By Jesse Jose

A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako

Y es. Indeed, as my coffee brews, battles are also brewing, here and there, and everywhere. 

But no, Dear Readers, I am not gonna be talking about my recent bruising battles with my siblings that I wrote about in my column last week.  That’s over and done with . . .  I am moving on to bigger and better battles that give me neither grudge nor grief.  I am a coward, you see.

So, I was at my favorite hang-out the other day, the Lakeland Hills Starbucks of our little town here in Auburn, Washington, drinking with gusto my “grande drip,” mixed with a little Half and Half and two packets of Splenda, and leisurely reading my favorite newspaper, The New York Times … when I was jolted. 

I mean, I was jolted by something that I was reading.  I was reading the top news of the day, “Next Big Battle in Washington: Bush’s Tax Cuts.”  No, that wasn’t it that jolted me.  What jolted me was what was written in the last sentence of the two lead paragraphs of this New York Times story.

To me, it was like, “what da heck are you talking about?”  Let me quote these two lead paragraphs first:

“An epic fight is brewing over what Congress and President Obama should do about the expiring Bush tax cuts, with such substantial economic and political consequences that it could shape the fall elections and fiscal policy for years….” 

O key ngarud, I’ll buy that.  Then the second lead paragraph read:

“Democratic leaders, including Mr. Obama, say they are intent on letting the tax cuts for the wealthy expire as scheduled at the end of this year.  But they have pledged to continue the lower tax rates for individuals earning less than $200,000 and families earning less than $250,000 … (now, check this out): “what Democrats call the middle class.” 

Say what now?  Those six words right there were the ones that jolted me.  Not the words that Mr. Obama and company said that they “are intent on letting the tax cuts for the wealthy expire as scheduled at the end of this year.”  To me, that’s the right thing to do.  Spread the wealth, di ba?  Screw the rich, stroke the poor.

But I think I got off track here.  So let me get back on track: What JOLTED me were the words: “… what Democrats call the middle class.”  Y’all follow me?  Or, are y’all confused?  I am confused, too, Dear Readers.  

Most people and majority of two-income families in America earn a lot less than that!  In fact, most families probably earn ONLY a quarter of $250,000.

Like, for instance, in my household … 

What I am trying to get at, is: If two-income families, earning $250,000 or perhaps a little less than that “is” the MIDDLE CLASS, where does that leave me and my two-income family?  In the poverty level, correct? 

I mean, my wife and I, with our incomes combined, don’t even come close to that amount of $250,000.  I mean … my wife has got a professional job that requires a master’s degree and all that. And I have three retirement incomes that if added together could be the income of a degreed professional, too … YET we, as a family, hardly comes up to the income level that’s considered middle class.  Not even close! 

What about the rest of the working people of America and those with college degrees, like teachers and lawyers and policemen and firefighters, and even journalists, print and broadcast … are they also WITHIN the poverty level? 

I suppose so, ha?

Well, if that’s the case, then we are also ENTITLED to the benefits that President Barack H. Obama has been SPREADING to the so-called “poor people” of America, the ones that I’ve dubbed the “PARASITES and PALAMUNINS of America.” 

Well, don’t y’all think so?

THE IMMIGRATION BATLE IN ARIZONA:  That new immigration law that was passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed into law by its governor, Gov, Jan Brewer, that majority of Arizonans and majority of Americans all over America approved of, was supposed to take effect Thursday, July 29, 2010.

But U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked the state law and issued a temporary injunction against the core section of the law that called for Arizona law enforcement officers “to check a Mexican-looking person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws and to require that person to prove that he or she is authorized to be in the country.” 

The law was designed to catch and deport illegal immigrants in a state that’s considered the “principal gateway” for illegal border crossers from Mexico.

Judge Bolton issued the injunction in support to a legal challenge brought on by the Obama Administration.  Eric Holder, Mr. Obama’s Attorney General said the statute is “unconstitutional,” since when it comes to setting the nation’s immigration laws, “federal trump states.” 

Okay, that’s fine.  But the feds ain’t doing their jobs! 

Mr. Obama and his people are sitting on their butts on America’s immigration problem.  So Arizonans made their move to fix the problem for them within their state.

So, what’s the problem there?  This new Arizona immigration law ESSENTIALLY makes it a federal crime to be on American soil illegally, which is a state crime.  So then, where’s the conflict with federal law?  In other words, it’s a crime in the state of Arizona to be an illegal, which is also a federal crime all over America.  If the feds ain’t doing their jobs in Arizona, then the Arizonans will have to step in and do what the have to do for their state, right?

I really think that Arizona has taken the right steps in fixing this problem.  In fact, seventeen states (and counting) have now made it known that they intend to follow Arizona’s example.  A couple of weeks ago, only FIVE STATES intend to follow Arizona’s lead.  Now, that has grown to SEVENTEEN STATES.

ILLEGALS COST AMERICA BILLIONS OF DOLLARS: This information was passed on to me by Jerry Lytle, a next-door neighbor and a friend and my walking partner around the hills of my Lakeland Hills neighborhood, and I wanna share it with y’all, Dear Readers.  Please hang on to your seats while you read ‘em:

. $11-billion to $22-billion is spent on welfare to illegal immigrants each year by state governments.

. $2.2-billion a year is spent on food assistance program, such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegals.

.  $2.5-billion a year is spent on Medicaid for them.

.  $12-billion is spent on primary education and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English.

.  $17-billion a year is spent for education for American-born children of illegal aliens, known as “anchor babies.”

.  $3-billion a day is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.

.  $90-billion a year is spent on illegals for welfare and social services by the American taxpayers.

.  $200-billion a year in suppressed American wages are caused by illegal workers.

.  The National Policy Institute estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206-billion and $230-billion or an average cost of between $41-billion and $46-billion over a five-year period.

The list of taxpayers’ dollars spent on illegal immigrants goes on and on.  The total cost is a whooping $338-billion a year.  More clearly, that’s $338,300,000,000.00 which would be enough to STIMULATE the economy for the citizens of this country … that, may I add, President H. Obama failed to do with those stimulus money that he gave to greedy Wall Street bankers and doled out to the PARASITES and PALAMUNINS of America.

The darkest side of illegal immigration are NOT only the millions of illegals that continually crossed America’s Southern Border, but also the millions of pounds of illegal drugs, such as cocaine, meth, heroin, marijuana, that are continuously brought in to America.  And the crimes generated from it all.

Need I say more?  Ah, yes, one more.  My coffee is now ready and freshly brewed.  So talk to y’all later about my next “battle,” as my next cup ‘o coffee perks and brews.  JJ