Grab your wallet and prepare for a huge tax increase -- after all, 12 million illegal aliens are depending on you. One of CFIF's supporters e-mailed that rather tongue-in-cheek statement to us a few days ago. But now that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its findings, which estimate that the Senate "scamnesty" bill will cost over $126 billion -- that's $126,000,000,000.00 -- over the next ten years, that tongue-in-cheek statement isn't all that funny! Think of it this way -- our elected leaders in the Senate want to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens -- who have thumbed their noses at our laws by coming across the border illegally -- and they want YOU to foot the bill for an amount of money that comes to about $1,800.00 for the average family of four! The Senate calls it "comprehensive immigration reform." We call it SCAMNESTY! The Senate will come back into session in a few days for about a month before the November election. And make no mistake, pro-amnesty forces in the Senate are gearing up RIGHT NOW to make one final push to grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Our next course of action should be clear. We can tell our elected leaders -- in no uncertain terms -- that we have NOT lost our resolve. Or we can rest on our laurels -- content with our previous victories in halting amnesty -- and pay the horrendous price later! Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized 30 Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and the leadership of the House and Senate. Our elected leaders will return to Washington D.C. shortly and it is vitally important that they know that you have not lost your resolve. Tell them that the American people want secure borders first and foremost and that any legislation that grants a path to citizenship for those who have flouted our laws and come to the United States illegally is off the table. http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/amnestyxix.html AOL Members Use This Hyperlink If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser. $126 Billion Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg If the figure of $126 billion -- a figure equal to about 5 percent of the entire Fiscal Year 2006 United States Budget -- doesn't get your blood boiling... there's more! The non-partisan CBO is traditionally very conservative with its estimates and the $126 billion dollar figure really only measures the superficial costs of the program at the federal level. The CBO DOESN'T measure many of the "hidden costs" or the costs at the state and local level. Bottom line? $126 billion doesn't even begin to measure the REAL cost of the Senate scamnesty bill. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) rightfully claims: "[T]he American public must be aware that their liability under the Senate bill only begins with the $127 billion. The Senate amnesty amounts to a running tab for government provided services and benefits that will have to be paid for largely at the local level. American taxpayers don't much care which pocket will be picked to pay for this special interest driven amnesty proposal. Whether it's federal dollars or local dollars, the bottom line is that it is countless billions of their money that would have to pay for this amnesty proposal for generations to come." Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation writes: "The amnesty alone will be the largest expansion of the welfare system in the last 25 years... If even a small fraction of those who come into the country stay and get on Medicaid, you're looking at costs of $20 billion or $30 billion per year." And Congressman James Sensenbrenner weighed in as well: "We are now just beginning to see a glimpse of the staggering burden on American taxpayers the Reid-Kennedy immigration legislation contains." When you called "comprehensive immigration reform" -- as the Senate likes to call it -- "SCAMNESTY," the Washington elites chastised you... they laughed at you... they accused you of fear mongering! But the truth of the matter -- and the CBO figures prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt -- is that your government lied to you and now wants to stick you with the price tag for that lie -- the Senate immigration bill. Yes, you are vindicated! But vindication will be little consolation if we let our elected leaders in the Senate "sell out" America and succeed with their plans to make us pay for that lie! Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized 30 Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and the leadership of the House and Senate. Our elected leaders will return to Washington D.C. shortly and it is vitally important that they know that you have not lost your resolve. Tell them that the American people want secure borders first and foremost and that any legislation that grants a path to citizenship for those who have flouted our laws and come to the United States illegally is off the table. http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/amnestyxix.html AOL Members Use This Hyperlink If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser. We're Sending The Wrong Message And while we're on the subject of vindication... Congress took its first stab at comprehensive immigration reform in 1986 and passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which granted amnesty to 3 million aliens but also called for tough immigration enforcement measures. Amnesty came quickly. The tough immigration enforcement measures never really materialized. Critics of IRCA said at the time that we were sending the wrong message to potential illegal aliens. These critics claimed that people who wished to enter the country illegally KNEW that IRCA would be long on amnesty and short on enforcement and that -- once they found their way across the border -- the United States would simply offer another amnesty program down the road! Millions of illegal aliens later, these critics are vindicated, we are indeed offering amnesty again and America is worse off than before! NOW, the Senate claims -- that this time around -- they're serious about enforcement. For instance, the Senate bill allocates monies to build a security fence on the border -- the CBO estimates the cost at $3.3 billion. But guess what! We will only be permitted to build that fence -- per the Senate bill -- after proper consultation with authorities in Mexico. You can bet that we'll still be talking about building that fence years from now when our elected leaders try to "sell" us the next scamnesty bill! Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized 30 Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and the leadership of the House and Senate. Our elected leaders will return to Washington D.C. shortly and it is vitally important that they know that you have not lost your resolve. Tell them that the American people want secure borders first and foremost and that any legislation that grants a path to citizenship for those who have flouted our laws and come to the United States illegally is off the table. http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/amnestyxix.html AOL Members Use This Hyperlink If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser. Why Do They Continue To Attempt To Pass This Amnesty Bill? Question: If the American people overwhelmingly support secure borders and no amnesty for illegal aliens, why do our elected leaders keep trying to pass an amnesty bill? Answer: The allure of cheap labor. Of course the Senate refuses to call it an amnesty bill because they know the American people do not support amnesty. The bottom line? If they can fool you and accommodate business interests that donate big dollars to their election campaigns -- they can effectively have their cake and eat it too! As radio personality Rush Limbaugh often says, "These folks [our elected leaders] wake up every morning and ask themselves 'How can we fool them today?'" According to the Internet website opensecrets.org: Agribusiness interests have contributed over $192.8 million to federal candidates over the past four elections cycles. Construction interests have contributed over $204.9 million. The hotel industry alone has contributed over $22.6 million. Democracy was a 20 year experiment in ancient Athens that failed once the city elites realized they could literally vote themselves the keys to the treasury. And when democracy in Athens failed, the people VOLUNTARILY set their freedoms aside and literally begged for tyranny! The Roman Republic died in much the same way. It's a historical fact! Our Republic now faces the same dilemma. If business interests are willing to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to federal candidates and in the process bill you for hundreds of billions -- what are you willing to do? If we really have learned the lessons of history, our choice is clear! Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personalized 30 Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and the leadership of the House and Senate. Our elected leaders will return to Washington D.C. shortly and it is vitally important that they know that you have not lost your resolve. Tell them that the American people want secure borders first and foremost and that any legislation that grants a path to citizenship for those who have flouted our laws and come to the United States illegally is off the table. http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/amnestyxix.html AOL Members Use This Hyperlink If the above hyperlink does not function, please copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser. Jeff Mazzella President www.cfif.org The CFIF Action Alert is a service to the conservative community. If you would like to subscribe please go to www.cfif.org/signup. Center for Individual Freedom 113 S. Columbus St., Suite 310 Alexandria, VA 22314 703-535-5836 Fax:703-535-5838 CFIF is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit constitutional advocacy organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights.