Immigration: A View From South of the Border—A Mock Interview With Mexican President Vicente Fox

Q: So, Vicente, just what is a Mexican?

A: Our Constitution’s Article 30 says that Mexican nationality is acquired by birth or by naturalization.

Q: Here in the United States, we traditionally accept anyone born in our national borders to be a citizen. Does it work that way in Mexico, too?

A: As provided by our constitution, Mexicans by birth are—Those born in the territory of the Republic, regardless of the nationality of their parents: Those born in a foreign country of Mexican parents; of a Mexican father and a foreign mother; or of a Mexican mother and an unknown father; Those born on Mexican vessels or airships, either war or merchant vessels.
Q: What about people who want to become Mexican citizens? Can they be naturalized?
A: Yes, under our constitution Mexicans by naturalization are: Foreigners who obtain letters of naturalization from the Secretariat of Foreign Relations; A foreign woman who marries a Mexican man and has or establishes her domicile within the national territory.

Q: What about a foreign man and a Mexican woman?

A: A foreign man would have to obtain letters of naturalization.
Q: What about children born abroad to Mexican citizens?
A: They’re Mexicans.
Q: According to your constitution, then, the children of Mexicans we in the US call illegal immigrants are still Mexican citizens, even if they live in the US?
A: Yes, that’s what our constitution says.
Q: By living outside of Mexico for many years, don’t foreign-born Mexicans lose their citizenship?
A: No, that applies only to naturalized Mexicans, not children of Mexican citizens.
Q: So, Mexicans by birth who live outside Mexico are still eligible to participate in your country’s political affairs?
A: Yes, they may vote in Mexico’s elections, assemble, demonstrate, all those things.
Q: Technically, then, people you consider to be your country’s citizens can become citizens of my country and vote here, too.
A: It’s very hard to lose Mexican citizenship by birth. Once a Mexican, always a Mexican. A Mexican citizen can live abroad for years and still participate as a citizen. Naturalized citizens can lose their citizenship under common circumstances, like living abroad for more than 5 years.
Q: Suppose I come to Mexico to have a better life. How will I be treated when I apply for a job?
A: In Mexico, citizens have first priority. Our constitution says that Mexicans shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions, or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable.
Q: Well, you wouldn’t have sympathy for a poor American who just wants to have a better life for themselves and their children?
A: Sure, but only the most dangerous, most unpleasant, foulest, dirtiest, most demeaning, vilest jobs, those that no Mexican will do, would be open to you.
Q: Can you give me a few examples of jobs that foreigners fill because no Mexicans will do them?
A: Let me get back to you on that…
Q: What about citizens who join your military to earn citizenship?
A: They can’t. Under our constitution, in time of peace no foreigner can serve in the Army nor in the police or public security forces.
Q: So, as long as your country is not at war, foreigners can’t use your military as a pathway to citizenship?

A: That’s correct. No pathway to Mexican citizenship through Mexican military service, because foreigners are ineligible to join our armed forces or even our police forces.

Q: What do you do if an undesirable foreign national enters Mexico?

A: Such a person is ordered to leave under authority of the president of Mexico.

Q: Tell us about the appeal process.

A: I’m sorry, but there is no court or appeal process. If a foreigner is told to leave, they must leave immediately. And that’s that.

Q: We’ve been hearing a lot lately about “A Day Without Immigrants” rallies where Mexicans assemble in the streets and proclaim slogans like “Today we march—tomorrow we vote.” Could foreigners do this in Mexico?

A: No, foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of my country.

Q: What is your assessment of the so-called Reconquest movement?

A: Well, we’re all part of America, so technically you and I are both Americans. There’s North America, Central America, South America. And all their inhabitants are therefore Americans.

Q: Recently you met with governors of several southwestern states about Mexican immigrants.

A: Yes, we were discussing the rights and needs of the 20 million Mexicans living in your country.

Q: Twenty million?

A: Yes, that's how many people we estimate have left Mexico and are now living in your country. Many of them now live in the land you took from us, such as in Texas and your southwestern states, and I am still their president, after all. That's why I met with the governors of the states in which my people live...

Q: Lately we’ve heard a lot about people wanting to take back the American Southwest. However, the United States purchased parts of Mexico under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. That means that Mexico sold us that land, and that the land is therefore now ours. What is your assessment of that?

A: As a matter of national honor, we don’t talk about it that way in Mexico, and especially not in front of school children. Even our museums don't discuss the purchase. The land used to be ours, didn't it?

Q: But wait a minute...You've been quoted extensively in the press making claims that my country stole the land, and that's not true--we paid for it. We acquired what was then the Republic of Texas when the people there voted in 1845 to become our 28th state, and Texas won its independence from Mexico way back in 1838, so it wasn't part of Mexico at all when our country annexed it. So it’s possible that the Mexican people don’t know the land isn’t theirs anymore?

A: Look, most of your college-educated students have never heard of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo or if they have, they don’t remember what it was all about. They can name all three of the Stooges, but can’t recall the three branches of your national government. They know that names of several of the Seven Dwarves, but can’t recall the names of one or two of your Supreme Court justices. Don’t you ever watch Jay Leno?

Q: Speaking of education, some of our states are providing tuition to your citizens living there. Do you have any thoughts to share about that?

A: California has been very good to Mexicans wanting a college education. Mexico doesn’t provide college educations for Mexicans. You Americans are so generous, and you wonder why everyone from Mexico wants to live in your country!

Q: I’ve heard that Mexicans become full citizens at age 18 if married and age 21 if unmarried.

A: That’s true. Also, they have to have an honest livelihood.

Q: So to summarize, anyone born on Mexican soil, or to a Mexican parent, regardless of where they’re born—or even living—is a Mexican and upon reaching age 18 or 21 and working an honest living is a Mexican citizen?

A: Yes.

Q: Even if they’re here in the United States of America?

A: Yes.

Q: So, when we call these people “immigrants,” we should really be calling them Mexican citizens or Mexican nationals?

A: That would be more accurate. You can call them immigrants because they have moved into your country, but they’re still Mexican nationals and citizens.

Q: What if I moved to your country? What would you call me?

A: We would call you a foreigner.

Q: You wouldn’t call me an immigrant?

A: No, just a foreigner.

Q: If I wanted to buy a home and some land, would I be allowed to do this?

A: Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican companies have the right to acquire ownership of lands, waters, and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions for the exploitation of mines or of waters. Foreigners can apply to the State to purchase property, provided they agree before the Ministry of Foreign Relations to consider themselves as nationals in respect to such property, and bind themselves not to invoke the protection of their governments in matters relating thereto; under penalty, in case of noncompliance with this agreement, of forfeiture of the property acquired to the Nation.

Q: What that last part means, then, is foreigners can apply to own property, but at any time the Mexican government can take it back.

A: That’s correct, and foreigners have to waive their right to petition their home country for assistance in recovering the property. Foreigners, as you can imagine, learn of this constitutional restriction on their ability to own and retain property, and of course they don’t bother…

Q: Let’s talk about the open borders concept. One strategy to keep the border accessible to foreigners like me would be for folks like me to buy up land along the national border. If we want to invade, we could just buy up land and own the invasion route.

A: Our constitution forbids just that. Under no circumstances may foreigners acquire direct ownership of lands or waters within a zone of one hundred kilometers along the frontiers and of fifty kilometers along the shores of the country.

Q: Now, that’s interesting. Even now, negotiations are underway to build a network of superhighways called CANAMEX corridors.

A: Yes, that’s so. And Mexico will own our end of the highway, right up to your national border. It will consist of 12 lanes of traffic as well as a rail corridor.

Q: What Mexican states are involved?

A: In 2000, the state of Arizona invited the Mexican states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco to participate in the establishment of a Mexican CANAMEX Coalition.

Q: Really? Sinaloa? I thought that state has degenerated into uncontrolled lawlessness and shootings. And you’re going to build or improve highways so that it’s even easier for criminals to cross into my country?

A: You have no quarter to mock. The same governor that invited Mexico to partner on this, Janet Napolitano, recently petitioned your national government to declare a state of emergency regarding the borders in Arizona because so many of our people are crossing north in Arizona.

Q: A lot of Mexican nationals come from or through those states to enter our country.

A: Yes, so we’re working on building safer routes under the CANAMEX coalition so they don’t have to die in the desert on their way to do the jobs you Americans won’t do. In August 2003, Governor Napolitano met with me in Mexico City and discussed CANAMEX as well as CyberPort as a platform for regional development. In November 2003, I affirmed my interest in working with the Mexican CANAMEX states and moving forward in partnership with the U.S. states on projects of mutual benefit. Enrique Escorza, Director of Border Affairs for the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, was identified to represent my office and coordinate federal agency participation in Mexico.

Q: Americans will do the jobs, but at a fair wage.

A: Fair to who? My people are willing to work for less than your people, so they get the jobs. Isn’t that how capitalism works, my friend?

Q: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Mr. Fox.

A: You’re welcome. It’s always a great pleasure to work with the United States on issues of mutual benefit. Your country almost always gives us far more out of the arrangement than it gets. What a country! Goodbye.

Conclusions

And so we’ve established that the Mexican laws are far less generous to us than we are to them. Their people can live and work in the United States but still participate in Mexican politics. The children of what we term “illegal aliens” are still considered to be Mexicans and become citizens as adults, even though they may have been born in the US to a Mexican parent.

Meanwhile, as foreigners, we would have few rights other than those listed in their constitution, and then there are numerous exceptions. We would not be considered for employment until every unemployed Mexican citizen has had an opportunity to apply for the job. We could not vote or participate in the political process in any way, nor could we make demands.

We could not own land without constant fear of it being retaken by the government. There seems to be no provision for naturalization based on family relationships except for in the case of a foreign born woman who marries a Mexican man and lives in Mexico or establishes residency there. An undesirable foreigner can be asked to leave under authority of the Mexican president, and they have to leave, period, no due process, no appeal. It also appears to provide for a citizen's arrest of illegal aliens and their immediate removal from the country without due process.

It’s pretty clear that Mexico doesn’t want immigrants. Mexico allows for naturalization as a pathway to citizenship, but to a less-privileged second-class status. It’s also pretty clear that Mexico doesn’t want to encourage foreign ownership of its lands or resources, since the Mexican government can take them back at will.

Mexico loudly criticizes U.S. immigration policy toward Mexican immigrants. But Mexico's national constitution proves that Mexico has no interest or desire to provide the same standard of care to its immigrants and foreigners that it demands from the United States. Mexico's policy may explain why illegal aliens crossing into Mexico continue north to the United States.

In fact, Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, visits his people wherever they are in the United States. He also meets with the governors and legislators in numerous states, like California, Utah, Minnesota, as though Vicente Fox is their president. Fox has even addressed the governor and legislature of California in a joint session.

Mr Fox and his successor to office would do well to either remove the double standards etched deeply into the national constitution or to shut up and stop complaining about our immigration policies. As has been briefly illustrated here, the Mexican government--which has no right to redress of our government--habitually demands far, far more from the United States than it gives its own immigrants, foreigners, aliens, and naturalized citizens.

Odd Couple Tour Grand Junction

Reading Between the Lines...

Republicans and Democrats alike were left scratching their heads on Tuesday, August 15th at the sight of former GOP legislator Gayle Berry showing her Democrat pal, Cary Kennedy, around Grand Junction. Kennedy, whose name sounds exactly like "Kerry...Kennedy" is the Democratic candidate fielded for Colorado State Treasurer.

On this, Kennedy's third visit, her total of campaign contributions from Grand Junction amounted to about $20. she said. Perhaps she's mounting a coin-operated election campaign.

Apparently, the local Dems were unsure whether or not to support a candidate who hangs out with and is a pretty good friend of a former Republican legislator.

In 2000, Kennedy was the author of a statewide initiative to increase funding for Colorado's public schools, Amendment 23. As policy director for Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Kennedy helped legislative leaders build the bi-partisan budget proposal Referendum C, which failed by over 70% in Mesa County and by similar numbers across the Western Slope. Referendum C was enacted to restore state budget funding that was siphoned away by Amendment 23.

Meanwhile, Mark Hillman, the GOP candidate for Colorado State Treasurer, has already raised $2,526.67 just from Grand Junction residents.

As Hillman explained in a recent interview with the Sentinel, “[people] contribute because you’ve taken time to build a personal relationship and convinced them that you’re worth their investment.”

Kennedy's Referendum C was her solution to the state's structural budget deficit exacerbated by the demands of her Amendment 23. Grand Junction residents may have expressed their confidence in her competence with the $20 in support for her candidacy.

Kennedy could not have expected fellow Democrats to rush over to her side, not while keeping company with a well-known Republican.

Gayle Berry may have single-handedly torpedoed Kennedy's candidacy in Western Colorado by repelling already-scarce checkbook-toting Democrats during their two-some tour. Berry has claimed she's not exactly endorsing Kennedy. Despite Berry's desire to fraternize with her alleged friend, she'd do well in public to keep her distance. Candidate Kennedy's Democratic supporters must have felt a strong urge to hold their noses for fear of breathing the same air as a well-known former Republican lawmaker. And the campaign finance report affirms that they held their checkbooks, too.

Denver's Mousetrap Gets Bigger and Better With a Single Point Urban Interchange

Spuihigh
Video sent by clespinoza

Coming Soon to a Congested Intersection Near You

Traveling to Denver anytime soon? Denver has revamped the I-25 on and off-ramps at University Boulevard at a scale that dwarfs smaller-town squawk about traffic circles. It's called the Single Point Urban Interchange and was recently featured in the Denver Post. Traffic engineers call it a SPUI (pronounced "spew-ee"), and despite its looks, this design promises to improve traffic congestion at high-volume intersections.

This video introduces motorists to the new and possibly unfamiliar way of entering and exiting interstate highways.

Missouri State Department of Transportation

The SPUI interchange design bears an uncanny resemblance to the plastic race tracks boys use to send die-cast metal cars careening through intersections at each other. Signal lights control traffic movement through the intersection of on and off ramp lanes.

The City of Grand Junction has considered adding a SPUI to the 29 Road/I-70 Business Loop design. However, the design's disadvantages in this setting resulted in a finding of "no further consideration." While the engineers found that the design would handle traffic flow more efficiently than a diamond intersection, a wider bridge would be needed at significant additional cost. Moreover, the intersection's physical setting was not compatible with the design.

General: Zarqawi 'Bloopers' Tape Found

Coalition Shows Zarqawi Outtakes During Press Event By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD, May 4, 2006 – Coalition officials here today showed the "outtakes" of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's latest anti-coalition screed, and it became quickly apparent why they ended on the cutting-room floor, so to speak. In one, Zarqawi -- the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq -- has trouble trying to operate an automatic weapon. An associate has to show him how to do it. Later in the same shot, an associate takes the weapon from Zarqawi by the barrel and burns his hand. In another, the feared terrorist is shown in a black uniform and bright blue "tenny pumps." Coalition troops found the tape during a raid on a hideout for foreign fighters. "He is far from being a capable military leader," coalition spokesman Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said during a news conference today. Zarqawi has the most to lose as Iraq forms its national unity government, the general said. Al Qaeda leaders understand that democracy in Iraq means failure for the extremist organization. Zarqawi's al Qaeda mission is to destabilize any government in Iraq, to drive the coalition from the country, and to impose an extremist government and expand it across the region. Lynch said the coalition has made good progress against foiling suicide bombings, the most deadly attacks in Iraq. "The suicide attacks are where the innocent men, women and children of Iraq are being killed or severely wounded," the general said. About 90 percent of those launching suicide attacks are foreigners recruited and outfitted by Zarqawi. "We have planned and launched operations over the past couple of weeks to deny him that capability," Lynch said. Over the past year, the coalition has cut the number of suicide attacks Zarqawi can launch. First, operations in the Euphrates River Valley disrupted the flow of foreign extremists from Syria, and now intelligence has allowed coalition forces to kill or capture a significant number of foreign fighters. A year ago, Lynch said, there were on average 75 suicide attacks per month. Today there are less than 25 per month. Lynch said coalition officials have targeted suicide bombers. "Since April 8, coalition forces have killed 31 foreign fighters," he said. "These are people that Zarqawi brought into Iraq to be suicide bombers who were killed before they could launch their attacks." Suicide bombers most often come from Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Jordan. Most come into Iraq over the Syrian border. Lynch said that once captured, suicide attackers have often given coalition officials "actionable intelligence."

Related Site:
Multinational Force Iraq

Documenting Illegal Aliens is Big Business Across the Nation as Well as Close to Home

Help wanted: International high-technology printing company has expanded in to the United States nationwide with franchises in nearly every major city in the United States. This family-owned and operated business estimates its sales at over $1 billion a year. Applicants for sales positions must speak fluent Spanish and submit to a criminal background check.

Don't print your resume just yet, because this spoof help wanted advertisement describes the Castorena family crime syndicate, which specializes in forging identity documents so sophisticated that trained law enforcement officers can't spot them.

This billion-dollar business has infiltrated major cities across the nation, including Denver, Los Angeles, Boston, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, San Antonio, Detroit, and others. In Denver alone, ICE officials seized 20 sophisticated document forgery labs.

The organization is alleged to be involved in the manufacture and distribution of high-quality counterfeit identity documents, including social security cards, birth certificates, marriage certificates, US and Mexican driver licenses, Matricula Consular ID cards, resident alien cards, work authorization documents, proof of vehicle insurance cards, temporary vehicle registration documents, and utility bills (many states require driver license applicants to show utility bills as proof of residence).

According to the Rocky Mountain News, one of this crime family's highest ranking members was caught in Glendale, near Denver. He pled guilty to a number of crimes related to document forging, including identity theft and has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison.

The Denver Post has reported on several cases of Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles employees in Glenwood Springs, Aurora, and in Weld county creating and selling driver licenses to those who had no identification, those with questionable identification, and those whose licenses had been revoked.

Jeff Copp, head of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Denver, said that before undocumented immigrants try to get driver's licenses - the most sought-after form of identification - they often will build up 'portfolios' of fake documents. Those include birth certificates, Social Security cards, green cards, worker permits and visas. 'They'll seek any document they can find to exploit so they can get another document,' Copp said. Frequently, immigrants will use these documents to try to get a legitimate driver's license, he said. Copp said there are entire organized crime networks that specialize in creating these so- called underlying documents.

The document forgery industry would, however, dry up overnight were it not for corrupt American employers eager to hire illegal aliens at near-slave wage levels. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Denver arrested 38 illegal aliens at one IFCO site, located at 5699 Dexter Street in Commerce City, Colorado. IFCO is the largest pallet services company in the United States, and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

A federal prosecutor told the Denver Post that U.S. ICE agents arrested seven current and former company managers on charges they conspired to transport, harbor and encourage illegal workers to live in the United States for commercial advantage and private financial gain.

According to a government affidavit filed in the Northern District of New York, the investigation began in February 2005 when ICE agents received information that IFCO workers in Guilderland, New York, were witnessed ripping up their W-2 tax forms and that an IFCO assistant general manager had explained that the workers were illegal aliens, had fake Social Security cards and did not intend to file tax returns.

According to the affidavit, subsequent investigation indicated that IFCO officials transported illegal aliens to and from work; paid rent for the housing of illegal immigrant employees; and deducted money from their monthly paychecks to cover these expenses. Former IFCO employees also said it was common practice for IFCO to hire workers who lacked social security cards or produced bogus identification cards.

The affidavit also alleges that IFCO officials knowingly hired an illegal alien who was an informant for ICE. In numerous recorded conversations, IFCO officials reimbursed the informant for obtaining fraudulent identity documents for other illegal alien employees; used the person to recruit other illegal workers; and advised the person and other illegal alien employees on how to avoid law enforcement detection, the affidavit alleges.

"Employers and workers alike should be on notice that the status quo has changed," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "These enforcement actions demonstrate that this department has no patience for employers who tolerate or perpetuate a shadow economy. We intend to find employers who knowingly or recklessly hire unauthorized workers and we will use every authority within our power to shut down businesses that exploit an illegal workforce to turn a profit."

IFCO apparently turned that profit into a competetive advantage over other firms to achieve its status as the largest pallet services company in the United States.

When Houston-based IFCO Systems North America Inc. reported record profits last year, others in the unglamorous business of recycling wooden pallets couldn't help but wonder how the company did it.

"We were all very curious about this," said Chaille Brindley, assistant publisher of the trade magazine Pallet Enterprise. "They were able to do things that other companies just couldn't do."

Federal investigators think a significant portion of those profits came on the backs of illegal immigrant workers recruited in Houston and bused to at least 26 plants across the country, where they reassembled worn pallets for substandard wages.

And the company may have been able to keep prices low by paying low wages.

"Pallet recycling normally requires a lot of physical labor ... but you can earn a fair living doing that," Brindley said.

With 53 plants across the country, the nation's largest supplier of recycled pallets has the infrastructure to handle large volumes for its major clients, such as Target, Kmart, Office Depot, Tyson, Rite-Aid and The Home Depot.

The company has stated that pallet recycling last year "contributed overproportionally" to its gross profit of $116.2 million — a nearly 40 percent increase over 2004. In all, the company raked in more than half a billion dollars in revenue.

A former IFCO worker netted in the recent raids explained to a Fox News team that he didn't intend to do anything wrong.

"When people on the job, they sold it to him the papers, they say yes it's correct, it's good. You can go to work, this was awhile back," he remembered.

Over half of the Social Security numbers used by this company's employees were bogus and the federal government notifies employers who submit more than 100 bogus social security numbers a year. However, neither the Social Security administration nor the IRS will disclose even the name of the offending employers, much less the identities of individual illicit workers to ICE. Meanwhile, Social Security withholding is routinely transfered to the Earnings Suspense File, which is where the Social Security Administration puts W-2 reports when the name on the W-2 does not match the Social Security number. According to the Government Accounting Office (GAO), the ESF is growing by about 9 million W-2s a year.

The Social Security Administration's inspector general also prepares an annual list of "top 100" employers who had filed the highest percentages of bogus W-2s, but only by state. The report does not identify the employers, but page 22 of the report lists the top 100 by state. In Colorado, for instance, which is #4 on the list, a single employer generated over $65 million in suspended W-2 earnings representing over 15, 000 workers. Page 5 of the Federal Trade Commission report on identity theft shows that Colorado is also in the top 5 states for identity fraud and theft. A national map of identity theft statistics (page 6 of the same report) shows a high correlation between states with large numbers of illegal alien workers.

Illegal Aliens and Their Employers: Living Outside the Law

Imagine you're a citizen of another nation and decide you would rather live and work in the United States. You talk to those around you who have tried going north and learn that those who want to legally enter and work in the United States must meet several criteria. You realize right away that you don't have the money to apply for a visa or to pay for the bus fare north even if you had a visa. The application forms are in English, but you aren't even literate in your own language, Spanish. You don't know anyone in the United States who would be willing and able to sponsor you to financially guarantee your support and health care. No employer from up north has applied on your behalf for a worker visa. You aren't sure whether or not you could pass the medical exam. And you know they will run a criminal background check, which you won't pass unless you pay the mordida to every level of law enforcement you encounter on your way, each anxious to get their share of the bribe for a clean record.

You may have watched television programs that idealize the immigrant experience. You're tired of working for an honest wage that barely keeps food on the table. You see the comparatively glamorous life of the Norteamericanos and decide that's the life for you. You don't consider that the cumbersome, costly process provides a great deal of protection to you when you do finally receive your visa to come north. You think only of what a great life you'll have in the north and try not to dwell on the risks of living outside the law.

Therefore, you ignore the laws of the United States and come anyway uninvited. Never do you consider that our nation would extend its world-renowned hospitality and protection to you if they knew you were coming. As a result, you tumble into a hellish world where everyone along the way rushes to pick the last bit of flesh from your bones--precisely because they know that nobody will come to your rescue.

A number of people are all too eager to exploit you along the way. Corrupt law enforcement and military personnel extort money from you in a sort of game that's like running a taxi meter. They beat you until you produce the amount of money they demand. If you are slow or worse, poor, they may beat you to death. If you're female, they also violate you. If you are an attractive female, your tormentors may kidnap and sell you into white slavery or prostitution. You want a guide and a ride north, which brings you and any family members you've foolishly brought with you into close company with armed revolutionaries, drug smugglers, white slave traders, and other unsavory types. Meanwhile, others who applied for and received a visa enjoy a relatively unremarkable bus ride north, proudly hand their papers to be inspected at the border, and continue their journey to a better life.

Unfortunately, you have chosen to live outside the law and will endure the most dehumanizing experiences imaginable. You were a humble, honest citizen of your country but find that you are compelled to look the other way as women and young girls are raped, old ones robbed, and the weak and sick left to die in the desert. If you were too poor to pay your coyote in cash, you have carried methamphetamine, marijuana or narcotics in your backpack. The coyote charges several thousand dollars in cash per person, which represents several years of wages for you if you are from a rural area of your country. So you reluctantly accept a backpack bulging with methamphetamine and in addition, you give the coyote whatever money you have left as payment for transporting you north. At the border, you drop the backpack on the ground. By now, you have no personal belongings worth carrying.

By the time you reach the border, you're accustomed to the companionship of your home country's criminals, doing business with criminals, with basic survival, and you know where to find those who will help you violate this country's laws to get what you want. You know that you must present a Social Security card to get a job, and conveniently your coyote has already told you who to ask for once you're on the north side of the border. Your coyote has several lines of business, you realize, in addition to human trafficking and drug smuggling. He learned long ago that his customers arrive at the border starved and desperate for work, so he sends his customers to the den of identity thieves eager to accept illegal drugs in payment for their services. The coyote knows his drug cargo will arrive safely because his customer must have forged identity documents to survive. The identity thieves and forgers send the coyote trade items--pseudoephedrine tablets and guns--the currency of traffickers in humans and illegal drugs. Maybe you spend some time trapped in this cycle because your cut of the toxic cargo you carry is so small you must make many successful trips under the watchful eye of your drug lord masters to repay your "debt." While you're in the border zone, you forage the community for items you can steal and pawn or exchange for food, clothing, money, and whatever else you think you need to survive. You quickly learn to scavenge garbage for identity information and don't need to be literate to know what to look for. You've been given examples to use to compare with documents you find in the trash. You must find a good haul because the price of your documents is a staggering cash price--or several sets of stolen identity documents. You want to arrive at your destination healthy enough to blend into the workforce, so you must steal enough to eat well and to obtain a complete change of clothes, hygiene supplies, and foot gear so you don't look as though you just staggered over the border through the brush.

It's no accident that identity theft, fraud, document forgeries, violent crime and methamphetamine trafficking run rampant in the very cities, counties and states with the highest rates of illegal aliens. Your forged Social Security card contains a number that was either blatantly invented or obtained from a child and thus will be a legitimate number that won't be used by anyone else in the workforce for a number of years. Or it was blatantly stolen from someone's paystub, tax record or health care document rummaged from their curbside garbage and sold to document forgers. You generated demand for this kind of crime and have participated in the theft of another person's identity, but you don't care. You think only of pursuing your dream to live in the United States and a better life than you had in your native country. You helped smuggle methamphetamine and other drugs into this country but shook off the guilt because you had a great need and were desperate. You looked the other way when savage people brutalized innocent women and girls because you knew they would shoot you on the spot if you disrupted their hellish sport.

By now, you are so accustomed to living outside the law that you accept the resulting hardships as part of an ordinary day of your life. You've found work with an unscrupulous employer who pays you cash under the table to avoid income and payroll taxes. This same employer doesn't include you in his count of workers to insure for Worker's Compensation, so if you get hurt on the job, you're down the road. You also may discover the hard way that you are invisible to the unemployment insurance system in case you're fired or laid off. Your corrupt employer also doesn't bother offering you health insurance benefits and probably doesn't carry health insurance for his American workers, either. Since he pays you cash, he doesn't feel obligated to pay you at least minimum wage. You grind along for less than the legal minimum wage or the lowest wage that your illegal predecessor would accept. When you ask for a raise, your employer tells you about welfare.

So you ask around and take a trip downtown to apply for subsidized housing, Medicaid, and food stamps. They speak Spanish and all the applications are in Spanish. Best of all, they help you fill everything out if you can't read or write. The only snag is that you discover that you can't get a subsidized apartment as quickly as a single man, so you quickly find someone willing to pose as your wife. You hope to eventually find a gullible American women willing to marry you so you can get on a faster track to citizenship.

As you apply through the help of an interpreter at the county human services department, nobody asks you for proof of citizenship, so you continue working for your unscrupulous employer, move into your subsidized apartment, shop for groceries using your food stamps, and get the first physical you've ever had in your life courtesy of Medicaid. Since you're paid under the table and therefore pay no taxes, all of these benefits are free with absolutely no cost to you.

You're doing so well in fact that you later suggest to the woman posing as your wife that she get pregnant as quickly as possible so you can use the child to guarantee that the public assistance keeps coming even if the paychecks do not.

A few blocks away, a native-born American has been told he's to be laid off soon and visits the same human resources department for assistance. His family needs affordable housing, but the waiting list is long. You don't know that as a homeless illegal alien, you went right to the top of the emergency housing list. Meanwhile, because the American already had a place to live, albeit one that he could scarcely afford, he was told to wait in line. Nobody helped him, a functional illiterate, complete the application and he couldn't do the calculations well enough to know to check the box indicating that he spends at least 50% of his monthly income on housing. The staff was too busy scrambling for an interpreter for the illegal alien.

The same native-born American works across town for a company in the same line of business as the one that employs and exploits illegal aliens. The American works for a business that judiciously examines the identity documents of applicants and even screens the Social Security numbers to see if they match the name of the person presenting them. He also tells each applicant that he's stepping into the other room to verify the Social Security number given--applicants who know their card is a forgery rush out of the building and thus are never hired. He requires proof of current, valid automobile insurance as a condition of employment. His company pays him a meager, but legal wage. Unfortunately, his employer can't continue to compete with the company across town because he can never bid low enough on legal labor to beat the guy who hires illegals. So the native-born American, along with the other entry-level workers at the company, have been notified that they will be laid off by the end of the month.

You drive to work the day after the American citizen is laid off. You've been in the country long enough to acquire a forged Social Security card and forged or stolen driver license. You don't bother carrying automobile insurance because the moment a law enforcement officer asks to see proof of insurance and registration, he'll also ask to see your forged driver license. You'll be at risk for deportation not for illegal entry into the country, but for possession of several forged documents. You drive an old beat-up vehicle unless you can buy into a used or new vehicle with someone who has a green card but not enough money to make the payments on his own. Then your green card friend wants a share for automobile insurance, but you never buy it for your own beater. You already know that you must present a valid driver license to obtain automobile insurance and fear that by so doing your fraudulent license will be recognized and reported to law enforcement, which will probably deport you.

You keep your job, you who have possibly participated in drug smuggling to pay your "fare" north, contributed and possibly participated in the identity theft epidemic, committed identity fraud each time you've applied for work with forged documents, committed identity fraud and theft each time you've obtained social service or public assistance benefits, have committed identity fraud by driving with a stolen or forged license, habitually drive without insurance to avoid the detection of your fraudulent license, perhaps have stolen or obtained forged registration and proof of insurance good enough to pass with law enforcement, have perhaps committed or helped another commit bigamy to get better public assistance benefits and eventually extort citizenship, have perhaps produced children that you will enroll in welfare and in public schools at public expense, and you give nothing to this country in return but cheap labor that this country's legal taxpayers subsidize and puts this nation's legitimate workers out of a job.

Our nation's local, state and federal government also looks the other way at the invasion of illegal aliens for fear of appearing racist and thus alienating the voters.

As a voter, I demand that my government at all levels act now to deter and prevent illegal entry into our country and to aggressively prosecute anyone involved in human trafficking as well as the criminal acts that are spawned relative to this nefarious industry.

Legislation that makes illegal entry into this country a felony looks to me like a plea bargain, considering the many crimes that likely preceded it.

Legislation that does not address corrupt businesses who exploit unauthorized workers is ineffective and incomplete legislation.

Readers who haven't noticed that my last name is Hispanic may want to contemplate how they'd feel if they were lumped into a group of people that are stereotypically known for living a life of crime. Legislators don't understand that honorable Hispanics whose families have been in this country for centuries are tired of being confused with law-breaking late-comers. Decent Hispanic families are tired of people asking when they came to the United States. We're tired of mindless comments about how well we speak unaccented English. We're tired of people griping that they have to know Spanish to get a city, county, state or federal job. We're tired of illegals who have evidently already committed a number of crimes to get here burdening the rest of us with the public expense of paying for their welfare, public housing, education, incarceration, and medical care. It's taken decades to prove to the Anglo majority that Hispanics are upstanding citizens and an asset to the country. Illegals inflame old prejudices by validating the old stereotypes.

We're also aware that illegals are competing with our American sons and daughters for entry-level jobs. Our children aren't lazy. They are smart enough to realize that they can work in air-conditioned comfort in some places rather than for the same low wage outside in the heat. In our family, our eldest son's first job was in a local fruit-packing shed. Many of his fellow employees were Anglos. My husband started working in the fields and orchards at age 8 to help meet the needs of his large family. Neither of his parents had more than a grade school education, but all of their children completed junior high school and most of their children graduated high school. My husband picked fruit to earn money for school clothes. He graduated high school with his class as a member of the National Honor Society. He's never received any kind of welfare. His ancestors have been in this country for centuries, longer than Mexico has even been a nation. His parents and family aren't Mexican-Americans. None of them were born in Mexico and those who have been there were there on vacation. They're Americans. They don't fly the Mexican flag and only the older people speak Spanish. Many of them are veterans of the United States armed forces; some in service during times of war.

On the other hand, illegals are now demanding citizenship and the right to vote. Every one of them is guilty of at least one crime and likely has committed several. Citizenship means the willingness to renounce former allegiance, but illegals continue to send money back home. United States citizenship means a willingness to obey the laws of the land. It means to swear allegiance to our flag and no other, and to sing only our national anthem in the language of this nation--English. It means to qualify for the right to be identified as a United States citizen on all documents that demonstrate authorization to vote and work in this country, and to be protected by this country against threats while at home or abroad, and to enlist in the armed forces. Illegals by law cannot enlist in our nation's armed forces, primarily because they are of unproven allegiance.

It makes little sense to simply label illegal entrants as either citizens or felons because in reality, these people have typically committed or participated in a multitude of crimes on their way to the front door of unscrupulous employers eager to exploit them. They have openly shown they have no allegiance or loyalty to this country and have committed a multitude of acts that prove their unsuitability for citizenship. Their first act on illegally crossing was to demonstrate their unwillingness to be subject to our laws.

It makes more sense to turn off the magnet attracting these people by severely punishing those who hire illegals and create the incentive for illegals to start their hellish voyage north. It makes sense to publicize the interconnections between cheap labor, the underground economy, explosion in social service expenses for illegal entrants, skyrocketing healthcare costs borne by taxpayers to subsidize medical care provided to illegal entrants, criminal justice costs of prosecuting and incarcerating illegal entrants, off-shoring of American jobs, erosion of American wages, human trafficking, and the methamphetamine crisis.

My husband's third-great-grandfather was a Civil War Veteran, Union allegiance. Most of that conflict was over states' rights, but a great deal of it tested the resolve of people who thought that this nation could not survive without cheap labor provided by slaves.

This nation cannot survive its addiction to cheap labor provided by illegal aliens. Businesses who hire cheap labor provide the primary incentive for illegal aliens to enter our country. Unscrupulous employers run legitimate companies out of business. By validating the allure of work in the United States, these corrupt employers fuel human trafficking, create a demand for stolen and forged documents, coerce illegal entrants into participating in drug trafficking and identity fraud, pay less than their share in local, federal and state taxes, and cynically shift the burden of providing food, housing, education and healthcare of underpaid, under-the-table illegal workers to the public.

Hiring unauthorized, undocumented, illegal workers generates crime, perpetuates racism, and should be aggressively punished. Such unscrupulous businesses enjoy an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding companies and should be fined rather than allowed to retain their unjustly obtained profits. They typically pay their illegal workers cash under the table to avoid paying a lawful wage or payroll taxes and at the same time deprive the workers of access to medical insurance coverage, unemployment, Workers Compensation, Social Security and other benefits they might otherwise be able to rightfully claim in the event of layoff, workplace injury or their retirement. Similarly, corrupt businesses don't offer their under-the-table employees these benefits because they would have to include legitimate identification information to enroll them and justify claiming them as a business expense. These businesses moreover shift an undue share of their cost of business to taxpayers, who subsidize healthcare, criminal justice and incarceration, education, housing and public assistance for the workers they exploit.

For the safety and security of this nation and for the protection of unauthorized entrants who are readily victimized by corrupt government officials along the way and exploited by criminal networks and predatory employers, we must aggressively punish corrupt employers, end illegal entry into this country, enforce existing border controls, and invest in improved interception of illicit border crossers.

We must also somehow educate those desiring entry into our country that those who refuse to subject themselves to our laws to legally and safely cross our border will put themselves in great danger and become subject to the criminal fiends who thrive outside the law.

Immigration Laws Protect Our Country

Immigration Laws Protect Our Country

Watch the video

Half a century ago, every individual coming to the United States by ship, airplane, car, or on foot was inspected by a physician for disease.  Everyone was examined regardless of country of origin for signs of disease and evaluated for suitability to become citizens. 

Now, people who prefer to violate our sovereignty demand to be let in with no questions asked, and if we don't, they accuse us of discrimination.   This despite the fact that everyone is examined, not just people from any certain region or nation.

This video clip shows the process of entry as it was before people of questionable quality decided to make a run for our borders.  Certainly, many of the illegal entrants into our country come just to have a better life and aspire to earn citizenship, but countless others are in fact still loyal to their nation of origin, or are criminals, carriers of Third World diseases, or those who will become dependent on public assistance programs.

Punish The Greedy Oil Companies With Windfall Profits Tax?

Who gets the money from the Windfall Profits Tax on "big oil?"

1. Middle-class American families
2. Oil companies
3. Gasoline stations
4. Federal and state bureaucracies

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, how many dollars does the average middle-class family already pay in gasoline tax each year?

1. None
2. $25
3. $271
4. Actually, it's $271 per person

How much do motorists in the state of Colorado pay per gallon in gasoline tax?

1. $.05
2. $.25
3. $.40
4. less than the state of California, where motorists pay $.60 per gallon in tax in addition to the price of gasoline

Which states have the highest total gasoline taxes?

1. Hawaii, California, New York, Nevada, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania.
2. States with predominantly liberal legislatures.
   
3. States with predominantly liberal, Democratic, legislatures and voters.
   
4. States with predominantly Democratic legislatures.
   

How much do motorists pay per gallon just in federal gasoline tax?

1. $.01
2. $.05
3. $.10
4. $.18
   

How much does a middle-class American living in Colorado pay in gasoline tax to fill up a vehicle with a 20 gallon fuel tank?

1. Uhm, 9/10ths of a cent per gallon...must be something like a buck-eighty
   
2. $8.08
3. $2.00
4. $4.00

Where does the money go?

1. Highways, roads and bridges
2. Public transit projects
   
3. Who knows?
4. Into general state and federal coffers
   

Hot New Family-Friendly Hobby Sweeps the Globe

Geocaching: The 21st Century Treasure Hunt

Folks with young families and those who are fitness-challenged, take heart. For the cost of about two tanks of gas, anyone can gear up for geocaching, an innovative sport that combines treasure hunting, hide and seek, taking a walk, and getting online.

Geocaching ("jee-oh-cashing"). What is geocaching? Simply put, it's a treasure hunt, but instead of a worn and yellowed map marked with an "X", you'll have in hand a set of geographical coordinates plus that ubiquitous satellite positioning device, a GPS unit. And instead of hunting for a chest buried in sand, you'll be hunting for a cache of goodies strategically placed in an environmentally friendly site above ground. Here are some basic rules of geocaching.

1. Geocaching is for everyone. This family friendly pursuit of discovery can be done while walking, hiking, cycling, paddling or simply strolling through the city.
2. Route mapping is key. Your GPS unit and an old-fashioned map go hand in hand.
   
3. Bring the essentials (GPS and extra batteries, dollar-store trinkets to trade, camera to record your adventure, lightweight poncho, notebook and a pen or a couple of stubby pencils, map, flashlight, sunscreen, insect repellant, cellphone, first aid kit, water, sunglasses, etc) so that you're prepared for anything.
   
4. Enjoy the game. Geocaching exercises the mind as well as the body.
   
5. Simple rules of protocol keeps it fun for everyone.The number one rule in the game of geocaching is to follow the Golden Rule.
   

Geocaches in Mesa County

It's clearly the thrill of the chase that motivates adults to search for Army men, Disney CDs, dime-store jewelry, and assorted plastic dinosaurs. A number of local geocaches combine trinkets with travel to area attractions. Here are a few of the least challenging suitable for geocache beginners as well as small children--and the fitness challenged.

1. An Outside Walk through an Art Gallery. Along Main Street in Grand Junction is a collection of interesting pieces of art. The unique yearlong outdoor sculpture exhibit is called Art on the Corner. The exhibit includes over 100 sculptures in a variety of media and styles. Over half of the pieces are part of a permanent collection and the others are on loan from the artists for one year. There is parking in the area..take time to walk along it and enjoy them. At the listed coordinates is a piece of art. To verify that you are there and claim credit for a find, visit the site and then, Email what the sculpture is and its sculptor.
2. Colorado River Walk. Near the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens and Butterfly House. This cache is located along the River Walk west of town. You can park in the lot east of the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens. The Cache container is a cammo-half gallon jug. Contents are: logbook, pen, pencils, and Geo-paper & miscellaneous items to trade.
3. River Front Trail Movie Rental. At Corn Lake. This cache is just off of the river front trail west of Corn Lake in Clifton. You can access this cache from 3 different parking places. Park at Corn Lake and walk west on the river front trail but you have to pay to park. Park at the recreation area off of D road and walk south on river front trail but you also have to pay to park here. We suggest that you access the trail from the end of 30 road. You do not have to pay to get on the trail here. Park before the no parking signs and walk to the red and white painted gate where you will find an opening in the gate with a river front trail sign. Walk a few more feet beyond that sign you will find the river front trail sidewalk. Follow the sidewalk and your GPS to the left to find the cache. The cache is in a large hard plastic suitcase with videos, a log book, and a few trinkets. Trade a movie for another movie, trade trinkets or borrow a movie to bring back at a later date. No past due fees here!
4. Jurassic Treasure. After a visit to the Dinosaur Museum in Fruita, CO, you could look for this point of interest. Placed by the Ellis boys from Idaho - Devon, Donovan and Brendon - while visiting their Grandpa. Ammo box initial contents: Notice, Log Book, kaleidoscope, toy bear, toy dog, doll, watercolor paint set, rubics cube, travel alarm clock, rolodex, book, marker pen, belt buckle, necklace, sunglasses, Mag-Lite flashlight and a couple novelties. Park at the entrance of Dinosaur Hill.
5. Tour of Duty. This one is designed for interstate travelers; thus, it is simple, quick, and informative. Highly accessible. You really can't miss this one! It pays homage to the locals whose lives were lost in Vietnam. Take a minute to reflect, and then answer the following questions via e-mail:
   1. What was Delta Company's nickname, 1965-1970?
   2. Of the Colorado Western Slope casualties, what is Victor Haglund Jr.'s middle name?
6. Miracle Rock Twisty Tree. Miracle Rock trail on Glade Park. If you've never been to Miracle Rock, you'll like this one. If you take close look at the formation from all sides, you'll see why it's a miracle it's still standing there, especially with the constant wind blowing against one side from the canyon below. If you go via the Colorado National Monument, tell the rangers that you're going to Glade Park, and you won't have to pay a fee to get in. Make your way to the Miracle Rock picnic area. Check the map across the road from the Glade Park store. The cache is about 1/2 mile from the Miracle Rock parking lot. It will be past the Miracle Rock formation. As you pass Miracle Rock (or Potato Rock), the trail will fork to the right and left of the hill ahead. Be sure and go to the left to avoid having to double back. look carefully, it's well hidden. The contents are: Indian in the Cupboard video, CD opener, pencils, Nike visor, mini book, and various other items. Cache is in a 5 quart blue plastic bucket with snap on lid.
7. Driggs Mansion. A nice stop to go back in time, stop and picture what the mansion was like back in the day! Lots of parking off the road. This is a small cache, small items please so the lid will stay on. If your coordinates put you over the fence please do not go over. Enjoy the scenery and look out for muggles who may be stopping.
8. Dinosaur Trail Through Time. In Dinosaur Quarry at Exit 2 of Interstate Highway 70. Park at trailhead north of I-70. Follow trail about a half mile. Cache is in a round metal cookie tin hidden under a large rock with several small rocks piled on top of it. Be sure to read the signs telling about the dinosaur excavations and geology. This Trail Through Time interprets the fossil history of the Rabbit Valley. Left organizer, Adventure CD,Disney game CD, AOL 7 CD, Colo. playing cards,mini flag, pair of dice, magnet/thermometer, key chain, silly slammer,Tic-Tacks, American sticker, Six Flags discount coupon.
9. Leaving Colorado Sign. The cache is a 30cal ammon can hidden off to the right. The cache at the Leaving (CO)lorado (Sign) is full of goodies. Great parking and a garbage can. A bracelet, flashlight, powered fan, army man and other fun things are partying at the border, inside the can.
10. Castle Rocks Cache. Cache is located on the south side of interstate 70 at Rabbit Valley exit 2. You can get off the Interstate going East or West. From the exit no 2, go south about 1.15 miles to a parking lot (N 39-10.524, W 109-01.187). From there follow the jeep road (walk or drive 4 wheel drive vehicle) about 1.9 miles to the south side of Castle Rock. This is in the McDonald Creek Cultural Resource Area. There are many biking and 4wd trails in this area for your enjoyment. See the map near the exit. Enjoy the massive and awesome rock formations along the route. Cache is in a three pound decoated coffee tin. It contains log book, pen and pencil, and other goodies. Picnic tables and comfort station are near the "ROCK", so bring your lunch and enjoy the outing.

Broken News: Mexicans Perfect Border Crossing Skills

Parkour en el CEL

Parkour, or "free running," is emerging as a hot new solo and team sport around the globe. A mesmerizing mix of distance running, martial arts and gymnastics with a hint of dance, this sport redefines the limits of the human body's endurance, balance, and coordinaton. Parkour is a lot like Spiderman in action, except there's no costume or web. In a word, amazing.

In parkour, humans can leap or even backflip from multi-story buildings and land unharmed. A ten-foot wall is easily scaled without a ladder. Athletic youth leap between the rooftops without the aid of wings or wires, nets or mats. A Russian scales the sides of buildings brick by brick and even outruns a German Shepherd in an unscripted chase scene. At times, they even defy gravity. A multinational team has shown that parkour and its participants may have a future in big screen action movies.

One of the hottest new trends in athletics, parkour is emerging across the planet--including south of the border in Mexico.

Recently Aztec TV, a station in Mexico, broadcast a news segment about Mexican youth demonstrating their parkour skills. One of the youthful participants explained (in Spanish) that parkour requires a healthy lifestyle that rejects the use of drugs and alcohol.

Both male and female youth participate in parkour, including at night. They scale walls, jump across fences, leap from rooftop to rooftop, and from rooftop to ground level, all without breaking stride. In short, parkour develops the very skills needed to run past the American border.

Lou Dobbs of CNN hosts a news segment with a number of interesting observations about the true cost of illegal aliens to the taxpayers.

No word yet on any parkour sightings at the US/Mex border...

Iranians Reject Persian Beauty, Buy American Nose Jobs

Nose Operation
Video sent by farshad

Currently, news out of Iran suggests war just beyond the horizon. However, an unlikely battle has opened on a new front: plastic surgery.

During the pre-surgical consult, plastic surgeons show their patients a catalog of photos from which their patient can choose their new look. Iranian women and men reject the classic ideal Persian face and go for the American-style noses.

So far, no Iranians have been reported picking the nose of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

John McCain Fires Back at Barbra Streisand

John McCain Fires Back at Barbra Streisand

Watch the video

"John McCain couldn't carry a tune if it had a handle."--World Net Daily

"I've been in politics for over 20 years, and for over 20 years, I've had Barbra Streisand trying to do my job," said McCain during the spot. "So I decided to try my hand at her job."

"Do I know how to sing?" McCain asked. "About as well as she knows how to govern America," he said to roaring laughter from the studio audience.

The Republican, who in real life is known to be a fan of The Beach Boys, also slaughtered other tunes by the longtime Democrat activist, including "People" and "The Way We Were."

 

Denver Dan's Caucus Letter and Supporter Reply Form

Although the Colorado GOP has sent a "cease and desist" order to Denver Dan to tell him to stop using the word "Republican," Denver Dan's website still has not complied.

Precisely to avoid confusion of other organizations with the official political party, Colorado Revised Statutes, in addition to the state party bylaws, prohibit the use of the word "Republican" without the consent of the Republican Party.

Denver Dan has clearly co-opted the name of a political party to engage in activities that the party officials did not authorize. And he started his poorly-thought out campaign right before the precinct caucus.

Dan Green (sounds like "gangrene") has taken it upon himself to purge the party from afar, regardless of the consequences to the locals. Had he contacted the state party leadership, he would have known that his plan was almost certain to enrage his targets and motivate them to show up to caucus and assembly. Worse, he didn't feel any qualms about poisoning our well from his vantage position on the Denver side of the Great Divide. Instead of uniting an already fractious bunch, he provoked unwarranted suspicion of locals, again from the safety of his undisclosed location. He thought nothing of troubling waters where he didn't have to swim. He didn't consider the consequences before mailing his malodorous missives.

The Central Committee is responsible for removal proceedings against members and leadership. Not Dan Green.

Quite simply, Robert's Rules establish a process by which party members and leaders can be brought to show cause why they should not be dismissed by a vote of the Central Committee.

Denver Dan, had he bothered to consult with the state party leadership about his plans and the name of his organization, might have learned that his attempt to purge the local party was doomed to fail and to be in fact the pure opposite of help. Given the composition of that very body, which now includes even more opposition party candidate sympathizers and supporters, action against such individuals seems highly improbable.

Another reason not to vote for the opposition party candidates

This year, the number of GOP delegates from each precinct is determined by how many votes President Bush got in that precinct in 2004; for Democrats, it is the number of votes that went to U. S. Sen. Ken Salazar.

By voting for the opposition party, a voter adds to the number of delegates the opposition party receives at their respective county assembly. By so doing, that voter contributes to the strength and voice of the opposition party, right there in their own neighborhood precinct.

By publicly supporting the opposition party candidate, a voter not only has added to the number of delegates that opposition party receives, but is actively recruiting other voters to support and vote for the opposition party's candidate.

Those who continue to actively or unapologetically support the opposition party or its candidates are manifestly unsuitable for leadership positions in the party with which they affiliate. Some have done so and claimed it was a matter of conscience.

They're correct.

As a matter of conscience, those individuals should re-evalute their divided loyalties and decide with which group of people they feel most like-minded, then either change their behavior or change their affiliation.

It is less than honest for any party leader to profess loyalty and service to their own political party while actively and publicly supporting--and therefore joining forces with--the candidates of its opposition.

At the very least, such dual-allegiance leaders would do well to leave leadership to those loyal to the organization to which they have pledged allegiance.

County will cast e-votes in 2006: Voters can use new touch-screen devices

Thursday, April 13th 2006
By Steve Grazier | Journal Staff Writer

New technology in the form of e-voting is on the way to Colorado and Montezuma County.
"I like the paper trail we have now."
-Carol Tullis Montezuma County clerk

Along with the state’s other 63 counties, Montezuma is set to receive touch-screen, electronic-voting machines in time for use during the August primary.

Clerk Carol Tullis said 13 machines are on tap with one each to be placed at the county’s 11 polling locations.

In addition, the clerk and recorder’s office is slated to have a voting device for early voting and another for absentee votes.

New machines for this year’s primary and general election are an option for voters, according to Tullis, who said the widgets are an addition to the paper-ballot format the county currently uses.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires that one e-voting apparatus be at every polling place by 2006, she said.

Unfamiliarity with Diebold Election Systems’ TSX touch-screen model — with a voter-verifiable printer — is a reason to not be entirely sold on the new format, Tullis said. However, the method is likely a future means of voting, she said.

“Until we go through an election, I won’t know all the capabilities of the machines,” she said. “I like the paper trail we have now, and I don’t want to lose that.”

One benefit of the electronic device is that it doesn’t allow people to vote for too many candidates listed on the ballot, Tullis said.

If electors choose to use the touch-screen method, they will receive a voter card — similar to a credit card — from an election judge at a precinct. The card allows individuals to access their ballot style, which includes candidates and questions for which electors are eligible to vote.
Durango ColoradoReal Estate

“Instead of getting a paper ballot, voters will receive a card with all ballot information,” said Tullis, who added that the county hopes to have machines in place prior to the Aug. 8 primary.

Overall, the new voting devices cost about $3,200 each. Money to pay for the machines is to come from a $75,000 state election grant, Tullis said.

“This shouldn’t cost the county anything initially, but we’ll have to maintain and upgrade the machines over time,” she said.

The main reason for e-voting stems from the 2002 voting act, which is a federal measure requiring all states to provide a voting device in every polling location accessible for people with disabilities, including the blind and hearing impaired. Machines are to give these people the same opportunity that other voters have to cast their ballots privately and independently.

Head-sets with vocal ballot information and braille pads for the blind are aspects of the new voting devices, said Tullis, who indicated the amount of extraordinary-needs voters in the county is minimal.

“We’ve never had special requests from handicapped voters,” she said. “But we have allowed for assistance with a friend or family member.”

Reach Steve Grazier at steveg@cortezjournal.com.
Help write the book on Mesa Verde

Breaking News from the Durango Herald Online: State legislators vote to tweak Electoral College

April 11, 2006

By Joe Hanel | Herald Denver Bureau

DENVER - Colorado became the first state to consider a new plan for popular election of the president on Monday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved it on a 4-3 party-line vote, with Democrats prevailing. It would allow Colorado to enter into a pact with other states to pledge their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who won the national popular vote. A group called National Popular Vote is pushing the idea to legislatures nationwide.

Currently, the president is elected in 51 separate votes in the states and the District of Columbia. The states then appoint electors, who hold the power to choose the president.

In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election because George W. Bush took the most electoral votes. In 2004, it would have taken just 60,000 Ohio voters to swing the election to John Kerry, despite a large popular vote win by Bush.

The bill by Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, spurred a lively debate on American traditions among the committee's lawyers, professors and history teachers.

"What you are trying to do is change 200 years of custom and practice," said state Sen. Jim Dyer, R-Centennial.

The Constitution's framers thought of themselves as representing states and had no experience in running a national government, said Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver.

"We now have over 200 years of experience in doing that. We have adopted our identity as Americans," Grossman said.

But Republicans argued against reducing the power of states.

"The existence of states is not a historical oddity but a fact of life in the United States," said Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield.

The Constitution, however, starts with the words "We the People," said Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins.

"Is it the state, or are human beings sovereign as citizens?" Bacon said.

It would take a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. But proponents of Gordon's bill say Article II Section 1 of the Constitution gives them the power to carry out their plan.

"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors," for the purpose of electing the president, according to the Constitution.

The compact would not take effect until states with at least 270 electoral votes - the majority - signed on to the deal.

The full Senate will be the next to debate the bill. Gordon is running for secretary of state - the official who oversees elections.

jhanel@durangoherald.com

Determining the True Will of the Assembly

Everyone present at the recent Mesa County Republican Assembly bears some part of the responsibility for the unauthorized votes that were cast and counted. A number of people didn't register and therefore dishonestly voted--without any care at all for the impact of their actions on the integrity of the assembly and therefore of the results. And clearly a number of people were content to keep silent about it, sit in their seats, and watch the clock.

Dishonesty. Complacency. These are the seeds of corruption. And what is corrupt? What is corruption?

cor·rupt·ed, cor·rupt·ing, cor·rupts

1. Marked by immorality and perversion; depraved.
2. Venal; dishonest: a corrupt mayor.
3. Containing errors or alterations, as a text: a corrupt translation.
4. Archaic. Tainted; putrid.

cor·rupt·ed, cor·rupt·ing, cor·rupts

1. To destroy or subvert the honesty or integrity of.
2. To ruin morally; pervert.
3. To taint; contaminate.
4. To cause to become rotten; spoil.
5. To change the original form of (a text, for example).
6. Computer Science. To damage (data) in a file or on a disk.

The county assembly was corrupt in that it contained errors that subverted its honesty and integrity. Deviations from protective procedures changed the original form of the assembly.

Some individuals did not conduct themselves or their duty in an honest manner, which opened the way for dishonesty to creep in. Americans know corruption when they see it, but are slow to see it in themselves or their associates. Too often people look the other way despite cost or consequences.

Here are a few of them:

• The assembly election results and materials are now part of the public record for anyone's examination and commentary, including the opposition party.
• The results were sufficiently unclear that at least one candidate may have improperly been deprived of access to the ballot.
  
• Such an affected candidate is thus left with the burden of petitioning onto the ballot to correct an inequity he or she did not cause.
  
• Candidates who thought they had a lock on the ballot now face the possibility of a contested Primary election.
  
• People who want to stand up now and help make things right feel a duty to sign the affected candidate petitions. Others want to come to the aid of affected candidates by circulating petition segments. This takes people away from their families, both to circulate and to sign.
• Some people are upset about these developments.
  
• Candidates who received at least 30% of the corrupted vote count have been handed both their moment of triumph and the less decisive defeat of their challenger.
  
• After the end of May, the clerk is required to produce the ballot with the assembly candidates and those who petitioned onto the ballot.
  
• In August, voters at large will be presented with the ballot based on the unclear results of the assembly.
  
• Those ballots will be produced with taxpayer dollars.

Those who participate in assembly have a civic duty to protect the integrity of the proceedings and prevent corruption. If that means taking the time to do it right, so be it. Those who don't have the time or can't clear their schedules to make the time should not accept election as delegates, alternates or committee people.

Such work is often time-consuming, inconvenient and even uncomfortable. Independence Hall in Philadelphia wasn't air conditioned, but our nation first declared its independence there and later arose there from the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention.

Despite these models of American governance and proceedings at the grassroots level, for thus they were, county assembly participants did not ascertain the true will of the body and therefore cannot promulgate it to the ballot.

Where did the county assembly go wrong and fail to answer the purpose for which it was convened?

First, despite the rules of the assembly proceedings which provide for anyone to stand and be recognized by the chair, nobody did. The Credentials Committee Report announced 435 authorized votes--435 delegates, elected officials, and party executive board members that registered on time and were on their precinct credentials list. No precinct committee people stood to ask for help and say that they had more people sitting with them than were on their list of those who had checked in.

In addition, after the first vote results were reported, the number of votes cast clearly exceeded the number authorized. At that point, anyone either from the floor or on the stage could have stood up and motioned for the precincts to recheck those sitting with them with their list of those who had registered. Nobody did.

Furthermore, the rules provide for a roll-call procedure. People who have such pressing business that they can't take the time to do this right should not be delegates or committee chairpeople. The credentialling, the nomination of candidates, the vote, and the roll-call are the most important business of that day. Those who pressured the chair to suspend the roll-call bear a great deal of responsibility for removing the keystone of the checks and balances system that protects the integrity of the vote. The roll-call is designed to publicly check the number of each precinct's votes with the number they were authorized and to provide an immediate opportunity to the body of the assembly to cause the chair of each precinct to dismiss unauthorized voters from their precinct so that only authorized voters are voting--and then pause for the authorized voters to revote, count, and report aloud the results.

To continue, the agenda for the assembly included the Delegation Poll, but some precinct chairs did not check the names of those voting on their Precinct Credentials Report with those actually sitting with them. Several precinct chairs (also known as committee people) obviously did not do this and thus allowed unauthorized voting in their precinct. There have even been reports that unregistered delegates arrived very, very late and unseated the registered alternate who was thus seated as an authorized and registered delegate.


Thus, there was a series of checkpoints intended to catch and check dishonest voting, but they all failed because nobody stood up.

1. When a party's County Assembly is convened, those present are bound not just by the agenda, by local, state and national party bylaws and by Robert's Rules. Everyone present is also subject to the laws of the State of Colorado. In fact, the Colorado Revised Statutes include a number of laws that specifically govern party business and County Assembly. The large discrepancies in vote numbers clearly show that a number of people didn't register--but voted anyway. They did so in violation of state law and at minimum did so dishonestly.
2. Any delegate who comes in too late to assembly to register also does not show up on the Credentials Report and, if that person votes anyway, that person is casting an unauthorized vote. At minimum, that person is voting dishonestly.
3. Any precinct chair (committee person) who allows anyone who didn't register to vote allows them to vote or worse, to vote more than once, has allowed someone to vote dishonestly and has violated state law. All precincts were given a list of the names of their registered delegates, so such chairs cannot claim they didn't know.
4. Anyone who was charged with any duty under the election code--including at the precinct and assembly levels--who violates, neglects or fails to perform their duty is guilty of corrupt conduct under 1-13-107. Period. The procedures of registering to be credentialed, of checking the precinct credentials list for unregistered delegates BEFORE they attempt to vote, of keeping the precinct ballots in the custody of the precinct chair, of roll calling the vote, the Credentials Committee announcing the number of authorized votes to catch unauthorized voting in the precincts, and so forth must be conducted and must be conducted correctly to protect us all against violating state law.
   

The central purpose of these procedures is to determine the true will of the assembly and to place on the ballot the names of candidates.

Colorado Revised Statutes 1-13-301. Fraud at precinct caucus, assembly or convention.

Any person in authority at any precinct caucus, assembly or convention who in any manner dishonestly, corruptly or fraudulently performs any act devolving on him by virtue of the position of trust which he fills or knowingly aids or abets any other person to do any fraudulent, dishonest or corrupt act or thing in reference to the carrying on of any precinct caucus, assembly or convention or the ascertaining or promulgating of its true will is guilty...

1-13-303. Offenses at precinct caucus, assembly, or convention.

(1) It is unlawful for any person at any precinct caucus, assembly, or convention:

(a) To fraudulently vote more than once; or
(b) To knowingly hand in two or more ballots deceitfully folded together; or
(c) To knowingly procure, aid, counsel, or advise another to vote or attempt to vote fraudulently or corruptly; or
(d) To falsely personate any elector and vote under his name or under an assumed name; or
(e) To fraudulently procure, aid, abet, or encourage, directly or indirectly, any person to attempt to falsely personate any elector or to vote under an assumed name; or
(f) To influence any voter in the casting of his vote by bribery, duress, or any other corrupt or fraudulent means; or
(g) To receive any money or valuable thing, or the promise of either, for casting his vote for or against any person or measure or to offer his vote for or against any person or measure in consideration of money or other valuable thing, or the promise of either.
(2) Each offense mentioned in subsection (1) of this section is a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, the offender shall be punished as provided in section 1-13-111.

1-13-107. Violation of duty.

Any public officer, election official, or other person upon whom any duty is imposed by this code who violates, neglects, or fails to perform such duty or is guilty of corrupt conduct in the discharge of the same or any notary public or other officer authorized by law to administer oaths who administers any oath knowing it to be false or who knowingly makes a false certificate in regard to a matter connected with any election provided by law is guilty...

Yes, we are all guilty.

We should therefore resolve to do what we can to catch and correct errors, right wrongs and reject vengeance. We should seek out and learn our duties. We should encourage courtesy and respect for others' responsibilities and rights. We should seek out the company of those who can help us. We should stand up when something seems amiss. We should have the courage to insist on honesty and avoid dishonesty in our conduct--and in our companionship. We should know, accept and obey rules and laws rather than look for opportunities to save time and take shortcuts. Our nation's founders and their conduct of caucuses, assemblies and conventions--under the most trying of circumstances-- have set a high standard, but it is one that must be kept by all who profess to be Americans.