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Maryland high court blocks request to reconsider DNA ruling
Decision puts appeal on track to U.S. Supreme Court
(POOR JACK O’SHAMELESS AND GANSLER)
Maryland’s highest court rejected a request to reconsider an April ruling that blocks state law enforcement from collecting DNA samples when a suspect is arrested, court officials said Friday.
The decision puts the case on track for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. States and federal courts are split over whether taking a DNA sample before a suspect is convicted violates a person’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.
Law enforcement agencies announced last month that they would halt the practice for the time being.
Two Topics Here – 1 Maryland Court of Appeals Recognizes SSM and Divorces for SSM and Petition Drive Info for Washington County
http://your4state.com/fulltext?nxd_id=253672
ANNAPOLIS, MD - The Maryland Court of Appeals has voted unanimously to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. They’ve also agreed to divorce them.
The highest court in the state voted 7-0 to allow same-sex couples to divorce under Maryland law. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley agreed with the ruling. He released a statement Friday saying, “To treat families differently under the law just because they happen to be led by gay or lesbian couples is not right or just.”
Friends,
There are a lot of events going on this weekend and *we need your help*. We
only have two weekends left in May to reach our first goal. We can do it,
but it’s going to take all of us working together. Because we’ve not been permitted to gather signatures at high-traffic areas such as the Valley Mall and Premium Outlets, we need to take advantage of all the events we can.
*Friday Night*
Hagerstown Suns Game – Starts at 7:05. Need people there as early as 6:00pm
Volunteer Party – At Office 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
*Saturday (Starting times and locations are listed – plan to arrive at
least 30-60 minutes before starting time)*
Hagerstown Theatre Hagerstown 2:00 PM Wagon Train Stop – City Park
Hagerstown 2:00 PM
Preakness @ Pimlico Baltimore 4:30 PM
Wagon Train Stop – City Park Funkstown 5:30 PM
Hagerstown Theatre Hagerstown 7:00 PM Hagerstown
Suns Game, Hagerstown 7:05 PM Children’s Village Open House Hagerstown 11:00 AM
*Sunday (Starting times and locations are listed – plan to arrive at least
30-60 minutes before starting time)*
Wagon Train Stop – Auction Sq Market, Boonsboro 12:00 PM
Hagerstown Suns Game, Hagerstown 1:05 PM
Wagon Train Stop – Schafer Park Boonsboro 1:30 PM
*We desperately need your help on these local events. If you can sign up to
volunteer at one or more of these locations, contact Jeffrey at (240)
329-4560 or at mdpetitions@gmail.com. We appreciate your assistance.*
New Report from FAIR Finds that Illegal Immigration Costs Maryland Nearly $1.9 Billion a Year
To: BUSINESS AND STATE EDITORS
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A new study released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that providing education, health care, law enforcement, and social and government services to illegal aliens and their dependents costs Maryland taxpayers $1.86 billion. These costs amount to a $910 a year burden per Maryland household headed by a U.S. citizen.
The report, The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Marylanders, estimates that about 295,000 illegal aliens resided in the state as of 2010 – more than five times as many as lived there in 2000. In addition, there are some 68,000 U.S.-born children of illegal aliens living in Maryland who are eligible for all means-tested programs and benefits. Though these children are U.S. citizens, they would not be in the state if not for the fact that their parents violated U.S. immigration laws.
Among the report’s key findings:
-- Education and special English-language instruction for an
estimated 21,600 illegal alien students and 49,000 U.S.-born
children of illegal aliens costs Maryland taxpayers nearly $1.4
billion annually.
-- Uncompensated health care for illegal aliens and their
U.S.-born children costs Marylanders $231 million a year.
-- Law enforcement and criminal justice costs associated with
illegal immigration add about $177 million a year to the
state's tab.
-- Means-tested social welfare services used by U.S.-born children
of illegal aliens add $47.5 million in costs each year.
Illegal aliens pay about $120 million per year in payroll and other taxes. However, the report concludes that even these minimal payments do not represent a net gain for Maryland as the jobs filled by illegal aliens would likely be filled by legal U.S. workers, working at higher wages, with a much higher rate of tax compliance.
“At a time when Maryland, like most states, is struggling with severe budget constraints, the state’s rapidly growing illegal alien population is forcing the state to divert scarce resources to provide for their needs,” observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “Rather than act to protect the interests of citizens and public resources, many Maryland lawmakers, at the state, county and city level, offer new rewards and protections to illegal aliens.”
A glaring example of this sort of behavior, notes the report, was a 2011 bill approved by the Maryland Legislature granting taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens who attend state-run colleges and universities, which would cost taxpayers and additional $28 million a year. Implementation of this policy was blocked by outraged Marylanders who gathered enough signatures to put the issue before the voters in November 2012.
“Maryland taxpayers are certainly victims of the Obama administration’s outright refusal to enforce theimmigration law against most illegal aliens and the state’s policies accommodating those illegal aliens. But the state can reverse course and reduce burdens of illegal immigration on taxpayers,” said Stein. “We hope that by detailing the costs so that everyone can understand the burdens illegal immigration imposes on Marylanders, citizens will be spurred to action.”
The full report, The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Marylanders, can be found athttp://www.fairus.org/action/the-cost-of-illegal-immigration-to-marylanders-2012.
About FAIR
Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country’s largest immigration reform group. With over 250,000 members nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced. Visit FAIR’s website at www.fairus.org.
http://news.yahoo.com/report-fair-finds-illegal-immigration-costs-maryland-nearly-195234397.html;_ylc=X3oDMTEwaWNobjZyBF9TAzIwMjM4Mjc1MjQEZW1haWxJZAMxMzM3MzUxMjc5
SOURCE FAIR
The Truth Is Out – Barrack Hussein Obama IS Kenyan Born – ‘Born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii’?? From Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey
Breitbart News has obtained a distributed promotional booklet produced in 1991 which contains a biography of authors, including an unknown Barack Obama. Over twenty years ago, promoting Obama’s book, the biography states that he was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The questions just never stop coming. Imagine the media scrutiny that would follow this revelation if it pertained to a Republican candidate.
The Vetting – Exclusive – Obama’s Literary Agent in 1991 Booklet: ‘Born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii’
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/The-Vetting-Barack-Obama-Literary-Agent-1991-Born-in-Kenya-Raised-Indonesia-Hawaii
Note from Senior Management:
Andrew Breitbart was never a “Birther,” and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of “Birtherism.” In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961.
Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama’s ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him.
It is for that reason that we launched “The Vetting,” an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other presidential candidates)–not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences.
It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below–one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review.
It is evidence–not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.
***
Breitbart News has obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.”
The booklet, which was distributed to “business colleagues” in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel.
It also promotes Obama’s anticipated first book, Journeys in Black and White–which Obama abandoned, later publishing Dreams from My Father instead.
Obama’s biography in the booklet is as follows (image and text below):
Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii. The son of an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister, he attended Columbia University and worked as a financial journalist and editor for Business International Corporation. He served as project coordinator in Harlem for the New York Public Interest Research Group, and was Executive Director of the Developing Communities Project in Chicago’s South Side. His commitment to social and racial issues will be evident in his first book, Journeys in Black and White.
The booklet, which is thirty-six pages long, is printed in blue ink (and, on the cover, silver/grey ink), using offset lithography. It purports to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of Acton & Dystel, which was founded in 1976.
Front cover (outside) – note Barack Obama listed in alphabetical order
Front cover (inside)
Jay Acton no longer represents Obama. However, Jane Dystel still lists Obama as a client on her agency’s website.
According to the booklet itself, the text was edited by Miriam Goderich, who has since become Dystel’s partner at Dystel & Goderich, an agency founded in 1994. Breitbart News attempted to reach Goderich by telephone several times over several days. Her calls are screened by an automated service that requires callers to state their name and company, which we did. She never answered.
The design of the booklet was undertaken by Richard Bellsey, who has since closed his business. Bellsey, reached by telephone, could not recall the exact details of the booklet, but told Breitbart News that it “sounds like one of our jobs, like I did for [Acton & Dystel] twenty years ago or more.”
The parade of authors alongside Obama in the booklet includes politicians, such as former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill; sports legends, such as Joe Montana and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; and numerous Hollywood celebrities.
The reverse side of the page that features Barack Obama includes former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader and early-1990s “boy band” pop sensation New Kids On the Block.
Acton, who spoke to Breitbart News by telephone, confirmed precise details of the booklet and said that it cost the agency tens of thousands of dollars to produce.
He indicated that while “almost nobody” wrote his or her own biography, the non-athletes in the booklet, whom “the agents deal[t] with on a daily basis,” were “probably” approached to approve the text as presented.
Dystel did not respond to numerous requests for comment, via email and telephone. Her assistant told Breitbart News that Dystel “does not answer questions about Obama.”
The errant Obama biography in the Acton & Dystel booklet does not contradict the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate. Moreover, several contemporaneous accounts of Obama’s background describe Obama as having been born in Hawaii.
The biography does, however, fit a pattern in which Obama–or the people representing and supporting him–manipulate his public persona.
David Maraniss’s forthcoming biography of Obama has reportedly confirmed, for example, that a girlfriend Obama described in Dreams from My Father was, in fact, an amalgam of several separate individuals.
In addition, Obama and his handlers have a history of redefining his identity when expedient. In March 2008, for example, he famously declared: “I can no more disown [Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother.”
Several weeks later, Obama left Wright’s church–and, according to Edward Klein’s new biography, The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House, allegedly attempted to persuade Wright not to “do any more public speaking until after the November [2008] election” (51).
Obama has been known frequently to fictionalize aspects of his own life. During his 2008 campaign, for instance, Obama claimed that his dying mother had fought with insurance companies over coverage for her cancer treatments.
That turned out to be untrue, but Obama has repeated the story–which even the Washington Post called “misleading”–in a campaign video for the 2012 election.
The Acton & Dystel biography could also reflect how Obama was seen by his associates, or transitions in his own identity. He is said, for instance, to have cultivated an “international” identity until well into his adulthood, according to Maraniss.
Regardless of the reason for Obama’s odd biography, the Acton & Dystel booklet raises new questions as part of ongoing efforts to understand Barack Obama–who, despite four years in office remains a mystery to many Americans, thanks to the mainstream media.
Larry O’Connor contributed to this report.
Census: Minorities now surpass whites in US births
The immigrants staying put in the U.S. for now include Narcisa Marcelino, 34, a single mother who lives with her two daughters, ages 10 and 5, in Martinsburg, W.Va. After crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, she followed her brother to the eastern part of the state just outside the Baltimore-Washington region. The Martinsburg area is known for hiring hundreds of migrants annually to work in fruit orchards. Its Hispanic growth climbed from 14 percent to 18 percent between 2000 and 2005 before shrinking last year to 3.3 percent, still above the national average.
Marcelino says she sells food from her home to make ends meet for her family and continues to hope that one day she will get a hearing with immigration officials to stay legally in the U.S. She aspires to open a restaurant and is learning English at a community college so she can help other Spanish-language speakers.
I assume the unnamed community college is Blue Ridge Community & Technical College, which begs several questions: First, are state taxpayers subsidizing the college tuition of an illegal alien? Second, is BRCTC turning a blind eye to whether its students are lawfully present in the country? Third, is Miss Marcelino committing identity theft or committing other crimes or frauds to maintain her student status at BRCTC and possibly receive state taxpayer subsidized resident tuition? This calls for a legislative inquiry and some heat on state leaders who have pretended that illegal immigration is not a WV problem.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
May 17, 3:16 AM (ET)
By HOPE YEN
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(AP) Chart shows racial breakdown of births in the U.S. from July 2010 to July
Full Image |
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WASHINGTON (AP) – For the first time, racial and ethnic minorities make up more than half the children born in the U.S., capping decades of heady immigration growth that is now slowing.
New 2011 census estimates highlight sweeping changes in the nation’s racial makeup and the prolonged impact of a weak economy, which is now resulting in fewer Hispanics entering the U.S.
“This is an important landmark,” said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau who is now a sociologist at Howard University. “This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders.”
The report comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of Arizona’s strict immigration law, with many states weighing similar get-tough measures.
“We remain in a dangerous period where those appealing to anti-immigration elements are fueling a divisiveness and hostility that might take decades to overcome,” Harrison said.
As a whole, the nation’s minority population continues to rise, following a higher-than-expected Hispanic count in the 2010 census. Minorities increased 1.9 percent to 114.1 million, or 36.6 percent of the total U.S. population, lifted by prior waves of immigration that brought in young families and boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years.
But a recent slowdown in the growth of the Hispanic and Asian populations is shifting notions on when the tipping point in U.S. diversity will come – the time when non-Hispanic whites become a minority. After 2010 census results suggested a crossover as early as 2040, demographers now believe the pivotal moment may be pushed back several years when new projections are released in December.
The annual growth rates for Hispanics and Asians fell sharply last year to just over 2 percent, roughly half the rates in 2000 and the lowest in more than a decade. The black growth rate stayed flat at 1 percent.
The immigrants staying put in the U.S. for now include Narcisa Marcelino, 34, a single mother who lives with her two daughters, ages 10 and 5, in Martinsburg, W.Va. After crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, she followed her brother to the eastern part of the state just outside the Baltimore-Washington region. The Martinsburg area is known for hiring hundreds of migrants annually to work in fruit orchards. Its Hispanic growth climbed from 14 percent to 18 percent between 2000 and 2005 before shrinking last year to 3.3 percent, still above the national average.
Marcelino says she sells food from her home to make ends meet for her family and continues to hope that one day she will get a hearing with immigration officials to stay legally in the U.S. She aspires to open a restaurant and is learning English at a community college so she can help other Spanish-language speakers.
If she is eventually deported, “it wouldn’t be that tragic,” Marcelino said. “But because the children have been born here, this is their country. And there are more opportunities for them here.”
Of the 30 large metropolitan areas showing the fastest Hispanic growth in the previous decade, all showed slower growth in 2011 than in the peak Hispanic growth years of 2005-2006, when the construction boom attracted new migrants to low-wage work. They include Lakeland, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Provo, Utah; Las Vegas; and Phoenix. All but two – Fort Myers, Fla., and Dallas-Fort Worth – also grew more slowly last year than in 2010, hurt by the jobs slump.
Pointing to a longer-term decline in immigration, demographers believe the Hispanic population boom may have peaked.
“The Latino population is very young, which means they will continue to have a lot of births relative to the general population,” said Mark Mather, associate vice president of the Population Reference Bureau. “But we’re seeing a slowdown that is likely the result of multiple factors: declining Latina birth rates combined with lower immigration levels. If both of these trends continue, they will lead to big changes down the road.”
William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the census data, noted that government debates over immigration enforcement may now be less pressing, given slowing growth. “The current congressional and Supreme Court interest in reducing immigration – and the concerns especially about low-skilled and undocumented Hispanic immigration – represent issues that could well be behind us,” he said.
Minorities made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4 percent of U.S. births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37 percent in 1990.
In all, 348 of the nation’s 3,143 counties, or 1 in 9, have minority populations across all age groups that total more than 50 percent. In a sign of future U.S. race and ethnic change, the number of counties reaching the tipping point increases to more than 690, or nearly 1 in 4, when looking only at the under age 5 population.
The counties in transition include Maricopa (Phoenix), Ariz.; King (Seattle), Wash.; Travis (Austin), Texas; and Palm Beach, Fla., where recent Hispanic births are driving the increased diversity among children. Also high on the list are suburban counties such as Fairfax, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, and Westchester, N.Y., near New York City, where more open spaces are a draw for young families who are increasingly minority.
According to the latest data, the percentage growth of Hispanics slowed from 4.2 percent in 2001 to 2.5 percent last year. Their population growth would have been even lower if it weren’t for their relatively high fertility rates – seven births for every death. The median age of U.S. Hispanics is 27.6 years.
Births actually have been declining for both whites and minorities as many women postponed having children during the economic slump. But the drop since 2008 has been larger for whites, who have a median age of 42. The number of white births fell by 11.4 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for minorities, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.
Asian population increases also slowed, from 4.5 percent in 2001 to about 2.2 percent. Hispanics and Asians still are the two fastest-growing minority groups, making up about 16.7 percent and 4.8 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.
Blacks, who comprise about 12.3 percent of the population, have increased at a rate of about 1 percent each year. Whites have increased very little in recent years.
Other findings:
_The migration of black Americans back to the South is slowing. New destinations in the South, including Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., saw sharp drop-offs in black population growth as the prolonged housing bust kept African-Americans locked in place in traditional big cities. Metro areas including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco had reduced declines or gains.
_Nine U.S. counties in five states saw their minority populations across all age groups surpass 50 percent last year. They were Sutter and Yolo in California; Quitman in Georgia; Cumberland in New Jersey; Colfax in New Mexico; and Lynn, Mitchell, Schleicher and Swisher in Texas.
_Maverick County, Texas, had the largest share of minorities at 96.8 percent, followed by Webb County, Texas, and Wade Hampton, Alaska, both at 96 percent.
_Four states – Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas – as well as the District of Columbia have minority populations that exceed 50 percent.
The census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and census statistics on immigrants. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.
—
Associated Press writer John Raby in Charleston, W.Va., contributed to this report.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120517/D9UQABJ01.html
Dear Constituent,
The General Assembly’s three day special session came to an end yesterday. After lengthy debate, legislation was passed that I believe will have a big impact on our state’s economy and government moving forward.
The two major bills passed were SB 1301 – the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA) and SB 1302 – State and Local Revenue Financing Act.
The BRFA transferred the full cost of teacher pensions to county governments over a four year period, created a “special” fund for the Governor to spend out of to supplement the FY2013 Budget we passed at the close of the regular session in April, and increased a handful of fees including the hospital bed tax and Medicaid processing fee.
SB 1302 raises income taxes by .25% on individuals making $100,000 or more and couples making $150,000 and above. The increase is larger for those making above $200,000 and above $300,000. The rate changes go up by .25% at each level so the top bracket is 5.75% for those making above $300,000.
Perhaps worse than the above increases, is the fact that the bill also phases out personal and mortgage deductions for these so-called “higher” income earners. I question whether a couple living in Maryland making $150,000 is really a high income couple.
SB 1302 also created a new tax on indemnity mortgages, primarily a tool for businesses to borrow money for capital costs and expansion – a big mistake in my view with our economy already struggling, and it raised taxes on tobacco and premium cigars.
The BRFA bill passed 86-51 and the Tax Increase package passed 77-60, by just 7 votes. Let me stress that this tax increase was not passed to plug a budget hole. Our budget, as passed back in April, was balanced and actually increased by $700 million over last year. This was simply a desire by the leadership of the General Assembly and Governor O’Malley to just spend more.
True, there were some areas where programs would not have received as large of an increase and may have had to cut back, but overall, most counties in Maryland came out ahead overall with the so-called “Doomsday” budget as opposed to this one.
I voted against both of these bills. I made a short comment during the BRFA debate but I spoke extensively on the House floor in opposition to SB 1302, the tax increase package. I love Maryland and want to see our state be a place where families can afford to live and businesses can grow and thrive. However, in order to do that, Annapolis must make some significant changes in how our government operates. I’ve pasted my floor speech below this email if you would like to read it.
As always, even when I do not agree with the outcome in Annapolis, it is an honor to serve as your representative. Please feel free to contact me anytime and share your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree. I always appreciate hearing from you. During the interim period, my office in Annapolis is open while I’m up in Carroll County. You can always call 410-841-3070 or email justin.ready@house.state.md.us with any questions or if you have an issue dealing with state government. We’re glad to help.
Sincerely,
Justin Ready
State Delegate
District 5A – Carroll County
Ready Floor Speech on Special Session Tax Hikes
Made Wednesday, May 16th:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this tax increase. It is unnecessary. Our budget is in balance and, as we’ve pointed out, actually increases by $700 million already.
We hear the term “sustainability” a lot from the O’Malley-Brown administration especially when referring to environmental issues. But their hallmark has really been unsustainable spending. This increase will simply be used to further that unsustainable spending growth. We’re not using this money to plug a hole in the current budget or even put towards our structural deficit, no, we’re simply adding more spending, just like we’ve done every year since the 2007 tax hikes that were supposed to fix our deficit. We keep hearing about how we’re increasing taxes to avoid deep education cuts and tuition increases. The Doomsday budget was 1% less than the one the majority wanted to pass. That 1% reduction in the rate of growth could be distributed much more evenly rather than being used as a threat to education and public safety.
I have a question for my House colleagues. What’s the end game here? When is enough, enough? The arguments in favor of this tax hike seem to be – it’s only on people who can afford to pay or – it’s only 250 or 300 dollars more. It would be one thing if this was one tax increase in a vacuum – it’s not. This is on top of 20 or so other tax and fee increases in the past five years in one of the most expensive states to live in and my question is – is this it? Are we done? Or are we going for 30 in the next couple of years? Or when we have another deficit next year will we actually consider a level funded budget?
Maryland should not continue down this path. History shows time and again that, in a relatively high tax environment, tax cuts stimulate greater revenues. It works every time it’s tried. In 1963, Democrats supported John F. Kennedy’s tax cuts because they understood it would bring in more revenue to spend on government programs. You’re going to raise this tax but I urge the General Assembly to take action to ease the burden on taxpayers starting next session. Sunset the tax cut if you don’t believe that revenues will turn around. I assure you they will.
What’s truly needed in our state and nation is a re-examination and frank discussion about the role of government in our daily lives, its size but also its reach. We’re training our youth to believe that whenever there’s a problem, the government is only thing that can solve it. By our fear of holding the line on spending, we’re teaching people that without the help of government, they don’t stand a chance and that government has the greatest power to make our lives and standard of living better. That must change.
I love Maryland. I just became a father for the first time. I’m not leaving, but we need to change so that families and businesses can afford to stay.
So, for people like me who love Maryland but have that love tested, I have to vote no on the 21st tax hike in the last five years and say to taxpayers we know we’ve reached your limit.
Justin Ready
JUDICIAL WATCH FILES A NEW BRIEF AGAINST LAWLESS MONTGOMERY COLLEGE TRUSTEES!
Judicial Watch Files Brief to Stop MD Community College from Providing In-State Tuition Benefits to Illegal Aliens
Circuit Court Ruling “In contravention of more than 150 years of precedent”
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a new brief (Michael Lee Phillips, et al. v. Board of Trustees Montgomery College (No. 01319)) in its taxpayer lawsuit against Maryland’s Montgomery College over the school’s unlawful policy of charging discounted “in county” tuition rates to students who graduate from Montgomery County public high schools, regardless of their place of residency or immigration status. On August 16, 2011, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, dismissed Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of three Montgomery County taxpayers, prompting an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals in Maryland.
The lawsuit alleges that Montgomery College’s tuition policy violates both Maryland and federal law and places a substantial financial burden on Montgomery County taxpayers, who must subsidize the cost of students attending the community college:
Plaintiff’s lawsuit alleges Defendant’s policy is illegal and ultra vires (beyond the scope of legal authority) under both Maryland and federal law. Plaintiff’s lawsuit also alleges that Defendant’s illegal and ultra vires tuition policy has caused and will continue to cause taxpayers to suffer pecuniary injury.
The Circuit Court for Montgomery County dismissed Plaintiff’s lawsuit in a ruling that seriously erodes the rights of Maryland taxpayers to challenge illegal and ultra vires acts by Maryland public officials.
The Circuit Court ruling, which dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Judicial Watch’s taxpayer clients did not have the right to challenge the policy, is “in contravention of more than 150 years of precedent,” Judicial Watch argues. Long-standing and well-established law in Maryland authorizes taxpayer plaintiffs to bring suit to “enjoin illegal…acts of public officials where those acts are reasonably likely to result in pecuniary loss or an increase in taxes.” In a landmark case in 1869 Maryland’s Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) explained that:
[I]n this state the Courts have always maintained with jealous vigilance the restraints and limitations imposed by law upon the excise of power by municipal and other corporations; and have not hesitated to exercise their rightful jurisdiction for the purpose of restraining them within the limits of their lawful authority, and of protecting the citizen from the consequence of their unauthorized or illegal acts.
The lawsuit alleges Montgomery College failed to collect at least $7,940,374 in tuition and fees in the four academic years between 2007 and 2010 because of the policy, causing “substantial pecuniary losses to taxpayers.” During the course of the lawsuit, the college admitted that its policy had been in place since at least as early as 2002.
“Our taxpayer clients deserve their day in court to uphold the rule of law in Maryland. The Circuit Court’s decision flies in the face of binding precedent in the State of Maryland that allows citizens to challenge the illegal expenditure of taxpayer funds,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Montgomery College’s tuition policy is not only unlawful, it also is a shameless waste of taxpayer resources at a time when citizens can ill afford it. The College just doesn’t seem to care what the law is.”
In February, Judicial Watch earned a key victory on behalf of its client MDPetitions.com in the effort to stop unlawful tuition benefits for illegal aliens when the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County ruled that the Maryland Dream Act can be subject to referendum on the 2012 ballot in Maryland.
Visit http://www.judicialwatch.org
THE SAME MONTGOMERY COLLEGE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE NOVEMBER 2011 ”INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMMIGRANT STUDENTS: COMMUNITY COLLEGE STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS”.
http://www.cccie.org/images/stories/Increasing_Opportunities_for_Immigrant_Students_2011.pdf
ITS READS LIKE A CHE GUEVARA/CASA OF MARYLAND HANDBOOK FOR EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF RADICAL IMMIGRANTS, BUT DOING IT WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS. I LOVE THE DEFINITION OF “IMMIGRANT STUDENTS” USED IN THE REPORT. “THOSE WHO LEFT THEIR COUNTRY AND INTEND TO SETTLE PERMANENTLY IN THE UNITED STATES, AS OPPOSED TO ‘INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ WHO ATTEND COLLEGE WITH A STUDENT VISA AND INTEND TO RETURN TO THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN”. WOULD THAT BE THE DEFINITION OF AN ILLEGAL ALIEN?
OUR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, STARTING RIGHT HERE IN MARYLAND, NEED TO PUT THE TIME AND EFFORT IN TO HELP CITIZEN STUDENTS, NOT WASTE OUR TAX DOLLARS ON ILLEGAL ALIENS. IT’S A QUICK AND MINDLESS READ BUT IT PROVIDES GOOD INSIGHT INTO THE PRO-ILLEGAL ALIEN AGENDA, DREAM ACT OR NOT.
ROCKVILLE HOMETOWN HOLIDAYS – MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND – SATURDAY MAY 26 AND SUNDAY MAY 27 – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
http://www.rockvillemd.gov/events/hth/index.html
WHILE THE MARYLAND REFERENDUM VOTE ON IN-STATE COLLEGE TUITION FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS TAKES PLACE NOVEMBER 6, 2012, ITS NEVER TO EARLY TO REMIND CITIZEN VOTERS ABOUT THE ISSUE. HELP SAVE MARYLAND NEEDS VOLUNTEERS TO HELP DISTRIBUTE FLYERS AT ROCKVILLE HOMETOWN HOLIDAYS UPDATING VOTERS ABOUT THIS AND OTHER IMPORTANT IMMIGRATION ISSUES.
IF YOU CAN SPARE A FEW HOURS ON MAY 26 OR 27 (EVENT IS 1-8 PM BOTH DAYS) PLEASE CONTACT HELP SAVE MARYLAND AT:
BB67CHEV@AOL.COM OR 240-447-1884
WE WILL PROVIDE MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ON WHERE TO MEET, ASSIGNMENTS, ETC. MAKE TIME AS WELL TO ENJOY THE FOOD AND MUSIC AT THE EVENT!
O’Malley raises cash to keep Dream Act off the ballot
May 08, 2012 — 8:00 PM
Even liberal blue-state Marylanders are tired of having their wealth redistributed. Which is why Gov. Martin O’Malley’s signature legislation granting in-state tuition to children of illegal immigrants is in trouble. O’Malley’s campaign has asked his top supporters for donations to Casa de Maryland’s $10 million effort to defeat a statewide referendum on the 2011 Dream Act in November, in case ongoing attempts to block the referendum fail in court.
Brad Botwin, director of Help Save Maryland, isn’t worried. He says recent polls indicate a majority of Maryland voters, struggling to educate their own children, do not want to pay $44,000 for each illegal immigrant to attend college at in-state rates.
“We checked the long list of supporters on Casa’s Educating Maryland Kids website, and every one is a recipient of either state or county funding,” Botwin said. “I’ve talked to a lot of angry Democrats and angry Republicans, and we’re definitely going to win.”
Marylanders have a lot to be angry about. O’Malley has just called a special session of the legislature for the sole purpose of raising their taxes again. It only adds insult to injury that the tax hikes are partly necessary to make room for the state’s generosity toward those who are here illegally.
Paulette Faulkner, a former child support specialist with the Montgomery County Child Support Enforcement Program, knows all about that generosity. In 2009, she wrote O’Malley a letter complaining of rampant fraud in Maryland’s Medicaid, food stamp and welfare programs.
Faulkner’s job was to verify applicants’ eligibility for these federally funded benefits. “If they did not have a Social Security card, birth certificate, voter registration card, or photo ID, I would have to deny them,” she said.
But Faulkner’s supervisor soon ordered her to approve them anyway, even though she would be putting herself in legal jeopardy by doing so.
“The whole situation was discriminatory,” she told me in an interview. “People were not being treated the same way. I was in my right to turn them down. That was never disputed. They told me, ‘You’re a person of color. You should be more sympathetic.’ Did they think that just because I was black, I’m not supposed to do the right thing? I was insulted.”
Faulkner turned to O’Malley’s office for help: “Am I aiding and abetting illegal activity? Shouldn’t I be reporting these people to ICE or immigration? I am really concerned because I am a candidate for the Central Democratic Committee … and I want to make sure that I am following the law.”
The FBI was soon sent in — to investigate Faulkner, who was fired in 2010 for posting her office phone number on her private campaign website. “It was really about my going to the governor’s office to complain about the fraud,” said the Laurel resident. “My co-workers were livid, and tried to speak up on my behalf, but they were afraid. Nobody from the state ever interviewed them. And all I ever got was a response that they had my complaint and would look into it.” A call to O’Malley’s office was not returned.
After facing foreclosure twice, Faulkner recently found a full-time job at the new casino at Arundel Mills. But she doesn’t regret speaking out. “I sleep good at night,” she told me.
And the Dream Act supporters, who have been trying to deny Marylanders a voice at the ballot box? Probably not so much.
Barbara F. Hollingsworth is The Examiner’s local opinion editor.
Gregory Kane: Obama, Democrats ‘frontin’ ‘ on enforcing the law
May 13, 2012 — 8:00 PM
I think the slang term for President Obama’s former position on gay marriage is “frontin’.”
When someone tries to be something he’s not, or takes a position that he doesn’t really hold, that person is said to be “frontin’.” As in being disingenuous. As in faking it.
Before last Wednesday, Obama’s position on gay marriage was that his position on it was “evolving.”
In a flapdoodle-free world, Obama’s old position could have been translated this way: “I support gay marriage; I just don’t have the guts to say so outright.”
Last Wednesday, the president finally found his backbone on the issue. During an interview, Obama officially went from “evolving” on the issue of gay marriage to supporting it outright.
But once again, the president was “frontin’.”
Obama’s supported gay marriage all along. That’s why he ordered the Justice Department to stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being a union between a man and a woman.
So, in spite of the predictable praise Obama has received from gay and lesbian organizations as a result of his announcement, the real issue isn’t Obama’s views on gay marriage. The real issue that we should be talking about is Obama’s violation of his oath of office.
By having the Justice Department refuse to defend DOMA, Obama in essence is telling Americans that he will choose which laws his administration will enforce, and which ones it won’t.
At his 2009 inauguration, Obama swore to uphold the laws of the United States. Many of us saw and/or heard him take that oath.
I’m sure none of us heard Obama say, “I will uphold and enforce all laws, except the Defense of Marriage Act.” Obama was “frontin’ ” for three years about his views on gay marriage. Apparently, he was “frontin’ ” when he took his oath of office too.
A principled, informed electorate would boot Obama right out of office for brazenly violating his oath of office. But Obama owes his presidency to an electorate that was, in 2008, for the most part uninformed, unprincipled and unbothered by his weak qualifications for the job.
Despite the charges that many are opposed to Obama because he’s black, the fact remains many people voted for him precisely because he is black. They’d have never considered voting for a white guy with the same weak credentials.
The media would have crucified a white president — especially a conservative, Republican one — who decided he wouldn’t uphold a federal law. The media would have reminded us — and rightly so — that there’s a problem with people in the executive branch of government picking and choosing which laws they’ll enforce.
It’s an affliction that seems to affect, mainly, Democrats.
Pima County, Ariz., Sheriff Clarence Dupnik — more a Democratic Party apparatchik than a law enforcement officer — refused to have his deputies enforce the state’s SB 1070 law requiring them to ask about the immigration status of anyone legally stopped.
Back east, in Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake — another Democratic Party apparatchik and Obama supporter — has taken steps to make sure her town is the East Coast’s largest sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.
Rawlings-Blake has forbidden Baltimore police officers from inquiring about immigration status. So anyone who’s stopped for running a red light, who doesn’t have a driver’s license, state identification, a green card or any other form of identification and who speaks no English has nothing to fear in Baltimore.
This year’s presidential election shouldn’t be about gay marriage. It should be about who will enforce this nation’s laws, and who won’t.
Examiner Columnist Gregory Kane is a Pulitzer-nominated news and opinion journalist who has covered people and politics from Baltimore to the Sudan.
Quote of The Day From Ben Stein:
“Fathom the hypocrisy of a Government
that requires every citizen to prove
they are insured….
but not everyone must prove they are a citizen.”;
DONATIONS
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Help Save Maryland is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. All contributions to Help Save Maryland are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.
PLEASE CONTRIBUTE! Go to www.HelpSaveMaryland.org to donate by credit card or postal mail your donation to:
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Maryland lawmakers pose much more of a threat than pit bulls
Now that the Maryland General Asylum has indeed convened in yet another “Special Session” I’ve heard a number of our fellow citizens lament how this latest extra gathering is a ‘bad day for the state’s taxpayers.’
To those citizens we say: where the hell have you been? Every day is a bad day for Maryland taxpayers – particularly the 1900 or so sunrises seen since Gov. Martin O’Malley has been in office.
Earlier today – in a 27 to 19 vote – a majority of the Maryland State Senate (that bastion of big egos and even bigger failures) kowtowed to the tax-raising whims of said governor… all in the name of more wasteful spending (of your money) and a looming Prince George’s County gambling payoff to placate Senate President Mike Miller.
First: here’s to the seven senate Democrats who voted “nay” to an income tax increase on those ‘rich’ Marylanders with salaries that top $100,000 (and the greedy couples who pull down $150,000).
It is minimally encouraging that at least a handful of Martin’s Marionettes broke free of their puppet strings.
http://www.examiner.com/article/maryland-lawmakers-pose-much-more-of-a-threat-than-pit-bulls
Government spending is a way of life here in Levyland, where tax cuts are unnatural acts and budget cuts are hate crimes.
In Levyland, government spending cures all ills. Test scores plummeting? Spend more money. Traffic congested? Spend more money. Bay polluted? Spend more money. Not enough jobs? Spend more money. Too much crime? Spend more money.
Nothing can stop it. Good times or bad times, it doesn’t matter, we just keep spending. Levyland’s governor, Martin O’Malley, says he cut spending $7 billion during his six years in office. But that’s a fib. His first budget was $30 billion, his latest budget is $35 billion. That’s a $5 billion increase, not a $7 billion cut.
And how does Levyland’s government afford all this spending? By raising taxes. That’s what Levyland’s voters want, or at least, that’s the message Levyland’s lawmakers heard when they were all re-elected in 2010.
Heck, some enlightened professors over at the University of Levyland even have studies proving that Levyland’s citizens are seriously undertaxed compared to select European countries
http://www.gazette.net/article/20120511/OPINION/705119665/-1/blair-lee-levyland-the-fee-state&template=gazette
ICE: All 28 arrested in cocaine bust in country illegally
The 28 people arrested in a cocaine-trafficking ring that smuggled drugs from Honduras to Northern Virginia are suspected of being in the United States illegally.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Dani Bennett said in an email that the agency had lodged detainers against all 28 defendants in the case. Prosecutors say they had been trafficking cocaine around the region since 2006, using couriers who smuggled the drugs from Honduras by hiding the contraband in items like shoes and wooden frames. The D.C.-area traffickers would then distribute the cocaine to other dealers in the region.
Documents say ring members have wired more than $1 million to their Honduran suppliers, and one alleged trafficker bragged about having “enough coke to bathe in.”
– Emily Babay
http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime/2012/05/ice-all-28-arrested-cocaine-bust-country-illegally/607431?utm_source=120514:%20Washington%20Examiner%20E-dition%20-%2005/14/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20E-dition
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