Twelve Anti-Family Gifts from Congress

Twelve Anti-Family Gifts from Congress
by Katherine Bradley
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reprinted by OneNewsNow.com
As Congress wraps up its final business for the year, there are at least a dozen detrimental policies included in the omnibus spending bill recently signed into law by the President. Taken as a whole, these policies devalue human life, weaken civil society, and undermine the family. Unfortunately, these provisions have largely gone unnoticed by the general public.
The Dirty Dozen
The Fiscal Year 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill passed by Congress includes a slew of offensive items:

Elimination of abstinence education. Despite polling showing the vast majority of parents want their children to be taught that abstinence is best,[1] the omnibus defunds the abstinence-based education program. In its place Congress creates another condom-based sex education program.
Spreading the wealth. The omnibus bill, as well as the other appropriation measures that have passed this year, represent a fulfillment of President Obama's promise to "spread the wealth." His 2010 budget reflects a 30 percent increase over President Bush's last year in office on means-tested welfare programs such as housing, food stamps, and health care. Unfortunately, these programs do little or nothing to help recipients move off of the welfare rolls and into jobs where they can achieve independence and provide for their families.

Needle exchange. Tucked into the health portion of the bill is an allowance of federal taxpayer funds to be used for needle exchange programs whereby drug addicts can get new needles for turning in used needles. Ostensibly to prevent the spread of infection, these programs settle for "harm reduction" rather than overcoming drug addiction. The provision does allow local health agencies and local law enforcement to "opt-out."

Planned Parenthood funding. Despite the country's towering deficit, the omnibus bill boosts Title X family planning funding by $10 million to $315.5 million. The largest recipient of Title X funds is Planned Parenthood.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Despite its stated mission to "ensure that every pregnancy is wanted," the UNFPA would receive $5 million more from U.S. taxpayers to, among other things, support China's mandatory one-child policy, under which millions of wanted pregnancies have been ended.

International family planning. Shortly after his inauguration, President Obama rescinded the "Mexico City policy," which banned funding to organizations that promote and/or perform abortion overseas. The omnibus bills would give these groups an additional $103 million.

Limiting free speech. The omnibus bill drops a ban on federal funds being used to enforce or implement the "Fairness Doctrine." This policy would have the effect of shutting down conservative talk radio programs.

The section of the bill that funds the District of Columbia includes these disturbing provisions:
Ending the D.C. Scholarship Program. For five years, thousands of D.C. families have been able to send their children to safe and effective private schools. But the omnibus bill allows no new entrants into the program--despite a 2009 Department of Education report showing a statistically significant increase in reading scores for scholarship students.[2]

Public funding of abortion. The bill lifts a ban on D.C. using local funds to promote and fund abortions for District residents.

Taxpayer-financed domestic partner benefits. The bill lifts a longstanding ban on the use of federal taxpayer funds to pay for health care benefits for domestic partners of D.C. employees. Federal funds would also now be used for domestic partnership registration.

Legalized medical marijuana. The bill gives D.C. the ability to use local funds to start and implement a medical marijuana program. This comes at a time when, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles is attempting to reel in its program. Medical marijuana dispensaries have become one of the fastest-growing industries in the city, with some 1,000 dispensaries cropping up since 2004.[3]

Needle exchange for drug abusers. A decade-long ban is lifted in the bill to allow D.C. to use local funds to run a needle exchange program for drug addicts. Unfortunately, a provision keeping these programs from within 1,000 feet of any school, day care, or youth center was stripped out in the final bill.

Unwelcome Christmas Gifts
The Christmas season is a time when Americans celebrate life, family, and community. Unfortunately, the 12 unwelcome Christmas gifts in the omnibus bill, signed into law by President Obama last week, undermine these pillars of American civil society.
Katherine Bradley is Visiting Fellow in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and lets remember that it is fun to have the Christmas decorations on our house and decorating the Christmas tree and being with our family. But let's remember that Christmas is to honor the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should all celebrate His birth as the Angels did when they sang and praised in the Heavans while the Shepards watched over their sheep.

Rep. Gutierrez Introduces Mass Amnesty Bill

reprinted by NumbersUSA
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Rep. Luis Gutierrez
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) introduced legislation today that offers amnesty to the nation's estimated 11-18 million illegal aliens. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act (H.R. 4321) would increase annual immigration numbers while putting an end to many of the enforcement mechanisms currently put into place by federal, state and local governments.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) is the bill's official sponsor. The bill was introduced with 91 original cosponsors including Rep. Gutierrez. H.R. 4321 would offer amnesty to all illegal aliens living in the United States at the time of the bill's passage as long as they meet a short list of requirements, including a criminal and security background check and a fine of $500 which will be waved for children and individuals who entered the country before the age of 16. Illegal aliens can then become citizenship by meeting requirements over a six-year period.
The bill would also discontinue E-Verify in lieu of a new employment authorization system. The initial outline of the bill provided by the American Immigration Lawyers Association does not offer details of the new system, but Rep. Gutierrez championed a biometrics verification system during a Senate Immigration Subcommittee hearing earlier this year.
The bill would create an independent commission that would make recomendation towards the future flow of workers based on the needs of the market place. The bill would also establish a work match system that allows employers who have historically relied on illegal workers to find workers through an internet-based system.

The bill would attempt to close up some of the loopholes in current visa classes, more specifically the H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, but the bill would not reduce the number of these visas currently issued. The bill also includes the AgJOBS amnesty, which grants amnesty to illegal farm workers who can prove they've worked consistently in the United States over a set period of time, and the DREAM Act, which grants amnesty to illegal aliens who graduated from U.S. high schools and wish to attend college. The following summary is provided by the American Immigration Lawyers Association... Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity (CIR ASAP) Act of 2009

TITLE I - BORDER SECURITY, DETENTION, AND ENFORCEMENT
Subtitle A - Border Security:
Subtitle A of Title I assembles a vision of effective and accountable enforcement for the 21st century through maximizing border security by requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to form a national strategy that is consistent with the progress already made. In order to achieve these goals, oversight and accountability for the Department of Homeland Security is emphasized, especially as they pertain to fiscal appropriations and cost-benefit analyses of operations and programs.
Protecting Our Borders: This subtitle protects United States border cities and communities from violence and crime along the U.S.-Mexico border by:
Creating a Southern Border Security Task Force that is composed of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers

*Requiring a security plan for land ports of entry at the borders involved in international trade
*Expanding the programs under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism that is in accordance to the SAFE Port Act
*Improving the exchange of information between federal agencies on North American Security by a conducting a targeted study of security clearance standards, document integrity, immigration and visa management and coordination, terrorist watch lists and smuggling operations

Effective Enforcement: Subtitle A achieves effective enforcement by improving personnel, assets and technology. This section: Supports additional training, oversight and evaluation for agents who are the first face of America at the borders
*Ensures that Customs and Border Protection have sufficient personal equipment like body armor, weapons, and uniforms, and that Customs and Border Protection have sufficient assets such as helicopters, power boats, motor vehicles and other electronic equipment
*Promotes standards for searches of electronic devices and appropriate training for agents in conducting such searches
*Minimizes wasteful spending by developing and studying comprehensive uses of advanced technologies, such as aerial and automated surveillance
*Requires an inventory prior to any increase of personnel assets and technology
*Securing Ports of Entry: Our nation's ports of entry are modernized for our economic benefit and security by conducting a study of the infrastructure and operations to identify necessary improvements and projects to enhance border security and the flow of legitimate commerce and travel.

This section: Improves infrastructure and recalibrates resources and training to allow for more effective screening of commercial goods and individuals so as to minimize threats to national security at ports of entry
*Increases the number of full-time port of entry inspectors, agricultural specialists, and support staff to improve the timely and safe flow of commercial goods and individuals
*Establishes a demonstration project to test and evaluate new port of entry technologies and also refines existing technologies and operational concepts

Combating Criminal Activity: This subtitle recognizes the role of state law enforcement at the border in combating criminal activity by creating border relief grant programs for Northern and Southern border state, local and tribal law enforcement entities.

This section: Enables better training and technical assistance for state and local partners that deals with narcotics-related kidnapping, drug trafficking and the interdiction of weapons and currency
*Facilitates information-sharing and collaboration between federal and state partners
*Suspends the Operation Streamline program pending review of the goals, impacts and costbenefit analyses
*Reimburses Northern and Southern border state and local prosecutors for prosecuting federally initiated drug cases
*Provides expanded resources for Operation Armas Cruzadas and Project Gunrunner to identify, investigate, and prosecute individuals involved in the trafficking and smuggling of firearms between Mexico and the United States.

Improving Partnerships: The importance of border communities as partners and allies are recognized as key in achieving effective enforcement by prioritizing community consultation in developing enforcement policies, border protection strategies and training. This subtitle:
Establishes the U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement Commission and a Border Communities Liaison Office to foster and institutionalize community consultation Prohibits military involvement in non-emergency border enforcement
*Prioritizes mitigating adverse impacts to federal, tribal, state, local and private lands, waters, wildlife and habitats by promoting cross-agency development of comprehensive monitoring and mitigation of ecological and environmental impacts of border security infrastructure and activity

Combating Human Trafficking: Subtitle A requires the development and implementation of a plan to improve coordination amongst federal and state partners to address human smuggling and migrant deaths. This section calls for additional ICE agents dedicated to combating human smuggling are stationed at ports of entry, requires reporting on migrant deaths, and establishes a study of strategies used at the Southern border to address this problem.

Subtitle B - Detention:
Improving Conditions of Detention: The bill requires DHS to meet minimum requirements to ensure the humane treatment of detainees. Minimum requirements include:
Adequate medical and mental health screenings, evaluations, medically necessary treatment, and continuing care
*A review process for medical treatment requests and complete and confidential medical records
Reasonable access to telephones, affordable rates, and privacy protections for calls
Protections from sexual abuse, care for victims, and reports and investigations of abuse
Protection from transfers that fail to consider health and access to counsel
To ensure compliance with minimum detention conditions, the bill requires rulemaking and enforcement. An independent immigration detention commission is established to investigate and report on compliance. DHS must report the death of a detainee within 48 hours, and report annually to Congress on the circumstances of all deaths in detention.
Protecting U.S. Citizens, Lawfully Present Immigrants, Vulnerable Populations, and Communities: This section increases screening and protections during immigration-related enforcement activities for U.S. citizens, Legal Permanent Residents, others lawfully present in the U.S., and vulnerable populations. Social service agencies, translators, and legal services must be available during enforcement activities. DHS will be required to:
Issue regulations prohibiting apprehensions at enumerated community, educational, and religious locations
Provide access to legal orientation programs and access to counsel during enforcement activities and for disabled individuals unable to fully participate in removal proceedings
Give timely notice and service of immigration charges, as well as timely bond hearings if detained more than 48 hours
This section increases protections for individuals subject to immigration detainers, limits the use of detainers to confirmed removable aliens, and requires DHS to collect data and report on detainer use. The unnecessary detention of refugees is prohibited. DHS is required to report to Congress on the impact of immigration-related enforcement activities.
Improving Secure Alternative to Detention Programs: Criteria are established to guide detention and release decisions and require release for vulnerable populations. Detention decisions must be in writing, served upon detainees, and are subject to redetermination by an immigration judge.
Protecting Family Unity: Families with children may not be separated except in exceptional circumstances where alternatives to detention are not available. Residential, non-penal facilities are developed for any necessary family detention with appropriate protections for children and parental rights. The bill includes safeguards for families and children during immigration-related enforcement actions by:
Improving child welfare services for children separated from parents and guardians who are in immigration detention or have been removed
Requiring training for federal and state personnel who interact with separated children and for staff at immigration detention facilities on parental rights, humanitarian, and due process protections
Ensuring protections for detained parents, guardians, and caregivers in immigration detention to promote access to children, family courts, child welfare services, and consular officials
Protecting Unaccompanied Alien Children: Training is required for DHS employees who encounter unaccompanied alien children. Upon apprehension of an unaccompanied alien child, immediate notice is required by DHS or ORR and transfer to ORR custody within 24 hours.
Subtitle C - Enforcement:
Protecting workers: Provides temporary visas and work authorization for detained workers when they have been retaliated against by their employer for asserting their labor rights and they agree to pursue labor claims against their employer. Also expands U visas to provide for whistleblower protections with regard to worker exploitation, civil rights violations and retaliation for exercising labor rights.
Address Reporting: Clarifies address reporting requirements
Ending Discrimination: Preempts any state or local law that discriminates against an individual based on immigration status or imposes sanctions on any individual or entity based on the immigration status of its clients, employees or tenants
Repeals the 287(g) program: Repeals the 287(g) program and clarifies that the authority to enforce federal immigration law lies solely with the federal government
ICE Ombudsman: Establishes an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Ombudsman Asylum: Eliminates the arbitrary 1-year bar to applying for asylum
Restores federal jurisdiction: Restores the federal courts of their jurisdiction to review decisions and practices of DHS thereby also restoring the historic role that the courts play in reviewing agency actions
TITLE II - EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION
This section sets up an employment verification system for employers to verify each new hire’s authorization to work. The new system will eventually apply to all workers and all new hires, and will be rolled out in phases, beginning with critical infrastructure employers and large employers. The employment verification system:
Creates significant civil penalties for employers who do not comply with the requirements under the new system
Establishes serious criminal penalties for knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens
Debars employers who repeatedly violate these provisions from government contracts, grants, and agreements
Includes privacy safeguards by limiting the data that can be collected and stored in the database and requiring the agencies to develop the system with maximum security and privacy protections
Requires the agencies to evaluate impact of system from a privacy perspective and complete privacy impact statements
Prohibits creation of a national identification card
Includes anti-discrimination provisions. Forbids employers from using the new system to discriminate against applicants or employees on the basis of nationality. Prohibits employers from terminating employment due to a tentative non-confirmation, using the system to screen employees prior to offering employment, or using the system selectively
Allows an individual to register with the Social Security Administration and acquire a PIN that would allow them electronic access to their file in the system, update their information, and lock their file for purposes of employment
TITLE III - VISA REFORMS
Backlog Reduction and Numerical Limit Reforms:
Reduction of existing backlogs: Permits the “recapture” of unused employment-based visas and family-sponsored visas from fiscal years 1992-2008 and allows future unused visa numbers to roll over to next fiscal year. Immediate relatives are exempted from the annual cap on the number of immigrant visas. This section increases the percentage limit of visas which may be issued yearly to a single country.
Promotion of Family Unity: To recognize family unity principles and facilitate backlog reduction, reclassifies spouses and children of lawful permanent residents as immediate relatives. The government is given greater discretionary authority to waive unlawful presence bars to reunite families upon a demonstration of hardship for applicant’s U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members.
Sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans: Exempts the sons and daughters of Filipino WWII veterans from the annual numerical limitations.
Immigrants with Advanced Skills Exempt from Visa Cap: Exempts several categories of highly skilled workers from the employment-based immigrant visa cap.
Retaining Workers Subject to the Green Card Backlog: Current nonimmigrant skilled workers whose employer has petitioned for an employment-based green card on their behalf and their dependents will be permitted to file an application for adjustment of status, regardless of whether a visa is immediately available. An applicant under this section must pay a supplemental $500 fee, to be used by DHS for backlog reduction and clearing security background check delays. The Secretary shall provide employment and travel authorization in 3- year increments while the application is pending.
Protection of Children and Families:
Relief for Orphans and Widows: Ensures that surviving spouses and children applying for adjustment of status or naturalization, including spouses and children of asylees and refugees, retain eligibility for waivers and other considerations that would have been available to them at the time of the petitioner’s death.
Reform of Cancellation of Removal: Permits immigration judges greater discretion in determining eligibility requirements for long-term lawful permanent residents seeking cancellation of removal. Eliminates prohibitions on including time spent in the United States after becoming inadmissible or being placed in removal proceedings as counting towards continuous presence requirements for cancellation of removal.
Protection for Refugees, Parolees or Asylees: Prohibits the removal of any individual who fled his or her homeland for fear of persecution before the age of twelve and was subsequently admitted into the United States as a parolee or refugee or was granted asylum in the U.S.
Enhanced Protections for Children: Revises current law to ensure that the children of fiancés of United States citizens will be protected from aging out of eligibility to adjust to conditional resident status by requiring that eligibility determinations are based on the child's age at the time the U.S. citizen files a petition for classifying the child's parent as a fiancé or spouse. Eliminates he requirement that stepchildren must have been under the age of 18 at the time the qualifying marriage took place in order to be classified as a child for purposes of immigration eligibility.
Limits on Removal for Parents of U.S. Citizen Children: Permits an immigration judge to decline to order the removal of the parent of U.S. citizen child if the judge determines that removal would not be in the child's best interests and the parent is not subject to removal based on national security, terrorism or trafficking grounds.
Determinations under the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998: This section amends the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA) to preserve eligibility for children of applicants based on their age on the date of enactment of HRIFA and permits new applications and motions to reopen on that basis.
Affidavit of Support: Revises the eligibility requirements for sponsorship of immigrants by reducing the level of support required from 125% of poverty level to 100% of poverty level.
Return of Talent Program: Permits lawful permanent residents to temporarily return to their home country to assist in post-conflict or natural disaster reconstruction activities, for up to two years without losing credit towards time as a continuous resident of the U.S. for purposes of applying for naturalization.
Humanitarian Visa Program to Prevent Unauthorized Migration (PUM Visa): Prevent Unauthorized Migration Visa (PUM Visa) Creates a stop-gap new visa program that will provide for safe, humanitarian migration during the three-year transition period before the implementation of recommendations made by the new Labor Commission.
One hundred thousand PUM visas will be made available annually, for three years, to persons from sending countries of unauthorized migration to the United States to be distributed on a percentage basis through a lottery system.
Individuals may apply to the lottery if they are not present in the United States at the time of filing, do not have other family or employment-based means to immigration, submit to criminal background checks, and have completed less than a 4-year college degree program.
Individuals awarded visas will be admitted to the United States as conditional residents and may petition to remove the condition after three years upon showing they have good moral character, pass all required background and security checks, comply with all tax requirements and other factors, including payment of a $500 fee that will be used to fund security and employment programs.
TITLE IV – EARNED LEGALIZATION PROGRAM FOR THE UNDOCUMENTED
Visa Program for Qualified Undocumented Workers: Creates a program providing conditional nonimmigrant status for undocumented immigrants (and their spouses and children) in the U.S., which is valid for six years.
Features of the Conditional Nonimmigrant Program:
Provides conditional nonimmigrant visa applicants with work and travel authorization and protection from removal
Bars related to undocumented status will be waived (security and criminal bars cannot be waived)
Contains provisions for administrative and judicial review of denied applications
Requirements for Conditional Nonimmigrant Status: The alien must:
Establish presence in the U.S. on the day of introduction, and continuously thereafter
At time of registration, attests to contributions to the U.S. through employment, education, military service, or other volunteer/community service (with exemptions for minors, persons with disabilities, the elderly, or other unusual circumstances)
Complete criminal and security background checks
Pay a $500 fine plus necessary application fees (fine exemption for children and certain immigrants who initially entered the U.S. before the age of 16)
The individual shall be ineligible to receive a visa as a result of a serious criminal conviction, persecution of another person or reasonable grounds for believing that the alien committed a particularly serious crime abroad
There is a penalty of up to five years' imprisonment for anyone who willfully falsifies information in an application for conditional nonimmigrant status
Adjustment of Status to LPR: Provides qualified conditional nonimmigrants and their spouses and children with an opportunity to apply for lawful permanent resident status (green card) and eventual citizenship.
Features of the Earned Adjustment of Status Program:
No green cards may be issued under this program earlier than six years after the date of enactment unless existing immigrant backlogs have been cleared before that time
The Department of State and DHS are required to provide any requesting law enforcement entity with information furnished on an application in connection with a criminal or national security investigation or prosecution
New penalties for making false statements in an application for earned citizenship are created
Immigrants who adjust from a conditional nonimmigrant visa (including dependents) to lawful permanent resident status shall not be counted against the worldwide numerical visa caps
Those appealing decisions associated with the application for adjustment to permanent status have access to a defined administrative and judicial process
Special Rule for Persons Brought to the United States Before the Age of 16: In order to simplify processing of applicants under CIR ASAP, those persons ordinarily covered under the DREAM Act will apply for status through the same program outlined above, with the following special features:
No fines for persons who were brought to the United States before the age of 16, have resided in the U.S. for at least five years, and were 35 years of age or less
Such persons will be eligible for accelerated LPR status upon graduation from high school, and completion of two years of college, military service, or employment. Persons granted LPR status under this provision will be eligible for naturalization three years after the date LPR status is granted
Graduation from a U.S. high school or receipt of an equivalency degree will meet the English proficiency requirement
Individual states permitted to determine residency requirements for in-state tuition purposes
Requirements for Earned Adjustment: The applicant must:
Demonstrate contribution to the United States through employment, education, military service, or voluntary or community service, where applicable
Complete criminal and security background checks
Establish registration under the Selective Service (if applicable)
Meet English and civics requirements
Undergo a medical examination
Pay all taxes
Show admissibility to the U.S
Other Provisions in Title IV:
AgJOBS Act of 2009
TITLE V - STRENGTHENING AMERICA'S WORKFORCE
Title V of CIR ASAP strengthens America's workforce by reforming the badly-flawed H-1B, H- 2B and L-1 visa programs and establishes a Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to provide researched, unbiased, accurate recommendations for future flows of workers. It also permanently reauthorizes the EB-5 visa program and establishes stricter requirements for employers and recruiters of foreign workers. Title V additionally establishes the American Worker Recruit and Match System which will match qualified individuals with job opportunities in fields that traditionally have relied on unauthorized labor. Furthermore, this title establishes the Security and Prosperity Account which directs funds raised from fines in the earned legalization program to fortify America's workforce, integrate new Americans and safeguard our borders.
Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets: Title V establishes a new independent federal agency known as the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets. The Commission will:
Establish employment based-immigration policies that promote economic growth and competitiveness while minimizing job displacement, wage depression and unauthorized employment
Create and implement a policy-focused research agenda on the economic impact of immigration on multiple levels
Collect and analyze information on employment-based immigration and publish the data and analysis
Recommend to Congress and the President appropriate methods for determining the levels of employment-based immigration and assessing the effects of such immigration as well as the numerical levels and characteristics of procedures for future flows of workers to be admitted into the United States
Security and Prosperity Account: The Security and Prosperity Account is established in Title V to fund efforts to strengthen our workforce, including:
Grants to states for adult and dislocated worker employment and training activities
Funding for the Electronic Employment Verification System to ensure that all individuals working in the U.S. are authorized to do so
Funding for the Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to provide sound, researched and objective employment based immigration policy
Dislocated workers assistance national reserve funding
Establishment of AWRMS programs and funds educational purposes
Funding to reduce the USCIS visa backlog to ensure a timely and reliable process for all individuals applying for visas and further the integration of new Americas with programs that, for example, facilitate citizenship for legal permanent resident students and create citizenship promotion services
Funding for border security, detention and enforcement activities
American Worker Recruit and Match System: Title V establishes the American Worker Recruit and Match System (AWRMS), which is an internet-based program that is set up by each State Workforce Agency (SWA) to be incorporated into current Web-based job search engines. AWRMS is a searchable database that allows employers to post job opportunities in fields that have traditionally relied on unauthorized labor. In addition, individuals can post their employment profiles and AWRMS will match employers with qualified individuals.
Protecting Workers: Title V protects foreign workers from exploitation and abuse by ensuring that each prospective employee is provided a written description of the terms of their employment which may not knowingly include any misleading or false information. In addition, each employer must provide to the Secretary of Labor the identity of all recruiters working on their behalf and any possible violations committed by a recruiter. An employer will be held responsible for the actions of a recruiter and may be subject to civil penalties.
H-1B visa program: The current H-1B visa program does not adequately protect American or H-1B workers. Title V reforms the H-1B visa program to:
Ensure that before an employer can hire an H-1B worker, the employer must meet strict requirements for the recruitment of American workers
Authorize the Department of Labor (DOL) to initiate investigations into possible fraud and abuse in the absence of a formal complaint and/or the Secretary's approval.
Increase penalties for violations
Authorize the DOL to conduct annual audits of employers that rely heavily on the H-1B program
L-1 visa program: The L-1 visa program is currently vulnerable to fraud and abuse. CIR ASAP authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to audit L-1 visa participants. Penalties will be assessed for violations of the provisions of the L-1 visa program.
H-2B visa program: The H-2B visa program is reformed to prevent the exploitation of H-2B non-immigrants and the depression of wages and other workplace abuses by exploitative employers. Reforms to the program:
Include stricter requirements for recruitment of American workers
Prevent employers from participating in the program if they have conducted a mass lay-off in the past year and includes strengthened worker protections
EB-5 Visa program: The EB-5 Visa program is permanently reauthorized within Title V with an increase in available visas to 10,000. It also allows for an expedited processing of petitions for a fee of $2,500. The definition of Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is expanded to include:
Rural areas,
High-unemployment areas
Counties with a 20 percent or more population decrease since 1970
Areas within the boundaries of state or federal economic development incentive programs
Areas designated as TEAs by a state agency authorized by the Governor
Areas designated as TEAs during the two year period before visa application
In addition, Title V requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to study and report on the current job creation counting methodology and how to promote the employment creation program to overseas investors. Lastly it creates a new category of job-producing foreigners eligible for visas: venture capitalist seeking a Founder's visa.
TITLE VI - INTEGRATION OF NEW AMERICANS
Immigration Fees: Immigration fees have risen steeply in the past decade. Title VI will ensure that future fee increase requests receive closer scrutiny than provided by the largely perfunctory regulatory public comment process. Title VI incorporates and expands on provisions of the Citizenship Promotion Act of 2007 to make citizenship more accessible and affordable. This title:
Provides for greater transparency for immigration application fees and encourages a uniform process to submit fee waiver applications
Provides for uniform administration of the naturalization exam
Promotes citizenship of the elderly by adjusting the age requirements for English language exemption
Improving the Naturalization Process: The process for naturalization is lengthy and difficult to navigate. Title VI creates reforms that encourage citizenship among immigrant communities. This section requires timely response on background checks and evaluates their efficiency. In addition, this title includes a grant program for community based organizations to promote and help immigrants prepare for citizenship. These grants in support of naturalization efforts will assist legal permanent residents with:
English language and citizenship classes
Legal assistance
Community outreach activities
Assisting aliens with applications for citizenship
Integration Grant Programs:
Title VI includes a grant program for education, training and support efforts relating to the provisions of the CIR ASAP Act, including protections from immigration fraud and the availability of benefits provided by the act. Provisions ensure that to the extent possible, the nonprofit community organizations receiving grants serve geographically diverse and ethnically diverse locations.
USCIS Grant Program: Title VI establishes a grant program within USCIS that provides funding to community-based organizations, including community-based legal service organizations, as appropriate, to develop and implement programs to assist eligible applicants for naturalization. Grants provided for in Title VI will be funded through fees and fines deposited in the Security and Prosperity Account.
Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistant Grant Program: Title VI establishes the Initial Entry, Adjustment and Citizenship Assistance Grant Program. IEACA grants will be awarded to community-based organizations for the design and implementation of programs to provide the following services:
Assistance and instruction, including legal assistance, to aliens making initial application for conditional nonimmigrant or conditional nonimmigrant dependent classification
Assistance and instruction, including legal assistance, to aliens seeking to adjust their status
Assistance and instruction to applicants on the rights and responsibilities of US citizenship and English language proficiency
Improving Naturalization for Legal Permanent Residents: Facilitates citizenship among Legal Permanent Resident students that want to naturalize. Legal Permanent Resident students will be deemed to have satisfied the language and civics requirements for naturalization if they are able to demonstrate they graduated high school after completing grades 6 through 12 in the United States and the curriculum reflects knowledge of U.S. history, Government, and civics.
Strengthening Communities: Title VI strengthens and unites communities by creating incentives for English language acquisition programs. Creates tax credits for teachers in limited English proficient schools. Provides employers with a tax credit for qualified English language education programs. Authorizes states to form State New American Councils comprised of 15- 19 individuals from state and local government, business and community organizations.
Celebrating Citizenship: Title VI celebrates the citizenship of new Americans and encourages these individuals to integrate into their communities. It provides for the availability of funds to the Director of USCIS or to approved public or private nonprofit entities to support public ceremonies for administering oaths of allegiance to naturalizing legal immigrants. Independence Day naturalization ceremonies include appropriate outreach, ceremonial, and celebratory activities. This program shall be funded through fees and fines deposited in the Security and Prosperity Account.

Annual White Christmas Conference in the Ozarks

Just getting back from the annual White Christmas Conference being held in the beautiful Ozarks near Harrison, Arkansas. It will conclude tomorrow after church. It's a great time to be with fellow believers and kinsmen. We have had a good time today with singers and Christian minsters, Steve and Bonnie K., special guest John E., mustic by Heritage Connection, national spokeswoman of the Knights Party and Bible teacher, Rachel Pendergraft, and National Director of the Knights Party and Pastor of Church of Jesus Christ , Pastor Thomas Robb. I was honored to speak as well. I spoke about our fellow European countries' traditions in relation to celebrating Christmas and the deep connection that our fellow White European brothers and sisters have with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You can always hear the sermons of Pastor Thomas Robb every Sunday at 11:00 p.m Central Time Zone by clicking on. http://www.christianidentitychurch.net/. regarding the White race and their special relation to Jesus.

Cyber threat bill a threat in itself

While healthcare reform has held the legislative spotlight for the last several months, Americans are being warned that another piece of legislation that is "very much alive" in Congress constitutes a significant threat to their personal liberties.

It was in early April when Senator John Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) introduced the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (S. 773) on the Senate floor. The legislation -- touted as necessary to "ensure the free flow of commerce within the U.S. and its global trading partners through secure cyber communications" -- would establish a new Cybersecurity Advisory Panel within the White House. It would also streamline the government's cybersecurity efforts and establish a clearinghouse for threat and vulnerability information. (See earlier article) The American Center for Liberty & Justice (ACLJ) acknowledges that certain sacrifices are necessary in protecting the nation's communications networks. But it questions the need for another aspect of the bill -- the section that grants new authority for the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal Government or United States critical infrastructure information system or network." In other words, says the ACLJ, Rockefeller's bill "would grant the federal government virtually complete control over all electronic communication." "The devastating potential of this action on commerce is frightening, and pales only when compared to the political suppression that this kind of authority could lead to," states an ACLJ legislative alert posted on Tuesday. "The President and his administrative bureaucracy would be permitted to shut down all electronic communications with no notice and for any number of vaguely defined reasons," the alert continues. The ACLJ suggests the potential exists in S. 773 for political suppression similar to that demonstrated a few months ago when citizens in Iran used Twitter to broadcast the truth of post-election protests in that country -- despite a media blackout imposed by the Iranian government. "If Americans are stripped of the ability to use technology to communicate, our government might very well have the ability to stifle speech just as the Iranian government did," says the ACLJ. "While we are all concerned about national security, we must not stand by while our elected officials use scare tactics to trample our rights and take away our fundamental freedoms." Rockefeller's proposed legislation currently has three co-sponsors: Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), Bill Nelson (D-Florida), and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

U Tube video urging reduction of immigration

reprinted by Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
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Look at this Special TUBES video & then pass on to dozens to prepare for Immigration Suspension

DEAR FRIENDS OF JOBLESS AMERICANS, Please note that tomorrow NumbersUSA kicks off a major campaign to force Congress to consider REDUCING immigration during December to put more Americans back to work. We will be sending you a series of actions to pressure Congress to take a stand for or against continuing to add 75,000 working-age permanent immigrants EACH MONTH. Let's make them answer why they would import permanent foreign workers while 16 million Americans actively look but can't find any kind of job.

HERE IS WHAT I ASK YOU TO DO FIRST View this video (only 4 minutes and 50 seconds). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ9dhqo0LA8&feature=player_embedded ACTION: I want you to watch the video so you can enthusiastically send it to dozens of your friends, relatives and acquaintances. The 900,000 of you need to spread this to at least 25 million U.S. voters so they can understand that when our friends in Congress during December call for a big reduction in immigration numbers, there will be plenty of voters out there who understand that this reduction is respecting our country's traditions. A DIFFERENT KIND OF VIDEO The video is designed to refute what tends to be the major argument against reducing the numbers of new immigrant workers: Our opponents constantly label immigration reduction as radical, anti-american, against the best traditions of our country, etc.

We have to help Americans understand that the current high immigration numbers are what are truly radical. This video can grab your friends' attention. It is a tightly edited and professionally produced educational video on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol. We have found that the use of brightly colored tubes and "man-on-the-street" interviews tends to grab newcomers' attention to the idea that reducing immigration by 75% would NOT be radical. The video shows clearly that reducing legal immigration from 1 million a year to 250,000 a year would just get us back to our immigration tradition. (If you have any questions about the numbers used in the video, be sure to look at the text that runs on the bottom of the screen. Also, find sources in this blog.) RECRUIT NEW SOLDIERS TO OUR CAMPAIGN TO PUT MORE JOBLESS AMERICANS BACK TO WORK

Polls suggest that at least 100 million U.S. voters already agree with us that Congress should not be importing immigrants to take jobs and keep jobless Americans unemployed. But fewer than 1 million are signed up to put a stop to this insane practice. If you will send this Tubes Video to everybody you know, it can help them feel comfortable to join us. Ask them to look at the video and then come to our website to send free faxes to their 3 Members of Congress to make sure that they know where their constituents stand. Either give these suggestions to your email list in your own words, or forward this Alert with a brief note from you at the top. WE NEED YOU TO DO THIS I don't regard this as optional. If we are to have any success in this big December campaign to shake up Congress, we must be disciplined. We need to act in unison and in mass. Today, that means doing everything you can do to introduce the Tubes Video to as many millions of U.S. voters as possible.

Christmas-illegal or politically incorrect?

reprinted from : Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow

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The Rutherford Institute is calling for people to recognize the difference between "illegal" and "politically correct" in matters concerning Christmas.

The idea behind The Twelve Rules of Christmas is to give people an idea of what they can and cannot legally do in the workplace and at school. John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, says that political correctness is often confused with the law. "As our 'Twelve Rules of Christmas' show, there [are] a lot of things that you can do in the schools that are legal -- and they are legal," he emphasizes. "It's just political correctness now that removes Christmas from public schools because of those first six letters of the word 'Christmas': Christ."

A few years ago, the Rutherford Institute advised a group of people just outside of Chicago in a case where political correctness "sabotaged" Christmas celebrations. "They had eliminated all the Christmas programs from the schools, [so some of the parents] talked to us. We gave them the Twelve Rules of Christmas. About 200 people went to a school board meeting" -- and according to the attorney, school officials reinstated traditional holiday celebrations. Whitehead contends that "this is what you can do with the Twelve Rules of Christmas."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Just want to tell all my fellow Christian brothers and sisters Happy Thanksgiving and remember that today is not only a day to eat Turkey and all the fixings and being with our loved ones. But it is a day to remember our Christian forefathers and foremothers and their sacrifice of coming to this Country to establish a Christian nation and to be thankful that our Great and Almighty God guided our people to a new land to establish a nation, which has never been seen before in history. We are so thankful that we have a God that has protected His people, Isreal, which we know to be today the English, Celtic, Germanic, and all the "traditional" European countries (or better yet the White Race), and continues to bless our people.

Is American still a Christian Nation?

Is American still a Christian Nation? Barack Hussein Obama, the foreign president of the United States (he wasn't born in the U.S. as required by the United States Constitution. Where is his birth certificate showing he was born in the U.S.?) Anyway, he made the statement in Turkey that United States was no longer a Christian Nation, (and perhaps he is right with all the immigrants coming in to the U.S.), listen here to David Barton, president of WallBuilders, which explains of the notion that America is not a Christian nation lies in a faulty definition of what it means to be a Christian nation.


http://www.cwfa.org/articles/18054/CWA/misc/index.htm

Roy Beck of NumbersUSA testifies before Congress about immigration

reprinted from his testimony. A must read------------------------

The Key Numbers in My Testimony Added Up To Demand For Immediate Immigration Reductions

By Roy Beck, Friday, November 20, 2009, 12:29 AM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

I finally got my chance to get a formal hearing before Members of Congress on Thursday for NumbersUSA's year-long argument that U.S. unemployment requires deep, immediate cuts in immigration.
I let the key numbers do the talking. Do you know them? Take a look at the top three below.
Before I give you the first part of my testimony, I want to thank the activist members of NumbersUSA who showed up on Capitol Hill for the hearing. One woman told me she is living in a household with five adult workers, with three of them unemployed. Another woman said she has been unemployed so long that she has "burned through" two 401k retirement plans and has decided to sell her house rather than cash in the third and last pension plan.
Millions of Americans are in crisis because they have lost their jobs and can't get another one.
That is the crisis that I asked Members of Congress to address Thursday. Below, is most of the first section of my written testimony. I hope you will consider it carefully and determine if the main arguments here aren't ones that we should jointly repeat, repeat and repeat to each of our own Members of Congress until they explain why these key numbers should be allowed to stand.
====================================================================
THE TESTIMONY
KEY NUMBERS POINT TO POLICY CHANGES THAT COULD QUICKLY SAVE LARGE NUMBERS OF JOBS FOR UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS
Excerpt of Written Testimony by Roy Beck, Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA
Congressional Forum, 'American Jobs in Peril: The Impact of Uncontrolled Immigration'
Nov. 19, 2009, 2237 Rayburn House Office Building
Congressman Smith (Lamar Smith, R-Texas) and other distinguished Members,
. . . . Your hearing today is a flicker of hope that somebody up here cares enough to pay attention to a few key numbers that tend to say all that needs to be said about the necessity of changing immigration policy immediately.I believe that my written testimony outlines convincingly that perhaps hundreds of thousands of additional Americans could be in jobs a year from now if Congress immediately passes a few simple changes in immigration law.
A few key numbers make the case.
First Number -- at least 7 million
The Pew Hispanic Center estimated last spring that 8 million illegal foreign workers held U.S. jobs at that time.
Pew said only 4% of them were in agriculture.
Since that report, many illegal aliens’ jobs have been eliminated. But it is likely that at least 7 million construction, service, manufacturing and transportation jobs are still currently held by illegal foreign workers.
Those are 7 million jobs being sought by more than 7 million less-educated Americans who are currently unemployed and actively seeking a job.
Members of Congress and this Administration need to look at those numbers and come to understand that immigration enforcement is about creating jobs for unemployed Americans. In general, when a government action results in an illegal foreign worker leaving a job, an unemployed American gets to go back to work.
Congressman Smith, the 920,000 members of NumbersUSA in every congressional district of our country wholeheartedly support your efforts to promote far more immigration enforcement as one of the most effective JOBS programs the government can have.
Second Number -- 75,000
It appears that American workers’ own federal government in October issued permanent work permits to about 75,000 working-age immigrants[2] -- 75,000 new LEGAL immigrant workers in just one month.
Third Number -- 190,000
In October, 190,000 U.S. jobs were eliminated.[3] Our government added 75,000 more permanent workers to compete with 16 million unemployed Americans[4] for 190,000 FEWER U.S. jobs.
Since Jan. 1 of this year, it appears that our government already has issued nearly three-quarters of a million new permanent work permits to immigrants.[5]
THESE NUMBERS ARE HIGHLY CREDIBLE
Congress has created an immigration system on auto-pilot so that the unemployment rate of Americans has virtually no effect on the numerical levels.
Consider these numbers from the Department of Homeland Security:
Federal records show that two years ago – before the recession began – the federal government issued around 830,000 Green Cards (permanent work permits) to working-age immigrants.[6] 830,000.
Last year during the first year of the recession, the government gave away around 875,000 permanent work permits to immigrants. That was an average of around 75,000 per month.[7]
Without any evidence to suggest a significant change this year, it is safe to assume that our government has continued to crank out around 75,000 new permanent work permits to immigrants every month without any regard for how that might affect American workers.
750,000 NEW FOREIGN WORKERS vs. 990,000 JOBS SAVED/CREATED
Based on last year’s rate, it appears that the hand extended by the federal government to unemployed Americans THIS YEAR has already given them nearly 750,000 new immigrants to compete with them for the dwindling number of jobs.
That number is particularly interesting when compared with another number that the White House proclaimed on Oct. 30. The number was 990,000.
The White House announced that the $159 billion of Stimulus money spent thus far, plus the $189 billion of tax relief this year, had created or saved 990,000 jobs.
Putting aside charges by critics that the estimated number was far higher than was credible, compare the 990,000 jobs with the 750,000 new working-age immigrants given permanent work permits during the same period. It would appear that the majority of the $348 billion of Stimulus and tax relief went for jobs needed to just keep up with the workers brought in by our immigration system.
(Please note that I am not even counting the hundreds of thousands of brand new temporary foreign workers during this period. Temporary visas deserve their own consideration but I want to limit my remarks to giving permits for foreign workers to hold U.S. jobs not just this year, but for every year the rest of their lives.)
Of course, not every new immigrant takes a job from a U.S. worker. Many find themselves standing in the same unemployment lines. The U-3 unemployment rate for immigrants has increased from 4.1% in 2007 to 9.7% in 2009.
Congress might ask itself why it is importing an increasing percentage of immigrant workers only to become dependents on government unemployment and social service programs. The 75,000-a-month new permanent worker number is challenged by groups that support the status quo of labor importation. They point out – accurately – that a high percentage of those 75,000 were already in the country at the time they received their Green Card.
For example, an estimated 9,000 to 20,000 each month are illegal aliens who are being granted legal work authorization for the first time.
Other new Green Card recipients have been in the United States a short time on temporary visas for students, workers, tourists and others.The fact that those foreign workers were already here doesn’t mean that they had to stay. The federal government doesn’t have to adjust the status of most of these illegal or temporary visitors into permanent competitors for U.S. jobs.
It could—in the middle of an unemployment disaster -- let the visas run out and the workers, tourists and students go home as they promised when they sought the visas in the first place.
NUMBERS ADD UP TO NECESSITY FOR POLICY CHANGE
The questions that most Americans hearing these startling numbers are sure to ask are:
Why does Congress continue to order up 75,000 new permanent foreign workers each month at a time of so much suffering by unemployed Americans and the families that often depend on them?
And: Why not cut the 75,000 each month as close to zero as possible as long as the overall U-3 unemployment rate remains above, say, 5%?
Congressman Smith and other distinguished Members, I suggest to you that these few simple numbers demand immediate attention.The numbers demand the introduction of legislation to SUSPEND the issuance of as many permanent work visas as possible during this Jobs Depression.And the numbers demand tenacious and concerted public education efforts to build support for the Suspension Legislation among the general public. . . .
(more testimony will be posted at a later date)
[2] Monger, Randall and Nancy Rytina. “U.S. Legal Permanent Residents: 2008.” Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. March 2009. In 2008 the United States issued 880,636 permanent residency permits to aliens aged 15-64 – an average of 73,386 per month.
[3] United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to data released on November 6, 2009, 190,000 payroll jobs were lost in October, 2009.
[4] Ibid., According to data released on November 6, 2009, 15.7 million Americans were considered to be unemployed in October, 2009. This is the U-3 category counting only those actively looking for a job who can’t find any job, not even a part-time one.
[5] Monger, Randall and Nancy Rytina. “U.S. Legal Permanent Residents: 2008.” Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. March 2009. In 2008 the United States issued 880,636 permanent residency permits to aliens aged 15-64. Based on that same rate for this year (for which no official data has been released), approximately 733,860 permanent residency permits would have been issued during the first 10 months of 2009.
[6] Ibid., In 2007 the United States issued 835,697 permanent residency permits to aliens aged 15-64.
[7] Ibid., In 2008 the United States issued 880,636 permanent residency permits to aliens aged 15-64 – an average of 73,386 per month.
[8] An October 30, 2009, White House press release (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/new-recipient-reports-confirm...) states that 640,329 jobs were created/saved due to stimulus spending. Later that day, the White House released data showing that 350,000 jobs were created/saved due to tax relief. Roughly 990,000 jobs were created/saved due to a combination of stimulus funds and tax relief, according to the White House. In an October 31, 2009, statement (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/weekly-address-president-obam...), President Obama notes that more than one million jobs have been created or saved.
[9] Camarota, Steven and Karen Jensenius. “Trends in Immigrant and Native Employment.” Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder. Using public data from the United States Census Bureau’s Current Population Survy, Camarota and Jensenius determine that 4.1% of immigrants sixteen and older were unemployed in the third quarter of 2007 while 9.7% were unemployed in the first quarter of 2009.
[10] Ibid., Using data from the Office of Immigration Statistics, Camarota and Jensenius determine that between 100,00 and 250,000 illegal aliens were given legal resident status in 2009.

California city changes policy with church

reprinted by OneNewsNow.com--------------------------------

A California city has had a change of heart related to church activities in city facilities.

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Daniel Blomberg explains that the case boils down to the fact that public facilities are indeed public facilities -- and that churches, which are part of the public, have equal rights of access. "[T]he city of Richmond, California, had a policy that would prevent the churches from being able to use some of its facilities," says the attorney. "Other members of the public were welcome to come there, but unfortunately churches were not allowed to come there." ADF sent a demand letter to the city to try to convince officials to align policy with the Constitution. The response? "Thankfully, when the city was notified of their unconstitutional policy, they quickly dealt with it," says Blomberg. "They dealt with it in a very reasonable and appropriate manner, and now churches have equal access in Richmond, California." In this case, notes the ADF attorney, city officials only had to be educated on the law -- and the message it sends to others in terms of use of city property, he adds, is that religious organizations should be treated the same as non-religious ones.

AARP sells out Senior Citizens

reprinted from AmericanFamilyAssociation

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The AARP claims to be all about representing the interests of seniors, but when it comes to health care reform, they are selling seniors down the river to line their own pockets.
The AARP has endorsed the gargantuan PelosiCare bill that just passed the House, despite the fact the bill proposes more than $400 billion in cuts to Medicare, which is certain to lead to rationing, inferior care and "death panels" for vulnerable senior citizens.
Why? As they say, follow the money. PelosiCare will also cut Medicare Advantage by $170 billion. Medicare Advantage allows seniors to purchase private insurance with their Medicare payments, but these cuts will drive many of these seniors into inferior Medigap plans.
AARP has a vested interest in seniors being driven out of Medicare Advantage into Medigap plans because AARP makes a fortune in royalty fees from Medigap plans. More than one-half of its $1.1 billion budget comes from such royalty fees, and Medigap plans make up the biggest share of this royalty revenue by far.
The more seniors are forced out of Medicare Advantage into Medigap plans, the more money AARP makes. In other words, under PelosiCare, seniors lose but AARP wins - big time.

Popular vote still shows Americans don't approve sodomite marriages.

reprinted from onenewsnow.com
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PORTLAND, Maine- Voters in Maine have rejected an effort by lawmakers there to impose homosexual "marriage" in that state.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine -- known for its liberal-minded electorate -- and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign. With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, proponents of traditional marriage had 53 percent of the votes.

"The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation," declared Frank Schubert, chief organizer for the winning side.

Read Renewed momentum for federal marriage amendment?
Gay-marriage supporters held out hope that the tide would shift before conceding defeat at 2:40 a.m. in a statement that insisted they weren't going away. "We're in this for the long haul. For next week, and next month, and next year -- until all Maine families are treated equally. Because in the end, this has always been about love and family and that will always be something worth fighting for," said Jesse Connolly, manager of the pro-gay marriage campaign.At issue was a law passed by the Maine Legislature last spring that would have legalized same-sex marriage. The law was put on hold after conservatives launched a petition drive to repeal it in a referendum.The outcome Tuesday marked the first time voters had rejected a gay-marriage law enacted by a legislature. When Californians put a stop to same-sex marriage a year ago, it was in response to a court ruling, not legislation.Five other states have legalized gay marriage -- starting with Massachusetts in 2004, and followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Iowa -- but all did so through legislation or court rulings, not by popular vote. In contrast, constitutional amendments banning gay marriage have been approved in all 30 states where they have been on the ballot.The defeat left some gay-marriage supporters bitter. "Our relationship is between us," said Carla Hopkins, 38, of Mount Vernon, with partner Victoria Eleftherio, 38, sitting on her lap outside a hotel ballroom where gay marriage supporters had been hoping for a victory party. "How does that affect anybody else? It's a personal thing."The contest had been viewed by both sides as certain to have national repercussions. Backers of traditional marriage desperately wanted to keep their winning streak alive, while gay-rights activists sought to blunt the argument that gay marriage was being foisted on the country by courts and lawmakers over the will of the people.Had Maine's law been upheld, the result would probably have energized efforts to get another vote on gay marriage in California, and given a boost to gay-marriage bills in New York and New Jersey.Earlier Tuesday, before vote-counting began, marriage traditionalist Chuck Schott of Portland warned that Maine "will have its place in infamy" if the gay-rights side won.Another Portland resident, Sarah Holman said she was "very torn" but decided -- despite her conservative upbringing -- to vote in favor of letting gays marry. "They love and they have the right to love. And we can't tell somebody how to love," said Holman, 26.In addition to reaching out to young people who flocked to the polls for President Barack Obama a year ago, gay-marriage defenders tried to appeal to Maine voters' pronounced independent streak and live-and-let-live attitude.The other side based many of its campaign ads on claims -- disputed by state officials -- that the new law would mean "homosexual marriage" would be taught in public schools.Both sides in Maine drew volunteers and contributions from out of state, but the money edge went to the campaign in defense of gay marriage, Protect Maine Equality. It raised $4 million, compared with $2.5 million for Stand for Marriage Maine.

Illegal Alien Halloween Custom Uproar

LOS ANGELES-- An immigrant rights group has asked Target stores to stop selling an illegal alien costume they describe as "offensive" to immigrants and "ignorant."The costume, sold on Target's web site, features a mask of an extraterrestrial being, wearing an orange jumpsuit with "illegal Alien" written on it, and a "green card" accessory. Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, says she emailed Target Headquarters on Friday, calling the costume "distasteful, mean-spirited, and ignorant of social stigmas and current debate on immigration reform." Many Target customers have given the costume the lowest product rating possible on the site-- 1 of 5 stars-- and have expressed their distaste in the "guest review" section." The costume is a sick sign of the times we are living in in this country where those who are not 'people like us' might as well be from another planet and are considered less than human. I am surprised Target would promote such a mentality," one customer wrote on the website. Target spokesman Joshua Thomas says the company will be removing the costume from the site after receiving several complaints. According to Thomas, the store never intended to sell the outfit and only included it in its online Halloween offerings by mistake. Some customers say they will refuse to shop at Target Stores until the costume is removed from the site and an apology is issued. Others call the costume "funny" and say the offended parties should "lighten up.""This has nothing to do with immigrants," another customer wrote, "Only the illegal criminals from Mars that entered the US without doing it the correct way." Target started getting complaints Thursday afternoon, Thomas said, but the costume was still online Friday evening. Target's website is managed by Amazon.com, and Thomas said it could take as long as 48 hours to take it down. It's unbelievable that we are actually living in a time when we should think it is not a big deal that people are crossing our American borders and breaking the law when they set foot in our land without permission, and we are not supposed to think it is not a big deal.

Louisiana Justice of the Peace refuses to marry interracial couple

It's amazing how quickly the interracial, one-world, humanist crowd gets in an uproar when a white person has the back bone to stand on a principle. That is what has happened in Louisiana. Both Louisiana's governor and a U.S. senator joined Friday in calling for the ouster of a local official who refused to marry an interracial couple, saying his actions clearly broke the law as reported by the Associated Press.

Keith Bardwell, a white justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish in the southeastern part of the state, refused to issue a marriage license earlier this month to Beth Humphrey, who is white, and Terence McKay, who is black. His refusal has prompted calls for an investigation or resignation from civil and constitutional rights groups and the state's Legislative Black Caucus.
Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a statement a nine-member commission that reviews lawyers and judges in the state should investigate. "Disciplinary action should be taken immediately — including the revoking of his license," Jindal said.

Bardwell did not return calls left on his answering machine Friday. Bardwell has said he always asks if a couple is interracial and, if they are, refers them to another justice of the peace. Bardwell said no one had complained in the past and he doesn't marry the couples because he's worried about their children's futures. Now, that shouldn't be the reason why the Bardwell should not issue a marriage license. The reason is this: First, it's scripturally not biblical. The Bible clearly outlaws interracial marriages. Second, there is a long history of the United States forbidding interracial marriages. Since the founding of our Republic until the Supreme Court outlawed states forbid interracial marriages, the People did not believe it, and it was a state issue. However, the liberal 9 member U.S. Supreme Court under the Loving ruling outlawed states from prohibiting interracial marriages. Again, this shows how the U.S. Supreme Court forced its will on the People.

Humphrey and McKay were eventually married by another justice of the peace, but are now looking into legal action against Bardwell. Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to ask about a marriage license. She said Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell would not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. Bardwell maintains he can recuse himself from marrying people. Quigley disagreed. "A justice of the peace is legally obligated to serve the public, all of the public," Quigley said. "Racial discrimination has been a violation of Louisiana and U.S. law for decades. No public official has the right to pick and choose which laws they are going to follow."

However, a public official is an elected official and that public official has the freedom to represent his constituents and has the freedom of speech. We once had a Republic when elected officials had to only to answer to the People, not "judiciary committess or associations" or the PC establishment. Bardwell, a Republican, has served as justice of peace for 34 years. He said he has run without opposition each time, but had decided earlier not to run again. His current term expires Dec. 31, 2014

Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger signs bill honoring Sodomite "Harvey Milk Day"

According to OneNewsNow.com, "The chairman of the Orange County (California) Board of Education says she is "appalled" that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking schools to set aside a day to honor a controversial homosexual activist."

It's very unfortunate that Schwarzenegger signed a bill earlier this week creating an annual day of recognition for Sodomite Harvey Milk. The designation of each May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day" encourages schools around the state to commemorate the murdered homosexual politician. (See earlier story) Last month, the Orange County Board of Education voted unanimously (5-0) to oppose the creation of Harvey Milk Day. Dr. Alexandria Coronado, chairman of that board, says she is "absolutely furious" that the homosexual community is claiming that passage of the Harvey Milk bill is a civil rights victory. This is just another showing of how our politicians are betraying our founding forefathers and our White Christian Heritage. Many think that Governor Schwarzenegger fights for conservative principles because he is a Republican. Republican and Democrat politicians are betraying our country. The Governor might be a Republican, but he is not one that stands up for our children, our heritage, and for a Godly Government. He is one that stands for the perverted lifestyle of sodomy, and who knows what else. But what do you really expect, he is married to Maria Shriver, a Kennedy. Enough said.

Jason Robb receives nobel peace prize-oh, just kidding-but it could have happened

Thank you for nominating me for the Nobel Peace Prize. I am deeply humbled and honored for being nominated this special award. I know there were many that were nominated. But I feel honored that that the Nobel Peace Prize committee thought enough of me to have nominated me. I too, like president Barack Hussein Obama, share the same qualifications. We both believe in peace. And, umm, we both believe in peace. OH, I already said that. Well, I'm sure I'll think of something later. Anyway, I truly am honored. I am very moved and choked up as Barack Hussein Obama as shown in his picture to the right. But I guess I have to get to reality. As you can tell, I really didn't get nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And no, I didn't win it. But I really don't understand why. I believe in peace. But I guess that is where it ends. Of course, I know why Barack Hussein Obama won. He was nominated by the five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Like the Parliament, the panel has a leftist slant, with three members elected by left-of-center parties and two right-of-center members. Jagland, one of the committe memebers, said the decision to honor Obama was unanimous. But I beleive in peace. I believe in White Nationalism. That our race is our nation and our nation is our race. As our White Race is less than 10 percent of the world population, our race is quickly being depleted, and actually should be put on the endanger species list. Our White children will not have the same culture and heritage that America and all of our White European countries were built on, but are being raised in a multi-culturalist society where they are being taught to be asham of their race and culture. Barack Hussein Obama is appointing homosexuals to his staff, and appointing open communists to his staff, and actually have appointed Kevin Jennings, the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education that have connections to the NAMBLA (National American Man Boy Love Association) organization.

As I said, I believe in Peace. I believe our White people should be able to peacefully protect their culture, should peacefully protect their heritage, and peacefully protect their race; and our people should be able to pass the love of their race and heritage to their children. But unfortunately, that is not peace to those such as Barack Hussein Obama and the other left wing extremists who wants to literally destroy our people, and destroy any sense of love to our children. But what do you expect. The left wing nobel peace prize committee members are going to give the prize to someone of their own. Do you really expect it would be any other.

Illegals are "pawns" for socialist agenda

As reported by OneNewsNow.com, "A conservative commentator and author says a recent Senate committee vote "puts the lie to" President Obama's and Democrats' assertion that illegal aliens won't be eligible for coverage under their healthcare plan.

In his speech to Congress last month, President Obama said claims that his healthcare plan would allow coverage to illegal immigrants and taxpayer-funded abortions were "false" and a "misunderstanding" perpetuated by his opponents. However, in the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday -- by near party-line votes -- Democrats rejected separate amendments that would have prohibited federal funding of abortion and required people to prove their identity with photo identification when signing up for health insurance or tax credits under healthcare reform. Phil Kent, national spokesman for Americans for Immigration Control, calls Democrats' vote against the ID requirement "shocking" and a move that defied common sense. "It shows again that the Democrats are not being honest with the American people," Kent asserts.

"Furthermore, it shows the disconnect between these Democrats and what polls show. "Polls show consistently that 90 percent of the American people -- Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, black, white, Anglo, Hispanic -- oppose illegal immigration and oppose healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants." Kent believes the political left wants to "coddle" illegal aliens in order to use them as a pawn to achieve their socialist agenda. "They see them as the final way to change America, to turn it into a socialist country," he states. "They want these people getting services, they want them on a path to citizenship, they want them voting." According to Kent, illegal immigrants -- in the main -- are part of an "underclass." "They make less than $10,000 a year, they have less than an eighth-grade education, [and] they can be swayed by every left-wing demagogue that comes down the pike with any promise whatsoever," he says. "[And] they will be outvoting middle America."

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services preparing for Amnesty

A New York Times' story reveals that immigration officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have begun preparations for issuing visas to 11-18 million illegal aliens who would be granted an amnesty if Congress is able to pass immigration reform legislation.
“We are under way to prepare for that,” USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas told the paper. Mayorkas also said that Pres. Obama has told the agency that amnesty would be part of an immigration reform bill, so the agency is trying to be ready for the massive influx of visa applications.

The first step the agency is taking is to set up lockboxes around the country that visa applications can be mailed to. Mayorkas and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have held meetings across the country listening to ideas, and one possible idea is for illegal aliens to begin the visa process already by filling out forms that verify their current presence in the United States and then mailing the form to the lockboxes.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) who is the senior Republican on the House Immigration Subcommittee expressed concern for the early preparations. "There is a risk to national security that they will take their eyes off background checks of immigrants. While they are busy setting up for legislation that has not been introduced in any way, shape or form."

The Senate Immigration Subcommittee lead by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will hold another immigration reform hearing on Oct. 8. For more, see the New York Times. What is unfortunately, this is not being aired on your local 5 o clock news so most Americans are not aware of the hidden agenda that is being orchestrated against them by the left-wing socialists. The left-wing socialists want more immigrants into this country because these people will vote for Democrats in the elections because they are the party of give aways. Soon we won't have a two party system, but a one party system. We already see what is happening with the left wing extremists in control. Just imagine when there is no opposition. Until then.

Proposed bill makes you a criminal for not purchasing health insurance

Just think. You can become a criminal if you don't purchase health insurance as proposed by the Baucus bill. As reported by Jim Brown of OneNewsNow, "A healthcare expert says the healthcare bill drafted by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana) creates new taxes and cuts to the Medicare program to reduce the cost to the federal government, but does nothing to reduce the cost of healthcare in the family budget.

The Wall Street Journal says the Baucus bill would break all 50 state budgets by permanently expanding Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for the poor. The bill would for the first time make Medicaid available to childless adults and also extend healthcare insurance subsidies to people up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Under the senator's plan -- known as "America's Healthy Future Act" -- individuals who fail to pay the $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance could be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 fine. Dennis Smith is a senior fellow in healthcare reform at The Heritage Foundation's Center for Health Policy Studies. He says that penalty is just one of the many "hidden, unknown consequences" in the legislation. "We've been warning about this for some time of how intrusive the federal government is going to become in all of this," he states. "Obviously when you have a mandate, you have to enforce that mandate." Smith says expanding the current Medicaid entitlement is irresponsible. As he points out, states cannot afford the existing Medicaid program. "Congress earlier this year had to bail out the states to the tune of $87 billion over a two-year period," he notes. "[So] it makes no sense when you know the current program is unsustainable to add another 11 [million] to 15 million more people into the Medicaid program." Smith notes that although the Baucus bill does not contain a public health insurance option, an amendment for one will be offered today in the Finance Committee -- and if that public option amendment is not approved in committee, he expects it will be offered on the Senate floor as well. As originally introduced in mid-September, the America's Healthy Future Act carries a price tag of $856 billion -- but "will not add to the federal deficit," states a press release from Baucus' office.

OH, isn't it nice how the government is looking out for its citizens by making them criminals if they don't purchase health insurance if the proposed Baucas bill is passed. If you think the government is going to have problems with staying afloat with all the trillions of dollars in debt now, just think when health care is mandatory, and everyone will automatically be entitlted to it. Then we can also expect the millions of illegal aliens to be covered as well. Critical mass is what will occur, which means that the government will simply be no longer sustain itself and virtually will become bankrupt and our money will be worthless. Any student of history can easily see this is where we are heading.

Is Amnesty on the Horizon

Everyone should go to USANumbers.com. It is a good website for those that are concerned with the massive illegal immigration that is being dumped on our country. With the millions of illegal aliens in our country and their descendants in our country, we see our healthcare being out of control, cities being destroyed, crime increasing, and our laws and values being changed. It's shocking to hear that 80 percent of our population growth in our country growth after 2004 will be from immigrants and their descendants. Our country is quickly becoming a non-white country that will no longer reflect our white european forefathers and foremothers. It will look like a typical third world country. The November Criminals (our elected politicians) are continuing trying to reduce the illegal immigrants by simply giving them amnesty, and magically, they are all citizens and we no longer have an illegal immigration problem. It's sad the apathy our people have by not realizing the destruction that is about to fall on our country, and simply not caring about it. Please read below.
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Is Amnesty on the Horizon?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 10:49 AM EDT

Pres. Barack Obama
After the public controversy that ensued after Pres. Obama's health care speech to a joint session of Congress, the White House sent around an email to reporters clarifying the administration's stance on health care benefits to illegal aliens. Although, the administration supports a verification mechanism to ensure no illegal alien receives benefits, the issue could be irrelevant with an amnesty.
The House's health care proposal (H.R.3200) does not contain a verification mechanism, and verification has been voted down twice during committee markups. But the Obama Administration vows it will not sign a bill unless verification is included. So, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee and was given the task of drawing up a bi-partisan health care bill, included verification in his first mark of the bill.
But the issue of health care reform and illegal aliens would become moot if Congress and Pres. Obama drew up legislation that would amnesty the country's 11-18 million illegal aliens. Last week, the president spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual gala...
Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don't simply believe we can simply ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken. That's why I strongly support making sure folks who are here legally have access to affordable, quality health insurance under this plan, just like everybody else. And we certainly should not let this debate on health care -- one so essential to Hispanic Americans and all Americans -- get sidetracked by those looking to exploit divisions and kill reform at any cost. That's what they always try to do.
-- Pres. Obama at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala
Reports on a time line for an amnesty bill in Congress have been mixed. Senate Immigration Subcommittee Chair Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said over the summer that he hoped to have a proposal for amnesty after the summer recess, but he's since said he'll delay his proposal while the Senate focuses on health care reform.
During his media blitz over the weekend, Pres. Obama told Univision that amnesty is still a legislative priority, but he offered no time frame.
Whether that bill gets introduced on November 15th or December 15th or January 15th, that's not really the issue. I mean, it would be easy for us to get a bill introduced. The challenge is getting the bill passed. And there I've been realistic. What I said is that this is going to be a tough fight and that we're going to have to make sure that we are working as hard as we can to do it. I am not backing off one minute from getting this done, but let's face it, I've had a few things to do.
Immigration reform is gonna be tough as well, but I think we can get it done.
-- Pres. Obama on Univision, Sept. 20, 2009
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has also been out spreading the word on amnesty. During a speech last week at New Mexico State University, Napolitano said that "comprehensive immigration reform" was one of the president's top priorities after health care reform.
For more information, see commentaries at the Washington Times, U.S. News and World Report, and ABC News.

Obama-ACORN Gun Conspiracy exposed

Reprint from Second Amendment Foundation

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the Association of Community Organizations for Reform -- a publicly funded national organization is using your tax dollars to actively interfere with the Second Amendment exercise of gun rights in New Jersey and elsewhere. ACORN went public with its gun control activism when it intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to defend Jersey City, New Jersey, a hot bed of anti-gun rights extremists, to disarm its citizens with a local gun control ordinance. ACORN pushed for stronger local gun restrictions that were already struck down by the New Jersey state court as a violation of state law. The group made news recently when it was terminated from any U.S. census bureau work when its staff in Baltimore, MD counseled reporters posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to set up a house of ill repute using tax dollars. The Obama trained Leftist group ACORN has been exposed again and must have its non profit status removed, return the taxpayers money and have all taxpayer funding pulled. Fax NOW - STOP ACORN TAXPAYER FUNDINGSelect Here-Pull ACORN Funding and Expand The FBI Investigationhttps://secure.conservativedonations.com/saf_faxacorn/?a=2985

Obama and ACORN's interest is in disarming law-abiding citizens. It is an outrage that this group has intervened to defend an anti-gun ordinance that has already been declared illegal by the court. So long as ACORN accepts one penny of public funding, the organization should remain absolutely neutral on social issues, political campaigns and especially legal actions defending the right to keep and bear arms. For the past few election cycles ACORN has clearly grown more partisan toward the radical political Left. ACORN'S PAC, in fact, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, even though their tax-exempt status prohibits endorsement of political candidates. That's hardly surprising since he used to serve as their legal counsel and he taught the group about community organizing. ACORN and Obama are lockstep in seeking to destroy our Second Amendment rights. We call upon the FBI to expand the scope of its ACORN investigation and focus on the group's involvement in the Jersey City case. We support Ohio Congressman John Boehner's request that the White House immediately block all federal funding of ACORN activities until this group's questionable activities are fully investigated. We want to know how they are paying for attorneys, and why Seton Hall's Center for Social Justice and the Public Interest Law Center are providing legal assistance to ACORN for this effort. ACORN has, since 1998, received an estimated $31 million in government funding. Yes, Obama knows a great deal about ACORN and its role in the bailout mess. He is a central figure in the left-wing ACORN exploitation of financial institutions to pressure them to make high risk loans. The very same left-wing ACORN that was sued for voter fraud in our last presidential election. Fax NOW - STOP ACORN TAXPAYER FUNDINGSelect Here-Pull ACORN Funding and Expand The FBI Investigationhttps://secure.conservativedonations.com/saf_faxacorn/?a=2985

Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to a front of ACORN, currently under investigation in a dozen States for voter registration fraud and bribery schemes, for "get-out-the-vote-efforts"; Obama co-sponsored legislation called the "Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007"-- that was supported by ACORN and protects them from prosecution and any responsibility for causing the largest financial crisis since The Great Depression. "Bad enough that ACORN is implicated in fraudulent activities in several states, but now an ACORN chapter in the Garden State is working against the ability of New Jersey gun owners to exercise a constitutionally protected individual civil right to own a handgun," said former NYPD detective, Sid Frances. This is still the United States, not a socialist gulag. Public money should not be given to private organizations which then turn around and utilize that funding to usurp the electoral process and erode constitutionally guaranteed civil rights. The fact that the federal government would even consider using ACORN as part of its 2010 Census to disenfranchise gun rights supporters is cause for Americans to be very concerned. All that seems to be on the minds of Anti-Gun Obama and at the offices of gun control extremists is figuring out how to invade your privacy to erode and eventually destroy the right, and the means, of self-defense. Fax NOW - STOP ACORN TAXPAYER FUNDINGSelect Here-Pull ACORN Funding and Expand The FBI Investigationhttps://secure.conservativedonations.com/saf_faxacorn/?a=2985

Like all other threats against our freedoms, we must rise and cut off all federal funding to ACORN. In order to stop Obama and his fellow gun-grabbers-we need to let the Congress know with thousands of faxes telling them to stop ACORN and leave guns alone. Americans like you who understand what our Founding Fathers envisioned for our nation...and who are willing to fight to defend our Constitution and for what it stands. So please, help the Second Amendment Foundation and me defeat those who wish to gut and trash the United States Constitution. Help me flood the U.S. Senate with a sea of FAXES big enough to drown each and every Senator willing to vote away the Second Amendment. Please, send your Donation and FAX TODAY! Fax NOW - STOP ACORN TAXPAYER FUNDINGSelect Here-Pull ACORN Funding and Expand The FBI Investigationhttps://secure.conservativedonations.com/saf_faxacorn/?a=2985

Keep calling your Senators today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call toll 1-202-225-3121 AND REGISTER YOU'RE OUTRAGE at ongoing efforts to take guns away! CALL PRESIDENT Obama, 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414 expressing your disdain and ABSOLUTE REJECTION of ACORN and their efforts to BAN GUNS. DO NOT BE SILENCED - MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! NOTE: We need TENS OF THOUSANDS of faxes and PHONE CALLS and EMAILS delivered to ALL Senators right away!