From: Roy Beck NumbersUSA <immigrationinfo@numbersusa.com> Add to Address Book
Date: 2006/09/18 Mon AM 12:16:05 EDT
Subject: UPDATE....Miller Beer boycott....Congress' lame duck conspiracy ... the hope of candidate Randy Graf

From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Sunday 17SEP06 11 p.m. EDT

Catching you up on Miller Beer .... the strategy for Congress ... MAILBAG from you

DEAR FRIENDS OF REDUCED IMMIGRATION,

I hope you were able to thoroughly enjoy the last weekend of summer in your part of this wonderful country.

I did. Friday night, I went to a movie with my wife. Saturday, I celebrated the 36th anniversary of my induction as a draftee into the Army by attending a Nationals baseball game in gorgeous weather with 55 friends, a son and daughter-in-law-to-be (we saw Soriano steal a base and become the 4th player in history to steal at least 40 bases and hit at least 40 home runs!). Attended church this morning and an Environmental Stewardship Committee meeting afterwards. For a change, lots of non-work-related activity. Refreshing.

Now, I'm capping it off by spending a few hours with a couple hundred thousand of my closest internet friends in every county of this country who share a common goal of protecting our national community and all that lies within our borders.

I start this ALERT in such a personal way to help emphasize my appreciation for the fact that every one of you has a personal life, and that I never want your activism with NumbersUSA to prevent you from enjoying that life. Reading Alerts from me -- and responding to my requests for action -- are not the only thing, the main thing, the necessary thing in your life. I know.

For all but a few of you, taking action on immigration policy is something you try to do when you can "work it in."

And that's OK. One reason for trying to assemble hundreds of thousands of people into our network is to make sure that at any given moment enough of you will be able to "work it in" to make a real difference in the corridors of power.

But ...

I hope that most of you also can appreciate that much of the quality of life in this country that we treasure in our personal pursuits will not remain if we fail to achieve our goals in immigration policy. The stakes are high. The battle is now.

Before we flood you with new actions to take, I am sending this Alert to try to tie up a bunch of loose ends and provide a decent framework for those next actions.


1. MY EVENING WITH RANDY GRAF -- THE VICTORIOUS REPUBLICAN PRIMARY CANDIDATE TO REPLACE OPEN-BORDERS CHAMPION REP. KOLBE


Although Randy Graf has met with others of the NumbersUSA team through the years, I met him for the first time Thursday night at a restaurant on Capitol Hill.

I knew that Graf was taking the right positions on immigration. What I wanted to know was whether he had the presence to win what may be the most important -- and toughest -- race for our movement in November.

This race for Congress will determine whether one of the Republican Party's most dogged champions of amnesty (the retiring Kolbe)will be replaced by a Tom Tancredo immigration-restriction bulldog (Graf) or by a Democrat (Gifford) who espouses the same amnesty philosophy as Republican Kolbe.

Because this Tucson-based congressional district is viewed by all national observers as competitive between the Parties, Most of the media already are peddling the line that Graf's enforcement approach can't win. A Washington Post on-line columnist wrote the day after the election that Graf's victory virtually ensured that the Democrat would take this seat.

And because most pundits think the Republicans are on the verge of losing enough seats to lose their majority in the House, a defeat of Graf would be interpreted as immigration hard-liners being the cause of losing the House.

When I greeted Graf, I said something to the effect of: "Not to put any pressure on you, buddy, but the success of our whole immigration-reduction movement in the next Congress may depend on you winning this election."

The spin that the media would put on a Graf loss would be horrendous and likely would spook large numbers of our more shallow allies in Congress.

Like any good candidate, Graf responded to me with a big smile and self-assured optimistic air, noting that his district leans significantly Republican and that most Independents are as mad as he is about the illegal alien invasion through their communities every day.

But his boldness was bolstered by an aggressive sweep he had just made through Washington's Republican channels on a whirlwind post-election fly-by.

After the election, he had jumped on a plane to come and confront the Republican elites who had done everything they could to defeat him. He had beaten them and wanted them to look in the eye of the victor and pledge to join his team. Some of them had already started writing checks to him before he got off the plane.

You see, the Washington Republican elites had been dedicated to nominating a Republican who they thought had a better chance against the Democrat and who would have continued Kolbe's pro-amnesty work.

That's why the most exciting news out of the Tuesday primaries nationwide was the victory of Graf in the Republican primary to replace Tucson's retiring Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ).

The national Republican Party garnered hundreds of thousands of corporate dollars to try to nominate Kolbe's hand-picked choice to continue his open-borders policies and votes.

But Tucson-area voters chose the tough-talking border enforcement candidate. Graf won.

That victory fueled paragraphs in election stories all over the country suggesting that grassroots voters care enough about this issue to turn out and give victories to candidates who demonstrate credible commitment to true enforcement and true immigration reductions.

Graf has been a champion leader in the Arizona legislature in pushing immigration enforcement measures and in passing Proposition 200 as a citizen referendum. He answered every question right on our True Immigration Reformer survey.

View the survey page for this race
at this link.

Now, the media and the nation will watch to see if the national GOP leaders were correct in sponsoring ads saying that Randy Graf's immigration positions are too extreme for him to be elected in November's general election.

Graf's immigration positions include a belief in Attrition Through Enforcement as the main way to handle the illegal alien population. Interestingly, that "extreme" position pretty much matches the position taken by the majority of Republicans in the U.S. House.

In fact, it is Rep. Kolbe who has the extreme position, having worked hand-in-hand with Sen. McCain (R-AZ) from the beginning in crafting the most radical amnesty in American history.

Kolbe was one of the 2.7% of House Republicans last week who voted against the 700-mile double fence on the border.

But Tucson-area voters chose Graf who agrees with the 97.3% of House Republicans who voted FOR the fence.

View Randy Graf's website at:

www.votegraf.com

View his opponent Gabrielle Giffords' website at:

www.giffordsforcongress.com

After several hours of listening to Graf respond to dozens of immigration issues, I feel quite confident that he is well-seasoned in these issues. I am especially impressed by his depth of experience from his years in the state legislature. He has already dealt with many of our issues there.

His commitment to our issues appears especially deep. He says the day that changed the course of his political life was Jan. 7, 2004, when Pres. Bush announced his massive foreign guestworker and amnesty plan to the nation.

On that day, he decided to give up his top leadership position in the state legislature and to challenge an enconced veteran incumbent congressman of his own party. He did it because Rep. Kolbe was one of the few Republicans in Congress who cheered Pres. Bush's announcement. Against all the powers of incumbency and all the money that the Republican Party could pull together, Graf came within a few percentage points of unseating Kolbe in the 2004 primary election.

I think most of us who have followed Kolbe believe that that huge vote of non-confidence by Republican voters in 2004 was a key reason Kolbe did the nation a favor and decided to retire after this term.

But for all the courage and tough stands, Graf's presence doesn't at all match the hype of him being too extreme to win the general election. He is affable and low-key and certainly struck me as a cool-headed professional.

If you are concerned at all about what November's elections will do to or for our movement, don't take your eye off this race. in this email:
1. My evening with Randy Graf -- the most important symbol in this fall's elections

2. Welcome to our newest NumbersUSA activist members

3. Did we wrong Miller Beer?

4. Is there a lame duck Congress conspiracy for November?

If you fail to get all of this email, you can always read previous Alerts on our website at:

numbersusa.com/actionalerts
.
actions in brief:
This email is mostly an update.

As always, though, we encourage you to check your Action Buffet corkboard for any actions you can take to promote immigration sanity.

Your personalized corkboard is at:

NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet
MAILBAG

I'm giving over the rest of this section to some of the comments that you have been sending to the NumbersUSA staff:

"Thank you for your quick reply to my problem using the website. I'm back on line! By the way...you guys/gals have created a dream! Giving us the use of your incredible research, and the means to send it on... may just be the salvation of our country, as we know it! This is not an exaggeration! Have you a plan for us members to "bring in" people that think along similar lines as we all do?"
-----Warren C., Syosset, NY

Warren, many of our members have been asking us for some special tools to enlist your friends in our network. We'll do something again on that a little later. For now, though, nothing is more persuasive than your simply sending an email with the website link and your testimonial to all your friends. -- ROY

"Just wanted to say I always enjoy reading your information. Your website is so easy to use for those of us that are not so computer literate!! I am thankful for you and wanted you to know how much you are appreciated and that you are a TRUE BLESSING to the citizens of the USA!!! GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU!!"
-----Debra Upland, CA

"Congratulations to NumbersUSA for your well thought out website!) I've been active locally for a long time, emphasizing the ecological degradation caused by mass immigration. I can tell you from
experience, the open-borders lobby desperately tries to steer the debate away from ecological sustainability, because they know they can't begin to defend the environmental costs of their agenda."
-----Pat K., Santa Cruz, CA

"I love your cause!!! Please though, make your faxes more tactful. To say, "Your grade is like a horror story" is UNEFFECTIVE AND
UNPROFESSIONAL. It's better to write, "Your grade is really low and you will lose votes from voters who support better immigration reform. Let's make our faxes PROFESSIONAL and EFFECTIVE!"
-----Stephanie V., El Paso, TX

Stephanie, we get complaints that our fax language is too aggressive and also that it is to wimpy. We really do try to write a little more down the middle, but we also try to give you several options when you are putting together a fax. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER, though, is that you can always change the fax language. You can click through many different opening sentences until you get one that you like. You can click through several main text options. And then when you choose one, please change wording, delete wording and add wording as much as possible to make it say what YOU want it to say -- and to give it more authority in the offices of Congress. And always add a P.S. since that tends to be the most important thing that staffers read. -- ROY

"I just wanted to let you know I live on a fixed "disability income and made a $25.00 donation to help support our cause. I wish to challenge all physically/mentally challenged individuals to
make at least a $10.00 donation whenever possible."
-----Richard Harness

Thanks, Richard. Even though we always say that we are not asking disabled, unemployed or fixed-income folks to help pay for this citizens network, it seems like people in situations like yours may be the most faithful in support. It is quite humbling. -- ROY

"I just wanted to comment that the format of the eMailed Grade Cards for Senators and Representatives is excellent. Thank you for your diligence."
-----S. Jones, Coppell, TX

"The donation I just gave is what I used to give the GOP. I send all their mail back now saying "When 6 million illegals are sent back by the Republicans and California is made whole, they can count on something again !!!!"
-----D. Parke, Inglewood, CA

"Have been following NumbersUSA for more than a year now and appreciate the very current data it provides. Even though I still
write letters I am especially appreciative of the faxing convenience since it provides a means for immediate response."
-----Victor & Elaine, North Caroline

"Thank you for providing such a forum to get lazy people like me
involved. I wish that EVERY American would join Numbers."
-----E. Adams, Dallas, TX
donate now:
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2. WELCOME TO THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF OUR NUMBERSUSA CITIZEN NETWORK AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND FOR REDUCED OVERALL NUMBERS


Welcome to the 6,438 of you who have joined our network during the last week.

Thank you for registering and starting to send faxes. You are part of a rapidly growing movement. You join many citizens who have been working with us to change immigration laws since 1997.

There are now more than 222,000 registered members of the NumbersUSA Action Network!


3. WERE WE TOO HARSH ON MILLER BEER?



"You should check the Miller Brewing website. I called them only to learn that they had NOT contributed to any amnesty efforts nor do they support such. It is disheartening to learn that you have made such an error."
-----Joyce E.

Many of you have been quite concerned that we may have misled you about Miller Beer's promotion of open-borders policies.

Miller is claiming innocence on all accounts.

But first, a word about why it is worth putting a lot of effort into the Miller saga: We are accustomed to the big lobbying organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Restaurants and National Association of Manufacturers pouring gigantic sums into promoting amnesty and huge immigration increases. And we're used to individual corporations giving big grants to groups like the National Council of LaRaza to promote their ethnic rights activities.

And we're used to a lot of corporations hiring illegal aliens.

But individual corporations have not been publicly aggressive in advocating for illegal immigration and paying directly for open-borders activism.

.... until Miller Beer this summer.

It has been extremely important that we make Miller pay in a most conspicuous way so that no other corporation will be so brazen in the future.

"I went to Miller Beer website today, and in a 9/6 announcement, they claim they did not sponsor the Labor Day march in Chicago. Are they lying, or spinning the truth?"
-----Vern and Peggy

They're spinning. And heads are rolling up and down the communications offices of the corporation.

We told you as soon as the Chicago Tribune reported that Miller had given $30,000 to support a pro-amnesty march on Speaker of the House Hastert's Illinois office. We put up Action Notes on your corkboard asking for phone calls and faxes.

You created a frenzy in Miller offices all over the country!

Within hours, they were backtracking. And then they backtracked some more. And some more.

It has been a PR nightmare for the British-owned firm.

Now, the corporation not only denies giving money to the march but says that it is staying out of all immigration issues.

But a lot has gone before from which the company cannot so easily extricate itself.

As a Milwaukee-headquartered brewer, Miller had given a $2,000 donation to local Congressman James Senbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. This incensed the pro-amnesty protesting groups of Chicago since Sensenbrenner was the author of H.R. 4437 which would require all corporations to verify the right of every worker to be hired, in order to keep illegal alien out of jobs.

The pro-amnesty groups threatened to organize a national boycott of Miller Beer unless the company started meeting its demands.

Miller Beer immediately started making public pronouncements against H.R. 4437 and in favor of amnesty. In March, Miller issued a statement in which it promised to:

1) Provide assistance to community efforts to reach out to specific members of the Senate and business associations in Washington D.C.

2) Make a clear public statement regarding our opposition to HR 4437 and our desire for appropriate immigration reform that provides adequate protection for the rights of undocumented immigrants.

3) Place print advertisements in Chicago and Milwaukee media stating our opposition to HR 4437.

4) Work with the organizations to explore opportunities for community-based partnerships with a particular focus on scholarships for undocumented students.

Immigration-reduction groups across the country groused about Miller's rather disgusting groveling but let it slide until the Chicago Tribune reported the $30,000 grant for the recent march on Speaker Hastert. Then, almost everybody in the movement went ballistic.

Miller officials acted surprised that there were that many Americans out there who would care.

Dimitri Vassilaros of the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW did a fine job of analyzing Miller's attempts to get out of its mess:

Miller issued a statement that was as stunningly stupid as it was self-serving.

"Miller Brewing Company does not support illegal immigration or any other unlawful act. We do support a public policy discussion that will lead to a clear path to legal naturalization for people who meet the requirements for U.S. citizenship. We also oppose any legislation that would unfairly and unjustly seek to constrain immigration.

"We are part of an international company with employees from around the world. We support the free movement of people, labor, goods and services in the global economy with appropriate protections for the rights of individuals and families, the security of nations and the diversity that contributes to a rich and productive society.

"Miller is active in helping immigrants learn how to become legally naturalized citizens of the U.S., through programs like the Miller Lite Immigration Forum in Texas ... ."

In other words, the London-based company believes that defenseless borders are good for the beer business -- at least defenseless American borders. And the foreign-owned company is helping illegals become Americans. The new Miller company slogan should be "Nothing you always wanted in a beer. And less."

Probably the most enfuriating thing about Miller's response was that the business officials actually thought they could appease the public by trying to make philosophical-sounding arguments about the importance of the free movement of labor.

Today's modern-day Robber Barons have grown so arrogant in their attempts to globalize our American jobs (that is drive wages down to global averages) that they don't even know how ludicrous they sound to regular workers and citizens.

Well, nearly 100 organizations joined a nationwide Miller Boycott, with leaders getting on some major media outlets to promote it.

Suddenly, all of Miller's commitment to open borders evaporated as the company put up an entirely new statement:

"Miller Brewing Company has never supported illegal immigration and we have always supported the full enforcement of current U.S. laws.

"Miller did not sponsor the Labor Day immigration march held in Chicago.

"Going forward, Miller will closely review all requests for support from community and charitable organizations to ensure that we are not indirectly funding or associating our name with advocacy efforts on the immigration issue.

"We plan to stick to the business of brewing, marketing and selling great beer."

Hahaha. You do have to admire the contrition of that last paragraph.

So, the good guys (all of you and all of the immigration-reduction organizations around the country) have won a big victory in backing down this multi-national corporation.

But should we let them off the hook yet?

Not yet, says national TV commentator Michelle Malkin, one of the highest-read bloggers on the internet.

She particularly takes issue with Miller spokesman Peter J. Marino who said the $30,000 that the Tribune said paid for the amnesty march did not "finance" the march but actually ...

" ... supported a recent convention on immigration issues in Chicago, which provided attendees with information on how to become legally naturalized citizens of the U.S.."

Malkin goes on to say:

Yes, it all depends on what the meaning of "finance" is. See, they didn't "finance" the march. They just helped pay for the planners to plan it, advertise it, and publicize it. And, oh yeah, they handed out information on how to get citizenship.

Remember:

March advertisements feature not just the organizing committee's trademark blue globe but Miller's logo and a Spanish translation of its "Live Responsibly" slogan, a company effort to build goodwill among Latinos.

And remember:

Mathew Romero, the company's local market development manager, said Miller felt it was important to speak out against Sensenbrenner's legislation, though his campaign was one of many the company supported.

Romero noted that company founder Frederick Miller was a German immigrant and many current executives are foreign nationals. Miller is now part of London-based SABMiller.

Romero said he wasn't worried that some opponents of illegal immigration would be upset at the company's support of "the free movement of people, labor, goods and services."

"As long as you are stacking facts against facts, they are free to make their own decisions. We will stand by our positions," he said.

To date, the Tribune has issued no corrections or clarifications regarding its story on Miller. In standard corporate CYA mode, the Miller spokesman Peter Marino says "Miller supports reform of immigration law, but not illegal immigration." Uh-huh. How do you say "playing both sides" in Spanish?

We share Malkin's skepticism about anything Miller Beer has to say right now.

On the other hand, I covered a lot of boycotts as a journalist, and ethical boycotts have to give a corporation a clear action that they can take to end the boycott.

NumbersUSA has not officially joined the Miller Boycott. We were ready to join earlier, but then Miller switched its official statement to promising no participation of any kind in immigration issues in the future.

We are in talks with the leaders of the Miller Boycott about what Miller needs to do to get all of us off its back.

You all have done very well with your phone calls, faxing and boycotting. I believe corporate America is paying attention. Perhaps the days of easy corporate money for the illegal aliens and their organizers are drawing to a close. A nice thought.

As soon as we have some new information on all of this, we will advise you and perhaps put up new actions for you to take.

You can view the statements and positions of the Miller Boycott at:

Miller Boycott website


4. SECRET LAME-DUCK CONSPIRACY TO PASS AMNESTY?


Quite a few emails have started to come expressing frustration and fear similar to what Arizona activist Sandy Miller states in this email:

"Roy, many of us have predicted the congressional SOBs would wait until the lame duck period in November after the elections to pass amnesty/guest-worker bills when they think they're safe from getting a voters' pink slip. These guys are not to be trusted.

"At the very minimum, we should be faxing and/or calling to let them know we're on to their game, and telling them what I've told Senator McCain in every fax I've sent--my memory isn't so short that I'll forget when you run for President in 2008. Or 2010 or 2012. They all need to hear that we're wise to their sneaky trick, and that we won't forget."

Some of you mistakenly have thought that we believe the fence bill passed last week by the House or even a few of the other smaller bills being contemplated will somehow solve our illegal immigration problem.

Not at all. But we want to get as much from Congress as we can this month. Might the Republicans who now are pushing specific enforcement measures try to slam through a big foreign-worker program in November? We have been operating under this possibility since much earlier this year when Rep. Tom Tancredo announced the threat in the press.

But until Congress leaves town, we want to get Congress to pass as much good stuff as possible. There is no advantage to trying to interrupt them from passing good things right now, regardless of their motivations. Once they adjourn at the end of this month, we can move into full-scale protection mode.

We will work diligently to obtain promises from GOP leaders that they will not try to push through foreign worker increases when they return after the elections. We will involve you in that work as soon as it makes sense.

For now, please work with us on each individual opportunity as it arises until Congress leaves town.

THANKS,

-- ROY

P.S. In order for NumbersUSA to operate, I send out a request for donations once every month. You will get that request from me later in the day on Monday. It will include easy links for making a donation of any type and any size. Thank you for taking a look at that email.

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