U.S. Supreme Court dumps AZ voter law

The Bugle: PHOENIX -- Saying federal law trumps state, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Arizona cannot demand proof of citizenship from individuals who use a federal voter registration form.

In an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the majority rejected arguments by state Attorney General Tom Horne that Arizona is free to demand more than the federal form requires.

It mandates only that those registering to vote sign an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that they are citizens and eligible. But Horne argued that Arizona is free to reject those forms unless applicants also submit actual proof of citizenship, something mandated by a 2004 voter-approved law.

Monday's ruling specifically requires state and local election officials to accept -- and, more to the point -- to register those individuals who use the form prescribed by the National Voter Registration Act even if they provide no proof of citizenship.

But Horne insisted Monday the ruling was only a setback. He noted the court said Arizona can petition the federal Election Assistance Commission to alter its form to allow Arizona to add that proof-of-citizenship requirement.

But Nina Perales, attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, pointed out Arizona made such a request in 2005 and was rejected by the four-member commission on a 2-2 vote.

ere is no reason to think Arizona would be successful on a second try, particularly because Arizona cannot point to a single instance of a non-citizen registering to vote or trying to register to vote using the federal form,' she told Capitol Media Services. "With no facts on its side, Arizona cannot carry its burden of providing that registrants should include additional paperwork with their applications.'

Secretary of State Ken Bennett acknowledged when the case was argued last year he has no evidence people who are not citizens are registering to vote, either now with the federal form or before the 2004 proof-of-citizenship requirement.

Horne, however, said he intends to try again.

But that is likely to prove fruitless: There are no commissioners as the U.S. Senate has yet to confirm any presidential appointees. Horne said, though, that could lead him back to the Supreme Court.

Monday's ruling does give Arizona a bit of wiggle room. The justices said the state can refuse to register even someone using the federal form -- but only if election officials have "information in their possession establishing the applicant's ineligibility.'

And nothing in Monday's ruling prohibits the state from requiring citizenship proof from those who use state-created forms to register.

Local election officials have said the vast majority of those who do register use that state form. That, however, now could change.

Perales said the decision provides a new tool for groups conducting registration drives to now sign up new voters using that federal form -- and without having to get applicants to submit one of the documents that Arizona considers acceptable. That includes an Arizona driver's license, passport or birth certificate.

The 2004 law requires both proof of citizenship to register and identification to cast a ballot at the polls. Foes challenged both.

The courts sided with the state on the ID at polling places requirement. Foes of the Arizona law never appealed that decision, and it was not an issue in Monday's ruling.
Horne, in his arguments to the high court, did not dispute the National Voting Rights Act requires states to "accept and use' the federal voter registration form. But he argued that does not conflict with Arizona law.

"Because only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote, Proposition 200's evidence-of-citizenship requirement is consistent with the NVRA's express goals,' Horne argued to the high court. "Congress did not intend the NVRA to bar states from properly assessing whether an applicant who registers to vote is eligible to vote.'
And he said Arizona can add its own proof-of-citizenship requirements on top of everything required in the federal form.

Scalia dismissed that argument as nonsensical.

"For example, a government (decree) that 'civil servants shall accept government IOUs for payment of salaries' does not invite the response, 'sure, we'll accept IOUs -- if you pay us a 10 percent down payment in cash,' ' he wrote.

He also pointed out that the federal law says a state shall "ensure that any eligible applicant is registered to vote in an election ... if the valid voter registration form is postmarked' by a certain deadline.

"Yet Arizona reads the phrase 'accept and use' ... as permitting it to reject a completed Federal Form if the applicant does not submit additional information required by state law,' Scalia wrote. "That reading cannot be squared with Arizona's obligation.'

The court said it was not disturbing the requirement that those who use the state-designed form -- the majority of those now registered to vote -- must provide proof of citizenship.

"States retain the flexibility to design and use their own registration forms,' Scalia wrote.

"But the Federal Form provides a backstop: No matter what procedural hurdles a state's own form imposes, the Federal Form guarantees that a simple means of registering to vote in federal elections will be available.'

What states may not do, Scalia wrote, is demand that those who register using the Federal Form provide everything the state registration form requires.

"If that is so, the Federal Form ceases to perform any meaningful function, and would be a feeble means of increasing the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for federal office,' he wrote.

In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas said the U.S. Constitution gives states the power to determine the qualifications for voting in federal elections. And Thomas said that "necessarily includes the related power to determine whether those qualifications are satisfied.'

Gov. Jan Brewer, who was secretary of state -- and therefore chief election officer -- during much of the time the 2004 law was being challenge, brushed aside the significance of Monday's decision.

"From what I understand, (it's) a very narrow ruling,' she said, pointing out that Arizona remains free to require proof of citizenship in its own forms. Brewer said it will be up to Horne and Bennett to decide what to do now.

Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services

 

Technorati Tags: Arizona,immigration,law,voting,voter fraud,citizenship,Scalia,SCOTUS,Jan Brewer,Obamland,Federal law,State law,Constitution,elections,illegals,illegal Immigration,Supreme Court,non-citzens,Obamaland,NVRA,ID,states rights,Clarence Thomas

Amnesty Rubio Style?

As everybody in Washington is watching the fall-out and drama from the marathon, and is hopefully paying attention to the latest amazing series leaks from the FBI, DHS and the White House about their involvement,2016 Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio appeared on a series of TV gigs promoting the gang of eight’s immigration bills, which is slowly being dubbed “Amnesty Rubio-style”. Did he convince the American people that he did not break his Senate campaign promise in 2010 that he would oppose amnesties for illegal aliens? It is not appearing so.

The front page of the Washington Post trumpeted:

Rubio takes big risk on immigrant legislation

Senator's endorsement of bipartisan plan could prove costly in 2016

Getty Images

On the cusp of introducing a new immigration bill, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) appeared on five Sunday morning news shows and strongly denied that the proposal will offer amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“Amnesty is the forgiveness of something. There will be consequences for having violated the law,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “No one who has done it the wrong way will get in before [legal immigrants]…in no way will having done this the wrong way be a reward.

Instead, Rubio said the bipartisan deal being proposed by the so-called Gang of Eight “gives people access to the legal immigration system.” Under the process, those in the country illegally would need to come forward and pass a “rigorous background check.” If they pass, they would pay fines and application fees to receive a guest worker permit allowing them to stay and “work, travel and pay taxes.” After 10 years, they would qualify to go through the existing legalization system.

He said the agreement modernizes the legal immigration system to make it more merit-based and jobs-based, rather than dependent on whether you know someone already living in the U.S. It will also put in place more effective enforcement mechanisms, Rubio said.

He said that while “obviously there’s political ramifications to everything in Washington, that certainly isn’t the reason I’m involved in doing this.”

Arrested Illegal: "Obama Will Let Me Go":

RUSH LIMBAUGH: The captured illegal said to the Border Patrol agent, "I don't care, go ahead and capture me. Obama is gonna let me go." It's reminiscent of 2009 after Obama was inaugurated and they had all those town hall meetings. "Don't worry, Obama is gonna fix my kitchen." Well, the illegal arrivals crossing the border in Texas are not sweating it because Obama is gonna let them go.

RUSH: It was our radio affiliate down there, WOAI radio in San Antonio. Here's the audio sound bite. This is during the correspondent Jim Forsyth's report, Brooks County Rancher Linda Vickers said this about what a border patrol agent had recently told her while detaining an illegal immigrant.

LINDA VICKERS: He was (the Border Patrol agent) loading one up, and he said the illegal in Spanish told him, "Obama's gonna let me go."

RUSH: Well, that shouldn't surprise anybody. I mean, all we're talking about here is amnesty and so-called border security. By the way, the border security push, there's a little confusion about this. Folks, I have to tell you, I'm being inundated with details from the offices of various members of the Gang of Eight. And then I have a New York Times story here which says that Chuck-U Schumer is all on board for border security, but get this. This is right from the New York Times.

"The bill allows a period of 10 years for the Department of Homeland Security to make plans and use resources to fortify enforcement at the borders and elsewhere within the country before it sets several broader hurdles that could derail the immigrants' progress toward citizenship if they are not achieved."

Now, everybody thinks that border security -- well, we're being told border security is gonna happen first and if it doesn't happen the rest of the bill doesn't happen. But apparently some factions here are pushing for 10 years to secure the border after everything else in the bill being agreed to. Now, this is all still up for grabs, I think. I don't think any of it's etched in stone. There will be some hearings on this. I don't know how many. We'll just have to wait and see. "The bill allows for a period of 10 years." All this talk of amnesty, for one thing, you know darn well it's gonna increase the influx of people trying to cross the border. And then all this talk of border security, that's gonna increase the influx. There's gonna be people trying to get in and beat that, which is what's happening.

And these guys are being caught, this is what the rancher down in San Antonio told our affiliate down there, WOAI, "Obama's gonna let me go." Not worried about it. Just one. But how commonplace must it be?

END TRANSCRIPT

And will it change or stop after the Gang or Eight’s plan goes into effect?? Most think not…

ANN COULTER: IF RUBIO'S AMNESTY IS SO GREAT, WHY IS HE LYING?:

When Republicans start lying like Democrats, you can guess they are pushing an idea that's bad for America. During his William Ginsburg-like tour of the Sunday talk shows last weekend, Sen. Marco Rubio was the Mount Vesuvius of lies about his immigration bill.
Here is how Rubio explained the powerful border-enforcing mechanism in his bill on "Fox News Sunday," which he denied was merely a meaningless goal:

"Basically, Homeland Security will have five years to meet that goal. If after five years, Homeland Security has not met that number, it will trigger the Border Commission, who will then take over this issue for them."

So the water torture awaiting the Department of Homeland Security if it fails to secure the border is ... ANOTHER GOVERNMENT COMMISSION WILL BE CREATED! Take that, Homeland Security! Ha -- we have you now!

The only thing more frightening than "another government commission" is a "strongly worded letter."

Rubio said his comprehensive immigration plan isn't amnesty because "amnesty is anything that says 'do it illegally, it will be cheaper and easier.'" But, he assures us, it's "cheaper, faster and easier for people to go back home and wait 10 years" -- as the law currently requires -- "than it will be to go through this process that I've outlined."

Then why is he doing it? If it's "cheaper, faster and easier" for illegals to apply for citizenship under current law, what exactly does Rubio's plan accomplish?

Is it to encourage illegals to go home and apply through normal channels? You know, since that's so much easier. Then why does he oppose enforcing the law on the books now? He dismisses enforcement of current law as trying to make "life miserable to them so that they'll self-deport," which he claims won't work.

Does his plan make them just a little bit miserable so maybe some of them will "self-deport"? (Which doesn't work, according to him.) Or is he lying about it being "cheaper, faster and easier for people to go back home"?
Rubio keeps trotting out the canard about the bounty of taxes we're going to collect from millions more minimum-wage workers when illegals are legalized, stoutly asserting: "In order to keep this legal status, you must be gainfully employed and you must be paying taxes."

It's as if he's talking to someone who has never been to America and is unfamiliar with its tax system.

By "paying taxes," Rubio means "filing a tax return and getting a payment back from the government in the form of the earned income tax credit." Another term for what Rubio calls "paying taxes" is "receiving welfare" -- which newly legalized illegals will start receiving right away under Rubio's plan. The only tax they'll pay is the same tax they pay now: sales tax.

But, incomprehensibly, Rubio swore up and down that the newly legalized illegal immigrants won't get government benefits: "And then they don't qualify for any federal benefits. This is an important point. No federal benefits, no food stamps, no welfare, no Obamacare."

How on Earth does Rubio plan to enforce this "important point"?

Just three weeks ago, the U.S. Senate voted down a proposal to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits under Obamacare. At the time, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez sneered at Republicans opposing Obamacare for illegals, saying, "This is not a great way to try to do your outreach to the Hispanic and immigrant community."

Forcing Republicans to spend the next two decades arguing that poor Hispanic children shouldn't have access to government benefits like health care and food programs sounds like a terrific way to win over the Hispanic vote!

Is it going to be easier or harder for Republicans to deny welfare to 20 million newly legalized illegal aliens than it is for them to simply say that people who have broken our laws should not be on a fast-track to citizenship?

Also, is Rubio planning to stop his newly legalized illegal aliens from having children? The children of illegal aliens become automatic citizens under our current insane interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

(It seems that, after the Civil War, what the framers of the 14th Amendment had at the top of their agenda was not invalidating the Dred Scott decision and confirming the citizenship of former slaves, but ensuring that, a century hence, the children of any foreigners who manage to sneak into the country illegally and give birth would become full-fledged U.S. citizens.)

As I've noted before, Hispanic women have a higher illegitimate birthrate than any other ethnic group in the country, including blacks. Currently, 71 percent of illegal immigrant households with children collect federal benefits.

In California -- which will be America if Rubio's plan goes through -- 82 percent of households headed by an illegal immigrant are on welfare, as are 61 percent of households headed by legal immigrants, according to the March 2011 Current Population Survey by the Center for Immigration Studies.

If you think Republicans are Hispandering now, wait until the children of 20 million illegal aliens start to vote. Rubio's amnesty isn't just bad for America, it's the end of America.

COPYRIGHT 2013 ANN COULTER  -  TRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK

Related:

Immigration Bill Contains 'MarcoPhones'

Technorati Tags: Rush Limbaugh,secure the borders,Amnesty,illegals,undocumented workers,illegal aliens,Obamaland,Senator Marco Rubio,wake-up America,immigration,Hispandering,gang of eight,RINOS,Ann Coulter,ObamaCare,smoke and mirrors

Obama Predicts Immigration Bill Passage by Summer

ICE: Obama Won’t Let Us Be Part Of Immigration Talks

The New American: In interviews with two Spanish-language television networks on March 27, President Obama expressed optimism that immigration reform legislation being drafted by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” group of senators will be passed this summer.

Fox News cited the president’s statement that he is still prepared to step in with his own bill if talks among the senators break down, but he doesn't expect that intervention to be necessary.

"If we have a bill introduced at the beginning of next month as these senators indicate it will be, then I'm confident that we can get it done certainly before the end of the summer," Obama told Hialeah, Florida-based Telemundo (the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States).

Observers attribute Obama’s hand-off to Congress to draft an immigration reform package as being part of the White House political strategy. Fox notes that Obama “and his advisers have calculated that a bill crafted by Capitol Hill stands a better chance of winning Republican support than one overtly influenced by the president.”

ABC News quoted from Obama’s interview with Doral, Florida-based Univision (which has the largest audience of Spanish-language television viewers in the world according to Nielsen): "I'm actually optimistic that when they get back they will introduce a bill," said Obama. "My sense is that they have come close and my expectation is that we'll actually see a bill on the floor of the Senate next month."

Obama was unwilling to commit to taking action of his own if members of Congress fail to introduce an immigration bill in April, replying, "I'm not going to presuppose that they don't [reach an agreement].”

During the interview, Obama touched on what he and some Republicans call a “path to citizenship,” which effectively grants amnesty to some illegal immigrants. He stated that many of the 11 million “undocumented” immigrants living in the United States "have invested their lives here, many of them with American-born children." It's essential, he added, that "they have an opportunity to earn their way — a difficult path but a certain path — toward citizenship."

During a swearing-in ceremony for 28 new citizens (including 13 members of the military) in the East Room of the White House on March 25, the president noted:

Immigration makes us stronger — it keeps us vibrant, it keeps us hungry, it keeps us prosperous.

We need to do a better job welcoming them.

We’ve known for years that our immigration system is broken…. After avoiding the problem for years, the time has come to fix it once and for all.

“Everyone pretty much knows what’s broken. Everyone knows how to fix it. We’ve just got, at this point, to work up the political courage to do what’s required to be done.

Obama did not make a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants during the ceremony, or state whether he believed that granting a “path to citizenship” to the latter also “makes us stronger.”

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News on March 24, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) responded to a question asking his views on immigration and the path to citizenship. Cruz replied, in part:

The reason I’m pessimistic [about the prospects of an immigration bill passing Congress is that President Obama’s] behavior concerning immigration leads me to believe that what he wants is a political issue rather than actually to pass a bill. What he wants is for the bill to crater, so that he can use the issue as a political wedge in 2014 and 2016. That is why I believe the president is insisting on a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally. Because by insisting on that, he ensures that any immigration reform bill will be voted down in the House.

When asked by News reporter Todd Gillman, “Would you vote against anything that has path to citizenship?” Cruz replied:

I have deep, deep concerns about a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally. I think creating a path to citizenship is No. 1 inconsistent with the rule of law. But No. 2 it is profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who have waited years and sometimes decades in line to come here legally. And as a practical matter, if you want to see common sense immigration reform pass, insisting on a path to citizenship is the surest way to kill the bill. Today I think the greatest obstacle to passing common sense immigration reform is President Barack Obama.

In response to the charges by Cruz, White House spokesman Josh Earnest asserted on Monday, “There’s no evidence to support those claims.”

A Washington Post report noted that Organizing for America, described as an offshoot of Obama’s former campaign apparatus, has joined with the AFL-CIO, in announcing immigration events to be held across the country.

The AFL-CIO has been in engaged in open debate with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a classic “labor-management” rivalry to determine which aspects of immigration reform legislation they both can support.

An AP report in the Huffington Post noted that, following a stalemate, talks between the two groups have resumed and negotiators are "back on the right track," according to Ana Avendano, identified as a lead AFL-CIO negotiator.

Avendano said that the Chamber of Commerce had backed off on its demands for what she described as "poverty-level wages" for the immigrant engaged in a temporary-worker program.

"We're very hopeful that we're moving [along]," Avendano told reporters.

The Post, in a March 25 report, also quoted President Obama’s statements during the White House swearing-in ceremony, "We are making progress, but we've got to finish the job.” "We've all proposed solutions," he added. "We've got a lot of white papers and studies. We've just got, at this point, to work up the political courage to do what's required to be done."

A study of the Immigration portal of the White House website provides a good summary of what President Obama is aiming at when he says we must “finish the job.”

The summary states that “President Obama has doubled the number of Border Patrol agents and today border security is stronger than it has ever been.”

One part of the administration’s agenda to enhance border security is sure to rub constitutional conservatives and libertarians sensitive to violations of the Bill of Rights: "For the first time, DHS unmanned aerial capabilities now cover the entire Southwest border, from California to Texas, providing critical aerial surveillance assistance to personnel on the ground.” The popular name for “unmanned aerial capabilities” is drones.

One statement that neither conservatives, liberals, nor libertarians should take issue with is “Our immigration system should reward anyone who is willing to work hard and play by the rules. For the sake of our economy and our security, legal immigration should be simple and efficient.”

Though the above rhetoric sounds good, the reality is something else. When those who do not “play by the rules” (which is another way of saying “obey the law,” since the problem of illegal immigration is hardly a game) can enjoy a “path to citizenship,” receive amnesty for their crime, and also receive the rewards that come with citizenship, the incentive to “play by the rules” is largely removed.

Under a heading labeled “Earned Citizenship,” a quote from President Obama advocates a program of amnesty for those who have violated our immigration laws:

We have to deal with the 11 million individuals who are here illegally. We all agree that these men and women should have to earn their way to citizenship. But for comprehensive immigration reform to work, it must be clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship. We’ve got to lay out a path — a process that includes passing a background check, paying taxes, paying a penalty, learning English, and then going to the back of the line, behind all the folks who are trying to come here legally. That's only fair.

One wonders if those who have been waiting patiently for years in Manila, Mexico City, or Dublin for their turn to emigrate would agree if Obama’s “path to citizenship” is fair.

Related:

Americans 'will rise up' against amnesty

Leno: AP Replaces ‘Illegal Immigrant’ With ‘Undocumented Democrat’

So What Do We Call ‘Illegal Aliens’?

Under new CA bill, birthplace not required on voter forms

NO Illegal Amnesty Without Border Security: Reject Any Rehash of Reagan’s Immigration Error

The one question about immigration reform no one asks

Technorati Tags: Amnesty,Amnesty Bill,immigration bill,Obamaland,watch the other hand,stand-up America,illegal immigration,secure the borders,Telemundo

An Irishman’s American Dream

 Young Patriots: Posted on January 29, 2013 – h/t to MJ

I’m a citizen of Ireland and have been attempting to get a green card for over 9 years.

Once again, America faces the popular discussion of immigration – trying to find the best way forward for America and its 11 million illegals.

One of the greatest conservatives of modern time, Mark Levin, had two great guests on tonight’s show – Jeff Sessions arguing against the current ideas, and Marco Rubio, who is part of the group of eight who are trying to come up with legislation to deal with this problem.

Because this is an issue that affects me greatly, I had to call in and I was very lucky to be able to discuss a few points with the Great One – Mr. Levin, himself. I personally have a massive problem with granting an illegal worker a permanent visa because America has laws and those laws need to be respected. The biggest issue, to me, is the fact that 11 million people will skip the line in front of people like me who have waited 9 years to get a visa… and still waiting. To put that number in perspective, the American government awards 50,000 DV visas every year. I could wait a lifetime and still never get to achieve my dream, but someone who has broken the law gets to live the dream every day.

While Rubio insists that we will all be on the same level, the law of possession will come into play. Does anyone really believe that the US government is going to deport someone illegal just so I can come into the country? That will never work.

The other issue I addressed on Levin’s show was the message conservatives need to communicate going forward. Republicans like John McCain keep saying Republicans need this reform to win another election. THEY ARE WRONG. Three little words will lead to a win: THE AMERICAN DREAM!

When was the last time you heard this mentioned? The country where if you worked hard, you could become anything you wanted and could achieve anything. No one could stop you or get in the way.

The answer to tyranny is not less tyranny – its Liberty and Freedom.

Reagan summed up my feelings about America perfectly in his “Time for Choosing” speech in 1964, where he told the story of a Cuban talking to two Americans, telling them everything he ran away from. The two Americans looked at each other and realized how lucky they were. But the Cuban insisted he was the lucky one because he had somewhere to run to…..

For me, while I don’t face the same oppression or anything like it, I still long for the American Dream and I hope and pray every day that I will get the chance to achieve it.

*Hear Jonathon on The Mark Levin Show -  (Start at 56 minute mark)

Related:

Lee, Sessions: 'Group of Eight' Immigration Proposal No Good

Marco Rubio explains new bipartisan immigration plan to Ed Morrissey

Legal Immigrant’s Must-Watch Testimony Against Gun Control: ‘Few Saw the Third Reich Coming Until It Was Too Late’

Lou Barletta Discusses Illegal Immigration and Small Cities on ‘Wilkow!’

Rubio's amnesty: A path to oblivion for GOP

Comment:

I am a first generation immigrant. Came here before my second birthday with my parents and am an American in every way… but birth.

My parents and I came to America after WWII after waiting in line for the okay to come for more than 7-years. They came here on their own dime, with sponsors (close relatives who had been here for over 20-years)… which used to be required so immigrants would not end up on the government dole if they needed help and within a week of arriving first in New York and then at our end destination, Glendale CA, my father had a job (and soon thereafter 3) plus my parents had enrolled themselves in English classes at the local high school, night school. And from their night school connections came lifelong friends from all over the world whose common goal was to become respectable law-abiding American citizens.

Although I and later my sister and brother who were born here in the United States, were taught traditions from our homeland and told stories about our roots, the immediate goal and ultimate focus was that everyone learned and spoke English as well as American history and civics and that we as a family, an immigrant community, adopted American traditions and slowly learned to blend in.

Nobody, in our family or our extended immigrant circle of friends, expected a free ride or even help. Nobody expected America or Americans to change for us or adopt our ways, to print things in our language(s) let alone provide interpreters or bi-lingual teachers for our children, to TV shows in our native language(s) or to have laws changed or skewed for us or relatives still waiting to come to join us in America.

We, immigrants until very recently, were grateful for the opportunity to be in this country legally. Everyone expected to work hard, to learn English and to become Americans in every way. And they expected to follow the laws and rules or be deported.

The idea(s) that America would allow people who came here illegally to remain or even receive Amnesty; or that the law could be changed so someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger (once discussed) could run for president; or that someone like Barack Hussein Obama could become president without a thorough vetting process with all the questions and missing documents; or that people from around the world who followed the rules could fall to the back of the line behind cheaters to gain green cards; or that the Average American would be so low, un or mis-informed (or dumbed down) that they didn’t understand what was happening to the greatest country in the world, their country, as the rest of the world was laughing at them; or that Americans would question the wisdom of the U.S. Constitution and their Founders who wrote it was totally unfathomable to the immigrants of yesteryear.

And for the legal immigrants who are here now from every corner of the world, the prospects of what is coming from amnesty for millions, to gun confiscation, to healthcare rationing, to the breakdown of the basic pillars of society and even perhaps an attempt to re-write our already much damaged Constitution and Bill of Rights is frightening because they have already lived in counties under rules and rulers that most Americans are too oblivious to even think about, let alone understand. MGA

Technorati Tags: immigration,illegal aliens,legal immigration,illegal immigration,secure the borders,RINOS,enforce the law,Mark Levin,freedom,Constitution,choices,natural born citizen,US Constitution,law and order,laws

Obama By-Passes Congress - Grants Immunity to Young Illegals and Halts…

Another Friday… another surprise.  Virtually every Friday Obama, the White House or a related government department execute a document dump, sign another executive order or release information they hope nobody will notice as most of America is off on Friday or at least focused on the weekend or this time of year summer vacation, including the news outlets. Obama will and is doing anything and everything to promote his global socialist agenda and get re-elected at all costs… hoping we won’t notice or won’t speak up and spread the word if we do.  Remember his agenda in his own words: ‘the fundamental transformation of America’.

The White House will halt the deportation of as many as 800,000 young illegal immigrants and in some cases give them work permits, in a sweeping new initiative announced by the Department of Homeland Security.  Not only did Obama circumvent Congress, the White House did not even have the decency to notify Marco Rubio and others working on a more palatable compromise to the Dream Act that all Americans could possibly accept.

(Fox News) President Obama said today (Friday) the United States will stop deporting hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants and give them work permits, a move praised fellow Democrats but criticized by Republicans on Capitol Hill who said the administration has side-stepped the country’s legislative process.

The executive order will apply to illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. before they were 16 and are younger than 30. They also must have no criminal record, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have graduated from a U.S. high school or have earned a GED, or served in the military.

“These are young people who study in our schools and play on our playgrounds,” the president said. “They are Americans in every single way but one – on paper.”

Those now eligible also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed.

The change is expected to impact roughly 800,000 illegal immigrants.

The election-year announcement was met with surprise and question by several GOP lawmakers.

“This is another example of executive overreach,” Florida GOP Rep. Allen West told Fox News.

West said he just learned about the policy change Friday morning and that such a move should have come through legislation on Capitol Hill where it could be debated.

“That’s how we do business in the United States,” said West, R; Fla.

New York GOP Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, vowed an “immediate review" into the possibility that the Department Of Homeland Security will direct U.S. Border Patrol agents to conduct selective enforcement.

GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the president's order makes reaching a long-term solution more difficult.

"If I'm elected president, we'll do our best to have the long-term solution," he said.

Obama suggested he ordered the policy change because Capitol Hill Republicans have blocked the so-called DREAM Act, buts said the lawmakers still have time to pass such legislation.

“I’ve said this time and again to Congress,” the president said at the Rose Garden press conference. “Send me the DREAM Act, put it on my desk, and I’ll sign it.”

In urging Congress to pass the legislation, the president said his change was “stop gap” and not “a permanent fix.”  The president also made clear he change was not amnesty, immunity or a path to citizenship. (Well then what is it but an election ploy?  For what is important to Obama is winning re-election, garnering every vote legal or not, so he can finish transforming America into a mediocre ‘global’ state… not what is good for America, the American people, following the law and the Constitution or even salvaging what most Americans, the world, see America as  being.)

The policy is similar to one by Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio in that it is an alternative to the DREAM Act. However, the first-term senator did not support the president’s order.

“Today’s announcement will be welcome news for many of these kids desperate for an answer, but it is a short-term answer to a long term problem,” Rubio said. “And by once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short-term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long term one.”

The president was briefly interrupted by a reporter who asked: "Mr. President, why do you favor foreign workers over Americans?"

Obama sternly told the reporter – identified as Neil Munro of The Daily Caller – not to interrupt.

“Excuse me, sir, but it’s not time for questions," Obama responded.

“Are you going to take questions?” Munro asked.

“Not while I’m speaking.” Obama said.

The reporter later said he though the president was finished talking.

Earlier in the day, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the change takes effect immediately and is needed to ensure enforcement resources are not expended on “low-priority cases.”

“Young people brought to U.S. by no fault of their own and meet several criteria no longer are removed from country or entered into removal proceedings,” Napolitano said in a conference call with reporters.

The policy change was reported first by the Associated Press.

The move comes in an election year in which the Hispanic vote could be critical in swing states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

While Obama has support from a majority of Hispanic voters, Latino enthusiasm for the president has been tempered by the slow economic recovery, his inability to win congressional support for a broad overhaul of immigration laws and by his administration's aggressive deportation policy.

Romney and many Republican lawmakers want tighter border security measures before considering changes in immigration law. Romney opposes offering legal status to illegal immigrants who attend college but has said he would do so for those who serve in the armed forces.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll last month found Obama leading Romney among Hispanic voters 61 percent to 27 percent. But his administration's deportation policies have come under fire, and Latino leaders have raised the subject in private meetings with the president. In 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 396,906 people and is expected to deport about 400,000 this year.

Under the administration’s plan, immigrants whose deportation cases are pending in immigration court will have to prove their eligibility for a reprieve to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will begin dealing with such cases in 60 days. Any immigrant who already has a deportation order and those who never have been encountered by immigration authorities will deal with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Last year, Napolitano announced plans to review about 300,000 pending deportation cases and indefinitely suspend those that didn't meet department priorities. So far, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reviewed more than 232,000 cases and decided to stop working on about 20,000. About 4,000 of those 20,000 have opted to keep fighting in court to stay in the United States legally. For the people who opted to close their cases, work permits are not guaranteed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Allen West Reacts to New Immigration Policy, Says Gov’t Is Getting Away From One Based on the Consent of the American People

Florida Congressman Allen West joined America’s Newsroom to react to news that the United States policy on immigration is going to be changed to allow illegal immigrants younger than 30, who entered the country prior to turning 16, to avoid deportation. West believes this is another example of administrative overreach on the part of the Obama administration. He said, “To have an unelected bureaucrat in Janet Napolitano coming out about a policy decision which will affect residency here in the United States of America, that’s why we have oversight committees. This should have been brought up as legislation within the Homeland Security Committee both in the House and Senate.”  See Full Article HERE

See VIDEO: Obama Heckled During Address on Immigration Policy Changes, ‘Daily Caller’ Reporter Asks Why He “Favors Foreign Workers Over Americans”

TRANSCRIPT: Full Text of Obama’s Remarks on Changes to U.S. Immigration Policy

Daily Caller’s Tucker Carlson Responds to Reporter’s Interruption

VIDEO: Gov. Mitt Romney Reacts to President Obama’s New Immigration Policy

VOTE: Do You Agree With the Immigration Policy Changes?

---

923 Executive Orders In 40 Month? Guess Who?

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Obama has signed 923 Executive Orders in 40 months!  Here are just a few:

-EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of transportation and control of highways and seaports.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the  communication media.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources and farms.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work brigades under government supervision.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health, education and welfare functions.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the of all persons. Postmaster General to operate a national registration
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and aircraft, including commercial aircraft.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned, and establish new locations for populations.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland waterways and public storage facilities.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over a fifteen year period.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.
-EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S. financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action for six months.

Feel free to verify the "executive orders" at will... and these are just the major ones...

I'm sure you've all heard the tale of the "Frog in the Pot"... you all comfortable???

Watch Obama's actions, not his words! By his actions he will show you where America is headed.

When it comes to Barack Obama, one of the most important things to understand is that he is a committed globalist. He firmly believes that more "global governance" (the elite don't like to use the term "global government") will make the world a much better place. Throughout his time in the White House, Obama has consistently sought to strengthen international institutions such as the UN, the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. At every turn, Obama has endeavored to more fully integrate America into the "global community". Since he was elected, Obama has signed a whole host of new international economic agreements. He regularly speaks of the need for "cooperation" among global religions and he has hosted a wide variety of different religious celebrations at the White House. Obama once stated that "all nations must come together to build a stronger global regime".

If you do not want to live in a "global regime" that is just too bad. To globalists such as Obama, it is inevitable that the United States of America will be merged into the emerging global system.

Just this week, Obama has issued a new executive order that seeks to "harmonize" U.S. economic regulations with the rest of the world. This new executive order is yet another incremental step that is pushing us closer to a North American Union and a one world economic system. Unfortunately, most Americans have absolutely no idea what is happening.

The American people need to understand that Barack Obama is constantly looking for ways to integrate the United States more deeply with the rest of the world.

The globalization of the world economy has accelerated under Obama, and this latest executive order represents a fundamental change in U.S. economic policy.
Now federal regulators will be required to "harmonize" their work with the international community. 

therightplanet

Executive Orders

Mar 30, 2012

Dear Friend,

With all that is going in Washington these days some things don’t make the news the way they should. Fourteen days ago President Obama issued an Executive Order that you should know about. This order gives an unprecedented level of authority to the President and the federal government to take over all the fundamental parts of our economy - in the name of national security - in times of national emergency.

This means all of our water resources, construction services and materials (steel, concrete, etc.), our civil transportation system, food and health resources, our energy supplies including oil and natural gas – even farm equipment – can be taken over by the President and his cabinet secretaries. The Government can also draft U.S. citizens into the military and force U.S. citizens to fulfill "labor requirements" for the purposes of "national defense." There is not even any Congressional oversight, only briefings are required.

By issuing this as an Executive Order the President puts the federal government above the law, which, in a democracy, is never supposed to happen.

As President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, he has the Constitutional authority to issue executive orders. And while similar orders have been made before by presidents from Eisenhower and Reagan to Clinton and George Bush – it has never been done to this extent.

It is still unclear why this order was signed now, and what the consequences are for our nation – especially during times of peace. This type of Martial Law imposes a government takeover on U.S. citizens that is typically reserved for national emergencies, not in a time of relative peace.

I want you to know I am following this very closely. If you would like to read the order for yourself please click here. 

Sincerely,

Kay Granger
Member of Congress

Issues: Defense, Global War on Terror

As we all should understand by now, Executive Orders are to be issued as administrative orders only.

Executive orders can not be, as they are presently issued, used except under the execution of martial law, or extreme national calamity.

The Members of Congress have the final say, but we know better than expecting them to stand up to Obama and do their job… don’t we?

It is up to us!!!

Related:

Allen West Wonders: Is Obama‘s New Immigration Rule a ’Backdoor’ Path to Allowing Illegals to Vote?

Obama administration makes election-year change in deportation policy

Lone ranger challenges Obama immigration fiat

Obama grants Interpol immunity as foreign assets assigned to US homeland

Technorati Tags: illegals,illegal aliens,immunity,Amnestry,Congress,Obamaland,Immigration,election games,smoke and mirrors,Election 2012,DHS,Secure the Border,bypassing Congress,Executive Orders,EO's,Obama's agenda,fundamental transformation of America

Bill O'Reilly Absolutely DESTROYS Young Leftist Activist Monica Novoa

Soros's groups including Media Matters and MoveOn.org launched a campaign last week against anyone who calls illegal immigration ‘illegal’ and attempting to categorize using the word illegal as a hate crime… their minions were all over the TV last Thursday and Friday, and some were not only obviously planted but unprepared and uncommitted:

Video: Bill O'Reilly Absolutely DESTROYS Young Leftist Activist Monica Novoa

Monica Novoa told O’Reilly she was a legal immigrant. But in 2000 she admitted her family crossed into California through a torn border fence, making Monica not only an  ignorant pawn but a liar and an illegal herself as well. 

See Latino Studies Become a Central Focus at CSUN:

Monica Novoa, 20, has been with CAUSA for three years and helped push for the new program. Her family left El Salvador in 1982, when federal troops were targeting teachers and other intellectuals for intimidation and slaughter.  Novoa said her father was a teacher and a leftist. When she was 3, coyotes--guides for undocumented immigrants--took the family through Guatemala, Mexico and a torn border fence into California.

Once he arrived in the United States, her father went to school to become an electrician. Her mother got into the real estate business. But like Barrios' parents, Novoa's family rarely discussed their experiences in El Salvador.

"Most of what I knew about El Salvador was from the popular music that I listened to," she said. "One of my favorite lines is from a Victor Jara song where he's saying: 'If the hands that work the soil are the people's, then why doesn't the harvest belong to those who work the land?' "

Earth Day… How Did You Celebrate?

Most people didn’t celebrate Earth Day or even remember that it was Earth Day… at least not without being reminded.

And for some An Earth Day Tradition Is… George Carlin on Saving the Planet

George Carlin on the intellectual bankruptcy of “saving the planet”

Video: George Carlin on Saving the Planet – a few questionable words but worth the listen!

The Left:

Video: A Terrorist, OBAMA'S FRIEND Bernadine Dohrn Advocates Communism to Sheeple and Former Soviet

Video: A Terrorist, OBAMA'S FRIEND, Bill Ayers Advocates Communism to Sheeple and Former Soviet Citizen

At the Green Festival in Chicago, they took the full mask off of the true drivers of the Green Activist Movement. The keynote speakers were none other than Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. They sat up on the dais, and true to form said not one word showing remorse for detonating bombs killing dozens in the Pentagon nor in the NYC Police Precinct House, but instead got right into their message of ending capitalism, our republic, our very freedoms to choose our own destinies. this is the true face of the Environmental Movement today. Any source of energy that works, is considered evil, and must be curbed. That way, our Marxist over lords will be able to completely control our every action, and even some day our thoughts. Of course no one will fall for that willingly, so we need to create an environmental scare to make every one fall for it deceptively. Enter the morons who are worried about Global Warming. Hook, line, and sinker us all down the drain in the name of the single dumbest activist movement in our nation's history. It is not only because the evidence does not in the slightest support their position at all, that man kind is responsible for global warming. It is also moronic in that history has shown every other warm period throughout all of time has been a period of economic boom on a world wide scale, a time of plenty and happiness.

As you watch these two videos, bear in mind that these fine individuals are close friends and advisers to our current President. When Bernadine Dohrn is vamped for the audience, she actually bristles and then flirts with the crowd when her list of accomplishment includes spending a decade on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. The main stream media spent the entirety of 2008 avoiding completely any type of vetting of Barack Obama. I say we show people what he is really up to, and Dohrn and Ayers are as good a place to start as any. when asked about his association with these two in 2008, he said that Bill was just some guy from the neighborhood that I say hi to occasionally. In fact the Ayers Dohrn household was the site of Barack Obama's very first political fundraiser, a fact not once mentioned on any of the news networks not beginning with the letter F.

The Right:

The environmental agenda has been infected by extremism—it's become an economic suicide pact. And we're here to challenge it. On Earth Day, visit www.freemarketamerica.org.

Video: “If I Wanted America to Fail”

And Some Reality:

40th (Now 42nd) Anniversary of 1st Earth Day – A Grim Reminder of Immigration and Devastation of a Vision

2012 is the 42nd Anniversary of the 1st Earth Day but re-posting this article from 2010 has become my Earth Day Anniversary Tradition. So when some indoctrinated college student or old hippie corners you with their Earth Day spiel, presentation or product over the weekend and into next week, get their email and send them the link to this post. Ask Marion~

This is a great article to use when contacting your Senator and Congressman: 40th Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration’s Devastation of a Vision – We can solve two problems at once. If we stop illegal immigration and cut immigration in general… We will have no need for Cap and Trade and will solve our illegal alien (Hispanic and Muslim) problems, both groups that do not assimilate and reproduce in large numbers. Just by doing this one thing we will improve the quality of life of all Americans and legal aliens.

By Roy Beck, Sunday, April 18, 2010, 7:41 PM EDT – Originally Cross-Posted: 40th Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration’s Devastation of a Vision by Ask Marion originally posted on  4.23.2010 – Updated 2.22.2012

THURSDAY IS THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST EARTH DAY — AND A GRIM REMINDER OF HOW IMMIGRATION HAS UNDERCUT VIRTUALLY ALL ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS.

Pres. Clinton’s Task Force understood it. The Father of Earth Day understood it. You and I understand it. Why does Congress not understand that U.S. environmental sustainability is not possible unless we greatly reduce immigration numbers?

What does sustainability mean? That the way we live today will not prevent our grandchildren from enjoying the same things we enjoy. The Golden Rule is at the heart of it.

Sustainability was the big idea 40 years ago when much of the nation’s attention was drawn to the events and news of the first Earth Day. I was a cub newspaper reporter covering the events. And I remember well that an important theme in 1970 was that sustainability required the U.S. to begin to stabilize its population after having added the SECOND 100 million in just 55 years.

Well, now we’ve added the THIRD 100 million in less than the 40 years since that first Earth Day and we’re on pace to add the FOURTH 100 million even faster!

Because of this massive population explosion, progress on environmental quality in recent years has stalled. The Chesapeake Bay, for example, is just about as near death today as it was in 1970.

And around 1 MILLION acres of natural habitat and farmland are cleared, scraped and developed each year just to accommodate this rapid population growth.

Nearly all of the population growth is caused by the increases in immigration that Congress ordered or allowed since 1970. For every restriction and cost that the government has put on us since then to improve environmental quality, it has negated part or all of the benefits by forcing high population growth through radically increased immigration numbers.

That is why the Father of Earth Day, Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), made U.S. population stabilization such an important part of the teaching back in 1970 and why he spent much of the last 20 years warning of the environmental dangers of continuing our high-immigration policies.

Even Pres. Clinton’s Population and Consumption Task Force concluded in 1996 that the immigration increases since the first Earth Day had to be rolled back.

The Task Force was a bit nervous about taking on the immigration issues (just like most environmentalists are):

As a matter of public debate, immigration is a sensitive and explosive issue, and both legal and illegal immigration must be addressed with great sensitivity and care in order to advance the debate. We acknowledge these impediments to easy and informal dialogue, and we urge that participants take appropriate care so that a reasoned discussion of immigration and the American future can begin.

But then Pres. Clinton’s Task Force stated forcefully:

We believe that reducing current immigration levels is a necessary part of working toward sustainability in the United States.

Pres. Clinton had established the Task Force in 1993 to find ways “to bring people together to meet the needs of the present without jeopardizing the future.”

Have you noticed that I have been quoting only Democrats?

If you are represented by Democrats in Congress, this is an especially good time to call on them to be true to their Party’s long-standing “stated” commitment to environmental sustainability.

Of course, most of them don’t want to deal with the inconvenient truth that the Democratic Party’s insistence on high immigration to drive massive U.S. population growth is at odds with decades of acknowledgments that these policies simply cannot continue if we hope to leave any kind of natural environmental legacy to our grandchildren.

President Carter in 1977 commissioned a Global 2000 Report <– (the original seems to have been scrubbed) which eventually concluded that the “United States should: Develop a U.S. national population policy that includes attention to issues such as population stabilization … just, consistent and workable immigration laws.”

Without all the increases in immigration, our communities would have around 250 million inhabitants right now, with little likelihood of ever going over 265 million.

Instead, because of a quadrupling in legal immigration numbers, we have more than 310 million inhabitants and are on a trajectory to cross 600 million well before the end of this century!

Obviously, the first Earth Day vision was for an America greatly different than the one we occupy today. And congressional immigration policies are the main reason that bright vision is now so murky.

This 40th anniversary is not a time of celebration but of deep sadness for the promise that was lost.

As Sen. Nelson said on the 32nd anniversary just a few years before his death:

We are preparing to celebrate the 32nd Earth Day just after the Census Bureau has announced that far from winding down in the 1990s, U.S. population growth boomed at its highest level in the nation’s history! Not even the peak of the Baby Boom in the 1950s added as many people!

“This new population boom represents a PROFOUND FAILURE in our nation’s pursuit of environmental quality. Since 1970, another 80 million people have been added to the country.

“Every environmental goal has been delayed because of this failure.

And Sen. Nelson never flinched from naming who had caused the failure: Congress, because of its immigration policies.

I know from past experiences that many NumbersUSA members, especially in the West, do not think so kindly toward Sen. Nelson because he was the father of the Wilderness Act which they believe unfairly took huge swaths of land out of private control and use.

Our membership is divided about a lot of environmental matters. NumbersUSA does not take a position on any environmental issue other than immigration’s role. Whatever your stance on various governmental efforts to combat environmental problems, we all can be united in the understanding that immigration is creating the double whammy of creating great pressures for more and more regulation to control environmental consequences while negating any positive effects.

Let’s require our Members of Congress to promise not to force the FOURTH 100 million on us and our children and grandchildren.

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA

NumbersUSA’s blogs are copyrighted and may be republished or reposted only if they are copied in their entirety, including this paragraph, and provide proper credit to NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA bears no responsibility for where our blogs may be republished or reposted.

Views and opinions expressed in blogs on this website are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect official policies of NumbersUSA.

Source: Washington Examiner (link no longer active) – www.washingtonexaminer.com

Most of us do believe that it is the right thing to do to be better stewards of our Earth and to be kinder to the animals we share it with. We need to do a better job of protecting our supplies of clean water, stop massive deforestation which includes the saving species of plants that may hold huge medicinal secrets, and to move toward cleaner and a bigger tool box of energy sources. But especially after Climategate most of us do believe that turning these matter over to the government or worse yet global control is not the way to do and will devastate us financially as well as ultimately turning over huge control over our country to the UN.

A lot of what George says makes sense!!

Today’s Earth Day announcement is that Al Gore’s movie, an Inconvenient Truth, based on very questionable science is going to be shown to our children in all public schools without the opposite point of view being offered.

These kids, your kids, are being programmed daily that they are smarter than you are and that it is their job to teach their parents. Can’t get to the adults… get to the kids. Do you remember the last time these methods were used??

Please stand up, as individuals, and in your parent groups… form some if you haven’t already and stop this concept as well as the pushing of the theory of Global Warming !

40 years of predicting the planet’s imminent demise

Earth Day Predictions, from the first one in 1970….

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” -George Wald, Harvard Biologist

“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” -New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.” Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” -Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University

“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” -Life Magazine, January 1970

“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones.” -Martin Litton, Sierra Club director

“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.” -Sen. Gaylord Nelson

“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

It was also announced that Congress is in the process of taking over control of all water in the US. – from Rivers, Lakes, Ponds down to Puddles… our drinking water and irrigation supplies. The existing law gives then control of all navigable water ways… they are now seeking to take out the word ‘navigable’. Ask the citizens of the San Joaquin Valley in CA, who used to be the bread basket of America, how that can work out. They now live in a Federally created Dust Bowl. This is a bad thing America!!

Related:

First they Shut off Water to CA Farmers, Now the Feds Attempting to Annex ALL Water in the U.S.

Please educate yourself… Pick up a copy of: Power Grab

40th (Now 42nd) Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration's Devastation of a Vision

2012 is the 42nd Anniversary of the 1st Earth Day but re-posting this article from 2010 has become my Earth Day Anniversary Tradition.  So when some indoctrinated college student or old hippie corners you with their Earth Day spiel, presentation or product over the weekend and into next week, get their email and send them the link to this post. Ask Marion~

This is a great article to use when contacting your Senator and Congressman: 40th Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration's Devastation of a Vision - We can solve two problems at once. If we stop illegal immigration and cut immigration in general... We will have no need for Cap and Trade and will solve our illegal alien (Hispanic and Muslim) problems, both groups that do not assimilate and reproduce in large numbers. Just by doing this one thing we will improve the quality of life of all Americans and legal aliens.

By Roy Beck, Sunday, April 18, 2010, 7:41 PM EDT – Originally Cross-Posted:  40th Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration's Devastation of a Vision by Ask Marion on 4.23.2010

THURSDAY IS THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST EARTH DAY -- AND A GRIM REMINDER OF HOW IMMIGRATION HAS UNDERCUT VIRTUALLY ALL ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS.

Pres. Clinton's Task Force understood it. The Father of Earth Day understood it. You and I understand it. Why does Congress not understand that U.S. environmental sustainability is not possible unless we greatly reduce immigration numbers?

What does sustainability mean? That the way we live today will not prevent our grandchildren from enjoying the same things we enjoy. The Golden Rule is at the heart of it.

Sustainability was the big idea 40 years ago when much of the nation's attention was drawn to the events and news of the first Earth Day. I was a cub newspaper reporter covering the events. And I remember well that an important theme in 1970 was that sustainability required the U.S. to begin to stabilize its population after having added the SECOND 100 million in just 55 years.

Well, now we've added the THIRD 100 million in less than the 40 years since that first Earth Day and we're on pace to add the FOURTH 100 million even faster!

Because of this massive population explosion, progress on environmental quality in recent years has stalled. The Chesapeake Bay, for example, is just about as near death today as it was in 1970.

And around 1 MILLION acres of natural habitat and farmland are cleared, scraped and developed each year just to accommodate this rapid population growth.

Nearly all of the population growth is caused by the increases in immigration that Congress ordered or allowed since 1970. For every restriction and cost that the government has put on us since then to improve environmental quality, it has negated part or all of the benefits by forcing high population growth through radically increased immigration numbers.

That is why the Father of Earth Day, Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), made U.S. population stabilization such an important part of the teaching back in 1970 and why he spent much of the last 20 years warning of the environmental dangers of continuing our high-immigration policies.

Even Pres. Clinton's Population and Consumption Task Force concluded in 1996 that the immigration increases since the first Earth Day had to be rolled back.

The Task Force was a bit nervous about taking on the immigration issues (just like most environmentalists are):

As a matter of public debate, immigration is a sensitive and explosive issue, and both legal and illegal immigration must be addressed with great sensitivity and care in order to advance the debate. We acknowledge these impediments to easy and informal dialogue, and we urge that participants take appropriate care so that a reasoned discussion of immigration and the American future can begin.

But then Pres. Clinton's Task Force stated forcefully:

We believe that reducing current immigration levels is a necessary part of working toward sustainability in the United States.

Pres. Clinton had established the Task Force in 1993 to find ways "to bring people together to meet the needs of the present without jeopardizing the future."

Have you noticed that I have been quoting only Democrats?

If you are represented by Democrats in Congress, this is an especially good time to call on them to be true to their Party's long-standing "stated" commitment to environmental sustainability.

Of course, most of them don't want to deal with the inconvenient truth that the Democratic Party's insistence on high immigration to drive massive U.S. population growth is at odds with decades of acknowledgments that these policies simply cannot continue if we hope to leave any kind of natural environmental legacy to our grandchildren.

President Carter in 1977 commissioned a Global 2000 Report <-- (the original seems to have been scrubbed) which eventually concluded that the "United States should: Develop a U.S. national population policy that includes attention to issues such as population stabilization ... just, consistent and workable immigration laws."

Without all the increases in immigration, our communities would have around 250 million inhabitants right now, with little likelihood of ever going over 265 million.

Instead, because of a quadrupling in legal immigration numbers, we have more than 310 million inhabitants and are on a trajectory to cross 600 million well before the end of this century!

Obviously, the first Earth Day vision was for an America greatly different than the one we occupy today. And congressional immigration policies are the main reason that bright vision is now so murky.

This 40th anniversary is not a time of celebration but of deep sadness for the promise that was lost.

As Sen. Nelson said on the 32nd anniversary just a few years before his death:

We are preparing to celebrate the 32nd Earth Day just after the Census Bureau has announced that far from winding down in the 1990s, U.S. population growth boomed at its highest level in the nation's history! Not even the peak of the Baby Boom in the 1950s added as many people!

"This new population boom represents a PROFOUND FAILURE in our nation's pursuit of environmental quality. Since 1970, another 80 million people have been added to the country.

"Every environmental goal has been delayed because of this failure.

And Sen. Nelson never flinched from naming who had caused the failure: Congress, because of its immigration policies.

I know from past experiences that many NumbersUSA members, especially in the West, do not think so kindly toward Sen. Nelson because he was the father of the Wilderness Act which they believe unfairly took huge swaths of land out of private control and use.

Our membership is divided about a lot of environmental matters. NumbersUSA does not take a position on any environmental issue other than immigration's role. Whatever your stance on various governmental efforts to combat environmental problems, we all can be united in the understanding that immigration is creating the double whammy of creating great pressures for more and more regulation to control environmental consequences while negating any positive effects.

Let's require our Members of Congress to promise not to force the FOURTH 100 million on us and our children and grandchildren.

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA

NumbersUSA's blogs are copyrighted and may be republished or reposted only if they are copied in their entirety, including this paragraph, and provide proper credit to NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA bears no responsibility for where our blogs may be republished or reposted.

Views and opinions expressed in blogs on this website are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect official policies of NumbersUSA.

Originally Posted by Knowledge_Is_Power at 4:36 PM -  Thursday, April 22, 2010 

An Earth Day Tradition… George Carlin on Saving the Planet

An Earth Day tradition: George Carlin on the intellectual bankruptcy of "saving the planet"

Video: George Carlin on Saving the Planet – a few questionable words but worth the listen!

Source: Washington Examiner (link no longer active) - www.washingtonexaminer.com

Most of us do believe that it is the right thing to do to be better stewards of our Earth and to be kinder to the animals we share it with. We need to do a better job of protecting our supplies of clean water, stop massive deforestation which includes the saving species of plants that may hold huge medicinal secrets, and to move toward cleaner and a bigger tool box of energy sources. But especially after Climategate most of us do believe that turning these matter over to the government or worse yet global control is not the way to do and will devastate us financially as well as ultimately turning over huge control over our country to the UN.

A lot of what George says makes sense!!

Today’s Earth Day announcement is that Al Gore’s movie, an Inconvenient Truth, based on very questionable science is going to be shown to our children in all public schools without the opposite point of view being offered.

These kids, your kids, are being programmed daily that they are smarter than you are and that it is their job to teach their parents. Can’t get to the adults… get to the kids. Do you remember the last time these methods were used??

Please stand up, as individuals, and in your parent groups… form some if you haven’t already and stop this concept as well as the pushing of the theory of Global Warming !

40 years of predicting the planet’s imminent demise

Earth Day Predictions, from the first one in 1970….

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” -George Wald, Harvard Biologist

“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” -New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.” Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” -Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University

“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” -Life Magazine, January 1970

“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones.” -Martin Litton, Sierra Club director

“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.” -Sen. Gaylord Nelson

“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

It was also announced that Congress is in the process of taking over control of all water in the US. – from Rivers, Lakes, Ponds down to Puddles… our drinking water and irrigation supplies. The existing law gives then control of all navigable water ways… they are now seeking to take out the word ‘navigable’. Ask the citizens of the San Joaquin Valley in CA, who used to be the bread basket of America, how that can work out. They now live in a Federally created Dust Bowl. This is a bad thing America!!

Related:

First they Shut off Water to CA Farmers, Now the Feds Attempting to Annex ALL Water in the U.S.

Please educate yourself… Pick up a copy of: Power Grab