COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, April 16, 2010

The United States of America with a Billion People, 700,000,000 Foreign Born?



Raúl Rico, 31, a carpenter. was the first in his family to settle in St. Louis, 14 years ago. Today, his local clan numbers 56.


The New York Times has an article about illegal immigrants and the jobs that they do in the US. Of course the Times article does not call them illegal. Perhaps the term has become irrelevant. What they are is something quite different and with profound consequence to the future of the United States.

These people are unilateral immigrants. They, outside the law, determine when they come, where they go and who they bring along. Their numbers will distort the face of the US, its politics, its economy and the entire social network for better or worse.

The photo and caption of Raúl Rico, 31, carpenter, says it all.

Fourteen years in the United States and Mr. Rico has become a clan of 56.

There are now 25,000,000 unilateral immigrants in the US. They come and go as they choose. Should they repeat the unilateral actions of Mr. Raúl Rico, 31, and be only half as prolific, they in 14 years could become 700,000,000 more unitateral immigrants.

All this happens without you having anything to say or do about it.

Do you want an America of one billion people?

____________________________

from the New York Times

As a member of this city’s economic elite, Ms. Kollman-Moore is not unusual among immigrants who live in St. Louis. According to a new analysis of census data, more than half of the working immigrants in this metropolitan area hold higher-paying white-collar jobs — as professionals, technicians or administrators — rather than lower-paying blue-collar and service jobs.

Among American cities, St. Louis is not an exception, the data show. In 14 of the 25 largest metropolitan areas, including Boston, New York and San Francisco, more immigrants are employed in white-collar occupations than in lower-wage work like construction, manufacturing or cleaning.

The data belie a common perception in the nation’s hard-fought debate over immigration — articulated by lawmakers, pundits and advocates on all sides of the issue — that the surge in immigration in the last two decades has overwhelmed the United States with low-wage foreign laborers.

Over all, the analysis showed, the 25 million immigrants who live in the country’s largest metropolitan areas (about two-thirds of all immigrants in the country) are nearly evenly distributed across the job and income spectrum.

“The United States is getting a more varied and economically important flow of immigrants than the public seems to realize,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, director for immigration research at the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan group in New York that conducted the data analysis for The New York Times.

The findings are significant because Americans’ views of immigration are based largely on the work immigrants do, new research shows.

“Americans, whether they are rich or poor, are much more in favor of high-skilled immigrants,” said Jens Hainmueller, a political scientist at M.I.T. and co-author of a survey of attitudes toward immigration with Michael J. Hiscox, professor of government at Harvard. The survey of 1,600 adults, which examined the reasons for anti-immigration sentiment in the United States, was published in February in American Political Science Review, a peer-reviewed journal.

Americans are inclined to welcome upper-tier immigrants — like Ms. Kollman-Moore — believing they contribute to economic growth without burdening public services, the study found. More than 60 percent of Americans are opposed to allowing more low-skilled foreign laborers, regarding them as more likely to be a drag on the economy.

Those kinds of views, in turn, have informed recent efforts by Congress to remake the immigration system. A measure unveiled last month by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, aims to reshape the legal system to give priority to high-skilled, high-earning immigrants, offering narrower channels for low-wage workers. (A bill in 2007 by the Bush administration tilted even more sharply toward upper-tier immigrants; it failed in Congress.)

Yet while visa bottlenecks persist for high-skilled immigrants, on the whole, the census data show, the current system has brought a range of foreign workers across skill and income levels. The analysis suggests, moreover, that the immigrants played a central role in the cycle of the economic growth of cities over the last two decades.

Cities with thriving immigrant populations — with high-earning and lower-wage workers — tended to be those that prospered the most.

“Economic growth in urban areas has been clearly connected with an increase in immigrants’ share of the local labor force,” Mr. Kallick said.

Surprisingly, the analysis showed, the growing cities were not the ones, like St. Louis, that drew primarily high-earning foreigners. In fact, the St. Louis area had one of the slowest growing economies.

Rather, the fastest economic growth between 1990 and 2008 was in cities like Atlanta, Denver and Phoenix that received large influxes of immigrants with a mix of occupations — including many in lower-paid service and blue-collar jobs.

In metropolitan Denver, where the economy doubled between 1990 and 2008, 63 percent of immigrants worked in jobs on the lower end of the pay scale.

Denver “did a great job of attracting people from other places in the world,” said Rich Jones, director of policy and research at the Bell Policy Center, a nonpartisan group in that city that focuses on the impact of economic and fiscal policies in Colorado. “They are coming with a variety of skills,” Mr. Jones said. “They created demand for goods, services and housing that began a dynamic.”

The figures on jobs and earnings of immigrants in American cities are based on an analysis by the Fiscal Policy Institute of census data for the 25 largest metropolitan areas from 1990 to 2008. The data from 2008 are the most current in-depth census statistics on immigrants’ places of residence and earnings; they also include the first year of the severe recession. The analysis includes legal and illegal immigrants and naturalized citizens.

St. Louis is a good vantage point to observe the census analysis play out on the ground — both in the past and, possibly, the future.



77 comments:

  1. Ok, you think that is good, is two billion better? Is three billion better than that?

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  2. A billion here, a billion there? Can such a country remain a free country, because a free country is a choice, determined by the decisions of freedom loving people and protected by a written and agreed upon constitution.

    Whatever such a country becomes, it will not be determined by legal US citizens.

    Unilateral decisions by foreigners are not bound by a constitution. They have no knowledge or experience of its existance yet their actions can disolve what we have created.

    What will the structure of such a country be? Who will decide?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Couldn't you have found a slightly easier topic the day after "tax day?"

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  4. We will, starting fairly soon, go into a prolonged period of "hard times" brought on by a worldwide shortage of petroleum. Sentiment always turns "anti-immigrant" during such periods.

    Look for today's actions in Arizona to become more commonplace as the fuel shortages kick in. Mass deportations, and increased vigilance at the border will ensue.

    Nasty words will be spoken.

    It's not the "greatest" of our immediate problems. But, it will cause the greatest "heat."

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  5. What will it look like if the US population is 70 percent foreign born?

    What are the political implications if 7 out of 10 residents are never eligible to become President? It could be that most people will be too apathetic to bother voting. We're almost that way now.

    Study Canada for clues, if you want to know what the US will look like in 14 years.

    ReplyDelete
  6. If every single inhabitant of Mexico walked up here it would only increase our population by a third. We would have 400 million instead of 300 million.

    ReplyDelete
  7. For the last 100 years if you wanted to see the "future" of America you studied California.

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  8. The States that have "shrugged off" the recession, so far, have been Minnesota, Iowa, N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. More or less.

    Ag products, Energy, and Industry.

    ReplyDelete
  9. rufus said...
    For the last 100 years if you wanted to see the "future" of America you studied California.
    ---
    From the man who asserted that only fools would take the time to study California.

    Recently the 7th largest economy in the World.

    Now heading toward bankruptcy.

    No big deal, if you have some good rose-coloreds to enhance your vision.

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  10. For shame, Deuce!

    Poor Ted is barely cold in his grave, and you blaspheme his legacy like this!

    Revolutionary thinker that he was, he turned what was called enlightened immigration policy on it's ear:

    Why should we take in healthy, educated people with needed skills, when we can let in illiterates not willing to learn English so they can send

    their kids off to the union schools to be trained how to hate everything this great country ever stood for.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Charlie Christ vetos landmark education reform legislation for Florida.

    Connie Mack resigns as his top campaign chairman.

    Charlie sells his soul to the NEA.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Reality is reality, Dougy-poo. Politics is politics. Facts is facts. You keep confusing the politics (wishfulness) with the "facts."

    ReplyDelete
  13. BTW, I've noticed a little less whining out of Kaliforniyay, recently. Do you suppose it's because their tax collections unexpectedly (to dumfucks, anyway) surged in the last couple of months?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Re: "income surge"

    If I go out this fine morning and borrow $100,000 cash on my credit cards, I am going to be very happy for a while as I spend my new found "income"...in 28 days, when the bill arrives, not so much.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Suicide bomber kills 8 at SW Pakistan hospital

    This incident would be reported as cold blooded murder (even genocide) if an errant shell from "you know who" had been responsible for the carnage.

    Why do we take seriously the opinions of this culture? O, that's right - oil. But since we are going to reportedly run out of that commodity soon, soon we will not pay these folk much heed.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The elites of both countries, Mexico and the US, are Boners.

    Ivy Leaguers, rule.

    That's a fact.

    As the I-35 Corridor project and multiple other actions indicate those elites want to minimize the border, they favor the free flow of capital and labor across that "line on a map".

    Any Government that can maintain million man standing Army, or send a man to the moon, can ignore its' borders.

    We are the whirled.

    Sheriff Joe appears to be running for Governor, here.
    This could get entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Some want the frontiers of US influence and authority to expand to Mars and beyond.

    But not to Baja California.

    They want to carry the flag of humanity to the stars, but limit human movement, here on earth.

    Kind of a oximoronic position, seems to me.

    ReplyDelete
  18. rufus said...

    BTW, I've noticed a little less whining out of Kaliforniyay, recently.
    Do you suppose it's because their tax collections unexpectedly (to dumfucks, anyway) surged in the last couple of months?
    ---

    Yeah they only have a budget deficit this year of more than 20 Billion Dollars.

    All systems go...

    Dumbfuck.

    ReplyDelete
  19. xen·o·phobe (zn-fb, zn-)
    n.

    A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.


    The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.




    xenophobia [ˌzɛnəˈfəʊbɪə]
    n

    (Psychology) hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers or of their politics or culture


    Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003



    xenophobia

    an abnormal fear or hatred of foreigners and strange things.
    See also: Foreigners

    -Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yeah they only have a budget deficit this year of more than 20 Billion Dollars.

    Yeah, and the U.S. will have a budget deficit of $1.8T.

    Sucker.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Doug,

    The GDP of California does not belong to the government of California; it belongs to those who worked to make it possible. What California extracts from its citizens is something entirely different.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Pyramid schemes always need crops of new suckers.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Goldman Sachs charged with "civil" fraud.

    "CIVIL" fraud, again.

    It must be impossible to put anyone from Goldman in jail.

    ReplyDelete
  24. If this isn't pure "Criminal" Fraud I have absolutely no idea what "Criminal" means.

    ReplyDelete
  25. "If this isn't pure "Criminal" Fraud I have absolutely no idea what "Criminal" means."

    The SEC can't bring criminal charges only civil.

    They can turn over their findings to Justice to pursue criminal charges. Or Andrew Cuomo can pursue criminal charges at the state level.

    Unless the SEC imposes penalties very much in excess of the $16 million profit that GS made on the deal, or the clients who were bilked bring lawsuits for the billion they lost, or Justice or the state bring criminal charges, today's drop in GS stock prices has to be considered a buying opportunity.

    After all, Goldman was only "doing God's work".


    .

    ReplyDelete
  26. Normally, Q, from what I understand, the SEC normally defers to the U.S. Attorney General to allow him/her to bring the Criminal charges first.

    I understand that This SEC guy doesn't necessarily go along with this, but still . . . .

    Having said that, they've gotta charge this "Fabulous Fab" guy, at the least.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I think Goldman is going to be in the headlines for quite a while. That "Fab" guy, absolutely, misrepresented John Paulson's participation, and direction of interest in this shit they were peddling.

    The lawsuits are being typed as we speak. This is going to cost Goldman a ton.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The most interesting thing I saw all morning was, the minute the Goldman headline hit the screen "Oil" Sold Off $3.00.


    ?

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  29. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  30. "A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples."

    This definition brought to you by a person who is both foreign and strange.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  31. Q, I almost answered that, but it is so irrelevant to the post, so doctrinaire ( whip out the race card) and so intellectualy shallow, I decided not to bother.

    Ash is one of the permanent doctrinaire falsettos of the left, a castrado who has had his survival DNA stripped and blanched, with all taints of testosterone rendered inoperable.

    ReplyDelete
  32. ...and of course with all due respect.

    ReplyDelete
  33. naw, you guys fit the typical demographic of a tea partier.

    There is so much wrong with that post of yours Deuce it isn't worth parsing other than to note the definition of xenophobia. The 'fuzzy math' being the first thing to jump out as absurd.

    ReplyDelete
  34. for rat:

    "Falling U.S. money supply creates downturn fears "

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/falling-us-money-supply-creates-downturn-fears/article1536435/

    ReplyDelete
  35. confused wrote:

    If the US is going into a prolonged period of hard times, fairly soon, what are we in now?


    Deuce,
    Weren't you even the slightest bit curious about the meaning of "unduly fearful" and "abnormal". Gosh, I know I am on pins and needles waiting for Mr. Wizard to give us a clue.

    ReplyDelete
  36. California jobless rate swells to 12.6 percent

    Given the meteoric growth in jobs durning the first quarter of 2010, it will only take about 18 years for California to recover fully. This assumes that the reported rate of growth did not fall within the margin of error, which I strongly suspect.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Despite reportage that borders on excessive exuberance, the numbers are the numbers.

    Factories shine, job market weakness lingers

    "Although applications for jobless benefits surged last week, they were unlikely to derail the nascent jobs recovery, analysts said." (Are these the same analysts "surprised" by jobless claims?)

    "U.S. home foreclosures jumped 19 percent to a monthly record in March, driving first-quarter actions up 7 percent from the prior quarter, RealtyTrac said late on Thursday." (...looks like that 2.4 million hidden foreclosures in the pipeline, reported by Moody's, are starting to pour.)

    ReplyDelete
  38. Israel Says Syria Gave Missiles to Hezbollah

    And what does State have to say?

    “clearly it potentially puts Lebanon at significant risk.”

    Say what?! Ah, how about the intended target? O, that's right: the Zionist entity can care for itself.

    The failure of Bush/Olmert to destroy the Syrian regime in '06 has come back to haunt XXXXXXX.

    ReplyDelete
  39. From the Miami Herald:
    Despite a moderate recovery in home sales, foreclosures in South Florida are still on the rise. One out of every 57 homes in the state is in some stage of foreclosure. During the first quarter of the year, Broward County saw 21,308 homes slip into some stage of foreclosure. That was up 12 percent versus the pervious quarter and up 67 percent versus the first quarter of 2009. That means one out of every 38 homes in Broward is in some stage of distress. Miami-Dade saw 19,918 foreclosures -- up 0.8 percent versus the previous quarter and up 60 percent versus last year. By that measure, one out of every 49 properties in the county is in some stage of foreclosure.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I wonder about the economic impact of the Icelandic volcano eruptions.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Israel Says Syria Gave Missiles to Hezbollah. Syria denies it.

    The NYTimes articles says Israel's allegation has been "confirmed by sources outside Israel."

    Who do you believe?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Deuce-

    "...so doctrinaire ( whip out the race card) and so intellectualy shallow..."

    Ash-

    "naw, you guys fit the typical demographic of a tea partier..."

    Point to Deuce.

    The posts were about immigration.

    How did the Tea Party get dragged into the conversation? The Tea Party's concerns center primarily on small government and fiscal conservatism. Their views on immigration are likely similar to those of most Americans. However, the Tea Partiers are the current bogey-men for the left. Your typical liberal has to bring them into the conversation whenever possible even when not appropriate. (Similar to the race card.)

    What Ash should have said was "you guys fit the typical liberal manufactured demographic of a tea partier."


    .

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  43. It's going to be very interesting to see the plethora of class action suits against Goldman, et al.

    Just as we're seeing green shoots in the economy, we may commit suicide by circular firing squads.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Recovery? Hah! Just Oscillating Unemployment Claims

    Interesting Chart. A bit of a Surprise to Me, I must admit.

    ReplyDelete
  45. whit,

    On this one, I'm going with Mr. Peres. The scuds were delivered.

    One wonders how many XXXX must die to gain proportionate respect? 1,000 or all...Hmm...

    To all, Shabbat Shalom!

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  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  47. We Need Jobs.

    We Need Affordable Fuel.

    We Need to Cut Back on our Foreign Adventures.

    We need to improve our "Balance of Payments."


    This is so simple, even a Mississippian can figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
  48. I smudged my house today to rid all negative energy. No more harping on the bad

    Of course there will be everyday rants of the idiots that you run into on a daily basis. My friend thinks it's a hoot that my blog has an animosity category.

    ReplyDelete
  49. So I'm stepping it up a notch

    Not that a little ole county girl belongs on the stage with Def Leppard but I had to give you guys some kind of a show.

    ReplyDelete
  50. whit said...
    Israel Says Syria Gave Missiles to Hezbollah. Syria denies it.

    The NYTimes articles says Israel's allegation has been "confirmed by sources outside Israel."

    Who do you believe?



    I say...

    If Israel has proof and KNOWS they are there?

    BLOW EM UP...

    If hezbollah attacks israel afterwards?

    Destroy em...

    Yep that's the plan...

    ReplyDelete
  51. oh, and I went to the Tea Party here....

    ReplyDelete
  52. Take one step forward for Springsteen.

    Take two steps back for Taylor Swift.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  53. She fucked up the whole video. I saw Def Leppard in concert they were awesome.

    But I agree about Taylor swift.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Something is up with YouTube. I guess they are cracking down on copy rights. Last night I couldn't view anything.

    ReplyDelete
  55. And just so you know, Quirk, I don't ever step back.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Is everyone out tonight but me? Or you just don't know how to have an idle chit chat?

    I hate when I do a Friday night during the week.

    ReplyDelete
  57. If you were IT would you spy?"

    I would and my daughter thinks I'm sick. It's not being sick it's just being nosy. And I'm not stupid enough to reveal something if it's illegal. Dah....

    And do you like the way she was suspended on PAID leave. You do something illegal and they still pay you for it.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Quirk:

    "Tea Party Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration April 15-17 (ROUND 2)
    Take Action Here To Stop Amnesty and Illegal Immigration
    Join Our Tea Party Events to oppose Amnesty Legislation

    TEA PARTY AGAINST AMNESTY PROTESTS ON April 15-17: 56
    TEA PARTY AGAINST AMNESTY PROTEST SUPPORTERS: 9910

    Please sign up below to show your support for the Tea Party events on April 15-17, 2010 and your opposition to illegal immigration or Amnesty for illegal aliens."

    http://www.againstamnesty.com/




    "Tea Party Dabbles in Immigration Politics

    New America Media, News Report , Marcelo Ballvé, Posted: Feb 05, 2010 Review it on NewsTrust

    The Tea Party movement has energized activism against President Obama’s vision for immigration reform.

    The link between tea partiers and immigration politics developed last summer, when the impact of illegal immigration on the health care system became a prominent side issue in town hall debates.

    Since then, illegal immigration has steadily gained ground on the Tea Party agenda.

    Immigration “is one of our main issues in the state of North Carolina,” said David DeGerolamo, co-founder of Tea Party group NC Freedom, in a phone interview. “And what it comes down to is that the United States is a republic based on the rule of law. What part of illegal is right?”





    "Tea Party Dabbles in Immigration Politics

    New America Media, News Report , Marcelo Ballvé, Posted: Feb 05, 2010 Review it on NewsTrust

    The Tea Party movement has energized activism against President Obama’s vision for immigration reform.

    The link between tea partiers and immigration politics developed last summer, when the impact of illegal immigration on the health care system became a prominent side issue in town hall debates.

    Since then, illegal immigration has steadily gained ground on the Tea Party agenda.

    Immigration “is one of our main issues in the state of North Carolina,” said David DeGerolamo, co-founder of Tea Party group NC Freedom, in a phone interview. “And what it comes down to is that the United States is a republic based on the rule of law. What part of illegal is right?”

    http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=b4cc03dbd6820b4b82cb77f47573dce2





    ‘Tea party’ activists turn out for immigration, taxes protest in Decatur
    By News on the Net Friday, April 16, 2010


    DECATUR - Nearly 100 people turned out to march on the Macon County Courts Facility on Thursday afternoon to protest federal immigration reform.

    http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/22068










    do you need more?




    .

    The local “tea party” group Restore Our Constitution organized the event. Vice President Pam Johnson led the crowd along Eldorado Street as they marched with American flags and banners bearing serpents and the Colonial motto “Don’t Tread On Me.”

    ReplyDelete
  59. I think we should allow all illegals to stay...

    Of course they would be taxed at a higher rate than the general public, have no voting rights and must complete a civics class as well as learn English.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Ash, there's just one thing wrong with the Tea Party. It's those damned rallies.

    In the summertime it's too hot. In the wintertime it's too cold. Everybody's just too damned busy in the fall - getting the crops in, kids going back to school, etc, and it's just too damned pretty in the Spring (when the fish are starting to bite) to go out there, and stand around, and listen to some blowhards rant, and rave about politics.

    And, besides, most of us "tea-partiers" are getting kinda old. All that standing around is tiring. If most of those guys are looking a little grouchy it's just that they're thinking about plopping their asses down in a nice comfy bar chair, and having a "cool one."

    ReplyDelete
  61. And, you're right, most of us ARE the perfect demographic for the tea party.

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  62. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  63. Ash, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Friday night ya know. Had to see The Pacific on HBO,then watched the Red Wings play Phoenix, and finished up with the the season finale of Spartacus on Starz. All in all, a pretty entertaining evening.

    Your last post makes my point, i.e. that the typical lefty will willingly accept without sufficient reflection any “evidence” that seems to support his liberal bias.

    We have all seen the same isolated pictures of Obama portrayed as the Joker flashed constantly on the MSM and MSDNC as if on a constant loop; and then we have to have it drummed into our heads by Chris Matthews and the boys that the Tea Party was made up of ignorant, violent, racist yahoos.

    You on the other hand give us a couple of stories (some duplicates)and from them assume that all the Tea Partiers are motivated by xenophobia. Typical lazy googling. Did you bother checking out the stories at all? I noticed in the first one you posted you mentioned it was put up by againstamnesty.com. So I checked them out.

    Here is something posted by againstamnesty:

    “New Event Locations Added Daily for Tea Parties ...
    Apr 15, 2010 ... If you would like to organize an event, or [if] opponents of amnesty and illegal immigration are welcome at your Tea Party CLICK HERE..."

    So you’ve got an anti-immigration group out there trolling for strays. If they can get some isolated Tea Party group to allow them to come to the rally, sweet.

    The NY Times/CBS Poll was put out in the last couple of days purporting to reflect the demographics of the Tea Partiers. One of the questions was designed to provide insight into the motivations behind the Tea Partiers.

    The results were as follows:

    What should be the goal of the Tea Party Movement?

    Reduce federal government 45 % — —
    Cutting budget 6 % — —
    Lowering taxes 6 % — —
    Electing their own candidates 7 % — —
    Creating jobs 9 % — —
    Something else 7 % — —
    All of them 18 % — —
    Don’t know or no answer 3 % —



    While Tea Partiers may consider illegal immigration a problem, this poll indicates that it is far from their primary concern. For that matter, it appears to be little more than an afterthought. I assume it falls into that 7% of "something else".

    What does concern the Tea Partiers?

    The Tea Partiers posted the “Contract From America” yesterday outlining what their goals are.

    The Contract With America

    You’ll notice there is nothing in the Tea Party's priority list about immigration.



    .

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  64. "misdirection" is on the right track, for once in his posting career.

    The thing to do with "illegals" is to legalize them.
    To access those residents higher taxes and fees, as part of that legalization process, a legitimate course of action.

    ReplyDelete
  65. The EB Friday Banking report:

    Regulators shut 5 banks in Fla., Mass., Mich.
    Email this Story

    Apr 16, 6:22 PM (ET)

    NEW YORK (AP) - Regulators have shut down five banks based in Florida, Massachusetts and Michigan, putting the number of U.S. bank failures this year at 47.

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says it took over AmericanFirst Bank in Clermont, Fla.; First Federal Bank of North Florida in Palatka, Fla.; Riverside National Bank of Florida in Fort Pierce, Fla.; Butler Bank in Lowell, Mass.; and Lakeside Community Bank in Sterling Heights, Mich.

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  66. So, here's the question: If even the U.S. Military, and the DOE are starting to publish studies that show we're, for all practical purposes, at peak oil, Where's the Media Coverage?

    No Media Coverage for Peak Oil

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  67. BTW, that big ol' "Thunderhorse" Rig down in the Gulf that cost several Billions, and took 20 years to get in operation, Well it's not doing so good.

    It was supposed to produce 250,000 bbl/day, but immediately dropped to 120,000 bbl/day, and now is down to 60,000 bbl/day (the world uses about 87 Million bbl/day.)

    Also, Marathon's Neptune Rig is sputtering, and it's looking like it won't even pay for itself.

    That "Jack" hole that everyone was raving about 3 years ago is not going ot make a buck, and, now, Brazil is "taking another look" at their much-ballyhooed deep-water, subsalt find.

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  68. Meanwhile, it's starting to look to me like even $2.85/gal gasoline is enough to slow the recovery.

    We are, for all Practical purposes in the 6th year of the Plateau in Global oil flow. All you have to do is look at the Megaprojects data to see that this is the last year that new production equals decline from existing fields.

    We're in deep shit, folks. All this other stuff is busy-work.

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  69. Everyone is hollering about "deficits." Well, here's the thing. We're going to have them, but NOT for the reasons given.

    We're going to have huge deficits NOT because the government is "spending too much," but because the economy is going to tank, again, And Stay "Tanked."

    It won't matter HOW MUCH you cut back spending if your economy stays in recession. And, Our economy WILL stay in recession if energy costs STAY too high. And, it's looking like we're just about there.

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  70. "Meanwhile, it's starting to look to me like even $2.85/gal gasoline is enough to slow the recovery."

    And if that don't work, let's try "$2.50 gas will slow the economy."

    :)


    .

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  71. Oh my! Boredom and alcohol don't seem to mix very well, do they?

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