LJWorld.com

Kropotkin (Anonymous) says…

I'm delighted that Nile Dilmore has taken the lead on this. He's a clear thinker and a hard worker.

Hopefully, Melvin Neufeld and his fellow members of the Flat Earth Society will be preoccupied in new losing battles over Holcomb, and we'll see some intelligent legislation while they're distracted.

KsTwister (Anonymous) says…

“There is still this myth that is fueling this debate that immigrants are a drain as opposed to an asset,” Blazer said.

Can't wait until they find out what Arizona did. Some myth.

geekin_topekan (Anonymous) says…

Get them lazy a$$ed white boys out into the fields!Be the solution instead of the problem.If all the lettuce picking and burger flippin is sewn up they will quit coming.
“What part of illegal don't they understand?” and “Build the border fence!”
Now,who believes it isn't their responsibility?Business owners?Dont make me laugh.

WilburM (Anonymous) says…

What exactly did AZ “do'? Given that AZ runs on the work of immigrants (legal and not), a “cost-benefit” analysis there would be most useful. Let's not allow facts to get in the way of our precious, preconceived notions.

jaywalker (Anonymous) says…

“There is still this myth that is fueling this debate that immigrants are a drain as opposed to an asset,”

That's a brilliant statement. Immigrants aren't a drain. Illegal ALIENS are!!! Illegals are the base cause for the home construction industry collapse, currently our biggest economic issue. Ask anyone involved in that industry, from loggers to window manufacturers, from realtors to people trying to sell their home, how much of a 'drain' illegals are.

invictus (Anonymous) says…

Who cares if aliens have possitive economic effect, that is not how decisions should be made. But then again this is the same state that is opening three casinos. So kansas should see if it can get a peice of the illegal drug trade, because it would have a positive cash flow, and don't forget about prostitution. The soul of kansas is for sale.

76trombones (Anonymous) says…

So how much will this “Audit” cost us up front before we have any results?

kubacker (Anonymous) says…

Kansas is now the magnet for every illegal that can no long freely take a U.S. citizen's job in az, ok, mo, co and nb.

Shardwurm (Anonymous) says…

Go Katie Sebelius!

Illegal Aliens get in-state tuition now too!

geekin_topekan (Anonymous) says…

Children of illegal aliens, who graduated from a Kansas high school and are actively seeking resident status are allowed in-state tuition.
Big difference.

Godot (Anonymous) says…

This sets quite a precedence; a governor decides whether or not to enforce Federal law based on the economic impact it might have on the state.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

I can't comment, the ljworld will delete my post.

Sorry, I would like to comment and dialouge with you, but my opinions are deemed deletable by the LJWorld staff.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

“Get them lazy a$$ed white boys out into the fields!”

What a racist statment.

This post should be deleted. It is offensive and degrading to white people.

ljreader (Anonymous) says…

Illegal aliens cost the US billions of dollars annually in this way: Their huge families that are born in the US are considered American citizens. We are responsible for providing them with free K-12 education (usually more costly ESL), free school breakfasts and lunches, free medical (including their births), food stamps and anything else an American citizen can get, if eligible.
Their family sizes seem to be based upon not what they can afford, but on what the they percieve the American taxpayers can afford.
I wonder if the cost analysis will consider these expenses since technically the children are not immigrants.
Still, there is the cost of lost jobs, lowered wages, and incarceration for crimes other than entering and working here illegally.
California has the largest population of illegal aliens. They also are suffering an 8 billion dollar budget gap this yr. Data shows that after the taxes they pay, the state is still left holding at least a 9 billion dollar cost annually.

max1 (Anonymous) says…

“illegals are the base cause for the home construction industry collapse” -jaywalker

That's a stretch!
Cheap labor gave homebuilders larger profit margins, so please explain how that brought the construction industry down?

http://newsok.com/article/3220825/120650…
Oklahoma's tough anti-illegal immigration law could slash the state's economic output by $1.8 billion in the measure's first year as it drives away thousands of foreign-born workers, according to a study. The study released Tuesday estimated that if 50,000 foreign-born workers — about half of all immigrant workers — flee the state because of House Bill 1804, it would cause a 1.3 percent reduction in Oklahoma's gross state product in the first year.
The study's authors, partners Russell Evans and Kyle Dean, said the law is designed to encourage illegal aliens to leave the state. But those workers' departure will prompt others who are legally in the state to leave, as well, Evans said.
Evans said only anecdotal evidence exists that foreign-born workers are leaving the state. Beverage said bankers have told him of at least three businesses that suffered dire consequences when their labor supply disappeared after HB 1804 took effect.

http://blogs.chron.com/immigration/archi…
Oklahoma illegal immigration law will cost state big
Oklahoma Bankers Association commissioned a study that says the state's tough anti-illegal immigration law will result in $1.8 billion in economic losses.
The projection is based on 50,000 workers, both documented and undocumented, leaving Oklahoma, causing a 1.3 percent reduction in the gross state product over the next few years.

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

Rid the country of the illegals and there are more jobs and opportunities for native born citizens. That is a good thing. Why is that so hard for the politicians to understand?

geekin_topekan (Anonymous) says…

For the reasons I just suggested numbknuts.If our American labor force saw a future in picking lettuce and flippin burgers they would have been jumping at every opportunity available.And there may be,I dont know.
But instead of excusing yourselves from any responsibilty toward your country and the economy by leaving it to lawmakers and complaining on line.Take action.
That is a-c-t-i-o-n,not complain and do nothing.
Now hit them bricks.I know DeSoto McD is hiring.

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

Geek:

I did not complain, all I did was ask a simple rhetorical question. Anyway, one doesn't have to work a menial job in order to effectively fight against illegal immigration. I contribute plenty to the effort, believe me. Anyway, I like my day job just fine. It pays quite a bit better than picking lettuce and the working conditions are more to my liking.

Vast majorities of Americans have been screaming at the pols to rid the country of the illegal hordes, but so far the national politicians are either a. in bed with the business interests that love an overabundance of labor, especially illegal labor they can exploit, or b. enamored of the potential votes that allowing illegals to continue to pollute the countryside gets them. Local pressure is where it is at & that is where the efforts should be directed. I am in favor of and support just about as strict and as punitive measures as you can dream up.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

“Jesse Helms was against the Civil Rights movement, and believed the old 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson “separate but equal” doctrine was just fine. So yes, Jesse loved black people, just as long as they stayed at the back of the bus.”

You know who else believes that Blacks should be seperatedly educated in 2008?

Jeremiah Wright at the Press club.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

geekintopekan said:

“For the reasons I just suggested numbknuts”

I think this post should be deleted. numbknutz is another world for “idiot”

LJWorld moderator numbknutz should wake the heck up. We can't have language like that.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

You pro illegal alien “deniers” are really gonna hurl when this report comes back and shows just how much it costs. The study in Oklahoma is biased. There is no way a population of 25,000 low skilled workers of houskeepers, landscapers, day laborers, and fast food attendants had a $1.5 billion dollar effect on the economy. If that is true, then the $1.5 billion for the 25,000 that left means that they earned $60,000 for ***every man woman and child** that left. That is the equivalent of $240,000 per household of 4, and there is no way you can make that at minimum wage. SO that study is baised!! There is no way these people had a net effect of $60,000, and if they did where is that tax money?

And if they did make that kind of money in Oklahoma, don't you think that the citizens of Oklahoma (or Kansas for that matter) deserve $240,000 for a household of 4?? Where are all you “living wage” people???????

Do the math people, stop just accepting these bogus “studies” ad “fact”

You have a brain, use it. If the study came from an Immgration rights group, it is probably suspect!!!!!!

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

Becasue I had a family member killed by a drunk illelgal alien, with 6 warrents, and 2 deporetation orders.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

Clear enough idiot? You unfeeling putz! I guess it is OK to “feel” for the illegal aliens, but a legal citizen that was killed and their family, well it is clear you don't “feel”
for them.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

Oh, and BTW, that is not a “racist” stance, it has nothing to do with race. Just because you assigne it in your little mind, does not make it so.

It is a matter of “legality” and those people coming here illegally and killing our people need to go.

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

watch your BP.

jaywalker (Anonymous) says…

max1 (Anonymous) says…

“illegals are the base cause for the home construction industry collapse” -jaywalker

“That's a stretch!
Cheap labor gave homebuilders larger profit margins, so please explain how that brought the construction industry down”

You almost answered your own question right there, Max. And there's no doubt home builders greed has a lot to do with it, though builders reaping larger profits has nothing to do with the industry collapse. The collapse is due to over-build. Without the millions of illegals that poured across the borders specifically for those jobs in the housing industry this country would not be grossly over-built right now, the 'bubble' would never have burst let alone get so inflated, mortgage companies wouldn't have been handing out loans to so many that couldn't afford them, etc. etc.
Believe me, I've been in the industry for more than ten years now. I luckily saw the writing on the wall 4 years ago and diversified my repair biz in order to withstand the inevitable collapse. Unfortunately it's even worse than I imagined, and that coupled with rising fuel costs has me looking to switch careers (mobile work force).
I'm all for anyone who wants to come here to do so, but it has to be done legally. I've worked with and around these men for years. They often live 10 to an apartment and send more than half of their money back home, don't pay taxes, and don't assimilate into society for fear of being discovered and deported.
The bottom line is they're the base cause of this collapse because our 'leaders' didn't stop the flood. If builders had to rely on tax paying citizens to work the industry this never would have happened. I don't blame the illegals for wanting and working the jobs, heck, they work harder than most Americans. But we're up crapola creek without a paddle and the home industry is far reaching, so many millions wrapped up in it and scrambling to keep up.

toe (Anonymous) says…

What a stupid audit. This is an abuse of the post audit function to support political propaganda. These post auditors should be disbanded and the money used to fund the tourism office. Oh, and you can get rid of the city auditor too.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

So it is fine for all the people to call me a racist bigot.

IS that the case Mods?

It is OK to verbally abuse “conservatives” on the LJWorld blogs?

Is that your “policy”?

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

Maybe “conservatives” are responsible for their own abuse. Do you deny W is an idiot?

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

beobachter,

You send me another harassing email I will forward it to the FTC for “any harassing email” sent. It is illegal, and a reason why people like you want to “talk the talk” of a liberal, but you are a harassing, bully, and not a very nice person.

If you want to say stuff like that, have the “sand” to say it here.

This is so far off the “Bush derangement syndrome” that I have ever seen.

Do you really think you are “all that”?

Do not send me another email like that you punk, elsewise I will get legally “down your throat”.

Got it!

Mods get it toghther! What kind of a board are you running here??

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

where oh where is your response? Oh racist one.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

This is the last emails I received from “beobachter”, remember the following is what this loser sent me:

“hey, a******. want to name call and swap ideas and insults, try ksobserver@yahoo.com. That is assuming you aren't as big as idiot as I think?”

And:

“Sure that FTC gives a damn whether or not I call you a racist and an a*******. the fact you lack the balls to defend your ideas without begging for help tells me all I need to know. Talk to Marion about how I called him on his BS threats that that sound very much like yours. Fact is you are a racist a******. End of story.

want to discuss this, easy
ksobserver@yahoo.com

you're as gutless as all conservatives are”

This is the threats that Beo sends out as emails.

I will forward these to the ljworld. and have already forwarded them the the harrassment department.

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

thanks for joke, needed the laugh. By the way, what is the harrrassment department? Please define the threats you alleged received.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

The harassment of the internet service provider at the top of all the emails sent out. And also to your yahoo email account.

I think everyone in Laqwrence knows what kind of person you are now.

you are a “Keyboard tough guy”! rotflmao!

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

ass*y, you've yet to refute my contentions.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

You do realize that emailed harassment calling someone a “racist” and other things is “hate speech” and the internet and the phone are both governed by the Federal Government?

You do know that don't you?

You do know that threatening or hate speech in “documentation form” is pretty damning evidence, and it is a lower grade felony?

You do know that right?

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

When and where did you get you law degree? And in what states are you licensed to practice? Please provide statutes that define hate speech and under the circumstances where they are applicable? Also courts have ruled that name calling is not hate speech. So the fact that I think you are racist is not actionable in court. Seems you have a problem with anyone not agreeing with your ignorance.

beobachter (Anonymous) says…

ass*y, please define the threats. Thru for night. Please get your BP under control. Would not want anyone to have health problems due to a simple forum exchange of ideas and opinions.

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

“Sure that FTC gives a damn whether or not I call you a racist and an a*******. the fact you lack the balls to defend your ideas without begging for help tells me all I need to know. Talk to Marion about how I called him on his BS threats that that sound very much like yours. Fact is you are a racist a******. End of story.

want to discuss this, easy
ksobserver@yahoo.com

you're as gutless as all conservatives are”

max1 (Anonymous) says…

“The collapse is due to over-build.” -jaywalker

If homebuilders were so stupid that they built beyond demand, then that is their own fault, but that wasn't the case — there was a constant demand because mortgage lenders were giving loans to anyone who had a pulse, and the Fed compounded the problem by lowering interest rates to save Bush's butt.
Oddly enough, the housing industry in Wichita is thriving (largely because of immigration), but it is hurting here in Lawrence where immigration is slow or nonexistent.

http://www.hispanictips.com/2006/08/20/h…
Hispanics drive Wichita’s population growth in Kansas
The Trejo family is among the nearly 10,000 Hispanics who have moved into the city [Wichita] since 2000, according to U.S. Census numbers released last week.

June 28, 2008
http://www.kansas.com/business/retail/st…
Wichita area's housing inventories remain nearly constant: Four months' worth of homes, compared with nine or 10 months' worth at the national level. Houses around $100,000 are selling quickly, some in just a handful of days. The luxury home market — $500,000 and up — also continues to prosper.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008…
Saline County, Kan., is a vivid example of the impact new Hispanic residents can have on a community… 'County officials say employers at manufacturing plants in the county need workers. Often, Hispanic immigrants fit the bill. They work at the Tony's Pizza frozen-foods plant or the Exide Technologies battery plant or the Philips Lighting plant. “A lot of local companies either wouldn't be here or wouldn't have expanded the way they have,” says Don Merriman, county clerk and elections officer. “Philips Lighting would've gone overseas. Young Saline County natives don't usually stick around. “The majority are going off to school someplace, and we don't see them come back,” Merriman says.

Kansas Population, census 2000: 2,688,418
Kansas Population, 2006 estimate: 2,764,075
Total Change: 75,657
Change for White persons not Hispanic: +8,668
Change for Hispanic or Latino origin: +49,458

ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…

Geex Max, could you take the Wichita Housing Market strory more out of context?

here is the story folks:

http://www.kansas.com/business/retail/st…

and the Title is “Local Housing Sales Soften”, and Maxy make it sound like it is expanding.

“Wichita home sales remained soft in April as buyers and sellers wary of economic setbacks stayed out of the market, analysts said Friday.

Residential sales fell to four-year April lows at 903 but were up 23 from March.

Meanwhile, new residential listings were up almost 200 from March at 1,479, but again at four-year lows..”

“It appears that buyers and sellers are staying out of the market,” said Stan Longhofer, director of Wichita State University's Center for Real Estate.”

and your “hispanictips site is no longer active since 2006, and very much is a “”2006”” story, and not relevant in 2008 where 80% of the population is sick of illegal immigration.

max1 (Anonymous) says…

“Geex Max, could you take the Wichita Housing Market strory more out of context?
here is the story folks:” -asbestos
Jun. 28, 2008
http://www.kansas.com/business/retail/st…
Meanwhile, new residential listings [in Wichita] were up almost 200 from March at 1,479, But Again At Four-Year Lows..
Despite the softness, the Wichita area's housing inventories remain nearly constant: Four months' worth of homes, compared with nine or 10 months' worth at the national level.

January 27, 2008
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan/27…
Building bust
Construction slowdown forces area builders to redirect energy
“I’m down to one employee,” said Hope, owner of Jack Hope Design Build, which had 17 employees just two years ago. “I’ve reduced the size of my company down to me.” … Some builders have gotten out of the business.
Sid Ziegler … figures that enough new homes are already on the market to meet demand for the next year, at current rates. Then again, he said, today’s inventory might not have lasted three months during the market’s height in 2004.

max1 (Anonymous) says…

http://www.kansas.com/business/retail/st…
Key words: new residential listings [in Wichita] … At Four-Year Lows … Four months' worth of homes

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jan/27…
Key words: enough new homes are already on the market [in Lawrence] to meet demand for the next year

max1 (Anonymous) says…

January 22, 2007
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/jan/22…
[Lawrence] Housing market downsizes
“The $200,000 to $400,000 market has taken some licks this year,” Buhler said. “Oversupply is part of it. You are seeing a lot of homes in that price range that are being shown that are vacant.”

June 28, 2008
http://www.kansas.com/business/retail/st…
The luxury home market — $500,000 and up — also continues to prosper [in Wichita].

jaywalker (Anonymous) says…

Max:

If homebuilders were so stupid that they built beyond demand, then that is their own fault, but that wasn't the case — there was a constant demand because mortgage lenders were giving …..

All due respect, Max, but the over build is exactly what's happened. I've read about population booms and boons for certain industries in Kansas due to illegals. If the housing market is still active there it is a very isolated occurence. Around the majority of the country noone's building. Atlanta has more than 100,000 new homes for sale, most of them sitting for more than a year now. Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa - new homes sitting in unfinished subdivisions everywhere, nothing new being built for more than a year. It's like that everywhere. That IS over build.
And you put the cart before the horse. People shop for a house they like and THEN go get a loan, not the other way around. The mortgage companies are guilty in the foreclosure crisis we're going through, but their role in the housing collapse is more indirect.
One more time, you couldn't have built these thousands upon thousands of homes unless you had an endless supply of illegals flooding the job force. Without the workers, the homes don't get built, the market isn't glutted, there's no collapse……..

bd (Anonymous) says…

The problem is that we have created a welfare society , if we force all of the able bodied welfare people to work, there would be hardly any jobs for the illegals!

jaywalker (Anonymous) says…

bd,
While I agree with you to an extent there is still the problem of actually getting those 'able-bodied' to show up for work, much less work. I've been involved with home construction for a long time and had friends that were in the industry before I was. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to a builder who struggled to get a crew of 5 white/black men to show up five days a week. In fact, one friend of mine's boss actually tried to give out moderate bonuses to the men if they had 'perfect attendance' for a month and he gave out 4 bonuses after an entire year! That's why the builders went ballistic when illegals flooded the industry. In many areas the city would have to institute curfews for when construction could start and end, usually 7am to 7pm, because hispanic crews would work past midnight laying concrete, throwing up trusses, etc. Until they passed that law in the Atlanta area it was not uncommon to see a crew working by the headlights of their trucks and vans. We used to have that sort of work ethic in this country, not any more.

kansasman678 (Anonymous) says…

Every American business owner cry s about how bad they need cheap labor lets not for get the South before they became part of America the had slaves that worked for FREE !!!!!! American business are looked at as criminals
in most of the world from sweat shops to forced labor of small children of India and china !!

save america by buying foreign non us products

its SAD to see pro illegal supporters justify breaking American laws and using the Race card every chance they get yet they are too Stupid to understand that being in any country illegally is a crime !!! Lets blame all white people For The failures of all of South America and Mexico ..

They Demand Chang not in there Country's but in America its far easer to call everyone a racist then to stop Drug Dealing Government Officials in there own Country's