It takes secure boundaries for America's affection for immigrants to flourish.

By Peggy Noonan

Republicans Introduce Bill to Extend Tax Cuts
House Republicans introduced legislation Thursday that would make tax cuts first implemented in 2001 and 2003 permanent, citing economic growth as evidence that they work...

Record Abortions, Profits for Planned Parenthood
Despite a drop in donations and the first fall in income from clinics in its history, the nation's biggest abortion provider made a record profit last year, thanks to the American taxpayer.

Republicans need to attack earmarks and stop wasting taxpayer money

By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

"House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) has handed Republican lawmakers a golden (literally) opportunity to end earmarking during the current session of Congress." Read on.

The Democratic War Against Prosperity Marches On

By Lawrence Kudlow

"Democrats in Congress and on the presidential trail are intensifying their high-tax war against prosperity and the so-called rich." Read on.

Is 'Decency' Enough for Citizenship?

"Now that the president has tried to revive the comatose Senate amnesty bill, at least as big a question as whether he can bring it back to life is why on earth he would want to?"

Read on.

SOME TOUGH (AND UNEASY) QUESTIONS

Can Muhammad and Jefferson Coexist?
By John Andrews

The ACLU Never Forgets Its Pro-Communist Roots

By Alan Sears
Just as a leopard cannot change its spots, nor a zebra its stripes, an organization whose founder admired the "ideals" of the hammer and sickle can never really abandon those destructive beginnings. Read on.

Arafat's Children

Gaza's mayhem is the bitter fruit of terror as statecraft.

The 'Oh, so predictable' news headline of the week: "Blame Bush"

THE WASHINGTON POST:
Takeover by Hamas Illustrates Failure of Bush's Mideast Vision

"Five years ago this month, President Bush stood in the Rose Garden and laid out a vision for the Middle East .... "

Apparently, according to "The WAPO" Bush's mistakes were:
(1) calling for an Israel and a state called Palestine living together in peace.
(2) calling on the Palestinian people "to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror."

What shameful goals, such shameful requests .... what was Bush thinking?

I am quite surprised, yet heartened, that the WAPO is concerned over Israel's safety. I am equally surprised WAPO calls Hamas a 'militant group' and considers them 'radical' and malfunctioning. Who new?

Apparently, another mistake Bush made was in pushing for Israel's departure from the Gaza Strip, according to the Post. But if "Gaza has no territorial issues with Israel, since there are no Israelis in Gaza," and since so much of the blame coming from the left (and that includes the Post) is laid at the feet of Israel, and demanding Israel leave Gaza which they captured during the Six Day War after Israel was attacked, how and why is this a mistake? One can argue it was a mistake for Israel to pull out of Gaza for their own safety and security reasons, but that is a different argument. It seems that if the Palestinians cannot get along with each other, the blame game can only be directed at themselves, not Bush, and not Israel.

Another 'mistake' was trying to separate/isolate the moderates from the extremists so we can work with the moderates. What's up with that? Doesn't Bush know we have to negotiate and work with them too? It's a matter of 'fairness'. After all, the extremists are no different than anybody else, they are just ... well more extreme.

And finally, I guess, it boils down to the 'less is more' argument. "The less we try to intervene and shape Palestinian politics, the better off we will be," said Robert Malley, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the International Crisis Group.

Now if I could only forget the hundreds of times that I heard, Bush is not doing enough to solve the Israel - Palestinian problem.

DDT and Malaria

Nature spoke, Rachel Carson listened

By LARRY J. SCHWEIGER

As the nation commemorates pioneer conservationist Rachel Carson's 100th birthday, we should reflect on the relevance of her career to the overriding environmental challenges of our own time. In an article she wrote in 1938 following her attendance at a National Wildlife Federation convention, Rachel reminded us that "wildlife … is dwindling because its home is being destroyed. But the home of wildlife is also our home." Somehow too many of us have lost sight of this basic tenet.

Rachel understood the direct cause-and-effect relationship between man's conservation stewardship and the vitality of all living creatures. Despite her warnings about the need to nurture this delicate relationship, many in our country, both then and now, didn't listen to Rachel's admonitions.

Most remember Rachel Carson for her famous book "Silent Spring"; however, our collective memory of Rachel's contribution must be re-examined in light of her early warnings about global warming.

"WHEN Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was published in 1962, a small group of scientists pointed out its errors. Some of them were so egregious that even a nonspecialist would have spotted them if not at once, then after a moment of reflection."

Rachel Carson's legacy
BY Rony V. Diaz

The majority of her readers, however, took her book for revealed truth and were almost instantly converted to her vision of militant environmentalism.

Her political program was clear in “Fable for Tomorrow,” the initial chapter. “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. . .” Then one day a “strange blight,” an “evil spell” killed all plants and animals and sickened all humans. This contagion “silenced the rebirth of new life.”

The cause of this apocalypse was the synthetic contact insecticide DDT, a compound that entered the tissues of both prey and predator, as well as their food chains. DDT, she claimed, was also the cause of cancer and foresaw an “epidemic of cancer” sweeping the world. It did not happen.

There is a couple of things you should know about DDT .... well actually 100 things you should know about DDT . Also, an expert on malaria wants DDT back because "the battle to combat this killer disease, which affects nearly six million people annually in Malawi, can only be won if DDT is used to kill mosquitoes." A country in southeastern Africa, Malawi is approximately the size of Pennsylvania.

"The mosquito-borne illness claims the lives of 3,000 children daily and more than one million each year—the majority in sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda alone, reports indicate that more than ten million are infected and up to 100,000 mothers and children die from the disease each year."

Give Us DDT
By SAM ZARAMBA

The United States and Europe eradicated malaria by 1960, largely with the use of DDT. At the time, Uganda tested the pesticide in the Kanungu district and reduced malaria by 98%. Despite this success, we lacked the resources to sustain the program. Rather than partner with us to improve our public health infrastructure, however, foreign donors blanched. They used Africa's lack of infrastructure to justify not investing in it.

Today, every single Ugandan still remains at risk. Over 10 million Ugandans are infected each year, and up to 100,000 of our mothers and children die from the disease. Recently Ugandan country music star Job Paul Kafeero died of the disease, a reminder that no one is beyond its reach. Yet, many still argue that Africa's poor infrastructure makes indoor spraying too costly and complex a means of fighting malaria.

"The ban of DDT by the EPA caused many other countries to follow suit and discontinue use of DDT as a method for malarial control."

The Legacy of the DDT Ban, the Legacy of Rachel Carson
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND HEALTH
By Patricia Ludwig

The ban was supported by many aid agencies such as USAID, the WHO, the Norwegian Development Agency, and the Swedish Aid Agency, which contributed a large portion of public health aid to poor nations. These countries, dependent on aid, could not continue to use DDT after the ban. Many countries also stopped using DDT for fear that European countries would refuse to buy their agricultural exports. The ban on DDT thwarted progress in the eradication of malaria. In South Africa, DDT was phased out in 1996, causing malaria cases to increase from 12,500 in 1995 to 50,000 in 1999. However, cases dropped by 80% in 2000 in KwaZuluNatal, the one province in South Africa that began using DDT extensively again. Though DDT need not be used on everything as it was in the 1950s and 1960s, its judicious use is clearly effective in controlling malaria.

To replace DDT, many countries such as South Africa began using synthetic pyrethoids to kill malarial mosquitoes. The problem with these substitutes is that they are more expensive and less effective. In addition, A. funestrus, a malaria-transmitter mosquito that feeds almost exclusively on humans, has developed resistance to pyrethroids. In the 1950s, it had almost disappeared from South Africa. It began to reappear in the 1990s, which correlates with the removal of DDT."

Secure the border first

By Michael Steele

"When House Republicans passed legislation last December that secured our borders and put a premium on strict enforcement of our immigration laws, the American people had hope that their elected leaders had heard their demands.

Sadly, the legislation that is currently leading the debate in Washington shows our Senators have turned a deaf ear to the public. Despite last week’s action stopping it from coming to the Senate floor for a final vote, efforts are being made to tinker around the edges with this legislation and pass it later this year.

The better course of action is for our elected leaders to follow the no-nonsense direction being called for by hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens: Secure Our Borders Now!"

Read on.

The Castro/Chavez Axis

By Fred Thompson

"We're coming up on the 45th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis and I think it's worth talking about. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy faced down the USSR, risking total war, and forced the Soviets to remove ballistic weapons from Cuba. Missiles located less than a hundred miles from America were aimed at the US.

A lot of people, I think, have forgotten. Most schools don't even teach about it in any real detail. Judging by the indifference that many people have to the nuclear arming of Iran, I think it's a lesson almost entirely lost -- except among Cuban-Americans.

Over the years, they've never stopped watching ..... "

REVAMPING IMMIGRATION

It appears Charles Krauthammer has come around to my way of thinking:

WASHINGTON -- Comprehensive immigration reform is in jeopardy because it is a complex compromise with too many moving parts and too many competing interests. Employers want a guest worker program; unions want to kill it. Reformers want to introduce a point system that preferentially admits skilled and educated immigrants; immigrant groups naturally want to keep the existing family preference system. Liberals want legalization now; conservatives insist on enforcement "triggers" first.

This has been my contention all along, that the "whole immigration issue" is complex, has many layers, is an emotional issue, and that there will never be a consensus on how all the various issues of immigration should be handled; particularly those illegal immigrants that have been here for many years.

With that in mind, doing nothing only exasperates the problem and intensifies the emotions surrounding what to do with "law abiding" border crossers who have lived here for many years and have had children (anchor babies) and as more continue to pour across the border.

Therefore, many people, myself included, want and wonder why a fence cannot be built, making our borders more secure, and give ourselves the time to wrangle with the difficult issues regarding those already here and not be over-run with new "border crossers" during the process of debate.

I had suspicions from the start and now feel justified in those suspicions that the border fence bill passed and signed by Pres. Bush last year was a ploy .... merely political pandering .... to bide time and give some cover for some elected legislators up for re-election. It appears my suspicions were spot on. Krauthammer again appears to be of like mind.

Why not start by passing what everyone says they want? After all, proponents of this comprehensive reform insist that the current situation is intolerable and must be resolved. It follows, therefore, that however much they differ in the details of how the current mess should be resolved, they are united in the belief that such a mess should not be allowed to happen again. And the only way to make sure of that is border control.

So why not pass it, with the understanding that the other contentious provisions would be taken up subsequently? Because for all the protestations, many of those who say they are deeply devoted to enforcement are being deeply disingenuous. They profess to care about immigration control because they have to. But they care so little about the issue that they are willing to make it hostage to the other controversial provisions, most notably legalization.

Read the rest of Krauthammer's The Jeopardy of Reform.

Harry Reid: Working Overtime For Failure in Iraq

By Lorie Byrd

"The time for niceties has passed. The leaders of the Democratic party not only do not support the war effort, they do not want our troops to win and it is getting harder every day to pretend that they do.

Those in the field have noticed it, too. The L.A. Times recently reported: “Under a sweltering Iraqi sky, [Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis,commanding general of Marine Forces Central Command] asked for questions fromh is troops. Many were reluctant, but Marine Lance Cpl. Jack Kessel, 19,of Raleigh, N.C., stepped forward. Something had been gnawing at him as he and his buddies go about the business of winning hearts and minds in al-Anbar province: ‘How are we supposed to fight a war when people back home say we’ve already lost?’ "

Read on.

Pulling Money Can Break Iran

By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

"The past week has very possibly been the key turning point in the drive to cripple the Iranian government and force it to back off its nuclear weapons program. Uncovered by the mainstream media, a courageous and far-sighted effort by Reagan’s assistant secretary of defense, Frank Gaffney, to force state pension systems to stop investing in companies that do business with Iran or Sudan has won key victories in Florida, California and Ohio. Spurred by vigorous"

Read on.

Bush’s Deal: Border Cash for Amnesty

Townhall.com
By Amanda Carpenter

"In an effort to resurrect the Senate’s immigration bill,President Bush has agreed to spend $4.4 billion to increase border security based on the premise that money would be repaid later with penalties and fines from illegal aliens seeking legal status.

In a speech before the National Contractors Union on Thursday,President Bush said that he would support an amendment to the bill that will likely be sponsored by Republican Conference Chairman Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.) and Republican National Committee Chairman Sen. Mel Martinez (R.-Fla.).

“One common concern is whether the government will provide the resources to meet the goals in the bill,” he said. “They say, ‘It's fine to talk about it. Are you actually going to do something?’"

Read on.

'Orrible 'Arry Reid

By Jed Babbin

Yes, conservatives are angry with the President. And yes, we're going to hang in there as long as it takes and work as hard as needs be to defeat this disastrous immigration bill he's pushing. We won't give in, we won't compromise on border security. And we won't be bought off with the $4.4 billion he offered to spend on "security and job enforcement" the other day.

But no matter how angry we are with President Bush, we can't take our eyes off the Democrats, especially 'Orrible 'Arry Reid.

Read the Full Story

A Home Invader Program?

People who are pushing for a "guest worker" program show not the slightest interest in what has been happening under guest worker programs in Europe. Facts are apparently irrelevant.

So is logic. Guests are people you invite to your home. Gate crashers are people who come without being invited. Home invaders are people who break in, despite doors that have been shut to keep them out.

By Thomas Sowell

Why Do Rush And Sean Scare Them So?

Radio station WIOD, AM 610, has been the official channel for emergency information from Broward County government for the past year. The County Commission, all Democrats, balked at renewing the deal Tuesday, unable to stomach the station also being home to [Rush] Limbaugh's talk show.

I have heard of brass-knuckled politics before, but never anything on the order of denying your political opponents news of approaching hurricanes.

Now we have actual proof of Democrats wanting to keep conservatives in the dark about approaching storms.

By Hugh Hewitt, Towwnhall.com

China Slams Bush Over Remarks on Communism
China Thursday criticized President Bush’s remarks at the dedication of a memorial to 100 million-plus victims of communism, accusing him of a “Cold War” mentality...

Political Money Could Dilute Edwards’ Populist Message
– John Edwards has tried to set his 2008 presidential candidacy apart from the pack by highlighting poverty and criticizing corporate power, but the North Carolina Democrat in recent years has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in donations from individuals working for the tobacco, pharmaceutical, oil and other sectors...

“On Fox News the other night, I was told by NPR’s Juan Williams, ‘You’re anti-immigrant!’ Er, actually, I am an immigrant—one of the members of the very, very teensy-weensy barely statistically detectable category of ‘legal immigrant.’ But perhaps that doesn’t count any more. Perhaps, like Colin Powell’s blackness, it’s insufficiently ‘authentic’.”
—Mark Steyn

“[A]nother amnesty will be the best thing to happen to America since the influenza epidemic of 1918 and the Wall Street Crash of ‘29.”
—Don Feder

DoD braces for a fight with Pelosi

Pentagon officials are bracing for a fight with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over her desire to allow lawmakers’ adult children to tag along on taxpayer-funded travel for free.

TheHill.com

NATO Secretary Lauds Troop Efforts in Afghanistan

BRUSSELS, Belgium, – Immense progress has been made in providing international assistance to the people and government of Afghanistan, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said today in his opening statement during the two-day session of the North Atlantic Council here.

“As we meet today, we must first of all pay tribute to the men and women who take part in the NATO-led operations and missions from the Balkans to Afghanistan,” said Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. “We mourn those whose lives have been lost and offer our condolences to their loved ones.”

The secretary general said he is proud of the achievement of NATO forces and their commitment to providing political leadership and the resources they need to undertake their missions." Read more.

Zapata officials face bribe charges

"LAREDO — Three Zapata County officials were arraigned in federal court Wednesday, charged with taking bribes from drug traffickers in exchange for protecting loads of marijuana that were hauled through their area.

FBI agents Tuesday arrested Justice of the Peace Manuel 'Meme' Martinez, 43; county attorney's office investigator Jose Amaro, 40; and county code enforcement worker Ruben Elizondo, 37.

Martinez was a Zapata County sheriff's deputy when ....... "

Pakistan tells U.S. it's trying to secure Afghan border

Yahoo! News

"QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan told a visiting U.S. official on Thursday it was trying its best to plug its long, porous border with Afghanistan and denied Taliban leaders were hiding in Pakistan."

ElBaradei urges Iran to halt atomic expansion

Yahoo! News: "VIENNA (Reuters) - The chief U.N. nuclear monitor urged Iran on Thursday to stop expanding uranium enrichment to ease a standoff with world powers, who have demanded Tehran shut down the program entirely."

Anti-Syrians bury slain Lebanese MP, blame Damascus

Yahoo! News: "BEIRUT (Reuters) - Some 3,000 mourners chanted anti-Syrian slogans on Thursday at the funeral of a Lebanese legislator killed in a car bomb attack that deepened Lebanon's political crisis.

Walid Eido was the seventh anti-Syrian figure to be assassinated since February 2005, when former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was killed in a suicide truck bombing."

Hamas overruns rival Fatah's key posts

Yahoo! News:

"GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas fighters overran two of the rival
Fatah movement's most important security command centers in the
Gaza Strip on Thursday, and witnesses said the victors dragged vanquished gunmen into the street and shot them to death execution-style.

Meanwhile, ......."

Al Qaeda's American Harbor

OpinionJournal
A bad decision likely to be overturned.

"On Monday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that al Qaeda agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri can't be detained as an enemy combatant. The press corps is reporting--no, shouting, cheering, doing somersaults--that this is further proof that Bush Administration detainee policies are doomed to legal oblivion.

Well, here's a wager: This decision is the outlier and will be overturned on appeal, while most of the Administration's legal antiterror architecture will survive past January 20, 2009. Any takers?" Read on.

“Freedom is not the absence of laws... Freedom requires the rule of law.”
—Alisa Craddock

“[I]n Washington, D. C.,... a Victims of Communism Memorial will be dedicated... While the memorial is a welcome reminder of man’s capacity to do evil, one wishes that a similar structure were erected to remind the world of leftist academics, clergy and journalists who enabled communism to survive by writing and speaking lies about its true nature. They were more than enablers. They were co-conspirators and accessories to murder. They, too, deserve to share in communism’s ignominy.”
—Cal Thomas

“There is nothing to say that the 12 million people here illegally have to start the process of becoming citizens.” —Thomas Sowell

To All You Fathers Out There

With Father's Day coming up, keep these in mind:

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” —Charles Wadsworth

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” —Mark Twain

Rudy's 12 commitments to the American people

Rudy feels that many of the things he did as Mayor of New York City are transferable to what America needs today. He says "these commitments are intended to lift our vision from the rear view mirror to the road ahead of us - the future."

Here they are:

1. I will keep America on offense in the Terrorists' War on Us.

2. I will end illegal immigration, secure our borders, and identify every non-citizen in our nation.

3. I will restore fiscal discipline and cut wasteful Washington spending.

4. I will cut taxes and reform the tax code.

5. I will impose accountability on Washington.

6. I will lead America towards energy independence.

7. I will give Americans more control over, and access to, healthcare with affordable and portable free-market solutions.

8. I will increase adoptions, decrease abortions, and protect the quality of life for our children.

9. I will reform the legal system and appoint strict constructionist judges.

10. I will ensure that every community in America is prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

11. I will provide access to a quality education to every child in America by giving real school choice to parents.

12. I will expand America's involvement in the global economy and strengthen our reputation around the world.

Illegal Worker Probe Spurs Raid in Oregon

CBS News/AP:
Federal Agents Raid Food Plant Suspected of Employing Illegal Workers; 100 Arrested

FBI warns universities to watch out for spies

CNN/AP

Iranian Weapons Intercepted on Way to Taliban

Fox News

India snubs West on climate change
Telegraph.co.uk

"India will not curb its greenhouse gas emissions as long as the West continues to treat it as a 'second class global citizen' with less right to pollute than the developed world, a senior Indian environment official has said." More.

Las Vegas SUN: Virginia Tech Report Faults Privacy Laws WASHINGTON (AP) -

"Schools, doctors and police often do not share information about potentially dangerous students because they can't figure out complicated and overlapping privacy laws, according to a federal report released Wednesday on the Virginia Tech shooting." More.

US-French Strategic Interests Intersecting, Says US Official

By Eva Cahen

'The Worst Thing About Communism Is That It Still Exists'

By Monisha Bansal

THE PROBLEM WITH GOING GREEN

'Green' Energy Source a Major Polluter
(CNSNews.com) - Call it green pollution. The ethanol industry, which is marketed as environmentally friendly and has been called a "cornerstone of America's energy policy," is dirtying air and water supplies across the heartland, according to a Cybercast News Service investigation...

Ethanol Industry, Congress Accused of Bending Rules
(CNSNews.com) - In a move drawing criticism from regulators, environmentalists and rural Americans, the Environmental Protection Agency is introducing a new rule that will allow ethanol refineries to emit 150 percent more pollution than they currently do -- without any penalties...

NEWS

1. Bill Clinton Predicts Gore to Enter Race
2. Nasty: McCain Attacks Romney in Email
   
3. Cheney's Daughter Backing Fred Thompson
   
4. Al D'Amato Backing Fred Thompson
5. Speilberg Now Backing Hillary, Drops Obama

HEADLINE DECEPTION

From James Taranto, Best of the Web, at Opinion Journal.com: There's a Sucker Born Every Minute

"U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a bomb factory yesterday, the Associated Press reports from Baghdad:

The entry room to the al-Arij factory was booby-trapped and the building was empty because the workers fled after apparently being tipped off to the raid, according to the officer, army commander Brig. Gen. Nour al-Din Hussein. He said an anti-aircraft gun was hidden on the roof.

Until three years ago, the building was used to make candy. The AP's headline: "U.S.-Iraqi Forces Raid Lollipop Factory."

Media Deliver WSJ Paper Chase Exactly as Expected

Reporters and editors continue to oppose Journal bid from 'predatory capitalist' Murdoch. Bussiness and Media Institute's Dan Gainor explains why.

Media Exaggerate Student Loan 'Crisis'

Business & Media Institute

“Private Loans Deepen a Crisis in Student Debt,” cried the [New York] Times headline that began by presenting the situation of Lucia DiPoi, “the first in her immigrant family to attend college.”

"The Times complained that DiPoi “gave up her dream” of working in an overseas refugee camp as a result of too much debt, and now has private loans with high interest rates. But the blame was thrown squarely at the lender: Sallie Mae in this instance.

Nowhere did the Times question DiPoi’s decision to attend Tufts University, a private school where the tuition, fees, room and board come to $44,500 per year. That’s nearly three and a half times the average cost of a public college or university, according to the College Board." Read on.

AG scandal not about Gonzales

By Tom DeLay

"The thing you always need to remember when Democrat politicians talk is that they're lying.

(How's that for open-minded dialogue?)

I suppose that is a bit too strong; let me rephrase. It's not that they're lying, exactly; they're just not really talking about what they're talking about. A good example is the Iraq war debate. What, exactly, is their position? After all, they all believed ...."

The Immigration Bill May Rise Again

By Paul Weyrich

"My longtime friend Richard A. Viguerie issued a press release congratulating grassroots America for killing the Immigration Bill. I hope Richard is right. I fear he is not. In all of the years I have been here I never have known when the establishment really wants something that the establishment cannot obtain it. And the establishment really wants this bill.

Some critics point to the ....."

It Ain't Over 'Til the Alien Wins

By Michelle Malkin

"As you follow the debate over the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill, keep this cardinal rule in mind: 99.99 percent of the lawmakers who promise you that they'll ensure the deportation of anyone who doesn't follow their new 'guest-worker' regulations are either A) lying or B) completely clueless.

Rule No. 2: Anyone who plays the Enforcement equals Kicking-Down-Doors-And-Depriving-Babies-of-Mother's-Milk card (yes, that's you, Geraldo Rivera) is either A) lying or B) completely clueless." Continue.....

Immigration Legislation Demonization

By George Will

"WASHINGTON -- Harry Reid, the Senate's majority leader and resident Uriah Heep, affected 'umble and syrupy sadness about the Senate's inability to pass the immigration bill that he pulled from the floor last Thursday evening for a transparently meretricious reason. Saying the Senate's time was too precious to expend on what would have been limited debate on a limited number of Republican amendments to the bill, Reid vowed: ``Everyone that's been home, there are two issues that are foremost in their minds: Number one is the Iraq War and number two are gas prices. We're going to deal with that as soon as we finish with this immigration legislation.''

So the Senate took Friday off, wasted Monday in the predictable futility of ....."

Competition or Monopoly

By Walter E. Williams

"Are consumers better off with a competitive or monopolistic provision of goods and services? Let's apply that question to a few areas of our lives.

Prior to deregulation, when there was a monopoly and restricted ....."

Property Owners Win One

By John Stossel

"Opponents of eminent domain finally have something to celebrate. After a public campaign, Target Corp. has decided not to build a store on condemned property in Arlington Heights, Ill.

Five years ago, the Village trustees declared ...."

This fight WILL NEVER be over

Immigration Political Dynamics
By Bruce Bartlett

"The immigration bill may be dead for now, but the political forces behind it have not gone away. Those will continue to impact both major political parties for many years to come.

The basic force is that Hispanics are increasing as a share of the population. According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, there were 44.3 million Hispanics in the United States as of July 1, 2006, constituting 14.8 percent of the population. And they are the fastest growing ethnic group, accounting for about half the growth of population during the previous year—1.4 million out of a total increase of 2.9 million.

It is extremely unlikely ......" Continue reading here.

Liberalism never goes away, so this fight won't either.

Americans overwhelmingly support voter ID. Are they are all racists?

By John Fund

America had its civil war. Why expect freedom to come easy to Iraq?

BY NOURI AL-MALIKI

Alas, it falls on too many deaf ears

Listening to the Enemy
By Michael Medved
Townhall.com

Some members of the so-called "peace movement" cherish the naive belief that an end to the Iraq War would greatly reduce the fanaticism of al Qaeda, but they should listen to one of the terrorists' chief spokesmen, "Azam the American."

This Muslim convert issued a late May declaration promising devastating attacks unless the president agreed to six "non-negotiable" demands--including removal of all U.S. personnel from all Muslim nations, imposing a "ban on all broadcasts to our region," stopping all aid and contact to all 56 "apostate" Muslim regimes and freeing all Muslims from U.S. prisons, regardless of their crimes.

Azam also helpfully announced: "A pull-out from Iraq alone in the absence of compliance with the remainder of our legitimate demands will get you nowhere and will not save you from our strikes." Those activists who believe they understand the real motivations of our enemies ought to listen occasionally to what those enemies have to say.

House Republicans Declare War on Secret Earmarks & Wasteful Spending

By John Boehner

"This week on the House floor Democrats in Congress will begin their efforts in earnest to hide pork-barrel projects from voters, budget watchdog groups, and Republicans who challenge wasteful spending. They’re gutting rules designed to help voters know where their tax dollars are going and creating massive slush funds for secret earmarks. And while they shut voters out of the budget process, they’re spending more with each passing day – an extra $105 billion so far this year alone. With the first four major appropriations bill on the House floor this week, Republicans are saying, “Enough is enough.”

Last fall, Democratic leaders repeatedly promised to lead Congress in a more “open” and “honest” fashion. Now they’re not only breaking those promises, they’re actively moving in the opposite direction.

It started in January when Democrats gutted Republican earmark reforms by allowing bills to be certified as “earmark-free” -- even if they contain earmarks. House Democrats exploited this loophole to pass a massive spending bill (“continuing resolution”) in February that contained hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden earmarks. The conveniently-flawed procedure was most famously abused by Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) who secured passage of an illegitimate taxpayer-funded earmark in bill meant to fund our intelligence activities. Murtha was caught by C-SPAN’s cameras threatening House Republicans who tried to object."

Read on.

China Moves Up the Weapons Spending Ladder

"China has overtaken Japan to become the biggest military spender in Asia -- and the fourth biggest in the world -- according to a new report on global arms spending.

China chalked up almost $50 billion in military expenditures in 2006, according to the Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). The top five countries were the United States ($528.7bn), Britain ($59.2bn), France ($53.1bn), China ($49.5bn) and Japan ($43.7bn)."

Read on.

Iran Threatens to Make US 'Regret' Arrest of Diplomats

"Jerusalem - Iran threatened on Tuesday to make the U.S. 'regret' its detention of Iranian diplomats earlier this year in Iraq.

The U.S. raided the Iranian consulate in the Kurdish-controlled northern Iraqi city of Irbil in January, arresting five Iranians and confiscating documents and computers. The U.S. accused the diplomats of being involved in the insurgency against American and Iraqi forces.

'We will make the U.S. regret its revolting [and] illegal action against our consulate agents,' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said during a press conference on Tuesday, the Iranian news agency ISNA reported."

Read on.

New Poll: Thompson and Rudy Tied at 24%

"In a new national telephone survey of likely Republican voters, Rassmussen finds Fred Thompson, who is not officially a candidate yet, and Rudy Giuliani are tied with 24% favorability for each.

This past weekend, the Associated Press reported that Thompson's presumed entry into the Republican presidential field would draw 'crucial strength from conservatives and older men,' and would subsequently vault him 'into the thick of the nomination fight' in 2008 - a prediction that appears to be coming true in the polls."

Read on.

Putin's Ploy
By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

"Chess is the national sport of Russia. It is, therefore, as Soviet Communists like Vladimir Putin used to say, “no coincidence, comrade” that the proposal on missile defense that he rolled out at last week’s G-8 meeting was a sophisticated gambit, a crafty effort not to advance the protection of Europe and the United States from future Iranian missiles, but to block such anti-missile defenses. Call it Putin’s ploy.

In fact, in the manner of an accomplished master of the game – for example, his ....."

Immigration bill: Why I was opposed

By Mike Pence
U.S. Congressman: 6th District Of Indiana

"Last year, President Bush set out his views on immigration reform to the American people, saying there must be 'a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation.'

I agree with the president that a rational middle ground can be found between automatic citizenship and mass deportation, but the amnesty bill that was defeated in the Senate was not the middle ground.

I opposed the Senate immigration bill because ...."

Another Lesson In Selective Tolerance

"People who don't think the radical homosexual lobby is trying to force its views on society probably aren't paying close attention. Increasingly, in various parts of this nation, if you express traditional views on traditional marriage, you risk being branded a bigot and your speech being muzzled.

For the radical homosexual lobby, it isn't enough that its views are guaranteed full protection, even special protection by the state. They also want to ensure that those disagreeing with them are demonized and denied their First Amendment rights."

More by David Limbaugh.

Bipartisan betrayal

By Thomas Sowell

"With immigration, as with other issues, the most important decision is: Who is to make the decision?

It should be too obvious for words that decisions about who is to come into the United States and live among Americans should be made in the United States by Americans.

In reality, however, for years that decision has been made in Mexico by Mexicans and by others who chose to cross the border from Mexico into the United States with impunity, knowing that even if they were caught, they would at worst be turned back -- and could try again.

Many would not even ...."

“It is the duty of parents to maintain their children decently... to protect them according to the dictates of prudence; and to educate them according to the suggestions of a judicious and zealous regard for their usefulness, their respectability and happiness.”
— James Wilson, 1791

In the Absence of Men

By Albert Mohler
Townhall.com

What happens when boys grow up without the influence of male authority? The absence of engaged males in authority--fathers in particular--leads to brutal, crude, dangerous and narcissistic teenage boys and young men.

Stewart Dakers writes of young adolescent males who intimidate passersby on London sidewalks.

As Dakers explains, they live in a world of female authorities. Their fathers--if they know their fathers--are remote and aloof, never there when the boys need discipline and male authority. The boys face only female authority in the home, at school and in the social service sector. These boys are coddled, entertained and reinforced in self-assertion by a constellation of female influences. Dakers warns that boys raised in a female environment learn quickly to become masters of manipulation.

Boys need the controlling force of male authority--the male voice they cannot ignore. This is a need society cannot ignore.

HOMELAND SECURITY

Heavy-Handed is well aware of the anger many Americans are feeling in regards to our porous borders and the idiotic bills before the Congress offering illegal aliens/immigrants/border crossers, et al, with amnesty/citizenship/Z visas/ and a plethora of perks that many U.S. citizens don't even qualify for.

Adding to this feeling of uneasiness and outright distress is the knowledge that we have not enforced previous laws, so we have no reason to believe the new laws, good or bad, would be enforced.

And let's not forget that just last year, after citizens became outraged in similar fashion about the then-proposed legislation regarding illegals, we got what we demanded - namely a 854 mile wall, increased border patrol guards, an increase in tools to do the job - like unmanned drones and other high tech equipment.

Unfortunately, although it was passed and signed into law, not a lot of improvements have been made. The fence in particular has been ignored.

So Heavy-Handed, feeling like he needed to contribute something, to do some digging and get some answers, contacted the Department of Homeland Security. And while I did not get to talk to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff directly, I did learn that he felt people like me not only do not want amnesty for the illegals (although it's not really amnesty they say), but would rather see the illegals executed.

I was surprised to hear this. I did not know I felt this way. Thanks for the free psychoanalysis, Mike.

But all was not lost. It was not a complete waste of my time. I learned that money had been allocated and spent on 'stuff' to comply with the bill Bush had signed into law.

We should start to see results soon with the recently spent funds that brought us these improved tools to secure the border:

(1.) 854 miles of supreme quality fencing material:

(2.) One gross of unmanned planes to help patrol the border:

(3.) High tech communications network system to coordinate the timely and effective transfer of information between border guards, their supervisors, and Dept. of Homeland Security:

(4.) New hats for our border patrol that will help promote multiculturalism, goodwill, and lessens the intimidation factor (also provides uncompromising sun protection):

(5.) Fashionable new uniforms for our border patrol, sure to inspire pride and foster a desire to do the job right:

(6.) An assortment, you might even say a wide array, of signs that can be posted at the appropriate locations to facilitate proper communication:

(English translation: Don't disregard the signs)

Yes. I do believe we should start to see measurable results soon. How could we not?

NEW QUARTER

HA, HA, Ha, Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha !!!!!!!!!

Animal Group Blames Cat Influx on Global Warming
"A coalition of animal shelters says there has been a “dramatic” increase in the number of cats brought in – and it blames the trend on global warming. According to the president of Pets Across America, 'many believe global warming is extending cat breeding seasons and causing the cat population to swell.' "

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ..... Read on ......... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Gingrich Handicaps GOP Presidential Race

"Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Friday threw some weight behind 2008 Republican presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani even though Gingrich may himself decide to enter the race in September.

Citing his 'extraordinary accomplishments' as New York City mayor, Gingrich praised Giuliani for bringing a new approach to an inefficient government. Gingrich said this needs to happen on a much larger scale across the nation.

The speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) was another in a series introducing the Republican politician's efforts to spark vast government reform, dubbed 'American Solutions for Winning the Future.' "

Read on.

NEWS

Prisons Banning Books From Radical Inmates
Hillary: 'No Child Left Behind' Cramps Creativity
Fla. Evangelist Backs Attack on Romney

NEWS

Lieberman Endorses Military Strikes on Iran

Hillary Taps Impeached Judge as National Co-Chair

Poll: Fred Thompson Even with McCain

Hillary Clinton: I Play Pickup Basketball

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton loves to tell whoppers.

Her latest: she has played 'pickup basketball.'

It’s the latest in tall-tale fibs she has been spinning to make herself more likeable to voters.

The New York Times revealed Hillary’s problem in a feature article this weekend headlined 'Hillary Clinton Searches for Her Inner Jock.' "
Continue story.

Three Kinds of People

By Mike S. Adams

"When I was growing up my father used to say there were two kinds of people in this world. When I would ask him “What time is it?” he would say “There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who ask what time it is and those who wear watches.” He had so many variations on the theme that I eventually decided there really were two kinds of people in this world: Those who dichotomize and those who do not.

But, later, with the help of Lt. Col. David Grossman, I decided there are three kinds of people in this world: Sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs.

The sheep form the largest segment of our society. According to Grossman, these are the people who are living in a constant state of denial. They are generally incapable of doing violence to another person and largely unaware of the existence of evil in this world – the true evil which is, thankfully, confined to a minority of the population."

Read on.

Why the immigration bill failed

By Carol Platt Liebau

"It’s still an open question whether the Senate immigration bill once hailed as a “grand bargain” returns to the Senate floor this week or fades forever from public and political consciousness. But before they try to resurrect this or any other immigration bill, President Bush and the senators who supported this failed effort would be well-advised to heed the opinion of the people who have elected them.

A New York Times/CBS poll taken May 18-23 found that 69% of Americans believe that illegal immigrants should be prosecuted and deported; 82% of those surveyed said the federal government should be working harder to “”keep illegal immigrants from crossing into this country.” And according to a Rasmussen poll, by a two-to-one margin (60% to 28%), Americans set a higher priority on gaining control of the nation’s borders than regularizing the status of illegal immigrants, while 75% opined that it’s very important for the United States to “improve border enforcement and end illegal immigration.”

At its heart, the bill was profoundly out of step with public opinion. In fact, it’s remarkable that any legislation with so many elements so at odds with prevailing opinion among Americans was ever given much of a chance at passing. Perhaps ....."

By "Higher Education," They Mean the Price

By Burt Prelutsky

"Like all of my conservative colleagues, I have often taken up a cudgel or even an axe in the ongoing battle with liberals, leftists, Socialists, progressives, Maoists, Castroites, Communists, and all the other whack-jobs on the wrong side of history.

Some of the issues that we on the right usually agree about involve affirmative action, taxes, capital punishment, bilingual education, welfare, illegal aliens, the military, the Constitution, and the belief that logic and commonsense should always trump emotion when it comes to making national policy.

There is one issue, however, of some importance about which nobody else seems even slightly concerned. And, no, I am not referring to my book sales, but, rather, to the cost of what is amusingly referred to as higher education. Higher than what, you well might ask, considering that a good number of college graduates can not do simple math or write a coherent sentence, and would be better served if they repeated the eighth grade. Still, countless American families are mortgaging their homes and future solvency so that their kids can attend college." More.

Red Nation, Blue Nation

By Michael Barone

"Listening to the recent debates among the candidates, monitoring their Websites and reading the poll numbers, one gets the impression that the Republican and Democratic primary electorates are living in two different nations -- or the same nation that faces two very different threats.

The Republicans want to protect us against Islamist terrorists. The Democrats want to protect us against climate change. Each side believes the other's fears are largely imaginary." More.

War, lies and Hillary Clinton

By Star Parker

"I assume that Senator Clinton's campaign hopes that most folks will not read 'Her Way,' by New York Times reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta, Jr., or the New York Times Magazine article adapted from the book, 'Hillary's War.'

Anyone that does will appreciate the transparently false picture that the Senator is transmitting about why she voted in 2002 to authorize going to war in Iraq.

The Senator's vote has become a ....."

"Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society.
It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained,
or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."

-- James Madison

A Great Gulf

By Hugh Hewitt
Townhall.com

"The debate among the GOP candidates hosted by CNN in New Hampshire demonstrated a number of very significant points.

First, the immigration compromise bill before the Senate of the United States is not supported by any of the would-be nominees except John McCain.

Second, all of the Republican candidates except Congressman Ron Paul believe that the threat from Islamic jihadism is real and very serious.

Third, the GOP majority believes in victory in Iraq, not in a cut-and-run strategy.

And, finally, that the GOP is still the party of life.

There is incredible separation between the Democratic and Republican parties on a series of crucial issues. The vote in 2008 will be at least as significant as any that has gone before it. The long campaign is quickly becoming the campaign for America's future. This is exactly the sort of campaign that we need, and exactly the sort of campaign that is required."

Bush immigration failure hurts Mexico's Calderon

Reuters

"MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Washington's failure to change its immigration laws is a blow to pro-U.S. Mexican President Felipe Calderon as he faces his toughest challenges since taking office in December.

After a strong start to his presidency, Calderon is struggling to defeat violent gangs that smuggle drugs across the U.S. border and his government is embroiled in tough talks with Congress to hammer out a tax reform.

Winning a relaxation of U.S. immigration laws has been the main ......."

ABC News: Thompson on '08: 'I'm Going to Do This'

"As he prepares to join the hunt for a red November, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is walking into the line of fire.

Without raising a single campaign dollar or giving a single stump speech, Thompson threatens to knock one or more of the 2008 candidates out of the top tier -- and his 6-foot 6-inch frame will crowd out long-shot candidates who hope to emerge as the choice of social conservatives."

Read on.

Iranians confirm fourth US arrest

"Iran has officially confirmed that it is detaining a fourth Iranian American on suspicion of spying.

Ali Shakeri, an American Iranian peace activist and academic disappeared while on a visit to Iran last month but officials initially denied his arrest.

These arrests of dual nationals have sent shock waves through the huge Iranian diaspora.

They have also prompted many academics to think twice about attending conferences in Iran."

More at BBC NEWS

Sentencing of Scooter Libby

By Fred Thompson

"The sentencing of Scooter Libby was the last in a series of acts that has resulted in a shocking injustice – one created by and enabled by federal officials. As I’ve been saying for many months, this is a “he said-she said” case about political infighting that would have never been brought in any other prosecutor’s office in America.

The CIA started the ball rolling by sending the Democratic partisan husband of one of its employees to Niger on a sensitive mission. Knowing an opportunity when he saw one, he returned and blasted the Bush Administration (the fact that he blatantly falsified a few important things along the way is another story). It should not have been a shock to CIA officials when people then asked, “Who is this guy and why was he sent to Niger?” The only mystery in Washington is why the CIA employee-wife’s name, Valerie Plame, took as long as it did to leak.

Nevertheless ...."

The Incredible Judicial Disparity: Berger v. Libby
By Frank Salvato

If you needed any more proof that the American judicial system is completely – and alarmingly – subjective, look no further than the disparity between the sentences imposed on Sandy Berger and I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby. In Washington’s version of The Peoples’ Court, it would seem that the deciding factors in how severe a sentence one gets depends on political party affiliation -- the severity of the crime be damned…

UK Airport Security for US-Bound Flights Found Severely Deficient
London - A U.S. lawmaker is calling for a suspension of transatlantic flights from the main airport in Britain’s second-largest city after an investigation uncovered what appeared to be major lapses in security. An undercover investigation found security staff at the Birmingham International Airport apparently sleeping on the job, not bothering to examine luggage as it was x-rayed, and leaving planes unguarded...

NAACP Money Woes Prompt Downsizing
While the NAACP says financial problems are forcing layoffs and office closures, one black conservative told Cybercast News Service that the NAACP is “a dinosaur” that needs to “come to grips with the fact that America has changed” since the civil rights movement began in the 1960s…

Taking a Step Backward on Earmarks

By John Boehner

"After repeatedly promising the “most honest” and “most open” Congress in history, Democratic leaders have moved to make the earmark process entirely secret.

It started in January when the House quickly adopted rules that have prevented lawmakers from challenging an earmark as long as the bill to which it's attached contains a list of earmarks – even if the list is inaccurate and doesn't list the earmark at issue. The rules were supposed to ensure all earmarks receive appropriate scrutiny and opportunity for debate but have instead made it nearly impossible to challenge wasteful spending. In fact, in February the majority used this loophole to certify a massive spending bill as “earmark free,” despite the fact that it contained hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks."

Read on.

William Jefferson Scandal Taints Entire Democratic Party

By Matt Margolis & Mark Noonan

There is perhaps no better example of the fraudulent nature of the Democrats ethical posturing than that of Rep. William Jefferson, who after more than two years of being the target of a federal investigation was finally indicted on Monday. The 16-count indictment includes charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes, money laundering, obstruction of justice, corruption, and conspiracy. The scandal should have major repercussions for the entire Democratic Party, which largely ignored scandal during the 2006 campaign, then afterwards rewarded and protected Jefferson up to the day he was indicted.

Read on.

American Support For Amnesty Fades

By Michael Franc

"The role the Senate plays in our legislative process was best described by George Washington. “We pour legislation into the senatorial saucer,” he told a skeptical Thomas Jefferson, “to cool it.”

Indeed, after two weeks of debate on the comprehensive immigration reform bill, a growing number of Americans have cooled on this legislative endeavor. Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that support for the “grand bargain” has slipped three points (to 23%) while opposition has ticked up to 50%. Other polls have found that the more Americans know about it, the less likely they are to support it."

Read on.

The 2008 juggernaut: Reagan Democrats

By Salena Zito

"They were the defectors of the late 20th century who twice swept Ronald Reagan into office in landside proportions: ethnic working-class Northerners, typically Catholic with traditional values and populist tendencies.

Nearly 30 years after they first split from their party, Reagan Democrats are once again at the epicenter of an election cycle."

Read on.

Immigration Bill Isn't Dead Yet

By Robert Bluey

Conservatives cheered last week when Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled the immigration proposal from the Senate floor. But don't be taking any victory laps just yet. The bill is far from dead.

Read on.

Base to GOP: Hasta la Vista, Baby!

By Ken Connor

Success in politics depends on the ability of a candidate or a party to forge and maintain coalitions. One of the most successful coalitions in modern political history has been the "Reagan Coalition", which brought together economic and social conservatives under the umbrella of the Republican Party. Preserving that coalition brought the Republicans great success, including occupancy of the White House and twelve years of control over the House of Representatives. The coalition that Reagan fashioned is fraying, however, and is on the verge of unraveling. The causes are many, but the coup de grace is likely to be the current controversy over immigration.

JUST THE FACTS, JACK

1. In 1970, six percent of all births in the United States were born to illegal aliens.
2. Presently, 20 to 25 percent of children born in the United States are born to illegal aliens.
3. In 1994, 36 percent of the births paid for by Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid, were to illegals.
4. The Latino voting block represents 12 percent of the electorate. (This is who both parties are pandering to in their immigration discussions in an attempt to secure their vote.)
5. Currently, there are deportation orders for more than 600,000 illegal aliens (but virtually no funding or effort to enforce these orders.)
6. There are substantial penalties for hiring illegal immigrants, there is no funding or effort to enforce these laws, either.

“Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense.” -- Thomas Jefferson