So Mad I Could Scream!!

To My Un-born Child: I'm So Sorry. Love, Dad.

2009-04-21T13:49:00.002-05:00

It was January, 1970. A very cold, wintry day when I was born. The President of the United States then, was Richard Nixon. The Vietnam War was still going on. Back then, like today, I don't think anybody had a clear image as to where this Nation was headed.

God works in mysterious ways. One example of that is the mere fact that I still do not have any children. Not by choice. At least a choice I've made, rather a choice made by the good Man above. Only He knows why. Even so, there is still a spirit in the air of my un-born child. A spirit so strong, one that I talk to daily. One that I owe an apology to.

I want to tell my child how sorry I am about how I have left this Country for him/her to live in. You see, when I was growing up, we kids played outside until it was getting dark. We didn't have a choice. "Get your butt outside and play, and DON'T come back unless you are bleeding!" is just one of many sentences I heard when I was a kid. Not today. Today's child is facing an obesity rate never seen before in this country. My generation is to blame. For that, I want to, yet again, apologize to my un-born child. Apologize for making Atari so popular. So popular in fact, Atari brought us Sony Play Stations, Wii and many, many others. Games that kept my generation and generations after me on the couch. Keeping us on the couch, kept us out of our front and back yards. Keeping us on the couch, kept us from being active, not only physically, but in ALL aspects of life. Getting the high score on Grand Theft Auto became more interesting and popular than keeping up with what was going on in the World outside our homes.

I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that took corporal punishment out of schools. Back when I was in school, if I acted up I got an all expense paid, round-trip ticket to the principles office. This all inclusive trip was not to get caught up on what was going on in his life and with his family. Rather, it was to get my rear end paddled with what seemed to be a Louisville Slugger custom made just for my principles height and weight.

But some where down the line, the term "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" was thought up and used. Used so much, a group called Child Protective Services was formed. Not that I have anything against this great organization, it's just become an ace in many kids' pockets and used when really not needed. A "beating" is one thing. A smack on the butt is another. Kids have been telling their parents "..lay one finger on me, and I will call CPS" for way too long now. Give me a break. If your the bully that goes around shooting out car windows with a Daisy B-B Gun for kicks and grins, then you are the bully that needs a good 'ole fashion a$$ whooping when you get home after your little b-b gun bruhaha. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. You need your butt spanked!

I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that took prayer and Bible study out of school. Boy, boy, boy. Do I EVER regret that this ever come from my generation. All in the name of "Separation of Church and State". What a mistake. What a HUGE mistake. In 1986, I was a sophomore in high school. That summer, I was so excited about the ELECTIVES that I had chosen for my Jr. year in high school. I emphasize the word 'electives' because it was just that. An elective. I elected to take Bible study. Not my parents. Not the state of Texas. Not my school. But me. It was my choice. The same progressives that say it's a woman's choice on weather or not to have an abortion, didn't feel I had the right to take Bible study in school. How screwed up is that? How sad I was on the first day of school my junior year when I learned that Bible study was no longer an option.

I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that thought it was cool for Roseann Barr to spit and grab her crotch after singing the National Anthem at a Major League Baseball game. I want to apologize for my generation thinking it is cool to blame our own Government and Country for what happened on 9.11.01. How ridiculous. After 9.11.01, we held suspected terrorist in a facility called "Gitmo, or Guantanamo Bay". I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation responsible for closing Gitmo and putting these terrorist back into the general public, or general population of our prison system.

Speaking of "terrorist", I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that took the term, "terrorist, and terrorism" out of our Governments vocabulary. Again, it's no longer hip, or cool, to use the words 'terror' or 'terrorism'. What a shame.

I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that saw its Department of Homeland Security call folks that stood against such things as abortion, gun control, big Government, high taxes, nothing but a bunch of right-wing activists that pose a threat to the rest of the Nation.

I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that finds it important to give people who harm us and our country, a fair and speedy trial in our judicial system and protecting their "rights". I apologize for being the generation that finds it necessary to even consider giving these folks "rights". What "rights" do they have? The ONLY damn right they have is to stay the hell out of my country and keep your violent tendencies in your own home land. Don't bring it to mine.

I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation that brought you Wal-Mart and the term, "Made In China". Speaking of China, I also want to apologize for being the generation responsible for selling off our country to China.

My list of apologies is almost, but not quiet, as long as our current apologetic President. President Obama.

In closing, I want to apologize to my un-born child for being the generation who brought this country its President Carter. Its President Clinton. Its President Bush, one and two. And lastly, Its President Obama. My generation was asleep during these years and for that, I am sorry.

I have left you with a mountain of debt, my un-born child of mine. How will you ever forgive me? Your father,

KP

Marcus Luttrell - American Hero

2009-04-08T19:41:00.003-05:00

So, how many of you know the name, Marcus Luttrell? Not many, I'm sure. I didn't know the name until the other day when I was listening to the Glenn Beck Show on KLIF 570 AM here in Dallas.

Marcus Luttrell is a member of the U.S. Navy SEALs. Or should I say, WAS a member of the SEALs. You see, Marcus is no longer in the Navy. He got hurt and had to retire. Petty Officer First Class Luttrell is a 6'5" rancher's boy from Texas. On June 28th, 2005 he was busy protecting me while I slept under the very freedom that he was providing for me. Luttrell was in Afghanistan on that day. Along with 3 other SEAL team members. Luttrell is the only one alive today out of that four-man team.

When the day of June 28th, 2005 was over, a total of 19 Americans lie dead. On that day, Luttrell's face was shredded, his nose broken, three vertebrae cracked from tumbling down a ravine. A rocket-propelled grenade had ripped off his pants and riddled him with shrapnel. On this same day, the United States had suffered its worse loss of life in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001. The worse ever in the history of the Navy SEALs.

Why is all of this important? I'll tell you why. Marcus was given a Golden Labrador puppy to help him with his recovery process. Dasy was her name. Each letter standing for a lost member of the SEAL team that was ambushed. Last week, Dasy was shot and killed by a couple of punks. One is still out there on the loose, Michael Edmonds. A warrant for his arrest has been issued by the Texas Rangers.

You can get more of this story by clicking this link:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23658/

I won't go into much more detail on the story of Marcus Luttrell other than to ask this question, where is the media on this? Why isn't every major station in the state of Texas covering this? Why did I have to hear about this on the Glenn Beck Show?

Do a Google search of Marcus Luttrell, and you get 172,000 hits. Do a Google search on Katrina Darrell, and you get 941,000 hits. I'm not going to tell you who Katrina Darrell is. I will let you find out for yourself. Once you find the answer to that question, ask yourself who the REAL American Idol is.

Petty Officer First Class Luttrell, if you, by a stroke of luck read this, I want to thank you. Thank you for serving your country and keeping us safe. Thank you for being the bigger and better person during your ordeal with Dasy. God Bless You my friend. Get some sleep, you need it.

KP

Glenn Beck - A True American

2008-10-09T18:58:00.002-05:00

I have cooked dinner for 10 and here is my guest list: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, General Patton, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, General Petraeus, Martin Luther King, Condoleezza Rice, and last, but not least, Mr. Glenn Beck.

2 years ago, I didn't even know who Glenn Beck was. It wasn't until I moved back to Texas, after spending 3 years in Louisville Kentucky, that I really even cared who the hell Glenn Beck was. You see, upon moving back to Texas in 2007, I noticed a very creepy, strange, unprecedented change in my home state. It had appeared that there was no longer a federal border that separated the state of Texas from the country of Mexico. I started asking questions. I started calling and writing my State Representative, my Congressman, and my 2 Senators.

Not recognizing any of the FM stations in Dallas anymore, I tuned in to KLIF 570 AM. My life changed. That is when I learned who Glenn Beck was. His radio show comes on at 9am here in Dallas on KLIF 570 AM. I learned very quickly that Glenn was ALL over this "illegal immigration" issue we had going on here in America. Maybe I had become a zombie from the years of 1970 to 2004 and just had become accustomed to the "illegals" here in Texas. For the most part, illegal immigration wasn't really a hot button in Louisville Kentucky. It's crippling affect had not reached up there. So it really wasn't discussed.

Listening to The Glenn Beck Show, I started hearing terms like, "La Raza", "Coyotes", "Ramos and Campion" to name a few. My ears perked from this point on each morning at 9am. I was hooked. After coming home from work one day, I mentioned to my soon-to-be wife, that I had been listening to one of the smartest, well informed guys that I had ever heard. She asked me who it was and I told her "Glenn Beck". She said, "...well, you know he is on t.v. too, right?" I was like, "..NO WAY!!". Sure enough, there he is. 6pm (Central) on CNN Headline News. Again, I was hooked.

It's been a little over a year now that I have been religiously listening, and watching Glenn Beck. He has taught me so much. He's made me think.

Glenn doesn't get all that personal when he talks about himself. I know that he is a recovering alcoholic. I know that he loves and adores his family. I know that he understands where he came from and that he is VERY thankful of what he now has. But most of all, I have come to learn that Glenn Beck is a true American. In every sense of the word.

I don't know this for a fact, but I would be willing to bet that Glenn wishes that he was a man in the 1950's. During the 50's, that is when America was America. That is when Americans had values. Had trust for one another. Had morals.

Glenn Beck has been called "Mr. Doom and Gloom" by many of his critics. He doesn't really care. Glenn is a man of truth and he actually cares about his fellow Americans. He cares about his country. My take on Glenn is this, don't shoot the messenger just because you don't like the message. So many people in this great country are trying to figure out what his or her "purpose" in life is. Me included. Not Glenn Beck. He knows what his purpose is, and that is to spread the word about our day to day lives of the people who run this country. He's been on top of this economic melt down for 2 years. He sees what's coming. He sees where this nation is headed if we, as Americans, don't wake up and do something about it.

I included Glenn Beck on my dinner list for one reason, I want to listen. I want to listen to Glenn Beck talk to the other 9 guests on my list. Some of those other 9 guests had a great impact on the United States of America, others are just American icons. I want to hear the questions that Glenn Beck would have for these 9 individuals and then all I want to do is sit back and listen to the answers.

In closing, I will say this, Americans need to slow down and pay more attention to what is going on in the world around them. We, as a society, can stand in over-night lines at our local AT&T phone store, waiting on the doors to open so that we can be one of the first ones to buy the new iPhone. I'm asking that you take just 30 min of your day and either listen to, or watch The Glenn Beck Show. You may not agree with EVERYTHING that Glenn says, but one thing's for sure, you will become a thinker. When the term "serving your country" is heard or said, the first thing that comes to most people's mind is the men and women who are in uniform defending this great nation. Well, Mr. Glenn Beck, you sir, are serving your country with your message and I want to thank you for that. I know there is about a one in a million chance that Glenn Beck will actually see and read this, but if you do, I would love to meet you some day!

kenneth.powell@yahoo.com

The Year The Media Died (2008)

2008-09-29T10:59:00.004-05:00

Well, well, well....here we sit. September 29th, in the year of our Lord, 2008. Waiting on our Congress to pass a $700 billion bail out of Wall Street. Here is my take on how we got in such a mess.

First, let's start with illegal immigration. Have you ever wondered how it is, that our media continues to tell us that the illegal immigrant population is coming to the United States and taking, or doing, jobs that Americans won't do? It should be, that they are doing these jobs for wages that most Americans will not take for these jobs. So, if that is the case, and these illegal immigrants are doing jobs for a much low pay scale, how can they afford to live here in the States? Easy. It's called The Community Reinvestment Act, started in 1977 by then President, Jimmy Carter. It was to help banks make risky loans to low-income families in order for them to afford housing. In 1993, President Bill Clinton, ordered new regulations for the Community Reinvestment Act. Those new regulations went into effect in January of 1995.

Banks were being called "racist" for not lending to the high-risk, low-income families. In my opinion, it has NOTHING to do with race, but rather common sense. Good ole' business smarts. Why would a bank want to lend to someone with "high risk"? Would you?

Starting in 1995, banks went on a "lending spree". They saw an untapped market with the illegal immigrant population and low-income families. "This is a huge untapped market with people that live and work in this country and are capable of buying homes to realize the American dream," said Chan Peterson, executive vice president and head of community banking at Banco Popular, one of the earliest banks to enter this field. Bill Schumer, vice president of product development at Fifth Third Mortgage Co., a unit of Fifth Third Bancorp. (Research), said the company entered the marketplace due to the belief that providing these low-to-moderate income loans will help revitalize communities in the United States, as borrowers buy more run-down properties and rebuild. For now, community banks are leading the charge when it comes to providing home loans for illegal immigrants. Banking experts say that community banks often have the bilingual capabilities and are more in tune with local community needs and markets. And larger banks are holding out for secondary markets such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to agree to buy illegal immigrant mortgages from the banks – thus lowering their risk. Nothing in federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from owning homes. And banks can legally accept passports, tax identification numbers, and consular cards from people who want to open bank accounts or get home loans, according to the Comptroller of the Currency, a bureau of the US Treasury that regulates national banks.

So, that is a little insight to some of the back-ground on how all of this started. It's not ALL because of the illegal immigrant, but they are a big part of it.

Let's talk about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for a little bit. They are the companies that were buying up these bad loans from the banks that were making them. Did they know they were buying bad paper, sure they did. From 1991 to 1998, the Chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae was Jim Johnson. If the name "Jim Johnson" sounds familiar to you, it might be because he was involved in the 2008 Democratic vice-presidential selection of Senator Joe Biden. We'll get back to that point later. Also, in 1991, the Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae, was Franklin Raines. That name may sound familiar as well, due to the fact that Franklin Raines is one of Obama's financial advisers. Again, we will get back to that later. In 1996, Franklin Raines left Fannie Mae to join President Clinton's Administration as The Director of The U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Raines returned to Fannie Mae in 1999 as CEO.

You may be asking yourself, "...who over looks companies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?". Well, that would be the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs. The Chairman of that committee? Democratic Senator Chris Dodd from Connecticut. Senator Dodd also ran for President in 2008, but soon dropped out of the race. We'll get back to Senator Dodd as well. For now, let's talk about Senator John McCain and what he had to say about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

On May 25th, 2006, Senator McCain spoke to President Bush regarding the Federal Housing Enterprise Reform Act of 2005. He is quoted as saying the following: " Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae's regulator reported that the company's quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were "illusions deliberately and systematically created" by the company's senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay."

McCain goes on to say, "I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation." (source for above quote from Senator John McCain: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190 )

What was Senator Obama saying? Nothing. He was too busy taking campaign contributions from both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to http://www.opensecrets.com/ , who did a study from 1989 to 2008, Senator Chris Dodd, the above mentioned Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affiars, took in $164,400 from both Freddie Mae and Freddy Mac. Coming in second on Freddie Mae's and Freddie Mac's contribution list was none other than Senator Obama with a staggering $126,349. Isn't that odd? It took 19 years for Senator Dodd to accumulate $164,400 from Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac, but only 2 years for Senator Obama to bank roll $126,349 from the two. Odd, very odd.

Back to the names of "Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson". The only thing I can say is that we can add these two names to the list of folks that Obama surrounds himself with. Along with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, and Tony Rezko. The web is weaved bigger and tighter each and every day.

All of this brings me to the heading of this entry: The Year The Media Died (2008). You can turn on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC, and you will hear nothing about the above topics. You won't hear anything about the illegal immigrant and how they, as a group, helped the United States get into this financial mess that we are now in. You won't hear anything about the connection of Senator Obama and Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson. You won't hear anything about Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, NOT warning the President and the American people of this potential catastrophe. Nope, you won't hear any of that on these networks. But you will damn sure hear everything about Governor Sarah Palin's daughter being pregnant. These are very tough times we are in as a Nation and for our media outlets to be covering up a lot of the issues that led us to these tough times is just sickening. Don't get me wrong, Republicans are just as guilty of all of this as the Democrats are, but come on folks, look at the cover up here that is taking place right in front of our very faces.

Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Ca.) authored a bill that was signed and put into law by President George Bush. This bill would have given us a double-layered fence to help keep not only illegal immigrants, but terrorist as well, out of this country. As of this writing, no fence. As a result, organizations such as ACORN and La Raza want to scream "racism" at our banks for not handing out loans to low-income families and illegal immigrants. Not to be considered a racist, banks buckle to the pressure of such groups and turn a blind eye and lend the money. The economy crashes. Construction comes to a halt. Jobs become more and more rare. And the illegal immigrant packs up and goes back home. Leaving the Legal citizen of the United States holding the bag full of $700 billion worth of bad debt.

In my opinion, this is just the beginning. How naive of us to think that this just affected the housing market. I have a feeling that credit card companies opened accounts with a blind eye as well. How many goods do you think were purchased with credit cards by people that were given credit based on income that wasn't true? What about automobiles? How many cars, trucks, and vans do you think were bought with bad credit by illegal immigrants? Do you think that all of this "stuff" that was bought with bad credit was left in the houses that were defaulted on that they moved out of? What about their automobiles? Not a chance. My guess is that there are a ton of goods and a ton of automobiles sitting in Mexico that was purchased with bad credit. Just a hunch.

Bonehead Question

2008-05-10T00:13:00.004-05:00

I belong to a Yahoo talk group that was originally started for, and by, Duncan Hunter supporters. It is now, more less, a conservative think tank. Just a few days ago, I proposed a question, or should I say, a question with no answer. The basics of the question was this, with the gas prices of today reaching our furthest star, and if our government is saying that the illegal immigrants in this country are doing jobs for far less wages than legal American citizens would do them for, then how is the illegal immigrant population able to pay for the high price of gas since they are making less than the average worker?

Well, there is a gentleman in my Yahoo group that found this question interesting and he decided to post that same question on his blog. You can read his blog at http://rotterdamrepublican.blogspot.com/ Well, tonight, Kevin dropped me an email stating that he got a reply to the question. I would like to share with you what that reply was, so here it is:

working class said...
Let me preface this by saying: I've worked, sweat and bled with these "illegals." I've talked with them about their lives back home and shared a beer or two. With that said, there's a major problem with your question's premise: Most "illegals" don't own cars. If you see them -and you usually don't -a lot of them ride bicycles and live nearby where they work; say within a mile or two. It's a cheaper, safer and more efficient mode of transportation. See, if you're in a country without documentation, it's usually a good idea to fly beneath the radar. Driving a car illegally(if you're not allowed in the country, you're certainly not allowed to purchase car insurance and thus drive a car legally) would be a good way to draw the ire of ICE, a bumbling massively overworked-undermanned organization that couldn't curb, much less quell the tide of immigrants flowing into this country. Not to mention, if you've spent just about everything you own to get into the country illegally, you certainly don't want to jeopardize that by violating all the other laws. Sure, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions. But as a whole, the undocumented/illegal population in the U.S. flies below -WAY below -the radar. That's why they're still here.But back to the premise of the question, which is to say if it's so damn expensive to live here, then will all these foreign workers go home. The answer is simple: No. Why? Because they live cheaper and more efficiently than U.S. citizens. They often live in crowded one-room apartments(10 guys in a one-bedroom), don't mind shacking up on job sites (even in the winter) and can sustain themselves on a bag of rice and some beans for several months while they squirrel away money for their families back home. In fact, the American working poor could learn a lot from these guys. I'm surprised conservative thinkers don't embrace this type of lifestyle. Just think about the tax dollars that could be saved if the food stamp junkies started buying real food and not instant meals and TV dinners. In short, it's a shame these guys aren't American. We could use some of their elbow grease.Think about it. It's food for thought that you can pass around the conservative think-tank the next time such a bonehead question comes up.
Fri May 09, 06:44:00 PM

When I read this, I came unglued!! I don't know where this cat, "working class" lives, but it damn sure isn't in Dallas Texas. I would go as far as saying that he doesn't even live in one of the border states.

First, I would like "working class" to know that illegal immigrants DO own cars. I live out in east Texas and I commute, on average, an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half to work. During this commute, I pass around 15-20 USED car lots. All of them look the same. All of them sit in southeast Dallas County. One of the heaviest populated illegal immigrant areas of Dallas. They all have 3 flags waving along the entrance of the parking lots. Some have several flags along the fence line. But the fact remains that there is only 3 patterns of flags flown at these prime establishments. They are the United States flag, the state of Texas flag, and last, the Mexico flag.

I don't ever see an Alabama state flag. Nor do I ever see a Canadian flag. Nope, just 3. The Texas, U.S. and Mexican. So who are they advertising to by doing this? Now mind you, I have already mentioned that most of these used car dealerships sit in southeast Dallas County. One of the heaviest illegal immigrant populated areas of Dallas. Inside of these used car lots are nothing but a bunch of run down, failed state inspection, mosquito sprayers. All with signs that say "buy here, pay here". "working class" brings up auto insurance. To that, I have this to say. Some auto insurers, however, see a golden opportunity. California law, for example, doesn’t bar companies from selling insurance to unlicensed motorists. So, insurers, including some major ones like Progressive Corp., are covering illegal-immigrant drivers, often charging them premiums above the normal market rate.

Funny thing I just thought of, I don't recall seeing any Toys R Us stores with bicycles all lined up outside.

Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001. (now mind you, these are stats that were taken in 2006. I don't ever see news reels showing illegals going back to Mexico, rather I see a ton of them coming over to the United States every single day. Off of that, I am going to say that since 2006, these numbers are much higher.) But the carnage wrought by illegal alien murderers represents only a fraction of the pool of blood spilled by American citizens as a result of an open border and un-enforced immigration laws.

While King reports 12 Americans are murdered daily by illegal aliens, he says 13 are killed by drunk illegal alien drivers – for another annual death toll of 4,745. That's 23,725 since Sept. 11, 2001.

I'm sorry, did that last statistic taken in 2006, say that an additional 13 Americans are killed each day by drunk illegal alien drivers? Wow! That is awesome! In all of my 38 years, I have never heard of someone getting killed by a drunkard on a bicycle. According to "working class", the bicycle is the chosen method of transportation by the illegal immigrant.

"working class" had this to say about the dietary habits of the illegal immigrant: "can sustain themselves on a bag of rice and some beans for several months while they squirrel away money for their families back home. In fact, the American working poor could learn a lot from these guys. I'm surprised conservative thinkers don't embrace this type of lifestyle. Just think about the tax dollars that could be saved if the food stamp junkies started buying real food and not instant meals and TV dinners". Now, "working class" should know all of this, after all, he has sat and drank a beer or two with them.

I wonder if this ever come up in conversation while "working class" was enjoying a few cervezas? According to a 2002 Center for Immigration Services report, (again, these numbers are 6 years old, so with more coming to this country than leaving it, I'm going to assume these numbers are higher by now) households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household. The report goes on to say that among the largest costs are Medicaid ($2.5 billion); treatment for the uninsured ($2.2 billion); food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches ($1.9 billion); the federal prison and court systems ($1.6 billion); and federal aid to schools ($1.4 billion).

I'm sorry, does it say $1.9 billion for food stamps and free school lunches? This can't be. According to good ole' "working class", these folks eat beans and rice.

So, I leave you with a question without an answer:

Fact: gas prices are $3.50 and more per gallon here in Texas

Fact: The government says that illegal immigrants are doing jobs that most "Americans" won't do

Fact: These jobs are generally being done for slave wages

Here is my question...if the illegals are working for WAY less wages than most Americans, how is it that they are able to afford these type of gas prices?

Next time you would like to say something in regards to something being a "bonehead question", please be sure you have some facts to back your statement up.

KP (http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53103
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=186030) all used for my data

Mother's Day - Don't Forget To Say Thank You

2008-05-07T12:31:00.004-05:00

The older I get, the more and more thankful I become of who my mother is. She to me, is a remarkable person. A person I will miss very much when she is gone should she leave this earth before I do.

We all live in a day in time where we work 10,11, sometimes 12 hours a day. Tack on the daily commute of getting to and from work and there is another 10-15 hours per week. Extra time these days is a thing of the past. We live in a "need it now" society.

Having said that, with Mother's Day approaching this weekend, I wanted to set some time aside for MY mother who I love dearly. Mom, this one's for you. I love you!

My mom was 16 years old when I was born. A situation that didn't set too well for her mother and my beloved Grandmother. My mom grew up an only child with expectations from her parents that nobody could achieve. So high of expectations that she didn't even dare put them on me when I was growing up because she already knew they were unobtainable. With mom's parents being Church of Christ, and my father's parents being Church of God, mom did what others expected her to do, and that was to marry my father. As abusive as my father was to my mom, she stuck with it. She was 16. What's a 16 year old girl who just gave up drill team captain to do other than stick with it. Her parents were not too pleased at the circumstances that their daughter had put them in. It was embarrassing to them. You weren't supposed to get pregnant at 16 in the minds of her parents. Very inconvenient to their life style, the family, and their friends. My mom under went pressure that I can't even imagine being put under. Abortion and adoption not an option for her. She wanted to do what she thought was the right thing, have her baby and marry the father. A decision that most adults can't make in today's day in time. As time went on, the physical abuse and fighting that was brought on by my father was too much for my mom to deal with. Yet another teenage decision was facing her. Stay just for the fact there was a child involved, or save her life and leave? Stay and possibly end up killing my father out of hatred, or do what she thought was best at the time and leave?

The very unfortunate thing about having to make this decision was that her parents didn't have her back. Nor did my father's parents. Back then, folks lived in a time where domestic and spousal abuse was not talked about. It was not a topic you talked about, much less have a "hot line" one could call to get help. Back then, you were just stuck. Despite all of the outside pressure to stay, mom left. I was 2 years old. Due to threats from her own parents, threats of getting a lawyer and making damn sure I would never see my mother again, she left me with my father. A man who I myself, would leave when I turned 13 years old.

Looking back, mom's decision to leave me with my dad was probably the best decision she would ever make in her life. A decision that I know didn't come easy for her. Whatever God she was praying to during that time, He was listening. Little did she know the decision she made then, would end up enriching both of our lives years down the road. She ended up remarrying. She ended up marrying the man who I now consider my dad. Big difference in "father" and "dad". Any boy can be a father, it takes a real man to be a dad. To this day, they are still married. Growing up, the three of us had so much fun together and so many good times together. From our trips to Austin Texas and San Marcos Texas, to our vacations in California, we had some damn good times together. Memories that I hope will stick with me until I take my last breath.

My fondest memory of my mother came not too long ago. In 2004, I made a decision to up and move to Louisville Kentucky. A decision that just came out of the blue, but one that needed to be made. At that point in my life, I was going through a divorce that included my own step-children. I wanted to do for them, what was done for me when my mother married my wonderful step-dad. Bad idea on my part. Didn't quiet work out the way I had it planned in my head. So in 2004, I thought the best thing for me and the kids, was for me to distance myself as far away from the situation as I possibly could. 850 miles away was Louisville Kentucky. On Feb. 16th, 2004, I did one of the hardest things for me to do. Look my mother in the eye and tell her that her only child was moving 850 miles away. Not knowing what was facing me in the days to come, I didn't know if I was hugging my mother for the very last time or not. One things for sure though, she understood and some how, she knew I needed to do this for myself.

I don't know where my mom got this "understanding" attitude she has, but as her only child, I appreciate it. I moved to Louisville with no job, no place to live, and no family. I quickly befriended a person who I guess, looking back on it, was my guardian angel. Todd is his name and he quickly became my best friend. I met him within the first week I was in Louisville so I guess that was part of God's plan as well. Over the next couple of years, mom took Todd in as her "second son". Knowing full well that he was the chosen one to look after me and to look over her only child.

Six months into my move, I had taken a job just to have a job. It was still in the same industry that I had just left in Dallas, but it was a job at the bottom of the ladder and the bottom of the pay scale. I had to do what I had to do. My car ended up getting repossessed and for the next year and a half, I either took the bus to work or I walked. Never missing a day of work. For the next year and a half, I either ate tomato sandwiches or the Ranch Style Beans and hot sauce that mom would send me in her "care packages" she would send me from time to time. Upon moving to Louisville, I found out rather quickly that they didn't sell Ranch Style Beans or El Fenix hot sauce up there so mom would mail it to me from time to time. All along not knowing that there were times that this is all I had to eat for the week.

After figuring out that I wasn't coming back anytime soon, mom made her first trip up to Louisville for a visit. Doing the motherly thing, she wanted to "check" out things. Make sure I was okay. Meet the people I was hanging around. You know, mom stuff. When she first got into town, she asked me where my car was. Not knowing that it had been repossessed, I told her that I had been keeping it at Todd's house. This wasn't a lie. ( I had been keeping it at Todd's house. The bank had been calling me and I knew what was coming. So on the weekends, I would park it at Todds.) Mom would never question it again and I would never bring it up again. At least for now.

Mom's first visit to Louisville was such a fun one for me. She saw my apartment and saw that all I had was a blow up mattress and a fold out chair. Both given to me by Todd. I didn't even have a t.v. Didn't need one. I had my trusted a.m. radio and my John Grisham books. Life was good! Mom didn't take to this too kindly so being a woman and a bargain shopper, she immediately asked where the closest Target and Wal-Mart were. Kenneth was about to get some stuff for his apartment!!

When mom left for Dallas, I had an entertainment system, a 19" color t.v., two chairs, a microwave, coffee maker, coffee table, lamps,...etc. I felt like I had just left the set of The Price Is Right!! She had a budget and it wasn't primo stuff, but you know what, it sure as hell beat a blow up mattress and a fold out chair!! Mom left having a little bit of "peace of mind". She had met my friends for the first time, she knew I was no longer sleeping on the floor and I could now watch the Indianapolis Colts versus listening to them coming through a stat-icky old radio. My entertainment system was $12 worth of milk crates that we had turned on their sides. We laughed quite a few times over that one.

Another year and half would go by. Over that time, I had worked so hard to move back up the ladder at work. Proving to the folks in Louisville what I had already proven in Dallas. It finally paid off. I was now back in the pay bracket that I had been accustomed to. It was then, and only then, almost 2 years after the fact, that I come clean with mom in regards to my car and what my situation really was. I told her about the countless walks I made across the 2nd Street Bridge that crosses over the Ohio River just to get to work and back.

She was a little taken back, but she had her suspensions that something was up. You see, mom herself is an only child. In March of 2003, the good Lord called upon my grandmother to come and join Him. Leaving my mom the duty of taking care of my grandfather. Knowing that her hands were full by taking care of my grandfather all alone, keeping her home in tact, maintaining a full-time job, the very last thing she needed to worry about was me. I was okay. I had a roof over my head. I had a job. Plus, I had surrounded myself with people that actually cared for me. I was 850 miles away from mom, she didn't need the stress of worrying about me.

I am now back in the Dallas area. Closer in miles to my family. Although I don't nearly spend the time with them I would like to, it's still very comforting knowing I can now get in a car and drive to their house versus having to save up for a plane ticket home.

To this day, I really don't understand where my mother gets her strength. She is a very strong willed woman. I admire that in her. I at one time, was very good about running from my problems. Out of sight, out of mind. I'm still a little bit like that, but the older I get, the more like my mother I think I become.

I will never in my life time be able to repay my mom for what she has done for me. Both psychologically and financially. She and my "dad" now have a Harley that they ride and take trips together on. It's her way of letting her mind go. Re-grouping for what the following Monday will bring. She and I just emailed one another yesterday trying to make plans for Mother's Day. I don't live real close to her, but I live half way between her and where my grandmother is buried. We decided on a little hamburger joint not far from where we will be going to pay our respects to our beloved Francine.

After deciding on the hamburger joint, I said to mom, "..how white trash is that? Eating at a hamburger joint for Mother's Day". Her response to me was, "...Kenneth, it's not where we eat, it's the time we spend together that matters the most."

How true that is. How very true that is. God has not blessed me yet with kids of my own. But when he does, if I can do half of good as job that mom has done with me, my kid will be okay too!

Mom, I love you dearly. The anger that I once possessed when I was a child over you leaving has turned into nothing but love and understanding for you as an adult. I thank you.

Your son,

Kenneth

(P.S. - two songs I will never forget, Send In The Clowns by Judy Collins and OUR song, Colour My World by Chicago)

Being "White" In America

2008-04-02T12:17:00.002-05:00

In today's world, we hear a lot of comments such as "...this is what it is like to be 'Black' in America." Or, "...you are taking what he said out of 'context'."

I've been sitting back, watching the whole Obama/Rev. Jeremiah Wright ordeal run it's course. All the while, thinking to myself, "..boy, boy, boy." I wasn't around in the 50's or 60's. All I have to go on is what I was taught in school or what I saw on t.v.

What I DO know is this, we as a country have come a very long way when it comes to civil rights for the minority. In fact, we have come so far, I really don't even know who the so called "minority" is any more. Webster defines the word 'minority' in this way: a part of a population differing from others in some characteristics and often subjected to differential treatment.

In 1985, Michelle Obama, (at that time, her name was Michelle LaVaughn Robinson) wrote a thesis while attending Princeton University. The title of this thesis was "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community". For the record, the library at Princeton University has removed this thesis until November 5th, 2008. We elect a new President of The United States on November 4th, 2008. Odd don't you think? In this thesis Michelle describes, the best she can, what it's like to be 'black' in a primarily all 'white' college. She goes on and on and on about how she was made to feel by her 'white' college classmates. Let me ask you something, do you hear the 'white' community yelling "RACIST"? Do you see organized marches and protests taking place? What would happen or what would be said if a 'white' student at, oh let's just say, Grambling University or Southern University, (both are majority 'black' colleges in the state of Louisiana) wrote a thesis titled "Grambling-Educated Whites and the White Community"? I know what would happen, all hell would break loose. Both Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson couldn't catch an early enough flight to get there and protest. Who's choice was it for Michelle Obama to go to Princeton? If she was so into helping the 'black' community, why doesn't her degree come from a college such as Grambling or Southern? Both of which cater to the 'black' student.

I have another question for you to ponder. Where is Condolezza Rice's thesis titled "Notre Dame-Educated Blacks and the Black Community"? I can tell you where, it doesn't exist. She has way more class than to write such rubbage.

How many of you remember Jimmy the Greek? Jimmy the Greek was a football analyst for CBS back in the 70's and 80's. He worked for CBS for 12 years. He was fired in 1988 for comments that he made in regards to the physical abilities of the white and black athlete. He went on to say that the black athlete was "bred to be the better athlete because, this goes all the way to the Civil War when ... the slave owner would breed his big woman so that he would have a big black kid." Again, Jimmy the Greek being white, was fired from CBS for making these comments.

Now, 15 years AFTER Jimmy the Greeks comments, Dusty Baker, (a very well respected professional baseball manager who is black) had this to say in 2003 while he was the manager of the Chicago Cubs, "...I'm not playing the race card. I'm telling it like it is. What I meant is that blacks and Latins take the heat better than most whites, and whites take the cold better than most blacks and Latins. That's it, pure and simple. Nothing deeper than that." Dusty was NOT fired for these comments.

Keeping with the CBS theme, who remembers Don Imus? Don Imus, a white, radio talk-show host, was fired by CBS for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." A team that included both white and black players. Imus was even sued by some of the players. And guess who was there leading the cause in getting Imus fired from CBS? You guessed it, both Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson. Civil rights leaders such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson became closely identified with protests against Imus. But one of the earliest sparks may have been provided by the National Association of Black Journalists, an organization based at the University of Maryland in College Park. (Funny, I don't recall there being a National Association of White Journalists.) CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves said he made the decision to stop carrying Imus's program after he and CBS executives heard from "all segments of society" in recent days. Moonves also went on to say "...In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society," Moonves said yesterday in a statement. "That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."

Now, let's talk for a minute about the part "..make their way in THIS society." Does Moonves mean a society that allows preachers such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to say things such as "God damn America"? Or, "Hillary doesn't know what it means to be a nigger"? Or, "USKKK of America"? What society is CBS executive Moonves speaking of when he says "particularly young women of color trying to make their way in THIS society"? Please tell me because I don't get it.

The society that I myself live in, is one of which that includes the date of October 3rd, 1995. On this date, not only did the United States of America hear the words, but the entire WORLD heard the words, "Not Guilty". On this date, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty for the brutal murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. To this day, nobody has yet to be charged with the two murders.

I can still see it like it was yesterday. It was almost like the day The Towers went down. America was huddled around any t.v. they could find. A verdict was coming. Everyone just knew O.J. was going to be put away for life, or better yet, put to death for this horrendous crime. Didn't happen. Not guilty. I remember watching all of the major news stations. They all had the same thing on. Blacks all across America jumping up and down cheering. Cheering as if they themselves were on the stand. Cheering like they had just won the lottery. Some were quoted as saying "justice has finally been served". Do what? Did they just say justice had been served? I'm sorry, but two lives were brutally taken. Throats were slit from ear to ear. Blood running from the door all the way out to the street. Letting O.J. off the hook was not serving justice.

Who remembers Michael Vick? Michael Vick was the former NFL quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. Vick is also black. Vick is the former quarterback of the Falcons because he is now in prison. What is he in prison for, you ask? Vick is in prison because he broke the law. Michael Vick funded an illegal dogfighting ring. Big difference in funding an illegal dogfighting ring and deer hunting. Why am I comparing the two? Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because blacks all across America did that when Vick's butt was thrown in jail. They said, (they being a lot of the black population in America) there was no difference in whites going out and killing deer and dogs killing each other. Some even said it was a "cultural" thing. I don't know about you, but I have deer hunted in my life. I did it so that I could eat. And yes, it is against the law if you do it out of season. I would say that 99.9% of the deer hunting population out there hunt deer for food. I've yet to come across a deer hunter that did it to gamble on who had the bigger or best deer. Most do it to feed his/her families. Period.

Now, let's take this in a different direction for a minute. How many of you whites that are reading this have been called a racist for even bringing up the suggestion of needing a border fence? Why do we whites have to be a racist for the mere suggestion of the need of a border fence? Has this country not heard about the ongoing tunnel problem we have on the Mexico/U.S. border? Has this country already forgotten 9-11-01? Why do people automatically ASSUME that the white population wants a fence to keep folks from Mexico out of our country? Why can't it be that we want a fence in order to protect us from another violent attack such as 9-11-01? If I'm not mistaken, if your like me, you want a border fence on both borders, Canada AND Mexico. (But it wouldn't hurt to start at the southern border). It's a matter of National security. It's about keeping the gangs, drugs, murderers out of this country. Rev. Jeremiah Wright accuses the U.S. government of putting illegal drugs into the hands of black-America. Doesn't he know that over 90% of ALL illegal drugs that enter this country come from Mexico? You would think that if the Rev. Wright was so into protecting his race, he would be demanding his friend of 20 years, (that just so happens to be running for President), to make it one of his highest priorities to build a fence. But no, it's so much easier to blame white-America for the down fall of the black society in this country.

In closing, I don't say God damn America. Rather, I say God Bless America. God Bless the men and women who fight for my freedom and the freedom of people like Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The freedom that gives Rev. Wright the freedom of speech. God Bless America in giving us the strength and the courage to grow as a nation. Grow to the point that we DO now have the possibility of our first black President. The growth as a nation to give us Oprah, the wealthiest woman in America. (By the way, Oprah is black). God Bless America for the freedom that gives Michelle Obama the freedom to say that for once in her adult life, she is happy with her country.

K.P.

The Disenfranchised Voter

2008-03-03T13:07:00.005-06:00

dis-en-fran-chised (Adj.) - deprived of the right to citizenship; especially the right to vote.

On March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson (1824 - 1904) of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, became the first African-American to vote in an election under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.He was born in Metuchen, New Jersey, to parents that had been slaves owned by the Mundy family.He was a school custodian in Perth Amboy. Active in the Republican Party, he became that the city's first African-American to hold elected office, on the Middlesex County Commission. He was also the city's first 'colored' person to serve on a jury. On August 31st, 1920, five days after the 19th amendment was signed into law, Hannibal, Missouri, held a special election to fill the seat of an alderman who had resigned. At 7 a.m., despite pouring rain, Mrs. Marie Ruoff Byrum, wife of Morris Byrum and daughter-in-law of Democratic committeeman Lacy Byrum, cast her ballot in the first ward. She thus became the first woman to vote in the state of Missouri and the first woman to vote in the United States under the 19th, or Suffrage, Amendment.
At 7:01 a.m. in the second ward of Hannibal, Mrs. Walker Harrison cast the second known vote by a woman under the 19th amendment.

Having the facts of the above, I am saddened about what is going on in America today. Early voting numbers in this years election are astonishing. The Dallas Morning News reports that "We have already surpassed the total early-voting numbers for both the 1996 and 2000 elections," said Scott Haywood, spokesman for Texas Secretary of State. Both parties are seeing much higher turnout than four years ago – but it's the numbers in the Democratic primary that are turning heads. In Dallas County, for instance, 49,485 people had voted in the Democratic primary by Sunday evening – nearly 10 times as many as at a similar point four years ago. About 14,000 had voted in the Republican primary in Dallas County.

Don't get me wrong here folks, I am tickled to death that people are getting active and getting out to cast their vote. Their citizen given right to vote. What bothers me are the sheer numbers of the African-American voters that are coming out in support of Obama. Again, don't get me wrong here, I do think this great nation has come along way. Far enough that I DO think that we are ready for our first African-American President. I just don't think that person should be Obama. With the likes of Oprah, Rev. Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, and even Louis Farrakhan, how can an African-American NOT support Obama? It seems to be the "cool" thing to do these days. Not just by African-Americans, but white Americans alike are on his choo-choo train of "change". What is this "change" that he speaks of? Are people doing their homework on him and his beliefs? Or, are they just taking the word of the media and the above mentioned celebrities?
Has anybody questioned his lack of voting while being a Senator? When he DOES vote, he is so far to the left it ain't even funny. Now, I will admit, Senator McCain is one of the most boring persons to watch. And as far as Hillary, well, what more can you say? She just gets on your nerves and under your skin. She's an angry woman that thrives on power. So you take the boring old man and the angry, power hungry woman out of the equation, and you are left with what APPEARS to be a very positive, up beat, has all of our best interest at heart, Obama. This is what the media is projecting, this is what the media wants you to see.

The Democratic race is very tight. So tight in fact, I think there will be some legalities get involved before it is all said and done. Florida comes to mind. With that said, let's just say that Obama does not get the Democratic nomination. Will you see the same amount of record turn out at the polls? Will you see the African-American rallies on every news station in America? If Hillary is on the ticket come November, what will all of these people that have never cast a vote in their lives before except to come out of their houses in support of Obama do? Will they prove to America that this in fact WAS a racial Presidential race, or will they support the Democratic nomination? Will they still have those warm fuzzies about wanting to be a part of history by electing the first African-American President and help vote in the first Woman President? Let me throw this at you, what if in November, it is McCain vs. Obama. Not that I think that this would happen, but "what if" McCain chooses Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice as his running mate? Not only would you have the first African-American running, Obama, (with a real good chance) for President of the United States of America, you would have the first African-American woman, Rice, on a ticket. And, should something happen to McCain, she could very well be our first woman President. A triple play. Our first woman President. Our first African-American President. Our first African-American woman president.

If this possibility presents itself in November, do you actually think that all of the Obama supporters would stick with Obama or do you have a feeling that some would cross over party lines? I personally think you would see some folks jump off of the Obama choo-choo and Condoleezza would have some new found friends.

I'm all about having a dream. I'm all about chasing your dreams and having them come true with hard work and integrity. What I am not all about, is having a man go from city to city preaching change while all along, not being able to support his change. Not being able to give specifics on "how" he would make these changes. Just like I feel Hillary is the wrong woman to be our first woman President, I feel Obama is the wrong choice for our first African-American President. Should either of them get elected, the women of the United States will be set back. As will the African-American be set back should Obama get elected. Americans will see the mistakes that they are sure to make and it will take a very long time before you see another woman or African-American elected, much less in a primary.

In closing, I really hope that I am wrong in my beliefs as to why the Obama choo-choo is so full. But I don't think I am. It is what it is. I also wish that all Americans that will be getting out and voting in this election, will just do his/her homework prior to pulling that lever. Our Nations future is riding on it. There are many other ways to voice your opinion other than just by one's skin color or gender. Getting active in your community is step one. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is a prime example of racial politics gone bad. Let's not forget how divided we were and still are when it comes to O.J. Simpson. To some, that was getting back at America and the judicial system. To others, it was pure, cold blooded murder.

The Trans Texas Corridor

2008-01-27T14:40:00.001-06:00

Ahhhh, the many webs we weave. How many of you have sat out on your front porch and sipped on a nice cup of coffee? While doing so, listened to the world wake up. Birds chirping. The faint sound of a dog barking. Leaves moving around with the sound of water washing up on a shore. Have you ever looked really hard at a spider web? They look like intricate highway systems. Outer loops with diagonal feeders all around.

Well, let me ask you this, have you ever heard of the Trans Texas Corridor? If not, I strongly encourage you to look in to it. At the end of this blog, I will give you some links for you to do your own investigation should you choose to do so.

Not many people are keeping up with the Trans Texas Corridor because TxDOT and the many special interest groups and politicians don't want you to keep up with it. If you did, this would have been shut down many years ago. But kinda like how a spider builds it's web at night, so does the politician. The Trans Texas Corridor is the brain child of Governor Rick Perry. You hear people say "...things are bigger in Texas." Well, let me just try to begin to tell you how BIG this Trans Texas Corridor really is. It will have 10 vehicle lanes, 6 big truck lanes in each direction, 6 rail tracks, utilities, pipelines all that stretch a 1/4 mile wide for a total of 4,000 miles and taking away one million acres of land. The four Priority Corridors are described as being built (1) parallel to I-35/I-37 and the proposed I-69 from near Denison to the Rio Grande Valley; (2) along the path of I-69 from Laredo around Houston to near Texarkana; (3) parallel to I-45 from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to Houston; and, (4) parallel to I-10 from near El Paso to near Orange. These four Priority Corridors alone total 4,000 miles. Together with the additional corridor routes identified in the Crossroads of the Americas: The Trans Texas Corridor Plan the corridors could total 8,000 miles or more. This is just the start. Texas will launch this project that is expected to continue north into Oklahoma, Kansas, and one day, Canada. This is the ground work that makes NAFTA a reality.

Two companies at this point are the brains of this project. Those companies are Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte SA of Spain, one of the worlds largest developers of toll roads, and Zachry Construction of San Antonio. Here is where it gets really good! Guess what law firm is on the side of Cintra? It's a law firm that was once called Bracewell & Patterson based out of Houston. The law firm is now called Bracewell & Giuliani. As in former mayor Rudy Giuliani. The firm's managing partner, Patrick Oxford of Houston, is the national chairman of Giuliani's presidential campaign. A former University of Texas System regent appointed by then-Gov. George W. Bush, Oxford has strong ties to many of Texas' top political leaders. He raised $100,000 for Bush in his 2000 presidential run, served as co-chairman of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's re-election campaign last year and is treasurer for Sen. John Cornyn's current re-election campaign. And just take a stab at who is one of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's top 20 contributors. You guessed it, Bracewell & Giuliani. Because Texas' primary comes late in the lineup of nomination contests, the state's role in the nomination is primarily that of money generator. Giuliani's campaign finance chairman is Roy Bailey, a former finance chairman of the Texas Republican Party. Dallas billionaire T. Boone Pickens and Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks are major fundraisers. Giuliani had raised $3.69 million in Texas as of July 30, 2007, the most of any presidential candidate. Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton was second with $2 million. Among Giuliani's Republican rivals, Sen. John McCain has raised $1.79 million from Texas donors and Mitt Romney has raised $1.76 million. Giuliani has also developed a bond with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whom he helped win re-election last year. That groundwork could make Perry a high-profile ally in Texas, although the governor hasn't yet endorsed a presidential candidate. Bracewell & Giuliani's political action committee gave $10,000 to Perry a year ago, just a few weeks before his re-election. Perry and Giuliani have talked in person and by telephone several times and have a good relationship. Bracewell & Giuliani represents a business consortium involved in the Trans-Texas Corridor, a costly, high-profile toll road pushed by Perry and opposed by farmers and ranchers.

Landowners say they worry that fields and farmhouses in Texas families for generations would be bulldozed for the highway. The state acknowledges some private land will be taken, but Perry said new roads are needed to handle Texas' growing population and trade.

The consortium sued Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last year to keep parts of its development agreement with the state secret, saying the information was proprietary. The Texas Department of Transportation took the unusual step of siding with the consortium in the lawsuit against Abbott, whose office had ruled the agreement should be made public.
The transportation department and the consortium dropped the lawsuit last October and agreed to release the contents of the contract.

But the lawsuit further fueled concerns about foreign ownership of a major Texas highway, and the project continues to be criticized by conservative groups like the Eagle Forum and the John Birch Society, who see it as part of an international conspiracy to create a North American Union. The conspiracy theory has also provided fodder for cable television commentators like CNN's Lou Dobbs.

Scott Segal, a Washington-based Bracewell & Giuliani partner in charge of its government relations division, said Giuliani was not involved in the Texas toll road legal work and that the law firm doesn't lobby on behalf of Cintra Zachry.

"Mayor Giuliani has had no association or has done no work for the Cintra Zachry venture," Segal said.

Black, Perry's spokesman, said he doubts Perry even knows that Giuliani's firm has represented the transportation companies in connection with the project.

"The governor does not concern himself with who Rudy Giuliani's law firm may or may not represent," Black said.

Now, after reading all of that, I believe that there is something very fishy going on in Texas politics. For one, it is very hard to get State Officials to admit that they even voted for the Trans Texas Corridor. After getting "back lash" from the citizens of Texas, most have now changed their stance on the Trans Texas Corridor. I do think it's a little odd that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) found a loop hole in Congressman Duncan Hunter's double layer fence and put a stop to it. I also find it odd that Bracewell & Giuliani is one of her biggest contributors. If the above is true and Gov. Rick Perry didn't know that Giuliani's law firm was involved, then he is not fit to be the Governor of Texas. If he didn't know, WHY didn't he know?

Again, the webs we weave. If you would like more information on this project, feel free to go to http://www.corridorwatch.org/ and you can also find the state's propaganda on http://www.keeptexasmoving.com/index.php/trans-texas_corridor I would encourage you to check both of them out. Even if you don't live in Texas, this too, will affect you in some way.

Electile Dysfunction

2008-01-26T21:35:00.000-06:00

Electile Dysfunction: the inability to become aroused over any of the remaining choices for President put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.

Now that Congressman Duncan Hunter has dropped out of the race, it is clear that our country is not interested in a TRUE conservative. I'm beginning to wonder if those even exist any more.

Now more than ever, our country is in need of leadership. Someone that can lead us to a better economy. Someone that can lead us in a more clear direction when it comes to bringing jobs back to America. Someone that can lead us in more fair trading with China. Someone that can lead us in the right direction of securing our borders. Someone that can lead us in this fight against illegal immigration. Someone that can take over and lead us to victory in Iraq.

I more less wanted to let my readers know that I am still here. I've been paying very close attention to the debates and what is left of the Republican Party now that Congressman Duncan Hunter is no longer an option. Stay tuned. I am gathering info and collecting thoughts on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex) and her ties to Rudy Giuliani.

Evansville, Indiana - Population 121,582

2008-01-17T10:30:00.000-06:00

I know what you are thinking, "what does Evansville Indiana have to do with protecting our borders?" Well, let me tell you. It all has to do with The Shield, the University of Southern Indiana's student newspaper and an article written by J.I. Lutz. The article, should you choose to check it out, is called 'Insight on Illegal Immigration'. I can't type the first thing that came to mind after reading the article, but let's just say it had something to do with bulls and what they excrete.

I lived in Jeffersonville Indiana which is just across the Ohio River from Louisville Kentucky. I lived there for 3 years. The city, and the whole state for that matter, is so far removed from the actual problem of illegal immigration. Don't get me wrong, illegal immigration is everywhere but just not as concentrated as it is in a state such as Texas, a border state. Evansville Indiana had a population of 121,582 in the year 2000 and an estimated population of 115,738 in the year of 2006. Arlington Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas and sits between Dallas and Ft. Worth, had a 2006 population of 367,197. Just a tad bit bigger than, let's say, Evansville Indiana.

Back to the article in The Shield written by J.I. Lutz. The article starts out like this, "The presidential election season has kicked off an open season on immigrants". Okay, let's make a correction right off the bat here: it should read "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS". J.I. Lutz is so mistaken here. The candidates are not, I repeat, are NOT making an issue of immigrants, but rather ILLEGAL immigrants. Big difference and if J.I. Lutz does not know that, then if I were Mr. & Mrs. Lutz, I would think about paying tuition to another school other than the University of Southern Indiana. J.I. Lutz goes on to say "The war in Afghanistan is not going well, and despite claims of progress by President Bush, we are stuck in a horrible quagmire in Iraq with no end in sight." Again, correction needed. When did we declare war with Afghanistan? For that matter, we haven't even declared war in Iraq. But if I'm not mistaken, Bush is getting slammed by Democrats and Republicans alike for pulling out of Afghanistan and turning our efforts towards Iraq. Again, I question the University of Southern Indiana if this is the best we can do as far as teaching our children.

J.I. Lutz goes on to write: "These are real problems that call for bold action from brave, visionary and courageous leaders.
Unfortunately, only a few of those people currently holding or running for office in this country possess those qualities.
Instead we seem to be stuck with a bunch of blow hard demagogues.
It's much safer for politicians to stay away from issues that really matter because taking a stand on any issue of real importance is bound to alienate someone, resulting in loss of votes.
Immigrants have provided a convenient solution to this dilemma for over 150 years.
They are the perfect group to attack.
They can not vote, and they are generally poor.
In this world, poverty is synonymous with powerlessness." Again, let's go back to the part where it says "immigrants". This again, should read, "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS". What is it that people don't understand? There is a huge difference between immigrants and illegal immigrants. For starters, one is legal, one is not. Period. J.I. Lutz calls for a "Courageous Leader" to stand up to these issues. Uh....hello? Does the name Congressman Duncan Hunter ring a bell?

Here is another real interesting thing that J.I. Lutz had to say in the article, "Meanwhile, at the urging of U.S. corporations, Congress has repeatedly opened the flood gates out sourcing jobs to come into the country through programs such as H-1B. Thousands of technology workers have lost their jobs or had their wages reduced because of legal immigrants from counties such as India.
Tech companies like these workers because they are willing to work for lower wages than U.S. workers. These people represent much more of a threat to the U.S. economy than a bunch of people from Mexico here to do yard work and pick tomatoes. But the companies that benefit from their presence have the money to make large campaign contributions." Can we go directly to the part in which it says "....a bunch of people from Mexico here to do yard work and pick tomatoes"? Was that not a racist and bigoted thing to say? Trust me, illegal immigrants do FAR more than just the above described. They do construction work on roads. They roof houses. They work at meat packing plants so that J.I. Lutz has something to eat. They cut tobacco on tobacco farms in Kentucky. And let's not forget the ongoing drug problem that we have that the illegal immigrants have contributed to. Due to the fact that companies pay illegal immigrants, in most cases, with cash, they are able to offer lower wages which in doing so, keeps legal immigrants and native Americans out of jobs. Approximately 28 miles from Evansville Indiana, sits a little town called Princeton Indiana. Why is this of any importance? Well, let me tell you why. Toyota has a plant there. I wonder just how many family members J.I. Lutz has that work at the plant or how many relatives J.I. Lutz has had that worked at the plant. With a population just a little over 8,000, I am sure that Princeton relies on the folks over in Evansville to come to work at the plant each and every day. 24 hours a day. I wonder what will happen when the illegal immigrant has migrated to Evansville Indiana and decides that he or she wants to help build those pretty Japanese cars and trucks? J.I. Lutz goes on to say "Illegal Mexican immigrants, on the other hand, do not make campaign contributions so their only value to a politician is as political tool to be used during election campaigns". To that I say, "uh.....WRONG!". I wonder if J.I. Lutz has ever wondered just how much money is being payed to politicians by the so called 'Illegal Mexican Immigrant' to keep their mouths shut while they cross tons and tons of illegal drugs into this nation on a daily basis? Trust me, the illegal immigrant is very important to the politician. They have to be or else why hasn't the fence been built? What fence you might ask? The one that Congressman Duncan Hunter authored into law and was signed by President Bush. The wall that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas keeps finding a way to postpone the building of. Hmmmm, wonder if she could be taking some of that good 'ole green stuff called "hush money"? My bad, back to the wonderful article written in The Shield by J.I. Lutz in which Lutz has this to say, "....In 1867, California politicians successfully scared the public into thinking that there was a plot by the Chinese to annex the western United States by means of mass immigration."....hmmmmm, has J.I. Lutz heard of the ongoing LEAD BASED PAINT problem that we have going on in this country? If not, let me fill you in. It's coming from China. Does J.I. Lutz know who owns the majority of this nations debt? If not, let me fill you in. It's China. Does J.I. Lutz know what the theme of this years Olympics being held in Beijing China is? If not, let me tell you. It's "One World. One Dream" We didn't come up with that slogan. People of Evansville Indiana damn sure didn't come up with it. You know who did? I'm guessing the folks of China. The same people that J.I. Lutz refers to that pose no threat to The United States of America.

I will end with this: obviously the editors at The Shield, (student paper of The University of Southern Indiana), and teachers at the University do not want their students knowing the truth. I would suggest that J.I. Lutz do just a little bit more homework before writing such garbage. This is nothing more than an article written by someone trying to please a left-wing professor and get a good grade so that he or she can go out into society and become a part of the very biased media that has plagued this nation. Good job University of Southern Indiana. You should be proud of yourselves. Do something GOOD for your students and turn them on to Congressman Duncan Hunter. http://www.gohunter08.com/ I am sure once you get the facts on this man, you will see that he is ready and willing to address many, if not all, of the issues brought up by J.I. Lutz's article.

KP

www.gohunter08.com

2008-01-07T21:45:00.000-06:00

Who is Duncan Hunter? That is a very good question. For starters, let's call him Congressman Duncan Hunter. And just in case you didn't know it, he is running for President of The United States of America. Yes, that's right, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is running against the likes of the Huckster, Mitt, and Fred. Let me share with you real quick how I come to know Congressman Duncan Hunter.

I was born and raised in the Dallas Texas area. In February of 2004, I moved to Louisville Kentucky and stayed there almost 3 years to the day. I returned in February of 2007. Upon return, I did not recognize the city of Dallas. AT ALL! My grandfather lives in a suburb of Dallas, a city called Irving Texas. As I was driving through Irving, I noticed that a lot of the stores that I used to go to as a kid had closed or are now business that only serve the Mexican community. All the advertising signs outside of the stores are all in Spanish. Most of the billboards are in Spanish. Even the marquis outside of the schools that have been in Irving for many many years have announcements on them in Spanish. Wondering what was going on, after just a few weeks back in Texas, I had had enough. I wrote my State Representative. Rep. Betty Brown. I explained to her that I had been away for 3 years and upon my return, I was shocked to see how many illegal immigrants had moved into the Dallas area. I ended my letter with a question. My question to her was to tell me in her opinion, who, out of all of the candidates, had the toughest stance on illegal immigration. Her answer? Congressman Duncan Hunter. I have to say, Rep. Betty Brown changed my life. It was with that answer, I immediately went to work to find out who this Congressman Duncan Hunter was. I had never heard of him.

The first thing I did was "Google" him. There I found http://www.gohunter08.com/ the official web site of the Congressman. Once there, I clicked on " Core Principles ". Take a minute to repeat that to yourself. Core Principles. Doesn't that just have an awesome ring to it? Under "Core Principles", Congressman Duncan Hunter explained to me his views on things such as Right to Life Amendment, Philosophy of Judicial Appointments, Marriage, Parental Rights, Hate Crimes, First Amendment, Second Amendment, Taxes, Balanced Budget. On and on the list goes. All explaining his "Core Principles". Toward the very end of the list was the very thing I was looking for, "Illegal Immigration". The cool thing about all of this, I wanted to know how he felt about Illegal Immigration. All of the other things really didn't matter. So I thought. I think Congressman Duncan Hunter's web site is set up that way on purpose. He doesn't want to be thought of as a "one topic candidate" and that topic is 'Illegal Immigration'. There is so much more to this man other than Illegal Immigration but it is this that he is known for. If you happen to go to his web site, listed under these "Core Principles", this is what the Congressman had to say about himself and his view on Illegal Immigration: "I have a 27 year record of fighting illegal immigration and promoting border security. As a member of Congress with a Southwest border district heavily impacted by the effects of illegal immigration, I have steadfastly opposed amnesty proposals, including voting against the 1986 amnesty law, while tirelessly working to strengthen border security. Amnesty is not the answer. In fact, it encourages a whole new wave of illegal immigrants who seek to catch the next amnesty.
America has one of the most generous immigration policies in the world. It is unacceptable that we allow millions of people to sneak in the back door of our country when the front door is available. We have tried amnesty and it does not work. We must enforce and, as necessary, tighten our immigration laws and secure our border–it is a matter of national security."

After I read that, I was hooked. He already had me at "Core Principles", but this just sealed it up for me. Congressman Duncan Hunter goes on to describe his efforts in putting a fence up in San Diego and the success he had with it and how he helped author the Secure Fence Act. Here is what he had to say: "As part of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform Act (P.L. 104-208), I authored the legislative language mandating a 14-mile triple fence along the San Diego-Mexico land border, which augmented the single layer fence he had built with surplus landing-matt in 1989. Since then I've worked, most notably against strong opposition of the Clinton Administration, to see that project completed. Since construction of the San Diego fence began:
· Illegal alien apprehensions along the fenced region dropped from over 202,000 in 1992 to about 9,000 in 2004. Further, it is estimated that the apprehensions vs. attempts ratio increased to over 90%;
· With the establishment of the San Diego border fence, crime rates in San Diego have fallen off dramatically. According to the FBI Crime Index, crime in San Diego County dropped 56.3% between 1989 to 2000;
· Vehicle drive-throughs in the region have fallen from between 6 to 10 per day before the construction of border infrastructure, to only 4 drive-throughs in 2004 and those occurred only where the secondary fence is incomplete;
· The fence has forced drug smugglers, who once easily crossed the San Diego border, to attempt to enter the U.S. through major ports of entry instead. This significantly increases the likelihood of discovery and seizure of illegal narcotics entering our country.
As a result of the success of the San Diego fence, I authored the provisions of the Secure Fence Act calling for the construction of 854 miles of border fence along the five most prolific smuggling corridors on the Southwest border. While construction of the Secure Fence project is not moving as rapidly as Rep. Hunter would like, the Administration is moving forward and as of September 30, 2007, 70 miles of new border pedestrian fence has been constructed. I remain engaged in ensuring that the Administration meets the mandates put in place by the Secure Fence Act and secures our borders as rapidly as possible."

Unfortunately, his efforts in the Secure Fence Act have been knocked down by the likes of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. That in itself is another blog posting for another day. Let's continue with the efforts of Congressman Duncan Hunter.

Once you do your homework on all of the candidates, it is very clear that there is only one choice and that choice is Congressman Duncan Hunter. Many in the mainstream media don't want you to know or learn about Congressman Duncan Hunter. It doesn't fit THEIR agendas. Many in this same mainstream media say that "....I like Duncan Hunter, but he can't win". Folks, yes he can. He can if you don't let the media poison your minds. Do your homework on all of the candidates. When you do, you will see that there is only ONE true conservative running in this race and that person is Congressman Duncan Hunter. On a side note, not only does the Congressman know how to protect our precious borders, his son knows how to protect the borders of Iraq. The Congressman's oldest son, Duncan D. Hunter, served 3 tours in the Middle East protecting our freedom and our borders from terrorist.

In closing, I want to ask you to do me a favor. If Illegal Immigration is as important to you as it is to me, PLEASE take a look at Congressman Duncan Hunter. If it is not, PLEASE take a look at Congressman Duncan Hunter. He has many, many, other things on his platform that you will like. I promise you. Thanks again for reading my blog and may God bless you all.

http://www.duncanhunter.meetup.com/1/

http://www.gohunter08.com/

Press One For English

2007-12-29T23:50:00.000-06:00

So when was the last time you flew on a plane? Did you get to the airport at the recommended 1 hour before flight time? Was there a long line at the TSA security gate? Did you wear your special "air plane" shoes? Fun times! Single file line. One at a time. Emptying your pockets into that little plastic tray or bucket. Taking your shoes off and placing them in another tray. Walking through the door framed shaped metal detector. Forgetting about the pack of gum you have in your shirt pocket to help "pop" your ears on the flight while chewing it. Having the aluminum foil around the gum setting off the alarm on the metal detector. Backing up. Dumping your gum in yet another little plastic bucket so it can now be x-rayed. Walking back through the giant door frame without any alarms. Now you sigh a big sigh of relief. You made it. After 45 minutes of standing in line, all your personal property in several different plastic trays, standing there sock footed, you are now ready to begin your journey to the appropriate gate of which your flight is departing. Just for fun, go to http://www.tsa.gov/ and count the items that you're not allowed to carry on to a plane with you. I counted 73. I'm sure there are more.

An article in The Arizona Republic dated November 11, 2007, briefly describes the measures they will be taking at the Super Bowl in Arizona as far as security goes. It states that a 16 month planning effort was made and outlined by the Arizona Tourism Safety and Security Conference in Scottsdale. Included were 40 Police Chiefs, Arizona Department of Public Safety, the FBI, and Federal Emergency Management Agency. All this to discuss how to keep 70,000 fans that will be attending the game and 150,000 visitors the week of the Super Bowl safe. Officials would not reveal how many people are involved in security because that could be useful information to terrorists they said. We do know this, fans will enter through a secure 300-foot perimeter around the stadium and must pass through metal detectors. This information comes from Brady Castro who is the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee Vice President of Operations. He goes on to say, and I quote, "...it's like getting into the airport."

You can also go to the Six Flags' web site and find this: in keeping with our family-friendly atmosphere, and for health and SAFETY reasons, Six Flags strictly ENFORCES a dress code. Park admission may be denied if clothing is deemed by management to be inappropriate.

Thee Dollhouse, a gentleman's club in Raleigh, NC. vows that a strict dress code is enforced; hats, jeans and t-shirts are not allowed. How many times have you gone to a Denny's and seen a sign on the front door that reads, "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service"? Most clubs or bars these days REQUIRE you to be 21 years old to get in. And how do these clubs and bars protect themselves? They check I.D. at the door, or border if you like. To take it a step further, there are some clubs that will wave this magic wand all over your body to check for weapons. You know, those hand held metal detectors. They are protecting their "borders".

I can understand why the hassle at the airport. Nobody wants another 9-11. As frustrating as it is to check on to a plane, we now live in a world that requires this type of extra security. Is it fool proof? I don't think so. But I do think it's sad when Denny's, clubs and bars, amusement parks for families, and even topless bars have tighter security at their borders than the entire country of The United States of America has at its border. Had we had tighter borders, enforcement of laws that are already in place, 9-11 would have NEVER happened. Was 9-11 not tragic enough? What will it take to wake our corporate America runned politicians up? Let's just pretend that there was a person of middle-eastern dissent trying to board a plane with one of the forbidden 73 items and this person got a little out of hand and tried to force themselves past security. And let's just pretend that this person was able to get by security or cross the border into the airport. And let's pretend again that 2 TSA security personnel shot this person in the buttocks to stop them and bring them down. These security personnel would be veered as "hero's" for saving the lives of hundreds of innocent citizens. But in "real" life, let 2 border security officers shoot a known drug smuggling illegal immigrant crossing into this country illegally in the buttocks, they get 10 and 11 years in prison. Doesn't add up does it? Why the cover up? Why are our laws not being enforced and when they are, why are we throwing our border protectors in prison for doing their jobs? Why does Denny's have stricter rules as to who gets across their borders than our own country does when it comes to our nations borders?

I will end with an email that a friend sent to me. It is called "The Bird feeder". Some may have already seen it, but it goes like this: The Bird Feeder:

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. Soon the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, and the table...everywhere. Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill the feeder when it got low on food. After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal. Now let's see...our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen. Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; your child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English; Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box; I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.
Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.

It's All A Big Numbers Game

2007-12-15T22:52:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't been adding much over the past few days and I am sorry. The main reason is because I have been collecting my thoughts and doing some heavy surfing on the Internet. Some of the hardest information to find is anything related to illegal immigrants. Reason being, there is no government agency that is keeping records. No records as to an "actual" head count of illegal immigrants. No records on the cost of illegal immigrants to the legal tax payers. All we have are estimates. Every thing I found on this are words like "estimates show"...or "we believe that the estimated number to be"...and on and on. Let me tell you something folks, how ever you would like to word it, we are in some serious trouble! What I am really trying to find out are things like, actual population figures. How many illegal immigrants are in our school districts? How many illegal immigrants are bedded up in our hospitals? How many illegal immigrants are in our city jails and in our state prisons? How many un-registered sex offenders who are illegal immigrants are in our neighborhoods?

I have found that these are some of the hardest numbers and figures to obtain. I have a huge problem with that too. I pay my taxes. Part of my hard earned money goes towards the schools, hospitals, and jails in my city. I should be able to get these figures just by picking up the phone and calling my city hall, mayor, state Representative, my congressman. But what I have found is that is not the case. I have sent email after email to my senators and congressmen, but I all get in return is a basic, computer generated form letters. After several late hours at night, I FINALLY found a report that gave me some sort of idea as to what I was looking for. It wasn't the best, nor the most accurate.

What I found was a report called "The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments". This was a report done in December of 2007. It's a report done by the Congressional Budget Office that was requested by the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee. It's a report that focuses on the estimated costs that certain state and local governments incur for providing various services, especially those related to education, health care, and law enforcement to illegal immigrants. Or as this paper describes them as, unauthorized immigrants. Funny play on words don't you think? You don't hear our government saying things like "unauthorized drugs" do you? No. They say "illegal drugs". Things that make you go, "hummmmmm".

Now, with that in mind, I want to share with you some of the things that I found interesting in this report. Most of what I am about to write comes from this same report. So, when you see the term, unauthorized immigrant(s), trust me, that is not coming from me. I call 'em like I see 'em. ILLEGAL immigrants. Or, ILLEGALS for short.

The report states that there are no comprehensive records that document the number of unauthorized immigrants currently residing in the United States; as a result, the size of that population must be estimated by indirect means. The Department of Homeland Security, (which is a joke in itself), estimates that there are 11.6 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States. That was as of Jan. 2006. Researchers at the Pew Hispanic Center estimated an unauthorized population of between 11.5 million and 12.0 million as of March of 2006. So, for the sake of this blog, let's just round it to an even 12 million, what do you say? Do you REALLY know what the number 12 million equates to? Let me throw some figures at you to try to give you a little idea. The total population of Dallas County is 2.3 million. The total population for the ENTIRE state of Kentucky for the year 2006 was 4.2 million. The population for the ENTIRE state of Illinois in the year 2006 was 12.8 million. The 2006 population for the COUNTRY of Ireland was 4.1 million. The total population living in the COUNTRY of Cuba in 2006 was 11.2 million. Sorry for all of the numbers there, I just wanted to give you a little bit better of a perspective of what we are dealing with here. Back to the report.

Using a model developed by the former I.N.S., Pew estimated that as much as one-half of the population of unauthorized immigrants (4.5-6.0 million people) were admitted legally, with visas or border crossing cards, but overstayed or otherwise violated the terms of their authorization; and the remainder of that population (an estimated 6-7million individuals) entered the United States illegally. (just one of the very few times this report used the word "illegal") The report goes on to say that state level estimates are subject to even more uncertainty than estimates of the total size of the population. Historically, most foreign born residents, including unauthorized immigrants, have settled in a few states. In 1990, almost 75% of the total foreign born population and almost 90% of unauthorized immigrants lived in six states: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas. The population is not defined in the same way across reports. Because the estimates looked at different populations of immigrants, few of them are comparable. For example, although most estimates looked only at unauthorized immigrants, others did not differentiate between unauthorized and legal immigrants. Some included all foreign born residents, regardless of their immigration status, and some included children of unauthorized immigrants who were born in the United Sates (even though those children are U.S. citizens). If the U.S. born children of unauthorized immigrants had been included in the estimates, the costs of certain programs, particularly education, would be much higher. Using data from the Census Bureau's March 2005 Current population Survey (CPS), Pew analysts found that of the appproximately 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2005, 5.4 million were adult males, 3.9 million were adult females, and 1.8 million were children under the age of 18 years old. An additional 3.1 million children of unauthorized immigrants were U.S. citizens, Pew estimated. (These stats are avaliable at http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/61.pdf ) Among Pew's other findings: Members of unauthorizaed families were typically much younger and less educated than members of families composed of legal immigrants and U.S. citizens. The unauthorized population included 7.2 million workers, typically employed in lower wage occupations in the agricultural, construction, and service industries. Analysts at the Urban Institute reported that in 2004, unauthorized immigrant men were less likely to be unemployed than native born men (4.6% compared with 6.5%) and unauthorized immigrant women were more likely to be unemployed than native born women (8.2% compared with 5.2%).

Now that I have totally filled your head with large population numbers, let's talk COSTS! Boy, where to start! Let's start with education.

Education is the largest single expenditure in state and local budgets. Because state and local governments bear the primary fiscal and administrative responsibility of providing schooling from kindergarten - grade 12, they incur substantial costs to educate children who are unauthorized immigrants. Most of the estimates that CBO reviewed DID NOT include costs associated with children who were born to unauthorized immigrants in the United States because those children are U.S. citizens. Again, if those children had been included in the estimates, their fiscal impact, particularly on education, would have been higher. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that sates may NOT exclude children from public education because of their immigration status. See Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) Current estimates indicate that about 2 million school-age children (5-17 years old) in the United States are unauthorized immigrants; an additional 3 million children are U.S. citizens born to unauthorized immigrants. According to the most recent population data released by the Census Bureau, as of July 2006, there were 53.3 million school-age children in the United States. Thus, children who are unauthorized immigrants represent almost 4% of the overall school-age population. Their numbers are growing quickly in some states, adding additional budgetary pressures. For example: as part of a larger study on the impact of unauthorized immigrants in Minnesota, the state's Department of Administration estimated that, during the 2003-2004 school year, the state and local governments in Minnesota spent between $79 million and $118 million to educate and estimated 9,400 to 14,000 children who were unauthorized immigrants. The agency also estimated that an additional $39 million was spent for children who were U.S. citizens but whose parents were unauthorized immigrants. According to census data, Minnesota state and local governments spent about $8 billion for elementary and secondary education during the 2003-2004 school year. The state estimated that its population of immigrant students, both legal and unauthorized, had almost doubled from about 9,000 to more than 16,000 between 2000-2004. (stats on this are available at www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/issues/immigration ) On the basis of population estimate developed by the Pew Hispanic Center, analysts at the New Mexico Fiscal Policy Project reported that, for the 2003-2004 school year, total spending in New Mexico at the state and local levels for 9,200 unauthorized immigrant schoolchildren was about $67 million. The Census Bureau reports that state and local expenditures for elementary and secondary education during that period in New Mexico totaled almost $3 billion. Of the estimated 40,000 unauthorized immigrants currently living in New Mexico, 95% are believed to be recent arrivals, having lived in that state for fewer than 10 years.

Now let's talk medical expenses. Because unauthorized immigrants are less likely to have health insurance, they are more likely to rely on emergency facilities or public hospitals for treatment of non emergency illnesses and other health related problems. In 2000 and 2001, researchers from the RAND Corporation and the University of California surveyed immigrants in Los Angeles County and found that 65% of those respondents who identified themselves as unauthorized had no health insurance in the two years preceding the survey. (available at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/24/6/1640 ) In a separate study, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that in 2004, more than 50% of those children who were themselves unauthorized immigrants and almost 60% of adult unauthorized immigrants were uninsured. Moreover, 25% of those children who, by virtue of their birth, were U.S. citizens, but whose parents were unauthorized immigrants, also lacked health insurance. (available at http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/46.pdf ) The federal government requires health facilities that receive federal assistance to provide a certain level of service to residents, regardless of their immigration status. The amount of uncompensated care provided by some state and local governments is growing because an increasing number of unauthorized immigrants are using those services. According to a report commissioned by the United States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition, in 2000,county governments that share a border with Mexico incurred almost $190 million in costs for providing uncompensated care to unauthorized immigrants; that figure represented about 1/4 of all uncompensated health costs incurred by those governments in that year. In 2006, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority estimated that it would spend about $9.7 million on emergency Medicaid services for unauthorized immigrants that year, and that 80% of those costs would be for services associated with childbirth. Recent estimates indicate that annual costs for unauthorized immigrants in Colorado were between $217 million and $225 million for education, Medicaid, and law enforcement. By comparison, taxes collected form unauthorized immigrants at both the state and local levels amounted to an estimated $159 million to $194 million annually.

In addition to differences in the types of services that federal, state, and local governments provide and the extent to which the unauthorized population participates in those programs, the income that unauthorized immigrants earn and the taxes they pay also contribute to their net impact on state and local budgets. Unauthorized immigrants typically earn less than do native born citizens and other immigrant groups and, partly as a result, they also pay a smaller portion of their income in taxes. One study conducted by analysts at the Urban Institute found that in 1998, unauthorized immigrants in New York State paid an average of 15% of their income in federal, state, and local taxes; other immigrant groups paid between 21% and 31%. The average household income for unauthorized families is significantly less than that of both legal immigrants and native born citizens; therefore, that income is taxed at a lower rate than the income of other groups. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that in 2004, the average annual income for unauthorized families was $27,400, compared with $47,800 for legal immigrant families and $47,700 for native born families.

Well, that's it as far as throwing figures and numbers and stats at you. I just wanted to give you some sort of idea of the massive amount of illegal immigrants we are dealing with and the costs that they are creating for us. Even though some illegals do pay a portion in taxes, as you can see, their income is much lower therefore less is being taken out. So it is up to us, the legal citizens of the United States to foot the bill.

I guess what really bothered me about this whole finding was this, there are NO government studies being done as far as numbers and costs. This scares me because this is just an admission that we don't know who is in our country. This should scare you as well. We give BILLIONS of dollars to Homeland Security so I don't think that it is too much to ask, as a tax payer, that we know exactly who is in this country and why they are here. If they are here, then they need to be paying taxes just like the rest of us.

Again, I ask you to write or call your elected officials and ask them why it is that we Americans aren't given accurate information when it comes to illegal immigration. If you still don't think that this is an important election year we have coming up, think again. Three things come to mind: illegal immigration, National security, and taxes. I say taxes because I just wonder how long our government is going to continue to foot the bill for the estimated 12 million illegals that are here?

Who Do We Hold Responsible?

2007-12-06T20:34:00.000-06:00

A 2005 U.S. Government Accountability Office study looked at 55,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records and found that they had been arrested an average of eight times. Forty-five percent of the arrests were on immigration and drug charges; 12 percent were for violent crimes. Let me repeat part of that, arrested an AVERAGE of EIGHT times!! Let that sink in for a minute. That was almost three years ago. I would like to see the numbers on that study today.

On Monday, September 17th, 2007, Phoenix Police Officer Nick Erlie was gunned down by Erik Jonani Martinez of Mexico. After the killing, it was learned that Martinez, an illegal immigrant, had been arrested twice before. In Feb. of 2005, Martinez was arrested on a probation violation stemming from a stolen car charge. Eight hours after that arrest, he was turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriffs office. In 2006, Martinez was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

On September 17th, Martinez was being pulled over by Officer Erlie on a jaywalking charge . It was then that Martinez shot and killed Officer Erlie. Martinez then carjacked a man before police ran him down, shooting and killing Jonani Martinez.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordan blames the incident on the U.S. Government for failure to secure its borders, even though Phoenix has declared itself as a "sanctuary city".

One year prior to this incident, almost to the very day, Houston Texas Officer Rodney Johnson was shot and killed in September of 2006 by illegal immigrant Juan Leonardo Quintero. Officer Johnson was shot four times in the head by Quintero. When Officer Johnson arrested Quintero and placed Quintero in his patrol car, Johnson failed to find a gun during a routine "pat-down" that Quintero was carrying. Even though Quintero was cuffed and detained, he still managed to get the gun that he was carrying and kill Officer Johnson execution style.

After the shooting, it was learned that Quintero was deported in 2004 after an indecency with a child charge. Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt blamed the U.S. Government by saying, "The subject was deported, and yet he came back, so if the government fulfilled their responsibility of protecting the border we would probably not be standing here today". Houston Texas has declared itself a "sanctuary city".

Not only does the lack of border control put average American citizens and law enforcers lives at risk, illegal immigrants lives are at stake as well. Case in point: two illegal immigrants, while burglarizing a neighbors house, were shot and killed by Pasadena Texas resident, Joe Horn. Joe had been asked to watch over his next door neighbors house while they were away on vacation.

Miguel Dejesus and Diego Ortiz, both from Colombia, were inside Horn's neighbors house when Horn spotted the two men in the house with a bag of loot that they were planning on taking from the home. Horn called 911 and reported the burglary that was in progress at the time. While on the phone with the 911 operator, the two alleged burglars were attempting to get away when Mr. Horn shot and killed both men.

After the shooting, it was learned that Dejesus spent six years in a Texas prison for drug dealing and then was deported. Ortiz was arrested by Houston police on a drug charge as well but not much more is know about Ortiz due to the fact Houston is a "sanctuary city" and does not cooperate with Homeland Security on issues involving illegal aliens.

Some would say that Horn is a hero. I will let you decide for yourself if you want to put that label on him. It is very clear, however, that this has become a "blame game" issue. Nobody wants to take responsibility for our lack of border control or the illegal immigrants that our open borders have brought to this country. The U.S. Government wants to put issues of illegal immigration in the hands of local and city governments. Yet, when tragedy strikes, the local officials want to blame the U.S. Government for not sealing up our borders.

Let me end with this thought. If I own a dog, there are leash laws in place that say that I have to have my dog on a leash in public. If I don't and my dog harms or injures another citizen, I am responsible. If I have my dog in a fenced yard and I put up a "beware of dog" sign up, and someone comes onto my property and gets bit by my dog, I am admitting that my dog may harm you by placing the "beware of dog" sign up on my property. If I loan you my car, and you run a red light and a traffic cam takes a picture of my vehicle running the red light you ran while driving my car, I am responsible for paying the fine for that ticket. Better yet, I am responsible for any injuries resulting from a wreck due to you running a red light and I am susceptible to getting sued as well by the injured. So, off of those two scenarios, is the U.S. Government responsible for any harm done to you and me by an illegal immigrant for the governments lack of securing our borders? Do you know any lawyers willing to test this theory?

Irving Texas

2007-12-04T20:56:00.000-06:00

Most people think of Irving Texas as the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Well, that will change as of the 2009 season. The Cowboys are moving to Arlington Texas, another suburb of Dallas.

My Grandparents moved to Irving in the 1950's. My Grandfather still lives there today. Irving use to be a nice little suburb of Dallas. Offering the home of one of the best known NFL football teams in history and one of the most watched PGA golf tournaments each year. The Byron Nelson.

Today, Irving is what most would consider a sanctuary city. When I was a kid, my Grandparents use to let me walk up to the 7Eleven for Slurpee's and video games. Today, I wouldn't be caught dead walking the streets of Irving. Most of the stores that I used to walk to as a kid have since closed or re-opened with all Spanish signs outside. I wouldn't know what to take to a store in Irving today, a dollar or a peso.

In an article of the Dallas Morning News written by Brandon Formby, Sept. 28, 2007, the Mayor of Irving, Herbert Gears, was quoted as saying that around 300 people are being turned over to I.C.E. each month. More than any other city in the Nation. It's the latest tool being used by local governments in the absence of a federal overhaul of immigration laws. So far, Irving has turned in over 1,600 people to immigration officials.

I support Mayor Gears efforts and applaud him. Just a few short weeks ago though, I.C.E. officials told Irving Police that they would no longer take suspected illegals if they had a class C misdemeanor. It had to be a class B or higher.

It is the lack of support from the Federal Government such as this that landed Border Patrol Agents Ramos & Compean in prison. These two honorable agents have been in prison since Feb. of 2005. This, in my opinion, is total "b.s."!! The laws are in place for our local governments to enforce. The laws are in place for our federal agencies to enforce but when they do, they are hit with some bureaucratic red tape bull crap!! The arrest of these two Border Patrol Agents is so un-American it ain't even funny. I feel as if there should be an investigation of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton and he should be disbarred from every state in the Union.

These two men were doing their jobs. Protecting our borders. Protecting our borders from illegal immigrants, terrorist, and drug smugglers. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the reason that Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean are in prison is because they shot Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila in the buttocks. I also forgot to mention that Aldrete-Davila was fleeing because he had been caught trying to smuggle 745 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

This is your government at work people. If you don't think that it is important to vote, think again. We have to stand up for our Nation and make sure that we are putting the right people in office. Putting the right people in place to work for us.

KP

Day One

2007-12-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

Well, I really don't know where to start on this. I guess I will just start with my disgust with our illegal immigration problem. I was born in Dallas Texas and raised in the DFW area. Living in a "border" state, I think I am qualified to voice my opinion on this issue. It just BLOWS my mind how out of hand this has gotten and our government is sitting back and doing nothing at all to rectify the situation. In 2004, I moved to Louisville KY and lived up there for 3yrs. When I came back to Texas, my jaw dropped. In fact, when people ask me where I live, I don't say "Dallas" any more. Rather, I tell them that I live in Northern Mexico. It's not that I am not in favor of immigration. Let's face it, our country was built on immigration. What I do oppose, however, is illegal immigration. Let me say that again, "ILLEGAL" immigration. Why are there over 12 million illegal immigrants here? I say it's because of the good 'ole corporate world. They hire these people for slave wages. If we would stop giving these people a reason to come over here, they wouldn't do it so freely. Most of the money that illegal immigrants make goes back to Mexico via Western Union. They don't pay taxes. They don't contribute to this nation. Crime is up in our nation and if you look at the statistics, a lot of the violent crimes that are being committed here are being committed by illegals. Hospitals are closing due to "non payment". Schools are closing. Neighborhoods are being taken over which causes local merchants to close.

When are we going to wake up and demand that our congressman do something about this? Since 2004, over 60 American citizens have been kidnapped from the border near Laredo Texas. Over 20 are still missing. Why don't we hear about this in the media? The Laredo Morning News was bombed by Mexican drug cartel due to the fact they were reporting on the situation down there. Fear runs amuck down in Laredo. The Sheriffs in Laredo have been begging and pleading with members of congress but yet nothing is being done.

People don't care about these things if it's not happening in their backyard. Well, I live over 300 miles from Laredo and it's now in my backyard. How big does the yard have to get before we do something about this? Congressman Duncan Hunter from California wrote a bill that passed in congress and was signed by President Bush that made it law to build a double layer fence from California to Texas. Completion date on this fence was to be May of 2008. To this day, the project has yet to start. Why?

I will get off my soap box for now. I welcome your views on this topic and what you feel needs to be done to get control of OUR nation back.

KP