On eve of first presidential contest: US two-party system in crisis
On eve of first presidential contest: US two-party system in crisis
1 February 2016
The Democratic and Republican caucuses in Iowa tonight mark the first actual contest of the 2016 US presidential election campaign, but they will involve only a tiny fraction of the population of one of the smaller American states. The US electoral system is the least democratic and the most subject to manipulation of any major capitalist country purporting to be a democracy. Just two parties, both of them right-wing and controlled by corporate interests, have an effective monopoly.
There is an acute and intensifying contradiction between the vast and diverse population of the United States, a country of 330 million people, and a political structure controlled by the top one-tenth of one percent.
The two-party system, controlled by this elite, is confronted with an unprecedented crisis of political legitimacy. Both the Democratic and Republican parties – political institutions that are more than 160 years old – are losing their hold on a population that is deeply and profoundly alienated from the political establishment.
The media has been taken by surprise by the emergence of candidates in both political parties whose sudden rise and popularity was unforeseen: Donald Trump on the Republican side and Senator Bernie Sanders on the Democratic.
At the start of the campaign, the candidacy of Trump, the thuggish real-estate mogul and reality-television celebrity, was viewed as a entertaining sideshow that would soon lose its audience. As for Sanders, the media largely ignored the announcement of his candidacy, assuming that the campaign of a septuagenarian who described himself as a democratic socialist would attract only negligible support.
Contrary to all expectations, both Trump and Sanders have acquired mass support and emerged as the dominant figures in the primary process. There is a growing realization within the political establishment that the Trump campaign is a deadly serious matter, and that Trump may emerge as the nominee of the Republican Party. And while the corporate-financial interests that control the Democratic Party still expect the badly-battered Clinton to win the nomination, the Sanders candidacy is seen as a harbinger of a continuing and uncontrollable left-wing political movement.
What accounts for this unfolding crisis of the two-party system? Like all significant political developments, it has deep political and social roots. The contradictions that are now blowing the two-party system apart -- developing out of the protracted decline of US capitalism -- have been accumulating for decades. But the massive economic collapse of 2008, on the very eve of the election of Barack Obama, marked a qualitative turning point in the crisis of American society.
The disastrous impact of the economic crisis upon the lives of tens of millions of people is reflected in the growing rejection of a political system that is seen to be controlled by the elite which first caused and then profited off the 2008 collapse.
On the extreme right, Trump’s barrage of insults against his Republican opponents and the media resonates with a section of the electorate that feels it has been betrayed and bamboozled. Moreover, his candidacy is the end-product of a degraded political environment that has relentlessly promoted and legitimized the sort of reactionary backwardness that Trump skillfully exploits.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the growth of working class militancy and anti-capitalist sentiment, expressed in strikes and contract rejections by autoworkers, steelworkers and teachers, as well as in opposition to police killings and outrage over lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan, demonstrates that the working class is moving to the left, towards an open struggle against corporate America.
This is the primary factor behind the crisis of the two-party system. The leftward movement among broad masses of the population has found expression in the growth of support for Bernie Sanders, who calls himself a “democratic socialist” and has placed economic inequality and Wall Street criminality at the center of his campaign. Sanders has moved into a virtual tie with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in pre-caucus polls in Iowa, as well as opening a significant lead in polls in New Hampshire, where the next primary contest takes place on February 9.
The Des Moines Register poll published Saturday, the last before the Iowa caucuses, found that Sanders had opened up a lead of more than 30 points over Clinton among potential voters under the age of 35. The poll found that 68 percent of likely Democratic voters thought a socialist president was a good idea, a remarkable figure in a country where socialism has been subjected to endless vilification by the media and the political elites.
The World Socialist Web Site has explained that Sanders is not a socialist, but rather a moderate liberal whose views would have been considered middle-of-the-road in the Democratic Party of the 1960s. While criticizing the stranglehold of the billionaires over the US political system, Sanders defends the foreign policy of American imperialism: i.e., the use of military force, assassination, espionage and political subversion to defend the interests of these same billionaires around the world.
The main function of the Sanders campaign is to appeal to the increasingly radical sentiments among youth and working people in order to divert them back into the political confines of the Democratic Party. Despite this political service, however, there is growing nervousness in the Democratic Party establishment, and more widely in ruling circles, that Sanders’ attacks on Wall Street could encourage a movement going well beyond the intentions of the senator from Vermont.
BLOG: THE NEW YORK TIMES IS VIRTUALLY OWNED BY THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD, MEXICAN CARLOS SLIM. ERGO THE TIMES IS THE MOUTHPIECE FOR AMNESTY, OPEN BORDERS AND LA RAZA "The Race" FASCISM.
LA RAZA HISPANDERING HILLARY CLINTON HAS PROMISED VOTING ILLEGALS 49 MORE MEXIFORNIAS, MILLIONS MORE IN AMERICAN JOBS IF THEY KEEP WAGES DEPRESSED AND BILLIONS MORE IN WELFARE!
This explains the concerted attack on Sanders this weekend by the principal organ of the Democratic Party, the New York Times. The Times published a lead editorial Sunday endorsing Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, while dismissing Sanders as a candidate who has raised useful ideas but could not possibly put them into practice. It singles out Clinton’s role as a paragon of identity politics—she would be the first female president and an advocate of black women, gays, etc.
More extensively elaborated is the argument of Times columnist Paul Krugman in a commentary headlined, “Plutocrats and Prejudice.” He claims that Sanders and Clinton represent competing diagnoses of what is wrong with America, with Sanders focusing on economic inequality and “the corrupting influence of big money,” while Clinton (and Krugman himself) maintain that “money is the root of some evil, maybe a lot of evil, but it isn’t the whole story. Instead, racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice are powerful forces in their own right.”
The conclusion is that issues of race and gender are just as important, or even more important, than issues of class. As a result of the prevalence of racism and sexism among white workers, Krugman argues, “visions of radical change are naïve” and “political revolution from the left is off the table.”
This analysis of American society is a political libel against the working class. Krugman cites no evidence of the supposed dominance of racism in a country that elected an African-American president in 2008. On the contrary, issues of race and gender are being deliberately injected into the political arena in order to divide the working class and head off the growth of class consciousness.
Much of the press coverage of the Iowa caucuses and the broader election campaign concedes that the overwhelming sentiment among millions of people is anger at the existing political system and both parties. But there is no explanation of why there is so much anger, when, according to the media, the US economy is in the sixth year of recovery.
The official media are either oblivious to the reality of declining living standards and deteriorating social conditions or are deliberately covering it up. Their America is the rising stock exchange—at least until January—and the increasing wealth of the super-rich and a privileged upper-middle-class layer.
America is a deeply class-polarized society, with a vast and unbridgeable gulf between the wealthy and the rest of the population. It is this social reality that underlies the mounting crisis of both the Democratic and Republican parties. As the class issues come to the fore, shaking the sclerotic and unrepresentative political system, there will undoubtedly be more political shocks and surprises in the course of the 2016 election campaign.
Patrick Martin
America’s Economic Freedom Has Rapidly Declined Under Obama
Anthony B. Kim /
January 31, 2016
Millions of people around the world are emerging from poverty thanks to rising economic freedom. But by sharp contrast, America’s economic freedom has been on a declining path over the past decade.
According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has tumbled. With losses of economic freedom in eight of the past nine years, the U.S. has tied its worst score ever, wiping out a decade of progress.
>>> Read the full 2016 Index of Economic Freedom
The U.S. has fallen from the 6th freest economy in the world, when President Barack Obama took office, to 11th place in 2016. America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.
Since early 2009:
Government spending has exploded, amounting to $29,867 per household in 2015.
The national debt has risen to $125,000 for every tax-filing household in America—a total over $18 trillion.
The government takeover of health care is raising prices and disrupting markets.
Bailouts and new government regulations have increased uncertainty, stifling investment and job creation.
This is not something to take lightly. Economic freedom is the foundation of U.S. economic strength, and economic strength is the foundation of America’s high living standards, military power, and status as a world leader. The perils of losing economic freedom are not fictional.
It is painfully clear that our economy has been performing far below its potential, with individuals, families, and entrepreneurs being squeezed by the proliferation of big-government bureaucracy and regulations.
As documented by the index, and by other scholars, America’s economic freedom has been declining at an alarming pace.
Indeed, as The Wall Street Journal recently summed it up succinctly, Obama is “a champion when it comes to limiting economic freedom, and American workers have the slow growth in jobs and wages to prove it.”
Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced. Self-inflicted wounds include:
The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. This has driven new jobs to other, more competitive nations and has meant fewer jobs and lower wages for Americans.
The overall annual cost of meeting regulatory requirements has increased by over $80 billion since 2009, with more than 180 new regulations in place. In terms of ease of starting a new business, analyzed by a recently published World Bank report, the U.S. is ranked shockingly low at 49th, trailing countries such as Canada, Georgia, Ireland, Lithuania, and Malaysia.
No wonder the labor force participation rate has remained at near record lows after more than five years of steady decline.
Worse, vibrant entrepreneurial growth has been stymied by greater policy uncertainty and mounting debt. And a disturbing trend toward cronyism has gravely eroded the rule of law and distorted our free-market system.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, keynote speaker of the official release of the 2016 Index, recently stated:
It’s been almost seven years since the Obama “recovery” began, and our economy is barely out of neutral. Why does America have to settle for this?
Restoring economic freedom is prerequisite to revitalizing and brightening America’s future. 2016 is the year to reaffirm the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and rule of law so that we can reconstitute an America where freedom, opportunity, and prosperity flourish.
The time to act is now.
Surge in Illegal Aliens, 500% Increase in Some U.S. Ports of Entry
Judicial Watch Corruption Chronicles, December 30, 2015
The agency’s own statistics certainly contradict that, showing that the southern border region is as porous and vulnerable as ever. Other entry ports that saw large hikes in Central American illegal immigrants during the first two months of this fiscal year include Del Rio, Texas (269%), El Centro, California (216%) and Rio Grande Valley, Texas (154%). The Border Patrol breaks the stats down by “family unit” and illegal immigrants under the age of 18, referred to as “Unaccompanied Alien Children” or UAC. The Rio Grande Valley port of entry topped the list in both categories with 8,537 family units and 6,465 UACs during the two-month period. In all, the nation’s nine southern border crossings saw an average of 173% increase in family units and a 106% increase in minors during the short period considered.
Some of the illegal immigrants are Mexican nationals, but the overwhelming majority comes from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The government records show that somehow 4,450 family units from El Salvador evaded our topnotch border security and entered the United States in a period of only two months. Guatemala and Honduras had 3,934 and 3,203 respectively. Mexico had 538 family units. Of interesting note is that, during this period, the Border Patrol reports 35,234 apprehensions in the region of foreigners labeled by the government as “Other Than Mexican” or OTM. This is a term used by federal authorities to refer to nationals of countries that represent a terrorist threat to the U.S.
. . .
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/12/surge-in-illegal-aliens-500-increase-in-some-u-s-ports-of-entry/
Sen. Jeff Sessions: Vote for Candidates in Favor of Pro-America Immigration System, Against TPP
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/29/sen-jeff-sessions-vote-for-candidate-in-favor-of-pro-america-immigration-system-against-tpp/
by Caroline May29 Jan 20161,143
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) urged primary voters Friday to vote for candidates who are opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and who will fix the immigration system so that it serves American interests.
“Make sure — because this could be the last chance — that the votes you cast is for a person who is going to, with courage and steadfastness, fix the immigration system that’s so broken and is impacting adversely Americans’ safety, their wages, their hospitals, their schools, those kind of things,” Sessions said Friday during an appearance on the Howie Carr Show.
“And also we need to know with absolute clarity: are you for or against the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” he added.
Sessions said the presidential election will decide if the trade agreement passes and stressed that “It must not pass.” He added that this election could be the last one to decide the immigration question.
“This may be the last opportunity the American people will have to have their will imposed and create a lawful immigration system that serves the national interest,” he said.
The Alabamian acknowledged that there are other issues at play this cycle but argued immigration and TPP are the most consequential matters at stake this primary election.
“So I know we have to talk about the economy, national security, and the military, and the budget, and it’s hard to know who’s got the best idea,” Sessions said. “But on these two issues, I think the voters should say, ‘If you’re not going to be right on those, I’m not voting for you in this primary and I’m not going to vote for you as president.’ I really think it’s that important.”
Illegal Immigration's Third World Momentum
By Frosty Wooldridge, www.newswithviews.com
October 10, 2005
http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty86.htm
Part I: What It Is
Part II: What is Does
By Frosty Wooldridge
October 10, 2005 (now how bad is it?)
Writing about America’s immigration crisis week after week raises my blood pressure, level of depression and creates maddening frustration levels as I observe inaction by the majority of American citizens. All fifty state governors do nothing to stop it, won’t speak against it, and, in many cases encourage it. Governor Bill Owens of Colorado, Baldacci of Maine, Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Richardson from New Mexico assist it. Although, this summer, Napolitano and Richardson issued ‘states of emergency’ in their states as illegals overran them.
The majority of senators do nothing as well as the majority of the House of Representatives. Major and smaller city mayors and city councils harbor illegal aliens with sanctuary policies. Even Los Angeles, with more gangs and crime than you can imagine, continues Special Order 40 that allows killers, rapists, drug distributors, MS-13 members and other human grease to remain protected from arrest.
Have you ever wondered why Third World countries are SO desperate? Why people flee? Why most citizens are illiterate? Why corruption is standard operating procedure? Let’s compare the ‘Rule of Law’ in America to the ‘Dis-rule of Law’ in countries like Mexico.
In my book, “IMMIGRATION’S UNARMED INVASION: DEADLY CONSEQUENCES”—I wrote about Third World Momentum as seen from the seat of my bicycle as I traveled throughout the world on six continents. I saw first hand all aspects of Third World Momentum. That’s why it is SO frustrating that US citizens don’t ‘get it’ or ‘see it’ and our president and Congress ignore it on purpose as they become a part of the ‘Dis-rule of Law’ in America. But I’m here to tell you that we’re flushing ourselves down the toilet faster than a bullet train. What is happening in America is a ‘systemic’ or ‘endemic’ corrupt system from Bush right on down the federal system.
An example of it shows you the incompetence of Michael Brown at FEMA and his horrifically incompetent handling of Katrina. At the height of Rome's decay, emperors appointed unqualified candidates to high office. Caligula appointed his horse to the Senate, where the horse enjoyed the reputation as the wisest and least harmful of that “august” body.
Last week, a reader wrote the exact aspects of Third World Momentum. After his interview, you will be offered a half dozen stories from U.S. citizens that bring it home as to how fast this country is spiraling into Third World status.
Heath Boatwright, Athens, Georgia understands what I have been trying to convey to the American public for years.
“In the last few years, I have found myself in a world where many refuse to discuss openly and honestly the issues that the United States is facing,” Boatwright said. “Hearing you on Coast to Coast with George Noory was refreshing to say the least. Although, I will tell you that it did not make me sleep better, and in fact I had to wake up and ponder for a moment all that you had said.”
“When you discuss Third World Momentum I know first-hand what you are talking about,” Boatwright said. “However, sadly, few Americans can grasp what you are talking about. I attended college at The University of Georgia. I received a BA in history, with a focus on Latin American history and I speak fluent Portuguese. I have traveled to South America many times and visited some of the most destitute and impoverished people there. Unfortunately, when I discuss this issue with most people, they call me a xenophobe, a racist, a bigot, and an ignorant person who does not appreciate other cultures.”
“Yet, how can I fit this description if I have ventured out into the world, bothered to learn another language, and reached out an open hand to the poor in far away places?” he said. “Also, how can I be a racist if the very person I chose to marry is not even an American (my wife is from Brazil)? While my love for the people and the region of Latin America runs deep, I would not trade my fate for theirs. I would also not trade my fate for nearly anyone in the Middle East, China, India, and so on.”
“Why is it that in the United States, to appreciate a culture you must also want to live like it?” Boatwright said. “I have dedicated much study to that region of the world, and I can tell you flat out that there is another mentality that exists in most Third World nations, and that mentality is manifesting itself here in the United States, daily. Many say that Latin America is "laid back". I have pondered on this observation and realized that you could also put it another way. In Latin America, if it is good enough for today, it is good enough. In Latin America, if you want to get something done, you will have to circumvent law. This is the type of Third World Corruption that you speak of.”
“So many in Latin America circumvent the law, that they rarely bother to realize that here, in the US, circumventing the law is the worst way to get things done,” he said. “Corruption is so rampant in those regions that it becomes a mechanism by which the society functions. This is why so many illegals come here--reproduce fake Social Security numbers, register their cars from one state to another to avoid mandatory auto insurance, go to the hospital using a fake name, buy items on credit using their brother's name is who now back in Mexico, refuse to learn English, and bear several children with no means of supporting them. They do this because they are modeling what they do in their culture.”
Boatwright continues, “Here is another fact about Latin America, and I believe most other Third World nations: those who reside there rarely bother to take accountability for their country’s problems. In Latin America, problems are blamed on corruption, foul government, and in certain intellectual circles-”past colonialism”. I have yet to encounter one single illegal person in the United States who is willing to admit that he is contributing to the detriment of my nation. In Latin America, you live side by side with abject poverty, illiteracy, hunger, and disease. You do this daily and it simply becomes part of the landscape. Latin America, and again most Third World countries, has a problem of what I call ‘mobilization.’”
“This is a situation where thousands mobilize and figure out methods to get things done, either by circumventing the law, or based on the current corrupt system they face, but few ever mobilize to truly resolve the issues they face,” Boatwright said. “I do not find it ironic at all that once one illegal alien discovered that he could come here to the US, work illegally, get healthcare, and generally avoid any type of legal prosecution, he later found himself surrounded by millions of his fellow countrymen. Again, this is my point: in Latin America, you have no problem getting people to mobilize in a way that ignores the current law, because people in that region do not live in fear of the law, it generally does not function anyway, and now they have seen that it also does not function in the United States.”
“Perhaps I sound harsh in my description, but I know exactly what I am talking about,” Boatwright said. “I know that region of the world well, I also know so well the manner of thinking that many bring with them when they enter the United States illegally. This manner of thinking, I believe, is the greatest threat that we face in the future. Finally, I have a deep interest in appreciating and understanding other cultures, but I also have an appreciation for my own. I want to let you know that I understand fully what you are talking about. I would like to ask you if you have ever considered going to our nation’s college campuses and discussing this issue. I mention college campuses because I do not know if you are aware that on the American campus it is virtually a universal opinion that illegal immigration is okay. Geography is a required course in most curriculums, and most people grasp the concept of overpopulation, but few can connect that to illegal immigration.”
If I could give you Heath Boatwright’s or my experiences up close and ugly, every single American today would call the White House, Senators and Congressmen as well as governors and mayors—and DEMAND our immigration laws be enforced and deportations begin immediately for 20 million illegal aliens. But if you don’t or won’t, part II of this series will show you Americans living with the consequences that reach into every sector of our country. This ‘thing’ is moving faster than most Americans realize, and once it’s imbedded, I fear that large scale civil violence will be the result.
If the signers of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act could see today what they rained down on America 40 years later, not one single senator or congressman would have signed it. But why won’t they rescind it? Why won’t they stop it? It’s their country and their children’s future, too.
(http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty87.htm)
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION’S THIRD WORLD MOMENTUM
Part II: What It Does
By Frosty Wooldridge
How does Third World Momentum manifest itself in America? Again, let’s review Boatwright’s definition: “Corruption is so rampant in South America that it becomes a mechanism by which a society functions.”
Look at the corruption at the Federal level in the U.S. today. The majority of senators and congressmen refuse to uphold their oaths of office by aiding, abetting and assisting illegal aliens by the millions. Kennedy and McCain lie through their teeth with their latest guest worker amnesty bill for 20 million illegal aliens. Did Bush not lie about weapons of mass destruction to wage his cowboy war in Iraq? Has he not submitted a totally unqualified lawyer for a supreme court justice in Miers? Didn’t he learn from Michael Brown’s incompetence with Katrina? Congress supports the corruption of the H-1b, H-2b, L-1 visas affecting over one million American jobs. What about Congress’ complicity in corruption of outsourcing, insourcing and offshoring over three million American jobs? How about Bush’s blatant disregard for his oath office as he allows millions of illegal aliens to invade and remain in our country? Our own president is in violation of Federal law—USC 8, 1324—274, 275, 276, 277. Bush is not alone because both sides of the aisle assist him against American citizens.
At the state level, we’ve got governors like Bill Owens of Colorado endorsing a booklet in Spanish helping illegal aliens to imbed themselves into our welfare and workforce systems. All contrary to Federal law! Governor Baldacci of Maine, Napolitano of Arizona and Richardson of New Mexico do everything in their power to help illegals—contrary to their citizens. Most other state governors say nothing! Local mayors in Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Boulder, Detroit, New York, Miami and dozens of other cities support ‘sanctuary policies’ that allow illegals to work and live in America—CONTRARY TO FEDERAL LAW.
These actions typify Third World Momentum: When laws of a country are not enforced and lawlessness becomes the norm. The United States races toward Third World status because of this ongoing erosion of our once lawful society.
I could give you dozens of examples from my own experiences in Third World countries, but the following constitute American citizens writing letters describing it in their own communities—so you’ll see their responses to show you what’s happening in the United States.
Dane said, “I used to live in El Paso, Texas and the same thing has happened there. Unchecked border crossings, population uncontrolled, schools trashed and litter everywhere. El Paso used to be a city you could brag on, now it is just the opposite. I left, as many have done and do not intend to return. We are even looked down on if we can't speak Spanish. These people are taking over and crime rules the streets of El Paso. I also foresee a huge water shortage some day. Before long El Paso will hit one million for a population and by then the place should be a complete nightmare.”
Dirk of Nevada said, “Even more dangerous than the incoming disease, crime and even terrorism is the fact that most immigrants don’t have an appreciation for the freedoms outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Illegals are being taught in public schools with taxpayer money. The fact that Bush supports the illegal invasion; opening our country to possible terrorist attack, and NEVER remarks about the importance of learning the Bill of Rights, proves that he is a traitor.”
Guy of LeHigh, OK said, “I am NOT racist, so understand please, I am NOT knocking anyone, but I am stating FACTS.
“I live in southern rural Oklahoma, and I can say that even legal immigration is bad here. Local large scale companies have NO problem hiring illegal aliens at all. We have a plastics producing plant 40 miles from where I live, and they have been busted NUMEROUS times for employing over 50 percent of their workforce, who are illegal aliens from Mexico. The reason they were caught the last time was easy as this: The Social Security Administration noticed that the workers who were illegal were sharing social security numbers of dead residents near where I live.
“Oddly enough, the company (Solo Cup) somehow did NOT notice the 100 illegal aliens had the same social security numbers. You worked four twelve hour shifts a week, sometimes five days a week, and I got paid on the upper scale of a respectable $7.00 an hour. By allowing them to work there, the company kept their payroll wages down. Of course, almost NO ONE WANTS to work there anyway, a job of last resort one might say. Long hours, bad pay, no benefits. But then again, that is true for many Oklahoman communities now.
“For example, did you know that besides Arkansas, we have one of the lowest high school graduation rates? We have a very high teen pregnancy rate. And that in the county I live, we have the HIGHEST unemployment rates in the USA, coupled with the highest welfare rates. Not only that, not one but over five companies locally have left to go overseas because of the cheap labor, and one of the companies (Wrangler Jeans) up and left for Mexico.
“Why pay us $5.00 an hour when you can pay $5.00 a day in Mexico and India?
Mark from Ocean Shores, WA said, “As merchandiser I travel about in the coastal towns of Washington. I have seen first hand an intensification of illegals. They are taking the few jobs we have here in an already depressed economy--those that aren't roaming the streets in gangs. Now, Washington is a long ways from the Mexican border. I see the congress and senate as being totally corrupted. I can't help but feeling the golden era of the USA is over and done. However, we got to give them hell.”
George of Sacramento, CA said, “There are so many ways that we're being taken advantage of. When a lot of people come over here and become legal, they send for their parents who come here, haven’t worked a day in their lives here, and apply for SSI at $700 per month. So, just because Mom and Dad are seniors they make about $1400 per month together. And they laugh up their sleeves at us all the way to the bank! I know that some of them go back to their country of origin and because of their SSI being deposited directly into their bank accounts, they can spend that money from anywhere. I'm sick of it. Talk about Third World corruption in our own country!”
Shelli of Glendale, CA said, “I'm a payroll auditor who audits a lot of construction companies, ranging from sole proprietor to corporation. I see so much underground economy it makes me want to scream. Contractors are constantly using illegal immigrants for their slave labor. Contractors pocket all the money. For example, it's not unusual to see a business owner's wife on the payroll making more in a week than an illegal employee in their employ makes in a month.
“What angers me is when a business owner hems and haws about the high cost of workers compensation insurance, but then hires illegals and doesn't report their payroll. "They only worked for a day or two" or "They're not a regular employee, they only worked a few weeks." Yeah, a couple weeks like that and a hardworking LEGAL American could've used the money to help support his family. Let's talk about watering down wages! These guys are working for $10/hr in jobs that used to start at $18 -- and that was years ago.”
George of Fountain Hills, AZ said, “I have been teaching part time at both the Maricopa Community Colleges and Arizona State University for the past five years. The discipline that I teach is mathematics. For the past five years I have been telling students and friends that the United States is the new emerging third world nation. Few people understand what this nation faces. Fewer people care what is happening.
“What I would like to tell you is my experiences in the higher educational system here in Arizona. I can frame the whole attitude by the statement of Chuy Carreon, Mathematics chair of Mesa Community College. Chuy once said that MCCD is NOT here to educate, just here to give out information.
“It should be noted that the remedial courses represent about 50 per cent or more of all the mathematics courses taught at the community colleges here in Arizona.
Jack of Denver, Colorado said, “We have sanctuary cities in Denver and Boulder. Last spring, Officer Don Young was killed by an illegal alien, Raul Gomez, who had been stopped for three traffic violations. He had no license or insurance and was NEVER arrested, before he killed Young with a shot to the back of the officer’s head. It shows two levels of law enforcement and one is corrupt. Last month, an illegal alien, Francisco Montero of Boulder, driving on a revoked DUI license and having been arrested nine times with three phony ID cards, killed a Lafayette motorcyclist, Dale Englerth, by turning into the cyclist. Montero should have been deported long ago, but now, he’s killed a father and husband.”
You can multiply these examples of Third World Momentum by millions of cases of rape, fraud, burglaries, stealing jobs, loss of IRS income taxes, prison costs, judicial costs, schools bankrupting, language chaos, spreading diseases and worse. How can continued illegal alien migration serve this country when it creates so much harm?
Write for that 20-point action letter to stop this nation-destroying madness at (http://www.frostywooldridge.com.) Check out Mark Edwards’ "Wake Up America" talk show on 50,000 watt KDWN-Am-720 10:00 PM to midnight PT, or on the worldwide Internet at (http://www.thewakeupamericafoundation.com.) Also, check out (http://www.alipac.us) at 1 866 329 3999; (http://www.theamericanresistance.com) ; (http://www.numbersusa.com) ; (http://www.frostywooldridge.com) ; (http://www.ccir.net) ; (http://www.carryingcapacity.com) (http://www.teamamericapac.org) ; (http://www.projectusa.org) ; (http://www.unitedpatriotsofamerica.com) To order my CD report from the border: ‘ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION—OUR TROJAN HORSE’—PH. 1-800-248-3061
Read the complete article.
Interior Enforcement Disintegrates Further in 2015: Year-end deportation statistics show continuing drop in deportations
By CIS, December 2015
http://cis.org/Interior-Enforcement-2015-Deportations
Excerpt:The number of interior deportations is now less than one-third of what it was in 2011, before the Obama administration implemented policy changes that greatly restricted the types of cases that ICE officers and agents could pursue for deportation. The number of criminal alien deportations from the interior is less than half of what it was in 2011.
ICE Director Sarah Saldana said that she was "proud of the numbers" when she testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on December 2, 2015.
In a press release announcing the numbers today, DHS falsely says "the number of convicted criminals removed from the interior continued to increase." In fact, only the share of deportations that are of criminals has increased – the actual number has fallen, as noted above.
In September, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said, “We take seriously our obligation to secure our borders.” No one believes that — especially not Central Americans thinking about coming to the United States.
DHS’s Deportation Announcement Is ‘Fundamentally a Political Exercise’
By Mark Krikorian
National Review Online, December 30, 2015
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429112/deportation-announcement-political-exercise
This was the start of the lead story on the Washington Post’s Christmas Eve front page:
The Department of Homeland Security has begun preparing for a series of raids that would target for deportation hundreds of families who have flocked to the United States since the start of last year, according to people familiar with the operation.
As I told the reporter, I’ll believe it when I see it. A few further thoughts:
Why now? The surge of Central Americans across the border — both adults with kids in tow (who are the subjects of this latest leak) and the “unaccompanied” “minors” who got so much coverage — subsided after the summer of 2014 because the administration bribe-threatened Mexico into doing a better job of policing its own southern border. But now there’s a renewed surge, presumably because Mexico’s zeal is waning and because Central Americans see that the U.S. isn’t deporting many of those who came earlier. Heck, even deportations of criminals are dropping. Border Patrol statistics show the magnitude of this new surge. In the first two months of the current fiscal year (October and November), border apprehensions of unaccompanied minors were more than double those in the same period last year, and apprehensions of “family units” nearly triple. If the rate continues, the flow of minors will approach the 2014 peak, and the flow of families will exceed it.
In itself, the White House may not consider that a problem, given the administration’s implicit belief that these people have a right to come here. But there’s an election in about 10 months, and not many voters share the Obama crowd’s anti-borders views. That’s why my colleague Dan Cadman notes that “the plan is fundamentally a political exercise.” The Democrats will gather in Philadelphia in late July for Herself’s coronation, and it could prove awkward for her if a renewed surge of illegals across the border is still in the news. Herself’s silence in response to the news of the planned raids, contrasted with Sanders’s and O’Malley’s fulminations against them, suggests she’s in on the whole thing.
Making the border-surge story go away will be one of DHS’s main election-year priorities.
So why the leak? It might seem odd to announce the onset of “raids” that haven’t even been given final approval yet. It could be a trial balloon, a planned leak to gauge public reaction. But more plausible is the theory that I’ve heard from moles inside DHS: A senior official leaked the news specifically to outrage Obama’s leftist base in an effort to prevent the deportations from ever happening.
In immigration matters, the fox guards the henhouse in this administration, from former La Raza VP Cecilia Muñoz directing policy in the White House to former police chief of San Francisco — San Francisco — Heather Fong in charge of DHS dealings with state and local law enforcement (and on the short list to become the next head of the Border Patrol). It is perfectly plausible that one of the many anti-borders zealots appointed to jobs in DHS figured that stopping the deportation of illegal aliens is more important than giving Herself political cover going into the November election.Will it work? The short answer is “no.” The Post reports that the “number targeted is expected to be in the hundreds and possibly greater.” Hundreds? The illegal-alien families are coming across the border at a rate of about 200 per day, and more than 100,000 have come over the past couple of years. Even if these deportations actually happen, a few hundred is a drop in the bucket and isn’t going to make much of an impression on people in Central America debating whether to head out for the United States.
What does make in impression is news from friends and relatives that they’re all being allowed to stay. When illegals bringing kids with them are apprehended, almost all are released with a notice (which they call a “permiso” or permit to be in the U.S.) instructing them to present themselves on such-and-such a date. It should come as no surprise that few do so. Data from earlier this year show that the overwhelming majority of illegal-alien families just ignore their hearing dates (look for “Absconded from Proceedings“ in Table 1) — and get away with it.
Even the administration’s efforts to dissuade people from coming have backfired. DHS has been running public-service announcements in Central America warning people not to come because new arrivals are not eligible for Obama’s various unilateral amnesties. They advise that “there are no permits for the people trying to cross the border without papers” and warn of “immediate deportation of those trying to cross the border without documents.” But Hondurans et al. aren’t idiots — their friends and relatives in the U.S. have told them, accurately, that there are permits for people crossing without papers and that there’s no immediate deportation of people from their countries. The lack of credibility earned by such obvious lies means that it will be doubly hard to change the perceptions of prospective illegals.
What to do? There are steps we could take if we actually wanted to stop the surge, though there’s little chance Obama’s minions would even consider them. Congress has authorized “expedited removal” for illegals under certain circumstances, allowing them to be removed without having to go before an immigration judge. This would apply to most of the illegals in question, but Obama’s not using this authority.
Expedited removal doesn’t apply to illegals who seek to avoid deportation by claiming asylum. But even here there’s a first cut, called a “credible fear” determination, to weed out people who shouldn’t even be put in the pipeline for a full evaluation of their claims, allowing their expeditious removal. The problem is that under Obama almost everyone makes the first cut — and few are detained pending the resolution of their claims — so that all you need to say is “asylum,” and you get to stay.
Most basically, an administration could simply force Mexico to take back people who just minutes before crossed through their territory into ours. Mexico is cooperative in receiving back its own citizens who are arrested by the Border Patrol, but not with regard to OTMs (Other Than Mexicans). That means we have to either detain them or let them go and hope they show up for their hearings.
But Canada takes back non-Canadians trying to sneak across our border, and Mexico sends non-Guatemalan Central Americans back across its own southern border with Guatemala. A president interested in controlling illegal immigration would insist on this. Nor should an asylum claim preclude return across the border; genuine asylum seekers would ask for it in the first country they reach, meaning Central Americans should be required to apply in Mexico, not here.
In September, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said, “We take seriously our obligation to secure our borders.” No one believes that — especially not Central Americans thinking about coming to the United States.
326,000 Native-Born Americans Lost Their Job in November: Why This Remains the Most Important Jobs Chart
By Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com, December 5, 2015
. . .
We are confident that one can make the case that there are considerations on both the labor demand-side (whether US employers have a natural tendency to hire foreign-born workers is open to debate) as well as on the supply-side: it may be easier to obtain wage-equivalent welfare compensation for native-born Americans than for their foreign-born peers, forcing the latter group to be much more engaged and active in finding a wage-paying job.
However, the underlying economics of this trend are largely irrelevant: as the presidential primary race hits a crescendo all that will matter is the soundbite that over the past 8 years, 2.7 million foreign-born Americans have found a job compared to only 747,000 native-born. The result is a combustible mess that will lead to serious fireworks during each and every subsequent GOP primary debate, especially if Trump remains solidly in the lead.
. . .
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-05/326000-native-born-americans-lost-their-job-november-why-remains-most-important-jobs
Placating Americans with Fake Immigration Law Enforcement
How our leaders create fantasy 'solutions' for our immigration-related vulnerabilities.
By Michael Cutler
FrontPageMag.com, December 4, 2015
. . .
Therefore the Visa Waiver Program should have been terminated after the terror attacks of 9/11 yet it has continually been expanded.
It is clear that the overarching goal of a succession of administrations and many members of Congress, irrespective of political party affiliation, is to keep our borders open and take no meaningful action to stop that flow of aliens into the United States.
. . .
The obvious question is why the Visa Waiver Program is considered so sacrosanct that even though it defies the advice and findings of the 9/11 Commission no one has the moral fortitude to call for simply terminating this dangerous program.
The answer can be found in the incestuous relationship between the Chamber of Commerce and its subsidiary, the Corporation for Travel Promotion, now doing business as Brand USA.
The Chamber of Commerce has arguably been the strongest supporter of the Visa Waiver Program, which currently enables aliens from 38 countries to enter the United States without first obtaining a visa.
The U.S. State Department provides a thorough explanation of the Visa Waiver Program on its website.
Incredibly, the official State Department website also provides a link, “Discover America,” on that website which relates to the website of The Corporation for Travel Promotion, which is affiliated with the travel industries that are a part of the “Discover America Partnership.”
. . .
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/261005/placating-americans-fake-immigration-law-michael-cutler
Immigration Enforcement as Political Football By Dan Cadman
CIS Immigration Blog, December 28, 2015
. . .
According to the story, the plan has been kicked around exhaustively in the upper echelons of the administration for some time, with no final decision being made. My own take is that the story was deliberately leaked by administration officials as a trial balloon to gauge public reaction to the proposal. And, although the media suggest that the idea emanated below, either at DHS or its subordinate agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would undertake the raids, that idea is beyond laughable. The leaders at all levels of DHS and its subordinate agencies are minions selected by the White House for their pliability. If this plan emanated anywhere, it arose from politicos at the highest levels who have their eye on the upcoming presidential election.
. . .
But there's this pesky perception that Democrats are weak on immigration enforcement, something that has become increasingly unpalatable to the public in light of the now undeniable connection between immigration and matters of terrorism and national security, so disastrously highlighted in France and the rest of Europe with its runaway migrant crisis and infiltration by jihadists.
So what to do to win back the independents and centrists? "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's get tough on a tiny segment of the illegal population, one that will look like we're really doing something! Let's have some raids on those scofflaws we let in a year ago last summer who didn't even bother to go to their court hearings. They're expendable. Besides, it will send a message back to Central America that they still haven't gotten: no more surges! At least, not until after the election, for God's sake."
If one were to accept the idea that the plan is fundamentally a political exercise, and that it was floated by way of a leak to prepare the public (and the small but outraged base of open borders advocates) for what will follow, then the reactions of the other two significant Democratic candidates was what Louisianans would call "lagniappe" – that little extra something, the gravy on the rice, the icing on the cake. Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley, both of whom have irritated the DNC to no end with their accusations of favoritism, took the bait and immediately leapt into the rhetorical fray to denounce the proposed raids. By contrast, The Hill newspaper tells us, "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has been more cautious than Sanders or O'Malley with regard to immigration policy in general, has not commented on the reported deportation raids."
. . .
http://www.cis.org/cadman/immigration-enforcement-political-football
Cruz/Sessions Bill Would Stop Sneaky Obama Sabotage of Skilled U.S. Workers
By Michelle Malkin
MichelleMalkin.com
Heads-up, America.
President Obama is dropping a New Year’s Eve bomb on the nation’s best and brightest workers.
. . .
What can be done to stop this?
As I noted on Twitter two weeks ago, a new bill co-sponsored by longtime reformer Sen. Jeff Sessions and GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz would not only restore U.S. worker protections in the flawed H-1B program, but would also prevent “continued use of the non-statute-based Optional Practical Training (OPT) Program, and the creation and use of other similar programs, which have also been used to displace American workers under the guise of student training.”
Good to know there are at least two Senators on Capitol Hill who aren’t snoozing while President Obama tries to throw U.S. high-skilled workers and talented U.S. college grads under the bus in the dark of the last night of 2015.
What about the rest of the politicians in Washington on both sides of the aisle? Have they all hopelessly sold out?
. . .
http://michellemalkin.com/2015/12/31/cruzsessions-bill-would-stop-sneaky-obama-sabotage-of-skilled-u-s-workers/
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Obama Floods The U.S. Job Market With Foreign Competition
Investors Business Daily, December 31, 2015
Politics: Skirting Congress once again, President Obama seeks to admit another 100,000 foreigners to work here when jobs are few and labor-market participation is low. Whatever this is, it's not in the interest of U.S. workers.
This time, the president isn't seeking to flood the country with tens of thousands of indigent, border-surging migrants in search of bigger benefits packages.
Instead, he plans to award via executive order work permits to 100,000 foreign college grads (including deportable aliens) to compete with U.S. workers for jobs.
. . .
The move is especially nefarious not just because it stands as another example of executive overreach but also because foreign workers already have U.S. workers at a disadvantage.
For one thing, they're able to work cheaper. Unlike Americans, most have had free tuition rides from their sponsoring countries and carry no student loan debt. This enables them to tolerate lower wages than American grads saddled with high loan costs that can't be shirked even in bankruptcy court.
The foreigners are also exempt from ObamaCare rules that can add as much as $20,000 in costs per domestic worker for employers struggling to compete in the low-growth economy that Obama has overseen.
In short, Obama's move to bring in highly educated foreign labor hurts U.S. white-collar workers as much as the border surge undermined blue-collar workers.
. . .
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/123115-787723-obama-floods-the-us-job-market-with-foreign-competition.htm
Somali Charged in Terrorism Ring Worked at Major U.S. Airport
Judicial Watch Corruption Chronicles, December 30, 2015
. . .
The security lapse is astounding considering that a decade and a half ago Islamic terrorists used airplanes that had departed from major U.S. airports as weapons of mass destruction. The reality is however, that security is unbelievably lax for airport baggage handlers and other facility