Illegal Immigration Bill Draft Summary

Bob Beers, Assembly District 21, Nevada

SECTION 1: TITLE.

• Creates the Nevada Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2009.

SECTION 2: FINDINGS.

• Legislative statement of intent that failure to enforce immigration law harms the safety and welfare of citizens and legal residents of Nevada.
• Declaration that the State has a compelling interest in insuring that government agencies and employers fully cooperate in the compliance with and enforcement of federal immigration law.

SECTION 3: FELONY TRANSPORTATION & HARBORING OF AN ILLEGAL ALIEN.

• Replicates in state law the federal statute making it a crime to move, transport, or attempt to transport persons known to be illegal aliens within Nevada.
• Replicates in state law the federal statute making it a crime to conceal, harbor, or shelter from detection in any place within the State persons known to be illegal aliens.
• Provides an exception for the transportation or harboring of illegal aliens if it’s associated with the provision of any benefit guaranteed to illegal aliens by federal law, or regulated public health services provided by a private charity with private funds.

SECTION 4: LAWFUL PRESENCE TEST FOR DRIVERS LICENSE & ID CARD

 APPLICANTS.

• Restricts eligibility for state driver’s licenses and identity cards to citizens, nationals, and legal immigrants. 
• Allows legally present nonimmigrants to be issued temporary licenses and ID cards valid only for the period for which the nonimmigrant has been admitted to the U.S.
• Provides an exception for schools IDs, as long as the school ID clearly states that the document is only valid for identification purposes at the institution where it was issued.

SECTION 5: VERIFICATION OF CITIZENSHIP OR IMMIGRATION STATUS OF

 PERSONS ARRESTED.

• Requires jail officials to attempt to verify the citizenship or immigration status of any person arrested or confined through the federal LawEnforcementSupportCenter operated by U.S. DHS.
• Requires foreign nationals who have not been lawfully admitted to the U.S. to be deemed a flight risk for bond determination purposes.

SECTION 6:  DEFINITIONS.

• Defines the terms “status verification system”, “public employer”, “subcontractor” and “unauthorized alien” for the purposes of Section 7.

SECTION 7: VERIFICATION OF WORK AUTHORIZATION BY PUBLIC EMPLOYERS,

 CONTRACTORS & SUBCONTRACTORS.

• Requires all public employers to register and participate in one of two federally implemented verification systems to verify federal employment authorization of new employees.
• Prohibits public employers from contracting for services with contractors who do not participate in a verification system to verify the status of all new employees after July 1, 2008.
• Prohibits contractors or subcontractors from entering into contracts with public employers unless they participate in a verification system to verify the status of all new employees after July 1, 2008.
• States that it’s a discriminatory practice for an employing entity to discharge a US citizen or legal resident alien while retaining an illegal alien, hired after July 1, 2008, in a comparable job as the discharged employee. In order for such a discharge to be considered a violation of this section, the employer had to know, or reasonably should have known, that the retained employee was illegal.
• Any employer using a status verification system to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires after July 1, 2008 is exempt from any liability arising from this section.
• No cause of action for violating this section can be brought against an employer, unless it arises from the provisions of this section.

SECTION 8: VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL IMMIGRATIONSTATUSFORSTATE &

 LOCAL PUBLIC BENEFITS.

• Requires all state and local agencies to verify lawful presence of applicants for state or local public benefits using the federal SAVE system.
• Provides exceptions for certain emergency and humanitarian public services designated by the U.S. Attorney General.

SECTION 9: WITHHOLDING OF INCOME TAX FOR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS

 WITHOUT VALID SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.

• Requires individual independent contractors to show their contracting entity documentation to verify employment authorization, or the contracting entity must withhold federal income tax at the top marginal income tax rate.
• Any contracting entity who fails to do this is liable for the taxes that should have been withheld.
• This section applies only to business relationships between individual independent contractors and contracting entities, not employees and employers.

SECTION 10: COOPERATIVE IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT BY STATE & LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

• Authorizes the State Attorney General to negotiate a memo of understanding between Nevada and the Department of Justice or Homeland Security regarding enforcement of federal immigration law in Nevada.
• Prohibits any local government in this state from passing an ordinance or law restricting the ability of a law enforcement officer or government employee to communicate or cooperate with federal officials regarding the immigration status of anyone in the state.
• Prohibits any government official or entity in the state from restricting another official, entity, or public employee in the state from sending or receiving information regarding the immigration status of any individual to or from the Department of Homeland Security.
• Establishes a private right of action for any individual in this state to file for a writ of mandamus against any local or state government agency not cooperating with the provisions of this section.

SECTION 11: GENERAL PROHIBITION ON ELIGIBILITY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

   FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION BENEFITS.

• Prohibits individuals not lawfully present in the country from receiving postsecondary education benefits or resident tuition.
• Provides an exception per the provisions of Section 13.
• States that the provisions of this section do not apply to any student enrolled in a college for the 2006-2007 school year or any prior year who received resident tuition per current law.

SECTION 12: ESTABLISHING A FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS IDENTIFICATION UNIT

   AT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

• Contingent upon funding, DPS shall establish a Fraudulent Documents Identification Unit.

SECTION 13: SPECIFIC PROHIBITION ON ELIGIBILITY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

   FOR POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION BENEFITS.

• Allows a person without legal immigration status to enroll in an institution of higher education and receive resident tuition, only if they have:

Ø      Graduated from a state high school;

Ø      Resided in the state with a parent or legal guardian while attending a state high school for at least two years before graduation;

Ø      Met the admissions requirements of the college;

Ø      Provided the college with a copy of a filed and pending application or petition for legal status; or

Ø      Provided the college with an affidavit that they will file such an application as soon as they are eligible, but in no case later than one year from the date that a process for legalization is available to them;

Ø      If such an affidavit is filed, they have to provide the college with a copy of a filed and pending application or petition for legal status no later than one year from the date that a process for legalization became available to them.

• No student shall have to meet additional conditions for resident tuition who qualified for resident tuition per the provisions of a previous version of this law during the 2006-2007 school year or any prior year.

SECTION 14: EFFECTIVE DATE.

• Effective date – October 1, 2009.

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Not a day goes by where some paper in America publishes a column complaining about the number of guns owned by US citizens. Within the confines of the Obamacare debate, the writers all but scream about the danger these “Second Amendment Fanatics” pose to the rest of America, especially during one of the acrimonious town hall meetings. A huge point has been missed by every one of these columnists; the only known citizen injured at one of these meeting was Kenneth Gladney in St. Louis, MO. Mr. Gladny is a conservative who also happens to be black. A circumstance every liberal columnist will avoid commenting on like the plague.

Such hypocrisy is more common than not, especially in today’s new progressive America. This attitude, bolstered by the election of an unrepentant socialist to the Presidency, has brought along a whole new collection of laws aimed at removing the ability of Americans to protect themselves and their families if the sanctity of their home comes under attack.

H.R. 45, offered up by Congressman Bobby Rush, another Chicago politician, would require a federal license for all handguns and semiautomatics, including those you currently possess; and It would require handgun and semi-auto owners to be thumb printed at the police station and to sign a certificate stating that you would keep that horrible weapon of mass destruction unloaded. In addition to this the bill will require that anyone owning a firearm must also undergo psychiatric examination at their own expense. The bill was written to not only discourage, but to place a stigma on anyone who would dare to own a firearm. What is really draconian in H.R. 45 is the “crimes of omission” bit. A gun owner can be convicted of a crime if they forget to submit some piece of info to the government. Big Brother must be appeased, the constitution be damned.

Barrack Obama made a huge point of asserting his support of the Second Amendment while he was campaigning. Bills such as this one, coming from legislators who have easy, consistent access to Obama, foreshadow a different stand entirely. Our President’s consistent attack on our once-secure freedoms shows just how dangerous Obama considers a fundamental interpretation of the constitution. His hydrogenBarrackide is working on the constitutional germ in our country.

Let’s take a close look at the Second Amendment.

Line 1: A well-regulated militia,

Every single one of those opposed to any American citizen being able to own a firearm claim that the word “militia” here means “army”, and since we now have an organized military for the federal branch we no longer need states militia such as those gathered together in the old days.

I find it interesting that in one breath these lefty logicians manage to change the interpretation of the word “militia” back and forth all on one sentence. I think James Madison understood the difference in meaning. He and his fellows had just finished defeating the best organized army and navy in the world at that time.

Line 2: being necessary to the security of a free State,

Those who want the American people disarmed focus on the word “state” in this line. They point to it with shaking finger and declare, “See! Right there. That proves this amendment is all about the federal government.”

 No, it’s not. If anyone bothered to understand the history of this country, they would find that one of the chief debates during the time of its foundation was that over “free states” and a strong federal government. The majority came down on the side of the states. And no, they were not all Republicans. The line doesn’t just intimate, it declares boldly that a well-regulated militia is necessary to the security of a free state, not the federal government. They did not wholly trust Washington before the district existed.

Line 3: the right of the people to keep and bear arms,

I don’t know how liberals manage to twist the word “people” here to mean US Military Personnel, but they do. It has been said that liberalism is a mental disorder and when you get into a debate about the US Constitution, the evidence supporting that statement becomes overwhelming.

This line states plainly that the amendment is focusing on the individual right to own and operate a firearm. It doesn’t say anything about the make, type or model of firearm. Simply because Mac 10s and Uzis didn’t exist during the late 18^th century is meaningless where this right is concerned. If you don’t like it, go through the process defined in the constitution and change it, but you cannot disregard it, at least, not if you really do support the constitution.

Line 4: shall not be infringed.

Congressman Rush must be a product of No Child Left Behind. I say this because he must not understand big words like “infringed”. For all those liberals out there who spent their time in school taking diversity classes instead of the three Rs, infringed means to violate, trespass or not fulfill. In essence, this line says that you can’t take the peoples’ guns away from them.

Of course Congressman Rush comes from Chicago, the same city that produced Obama and everyone’s favorite governor Rod Blagojevich. There are few cities in the US that can claim higher crime numbers than Chicago, except for possibly New York. Both cities boast extreme liberal governments and motivations. Isn’t it interesting that the more civil rights are infringed, the higher the crime rate climbs?

What the majority of liberals do not understand is that most American citizens prefer to exercise personal responsibility. They want to be able to provide for themselves and their families, whether that be housing, feeding, or protecting. It is that spirit of self-reliance that helped to propel the US into a singular position in the world. To a liberal, that is one of the most hateful portions of American history.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This first part of our Bill Of Rights is also the most controversial and has been used by the left to actually curtail several civil rights of those citizens the left considers dangerous to the “cause”. An example is below:

In Florida, Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and school athletic director Robert Freeman, have been declared enemies of the state by the ACLU because they (gasp) offered a mealtime prayer. Call the authorities. Heaven knows what sort of dangerous activities these two reprobates may cook up next. Better check ‘em for contraband such as pocket new testaments. As any true believer in Chairman Mao can see, the First Amendment clearly states that practicing Christianity in the open is illegal. Or does it?

Let’s examine that pesky amendment, shall we? Line number 1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

Hmm, seems that all this says is that Congress cannot establish a state religion such as King Henry’s Church of England. I see nothing in this language that can be stretched to intimate that exercising one’s belief in government buildings is prohibited. It says “Congress shall make no law”. Allowing an outstanding graduating senior to talk about how her beliefs affected her educational experience isn’t even in the same universe as “making a law”. Concerning the ACLU on this line, to paraphrase a famous playwright, “Methinks they doth protest waaay too much.”

Line number 2: or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

Even the Supreme Court skates around this one. That is one of the favorite tactics of the left. They really like to pull out portions of a complete thought and twist the meaning of the original until “stop” means “go” and visa versa. If we drop back into the hated practice of fundamentalism for just a moment, it is easy to see that Ben Franklin, James Madison and the rest of that gang of revolutionaries intended on allowing Frank and Robert to do exactly what they may be jailed for doing. It wasn’t they who offended the constitution, but the ACLU. Of course, trying to get Washington to admit this will be harder than getting back onto the gold standard.

Line number 3: or abridging the freedom of speech,

Lately this line is misread to include the word “liberal”, as in “abridging the freedom of liberal speech. Anything the left considers offensive, such as pointing out the dangers in any of Barrack Hussein Obama’s policies, is somehow removed from that protection. Seems to me that if the ACLU wasn’t completely committed to destroying the American culture, they would protect all speech, not just the portion they agree with. Again, wouldn’t a prayer, regardless of where it is voiced be considered speech?

Line number 4: or of the press;

This used to be the favorite line of the ACLU and the rest of the lefties...until Fox News came onto the scene. Now there is a full court press to eliminate that voice. In reading that line, I see no differentiation in those four words. If any of the ACLU geniuses bothered to read history they would see that the press of John Adam’s time was far more virulent in their prose than even the tabloid rags we see today.

Line number 5: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,

Notice that this line says nothing about the exclusion of certain areas of assembly. As long as it’s peaceable, the people have a right to assemble. Unfortunately, where the left is concerned, this assembly might lead to uncontrolled religious speech.

Line number 6: and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This line has been thrown out completely. Witness the refusal of the Democrat legislators to host fully open town halls. How often have constituents been told that their representative is not available? According to this line, every time Congress has held a closed door meeting, they have violated the Constitution.

I have had some experience with the ACLU in my state of Nevada. About a year ago Clark County’s commissioners were considering action that would have made it more difficult for massage parlors to operate as unlicensed brothels. This was partly due to research I had done on the subject as a State Assemblyman. That research had turned up damning evidence that the massage parlors, especially those advertised as “oriental” were linked to a world wide network involved in the trafficking of underage girls as sexual slaves. Alan Lichtenstein, an officer in the local ACLU had no problem looking into talking with some of the victims of this network...as long as they could pony up $600 an hour. So much for constitutional altruism.

The left loves to disguise their attacks against classic American culture by giving themselves patriotic sounding labels. American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are two examples. This link contains a list of examples illustrating the growing prejudice within our government against all things Christian. http://www.infidels.org/misc/humor.archive/lioaca.html . Simply because the constitution is crystal clear in its protections of expressed faith is no reason to become fanatical, is it?

As a member of the Christian faith, I have to admit to violations of the ACLU’s interpretation of the First Amendment. I attended a bible study in the Nevada State Legislature, a clear example of joining church and state. Many times during meeting of the full Assembly I would say a quick prayer for guidance, and, worst of all, I would sometimes proselytize in my office in answer to a faith-based question from a constituent. According to the Florida Attorney General I should serve jail time for that one.

What I find most interesting is that the anti-Christian groups in America use the First Amendment as a weapon against Christianity when there is no single religion mentioned in the entire constitution, including the appendices. Other religions, especially those that have declared war against America and its people are defended with full fervor, especially if those believers have been convicted of terrorism. What would happen to groups such as the ACLU is hypocrisy became a crime? I have read the constitution several times. There is no right to lie.

In October of 2006 the Office of Management and Budget reported that No Child Left Behind increased state and local governments' annual paperwork burden by 6,680,334 hours, at an estimated cost of $141 million dollars. For some reason Washington didn’t seem upset about that.

A number of states have published reports estimating the cost of complying with No Child Left Behind. For example, the state of Connecticut found that the state government would spend more than $17 million in 2007 to comply with NCLB. Virginia estimated that state implementation costs totaled approximately 20 million per year. If we exclude those states with the courage to tell Washington to keep their money, the average cost per state of $15 million per year comes out to a whopping $675 million. So why was the report from OMB a miniscule $141 million? Was it because someone gave Bush Jr. the calculator? Or is the answer something far more Machiavellian? 

You’re right, it is.

In the summer of 2007 I attended a legislative conference in Philadelphia attended b y hundreds of state representatives from across the US. One of the speakers was President Bush. His speech contained mostly fluff, but buried within the rhetoric was an absolute conviction that NCLB was going to continue to be forced upon the unwilling states, regardless of the cost. Unfortunately it seems Obama agrees with that sentiment.

No Child Left Behind has created a culture of insipidness within our public school system. This culture stems from the school boards and filters on down through the administration. Even though the majority of teachers hate the program, they are forced to either go along or lose their job.

School Administrators only look at the dollars. I know, I’ve spoken with those in my state. Many claim that they do care what happens to the children, but when push comes to shove every decision comes out with dollar signs on it. I have yet to read about a single superintendent or principle willingly sacrificing a portion of their paycheck to improve the quality of education in their school. To be fair, most of them are not given a choice. They too are trapped within a system that has been carefully crafted by the left for the past sixty-plus years. Why else would programs that have proven themselves every time they’ve been used be scrapped in favor of what essentially boils down to babysitting?

Washington claims that every child not only deserves to go on to higher education, but that they all have a burning desire to do so. Yes, I’m sure if you ask the average 4^th grader what they want to be when they grow up the vast majority are going to list a profession that requires an advanced degree. Fireman, cowboy, soldier or movie star won’t even be in the mix. The real truth, backed by NEA’s own statistics, is that less than a third of high school graduates will apply and be accepted to a four-year college. Of those accepted, less than a third will finish that education, even if given an extra year. So, based on numbers they themselves are aware of, why is the federal bureaucracy so dead set on promoting a program that fails miserably? And why do they continuously buck against a program that excels every time it is tried? I’m talking about vocational education. Yes, I mean shop classes.

The cost of implementing NCLB has all but eliminated vocational education. In the Clark County School District, one of the largest in the US, you can still find classrooms fully equipped to teach auto shop, wood shop and home economics in the districts middle schools. Not one of them is being used for that purpose. Some are not even being used as classrooms, even though the schools are overcrowded. In many of the high schools, vocational education has been cut back drastically because of budget concerns. It seems the district, just like Washington, won’t pay attention to its own data.

Not too far from my home stands one of the first Career and Technical Academies in the nation. It used to be called VoTech High School. Now its called SECTA. Even with the name change, SECTA remains one of the highest performing schools in the nation with an average 98% functional graduation rate. The naysayers on the school board claim the numbers are because the school gets to pick and choose its pupils. But in reality it is because the staff and administration at that school work together as a team to make sure the education is made relevant to the students. They learn the core subjects such as science, english, history and math as they apply to a profession, not just boring, overworked theory. There is a young man who attended VoTech with an emphasis on plumbing. In middle school his teachers labeled him as unable to grasp concepts beyond addition and subtraction. After high school he went into the navy as a plumbers mate. When he revisited his alma mater he explained what he was doing in the navy to his old teachers using advanced calculus to illustrate concepts. Not bad for a labeled failure.

Using some more NEA stats; one of the most successful groups in college is that made up of mature returning students. Believe it or not, that group makes up a good percentage of teachers, especially those in the Career and Technical Academies. So why the push of NCLB?

Many of my fellow conservatives don’t like my derision of G.W. Bush. Too bad. Bush was a lousy President who did everything he could to destroy our country’s sovereignty. Consider the attempt to remove the border between the US and Mexico, the attempt to sell sovereign base authority to a terrorist nation, and the support of an educational bureaucracy that no one likes outside of the feds? There is more than enough evidence that NCLB is yet another avenue the left is using to reduce the strength of the United States as a country. If they can get us to graduate more illiterates than not, the socialist revolution will succeed without a shot being fired. So what can we do?

One plan would be to allow states to opt out of the NCLB program. These states would be able to work out an alternate agreement with the federal government. Under this agreement, the states’ representatives would have broader authority to consolidate existing federal programs with state programs to work out their education funding. Of course, this assumes the states CAN work out school funding. That’s another column.

Another plan is to use what has already been proven to work, vocational education. Make the core classes relevant to the students. Allow them to use both their minds and their hands. Bring back real detention. Don’t allow those students who want to disrupt the classroom to do so. Put them somewhere away from the other students where they only get the three R’s, no sports, no recess, until they prove they are able to rejoin civilized society. Get rid of the diversity nonsense and teach real citizenship. Allow teachers to teach what they know. Don’t force them to pull double duty as secretaries for the administration. The average teacher day, believe it or not is about 10-12 hours, not 6. And there is no such thing as a 3-month vacation. Just because there are no bottoms in the classroom chairs doesn’t mean the job stops. It takes a minimum of 2 ½ months to set up lesson plans for the next year.

Of course, pulling off such a plan would also require dumping NCLB. How about that?

“Now, they're using the same cowardly strategy and scare tactics to stop health care reform.

Worst of all, it's starting to work -- and it's turning ugly fast. Congressional townhall meetings have erupted into shouting matches thanks to right-wing disrupters. Some have even turned violent. At least one opponent of health care reform posted a message on the popular website Twitter urging the public to use firearms if they encounter ACORN members at a community health care discussion. He wrote, "If ACORN/SEIU attends these meetings for disruptive purposes, and you have a license to carry....carry."

So it's no wonder that opponents are actively spreading lies through email and talk radio in an effort to juice up the angry mobs and derail reform.”

It is interesting that not one member of the media seems to remember the tactics used by the left against people like Rush Limbaugh when he tried to host a television special, or against judicial candidate Robert Bork when neither man was allowed to speak even one word without a deafening cascade of shrill whistles and boos. These tactics have been used against conservative causes long before the Democrats had a supermajority. So why are organizations like Acorn and MoveOn.org so worried? Could it be that even those polling organizations the most supportive of Obama should his numbers well below 50%?

MoveOn’s website is posting a list of what it calls “right wing lies” and how to combat them. What most of it boils down to is that they are counting on the massive size of the bill to prevent people from reading it and finding out that those lies are disturbingly rooted in the truth. One of the so-called “right wing extremist groups” consists of doctors who have become familiar with the bill’s provisions, and boy are they upset. "This is war," Dr. George Watson, a Kansas physician and president-elect of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, told FOXNews.com Thursday. "This is a bureaucratic boondoggle to grab control of health care. Everything that has been proposed in the 1,018 page bill will contribute to the ruination of medicine."

What proves my earlier point on the absolute control the Democrat Party exercises over its members, even at the cost of their own integrity is what those house members who are Democrats say, “"These people are practicing fear without a license and they should be subject to a malpractice suit.” Jim McDermott, D-Washington. This link will lead you to the full Fox article on the issue, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/22/doctors-wage-war-obamas-health-care-overhaul/

The AARP, a usual stronghold for the Democrat left is now showing a deep division on the issue. A lot of members express real concern over the use of Medicare funding to pay for Obamacare. AARP’s leadership still maintains that the organization is 100% behind Obama’s plan, but those assertions are sounding weaker and weaker. Hence the ever-growing desperation of neocommunist groups such as Acorn and MoveOn. A number of their members are beginning to take the opposition personally.

Jim Holt writes about what he witnessed at one town hall meeting in Mehlville Missouri. His full report can be found at Pajamas Media.

“Barrack Obama told a crowd of supporters in Philadelphia back in 2008, “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” He added, “That’s the Chicago way.”

Last night in St. Louis, Missouri, a local conservative found out firsthand about the “Chicago way.” Kenneth Gladney, a black conservative from the city, was handing out “Don’t Tread On Me” flags after a Russ Carnahan town hall meeting on health care in Mehlville. This didn’t go over well with the Obama supporters and union thugs who attended the meeting. They punched him in the face, kicked him in the head, and stomped on him on the pavement. So much for hope and change.”

I urge you all to read Jim’s report and remember where our current President came from. Consider the people he has surrounded himself with, felons, thugs, radicals and worse. I mean, he has Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State for God’s sake! One other lovely example is Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. When Rahm, the less radical of the two Emanuel brothers, was an advisor to President Clinton, he used to slam a steak knife into a tabletop and shout the word “Die!” while calling out the names of Clinton’s political rivals. Emanuel is also the instigator of the “rat on your neighbors” policy currently in process at the White House. Nothing more would buck up the hopes of Acorn, MoveOn, The Apollo Alliance and every other radical group within the Obama umbrella than to see America become a fractured country with every neighbor suspicious of the other.

Our history shows why the United States of America became the world’s first and greatest superpower. The reason was us, its people and its culture. A brief lesson in metallurgy is instructive. Metals such as copper, iron and gold are too soft to be of much use under stress. Copper and gold bend and iron breaks, but if you alloy then with another type you get products such as steel and bronze whose discovery altered civilization. America was once known as “the melting pot” and those divergent cultures coming here became a part of the whole, making us stronger and stronger. Now we have enemies within, including the one sitting in the White House, who have worked tirelessly to break up that melting pot into a tepid buffet with all the strength of an overcooked pot noodle.

Helen Thomas, the oldest, longest running White House reporter recently published a column extolling the virtues of Obamacare and how sad it was that mobs of orchestrated right wing radicals were ruining it for all of us. She may be a nice old lady, but she is, as usual, clueless. Just like every other leftist tool, Helen hasn’t read the bill. That wouldn’t show any trust.

Attorney General Eric Holder- Obama’s legal advisor in the Senate. A confirmed leftist absolutely opposed to the death penalty.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton- Nothing more need be said here except that having Mrs. Clinton out of the country for most of the time is an inspired move by Obama. Hillary is far too interested in power herself.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor- Her most famous quote of “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” exposes her personal bigotry. She is also an active member of La Raza.

Green Jobs czar Van Jones- Jones, a black radical, was arrested and jailed for violence during the Rodney King riots. In prison he adopted the Karl Marx philosophy and remains committed to turning the US into a communist nation. He has refined his agenda, using the environmentalist movement and the so-called “green” push in legislation to further his goals.

Many express surprise, even amazement that Obama would not only appoint an admitted communist, but one with a felony on their record to a cabinet level position. I don’t find it surprising at all. Beginning with his early association with the Weather Underground and moving on to over two decades of tutelage at the feet of Jeremiah Wright, a man who screamed “God damn America” from the pulpit, it isn’t a surprise at all that when put into the ultimate position of power Barrack Hussein Obama would begin implementing the plans his communist brethren had for this country since the fifties.

Glen Beck gave a white board demonstration about an organization called The Apollo Alliance. He finished by asking his audience to talk him out of the “crazy Tree”. Sorry Glen, can’t do it. The more you explore the associations, especially with a backroom understanding of how politics works in America, you aren’t crazy. I wish you were.

The Democrat Party, along with all of its assorted splinter groups has functioned as one vast communal organism for at least the last fifty to sixty years. There are hints of this organization going back to the days of Stalin’s reign in the Soviet Union.

In order to go anywhere within the Democrat Party, you have to be willing to toe the party line, especially when it comes to social issues. There is a tiny bit of leeway on fiscal policy, hence the Blue Dogs in the party, but there is no room whatsoever on the social side. Witness Lieberman’s expulsion for his traitorous vote on the war. I saw this control in person during my tenure in the Nevada Legislature. Rosemary Womack, a fellow freshman in the Assembly, ran afoul of her party because she felt certain bills would harm her constituents’ quality of life. She voted against her party’s line and for that sin was expelled. Take that circumstance and multiply it exponentially and you have what goes on in Washington on a daily basis. Absolute control over the party members is the aim of the Democrat leadership. Is it impossible to extrapolate that aim to include the American people?

Obama has appointed literally dozens of “Czars” to coordinate the various boards involved in the Apollo Alliance. What is alarming is that these Czars are “outside of the Constitution and the authority of Congress.” (Congressman Jack Kingston-R-GA). Unlike cabinet secretaries, these Czars have no congressional confirmation process to go through. They report directly to the President. Obama has full authority to set their salaries and job descriptions. Which one of these people was involved in the posting of a death threat on the door of the father who confronted John Dingle about the healthcare bill. I watched the confrontation. Dingle tried to push the questions aside and later accused this man of being part of a conspiracy. Pot calling the kettle…because there is no public forum or even a mild examination of their records, the Czars face no public opposition to their placement into power. If we examine those judges and secretaries GOP administrations attempted to appoint and the fanatical opposition they received, we begin to wonder if the left even knows what a true radical is.

Is it any wonder that a true grassroots uprising by a broad spectrum of American citizens over Obama’s dismantling of their rights is called a conspiracy by the left? They live in conspiracy. Obama’s Czars are simply yet another means to an end. The real danger to America is that it is becoming an ever-accelerating end. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Dingle and many others in the Democrat leadership have expressed, not a desire, but a need to establish this takeover of the American way of life.

The Apollo Alliance, on its surface is simply an envelop overseeing the development of “green” technologies. An examination of how Obama is dealing with this legislatively is another thing altogether. The Cap and Trade legislation, if passed, would make it impossible for any current petroleum-based business to continue. Those who could not afford the enormous expense to change over to approved “green” technologies would be forced into bankruptcy, shut down, or…this is the sneaky bit…purchased by the government as part of the Van Jones stimulus Package. Remember, The Obama Administration has gone as far as issuing open threats against any and all who oppose one of his policies. There are even white House operated site where neighbors can report neighbors for sedition. Right now a concerted effort (yes, a left-wing conspiracy) is being undertaken to financially destroy the upstart Fox Network. When it goes, there will be no media opposition to the communist cause.

The Financial Sector, Healthcare, Transportation, food production and now Power. Can anyone say “King” Obama?

 "A lie told often enough becomes truth" Vladimir Lenin.

 I first noticed this back in the 60’s when I was in high school. This was during the Vietnam War when a number of my classmates were carrying around copies of Mao’s little red book. They were the true believers of the liberal message coming from the communes and the leftist professors at the local college. Very little of what was put forth by these self appointed gurus had any bearing in either truth or reality, but boy, did they like to pass it along. Businessmen, especially prosperous ones were pigs. Anyone in authority was the man and you couldn’t trust anyone over 30. They forgot that at that time most of the people over 30 had saved their ungrateful butts in World War 2.

Today the big lie is that raising taxes will increase prosperity. Along with that lie is another one that says if we cap the amount a business can earn we will also increase prosperity. Obama has convinced the true believers, many of them running the news corporations, that his policies have increased the number of jobs. Isn’t it interesting that the unemployment rate has continued to rise? Where are all these jobs?

Remember the Weathermen and Bill Ayers? Apparently the media doesn’t. Obama refuses to repudiate a single stand taken by Mr. Ayers and his terrorist organization while at the same time he calls citizens of the US who oppose his takeover of the health industry “Right Wing Domestic Terrorists”. Well, I guess you can add me into that group. Some of the stands the Weathermen took included a long-range plan to control the populace which included access to healthcare, control of business practices and elimination of portions of the population considered inconvenient to the new administration. Isn’t it interesting that the new Obamacare bill includes an “end of life” provision?

As I pointed out in my last column, the Obama Administration is actively taking over every possible aspect of American life. We have placed a true follower of Lenin onto the American throne and removed any real opposition to his policies. All you have to do is read the new arrogant tones in online rags such as the Huffington post. They know they are in complete control and are not bothered at all by any poll numbers.

A while ago I wrote that raising the Nevada Room Tax was not a bad idea. Well, even I can be wrong. Further study has shown that raising any tax outside of those necessary to maintain constitutionally mandated services becomes oppressive and eventually leads to a worsening of the problem, not a solution. Human nature is too large of a factor. The best solution is to increase revenue by increasing prosperity. Wal Mart proved this a long time ago by selling more goods at cheaper prices and getting rich on the volume. Is it any wonder the liars on the left hate that company?

The problem the Republicans have is getting past merely protesting Obama’s policies. We have to be able to say more than just no. It isn’t enough to just be opposed to something, you also have to stand for something. I am not talking about compromise here. Ronald Reagan learned that lesson. It’s a pity his Vice President wasn’t as intelligent. No, I am talking about fighting bad ideas with good ones. We have to be able to answer questions about our opposition with logical, common sense solutions to today’s problems, and they do exist. I have expressed many over the past several months. Does any one else have an idea or two?

The Ayatollahs of Iran consider any individual critical of the way they appointed Adiminawhackjob to a second term an enemy of the state. In Turkey, anyone critical of the ways things are done is jailed for offending “Turkishness”. Here in the US, we now have an administration that is acting more and more like its Middle Eastern friends than what our founding fathers envisioned.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has gone as far as comparing critics of the healthcare plan to Nazis. Other members of the Democrat leadership have called those who don’t trust the plan “shrill”, and “fringe group fanatics”. News organizations, supposedly nonpartisan, have affixed the labels of “small mobs” and “rabid right-wingers” to those with the temerity to ask their representatives if they even bothered to read the bill.

Are these people merely members of shrill fringe groups and other bits of minority flotsam the administration should ignore for the good of the country? George Pucine of Las Vegas was able to get this bit of statistical evidence to the contrary past the usually left-leaning guardians at the Las Vegas Review Journal:

-- Quinnipiac poll: Three out of four Americans don't believe government-run health care will be deficit-neutral and 59 percent of Americans are against health care reform if the measure is supported by only the Democrats.

-- Gallup poll: Sixty-three percent say the president's plan will worsen their personal medical care.

-- National Public Radio poll: Forty-seven percent oppose Obama's plan and 42 percent support it.

-- New York Times/CBS poll: Seven-seven percent of Americans fear costs will increase under government-run health care.

-- Time poll: Fifty-six percent fear losing freedom to choose their own doctor/plan under government-run health care.

Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll: Forty-two percent say Barack Obama's plan is a "bad idea" vs. 36 percent saying it's a "good idea."

I don’t know about you, but the above numbers say majority, not minority. The problem is Pelosi and her Democrat fellows do not believe in representing the majority. They have an agenda and it is being followed to the letter and any who swerve from the orthodoxy will be punished. Remember Joe Lieberman and his one tiny slip?

Can any one remember who was President before Jimmy Carter? Not many do. Most think it was Nixon, but the answer is Gerald Ford, a man most remembered for being a bit clumsy. This is because Ford did almost nothing where the economy was concerned. It was ok, not good, just ok. The problem with that is that a mayonnaise economy allowed the election of a Jimmy Carter. You would think that the American people would learn from history. Unfortunately, we never do. Carter’s policies, eerily similar to Obama’s, produced the worst economy since the great depression. Taxes were raised to the point that an affordable mortgage was nearly impossible to obtain. Small businesses went out of business faster than they opened. Interest rates skyrocketed to over 20% and the price of gold hovered around $1000 per ounce. Sound familiar?

Brian Greenspun, the publisher of the Las Vegas Sun recently lamented in an editorial that it was terrible that Nevada did not adopt the tax policies of more
progressive” states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, California and others. Let’s see…checking on the economies of those “progressive” states, they appear to be progressing right into the toilet. California, our neighbor to the west has progressed into bankruptcy and a recent ad campaign luring small business from California to tax-backwards Nevada appears to be working better than anyone thought it would.

Socialism never generates public wealth. It never has and it never will. After Jimmy Carter came a true progressive, not the lie that Democrats push, Ronald Regan. Reagan systematically dismantled Carter’s metastasized bureaucracy and began using policies that were time-tested. Ignoring the shrill screams from the left that he would be throwing the elderly and the sick onto the street, he cut taxes and encouraged business to expand. The elderly got a better deal and the sick got cheaper healthcare. Ignoring the rabid left-wingers, he went after the Soviet Union and won, despite the claims that such aggressiveness would trigger World War 3. Reagan’s policies generated an economy that set a record that still holds. It was the most robust economy we have experienced in the last seven administrations. This is based on US statistical data, so why is the Obama Administration hell bent on duplicating Carter’s mistakes? The answer is not economics, it is power.

Just as our major news outlets have risen to the defense of Obama’s policies and have attacked the concerns of the American people, so has the administration grown in its arrogance. Why would Obama feel so comfortable issuing the threat that his administration would “hit back twice as hard” at anyone broadcasting a criticism of his health plan? Does he really believe that the news is his to control? Perhaps it is.

A little known story surfaced a while ago and was quickly pulled. ABC turned the control of its reporting of White House news over to the Obama Administration. The last time something like this happened it was in Iran. Remember, if you can control the news that is one domino tipped over, if you can control the peoples’ access to healthcare…that is another. Several states already consider the second amendment more of an inconvenience than a mandate. The appointment of Sottomeyer to the Supreme Court adds another nail in that coffin. The last domino to fall will be the food supply, and based on several reports, Obama is already working on that one.

“Tuesday we told you about several areas around the planet experiencing record cold and snowpack — in the face of all the predictions of global warming.

Now there is word that all four major global temperature tracking outlets have released data showing that temperatures have dropped significantly over the last year. California meteorologist Anthony Watts says the amount of cooling ranges from 65-hundredths of a degree Centigrade to 75-hundreds of a degree.

That is said to be a value large enough to erase nearly all the global warming recorded over the past 100 years. It is reportedly the single fastest temperature change ever recorded — up or down.

Some scientists contend the cooling is the result of reduced solar activity — which they say is a larger driver of climate change than man-made greenhouse gases.” Al Gore has no comment.

Noah Wyle has been appearing in a series of commercials about the fable of Global Warming. He contends that if we do nothing about this looming disaster the polar bear will fall into extinction. Noah, wonderful actor that he is, knows nothing or has done no research on the aforementioned bear. There are more polar bear now than there were during the time of Napoleon, which was at the end of the little ice age. Al Gore has nothing to say about that.

During 2008 several accredited climate researchers began publishing nonpolitically correct studies on climate change. In these studies they found that “greenhouse gases” had little overall effect on global climate. Man’s contribution was negligible at best. The largest contributor of so-called greenhouse gasses was and is the active volcano and man has yet to find h a way to deal with those. Al Gore remains silent on this point.

Some less than credible scientists have posited that the general lowering of temperatures are in fact an indication of global warming. That is like saying that the current credit crisis is in fact a sign of global prosperity. It is doublespeak. All it proves is that they too read George Orwell. Humanity has the ability to destroy its immediate environment. That has been proven time and time again. Humanity’s ability to destroy the earth is suspect and frankly best left for science fiction. The earth has recovered from celestial impacts that rivaled the sum total of every nuclear device every made...and it is still here. Not sure what Al Gore has to say about that.

Think back during the last couple months of the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama stated that he felt that “marriage should be between a man and a woman.” The record is very clear on this, he did say exactly that. Does anyone remember even a whisper of controversy from the media or even one homosexual rights group? No, of course not. Obama can say anything whether it be pure or profane and his supporters will swallow it as if it came from on high. But let a woman who seems to be a Christian say such a thing and she is spewing hatred from the very depths of hell.

Sarah Palin has to be conflicted right now. Carrie Prejean, Miss California 2009 has become the new ground central for every last drop of far left hate speech, and do not mistake it, what is being said qualifies as hate speech. If the same were being said about Rosie O’Donnell or even Ellen DeGeneres, calls would be issued for an in-depth investigation at the Congressional level. I doubt even the most strident opponent of Prejean can dispute this...honestly. They will dispute it, but a close examination of all their arguments will reveal the lie behind the words.

Both of these women have committed a gross sin in the eyes of the press, they spoke their minds without asking whether or not what they were about to say was politically acceptable to the media at large. The press lives each day sheltered behind the first amendment. I doubt many are capable of even quoting that passage accurately much less describing the conditions under which it was written. According to those who are currently heading our political system, Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin do not have the same rights as an O’Donnell or a DeGeneres because they choose to live outside of what has become the mainstream. They choose to honor their spouses and choose to bring their children up to respect virtues such as personal responsibility...and that flies in the face of what is acceptable, and is the lifestyle lived by most who deliver our news today.

Many questions have been asked why our government seems so inadequate in solving our ongoing problems. The simple answer is that the parties are too busy fighting each other to actually accomplish anything. Compounding that is the fact that they also don’t want to upset any of the big money people who typically donate to their campaigns, even if it is the right thing to do.

I have always believed that if an elected official becomes aware of a wrong being perpetrated, that official should take steps to stop it. I did so when I was approached by a group of casino employees upset over their tips being stolen from them by the casino owner. In researching this I found a state law that forbids the taking of tips. My own party attacked me over this, claiming I was violating the “free market”. The fact that a law was being broken was beside the point. In reality, the party in Nevada is owned by the gaming industry and they were told to remove an irritant.

Anyone who has ever watched the TV series The West Wing is familiar with the character Wesley. That character, throughout the series, consistently argues against allowing the Republicans to win anything, even if that win benefits the country. The unfortunate truth is that that attitude prevails in American politics. Elected officials are Democrats, not Americans; Republicans, not Americans; and it doesn’t end there.

Ever hear of Affirmative Action? It is a nasty piece of legislation that legitimizes discrimination because someone’s ancestor may have been discriminated against by someone in the past. In essence it is Washington saying that in this case, two wrongs do make a right. What it has actually done is keep the division going. In the US we do not have Americans in a variety of colors, we have African Americans, Mexican Americans, and so on…We are so busy creating and maintaining socio-political walls to divide our populace that we have become antagonistic toward those who try to scale the wall.

Like our government, our education system is in rapid decline not simply because we refuse to pay for the tools to do the job properly, but because we have surrendered to the politically correct forces who insist on maintaining the walls. The school board in my area has members who actively fight against those methods proven to work in the classroom because those methods are not politically popular with their party leadership.

The Democrat Party will not support anything that upsets the fanatic left. As a result, the party of John F. Kennedy seems to support international terrorism, the killing of healthy, living babies via partial birth abortion, the granting of amnesty to the vilest of serial killers, the removal of personal responsibility, the removal of any right that promotes self-reliance, the destruction of heterosexual marriage and the core family unit, the elimination of Israel as a state, and the dissolution of America as a sovereign nation.

The Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and Reagan has metastasized into a party that openly supports massive corporate theft, human trafficking, the resurgence of plantation style slavery, the elimination of small business and the destruction of public education.

Either way we lose, simply because the American voter no longer cares about who runs their party.

“All public school teachers are commie-leftists!”

This is the typical rejoinder from conservative talk hosts when pushed into a corner where anything other than private or home-school education is concerned. The problem with this is most of them have never been in a classroom since they left high school. Information about public school comes to them from what they read in Talkers Magazine and from what they hear on other likeminded shows. This is not what would be considered an in-depth investigation of the problem.

As a member of Nevada’s State Government I sat on the committee on education. After the session I acquired a teaching license and entered the classroom as a substitute teacher. A substitute is able to sample a variety of classrooms and schools. In this way I learned first hand what actually went on in the schools, what the teaching staff did and felt about a variety of issues and how the students did and didn’t learn. The reality within this country’s schools is so far removed from what talk radio dispenses that the word “fiction” is beyond inadequate as a description. In all honesty, I cannot use the word “lie” because hosts like Alan Stock, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity and others really believe the tripe they are dishing out.

The truth is that most public school teachers, kindergarten is the exception, are not left leaning in their politics at all. Many of the teachers I spoke to were somewhat more conservative than I, and I received the highest rating on the conservative voting scale in the last legislative session. I was 12 points more conservative than Mr. Stock’s favorite State Senator. The teachers told me that they were, for the most part, disgusted with the decisions of both the union and the school board and they could not understand the hatred that people like Alan continuously expressed toward their chosen profession. Frankly, neither can I.

“Teachers are paid too much already! And their benefits make up for it anyway!”

Yes, I suppose earning less than $35,000 a year while working an average 60 hour week attempting to inject some relevant knowledge into the minds of spoiled brats with no hope of any acknowledgement from the system for your accomplishment is reward enough. Talk show host continuously bleat out the lie that teachers only work a 6 hour day and get 3 months off every year with pay. Why, teaching is really a part-time job, why should we pay them any more?

I would expect such statements from someone who never paid a moment’s attention in school. But these people claim to have graduated from college. Of course, we are discussing talk show hosts here. In essence, they are the mirror image of micro minds like Michael Moore and Al Franken. The typical teacher begins their day waking up before 5am in order to get to school in time to prepare the classroom and that day’s lessons. They stay at least 2 hours past the time the students leave, so there is an 8 hour day, but it isn’t over yet. Once at home they have grading and more lesson-planning to do, in addition to any other paperwork the administration has palmed off onto their already overloaded shoulders. Merit is not considered here because of the seniority-based union leadership, and woe betide any upstart who tries to be innovative ahead of their time. And the talk show hosts wonder why so many teachers are retiring early.

“Why don’t they teach what is relevant any more? Kids are graduating and they can’t even balance a checkbook!”

You try to deal with a class that has 15 more students in it than you have chairs. It is amazing that some teachers can even get a partial lesson through to some of their students. One of the major problems with this scene is that talk radio has not moved with the times. To them, the classroom is still what they experienced. They have no realization what 15 to 30 years of union and school bard meddling has done to the teaching profession. A teacher cannot discipline properly because the parents might sue the school. The students have little or no respect for their parents; much less the teacher because they have no fear of any consequence for acting badly, and most administrations will not back up the teacher who attempts to keep a proper decorum in the classroom. There are a couple schools in my area where the administration does this and they have been targeted for budget cuts by the district.

Right now, in my state, much needed funds are being redirected from education to autism programs. In the legislature’s vast wisdom it is far more important to treat autism than to teach little Johnny and Janie to read. In the last legislative session we tried to get additional funding into Vocational Education, but where did the school superintendents want to put the money? All Day Kindergarten. Daycare for yuppies was more important.

“Private school and home schooling is far better than public school!”

No, they are not. The class sizes make the difference. In many ways the curriculum may be far worse than that of a public school. The variable is who is doing the teaching. The parent or private teacher may be good or not. It is completely possible that that teacher may be turning out the Ronald Reagan, or the next Adolph Hitler. It’s a crap shoot, not a sure thing.

It is not the teachers’ fault that America’s literacy rate is falling faster than the value of the dollar. The fault lies squarely on the shoulders of those who continuously badmouth teaching without doing a blessed thing to help the situation. In a city of over two million, it is going to take a busload of money to teach the hundreds of thousands of children who desperately need to know how to read, write, and balance a checkbook. The job cannot be done in your kitchen and it cannot be done part time and it is going to take everyone chipping in some of their money to pay for it. If we put forth the effort we could have the best educated populace the world has ever seen. The problem is, we would have to stop being narrow-minded to do so. In some cases that would mean developing a mind.