Lamar-Speak 101

Lamar Alexander...Republican/SENIOR Senator from Tennessee, says: Video Games Are 'A Bigger Problem Than Guns'.

Lamar Alexander

You expected sanity out of him?

Didn't know you had a LOADED X-BOX sitting in your home just waiting for somebody to drop it for it to go off, did ya?   Does Lamar perchance think that if he takes away kids video games in Chicago...the violence will stop?  Here in America, we are weak-minded bits of fluff being tossed about by our senses. We shoot somebody in a game and our perception of reality is SO skewered, we go out and shoot people too!  As opposed to over in EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND JAPAN, the world capital of Video Games, where people are grounded in reality. Those well-adjusted denizens don't share our Hollywood mentality/unreality - so no matter HOW many violent video games they may play - they are way too grounded/humane to go shoot people.  I suggest Lamar give these nations ACCESS TO GUNS so we feel better about ourselves!  Because people can run around playing "bang, bang" on their fingers, with a piece of stick, or pointing their X-boxes at each other -- and nobody will EVER die. NEVER!!!  If having a gun makes citizens safe - we should be the SAFEST nation on the planet. Are we? Why not?  Surely we should be MUCH, much safer than the Japanese where there are few guns in private hands.  Oh wait. They have martial Arts...drat!!! http://conlibe.wordpress.co

A vote for Romney means MORE, Worse Gridlock!!!

I address this to the so-called "Independents" including the Republicans who ran away from their own party and are STILL running - because the GOP is getting more and MORE X-treme!

If you believe that electing an opinion-shifting, finger-in-the-wind testing etch-a-sketcher will make America or the economy  better...raise your hackles?

YOU do? Well you probably thought too that America could rise from a Recession in 2 years!

Do YOU think that electing Mitt Romney will make anything better? WHAT? What is the "IT" that Romney's going to make better? 

The economy? Jobs?

So Romney is going to create jobs? HOW? With WHICH Congress? House Speaker John Boehner cannot even keep his Tea Party members in line...but YOU think Romney will, especially as the Tea Party does not even LIKE Mitt Romney? They see Romney as their best bet to win the White House. To them he's a means to an end, an "IN". He knows it...and the Romney who was governor of Massachusetts will NOT stand being dictated to, like Santorum hinted in his "endorsement":

"I intend to keep lines of communication open with him and his campaign. I hope to ensure that the values that made America that shining city on the hill are illuminated brightly by our party and our candidates thus ensuring not just a victory, but a mandate for conservative governance."

The Republicans have ONLY ONE solution: Tax Cuts for the wealthy! THAT'S IT...

Has Romney TOLD you - explained HOW he will create jobs? Ask him? And if it's similar to George Bush's policies that failed and got us into this mess - then say NO thanks. If it's new and innovative - say Yes! We can try something new...why not? More Tax Cuts? Is that ALL they have? Is that their ONLY answer? Why? Where are the forward thinkers...?

Oh, so YOU think Romney will call in his old company Bain...and Bain will take HUD and dismantle it. Bain will dismantle Health and Human Services and Bain will dismantle Education (so kids will all be home-schooled, including kids whose parents can't read!). And then Bain will DO what...?

How do you think Romney or any president creates jobs? It's not a PERSONAL think. If you want a president who can "create" jobs vote for Bill Gates. If you want a president who can "create an ENVIRONMENT for job growth and stimulation" (I hope religious conservatives forgive me for using a dirty word like stimulation?) then you have two choices. It boils down to: Whose methods DO YOU prefer?

Get it. Presidents CAN'T create jobs - unless he hires additional maids in his personal quarters at the White House. Do not let politicians fool you, sidetrack you with their language and rhetoric. Presidents DO NOT create jobs!!!

PRESIDENTS WORK WITH CONGRESS TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE THAT GENERATES JOBS!!! With Congress...! Think where we'd be IF Obama had the support of Republicans behind him...support they will NEVER give him!

• YOU think Democrats are going to support MORE Tax Cuts, especially FOR the wealthy?
• YOU think Democrats are going to sit back and let Republicans roll back Health Care?
• YOU think Democrats are going to SUPPORT bombing Iran?
• YOU think Democrats are going to allow Republicans to roll back Women's Rights, Gay Rights?
• You think Democrats are going to let Republicans CLAMP DOWN on Unions?
• Really, what DO YOU think? Need I go on...

Let Detroit go Bankrupt: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html?_r=1

You ever stop to think that if Romney was president today, Detroit would NOT be making a profit. It is thanks to Obama that America's auto Industry is gearing up. Left to Romney there would have been NO bailout. The auto industry would have crashed. Think what THAT would have done to the economy when ALL the workers were laid off, all the plants closed, all the suppliers/parts makers idling, all the banks taking hits, all the cafeterias, stores, TOWNS impacted? DO YOU STOP TO THINK ABOUT THAT? The very same Romney who claims to be so astute a businessman? Bad call on his part... Makes you wonder that he would fail on something so significant...AND NOW TRYING TO TAKE THE GLORY FOR IT!

There were two paths before us: SPEND and DON'T SPEND.

1. Republicans said "Don't Spend": You will expand the deficit - pushing us further into debt. DO NOT BAIL OUT THE BANKS! DO NOT BAIL OUT THE AUTO INDUSTRY! LET THEM FAIL TO TEACH THEM A LESSON! IT IS THE CAPITALIST WAY!
2. Obama and Democrats said: We HAVE to spend! We NEED to spend! Yes it will make the deficit bigger, but IF WE DON'T SPEND, IF WE DON'T PUMP MONEY INTO THE ECONOMY, even if it's to give people jobs to paint roses on bushes, THEN THE ECONOMY WILL CRASH AND WE WILL BE WORSE OFF, MUCH worse off!

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis figures show: Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2011, real GDP increased 3.0 percent. http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp

"Socialist leader Francois Hollande beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy with 51.62 percent of the vote (April 2012)...as French voters expressed displeasure with Sarkozy’s austerity plan budget cuts at the voting booth despite the perception that Sarkozy was as a stronger leader..."

And Europe? You follow the news don't you? Forget Greece. Look at France.

According to Reuters: Gross domestic product in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, rose by 0.5 percent on the quarter, bouncing back from a 0.2 percent slide in the last three months of 2011. France's economy stagnated, although it grew slightly at the end of last year.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/15/us-eurozone-economy-idUSBRE84E0A420120515

France just threw out the AUSTERITY Belt-Tightener. Who would have thought? And voted in a spender - a BIG spender! Obama is meeting Heads of Europe's biggest economies at Camp David before heading to Chicago for the NATO Summit - and they're discussing what?

President Obama is likely to clash with German leader Angela Merkel at the G8 summit. Obama supports French calls for pro-growth policies in Europe. Merkel says AUSTERITY first. A worsening economy in Europe can have a negative impact on the U.S. economy...which Republicans will BLAME Obama for!

If an economically weakened, debt-laden Europe should go the German Way: continue down the road of austerity favored by German Chancellor Angela Merkel or the Obama Way: focus more on economic stimulus to help the continent grow its way out of the current crisis.

TWO DISTINCT CHOICES...

If you want change, HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO. You need to REMOVE THE OBSTRUCTIONISTS in Congress (from BOTH parties). You need to elect a crop of politicians who love America MORE than they love the party machine - MORE than they adhere to ideology - MORE than they want to destroy, nay - annihilate the opposition.

If you want change, you need to repudiate the Tea Party hard-line extremists who are being elected with their NO COMPROMISE slogans - MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY attitudes. DO NOT elect Tea Party blockaders to Congress who will fight BOTH Republicans and Democrats! Send people who appreciate compromise...who will represent/embrace ALL.

You either have Democrats pushing the country in the direction they want it to go - OR Republicans pushing the country in the direction they want it to go. Unfortunately, the two parties are going in OPPOSITE directions. SO LOOK AT WHAT THE PARTIES STAND FOR - AND CHOOSE THE ONE YOU CAN LIVE WITH. But don't expect compromise...unless you elect compromisers!

Congressional Gridlock!!!

Oh you'll make a DIFFERENCE voting for Romney, just not a GOOD difference!

The two parties are so far apart on EVERYTHING  that unless strong, level-headed MAINSTREAM personalities emerge and wrestle a return to common sense and integrity, the result will always either be "my way" or "the high way".

I blame Independents for digging us deeper into this deadlocked morass by voting for Republicans in 2010. 

In 2008, the nation rises up against Republicans. Americans are appalled and fed up with Republican Tax Cuts from hell, Republican war-mongering (remember how if a fly landed on some country, Republicans were pushing for an invasion?), their out of control SPENDING leading to today's massive deficit, the negative image of America overseas, Republican hostility against people who didn't agree with their warped assessment of who is "American" and their arrogance and stifling of individual rights.

Spend baby Spend...was OK for George Bush's wars!

Obama takes over. He inherits a ravaged economy and a RECESSION. Obama is NOT God. Republicans know he's not God because they think Obama is a Muslim and Muslims are the anti-God in their eyes. Obama has a hostile opposition that decides on DAY ONE that ITS SOLE FOCUS IS TO STYMIE the new president AND  TO INTENTIONALLY OPPOSE HIM WITH THE AIM OF ENSURING THAT HE FAILS AND BECOMES A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT.

No matter what Obama does - Republicans OPPOSE it. But they present NO solutions of their own.

Yet still, after 2 years, with NO help from Republicans despite Obama's wooing and dinners and White House visits and rounds of golf - Obama manages to stem the economic bleeding. Yet Independents are not satisfied. They wanted a God - or at least a Moses who would part Wall Street and send a tsunami of jobs crashing over America. So when this did not happen, especially IMMEDIATLEY, they cut the legs off Obama and gave him an even MORE hostile opposition. So NOW, we are going to get things done!!! Right...

Vote Romney and you get Romney AND his Republican baggage. 

Yep!

• The Tea Party, Tea Party politics, Tea Party face offs and government shut downs
• More Bush Tax cuts
• Keeping troops in Iraq
• Starting wars at the drop of a hat
• Suppressing Women's Reproductive Rights
• Anti-Immigrant fervor
• Conservative Supreme Court Judges
• Protecting Big Business at all costs
• Environmental degradation
• Shoving religion into your life
• Gutting programs for the poor
• Denigrating Science
• Political/Racial divisions 
• And more...

Tax, Defense biggest slices of Deficit Pie - NOT entitlements. Republicans don't care about truth or facts!!!

THAT'S WHAT YOU VOTE FOR -- WHEN YOU VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY....

In 2010, Americans expected that in 2 years Obama could fix an economy that the Government Accounting Office (GAO) said would take at least a decade to recover...but you wanted it to recover in 18 MONTHS? The economy is NOT a burger or a latte...you can't drive up, place an order for jobs and pick one up at the back window in 30 seconds!

You want a world where you can control interest rates, the price of oil, the geo-political balance, the labor market, the price of raw materials...when you can't even control your spouse and kids? Good luck. When you find the Republican who can do that, crown him emperor! Just make sure that (a) he/she has clothes (b) you are satisfied that he/she has explained HOW he/she intends to do this! And that before you drink that cool-aid, you (c) check with Russia and China! And Brazil and India...

Be SURE the Emperor has clothes!!!

Did you really expect that an economy that lost millions of jobs (that Obama did not cause, by the way) would just start humming along in 2 years? 

The Titanic sunk 100 years ago - people still have not recovered!

The U.S economy will not fully recover this year or next year either...BECAUSE THERE ARE STILL WEAKNESSES, LIKE A NEW WAVE OF FORECLOSURES. Economist said so...LISTEN! Listen to the people who KNOW what they're talking about - not to the politicians, especially this stupid, partisan, self-serving bunch we now have.

DO NOT EXPECT America's economy to rebound...without terrible adjustments, PAINFUL adjustments that you are NOT willing to make...but expect OTHERS to make! We could be like Greece now - but thanks to Obama, we seem to have dodged that bullet. 

Republicans forget that during the Great Depression, President Hoover, a Republican refused to act until it was too late. Hoover abhorred interference in the economy so he sat back while banks failed and closed by the thousands, millions of farms went under, hundreds of thousands of businesses failed and bread lines formed in the streets.

Republican President Herbert Hoover (1929-1933). Succeeded by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt

So says my son's 10th grade history book. Did you know that during the Great Depression: "hundreds of teenager boys and girls 'the wild boys' hopped on freight trains to zig-zag the country looking for work, adventure and escape? From 1929-1939 25 thousand trespassers were killed and 27-thousand injured on railway property".

Hoover finally caved in to pressure and signed the Federal Home Loan Act in 1932. It lowered mortgage rates for homeowners and let farmers refinance, thereby avoiding foreclosure. Does that remind you of anything Obama did...?

Hoover also set up the Reconstruction Finance Co-operation in 1932. It authorized up to 2 Billion dollars for emergency financing for banks, insurance companies, railroads and other large businesses. Does that too sound familiar - as in Stimulus?

Great Depression Breadline

Yet Republicans, either ignorant of their history or displaying a deliberate maliciousness or political amnesia - all of which are equally off-putting - castigated Obama for the "bail-out". It's no wonder Republicans don't like history and seek to change it by re-writing text books. Not even History is on their side!!!

Sometimes I get so frustrated with American politics that I wish I could go to Mars. But I guess I'd meet Republicans up there too. Who else but the GOP could have caused the kind of environmental devastation on that planet?

What..? Should I care about Scientific Fact now...or TRUTH?

Desolate Mars. Yeah, Republicans caused that!

CHUCK TURNER….GUILTY! YES!!

What is it with Blacks (I’m black too, so I CAN go there) that makes us (well, NOT me) but I’ll say “us” - champion other blacks who so obviously do (or appear to do) wrong?

Take Massachusetts State Representative Diane Wilkerson and Boston city councilor Chuck Turner!

I don’t know Turner personally. He might be someone who’d give his last dollar to a person in need. I DON’T KNOW! But based on what I’ve seen of Chuck Turner on TV, Mr. Turner turns me off.

Turner’s co-conspirator pal Diane Wilkerson at least had the smarts to plead guilty to taking bribes! Yet after years of Diane’s drama – the unpaid taxes, the debts, the campaign financial mismanagement, the photos of her stuffing wads of cash into her bra (an attaché case would have been classier!) many in Wilkerson’s district still voted overwhelmingly for her!

Seems hard for some blacks to believe their black officials are corrupt too.

They see a conspiracy. The FBI, the government, the KKK, some elements within the NAACP, I don’t know – the Martians? All were out to get Wilkerson and Turner! These voters refuse to see a corrupt politician who happens to be black!

I was debating Turner's bribery case with a resident from Turner's district. He suggested he’d vote for Turner because Turner is black and I just exploded. WHY would you vote for a corrupt official based solely on ethnicity?

I’d vote for a corrupt politician (are not they all corrupt, in some way?) IF he brings home the bacon! Not because we’re the same race or gender!

Corrupt but the jobs are rolling in. Hey, hey!

Taking pay-offs but our schools are on top! Ho-ho! Way to go!

My representative’s mom, four sisters, 5 kids and cousin’s father’s neighbor are all employed in cushy city jobs, but my Rep sees to it that my streets are clean/well patrolled and the district has tons of after school activities. Yo yum! Here I come…

However, if your corruption is ONLY to enrich YOUR pockets and that of your cronies, if you have done NOTHING for your district, if your greatest pastime is puffer-fish type pontification, if the crime rate in your district is high and you’re MIA (Missing In Action), if the schools in the district are terrible, if there are NO jobs, then why, WHY am I championing you? Black – or not black?

My people wake up! Stop championing losing causes!

It’s OK to want a politician who looks and talks like you. But LOOK around. There ARE black alternatives whose handshakes are just handshakes! Find one!

Councilor Turner was convicted today (10/29/2010) on federal bribery charges.

PS: Hey, Turner! Things you can CLAIM you DON’T remember.

• Getting drunk and allegedly doing something foolish/criminal.
• Saying something best left unsaid.
• Visiting questionable places. Pray the area has no surveillance cameras.

Cash or packets people palm to you when discussing favors – HARD TO FORGET THAT!!

I am witnessing America at its best…

Rushing in to help Haiti – doing what AMERICA does best.

NOT starting wars – NO!

NOT bombing civilians – NO!

NOT torturing prisoners – NO!

This is NOT what you do best, America – WHAT YOU DO BEST, AMERICA, IS HELP OTHERS – ESPECIALLY POOR COUNTRIES THAT LACK THE MASSIVE RESOURCES YOU HAVE. AND WHEN YOU DO WHAT YOU DO BEST, AMERICA...YOU'RE FREAKIN' UNBEATABLE - YOU'RE GRRRREAT!

"you and me together
Through the days and nights
I don't worry 'cause
Everything's going to be alright…
No one, no one, no one"

(Alicia Keys song: No One)

Yep. NO-ONE....NO-ONE... NO-ONE CAN BEAT YOU AT THIS, AMERICA.

I am from the Caribbean (not Haiti) and when I/we/the world see/sees you rushing down there, see/sees a STRONG president; yes, a STRONG president (not a war-mongering, arrogant bully) immediately dispatch troops and equipment and call Haitians: our neighbors – in our back yard, I feel good!

Finally, a president who recognizes that the CARIBBEAN is in AMERICA’S back yard (and let me remind you that while you isolate Cuba, to please a voting bloc in Florida, OTHER countries like China are MOVING IN-to your back yard!)

It is hard for Haitians here and in Haiti; for Caribbean nationals here and in the Caribbean; for the rest of the world, even - to NOT admire you over your response to Haiti, America.

See how the world rushes to join you in helping Haiti…

See how they call you first – and look to YOU for leadership…

See how YOU will be the go to people, down there…

THAT IS YOUR CALLING, AMERICA.

Please use this as a lesson. This mission in Haiti will do more for your image than supporting a coup, helping to oust their president or covertly subverting their political process.

The airport in the Haitian capital, Port au Prince is not functional. But here come American soldiers, setting up a makeshift Air Control System.

Survivors trapped in the wreckage - here are our soldiers, with their rescue dogs. The hospital collapsed – but here are the Americans, coming with a big Hospital Ship.

Here are the Americans providing security; there are the Americans bringing food and water and personnel. We need this, that - where are the Americans…?

PRESENT!

DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD, AMERICA?

I doubt there is any Haitian on this planet right now who wants to bomb America or kill Americans.

An entire region and its people are happy to see you mobilize and come and help them…and neighboring countries are thinking: America would do the same thing for me!

Out in the Middle East, young kids are thinking: When is the next American bomb falling on my village?

When is the next American drone going to destroy my compound?

WHEN ARE THE AMERICANS GOING TO LEAVE MY COUNTRY?

See the difference…?

You can change minds and attitudes (though results can be discouragingly slow) with peace, love, goodwill, relief, aid.

NOT with bombs – because although you can mandate compliance and force submission – YOU CANNOT BUY LOVE AND RESPECT.

Hello Republicans…you can try to bomb every nook and cranny where you think the enemy is hiding, (and you should include random blocks in any U.S. city, because many of them are hiding right here among us).

BUT YOU WILL NOT, CANNOT – IN SHORT, WILL NEVER get the results you want by war-mongering, torturing suspects, withholding suspect’s rights or whatever bullying tactics that you think are right.

You may get some information, but when you chop that head off, like the Hydra, many more spring up. So in trying to kill one monster, (e.g: Iraq) you end up with a band of monsters.

(And I say MAY get information, because all reports suggest that while suspects DID reveal relevant information – that information was gotten through regular, sane methods…NOT from torture!)

Still, Republicans THAT WILL NOT DETER YOU FROM TRYING TO BULLY YOUR WAY THROUGH A WORLD THAT INCREASINGLY REFUSES TO BE BULLIED.

I can't wait to see you try to BULLY CHINA! Know what they do to their enemies? Boy, that's going to be interesting!! (May I suggest you start learning some basic Kung-fu?)

So thanks, president Obama, for stepping up. Way to go, bro…

Yes, people like having the cops around.

But they like free food more!

More power to you, America, for coming forward with the food - and leaving the guns in their holster. This is the America we love – America at its best.

This disaster is a great opportunity to start Haiti on the road to recovery. SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY, AMERICA!

You have a great opportunity to SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT in Haiti and to build meaningful infrastructure in that country.

You have been handed a great opportunity to ensure that the fragile peace emerging in Haiti is nurtured and allowed to flourish.

Pull yourself together, America – get your act together, America – Stop the Decline, America – THE WORLD NEEDS YOU, AMERICA!!!

"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
Yes - GOD BLESS AMERICA!! In many countries, especially poor countries, after a disaster - when people see that Flag coming, they know it will be OK".

Many immigrants will walk, swim, take straw boats, take bathtubs, brave the desert heat, pay smugglers, hide in airplane wheel wells - do whatever it takes - to get to America.

This is a compliment that Republicans do not understand. (OK. Not all Republicans are crazy. Non-crazy republicans are excluded) but to the crazy ones I say:

You cannot and will NEVER understand anything outside your dogmatic*, myopic view of how things should be ACCORDING TO YOU, as opposed to how they really are - except for corruption, tax cuts for the wealthy and moral values wrapped in hypocrisy!

* (Definition of “dogmatic”: Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles.)

That about describes Republicans, in my book!

Don't agree? Here's what one LEADING Republican said about U.S aid to Haiti: “We've already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

According to that particular, PROMINENT voice/face of the Republican Party: The earthquake has played into Obama’s hands, because it lets Obama look “compassionate” and “humanitarian” while at the same time bolstering his standing in both the “light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country.

WAY TO GO, REPUBLICANS! Is he saying that NO white person is moved, too?

This darker-skinned black person does NOT believe that, and neither do the rest of us: light-black, dark-black or medium dark-black!

Unlike that crazy republican, WE know that the capacity for compassion among the vast majority of WHITE people HAS NOT BEEN DULLED BY PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO OXYCONTIN!

Epic Congressional Battle 2: IMMIGRATION REFORM!

If you thought that HEALTH CARE REFORM was tough – wait until debate starts on Immigration Reform!

On December 15, 2009, Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced legislation titled: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP).

According to Immigration Attorney Sheela Murthy’s law firm:

The bill addresses a wide range of key immigration areas. Comprehensive Immigration Reform is intended as an overarching rewrite of a laundry list of pervasive immigration problem areas.

It is an effort to address these issues in a cohesive manner, rather than in a piecemeal fashion. This includes many matters of concern to our readers, such as enhancements to the legal immigration system, as well as revisions to the H1B and L-1 programs.

Some of these areas of interest:

-- The bill would allow family- and employment-based immigrant visa numbers that went unused between 1992 and 2008 to be "recaptured." It would prevent future loss of numbers by allowing them to roll over to the next year.

-- The bill also proposes to increase the percentage of immigrant visa numbers that may be used each year by a given country. Some categories of highly-skilled workers would be exempt from the numerical limits.

-- The bill also proposes to permit nonimmigrant skilled workers to file applications for adjustment of status (I-485s), if otherwise eligible, even if their priority dates are not yet current.

• This would have significant ramifications...like the ability to obtain the employment authorization document (EAD) and possibly enjoying AC21 portability benefits.

-- The bill contains significant revisions to the current H1B, H2B, and L-1 temporary worker programs. It proposes establishing a Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets to research and provide recommendations on the flow of workers into the United States.

-- Included in the H1B changes would be requirements for recruitment of U.S. workers. The U.S. Department of Labor would be given additional enforcement authority. There would be audit authority given to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in connection with L-1 employers.

-- Finally, the bill contains proposals to improve the process of naturalization to U.S. citizenship, and to encourage naturalization. This would include grants to community-based programs in English-training and legal support aimed at facilitating naturalization.

Gutierrez chairs the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Immigration. Here is the release:

On Tuesday, December 15, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) will introduce new legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gutierrez will be joined by members of many different faiths and backgrounds, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus and Progressive Caucus.

Who:
Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (IL-4), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Immigration Task Force

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-12), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-11), Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus

Rep. Mike Honda (CA-15), Chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Rep. Silvestre Reyes (TX-16), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA-6), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
Rep. Joe Baca (CA-43)

Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-31)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-32)

Rep. Joseph Crowley (NY-7)

Rep. Sam Farr (CA-17)

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (TX-20)

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15)

Rep. Grace Napolitano (CA-38)

Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (TX-27)

Rep. Pedro R. Pierluisi (PR-At large)

Rep. Jared Polis (CO-2)

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (NY-16)

Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY-9)

Other Members of Congress

What:
Introduction of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation

When:
12:30 pm, Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Where:
Room 2261, Rayburn House Office Building

"We have waited patiently for a workable solution to our immigration crisis to be taken up by this Congress and our President," said Rep. Gutierrez. "The time for waiting is over. This bill will be presented before Congress recesses for the holidays so that there is no excuse for inaction in the New Year.

It is the product of months of collaboration with civil rights advocates, labor organizations, and members of Congress. It is an answer to too many years of pain —mothers separated from their children, workers exploited and undermined security at the border— all caused at the hands of a broken immigration system.

This bill says 'enough,' and presents a solution to our broken system that we as a nation of immigrants can be proud of."

Now we’ve been through this before. Last time a similar effort at Comprehensive Immigration Reform was shot down, largely by republicans.

What’s going to happen this time around?

When President Obama was campaigning for office, he placed Health Care Reform and Immigration Reform among his TOP priorities.

He’s had to deal with the economy which was tanking when he took office. He’s had to deal with Afghanistan. He’s also taken on Health Care.

Many of his supporters are NOT too happy that he decided to send MORE troops to Afghanistan.

Others are NOT pleased that the PUBLIC OPTION is NOT included in the Health Care Bill. Yet more remain unhappy with his administration’s handling of Wall Street excesses...not that there’s much he can do about that!

However, IMMIGRATION REFORM gives the president an opportunity to mobilize and energize the growingly influential Hispanic base and pacify Unions/Labor Leaders who are lukewarm at best over the Health Care Bill they’re getting.

DEMOCRATS – let this be a warning!

FAIL ON IMMIGRATION REFORM AND COME 2010 - YOU WILL BE THE ONES LOOKING FOR STATUS…AND PACKING UP TO GO HOME.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!

Opinion - Tiger Roars…shows, er - stripes?

I’m tired of hearing about Tiger Woods and his mistresses…

I really don’t care if he was having sex with the maid, the PTA chairman or the CEO.

The KANSAS CITY STAR has an interesting article on the Tiger Woods affair…

It’s titled: Media should be ashamed of Tiger Woods ‘coverage’. The writer says:

We’re no better than the gossip rags, tabloids and blogs, and we will no longer strive to be.

The high road no longer pays our bills. So, like TMZ, the National Enquirer and all the rest, we will pick through the personal lives of celebrity athletes, and when we turn up dirt, we will shout they owe us a televised, remorseful, ratings-driving explanation.

I disagree with this approach. But I’m willing to accept it, as long as we’re honest about it and enthusiastically accept the consequences of our decision.

Media houses are NOT honest about their decisions to cover these types of stories. And of course, it IS a decision. Stories don’t just walk into the newsroom and jump onto the screen. Editors, anchors and managers decide WHICH stories to pursue, what angles to take and when to run them.

News has been so trivialized to feed the ratings game…that media houses now have WE The People actually thinking, heck demanding, that WE have a “right” to know about the personal lives of prominent people. The Media will even find “experts” to tell us why we need to know!

Meantime, the media, the fourth estate that is supposed to act as a counter balance to the pressing authority of politics and religion - fiddled while the government planned a useless, distracting, ill-conceived war in Iraq.

A war based on lies and false premises that will (if not forever, then for a very long time), affect us and this country. They didn’t think we had a right to know how much it would cost – or whether there were weapons of mass destruction, etc.

No, our right to know revolves around how many mistresses that Tiger Woods has!

Why do we care where Tiger prowls when we are sending thousands of soldiers (who hopefully are not texting mistresses from the trenches) to Afghanistan?

Why do we care who Tiger sleeps with when our infrastructure is so worn thin, we are closing bridges?

Why do we care about Tiger’s crash – instead of the stock market crash? Did we not see what happened after Dubai’s loan default - or is that NOT as important as Tiger Woods and his shenanigans?

As I see it, THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO SHOULD CARE ARE: Tiger, his family/relatives, the women involved (and apparently THEY don’t care), the PGA (maybe) and sponsors.

Outside of that, apart from the: Tiger did What? moment (why Tiger, I didn’t know you lived up to your name off the links, too) - drop it! There are too many issues of substance to be focusing on a golfer's sexploits!

There was even a doctor on TV saying Tiger is displaying all the symptoms of a “Sex Addict”. We only want to know, though – when it involves OTHER people. Our own lover/spouse/better half could be having their own Tiger moments and we would NOT want the neighbors to know, much less the world!

Heck, some people even KNOW, but pretend they don’t know…

Others don’t want to know…

The Star also says that:

Had Elin been found barefoot, floating in and out of consciousness, with facial lacerations and Tiger hovering over her, the tone of media commentary would be quite different regardless of whatever alleged actions Elin might’ve taken to provoke Tiger.

I agree. Tiger would have been labeled another star athlete who is a wife beater; a pampered, self absorbed jerk of a jock!

So, why do these highly paid, high profile men lack the ability to see through women they should steer clear of? WARNING: If you see BOOBS first, before you see the person – RUN! Don’t look back or you will be turned into a pillar of shame! (Biblical reference to Lot’s wife.)

Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski?

Don’t these men understand that they should start running soon as they smell these women coming?

How is it that men are not caught gallivanting with female professors or nuclear engineers or head teachers or even nurses? Well, except for that NASA astronaut and the media did NOT portray HER as sexy.

Notice how the news reports made her look crazy? However, she is NOT out there, though, arranging press conferences to sell sexy emails (Or whatever types of communication they use) between earth and space! Well, not yet!

High profile men/athletes seem to marry professional, supportive girl next door (in most cases) then gravitate towards bar workers, nannies and hostesses. Are these women MORE attractive? Is it that the personality types who gravitate towards these jobs are different? Is it the educational level? (Some bar hostesses/nannies have degrees, too.) Can somebody explain?

I’m confused because there are many highly attractive, sexy female PHDS with an abundance of boobs – and brains! Or is it that they have the presence of mind to keep their mouths shut, so we never find out!

According to the Star:

Look at what we’ve done to Tiger in a week. We’ve convinced the public, among other things, that Tiger was wrong for exercising his right to remain silent with the police. We did this while young Americans are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan in protection of this most American freedom.

Remember when Dick Cheney and other White House officials refused – refused to talk about the leaking of emails and information pertaining to the outing of a CIA spy? We’ve already forgotten? There was NO sex involved. (That we know of!)

One woman is on TV saying: Tiger’s wife should leave him!

Really?

I have a neighbor whose boyfriend beats her up! They have two kids. The apartment is in her name – it's a constant domestic abuse saga of tears, police and drama.

Why doesn’t SHE leave him? He’s no Tiger – if he was a book, he would not even be in the same library as Tiger. He has no education, no looks, no money – yet SHE is standing by her thug!

All across America women are standing by men who cheat (see politics) lie, even KILL!

I’d NOT worry about Tigers wife, Elin Nordegren. She can apparently take care of herself! Go Sistah! Maybe YOU should take up professional golf, Elin! You apparently know how to use that iron. Birdie to you – or is it eagle?

And as for those women saying Elin Nordegren should leave...do YOU think they would turn Tiger down if he called them and said: "Elin left me, I want to marry you"!?

You believe they’d say: "No Thanks Tiger - I'm waiting for a man who doesn't cheat"?

About this bridge in Brooklyn…

From Success To Failure In Just One Year…

I guess you’ve heard the news about Dubai – the oil rich, over-spending tiny Arab Emirate that tried to rebuild “The world” is now drowning in debt!

The country can’t pay some 60 billion-dollars it owes to mostly European banks. The news sent European stock markets plunging, which in turn dragged American markets down with them.

(I hope the protectionist people see a lesson in there. When America sneezes the world catches a cold. And when the world is down with that cold…the virus finds its way back to the US!)

I feel sorry for President Obama…

The poor guy DID NOT create any of the messes he now has to deal with. How do you fix Dubai or the next Dubai? How do you insulate the US from these economic meltdowns…and can we?

I guess these are questions for FED Chairman Ben Bernanke…and Treasury Secretary, Tim Geitner.

Bernanke is one of the few people I have confidence in on the economy. I don’t particularly care for Geitner. I’ve always thought that HE should NOT have been appointed…after his tax debacle came to light.

Geitner did not pay 34-thousand-dollars in self-employment taxes when he worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is supposedly a common “mistake” that Geitner conveniently realized around the time he was being nominated for Treasury Secretary.

How can a banker, and a prominent one at that, or anyone in the financial industry, especially the top dogs, NOT know they have to pay taxes…and on what?

That is a question that should flummox me; NOT the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

If you don’t understand a simple thing like that, HOW CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONSIDERABLY MORE COMPLICATED US ECONOMY?

Still, the IRS did NOT go after Geitner. But it comes after me…and YOU - ordinary Joe (NOT John McCain’s Joe the non-plumber – the IRS went after him! That poor Joe!).

Do you know auditors sent me a letter over my withholding for a couple hundred dollars? Even though I stapled a COPY of the bank forms to my return?

Yep. But Tim Geitner slipped through the cracks. I guess our tax guys are more efficient here in Massachusetts.

Anyway, back to Dubai!

In August 2008, CBS'S 60 Minutes ran a story on Dubai entitled: A visit to Dubai Inc. Steve Kroft reports on a Success Story In The Middle East.

News headline this past week: Debt crisis in millionaires' playground could herald new phase in global financial meltdown

I feel sorry for people who are near retirement and have invested in the Stock Market…

Heck, I feel sorry for myself. But I don’t feel sorry for Dubai!

60 Minutes opened its Dubai piece by saying: Dubai is a tiny sheikdom nestled along the Persian Gulf on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula and part of a tiny, oil-rich country called the United Arab Emirates. Over the course of just a few decades, it has transformed itself from a spit of sand about the size of Rhode Island into the Singapore of the Middle East.

Kroft described the transformation as: the vision of one man, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

According to 60 Minutes: One project, called by some the "largest construction site on earth," was just desert several years ago. The site employs half a million laborers, working 12-hour shifts on a reported $300 billion worth of projects, building Sheikh Mohammed's dream of a modern, efficient and tolerant Arab city with fine restaurants, a vibrant nightlife, that is both the playground and business capital of a new Middle East.

Sheikh Mohammed came up with the idea of turning Dubai into an international center for finance and media. He set up a series of free trade zones, promising no taxes, minimal regulation, and special incentive to corporations willing to locate to the emirate.

Since it opened three years ago, the Dubai International Finance Center has attracted banks, investment firms, and capital from around the world

According to the Sheik: Five years from now you're gonna see towers on your right, towers on your left. You're gonna see a kilometer-and-a-half garden where you can exercise. And if you're bored of that, you can go underneath it for a kilo-and-a-half shopping mall...and it is not the largest shopping center in the world. Because that's next door…

The Sheik was referring to The Burj Dubai development, where the largest shopping center in the world is under construction at the base what will become the world's tallest building.

The building includes the first Giorgio Armani hotel with floor after floor of million dollar apartments. It was already nearly a mile high, and when it is finished it will be twice as tall as the Empire State Building.

60 Minuets reported that: With no environmental regulations to stop him, Sultan began dredging a hundred million cubic yards of sand from the Persian Gulf, along with seven million tons of rock to form a man-made Island in the shape of a palm. It more the doubled the coastline of Dubai, and created waterfront condos and homes for 150,000 people, not including 35 hotels.

The palm island project sold out in less than a week, and houses that initially went for $1 million are being resold by original investors and real estate speculators for five times that.

Three more off-shore developments are underway, including a chain of 300 man-made islands, some of which will be private. They are shaped and situated to resemble a map of the world, which is what the project is called.

That was in 2008.

And coming from a real island, when I saw those low-lying sandbars they were referring to as Palm “islands” I thought of a tsunami…

This past week (ending 11/28/2009), Dubai World set off its own financial tsunami when it announced it needed more time to pay back some of its 60 billion-dollar debt.