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Listen, Carefully Part 2

The Left’s assault on the Constitution, and the concept of fair play in politics, rose to its highest level in 2019. What will happen in 2020?

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Terry McAuliffe, then-governor of the key swing state of Virginia and a personal friend of Hillary Clinton, announced that he was restoring voting rights of more than 200,000 Virginians who were convicted of felonies such as murder, rape, armed assault and other crimes.  Some analyses indicated that the governor’s restoration would be permitted despite the status of any unpaid fines or restitution requirements. A press release from McAuliffe’s office noted “Each of those Virginians will immediately regain the right to register to vote, to run for office, to serve on a jury and to serve as a notary public…”  

Rep. Ilhan Omar  (D-Minn) told Fox News that she  wants to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and have the United Nations supervise the U.S.  southern border. She states “We need to abolish ICE and end all inhumane deportation and detention programs. We need to fight back against the criminalization of immigrants and those crossing the border.”

Despite the rampant expense and the increase in crime (64% of federal arrests were of aliens) and the existence of many seniors and homeless veterans in need, some Democrat state officials, particularly in California, seem to put the needs of illegals first.

National Council on Aging study reports that “Over 25 million Americans aged 60+ are economically insecure—living at or below 250% of the federal poverty level…These older adults struggle with rising housing and health care bills, inadequate nutrition, lack of access to transportation, diminished savings, and job loss. For older adults who are above the poverty level, one major adverse life event can change today’s realities into tomorrow’s troubles.”

According to the National Council on Homeless Veterans,  the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 40,056 veterans are homeless on any given night.

Nevertheless, illegals are given more attention by Democrat-run jurisdictions and presidential candidates than either seniors or homeless veterans.

 A Forbes study discusses the collapse of California, Most of these conditions decrease nitric oxide, the main neurotransmitter which initiates and maintains an viagra pill cost erection and thus resulting in Erectile Dysfunction.It becomes very important for speech and language development of children. We will study the benefits of this widely used medication below: Kamagra Jelly Kamagra online prescription for viagra jelly is considered as the most common problem which leads to divorce or extramarital affairs. Learn more significant role of this drug and you will be victorious in lowest cost levitra the fight against impotency. This is especially for some men; issues with learningworksca.org tadalafil 80mg erections might take longer to develop and might not be obtainable all the time. where illegals are given top priority. “So, what is an impoverished California to do?  It’s not an academic question.  California leads the nation in poverty when cost of living is factored into the equation…According to… the Democrats, the answer is: fight for future immigrants, refugees, sanctuary cities, social issues and global warming.”

On the other coast, reports the New York Post, Democrats in the New York State Legislature “… set aside $27 million in tuition assistance for the children of undocumented immigrants in the new state budget — but wouldn’t add hundreds of thousands of dollars to expand a similar program for kids of deceased and disabled veterans.”

In foreign policy, it appears that many Democrats haven’t had time to review international realities, or simply have conflicting personal interests.

Ignoring Moscow’s massive weapons programs, which have made Russia the planet’s strongest nuclear power, and China’s leap to military superpower status (as well as the aggressive moves made by each, and their alliance with each other) is dangerous and absurd.  Yet little emphasis on defense is placed by the field of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders. Worse, they uniformly seek to slash U.S. defense spending at a time of the most significant threats since the end of the Second World War.

Far too many Democrats openly support anti-Semitic movements, such as the “Boycott, Disinvest, and Sanction” (BDS) movement.  Some key Democrats, such as former DNC vice chair (and current Minnesota Attorney General) Keith Ellison have allied with anti-Semitic figures.  

In dealing with all of these contentious issues, it would be somewhat of a reassurance, limited as it might be, if the Democrats were open to at least discussing their differences with other Americans reasonably and peacefully.  Unfortunately, that is not the case. Those disagreeing with their policy preferences are branded with horrible epithets.  Some associate with individuals who openly support and encourage violence against those they disagree with.

American politics is rapidly reaching the edge of a dangerous precipice.

Picture: U.S. Constitution (National Archives)

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Political Motives Behind Weakened Border Enforcement

U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) , Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)- have introduced the “Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act.” The legislation would convene a “commission of experts” to provide a roadmap for Congress to implement an altered, and presumably weaker, form of  immigration enforcement. The legislation is cosponsored byRepresentatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Jim McGovern (D-MA), José E. Serrano (D-NY), Adam Smith (D-WA), and Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY).

The bill provides few specific details on what ICE should be replaced with.  That’s probably intentional.

To a significant extent, the measure may be more of a rallying cry to the left. It also appears to be a bid to increase the potential vote on the Democrat line, since most newcomers to the U.S. tend to vote for that party at least until they become vested in the American economic system.

Peter Beinart, who describes himself as a liberal, provided  this analysis in A 2017 Atlantic article of the radical Democrat position  :

“Between 2008 and 2016, Democrats became more and more confident that the country’s growing Latino population gave the party an electoral edge. To win the presidency, Democrats convinced themselves, they didn’t need to reassure white people skeptical of immigration so long as they turned out their Latino base. ‘The fastest-growing sector of the American electorate stampeded toward the Democrats this November,’ Salon declared after Obama’s 2008 win. ‘If that pattern continues, the GOP is doomed to 40 years of wandering in a desert.’…As the Democrats grew more reliant on Latino votes, they were more influenced by pro-immigrant activism….Alongside pressure from pro-immigrant activists came pressure from corporate America, especially the Democrat-aligned tech industry, which uses the H-1B visa program to import workers. In 2010, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with the CEOs of companies including Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Disney, and News Corporation, formed New American Economy to advocate for business-friendly immigration policies. Three years later, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates helped found FWD.us to promote a similar agenda.’”

Shane Savitsky, writing in Axios, gives his view of why democrats have moved left on Immigration:

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The blatantly partisan move by Democrats, and their increased use of soft violence and intimidation against opposition figures has met with stiff reaction. Paul Crookston, writing in the Free Beacon  reports that “Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said…he will not be intimidated by protesters who confront him calling for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” McConnell had recently been accosted by demonstrators shouting “Abolish ICE” at a restaurant in Kentucky. The Senate Majority leader noted that several key Democrat senators, including Kirsten Gillibrand, (NY) Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) were essentially demanding “open borders.”

A FAIRUS study outlines the role noncitizens play in U.S. elections, a role primarily strengthening Democrats:

“…there is evidence that both foreign nationals who are lawfully present in the United States and illegal aliens have voted in recent elections. … noncitizens have been discovered on voter registration rolls in both Virginia and Pennsylvania…Several past elections – for the presidency and other offices – have been extremely close. Accordingly, ballots cast by noncitizen voters have the potential to improperly alter the outcome of elections…laws requiring voting registrants and voters to establish proof of citizenship have been repeatedly challenged in recent years.  The most frequent objections to these reasonable measures are that voter fraud is a ‘myth’ and that voter ID requirements will unreasonably interfere with the right to vote. However, these claims seem patently unreasonable given that there have been numerous reports of unlawful voting by aliens but no virtually no reports of voters being disenfranchised.

“Marking a disturbing new trend, several municipalities…have begun allowing noncitizens to vote in town…State efforts to extend the franchise to noncitizens undermine the rule of law; blur the distinctions between citizens and noncitizens; and render U.S. elections susceptible to both fraud and foreign influence… In 2014, a study released by a team of professors from Old Dominion University and George Mason University estimated that approximately 6.4 percent of noncitizens voted In the 2008 presidential election. They also surmised that 2.2 percent voted in the 2010 midterm election.20 In addition, the study estimated that 80 percent of noncitizens who appeared to have voted cast their ballots in favor of one party. Noncitizens are believed to have voted in these elections in numbers great enough to have affected the outcome.”

Photo:  Ice apprehending a fugitive (ICE photo)