“COMPREHENSIVE” IMMIGRATION REFORM MUST EVALUATE ALL ASPECTS OF IMMIGRATION!

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The following letter was received from a Florida citizen. It was so well done that the WDW – Florida Editorial Board decided to post it for comments.

Senate President Reid

Senate Minority leader McConnell

Senator Leahy Chairman of the Committee On The Judiciary

Senator Grassley Ranking Member of the Committee On The Judiciary

Senator Schumer Chairman of the Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Committee

Senator Cornyn Ranking Member of The Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Committee

Speaker of The House Representative Boehner

Representative Goodlatte Chairman of the Committee On Judiciary

Representative Conyers Ranking Member of the Committee On Judiciary

Representative Gowdy Chairman of The Subcommittee On immigration and Border Security

RE: IMMIGRATION

Honorable Senators and Representatives:

I developed a more than casual interest in Congressional action and Executive Branch inaction regarding immigration and enforcement since Representative Simpson proclaimed on the Floor in the House this would be the one and only amnesty ever in the history of the Republic so Congress approved it and President Reagan signed it.

There were three promises made by Congress in exchange for passing mass amnesty in 1986:

The government would make a concerted effort to control the borders. Today 70 miles north of the border there are signs warning travelers to be on the lookout for illegal aliens. The Border Patrol estimates they interdict 61% of border violators which may be an optimistic estimate. When there was a major hiring of new recruits years ago to build up the border patrol they stopped giving lie detector tests because so many applicants failed the test. Please tell me how we can successfully protect South Korea’s border for over 50 years but can’t defend our own?

An effective employer verification program would ensure that only legal workers were hired. Finally, in 2008 President Bush issued an Executive Order for Federal Contractors only to use mandatory E-Verify, twenty two years after Congress promised to cover all businesses in the United States. During the Obama administration states reeling from the onslaught of illegal aliens such as Arizona have been sued by the Federal Government, aided by the countries who supply the bulk of illegal aliens, while simply trying to enforce Federal Immigration Law.

One-time amnesty would be granted for people illegally in the United States. It is obvious Congress can’t be trusted since they didn’t keep the first promise made in 1986, twenty seven years ago and instead issued 6 additional amnesties for another three million not counting President Obama’s directive granting amnesty by fiat for who knows how many illegal aliens between the ages of 16 and 30 without so much as a peep from Congress whose authority has been usurped by the president.

Amnesty proponents like Senator Rubio who ran for the Senate opposing amnesty, cites three million receiving amnesty in 1986 from the Simspon Mazzoli legislation and then fast forwards to 2013 saying we now have 11 million who need amnesty while some estimates are as high as 20 million being here illegally.

I don’t know if it is a deliberate deception or lack of knowledge of the history on the proponents of yet another mass amnesty or part of an attempt to rewrite the recent immigration history but it strikes me as odd they would ignore the other six mass amnesties and amnesty adjustments from 1986 through 2000 of time giving a grand total of 6 million granted mass amnesty when the promise initially was for only 3 million forever. This deception has been told so many times most people don’t know Congress has indulged in insanity by doing the same thing over and over again each time expecting a different result. The proposed legislation by the so-called group of eight senators if enacted would simply be the eighth failure resulting in a call for an additional amnesty in another couple of years.

Which brings me to the point of asking if you really want what is in the best National Interests of the Citizens Of the United States of America you swore to protect or what is in the best interests of the lobbyists trying to turn the Country into a marketplace allowing free entry and exit to all?

If you want what is in the best interests of the citizens then I strongly suggest a Commission similar to the one Barbara Jordan headed in the 1990s to cover all aspects of immigration be formed and an exhaustive in depth and non-partisan report be made. Following the report ensure the recommendations are included and enforced.

I suggest a commission be put in charge because it is obvious the proponents cannot get beyond politics and ethnicity. Read what is contemplated being proposed and if you show it to Alan Simpson he would probably have the same comment he did about the 2007 bill because the two are similar which was “Then there will be more amnesties and more chaos.”

The current proposed legislation is neither “Comprehensive or Reform.” It is simply a repeat of the insanity exercised since 1986 costing taxpayers trillions of dollars which demands a commission be appointed to bring sanity to situation.

Here are questions not addressed at all in the current immigration discussions but should be included as topics for a complete and Comprehensive evaluation by a commission:

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF IMMIGRATION? Throughout history immigration has primarily served the purpose of settling virgin lands and that reason was eliminated generations ago. Even President Kennedy in 1962 asking for immigration reform legislation said “We have no lands to settle”. Immigration allowed in then was roughly the equivalent of people leaving the country which was less than 250K a year. The large majority of today’s immigrants settle in the balkanized barrios of cities around the country. Allowing in workers with skills needed in the National Interest has long been replaced with a source of cheap imported labor even including maids and lawn mower operators. We are the third most populated country in the world and on our current course of mass immigration we will have an estimated population of 800,000,000 million by the turn of the century. If you have children and grandchildren is that the kind of overpopulated country you want to leave to them?

WHAT IS THE OPTIMUM POPULATION THE UNITED STATES CAN COMFORTABLY SUPPORT? Isn’t it time to take into consideration the environment that sustains the population and how it is affected by rampant population growth? I assume no one wants us to be as populated as China or India which is the path we are on if we don’t change our current mass immigration policies.

SHOULD WE HAVE MASS IMMIGRATION? Congressional and media pundits scratch their heads and pontificate as to why we can’t lower our poverty rates while ignoring the the 125,000 new immigrants entering the country every month the majority of whom are unskilled, uneducated and non-English speaking. 68% of legal immigrant Mexican families with American children are either in or near poverty. Twenty years after immigrating to the USA over 50% of Mexicans are still on welfare. Roughly 18% of all Mexicans legal or illegal now reside in the US. 67% of EL Salvadoran families are in or near poverty and constitute 20% of all EL Salvadorans. When the worst recession since the Great Depression hit 5 years ago causing massive unemployment in the double digits around the country not one person in Congress even mentioned the common sense idea of a pause in the incoming immigrants joining the workforce every month. 7,500,000 legal immigrants have entered the country from 2008 till now with the large majority entering the workforce.

SHOULD THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION ACT BE CHANGED? Currently it is estimated 200,000 births a year are primarily to illegal aliens who then establish an anchor to the government welfare teat. It is a magnet that even attracts wealthy pregnant women from around the world to come via “birth tourism” junkets so their child is born here, given a SS card and passport to then go back to wherever they came from. In the future the child will return an American citizen knowing nothing about the country and in fact may be coming to cause harm.

SHOULD THE PENALTY FOR ENTERING THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY OR OVERSTAYING A VISA BE CHANGED? The scary thought of a misdemeanor for entering illegally deters no one. Overstaying a visa results in being barred from the country for a period of time. Perhaps the promise of a felony charge would be a much greater deterrent.

SHOULD THE CUBAN ADJUSTMENT ACT BE REPEALED? Currently 18% of all Cubans are residing in the United States and are the preferred immigrant, legal or illegal over all other immigrants dating back to the Cuban Missile Crisis days. Come illegally and put one foot on dry land and you get instant legal status and a green card in 12 months. Cuba is now allowing Cuban citizens to travel overseas which could result in another Mariel type influx of Cubans if they want to take advantage of the existing Act.

DO WE NEED A DIVERSITY VISA PROGRAM? The program brings in 55,000 legal immigrants from around the world annually to increase our diversity. Would someone please tell me what country in the world has a more diverse population mix than ours?

DO WE NEED A TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS PROGRAM? The only thing temporary about this program is the name. In 2001 over 200,000 EL Salvadorans were brought into the country to be selected as our guests following an earthquake and they have not been returned receiving another eighteen extension recently signed by President Obama.

REVIEW THE CORRUPT UN RUN REFUGEE PROGRAM Today the UN basically decides who the 85,000 refugees to be selected will be in a program reportedly rampant with corruption and payoffs. Those imported cost the Federal Government approximately $20,000 each for shipping and handling then dumped in communities with no advance notice to the residents.

REVIEW THE WORK VISA PROGRAM There are firms that coach employers on how to avoid hiring American workers and then work various strategies to avoid paying certain taxes. Milton Friedman correctly identified the work visa program as simply corporate welfare.

None of these ten items I listed were even mentioned by the gang of eight senators or the President which means what they are considering is neither “Comprehensive or Reform.”

Show you put the National Interests of the Citizens of the United States of America ahead of partisan politics and call for a Commission. We’ll be watching to see what you decide.

George Fuller
Sarasota, Florida

SENATOR RUBIO TO OPPOSE HAGEL’S CONFIRMATION FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement announcing his intention to vote against the confirmation of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense:

“After carefully reviewing Senator Hagel’s record on a number of issues, I cannot support his confirmation as our nation’s next Secretary of Defense. I oppose his confirmation because of his views on U.S. policy toward Cuba, his past opposition to tough Iran sanctions, his questionable comments in the past about U.S. support for Israel, his support for direct, bilateral negotiations with North Korea and, most importantly, my belief that he will usher in a new era of austere defense budgets that will severely impede U.S. national security by hampering readiness and radically limiting the global force projection of our military.

“Senator Hagel served his country during the Vietnam War with great distinction and has an admirable record of public service. I also appreciate him taking the time to visit with me this week. Unfortunately, his policy views are too far apart from what I believe to be the way forward for preserving America’s proper role in the world as a force for security and peace. Now more than ever, I firmly believe the U.S. needs a robust military capability that includes a renewed commitment to our shipbuilding program, a reliable nuclear deterrent to defend against rogue nations and a nimble counterterrorism force able to confront the asymmetric warfare of the 21st century.”

Senator Rubio Discusses Hagel Nomination & Middle Class Opportunity on FOX News:

Food Fight Over Senator Rubio’s Immigration Initiative

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Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has taken the lead in attempting to solve the broken immigration system. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Florida spends over $5.4 billion annually to incarcerate, medicate and educate illegal aliens. Americans have seen old/new initiatives like these end in failure, while contributing to the end of the careers of Republican politicians. John McCain comes to mind.

Will Rubio’s political career end on a sour note? 

Florida resident and immigration expert George Fuller notes, “People talk about Immigration all the time but what is the purpose and do we in fact have a need? We have no lands to settle. We are world’s third most populated country and we should be able to provide all the brainiacs needed for industry, if not, then there is a terrible problem with our education system. To me no one ever asks the question: If we need immigration and why?”

The Shark Tank reported that in 2009 candidate Rubio had a different take on immigration than Senator Rubio in 2013. Javier Manjarres in his column Marco Rubio, The Immigration Reform Savior or Fraud? quotes then candidate Rubio on immigration in a video interview conducted March of 2009:

“No. Never have been. I am strongly against amnesty. The most important thing we need to do is enforce our existing laws. We have existing immigration laws that are not being adequately enforced. Nothing will make it harder to enforce the existing laws, if you reward people who broke them.

It demoralizes people who are going through the legal process, its a very clear signal of why go through the legal process, if you can accomplish the same thing if you go through the illegal process. And number two, if demoralizes the people enforcing the laws. I am not, and I will never support any effort to grant blanket legalization/amnesty to folks who have entered, stayed in this country illegally.“ [My emphasis]

Fast forward to this statement from Senator Rubio during an interview in January 2013:

“So, we have 11 million people that are undocumented. We understand that we have to deal with this issue because we have 11 million people that, by all accounts, are going to be here the rest of their lives with or without documents. Our objection has been in the past that we can’t do anything to deal with 11 million people that number one, is unfair to the people who have done it the right way. Or number two, that would encourage illegal immigration in the future.”

Some, like Eric Erickson from RedState.com think the Rubio initiative is a mistake. Erickson wrote in his column I Don’t Like Marco Rubio’s Plan, “I think this plan is warmed over McCain-Kennedy and will do nothing to solve the problem. I say this as someone to the left of much of the readership here at RedState and the conservative base.” “The GOP was smart to put Marco Rubio as the face of the plan because many of us like him personally, support him still, and consequently don’t want to seem critical. But the plan makes the actual problem of immigration more difficult to solve,” writes Erickson.

So what is the real issue behind this Rubio initiative? Why votes in 2014.

Senator Rubio states in a reply posted on RedState.com answering Erickson’s concerns that, “On the political front, a growing number of voters of Asian and Hispanic descent have been convinced by the left that conservative opposition to immigration reform equates to being anti-immigrant. This is unfair, and it is untrue. But they have pulled it off and, as a result, our ability to convince these fast-growing communities that the principles of limited government and free enterprise are better for them than big government and collectivism has been impaired.”

The fundamental questions are: Do we really need immigration at all, do we want carry the huge financial burden of illegals aliens? Are we a nation of laws or or men?

RELATED COLUMNS:

Immigraiton Reform Requires Caution

Reforming America’s Immigration System

VIDEO: Bird’s eye view of Nik Wallenda’s Sarasota Skywalk!

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Hat tip to the HuB for these two amazing videos of Nik Wallenda’s 600 foot walk on a wire the width of a nickle. One camera was mounted to the end of Nik Wallenda’s balance pole during his Sarasota wire walk on January 29, 2013.

The HuB is a creative and collaborative space and community where entrepreneurs come together to develop ideas and contribute toward building a new economy and culture in Sarasota, Florida. As a “social enterprise” the HuB is also active in building a more dynamic community. Since 2009, the HuB has taken an active role in promoting big ideas.

Nik’s walk is one of many of the HuB’s big ideas

World famous daredevil Nik Wallenda walked a high wire 180 feet above beautiful downtown Sarasota, Florida. This epic stunt comes on the heels of Nik’s world record walk across Niagara Falls.

Join Nik and a cast of incredible performers for the 2013 Circus Sarasota season (Jan 25 – Feb 15).

The first video shows Nik ascending the special crane which was placed on the Sarasota Bay waterfront.

This second video is taken from a camera mounted on the end of Nik’s balancing pole. Amazing view of what Nik saw.

Dr. David McKalip, Enters District 4 St. Petersburg City Council Race

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St. Petersburg, FL – St. Petersburg Neurosurgeon, Dr. David McKalip, has officially filed paperwork to run for St. Petersburg City Council, District 4. Upon filing his paperwork, Dr. McKalip said:

“St. Petersburg is a great city, but we can do more to make it the best place to live, work and visit in our nation. Our city is not living up to its potential and it is time for our government to change course so individual citizens can experience the opportunity and prosperity they each deserve. For too long politicians and special interests have expected the citizens to pay for their big projects and wasteful government. The people deserve a government that lives on a budget like they do. People are sick of politicians who never deliver on their promises while often harming the community they intended to help in the first place.”

Dr. McKalip continued, “I have long been impressed by the ability of individuals, small businesses, families and neighbors to provide the best quality of life in our city. The citizens will do better if they keep more of their hard earned money and live in a city without regulations that kill jobs and harm their freedom. If we embrace freedom, empower individuals and change direction in government, prosperity will spread to all.

I look forward to offering a true choice to the voters and engaging in a debate about the real issues that must be addressed now. I hope others will join me in making this race about the future of their city, St. Petersburg. Our citizens deserve it.”

Dr. David McKalip, M.D., is a highly respected neurosurgeon and community leader. St. Petersburg is Dr. McKalip’s hometown.

What the Boy Scouts can learn about Gays in Leadership Positions from the Catholic Church and Penn State

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Raynard Jackson a president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.-based public relations/government affairs firm, wrote in his Black Press USA column Boy Scouts Shouldn’t Become ‘Gay Scouts’:

In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that Boy Scouts, and all private organizations, have the constitutionally protected right under the First Amendment of freedom of association to set membership standards. In 2004, the BSA adopted a new policy statement, including the following as a “Youth Leadership” policy:

“Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Scout Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. The conduct of youth members must be in compliance with the Scout Oath and Law, and membership in Boy Scouts of America is contingent upon the willingness to accept Scouting’s values and beliefs. Most boys join Scouting when they are 10 or 11 years old. As they continue in the program, all Scouts are expected to take leadership positions. In the unlikely event that an older boy were to hold himself out as homosexual, he would not be able to continue in a youth leadership position.”

The Boy Scouts of America are reported to be reconsidering their position on gays becoming scout leaders.

What can the Boy Scouts of America learn from others who have put gays into leadership positions? Perhaps the experiences of the Catholic Church and Penn State University are two case studies that will predict what could happen.

BishopAccountability.org, an “online archive established by lay Catholics,” reports that over 3,000 civil lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic church, some of these cases have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements with multiple claimants.

In 1998 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas paid $30.9 million to twelve victims of one priest ($44.1 million in present-day terms). From 2003 to 2009 nine other major settlements involving over 375 cases with 1551 claimants/victims, resulted in payments of over $1.1 billion. The Associated Press estimated the settlements of sex abuse cases from 1950 to 2007 totaled more than $2 billion. BishopAccountability.org puts the figure at more than $3 billion in 2012. Addressing “a flood of abuse claims” five dioceses (Tucson, Arizona; Spokane, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Davenport, Iowa, and San Diego) got bankruptcy protection. Eight Catholic dioceses have declared bankruptcy due to sex abuse cases from 2004-2011.

Penn State University (PSU) had a similar experience with Jerry Sandusky. The Sandusky scandal had far-reaching outcomes for the university. The report of an independent investigation commissioned by the PSU board and conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh and his law firm stated that Spanier and Paterno, along with Curley and school vice president Gary Schultz, had known about allegations of child abuse on Sandusky’s part as early as 1998, and were complicit in failing to disclose them.

In so doing, Freeh stated that the most senior leaders at Penn State showed a “total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims” for 14 years and “empowered” Jerry Sandusky to continue his abuse.

On July 23, 2012 the NCAA imposed sweeping penalties on Penn State—among the most severe ever imposed on an NCAA member school—including a fine of $60 million, a four-year postseason ban and vacating of all victories from 1998–2011. In doing so, NCAA President Mark Emmert stated that the sanctions were levied “not to be just punitive, but to make sure the university establishes an athletic culture and daily mindset in which football will never again be placed ahead of education, nurturing and protecting young people.” The Big Ten Conference subsequently imposed an additional $13 million fine. Spanier, Curley and Schultz have since been brought up on criminal charges for their role in the cover-up.

In addition 40 scholarships were stripped from Penn State University in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal.

Sandusky was a pederast, as were all of the Catholic priests involved in the abuse of young boys. All pederasts are gay according to Liberty University Visiting Professor of Law Judith Reisman, who said that “post the ‘landmark’ Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003, paraphrasing Justice Antonin Scalia, everything goes.” Professor Reisman said, “Following Alfred Kinsey ‘sexologists’ began to occupy our schools, so that educated professionals have largely been trained to be a form of sexual anarchists.”

“Although the stupidity of advocating harmless amoral sexuality overwhelms us daily, our arrogant ‘educated’ populations say morality has no place in our sexual lives,” Reisman said. “Just as AIDS is a natural outgrowth of amoral sexual education and media, so too is child sexual abuse. We are breeding a new human character and child sexual abuse is increasingly part of that character.”

National Defense University’s Accreditation Challenged

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ANN ARBOR, MI — The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced that it filed a formal complaint with the President of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (Commission) challenging the accreditation of the National Defense University (NDU).  The Commission, which accredited NDU as a degree granting university, responded that it has begun a “preliminary review” of TMLC’s complaint.

TMLC’s complaint provides overwhelming evidence that several NDU and Department of Defense (DoD) policies relating to academic freedom were violated when Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Matthew Dooley was removed from his teaching post as a result of demands by Muslim organizations that all training materials offensive to Islam be purged and instructors using the materials disciplined.

TMLC also asked the Commission to conduct its own confidential on-site interviews of NDU faculty members to determine the extent to which academic freedom has been diminished and what measures should be taken to insure the future integrity of NDU as a university.

LTC Dooley was an instructor at the NDU, and one of the faculty members assigned to run the elective course entitled,Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism.  Click here to read TMLC’s 7-page complaint.

Richard Thompson, TMLC President and Chief Counsel, observed: “The actions taken against LTC Dooley are astonishing.  NDU’s own policies recognize that academic freedom is essential to the integrity of the university classroom setting as well as U.S. national interests.  In fact, the Department of Defense had specifically directed the National Defense University to establish a climate of academic freedom within the university, with the directed purpose to foster lively, classroom debate in the examination of national security issues.  Contrary to these established policies, NDU and DoD have subsequently gone on to violate their own rules in handling this incident concerning the Islamic Radicalism elective.”

General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, publicly excoriated LTC Dooley and characterized his course on Islamic Radicalism as “offensive to Muslims”, and “against our values.”  General Dempsey’s evaluation of LTC Dooley was in stark contrast to the glowing reports from those who witnessed LTC Dooley’s abilities as an instructor first hand, namely, his students and superiors at NDU.   Clearly, the inaccurate prejudicial narrative that was permitted to persist against LTC Dooley clashes with the positive narrative, voiced again and again, by the students who were actually in Dooley’s classroom and by his immediate superiors at NDU who witnessed his teaching methods.

In light of LTC Dooley’s public ridicule by General Dempsey, his termination as an instructor and his career-ending Officer Evaluation Report (OER), other NDU faculty members have voiced their own concerns about academic freedom at NDU.

NDU policy defines academic freedom as the “freedom to pursue and express ideas, opinions, and issues germane to the University’s stated mission, free of limitations, restraints, or coercion by the University or external environment.  Academic freedom is the hallmark of an academic institution.”

Department of Homeland Security states AR-15 Rifles “Suitable for Personal Defense”

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A hat tip to Breitbart’s Awr Hawkins for pointing this out.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a “Personal Defense Weapons” Solicitation number HSCEMS-12-R-00011. The solicitation is for AR-15 rifles for Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

Part C of the solicitation states, “DHS and its components have a requirement for a 5.56x45mm NATO, select-fire firearm suitable for personal defense use in close quarters and/or when maximum concealment is required.” [My emphasis]

Hawkins reports:

According to New York state Senator Greg Ball (R), the Department of Homeland Security is seeking 7,000 self-defense weapons–all of which are AR-15 variants.

These are the very weapons Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Joe Manchin (D-WV), have been telling us nobody needs for self-defense. Apparently, DHS disagrees.

As I wrote on January 14th, a “Personal Defense Weapons Solicitation” was circulated within DHS describing an AR-15 variant as “suitable for personal defense.” Now, 7,000 such weapons are being sought.

DHS is also seeking 30 round magazines for use with all the rifles.

Failure of the VA System: “Delay, deny, wait till I die”

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Florida is home to over 1.6 million veterans and their families. Many are part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system. The quality of service provided by the VA is of great importance to all veterans.

The Citrus County Florida Veterans Advisory Board has released its white paper titled Failure of the VA System: “Delay, deny, wait till I die”. The role of the Advisory Board is to inform “the Veteran’s Service Office of areas of unmet needs in the veterans’ population, advises local veterans groups of services available, provides input on office policies and procedures and assists other matters specific to veteran’s services and veteran’s groups.”

The report quotes Rep. Jeff Miller, (FL CD-1), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, [Who] said the data confirmed the worst fears of many veterans and members of Congress. “The common refrain we hear from many veterans is, ‘Delay, deny, wait till I die,’ said Miller, who called the burgeoning backlog of benefits claims a ‘national embarrassment’.”

The white paper notes:

“They’re not interested in quality,” said attorney Gordon Erspamer. “They are interested in production and getting the decisions done, regardless of whether they are right or wrong. “The system is simply broke. We can do a lot better for our veterans.” The VA says its error rate on PERCENT OF PATIENTS RATING VA HEALTH disability claims is 14 percent. But the Center for Investigative Reporting analyzed a subset of those claims and found an error rate of 38 percent. And the Board of Veterans Appeals found the agency made mistakes in 73 percent of cases. Attorney Gordon Erspamer says errors are often the result of a well-known practice at the VA, “There’s a practice called topsheeting — a very famous term at the VA. And that is basically you take a look at the file, you look at the top pages of the file, and you write a decision.”

Watchdog Wire spoke with a VA physician who stated that working for the Veterans Administration is like “working for the Post Office”.

VA’s St Petersburg Regional Office Shortfalls Of major concern to Citrus County, Florida veterans is the status of our St. Petersburg Regional Office (RO), responsible for delivering non-medical VA benefits and services to 1.8 million veterans and their families in our State and 22,000 in our County. This is accomplished through the administration of comprehensive and diverse benefit programs established by Congress, and the RO goal is to deliver these benefits and services in a timely, accurate, and compassionate manner. Examples of the benefits and services that are supposed to be administered by the VA Regional Office are as follows:

  • Disability Compensation, Including Death Compensation Benefits to Eligible Survivors
  • Disability and Death Pensions for Veterans and Their Dependents
  • Veterans’ and Dependents’ Education and Training
  • Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Assistance
  • Guaranty and Indemnity Home Loans
  • Specially Adapted Housing Grants
  • Special Benefits for the Disabled
  • Outreach
  • Certain Burial Benefits

“The St Petersburg Regional Office has historically been one of the worst cases of veterans support in the VA,” states the white paper.

To read the entire white paper click here.

Tensions Abroad

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WDW received the column below which was written by Matthys van Raalten, a Dutch citizen. It is reprinted with his permission. It is important to understand what is happening in the EU as member nations like Holland are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine for “multiculturalism”.

Tension Abroad by Matthys van Raalten:

The best way to understand what is going on in Europe, is to look at small details. The overall picture can be confusing. An outsider can be deceived easily by the intelligent political moves of its leaders. Just one example: PM Cameron of the UK says he wants a referendum about the European Union. Could this not be just a smart move, in order to stop the rising star of Nigel Farrage?

The real issues in Europe center around two themes: the development of a political union, by critics dubbed “EUSSR” and multiculturalism. Was all the work to liberate Europe just wasted, when the Europeans choose for a big bureaucratic semi-socialist state, ruled from Brussels and Strassbourg? What about the safety and the freedoms? Are the Europeans really going to sell that all by letting millions more Islamic immigrants come over?

Let’s have a look at some relatively small matters, in my home country; the Netherlands.

Last week, I wanted to buy a book with a work of Vondel, the country’s greatest poet. Joost van den Vondel lived from 1587 until 1679. This was an important period in Dutch history, as the country liberated itself from Spain in an eighty-year lasting war. Vondel is to the Dutch, what Shakespeare is to the English-language world, or Goethe to the German speaking world. He is our Ovid, and he also translated beautifully the works of Ovid into Dutch. He also composed plays about, among others, stories from the Bible. He was a devout Christian, without doubt one of our patriarchs. I could only find a single soft-cover book with a work by him in the city center of Amsterdam, in its most famous bookshop. Therefore, I turned to a large second-hand bookshop. They had a couple of writings by his hand, one about Joseph in Dothan for 1 Euro 50 only. Though I could have been happy that I had such a cheap buy, I was sad instead. Is this the fate of my heritage? Aren’t the Dutch people interested in their own cultural heritage any longer? I have been informed by the way, that there is very little in print of Vondel these days, so also in the future we shouldn’t expect the bookshops of Amsterdam to fill their shelves with his jewels.

Now let’s take a look at the Christian parties in Holland. Wilders says he wants to defend the Judeo-Christian foundation of our country. But what are the Christians themselves doing with their foundations? The Dutch political parties CDA (medium-large) and ChristianUnion (medium size) are hardly making a fist against the Left, who have already made abortion and gay marriage the new foundations of the new Dutch culture. Only the very small SGP party seems to be wanting to get back to our real roots, but they can’t make a fist, too small in size.

Status of Educational Choice Programs in Florida “Unclear”

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The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has release the 2013 edition of “The ABCs of School Choice“. The report shows the strength and weaknesses of school choice in Florida.

According to the Foundation website , “Florida has two private school choice programs (special-needs vouchers, limited tax-credit scholarships). The state also has a charter school law and enables public virtual schooling. Limited open enrollment exists, both for intradistrict and interdistrict public school choice. ”

The Foundation notes:

“The status of school choice in Florida is unclear. Unfortunately, in an unprecedented decision, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the state’s groundbreaking Opportunity Scholarships voucher program for children in chronically failing public schools. The court declared that the program violated the state Constitution’s education article, specifically the requirement to provide a “uniform” public education. Contrary to state supreme courts in Wisconsin and Ohio, the Florida court decided that the Legislature may not provide educational options beyond those in the public schools. Still, the court limited its decision to Opportunity Scholarships only, leaving untouched Florida’s other school choice programs.

Earlier in the same case, a Florida appellate court struck down Opportunity Scholarships under the state’s Blaine Amendment. That ruling ran counter to years of Florida Supreme Court rulings on the Blaine Amendment permitting “incidental” benefits to religious organizations as the by-product of programs designed to advance the general welfare. The Florida Supreme Court did not review that issue, and the validity of the appellate court’s holding is unclear under Florida law.” [My emphasis]

A constitutional amendment was on the November 2012 ballot to eliminate the Blaine Amendment but it failed to garner the votes to pass. Unions and even some TEA Party activists were against the amendment.

Florida’s two educational choice success stories are:

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program

Enacted 2001 • Launched 2001

Florida provides a tax credit on corporate income taxes and insurance premium taxes for donations to Scholarship Funding Organizations (SFOs), nonprofits that provide private school scholarships for low-income students and foster care children and… Read More

John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program

Enacted as a Pilot Program 1999 • Expanded 2000

Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program allows public school students with disabilities or 504 plans to receive vouchers to attend private schools or another public school. Read More

Despite the uncertainties surrounding vouchers, tax credit programs are completely consistent with the Florida constitution, even as interpreted by Holmes, because they involve private rather than public funds. –Quote from the Institute for Justice (April 2007)

A Florida Citizens Letter To Senator Marco Rubio on Comprehensive Immigration Reform

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The following is a letter WDW recieved from a Florida resident. The letter was sent to Senator Marco Rubio:

VIA: senator@Rubio.senate.gov

RE: “Comprehensive” Immigration Reform (Read Amnesty)

Senator Rubio:

Let me say as a Florida resident I vividly remember you blocking 6 immigration bills when you were Speaker of the Florida House in 2008 stating “The House was too busy” to deal with state immigration laws.

I remember you campaigning to be senator opposing amnesty (though you supported the Florida Dream Act early in your state legislative career) as you followed in the footsteps of previous Cuban Senator Martinez who campaigned opposing amnesty and three years later in 2007 led the charge for it. It seems you couldn’t wait three years to change positions back to what you supported during your early state tenure.

That said, let me respond to what I have read regarding your proposed legislation and zero in on Comprehensive which to me means dealing with all related topics to amnesty.

It is a well known fact constantly blared by open border types Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the population and that is correct having researched all the latest numbers. Their chant is you better deal with the criminal illegal aliens if you want our support. Look at the immigration numbers and they are correct. The tail is now wagging the dog and how did it happen? It happened through the Family Reunification immigration program you heartily support with no limits basically emptying peasant villages in Mexico and Central America and moving them into balkanized barrios around the country. It has also happened through the failure of the U.S. Government Executive Branch performing its duties in protecting our borders and regulating visa holders with no outcry from Congress.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PURPOSE OF IMMIGRATION?

In 1962 then President Kennedy called for a reform of the immigration system. He did not call for an increase in immigration quotas stating we need not increase the level of immigrants allowed because “we have no lands left to settle.” Following his death the Democrat controlled Congress concocted the Family Reunification visa program introducing mass immigration favoring Hispanic countries and why is a good question? Prior to 1965 the large majority of under 250K allowed in the country annually were educated, had a skill and spoke English. Following 1965 legislation the overwhelming majority imported have been a perfect democrat candidate being unskilled, uneducated and non English speaking. When politicians and talk show hosts scratch their heads about the level of poverty in the country and how to lower it they aren’t looking at the primary cause being the importation of an endless stream of poverty. Statistics show 68% of legal MX immigrants with children are in or near poverty. The study by CIS also shows over 50% of Mexican immigrants are still on welfare 20 years after arriving in the country. Other Hispanic immigrants have similar statistics.

You have recently stated you are a BIG BELIEVER in family based immigration. Please explain why since it has shown to simply be the conduit for exporting poverty from banana republics to here?

We never had a mass amnesty in this country until President Reagan in an unwise move granted the first ever amnesty in 1986. From then until 2000 there were 6 more for a grand total of 6 million amnesties granted in 14 years. In 2012 President Obama directed an amnesty by fiat without Constitutional authority affecting more than a million criminal illegal aliens and nary a peep was heard from Congress. Representative Steve King promised on 8/17/2012 to challenge Obama’s amnesty by fiat and in my inquiry a week ago to his office he was still gathering facts. WOW!

As a result of the 7 previous amnesties we now have, based on government numbers I find highly suspect, 12 million waiting in line for amnesty. If that is the number you want to use then promise to cap it at that number.

Attempting the same thing over and over again is a form of insanity. Actually, I believe the Congress is quite content with the millions of unskilled joining the work force ranks keeping wages low for their large corporate donors like Walmart and at the same time providing them ever new customers. As far as illegal immigration goes it satisfies the needs of criminal illegal alien employers wanting cheap labor in a modern day version of slavery.

If Congressional members really cared about American workers do you think they would have allowed 125K new immigrants a month to continue to be imported to worsen the employment picture for 23 million Americans suffering through the worst recession since the great depression? I never heard a word from one Congressman or woman to at least suggest a pause of the onslaught of the endless stream of immigrants month after month. Not one word was ever even uttered and that silence is a damn loud message to American workers and all citizens.

Senator Rubio, these are tasks that need to be accomplished long before the amnesty discussion even begins for criminal illegal aliens. You said in an interview you wanted to solve their problem. Sir, who cares about solving their problem since they brought it upon themselves. The most important thing is how it will affect the citizens of this country. They are the ones who self inflicted their pain and it could end quickly by returning to their home country instead of demanding a path to citizenship.

End the nonsensical family reunification visa program that has simply uprooted tens of millions of peasants who couldn’t even spell the United States of America in English before arriving and come simply to start sucking on the government teat that is nearly dry.

Secure the borders. President Obama and Sec. Napolitano say the border has never been more secure. I suppose then the signs posted 70 miles north of the border warning travelers to beware of illegal aliens were previously 100 miles north of the border. The Border Patrol recently issued a statement they only intercept 61% of illegals attempting to enter the country and who knows how little as a percentage of the drugs entering illegally.

Senator, when you talk about securing the border I hope you mean the same way we protect the Korean border at the 39th parallel. We have been there for 60 years and rarely if ever is the border breached by anyone. If that is the case then great. However, what you promise has to be executed by the Executive Branch and President Obama has no appetite for securing the border. In fact, neither has Congress since it was promised over 25 years ago. We protect a foreign countries borders half way around but not our own and the citizens deserve to know the reason why.

Get the Visit USA program to work so visa over stayers can be located and deported. Over 40%, or perhaps more of the criminal illegal alien population has supposedly come legally and just melted into a city to live and work. With over 100 Million visitors to the United States annually the 40% number of total criminal illegal aliens appears awfully low.

Make it a felony to enter the country illegally or overstay a visa. This is a common sense measure since we currently treat the crime like jaywalking. Get permission to house the lawbreakers in Guantanamo to end their appetite for breaking our laws.

Make E-Verify mandatory for all employers and direct the SS administration to check the user is who they say they are. You achieve that by having the SS office issue a new tamper proof card with picture to all prospective employment seekers to eliminate document fraud (HR98). Regarding Mandatory E-Verify in a poll conducted by Pulse Opinion Research 89% of Whites, 81% of Blacks and 76% of Hispanics and Asian-Americans were in favor of it.

Pass and enforce Childbirth legislation that would remove a magnet to come here now granting citizenship to babies born in the USA to foreign parents by amending the Immigration and Naturalization Act (HR140) requiring at least one parent be a citizen ending the anchor baby link to the welfare system. Over 200K births like this are performed annually with taxpayers footing the majority of the bill. There is a cottage industry for birth tourism for wealthy foreign women making a mockery of our citizenship requirements. Coincidentally you would not have been a citizen either if the law is changed since when you were born your parents were not citizens of the United States but still of Cuba.

Repeal the antiquated Cuban Adjustment Act which is a knee jerk cold war relic reaction meant to damage Castro’s Cuba after the Bay of Pigs fiasco and grants any Cuban who arrives in the USA anywhere preferred treatment and a path to citizenship. This is especially important since Cuba is now granting travel Visas to their citizens. The last thing we need is an aerial version of the Mariel boat lift that forever changed Miami into what is now the fifth most impoverished City in the USA and where English is the second language.

End the corrupt Diversity Visa lottery Program that brings in people to the USA from supposedly countries that need greater representation under the guise of diversity. Senator Rubio, name a more diverse country than the United States of America; You can’t.

End the Temporary Protected Status program that is permanently temporary. Case in point are the over 200K EL Salvadorans brought here after an earthquake in their country and undoubtedly sucking on the welfare teat since. They are only here temporarily 10 years later wink wink.

Dramatically reduce the corrupt refugee program and remove the UN’s participation in determining who comes and make the US groups profiting from the refugee business get the approval from the locales where they want to dump the refugees before doing so. I understand every refugee entering costs the U.S. government $20K for shipping and handling.

End the work visa program which Milton Friedman correctly identified as corporate welfare. Work visas that allow maids and lawn mower operators into the country as specialty occupations illustrates the lengths companies will go to avoid paying U.S. workers and the fica. If the US is not graduating candidates to fill America’s needs whose fault is it since we are the third most populated country in the world and had, I emphasize had, a great education system when I attended and undoubtedly has been ruined since by the teacher unions and Federal interference.

Commission a study to determine the impact of the 12 million criminal illegal aliens will have on our welfare system, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, environment and the impact on American workers.

Commission a independent study to determine the optimum population the United States can comfortably sustain. When talking about immigration I have never heard a politician mention what our optimum population should be regarding Natural Resources and avoiding similar terrible human conditions suffered today in India, Bangladesh and China. Publish all the findings.

Senator Rubio, do those tasks necessary to get a clear picture of what you propose to do and its impact on American Society so the facts speak for themselves as to whether it is in the national Interest of the citizens of the United States of America to support or reject amnesty for the criminal illegal aliens.

I am also sending along a speech given by Democrat Ex. Governor Richard D. Lamb several years ago titled “I Have a Plan to destroy America and many parts of it are underway.” Read it and see if you can relate it to what is happening in the country today from a speech written 10 years ago.

George Fuller

Sarasota, Florida

Florida Family Policy Council Publishes List of Bad Bills

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The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) won a major victory in Jacksonville last year when a sexual orientation and gender identity ordinance was soundly defeated. The FFPC is now focusing on bills being introduced by the Florida legislature during the 2013 session. According to the FFPC website, “The Florida Family Policy Council is committed to strengthening marriage and family structures, protecting innocent human life and defending our religious liberties. One of the ways we influence culture in these areas is by engaging our elected officials in Tallahassee.”

The FFPC website lists the following bills as “bad”:

HB 139 by Rep. Pafford SB 166 by Sen. Sobel

This bill would authorize domestic partnerships in Florida. For more information on these bills, click here for the House version and here for the Senate version.

HB 247 by Rep. Randolph SB 340 by Sen. Rich

These bills would add sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to the list of protected classes in Florida’s Civil Rights Act. It would prohibit employers with more than 15 employees from discriminating in their hiring practices against persons based on their sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.  For more information on these bills, click here for the House version and here for the Senate version.

HJR 353 by Rep. Clemens SJR 1028 by Sen. Bullard

These bills would allow the medicinal use of cannabis in Florida. For more information on this bill, click here.

HB 487 by Rep. Fresen SB 710 by Sen. Bogdanoff

These bills would authorize “destination casinos” with full scale gambling in Florida. For more information on these bills, click here for the House version and here for the Senate version.

HB 563 by Rep. Gonzalez SB 1016 by Sen. Garcia

These bills create a new pari-mutuel in Florida called the Breeders Cup Permanent Meet. For more information on these bills, click here.

The FFPC Legislative Agenda page states:

We are looking to build on the successes of last session on protecting life in Florida. This year, we are promoting legislation that will prohibit abortions during the third trimester or after a baby is viable unless the abortion is required to save the life of the mother or to prevent severe and irreversible impairment of the mother. It would also grant the same rights to an infant born alive during an attempted abortion that any natural born infant would have and requires physicians to do all in his power to preserve the life and health of that baby.

We are also supporting legislation that would empower school board[s] to authorize student led prayers at non-compulsory assemblies.

We will be opposing legislation that would allow full-scale destination casinos in Florida. The casino industry has invested millions into this effort to dramatically expand the scope of gambling that is available in our state. The Florida Family Policy Council continues to stand against the expansion of gambling in Florida.

We also will be working against legislation that would create domestic partnerships in Florida.

To see the entire FFPC legislative list of good and bad bills click here.

Who are the 10 Most Influential Muslims in the World?

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For the fourth year The Muslim 500: The Worlds 500 Most Influential Muslims was released. The report is published by S. Abdallah Schleifer, Professor Emeritus & Senior Fellow Kamal Adham Center for Television & Digital Journalism, The American University in Cairo.

The report states, “There are 1.65 billion Muslims in the world today, making up approximately 23% of the world’s population, or one-fifth of mankind. As well as being citizens of their respective countries, they also have a sense of belonging to the ‘ummah’, the worldwide Muslim community.”

“This publication sets out to ascertain the influence some Muslims have on this community, or on behalf of the community (ummah),” states the authors.

“Influence is: any person who has the power (be it cultural, ideological, financial, political or otherwise) to make a change that will have a significant impact on the Muslim World. Note that the impact can be either positive or negative, depending on one’s point of view of course. The selection of people for this publication in no way means that we endorse their views; rather we are simply trying to measure their influence,” notes the report.

The top ten most influential Muslims in the world are:

1. His Majesty King Abdullah bin ‘Abd Al ‘Aziz Al-Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

2. His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey

3. His Majesty Amir al-Mu’minin King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco

4. Dr. Mohammed Badie, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood

5. His Highness Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar

6. His Eminence Grand Ayatollah, Hajj Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

7. His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

8. His Eminence Professor Dr Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayyeb, Grand Sheikh of the Al-Azhar University,
Grand Imam of the Al-Azhar Mosque

9. His Excellency President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia

10. Hodjaefendi Fethullah Gülen, Turkish Muslim Preacher

To read the entire report click here.

Allen West Joins PJ Media: Director of Next Generation Program

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Allan West, former Congressman from Florida, posted this on PJ Media website:

Today I’m excited to announce that I have joined PJ Media, LLC, as director of its Next Generation programming. I am truly honored to be a member of the PJ Media and PJTV team and to continue to be a voice advocating for principled, pragmatic solutions to the issues affecting our constitutional republic.

I enjoyed my time serving as a member of the 112th Congress. However, those who think losing a congressional race defines me and ends my service to my country fail to realize what drives my patriotism and passion for America. True leaders do not need a title, just a conviction, a cause, and the character enabling them to make a stand.

My parents taught me a simple maxim, “A man must stand for something or else he shall fall for anything.” And that is why I took this course for the next phase in my life — to be the leading voice for the Next Generation program, and to stand up for our nation’s future. I know there were so many trying to predict the direction I would take, and one thing everyone needs to recognize is that I do not often do the predictable. PJ Media will give me the freedom to explore a multitude of topics and relate them to our next generation in a non-conventional manner.

When I consider the American dream and how my parents, Herman Sr. and Elizabeth, ensured that I would have the promise of the greatness of America and the opportunities it provides, being with PJTV is the right fit. I now, as a Dad to two wonderful daughters, Aubrey and Austen, must embark upon that which defines the American DNA, making the future better for the next generation than it was for ourselves.

To have been the first black Republican member of Congress from Florida since Josiah T. Walls in the Reconstruction Era was just the dream that my parents, sought and I know they requiem en pace knowing their goal was realized by their son. To have represented the highest-per-capita-income ZIP code in America, a place where when I was born in 1961 my parents could not have visited, truly epitomizes the essence of the “fairness” of America.

No matter where you are born, this country does not limit what you can achieve, and we do not have a system of class or caste.

Click here to learn more about Next Generation with Allen West.