Can’t we all just focus on issues the liberal AJC approves of?

It looks like Karen Handel wants me to pick which issues matter most to me and my family. And that she is wishing and hoping that nobody in our district picks border security and immigration or any related topic. She doesn’t even include it in her suggestions for issues that matter. Come to think of it, her survey looks a lot like the immigration-free polls Dr. Tom Price ran in his final years in congress.

The concept that Republican politicians in Georgia were emboldened by the success of President Trump’s campaign focused on immigration and American jobs and wages is proven upside-down wrong on a daily basis. Moans of  “I am worried my foreign-born constituents won’t like that bill” can often be be heard in the state Capitol from Republican lawmakers. Left off are the very real concerns that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce will not approve.

Legislation that would protect and preserve English as our common language, stop the issuance of drivers licenses to illegal aliens, even a life-saving bill that would require GBI to share information it is already receiving on the release of criminal aliens to the streets of Georgia are kept at arms length by many “conservative” state legislators.

Georgia suffers more illegal aliens than Arizona. Americans are being killed on a near daily basis by criminal aliens. Now, with immigration and our borders in “the news” literally everyday for more than a year, we see that it is apparently untouchable for at least one candidate for congress from Georgia’s 6th district.

Below is the contents of an email from the Karen Handle campaign.

Note: Candidate Handel wants to hear from you “as soon as possible.” 

From  Karen Handel in today’s email:

“Fellow Conservative,

I need your help.

Our team put together a brief district survey to determine what issues matter most to you and your family, and I’d like you to give me your input as soon as possible.

This election is so very important, and the choices we make will determine the kind of country we want our children and grandchildren to live in.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet with some incredible people in our community and learn what they wanted to see happen in Congress, and now I want to hear from you. What issues are most important to you this election?

It’s so important that I hear from you today. I hope you will take a moment to complete this brief survey: KarenHandel.com/district-survey/

Sincerely,

Karen Handel”

District Survey

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. It is important that we come together as a community to make our voices heard in Washington. With your help, I will fight for the causes that unite us.

Should we do more to tackle the National Debt?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Would you like to see ObamaCare replaced with a sustainable, consumer focused solution?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Should Congress take steps to reform MediCare and Social Security to ensure their sustainability for future generations?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Should the Federal Government raise taxes to pay for more spending measures?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Does America need to reform its tax code and regulatory structure to stay competitive in the 21st century?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Do you support reforming our higher education system to better prepare our students for the jobs and opportunities of the 21st century?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Should Congress take action to lower the corporate tax rate, which is currently the highest in the industrialized world?
Yes
No
No Opinion

Do you support giving the President the authority to negotiate international trade deals with oversight from Congress?
Yes
No
No Opinion

What are the most important issues for Karen to focus on?
Reforming Obamacare
Ensuring a strong national defense
Increasing economic opportunity for all
Growing our economy and creating jobs
Marriage Equality
Reducing the size of the Federal Government
Balancing the budget
Opposing out of control regulations
Education reform
Do you have any further feedback for Karen?

Billy and Kathy Inman with Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Karen Handel and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, April 28, 2014. Governor Brewer has endorsed Karen in the race for Senate seat. Georgia’s primary is May.

Georgia Republicans in no hurry to end immigration stand-off

As an independent, conservative voter and a longtime pro-enforcement immigration researcher, it is stunning to watch the Republican faithful in Georgia remain silent on the lack of action and outright contempt shown them by many of the people they sent to Washington.

As just one example is the fact that no Georgia Republican has co-sponsored federal legislation aimed at real change in the American immigration system and settling the bizarre Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals amnesty for illegal aliens affair.

Authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, H.R. 4760 – Securing America’s Future Act of 2018, is complete and comprehensive. The bill in an outline would:

▪ Eliminate the Visa Lottery green card program.

▪ Eliminate chain migration and create a renewable temporary visa for parents of citizens to unite families at no cost to taxpayers.

▪ Reduce legal immigration levels by about 260,000 a year – a decrease of about 25 percent.

▪ Reforms the agricultural guest worker program.

▪ Sends additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to more high-risk embassies overseas to vet visitors and immigrants.

▪ Provide additional technology, roads and other tactical infrastructure to secure the border.

▪ Add 5,000 Border Patrol Agents and 5,000 Customs and Border Protection Officers.

▪ Require full implementation of the biometric entry/exit system at all air, land and sea ports of entry.

▪ Makes E-Verify mandatory for all employers.

▪ Authorizes the Department of Justice to withhold law enforcement grants from sanctuary cities.

▪ Allows Department of Homeland Security to detain dangerous illegal immigrants who cannot be removed.

▪ Reduces asylum fraud by tightening the “credible fear” standard to root out frivolous claims and increases penalties for fraud and terminates asylum for individuals who voluntarily return home.

▪ Grants legalization to DACA recipients by issuing a 3-year renewable visa with work permit.

photo: DIS

It is amazing that conservative Republicans are not burning up the U.S. Capitol phone lines on this common sense protection of American workers and solution to the lack of sanity in our immigration system.

Another example? The United States has no official language.

Introduced in March 2017, the English Unity Act (H.R. 997) will make English our official national language. The bill has no Democratic sponsors from Georgia and as of January 16, according to Congress.Gov, Republican members of the House, Tom Graves, Karen Handel, Austin Scott and Rob Woodall, have joined the Dems in not supporting the official English bill.

Voters who are too timid to demand accountability from the people they hire to represent them surely have to accept that they have the government they deserve.

D.A. King is president of the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society.

Read more here: 

Are these GOP members of congress from Georgia anti-English? Maybe ask them?   –> HR997 here.

And a thought: Would you vote for a candidate that boasts of not supporting English as the official language of these United States as a campaign promise?

Contact info for the Republicans:

Rep Tom Graves

Rep Karen Handel

Rep Austin Scott

Rep. Rob Woodall

Georgia’s Sixth District election: American workers and immigration enforcement not a priority

Victory Girls blog

Candidates have apparent similar positions: It doesn’t look good for immigration enforcement in Georgia’s special election

Unsurprisingly, national attention being given the tight special election here in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District to replace Dr. Tom Price has so far overlooked the immigration issue.

Some insight on Republican candidate Karen Handel now may save some surprised disappointment from immigration skeptics when the June 20 runoff is over. While it is mostly ignored by the GOP faithful in Georgia – where we host more illegal aliens than Arizona – Republican candidate Karen Handel’s position is much closer to Paul Ryan than to Steve King.

Shorter: So far, she’s a squish.

Handel’s opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff, working on a campaign budget surpassing $8 million and counting, has predictably, but quietly, taken the standard pro-amnesty position one would expect. “The only real solution is comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders and provides a path to legal status for non-felons who are here without proper legal documentation,” Ossoff told the audience at a pre-primary candidate forum covered by the liberal Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper.

At the same event, former Secretary of State Handel offered a similar and decidedly ambiguous statement on legalization that echoes the “yes, immigration and victims of borders are a problem, but we’ll talk about it later…” response so familiar to those tuned in to the Republican House establishment. “These immigrants have come to our country and blatantly disregarded our laws,” she said. “We cannot, we should not reward that. No amnesty. No ability to vote. Get those borders secure and then deal with that situation. I’m not prepared to talk about hypothetical.”

The “path to legal status” from Ossoff and Handel’s “no ability to vote” is notable in that it sounds like both may be getting some experienced guidance from the “it’s not amnesty if they don’t immediately become Democrat voters” incremental-path-to-citizenship faction of the Gang of Eight crowd. It is easy to imagine the marches protesting “second class citizenship!” and “no taxation without representation!” that would quickly follow passage of a non-citizenship amnesty.

On the “issues” page of her campaign website, Handel has a paragraph on immigration that omits any mention of E-Verify but supports the promised Trump border wall and improving the “reliability of temporary visas.” But it seems that she is on the side of the Chamber of Commerce regarding the beleaguered American workers. She is actually campaigning on creating “a viable guest worker program” and assures us she believes “we should be welcoming of those who wish to migrate to our great country.” Handel doesn’t say how many wishful migrants we should welcome – maybe all of them? BTW: “The current immigration system is broken.” Sound familiar?

Recently endorsed by the Georgia and U.S. Chambers of Commerce, Handel, former CEO of metro-Atlanta’s North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, has a much more detailed section on her website when it comes to “Jobs and the Economy.” There is no mention of E-Verify there either, but we do get this: “I believe that the only way we can grow our economy at a more robust pace is through lower taxes and fewer regulations.”

Along with Georgia’s corporate-funded anti-enforcement GALEO and the ACLU, the Georgia Chamber actively opposed 2011 state level E-Verify legislation. The U.S. Chamber joined La Raza, the SPLC, and a host of open borders, identity politics groups in unsuccessfully challenging Arizona’s 2007 immigration crackdown in the Supreme Court.

Handel, who has raised more than a million dollars since the April 18 non-partisan primary, declined to respond to the NumbersUSA candidate survey on immigration and mailed out an issues survey of her own asking 6th district voters what the issues were – without any mention of immigration.

We have actually heard GOP voters express the hope that if she is successful in replacing now HHS Secretary Tom Price and the Republicans keep the now purple 6th District, Handel will move to the right and adopt a more pro-American worker and beneficial immigration policy position after she is sworn in.

Maybe President Trump asked her about that while he was here in Atlanta for a Handel fundraiser Friday.

OUR OPINION and a collection of facts…

With apologies to Winston Groom – and Forrest Gump – and while happily mixing our comparisons/metaphors, maybe life is like a box of chocolates. But this is not something most of us value in a potential member of Congress.

Weathervane Bob Barr: The Dustin Inman Society’s “least favorite” candidate for the GA 11th

Just a few of many reasons we have made Bob Barr our “least favorite” candidate for Georgia’s 11th congressional district

“LOCAL POLITICOS with long memories have been known to smirk that at one point or another, Smyrna-based congressional candidate Bob Barr “has been on every side of every issue.”

That’s also the impression shared by the conservative editors of National Review magazine, who posted a devastating account of Barr’s shifting political stances Monday on the influential National Review Online website.

Its headline says it all: “Weather vane Bob Barr.”

Write the editors, “The good news is that whatever you think about the major issues of the day, at some point in the past two decades, Bob Barr agreed with you. The bad news is he may set a record for the most pieces of legislation a congressman voted for and then later renounced.”

Barr represented Cobb in Congress from 1994-02 and is one of a crowded field of Republicans seeking to succeed Rep. Phil Gingrey, who is running instead for U.S. Senate. Other major candidates for Gingrey’s seat include state House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey, state Sen. Barry Loudermilk and businesswoman Tricia Pridemore.

As most local political-watchers are aware, Barr left the Republican fold to run as the Libertarian candidate for president in 2008…”

The above is from the Around Town column “Bashing Barr: “Candidate criticized as ‘weather vane’ by conservative voice” ” – Marietta Daily Journal, October 1, 2013. Bob Barr’s hometown newspaper. And mine.

Link to the National Review piece HERE.

ICYMI: Bob Barr was a paid lobbyist for the ACLU (Rome News Tribune 11-24-02 as well as 2005-2009 Lobbying disclosure forms)

Bob Barr and the defacto open borders agenda

One shining example of why the Dustin Inman Society has made former Libertarian Bob Barr our “least favorite” candidate for Georgia’s 11th congressional district?

It’s Bob Barr’s open borders position. In at least one 2008 meeting of the Cobb-based Madison Forum, I have personally had public confrontations with Barr – in a room full of shocked Georgians – regarding his dangerous Libertarian “ya’ll come…” position. Thanks to YouTube, you can watch two minutes of Bob Barr delivering this position elsewhere when he ran for office as a LibertarianHERE.. He is still at it. He repeated this position at a November, 2013 Canton (GA) Tea Party candidate panel (the Canton Tea Party descibes Barr as a “favorite candidate”) in an angry response to a simple question from yours truly. Then, knowing his room, he added a little somethng about visas and enforcement. We think this is progress!

You can see and hear my question to the candidates (all of the candidates present) and Barr’s michrophone-grabbing reply on YouTube HERE. starting at about 14:47.

And yes, we know he has put slight limits on his absurd free-flow-of-people agenda. Those being: Anyone may enter the USA so long as they come through a Port of Entry (!), are not a criminal/terrorist, or have a communicable disease. He sometimes throws in “or will be a burden on American taxpayers.” No numerical limit.We had hoped that potential Barr voters would noodle this out for themselves: Just a few little observations on this nationally-suicidal open borders agenda advanced by Bob Barr and others:

Currently, the birth-right citizenship clause of the 14th amendment to the U.S. constitution is allowing children born to illegal aliens to be regarded and treated as American citizens. With all of the privileges and rights involved in that status, arguably the most desired commodity in the world. That includes welfare and foodstamps for that benefit the entire illegal alien-headed family.

How many years of Barr’s legal open borders policy before we would see the results of the already disastrous “birthright tourism” industry produce an uncountable, world-wide number of what we now call “American citizens” with their hands out and their voter registration cards at the ready?

A world-wide 2012 Gallup poll shows that at least 640 million people would leave their home countries permanently. At least 150 million of these say they would go to the U.S. We already take in more than a million legal immigrants each year. How many people do we want? How many is reasonable and sustainable? Is Bob Barr’s open borders agenda going to somehow protect and relieve American workers? Including the legal immigrants who came looking for prosperity?

From the well-known “On The Issues – Every Political Leader on Every Issue” website

Bob Barr on the issues: Open borders to anyone who wants to cross, with screening HERE

Illegal immigration also showed their differences. Baldwin wants to shut the borders and crack down on illegal immigrants. Barr wants to open the borders to anyone who wants to cross, including workers, but screen travelers carefully to make sure they aren’t a terrorist threat.
Source: 2008 third-party presidential debate, in Cleveland Magazine Nov 2, 2008

Bob Barr has taken a post-American open borders position. Why? Would this policy somehow make you and your children better off?

Amnesty for illegal aliens

We hear that currently, Bob Barr says he is against legalization of illegal aliens. But…Like Marco Rubio and Chuck Schumer, a previous version of Bob Barr has boldly supported the concept of legalization of illegal aliens, with the idea that it would be a good way to find out who they are. I listened myself as (then Libertarian) Bob Barr offered up his amensty-again gem on the nationally syndicated Neal Boortz radio show in April of 2008. Apparently, so did Political Insider, Jim Galloway of the AJC. Galloway posted a blog then with a link to the audio of that exchange between Boortz and Barr. The AJC & WSB radio links are now dead, but you can see my resulting debate challenge and reference to it on the Dustin Inman Society blog and a press release.

“Dustin Inman Society president D.A. King today challenges possible Libertarian presidential candidate and former Republican Congressman Bob Barr to publicly debate and defend his – and the Libertarian Party’s – position on American borders and immigration policy.

During an April 8, 2008 interview on the nationally syndicated Neal Boortz radio show, ( listen here thanks to Mr. Jim Galloway and the AJC, Political Insider blog HERE ) Barr outlined his agenda of supporting a possible repeat of the failed 1986 legalization program for illegal aliens. It is a policy of the official and lawful — but apparently numerically unlimited — free flow of people into the U.S., and an unexplained and unlikely process by which, in Barr’s words, “we would know who is entering our country” with such legalization.

Robert Pastor of the Council on Foreign Relations cites polls showing us that at least 70% of the Mexican citizens who remain in Mexico would migrate to the U.S. if allowed. Considering the present convoluted interpretation of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding birthright citizenship, Barr’s frightening lack of vision of the consequences of his utopian open borders agenda is dangerous,” said King. “The concept of American citizenship could easily be cheapened and expanded to the entire continent in one generation with such a policy.”

JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Workplace verification and protecting the American worker in America: Bob Barr is anti-E-VERIFY

Now called “E-VERIFY”,

“The Basic Pilot program was established by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), P.L. 104-208, signed September 30, 1996, citation: 8 U.S.C. 1324a. The program started in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas (1997) with Nebraska joining in 1999. Congress authorized the expansion of the pilot program to employers in all 50 states in 2003…”

HERE

*We note with absolutely no surprise that then-Republican Congressman Bob Barr voted for the bill described above.

Put more simply for the folks at the Canton Tea Party: Bob Barr voted to create E-VERIFY. Now he is against it’s use. And he mischaracterizes how it is used. E-VERIFY is only used after, not before, as Barr inaccurately submits, an employee is hired.

Most of us would answer “YES” to Barr’s question below: “Do we really want to force employers, by federal law, to get Uncle Sam’s permission before they can hire somebody?” the 11th District candidate asked.” Umm…yep.

From here we note that YES we want the feds to stop child labor, insure that hospitals do not hire un-trained surgeons, unlicensed or unfit airline pilots, untrained, ineligible drivers of interstate cross country heavy truck rigs, and certainly, with the agony American workers are enduring on unemployment, stagnant wages, we want the federal government to stop the hiring or employment of ineligible black-market illegal alien labor… Geez…

Currently anti-E-VERIFY crusader ( unless he has evolved, again, by now) Bob Barr at the May, 2013 Georgia Republican convention:

Atlanta Journal Constitution
Jim Galloway, Political Insider “Immigration and the blessings of an IRS scandal”
May 18, 2013

blog HERE

“To a person, the four GOP candidates for U.S. Senate — U.S. Reps. Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston, and former Secretary of State Karen Handel — said they would oppose the efforts at a bipartisan compromise on immigration reform by the so-called Gang of Eight. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is on his own.

“No new laws are necessary,” Broun said.

“These comprehensive immigration reform ideas … are not unlike what we heard in 2007. And you know how popular that was,” Gingrey said.

“We’re about to have déjà vu all over again. Only in Washington could the same failed policies be put forward as reform,” echoed Handel.

Kingston cited the recent Heritage Foundation report that puts the price of immigration reform at $6 trillion — a study that Rubio denounced as “deeply flawed.” The Savannah congressman also demanded an end to citizenship for children of foreigners born on U.S. soil. “We are one of the few nations left that still has that relic on the books,” he said.

Congressional candidates were of the same mind — with two exceptions.

Bob Barr of Marietta, seeking a return to Congress as a Republican after a failed 2008 Libertarian campaign for president, urged voters to be wary — especially of E-Verify, the federal employment database that Congress would expand to make sure prospective employees are legal U.S. residents.

“Do we really want to force employers, by federal law, to get Uncle Sam’s permission before they can hire somebody?” the 11th District candidate asked.”

Bonus: Barr has otherwise reasonable people – who vote – believing that workplace verification, a central tenant of any “immigration reform” would quickly lead to a national ID card and that apparently E-VERIFY is two steps away from Big Brother. We submit to Barr and his followers that we already have a defacto national ID system in the drivers license and SSN. One more time: Bob Barr 1.0 helped create E-VERIFY. Arrrughhhh!…

Along with the ACLU, Bob Barr has opposed state enforcement measures against illegal immigration, including Arizona’s and here in Georgia.

The AJC’s Political Insider column quoting Bob Barr on state and local enforcement of imigration laws and protecting jobs, benefits and services

“Here’s a passage from the Barr column in question:

Barr:

Politics aside, it is interesting to witness so many Republican legislators who profess allegiance to principles of federalism and more limited government police power, tripping over themselves to support legislation such as these immigration-based bills.

Greatly expanding the power of law state and local law enforcement to stop and detain people, premised on a power that resides with the federal, not state government to begin with, hardly fits traditional definitions of “conservative.” When it comes to immigration, consistency is often not a component of the debate.

And there’s this, also from the sheet:

A “Barr Code”column in the AJC in which he laments the atempts from state and local officials – both in Arizona and Georgia – to protect their own and then misrepresnts the language of the famous Arizona law, SB 1070:

“Latest anti-immigration laws reek of “Big Brother-ism”

“Fremont’s action follows by several weeks the enactment of a law in Arizona that in essence empowers police in that state to stop anyone, any time, any where to demand their citizenship papers. The Arizona law, already under constitutional challenge, is being hailed by many so-called “conservative” and Republican office holders and candidates across the country, as an appropriate way to address the problem of illegal immigrants in the country. At a recent candidates forum in Georgia, for example, each GOP gubernatorial candidate expressed support for the Peach State enacting a measure similar or identical to Arizona’s law, and which would also empower local police to stop individuals and demand to see citizenship papers.

Regardless of whether laws such as those enacted in Arizona or Fremont, Nebraska are stricken down as offensive to our Constitution, the fact that they apparently enjoy the support of a majority of Americans and of many public officials and candidates, is deeply troublesome.”

Former ACLU lobbyist Bob Barr described on Redstate:Time to Move Beyond Bob Barr in Georgia’s 11th
Erick Erickson
September 18th, 2013

Then there is Bob Barr’s behavior — which is just too much like so many in Congress these days. He’s been a vocal critic of Eric Holder and the Justice Department, including its Fast & Furious operation. But after losing his Presidential bid, Bob Barr supported Eric Holder’s nomination for Attorney General. Did he not know what Eric Holder would be like?

In the House, Bob Barr wasn’t great on entitlements the last time, including supporting the Medicare Part D expansion. He was also a protectionist in Congress, altering his position for the Libertarian nomination in 2008…

Bob Barr went out of his way to endorse and support the nomination of Eric Holder for Attornel General

Zpolitics and WSB TV

WSB-TV broke the story that Bob Barr wrote a letter endorsing Eric Holder as Attorney General back in 2009. The letter is posted below. It stated “Mr. Holder could not be timelier or more crucial.” Bob Barr doesn’t feel the same way and he has been calling for the resignation of the Attorney General as you can see in the video below. In a tight primary race in Georgia’s 11th congressional district, this could be trouble for the Barr campaign. He interviewed with WSB-TV to get ahead of this story.

Now he says that was a bad idea.

In our opinion,sending Bob Barr back to congress is a bad idea. For now, we say any current candidate for the U.S. House for GA 11 – just not Weathervane, open borders Bob Barr. Bob Barr is our least favorite candidate for congress to replace pro-enforcement Dr. Phil Gingrey.

AMERICANS WIN ONE IN AMERICA. SB 458 passes out of first Senate Committee!

The Dustin Inman Society
February 23, 2012

Dear D.A.,

SB 458 PASSED out of Georgia’s Senate Judiciary committee about 6PM Wednesday evening, THANK YOU!

The final vote was not even close and I am told by many Senate staffers that the “YES DO PASS” phone calls and emails from pro-enforcement Americans outnumbered the illegal alien lobby more than four to one.

Now, SB 458 goes to Senate Rules Committee then on to the Senate floor for a vote to send it over to the House to repeat the process.

The inside word at the Capitol – along with staffer telephone responses to citizen inquiries from that office – is that Governor Nathan Deal (404 656 1776) is opposed to finally preventing all illegal aliens from admission to all of Georgia’s public funded university and Tech School classroom seats.

In any case, the Governor has yet to fulfill his campaign promise to use the power of his office stop admissions of illegals into our universities and Tech Schools. PLEASE see below:

Illegal Immigration – the candidates sound off, by D.A. King, Marietta Daily Journal, August 1, 2010

ON WEDNESDAY I posed six questions on illegal immigration, via a column on the editorial pages of the Marietta Daily Journal, to our three remaining major candidates for governor: Roy Barnes, Nathan Deal and Karen Handel. I promised to include their answers in a follow-up column.

All three read that column, and here are their answers. (Note: All responses came after the preliminary injunction ruling in Arizona.)

More later.

Thanks to Senators Barry Loudermilk, Judson Hill, John Albers and Chip Rogers for sponsoring the legislation and all of the hard working American voters who called, emailed and came to the Georgia Capitol to help. Special thanks to the Carroll County Tea Party, the Georgia Tea Party and the assorted conservative Women’s groups who devoted their time to help.

This is the end of step one. The illegal alien lobby is furious. The Board of Regents admitted – again, in public – that illegals are admitted to our public college/Tech School system. And said clearly that it was OK.

All in all, a good day at the Capitol. Please keep your focus.

(Note: Nobody didn’t feel great sympathy for the youngsters whose lives were forever changed because they were brought here illegally as small children by their illegal alien parents whose effort was to gain amnesty for the entire family “for the children.”)

Georgia is moving to manage and protect our public benefits – including post secondary education – closer to the way it is done in…Mexico.

THANK YOU ALL!
Sincerely,

D.A. King

Please see post below this one for original column and complete responses. Also HERE from MDJ OPED editor Joe Kirby

Marietta Daily Journal

D.A. King: Illegal Immigration
by D.A. King
Guest Columnist
August 01, 2010

ON WEDNESDAY I posed six questions on illegal immigration, via a column on the editorial pages of the Marietta Daily Journal, to our three remaining major candidates for governor: Roy Barnes, Nathan Deal and Karen Handel. I promised to include their answers in a follow-up column.

All three read that column, and here are their answers. (Note: All responses came after the preliminary injunction ruling in Arizona.)

Question: “Will you commit to using the power of the Governor’s office to put in place legislation that requires use of the no-cost federal E-Verify employment verification system to obtain or renew a business license/ “occupational tax certificate” in Georgia? This is a YES or NO question.”

Roy Barnes: “E-Verify is an excellent system and Georgia needs to expand this program to determine employment eligibility.”

(I will let the reader decide if this is a yes or no response.)

Nathan Deal: “Yes.”

Karen Handel: “Yes.”

Question: What will you do, if anything, to improve the law to protect jobs for Georgians on Public Works contracts for legal labor?

Barnes: “We need to make Georgia work again, and that means protecting and creating jobs for Georgians. It also includes enforcing labor laws. All people – including employers who hire illegal immigrants – should be subject to these laws….”

Deal: “Laws are not effective unless oversight and enforcement are performed effectively. I fully support the use of E-Verify for public works projects and will work with the Legislature to ensure our state’s requirements are enforced and jobs are protected for those who are legally eligible for them.”

Handel: “As Secretary of State, I implemented the ‘SAVE’ program to verify the work visa status of all new applicants for professional licenses. SAVE … is a federal database that helps us ensure that applicants who are not legally eligible to work in the United States will be denied licensure. As governor I will continue to provide leadership on illegal immigration issues by developing a system to ensure the “SAVE” program is fully implemented throughout Georgia.”

Question: Given the state of the Georgia budget, what will you do, if anything, to improve existing Georgia law and procedure to gain compliance with the code that is aimed at stopping Georgia’s finite and shrinking taxpayer-funded public benefits from going to ineligible illegal aliens?

Barnes: “I understand Georgians’ frustration with the federal government not living up to its obligations when it comes to controlling our borders. When the federal government fails to protect our nation’s borders, states like Georgia are forced to deal with the ramifications of illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws … and the law must be obeyed.”

Deal: “The cost of illegal immigration to the taxpayers of Georgia is immense. As governor, I will work to strengthen the law requiring identity and citizenship verification for all individuals seeking taxpayer-funded services and benefits. … In 2006 … I wrote and enacted into federal law the requirement that all individuals seeking enrollment in the Medicaid program must verify through documentation their identity and U.S. citizenship to ensure eligibility for taxpayer-funded benefits.”

Handel: “As governor, my administration will be committed to following and enforcing the law. State law already prohibits state ‘benefits’ for illegal immigrants but, as we’ve seen recently with the Board of Regents, divisions of our government may not be following the letter, not to mention the intent, of the law. We need consistent and thorough (sic) and I will make it a priority that we do so.”

Question: On the premise that we cannot effectively change what we do not measure, will you commit to putting in place questionnaires and monitoring procedures to ascertain the citizenship/immigration status of individuals and families receiving federally mandated taxpayer funded benefits so as to create an official database from which to gain public knowledge of the real cost of illegal immigration to Georgians? This is a YES or NO question.

Barnes: “The financial mandate of monitoring and calculating the impact of the illegal immigration problem should not be placed on our state. The federal government should bear this fiscal burden.”

Deal: Yes

Handel: Yes.

Question: “If elected, will you do whatever necessary to prohibit illegal aliens from attending any school in Georgia’s university system and our technical college system? This is a YES or NO question.

Barnes: “I am not in favor of illegal immigrants attending Georgia’s public colleges and universities.”

Deal: “Yes.”

Handel: “Yes.”

Question: Will you commit to using the power of the Georgia Governor’s office to create, pass and sign into law legislation based on Arizona’s SB 1070, including making illegal immigration a state crime in Georgia?

Barnes: “States are forced to deal with the ramifications of illegal immigration; therefore, “… I would sign legislation similar to what Arizona passed. The state can enforce federal law so long as it is not racial profiling. However, I do not agree with making illegal immigration a state crime because it puts the financial burden on our state…”

Deal: “Yes … I … remain strongly committed to this mission for Georgia. The ruling by Judge Bolton regarding the Arizona law will not interfere with my efforts to enact a similar law in Georgia. … I look forward to further court challenges to overturn this unjust ruling.”

Handel: “Absolutely, I am 100 percent committed to passing a similar law in Georgia. … I will be … (a) strong ally in fighting the Obama Administration on this issue.”

Thank you, candidates.

D.A. King is a nationally recognized authority on illegal immigration and president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society, which advocates for the enforcement of immigration laws. On the Web: www.TheDustinInmanSociety.org

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – D A King Illegal Immigration

Below are the unedited/abbreviated responses received from three gubernatorial candidates to questions asked in my Wednesday MDJ column. HERE

Please see today’s (Sunday, August 1, 2010) column in post above.

Question #1: Will you commit to using the power of the Governor’s office to put in place legislation that requires use of the no-cost federal E-Verify employment verification system to obtain or renew a business license/ ‘occupational tax certificate’ in Georgia? This is a YES or No question.

Roy Barnes: “E-Verify is an excellent system and Georgia needs to expand this program to determine employment eligibility.”

Nathan Deal: “Yes.”

Karen Handel: “Yes.”

Question # 2 What will you do, if anything, to improve the law to protect jobs for Georgians on Public Works contracts for legal labor?

Barnes: “We need to make Georgia work again, and that means protecting and creating jobs for Georgians. It also includes enforcing labor laws. All people – including employers who hire illegal immigrants should be subject to these laws, and the law must be obeyed.”

Deal: “Laws are not effective unless oversight and enforcement are performed effectively. I fully support the use of E-Verify for public works projects and will work with the Legislature to ensure our state’s requirements are enforced and jobs are protected for those who are legally eligible for them.”

Handel: “As Secretary of State, I implemented the “SAVE” program to verify the work visa status of all new applicants for professional licenses. SAVE, which stands for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement Program is a federal database that helps us ensure that applicants who are not legally eligible to work in the United States will be denied licensure. As Governor I will continue to provide leadership on illegal immigration issues by developing a system to ensure the “SAVE” program is fully implemented throughout Georgia.”

Question # 3 Given the state of the Georgia budget, what will you do, if anything, to improve existing Georgia law and procedure to gain compliance with the code that is aimed at stopping Georgia’s finite and shrinking taxpayer-funded public benefits from going to ineligible illegal aliens?

Barnes: “I understand Georgian’s frustration with the federal government not living up to its obligations when it comes to controlling our borders. When the federal government fails to protect our nation’s borders, states like Georgia are forced to deal with the ramifications of illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws. All people should be subject to these laws, and the law must be obeyed.”

Deal: “The cost of illegal immigration to the taxpayers of Georgia is immense. As governor, I will work to strengthen the law requiring identity and citizenship verification for all individuals seeking taxpayer-funded services and benefits, and will work to expedite deportation of illegal aliens to avoid the enormous cost to the justice system we currently face. I have a proven record of working to reduce the burden on taxpayers that is a result of illegal aliens fraudulently enrolling in taxpayer-funded benefit programs. In 2006, for the first time in U.S. history, I wrote and enacted into federal law the requirement that all individuals seeking enrollment in the Medicaid program must verify through documentation their identity and U.S. citizenship to ensure eligibility for taxpayer-funded benefits.”

Handel: “As Governor, my administration will be committed to following and enforcing the law. State law already prohibits state ‘benefits’ for illegal immigrants but, as we’ve seen recently with the Board of Regents, divisions of our government may not be following the letter, not to mention the intent, of the law. We need consistent and thorough and I will make it a priority that we do so.”

Question # 4: On the premise that we cannot effectively change what we do not measure, will you commit to putting in place questionnaires and monitoring procedures to ascertain the citizenship/immigration status of individuals and families receiving federally mandated taxpayer funded benefits so as to create an official database from which to gain public knowledge of the real cost of illegal immigration to Georgians? This is a YES or NO question.

Barnes: “The financial mandate of monitoring and calculating the impact of the illegal immigration problem should not be placed on our state – the federal government should bear this fiscal burden.”

Deal: Yes

Handel: Yes.

Question # 5 “If elected, will you do whatever necessary to prohibit illegal aliens from attending any school in Georgia’s university system and our technical college system? This is a YES or NO question.

Barnes: “Generally, I do not believe that a child should be punished for the crimes of the parents; but, I am not in favor of illegal immigrants attending Georgia’s public colleges and universities.

Deal: “Yes.”

Handel: “Yes.”

Question # 6: Will you commit to using the power of the Georgia Governor’s office to create, pass and sign into law legislation based on Arizona’s SB 1070 – including making illegal immigration a state crime in Georgia?

Barnes: “When the federal government fails to protect our nation’s borders, states like Georgia are forced to deal with the ramifications of illegal immigration; therefore, I would sign legislation similar to what Arizona passed. The state can enforce federal law so long as it is not racial profiling. However, I do not agree with making illegal immigration a state crime because it puts the financial burden on our state. The price of incarcerating illegal immigrants is a responsibility of the federal government; therefore, Georgia shouldn’t be burdened with the cost of housing them.”

Deal: “Yes; I was the first candidate for governor to commit to enacting legislation based on the Arizona law and remain strongly committed to this mission for Georgia. The ruling by Judge Bolton regarding the Arizona law will not interfere with my efforts to enact a similar law in Georgia. States are fully within their authority to protect its citizens. I look forward to further court challenges to overturn this unjust ruling.”

Handel: “Absolutely, I am 100% committed to passing a similar law in Georgia and I have been endorsed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer because she knows I will be her strong ally in fighting the Obama Administration on this issue.”

End.

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