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Istook1272-Benghazi_Hearings_Deserve_Media_Attention - May 06, 2013
Cover-ups rarely last forever. But as more facts surface about Benghazi, the White House says it's old news and 'what difference does it make?'
This week brings the first public testimony from people who were on the scene last September when a terrorist attack killed the U.S. ambassador and three more Americans in Benghazi, Libya, and seriously wounded others.
A congressional hearing will finally bring us first-hand information to counter the public relations specialists and spin doctors in the Obama Administration. But will the mainstream media cover the testimony, or just echo partisan claims that the hearings are a waste of time?
The difference it makes is how we respond to terrorism: our efforts to detect and prevent attacks. The Boston Marathon showed that radical jihadists still try to kill, maim and terrorize Americans. The aftermath of Benghazi deserves continuing attention just like the aftermath of the Boston bombings deserves it.
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Istook1271-Out-of-Control Spending on Welfare - May 03, 2013
The Boston Marathon bombers got over $100,000 in welfare benefits. It's another signal that our welfare system is out of control.
Even if you're not outraged that almost 50-million Americans get food stamps, it probably grabbed your attention to learn that over $100-thousand in welfare benefits went to the families of the Boston bombing suspects.
What they received ranged from cash and food stamps to housing subsidies.
We spend about a trillion dollars a year on assistance programs. An average household makes about $51,000 a year. But for each household that gets welfare help, it costs taxpayers about $60,000 a year, because the system also supports a multitude of bureaucrats and community organizers.
The Obama Administration keeps expanding assistance programs, with very little pushback from Congress.
Too many people are being given incentives not to work. And the rest of us keep paying for it.
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Istook1270-The Myth of 'Jobs Americans Won't Do' - May 02, 2013
Being soft on immigration is often justified by claiming we need them for jobs 'that Americans won't do.' A new study shows that's a myth.
If the myth were true, many occupations would be almost all immigrant workers. But the Census Bureau reports only 6 occupations are mostly immigrant workers, and zero have a majority of illegal immigrants.
The largest group is agricultural workers. But 40% of them U.S. citizens--so obviously Americans ARE willing to do farm work.
In categories where a fourth or more of workers are immigrants, there are also 16-million U.S. citizens willing and working in those jobs.
Most housekeepers and groundskeepers are U.S. citizens. So are most taxi drivers, janitors, and construction workers.
There are no jobs that Americans are not willing to do. But if 11-million people get amnesty, there will be fewer jobs available for Americans.
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Istook1269-Proposed Immigration Bill Makes Problems Worse - May 01, 2013
The expense of illegal immigrants is huge, and giving citizenship to 11-million of them won't make it any cheaper.
Even when they're not supposed to get public benefits, our lax welfare system provides them anyway to illegal immigrants.
The proposed immigration reform bill will make all those programs cost even more. The bill is unfair, costs too much, and will make the problem worse.
If the bill were as simple as claimed by its sponsors, it wouldn't require over 800 pages. And tucked inside are tons of loopholes that undo the supposed reforms.
We're facing trillions of dollars of extra expenses if we granted amnesty and citizenship, piled on top of the trillions we already owe.
We should keep in mind that amnesty for illegal immigrants is going to make it tougher for Americans to find jobs today, and tougher for our children and grandchildren to pay off the national debt tomorrow.
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Istook1268-Amnesty for Back Taxes--But Not for Most of Us - April 30, 2013
Wouldn't it be nice if you could have years of back taxes forgiven? It's part of the amnesty proposed for illegal immigrants.
Amnesty from paying back taxes is another reason the proposed immigration reform bill is actually more loophole than legislation.
President Obama and sponsors claim illegal immigrants would pay back taxes as part of being given American citizenship. But that's not what the bill says.
ONLY if the I-R-S has already tracked them down and already assessed their back taxes do they have to pay. That applies only to a handful. But for the multitude who have been in the underground cash economy, among the 11-million who would get citizenship? They're let off the hook for all their years of unpaid income and Social Security taxes. They are NOT required to go back and file tax returns for prior years.
It's another reason the immigration amnesty bill is more loophole than legislation.
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Istook1267-Immigration Bill Is More Loophole Than Legislation - April 29, 2013
The latest immigration proposal may set new records for false advertising. It's more loophole than legislation.
They're making wild claims about the immigration bill that's before the U.S. Senate. Enhanced enforcement; no citizenship without paying back taxes; and that immigration reform won't add a dime to the deficit.
Beware the multitude of false claims. They want to rush the 884-page bill through Congress before most Americans know the details.
Take cost: Expect it to cost us taxpayers over $2 ½-trillion. Most of the 11-million who would become legal don't have a high school education; they will be an even bigger drain on public services than they are already. When you add up the expenses for Obamacare, food stamps and other programs, it's said that the cost of amnesty will be 70 times greater than the cost of enforcing our immigration laws.
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Istook1266-To Unify America, Don't Dictate from DC - April 26, 2013
Freedom means making decisions--and different people choose different things. But when Uncle Sam gets involved, that diversity goes out the window.
When decisions are dictated from Washington, DC, such as with Obamacare, they divide us rather than uniting us. The notion that Uncle Sam knows best just is not true.
But when states get to create their own solutions, people are more accepting, and with good reasons. As Senator Mike Lee noted, that means conservative states are free to adopt conservative solutions, and liberal states must then be allowed to try liberal solutions.
The more local the control, the broader acceptance of what government does. If one goal is to quit dividing America, a key answer is to quit using the federal government as the means of addressing problems.
Our Constitution says federal power is supposed to be limited. Putting that into practice would be a great step forward for America.
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Istook1265-Immigration Reform--Same Old Amnesty - April 25, 2013
Year after year, immigration reform plans always involve amnesty.
Ronald Reagan said his biggest regret was going along with an immigration bill that created amnesty, while promises of greater enforcement never came true.
Today's proposal--called the Gang of Eight plan--would provide 11-million illegal aliens with amnesty, far more than during Reagan's time.
Not only would this cost trillions in more federal benefits, it would devastate any pretense that our laws should be respected. Amnesty is a green light that invites even more illegal immigration.
We already have millions of citizens who cannot find work; inviting 11-million to compete with them makes a mockery of claims that we care about unemployed Americans.
It's insulting to hear advocates claim that they'll beef up border security in exchange for amnesty. That's what they always promise--and it's a promise that they never keep.
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Istook1264-Costs of Immigration Amnesty - April 24, 2013
Illegal immigrants are portrayed in the media with sympathy. So should we ignore the cost of granting them amnesty?
Illegal aliens are portrayed as victims, stuck living in the shadows-as though this were not the result of their own choices.
If this were only about sympathy-about people wanting the freedoms of America, it would be one thing. But it would cost us trillions of dollars-on top of our $17-trillion national debt-to grant amnesty to 11-million illegal aliens.
Things are different from the waves of people who came to America in generations past because now we have immense government assistance programs that are already underfunded, and amnesty makes that even worse.
Most of those involved are low-skill workers who will receive far more in benefits than they ever pay in taxes.
So that becomes your job: Amnesty would guarantee even more taxes for you and your kids.
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Istook1262-Praise for America's Response in Boston - April 22, 2013
If there's a silver lining to the terrorism in Boston, it's how Americans responded.
The response to the Boston bombing deserves praise.
At the scene, medical personnel swooped in, joined by everyday citizens as well as security personnel to help the victims.
Teams of investigators quickly tackled the tedious work of finding clues in the rubble and reviewing a mountain of videos and photos to pick out the suspects among the huge Boston Marathon crowd.
While the media jumped after one false angle after another, investigators stayed focused.
Investigators kept quiet until they had something concrete--so their announcement had impact. It quickly flushed the suspects from cover, launching more violence. Yet citizens cooperated so the massive manhunt could, and did, overwhelm the suspects.
There is lots more to do now, so let's hope we now can unravel this terrorist plot with the same level of expertise that we saw last week.
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