Tag Archives: immigration

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

Posted on by Standard Reply

guilty-dogs-supercut-compilationI 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

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

 

 

National ID or Uncontrolled Immigration – Make Up Your Mind

Posted on by Standard 1

CurveballAs 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

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

 

Just the Facts, Ma’am. Economic Facts.

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JoeFriday

“Just the facts, ma’am.” – Detective Joe Friday, Dragnet

Here are some economic facts that the mainstream media and the government don’t tell you!

No speech is worth a half million dollars.  In recent years Bill and Hillary Clinton have received some ridiculous amounts for speaking engagements – as much as $750,000 for one Bill Clinton speech in China.   I’m sorry – there is no person on Earth whose words are so precious that they command that kind of money.  The only reason anybody would give Bill or Hillary Clinton such a huge sum is with the expectation of some kind of political favor in return.

You will never again receive any meaningful interest for the money you have saved.  There are 18 trillion reasons why, according to Forbes.  The Federal Reserve has held interest rates to near-zero for over ten years now, enabling our government to borrow and spend sums that it will likely never be able to repay, with or without interest.  This has certainly done no favor for Americans who earned and saved money. Consider this:  if the interest rate on our $18 trillion national debt increased to the normal historical level of five percent, it would cost our government almost a trillion dollars a year – about a quarter our current annual budget!

Do you think anybody in Washington, DC will allow that to happen?  You might want to look for an investment alternative to that savings account or certificate of deposit.

No Congressman or Governor can become a multi-millionaire from only his or her salary.  Our US Representatives earn $174,000 per year, plus expenses.  The cost of living in Washington, DC is crushing, and some members sleep in their offices to avoid the hefty DC apartment rental rates.  But many legislators have enjoyed tremendous gains in net worth during their tenure as public servants.  The median net worth for members of Congress exceeds $1 million.  And while many public officials were wealthy before their elections, it seems that profit opportunities abound for those whose votes and influence can generate winners and losers in the private economy.  Former house leader Nancy Pelosi, for example, directed a billion dollars in subsidies to a light-rail company which was a big contributor to her campaigns and also listed her husband as a major investor.  Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer parlayed some insider information about a mining operation into a hefty sum.  Former senate majority leader Harry Reid reportedly retired as details of a number of financial scandals were about to surface.  Other examples of public officials striking it rich abound.

The Affordable Care Act is not making health care more affordable.  This year’s Milliman Medical Index, which tracks health care costs for employer-provided plans, shows an increase of 43% for employees and 32% for employers since the ACA took effect. A dramatic increase is expected in 2018 when the “Cadillac Tax” provision kicks in.  And while the total cost of health care by traditional measurement has not increased as rapidly as many ACA critics predicted, a hidden cost is the 21 new and higher taxes that were implemented as part of the ACA.  Medicare is now partially funded by transfers from the general fund, and that amount will increase in upcoming years.

Immigration is not a boon to our economy.  Due to lack of education and employable skills, immigrants – both legal and illegal -use welfimmigrant-welfare-use-4-11-f1are and public assistance programs at a much greater rate than native-born Americans.  71% of Hispanic immigrants with children received public benefits in 2009.

Contrary to President Obama’s contention, most successful wealthy Americans are not “lottery winners”, whose good fortunes are the result of dumb luck.  80% of millionaires are the first generation of their family to get wealthy. Most are self-employed, and have a spouse who helps them succeed financially.   My financially astute wife points out that she never met a wealthy person who set out to be rich.  They were so busy working and building their businesses that they didn’t have time for unprofitable activities.

The economy is not as rosy as we are told by the administration and the media.  The labor force participation rate remains at a 37-year low, and the average real wage (adjusted for inflation) has not increased much since the 1970s.   Many middle class Americans can no longer afford to take vacations without sacrificing something else.

Just the facts, ma’am.  Nothing but the facts.

this article can be seen in its entirety at Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Look into my eyes
Can’t you see they’re open wide
Would I lie to you baby
Would I lie to you

 Would I Lie to You? – the Eurythmics

Conservative Immigrants – Don’t Turn Around!

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Turn-Around-Sign-300x196I’m trying to get a better understanding of the immigration reform and amnesty issues, and while traveling recently I have had some enlightening conversations with immigrants.

Rafael is from the Dominican Republic.  He has been working in New York City as a driver for about ten years, and is saving money to rejoin his wife and daughter back in Santo Domingo permanently.  Meanwhile, he watches for airfare bargains and makes several brief trips home each year.  Rafael believes in the “American Dream” – anyone who is willing to work hard can succeed here.  But he is skeptical of the US government.  He bought some land in the Dominican Republic and plans to build a house on it.  “Nobody can take your land away from you there,” he said.  “Once you pay for your land, it’s yours forever.  Here in the US, if you don’t pay your taxes, or if the government wants your land for some reason, they can just take it away from you.”  Hard work, personal responsibility, and property rights – Rafael is a conservative immigrant.

Jonathan immigrated to New York City from Hong Kong with his parents ten years ago.  He started a couple of small businesses in Chinatown, but both failed.  Undaunted, he is still bullish on the US economy and while working a couple of service jobs he is an ardent investor in stocks.  I asked him about the dicey situation in Hong Kong, where the communist Chinese government is now stripping away many of the freedoms citizens enjoyed when it was a British protectorate and then a quasi-independent state.  “The government has become so corrupt,” Jonathan lamented.  “You can’t do anything without having to pay off somebody in the government.”  I suggested that our government has become corrupt, too.  “But there’s a difference,” he said.  “In China, everybody knows about the corruption and just deals with it.  Here, it’s supposed to be a secret.”  Opportunity, free markets, and freedom from big, corrupt, oppressive government – Jonathan is a conservative immigrant.

Javier is from Puerto Rico.  “I’m a US citizen,” he boasts.  Still, as a Hispanic he is considered a minority and somewhat outside the mainstream.   He works long hours, and loves it.  The more he works, the more he earns.  And he has no patience for those who expect to be cared for without working, whether they are traditional American citizens or immigrants.  “They make me sick, these guys who do nothing all day.  Why should I pay taxes for them to be lazy?” he rails.  Hard work and the desire to keep what he earns.  Yes, Javier is a conservative immigrant, too.

I did not ask these gentlemen whether or how they vote.  The Democrats believe all minorities are their chattel property.  And because Democrats have so vilified Republicans and conservatives in the mainstream media, minorities do pretty much vote in lock-step for liberals.

Why?  Every immigrant I talk to is a conservative.  It is conservative values that drives most immigrants to our shores.

Donna, a native of Guyana of Chinese descent, is a conservative activist.  She told me the compelling story about her path to America.  “I was in Guyana, minding my own business.  I turned around, and suddenly I was surrounded by socialists.  So I moved to Venezuela.  I was minding my own business, and when I turned around, again there were the socialists.  So then I came to the United States.”

“The moral of the story,” she says, “is don’t turn around!”

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Don’t turn around, uh-oh
Der Kommissar’s in town, uh-oh!
You’re in his eye and you’ll know why
The more you live, the faster you will die

Der Kommisar – After the Fire

 

 

 

Five Reasons Why Hispanic Americans Should Vote For Conservatives

Posted on by Standard 1

photo courtesy politico.com

Our nation is graced with millions of loyal, legal Hispanic Americans.  They work hard, they raise beautiful families, and they vote –  almost always for Democrats.

I recently talked politics with a couple of Mexican business acquaintances who both immigrated to the United States over twenty years ago, and was surprised at how similar our values and political leanings are.  We agreed on every issue, right down the line.  But when I asked them what they think of Republicans, or Conservatives, or the Tea Party, the fear and distrust was palpable.

You could say the Democrats have done an outstanding job of demonizing their Conservative opponents.  Hispanic Americans are convinced that Conservatives are hateful racists who want to hurt them and hold them back in every way possible.

Apparently Hispanic Americans just don’t know what we Conservatives believe in and stand for.  There can’t be any other explanation for the way they vote.

Here are five reasons why Hispanic Americans should vote for Conservatives and support our mission to downsize our over-reaching, destructive and unaffordable federal government.

1 – Conservatives want to improve the private economy and support businesses so that jobs are plentiful, pay rates improve, and families can enjoy a higher standard of living.  That can’t happen when so much of our cash flows through a bloated, inefficient federal government.  We think families should keep more of their earnings, and will make better spending decisions than the government can on their behalf.  Millions of Hispanics came to this country for economic opportunity, and are willing to work hard to succeed.  Why would they support Democrats whose policies have slashed personal income, exploded the national debt, reduced labor participation to record low levels, eliminated the middle class, and put one in five Americans on food stamps?  If you want to be part of a thriving and growing economy, you are a Conservative.

2 – While Democrats work tirelessly to put more control and authority in the hands of the federal government, conservatives believe in personal freedom and responsibility.  Most of our Hispanic immigrants came from countries with oppressive governments, where only those with connections or money have influence and opportunity.  It makes no sense for them to support the party that pushes the United States toward socialism and heavy-handed government control.  If you love opportunity and don’t want every detail of your life regulated by the government, you are a Conservative.

3 – Most Hispanic Americans have strong family and religious values.  While Democrats fervently support the rights of Muslims, they find Christianity abhorrent, lashing out at any display of Christian faith with a vengeance.  They have done all in their power to destroy the traditional family structure in our country.  They promote gay marriage, endorse single motherhood through tax and welfare policy, and encourage abortion.   If you treasure your family and your church, you are a conservative.

4 – Democrats are great at making promises, but somehow when they are in control, things seem to get worse.  Is there anything the Democrats have done that has made life better for Hispanic Americans?  For that matter, has any Socialist government in history improved the lives of its citizens?  If you think the US Constitution and laws,  and our rich history of defending freedom and truth are what made the United States the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth, you are a conservative.

5 – Fairness is important to all people, including Hispanic Americans.  And nothing is fairer than being allowed to keep the property you worked for and to use it as it best serves you.  Conservatives believe that our government should not try to seize or control our private property.  And it should defend our property from those who would try to take it from us.  My Hispanic American friends agree that our borders must be enforced, and we can’t provide benefits to those who only come here to take and not contribute.  And our military forces must be ready and able to defend our homeland.  If you want your property and the safety of your family to be secure, you are a conservative.

I know that most Hispanic Americans – and for that matter Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and traditional homeland-born Americans – are Conservatives at heart.  We all want the same things.  We just have to set aside political correctness and the Democrat agenda of deceit to find the higher common ground.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Powers keep on lyin’
While your people keep on dyin’
World keep on turnin’
‘Cause it won’t be too long

Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder

I know, Stevie Wonder is an avowed liberal Democrat, blind in more than the obvious way.  But hey, he’s an amazing musician and it’s a great song. Plus I have a soft spot for blind musicians!   (Hi Jeff!)

Made in the USA – By Mexicans

Posted on by Standard Reply

mexican concrete crewMy wife and I are building a new home.  We are doing some of the work ourselves but the majority of the work is done by subcontractors, mostly hired through our general contractor.  Working on a major project like this brings many current political and economic issues from the big-picture level down to the up-close and personal level.

Today, as our driveway was being installed, I had quite a discussion with the owner/operator of our concrete finishing company.  Alex (not actual name) is a legal Mexican immigrant and has been doing business in the US for almost twenty years.  He went through channels, got a green card, and studied English for two years.  Alex pursued the American dream, and got it.  He has handled several segments of our construction project, and does top quality work at a fair price.  Working in the same space every day we got to know each other and today we spent some time discussing business and politics.

Alex’s business is doing well.  In fact, there is much more demand for his work than he can fulfill.  He would like to hire more employees and expand his business, but he can’t see a way to do it and still maintain quality.  As a retired corporate manager and business owner, I offered some growth strategies and personnel practices that have worked for me.  But his circumstances are quite different than mine were.  You see, all of his employees are (probably) illegal Mexican immigrants.

In fact, almost all of the residential construction work in the Carolinas is being performed by illegal Mexican immigrants.

Why?  Have Mexican immigrants taken all of the construction jobs because they will work for lower wages than American tradesmen?  Are American men now too lazy or pampered to take on the difficult, physical work required in the construction trades?  Have our schools convinced every American student that anyone who doesn’t pursue a college degree and a desk job is a failure?  Did our government over-regulate our traditional construction businesses into extinction, so that only “under-the-radar” groups of illegal immigrants can function at a feasible cost?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

But there’s more to it than that.  I talked with another general contractor today who was interested in hiring Alex and his crew for some of his projects, only to learn they are over-booked.  “It’s a shame,” he said.  “Most of the (American) subcontractors went broke during the housing bust five years ago, and they aren’t coming back.”

Alex and many entrepreneurial Mexicans like him are able to seize the market opportunities because they are connected to the available army of illegal Mexican immigrant workers.  Alex can find them, hire them, manage them, communicate with them, and help them with the considerable personal challenges they face working in the shadows of American life.   Still, his business growth is limited because he employs these men.  “My business can’t grow,” he said.  “None of my workers can advance to be managers because they don’t even try to learn to speak English.”  He would employ English-speaking American construction workers, but there just aren’t any.  It’s a very complex business model.

I had heard that Latinos are being barraged with liberal propaganda, painting conservatives, Republicans and especially Tea Party guys as hateful monsters to be avoided and feared.  So I made it a point to tell my new Mexican friend Alex that I am a conservative.  Tea Party, even.

Alex winced.  “I’m not a monster,” I said.  “I’m not a racist and a hater.  You know me.  You can’t believe the stuff you hear in the media.”

“Well, the conservatives don’t want to allow any immigration,” he said.

“Not true,” I countered.  “We want LEGAL immigration for people who can bring value to our country.  What we don’t want is  dangerous, uncontrolled borders, or slackers coming here to take advantage of taxpayer-funded benefits.   And we DO want our legal immigrants to assimilate – to become patriotic, law-abiding, productive Americans, not Mexicans who just happen to live in the US.”

Like you, Alex.  Without you, and men like you, there would be no new homes under construction in my neighborhood right now.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Save me from this prison, Lord, help me get away
‘Cause only You can save me now from this misery
‘Cause I’ve been lost in my own place
And I’m getting’ weary, how far is Heaven?
And I know I need to change my ways of livin’
How far is Heaven?
How Far Is Heaven – Los Lonely Boys
My favorite Mexican band – Los Lonely Boys! (this song is also on my set list)

Workin’ in the USA – the ‘Saudi Way’

Posted on by Standard Reply

The United States is looking more like Saudi Arabia every day.  Check out this week’s headlines:

Labor Participation Rate Drops To Lowest Since 1978

 

Natives accounted for most of the growth in population,
but all employment growth went to immigrants

So what, you say, does this have to do with Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia was a poor country until the 1930s when the world developed a thirst for oil and discovered that this desolate desert nation, barely more than a collection of loosely-related tribes, had a lot of it.  In the years since, the demand for oil increased exponentially, and so did the wealth of the ruling families who controlled the land from which it is extracted.

It wasn’t long before these wealthy Saudis no longer needed to perform any physical work.  There was so much money flowing into the country that the ruling families shared it liberally – first with anyone who could claim to be a blood relative, no matter how distant, and later (in smaller increments) to anyone who had family roots there.  Eventually most native Saudis could choose whether or not they wished to work.  Many didn’t, and those who did were far removed from anything that resembled physical labor.

photo by Vocativ.comThere is, of course, physical labor to be done.  For that the Saudis have imported legions of hungry, foreign workers from Africa and East Asia.  An estimated 6.5 million foreign laborers toiled in Saudi Arabia a year ago, before rioting against inhumane treatment brought a government crackdown on illegal immigration and a slight reduction in their numbers.  The few and vague immigration laws, however, are still not well-enforced.

In Saudi Arabia, the second-class immigrants do the work, enduring slave-wages, appalling conditions and all forms of abuse, while the native-born and well-connected enjoy a leisurely lifestyle.  Children and women get the worst of it.  But Saudi Arabia’s gravy-train won’t last forever.  Their oil reserves are depleting, and other nations are learning to develop their own energy sources.  Saudi Arabia will soon face some major challenges and changes – the current path is not tenable.

Does this sound familiar?

Go to any residential construction site in the United States.  You will see few, if any, native-born Americans in the craft or labor jobs.  Here In the Carolinas, most are illegal immigrants from Mexico.  They are working hard, and some do high quality work (many don’t).  They earn substantially less than American-born construction workers did ten years ago.  Twenty years ago.  Thirty years ago.

You see, native-born Americans, like the Saudis, can now choose whether or not they wish to work.  Many don’t, and those that do are usually far removed from anything that resembles physical labor.  Where the Saudis’ wealth comes exclusively from oil, our American wealth was built up by the sweat and skill of our parents and grandparents, and is further being borrowed from our children.  We are racking up debt and printing fiat currency so that right now half of us no longer have to work.  Like the Saudis, we are bringing in legions of hungry, foreign workers to do our labor.

At some point they, too, will tire of slave-wages and bad treatment, and will rebel.  The United States, like the Saudis, will soon face major challenges and changes – the current path is not tenable.  But fortunately, we have options the Saudis do not.  We still have rich, untapped energy resources.  And we have many other opportunities to create wealth, if our liberal government will allow it.

Our liberal friends, including our president, would love to erase the borders and bring in hordes of cheap immigrant laborers (and, they hope, future government-dependent Democrat voters).  I hope they will look at Saudi Arabia’s predicament and get a grip on the immigrant labor situation before we completely forget how to work.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

 

Some days won’t ever end,
And some days pass on by
All be workin’ here forever
At least until I die

Workin’ For A Livin’ – Huey Lewis

 

A favorite from my very own set list – rockin’ live version by my man Huey!

Reacting to Crises vs. Thinking About Tomorrow

Posted on by Standard 2

crisis-economica-empresas-internetEvery now and then I complain that the news media/liberal government is totally geared to our tiny little attention spans (the news media and liberal government are now inseparable and indistinguishable). They fully understand and exploit how soon we forget one earth-shaking news story when the next one comes along.  We don’t care whether the last crisis was explained, let alone resolved. Instead we lurch ahead to the latest shocking crisis.  And the news media/liberal government seemingly never runs out of crises.  We’re so busy dealing with the latest crisis that we never take the time to look ahead.

Do you feel manipulated?

A few weeks ago the earth stopped rotating because Central American kids were walking across our southern border expecting (and receiving) amnesty.  It was 24/7 news.   What happened?  The hand-wringing, the speeches, the headlines, the passion, the crisis – it all just . . . stopped.

Benghazi?  Forgotten.  Kidnapped Nigerian girls?  Who cares.  Even the Ferguson riots don’t matter today.

The VA scandal?  Hmmph.  The IRS targeting of conservative groups?  No big.  Trayvon Martin?  Operation Fast and Furious?  Free birth control pills for Sandra Fluke?  Syria?  Ukraine?  Hamas lobbing rockets into Israel?   Fagettaboutit.

I thought ObamaCare was a BFD.  Joe Biden said so.  But I haven’t heard anything about it in the news for a long time.  Have you?  Everything must be just peachy.

Today it’s all about ISIS.  Or ISIL.  (Why can’t the news media/liberal government just pick one label?)  The shocking beheadings supercede any and all previous shocks. Until the next shock.

Rahm Emanuel said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”   Hillary Clinton doubled down on the same strategy.   They are disciples, along with Barack Obama, of Saul Alinsky and the Cloward-Piven Strategy, which advises socialists to stir up as much crisis as possible in order to drive the frightened and under-informed into the warm and waiting arms of a big-government oligarchy. Cloward and Piven were deep-thinking socialists from Columbia University – Barack Obama’s alma mater.  But I digress.

Wouldn’t it be great if our political leaders would, just once, look ahead a little instead of just reacting to the latest crisis?

They could be figuring out how to match up the capabilities of the work force with the needs of employers.  Or maybe what role our tremendous energy resources could play in the world economy.  We could be working on a mathematical solution to our insolvent social security system (it is do-able).  Shoot, maybe somebody could be thinking about how to deal with the cancerous radical Muslim ideology that threatens to overwhelm the politically-correct Western world.  Our president says, “we don’t have a strategy yet.”

We need political leaders who are thinking about tomorrow to replace those who only react to the latest crisis.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here
It’ll be better than before
Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone

Yup, the gig with the USC marching band – Classic!

They’re Coming to America

Posted on by Standard 1
photo courtesy 21stCenturySchools.com

photo courtesy 21stCenturySchools.com

Standing in the checkout line at Costco, I watched and listened to the family in front of me chattering in a language that I couldn’t identify.  Was it Flemish?  Behind me a mother and her daughter spoke what I think was Hindi.  Another group of Indians near us was speaking English in their distinctive clipped dialect, and then a passel of giggling little Chinese kids ran by, with Mom and Dad sternly attempting discipline in their home language.  Then the pretty young Caribbean woman began checking out our groceries as two young Hispanic men worked the merchandise and carts and shared a joke in Spanish.

And it hit me like a brick.  The United States I had known all my life is no more.

I know, it sounds cliched, but I (conservative, Tea Party, mature white male) am not a racist.  I have no ill will or condescension toward any kind of people.  I have said I am an “economic bigot” – I expect capable people to work, and don’t particularly care for those who won’t, regardless of ethnicity.  But I enjoy the uniqueness of people from different places and cultures, especially the flavors of family interactions that are so universal – devoted parents raising their fun-loving kids.

No, I’m not a racist, but I couldn’t help but notice that American-born, English-speaking whites and blacks were outnumbered on that Saturday afternoon in that Costco store in a relatively affluent Charlotte neighborhood.

I was flooded with questions and emotions.  Do these foreigners also speak English?  Where do they work?  They seem to have plenty of money – were they wealthy in their native countries?  Are there here legally?  How did they get drivers licenses?  Do they vote?  Are their kids in the neighborhood schools, and how the heck do the schools deal with so many languages and customs?

Of course, no broad-brush answers apply.  Some speak English, some don’t.  Some have jobs, others are on government benefits.  Some are legal.  Some have drivers licenses.  Some vote.  One thing is for sure, suddenly there are a lot of them, as both legal and illegal immigration rates are exploding, compared to our earlier history.  Many states are importing more people than are being born to natives.

The United States will never again look and sound like it did during our lifetimes.  It is a done deal.

But we, as a nation, are still at a tipping point:  Will the values, social structure, and laws that made this country the most prosperous and powerful in the world survive?  Will our new immigrants become Americans who share the love of Mom, baseball, apple pie and Chevrolets, like earlier generations of immigrants?  Or will our great nation be split into hundreds of tribes, each clinging to their native habits, and suspicious of all the others?

It is a time in our history when leadership is critical.   Now, more than ever, we need leaders who care about the well-being of the nation, not just their own or their party’s political success.  We need honest men and women with an understanding of the importance of time-tested rules and practices.  America was built on laws that we could all agree upon, and that were proven to work.  And America was once a “melting pot”, where newcomers assimilated into our culture while preserving their own heritages.  Now is not the time to get fuzzy about our American laws, Constitution, or values.  Our immigrants need order and stability, too – in fact that’s what many seek by moving here.

My wife often complained that our home state of Montana changed radically as more and more people moved there from the west coast.  “They move to Montana because it’s better than California, and then they try to change it into California!”

In addition to accelerating legal immigration rates, our government has decided to erase our southern border and pretty much accept all comers.  They claim their motivations are humanitarian; some of us believe they are political.  But even if the border could be sealed like a Tupperware bowl tomorrow, the United States will never be the same as it was.  So now what?

Many of the newcomers don’t really know what made America great.  They and their families weren’t here.  It’s up to us remaining native Americans (by that I mean those of us born here) to stand up for American traditions. values, and laws.  We must make sure that our history is accurately and broadly taught, and expect our leaders to proudly defend our national identity and solidarity.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

On the boats and on the planes
They’re coming to America
Never looking back again
They’re coming to America

Neil Diamond – Coming to America

 

 

 

Hooray! Liberal Democrats Might End Their “War on Children”

Posted on by Standard 2
illegal-immigrant-children-packed-like-sardines

Photo courtesy Breitbart News

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson (D-Texas) handed out lollipops to the hordes of illegal immigrant children squished into detention centers in Texas this week.  Is this an omen?

Could it be that LIBERAL DEMOCRATS ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT CHILDREN?

5-star liberal Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said, “If you believe as we do that every child, every person has a spark of divinity in them, and is therefore worthy of respect — what we saw in those rooms was [a] dazzling, sparkling, array of God’s children, worthy of respect.”

What’s that, Nancy?  Year after year, liberal Democrats have waged a WAR ON CHILDREN.

Millions of babies (babies are children, aren’t they?) died as Nancy and the liberal Democrats promoted abortions and fought tooth-and-nail every attempt to save unborn and about-to-be-born American babies.  1,350,000 per year.  One killed every 24 seconds.  War on children.

Graduation rates continued to nosedive as schools failed yet another generation of children by wasting their valuable time on social nonsense and political propaganda pumped into the curriculum by liberal Democrats.  The world-competitive, productive, job-ready curricula of physics, advanced math, history, and grammar has been crowded out of our childrens’ class schedules by gay rights, global warming, and diversity/victimhood.  War on children.

And what could be more damaging to a child than knowing that his mother is not willing to provide him with food?  Liberal Democrats believe schools must provide breakfast, lunch, and in some cases weekend and summer meals to children because otherwise they would go hungry in spite of $400+ per month food stamp subsidies.  Failure to feed one’s child is egregious, criminal negligence.  Liberal Democrats not only tolerate this abuse, they encourage and subsidize it.  War on children.

Our children face a bleak future, because our liberal Democrat leadership does not think our economy matters.  We could be the energy leaders of the world, with full employment, low costs of production and consumer prices and a growing economy.  But the liberal Democrats are willing to forego the prosperity of future generations to preserve their political power.  War on children.

But now, NOW!  Suddenly liberal Democrats love children.  Their immigration / border policies have resulted in a “humanitarian crisis”.   Now we must care for the children.   My God, man, have you no heart!?  They are just children!  You can’t turn them (and their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, drug dealers, gang bangers, terrorists, and lepers) away from our border!  They need our government support!  They depend on us!  And they will VOTE for us!

Isn’t it reassuring that finally, after all these years of WAR ON CHILDREN, the liberal Democrats have had a change of heart?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Rockin' On the Right Side

Some day, yeah
We’ll get it together and we’ll get it all done
Some day, when your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We’ll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day, when the world is much brighter

 Ooh Child (Things Are Gonna Get Easier) – The Five Stairsteps

 

Thanks to “Soul Train” and Don Cornelius for presenting so many great musical groups!  I have not had cable or satellite for a couple of years and I catch Soul Train on the Bounce channel every once in a while . . .