Formerly Homeless Mother Running for Sheriff to Stop Home Foreclosures

by: ArgusFest

Thu Aug 25, 2011 at 15:45:52 PM MST

Poor people's advocate Cheri Honkala is running on the Green Party ticket for Sheriff of Philadelphia in order to "Keep Families in Their Homes".  If elected she will stop all all foreclosure evictions and home sales by the sheriff's office in Philadelphia. She is also refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is working with Take Back Vacant Land to establish Community Land Trusts giving neighborhoods direct democratic control over vacant land in their communities.

The 2004 Green Party Presidential Nominee David Cobb called Cheri "a long-distance runner for social justice" and said "I think Cheri's campaign can become the "signature" national electoral campaign for progressives of all stripes in 2011".  Honkala founded the national Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and has organized numerous street demonstrations as well as reclaiming and occupying vacant homes for poor families in need of housing. Cheri has been arrested over 200 times while fighting for the rights of the poor and homeless. Front Line Defenders named her one of the most endangered activists in America.  

The Democrat and Republican in the Philadelphia Sheriff's race are running on the standard view of the office, enforcing foreclosures and transporting prison inmates to and from courtrooms. Honkala however has taken a bolder position.  She wants to radically change the office from a tool for the financial industry into an defender of the people.

Let's face it, we no longer live in a Democratic Republic anymore. Regardless who is in office (Democrat or Republican) policy is really being dictated by unelected corporations and banks. Our economic and ecological realities continue to deteriorate every year and yet we continue to be bamboozled by the political managers of discontent rather than true change makers. Honkala's vision of a reconfigured role of a "People's Sheriff" is about creating real change and should be of interest not only in Philadelphia but across the country. ~Jason Bosch

Cheri just gave the keynote address (along with Tom Hayden) at the Democracy Convention in Madison, Wisconsin

Here's a video about some work Cheri was doing with the Homeless Power Project in Nashville back in 2007.

Follow the campaign at
www.cherihonkala.com
www.facebook.com/cheri4sheriff
twitter @cheri4sheriff

With 14th Amendment And Radical Republicans Everything Old Is New Again

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 06:15:39 AM MST

As with the 51Park Islamic Community Center they see this as a good wedge issue to whip up their fear addicted base and get them out the polls. This might seem like a new tactic, but like all Radical Republican ideas it is just a case of everything old is new again. The Congress has had hearings on the issue, way back in the mists of time, in 1995 and 1997, just after Radical Republicans had taken control of the Congress. Scott Wong over at Politico brought this to light.  

Rand Paul to abolish Section 1 of 14th Amendment, ending birthright citizenship

by: MinistryOfTruth

Fri May 28, 2010 at 09:29:17 AM MST

That is why it was no surprise to me to learn today that Rand Paul told a Russian journalist that he opposes birth citizenship as protected under the 14th Amendment, or, as Russel Pearce calls it "anchor babies".

   We're the only country I know of that allows people to come in illegally have a baby and then that baby becomes a citizen. And I think that should stop also.

thinkprogress.org

Yeah, that's called the Section 1 of the 14th Amendment

More below the fold.

Andrew Romanoff is consistent on immigration reform

by: Andrea Merida

Wed May 26, 2010 at 22:16:37 PM MST

One reason I ran for the Denver Board of Education was to ensure that our Latino youth can not only recite the U.S. Constitution, but also understand it on a deep, intrinsic level. I want for them to embrace it as I do, to wield it as the sword of justice to defend the rights of all, not just Latinos.

Our responsibility as adults, therefore, is to ensure that our youth are armed with truth. So it was with great dismay that I read in a recent issue of Denver's bilingual newspaper, El Semanario, that, "Youth called out legislators who have worked to enact laws...which are discriminatory by nature, including Andrew Romanoff who had voted against in-state tuition for children of undocumented immigrants."

I can't help beating a dead horse: Romanoff, Immigration, Arizona

by: magpie

Wed May 05, 2010 at 13:10:56 PM MST

In 2006, I thought the Dems and Romanoff did the right (bad) thing.  They passed bad legislation, so the extremists wouldn't pass worse legislation.  Polly Baca is clinging to that past and future for Romanoff:

Colorado then would have been Arizona now, without Democrats blocking the worst, Baca said.

But really...

Growing up Illegal in Colorado

by: Sarah Stern

Tue May 04, 2010 at 23:21:51 PM MST

From New Era News

Edgar Niebla, 27, attended public school in Basalt, Colorado from 3rd grade through his high school graduation in 2000. As a teenager, he was active in his church youth group and other school groups. His dream has always been to work in law enforcement. Niebla graduated from the police academy and is certified to be a police officer in Colorado.

At 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 28, Niebla was awoken by his crying mother and told, "The police are here for you."

The ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers were not there as co-workers, or to offer him his dream job. Instead, they were there to enforce the law upon him.

His crime: growing up in the United States, but having been born in Culiacán, Mexico.

Is The AZ Law Racist? Ask The Irish

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Mon May 03, 2010 at 06:47:41 AM MST

The thing is that it does. There an estimated 12 million informal immigrants in the United States today. When many people hear that they think of a brown hoard of folks who speak Spanish and come from places like Mexico or Guatemala or Honduras. Just like most race based images they are wrong. At last estimate more than 10% of those 12 million are not brown skinned, they are not from places to our south, and they are actually from Europe.  

NeoNazi/AZ GOP link exposed through Racist Immigration Law. Where the hell is the media on this?

by: MinistryOfTruth

Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 11:39:39 AM MST

And here is J.T. Ready (Left) with Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, the author of the new Arizona police state "show me your papers" law, who has his own history of ties to Neo Nazi white supremacist groups.

In most states being seen publicly with a Nazi would ruin your political career. In most states you would be shunned by your political party. But not in Arizona, and not in the Republican party.

WTF?

More below the fold

Romanoff Denounces Arizona Immigration Law

by: Romanoff for Colorado

Tue Apr 27, 2010 at 13:26:27 PM MST

"The passage of Senate Bill 1070 marks a terrifying turn of events, not only for Arizona but for the United States as a whole.  Anyone who lives in or visits Arizona may now be stopped if a law-enforcement official has "reasonable suspicion" to believe that he or she is unlawfully present.

As the son and grandson of immigrants - and as an American - I am outraged by this decision.  Arizona's new law invites racial profiling and puts police officers themselves in an impossible position, by requiring them, in effect, to violate the rights of people they are sworn to protect.

This law is unwise, unsafe and unconstitutional.  Indeed, it is un-American.

Arizona's action cannot stand:

(1)   Today I ask the U.S. Department of Justice to file for injunctive relief in federal court to prohibit the enforcement of the Arizona statute.

(2)   I urge the Attorney General to dispatch a legal team to Arizona to defend the Constitutional rights of those affected by this reckless law.

(3)   I call on Congress to replace Arizona's misguided effort with federal action - now long overdue.

VETO Arizona's SB 1070

by: Fong

Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 00:10:08 AM MST

I would also like to note the acronym GIITEM for Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission.

From the fact sheet:

1. Requires a reasonable attempt to be made to determine the immigration status of a person during any legitimate contact made by an official or agency of the state or a county, city, town or political subdivision (political subdivision) if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the U.S...

5.Allows a law enforcement officer, without a warrant, to arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the U.S...

7.Disallows officials or agencies of the state or political subdivisions from adopting or implementing policies that limit immigration enforcement to less than the full extent permitted by federal law, and allows a person to bring an action in superior court to challenge an official or agency that does so...

8. Requires the court, if there is a judicial finding that an entity has committed a violation, to order any of the following:

  a)that the plaintiff recover court costs and attorney fees;

  b)that the defendant pay a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 for each day that the policy has remained in effect after the filing of the action.

9. Requires the court to collect and remit the civil penalty to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), which must establish a special subaccount for the monies in the account established for the Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission GIITEM appropriation.

14.Directs the person to pay jail costs and an additional assessment of at least $500 for the first violation or at least $1,000 for subsequent offenses...

18.Specifies that it is unlawful, if a motor vehicle is stopped on a street, roadway or highway and blocks or impedes the normal movement of traffic:

  a)for a motor vehicle occupant to attempt to hire or hire and pick up passengers for work at a different location;

  b)for a person to enter the motor vehicle in order to be hired by a motor vehicle occupant and to be transported to work at a different location...

29.  States that it is not entrapment for law enforcement officers or their agents merely to use a ruse or to conceal their identities

30.  Directs employers to keep verification records of their employees' work eligibility through E-Verify.

31.Establishes a class 3 felony for failing to:

  a)verify employment eligibility through E-Verify or

  b)keep records of verifications...

Arizona passes Birther Law, takes early lead in "Dumbest State of the Year" competition

by: MinistryOfTruth

Tue Apr 20, 2010 at 19:14:58 PM MST

   I wonder when the Arizona State legislature will change the state nickname from "The Grand Canyon State" to "The Orly Taitz State"?

   The Arizona House on Monday voted for a provision that would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state's ballot when he runs for reelection. The House voted 31-22 to add the provision to a separate bill. The measure still faces a formal vote.

   It would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president. Phoenix Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema said the bill is one of several measures that are making Arizona "the laughing stock of the nation." Mesa Republican Rep. Cecil Ash said he has no reason to doubt Obama's citizenship but supports the measure because it could help end doubt.

thinkprogress.org

    Seriously, how can America survive when the majority of entire State Legislatures are this stupid?

More FAIL below the fold

Welcoming Colorado launches statewide public education and media campaign

by: Chandra

Tue Apr 06, 2010 at 10:16:35 AM MST