NY County CEO fights illegal immigration

Suffolk County (New York) County Executive Steve Levy is one Democratic elected official that is doing something about illegal immigration. Levy has worked to improve communication between local police and federal immigration enforcement agencies. As County Executive, Levy authorized the cross training of Suffolk County police officers so that they have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. Sting operations have been set up with cooperation between federal and local authorities to crack down on employers hiring illegal aliens and landlords who provide substandard housing to undocumented workers. A sweep coordinated by federal immigration agents and Sufffolk County police last March rounded up two dozen illegal aliens who had misdemeanor and felony sex offense convictions and thus eligible for deportation from the United States. Described in the local media as a "conservative Democrat," Levy is a role model for other elected officials in the battle against illegal immigration.
http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/webtemp3.cfm?dept=19&id=2358

Democrats must show resolve against terrorism

The U.S. House of Representatives has wisely decided to renew the Patriot Act. The most controversial provisions were the roving wiretaps and the ability to obtain library records. Civil libertarians worry that the Patriot Act will erode basic freedoms, however, that is a specious argument. The Patriot Act simply gives our intelligence and law enforcement agencies the power to combat terrorism in an era of changing technology.

In an editorial today, The Boston Herald http://www.BostonHerald.com explained the need for the Patriot Act provisions. "Now the roving wiretaps provision - long available in criminal investigations - will continue to allow the government to seek warrants to intercept phone or Internet communications without the warrant being limited to a specific phone or location. Somehow we fail to see how bringing federal wiretap law into the 21st century is threatening to civil liberities, and a majority of the House agreed. Likewise the so-called library provisions - which require a judge's approval - are hardly a grave intrusion on the freedoms of ordinary Americans. Both provisions have proven useful in allowing counter-terrorism units to successfully do their jobs and crack terror cells before they can do any damage."
Thanks to the Boston Herald for bringing some common sense to the discussion of terrorism and the Patriot Act.

If we are ever to become the majority party again, Democrats need to make it clear that we have the resolve to fight terrorism. Putting the ACLU in charge of the war on terror just won't do it. I am certainly no fan of the Bush administration and think that our intervention in Iraq is a misguided distraction to the real war on terror that needs to be waged, but it is the height of irresponsiblity for some Congressional Democrats to oppose giving our law enforcement authorities to the tools to do their job to prevent further terrorist attacks.

Christianity and politics

I am a Christian who is also a registered Democrat. In many evangelical churches today and I suspect many conservative Catholic circles as well, being a Democrat is seen about as positively as owning a strip club. Christians need to recognize that no one political party has the right answers on questions of morality. I think that Democrats take the more Christian approach in dealing with the less fortunate. There are numerous references in the Bible to helping to poor and healing the sick. Cutting funding for the medically needy is not the most Christ-like approach in my view. Trickle down economics advocated by the Republican Party is basically social Darwinism. Isn't it ironic that many who object to teaching Darwinism as fact in the science classroom will enthuasiastically buy into a party that makes "survival of the fittest" its economic credo ? At the same time, I think that many Christians have some legitimate complaints about the direction that the Democratic Party has gone. Supporting late term abortion and affirming homosexuality as a positive lifestyle (through allowing gay marriage or civil unions with tax benefits) incompatible with Christianity (and most other religious traditions) although I do oppose discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace and housing. Democrats need to be more receptive to those who are pro-life and believe in traditional marriage.

I hope that the Democratic Party will have more dialogue with evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics. Activists in the Democratic Party tend to have a very secular or liberal religious outlook so it would help for Democrats to meet with some individuals with a different perspective. Personally, I do not think that dialogue is ever a bad thing. While I am generally pro-life, I welcome attempts at open lines of communication between pro-life and pro-choice individuals. A group of women who were activists on opposing sides of the abortion issue met regularly and found that they were able to find some common areas of agreement although none changed their view on the issue. The same was true of some evangelical Christians who met with gay activists. Both recognized that while on different sides of a serious moral issue that neither were ten feet tall monsters with horns. Republicans and Democrats can debate the issues passionately, but it doesn't hurt to have some civility. To be able to effectively persuade others to your point of view, you first have to be able to listen and understand what the other person believes. The main problem with our political system today is that too many people have stopped listening and have let Rush Limbaugh (or Michael Moore) do their thinking for them.

Some interesting perspectives on religion, society and politics

Exchange of views between Democrats and Republicans on religion and politics.
http://tinyurl.com/apnua

Article by a Democratic activist who is also a Christian evangelical.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/155/story_15582_3.html

America's leading evangelical Christian publication.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ctmag/features/issues/

A leading voice for liberal mainline Protestant Christians.
http://www.christiancentury.org

Evangelicals for Social Action - a moderate to mainstream liberal evangelical Christian group.
http://www.esa-online.org

National Catholic Report - Catholic newspaper that is often favorable to Democrats. Excellent weekly Washington column by Joe Feuerherd.
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/washington/

Terry Mattingly explains why traditional Catholics are abandoning the Democratic Party and how we can win them back.
http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2004/08/25/

Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention headed by Dr. Richard Land. I don't agree with all of their views, but it is a very well done site.
http://www.erlc.com

Federal power increases under Republican rule

Many conservative Democrats embraced the Republican Party because they believed that the GOP would uphold state's rights. Wrong. Under Republican rule, the concentration of power in the federal government has only increased.
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/reilly071305.html

Democrat Progressives see the light on gun control

Writing in the left of center The Nation magazine, Sasha Aramsky presents a convincing case that gun control is a "Democrat Killer." Focusing on the rampant pro-gun sentiment in the West and the increasing political significance of that region, Aramsky sets forth some pragmatic arguments for Democrats to abandon their support of gun regulations. The article focuses on the political situation in New Mexico where a group of rural Democrats known as the Bull Moosers has promoted a pro-gun, pro-hunting and conservation agenda. The Bull Moosers were instrumental in pushing a concealed carry weapon law through the New Mexico Legislature which was signed by Democratic Governor Bill Richardson who has become a proponent of gun rights.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050418&c=1&s=abramsky

A website for pro-gun rights liberals !
http://www.liberalswithguns.com/

A liberal argument for Second Amendment rights
http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/104ali.htm

Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of the citizen to bear arms is just one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.
—Hubert Humphrey, 1960

Bush amnesty inspires illegal aliens

Critics of President's Bush plan to grant amnesty to illegal aliens have long maintained that this proposal would only encourage more immigrant scofflaws and penalize those attempting to immigrate to the U.S. legally. Now we learn that the officials of the U.S. Immigration and Border Protecting conducted a survey of illegal aliens they had captured. The survey revealed that the vast majority of the illegals were aware of Bush's amnesty proposal and attempted to cross the U.S. border because of it.
http://tinyurl.com/cjtsa

GOP Misery Index

Take a look at the GOP misery index which shows how we are faring under the leadership of George Bush and the Republican Congress.


GOP Misery Index:
Jobs Lost =
2,971,000 (U.S. Dep. Labor)
Uninsured Americans =
43,600,000 (U.S. Census)
National Debt =
$7,009,333,811,289.69 (Projected)
Your Share =
$23,960.78 (per family member)