How much would it cost to deport every single illegal alien in the U.S.?

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The pro-amnesty American Action Forum (AAF) found it would cost the federal government $400 to $600 billion to remove all illegal aliens currently living in the United States within a two year period and to prevent all future unlawful entry.

In its research paper, AAF examined the personnel and infrastructure implications of removing all 11.3 million illegal aliens in a two-year time frame. In order to remove all illegals, each each one would have to be apprehended, detained, legally processed, and transported to their country of origin. In order to remove all illegals in two years, the U.S. government would have to expand each of those stages of the removal process.

The current annual budget for U.S. Customs and Border Protection is $13.5 billion. This does not include the costs of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies dealing with apprehending, detaining and processing illegals on a daily basis.

Based upon FY 2013 levels it would require:

  • Federal immigration apprehension personnel to increase from 4,844 positions to 90,582 positions;
  • The number of immigration detention beds to increase from 34,000 to 348,831;
  • The number of immigration courts to increase from 58 to 1,316;
  • The number of federal attorneys legally processing undocumented immigrants to increase from 1,430 to 32,445; and
  • A minimum of 17,296 chartered flights and 30,701 chartered bus trips each year.

George Fuller, an expert on immigration issues, notes, “Put in E-Verify and take away Childbirth citizenship and they will self deport. There will be no rounding up necessary. The AAF report is designed to make people think we have to accept them being here because the cost to deport them is high, but that is not true. When they get hungry they will leave. The same goes for visa over stayers!”

The Federation for America Immigration Reform (FAIR) in a 2013 study estimates the annual costs of illegal immigration at the federal, state and local level to be about $113 billion; nearly $29 billion at the federal level and $84 billion at the state and local level.

The FAIR study also estimates tax collections from illegal alien workers, both those in the above-ground economy and those in the underground economy. Those receipts do not come close to the level of expenditures and, in any case, are misleading as an offset because over time unemployed and underemployed U.S. workers would replace illegal alien workers.

Key Findings of the FAIR study:

  • Illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers about $113 billion a year at the federal, state and local level. The bulk of the costs — some $84 billion — are absorbed by state and local governments.
  • The annual outlay that illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers is an average amount per native-headed household of $1,117. The fiscal impact per household varies considerably because the greatest share of the burden falls on state and local taxpayers whose burden depends on the size of the illegal alien population in that locality
  • Education for the children of illegal aliens constitutes the single largest cost to taxpayers, at an annual price tag of nearly $52 billion. Nearly all of those costs are absorbed by state and local governments.
  • At the federal level, about one-third of outlays are matched by tax collections from illegal aliens. At the state and local level, an average of less than 5 percent of the public costs associated with illegal immigration is recouped through taxes collected from illegal aliens.
  • Most illegal aliens do not pay income taxes. Among those who do, much of the revenues collected are refunded to the illegal aliens when they file tax returns. Many are also claiming tax credits resulting in payments from the U.S. Treasury.

Read the FAIR full report here.

It appears from the two reports that the costs of deporting all illegals would be recouped within 4 to 6 years.

The AFF report notes that, “[I]n just two years it would shrink the labor force by 10.3 million workers and reduce real GDP by $1 trillion.” However, this does not take into account the reduction of payments to those not working by the government, who would now be able to back fill those jobs opened by the mass deportation of illegals.

Please leave your comments on this column. There are two options, the status quo or deportation. Which would be better for America and American workers?

UPDATE: Robert A King left the following comment on our Facebook page.

The straw man argument against enforcing immigration laws against illegals already here is that we can’t practically deport some 20 Million, illegal aliens. Poppy cock! Don’t fall for it!

Most illegals would go home of their own accord, without having to physically deport them, if we:

1) Build the fence – the WHOLE fence!

2) Make it illegal to hire an illegal, backed by stiff fines escalating to jail time for repeat/multiple offenses, and with culpability extending to corporate officers and board members;

3) Pass mandatory e-Verify in order to implement 2);

4) Make it illegal to provide educational, health (except for emergency care), or social welfare benefits to illegals, backed by stiff fines escalating to jail time for repeat/multiple offenses, and with culpability extending to corporate officers and board members;

5) Revise the visa system to make location recording and check-in tracking mandatory for all here under the various visas. Once expired and not renewed, require mandatory departure enforced by arrest and deportation for violation.

6) Eliminate the law that allows “Birthright Citizenship”, aka “Anchor Babies”. Congress NEVER intended that a person sneaking over the border to have their baby in the US should be allowed to be granted automatic and immediate citizenship. Amend the constitution, if necessary;

7) Make aiding and abetting an illegal itself illegal, backed by stiff fines escalating to jail time for repeat/multiple offenses, and with culpability extending to all involved, especially corporate officers and board members;

8) Illegals wanting to return to the US must apply under the legal immigration system, and follow the law like all other, legal immigrants;

9) Deport all criminal illegal aliens, whom make up over 30% of the federal prison population.

These things alone would cause most illegals to go home of their own accord, due to lack of “goody” incentives and the inability to work.

Next, we must also:

10) Make English our official language. E Pluribus Unum – out of many, one. It’s our national motto.

No more government voting ballots or other forms in anything other than English.

You want to be here? Become an AMERICAN!

By The Numbers Q&A Edition — The Untold Story of Muslim Opinions & Demographics

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By The Numbers kick started an open conversation about radical Islam. In response to the thousands of questions and comments, Raheel Raza addresses some of the key questions. Can we speak out, are we Islamaphobic for doing so and aren’t you afraid to speak out.

Further to our release of the now viral film By The Numbers, Raheel Raza answers some of the most pressing questions our supporters posed to us about speaking out against radical Islam, Islamaphobia and the fear of those that break the political correctness.

Watch Clarion Projects new film, narrated by Raheel Raza, on radical Islam and the answers we need to know.
The conversation starts here. Be empowered to make rational decisions about our future.

After seeing the film we want to know what you think. Please take the time to send us your thoughts and comments.

Florida Governor Rick Scott’s insightful op-ed on Donald Trump

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Florida’s Governor wrote a very insightful and passionate op-ed for USA Today titled, “Donald Trump has America’s pulse.” The op-ed is not an endorsement. Rather it is the reflections of one political outsider on another political outsider. Governor Scott has been there and done that, so to speak. Governor Scott writes:

Political pundits are shocked that Donald Trump is leading in the polls. The same thing happened in 2010 when I entered the Florida gubernatorial race against the already anointed and establishment-endorsed sitting Republican attorney general. One establishment member even said to me, “How can you be governor? I don’t know you.”

I won the governor’s race in 2010 and many outsiders — some of them business people — continue to shock the political establishment by coming into elected office from careers outside of politics. Attorney Chris Christie was elected governor of New Jersey in 2009; manufacturer Ron Johnson was elected senator of Wisconsin in 2010; businessman Bruce Rauner won the governor’s race in Illinois in 2014; and businessman Matt Bevin won the governorship of Kentucky just a few months ago. Voters have been choosing new ideas and new energy over the old formula of sheer time served in political office.

I know Donald Trump personally, and while I currently have no plans to endorse a candidate before Florida’s March presidential primary, there is no doubt that Donald is a man who speaks and tweets his mind freely. But I don’t think his ability to give the most interesting interviews or speeches is the only thing that has him leading in the polls. I think he is capturing the frustration of many Americans after seven years of President Obama’s very intentional government takeover of the U.S. economy.

Click here to read the entire USA Today op-ed piece by Governor Rick Scott.

Governor Scott has focused his efforts on cutting taxes, job creation, cutting regulation and reducing the size of government. Governor Scott has also opposed bringing Syrian refugees to the Sunshine State.

Sound familiar? It should.

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Moral relativism, moral equivalence, and historical revisionism

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The progressive failure to appreciate Israel’s existential concerns was reflected by the international uproar over the Knesset NGO Transparency bill, which would require Israeli NGOs receiving at least half their funds from foreign governments to register as foreign agents and identify their funding sources.  The liberal Jewish establishment has claimed the law will have a chilling effect on speech, though it does not seem as concerned about entities that support anti-Israel boycotts and lawfare.  It seems strange that advocates for Israel would express greater outrage for legislation mandating disclosure requirements than organizations that may be financed by hostile governments or foreign interests.

fara foreign agents actIf progressives find the law conceptually repugnant, why did they not condemn attempts to target conservative organizations in the United States?  Why was the liberal establishment silent when Obama’s regulatory proxies sought donor disclosure requirements for conservative groups and denied tax-exempt status to pro-Israel nonprofits?  Progressives have never seemed troubled by disclosure laws that have been on the books in the U.S. for the better part of a century.

The “Foreign Agents Registration Act” was passed by Congress in 1938 to require those representing foreign interests in a “political or quasi-political capacity” to disclose their foreign relationships, sources of funding, and organizational activities in order to enable “evaluation by the government and the American people of the statements and activities of such persons.”  It was signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal allies never questioned its impact on democracy or free speech.  Though the bill now before the Knesset may differ in certain respects, any concerns over content and scope should be handled through Israel’s legislative process.  Foreign critics cannot seem to accept this, however, and their denunciations seem shrill and disproportionate.

Progressives often reprimand Israel for taking actions to defend her sovereignty or preserve her Jewish character, often reflecting an antipathy for Jewish historical rights that is rooted in the progressive holy trinity of moral relativism, moral equivalence, and historical revisionism.

Moral relativism is often employed by leftists to justify their obsessive criticism of Israel, rationalization of Arab-Muslim rejectionism, and support for Islamists.  They believe that standards of right and wrong are malleable, and that public morality and ethical standards are culturally subjective.  This outlook rejects the concept of universal morality and holds that actions cannot be judged as inherently evil, no matter how egregious.

Islamist terrorism is not considered wrong by moral relativists who deem it a culturally organic reflection of the society that spawns it.  Many on the left take it a step further by ennobling terrorism as a reaction to western provocations.  They see no inconsistency in condemning Israel for defending herself against terrorists who view the mere existence of a Jewish state as offensive.

It seems that in order to be consistent, though, moral relativists should likewise not condemn actions that can be considered organic expressions of Israeli society.  The use of moral relativism to condemn Israel while exonerating terrorists is incongruous, and its proponents often claim their view is really one of moral equivalence.  But this does not explain their unbalanced hatred.

russia foreign agent lawMoral equivalence assumes ethical parity between parties in conflict and holds that their actions cannot be judged out of context from each other.  Justifications for the conduct of one are applied uniformly to all.  This theory is often used to legitimize Arab-Muslim rejectionism.  But whereas true moral equivalence holds all parties in moral equilibrium, terrorism against Israel is seen as justified against her presumed illegality and the false perception of Arab-Muslim victimhood.

Israel’s actions are rarely condoned because she is considered a rogue state, while Islamic radicals are given moral license because they are perceived as redressing genuine grievances.  If such a view were applied to all conflicts, no sovereign nation would ever be able to defend itself from aggressors presumed to be morally justified.

The neutral exercise of moral equivalence is dishonest in its balancing of self-defense with the aggression that provokes the response.  However, the lopsided application that presumes Israeli illegitimacy is even more egregious because it rests on a false narrative that depicts Israel as a colonial state, the Jews as strangers to the Mideast, and the Palestinians as having the most ancient connection to the Jewish homeland.  This narrative requires historical revisionism to create a political mythology that repudiates Jewish history.

Those who portray Arab-Muslim hatred of Jews as an understandable response to historical wrongs evoke a past that never really existed.  Though rejectionism is rationalized as a reaction to Jewish mistreatment of Arabs and Muslims, Judaism has never incited against Islam and Jews have never subjugated Arabs.  Jews have always been the persecuted minority, whose ancestral land was usurped through jihad.  Despite the canard that Israel displaced an ancient nation and culture, it is undeniable that a sovereign state of Palestine never existed and that Palestinian national identity is a modern political creation.

Revisionists are quick to deny the scripturally based anti-Semitism that has existed in Arab-Muslim society for generations and to ignore how Jews have been persecuted, harassed, and massacred since the rise of Islam.  The concept of benign tolerance for “people of the book” in general – and Jews in particular – is inconsistent with the historical reality.  Jews in Islamic society lived a subservient existence as long as they paid the jizya (poll tax) and accepted their lowly status.

Progressive critics tend to obscure the traditional intolerance of “infidels” with false claims of Jewish chauvinism.  Sometimes this reflects ignorance or naïveté, but more often it smacks of anti-Semitism.  Ironically, those who champion the credo “all hatreds are equal” seem to have no problem justifying Jew-hatred as political speech, or blaming Jews for bringing it on themselves.  They deny malicious intent by alleging a false affinity with Jewish values, which they claim actually support their negative views of Israel.

For many Jews on the left, the descent into self-rejection starts subtly – often with a repudiation of traditional values and observance in favor of secular political priorities.  The nontraditional movements have enabled this dynamic by raising progressivism to the level of religious obligation, and by institutionalizing a version of tikkun olam that lends a sympathetic ear to those spouting revisionist narratives and which endorses causes (e.g., Palestinian nationalism) that threaten Israel’s Jewish continuity.

The debate regarding Syrian refugees is indicative of this mindset and reflects a faulty grasp of Jewish history.  Many progressive Jews support President Obama’s plan to bring in thousands of refugees without restriction, even though immigration and intelligence officials admit there is no way to vet them properly or weed out terrorists.  Obama’s Jewish acolytes often claim an ethical obligation to support him because of putative similarities between Syrian refugees today and Jews during the Holocaust, but this comparison is false and misleading.

Jews were not marked for genocide during the Holocaust because of their political affiliations, economic status, or religious beliefs.  Whether rich or poor, capitalist or communist, traditionally observant or heretical apostates, Jews were murdered solely on the basis of blood and ancestry.  In contrast, many Syrians today have left their country because they backed the wrong faction, joined the wrong party, or lost their homes and livelihoods.  Some simply seek escape from a war zone.  However, none are threatened by a government extermination program based on race, ethnicity or nationality.  Though Yazidis and Christians are killed by ISIS if they refuse to convert, they are not among the refugees seeking entry to the U.S., and have actually received little sympathy from the administration.

Progressives also seem to forget that Roosevelt actually did little to rescue Jewish refugees.  In fact, he refused to relax immigration restrictions until far too late, which assured a higher death toll by war’s end.

Some who endorse Obama’s refugee policy also support anti-Israel NGOs and left-wing Jewish groups that encourage boycotts and undermine Israel’s national integrity.  Similarly, progressive post-Zionism falsely claims fealty to Jewish ideals while debasing the foundations of Jewish nationhood.  Neither represents true Jewish principles or priorities.

Those progressives who claim to criticize Israel out of love, respect, or the Jewish spirit of self-reflection are motivated by none of these impulses.  Their bias against Israel is philosophically predetermined and ideologically fixed – regardless of how they justify their preordained conclusions.  Israel should give them no credence, and the Diaspora should recognize their blather as inconsistent with normative Jewish history and values.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in Arutz Sheva (Israel National News).

Florida Representative Matt Gaetz Never Quits Fighting for Second Amendment Rights

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As the last two weeks of the 2016 Legislative Session, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R- Shalimar) is still standing up and fighting to get Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-Miami) to do the right thing and let the Open Carry bill be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

As you recall, Sen. Diaz de la Portilla is stonewalling and deliberately refusing to give the committee and the full Senate an opportunity to vote on the bill.

An Opinion Editorial by Rep. Gaetz, calling for the bill to be heard was published today in the North West Florida Daily News.  Read it below and please thank Rep. Gaetz for continuing to fight for your rights. You may contact Rep. Gaetz at: matt.gaetz@myfloridahouse.gov

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R- Shalimar)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R- Shalimar)

NWFdailynews.com

GUEST COLUMN: Florida Senate should let debate begin on open carry

By REP. MATT GAETZ | Special to the Daily News

Posted Feb. 28, 2016 at 1:00 PM

The organizing principle of my public service is Constitutional liberty. If government constrains itself to the Constitution, free markets, free enterprise and free people can thrive. Otherwise, we get catastrophic consequences like ObamaCare, lawless executive orders and a government that (often corruptly) picks winners and losers.

In a world of uncertainty, the Second Amendment to the Constitution is undeniably clear: The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Today, Florida is one of only five states infringing on the rights of citizens to “openly carry” handguns. That’s right. Open carry is legal in various forms in 45 other states. Florida joins California, New York, Illinois and (oddly) South Carolina as the only states to totally prohibit open carry. Thirty states do not require a license, while 15 do.

Weeks ago the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill I authored allowing Floridians with concealed carry permits to openly carry in a holster. It was a bipartisan 80-36 vote. The bill was endorsed by the Florida Police Chief’s Association, Unified Sportsmen of Florida and the National Rifle Association. The Florida Chamber of Commerce helped draft provisions to allow private property owners to prohibit open carry if they choose.

Then, the Senate Judiciary Chairman killed it. He refused to even allow a vote on open carry, likely because the bill would have passed. No one Senator should have the right to unilaterally block critical legislation from even having a vote – especially when constitutional rights are implicated.

There is no constitutional, statistical or rational basis to disallow open carry in Florida. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s own data, in open carry states you are:

  • 23 percent less likely to be the victim of violent crime
  • 5 percent less likely to be murdered
  • 38 percent less likely to be the victim of armed robbery, and
  • 23 percent less likely to be the victim of aggravated assault.

Open carry is not a Utopian solution to violence. Many factors impact crime rates. But, reasonable people cannot disagree on the statistical fact that open carry does not increase violence.

I find it compelling that concealed carry permit holders are remarkably law-abiding. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime data, permit holders are six times less likely to commit crimes than law enforcement officers.

If I am elected to serve in the Senate next year, I’ll again file much needed open carry legislation. I’ll also pursue changes to Florida Senate rules to allow for more transparent debate on the issues facing Florida.

Florida should be an open carry state. The Florida Senate should let the debate begin. I’m ready for it.

Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010 and has been subsequently reelected three times. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee and currently chairs the Finance & Tax Committee.

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VIDEO: Trump’s Great Wall of America

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It is time to build “The Wall” as a symbol to the world that the United States of America is still run by free men and women!

eu pessimists by country chart

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Elected Criminals to be Reelected by Incarcerated Criminals

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Hawaii lawmakers are expected to make a decision on House Bill 2773 on Thursday.  The bill would allow prisoners to retain their right to vote, even while incarcerated.

(Airhead) Representative Kaniela Ing introduced the bill.  He says denying convicts voting rights undermines democratic ideals.  Ing believes the process helps inmates learn about the system and helps them feel like they are part of the process and not against it.

“Feel like they’re part of the system and they can help create it and shape it,” says Ing.

But critics say convicted criminals have many constitutional rights taken away while they’re serving time, and this one shouldn’t be an exception.

“You’re punished.  You forfeit those rights,” says Representative Bob McDermott, “It’s a foolish idea and it won’t pass. It will embarrass members in an election year.”

Meanwhile: Sentencing set for ex-state senator in racketeering case

HB2773: Text, Status

read … Birds of a Feather

GOP Baffled as Voters Rally to Popular Candidate

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Ann Coulter writes:

Donald Trump’s latest bombshell, claiming the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction to get us into the Iraq War, is just him doing wheelies on the way to the nomination. He’s apparently decided it would be fun to taunt the entire GOP by demonstrating that he can say anything and his voters won’t care.

I wish he’d stop showing off, the little scamp, but maybe the GOP establishment will finally get the message that voters have been waiting a really long time for a candidate who would put Americans first. Not donors, not plutocrats, not foreigners, and certainly not foreign plutocrats (i.e., Fox News).

Trump is the first presidential candidate in 50 years who might conceivably: (1) deport illegal aliens, (2) build a wall, (3) block Muslim immigration, (4) flout political correctness, (5) bring manufacturing home, and (6) end the GOP’s neurotic compulsion to start wars in some godforsaken part of the world.

That’s all that matters! Are you listening yet, RNC?

Read more.

people who hate trump cartoonIn my column “The Trump Insurgency” I noted:

If you Google the words “Trump” and “insurgency” you will get over 650,000 links to articles and commentary. I recently said to a friend that Donald Trump has gone from being a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President to the leader of a movement.

Can this movement be called an insurgency?

The definition of an insurgency is a “rebellion against an existing government by a group not recognized as a belligerent.”

Is it Trump who created an insurgency or is Trump following the lead of a growing insurgency that was already taking place? I have written that Trump leads his followers by following their lead. The movement began during the Presidency of Bill Clinton and continues today. It is a struggle between the individualist and the collectivist.

Ayn Rand wrote a short nineteen page paper asking: What is the basic issue facing the world today? Rand, in her paper makes the case that, “The basic issue in the world today is between two principles: Individualism and Collectivism.” Rand defines these two principles as follows:

  • Individualism – Each man exists by his own right and for his own sake, not for the sake of the group.
  • Collectivism – Each man exists only by the permission of the group and for the sake of the group.

Donald Trump has tapped into the “Individualism Movement.” Trump’s life is the embodiment of the individualist. Trump has been rich, then poor and then rich again. He has done this not with government handouts, but rather despite the government.

It appears Ann and I agree. The GOPe is baffled, the people are not.

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Journalist doesn’t report Islamic State sympathizer to police because ‘he was so nice’

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“Also, considering the state we now find ourselves in, we cannot go crying to the police about every little IS sympathizer we come across on the high street. The system wouldn’t be able to cope.” That should have set off warning alarms for her and others in Britain, but it didn’t, and won’t. And so Britain will go gently into its good night, happy that its new Islamic supremacist masters are such very decent fellows.

Do you think Melissa Kite would have been this conflicted if the kind, helpful man at the tire shop had been a member of a counter-jihad group? If he had been a member of, say, LibertyGB, she might not have gone to the police, since, after all, it isn’t illegal in Britain (yet) to belong to such a group, but it is highly unlikely she would have written about him so sympathetically, no matter how kind he had been.

“There’s a guy works down the tyre shop swears he’s Isis: But he had done me a great service and an incredible deal so I decided not to go to the police,” by Melissa Kite, The Spectator, February 27, 2016:

The last time I bought a set of tyres in south London I came away not quite knowing whether I had just been asked to become a jihadi bride.

Of course, it was only the merest suspicion. If I had had hard evidence I might have gone to the police. Or I might not. These days, one is likely to get done for a hate crime if one complains about a member of the opposite religion. If I had gone to the police what would I have said?

‘Excuse me, I’ve just had a set of tyres fitted to my Volvo by a man who tried to persuade me that IS fighters don’t deserve the bad press.’

Would I have sounded hysterical, or delusional, or just plain prejudiced? And what was my suspicion based on? Not that much.

I thought about it a lot but really all I had was the fact that, as I sat in the waiting room with the spaniel as my tyres were fitted, a very handsome young man sitting at his desk beneath a huge gold-framed excerpt from the Koran told me I shouldn’t listen to ‘the hype’ about Isis, who weren’t the barbarians they were made out to be. He knew this, he said, because he was just back from a top-secret mission in the Middle East, which he couldn’t elaborate on.

He said I should consider converting and marrying a man like him because I would find that my life really took off at that point. I gulped and nodded. I thought it unlikely that going under the veil would make me happy but he had me in a bind.

I was sitting in his waiting room and my car was up on his ramp with no wheels. I could hardly shout, ‘Now look here, matey! I’m a Roman Catholic. Jesus saves! And while we’re at it, the suffragettes chained themselves to railings for my right to vote, and to tell you to naff off!’

I had to nod and say please and thank you and ‘oh, now that is interesting!’ The whole situation was complicated by the fact that his men went to the most enormous trouble to fit me the best set of affordable quality tyres I have ever had on my Volvo. Truly, within seconds of driving away it was obvious that the car was driving better than ever. Much better than the way it drove after the last set was fitted, when the builder boyfriend took it to one of his mates under the arches who whacked some retreads on it.

Life is terribly confusing at times like these. I realised that I could have a guy who was on the side of the angels fit deathtrap tyres to my car and not even balance them properly.

Or a guy who was cheerleading for the worst terror group in the history of mankind could fit four stupendously good-value Continentals.

What’s a girl to do?

I drove around pondering what evidence I should take to the police and eventually concluded that I would go with my mum’s old maxim: you have to take people how you find them. The guy in the tyre shop had been courteous, kind, patient, honest, trustworthy, efficient, skilful and reliable. He had done me a great service and an incredible deal.

He might have been an IS fighter just arrived back from jihad. Or he might have been shooting his mouth off to impress me. It is, after all, entirely possible that our country is in such a weird mess that boasting you’re connected to Isis has become a chat-up line to which increasing numbers of men are resorting to impress the ladies.

Also, considering the state we now find ourselves in, we cannot go crying to the police about every little IS sympathiser we come across on the high street. The system wouldn’t be able to cope….

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Britain Bristles, Canada Bows to Islamic Multiculturalism

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Britain appears to be cracking down on deportations of terrorists as well as hard-core criminals, while Canada, with its new liberal administration, dons kid gloves to deal with terrorists. Although in the case mentioned below, it took  the United Kingdom an eternity to wake up.

An article in the Independent reports on the Home Secretary, the British cabinet level position that deals with immigration, citizenship, and crime policy,

“Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is planning to significantly increase her department’s use of legal powers that allow serious criminals with dual nationality to have their British citizenship withdrawn.”

This action is in response to the gang rapes, and assaults perpetrated by what the article claims as “Asian” sex abuse gangs. You have to laugh at the media that will use any  kind of word to describe people from Muslim countries. Yes, Pakistan is part of South-West Asia, but how about just naming the country.

The particular case being discussed in the article deals with a gang of six men and women recently convicted of involvement in rape, prostitution, false imprisonment, and indecent assault. Three brothers with British/ Pakistani citizenship: Arshid, Basharat, and Bannaras Hussain were named in the case. They are not your average Anglo-Saxon names, so I’m assuming they are Muslim. The number of abused in Rotherham England, an area contolled by the culturally  Muslim sensitive Labour Party, 1,400 children over the past 16 years.

According to the Telegraph,

“Men of Pakistani heritage treated white girls like toilet paper. They picked children up from schools and care homes and trafficked them across northern cities for other men to join in the fun. They doused a 15-year-old in petrol and threatened to set her alight should she dare to report them. They menaced entire families and made young girls watch as they raped other children.”

Vinesh Mandalia, the counsel for the Home Office, stated,

“… the hearing that the decision by Home Secretary to deprive the men of their British citizenships was based on the need to express “society’s condemnation of those who have gained the benefits and privileges of British citizenship, but go on to become involved in serious organised crime”

On the flip-side, Canadian Immigration Minister, John McCallum announced new legislation that basically would prevent known terrorists in their country from being deported. No surprise here since the country just elected a “wet behind the ears’  Prime Minister who wants 50,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this year.

According to the National Post,

“…the Liberal plan promises to be controversial in its own right, since it would, if passed, restore the Canadian citizenship of Zakaria Amara — sentenced in 2010 for his role as a member of the so-called Toronto 18.”

So, the very first piece of legislation pushed out by this liberal Canadian government will restore citizenship to the lead al Qaeda terrorist, Amara,  involved in a plot to blow up a large truck bomb parked outside of the Toronto Stock Exchange at rush hour in 2006. In addition, an Ontario military base was also to be attacked, essentially creating their own Canadian 9/11.

Personally, I’m wondering why he is still six feet above ground, but then we have our own Blind Sheik who is being waited on hand and foot at Club Gitmo, awaiting his pardon at the end of the Obama regime. (That is just my opinion.)

The National Post goes on to state,

“In addition, the department will take no further action against nine terrorists who had received notices informing them their citizenship was being revoked. They include an Iranian-Canadian and a Pakistani-Canadian imprisoned for a 2010 plan to bomb military bases in Canada.”

It continues,

“Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian imprisoned in California over his role in a plot to decapitate employees of a Danish newspaper and throw their heads onto the street, will also be allowed to keep his Canadian citizenship.”

What does this legislation say to terrorists worldwide? It is the very same message our government broadcasts to any illegal immigrant desiring to come to our country for numerous reasons.  And that is…Have no fear of prosecution or of being deported. Canada and America are open-wide, multiculturally speaking, to those who intend harm.

Interestingly, Canada just reported a total of 240 of its model citizens are or have been engaged in terror groups fighting overseas. Sixty have returned home with the remaining 180 still abroad. With the administration’s bent, Trudeau may just arrange a ticker tape parade to welcome them all home.

RELATED ARTICLE: Swiss Vote on Expelling Foreigners for Petty Crimes

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left) meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron during a bilateral visit to London, on November 25, 2015.

Bloomberg and Murdoch (rich globalists) working to control your communities

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This morning we learned from a New York Times story that Fox News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch failed in 2013 to persuade you that Marco Rubio’s ‘Gang of Eight’ Amnesty bill would be good for America.

However, having failed through Fox News propaganda, he and other rich globalists (they need cheap labor!) created a new way to change your minds about how, by ‘welcoming’ more immigrants to town, you would benefit and created a special grant program called ‘Gateways to Growth.’

They are coming for you one town at a time!

Here is what I said at American Resistance 2016! a month ago:

Welcoming America and the Partnership for a New American Economy have partnered in a grant giveaway program—Gateways for Growth—designed to get your town or county softened up to accept MORE immigrants and refugees!  [Since I first wrote about this last month, you can no longer see the grant requirements without a password — typical secretive creeps!—ed]

The gist of the program is that Lefty Open Borders groups would ‘partner’ with business interests and local government to create a kind of political juggernaut that would bring Republicans and Democrats together against you, average citizens who do not want to change the social and cultural make-up of your towns, and who believe Americans should get the first shot at well-paying jobs.

The Twin Falls, Idaho target!

Longtime readers know that we have written a great deal about the ‘Pocket of Resistance’ in Twin Falls, Idaho (where Chobani Yogurt has built its largest plant in the world).  Click here for our extensive Twin Falls archive.

So, now check this out!  Here is Murdoch’s (and former NY Mayor Bloomberg’s) Gateways for Growth trying to go operational in Twin Falls.  In order to get the Murdoch/Bloomberg payola, the Open borders advocates must “partner” with the supposed ‘other side’—local government, Chambers of Commerce etc.

This is our first news of how the globalists and the do-gooders are working together in your towns!

Be sure to see ‘Gateways for Growth challenge’ to see what they hope to gain.  It is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about “integration” (not assimilation!).  They will really simply be propagandists.

From Magic Valley.com where we learn that the Murdoch groupies got ahead of themselves and listed the local government on their grant application.

TWIN FALLS | The City Council is entering the refugee issue after unanimously voting Monday to appoint a liaison to a local advocate group.

The Council heard from the Magic Valley Refugee Advocates, a fledgling group that intends to establish services for refugees in Twin Falls if it’s able to land a grant and hire staff.

While council members did not offer support for the group’s efforts — and in fact were opposed to being listed as a “supporter” in a letter of intent for the grant being sought — they agreed an exchange of information with the group was appropriate. It marks the first time the city has formally engaged in a months-long heated debate over refugee resettlement in the Magic Valley.

[….]

Several Council members were not pleased, however, the city was listed as a partner agency in a grant being pursued by the local advocacy group from the Partnership for a New American Economy, an immigration advocacy organization formed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Vice Mayor Suzanne Hawkins noted the Magic Valley Refugee Advocates listed the city as a supporter before it had agreed to be a partner.

More here! Read it all!

The leader of the Magic Valley Refugee Advocates is Erika Willsey.  Here she makes a presentation of her support of the resettlement contractor in Twin Falls—the College of Southern Idaho.  Ms. Willsey is carrying the water for globalists Bloomberg, Murdoch and Hamdi Ulukaya/Chobani Yogurt (whether she knows it or not).

I urge all of you to be on the lookout for a similar attempt being made in your towns to use globalists’ grant money to put the business community in concert with the Leftist do-gooders to change your community and to work against your interests.

By the way, the next time you hear some big company boss moaning that they can’t find American workers—tell them they need to pay a decent wage and they will get them!

RELATED ARTICLES:

23 Years Ago the World Trade Center was Bombed Because of Illegal Alien Amnesty | Daniel Greenfield

News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch tried to manipulate you during 2013 ‘Gang of Eight’ battle

China takes no Syrian refugees for several important (sensible!) reasons

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of Rupert Murdoch (left) and Michael Bloomberg (Josh Reynolds/AP Photo).

Florida man could get life in prison for mosque bacon attack

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There is no excuse for what Michael Wolfe did. He is guilty of being hateful and stupid, and committing armed burglary and criminal mischief. He should be sentenced accordingly.

In Portland, Mohamed Mohamud attempted to commit jihad mass murder at a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. He got thirty years in prison, and his lawyers are claiming that sentence was draconian and should be reduced. Michael Wolfe should get life in prison for bacon while Mohamed Mohamud gets thirty years for attempted mass murder?

This indicates yet again that Muslims in the U.S. are rapidly becoming a protected class, of whom authorities are particularly solicitous. Michael Wolfe deserves punishment. The punishment should fit the crime.

Michael Wolfe

Michael Wolfe

“Mosque bacon attack could get Titusville suspect life in prison,” by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today, February 25, 2016:

An attack on a mosque using raw bacon and a machete could potentially garner a Brevard County man up to life in prison as a result of a recently added hate crime enhancement, authorities say.

An attack on a mosque using raw bacon and a machete could potentially garner a Brevard County man up to life in prison as a result of a recently added hate crime enhancement, authorities say.

Michael Wolfe, 35, was charged with armed burglary of a structure and criminal mischief of a place of worship in connection with the New Year’s Eve break-in and desecration of the Islamic Society of Central Florida Masjid Al-Munin Mosque in Titusville.

Police said the convicted felon acted alone, broke into the empty mosque with a machete at night, slashing at windows and other property before leaving behind a slab of raw bacon in and around the front door. A surveillance video shows Wolfe, dressed in camouflage pants and carrying a backpack as he stepped into the carport at the mosque.

The attack – one of a several acts of vandalism reported at Islamic centers across the country – drew national attention from advocacy groups like the [Hamas-linked — Ed.] Council on American-Islamic Relations. The incident left many in fear at the small, 50-member congregation.

Wolfe remains held at the Brevard County Jail Complex without bond and is awaiting trial.

“Our charging decisions confirm how seriously we take crimes of this nature. When further investigation shows a crime is clearly hate motivated, it will not be tolerated,” said State Attorney Phil Archer, who could not comment directly on the case.

The state attorney’s office reviewed the case and brought formal charges against Wolf earlier this month. Both charges now carry hate crime enhancements, which means the potential sanctions in the event of a conviction are increased. In the case of the armed burglary charge, Wolfe could now face up to life in prison if found guilty of the charge, although the case and any sentencing still hinges on whether a plea deal is reached, Wolfe’s prior record and the discretion of the judge.

Imam Muhammad Mursi, who oversees a network of mosques in Central Florida. lauded the state attorney’s office’s effort to pursue the case as a hate crime. “We have been hoping for that to happen. It was clearly a hate crime,” Mursi said. “Obviously, we were lucky that no one was there that night. He had a a machete, someone could have been killed.”

“Right now we are trying to recover and reassure people,” Mursi said….

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A Pastor’s Dream 30 Years Ago foresaw a ‘terrible dictator’ as President — How It Could Be

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A pastor dreamed of an African-American president with Obama’s description, well-liked at first, but he became a ‘terrible dictator.’ The dream was not shared widely because it seemed impossible in the 1980’s. (Google or click ‘Jack Darnall’s Dream‘)

Jack Darnall, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor was running a ‘prepper’ Bible prophecy course 36 years ago in California when this author met him. Darnall is deceased but his dream describes a tall, thin, close-cropped hair and large eared, black president who became a ‘terrible dictator.’ We look now at how he could be president when Christ comes.

Five ‘when-then’ events from 2015 signal the end-time ‘day of the Lord,’ to begin this spring, based on the solar eclipse followed by a blood moon two weeks later on Passover in 2015. The Bible says, “The sun shall be darkened and the moon turned to blood before [paniym means facing the day of the Lord.” in the last verses of Joel’s 2nd chapter. Those signal events of 2015 face this year.

“The day of the Lord” brings bad news for Israel because the 14th of Zechariah shows it linked to hostile forces surrounding Jerusalem with houses rifled and women raped. Additional basis for this is explained here. If we see this at Passover, a biblical time of judgment, it signals Christ’s sayings in the last half of Matthew’s 24th chapter as follows:

“Learn a parable of a fig tree.” It was a tree that had leaves but no fruit. It represented the Jewish nation, professing to be a godly nation, but they lacked the fruits of righteousness. In an acted parable, Christ cursed the fig tree and it withered in the 21st chapter of Matthew. But how about the United States now? We profess to be a godly nation, but Roe v Wade showed the U.S. more like Egypt that killed infants.

God took Israel from Egypt to a covenant relationship, later saying, “I am married to you,” and it’s in that sense Christians should understand the wedding parables and God’s protection of His covenant-keeping people in the land of the covenant as the context of the New Covenant Promise shows in the 31st of Jeremiah and affirmed by the apostle Paul in his 3rd chapter to the Galatians, last verse.

“As the days of Noah,” we may expect a sudden calamity that causes many deaths and devastates our nation–it’s probably an earthquake that does this because “the day of the Lord” is linked to an earthquake in several passages and the apostle Paul said it comes with “sudden destruction” when they say ‘Peace and safety’ (Iran Nuclear Treaty) in the 5th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.

“Then shall two be in the field. One shall be taken and the other left.” This was the basis of fictional  books and movies on a sudden rapture, but it ignores the context at the end of the 17th chapter of Luke where the disciples asked, Where [taken]? Christ said, Where the body is, there will the vultures be. This reference by Christ may be about martial law as a result of the earthquake (previous paragraph) and Obama’s executive orders to stay in power rather than have free elections.

“The goodman, if he had known, would have watched, and not suffered his house to be broken by the thief.” The house being broken supports the idea of an earthquake and Christ said if we don’t watch, He will come as a thief to us in the 3rd chapter of Revelation. It is this coming of Christ that could fit Jack Darnall’s dream, even this spring.

“The evil servant thinks his lord delays his coming and begins to smite fellow servants.” We see Islam smiting Christians, but Christ’s meaning could include the prophetic picture of a UN New World Order. The 24th chapter of Matthew ends with “Then shall the kingdom be like 10 virgins,” a parable that implies we are asleep with our lights out re the wedding parables that are poorly understood, but explained in an article here.

European Civilization: R.I.P.

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In early September 1999, on a combined business/pleasure trip to Europe, I had my one and only opportunity to cross the English Channel on a hovercraft from Dover to Calais.  However, since the hovercraft Princess Margaret and Princess Anne were temporarily out of service, it became necessary to cross the channel aboard the Seacat Great Britain from Folkstone, south of Dover, to Boulogne on the French seacoast, some 30 miles south of Calais.

Arriving in Calais on a Sunday afternoon, we found the Avis rental car agency at the Calais train station was closed for the day.  However, the manager of Avis’s Calais office was kind enough to interrupt his day off long enough for us to obtain our reserved rental car.  It also gave us a few hours to tour the town centre of that beautifully restored city that was all but leveled during World War II.  But life in Calais has changed dramatically in the past fifteen years and it is unlikely, given local conditions, that Avis or Hertz still maintains rental agencies in Calais.

On January 4, 2016 I published a column questioning whether we are now witnessing the end of European civilization.  In that column, I questioned how people in the U.S. and Europe would respond to the bloodshed that is certain to occur when millions of well-armed muhajirs flood into Europe.  When asked by German journalist Jurgen Todenhofer if ISIS was prepared to kill every Shiite Muslim on Earth, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi scoffed, “One-hundred fifty million or 500 million, we don’t care; it’s only a technical problem for us.  We are ready to do that.”

So if ISIS considers the difference between killing 150 million or 500 million Shia to be a mere “technicality,” how will the people of Europe handle a full-scale onslaught by such people?  Will they be prepared to do whatever is necessary to save European civilization, or are they simply too war weary from having two world wars fought on their soil to even defend themselves?  The answer to that question becomes clearer with each passing day, and nowhere do we see a greater example of European spinelessness than in present-day Calais.  To illustrate, I will quote a recent speech by a French housewife named Simone, a lifelong resident of Calais.  She said:

“My name is Simone, and I live in Calais.  I am a native Calaisienne.  My parents were also… I have always lived there and Calais used to be a very nice town… We had peace, we had security, and there were always a lot of people about in summer and in winter…”

Then she went on to describe how former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy had decided to close the nearby Sangatte refugee camp, causing the inhabitants to descend upon Calais.  She said, “Even I, at the beginning, I said they are unhappy people.  They are lost. They have nothing.  Maybe we could help them.  And I cannot tell you how it happened from one day to the next, but we soon found ourselves with thousands.  I say thousands of migrants… actually, at the moment, there are 18,000 in what they call the ‘Jungle.’  Yes, 18,000.

“It’s terrible because they really made a city within the city.  They have discotheques, shops,

schools, hairdressers.  They even have… er… no, I cannot say it but I think you understand… for

the needs of the gentlemen, of course.  They made roads; they gave names to these streets.  They elected a mayor.  Yet, the police cannot enter what they call the ‘Muslim part.’  It is prohibited.

“Until then, we could perhaps have been able to bear it, but one cannot bear the unbearable.  When one sees that, incessantly, every day, every night, there are riots.  They come to the town centre… two, three, four thousand, everywhere.  They bash cars with iron rods, they attack people.  They even attack children.  There are rapes, there is theft, it is unimaginable what we suffer.  They enter private houses when people are at home.  They just enter; they want to eat; they help themselves.  Sometimes they also bash the people, stealing what they can, and afterwards, what they cannot take they destroy.  And when we want to defend ourselves we have the police on our backs.  The police have not accepted any complaints for a long time.

“My own son has been attacked.  He was walking quietly in the city centre.  He was listening to his music.  He had the earphones in his ears when someone tapped him on the shoulder.  He turned around, thinking it was one of his friends.  Instead, he was facing three clandestins (illegals) and he took a big blow to the face with an iron bar.  My son is quite strong, so he managed to defend himself and the three took some blows.  But then he heard some noise.  There were about thirty migrants who came to massacre him.  As he is no kamikaze, he fled.  When I saw my son come home like that, frankly, I told myself they could have killed him…

“They attack children when they return from school, or when they go to school or to the college.  They go so far as to take the school buses, enter the school bus with the children.  On January 23rd they started a big riot in Calais.  It was terrible… They went as far as attacking the statue of General De Gaulle.  They wrote on it, ‘F_ _ _ France,’ with the ISIS flag underneath… They demonstrate because of their conditions, but the more one gives them the more they demand…

“I loved very much to go to what I call the ‘grave’ of my son… it’s at the sea.  I lost my son and we put his ashes into the sea.  It was his wish; I respected his wish.  I said to my husband in the evening, ‘Take me to the grave of my son.  I need it.  I cannot do it any longer because even just to cross the town centre of Calais you put yourself in danger.  In the evening, as soon as it gets  dark, one is in danger.  I cannot go there any longer, where I loved to go.  I cannot any more (sobbing), it’s not possible.  I am afraid.  I’m afraid and there are many like us in Calais…

“The government has abandoned us.  They have decided to make of Calais a (wasteland), and if we don’t move we will be burdened with all the migrants of France here and we are finished.  We are dead.  And the Calaisians are like sheep.  I don’t understand them.  Yesterday I was in that (anti-Islam) demonstration; I was in the middle of it with my husband, my son, and friends.  And there was General (Christian) Piquemal…  And what I saw yesterday I won’t hide it from you.  I could not sleep all night because I have reviewed the scene incessantly.  They did not talk about it on the TV, the radio, not even in the newspapers.  We saw him arrested, manhandled like a thief.  He who, after all, is a French icon, an image of France who deserves respect and all the honours due to his rank.  Like a thug, we saw him pushed to the ground.  The policeman put his foot on his neck.  I promise you. We saw it.

“Even the merchants have lost 40-60 percent of their income, whereas before, Calais was a

flourishing city; it was lively, animated, gay.  There were always foreigners during the summer holidays and at the end-of-year celebrations.  Today, there is nothing left.  All the shops that had opened in the centre of town have closed down, one after the other.  Calais is a dead town… And when they come into town armed with their iron bars and their Molotov cocktails, watch out.

“And let’s speak about Madame Bouchart, the Mayor of Calais (hisses and boos).  I will tell you what I call her.  I call her ‘the slug.’  Yes, because the longer it is since she was elected mayor of Calais, the fatter she gets.  And frankly, she does nothing for the residents of Calais.  She got millions of Euros in assistance for the residents of Calais.  It was for helping the Calaisians, to help them in finding employment.  The first thing she organized was the construction of containers to house the migrants.  She had them made in Brittany, not even in Calais.  The only jobs she created in Calais… I know it because I have a friend who was offered one… were fifty jobs to clean up the crap left by the migrants… Voila!  The jobs proposed by Mme. Bouchart.

“And now there is something more: the ‘No Borders’ (organization).  It is the worst rabble you can have because they are the ones who push the illegals we have in Calais to create havoc.  Let’s call it ‘screw things up,’ but it’s much worse than that.  They are at the four corners of town with their walkie-talkies giving orders.  I have seen the riot police retreat before the migrants.  This made me cry because I told myself that’s not normal.  It’s not normal.  We are in our homes, we are in our country, we are in our town.  The riot police should rather order the migrants to step back, and not the reverse.  So they demonstrate because they want €2,000 pocket money per month…  They want a car, and also a house, of course.

“Let’s speak about houses.  When we see that Mme. Bouchart has evicted people from their homes in Calais, which were close to the zone of ‘Les Dunes,’ because it was not viable for them.  Because the migrants were too close, they suffered attacks, theft, and more.  She has evicted them even though they paid their rent.  Even I, they are evicting me from my house next month.  They are taking my house from me, and yet we have always been honest.  But it’s too long a story.  There was a judgment and they will sell my house next month, when there is nothing we can be reproached with.

“My husband is sick; he has cancer… but never mind.  The French have to be crushed, they have to be evicted.  One has to take everything from them to leave the space for the rabble who want to colonize us.  And they tell us these are ‘cultural enrichments’ for us.  I ask myself where their cultural riches are.  Because if it is to sack, to destroy, to steal, to rape, and so on, the French were fully capable of doing it themselves.  One only has to ask…”

With an all-out, no-holds-barred effort by the civilized world, the forces of ISIS can be utterly destroyed.  But even if we are able to achieve that result, we must also understand that this will not be the end of the matter.  Even if Islam is temporarily chastened by the loss of millions, they will lick their wounds for a time and then they’ll be back with even greater bloodlust than before.

The 18,000 Muslims who now clog the French end of the Chunnel at Calais want nothing more than to find their way into England where Islam has a major foothold… a foothold that is nothing more than a jumping off point for the U.S.  What is now happening in Calais will soon happen in U.S. cities such as Dearborn and Hamtramck.  Are we prepared for that, or does political correctness demand that we continue to hope for Muslim “moderation?”

You be the judge.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Next Syrian Refugee Crisis: Child Brides

eu pessimists by country chart

The Myth of Scandinavian Socialism by Corey Iacono

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Bernie Sanders has single-handedly brought the term “democratic socialism” into the contemporary American political lexicon and shaken millions of Millennials out of their apathy towards politics. Even if he does not win the Democratic nomination, his impact on American politics will be evident for years to come.

Sanders has convinced a great number of people that things have been going very badly for the great majority of people in the United States, for a very long time. His solution? America must embrace “democratic socialism,” a socioeconomic system that seemingly works very well in the Scandinavian countries, like Sweden, which are, by some measures, better off than the United States.

Democratic socialism purports to combine majority rule with state control of the means of production. However, the Scandinavian countries are not good examples of democratic socialism in action because they aren’t socialist.

In the Scandinavian countries, like all other developed nations, the means of production are primarily owned by private individuals, not the community or the government, and resources are allocated to their respective uses by the market, not government or community planning.

While it is true that the Scandinavian countries provide things like a generous social safety net and universal healthcare, an extensive welfare state is not the same thing as socialism. What Sanders and his supporters confuse as socialism is actually social democracy, a system in which the government aims to promote the public welfare through heavy taxation and spending, within the framework of a capitalist economy. This is what the Scandinavians practice.

In response to Americans frequently referring to his country as socialist, the prime minister of Denmark recently remarked in a lecture at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government,

I know that some people in the US associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.

The Scandinavians embrace a brand of free-market capitalism that exists in conjunction with a large welfare state, known as the “Nordic Model,” which includes many policies that democratic socialists would likely abhor.

For example, democratic socialists are generally opponents of global capitalism and free trade, but the Scandinavian countries have fully embraced these things. The Economist magazine describes the Scandinavian countries as “stout free-traders who resist the temptation to intervene even to protect iconic companies.” Perhaps this is why Denmark, Norway, and Sweden rank among the most globalized countries in the entire world. These countries all also rank in the top 10 easiest countries to do business in.

How do supporters of Bernie Sanders feel about the minimum wage? You will find no such government-imposed floors on labor in Sweden, Norway, or Denmark. Instead, minimum wages are decided by collective-bargaining agreements between unions and employers; they typically vary on an occupational or industrial basis. Union-imposed wages lock out the least skilled and do their own damage to an economy, but such a decentralized system is still arguably a much better way of doing things than having the central government set a one-size fits all wage policy that covers every occupation nationwide.

In a move that would be considered radically pro-capitalist by young Americans who #FeelTheBern, Sweden adopted a universal school choice system in the 1990s that is nearly identical to the system proposed by libertarian economist Milton Friedman his 1955 essay, “The Role of Government in Education.”

In practice, the Swedish system involves local governments allowing families to use public funds, in the form of vouchers, to finance their child’s education at a private school, including schools run by the dreaded for-profit corporation.

Far from being a failure, as the socialists thought it would be, Sweden’s reforms were a considerable success. According to a study published by the Institute for the Study of Labor, the expansion of private schooling and competition brought about by the Swedish free-market educational reforms “improved average educational performance both at the end of compulsory school and in the long run in terms of high school grades, university attendance, and years of schooling.”

Overall, it is clear that the Scandinavian countries are not in fact archetypes of successful democratic socialism. Sanders has convinced a great deal of people that socialism is something it is not, and he has used the Scandinavian countries to prove its efficacy, while ignoring the many ways they deviate, sometimes dramatically, from what Sanders himself advocates.

Corey IaconoCorey Iacono

Corey Iacono is a student at the University of Rhode Island majoring in pharmaceutical science and minoring in economics.