My Idea for President Obama: The U.S.A. Jobs for Americans Plan and Honors Program

At lunch today, my husband and I discussed ideas to increase Jobs for Americans. We came up with an idea and want to pass it on to President Obama. We call it "The Jobs for Americans Plan." I am advertising this plan here, on Daily Kos and on Facebook. I sent this to the President via his White House website.

Both my husband and I worked for Fortune 500 companies. We know and understand that a number of companies outsource many jobs offshore. These are jobs many Americans, especially middle class Americans want. These are jobs that, when they were outsourced off-shore, meant lay-offs for hard-working Americans. Business says they outsource to save money. Offshore, they are not required to pay employees at the same rate. Offshore, they are not required to maintain OSHA sanctioned, safe environments. Offshore, they are not required to adhere to union bargained contracts. Offshore, these employees do not pay U.S. income taxes, nor are companies required to pay social security taxes or unemployment premiums based on payroll amounts.

Types of jobs sent offshore:
. Production: physical manufacturing (primarily to China)
. IT Services: Software Engineering (primarily to India & other English speaking countries) HP, IBM, Intel, AT&T, AMD, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, SAP, BEA, etc.
. Innovation Outsourcing: to South Africa, India, Pakistan, China, Mexico, Russia, etc.
. Transfer of Intellectual Property
. Customer Service: All customer service work to English Speaking Countries (any company that provides Customer Service via phone or internet)


Our "The U.S.A. Jobs for Americans Plan & Honors Program":
1. Identify and report the rate of off-shore staffing in each U.S. based company.
(e.g.: Apple and IBM each staff 100,000 employees. Each staff 20,000 employees offshore = 20%)
2. Each company that outsources offshore is asked to reduce offshore staffing by 50% and replace those workers with US Based employees.
(e.g.: Apple and IBM are each asked to replace 10,000 of their offshore employees with 10,000 US based workers)
3. Each company that participates in the plan receives a tax reduction for each offshore employee replaced by a U.S. employee equal to 25% of each employee's compensation (fully loaded).
4. Each company fully participating in this program will receive a U.S. Honors Award to display company wide. Reports are published monthly. Participating companies may advertise that they have received this award. U.S. Citizens are encouraged to frequent U.S. Honors companies.
(e.g.: Apple fully participates in the Program. IBM does not. Apple reduces offshore jobs by 10,000; advertises and staffs 10,000 U.S. jobs; receives 25% tax cut for 10,000 employees; receives honors award; runs ads - especially during the SuperBowl that they are a U.S. Honors Award Winner. Business thrives. Employees Happy. America is working. Buying Apple products and services.
IBM does not participate; receives no incentives or tax cuts; No new ads; No award program. U.S. Honors Report shows they are not participating in the program. After 2nd year of program, decides to join it and begins hiring U.S. based employees and reducing number of employees offshore.)

The Migrant Experience - MOVIE: "Mi Familia" (My Family)

My Gift to my Viewers:
"Mi Familia" is one of my favorite movies. It depicts the Migrant experience. "Mi Familia" tracks three generations of a Mexican-American family that emigrated from Mexico and settled in East Los Angeles.
Part 1: shown here
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13

Happy July 4th: A Review of our President's Immigration Speech

The President spoke about Immigration last Thursday. Since then, I've been thinking about how I feel about what he said. For the most part, I agree with him. We do need secure borders. We do need a way to hold employers accountable. We do need a "make-sense" way of resolving the issue of the 11M here.
While I understand many in the ANTI community will accept nothing but Mass Deportation and therefore dismissed the President's words, some folks in the PRO community have two issues with what he said:
1. No commitment to when a CIR bill will be passed: Will it be 2010? 2011? 2012? Or is this political pandering to obtain Latino votes in November.
2. Too many military on the border even though crime is actually down: The good news was he exposed the "crime is up on the border" rhetoric (lies). However is he pandering to the extremists by putting so many military on the border.

I'm still thinking about these two issues. I don't know if I agree or disagree. This is why I've taken so long in writing about his speech. I am mostly grateful that he has spoken out about the issue in such a caring and compassionate way. I believe his heart is in the right place. He clearly believes in a secure, prosperous and united America, a Land of Immigrants, a multi-cultural society with hope and dreams for all of our futures.
Happy July 4th!

Here is my Summary:
The President acknowledged we are a country of immigrants and our country was founded on Freedom, Equality and place where anyone can realize their dreams. We can't forget the resentment and xenophobia we have experienced in our past when many new groups took years/generations to assimilate.

Our borders have been porous for decades due to those seeking the American Dream and those seeking to hire and exploit cheap labor. He admitted our current Immigration processes are broken and our country is in dire need of Immigration reform at the National level. We need to secure our borders, hold employers accountable and do something about the 11M (yes he said 11M vs 12M since the numbers have gone down) here. He admitted there is a severe backlog in processing new admissions making it difficult for those escaping from dire circumstances to wait the required years. The system is not well automated and needs correction. He admitted there are severe backlogs in Immigration Courts so it is extremely difficult to resolve Immigration issues.

With our policies so broken and with our inability to pass Immigration reform in the past, states like Arizona decided to take matters into their own hands with an ill-conceived bill. They have fanned the flames in an already contentious debate. Laws like Arizona's put huge pressures on local law enforcement to enforce rules that are ultimately unenforceable. Many law enforcement in AZ and across the country have stepped forward and said so. He said these laws also have the potential of violating rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents. Additionally, if each state applies their own patchwork of immigration laws, we have the potential of different immigration rules applied differently for different parts of the country.

It is the Federal Government's responsibility to make our national laws actually work -- to shape our national immigration laws that actually work -- to shape a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. He said that doesn't mean the 11M here should be able to be immediately granted legal status. That would send the wrong message to those thinking about coming here in the future and to those already waiting in line. He said the majority of Americans are skeptical of a blanket amnesty. However he also said, the majority of Americans are also skeptical of rounding up and deporting 11M people. They know that's not possible. Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive. Moreover it would tear at the very fabric of this nation -- because the 11M are intricately woven into our fabric. (eg: married to citizens; citizen children, some brought here as children; working AgJobs, etc.) Now, however, since we have the two poles of the debate, (e.g. No Amnesty vs No Mass Deportation) it becomes possible to form a solution that is practical and reflects our heritage and values; a solution we can all accept.

The President reiterated his support for secure borders and said "we have more boots on the ground along the border than any other time in American history." (and as I've long said) "Contrary to some of the reports (political rhetoric) that you see, crime along the border is down. And statistics collected by Customs and Border Protection reflect a significant reduction in the number of people trying to cross the border illegally." He reiterated we must hold Business accountable if they illegally hire. He is committed to giving employers a reliable system to verify legal status and punish those who bypass the system.

He will demand responsibility of those living here illegally. They will be required to admit they broke the law, required to register, pay their taxes, a fine and learn English. They must get right with the law before they get in line and apply for citizenship. He said they (Feds) are clearing the Immigration backlogs both in entry and in courts and automating the processes.

Our laws should respect families following the rules, not split them apart, provide farms a legal way to hire workers, a path for those to earn legal status, and stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents by denying them the chance to earn an education and contribute to the country where they've grown up. (Dream Act)

This needs to be a bipartisan bill but with the volatility of the current debate, many Republicans have backed off their previous support. He asked that we put politics aside and pass CIR.

He closed with Emma Lazarus' poem:
“Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand,” she wrote,
A mighty woman with a torch…
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome…
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!”…
“Give me your tired, and your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to be free…
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Let us remember these words. For it falls on each generation to ensure that that lamp -– that beacon -– continues to shine as a source of hope around the world, and a source of our prosperity here at home.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Homegrown Racist Militia Members Arrested for Domestic Terrorist Attacks on Police! These are REAL Threats to America, Not FAKE Threats (Jan Brewer)

Members of the Domestic Terrorist NSM White Supremist group "Comrades Of Our Racial Struggle - COORS Family Skins" and of the outlaw motorcycle gang "Vagos Motorcycle Club" were arrested for attacks on Hemet Police (being shot at), their police cars booby trapped, police cars torched and the police gang task force attacked. Hemet has been under siege by Urban Terrorism. These attacks have been taking place since December, 2009.

Yesterday, Nicholas John Smit was arrested. He is suspected of attempting to murder a police officer and of building a potentially deadly booby trap. Steven Hansen, a convicted arsonist, was arrested on a parole violation.

Fueled by anger over the economy, immigration and the election of President Barack Obama, white supremacists have been increasing in number in the Inland region and throughout California during the past year, local and national experts say.

In May, Officials in Hemet, CA, charged a member of a known skinhead group in connection with several similar booby trapping incidents targeting local law enforcement that led to a series of raids and 23 arrests. On April 20, law enforcement officials raided 35 homes in Hemet and the surrounding San Jacinto Valley, arresting 23 people on suspected parole, weapons and narcotics violations. In May, the police charged one man, Patrick Nugent Jr., with six felonies, including membership in a known skinhead group, Comrades Of Our Racial Struggle - C.O.O.R.S. Family Skins, and for possessing a zip gun similar to one used in an attempted attack against local law enforcement. Nugent was arrested and his weapons were found during the April 20 sweep by Hemet police investigating a rash of attacks aimed at the Police and their gang task force.During the sweep, officers arrested 23 people on parole, weapons and drug violations. In February, an officer narrowly missed being killed when he opened the front gate of the gang task force offices and a shot rang out. Investigators later found a zip gun in the gate that had been rigged to fire when the door opened.

Hemet police took notice of the C.O.O.R.S. gang last year following an August stabbing of another white supremacist who did not want to join the gang. Also, a Hispanic teenager was beaten into a coma in Hemet in November, 2008. Four members of the gang were charged with attacking the young Latino boy while screaming “White power,” according to Hemet police. All four were accused of attacking the boy to benefit the C.O.O.R.S. Family Skins gang by instilling fear into the Latino community, police said. The boy was beaten and unconscious. He was placed on a ventilator and remained in a coma for four months.

On the group’s Web site, which was taken down after the earlier arrests, the organization professed, “We hate with pure virtuous hatred, anything or anyone that threatens Our way of life or attempts to stand in the way of Our Racial preservation.”

Additionally, some of the arrested gang members also belonged to the Vagos Motorcycle Club. According to Captain Walter Meyer of the Riverside County Sheriffs Department, the Vagos Motorcycle Club is California’s largest motorcycle gang. Known for violence, the gang specializes in the sale of methamphetamine that includes the tri-state area of Arizona, Nevada and Utah. In March About 30 members of the Vagos, were arrested in Riverside County following a sting operation that involved the manufacturing, sale and distribution of methamphetamine in the aforementioned tri-state area. The Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Attorney General have named the Vagos as an outlaw motorcycle club, claiming that they are involved in criminal activities such as producing, transporting and distributing methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as assault, extortion, insurance fraud, money laundering, murder, vehicle theft, witness intimidation and weapons violations. The Vagos have approximately 600 members among 24 chapters located in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and three chapters located in Mexico. Two hundred members are in Riverside County, where the gang was started in the late 1960s.

It is mind boggling to me that the national media is not talking about this story and others like it. Like the Hutaree Militia, COORS Family Skins, Vagos and other Hate Groups (e.g.: KKK, Stormfront, Neo Nazi NSMs, White Supremists, etc.) are posing a severe domestic terrorist threat to the police, to the government, to Latinos, minorities and to our society as a whole. These groups are infiltrating the Tea Parties. These are REAL Threats to our National Safety. They are not FAKE threats as those described by Jan (La Bruja) Brewer. These are REAL. They are Dangerous. They are growing. The spotlight and the terror alerts need to be on THEM, the REAL THREAT to America as we know it.
References:
Police: Two arrested in connection to string of attacks on officers
Skinhead Group Member charged in CA Booby Trapping Incidents
Racial Hate Group Activity on the increase in region
The Evolution of Crime: Urban Terrorism
Skinheads' attack of Hispanic in Hemet detailed in Court

sb1070's Jan "La Bruja" Brewer Irrational Claims Refuted by McCain, BPs and Medical Examiners

sb1070's Jan "La Bruja" Brewer has made these ludicrous claims which have been refuted by John McCain, the Border Patrol and six County Medical Examiners:

1st Brewer claim:
. Most undocumented immigrants are coming here and they're bringing drugs
John McCain, TJ Bonner of the National Border Patrol Council and Arizona's sheriff's refuted her ludicrous claims. T.J. Bonner of the National Border Patrol Council told CNN that Brewer’s claims were “clearly not the case. Brewer’s comments, Bonner said, don’t “comport with reality — that’s the nicest way to put it.”
2nd Brewer claim:
. "Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded."
However, officials with six county medical examiners offices in the state, including four from counties that border Mexico, say they have never heard of such attacks.
The Arizona Guardian contacted the coroners' offices in Yuma, Pima, Pinal, Maricopa, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties. All of them said they'd never investigated an immigration-related crime in which someone's head had been cut off.

Brewer and sb1070 supporters believe the old political adage: "If you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth."

sb1070's Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer's Friend - Neo Nazi JT Ready Patrolling the Border

From Immigration Clearinghouse: Videographer Dennis Gilman’s releases his latest video starring JT Ready and his neo-Nazi boy scout patrol of the Vekol Valley. Also starring in this excellent video is Governor Jan "La Bruja" Brewer, state Senator Russell Pearce, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio which proves that all the hateful rhetoric and lies that this unholy trinity is pushing is nothing more than political pandering which enables zealots like JT Ready.

Breaking News: Jeff Schwilk and his Minutemen Copying JT Ready's Border Ops!

As I previously reported, Jeff Schwilk and his pistol carrying cabelleros patrolled the desert packing heat for his "Gun Totin Border Event" on June 26 - 27 at Campo Minuteman.

Those in attendance included the usual cast of racist wackos including:
Jeff Schwilk - SDMM Leader
Vincent Burke - Mountain Minutemen
Chelene Nightingale
Dan Porcupile - Chelene's buddy, Mountain MM and BPAUX member
Barbara Coe - CCIR ("Lock & Load")
Ken Dreger - head of BPAUX & his band of wanna-be BPs

In his email to his invitees, Schwilk said, "Legal guns are allowed on the border and recommended if you are staying after dark. Your gun can be loaded on the border." I wonder if they used them. I wonder if they followed Barbara Coe's advice at the Arizona Rising Rally on June 5 to "Lock and Load."

Was Rep. Stark right when he asked the question of the Minutemen, "Who are you going to Kill today?"

Check out this youtube from one of the attendees, Dan Porcupile: