Go DUNCAN HUNTER!

Watch the speech By Duncan Hunter at CPAC 3/2/07....since Cspan would not air it!!

http://msunderestimated.com/DuncanHunterCPAC.wmv

Why God Gave Us Oceans and Borders

TheTownCrier

Whenever two or more divergent groups of people are forced to live together, usually because of invasion or government failure, there can only be one of two results.

Either a dominant group takes power, usually through violence, and kills off the other group or they learn to get along.

Historically, there is always envy, bloodshed, discrimination, human rights violations, to one degree or another.

Perhaps we should be more concerned with not forcing contrary cultures together in the first place. It is after all, the only way to avoid bloodshed.

What we should have learned from history is there is an economic, social, emotional, political price to be paid every time. Often to the point of wiping out entire cultures, races, wealth, customs and laws.

Being a “citizen of the world” may sound quaint, but we are becoming a world of nomads, with few of us even knowing where home is.

It’s why God gave us Mountains, deserts, rivers, oceans and borders.
Maybe there is good reason to just slow down and stay home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Go Give Duncan Hunter (or your other sorry choice! LOL) a vote!

http://www.gopusa.com/activist/pollvault/

Right now he's beating McCain, Romney and Guiliani!

The Inconvenient Truth Al Gore Hopes You Forget!

So, I wake up this morning to hear Al Gore has won an Oscar for trying to save the world!

Then I went out and shoveled 18” of his global warming out of my driveway.

First question: Why didn't he do anything to try to save the environment during his 8 years as Vice President and how many years as a senator?

Some say the Vice President has no power, can’t make policy, blah, blah.

Next question: Then why was he able to pull off selling one of our few oil reserves at Elk Hills in California to his big oil buddies at the expense of the environment and fuel reserves. This story was widely reported, but that was 10 years ago. How soon we forget.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=468

[snip]Occidental's planned drilling of the Elk Hills doesn't only threaten the memory of the Kitanemuk [Indian tribe}. Environmentalists say a rare species of fox, lizard and the kangaroo rat would also be threatened by Oxy's plans. A lawsuit has been filed under the Endangered Species Act. But none of that has given pause to Occidental or the politician who helped engineer the sale of the drilling rights to the federally-owned Elk Hills. That politician is Al Gore.

Gore recommended that the Elk Hills be sold as part of his 1995 "Reinventing Government" National Performance Review program. Gore-confidant (and former campaign manager) Tony Cohelo served on the board of directors of the private company hired to assess the sale's environmental consequences. The sale was a windfall for Oxy. Within weeks of the announced purchase Occidental stock rose ten percent.

That was good news for Gore. Despite controversy over Dick Cheney's plans to keep stock options if elected, most Americans don't know that we already have a vice president with oil company stocks. Before the Elk Hills sale, Al Gore controlled between $250,000-$500,000 of Occidental stock (he is executor of a trust that he says goes only to his mother, but will revert to him upon her death). After the sale, Gore began disclosing between $500,000 and $1 million of his significantly more valuable stock.

Nowhere is Al Gore's environmental hypocrisy more glaring than when it comes to his relationship with Occidental. While on the one hand talking tough about his "big oil" opponents and waxing poetic about indigenous peoples in his 1992 book "Earth in the Balance," the Elk Hills sale and other deals show that money has always been more important to Al Gore than ideals.

DUNCAN HUNTER Champion of Property Rights and Real Free Trade!

Those of us who have been involved in property rights battles appreciated Helen Chenoweth-Hage. What a great loss to all of us due to her untimely fatal accident last year. Talk about your dream ticket for the presidential race. Duncan Hunter and Helen together would have been too much to hope for!


A poster from Idaho, Helen's home state, on a polictical forumstates:

"We are very particular about our conservatives.We like principles and backbone. We elected Helen Chenoweth/Hage and Bill Sali. Helen loved Duncan Hunter and spoke of him often, that is why I loved him before he ever decided to run."

Helen and Duncan had a great appreciation for each other and accomplished much while they were both in congress, especially protecting private property rights.

It was announced this week that the Mt. Soledad Cross, which the ACLU sued to have removed, will in fact remain per the Supreme Court, largely due to the actions of Duncan Hunter.

From Fox News: In 2004, Rep. Duncan Hunter of San Diego, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, attached a rider to a spending measure that declared the monument a national veterans memorial. And earlier this month, the House passed Hunter's bill directing the Pentagon to acquire the cross and manage it as a memorial

In a field hearing held by COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES on the Endangered Species act in 1999 in Hemmet, California, Chenoweth and Hunter were in the forefront to protect the average American citizen property owner. They questioned, with little mercy, the bureaucrats who through archaic regulations and unnecessary paperwork were thwarting use of private land by it's legitimate owners. Hunter's comments speak for themselves.

Mr. HUNTER: I think that shows some of the misguided policies, and, Mr. Chairman, I think this falls on our back as well as those of the Administrators. In this effort that is to protect the environment and the perversion that I think we have made of some of the regulations, we have actually damaged the environment. We have massive traffic jams that are a result of people not being able to afford homes in the areas where they work.
One reason they cannot afford homes is because we are protecting their environment in the communities where they work. So we have them put out tons of smog on the freeway to get 60 miles away where they can afford a home.
So I think that working America has a real stake in seeing to it that we pull back regulation, make it more reasonable and make it more applicable to folks like the gentleman who was in here, Mr. Turecek. I do not know if you saw him, but average people that have pieces of land that they want to develop, to give them a fighting chance at it.
Mr. Kading, I appreciate all of the witnesses, but I especially appreciate you being here and laying out the perspective of a working man."

Recently, Hunter has stated this concerning property rights and the Kelo property rights/eminent domain decision by the Supreme Court:

"I am deeply concerned with the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision greatly broadening local government’s use of eminent domain in Kelo vs. New London and believe it is important that Congress protect the property rights of private landowners and curb the government from excessive regulatory takings. It is for this reason that I voted in favor of expressing the grave disapproval of the House of Representatives regarding the majority opinion in the Kelo case.

Additionally, I cosponsored H.R. 3268 , the Eminent Domain Tax Relief Act of 2005, which abolished the capital gains tax on private property taken by the government through eminent domain. I also voted in favor of a legislative amendment offered to H.R. 3058, the FY2006 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, prohibiting federal funding from being used to improve or construct infrastructure support on lands acquired through the use of eminent domain of private property for private development."

Hunter was awarded the American Farm Bureau Federation Friend of Farm Bureau award for the 105th Congress. The "Friend of Farm Bureau" is given each session of Congress to those members of Congress who were nominated by their respective state Farm Bureau and approved by the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors.

Helen and Duncan worked on other projects such as controlling trade agreements like Nafta and getting out of the World Trade Organization.

Afta NAFTA - "GOP sponsors of the NAFTA Accountability Act in the 104th Congress included such high-profile conservatives as Duncan Hunter, Zach Wamp, Helen Chenoweth, and Gerald Solomon. In a speech before Congress on March 12, 1996, Hunter claimed that between one and five million jobs had been lost to corporate downsizing over the past three years. "We seem to be giving our own country away" through NAFTA, GATT, the World Bank, and foreign adventurism, he said: "billions and billions to other countries while our own people head for the unemployment office or have to settle for jobs in fast-food restaurants."

From March 27, 2000: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has managed to win seven co-sponsors so far for a resolution that he introduced earlier this month calling on the United States to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. Responding to the congressman's call to co-sponsor the measure, issued in a letter March 10, have been Reps. Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho), Duncan L. Hunter (R-Calif.)........

This morning we read an article about Diane Alden, who has been an important journalist in the property rights battle and conservatism in general.

The bio on Adlen states, " Diane's heroes include Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Joan of Arc, St. Padre Pio, Lou Dobbs, the Minutemen, Phyllis Schlafly, Helen Chenoweth-Hage, Barbara Cubin, George Putnam, Marc Bernier, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Jeff Sessions, Mark Kirkorian, Frank Gaffney, Steve Farrell, Peter Brimelow, William Hawkins, her dad Neil Alden, as well as the unsung heroes who have blogged and supported real conservatism and American interests as opposed to the partisan or corporate variety. Most particularly her heroes include the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States who lay it on the line every single day."
____________________________________



Further comments by Duncan Hunter and Helen Chenoweth in the Resources hearing:

STATEMENT OF HON. HELEN CHENOWETH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO
Mrs. CHENOWETH. I want to thank you and our hostess, Mary Bono, for this opportunity to delve into an issue, the Endangered Species Act, that obviously from the comments of Congressman Calvert and from our knowledge in working back there in the Congress, the Endangered Species Act has been totally misused.
It is an Act that has not succeeded in saving species, but has succeeded in dimming down the enthusiasm for a productive economy and a vibrant and growing society that is growing in the right way, not necessarily growing out as far as people are concerned, but the continued vibrancy that really has built this country.

STATEMENT OF HON. DUNCAN HUNTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

I want to thank my colleagues, our host, Ken and Mary, for hosting this hearing, and you for coming such a long way to make it a reality, and Helen, of course, for her great contribution.
You know, Southern California used to be a place where you could dream, where a young couple could get married, and they could have children, and they could have a dream, and they could pursue that dream, and in many cases achieve it.
And a centerpiece of that dream was home ownership, and my reason, Mr. Chairman, for being here is because I think that that dream is disappearing rapidly, and I can see it very clearly in the facts and figures we're going to put up in a few minutes when we have testimony from some of our witnesses.
But, you know, the average home in San Diego County today is $265,000, and the estimates are that as a result partly of Fish and Wildlife in Carlsbad and other factors—there are other agencies that are involved—that 265, $270,000 median priced home in San Diego County is about 35 percent higher than it needs to be, and that money does not go to profit for developers. It does not go to the construction crews, the people that carry the lunch buckets and build the homes. Those are actually fairly low costs. They are basically in line with the rest of the country.
Plywood and two-by-fours cost the same across the country, but what makes our homes so expensive is the cost of regulation, and so that dream is becoming unachievable. Today you have to make about $70,000 a year to be able to qualify for the median priced home in San Diego County, and that means that our young couples are not able to buy homes.
And most of our growth now is coming from people who are having families in our districts. It is not coming from outside folks coming into San Diego and Riverside Counties. So we have a real problem. The American dream is slipping away.
And part of the answer is going to be brought about, I think, by this hearing because we are going to listen to some people who would have been able to have built those homes, and I think home building is a very honorable profession, Mr. Chairman. They would have been able to build those homes for a lot less money, sell them for a lot less money, and that young couple would not have been paying 7 or 7 1/2 percent interest on an additional 30 or $40,000 per home for the next 30 years if government had acted reasonably.

And I have said this before, Mr. Chairman. This may be a little strong, but I talked to one person who actually took a photograph of one of the bumper strips on one of the Federal employee's cars at the Carlsbad office that said essentially, ''Home Builders Can Go to Hell.'' Now, I thought about that.

What if you were a veteran and were going into the Veteran's Affairs Office to try to get your veterans check and you saw the car, happened to see the car of one of the people who was supposed to wait on you and serve you, and it said, ''Veterans Can Go to Hell. That's my attitude,'' or what if you were a senior citizen going to the Social Security Administration and you saw a bumper strip that said, ''Senior Citizens Can Go to Hell''? What kind of service would you expect when you walked in those doors?

Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, I think that that attitude has largely been manifested in real action by some members of the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife office. But let's make this hearing contribute to that most important goal for Southern California, and that is, once again, making the dream of home ownership achievable. (other comments by bureaucrats omitted )

Mr. HUNTER. I agree with that totally. In fact, there was a gentleman who is a fairly central character in the Bible who did a little home building himself. He is referred to on occasion.
You know, I think the Reverend would agree with this. You know, I do not think anybody agrees with the idea that you do not return phone calls. I do not think anybody agrees with the idea that you tell people that you are the boss, and if you were not in a meeting even though your office issued a particular position, that position is revoked because you were not there.
And to go back to the multiple, the fact that to get to be able to use an acre of your own land you have to give either in fee and give a deed in this mitigation or you have to perpetuate it as open space, which for practical purposes is giving it to the government, although you get the right to pay taxes on it for the rest of your life; the idea that that is always a multiple that accrues to the benefit of the government bothers me. It is always three to one, four to one, ten to one.

You cannot go on doing that forever. I have seen a lot of the private land now in San Diego county that is now owned by Uncle Sugar, even though Uncle Sam has 25,000 acres in Miramar. He has got millions of acres in the national forest that extend from the Mexican border north. They are taking that private property, and it is always in a large multiple.

Mrs. CHENOWETH. Well, Riverside County Farm Bureau filed a petition to de-list the kangaroo rat in 1995. They received absolutely no response on that, and you are sitting here telling this body of Congressmen there is no problem, and this is just one example.
What do you have to say for yourself?
Mr. SPEAR. We have a listing priority guidance which we follow.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. I thought the law said 90 days.
Mr. SPEAR. Well, we have established the listed priority guidance.

Mrs. CHENOWETH. So your listing priority guidance overrules the law?
Mr. SPEAR. I will let the people in Washington who deal with the regulatory process determine exactly how that worked out, but there is a listing priority guidance that we have established through the regulatory process that sets the standards. We work with the courts as to how when we have limited funds we will work through the listing process.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Limited funds? Comes on now. I mean, there is a major disconnect here, Mr. Spear, and you have heard startling testimony just as we have. I came into this hearing feeling fairly sanguine that this would be like any other of the number of hearings Mr. Pombo has held on the Endangered Species Act.
As I sat here and listened to the testimony, I became utterly frustrated and shocked at what I am hearing. You heard the same thing. [Applause.]

Mrs. CHENOWETH. Do not give this body an answer that you need more money. What about the 43 biologists, some of whom may be having bumper stickers on their cars that say, ''Developers Can Go to Hell''? What do you have to say about that kind of activity on government property? Mr. Spear?
Mr. SPEAR. I do not know that the allegation indicated that that was on a government vehicle, but——
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Then you did not hear Congressman Hunter then.
Mr. SPEAR. I did not hear him say it was on a government vehicle. I do not.
Mr. HUNTER. Would the gentle lady yield?
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Yes, I will yield.
Mr. HUNTER. The photo that was taken of that bumper strip, that was on one of the government employees who works in the Carlsbad office on their car that they drive to work. So my point was if you are a veteran and you are going into the Veterans' Administration and you see Joe Smith's car and he is going to be your case worker and he has got a bumper strip that says ''Veterans Can Go to Hell,'' you probably cannot expect great service from that particular individual.

And so if the gentle lady would yield, do you think that is a proper attitude for a government employee whose job is to process these permits?
Mr. SPEAR. I will answer the question. I just wanted to clarify that I did not think that was on a government vehicle, but——
Mr. HUNTER. No, it was on a private car of a government worker.
Mr. SPEAR. I will get to the specific question and answer your question. No, I do not think it is proper in terms of the image it sends and for exactly the reasons you have outlined.
I am not sure what I can do about it other than pass on to the fact that it is inappropriate because of people's, you know, private rights.

Mr. HUNTER. Well, we did not offer it for the purpose of getting rid of the bumper strip. They took it off when they saw that somebody had photographed it and was taking a record of it. The point is the attitude that it represents is something that I think, Mr. Spear, you do not acknowledge exists, and you might look a little deeper.
Mr. SPEAR. I think it is improper, and I will—I agree with you on that.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Spear, you asked us for more dollars, but let me say it does not take more dollars to return a telephone call, and I think you have a major mess on your hands in this Carlsbad office. It is peopled by people—— [Applause.]
Mrs. CHENOWETH. [continuing] like the 43 biologists who have no respect for not only the rule of law, but the people that they are entrusted to work with, no respect, no common sense, and what we are seeing come out of this office is chaotic.

Mr. HUNTER. Okay. Mr. Spear, I think this is one of our problems. Here you have got a landowner. He is a rancher. He has got, I presume, a limited amount of capital. He has put out a lot of cash, $50,000, to do three surveys, each of which is rejected by Fish and Wildlife even though they are done by credentialed biologists. They have never found any endangered species, and you tell us you need more money.
Well, they have apparently spent a lot of staff time figuring out reasons to reject Mr. Turecek's request, and don't you feel that we are not bringing these cases to closure in a reasonable way? I mean that would be my instinctive reaction to listening to this chronology of surveys.

Mr. HUNTER. But let me hold you up here because this is an important point. People being able to in an affordable way develop their property is an important factor here. You are saying he has spent 50 grand so far doing three surveys, and he has to do it before he can make the applications. I presume this guy is not made out of money, and my instincts are he probably will not have the legs or the financial endurance to get through this process, and I think part of your job is to make this process a reasonable one where average people with some money—I mean he has gone out and borrowed 50 grand and gotten it from someplace just to start the project—where average Americans can get through this process without being bankrupted.

We never intended, we never said in the Endangered Species Act we want you to set up a regulatory process that will bankrupt the average citizen before he can get through. You agree with that. That is not part of the law.
Mr. SPEAR. I agree.
Mr. HUNTER. And I think that part of the problem that we have here is that we have not made this thing user friendly where average folks can get through it. Don't you agree with that?
Mr. SPEAR. Well, we have to have the information to be able to make a determination about the species that are listed.
Mr. HUNTER. But he has made three surveys.
Mr. SPEAR. Yes.
Mr. HUNTER. And each one has been rejected.

Mr. HUNTER. Okay. Now, Mr. Spear, because I want this to be a constructive session, and I know you do, too, here is the problem. We have got an average citizen of the United States. He is not a big corporation which a lot of the environmental folks talk about. He is just a guy that has got some land out there in his county, and he has got a right to use his land. Presumably he has paid taxes on it. He has paid his mortgages. He has gone through rough economic times. He has got a piece of property in America, and he wants to use it.
We have a structure that is built up so that he has not even gotten into the initial permitting process yet, and he has already spent $75,000. So what you are saying is we have built a structure that the average person cannot afford. That is not right.
And what is not right, I think there is some fault here, Mr. Berg. If you have a system where an average guy cannot walk in and say, ''Tell me what I need. Tell me what I need. Sit down with me. Show me what I have got to do,'' and you cannot show him in a streamlined fashion, and this obviously is not an endangered species rich piece of property because you have never found a single one out there, but if you cannot show him for less than 75 grand what he needs to know, then the system is broken.
If that was your aunt and she had willed this property to you or her resources to you and she only had $75,000 in her pocket and you walked out and said, ''Aunt, how is my inheritance going?'' and she said, ''Mr. Berg, I just gave it all to the biologists and yet we are not even a third of the way through the reports,'' you would be as mad as heck.
And so I think, Mr. Spear, we have to develop a system that is user friendly for average Americans who own property to go down and learn in common language what they have to do and have the system a reasonable enough system so that you can get through it without having to make multiple reports, especially when you do not have the first endangered species found.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Hunter follows:]

STATEMENT OF HON. DUNCAN HUNTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to be here in Hemet, California today to participate with the House Resources Committee to discuss the operations of the Carlsbad office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (CFWS). In addition, I would like to commend our friend and colleague, Congresswoman Mary Bono, for convening this hearing to explore what I believe to be questionable behavior by CFWS.

Today, Mr. Chairman, this Committee will hear testimony by a wide array of witnesses, some of whom being just ordinary citizens, who will highlight a consistent pattern by CFWS of misusing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We will hear from private developers, local officials and even a construction-site foreman, all of which will detail how the misapplication of the ESA has impeded growth and development in Southern California. I believe that it is important, however, to emphasize that most of our witnesses will not necessarily be advocating the rescinding or minimizing of the ESA, but will instead only call for the appropriate implementation of this law.
As all of us know, the ESA was passed to ensure that endangered or threatened animals, plants and fish are protected from human activity so as to avoid their ultimate extinction. While I believe that the goal of this law is commendable and certainly well-intentioned, the overly broad discretionary powers it gives to the enforcers of the ESA, specifically CFWS, have created an atmosphere in Southern California where our landowners and developers are routinely forced to meet redundant, time-consuming and very expensive ESA compliance requirements before any construction can begin. Mr. Chairman, it is my earnest hope that today's hearing will provide CFWS the insight and incentive to pursue a more compromise-oriented approach when administering the ESA.
Among other witnesses, this Committee will receive testimony from a number of individuals from my home area of San Diego County. These good people represent an even larger number of San Diegans who have absorbed the impacts associated with burdensome and costly environmental compliance. The impacts that I have referenced, speak to the built-in, artificial expense factored into housing costs for home buyers. In fact, in San Diego County, roughly 30 percent of the cost associated in purchasing a home is the direct result of the developer having to finance the environmental compliance efforts. I think that everyone here will readily agree that inordinately high home costs were not the intent of Congress when the ESA was enacted into law.

As many of us are aware, San Diego County is expected to realize an increase of 1.5 million new citizens within the next 10 years. Unfortunately, estimates show that new housing construction is woefully behind in meeting this expected influx, with many of our young, new families having to live in high density apartment and condominium complexes. While I cannot overemphasize the importance of protecting the environment for our future generations, this effort must be pursued in a reasonable and realistic fashion if we are to provide sufficient housing for the multitudes of expected new residents.
Mr. Chairman, one of our initial witnesses will be Mr. Bruce Turecek, who is currently seeking to develop part of his property in eastern San Diego County. After three years, thousands of dollars and numerous consultations, Mr. Turecek has conclusively determined that his property is devoid of any endangered species. Unfortunately, CFWS will not provide Mr. Turecek with a definitive plan to as to whether or not his efforts will suffice and allow for the development of his property. Instead, CFWS has repeatedly engaged in a practice of only providing critiques of his biological surveys and vague directions to Mr. Turecek. I would submit that this behavior legitimately can be interpreted as a conscious effort to delay and ultimately derail his project. Sadly, the circumstances surrounding Mr. Turecek's situation are too often the norm rather than the exception in our region of California. We must work to rectify the situation before Mr. Turecek and others like him can no longer build homes that average, working families can afford to buy.
Finally, I would remind the Committee and our audience that Southern California used to be a place where one could work hard and save their money and achieve the American dream of owning their own home. Unfortunately, because of the outrageous costs associated with exhaustive environmental compliance requirements, this dream is rapidly becoming a thing of the past in our area. Recognizing that this costly and burdensome practice has become the standard by which CFWS operates, I am hopeful this hearing will provide the insight and incentive necessary to rectify the problems that I have already referenced.

Mr. Chairman, one point that has come out that I would like to pursue is the ratio of taking, and I do not know, Mr. Bragg or Mr. Woolfolk, if you have comments on this, but one thing that bothered me is that we have a mixture, obviously, as all counties do in San Diego County of public and private property, and we have got huge national forests. The Cleveland comes down almost to the Mexican border in my district and also state reserves, state parks, tens of thousands of acres of military land that will never be developed, and it for practical purposes amounts to a refuge for species.

And then mixed in among that we have private property, and every time I talk to somebody who wants to use their property and they will say, ''I finally got permission from Fish and Wildlife to use three acres, but in return for that, I had to go out and buy nine acres,'' a ratio of three to one, or, ''I had to buy 50 acres,'' and the ratio is always skewed in favor of government. If government lets private people use one acre of their own land, they always get a multiple of that for government use.
And one thing that I am concerned about is the amount of money or the amount of land that is being acquired by government, taken over by government as a result of this mitigation.
-----------------------------

You can hear Duncan Hunter on podcast from January, 2007 about property rights and immigration here: http://www.wezs.com/podcasts.shtml

MP3's

Congressman Duncan Hunter - The Advocates 1/6/07
California Congressman Duncan Hunter on control of illegal immigration, construction and expansion of a border fence on the US-Mexico border. (part one - 32 minutes)

Congressman Duncan Hunter - The Advocates 1/6/07
California Congressman Duncan Hunter on control of illegal immigration, construction and expansion of a border fence on the US-Mexico border. (part two - 18 minutes)

Mt. Soledad Cross Victory: ACLU Loss-Thank you DUNCAN HUNTER!

Mt. Soledad Cross Victory: ACLU Loss
Source: Thomas Moore Law Center
URL Source: http://www.thomasmore.org/news.html? NewsID=528
Published: Feb 22, 2007

[snip] ANN ARBOR, MI – The California Supreme Court, yesterday, affirmed the precedent-setting decision of a California appellate court, which upheld the right of the people of San Diego to transfer the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial and cross to the federal government. At the same time, the Court denied the ACLU’s attempt to prevent the publication of the lower court decision favorable to the cross and veterans memorial. The ACLU was seeking to have the decision suppressed so that it would not be used against them in future lawsuits.

The Thomas More Law Center, a national, public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, attacked by the other side because it was a Christian advocacy group, figured prominently in the victory. The Law Center represented San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial in the successful appeal, and it represented them in opposing Paulson’s petition to the California Supreme Court. The Law Center also filed a lengthy objection to the ACLU’s request for depublication.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Law Center, commented, “This is a major victory for religious freedom, the democratic process, and for the people of San Diego who voted overwhelmingly to preserve the historic Mt. Soledad veterans memorial and cross for future generations.” Thompson commented further, “It was also important for us to defeat the ACLU’s sinister plan to have the decision of the California appellate court depublished. The ACLU wanted the decision depublished so it could continue with its anti-Christian agenda free from opposing precedent. This appellate court decision will forever be a stumbling block for the ACLU—and we are pleased about that.”

++++++++++++++++++++++

The article doesn't mention that one big reason why this cross was saved and the ACLU lost (Yay!)was the actions of one man.

Duncan Hunter.

[snip] In its filing with the California Supreme Court, the ACLJ represents itself and 20 members of the 110th Congress including Congressman Duncan Hunter of California who sponsored legislation that transferred control of the Mt. Soledad Memorial to the federal government. That legislation was signed into law by President Bush in August 2006.

http://www.gohunter08.com/

"If you want to start coming to America, you're going to have to start knocking on the front door," he said. "That fence is going to be up, that back door is going to be closed." Duncan Hunter

The Club for Growth and the 2008 Presidential Race - Know thy enemy

The battle for the republican nomination for president has taken an historical turn and started before the 2006 mid terms were even over. It’s all quite the study in human nature, greed, deception and the ugliness of political reality in these United States.

On the net, we see a fight shaping up between supporters of the left wing globalist leaders of the republican party, mostly Giuliani supporters and the more traditionalist wing, mainly supporters of Duncan Hunter.

By now, anyone paying attention has seen the photos of Rudy in drag, which I thought was one of his more endearing moments, but I digress....

We’ve heard about his 3 marriages and his diva/Pelosi like behavior of airplanes, hotel accommodations and taking $100,000 speaking fee for the victims of a Tsunami. But hey, that’s all just ‘personal’ stuff. Character doesn’t matter in the Ferengi economic model the globalist pushers would foist on us.

Then there are Rudy’s liberal leaning interpretations of the 2nd amendment, immigration, partial birth abortion, hiring and promoting corrupt officials like Bernie Karrick. All proven true allegations, but when presented to a Rudyite, they are dismissed as meaningless.

So far the only arrows being slung at Duncan Hunter have been to cite a rating given him by the Club For Growth. He only scored a 49 % with the ‘Club’. Never mind that most other conservative organizations such as the NRA, NumbersUSA, American Conservative Union - (92% LIFETIME) rate Hunter near or at the top.

The bottom line is this. Duncan Hunter wants to secure our borders, his 26 year legislative history proves that. He also wants the truth told about trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA and China, Fast track trade authority that bypasses constitutionally mandated congressional control. The Club for Growth, and the people involved in it have done just the opposite. As will their pick for president.

Anyone looking at Duncan Hunters voting and legislative record must conclude that perhaps the ‘Club’ is more RINO than Republican or Conservative. The Club cites this:

National Taxpayers Union shows a more telling trend. He was strong in the early 1990s, getting "B's" and one "A", but as time went by, like most politicians, his score dropped. For the past few years, he's been getting "C's".

For the past few years? Well, yes, WAR appropriations happen to be expensive; he voted along the lines of his party and president. When Hunters record is examined bill, by bill his budget votes were about military spending. No one has yet made a case that any of his votes were ‘pork’ . But the ‘Club’ doesn’t mention that.

They do mention, " Despite being a member of the Republican Study Committee, Hunter frequently votes NO on their fiscally conservative annual budgets (2006, 2005, 2003...)"

When you look at those votes, you will see that the MAJORITY of republicans voted NO on them.

You be the judge, is the ‘Clubs’ analysis of Hunter even remotely indicative of reality? If what they convey here is true, they admit they do not agree with just about 2/3 of republicans voting in congress.

So who does the ‘Club for Growth’ agree with? One of the bills they faulted Duncan for voting for was a transportation bill. Republican congressmen voted 218 to 9 for it. Is Club for Growth representing the republican base or something else?

"The Club for Growth is a section 527 political organization and an affiliated political action committee that raises money for candidates who support an anti-tax and limited-government agenda. It was created by former Cato Institute fellow Stephen Moore. "

Stephen Moore. That’s a name anyone involved in the battle to secure our nations borders needs to know. And where you find Moore, you find Grover Norquist and Newt Gingrich and common agendas. Often, those agendas are not 'conservative'.

Moore has written articles in favor of increased immigration to the U.S., and has debated against immigration restrictionists. In one article, Moore favorably cited a speech at Cato by Rep. Dick Armey, R-TX, who said he believes the U.S. "should be thinking about increasing legal immigration." Moore worked on studies for the wing immigration advocacy group, the National Immigration Forum, which favors amnesty for illegal aliens.

In 1996, Moore along with Grover Norquist helped defeat any measures aimed at enforcement in an immigration reform bill.

Marcus Stern describes Moores involvement in an award winning article.

The coalition was a juggernaut that fought virtually any verification initiative. Because Republicans control Congress, conservative lobbyists were especially influential. The fact that some limited, voluntary verification projects stayed in the bill at all outraged some conservatives.

"I view it as the camel's nose under the tent for a national ID card," said Stephen Moore, an economist with the Cato Institute who lobbied against the bill. "The theme we played to Republicans was that if you're trying to roll back big government, you shouldn't be instituting this new police-state power."

Social conservatives like Norquist and libertarians like Moore don't see illegal immigration as a major problem.

"Illegal immigration is part of the price we pay for being both a prosperous and a free country, and I'm not willing to sacrifice some of our freedoms to try to keep out immigrants, especially when I don't think it's going to work very well," said Moore.

He added that spending $3 billion-plus a year to fund the Immigration and Naturalization Service "probably is a waste of money. But this is a political issue. And the way you deal with illegal immigration is you increase the INS budget. It doesn't do a lot, but at least politicians on both sides can go home and say, `Well, how can you say I'm not doing anything about immigration? I increased the INS budget.' "

What you don't do, he said, is involve employers in enforcement.

"Sometimes in politics you pass feel-good measures," Moore said. "And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Passing a bill that's mostly window dressing is a way of defusing public alarm about something. And in states like California, illegal immigration is perceived as a big problem."

Working closely with Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, Cesar Conda (former domestic advisor to Dick Cheney) circulated a statement against Prop. 187 of California in the nineties.

And what have Moore and his associate Grover Norquist been up to lately? More of the same.

Last fall the Club for Growth worked against conservative republican candidate Robert Vasquez, an ardent illegal alien opponent by funding his opposition.

Moore, along with Norquist, Newt Gingrich, Tamar Jacoby and other amnesty advocates penned a letter to the Wall St Journal proclaiming Bush’s guest worker plan as "a humane, orderly, and economically sensible approach to migration."

On September 19, 2005, the Federal Election Commission filed suit against the Club for Growth for violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act for failing to register as a political action committee in the 2000, 2002, and 2004 congressional elections.

You can be sure that both Stephen Moore and Grover Norquist are working full time to keep our borders open and promote any and all trade/labor agreements whether they benefit the USA and it’s people or not.

Moore said this about Norquist. "From the moment he gets up to the moment he gets to bed, he thinks, 'How am I going to hurt the other team?"

Whoever the Club for Growth decides to push for president, you can be sure they don't believe it if that candidate pretends to want to secure the border and implement sane trade policy.

Buyer, BEWARE.

It should come as no surprise that the Club for Growth would come out against Duncan Hunter.

Wear it as a badge of honor, Congressman!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And Bank of America giving credit cards to illegal aliens......this may be one reason!


Monica Lozano on Bank of America board; National Council of La Raza

This is a Bank of America press release from March 20, 2006 [1]:
Monica Lozano, publisher of the nation's largest Spanish- language newspaper, has been nominated to Bank of America's board of directors...
...[BofA] has relationships with 48 percent of Hispanic households in its coast-to-coast territory, more than any other bank in the United States. Last year more than 21 percent of all new hires by the bank were Hispanic.

She was approved and currently serves on their board [2]. And, since 21 percent is close to double the percentage of Hispanics in the U.S., perhaps the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should look into their recruitment efforts.
Also in 2005, Bank of America became the first financial institution to make electronic money transfers to Mexico free for its customers through a SafeSend feature with a checking account. For its efforts in the Hispanic community, Latina Style Magazine named Bank of America its 2005 Company of the Year.
Lozano, 49, is the publisher and CEO of Los Angeles-based La Opinion, the nation's largest Spanish-language daily newspaper. She is also senior vice president of Impremedia LLC, the first national Spanish-language newspaper company in the United States. Among her many community leadership positions, Ms. Lozano is currently chairwoman of The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

[1] newsroom.bankofamerica.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=7342
[2] investor.bankofamerica.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71595&p=irol- govboard

News you missed! Best of the web

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let`s put it this way: money trumps peace sometimes. In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world. 2/16/2007

_______________
"The president is right to support a guest-workers program," Giuliani said. Turning 11 million illegal immigrants into criminals is not the way to secure the nation's borders or prevent another terrorist attack, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Tuesday.

"People want to come to the United States. That is a good thing. We want people to want to come to the United States. That means we're still the shining city on the hill. We're still the place [where] people see greater opportunity, greater freedom, a better way to create a better life for themselves and their families," he said.
_________________

New Threats Arise For Border Agents (OTM's!)

Feb 17, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- It's not just the number of people coming into the U.S. that is a concern for the Department of Homeland Security, but it's from which countries they are coming.

Border Patrol agents in San Diego stop nearly 400 illegal border crossers each day.

There is no telling how many they don’t stop.

"We never know what they're here for or what their intentions are," added Feige.

10News joined agents on patrol and saw firsthand what they face. In one incident, two men and one woman tried to sneak by right in front of agents. They first hid and then surrendered. The group turned out to be Mexican citizens with no criminal records, and they were processed and sent back to Mexico.

Because 85 percent of those apprehended by agents are from Mexico, the Department of Homeland Security classifies the others detained as "OTMs," or Other Than Mexican.

"They try to pass themselves off as being from Mexico," said Border Patrol agent Allen Gustafson.

Last year, OTMs came from 148 of the 193 countries in the world. Several came from what Homeland Security terms “special interest” countries -- countries that are considered a great threat.

10News learned that in the last six months, agents along the Southwest border caught 15 people from Iran, 35 from Pakistan, 12 from Jordan, two from Syria and five from Lebanon. These are numbers Homeland Security would not officially release.

Potential terrorists are not the only concern.

Agents said many violent criminals cross the border.

"In fact, we caught a person who was number 17 on Mexico's most wanted list," said Feige.

A top priority for the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to stop the influx of a notoriously brutal gang called the MS-13 -- the Mara Salvatrucha -- a group linked to violence across California and 32 other U.S. states.

According to reports, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras export members of the MS-13 gang.

10News learned that agents have stopped 26,035 undocumented people from El Salvador, 11,781 from Guatemala and 16,370 from Honduras in the last six months.

In the last six months, nearly 1,200 people from China were caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

Agents said Chinese nationals pay smugglers up to $30,000 for passage to the U.S.[snips]

________________________

The only pundit who has come out against Ramos & Compean is Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, friend of the White House and Dick Cheney and founder of Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Is the white house passing money out again to journalists??

The Border-Patrol Two Deserve Jail
Law enforcement defends its honor, despite the “hero” propaganda

By Andrew C. McCarthy

“Texans aren’t whiners,” Johnny Sutton told me. Still, forgive him if he sounds a bit frustrated.
[snip]

Before the war, FDD wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to invade Iraq. At a July 2003 meeting, FDD members expressed their gratitude to the president.

The FDD's three board members are Steve Forbes, Jack Kemp, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. Its four “distinguished advisers” are Newt Gingrich, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Louis J. Freeh (former FBI director), and James Woolsey (former CIA director). FDD also has a Board of Advisers, whose members are: Gary Bauer, Donna Brazile, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Frank Gaffney, Amb. Marc Ginsberg, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Charles Jacobs, William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, former Gov. Richard D. Lamm,
Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), former Sen. Zell Miller, Richard Perle, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).

Numerous FDD principals have been associated with the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neoconservative institute that was one of the leading promoters of the Iraq War and the Bush administration's aggressive security doctrine. These include Bauer, Woolsey, Gaffney, Kristol, Forbes, Perle, Kirkpatrick, and Krauthammer.

Indicted lawyer invited to White House Party (Immigration fraud!)

BY DAVID VOREACOS AND DAVID GLOVIN
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Thursday, February 8, 2007

President George W. Bush invited a New Jersey lawyer to a White House holiday party less than two months after the attorney was indicted on immigration fraud charges, according to court records.

Jonathan Saint-Preux was indicted on Oct. 5 with his wife, Michele, and another man on federal charges that they submitted fraudulent documents to help hundreds of undocumented immigrants stay in the U.S. Saint-Preux, who pleaded innocent, attended the White House party on Nov. 30, said his attorney, Patrick Toscano.

U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden in Newark, New Jersey, signed an order granting permission for Saint-Preux ''to travel to Washington DC to attend a function at the White House at the request of President and Mrs. Bush." A Justice Department prosecutor consented to the trip, court records show.

''He was at a Christmas party," Michele Saint-Preux said today in an interview at her husband's office in Irvington, New Jersey, where she is the manager. ''He's been doing political work with the White House for years."

Inside the law office were separate framed photographs of Saint-Preux with first lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Democratic New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Michele Saint-Preux said her husband also did political work to support former President Bill Clinton.

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore didn't have details on why Saint-Preux was invited to the party. ''Thousands of people attend the White House holiday parties," she said.

Jonathan Saint-Preux didn't return a message left with his wife. Hayden didn't return a call seeking comment.

Bush Not Aware?

''I doubt very highly that if the president was aware that Mr. Saint-Preux was having legal problems here in New Jersey, he would have been invited," Toscano said in an interview. ''It wasn't Mr. Saint-Preux's intent to cause problems for anybody."

Toscano and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Lurie signed a consent order that allowed Saint-Preux to take the trip. Hayden approved that order on Dec. 1. Saint-Preux is free on $250,000 bail and is not supposed to leave New Jersey without a judge's authorization. It wasn't clear why Hayden signed the order on Dec. 1, the day after the party.

''This is the sort of request that we get routinely from defense lawyers wanting to relax the bail restrictions because of business, family, or social reasons," said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie in Newark.

According to the indictment, Saint-Preux, his wife, and a man who recruited clients for him, Naranjan Patel, lied on immigration documents. They claimed the immigrants had lived continuously in the U.S. from before 1982 until at least May 1987, prosecutors said. Prosecutors claim the ruse was intended to help immigrants qualify for legal residency under a U.S. amnesty program.

False Documents

The indictment, which accuses Saint-Preux of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and seven counts of submitting false immigration documents, cites seven unnamed ''cooperating witnesses" who have provided evidence to prosecutors.

Saint-Preux, then 44, was arrested on Oct. 12. Toscano said plea negotiations are underway. ''We're hoping to amicably resolve this," he said.

Saint-Preux donated $1,100 to New Jersey Republicans in 2004 and 2005, according to opensecrets.org, a Web site.

''I know that Jonathan was active in political circles, but I can't speak to how he was invited to the White House Christmas party," Toscano said.

On Nov. 30, Bush met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki in Amman, Jordan, before returning to Washington. The buffet menu at the holiday party included sugar cured Virginia ham and chicken fried beef tenderloin, according to the White House Web site.

Blogs for Borders

Exposing the Dept. of Job Security (who is Philip Perry?)

First, Philip Perry is the son in law of Dick Cheney.

Source: Project on Government oversight
URL Source: http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2007/02/exposing_the_de.html

Richard Skinner, Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and David Walker, Comptroller General with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), appeared today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to discuss management and contract problems within DHS. The particular programs under scrutiny were the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) and Deepwater, but the hearing also highlighted more fundamental concerns about contracting and transparency in the Department.

In his written testimony (pdf) for a similar hearing yesterday in the House Homeland Security Committee, Walker stated:

...DHS has not made its management or operational decisions transparent enough so that Congress can be sure it is effectively, efficiently, and economically using the billions of dollars in funding it receives annually, and is providing the levels of security called for in numerous legislative requirements and presidential directives. Our work for Congress assessing DHS’s operations has been significantly hampered by long delays in granting us access to program documents and officials, or by questioning our access to information needed to conduct our reviews. We are troubled by the impact that DHS’s processes and internal reviews have had on our ability to assess departmental programs and operations. Given the problems we have experienced in obtaining access to DHS information, it will be difficult for us to sustain the level of oversight that Congress has directed and that is needed to effectively oversee the department, including the level of oversight needed to assess DHS’s progress in addressing the existing transformation, integration, and programmatic challenges identified in this statement.

Walker’s testimony further relates that these sort of impediments were encountered during his investigation of the Deepwater and SBI programs. A Tuesday article by Chris Strohm for the publication CongressDaily looks at one of the main individuals at DHS behind both Skinner and Walker’s investigative difficulties:

Walker said the problem is "systemic" and not the fault of any single individual. But he complained that GAO has had to go through the office of General Counsel Philip Perry. Perry is married to Elizabeth Cheney, a former State Department official who is one of the vice president's two daughters. Walker said it is his understanding that people from Perry's office have to review documents GAO seeks before they are released and selectively sit in on interviews with department employees.

"When you have more lawyers in a meeting than program people, you know you got a problem. Something needs to be done about this," Walker said. "There needs to be an understanding that if the general counsel's office is going to get involved, it's clearly got to be the exception rather than the rule," he added. "Right now the system is structured to delay, delay, delay ... We haven't had a situation where they refuse information but it might take months to get it."

Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner said his investigations have also been hindered. "We're experiencing the same problem," said Skinner, who added his office is "oftentimes" told who they can interview and that it sometimes takes weeks to get documents.

Perry’s questionable behavior extends far beyond nepotism and delaying investigations. He’s also a pro at jumping back and forth between government and the private sector, doing what he can to benefit industry along the way. After Bush became president, Perry moved from being a junior partner at the DC law firm Latham & Watkins to holding the position of Associate-Attorney General for the Department of Justice. He then moved to the Office of Management and Budget as General Counsel, where he had a hand in drafting plans for DHS. In 2003, he returned to Latham & Watkins as a member of their Homeland Security practice group and lobbied on behalf of Lockheed Martin and other companies.

An article by Art Levine in the most recent addition of the Washington Monthly chronicles Perry’s exploits over the course of his career. By the time Perry joined DHS, he was a veteran advocate for the chemical industry and government contractors, and he had also made the right connections in government. Levine states:

Enter Philip Perry. When Michael Chertoff was nominated to head the DHS in 2005, he had asked Perry to join him as the department’s general counsel. The two were not only colleagues at Latham & Watkins but also members of the conservative Federalist Society, and they were of like minds in their general distrust of government regulation of business. By the summer of 2006, as various bills competed for attention, Perry’s services were in great demand. “Industry went back to the well,” says one DHS official.

To no surprise, Perry’s “revolving door” habits haven’t ended with his position at DHS. Secretary Chertoff announced on Jan. 23 that Perry would be resigning from DHS by Feb. 6, presumably to rejoin his old law firm. Although Perry’s exit will undoubtedly be an improvement for DHS accountability, the enormous problems that he had a hand in creating at the Department still remain.

Today’s hearing on DHS is proof of that fact. Members of the House Committee, particularly Reps. Kucinich, Duncan, and Hodes, condemned the extensive underhanded dealings between industry and government officials that have resulted in huge losses for taxpayers. Rep. Duncan proclaimed at one point that the Deepwater and SBI programs are “emblematic” of the contracting problems discussed in yesterday’s NYT editorial.

Furthermore, the GAO and DHS Inspector General’s concerns have kept the Department on GAO's “high-risk” list (pdf), meaning that the stakes involved are high and much remains to be accomplished. As Congress continues with its hearings and investigations, it’s also possible that even more problems and cases of corruption will come to light. Finally, if his past is any prelude to the future, Perry will return to the scene like a villain in a low-budget horror movie sequel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From what we've found, it appears Philip Perry may have also been involved with the Ramos/Compean prosecution and resulting 'confusion' over statements, testimony, investigation by Homeland Security. Perry resigned this month to 'spend more time with family'.

Remember Skinner is the one who admitted to congressmen last week that Homeland Security had 'misled them' about statements Ramos and Compean made to the Homeland security investigator.

Perry's wife Elizabeth (daughter of Dick Cheney), was #2 at the State Dept for Mid eastern affairs until recently.

Agents Ramos and Compean, the saga continues....

Now it's a cold prison cell every day,
Bein' hunted by the Gangs they used to put away!
Find out who, find out how,
Justice locks up good men now.
Slick Texas lawyer Sutton's makin' political hay!


Glenn BECK: Congressman, why is this happening? What is the agenda? There are secret combinations happening in Washington. They`re not telling us the truth.

Cong. CULBERSON: I`m told that when asked directly by Sarah Carter, a reporter with the "Valley News" in California -- she`s a reporter who`s been following this. Sarah Carter, I am told, asked Johnny Sutton directly what message does it send to Border Patrol agents for you to prosecute these two agents for doing their duty.

Johnny Sutton`s reaction was, I am told, what message does it send to Hispanic voters. I think that`s an absolute insult to Hispanic Americans, because if you are a law abiding citizen, you want the law enforced, my neighbors -- my neighborhood to be safe and my kids to be safe. We must enforce the law. We need to have the rule of law and order on the border, Glenn. You`re going to have the rule of ploto o plomo (ph), which is the rule of the drug lords. Silver or lead.


More photos here from the rally: http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=176402



(the 3rd referred to here is officer Gilmer, also prosecuted by Johnny Sutton for protecting our borders!)

Congressman: Convicted agent's injuries are worse than reported
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer

An imprisoned former Border Patrol agent who was beaten in his sleep has injuries that are more serious than previously reported, said a congressman on Friday.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., met with Ignacio Ramos, who was convicted in March for the nonfatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. Ramos is serving an 11-year sentence at Yazoo Correctional Complex in Mississippi.

Tancredo said he was astonished at the injuries on Ramos' body, which he said did not coincide with reports from the prison earlier this week that described his injuries as "minor."

"His bruises were deep and severe," Tancredo said. "His arm, chest and back are black and blue with broken blood vessels on his arm. It was terrible."


Must see video from 2/10/2007 rally for Ramos and Compean. A Brown Supremacist descrates our flag and AMERICANS tell him what they think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9D-5aVHTvM

Border agents to be fired for testimonies
sbsun.com ^ | 02/10/2007 | Sara A. Carter

Two Border Patrol agents who testified against two co-workers convicted of shooting a drug smuggler will be fired for changing their stories about events surrounding the shooting, according to documents obtained by The Sun's sister newspaper, the Ontario-based Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Sources inside the Border Patrol also say Oscar Juarez, a third agent who testified against Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, resigned from the agency last month shortly before he was to be fired.

All three agents gave sworn testimony against Ramos and Compean for the U.S. Attorney's Office, which successfully prosecuted the shooting case in March. The three agents were given immunity in exchange for their testimony despite changing their accounts of the incident several times.

"When you give deals to witnesses like immunity, the government usually gets the testimony (it wants)," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, a former judge and prosecutor. "This case is a perfect example."

False allegations in border case
The washington Times ^ | February 10, 2007 | Editorial

In a meeting in September, officials from the Department of Homeland Security office of the Inspector General briefed Reps. John Culberson, Ted Poe, Kenny Marchant and Michael McCaul on a strange story about a two border patrol agents facing criminal charges for shooting a Mexican national, who was offered immunity in exchange for his testimony, even though he was in the United States illegally and driving a truck loaded with 743 pounds of marijuana near Fabens, Texas. The DHS officials explained the case in such a way as to effectively forestall serious inquiry into the case by the four Texas Republicans. During the course of the investigation, the officials claimed, the agents had stated that at no point during the incident were they in fear for their lives and that they were out "to shoot a Mexican."

But neither charge against Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean is supported by the DHS inspector general's report, released this week after four months and numerous congressional requests. The report contradicts the first claim: In his sworn statement, included in the report, Compean says he and the Mexican national, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, "was pointing something shiny with his left hand. It looked like a gun. This is when I started shooting." The second claim, that the agents wanted "to shoot a Mexican," is never made in the report and appears to be blatantly untrue. Said Mr. Culberson: "[DHS Inspector General] Richard Skinner admitted yesterday under oath that his top deputies gave Members of Congress false information painting Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean as rogue cops."

Newt Gingrich, Conservative? NOT on immigration!

Some wise man said, "The only indicator of future behavior is past behavior".

There is lots of hype lately from the K St Crowd, that Gingrich helped found, to push him for president as the only "conservative" in the race. Newt has his finger in the wind, and is finding that Americans want immigration controlled, so now he's suddenly on "our side". Don't believe it!

Let me remind you of a few FACTS.

In his much touted 'Contract with America'....NOT one word about immigration. In fact only recently has Newt even talked about immigration enforcement. In the letter below, he joins other open border lobbyists proclaiming Bush's amnesty is the 'only way to go'.

Newt's voting record on immigration....pretty bad! Per Numbers USA and others: " Leans toward higher immigration, population growth, foreign labor. I can find nothing, in all the years that Gingrich was in office where he ever introduced or worked for legislation that would control our borders.

His close and long lasting association with Grover Norquist (open border White house policy maker), Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed should cause concern.

I won't even get into all of Newts money and corruption scandals over these many years or the fact that Newt never met a NAFTA/CAFTA type trade agreement he didn't love.

Conservatives Join Together to Support Immigration and Immigration Reform

Arlington, VA – The following "Conservative Statement of Principles on Immigration" appeared today in the Wall Street Journal. If you have any questions regarding the statement please contact Tamar Jacoby, Manhattan Institute, at (973) 744-6117 or Stuart Anderson, National Foundation for American Policy, at (703) 351-5042.

The Wall Street Journal

February 6, 2004

Welcome to America

Fifteen authors offer this "Conservative Statement of Principles on Immigration":

In his farewell address to the nation, President Reagan said: "I've spoken of the Shining City all my political life . . . [I]n my mind it was . . . teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and heart to get here."

America is a nation of immigrants. Except for Native American Indians, everyone in this country came to America or is here due to the good fortune that a parent, grandparent, or other relation came before them. Keeping a door open to those with the "will and heart to get here" is vital to our economy, our culture, our role in the world, and our historic tradition as a land of freedom and opportunity.

Conservatives believe in legal immigration. We believe that America grows stronger by welcoming those who seek to better their families, work in our industries, and find liberty and refuge from oppression.

Conservatives oppose illegal immigration. We believe there is a right way and a wrong way to immigrate to the U.S. However, as conservatives we believe that our laws must reflect reality and common sense, be fiscally responsible, and avoid the loss of innocent life. Our current immigration laws do not pass this test.

Between 1990 and 2000, the U.S. increased the number of Border Patrol Agents from 3,600 to 10,000. During that same period illegal immigration rose by 5.5 million. Moreover, over the past eight years, more than 2,000 men, women, and children have died attempting to cross into America and seek the opportunity to work and achieve a better life. The status quo is unacceptable and clinging to the status quo -- or tougher versions of it -- is neither conservative nor principled. It has become clear that the only viable approach to reform is combining enforcement with additional legal avenues for those who wish to work in our economy, while also addressing the situation of those already here in the U.S.

President Bush has proposed a new legal path to work in the U.S. through a temporary worker program that will match willing workers with willing employers. We applaud the president and believe his approach holds great promise to reduce illegal immigration and establish a humane, orderly, and economically sensible approach to migration that will aid homeland security and free up border-security assets to focus on genuine threats. The president has shown courage by calling on Congress to place reality over rhetoric and recognize that those already working here outside the law are unlikely to leave. Congress can fulfill its role by establishing sufficient increases in legal immigration and paths to permanent residence to enable more workers to stay, assimilate, and become part of America.

Immigrants are crucial to our competitiveness and future labor and economic growth, as well as our military strength. Our country's welcoming attitude to immigrants will permit the U.S. to grow and prosper, as the populations of many other nations stagnate and decline. Each generation of Americans must connect our nation's past to its future and in so doing keep President Reagan's vision of the "Shining City" alive.

Co-authored by Stuart Anderson, Jeff Bell, Linda Chavez, Larry Cirignano, Cesar V. Conda, Francis Fukuyama, Richard Gilder, Newt Gingrich, Ed Goeas, Tamar Jacoby, Jack Kemp, Steve Moore, Grover Norquist, Richard W. Rahn and Malcolm Wallop.

SIGNATORES: (Names you need to know, they are the enemy!)

Stuart Anderson
Executive Director
National Foundation for American Policy

Jeff Bell
Principal
Capital City Partners

Linda Chavez
President
Center for Equal Opportunity

Larry Cirignano
President
Catholic Alliance/CatholicVote.org

Cesar V. Conda
Former Assistant for Domestic Policy to Vice President Cheney and
Board Member of Empower America

Francis Fukuyama
Dean of Faculty
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Richard Gilder
Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC

Hon. Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives

Ed Goeas
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Tarrance Group

Tamar Jacoby
Senior Fellow
The Manhattan Institute

Hon. Jack Kemp
1996 Republican Vice Presidential nominee, former Representative from New York, and Co-director of Empower America

Steve Moore
Senior Fellow
Cato Institute

Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform

Richard W. Rahn
Senior Fellow
Discovery Institute

Hon. Malcolm Wallop
Former U.S. Senator from Wyoming and Chairman of Frontiers of Freedom

About the National Foundation for American Policy (Newt's group!)

Started in 2003, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to public policy research on trade, immigration, and other issues of national importance. Its Advisory Board members include Columbia University economist Jagdish Bhagwati, Ohio University economist Richard Vedder, Rep. Guy Vander Jagt (ret.), Cesar Conda, until recently Vice President Dick Cheney's chief domestic policy adviser, and other prominent individuals.

These are the people who would make policy in a Newt Gingrich administration!
And it won't be policy you approve of! Please remember Cesar Conda, Grover Norquist, Steven Moore are responsible for destroying immigration reform in 1996 as well as Prop. 187 in California.

Conservative Concerns (WAKE UP GOP/BUSH!)

Bush's Conservative Base Frets
Key Issues Are Losing Focus

Wall Street Journal: January 25, 2007; Page A8

"Yesterday morning, the weekly meeting of conservatives that is convened by antitax activist Grover Norquist, a White House ally, was marked by "tense exchanges" with administration press secretary Tony Snow over border enforcement and Mr. Bush's immigration proposals, according to conservative activists."

"I think the president left a lot of conservatives shaking their heads" by avoiding the issues atop their agenda, said Bill Lauderback, executive vice president at the American Conservative Union.

Ex-Border Patrol Agent in Prison for Shooting Mexican Drug Runner Assaulted by Inmates

(Best coverage we've seen on this!)

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FOX/AP One of two former Border Patrol agents sentenced to more than a decade in prison for shooting and wounding a suspected Mexican drug smuggler was beaten by a group of inmates last weekend, a Texas congressman confirmed Tuesday to FOXNews.com.

Ignacio Ramos, who was transferred to the Yazoo City Federal Correctional Complex in Mississippi last month to begin serving his 12-year sentence for the February 2005 shooting of Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, was placed in a special housing unit after the incident pending an investigation, according to T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council.

"We received verbal confirmation from the prison folks that he was assaulted and went to the infirmary and was treated for injuries," Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, told FOXNews.com, adding that he has requested a written report of the incident.

Another agent, Jose Compean, is serving 11 years in another facility for the same border shooting.

Prison authorities, in a statement issued Monday, said that Ramos reported to the staff on Saturday around 10:15 p.m. ET that he was assaulted and that he sustained some 'minor' bruises and abrasions, Bonner said.

Some members of Ramos' family claim the assault happened after the airing of an "America's Most Wanted" segment featuring both Ramos and Compean. They say the attack happened after Ramos fell asleep.

"Nacho was assaulted Saturday night by about five illegal immigrants who were yelling at him in Spanish, 'Maten a la migra' — which means 'kill the Border Patrol agent,'" one family member said, according to Grassfire.org, a group that has petitioned President Bush to pardon the two agents and has been working with the agents' families.

Grassfire.org and Ramos' family dispute the prison report saying he suffered minor injuries. Grassfire.org in a press release says Ramos suffered "multiple and severe injuries." The release also said that a family member claims Ramos' attackers beat him with repeated blows and kicks and that he suffered wounds to his back, shoulder, arms and head. There also is concern from Ramos' family that he was not given medical treatment immediately after the incident and may not have received medical attention for up to 48 hours, the group said.

"Our government has betrayed these agents," said Grassfire president Steve Elliott. "And now they have put these men in mortal danger. I am frightened for the lives of these two family men. This is beyond outrage, and I am calling on grassroots Americans to express their outrage directly to the White House — demanding the president pardon agents Ramos and Compean before it's too late."

Bonner said Ramos believes that he was assaulted by four or five people and that his injuries are more than 'minor."

"I believe him more than I believe the Department of Justice and its attempt to minimize this," Bonner said. "After all, this is the same Department of Justice that's tried to cover up the facts surrounding the" case, he added.

The two agents' supporters — which include a slew of lawmakers on Capital Hill — claim the Justice Department and prosecutor Johnny Sutton did not appropriately handle the case.

Ramos and Compean were found guilty by a jury of not only shooting Aldrete-Davila, but also of trying to cover up the incident. Supporters say it was wrong for Sutton to go after the border agents and not the drug dealer who was given immunity for testifying against them, and that the Justice Department has been less than forthcoming about certain facts surrounding the case.

The transcripts of the trial have not yet been released by the court.

In response to the reports of the prison assault, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., wrote to President Bush requesting an investigation into the incident. The letter also requested that Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin be discharged from his position if it's discovered that the proper precautions were not taken to protect Ramos.

"Placing these two agents in general population, especially when assuring Congress it would not happen, constitutes an enormous dereliction of duty by the Administration and the Bureau of Prisons," said the Feb. 6 letter to Bush. "The families of agents Compean and Ramos deserve an immediate response. Further, please ensure that segregation from general population occurs immediately."

On Jan. 17, Hunter requested that both agents be put in isolation for their own safety. He and others were concerned that if jailed with many of the illegal immigrants and drug runners they helped put away, the safety and well-being of Ramos and Compean would be threatened.

"The assault against agent Ramos clearly demonstrates the severe risk involved with incorporating Border Patrol agents into general prison populations," Hunter said in a statement Tuesday. "An overwhelming number of federal inmates are non U.S. citizens who have been apprehended by the Border Patrol. The danger to agents Compean and Ramos was immediately apparent and the attack against agent Ramos could have been prevented."

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said he spoke to several of Ramos' family members Monday night. The Ramos family wasn't aware of the situation until late Monday, when they called him to wish him well on his 38th birthday. Ramos told his family that he was attacked by five men who beat him severely for being a former law enforcement agent.

Tancredo said one of the assailants has been identified by Ramos and is now being charged with assault.

"The administration has for too long turned their back on law enforcement and left them to fend for themselves," Tancredo said. "These men have been the victims of what the Bush administration’s border enforcement policy has always been. Mr. President, pardon these men now."

Bonner said Ramos likely asked to be put in general population because when in isolation, inmates are only allowed one phone call a month. Isolated prisoners also normally are in lockdown for 23 hours a day and only allowed out for one hour.

"Why they couldn't bend that rule given the fact they have law enforcement agent in custody … you kind of go stir crazy" in isolation, Bonner said.

"I don't blame him [Ramos], I blame the folks in charge for not being reasonable about that. One phone call a month sounds like punishment to me for someone who's been acting up. But here's a guy you're putting in isolation because you need to protect him."

Poe agreed, saying that it's Ramos' choice whether he wants to be put in isolation or general population, but wherever he is, it's the job of the federal government and the prison to ensure his safety.

"It's just another example that the federal government doesn't protect Border Patrol agents on the border and doesn't protect them in prison," Poe said.

"The prison authorities, especially the federal prison system, are experts at protecting inmates from harm from other inmates ... they've been doing this for years. Why aren't they protecting Ramos?"

Poe, who said he speaks to the wives of Compean and Ramos regularly, said Compean is in isolation. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Compean is serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton, Ohio, a low-security facility housing male offenders.