Immigration “Reform,” Core Conservative Values, and The GOP

So when it comes to Immigration "Reform," who’s on the side of United States citizens and Tea Party Values? We know that Senators McCain, Graham, Flake, and Rubio are RINOs. Rubio is falling in the early Iowa polls, an early fall from grace that MIGHT be noticed by Representatives in the House -- all up for re-election in 2014. Who can we count on? Speaker John Boehner? Paul Ryan? Eric Cantor? Kevin McCarthy? Is even Trey Gowdy going wobbly? 

Breitbart’s WyntonHall identifies some of the money spigots that are corrupting these protectors of the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law:

House Republicans looking to continue collecting campaign donations from high tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft will come under increasing pressure to pass the immigration bill that Silicon Valley has pumped millions into promoting. 

Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have all visited and met with Silicon Valley gurus at Facebook, Google, and others. And this year, Facebook has made campaign donations to GOP leaders like Cantor, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg’s Fwd.us pro-immigration advocacy group has even cut ads backing Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).But the computer world’s cash and backing may be threatened if House Republicans stand strong against the Senate bill’s comprehensive immigration package. The Senate immigration bill includes almost everything the tech industry wanted, such as more green cards for high-skilled tech workers and a substantial increase in the number of annual H-1B visas allowed for foreign engineers. 

 “It would be a very different reception for them in the Valley if they were to go out there without having been able to accomplish this, which is an item high on the priority list for Silicon Valley, and it’s seen as doable,” one tech lobbyist told The Hill. 

 In recent years, Silicon Valley has increasingly put its money where its politics are. Last year, tech companies spent a record-shattering $132.5 million on lobbying, and Facebook spent 20 times more on lobbying than it did just four years ago.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg’s group Fwd.us aims to raise $50 million to push the immigration bill’s passage. 

Silicon Valley tech gurus will likely ratchet up House GOP enticements and threats as the immigration bill’s fate hangs in the balance. Already, however, some Republicans are trying to save face with Silicon Valley. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has advanced a proposal that would designate 55,000 green cards specifically for foreign graduates with advanced degrees in high-paying technical fields and boost the H-1B visa ceiling from 65,000 to 155,000.

This is a good time to send postcards with brief messages to some of these RINOs or wobblers. Sending postcards (instead of letters) to their state offices instead of DC reduces the security check delays. My own message was: 

No Amnesty. No Immigration “reform.” 

Secure the borders and enforce existing laws.

Here are some addresses:

Speaker John Boehner

7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Suite B

West Chester, OH 45069

Rep. Paul Ryan

216 6th Street

Racine, WI 53403

Rep.  Eric Cantor

4201 Dominion Blvd. #110

Glen Allen, VA 23060

Rep. Kevin McCarthy

4100 Empire Drive, Suite 150

Bakersfield, CA 93309 

Rep. Trey Gowdy

104 S. Main St.

Greenville, SC  29601

Rep. Darrell Issa

1800 Thibodo Road, #310

Vista, CA 92081

STOP the Amnesty Bill S.744

From our fellow patriots in Pittsburgh (h/t Pat Rowlands):

Thanks to Chris Fromme for his summary of a call with Tea Party Patriots regarding the immigration bill (S. 744).  

PLEASE call your representative!!

On July 10 the Republican caucus will have a closed-door meeting on immigration, Leadership will speak: John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Trey Gowdy, Sub-committee on Immigration, and Bob Goodlatte Judiciary, Chairman. After that it is OPEN MIC where any Congressman can voice his/her opinion on S. 744 or any bills that the house has passed through committee.

The first reason to oppose S-744 was pointed out by Rep.  Steve Stockman (TX) here and here: 

Not only is the Senate amnesty bill an abuse of taxpayers and immigrants, it's unconstitutional. The Senate cannot invent its own amnesty taxes. I hope Speaker Boehner will immediately kill the amnesty bill through a constitutionally-required blue slip. As long as the amnesty bill sits in the House it poses a threat to taxpayers and immigrants.

Several provisions of the Senate amnesty bill create new taxes, a violation of the "origination clause," Article I, Section 7, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, which states: "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."

Section 2102 of the amnesty bill requires the payment of certain taxes, and forgives the payment of other taxes as a condition of receiving amnesty and other benefits. The Constitution prohibits the Senate from approving bills that raise revenue.

The Congressional Budget Office flatly states "enacting S. 744 would have a wide range of effects on federal revenues, including changes in collections of income and payroll taxes, certain visa fees that are classified as revenues, and various fines and penalties. Taken together, those effects would increase revenues by $459 billion over the 2014-2023 period.   

S. 744 is all pork and Amnesty first --- and security maybe. In short, 744 should end up dead on arrival.

Steve King (R-IA) points out that the House should pass no bill that could ever be made to become part of S-744, because any such bill would go to a compromise committee that could get passed with a few RINO votes + 201 Democrat votes needed for passage.  And then Americans would be stuck with this monstrosity of a bill. That's why the House should pass NO immigration bill. Period.

Congressmen should be looking out for the people that cannot find work, most of all the veterans, not law-breaking illegals.   Another horror in S-744: as a perk to the Chamber of Commerce, the Senate bill provides that newly minted green card holders taking the place of a fired US citizen will not get Obamacare and the employer will not pay the $3000 fine.

Call GOP House representatives!  Contact info here. 

Call Ohio GOP representatives. Contact info here.

Do Not Pass ANY Immigration Bill

Updates from Tea Party Patriots, Ohio Tea Party Patriots, and The Mansfield Tea Party (h/t Marianne G):

"Needless to say we are focused and working hard to stop the monstrosity of an amnesty bill that passed out of the Senate, and was supported by 14 Republicans.

The House has said that this bill is "dead on arrival", but where there's a will, there's a way.

Even if the House passes a one page border security only bill, it can be mutated into something disastrous and unrecognizable when it goes into conference with the Senate.  The goal is to convince our Representatives to Pass Nothing before the August recess, creating a "cool down" period. 

When Congress convenes in September, the focus will then turn to the Debt Ceiling and the Continuing Resolution, once again.

What More Can We Do to Stop Amnesty? 

Tea Party Patriots has provided another tool kit to help us in our fight.

Today we are asking that you write a letter to the editor, and have provided talking points and samples Click Here

"Tweet it Tuesday" - Do you tweet?  Tea Party Patriots has provided messaging for Twitter and Facebook Click Here

Wednesday we are asking that you write postcards to your Representatives, Speaker Boehner, Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Kevin McCarthy.  We have provided sample letters, but it will get to them faster if you can make one or two points on a postcard. Click Here."

# # # 

To the US House: NO immigration “reform” bill

The House Republican Conference meeting focusing on immigration "reform" is this Wednesday, July 10th. Please contact your House Representative (note: if your Rep. is a Democrat, you may want to dial GOPs from Ohio instead) – and Speaker John Boehner - to tell them you want no amnesty bill – NO immigration “reform” bill - brought to the House floor. You can read more on the ramifications of a House Amnesty Bill from prior blogs here and here.

Speaker John Boehner

Ohio PH 513-779-5400

Email here

DC Fax 202-225-0704

Find an Ohio GOP Representative and contact details here.

Cleveland Welcomes Tall Ships

The Parade of Tall Ships sailed into the Port of Cleveland this afternoon, the day before Independence Day. The Rotary Club of Cleveland sponsors the Festival, today through July 7. Check out the Tall Ships website here. There's a page of invited ships that you can match up with some of the photos posted above and below. 

Message to US House: Immigration bill should be DOA

Gov. Palin on the immigration bill that passed in the Senate (and why we need to push the House to pass NOTHING):

Great job, GOP establishment. You’ve just abandoned the Reagan Democrats with this amnesty bill, and we needed them to “enlarge that tent” of which you so often speak. It’s depressing to consider that the House of Representatives is threatening to pass some version of this nonsensical bill in the coming weeks. [emphasis added]

Once again, I’ll point out the obvious to you: it was the loss of working class voters in swing states that cost us the 2012 election, not the Hispanic vote. Legal immigrants respect the rule of law and can see how self-centered a politician must be to fill this amnesty bill with favors, earmarks, and crony capitalists’ pork, and call it good. You disrespect Hispanics with your assumption that they desire ignoring the rule of law. 

Folks like me are barely hanging on to our enlistment papers in any political party – and it’s precisely because flip-flopping political actions like amnesty force us to ask how much more bull from both the elephants in the Republican Party and the jackasses in the Democrat Party we have to swallow before these political machines totally abandon the average commonsense hardworking American. Now we turn to watch the House. If they bless this new “bi-partisan” hyper-partisan devastating plan for amnesty, we’ll know that both private political parties have finally turned their backs on us. It will then be time to show our parties’ hierarchies what we think of being members of either one of these out-of-touch, arrogant, and dysfunctional political machines.

Two other excellent - if scary - analyses of the Immigration "Reform" bill are at American Thinker (“Immigrationists and the Death of America”) here and at Townhall by the blond bomb-thrower, Ann Coulter, here. 

Take your pick: all sorts of talking points when phoning Speaker Boehner and other members of the US House of Representatives to take the Senate Immigration bill and -- drive a stake through its heart. 

The Immigration Bill: Why a Vote for Nothing Makes Sense

Dear Cleveland Patriot,

As you know, the destructive amnesty bill passed the Senate last week, with 14 Republican traitors supporting it.

Now the fight in the House begins, and this is a very important week if we are to win this fight. 

The members of the House are home this week for Independence Day.  They return to DC next week to hold a special meeting on the 10th to discuss immigration only.

It is important that they hear from us this week, before that special meeting on the 10th.

Our Message to Our Representatives

Don't Vote for Anything

Right now we are being told that the House has flat out rejected the Senate bill, and that the goal of the House is to pass legislation through a piecemeal approach, making border security and enforcement a priority.

While I'm sure we all agree that border security and its enforcement take priority, if a bill gets put through the House it will go to conference.  At this point, what started as a good bill could be distorted by combining it with the Senate bill, and do we really want more empty promises on border control?  If they would just enforce the laws that have been put in place since 1986, our efforts could be better spent on the priorities of Americans like jobs and the economy.

Also, once a bill reaches conference we, as citizens, lose much of our control.  Speaker Boehner will decide who takes part in the conference, and we all know that he will not pick a strong conservative.  Not to mention that Paul Ryan appears to have become the "Marco Rubio" of the House. Click Here to Read More

The only way to stop this push for amnesty is for our Representatives to vote for nothing, even if it's a border protection bill.

Why a Vote for Nothing Makes Sense

It's All About the Timing

The goal of the House is to have the immigration issue settled by the August recess.

If we can stall the process long enough, whereas nothing gets voted on in July, the issue will lose steam over the break.

When Congress returns in the fall, they will have the debt ceiling and the continuing resolution to deal with, flatlining the immigration debate.

Call Your Reps Today, and Every Day This Week

Please click here to find contact information for your Representative.

Please remind your representative that their job is to REPRESENT their constituents, not illegals and big business.

Remind them that the purpose of immigration policy must be for the benefit of American society.  Many illegals don't want amnesty. They don't want to be Americans, pay taxes and assimilate Click Here to Read More

Remind them that our government serves at the consent of our citizens, not the consent of aliens and their governments.

Remind them that there are already laws that, if enforced, would solve the border security issue (see Failed Timeline article here).  

h/t Marianne G