Center for Immigration Studies and the Arizona border

Center for Immigration Studies and the Arizona border

The trail behind of the Anti Immigrant sentiment and the rethoric language against Immigrants and political parties associated with.
This sad tragedy is a wake up call for all Arizonans and the Nation. It's time to take back Nation from the right-wing, anti-people demagogues and their corporate masters. We must demand that they stop blaming immigrants, muslims,Jews, Asians, African Americans for their failures.
we're angry at the political climate in Arizona and the that encourages these acts of terrorism. We're angry at the talk radio shows, the right-wing legislature, U.S. Senator, R-Ariz., and the elected officials who come up with one racist anti-immigrant or anti-worker bill after another. Meanwhile our schools and health care continue to rot. And we're angry with the corporate interests who own the politicians and the hate spewing radio stations.
Every event here is turning into a memorial. A press conference that had been scheduled to denounce the attacks on the 14th amendment and ethnic studies in schools was a case in point. Kat Rodriguez of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos summed it all up, "Our legislature started the year walking in hate." All the speakers pointed out that it's not only the talk shows that encourage violence but it's the governor, legislative leadership and other right-wing elected officials who have created a climate that encourages acts of violence and terrorism.

Can we have the change you promised Mr. Obama?

It’s amazing that more people haven’t come around to it, but the Homeland Security are very threatening, at least here in California, NY, Arizona, Texas and Oregon.
I ask you, how many Americans actually carry their passports as proof of citizenship? Yet, this is what is required by the good Sheriff Arpaio, Lou Dobbs, Glen Beck and the Homeland INSecurity department; if you do not have any other picture ID documentation showing that you are a legal person in our country.
The reality is that you and I could be walking down the streets of any city minding our own business, innocent of any crime, but stopped and jailed for being or look like Mexican, Latino and not having the correct documentation showing our citizenship to the USA. This is another case of the dysfunctional and obsolete Immigration system. For millions there are no hope out there.

Jaime Mesa is the father, businessman and Woodside, Queens, resident for 43 years who was detained Aug. 13 by immigration authorities and is in danger of being deported.

"Things are looking up a little," said Jaime Mesa, referring to a temporary stay of his brother's deportation order.

"He is still in jail, but we have had a lot of support from hundreds of people who know Jorge, from friends and elected officials who have written letters or made phone calls on his behalf."

Home, of course, is not in the Colombia of his birth, but in Woodside with his fiancée, Olga Lucía Celis, a U.S. citizen, and their toddler son, Christian Enrique.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens) has written a letter to Christopher Shanahan, director of the New York field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in support of Mesa.

"I am strongly appealing to you to release Mr. Mesa while his attorney continues to work his case," Crowley wrote. "He turned his life around and has never encountered a problem since he was a teenager.

"He has become a successful businessman and is the proud father of a 14-month-old child. To deport him would be a hardship for not only him but his entire family."

Held at the Monmouth Correctional Institute in Freehold, N.J., Mesa's major concern is the future of his fiancée and his son.

"My family is my great worry," he said in a telephone interview.

Mesa's predicament stems from a 1981-1983 drug-related sentence. But as Crowley pointed out, in the past 26 years Mesa has never had a problem. More importantly, Mesa has earned the love and respect of all who know him.

"In all the years I have been assisting my constituents, I have never seen such an outpouring of support from the community [like the one] on Mr. Mesa's behalf," Crowley wrote Shanahan.

Like Crowley, Christina Hall, Mesa's lawyer, is amazed at the support her client has received from hundreds of people.

"He was just given a temporary stay of deportation so the Bureau of Immigration Appeals has time to go over the paper work," Hall said. "Monday, I sent them a 30-page addendum with 30 more letters in support of my client."

City Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens), who is running for public advocate, is outraged at what Mesa and his family are going through.

"I really want to help him. What's happening to Mesa is heartbreaking and wrong," said Gioia, who told the Daily News he is getting in touch with Crowley and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand about Mesa's case. "Breaking up his family and deporting him does not do any good to anybody," Gioia added.

Gillibrand also wrote to the Department of Homeland Security requesting that Mesa be allowed to remain with his family while his appeal is pending, said Glen Caplin, her spokesman.

But it is in the dozens of e-mails that people from Woodside have sent to the Daily News where Mesa's unusual human qualities are best reflected.

"I have lived in Woodside all my life. In the past 16 years I cannot remember a time when Jorge Mesa wasn't around. My entire family has vacationed with him upstate for as long as I can remember and it would not be the same without him," said an e-mail from Jaime Fitzgerald. "He is a hardworking, kind-hearted man and Woodside would be suffering a big loss if he was deported."

Clearly this is the general feeling in Woodside. Let Mesa go home to his family and his community where he belongs.

Today our worst fear was realized.

Towards our leaders and institutions; they are naive beyond belief. Although being used, abused and oh so confused by their so-called leaders, big media and this one-sided economic system; they keep on chuging along still wanting to believe in the american dream they are sold every minute, every day. There's a Hope Program, no guidelines, no one has been aproved because there is no guidelines, No one, Zero, Nada; there is no hope, there is no help from Mortgages, Lenders, Goverment Agencies for a responsible homeowners. Ohhh yeah but they can used our taxpayer money to bail out big Corporations, Banks, Car dealerships without helping people for who has been used and abused?. Enough is enough.!!!!!

The real whiners are that 10% of happy few replutocrats and their 90% + of the whole shabang. They are the ones we are bailing out. They are the ones constantly lobbying & amp; begging for more deregulation & tax cuts. They are the welfare corporations slaughtering US's middle class and making them feel guilty about it too… But know who should be accountable for responsible homeowners losing their homes, their jobs, the increased foods prices, Gas prices and the SALARIES GOING DOWN? Anybody said me.........Many mental-health crisis and suicide hotlines are reporting a surge in calls from Americans feeling despair over financial losses.

The escalating pace of unemployment and foreclosures rising fears among some homeowners about keeping up with their mortgages are creating a range of emotional problems. People are seeing more drinking, domestic violence and marital problems linked to Economic crisis concerns ? as well as children trying to cope with extreme anxiety when their families are forced to move. They're depressed, anxious. It's affected marriages, relationships. Sixty-one percent in the West Coast identify housing costs, such as rent or mortgage payments, as significant sources of stress.

Then Yesterday around 8.30 am were a sad event all over the news: Los Angeles man kills wife, 5 children, himself.
It's hard to understand the suicide; I do not want to judge anybody because is not on my hands to do so but my Family prayers are for the all Lupoe Family.

At the bottom of the letter, Lupoe wrote,

They did nothing to the manager who stated such and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and five children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are.

"Oh lord, my God, is there no hope for a widow's son?" Continue reading here: Source

Today's bible verse is" 14 The LORD upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever."(Psalm 145 : 14 - 21

Law is the Law but where are the American Values? Morals? Dignity?.

This is an outrageous action against Hispanic, latinos just for his Irrational and Inmoral values of Joe Arpaio for Political and personal power. That's just Ashamed to see this Happen in America. The land of the BRAVE and the home of the FREE? Takes real courage to leave two innocent, scared, crying children behind while taking away their mother. This is the Change we want for us as Americans? This is the way foreigners want to perceive as Americans? Heartless?, Uncompassionate for others?.

Two young children were separated from their mother, Ciria Lopez, in Maricopa County, Arizona earlier this week when she was arrested for an unpaid traffic ticket. The arrest was the result of an immigrant suppression sweep by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who gained infamy for reinstating chain gang labor and dressing predominately Latino inmates at his county jail in pink underwear, pink handcuffs, and striped jumpsuits.

Salvador Reza, a local community organizer, captured video of the arrest and the reaction of Mrs. Lopez's frightened children. The video below was featured this morning on The Board, a blog shared by editorial writers at The New York Times. Mrs. Lopez's children are staying with her niece while Mrs. Lopez remains in custody.
Ciria Lopez appeared in court today, facing fines for an unpaid traffic ticket from 2006. Judge James Mapp cleared Mrs. Lopez of all municipal charged after the ticket was paid. Sheriff Arpaio continues to hold Mrs. Lopez under his 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Despite criticism from Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, and the Anti-Defamation League, The Fox Reality Channel offered Sheriff Arpaio a reality TV show entitled, "Smile, You're Under Arrest." The show centers around elaborate sting operations run by Sheriff Arpaio to capture people wanted on outstanding warrants.
According to the East Valley Tribune, the focus on immigration enforcement has negatively affected other areas of law enforcement in Maricopa County. Response time to 911 calls has increased, arrest rates have dropped, and overtime costs related to immigration enforcement ran up a $1.3 million deficit over the final three months of 2008.

Lenders and Banks ignoring the responsible Homeowners.

Need help from your bank before you're forced to default? Good luck with that. Conventional wisdom may tell homeowners who can see financial trouble approaching to reach out for help as soon as possible. But most borrowers trying to follow that advice are finding they can't get their bankers to discuss the options — including loan modifications — until they've missed payments.
"It is extremely difficult for any consumer who is not delinquent to even find someone to talk with at their lender," says Michele Johnson. "The consumer who is really being proactive and trying to do the right thing faces challenges that are unexpected."
A harsh reality Marvin Webb, pastor of the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond, Calif., called his bank nearly two months ago to say that although his credit is good and he's current in his payments, he can see financial trouble coming. "They said they were looking for a loan they could put me in, something good. But they never got back to me," Webb says.
He called back recently. "I told them what they told me, and they still didn't have anything to say. You know, they take your number and (say) 'We'll call you back.'"

Logic suggests banks should help struggling homeowners early, renegotiating loans to avoid even-more-costly foreclosure. Ben Windust, Wells Fargo senior vice president for customer and default operations, says, "We can always work with any borrower who is having any kind of financial difficulty," even before a loan is in default. But those who work with homeowners say that, mostly, that's not happening.

"One of the really unfortunate contradictions of this crisis is that it's only when people have ruined their credit that they can get even a response from their bank," says Adam Kruggel, director of the Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization. Part of the problem is banks are overwhelmed by the flood of people who cannot make payments. And that leaves plenty of struggling but still-current borrowers "hanging on and sometimes they are making enormous sacrifices; in some cases they are draining their entire life savings" to keep up their mortgage payments, he says.

Sean Woods was one of them. At this time last year, he was a mortgage broker in Goodyear, Ariz., an expensive suburb of Phoenix. He was earning about $12,000 a month, he says, so payments of roughly $4,500 a month on two loans for his family's home in a golf-course community seemed manageable.
Then, in February, Woods received what turned out to be his last mortgage commission payment. Record home prices in the Phoenix area had encouraged overbuilding, so prices were falling and sales were slowing. "I saw the writing on the wall," he says.
In late spring, he called Washington Mutual to say that although he was current in his payments, he was struggling. He was running through savings and using credit-card cash advances to make his home payments.
He asked to talk to the bank's loss-mitigation department. Typically, when you punch your loan number into the bank's phone system, you are routed to the bank's customer service or collection department, depending on whether your payments are current or overdue.
A collections officer's job is to recoup past-due payments and set up repayment plans allowing a homeowner to make full, regular payments plus a portion of the delinquency in order to catch up. But negotiating a lower interest rate or reduction in the loan principal is usually beyond the authority of the collection department, says Azucena Valladolid, chief operating officer at Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Nevada and Utah.

Woods says he told his bank, "I'm making the payments, but it won't be long before trouble will be upon me, before I start missing payments."
Loss mitigation basically told me, 'This loan is performing. You haven't missed a payment.' Basically (they said), 'Call us when you start missing payments.'"

In July his check bounced and his mortgage went into default. He got financial counseling and the bank offered a tentative modification offer.By then, though, he'd begun to question the value of a bank modification. What was the sense in committing to a plan without an income to support it? Shouldn't he just focus on getting work?
The big picture Like the troubled loans they are meant to fix, modification plans can include complex loan features: interest-only periods that reset in a few years, gradually increasing payments, or complicated formulas for sharing appreciation or equity. Some simply stretch the loan over 40 years reducing the payment amounts but increasing the total loan cost.

Woods, sadder but wiser, is keeping his options open. "I'm one of those homeowners that's troubled but also accepts the responsibility for signing these documents and getting into this situation myself," he says.

Today, his $597,500 home is worth about $435,000. "I paid over $100,000 in just payments for this home in the last two years and my principal payment may have went down $5,000. At some point, either you concede to be insane or you wise up and say it's better to walk away from this thing than continue to put money down a black hole."

Banks are making relatively few modifications. In the third quarter of 2008, only about 40,000 loans were modified — a small proportion of the millions of loans said to be in trouble. And 58% of loans modified this year were back in default within eight months, according to the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

Rod Dubitsky, a banking industry analyst at Credit Suisse, says there's no consistent program or standard to help people who are struggling financially but who are still current on their mortgages. He says the government should analyze data from banks on modification agreements to see which modification plans are really working, then create a national program with uniform standards.
"The sad thing," Dubitsky says, "is that the message a lot of struggling 'currents' are getting is, 'Come back to us when you're delinquent.' I've heard it said that some servicers will coach the borrower to become delinquent (in order to get help)."

An unexpected rescue That's the advice friends were giving Barbara Quinn of Asheville, N.C., after she got little help when she called Ocwen, the company collecting payments on her home mortgage. She says she reached out to the servicer before her interest rate reset and added $300 to her house payment but "got bounced around from one person to another and really didn't get to talk to anyone who could talk with me."
Friends were advising her to stop making payments in order to get the bank's attention. She couldn't stomach that idea. "I was saying, 'I don't want to be in default on my mortgage,'" she says. "I'm not the kind of person to miss a payment."
Also, it scared her. What if the strategy didn't work? "Then you're out on a limb," she figured. "I was wondering, at 75 years old, what am I going to do? Live in the street?".

Take action and be proactive. If you run into a wall, call your Congress member and senators. (Find contact information here; enter your ZIP code next to "Find Your Officials" at the upper right corner of the page.) Also, grassroots activist groups work through the PICO National Network to press local, state and federal officials to take homeowners' needs into account in addressing the mortgage crisis.

The economy sank because some people over-borrowed for houses they couldn't afford, and financial institutions over-borrowed for investments they badly misjudged. Lawmakers solution is to borrow $800 billion that it cannot afford. How will adding $800 billion to the national debt (which will also raise interest rates) solve a recession created by imprudent borrowing? And who will bail out the American taxpayer when the bill comes due?

No Help for Middle class Americans. Can we get help sooner than later?.

After a year of failed efforts, Congress and the new administration are considering more aggressive measures, including a possible change to bankruptcy law. Homeowner relief could come as part of a new economic stimulus plan, a revised financial system bailout program or as a standalone measure.

So far, progress remains painfully slow. More than 3 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the housing bubble burst. Roughly one in 10 homeowners with mortgages are either in foreclosure or more than 30 days late in payments — the highest delinquency rate on record.

Without more aggressive measures, another 8 million to 10 million foreclosures are forecast over the next four years, according to Credit Suisse. That amounts to roughly one in six households with a mortgage

It is simply mind-boggling to me that (Congress and the White House) have moved so slowly to address this issue,” said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which has been lobbying for foreclosure relief.

Congress and the incoming administration are taking a multipronged approach to foreclosure relief.

"Accelerating foreclosures is obviously, in my view, the huge driving problem right now,” said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor appointed by Congress to chair a panel overseeing the financial bailout. "Until we think in a more comprehensive way, we can't create solutions that will really make a difference," she told Congress last month.

Many of solutions tried so far have been stymied by the legal morass created by the modern mortgage.

In past recessions, it was not uncommon for lenders to work out more affordable terms with borrowers who had fallen on hard times. Bankers often prefer to cut their losses by lowering monthly payments and stretching them out over a longer term rather than bearing the cost of foreclosure. But the complex system of financing the recent housing boom — which was based heavily on the pooling of mortgages that were then sold to thousands of investors — has hopelessly complicated a once fairly simple renegotiation between lender and homeowner.

Multiple classes of investors, each with different claims on the same mortgage, often have conflicting interests. Some will do better with a loan foreclosure while others would profit by keeping the loan performing. Some contracts setting up these pool pay loan “servicers” — the companies that manage mortgage payments to investors — more generous payments for loans in foreclosure and offer little financial incentive to undertake the more costly process of modifying terms.

“You have got to have the investor or their representatives come to the table motivated to do something,” said Taylor. “And that’s currently what we don’t have.”
To break the logjam, Congress is considering various proposals, including both "carrots" and "sticks."

One of the "carrots" is included in a proposed revision to the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP

Foreclosure Proposals:

Brankuptcy Law:

A deal between key Democrats and Citigroup opens the door for a measure first introduced a year ago that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of first mortgages on primary residences -- the only debt excluded from the bankruptcy process.
Under the latest proposal, borrowers must contact the mortgage lender 10 days prior to filing Chapter 13 to give the parties time to work out a modification. If no offer is made by the lender, the homeowner could file Chapter 13 and the judge could then treat as unsecured debt any amount of the mortgage that exceeds the newly appraised value of the home. The judge also could reduce the interest rate and extend the maturity of the loan.

This so-called "cramdown" provision is strenuously opposed by the lending industry, which argues that the risk that a loan will later be modified will increase the cost of borrowing.

FDIC PROGRAM:

Using Troubled Assets Relief Plan funds, the Treasury would pay mortgage servicers $1,000 for every modification they make under the program. Modifications must bring a borrower’s mortgage debt-to-income ratio to 31 percent.
Mortgage servicers start by reducing interest rates before extending the maturity to up to 40 years. If those steps do not work, the servicer defers principal. That means the borrower does not pay interest on part of the loan, though he must repay the full balance when he sells or refinances the house.

Hope Program:


Approved last summer under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, the Hope for Homeowners program has $300 billion available to refinance troubled borrowers into FHA mortgages. Legislative restrictions on the program have made it largely ineffective.
Congress is expected to eliminate many of these restrictions as part of the TARP revision, which means lenders will absorb a smaller loss if they refinance a troubled borrower into an FHA mortgage.

GSE/FHA Loan Program:

The maximum limit for Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and FHA loans dropped to $625,500 on Jan. 1. Many Democrats, including House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, support restoring the maximum loan size to the prior limit of $729,750.
This would help lower interest rates on these mortgages. FHA is becoming the program of choice for first-time buyers. Higher limits also put more homes in higher cost coastal cities into play for FHA.

Tax Incentives:

Spurred by the homebuilding industry, Democrats are working on tax strategies to help with the housing crisis. These include a tax credit available to all homebuyers, not just first-timers, of $7,500 -- and perhaps more.
The mortgage interest deduction may be extended to taxpayers who don't itemize. Tax incentives may also be provided to owners who rent out vacant properties.

Lower Mortgage Rates:

So far, the Federal Reserve has led the move to lower longer-term interest rates after targeting short-term rates as low as zero percent. Congress is looking at additional efforts to push mortgage rates as low as 2.99 percent.
These measures could include providing an explicit government guarantee on mortgages issued by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and federal home loan banks.

Republicans Mission Accomplished?. Legacy or Minority Party?

A reflective President Bush acknowledged a number of blunders that have marred his White House years, but he told a small group of Texas reporters that he has "a great sense of accomplishment and I am going home with my head held high."

Bush mused fondly about his future life in Dallas, saying he looked forward to walking down supermarket aisles, sitting in a rocking chair with old friends and staying out of the public spotlight.

"I am looking forward to going back to Texas," the former Texas governor said. "I am going home to a place where I've got a lot of friends - people who will be my friends regardless of what happened in politics."

In a 51-minute interview in the Oval Office, the president discussed his eight years in office and admitted to missteps such as failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform, allowing the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner to be unveiled and using incendiary language in the run-up to war.

But Bush stoutly defended his decision to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that shaped his presidency. And he said his move to bail out foundering financial institutions was necessary to avoid an economic collapse worse than the Great Depression.

When Bush leaves office in a couple of days, he plans to divide his time between his Crawford, Texas, ranch and a spacious home in the exclusive Preston Hollow neighborhood in Dallas.

"Laura bought a house," he joked. "I haven't seen it yet. They say it's a beauty."

The president said he planned to write a memoir about his tumultuous presidency that will "put people in my place," as well as "give some speeches" and "spend some time on the (Southern Methodist University) campus," where his presidential library and freedom institute will be built. He said he told President-elect Barack Obama earlier this week that he'd be "more than willing" to listen if the new commander in chief had "some tasks he may want me to take on."

Before leaving office, the president said he is likely to deliver a farewell address to the nation that would include thanks, praise and discussion of lessons he has learned.

In the interview, Bush pointed to accomplishments including a series of tax cuts, two energy bills, the No Child Left Behind education legislation, expansion of Medicare to include a senior citizen prescription drug benefit and free-trade pacts.

He said he is "pleased with the progress we have made in dismantling al Qaeda." But, he acknowledged, "it's been hard to keep the American people convinced there's still a threat."

Among his political setbacks, Bush particularly regrets the failure of immigration legislation, which was killed by the Senate in 2007.

"I'm very disappointed it didn't pass," he said. "I'm very worried about the message that said Republicans are anti-immigrant."

Bush also admitted to several war-related missteps. The infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner on an aircraft carrier after U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was a mistake, he said, because "it conveyed a sense of finality in the Iraqi theater." And his rhetoric, he conceded, "at times has been a little rough and over the top."

Bush says he will miss the creature comforts of the presidency - the luxury of Air Force One, the convenience of having a helicopter outside your back door and the "fantastic" service at the White House.

"I don't know what it's going to be like to wake up on the morning of the 21st of January," he acknowledged.

President Bush called for a ‘compassionate’ Republican Party and warned against the GOP becoming ‘anti-immigrant’ in one of his last interviews as president, defending his vision of the party, which has become unpopular among some Republicans And I wonder How Mr. George Bush wake up every morning thinking and doesn't know how Millions of People lost their houses, their employment, their value of their houses, their dreams, their Hope, their American faith and Values and not realized to do anything about it. Ashamed Mr. Bush and Hypocrisy is not a family value.

Are you tracing Corporate America Bailout?

No. Then just look at this link here and check for yourselves how corporate America will be Bailout and not Middle Class Americans, The people who running the economy, the peple who's always be blaming for, the people who's really suffering, The people who's paying taxes, If a business can't survive without taxpayer money they deserve to fail but Hundreds of banks and a handful of insurers and automakers have applied for funds from the Treasury Department as part of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury Department has transferred capital to the majority of these companies as Taxpayers expenses.

Where's accountability and responsability? Are we there yet?

If you owned the bank or Mortgage company money do you think they'd give you a break to pay an overdue bill or would they ask you to live the house and file for bankruptcy?
We need to Understand there is no such a hope, a help, a bail out for American Taxpayers, Citizens, workers, middle class americans. The sense of Hopelessness are at the tip of iceberg for Power, political purposes and Money. That's ashamed.

Napolitano Intends to continue enforcing Immigration Laws rather than reform and update the current System.

Gov. Janet Napolitano said Thursday the United States needs more than more Border Patrol officers to slow both illegal immigration and smuggling.

"You're never going to have enough boots on the ground if all you rely on is boots on the ground,'' Napolitano said in an interview with KAET-TV, the Phoenix PBS affiliate.

"You've got to augment them with technology,'' said Napolitano, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of homeland security. "And then, at some point, we need to, I think, revisit the issue of the National Guard and perhaps its role at the border.''
That decision, however, will not be within Napolitano's power. But the governor said she intends to talk to the defense secretary who does get to make that decision.

Building additional fences, however, is another matter.

"There is a role for it,'' she said. But she called it "a hugely expensive effort that by itself will not deal with the immigration issue.''

Napolitano also said she believes in greater use of high-tech security to monitor the border, including radar and ground sensors.

Napolitano's confirmation hearings, set for next week, come as Michael Chertoff, the current homeland security chief, said this week he is crafting plans for a "surge'' of civilian - and possibly military - law enforcement along the Mexican border if the violence from that country spills into the United States.

"You have to understand that there have been 5,300 murders in Mexico this year related to drugs,'' she said.

"We want to have that backup surge capacity to come in should it slop over into the United States,'' Napolitano said. One element of that, she said, is working closely with police agencies on both sides of the border.

The governor said Obama is scheduled to meet soon with Felipe Calderon, his Mexican counterpart, with border violence expected to be a key topic.

On a related front, Napolitano said she will take her arguments about the future of the Real ID to Washington.

The governor had been supportive of the 2005 federal law requiring states to develop driver's licenses that are secure, both from the perspective of ensuring that they are issued to the right person and that they be tamper proof. But Napolitano earlier this year signed legislation refusing to have Arizona participate because the federal government was leaving the financial burden to the states.

Napolitano said she will advocate for money in the new federal budget for states to implement some form of more secure identification.

"If we're going to have a system of laws that requires people to be able to demonstrate that they're lawfully present in the country, you need to have some way for people to easily demonstrate that,'' she said.

That also includes Arizona's own year-old law that makes it a crime for companies to knowingly hire undocumented workers. Firms found guilty can have their licenses to do business suspended; a second offense within three years puts them out of business.

While Napolitano signed that measure into state law, the governor, speaking to reporters after her TV interview, sidestepped questions of whether there should be a national version of that law.

The governor repeated her stance that she is a supporter of immigration reform. But she expressed skepticism that Obama and Congress will deal with that soon.

"Obviously right now the top priority is the economy and getting that going again,'' Napolitano said. "But there will be room for some of these other issues at the right time.''
In the interim, the governor said she intends to keep enforcing existing immigration laws.
"I think that to enforce the law firmly and fairly people believe that an immigration law really can work,'' she said

Rising depression. Suicide rates for the Mortgage crisis. No Help at all for middle class americans.

Towards our leaders & institutions; they are naive beyond belief. Although being used, abused & oh so confused by their so-called leaders, big media and this one-sided economic system; they keep on chuging along still wanting to believe in the american dream they are sold every minute, every day.

The real whiners are that 1% of happy few plutocrats and their 90% + of the whole shabang. They are the ones we are bailing out. They are the ones constantly lobbying & begging for more deregulation & tax cuts. They are the welfare corporations slaughtering US's middle class and making them feel guilty about it too…

There’s this big squeeze on the nation’s workers, wages have been flat, health and pension benefits are getting worse, at the same time corporate profits have gone up very, very nicely. Employee productivity has gone up 15, 20 percent, yet wages have been flat, plus companies are pressuring workers, you know, to work harder and harder.

And that’s part of a broader health crisis in the nation, where, since the year 2000, even though we’ve had pretty good economic times until the last few years under the Bush Administration, nine million more Americans are out of work than was the case in 2000. So now, almost 50 million Americans, nearly one-sixth of the workforce, is uninsured. And you think how crazy that is, in ways. You know, we’re the world’s wealthiest nation, yet one-in-six workers are out of work.

Wall Street is exerting much more pressure on corporations to maximize their share prices, as you know, which means maximize profits, which often translates into lowering costs and especially lowering payroll costs. So a lot of managers will say, you know, the area where they have most flexibility to reduce cost and increase profits is on payroll. So that’s why we’re seeing all these waves of downsizing and Suicide is becoming an increasingly popular response to debt.

For more than two decades, the couple had lived in their three-level house, where the elms outside blazed with yellow shades of fall and their four golden retrievers slept in the yard. The town had always been home, with a lazy river and rolling hills dotted by gnarled juniper trees.

Yet just before lunch on Oct. 23, the Donacas closed all their home's doors except the one to the garage and left their 1981 Cadillac Eldorado running. Toxic fumes filled the home. When sheriff's deputies arrived at about 1 p.m., they found the body of Raymond, 71, on the second floor along with three dead dogs. The body of Deanna, 69, was in an upstairs bedroom, close to another dead retriever.

"It is believed that the Donacas committed suicide after attempts to save their home following a foreclosure notice left them believing they had few options," the Crook County Sheriff's Office said in a report.

Their suicides were a tragic extreme, but the Donacas' case symbolizes how the housing crisis is wrenching the emotional lives of legions of homeowners. The escalating pace of foreclosures and rising fears among some homeowners about keeping up with their mortgages are creating a range of emotional problems, mental-health specialists say. Those include anxiety disorders, depression and addictive behaviors such as alcoholism and gambling. And, in a few cases, suicide.

Crisis hotlines are reporting a surge in calls from frantic homeowners. The American Psychological Association (APA) and other mental-health groups are publishing tips on how to handle the emotional stress triggered by the real estate meltdown. Psychologists say they're seeing more drinking, domestic violence and marital problems linked to mortgage concerns ? as well as children trying to cope with extreme anxiety when their families are forced to move.

"They're depressed, anxious. It's affected marriages, relationships," says Richard Chaifetz, CEO of ComPsych, a Chicago-based employee-assistance firm that is counseling homeowners over mortgage fears. "People tend to catastrophize, and that leads to depression. Suicide rates go up. We see an increase in drinking, outbursts at work, violence toward kids. Before, their houses were like ATMs," as they rose in value. "Now, they feel trapped.

Foreclosure filings surged 65% in April compared with the same month last year, according to a report Wednesday by RealtyTrac. One in every 519 households received a foreclosure filing last month, and the number of homes with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing the report in January 2005.

Don Donaca, Raymond's brother, says it's hard to understand the suicide, but he thinks the pending foreclosure led to their deaths.

"He got so deep in debt he couldn't figure out what else to do," says Don, 74, a retired sawmill worker in Prineville. "I guess a guy would have to walk a few miles in his shoes to understand."

Financial concerns at the top.

Many other homeowners are at risk of less-severe, but still significant, psychological distress: One in seven homeowners worry that they won't be able to make their mortgage payments on time over the next six months, according to an April Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance poll, and more than one-quarter fear their home will decline in value during the next two years.

ComPsych says financial concerns are now the top issue the firm's counselors are hearing in calls from clients. Calls about financial worries have surged 20% over last year; those related to mortgage problems have doubled.

"It's escalated to the No. 1 issue because of the housing crisis," Chaifetz says.

Half of Americans identify housing costs, such as rent or mortgage payments, as significant sources of stress, particularly on the East and West coasts, a 2007 survey by the APA says. Sixty-one percent in the West, and 55% in the East (compared with 47% in the Midwest and 43% in the South) reported housing costs as a very or somewhat significant source of stress.

"The problem affects the whole spectrum, not just people losing their homes," says LeslieBeth Wish, a psychologist and social worker in Sarasota, Fla. "The stress exacerbates what is already there. It brings to the surface problems that were often already there, like marital problems. There is so much blaming people for the situations they're in, and that adds to it."

One of Wish's patients was semiretired when she bought a home in 2005 in southwest Florida as an investment that she hoped to "flip," turning a profit. The woman now owes more than the house is worth and can't sell it.

Wish says her client has developed anxiety, dwelling on her financial situation from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep. Other clients, Wish says, are reporting physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach pains stemming from anxiety over their mortgage situation.

ComPsych's counselors are hearing similar stories of the mental-health toll caused by the housing slump. At the request of USA TODAY, ComPsych's spokeswoman Jennifer Hudson queried counselors to come up with examples of the types of employees they're helping. One couple were going through a divorce, and the wife told ComPsych counselors that financial stress was the final trigger. They had maxed out their credit cards and were living off credit in hopes that they could keep their house. Another woman called because she suspected her husband was gambling again, apparently hoping to win big so they could repair their financial mess. She was afraid they were going to have to move in with her parents, ComPsych says.

For Gary Sweredoski of Myrtle Beach, S.C., the threat of losing his home to foreclosure has taken both a physical and an emotional toll. In 2007, Sweredoski, who had no health insurance, underwent triple bypass surgery and wound up with more than $300,000 in medical bills. Then Sweredoski, 60, a real estate broker, saw his business suffer as the housing market crashed.

Today, he and his wife, Irene, struggle to make the mortgage payment on the dream home they built in Myrtle Beach and are trying to stave off foreclosure. Like many other homeowners struggling with the financial consequences of the housing slump, Gary says the emotional pain can be severe.

Standing on his deck overlooking a lake where ducks swim and bobbing pontoon boats drift by, he says such circumstances "shatter your pride and become very humiliating, even though the circumstances are not of our making.

"The situation keeps you up at night, preventing you from getting the rest you need. A lot of the depression that I feel, I do in private," he says.

"It angers you. It frustrates you. It has a large bearing on your emotional state. When the thought of losing a home looms, you lose more than a building. You lose what you worked for so many years, all of the equity that you have accumulated over the years. It's humbling. It affects us deeply."

Rising depression, suicide rates

Historically, research shows, rates of depression and suicide tend to climb during times of economic tumult.

If I accountable for my own actions. Why CEO's aren't?

The Senate GOPs sent a message to blue-collar workers when they killed the Auto Industry Loan: "We aren't the party of the working.
I'm not a fan of bailouts, but we sent over $700 billion to the financial services industry without any salary strings attached. Even middle management guys get bonuses larger than probably State Senators.
Why didn't Republicans go after the dealership system and the corporate people?
As well as AIG is offering "retention payments" from $92,500 to $4 million dollars to employees for "not quitting." I know it's standard industry practice when a company is on the market, but it's still a bonus to well paid people financed by taxpayers.
But why the Goverment do not helping Homeowners? Seems that someone has diverted the main problem to bail out Car Makers and Banks CEO's, Managements. There have been many mortgage businesses popping up in the last few years, its no wonder that a boiling point has been hit. The number of adjustable home mortgages that were sold in the last few years in the United States are now set to readjust, with a total of 370 billion’s worth of loans resetting in 2008.
Seeing Home prices drop and inventory increases from foreclosures. There are new factors in the market now that will affect your ability to refinance, but a lot of these loans were switched to fixed rate.
If you happen to live in California or Florida, you will by now understand that it is a buyer’s market of immense proportions. So many people defaulted on their house loans that the inventory of homes may take many months to clear.Causing prices to drop drastically, if you purchased during high tide, there is a possiblity that your home is worth much less then what you purchased it for. Negative equity will also make refinancing harder to get. Not all housing markets are doing badly.
Speaking with your lender is what you probably need to do to compromise your mortgage terms. In order for you to make your mortgage payment, it may be necessary to cut back on some unnecessary or necessary expenses to retained your home but what about CEO, Management's from Banks, Car Makers, Insurance companies? Do they cutting back on their big salaries, bonuses?.
There isn't any little help for you to recover in any time soon because mortgage Companies, Lenders, Banks do not want to help you to retain your home; They are making more money out your home in foreclosure. Can someone help the real people rather than systematic and unproductive Companies? If homeowners are accountable and liable for losing their homes. Why the Goverment din't find anybody accountable and responsible for their missmanagement on this crisis? Why the Federal Goverment Bail out Insurance companies, Banks, Car Makers without any restructuration program? Just remember is your money fight for it.

Immigrants inject $1.6B into Nebraska Economy.

Immigrants add $1.6 billion annually in spending to the state's economy and fill a critical role in the work force, according to a new study that was to be released Wednesday by the University of Nebraska at Omaha.Officials with the university's Office of Latino/Latin American Studies, or OLLAS, who issued the report called the study the first statewide quantitative assessment of the contributions Nebraska immigrants _ both legal and Undocumented _ make to the state's economy. Available data didn't allow the report's authors to differentiate between the economic impact of Undocumented versus legal immigrants.
But the policy brief does make a few inferences _ the first being that undocumented migrants are largely employed and are contributing to production, employment and taxes similar to legal immigrants."Moreover, it would be reasonable to also assume that the economic contributions of unauthorized immigrants are more than likely underestimated by all accounts, and that their public costs are likely lower than for authorized immigrants or the native born as a whole," a draft of the policy brief says. The report's author, Christopher Decker, an assistant professor of economics, was traveling and unavailable for comment on the study's methodology or other details Tuesday. Jerry Deichert with the university's Center for Public Affairs Research also contributed to the report. Deichert and OLLAS Director Lourdes Gouveia did not return phone messages Tuesday seeking comment. According to a draft of an policy brief that summarizes the report's key findings and lays out policy recommendations, immigrants created about 12,000 jobs across all sectors of the state's economy in 2006. And the loss of the foreign-born work force could cost the state $13.5 billion and thousands of jobs. The loss of immigrants would be devastating for the state's economy, particularly in communities whose main industries depend on the "injection of a new and young labor force and a generation of children willing to stay in those communities," OLLAS officials write in the policy brief. Immigrants make up 5.6 percent of the state's population, according to the report. It's a 33 percent increase since 2000. But immigrants represent only 4.28 percent of the public sector costs to the state.OLLAS officials lay out several recommendations, including federal immigration reform to remove unnecessary impediments to citizenship, state and local efforts focused on immigrant and community integration and improved training programs, including those that boost English proficiency.The brief goes on to say the report presents an opportunity to move from the "politics of division" _ fueled by misunderstandings or denial _ to the "politics of immigrant and community integration.The state's leadership must reject "paralyzing, anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic rhetoric that often passes as informed analysis," according to the report, and instead craft "informed policies that will prevent us from squandering immigrants' contributions.".

Should we condone the rethoric language of the Anti Immigrants?

There has been a dramatic altering in the place of immigration in public opinion over the last 12 months specially Nativists, Extremists and Anti Immigrants. Immigration is now only considered the most important issue facing America by less than 1% of the American public compared to 12% last year. And Subfederal jurisdictions shoot themselves in the foot with anti-immigrant measures than to visit them on the rest of us and I want to pointed out the Top Most Offensive Quotes from Anti-Immigrant Leaders. Hate crimes against Hispanics have increased, according to the FBI. The agency reports that 820 Hispanics in the United States were victimized because of their ethnicity in 2006, up from about 600 in 2004.
I want to remind people of faith that all people are created in the image of God. In our various faith traditions, it is unacceptable to use - or let others use -- dehumanizing language in describing fellow human beings. It's totally unaceptable in any language. We need to recognize the full dignity and humanity in all people. At the same time McCain seems to have wound up with the worst of both worlds: He appears to be getting no credit from Latino voters for his past support for immigration reform, while carrying the baggage of other Republicans' hostility to illegal immigration.


1.) "We need the National Guard to clean out all ourcities and round them up...They have no problem slitting your throat and taking your money or selling drugs to your kids or raping your daughters, and they are evil people."
Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Project and president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. As quoted in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report magazine, Summer 2005.

2.) "Mexican men have a reputation for leering and worse at little girls, which shouldn't surprise us, since sex with children is socially acceptable in Mexico."
Brenda Walker, California anti-immigrant leader and publisher. From VDARE.com article titled "Top Ten Reasons Why the US Should Not Marry Mexico," January 1, 2007.

3.) "My message to them is, not in two weeks, not in two months, not in two years, never! We must be clear that we will not surrender America and we will not turn the United States over to the invaders from south of the border."
Rep. Virgil Goode (R- VA), at the March for America, Washington, DC, June 18, 2007.

4.) "I don't care if Mexicans pile up against that fence ... just run a couple of taco trucks up and down the line..."
Neal Boortz, anti-immigrant talk radio host on WSB-AM in Atlanta on June 18, 2007.

5.) "Terrorists are also walking in unopposed; our southwestern border is littered with Arabic papers and Islamic prayer rugs."
Jim Gilchrist, founder of Minutemen Project. From a press release announcing the forthcoming publication of a new book co-authored with Jerome R. Corsi, February 2006.

6.) "The brown toxic cloud strangling Los Angeles never lifts and grows thicker with every immigrant added. One can't help appreciate the streets of Paris will soon become the streets of LA. However, Paris' streets erupted while LA's shall sink into a Third World quagmire much like Bombay or Calcutta, India. When you import that much crime, illiteracy, multiple languages and disease-Americans pick up stakes and move away."
Frosty Wooldridge, anti-immigrant author and activist. Summarizing an address by a KABC-AM talk radio host to the Federation for American Immigration Reform director's meeting, Fall 2005.

7.) "What we'll do is randomly pick one night every week where we will kill whoever crosses the
border...step over there and you die. You get to decide whether it's your lucky night or not. I think that would be more fun."
Brian James, anti-immigrant talk radio host with KFYI-AM in Phoenix. Suggesting a solution to the immigration problem in Arizona while filling in for the regular host, March 2006.

8.) "Shoot him."
Phil Valentine, anti-immigration talk radio host, WWTN in Nashville. Advising Border Patrol agents to shoot undocumented immigrants during an anti-immigrant rally in Franklin, Tennessee, April 27, 2006.

9.) "We've got to make it in this country so (immigrants) can't exist here...We've got to rattle
their teeth and put their feet to the fire!"
Terry Anderson, anti-immigrant talk radio host with KRLA in Los Angeles. Speaking at a "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" anti-immigrant rally organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 22, 2007.

10.) "Our enemies are bloodied and beaten. We cannot relent. Our boot is on their throat and we must have the willingness to crush their ‘throat' so that we can put our enemy down for good. The sovereignty of our nation and the future of our culture and civilization is at stake. The United States is a beacon of salvation unto the rest of the world. Our freedoms, our culture is mans salvation. If we perish, man perishes."[]
Republican Joseph Turner, Save Our State (S.O.S), now a staff member with the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Message sent to Save Our State supporters on October 7, 2006.

11.-State REP. George Cleveland, An Onslow County Republican, saying Illegal Mexicans can be identified by their clothing.

12.- Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell tells a reporter about his frustration with the changing face of the county where he grew up. Bizzell calls Mexicans "trashy" and says the growing Latino population is "breeding like rabbits." Bizzell also said, "Everywhere you look, it's like little Mexico around here."

13.-The "Oregon Minuteman" Rick Hickey and he is actually the vice president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform and the vice-chair of the Marion County Republican Party. Odd that a guy who is with organizations claiming to be pro-American. This groups not only hate Immigrants but one of our nations monument the Statue of Liberty, too. click here:

Minuteman aren't racists? Click here: Another demonstration of Minuteman rally in Laguna Beach. The Minuteman demonstrators, some of whom identified themselves as white supremacists, waved Confederate and Nazi flags and gave Nazi salutes. Click here:

Republican Conservatives tearing apart the party....

A poll of 1,015 conservative activists shows that 77 percent are either seriously disappointed with Republican Congressional leaders or want them totally replaced.The poll/survey also found that 54 percent of conservatives feel so abandoned by the current crop of Congressional leaders and President Bush that they plan to reduce their contributions and/or grassroots work for GOP candidates in the coming election. And 70 percent would support a principled conservative challenger running against an established incumbent Republican in a GOP primary.

Conservatives, which form the GOP's base, provided most of the volunteers and money to elect a Republican-controlled House and Senate — and wound up with bigger government as a result. Now more than half of these committed activists say they'll reduce or end their involvement in the upcoming elections — which could prove devastating for the GOP.

The GOP-controlled Congress, 73 percent gave it a D or F on "controlling government spending;" 73 percent gave it a D or F on "reducing Undocumented immigration;" and 54 percent gave it an "overall grade" of D or F.Sixty-three percent gave Bush a D or F on controlling government spending.

The rebellion of conservative House Republicans that greatly complicated efforts to enact the financial industry “rescue” (or “bailout”) plan came in the midst of one of the most fiercely contested national elections in years, as Republicans fight to stave off a Democratic takeover of the White House and big gains that would reinforce the Democrats’ current majorities in the House and the Senate.
But the rebels on the Republican right were looking beyond this election day and at the future direction of their party when they defied President Bush, their own congressional leaders and Arizona Sen. John McCain , the party’s presidential nominee, who initially drew attention to the House conservatives’ concerns when he jumped into the bailout negotiations a couple of weeks back but ultimately supported the measure and worked to persuade Republican colleagues to vote for it.
The Battle of the Bailout may ultimately be viewed as the first major skirmish in the fight for control of the GOP whose “brand” has been badly damaged by the collapse of support for Bush during his second term as president and by the foibles that have made the Republicans in Congress at least as unpopular as Bush. This fight will occur even if McCain is somehow able to reverse his slide in the presidential race polls and pull out what would now be regarded as an upset victory over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama , the Democratic nominee.
In fact, the election of McCain — whose campaign leans heavily on the handful of issues on which he disagrees with the conservative wing of his own party — would likely complicate the efforts by the Republican Party to define itself and revive its overall fortunes.
This was highlighted on Tuesday when McCain, during a televised debate with Obama, sprung a proposal to have the federal government buy up and renegotiate failing mortgages.
While McCain has heavily promoted his proposal as proof that he is on the side of beleaguered homeowners, many conservatives in his Republican base have expressed outrage over what they view as an even bigger federal intervention into the private sector that will put taxpayers’ dollars at even greater risk and hold harmless banks and other firms whose actions helped send the economy into a tailspin.
After the Republicans lost control of Congress in the 2006 elections, a number of observers said the party needed to temper the image of unbridled conservative partisanship that many voters attributed to the party and show that its members could work with the Democrats to forge compromises on issues of major public concern.
But members of the conservative activist wing of Republican lawmakers see it otherwise. Under the banner of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) — which claims membership of more than 110 of the 199 Republicans who currently hold U.S. House seats — these Republicans claim their party’s fortunes have fallen because it is not conservative enough.
The RSC, headed by figures such as Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling , the current chairman, and past chairman Mike Pence of Indiana, argues that “big government conservatism” practiced by Bush and Republican leaders in Congress has robbed the party of its identity and has prompted voters to see the GOP as little different from the Democratic Party.
They point to the political horse-trading under the past House leadership of now-departed Republicans such as Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Tom DeLay of Texas that contributed to the explosive growth in federal spending “earmarks;” the outright corruption scandals that played big roles in the Republican downfall in 2006; and the creation under Bush of the No Child Left Behind education law and the prescription drug benefit program under Medicare, which many conservatives see as vast expansions of federal spending and intrusion.
If the RSC crowd’s demands that the Republican Party return to its “core principles” draw public support, they could lead to a reinvigoration of the GOP’s prospects in coming elections. If they are wrong, and the Democrats’ advances are sustained by a center-left shift among American voters, the conservative activists’ efforts to grab the party reins could consign it to a long wander in the minority-party wilderness.
The sharp decline in Bush’s job approval ratings since his re-election in 2004 have liberated party conservatives to be much more vocal with their criticisms.
Ari Fleischer, Bush’s first presidential press secretary, made an unintentionally funny comment in the wake of the House defeat of the original version of the House bailout bill, when he said there was so much opposition to the plan from so many different ideological directions that it would have failed even if Bush’s job approval ratings had been 70 percent, instead of the mid-to-high 20s where they have come to rest.

The fact is that during Bush’s first term, when his job approval ratings were very high, congressional Republicans followed him just about everywhere, resulting in record-high presidential support and party unity scores among GOP lawmakers in Congressional Quarterly’s vote studies.
House Republicans voted 183-33 in favor of No Child Left Behind in 2001. The House version of the prescription drug benefit legislation that passed the House by one vote in 2003 was favored by 207 Republicans and opposed by just 19 (most Democrats opposed it because they said it provided to few benefits to consumers and too many for big drug companies). And virtually all Republicans provided unquestioning support to Bush’s 2002 request for authorization to use military force against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, which passed with 215 Republican “yeas” and six “nays” in the House.
Nonetheless, criticism of Bush from the right had already rising sharply when it reached a crescendo over the past month. The trigger was the president’s pronouncement that flawed mortgage-lending practices had caused such a massive crisis in the nation’s financial industry that it could only be stanched by giving the Treasury Department authorization to buy up to $700 billion in bad loans that threatened to freeze the nation’s credit markets and precipitate a deep recession.
After years of Bush and fellow Republicans preaching the glories of free-market economics, many conservatives could not swallow the huge proposed government intervention, even in the face of stern warnings that the nation might be facing the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression.
They created a bloc of opposition to the bailout bill, helping to prevent the passage of the original version and still comprising a majority of House Republicans in voting against the modified version, crafted in the Senate, that ultimately passed.
The contrast between efforts by McCain and congressional conservatives on the bailout bill underscore their difficult relationship — and suggest the difficulty McCain would have maintaining party unity if he were to follow his oft-repeated promise that he would reach across party lines to address key issues such as the economy, energy development, health care, education and global climate change.
McCain’s first reactions to the economic crisis perplexed party conservatives. After first pronouncing that the fundamentals of the economy are sound, McCain began channeling William Jennings Bryan+
, the Democratic populist of a century ago, as he blamed the mess on Wall Street “greed” and “corruption.”
McCain briefly gained praise from some conservatives after he broke off from the campaign trail, returned to Washington and advocated on behalf of House Republicans who complained their more market-oriented proposals to remedy the financial industry’s morass were being ignored by leaders of both parties. But he then disappointed conservatives again by voting for the Senate’s modified version of the bailout bill and working the phones to persuade Republicans to vote for it.
The epilogue, in which McCain has produced a federal mortgage buy-out plan that has its origins in liberal circles of the Democratic Party, just serves as a reminder to conservative activists of why so many of them were skeptical of McCain’s bid for president in the first place.
Although — as Obama points out almost every day — McCain has voted with Bush and fellow Senate Republicans most of the time, he has taken outspoken positions against party orthodoxy on issues such as global warming and campaign finance regulation. These actions, which provide the foundations for McCain’s claims that he is a “maverick” who would “shake up Washington” as president, are seen by some on the Republican right as evidence that they cannot trust him to govern as a conservative.
It will be hard to find a Republican member of Congress who would renounce his support for McCain in the presidential campaign. Who among them, after all, would want to be held responsible by other Republicans for helping elect Obama as president? And some conservatives, to find solace, have virtually flipped the Republican ticket, focusing on the much harder ideological line conveyed by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin , the party’s vice presidential nominee.
But you can count on these newly mobilized conservatives to make a bid to put their purist stamp on the Republican Party in the years going forward, regardless of whether McCain wins or loses.

AIG didn't learned the lesson: Continuing they trail of Leasure.

After the federal government approved the third greatest robbery of taxpayers in American history, AIG executives treated themselves to a $440,000 get-a-way at the prestigious St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. All this while thousands of families continue to lose their homes and unemployment has creeped slightly above 6 percent. USA Today reported the following: Let me describe some of the -- the charges that -- that the shareholders who are now U.S. taxpayers had to pay. Check this out. AIG spent $200,000 for hotel rooms, and almost $150,000 for catered banquets. AIG spent -- listen to this one -- $23,000 at the hotel spa and another $1,400 at the salon. They were getting their manicures, their facials, their pedicures and their massages while the American people were -- were footing the bill. And they spent another $10,000 for -- I don't know what this is -- leisure dining or Living la Vida Loca......Source: Here

The Forgotten Homeowners still on the Limbo.

Blame it on the" new economy". You know things are bad when the government devises a bailout bill that ignores the plight of homeowners facing foreclosure, and then the country's biggest mortgage lender announces a massive mortgage modification program. Countrywide Financial, which was recently acquired by Bank of America and is regarded by many to be the corporate poster child for predatory lending, announced a settlement that would provide loan relief for 400,000 borrowers, virtually equaling what the federal government's own modification program is supposed to accomplish.
In what should be regarded as a model for how mortgage lenders should be compelled to fixed the mortgage crisis, Countrywide,

a]long with the direct relief,...will waive late fees of $79 million and prepayment penalties of $56 million and suspend foreclosures on delinquent borrowers with the riskiest loans.
A foreclosure relief fund will be created with $150 million from Countrywide to help borrowers who are four months or more behind on their payments or whose homes have already been foreclosed on. The company will also provide $70 million to help troubled borrowers relocate to rental housing. In all, Countrywide is setting aside $8.7 billion to help borrowers.
...Under the terms of the settlement, Countrywide will reduce principal balances in some cases and cut interest rates in others. Rates could decline to 2.5 percent, depending upon a borrower’s ability to pay, and remain at that level for five years. Then the rate will adjust to prevailing interest rates charged by Fannie Mae on its fixed-rate mortgages.

What's significant about this program is that it reveals the culpability of lenders in the foreclosure crisis, as well as the responsibility they should assume in helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. Although Countrywide does not admit to any wrongdoing - standard practice in these types of agreements - investigations into Countrywide's practices revealed massive acts of underwriting and sales abuse, thus demonstrating how many lenders either manipulated or did not fully disclose the terms of their mortgages.

The California foreclosure bill which targeted the ever-increasing problem of vacant foreclosed homes faced a narrow defeat last Wednesday. According to Don Perata, the sponsor of this bill, its objective was to make sure that people stayed in their own homes. However, the Republicans in the Senate argued that the bill would be an unfair burden on banks as well as on mortgage companies.
A Republican Dave Cox, said that, the lenders would be scared away from California by the bill as they could face a fine of $1,000 daily if they failed to maintain vacant properties, and also give a notice of four months before there is a 10 percent or more increase in mortgage payments. The foreclosure rate in California is among the top five and the state, in fact, has the highest volume of foreclosure. Perata goes on to say that, often three or four houses going waste in a neighborhood is a common sight. This problem has been the topic of hot debate in economic circles for many months now, and California is one of the top states suffering from foreclosures in the country.
According to George Runner, who is a Republican hailing from Lancaster, South California, the law should try to pin down home owners who claimed larger loans by lying about their income, as well as on unethical lenders who trap people into taking loans they cannot possibly afford. Perata had submitted the measure in the form of urgency legislation and to be passed, it required a two thirds majority in its favor. However, it failed as there were 14 votes opposing it, whereas only 26 votes were in favor of the measure. Perata admitted that the high foreclosure rate in California was also partly due to fraud, speculation as well as non-viable financial planning.
In California alone 300,000 loans wait to be reset. Last week, the State Assembly introduced parallel legislation which declared that people wanting to buy houses should be able to afford insurance, mortgage and property taxes. The rules governing mortgage brokers and agents dealing in real estate in California were made stricter in tune with the lending guidelines of the federal government. Foreclosed houses have been burgled and stripped of electrical appliances, copper wiring and pipes, all of which can be sold as scrap. It is truly a sad sight to see empty neighborhoods with foreclosed homes

U.S. Farms losing their Market share due to a Broken system.

The United States is losing fruit and vegetable market share in large part because of labor issues, including an immigration system that’s clearly broken.

“One-third of the nation’s fruit and about one-fifth the vegetables are already imported,” says Craig Regelbrugge, co-chair, Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform.

Regelbrugge, speaking at the annual Texas Produce Convention recently in McAllen, said agriculture needs a guest farm worker program that works. “We need a system that allows a transition to permanent status.”

He said permanent does not necessarily mean citizenship.

Regelbrugge put the problem into focus. Of 1.6 million serious farm workers in the United States, 80 percent are foreign born, and of those 70 percent are unauthorized. He said less than 2 percent of ag jobs nationally are filled by H-2A workers (a program that helps bring legal workers into the country for short periods, but one that is criticized as expensive and highly regulated).

The Texas ag work force consists of less than 1 percent H-2A workers; Georgia has less than 10 percent.

Regelbrugge said unauthorized worker numbers have increased from 1989, when just 7 percent admitted to illegal status. In 1994, that percentage had risen to 34. In 1998 it was 52 percent. “Now, it’s at least 70 percent,” he said.

One of six ag workers leaves the job each year, meaning one of six every year is a new worker, Regelbrugge said. “Of those, 99 percent are unauthorized.”

The reason, “lack of legal channels,” he said. “The system is broken.”

He said Undocumented workers run the gamut from single males with no interest in establishing citizenship or remaining in the country to workers who have been in the country for years, have families and possibly positions of responsibility with employers.

Solutions for groups within the spectrum must be different, Regelbrugge said. “We have to allow people to find where they fit instead of trying to impose the stupid one-size-fits-all solution.”

In some cases, he said, workers need a transition to permanent status.

The broken system has contributed to a labor shortage. “In 2006, Northern California lost one-fourth of a pear crop. In 2007, Michigan lost $1 million worth of asparagus.”

He said a recent Texas survey indicated more than 75 percent of producer respondents indicated they would consider downsizing operations because of labor shortages. More than one-fourth were moving production out of the United States. More than one-third were considering moving out of the country. And some shut down operations.

He said immigration reforms, including AgJOBS and the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act could help. Some proposals would reform H-2A, streamlining the process, overhauling the legal aspects, simplifying the program, and bringing wage relief.

“It would also provide a blue card to experienced ag workers and allow them to pay a fine and have a chance to earn legal status. As many as 1 million workers qualify.”

Regelbrugge said individual states can’t solve the problem on their own, “but border states have unique challenges.”

He said the immigration reform debate in Congress “is ugly. But Congress sees agriculture differently from other industries. Food policy is part of our national security and we have long enjoyed bipartisan support. We have dedicated political champions,” he said. “Diane Feinstein, for instance, is a great advocate.”

He said neither party’s presidential candidate has taken a strong stance on immigration reform, but that Barack Obama faces less risk than does John McCain by supporting reform. He said both have supported AgJOBS.

Challenges include union resistance to guest ag worker programs. Other challenges include “an epidemic of state and local laws,” and a tendency to blame employers as “the common denominator. And each element in any solution will be controversial. Broad bipartisan support will be essential and agriculture must be ready to move alone or as part of a bigger package.”

Regelbrugge said the Bush administration effort at immigration reform has concentrated on “enforcement-only legislation. That can’t fix it.”

He said an immigration bill, HB 4088, has nearly 200 cosponsors.

“We have to have a grassroots movement and political education,” Regelbrugge said. “We need favorable media attention and passionate community outreach. We also need support for the national effort, both of money and time.”

He said a big problem continues to be public perception. “A key challenge is that the issue is emotional and people are misinformed. The extreme end of the opposition (may be) racist,” he said. “The key issue is to appeal to a sense of fair play, real solutions, assimilation, and integration. We all want our borders to be secure and we want people who commit crimes to be held accountable.”

ICE continue with the Terror tactics against Immigrants.

And now in an effort to either remake America -- the Republican party that brought us Reagan is now untied in its belief that our greatest danger comes in the shape of those very strivers who built this country by arriving with hopes and dreams just two generations ago. America -- the land of immigrants -- is closed for business.

The ironies of this are many.

First of all - this is the same party that has more American soldiers on foreign soil any time since World War 2. We don't seem to have any problem tromping on other sovereign nations or crossing any borders to protect ourselves from the nebulous and often undefinable 'terrorist' threat. But perhaps most interesting is just how bizarrely out of step this Walled America vision is as we stand in a new century. Hasn't anyone gotten George Bush, John, McCain, Tom Tancredo, Jeff Sessions a computer with an internet connection to play with? If they had, They'd notice that all kinds of economic changes are shifting from physical borders to digital borders. Uufff, all They needs is to phone American Express and they'll find their billing questions are being answered from a phone center in Another Country. Unless their vision of their Border Wall includes blocking internet access to off-shore internet providers -- he's going to find that the increasingly flat world isn't going to best stopped by cement and barb wire.

How we treat each other today, what we call each other today -- not just brown/white but religious/non-religious, Northern/Southern -- is going to resonate for a long time." Which is to say the Republican's cynical decision to use Immigration as the lynchpin issue for 2008 may be good politics, but it is clearly terrible for the long term stability of the Nation.

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door

God Bless America.

U.S. immigration authorities released on their own recognizance 58 of the roughly 300 Undocumented workers arrested early Tuesday at a chicken processing plant in Greenville, South Carolina.

Nearly 100 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents looking for evidence of the hiring of illegal migrants executed a search warrant at House of Raeford's Columbia Farms plant.

"It's the result of a 10-month investigation and the gathering of evidence about the practice of hiring Undocumented migrants," ICE spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald confirmed that the raid began before 9 a.m. during a shift change and that the employees were questioned to determine their immigration status.

According to The Greenville News, workers ran for the doors when they noticed the ICE agents, but by then the exits had already been sealed.

"They dispatched a lot of agents and even a helicopter circled the place. It was total chaos. The people felt as if they were looking for dangerous criminals or in a state of war," Rossy Bedoya, of Greenville's Latino newspaper.

On Sept. 24, a former plant employee pleaded guilty in a federal district court in Greenville for using false information to get a job at Columbia Farms.

McDonald said that in recent months immigration agents had reviewed more than 825 documents used by the plant's employees and found that 775 contained false information.

His boss, U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins, said the detained workers will be questioned, have their fingerprints and photographs taken, undergo medical examinations and face possible deportation.

Once they have been administratively processed, ICE will identify those eligible for release on humanitarian grounds - thus far a total of 58 individuals who must appear before an immigration judge.

However, authorities will keep in custody those individuals who used other people's documents, have a criminal record or had been previously deported.

The Charlotte Observer in February published a series of articles that denounced the "precarious" working conditions for the mainly Hispanic employees of the House of Raeford plants, which employ 6,000 people in the Carolinas.

The paper found that some of the managers of the chicken processing company were aware that illegal immigrants were working at their plants.

The firm, meanwhile, has said on several occasions that it has not deliberately hired undocumented workers and that it uses "outside consultants" to verify immigration paperwork.

Tuesday's raid in South Carolina is the latest in a series of operations carried out by ICE to apprehend undocumented workers.

In April, ICE detained 300 people at several Pilgrim's Pride chicken-processing plants in five states.

On May 12, another 389 Undocumented immigrants were arrested in an operation at the AgriProcessors Inc. kosher meatpacking firm in Postville, Iowa.

And last month, an ICE raid on electronic parts-maker Howard Industries in Laurel, Mississippi netted 595 undocumented migrants.