Democratic leadership has set up a health care ‘war room’ to assist members of congress with those pesky town hall uprisings and keep the legislators on message.

‘War room’ headquarters will scour the media outlets on health care and write up-to-date talking points to counter health care critics.

Rather than have meaningful discussion to truly reform the health care industry, the Obama Administration continues to push for rapid lawmaking before the American public can read the breath of the 1,000+ page bill.

Another confusing component to this legislation is the fact there are currently up to five different bills floating around Washington D.C. This makes it tough for concerned citizens to navigate through the shark-infested health care waters and decipher how this will affect their health coverage.

The majority of the “angry mob protestors” are senior citizens. They, understandably, have the most to lose from health-care rationing, especially since the Obama Administration has stated on a number of occasions one-half of the cost of the $1 trillion plan will come from cost savings stemming in Medicare.

Insiders with the ‘war room’ say there will be constant phone calls and emails throughout the August recess to keep Democrats on task. Leadership aides also claim the ‘war room’ group; “We’ll do whatever we can to facilitate the successful passage of the health care legislation in September.”

While the Democrats continue on the offensive, the GOP has a few tricks up their sleeve. According to a memo from House Minority Whip leader Eric Cantor, Republicans are to focus on fiscally responsible Democrat Blue Dogs.

The statement included a number of key health care information points for each of the 52 Blue Dog districts.

Cantor also provides some guidance for Republicans holding town hall meetings. “If you encounter energetic crowds, make sure to listen to what they’re saying, and listen for as long as they wish to speak.”

This is clearly a different philosophy than the “push back twice as hard,” policy the White House has put forth.


To read a copy of health care bill HR3200;energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Gallup finds Americans don't favor increasing immigration

As the recession drags on and jobs continue to be shed at an alarming rate, a number of Gallup and Rasmussen polls find Americans want immigration to slow.

While the President is in Mexico to warm relations south of the border and Latino activist groups trying to up the ante with amnesty, Gallup finds more than 50 percent of all Americans are less favorable to immigration. This number is up sharply from the 39 percent number a year ago.

While the voters’ stance on immigration has receded and gained momentum since 9/11, current figures put the immigration issue in a downturn. Current polling data shows most citizens are more focused on the economic growth, health care reform and job creation.

Still the Obama Administration continues to lessen its regulations with E-Verify, 287(g) prosecution of those here illegally and relax the community and business raids targeting illegal aliens.

Even though immigration is not at the forefront throughout the country it’s worth noting states that share a border with Mexico have not given up to tougher law enforcement issues.

Two weeks ago, Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas was execution along the California border near Campo. It is widely assumed by law enforcement officials that the assailants skipped back through a porous fence into Mexico.

The added attention doesn’t play well with many in California. According to Rasmussen polling data, 65 percent of Californians believe the availability of government money and social services draw illegal aliens to the state.

When the idea of immigration reform percolated a couple of months ago, Obama and like-minded legislators came up against strong opposition from the voters. It does not help that provisions within the health care reform bill included benefits for those here illegally as well as their family members.

Currently, 66 percent of voters polled by Rasmussen, state that it is extremely important for the government to improve the border fence and curb incentives for those to come to America in order for meaningful immigration reform talks to take place.

Most Americans favor some sort of reform when it comes to illegal immigration, but with that comes the responsibility to enforce the current laws on the books and clamping down on U.S./Mexico borders.

According to Fox News, one in 10 Mexican citizens now resides in the U.S. They also state that in the last 18 months more than 10,000 Mexicans have been murdered. This number dwarfs the number of U.S. soldiers who have died in the Iraq/Afghanistan wars combined.

These numbers only add to American’s skittishness about opening up the flood gates.

One final point comes from the real cost of amnesty. The Heritage Foundation has estimated amnesty would cost the taxpayer more than $2.6 trillion.

Until American laws are enforced, it remains clear the American people do not want any form of Amnesty.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Shh, I won't tell anyone

In an attempt to regain some leverage in the health care argument, the White House is asking the American people to tattle on their neighbors.

The Obama Administration will now look to back-stabbing neighbors to turn in any “fishy” information they come across in emails, rumors and casual conversation. The White House has set up a special email address,flag@whitehouse.gov, in order to collect data via the internet.

This new Nazi-style tactic has enraged Americans on the left and right.

Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas spoke publicly and loudly on the White House compiling an “enemy list.”

In a letter to the President he wrote, “I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy’ or otherwise inimical to the White House’s political interests.”

At this point the Obama Administration’s plan to save the single-payer plan within the health care bill have now all been obliterated and the drastic step of spying is their last resort.

Many though, feel this tactic will back-fire and cause more citizens to look deeper into the many bills floating around Washington.

At a rally for Virginia Gubernatorial Democrat Creigh Deeds, the President spoke about the health care hype. “I don’t want the folks who created the mess doing a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.”

The White House has also employed its ally, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to start attending the town hall meetings to level the playing field.

This however didn’t go so well as a local conservative activist, Kenneth Gladney, who is black, claims he was attacked by Obama supporters at the SEIU event.

He made a statement to the St. Louis Dispatch from the hospital; “It just seems there’s no freedom of speech without being attacked.”

Also it is good to remember the past and learn from history. For example during the Nixon era, the President employed a “brown shirt” army of CIA operatives dressed in civilian clothes to target anti-war protestors. It was the protestor’s rights that were upheld by the Supreme Court.

Perhaps our President forgot that we have a pesky little document, the Constitution, in place and its First Amendment rights are a guarantee “we the citizens” have.

In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “has fought the White House policy of shielding the president from dissent. The First Amendment protects the right to free speech, but that right is undermined if protestors can’t be heard.” This is the first paragraph on the ACLU’s website. www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/protest_president.html

This right is guaranteed to all citizens, regardless of political affiliation, color of skin or religious preference.

As the August recess begins for Senators, the White House held a Democrat-only meeting providing tips for the Senators when it comes to disastrous town hall meetings.

“If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard,” said Jim Messina deputy chief of staff for the President at the meeting.

It appears that the White House is planning to use Chicago-style strong-arm tactics across the country this August and I’m sure this isn’t change I can believe in.

P.S. This was written by my next door neighbor.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Adam Taylor aims for the stars, literally

Adam Taylor aims for the stars, literally

At the X-games last weekend, Adam Taylor of Encinitas pointed his skateboard down a 50- foot ramp and sailed over a huge gap only to touch down on the other side and pull more big air tricks.

This X-Game crowd favorite event only draws a few brave souls out to risk severe injury; Taylor is one of those brave souls.

At 19, he is also one of the youngest skaters in Big Air and the traditional fan favorite Vert Ramp. “I love the Big Air contest,” says an excited Taylor.

However, skating this type of ramp is not easy. “I can’t just practice anytime I want. I have to be invited to Bob Burnquist’s house because that is the only Big Air ramp around.”

Reflecting back on the recent contest Taylor can’t help but be a little bummed. He finished just off the podium in the two Big Air contests.

This year the event organizers added a new twist to the Big Air ramp. Local legend Danny Way came up with a “rainbow rail” that was placed the length of the gap. It is here where Taylor feels a bit miffed.

“I heard a few people tell me I was robbed in this event as I did a kick flip before grinding the rail and landed on the other side,” Taylor said.

He explained that the X-Games are a different beast. “I think the judges are looking to the established skaters first and they make the new guy work a little harder.”

That’s the way the cookie crumbles, however, Taylor quickly moves past this contest and is already focusing on the Dew Tour.

“I’m going to be practicing super hard for the Dew Tour. I need to get my 720s down if I want to get onto the podium,” Taylor admitted.

And in true nose to the grindstone fashion he picks up his skateboard, heads up the stairs and pursues his dreams of being a skateboard champion.

Illegal immigration down, recession cited

In a report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), monthly data obtained by the Census Bureau shows there are more illegals going home than crossing into the country. However, the report also pointed out that legal immigration population has not declined.

CIS noted that stepped-up enforcement accounts for some of the decline in illegal border crossings.

According to Steven Camarota, the Center’s Director of Research found the illegal population declined 13.7 percent from summer of 2007 to the first quarter of this year. CIS spokesperson also said “the number of illegal immigrants returning home has more than doubled in the last two years compared to earlier in this decade.”

Mindful of the illegal immigration issue the foundation noted the majority in this country illegally remain here and there are still tens of thousands of new illegal immigrants that continue to settle in the U.S.

The report finishes by stating there is no way to know if the current trend will continue.

“Given President Obama’s stated desire to legalize illegal immigrants and his backing away from enforcement efforts, it seems likely that when the economy recovers, the illegal population will resume its growth,” Camarota said.

For more details on this report follow this link; cis.org/IllegalImmigration-ShiftingTide

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

California Governor hopeful, Whitman answers tough questions

Driving down Escondido Street one can’t help but notice the vacant store fronts and dusty sidewalks, however along this street lays a bright spot, Village Kitchen and Pie Shoppe. It is here where Meg Whitman, former Ebay CEO and billionaire met with potential voters to garner their support.

The standing room only crowd had plenty of questions for this GOP rookie. Whitman explained how she came into the world of politics via Mitt Romney, former GOP Presidential candidate. She informed the crowd about how John McCain helped nudge her into running for a very difficult job as California’s Governor.

But in the end, it was her decision to “not let California fail,” that prompted her to seek California’s highest state office.

Whitman says she will focus on three main topics troubling the state, jobs, the state’s out-of-control spending and education.

“We (California) are ranked 48th in the country and education is the way up and out,” she explained. “I also know this state is bleeding jobs to other states not China and that has to stop.”

In a light moment the owner of the Pie Shoppe had Whitman slice a piece of pie, she responded with “don’t try and sell that on Ebay.” The crowd got a good chuckle out of that.

After that the conversation shifted to more serious topics like AB32, California’s version of Cap and Trade which is Job killer. This question was brought forward by 14-year-old, Joe Naritelli, an incoming La Costa Canyon High School freshman.

Whitman explained that if she were governor, she would modify or revoke AB32 and acknowledged it was a job-killing piece of legislation.

On the health care front Whitman talked about her husband, who is a brain-surgeon, and how half the surgeries he performs are free due to Emergency Room rules to refuse no one life-saving care.

“The fact that the Obama Administration is trying to force through health care at lightning speed is wrong, we need to bring down the costs, make sure everyone can get insurance coverage and create more competition within the industry.”

When it comes to keeping and growing jobs in the state, the candidate looked to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s business model. “Texas has reduced excessive business regulation and reduced the state's high business taxes. As a result Texas is currently producing 80 percent of the countries new jobs.”

She continued, “We know what the right solutions are for California, we just have to implement them.”

Tackling important issues was not hard for Whitman’s business-like acumen. “Now that I’ve watched this political process, I know how important my rights are,” says Naritelli.

For others like Escondido resident Sarah Bond it was a chance to hear what a high-profile candidate like Whitman would do for her city and state. “She’s a political rookie and doesn’t have a record for me to judge. For now I’ll remain skeptical.”

And yet for other young college students it was a chance to let Whitman know that she needed to reach out to young people like President Obama did and let them get grass roots campaigns started.

“Reaching out to college students is a great way to build a movement, I hope we can help,” said Chasen Bullock a senior at San Marcos State University. “We have about 500 registered members and 35 very active members ready to get going.”

It seems the 2010 election cycle is gearing up early for a long and difficult process. However, this time around candidates are going to have to serve up more than just pie if they hope to get elected because voters are asking the tough questions.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

San Diego Minutemen vindicated, win lawsuit against Caltrans

In a First Amendment victory for California, the San Diego Minutemen won more than $150,000 in damages for a lawsuit filed against Caltrans for revoking the groups Adopt a Highway permit.

“We are very pleased with the settlement which ends the 18-month attempt to discriminate against our political views that began in January 2008 by local illegal alien activists, Caltrans employees and members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus,” said Jeff Schwilk, founder of the San Diego Minutemen.

The settlement was reached on August 3 at the Federal Court building in San Diego.

Terms of the settlement include payment to the San Diego Minutemen of $157,500 for attorney fees and damages, permanent restoration of the AAH permit for the freeway site near the San Clemente Border Patrol checkpoint near San Onofre, full future participation in the California Adopt-a-Highway program and Caltrans will hold a press conference at their headquarters to correct the inaccurate statements made by Pedro Orso-Delgado, San Diego District Director, who coincidently announced his resignation from Caltrans on the day of the settlement.

Mr. Delgado could not be reached for comment and Caltrans refused comment regarding the settlement in favor of the San Diego Minutemen.

San Diego Minutemen has been cleaning the San Onofre freeway site since August 2008 when Judge Hayes granted an injunction to restore the Minutemen sign and permit.

“SDMM is proud to participate in this community service program and we look forward to adopting other highways in San Diego County to help keep our freeways and roads clean,” Schwilk said.

Francisca Galvan, SDMM’s Adopt-a-Highway director and legal immigrant from Mexico said, “The San Diego Minutemen were extremely grateful to their attorneys at Kaloogian & Fuselier for successfully representing their American activist group in this important Constitutional and civil rights case.”

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

White House declares health care anger is manufactured

Many lawmakers are making their way home and looking forward to closing summer days with family, catching up on summer reading and mingling with their constituents – at least some are.

If you are a member of Congress or Senate and you favor the Obama health care bill, greeting the voters may not be so fun. Voters are good and mad.

The White House added even more bait to the feeding frenzy by telling Jake Tapper of ABC that the so-called anger about health care is manufactured. Really?

Rather than listen to the voters at these town hall meetings or falling poll numbers, the White House decides to refer to the discontented voters as angry mobs.

“I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to what is clearly the Astroturf nature of so-called grass-roots lobbying,” Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman said.

Again, rather callous words for someone who is clearly out of touch with what everyday Americans are thinking. Current tracking polls from Rasmussen show a majority of American’s disapprove of Obama care, 49-46 percent. The poll numbers continue a downward spiral for the White House.

Of those polled, 78 percent say health care reform will lead to much higher taxes for middleclass families, not saved money as touted by the President. American’s realize you can’t insure close to 50 million new people without any increased spending. Where are the new doctors, nurses and facilities going to come from to cover this?

However, it is the politicians who seem to think they know what’s best for the average taxpayer. None have read the bill, Congressman John Conyers of Michigan is on record for saying he would need two lawyers to read and explain the bill. He is a lawyer.

So why is Washington pushing to pass a 1,300-page bill they have not read and many clearly do not understand? That is what the anger is all about.

The arrogance continues with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. “Health insurance companies and people like them are trying to load these town meetings for visual impact. They want to show thousands of people screaming Socialism, trying to overcome public sentiment which favors health care reform, that’s like flooding the switchboards on Capitol Hill it doesn’t prove much, except our switch boards have a limited capacity. We have a much more balanced approach as members of Congress.”

Gee, Mr. Durbin must be really working hard on reading the health care bill and not reading the newspapers that point out more people DO NOT want Universal health care.

Again, it’s not much of a surprise that main stream media is not covering these types of interviews or polling numbers. Once the enabler, always the enabler.

As August unfolds and lawmakers make their way to public events, one of two things will happen. They will either realize they’d better listen to what their constituents are saying, or they will dismiss the hoopla and seal their fate in 2010.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Fundraiser for slain Border Patrol Agent Rosas a huge success

A “Rosie Rosas Drive-Thru” fundraiser held by San Diego Sheriff Candidate Jay LaSuer was wildly successful and garnered more than $15,000 for the fallen hero’s family.

The event was held at the Scottish Rite Center parking lot, under the tents which is located in Mission Valley. Fellow donors were rewarded with a free meal from Ranch Catering.

In true San Diego fashion, strangers packed the parking lot to donate their hard-earned money in order to help a family that is suffering a death of a loved one.

“We had a great turnout, everyone was just fantastic and very supportive,” said Jay La Suer.

Asked why he took the time to raise money during a recession? “It was the right thing to do, Robert Rosas gave his life protecting our country and his family deserves the best.”

The fund raiser also attracted the attention of local talk show radio host’s like Roger Hedgecock, Rick Roberts and Jimmy Valentine.

Also in attendance were many law enforcement agencies including local San Diego Police, Sheriffs and Border Patrol.

“The Border Patrol has been real gracious,” LaSuer explained.

100 percent of the money was presented to fallen Agent Rosas’s wife, Rosie, at the Campo Border Patrol station today by Valentine.

If you couldn’t make the fund raiser, but still would like to help out the family you can visit this website; officerrobertrosas.chipin.com/officer-robert-rosas-family or send a check to Rosie Rosas c/o Sheriff Jay, P.O. Box 2115, La Mesa, CA 91943.

There are also donation canisters located at American Shooting Center on Ruffin Rd and El Cajon Gun Exchange in El Cajon.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

Guatemala to lobby Congress on immigration reform

Getting on the lobbying gravy train is the Guatemalan government. According to an M3 report release last week, the Guatemalan’s felt the need for urgency in setting up a regional bloc to persuade U.S. members of Congress regarding immigration reform.

The representatives from the Executive, the Judiciary and other organizations in favor of undocumented aliens in the U.S., met in Chicago to draw up a lobbying plan to aggressively tackle the immigration issue this year.

Their plan zeros in to target Blue Dog Democrats. In a statement from Edgar Ayala of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities said “218 votes are needed in the House of Representatives and 60 in the Senate.”

“The numbers are not in our favor, therefore, one of the conclusions is that we will work with the Senators who are not yet convinced,” Ayala said.

The statement also said the group is prepared to lobby Senators, Governors and Mayors within the U.S. who are not behind immigration reform.

“We’ll ask the support of Congressmen who are in favor to help us persuade those who are not,” Miguel Angel Ibarra, vice chancellor (similar to Dep. Secretary of State) of Guatemalan said.

The coalition will work to unite all Latin America migrant organizations in order to become more of a force inside the U.S. and push for immigration reform.

AKA amnesty for all.

Back door amnesty, Chicago-style

With the help of unions, partisan politicians and pro-amnesty groups, the White House intends to push for back-door amnesty and bypass Congress altogether.

“It makes sense to do now what the administration can do… it doesn’t have to go through Congress. It (amnesty) doesn’t have to go through the toxic political process,” said Ana Avendano of the AFL-CIO at a recent press conference.

The AFL-CIO is one of the largest union representatives which include all the radio/broadcasters as well as the Hollywood crowd.

The Obama Administration is making a three pronged effort to gain amnesty without bringing the always hot-button immigration issue into the U.S. House of Representatives.

The first prong the Administration is attacking is the 287(g) rule which some Democrats in Congress called “misguided.” This provision states local law enforcement can arrest those here illegally in the country who have not committed any major crimes.

“That fact you have to commit a major crime to be arrested is a joke,” says Jena Baker McNeill of the Heritage Foundation. “Coming into this country illegally is against the law.”

The 287(g) provision has been most notably used by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona. His office currently uses 287(g) to curtail an explosive invasion of illegals in to his U.S./Mexico border state.

However, pro-amnesty groups like National Immigration Forum see things differently.

In a press release from the group; “Any enforcement regime that targets that population is a waste of time and money and a band-aid on an open wound, at best,” said Ali Noorani, executive director for National Immigration Forum.

Since Janet Napolitano’s place as the head of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was lamented during the Administration change, many policies have seen a certain softening.

At the top of the list is 287(g) enforcement.

“Today’s 287(g) announcement by DHS is a stark departure from the current practice and I fear will only hinder our law enforcement agencies’ ability to apprehend and detain illegal aliens,” said Hal Rodgers-R Ky. in a statement. “The current 287(g) program enables state and local law enforcement to effectively enforce federal immigration law and is key to keeping our country safe.”

A spokesperson from DHS, Matt Chandler, sounded cheery when asked if this would hinder Sheriff Joe. “Yes.”

However, at a recent meeting with Sheriff Joe, Jay LaSuer, candidate for San Diego Sheriff, said, “Sheriff Joe doesn’t think this new ruling will slow him down too much.”

The next area where the Obama administration plans on softening is the E-Verify program.

The Obama Administration has pushed for workplace raids and arrests to be stopped and informed law enforcement to steer clear of the illegal immigrants caught working illegally.

Many of those caught at workplaces are using false documents and have now committed two crimes, one of which is a felony, says Congressman Brian Bilbray-R, CA.

“We need all these laws, including all aspects of E-Verify, in order to tackle illegal immigration. All of this is piecemeal work, but it’s all the little things that mean a lot when put together,” McNeill said.

By taking the no-match rule in E-Verify away many feel it will only make it easier and a no brainer for those in this country illegally to stay. “This only works when all parties involved are penalized, including employers and illegal alien offenders,” McNeill finished.

“The fact that DHS wants to overlook the rule of law will only lead illegals to expand their footprints in this country,” Bilbray said. “These new rules will encourage those to come here illegally and this welcome mat mentality means amnesty.”

This leads to the third prong of the back door amnesty. The health care reform package includes a provision that Republican’s tried and failed to strip from the House health care package.

The plan known as the Heller amendment and was written by Rep. Dean Heller, R-NV, and was to include clauses that mandated checks similar to E-Verify in order for applicants to qualify for government subsidized health insurance.

The Heller amendment said, “It would better screen applicants for subsidized health care to ensure they are actually citizens or otherwise entitled to it.”

The two identification processes the Heller amendment would use are programs the federal government already employ; The Income and Eligibility Verification System (IEVS) and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE).

In an interview with Janice Kephart of the Centers for Immigration Studies regarding the inclusion of illegals in the health care bill she came to a similar conclusion.

“If amnesty forgives illegality, then this is just another element of a multi-faceted approach to a red carpet for illegals, “Kephart said. “Who cares if our current health care system can’t provide adequate coverage for those born here?”

Another point to keep in mind is the real cost of amnesty. In a 2007 report, The Heritage Foundation estimated that amnesty would cost the American public more than $2.6 Trillion, yes TRILLION.

While counter pro-amnesty groups insist those here illegally will pay into the Internal Revenue Service raising capital, The Heritage Foundation claims the cost of retirement benefits from amnesty would be unsustainable and fall well short of any revenue collected.

Heritage also contends that the rush to social services (such as Food Stamps, public housing and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) would overwhelm the already over-burdened system.

All these issues combined can create a back door amnesty, according to Lawmakers like Bilbray and other watch dog groups like CIS.

“When you throw big business and big labor together, the power and profit creates an unholy alliance,” the Congressman said.

For all these reasons, like them (politicians) or not, American’s need their lawmakers involved when it comes to immigration reform.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner