February 18, 2011
Why I did NOT vote in support of SD's Immigration Bill
Here again is another installment in my series explaining my votes and positions this legislative session. Tomorrow I'm speaking at a Sioux Falls Tea Party luncheon and will surely have some 'splaining to do as to why I did not vote to support my friend Rep. Manny Steele's Immigration legislation, HB-1198.
For starters, be careful not to rush to judgment when a legislator votes in a way that surprises you. In this case it would be false to assume I'm soft on illegal immigration. I'd happily send you (free of charge) a fifty-minute talk I gave on the topic– A Christian Case AGAINST Amnesty for Illegals. You can read the main points of that message here - - A Christian Case AGAINST Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants. The bottom line, I'm not soft on illegal immigration– 1) I think we have a MAJOR immigration problem in this country and that Obama isn't doing his job. South Dakota does have some immigration issues though we heard ICE agents overseeing this region shockingly say they weren't even aware of some of our more newsworthy infractions). And, 2) I'm an advocate for the FAIRTAX which puts 12 million illegal immigrants ON the tax roles - it's ridiculous we have illegals here using our roads, schools, and medical services and they aren't at least paying taxes. So, I'm not soft on illegal immigration.
Another key point to consider has to do with rules and procedures. The vote to kill Rep. Steele's immigration bill in committee was 11-2. This past week he attempted to smoke it out using a rule or procedure where one third of the members of the House can stand and demand the bill come to the House floor, bypassing the non-recommendation vote of the committee. Make no mistake, we have Obamacare on the books today because procedural gymnastics were used to push through a bill that had no chance using the regular rules. I also didn't support smoke out efforts on two other bills this week - the nullification of Obamacare bill and the Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients bill. In those two cases, my votes to not support the smokeout were not related to my support of the bill. In fact, I voted for both already, and even spoke strongly from the floor in favor of the Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients bill. So, if I was for these bills, why not support them being smoked out?
There is no doubt the smoke out, under our adopted legislative rules, is a legal and a legitimate measure of last report for a bill that dies in committee. But it should only be used in rare cases where the bill did not get a fair hearing in committee, or if there has since been new information that needs to be discussed. Efforts to say the immigration bill did not receive a fair hearing in committee were unconvincing to me. We have committees for a reason - 600 bills are on the table here, and we need to divide and conquer. Bills that don't make it through committee, most of the time, were unconvincing on their merits. Sponsors should take note on which points they lost in Committee and try again next year. So, I voted no on the immigration bill for procedural reasons. Smokeouts are great when it's your favorite bill but the flip side is they can also work against what is best. Enough now on this point that voters ought not rush to judgment about a particular vote. Those of us voting aren't voting on a whim. Trust me, you think long and hard before voting against a bill sponsored by a friend. And, you don't take it personal, I had very few Republican colleagues standing with me against predatory lending. I guess I can only speak for myself, I'm voting my principles and I hope that is evident and respected whether you like the vote or not.
To continue now, I will state what I've stated elsewhere that even if this came to the House floor via a committee recommendation, I was prepared to vote NO. Why? Two reasons. First, a major tenet of the bill was to make it illegal to transport illegals knowingly.
Section 7. No person may transport or move or attempt to transport or move any illegal alien in this state in a means of transportation if the person knows or recklessly disregards the fact that the alien has come to, has entered, or remains in the United States in violations of law.
Nuns from all over our state were contacting us to share their concern that this would criminalize simple acts of Christian compassion and the nuns were saying they will go to jail before they stop showing Christian compassion. It was not uncommon to hear conversations among those supporting the bill that– so what, it's illegal and if they break the law we'll put nuns in jail. They lose me there. South Dakota would be a better place if we'd listen to the Presentation Sisters more often. BTW, I'm not Catholic. But I have praised the Presentation Sisters before - I've noted that Sanford Health appears morally unanchored and adrift on the sea of profitability. ((You can debate that if you like, the comment was made in the context of their dollar-driven science/research hopes of experimenting on human embyros. In that context, and in the context of the abortion debate here, I've said at least Avera Health has the Presentations Sisters as a moral anchor.))
You get the idea– this bill, in my view, was devoid of Christian charity and compassion. Strategically, considering the Arizona bill was so unpopular, it would have been helpful to the cause here to distance our bill from the Arizona bill by saying we have a more compassionate approach. I probably would have supported the bill if Sections 7-9 were amended somehow and if there were some corresponding gestures of concern for the people directly involved in this issue. Namely, rather than just cold, cut and dry statements of– they don't belong here– it would help to introduce legislation like this by leading off with an acknowledgment of the complexity of this issue, acknowledging one of the biggest tangled knots for Christians trying to sort all this out is how current immigration policy splits up families - legal's and illegals. Also, it would really help to decry the American Greed which manifests in paying illegals less so we can make more.
This lack of charity is my second concern. It is probably the case that I am notably more connected internationally and with internationals here than the average South Dakotan. The lack of charity in this bill and those like it, in my view and from what I'm hearing from my international friends, is effectually disinfranchizing large voting blocks of LEGAL hispanics in America. America has a majority of pro-life voters, but only because America is filling up with LEGAL hispanics who are mainly Catholic and Pro-life. Political conservatives as I need to wake up to how these voters will quickly shift, if they haven't already, to left-leaning candidates in the coming election because those on the right lacked charity toward the relatives of the ones already here legally. The same is true regarding Native Americans in our state. Natives here, as a block have, voted Democratically in South Dakota over and over again even though the Democrats haven't done much more than use them. It's my view that Republicans in our state, by and large, have little to no charity toward Natives. That is changing and needs to change.
I recieved an email this week from a notable republican in South Dakota thanking me for not supporting HB-1198. The note seemed a bit like a commentary on 1 Corinthians 13… the greatest of these is love (charity). I share that to illustrate that how others besides me, others who should be for this, are also asking… where is the love?
Comments on Why I did NOT vote in support of SD's Immigration Bill »
Steve @ 10:43 am
HB-1198 is not the same as SB-156 which I co-sponsored and support. http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2011/Bill.aspx?File=SB156SJU.htm
My transporting illegals concerns were dealt with in the amendment process of SB-156.
Brittanicus @ 3:24 pm
WE MUST COME TOGETHER TO FIGHT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND ITS ASTRONOMICAL COSTS.
Unrest is spreading into different States over the collective bargaining with the public sector unions, but the main spotlight is on Wisconsin the smaller of the States where teachers and local workers are up in arms over pensions and promised benefits. Democrats run off with their tail between their legs, afraid to confront the assembly over this issue. The crux of the matter started mainly with the collapse of the real estate industry , Freddie Mac-Freddie Mae threatened by radical groups demanding they give mortgages to the lower income people, including illegal alien families who were unable to afford the properties and yet still qualified for a large, expensive home. The aftermath is millions of Americans are out of work, unable to afford their mortgages and hundreds of thousands heading for foreclosure.
Unlike the majority of the American citizens-legal residents, illegal aliens in possession of ITIN (DeFacto Social Security number) issued by the IRS, where able to purchase houses, and then with the deterioration of the market vanished into oblivion, leaving yet another property waiting for a foreclosure notice. Since when is the IRS above the law, aiding and abetting allowing illegal aliens to buy homes? All US Citizens should read the consequences of giving ITIN numbers to foreigners, that was part of the real estate chaos, http://tinyurl.com/64s59w4 and in addition read about the huge billion dollar fraud with Child Tax Credits at http://tinyurl.com/69s7yhk
My distant family in California has seen the housing market collapse as prices fell, and the banks tightening their lending procedures. Before the bubble burst lending institutions would lend with a fiscal score of just 520, now risen to 620 with no allowance for small irregularities. One buyer earning $100 thousand a year, with a good job and stable employment, was not accepted because he had a $32.00 dollar payment outstanding from Macy's. The Banks have become increasingly Scrooges and are now part of the massive problem, with the real estate market almost dormant., yet they received massive bailouts by the Obama Liberal-Democrats before the 2010 election.
Even today the financial house a refusing to lend and are using every means possible to delay transactions, causing a major disruption for agents and brokers alike. Many small builders have been driven to the edge of bankruptcy. Both Democrats and Republicans must make a stand against the malleable use of the ITIN number. It should not be allowed in qualifying for a property by foreign nationals. The ITIN number had a whole mortgage product built around it, which has now fallen apart. The United States is a land of laws yet the IRS organizes a program to tax illegal behavior in the ITIN. The banks were literary forced to lend money to people living in the country illegally based on their tax Returns. They say that illegal aliens are hard-working, tax-paying people, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. So why did these foreigners evacuate hundreds of thousands of homes and vanish, leaving a bloody mess. One of the "masterminds" who served the chronic largely unpublicized situation, in the Liberal-oriented newspapers is the role of Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo in this present economic meltdown. http://tinyurl.com/667zwkv Please–read this information, as it applies to the massive foreclosures caused by one man and covered up.
American has been fooled for years by every administration that has catered to foreign nationals, giving hundreds of billions of dollars to families who never paid into any welfare pool. Even now illegal aliens parents are receiving (SSI) Supplementary Social Security Income having never paid taxes for them. One buyer earning $100 thousand a year, with a good job and stable employment, was not accepted because he had a $32.00 dollar payment outstanding from Macy's. The Banks have become increasingly Scrooges and are now part of the massive problem, with the real estate market almost dormant., yet they received massive bailouts by the Obama Liberal-Democrats before the 2010 election.
Even today the financial house a refusing to lend and are using every means possible to delay transactions, causing a major disruption for agents and brokers alike. Many small builders have been driven to the edge of bankruptcy. Both Democrats and Republicans must make a stand against the malleable use of the ITIN number. It should not be allowed in qualifying for a property by foreign nationals. The ITIN number had a whole mortgage product built around it, which has now fallen apart. The United States is a land of laws yet the IRS organizes a program to tax illegal behavior in the ITIN. The banks were literary forced to lend money to people living in the country illegally based on their tax Returns. They say that illegal aliens are hard-working, tax-paying people, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. So why did these foreigners evacuate hundreds of thousands of homes and vanish, leaving a bloody mess. One of the "masterminds" who served the chronic largely unpublicized situation, in the Liberal-oriented newspapers is the role of Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo in this present economic meltdown. http://tinyurl.com/667zwkv Please–read this information, as it applies to the massive foreclosures caused by one man and covered up.
American has been fooled for years by every administration that has catered to foreign nationals, giving hundreds of billions of dollars to families who never paid into any welfare pool. Even now illegal aliens parents are receiving (SSI) Supplementary Social Security Income having never paid taxes for them. Unbelievable amounts of money have been generously spirited from taxpayers to support foreign nationals by both the Federal and State governments. Do not believe they don't receive Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, low income housing. US citizens and legal non-citizen immigrants should be ushered to the front of pension lines and public benefits. Explain to me why we have veteran’s soldier’s homeless, single mothers with children and pensioners living on the streets. Yet illegal alien Mothers who intentionally slipped past the border or entered America by plane or ship pregnant, to later have more 14th Amendment citizenship children are allotted low income housing?
Every State is hurting now from years of neglect, for not confronting the illegal alien invasion of this country. But finally the 50 States subjected to this unparalleled occupation have started to fight back, against the reckless federal government. First it was the courageous border State of Arizona that even though it enacted policing laws, was attacked by the Department of Justice Czars and thrown to the liberal wolves in the 9th Federal District Court in San Francisco. The illegal alien occupation is like a prism of negative light, which streaks out in every direction causing maximum damage to every element of American life and costs that are impracticable to keep serving up anymore. We are educating foreign government’s children, offering them free health and even adding to the populations of our prisons. There is a Pdf file "Illegal Aliens and American Medicine. “ that every American should assimilate on Google.
But the momentum of anger is climbing as more and more states have come to the conclusion, that these drains on their treasuries is caused by illegal immigration welfare benefits and the amnesty of 1986. A large majority of Americans sit back and do nothing, which is unacceptable when Liberal progressives are mainly to blame for the hundred billion dollar debt that grows annually We must all become activists and join the TEA Party, or pro-sovereignty groups such as NUMBERSUSA, who are fighting for you to keep more of your tax dollars. Once you are an anonymous member, you can fax you Federal, State or local Representative. Or hold accountable your Senator or Congressman in Washington, by calling 202-224-3121
larry kurtz @ 4:23 pm
The reading of the Declaration of Independence by members of the reporting staff at NPR gets me every time. Past on-air personalities, some now correspondents at the pearly gates, also read for this decades-old feature. The tears stream down my face right up to the line that begins, ” He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare…”
That’s when it hits me right between the eyes.
When those words were being written, thousands of cultures inhabited a continent that seemed to keep growing huge ripe plums just waiting for Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton and the rest to pick and pick and pick and pick. Already, the Chesapeake Bay estuary had been mostly denuded of native vegetation, not to mention of its former human inhabitants. Slaves tilled the fields and built the infrastructure, the ancestors of the Lakota and other Siouan groups that had been forced westward out of North Carolina generations earlier, traded with the Spanish and French while forging their own alliances (and marriages) with other indigenous peoples.
So, we’ve come a long way, init?
While the Palestinian homeland looks like holes in the slice of Swiss cheese analogous to the illegal Israeli state, progress toward resolutions of Native trust disputes would have far more political traction after tribes secede from the States in which they reside and then be ratified to form one State sans contiguous borders with two Senators and a House member.
The United States Constitution is the finest instrument ever created by the human hand. The Preamble is the body, the Bill of Rights is the neck, the Amendments are the strings. It is a fluid universal execution of human and civil rights.
It’s time for all Americans to enjoy the protection of law by being part of one nation: erase the artificial borders and grant Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness to all the people of North America…Mexico, Central America, Canada, even the Caribbean if they’ll have us.
ip is not a New World Order guy, does not support the North American Union (god bless you. please, mr. roddenberry) and believes that the US Constitution is a big enough canvas in order to paint a more perfect masterpiece, a big enough score for all to sing. No violence. No more drug wars.
Read Alaska’s constitution some time. The last states ratified are the most egalitarian. Let’s debate it and draft a dream referendum to be delivered by and for the people of Mexico to dissolve their constitution and petition for Statehood.