Redundancy is apparently required

Apparently we need a Constitutional amendment to clarify the United States Constitution. According to Article 8, only Congress may declare war. They still haven't declared war in Iraq, but they readily admit we are fighting a war there, and most of them support the war. 

Our Congressperson, Melissa Bean, continually votes to continue funding the war, even though she is fully aware that the ONLY way to end the war is to quit funding it.

We got in this ridiculous position because Congress said that the President could decide when and if we should invade Iraq. Congress DOES NOT have that authority. The Constitution clearly states that Congress, and only Congress, can decide if we should go war.

I propose a Constitutional amendment to clarify this power and specifically state that Congress cannot be cowards and pass the buck.

In case you were wondering, Melissa Bean supported the invasion while running for Congress.

Filing

Monday (11/5) was the deadline for filing petitions for the primary. I have to say that the State Board of Elections is very well run and efficient. They had on hand the required forms, hole puncher, clips, and notaries public. The filing process itself was very easy and painless. The employees were helpful and friendly. Simply stated, I was very impressed.

I have been keeping an eye on their website (http://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionInformation/CandFilSOffice.aspx?id+21). On this page you can view not only who has filed, but who has requested to view or copy the petitions. On the deadline day Bean apparently had someone there to copy all the petitions. Someone by the name of Aaron Gordon requested and received copies of all petitions for the 8th district (except Bean's). Clearly she is worried, otherwise she'd never bother to pull primary petitions for other parties. It should be fun; I know for a fact that no challenge of Randi Scheurer's petitions will be successful. It would be stupid of her to challenge my petition or a Republican petition. Of course, I've never accused the Democrat establishment of having any intelligence.

Anyway, you heard it here first - Bean is afraid that she's going to lose and she's getting paranoid.

Marriage Proposal

Lets get politics out of marriage. The domestic partnership debate going on in legislatures around the world is based on governmental interference in religion. 

I propose that our government stop sanctioning marriages. Instead of getting a marriage license, you would go to the clerk and get a domestic partnership, no matter who you or your partner is. If you wish to have the word "marriage" attached to your relationship you would then go to the church of your choice to do so. Religious institutions would have the choice of what types of marriages they would sanction.

For those already married, nothing changes. For future, though, all committed couples would be treated equally in the eyes of the law.

Call for submissions

I am thinking lately about a regional prosperity plan for Central America. All too often we look at immigration as simply an issue of law and order, but the fact is that we will continue to have people crossing our border illegally as long as their is such a wide disparity of incomes and quality of life among Central American nations, and between them and the United States.

CAFTA & NAFTA clearly are not the answer. I'm asking you to tell me what you think can be done to help all of Central America improve quality of life. This is not simply economics, although that's certainly part of the equation. 

How can infrastructure be built? What economic ties will help all nations, including the US? How do we ensure quality health care for all? What questions am I leaving out?

Campaign School

I spent today at McHenry County College, attending a candidate school. It was very informative and interesting, but I think the best part was meeting people running for other offices. Dave Kalbfleisch, Green Party candidate for US Representative in the 10th district, as was Frank Wedig (McHenry County Board, district 5) and Steve Alesch (US Rep, 13th district).

Speakers included Presidential hopefuls Kent Mesplay and Jared Ball. I'm not ready to decide who I will support for President, but I truly appreciated these two showing up. I'll be checking out their websites to learn more about their positions; you should, too.

Next up is contacting Libertarians.

H-1B

To date my posts have been based on current news. I'm going to take a departure this time to talk about H-1B visas. They get news attention from time to time, but not very recently. They are part of a much broader immigration debate.

H-1Bs, and immigration in general, are a huge topic and I'm hoping that you will weigh in on this topic in the comments. 

I have mixed feelings on this topic, but it is clear that there is abuse of the system. It's also clear that abuse is being aided and abetted by our leaders at taxpayer expense.

To start, a quote from George Bush's Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao: "H-1B nondependent employers are not subject to the conditions, and their H-1B  workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker."

These visas were implemented for the purpose of allowing employers to find specialized workers when they were unable to find legal residents capable of doing the job. The United States government is now on record as telling employers to circumvent the rules and FIRE Americans in order to hire aliens.

Equal Employment Opportunity has various rules concerning how an employer must advertise a job. If you don't believe that many employers are spending money to violate those rules, check this out www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU. 

When discussing immigration keep this in mind; it's not just a question of crossing the Rio Grande illegally, we're also talking qualified U.S. workers being turfed out in favor of lower paid aliens. Those brought in at a cheaper salary will be required to return in a few years, never qualifying for a pension, and replaced with another foreign applicant.

Democrats Still Unable To Lead

It's become a familiar scene, Bush asks for the world and the Democrats compromise by saying "You can have Australia, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica and most of the islands, but you can't have everything!"

This time it's about wiretapping. Two months ago the Dems promised to roll back the broad, over-reaching wiretapping authorities given to the National Security Agency. A Democratic bill being released to the House today shows that they have no intention of doing any such thing. Nancy Pelosi's office stated that the bill gives the NSA what it legitimately needs to protect America.

Why do they ever need to wiretap without without a warrant? A FISA court can be called in secret at any time of day or night. These courts can issue warrants in secret on the authority of a judge knowledgeable in national security, yet the Democrats don't think even that should be required.