Protest supporting immigrants coming to Fort Wayne, Indiana...

As incredible as it may sound it looks like a group of protestors will be marching in Fort Wayne this weekend to show support for ILLEGAL immigrants...

Mike in red

Per the News Sentinel:
Immigration debate sparks rally
Local Hispanic coalition sponsors Sunday gathering downtown to make voices heard on immigration proposals now in Congress.
They certainly have the right to protest as long as it is peaceful... This is America...

By Nicole Lee nlee@news-sentinel.com

Montesino: Illegal immigrants aren’t criminals (Of course they are criminals they entered the country illegally)
Max Montesino is not opposed to all laws that regulate immigration, but he is vehemently against any law that criminalizes the approximate 12 million undocumented people in the United States. (How can a bill criminalize something that is ILLEGAL. Can someone explain this to me)

A native of the Dominican Republic and the president of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition of Northeast Indiana, Montesino will be among thousands he expects to participate in an immigrants’ rights rally Sunday in downtown Fort Wayne. (Thousands, I doubt it)

The coalition, a local education and advocacy group, is organizing the rally to protest the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 – otherwise known as HR 4437 – a bill that passed last year in the House of Representatives and was sent in January to the Senate Judiciary Committee for review.

The legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make illegal immigrants’ presence in the U.S. a criminal violation. Current law states that those living illegally in the U.S. are only violating civil law. (The House finally passed a bill that I overall agree with; that is rare anymore...)
“This law penalizes immigrants,” Montesino said. “We need to strengthen our borders, but we don’t need to support ill-intended, wrong legislation against those who are making an economic contribution to society.

“It lumps together terrorists and immigrants, and that’s absolutely wrong.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee has made several modifications to HR 4437, and the bill now includes legislation that gives illegal immigrants an opportunity to remain in the U.S. under certain stipulations and ultimately become legal residents. (The Republican controlled Senate is going to pass an AMNESTY program. Then the House will AGREE to the amnesty bill, mark my words. The the Republicans will lose the 2006 election...)
The committee passed the amended law Monday and sent it to the full Senate for a vote.
“It is a fluid situation,” said Montesino. “We don’t know if there will be a vote (by today). We expect the best and encourage the Senate to take into account the contributions of immigrants to this country.” (I encourage the Senate to wake up and realize that they cannot allow 12 million illegal aliens become citizens; it is ABSURD)

Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is among those in the Senate who opposed the initial version of the bill, said Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher.
Included in the Senate modifications to the immigration bill is the “The Dream (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act,” legislation that Lugar co-sponsored in 2003.
It allows undocumented immigrant students who grew up in the U.S. and graduated high school here to qualify for “conditional lawful permanent resident” status for up to six years. During this period, if the student goes to college or joins the military, they could be eligible to become permanent residents.
“Many changes can be expected to be made to the legislation during the Senate floor debate,” Fisher said. “Sen. Lugar hopes the Senate will consider a consensus bill that updates immigration policy in a comprehensive way.” (Luger sure has changed over the 36 years he has been in The Senate...)
Montesino hopes this as well. He said he has received phone calls from local Hispanics, church groups and African immigrants in support of the immigrants’ rights rally, and he said event organizers are reaching out to the Burmese community as well.

“The immigration issue is very important and people should be concerned,” he said. “On Sunday, we will be either celebrating passage of a comprehensive immigration bill, or protesting the fact (the Senate) couldn’t pass it, or pushing to keep the discussions going.”
Immigration rally
When: 1:15 p.m. Sunday
Where: The rally will start at the corner of South Harrison and Dewald streets. Participants will march through Calhoun Street and end at the courthouse on the Berry Street side.
I wonder how many mexican flags they will carry?

MARK MY WORDS, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL GRANT AMNESTY AND THEY WILL LOSE THE 2006 ELECTIONS... THEY WILL LOSE CONTROL OF AT LEAST ONE HOUSE OF CONGRESS...

William Larsen on Wind Power

Mr. Larsen is running against Mark Souder in the Republican Primary for Indiana's 3rd Congressional District. Mr. Larsen is often considered a "one issue" candidate by many local media sources. I have NO IDEA why they consider him a one issue candidate; but, they do.

Mr. Larsen has a broad platform and is extremely knowledgeable about many issues.

Please take a couple of minutes and check out an article he wrote about wind power. A link to his blog is below:
<http://wmlarsen.blogspot.com/2006/03/lets-do-it.html>

Lets hope the voters wake up and vote Mark Souder out of office...

Drug testing policy at SACS (Southwest Allen County Schools)

Three parents have asked me how I feel about the current drug testing policy at SACS. Since three people have asked me, I decided to post my opinion on my blog. That will enable people who will be voting for NACS School Board to make a more informed decision.

First of all, I am 100% in favor of SACS passing whatever rules they feel will help their school system. I feel that most school decisions should be made locally. We need to get politicians in both Indianapolis and Washington D.C. out of our schools.

The current SACS drug policy was implemented last year. The drug program only involves students. Students who participate in extracurricular or co-curricular activities must fill out some forms and are all added to a pool of students. Students who do NOT participate in extracurricular or co-curricular activities are not required to submit themselves to this pool of students. Teachers, coaches, administrators, and school district employees are NOT required to submit themselves to this pool.

Students are randomly selected from this pool and are drug tested.

I would not vote in favor of this program if it were proposed at NACS as outlined above. I do not feel it is fair for two reasons:

1. The prospective pool of students does not include the teachers, coaches, administrators,
employees, etc. Why not? If drugs are perceived to be a problem in SACS I would think we should drug test the above people BEFORE we drug test the students.

2. I think that all students should be included in the pool or no students should be included in the pool.

Mike Sylvester
Candidate for Northwest Allen County School Board.

Final version of my NACS yard signs...

Many Republicans now support amnesty in US Senate

I think there is a very good chance now that The Democrats take back several seats in BOTH the Senate and The House later this year...

I think The Republicans SHOULD be voted out of office.

Amnesty is wrong. I understand why The Democrats support amnesty... It is just part of their liberal mindset on social issues...

Reagon convinced us to give 3.5 million illegal aliens in 1986. This was supposed to fix the problem...

Due to government incompetence, both Democrat and Republican, we have NOT secured our borders...

Now we have AT LEAST 11 million illegal immigrants... They are protesting in the streets...

This is crazy...

What are The Republcians thinking?

Mike Sylvester

Rumor has it the Allen County Council is "slapping" Marla Irving in the face now

I have heard from ONE source that all seven members of The Allen County Council are hosting a fundraiser for Republican challenger Bill Brown... I wonder how Marla Irving feels about this?

I later noticed a post from Tracy Warner about this as well...

Wow...

Mike Sylvester

Another idea...

It looks like The Republican Senate is going to recommend Amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens. I told you they would...

Here is an idea; people keep saying that the illegal alien problem is so large that we have to grant amnesty. By that logic should we not legalize speeding in our automobiles?

Almost every American speeds on our roads and this actually does result in hundred of thousands of DEATHS.

But, since a majority of Americans do it we should make it legal and REFUND all past speeding penalties, right?

Mike Sylvester

Immigration protest turns violent in Munster Indiana

This article was written by Jerry Davich from nwitimes.com. A link to the story is below, PLEASE go and check it out!

<http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2006/03/26/news/top
_news/06b86321de0829538625713d0001758b.txt>

I think the next few weeks are going to be absolutely critical for The Republican Party and for America. It is incredible that 300,000 people marched in Chicago in support of illegal aliens last week and that 500,000 people marched in LA yesterday in support of illegal aliens...

The anti-Iraq war protests cannot come up with anywhere near this many people...

This topic will be one of the main topics in The Senate this week. I suggest you pay attention to it carefully. Here is what is going to happen:

The 2008 Presidential hopefuls are already posturing.
Bill Frist has come out backing a crackdown on illegal aliens.
Hillary Clinton and John McCain have already come out in favor of ANOTHER amnesty plan.

There will be a showdown on illegal immigration. There will be a lot of posturing and rhetoric that will have little meaning. This topic will split both The Republican Party and The Republican Base. I 100% feel that the vast majority of Republican voters are in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration.

The Republican Party will backstab them, again...

I think The Republican Party will once again COMPROMISE and FLIP FLOP on this issue.

My prediction is they will pass some VERY watered down legislation and not make a decision since it is an election year.

If they setup some new legislation it will not be enforced and it will be useless.

What do you think?

Mike Sylvester

Mark Souder betrays 3rd Congressional District on HR4437

Who does Mark Souder represent? He does not represent me or my family...

HR4437 is an immigration bill that passed the House of Representatives in December of 2005. This bill makes it a felony to enter The United States illegally. HR4437 is a necessary step in the battle to secure our borders.

Indiana has 9 Representatives. The extremely liberal Julia Carson voted AGAINST HR4437. I am not surprised that she would vote against the wishes of most Hoosiers...

The other Representative voting against HR4437 was our very own Liberal Republican, Mark Souder.

I have often heard of Mark Souder referred to as a Social Conservative; I have NEVER heard anyone call him a fiscal conservative.

Mark Souder voted against the Third Congressional District, AGAIN.

Can someone PLEASE tell me why you vote for Mark Souder. Please...

Mike Sylvester

ANOTHER example of why government does NOT work...

Recently the GAO (Government Accountability Office) decided to test the massive TSA (Transportation Security Agency) airport security system. This security system has created a lot of delays in an effort to make America "safe."

The GAO was able to smuggle bomb making materials onto 21 different planes. They were never caught by the TSA screeners.

We spent over 2.5 BILLION dollars on the TSA each year, and they did not succeed one single time...

Talk about a wasteful and inefficient government program...

What is the world coming to?

Our government cannot even oversee an agency that they keep telling us is vital to our security.

Lets hope that the voters wake up and vote for a lot of new officials...

Mike Sylvester

Republicans are wimps!

Our elected Republicans in Washington are wimps. They are 100% useless and could not balance my checkbook if they tried. They are completely useless...

Illegal immigration is a huge problem in this country. In 1986 Republican President Ronald Reagan pushed immigration reform through Congress. This legislation was hailed by both Republicans and Democrats as being the solution to all future immigration problems.

What did this legislation do you ask.

Well Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to all 3 million illegal aliens that resided in this country in 1986. As part of this package Mr. Reagan promised to seal our borders and crack down in illegal immigration. His plan was to punish Company's that hire illegal aliens.

This obviously never happened. It is something that both The Republicans and Democrats promised; and did not follow through on... They are incompetent...

Another broken promise...

The Republican base wants immigration reform and they want it badly. That being said, there are two groups in The Republican Party that do not want immigration reform...

The Roman Catholic Church is in favor of the illegal aliens... Part of the religious right is in favor of allowing people to consistently break our laws and reward them for it.

Many business interests are in favor of illegal immigrants as well. They like the cheap and illegal labor...

Many Libertarians favor illegal aliens. I am not one of them. I am sick and tired of pandering to felons... The solution is SIMPLE:

1. Pass laws punishing all businesses for employing illegal aliens. We need to invest money and we need to find and immediately deport all illegal aliens... If they cannot get a job they will not come to America. We need to levy LARGE fines against businesses who fail to ensure their employees are here legally.

2. The Federal government needs to immediately build a large wall and man it with troops. We need to 100% seal our borders. How on Earth can we fight a war on terror with a porous border.? It does not make sense.

3. We need to impose sanctions against Mexico. Mexico needs to help seal the Border at once.

4. Our legal system needs to investigate EVERY SINGLE convicted felon in the United States. If they are an illegal alien we need to deport them as soon as their time is served.

5. Once we have sealed our border and deported all of the illegal aliens then we should triple the rate of legal immigration we allow.

What is frustrating is that a MAJORITY of Americans want to get rid of the illegal aliens and our politicans are too spineless to do it.

We need some new politicians.

Let me make a prediction here for my Republican friends:

The modern day Republcain Party has all of the power in Washington; however, they do not have the spine to pass ANY meaningful immigration reform.

Who disagrees with me?

Mike Sylvester

Republican Study Committee's "Contract with America Renewed"

I like to listen to talk radio quite a bit. I really like Glen Beck; he is my favorite. I enjoy Michael Savage. I listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity occasionally; but, I can only listen to them in small doses; they are both far too partisan for my tastes...

Limbaugh and Hannity have been blasting the Democrats for years about being tired, having no ideas, not fulfilling their promises, etc.

I wonder why they are not BLASTING The Republican Party over the Contract with America from 1994 or the newest version of The Contract with America?

The Republican Study Committee is a core group of conservatives that is supposed to advance conservative ideals. They have turned out to be a complete failure if you measure them in terms of growth of government over the last 12 years. The RSC is led by the capable Mike Pence from Indiana. Mark Souder is NOT a member of the RSC (Imagine that)...

I have posted a lot of comments about how the Republicans lied to America in the "Contract with America" that allowed them to sweep to power in 1994.

The RSC has issued a "Contract with America renewed" and it is pitiful...

Let me summarize it here: We promise to do all of those things that we promised to do in 1994 and failed to do! We really mean it this time.

DO THEY THINK WE ARE COMPLETELY STUPID?

Lets look at the renewed contract The RSC is proposing:

1. Balances the budget by 2011. Note in 1994 The Republicans promised to balance the budget as well. In the intervening 12 years our nation has not had a balanced budget even ONE year. There are two years they came close; however, they had to rob the Social Security Trust Fund so they could falsely claim to have balanced the budget.

2. Includes pro-growth tax policy. Note in 1994 they promised the same thing. They have implemented some pro-growth tax policy AND they have added THOUSANDS of pages to the tax code and made it more complex and they have ensured that it favors certain businesses over others...

3. Makes real reductions in discretionary spending. They made the exact same promise in 1994 and growth in these programs has EXPLODED under the Republicans...

4. Proposes 358 billion in reconciliation spending. This one is hard for them to backup at all. If they are going to really cut this much spending they should be able to balance the budget next year right?

5. Increases defense spending. They made this promise in 1994 and overall you would have to say they have kept this promise. I am very pro-military; but, we spend WAY TOO MUCH on our military today...

6. Reduces foreign aid by 31 billion over five years while ensuring support for Israel. They promised to decrease foreign aid in 1994 as well. They have not. Foreign aid has grown under the Republicans to record levels...

7. Significantly restructures Commerce, Energy, and Education. They promised the exact same thing in 1994. Since 1994 these programs have grown and have become even larger, even more inefficient, and received new powers. So what do they mean by re-structuring this time? Does it mean they are going to keep growing these programs? Maybe Bush will start a new program called "No nuclear power plant left behind..."

8. Proposes elimination of over 150 Federal Programs. They promised the same thing in 1994. There are FAR MORE government programs today then there were in 1994. Heck, The Republicans will not even cut funding to Amtrak, why should anyone believe they have the nerve to cut anything now? In the last five years The Republicans have had control of the entire government and they have not eliminated one Federal program. They sure have added a lot of programs though...

9. Includes budget process reforms (earmark reform, Constitutional line-item veto, and a federal sunset commission.) They promised to reform the budget process in 1994 and actually have made the budget process worse. We need to eliminate earmarks, require each bill to cover one area and one area only, and we need to prevent politicians from inserting language in the bill at the last minute without anyone's knowledge.

10. Proposes 392 billion in net deficit reduction. They promised to balance the budget in 1994. They are actually promising less this time... We have had several years of record high deficits under The Republicans...

11. Makes no changes to Social Security. They promised the same thing in 1994. This is one of the worst promises I have ever heard. Social Security is on a collision course with disaster. The longer we wait to fix it the worse off America will be. Where are the fiscal conservatives? We need them... They are not in the Republican Party or in the RSC that is for sure.

12. Block grants Medicaid. They promised the exact same thing in 1994.

13. Block grants most Federal Education Programs. They promised the same thing in 1994. We need to abolish the Federal Department of Education. The fifty States need to handle education and The Federal government needs to get OUT OF EDUCATION NOW.

14. Block grants WIA job training programs. They made the same promise in 1994.

15. Rescinds highway bill earmarks. They promised the exact same thing in 1994. The last Federal Highway Bill the Republicans passed broke all records for earmarks... They lie...

16. Caps Medicare growth at 5.4% annually. They of course promised the exact same thing in 1994. Does anyone think they kept this promise over the last 12 years? If you do, I have some land you can buy near a peaceful village called Tikrit...

17. Allows drilling in ANWR. The promised to allow drilling in ANWR in 1994. We still are not drilling in ANWR in 2006... What happened? Did they lie? They have a majority in BOTH Houses of Congress people...

18. Repeal the Davis Bacon Act. They promised to this in 1994 as well. It is still in effect.

19. Reforms agricultural production programs. They of course made the exact same promise in 1994. Since 1994 we spent even more money to subsidize farmers. If by reform they mean "spend even more money on" then they are doing what they promised.

There are some glaring omissions as well:

1. Nothing about immigration.
2. Nothing about term limits. 8 of the Republicans who promised to be in office for only 12 years are up for re-election in 2006... So much for that promise...

Wow. What has the Republican Party come to? The Republican Party is a Party of larger and larger government and broken promises...

Mike Sylvester

Allen County Republican Party "slaps Marla Irving in the face"

I used to be a Republican; however, the Republican Party left me when they became a Party that consistently represented larger and larger government.

Two Republican candidates have expressed frustration to me about the way that the Allen County Republican Party tends to favor incumbents over challengers. This is a common complaint that in some cases goes back several years. I tend to think that any political Party will have this problem, it is part of politics. I think that any Party should strive not to favor any one specific candidate when possible.

The Allen County Republican Party has always favored incumbents over challengers. I had some business downtown this morning and I drove by Republican headquarters. Campaign signs are always prominently displayed in the windows during the election season. Three candidates had two signs displayed; one facing each street at Republican headquarters.

The first were signs for Ken Fries. There is no incumbent in the sheriffs race; however, Ken Fries seems to have the support of the Allen County Republican Party so they decided to display his sign and not to display the signs of the other candidates.

The second was Mark Souder. Mark Souder is an incumbent so they have chosen to support him rather then his extremely qualified challenger Bill Larsen.

The last is a surprise and I imagine quite an insult to Marla Irving. Marla Irving is an incumbent County Commissioner and is facing a strong challenge from Bill Brown. Republican headquarters has broken with its past policy of supporting incumbents and has prominently displayed the signs of challenger Bill Brown.

I wonder what Marla Irving thinks?

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

How soon we forget their promises...

Many of our current City Councilmen (Especially the Republicans) ran on a platform that condemned annexation.

The proposed Carroll Road annexation received preliminary approval from The Fort Wayne City Council on March 21st. All five Republicans and all four Democrats voted for the resolution. Our Democratic Mayor supports this annexation as well. This proposed annexation will bring 4311 more residents into the grand City of Fort Wayne; whether they like it or not.

I attended the informational meetings The City of Fort Wayne held for the residents earlier this year. It was quickly apparent that a vast majority of the residents did not want to be annexed. The residents were proudly informed that every Mayor in the history of Fort Wayne has annexed at least one area. The residents were told and I quote “We are not annexing you to help your community; we are annexing you to help other areas of Fort Wayne.” The residents were further told and I quote “You should be proud to be annexed into Fort Wayne. There will be no benefit for you; however, your tax dollars will improve the entire community.”

The residents were told that Fort Wayne was aggressively pursuing the seizure of Aqua Indiana North’s assets with eminent domain and that this was a top priority. The residents were informed that 15% of the sewers operated by The City of Fort Wayne are located outside of the city limits. The residents were told that Dupont road will not be widened near the new Wal Mart for at least ten years. The residents were told to expect property tax increases of 35.3% if they reside in Perry Township and 38% of they reside in Washington Township.

I hope that these future Fort Wayne residents have a good memory and vote appropriately in 2007 for some new City Council representatives and for a new Mayor.

The Republicans and Democrats in Fort Wayne are very similar. They agree on every major issue and there is little, if any, disagreement about anything of importance. The only time they seem to disagree is during the elections when they are running for office and trying to show us how different they are. Our City Council and Mayor both support expanding Fort Wayne through annexation, believe that it is a good idea to seize private property with eminent domain when it suits them, and absolutely refuse to consolidate some services with Allen County to give the taxpayers a break on their property taxes.

I hope the voters send the “Republicrats” and the “Demopublicans” a message in the next several elections. It is time for a change in Fort Wayne.

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

RRRGroup

I keep seeing all kinds of references to Rich Reynolds and The RRRGroup. I always hear that he employs college or high school students and UFO's are often mentioned.

Who is he? What does he do?

Mike Sylvester

Food rant

I was reading the news and I read an article in which prisoners were complaining about the food they have to eat in prison.

IT IS NOW TIME FOR A RANT

I spent six years in The United States Navy on active duty. I was stationed on a nuclear subarine in Pearl Harbor. When we went to sea we would load our own food. Almost 100% of the food was canned and it was terrible. Navy cooks can screw up ANYTHING.

When you load your own food you get in a long line and you pass cans and boxes down the line and load them into the submarine. Often we would load beef that had the following label on it:

"USDA, not fit for human consumption"

Yep, the navy often bought food that was not considered suitable for human consumption. They bought it because it was cheaper... After one of the stores loads some of the crew members did some research. Guess who is allowed to buy this beef, The United States Military and places that use it to feed various animals...

Can this food be fed to prisoners in our prison system?

No.

What the heck...

Can someone please explain this to me?

Mike Sylvester

Coming soon to the OTHER side of yard signs in NACS

Coming soon to a yard near you in NACS!

Yard signs will be available soon. PLease contact me at Mike.Sylvester@Verizon.net if you either need signs or if you would like to help us setup yard signs!

Libertarian Party of Allen County, March 2006 meeting

I hope to see you at the meeting tomorrow night. We are meeting at the Laredo Restaurante and Cantina located at 7212 South Anthony Blvd. We will socialize at 7 PM and eat to our hearts content. The business meeting will begin at 8 PM.

You can find more by following this link: <http://www.angelfire.com/in4/lpac/calendar.html>

Mike Sylvester

Republican Party and 3rd Congressional District voters need to punish Mark Souder

William Larsen challenged Mark Souder to a debate three weeks ago. William Larsen has been patiently waiting for a reply from Mark Souder and his office. The silence has been both deafening and predictable. William Larsen got 28% of the Republican vote two years ago. He is a viable candidate and Mark Souder should debate him.

Mark Souder has broken several promises in the last twelve years:
1. Mark promised to serve a maximum of 12 years in office.
2. Mark promised to shrink the size of the Federal Government; instead Mark Souder has helped Government grow at the largest rates since the 1920's.
3. Mark promised to debate any opponent.

I suggest that everyone immediately contact Mark Souder's office, your local media sources, The Republican Party, and your friends and neighbors... This is an outrage and Mark Souder should be punished for it.

You can rest assured that I will speak at several American Legion Halls about this in the next few weeks if Mark Souder does not debate Mr. Larsen...

I hope The Republicans who read this blog take action. Mark Souder ducked out of his military service; it is appalling that he refuses to debate a Republican who served his country as Mr. Larsen did...