Over Cass'd and Down Under

Down Under and Over Cass’d

May 21, 2010 · Leave a Comment · Edit This

Despite President Obama’s statements in opposition to reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine (at least on broadcasters), it appears his regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein (Information Czar), holds a different take when it comes to the Internet. An uncovered clip from a radio program has found Sunstein declaring:
“Sites from one point of view agree to provide links to other sites so if you are reading a conservative magazine they would provide a link to a liberal site and vice versa…If we could get voluntary arrangements in that direction it would be great. …But the word ‘voluntary’ is a little complicated. Sometimes people don’t do what’s best for our society… And the idea would be to have a legal mandate as the last resort and to make sure it’s as neutral as possible…”
This in effect would entail heavy regulation and enforcement of all content on the Internet, and would be a gross violation of property and First Amendment rights. And why should anyone blindly assume government bureaucrats are neutral enforcers? In effect, this is the Fairness Doctrine for the Internet.
The new push for Net Neutrality centers on subjecting Internet access to Title II of the Communications Act, thereby applying a vague rule preventing “discrimination” to allow the government to manage the way service providers run their networks. By simply tossing the content side of the Internet under Title II as well, one can imagine how this same rule can result in Fairness Doctrine 2.0.
Sunstein’s suggestion should come as no surprise. He recently co-authored the book Nudge, which argues that policies should be designed to “nudge” people into making better choices without full-on coercion. Sunstein says he opposes outright bans or mandates, but if you aren’t forced to read the story, someone will certainly be mandated to put it in front of you. There also appears to be quite a slippery slope (which prompted a fantastic discussion in the Cato Unbound blog last month) from Sunstein’s oxymoronic term “libertarian paternalism” (or “nudging”) to hard paternalism with heavy government involvement.
It’s hardly the first “nudge”. Health care, Financial Reform, Cap & Trade, and the Misinformation about the AZ Immigration Bill.
I guess “nudge” is the new Orwellian term the Liberals have come up with for takeover.
What’s more, Sunstein wants to “legally force” Americans “to do what’s best for our society” and water down their free speech (granted by the US Constitution), by mandating websites with pop-up links to opposing government propaganda be “forcibly included on political blogs.”
ABC,NBC,CBS, CNN,MSDNC, The New York Times, Newsweek, HuffingtonPost,Media Matters, etc are not enough!
Carriers don’t like FCC chairman Julius Genachowski’s “Third Way” proposal for net neutrality because it would bring them under increased regulation by classifying broadband as a “telecommunications service.” Public interest groups generally maintain Gonachowski’s approach would lead to delivery of faster broadband services to more Americans including many who have been shortchanged in rural areas.
So how long before The Internet is a “civil rights” and “social justice” issue and  a right??
It is called the “third way” because the previous two attempts where struck down in court. But since when has that deterred Liberals?
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The Next Liberal line:
“Even if racial profiling is officially banned, the new Arizona law continues to permit non-racially based profiling, such as profiling based on clothing or behavior,” wrote Louis Jacobson of Politifact.com.
“Many legal experts we spoke to saw a hazy, and perhaps unenforceable, line between permissible profiles and illegal ones.”
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Pew Research: Fully 73% say they approve of requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status if police ask for them. Two-thirds (67%) approve of allowing police to detain anyone who cannot verify their legal status, while 62% approve of allowing police to question people they think may be in the country illegally.
After being asked about the law’s provisions, 59% say that, considering everything, they approve of Arizona’s new illegal immigration law while 32% disapprove.
Rasmussen Polls:
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arizona finds that 71% now favor the immigration law, while 24% oppose it.
In late April, the law was supported by 64% of the state’s voters and opposed by 30%
Nationally, 55% of voters favor passage of such a law in their state.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 13% of Adults think Mexico wants to stop illegal immigration. Sixty-seven percent (67%) say Mexico does not want to stop its citizens from
entering the United States illegally. Another 20% are not sure.
Man that’s a lot of Racists!
But the Democrats in Congress give Mexican President Felipe Calderon a Standing Ovation for dissing us and lying about the law!
Calderon: “such laws as the Arizona law that is forcing our people to face discrimination.”
Calderon (2007):  The Mexican government, he said, would continue to “energetically protest unilateral actions” of the U.S. Congress on the immigration front that he said “exacerbate the persecution of undocumented Mexicans in the U.S.”
That’s your “unity” president  and our upstanding neighbor everyone!
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People who know me also know my fondness for Australia.
“We need to improve that level of English if they’re going to stay on and work in Australia,” Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews told ABC radio in 2007.
RACISTS!!!!!

2/8/10: Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans announced Monday several reforms to his country’s immigration policy, including several policy changes aimed at attracting more highly-skilled immigrants to the country.
Criticizing the ongoing trend for new immigrants to enroll for vocational courses for gaining residency, Evans said that Australia would change the current list of 106 skills in demand and review a points test based on qualifications, skills and proficiency in English currently used to assess migrants. He said that the present list will now be replaced by a “more targeted” Skilled Occupations List.
“We had tens of thousands of students studying cookery and accounting and hairdressing because that was on the list and that got them through to permanent residency,” Evans told Australian radio, adding that such courses will no longer be an assured path to permanent residence.
“The current points test puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification gained in Australia ahead of a Harvard-educated environmental scientist,” Evans said.
“We want to make sure we’re getting the high-end applicants,” Evans said, stressing that the changes brought about by the new immigration policies would try to attract more health workers, including more doctors and nurses, as well more qualified professionals in the fields of engineering and mining.
“The new arrangements will give first priority to skilled migrants who have a job to go to with an Australian employer. For those who don’t have an Australian employer willing to sponsor them, the bar is being raised,” Evans said.
“If hospitals are crying out for and willing to sponsor nurses, then of course they should have priority over the 12,000 un-sponsored cooks who have applied and who, if they were all granted visas, would flood the domestic market,” he added.
Evans also pointed out that some 170,000 people applied for living and working permanently in Australia last year alone, when there were just 108,000 vacancies available. He added that all lower-skilled applications lodged before 1st September 2007 would be withdrawn and application fees worth $14 million refunded.
The reforms in Australia’s immigration policy comes in wake of reports that thousands of students from overseas, mainly from Asia, were manipulating the existing system by providing fraud documents to enroll for vocational courses at private Australian colleges, purely to gain residency permits.
So when will Felipe Calderon condemn them?
He won’t, the Illegal Immigrants are Asians!
May 21st, 2010: the same Minister in a Brisbane online paper: “While most Australian employers do the right thing, there is emerging evidence that some are using illegal workers in an organised and criminal way,” he said in a statement.
“If people want to migrate to Australia then they ought to look at the skills needs of Australia and who we are looking to bring in.”
RACISTS!

And just to add salt in the wound: Brazil jumps in
Brazil on Tuesday voiced sharp criticism of the controversial immigration law in the US state of Arizona, as South American nations gathered for a summit expected to also condemn the legislation.
The law “sacrifices the human rights of migrants” by criminalising those in the state without documentation, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Brazil hoped the law would be revised “to avoid violating the rights of millions of foreigners who peacefully live and work in the United States,” it said.(AFP)
Bet they haven’t read it either.
And we, are the Racists!!