The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 89, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Page: 4 of 12
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Vlednesday. May 5.2010
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
BELCH.
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Cyrus B. Fletcher to those made in the p;
Baytown
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REP. RON
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in Arizona.
That was one thing the drafters did-
n't expect. As they see it. the old
employer-verification law was broad-
er in scope and more serious in effect
than the new law. and it didn't set off
this kind of national controversy.
That tells Kris Kobach one thing
about the current battle: “It's more
about the politics of 2010 than it is
about this particular law."
BYRON
YORK
I? fl
FEDERAL
Barack Obama
Presrlent
202-456811
Fax: 202-4562461
preadenfi
whSEhouseAx
Joe Biden.
VcePnesderx
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Fax-202-4562161
vtoapreadertti
wtMiouSMw
Kay Baley
Hutchison
Soiator
202 221-5922
7136553456
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Fax:713-2093459
tutchstnserelE
Ipftmalrtr'
John Cornyn
Senator
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EDITORIAL BOARD
JANIE HALTER
Editor/Pubksher
Luke Hales
Assistant Managing Editor
MA Bengtson
Community member
Dave Rogers
Sports Editor
-wqxumb pfsutH
Byron York is chief political corn-
for The Washington
Congress
freezes its
cial asks for it. The federal govern-
ment cannot deny assistance to
Arizona without breaking the law
Given all that. Obama and Holder
will have a Hard time stopping this
• I . - J - *
defended its employer-sanctions law. might be swayed by the political
j . .. i storm that has erupted, mostly on the
AIRLINES
An honor and privilege
We all know people that positively
impact our lives, but we often forget to
give them the praise they deserve. 1 want
to give credit where credit is due by thank-
ing District 2 City Councilman Scott
Sheley for all he has done for Baytown.
Mr. Sheley is an honest, dedicated man
that has worked tirelessly for his district
and for the city.
During the last three years I have seen
many improvements in District 2. and Mr.
Sheley has been instrumental in bringing
about those changes. We have new sewer
lines, additional street lights and newly
paved streets in our district, thanks to his
dedication. He drives the streets checking
on things, watches for issues that need to
be addressed, and he always has time to
stop and say hello, no matter how busy he
may be. I know that he will be there if I
need his assistance and he has helped me
tremendously.
As a parent 1 can say that he is one of
the most caring teachers I have ever met,
and his dedication to children is
unmatched by anyone in GCCISD. Mr.
Sheley has been a very' positive force in
my child's life and he genuinely cares for
all children. It is important to Mr. Sheley
that children get the support and rein-
forcement they need to grow into positive,
productive adults.
It has been my honor and privilege to
know Scott Sheley and 1 am thankful to
have him representing me in City Council.
Tami Shipley
Baytown
Janie Halter. Publisher
janie.hafter@teytownsun.com
Angie Pagel, Advertising Director
angie.pagel@baytownsun.com
Doyle Barlow
Managing Editor
doyle.bariowfa)bayt ownsun.com
Sandy Denson. Business Mgr.
sandydensonTaibaylownsun.com
Joshua Hart. Crculatioo Manager
joshua.hart@teytownsun.com
NEWSROOM
Viewpoints
4A J. rm: baytown sun
WM
M.4 W
NOTA
. HOARDER ,
..................
illegal immigrant. |cft. bv opponents raising the specter
Facing some, of the same groups that o|- faM;.lsrni Nazism and a po|ice state -
are now planning to challenge the
new law, Arizona prevailed both in
Dr. Ron Paul represents Chambers
County in the Texas House ot
Representatives
Think about it
The Sun published a guest editorial
from Nat Hentoft'about charter schools,
vouchers, school choice, and teachers'
unions affecting the elections in
Pennsylvania. In championing the cause
of Anthony Willliams, he has abandoned
his usual hard stand on the meaning and
intent of the First Amendment.
As commendable as Mr. Williams'
record of public service is. the fact that he iiis Jluvvll.t „lt
has an owner's interest m a Charter school ^artmem'mThc ^nrt’w-itfr smes -^deraLgo'
he founded caxts a doiiht on his sunnort .... t. ... . . t. > . es to assist Arizo
cults demand vouchers so they can have (
their own schools? What happens when most liberal federal-appeals court,
every religious group demands vouchers ■' ■ ,-i■— 'ni“
for their own schools? And what happens
when you can no longer grant tax cuts
without ending or lowering the amount of ship for voting
those vouchers'.’ benefits to illega
And do not forget, where tax money cials won
goes, government regulation is sure to fol-
low. Think about it.
In federal court in 2005. Arizona
successfully defended Proposition
200. which required proof of citizen-
, ‘ g and also restricted
benefits to illegals. And in 2006. offi-
i a state court challenge to
Arizona's human-smuggling law.
The arguments that liberal groups
make against the new law are similar
last. Foremost spondent
among them is the claim that Only the Ixamtner
Last week Congress did something
fiscally responsible. It's not very often
I can say that. Granted, it was small in
the grand scheme of things, but I was
glad to be an original cosponsor, along
with Congressman Harry Mitchell ot
Arizona, of a bill to block the automatic
pay raise that Congress otherwise
receives every year. Every member of
Congress gets this raise unless it is
, i expressly voted down.
For the second year in a
row Congress has
voted to freeze its own
pay, which, in a time of
skyrocketing deficits
and high unemploy-
ment. is the very least
Congress can do.
The country is in a
serious recession, bor-
-dcring on depression. Unemployment
is grossly underreported, and not likely
to get better anytime soon. American
citizens and businesses are overtaxed,
yet tax revenues still fall far short of our
government's voracious appetite for
spending. This is no time to raise taxes.
And since congressional salaries come
from tax revenue, allowing ourselves a
raise would fly in the lace of economic
reality.
Of course. Congress ignores econom-
ic reality all the time. But if Congress
can freeze salaries as a first step towards
fiscal sanity, it can freeze- if not drasti-
cally cut- a vast array of federal expen-
ditures.
At the very least. Congress could
freeze current spending levels, instead
of constantly increasing them. We
could stop increasing the debt ceiling
every few months, as has become our
habit. We could freeze regulations that
add to the burden on our struggling
small businesses. We could freeze
intrusive bailouts that upset the balance
of the market and cost us billions bil-
lions we could instead use to eliminate
the oppressive income tax! We could
freeze the money supply and stave oft
the tsunami of inflation the Fed has
been generating for years.
Furthermore, we could address the
mismanagement and waste in foreign
affairs which adds immensely to our
budget. Like entitlements, militarism is
ms
as a precursor to■ military action. ahd
embrace free trade as the most effective
method for spreading liberty. After all.
as the great economist Frederic Bastiat
said - when goods don’t cross borders,
armies will. It is time to bring our troops
home, instead of instigating expensive
new wars when we're already hopeless-
ly mired in several conflicts already.
We need to rethink the whole idea of
pre-emptive war- not only because it’s
wrong and counterproductive, but
because we literally cannot afford it!
We could do much to restore fiscal
sanity to this country simply by stop-
ping the madness and bringing our
troops home from Iraq. Afghanistan.
. Korea. Japan. Germany, and so many ( I
other places: This costly global empire
does not serve the interests of the I
American people and we should end it I
peacefully and voluntarily now. lest it I
end in chaos later.
Though it may be wishful thinking on
my part. I'm encouraged by the small
step taken by Congress last week.
Fiscal sanity can begin with a small I
step, and I want to encourage Congress
to move in this direction.
We know one thing for sure about
the fight over Arizona’s new immi-
gration law. There will be a torrent of
lawsuits as civil-rights groups try to
stop the law from taking effect as
scheduled this summer. What wc
don't know is how those proceedings
will be affected by the Obama Justice
Department, which is contemplating
the highly unusual step of filing its
own suit against the state of Arizona.
Also unknown is the influence of
President Obama himself, who has
gone out of his way to raise questions
about the law.
The drafters of the law knew the
lawsuit Was coming; a lawsuit is
always coming when a state tries to
enforce the nation's immigration
laws. What the drafters didn't expect
was Obama's aggressive and person-
al role in trying to undermine the new
measure.
“You can imagine; if you are a
P^ide"!,|S?id "ll.a.,f.iXp.ril VUm.' C^tomTEn'forcemcri".'' “As long as
“suddenly, if you don’t have your
papers and you took your kid out to
get ice cream, you're going to be
harassed." At about the same t:r."
Attorney General Eric Holder said he
is illegal is required to
'The practici
he founded casts a doubt on his support
tor school vouchers since he stands of
make a profit off of them.
And nowhere in his piece does Mr.
Ilentoff point out or admit that vouchers
are really TAX MONIES! Tax monies, not
paid by the state of Pennsylvania (or
Texas by the way) but by the local school
districts who actually lose money when
one of their students goes to a private
school.
For over two centuries the Supreme
Court and state courts have said that dol-
ing out tax monies for private or parochial
schools violates the Establishment Clause
in the First Amendment. Mr. Hentoft' too
easily tosses that aside to champion the
cause of school vouchers.
What happens when every family that
home schools their children demands a
voucher? What happens when polygamy federal district court and al the 9th
cults demand vouchers so they can have Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation's
v '.planning to challenge
k hntl
How Obama could lose
the immigration battle
federal government
can handle immigra-
tion matters, and thus
the Arizona measure
pre-empts federal law.
Lawmakers thought
of that ahead of time.
“This law was care-
fully drafted to avoid
any legal challenge on
pre-emption in two
ways." Kobach explains. “One. it
perfectly mirrors federal law. Courts
usually ask whether a state law is in
conflict with federal law, and this
law is in perfect harmony with feder-
al law.
“Two, the new law requires local
law-enforcement officers not to make
their own judgment about a person's
immigration status but to rely on the
federal government." Kobach contin-
ues. Any officer who reasonably sus-
... , peels a person is illegal is required to
Hispanic American in Arizona ... the eheck with federal Immigration and
president said in late April at a cam- Customs Enforcement. “As long as
pa.gn-style appearance m Iowa, the state or city is reiving on the fed-
' suddenly .1 you don t have your era, overnment t0 detcrmine immi-
papers and you took your kid out to j(Jn s,;ltus ,ha, w)|1 c(
get ice cream, you re going to be a„ains. „ . ■
harassed." At about the same time. ’’
» z-I 1 | Kobach says.
was considering a court challenge.
“The practice of the Justice
izvpai iiiiiiii in iiiv past wiin
involving immigration has been to let
tl'.» r'rtiirtt.' .'..IfI.. .»n:lmO <i,.»,,ik m
as a party." says Kris Kobach. the law
professor and former Bush Justice
Department official who helped draft
the Arizona I
intervene. Kobach and other experts status any time a state or local offi-
pre - cm pt i on c h a 11 e nge "
But what if the Obama administra-
tion argues that the law is a burden
■ ‘ ivernment? Or refus- expensive.• .We need to reject sanction
cs 10 assist ArizonaTn determinT™ a ^^^ursnr m milFtarv action an
intviviiiK, iiiim iui at ivii na.'i mwii iv iv» «
the courts settle it and not weigh in person s legality.’ The drafters
■- . ’. . . thought of that. too. There’s a federal
statute— X USC 1373. passed during
r the Clinton years — requiring the
law. Having Justice feds to verify a person's immigration
say. would he extraordinary.
The problem for Obama and Holder
is that the people behind the new law
have been through this before and itself,
won. Arizona is three-for-three in (
defending its immigration: measures, v
In 2008. the state successfully law. Their best hope is that a judge
which made it a state crime to know-
ingly employ an
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Halter, Janie. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 90, No. 89, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 5, 2010, newspaper, May 5, 2010; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1192779/m1/4/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.