A Letter from a Republican to Hispanics

Guest post by Dennis Prager


I am writing to you as a concerned and sympathetic American who is a Republican. My sentiments do not represent every American -- that would be impossible. But I believe the following represent most Americans.

First, a message to those of you here illegally:

You may be very surprised to hear this, but in your position, millions of Americans, including me, would have done what you did.

If I lived in a poor country with a largely corrupt government, a country in which I had little or no prospect of hope for an improved life for me or my children, and I could not legally get into the world's freest, most affluent country, the country with the most opportunities for people of any and every background, I would do whatever I could do to get into that country illegally.
Mexico and many other Central and South American countries are largely hopeless places for most of their people. America offers hope to everyone willing to work hard. Who could not understand why any individual, let alone a father or mother of a family, would try to get into the United States -- legally preferably, illegally if necessary?

Now that I have made it clear that millions of us understand what motivates you and do not morally condemn you for entering America illegally, I have to ask you to try to understand what motivates us.

No country in the world can allow unlimited immigration. If America opened its borders to all those who wish to live here, hundreds of millions of people would come here. That would, of course, mean the end of the United States economically and culturally.

If you are from Mexico, you know that Mexico's treatment of illegal immigrants from south of its border is far harsher than my country's is of illegal immigrants. All it takes is common sense to understand that we simply cannot afford to take care of all of you in our medical, educational, penal and other institutions. However much you may pay in sales tax, most illegal immigrants are a financial and social burden in those states to which most them move.

Yes, many of you are also a blessing. Many of you take care of our children and our homes. Others of you prepare our food and do other work that is essential to our society. We know that. As individuals, the great majority of you are hardworking, responsible, decent people.

But none of that answers the question: How many people can this country allow into it?

The moment you have to answer that question is the moment you realize that Americans' worries about illegal immigration have nothing to do with "racism" or any negative feeling toward Hispanics.

Those who tell you it is racism or xenophobia are lying about their fellow Americans for political or ideological reasons. You know from your daily interactions with Americans that the vast majority of us treat you with the dignity that every fellow human being deserves. Your daily lives are the most eloquent refutation of the charges of racism and bigotry. The charge is a terrible lie. Please don't believe it. You know it is not true.

Democrats will act as your defenders by telling you that opposition to your presence here is race-based. There is no truth to that. As you probably know in your hearts, you have come to the least racist place on earth. The vast majority of us could not care less if your name is Gonzalez or Jones. That's why the chances are 50-50 that the child of Hispanic immigrants will end up marrying a non-Hispanic American.

One more thing: Many of you desire to return to your homelands. This is understandable, as many of you did not come here in order to become American but in order to earn the money that would allow you to afford to return home and lead a better life there. But as understandable as that is on an individual level, you must understand that that having millions of people in our midst who feel no bond to our country and who do not want to become one of us is a serious problem. You would feel the same about people who came to your countries to make money and use your country's medical, social, educational and other services paid for by the people of your country.

It is also a moral problem. There are countless people around the world who wish to come to America in order to become Americans, not just to earn money here. Many of you are taking their places. That is not fair to them or to America.

So, the truth is, in fact, simple: If you were an American, you would want to stop illegal immigration, and if most of us were you, we would do what you did to get into America. Neither of us is bad. You care about your family. We care about our country.
Now, a note to those of you who are here legally and to those of you who are American citizens.

First, while many of you understandably sympathize with the plight of fellow Latinos who are here illegally, you surely must understand that America cannot afford unlimited illegal immigration. This may well create a tension between your mind and your heart, and between your ethnic heritage and your allegiance to America.

If it does, your fellow Americans ask that you be guided by your mind (and we, believe, conscience) and by your concern for America. If anyone knows how extraordinarily welcoming America has been to Latinos -- from Mexico to Cuba to South America -- it is you. For your sake as well as America's, please do not succumb to the politics of victimization that are used solely and cynically to get your support for the Democrat Party.

Finally, and most important, by voting for Democratic Party candidates, you are voting for a type of government more like the ones most Latinos fled. Take the Mexican example. The Democratic Party is, in most important ways, an American version of the PRI. For 70 years, the PRI governed Mexico and brought its economy to its knees because of vast government spending, the squashing of individual initiative, a bloated bureaucracy, unsustainable debt and the subsequent devaluing of the Mexican peso.
Why, for God's sake, would you want to see that replicated in America? The very reason America has been so prosperous and so free -- the very reasons you or your ancestors, like almost every other American's ancestors, came here -- is that America has had more limited government and therefore more liberty than any other country in the world. The Republican Party represents all that you or your parents came to America for -- and why you left Mexico and other countries: individual opportunity and individual responsibility. It is also the party that represents your social values.

Admittedly, the Democratic Party appeals to your emotions. But a vote for the Democratic Party is a vote to make America like the Mexico of the PRI. And a vote for the Democratic Party is a vote to undo the great American achievement of uniting the children of immigrants from all over the world as Americans.


Visit the Dennis Prager Show website for more information

Mexican Border Town's Black-Clad, Blonde Vigilante Said to be Avenging Brutal Deaths of Innocent Women

At The Los Angeles Times, Tracy Wilkinson and Cecilia Sanchez report:

Like a character from a graphic novel, she dresses in black, has unusually blond hair — and kills bus drivers who sexually assault women.

In a place like Ciudad Juarez, known for its years of brutal killings of women, the story has inexorable appeal. But how much of it is true?

Authorities are taking the reports seriously enough to investigate and have posted undercover cops on buses. Women’s advocates say they wouldn’t be surprised if someone finally had taken long-denied justice into her own hands.

Two bus drivers were slain in the last week, and over the weekend an electronic message claiming responsibility was sent to several news outlets.

“You think because we are women we are weak, and maybe we are,” the message says. “But only to a certain point.... We can no longer remain quiet over these acts that fill us with rage.

“And so, I am an instrument who will take vengeance.”

Signed: Diana, Huntress of Bus Drivers.

The message says women who work the night shifts in Juarez’s enormous maquiladora industry repeatedly fall prey to the bus drivers on whom they must rely to get home in the dark.

For now, at least, there is no way to verify the veracity of the message, whether it was written by the actual killer or killers of the bus drivers, whether Diana the Huntress really exists, or even whether she is a she.

What is clear is that for the last two decades, hundreds of women, many of them maquiladora workers, have been killed or have gone missing in Ciudad Juarez. Some disappeared after boarding buses, their raped and tortured bodies later found dumped in the desert. Few of the cases are ever resolved, and families have endlessly protested the lack of justice for their daughters, sisters and mothers...

Human rights activists in the region said that police appeared to be investigating the avenger much more diligently than the rapists.

And, by all means, let's keep those borders open, Democrats!


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

NOT A REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC: Police Barricade McCain-Flake "Public" Meeting on Amnesty

As Mark Levin has consistently observed, we no longer live in a Constitutional Republic. Our representatives do not represent us. They pass laws they haven't read. And they consistently operate without the consent of the governed.

We have what the brilliantly prescient Alexis de Tocqueville called "democratic despotism", exemplified perfectly by a "public meeting" with U.S. senators at which the public was not welcome.

As senators representing a border state, one would think that Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake would be strong proponents for demanding legal immigration as well as for securing our borders. Instead, they have been not just vocal advocates of illegal immigration, these two GOP border state senators made up ¼ of the ‘Gang of Eight’ that crafted the bill to push amnesty on the American people.

There has been much controversy surrounding the route which immigration reform should take in America. Some are calling for amnesty for the tens of millions of illegals in this country. Others are adamant that either we are a nation of laws or we are not and do not support amnesty. Still others are torn between what to do with those who crossed the border illegally as children due to the decision of their parents.

Wherever you stand on the spectrum of beliefs on the topic, one would think that your elected officials would welcome the voice of anyone who wants to be heard regarding this issue that would have enormous economic repercussions on America. That is not the case with Arizona Senators McCain and Flake. On the very important issue of immigration reform, they chose to hold a ‘closed door, invitation only event’, which was labeled not as a town hall, but rather as a ‘Conversation on Amnesty’...

...While the story from the Arizona Republic states that this is a public event, the event was clearly marked as a private event and those without a ticket were only allowed to go so far...

...This decision to leave the people out of this ‘conversation’ resulted in a protest organized by Riders USA outside the Mesa Arts Center, where the ‘private event’ took place. The Arizona Republic did cover the event inside as well as provide pictures of the protest outside. If you look closely, based upon my comparison of the pictures on the Arizona Republic’s website, it appears that the McCain/Flake closed door, invitation only event took place in the Virginia G. Piper Repertory theater. That portion of the facility holds 550 people and, if you look at the picture below from the Arizona Republic, there were plenty of seats still available with a near empty upper level...

But we have an antidote, my friends.

We have a gift bequeathed to us by the founders.

It is Article V of the United States Constitution.

It is an escape hatch from an all-powerful central government that has grown out of control, just as de Tocqueville predicted.

We have an antidote and now is the time to begin reestablishing the Constitution.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Tactician Extraordinaire John Boehner Lays Out Secret Game-plan for Losing Both the House and His Speakership

In his typical savvy fashion, House Speaker John Boehner has reportedly unveiled a secret, two-fold plan for demoralizing the Republican base, thereby reverting all three branches of government to Democrat control.

1 Even though 80 House Republican have signed a letter urging Boehner to defund Obamacare, Boehner refuses to use the power of the purse to kill the most unpopular law since prohibition.

Boehner told the House Republican membership in a [confidential] telephone meeting a short while ago that the Republican leadership will NOT pursue defunding Obamacare, that they will only pursue saving from the sequestration

Mark Levin suggests calling the Unaffordable Care Act "BoehnerCare". I don't think that's fair, since Barack Obama gave birth to it. Instead, I suggest we use "O'BoehnerCare".

2 Despite an overwhelming majority of Americans who believe the border must be secured before any Amnesty or immigration reform is contemplated, John Boehner is secretly pressuring House Republicans to pass the Senate Amnesty bill, even though he publicly claims he's against it.

Senior GOP aides of a super PAC linked to Speaker John Boehner are lobbying House Republicans to pass the Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration bill, legislation that Boehner has said he will not bring to the House floor.

The lobbying effort is coming under the umbrella of the American Action Network, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) “action tank” led by former senator Norm Coleman, which is touting the “major positive economic impact” of the Senate bill in e-mails sent to individual House Republican offices.

AAN is housed in the same office as the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC associated with Boehner, and the two organizations share senior aides, including Brian O. Walsh, the president of both organizations, and Dan Conston, the spokesman for both... Boehner spoke at a fundraiser for CLN earlier this summer and also headlined the organization’s inaugural event. The group’s website has posted links to numerous news stories that refer to the group as “Boehner’s” super PAC.

In other words, John Boehner is lying to the Republican base and is lying to the American people.

Let me put this in words simple enough for even Boehner to understand: you pass this job-destroying Amnesty bill, you will have sealed the fate of the GOP for decades.

You will lose your Speakership -- guaranteed -- and you will then return to the back-bench of the House, having been booted back to minority status. Then you will watch Nancy Pelosi -- or whatever Marxist the Democrats elect -- take the gavel from your nicotine-stained fingers while you cry like a baby that needs a diaper change.

Guaranteed.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Combating the Left’s Information Warfare Campaign

Guest post by Abernathy Crum


This article describes an Information Warfare Operation being orchestrated by the Left.  It is characterized by well-designed themes and memes, effective delivery, and advanced with MSM propagation. 

Not too confrontational, it uses fundamental American emotional buttons: family, kindness, and compassionate justice. It worms its way into the national psyche, one snippet at a time. The operation is funded, organized, and supported by the usual suspects; it’s coordinated with press organizations to carry the themes forward and propagate the message for as long as possible.

It starts with a question like this: “What are you going to do to stop the separation of families, for those of us that live in fear everyday due to unjust deportations?”

It’s a well-crafted question – a clever riposte for which we have not an effective parry. 

We are at war. Our efforts just do not match the opposition. We should have had a response packet put together before the meetings took place. To know what the Left is going to do, just visit their sites and blogs. They tell us their plans, and we’re still unprepared.  We need to plan for their campaigns, collect intelligence, and anticipate the obvious.   

Planning would enable this sort of exchange:

Valeria Ruiz, 17, of Racine, Wisconsin, prodded her congressman on deportations that divide families. According to the Facebook page of Voces de la Frontera, a Wisconsin anti-deportation group, she asked Paul Ryan, “What are you going to do to stop the separation of families for those of us that live in fear everyday due to unjust deportations.”

Ryan responded: “Welcome Valeria, I was looking forward to you coming this evening.  Did Voces de la Fontera or La Raza drive you? I hope your folks are well. I have one question for you.  Your parents are citizens. Your father Miguel was naturalized in 2004 and you mom has always been a citizen.  Who are you specifically referring to?  Can you define what an ‘unjust deportation’ is?”

The rank-and-file Left does not understand Operational Security.  Their leaders do, but their leaks and chest thumping on Facebook and blogs give us enormous insight. There we can learn what they plan to do before they do it.  That is called Predictive Battle-Space Awareness.  We should have been using it for a long time.

If the socialists win the next presidential election, this will no longer be a war of words.  It will be a war of survival, a war in all its manifestations. Why do you think they are building a domestic army? In a few years it will be formidable.

Robert Louis Stevenson said, "Sooner or later in life, we all sit down to a banquet of consequences." The debacle of the city of Detroit is the glaring reality of Leftist polices and the emerging consequences are writ large for the nation.
We fight or we perish, becoming a Detroit nation; lawless, corrupt and hopeless. We become helpless before tyrants who once were smiling politicians full of good will and earnest concern.  We are already a good distance down the troubled road to that outcome.  

Within the Leftists’ ridicule and posturing, and behind their histrionic stage dramas and concocted causes, can be heard the rattle of chains.


Abernathy Crum is, by decades of training, experience and teaching, an expert in the strategy and tactics of information warfare deployed by tyrannical regimes throughout history.   Special thanks to Lee.

19 Illegal Immigration Facts You'll Never Read in Legacy Media

Guest post by Michael Snyder

Should we roll out the red carpet and allow millions upon millions of thieves, rapists, gang members and drug dealers to come waltzing into this country any time they would like? Should we broadcast a message to the rest of the world that anyone that can find a way to enter this country and somehow get to a “sanctuary city” can sign up for a plethora of welfare benefits and live a life of leisure at the expense of hard working American citizens?

Yes, those questions sound absurd, but what I have just described will essentially be official U.S. government policy if the immigration bill going through Congress becomes law. And unfortunately, Democrats now say that they have the Republican votes that they need to get “immigration reform” through the House of Representatives. If this amnesty bill becomes law, it will encourage even more illegal immigration and it will be one more step toward making the U.S. border essentially meaningless.

Right now, we desperately need the American people to contact their representatives in Congress and demand that they vote against this bill. Sadly, this is not likely to happen because most Americans have absolutely no idea how negatively illegal immigration is affecting this nation.

The following are 19 very disturbing facts about illegal immigration that every American should know…

#1 57 percent of all households that are led by an immigrant (legal or illegal) are enrolled in at least one welfare program.

#2 According to one study, the cost to U.S. taxpayers of legalizing current illegal immigrants would be approximately 6.3 trillion dollars over the next 50 years.

#3 The Obama administration has distributed flyers that tell illegal immigrants that their immigration status will not be checked when they apply for food stamps.

#4 The Department of Homeland Security says that it has lost track of a million people that have entered this country but that appear never to have left.

#5 One out of every five children living in Los Angeles County has a parent that is in the country illegally.

#6 In one recent year, taxpayers in Los Angeles County spent 600 million dollars on welfare for children of illegal immigrants.

#7 Thanks to illegal immigration, California’s overstretched health care system is on the verge of collapse. Dozens of California hospitals and emergency rooms have shut down over the past decade because they could not afford to stay open after being endlessly swamped by illegal immigrants who were simply not able to pay for the services that they were receiving. As a result, the remainder of the health care system in the state of California is now beyond overloaded. This had led to brutally long waits, diverted ambulances and even unnecessary patient deaths. At this point, the state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people.

#8 It has been estimated that U.S. taxpayers spend $12,000,000,000 a year on primary and secondary school education for the children of illegal immigrants.

#9 It is estimated that illegal aliens make up approximately 30 percent of the population in federal, state and local prisons and that the total cost of incarcerating them is more than $1.6 billion annually.

#10 The federal government actually has a website that teaches immigrants how to sign up for welfare programs once they arrive in the United States.

#11 The Obama administration recently introduced the very first “unmanned” border station along the Texas-Mexico border.

#12 The Obama administration has sued individual states such as Arizona that have tried to crack down on illegal immigration.

#13 According to the FBI, there are approximately 1.4 million gang members living in our cities. Illegal immigration has been one of the primary factors that has fueled the growth of these gangs.

#14 As I have written about previously, there are only about 200 police officers assigned to Chicago’s Gang Enforcement Unit to handle the estimated 100,000 gang members living in the city.

#15 Mexican drug cartels make approximately 6.6 billion dollars a year “exporting” illegal drugs to the United States.

#16 It is an open secret that Mexican drug cartels are openly conducting military operations inside the United States. The handful of border patrol agents that we have guarding the border are massively outgunned and outmanned.

#17 According to the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center, Mexican drug cartels were actively operating in 50 different U.S. cities in 2006. By 2010, that number had skyrocketed to 1,286.

#18 Overall, more than 55,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2006. That same level of violence will eventually show up in major U.S. cities unless something dramatic is done about illegal immigration.

#19 It is being projected that the Senate immigration bill will bring 33 million more people to the United States over the next decade.

One of the very few things that the federal government is actually required to do by the U.S. Constitution is to defend our borders, and unfortunately the Obama administration has willingly chosen to leave our borders completely wide open. In fact, you can go down to the Texas border right now and watch illegal immigrants hop right across the Rio Grande.

Several retired Border Patrol agents recently drafted an open letter to the American people on the subject of illegal immigration, and what they had to say was quite startling. The following is an excerpt from that letter that was in a recent Breitbart article…

“Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted representatives in place as a means to guarantee continued success,” the Border Patrol agents wrote.

“We must never lose sight of the fact that the United States is the market place for the bulk of transnational criminal businesses engaged in human trafficking and the smuggling, distribution and sale of illegal drugs. Organized crime on this scale we are speaking about cannot exist without political protection.”

According to those retired border agents, by refusing to secure our border the Obama administration is openly facilitating the trafficking of drugs into the United States…

“Most heroin, cocaine, meth, and marijuana marketed in the United States is produced outside of our country, and then smuggled into the United States,” they wrote. “The placement of trusted foreign employees inside the United States is imperative to insure success in continuing to supply the demand, and returning the profits to the foreign organization. Members of these vicious transnational crime syndicates are already well established in more than 2,000 American cities and their numbers are increasing as networks expand and demands accelerate. These transnational criminals present a real and present danger to all Americans, and they live among us.”

Sadly, in politically correct America you can’t even talk about the problem of illegal immigration these days without being labeled as a “racist”.

For the record, I believe that all people deserve love and respect no matter what they look like or where they are born. God created us all and He loves us all very much. I have long been a very strong advocate for racial reconciliation in this country, and I will continue to be.

And there are tens of millions of Latino-Americans in this country that are hard working, law-abiding citizens. They have done things the right way, and it is extremely unfortunate that they often get lumped in with millions of illegal immigrants that willingly choose to break our laws.

Unfortunately, we have a system of immigration today that greatly rewards lawless behavior. We have made coming into this country through the front door exceedingly difficult, but we have left the back door completely wide open.

So hard working, law-abiding people that want to do things the right way are kept out, but those that want to come here and commit crimes or abuse the system are free to come on over any time that they would like.

What sense does that make?

Our immigration system is completely broken, but these days we cannot even have a rational debate about these issues. In politically correct America, illegal immigrants have become a “favored class” of people that you are never supposed to say anything bad about.

In fact, one activist recently went out and actually got people to sign a petition that said that we should let illegal immigrants out of prison no matter what crimes they have committed…

What in the world is happening to this country?

If you want to make a difference, please call your member of Congress now and tell them to vote No on Amnesty.

CONFIRMED: John Boehner holding secret meetings with Chuck Schumer to slip Amnesty for Illegals past the GOP base

Awesome: Your Republican "leaders" are conspiring with one of the most malevolent and nefarious Statists ever to set foot in the Capitol Building to create a permanent Democrat majority. We know this because of an inadvertent slip by that very same Statist -- a lifetime politician who has never held a real job in his life -- and a man who can't seem to resist a reporter's microphone.

The most dangerous place in Washington: standing between Chuck Schumer and a camera.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made his clearest indication yet that he would be fine with a piecemeal approach to immigration reform preferred by the Republican-led House.

Schumer, the leader of the Gang of Eight whose comprehensive immigration reform legislation passed the Senate in June, said even if the House passes separate bills, those measures could eventually be bundled in a House-Senate conference committee...

Schumer let slip that he is "having discussions" with House Republicans to get this deal done.

In other words, John Boehner and/or his committee chairs are secretly conspiring with Schumer and other Senate leftists to pass a series of "Security First" immigration bills to fool Americans into believing they're serious about border security.

Spoiler: they're not.

So Boehner and Schumer are hoping to get the package of bills into a conference committee, after which the full-blown Democrat Amnesty bill will emerge.

• It will be rushed to the floor of the House and Senate.

• It will consist of more than 1,000 pages of carve-outs, legal exceptions, payoffs to separatist groups like La Raza, bribes, wealth redistribution and corporate reach-arounds.

• Your elected representatives and the American people will have virtually no time to read the bill or understand it; they will be instructed to vote for it, or else.

“We would much prefer a big comprehensive bill, but any way that the House can get there is OK by us,” Schumer told CNN Wednesday. “I actually am optimistic that we will get this done.”

...Schumer also noted on CNN that a few of the House bills — such as one on agriculture workers and another on high-skilled immigrants — are “very similar” to components in the Gang of Eight bill.

Suffice it to say that Boehner and his apparatchiks, Paul Ryan among them, are conspiring against their base, their children, the American citizenry, and fiscal prudence.

Why am I certain Ryan is complicit with Schumer?

As a very visible spokesman for the corporatists' Amnesty campaign, I believe the odds that Ryan is scheming along with Schumer are slightly higher than the likelihood Lindsay Lohan will fall off the wagon.

By putting their own petty interests and personal power over principle, Boehner and Ryan appear ready to have the Republican Party commit political suicide.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

HOUSE REPORT: Holder Lied to Congress, But Please Don't Let That Stop the Amnesty and Obamacare Trains!

Now, if the House of Representatives was actually serious about the Obama administration's serial perjurious testimony, it might actually do something drastic. Like defund Obamacare and kill any talk of Amnesty. But I'm guessing that, despite this report, nothing at all will change.

House Republicans released a report Wednesday and “formally accused” Attorney General Eric Holder of misleading Congress with his “deceptive” testimony back in May, Fox News reported.

After reporting their findings, lawmakers sent a letter to President Obama saying they have “grave concerns” about Holder and called for a “change in leadership” at the Department of Justice.

Holder, testifying before the Judiciary Committee on May 15 on DOJ leaks investigations, said he “knew nothing” about the “potential prosecution” of Fox News reporter James Rosen, when actually, it was reported later, Holder himself approved the warrant for Rosen’s email communications.

“With regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material, that is not something that I have ever been involved, heard of, or would think would be a wise policy,” Holder then testified to the Judiciary Committee.

However, a House committee investigation concluded Holder’s testimony was “deceptive and misleading.”

Translation: Holder lied under oath, which -- last I checked -- was a crime.

I'll believe the House is serious when they act serious. Schmucks.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Surprise: Republican White Guy Beats Hispanic Female Progressive in Mostly Latino California District

How many elections does Karl Rove have to lose before he and the rest of the Beltway elites learn that pandering to different ethnic groups is a losing proposition? That liberty, private property rights, low taxes, and economic opportunity resonate with all people, regardless of race, color or religion?

A Republican in California won a state Senate seat on Wednesday in a District in which Democrats have a 22-point advantage and that is 60% Hispanic...

Andy Vidak, the Republican farmer, won the special election runoff for the 16th District Senate seat when his opponent, Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County Supervisor, conceded on Wednesday ... Vidak, a working class candidate, resonated with working class Hispanics in the district who also saw how coastal California elites were not putting their bread-and-butter interests first...

Vidak ran broadly on "the bifurcation of California: the coastal liberal elites versus the Valley folks." On a more local level, Vidak's theme of "fish versus farmer" resonated with Democrats in a District where the unemployment rate is 15% and as high as 30% in some communities in the District. Vidak reminded voters that liberal environmentalists, in order to protect fish, only allowed farmers to receive 20% of their water allocation, crippling the region's economy. He also stressed that Perez supported the the state's high-speed rail project that would have razed business, farms, and homes in the District. Because she supported the agenda of coastal elites and Democrat interest groups, Perez was able to raise twice as much money as Vidak, but 16th District voters ultimately rejected her liberal policies.

It is often said that California is a harbinger of things to come for the country. For Republicans looking at California, there has not been much of hope of late, but Vidak's victory could be a sign that areas that have traditionally voted for Democrats may give the right kind of Republican a chance as they see unemployment rates increase and opportunities for upward mobility decrease in their communities.

But apparently this lesson is too difficult for Karl Rove and the rest of the K Street consultant class to grasp.


Hat tip: Mark Levin Show

Who's up for giving free cell phones to illegals?

I think you can guess the answer to that question: why, the federal government, of course! After all, it ain't their money:

Are you an undocumented immigrant who needs a cell phone? Here’s good news. We’ve just published The Undocumented Immigrant’s Guide to Free Government Cell Phones.
Much to our surprise, there are no regulations that prohibit undocumented immigrants from getting these phones.

In fact, based on our research we assume many undocumented immigrants are already using the free government cell phone program to help land jobs, to keep in touch with doctors and other medical professionals, to stay in touch with their family, and to reach 911 in emergency situations.

The Undocumented Immigrant’s Guide to Free Government Cell Phones will teach you everything you need to know to get your own free cell phone, thanks to the generous U.S. government. It’s not illegal. You just have to know the rules.

This administration makes Nixon look like an Eagle Scout.


Hat tip: Dan.

A Plan for Dealing With John Boehner

I think we can all agree that John Boehner is a complete and utter failure as House Speaker. Marble-mouthed, unprincipled, double-dealing and cowardly are among the more positive attributes I can think of. Consider the man's actions over the two-and-a-half years that have elapsed since the Tea Party movement and Constitutional Conservatives brought him to power:

• Despite an unprecedented series of White House scandals -- including, but not limited to gun-running to Mexican drug cartels, the Benghazi cover-up, IRS-gate, and repeated perjurious testimony to Congress -- John Boehner refuses to name a Select Investigative Committee or demand a Special Prosecutor.

• In fact, in the case of the Benghazi cover-up, even though 75 percent of House Republicans want a Select Committee formed, Boehner refuses. That's right: John Boehner refuses to name a Special Committee on Benghazi, with dedicated budget, resources and staff -- and won't even tell us why.

• And what could be the reason? Some have speculated that Boehner has secretly cut a deal with Democrats in exchange for, well, who knows? Suffice it to say that if John Boehner is negotiating for you, you're going to walk out of the room wearing only your underwear. My guess is he really has cut a secret deal with Obama and Reid, perhaps regarding the debt ceiling or some other act of surrender that sells out the American people in exchange for his consolidation of more power.

• And what is John Boehner's top priority right now? That's right: Amnesty. Legalizing tens of millions of illegal aliens, which we know for a fact will vote by a stunning 8-to-1 margin for Democrats. Brilliant.

• As for de-funding Obamacare? That, too, Boehner refuses to do, instead holding fan-dance votes to repeal Obamacare, knowing that said bills will never see the light of day in the Senate. The Constitution grants the House of Representatives the power of the purse. Boehner could de-fund Obamacare -- completely -- if he wished, letting Obama try to rally support for his despotic and failed testament to central planning. But this Boehner will not do, because it requires brains, courage, principles and cojones.

So what do we do about John Boehner?

While there are grassroots efforts emerging to primary Boehner in Ohio's 8th District -- and we wish them all possible success -- the time has come to consider an alternative plan. A nuclear option, if you will.

Assuming that Boehner wins his primary in OH-8, I suggest we rally support among Tea Party and Constitutional Conservatives in that district to vote. To vote Democrat.

That single seat has virtually no chance of swinging the majority in the House one way or the other. A newly elected Democrat in that very Red seat will be a back-bencher and virtually powerless. This will give time to the district (and it is a very conservative district by all accounts) to assemble a credible candidate should one not emerge in 2014.

I would never advocate such a tactic in the Senate even though Mitch McConnell is Boehner-lite. In the Senate the odds of taking majority control are simply too tempting to chance returning the dimwitted crackpot from Searchlight, Nevada to a seat of power.

But Boehner, on the other hand, is such an egregious failure, such a cowardly and un-principled operator, that he must be ripped out of the Speaker's chair by any means necessary.

Let's see what happens in OH-8, but I suggest we fund and vociferously support any -- and I do mean any -- Boehner opponent. Enough is enough.

15 Photos From the #MarchForJobs Rally (Bringing Together Blacks, Hispanics and Whites) You'll Never See In Legacy Media

Stunning that I haven't seen these photos from the DC March for Jobs on Al Sharpton's MSNBC comedy show.

Hat tips: U.S.News, Breitbart, and WWNC.

HECKUVA JOB, NAPPY! Illegal Aliens Smuggling Less Than 150 Lbs. Drugs into U.S. are Set Free by Feds

Gee, I wonder how the Cartels will adapt to this brilliant tactic on the part of DHS?

The Border Patrol is as busy as ever catching smugglers hauling drugs from Mexico. But many who are caught are now being given a free pass.

Brooks County Sheriff Rey Rodriguez took us on Texas Highway 281. This is a major route for smugglers bringing narcotics into the United States from Mexico. He acknowledges that drugs come up here every day and in multiple loads.

Each year the Border Patrol checkpoint seizes hundreds of thousands of pounds of marijuana.

"We have 'em put it in spare tires and gas tanks," said a Border Patrol agent, whose voice and identity has been disguised because the agent feared of being fired for telling us what happens next - that up to 60 smugglers a month are being let go.

"We catch 'em, but then because our hands are tied, they end up walking and being released," said the agent.

As for what the biggest load of marijuana he's seen where someone was still let go, he said: "The biggest load that I've seen is right around 140 pounds."

Police here say federal authorities generally won't prosecute traffickers moving less than 150 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $120,000... Brooks County, Texas, prosecutor Carlos Garcia [depicted] acknowledges there is not enough money to prosecute trafficking cases of marijuana weighing less than 150 pounds.

"We're having problems here," said Garcia. "And it's not crime that's in our area, it's crime that's passing through our area. They just happen to get caught here... they're going to the rest of the United States."

The Justice Department declined our request for an interview. But in a statement, the agency said it had to "make difficult choices regarding funding" for border prosecutions.

The Border Patrol told CBS News in an email that if no one picks up those cases, agents have "no alternative but to seize the illegal drugs ... and then release the individuals involved".

...Since suspects can't be released at this highway checkpoint, federal agents are often stuck giving smugglers a ride to the nearest bus stop.

As for Janet Napolitano: good riddance. Hopefully her replacement will be someone marginally competent, which would be a thousand-fold improvement. But I'm not holding my breath.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Massive Billboard Rips Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham, along with John McCain and Marco Rubio, were the primary co-conspirators with malevolent Statists like Chuck Schumer and Robert ("Hey, little girl!") Menendez in crafting the latest Amnesty bill. And some of his constituents are more than a little peeved.

A brand-new Georgia billboard proclaiming South Carolina’s alleged affinity for illegal aliens is raising eyebrows this week.

The sign, posted in Canton, Ga., declares: “South Carolina welcomes the undocumented. Sen. Lindsey Graham says his state has a labor shortage and wants more immigrants. For job tips, call his office at (864) 646-4090. Located in Pendleton, S.C. Only 2 hours from Atlanta!”

Sen. Graham, R-S.C., sits on a bipartisan committee that just passed a sweeping immigration-reform bill.

“These people must have been off the planet for the last five years,” said D.A. King, an immigration activist... “We don’t need more workers. We need more jobs.”

Isn't it amazing that 20 million people who stole into this country illegally are honored and catered to while the hundreds of millions citizens who pay the bills are ignored and tormented?


Hat tips: BadBlue News and BB.

SHELL GAME: GOP immigration plan devised by Communist Party to build "permanent progressive majority"

Guest post by James Simpson.

The U.S. Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration-reform plan, as well as a strikingly similar plan now being backed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and a bi-partisan House “Gang,” both offer the “roadmap to citizenship” originally conceived and carefully developed by members of the Communist Party USA working within the Democratic Party and the radical left activist network for the purpose of using amnestied illegals to build a “permanent progressive majority.”

That is the inescapable conclusion readers will draw after reading the forthcoming book by acclaimed researcher and blogger Trevor Loudon, titled "The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress" Although not yet published, Loudon agreed to allow our readers to preview one chapter, titled "Latino Immigrants: Tools to Ensure a ‘Governing Coalition’ for the Left."

In the book, Loudon exhaustively documents the Left’s longtime agenda regarding illegal aliens and how its activists have gone about implementing it. He provides irrefutable proof that the entire immigration-reform movement was the brainchild of American communists and that their goal has long been to establish unchallengeable political supremacy.

According to Loudon, the Communist Party USA has influenced U.S. policy toward illegals since at least the 1960s. He traces the history, showing how communists and communist-founded organizations slowly built the movement from the ground up. While other groups certainly joined the effort, the communists were always at the center.

For example, he tells the story of CPUSA member Bert Corona, the “Communist Father of the ‘Immigrants Rights’ movement.” In 1964, Corona, Cesar Chavez and future Democratic Socialists of America member Dolores Huerta forced Congress to end the guest worker “Bracero” program. Later, Corona sought ways to address “problems confronting Mexicans in the United States who had no visas or citizenship documents” – in other words, illegal aliens – including “how to defend persons detained by immigration authorities and how to help immigrants acquire disability and unemployment insurance and welfare.”

Along the way, Corona founded and/or led numerous organizations, such as the Mexican American Political Association, or MAPA, Centro de Action Social Autonoma, or CASA, and La Hermandad Mexicana Nacional (the National Mexican Brotherhood), all influential in the “immigrant rights” movement. The Communist Party still has strong influence in MAPA, which acts as a king-maker for Democratic Party candidates in the Los Angeles area.

Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor and 2012 chairman of the Democratic National Convention, got his start with CASA. He was also a former member of the Communist Venceremos Brigades and worked with the Brigades in Cuba. As mayor of Los Angeles, he was “the most pro-illegal immigrant mayor the city has ever seen.”

Lorenzo Torrez, a long-time organizer of the Arizona Communist Party, paved the way for Communist-backed Congressmen Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva to win congressional seats in Arizona. He organized opposition to Southwestern states attempting to prevent illegal immigration and also helped change voting patterns across the entire region.

Loudon’s book identifies many influential communist and socialist politicians holding positions of influence in Congress and state and local governing bodies. For example, Rep. Judy Chu, D.-Calif., writes Loudon, has “a thirty-year history with the now defunct pro-China Communist Workers Party (CWP) and its surviving networks.” Chu is an advocate for “progressive” immigration reform and was a co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez in 2010. In 2012, Chu served as co-chair of President Obama’s reelection campaign.

Today’s Communist Party USA cites the current amnesty effort as its top legislative priority. Its official position is virtually indistinguishable from that of the Democratic Party:

As Congress begins to draft legislation, immigrant rights groups and the labor movement including the AFL-CIO and its constituent organizations, SEIU, Change to Win, and many faith-based groups are mobilizing for comprehensive immigration reform with legalization, a path to citizenship and workers’ rights …

This legislative and political battle is also at the top of the agenda of the Communist Party USA and Young Communist League. Our program includes stopping deportations now as legislation is being adopted, and calling for legalization with a clear and speedy road map to citizenship for all 11 million. Future workers who come should have the same opportunity.

But it was left to Eliseo Medina to let the cat out of the bag. Medina, writes Loudon, “is both the country’s most influential ‘immigration reform’ activist and a Marxist. He is an Honorary Chair of Democratic Socialists of America”:

Medina learned voting strategies from Fred Ross, a Saul Alinsky-trained activist and the brains behind Cesar Chavez. Ross was to eventually have an impact on the national stage. Fred Ross conceived the voter outreach strategy that not only elected Communist Party affiliate Ed Roybal as Los Angeles’ first Latino Council member in 1949, but also laid the groundwork for the Obama campaign’s Latino voter outreach campaign in 2008 …

Medina worked hand in hand with UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm, to change AFL-CIO immigration policy at the 1999 Los Angeles Convention. Then, claiming U.S. immigration policy is “broken and needs to be fixed,” the AFL-CIO on February 16, 2000, called for a new amnesty for millions of undocumented workers and the repeal of the 1986 law that criminalized hiring them …

According to the SEIU website, Medina has played the leading role in uniting Change to Win and AFL-CIO behind the immigration reform movement …

In 2009, Medina said, “We reform the immigration laws, it puts 12 million people on the path to citizenship and eventually voters. Can you imagine if we have, even the same ratio, two out of three? If we have eight million new voters … We will be creating a governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle …”

Republican support

But why would Republicans get behind such a plan? Some astute political observers advise that when politicians appear to be promoting agendas against their own interest, follow the money. As Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian put it, “It’s no surprise that the Republicans supporting this thing are the ones with ties to the Chamber of Commerce, not ordinary voters.”

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and others have also stuffed the Senate bill with special perks for their backers – in Graham’s case, a provision granting more visas to workers for South Carolina’s meat industry. Rubio supposedly sought an amendment to assist Florida’s cruise-ship industry although he insists this is untrue.

But even if big business benefits, the cheap labor advantages are only temporary. Once illegal aliens are fully legalized, businesses will be required to provide just as much in pay and benefits as they pay American workers. In the meantime, however, it is widely assumed those workers will take jobs from American citizens, depress wages and increase unemployment. Moreover, in many key swing states, projected amnesties will swamp the rolls of the unemployed (see table).

Proposed Senate legislation delays full citizenship for 13 years, but if a bill passes, follow-on legislation is expected to accelerate that timeframe.

However, it is not even necessary for illegal aliens to achieve citizenship to significantly impact the vote in key districts. As a recent report for Capital Research Center detailed, Democrats are already employing illegals to boost get-out-the-vote efforts among Hispanics and won a major victory in a local Arizona election in 2011. They hope this strategy will win them key swing states, especially Texas, whose electoral votes will, many calculate, provide guaranteed Democratic presidents for the foreseeable future.

House Speaker John Boehner, R.-Ohio, has made much of his intention to ignore the Senate proposal and “do our own bill.” What the House has come up with, however, is considered by most to be “Rubio Lite.”

Boehner has enlisted former Republican VP candidate Ryan to promote the House plan. Ryan and the Republicans are working with some far-left House Democrats, including Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a former member of the Marxist-Leninist Puerto Rican Socialist Party, and Xavier Becerra, both members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and both longtime amnesty activists.

In an interview following Senate passage of the Gang of Eight bill, Fox News’ Sean Hannity pounded Ryan on the issue of border security:

HANNITY: So, my sources have been telling me, Congressman, that you guys are considering a five-year temporary legal status, and then [if] the border security measure is not met in five years, that that would be revoked.

RYAN: That’s right. That’s right.

HANNITY: I don’t believe that would ever happen.

RYAN: Well, look, they can’t get – what a person would want to have, is they would come out of the shadows, they get put on probation, they pay taxes, pay fines, learning English, learning civics. If they break the terms of their probation, they can be deported. And if the border is not secure by that time, if the verification system is not up and running, they can’t get – not only does that status go away, they can’t legal permanent residence …

So, illegal aliens would be granted legal status immediately, but five years down the road, if the fence still isn’t built and e-verify still isn’t being used, then their legal status would be revoked. Given that the Department of Homeland Security is already allegedly ignoring border security –with immigration and customs agents suing their own agency for failing to enforce the law – many voters place little confidence in political promises of future enforcement.

Boehner has announced a closed-door meeting with the entire Republican caucus, scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, July 10, to decide the immigration issue, a meeting Politico calls “the most important day for immigration reform.”

Although this meeting was originally requested by Rep. Steve King, R.-Iowa, to air grave concerns shared by many Republicans over this “reform,” it is unclear if this meeting was the House speaker’s answer to King or his own idea. In either case, many fear Boehner will use the meeting as a vehicle to impose the plan as though it were a done deal.

In the meantime, Senate and House opponents have been painstakingly highlighting what they consider to be glaring flaws in these proposals:

• Every single border security provision in the Senate bill, including the hire of 20,000 Border Patrol agents, denying amnesty to criminals, building fences and installing surveillance devices, can be waived by the Homeland Security secretary.
• Both the House and Senate proposals emphasize the path to citizenship – the centerpiece of communist efforts – while making border security both vague and secondary.
• Both bills provide a $5,000 incentive for companies to hire the newly legalized illegal aliens instead of Americans, since the aliens would not be subject to the Obamacare coverage mandate.

Although politicians and the media have settled on the claim that there are 11 million illegal aliens, the actual number may well be closer to 20 million to 30 million. There were 10 million in 1996, a mere 10 years after Reagan’s amnesty, and it is doubtful only one million more have been added in the ensuing 17 years. Since 1990, Border agents have apprehended on average more than 1 million illegal aliens per year, almost all from Mexico.

When the Reagan amnesty became law, the intention was to naturalize only 1.2 million people, but the actual figure turned out to be 2.7 million. Statistics on illegal immigration have longed tended to be underestimated, sometimes vastly so.

Thus, current proposals provide a path to citizenship for as many as 20 to 30 million illegal aliens here now, plus relatives who will be brought in through chain migration and at least 75 percent of those who will come in the future – virtually endless amnesty – while efforts to secure the border are almost certain to be insufficient.

Representatives Steve King, R-Iowa; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.; Trey Goudy, R-S.C.; Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; and others – 70 House members in all – as well as senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; Mike Lee, R-Utah and others have sought to highlight the dangers of this legislation, with Rep. King recently stating:

If the House passed border security and interior security and sent that over to the Senate, Harry Reid is not going to take that up. Chuck Schumer has said that citizenship has to be part of the deal. It’s not going to go to the president’s desk, so why would the House take up anything if there’s no prospect that we’re going to improve the immigration situation, just the prospect that they’re going to jam amnesty on us?

With polls showing more than two-thirds of Americans don’t believe “immigration laws would be enforced in the future if illegal aliens were given amnesty,” it is clear that passage of the current Republican-backed bill may indeed fulfill the agenda of its communist originators – the creation of a permanent Democrat voting majority, guaranteeing permanent control of the United States government by leftist progressives.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE NOW AND LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE COMPLETELY OPPOSED TO THIS COMMUNIST-DESIGNED AMNESTY BILL

Flag image: Picture of U.S. Flag Upside Down and Below a Mexican Flag at California High School

EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Unveils Official Portrait

Biff Spackle scoops the world, snapping an exclusive look at the Speaker's official portrait.

Obamacare is melting down, no one knows what the president did for 8 hours after learning American diplomats were being murdered in Benghazi, the IRS was caught targeting Obama's political opposition, journalists are being monitored and harassed by the White House, and the Attorney General of the United States has been exposed as a serial perjurer.

And what is John Boehner's top priority? Not defunding the IRS. Not defunding Obamacare. Not naming a special investigative committee for these scandals. No. Boehner's top priority is granting amnesty to tens of millions of illegals, the vast majority of whom are net drains on the national treasury and who will vote Democrat.

It will take all of us -- each and every one of us -- making our voices heard to stop this madness. Call Boehner now at (202) 225-0600 and tell him it's not border security first. It's border security period.

3 Reasons to Oppose the Senate's Amnesty Bill

I don't know this Jim Bridenstine fellow, but so far I like the cut of his jib.

You can follow Rep. Bridenstine on Twitter at @RepJBridenstine.

ROVE AND BOEHNER JUST SOILED THEMSELVES: Sarah Palin Issues Ultimatum to Feckless GOP Establishment

Sarah Palin, along with millions of Americans who have been ignored, insulted and disenfranchised by their "representatives" in Washington, has had just about enough.

Please take a look at the [accompanying] article ... to understand how the amnesty bill the Senate passed yesterday is a sad betrayal of working class Americans of every ethnicity who will see their wages lowered and their upward mobility lowered too. And yet we still do not have a secured border. This Senate-approved amnesty bill rewards lawbreakers and won’t solve any problems – as the CBO report notes that millions of more illegal immigrants will continue to flood the U.S. in coming years.

Great job, GOP establishment. You’ve just abandoned the Reagan Democrats with this amnesty bill, and we needed them to “enlarge that tent” of which you so often speak. It’s depressing to consider that the House of Representatives is threatening to pass some version of this nonsensical bill in the coming weeks.

Once again, I’ll point out the obvious to you: it was the loss of working class voters in swing states that cost us the 2012 election, not the Hispanic vote. Legal immigrants respect the rule of law and can see how self-centered a politician must be to fill this amnesty bill with favors, earmarks, and crony capitalists’ pork, and call it good. You disrespect Hispanics with your assumption that they desire ignoring the rule of law.

Folks like me are barely hanging on to our enlistment papers in any political party – and it’s precisely because flip-flopping political actions like amnesty force us to ask how much more bull from both the elephants in the Republican Party and the jackasses in the Democrat Party we have to swallow before these political machines totally abandon the average commonsense hardworking American. Now we turn to watch the House. If they bless this new “bi-partisan” hyper-partisan devastating plan for amnesty, we’ll know that both private political parties have finally turned their backs on us.

It will then be time to show our parties’ hierarchies what we think of being members of either one of these out-of-touch, arrogant, and dysfunctional political machines.

Palin is channeling the anger and rage felt deeply by millions of Americans -- citizens of every race, color, creed and religion -- who are at wit's end. They are disgusted with a massive, unelected leviathan of a federal government that keeps creating new programs when its existing ones are bankrupt. They are disgusted with thousand-page laws that get passed in the dead of night, without being read, without debate, and without any public scrutiny. They are disgusted with representatives of both parties who act more like a nomenklatura -- a ruling class -- than representatives in a republican form of government.

The country is nearing a breaking point. Palin knows it. You and I know it. Millions know it.

What the Republican leadership does next could well set the stage for a political sea change.


Hat tips: The Right Scoop> and BadBlue Uncensored News.

The Life of Julia, Legalized Illegal Alien Edition

Courtesy of CIS, enjoy a story of your tax dollars and legislators at work... against you.

View a List of the Center's Must Read Articles on S.744

Hugh Hewitt Shreds John Hoeven: "If I were La Raza, I could make sure this fence never gets built"

I'm guessing that Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) regrets agreeing to discuss the Corker-Hoeven Amendment -- the faux border security measure passed by the Senate -- with Hugh Hewitt. Hewitt, an expert attorney with a strong legislative and Constitutional background, quickly determined that the border security aspects of Corker-Hoeven are just as enforceable as, well, our current immigration laws.

And read to the end, because I've included Hewitt's interview with Ted Cruz in which he truly gets to the bottom -- and I do mean bottom -- of this abysmal cluster of a miserable bill.

HH: Now Senator... I just wanted to be up front about it. I do not like your amendment at all, because I think it guts the border fence.

JH: No, we actually require a total of 700 miles of border fence, and also 20,000 more border patrol agents, $4.5 billion technology plan on the border that includes sensors, radars, drones, helicopters, planes... in addition to a national, mandatory national E-verify and electronic entry/exit systems at airports and seaports.

HH: But Senator, I want to stay focused just on the fence, if you don’t mind, in our few minutes.

JH: Okay, all right. Yeah.

HH: At Section 5b, it says the Southern Border Fencing Strategy, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this act, the secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a strategy to be known as the Southern Border Fencing Strategy, to identify where 700 miles of fencing, including double layer fencing, infrastructure and technology, including ports of entry, should be deployed along the southern border.

First question, of those 700 miles, how many miles must be double layered?

JH: Well, it requires what’s called the pedestrian fencing. That’s the minimum, okay? But it requires 700 miles of fencing, and then you’ve got about a 2,000 mile border there, obviously. The Secretary can determine where on that 2,000 miles the fence is most effective, or DHS can, but they have to make it 700 miles of fence. It can’t be the vehicle barricades.

HH: But is it fair to say that there is a zero mile minimum for double layered fencing?

JH: It doesn’t. It has to be at least the pedestrian fencing. It doesn’t specify that it has to be the double layer. That’s correct, Hugh.

HH: Okay. Now how big does the pedestrian fencing have to be?

JH: I’d have to look back at the specs, but it’s, you know, I mean, it’s impressive fencing. It’s not the double layer you’re talking about, but it’s a significant barrier.

HH: Now Senator Hoeven, there aren’t any specs. This is my problem. I’ve read…

JH: No, see, there’s existing pedestrian fence on there, and so when we say pedestrian fence, it has a definition as to the fencing that’s already there. So…

HH: But it doesn’t, it actually doesn’t. I’ve been through the law very carefully. I bring my lawyer’s, not my MBA to it, but I look at it as a Constitutional lawyer. They actually don’t have to do anything. In fact, I was going to ask you, what if they don’t turn in a strategy in 180 days? What’s the law’s penalty?

JH: They’d be breaking the law.

HH: But what’s the penalty?

JH: Well, you’d obviously have to enforce the law, but I mean, it’s like, it would be like saying any law, what…they have to follow the law. They’re required to follow the law, and we would undertake an action to make sure that they do. That’s...

HH: That’s true, but they would also not have their permanent residence revoked. And I was all in favor of this law, don’t get me wrong. If you guys had written in the requirement for the fence, I’d be selling this law. But as I read this, I go on to read, limitation on requirements notwithstanding paragraph 1, nothing in this subsection shall require the Secretary to install fencing or infrastructure that directly results from the installation of such fencing in a particular location along the southern border if the secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain effective control over the southern border at such locations.

JH: Right, and when I read through that with my lawyer, he said because the earlier section is the controlling section that requires a minimum of 700 miles of fencing, this only gives some discretion as to where on that 2,000 [mile] border is placed so it’s put in the most effective areas. And I’m happy to go back and check on the controlling section and find out exactly what the sanctions are. I don’t know what it is off the top of my head, but I’m happy to go back and check it and get back to you.

HH: Senator, you’ve got to fire that lawyer, because honest to God, I have been doing Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act litigation for 22 years. I still do it. I’ve argued it before the 9th Circuit. There is absolutely nothing here that compels the construction of a fence. And the savings provision, and I want to read that for the audience…

JH: But the section you’re talking about, Hugh, again, just modifies the controlling section that requires a minimum of 700 miles. And I’ll go back and check on that section for you, and we’ll be back in touch.

HH: Okay, Senator, okay, that’s simply not correct, but I’ll let you check on it... Nothing in this paragraph, meaning the entire section 5, may be construed to create or negate any right of action for a state or local government, or other person or entity affected by this subsection. As you know, Senator, because you were the governor of a big state, whenever you need to cross a water of the United States, or impact critical habitat for an endangered species, you need the permission of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, you need the permission of the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, and if you don’t get it, or even if you do get it, citizens can sue to block that. That’s why no ‘notwithstanding any contrary legal authority’ language was omitted from this, and I do not understand why you guys didn’t make this fence mandatory on a schedule without regard to any other law?

JH: Well, Hugh, again, we require the fence. Like I say, it’s one of the triggers that has to be met before there’s any green cards. And furthermore, the only discretion we put in was to try to get it in the places where it would be most effective on that 2,000 miles border. But it doesn’t mitigate the requirement that at least 700 miles are built. So…and remember, that’s just one of the five triggers that we have in place to defend the border.

HH: Well, see if you understand where I’m coming from, because if in fact I’m right, and they don’t come up with a plan, or when they come up with a plan, they want to put in a minimum pedestrian fencing that is easily breeched and easily crossed, and not double fence… And it doesn’t have to be any particular height. It just must obstruct a pedestrian, and it’s not the traffic barrier. So it’s better than a traffic barrier, but it really doesn’t work, Senator. And 700 miles, do you have, I mean, why is that a magic number for you guys, because it’s a 2,000 mile border, and I’ve never seen anything that said it had to be 700 miles, nothing.

...Senator, this is where I’m at a loss. It would have been so easy to write a specific mandatory, absolutely as to mapping, construction standards, specifications, timeline, citizen standing to enforce, the denial of citizen standing to obstruct. It would have been so easy to write it, that given the fact that it is so opaque, so that someone like me, who’s a fence proponent looks at it and says this doesn’t do it, and I wanted to support this bill. I really did. No one can deny that. I’ve had Senator Rubio on the show like 15 times. But then this comes up, and I look at it and say you guys weren’t serious about this, and that…

...Senator, Bill Kristol and I agree on this. We don’t want this to go to a conference. We do not trust a conference. We do not believe that if this is the best that the Republicans could to on security, on the border fence and other issues, we don’t want the House to pick this up. I think you guys killed immigration reform by not taking conservative demands for border security seriously in substituting, and I debated this with Senator McCain once. We wanted a fence, an honest to God, big, double layered fence with an access road with specs spelled out, and you guys blew through it in five paragraphs, and anyone can avoid this. Anyone with a, I mean, maybe not your lawyer, but I certainly can go to work for the enviros to stop this, and if I was a La Raza type, I could make sure this fence was never built, even it was only three feet and it could be hopped over. I mean, it’s a disaster...

JH: 20,000 border agents, we’re going to double the number of border patrol agents on the border.

HH: I don’t care, because anything, and I want you to understand, anything that can be turned on can be turned off. Anyone that can be forward deployed can be sent backward. It’s sort of like the DREAM Act. The President didn’t want to enforce the immigration laws last year, so he didn’t enforce them. You can’t not enforce a fence once it’s built, and I’m just curious, last question, Senator…

...Senator, I appreciate your time. Send me anything. Send me your lawyer, because I would really love to spend…

JH: I’m going to do it, Hugh. We’re going to check it out and we’ll be in touch.

HH: And let him come on the air with me and tell him to get his resume ready.

Hewitt had earlier interviewed the enormously popular senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, a formidable litigator in his own right and a staunch opponent of this Amnesty bill.

HH: ...look back at your time as a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist and ask yourself if he would recognize the federalism doctrine employed today by Anthony Kennedy in the DOMA case.

TC: I don’t think he’d recognize it at all. It was, well, let’s be fair. He actually would recognize it, but he would be deeply disappointed, because it’s part and parcel of a pattern we’ve seen the past several decades of the Court of repeatedly the Court substituting its own policy judgments on contested area of social dispute for the preferences and decisions democratically expressed through the people. And I think the decisions today were regrettable. In the state of California, the people of California went, and they voted in Proposition 8 about how to define marriage in the state of California. And the Supreme Court today allowed instead for the courts to set aside that judgment of the voters of California, and impose a very different definition of marriage than the definition that the voters of California chose, which is a traditional marriage of one man and one woman.

...The only way I think to do so [fix this judicial activism] is to insist upon nominees who will follow the law, who don’t view being on the federal bench as an invitation to be a platonic philosopher-king, to have nine unelected lawyers decreeing what our answer should be, what our policy position should be on every hot button issue of the day. I think it is a much sounder approach to say let the people decide, let’s vote on it, and you know what? The people in California will come to different decisions than will the people in Texas or Florida or Vermont, and that’s the beauty of our federalism. We’ve got 50 states, and people with different values, different morays. And why had this all over to unelected federal judges to impose their values on all 50 states?

HH: Now Senator, in our brief time, I want to talk to you about the immigration bill, which I used to be in favor of, but I now oppose after Corker-Hoeven, the amendment which gutted the fence. And I’m going to talk to Senator Hoeven next hour about this. But am I correct, do you agree with my legal analysis that there’s absolutely nothing compelling the construction of even one mile of double layered fencing, and probably not even a single mile of any kind of new fencing?

TC: No, that’s exactly right. I mean, as you know, federal statute has required since 2006 the construction of 700 miles of double fencing, and the federal government simply hasn’t complied. They’ve constructed about 36 miles. And the amendment that was touted as a border security amendment weakens the requirement of federal law, and just like the prior requirement, we can expect with considerable certainty that it will be disregarded as well.

HH: There is in the Corker-Hoeven amendment a savings clause, which also, I think, preserves citizen standing to bring Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act challenges against fence construction, and an empowerment of the secretary of Homeland Security to simply declare herself not bound by any report that comes back. Am I reading this wrong? Because I think I’m reading it the way a litigator opposed to the fence would read it, and they would laugh, Ted Cruz, at this.

TC: I think you’re exactly right, and you know, this bill has roughly a thousand waivers in it. And I mean, much like Obamacare, just about every major provision gives Janet Napolitano or another member of the Obama cabinet the ability to waive any of the law enforcement in the border security provisions. And we have certainly seen with the IRS, with Benghazi, we’ve certainly seen ample reason to trust waivers given to this cabinet and their fidelity to law. And I think this current bill, if it is passed, if the House passes it, I don’t think the House is going to pass it, but if it did, I think it would make the problem worse. It continues the pattern we saw in 1986 of legalization first and then border security maybe someday in the future. And what happens is the border security never happens.

HH: Now Senator Cruz, I agree with Bill Kristol that I hope the House does not pass anything. I don’t want a conference. I do not trust it. I watched your colloquy today with Patty Murray trying to preserve the conference on the budget from running amok, and I was not satisfied that she was being candid with you. I think you’ve got their number on this. Would you trust a House-Senate conference on the immigration bill?

TC: Well, it was, there would certainly be considerable reason to have concerns, especially the one danger of something passing in the House that really does damage on immigration is it something comes out of conference and ends up passing with all the House Democrats and a tiny handful of Republicans. And that’s one way this Gang of 8 bill could pass, and I think it would do enormous damage. You know, one of the most perverse aspects of this bill, as you know, is its intersection with Obamacare puts in effect a $5,000 federal tax penalty on U.S. companies that hire U.S. citizens or legal immigrants, and basically sets up a hiring preference for those who are here illegally. And I think that would only drive up unemployment, particularly among young people, among African-Americans, among Hispanics. And it really is indefensible to put a penalty on hiring U.S. citizens, and on hiring legal immigrants who follow the rules and come in the right way. And it’s indefensible to give essentially a preference to those who broke the law and came here illegally.

HH: Senator Cruz, continue the good fight. 30 seconds, I know you’ve got to run. Do you see support gathering or falling away from the Senate bill?

TC: I think support is falling away from the Gang of 8. For one thing, people are coming together enormously. We’ve launched a national petition at www.securebordersnow.com. Over 100,000 people have signed up in the last week insisting we actually fix the problem. Secure the borders first. Don’t go down the road of legalization first and never securing the borders.

Sign the petition now.