Proposed Texas law to immigrants: Keep out ... or clean my house

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., Special to CNN

March 10, 2011 2:13 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ruben Navarrette Jr. says many in U.S. oppose illegal immigration, but they like the cheap labor
• He says law proposed by Texas lawmaker is a tortured attempt to have it both ways
• Navarrette says law has penalties for hiring unless it's for domestic work in private homes
• Navarrette: Americans ignore that immigrants work harder in low-wage jobs than we do

 

San Diego (CNN) -- A lot of Americans don't like illegal immigration. But what they like even less is the idea of having to live without the labor provided by illegal immigrants.
There you have the great contradiction that lies at the heart of the U.S. immigration debate -- one that must be confronted and reconciled if it is ever going to be resolved.
Speaking of solutions, I heard a whopper a while back. I had just given a speech to a group of retirees in a well-to-do town near San Diego. After complaining that Mexican immigrants were hurting the quality of life and changing the culture, a woman suggested a high-speed rail that could, every morning, carry men and women from Tijuana, Mexico, 20 miles into San Diego County, where they would work as nannies, housekeepers and gardeners in wealthy neighborhoods before boarding the train at dusk to head back into Mexico.
It was a goofy and obscene idea. But I was glad to hear it because it illustrates clearly how some Americans see Mexico as a giant temp agency that exists to make their lives easier.
Now, a Texas state representative offers more clarity. Republican Debbie Riddle has proposed a bill that creates harsh punishments for those who hire illegal immigrants. House Bill 1202 calls for up to two years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
So far, so good. We'll never stop illegal immigration until we start tackling it at the root by going after U.S. employers.
But wait. There's a loophole in Riddle's bill: The person doing the hiring has to be acting "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly." That's too many adverbs for me. You'll note that hiring an illegal immigrant is already a federal offense under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, but one of the reasons that the law's employer sanctions are rarely enforced is because -- under the statute -- an employer has to act "knowingly," and that's hard for a prosecutor to prove.
So, for 25 years, employers caught red-handed hiring illegal immigrants have claimed not to know what they were doing.
And, in the provision of Riddle's proposal that is causing the most outrage, there is also an odd exemption: The person hiring an illegal immigrant is in the clear if he or she is doing so "for the purpose of obtaining labor or other work to be performed exclusively or primarily at a single-family residence."
Come again? So people who own businesses -- restaurants, homeowners, hotels, farms, construction firms, etc -- can't hire illegal immigrants, but homeowners, housewives or soccer dads can hire as many as they like.
Why the exemption? Riddle has said it's only fair since -- unlike businesses -- homeowners don't have access to E-Verify, the controversial U.S. government-run database that supposedly helps employers determine whether prospective employees are legally eligible to work in the United States.
But even some Texas Republicans insist there is another reason: reality. One of them told CNN that if the law passed without the exemption, "a large segment of the Texas population would end up in prison."
And why is that? It's because America is addicted to the same illegal immigrants about whom Americans love to complain.
It's as if the United States has two neon signs on the U.S.-Mexico border: "Keep Out" and "Help Wanted." Americans can't decide what they want to protect more -- the border or their standard of living. Usually, the latter wins out.
Our national schizophrenia must be awfully confusing to the immigrants themselves. At the border, they see walls, agents, floodlights and barbed wire. But an hour's drive north, as they wait in front of a neighborhood big-box store, they see a much different sight -- homeowners and soccer moms rushing to the curb to pick up two or three of them at a time to do the kind of household chores that our teenagers used to do before the precious little darlings discovered they were the center of the universe and too good to dirty their hands with such tasks.
That reminds me. Let's have a word about illegal immigrant labor. The myth persists that the only reason Americans hire illegal immigrants is because the undocumented will work for lower wages than American workers demand to do the same jobs. It's a popular narrative because it makes U.S. natives seem almost noble, as if they won't let themselves be exploited.
But, in truth, it's only half the reason that illegal immigrants are in such great demand in the United States. There is also the little-discussed fact that they're dependable and work hard, qualities that many Americans have unfortunately long since abandoned.
Talk to the friend of mine in Austin, Texas, who needed to hire a few guys to build a fence. He called three or four handymen who either never got back to him or promised to show up but didn't. And then he settled on immigrant labor. Don't ask him if the workers were undocumented. I don't think he knows because, like millions of Americans, he doesn't want to know.

Arizona shooting suspect arraigned on additional charges

By Michael Martinez and Ted Rowlands, CNN

March 9, 2011 7:46 p.m. EST

Tuscon shooting suspect in court

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: A federal judge sets a May 25 competency hearing for Jared Lee Loughner
• The judge enters "not guilty" pleas on Loughner's behalf
• Loughner faces 49 charges related to a mass shooting in Tucson
• Authorities file a motion to force Loughner to submit a handwriting sample

Tucson, Arizona (CNN) -- A federal judge Wednesday entered "not guilty" pleas on behalf of Jared Lee Loughner, the Arizona man accused of fatally shooting six people and wounding 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Judge Larry Burns also scheduled a May 25 competency hearing for Loughner, and attorneys on both sides will be allowed to hire their own experts to evaluate Loughner's competency to stand trial.
Prosecutors sought the competency hearing, saying that Loughner had believed the FBI was bugging him, had extreme animosity toward the government, and was even hearing voices.
Loughner's public defenders didn't want such a hearing, saying it would be premature and could interfere with their ability to develop a relationship with Loughner.
But the judge said his review of materials relating to Loughner left him concerned.
"We can't do anything until I'm assured that Mr. Loughner is on board and able to assist" in his own defense, the judge ruled.
Last Thursday, a federal grand jury returned a new indictment against Loughner in which he is charged on 49 counts -- including murder and attempted murder -- related to the shooting outside a Tucson supermarket in January.
Loughner, 22, entered the courtroom with a slight grin, the first time he's appeared in a Tucson courtroom. His bald head is now showing growing hair.
When a clerk asked if his name was Jared Lee Loughner, he responded: "Yes, it is."

RELATED TOPICS

• Gabrielle Giffords

The judge entered the "not guilty" pleas for Loughner at his attorneys' request. Loughner waived the reading of all 49 charges against him.
In response to motions, the judge ordered prosecutors to release grand jury materials to the defense, but said Loughner's attorneys cannot reproduce the documents or leave copies with Loughner.
Burns also ordered the release of findings from authorities' search of Loughner's parents' home in Tucson, as requested by two Arizona media outlets. Last month, the judge sided with prosecutors in withholding the information because the investigation was ongoing and a grand jury was still preparing an indictment.
But with a new indictment now issued, the judge said it is time to unseal the documents relating to what was found in the Loughner family home.
"The active investigation is over," the judge said. "Ninety percent of the information in the warrant domain is already in the public light."
He added, "There is something mystic and suspicious in not releasing this type of information."
Burns said he will delay ruling on a motion filed by prosecutors Monday to force Loughner to submit a handwriting sample -- a request that he, thus far, has refused.
The government wants the sample to compare with handwritten notes found in Loughner's residence that include mentions of Giffords "as well as references to guns and bullets," according to a court document. It says he has resisted such requests to date, "arguing that the court lacks authority" to force him to provide a sample.
"There being no other avenue to obtain the defendant's handwriting exemplar, the government now seeks an order to compel," prosecutors wrote in the motion.
Burns said he wants to discuss some material collected by bureau of prisons on Loughner since he was arrested.
Prosecutors said they want the court to review the materials, to see if they should be able to see it. But Loughner's public defenders said they want time to review the matter and prepare arguments in writing.
As the hearing unfolded and the judge made his decisions, Loughner sat still.
The full courtroom included about 20 family members of victims and seven people supporting Loughner, including a woman who dabbed her eyes with tissue.
Among the spectators were Bill Badger, one of two men who jumped on Loughner and subdued him during the shooting, and shooting victim Susan Hileman. Also attending was Mavy Stoddard, who was wounded in the attack and whose husband, Dorwan, a retired construction worker, died trying to shield his wife from the bullets.
Loughner's family members declined to comment as they left the courthouse.
Tucson attorney Michael Piccarreta, who appeared in court on behalf of slain federal Judge John Roll and his family, was asked by reporters afterward what he thought of seeing Loughner face-to-face.
Responded Piccarreta: "He's just another defendant."
Loughner was earlier indicted on three counts of attempted murder, including one alleging that he tried to kill Giffords with a Glock semiautomatic handgun during the event she was hosting for constituents.
Giffords, who was shot in the head, is undergoing rehabilitation at a medical facility in Houston.
The new indictment supersedes the earlier one. It adds murder charges connected to the deaths of Roll, a federal district judge, and Gabriel M. Zimmerman, a staff member for Giffords.
Loughner also faces charges in the deaths of Dorothy J. Morris, Phyllis C. Schneck, Dorwan C. Stoddard, and a child, referred to in the indictment as C-T G. Nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green was among those killed in the shooting.
Autopsy reports released Monday showed that Zimmerman, Schneck and Stoddard suffered fatal head wounds, while the three others were shot in the chest.

If convicted, Loughner could face a death sentence, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke said last week, although prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty.

Opposition denies exit deal talks with Gadhafi

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 8, 2011 6:47 p.m. EST

Rebels: Gadhafi wants a deal

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Obama and Cameron discuss Libya
• The U.S. State Department says departure would not exempt Gadhafi
• Deadly fighting occurs in Zawiya, a doctor says
• The World Food Programme gets tons of food into Libya

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan opposition members denied Tuesday that they have been negotiating an exit deal with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, rejecting an assertion made earlier in the day by an opposition official.
Speaking to reporters, members of the Libyan National Transitional Council said there have been no such talks. Council spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga also denied reports that the opposition would promise not to pursue Gadhafi for crimes if he steps down within three days.
Earlier, a member of an opposition group called the February 17 Coalition said Gadhafi was trying to strike a deal with opposition leaders, saying he would step down as Libya's leader if they would guarantee him safe passage out of the country and promise that neither he nor his family would face prosecution.
The coalition member, Amal Bugaigis, said the opposition submitted counteroffers, which included a stipulation that Gadhafi had to immediately concede he is not the ruler of Libya.

 

Gallery: Rebellion in Libya

 

 

 

Inside the mind of Saif Gadhafi

Gadhafi was expected to meet Tuesday with reporters at a hotel in Tripoli. The transistional council's 31 members represent most areas of Libya and focus on organizing a governmental structure for a post-Gadhafi Libya.
The Libyan opposition is composed not of a single monolithic group, but of various groups and individuals around the country whose shared goal is to see the 68-year-old ruler ousted.
Gadhafi's regime, meanwhile, also denied having entered into negotiations with the rebels. Musa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, called reports of such negotiations "lies."
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said any departure from Libya of Gadhafi would not exempt him, his family or others from responsibility for their actions. "We are going to hold him accountable," Crowley said.
U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Libya on Tuesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron, the White House said in a statement.
"They agreed that the common objective in Libya must be an immediate end to brutality and violence; the departure of Gadhafi from power as quickly as possible; and a transition that meets the Libyan peoples' aspirations for freedom, dignity, and a representative government," it said.
Both leaders agreed to go ahead with planning responses, "including surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone."
The unrest in Libya, which has spiraled into a civil war, entered its fourth week Tuesday.
Fighting continued in Zawiya, despite government assertions that its forces controlled the city, a doctor told CNN after leaving the city in the morning. Two fellow doctors were fatally shot in the main square by pro-Gadhafi forces, the doctor said. Wounded civilians were being shot by members of the military, the doctor added.
Military casualties were being taken out of the city by ambulance, he said.

 

 

 

 

RELATED TOPICS

• Ban Ki-moon
• Libya
• War and Conflict

Though CNN was not able to witness the fighting and could not independently confirm reports of what was happening there, CNN's Nic Robertson got close enough to the city center to hear the fighting and to see that tanks had moved closer to rebel areas and were involved in the fighting.
Opposition officials accused Gadhafi of bombing water reserves in Ras Lanuf, the site of intense fighting in recent days.
Rebels have seized several cities and the army has fought fiercely to reclaim some of them.
Death toll estimates have ranged from more than 1,000 to as many as 2,000.
"Both the Libyan government and opposition forces need to allow unhindered access for aid organizations to assist civilians," Bill Frelick, refugee program director at Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday. "People living in areas of heavy fighting in western Libya are now in dire need of medical aid and other assistance."
The U.N. World Food Programme said Tuesday a convoy of trucks entered Libya headed for Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in eastern Libya. "A convoy of trucks carrying 70 metric tons of high-energy, fortified date bars crossed the Egyptian border last night on its way to Benghazi. This would be the first delivery of food assistance from a U.N. agency to enter the country," the organization said in a statement.
Plans for more food deliveries are being made, and tons of food have been delivered to the Egyptian border to help feed refugees, the organization said.
This is part of a $39.2 million emergency operation designed to help feed more than one million people in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia over three months, the group said.
Late Monday, the Gulf Cooperation Council said Libya had rejected its offer of humanitarian aid. The council is composed of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
As reports continue to emerge of the government's use of force against civilians, the international community has been left pondering strategies on how to end the violence.
Three members of the U.N. Security Council -- France, Britain and the United States -- were working Monday on a possible resolution that would include language on a no-fly zone over Libya, diplomatic sources at the United Nations said. And the Gulf Cooperation Council said Monday night they supported such an action.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents 56 member states, said Tuesday that it wants the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
But any kind of military intervention could face sharp criticism from Russia and China, two permanent members of the council that wield veto power.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, has met in Rome, Italy, and Cairo, Egypt, with Libyan opposition figures to get a sense of what is happening in the country, Crowley of the State Department said. He did not give names. Crowley said there have been meetings and phone conversations with members of the National Transitional Council and others.
The State Department also spoke Friday with Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa in a brief conversation in which each side gave its view, Crowley said.
NATO said it has begun round-the-clock surveillance flights near Libya.
With no clear end to the clashes in sight, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a new special envoy to Libya to discuss the crisis with officials in Tripoli.
The fighting has sparked the flight of Libyans and foreigners out of Libya, with nations across the globe scrambling to help people leave.
About 200,000 people have fled Libya with nearly equal numbers going to Tunisia and Egypt, the U.N. refugee agency has said.
But 15,000 to 17,000 people are still at a refugee camp near the Libya-Tunisia border. Most of them are from Bangladesh, the U.N. refugee agency said.
A man who said he was trapped in Misrata, a city east of Tripoli that has seen heavy clashes, said the rebels were running out of weapons -- but will continue to fight.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll still be alive, I don't know. I have nothing to lose," the man said. "Nobody believes he will be alive tomorrow. Nobody knows. We need support."

Wisconsin gov: Democratic senator's border meeting idea 'ridiculous'

By the CNN Wire Staff

March 7, 2011 4:19 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday dismissed as "ridiculous" a letter from a Democratic state Senate leader who suggested a meeting "near the Wisconsin-Illinois border" to discuss the state's budget impasse.
Sen. Mark Miller sent the letter to Walker on Monday, offering a border summit as a way to resume stalled negotiations on the state's budget.
Miller and 13 other Democratic senators left Wisconsin for Illinois on February 17 to prevent a vote on a budget plan that includes limits on public bargaining.
But Walker said top Republican lawmakers and even members of his own staff have already met repeatedly with some of senators, including one meeting over hot chocolate at a McDonald's restaurant. Walker said the talks seemed to be making progress and the Democrats' return seemed imminent
"Time and time again, the person standing in the way of making that possible is Sen. Mark Miller," Walker said.
Walker and Republican lawmakers are trying to close a $137 million budget shortfall with a plan that calls for curbs on public employee union bargaining rights and requires public workers, with the exception of police and firefighters, to cover more of their retirement plans and health care premiums.

 

Scott Walker

The proposal ignited fierce opposition from labor leaders and their supporters. Hundreds of protesters occupied the state Capitol building for weeks over the proposal.
Show CNN iReport your view of the protests
Public employee unions agreed to financial concessions that they say will help meet the state's fiscal needs, but Walker has said the limits on public bargaining are a critical component of his plan and are not negotiable.
In his letter, Miller said that's not what Wisconsin residents want.
"The people of Wisconsin are overwhelmingly supportive of us reaching a bipartisan, negotiated compromise," he said. "Senate Democrats stand ready to do just that, we ask that you do the same."
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said that Republicans are willing to work with the Democrats and that his meetings with some of the Democratic senators were so productive, he thought they would be back at work by last Wednesday. But he said each advance has been accompanied by a setback, and he said it's unclear who is in charge of the caucus.
"It's the most frustrating process I've ever been involved in," he said.
It appeared early Monday that the senators might be back on their way to the state, following a Wall Street Journal report citing Miller as saying the Democrats were preparing to return. But the senators said those reports weren't accurate.
"Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table," Sen. Chris Larson said in a posting to his Facebook page late Sunday. "That could be soon based on the growing public opposition to the bill and the recall efforts against Republicans."
So far, nothing has worked to bring the Democrats back to the legislature.
The Senate's Republican majority has approved resolutions charging their Democratic colleagues $100 daily fines until they return and declaring them in contempt if they didn't return by Thursday. On Friday, Walker's office issued notices to unions, warning them of possible layoffs in early April if the budget impasse continues.

The measure "may be able to be rescinded and layoffs avoided" if the Senate Democrats return to the state Capitol, Walker's office said in a news release.

Matt Damon: Not a fan of Obama

By Katie McLaughlin, CNN

March 3, 2011 2:34 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Matt Damon: President Obama "misinterpreted his mandate"
• The actor says he's passionate about politics but has no political aspirations
• Damon: "I feel like the work I do now allows me to change things"
• Damon is involved in the nonpartisan Water.org movement

RELATED TOPICS

• Matt Damon

(CNN) -- When CNN's Piers Morgan asked actor Matt Damon if he was happy with the way President Barack Obama has been running the country and if Damon was "a fan" of the president, Damon answered "no."

Damon and the cast of "The Adjustment Bureau" -- Emily Blunt, John Slattery and Anthony Mackie -- are Thursday evening's guests on "Piers Morgan Tonight." During the course of their conversation, Damon and Morgan covered Hollywood, politics, fatherhood and much more.
"He (Obama) misinterpreted his mandate," said Damon. "He's doubled down on a lot of things."
"In his State of the Union he didn't even say the word 'poverty,' " said Damon. "You've got millions of people languishing in it." Damon, who backed the Obama campaign in 2008, said he appreciates that the president is a "deep thinker." The actor called Obama brilliant, but said he "definitely wanted more."
When questioned about what he'd do about Afghanistan, Damon said, "I don't think the mission there has been very well articulated. And I think it would help to kind of reframe the way we're thinking about being there and why we're there."
Damon also said there has not been a meaningful reform of Wall Street. He said he believes that is "dangerous" and "shameful" and that the financial crisis is "just going to happen again," because "they don't make anything. They don't build anything."
Morgan asked about Damon's well-known disapproval of Sarah Palin and the fact that he has spoken out against her since she was announced as John McCain's running mate in 2008. Damon said he still feels it was reckless to have someone who was "a complete mystery to everybody" be "literally a heartbeat away from the presidency." Damon also said he disagrees with Palin politically. "She's not somebody who I would vote for."
Damon said, though, that while he is passionate about politics, he has no political aspirations.
"I feel like the work I do now allows me to change things," he said. Damon said he puts most of his free time into the nonpartisan Water.org movement, which is dedicated to getting clean water to people.
While he said he is "interested in everyone's opinion" and "interested in people who don't agree with me," when talking politics, that's not his main interest. "I love my job. I love making movies."
"The Adjustment Bureau" is based on the premise that people have no control over destiny. Forces manipulate their every decision and there is no free will. In the film, the team known as the Adjustment Bureau is charged with keeping people on their predetermined paths.

Matt Damon and Emily Blunt's characters fall in love, even though they are not predestined for one another, and opt to fight the Adjustment Bureau.

For superior teachers, reward excellence

By William J. Bennett, Special to CNN

March 2, 2011 8:00 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• William Bennett: Budget battles that challenge unions make it seem that U.S. is anti-teacher
• On contrary, he says, Americans value teachers; they think best should be rewarded
• Unions resist "merit pay" programs; public criticizes this, not teachers, he says
• Bennett: Studies tie low performing teachers-students; incentives could change this

RELATED TOPICS

• Education

Editor's note: CNN contributor William J. Bennett is the Washington fellow of the Claremont Institute. He was U.S. secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 and was director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush.

(CNN) -- As governors have looked for savings through union concessions, the budget debates in Wisconsin and other states have inspired a national discussion about the teaching profession. During one recent panel I was on for CNN, someone asked: How is it that teachers have become "public enemy number one?"
The truth is that few people -- left or right -- who are seeking education reforms think of teachers as the enemy. Indeed, teaching is considered one of the most honorable professions in America, and for at least the past 15 years, most proponents of education reform agree that better teachers should, in fact, be paid more; that great teachers should be rewarded.
This very idea of merit pay, though, is one of the reforms the teachers' unions oppose. For this opposition -- and their opposition to many other reform efforts -- it is teachers' unions and their leaders who are criticized by the public and the reform movement, not the teachers themselves.
There is an inescapable reason why Americans care about this: the very sorry state of our education system as a whole. For the nearly $550 billion dollars America spends on public education at the elementary and secondary school levels each year, the results are pathetic.
In the most recent year for which numbers are available, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that 40% of our nation's high school seniors scored below basic in science; 36% score below basic in math and 26% score below basic in reading. In American history, high school seniors score even worse, with more than 50% scoring below basic.
"Below basic" is defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress reports as failing to meet "partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work" at grade level. It is effectively a failing grade.
There are a lot of factors that lead to these scores. But most reformers agree that an effective teacher in the classroom can make tremendous differences in educational outcomes. As Bill Gates recently pointed out, "the single most decisive factor in student achievement is excellent teaching."
Stories about teacher effectiveness are receiving more and more attention in the popular press, but let's take just two concrete examples: According to one widely cited 1996 study, if you take an 8-year-old student performing at the 50th percentile and give him a low-performing teacher, he will regress to the 37th percentile in three years. Give him a high-performing teacher, and he will succeed to the 90th percentile in the same amount of time -- a swing of 53 percentage points.
Most of our nation's schoolteachers do a very good job, if not a great job. But the low performers drag down the rest of our system.
According to an analysis by Stanford economist Eric Hanushek, if you replaced the lowest-performing teachers in our country (roughly 5% to 10% of the teaching work force) with just average performing teachers, America's students as a whole would rise from the bottom of the performance ladder on international tests to a Top 10 ranking. What would this mean for our GDP, by the way? Tens of trillions of dollars.
While there are many ongoing discussions about the best way to assess teacher performance, and some are better than others, most people in any given school already know who is, and who is not, a good teacher.
But union leadership has long opposed evaluations that could create the incentives to attract and keep the good and the great.
Teachers are professionals, some of the most important in America. We should treat them as most professionals in America are treated: incentivize effort and reward excellence. It is quite obvious to all, save those invested in the status quo, that the outcomes for our children, and our country, demand it.

Md. Senator Objects To Teachers’ Union Comment

March 2, 2011 2:46 PM

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Not even “The Cat in the Hat” can avoid Maryland’s debate on pension reform and education funding in the state Senate.

A Republican senator objected Wednesday to comments made from the Senate dais by the vice president of the Maryland State Education Association, during an event celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday that promotes reading.

With a person dressed as the Cat in the Hat standing beside her, Betty Weller recited a rhyme calling on lawmakers to “keep their promises.”  The association is leading a campaign to avoid budget cuts to education.

Sen. David Brinkley, R-Frederick, says it was inappropriate for the union to lobby from the dais on the Senate floor. Republican Joseph Getty, R-Carroll, supported Brinkley’s objection.