I don't usually follow politics... not registered with any party... not "up" on the issues.... no opinion on Bush as President - but that picture is damn funny!!  If nothing else, it shows he's human.

LOl it IS pretty funny.  But seriously Gube, on this blog you are either preaching to the choir or to deaf ears on this site. There doesn't seem to be middle ground on any issue so at this point I think you're pretty much beating a dead horse. ;)  its good to see someone with strong feelings post their views and defend it as necessary but I think you need to take it to the next step.  Write your representatives if you haven't already!

I agree with scottso, its easy to get the many liberals on this site to agree with a funny picture of Bush, it's called throwing them red meat, but who do you like in politics gube?, who is your candidate on the democratic side?

Scottso i have written my congressman several times not only on this issue but two other ones to. Below is a link to Congressman Kevin McCarthy. The pics is for laughs.

http://kevinmccarthy.house....

Starbucks at this time I am undecided as to what candidate or party I'll vote for. To tell you the truth I'm leaning towards the Republicans because of the illegal immigration issue. I have voted Democrat for the last three elections but my interests are changing.I'm a union man so you know that i support labor issues.I don't really care about the gun issue except that i think fully automatic and assault weapons should be baned.They are not made for hunting they are made fir killing.I believe in pro choice. As you know i want something done with this illegal immigration issue. I want more humanitarian aid to be giving to our neighboring country's. Yes i mean Mexico. This year more then most i really feel strongly about several issues and I'm not going to take voting for granted this year.I'll tell you what Starbucks as soon as i know which candidate I'm voting for I'll be sure to let you know..

The major problem facing "Mexifornia" is the fact it is a "sanctuary state." And local, state, and federal politicians, especially Bush, seem determined to keep it one.

Border security updates that you will never see in the mainstream liberal press, who's agenda is to never print any positive developments under the current administration. late, yes, but at least it is happening, before the democrats get in and cut the funding.Do some research gube, this is what is happening under Bush.

DHS Moves Forward on Border Fencing and Technology Improvements

Release Date: December 7, 2007

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving forward today with multiple advancements in the construction of pedestrian and virtual fencing along the southwest border. These advancements will add to more than 284 miles of fencing already in place and enable construction of roughly 670 miles of fencing by the end of December 2008.

"The American public has been loud and clear in their call for secure borders," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "We will continue to use every tool, resource and authority we have to answer that call. Without the participation of border residents and the technology to span remote areas, we place an unfair burden on our frontline personnel and will have difficulty meeting the expectations of the American public."

In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made preliminary determinations about where pedestrian fencing should be built and, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), contacted the landowners in the area, often in person. While many landowners allowed entry to conduct engineering tests and surveys to determine if the land is suitable for fence building, others did not respond or refused entry. Today, CBP will mail letters to those landowners notifying them that an action will be brought in federal court for a temporary right of entry to conduct tests and surveys. If CBP and USACE determine that the land is suitable for fence-building, they will negotiate with the landowner on a purchase price. If these negotiations are unsuccessful, the government will return to court to seek title and possession and the court will determine the appropriate price. To date, the federal government has contacted roughly 600 landowners and held more than 18 community town hall meetings to discuss this process with residents, local officials and other interested parties.

Also today, CBP will take conditional possession of the prototype Project 28 (P28) system to conduct operational testing following the recent completion of systems verification testing by Boeing. Located near Sasabe, Ariz., P28 is a prototype development of nine towers equipped with radar and communications systems and automated ground sensors linked to a command and control center and monitors in Border Patrol vehicles. For the next 45 days, the Border Patrol will stress the system in an operational setting before fully accepting it from the contractor. P28 testing will contribute to the future design and deployment of technologies at the border.

CBP is also awarding a $64 million task order to the Boeing Company to design, develop and test an upgraded Common Operating Picture software system for Border Patrol command centers and agent vehicles. This will provide the department with an enhanced capability in its effort to secure the border.

and this from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff,

First of all, if you look back on fiscal year 2007, apprehensions at the border were down a little over 20 percent for the fiscal year, which combined with other indicators, strongly demonstrates to us that we are seeing fewer people that are attempting to cross.

One of the metrics, by the way, that kind of suggests we are having an impact on illegal migration is that apparently remittances are down. Remittances, as you know, are the payments that people send back to their home country. And at least some people interpret that as a sign that people are either going back on their own or they're at least prepared to go back and therefore they're beginning to bank more of their money.

We are on pace to double the size of the Border Patrol. We're at about 15,000 or will be at the end of this year, end of the month. And we have also dramatically ramped up interior enforcement efforts. In fiscal year 2006, I think we had about 740 criminal cases. This past fiscal year we were over 800. We doubled the number of fugitives we arrested in the last fiscal year as compared to the prior fiscal year, and that was achieved by increasing the number of teams that go out to apprehend fugitives.

Obviously, a big part of our effort is to give direction to employers and tools to employers to allow them to self-police and make sure that they are properly checking whether their employees have legitimate work status or not. An important part of this effort obviously was to give guidance with respect to No Match letters, which as you know, are letters that tell you that the name and Social Security number don't match what Social Security has in its database. A set of strange bedfellows as plaintiffs, including the ACLU and the Chamber of Commerce, went to court to block this. We have filed an appeal. Also having read the judge's opinion, it seems at least to me that he's actually upheld the basic principles of what we're doing. And if we can make some corrections in the regulation which we are in the process of doing, we may be able to go back to him early next year and say, look, we've addressed your concerns, now lift the sanction.

Let me focus now on fencing. We committed to building 370 miles of pedestrian fence along the Southwest border by the end of the next calendar year, and about 300 miles of vehicle fence. To put that in perspective, that would be a total of about 670 miles of fencing, and it will fence about 90 to 95 percent of the border from the Pacific Ocean to the New Mexico-Texas border. It will also have about 180 miles of fencing, pedestrian and vehicle in Texas.

That means we will, when we get this done, have basically a barrier, either a natural barrier or a man-made barrier across the entirety of the stretch of border from the Pacific Ocean to Texas. And, of course, in Texas, you have the Rio Grande River, which in many places is a barrier in and of itself. That is a big step forward in answering the public outcry to have some protection at the Southwest border.

But there are two caveats to that. First of all, we have to have the money. We do not have appropriations bills yet from Congress. If we don't get the money that we've requested, including some supplemental money that we were seeking, then of course that could impact moving forward on this.

I hope the Democrats will fully fund this if Bush doesn't before he leaves office.

Hey Sam!  I have to agree with you with on the "Mexifornia" comment.  I don't see the republican party making the immigration
laws actually work for this country.  They are going to "sweep this issue under the carpet", and it really irritates me as I feel
this issue should be on the top of the list!  It doesn't seem to me that there's a presidential candidate that actually thinks for themselves.  Is it true that the President is just the puppet?  And if this is true,...who is the puppet master?
Sometimes I wonder if the American people really do get to vote. 
The only candidate that I see so far who has a serious proposal for immigration reform is Obama.  However, this doesn't mean
that I have chosen to vote for him.  (obviously there are many other issues) I am split down the middle, and at this point there's a lot more to learn.