Ellafrella's Blog

Sunday, August 10, 2008

08/10 01:37 PM

JOHN EDWARDS

John Edwards Thinks We're Stupid

The confession of John Edwards was, to me, worthy of attention for a few reasons, but not worthy of endless analysis. The guy's chances at being Obama's running mate or attorney general are shot to hell.

Having said that... there are at least two glaring questions that suggest Edwards' explanation consists of additional lies. (Besides his claim that the affair started after she was hired by his PAC, and not before, which appears to be contradicted by the PAC billing records.)

If the affair ended in 2006, why were Edwards and Hunter meeting in the Beverly Hills Hilton from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. last month? Beyond that... if the child is not his, why did she bring the baby to their late-night meeting?

The official Edwards explanation is that he met, without telling Elizabeth, for a secret meeting at a luxury hotel room from 9:45 p.m to 2:40 p.m., in order to not have sex, while a friend took care of the child in a room several doors down (according to the Enquirer's account), and that after they had spent time together in the room not having sex, he told her, "hey, let's bring in your infant that I am not the father of, I would be happy to caress the adorable little child that I did not sire." Because philanderers are legendarily concerned about the offspring of their ex-mistresses.

Edwards, helpfully, says he has no idea if the Enquirer's picture of him holding the child is real or not:

Last week, the Enquirer published a blurry photo of a man who looks like Edwards holding a baby. The tabloid said the photo was taken at the hotel.

"I don't know if that picture is me," Edwards said. "It could well be. It looks like me. I don't know who that baby is. I have no idea what the picture is."

When pressed by Woodruff, Edwards continued: "I mean, do you know how many pictures have been taken of me holding children in the last three years? I mean, it happens all the time."

This man thinks we're stupid. And some people are indeed buying this.

What do you think?

We have enjoyed the redneck jokes for years. It's time to take a reflective look at the corebeliefs of a culture that values home, family, country and God. If I had to stand before a dozen terrorists who threaten my life, I'd choose a half dozen or so rednecks to back me up. Tire irons, squirrel guns and grit -- that's what rednecks are made of. I hope I am one of those. If you feel the same, pass this on to your redneck friends. Ya'll know who ya' are.

You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God.'

You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival.'

You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if: You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have.

You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend.

If you believe like I do, then, I believe that you, like me, have just enough Red Neck in you to have the same beliefs as those talked about in this post.

God Bless the USA!


So, What do y'all thank?

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't

By Toni Mack
Forbes
July 7, 1997

Geologists believe that vast oil reserves lie beneath Alaska's 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Anwar for short,. Lobbying by environmentalist groups has prevented drilling there. But this may be changing as Congress discovers there are more votes to be had by cutting taxes and balancing the budget than by kowtowing to extreme environmentalist groups

In March, British Petroleum and Chevron announced that they had discovered 100 million barrels of oil at their Sourdough prospect, on state-controlled land just west of ANWAR. Some geologists think Sourdough could turn out to hold 300 million b barrels of oil.

The very day BP and Chevron made their announcement, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt blared his response: "Let me be perfectly clear. This Administration remains strongly opposed to oil and gas drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."

Perfectly clear? Babbitt knows the Sourdough field probably extends eastward into Anwar territory, and Sourdough is only one Anwar-adjacent play. To say absolutely no to drilling would deprive the federal government of taxes and lease revenues that could amount to nearly $2 billion.

Looking for a way out, Babbitt is trying to tax Sourdough oil on the grounds that it is really Anwar oil seeping westward. "It is our responsibility," Babbitt solemnly announced, "to assure that American taxpayers are adequately compensated for any potential drainage of federal [i.e. Anwar] oil from the state lease [at Sourdough]."

Nice try. But in this respect the U.S. government is like any other landowner whose neighbor strikes oil. Under the "rule of capture" the landowner must prove his neighbor's oil extends beneath his own land in order to claim drainage of his oil. How does the landowner prove that? Replies David Johnston, Alaska's oil and gas conservation commissioner: "To determine recoverable oil, you need information about the rock itself, and that's only available if you drill wells."

That puts Babbitt in a tough spot. If he drills Anwar, he risks finding reserves too valuable to leave unexploited. If he doesn't drill, BP and Chevron might get some Sourdough oil without paying federal royalties.

Sourdough is merely the first skirmish, Exxon has a huge undeveloped discovery just to the west of the Arctic refuge at Point Thomson. Next winter Atlantic Richfield will drill an exploratory well at its Warthog prospect just north of the refuge, in the Beaufort Sea.

The Arctic refuge is only 654 miles east of 13 Billion-bbl-Prudhoe Bay field, North America's biggest oil field. Prudhoe Bay is depleting at a rate of around 310 million bbl. a a year. Alaska, since it lives off oil revenues, is less squeamish about drilling than the fed are. Hoping to find more, Alaska, has leased drilling rights to 209,000 acres bordering the refuge. It will probably offer 100,000 acres more if a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision transfers control from federal to state hands.

We're talking high stakes. Washington's own assessment of the Arctic refuge's 1.5 million acre coastal plain put mean estimates of recoverable oil at 3 billion to 4 billion bbl. A study sponsored by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists puts it at 7 billion bbl. By way of context, the U.S. consumes about 6.7 billion bbl. of oil a year. Of that, 52% was imported last year, at a cost of $68 billion.

No one denies that Anwr, like all Arctic areas, is a fragile environment. As naturalist Barry Lopez observes in Arctic Dreams, truck tracks in the tundra will last for decades.

But it is also fact that oil men have devised methods of drilling Arctic turf that leave scarcely a scratch. In winter they build ice roads that disappear in the spring. The latest technology allows oil men to sink wells that travel as far as 5 miles horizontally below the surface, so that far fewer wells are needed. Arco is developing its 400-million-barrel Alpine find to the west of Prudhoe bay using only 100 of its 40,000 acres.

Facts matter little in a debate that has quasi-religious overtones. Environmental groups stymied efforts to open the refuge to drilling in 1989, 1991, and 1995. In February Congressman Bruce Vento (D-Minn.) introduced a bill that would make Anwar off limits to oil men forever. The bill has 108 cosponsors.

What's changing, however, and what may derail Vento's bill, is money, increasingly scarce at a time when Congress is trying to cut taxes without really curbing spending. "Before [the Sourdough find}, the easiest thing for the federal government to do about Anwar was nothing," says Adam Sleminski, a NatWest Securities oil analyst. "Now, ignoring it is a lack of fiduciary responsibility."

It is also ignoring the fact that drilling can now be done with relatively small environmental impact. Says Tony Knowles, Alaska's Democratic governor: "We can do development right, and I'm asking people with strong environmental values to come look at the technology."

OK, This is from article written in 1997, look at us now in 2008 with gas prices at $$$$...

So what do we do now?


What do you think?

Is Illegal Immigration Making You Sick? Literally?

The unchecked flow of illegal border-hoppers from the south is washing over us like a Texas flash flood. It negatively impacts our bottom line, greatly compromises our security, and erodes our national identity… but what nobody's talking about is how serious a public health issue it is.

They're trying to cheat the system, but in the end, you're the one who pays. Maybe you don't know this, but all immigrants who want to qualify for their green cards have to go through a thorough testing process. Basically, they have to prove that they don't have any contagious diseases or drug addictions.

Do you have any idea how rampant diseases are in Third World countries that don't have the same sanitary conditions and health care available to them? Our screening process is in place to keep us all safe. Whether people choose to accept it or not, the truth is that too many of the illegals who "bypass" this testing process are coming into this country with more than just their "dream of a better life"-they're also bringing very contagious, and sometimes very deadly, diseases.

If you're not worried, you should be. Think about where these illegals work, like chicken factories, fast-food restaurants, and other places where they handle YOUR food. Or where their children go to school-that's right, they're sitting right next to your children and grandchildren, sneezing all over them in class. Now do you see why I'm so concerned?

The immigration crisis is finally front and center on our national stage-so much so that politicians from both sides of the aisle are being forced to reckon with it (or at least talk about reckoning with it). But this is no cause for celebration. I still say they're overlooking the most critical threat. Consider the scope of the problem:

The high price of illegal immigration

Even conservative estimates peg the number of illegal Hispanics in America at around 10 million. Altogether, just the Mexican nationals among the illegals send more than $15 billion home to their native country every year. This represents Mexico's second largest income stream-second only to oil exports.

Around 25% of Mexico's GDP (or gross domestic product, which is around 250 billion) comes from CRIME. A huge percentage of that crime (narcotics trafficking, human trafficking) takes place in the U.S. An estimated 75% of the illicit drugs in this country come in through our southern border. The gang-murder numbers prove it, too. In L.A. alone, more than 90% of outstanding homicide warrants are for illegals.

Despite the bleeding hearts' claims that illegal immigrants are good for the U.S. economy, the National Academy of Sciences calculates the lifetime fiscal impact of the average adult Mexican immigrant (the amount of taxes paid vs. the value of government services used-like emergency medical and surgical healthcare) to be a NEGATIVE $55,200. That's over half a trillion dollars when multiplied by just the 10 million or so illegals already here.

But those statistics pale in comparison to the health epidemic we face from the infections and viruses that cross our borders unchecked every single day.

Are Illegal Immigrants Making You Sick?

Do you know the bone-chilling details of the kinds of diseases illegal immigrants are bringing into this country…like HIV, polio, and malaria, just to name a few...

How can you can protect yourself and your family?

So do we need to curb illegal immigration or not?

It's my mission to reveal the real threats to your health that the politicos would rather ignore.

Trust me-I know how confusing it can be to sift through all the baloney you're inundated with by greedy drug companies and dirty politicians.

What do you think?

Do illegal immigrants receive more government benefits than they pay in taxes?




Posted April 3rd, 2008 by Joel The Associated Press

Day laborers, who identified themselves as illegal immigrants looking for work, gather around a potential employer that stopped to hire workers at a street corner where illegal immigrants gather in Dallas.

One of the most common criticisms of illegal immigration is that immigrants pay little or no taxes, yet still receive government services paid for by tax-paying U.S. citizens. This criticism was repeated again recently by Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman as she opened her campaign for governor of that state:

The Republican presented a report to a Senate committee, expounding on the burden that illegal workers place on the state and federal government. Such workers and their employers avoided paying between $242 million and $449 million a year in income and payroll taxes for Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance, she said.

“So the problem is quite evident,” Steelman said. “It also creates an unfair advantage for employers who are not paying those taxes over companies that do pay the required taxes.”

Steelman, it turned out, misread a study on the topic and overestimated the amount of unpaid taxes. But she asserted that her general claim -- that the hiring of illegal immigrants robs government of taxes. Is it true?

It may depend on whether you take a long-term or short-term view of the topic. In the short term, experts seem to agree, illegal immigrants tend to receive more in benefits than they pay in taxes. The disparity has given rise to a Web site created by the conservative Heritage Foundation: No Free Mustang.

Why is it called that? Robert Rector explains:

"The average illegal immigrant family receives an average of $30,000 in governmental benefits! Yet they pay only about $9,000 in taxes per year. That creates a $21,000 shortfall that the American taxpayer has to make up. That's like buying each of the illegal immigrant families a brand new Mustang convertible -- each and every year!"

The Center for Immigration Studies, a vocal opponent of illegal immigration, looked at "The High Cost of Cheap Labor"

in 2004 and found that illegal immigrant families tended to receive fewer welfare and Medicaid benefits than other households -- but even then, didn't pay enough in taxes to cover the cost.

Based on Census Bureau data, this study finds that, when all taxes paid (direct and indirect) and all costs are considered, illegal households created a net fiscal deficit at the federal level of more than $10 billion in 2002. We also estimate that, if there was an amnesty for illegal aliens, the net fiscal deficit would grow to nearly $29 billion.

In terms of welfare use, receipt of cash assistance programs tends to be very low, while Medicaid use, though significant, is still less than for other households. Only use of food assistance programs is significantly higher than that of the rest of the population. Also, contrary to the perceptions that illegal aliens don't pay payroll taxes, we estimate that more than half of illegals work "on the books." On average, illegal households pay more than $4,200 a year in all forms of federal taxes. Unfortunately, they impose costs of $6,950 per household.

The disparity might be higher, but the Reason Foundation's Shikha Dalmia noted in 2006

that the federal government had long since cracked down on benefits to illegal immigrants.

The 1996 welfare reform bill disqualified illegal immigrants from nearly all means-tested government programs including food stamps, housing assistance, Medicaid and Medicare-funded hospitalization. The only services that illegals can still get are emergency medical care and K-12 education.

According to a study by the Urban Institute, the 1996 welfare reform effort dramatically reduced the use of welfare by undocumented immigrant households, exactly as intended.

The exception for K-12 education, though, is a pretty big one -- and it's borne, generally, by state and local governments. Wisconsin is an example, as shown in this report

on a study in March by that state's Policy Research Institute:

The data show Brown County loses an average of about $9 million a year on immigrants. In other words, immigrants consume more in state and local services than they pay into the system through state and local taxes. The biggest cost burden is education for children, which is the most expensive public service.

On the other hand, the presence of illegal immigrants in the United States has apparently bolstered the finances of Social Security. Many undocumented workers pay into the system, but never retire or receive a dime from the program, as the New York Times reported in 2005:

As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.

While it has been evident for years that illegal immigrants pay a variety of taxes, the extent of their contributions to Social Security is striking: the money added up to about 10 percent of last year's surplus.

That continues to be true, according to an April 2 editorial in the Times:

In the fine print of the 2008 annual report on Social Security, released last week, the program’s trustees noted that growing numbers of “other than legal” workers are expected to bolster the program over the coming decades.

We’re not talking chump change. According to the report, the taxes paid by other-than-legal immigrants will close 15 percent of the system’s projected long-term deficit. That’s equivalent to raising the payroll tax by 0.3 percentage points, starting today.

And in a 2007 report, the White House Council of Economic Advisers asserted that, over the long haul, immigrants end up paying off:

The long-run impact of immigration on public budgets is likely to be positive. Projections of future taxes and government spending are subject to uncertainty, but a careful study published by the National Research Council estimated that immigrants and their descendants would contribute about $80,000 more in taxes (in 1996 dollars) than they would receive in public services.

The overall effect, the council said, is a bit of a wash -- and a minor one at that:

The long-term fiscal approach imparts four main lessons: 1) although subject to uncertainty, it appears that immigration has a slightly positive long-run fiscal impact; 2) skilled immigrants have a more positive impact than others; 3) the positive fiscal impact tends to accrue at the federal level, but net costs tend to be concentrated at the state and local level; and 4) the overall fiscal effect of immigration is not large relative to the volume of total tax revenues – immigration is unlikely to cure or cause significant fiscal imbalances.

As Congress in 2007 debated a bill that would create a "pathway to citizenship" for immigrants already in the United States, the Congressional Budget Office weighed in with a mixed fiscal review of the proposal:

The immigration bill before Congress would cost the federal government roughly $18 billion over the next decade, largely because of the huge costs of additional border control and law enforcement measures, according to an analysis released yesterday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The analysis found that over the next decade, newly legalized immigrants and guest workers would generate $48 billion in additional tax and Social Security revenues, while using about $23 billion worth of tax credits and social services. Thus, the newly legal immigrant population would contribute a net of about $26 billion over the decade, the report said.

Over the long haul, the bill would be a virtual fiscal wash, costing after 20 years a few billion dollars a year more in enforcement and government assistance than the Treasury would get back in tax revenues from the foreign-born workers, the study said.

So: Immigrants consume far more in government benefits than they pay in taxes. Truth or not?

May Day marchers will shout for amnesty --

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA Date: Thursday 1MAY08 12:15 a.m. EDT

you can make a short phone call for SAVE DEAR FRIENDS, Today, we need to concentrate all of our energies into a 30-second phone message to our Members of Congress.

We need a massive outpouring of tens of thousands of these little messages to counteract the pro-amnesty May Day marches that are scheduled all across our nation today.

By the time Members of Congress see the marches on TV news this evening, they will know from your phone calls that most voters not only oppose an amnesty but want to start driving the 12 million illegal aliens home by passing the SAVE Act (H.R. 4088).

Most of Congress still would prefer to just sidestep the illegal immigration issue this year
.
Your phone calls will remind them that the voters expect them to act. Call your 2 Senators and 1 U.S. Representative at: 202-224-3121 Or call them at their local numbers.

You can see those by clicking on http://numbersusa.com/myMembers No need to argue or debate. Just say something like this: My name is xxx xmxmx. I'm calling in support of the SAVE Act. The best thing you could do for American workers on this May Day is to pass the SAVE Act -- H.R. 4088. or You may want to comment about the pro-amnesty May Day marches and note that their goal of amnesty works against the interests of American workers whose wages are depressed because of the presence of 12-20 million illegal aliens.

I've asked for very little activism lately (except for those of you in a few localities where a lot is going on).
So, I hope you will join this mobilization to move the SAVE Act forward. We got the nearly miraculous 185 signers on the Discharge Petition (that would force a floor vote) rather quickly.

But we still have only 186. We need 32 more to get the necessary majority. You may never have made a phone call to Congress before. You may have thought you never would.But you can do this.

Please prove to yourself that you can do it. Make the phone call now.

THANKS, This may be a good time for you to make sure that you've let us know all of the areas you are interested in. In order to further customize the type of alerts you receive click here http://www.numbersusa.com/survey?action=longlist

http://www.numbersusa.com/user NumbersUSA - relies upon individuals like you to reach its goal of an environmentally sustainable and economically just America.

Numbers USA 1601 N. Kent Street Suite 1100

May 1, 2008
• War on the Middle Class: Representation?

  For years we’ve been reporting that there’s, strangely, one group with virtually no representation in Washington DC: our nation’s middle class.

  

  Now two congressmen have created a caucus for the least represented segment of this country’s population. Congressman Anthony Weiner and Congressman Steven LaTourette are founders of the Caucus on the Middle Class. Not a bad idea, and we’re thankful — but isn’t that what Congress is for?

What do you think?

L.A. mayor chides ICE for workplace immigration raids template_bas template_bas Villaraigosa tells Homeland Security chief that agents should target criminal gang members and not legitimate businesses. Agency spokeswoman says the priorities are proper. By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 10, 2008 Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked the federal government to review its immigration enforcement priorities, warning that work-site raids on "non-exploitative" businesses could have "severe and lasting effects" on the local economy.

"I am concerned that ICE enforcement actions are creating an impression that this region is somehow less hospitable to these critical businesses than other regions," Villaraigosa wrote in a March 27 letter to Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has cracked down on businesses that hire undocumented workers in California and around the nation in recent years, arresting scores of workers and their employers. In fiscal 2007, ICE made more than 4,900 work-site arrests, a 45-fold increase over the number in 2001, authorities said.

In February, more than 130 undocumented workers were arrested at a Van Nuys manufacturing company during an ongoing investigation. Last week, more than 60 workers were arrested on immigration violations during routine federal inspections at South Bay area import warehouses. Other Los Angeles companies, including giant clothing manufacturer American Apparel, have reported that ICE recently inquired about its hiring procedures.

In his letter, Villaraigosa said ICE has targeted "established, responsible employers" in industries that have a "significant reliance on workforces that include undocumented immigrants."

"In these industries, including most areas of manufacturing, even the most scrupulous and responsible employers have no choice but to rely on workers whose documentation, while facially valid, may raise questions about their lawful presence," he wrote. He said ICE should spend its limited resources targeting employers who exploit wage and hour laws.

"At a time when we are facing an economic downturn and gang violence at epidemic levels, the federal government should focus its resources on deporting criminal gang members rather than targeting legitimate businesses," said Matt Szabo, the mayor's spokesman.

Chertoff has not responded to the mayor's letter.

But Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the department believes its priorities are correct. In its work-site investigations, she said, ICE's focus is on national security and public safety. The agency also investigates companies it believes may have committed visa fraud, money laundering, tax evasion or egregious violations of hiring laws.

"We believe that we are prioritizing appropriately," Keehner said. "This is not random. The types of arrests that are made are well thought out."

Szabo said the mayor and Los Angeles business leaders hope to discuss their concerns with Chertoff in person next week during an annual business trip to Washington, D.C.

Last year, Chertoff warned in an interview with The Times that a crackdown on employers would cause "unhappy consequences for the economy." But employers who knowingly hire illegal workers are breaking the law, he said.

Anti-illegal immigrant advocates praised ICE's actions in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

"Cutting off the magnet of jobs has to be the No. 1 priority if you want to get a handle on illegal immigration," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which supports stricter border controls.

Years of lax enforcement is what led to so many illegal workers in Southern California in the first place, Mehlman said. ICE should keep the pressure on undocumented workers and should focus even more attention on their employers, he said.

In Los Angeles, he said, "you take away 100 illegal aliens from these guys and they could have 100 more before lunch. But you take the head of personnel, that's another matter."

Immigrant rights proponents said raids at businesses break up families, make workers more vulnerable and give unscrupulous employers a competitive advantage. Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said the situation only underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

"All of the Los Angeles economy [is paying] for the incompetence of our congressional representatives," she said. "They haven't done what they are supposed to do."

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce President Gary L. Toebben agreed on the need for reform legislation.

Toebben also sent a letter to Chertoff saying that workplace raids are "devastating" to businesses that are trying to follow the law.

Even when employers ask for proof that new employees are eligible to work in the U.S., there is no guarantee that the documents are valid, he said. Businesses can use the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system to match employee's names and Social Security numbers with federal databases, but critics have said that it often inaccurately flags foreign-born U.S. citizens.

Toebben said workplace raids can slow production or bring it to a standstill. He said future enforcement could also discourage some companies from hiring people who appear to be foreign-born for fear of hiring undocumented workers and being targeted by ICE.

Toebben said he worries that if the arrests continue, Los Angeles companies could have "a very difficult challenge in meeting their workforce needs."

anna.gorman@latimes.com


What do you think?

Use a fireplace, go to jail.
Up In Smoke: Common Sense
By Walter Moore



The Philosopher Kings of the South Coast Air Quality Management
District (AQMD) have decided that government must stop you from
burning wood in your fireplace.

The AQMD -- which is funded with $125 million of your money each year
-- just made it illegal to install wood-burning fireplaces in new
homes, and adopted regulations to stop you from using your existing
fireplace on days they deem too polluted.

In a region where massive wildfires are as routine as televised car
chases, these kill-joys want to stop you from burning logs? Are you
kidding me?

We've got ten jillion cars and trucks stuck in traffic, idling, for
about 18 out of every 24 hours. We've got a governor who fires up the
Gulfstream twice a day to commute from L.A. to Sacramento. We've got
kids getting shot while minding their own business. And yet we need a
new law to ban the burning of logs in fireplaces? Really?

Maybe I've led a sheltered life, but I don't remember ever hearing
about a coroner listing, as the cause of death, "lived in a city with
wood-burning fireplaces."

Laws like this make you wonder what they're smoking at the AMQD.
Wonder no more: our city's representative on the AMQD's board is Jan
Perry. That's right: the same City Council Member who wants to
"protect" you from fast food in South L.A. because you're too fat and
stupid to decide what to eat and where.

Remember common sense? I really miss it, especially when it comes to
people who have the power to tax and regulate.

People used to understand the concept of "priorities" and
"reasonableness." Now we've created so many agencies that they need
to manufacture new problems to justify their continuing existence and
ever-increasing funding.

The AMQD will never issue a press release saying, "The federal and
state Environmental Protection Agencies, along with county and city
agencies, have pretty much taken care of everything, and since we've
gotten to the point of regulating wood-burning fireplaces, we
recommend that our agency be disbanded."

Okay, enough ranting from me for one day. I'll think I'll go buy a
McBreakfast and light up a cigar just to spite the Philosopher Kings.

McCain Advisor: "Think Mexico First"



By Kevin McCullough
Sunday, January 27, 2008

"We are betting that the Mexican-American population in the United States... will think Mexico FIRST! ...But now I want the third generation, the seventh generation, I want them all to think 'Mexico FIRST'," so said Dr. Juan Hernandez on the popular broadcast Nightline, June 7, 2001.

Anyone who has seen the dual-citizened Hernandez in media interviews knows that his rhetoric is offered with forked tongue smoothness. As a former advisor to Mexico's former president Vicente Fox, his credentials for having less than 100% loyalty to America's interests is easy to point out.

With the Florida state flag as a backdrop, Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at a campaign event at the Borini Theater, Kings Point Clubhouse, in Sun City Center, Fla., Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Related Media: VIDEO: McCain Talks Tough on Insurance and FEMA

He has in his own words defended Mexican bus operators bringing illegal aliens to America. He is on record as supporting driver's licenses for illegals in the U.S., in addition he has advocated vociferously for easier methods for illegals to send money earned in the U.S. via special banking agreements to Mexican citizens, as well as advocating for the implementation of mortgage programs for illegals who are working in America. Sum it up by saying that on nearly every issue in which the American interest was at odds with the interest of Mexican illegals, or Mexican nationals - Hernandez sided against America.

So why should anyone care?

Well for starters he has been closely related to the McCain campaign for President 2008. Which is troubling for many reasons.

In the border fence debate in 2007, McCain showed more contempt for his fellow Americans, his fellow Senators, and the voters he was even then campaigning in front of than can be recalled in recent years. Claiming to literally "know more" about the issue of border security/illegal immigration than anyone else in the room, he watched in anger as his arrogance went down to flaming defeat. Showing even more contempt for the American people he has mocked citizen border patrol who voluntarily use their time insure legal border passage of those seeking it. And with a reverberation that echoed around the nation John McCain cursed American voters by saying, "I think the fence is least effective. But I'll build the goddamned fence if they want it."

How gracious of him to oblige us with such enthusiasm!

Then the intensity of the 2008 campaign trail kicked in. McCain found himself increasingly outnumbered by Americans who didn't much appreciate his arrogant ignorance of border security and what it meant to the average American. He resisted to his earlier urges which likely would have caused him to mock Americans who really want nothing more than for those crossing the Mexican/American border to simply do so - over there at the legal crossing point, with proper I.D.

Americans aren't confused, we understand just how reasonable such a policy is.

Nonetheless faced with the open hostility McCain began to back-peddle, morph his language, and modify his position. In the aftermath he picked up two serious victories - albeit that they occurred in "open" primary voting.

His mea culpa, that he has expressed somewhat less than articulately, in the debates gave him cover. He was a "convert" on border security. He had "seen the light." (Though claiming that he had never changed his position.)

I honestly think voters WANT to give John McCain the benefit of the doubt. He is a decorated war hero. And he was the leading voice in strategy and passion for getting the Iraq equation corrected in some of the post-Saddam aftermath.

Yet his refusal to do the right thing on border security for so long had left many an American (not mention GOP primary voters) with such a queasy feeling that to this day do not see themselves supporting his candidacy.

Thusly when uber-blogger Michelle Malkin, and her cohort Bryan Preston at HotAir, uncovered McCain's daughter's own blog, with a picture of the McCain campaign in operation and Mexican-rights' champion in tow - it spoke volumes to anyone who had misgivings about Senator Cranky. continued...

What do you think?

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA Date: Wednesday 23JAN08 12:45 p.m. EST Congress is back .... start sending faxes ... And know where Prez candidates stand on immigration



DEAR AMERICANS,

More than half of you will be voting in Presidential Primaries over the next few weeks.

To the right are my latest overall assessments of each candidate based on immigration promises and past actions.

I hope that you will be placing significant weight in your choice based on a candidate's commitment to protect American workers, communities and the environment from current immigration levels that are set to add another 100 million people over the next few decades.

The point totals are the sum of four ratings:


• All immigration actions in the past while in political office.
  
  
• Promises to oppose amnesty for illegal aliens and to cause them to go back to their home countries over time.
  
  
• Promises in many specific areas of enforcement to stop future illegal immigration.
  
  
• Promises to reduce future legal flows of foreign workers to protect American workers, communities and natural resources.

We are most interested in what the candidates are promising most recently, how publicly they have made the promises and in what kind of specificity.

We encourage all candidates to turn away from bad or poor positions of the past. And we reward them with improved ratings when they adopt the preferences of the majority of Americans for far less overall immigration.

Nonetheless, it matters what a candidate has done in the past, so 25% of these ratings is based on past actions while in office, since a longer term commitment to less immigration suggests consistency and perhaps a deeper commitment to the promises being made.

As the campaign has progressed, the poor immigration candidates have gotten worse, promising to use high levels of legal and illegal immigration to do more harm to America's poor, its middle classes, its natural environment and its taxpayers. (You see their names in the list to the right printed in black and red.)

The fair-to-good immigration candidates have been growing progressively better in their promises, although none yet qualify as excellent on the issues (now that Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo have withdrawn).

So, what you now see are two clearly defined groups of candidates at the upper and lower ends, with nobody in the middle.

Be sure to look at all 16 of the immigration ratings for each candidate at: www.CongressGrades.org.

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Please note that our ratings do NOT amount to endorsements. Nor do they convey anything about the character, the strength or any other positions about the candidates. We know that every one of these candidates has supporters among the users of NumbersUSA for a lot of different reasons. ***************************

SINCERELY,


What do you think?

Impacts of Illegal Immigration: Traffic Accidents

On October 19, 2003, the 29 year old, ex-quarterback for the University of Colorado football team, John Hesler, was driving his Honda Accord on Interstate 76 in Colorado when it was clipped by an SUV sending it across a median and into the path of a pickup truck, causing a horrific accident. The driver and passenger of the SUV that caused the accident fled the scene and haven't been found. The Colorado State Patrol told Hesler's family that they most likely are in Mexico.

As of January 2007, John Hesler was still living in a rehabilitation center going through extensive mental and physical therapy. The car that caused the accident did not have insurance. Since the driver was not apprehended or ticketed nobody knows whether the driver causing the accident had a license or not. Most likely he did not, but even if so, false documentation is a major problem in Colorado, as well as across the USA.

John Hesler was "lucky." He survived his traffic encounter with an illegal alien but not without terrible costs to himself and family. Go to the John Hesler website to see the journey from being on the top of the world with a full life and promise before him to:

"John's thought process improves daily which is great, but there for awhile the realization of everything he has endured hit him like a ton of bricks. Negative thoughts and remarks became a frequent visitor in John's everyday life. A change was needed and we pray and ask each of you to continue to pray that this will bring John back to a lasting optimistic state of mind."

For a detailed report on what is happening on the roads and highways of the East Coast see the article Harvest of death on the Eastern Shore where it is reported that while 5% of the population in the area is Hispanic they are involved in 25% of the fatal traffic accidents, an astounding 5 times as much participation as representation. Given the fact that most members of the Hispanic community are law abiding and responsible citizens, that means that a large percentage of the illegal alien portion of the Hispanic community is even worse. How much worse nobody knows because NOBODY IS TRACKING IT.

A review of State Police auto accident reports for 2002 through 2004 for that area of the Eastern Shore also revealed that of the 179 accidents involving Hispanic laborers:

• 75% of the drivers had no auto insurance.
• Nearly all of the vehicles driven by migrants were registered to other drivers.
• 93% of the vehicles had false out-of-state tags.

In 2003 and 2004, 128 of the 395 people, 32.4%, arrested on DUI charges were Hispanic, a rate six times greater than the Hispanic portion of the population.

The article goes on, "When crashes occur, it is not uncommon for Hispanic drivers – often intoxicated and unlicensed – to flee before troopers arrive. According to State Police records, about a third of accidents involving migrant workers are hit-and-run. State Trooper Koushel said migrants often cannot be conclusively identified when they're stopped for a violation or involved in an accident." "Many", he said, "are illegal aliens who carry fake or invalid driver's licenses". "Because of that", he said, "many fail to show up in court. It's almost like writing a ticket to a ghost."

For more information on the DUI problem, see Hispanics in crashes lead DWI stats.

Illegal aliens that drive without licenses often can not read English. As a result, they don't know the rules of the road and can't read highway signs. As noted in Where Illegals Go for Driver's Licenses, North Carolina allows illegal aliens who can't speak English to bring in their own interpreter so the English speaking examiners don't have a clue what the applicant knows or doesn't know. Couple that with the higher tendency for DUI driving and many illegal aliens are the worst drivers on the road, as noted by some of the various traffic accident statistics cited in this paper. Add in the fact that they generally have no insurance and that makes them, as a group, the most irresponsible drivers on the road, as well.

As noted in No license to drive: Illegal immigrant drivers creating problem in De Queen, Arkansas, population 5,765:

"Hispanic drivers in De Queen without driver's licenses have become an accident waiting to happen, an official said. "The majority of Hispanics have no driver's license and they're part of the illegal immigration problem. If they're here illegally, they can't get into the system to get driver's license. In most cases they don't have car insurance either," said Mayor Billy Ray McKelvy.

... The drivers also have no vehicle insurance and no liability insurance, says McKelvy.

... In the last two months, De Queen has been averaging about an accident per week involving Hispanic drivers with no driver's licenses. Ten vehicles have been involved and the average amount of damage per vehicle was estimated to be $3,000. So far, none of the crashes in De Queen have been fatal."

However the consequences of illegal aliens driving have not just been a few cars damaged as in DeQueen. Putting some of the personal consequences of the "victimless crime" into perspective:

Police chief of the Needville Independent School District, Chief Ernest V. Mendoza lost his life when he was hit head on by drunken illegal alien Guillermo Paniagua Paniagua who veered into his lane. Paniagua had four previous drunken driving convictions. Paniagua fled the scene on foot but was captured latter. Mendoza, a 25-year-veteran of law enforcement, leaves behind a wife and four children.

Min Soon Chang, a freshman from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was killed by drunk driving illegal alien Jorge Humberto Hernandez-Soto, who hit him while going 100 MPH the wrong way on the highway. Hernadez-Sot had been previously deported to his native Mexico 17 times. That is not a typo.

Cheryl Ceran, 47, and two of her children, 15-year-old Ian and 7-year-old Julianna were killed on Christmas Eve by drunk driving illegal alien Carlos Rodolfo Prieto, 24, who ran a red light and slammed into their car. Also injured in the crash were Cheryl Ceran's husband, Gary Ceran, 45, their daughter, Clarissa, 19, and a son, Caleb, 12. Prieto had at least two other drunken driving arrests and did not have a license.

Kelly Bergen, 25, a teacher, was crushed between two potato trucks, an accident caused by an illegal alien driving without a license or insurance.

Deputy Loren Lilly, an 18 year veteran of the Cobb County, GA, police department was killed Christmas Eve morning on his way to work when an illegal alien swerved into his lane. The driver, Joel Camacho Perea, faces charges of hit and run, failure to maintain lane and driving without a license.

Marine Corporal Brian Mathews, 21, and his girlfriend Jennifer Bower, 24, were killed by a drunk illegal alien Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano who slammed into their car when it was stopped at a traffic light. Corporal Mathews was on leave, after just returning from duty in Iraq. Morales-Soriano had a blood-alcohol level that was four times the legal limit.

20 year old Natalie Housand was killed when illegal alien Jesus Garcia Lopez hit her car while going 100 MPH, driving drunk. Amazingly, after the head-on collision, Lopez fled the scene.

Donna and Sean Wilson of Juliet Tennessee, were killed by illegal alien Gustavo Reyes Garcia who had been, arrested 14 times in the previous five years prior to when he ran into and killed them, again driving while intoxicated. Garcia had previously been arrested 5 times on DUIs.

Tricia Ann Taylor, 17, lost both her legs above the knees when she was pinned against a wall by a drunken illegal alien with seventeen prior violations who hit her while drag racing.

Ryan Ostendorf, a 28 year old paramedic, who was also a Kansas University student and who dreamed of becoming a doctor, was killed by illegal alien Victor Anzua-Torresa who had ignored an order to receive treatment after his previous drunken-driving conviction. Anzua-Torresa had also been previously deported in 2000 and been arrested for several other offenses, including possession of drug paraphernalia.

5-year-old Felix Leon was killed in a hit and run accident by illegal alien Carlos Jaramillo.

James F. Rogers Jr., 18, of North Jackson, TN was killed by Luis Oscar Garcia, a Mexican who had been living in the U.S. without a green card for three years. Garcia ran a red light. In addition to the vehicular homicide and DUI charges, Garcia faces counts of driving without a license, registration or proof of insurance. When police did a check on his license plate, it did not come back under his name.

Joshua Morrow, 4, and his uncle, Ronald Bishop were killed by an illegal alien who left the scene of the accident.

Christopher Shackleford, 19, Julieanne Pascoe, 18, and Kelli Bourgeois, 18, were all killed in Marietta, Georgia, by an illegal alien drunk driver. He did not have a valid driver's license or insurance but did have a blood alcohol level at twice the legal limit.

Brandon Haley, 31, was killed while riding his bicycle in a hit and run by illegal alien Lazardo Lobaton.

The Marti family, pictured here during a happy moment that no longer exists. Sean, just 24 years old, and his daughter Sage, 5 months old, were killed by a drunk illegal alien who was driving the wrong way on Highway 84 in Idaho. Natalie Marti was in a coma for two weeks after the head-on crash, spent two months in the hospital, and has suffered brain damage from a traumatic head wound.

Chicago Police Officer Michael Gordon lost his life to a drunken illegal alien driver. Officer Gordon was in the driver's seat of his squad car when it was struck by Luis Calle, a Guatemalan, whose blood alcohol level was 0.177, twice the legal limit.

Helen Hughes, 22, Jennifer Carter, 18, and Hughes' stepbrother, 16-year-old Ben Leonard were all killed by an illegal alien, who allegedly was driving drunk, and already had a long record of crime in the United States.

22-year-old Amy Kortlang was killed by an illegal alien driving without a license and while drunk. The illegal alien driver had been previously deported, barely six months prior to causing the accident.

Oakland Police Officer Will Seuis was killed on his ride home by an illegal alien. A sixteen-year veteran of the Police Department, Officer Seuis was remembered at his funeral as a hard-working cop who had received 33 letters of appreciation from citizens, including one from a motorist he had ticketed. The illegal alien had a long history of traffic convictions.

Peggy Keller, dean of distance education at Yakima Valley Community College, was killed by a twice deported illegal alien who was driving under the influence of methamphetamines.

19 year old Travis Smith was killed when he was struck head-on by a vehicle driven by an illegal alien who was transporting four other illegal aliens to Pennsylvania.

Six year old Annie Cumpston was killed in a hit-and-run accident in downtown Baltimore by a truck driven by illegal alien Guillermo Diaz when it veered into the crosswalk as she and her family were leaving the circus. When Diaz was arrested, he did not have a driver's license, the tags on the truck were expired and his blood-alcohol level was 0.07 percent. Diaz had been in the United States illegally for four years doing construction work. He received 10 years in prison but is eligible for parole in just two years. This is an example of a horrific crime where all the easy to find references are gone but you can find the story at archived at CRIME VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS.

The above are only a small sampling. Be sure to see the links at the end of this section.

How bad is the problem getting? See: The Carnage of Unisured Motorists for a detailed report on the havoc caused by illegal alien drivers in an East Coast community and Numbers flabbergast legislators - Crashes, arrests highlight illegal immigration problem, lawmakers say where over a few days of bad weather in Colorado over 100 illegal aliens were in auto accidents or given traffic tickets.

For a growing twist on the problem, see: Illegals without driver's licenses register cars and Dangerous Loophole Allows Illegal Drivers On Road.

Finally, it is worth noting that illegal alien drivers are not only killing Americans and themselves. Some of the most horrific accidents are as a result of an illegal alien transporting other illegal aliens. For a few examples, see: Van stuffed full of immigrants takes deadly roll or 9 suspected illegal immigrants killed in Yuma crash or Driver in Crash Held on Smuggling Counts. In the first two incidents there were 21 illegal aliens in the vehicles that got into the accident. In the third there were "only" 11 in the van with four dying. The emergency services and medical costs on the local community for such accidents are enormous and especially burdensome on the smaller rural communities.

Who pays for the carnage? American citizens, of course. As noted in When illegal immigrants crash, taxpayers usually foot the bill, "the only trauma center in Southern Arizona, Tucson's University Medical Center ... At the current run rate we'll incur 5 - 6 million dollars in un-reimbursed costs for taking care of foreign nationals." That is just the unpaid emergency medical costs for one hospital in one city. Since there is no such thing as a free lunch, the insured pay for treating the uninsured through higher medical costs and insurance premiums.

How many Americans are being killed in traffic accidents by illegal aliens? As noted by a Media Matters article interview, Boyles guest acknowledges "no one really knows how many Americans per day are being killed by illegal aliens" as it is all a guess based on bits and pieces starting with the fact that nobody really knows how many illegal aliens are actually in the USA. Again, it comes back to nobody knows because NOBODY IS TRACKING IT.

Looking at one particularly egregious component of traffic accidents, hit and runs, nationally 11 of every 100 traffic accidents are a hit and run. After a hit and run driver flees the accident scene, something very common when the driver is an illegal alien, the unfortunate victim is responsible for all the expenses, as well as suffering the inconvenience of being without a car while it's being repaired.

Fortunately, the vast majority of hit and run accidents only cause vehicle damage but many drivers, including, most notably, illegal aliens, do not have insurance, let alone adequate insurance, to handle any expenses, even if only to repair the unfortunate victim's car. Thus, if you do not carry comprehensive insurance on an older car and are hit by an illegal alien that destroys your car, you are left without a car. As bad as that can be, unfortunately, there are also many deaths and serious injuries as well, for which the victim's insurance must also pay. Although they may be hidden in some states, these costs are represented in the "uninsured drivers" portion of your auto insurance premium.

As noted in Not all Hit and Run Accident Victims Die, often the injuries are often crippling, life long, and require many years of treatments and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in medical costs.

How many hit and run accidents are there and what is the participation of illegal aliens? As reported by Deadly Roads, as of December 29, there were 1,544 killed and 105,078 injured in hit and run accidents in 2006. Extrapolating for the year, 2006 will end up with about 1,560 killed and 105,948 injured by hit and run drivers. If the illegal alien population was responsible for just 5% of the carnage, that would result in 78 killed and 5,297 injured. However, as previously noted, the data suggests that the proportional involvement of illegal aliens in traffic accidents is actually far higher and there is no reason to believe it would be any different for hit and run accidents. In fact, if anything, the participation of illegal aliens is probably even higher but, again, NOBODY IS TRACKING IT so nobody really knows.

For what is happening in California see California's hit-and-run crisis - More flee fatal accidents here than any other state where it is reported: "

"The number of fatal hit-and- run traffic deaths statewide jumped by 19 percent from 1999 to 2001, federal statistics show. Nearly 300 people are killed annually in hit-and-run accidents in the state.

Hit-and-runs accounted for 7.8 percent of the state's fatal crashes in 2001, the latest year for which figures are available from the U.S. Transportation Department. The figure is more than twice the national average of 3.8 percent - and a full percentage point higher than the next-highest state, Arizona."

In Spiral Of Immigrant Corruption In America, Frosty Wooldridge says, "To give you an idea of how fast the United States careens into Third World standard operating procedure, in Greeley, Colorado last year, police recorded 270 hit and run accidents for that year. Greeley, with less than 70,000 residents, houses the largest contingent of (illegal alien) Mexicans in Colorado."

While anecdotal, it fits the pattern as California has the highest illegal alien population of all states, Arizona has the second highest, and Greeley is reported to have one of the highest percentage concentration of illegal aliens in Colorado. In any case, nobody that I am aware of is correlating the incidence of hit-and-run accidents with the illegal alien population.

As noted in a 2003 article in the Austin American Statesmen, A troubling trend: Hispanics and DWI - Latinos account for nearly half of 2002 Austin arrests:

"Of 3,007 drunken driving arrests in 2002, 43 percent involved Hispanic men, even though they make up only about 11 percent of Austin's driving population.

Including women, Hispanics made up 47 percent of the DWI arrests but only 21 percent of Austin drivers.

... Statewide, 42 percent of the people arrested in 2002 for driving while intoxicated were Latino, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In Austin, 46 percent of the people arrested for drunk driving from 1999 to 2002 were Latino, according to the Austin Police Department."

As noted in a December 2005 article, Durham court outreaches to Latinos to prevent DWI, by Paul Savery in the Carolina NewsWire:

"46% OF INDIVIDUALS CHARGED WITH DWI ARE LATINO ACCORDING TO STUDY OF TRAFFIC CHARGES IN DURHAM COURT

... Latinos are over represented among individuals charged with DWI in Durham. Latinos account for 7.6% of Durham's population, but account for a much greater percentage of those individuals charged with DWIs and other traffic offenses.

In Durham 44% (589) of individuals charged with a traffic offense are Latino and 40% (74) of all individuals charged with a DWI were Latino. (Based on the Coalition's sampling of data from the Durham Traffic Court dockets. A one week period (5 days) of Durham Traffic Court was selected at random from each of the last 3 months of 2004 and yielded a total sample of 1338 of individuals charged with traffic offences.)

In Durham 46% (253) of individuals charged with DWI are Latino. 99% (251) of Latinos charged with DWI were male, with an average age of 27 years old. (Based on the Coalition's examination of the Durham City Police Department's 2004 DWI Arrest Record which accounts for all the DWI arrests (801) from 1-1-04 to 12-31-04.)

The Latino community in Durham is paying a terrible cost for the high rate of drinking and driving. Apart from the cost of legal fees, fines, lost wages from DWI convictions, the cost of drinking and driving in terms of death and injury is also high. Recent data for 2002-2003 from a local trauma center shows that 43% of Latino admissions are due to motor vehicle collisions and a significant number involved alcohol use."

As noted in a July 2006 article Illegal Immigrants Filling Jails - Sheriff's department officials around state predict thing will worsen in the Carolina Journal Print by Karen Welsh:

"RALEIGH - County jails throughout North Carolina are stressed to the limit with illegal immigrants, law-enforcement officials say.

... Kevin Jastzabski, prison captain for the Lee County Sheriff's Department, said the number of Hispanics clogging the county's system is getting larger everyday. "We do have a problem, and it is going to keep on growing," he said "It doesn't look like it's going to slow down any time soon."

... It's not racial discrimination, as some have feared, but cultural differences that are putting most of the illegal immigrants behind bars.

The arrests are legitimate, Jones said, and arise mostly from drug trafficking or driving under the influence of alcohol in Alamance County. DUI is the number one killer of Hispanic males in the state, he said.

"There are cultural differences," he said. "They drink and drive. It's culturally acceptable for them to do that. When we bring them in, they are usually double the legal limit. But law-enforcement officers have been called racist and have been accused of singling out Hispanics. Now the statistics are showing we were probably right from the onset - law-enforcement-wise."

As noted in a December 2006 article by Jared Allen in the Nashville City Paper, Male Hispanics responsible for disproportionate number of fatal car crashes:

"As a percentage of Nashville's population, male Hispanics have been responsible for a greater percentage of fatal traffic accidents this year than any other demographic, police data show.

... While the U.S. Census bureau estimates that Hispanics made up approximately 6.3 percent of Nashville's population in 2004, police say they were responsible for 17 percent of the fatal car wrecks that have occurred so far in 2006.

... Since the summer, Nashville's Hispanic leaders have weathered a tempest caused by a number of deadly, high- profile accidents police say came at the hands of Latinos, three quarters of whom were allegedly drunk, and some who have been identified as illegal immigrants.

"As a cultural group, Hispanics are responsible for more fatal accidents then they are entitled to ... based on their percentage of the population," said Metro Police Sgt. William Keeter, supervisor of traffic analysis, hit and runs and fatal crash investigations.

... At the same time, though, alcohol was a contributing factor in 75 percent of the fatal car crashes caused this year by Hispanics, a far higher percentage than with other groups, police said.

Keeter said the rate of alcohol-caused crashes among whites, Blacks, Asians and others is usually about 40 percent."

Over on the West Coast the problem persists but, interestingly, not at the same rate in one report. As noted in DUI's culture gap -Latinos in S.J. account for disproportionate amount of arrests:

"Approximately 2,000 Latino men like Mercado were arrested in Stockton between 2000 and 2004 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. They accounted for at least 54 percent of all DUI arrests in Stockton, according to the Police Department, although Latinos make up just 35.3 percent of the city's population, based on the latest estimates from the California Department of Finance.

In 2004 alone, police arrested 4,242 people on DUI charges in San Joaquin County, according to the California Department of Justice. Latinos accounted for 46.8 percent of the arrests but only 33.1 percent of the county's population. In Stockton, 59 percent of the 883 DUI arrestees that year were Latino men, the highest percent