The News-Sentinel ran my editorial today

I wrote an editorial on whether we should expand Carroll into a mega-sized high school or whether we should build a second high school.

Please read it:
<http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/15407170.htm>

Mike Sylvester

Katrina and "Left in Aboite"

I truly like John Good's blog "Left in Aboite." I like to hear different points of view. It is one of the things that separates me from most Republicans and Democrats.

There is a link to "Left in Aboite" on my sidebar.

We are having a great discussion about Katrina over there. You will NOT believe what John thinks.

I am going to paraphrase here.

John thinks that if Bill Clinton had been President that he would have ordered New Orleans evacuated and hence less people would have died.

John also thinks that President Clinton would have New Orleans cleaned up and rebuilt by now.

I am just curious, does anyone else agree with John? Please leave me a comment. I have got to hear from you...

Please leave me a comment is you disagree with John as well...

I cannot be by myself on this one, can I?

Mike Sylvester

I moved my mother today

My mom is out of the nursing home. I moved her into my house today. She will be living with us for the next couple of months.

My mother is doing very well and she can walk without a cane.

Life is good...

Mike Sylvester

CPA Exam

I took the first section of the CPA exam today. I thought it went fairly well. I took the BEC section. It is kind of a General Business section. I need a 75% to pass. I would guess I got about a 75% - 80%.

I have my fingers crossed.

Mike Sylvester

Fort Wayne News-Sentinel EXCLUDES all Libertarians from their online poll

It is appalling to me that a Fort Wayne newspaper has decided to exclude all Libertarian candidates from their online web poll.

Believe it or not, they decided to include P.J. Smith, an Independent.

Mitch Harper continues to report interesting news stories on his blog Fort Wayne Observed. Please take the time to check out this most recent story that he has detailed:

<http://indiana.typepad.com/fwob/2006/08/ns_has_election.html>

Mike Sylvester

Guard the borders Blogburst, August 28th, 2006

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality

Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
-Arnold Toynbee

Wide open and unguarded stand our gates, and through them passes a wild motley throng.
-Thomas Bailey Aldrich, “Unguarded Gates,” 1895

You cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups. America does not consist of groups. A man who thinks of himself as belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become an American.
-Woodrow Wilson, Address to New Citizens, 1915

Those who favor unrestricted immigration care nothing for the people.
-Sam Gompers, founding president, AFL, 1921

Why was the border guard so thin? Did the Romans not notice…that their way of life was changing forever?
-Thomas Cahill, 1995

No society has a boundless capacity to accept newcomers, especially when many are poor and unskilled.
-Robert Samuelson, economist and Newsweek columnist, 2005

We can’t protect our own borders.
-Donald Rumsfeld, November 29, 2005

*******

The following excerpts are all from a new book, State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America. Many people may not read it because of the political baggage of the author, but I’ve read the book, despite my disagreement with the author on other issues, and it is entirely right on the money when it comes to the invasion of our country by foreigners. It occurred to me that many people may miss out on the common sense found within its pages so I’m excerpting a little bit of it here for those who may never read the words otherwise.

On November 28, 2005, President Bush, speaking in Tucson, conceded that in five years 4.5 million aliens had been caught attempting to break into the United States. Among that 4.5 million, Bush admitted, were "more than 350,000 with criminal records." One in every twelve illegal aliens the U.S. Border Patrol had apprehended was a criminal.

That is 70,000 felons apprehended each year, 200 felons every single day for five years, trying to break into our country to rob, rape, and murder Americans. Of the millions who succeeded on Bush’s watch, how many came for just such purposes? How many Americans have been robbed, assaulted, or murdered because the President failed in his duty to defend the borders of the United States?

Nearly 8 million foreigners did enter during those five years, 3.7 million of them illegally. If one in twelve was a criminal, 300,000 felons slipped in during Bush’s tenure. This is an historic dereliction of presidential duty.

There are today 36 million foreign-born in the United States, almost three times as many people as the 13.5 million hear at the peak of the Great Wave in 1910. And it is among these tens of millions of foreign-born that illegal aliens find sanctuary. As James Edwards of the Hudson Institute writes, legal and illegal immigration are two sides of the same coin. If we fail to control the one, we cannot control the other. As a rule, he notes, when legal immigration rises, illegal immigration soars.
[…]
Our foreign-born population today is almost equal to the 42 million who came over three and a half centuries from 1607 to 19965. The Border Patrol catches as many illegal immigrants every month as all the legal immigrants who came to America in the 1820s. Today’s numbers are of a different order of magnitude.

No nation has ever attempted to assimilate 36 million foreigners in a generation. Yet, each year, 1.5 million more are added to the number, half of the illegals, 90 percent of them from Third World countries whose people have never before been assimilated into our population.
[…]
“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities,” said Theodore Roosevelt. We are becoming was T.R. warned against: a multi-lingual, multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural Tower of Babel. To the delight of anti-Americans everywhere and the indifference of our elites, we are risking the Balkanization and breakup of the nation.
[…]
How many spies and saboteurs have been sent into our country as sleeper agents? How many Al Qaeda are here awaiting orders to bomb subways and malls or assassinate our leaders? We have no idea. Neither does the Department of Homeland Security. Border security is homeland security. But America has lost control of her borders and, as Ronald Reagan said, a country that can’t control its borders isn’t really a country anymore.

In his address in Tucson, President Bush made a startling admission. For decades, he said, the United States has had a separate policy in dealing with non-Mexicans breaking in through the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, a policy of “catch-and-release”: “about four of every five non-Mexican illegal immigrants we catch are released in society and asked to return for a court date. When the date arrives, about 75% of those released don’t show up at court.* As a result, last year [2004], only 30,000 of the 160,000 non-Mexicans caught coming across our southwest border were sent home.”

“This practice of catch and release has been the government’s policy for decades,” said Bush. “It is an unwise policy and we’re going to end it.”

Is this not an astonishing admission? …How can the president say our homeland is secure?

Further on in his Tucson speech, Bush conceded that our government and laws have been frozen in a pre-9/11 world:

Under current law, the federal government is required to release people caught crossing our border illegally if their home countries do not take them back in a set period of times…Those we were forced to release have included murderess, rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals.

“This undermines our border security” and the work “these good folks” of the Borders are doing, added the president.

Again, is this not astounding? President Bush was talking about releasing “murders, rapists, child molesters, and other violent criminals” into our society, because “current law” commands it and the nations whence the criminals come refuse to take them back.

The question begs itself: With Bush and his party in power, why had they not changed “current law”? Why had President Bush not picked up a phone and told the leaders of these “home countries” that there will not be another visa issued to their country until they take back every one of their criminal felons who has broken into ours?

What is the matter with President Bush? What is the matter with us?

What explains the paralysis of the present White House?

George Bush has taken an oath to see to it that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed. The immigration laws are clear. Businesses that hire illegal aliens break U.S. law and are subject to sanctions. Yet, as the columnist John O’Sullivan writes, “in the Clinton years 1995, 1996, and 1997 there were between 10,000 and 18,000 work-site arrests of illegals annually. In the same years about 1,000 employers were served notices of fines for employing them. Under the Bush administration, work-site arrests fell to 159 in 2004 where there was also the princely total of three notices of intent to fine served on employers.”

“In this dramatic relaxation of internal enforcement” under George W. Bush, O’Sullivan concludes, “is the explanation of the rapidly rising estimate of immigrants living and working illegally in this country.”

Can anyone say that, with this record, President Bush has faithfully executed the immigration laws of the United States?

Twice, President Bush took an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article IV, Section 4, reads: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union, a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion.”

Yet, with perhaps 4 million illegal aliens having broken in during Bush’s five and a half years in office, and our border states daily breached by thousands more, can anyone say President Bush has protected the states of this Union against that invasion? In an earlier America, this dereliction of constitutional duty would have called forth articles of impeachment.
[…]
America’s leaders claim she is the most powerful country on earth. But American has a government too morally flabby to act as decisively as Ike did** to remove from our national home those who have broken in and had no right to be here. How many America women must be assaulted, how many children molested, how many citizens must die at the hands of criminal aliens and foreign terrorists before our government does its duty?
[…]
If present projections of the U.S. Census Bureau prove accurate, the American our grandchildren will live in will be another country, a nation unrecognizable to our parents.

By 2050, it is now estimated that there will be almost 2.5 times as many people here as in 1960: 420 million. The share of the population of European descent will be a minority, as it is today in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. And that minority will be aging, shrinking, and dying. There will be as many Hispanics here – 102 million – as there are Mexicans today in Mexico. …By 2050, they will be 24 percent of a nation of 420 million. By nation of origin of our people, America will be a Third World Country.

Our great cities will all look like Los Angeles today. Los Angeles and the cities of the Southwest will look like Juarez and Tijuana. Though we were never consulted about this transformation, never voted for it, and have protested against it in every poll and referendum, this is the future the elites have prepared for our children.

I'll close the excerpt with this warning:

This is not immigration as America knew it, when men and women made a conscious choice to turn their backs on their native lands and cross the ocean to become Americans. This is an invasion, the greatest invasion in history. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened in so short a time.

Against the will of a vast majority of Americans, America is becoming transformed. As our elites nervously avert their gaze or welcome the invasion, we are witness to one of the great tragedies in human history. From Gibbon to Spengler to Toynbee and the Durants, the symptoms of a dying civilization are well known: the death of faith, the degeneration of morals, contempt for the old values, collapse of the culture, paralysis of the will. But the two certain signs that a civilization has begun to die are a declining population and foreign invasions no longer resisted.

Here in America, the self-delusion about what is happening and the paralysis in the face of the crises have no precedent. What can be said for a man who would allow his home to be invaded by strangers who demanded they be fed, clothed, housed, and granted the rights of the firstborn? What can be said for a ruling elite that permits this to be done to the nation, and that celebrates it as a milestone of moral progress?

We are witnessing how nations perish. We are entered upon the final act of our civilization. The last scene is the destruction of the nations. The penultimate scene, now well underway, is the invasion unresisted.

_____________________________

*According to Congressional testimony on August 16th, the Border Patrol reported that actually only 90% of released illegals report back for their court date.

**In 1954, when Eisenhower discovered a million Mexicans here who did not belong, without apology he ordered them sent home in "Operation Wetback." They went.

__________________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we're going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Verison DSL should be ashamed...

I received this email from Verizon, my DSL provider...



Dear Valued Verizon Online Customer,
Effective August 14, 2006, Verizon Online will stop charging the FUSF (Federal Universal Ser vice Fund) recovery fee. We will stop being assessed the fee by our DSL network suppliers. Therefore, we will no longer be recovering this fee from our customers. The impact of the FUSF fee is as follows: for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 768Kbps, the fee eliminated is $1.25 a month; for customers of Verizon Online with service up to 1.5 Mbps or 3Mbps, the fee eliminated is $2.83 a month (based on current FUSF surcharge amounts). On your bill that includes charges for August 14, 2006 you will see either a partial FUSF Recovery Fee or no FUSF line item at all, depending on your bill cycle.
Starting August 26, 2006, Verizon Online will begin charging a Supplier Surcharge for all new DSL customers, existing customers with a DSL monthly or bundle package, and existing DSL annual plan customers at the time their current annual plan expires. This surcharge is not a government imposed fee or a tax; however, it is intended to help offset costs we incur from our network supplier in providing Verizon Online DSL service. The Supplier Surcharge will initially be set at $1.20 a month for Verizon Online DSL customers with service up to 768Kbps and $2.70 per month for customers with DSL service at higher speeds.
On balance your total bill will remain about the same as it has been or slightly lower.
For more information, see the Announcement in the Help section of Verizon Central, located at http://central.verizon.net
We regret the need to add this Supplier Surcharge, but we thank you for choosing high speed Verizon Online DSL. We appreciate and value your business.
Sincerely,
Verizon Online
Broadband Customer Care Team


We finally get rid of a very old and very stupid tax; only to see it replaced by a fee of almost the exact same size... What a crock... I may have to change providers...

Mike Sylvester

William Larsen: NACS School board and Superintendent need to take math class

William Larsen: NACS School board and Superintendent need to take math class

Rising Health Care Costs are mostly the fault of our Government

Ron Paul is a Representative from Texas. He is a member of The Libertarian Party and The Republican Party. He is a small government type and a fiscal conservative. Ron Paul makes a lot of sense.

He has written a piece about the rising costs of healthcare. He talks about how much of the problem was caused by Congress and he lists solutions to these problems.

Tom Hayhurst is making the rising cost of healthcare a major Campaign issue. He needs to write something up and tell us how he is going to fix our health care problems. I realize that his solutions will differ from those of Mr. Paul; but, I want to know what his solutions are.

Please check this out:

<http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2006/tst082106.htm>

Mike Sylvester

I am going on a rant...

To make a long story short I am switching from one online Broker to another online Broker for my investment accounts. Some of the accounts my wife and I hold jointly, some she holds in just her name (Retirement accounts), and some I hold in just my name (Retirement accounts). I was able to setup the accounts myself no problem; however, to give myself Trading Authority over her accounts I have to fill out a form and my wife has to sign it and get a Signature Gaurantee. My bank does not do Signature Gaurantees. I have called several other banks and they only do them for their customers...

I am getting very angry...

I am going to start calling higher and higher people in the chain of command at my bank and find out why they do not provide a Signature Gaurantee to their customers...

Mike

Press Release from Mike Kole, Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State

August 22, 2006 Contact
For Immediate Release Rob Place 317-776-1042

Mike Kole Interested in Bauer’s BMV Proposal

Direct Accountability to Voters is Good Government

Fishers, IN- Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State Mike Kole found his curiosity piqued by Pat Bauer’s recent proposal to place the BMV under the direction of the Secretary of State’s office.

“There is a lot of dissatisfaction with the BMV right now, and when that’s the case, people notice that there isn’t direct accountability to the voters,” said Kole of the appointed position of BMV chief.

Kole considered that the idea that this might merely be an election season stunt.

“Even if Mr. Bauer is just making an issue in a known sore spot like the BMV’s recent performance, it’s a fact that the more accountable government can be, the more efficient its service will be. I think it’s always worthwhile to look at how services are administered, and if we can make the BMV directly accountable without adding any new bureaucracy, it’s worth considering,” said Kole, adding, “I don’t think it would be that great a burden for competent management to add the oversight of the BMV to the oversight of elections, business services, and securities.”

Kole was amused at the source of this concept.

“I didn’t know Pat Bauer was the Democrat running for Secretary of State,” he quipped.

Mike Kole’s campaign themes are Integrity, and Accountability.

#####

A high-resolution headshot photo of Mike Kole is available upon request.

Mike Kole is available for comment. Call Mike directly on 317-709-3874 to set up an interview.

Mike Kole’s media presence includes his campaign website: www.mikekole.com, and his blog, “Kole Hard Facts: www.kolehardfacts.blogspot.com.

Gosh a lot happened today

Today was my daughter's first day at Oak View. It is hard to believe she is starting school. My wife and I took her to her first day of Kindergarten. Kayla was very excited and she is looking forward to Kindergarten.

I also sold my mother's house today. Mom lived there for over 30 years. It is a little hard to believe she is going to be living somewhere else. My wife and I spent a lot of time fixing it up and it sold in less then four days!

Mike

Guard the borders Blogburst, August 14th, 2006

***A podcast of this week's Blogburst is now available.***

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality

There are only a few hours left to have some impact on the case of two Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who are being sentenced tomorrow for attempting to apprehend a drug smuggler who was fleeing across the border illegally. The charges against the Border Patrol agents were serious bodily injury; assault with a deadly weapon; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; and a civil rights violation. Compean and Ramos also were convicted of four counts and two counts, respectively, of obstruction of justice for not reporting that their weapons had been fired. The Texas jury acquitted both men of assault with intent to commit murder, but found them guilty on all other charges. The recommended sentencing is 20 years in prison.

You can read the entire account of the case in this Daily Bulletin article written by Sara Carter, but there are a few things you need to know up front:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof, who prosecuted this travesty of justice against the two BP agents, has successfully contended that BP agents are NOT SUPPOSED to apprehend or pursue illegals.

"It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing," she said. "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone."

Two weeks after the incident, a Homeland Security agent tracked down the drug smuggler in Mexico and offered him immunity to testify against the two Texas Border Patrol agents. They found the drug smuggler based upon a tip from another BP agent in Arizona! The connection between the Arizona BP agent and the drug smuggler is murky, though the prosecutor gets upset at any one who dares to question the unsavory connection.

The drug smuggler was treated to free tax-payer funded medical care in El Paso in addition to his full immunity to testify against the BP agents.

The drug smuggler changed his story, but the fact that he lied was never disclosed to the jury.

According to the memo, Aldrete-Davila told investigators the agents shot him in the buttocks when he was trying to enter the country illegally from Mexico. But according to Aldrete-Davila's later testimony and that of the agents, he was shot after trying to evade the agents upon his re-entry into Mexico.

The memo never was disclosed to the jury.

The drug smuggler is now suing the Border Patrol for $5 million for violating his civil rights.

Also, Ramos' extensive training and accomplishments in drug interdiction, which would be directly relevant to the actions he took during the incident with the drug smuggler, was deemed not admissible during his trial.

As a Border Patrol agent, Ramos has been involved in the capture of nearly 100 drug smugglers and the seizure of untold thousands of pounds of narcotics. He also was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the Year in March 2005, though the nomination was withdrawn after details of the Aldrete-Davila incident came out.

Ramos also had drug interdiction training from the Drug Enforcement Agency and qualified as a Task Force Officer with the Border Patrol. But Ramos' training in narcotics -- as well as the numerous credentials he had received for taking Border Patrol field training classes -- was not admissible during the trial, he said.

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, just addressed the Congressional hearings here in Houston on August 16th, where this case was of great concern among all the law enforcement officials.

He said the Border Patrol's official pursuit policy handcuffs agents in the field. He also sees the prosecution of Ramos and Compean as part of a larger effort by the federal government.

"The pursuit policy has negatively affected the Border Patrol's mission as well as public safety. Part of that mission is to stop terrorists and drug smugglers," Bonner said. "They could be smuggling Osama bin Laden, drugs, illegal aliens, or it could have been just some drunk teenager out on a joyride. You don't know until you stop them."

"The administration is trying to intimidate front-line agents from doing their job," he added. "If they can't do it administratively, they'll do it with trumped-up criminal charges.

"Moreover, the specter of improprieties in the prosecution of this case raises serious concerns that demand an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation."

Ramos and Compean and their young families have been living under threats of retaliation from criminals in the drug underworld.

The El Paso Sheriff's Department has met with the Ramos family to discuss continued threats against them from people they believe to be associated with Aldrete-Davila. The sheriff's department also has increased patrols around the family's home.

The only other organization that has responded to the Ramoses thus far, Monica Ramos said, is the Chino-based nonprofit group Friends of the Border Patrol, chaired by Andy Ramirez.

"This is the greatest miscarriage of justice I have ever seen," Ramirez said. "This drug smuggler has fully contributed to the destruction of two brave agents and their families and has sent a very loud message to the other Border Patrol agents: If you confront a smuggler, this is what will happen to you."

This case has been virtually ignored by the press, which is why the American public only found out about it after the conviction of the two BP agents. But now that we know, we must take action. If, as TJ Bonner has said, this case is a dirty attempt by our government to intimidate law enforcement officers into leaving the borders wide open and unguarded, then the American people must speak out immediately.

You can do so by signing a petition that will be delivered to the President - but you must do so TODAY, it's the last day. The men will be sentenced tomorrow.

The goal is to collect 100,000 signatures asking President Bush to pardon these two men. So far, 97,589 people have signed the petition and there is no doubt in my mind that Guard the Borders readers can fill in the remaining numbers needed. The petition, to which you may add your own comment reads as follows:

To: President George W. Bush,

As a citizen of the United States I am outraged to learn that two U.S. Border Agents are facing twenty-year prison terms for doing their jobs-- pursuing illegal aliens who cross our border, and I’m calling on you to officially pardon them for their actions.

I am even more outraged to learn that this illegal alien (who was attempting to smuggle about 800 pounds of marijuana into our country), was tracked down by a Department of Homeland Security Investigator and granted immunity for his testimony against these two agents!

This is a terrible injustice, and I urge you to use your considerable authority and power to pardon these two agents and right this obvious wrong!

In addition to rallying your friends and family to take action with you, I would also ask that you call the White House Comments line, and leave a message on behalf of these agents. White House Comments line: 202-456-6213

Please do not hesitate to take this small action on behalf of men whose lives have been destroyed by a drug smuggler and corrupt government agents and prosecutors. It's the very least we can do for them - I wish there was more.

What if this was you? What will happen to these two men? What will be the fallout from such a miscarriage of justice?

"My husband is a good man, a loving father, and his devotion to his country and his job is undeniable," Monica Ramos said. "Prosecutors treated the drug smuggler like an innocent victim, refusing to allow testimony that would have helped my husband. The smuggler was given immunity. My husband is facing a life in prison.

"It's so frightening, it doesn't seem real."

COUNTING THE DAYS

About a week ago, feeling little hope, Joe Loya, Monica Ramos' father, took the family on what will be Ignacio Ramos' last fishing trip with his sons before he is sentenced.

"What kind of justice is this?" Loya asked. "What kind of nation do we live in when the word of a smuggler means more than the word of a just man?"

Monica Ramos says her hardest day is yet to come -- the day the authorities take her husband away.

"We just guard (our children's) hearts right now," Monica Ramos said. "I think about the last time he'll hug them as children, and maybe not get the chance to hug them again until they are grown men."

The sons are between 6 and 13 years old.

Ignacio Ramos was, if anything, even more emotional.

"Less than a month left with my family," he said, his voice choking, as though the air had been pulled from his lungs. "My sons," he whispered. Then silence.

It took several minutes for Ramos to summon more words. "All I think about at night is the day I have to leave my family. I can't sleep. I've always been with them."

Then he talked about the memories he would never have, "their first dates, high school graduation, sports," and the tears falling from his eyes were mirrored only by those of his wife, who took his hand into hers.

Families destroyed. A drug smuggler on the loose to threaten the lives of others and on the scam for $5 million dollars. And a government who won't do anything about either – unless we force it to.

The only ones left who can help are the American people themselves. That means you.

__________________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we're going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

An interesting New York Times article

The article talks about the infamous Michael Schiavo and his recent attempts to support candidates who support the Right to Privacy. Michael Schiavo has created a PAC and is financially supporting candidates (Regardless of Party affiliation) who feel that The Federal Government should stop overstepping its Consitutional Authority.

I have to agree with Mr. Schiavo on this one. The Federal Government (Led by Republicans) were way out of line.

Mike Sylvester

Live call-in Public Access show tonight

Please tune in to Fort Wayne Public Access tonight. Scott Wise, Libertarian for the 3rd Congressional District is the featured guest.

If you would like to call in and ask him some questions, please call 422-3902.

The show will air live tonight. It will air from 7 OM - 8 PM on Thursday, August 17th.

Mike Sylvester

NACS, one high school or two

I attended the meeting last night that the Remonstrators hosted. It was very informative and I am glad I attended. I sat with William Larsen and we talked about the large problems with the feasibility study NACS created...

I plan on helping with the Remonstrance.

There is no doubt in my mind that building a second High School will be cheaper and more effective in the long run. I will post a lot more on this in the next few days.

Bill Mallers (NACS Business Manager) has given me a lot of information that I am processing...

Expect a detailed study from me in the next few days...

Please check out the Northwest Education Supporters Website:
<http://www.northwesteducationsupporters.com/>

Mike Sylvester

Another myth dispelled

Have you ever heard a Federal employee claim they are underpaid?

I have. I have often heard that Federal employees make less then those in the private sector.

This is 100% untrue. It turns out that Federal employees make about TWICE what private sector employees make.

<http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6611>

Mike Sylvester

Allen County Election Board and Republicans

This article is a must read if you live in Allen County:

<http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/15260108.htm>

Mike Sylvester

My take on Lamont over Lieberman

I think it is truly sad how badly BOTH The Reps and Dems are interpreting Lamont over Lieberman...

The Republicans like Sean Hannity are as lost as usual. A Primary is designed so that the members of a political party can choose the candidate they wish to support. Primaries are a regular event and are part of the political process. Just because Lamont beat Lieberman does NOT mean the end of The Democratic Party.

The Democrats are lost for different reasons on this issue. I do not think that the anti-war segment of The Democratic Party has accomplished anything other then having a candidate win one Primary.

The Democrats are NOT the anti-war party on the national level. The National Libertarian Party is the anti-war party.

The Democrats almost unanimously voted to approve the Iraq invasion and they keep voting for the funding of the war, etc. The Democratic Party has NOT actively opposed the Iraq War and that must be understood.

Mike Sylvester

Signatures forged; Allen County GOP fires Executive Director

This story was written by Benjamin Lanka by the Journal Gazette today:

<http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/15224194.htm>

This is very unfortunate and I feel sorry for any candidates this will effect.

I think the Allen County GOP handled this well by immediately firing their Executive Director.

We need to ensure that our elected officials immediately simplify Indiana's Election laws and do everything they can to ensure that citizens can easily run for public office.

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of the Libertarian party of Allen County

Guard the borders Blogburst, August 7th, 2006

Illegal Alien Stole 10 yr old girl’s identity
By Toni at Bear Creek Ledger

How would you like to find out your child's identity had been stolen? You of course probably wouldn't know until the child reached adulthood.

Kern found out quite by accident when Hayley's application for the North Carolina Children's Health Insurance Program was initially rejected because her earned income was too high. Hayley is 10 years old. She doesn't have any earned income.
Guess the Social Security Administration doesn't look at earned income for 10 year olds or 5 year olds for that matter.
What she learned was that a man, an illegal immigrant in his 20s, had been working under Hayley's Social Security number for the past six years.
[...]
Rosario does not speak English. Through an interpreter, Knight learned that when Rosario came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 22, he was told he needed "work papers" to get a job. The working papers acquaintances provided was a Social Security card with Rosario's name and a fraudulent number. He believed the number was the "work papers" that allowed him to work in the U.S. Knight said Rosario was at a loss to understand what he had done wrong.

As much as I'd like to empathize with this Mexican man, I can't. I find it difficult to believe this man has been in the US working for 6 years and is unaware of the political fight going on with illegal aliens in this country. The one consistency with this man though; he has been in this country for 6 years, he can't speak any English and yet has a drivers license and vehicle. I'm surprised he hasn't purchased a home yet!

The mother, Shelly Kern now has the terrible task of trying to clear her childs identity.
Clearing your child's name can be just as frustrating and infuriating as clearing an adult's name. Kern said maybe more so. First, she was referred to the regional Social Security Administration office where she was told there was nothing they could do. They sent her to the Employment Security Commission. Neither agency nor the DSS has enforcement powers, so Kern went to the Star Police Department.
[…]
When Kern tried to order a credit report on her daughter, she hit obstacle after obstacle.
0nline, the credit reporting agencies want credit information that her daughter, at age 10, does not have and she cannot get a credit report for Rosario, no matter that the Social Security number is fraudulent. She has appealed to the N.C. Attorney General's Office for assistance.

Apparently this has been happening for years:

The practice of stealing, selling and using Social Security numbers from juveniles began over 20 years ago in southern California and has spread throughout the country. Apparently, the SSNs are obtained through brokers, who are primarily Permanent Legal Residents. The "brokers" physically monitor court house records of newborns, and obtain their birth registry issued SSNs from open public records, or from other Permanent Legal Residents/Naturalized Citizens who are employees of city and county government that have access to tax records.

The reason this illegal practice has been relatively successful is that the IRS/SSA doesn't note that one to five year old children shouldn't be working, despite the SSA records that show the age of number holders. Also, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is not known for pursuing this line of investigation.

If you have children you should really read the rest of this story since there's more information covered that you should know.

The Courier-Tribune :: News Page

H/T: ALIPAC Forum

And of course, I want to give a bit of promo to Dan Demay's song - Illegal.

_________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we're going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our Blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Indiana Tax Planning change due to a new State Law

Starting on 1/1/2007 Indiana residents have a new tax credit they may be able to claim on their Indiana taxes.

A tax credit lowers your tax liability by the amount of the actual tax credit...

If you contribute to an Indiana Choice 529 plan for education you can claim a tax credit in 2007 from Indiana. This tax credit cannot be carried back to a prior year nor can it be used in a future year.

The amount of the credit is limited to the LESSER of the following:
1. 20% of the amount of each contribution made to the plan during the taxable year.
2. $1000. OR
3. Taxpayer's adjusted gross income tax liability for the taxable year reduced by credits allowed under IC 6-3-1 through IC 6-3-7.

Here is an example of how this could help you:

Lets say you are married, file joint, and have an Indiana adjusted gross income of $50,000 per year after all other Indiana tax credits, Indiana tax deductions, and Indiana exemptions are calculated. This means you will have an Indiana tax liability of $1700 (3.4% x 50,000).

Lets say that you contribute $2500 during 2007 to an Indiana Choice 529 plan to help put one of your children through college. This will yield a tax credit of $500 ($2500 x 20%).

This means you will have an Indiana tax liability of $1200 rather then $1700...

If you have any questions about this please contact me...

P.S. This could work for Grand parents and the like as well...

Mike Sylvester

Mike Kole's Press Conference

Press Conference Thursday Morning August 3rd, 2006

Mike Kole will take to the steps of the Indiana Statehouse Thursday morning at 10 am for a press conference. There I will let the people of Indiana know that they have been ripped off by the Indiana Legislature and the Indiana Elections Division, with the result being that 11 Libertarian candidates have been removed from the ballot.The Legislature inserted a law into the Election Code that was designed to trip up the Libertarian Party. It worked.The Division, which did not enforce this law in 2004, is now enforcing it. The Division could have chosen not to enforce, as it did in 2004. Is there any real harm in having 11 Libertarian candidates on the ballot? Some of them provide the only opposition to incumbents.It seems that, so far as the Legislature and the Division are concerned, what is most important is the comfort of the Republican and Democratic Parties, and not the health of representative government.So, we'll make the case.

Watch for the story to be covered statewide.

Fort Wayne garage sale

From Doug Horner

I probably wasn’t the brightest soul when I volunteered to help Jack Evans with the Fundraising Committee.

After much talk, planning and debate we have decided to have a garage sale/food sale/party on Labor Day, September 4th, 2006. It will go from 8A – 8P at Foster Park, Pavilion #2.

We would like to ask two (2) things from everyone:

#1) Donations of anything you have wanted to get rid of but haven’t had the time, and;
#2) Your time for about 6½ hours helping on Labor day.

There are only two of us on the Fundraising Committee and we won’t be able to do this alone.

Regarding the donations James Fitch has volunteered the use of his truck and his muscles. He and I will personally come to your door to collect anything you want to get rid of. We will load the truck and be on our way. I would ask everyone to have your “stuff” ready to go by August 15th. We will try our darndest to pick things up on the 15th or the soonest thereafter that we can.

Regarding your time we need about 20 people to make this work. We are thinking 10 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon. We are going to have 1st shift from 7:30AM to 2PM, and naturally the 2nd shift from 2PM until closing.

We will need folks to:

#1) Three (3) people to take folks money and sell stuff;
#2) One assistant to a photographer who will be taking pictures of children and pets;
#3) One person to operate a snow cone machine;
#4) One person to grill hot dogs and burgers (any grill experts this is your time to shine);
#5) One person to sell drinks;
#6) I am forgetting some stuff right now but I’ll think of it later.

We are going to have several of our Libertarian Candidates there who are running for State and Federal office explaining their positions and doing their own outreach.

If there are any “expert” garage sale people out there I would love to hear from you regarding this event.

If you have any questions or comments you can call me Doug Horner on my cell phone at (260) 704 – 4698 or you can call Jack Evans. Jacks home telephone number is (260) 432 – 2091.

Folks, we will really need your help with this. Anything you do will be most appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Respectfully,

Doug Horner
Secretary, Libertarian Party of Allen County
(260) 704 - 4698

Don't use taxes to change behavior

Robert Enders, Libertarian candidate for the 80th District had a good letter to the editor published in the News Sentinel yesterday.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/15164108.htm

Text is:

Don't use taxes to change behavior

The governor has proposed that the cigarette tax be raised in order to promote public health. Yet obesity is more widespread among Hoosiers than lung cancer. Will he advocate a tax on fast food and junk food?

Taxes shouldn't be used to discourage legal behavior. I don't smoke, but I believe if you are old enough to vote, you are old enough to choose what to put in your body. With the right to vote comes the right of self-determination. If you have the right to choose your president, governor and representatives, then you have the right to make your own health choices.

Robert Enders