Mexican President Felipe Calderon asked for it when he attacked Arizona’s new immigration law as a “violation of human rights.”

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) and others responded to Calderon’s attacks by pointing out the hypocrisy. Anyone who has compared Mexico’s laws on immigration with ours would dismiss ours as simply weak-kneed.

The Washington Times and other publications reported over the weekend that entering Mexico illegally is a felony carrying a two-year prison sentence. If one can survive a term in a Mexican prison, expulsion is next. If caught trying to re-enter, one can get yet another 10 years, and anyone caught with an expired visa can get six years.

Whether these penalties have prevented a flood of illegal immigrants from the north or whether they just seem to be working because no one really wants to break in to Mexico is a question for another day.

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Reporting on politics, “The Chicago Way.”

The Illinois Senate race is shaping up to be a high-profile and influential campaign that will have national implications. Not only because Illinois is the most populated state in the mid-west, but also because the seat up for grabs is President Obama’s former seat. If Republican candidate Rep. Mark Kirk, were to win the seat it would be seen as an enormous PR loss for the White House.

The Democratic nominee, Alexi Giannoulias has been under fire because of the failiure of Broadway Bank and his direct connection to it. Believe it or not, there are suspicions of corruption, incompetence and graft with regard to a Democrat in Chicago. Go figure! (more…)

The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, and its counterpart, the American Federation of Teachers, are ramping up attention on Senate Bill 3206, introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), which would create a $23 billion “education jobs fund” to hire or retain “150,000 or more” school employees for the next school year.  The NEA is engaged in a “massive, 24/7 lobbying campaign” to pass Harkin’s bill, according to its president Dennis Van Roekel.

That’s $153,333 spent per job just to “retain” them.  The most recent data from the American Federation of Teachers concluded the average teacher salary is $51,009.  Where is the other $100,000 per job going?

Nevertheless, in a recent Senate committee hearing, Harkin cited the “emergency” for creating the fund.  Note he didn’t say teachers, he said “education jobs.”  That’s because in many states, like Michigan, teachers unions are losing members that are custodians or food service workers.

Just for the record, billions of dollars have already been spent on “retaining” school jobs.  The NEA claims 325,000 public school jobs were “saved” under the stimulus bill.

The NEA released a YouTube video with a title which pretty much sums up the union’s entire existence: “The issue is JOBS.”

Of course: the issue is not accountability or test scores or huge amounts of fiscal waste.  It’s simply jobs and therefore union dues.

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The video sharing site YouTube.com recently started blocking access to countless parodies of the 2004 German movie Downfall, a critically acclaimed film that chronicles Adolf Hitler’s final days in a Berlin bunker.

The parodies take off from a powerful monologue by the great actor Bruno Ganz and the original joke version had Hitler being banned from XBox Live for bad behavior. Other examples feature Hitler trying to score Miley Cyrus concert tickets, counseling Conan O’Brien after losing a late-night slot to Jay Leno, and much more.

It’s understandable why Downfall’s production company, Constantin Film, might be upset that such a serious movie is being burlesqued, but pushing YouTube to ban the parodies is a terrible idea for at least three reasons:

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From the Associated Press:

Rep. David Obey, a leading liberal Democrat and chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, intends to retire at the end of his term this year, Democratic sources said Wednesday. It is another blow to Democrats defending their majority in an election season of voter discontent.

Obey, 71, won the first of 21 terms in 1969—when a special election was held after President Richard Nixon tapped Melvin Laird to be his defense secretary. He faced a potentially bruising re-election campaign this fall.

His office issued a statement saying he would make a major announcement in early afternoon, but disclosed no details. The Democratic sources spoke on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about Obey’s decision before the announcement.

Obey, among a handful of veteran House Democrats who had been bracing for competitive races this fall, has routinely won re-election easily despite representing a competitive district. He won in 2008 with 61 percent of the vote. But he has never faced the level of competition as he does this year as voters sour on Washington.

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Many fine Republicans argue we should privatize Social Security.  Just like George Bush – they are right.  They are noble.  They are dust.  The last time we mentioned it, we found our ass booted around our neck.  An obscene daisy. Ripe for the picking.  Smelling like death.

Not me.  I prefer to get in the mud, fight the weakest midget in the bar, and End Him.  I will fight dirty.  Because “defense of liberty demands extreme vice.” Or something.

Either way, we can always use a trick shot for 2010, and our trickiest shot is GOV2.0.

GOV2.0 loves the GOP.

If we were a boy band, GOV2.0 would throw her panties on stage.   And if we sing her a power ballad and hold all the right notes… GOV2.0 will certainly bring her hot friend, “Private $$ Accounts”, back to our room  for a threesome.

So pull on your spandex, Mike, and let’s go yodel in the valley.

The Social Security Administration has 64,000 employees, spread out over 1,600 local offices.   In 2009, it handled 42MILLION in office visits, and fielded 57MILLION calls.  Each customer makes one call and one office visit per year.

Yawn! The average McDonalds deals with 15X the number of customers an SSA office deals with daily… and they are open on holidays with a smile.

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From the Associated Press:

Deadly riots over harsh new austerity measures engulfed the streets of Athens on Wednesday, killing three bank workers as angry protesters tried to storm parliament, hurled Molotov cocktails at police and torched buildings.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets as part of nationwide strikes to protest new taxes and government spending cuts demanded by the International Monetary Fund and other European nations before heavily indebted Greece gets a euro110 billion ($141 billion) bailout package of loans to keep it from defaulting.

The three bank workers—a man and two women—died after demonstrators set their bank on fire along the main demonstration route in central Athens. As their colleagues sobbed in the street, five other bank workers were rescued from the balcony of the burning building.

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The common thread of legitimate governments is not to preserve liberty – we in the United States are spoiled with that lofty constitutional goal. In practice, the actual universal role of government is to preserve stability. It is the one role that cuts right to the front of the line in times of crisis. When at war the government infringes on individual liberty to ensure stability. When a large group makes demands of the state through displays of rage, the government more often than not acquiesces to their demands if the situation becomes too tenuous. When the economic systems falter, the government comes in and selects winners and losers, inevitably eroding civil liberties with the intention of restoring stability.

In crunch time, preserving stability trumps all other roles of the state.

It is through this lens that we should look at the response to Arizona’s brave action in addressing illegal immigration. Regardless of one’s feelings towards fairness and the rule of law, 12 million illegal immigrants will never be deported. Never. Their voices will grow louder, and fueled by politician’s desire to use them as political weapons, this group’s megaphone will eventually become a billy club – ultimately making the situation unstable enough to force government to act in their favor. The coming instability caused by illegal immigration is as sure a fact as death and taxes. Our foreign visitors will eventually win citizenship because the government has done little to decrease the power that has come with their numbers.

Politicians that desire to have any relevance in the foreseeable future, who want their party to have a voice in public policy, and ultimately have the numbers to make their policy law, must win the hearts and minds of this community. As abrasive as the thought feels of succumbing to the demands of those in this country illegally, they must be embraced as long-term allies.

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The ink was barely dry on the $150 billion EU/IMF bailout of Greece when world stock markets tanked on two major fears. First, financial analysts are concerned that the bailout money won’t be enough to cover Greece’s borrowing needs from its out-of-control budget deficit. Second, there are fears that the EU/IMF deal will not be approved by the German parliament in a vote scheduled for Friday.

Additionally, there are new worries that the Greek debt contagion will spread to Spain and elsewhere in Europe. The looming specter of debt default and deflation is heavy in the air for investors worldwide.

Making market matters even riskier, German chancellor Angela Merkel faces key regional elections this Sunday in populous North Rhine-Westphalia, including the conservative areas of Cologne, Bonn, and Stuttgart. These cities hate government debt and overspending as much as the rest of Germany, if not more so.

The great postwar German leader Konrad Adenauer came from Cologne. He was a conservative Catholic who despised Nazism and Soviet communism. He also was an inflation fighter. To stop hyperinflation in the postwar period, Adenauer sponsored the new German mark and linked it to the dollar, which in those days was as good as gold.

Today, all of Germany still hates inflation.

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From the cheap seats, it sure does look like the President of the United States is using the powers of the Executive to coordinate with Andy Stern to organize a series of protests entitled “Showdown In America.”

Earlier, we posted about the links between Andy Stern’s SEIU and a group called National People’s Action (NPA). NPA, together with SEIU and the AFL-CIO, is organizing a series of angry marches against Wall Street and capitalism.

NPA is a very dangerous and radical group that isn’t shy about its radical philosophy.

From their song book:

Who’s on your hit list NPA? Who’s on your hit list for today?
Take no prisoner, take no names.
Kick ‘em in the ass when they play their games.

A slumlord never seems to learn
he brushes us off with no concern.
Until we show up at his door
and catch him with the neighborhood whore.
He’s the middleman; he puts nothing back,
dealing with HUD, taking kickbacks.
Don’t think that we won’t spread the word, we’ll fry your ass, rest assured.

NPA wrote the dreaded Community Reinvestment Act which community organizers like Barack Obama used to shake down banks.

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Pew has some new, eye-opening numbers. There are some positives — family values, civil rights, civil liberties, states’ rights all test well — and some negatives, with socialism getting high marks among 44 percent of Democrats.

The incongruity is truly striking. That people can proclaim support for civil rights and civil liberties while holding a relatively low opinion for libertarianism or while offering support for recent measures that threaten the civil rights and civil liberties of U.S. citizens suggests the power of bumper-sticker politics trumps serious introspection.

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Question: What good is a pledge if it is not adhered to?

Answer: Not very good.

And that’s the state of Obama’s pledge to end the practice of allowing industry insiders involved in lobbying to affect public policy from within the government.

Like with so many other things in the Obama agenda, the audacity is the degree to which rules are broken and job-killing policies enacted.

Today’s case study is an individual by the name of Robert Shireman. He happens to be Deputy Undersecretary at the Department of Education.

Mr. Shireman’s role in the transition and at Education violated both Obama transition and administration ethics policies. Why?

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Today, in 1821, Napoleon died in exile on the island of Saint Helena.

This post has been updated from its original version.

Just the other day, President Obama said: “at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”  I wonder how he would feel about Geraldine Dawson.  If the President is so concerned with what people working in the private sector are making, I’m sure he’d be just as interested in the “non-profit” sector.  Kathleen Sebelius’ most recent appointment to the IACC (Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee) would certainly be worth noting.

The IACC is a Federal advisory committee that sets priorities for autism research dollars within the National Institutes of Health. The committee helps to ensure that a wide range of ideas and perspectives are represented and discussed in a public forum by appointing both Federal and public members.

This morning, Secretary Sebelius chose Geraldine Dawson as a public member to represent Autism Speaks, where Dawson serves as Chief Science Officer. According to Autism Speaks’ 2008 Form 990, Dawson received compensation of $644,264.00.  The 990 reports that about $270,000 of her compensation was a one-time relocation expense which puts her annual compensation at approx. $370,000.  $270,000 is a huge “relocation” reimbursement. I don’t know about you, but unless she’s renting a limo for each packing crate, I’m starting to wonder where that money is going to. (more…)

The debate over Arizona’s immigration law is a topic du jour in the United States, but immigration and other demographic phenomena may have already sealed a terrible fate for Europe.

Mark Steyn discusses everything from Lady Gaga to the astonishing rate of immigrant dependency on the European welfare money.

A central point of Steyn’s analysis is the issue of “cultural exhaustion” — the most recent example being the spineless South Park debacle.

The really shocking revelation is the explanation of how United States taxpayers contribute to Germany’s socialized medicine.

One of the workingman’s supposed favorite singers, Bruce Springsteen, sang, “Glory days, well they’ll pass you by…”

It seems Big Labor’s glory days have passed them by and that’s fueling their effort to pass state laws, such as in Wisconsin, ordering the teaching of “the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process,” according to the bill recently signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.

More recently, labor groups in Minnesota have produced materials geared toward public schools that will teach the influence of Big Labor in the state.  Reports Workday Minnesota:

To provide more resources for teaching about workers and labor history, the Labor Education Service has released a new video and website devoted to teaching about the Minneapolis truckers’ strikes of 1934. LES also has embarked on a new student-focused project documenting the history of the state Capitol.

Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the United Association for Labor Education have all passed resolutions supporting the expansion of labor-in-the-schools efforts.

One wonders if perhaps, given the fact that American students rank 24^th and 25^th worldwide in math and science test scores (McKinsey Group), schools should instead focus on teaching the basics and preparing American students for a global economy.

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Greece is the fiscally-dysfunctional member of the European Union. On this side of the pond we have California. Illustrating just how bleak the situation is on the Left coast, it was recently reported in the London Telegraph that at JP Morgan Chase’s annual meeting, the banking behemoth’s chairman Jamie Dimon warned that investors should be more concerned about California defaulting than Greece.

In the face of such dire warnings, a $20 billion budget deficit, and the lowest credit rating among all states, one might think righting the state’s financial ship would be the primary focus of legislators in Sacramento, and one would be very wrong to think so.

For a concrete example of just how Golden State legislators are fiddling while Rome burns, take Assembly Bill 1998, now sitting in the California Assembly Committee on Appropriations and scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday. Introduced by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley of Santa Monica, AB 1998 would ban all plastic and paper bags currently provided to customers at grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, and other retailers statewide.

Not only is such legislation a distraction from the real issues facing the state, all evidence indicates that a bag ban is unnecessary, would be ineffective, and may have unintended consequences that create new problems. Legislative language claims that a bag prohibition is necessary to address the environmental burdens imposed by plastic bags. If that is the case, it should be incumbent upon the committee to first prove that a bag ban will not simply reduce plastic bag usage, but will actually reduce litter and improve the environment. Proponents of the bag ban have yet to provide any such evidence. In fact, evidence that a bag ban will provide zero benefit to the environment can be found right in the district of AB 1998 co-author Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).

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From The Hill:

The world’s top-earning hedge fund managers have bankrolled almost exclusively Democratic campaigns.

The top 10 highest-paid hedge fund managers in 2009 have dished out campaign contributions almost only to Democrats. 

Over their lifetimes, those managers have given almost $33 million in campaign contributions to Democrats, according to research by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and that is based on data maintained by the nonpartisan CQMoneyline.

The same managers gave roughly $600,000 to Republicans, according to the research. The contributions went 98 percent to Democrats and two percent to Republicans.
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We all know the story by now.  Rep. Andre Carson (D-In) says that he and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga) were assaulted with racial slurs by Tea Party protesters as they walked down the step of the Cannon office building and headed to the Capitol on March 20^th.  Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo) also told reporters that he heard the ‘N-word’ as he was walking a few yards behind Rep. Lewis.  “It was like a chorus”, Rep. Cleaver said.

Only problem is:  Rep. Cleaver wasn’t there.  He didn’t walk behind Rep. Lewis coming down the steps of Cannon on the way to the Capitol.  He walked behind Rep. Lewis coming UP the steps of Cannon on the way BACK from the Capitol.

Of course, Rep. Cleaver and Rep. Carson could claim that racial slurs were screamed both times by the Tea Party protesters.  If that’s the case, then they have contradicted their own narrative from two weeks ago when the AP ran a story with the headline:

Wrong video of health protest spurs N-word feud

The entire thesis of that story was that the dumb, right-wing wackos were looking at the wrong video at the wrong time to show that racial slurs didn’t happen.  We’d been looking at a video showing the Congressional Black Caucus walking up the steps of Cannon returning from the Capitol.  But, it is now claimed, the racial slurs were shouted earlier in the day while Rep. Carson and Rep. Lewis were walking to the Capitol.

If last month’s narrative was that there were no racial slurs shouted on the way up the steps of Cannon, then how did Rep. Cleaver hear a chorus of the ‘N-word’?

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