Democrats hope invoking the Ali "Rope-a-dope" will save their majorities

According to Wednesday's article on Politico, the "Fail-Safe Plan" for Democrats is to go on Offense?  Click here for the story. 

As for me, taking body blows until your opponent gets tired is not a plan.  Too little, too late for Democrats? 

Image found at:  http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/aliDM0212_468x305.jpg 

Illegal immigration way down, but still a Hot Button issue for Goodlatte and the GOP

Several revealing reports came out last week debunking GOP claims that illegal immigration is up.  Most notable of those reports was the Pew Hispanic Center's showing an overall 8% drop in illegal immigrants living in the United States.  More significantly the annual inflow of new illegal immigrants dropped sharply, from a peak of 850,000 in 2005 to around 300,000 in 2009.

The Pew Hispanic Center report attributes the drop of inflow and unauthorized immigrants living in the United States to a corresponding decline in the economy and increased enforcement of immigration laws.  When compared to the years of GOP control of the White House and both chambers of Congress (2001 to 2007) where illegal immigration increased every year, Democratic control of the Executive and Legislative branches of government shows a reversal of that trend.

Sensing a growing tide of opposition to Democratic control, Republicans continue to beat the drum of illegal immigration as one of their signature wedge issues heading into the final two months of the 2010 Mid-Term elections. This despite the most recent evidence in the Pew Hispanic Center's September 1, 2010 report and data collected by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) showing under Democratic control, enforcement of current immigration laws have increased significantly and deportations are way up. 

The focus of the Obama Administration's illegal immigration law enforcement efforts has been on those that have felony or misdemeanor convictions, non-compliance with deportation orders, and audits of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.  But this doesn't seem to matter to Republicans, despite the contradictory data and evidence. 

In Town Hall meetings around Virginia's 6th Congressional District, sponsored by Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Roanoke), outdated or inaccurate information continues to be used to underscore the GOP's position to illegal immigration.  Here is part of my interview with Congressman Goodlatte regarding immigration:



According to a July 26, 2010 article by Washington Post Staff Writer, Peter Slevin,

The Obama administration has been moving away from using work-site raids to target employers. Just 765 undocumented workers have been arrested at their jobs this fiscal year, compared with 5,100 in 2008, according to Department of Homeland Security figures. Instead, officers have increased employer audits, studying the employee documentation of 2,875 companies suspected of hiring illegal workers and assessing $6.4 million in fines.

By Congressman Goodlatte's own admission, he didn't know what the penalty was but he thinks its significant. When $6.4 million in fines is divided by the 2,875 companies the Obama Administration has audited, it comes out to $2,226.09 per company. By any standard, a $2,200 penalty for domestic companies and businesses breaking U.S. Immigration Law, for knowingly hiring illegal workers is comparable to a slap on the wrist. At this point, the benefits to hiring someone who is not eligible to work in this country outweigh the costs.  Also, no indication if any of these employers have gone to jail for breaking the law?

So the question becomes are Republicans, like Congressman Goodlatte, intentionally misleading voters and their constituents with inaccurate information on illegal immigration for the sole purpose of regaining control of congress after November 2nd or are their Congressional Staffs really that bad at getting updated information from Homeland Security and ICE?  In some places, they refer to spreading misinformation as lying.  But in our country today, its called POLITICS. 

Links relating to this post: 

Center for Investigative Reporting Blog 
Homeland Security Newswire 
ICE Removal Statistics  
Fines/Penalties for hiring illegal workers  

Baptist leader slams Glenn Beck's "generic God"

Earlier in the week, just after the much advertised and publicized "Restoring Honor" spectacle, Robert Parham posted his thoughts on the rally.  In one of his observations, Parham writes: 

"No amount of Bible reading, sermons masquerading as prayers and Christian hymns can cover up Beck's civil religion that slides back and forth between the Bible and nationalism, between authentic faith and patriotic religion." 

Robert Parham is the Executive Director of EthicsDaily.com and its parent organization, The Baptist Center for Ethics.  Until I read the article on the Washington Post's On Faith Panelists Blog, I was unaware that there were Baptists (Southern Baptists as a matter of fact) that were just as un-enamored with Glenn Beck as myself.  So much so that Mr. Parham also points out a disturbing characteristic that seems to allude most conservatives and evangelicals around this nation.  That being the ease and comfort of Glenn Beck's "revivalist agenda for Americanism - blended nationalism and individualism", according to Parham. 

With all the effort that Corporate Faith is putting into tearing down the wall of separation between Church and State, it is refreshing to learn there are Baptists that understand what it really means to be a Christian, by putting on the "whole armor of God" and not just the parts that fit a narrow view of the world or advance a Theological Political Agenda. 

I highly encourage anyone that is interested to visit their web site to learn more about them. 

EthicsDaily.com    

Image found at:   http://www.eurweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/glenn-beck-fox-news.jpg

Congressional Black Caucus member steers scholarship money to relatives

Controversies continue to dog members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).  First was former Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangle (D-NY).  Next was Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA).  This time the controversy relates to more than $25,000 of  scholarship money from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) to relatives of a member of the CBC and a staffer.  

According to the Dallas Morning Star relatives of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and the children of her aid, Rod Givens, received CBCF scholarship money from 2005 to 2008.  This only came to light when a list of 2009 scholarship recipients was released by the CBCF on Monday.  Relatives of Congressional Black Caucus members and their staffs are ineligible to receive scholarship money from the CBCF. 

Here is CNN's Anderson Cooper interview with Muriel Cooper, a representative of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation: 



This is troubling in so many ways.  At a time when Democrats are facing likelihood of massive losses during the 2010 Mid-Term Elections relating to the stagnating economy and stubbornly high unemployment, ethics issues are adding to the growing list of reasons for returning control of Congress to the Republicans.  During the 2006 Mid-Term Elections, Democrats used the same issue to their advantage as they regained control of both Chambers of Congress for the first time since 1994. 

Then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi famously stated that Democrats were going to "drain the swamp" of corrupt Republican members.  Will the GOP make the same promise of Democrats? 

5th District Tea Party Candidate heavily in debt due to medical expenses

If there is any better example of why comprehensive Health Care Reform was needed, 5th Congressional District candidate and Tea Party Activist Jeff Clark is it.  One problem,... Clark didn't support it.  And as far as anyone can tell, neither Clark or Republican candidate Robert Hurt have said what would be better.  Click here for the News Advance story. 

While being in debt resulting from serious health care issues is not uncommon, debts relating to failure to pay for car repairs from an accident, non-payment of taxes, and library fines might seem nit-picky but they start to catch up to a person with an established record of bad credit.  Makes any argument about out-of-control government spending meaningless coming from someone who has a problem practicing what they preach. 

At this point Clark would be lucky to get above 5%, thus making him a non-factor in the 5th Congressional District race. 

DCCC starts to triage House races

Time is growing nigh and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has put out the word to its candidates to make their case, show how they're going to win in November, or they're pulling the plug on money and support. 

"At the end of the day, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will look at races we can win,” said DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen, as reported in Politico yesterday. 

As with all political campaigns, the closer Election Day approaches idealism takes a back seat to the realities of cold hard cash and fundraising.  Even with ample cash reserves, campaigns that don't have an idea how they're going to win will find themselves on the other side of the door, noses pressed against the glass, without access to DCCC staff, resources, and most importantly the chance for a DCCC Independent Expenditure to bolster their own paid media efforts with third party attack ads.

With 67 days left until November 2nd, Van Hollen's looking at the political calculus on competitive House races and realizing the margin between retaining the majority and slipping back into the minority is getting very thin.  Striking a tone of optimism, Van Hollen remains confident Democrats will retain their House majority. 

The DCCC has done a better job of raising money during a down year for Democrats than the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), having a cash advantage of $14 million over their rivals.  But this is still not alleviating growing concerns from withing Democratic circles, as Politico reported earlier in the week. 

Evidence of this is showing up on the campaign trail, where many of the endangered incumbents are starting to openly distance themselves from Democratic House Leadership and the Obama Administration.  In Virginia, nine term Congressman Rick Boucher hasn't once invoked Obama's name in any campaign ads, opting for the "I'm from here, I'm one of you" campaign themes.

Freshman Congressman Tom Perriello, behind in every public and internal poll, is openly calling for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner while at a local Tea Party meeting.  Earlier in the year, Perriello described Geithner "as a clone of Bush Administration Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson." 

In the case of Boucher, Perriello, and other Democratic House incumbents with huge cash advantages over their Republican opponents, the question remains will it be enough down the stretch? 

Image found at:  http://www.gamersace.com/images/PC-Combat-Medic.jpg

The Great Recession good for drop in U.S. energy consumption in 2009

Never let a crisis go to waste.  At least the United States wasted less energy last year, and significantly increased it's use of renewable energy sources (specifically wind energy).  Too bad it wasn't an enlightened response to a long overdue change in our consumer mentality, but I'll take an economy related behavioral change. 

How much did we reduce our overall energy consumption?  We went from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008 (British Thermal Units) to around 94.6 quadrillion BTUs in 2009.  That comes out to a drop of about 5%.  According to the article from CNN, "to put that in perspective, the average room air conditioner uses about 10,000 BTUs." 

It appears that the renewable energy incentives Democrats and the Obama Administration pushed for, are working.  This also means that with this reduction in energy consumption (primarily of fossil fuel use), it also means we emitted less carbon dioxide.  Positive steps, but still a long way to go in order to effectively address our lack of a national energy policy. 

Let's see how the public utilities and energy companies respond.  Maybe they'll hold the line on rate increases or reduce them?  Probably not.