Well, I re-viewed that vivaldic video, and, once again, the Songbird is faced with some uncomfortable truths:
When it comes to this issue, human error abounds. Errors in judgment; errors in taste; errors in diplomacy; errors in movie analogies (but I’ll leave that alone).
Don’t you see what’s happenin’ here? As I’ve said before, it hurts me to see others demonize Dr. Tiller. And I believe that was the ostensible purpose of this video. I still believe it; however……
The Songbird, in her moral temerity, missed what should have been the defining truth here: The horror legalized late-term abortions has evidently compelled something called “The Infants Born Alive Act”………..
I shouldn’t need to elaborate here. I completely missed the irony yesterday during my initial viewing. Candidly, I believe the Pipsqueak for Posterity, er, Student For Life missed it too. Thus, I believe it’s irrelevant whether Hillary voted against it and Obama didn’t - or vice versa.
Late-term abortions, with the exception of the 100% CERTAINTY of (immediate) infant death - and certainly, when the mother’s life is imperiled, should not be allowed. That should have been the crux of the issue - not my (justifiable) sentiments toward Dr. Tiller. Not Hillary vs. Obama - or whom Dr. Tiller would be casting his ballot in November.
Not the ongoing cacophony of the cadaverous, who just can’t WAIT for the dedicated physician to fall into hellfire. Gag me on that one, please. Pretty, pretty please.
Because I have no stomach, heart or energy for it.
But a forty-something femme can’t blame anyone else for her own failings. That’s another unpleasant, albeit unavoidable, truth.
HEALTH CARE REFORM IMPASS?
the House and Senate still disagree on health care legislation. Last year, legislators passed legislation to create a program to provide state premium assistance so that the very poorest workers in Kansas could purchase health insurance in the private market. The plan was to start providing the aid in 2009. Initially, it would go to 8,500 parents whose household incomes are 50% or less of the federal poverty level, or $8,800 or less annual income for a single parent with two children.
The Senate gave first-round approval yesterday to a bill postponing the subsidies indefinitely, rejecting four attempts to amend their bill so the aid would start flowing next year. Senators plan to take a final vote today to determine whether the bill goes to the House. Senate Republican leaders are nervous about the potential cost of the health insurance subsidies to the state. Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican, said, “We can’t afford it. When we made the decision last year, we committed ourselves to something that we are not going to be in a position to deliver.”
Meanwhile, in the House, leaders in both parties have brokered a deal to make sure that poor families get at least a year’s worth of subsidies. The House Health and Human Services Committee drafted a bill that didn’t deal with the subsidies, which caused Democrats and some Republicans to worry that legislators would break last year’s promise.
That led to talks between GOP and Democratic leaders. The House was supposed to debate the committee’s bill Tuesday. But Speaker Melvin Neufeld postponed the discussion until Thursday so amendments reflecting the agreement can be drafted. Now, the health care reform bill debate has been delayed until at least next Monday.
Opponents of the House bill passed by committee had complained that Republicans, who have majorities in both chambers, were ignoring many of the recommendations made by the Health Policy Authority in a 21-point health plan. Projections for the plan’s cost have varied, but the KHPA estimates that, combined with the subsidy program approved last year, the plan would phase in a $330 million increase in spending on health programs over five years. The subsidies account for nearly three-quarters of the total cost. The agreement among House leaders preserves only the first year of the subsidy program, without a guarantee that it would continue.
Under last year’s law, additional families would become eligible for aid, so that by 2013, the state would be spending more than $111 million a year to help poor families. The subsidies eventually would be about $2,800 a year per health insurance policy. The KHPA proposed expanding the program even further to include poor adults without children. Under its plan, the state eventually would provide $241 million in subsidies each year.
The authority also proposed increasing tobacco taxes to help pay for some of the new spending, with the tax on a pack of cigarettes rising on July 1 by 50 cents, to $1.29. The Legislature has not seriously considered the idea.
The Legislature created the authority in 2005 to review health care issues, examine health care reform ideas and manage some of the state’s health care and health insurance programs. Last year, in bundling the insurance subsidy program and other modest health care initiatives into a single package, lawmakers told the authority to make additional recommendations. “They put a huge amount of time and money into developing a plan. We shouldn’t just throw it out,” said House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, a Greensburg Democrat. “Our interest was in maintaining the bulk of their proposals.”
The agreement among House leaders includes 11 of the Health Policy Authority’s recommendations, including providing cancer screenings to Kansans, including mammograms for breast cancer when a woman is not insured, and dental services for poor, pregnant women. The agreement would increase spending on health programs by about $18 million during the fiscal year beginning July 1. Under the KHPA’s plan, the increase would be $23 million. Many of the House committee’s proposals would remain, including ones designed to promote health savings accounts. But the agreement strips out a proposal to provide $9 million in income tax credits over three years to offset insurance costs for families with household incomes of less than $60,000. Instead, the idea would be studied.
Marcia Nielsen, the Health Policy Authority’s executive director, said, “We think it’s a good first step, albeit an incremental one, to move Kansas forward on health reform.” The insurance “premium assistance” program legislators approved last year would have been phased in over four years, when all parents whose household incomes are at or below the federal poverty level would qualify. For a single parent with two children, that’s an income of $17,600. The state already covers medical services for children in households with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level, but adults don’t qualify unless their incomes are below 37% of the federal poverty level - or $6,512 for a family of three. Often, children are covered by the state but their parents aren’t. And some Republicans in the Senate do not disagree with the House position. Sen. Jim Barnett, an Emporia Republican and physician who fought to preserve the insurance subsidies, said, “I have no problem reaching down in my soul to find that commitment.”
NAFTA HIGHWAY OPPOSITION SPARKS BILL
Monday in a House committee.
Rep. Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee, has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 5033 urging Congress to withdraw from further participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement and Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Morrison told the committee, “Through incrementalism, apathy and inattention, our national sovereignty is being sacrificed on a cross of greed, socialism and globalism.” At a
hearing before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, truckers, labor officials and lawmakers and advocates from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas urged approval of the resolution. Committee Chairman Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe, said he didn’t know if the committee could comprehend all the information submitted on the subject and work on the measure within the last three weeks of the legislative session. “I think I’ve got a little reading to do. I have not made a decision yet, but it’s getting very short,” Siegfreid said.
Owen de Long, a political consultant from Merriam, said plans are in the works to build a NAFTA superhighway that will be one-quarter of a mile wide to transport Asian goods throughout the United States that are off-loaded at Mexican ports. De Long said it will be impossible to police the huge amount of cargo containers. “That’s how terrorists will arrive in Kansas City,” he said. Some officials have repeatedly denied the existence of plans to build the highway. But David and Linda Stall, founders of CorridorWatch in Texas, testified that because of NAFTA, Texas is in the middle of considering a Trans-Texas Corridor that has been criticized by landowners.
TEEN DRIVING MEASURE HITS ROADBLOCK
A two-year effort to place more restrictions on teenage drivers is in trouble in the Kansas House. Last year the Kansas Senate approved a bill increasing the age for a learner’s permit from 14 to 15 and a restricted license from 15 to 16. Included were restrictions on when a teenager could drive unsupervised. A young driver would have to turn 17 before obtaining a nonrestrictive license under the bill and drivers under 18 would be prohibited from driving while talking on cell phones.
The measure — SB 294 — was then assigned to the House Transportation Committee, which has been considering it since the beginning of this year’s session. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Gary Hayzlett, R-Lakin, said Monday that he doesn’t plan to ask his committee to take action on the measure, which is likely to kill it. Rep.
Hayzlett assigned it weeks ago to a subcommittee, which came up with a recommendation last week. The subcommittee’s recommendation didn’t change the ages for either a learner’s permit or restricted license but increased the penalties for teens who violate traffic laws. It maintained the cell phone prohibition.
According to Hayzlett, these changes to the Senate version haven’t made anyone happy. He said some members of his committee believe the changes were too punitive and others think the bill is too weak. “I don’t think there’s enough support to even get the bill out of committee,” he said. That was disappointing news for those who backed the Senate bill. “I believe lives will be lost if we don’t pass this bill,” said Rep. Ronnie Metsker, R-Overland Park. “It’s hard to argue with the statistics.” Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, was its main supporter in the Senate. He said he wasn’t going to give up. “We have plenty of time to get that through the Legislature,” he said. “This bill will save lives. There may be some ways around the committee.”
Supporters have told lawmakers that vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death among teenagers in Kansas, accounting for 48.7%. Teenage drivers, they said, represent 6% of the state’s drivers but are involved in 15.5% of fatal crashes and 20 percent of all crashes. The Senate bill would restrict driving to daytime hours and limit the number of passengers. “Research tells us that teens are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash during nighttime hours,” said Suzanne Wikle of Kansas Action for Children. “And the risk of death among teen drivers more than doubles when there are two passengers in the vehicle.” Both the nighttime driving restriction and passenger provisions were eliminated in the House version.
NEW FUNERAL PRIVACY BILL PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE
Yesterday, the House Federal and State Affairs Committee passed HB 2970, a revised version of the 2007 Kansas Funeral Privacy Act. Last week, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the judicial trigger provision of the Kansas Funeral Privacy Act rendered the law unconstitutional. This ruling consequently struck down the law, but the Court made no findings regarding substantive provisions of the statute. As co-sponsor of the 2007 legislation with Rep. Jeff Whitham, R-Garden City, Rep. Raj Goyle, D-Wichita, two lawyer legislators, took immediate action to remedy the technicality. HB 2970 removes the judicial trigger from the Kansas Funeral Privacy Act, which includes the establishment of a 150-foot buffer zone around funerals to prevent protestors from engaging in public demonstration. The House committee approved the bill on a unanimous voice vote. It will now advance to the House floor for debate next week.
I’d be the first to call the dog lover young man a perv., but I still don’t think that warrants an inclusion on the sex offenders list. Sounds like he just needs some mental health help.
With all the adolescents being added to the list for underage sex, the list is getting very cluttered.
?
Iraq war shows limits of US power
By John Simpson
World affairs editor, BBC News
Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 I have spent almost a year of my life here, reporting on the conflict.
I have witnessed a disturbing amount of death and injury, and several of my friends have lost their lives. Others have become refugees and asylum-seekers.
It has lasted almost as long as World War II and cost almost as much.
Only one of its original aims, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, has been achieved.
Of the other aims, one was unobtainable because Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction to be destroyed, and the other - bringing democracy to the Middle East - has been indefinitely postponed.
Nothing new in any of this, of course. Anti-war commentators have repeated it all again and again, while pro-war commentators mostly avoid mentioning any of it.
More importantly, the war has shown the limits of American power. It is clear the United States can only manage to fight two small wars at a time.
Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the US armed forces almost to breaking point. America after the invasion of Iraq is no longer the superpower it was before.
Rearguard action
Yet American resilience and inventive power seem to have turned the corner here, at least in military terms. Tactics which were losing the war have been abandoned, and new, more intelligent tactics have taken their place.
Now, the American forces are engaged in fighting a rearguard action, winning time during which the long-term decisions can be taken about withdrawal or some form of continuing presence here.
We have seen how hard it is for the Americans to deal with a few thousand lightly-armed volunteers
Some people - for instance Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for the White House - will no doubt call this rearguard action a success. He may even be tempted to call it a victory.
Yet at present it is hard to think of it as particularly successful.
On Monday, Vice-President Dick Cheney came to Baghdad and talked about “the phenomenal improvement in security”. That day more than 60 Iraqis were killed in bomb attacks.
He had to travel with unprecedented numbers of bodyguards, even though he never left the heavily defended Green Zone. Two mortar rounds hit the Zone while he was there.
None of this feels like a phenomenal improvement in security.
Elementary errors
Still, ever since the start of 2007, when Gen David Petraeus started introducing radically new tactics, the war has entered a different phase.
The various elements in the insurgency have been divided, the Mehdi Army has been persuaded to keep its head down, and the American and Iraqi forces have gone on the offensive, denying their enemy the chance to dig in and control territory.
Before Gen Petraeus took over, American military tactics were negative, and sometimes seemed almost defeatist.
The insurgents were able to operate at will along the main roads in Baghdad. They took over entire suburbs and towns.
At the same time there was a breathtaking lack of political understanding.
In the first year after the invasion, Iraqi politicians found the American proconsul, Paul Bremer, both arrogant and silly. He made a number of elementary errors which have caused lasting damage.
Nowadays, by contrast, the face of American policy here is Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq. He speaks good Arabic and has a sympathetic understanding of the country and its people.
Altogether, the American military and diplomatic presence here has much more professionalism and intellectual seriousness to it.
Long-term danger
Iraqi friends of mine who once hated the fact that the Americans were here now praise them for driving the militants from the streets. That is a real success.
But it is small compared with the damage which the war has done to America’s reputation. The US state department finds it much harder nowadays to be taken seriously when it criticises other countries for their use of torture and arbitrary arrest.
People the world over have been repelled by things that have been done here: things that are now associated with place-names like Abu Ghraib, Haditha, and Falluja.
Above all, we have seen how hard it is for the Americans to deal with a few thousand lightly armed volunteers.
Germany’s 19th-Century Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, said that great powers had to be very careful when they put their military strength to the test. Unless they are overwhelmingly successful, he meant, the perception will be that they have been defeated.
In spite of the new successes on the ground here, that is the long-term danger America faces.
As are the prisons, Phantom. I believe that in Kansas about 25 percent of inmates are sex offenders of one kind or another, and that sex offenders are the fastest growing class of the incacerated. I ran across this statement one while combing through stats of Kansas prisons, but can’t find it again.
Anyway, if true, it fits in with my belief/theory that America is hysterical about sex, and needs a good slap in the face. Remember our hysteria following 9-11; remember what happened? Hysteria is dangerous, and whenever I mention this in regards to our current sex regulations, or present evidence that sex in itself does not harm young adults, I am met with such a wall of hatred, it is proof of my contentions.
BTW — I meet the same type of hatred when I suggest that having a beer in a vehicle while driving five miles an hour on a country road while exercising my dogs might not be harmful behavior.
I think it’s television. It magnifies minor problems into major hysteria and makes perfectly good and normal people into demons. I’ve actually read statements now concerning loners. People want them hunted down and shot or something, or at the least, imprisoned.
If the only solution for every problem is jail, we’ll never get free of our prison population problem.
Having met the horse mockery, the chicken pluckier and two different Duck lovers. I do not recall any of the saying anything about the animals seeming particularly aroused.
Vice President Dick Cheney had a different message. Informed during a Good Morning America interview broadcast Wednesday that two-thirds of Americans now think the war was not worth fighting, Cheney said: “So?”
Pmom - It looks like she found someone who was sympathetic though. How horrible that must have been for her, especially not being able to take morphine for the pain.
Wheat prices have been dropping like a stone this week. Stocks are still short world wide, so what gives?
This blog gives a good explanation of how the Bear Stearns thingy affects commodities, and at the end of the day, affects your food prices. Also problematic are the hedge funds and their distress.
Ya didnt know that Wall Street reaches all the way to the local Co-op? Well, it does!
“When differences in race, age, gender and family makeup were taken into account, students who’d had comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to report a pregnancy than those without any sex education and 50 percent less likely than the abstinence-only group.”
It looks like those anti-choice people should be whopping and hollering for comprehensive sex education if their true goal is to reduce teen pregnancy and ultimately, abortions.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing to indicate in the lifestyle of George Bush that he is a “recovered” alcoholic. (As indicated above, Bush explicitly implies that he is alcoholic.)
Secondly, recovery means more than that Bush is no longer plagued by the gross symptoms of the disease of alcoholism, i.e., being unable to stop drinking. Nor does it mean simply being relieved of the mental obsession to drink.
Those two effects in the alcoholic can and often are present in what is called “the dry drunk.” As indicated in the mentioned articles the “dry drunk” functions upon “self will,” or by “willpower” to resist the inherent urge to use alcohol (and other mind altering chemicals), in order to cope with day to day life. What often occurs is that the “dry drunk” finds another obsession.
That last sentence is telling. I wonder what his current obsession may be? /sarcasm
No TDT, I’m still holding on to a little bit. I was hoping to be able to say I sold wheat for $13. hee hee hee. I think it will go back up again, as the actual bushels of existing wheat are low, and projections are, it’s not even enough to cover need from now until the new crop starts coming in during late May and early June.
For all my fellow Global Warming skeptics, thought you might enjoy this!
================================================
Top ten most crazy claims from the Global Warming Alarmists:
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10. (One that is near to my heart for obvious reasons) Global Warming changes Green Bay Packer Football.
9. Global Warming blamed for Rioting and a Nuclear War.
8. Global Warming will cause the Earth to spin slower, causing longer days.
7. A complete contradiction of number 8. The Earth will spin faster due to global warming.
6. Global Warming blamed for the apparent increase in cougar attacks in Canada.
5. World “Equality” is threatened by global warming.
4. The bridge collapse in Minnesota was caused by global warming.
3. The Amazon will become a dessert.
2. Global warming will cause more earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
1. THE EARTH WILL EXPLODE BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING!
Sorry, you can find the links to the articles at this link:
Hey Fish, maybe part of the package that bought Scooter’s silence was bicycle riding lessons? Then what will he be called? I have several suggestions. we’ll just call him disbarred for today.
“I figure you have to be bold, and that you have to act no later than June 7 to keep your party from totally disintegrating. Here’s my suggestion : Put Jimmy Carter in charge of the entire nomination mess.”
“You and I both know that the Democratic Party rules have created exactly the kind of atmosphere best suited for Carter’s magic touch: utter chaos. Infinite fiddling state-by-state with the rules to achieve minutely-calibrated “proportional representation” by delegates not even bound to follow the voters’ wishes, topped by potentially nullifying, appointed super-delegates, accountable to no one but themselves.
Fantastic! Mugabe could not have set this up better.”
. . .
“See, I read that and remembered that Carter does this all the time. He’s the election certifier extraordinaire. From his supervision of the 1990 election in the Dominican Republic to his oversight of the Chavez recall collection in Venezuela he’s become the one man in the world who can, with the acquiescence of the entire world, put a gold stamp of approval and purity on a completely unfair and corrupt election. Fraud in counting votes? In registering voters? Discrepancies between the number of cast ballots and voter registration lists? Jiggered machines? Doesn’t matter. The guy will keep his eyes and ears closed and stamp the entire thing kosher.”
“Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people,” she said. “I’m here today to encourage him to match those words with actions.”
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
DETROIT — Hillary Clinton traveled to Detroit today, hoping to pressure Barack Obama and state lawmakers in Lansing to approve a new Michigan primary.
“I believe the families of Michigan are just as important as the families of any of any other state,” Clinton said in a hastily arranged campaign appearance downtown.
Just perhaps, unlike Clinton, Obama knows he agreed to rules and is holding fast to that agreement. Until the two states and the voters of those states fix THEIR problem, perhaps he sees the correct position as butting out of what he agreed couldn’t be his business.
Agreeing to follow rules when you are ahead and then not when you are behind smacks of wanting to follow the idiots of bushco who make the rules up as they go and change them when they become inconvenient to follow.
Boy, I am pi**ed about this!
Why have rules if they mean nothing? Why say you agree if your word can’t be trusted and counted on?
I’m glad you accept part of the responsibility. The voters of those two states had months after their legislators set the primary dates to YELL, SCREAM, DEMAND their votes count and the rules be followed.
I think all Americans have had more than enough of rules that mean nothing.
If WE THE PEOPLE don’t accept our responsibilities of making our elected officials accountable we get what we deserve. We should have had enough of that too.
Yep, Michigan needs slapped. Florida, I’m not so sure about. They tried to back it up and the NeoCon governor blocked it.
There has to be consequences though. You can’t just buck the system, be told what will happen, then be allowed a do over.
Sounds like mortgage companies taking high risk notes then crying (with their hands out) to the government because they are facing so many foreclosures.
Many of my elderly patients living on fixed incomes or disability are very worried about the price of food and utilities…we truly are embarking a crisis in this ocuntry for people who can’t afford the basics of life anymore. I have no idea how this will all play out, but I’m really scared about their future. Many of us can work extra to make ends meet, but many can’t work at all and the state is making more cut backs in benefits again for the disabled. One of my patients who is retarded, physically disabled, and mentally ill is expected to eat on $3 per day…could any of us do that with the price of food nowadays?
My question is…is anyone paying attention out there?
Well you’ll pardon me if I am not willing to disenfranchise several million voters in Michigan on the say so of one member of the political fringe there solie.
I’m so upset, so disappointed right now that I can’t YET form thoughts that are constructive. Time will give me perspective and maybe a fair solution too. But right now if Senator Clinton continues to want rules to change to fit her needs, I see no reason why McCain (bush lite) shouldn’t be president. She may or may not be any better, different, trustworthy, believable…
It just might come down to McCain’s choice for VP. He certainly isn’t capable of thinking all the way through a four-year term. There are too many signs of senility today. His presidency will bring back one of the Reagan legacies.
It doesn’t serve well to compare me to the average voter.
In 2000, I stood in line for almost 3 hours with a small child in tow.
To vote for Al Gore in a state where I KNEW he had no chance to win.
But your average voter is not me. They will hear “Your vote doesn’t count”. And they won’t vote. YOU are ok with that because your candidate never had a chance to win anyway.
And my final word on the matter for now will have to be this.
I was in favor of the national Democratic party reining in the primary process. I AGREE there has to be consequences.
But I am not on board with telling several million people that their vote does not matter.
As I have said elsewhere, Michigan and Florida can now be more politically relevant (at least among Democrats) than ever before. Too, the financial investment in new primaries would doubtless be returned many times over.
My father is liberal and lives in Florida. He is most assuredly not staying home in November. Whether they seat delegates or not, he’ll be at the poll.
I’m paying attention. I haven’t given up there can be real improvements. As some of us were discussing on another thread we may need to start a revolution to get things started back to sanity. I know for sure I would rather your patients have all my tax money than another penny of it go to bush’s war of choice. I’m also not naive enough to think we can get out of this without sacrifice from EVERYONE.
Four times in two days, now, John McCain doesn’t know Shi’ia from Shinola. This isn’t a gaffe anymore, he’s seriously wrong about what’s going on in Iraq. And he want another hundred years of it.
Also: here’s Bill Maher on McSame and the Obama flap:
I agree Capn…I think Obama is sincere, which is a refreshing change already. Hilary will do what ever she perceives it takes to get elected, even when her adgenda is glaringly obvious. As a psychiatric nurse, just watching her facial expressions drives me nuts.
Today is a sad day in British history: The renowned actor Paul Scofield (Oscar winner for 1966’s “A Man For All Seasons”) has passed away.
The lifelong thespian, who portrayed Sir Thomoas More so memorably in that long-ago film, was evidently an anomaly amongst the famous: A decorated actor who preferred family life and eschewing the glitterati.
As a graduate of Thomas More Prep/Marian High in Hays, KS - I had continually heard of More but knew little about his tragedy and his history. “A Man For All Seasons” probably glossed over More’s complexities; however, his deep and abiding faith was readily apparent. As was his willingness to die for his beliefs.
“Seasons” deserved its accolades: From the opening scene - with its affecting and vibrant musical score, this was a film pregnant with history and resonance. The late Robert Shaw (he also starred in “Jaws” in 1975) played King Henry VIII. His screen time was brief, but this and other glimpses of British history make me glad I’m American. Bill Clinton, for all his foibles, never demanded that we worship him. Or fear for our lives. And thank gawd for that.
May Scofield rest in peace. His accomplishments will endure into the ages.
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, Serving the 2nd District of Kansas
Website | Services | Newsroom | For Students | About Nancy
Results of Illegal Immigration Survey
From January 14th to March 13, 2008, my Congressional website
hosted a survey on illegal immigration issues. We invited all
Kansans in the Second Congressional District to offer their
opinions. Below are the results of the survey.
Thank you very much for offering your opinion! Your thoughts
are invaluable as I work to represent Kansas in Washington.
With warm regards,
Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress
(1) How concerned are you by illegal immigration into the
United States?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Very concerned
4446
76.0%
Somewhat concerned
878
15.0%
Only a little concerned
376
6.4%
Not concerned at all
148
2.5%
Totals
5848
100.0%
(2) Which of the statements below most closely reflects your
view of the economic impact of illegal immigration?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
On the whole, illegal immigration is bad
for the U.S. economy. Illegal immigrants
take jobs away from American citizens
and drive down the wages of legal
workers.
4210
72.7%
On the whole, illegal immigration is
good for the U.S. economy. Illegal
immigrants do jobs that Americans don’t
want, and by providing a source of
inexpensive labor, they help businesses
keep down their labor costs.
871
15.0%
Neither statement reflects my views.
707
12.2%
Totals
5788
100.0%
(3) Which of the statements below most closely reflects your
view of the national security impact of illegal immigration?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Illegal immigration allows foreign
citizens to enter the United States
without proper documentation,
inspections, and authorization. It
undermines our national security.
4957
85.1%
Illegal immigration has little or no
impact on our national security.
Relatively few illegal immigrants
commit crimes or terrorist acts.
689
11.8%
Neither statement reflects my views.
182
3.1%
Totals
5828
100.0%
(4) In general, do you support legislation providing a path to
legal citizenship for illegal immigrants?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No
3702
63.7%
Yes
1801
31.0%
Other
314
5.4%
Totals
5817
100.0%
(5) If you do not support a path to citizenship, which of the
statements below most closely reflects your view? (Please feel
free to choose more than one.)
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Illegal immigrants broke America’s law
when they crossed our borders. Their
residency in the United States is
unlawful and should not be the basis of a
legal path to citizenship.
3217
31.1%
A foundation of American justice is that,
if you commit a crime, you should be
punished. Providing amnesty to illegal
immigrants would allow them to escape
justice.
2278
22.0%
Immigration is bad for America, and
amnesty would allow millions of
immigrants to stay in the United States
indefinitely.
1304
12.6%
Across the world, millions of foreign
citizens are patiently waiting to legally
immigrate into the United States.
Allowing amnesty for illegal immigrants
would be unfair to these foreign citizens
who are playing by the rules.
3343
32.3%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
199
1.9%
Totals
10341
100.0%
(6) If you do support a path to citizenship, which of the
statements below most closely reflects your view? (Please feel
free to choose more than one.)
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Illegal immigrants who work hard, keep
a clean criminal record, and pay a fine
deserve the opportunity to become
legalized residents.
1643
36.0%
Illegal immigrants are already living in
our society. Providing legal status is just
a way of formalizing what is already the
case.
613
13.4%
Immigration is good for America, and
we should support immigrants whether
they entered the country legally or
illegally.
230
5.0%
It would be impractical to deport all of
the illegal immigrants currently living in
America. The best way forward is to
legalize those who are already residing
here.
909
19.9%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
1166
25.6%
Totals
4561
100.0%
(7) Do you support an expansion of legal immigration into the
United States?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No. Current levels of legal immigration
are about right.
1877
32.6%
No. Instead, America should reduce the
number of legal immigrants entering
the country each year.
1512
26.3%
Yes. Expanded legal immigration
would allow more opportunities for
foreign citizens to immigrate legally,
increase the economic benefits of
immigration, and remove an incentive
for illegal immigration.
1996
34.7%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
367
6.4%
Totals
5752
100.0%
(8) Do you support a guest worker program that would allow
foreign citizens to temporarily live and work in the United
States?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No. A guest worker program would
allow foreign citizens to take jobs in the
United States that should go to American
workers.
2229
38.9%
Yes. A guest worker program would
provide a valuable source of labor for
American businesses, and by allowing
more foreign citizens to work in America
legally, it would remove an economic
incentive for illegal immigration.
3083
53.8%
Neither statement reflects my views.
418
7.3%
Totals
5730
100.0%
(9) Do you support legislation to build a fence along the
American border with Mexico?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No, I do not support legislation to build a
border fence.
1307
22.6%
Yes, I support legislation to build a fence
along the entire southern border, no
matter what the cost.
1772
30.6%
Yes, I support legislation to build a
border fence, but in order to keep the
cost reasonable, it should be constructed
only along the portions of the border that
are most vulnerable to illegal
immigration.
725
12.5%
Yes, I support legislation to construct a
“virtual fence,” including cameras and
other forms of electronic surveillance,
along all or part of the southern border.
1694
29.2%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
295
5.1%
Totals
5793
100.0%
(10) One proposal before Congress to crack down on illegal
immigration is to require employers to verify that their
employees are residing in the United States legally. Do you
support this idea?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No. Enforcing immigration laws is a job
for the United States government, not for
private employers.
677
11.6%
Yes. If employers are held accountable
for ensuring that their workers are legal
residents, then they will be less likely to
hire undocumented workers, making it
harder for illegal immigrants to earn a
living in America.
4921
84.6%
Neither statement reflects my views.
218
3.7%
Totals
5816
100.0%
It was rulers like Hen 8 that our founders of America were trying to protect us from.
They saw first-hand the effects of wedding secular power with religious power, and that’s why they insisted on creating “a wall between church and state.”
Too bad the Bush lovers seem to have never learned this important lesson from history. We now have the department of ‘faith-based’ policy, fer heaven’s sake . . .
As much as I cherished certain qualities of the late Pope John Paul II (and probably more of his IMMEDIATE predecessor if his mysterious death hadn’t occurred) - heaven help us if he’d been governing our country.
His daily habit of lying prostrate before a statue of the Virgin Mary was indicative of his profound faith - and his even more profound disconnect from the faithful in many ways. (After all, if you’re deep in prolonged prayer, you’re not interacting with anyone else…..)
I can see it now: no more birth control…..no more sex-ed (children can’t always rely on their parents - I sure couldn’t)…….films and books heavily censored……an even more rampant AIDS epidemic
Oh, lawd. It’s just too depressing to think about. Yes, thank gawd for the separation of church and state. Even in my most religious periods, I would have upheld that conviction.
I read in a hot rod magazine yesterday that a company has a process to convert things like tires, switch grass etc. into ethanol, and their process only uses a gallon of water per gallon of fuel. They’re in the process of building a plant.
Hey, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we all pledge to take ONE DAY in which we don’t say anything except nice things about someone. (In other words, if someone incurs yer ire - just leave ‘em out of yer blog.)
I’m not saying your ire is meaningless; after all, I’ve been known to vent my spleen on more than one occasion. (I’m sorry, but if an ugly ((slang for illegitimate offspring)) gets on camera and equates us post-aborts with Salem’s lot, he gonna live in a world of hurt from my acid tongue.)
But, hey! Let’s change up! Let’s have one day - JUST ONE DAY - where no one says anything mean ‘n nasty. No more icky-awful movie analogies. No more comparing Mrs. Clinton with something bovine. No more attestations that Obama is an abomination. No more wonderins’ about how much some dude can “git” from his disabled concubine.
Please? Pretty please? Let’s show the world we can be nice - for a change! After all, Sunday is Easter! The time for new beginnings! (Nineteen years ago, I lovingly sat through a three-hour mass in anticipation of this new beginnin’…)
Come on! If the Songbird can do it - y’all can do it, too!
In the absence of a dedicated thread, part of Obama’s response to Hillary over MI and FL:
“Sen. Clinton, I have to say on this, has been completely disingenuous. She said when she was still trying to compete with the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire that Michigan and Florida wouldn’t count,” he said.
“Then, as soon as she got into trouble politically and it looked like she would have no prospects of winning the nomination without having them count, suddenly she’s extraordinarily concerned with the voters there.”
“I understand the politics of it, but let’s be clear that it’s politics,” he added. “I want the Michigan delegation and the Florida delegation to be seated. And however the Democratic National Committee determines we can get that done, I’m happy to abide by those rules.”
lindainks55
Posted March 20, 2008 at 9:32 am | Permalink
Linda - My take on this is there should be another primary. I am an Obama supporter, however, MI and FL ARE key in the general election, and it would hurt either Democratic candidate were the delegates of these 2 states totally ignored. We are having enough problems with the neverending democratic primary, and we just can’t alienate a bunch of key voters.
Mary - The only people paying attention are people who don’t seem to have the power to change anything. Truly, the people that have the power, are NOT hurting. It is sad, and worrisome. What will our elderly and disabled do? And no, there is no way to live on $3 a day for food unless you eat totally processed food, and even then, at this point I’m not sure it’s possible even then.
Honestly, songbird, I think we’re on a slightly different timeline. I graduated HS in 74, and went to Hays High (weren’t no ‘preppie’) my freshman year before moving out of town.
Uh, no. I don’t think so. I didn’t date until I was 16.
Do you remember the all-school dance we had at KJH in 1972? EVERY girl - even the overweight behemoth with a hygiene problem and an underbite - got asked to dance.
Except the Songbird.
That’s how bad it was. I went home and cried - for neither the first nor the last time. Oh well, it wasn’t as bad as rape or bein’ knocked up. That’s for sure.
I don’t disagree AT ALL about new primaries. And, if they hold new primaries (at the cost of the state or private donors BUT not at the expense of the DNC!) their votes should count, their delegates be seated. I just think it is the problem of those two states. They broke the rules knowing full well what the consequences were (they were reminded overanover!). I don’t excuse the voters of the two states because they didn’t hold their elected officials feet to the fire. They knew for months in advance that their legislatures had set primaries for a date that broke the rules and they knew what the consequences were. IMO they were complicit in not making sure their votes counted.
The candidates agreed not to campaign and understood those votes couldn’t count. We can’t ever go back and make it right to all the candidates. Where would Edwards or Richardson be IF those two states hadn’t broken the rules?? Even new primaries will only affect the current candidates.
See, don’t those two states deserve punishment? At minimum the ridicule they’ve earned and the cost of new primaries.
It’s mostly because I want the word of someone asking to be POTUS to mean something. I want to trust the President of our country. bushco has ruined so much and we deserve so much more. The candidate who sees rules and agreements as something that can be changed for convenience doesn’t instill any more respect or confidence than bushco get.
Senator Clinton agreed with the rules and consequences when she was ahead but now wants them changed. I am sorely disappointed and royally pi**ed at that attitude.
Obama is staying out of it as he should, as he agreed to. That, is taking the high road. Like he did with the flak about his former pastor. That’s what I want in a candidate for POTUS!
Listening to Clinton intoning about how “every vote should count” in Michigan when she had signed a pledge supporting not counting those votes is just too much.
No one is saying that they can’t have some kind of re-vote.
Millions of Dems in Mich and Flor should have no problem raising the money for a re-vote.
The fact that they aren’t willing to shell out for it shows that it really isn’t that important to them.
Anybody here made any honest attempt to prove Rev. Wright WRONG on what he has said??
Just got to thinking about that this morning… I havent heard anybody try to do that… Just shout, scream, and carry on about him being a racist…
And yet, McCain drifts onward with the endorsement of two of the most bigoted White preachers in the nation — Hagee and Parsely!!
No outrage over those endorsements?? Gee, could it be cause they are White preachers??
Abortionist quack George Tiller and his shysters managed to stall out of a hit-and-run vehicular injury case Thursday, after the DA previously refused to file criminal charges against the quack, even though photographic evidence existed showing that Tiller rammed pro-lifer Mark Gietzen, standing on a sidewalk outside the Wichita abortion mill, with his jeep, causing painful minor injuries. The case was thus kicked to small claims court, stalled, and dismissed by Judge Steven Woodring after the one-year statute of limitations ran out.
Quack Tiller appeared unsteady in court, his speech slow and slurred.
- - -
Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties, FL has shut down clinical and educational operations, and is referring its clients to other abortion mills, medical providers and the county health departments. A recent audit found problems with the agency’s clinical programs and finances, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds. Ruth Lynch has replaced Mary Capobianco as CEO, without explanation. A former employee filed a wrongful termination letter in June, demanding $500,000 in back pay and damages, and asserting an inaccurate 2006 annual financial statement.
- - -
Overland Park state representative Ronnie Metsker
introduced his grandson Harrison to the Legislature Wednesday. Harry was born last fall with Down syndrome and underwent a successful cardiac surgery in December. Metsker said he wants everyone to take time to learn about the disease. Friday, March 21st is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day.
About 80 to 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth are killed in abortion mills, often because quacks present the parents with false or misleading information, if any.
I do not approve of anyone - pro-life, pro-choice, clinic employee or non-clinic employee, being injured. (You may remember back to August of 1993, when Shelley Shannon shot Dr. Tiller six times. I’m sure he didn’t enjoy being injured, either.)
Was the defendant in this case shouting hatred when he was injured? Was he screaming vile epithets - such as you regularly do on this blog - in the doctor’s direction? If so, I still don’t approve of injury, but my sympathy is probably mitigated at this point.
I’ve spoken to Dr. Tiller at a public function, and he was certainly not intoxicated or disoriented. His speech simply has certain characteristics. Just like mine does.
Please don’t make fun of the doctor’s speech, M-Cubed. Lots and lots and LOTS o’ people make fun of my speech, too. And it pi$$es me the #$%^ right off. Because I can’t really do anything about it, short of self-lobotomy and/or opiate abuse.
If someone’s calling me names……or deeming me the guiltier partner for my abortion……or callin’ me witchy-poo……or equating me with Molly Hatchet - I’d feel like hurtin’ ‘em, too. It wouldn’t be justified for me to do so…..
But I’m no saint. If I were, I’d refrain from asking you the following:
Can I call you “Marlon?”
(Just kidding. Brando never gave a cold, crusty crap about reproductive issues. Either pre-birth or post-birth. Just ask two of his children who are now deceased.)
Turns out that some of Clinton’s “support” in Ohio was actually RepubliCONs voting to stop Obama because they see Clinton as easier to beat in November.
Hmmm . . .
*****
Cuyahoga County Board of Elections begins investigation of primary crossover voters
Thursday, March 20, 2008Joe Guillen Plain Dealer Reporter
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has launched an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against voters who maliciously switched parties for the March 4 presidential primary.
Elections workers will look for evidence that voters lied when they signed affidavits pledging allegiance to their new party. And at least one board member, Sandy McNair, a Democrat, wants the county prosecutor to review the findings.
The investigation comes 10 days after The Plain Dealer reported that more than 16,000 Cuyahoga County Republicans changed parties before voting March 4.
After the election, some local Republicans admitted they changed parties only to influence which Democrat would face presumed Republican nominee John McCain in November. One voter scribbled the following addendum to his pledge as a new Democrat: “For one day only.”
Such an admission amounts to voter fraud, said McNair, who pushed for the investigation.
“I’m looking for evidence,” McNair said. “I’m not interested in a witch hunt. But I am interested in holding people accountable, whether they’re Democrat or Republican.”
Lying on the signed statement is a fifth-degree felony, punishable by six to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
CapN — It is what Limbaugh calls “Operation Chaos” He said today that Clinton won TX by 117,000 votes… And that 100,000 of those were RepubliCON cross-over votes!!
I still wonder if such electioneering is “legal” ???
Back in about 1964 Republicans voted for Lester Maddox in the Georgia Democratic primary. Their thinking was that they could then elect Howard ‘Bo’ Callaway governow - he was as racist as Maddox but more polished and without the populism. Onfortunately they lost 47.4-46.8% (with a write-in taking the rest) and Maddox became governor.
Such sabotage does not always work out as well as they would like.
Ben: I discovered this morning that M-cubed might be Mr. Gietzen. Of course, I have no proof. I mean, I don’t wish my true identity to be revealed on this blog, so I’m not gonna ask Parkay his true name.
I just want him to be nice.
I mean, Easter is comin’ up and ever-thang! It’s time for new beginnin’s!
Gotta run - I’m only at this ‘puter during working hours. (And, just so we’re clear, M-Cubed, I work an HONEST job - I’m not a workin’ girl or anything unsavory like that…..)
You know, I don;t care which party does it, it’s a bunch of crap to cross over to another party to vote in their primary, to effect the outcome in a way that you think is to your advantage. If you really want to change parties, then do so. But damn, who needs the bulls###. Support your candidates. The real candidates, not whom you want to run against. Politics, maybe not at it’s worst, but bad just the same.
There may be legitimate reasons for crossovers. Many people are registered with one or the other party but are, in fact, independents. So, when a candidate looks attractive they might want to go over and support him or her. I met many “RINOS” at the caucus.
Mary, I am very concerned about these poor people who are struggling. I”m looking for another job now because things have gotten so expensive I simply cannot afford to care for the people I have…I’m almost losing money to do so.
So my clients are sad, I’ve informed them that I am seeking another job. One even asked me about my non-compete agreement. I guess he was thinking about hiring me for more money than my agency would pay. :(
OH FOR PETE’S SAKE! Obama’s private passport record has been breached. By three low level contract workers at State. Two were fired and one suspended.
Obama just was notified today of the incident which happened in Jan and Feb.
Now the OH FOR PETE’S SAKE! Is for they have just spend an entire hour talking about it and now has start a second hour covering it! PLeasseeeee, the fooking horse expired fifty five minutes ago. Quit beat the damn horse iTs D E A D !
My father had to be rescued by boat in the middle of the night during flash-flooding in Missouri a few nights ago. Apparently it is record, and having grown up there, trust me, I”ve SEEN some of the worst flooding. This must be really impressive. Be thinking about those who have lost so much there.
I’m glad your father is OK, PM. Good luck on your job search…I saw a report the other day that nursing is one of the most “recession proof” jobs there is. You’d make a good one..
I’ve got so much work, I have to turn it down at times. I feel very blessed and lucky. It kills me to see what others who aren’t as fortunate are beginning to go through.
I’m looking into having a stimulator implanted into my spine. Once the pain is gone, I’ll be able to resume my life.
Sounds really promising. I can only hope.
164 Comments
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_re_eu/france_euthanasia
Here you go Parkay. I suppose you think that she should have continued to suffer. HER life, HER decision.
Same the Rottweilers.
Christ: Save the Rottweilers. too early
Study says just saying no is b.s.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004293974_sexed20m.html
Good Morning, Pastor Parkay:
Well, I re-viewed that vivaldic video, and, once again, the Songbird is faced with some uncomfortable truths:
When it comes to this issue, human error abounds. Errors in judgment; errors in taste; errors in diplomacy; errors in movie analogies (but I’ll leave that alone).
Don’t you see what’s happenin’ here? As I’ve said before, it hurts me to see others demonize Dr. Tiller. And I believe that was the ostensible purpose of this video. I still believe it; however……
The Songbird, in her moral temerity, missed what should have been the defining truth here: The horror legalized late-term abortions has evidently compelled something called “The Infants Born Alive Act”………..
I shouldn’t need to elaborate here. I completely missed the irony yesterday during my initial viewing. Candidly, I believe the Pipsqueak for Posterity, er, Student For Life missed it too. Thus, I believe it’s irrelevant whether Hillary voted against it and Obama didn’t - or vice versa.
Late-term abortions, with the exception of the 100% CERTAINTY of (immediate) infant death - and certainly, when the mother’s life is imperiled, should not be allowed. That should have been the crux of the issue - not my (justifiable) sentiments toward Dr. Tiller. Not Hillary vs. Obama - or whom Dr. Tiller would be casting his ballot in November.
Not the ongoing cacophony of the cadaverous, who just can’t WAIT for the dedicated physician to fall into hellfire. Gag me on that one, please. Pretty, pretty please.
Because I have no stomach, heart or energy for it.
But a forty-something femme can’t blame anyone else for her own failings. That’s another unpleasant, albeit unavoidable, truth.
State Legislature Day 66, March 19th:
HEALTH CARE REFORM IMPASS?
the House and Senate still disagree on health care legislation. Last year, legislators passed legislation to create a program to provide state premium assistance so that the very poorest workers in Kansas could purchase health insurance in the private market. The plan was to start providing the aid in 2009. Initially, it would go to 8,500 parents whose household incomes are 50% or less of the federal poverty level, or $8,800 or less annual income for a single parent with two children.
The Senate gave first-round approval yesterday to a bill postponing the subsidies indefinitely, rejecting four attempts to amend their bill so the aid would start flowing next year. Senators plan to take a final vote today to determine whether the bill goes to the House. Senate Republican leaders are nervous about the potential cost of the health insurance subsidies to the state. Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican, said, “We can’t afford it. When we made the decision last year, we committed ourselves to something that we are not going to be in a position to deliver.”
Meanwhile, in the House, leaders in both parties have brokered a deal to make sure that poor families get at least a year’s worth of subsidies. The House Health and Human Services Committee drafted a bill that didn’t deal with the subsidies, which caused Democrats and some Republicans to worry that legislators would break last year’s promise.
That led to talks between GOP and Democratic leaders. The House was supposed to debate the committee’s bill Tuesday. But Speaker Melvin Neufeld postponed the discussion until Thursday so amendments reflecting the agreement can be drafted. Now, the health care reform bill debate has been delayed until at least next Monday.
Opponents of the House bill passed by committee had complained that Republicans, who have majorities in both chambers, were ignoring many of the recommendations made by the Health Policy Authority in a 21-point health plan. Projections for the plan’s cost have varied, but the KHPA estimates that, combined with the subsidy program approved last year, the plan would phase in a $330 million increase in spending on health programs over five years. The subsidies account for nearly three-quarters of the total cost. The agreement among House leaders preserves only the first year of the subsidy program, without a guarantee that it would continue.
Under last year’s law, additional families would become eligible for aid, so that by 2013, the state would be spending more than $111 million a year to help poor families. The subsidies eventually would be about $2,800 a year per health insurance policy. The KHPA proposed expanding the program even further to include poor adults without children. Under its plan, the state eventually would provide $241 million in subsidies each year.
The authority also proposed increasing tobacco taxes to help pay for some of the new spending, with the tax on a pack of cigarettes rising on July 1 by 50 cents, to $1.29. The Legislature has not seriously considered the idea.
The Legislature created the authority in 2005 to review health care issues, examine health care reform ideas and manage some of the state’s health care and health insurance programs. Last year, in bundling the insurance subsidy program and other modest health care initiatives into a single package, lawmakers told the authority to make additional recommendations. “They put a huge amount of time and money into developing a plan. We shouldn’t just throw it out,” said House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, a Greensburg Democrat. “Our interest was in maintaining the bulk of their proposals.”
The agreement among House leaders includes 11 of the Health Policy Authority’s recommendations, including providing cancer screenings to Kansans, including mammograms for breast cancer when a woman is not insured, and dental services for poor, pregnant women. The agreement would increase spending on health programs by about $18 million during the fiscal year beginning July 1. Under the KHPA’s plan, the increase would be $23 million. Many of the House committee’s proposals would remain, including ones designed to promote health savings accounts. But the agreement strips out a proposal to provide $9 million in income tax credits over three years to offset insurance costs for families with household incomes of less than $60,000. Instead, the idea would be studied.
Marcia Nielsen, the Health Policy Authority’s executive director, said, “We think it’s a good first step, albeit an incremental one, to move Kansas forward on health reform.” The insurance “premium assistance” program legislators approved last year would have been phased in over four years, when all parents whose household incomes are at or below the federal poverty level would qualify. For a single parent with two children, that’s an income of $17,600. The state already covers medical services for children in households with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level, but adults don’t qualify unless their incomes are below 37% of the federal poverty level - or $6,512 for a family of three. Often, children are covered by the state but their parents aren’t. And some Republicans in the Senate do not disagree with the House position. Sen. Jim Barnett, an Emporia Republican and physician who fought to preserve the insurance subsidies, said, “I have no problem reaching down in my soul to find that commitment.”
NAFTA HIGHWAY OPPOSITION SPARKS BILL
Monday in a House committee.
Rep. Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee, has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 5033 urging Congress to withdraw from further participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement and Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Morrison told the committee, “Through incrementalism, apathy and inattention, our national sovereignty is being sacrificed on a cross of greed, socialism and globalism.” At a
hearing before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, truckers, labor officials and lawmakers and advocates from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas urged approval of the resolution. Committee Chairman Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe, said he didn’t know if the committee could comprehend all the information submitted on the subject and work on the measure within the last three weeks of the legislative session. “I think I’ve got a little reading to do. I have not made a decision yet, but it’s getting very short,” Siegfreid said.
Owen de Long, a political consultant from Merriam, said plans are in the works to build a NAFTA superhighway that will be one-quarter of a mile wide to transport Asian goods throughout the United States that are off-loaded at Mexican ports. De Long said it will be impossible to police the huge amount of cargo containers. “That’s how terrorists will arrive in Kansas City,” he said. Some officials have repeatedly denied the existence of plans to build the highway. But David and Linda Stall, founders of CorridorWatch in Texas, testified that because of NAFTA, Texas is in the middle of considering a Trans-Texas Corridor that has been criticized by landowners.
State Legislature Day 66, March 19th:
TEEN DRIVING MEASURE HITS ROADBLOCK
A two-year effort to place more restrictions on teenage drivers is in trouble in the Kansas House. Last year the Kansas Senate approved a bill increasing the age for a learner’s permit from 14 to 15 and a restricted license from 15 to 16. Included were restrictions on when a teenager could drive unsupervised. A young driver would have to turn 17 before obtaining a nonrestrictive license under the bill and drivers under 18 would be prohibited from driving while talking on cell phones.
The measure — SB 294 — was then assigned to the House Transportation Committee, which has been considering it since the beginning of this year’s session. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Gary Hayzlett, R-Lakin, said Monday that he doesn’t plan to ask his committee to take action on the measure, which is likely to kill it. Rep.
Hayzlett assigned it weeks ago to a subcommittee, which came up with a recommendation last week. The subcommittee’s recommendation didn’t change the ages for either a learner’s permit or restricted license but increased the penalties for teens who violate traffic laws. It maintained the cell phone prohibition.
According to Hayzlett, these changes to the Senate version haven’t made anyone happy. He said some members of his committee believe the changes were too punitive and others think the bill is too weak. “I don’t think there’s enough support to even get the bill out of committee,” he said. That was disappointing news for those who backed the Senate bill. “I believe lives will be lost if we don’t pass this bill,” said Rep. Ronnie Metsker, R-Overland Park. “It’s hard to argue with the statistics.” Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, was its main supporter in the Senate. He said he wasn’t going to give up. “We have plenty of time to get that through the Legislature,” he said. “This bill will save lives. There may be some ways around the committee.”
Supporters have told lawmakers that vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death among teenagers in Kansas, accounting for 48.7%. Teenage drivers, they said, represent 6% of the state’s drivers but are involved in 15.5% of fatal crashes and 20 percent of all crashes. The Senate bill would restrict driving to daytime hours and limit the number of passengers. “Research tells us that teens are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash during nighttime hours,” said Suzanne Wikle of Kansas Action for Children. “And the risk of death among teen drivers more than doubles when there are two passengers in the vehicle.” Both the nighttime driving restriction and passenger provisions were eliminated in the House version.
NEW FUNERAL PRIVACY BILL PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE
Yesterday, the House Federal and State Affairs Committee passed HB 2970, a revised version of the 2007 Kansas Funeral Privacy Act. Last week, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the judicial trigger provision of the Kansas Funeral Privacy Act rendered the law unconstitutional. This ruling consequently struck down the law, but the Court made no findings regarding substantive provisions of the statute. As co-sponsor of the 2007 legislation with Rep. Jeff Whitham, R-Garden City, Rep. Raj Goyle, D-Wichita, two lawyer legislators, took immediate action to remedy the technicality. HB 2970 removes the judicial trigger from the Kansas Funeral Privacy Act, which includes the establishment of a 150-foot buffer zone around funerals to prevent protestors from engaging in public demonstration. The House committee approved the bill on a unanimous voice vote. It will now advance to the House floor for debate next week.
I’d be the first to call the dog lover young man a perv., but I still don’t think that warrants an inclusion on the sex offenders list. Sounds like he just needs some mental health help.
With all the adolescents being added to the list for underage sex, the list is getting very cluttered.
?
Iraq war shows limits of US power
By John Simpson
World affairs editor, BBC News
Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 I have spent almost a year of my life here, reporting on the conflict.
I have witnessed a disturbing amount of death and injury, and several of my friends have lost their lives. Others have become refugees and asylum-seekers.
It has lasted almost as long as World War II and cost almost as much.
Only one of its original aims, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, has been achieved.
Of the other aims, one was unobtainable because Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction to be destroyed, and the other - bringing democracy to the Middle East - has been indefinitely postponed.
Nothing new in any of this, of course. Anti-war commentators have repeated it all again and again, while pro-war commentators mostly avoid mentioning any of it.
More importantly, the war has shown the limits of American power. It is clear the United States can only manage to fight two small wars at a time.
Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the US armed forces almost to breaking point. America after the invasion of Iraq is no longer the superpower it was before.
Rearguard action
Yet American resilience and inventive power seem to have turned the corner here, at least in military terms. Tactics which were losing the war have been abandoned, and new, more intelligent tactics have taken their place.
Now, the American forces are engaged in fighting a rearguard action, winning time during which the long-term decisions can be taken about withdrawal or some form of continuing presence here.
We have seen how hard it is for the Americans to deal with a few thousand lightly-armed volunteers
Some people - for instance Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for the White House - will no doubt call this rearguard action a success. He may even be tempted to call it a victory.
Yet at present it is hard to think of it as particularly successful.
On Monday, Vice-President Dick Cheney came to Baghdad and talked about “the phenomenal improvement in security”. That day more than 60 Iraqis were killed in bomb attacks.
He had to travel with unprecedented numbers of bodyguards, even though he never left the heavily defended Green Zone. Two mortar rounds hit the Zone while he was there.
None of this feels like a phenomenal improvement in security.
Elementary errors
Still, ever since the start of 2007, when Gen David Petraeus started introducing radically new tactics, the war has entered a different phase.
The various elements in the insurgency have been divided, the Mehdi Army has been persuaded to keep its head down, and the American and Iraqi forces have gone on the offensive, denying their enemy the chance to dig in and control territory.
Before Gen Petraeus took over, American military tactics were negative, and sometimes seemed almost defeatist.
The insurgents were able to operate at will along the main roads in Baghdad. They took over entire suburbs and towns.
At the same time there was a breathtaking lack of political understanding.
In the first year after the invasion, Iraqi politicians found the American proconsul, Paul Bremer, both arrogant and silly. He made a number of elementary errors which have caused lasting damage.
Nowadays, by contrast, the face of American policy here is Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq. He speaks good Arabic and has a sympathetic understanding of the country and its people.
Altogether, the American military and diplomatic presence here has much more professionalism and intellectual seriousness to it.
Long-term danger
Iraqi friends of mine who once hated the fact that the Americans were here now praise them for driving the militants from the streets. That is a real success.
But it is small compared with the damage which the war has done to America’s reputation. The US state department finds it much harder nowadays to be taken seriously when it criticises other countries for their use of torture and arbitrary arrest.
People the world over have been repelled by things that have been done here: things that are now associated with place-names like Abu Ghraib, Haditha, and Falluja.
Above all, we have seen how hard it is for the Americans to deal with a few thousand lightly armed volunteers.
Germany’s 19th-Century Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, said that great powers had to be very careful when they put their military strength to the test. Unless they are overwhelmingly successful, he meant, the perception will be that they have been defeated.
In spite of the new successes on the ground here, that is the long-term danger America faces.
“Christ: Save the Rottweilers.
“I’d be the first to call the dog lover young man a perv”
Did anyone consider it may have been consensual sex? Nathan would know - what say you? How do you know if the dog is enjoying it?
As are the prisons, Phantom. I believe that in Kansas about 25 percent of inmates are sex offenders of one kind or another, and that sex offenders are the fastest growing class of the incacerated. I ran across this statement one while combing through stats of Kansas prisons, but can’t find it again.
Anyway, if true, it fits in with my belief/theory that America is hysterical about sex, and needs a good slap in the face. Remember our hysteria following 9-11; remember what happened? Hysteria is dangerous, and whenever I mention this in regards to our current sex regulations, or present evidence that sex in itself does not harm young adults, I am met with such a wall of hatred, it is proof of my contentions.
BTW — I meet the same type of hatred when I suggest that having a beer in a vehicle while driving five miles an hour on a country road while exercising my dogs might not be harmful behavior.
I think it’s television. It magnifies minor problems into major hysteria and makes perfectly good and normal people into demons. I’ve actually read statements now concerning loners. People want them hunted down and shot or something, or at the least, imprisoned.
If the only solution for every problem is jail, we’ll never get free of our prison population problem.
Having met the horse mockery, the chicken pluckier and two different Duck lovers. I do not recall any of the saying anything about the animals seeming particularly aroused.
them, sorry
We won the [war] in Iraq quite quickly and handily. It is policing the streets that has bogged us down – lack of exit strategy.
The US Military is not equipped not trained to police a foreign country.
I look at our presence in Iraq as I do our welfare system here. Why should I go out and earn when the government will give for free?
Why should I go out and risk my life to protect a street in Iraq when the Americans will die for free?
They will not stand on their own feet until they are forced to.
Vice President Dick Cheney had a different message. Informed during a Good Morning America interview broadcast Wednesday that two-thirds of Americans now think the war was not worth fighting, Cheney said: “So?”
There’s our VP folks.
“I’d be the first to call the dog lover young man a perv.”
Excuse me phantom, but he is a dog RAPIST, not a dog lover.
big difference
Pmom - It looks like she found someone who was sympathetic though. How horrible that must have been for her, especially not being able to take morphine for the pain.
Wheat prices have been dropping like a stone this week. Stocks are still short world wide, so what gives?
This blog gives a good explanation of how the Bear Stearns thingy affects commodities, and at the end of the day, affects your food prices. Also problematic are the hedge funds and their distress.
Ya didnt know that Wall Street reaches all the way to the local Co-op? Well, it does!
http://dtnag.com/dtnag/common/link.do?symbolicName=/ag/blogs/template1&blogHandle=grainmarkets&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc18964ea70118cc6aafe60299
“When differences in race, age, gender and family makeup were taken into account, students who’d had comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to report a pregnancy than those without any sex education and 50 percent less likely than the abstinence-only group.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004293974_sexed20m.html
It looks like those anti-choice people should be whopping and hollering for comprehensive sex education if their true goal is to reduce teen pregnancy and ultimately, abortions.
Good link Door King.
Whopping = Whooping
Scooter Libby disbarred. Whoo Hooo, at least there is some small punishment for his crimes.
Sol - I agree that until we stop enabling Iraq, they will continue to depend on us. But it can’t happen while GWB is in the White House, and here’s why:
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/03/10_drunk.html
There is nothing, absolutely nothing to indicate in the lifestyle of George Bush that he is a “recovered” alcoholic. (As indicated above, Bush explicitly implies that he is alcoholic.)
Secondly, recovery means more than that Bush is no longer plagued by the gross symptoms of the disease of alcoholism, i.e., being unable to stop drinking. Nor does it mean simply being relieved of the mental obsession to drink.
Those two effects in the alcoholic can and often are present in what is called “the dry drunk.” As indicated in the mentioned articles the “dry drunk” functions upon “self will,” or by “willpower” to resist the inherent urge to use alcohol (and other mind altering chemicals), in order to cope with day to day life. What often occurs is that the “dry drunk” finds another obsession.
That last sentence is telling. I wonder what his current obsession may be? /sarcasm
So KFG, did you get your wheat sold before the price went back down?
No TDT, I’m still holding on to a little bit. I was hoping to be able to say I sold wheat for $13. hee hee hee. I think it will go back up again, as the actual bushels of existing wheat are low, and projections are, it’s not even enough to cover need from now until the new crop starts coming in during late May and early June.
Scooter Libby disbarred.
i’ve always been curious about the moniker, ‘Scooter’. Isn’t he balanced enough for a bicycle?
Sheesh, KFG, don’t ya know 13 is an unlucky number?
For all my fellow Global Warming skeptics, thought you might enjoy this!
================================================
Top ten most crazy claims from the Global Warming Alarmists:
================================================
10. (One that is near to my heart for obvious reasons) Global Warming changes Green Bay Packer Football.
9. Global Warming blamed for Rioting and a Nuclear War.
8. Global Warming will cause the Earth to spin slower, causing longer days.
7. A complete contradiction of number 8. The Earth will spin faster due to global warming.
6. Global Warming blamed for the apparent increase in cougar attacks in Canada.
5. World “Equality” is threatened by global warming.
4. The bridge collapse in Minnesota was caused by global warming.
3. The Amazon will become a dessert.
2. Global warming will cause more earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
1. THE EARTH WILL EXPLODE BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING!
Sorry, you can find the links to the articles at this link:
http://glowarmers.blogspot.com/2008/02/global-warming-will-cause-what.html
Hey Fish, maybe part of the package that bought Scooter’s silence was bicycle riding lessons? Then what will he be called? I have several suggestions. we’ll just call him disbarred for today.
Beautiful.
some of you will get a good chuckle out of this, so I’ll pass it on:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/a_modest_proposal_1.html
A brief sample:
“Dear Mr. Dean:”
. . .
“I figure you have to be bold, and that you have to act no later than June 7 to keep your party from totally disintegrating. Here’s my suggestion : Put Jimmy Carter in charge of the entire nomination mess.”
“You and I both know that the Democratic Party rules have created exactly the kind of atmosphere best suited for Carter’s magic touch: utter chaos. Infinite fiddling state-by-state with the rules to achieve minutely-calibrated “proportional representation” by delegates not even bound to follow the voters’ wishes, topped by potentially nullifying, appointed super-delegates, accountable to no one but themselves.
Fantastic! Mugabe could not have set this up better.”
. . .
“See, I read that and remembered that Carter does this all the time. He’s the election certifier extraordinaire. From his supervision of the 1990 election in the Dominican Republic to his oversight of the Chavez recall collection in Venezuela he’s become the one man in the world who can, with the acquiescence of the entire world, put a gold stamp of approval and purity on a completely unfair and corrupt election. Fraud in counting votes? In registering voters? Discrepancies between the number of cast ballots and voter registration lists? Jiggered machines? Doesn’t matter. The guy will keep his eyes and ears closed and stamp the entire thing kosher.”
—–
Enjoy. You can thank me later.
No thread on Hillary caling Obama out on Michigan? Strange that.
Do you have a link Sol?
Not yet TDT, but I do have eyes and ears. Watched and heard it on CNN this morning.
“Senator Obama speaks passionately on the campaign trail about empowering the American people,” she said. “I’m here today to encourage him to match those words with actions.”
http://www.mlive.com/elections/index.ssf/2008/03/is_it_now_or_never_on_michigan.html
Isn’t the google a wonderful thing?
Clinton calls out Obama on Michigan primary
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
DETROIT — Hillary Clinton traveled to Detroit today, hoping to pressure Barack Obama and state lawmakers in Lansing to approve a new Michigan primary.
“I believe the families of Michigan are just as important as the families of any of any other state,” Clinton said in a hastily arranged campaign appearance downtown.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080319/POLITICS01/803190445
Just perhaps, unlike Clinton, Obama knows he agreed to rules and is holding fast to that agreement. Until the two states and the voters of those states fix THEIR problem, perhaps he sees the correct position as butting out of what he agreed couldn’t be his business.
Agreeing to follow rules when you are ahead and then not when you are behind smacks of wanting to follow the idiots of bushco who make the rules up as they go and change them when they become inconvenient to follow.
Boy, I am pi**ed about this!
Why have rules if they mean nothing? Why say you agree if your word can’t be trusted and counted on?
Agreed Linda,
The point of the thread is that Clinton already cheated in MI. Now she is trying it again because Jen Jen Granholm backs Clinton.
Wasn’t sharpshooting at Obama, but at Clinton. Yeah, it was stupid for MI and FL to change the rules. Now we need to face our punishment.
I’m glad you accept part of the responsibility. The voters of those two states had months after their legislators set the primary dates to YELL, SCREAM, DEMAND their votes count and the rules be followed.
I think all Americans have had more than enough of rules that mean nothing.
If WE THE PEOPLE don’t accept our responsibilities of making our elected officials accountable we get what we deserve. We should have had enough of that too.
So…
We disenfranchise ALL of Michigan?
I mean honestly sol, YOUR vote really didn’t matter anyway.
Ron Paul correct?
Your vote in Michigan …or anywhere else for that matter… means ALMOST as much as my Democratic vote in the feudal duchy of Kansas.
Michigan and Florida HAVE to be addressed somehow. Particularly now since we know more about Obama.
If the truth as to Obama had been known back in January, I think he is likely out of the race by now.
J R, That’s what consequences are all about.
Even if it means losing the election linda?
Throwing away Florida AND Michigan is political suicide.
President John McCain.
There’s some consequences for you.
Re: Veep Darth Cheney
Read Rude Pundit for a look at what our doddering vice president is really like.
JR,
Yep, Michigan needs slapped. Florida, I’m not so sure about. They tried to back it up and the NeoCon governor blocked it.
There has to be consequences though. You can’t just buck the system, be told what will happen, then be allowed a do over.
Sounds like mortgage companies taking high risk notes then crying (with their hands out) to the government because they are facing so many foreclosures.
Many of my elderly patients living on fixed incomes or disability are very worried about the price of food and utilities…we truly are embarking a crisis in this ocuntry for people who can’t afford the basics of life anymore. I have no idea how this will all play out, but I’m really scared about their future. Many of us can work extra to make ends meet, but many can’t work at all and the state is making more cut backs in benefits again for the disabled. One of my patients who is retarded, physically disabled, and mentally ill is expected to eat on $3 per day…could any of us do that with the price of food nowadays?
My question is…is anyone paying attention out there?
Well you’ll pardon me if I am not willing to disenfranchise several million voters in Michigan on the say so of one member of the political fringe there solie.
J R,
I’m so upset, so disappointed right now that I can’t YET form thoughts that are constructive. Time will give me perspective and maybe a fair solution too. But right now if Senator Clinton continues to want rules to change to fit her needs, I see no reason why McCain (bush lite) shouldn’t be president. She may or may not be any better, different, trustworthy, believable…
I tell you I am royally pi**ed!
And, I’m going to watch bsketball!
Bright and shiny objects…
JR,
If the DNC disallowed KS representation, would YOU vote McCain?
My vote in Kansas is irrelevant sol.
on the say so of one member of the political fringe there solie.
It was your party that did this JR. Not a single fringe person.
You didn’t answer the question JR. Would you vote republican?
It just might come down to McCain’s choice for VP. He certainly isn’t capable of thinking all the way through a four-year term. There are too many signs of senility today. His presidency will bring back one of the Reagan legacies.
I’d say you were missing the poing sol.
But the fact is, you’re not.
You are far right. Your state of Michigan is not.
YOU know that millions of voters in your state will hear, “Your vote doesn’t count.” And they won’t vote. That is ok with you.
I’m a political junkie sol.
It doesn’t serve well to compare me to the average voter.
In 2000, I stood in line for almost 3 hours with a small child in tow.
To vote for Al Gore in a state where I KNEW he had no chance to win.
But your average voter is not me. They will hear “Your vote doesn’t count”. And they won’t vote. YOU are ok with that because your candidate never had a chance to win anyway.
“My question is…is anyone paying attention out there?”
Well?
I think you have answered your own question Ms. Caruso. Sad, but true.
And my final word on the matter for now will have to be this.
I was in favor of the national Democratic party reining in the primary process. I AGREE there has to be consequences.
But I am not on board with telling several million people that their vote does not matter.
As I have said elsewhere, Michigan and Florida can now be more politically relevant (at least among Democrats) than ever before. Too, the financial investment in new primaries would doubtless be returned many times over.
JR,
Their vote in the primary would not count. Do you honestly think they would stay home or vote republican because they were not seated at the DNC?
My father is liberal and lives in Florida. He is most assuredly not staying home in November. Whether they seat delegates or not, he’ll be at the poll.
J R–
The Mich-Flor voters knew their votes wouldn’t count when they went to the polls.
It’s their fault that they supported their elected leaders who tried to game the system.
If voting is important to them, they can always have a re-vote. What’s stopping that is the money.
So, apparently it’s not that important after all . . .
Mary,
I’m paying attention. I haven’t given up there can be real improvements. As some of us were discussing on another thread we may need to start a revolution to get things started back to sanity. I know for sure I would rather your patients have all my tax money than another penny of it go to bush’s war of choice. I’m also not naive enough to think we can get out of this without sacrifice from EVERYONE.
Obama took his name from the ballot, just as he promised.
Hillary left her name on the ballot even though she promised she wouldn’t.
There’s the difference between the two candidates in a nutshell–one stands for principle, the other stands for Hillary.
Four times in two days, now, John McCain doesn’t know Shi’ia from Shinola. This isn’t a gaffe anymore, he’s seriously wrong about what’s going on in Iraq. And he want another hundred years of it.
Also: here’s Bill Maher on McSame and the Obama flap:
http://tinyurl.com/232csx
Why stand in line when you can vote absentee?
I haven’t waited around to vote for many years.
I agree Capn…I think Obama is sincere, which is a refreshing change already. Hilary will do what ever she perceives it takes to get elected, even when her adgenda is glaringly obvious. As a psychiatric nurse, just watching her facial expressions drives me nuts.
we may need to start a revolution
Ron Paul will not be nominated, but his message hasn’t died.
How about the IRS being disbanded? More money in our pockets to distribute to the needy as each individual sees fit.
More State’s rights, let the states care for their own with less of a tax burden and regulation from the Fed.
Revolution. Yes indeed.
FL & MI are now The Whining States.
New license plates come out this summer for both.
This summer? Damn, I just bolted mine on.
Today is a sad day in British history: The renowned actor Paul Scofield (Oscar winner for 1966’s “A Man For All Seasons”) has passed away.
The lifelong thespian, who portrayed Sir Thomoas More so memorably in that long-ago film, was evidently an anomaly amongst the famous: A decorated actor who preferred family life and eschewing the glitterati.
As a graduate of Thomas More Prep/Marian High in Hays, KS - I had continually heard of More but knew little about his tragedy and his history. “A Man For All Seasons” probably glossed over More’s complexities; however, his deep and abiding faith was readily apparent. As was his willingness to die for his beliefs.
“Seasons” deserved its accolades: From the opening scene - with its affecting and vibrant musical score, this was a film pregnant with history and resonance. The late Robert Shaw (he also starred in “Jaws” in 1975) played King Henry VIII. His screen time was brief, but this and other glimpses of British history make me glad I’m American. Bill Clinton, for all his foibles, never demanded that we worship him. Or fear for our lives. And thank gawd for that.
May Scofield rest in peace. His accomplishments will endure into the ages.
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, Serving the 2nd District of Kansas
Website | Services | Newsroom | For Students | About Nancy
Results of Illegal Immigration Survey
From January 14th to March 13, 2008, my Congressional website
hosted a survey on illegal immigration issues. We invited all
Kansans in the Second Congressional District to offer their
opinions. Below are the results of the survey.
Thank you very much for offering your opinion! Your thoughts
are invaluable as I work to represent Kansas in Washington.
With warm regards,
Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress
(1) How concerned are you by illegal immigration into the
United States?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Very concerned
4446
76.0%
Somewhat concerned
878
15.0%
Only a little concerned
376
6.4%
Not concerned at all
148
2.5%
Totals
5848
100.0%
(2) Which of the statements below most closely reflects your
view of the economic impact of illegal immigration?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
On the whole, illegal immigration is bad
for the U.S. economy. Illegal immigrants
take jobs away from American citizens
and drive down the wages of legal
workers.
4210
72.7%
On the whole, illegal immigration is
good for the U.S. economy. Illegal
immigrants do jobs that Americans don’t
want, and by providing a source of
inexpensive labor, they help businesses
keep down their labor costs.
871
15.0%
Neither statement reflects my views.
707
12.2%
Totals
5788
100.0%
(3) Which of the statements below most closely reflects your
view of the national security impact of illegal immigration?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Illegal immigration allows foreign
citizens to enter the United States
without proper documentation,
inspections, and authorization. It
undermines our national security.
4957
85.1%
Illegal immigration has little or no
impact on our national security.
Relatively few illegal immigrants
commit crimes or terrorist acts.
689
11.8%
Neither statement reflects my views.
182
3.1%
Totals
5828
100.0%
(4) In general, do you support legislation providing a path to
legal citizenship for illegal immigrants?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No
3702
63.7%
Yes
1801
31.0%
Other
314
5.4%
Totals
5817
100.0%
(5) If you do not support a path to citizenship, which of the
statements below most closely reflects your view? (Please feel
free to choose more than one.)
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Illegal immigrants broke America’s law
when they crossed our borders. Their
residency in the United States is
unlawful and should not be the basis of a
legal path to citizenship.
3217
31.1%
A foundation of American justice is that,
if you commit a crime, you should be
punished. Providing amnesty to illegal
immigrants would allow them to escape
justice.
2278
22.0%
Immigration is bad for America, and
amnesty would allow millions of
immigrants to stay in the United States
indefinitely.
1304
12.6%
Across the world, millions of foreign
citizens are patiently waiting to legally
immigrate into the United States.
Allowing amnesty for illegal immigrants
would be unfair to these foreign citizens
who are playing by the rules.
3343
32.3%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
199
1.9%
Totals
10341
100.0%
(6) If you do support a path to citizenship, which of the
statements below most closely reflects your view? (Please feel
free to choose more than one.)
Answer
Responses
Percentage
Illegal immigrants who work hard, keep
a clean criminal record, and pay a fine
deserve the opportunity to become
legalized residents.
1643
36.0%
Illegal immigrants are already living in
our society. Providing legal status is just
a way of formalizing what is already the
case.
613
13.4%
Immigration is good for America, and
we should support immigrants whether
they entered the country legally or
illegally.
230
5.0%
It would be impractical to deport all of
the illegal immigrants currently living in
America. The best way forward is to
legalize those who are already residing
here.
909
19.9%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
1166
25.6%
Totals
4561
100.0%
(7) Do you support an expansion of legal immigration into the
United States?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No. Current levels of legal immigration
are about right.
1877
32.6%
No. Instead, America should reduce the
number of legal immigrants entering
the country each year.
1512
26.3%
Yes. Expanded legal immigration
would allow more opportunities for
foreign citizens to immigrate legally,
increase the economic benefits of
immigration, and remove an incentive
for illegal immigration.
1996
34.7%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
367
6.4%
Totals
5752
100.0%
(8) Do you support a guest worker program that would allow
foreign citizens to temporarily live and work in the United
States?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No. A guest worker program would
allow foreign citizens to take jobs in the
United States that should go to American
workers.
2229
38.9%
Yes. A guest worker program would
provide a valuable source of labor for
American businesses, and by allowing
more foreign citizens to work in America
legally, it would remove an economic
incentive for illegal immigration.
3083
53.8%
Neither statement reflects my views.
418
7.3%
Totals
5730
100.0%
(9) Do you support legislation to build a fence along the
American border with Mexico?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No, I do not support legislation to build a
border fence.
1307
22.6%
Yes, I support legislation to build a fence
along the entire southern border, no
matter what the cost.
1772
30.6%
Yes, I support legislation to build a
border fence, but in order to keep the
cost reasonable, it should be constructed
only along the portions of the border that
are most vulnerable to illegal
immigration.
725
12.5%
Yes, I support legislation to construct a
“virtual fence,” including cameras and
other forms of electronic surveillance,
along all or part of the southern border.
1694
29.2%
None of these statements reflect my
views.
295
5.1%
Totals
5793
100.0%
(10) One proposal before Congress to crack down on illegal
immigration is to require employers to verify that their
employees are residing in the United States legally. Do you
support this idea?
Answer
Responses
Percentage
No. Enforcing immigration laws is a job
for the United States government, not for
private employers.
677
11.6%
Yes. If employers are held accountable
for ensuring that their workers are legal
residents, then they will be less likely to
hire undocumented workers, making it
harder for illegal immigrants to earn a
living in America.
4921
84.6%
Neither statement reflects my views.
218
3.7%
Totals
5816
100.0%
Right, Songbird.
It was rulers like Hen 8 that our founders of America were trying to protect us from.
They saw first-hand the effects of wedding secular power with religious power, and that’s why they insisted on creating “a wall between church and state.”
Too bad the Bush lovers seem to have never learned this important lesson from history. We now have the department of ‘faith-based’ policy, fer heaven’s sake . . .
Good point, Captain A.
As much as I cherished certain qualities of the late Pope John Paul II (and probably more of his IMMEDIATE predecessor if his mysterious death hadn’t occurred) - heaven help us if he’d been governing our country.
His daily habit of lying prostrate before a statue of the Virgin Mary was indicative of his profound faith - and his even more profound disconnect from the faithful in many ways. (After all, if you’re deep in prolonged prayer, you’re not interacting with anyone else…..)
I can see it now: no more birth control…..no more sex-ed (children can’t always rely on their parents - I sure couldn’t)…….films and books heavily censored……an even more rampant AIDS epidemic
Oh, lawd. It’s just too depressing to think about. Yes, thank gawd for the separation of church and state. Even in my most religious periods, I would have upheld that conviction.
Lame Brain McCain is now saying he misspoke, move on. Should have just admitted he had a mini-stroke and was temporarily confused.
I read in a hot rod magazine yesterday that a company has a process to convert things like tires, switch grass etc. into ethanol, and their process only uses a gallon of water per gallon of fuel. They’re in the process of building a plant.
Dennis,
Thanks for the Rude Pundit tip. He’s funny!!
The spider allegory on VP creates great imagery!
SolDevVB
Posted March 20, 2008 at 9:24 am | Permalink
Not yet TDT, but I do have eyes and ears. Watched and heard it on CNN this morning.
I wasn’t giving you a hard time Sol, I just hadn’t heard about this yet, and thought you might have seen it on the internet and had a link.
Hey, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we all pledge to take ONE DAY in which we don’t say anything except nice things about someone. (In other words, if someone incurs yer ire - just leave ‘em out of yer blog.)
I’m not saying your ire is meaningless; after all, I’ve been known to vent my spleen on more than one occasion. (I’m sorry, but if an ugly ((slang for illegitimate offspring)) gets on camera and equates us post-aborts with Salem’s lot, he gonna live in a world of hurt from my acid tongue.)
But, hey! Let’s change up! Let’s have one day - JUST ONE DAY - where no one says anything mean ‘n nasty. No more icky-awful movie analogies. No more comparing Mrs. Clinton with something bovine. No more attestations that Obama is an abomination. No more wonderins’ about how much some dude can “git” from his disabled concubine.
Please? Pretty please? Let’s show the world we can be nice - for a change! After all, Sunday is Easter! The time for new beginnings! (Nineteen years ago, I lovingly sat through a three-hour mass in anticipation of this new beginnin’…)
Come on! If the Songbird can do it - y’all can do it, too!
No worries TDT.
In the absence of a dedicated thread, part of Obama’s response to Hillary over MI and FL:
“Sen. Clinton, I have to say on this, has been completely disingenuous. She said when she was still trying to compete with the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire that Michigan and Florida wouldn’t count,” he said.
“Then, as soon as she got into trouble politically and it looked like she would have no prospects of winning the nomination without having them count, suddenly she’s extraordinarily concerned with the voters there.”
“I understand the politics of it, but let’s be clear that it’s politics,” he added. “I want the Michigan delegation and the Florida delegation to be seated. And however the Democratic National Committee determines we can get that done, I’m happy to abide by those rules.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/19/obama.interview/index.html
Geesh, songbird, I probably went to school with you. Kennedy Jr. High?
lindainks55
Posted March 20, 2008 at 9:32 am | Permalink
Linda - My take on this is there should be another primary. I am an Obama supporter, however, MI and FL ARE key in the general election, and it would hurt either Democratic candidate were the delegates of these 2 states totally ignored. We are having enough problems with the neverending democratic primary, and we just can’t alienate a bunch of key voters.
Y-y-y-y-yeah…
I did go to KJH. But I don’t want my real identity known. My mother is still livin’ in Hays, and she’s still real, real Catholic.
And Hays is still, well………Hays…….
s’okay, songbird, I agree. There was no way I’d allow some of the ilk on this forum to get a glimmer into my identity.
Thank you! Not only privacy, but pride is at stake here. I must have been the ugliest chick in the eighth grade that year……….
No wonder I didn’t recognize date rape when it happened. My self-esteem was so low, even if my appearance had changed dramatically.
(The last time I saw that phantasmagoric pic, I nearly jumped out my stepfather’s second-story window. It was - and is - that bad.)
Mary - The only people paying attention are people who don’t seem to have the power to change anything. Truly, the people that have the power, are NOT hurting. It is sad, and worrisome. What will our elderly and disabled do? And no, there is no way to live on $3 a day for food unless you eat totally processed food, and even then, at this point I’m not sure it’s possible even then.
I must have been the ugliest chick in the eighth grade that year……….
Then I must’ve dated you!
Honestly, songbird, I think we’re on a slightly different timeline. I graduated HS in 74, and went to Hays High (weren’t no ‘preppie’) my freshman year before moving out of town.
Uh, no. I don’t think so. I didn’t date until I was 16.
Do you remember the all-school dance we had at KJH in 1972? EVERY girl - even the overweight behemoth with a hygiene problem and an underbite - got asked to dance.
Except the Songbird.
That’s how bad it was. I went home and cried - for neither the first nor the last time. Oh well, it wasn’t as bad as rape or bein’ knocked up. That’s for sure.
Mary, Sadly, no, they’re not.
Well, now ya tell me!
Sheesh!
Think of how many elderly could be fed with the billions spent on the war.
That’d put you at least 6 years behind me. In 72 I was already living in this area.
No great loss on your part. Hays wasn’t a cool place to come of age in. In fact, it rather blew chunks.
Oh dear, my resentment is showing. Again.
I spent most of my summers in the Sternburg Museum. It was free in those days, and air-conditioned.
Didn’t that used to be Sheridan Coliseum? I saw The Cowsills in concert there in Dec. ‘69! I was a mere child of 11!
It was still on campus in those days. The golf ball hadn’t been built yet.
Dec of 69 I turned 14 yo
TDT,
I don’t disagree AT ALL about new primaries. And, if they hold new primaries (at the cost of the state or private donors BUT not at the expense of the DNC!) their votes should count, their delegates be seated. I just think it is the problem of those two states. They broke the rules knowing full well what the consequences were (they were reminded overanover!). I don’t excuse the voters of the two states because they didn’t hold their elected officials feet to the fire. They knew for months in advance that their legislatures had set primaries for a date that broke the rules and they knew what the consequences were. IMO they were complicit in not making sure their votes counted.
The candidates agreed not to campaign and understood those votes couldn’t count. We can’t ever go back and make it right to all the candidates. Where would Edwards or Richardson be IF those two states hadn’t broken the rules?? Even new primaries will only affect the current candidates.
See, don’t those two states deserve punishment? At minimum the ridicule they’ve earned and the cost of new primaries.
It’s mostly because I want the word of someone asking to be POTUS to mean something. I want to trust the President of our country. bushco has ruined so much and we deserve so much more. The candidate who sees rules and agreements as something that can be changed for convenience doesn’t instill any more respect or confidence than bushco get.
Senator Clinton agreed with the rules and consequences when she was ahead but now wants them changed. I am sorely disappointed and royally pi**ed at that attitude.
Obama is staying out of it as he should, as he agreed to. That, is taking the high road. Like he did with the flak about his former pastor. That’s what I want in a candidate for POTUS!
Yup, gotta agree with you there, Fleettwood.
The editors just don’t get it. You either have control of your blog or you don’t.
They don’t.
Good post, Linda.
Listening to Clinton intoning about how “every vote should count” in Michigan when she had signed a pledge supporting not counting those votes is just too much.
No one is saying that they can’t have some kind of re-vote.
Millions of Dems in Mich and Flor should have no problem raising the money for a re-vote.
The fact that they aren’t willing to shell out for it shows that it really isn’t that important to them.
oh for minute there I thought he was placing an ad!
The editors let a post stand for 12 hours the other day in which Horst Wessel threatened the life of Barack Obama and called him the N word.
That post shouldn’t have stood for 12 seconds.
Anybody here made any honest attempt to prove Rev. Wright WRONG on what he has said??
Just got to thinking about that this morning… I havent heard anybody try to do that… Just shout, scream, and carry on about him being a racist…
And yet, McCain drifts onward with the endorsement of two of the most bigoted White preachers in the nation — Hagee and Parsely!!
No outrage over those endorsements?? Gee, could it be cause they are White preachers??
Just making an observation!!
Abortionist quack George Tiller and his shysters managed to stall out of a hit-and-run vehicular injury case Thursday, after the DA previously refused to file criminal charges against the quack, even though photographic evidence existed showing that Tiller rammed pro-lifer Mark Gietzen, standing on a sidewalk outside the Wichita abortion mill, with his jeep, causing painful minor injuries. The case was thus kicked to small claims court, stalled, and dismissed by Judge Steven Woodring after the one-year statute of limitations ran out.
Quack Tiller appeared unsteady in court, his speech slow and slurred.
- - -
Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties, FL has shut down clinical and educational operations, and is referring its clients to other abortion mills, medical providers and the county health departments. A recent audit found problems with the agency’s clinical programs and finances, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds. Ruth Lynch has replaced Mary Capobianco as CEO, without explanation. A former employee filed a wrongful termination letter in June, demanding $500,000 in back pay and damages, and asserting an inaccurate 2006 annual financial statement.
- - -
Overland Park state representative Ronnie Metsker
introduced his grandson Harrison to the Legislature Wednesday. Harry was born last fall with Down syndrome and underwent a successful cardiac surgery in December. Metsker said he wants everyone to take time to learn about the disease. Friday, March 21st is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day.
About 80 to 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth are killed in abortion mills, often because quacks present the parents with false or misleading information, if any.
M-kay, Messianic Margarine Man:
I do not approve of anyone - pro-life, pro-choice, clinic employee or non-clinic employee, being injured. (You may remember back to August of 1993, when Shelley Shannon shot Dr. Tiller six times. I’m sure he didn’t enjoy being injured, either.)
Was the defendant in this case shouting hatred when he was injured? Was he screaming vile epithets - such as you regularly do on this blog - in the doctor’s direction? If so, I still don’t approve of injury, but my sympathy is probably mitigated at this point.
I’ve spoken to Dr. Tiller at a public function, and he was certainly not intoxicated or disoriented. His speech simply has certain characteristics. Just like mine does.
Please don’t make fun of the doctor’s speech, M-Cubed. Lots and lots and LOTS o’ people make fun of my speech, too. And it pi$$es me the #$%^ right off. Because I can’t really do anything about it, short of self-lobotomy and/or opiate abuse.
If someone’s calling me names……or deeming me the guiltier partner for my abortion……or callin’ me witchy-poo……or equating me with Molly Hatchet - I’d feel like hurtin’ ‘em, too. It wouldn’t be justified for me to do so…..
But I’m no saint. If I were, I’d refrain from asking you the following:
Can I call you “Marlon?”
(Just kidding. Brando never gave a cold, crusty crap about reproductive issues. Either pre-birth or post-birth. Just ask two of his children who are now deceased.)
Woops - sorry. I should have used the term “plaintiff” instead of “defendant.” I guess my allusions to icky, awful movies has warped my brain.
“Woops - sorry. I should have used the term “plaintiff” instead of “defendant.”
Hey, everybody!! Look!! Somebody made a mistake!!
Call McCain!!
http://www.cleveland.com/open/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1206001848245730.xml&coll=2
Isn’t this interesting?
Turns out that some of Clinton’s “support” in Ohio was actually RepubliCONs voting to stop Obama because they see Clinton as easier to beat in November.
Hmmm . . .
*****
Cuyahoga County Board of Elections begins investigation of primary crossover voters
Thursday, March 20, 2008Joe Guillen Plain Dealer Reporter
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has launched an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against voters who maliciously switched parties for the March 4 presidential primary.
Elections workers will look for evidence that voters lied when they signed affidavits pledging allegiance to their new party. And at least one board member, Sandy McNair, a Democrat, wants the county prosecutor to review the findings.
The investigation comes 10 days after The Plain Dealer reported that more than 16,000 Cuyahoga County Republicans changed parties before voting March 4.
After the election, some local Republicans admitted they changed parties only to influence which Democrat would face presumed Republican nominee John McCain in November. One voter scribbled the following addendum to his pledge as a new Democrat: “For one day only.”
Such an admission amounts to voter fraud, said McNair, who pushed for the investigation.
“I’m looking for evidence,” McNair said. “I’m not interested in a witch hunt. But I am interested in holding people accountable, whether they’re Democrat or Republican.”
Lying on the signed statement is a fifth-degree felony, punishable by six to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
(More at link)
fleettwood,
The “mistake”(sic) has to be made four times during a two-day time period.
And then someone else has point out the error.
Hey P-Kay - how is your boy Gietzen’s frivolous lawsuit coming along? Does he have a shyster doing it or is he self-shystering?
Hi songbird … ;)
Capn,
The votes in TX open primary were also “interesting”.
Obama won the cities, like Dallas, Austin, and Houston. Clinton won the rural (more “red”) areas.
CapN — It is what Limbaugh calls “Operation Chaos” He said today that Clinton won TX by 117,000 votes… And that 100,000 of those were RepubliCON cross-over votes!!
I still wonder if such electioneering is “legal” ???
Max posted here earlier that he was a part of THREE busloads of Republicans who went to TX to influence the Primaries there…
They WANT Clinton, because they are afraid to run against Obama in November…
Interesting.
Weren’t we hearing in the Kansas primary first hand accounts of people who said they were Republicans but voting for Obama?
Back in about 1964 Republicans voted for Lester Maddox in the Georgia Democratic primary. Their thinking was that they could then elect Howard ‘Bo’ Callaway governow - he was as racist as Maddox but more polished and without the populism. Onfortunately they lost 47.4-46.8% (with a write-in taking the rest) and Maddox became governor.
Such sabotage does not always work out as well as they would like.
Ben: I discovered this morning that M-cubed might be Mr. Gietzen. Of course, I have no proof. I mean, I don’t wish my true identity to be revealed on this blog, so I’m not gonna ask Parkay his true name.
I just want him to be nice.
I mean, Easter is comin’ up and ever-thang! It’s time for new beginnin’s!
Gotta run - I’m only at this ‘puter during working hours. (And, just so we’re clear, M-Cubed, I work an HONEST job - I’m not a workin’ girl or anything unsavory like that…..)
Just an interesting tidbit
While Exxon made $40 billion in 2007, a 60% increase from 2004, it paid $100 billion in taxes and royalties.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/13/news/economy/gas_gallon/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories
“Weren’t we hearing in the Kansas primary first hand accounts of people who said they were Republicans but voting for Obama?”
No, we heard of fake “crossovers” that voted for Hillary in Kansas.
You know, I don;t care which party does it, it’s a bunch of crap to cross over to another party to vote in their primary, to effect the outcome in a way that you think is to your advantage. If you really want to change parties, then do so. But damn, who needs the bulls###. Support your candidates. The real candidates, not whom you want to run against. Politics, maybe not at it’s worst, but bad just the same.
And then of course there was the little story Obama himself was SO proud of.
How he meets people who whisper “I’m supporting you and I’m a Republican.” And his answer “That’s good. Why are we whispering?”
“How he meets people who whisper “I’m supporting you and I’m a Republican.” And his answer “That’s good. Why are we whispering?””
Good question. Either support a candidate, or don;t.
Outta here for the night.
There may be legitimate reasons for crossovers. Many people are registered with one or the other party but are, in fact, independents. So, when a candidate looks attractive they might want to go over and support him or her. I met many “RINOS” at the caucus.
I’ve been wondering if Messianic Margarine Man (lol that’s a hoot) is Geitzen too. He is certainly involved in the blogs in all the kansas cities.
It is definately one of the upper level antis out there. Troy Newman is in the running as well, but Newman speaks better usually.
I mean, just look at how UNPROFESSIONALLY written his legal papers are. Sounds just like Parkay now doesn’t it?
http://operationrescue.org/pdfs/gietzsencase07SC1015.pdf
warning, there are flesh pictures of ..ew.
Thankfully there is video footage, so wah.
Doesn’t it get exhausting to lie all the time?
Don’t you worry about your reputation at all?
Mary, I am very concerned about these poor people who are struggling. I”m looking for another job now because things have gotten so expensive I simply cannot afford to care for the people I have…I’m almost losing money to do so.
So my clients are sad, I’ve informed them that I am seeking another job. One even asked me about my non-compete agreement. I guess he was thinking about hiring me for more money than my agency would pay. :(
Hey, everybody!! Look!! Somebody made a mistake!!
Call McCain!!
Songbird still has three more time repeating the same mistake then we will all call her Mc Cain!
My screen is cut in half again, can’t read the left side of anyone’s posts! Grr.
OH FOR PETE’S SAKE! Obama’s private passport record has been breached. By three low level contract workers at State. Two were fired and one suspended.
Obama just was notified today of the incident which happened in Jan and Feb.
Now the OH FOR PETE’S SAKE! Is for they have just spend an entire hour talking about it and now has start a second hour covering it! PLeasseeeee, the fooking horse expired fifty five minutes ago. Quit beat the damn horse iTs D E A D !
My father had to be rescued by boat in the middle of the night during flash-flooding in Missouri a few nights ago. Apparently it is record, and having grown up there, trust me, I”ve SEEN some of the worst flooding. This must be really impressive. Be thinking about those who have lost so much there.
I’m glad your father is OK, PM. Good luck on your job search…I saw a report the other day that nursing is one of the most “recession proof” jobs there is. You’d make a good one..
I’ve got so much work, I have to turn it down at times. I feel very blessed and lucky. It kills me to see what others who aren’t as fortunate are beginning to go through.
Like Father, Like Son! Obama’s records accessed!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080321/ap_on_el_pr/obama_passport
I’m looking into having a stimulator implanted into my spine. Once the pain is gone, I’ll be able to resume my life.
Sounds really promising. I can only hope.
Say more about that stimulator… sounds like something my wife could use…
Don’t know about you, but I’m not all that co