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Troops return to US Capital after 10 months in Iraq

VOA News — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:16:32 +0000

Hugs and kisses welcomed U.S. soldiers from Washington’s National Guard when they returned home March 18 after serving in Iraq. It is the first time they have seen their families in almost a year. And for some, the stay will be short lived. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains.

The moment they had dreamed about finally arrived.

And for many of these soldiers it was better than they had imagined.

“I thought I would get off the bus, get in a car and go home, but it’s good to see all these people,” said First Sergeant Terrance Smith.

First Sergeant Terrance Smith never expected such a big welcome.
His wife and 7-year-old daughter had been waiting since Smith left for Iraq 11 months ago.

“I thought I was going to be more cool, calm and collected, but as soon as I saw him I was like, I missed him.,” said Sergeant Smith’s wife. “ll the love I have just started flooding back I couldn’t’ stop touching him.”

Smith left Iraq at a time when the country was holding its second parliamentary elections since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

“From what I saw, I think we’re ready to leave,” he said “I think we’re ready to give it to the Iraqis. My unit worked closely with the local nationals, and I think they are very competent and ready. They want to take control themselves.”

But before the Iraqis can fully take control, they need a stable government. It may take months before a new government is formed because election results continue to trickle in. During the last parliamentary elections in 2005, it took five months to form a new government. Pentagon officials say the 96,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq, will continue to stay there during the transition. Once a peaceful transfer of power is complete, the U.S. is prepared to draw down its military forces in large numbers.

Many of these soldiers consider themselves lucky to be able to leave Iraq.

“Its’ very exciting,” said Smith. “I couldn’t wait to get back home.”

These men and women may be back from Iraq, but some of them will not be home for long. They’ll be deployed again. Their destination: Afghanistan

Loren Taylor’s fiancee, Staff Sergeant Christopher Miller, is one of the soldiers who expects to be heading for Afghanistan.

“You know I support him in whatever he does and he supports his country so I’m on board,” said Loren Taylor.

Miller says he will first focus his attention on getting some rest.

“There’s no words to describe it, I’m glad to be home,” said Staff Sergeant Christopher Miller.

And Miller is home just in time for his wedding day.

Sergeant Miller: “Are we publicizing this?

Loren Taylor: “Go ahead.”

Sergeant Miller: “April 23rd.”

The date to remember for many U.S. troops still in Iraq is still more than a year away – the end of 2011. That’s when President Barack Obama says a full withdrawal of American forces will be complete.

Arizona sheriff launches immigration sweep

News Bites — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:55:14 +0000

PHOENIX – The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona has launched a two-day, countywide crime and immigration sweep that authorities say will focus on drop houses, drug violators and human smuggling vehicles.

Four hundred deputies and volunteer posse members are taking part in the patrols. The sweep, which began Thursday, is Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s 14th since early 2008.

During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city — in some cases heavily Latino areas — to seek out traffic violators and arrest other alleged lawbreakers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100319/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_patrols

White House pushing amnesty and national ID cards

Jim Kouri — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:10:47 +0000

President Barack Obama is already planning his next sweeping change for American society after he gets his Obamacare passed in both houses of Congress: fulfillment of his campaign promise to revamp U.S. immigration policy as part of his fundamental transformation of the United States.

On Thursday, Obama mentioned a proposal by Democrat Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, that features a first-ever national identification card for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want a job.
In a blog posted online by The Washington Post, Senators Schumer and Graham stated “our immigration system is badly broken.” Graham, who has angered conservatives time and time again, and Schumer outlined plan revamp U.S. immigration policy.

While the proposal for state-of-the-art identification cards are a new development in the Senate, other parts of the Schumer-Graham plan are old hat including a promise to upgrade border security, creating a new process for admitting temporary workers, and implementing a “tough but fair path to legalization for those already here,” a euphemism for illegal alien amnesty.

Obama met last week with Schumer and Graham, and the White House said a sweeping agreement dealing with as many as 12 million illegal immigrants was unlikely to get through Congress without support from both parties. Such a measure would have difficulty advancing before November’s congressional election especially with the epidemic of violence occurring at the U.S.-Mexico border and reports that Islamic terrorist groups are recruiting and training would-be terrorists in Central and South American countries.

It’s been widely reported that illegal aliens comprise upwards of 27 percent of the US prison and jail population. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — two agencies within the Department of Homeland Security — claim in several reports that they’ve apprehended over 100,000 criminal aliens whose offenses go far beyond violation of immigration laws and regulations.

Sadly, only about 25 percent of expenses for imprisoning criminal aliens is reimbursed by the federal government to state and local governments. This creates a hardship for taxpayers in states with high incarceration rates for criminal aliens. The proponents of open borders or lax immigration enforcement always point to the benefits derived from illegal immigration such as the amount of taxes they pay into the government system. Evidence, however, exists that refutes those claims. For instance, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence that suggests a large number of illegal aliens are paid “off-the-books” therefore those wages are not taxed.

The National Research Council has estimated that the net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year, with most government expenditures on immigrants coming from state and local coffers, while most taxes paid by immigrants who actually do pay taxes go to the federal treasury.

The net deficit is caused by a low level of tax payments by immigrants, because they are disproportionately low-skilled and thus earn low wages, and a higher rate of consumption of government services, both because of their relative poverty and their higher fertility.

This is especially true of illegal immigration. Even though illegal aliens make little use of welfare, from which they are generally barred, the costs of illegal immigration in terms of government expenditures for education, criminal justice, and emergency medical care are significant.

Californian officials have estimated that the net cost to taxpayers in order to provide government services to illegal immigrants approached $3 billion during a single fiscal year. The fact that states must bear the cost of federal failure turns illegal immigration, in effect, into one of the largest unfunded federal mandates existing today.

In addition, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, even with free trade, the United States continues to enjoy a higher real wage than other nations, due to the superiority of US technology. If taken to an extreme and the US removed all barriers to migration, most foreign workers would move to the United States, lured by the higher wages available here; Foreign labor would essentially cease to exist.

However, with all labor now in the United States, the prices of goods would return to their level of self-sufficiency, prior to the opening of trade. That is, perfectly free migration entirely eliminates the gains from trade that US natives had enjoyed. World income rose with the migration, but the natives of foreign countries in this case received more than all of this rise, since the income of US natives declined. With the world’s majority of low-wage workers in the US, there would be tremendous damage to free trade and its benefits, with US middle and upper-middle class workers suffering the brunt of declining wages.

The urge for a utopian state of existence and a desire to make all things equal by the American Left has given way to a desire simply to make all things equal sans utopia. In their passion for a neo-Marxist level for the masses, they’ve decided consciously or subconsciously that if they could not bring the World’s population up to the American level of prosperity and wealth, then they will bring US citizens down to the World’s level of poverty and misery. For this is a result of seeing free trade as a zero-sum entity, and self-alienation of the American Left from their own country, the USA.

The problem isn’t about the need for new laws; the problem is about the lack of enforcement of existing laws. The US Constitution provides the executive branch with a number of inherent powers such as the enforcement of immigration laws.

The Constitution also mandates that the President protect American sovereignty and the American people. That is the number one priority for our government — of it should be. And congress is mandated to provide domestic tranquility for Americans. Criminal alien gangbangers do not add to our domestic tranquility.

Why is it suddenly necessary for congress to pass laws on illegal immigration when we haven’t been enforcing the laws that already exist. The executive branch has the power to add border agents, equipment and other resources. The President has the power to use the military if necessary to enhance border protection. Passing laws is an easy, painless process. The trick is to enforce those laws.

And why isn’t the US government arresting illegal aliens while they are protesting in our city’s streets all across the country? The protest organizers, are said to be sponsored by left-wing groups including Open Borders and MEChA, are protesting the border security bill that passed the US House of Representatives in December and is still awaiting passage by the US Senate.

The University of Texas at El Paso recently conducted a study that found the following: Treating illegal immigrants in hospitals accounts for nearly one quarter of the uncompensated costs at border county hospitals in Cochise County. That county in Arizona spends tens of thousands of dollars just picking up trash left at campsites by these illegals. Prosecuting and jailing illegals costs this county an additional $5 million a year. And 25 percent of Cochise County’s budget is paid for health care for the uninsured, the majority of whom are illegally in the country.

In another study of a sample group of 55,000 criminal aliens, it was discovered they accounted for over 400,000 arrests and more than 700,000 criminal acts including felonies. In Los Angeles, the city that’s hosting the protest — which was whole-heartedly endorsed by its mayor — 95% of the outstanding arrest warrants for homicides are for illegal aliens and 65% of all felony warrants are for so-called undocumented immigrants. Are they committing the crimes Americans won’t commit?

Sources: National Criminal Justice Research Service, Department of Justice, The Center for Immigration Studies, National Institute of Justice.

President, Congress approval ratings continue to slide

Steve Adcock — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:04:25 +0000

As the president continues to rally in support of an expensive and unpopular health care bill, and the House Speaker ponders ways to pass the bill without an actual vote, Congressional and Presidential approval ratings continue to sink.

According to a recent Gallup poll, only 46% of those surveyed approve of the job that President Obama is doing, while 48% disapprove, serving as the worst approval rating yet in Obama’s still-young presidency.

Only 16% of those surveyed approve of Congress, however, leaving a whopping 80% of those who disapprove. Congress’ low, according to Gallup, remains at 14% measured back in July of 2008.

Read Gallup’s complete survey results here.

Caterpillar: Health care bill would cost it $100M

News Bites — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:48:15 +0000

Dow Jones Newswires | Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by theU.S. House of Representatives would increase the company’s health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone.

In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Caterpillar urged lawmakers to vote against the plan “because of the substantial cost burdens it would place on our shareholders, employees and retirees.”

Caterpillar, the world’s largest construction machinery manufacturer by sales, said it’s particularly opposed to provisions in the bill that would expand Medicare taxes and mandate insurance coverage. The legislation would require nearly all companies to provide health insurance for their employees or face large fines.

http://www.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2010/03/caterpillar-health-care-bill-would-cost-it-100m.html

The truth about health insurance profits

Will Bridges — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:49:41 +0000

Throughout the course of his pitch for Universal Healthcare, President Obama has repeatedly impugned the character of the health insurance industry. The President’s onlookers have been regaled with tales of health insurance providers nefariously stripping their customers of coverage in pursuit of their allegedly massive profit margins.

Reality, as is often the case, has something different to say than the President.

Current market data, as of today, shows the healthcare insurance industry coming in at 88th place among industries for profit margins, at 4.4%.

Last week, the industry ranked 86th.

If the Health Plan providers are as sinister as the President claims, then what industries are apparently even worse?

Air Services, Railroads, Biotechnology, Auto Parts Stores, Toys and Games, Cleaning Products, Restaurants, and many more ALL routinely boast significantly higher profit margins on average than the likes of Aetna, AMERIGROUP, Humana, and United Healthgroup.

Yet, while crusading against private industry and lamenting the denial of claims, the President fails to mention one of the worst offenders of all. Namely, because this offender happens to be the one he supports – government. The American Medical Association’s 2008 National Health Insurer Report Card showed that Medicare topped all the major private providers in percentage of claims denied for the year.

Of course, in fairness to the president, things aren’t going so well for Medicare. Far from enjoying 4.4% profit margins like its private counterparts, Medicare is itself bankrupt, and simultaneously helping to bankrupt America. The President’s 2011 budget shows over $1.4 Trillion in expected expenditures for both Medicare and Medicaid.

Interestingly, there is one related industry that ranks very highly. Major drug manufacturers, coming in at 3rd place with 22.2% profit margins. Last week the industry ranked 6th, with 21.6% profit margins. While much of those impressive margins can be attributed to those firms’ intellectual property rights and ability that dominate the markets for the new drugs they create (those margins, in turn, allowing for reinvestment into research that will develop the new drugs of tomorrow), some can also be attributed to the lack of free trade in America when it comes to prescription drugs.

Limited government advocates have long called for free trade, specifically with Canada, for prescription drugs. Competition leads to lower drug prices for consumers; and the lower the cost for consumers – both individuals and the insurance providers who cover them – the lower the costs of Healthcare. The same effect could be felt in Healthcare plans themselves through instituting free trade within our own borders and allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines.

Lowering costs – isn’t that what the President claims this is all about?

House poised to pass whopping $940 billion health bill

Steve Adcock — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:11:23 +0000

Democrats in the House of Representatives are preparing to enjoy passage of a monstrous health care spending bill that will burden the taxpayer with an enormous $940 billion tab.

Kill The Bill

The spending plan, aimed at “covering” more than 32 million uninsured Americans over 10 years, includes a series of tax credits for selected classes of people and an expansion of the Medicaid program. It places further requirements on insurance companies on how health coverage is administered and forbids capping health coverage for individuals.

“It would restructure one-sixth of the economy, covering 95 percent of eligible Americans, in the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare was created in 1965,” reported the Associated Press.

“It would also impose new obligations on individuals and businesses, requiring for the first time that most Americans carry health insurance and penalizing medium-sized and large companies that don’t provide coverage for their workers.

President Obama believes the bill will bring economic security to the American people and hold insurance companies accountable and pleaded with Congress to consider its passage. Obama canceled a scheduled trip to Asia in preparation for a possible health care vote this Sunday.

The war is on between Democrats and Republicans on this hotly-contended issue. “We will do everything that we can do to make sure this bill never, ever, ever passes,” scorned Republican John Boehner of Ohio.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is considering a means to pass the health legislation without first bringing it up for a vote. Pelosi said a parliamentary technique could be used to “deem” passage of the $940 billion health bill if House members vote for a less-contentious package of changes instead.

Constitutional questions regarding that procedure’s legitimacy remain alive and well.

“Any process that does not result in the House taking of yays and nays on statutory text identical to what passed the Senate is constitutionally problematic,” said Professor Jonathan Adler of the Center for Business Law & Regulation. Adler continued by expressing doubts that the U.S. Supreme Court would declare the move unconstitutional. Rather, penning the matter up as a “nonjusticiable political question” is more likely, effectively meaning it is a question that the courts should not answer.

John McCain’s attack on liberty

Chuck Baldwin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:50:03 +0000

Anyone paying attention knows that John McCain has been a Big-Government Globalist Neocon (BGGN) for virtually his entire senatorial career. As with many BGGNs hiding out in the Republican Party, McCain likes to talk about smaller government, but his track record is littered with the promotion of one big government program after another. But, what else would one expect from a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)?

Lately, however, McCain has outdone himself. He has introduced two bills in the US Senate that are about as Machiavellian as they could be. I am referring to S.3081, a bill that would authorize the federal government to detain American citizens indefinitely without trial, and S.3002, a bill that would authorize the federal government to regulate vitamins, minerals, and virtually all health and natural food products.

According to Examiner.com, “Last week, John McCain introduced a bill into the U.S. Senate which, if passed, would actually allow U.S. citizens to be arrested and detained indefinitely, all without Miranda rights or ever being charged with a crime.”

The Examiner report continued by saying “This bill, introduced by McCain, who despite overwhelming evidence, claims to be a ‘conservative,’ would not only take away our right to a trial, but would also allow the federal government to arrest and imprison anyone the current administration deems hostile.

“Of course, that would be the same administration whose Homeland Security Secretary has classified veterans, retired law enforcement, Ron Paul [and Chuck Baldwin] supporters, and conservatives as ‘terrorists.’”

The Examiner report concluded by saying “If it was not clear before, it should be now that John McCain has as little respect for the Constitution as he does for our borders.”

Amen!

If Juan McCain gets his way, your constitutional right to a speedy trial by jury is gone, as well as your constitutional right to Habeas Corpus. But, of course, they would attempt to justify this by claiming it is being done in the name of national security and the war on terrorism.

See the Examiner report at:

http://tinyurl.com/examiner-mccain-s3081

Regarding McCain’s desire for the federal government to take over the vitamin industry, attorney Jonathan Emord wrote, “If you had any doubt about whether John McCain is a limited government conservative, you may put that doubt to rest–he is not. On February 3, 2010, John McCain introduced to the United States Senate the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010. Reflecting upon this poorly written bill, I am struck by the fact that John McCain apparently sees little difference between fissile material and dietary supplements. He is intent on regulating supplements as if they were radioactive enriched uranium rather than bioactive vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and botanicals that more often than not help people.

“The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 enjoys support from the most liberal members of Congress. It is an invitation for the FDA to assume broad new powers and replicate here the system now operating in Europe over dietary supplements where dietary ingredients are presumed adulterated and unlawful to sell unless pre-approved by the government. In short, good bye free enterprise, good bye limited government, and hello more heavy handed, arbitrary and punitive FDA bias against the beleaguered dietary supplement industry.”

See Emord’s column at:

http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan118.htm

Please remember, this is the same John McCain that, during the 2008 Presidential campaign, said he would “order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America.” Of course, McCain didn’t explain where this authority would come from, because such a proposal has no legal or constitutional authority. And, by the way, this one little sentence, if implemented, would cost taxpayers some $300 billion.

McCain also said he wanted to tap Mr. Climate Change Wacko himself, Al Gore, “to work in his administration on developing a new and much tougher U.N.-sponsored global warming treaty.”

(Source: Cliff Kincaid. See his column at:
http://www.newswithviews.com/Kincaid/cliff260.htm )

This is the same John McCain who addressed the Hoover Institution on May 1, 2007, and said if he were elected President, he would create a new international organization known as “The League of Democracies” (LD).

In advancing the LD, McCain said, “We should go further and start bringing democratic peoples and nations from around the world into one common organization, a worldwide League of Democracies.” He then added, “The new League of Democracies would form the core of an international order . . .”

See McCain’s speech to the Hoover Institution at:

http://www.cfr.org/publication/13252/

If McCain and his CFR buddies get their way, this new LD would be a United Nations on steroids! As I said all over America on the campaign trail in 2008, “John McCain is a globalist.” Of course, so is Barack Obama. In fact, every President since (and including) George H.W. Bush has been a full-fledged, rotten-to-the-core globalist.

And, yes, this is the same Juan McCain who is one of the primary movers and shakers (along with Obama, Lindsey Graham, and G.W. Bush) attempting to provide amnesty to illegal aliens and open America’s borders to illegal immigration.

And now McCain wants the federal government to take over the vitamin industry, and he wants to give the federal government the power to jail American citizens indefinitely without trial.

The citizens of Arizona can do the American people–and liberty itself–a great favor this year by giving Senator John McCain his walking papers. Big-Government dinosaurs like McCain are an albatross around the neck of freedom and constitutional government. If we don’t send them packing now, the shackles they put around our throats will become insufferable.

New York latest state to freeze refund check payments

Steve Adcock — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:41:18 +0000

The state of New York has stopped sending out tax refund checks, totaling nearly a half billion dollars in over payments, to residents due to the state’s cash crunch. Checks won’t resume until April 1^st.

New York State Capital Building in Albany, NY

“I cannot help but wonder what would happen if New York residents delayed their payments to the government, citing “financial strain” as the cause,” said Steve Adcock of SmallGovTimes.com.

“I apologize that we had to do this. I hope it serves notice on the public of how serious our financial situation is,” Gov. David Paterson said.

Paterson argued that the damage to the state’s coffers would have been far more severe if the state didn’t delay tax refunds to its residents.

“Tell that to people who were counting on the refund money to get them through these tough economic times,” argued local CBS affiliate, WCBSTV.com.

“You got to pay them, you got to pay them, but when they got to pay us? Don’t worry about it,” said George Cedalvi of Astoria, NY.

“I don’t think it’s fair. People need the money,” said Anthony Gatti of Greenpoint. “Seems like they’re pulling out all the stops to dig into the people’s pockets to make up for the mismanagement of state funding.”

For the record, if residents are late sending tax checks to the government, they pay a penalty.

State Department to blow nearly $500 million in Italy

Steve Adcock — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:14:15 +0000

According to a report by the Washington Times, the State Department is preparing to help fund two separate art and architecture exhibits in Venice, Italy, a move that will cost the American taxpayer a sum of $450,000.

U.S. State Department

Obviously, our government is not feeling the pinch of economic strain.

State Department officials defend the expenditures, arguing that the Venice exhibit allows American artists to showcase their work and demonstrate creativity from the other side of the pond.

Naturally, small government activists and government watchdog groups abhor the idea.

“This is a time of severe financial crisis for the U.S. government,” remarked Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union. “We really have reached a point where our fiscal future is at stake, and that can mean some regrettable but vital decisions.”

“This is yet another example of extreme government waste at the hands of an unaccountable and completely reckless political class,” said Steve Adcock of the SmallGovTimes.com web site.

The State Department plans on funding artists to the tune of $250/day for logging, $90 for meals and several thousand for translation services, among other smaller handouts.

SmallGovTimes.com

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