Thomas Paine

Back from the dead with a message for us today.

Thomas Paine wrote the popular American Revolution pamphlet Common Sense.
He also was the first to suggest that our nation be called “The United States of America.”

In the dark days of the revolution he wrote:
“These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country…What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”
—Published December 23, 1776

Here’s a You Tube of Paine on our current state of affairs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKFKGrmsBDk

We hope you enjoy it.

Have you sent us your RSVP for the meeting on Tuesday, the 26th?

Government Insanity

Why are we paying to help a group teach illegal aliens how to beat the rap at an immigration raid?

That's right! Monday night (August 18th) at the Jubilee Church at 677 Luda Street (Elgin's east side) at 5:30 pm Centro de Informacion is holding a special class for illegal aliens. The title:

"Immigration raids.

Know your rights and be prepared!"

OK, Heaton, so how is it you figure the taxpayers are funding this? Look in your mailbox. Ruth Munson just mailed out her Capitol Update - Summer 2008. One of her "accomplishments" is on page 4 where she explains that she got $40,000 for Centro de Informacion.

She's not alone. Elgin Township gives them our money as well. And the City of Elgin, through their grant to United Way, does the same thing.

It's nice to know that government is so flush with cash that they can spend our tax money to coach illegal aliens on the finer points of immigration law so they can make it more difficult for Immigration to do their job.

The Silent Majority

The Silent Majority consists of those Americans who generally don't say much about the direction our country is headed.

As a result, the media coverage and the political strategies are all formed around the noise rather than the voice of the people.

Here's your chance to stand up and be counted.

We are holding a general meeting of those who support the position of The Association for Legal Americans.

By attending you can stand with us and show the politicians that the illegal alien crisis is not over, that the citizens of Elgin care about this issue and want something done.

The date is Tuesday, August 26th at 7:00 pm here in Elgin.

Please send me an email to save a seat and get more details about the meeting.
afla.heaton@sbcglobal.net

Act NOW!

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn was in the news today asking citizens to ring in on pay raises for our state senators and reps.

This is a smelly deal. First, a commission recommended 12% pay hikes for elected officials. And all they have to do is let it happen. They don't even need to bring it to a vote to get the raise.

The State House has voted against it.

If the State Senate does nothing by Wednesday, they automatically get the raise.

So, go on the website below and tell them how you feel. They're always talking about how we are their customers.

http://www.nopayraise.org/

p.s. - Quinn told WGN that he hasn't even spoken to Blago since April (baseball opening day). What a dysfunctional mess we've got in Springfield.

UPDATE: It worked! The State Senate voted NOT to allow the raises.

Emil Jones was on the radio complaining about Quinn's political "trick" that forced them into a corner, but I understand they ALL voted it down except three Chicago Democrats—Jones and Sens. Kwame Raoul and Donne Trotter—voted "present,"

Don't send them any sympathy cards, though. They still get a 3.8% raise for cost of living. And they also get a pension and health insurance FOR LIFE. How many of us can claim such a sweet set-up?

SAVE THE DATE

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend a meeting of the Association for Legal Americans (AFLA).

Date: August 26, 2008 (a Tuesday night)
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: TBA

The program will include presentations about the illegal alien problem and how you can help.

Seating is limited so we are requesting that you e-mail an RSVP with your name and e-mail address and/or phone number.

E-mails should be sent to afla.heaton@sbcglobal.net

Foster Letter Follow-up

I received an e-mail from Congressman Bill Foster's communications director yesterday. Basically she told me that the letter I received (qouted yesterday 7/30) was a form letter sent to all participants at the "Corner" meeting and that it was not meant to address the issue, but rather to quickly acknowledge the meeting.


She also indicated there would be a more detailed letter coming soon.


Well...it came today via e-mail and I share it with you in its entirety:


Dear Mr. Heaton:
Thank you for contacting me about illegal immigration. I am honored to represent you, and I appreciate your active participation in our legislative process. Your involvement makes democracy work better by helping me more effectively represent you and Illinois' Fourteenth District.

My position on illegal immigration is clear. I believe that we must secure our nation's borders and act to improve workplace enforcement while addressing the underlying causes of illegal immigration. The most effective step in controlling illegal immigration will involve a national worker database through which employers will quickly and reliably verify the eligibility of workers. When such a system is in place, employers will no longer have an excuse for hiring illegal immigrants.

I recently visited the U.S.-Mexico border, and while progress has been made to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, much is left to do. Indeed, rather than dealing with one aspect of our immigration crisis, it may be best to incorporate such measures into broader immigration reform that deals with all aspects of this problem: secure borders, rapid and reliable workplace enforcement, background checks, and realistic quotas-specifically for high-skilled workers-that meet the needs of our businesses and communities.

As Congress continues to address and work to alleviate the growing issues surrounding immigration, I will continue to support common-sense reforms to our immigration system that do not reward those who break the law. Should further legislation related to illegal immigration come before me in the House of Representatives for a vote, I will be sure to keep your views in mind.

Hearing from the families I serve is vital to doing my job right. Thanks again for taking the time to share your concerns and I hope you keep in touch with me on this or any other issue you feel important. To stay informed of my work, or to sign up for my electronic newsletters, please visit my Web site at http://foster.house.gov/. Please contact me if I can help you in the future.

Sincerely,
Bill Foster
MEMBER OF CONGRESS
BF/mp
(end of Foster's letter)


I am impressed with the letter but a few things are missing, or he has changed his stance.


His letter seems to focus on high-skilled worker quotas but is silent about the traditional guest worker program which (as proposed a year ago) would have opened the door to millions more unskilled workers. We need to pin that down. A few thousand additional PhDs is quite different from hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts.


Foster has also dropped the employer-paid immigrant worker fee idea. I'm not sure if that is off the table now or he simply didn't mention it.


And he did say he has no plans to reward those who broke the law.


I'm sure his letter was not intended to be an all-inclusive plan but rather a summary of his views.


We will clarify with his office if some of the more distasteful (to us) parts of his plan have been left out of the letter.

Some answers can be found at his campaign website here:
http://www.foster08.com/2007/12/uncontrolled_im.html

But we are willing to allow someone to change his mind, as long as he sticks to it after November 4th!

Once again, we would like some more details on this issue of vital importance to Elginites.

Bill Foster's response

A few weeks ago I stood in line at the Jewel to spend a few minutes with US Congressman Bill Foster. I blogged about the experience here:
http://elginlegalamericans.blogspot.com/2008/07/few-minutes-with-bill-foster.html

At the time I also invited Foster to respond to my assessment of his position. Well...a letter came in the mail from Foster. Here is the text of it in its entirety:

Dear Mr. Heaton:
Thank you very much for taking the time to attend Congress on Your Corner while I was in your neighborhood. I know you are busy, and I appreciate you taking time out of your day to speak with me.

As a Member of Congress one of my most important duties is to assist residents of the 14th Congressional District by answering any questions you may have about pending legislation or by helping with difficulties you may be experiencing with federal agencies.

My dedicated and professional staff is committed to providing you with a timely and effective response to your problems or concerns. We want to be your advocate in Illinois and in Washington, DC, and my top priority is to provide world-class constituent service to those living in the 14th Congressional District.

Thanf you again for visiting me while I was in your neighborhood. I value each conversation and appreciate your input. If you need to reach me or a member of my staff, please (630) 406-1114.

In addition, if you would like to stay updated on my activities please visit my website at http://foster.house.gov , and be sure to sign-up to receive my e-newsletter.

Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Bill Foster
MEMBER OF CONGRESS

(End of letter)

There you have it. Foster's response to the illegal alien crisis.