Pro-life legislation gets nod from Gov. Brewer

The daily glumly calls them “restrictions on abortion rights.” 

We cheer HB2564, the Abortion Consent Act, signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, which implements a variety of changes to statutes related to abortion – including modifying the existing parental notification and judicial bypass requirements that apply when a minor is seeking an abortion.

The law sets new requirements that physicians must follow when obtaining written informed consent of patients seeking abortions. It also allows certain health professionals to abstain from having to facilitate or participate in an abortion or provide abortion medication.

Former Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat and abortion advocate, had vetoed all pro-life bills sent to her.

Resuscitating “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” to the detriment of American workers

Illegal immigration is once again front and center in today’s Arizona Republic‘s editorial. Nothing surprising there.

But before getting to the meat of this unpalatably re-heated meal, readers are served the appetizer litany of deaths of “migrants” succumbing to desert heat, kidnappings and drop-houses along with the gnawable bone for the ecology minded: “devastation to the borderland ecosystem.”  These are today’s initial reasons put forth as key to the pressing need for ‘immigration reform.”

The real story in Linda Valdez’s editorial titled Arizonans Can Help Obama, is the role of  the hometown crowd.

The editorial enthuses that Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl will join forces with Democrats Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano turned Homeland Security Chief, to “lead a bipartisan group assigned to advance reform.” 

According to Valdez, McCain’s immigration credentials are “beyond reproach, since he recognizes that reform is necessary to facilitate an orderly future flow of migrant labor that is adequate to meet the need.”

Valdez’s assertion stands in direct contradiction to an above-the-fold, front page article in same issue of the newspaper detailing the growing number of churches and synagogues across the Valley forming support groups to assist with networking, career coaching and attempts to restore hope to desperate unemployed citizens. How does importing foreign competition, willing to work for lower wages, aid frantic American citizens who are jobless and losing their homes to foreclosure at record rates?

FOX News reports that liberal Democrat Chuck Schumer, steering an immigration overhaul through the Senate expects to have a bill ready by Labor Day. This time Arizona Republicans Kyl and McCain are deviously letting the Democrat take the flak for a bill on which they have previously been the architects and leading cheerleaders — along with their now ailing liberal cohort, Ted Kennedy. They are keenly aware their own Republican party has had its fill of their duplicity on this crucial issue.

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, Arizona’s unemployment rate has risen from 6.6 percent in December to 8.2 percent in May. And home foreclosures  in Arizona rose to 16,865 properties with foreclosure filings in May, a 4 percent increase from the previous month and 31 percent ahead of May 2008.

And we need to import workers, Linda?

BHO lectures Russians: “States must have the right to borders that are secure”

The UK’s Telegraph reports on President Barack Obama’s speech to students at the New Economic School in Russia. Oddly, he lays out for them what he and his Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, refuse to institute for the United States of America — the right to sovereign, enforceable, national borders.

“State sovereignty must be a cornerstone of international order,” said Obama. “Just as all states should have the right to choose their leaders, states must have the right to borders that are secure, and to their own foreign policies.”

Then came his obligatory apology for America and the requisite ethnic references.

“By no means is America perfect,” Obama informed the Russian students. “Independent media have exposed corruption at all levels of business and government. Competitive elections allow us to change course. If our democracy did not advance those rights, I as a person of African ancestry wouldn’t be able to address you as an American citizen, much less a president.”

Obamenforcement: Putting the onus on the employer rather than the illegal worker

The Obama administration has begun launching investigations of hundreds of businesses around the U.S. as part of its strategy to focus immigration enforcement on the employers who hire illegal workers — rather than the illegal aliens themselves.

Thirty-two Arizona companies are among the 652 nationwide being “audited.” According to a report in the daily, the audits are not random. The businesses were identified based on “leads and information obtained through other investigative means.” ICE would not release the names or locations of the businesses that are being audited citing ongoing investigations.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun notifying businesses of plans to audit their I-9 forms — employment eligibility documents that employers fill out for every worker.

The unreliable Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said investigations will focus on businesses that knowingly hire immigrants who cannot legally work in the U.S.

Read the FOX News report here.

Arizona swine flu fatalities now at nine with death of teenager

A teenage boy from Coconino County is the latest fatality in Arizona attributed to the swine flu — bringing the death toll statewide to nine.

There have been a total of 10 confirmed cases of the virulent influenza in Coconino County and 729 throughout Arizona. The Coconino Department of Health Services reports a total of 9 deaths associated with this illness — now being referred to as H1N1. The flu originated in Mexico and was originally known by that designation.  However even a pandemic was not enough to compel Homeland INsecurity Secretary Janet Napolitano to close the border.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 27,717 probable and confirmed cases of swine flu reported in the U.S., with at least 127 deaths. The CDC has indicated that this case count is an underestimate of the actual number of cases and estimates that there have been at least 1 million cases of pandemic swine flu in the United States.

The CDC, which acknowledges the pandemic status of the disease, updates its weekly influenza surveillance report each Friday, showing a state-by-state report of confirmed and possible cases as well as deaths.  Check it out here.

NAZ Today provides more details on the Coconino County case.

Napolitano plays politics with national security

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to demolish a program begun by the Bush administration that uses U.S. spy satellites for domestic security and law enforcement.

The program was announced in 2007 and authorized the department of Homeland Security to use overhead and mapping imagery from existing satellites for national security and law enforcement purposes.

Rep. Peter King, (R-NY) said he hoped the department wasn’t canceling the program. “If it is true, it’s a very big mistake,” said King, who is the leading Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee. “This is definitely a step back in the war on terror.”

For years, domestic agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Interior Department have had access to this satellite imagery for scientific research, to assist in response to natural disasters like hurricanes and fires, and to map out vulnerabilities during a major public event like the Super Bowl.

The program was included in the Obama administration’s 2010 budget request, according to Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat and House homeland security committee member. Harman has been outspoken about her concerns that the program is unnecessary, far reaching and open-ended.

“I thought this was just an invitation to huge mischief,” Harman said. Of killing the program, she said, “It shows real leadership on the part of Janet Napolitano.”

In a post 9/11 world, with North Korea in a threatening stance and Iran erupting, Jane and Janet are showing neither has a concept of “real leadership.”

Read the AP account here.

We must be clairvoyant

In an exposé on the excesses and duplicity of Mayor Phil Gordon in awarding lucrative city contracts to his own family members, posted on this site on Monday, we included a separate item about District 3 City Councilwoman Maria Baier.

Little did we know that on Tuesday Governor Jan Brewer would be selecting the first term councilwoman to serve as the Arizona State Land Commissioner.  This appointment is especially notable in view of the fact that the registered Republican Baier blatantly courted Democrats in her campaign with targeted mailers like this one.

In fact, Baier, 48, is so enamored with Napolitano that she willingly agreed to have her name appear on the Republicans for Janet website. It would seem Gov. Brewer might be able to find a more suitable Republican for the cushy job of overseeing the sale of state trust land — the proceeds of which pay for school construction.

Baier will officially resign her elected post today, further encumbering the cash-strapped city with the costs of scheduling a special election this fall to fill the vacancy created by her move.

Baier’s replacement will initially be appointed by the council and mayor and then will conveniently run as an incumbent in the special election. Since the council and mayor run as “non-partisans” there is no requirement that the nominal Republican Baier be replaced with even another nominal Republican.

Napolitano crony likely Obama pick for U.S. Attorney

In a clear example of political payback, Phoenix lawyer Dennis Burke, 46,  is said to have the inside track for the coveted position of U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.

Burke has been at Janet Napolitano’s side for years, serving as her Chief-of-Staff when she was Governor and as Chief Assistant Attorney General during her term as Attorney General. When Napolitano was United States Attorney, it was Burke who was at her right hand.

He also joined Napolitano in positioning himself on the Obama team.  When he stepped down from his post in the Governor’s office last year amid speculation he might run for AG,  he said he was leaving to ramp up his involvement in “political campaigns” Turns out the gig was a singular campaign — that of Barack Obama.

Following Napolitano appears to have paid off for perennial second banana Burke.

The daily reports on what appears to be the imminent appointment here.

Obama ready to announce surrender to illegal labor profiteers by gutting E-Verify

The news out of Congress today is that the Obama administration intends to scrap the 2008 executive order making the reliable E-Verify mandatory for government contractors and subcontractors, replacing it with a weaker version.

NumbersUSA reports that under the new executive order, government contractors and subcontractors will no longer be obliged to verify all employees working on the government contract. Instead, they will only have to verify those employees who are hired specifically for the contract and are hired after the company receives the government contract. This change will allow illegal aliens to easily acquire government-funded jobs

This is especially important to Arizona due to the high percentage of illegal laborers, and soaring unemployment numbers. Allowing illegals to remain and be employed in deference to big business negatively impacts American citizens, many of whom are suffering the loss of their jobs and homes.

Department of Homeland INsecurity Secretary Janet Napolitano needs to hear from you regarding this utter disregard for unemployed Americans. She cut her teeth on this type of deception here in Arizona and is making it an art form in Washington.

Please read Roy Beck’s excellent column regarding this governmental disaster. He writes:  Under an Executive Order issued by Pres. Bush last year, all federal contractors would have to verify their workforce through E-Verify.  Janet Napolitano has delayed the execution of that order several times, claiming she was still studying it. Now, it appears she was studying how to amputate it.

One big result of the new executive order will be to ensure that taxpayer-funded jobs under the Economic Stimulus Act can continue to go to illegal foreign workers.

Terrorism: Biological threats make stringent border security a top priority

U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border, the latest sign of the terrorist group’s determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the U.S. homeland.

The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in U.S. border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to a Washington Times report.

From the recruitment video: “Four pounds of anthrax — in a suitcase this big — carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there,” the recruiter said. “What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then we’ll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration.”

A spokesperson for Homeland Security Chief, Janet Napolitano, says these threats are taken seriously.

That’s good news coming from the former Arizona Governor who did nothing to secure our southern border. Napolitano is renowned for her comment illustrating her lack of commitment to constructing a security fence along our southern border: “Show me a 50-foot fence, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder,” was her blasé retort when questioned about the lack of progress being made.

In these perilous times, when biological threats are boldly made, Americans can hope Janet Napolitano has a stronger dedication to implementing actual security for the nation than she did for the state of Arizona. It is imperative