reprinted by Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
---------------------------------------
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.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Christmas-illegal or politically incorrect?
reprinted from : Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow
---------------------------------------
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."
---------------------------------------
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."
Thursday, November 26, 2009
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.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/18054/CWA/misc/index.htm
Monday, November 23, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 19, 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.
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.
Monday, November 9, 2009
AARP sells out Senior Citizens
reprinted from AmericanFamilyAssociation
-------------------------------
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.
-------------------------------
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.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Popular vote still shows Americans don't approve sodomite marriages.
reprinted from onenewsnow.com
-----------------------------
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.
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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.
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