The wrong word

From time to time, I get sent links to stories from the Washington Post in my e-mail box in an effort to drum up some internet readership and blogging on various news items. Let’s see if we can pick out the word which doesn’t belong here.

The Washington Post‘s Aaron Davis reports: Growing frustration with illegal immigration, rising public debt and an effective Internet campaign to gather voters’ signatures have put Maryland conservatives on the cusp of a victory to delay and possibly repeal a new law that would give undocumented immigrants in-state college tuition breaks.

Opponents say they are on pace to turn in a combined 100,000 signatures by Thursday, even though state elections officials say they have certified most of the nearly 56,000 needed to suspend the law and send it to a statewide referendum in November 2012. The law had been scheduled to take effect Friday, but it has been suspended while officials await a final tally on the signatures.

The full story can be read here.

Did you catch the word that doesn’t belong?

I read the story, and in every case aside from the very first sentence the Post places the word “undocumented” where they should be saying “illegal.”

If I forget to bring a copy of the minutes of the last month’s meeting to read to the monthly Wicomico County Republican Club gathering I’m “undocumented.”

If I were sneaking across the border in such a manner to avoid detection or overstaying the time on my visa, I am “illegal.”

While I can’t speak for all 100,000 or so Marylanders who have signed the petition to place SB167 on referendum, I would wager that most are quite welcoming to immigrants who come to our country wanting a better life and go about it in the right manner through the proper channels. After all, a century or so ago I believe my great-grandfather did just that. (He was named Michael Swartz too.)

What we don’t like is having those who flouted the law take advantage of the system, too. After all, if they are illegal, how can they be gainfully employed after they complete college anyway? I don’t see them being a benefit to our society.

I think Daniel Bongino was partially correct the other night when he said the first step to immigration reform should be securing the borders. But I’m not completely convinced we can’t deport 12 million illegal immigrants because a large number would deport themselves if they can’t find work. I normally am a pro-business kind of guy, but the Chamber of Commerce is way wrong on the issue of immigration reform – we tried amnesty once and it didn’t work.

Tomorrow is the deadline to submit petitions, and today I sent through overnight mail a couple pages’ worth of names to add to the list. They may not be necessary but these were people who believe the General Assembly made a grievous error when it passed the Maryland DREAM Act. Let them just try and call all of us “racists.” I dare them.

Trust me, I have a lot more to say on the subject.

Last chance to sign the petition

In order to have signatures safely into the state by June 30, the forces behind taking SB167 (the in-state tuition for illegal immigrants bill) are holding mass signing events at selected locations around the state.

Locally, there is one signing point for each county:

  • Wicomico: MVA office, 251 Tilghman Road, Salisbury
  • Worcester: 65th Street and Coastal Highway, Ocean City (parked at courthouse parking lot)
  • Dorchester: Cambridge Post Office, 301 High Street, Cambridge
  • Somerset: Westover Post Office, 27741 Fairmount Road, Westover

The initial wave of signatures turned in May 31 yielded over 47,000 of the 55,000 required, but pro-illegal groups like the ACLU and CASA de Maryland are planning to look over signatures with a fine-toothed comb to toss out any that are one scintilla deviant from the official on-file signature. (In other words, they don’t want the people to have a voice. Shame on the ACLU in particular since they should be all about liberty.)

Given the fact our counties combined for just 1,325 of the total we have a lot of room for growth. Hopefully you can make it out there if you haven’t signed yet.

(Hat tip: Ann Corcoran at the Potomac TEA Party Report.)

A miracle in Maryland?

My latest for Pajamas Media…

Conservatives in Maryland rarely have something to cheer about. But things may slowly be changing, as efforts to recognize same-sex marriage and instill a ban on septic systems in large developments both died this spring once legislators realized they didn’t have the votes and the effort wouldn’t be worth the outcry from newly energized conservative stalwarts. The septic system ban was a particularly bitter pill for Governor Martin O’Malley to swallow as he made it the key new legislative initiative of his 2011 State of the State address.

Yet one controversial bill made it through by slim margins in both houses, with bipartisan opposition. Sponsored by a group of Maryland’s most liberal legislators, Senate Bill 167 allows illegal immigrants who graduated from the state’s schools to enjoy in-state tuition rates at the state’s community colleges. It is estimated the bill could cost state taxpayers upward of $3 million per year by 2016, although those who drew up the bill’s fiscal note conceded they couldn’t accurately gauge the impact.

(continued at Pajamas Media…)

Interesting petition facts

As many of you should know, the effort to stop the ill-considered SB176, better known as the in-state tuition for illegal immigrants bill, has been a fairly resounding success so far – over 58,000 petition signatures were turned in by the May 31 progress deadline when only around 18,000 were needed. Proponents of illegal immigrants are already threatening legal action to allow the law to take effect.

But thanks to the advocacy group Help Save Maryland, here are some interesting petition facts:

  • The top five jurisdictions for signing are Baltimore County with 14,307, Anne Arundel County with 8,586, Harford County with 5,922, Carroll County with 5,820, and Washington County with 3,310.
  • The county with the largest number of registered voters is Montgomery County, but unsurprisingly the liberal bastion has contributed just 2,301 signatures to the effort.
  • Locally among Lower Shore counties Dorchester leads with 587 collected, with Wicomico County second at 383, Worcester at 305, and Somerset the lowest in the state with just 50. But on the Eastern Shore we are pikers – Cecil checks in with 1,830, Talbot has 1,218, Caroline has 1,164, Queen Anne’s has 1,114, and even little Kent County has 435. Clearly we have some work to do!
  • According to petition drive leader Delegate Neil Parrott, “(P)lease note that over 25% of the signatures have come from Democrats, 15% from Unaffiliated voters, and the remainder from Republicans and 3rd party voters.” So it’s not just a Republican issue.

Between the Lower Shore counties there are 121,281 registered voters – at least that was the last report. We have signed up barely 1% of the voters in a conservative area where we should get AT LEAST 10 to 15 percent. If we hit the 10% threshold here, that would be about 20 percent of the total needed for the state.

It’s time to get to work.

Atlas shrugs on the Shore

Sort of a public service announcement as I close in on the 2,500 post mark…

Just in from local political activist Greg Belcher: he’s attempting to put together a carpool to see a showing of Atlas Shrugged on Thursday night (7 p.m.) at the Premier Theatre in Easton. The movie costs $8 and the group would leave Salisbury at 5:30 p.m.

Although the Atlas Shrugged website shows the movie is playing in Easton, it appears that Thursday is the only day it will be shown. So it’s important to show support for the film so Part 2 next year will be more widely viewed.

The other event he clued me in on will be next Tuesday, as the Maryland Society of Patriots meets to discuss a strategy for combatting the Maryland DREAM Act.

At that point there will be one week to go before the first hurdle so time will be of the essence.

In-state tuition for illegals to become law – or will it?

On Thursday, Governor Martin O’Malley signed SB167 into law. Of course, that bill may be sent to referendum if enough signatures are applied to a petition seeking the vote of the people, and Delegate Neil Parrott is leading that effort.

Here’s what he had to say about the signing.

(On Thursday) Governor O’Malley signed into law SB 167, known as the Maryland Dream Act, that will provide in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens.

MDPetitions.com, under the leadership of Delegates Neil Parrott and Pat McDonough, has launched a petition drive to bring the bill to referendum in the November 2012 elections.

Delegate Parrott, Chairman, indicated that “It’s no surprise that Gov. O’Malley signed this legislation. The people of Maryland anticipated this and that is why people across the state are going to www.mdpetitions.com to sign the petition so we can bring this bill to referendum.”

Delegate Pat McDonough, Honorary Chairperson of the Petition Drive stated, “Taxpayers are wasting millions educating someone who cannot and will not be hired legally.  Politicians like Governor O’Malley have transformed Maryland into a ‘sanctuary state’ by becoming a Disneyland for illegal immigrants, attracting hundreds of thousands of them, and costing taxpayers about 2 billion dollars.  This law will only make things worse.”

Delegate Parrott noted that “this bill barely passed during the night on the last day of the session despite Bi-partisan opposition to the bill.  Given the choice, I believe Marylanders will reject this legislation outright.”

The outpouring of support for our petition drive should serve as notice to Governor O’Malley and the legislators in Annapolis that Marylanders are fed up with the rampant abuse of our hard earned tax dollars.

Certainly I’m as fed up with “rampant abuse of our hard earned tax dollars” and I was happy to place my John Hancock on the petition. And I also think Alex Mooney was right when he commented at the state GOP convention that “we need to use that petition to referendum more often.” Just wait until the Special Session, and the tax increases we’re sure to see.

Of course, much of that momentum will depend on how this particular petition drive goes – if it’s a success, then people will be emboldened to use the referendum route to overrule O’Malley and the Democrats in the General Assembly more often. But the last attempt to petition a bad bill into referendum (the speed camera law) failed when the organizers came up short at the 1/3 barrier in May 2009.

Obviously there will be a lot on the ballot next November, as the general election in Maryland only comes once every two years and there’s a long list of items which the General Assembly sends to the voters for final ratification. Three items were placed before voters in 2010, two in 2008, and four in 2006.

But according to this piece by Ann Marimow in the Washington Post, the last petition drive to succeed in making it to the ballot came two decades ago, and it lost at the polls. Insofar as this drive is concerned, the effect on the 2012 election will be interesting should it succeed – with Barack Obama a prohibitive favorite in the state, will downballot turnout determine the fate of the referendum? Also, since the ballot question could pit one minority against another, how will that shake out?

Perhaps one reason these drives tend to fizzle out is the lengthy timeframe between the referendum and the election. If the petition effort succeeds we’ll have 17 months before voters will decide. In many cases where the ballot question is determined by the General Assembly this doesn’t seem to matter, as most Constitutional amendments placed before voters pass handily. But this will be different and there’s a potential of legal wrangling before the voters get to decide whether to rescind the law.

Passing the bill in its fourth try (2007, 2008, and 2009 – notice they didn’t go for this in the election year of 2010 knowing it would be a hot-button issue) was ill-advised, so Maryland voters should get a crack at this. Some may argue that the referendum shouldn’t go through because it would bring more Latinos to the polls and they’ll both vote against the referendum and punish Republican candidates. But I believe this will help GOP turnout in a state that’s generally written off by the national GOP and maybe give the Republican nominee an outside chance of winning.

So if you get the chance, sign the petition. Let’s show the General Assembly and Martin O’Malley who’s in control of this state.

Odds and ends number 28

Have you ever wondered where the phrase ‘odds and ends’ comes from? Me neither, but I use it to describe posts where I have a number of little items which only need a paragraph or two.

Last week I told you about the drive to send SB167 (in-state tuition for illegal immigrants) to referendum. Well, the battle has another supporter in Delegate Justin Ready, a fellow freshman Republican to Delegate Neil Parrott. In an e-mail to supporters, Ready reminded us that:

Perhaps the worst piece of legislation that passed the General Assembly in the just-concluded session was SB 167: The Dream Act, which gives in-state tuition rates (taxpayer funded benefits) to illegal immigrants. It allows them to attend community colleges and the University System at the in-county and in-state rates.

(snip)

We do have an alternative! The Maryland constitution provides for citizens to petition a passed bill to referendum by obtaining signatures. Several of us in the General Assembly have gotten together, led by Del. Neil Parrott from Washington County, to form a petition drive with dozens of pro-rule of law activists around Maryland. In order to put this measure on the ballot in the 2012 election, we must obtain 55,000 signatures from Maryland registered voters by the end of July. We have to obtain about 20,000 by May 31st. However, these petition drives are extremely tricky because the State Board of Elections looks for any excuse to void or disqualify a signature so we estimate that we’ll need about 35,000 by May 31st and probably closer to 100,000 overall.

I think Ready is right on the money insofar as signatures go, but even if they are received the uphill battle really begins as liberals dig out all the so-called “victims” of this heartless TEA Party initiative. Of course, that can be countered by considering who could be aced out of a spot – perhaps a poor minority youth trying to escape poverty? That angle can play well in PG County and Baltimore City.

Speaking of poor legislation, Maryland continues to play Don Quixote tilting at windmills (well, they’re actually turbines) to be built just a few miles off Ocean City. (Oil platforms will spoil the view, but wind turbines won’t? Get real.) In part, this legislation stemmed from a drive to combat so-called global warming just as another push to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative did.

Well, New Jersey may be rethinking its position on RGGI, and a key Senator in that state made it a bipartisan push. Americans for Prosperity shared this news:

When the original legislation paving the way for New Jersey’s entry into RGGI was passed in 2008, it was done so on a bi-partisan basis. Likewise, dismantling RGGI will require support from members of both political parties.

By joining the movement to repeal RGGI, Senator (Paul) Sarlo became the first Democrat to back the effort to kill this Cap & Trade tax and opened the door for more of his Democrat colleagues in the Legislature to do the same. In fact, at (Thursday’s) press conference Senator Sarlo urged his fellow Democrats today to do just that.

Senator Sarlo did not arrive at this decision lightly. But when presented with the indisputable facts about the RGGI scheme — including its lack of transparency, exploitation by “insiders” looking to speculate and profit
on the backs of ratepayers, as well as the devastating consequences for New Jersey’s economy and jobs — the senator made the call to stand up for New Jersey’s economic future.

Now, I’m not sure if New Jersey leaving RGGI would lead to any other states rethinking their position, although one would suspect newly-installed GOP governors and legislators in Pennsylvania and Maine may be most likely to do so. Unfortunately, Maryland has neither a GOP governor or legislature so utility ratepayers will continue to take it in the shorts for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of Maryland politics, we are now less than a year away from the 2012 primary. (At least we will be when this takes effect.) Hopefully they change the 2014 date to the last week in July because late June is too damn early to me. I like the date as it is in September but federal law changes make that impossible. Nothing like Fedzilla sticking its nose into state’s affairs.

Anyway, I got an e-mail from one of the early U.S. Senate candidates on the GOP side (to face presumptive Democratic nominee, Senator Ben Cardin) offering to do a blog interview with me. So I asked the other two candidates that I’m aware of to match that offer – one is already on the ballot while the other will announce around the first of May.

This doesn’t include Eric Wargotz yet, although my suspicion is that he’ll jump into the race before summer. Hey, I’ll interview him too. He knows I always have plenty of questions.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m giving short shrift to two Democratic hopefuls. But the contest for both Raymond Levi Blagmon and perennial candidate Lih Young will be to manage to get one percent of the vote.

I think that’s enough grist for the mill. I bet you all thought I was taking another long weekend off from the political but you have to admit we’re in the silly season now. The only real big news seems to be the growing GOP Presidental field but no one is really going to be paying much attention to that until at least the Ames Straw Poll and more likely after Labor Day when things start getting serious. By then we’ll have a decent idea of the contenders and the pretenders.

In-state tuition for illegals: it’s not etched in stone yet

Among the many setbacks conservatives and others who care about the formerly Free State of Maryland endured from the recently-concluded session of the Maryland General Assembly was the adoption of in-state tuition given to illegal immigrants. While the bill was watered down grudgingly by supporters in order to facilitate passage, the 74-65 House vote on SB167 was just enough to get the bill passed and on to Governor O’Malley’s willing signature.

But not so fast. In Maryland, voters can have the final say on legislation by petitioning it to a referendum at the next General Election. Shortly after the passage of the bill, Delegate Neil Parrott – a newly-elected official who began his political career as a TEA Party organizer in Hagerstown – took the lead in a petition drive to do just that.

However, this is not an easy path. All told, the petition drive needs 56,000 valid signatures statewide to succeed. These have to be collected and turned in by June 30, with the additional caveat that 1/3 of the total needs to be collected by May 31. The most recent previous effort to bring a newly-enacted law to referendum was the speed camera law in 2009 and that failed to get the required number of signatures at the 1/3 hurdle. And you can bet that certain counties will be harshly judging the validity of signatures – better have the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed.

And even if the petition drive succeeds, we will surely be subjected to the sob stories of kids whose path to success is being blocked by those mean people who are making them the victims of a witch hunt against anyone who isn’t white Anglo-Saxon and may have a trace of a Spanish accent in their English. Well, I happen to believe in upholding the law. And at a cost of over $3 million to the state a year once implemented, this is a place where we need to be budget-conscious. (Even those who wrote the fiscal note can only guess at the impact, though.)

Obviously the key is getting signatures; probably close to 100,000 are needed in order to have enough spares to counteract the certain pickiness exhibited by the state Board of Elections. A website for the effort should be up by the end of the week and the effort will be on. (You can volunteer to help here.)

Too bad this doesn’t extend to recall of some of the elected officials who voted for this. In the meantime, they can count on my signature being among the 56,000.

Ramping up

Over the last several years, I have done the monoblogue Accountability Project. It’s an effort to identify how all 188 state legislators fared on a series of key floor (and, beginning in 2010, committee) votes based on a conservative point of view.

Generally the hardest step in the process, which takes many hours of research, is to determine just which bills are the most important ones to log. I’m going to return to that point later, but I wanted to go through some of the other parameters I’m going to include beginning this year for the second cycle of the mAP:

  1. I’m going to limit the number of votes to 25 each in the House and Senate. It’s not an arbitrary limit, though: since I base my point system on factors besides voting such as absences, skipping votes, or House members changing votes (all these factors can incrementally step down a score) I wanted a number I could easily divide into fourths yet remain a whole number, making the score easier to understand. So 100/25=4 points for each vote.
  2. Ideally, I’d like an even number of committee votes and that will be the hardest part since some committees vote on more important bills than others. I may consider committee votes as bonus points if I can’t rustle up enough votes out of certain committees and use 25 floor votes. I’d like to use between three and five committee votes as part of my 25, with the most likely result being three.
  3. There will definitely be a format change. Instead of grouping by district (1 through 47) I plan on doing the 2011 mAP by county – obviously MoCo will be a huge page while Somerset County would have just two legislators to deal with. But I think this is better for the end user who may not know just what number his or her district is.
  4. I also have to consider the Special Session this fall to deal with redistricting and any votes which come from that before dealing out legislative honors.

This is where you come in. I would love to have your assistance in identifying bills which are near and dear to your heart AND deal with statewide issues (so, for example, I wouldn’t work with our school board election bill since it only affects our county.) All I need is the bill number and I’ll take it from there.

Obviously I already know some of the biggies like the in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, the gay marriage bill, raising the sales tax on alcohol, and the three budget bills (budget, BRFA, and bond bill.) But there are other key bills and amendments I’d like to be able to consider – the hardest part is pruning to 25 votes!

So here is your chance for input on the monoblogue Accountability Project – popular demand will help me prioritize.  Simply leave a comment below or e-mail me – ttownjotes (at) yahoo.com. My goal as always is to have this finished by July 4th.

Arrogance and disrespect

Subtitled: one man’s tale of how Democrats run things in Annapolis.

I had heard some rumblings about funny business when it came to HB28, a bill to require proof of legal presence before receiving public benefits. There was a hearing last week but apparently only opponents of the bill were allowed to speak.

To give a little background, this is the fourth year in a row similar legislation has been introduced, and every time it has died in Delegate Norm Conway’s Appropriations Committee. Last year Conway voted against it, and presumably he’s done so in previous years as well (committee votes only went online in 2010.)

This account of the hearing comes from Howard County resident Tom Young, and although I’ve shortened it a little bit for brevity the conduct of Conway seems pretty shameful. Good thing I didn’t vote for him.

As an involved citizen in my community, I have attended and testified at Maryland House and Senate public hearings in Annapolis for almost ten years now.  On February 1, 2011, I drove in from Howard County to testify in favor of a bill submitted by Delegate Tony O’Donnell (R-Calvert/St. Mary’s) HB 28 – “Public Benefits – Requirement of Proof of Lawful Presence” – assigned to the Appropriations Committee.

It’s an important piece of legislation which would deny most non-emergency, taxpayer funded social services to those without lawful presence in our state.  In a time of economic hardship for many citizens and massive budget deficits at the state and county level, HB 28 holds the promise of eliminating waste, fraud and abuse from overburdened public benefit programs.

Upon my arrival in Annapolis, I signed in to speak in support of HB 28 (and HB 34) as is proper procedure, along with others, and sat down in the hearing room to wait for my name to be called.  The hearing, chaired by Delegate Norman Conway (D-Wicomico/Worcester) started off like any other.  Delegate O’Donnell presented his bill to the committee, but instead of those in favor of HB 28 being called up to testify first, Delegate Conway changed standard protocol and immediately called up those opposed to HB 28 to appear at the witness table.  Clearly Delegate Conway had a personnel (sic) agenda to fulfill by slighting Delegate O’Donnell and those in the room supporting HB 28. 

For the next hour plus, I had to listen to the anti-citizen, pro-illegal alien nonsense espoused by groups such as CASA of Maryland, the ACLU and multiple Catholic and other ethnic/religious based groupsas to why it was “our moral duty” to provide taxpayer funded social services to illegal aliens, residents who clearly have no moral or legalright to be in Maryland. 

(snip)

When these groups where finished, Delegate Conway abruptly ended the hearing and quickly disappeared into the back of the hearing room.  At no time were those in the audience asked if there were any in attendance who wanted to testify in favor of HB 28.   I rose and voiced my protest of this violation of my rights to testify at this public hearing but no one listened, including my own Delegate Guy Guzzone (D-Howard County) who told me it was a “mistake”. 

I took time off from my struggling business to testify in favor of HB 28.  I properly signed in as did others to support HB 28.  Delegate Conway, a disciple of Governor O’Malley, obviously thinks that sincethe Democrats “won big” in the recent elections that opposing views by citizens on issues are no longer needed. 

(snip)

Delegate Conway’s office is now issuing statements that no one signed up to speak in favor of HB 28; that was quickly modified that citizens signed up for the wrong bill.  Tomorrow I sure it will be a different story.  Again this is not my first hearing.   I know the drill, and I signed in to provide oral testimony against HB 28 along with others. The bottom line is that my right to address the government and to free speech was blatantly violated by Conway and his Democratic committee cronies.

(snip)

On February 1, 2011, my Constitutional protections were violated in Annapolis. Where do I go now to have my voice heard on Maryland-wide issues?  Do Maryland’s elected officials, like Delegate Conway, now believe they can tell me when, where and what I can say?  I will return to Annapolis to give testimony throughout the current session, especially against proposed In-State Tuition for illegal aliens. I now know the levels the dominate (sic) party in office will go to in forcing their lawless agenda on our citizens.  I will not run nor hide.  I will dedicate myself to exposing their actions for all Marylanders to see.

One criticism I’ve leveled at Conway over the years was how he would talk like a conservative in the district but return to Annapolis and vote like a far-left liberal. Now it appears he’s learned the rest of the routine from special interests in the state capital.

And to think that last fall we could have installed a far better representative in Marty Pusey – sure, she wouldn’t lead the Appropriations Committee but she would have inched the GOP closer to the magic number of 47 needed to work around the committee process. I bet there’s a few Democrats not on the Appropriations Committee who would crap a brick if they actually had to return to their districts and explain why they voted against such a bill on the floor.

I’ll grant that I have never personally gone to Annapolis to testify for or against a bill although I have submitted written testimony on a previous occasion. However, it seems to me as a common man that theirs is already an intimidating process and those in the General Assembly’s majority would prefer to keep it that way. If you figure that Mr. Young, who only lives a relatively short distance from Annapolis, still had to spend the better part of an afternoon in vain, imagine what it’s like for someone on the Lower Shore or out in Garrett County. Most people who prefer limited government also have to work for a living and can’t take several days off work to address every pet issue; thus it falls into the hands of special interests local to the Annapolis area for the most part. (There are a few conservative groups who surely do a yeoman’s job at this too, but they are far outnumbered.)

Now if Delegate Conway has his side of the story I’ll gladly hear it, but based on his past record on this bill I doubt this bias was purely accidental and unintentional. He knows where his bread is buttered just as well as we do.

The only thing which would accrue to Norm’s credit, as opposed to the sales tax reduction I wrote on earlier, is that at least HB28 should get a committee vote and not be locked away in his desk drawer. Most likely it will split almost on party lines with Appropriations Committee Republicans voting in the state’s interest while those Democrats oppose.

It’s a long way to 2014, but surely there will be many more examples of arrogance and deceit to follow.

Ending the sanctuary state

In a little less than two weeks, after the calendar turns to 2011 and we return back to our post-holiday daily routine, our ’90 Days of Terror’ known as the General Assembly session will commence. And Delegate Pat McDonough is ready, with a 15-point package to counter the scourge of illegal aliens in the state. As he says in a release:

Everyone is aware of the fact that Maryland is a premier sanctuary state.

I intend to introduce the largest and most effective legislative action agenda in the history of the state.  Hopefully, fellow citizens and organizations who are concerned about the burdens created by illegal immigration will join us in this important effort.

I refer to my comprehensive plan as the “Citizens Protection and Rights Initiative,” in other words, CPR.

While fifteen bills seems like a lot, bear in mind that in an average session we’ll see over 2,500 measures introduced during the General Assembly session – it’s nearly 150 per member of the General Assembly. Undaunted, McDonough plans to address the following fifteen items:

  1. Arizona Style Law entitled the “Citizens’ Rights Act” mandating that state authority enforce the Federal Immigration Act.
  2. Sanctuary Policy Penalty provides complaint process against public officials who knowingly violate the Federal Immigration Act.
  3. Higher Education In-state Prohibition – This bill prohibits illegal alien college students from receiving taxpayer subsidized tuition discounts.
  4. Higher Education Legislative Scholarships Prohibition Regarding Illegal Aliens
  5. Federal 287 G Statewide Enforcement – This bill would mandate the enforcement of the federal criminal action section of the law addressing criminal illegal aliens and gangs.
  6. Division of Correction Immigration Status of Inmates – This bill would mandate reports and records of the immigration status of inmates in the Maryland prison system.
  7. Immigration Status Bail and Pre-trial Release – This bill would mandate that judges and other officials confirm the immigration status of defendants prior to release.
  8. Task Force to Study the Impact of Illegal Aliens on Maryland’s Job Market
  9. E-Verify State Procurement -This bill would mandate that all state contractors, venders, and employees must pass the e-verify test. 
  10. Consumers “Right to Know” Transparency Act – This bill would mandate that consumers have the right to know the immigration status of all employees performing work or services on their property.
  11. Prohibition of State Benefits to Illegal Aliens
  12. Charitable Organizations Prohibition of Acceptance of Contributions from Terrorist Groups, Nations, or Nations That Have Relationships with Terrorist States
  13. Foreign Language Costs Transparency Act – This bill would mandate that all state agencies provide an annual report detailing any funding provided to policies, programs, services or any functions that require the use of non-English languages.
  14. The Voter Fairness Act – This bill would mandate that election workers require identification from voters.
  15. The Montgomery County College Lawsuit and Criminal Complaints – I have partnered with the National Legal Foundation “Judicial Watch” to engage in a civil lawsuit against Montgomery County College in order to ban the unlawful practice of providing in-state tuition to illegal aliens costing taxpayers millions of dollars.  I am preparing criminal complaints against certain public officials to be submitted in the near future.

Obviously this is not a program for smaller government or less red tape; unfortunately, since the federal government has dropped the ball on enforcement of its borders and immigration law those of us in Maryland are left to pick up the pieces. Perhaps the one I most support would be The Voter Fairness Act, although I presume Pat would want to have a photo ID. Then again, since illegal aliens can get a driver’s license relatively easily in Maryland (by many accounts) there may have to be other additional restrictions.

(Personally I think the voter cards we receive should have a photo and the state should opt out of compliance with “motor voter” laws. If the federal government can let Maryland get away with flouting the rules about cleaning the voter rolls on a regular basis, we should be able to get around that law too. Make people go to the Board of Elections to register to vote – those who care to do so would probably be those who care about being informed on what they’re voting on.)

I’m very sure Republicans may split on provisions 9 and 10, since the Chamber of Commerce screams bloody murder whenever E-verify is brought up. This isn’t a cure-all since documents can be forged and occasionally the system spits out a false positive but it’s probably the best step we have currently available.

But with just 43 Republicans in the House of Delegates and all seven House committees firmly in Democratic control (including the notorious Delegate Joe Vallario in charge of Judiciary) the chances of McDonough’s agenda advancing are fairly slim. It seems that Democrats would rather listen to “New Americans” who aren’t even supposed to be voting over the interests of those who believe that illegal aliens are, well, illegal. Crossing the border illegally may only be a misdemeanor akin to getting a traffic citation, but forgery is a somewhat more serious offense and portraying yourself as being here legally sans documentation is the same as misrepresenting yourself for fraudulent purposes.

I welcome immigrants who come here and choose to pursue the American Dream through the legal means available. It’s those bad apples McDonough targets who are spoiling things for the rest.

Friday night videos – episode 53

It’s sort of slim pickings now that the election is over, so even though I have had a three-week hiatus there’s still not a lot in the old mailbox. But since I’m away enjoying the company of fellow Maryland Republicans the rest of you can watch this.

We all know the unemployment rate edged up last week to 9.8 percent. Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government, had his comments on this.

 

Yet illegal immigrants can easily find work, at least according to FOX News/Boston. Aramark, who provides the concession staffing for Fenway Park, was busted for hiring illegals.

I would imagine that people from North Korea would love to become immigrants to America, legal or otherwise. We still have to deal with their leaders, though.

Another President who proved inept in dealing with North Korea is featured in this video.

I decided to use this video as a transition to the musical portion of the program. If you remember Soft Cell, you know the song.

The music this week is provided by Not My Own, a frequent performer here. This song is a little different since they’re doing a cover of  the Alice in Chains song ‘Would?’ from the Brass Monkey in Baltimore.

Next week I’m going to see if I can’t toss some new stuff in there.