Posted on 06/25/2006 5:08:25 AM PDT by Panerai
Outraged conservative groups opposed to giving illegal immigrants amnesty in the United States are calling for a nationwide tourism boycott of Massachusetts to protest Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s stance on the hot-button political issue.
“Massachusetts seems to have lost its way,” said Barry Weinstein, a writer for the influential right-wing Human Events magazine, in which Weinstein recently urged hundreds of thousands of like-minded activists to boycott the Bay State when going on vacations or short visits.
“It’s the only thing they understand - getting hit in the pocketbook,” said John Clark, congressional liaison for the American Immigration Control Foundation, which has about 230,000 members.
The various groups banding together are fuming over Kennedy’s co-authoring with Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain a Senate amendment that would allow many illegal immigrants to stay in the country if they agree to a number of strict stipulations.
Kennedy, a Democrat, and McCain, a Republican and a possible presidential candidate, would allow immigrants to stay in the country if they agree to pay back taxes and a $2,000 fine, as well as work six years on a special green card and then wait five years to gain the right to apply for citizenship.
Kennedy’s office defended the plan, arguing it does not amount to an amnesty - and noting that if illegal immigrants fail to abide by the rules, they would be forced to leave the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bostonherald.com ...
I have been boycotting the place for years. On a trip to Maine necessitating driving across the state, I filled the tank in Rhode Island, rolled up the windows, tuned in Rush and headed for New Hampshire with no intermediate stops.
For people like me, fewer tourist would be a blessing. They clog up the roads, cause lines in restaurants and drive up prices. Stay home. The marathon is over rated. Fenway Park is a dump. Fanueil Hall is a second rate flea market. The Cape and Islands are overpriced. They tore down the bridge at Chappaquick, the one in Concord (pronounced conquered) isn't the one Emerson wrote about. The Wayside Inn serves microwaved leftovers. Tanglewood is buggy, Stockbridge is hicksville, Salem is commercialized. You'll hate it.
STAY HOME!
Boycott is on.
No problem since I don't have any plans for going to either state anyway. I had been considering voteing for MCain for President in spite of some problems but not after his immigration stance. I don't think he understands it but he blew away any chance he had.
“Massachusetts seems to have lost its way,”
He just noticed??
It wont be hard for me to boycott the place, I wouldnt go there anyway.
When I see a tourist from massachusetts I just cant help telling how screwed up i think their state is. Funny Thing. Most agreee.
I was born in Mass and will never go back.
As long as those "Conneticut" Yankees flock like the chickens they emulate, to the East coast of Florida, I don't care either.
Uh.... the 'good senator' can't even make his own kid (Patches) abide by the rules. Yet he expects 28 million criminals, who commit approximately FIVE Federal Felonies per day, to have an epiphany and say, "Alright, no more law breaking for me". [Or (roughly) ... "bien, no más de ley que se rompe para mí".]
I'm another emigrant from Mass and only go back for weddings or funerals, even though I still have loved ones there. And politics was one of several reason's I left the state. You just hear all the cliches and lies repeated back and forth with no one ever doing a reality check. It truly shows the influence of the Harvard led higher education system in the area. All the great universities there are strong factors in the wasting of the minds.
McCain not only blew it on illegal immigration, he's blown it on Global Warming. Rather than stick with important issues he has cozied up with the Al Gore nuts for votes and shown little wisdom in his relationships with Kennedy and Fiengold _ in fact McCain shows little wisdom about a lot of things
Bilhosty: Boycott is on.
Bilhosty: No problem since I don't have any plans for going to either state anyway.
sgtbono2002: It won't be hard for me to boycott the place, I wouldn't go there anyway.
Me: so all the people who would never dream of going to Massachusetts, are not going to Massachusetts. Hoo-wee, this is gonna be a hell of a boycott!
sgtbono2002: When I see a tourist from massachusetts I just cant help telling how screwed up i think their state is. Funny Thing. Most agreee.
Me: And yet the people one meets from Massachusetts are by and large sensible.
i left 2 years ago and didn't even look back.
...allow many illegal immigrants to stay in the country if they agree to a number of strict stipulation.
...and noting that if illegal immigrants fail to abide by the rules, they would be forced to leave the country.
They didn't "abide by the rules" to get here. What makes you think they will agree to "strict stipulations" to stay here when you won't deport them now.
Money above substance = amoral people.
Unfortunately it is not only Massachusetts that has lost it's way.
We should throw in Vermont for good measure.
What military record? He crashed two jets and spent the rest of the time at the Hanoi Hilton - some war record.
EXCERPT: Some Immigrants Are Offering Social Security Numbers for Rent
NY Times | 6/7/2005 | EDUARDO PORTER
Gerardo Luviano is looking for somebody to rent his Social Security number. Mr. Luviano, 39, obtained legal residence in the United States almost 20 years ago. But these days, back in Mexico....he is looking for an illegal immigrant in the United States to use it for him - providing a little cash along the way. "My brother in California has a friend who has crops and has people that need one."
Mr. Luviano's pending transaction is merely a blip in a shadowy yet vibrant underground market....undetected by American authorities, operating below the radar in immigrant communities from coast to coast, a secondary trade in identities has emerged straddling both sides of the Mexico-United States border.
Illegal immigrant workers usually earn so little they are owed an income tax refund...........The illegal immigrant "working the number" will usually pay the real owner by sharing the tax refund. Since legal American residents can lose their green cards if they stay outside the country too long, it is useful to have somebody working under their identity north of the border.
"Sometimes the one who is working doesn't mind giving all the refund, he just wants to work," said Fernando Rosales, who runs a shop preparing income taxes in the immigrant-rich enclave of Huntington Park, Calif.
The income tax "refund" is almost certainly generated by Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) fraud, which as a "legal resident" the number renter would qualify to receive, especially if they have have or claim children. The EITC is a "refundable tax credit, which means the IRS will pay it out even if no taxes have been withheld or paid in. So the IRS gives filers who claim the EITC "refunds," even if they have had no taxes withheld.
These number renters can claim up to $4,400 for the 2005 tax year in EITC "refunds," most of the number renters probably claim this maximum refund. The Additional Child Tax Credit is another "refundable" credit which is no doubt routinely claimed by these renters.
For 2005, if the number renter claimed $14,400 in wage income, and three children, between the EITC and the Additional Child Tax Credit the renter would, without having any taxes withheld from wages, receive a tax "refund" of $4,898, plus have $892 credited to Social Security; in addition to the potential of thousands of dollars in California unemployment compensation.
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