Sessions: Let’s Face It, This Immigration Bill Is Beyond Repair
” Washington is bickering over whether the Cornyn amendment to the Gang of Eight framework is a deal-breaking and onerous “poison pill,” or a totally inadequate “Trojan horse.” The New York Times published a piece pondering that exact question on Friday. It quoted Chuck Schumer panning the plan as a “nonstarter” and “deal-killer,” without specifying a single policy flaw. How does any of this go “too far”? One Republican Senator is having none of this entire show. Alabama’s Jeff Sessions released a blistering statement Sunday morning preemptively rejecting any “cosmetic fixes” to the legislation (hyperlinks and emphasis his):
When the Gang of Eight first announced their immigration bill they declared it was the toughest enforcement plan in history. They declared enforcement would come before legalization. And they declared that anyone who suggested otherwise didn’t know what they were talking about. Now the bill has been reviewed and there can be no dispute: it weakens current law, undermines future enforcement and puts amnesty—not enforcement—first. So new promises of amendment ‘fixes’ to save the bill should be viewed with great skepticism: every time, on every issue, the promises have not matched with reality. They promised back taxes—but the requirement isn’t there; they promised tight restrictions on welfare benefits—but state and local benefits, as well as tax credits,will be available immediately and federal welfare access is granted to millions of illegal immigrants starting in five years; they promised to protect workers—but this bill would devastate workers by tripling the number of legal immigrants over the next decade and doubling the number of guest workers.
No small cosmetic fix can save this bill, with so many provisions clearly authored by special interests whose chief desires are lower wages and amnesty—rather than a lawful, rational system of immigration. As the ICE officers’ association warned: ‘instead of cracking down on the Administration’s abuse of power, S. 744 places unprecedented new restrictions on interior enforcement—making the current situation much worse and much more hazardous. It is as if S. 744 were explicitly written to handcuff law enforcement officials—binding their hands while giving virtually unchecked authority to executive branch officials to prevent future removals, including removals of criminal aliens.’ And as the USCIS adjudications officers warned: ‘the legislation was written with special interests—producing a bill that makes the current system worse, not better. S. 744 will damage public safety and national security and should be opposed by lawmakers.’ It’s time for the Gang of Eight to start being straight with the American public.” “
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Category: Idiocy
Big Politically Correct Brother
” A few weeks after 9/11, when government was hastily retooling its 1970s hijacking procedures for the new century, I wrote a column for the National Post of Canada and various other publications that, if you’re so interested, is preserved in my anthology The Face of the Tiger. It began by noting the observation of President Bush’s transportation secretary, Norman Mineta, that if “a 70-year-old white woman from Vero Beach, Florida” and “a Muslim young man” were in line to board a flight, he hoped there would be no difference in the scrutiny to which each would be subjected. The TSA was then barely a twinkle in Norm’s eye, and in that long-ago primitive era it would have seemed absurd to people that one day in America it would be entirely routine for wheelchair-bound nonagenarians to remove leg braces before boarding a plane or for kindergartners to stand patiently as three middle-aged latex-gloved officials poke around their genitals. Back then, the idea that everybody is a suspect still seemed slightly crazy. As I wrote in my column, “I’d love to see Norm get his own cop show:
“Captain Mineta, the witness says the serial rapist’s about 5′10″ with a thin mustache and a scar down his right cheek.”
“Okay, Sergeant, I want you to pull everyone in.”
“Pardon me?”
“Everyone. Men, women, children. We’ll start in the Bronx and work our way through to Staten Island. What matters here is that we not appear to be looking for people who appear to look like the appearance of the people we’re looking for. There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and I want to hear all of them.”
A decade on, it would be asking too much for the new Norm to be confined to the airport terminal. There are 300 million stories in the Naked Republic, and the NSA hears all of them, 24/7. Even in the wake of a four-figure death toll, with the burial pit still smoking, the formal, visible state could not be honest about the very particular threat it faced, and so in the shadows the unseen state grew remorselessly, the blades of the harvester whirring endlessly but, don’t worry, only for “metadata.”
As I wrote in National Review in November 2001, “The bigger you make the government, the more you entrust to it, the more powers you give it to nose around the citizenry’s bank accounts, and phone calls, and e-mails, and favorite Internet porn sites, the more you’ll enfeeble it with the siren song of the soft target. The Mounties will no longer get their man, they’ll get you instead. Frankly, it’s a lot easier.” As the IRS scandal reminds us, you have to have a touchingly naïve view of government to believe that the 99.9999 percent of “metadata” entirely irrelevant to terrorism will not be put to some use, sooner or later.”
As Usual Steyn Is Required Reading
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Elijah Cummings Claims One Republican Mastermind Behind IRS Scandal
” The Democrat Rep. from Maryland let loose on what was sure to be the final piece of the Orwellian puzzle that made everything ‘suddenly make sense’ at Media Matters. From the Daily Caller:
Rep. Elijah Cummings has yet to reveal the name of the “conservative Republican” IRS agent he claims started the agency’s improper targeting of conservative groups, despite evidence that the targeting was overseen by a registered Democrat working out of Washington, D.C.
Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland and the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, claimed this week that an unnamed Republican manager in the IRS’s Cincinnati office started the agency’s targeting of conservative groups, and that “the case is solved” with no evidence of White House wrongdoing.
Cummings claimed in a letter to Republican Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa, dated June 9, that his staff had interviewed a “conservative Republican” manager from the IRS’ Cincinnati office who took the blame for the improper targeting.
After finishing his letter to Chairman Darrell Issa of the House’s Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Cummings apparently slapped his hands together, rubbed them back and forth a bit, and said to himself, “well, that’s that.” Because on CNN, he effectively told extremely credible guy Al Sharpton that the case is “solved” and there’s no there ‘there’:”
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Rain (tax), Rain (tax), Go Away
” Up to this point Maryland’s rain tax, although onerous, was at least uniform (i.e., everyone paying the same tax rate on the amount of impervious surfaces they own).
Then things got screwy. First, state lawmakers limited the rain tax to only 10 of Maryland’s 24 local jurisdictions (Baltimore city and Anne Arundel, Howard, Carroll, Harford, Charles, Montgomery, P.G., Frederick and Baltimore counties).
So, a shopping mall in Charles County must pay a huge yearly rain tax while a similar mall next door in Calvert County does not. Shouldn’t we all be saving the Bay together?
State lawmakers further decided that, within the 10 rain tax counties, certain properties should be exempt, namely those owned by the state and local governments (and volunteer fire departments). That’s right, they included churches and nonprofits but excluded themselves. “
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Man Is Too Drunk To Fight… Or Not?
” Some drunk man wanted a fight and he got it, unfortunately his friends weren’t in good enough condition to help him..”
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Between 2010 And 2012, The IRS Spent $50 Million On Conferences
” The IRS spent $135,350 on 15 guest speakers at a single conference in Anaheim, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General’s report, released by the House Government Oversight Committee Tuesday. The report states that the IRS spent $50 million on such conferences between 2010 and 2012.
A breakdown of spending from the report:
• The IRS reported that it expended $50,187 on videos for the conference, but was unable to provide any details supporting this cost.
• IRS management contracted with 15 outside speakers for presentations at a total cost of $135,350. Costs for outside speakers included a $17,000 fee for a keynote speaker whose presentation included creating six paintings of famous people to reinforce his message of finding creative solutions to challenges. Two of the paintings were given away at the conference, three were donated to charity, and one was lost, according to IRS management. Another keynote speaker was paid $27,500 which included a $2,500 fee authorized for first class airfare.
• IRS employees made three planning trips at a cost of approximately $35,800 prior to the conference.
• The IRS also paid over $30,000 for 45 IRS employees who reside in the local area to stay at the hotels and incur per diem expenses while at the conference.
• Numerous gifts/promotional items were provided to attendees at an estimated cost of more than $64,000.”
Who in their right mind can justify these blatant wastes of taxpayer funds ? Add to this waste the current politicization of this alleged non-partisan agency and even liberals should be ashamed of this typical example of big government .
By now all of our readers have most likely heard of some of the other recently publicized efforts by the IRS … we refer to the movies that were produced with your hard earned money , the Star Trek and the Gilligan’s Island “parodies , but in case you haven’t had a chance to see these pieces of expensive trash we include them below .
Words fail us as to what genius thought that these films were money well spent , but given the arrogant climate that appears to dominate the IRS and the rest of Obama’s federal government it really should come as no surprise . If you are not outraged you are either not paying attention or have overdosed on the Kool-Aid .
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IRS Employee Contract Promised No Political Coercion
” In August of 2009 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agreed to a labor contract with the National Treasury Employees Union. But Article 4 “Protections Against Prohibited Personnel Practices” contains sections that seem to indicate that in targeting organizations applying for tax-exempt status, IRS agents were required to break the terms of their union contract.”
Another reason to fire them , as if anymore were needed . This is another example of why government employees have no business being unionized .
” Section 8 of the preamble states that “Employees should be protected against arbitrary action, personal favoritism, or coercion for partisan political purposes; and prohibited from using their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for election.”
While this contract was agreed to in Aug. 2009, by March 2010, IRS agents were clearly being directed to target organizations based on their political persuasion in an apparent effort to silence people who didn’t agree with the administration.”
Why should the civilian employees of the government enjoy the benefits of collective bargaining when the one department of the government that is constitutionally authorized ( the military ) has no such right ?
” A broader look at the values espoused in IRS agreement with the National Treasury Employees Union reveals a list of things Americans want government to stand for, but in light of recent incidents it reads more like a Saturday Night Live skit.
The introduction includes a short list of six IRS Values:
• Honesty and Integrity: We uphold the public trust in all that we do; we are honest and forthright in all of our internal and external dealings.
• Respect: We treat each colleague, employee and taxpayer with dignity and respect.
• Continuous Improvement: We seek to perform the best that we can today, while embracing change, so that we can perform even better in the future.
• Inclusion: We embrace diversity of background, experience, and perspective.
• Openness and Collaboration: We share information and collaborate, recognizing that we are a team.
• Personal Accountability: We take responsibility for our actions and decisions and learn and grow from our achievements and mistakes. [emphasis added]“
All employees of all branches of government , whether they be federal , state , county or municipal should be subjected to the same employment rules as the various branches of the military are . If you want to live off of the public dime then you should have to take the job with predetermined benefits , salary , job security and possibility of advancement .
There should be a predetermined ( by the various government budgetary departments ) pay/benefits scale as the military utilizes and when you sign on to the job it is a take it or leave it proposition … No negotiation with the taxpayer’s money . Job x receives salary x , job y receives salary y , no ifs ands or buts … If the prospective employee does not like the pay scale they are free to find a job in the private sector just like the rest of us producers .
It is time to enact a major draw-down of the looters and eliminate the power of the public employee unions . There is something inherently corrupt with unions negotiating salaries and benefits with the very politicians whose pockets they line year after year .
As long as government employment , union membership and it’s clout continue to grow and maintain it’s symbiotic relationship with the Democratic party we should expect nothing but partisanship from the State .
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U.S. Publishes Details Of Missile Base Israel Wanted Kept Secret
” Israel’s military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.
The Obama administration had promised to build Israel a state-of-the-art facility to house a new ballistic-missile defense system, the Arrow 3. As with all Defense Department projects, detailed specifications were made public so that contractors could bid on the $25 million project. The specifications included more than 1,000 pages of details on the facility, ranging from the heating and cooling systems to the thickness of the walls.
“If an enemy of Israel wanted to launch an attack against a facility, this would give him an easy how-to guide. This type of information is closely guarded and its release can jeopardize the entire facility,” said an Israeli military official who commented on the publication of the proposal but declined to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the facility. He declined to say whether plans for the facility have been altered as a result of the disclosure.
“This is more than worrying, it is shocking,” he said.”
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Koch LA Times Buyout Enrages Protesters: What We Saw at the “Save Our News” Rally
Published on May 30, 2013
” Protesters gathered outside of the Los Angeles Times building on Wednesday to speak out against the potential sale of the newspaper and other Tribune Company properties to the Koch brothers. Reason TV was on the scene to find out why the potential sale was so upsetting to those gathered and whether or not they though it appropriate for the city government to take action against the Times.
Answers ranged from a fear of the Times being transformed into a right-wing propaganda machine to a general distrust of billionaires and/or large corporations owning media companies (despite the fact that the Tribune Company is, of course, a large corporation and billionaires besides the Kochs are interested in the purchase). Watch the full video above.
About 4 minutes. Produced by Zach Weissmueller and Tracy Oppenheimer.
Subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube channel and receive automatic notification when new material goes live.
Full disclosure: David Koch is trustee of Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason TV.”
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Boy, 6, Gets Detention For Lego Gun On Bus
” A Massachusetts kindergartener has been given detention and could be suspended from the bus after bringing a Lego-sized gun to school last week.
The boy’s mother, Mieke Crane, said her son had to write a letter of apology to the driver, was given detention and could be temporarily suspended from the bus.”
Related articles
- Lego-Sized Toy Gun Leads to Detention For 6 Year Old (abc22now.com)
- And the Wussification . . . ah , hell, just read the article. (shoeuntied.wordpress.com)
- 6-year old brings Quarter-sized toy gun on bus, threatened with detention and suspension (legalinsurrection.com)
- Students Traumatized By Lego Gun? Talk about BS (grumpyelder.com)
- Kindergartener brings tiny (2 inch) LEGO gun on school bus, gets detention… (bluegrasspundit.com)
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High School Teacher Faces Discipline for Informing Students About Their Rights
” A high school social studies teacher in Batavia, Illinois, faces disciplinary action for informing students of their Fifth Amendment rights in connection with a survey asking about illegal drug use. The survey, ostensibly aimed at assessing the needs of students at Batavia High School, was distributed on April 18. After picking up the survey forms from his mailbox about 10 minutes before his first class of the day, John Dryden noticed that they had students’ names on them and that they asked about drinking and drug use, among other subjects.”
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