The Obama DOJ v. The State Of Arizona (And The Rest Of The Country)

John Lott's page provides a link if you wish to download a pdf of the lawsuit.

It's twenty-five pages of assertion that the Federal government in general, and the President in particular, reigns supreme over the states in any matter involving illegal immigration. More breathtakingly, it asserts that the President essentially has the discretion to enforce, or not enforce, the federal law. It all depends on whether he and the Federal government think it is in their best interests.

Sound incredible? HellsBells, ya'll, don't take OS's word for it, read the legalese these scoundrels filed today:

[paragraph 19]

In crafting federal immigration law and policy, Congress has necessarily taken into account multiple and often competing national interests. Assuring effective enforcement of the provisions against illegal migration and unlawful presence is a highly important interest, but it is not the singular goal of the federal immigration laws. The laws also take into account other uniquely national interests, including facilitating trade and commerce; welcoming those foreign nationals who visit or immigrate lawfully and ensuring their fair and equitable treatment wherever they may reside; responding to humanitarian concerns at the global and individual levels; and otherwise ensuring that the treatment of aliens present in our nation does not harm our foreign relations with the countries from which they come or jeopardize the treatment of U.S. citizens abroad. Because immigration control and management is “a field where flexibility and the adaptation of the congressional policy to infinitely variable conditions constitute the essence of the program,” U.S. ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537, 543 (1950) (internal citations omitted), Congress vested substantial discretion in the President and the administering federal agencies to adjust the balance of these multiple interests as appropriate – both globally and in individual cases.


But, as always: Wait, there's more!

[end of paragraph 4]

It will conflict with longstanding federal law governing the registration, smuggling, and employment of aliens. It will altogether ignore humanitarian concerns, such as the protections available under federal law for an alien who has a well-founded fear of persecution or who has been the victim of a natural disaster. And it will interfere with vital foreign policy and national security interests by disrupting the United States’ relationship with Mexico and other countries.

In other words, this is about keeping the Mexicans happy! That dog-and-pony show at the White House for Calderon wasn't for nothing, ya'll!

Holy frijoles, Paco! The place has been run by one set of criminals or another since 1919, and conditions are getting worse, not better. The place is a disaster, and Obama worries about what they think about us!

The lawsuit wants to overturn this law, based upon predictions of what might happen, not based on anything that actually has happened. The law's not even in force yet, nothing has been done in the course of the enforcement of this law, and the Obama DOJ wants it overturned!

In the end, it's all about power, Obama's power. If he chooses to enforce the law, fine and dandy. If he doesn't, you're screwed, and have no recourse, 'cuz he's the Boss President.

Of course, there are ways and means of 'inducing' The One to offer 'protection'...

'Nice little state you got here. It would be a shame if it were to be overrun by illegal aliens drug smugglers. Isn't that right, Gino and Vito?'

'Yeah, Boss, dat's right. It would be a real shame. YaKnowWhuddIMean? Maybe we should offer 'em some protection, boss! But ain't protection expensive? Whooz gonna pay for it?'

We all live in Chicago now, with Gino and Vito standing in the shadows.

Weekend Insight Into The Unemployment Numbers

It has become a ritual.

The 'numbers' are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the end of every month. They suck. By any reasonable standard, they just, well, suck. OS can tell you tales of his unemployed/underemployed friends and family; highly accomplished, energetic, ambitious people who now struggle in a culture and economy that has gone as limp as a sails on a windless day. But, you know those same people. You're surrounded by them. Perhaps you are one of them.

So, instead, OS has another story to tell. He has struck a friendship with a family in his small town that has opened a little restaurant, and blessedly, it is doing well. These folks have three generations of 'little restaurant' in their background, so they know the drill. It's wonderful to see.

The twenty-something son, who is a kid OS would adopt in a heartbeat, shared a story over breakfast Saturday:

He has a friend with a successful small business that provides a very good service throughout the South. It employs a lot of people, because it's one of those enterprises that requires a lot of people to run. In other words, this guy's firm is a job engine, and it can't be outsourced to Mexico or China.

He could expand his business by 50% next week, except--he's looked at the tax code. He's reached the limit of earnings he can take home from his business. Every dollar past what he's doing essentially goes away in taxes. In addition, his payroll costs, workman's comp, Social Security and Medicare costs, health and liability insurance costs, and his administrative costs and complications soar. If he expands, he exposes himself to a lot of risk, and almost no reward.

Soooo...that jobs engine sits idling.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Replicate his story a few thousand times in every state of the Union, stir gently, and you get the BLS numbers at the end of every month.

And you get to watch Christina Romer or some other flack from ObamaLand cheerily assure you that things aren't all that bad, and besides they're getting better, and if they suck it's because those mean Republicans won't let us borrow another trillion to drop from the helicopter and you're being mean by pointing out that we promised this wouldn't happen and you aren't smart enough to understand what I'm saying anyway 'cuz you didn't go to Harvard like I did and we know how to take care of little unwashed people like you I've got to go now and talk to someone else and tell them the same things see you at the end of next month.

Possible Progress In The Gulf, In Spite Of The Federal Government

The Wall Street Journal reports that tests are being run on a giant oil skimmer,  a tanker retrofitted by it Japanese owners.

Now, compare and contrast.

This is the entrepreneurial approach:

The day the Deepwater Horizon exploded, TMT CEO Nobu Su ordered the A Whale, a brand-new $160 million cargo hauler, to start sailing west from China, while he commissioned Hyundai engineers to devise a plan to covert it into a skimmer. The plans were worked out by the time the ship made it to a Portugal shipyard, where it was modified.

After water is ingested through the ship's vents, it is pumped into a series of containers, where oil rises to the top of the water over several days. The oil is then siphoned into a separate container, before being transferred to a tanker. In Portugal, the ship tested its intake process on water sprayed with fire foam, since using oil was out of the question. It proved effective, the company said. TNT has two more ships, B Whale and C Whale, that are in the process of being turned into skimming vessels.

This, on the other hand, is the Obama Federal Government approach:

EPA guidelines require that the discharged water contain no more than 15 parts per million of oil—a difficult standard to meet, said Prof. Overton. The federal on-scene coordinator can exempt the discharge from the Clean Water Act standard.

In other words, the EPA has decided it would rather let 50k barrels of oil per day not be cleaned up, rather than have equipment in place that cleans up, say ninety percent of the problem. Does this make sense to any sane person that actually wants the problem solved?

But wait, there's more!

One deterrent to getting more skimmers to the Gulf is a federal requirement under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that both the U.S. Navy and state jurisdictions around the country had to have a certain number of skimmers on hand in the event of an oil spill.

Earlier this week, the Coast Guard and EPA issued a temporary rule relaxing the federal skimmer requirements through December, freeing up the number of skimmers available to be used in the Gulf. But some politicians still decried how long it took to get the change approved.

"The president and his administration need to be moving heaven and Earth to get those ships there tomorrow," Sen. George LeMieux (R., Fla.) said in an interview Friday. "In fact, they should have been there 50 days ago."

In other words, we've got lots of equipment on hand, but we're not going to use it, and we're not going to consider using obvious common sense. Let's fight a three-alarm blaze with a garden hose only--that pumper truck in the firehouse might be needed for fire hydrant maintenance and local parades.

Only two conclusions can be drawn: Either this Administration is completely inept, or...they don't want a solution, because they want to use this tragedy as a means to seize more power. Given the anecdotes of recent encounters between Obama and senators Kyl and Lamar Alexander, OldSouth suspects the latter scenario.

He truly, sincerely hopes he is mistaken.

Homer Hickam Shares Wisdom From Coalwood, West Virginia: We Are Not Afraid

Homer Hickam is a wonderful author, whose subject is the American culture and spirit. If you have read Rocket Boys, you know his story. If you have ever seen the movie October Skies, you've seen the Hollywood version.

Homer's story is an inspiration, and continues to this day.

Today, he shared his remarks upon receiving the Audie Murphy Patriotism Award, in which he repeats his core message: We Are Not Afraid.

He goes on to share what he learned from his hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia, who taught him to not be afraid.

We are proud of who we are.
We stand up for what we believe.
We keep our family together.
We trust in God but rely on ourselves.

His remarks may be found here, and come highly recommended.  He closes with the story of Reverend Richard, a local clergyman. Only a heart of stone could be unmoved by his words.

Have a blessed Fourth of July, wherever you are. It is such a blessing to belong to this wonderful country, and to be a Southerner to boot.

Rocket Boys

October Sky

Lincoln On The Declaration Of Independence: 'Let Me Entreat You To Come Back'

Compliments of the University of Michigan Library Collected Works of Lincoln project.

In 1858, the United States were coming unraveled over the question of slavery, among several vexing issues.  The radical abolitionists, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and William Lloyd Garrison were unbending in their calls for immediate abolition, irrespective of consequences. Garrison himself, at times,  had called for dissolution of the Union over the question. Those on the other side of the question were just as unbending. Lincoln stood in the middle, for both the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery. It was a lonely stance at the time, as blood was already being spilled in the western territories. Lincoln pointed out that the founders attempted to address the long-term quandry by banning the slave-trade after 1808 in the Constitution. Obviously, this did not work, but he maintained that the effort was a noble intent, and warned against vilifying the Founders because their solution was imperfect. He appealed to the Declaration of Independence as the core set of ideas by which America should be defined, and by which all decisions should be judged.

This is an account of Lincoln's remarks, as transcribed by a stenographer:

[begin excerpt]

(Chicago Press and Tribune, August 21, 1858. The fragmentary text of this speech as given in the Press and Tribune was widely copied in other papers. Although there are reports in other papers originating from other correspondents, only this one gives a verbatim transcription of any considerable portion of the speech.)

These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: ``We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.''

This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. [Applause.]

Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children and their children's children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages.

Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began---so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built. [Loud cheers.]

Now, my countrymen (Mr. Lincoln continued with great earnestness,) if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back. Return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Revolution.

Think nothing of me---take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever---but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence.

You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim to be actuated in this contest by something higher than an anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing; I am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that immortal emblem of Humanity---the Declaration of American Independence.

The Paucity of News Coverage On The Gulf Spill Seems Strange

...but Doug Ross offers some insight and further links.

OS felt his stomach clutch as he reviewed these photos.

Jesse's July 4 Thoughts

Found here, Jesse once again integrates his financial acumen with the appeal to both reason and conscience.

It is well worth the time spent reading.

Good wishes to all.

Words That Sing Through History: The Declaration Of Independence

Here you will find the link to a transcription of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.

It's always a good thing to review these words from time to time, just to keep them fresh in one's mind. OldSouth offers them in the hope that they will be read slowly and deliberately. Thomas Jefferson did not mince words, each one was carefully chosen. In Jefferson's world, words were serious things, and each had meaning.

It was an announcement, to be sure, but also as an explanation, an appeal to reason, a plea for support from the rest of the world. The signers knew that they were in uncharted waters, committing treason against the Crown, so a careful explanation was in order.

(OS has taken the liberty of formatting the copy for ease of reading.)

It's the opening of the second paragraph that sings through history:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Words have meaning. Well-crafted words, crafted to be read in public, have a peculiar power.

If you have ever been in a crowd of people on July 4, and heard these words decalimed verbatim, you probably have sensed that collective sense of awe that so often asserts itself on the occasion. Some twenty-two years ago, on one hot July 4, OldSouth, a much younger man, stood in a crowd, heard these words, sensed that a whole lot more was possible in his life than he had perhaps suspected. He decided to take action to live out those possibilities, because it was just not going to be possible for the present state of affairs to continue. It had become a matter of life-or-death, change-or-die in 1988, just like in 1776. The details don't matter, but the decision led a war of sorts in his world, and a new life built out of the ashes. It wasn't pleasant, it wasn't pretty, but all OS now has and is flows from that decision. He owes Mr. Jefferson a real debt.

The final paragraph has a power of its own. It is the definition of freedom itself.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States;

that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;

and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


A most happy Fourth of July, wherever you are in the world.

Athens On Lake Michigan: Illinois Cannot Pay Its Bills, Won't Raise Taxes, And Cannot Borrow

Even the Yew Nork Times can no longer avert its eyes from what has happened to the state that sent us all The Winner of The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, whose cronies have run the place for years.

It's worth the time to read, if only to see how the cracks in the official story line that The One, having been elected, would lead us all to The Promised Land. Remember?

So, here's a taste of reality in Illinois:

...Illinois is caught between blue state convictions about social safety nets and a red state aversion to taxes. For years, the Democratic-controlled legislature has passed budgets that are, in effect, in deficit. Lawmakers routinely skip around the state’s balanced-budget law, with few consequences. (Republicans are near monolithic in voting against any tax increases and borrowings. When one broke ranks to try to keep the pension solvent, he was stripped of a committee position, reducing his pay and pension.)

The state’s income tax burden is not terribly high — Illinois ranks in the bottom half of states — and its government is not terribly large. (The budgets in New York and California, per capita, are much larger). Even if the state cut out all family and human services spending, more than half of the budget deficit would remain.

As comptroller, Mr. Hynes has trained his attention on the public and nonprofit agencies that rely on state money; he tends to roll his eyes at the notion that slashing alone is a solution.

Let's remember, this is a state run by The One's friends, where Himself cut His political teeth. This is the model he knows an endorses, the one set into motion when he moved to Washington.

Kagan And Arizona: Leading The Charge Against Enforcement Of The Law

A little bit of digging and surfing, and here we have a nugget of news about Supreme Court nominee Kagan:

Reps. Lamar Smith and Todd Tiahrt think Miss Elena's got some 'splainin' to do, Lucy.

In 2007, the state of Arizona passed an immigration law that allowed it to revoke the business licenses of businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. This provision was challenged but upheld in both the district court and even the notoriously liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Most recently, the Obama administration decided to challenge the 2007 Arizona immigration law and has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the provision. But what is a little known fact to most Americans is that it was Kagan who was the originator and driving force behind the Obama administration’s decision to ask the Court to overturn the Arizona immigration law. Kagan recently admitted as much in required disclosures to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The administration argued that Arizona’s law revoking the business licenses of businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants is unconstitutional. But this argument is completely baseless as the two lower courts already confirmed.

Furthermore, still on the books today is a 1986 federal statute that created penalties for employers that knowingly employ illegal immigrants. This law specifically addresses the question at issue in the Kagan-backed litigation. Congress authorized states to revoke the business licenses of employers that intentionally hire illegal immigrants. So why has Kagan pursued such an aggressive, unconstitutional political agenda?

The views expressed in the court brief are troubling given the Obama administration’s weak record on enforcing federal immigration laws. Compared to fiscal year 2008, the number of administrative arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in employer-sanctions cases has fallen by 80 percent, the number of criminal arrests has fallen by 68 percent, the number of indictments has fallen by 74 percent, and the number of criminal convictions has fallen by 75 percent.

Hmmm...so that's what The One means when he claims that he's got things well in hand on the border? That the crime rate is dropping?

And further questions come to mind, such as: As this case comes before the Court, assuming she is confirmed, is it proper for her be involved in the deliberations? Do judges get to rule on briefs they once wrote for one side of a dispute or another?

Given the fact that this suit continues to lose at every turn, isn't it a bit excessive to pursue it to the Supremes? What of that 'restraint' she so carefully referred in her profoundly rehearsed speeh?

Is anyone in the Senate, outside of people like Shelby and Coburn, really paying attention? Lindsay Graham certainly isn't, but he did a pretty good job playing the straight man, feeding Ms. Kagan her opportunity for the one-liner that made it to every evening news show.