The Star of political correctness

You want to know how crazy this illegal alien issue is getting? The Indianapolis Star had to apologize for a Gary Varvel cartoon that ran in their paper depicting an illegal family coming through a dining room window. The father of the family sitting down for a Thanksgiving meal says, “Thanks to the president’s immigration order, we’ll be having extra guests this Thanksgiving.” 

The usual chorus of overly-sensitive boobs raised holy you-know-what and the executive editor published an apology. It’s really frightening how far these people have been able to scare common sense into a corner.

Maybe Varvel should’ve drawn a cartoon of illegals raping women or one of them killing families in drunk driving accidents. Perhaps he could show them executing people as MS-13 gang members or robbing convenient stores. Or, if that’s too insensitive, he could depict them stealing the job of an American worker by undercutting his salary.

Don’t get the wrong impression. I’m not saying that all illegal immigrants are inherently bad people but a disproportionate number of them are. Over two-thirds of the immigrants who come across our border from Mexico come legally. That’s a very important stat to remember. It’s the third who come illegally who are the problem and if twice as many come legally there’s bound to be a reason why some come illegally. The answer is many would not be allowed to come otherwise, either because of criminal records or terrorist ties or disease or some other reason that precludes them from coming the right way.

Allow me to lay some alarming figures on you from Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement. In Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for murder are for illegal aliens. Illegals cost taxpayers around $113 billion a year. The notion that the president’s new amnesty decree will make taxpayers out of 5 million illegals is a farce. Remember, half the people don’t pay income taxes to start with. About 40 percent actually make money at tax time through the Earned Income Tax Credit. Is there any doubt that the newly-minted ‘legal’ illegals will apply for EITC? That means even more of a tax burden, not less.

For every 100 illegals who find a job here, 65 Americans lose theirs. Illegals constitute less than 5 percent of the general population but over 25 percent of the U.S. prison population. Educating illegal children runs $52 billion per year.

As I’ve always said, illegal immigration may not be the biggest problem in America but it’s part of every major problem we face. It’s a large part of the crime and prison problem. It’s a large part of the education problem. It’s certainly a major component of the jobless problem.

The politically correct have tried to sterilize the illegals. In fact, they say that using the term ‘illegals’ is racist. Hogwash. Illegal is exactly what they are. These people who defend them — and they’re on the right and the left — want to blunt the language so they can change the perception. It’s not working. A recent NBC News poll showed 48 percent of Americans oppose Obama’s amnesty while 38 percent approve.

In the meantime, the people who want to put a happy face on illegal immigration will continue to yell racism any time anyone dares criticize illegals. Like they did with the Indianapolis Star.

I don’t know if the folks at the Indianapolis Star got the memo but the word ‘indian’ is now offensive to a lot of people. They should change their name to the NativeAmericanapolis Star just to be safe.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Lessons from Ferguson

What did we learn from Ferguson?

We learned that rent-a-thugs are responsible for much of the agitation and unrest in situations like this. These professional riot organizers ride into town with an agenda. That agenda is to divide the town by race.

We learned that most of what we heard about the case before the grand jury decision was untrue. It was passed along as fact that the officer had no knowledge of Brown's strong-arm robbery just moments before and that he was stopping him for merely walking in the middle of the street. Now we know that Darren Wilson stopped Michael Brown because he matched the description of the suspect and had the proceeds of the robbery in his hand.

One liberal on Fox News the night of the decision and subsequent rioting was lamenting the fact that one out of every three black males today will go to prison in his lifetime. She called this a travesty and an injustice. She seemed to focus on the statistic rather than the reason. The reason one in three black males will go to prison is because they're committing a disproportionate amount of the crimes. Also, ninety-three percent of the murders committed by black males are committed against other blacks. Where was her sympathy for the black victims?

She acts as if we would just stop locking up black men then everything would be fine. Has anyone considered that babies being born out of wedlock might have something to do with the problem? Today, over 70 percent of black children are born to single mothers. Perhaps that has more of a bearing on one's life than perceived racism.

We learned that we are still a nation divided. If anyone thought that electing a black president would heal the wounds of racism in this country they were gravely mistaken. Matters have only gotten worse. This president and his attorney general have used their high offices to fan the flames of racism in the black community. This has been the most divisive presidency in the history of America.

Prior to the grand jury decision, Obama was meeting personally with the community agitators. I don't recall his meeting with the Ferguson police. Wonder which side he was on.

Me? I could see it going either way, based on what we knew, much of it now known to be erroneous. I was curious about the outcome but I had sympathy for both sides. The Browns lost a son, which is pain beyond comprehension. Darren Wilson's life is irreparably damaged. The story ended up not being about the shooting itself but the reaction to it. That told more about our country than anything else.

We all need to do a little soul searching. Anyone who was pulling for a decision either way needs to check themselves and face the vestiges of racism still residing in their hearts. If you were hoping for an outcome there's a reason for that feeling and it's probably not a pretty one.

It's sad but true that, at the end of the day, when all the facts were examined, the president of the United States sent emissaries to the funeral of not a symbol of oppression but a common street criminal. And the president did this all because of the racism in his heart. 

It's a lesson to learn that if you truly are for truth and justice then learn the truth before you determine the justice.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

The truth about Keystone XL

Rarely have we seen so much ado about saving one senate seat. The vote on the Keystone XL pipeline was an exercise in futility. It was never going to get the signature of President Obama yet it was fast-tracked through the U.S. senate after six years of blocking it only so Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana could vote for it.

It fell one vote short of passage in the senate and that was by design. Harry Reid was never going to allow this out of his chamber to potentially embarrass the president. The thinking was it would give Landrieu a shot in the arm in her run-off race, but she can’t hide from voting 97 percent of the time with Obama.

The person who may be most damaged by the vote is Harry Reid himself. He’s up for re-election in 2016 and he barely got 50 percent of the vote in 2010. If the Republicans put up a stronger candidate than Sharron Angle, and it’s likely they will, this Keystone vote could be a big issue.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado sure thought it was. He’s a Democrat up for re-election in two years and he voted for it. It would be nice if it would scare other Democrats into voting for it when the Republicans bring it back up after they take over in January but that’s not likely. The other nine Democrats up for re-election in 2016 are in pretty safe seats. Names like Schumer and Boxer and Wyden and Mikulski.

What I’m trying to wrap my mind around is why this is even an issue in the first place. The Canadian oil starts its trek south in the town of Hardisty, Alberta. There already is a Keystone pipeline into the United States. It originates in Hardisty, goes east across Saskatchewan province to the province of Manitoba then heads south just west of Winnipeg into North Dakota. From there it heads straight to the Gulf Coast through South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The newly proposed leg would essentially be a shortcut to Kansas. It would enter the U.S. in Montana then head southeast until it connects with the original line at the Nebraska/Kansas border.

The dirt people who are all frapped up about global warming would like for you to think that this is some sort of breach into the United States. They talk about not wanting the “dirty oil sands oil” in our country. What they call “dirty” is something that generates more carbon dioxide. And it does create about 9 percent more CO2 than the average U.S. crude. But CO2 is not a pollutant. In fact, it’s beneficial to the planet. It helps plants grow faster, heartier and bigger. We learned this in third-grade science class.

So, there’s really no reason not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. According to our own government’s analysis of the issue, that oil is going to be burned anyway. We may as well create a bunch of jobs by piping it to the Gulf Coast.

And while we’re at it, let’s open up more public land to oil exploration. Experts say we could be energy independent within five years. Would that not be an awesome thing? No more bowing to Saudi kings. No more turning a blind eye to the illegal invasion from Mexico because we need their oil. No more wars over oil. What’s not to like?

The only thing holding us back is this silly notion that we’re destroying Earth by emitting plant food. It’s time to grow up.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Is Net Neutrality really neutral?

Net neutrality is back on the table thanks to the Obama administration’s push to reinvent it after the courts struck it down. There are many otherwise freedom-loving, free market advocates who are starting to fall for net neutrality under the false assumption that it’s about keeping the Internet free. It’s anything but.

Net neutrality is a subjective term. Proponents argue it gives equal access to everyone on the Internet. That sounds fair and open but most people don’t realize there’s limited bandwidth and simply allowing everyone to “do their thing” results in a slowdown for everyone.

I like to compare it to an interstate. There are a finite number of lanes. When there’s a normal flow of traffic then everyone gets to their destinations on time. However, when a road hog like one of those wide loads with the yellow lights and the pilot car come through during rush hour it brings the interstate down to a crawl.

The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are putting those wide loads in the HOV lane and charging them extra for it. Obama wants that stopped. The company everyone likes to hold up as an example is Netflix. They claim it’s unfair to charge Netflix more but Netflix is an Internet hog. Streaming movies takes up a lot of bandwidth and ISPs think it’s fair to cut special deals with these types of companies.

Quite frankly, I’m not sure what all the hubbub is about. I have cable Internet and Netflix. I never experience a slowdown. It would be hard to argue that Netflix has been harmed by any ISP deals. Their stock has gone through the roof and they’ve launched original hit television shows like House of Cards. In short, it’s not clear who Obama’s new proposal is designed to protect.

One thing it does is turn ISPs into public utilities with the government regulating what products and services they can offer and at what price. Sen. Ted Cruz summed it up in a tweet. “Net Neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet; the Internet should not operate at the speed of government.” Exactly. This is a solution in search of a problem.

Most folks have no problem with their Internet access. In fact, most people love their Internet access. They can do more, see more, experience more than ever before. And that’s happened without government interference. If you don’t like your ISP you have choices. Competition. That’s what makes everyone better. If the government sticks its nose in the middle of it the innovation will be stifled and your ISP will be turned into any other public utility.

Nothing against your local electric company but there’s not much incentive for innovation. The last thing we need to be doing is turning your ISP into another public utility.

At the epicenter of the net neutrality movement is an assumption that you have a right to the Internet your way. These folks forget just how recent dial-up was. The cable companies invented broadband. The phone companies followed. Our lives have been wildly enriched by the whole process. Why would we want to alter the matrix of how we got here? 

If the government wants to be useful it can stop allowing these big telecommunications companies to merge. I supported the president when he blocked the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. We should be inviting and encouraging more competition. We should be blocking attempts by the big boys to gobble up the little guys. More competition is what this market needs. The very last thing the market needs is more government control.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Carpe navitas: Seize the energy

You’ve probably noticed the lower gas prices by now. Experts say prices will go still lower through the end of the year. One of the reasons they expect prices to fall is because retailers can switch back to winter gas blends which are cheaper. Some of the mainstream media reports only nibble around the edges as to the primary reason for the low prices. Most ignore the truth altogether.

The reason oil prices are low — and, subsequently, gas prices — is because of what’s going on in North Dakota, Texas and now Ohio. North Dakota is home to the enormous Bakken shale reserves. They’re in the midst of an oil boom, with the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Thanks to innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, oil companies are able to get at oil that, just a few years, was too expensive to find. And this has been primarily on private land.

The Obama administration loves to brag about our newly-found energy but all of this is happening in spite of them. Texas is now producing more oil per day than the entire country of Iran, mostly on private land. In fact, while we’re surpassing Saudi Arabia in oil production, the oil we’re getting from federal land is down six percent since 2009. Natural gas production on federal land is down a whopping 28 percent.

According to J. Winston Porter at The Hill, 87 percent of federally-controlled offshore oil reserves are off limits to oil and gas exploration. Imagine how our economy would come roaring back if we were able to get at all that oil. Experts say we could be completely energy independent inside of five years.

To put things into perspective as to how gas prices affect our economy, for every one-cent drop in the price at the pump there’s an extra $1 billion in consumers’ wallets, according to a study by Deutsche Bank. That’s $75 billion extra since just this past spring.

The irony is Barack Obama could lay claim to probably the most robust economic recovery in a generation if he would stop his war on oil. Instead, he continues to pump billions into green energy initiatives, many of which sink like the Titanic with our tax dollar aboard.

I have no problem with alternative sources of energy. In fact, as featured in our documentary, An Inconsistent Truth, I’ve made my own biodiesel. But there is simply not enough of the alternative energy to even come close to replacing oil and natural gas. It would make sense for us to squeeze out every drop of energy we can from the sources available while we wait for alternative technology to catch up. That’s how it’s done in a free economy but this administration has no interest in a free economy.

Now that the mid-term elections are behind us, it’s time for the congress to start focusing on energy, which has a real impact on us all, especially those at the lower end of the economic spectrum. The drop in gas prices just since spring means an average of $15 each time we fill up. If the average person fills up once a week, that’s an extra $780 a year that can go to buy something else besides gas. Certainly this administration sees how beneficial that is to lower-income households.

While oil prices have dropped, electricity prices have risen, primarily due to Obama’s war on coal. Let’s face it, this administration’s war on affordable energy is a war on the American economy and it’s time congress fought back.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.