Posted on 05/28/2002 8:09:33 AM PDT by Jethro Tull
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published Friday,
Hundreds of felons cast votes illegallyBY DAVID KIDWELL, PHIL LONG AND GEOFF DOUGHERTYdkidwell@herald.com
At least 445 Florida felons voted illegally on Nov. 7, casting another cloud over a disputed presidential election already mired in legal challenges, a Herald investigation has found. The tainted votes -- found in a review of nearly half a million votes cast in 12 Florida counties -- provide evidence that the presidential race was influenced by thousands of ineligible voters. Nearly six million voters in Florida's 67 counties cast ballots. They also point out the failure of Florida's multimillion-dollar effort to prevent election fraud by eliminating dead and illegal voters from the registration rolls. ``This just goes to show that the most expensive voting equipment in the world is worthless when the voting rolls are that filthy,'' said Deborah Phillips, president of the nonprofit Voting Integrity Project in Arlington, Va. ``It's just an invitation to lower the integrity of the election.'' The majority of the illegal votes -- 330 -- were cast in Palm Beach and Duval counties, which decided not to participate in the statewide effort this year to purge felons, dead people and double registrants from the rolls. Elections supervisors in those counties argue the state database compiled by the Florida Division of Elections, at a price of $4 million, was peppered with errors and mismatches. Even so, most other counties -- including Miami-Dade and Broward -- used it to scrub thousands of ineligible voters from the rolls, as required by state law. The votes could be seized upon by the Bush campaign to argue that a large number of illegal votes were probably cast for his opponent, outweighing the effect of any recount. ``It's a very powerful argument,'' said Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University. Since 1868, it has been illegal for felons to cast ballots in Florida, one of 14 states with an arduous paperwork process for felons to have their rights restored. The provision has prompted a federal lawsuit by civil rights groups who allege it is discriminatory against blacks. The Herald found 62 robbers, 56 drug dealers, 45 killers, 16 rapists and seven kidnappers who cast ballots. At least two who voted are pictured on the state's online registry of sexual offenders. ``There are a ton of us out there,'' said William Herman, 37, of Lake Worth, sentenced to five years in prison in 1989 for negligent homicide with a motor vehicle. ``It shouldn't be that way, but when they give you a voter registration card, hey, what are you supposed to do? Clarence Eden Williams, 77, of Pahokee, also voted. His picture is posted on the state registry of sexual offenders for his crimes against children. His son was surprised his father cast a ballot. ``He's got Alzheimer's, and he can't even carry on a conversation anymore,'' said Clarence Williams III. The Herald review included counties where voter lists could be obtained -- about 8 percent of the 5.9 million votes cast on Nov. 7. It encompassed all votes cast in Palm Beach and Pasco counties, most votes cast in Duval County, and only absentee votes in Miami-Dade, Broward, Lee, Leon, Hillsborough, Clay and the Panhandle counties of Escambia, Okaloosa and Bay. To find felony voters, The Herald compared a list of voters in those counties with a Department of Corrections database listing felons who had served at least a year in prison. If the pattern found in the study is the same statewide, more than 5,000 felons likely cast illegal ballots. Duval County had the highest turnout among convicted felons with at least 235 voting illegally. Elections Supervisor John Stafford, like several other elections officials, said he didn't trust a purge list provided by the state Elections Division in Tallahasse. ``We weren't going to take that chance and delete everybody,'' said John Stafford, Duval's election supervisor. ``We'd have been in a world of trouble. It is almost a joke because there are so many errors in it.'' In fact, one of Stafford's employees found her husband's name on the list of felons by mistake, she said. Stafford said his office sent out a letter to felons identified on the state database, and were inundated by telephone calls from irate residents -- some who said they had been misidentified as felons and others angry they'd been disenfranchised over decades-old crimes. ``As a matter of fact I'm a deacon in my church,'' he said. ``I don't know anybody who's perfect in this life.'' Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore ignored the state purge list after a well-publicized error that mistakenly identified thousands of Floridians guilty of misdemeanors as having felony convictions. She declined comment for this article. Herald staff writers William Yardley, Sara Olkon, Jason Grotto and Tina Cummings contributed to this report. |
Associated Press
Nov. 21, 2000
TUCSON - Taxpayers in Arizona's four border counties paid nearly $18 million last fiscal year in law enforcement and court costs directly tied to illegal immigration.
Residents in Pima County paid the most, more than $7 million, according to a study conducted by the University of Arizona and funded by the U.S. Justice Department.
"Our county taxpayers are bearing the burden of the cost of illegal immigration," said Sharon Bronson, a Pima County supervisor who serves as co-chairwoman of the U.S./Mexico Border Counties Coalition. "This really should be borne by the nation at large. It's a federal policy that causes these additional costs."
Bronson's argument paralleled a long-standing complaint by officials in U.S. counties all along the 2,000-mile Mexican border. Officials say they bear a disproportionate share of the costs of illegal immigration in their states because their jails, courts and hospitals are often inundated by illegal immigrants while other areas never feel the impact.
The consensus among county officials is that the federal government should foot the bill. It's a particular concern in Arizona, which according to the study tallied 39 percent of all Border Patrol apprehensions in the four border states. The other states are Texas, California and New Mexico.
"Arizona is clearly the state of choice for entering into the United States from Mexico without documentation," the study said.
The study also showed that the effect of illegal immigrants on the law enforcement and judicial systems can be crippling in Arizona's smaller counties.
In Santa Cruz County, it eats up about 30 percent of the annual budget.
"These are very small, tax-based counties. When you put this kind of expense on them, it's overwhelming," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who shepherded a $3 million emergency aid package through the U.S. Senate last session to help the border counties.
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
We're in synch on Step #1, though I'd hold off on Step #2 until we see how things play out.
I think getting rid of Illegals would rapidly facilitate assimilation of the incoming legal immigrants.
OTH, I may be wrong, and a moratorium might prove to be desirable down the road.
What concerns me is the false "anti-Illegal = anti-immigrant = racist" equation we get smeared with. Harder to fight if we're going for deportation and moratorium in one swoop, and the Illegals are job #1, as far as I'm concerned.
***
**************
Interview With Pat Buchanan
Date: 11-12-2001; Publication: Hannity & Colmes (Fox News Network); Author: Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes 
 |
.gif) THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. I'm Sean Hannity. America's war against terrorism means new policies will be explored, and that means some difficult decisions must be made. One important issue facing us as a nation is keeping our borders safe. Former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan proposes closing our borders with a two-year ban on immigration and says that immigrants without valid visas should be deported. He joins us tonight from Washington. Pat, good to see you. I don't think we're going to disagree like the last time, Pat. I think this may be a necessary idea until we can secure the borders in this country. PAT BUCHANAN, THE AMERICAN CAUSE: Look, we've got between eight- million and 11-million illegal aliens wandering around the United States, Sean. That is suicidal. It is suicidal to have a policy of open borders and mass immigration when we claim to be fighting a war on terrorism against a network that operates in 60 nations. So I think Tom Ridge has got a very tough job because the enemy is inside the gates. HANNITY: Are you saying specifically, Pat, just illegal immigrants or... BUCHANAN: No, what I would do -- we've got 30-million foreign born. We need time to assimilate and Americanize them. I would halt immigration, a moratorium, for two years. That doesn't mean zero. Maybe 250, 000 instead of a million. But I would start moving all the illegal immigrants out of the United States -- excuse me -- starting with those who come from countries that harbor terrorists. HANNITY: Fr -- well, you'd start there, but I was going to ask -- from every country? Or specifically look at those countries that have harbored terrorists? I mean, how far do you go with that, Pat? Do you say, "No Saudi"... BUCHANAN: You say -- say, "Look"... HANNITY: ... "Arabian"... BUCHANAN: "Look, if you broke in line and broke the law and broke into our country, you don't belong here. Now you've got 48 hours or a week to leave the United States of America." Sean, you talk on radio about this being a war of civilizations. Our civilization is at risk. But as soon as someone brings up issues like immigration, a lot of folks say, "Well," you know, "we've got to be progressive here." Now are we serious that it's a war or are we not? COLMES: Pat, as much as I agreed you last time you came on the show and argued with Sean -- now that was music to my ears -- we have a little disagreement here. Aren't you using the events of September 11 as cover for a policy you would like to have seen in effect any way? BUCHANAN: Well, I do believe that illegal immigration has been disastrous for this country. I think there are huge enclaves of people who really came here simply for jobs who have no loyalty to... COLMES: But you're using September 11 as an excuse now for something you'd be saying anyway and... BUCHANAN: It's not an excuse. COLMES: ... using the terrorist attack... BUCHANAN: No, no. I think it proves I was right, I believe. But let me say this. How do you look at our country? I look at America as our home. This is our national home. It's not a flop house. It's not some welfare office. It's not a job fair for trans-national corporations so they can hire the cheapest labor. It is our home. We invite guests here. We invite in folks to be members of our family. COLMES: Right, but you want to stop that. BUCHANAN: If you don't look at our country that way, if you just say, "Look, we need about 10 -- a million new workers. Let's open our borders," as... COLMES: Pat... BUCHANAN: As Ronald Reagan said -- and you just were quoting him -- "A country that doesn't control its borders isn't a country anymore." COLMES: Pat, we're talking about two different things. Isn't border control different than immigration? Immigrants come here to settle permanently. Border patrol is a separate issue. BUCHANAN: Right. You've got a very good point. COLMES: Those who come here permanently -- the terrorists are not the people who immigrate to live here permanently, right? BUCHANAN: You -- very good point. The immigrants I would bring in are those who have waited in line for years, desperate to become Americans, who want to become part of the American family, not people who happen -- as Vicente Fox in Mexico says, "Well, they're going there to get the jobs other people won't take." That's -- he can't decide what our policy is. We decide. We want folks, Alan, who want to be Americans like you and me and love this country and learn its history... COLMES: And you want to close them all down. OK. We'll talk about it when we come back. BUCHANAN: No. And learn its history and its heroes and everything. HANNITY: All right. Should we have this moratorium on immigration? We'll continue on the other side of the break. Patrick J. Buchanan. Remember, by the way, log on to foxnews.com, and you, too, can become a Fox fan. More straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLMES: Welcome back to HANNITY & COLMES. We now continue with Pat Buchanan. Pat Buchanan, you know, the Statue of Liberty stands, torch held high, in New York Harbor. You want to dismantle it and sell it for parts or send it back to France. I mean, you know... BUCHANAN: Oh, OK. Look... COLMES: ... this is... BUCHANAN: Alan... COLMES: Go ahead. BUCHANAN: Alan, from Cal Coolidge to John F. Kennedy, we had a moratorium on immigration. During that time, we had World War II, not a single act of sabotage or terrorism or assassination by foreign nationals against American citizens. There's an idea of security that goes along with freedom. We were not an unfree country from Coolidge and FDR and Eisenhower and Kennedy. We simply had a moratorium. Then we had a time of open immigration. Now we need a moratorium. COLMES: But, you know, there are other ways to go about this, and you, as I suggested, I think, are doing this using September 11th as cover. In New York City, for example, Mayor Giuliani, the outgoing mayor, has talked about acting on bench warrants. You might be able to find people who are here who have violations, which has not been done nationwide. Enforcing the laws we have might accomplish what we need to accomplish without an overreaction, shutting down the borders, which could hurt business, hurt NAFTA, hurt free trade, stop the inflow -- influx and out flux of people who have legitimate reasons to come here. BUCHANAN: Alan, you cannot fight a world war an terror and have open borders, mass immigration, or free trade. We heard the Taliban -- we heard it said they were going to poison those food packages we dropped. We import now one-third of the fruits and vegetables we eat. The United States -- either we're in a war on terror and it's serious or you just keep what's going on. There are already 11-million illegals in the United States, Alan. How many more do you need? COLMES: What you're talking about would raise shipping and transportation costs, undo many of the benefits we've gained from NAFTA. It would cost the nation money, and it would be very unAmerican -- it would be everything against what the Statue of Liberty stands for with the torch held high in New York Harbor. That's not what we're about in this country. BUCHANAN: You know, I -- I believe in preserving the security and freedom of the American people, and I put that ahead of corporate profits from NAFTA. COLMES: But I'm asking you and I'm suggesting to you that by enforcing the laws that we have, we can accomplish the same goal without compromising what we are. BUCHANAN: All right. Explain to me then why your president did not accomplish those goals and half a million illegal aliens walked into the United States across our borders every single year of the 1990s. HANNITY: Hey, Pat... BUCHANAN: We're not doing it, Alan. HANNITY: Hey, Pat -- Pat... BUCHANAN: Yes. HANNITY: I really believe today the way the system is designed and our borders are wide open, Usama bin Laden's best friend today could get into this country fairly easily. BUCHANAN: Not only -- let me tell you, Sean. Any intelligence service, Chinese, any hostile country that doesn't have hundreds of agents, spies, and saboteurs in the United States given our open borders isn't doing its job. If we go to war against terrorist regimes all over the Middle East, as some folks suggest, this country's going to blow up with action. HANNITY: All right. So Pat Buchanan's proposal -- two-year -- two- and-a-half-year moratorium. BUCHANAN: Right. On legal immigration. HANNITY: Legal immigration. BUCHANAN: That doesn't mean zero. That doesn't mean zero. There are some obviously who can come in. Just cut it back to 250,000 and get to work expelling people that don't belong here. HANNITY: I agree, but you heard... BUCHANAN: Begin with people who commit crimes, come from terrorist countries, overstay their visas. HANNITY: Eight-million people. They told us last week they can't do it. They don't have the ability. And then they want to federalize these - - these guards, which is somewhat... BUCHANAN: Then what sense does it make to run around bombing Afghan kids that never did anything to us when the enemy is inside our gates? They killed them up at the Trade Center. They killed them down here at the Pentagon. You know, they didn't kill them in Afghanistan. We had to go over there to get the -- cut off the head, but the tentacles are in our country, Sean. HANNITY: We have -- the Northern Alliance, as Fox News has been reporting in our alert, down there has entered Kabul, and the Taliban forces are now leaving it. It appears this military effort's more successful by the hour, Pat. BUCHANAN: Well, it's a tremendous job by the American Air Force, if that was done. I would think -- I would be a little skeptical -- I cannot believe the Taliban would just abandon Kabul and retreat. That's astonishing. HANNITY: Well, that's -- we're -- Fox News is reporting Northern Alliance soldiers are now in the capital of Kabul and that -- the Taliban forces are moving out. COLMES: And Fox News will keep you posted. Pat, thank you very much. BUCHANAN: OK. COLMES: Nice to argue with you for a change. You agreed too much last time. BUCHANAN: Take it easy, Alan. COLMES: That's all the time we have left for tonight. Remember, for all news all day, watch the Fox News Channel. This is the network America trusts for fair and balanced news. Join us tomorrow night. More HANNITY & COLMES, 9:00 Eastern. And thank you for watching Fox News. END Content and programming Copyright 2001 Fox News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2001 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc., which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, Inc.'s and Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.
Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Interview With Pat Buchanan. , Hannity & Colmes (Fox News Network), 11-12-2001. |
Can't wait to hear your voice :o)
I'll be listening.
I hope you can understand Brooklynese....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
