Representative Alcee Hastings admitted that Congress is ”making up the rules as we go along.” His comment illustrates how many of our Representatives feel they are above the rules, and lack respect for the Constitution. Floridians who voted for this man should be ashamed of themselves.

Tiger Woods spoke to ESPN today, and the five minute interview was rather unspectacular. I was personally annoyed by something I found disingenuous: His desire to apologize to everyone for his undisclosed problem. I know it sounds good, but it’s complete nonsense to think he owes anyone other than his wife Elin Nordegren an apology. But then again, I’m biased. For the life of me, I don’t know how someone who seemingly has everything can risk it for so little. Come on, he’s married to her:

Tiger Wood's wife, Elin Nordegren

Former model Elin Nordegren

Mrs. Tiger Woods, Elin NOrdegren

Then, we have the girlfriends. They’re certainly not chopped liver, but are they really worth it? A beautiful wife, two children, fun job, lots of money, and you act like an idiot? Oh that’s right, he’s sick and getting treatment. I forgot.

Tiger Woods' girlfriend, Rachel Uchitel

Tiger Woods' mistress, Jaimee Grubbs

Another Tiger Woods girlfriend: Jamie Jungers

Actress and Tiger Woods Girlfriend, Holly Sampson

James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles posed as a pimp and a prostitute to expose ACORN

ACORN, those experts on setting up brothels, are close to filing for bankruptcy. It’s hard to believe that an organization that has been accused of questionable tactics for so many years was finally brought down by two relatively unknown journalists posing as a pimp and a prostitute. To James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles: Job well done!

Don’t mind me, but I feel compelled to include some additional photos of Hannah Giles. I’m a big fan of her work.

Hannah Giles posing as a prostitute in New York City

Hannah Giles on Fox News

Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe

Hannah Giles posing as a prostitute in New York

Hannah Giles getting help from ACORN

Hannah Giles interview

Hannah Giles

Arizona Sherrif Joe Arpaio

We need more people like Sheriff Joe Arpaio:

PHOENIX – The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona has launched a two-day, countywide crime and immigration sweep that authorities say will focus on drop houses, drug violators and human smuggling vehicles.

Four hundred deputies and volunteer posse members are taking part in the patrols. The sweep, which began Thursday, is Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s 14th since early 2008.

During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city — in some cases heavily Latino areas — to seek out traffic violators and arrest other alleged lawbreakers.

Critics say Arpaio’s deputies have racially profiled Hispanics. The sheriff says deputies approach people only when they have probable cause to believe people have committed crimes.

Of course, he’s going to get lots of criticism, but he’s doing the right thing. Illegal aliens are draining tax dollars and reducing the quality of life in the county. Enough raids like this one, and eventually they’ll get the message and go somewhere else. Unfortunately, they’ll probably go some place else where enforcement is shoddy. That’s why this nation needs more people like Joe Arpaio.

I’m strongly pro-choice, but I don’t want a dime of taxpayer money spent on abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. If one of these conditions doesn’t exist, then the abortion is an elective procedure used to remedy irresponsible behavior. What’s next, allowing people to get taxpayer funded liposuction because because they’re too lazy to exercise and eat right?

The bishops are right on this issue, but of course, they’re dead wrong on so much else. In the same letter, they criticize Congress for forcing legal immigrants to wait 5 years before they are eligible for Medicaid, and for supporting a bill that would prevent undocumented workers illegal aliens from purchasing insurance through an exchange. After all, the undocumented workers illegal aliens only trespassed into the country and spit on our laws on a daily basis. Why not give them a break?

If you’re a Catholic who agrees that illegal immigration is a major problem facing the United States, I ask that you withhold financial support for the church. Any hard-earned money you give to your local diocese will likely find its way into supporting those who are threatening our country’s economy.

Pope Benedict criticized Irish Bishops for doing wha the Vatican expected of them

Pope Benedict criticized Irish bishops for “grave errors in judgment,” which led to many children being abused by priests and nuns. Catholic Bishops in Ireland deserve the criticism, since they were complacent while priests and other members of the Church harmed young parishioners. Unfortunately, Pope Benedict glossed over the major cause: The Vatican.

The abuse allegations in Ireland are not confined to that country alone. Allegations came to light in the United States several years ago, along with Germany and many other European nations. It’s also likely that the number of allegations will increase as victims gain the courage to face the Catholic Church and their abusers.

Were the Irish Bishops also responsible for abuse allegations in other countries and continents? Of course not. Each diocese was working on orders from the Vatican, which some feel encouraged a veil of secrecy. If blame is to be assigned, a good portion of it needs to be directed at Pope Benedict himself:

While a cardinal at the Vatican, Joseph Ratzinger penned a letter instructing bishops around the world to report all cases of abuse to his office and keep them secret under threat of excommunication. Irish bishops have said the letter was widely understood to mean they shouldn’t report the cases to police.

In addition to telling bishops to keep quiet or else, Joseph Ratzonger aka Pope Benedict also contributed to the abuse of children:

…reports emerged last week that while he was archbishop of Munich in the 1980s, Ratzinger approved therapy for a priest suspected of molesting boys. The priest was then transferred to a job where he later abused more children. He was convicted in a criminal trial.

So to summarize, we have a Pope who encouraged bishops to hide allegations of abuse or face excommunication, along with personal failures that contributed to the abuse of more children after an abusive priest was transferred. His hypocritical behavior and failure to take responsibility are a disgrace to Catholicism.

How low will Barack Obama's approval rating go?

The latest Rasmussen Poll finds that 23% of Americans strongly approve of the job Barack Obama is doing, while 44% strongly disapprove. Rasmussen also points out that the President’s approval rating drops when he pushes the health care bill. I’m not an expert, but do you think that means that most people are against the current health care reform bill? Not surprisingly, Rasmussen also found that 50% of Americans are less likely to vote for a Congressmen who supports health care reform.

It looks like conservatives won’t have to worry about throwing out the leftists in 2010 and 2012. They’re going to take care of that all by themselves. I just hope they don’t wreck the place too much before then.

Does Nancy Pelosi understand the Constitution?

If you’ve been following the health care debacle in Washington, then you’ve probably heard about how Nancy Pelosi and her henchmen are planning on using “deem and pass” to ram through health care reform. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this procedure, it will allow the House to pass the Senate version of the bill without actually having to vote on it. What if they don’t have the votes? No problem! Of course, this method could very well be ruled unconstitutional. Here’s Article 1, Section 7 of the United States Constitution:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Votes should be considered by yeas and nays. I’ve read Article 1, Section 7 several times, and not once did I see deem and pass mentioned. It’s very clear that Representatives are bound by the Constitution to vote for legislation, then have their votes recorded. Failure to do so will undoubtedly result in a legal challenge that will sink the bill.

The exact number of illegal aliens in the United States isn’t known, but I’ve heard estimates ranging between 12 million and 20 million. I also read that illegal aliens have around 8 million jobs. This made me think: What if we could combine a second economic stimulus that would put people to work, while addressing immigration reform?

As you read this, the unemployment rate is around 10%. This rate is higher among those with a high school education or less. How can we get these people to work? We could begin by completely revamping immigration by viewing it as something to benefit the United State’s economy, rather than a humanitarian mission to save third world countries. By implementing tough rules, we could dissuade businesses from hiring illegal aliens and replace them with Americans and legal immigrants.

A leftist might say that these are jobs Americans don’t want, but this is nonsense. If the cheap labor provided by illegal aliens weren’t available, wages would be higher, and more legal residents would be interested in the jobs. By the way, in tough times like these, most people aren’t fussy. They’ll just be happy to have a job.

There would also be plenty of construction jobs created, since we would need workers to build more detention centers for those awaiting deportation, and a wall along the Mexican border to dissuade future lawbreakers from trespassing. In addition to these construction projects, we would also need additional workers to staff Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Any successful bill would also need to offer help at the local level. One great way is to offer additional aid for education. This could be accomplished by dissuading illegal aliens from staying in the United States and deporting them. Here’s how it can help local cites and towns: We are required to provide schooling for illegal aliens. Many of those who sympathize with the lawbreakers point out that they pay taxes (to some extent). Of course, in the next breathe, they talk about how poor this block of people are, so how much are they really paying in taxes? Not much, but I digress.

Let’s say a couple has two children and they pay $4,000 per year in taxes, which is probably an overly generous estimate. If each of those children is costing their local school district $13,000 to educate, but the family is only paying $4,000 in taxes, isn’t that a net loss for that city or town? In this example, over $22,000 is being saved, which doesn’t even take into account savings from other areas, such as emergency medical care. Of course, the leftists would argue that their spending is important for the local economy, but I doubt it would be missed. Remittances are the second biggest source of money in Mexico after oil, so the typical illegal immigrant is probably pumping more money into “their country” than the United States.

This plan has already addressed immigration reform, job creation, and aid to cities and towns, but it can also help provide affordable housing for low income families. Since we have between 12 million and 20 million people in the country who don’t belong here, the absence of a substantial number of them would mean less demand for housing. With a constant or slowly increasing supply, this would probably reduce monthly rents for some of our most economically vulnerable (legal) residents. Wouldn’t that help legal residents affected by the housing crisis?

These are just a few of the benefits from the Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Economic Stimulus bill I am proposing. Now, are there any Senators or Representatives with the nerve to make such a proposal?