SAVE us from the Legislative Process, Act Like Reading the Bills Matters!
by patriotwatchdog 7/24/2009 The legislative process is all messed up. Some of the same people who criticize Members of Congress for voting for the Stimulus Bill without reading it first are promoting the latest verstion of the SAVE Act by encouraging citizens to call, fax, write, and sign petititons to their Representatives and Senators in Congress to support the SAVE Act before the text of the bill is even available to be read.
Regretabbly, over 100,000 koolaid drinkers have already fallen for this "Greatest Show on Earth" and signed petitions delivered to Members of Congress before the bill is even available to be read.
How can we expect Congress to behave better when we ourselves promote legislation we haven't read?
The 2007 version of the SAVE Act contained changes to Title 8 that not only gave religious organizations immunity from prosecution for commiting the felony act of aiding and abetting illegal aliens, but that was fundamentally un-Constititutional.
Many Members of Congress and the public who take the word of others about legislation, oftentimes "sight unseen" jumped on the bandwagon of support for the SAVE Act without ever having read it.
The FIRE Coalition tried diligently to get the sponsors of the bill to remove the un-Constitutional parts of the SAVE Act, and to get pundits inside and outside the Beltway to give due diligence to vetting this bill thoroughly before promoting it.
FIRE Coalition researchers spent over 300 hours digging through the 109th Congress version of the SAVE Act, H.R. 4088, and the existing statutes it would modify before reaching the conclusion that it was very flawed, and worst of all un-Constitutional. Many of those who had jumped on the bandwagon of support for this bill refused to even consider they had been duped yet again by the legislative process and Washington insiders.
I was personally patronized, ostricized, and threatened if I did not "get with the program" and support the SAVE Act. I was told I didn't understand "the legislative process." What I understood then, and now, is that we shouldn't be supporting or endorsing un-Constitutional legislation no matter what justification is given, or what promises are made to correct it later, which by the way, never materialized.
I don't have an opinion yet on this year's version of the SAVE Act, but I am deeply concerned that the same dog-and-pony show is afoot. I would encourage everyone to withold their support for the SAVE Act and ANY legislation until they have the opportunity to read it themselves.
Former 1st Lady Nancy Reagan had some great advice for us all: "READING IS FUNDAMENTAL."
When the actual text of the SAVE Act is available, the FIRE Coalition will analyze it and formulate an INFORMED opinion, koolaid-free. We suggest you do the same.
If Shuler's H.R. 3308 and Pryor's S. 1505 versions of the SAVE Act mirror the 2007 version, then you can find the bulk of our concerns in the FIRE Coalition analysis of the 2007 SAVE Act at
http://operationbodycount.com/SAVEACT2.pdf.Don't be one of the suckers born every minute slurping the koolaid at the "greatest show on Earth." Call, fax, write, and visit your Congressman and Senator, and tell them to start reading the bills before they vote on them, and tell the pundits promoting legislation to have open, honest dialogs with the American people about what is in legislation, and to stop promoting bills we can't even read ourselves.
In 1986, the SAVE Program was passed to remove incentives that draw illegals, to crack down on employers who hire them, and prevent tax-payer funded programs from benefiting illegal aliens. This compromise was used by illegal alien sympathizers to get bipartisan support for amnesty.
The SAVE Program was never funded, promoted, or enforced, and the flood of illegal aliens increased.
In 1996, 287(g), the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Delegation of Immigration Authority Program was created as part of a bipartisan effort to crack down on illegal aliens to garner bipartisan support for another amnesty.
287(g) was not funded adequately, nor promoted nor enforced at all for ten years until the illegal alien sympathizer groups started gearing up for another amnesty. Even then, at the current rate, it would take 600 years for all 3085 sheriff offices in the country to participate. The flood of illegal aliens increases each time there is an amnesty in the hopes of getting in the country before the next amnesty.
In 2006, the Secure Fence Act was passed, under the guise of securing our southern border, and getting tough on illegal alien invaders to garner support for yet another amnesty. The American people saw through that ruse and successfully killed the two amnesty bills put forth in 2007.
In 2008, a bi-partisan bill was put forth, the SAVE Act, in the opinion of many to remove the illegal alien invasion from the 3rd rail of politics leading into the 2008 elections. Despite the fact that this bill contained un-Constitutional changes to existing statutes, Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle supported it, some without every realizing what was in it. The people behind the scenes writing legislation intentionally craft convoluted bills thick as phone books so that even a conscienious Member of Congress doesn't have time to find the devil in the details, and has to rely on overworked staffers and special interest-funded think tanks to advise them on the merits of legislation.
Even Secure Fence Act author, NY Congressman Peter King voted for the 2007 Omnibus Appropriations bill that stripped funding from the Fence Act.
Considering that we are indeed in the worst economy since the Great Depression, with millions of American businesses suffering, we really need to rethink how legislation is authored, promoted, and passed.
Say no to yet another amnesty! We do not need the flood of illegals to increase yet again if sterile-enforcement legislation is passed but never enforced.
We need a President and Members of Congress with backbones, not forked tongues. We need to secure the borders, enforce our immigration laws, and to uphold the Constitutionally-guaranteed protection against invasion that Article IV, Section 4 provides.
Tell your elected officials to start honoring their "employee handbook," the Constitution, or start looking for another job. Ask individuals and organizations promoting bills you can't read yet why you should sign a petition, fax, or call.
Think people. Stop drinking the koolaid when you don't know what's in it. Would you sign a contract to buy a house or car without reading it? Use some common sense please. Your children and grandchildren deserve better than this. Don't be the "sucker born every minute."
