South Carolina Tells Nikki Haley “No Refugees”

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

photo by WLTX President Obama’s accelerated plan to resettle up to 200,000 Syrian refugees in the United States over the next two years faces a tsunami of opposition from American citizens, and their security concerns over the program have pressed elected officials at every level into action.

Senator Jeff Sessions conducted an oversight hearing on the resettlement plan, and today House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for a task force to find a way to put the program on hold until their security concerns could be addressed and resolved. A number of congressmen have made statements in opposition, and some have proposed bills prohibiting the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

Last night the Dept. of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the State Department held a classified briefing in an attempt to assuage the concerns of members of Congress. South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney said the briefing did not offer much new information but added he has done his own research and determined that the vetting process amounts to little more than a question on a form asking, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Mulvaney expects a House vote today which would require the agencies to specifically vet each refugee in detail prior to approval for resettlement. “That would be the ‘pause’ some have referred to,” he said.

Pressure is being applied at the state level as well, and as of this writing over 30 governors have stated opposition to Syrian refugee resettlement in their respective states. South Carolina governor Nikki Haley was an early advocate of the program, but acquiesced to calls for tighter security and wrote a letter to the State Department requesting a hold on Syrian refugees headed for her state. South Carolina state representative Chip Limehouse plans to file a bill that would prevent the state from funding refugee relocation.

At the local level, county councils in South Carolina, supported by fervid testimony from constituents at council meetings, are passing resolutions that they hope would prevent Governor Haley from placing refugees in their counties. Greenville County’s resolution stated, in part: “…the Greenville County Council will not approve or proceed with the United States Refugee Resettlement Program and rejects the expenditure of state funds to assist the United States Refugee Resettlement Program in Greenville County.”

While the Greenville County resolution won unanimous approval, as did similar bills in Berkeley and Pickens counties, York County’s motion by councilman Bruce Henderson failed for lack of a second. Councilman Robert Winkler told me he is completely opposed to any program that might bring a terrorist to our shores. When asked why he wouldn’t second the motion, he said, “We just didn’t have enough time to know exactly what we were voting for. But I don’t really think there is anything we can do about it anyway – if Governor Haley wants to put refugees in our county, she can just do it, no matter what we say.” Winkler pointed out that not much county money is spent directly on refugees other than the cost of police, fire departments, and schools. Benefits such as food stamps, cash welfare, health care and housing are funded by the state and federal governments, so the county does not have any control over expenditures for refugees.

It’s not clear exactly who, if anyone, has the authority to stop the Obama administration from proceeding with the resettlement of Syrian refugees, or, for that matter, any other refugees.

Governor Haley contends that no Syrian refugees have been resettled in South Carolina to date. If the predominantly conservative local and state officials prevail, that status will not change any time soon.

This article is sponsored by Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

And if she should tell you “come closer”
And if she tempts you with her charms
Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no
Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me

Tell Her No – the Zombies

They song may be from 1965. But the Zombies are still alive!

Refugees Knockin’ At the Door – Don’t Let ‘Em In

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

(AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Someone’s knockin’ at the door! Somebody’s ringing the bell!

President Obama sings, “Open the door, and let ’em in.”

Never mind that public opinion weighs heavily against allowing Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. Or that one of the ISIS thugs who brutally murdered Parisians this week is thought to have used a fake Syrian passport, throwing question on whether refugees can be vetted. Or that thirty-one governors (at last count) are opposed to to importing Syrian refugees.

Other governors, like Republican Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana are doing the Kabuki dance on the refugee issue. They were for it before they were against it, and then for it again, kinda, but maybe against it. That kind of Charlie Brown leadership does not enhance political resumes.

Republican presidential candidates? Lock the door. Democrats? Let ’em in.

Refugee resettlement advocates would have us believe that this is not such a big deal – it’s only about a relatively small number of Syrians, most of whom are abused Christians, who are seeking refuge in the United States. If only that were true – any of it.

In the first six weeks of this year 98% of all Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S. were Sunni Muslim. At least 75% of the immigrants flooding into Europe every day through doors specifically swung open for Syrians are not Syrian, and are not refugees. They are opportunists from third-world countries all over Africa and the Middle East, seeking economic benefits. Why shouldn’t we expect the same in the U.S., especially since nearly all refugees here are on food stamps, cash welfare, and other government benefits, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement?

Not mentioned by the refugee advocates are all the others who are arriving here – the unvetted non-Syrian refugees, the fake asylum seekers, or the illegals who overstayed visas or walked across our porous borders. The recent election of a refugee-happy prime minister to our north doesn’t brighten the situation.

Don’t fall for the crocodile tears. This is not a question of charity – those who clamor for more immigration and refugee resettlement are taking food from the mouths of our own hungry, jobs from our own unemployed, and the hope for a safe nation with traditional American values from our own children. There is no comparing today’s immigration and refugee situation with Ellis Island. This is nothing short of an invasion of our home by people who want to replace us, not join us.

If altruism demands that we help those truly in need, let’s help them in their home countries. Let’s help them defeat their oppressors, if that’s the cause of their misery. But if they won’t defend their own homes and families, and come knocking at our door demanding our food, shelter, and safety, we have no choice.

Close the door. Don’t let ’em in.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Do me a favor, open the door
And let ’em in!

Let ‘Em In – Paul McCartney

Liberal Comedy – You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

So there we were, my wife and I, patiently waiting for the York County (SC) council meeting to start. I was one of several constituents there to make a statement in support of our councilman’s resolution to prevent the Refugee Relocation program from dumping third-world citizens in our county. I wanted to point out that bringing in needy refugees does not benefit our nation or citizens in any way, so it can only be viewed as charity. And taking money from taxpayers to give to a foreign charity without our consent is unconstitutional and illegal.

Next to my wife sat a 40-something guy – longish hair with a balding spot, rimless glasses, Mister Rogers sweater, 20-year old Birkenstock sandals. A slight lisp. I’m pretty sure that was his Prius in the parking lot, the one with the “Bernie Sanders Works For Me” sticker next to the faded “Hope and Change” decal.

My wife is a chatty sort of person, and of course she had to strike up a conversation with her next-seat neighbor. “Are you here to talk about the Refugee problem?” she chirped. I thought Mr. Birkenstock’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

“What do you have against those poor people?” he said, revving up. “We should be helping them! It’s our duty as a society! What about the CHILLdrennnn?”

Yep, I had heard that sound before, on PBS. “The CHILLdrennnn.” I’ve always wondered why the Hope and Change crowd doesn’t seem to have any problem dumping $20 trillion of debt on the CHILLdrennnn. But I digress.

My wife is chatty, all right. But get on her wrong side and she is chatty like a Rottweiler. She lit into Mr. Birkenstock with a scorched-earth monologue detailing the many reasons why moving throngs of hostile, unemployable, non-English-speaking, permanent welfare recipients to York County at a time when we can’t even take care of our own underachievers, is a bad idea. “Why don’t you donate YOUR money to the refugees, instead of trying to take mine?” she asked.

Mr. Birkenstock shook his head at us, his face dripping with a condescending mix of pity and disgust.

The meeting began, and we all sat through hours of the mostly boring and often icky sausage-making of low-level politics. Then the agenda turned to how the county will manage the rapid growth we are currently experiencing. It was Mr. Birkenstock’s time to take the microphone.

“I am opposed to all this growth!” he wailed. “We don’t want any more of these big apartment buildings going up in our nice, peaceful neighborhood! The traffic is getting terrible. And what about the CHILLdrennnnnn! They can’t play safely in the street any more!”

We laughed out loud.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die
It seemed so funny to me
Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be
Lonely, oh so lonely

Laugh, Laugh – the Beau Brummels

Conservatives Fall For PBS Propaganda About Mulvaney, Freedom Caucus

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 2

This week Congressman Mick Mulvaney and some fellow Freedom Caucus members are under attack on the web and social media. But not, as you might expect, by liberal opponents.

The hits are coming from conservatives, both grassroots activists and inside-the-beltway veterans.

And guess what, Hillary? This attack really was caused by a whacko video! Last week PBS played a three-hour documentary about Congressman Luis Guitierrez’ three-year struggle to win amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants. The writers and producer of the piece made no attempt to hide their emotional advocacy for amnesty and open borders. But their methodology was a masterpiece of subterfuge.

In order to legitimize their position, the PBS writers were seeking a respected, well-known, solid conservative who favors open borders. They failed to find one, but they did stumble onto the remarkable and highly publicized film clip of Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) addressing a Hispanic town hall meeting in Gaffney, SC speaking only in Spanish. Mulvaney’s statements to that audience were consistent with the same message he had presented dozens of times to other groups: the borders and ports must be sealed, existing laws must be enforced, no amnesty for illegals, and improve legal immigration policies. But the carefully edited footage of Mulvaney, speaking eloquently in Spanish to a smiling group of Hispanics had a visceral effect. The casual observer would assume he joins Congressman Guitierrez arm-in-arm down the path of amnesty.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

These same conservatives laugh at the PBS hysteria about global warming. They see right through the propaganda in support of myriad other liberal issues. How on earth do they now decide that PBS is suddenly 100% accurate in their depiction of a solid conservative as a supporter of amnesty and open borders?

I have always known better than to believe everything I see on television, especially on PBS. And in recent years I have learned to not swallow everything that is published on the web. This post is in that category, so I urge you to please do a little research on Mulvaney and his positions on immigration (here’s a policy statement I found). Better yet, ask him – he is one of the most accessible politicians around.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I can’t go for that
Can’t go for that
Can’t go for that
Can’t go for that yeah

I Can’t Go For That – Daryl Hall with Cee Lo Green

GOP Candidates: Here’s Why Trump Is Eating Your Lunch

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

photo from sogoodblog.com Conservative voters (still the majority of American-born citizens) are focused on a single overriding issue in their quest for a 2016 presidential nominee, and this explains Donald Trump’s seemingly invincible lead in the primary race.

Other candidates can’t understand why Trump continues to dominate the campaign. He is not consistently conservative, having supported single-payer health care, tax hikes, and earlier Clinton campaigns. He is not opposed to big government, having admitted that in the past he frequently bought off politicians to get favored government treatment. His people skills are awful. He doesn’t have an cogent economic plan, a realistic foreign policy, or a very deep understanding of . . . well, much of anything.

So what separates Donald Trump from every other wannabe President? One thing only. He understands the dangers we face from rapidly increasing immigration (legal and illegal) and refugee resettlement from third-world countries, and he vows to stop it.

And that is enough to put him at the top of the pack of contenders for the most important leadership post in the world.

Thinking Americans instinctively know that we must seal our borders and ports and stop the tsunami of unskilled, needy foreigners. Most immigrants today don’t intend to learn our language, won’t assimilate to our common culture and values, and will not identify themselves as Americans. And even if some do, now is not the time to dilute the resources and spirit that made our country and economy great. Maybe later, if we can get things back under control! But right now our schools, our employers, our workers, our social services and our frazzled nerves need a break.

Think about any problem facing America right now (and there are plenty.) Unemployment, falling wages, national debt, rising crime rates and overcrowded prisons, rising health care cost and declining availability of services, election fraud, failing schools, abuse of women and children, income inequality, national security and threats of terrorism, deteriorating family values. List them in any order of priority you want. Now look back at each item on the list and ask yourself, “which of these situations would be improved for American-born citizens if the flood of immigrants and refugees stopped today?”

Or let’s take the other approach. Which of these problems for American-born citizens would be solved by having more immigration and refugee resettlement?

We need only look to Europe for a preview. Canada is next. If we have such humanitarian concern for downtrodden foreigners, why aren’t we helping them improve their lives in their own homelands? It would cost so much less than moving them here and caring for them. Instead of taking in millions of strong young men from the Middle East, why isn’t Europe arming them to defeat their oppressors? The politically correct position dangerously defies logic.

Donald Trump may not know what end of a toothpaste tube to open. But his many supporters don’t care. Because he, alone among all of the candidates, can state in plain language and in one sentence a way to improve most of the problems facing our nation. Stop the wholesale import of problems from the third-world.

There are many candidates who have skills and experience that Trump can’t begin to compete with. Most of them talk about building a southern fence. Some of them dance around immigration “reform”. Here’s a message for all of them: you’d better get a clue that Americans want immigration and refugee resettlement stopped immediately if you want to have any chance of beating Donald Trump to the White House.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Just eat it! Eat it!
Don’t you make me repeat it!
Have a banana, have a whole bunch
It doesn’t matter what you had for lunch
Just eat it! Eat it!

Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic

Speaking of eating your lunch, and competition and all, here’s Weird Al vs. Michael Jackson. I would have to say Weird Al eats Michael’s lunch . . .

Liberal Party Win In Canada Was A Bad Day for USA

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

canadian border Yesterday the voters of Canada elected Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party to a sweeping majority control of the government. I am saddened for the Canadian people, who will now face the inevitable decline in their economy and quality of life that we battle every day.

Trudeau has promised to focus on global warming, with regulations and obstructions that will stifle the Canadian economy even after the price of oil stabilizes. The size, reach, and cost of government will accelerate while personal freedoms will be peeled away. And there will be an explosive increase in immigration and refugees.

That last item has implications for us, because we know that most of the immigrants and refugees will be Muslims — Trudeau says he wants to take 25,000 Syrians before December. How many of these immigrants will head across the entirely unprotected northern border to our United States, where the free benefit programs are much richer, no effort is made to find and reject illegals, and no assimilation is required or expected?

Yesterday was a very bad day for Canada. And a bad day for us too.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day – You had a bad day.

Bad Day – Daniel Powter

Don’t Feel Guilty If You Are Worried About Immigrants and Refugees

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

guilty-dogs-supercut-compilation I know you are concerned about the exploding levels of legal and illegal immigration and refugee resettlement in the USA. You are worried about the high crime rates among these foreigners, the declining number of employed Americans and falling wage rates, and the destruction of our uniquely successful American economy and culture. But you probably keep your feelings to yourself because the leftists and the media (sorry, that’s redundant) call you selfish, cruel, racist, and hater. They want you to feel guilty.

Don’t feel guilty.

We have been fed a steady diet of lies about immigrants and refugees by our government and the media for decades. This is not a new phenomena – the immigration myths and atrocious government policies date back to Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy. But the problem accelerates as Democrats exploit their political advantage with left-leaning third-world invitees, and the world’s poor learn how easy it is to work the system here in the States.

Lies? Here are just a few, from Ann Coulter’s brilliant immigration exposé “¡Adios, America!”:

• In 1986 Congress passed a special agricultural amnesty bill that granted temporary legal status to any illegal alien who claimed to have performed seasonal farm work for 90 days in the previous year. In the first three years 888,637 agricultural amnesty applications were identified as fraudulent, but of those, only 60,020 were actually denied. One can only guess how many millions of applications were rubber-stamped with no scrutiny at all. One of the fraudulent “farm workers” granted amnesty was “Mahmud the Red”, the murderous Muslim who helped the “Blind Sheik” bomb the World Trade Center in 1993.

• Tech magnates Bill Gates of Microsoft, Craig Barrett of Intel, and others convinced Congress that the H1-B visa program was necessary to obtain brainpower from India that they just couldn’t find among America’s college grads. It turns out millions of H1-B immigrants are little more than indentured servants to their American employers, working for substandard wages in fear of losing their legal status, and displacing American workers who are often forced to train them in exchange for severance pay. There is no shortage of qualified American tech workers.

• We are told that most immigrants are here to “do the jobs that Americans won’t do.” But once here, most immigrants and refugees latch on to public benefits and are either unable or unwilling to find jobs, largely because they lack employable skills and make no attempt to assimilate to our customs and language.

There are so many more lies. Most Syrian refugees are not from Syria. Most asylum-seekers are not threatened in their home countries. The majority of “relatives” of immigrants allowed into the USA to reunify families are not related to them. Immigrants do not elevate our economy by paying more dollars in taxes than they consume in government services – not even close! Immigrants are not more likely than native-born Americans to be peaceful, law-abiding citizens.

Many third-world immigrants come from cultures with values that are appalling to Americans, including abuse of women and children. The legal age of marital consent in most of Mexico is 12. Hmong culture considers the rape and prostitution of young girls ordinary, and most of it goes unreported. Muslims practice female genital mutilation, and accept the stoning and murder of women for perceived misbehavior. Illegal border-crossers trash national parks and deface native American antiquities, and continue their littering habits in their new home cities. And while it is human nature for poor people to want the good life that others worked and died for, that does not mean it must be relinquished to them.

Are all immigrants awful people? Of course not. But many are, at least by traditional American standards. The tsunami of legal and illegal immigrants and refugees must stop until we have the ability to keep the awful ones out and invite only those who bring something to the party.

If you have a hinky feeling that the United States is in trouble, don’t feel guilty. You’re right.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

And we got nothing to be guilty of
Our love will climb any mountain,
Near or far , we are
And we never let it end

Guilty – the Bee Gees

“Most Govt. Spending Is Mandatory – That’s BS

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Federal officials and elite media pundits ridicule conservatives who demand lower government spending levels. They say only 24% of the budget is discretionary, and most of that is military spending, so there is nothing anybody can do about increased spending and debt without taking a hatchet to social security benefits.

Horse Hockey. There is a heck of a lot of discretion in that “mandatory” spending.

The Heritage Foundation points out that in 1965 only 27% of federal spending was mandatory. By last year mandatory spending had grown to 63% of the total, and it’s not just a function of our aging population. Over time our government has pushed a ton of new spending into the mandatory category.

Our government has made the discretionary decision to give millions of legal and illegal immigrants and refugees social security benefits, medicaid, disability, earned income credits, and a host of other “mandatory” federal benefits and subsidies. The majority of foreign-born in our country are on one or more welfare programs. And this does not even begin to address the cost of education, health care, fraudulent tax returns, cost of police and prisons and other infrastructure that cost billions. Our government has made the discretionary decision to not enforce the borders, to not follow up on visa violations, and to not keep illegal alien criminals out of the country. There is nothing mandatory about inviting foreigners to dip into the American taxpayers’ soup.

Our government has also made the discretionary decision to not crack down on waste and fraud in the mandatory spending programs. A study by Senator Tom Coburn’s office indicated as many as 45% of disability claims were questionable. Social security and food stamp fraud is rampant.

When it comes to spending, our government doesn’t have a reputation for using good discretion. It has dropped billions of public dollars on corrupt and hopelessly inefficient green energy programs and other corporate cronies. It has stifled economic development with disingenuous environmental and social programs. By its fed policy to eliminate interest, it has destroyed the US currency and transferred much of the wealth saved by a generation of middle class families to the big banks and their benefactors.

Our government has made discretionary payroll decisions that have resulted in government workers earning far greater compensation than private sector workers do, and many of them are frightfully ineffective and inefficient. Five of the six wealthiest counties in the United States are Washington, DC suburbs. Much of the cost of these discretionary payroll decisions are embedded in mandatory spending.

Worst of all, our government has made the discretionary decision to pass on an insolvent nation to our future generations by refusing for decades to even write, much less balance, an honest zero-based budget. They didn’t have to do it, they chose to, pandering for the votes that bring them personal power and wealth.

I, for one, am tired of hearing that there is nothing anybody can do to reduce government spending because it is “mostly mandatory”. Elections have consequences, so we had better elect people who won’t use lame excuses to defend this unsustainable spending and debt.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You made me love you,
I didn’t want to do it!
I didn’t want to do it!
You made me want you,
And all the time you knew it!
I guess you always knew it!

You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It) – Judy Garland

National ID or Uncontrolled Immigration – Make Up Your Mind

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Curveball As a teenage baseball pitcher I had a pretty good fast ball, and liked to throw everything hard. But my curve ball just wasn’t working. Then I got a physics lesson from my coach. “Son, ” he said, “you can either get speed on the ball or spin. But not both.”

He was right of course. The more spin you put on the ball, the more it will curve. With less spin, the ball will go straighter, and faster. Watch the “jugs” gun at a professional baseball game. A good pitcher throws a 95 mph fast ball, but his curve ball will come in at about 80 mph.

I think of that lesson whenever a news story reveals the trade-off between security and freedom.

Conservative Americans tend to guard their anonymity. They don’t think the government has any right to know a lot of details about their lives. Many just don’t trust the government to keep our information confidential, and recent examples of sloppy data security and failure to prevent hacking would seem to support that skepticism.

Others worry that corrupt government officials might actually use personal data to harm us for political purposes. Again, there is recent evidence that this kind of stuff happens; the IRS has become a weapon of personal destruction. It’s not hard to see why many Americans would prefer to be invisible to their own government.

But many of the same people who want to fly beneath the government’s radar also demand that the government provide us optimum security, which would require the feds to know a lot about everybody who is inside our borders. Here’s the hard truth: you can have security or anonymity, but not both. Speed or spin.

The United States has a serious problem with immigration in all varieties: legal, illegal, and refugee. Unskilled and under-educated illegals, mostly Mexicans, flow across our southern border, wreaking havoc here that would not be tolerated in their home country. USA Today reported this week that 76% of immigrant families with children are on welfare. Media sources say about 30% of inmates in our federal prisons are illegal immigrants, but that number is based on “self-reported” immigration status by prisoners and is likely much higher. Criminals who are illegal immigrants are routinely released by law officers in our sanctuary cities. Illegal immigrants have made a multi-billion dollar industry out of tax fraud – the IRS is totally indifferent to the outrageous refunds they receive, using fake tax returns and fake social security numbers.

Immigrants who are legally admitted to the US with temporary visas for work, education, or other purposes, often overstay their visas or take up permanent residence. Vote fraud by citizens and non-citizens alike is a growing problem, largely due to the failure of precincts to prove that voters are legitimate. Identity theft losses continue to accelerate.

Homeland Security, ICE, and the other federal agencies all say there is nothing they can do about any of these problems because they just can’t keep track of everybody.

Well, people, it’s time. It’s time for all legal American citizens to have a micro-chipped USA identification card, and the federal government must update its technology to be able to identify every human being within our borders. Our government should collect DNA, retinal scans, palm scans, or any other physical individual identification from everybody who lives here, visits here, or is discovered to have arrived here. The technology is readily available, and the cost should be more than offset by savings.

Scary? Yes.

But so is the reality of thousands of Muslim refugees arriving on our shores unvetted at a time when Iran is on the verge of receiving $150 billion and a free pass to build nuclear weapons which it will share with its aligned Muslim terrorist groups from all over the Middle East. So is the prospect of a US economy crushed under the weight of an exploding population of needy, unskilled third-world immigrants and refugees, reproducing at a much greater rate than native-born Americans. So is the loss of our national identity, our character, our traditions, our heritage, and our sense of unity, as American-born citizens become outnumbered by foreigners who don’t speak the same language, don’t understand our unique system of government, don’t recognize our laws, and don’t intend to assimilate into our common culture.

It may be hard to trust the government after what we have been through the last several years. Under the circumstances we have no choice but to trust, and we’d better be careful who we put in power. I don’t see how we will ever get this hot mess back under control until we know who is who.

Speed or spin. Security or anonymity. Time to make up our minds.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Did you ever have to make up your mind?
And pick up on one and leave the other behind?
It’s not often easy and not often kind.
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? – the Lovin’ Spoonful

USDA Food Stamp Program Benefits Yemen

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

photo courtesy LegalInsurrection.com

About 25 years ago my wife and I were on a vacation trip in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We had just got out of our car on a downtown street near the post office when a wild-eyed, shaggy-haired young guy ran up to us. “Hey!” he yelled. “You guys wanna buy some food stamps? 50 cents on the dollar!”

We were so caught off-guard, all we could say was, “No thanks.” He ran off to the next stranger on the street – “Hey! You wanna buy some food stamps . . . ”

After we figured out what had happened, we realized we should have called the police. But we were a couple of naive middle-class Americans, who, like most, never had the time or inclination to figure out ways to commit fraud. It honestly never crossed my mind that one could sell his taxpayer-funded benefits at a discount, receive cash, and spend it on whatever floats his boat more than groceries for the kids.

Even then, before EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards, the fraud was painfully easy. Food stamps were printed on paper and they were as good as cash. I could have easily saved 50% on my next grocery shopping trip. And the “needy” young guy on the street could have landed a weekend supply of Ludes and Mary Jane, compliments of the taxpayers. Neither of those outcomes were the intention of LBJ, or the legislators who passed his Food Stamp Act in 1964 and upgraded it several times since, or the taxpayers who write checks to the IRS every year. Little did we know that the food stamp fraud problem was going to get worse – much worse – over time.

We all exchange frustration about being in the grocery checkout line behind somebody with a cart full of extravagant fare, paid with an EBT card. We are alarmed when we hear that SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) will cost over $84 billion in 2015. We wonder why schools plan to feed kids during the summer months, as well as throughout the school year, when their families already presumably receive food stamp benefits.

photo by Tameka Moore AL.com

This week a Birmingham, Alabama task force raided twelve convenience stores and arrested 17 suspects involved in an alleged food stamp fraud ring. The convenience store owners had been buying EBT cards from their customers at 50 cents on the dollar, and using the cards to buy merchandise for resale, including steaks at Wal-Mart. Worse yet, some of the Muslim store owners were accepting EBT cards in exchange for cash payments to individuals in

Yemen. This was no small operation, as officials identified hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent transactions. And authorities only have the resources to deal with a tiny tip of this huge Alabama iceberg. Food stamp fraud cases like this show an accelerating trend all over the country.

While it is somewhat reassuring that some fraud cases are being prosecuted, it is disheartening to know that we are not even scratching the surface. Citizens question why our government agencies aggressively promote benefit programs regardless of whether recipients are legal citizens or not. There is inadequate prevention and policing of the rampant fraud by both consumers and providers. Our border and immigration policies invite throngs of third-world indigents who hold little hope of becoming contributors to the economy and land here fully expecting benefits.

A group of clear-headed conservative Congressmen have lined up behind Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) to introduce the ‘SNAP Verify Act of 2015’ in hopes of putting the brakes on the food stamp fraud program. The law would require EBT users to present photo ID cards when making purchases.

Unfortunately, until Democrats and less-conservative Republicans recognize the scope of the problem, and put some teeth into enforcement, food stamp fraud will only get worse.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

It’s a cheating situation,
A stealing invitation
To take what’s not really ours
To make it through the midnight hours

A Cheating Situation – Moe Bandy