The Heritage Foundation and Postcards and Video From The Edge

for the cause dot u s

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The Heritage Foundation:

The Meaning of Sovereignty: What Our Founding Fathers Could Tell Us About Current Events

We have learned—or have been reminded—that many people around the world look at the United States with fear, suspicion, or resentment and readily attribute the darkest motives to American actions; but we have also seen much indignation among peoples who, before the war, were not so inclined to anti-American feeling. Meanwhile, for all the indignation expressed in so many countries in Europe and elsewhere, we did not see any serious movement toward a gathering of disapproving governments and peoples into an ongoing anti-American coalition. Nor did countries previously allied with the U.S., such as NATO partners in Europe, show any disposition to build up their own military capabilities as a counter to American power. Many people are angry about the American effort in Iraq, not because they regard America as a relentless and remorseless aggressor in the world, but precisely because they do think the United States has committed itself to live by established rules and then violated those rules in Iraq. Nobody seriously expected that the United States would follow up its invasion of Iraq with an invasion of Canada, but much of the world—perhaps most of the world—was not satisfied that war against Saddam was justified in the spring of 2003...

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Thought/fp10.cfm

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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

'Masters of the Universe' Crafted Senate Immigration Bill

The Senate Immigration Reform Bill has upwards of 1,000 pages of revisions that never went through the committee process. Who came up with it? According to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a group of Senators, affectionately called, the "Masters of the Universe". These include Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy, Ken Salazar, Dianne Feinstein, Republican Senators John Kyle, Arlen Specter, Mel Martinez and Lindsey Graham, and President Bush. Amid mounting public resentment against illegal immigration and a demand to address it, the White House joined with key border state conservative and liberal lawmakers to forge a compromise. No subcommittee hearings, no committee hearings, just a massive document. Rosemary Jenks of NumbersUSA said: "Nobody with the exception of a tiny group of people who have been forced to stay up all night and read the stupid thing have actually looked at what it really does. And there are provisions in there that I'll bet you that none of them are aware of." With a week at home for their Memorial Day break, senators will learn what voters think about the bill. And that may well determine whether Congress will pass that immigration bill this session.
[Our take: Masters of the Universe? When you read the Senate immigration bill, you wonder just how stupid these people really are. They obviously talk a good game to get themselves elected, but when it comes to doing anything else, they fall far short. If this is what the "experience" of incumbency brings to the table, we have more reason to churn these people out of office at every opportunity. No experience is better than bad experience...]
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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

Despite Criticism by Illegal Alien Supporters, U.S. Still Has the World's Most Liberal Immigration Policy

Illegal alien advocates claims the United States has restrictive policies which make it difficult for immigrants to enter the country legally. But in reality, U.S. immigration policies are more liberal than those of Canada, Australia and France. According to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, the reality is we don't have enough people. Comparing U.S. immigration policies to France, Germany and Japan, he added, the big challenge of the 21st century is who gets the people? Who gets the immigrants? The United States is the No. 1 immigration draw. By some calculations the current U.S. immigration legislation will promote a surge of millions of more immigrants and their family members. Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies said: "There is the sense of entitlement among immigrants that they should be allowed to bring in their family members and their extended family members. And that mentality is certainly going to continue under this legislation." Other countries put strict limits on immigrants' families. France, for example, tightened laws after riots in immigrant communities in 2005. French President Nicolas Sarkozy campaigned, saying France could not provide, quote, "a home for all the world's miseries." He now advocates controlled immigration. Canada admits about one percent of the population, or 300,000 immigrants a year but favors young immigrants who can contribute longer before collecting retirement benefits. In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard's re-election was tough against people seeking asylum, so-called boat people. Immigrants are admitted only for certain job categories, and there are strict limits on extended family members.
[Our take: In other countries, the rules for immigration are clear and enforced. Not so in the U.S. where illegal aliens feel they are entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizenship for merely sneaking here. Our politicians fuel this sense of entitlement, with the aid of the business lobby, by seeking to extend special treatment to illegal aliens and then, like Lindsay Graham (R-SC), calling the rest of us "bigots" at a La Raza conference for refusing to go along.]
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CNN Lou Dobbs - video:

Hotline Provides Early Warning of ICE Raids Against Illegal Aliens

In Los Angeles, a group of illegal alien activists is turning its attention to enforcement issues. They've set up a hot line to tip off their community to federal immigrations raids. Chanting, "The race, yes, immigration officers, no," a group of illegal alien activists have started a phone hot line to warn people of raids by Immigration and Customs enforcement agents. Activist Ron Gochez of Front Against Raids sees the raids in purely racist terms: "These raids have to stop. We're here to denounce these raids as racist attacks against our community. We know that these attacks are racist because they're only happening in our community." Actually, they're happening all over the country with increasingly frequency. ICE says it is not targeting any particular ethnic communities or nationalities. Last month alone, ICE apprehended illegal aliens from at least three dozen nations, including Brazil, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Poland and Saudi Arabia. ICE says it is enforcing immigration and customs laws every day around the country. "Any group that hopes to keep up with our enforcement activities is going to be very busy."

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Judicial Watch:

Senate Immigration Reform Bill Includes 'Sense of the Congress' that SPP Should Be Accelerated!

Section 413 of the Senate immigration bill pushes for increased attention to the Partnership for Prosperity, a program launched by President Bush and former Mexican President Vincente Fox in 2001. In particular, a section of the immigration bill, entitled “Bilateral efforts with Mexico to Reduce Migration Pressures and Costs” says, bluntly, “It is the sense of Congress that the United States and Mexico should accelerate the implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico…” The Partnership for Prosperity is a predecessor to the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The Partnership for Prosperity focused on our relationship with Mexico, while the SPP broadened the international discussions to include both Mexico and Canada. Indeed, Section 413 also mentions the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Many believe the SPP and its various incarnations related to North American integration could potentially sacrifice U.S. sovereignty. Judicial Watch has taken the lead in calling for transparency in these proceedings as the media and our elected representatives seem reluctant to do so. Section 413 endorses the SPP-type talks with Mexico and calls their acceleration, including, incredibly, support for the $17 billion plus in remittances sent by illegals and others to Mexico each year. Notoriously, Congress has had virtually no interest in any oversight related to the SPP, so it seems odd to endorse the expansion of something it knows little about.