I don’t understand how anyone can claim that this comprehensive immigration bill promotes security first. In 2006 over 800 miles of fence was approved but as of May 2007, all we have is claims to build it. The proponents of this immigration bill talk about 370 miles of fence being built as one of the triggers for the amnesty portion. However, the bill gives every illegal a provisional visa the day that the bill is signed. There can never be another foot of fence built and all the current illegals will have their visa and there will be nothing to stop the next 20 million from coming. The main leverage that we have is that we need the fence built before anything else happens. We are all too familiar with the politics as usual especially concerning immigration. The only way to get real reform is one step at a time. The first step is to stop the flow coming in before trying to solve the problem with the ones that are already here.

I am against the “comprehensive” immigration bill that was released over the weekend. I don’t know why those in Washington think the rest of America wants a quick fix to major a problem. As with many other problems that we face politicians think all they have to do is pass a bill and then we will forget about it. The only thing comprehensive about this bill is how it will further wreck our society. Magically making the “illegal immigrants” into legal immigrants does not change things. The border will still be open, enforcement minimal and the problem will grow. How many illegal aliens will there be next time 30 million or more? The first step in stopping the illegal immigrant problem is to secure our border. Last year Congress approved 854 miles of fence. This bill gives amnesty to all of those after 370 miles are built. We all know that after that first 370 is built and amnesty kick in the remaining 484 miles will never be built until 20-30 years from now Americans start complaining about the “new” illegal problem. Additionally, we need more border patrol agents now incrementally over the next 6 years. This bill authorizes more border patrol agents, we currently have plenty of authorization what is needed is the funds to train and hire more agents and the will by the bureaucracy to use them. Just last week it was revealed that 3 of the terrorists that were planning on attacking Fort Dix entered the US illegally across our Southern border. Does anyone seriously think that 370 miles of fence and an authorization is going to solve that problem? Lastly I disagree with the amnesty portion of this bill. These people have broken our laws already. They do not deserve citizenship. Everyone is D.C. is saying this is not amnesty because they have to pay a fine. They have broken laws to get here and should not therefore qualify for citizenship. There is no other way to describe this provision but amnesty. There has been a lot of smoke the past few days trying to convince us that this is not amnesty and that it is tough on border security. Just the opposite is true the security is a farce (I want my 854 miles of fence) and amnesty for all takers.

Bob Schaffer announced on Saturday at the Boulder County Lincoln Day Dinner. Mr. Schaffer filed paperwork earlier in the week with the Federal Election Commission. I think that Bob Schaffer will be an excellent candidate. I see it as a good sign that many liberal sources are already saying that Bob Schaffer is to Conservative for Colorado. Pat Waak, the Colorado Democratic Party Chair, says that “there is a real contrast in values here between Mark Udall and Bob Schaffer”. That is good because Mark Udall represents one of the most Liberal districts in Colorado. Bob is one of the best politicians we have had in Colorado in the last 10-15 years. Conservative Republicans need to get behind Bob and focus on keeping Wayne Allard’s Senate seat in the red.

The race for the open Colorado Senate seat is beginning to take shape. Democrat Mark Udall, the five-term representative from CO 2^nd District filed papers on April 17, 2007. He brings with him about $1.3 million from his 2006 House campaign that was not spent. This gives him an early lead in money without any primary challengers. Look for a lot of money coming in from outside the state as Democrats target this seat to expand their narrow Senate majority. For Republicans things are still open. The only things known are who is not going to run: Wayne, Scott McInnis, Bill Owens and John Elway. There is speculation that Bob Schaffer is probably going to get in and that John Suthers is considering running.

My personal favorite is Bob Schaffer. Mr. Schaffer did a supreme job representing Colorado’s 4^th Congressional District from 1997-2003 when he kept his campaign promise and term limited himself. The former Congressman is a true conservative and will do a fine job as representing Colorado in the U.S. Senate. I hope Republicans don’t make the mistake of trying to nominate a moderate again hoping that will be more “electable” as they did in 2004. Lets get behind a good candidate like Bob Schaffer from the beginning and keep Colorado in the Red.

An early indication of the difficulty of electing a conservative to the 4^th district again showed up at the end of last week. The Fort Collins Coloradoan reported that White House advisers list Representative Marilyn Musgrave as the 5^th most vulnerable Republican congressional seat. Given the close race Rep. Musgrave had in 2006 I would expect that 2008 will be very hotly contested. We can expect that Rep. Musgrave will probably be able to raise more money than the Democrat opponent, but the “527” groups funded by billionaire Pat Stryker will probably eclipse any money that Rep. Musgrave can raise on her own. Therefore it is critical to have a grassroots effort to campaign for Rep. Musgrave this time around. We really need to see Rep. Musgrave focus on the issues important to conservative voters here in the fourth district.

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