Trump Steps over the Line....

Republicans have always told us not to expect anything from the government, and oddly, a lot of people have not just bought into that idea, but have greatly lowered their expectations as well.

In the preamble to the Constitution, we're guaranteed the basics; "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare..."

What part of violating human rights, do nothing about mass shootings, deny the public health care, and endangering the environment supports the constitutional framework that set up a "government to make society a better, more orderly place to live?"

Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free...Unwelcome: Nothing is free, and under millionaire Trump, even breathing. His directive to take border crossing kids away is the latest, which by the way, he's now blaming on Democrats?:

The United States government is now systematically taking children as young as 53 weeks old away from their parents at the border, thanks to new directives issued by the Trump administration.

More coming...

Fiorina says, Part 2: Forcefully delivered wrong, detached from reality answers earns kudos from press.

Carly Fiorina's impressive performance was exactly that, a performance, devoid of accurate truthful answers.

Vox: She made everyone else on the stage — especially Trump — look unprepared. But she did it in part by playing fast and loose with the facts. Her barrage of specifics often obscured a curious detachment from reality.

In just scratching the surface, here are just a few easy fact checks that cut through the Fiorina fiction:

Fact checkers will have a field day with Fiorina: Her answer on Russia, for instance, was bizarre.

Fiorina: “What I would do, immediately, is begin rebuilding the Sixth Fleet, I would begin rebuilding the missile defense program in Poland, I would conduct regular, aggressive military exercises in the Baltic states. I'd probably send a few thousand more troops into Germany. Vladimir Putin would get the message.”

The Sixth Fleet is already huge, and it's hard to say why adding to its capabilities would intimidate Putin — after all, America has enough nuclear weapons pointed at Russia to level the country thousands of times over. Her proposal for more military exercises in the Baltics seemed odd in light of the fact that President Obama is already conducting military exercises in the Baltics. And the US already has around 40,000 troops stationed in Germany, so it's hard to say what good "a few thousand" more would do. And pushing on a missile defense system in Poland is a very long-term solution to a very current problem. In total, Fiorina's laundry list of proposals sure sounded like a plan, but on inspection, it's hard to see why any of them would convince Putin to change course.

Here's another favorite fabricated GOP narrative about Obama doing nothing about immigration:

Her immigration answer was also odd to anyone who knew the issue's recent history. It's true Obama didn't immediately push immigration reform when he took office, but it was his top priority after reelection, and he spent a solid year trying to make the Senate's comprehensive immigration-reform bill — the one crafted, in part, by Sen. Marco Rubio — into law. That legislation was stopped by Republicans in the House of Representatives, not by the Democrat in the White House. "Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months," Obama begged in 2013, "and I will sign it right away."

Check out this bonus Fiorina fiction that will bend your brain:

Or take her biggest applause line of the night: a riff on the Planned Parenthood tapes that set conservative Twitter afire. "I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, it's heart beating, it's legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain."

The only problem? Nothing like that happens in the Planned Parenthood tapes. As Sarah Kliff, who has watched all the tapes, wrote, "either Fiorina hasn't watched the Planned Parenthood videos or she is knowingly misrepresenting the footage."

And who can forget the approved Fiorina campaign ad with demonic sheep?

Scott Walker's phony "Clinton worked with Republicans" story not going away...ever.

An interesting thing happened on last Friday's Week in Review, on WPR's morning show.

In response to Obama's use of executive orders, former Lt. Governor Margaret Farrow blurted out the same completely manufactured answer as Scott Walker, when he praised Bill Clinton for working with majority Republicans instead of going it alone as the imperial president. Coincidence? No, memorized. Here's the audio:



Farrow was also wrong about the Democrats not trying to move immigration "down the road" when they had control of the senate and house. Republicans never count their use of the filibuster:

DREAM Act: Perhaps the most consequential blocked bill in 2009 and 2010 was the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were children when they immigrated, provided they serve in the military or go to college. It was blocked twice, once as an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that was paired with repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and once as part of the banal-sounding Removal Clarification Act of 2010. It had already passed the House, so if not for the filibuster, it would be law.

Check out that now infamous moment where fellow Republican, possible presidential candidate and former congressman Gov. John Kasich corrected Walker in no uncertain terms.  From the Republican Governors Association panel, a few clips of Kasich insisting on solutions, not division:



Walker's can't get out of "divide and conquer" mode.

Special thanks to WPR reporter Shawn Johnson. 

Not just the Party of No, but the Party of No Jobs

Two big job creators are being blocked by the same Republican Party that can’t stop talking about the job creators. Clue: “Jobs” might be a trick into passing their many theoretical “Path’s to Prosperity.”

Since reducing government just takes control away from the people, the plan they have is an ugly one. Welcome to their capitalist utopia.

Finance: Just Like That, the ‘Party of No’ Is Back: Within the space of a few hours, Republicans put roadblocks in front of a pair of popular legislative proposals that supporters insist would create jobs, increase economic growth and alleviate a lot of human suffering.

1. A hard core of conservatives in John Boehner’s conference would oppose almost any immigration reform acceptable to Senate Democrats, but Boehner blamed the problem on a lack of “trust” in President Obama.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that comprehensive immigration reform would generate economic growth and shrink the federal deficit.

2. Later on Thursday, Republicans blocked the Senate from moving forward on a three-month extension of federal unemployment benefits (for) 1.7 million long-term unemployed people.

CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told the House Budget Committee that the extension of benefits would help the economy and create an estimated 200,000 jobs. 

And that's why Republicans still think they can sell the public on being job creators?

Tantrum over losing; Republicans hold breath, stamp feet…refuse to solve immigration problem because they’re afraid they’ll lose seats.

Were you as amazed as I was when many commentators and Democrats surmised Republicans probably learned their lesson? Oh my god. Here’s what they’re doing now.

TPM: Republicans Vow To Block Immigration Reform After Shutdown Fight: The government shutdown fight has given House conservatives a new pretext: Obama refused to deal with us on the debt, so we won't deal with him on immigration reform.

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) told TPM, "He ain't gonna get a willing partner in the House until he actually gets serious about ... his plan to deal with the debt."

I bet you didn't see this one coming; Republicans are again blaming someone else for their own ineptitude and shutdown.

And a new talking point: Obama simply wants to use immigration reform to "destroy" the GOP.

"I think it'd be crazy for the House Republican leadership to enter into negotiations with him on immigration," Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told reporters on the eve of the GOP's shutdown surrender.

 "And I'm a proponent of immigration reform. So I think what he's done over the last two and a half weeks -- he's trying to destroy the Republican Party … anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind: which is to try to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies."

So because Republicans hate immigrants and minorities, refusing to allow them to populate the country, they're afraid they might be voted out. Now that’s what I call a winning formula. 

Paul Ryan trashed Senate Immigration bill, admits "no one reads 1,000 page bills" anymore. Let's elect someone who does?

In a Mt. Pleasant Patch piece, Paul Ryan slipped up. At a recent listening session, he panicked. I had to read this three or four times just to make sure I wasn't missing something. Sure Ryan lies, but we have rarely seen him caught this off guard, saying something so unrehearsed and so desperately stupid in front of a largely Hispanic crowd, that it almost takes your breath away:

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan assured hundreds of Hispanics Friday that undocumented residents would not have to worry about deportation under his vision for immigration reform ... Speaking in Racine at his 16th listening session with the Hispanic community, Ryan said he wants to put those who are in the country illegally on a type of probation. If they followed the rules, paid a fine and got a job, they could become citizens in 15 years, he told an audience of about 300. 

In what is an obvious stalling scheme to pass only border security, and to eventually forget about citizenship for illegal immigrants, Ryan tried to sell an unbelievably convoluted 5 bill plan. This at a time when Ryan's house of Republicans can't pass one bill that makes any sense:

Why five bills are better than one: Ryan said at least five different bills that address his

He actually did say that...

four points could hit the House floor in October. Several members of the audience asked why he doesn't support the Senate bill.

Ready for it?

He said he can't support the Senate bill because it's too unwieldy, for one, at 1,000 pages, and no one really knows what's in it. "Passing legislation in stages is best because no one reads 1,000 page bills," he noted. "We've been doing that and how well has that worked?"

Remember that at the polls when you see the name Rob Zerban next to Ryan. We need at a minimum, a "reader" in congress. Is that too much to ask of our freeloading Republican politicians taking a taxpayer paycheck?

The Old Con Artist Returns: Again, Ryan refuses to give any of what we can only assume are the disgusting and repugnant bill killing details:

Still, Ryan said he wouldn't get into specifics about his plan until he had other members of the House GOP at the table with him. "These are the details that get hammered out in legislation so I'm not going to go into the fine particulates," he said. "What I'm trying to do is show where there's a broad consensus and how to get immigration reform that works. All these specifics ... that's something we're going to have to figure out."

Doesn't that just piss you off? 

Republicans Waste $40 Billion more on Border Security, Fence, Agents...and votes from Frightened Tea Party Racists.

An amazing thing is taking place right before our eyes, again; Republicans are spending money like drunken paranoid sailors, protecting us from a massive influx of immigration over our southern border.

NY Times: The Senate endorsed a proposal to substantially bolster security along the nation’s southern borders as part of a measure that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country. The 67-to-27 vote prevented any filibuster of the plan to devote roughly $40 billion over the next decade to border enforcement measures, including nearly doubling the number of border agents to 40,000 and completing 700 miles of fencing. 

But wait, we don’t have a massive influx of immigrants anymore, especially since the Great Recession. As MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Ezra Klein explained last week in detail:

Republicans seek force field at border before passing Immigration Reform, that's all....

The following "must have" guarantee for Republicans may be pie-in-the-sky ridiculous, but it also sounds like a massive cost to taxpayers. Another unfunded mandate? Of course. And echoing a common Republican complaint...ONE THOUSAND PAGES? 

The Hill: Confidence among Democrats that the 1,000-page bill will pass the upper chamber was shaken last week when Rubio said he would not vote for it without changes to border security language — even though he negotiated the original draft … working on amendments to bolster border security apart from a border-security package drafted by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Hey, Republicans are only asking for a little “security:”

They would require the Department of Homeland Security to achieve full situational awareness of the entire U.S.-Mexico border and complete operational control — defined as a 90-percent apprehension rate of illegal border crossers — of every border sector.

I’m surprised they left out a cure for cancer and a perfect world.

Ryan drags out Anchor Baby Slur, signals Phony Support of Immigration Reform. Thousands Protest, 25 turn up at Rally in Racine.

Just one more issue for Rep. Paul Ryan to deal with when he's up for reelection. Beside leading the biggest do nothing congress ever with his hard line budgetary politics, he's going to have to explain his perpetuation of the "anchor baby" wedge issue that inflames hard right conservatives.

The racial slur was used as a signal to his low information audience that Ryan has no real intention of backing effective immigration reform. Instead, the media is already crediting Ryan for his support because he brought it up. Like all Republicans who wave the Constitution as their guiding document, Ryan wants to make more changes to it. Whiners and sore losers all. Here's the offending video:

Mystateline: Say What?: Thousands Protest Paul Ryan's "Ethnic Slur": Folks rallied in Racine after Rep. Ryan used the phrase "anchor babies" during a town hall meeting in Burlington. He was responding to someone who used the term when asking a question. The term "anchor babies" refers to children born to a noncitizen mother in a country that grants automatic citizenship to those born on its soil, especially when the birthplace is chosen to improve the mother's chances of securing citizenship. More than 7 thousand people have signed an online petition to demand an apology from Ryan.

Fear Mongering Job Stealing Immigrants: group "NumbersUSA" goes bonkers!!!

Another hilariously named group, "NumbersUSA-for Lower Immigration Levels," adds to the election clutter with this amazing "non" political ad:

I get it, that's why Scott Walker's can't create any new jobs...besides employer "uncertainty" over the upcoming elections...etc.

The Outrageous Republican Double Standard on Immigration Deportation. More Phony Outrage.

Why do we have to rely on a comedy show to present to Americans, what the news media should be doing without hesitation. The upside down political nature of the Republican Party is ripe for parody, sure, but it's also perfectly suited to provide the same entertain value cable and prime time news viewers, and isn't that what the networks are dying to accomplish?

Take this simple bit of research by the writers of the Daily Show. Obama's move to put in place a small piece of the Dream Act dealing with deportations, mirrors other previous administrations that made similar decisions. This should embarrass the hell out of "serious" all news channels. What, not enough time in the day to do a little work?

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

GOP offers up Another Frivolous Law; Immigration Bill in search of Problem.

Always worried someone is going to get something for nothing, on the backs of the well off or wealthy, state Republicans want to make life a little harder than it already is. It’s a character builder they’ll say, not to mention a way to make us all better citizens.

Republicans want to make sure no illegal immigrant pulls a fast one on them, and gets public assistance. Hell, it's already illegal and doesn't happen, but the GOP is demanding more freedom killing paperwork and regulations from everyone.  

Cap Times: Assembly Bill 222, introduced Thursday, would require anyone applying for public assistance programs administered by the state Department of Health Services or Department of Children and Families to prove citizenship or lawful presence in the United States. That would include W-2, medical assistance, food stamps, BadgerCare Plus, SeniorCare, and the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, "I'm concerned law-abiding citizens and legal immigrants in Wisconsin will have diminished public assistance programs they pay for."

Like Voter ID -- legislation recently passed that requires voters to show a photo ID to stop supposed voter fraud -- AB 222 assumes a problem that is not in evidence, they say. "The bill is a paperwork burden in search of a problem to solve," says Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. "It won't affect immigrants because they already are ineligible for these programs and generally are not participating.

The state's Legislative Audit Bureau has looked at the Medicaid eligibility system and has not found that immigrants are unlawfully participating in the program, he says.

Although eligibility for public assistance is already restricted to citizens and legal residents by federal and state law, Mursau says there's no way to know… 

There's no way to know what's really out there...to fear. 

Walkers Budget Balanced on non-citizen Children of Illegal Immigrants Kicked out of College. Rep. Vos: "I wish them the very best."

Former Gov. Doyle knew that children of parents who came here illegally grew up as American as any kid, but weren’t citizens through no fault of their own. If they excelled academically, they were given the gift of in-state tuition for college.

But under one party Republican rule, with an anti-minority agenda, these kids can kiss their opportunity to be like their friends, good-bye.

jsonline: The 17-year-old Racine senior knew he crossed over from Mexico to America when he was about 5 ... But it took him until junior high to understand that he is an illegal immigrant. It's a status that will soon likely mean a difference of about $7,500 per year in tuition and likely the end of his dream of attending a university. 

Gov. Scott Walker (is) repeal(ing) a part of former Gov. Jim Doyle's last budget that gave in-state tuition at state universities and technical colleges to illegal immigrants who graduate from Wisconsin high schools. That proposal would mean Christian would need to pay out-of-state tuition, or $14,196 per year. 

"I just couldn't do it," said Christian, who had planned to go to Parkside for English literature. 

But state Rep. Robin Vos said it's a financial decision. For every student who receives in-state tuition there is a subsidy, he said. 

"I wish them the very best," Vos said.

Poof! They’re gone.

Two Republicans, again unhappy with the Constitution, want to change birthright citizenship.

Why not blame everything on babies born in the U.S. for driving up immigration, instead of going after employers and expanding E-Varify for new employees. And aren’t they “foreign” babies too, diluting the current white ruling class?

In yet another diversion tactic, ignoring job creation, the proposed constitutional amendment is about as important as privatizing Medicare.  

Fox News: Two Republican senators have introduced a constitutional amendment that would prohibit the children of illegal immigrants from gaining automatic U.S. citizenship unless certain conditions are met. The move by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and David Vitter, R-La., follows a proposal in Arizona challenging the constitutional right known as "birthright citizenship." 

Under U.S. law, anybody born on U.S. soil is considered a citizen. The proposal in Congress would amend the Constitution so that children born in the United States are only considered automatic citizens if one parent is a U.S. citizen, one parent is a legal immigrant, or one parent is an active member of the Armed Forces. They could also follow the traditional naturalization process to attain citizenship. 

But any constitutional amendment stands a slim chance of passing, as it would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the state legislatures. Plus critics of the push say it won't address the problem of illegal immigration and would be struck down in the courts anyway. 

But it sure energizes the base for the upcoming 2012 elections. 

Humorless Pundit Class on Colbert: Offended, Damages Democrats, Why did they (politicians) sit there?

I don't mind people who have a different perspective than myself, and welcome a healthy debate of the issues, but Chuck Todd? What an asswipe.

Border Wars back again, on National Geographic.

Want to know more about illegal immigration and our southern border? National Geographic's series "Border Wars" is back for season two. This report from Newsy.com explains:

pp

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

A side note: I'm in love with Jennifer Meckles. Wasn't that a Hollies song? (I know, Eccles)

The Hot Illegal Immigration Issue: Another pile of GOP crap devoured by the frightened voting public and media.

Let’s put these two stories together, shall we?

Washington Post: The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States has
plunged by almost two-thirds in the past decade, a dramatic shift after years of growth in the population, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center. (Bdfore) 2005, an average of 850,000 people a year entered the United States without authorization … As the economy plunged into recession between 2007 and 2009, that number fell to 300,000 … the new report reveals the first statistically significant reversal in the growth of the population in the past 20 years.

Gallop Poll: Republicans are trusted to stop the nightmare we know as illegal immigration, over the Democrats, by a significant 50 percent to 35 percent.

It looks like that 2/3 plunge in the nightmarish illegal immigration crisis needs the firm hand of the Republican Party to...solve once and for all?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Number of illegal immigrants drops, study finds (cnn.com)
• Illegal Immigrant Population Shrinks, Border Crossings Down Sharply (abcnews.go.com)
• So Much For The Illegal Immigration "Crisis" (outsidethebeltway.com)

Conservative Bigots and Racists Take United Stand: Ozaukee County Apologizes to Arizona for MATC Boycott

Fear of immigrants and their ability to steal jobs away from Americans, basically getting something (job) for nothing (not becoming a citizen), is the bane of conservative orthodoxy.

The mind numbing fear that some didn't "earn" what they received, according to these judgemental authoritarians, is reason enough arm themselves with guns and start a new wave of McCarthyism. And judging by the nationwide exceptance of Arizona's "Show us your papers" law, the economic downturn has turned average Americans into "backed into a corner" animals.

Hats off to Rep. Joe Barton's outrageous BP apology heard around the world.

Wisconsin State Journal: By a narrow margin, the Ozaukee County supervisors voted to apologize to the people of Arizona whose feelings might have been hurt by Milwaukee Area Technical College's decision to endorse the international boycott of the state.

The MATC board's decision to join the boycott was in keeping with another historic tradition: that of withholding economic support from governments that show disrespect for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, civil liberties and civil rights.

In what tradition was the Ozaukee County Board's apology?

Presumably, that of Ozaukee County, where locals rioted during the Civil War because they did not want to join the fight against slavery, where Joe McCarthy always received a warm welcome and where residents have with their votes cheered on Congressman James Sensenbrenner's emergence as one of the nation's leading immigrant bashers. No one should be surprised that a majority of Ozaukee County Board members concluded that criticism of Arizona's intolerant and divisive actions is somehow "divisive and intolerant."

What a proud history. Enough said.

Bilbray Makes Sense once, E-Varify.

Good God!!!!

Except for my disagreement with Rep. Brian Bilbray on putting in place some plan for citizenship, I'm completely with him on E-Varify, and I think he's right, it's a Democratic issue to protect low wage workers.

Bilbray is a partisan loon normally, but he actually made sense this time, or am I going crazy.

Milwaukee Supervisor Peggy West not sure Where Arizona is in U.S.

Politics aside, this demonstrates the sad state of voter representation today, as we race to the bottom. Bring on the constitutional scholar class of tea party whiners and low information voters.