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Democracy for America personal blog for Tom Hughes
He can read. Can he follow the directions?
Some reports are issued and just gather dust. And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody. To show you how important this one is, I read it. --President George W. Bush commenting on the report of the Iraq Study Group
I guess that means he normally doesn't read reports?
This report must have pictures or something.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6220022.stm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
best site for links for ISG discussion
from Phil's link:
The main authors of the report that aims to change US strategy in Iraq have urged President George Bush to follow all of their recommendations.
Former Secretary of State James Baker said the 79 points they put forward were not a "fruit salad" to be picked over, but a comprehensive strategy.
Mr Bush has said that he would "seriously consider" the report.
However, he appears already to have ruled out some proposals, like talking unconditionally to Syria and Iran.
The News Hour provided the above clip and an interview with Justice O'Connor and Vernon Jordan. Very informative. (O'Connor and Jordan are members of the ISG)
s/be yesterday's News Hour.
and Bushie is out of touch with 75% of Americans on the issue of talks with Iran and Syria.
Americans Overwhelmingly Support Direct Talks With Iran And SyriaOne of the core recommendations of the Iraq Study Group was direct engagement with Iran and Syria without preconditions. President Bush quickly dismissed the idea:
If people come to the table to discuss Iraq they need to come understanding their responsibilities to not fund terrorists, to help this young democracy survive, to help with the economics of the country. And if people are not committed, if Syria and Iran is not committed to that concept, then they shouldn’t bother to show up.
The American people, however, overwhelmingly support direct talks with both countries. From a new poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org:
75% of Americans support talks with both countries.
US Democratic chairman calls for 'immediate change' in Iraq
Fri Dec 8, 8:36 AM ET
US Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean called on the United States to make an "immediate change" to its Iraq policy and rebuild its ties with its allies.
Speaking at a congress of European socialists in Portugal's second-city Oporto, Dean said the findings of the Iraq Study Group "reflect what the American people said loudly in the mid-term elections last month: the moment has come for an immediate change in US policy on Iraq."
Earlier in the week the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and 9/11 commission co-chair Lee Hamilton, made a series of proposals for an urgent course change in Iraq which have been met with some skepticism by US President George Bush.
But Dean said the report showed Washington was "moving toward the position of the Democrats which is to start a gradual withdrawal of troops as soon as possible."
He said the Democrats had the opportunity to make their voice heard in Washington after gaining control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994.
"And what they said loudly is this: it is time for the US to renew its ties with the rest of the world. It is time for us to treat our allies with respect and honesty," he said to applause from participants at the congress.
The seventh congress of European socialists was attended by leaders of left-wing governments in Spain, Italy and Portugal as well as by party leaders from across Europe.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061208/pl_afp/usiraqpoliticsdean_061208133653&printer=1
Note, he is wearing the crushie tie. :)
Dean in Portugal : "Time for the United States to renew our relationships around the world" 
Edited on Fri Dec-08-06 11:24 AM by madfloridian
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2710220
Many European governments have been angered by Republican President George W. Bush's war in Iraq and what is regarded as his failure to work with allies in international affairs.
"It is time for the United States to renew our relationships around the world," Dean said, triggering applause. "It is time we treat our allies with respect and honesty.
"The Democratic Party is committed to consensus-building, bilateral and multilateral relationships."
The U.S. should start to work with Europe to tackle global warming, defend human rights and adopt a multilateral approach to the conflict in Iraq, Dean said.
Howard Dean, U.S. Democratic National Committee chairman, laughs with Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, right, Party of European Socialists president, after his speech during the Party of European Socialists congress in Porto, northern Portugal, Friday, Dec. 8, 2006.(AP Photo/Paulo Duarte)
go Howard
yyyyeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that smile is the same one I was wearing for days after the election
Howard is clearly enjoying himself these days
bbl
cC:
Do you think this (page 57) is adequately addressing anything economic, or does it just sound like political expediency? It reads like a joke, to me. It states the obvious without any real solutions. Of course we need to work cooperatively with others, but it doesn't address the 'how' in the face of American distrust.
This I have already read, and will read the 'whopping report' in its entirety tonight before I 'report' on its 'veracity'.
The secret of a truly free press is “that it should consist of many newspapers decentraized in their ownership and their management, and dependent for their support upon the communities where they are written…” Walter Lippmann
From Seattle Times, December 8, 2006
By Frank Blethen
Almost all democracies the world has seen have died within 300 years of their founding.
Most implode from within.
At 230-some years, America has moved dangerously close to the fail-safe line for our survival.
We are in the later stages of one of the most important battles that will determine whether we survive.
It is the battle that pits democracy against the powerful. The powerful, who seek to co-opt our free press, control the news, and control the access to news, journalism and information.
It is a battle our country has fought before, but never with today’s consequences.
It is a battle Thomas Jefferson clearly understood when he wrote that he “foresaw the days American democracy would have to fight the rapacious capitalists.”
...sorry if I sound pissed off, but I feel like the report was written for 8th graders (maybe that's what they had in mind for Bush). The report seems long on what and short on how. This is the point I'm making...that there are real 'how' solutions that are not adequately addressed in the ISG pamphlet.
I do agree, however, that it is a starting point for bipartisanship.
Did anyone else hear that singer and activist Bono was looking at buying up Time?
I heard it a couple of days ago.
2925
Actually, I think it was Forbes Magazine he was buying up (or trying to) which is owned by Time Warner. The price was just under a billion.
Will be interesting if that goes through since Forbes is the opposite of philanthropy.
Nobody yet knows but here is HOW this new, the "you have power" democracy might look like:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...
"...or does it just sound like political expediency? It reads like a joke, to me. It states the obvious without any real solutions. The report seems long on what and short on how. This is the point I'm making...that there are real 'how' solutions that are not adequately addressed in the ISG pamphlet.
I do agree, however, that it is a starting point for bipartisanship."
Dave, you read one page of a 160-page report. You need to read it in its entirety before you can legitimately critique it. That's common sense.
Political cover is necessary, as Rich K. has pointed out.
The ISG is a STUDY group. They have no authority. Their suggestions are imo, detailed enough, to provide a proper framework for *moving forward* in Iraq and in the ME as well. They are a study group....not his cabinet....not our congress.
I *have* read the entire report. Between the lines, this report is a total rejection of this administration's foreign policy and practices. It isn't 'a joke'.
re. bipartisanship....the report does not address the issue of bipartisanship outside of the fact that the makeup of the group is bipartisan. The group's mandate is to report on the situation in Iraq and offer recommendations. Its recommendations assume bipartisanship as would any solutions.
The report describes the "grave and deteriorating" situation in Iraq and goes on to prescribe 79 recommendations--both external (the region) and internal (within Iraq). Any prescriptive analysis must first describe the problem and then offer a solution. The ISG is reporting to an administration that has consistently under-reported the problems and provided sometimes rosy assessments of Iraq. While the report might seem to be stating the obvious to you....this administration has not seen what many see as obvious.
The ISG did not pretend to have a magic bullet....the report is very clear about that:
During the past nine months we have considered a full range approaches for moving forard. All have flaws. Our recommended course has shortcomings, but we firmly believe that it includes the best strategies and tactics to positivel influence the outcome in Iraq and the region.
*If* you are suggesting that there are easy solutions that will lead to a halt in the sectarian violence in Iraq then I'd like to see them....but *that* assumption seems naive and uninformed to me. I believe anyone taking a look at the composition of the sectarian players in IRaq, their their motivations (historical and current) and access to funds/arms AND our lack of leadership in providing them with an visible, viable alternative (a role model), would understand that at this late date getting them to throw down their arms is highly unlikely.
sorry...s/b 84 page report.
http://www.usip.org/isg/iraq_study_group_report/report/1206/iraq_study_group_report.pdf
I just want to mention that the child I mentioned early this morning, whose short term memory seemed to be lacking, was able to read quite well. The only problem was that she had zero comprehension.
And that certainly seems to be be Queen Bee George's problem.
*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:27 pm
Firstly, cC, I have read about half of the report, not one page...when I first began, I didn't have the time, so I skipped to the parts I am familiar with such as the economic aspects....and I posted the report, above.
Second, I already said I agreed that is provides a framework for bipartisan cooperation...as you say, 'cover' for GOP to step out of their usual rhetoric:
Many Americans are dissatisfied, not just with the situation in Iraq but with the state of our political debate regarding Iraq. Our political leaders must build a bipartisan approach to bring a responsible conclusion to what is now a lengthy and costly war. Our country deserves a debate that prizes substance over rhetoric, and a policy that is adequately funded and sustainable.
Third, who cares if it is a rejection of Bush's nonsense...it's 3 years too late, and far short of real substantive action.
Finally, I never said their were any easy solutions...I said the real solutions are not adequately addressed..and yes, after reading half of teh report, I can competently state that.
The framework is good, but offers no direct solutions ie: The Bush administartion should contact these specific nations and these specific companies for international cooperation...yes it says EU Countries, but who, specifically? And what type of sacrafice/negotiations should take place. It does say that they should generally take place.
Before you try to belittle me, please take a closer look, yourself.
27.
*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:27 pm
Reply to this
Dave Reiter said:
"...or does it just sound like political expediency? It reads like a joke, to me. It states the obvious without any real solutions. The report seems long on what and short on how. This is the point I'm making...that there are real 'how' solutions that are not adequately addressed in the ISG pamphlet.
I do agree, however, that it is a starting point for bipartisanship."
Dave, you read one page of a 160-page report. You need to read it in its entirety before you can legitimately critique it. That's common sense.
Political cover is necessary, as Rich K. has pointed out.
......
-----------
Agree with Dave,
Report IS a set of declarations...
DECLARATIONS DO NOT WORK (and never did)!
The "Political cover" as ANY cover might be "necessary" only to cover one lie with another...
Dave, I didn't belittle you. I respectfully disagreed and my arguments are civil and not personal.
I have take a closer look, Dave. I read the report in its entirety.
You read one page. Heck, just read the darned thing and THEN report on it.
*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:45 pm
I pointed out one specific page dealing with the issue I was discussing, and you assumed it was the only page I read, then based your arguement on that false assumption.
I thought I was discussing with Rocky for a minute :-)
...and now you repeat it!!!
I believe the biggest problem with the report is this:
We have already lost Iraq. Ivo Daalder agrees with me:)
Ivo Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, is currently a visiting professor at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University in Florence, Italy. He also serves as a senior adviser on national security policy to the Center for American Progress. A specialist in American foreign policy, European security, and national security affairs, Daalder served on President Clinton's national security council staff in 1995-96. He is the co-author (with James Lindsay) of the award-winning America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy. Other recent publications include Crescent of Crises: U.S. and European Strategies for the Greater Middle East; Protecting the American Homeland (2002); Getting to Dayton: The Making of America's Bosnia Policy (2000), and Winning Ugly: NATO's War to Save Kosovo (2000).
The biggest problem with the ISG report is that it, like much of Washington, buys into the notion that because the consequences of defeat are so dire we should not accept the reality that we have lost. Even as they paint a devastating picture of the disaster that has befallen Iraq, the commissioners insist that we must continue to try to make things work — bring neighbors in, train Iraqis, urge reconciliation — in the hope that the situation there will turn around and get better. But hope, as Colin Powell was fond of saying, is not a strategy. Worse, it offers Americans and Iraqis the false prospect that with a bit more effort, and a change in policy, defeat in Iraq can be avoided.
The most basic flaw in the report is the belief that political reconciliation is still possible in Iraq. But there is no evidence to support that belief — and there is plenty of evidence that the opposite is true. Iraqis are dying at a rate of well over 100 per day — which adds up to 40-50,000 Iraqi men, women, and children perishing each year. Many times that number are seriously wounded. Those that aren’t killed or maimed are leaving Iraq — currently at a rate of 1 million Iraqis per year. These are numbers that affirm, in ways that no spin can counter, that Iraq is now and has been for quite some time descended into a deadly civil war — a war in which Baghdad, the Iraqi capital city, stands at the bloody center.
The worsening security situation throughout the country is driving people into their own sectarian corners, thus undermining trust and confidence that are essential to any reconciliation process. Iraqis know that their government has failed in its most solemn duty — which is to protect the people. They know the folks huddling in the Green Zone are a government in name only, not a government in fact.
--Ivo Daalder
(1 of 2)
Nothing that the ISG proposes will change this central reality. Without a government — and without the vast majority of people trusting those who govern — people will seek safety and security among their own, while those who can will leave the country altogether. We’ve seen this picture before — in civil wars that engulfed the Balkans, Afghanistan, Rwanda and a host of other countries. Neither better training of a security force whose loyalties lie with sectarian rather than national interests nor more sticks and carrots to urge sectarian leaders to reconcile nor even deft diplomacy involving the neighbors is going to change this essential fact.
The only reality that matters — and one the ISG Report, for all its realism, refuses to accept — is that we have lost in Iraq. We need to face that essential fact squarely — and not offer a false hope that we can somehow, with a tweak here and another there, stave off defeat.
What we need now is a policy that manages the consequences of our defeat — one that focuses on making sure the civil war doesn’t become a regional war. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and, as the ISG rightly urges, we need to focus on restoring our standing in the Middle East. That requires talking to all of the countries in the region — not just our friends, but also our foes. Above all, it requires a serious effort to try to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict once and for all.
Iraq is lost. Let’s try to avoid having the rest of the Middle East sink with it.
--Ivo Daalder
(2 of 2)
Dave, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the ISG report once you have read it. I mean that seriously. Gotta run--bbl--this evening.
*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:47 pm
Well, since you've taken a closer look, please point out to me the actual economic solution that you seem hellbent on defending...because I've read everything about the economic solutions, and found no real substance...but a bipartisan jumping off point.
27.
The give-away is the reference to stability in the "region." Before the invasion of Iraq, the only instability that was current was the conflict in Israel and Palestine. The invasion of Iraq was clearly not designed to address that.
Therefor, it seems fair to conclude that the "region" being considered is Asia and the Asian sub-continent. In other words, the invasion of Iraq was designed to provide a base of operations to monitor the region and insure "stability" by threatening to wack anyone who threatened to get out of line.
That the Queen Bee is going to do anything is an absolute illusion. The people who have using him/her as a front have realized that the plan isn't working and are looking to save as much as can be salvaged.
The last time around they could argue that the conscripted military wasn't tough enough. This time they used an all-volunteer force, willing to be indoctrinated into killing whenever ordered, plus an equally large contingent of mercenaries who do what they are told because they are paid well.
The big problem is still that the American people do not want to be the rulers of an empire. They want to be loved and to be acclaimed for their virtue and their generosity and when they end up killing inoffensive foreigners, they don't like it.
Dave, you said:
I haven't read the whole thing yet...I just skipped to some of the recommendations...I'll get to it though :-) --
This is a report that must be read in its entirety to understand it. Sometimes you can get away with reading the executive summary...not on this one. There IS much between the lines, imo....I believe the group understands that Iraq is "lost" as Ivo suggests.
I am sincere when I say that I'd like to hear your thoughts once you've read it:)
I've certainly enjoyed your other posts.
OK, I've got to get outta here.
Jeanne Kirkpatrick, former US Ambassador to the UN, has died.
I agreed with her on just about nothing politically, but she did have the sense of humor to appear on Saturday NIght Live in one of my favorite sketches, "Common Knowledge"
Bob Albert was played by Steve Martin.
Bob Albert: Alright! History, for $100: His assassination sparked World War I.
Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Archduke Ferdinand. [ buzzer ]
Bob Albert: Oh, sorry! The answer is Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln. Les?
Les Shermeyer: I'm gonna stay with History, Bob, for $200.
Bob Albert: History for $200: The Louisiana Purchase was obtained from this country.
Les Shermeyer: Louisiana. [ ding ]
Bob Albert: Alright!
Les Shermeyer: History for $300, Bob.
Bob Albert: Alright. When he discovered America, Christopher Columbus thought he had landed in..
Les Shermeyer: Columbia. [ buzzer ]
Bob Albert: Oh, sorry. The answer is America. Back to Jeanne Kirkpatrick.
Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Uh.. History, for $400.
Bob Albert: History, for $400: First man to land on the moon.
Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Neil.. uh.. John Glenn. [ ding ]
Bob Albert: Terrific, Jeanne! You're on the board now!
Jeanne Kirkpatrick: History, for $500.
Bob Albert: History, for $500: Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of..
Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Gettysburg. [ buzzer ]
Bob Albert: Oh, sorry. Jericho. The Battle of Jericho.
37.
*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:50 pm
The biggest problem with the ISG report is that it, like much of Washington, buys into the notion that...we should not accept the reality...
-------------
!!!
I feel about "bipartisanship" much as I do about "ownership"--it's not going anywhere.
If you've got one party that's committed to government carrying out the will of the people and another that's committed to ordering the people around, how do you arrive at an acceptable compromise.
One might argue that in regards to foreign countries Americans are united in thinking that most people want to be like us and are ready to be ordered around. I think that is mistaken.
No doubt, there are some people who actually prefer to be ordered around, but I suspect they are a small minority. And I'm fairly certain that the minorities that fall into that category in other nations are not keen on being ordered around by the U.S.
*** cChalfonte***
Fri, 12/08/06
2:56 pm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Iraq report chal...........in essence dosnt say anything really new or that some of us have been clamouring for years now.................any student of the history of that troubled region knows the obvious solutions(or attempts), but first and foremost is non interference from the west there............this take many forms and shapes.......they talk about re-deployment of amercan trops, but in reality nobody wants us on their soil..............or at least the vast majority of people dont................
Obviously you can tell Im an isolationist....................odd also how Dean is a hit in Europe, I thought so........he was vastly underappreciated here...............the guy is light years ahead in his thinking..............
keep pedaling
The Worst.President.Ever just said they have meetings so the American people know they're hard at work.
::unprintable thought::
45.
Monica Smith
Fri, 12/08/06
3:07 pm
I feel about "bipartisanship" much as I do about "ownership"--it's not going anywhere.
If you've got one party that's committed to government carrying out the will of the people and another that's committed to ordering the people around, how do you arrive at an acceptable compromise.
----------
!!!
47.
Thankful2Thankful4Dean
Fri, 12/08/06
3:14 pm
...
::unprintable thought::
-----
...lol
Donna just mentioned spinach over on HEP -
Donna - Rene just asked for spinach! He'd prefer it to the boring beans I was just feeding him!
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
He woke up much more yesterday - ventilator tube removed, he's talking, joking, hungry, we've had a couple serious discussions... rollercoaster can still take more turns, but we are soaking up every one of these minutes.
I wasn't online after early afternoon yesterday so couldn't report - can you believe one of my sister's has no internet. Anyway, was very hesitant to report what looks like good news too soon so not being able to get on didn't make me too crazy :-)
Other
Wooldridge
Articles:
In Violation of Their Oath of Office
Chilling Costs of Illegal Alien Migration
REPERCUSSIONS OF SENATE BILL 2611
By Frosty Wooldridge
December 4, 2006
NewsWithViews.com
As you sleep, your government plots to destroy future sustainability of your country. If John McCain, Arlen Specter, Teddy Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and George Bush sneak S.B. 2611, named the “comprehensive immigration reform bill” into law, it’s as Orwellian as it gets!
S.B.2611 misleads! It gives blanket amnesty to illegal alien employers. It gives Carte Blanc to illegal aliens to rape our welfare system, medical care and schools.
This bill completely negates the rule of law by encouraging lawlessness by forgiving past lawlessness. It creates two tiers of justice: one for you to abide by our laws and another for illegal aliens whereby they don’t have to abide by our laws. It protects employers who attract illegals.
Impacts of S.B. 2611:
1. Dissolves our sovereignty and free choice to protect our nation. If passed, neither federal, state nor local governments can build barriers on our side of the border to protect from illegal entry without permission of Mexico.
2. The Heritage Foundation estimates the bill would increase federal spending by $50 billion annually. That does not include the estimated cost of $100 billion annually for anchor babies.
3. The bill forgives felonies of illegal aliens who have stolen Social Security card numbers and identities of U.S. citizens and allows past illegal work to qualify for Social Security benefits.
4. It allows all illegal aliens to gain citizenship. Once citizens, they may import their parents and relatives into the USA—by the millions.
5. It makes parents of temporary workers who have never paid into Social Security eligible for Supplemental Security Income benefits. It allows them to gain Medicaid benefits after five years. This is a sure fire way to send our Social Security system into quicker bankruptcy.
6. This bill imposes a massive welfare program on U.S. taxpayers given to foreigners who have invaded our country. In other words, if you robbed a bank, but remained inside the building long enough, you not only enjoy forgiveness, you’re allowed to open a withdrawal account while American taxpayers deposit money into your account.
7. This bill represents a massive tax burden on U.S. citizens to pay for food stamps, K-12 education for millions of illegal alien children, SSI payments for millions of foreigners who broke all our rules breaking into our country, subsidized school lunches, rent subsidies, Medicaid, unemployment compensation and other medical care for out-of-wedlock births.
8. This bill adds 67 million new foreigners into the USA over the next 20 years according to Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation. Earlier in the debate, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama released a report projecting the bill would bring in as many as 217 million over 20 years. That number troubled this brilliant Senate, which led them to reduce the numbers to 67 million. What great foresight by our astute senators! As if we need another 67 million foreigners displacing us from our own country!
9. This bill continues chain migration of extended families. That means that every illegal alien can bring in his entire family. Once that happens, each member of that branch can bring in their family members. It’s a pyramid scheme whereby they can bring in an unlimited number of relatives. It never ends. It’s going on right now with legal immigrants, which is why we’ll add 100 million people, at the minimum, by 2040.
10. This bill presents no mechanism for stopping this invasion. It forgives employers of past lawbreaking and sets up systems whereby illegal immigration can continue at 700,000 to 900,000 illegal annually.
11. If you think these “guest workers” will ever go back home, I’d like to sell you a fruit stand at the Arctic Circle, Alaska. If you think this bill secures our borders, I’d like to sell you fig tree at the North Pole that you can sit under to keep from getting too much sun.
12. This bill codifies prevailing wage provision for guest workers, but neglects American workers. It forces businesses to pay inflated to guest workers that would exceed wages to American citizens.
13. S.B. 2611 allows in-state college tuition, which is denied to U.S. citizens in 49 states, to all illegals and gives them first dibs on financial assistance.
14. S.B. 2611 stops police from arresting aliens for criminal violations of immigration laws. Just like happened with Mohammed Atta, when he was arrested for a traffic stop weeks before 9/11, he got off, and with this bill, any of his fellow terrorists will be set free.
15. This bill stops the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service agency from sharing information about guest-worker applicants with other agencies. In other words, criminals can be set free after being rejected for the guest-worker program.
In a nutshell, S.B. 2611 worsens our illegal immigration crisis. If those numbskulls in the Senate would pass H.R. 4437, we would be done with this crisis. We could get on with our lives. Our schools would be safe and uncrowded. Everyone would get back to speaking and learning English. It would stop the ‘catch and release’ at the border. It would make employers hire legal workers via employer sanctions. Our immigration laws work just fine; it’s our president and Congress that fail our laws.
H.R. 4437 solves many problems, however, billions of dollars fly out for “anchor babies” with terrific fiscal impact on education, healthcare, welfare and deficit spending. Congress must overturn the misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Nathan Deal (R-GA) submitted H.R. 698 which addresses this issue, but to date Republican leaders have not allowed a vote on this bill.
A simple “Yes” vote for H.R. 4437 in the Senate along with H.R. 698 would create a comprehensive package for immigration reform that would solve this national dilemma within a year.
- It would stop hemorrhaging at our borders
- Prevent terrorists in our midst
- No more anchor babies *Jobs back to American citizens
- Create attrition of illegals through enforcement and lack of the welfare trough
- Penalize employers for hiring illegals, which would dry up the jobs, which would cause “attrition through enforcement”
- It would allow American citizens, especially our working poor, to go back to work for a living wage
- It would return the rule of law to the United States of America
Over the next decade, I hope to see a real overhaul of our foreign policy that keeps seeding hate around the world...be it Iran, Hussien, binLaden, Central/South American rebels, or any other place that we go into to 'help' because we 'know better than them.
Building of good will is good, but is it real, or just on the surface where beneath lies deceit and corruption
50. Thankful - Good news about your brother. Hang tough.
Will bbl - he's really tired and so are my folks. We're heading out for now.
♥ to all.
Could I ask for one more round of candles - gotta show him tomorrow - he'll be in a regular room and I think I can take the laptop in.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/cand...
Thankful to you all and thankful for so very much. Days or whatever...
-
By Thankful2Thankful4Dean on Dec 8, 2006 11:41 AM ESTDeans are first, as always :-)