WyBlog

Happy New Year American college students! Obama just gave your first job to a foreigner

Are you an American citizen college student about to graduate and look for a job in business, design, medicine, programming, engineering, or science? Your president just screwed you out of your first job.

Aren't you glad you voted for him?

The foreign graduates typically get entry-level jobs that would otherwise go to new U.S. business graduates, designers, doctors, programmers, engineers and scientists. Also, the foreign graduates are used to replace mid-level American professionals once they seek mid-career pay-raises to help pay for mortgages and child-rearing.

The incentive is, of course, money. It's currently cheaper to hire foreigners.

The policy will allow U.S. employers to hire foreign college graduates at very low salaries. The foreign graduates will gladly take those low-wage white-collar jobs because the new policy allows them to get deferred payments from the federal government — valuable permanent work-permits that are the first step on the golden pathway to Green Cards and citizenship.

So, who has a plan to rescind this attack on Americans looking to find their first good-paying job? Not Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, even though the kids most affected by Obama's new policy are enamored with one or both of them.

Nope, it's Ted Cruz.

A new bill co-sponsored by longtime reformer Sen. Jeff Sessions and GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz would not only restore U.S. worker protections in the flawed H-1B program, but would also prevent "continued use of the non-statute-based Optional Practical Training (OPT) Program, and the creation and use of other similar programs, which have also been used to displace American workers under the guise of student training."

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee kids, which should be easy since you're probably working, or hanging out at Starbucks. Obama and the Democrats don't have your best interests at heart. But hey, if you want to keep voting for them, just remember that you'll have to learn how to say "do you want fries with that."

Happy New Year.

Posted at 11:35 by Chris Wysocki   [/immigration]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Finally, someone found 3 things Hillary Clinton actually accomplished!

How do you stump a liberal? Ask her to name one of Hillary Clinton's accomplishments.

Even Her Royal Majesty herself had trouble answering that one!

So as a public service, and with thanks to our friends at Independent Journal and Washington Examiner, here for your edification are 3 bona fide Hillary Clinton accomplishments.

Skip the election and move right on to the coronation!

Because, with a record like that, it's a wonder she hasn't already been elevated to sainthood.

Three bills enacted, out of 713. That's a meaty .0042 percent batting average baseball fans. Real major league potential, eh?

Oh, but she also paved the way to bring peace to Syria, so there's that.

You're welcome.

Posted at 12:42 by Chris Wysocki   [/election]   Comments | Perm Link |
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NJ Education Commissioner overrides NJSIAA's anti-Catholic sports segregation scheme

Earlier this month New Jersey's governing body for high school sports voted to segregate all the Catholic schools into their own state-wide conference, preventing them from competing with any public school teams. According to the NJSIAA the policy was needed to promote "fairness," because a handful of the Catholic schools are too good at football or wrestling.

Yesterday, Education Commissioner David Hespe disagreed.

In other words, the new policy was blatantly discriminatory, and designed to disadvantage student athletes attending Catholic high schools. Ergo, it cannot stand.

This is a tremendous victory for common sense and actual fairness.

The vast majority of Catholic high schools do not field elite sport teams. These schools have amicably competed with their local public counterparts for decades, and a policy which sequesters them into seeking out only other Catholic opponents would wreak havoc with students' lives, sending them potentially dozens of miles from home to venues far and wide in order to participate in sports programs.

The public schools are peeved because they're restricted to accepting students from a defined geographic area, ie the local town or school district. Catholic schools don't enforce arbitrary restrictions, so the "competitive balance" factor is trotted out to blame them for enrolling students from what could be a larger talent pool.

It's a problem that universal school choice would solve in the first 15 minutes of its implementation. But school choice would take power away from the urban teachers unions, and in New Jersey nothing can ever be done if the unions aren't on board. So, school choice is a non-starter.

The result is that the public schools will keep dreaming up schemes to make attending Catholic school less attractive, on the assumption that the students will then "come home." How that is good for the students is, sadly, unclear.

Thankfully we have in David Hespe an educator who is unwilling to countenance discrimination. I applaud him for reversing this blatant attempt at creating a Catholic athletic ghetto, and I pray that our state's student athletes will continue to freely compete in a spirit of fair play.

Posted at 12:44 by Chris Wysocki   [/education]   Comments | Perm Link |
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More than ten percent of your income is going to Obamacare

It's the stealth tax that's crippling our economy.

So, if you've been wondering where all your money is going, wonder no more.

The law that promised to reduce our costs has instead inflated them beyond anything we could have imagined. Premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and overall health care spending continue to escalate faster than ever, piling increase upon increase, with no relief in sight. This, of course, on top of the tax hikes needed to subsidize Obamacare for the Taker class so they'll keep on voting Democrat.

Which only means we'll see more stories like this one, describing how average Americans can't afford to use their mandatory health insurance.

Oh, but Lena Dunham and her feminut slut sisters get "free" birth control, so there's that.

Happy New Year, from Obamacare. Now pay up, sucker!

Posted at 14:30 by Chris Wysocki   [/obamacare]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Merry Christmas from Chez WyBlog

Your ugly Christmas sweater is illogical.

But, it is interesting.

Here's a pro-tip for new parents. Leave Santa cookies and beer, he'll stop at your house first next year!

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite Christmas movie is, I always say, "Die Hard."

Well, except for Charlie Brown, of course. I don't know about you, but this scene still moves me, even in my old age.

So, to all of you I say, may your Christmas be merry and bright, and may Almighty God bless you on this holy day, and throughout the new year.

Posted at 14:55 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   Comments | Perm Link |
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If only she meant it: Hillary Clinton has an amazing plan to close every public school in America

Yesterday Hillary Clinton told supporters in Iowa she'll close all the "below average" public schools.

The math nerd in me immediately recognized her logical fallacy, recursion!

"Eventually we'll be left with one, very good school, where students will learn the ways this is similar to and different from Zeno's paradox. But this school, too, will have to be closed, because it will comprise the average on its own, and no school that isn't doing better than average can stay open."

Hey, nobody ever said Democrats were good at math.

But, boy oh boy, wouldn't it be great if Hillary actually followed through? No more public schools! No more unionized public school teachers! No more funneling of millions of dollars in union dues into Democratic Party coffers! Not to mention, real school choice! What's not to like?

Maybe President Cruz can consult with her after he abolishes the Department of Education. Bipartisanship at its finest!

A guy can dream, right?

Posted at 14:48 by Chris Wysocki   [/education]   Comments | Perm Link |
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NJ legislature enacts a plan to mandate a state-run private sector pension fund

Because nothing says "freedom" quite like a mandatory retirement contribution automatically deducted from your paycheck, and invested by the same bozos who can't keep the public employee pension system solvent.

A name that would make Orwell proud — Secure "Choice" — for a plan that is mandatory.

Thanks John Roberts. Now that the government can force us at gunpoint to buy health insurance, mandating a retirement savings plan is the next logical step for the perpetual nanny state. Why let people decide what's best for themselves when there are omnipotent bureaucrats ready to do our thinking for us?

The program, which would take effect within two years of its passage, would be administered by a seven-member board of officials from the governor's administration and appointees by the Senate president and Assembly speaker. Total investment and administrative fees could not exceed 0.6 percent of the fund balance, under the bill.

Anybody wanna lay odds on George Norcross being appointed by our esteemed Senate president?

Hello slush fund!

Translation? We're going to "invest" your money, and if we lose it all, tough.

The cynic in me says it's a backdoor way to funnel cash into the depleted public worker pension system. Steve Sweeney is desperate to make his unionista buddies whole and the allure of a 3% tax on every working resident seems too good to pass up.

All we'll need to seal the deal is Vinny Prieto saying, "If you like your 401(k) you can keep your 401(k)."

Because really, what employer is going to stick with the hassle of administering his own 401(k) plan when the state will do it for him? Fill out a form, check a box, and presto!, it's somebody else's problem. They'll be lining up to dump their employees into this thing.

Then as the cash rolls in, our bureaucratic betters will be sorely tempted to tap it for the "benefit" of all. And what recourse would we have when it gets sunk into Transportation Trust Fund bonds earmarked for light rail and a new Hudson River tunnel?

That's right, none. All your retirement money are belong to Steve Sweeney. What could go wrong?

Posted at 11:28 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Donald Trump to GOP: Get all these nobodies out of my way!

With the DNC pulling out all the stops to ensure Hillary's coronation, Donald Trump wants the GOP to do the same for him.

Voters? We don't need no steenkin' voters!

Just declare Trump the winner, and get Ready For Hillary!

Now, on the one hand, he has a point. The GOP primary cattle call is getting a little long in the tooth. But that's a function of Reince Priebus front-loading the debate schedule, well before any actual voting commences. And, as Lindsay Graham's exit today reveals, the lower-polling candidates will sooner rather than later head for the exits on their own.

But on the other hand, the polls have a habit of shifting. Three months ago all the pundits were writing Chris Christie off; he was lucky to be at the Kid's Table debates, making it in by the skin of his teeth. Then a funny thing happened. He got traction in New Hampshire.

Chris Christie continues to slowly but surely creep back into the race. He has a 49/30 favorability rating now, up all the way from 28/54 in late August. It's a reminder that things can change a lot over time and some of the candidates seen as being dead right now could come back to life and some of the candidates who it seems like can't do anything wrong right now could come crashing back down.

Which, of course, is why we're having these primaries in the first place.

So cool your jets Mr. Trump. If you really are All That And A Can Of Peas, the voters will ratify your ego's preconceptions. And if not? Well, maybe George Pataki can appoint you dog-catcher.

Posted at 12:32 by Chris Wysocki   [/election]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Once again the GOP leadership lets us down, Dems win handily with the Omnibus spending bill

You wanna know why the Republican grass roots is so enamored with Donald Trump?

Crap like this: Democrats Are Celebrating These Conservative Policies Not Being In Omnibus Spending Bill.

And this: Funding deal hits backlash over increase in foreign worker visas.

In point of fact, on immigration, Obama got everything he wanted, and more.

Who's the only candidate proposing a complete moratorium on immigration? Donald Trump.

Who's the only candidate talking about expelling illegal aliens and foreign workers to protect American jobs? Donald Trump.

Who's the only candidate vexing both the GOP and Democrat establishment by refusing to endorse "business as usual" in Washington, DC? Donald Trump.

Who's the only candidate actually listening to the American people? Donald Trump.

This is not, and never will be, a WyBlog endorsement of Trump's candidacy. He's a populist buffoon and a loose cannon with no real concept of how he'll accomplish anything he's promised.

But, and this is the key bit, I am hit with a cold, spine-chilling realization. The Republican establishment is so out of touch, so disconnected from reality, so unwilling to stand up and fight Obama and the Democrats, that the inevitability of Trump's nomination by acclimation is virtually assured.

And so, if he does nothing else as president, if he were to haul the entire Republican leadership team — Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus, John Cornyn, Orrin Hatch, Steve Scalise, etc, etc, etc — into one big room and proclaim "YOU'RE FIRED!", that would be enough.

Because this nonsense has got to stop.

If no one else steps up and provides sensible solutions to the issues Trump is raising, if no one else is willing to stand up for what is right, if no one else comes forth to block the Democrats from flushing this nation down a progressive policy rathole, then we'd better get used to the idea of saying "President Trump."

May God have mercy on our souls.

UPDATE 17 Dec 2015 11:57:
Why isn't Jeff Sessions our Senate Majority Leader? Guy's spot-on.

And it's nice to see that I'm not the only guy who's unhappy today.

Posted at 10:58 by Chris Wysocki   [/gop]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Dear Senate GOP, don't let Harry Reid kill Obamacare's Cadillac Tax on union health plans

Obamacare's Cadillac Tax on overly generous union health plans is slated to go into effect in 2018. Harry Reid's unionista buddies don't want to pay it. So, before he fades away into the sunset, Reid is pushing hard to kill it.

Poor, poor unionistas. Or should I say, mendacious, greedy, duplicious unionistas? Because that's what they are. Unions fought tooth and nail for Obamacare. Unions funnel millions of dollars to Democrats who voted for Obamacare.

You made your bed Mr. Schaitberger, now lie in it.

"At minimum, delaying the implementation of this Cadillac tax would be seen as of major importance to workers and the security of their [health] plans," he added. "Without taking care of this it will have profound impact in the political arena over the course of the next many months."

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Every dime you slimeballs have to pay in Cadillac Tax is one less dime you can donate to Hillary's campaign.

I see that as A Big Plus.

What I can't figure out though, is why any Republican would be in favor of helping these guys avoid paying a tax they brought upon themselves. In other words, what's Dean Heller's malfunction? He should be making popcorn while the tax goes into effect as the unions and the Democrats point fingers at each other.

It'd be especially gratifying to see public employee unions like the firemen get hoisted on their own petard. Maybe they'll even decide to cut back on their gold-plated benefits packages! Because that would bring a smile to even the most jaded property-tax-paying citizen living in unionista-dominated blue states. We're getting crushed by pension and benefits costs, and these guys have absolutely zero interest in lightening our load.

In fact, in one particularly egregious example, New Jersey's union grifters got Steve Sweeney to propose a massive public employee pension boost and the onerous tax increases that'll be needed to fund it too. Because we aren't paying them enough already, or something.

These union guys just don't get it. Their only mantra is Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.

But now we have the opportunity to stick it the unions, good and hard, and all the GOP has to do is sit back and let it happen. So c'mon Mitch McConnell, bury Harry Reid's Cadillac Tax moratorium. Send him home in ignominious defeat. Tell the unions to shut up and pay their "fair share."

Hey, it's what they'd tell us, right?

UPDATE 16 Dec 2015 12:26:
Paul Ryan sold us out. Dingy Harry got everything he wanted, and more.

Posted at 09:46 by Chris Wysocki   [/obamacare]   Comments | Perm Link |
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NJ high school sports leadership kicked out all the Catholic schools, read this epic response

This past Monday the governing board of New Jersey high school athletics met and voted to consign all Catholic high schools into their own segregated conference, effectively preventing them from competing with any public school in football and wrestling.

Because, fairness, or something.

"Narrowly" in this case is an almost 2-1 majority. What do these blockheads consider to be a blowout? (The vote to split wrestling was 216-121.)

And why would the NJSIAA do this? Because some of the Catholic schools are "too good."

Monday's landmark decision is the result of years of trouble brewing between the state's public and non-public schools. To date, some public schools have been forced to play non-public schools during the regular season, despite having drastically different pools from which they draw students. Public schools have defined, geographic boarders, while non-public schools can accept students from anywhere.

And that's the fault of the Catholic schools how? The fixed geographic borders are a direct result of the teachers union stranglehold on public education. If New Jersey implemented school choice this problem would simply disappear. But school choice takes money and power away from the NJEA, which of course can never be allowed to happen, so the only "solution" is to eliminate the competition.

Smells like anti-Catholic bigotry to me.

Catholic powerhouses like Don Bosco and Seton Hall Prep attract students because their academic and athletic programs are significantly better than those run by the unionistas. And in the union mindset, if you're successful you must be punished.

But the fight isn't over. And at least one Catholic school athletic director has come out swinging. Bishop Ahr's Michael Wolfthal sent an epic email to the "friends" who stabbed him in the back.

I wanna shake this guy's hand.

Bishop Ahr is no "powerhouse." Their Greater Middlesex Conference football record stands at 20 wins and 30 losses over the past 5 seasons. There are plenty of other small Catholic schools in the same boat.

But too bad, says the NJSIAA. The Catholic kids have to be consigned to a sports ghetto, prohibited from mixing with the public school kids. Which sounds an awful lot like what Donald Trump wants to do with Muslims, except that's "discrimination" and somehow this is "fairness."

Posted at 10:00 by Chris Wysocki   [/education]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Obama's weaponized IRS wants charities to track their donor's Social Security Numbers

Do you donate to charitable causes? Then get ready to hand over your Social Security Number along with your check.

Most charities don't have the staff or the expertise to keep your Social Security Number safe from hackers and thieves. So this proposed regulation exponentially increases our exposure to identity theft.

And the IRS has never been too concerned about our privacy either. But this time they say they're trying to help us.

The agency said the change was proposed in September in part because some taxpayers who were being audited -- or "under exam" -- say they lost their donation records and that charities also having a record would help them verify deductions.

No receipt, no deduction. Seems pretty simple to me.

But tying my donations together in an IRS database? No chance for abuse there, right? No budding Lois Lerners eagerly searching for ways to harass donors to the "wrong" charities? No pattern matching to find all the Republicans who donated to Right To Life organizations so they can be targeted by pro-abortion groups?

This is yet another massive Obama administration regulatory overreach, designed to intimidate Americans who they view as harboring dissenting viewpoints. The Treasury Employees Union overwhelmingly tilts left, and their membership would love to peruse a list of donors to causes they don't like.

Not only that, but imagine how many progressive organizations would love to get their hands on such a list, and how easy it would be for an IRS employee to "leak" it. California's commie attorney general, Kamala Harris, is already salivating at the prospect.

Then envision the Founding Fathers tryng to comprehend how the emanations of penumbras which incarnated a "right to privacy" protective of feminism's holy sacrament of abortion are not applicable to the sanctity of our charitable donations. That sound you hear is Thomas Jefferson weeping from beyond the grave.

On the other hand, a Cruz administration could have a lot of fun with Planned Parenthood's donor list. So maybe this isn't such a bad idea afterall! Obama's gonna ram this totalitarian power grab down our throats no matter what we say, so why not let the lefties know how we're going to use it against them? It should be fun to watch 'em squirm.

Posted at 11:45 by Chris Wysocki   [/obama_watch]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Public middle school science project: Rat out your parents' energy usage for Gaia

Whoever said religion isn't allowed in the public schools hasn't been paying attention to the Cult of Climate Change. Because at Caldwell's Grover Cleveland Middle School, indoctrination into that cult is in full swing.

A reader forwarded me the following email from his sixth-grader's teachers, describing the requirements for a "science" project.

Onward Gaia Youth, wear your brown green shirts with pride!

Riddle me this Batman. If the teachers aren't privy to the info being supplied, how are they going to grade the project? Everybody gets an "A"? I wouldn't put it past them, but still…

So let's assume that there will be some correlation between a family's "carbon footprint" and the class roster. Will there then be the usual ecotwit tut-tutting about "carbon pigs?" Chastisement of the biggest "polluters?" Extra credit for promising to force dad into trading in his Hummer for a Prius?

I'm going with "D", "all of the above."

So let's turn the tables, shall we?

What's the "carbon footprint" of the Caldwell - West Caldwell public school system? They've got 4 elementary schools, a three story middle school, a sprawling high school that includes an auditorium to rival Lincoln Center and they're in the process of tearing out the natural grass football field to replace it with artificial turf.

Hmm. Real grass absorbs CO₂ doesn't it? And artificial turf is made from evil hydrocarbons! Plus it reflects heat, raising the ambient temperature of the area and directly contributing to Global Warming! How's that gonna help save Mother Gaia?

Hey, intellectual consistency has never been a hallmark of the folks preaching to us about "climate change." Just look at how much CO₂ Barry and his acolytes burned jetting off to their climate gabfest in Paris. (Yes, it's more than all the families of the kids in the local sixth grade, combined.)

The school district also has a sizable fleet of trucks and buses that I see constantly flittering about town all day long. Not to mention the cars used by the teachers, administrators, and support staff to get to and from the schools each day. Which, by the way, don't seem to include too many Priuses or car pools, if my quick perusal of the parking lots while going to vote is any indication.

All the CO₂ from that stuff adds up pretty fast, doesn't it?

But sure, let's shame some parents into cutting their carbon footprint. Because the real goal is indoctrinating good little automatons; and definitely not teachng anyone any "science."

"Science" involves critical thinking. "Science" involves determining the relative impact of any potential CO₂ reduction. Of course, sixth graders haven't been introduced to imaginary numbers yet, so calculating the relative impact is probably beyond the parameters of the exercise, but still, you get my point.

This project is nothing more than propaganda for feel-good environmentalism, with undertones of eco-fascism at the ready should anyone question the official Climate Change dogma. You will be shamed into apologizing for your carbon footprint! And you'll like it.

I'll throw in one last parting shot — what's the carbon footprint of 203,634 NJEA unionistas converging on Atlantic City for four days each November to whinge about how much they hate Chris Christie?

No, wait, don't tell me. It might make Mother Gaia cry.

Posted at 12:41 by Chris Wysocki   [/education]   Comments | Perm Link |
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Six in 10 NJ businesses are pessimistic about our state's future

The farther they look ahead, the more bleak they think things will be.

Well, sure. Short-term, Chris Christie is still governor. He's a putz, but, as the saying goes, he's our putz. Once one of The Steves takes over in Drumthwacket, it'll be All Tax And Regulate All The Time. And business will be Public Enemy #1 in Trenton.

Respondents named health benefit costs, the overall cost of doing business and property taxes as the main challenges for New Jersey businesses, according to the survey.

Can you imagine Steve Sweeney or Steve Fulop doing anything about any of those 3 things? Yeah, me neither.

Take Health benefits. Steve Fulop is the guy pushing mandatory sick time, which of course increases health benefit costs. What about property taxes? Steve Sweeney is the guy looking to pad the pension funds with ever higher municipal contributions, that will come directly out of our pockets. And as for the cost of doing business, both of 'em are on record proclaiming that business taxes are "too low."

So who are those 40% who aren't seeing the writing on the wall?

Probably lobbyists! (<Insert sarcasm emoticon here>)

Because unless by some miracle the NJ GOP gets its shit together and manages to put up a candidate who can capitalize on Chris Christie's electoral legacy, the "makers" in our fair state are in for a bumpy ride come January 2018. The "takers" are lining up, and they've got us in their sights.

There's only one thing left to do. Get out while the getting is good.

Posted at 20:19 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   Comments | Perm Link |
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