O'Reilly: Gone Fishin

Bill O'Reilly

Townhall - The media covering the president's vacation in Martha's Vineyard are being discouraged from photographing President Obama playing golf. There is no access. Apparently, the White House is nervous that in tough economic times, whacking a small white ball could be construed as insensitive. How insane is that? Presidents are entitled to goof off once in a while, as Warren Harding and Teddy Roosevelt both understood. Harding was a card sharp, and Teddy ran around shooting animals. Almost every president took advantage of recreational opportunities, with the possible exception of Franklin Pierce, who did little but brood. As you may know, George W. Bush was vilified for spending time at his Texas ranch when the Iraq war was going south. Even though W. entertained guys like Putin (no holiday is complete without him), liberals kept a close count of how many days Bush was cutting brush in 100-degree heat and riding around on his dirt bike. Today, some right-wingers are criticizing Obama for his island jaunt during a bad economy.

But, come on, isn't the president entitled to spend a few days with his family at the end of August? Is the country going to be downgraded again because he eats a little taffy? All American presidents are under enormous strain. John Quincy Adams blew off steam by swimming naked in the Potomac River. Harry Truman got a massage most mornings before he began stopping the buck. Dwight Eisenhower spent almost as much time on the golf course as Sam Snead. The truth is that creative people need downtime in order to operate at their best. Bad decisions are often made when a person becomes exhausted. All day, every day, presidents are under siege to deal with one problem after another. Everybody wants something. The job never stops. Thus, I have no problem with vacationing presidents. Read full story here: News New Mexico

O'Reilly: Gone Fishin

Burglary Can Pay for Your Heirs in Colorado Springs

Gazette - An El Paso County jury on Friday awarded nearly $300,000 to the daughter of a burglar who was fatally shot in 2009 while breaking into an auto lot. Parents of the victim, Robert Johnson Fox, embraced their attorneys after a judge announced the jury’s verdict, capping a two-week-long civil trial in which business owner Jovan Milanovic and two relatives were painted as vigilantes who plotted a deadly ambush rather than let authorities deal with a string of recent burglaries. Phillip and Sue Fox, who filed suit for wrongful death in 2010 on behalf of Fox’s 3-year-old daughter, called the jury’s award a victory in their fight to seek accountability for the death of their son, who they say never posed a threat to the heavily armed men.

“Rob was in the wrong place doing the wrong thing, but the punishment didn’t fit the crime,” Sue Fox said afterward. “I can’t excuse his actions, but he didn’t deserve to be executed.” The exact amount of the award was $269,500, for factors such as loss of companionship and loss of future earnings. The family will also be awarded some of the costs associated with the more than yearlong legal battle. The jury of three men and three women deliberated for 2½ days over closely contested testimony about the predawn shooting on April 19, 2009. Fox, 20, was shot after he and a friend scaled a fence to get inside Southwest Auto Sales at 2444 Platte Place in the city’s Knob Hill neighborhood. According to the accomplice, Brian Corbin, they had smoked methamphetamine and were looking to steal anything to buy more drugs. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Burglary Can Pay for Your Heirs in Colorado Springs

Details Emerge in Driver's License Scams

KOB TV - A day after a big indictment involving illegal immigrants getting New Mexico driver's licenses, with alleged forged documents, more information is coming out about the scope of the problem. KOB Eyewitness News 4 obtained an ad that New Mexico leaders say ran in a Spanish newspaper in New York. Staffers for Governor Susana Martinez say phone numbers in the ad were linked to New York resident Jose Luis Aguirre. Officials say he was arrested in May and was involved in bringing illegal immigrants from New York and other states to New Mexico to get a New Mexico license. Officials tell us a similar ad also ran in a Polish newspaper in Chicago. State leaders here find the ads troubling because only illegal immigrants who live in New Mexico can get a New Mexico license. Recent indictments of three Chinese men indicate they were being paid by illegal immigrants from out of state to arrange getting a New Mexico license, using forged documents. KOB Eyewitness News 4 has also learned about something else that raised major red flags with the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. Illegal immigrants must set an appointment with the MVD to get their license and must provide a contact number. We have learned that one New Mexico number was used as a contact number 228 times. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Details Emerge in Driver's License Scams

War on Cameras Continues

Capitol Report New Mexico - We’ve written about the three members of the New Mexico congressional delegation skipping town hall meetings this summer (although they didn’t skip hosting big fundraisers). And we’ve posted numerous stories about what’s called the “War on Cameras,” the wrongheaded (and often illegal) approach many public servants and authorities have when it comes to people merely photographing or videotaping people who work on the taxpayers’ dime. Now a dopey congressman from Ohio has managed to combine both these stories. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) had a town hall meeting the other day … and had security personnel collect the cameras of a couple people recording the event. Read full story here: From the Cincinnati Post: News New Mexico

War on Cameras Continues

Twelve Year Old Learns How Business People Are Treated in the Big Government Era

Forbes - Well it’s not exactly lemonade but it’ll do. Christopher Carr’s twelve-year-old stepson had set up a smoothie and green-tea stand near their house when they moved back to the States after the earthquake in Japan. After they’d set up shop, Christopher took his daughter back inside to get some lunch, leaving his son to manage things at the stand. “After my daughter finished eating and as we approached the end of our street where the drink stand was, I could see from afar that the sign was pulled up and put away, the cooler was shut with everything which we had so carefully arranged on the tray table put away, and my stepson was huddled up and sitting on the rail, staring out between his knees at the ocean.

“What happened?” I asked when I got down there. I wondered if he had gotten discouraged that no one was buying his drinks or maybe that no one could understand his accent. Or maybe he was just lonely down there by himself. “The police told me to pack up and go home,” he said. Or, more accurately I discovered after making a few phone calls, the town police swung by and wished him good luck, and then afterwards, “someone in brown” came by and made my stepson stop selling drinks at the end of our street, because this required a permit, and my stepson did not have a permit to sell drinks.

After hearing a little more from my stepson and talking to the town police, I discovered that it was the Massachusetts State Police that broke up our lemonade stand. After attempting several times to contact the State Police, I reached only answering machines. Apparently, having someone on call on weekends is not in the Massachusetts State Police’s budget (but breaking up lemonade stands is somehow cost-effective). Read full story here: News New Mexico

Twelve Year Old Learns How Business People Are Treated in the Big Government Era

Fasten Your Seatbelts, Grubesic Might Get in CD # 1 Race

John Grubesic

Captiol Report New Mexico - The Democratic Party race for the congressional seat Martin Heinrich is vacating may get a bit more crowded soon … and if it does, it will certainly become much more unpredictable. That’s because Capitol Report New Mexico has learned that former state senator John Grubesic is considering a run for the First Congressional District, which makes up Albuquerque and other parts of central New Mexico. Grubesic says he’s been approached by political activists who think Grubesic could pull more conservative Democrats, independents and libertarian-leaning voters than the current field of announced candidates in the CD-1 race. “I am not sure how interested folks will be and I haven’t made a decision,” Grubesic said in an e-mail. “It was nice to be approached, but I am not sure how viable my candidacy is right now.” Grubesic had an unpredictable and controversial tenure as a member of the state senate after he was elected in District 25 in 2004. In 2007, he backed a joint resolutoin in the Roundhouse calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, which angered conservatives but Grubesic also infuriated the Democratic establishment as perhaps the harshest critic of then-Gov. Bill Richardson. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Fasten Your Seatbelts, Grubesic Might Get in CD # 1 Race

Violators of Immigation Laws Make No Apologies, Claim Entitlement Instead and Plan Open Protests

KOB TV - Immigrant advocates are shaking their fingers at the three suspected Chinese crime ring leaders accused of selling New Mexico licenses. They are also planning a peaceful protest against Governor Susana Martinez' work to take away driver's licenses from illegal immigrants. A woman who helps the immigrant community live and thrive here in Albuquerque said she heard about the nearly four hundred indictments against the alleged Chinese crime ring leaders accused of illegally selling New Mexico driver's licenses. Bertha Campos works with illegal immigrants; making food and helping them earn money. Campos said, "We are a very united community." Campos believes everyone has a right to a form of identification. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Violators of Immigation Laws Make No Apologies, Claim Entitlement Instead and Plan Open Protests

Governor's Office Talks Driver's Licenses - Documents Many Instances of Fraud

Governor Susana Martinez

NewsNM note - We received this press release from the office of Governor Susana Martinez today. MEMBERS OF CHINESE CRIME RING PEDDLING NEW MEXICO DRIVER’S LICENSES FACE OVER 1,150 CRIMINAL CHARGES - Suspects Ran Ads In Chinese Newspapers In New York To Attract Customers & Charged $1,500 Per New Mexico Driver’s License

ALBUQUERQUE – Three leaders of a Chinese crime ring that used fraudulent documents to secure New Mexico driver’s licenses for over 60 illegal immigrants from out of state are facing over 1,150 counts of felony charges. An Albuquerque grand jury today returned indictments against Gordon Leong, Tin Cheung and Alex Cheung on 386 counts each on charges of fraud, forgery, conspiracy, making false affidavit perjury, and altered, forged or fictitious licenses. “We have long known of fraud and abuse in our driver’s license system and these latest indictments make it clear that we must address the problem,” said Governor Martinez.

Beijing Skyline

“We are attracting criminals to our state who exploit our driver’s license policy and threaten the safety and security of all New Mexicans. I applaud the hard work that went into cracking down on this particular fraud ring, but that is only a stopgap measure until we repeal the law that invites this criminal activity once and for all.”
"We strive hard to hold all criminal offenders accountable. When people come into our state and violate our laws, they are deserving of our best efforts. This is just another example of our commitment," said District Attorney Kari Brandenburg.

Demesia Padilla

State Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla added, “Existing state law has clearly made our driver’s licenses less secure and now we’re contributing to the public safety problems of other states as more and more out-of-state illegal immigrants and criminal elements are coming here to get driver’s licenses and leave.” The three men are accused of running newspaper advertisements in Chinese newspapers in New York, promising New Mexico driver’s licenses. They leased multiple apartments simultaneously in Albuquerque and secured driver’s licenses for 62 illegal immigrants of Chinese descent, primarily from New York, for $1,500 each between March 2009 and November 2010. Tin and Alex Cheung also notarized residential and lease agreement documents fraudulently for their customers. The illegal immigrants flew into Albuquerque from New York, obtained their driver’s permits and left the State.

The ringleaders had the actual driver’s licenses mailed to an address in Albuquerque and then forwarded to their clients in New York. The New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division has cancelled all the driver’s licenses issued in this case after the arrest of Leong and three of his customers in November 2010. Three customers - Fongyee Hiew, Shu Sheng Liu and Sui Lam - who flew in from New York to obtain New Mexico licenses and have also been indicted on 16 counts each on charges of fraud, forgery, conspiracy, making false affidavit perjury, and altered, forged or fictitious licenses. Arrest warrants have been issued for both Tin and Alex Cheung.  Prior Driver License Schemes: Read rest of press release here: News New Mexico

Governor's Office Talks Driver's Licenses - Documents Many Instances of Fraud

NM Conservative Coalition Schedules Rally

NewsNM note - We received this press release from the NM Conservative Coalition today.
The call to repeal the law that allows issuing driver licenses to illegal immigrants will be central to the We the People Rally II to be held September 6 starting at 10:00 A.M. on the West Steps of the Capitol in Santa Fe preceding the Special Legislative Session. Latest polls show that 74% of New Mexicans oppose issuing driver licenses to illegal immigrants. A KOAT poll showed that 80% of New Mexicans want the practice stopped. Yet State Legislators refuse to listen. The We the People Rally II, hosted by the New Mexico Conservative Coalition, will discuss the risks to New Mexicans of issuing driver licenses to Illegal immigrants. For instance: A growing network of criminals sell fraudulent documents, which falsely declare New Mexico residency, to undocumented foreign nationals for the purpose of gaining a New Mexico driver's license. This makes possible unrestricted travel throughout the nation, enables the boarding of airplanes, applying for government assistance, and so forth.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, tens of thousands of people from countries "other than Mexico" enter the United States illegally every year. It is unknown how many of these have successfully entered the country and obtained a New Mexico driver's license, which is presently accepted as a valid government I.D. This leads to a growing concern that New Mexico driver licenses will shortly be refused as a valid means of identification, leading to the disenfranchisement of all New Mexico driver licenses.

NM Conservative Coalition Schedules Rally

More Driver's License Fraud Indictments

KOB - TV - An Albuquerque Grand Jury has just indicted three suspected members of a Chinese crime ring of helping out of state illegal immigrants get a New Mexico driver's license. The indictment is adding more fuel to the fire from those who want to stop issuing New Mexico drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. "It's just more evidence of why we have to repeal that law," Governor Martinez told KOB Eyewitness News 4 Thursday night. The new indictments show the Chinese men used forged documents to get licenses for 62 illegal immigrants, mostly of Chinese descent. Bernalillo County District Attorney officials say the men advertised in Chinese newspapers in New York that illegal immigrants could get a New Mexico drivers license for $1,500.00. Read full story here: News New Mexico

More Driver's License Fraud Indictments