TROUBLING TIMES

By Pamela Dale

We are in deeply troubling times in a deeply troubled world. We are racing at breakneck speed toward a third world war.

We, the American people, have already lost many of our freedoms and liberties. We have lost our ability to work, and to earn, and our buying power is being reduced daily. Our boarders are no longer sovereign. Our monies are being stolen and redistributed with lightning speed. Those Americans who are able to earn are finding that even with more than one job they are unable to maintain the standard of living that they enjoyed even 10 years ago.

We cannot trust our government to be truthful – let alone work in the interests of America. We are being overrun by people who have not crossed our boarders legally, but are euphemistically labeled “undocumented”. The crime in our streets is caroming exponentially. And, we may now be jailed and held without charges for an indefinite period of time.

To this mix let’s add the brainwashing that our children receive in our government schools. We pay, in taxes and tuition, thinking that we are giving our children the tools they will need in life, and they are returned to us as lefties zombies.

There is a race on – a race being held by two very evil ideologies – a race to see who will win in the takedown and destruction of our very country. To whom will go the spoils – the Communists or the Muslims? Our elected officials do not protect us, nor do they respond to our cries of injustice – to the contrary – they have become our enemy.

We have been infiltrated on every front here at home, while our brave men and women battle an unidentifiable enemy on foreign shores. What will we take from these battles excepting bodies and more debt? There is absolutely, unequivocally, no intent to win. These wars are about generating wealth for the evil and greedy.

Our American press is not free. They could turn the tide in a day by speaking the truth, but they are extensions of the wanton desire to see us on our knees. They will not speak the truth, and one can only extrapolate that self-serving reasons are their master. They have no shame!

If the crimes against children are used to measure the health of a society we are in Intensive Care. “Gay” marriage initiatives have taken precedence in importance over nurturing our most precious commodity – the ones we brought here willingly. Children are raped, tortured, imprisoned, abandoned, mutilated, and murdered by a society that claims for itself a moniker of “civility”. I am disgusted by this, perhaps more than any other of our ills.

It has come down to this: There are a few of us – and I include you, my patriot friend, who still stand willing to defend that which is worth defending. There are still some of us who are ready to “take it behind the gym”, and we must never lose sight of who we are, where we came from, and what we are willing to do to restore our great nation.

God bless you, and God Bless America!

20 'Only In America' Ironies

 John Hawkins is a professional blogger who runs Right Wing News

1) Only in America could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000 a plate campaign fund raising event.

2) Only in America could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when we have a black President, a black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black.

3) Only in America could we have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and Charles Rangel who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

4) Only in America will you find people who burn the American flag and call America an "imperialist nation," but who get offended if you say they're not patriotic.

5) Only in America can we have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

6) Only in America could someone drinking a $5 latte and texting to his friends on an iPhone 4 complain that the government allows some people to make too much money.

7) Only in America would people take rappers who brag about shooting people and selling drugs seriously when they complain the police are targeting them unfairly.

8) Only in America would we make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just become American citizens.

9) Only in America could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country's Constitution be thought of as "extremists."

10) Only in America could the most vicious foes of successful conservative women be self-proclaimed feminists and the National Organization for Women.

11) Only in America could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

12) Only in America can we have terrorists fly planes into our buildings and have some people’s first thought be "what did we do to make them hate us?"

13) Only in America would we think teaching kids at college is an appropriate job for communists, terrorists, and other dregs of humanity.

14) Only in America could people demand the government investigate whether the oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when for every penny of profit the oil companies make, the government tacks on roughly 24 cents’ worth of taxes.

15) Only in America could the first people asked to weigh in on the seriousness of a racial incident by the media be professional race hustlers like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Ben Jealous. In other words, it's like calling in a car dealer as a neutral source on whether or not you need to get a new car.

16) Only in America does airport security put its hands on your underwear....while you're wearing it.

17) Only in America could the government force a skating rink to have handicapped parking spots and Braille on the ATM machines.

18) Only in America could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation ever has before in all of recorded history, still spend a trillion dollars more that it has per year, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough to money.

19) Only in America could the rich people who pay 86% of all income taxes be accused of not paying their "fair share" by people who don't pay any income taxes at all.

20) Only in America could the people who approve of slaughtering 25 million females babies via abortion accuse OTHER PEOPLE of waging a "war on women."

Letter: On illegal immigration,

Obama set on ignoring legal efforts to stem the tide

July 12, 2012 Joseph Essinger, Stuart TCPalm

Letter: On illegal immigration, Obama set on ignoring legal efforts to stem the tide.

In 2008, voters overwhelmingly elected Barack Obama to serve as our president. His message was to unite our country and bring hope and change for all Americans. In one of his early speeches, he clearly stated that we are just days from seeing the transformation of this country.

He swore under oath to faithfully uphold the laws and Constitution. Unfortunately, we now know what he meant by transformation.

On July 25, the Supreme Court upheld a provision which permitted police to check the immigration status of a person who was caught committing a crime. It would seem Arizona was supporting a current federal law which, unfortunately, was not being enforced by our federal government.

It didn't take too long before Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the administration would not respond to any request from any Arizona police officer to inquire if a person was here legally. The police will be told to release the person in question.

Since other states will still have this service, it seems this is nothing more than a vindictive order only for the state of Arizona.

I thought we are living in the United States of America, where we have "one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all."

There is nothing in our Constitution that speaks to selective enforcement. This is the type of law found in a banana republic being run by a dictator.

America's Greatness

 

By Susan Brown Townhall 8/28/2012

One of the worst things that could be said about any of us is that greatness passed before us, and we failed to recognize it.

It happened to me yesterday when I found myself out of sorts because my best friend was en route to harm's way via a military deployment, but still took time to call to tell me the sunset he'd just witnessed reminded him of me. Busted. I missed out on the greatness of the moment because I was focused on myself.

If anyone had an excuse to fail to see greatness, it was President Abraham Lincoln. As war-weary as he was with a country in the throes of collapse, Lincoln still saw greatness when he gazed beyond the bloody battlefields and divided mess that was post-Civil War America and envisioned a nation our founders could be proud of that was once again "one nation under God."

One Thursday afternoon in 1863, Lincoln attempted to share this vision in a little more than two-minute speech that forever became known as The Gettysburg Address. Lincoln reminded those on both sides of the war no one had died in vain because their shed blood offered everyone, regardless of skin color, the opportunity for "a new birth of freedom." He explained that moving forward as a united people would allow our "government of the people, by the people, for the people" to be preserved.

To no surprise, Lincoln was hammered by some in the media for his vision. An editorial in the Harrisburg Patriot and Union stated, "We pass over the silly remarks of the President, for the credit of the Nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of." The Chicago Times detailed, "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwattery [sic] utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States." Boy, were they wrong; Lincoln's address became one of the most famous presidential speeches in American history.

So here we stand today, the Shining City on a Hill dimly lit and despondently divided.

Though words have replaced muskets, and name-calling replaced cannons, the damage is about as severe. Unlike days of old, when President Lincoln lay awake at night trying to unify a divided people, we have a president and Democratic leaders in Congress who preach civility, yet wage their own wars on class, race and gender. They would do well to consider the words of Patrick Henry who said, "Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand divided we fall. Let us not split into faction which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs."

President Obama and his ilk almost root for America's demise. They obviously do not believe in the rare and precious gem that is America because they do not recognize the essence of what she is as so amply described in an old adage: "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, and it was not there...in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there...in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there...in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power: America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."

Regrettably, greatness has passed before them, and they have failed to recognize it.

Undocumented Workers Have Already Broken Law

By Tina Holtz, Rifle, Colorado

I have seen several letters to the editor regarding illegal aliens. Here's the point most people seem to forget. Illegal means unlawful and is used to describe something that is prohibited or not authorized by law.

I read the May 30 letter to the editor from Ted Hess requesting the Post Independent to correct false information. Mr. Hess stated that undocumented workers do not receive food stamps or assistance.

An illegal alien has already broken the law. They are illegal; they also sometimes commit other illegal acts, such as using false Social Security numbers and identification, and many times steal the identity of others, thus allowing them the ability to seek government assistance.

Those who think it doesn't happen have a very closed mind to the rationale of our country today. What part of illegal is not understood?

If by chance I ever were to become unemployed, would I have the right to commit a crime, to steal and rob and do whatever I want for my family and me to survive, because I would only be trying to live a better life?

We have laws for a reason. The law is a system of rules and guidelines that are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws are made by governments, specifically by their parliaments. The formation of laws themselves is influenced by a constitution and the rights encoded therein.

The law shapes politics, economics and society in countless ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. The law is in place to protect our country and our citizens so we don't bankrupt our great country.

Americans continue to suffer every day due to the amount of illegal immigration that sucks the money and resources from our country and pushes our country into further economic distress.

Facts are facts, no matter what defense system is used to deny it. Show me a fact and true information that illegal aliens are great for America.

Taxpayer ID numbers open doors for abuse by illegal aliens

By Joe Guzzardi/capsweb.org

Established 15 years ago, the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a seemingly innocuous, administrative requirement that the Internal Revenue Service assigns to anyone who is employed and pays taxes. According to the IRS website, the numbers are used for federal tax reporting only. But since ITINs, as they are commonly known, are issued to wage earners regardless of immigration status, they've frequently been abused by the aliens who hold them.

Although the real estate crisis is fading from our memory, it's important to recall that the ITIN was the vehicle used in lieu of Social Security numbers which then legitimized the disastrous lending policy of providing home mortgages to unqualified illegal aliens. With bankers as their willing abettors and while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. purposely looked the other way, aliens took out home loans using ITINs as their major form of identification. Bankers, only too eager to accommodate poverty-level applicants with balloon financing for homes they could barely make the first payment on, raked in big money.

For aliens, the ITIN is an extremely useful vehicle. Since the IRS isn't required to share its information with any other federal agency, including immigration authorities, the promise of intra-agency confidentiality allows aliens to file tax returns without fear of deportation. At the same time, holding an ITIN enables aliens to authenticate their presence in the United States and prove that they have paid taxes. This information could be crucial if Congress ever enacted an amnesty.

The ITIN's improper use is once again in the news. The Federation for American Immigration Reform in its recent analysis titled Treasury Department Says Aliens Collection Billions in Tax Credits revealed that according to the Department of Treasury's inspector general, more than $4.2 billion in additional child credits were paid out in 2010 to illegal immigrants. In 2005, the pay outs totaled $924 million. This program allows low income earners to claim a $1,000 per child credit. If the household ends up with no additional tax obligation-as most alien families do not-then $1,000 is paid to them.

Pursuant to the IG report, 72 percent of tax returns filed by ITIN users claimed this credit compared to just 14 percent of returns filed with Social Security numbers. The generous payment of these benefits represents yet another incentive for aliens to enter, reside and work in the United States without permission. Providing incentives to aliens, financial or otherwise, is against the law.

The ITIN is a sham that should be eliminated. The federal government knows that many ITIN users are illegally in the United States. Automatic acceptance of the ITIN without additional identification is tantamount to endorsing illegal immigration. At a time when Congress and the president are struggling to find ways to cut trillions of dollars from federal spending and while more than 14 million Americans are unemployed, it's unconscionable for the IRS to ignore abuse of its ITIN program that results in billions of dollars in payments made to illegal aliens. Joe Guzzardi is a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization and his columns are syndicated in various U.S. newspapers and websites. Contact him at JoeGuzzardi@CAPSweb.org.

DON’T ASK DON’T TELL MEETS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

By Lonestar September 10, 2012

Many U.S. citizens are torn on what to do about illegal aliens in this country, especially those from central and South America who snuck across the U.S. border in the dead of night.

It’s semi-understandable that a visitor could apply with our Government to come to the United States to travel (on a travel visa), go to school (on a student visa), or work (on a temporary work visa) and then “forget” that they overstayed their welcome.

But it’s quite another to hop a fence and live here under-the-radar, while depleting the programs and resources intended for our disadvantaged own citizens. In the eyes of many U.S. citizens, Illegal aliens are like people who dine and dash from restaurants: they get a good meal for themselves, but they cheat the owner… they cheat the waiter… and they cheat the paying public, because 1) they tied up a table paying customers could have used, 2) the owner has to raise the restaurants’ prices to cover the “free meals” for people who don’t pay.

In fairness to those who are here illegally: yes, they broke the law by sneaking out of their country and into ours; by definition, that makes them criminals. But in the eyes of many, they are joining a long list of fugitives and “criminals”… like American slaves that escaped to Free States in the 1800s; East Germans who climbed the Berlin Wall between the 1960s and 1980s; and tens of thousands North Koreans who continue to flee from that Bizarro World nation.

If any of us lived in an impoverished country where our family was starving – where corruption was rampant, making it impossible to start a legal business because constant “shakedowns” by the police, military, or drug cartels – we would jump the border, too.

In the case of Mexico, where more than 50,000 people have been killed in drug-related crime in the past six years, it is not a stretch to say that parts of the country have been turned into a war zone; especially when you stop to consider that 58,000 U.S. soldiers died during our 12 years in Vietnam… meaning that law-abiding Mexican citizens are getting killed at a rate nearly double that of one of America’s most painful military misadventures.

Many U.S. citizens sympathize with those who, seeking only freedom, safety, and economic opportunity, came to America for a better life. By nature, Americans are charitable and forgiving people; indisputably the most generous nation in world history. When we hear of a tragedy anywhere in the world, we open our heart – and our wallets – to those in suffering. Case in point: we not only forgave Japan and Germany after World War II: we helped rebuild them (maybe too well, some would argue).
But in the case of illegal immigration across U.S. borders, all of that charity comes at a huge economic cost: according to a report published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), every U.S. citizen spends an extra $1117 in taxes providing housing, food, education, and medical care for illegal aliens, totaling $113 billion per year.

In Texas, the additional cost of illegal immigration is $16.4 billion (equal to the state’s budget deficit); in California, $21.8 billion ($8 billion more than the state’s budget deficit of $13.8 billion); and in New York, $9.5 billion (versus a state deficit of about $6.8 billion deficit.)

Our current border control policy appears to consist of 1) legislators arguing about illegal immigration instead of taking action; 2) border patrols agents risking their lives in some inane catch-and-release policy; and 3) the Dept. of Justice suing state and local officials whose towns are being overrun with foreign street gangs, drug traffickers, and other criminals. Oh… and 4) the ACLU and Democrats wondering why anyone would object to illegal aliens voting in our elections… must be racists, they conclude.

America’s own financial troubles are making the old way of working unsustainable. At the worst possible time, illegal aliens are – like too many people trying to climb into a lifeboat that is already filled – imperiling everyone else in the very nation in which they are seeking sanctuary. Which means, as harsh as it sounds, the United States needs to roll up the welcome mat and start addressing illegal immigration like the problem it is.

The United States need to act in a manner that is as humane as possible, but one that is bold, decisive, and fair…. not just to the families who are here illegally, but to those who’ve “played by the rules” and earned their U.S. citizenship in the property.

To get started, illegal aliens will have to complete five steps:

• Report to their local police department within 60 days, register themselves, their family members, and all known acquaintances living in the United States illegally. In particular, they need to list family members who entered into the country and their ages at the time… as well as any children born within U.S. borders afterwards. They will not be immediately deported, but they will be included in a national “headcount” – complete with mug shots, and fingerprints – to enable lawmakers to understand the size and scope of the problem.
• Provide the names and known whereabouts of any human trafficker, coyote, drug dealer, pimp, tunnel rat, or provider of falsified documentation. Provide authorities with complete details on how they entered into the country and evaded law enforcement. That means sitting down in a map room and showing routes, crossover points, tunnels, locations of boat landings and airplane flights, etc.
• Identify any U.S. citizen who helped with their entrée into America, or provided employment once they arrived, with a particular emphasis on employment that was illegal or in any way exploitive (like prostitution or child labor) or dangerous (like drug running). If any illegal is found to have a criminal record, was involved in the drug trade, or was part of a criminal gang, they are not only permanently ineligible for citizenship, but they will be deported immediately… not on the U.S. – Mexico border, but on Mexico – Guatemala border.
• Disclose precisely how they obtained employment while they were here, who employed them, and divulge any government assistance – including Emergency Room medical treatment, education, welfare, etc. – they received.
• Undergo a vocational assessment, and make arrangements for going-forward restitution for benefits they received. This could be done in the forms of scheduled fines, community service hours, or some sort of government service (e.g. serving in the U.S. military). Where practical, illegal aliens could qualify for a guest worker program, with a portion of their wages garnished to pay their restitution (as happens in child support cases.)

While that is taking place, U.S. lawmakers must take five steps of their own:

• We need to refine U.S. citizenship as being those who successfully completed the immigration or naturalization process, or are direct descendants of someone who did. Sneaking into America by evading law enforcement does not qualify you – or any of your children – for automatic citizenship. Any illegal wishing to seek U.S. citizenship must first pass the USCIS tests, including the English Speaking test, English Reading Test, Writing Test, and 100-question Civics Test.
• We need to reject the notion of “anchor babies” and “family reunification” programs that only compound the original problem of the illegal immigration that occurred. We need to reject the misappropriation of the 14th Amendment, and reaffirm its singular purpose of conferring U.S. citizenship upon the descendents of former African slaves who were forcibly brought to America… not the babies of those who broke our laws by coming here illegally.
• We need to make English our official language. No more pressing 1 for English; no more dual-language programs in our schools; and no more unreadable, four-point typefaces on product packaging because the label contains both English and Spanish directions. As one immigrant to the United States – who did not speak English when he arrived here – told a large audience of Latino journalists, Hispanics coming to America need to “turn off the Spanish television set,” avoid Spanish-language media, and learn English. The speaker was former California Governor Schwarzenegger, who went on to explain that by switching to English-speaking stations, “you’re just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster.”
•  We need to tie foreign aid directly to the costs of supporting illegal aliens in the United States. The U.S. gives Mexico billions of dollars in economic, law enforcement, and counternarcotics aid; we should reduce that aid, dollar for dollar, for all money spent providing benefits for its citizens living in the U.S. illegally – for housing, food, education, healthcare, etc. As soon as Latin American countries start getting a bill for their citizens’ excursions into the United States, stopping illegal border crossing from their side will become a high priority.
• We need to establish programs under which illegal aliens that are permitted to remain in the United States pay restitution for their unpaid taxes on under-the-table earnings, as well as any benefits they received from U.S. taxpayers for housing, education, medical care etc. These will be stiff penalties. We’re not asking you to pay into Social Security, and you sure as hell shouldn’t expect to collect from it.

After we done all of that, we can post new signs on the border that say:
“Come. Make as much money as you can. Send it home if you like. But… pay your damn taxes while you are here.” Otherwise… adios.

Merida Initiative

Written by InSight

The "Mérida Initiative" is a multi-billion dollar effort by the United States government to assist Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean in their fight against drug trafficking organizations. Proposed under President Bush and implemented under President Obama, the program has provided close to $1.8 billion in assistance to the region to date. About $1.5 billion has gone to Mexico, $300 million to Central America and $40 million to the Caribbean.

In some ways, the initiative mirrors U.S. efforts to aid Colombia through what became known as "Plan Colombia". The money for the Isthmus region and Caribbean basin goes mostly for equipment and military hardware, and police and judicial training to deal with the increasingly violent and sophisticated drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). These DTOs frequently have better weapons and intelligence gathering equipment than their counterparts in the state and undermine law enforcement efforts by corrupting vast sections of the regional governments.

However, critics, which include the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO), have said the initiative’s money has been slow to arrive and represents a small portion of what is needed. This is particularly true of Central American nations, which do not have the resources or training to face to the growing presence of largely Mexican DTOs in their territory.

The initiative has also come under attack by watchdog groups for its emphasis on the enforcement component of the strategy. Most of the aid has gone to the Mexican army and police who are fighting the DTOs. The Mexican army’s growing role in the battle in Mexico has come under particular scrutiny due to allegations of human rights abuses by that institution. But while allegations of abuses have risen, accountability has not followed. Human Rights groups say military courts have not prosecuted any member of the military for abuses.

The Obama administration appears to be aware of these criticisms and concerns. In its proposal for FY2011 funding, which officials dubbed “Beyond Mérida,” the administration created a four-pillar strategy, which includes (1) disrupting the flow of drugs; (2) reforming the judicial system in Mexico; (3) creating a “21st Century border”; and (4) strengthening communities. Of the $310 million that would go to Mexico, $175 million would go toward justice reform. The proposal needs the approval of congress, which is likely to include a similarly large package of aid outside the auspices of Mérida to border protection.

Grassley Asks the Right Questions

Phyllis Schlafly - Eagle Forum

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a good friend of the Constitution and We the People, has sent President Obama a powerful letter co-signed by 20 Senators.  The letter spells out many unlawful aspects of Obama’s recent announcement that he will not enforce U.S. laws against young illegal aliens and will reward their illegal status with residency and work permits.

Grassley doesn’t mince words in his letter.  He accuses Obama of taking an action for which he lacks legal authority, is contrary to his constitutional duty to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” is an affront to representative government and the legislative process in bypassing Congress, and is an inappropriate use of Executive power.

Grassley points out that Obama has full knowledge that his action was unlawful.  Just last year, Obama stated, “This notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. …  We live in a democracy.  You have to pass bills through the legislature, and then I can sign it.”

Here are a few of the 29 questions (slightly paraphrased and condensed) which Grassley asked the President to answer.  Why has your position on your legal authority changed?

Did you consult with attorneys about this and get a legal opinion and, if so, please provide copies of those legal opinions and emails.  How will you treat the parents and others who deliberately violated federal immigration law by illegally bringing these young people into the U.S.?

What criteria will you use to decide who gets work permits and who doesn’t, and what will be the status of the illegal aliens after the expiration of the two-year span of your executive order?  Will the implementation cost of this gigantic program be paid by those who benefit, or be loaded onto the U.S. taxpayers?

Obama supporters try to justify his illegal order by claiming that the young people were brought into the U.S. through no fault of their own.  Then we must assume that the fault belongs to the parent or whoever brought the kids, so those persons should be deported and allowed to take their children with them.

Although Obama bragged that his executive order will make our policies “more fair” and “more just,” Grassley prefaced his litany of legal and fiscal questions about Obama’s executive order by citing its fundamental unfairness.  American citizens of ages comparable to the illegals whom Obama is rewarding, ages 16 to 24, are suffering 17 percent unemployment, and another 32 percent of American citizens aged 18 to 29 are underemployed.

Grassley wrote:  “It is astonishing that your administration would grant work authorizations to illegal immigrants during this time of record unemployment.”  No wonder Obama wouldn’t answer a reporter’s question as to why he favors foreign workers over American.

Obama argues that he has the authority to stop deportations of illegal aliens and reward them with work permits because he was using “prosecutorial discretion.”  But prosecutorial discretion is properly applied only on a case-by-case basis to deal with extenuating circumstances, not for cancelling prosecution of a million people.

Obama’s action is an open invitation to fraud and lies.  For example, Obama says his plan is for illegal aliens who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16 and are still under the age of 30.  Will the young illegal aliens Obama is favoring be required to prove their age with verifiable documents such as birth certificates, school records, W-2s, or tax returns, or affidavits under penalty of perjury?

Obama’s estimated figure of eligibles is 800,000, but the Pew Hispanic Center says it will be 1.4 million.  The bipartisan amnesty of the 1980s was estimated to top out at one million, but wholesale document fraud coupled with lack of enforcement of sanctions increased the number to 3 million.

Obama undoubtedly thinks he will benefit from the Mainstream Media’s continued failure to report the many costs to U.S. taxpayers of tolerating the influx of illegal aliens. 

According to Victor Davis Hanson, California is a showcase of the problem:  taxes are the highest and rising, 70 percent of the last 10 million new Californians are on Medicaid, public schools have plunged to 48th and 49th in English and math test scores, and 50 percent of college freshmen need to take remedial courses.

Obama’s pitch to illegal aliens is one more unlawful, unilateral, dictatorial action added to his Administration’s 21 specific violations of law that were itemized in an amazing document issued a few weeks go by the Attorneys General of nine states.

Obama’s gambit to admit illegal aliens will not help our country.   It is clearly designed to help Obama attract a bloc of voters to reelect him in November, and that’s no excuse for violating the laws of the United States.

Illegal Aliens, In-State Tuition and the Law

Mike Brownfield The Foundry Heritage.org

Consider it an illegal fringe benefit for illegal aliens. Today, 12 states allow individuals who are in the United States illegally to pay the same in-state tuition rates as legal residents of the state without providing the same rates to others in the country who are here legally. And those states are doing it in direct contravention of federal law.

In a new paper, Heritage’s Hans von Spakovsky and Charles Stimson explain that in 1996, Congress passed–and President Bill Clinton signed into law–the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Under Section 1623 of the law, state colleges and universities are prohibited from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens “on the basis of residence within the State” unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States.

“By circumventing the requirements of § 1623 these states are violating federal law, and the legal arguments offered to justify such actions are untenable, no matter what other policy arguments are offered in their defense,” von Spakovsky and Stimson write. Which states are on the list? The offenders include California, Texas, New York, Utah, Washington, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Maryland, and Connecticut.

Despite these violations, the federal government is doing nothing about it, all while the Justice Department has brought action against Arizona and Alabama for assisting in the enforcement of federal immigration law. Meanwhile, President Obama’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department announced over the summer relaxed standards for pursuing and dismissing immigration cases.

Apart from being illegal, granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens isn’t at all popular with the American people, either. A poll conducted in August shows that 81 percent of voters oppose providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens–and with good reason. For starters, the cost of doing so is breaking an already strained bank. In 2005, the cost of providing in-state tuition in California was between $222.6 million and $289.3 million; in Texas, it was estimated between $80.2 million and $104.4 million. Von Spakovsky and Stimson note that the policy has other serious flaws, as well:

Granting financial preference to illegal aliens also discriminates against otherwise qualified citizen students from outside the state. Furthermore, states that offer in-state tuition to illegal aliens act as a magnet for more illegal aliens to come to the state. Arguments to the contrary are unpersuasive, and not supported by the facts.

The core issue, though, is the Constitution and the rule of law. And while the United States welcomes immigrants, it is also a country of laws, and there are limits imposed on those who seek citizenship. States cannot cast aside those laws where they see fit, as von Spakovsky and Stimson explain:

Americans take pride in their heritage and this country’s generous policies regarding legal immigration. Yet, as citizens of a sovereign nation, Americans retain the right to decide who can and cannot enter this country—and what terms immigrants and visitors must accept as a condition of residing in the United States. As mandated by the U.S. Constitution, Congress sets America’s immigration policy. State officials have considerable influence in Congress over the crafting of immigration laws, and they may take steps to help enforce federal law. However, state officials cannot act contrary to a congressional statute.

The Supreme Court has held that “The states have no power, by taxation or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operations of the constitutional laws enacted by Congress to carry into execution the powers vested in the general government.”

Unfortunately, in offering illegal aliens in-state tuition in violation of federal law, that is exactly what these states are doing. Now it is up to the President and the Attorney General to enforce that law and take action against these 12 states.