- In this continuing series to educate American citizens,
top experts from around the United States continue ringing the bell as
to the detrimental aspects of relentless immigration into America.
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- Donald Mann, president of Negative Population Growth, www.npg.org ,
renders a sobering view about the long term consequences to America as
to immigration.
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- "You can tell we are coming up to an election year
when the facts become flexible and truth takes a holiday in speeches about
key political issues that are important to the American voters," said
Mann. "A perfect example of this is the speech President Obama delivered
in El Paso earlier this month. He declared that our borders are "secure"
and put forth a lot of fancy rhetoric (but defined no real policies) about
how we must now get Congress to focus on liberalizing our immigration policies
to better serve the needs of the millions of illegal immigrants who currently
reside in our country.
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-
- "President Obama's total detachment from reality
in his El Paso speech drew criticism from across the political spectrum.
It was billed as a major policy statement but was truly a campaign event
of the highest order. Even The Washington Post, a long-standing cheerleader
for "all things Obama," chided the administration for going down
the path to "what amounts to a get-out-the-Hispanic-vote strategy."
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- "What's most troubling about the President's actions
on this matter is that he expects all Americans to put aside what they
see, hear and read in daily news reports and look at America's southern
border through his rose-colored glasses.
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- "For me, President Obama's speech certainly underscored
the fact that he and I have a very different idea as to what the word "secure"
means. Are there still not countless thousands of illegals entering our
country annually? Is the media lying to us when it reports on the brutal
murders, assaults, kidnappings, smuggling and other activities fostered
by out-of-control drug cartels that seem to happen daily in Arizona, New
Mexico and Texas? Are border sheriffs and law enforcement officials telling
lies when they say areas under their jurisdiction have never been more
violent or dangerous? It was truly ironic that the President chose El
Paso as the site for his speech. That town's City Hall was actually hit
last fall by stray bullets fired by armed thugs looking to protect their
"territory."
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- "I personally consider myself to be quite up-to-date
on immigration issues so I found it amazing that in only a matter of months
our nation has gone from headlines that told of the Department of Homeland
Security abandoning a failed billion-dollar effort for virtual fencing
along our border to a new "secure" status in the words of our
President. As it turns out, it seems many of us are a bit more up-to-date
on this issue than the White House.
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-
- "Indeed, a recent column by Terry Jeffrey, editor-in-chief
of CNS News, cited the fact that "Richard Stana, the director
of homeland security issues for the Government Accountability Office, informed
the Senate Homeland Security Committee in March that there are only 129
miles of our 1,954-mile-long U.S.-Mexican border where the Border Patrol
can prevent or stop an illegal entry from taking place at the border itself.
There are another 744 miles where it can stop an illegal entry at 'distances
of up to 100 miles or more away from the immediate border.' That leaves
at least 1,081 miles of border where Homeland Security has anything but
'operational control'."
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-
- "In the past, Americans could expect the President
of the United States to at least make some attempt to be straight with
them even when trying to sell us a bill of goods. Today, however,
it is obvious that the facts are not Mr. Obama's forte. Indeed, while
his attempt at humor in saying that there are those who want to build a
"moat" on the border may have elicited a laugh, a number of people
were quick to point out that there is already a moat on the border
it's called the Rio Grande.
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- "The El Paso speech laid out the immigration agenda
that Barack Obama is determined to push in the coming months. It includes
a new push to get the DREAM Act through Congress and the President's future
speeches on this topic are sure to be rife with derogatory comments about
concerned Americans like us who are standing up to those who seek
to dismantle our nation's immigration laws."
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- GET SERIOUS, MR. PRESIDENT
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- "Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) recently took President
Obama to task when he went to El Paso, TX to declare America's border secure
and say it was time for a serious discussion on immigration reform,"
said Mann. "The Congressman issued a press release that noted: "President
Obama has proven that he's more concerned with photo-ops with Hollywood
movie stars, than real citizens who live on the border and have to deal
with America's exploding immigration crisis." He even went so far
as to send the President a letter, questioning his commitment to securing
our borders. The Congressman's rage is evident in the letter, part of
which reads: "When you consult with Latino Hollywood celebrities
such as Eva Longoria and Rosario Dawson wanting their take on immigration
reform, you aren't serious. When you sit down with the SEIU [Service Employees
International Union] and other union leaders to get their take on immigration
reform, you aren't serious. When you threaten to sue Border States that
are only doing what the federal government won't do, you aren't serious.
And finally, when you bring up 'immigration reform' for political reasonsyou
aren't serious."
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- "We applaud Congressman Walsh for his involvement
in this serious issue, and for his direct language regarding President
Obama's questionable actions. NPG only hopes more of our nation's leaders
will begin to see his analysis of the situation and challenge the President
to do what is best for our nation, not pander to celebrities and labor
unions."
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- GET OUT YOUR WALLET TO PAY FOR U.S. INFRASTRUCURE
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-
- "At a time when Uncle Sam, as well as our state
and local governments, is up against the wall financially, our nation's
infrastructure continues to deteriorate at a rapid pace and today's
tax dollars are spread far too thin to take on the massive costs of fixing
everything," said Mann. "So who will carry the costs? The
answer seems to be in a "user pay" system. A recent article in The
Washington Post by Ashley Halsey, III reports on a new study by the
Urban Land Institute (ULI) that finds that some $2 trillion dollars is
going to be needed to "rebuild roads, bridges, water lines, sewage
systems and dams that are reaching the end of their planned life cycles."
-
-
- "According to Halsey: "The report envisions
a time when, like Detroit, U.S. cities may opt to abandon services in some
districts and lightly used blacktopped rural roads would be allowed to
return to nature. Eventually, the report says, the federal gas tax will
be increased; local governments will be allowed to toll interstate highways;
water bills will rise to pay for pipe and sewer replacement; property and
sales taxes will increase; and private, profit-seeking companies will play
a much larger role in funding and maintaining public projects."
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- "The Urban Land Institute study, conducted with
Ernst and Young, puts much focus on the fact that today's infrastructure
challenges also hurt the U.S. in the increasingly competitive world marketplace.
Some countries such as China, India and Brazil are being forced to invest
countless billions in infrastructure to accommodate their fast-growing
economies and that may give them an edge on the U.S. in the long term.
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- "A synopsis of the study put out by ULI notes:
"For those who have read our infrastructure reports over recent years,
one consistent finding is that the U.S. seriously lags behind the rest
of the world in addressing infrastructure issues," said Howard Roth,
Ernst and Young's Global Real Estate Leader. "The U.S. is facing increasing
federal, state and municipal budget deficits, and lacks any type of comprehensive
national policy or the political will to develop a long-term approach to
funding the significant maintenance needs of aging U.S. infrastructure,
much less the modernization and greenfield development of critically-needed
new projects.We need to take a page out of the playbooks of several nations
around the world highlighted in our report, or we face the risk of serious
deterioration of our country's economic and social well-being."
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- "As NPG has pointed out for almost four decades,
the population clock is tickingand the costs are mounting." For additional
information on this issue go to.Washington Post, Urban Land Institute
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- You may reach Donald Mann at npg@npg.org
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