Arizona Catch 22 Immigration Law

The Governor of Arizona and the state legislature have just passed an immigration law that promotes racial profiling at the local police level. My condolences go out to everyone that is Latino or American Indian that lives in Arizona for all the bullshit traffic stops you are about to endure. Is the law Constitutionally sound? Hell no! Does it make sense? Hell yes! But it makes one obvious point and that is the fact that Arizona is in fact up to its eyeballs in trying to deal with a problem that the federal government has ignored for years. The border is not secure and illegal immigrants are coming whether we like it or not.

When anyone says they are not afraid of the law and would willingly submit to an invasion of their civil liberties then they know that they are not the target of the Arizona law that was just enacted. Is there an illegal immigrant problem in Arizona? There sure as hell is! President Obama should send our military troops to the border and do so immediately. Making any state pass and institute police state laws that are constitutionally wrong is only going to flood the court system with lawsuits by the thousands of people that are and have been life long American citizens. Freedom of travel is an American right instituted by our founding fathers under the Constitution.

When you put the spotlight on this law in Arizona it becomes crystal clear that it is intended to push the federal government to actually do something about the southern border of the country. And the President should act quickly. As blue blooded and liberal that I am, I agree with many of my friends on the right side of the aisle that the federal government needs to step up its efforts to defend and maintain the border.

On the other side of the fence is a nation that actually has to have its military patrolling the streets of every town because the drug cartels are so far out of control. Murder is not only accepted as a common place thing but it has come to the point that a few dead bodies in the downtown districts are the equivalent of a flower box in front of a store.

If the United States government used all of its resources like the IRS to follow the money, Treasury to investigate the money trail, FBI to take the leads and shut down the operation on this side of the border, CIA to find the cartel drug lords and make them go bye- bye, Navy to patrol the shores as if the drug runners were pirates, Army to lay down a world of hell when the drug runners think they can and will overpower the border guards, Marines and Air Force to take the locations where the drug trade originates from and shut it down for good, then the drug cartels will actually fear all law enforcement efforts. Our government and the Mexican government needs to be concentrated on shutting down the cartels and then the majority of the profitable drug trade would end. Then the original cause for the legislation would slow in Arizona. When you follow the money of any issue then you will find the source of the problem.

This should not be a NIMBY issue for the state of Arizona if the President acted to defend the border. Send the troops to patrol our borders rather than the poppy fields in Afghanistan and that would be the end of this discussion.

But I stand by the fact that the law passed and signed by Arizona’s Governor will never pass a lower court test when it is enforced. Freedom of travel is one of the top three of our nations most defended rights.

Papamoka

Derivative Bank Reform

The financial institutions of this country are in a shambles due to poor choices by the nations banking institutions. If you look at small town banks that invest in the local community then you don’t see a problem. When you look at nationwide banks then you see a problem simply because they forgot the original mission of the bank. Sitting on a large pile of cash, yours and mine, they figured it was okay to gamble with it on Wall Street using one tool called derivatives.

What is a derivative you might ask yourself? It is for all intents and purposes a lottery ticket, a throw at the craps table, or a bet. By definition according to Wikipidia…

“A derivative is a financial instrument (or more simply, an agreement between two people/two parties) that has a value determined by the future price of something else. Derivatives can be thought of as bets on the price of something. Suppose you bet with your friend on the price of a bushel of corn. If the price in one year is less than $3 your friend pays you $1. If the price is more than $3 you pay your friend $1. Thus, the underlying in the agreement is the price of corn and the value of the agreement to you depends on that underlying.”

Republican opposition to such reform is outlandish in the face of so many banks that needed the Treasury to bail them out of the financial mess they were in. Banks became lazy and greedy for ever growing easier profits from Wall Street rather than focusing on the business model they started with. Greed lead to more greed and greater risk to not only the bank but individual account holders and that was the downfall of many of the institutions that Republican leaders wanted to not bail out to begin with? Which way do the Republican’s want the pendulum to swing? Our nation is at a catch 22 with some of the biggest banks and financial institutions; if they fail, they will take the nation down with them. We bailed them out when they went to Vegas and now it is time to tell those same banks that they have a gambling problem. It is called and intervention to prevent future bail outs!

Is common sense dead over on the right side of the aisle? If banking institutions are going to belly up to the bar for bailout money because greed superseded simple banking business rule of thumb, then they need big brother telling them that playing the lottery with other peoples money is not going to happen. Quarterly profits should not override common sense when it comes to banking institutions.

Is your bank playing with derivatives? If so, are you sure the check for your electric bill is going to be paid? That is the common sense behind bank reform. Protecting you and the money you deposit into the bank.

Papamoka

Police Officer Down, Matt Crosby Shot

One of the worst jobs on this planet has to be that of a law enforcement officer responding to a call for help for a domestic dispute. They are walking into a situation that they as the peacekeepers have no prior knowledge as to how volatile it is. Would you intercede on a neighbors domestic violence dispute not really knowing them that well? When the situation is too hot to handle the Police have to take charge and calm the waters so to speak. And sometimes those officers are shot at and hurt badly simply because someone called for help by dialing 911. That is the job as a police officer that they signed up for and I thank them all for doing it every single day. I especially thank Matthew Crosby for it.



Video Link

Matt Crosby is a friend of a friend’s, friend. He responded to such a call for help and in the line of duty as a police officer for the city of Rock Hill, Missouri, he was shot responding to keep the peace. Officer Matt Crosby is now paralyzed for life. My own personal thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family for the long tough path they have ahead of them. What could have or would have happened if Matt and his fellow officer didn’t respond? If the nut job (George Jones) had it in him to fire at the police then what would he have done to the family that actually called the police? How many body bags would have been filled?

I sure as hell am glad that so many people like Matt Crosby as a police officer will rush in where everyone else is running away. People may bitch and moan when it comes to the police and the job they have to do but when you really need them, they will be there without a second thought. They are angels when the worst of humanity happens and you cry out for help. Matt Crosby was and is such a man that as a law enforcement officer responded to a 911 call and for being who he is as a person, Matt is paralyzed for simply punching in for work that day.

The City of Rockhill has set up a Pay Pal donation button to help pay for some of Officer Matt Crosby’s medical care if you would care to donate. I’m sure that his young children would appreciate anything you could do to help their Dad. Heartland Bank is also taking donations sent as "Mathew Crosby Charitable Trust".

Take care of you and take care of the people that take care of you. When you need them they are willing to take a bullet for you in the line of duty. How many people do you really know that can actually say that and it be believable? Matt Crosby could and now he is paralyzed for life because he was willing to do the job that not many people would want to.

I highly recommend that the next time you stop to buy a coffee at your local doughnut shop you ask them to put up a "Matt Crosby" donation jar and by all means ask the manager if the company is going to contribute to the cause? When they ask who is Matt Crosby you simply have to say "Officer Down" and leave it at that.

Papamoka

***Crooks and Liars has linked in... Thank you Mike!

Goldman Sachs Fraud

Here is a big surprise, Wall Street was caught with its pants down around the ankles screwing people over to make a buck! Now the Fed's are on their ass like gravy on mashed potato's. Being stupid knows no level of education. These pukes created a program that was destined to fail but once the check cleared they thought they were good to go. It is regulations on people that are money hungry that protect idiots like you and me that have no clue that our bank, insurance company or whatever invested in this crap. When the big boys collapse, so follows your investments.

S.E.C. Accuses Goldman of Fraud in Housing Deal
By LOUISE STORY and GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: April 16, 2010

The move was the first time that regulators had taken action against a Wall Street deal that helped investors capitalize on the collapse of the housing market.

The suit also named Fabrice Tourre, a vice president at Goldman who helped create and sell the investment.

Snip, cut to the point...

Goldman told investors that the bonds would be chosen by an independent manager. In the case of Abacus 2007-AC1, however, Goldman let Mr. Paulson select mortgage bonds that he believed were most likely to lose value, according to the complaint.

Goldman then sold the package to investors like foreign banks, pension funds and insurance companies, which would profit only if the bonds gained value. The European banks IKB and ABN Amro and other investors lost more than $1 billion in the deal, the commission said. - New York Times

Just let me be clear on this, it is okay for one bank to screw over their own investors if a buck can be made? And the Republican's are now bitching that regulation being pushed by the Democrats of investment and securities companies is not a good thing? Those two things do not go together? If you are pro business then you better make sure that you protect business investors or are they not really important to the big picture if a quick buck can be made?

The Republican Party is a joke right now. You bitch and moan that you are the party of change but your own political people in government want no change because the cash keeps rolling in.

What ever happened to doing something because it was the right thing to do? Is that not common sense? Are all politicians morons just because they can't do what is right and makes sense?

This lawsuit will not be finished in the next ten plus years. So the crooks can continue to do whatever they damn well please. Nice.

Papamoka

Teabonics

I found this interesting factoid courtesy of my friend Jeff Barnard of Wormtown Taxi fame. Jeff was simply making a point with a link in his post and I just had to go with this post...

Can the Teabagger's and right wing whack jobs not afford a dictionary? Maybe they should appoint a spell checker chief to double check the signs they make up? I'd volunteer for it but I'm two much of a left wing nut job and probably would come up with even more creative misspelling.

All of the pictures can be found on Flicker if you are interested in seeing even more...