Arizona "tweaks" New Immigration Law; Some in GOP Still Backing Away

Many people have many thoughts on how we should fix the illegal immigrant problem plaguing our country and what we should do with the ones that are already here illegally. One thing is for sure.... doing nothing will only allow the problem to expand and become a bigger financial strain on states, counties, & cities, most of which are already facing a shortage of cash & cutting back on services.

One of the first steps, being a nation of laws, the federal government should enforce the current immigration laws. But what is a state to do when the federal government does NOT enforce their own laws and this lack of enforcement is creating a financial strain on the well being of the community along with creating an unsafe environment for U.S. citizens?

Most would say it is incumbent on the elected state officials, within the powers vested in them under our Constitution & affirmed in their State Constitution, to take action in addressing the problems when the Federal government refuses to do so. The State of Arizona did just that and is now facing a full frontal attack on their states rights by the federal government that allowed the problem to grow to epidemic proportions.

In attempts to address the concerns of the PC Korretniks on the left, illegal immigrants & the expected onslaught of legal challenges, the State of Arizona recently refined the language in their controversial and so-called civil rights violating new illegal immigration law....

From L.A. Times --

The initial law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week, required police to determine a person's immigration status if officers formed a reasonable suspicion about their legality during any "lawful contact." That led to suggestions by some legal experts that police would be obligated to scrutinize even people who asked for directions.

Lawmakers on Thursday night changed the language to require scrutiny only of people who police stop, detain or arrest. They also changed a section of the bill that barred officers from "solely" using race as grounds for suspecting someone is in the country illegally; opponents had argued that that would allow race to be a factor. The legislators removed the word "solely" to bar race from being used by officers enforcing the law.

"It absolutely clarifies what the intent was," said Paul Senseman, a spokesman for Brewer, who supported the changes and is expected to sign them into law. "It's undeniable now that this bill will not lead to racial profiling." More....

The intent of AZ's new law was always clear -- removing the illegal immigrants already there and stop/stem the flow of illegal immigrants from over the porous border that the federal government refuses to address. It has nothing to do with being against a certain race or culture. Nowhere in the law does it say only target people from Mexico or specific races from Latin America.

The mostly disobedient and far from peaceful protests by groups against enforcing any laws dealing with illegal immigration (other than complete Amnesty) has the GOP in a tizzy. Instead of supporting the will of the voters some high profile members of the Elephant clan show they are more concerned with votes & running for political cover than doing what's right...

Arizona's immigration law has been an immediate hit with the Republican base, but some of the party's top strategists and rising stars worry that the harsh crackdown may do long-term damage to the GOP in the eyes of America's Hispanic population.

And the party's long-term thinkers worry that the Arizona law is merely a quick political fix which may create a permanent rift with the fastest growing segment of the U.S. electorate.

"It's like a virus that you get and you don't feel like you're unhealthy for the first few days, but after that you have a fever and you're really sick," says Matthew Dowd, former President George W. Bush's chief strategist in 2004. "You can't win a national election and you can't win certain states without the Latino vote. And Republicans already had a problem."

"I think there is going to be some constitutional problems with the bill," top Bush strategist Karl Rove said during a stop on his book tour. "I wished they hadn't passed it, in a way." (AZ Central)

And they've even got their "bought & paid for" wing of the Tea Party speaking out against the law....

Even Sal Russo, the longtime California Republican political operative who helps fund the Tea Party Express, acknowledges that the Arizona law creates problems for the party.

"I think Republicans do a poor job of communicating to non-traditional Republican voters," Russo said. "We've done a poor job in reaching out beyond the Republican base, and I think that's been part of the problem. (AZ Central)

Even though this new law has bi-partisan support in Arizona, and the fact that AZ Governor Jan Brewer actually saw an increase in poll numbers AFTER the law was signed, as usual ignoring the will and voice of "We the People," Russo & the GOP want to make it about the "party" and not the people.

A couple of polls being ignored by the spineless GOP and the "drive-by" Tea Party Express is a Gallup poll showing 51% of Americans aware of the Arizona law support it -- along with 39% of the people polled who have not yet heard of the law also supported it. The 39% most likely reflects U.S. citizens happy somebody is just doing something about the illegal immigration problem in this country.

And in a poll done by SurveyUSA, 82 percent of Florida Republicans who have heard about Arizona's law agree with it—and 81 percent think Florida should pass a similar measure.

You can click here to sign the Tea Party Patriots petition supporting Arizona's new law.

Do You Support Arizona's New Immigration Law?

From our National Coordinators (www.teapartypatriots.org) --

Dear Fellow Tea Party Patriots,

We are getting a lot of emails from inside of Arizona asking for support of their state's new law and from outside of Arizona expressing their opinion about the new law.

Do you support Arizona's new immigration law and believe in the right of each state to protect its own citizens from the effects of illegal immigration? If so, go to our petition site and sign the petition by clicking here.

After signing the petition, share the link with everyone on your Facebook pages and email lists. Finally, please use the 'I Support Arizona' image on your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

For further information, click here for a link to the text of the bill.

Being a "nation of laws," AZ is just asking the laws be enforced.... the Federal Government wasn't -- so they are!

We discussed this topic in our last meeting. It was nearly unanimous that we should be supportive of the new AZ law. With stress being put on this not being an attack on any one race of people... simply put -- NO immigrants should be given "special status" over others. We will welcome ALL legal immigrants willing to be become American citizens.

Is Puerto Rico Being Forced Down the Path to Statehood?

From the Pittsburgh Tea Party Patriots --

Would you please call the U.S. Representatives today and ask them to vote no on H.R. 2499? This is a trojan horse, middle of the night kind of bill that you may not have heard about yet. The Left is trying to label anyone who votes against this bill as a racist, so all representatives must be called!

TIME TO MELT THE PHONES!

Congress is at it again!

Now they are trying to sneak in a vote that would put Puerto Rico on the path to statehood. The only trouble is, they haven't exactly told US about it (sound familiar??).

Please take a moment and read the information below, then pick up the phone and CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE! ... Then call five friends and ask them to do the same! :)

Click on congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm to get your Representative's best phone numbers. Start with the DC offices, then move on the the LOCAL numbers!

Demand your Representative vote NO on HR 2499

Here's what Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com had to say:

There is a bill to make Puerto Rico a state. Again, they are trying to pull one over on us and on Puerto Ricans, who have consistently said they do not want to become a state. Read below for more information (from Eagle Forum). This was also discussed by Rep Tom Price on a conference call yesterday.

Please consider this:

• The U.S. would transform, overnight, into a bilingual nation. At least half of Puerto Ricans do not speak English, the language of our U.S. Constitution and founding documents. The Washington Times article, "Puerto Rican statehood," analyzes all the implications of adding a foreign language-speaking state to the Union.

• It would bring immediate demands for massive federal spending. The average income of Puerto Ricans is less than half that of our poorest state, and infrastructure and the environment are far below American standards. Puerto Rico has a population with a median national income of $17,741, nearly a third of that for the U.S.

• Puerto Rico is already a democracy. Despite the bill's deceptive title, Puerto Rico already has an elected government and exists as a self-governed commonwealth of the U.S.

• Statehood would give Puerto Rico more congressional representation than 25 of our 50 states! It would inevitably give Democrats two additional U.S. Senators and 6 to 8 additional Members of the House.

H.R. 2499 is stealth legislation designed to lead to the admission of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico as the 51st state, thereby making us a de facto bilingual nation, like Canada. The U.S. Congress should not be forcing Puerto Ricans to vote on statehood, especially since the Puerto Rican people have rejected statehood three times since 1991!

No Member of Congress who describes himself as a limited government, fiscal conservative should be casting a YEA vote for H.R. 2499, as Puerto Rican statehood would cause an immediate increase in federal expenditures, particularly for taxpayer-funded welfare state services.

The Puerto Rican government is even playing hardball with it own people! Read this by Ann Shibler :

The United States House of Representatives is set to vote on H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, as early as this week. This bill would mandate a non-binding expression by the voters of Puerto Rico as to their wishes with regard to retaining their commonwealth status or becoming a state or becoming an independent nation, but in conjunction with other legislation already introduced inside Puerto Rico, the commonwealth status of the island could be eliminated as early as this year.

Three times in the past 43 years Puerto Ricans have voted against becoming the 51st state in the Union, the last time being 11 years ago. But this time the bill is rigged to eliminate the commonwealth option and grant either full statehood, or total independence. Sen. Jose Hernandez-Mayoral of the island's minority Popular Democratic Party said, "Behind this innocuous bill lies a fully thought out assault on Congress to designate the island the 51st state." "With the commonwealth option out of the ballot, statehood is finally, albeit crookedly, assured a victory."

To read the whole article click here.

For the complete text of HR2499 Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 click here.

SWAT Team Called on Tea Party Patriots

Yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, April 28, as Tea Party Patriots held a protest outside of an event where President Obama was speaking, the Secret Service called in SWAT teams to handle the protesters because they would not move and were singing patriotic songs.

Look at the video at these sites:

Fox Nation Report on the incident
Video on the Dana Report, Local Coordinator in St. Louis
Report on HotAir

Now compare the above videos with this video of phone messages and emails left to our friends at FreedomWorks. (These phone messages and emails left at FreedomWorks who light of recent accusations, took the opportunity to set the record straight.

DISCLAIMER: Full of harsh language and violent rhetoric. Emails and voicemails are only edited to remove names and phone numbers.)

Tea Party Patriots Co-Founder makes 2010 TIME Top 100 List

From 2010 TIME --

Every revolution needs icons. The Tea Party movement may have mushroomed because of its reluctance to anoint a leader, but leaders have emerged nonetheless. In February 2009, Jenny Beth Martin was one of about 20 people who took part in the original conference call (convened via Twitter hashtag) in response to Rick Santelli's now famous rant. Her commitment to building the burgeoning movement has made her one of its breakout stars.

Martin, 39, is a co-founder and the national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella organization that claims 1,800 local affiliates with some 15 million members. She serves as co-chair of her hometown Tea Party in Atlanta, and she helped lead the 9/12 movement's march on Washington in September. It was only as she watched protesters trickle down Pennsylvania Avenue to promote Tea Party principles, she says, that "the enormity of the movement hit me."

The former Republican consultant is an unlikely beacon — a mother of young twins, she blogs about clipping coupons, her household menu plans and her family's battle with bankruptcy, which had Martin cleaning houses to make ends meet when the Tea Party began brewing. "I have a tendency to raise my hand to volunteer too often," she says of the decision to launch the Tea Party Patriots. Her peers are glad she did.

Speaking as one of the local coordinator & State Coordinators -- we could not be happier! And we may be biased, but we do not believe there is a better example than Jenny Beth as to what the Tea Party movement is really about.

I recall the initial nationwide conference calls in the days immediately following the 1st Tax Day Tea Parties. Maintaining the integrity & original intent of the Tax Day Tea Parties, remaining a grass-roots, bottom up type non-partisan group has always been at the forefront in the Tea Party Patriots birth and infancy. Jenny Beth was always stressing this must be maintained as the TPP's grow.

Jenny Beth, we know you do not like the spot light, that you have shied away public recognition for your hard work you do , but-- Congratulations! In the spirit of a true American you have truly earned this.

Immigration Reform Groups Target Ohio Senators

Patriots,

Arzella (Lake/Geauga County Tea Party Patriots) has been on top of immigrations issues here in OH and on a national level. Arzella forwarded the below information on how pro-immigration groups are making targeted efforts urging our OH Senators to support "their" version of immigration reform.

We need you to contact Sen. Brown & Sen. Voinovich and let them know your feelings on any immigration reform.

From the Lake/Geauga County Tea Party Patriots --

Immigration reform advocates in OH are visiting every U.S. Senate office across the state, urging public support and immediate action on reform legislation

A diverse coalition of immigration reform supporters are touring the state, asking Senators Brown and Voinovich to publicly support comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year.

Every office of Senator Brown and Senator Voinovich needs to receive phone calls, e-mails and faxes on this issue. We do not need an Amnesty Bill passed. What we need is for our borders to be secured and our existing immigration laws to be enforced. In 1986 amnesty was given to approximately 3 million illegal immigrants. It is now 2010 and we are looking at over 20 million illegal immigrants.

Senator Sherrod Brown:
DC p (202) 224-2315 f (202) 228-6321
Cleveland p (216) 522-7272 f (216) 522-2239
Cincinnati p (513) 684-1021 f (513) 684-1029
Columbus p (614) 469-2083 f (614) 469-2171
Lorain p(440) 242-4100 f (440) 242-4108

Senator George Voinovich
DC p (202) 224-3353
Toledo p (419) 259-3895 f (419) 259-3899
Cinncinati p (513) 684-3265 f (513) 684-3269
Nelsonville p (740) 441-6410 f (740) 753-3551
Columbus p (614) 469-6697 f (614) 469-7733
Cleveland p (216) 522-7095 f (216) 522-7097

Protect City of Euclid voting Rights

Our Euclid Team Leader, Jason Alan, put this together for voters in Euclid.

PROTECT EUCLID VOTING RIGHTS

• In Nov. of 2009 Euclid Council terms were extended from 2 to 4 yr. terms. Now if they perform poorly we have to wait possibly 4 years to VOTE them out.

• OR another way for them to be removed is to gather signatures in the form of a petition and have it placed on the next elections ballot.

• Issues 26 and 27 deal with this and are on the May 4th primary ballot in the form of city AMENDMENTS.

• ISSUE 26 Article III, Section 2,
  Recall - The charter of the city of Euclid be amended to increase the number of signatures needed to file such petitions (removal of elected officials) to 25 percent of the electors voting in the most recent general election.

• Currently, the charter requires ONLY 15% of those who voted in last years election.

• ISSUE 27 Should Article III, Section 2,
• Recall of the Charter of the City of Euclid be amended to require a declaration of intent to petition for the removal of any elected officer of the city; and to impose a 45 day time limit on the filing of petitions after the declaration has been filed.

• Currently, there is NO time limit on the gathering of signatures for recall.

• The DECLARATION to RECALL is something new.

• If you combine the new staggered City Council terms, with the newly added 4 year terms and if ISSUES 26 and 27 pass they are further distancing themselves from us “Their Employers”.

• This does NOTHING to benefit the residents of Euclid, and will ONLY benefit the elected officials “Our Employees”

VOTE NO! VOTE NO! VOTE NO!
On Issues 26 and 27