Call Your Congressman Today

The House is considering a vote on H.R. 5230 on Thursday.  This bill falls short of controlling the cost and expansion of wholesale amnesty. There is no provision for stopping expansion of presidential executive orders to increase the numbers of illegals coming here.

A number of U.S. businesses support illegal immigration as a means of securing low-cost workers.  It doesn't seem to matter that the social costs of healthcare, education, and housing are going to be left to the citizens. It will be our taxes which pay for services that most of us can't get as individuals.  Citizens must show I.D. and insurance to even get checked into a hospital. When illegals apply for Obamacare, officials are not allowed to ask their legal status.

When Michele Bachmann toured the border, she was shocked to see no enforcement.  The border patrol is simply registering folks crossing the border and driving them to doctors and getting them clothes and food. While they are busy doing this, drug dealers are crossing unopposed with their contraband. The coyote receives several thousand dollars to get an illegal to the border and brings drugs across while he is there.

The money has been designated for a border fence and the laws are in place to secure our country from criminals and terrorists who are coming from all over the world .  The breakdown comes with enforcement. The executive branch is not enforcing the law.  The Department of Homeland Security is being used to facilitate the border surge and make it worse as political retribution to Congress for refusing to pass amnesty legislation.

The administration is threatening to fly planes to Honduras and bring illegals from there to give them refugee status.  Refugee status is reserved for people who  are under persecution and whose lives are endangered for political or religious reasons.  An example of a refugee would be a Christian in Iraq or Syria who is killed if he doesn't convert to Islam.

We have to depend on Congress to address these atrocities.  Gang members are being allowed into the U.S along with persons who are infected with diseases never seen before in the U.S.  They are allowed to board planes with civilians thoroughly scanned by security services, but the illegals are not checked and do not have I.D. in many cases.

Most of these problems are only dealt with by border patrol and police on the border, but it becomes a crushing national expense when it comes to funding welfare services and to protecting our families from criminals that are allowed here from all over the world. There is a bill in the House which addresses the problem of amnesty by executive order.  Please tell your representative to support H.R. 5160 which is a better way to address this critical issue.  https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5160 Your Representative for the Walsenburg area is Scott Tipton at (202)225-4761. The vote on this important issue is Thursday, July 31st, so there is not much time to make your voice heard.

Illegal Immigration

The white house is attacking Congress and every concerned citizen with its version of amnesty.  This version is the one that leaves all citizens and Congress out of the loop.

In the history of our nation when has the Congress and the citizens not been allowed to be a part of the decision making process?  A large percentage of the population has been vocal about this issue.  They have said no immigration reform until the border is secure and the present laws are enforced.  Legal immigrants who are going through the process of becoming a citizen are against illegals passing them and going to the front of the line.

A picture of the present amnesty push by the white house is showing that the illegals are not all minors.  They are not being screened for disease and criminal records.  They are being allowed to fly on commercial airlines without tickets or ID.  They are being housed and provided for with taxpayer funds without our approval.

Since the border patrol has been neutered by Homeland security, the states are having to protect the border.  Many illegals are getting aid from Mexico in their invasion tactics.  An American corporation is operating the train the illegals are riding to the border.  The train was a part of the NAFTA agreement which was to provide more jobs in Mexico.

Now the white house is claiming the illegals are refugees fleeing persecution in Central America.  They are, in fact, running to the welfare buffet on the US border provided by the feds without our approval.

The idea that these illegals are "refugees" can only come from delusional folks like Nancy Pelosi, John McCain, and our white house.  The true refugees are Christians who are being tortured and killed daily in Iraq, Syria, and Africa.  They are also being attacked with weapons provided by this administration.

We should be as vocal as possible to stop these illegal and criminal acts being perpetrated by our "DOJ" and the white house.

America Revisited

The news keeps coming about our country being in decline.  It is depressing, but we can't give up.  In a country where a movement starts to restrict free speech and take away rights of law-abiding citizens,  the hope of the oppressing force is that citizens will lose hope and give up.

America used to be a country standing for freedom in the world.  We had freedom of speech for all, not just those who were in our political party.  Our veterans fought for this freedom for us and others around the world who were oppressed.

It is disconcerting to see these inalienable rights stripped from our nation because of partisan bickering.  To take away our freedoms for political and monetary gain is treasonous.  Religious freedom is a favorite target of government today.  Because some of us believe in the Bible and its teachings, the present federal government is attacking.  They are not willing to allow citizens to act on their beliefs if it conflicts with theirs.

Not only is our religious freedom in jeopardy, but our privacy is endangered by NSA intrusion.  When the previous administration set up the Department of Homeland Security, no one could have imagined that phone calls and private email of law-abiding citizens would be scrutinized and saved for future reference.

When our founding fathers wrote the constitution, it was to protect us from intrusions by tyrannical government.  This is the reason that the present politicians want to change and destroy our constitution.  It limits their power.

We have a responsibility to teach these facts to our children and grandchildren.  Mainstream media is currently being controlled by the government, so the truth will not get through in news reports.  Many people are writing blogs and reporting news on the internet because they think they have a responsibility to report the truth as much as possible.

All of us should be aware of what our local, state, and federal government is doing.  The officials are our employees.  They are human and make mistakes, but when laws emerge which limit our rights and bring harm to us, it is time to act.  

The American Dictator

While most of my attention has been to city politics, a ghastly trend has been continuing on the national level. Not only is the federal government ignoring congress and the will of the people, they are creating expensive problems for us to solve.  The advertising of free medical care and free legal service to those in Central America who illegally cross the border is so far out there that it rivals the Twilight Zone for "off the wall" plots.

Can it be that the president loathes Americans so much that he is compelled to destroy everything American? I have seen scandals and wrongdoing in high places, but nothing to compare with the scale of this.  It is apocalyptic in its scale.  One dictator telling congress that they are insignificant, and he will govern without them.  That is not democracy.

Other attacks are equally egregious.  Our tax supported agencies are being used to attack us.  The IRS is used to keep political opponents in check and to stop free speech.  The ATF is used to suppress 2nd amendment rights through invasive attacks on individuals and businesses.  The EPA is used to prevent use of coal which is our main source of electrical generation.  This same EPA is proposing elimination of all wood burning heaters. There is also a push by this agency to control all water rights.  The BLM is used to control land even if it means keeping cattle from getting water. The Bundy Ranch stand off comes to mind.  The office of Eric Holder is protecting administration officials from prosecution while promoting outrageous lawsuits against ordinary law-abiding citizens. Thanks to him we must not refuse to take pictures or bake cakes for any reason. The DHS is protecting illegals from our laws and threatening our citizens who protest their lawless intrusions.

It is almost overwhelming to think that we have fallen to this point in so little time.  Hopefully, there are people in all political parties who can agree on the preservation of our country and the freedoms for which we have paid such a high price.

Each day brings new attacks on basic freedoms.  We must be diligent and demand responsibility from our representatives in government.  Surely we deserve more help than we are getting from Congress. A large number of congressmen are lawyers.  They can pretend to be helpless against the executive branch, but I'm not buying it.

The Downhill Grade

The City Council of Walsenburg is on its way to clearing all obstacles to the Northlands Sewer project. Easement evaluation and procurement negotiations are advancing.  The only thing not changing is my reluctance to accept it as good for the city.  The lessons I've learned as a student of economics and history argue against the theory that you can borrow yourself out of debt.

An idea that repulses me is to depend on my children and grandchildren to pay off my debts in the future. The current federal administration thinks it is perfectly acceptable. The size of the national debt is an example.  It is a little surprising to see it embraced so readily by local government.

The reason the USDA will not issue general obligation bonds for this project is that the city has a lack of assets for collateral.  By changing the bonds to revenue bonds, they are accepting our future revenues from utilities as collateral for the loan without our approval.  Only the council and the administrator are making this decision. They are noticing no objections from citizens and a lack of attendance at meetings about these money issues.  This is taken as a yes vote by the citizens.

Since there is a serious deficit in the general fund for the city, the idea of raising the sales tax is being suggested as the answer to most of the financial problems.  The current tax is 7.90%. adding a penny to that will give us the distinction of having one of the highest sales tax rates in the state. This action is not to provide additional services or repair aging infrastructure; it is to pay for existing budget deficits.

When you move into a community, it is expedient that you check into the city finances before you take on their debt.  The chances for things improving in a lifetime are fairly low.