Are Dems Crankin' Up The Rhetoric?

In case you missed it, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) has decided to get personal on the floor of the House in recent days.

Big words coming from a guy too chicken to go head-to-head with Michael Bloomberg for Mayor this past year.

The saddest part of this whole clip: The issue on the floor was repealing insurance companies' protection from anti-trust regulations - an issue that had bipartisan support. Not exactly a polarizing issue. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation, with only 19 members opposing the legislation.

So Weiner takes this opportunity to be a "tough guy", but it sounded more like the wimpy kid on the playground standing behind all his tough friends - a cheap shot.

Is this misplaced anger? Is married life taking its toll already?

No, it's party politics exhibited at its most insidious. I think this is a calculated partisan move - an Obama attack dog looking for red meat at a time when the President's numbers are slipping and the perception is that the Democratic-led government is not doing anything to help the American people.

Forget that Democrats are spending money like it's going out of style and getting little result in return. Forget shenanigans like the Charlie Rangel edition of "Let's Make a Deal" that the Democratic leadership is playing. (so much for draining the swamp, huh Ms. Pelosi?) Forget the whole BP thing, two ongoing wars, unemployment, and think Arizona, people!

Put the blame for it all on the big-business-loving evil opportunists in red (you know, red, just like the color of the devil) and appear to be offended and offensive at the same time.

Liberal weenies (pun intended) will eat it up (again, pun intended).

Next thing you know, President Obama will be a guest on "The View", and DNC Chair Tim Kaine will label all Republicans as Tea Party "fanatics". That would smell like desperation, wouldn't it?

Wait, that happened today, too.

The good news out of all this for Republicans is this: all these tactics are acknowledgment that Republicans control the current narrative and are looking to ride that narrative to re-taking the legislature.

Batten down the hatches, folks. If this is any indication, then it's going to be a combative few months leading up to Mid-Term Elections.

***

Post-script: Weiner also flipped his proverbial wig at Republicans for the failure of the 9/11 Health Bill - making a spectacle of himself again on the House floor. Of course, he conveniently left out that the Democratic leadership required that it pass by 2/3 vote rather than simple majority. The "devil" is in the details!

Immigration Reform: The Gallo Plan

Today a liberal judge basically gutted the Arizona law that would have allowed local police officers to inquire as to the immigration status of persons detained for already committing a crime and unable to produce valid identification. I just finished reading the entire Constitution (yes, I am a nerd) which is only 21 pages in pdf format and can be found here:
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.pdf

The only parts of the document that could remotely apply to this case in my view are the following:

Article I, Section 8 (powers granted to Congress)

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;Amendment 9

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
You can make up your own mind on the legality of the Arizona law. I ask you to do one thing first- read it. Unlike the Health Care Bill or the Stimulus Bill, it is not thousands of pages long. It is only 17 pages long (one is the cover sheet), easy to read, and can be found here:

http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
Here is my plan to fix the immigration mess:

1- Stop the Bleeding

Immediately close our border. Use the National Guard until a wall can be built and additional border patrol agents can be hired. Think that’s overkill? Tell that to these guys who are attacked daily; yes, daily. (Note from GB: For those more squeamish - like me - I toned down Russell's photo a bit, but I think we all get it. )

2- Implement Arizona Law Nationwide and Prosecute All Sanctuary Cities (like NYC)

Anyone here illegally should be afraid of coming into contact with law enforcement. If that were the case then there would be a lot fewer crimes committed by people here illegally. They don’t all come here to work. As of 2005, 27% of all federal prisoners were illegal immigrants. These “undocumented democrats” were all convicted of crimes other than immigration violations and cost you and I approximately $5.8 billion from 2001-2004. If the government admits to that it’s probably double. By the way, the vast majority were from Mexico.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05337r.pdf

3- Streamline Guest Worker Program

We need cheap labor. Make it easier for people to register for seasonal work and go back home when done.

Continue the E-Verify program that allows employers to check the immigration status of people applying for work. Fine employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants and arrest and prosecute illegals that use forged/fake identification to seek work.

4- End Anchor Baby Practice

This may require an amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment can be interpreted to disallow “anchor babies” being automatic citizens but as we have already seen it is best not to leave it to the courts to decide.

5- Path to Residency (not citizenship)

Citizenship is precious. Anyone who came here illegally has waived their right to ever achieving it without going back home and going through the process the right way. There are millions of people from all over the world that want to be here and can not simply walk across our southern border. It is simply not fair to grant any type of amnesty.

Anyone here illegally with no other criminal infractions can apply for residency providing:

They must pay all back taxes on income earned while here illegally including social security. A set income amount can be used for people unable to prove how much they earned. That amount will not be below what the average person in the same area must earn to survive.

They can never get the right to vote. Since they can never become citizens, this should not even have to be mentioned.

They must pass a written and oral test in English.

They must swear allegiance to this country.

They must pay a fine of at least $1000 per person in their household seeking residency.

***

This is a national security issue. I can not believe that so many Americans do not see it this way. Every day tons of illegal drugs come into this country across our southern border carried by thousands of unidentified people (not all of them are Mexican- most are though). Replace the word “drugs” with the word “anthrax”, “TNT”, “small pox”, or any other scary word you wish. The “other than Mexican” (OTM) category that the border patrol uses contains thousands of illegals from the Middle East that have been caught sneaking across the border. How many got in successfully and carrying what?

Petitions

For those of you that are involved in local politics you are very aware of how arcane and downright stupid the petitioning process is. To start off with, in order to appear on the ballot a candidate must collect signatures from 5% of the registered members of their party in the respective district up to a maximum number set by New York State Election Law.

So what's the big deal?

If you are asking that question then you have never collected signatures. From my experience, even in a "good" area (an election district with more than 100 republicans) the average collection rate is 3 per hour. That is the average! Some days you can go out for hours and come home with none.


The system is broken for many reasons. First, the weather can affect the number of signatures able to be collected and thus influence an election. I have no doubt that had the weather been better last February that Jonathan Judge and his team would have made the ballot in the Special Election for the 44th Council District.

Even if you achieve the minimum required you must be able to survive a "challenge" or an "objection" to your signatures. This is where lawyers get involved and tons of time and money get wasted. Getting someone kicked off the ballot is par for the course in New York politics. It has become an accepted tactical move and is usually not seen as circumventing the democratic process. I guess it all depends on which candidate's side you're on.

A quick note on the minimum number of signatures needed. In an Assembly District, no matter how many registered voters reside there, the maximum minimum number of signatures required is 500. So in a district where there are 10,000 registered republicans in an active status, the republican candidate must secure 500 signatures (5%). In the same district there could be 40,000 registered democrats. However, the democratic candidate need only to collect the same 500 signatures and not 5% which would be 2000 signatures.

Their (the democrats) pool is much bigger and yet they only have to collect the same number as we (the republicans) do. Fair? No.

Beside the weather, challenges, and minimum/maximum signature thresholds, there is the reality that it is the year 2010 and most people do not have people knocking on their doors very often. When was the last time a stranger knocked on your door or rang your bell and wasn't a food delivery guy or Jehovah's Witness?

Not only must we knock on the door but in this age of identity theft we have to convince people to sign their name on a pink sheet of paper and provide us with their address. Who is "us"? "Us" are the people (mostly senior citizens) that do the bulk of petitioning around the state for both parties. These party activists brave 100 degree temperatures in the summer and subzero temperatures in Special Elections like the one in February I mentioned earlier. This is insane.

Incumbents love the process. They sometimes say we need to reform the system but no one has or will ever get rid of this process once in office since it benefits them so much. An incumbent (of either party) usually has an army of supporters (a machine) and loyal District Leaders (I am one) that do all of this for them. They are insulated from the sweat and tears of petitioning ( I have not cried but have seen many people break into tears).

What needs to be done? I don't have the answer but I know that the current system is broken and undemocratic. Ballot access should not be affected by the weather and no party should have an advantage written into law.

In future posts and shows I want to discuss term limits for all and the unfairness of campaign finance when it comes to matching funds in New York City races.

Feel free to comment or vent.

7/24: Gene's Post-Show Wrap

Best. Show. Yet.

First and foremost, it's great working with Russell. He brings a whole lot to the show. We play off of each other really well and the guy knows his stuff.

How great of a guest is Frank Morano! He laid out the entire situation between the NY Independence Party and him and did so candidly and without pulling punches. HE went WAY in depth into the story, which has a lot more to do with past events than the dailies led everyone to believe. I've known Frank just about 10 years now (I was in law school, he was manning the first base camera for the inaugural Brooklyn Cyclones season!), and throughout, we've been mutually supportive of each others' efforts. I know that whatever Frank chooses to do in the future, he'll land on his feet and continue to fight for what he truly believes.

By the way, it looks like he's the hottest political "free agent" in NYC. So how 'bout it, SI GOP? Step up and get this guy on the team! Don't be the Knicks, be the Heat!

We were also lucky to speak with Brooklyn Tea Party prez Dr. John Press. Talk about fire and passion for the party! Dr. Press is begging for the people to do what I've been saying for as long as I've been doing this show - get angry, show some pride, take back control of OUR government and bring back some sanity! Dr. Press and Russell definitely connected on what Dr. Press calls "culturism" - check out his site and definitely get his book.

There's a Brooklyn Tea Party meeting at Kosher Nosh - 509 Kings Highway - tomorrow @ 2 PM. Be there, and tell them Brooklyn GOP Radio sent you!

Once again, our audience in the chat room - what I call the heart and soul of the show - was hoppin', thanks again to the mysterious "No Name1", who contributes greatly. We'll be sending questions to all of our guests to get their answers and put them up on here.

Now it's your turn. Feedback, please!

Welcome to Brooklyn GOP Radio's Blog!

If you're reading this, then you heard about this brand spankin' new blog for Brooklyn GOP Radio on our latest show!

First of all, thanks for listening. All of us here want this show to be "The People's Show". We try to be responsive to what you tell us you want, whether it's guests to book, questions you want answered, or simply providing an outlet for voicing your opinions. This blog is another way to talk back to us who put the show together. Feedback is so crucial - when we do something you like, tell us! When we suck, tell us!

And spread the word! Tell a friend. Tell two friends. Heck, tell all your friends! And family. And pets. Well, maybe not pets. Unless you think they'll like the show. Then, by all means, tell your pets.

This will also be the place for post-show feedback. If questions go unanswered, or we run out of time on a topic, come here for "bonus coverage." There will also be links to guest content, friends of the show, and other fun stuff.

I'll be posting after our 7/24 show, so check back later!