Congress has always believed in our gulibility

Is the Gang of Eight Plan “Amnesty”?
A study of other recent amnesties indicates that it is
 

WASHINGTON, DC (May 3, 2013) — The “Gang of Eight” senators argue that their bill (S.744) is not an amnesty because illegal immigrants would have to pay a fine and fulfill other requirements as a condition of legalization. Yet seven recent tax and parking-ticket amnesties imposed conditions and payments on those who violated the law, and in every case these programs were considered to be an amnesty by elected officials, the public, and the media. Like the Schumer-Rubio immigration bill, each of  the amnesties discussed below set aside the normal penalty but still required payments.
 
Examples of recent amnesties:

• In 2012 Rhode Island offered what the state government and media outlets explicitly called a “tax amnesty”. The state even created the websitewww.TaxAmnesty.ri.gov to promote it. The amnesty allowed certain taxpayers to pay overdue taxes plus seventy-five percent of interest due by November 15. The remaining interest and civil and criminal penalties were waived.
• The town of Huntington, N.Y., just completed a parking ticket program described as an amnesty by the town board, town supervisor, and local media. To qualify for the amnesty, past due tickets issued January 1, 2005, or later had to be paid by April 30, 2013. The person had to pay the ticket value plus any penalties, but could do so at a 40 percent discount.
• In 2009 Louisiana ran what the state itself called a “tax amnesty”, even setting up a “Tax Amnesty Website”. The media also referred to it as an amnesty. The program covered past due taxes from 2001 or later. If taxes owed and 50 percent of interest  were paid during the two-month amnesty period, the remainder of the interest plus civil penalties were waived.

More examples at: www.cis.org/camarota/gang-eight-plan-amnesty-study-other-recent-amnesties-indicates-it

Members of the Senate’s Gang of Eight have argued that S.744 is not an amnesty. On his website promoting S.744, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) states that, “No one gets amnesty”. He argues that because the beneficiaries have to meet requirements and pay fines it is not an amnesty. He even states, “no undocumented immigrant is rewarded with anything”. Similarly, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) argued in a National Review opinion article, “This bill ensures that no illegal immigrant will be given amnesty or rewarded for illegal behavior.”  When asked if the bill was amnesty in a recent interview Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) stated, “not at all.” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also claimed in a recent interview that the bill is not amnesty.
 
Despite claims to the contrary, S.744 is similar to the tax and parking ticket amnesties discussed above. The normal penalty for being in the United States illegally is that the alien must leave the country. Under S.744 this penalty is set aside and illegal immigrants who arrived prior to January 1, 2012 are given legal status and can remain in the country. They must also pay a fee of $500 initially, and undergo a background check. Like all the amnesties discussed above, S.744 includes conditions and payments. If S.744 is not an amnesty, then none of the tax and parking ticket amnesties discussed above are amnesties, even though everyone involved with them considers the programs to be amnesties.
 
“The Schumer-Rubio immigration bill is an amnesty, and those who claim otherwise are not being honest with the American people,” said Steven Camarota, Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Dee Perez-Scott: Here's another speech Obama should make.

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV NEXT THURSDAY AND HEAR THE U.S. PRESIDENT GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?

'My Fellow Americans: As you all know, our greatest national priority is to put citizens back to work. That is why I am taking this opportunity to inform the Congress and all Americans what I propose to do to create jobs and stimulate our economy. But before I do that I have some confessions to make.

First, I have ignored my oath of office by failing to enforce our immigration laws. I have permitted millions of illegal aliens to enter and remain in this country and have undermined the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the discharge of their duties.
I have endangered our security by allowing sleeper cells to be created and staffed from the illegal population.

Second, Using the Saul Alinsky play book, I have taken us down the road toward Socialism when we all know that capitalism is what built our great country and made America what it is today – the envy of all other countries of the world.

Third, I squandered billions of TARP dollars on handouts to unions and special interest organizations like ACORN and La Raza that supported my candidacy to this office. I lost billions on the General Motors bailout.

Fourth, I talked about shovel-ready projects that would put America back to work without any provision to make sure only citizen workers would benefit. I admit that was a gross exaggeration. There were few such projects and the money has now been wasted.

Fifth, I lied so many times I can’t remember them anymore. A member of Congress pointed that out publicly when he said, “You lie!” He was right. I lied when I said that I didn’t know Rod Blagojevich and had only seen him at a distance at a football game. There are many photographs and much phone call evidence that indicates to the contrary. Therefore, I have to admit that I lied.

Sixth, I lied when I said that Obamacare would not apply to illegal aliens. There was no mechanism in the bill to verify the eligibility of applicants and no penalty for fraudulent applications. The bill therefore allows illegal aliens full access to government subsidized health care. I lied.

Seventh, I admit that the birth certificate I released the public had been modified and I hereby direct the State of Hawaii to release without delay the original long form document for examination by the experts. I may have lied when I claimed to have been born in the U.S. I have refused to allow the public access to all of my records, visas, financial aide applications, Illinois legislative records, my wife's thesis and my own academic records. The combination tends to indicate that I have something to hide or that I have lied about my past.

Eighth, I lied when I denied that I was a de facto Muslim. Every action that I have taken since I have been in office has proved to the contrary, from my bowing to foreign potentates to my celebration of Ramadan and my praises for Islam. I knew I could never achieve my personal goals unless I professed to be a Christian even if it was in the Black Theology church of Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

I cannot put America back to work without the help of the Congress and the American people but I can begin by repealing my executive orders and those of some of my predecessors that have contributed to our national debt and to the lack of jobs for citizens. Yesterday, I repealed Executive Order 13166 which required government services, proceedings and publications to be available in many languages. This is a luxury we can no longer afford and I will encourage all of the states to take similar action to make sure that taxpayer funds are not used for multi-lingual ballots, services and other publications. We will provide Public Interpreters for those who cannot afford one or who do not have a relative who can serve in that capacity. For all others, interpreters will be a billable expense. I am asking the Congress to pass a bill that will require real fluency in spoken and written English before citizenship can be granted.

The executive order I recently issued to cause our immigration courts and agents to focus solely on the criminal elements within the illegal alien communities is hereby rescinded in its entirety. In its place, I have issued a new executive order requiring the expeditious deportation of all illegal aliens and detainees who cannot prove that they legally entered and are legally present in the U.S. I want the states to appoint Immigration Justices of the Peace with federal authority and mandate to adjudicate routine immigration cases. This should enable a decision to be made in every case within 24 hours of the detainees’ arrival at a detention facility. These IJOPs will be embedded in the detention facilities so they can adjudicate routine immigration cases immediately upon the arrival of a detainee. Due process will allow only one week for appeal. The final decision of the IJOPs is not appealable.

I have directed the DHS to provide the states with a rigid set of criteria on which the IJOPs must base their decisions. In general, if the detainees cannot present proof of their bona fides within a one week appeal period, they will be deported without recourse. They will be finger printed, DNAed, and photographed and admonished that if they return without the proper documentation, they will do hard time for not less than two years or five years for a repeat offender. I have further directed the DHS to propose such other changes in the current law that may be necessary to assure the achievement of these goals, the securing of our borders, and the punishment of illegal aliens and those who employ them.

(I will ask the Congress to limit the Office of the Presidency’s ability to issue executive orders except those that are clearly within the scope and pursuant to the implementation of the laws passed by the Congress and making the issuance of any other executive orders an impeachable offense as a usurpation of the role of Congress)

The basis for the appeal of deportation orders will be very limited. First, If any employer can present irrefutable proof that: (1) he has paid all of the payroll taxes and withholding required for past and present illegal aliens in his employ; and (2) that he is unable to fill his jobs by offering a living wage at the American standard for each job and skill level as determined by the Department of Labor in consultation with local unions, professional organizations and state government, that may be a possible basis for a successful appeal and the granting of a green card provided the alien can also pass a background check and a medical exam and agrees to provide a DNA sample.

Second, family separation or unification will never be permitted as a basis for an appeal.

Third, visa overstays will not be allowed any special privileges; if their visas have expired, they must leave. The only exception to this rule will be foreign PhD students in engineering, physical science, mathematics and medicine who are interested in becoming American citizens. They may apply under a fast track citizenship plan with the endorsement of the faculty of their departments and who are fluent in English.

Fourth, illegal aliens may not be detained for more than one year. If their cases have not been resolved by the end of that period, they must be deported without recourse. Difficult cases involving requests for political asylum will be handled only by immigration judges. State-licensed Immigration Justices of the Peace will focus on routine cases where political asylum requests are not involved and where the detainee has not been able to present proof of his or her bona fides. Their decisions are not appealable. Aliens under a removal order must take their minor children with them regardless of the citizenship of the children. This action will not keep the children from exercising their citizenship rights later when they reach age 21.

I ask the Congress to quickly pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will:
(1) reduce the total number of legal immigrants allowed to not more than 200,000 annually, focused on the applicants most likely to be able to help us remain competitive in the world marketplace;

(2) modify the meaning of the 14th amendment to assure that illegal aliens, foreign students, and tourists are not considered within the jurisdiction of the U.S. for the purpose of achieving birthright citizenship for their children born in the U.S.;

(3) reduce the types of visas to four: students, tourists; business travelers; and temporary migrant farm workers;

(4) level the playing field so that adult relatives of U.S. citizens or permanent residents must compete with all other applicants;

(5) prohibits the entry into and presence of female aliens in the U.S. who are pregnant or who become pregnant;

(6) authorize the construction of triage and obstetric hospitals north and south of the borders with the cost of construction being shared with our neighboring countries but the staffing to be provided by our neighbors;

(7) make failure to enforce immigration laws an impeachable offense for all federal officials from the president on down;

(8) reduce funding for Medicaid and education for any state or municipality that fails to provide full police authority to ask any individual stopped for another violation to prove his or her legal presence in the U.S. and in the absence of such proof, to deliver that individual to the nearest federal detention facility for immediate processing and deportation as appropriate;

(9) authorize a DREAM act that is significantly strengthened over the previous versions presented to the Congress to require as a minimum of a 4 year enlistment in the armed forces for every applicant and providing for the continuous audit of all applications and the enforcement with appropriate penalties for fraudulent applications up to immediate deportation. Also, the act must remove any rights of the applicants to sponsor other relatives for permanent residency or citizenship.

I erred in usurping Congress’s role in the case of the DREAM act. It would be appropriate to judge me as having thumbed my nose at the Congress by doing by executive fiat what the Congress has already refused to do. In doing so I have indulged in another impeachable offense in the eyes of many. I appear to have taken the indefensible step of governing by decree.

In view of the difficult financial circumstances we are in I understand the reluctance of the Congress to approve any tax increases or any measures that will increase the national debt. I am therefore directing that all foreign aid to countries that have voted against the U.S. or failed to support our position in the UN at least 75% of the time be terminated immediately and those funds be reallocated to some job creation ideas from both sides of the aisle as agreed upon by the Congress.

I have further directed that our troops be removed from Afghanistan and Iraq by the end of this year. With the approval of the Pakistani government, we will provide a significant force in Pakistan to help guard its nuclear weapons and assure that they do not fall into the wrong hands. We will ask India and Pakistan to engage in serious negotiations leading to the elimination of nuclear weapons in both countries as soon as possible.

We will ask the Congress to delay indefinitely any further implementation of the heath care reform act until our national debt is no more than 18% of our GDP.

We will ask the governors to identify the types of unemployment that are most prevalent in their states and to suggest how best those pockets of highest unemployment can be eliminated in a permanent and productive way without wasting taxpayers’ money.

We will ask the Justice Department to ascertain how the $60 billion of fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan can best be recovered and the culprits punished.

Now obviously I can’t do this unilaterally. I freely admit that I have already taken some ill-advised actions of that nature by abusing my power to issue executive orders. I will need the help of every member of Congress and the American people to bring my proposals to fruition.
Finally, because of my many lies, failures to enforce the law and usurpations of Congressional authority, I will not seek a second term. If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve. This should enable us all to put our undivided energy into the creation of jobs and the restoration of our economy and the value of the dollar.

Dee Perez-Scott: Can't Read and Can't Comprehend a Budget

Dingy Harry Reid said, "Republicans want to shut down the government because they think there's nothing more important than keeping women from getting cancer screenings." That is a blatant and outright lie! That has never been the Republican position. They are just trying to get the Democrat’s attention. The above graph shows America’s future if the Democrats don’t get real and Dee Perez-Scott doesn't shut up. Where is the Democrat’s proposal to cut the remaining $62 billion from this year’s budget to meet the goals set by the People’s House earlier this year?

Contrary to Dee’s lies about the 2012 budget submitted by Rep. Paul Ryan, Chairman of the People's House Budget Committee, “it is the president's recent budget proposal that would accelerate America's descent into a debt crisis. It doubles debt held by the public by the end of his first term and triples it by 2021. It imposes $1.5 trillion in new taxes, with spending that never falls below 23% of the economy. The President’s budget permanently enlarges the size of government. It offers no reforms to save government health and retirement programs, and no leadership.”

“The Republicans’ budget, which they call The Path to Prosperity, is very different. For starters, it cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts the nation on a path to actually pay off our national debt. That proposal also brings federal spending to below 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), consistent with the postwar average, and reduces deficits by $4.4 trillion.”

“A study just released by the Heritage Center for Data Analysis projects that The Path to Prosperity will help create nearly one million new private-sector jobs next year, bring the unemployment rate down, consolidate dozens of duplicative job-training programs into more accessible, accountable career scholarships that will better serve people looking for work.”

It will strengthen and improve welfare programs for those who need them and eliminates welfare for those who don't. The Republican budget targets corporate welfare, starting by ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that is costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. It gets rid of the permanent Wall Street bailout authority that Congress created last year. And it rolls back expensive handouts for uncompetitive sources of energy, calling instead for a free and open marketplace for energy development, innovation and exploration.


This budget's reforms will protect health and retirement security. This starts with saving Medicare. The open-ended, blank-check nature of the Medicare subsidy threatens the solvency of this critical program and creates inexcusable levels of waste. This budget takes action where others have ducked. But because government should not force people to reorganize their lives, its reforms will not affect those in or near retirement in any way.” That is a far cry from Dee Perez-Scott’s lies like accusing the Republicans of proposing more “...tax cuts for the Rich while dumping Medicare for the elderly (another outright lie) and Medicaid for the poor.” Dee has never been able to comprehend the need to make businesses competitive with competitive tax rates so they can create more jobs. It is just beyond the capacity of her small brain.

According to the WSJ report on the Ryan budget, “starting in 2022, new Medicare beneficiaries will be enrolled in the same kind of health-care program that members of Congress enjoy. Future Medicare recipients will be able to choose a plan that works best for them from a list of guaranteed coverage options. This is not a voucher program but rather a premium-support model. A Medicare premium-support payment would be paid, by Medicare, to the plan chosen by the beneficiary, subsidizing its cost.”
“In addition, Medicare will provide increased assistance for lower-¬income beneficiaries and those with greater health risks. Reform that empowers individuals—with more help for the poor and the sick—will guarantee that Medicare can fulfill the promise of health security for America's seniors.

We all know that Social Security must be reformed to prevent severe cuts to future benefits. This budget forces policy makers to work together to enact common-sense reforms. The goal of this proposal is to save Social Security for current retirees and strengthen it for future generations by building upon ideas offered by the president's bipartisan fiscal commission.

“This budget recognizes that it is not enough to change how much government spends. We must also change how government spends. It proposes budget-process reforms—including real, enforceable caps on spending—to make sure government spends and taxes only as much as it needs to fulfill its constitutionally prescribed roles.” It proposed to prevent adding all those unfunded goodies liberals want to reward those who feed at the public trough and keep returning them to office.

In the area of tax reform “this budget would focus on growth by reforming the nation's outdated tax code, consolidating brackets, lowering tax rates, and assuming top individual and corporate rates of 25%. It maintains a revenue-neutral approach by clearing out a burdensome tangle of deductions and loopholes that distort economic activity and leave some corporations paying no income taxes at all.” This is another challenge for Dee Perez-Scott to understand.

This is America's moment to advance a plan for prosperity. Our budget offers the nation a model of government that is guided by the timeless principles of the American idea: free-market democracy, open competition, a robust private sector bound by rules of honesty and fairness, a secure safety net, and equal opportunity for all under a limited constitutional government of popular consent.

We need to “reform government so that people don't have to reorient their lives for less. We can grow our economy, promote opportunity, and encourage upward mobility. This budget is the new House majority's answer to history's call. It is now up to all of us to keep America exceptional.” Too bad Dee is not willing to help in this endeavor!