From: David LaBonte

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people Like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept This new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along-side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as One people.

When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking For the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the Entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American Is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

(signed)
Rosemary LaBonte

WHEREAS, high taxes, workers compensation costs, multiple regulations, and environmental laws have a created an exodus among California businesses and a hostile environment toward innovation and entrepreneurship; and

WHEREAS, in 2008, California ranked last among the 50 states for the cost of doing business and thirty-eighth overall among the best states to do business; and

WHEREAS, In 2006, the Governor and Legislature imposed additional regulations on businesses when they enacted AB 32, which requires a reduction of statewide greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020; and

WHEREAS, at the time the bill was signed the unemployment rate in Nevada County was 3.8%, since the passage of AB 32, the country has experienced an economic depression, resulting in a 11.6% unemployment rate in Nevada County, which has crippled our local economy.

WHEREAS, experts predict it will take several years for the economy to recover, imposing additional requirements on California businesses only exacerbates problems and will inadvertently impact consumers through higher cost for utilities, gasoline, food, water, and other costs; and

WHEREAS, complying with AB 32 will adversely impact the economy and possibly force businesses to close their operations, reduce their workforce, or relocate; and

WHEREAS, the suspension of AB 32 would permit businesses that would otherwise have to make immediate investments to comply with new regulations the ability to expand operations, create jobs, thereby spurring economic development and improving our local economy; and

WHEREAS, on June 22, 2010, the California Jobs Initiative was placed on the November Ballot as Proposition 23; and

WHEREAS, approval of Proposition 23 would temporarily suspend the operation and implementation of AB 32 until the unemployment rate in California is 5.5% or less for four consecutive calendar quarters; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Nevada County Tea Party Patriots formally endorses the California Jobs Initiative and passage of Proposition 23.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we hereby authorize the listing of the Nevada County Tea Party Patriots in support of the California Proposition 23.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of the Nevada County Tea Party Patriots on July 20, 2010.

Stan Meckler, President
Nevada County Tea party Patriots

• In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more, is a congress. -- John Adams
• If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. -- Mark Twain
• Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
• I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill
• A government, which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw
• A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -- G. Gordon Liddy
• Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -- James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
• Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries, to rich people in poor countries. -- Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University
• Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
• Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
• Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan (1986)
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