What We Stand For

I consider myself one of the last remaining true Republicans.  I am member of the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Our party free the slaves.  Our party ensured that blacks were given the right to vote.  Our party pushed Civil Rights long before the Democrats claimed it as their own.

Our core beliefs are the same core beliefs on which our country was founded.  We believe in our rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  We believe in equal justice for all.  We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.  We believe in ENTIRE Constitution and its Amendments, not just the parts we like.

But We don’t believe in tax and spend.  We don’t believe Education is a right. We don’t believe health care is a right.  We don’t believe that the rich aren’t paying their “fair share” when they in fact provide most of the tax dollars that funds our government.

We DO believe in personal rights.  But, with great rights come great responsibilities.  We all must remember that our individual rights end where someone else’s begin.  And that’s not easy.  This is where the current leaders and voices of Republican Party have jumped off the track.

Even though I don’t believe in many of Clinton’s policies of tax and spend, rights to education and health care, and her distorted belief that the rich are evil and not paying their fair share, these are minor issues when compared to Trump’s desire to deny our core rights and beliefs to millions.  It is far better to give one more than what he is entitled than to deny one rights to which he is entitled.

We cannot stand on our Pledge to a Flag that guarantees liberty and justice for all, and then turn away those seeking liberty and justice because there might be a few wolves among the sheep. Just in the last 100 years we have gone to war at least six times to protect those whose freedoms and liberties were threatened.  More than 20 MILLION Americans served during those wars, and almost HALF A MILLION Americans gave their lives to protect the freedoms of peoples who could not protect themselves. Ben Franklin said that those who sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither.  But Trump has campaigned on a policy of doing just that.  He wants to turn away hundreds of thousands oppressed and displaced Syrians because there might be a few terrorists hidden among them. That is an insult to all those who fought and died to give us our liberties, and to all the others who fought and died to protect the liberties of our oppressed brothers in foreign lands.

We are all immigrants to this country. We all came here looking for a better life for ourselves and our families. America is the land of opportunity. Yet closing our borders to those who seek our freedoms and opportunities goes against our very core rights of Life, Liberty, and Justice for All.  I am NOT advocating tearing down the border fences and allowing anyone free access at any place and any time.  But there needs to be an easy, fair, and quick way for those who want to come here and live the American Dream to do so.  When the waiting list to get in this country can be more than 20 YEARS, there is clearly a problem.  But, regardless of how they got here, we have millions of people living here now that are honest, hard-working people who just want to live under the freedoms that our Constitution provides.  To deport them denies them the very freedoms that we so proudly profess to ensure.  Theodore Roosevelt said it best in a letter to the American Defense Society in 1919:

“We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us he shall be treated on an exact equality with every one else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birth-place or origin.
But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn’t doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. . . We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of  American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.”

What really disgusts me is that this very quote has been spread throughout the Internet in various memes as justification for discriminating and denying our freedoms to those who want to come here by only including the second paragraph, while ignoring the primary message of his letter, which is in the first paragraph.

We cannot stand on the First Amendment and demand our rights to freedom of religion while denying others rights to theirs just because theirs are different from ours.  Even more appalling is when people attempt to deny these rights to others by claiming to be protecting these same rights. The gay marriage issue is a perfect example.  In no way does two people of the same sex getting married infringe on your rights at all. Yet to deny them the right to do absolutely infringes on their rights. I’ll admit that I am still uncomfortable when I see a same-sex couple holding hands or embracing. But that’s on me, not them.  

The same goes for those athletes who have made news because they chose not to stand during the singing of the National Anthem. That disgusts me, but not as much as those who call for them to be arrested or persecuted because they have chosen to exercise their rights of expression.  And think about this:  Doesn’t it weaken the importance and meaning of the National Anthem to force those to stand for it?   Doesn’t it mean much more when Americans stand for it out of respect and love for our country?   Of course, we each have our right not to attend their games.  And the team owners have the right to fire these players if they want.

This is why I am supporting Hillary Clinton and not Donald Trump.   And if you share in our country’s core beliefs equal justice under the law, and are core rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, how could you vote any other way?

Clinton vs. Trump: What Really Matters

As a nation, we have a very important decision to make come November.  We will decide who will lead us for the next four years.  We will decide who will be the face of America.  We will decide who will determine how the rest of the world sees our country.  We will decide whose core values best represent America’s.  We will decide who can best defend our interests worldwide and protect us at home. We will decide who can best help heal the racial and social divisions in our country that have become so pronounced over the recent years.  We will decide whose policies will best serve our economic interests. We must pick a leader that will work well with other leaders, both foreign and domestic. We are electing our next President!

Most likely, it will come down to deciding between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.  The Libertarian and Green parties both have candidates with a lot to offer, but they simply don’t have the votes needed to make a real difference.  Of course, that could change, and maybe it should.  But for today, I’ll focus on Trump and Clinton.

Never before have two candidates been so well-loved and universally-hated as these two.  Trump supporters think he can do no wrong, and see Hillary as the most evil person who have ever run for office.  Clinton supporters think just the opposite.

If you are one of these fanatical supporters, STOP RIGHT NOW.   Take your head out of your ass, and actually give some thought about what you are doing.

The biggest argument I have heard from Trump fans, and from Trump himself, is that Hillary is the most crooked, lying politician ever to run.  Now, if that is not the pot calling the kettle black, then what is?   Almost everything Trump says is a lie to some degree.  I am not going to debate who lies more.  The bottom line is that they both lie, so get over it. If you are voting for Trump simply because Hillary is a liar, or are voting for Hillary because Trump is a liar, STOP RIGHT NOW.  Take your head out of your ass, and actually give some thought about what you are doing.

Each party continually brings up scandals from the other’s past.  But all we really have are innuendos and allegations.  I don’t care how many times they have been repeated. Saying the same thing over and over does not make it true.  They may be true, or they may not be true.  But neither Trump nor Clinton has ever even been charged with a crime, let alone convicted.  Both candidates have multiple closets full of skeletons.  So, if you are voting for Hillary or Trump because of the allegations against one while ignoring all of the allegations against the other, STOP RIGHT NOW.  Take your head out of your ass, and actually give some thought about what you are doing.

We need to pick our next leader based on what we feel they will do over the next four years.  While we can, and should, look at their past behaviors, this is only a very small part of the entire decision process.  What is much more important is what they are planning to do, and can do it.

There are three important things that must be considered when choosing our next President:   Experience,  Temperament & Capabilities, and Policy Positions.

As far as Experience is concerned, there is only one choice: Hillary Clinton.  Over the past 15 years, she has served as a Senator and Secretary of State. She has personally visited and met with the leaders of over 100 countries.  And that does not count the experience she gained from actually living in the White House and seeing the daily demands put upon a President. She has more experience that any of the previous presidents during the last 100 years.  On the other hand, Donald Trump has no experience whatsoever.  He has never held ANY elected office. His repeated gaffes when asked about foreign policy further demonstrate his lack of experience and qualifications.  It’s one thing to elect a Representative, or even a Senator, with no prior experience.  After, experience has to start somewhere.  But not at the top!  We have NEVER elected a President without some prior government or military experience.  Almost all have held prior elected offices as well.

I understand many people want fresh blood in the White House to bring about change.  If that is what is needed, then we need to bring in somebody that has experience in foreign affairs; somebody that has some experience as an elected official.  If you need surgery, and you do not like your surgeon, you don’t hire a plumber as his replacement.  You hire a different surgeon.

Temperament & Capabilities are also even more important when considering our next President.  This is arguably the most stressful job on the planet.  We need someone who is mentally stable; someone with thick skin; someone who can make proper decisions quickly under pressure. Keep in mind that no matter who wins in November, roughly half the people in the U.S. are going to despise that person.  We cannot afford to have someone that can be effected by every criticism thrown their way. Not only is that unprofessional and childlike, it takes away valuable time needed for Presidential duties.

We also need someone that understands being President is a FULL-TIME JOB.  It is not something akin to being “Chairman of the Board”, where you meet occasionally to set broad polices.  It’s much, much more that that.  The President is the CEO of the country.  Remember, CEO stands for Chief EXECUTIVE Officer, and the President is the head of the EXECUTIVE branch.  Certainly, the President must delegate, but, as Harry Truman famously stated, “The Buck stops here!”.

Last, and certainly not least, we need to look at the plans and policy positions of each of the candidates.  Very few of us will agree with every one of Trump’s or Hillary’s policies.  But each of us should look at their positions on the major issues, and to those issues which are important to each of us. Not only should you look at their position on each issue, but at their actual plans to follow up on their proposed policies.  Are their plans even feasible?   Do their plans have general support in Congress?   Remember, we are not electing a King. The President may suggest new laws, but it’s Congress who must pass the laws.  A President who cannot get his policies through Congress will not be an effective President.

Bottom Line: If you are planning on voting in November, make sure you are basing your vote on the totality of your candidate’s Policy Positions, Temperament, and Experience, and not just on what you have heard about their past.  If you are basing your decision on character only, and not taking into account experience, temperament, capability, and policy positions, STOP RIGHT NOW. Take your head out of your ass, and actually give some thought about what you are doing.

Choose wisely.

The disgraceful, national disrespect for Law Enforcement reach a new high (or low) point this week with the tragic death of 5 police officers in Dallas. Unfortunately, this tragedy was just a symptom of a much larger disease.  That disease is our mistrust and hatred of those who are not like us.

Our law enforcement agencies are made up of millions of honest, hard-working people who put their lives on the line every day in order to protect us.  They do this for very little pay and even less gratitude. This has to change. We must treat our law enforcement agencies with the respect that they deserve. For too long now, every time some part of our justice system acts in a way that we do not agree with, our first response is outrage, disrespect, and accusations of corruption.

Case in point:   Last week, Republicans attacked the FBI, which is the most respected law enforcement organization in the world, simply because they did not like the outcome of an FBI investigation. Regardless of the thousands of hours of painstaking work done by the top detectives in the country, they were immediately labeled as corrupt and rigged.  The Republicans’ blind hatred of Hillary has clouded their minds so that reason and rationality have been thrown out the window.

If we want respect for law enforcement, it has to start at the top. We ALL have to respect law enforcement if we expect anybody to respect them.

Holding a Congressional hearing and questioning Comey about the investigation was not out of line.  It alone would have been a proper response. What was disgraceful was the immediate outrage expressed by lawmakers and other political leaders, who had NOT seen all of the evidence, calling the result corrupt and the end of the “Rule of Law”.

Let’s look at this from another angle: The Email Controversy has not directly affected any of us. No one has died as a result. (That we know of). But look at the outrage and mistrust of the FBI the result of this single investigation has generated. Republications’ hatred of Hillary is so intense that they cannot even entertain the possibility that she is not guilty of a crime.

Now, put yourself into the position of a Black person, who sees real people die at the hands of police again and again. For many blacks, their entire life experience has been shaped around a mistrust of police.  If you, as a Republican, refuse to trust and respect the FBI over a single issue, how can you expect black people to trust and respect the law enforcement on levels that they interact with on a daily basis?

If we are to bring this country together, we must stop hating.  And we must start at the top.

ALL OF US:  We must let law enforcement do its job. Accountability must be maintained, of course. But any oversight should be formalized and conducted with respect and impartiality, and never look like a witch hunt.  Whenever an unfortunate event happens, we need to stop rushing to judgement based on short, out-of-context clips of videos. Let’s wait for the results of the ensuring investigation and see what light is shed by the totality of the circumstances. If the officers in question violated the law, then (and only then) they should be prosecuted.

MEDIA:  Stop worrying about ratings and put some journalistic integrity back into the system.  If you are going to report a story as “news”, report it fairly and completely, without bias.  If you have an opinion, label the article as an “editorial”.   Ask yourself, “What would Edward R. Murrow do?”

POLITICIANS:  This is a political election year, and we have two strong candidates running, each of them hated by the other party, and even hated by members of their own party.

If you are a candidate running for office, focus your campaign ads on what YOU can do to fix the problems we face. Tell us how YOU are going to make our lives better. We do NOT need you to tell us what our problems are. And we really don’t need you telling us who to blame. Just tell us how you can help make it better. Don’t run attack ads labeling the other candidate as corrupt and unfit for office.   When you make speeches, stop telling us how bad your opponent is.  When you do, you are just pandering to your own audience.  Instead, make your speeches about how you can make our lives better.  Tell us how you will bring us back together as a nation.

Regardless of how you personally feel about the other candidate, roughly half this country supports and believes in that person. If you want to convince people to vote for you, attacking the person they trust and believe in is NOT the way to do it.   Attack ads just further divide us.  Let’s focus on the positive, and we all will be better in the long run.

Just as distrust breeds distrust, honesty and fair-dealing will trickle down as well, and that is what it will take to heal our country. We are the greatest country in the world because we are UNITED.   It is the unity of our diverse population that gives us our strength.  The only thing that will ever defeat us is when that unity is destroyed.   Remember the adage:  United we Stand, Divided we fall.   It’s more than just words.

Transgender, Bathrooms, and the Feds (Part II)

I always try to look at both sides of an issue before I take a stand.  I try not to let my emotions overwhelm my senses of logic and right and wrong.  Finally, I try to make sure that any stand that I do take supports the core principles our country was founded on:  Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I wrote about the transgender bathroom issue last week.  Apparently, my blog did not solve the issue!  It has grown even bigger this week.  So here is my take, Part Two:

Conservatives have argued that allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice puts our children in danger.   I reject that argument.  Both statistics and common sense demonstrate the flaws of that argument.  Over the past 15 years, at least a dozen states have passed laws specifically allowing transgender persons to use the bathroom of their choice.  During that entire time, there have been no reported incidents of transgender people, or people pretending to be transgender, assaulting other people in restrooms.  It simply has not happened.   And common sense explains why:  If a man is planning to assault someone in a restroom, the last thing he wants is to draw attention to himself.  And whether it is legal or not, any man entering a women’s restroom WILL draw attention to himself.   If the man disguises himself as a woman to get in, it does not matter whether there is a transgender law or not, because we won’t know he is not a woman unless we start looking down the pants of everyone using a restroom.  We won’t find out until he actually starts to attack someone.  At that time, he has broken a much bigger law than any transgender law.

Liberals have taken the stand that they have a right to use the bathroom of their choice.  I also reject that argument.  Unlike the issue over gay marriage, where couples were denied basic spousal protections, tax benefits, inheritance, and other legal rights just because their spouse did not have the proper genitals, no one is denying a transgender person the right to relieve themselves in a rest room.  I do not deny that transgender people may feel uncomfortable using the restroom that matches their anatomy.   But we cannot also deny that allowing them to use the other restroom will result in other people being uncomfortable.  Either way, no matter what, someone is going to be uncomfortable.   Comfort-ability is a feeling based on emotion, and cannot be dictated to us by others.   This is way comfort is NOT a right we are granted under the Constitution, nor should it ever be.  When we start to pass laws just to protect people’s feelings, we are starting down a slippery slope that can only end in disaster.

My position is that the Federal Government needs to stay out of this issue entirely.  That means you, Mr. President.  If State and local authorities want to set a policy on what restrooms people can use in government-owned building, let them.  State and local authorities are locally elected and can be defeated if they don’t follow the standards community requires.   But private citizens and businesses should be left alone to decide for themselves how their restrooms may be used.  I applaud Target for taking a stand, and I will continue to shop there.  And if I need to use the restroom there, I am comforted to know I now have twice as many options to choose from.  If other stores want to say that restroom usage must match anatomy, that is their right as well, and I will also continue to frequent those stores.  For we, as consumers, have the right to patronage or not to patronage any particular business.

Bottom Line:  Except for setting policies on buildings it directly owns, neither the Federal Government nor local authorities should be passing any laws or ordinances on this issue at all. 

Let all remember that every time that the government passes a law or regulation telling us something that we must or must not do, we give up a little bit of that liberty that our country was founded on, and that our forefathers fought and died to give to us. Any use of governmental power to restrict our freedoms should be a last resort, and used only when absolutely necessary.

Personally, it does not matter to me in the least what bathroom a transgender person uses.  I use the restroom solely to take care of my personal business.  Besides, except for urinals (which only men can physically use), the only time anybody is disrobed in the slightest is when they are in a stall with the door shut.  If someone peeks over or under the door while you are in there, they are already breaking the law anyway.

Another related issue was brought up this week as well.  What about locker rooms and showers?  Unlike bathrooms, where the important activities are still private and no one is really exposed to any other person’s private parts, locker rooms and showers leave nothing unexposed.  In this instance, I must take a harsher stand, and side with those that would restrict locker room and showers to those who biologically match genders, especially where children are concerned.

At this point in my life, as an adult, if I personally had to choose between walking around in a locker room with a bunch of naked men or naked women, I would choose the women.  Sadly, I seriously doubt they would feel the same about me.  

But as a child, it would have been a different story.  In our society, parents are free to raise their kids as they feel is right.  And that includes teaching of sex when age and individual maturities warrant.  Any child who has ever seen a mirror knows what their gender looks like.  But exposing a young child to a naked member of the opposite sex before they are old enough to understand why we are different could cause anxiety and interfere with their parents’ desires on how to educate them on these topics.

I can understand the desires of a transgender person to use the restroom whose gender their identity with.  Most likely, they are already dressing and behaving like the gender they identify with, and will blend in using that restroom.  Forcing them to use the restroom that matches their biological gender would just make them stand out and be even more uncomfortable.  But the opposite is true for locker rooms and showers.  No matter what gender you identify with, when you are naked, your either have a penis or you do not.

Transgenders & Bathroom

I fully support the recent Supreme Court decision regarding gay marriage.  Not recognizing a marriage between two human beings denies them the basic legal protections offered to married couples.  One spouse cannot inherit from the other. If one spouse is dying and no longer able to make their own medical decisions, the other does not have any say regarding that care.  Without legal recognition of marriages, couples cannot enjoy the tax benefits offered to married couples.  All of this denies gay couples the ability to enjoy the same rights that the rest of us take for granted.

I don’t care if seeing a gay couple together makes you uncomfortable.  Too bad.  The first time I saw a gay couple years ago, I was taken aback and uncomfortable as well. And I still am. But their rights trump your comfort. All of our rights trump the comfort of others.  THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE CONSTITUTION.  If we all had the same exact desires and beliefs, we would not even need a Constitution.  The reason that we DO have the Constitution is to protect those in minority FROM the majority.  That is the very reason the founding fathers required a ¾ majority vote to amend it.  They knew too well that the majority would trample the rights of the minority if given the chance.

Now, the big issue of the day is transgender bathroom use. This is NOT THE SAME ISSUE as the right to marry. No one is denying any transgender person the right to use a bathroom.  Not at all.  In fact, many places have a gender-neutral third bathroom for just such a situation.  Most laws, where there actually are laws regulating this, simply state that you must use the facility that was designed for your biological design. (Most Men’s rooms have only one or two stalls, and 5 or more urinals. If you are not anatomically a male, you are going to run into a problem!)

The issue now is that Transgender people do not feel COMFORTABLE using the bathroom that matches their physical gender.   Other people do not feel COMFORTABLE sharing a bathroom with someone of the opposite physical sex.

This is NOT an issue of one’s RIGHTS trumping another’s COMFORT LEVEL.   This is an issue of one person’s COMFORT LEVEL versus another’s COMFORT LEVEL.  Nowhere does the Constitution say that one person’s COMFORT LEVEL trumps someone else’s.  Because it does not.  Just because YOU are uncomfortable does NOT give you the right to make someone else uncomfortable.

ON THE OTHER HAND ………………

Is this REALLY a major problem for us?   Personally, I have never checked for the existence of a penis on anyone I have met in the men’s room, and I don’t intend to start now.  Nor do I plan to prove the existence of my own to anybody else as a requirement to use a rest room.  I am not sure how it is in a women’s restroom, but men, when taking care of business, barely recognize or even acknowledge the existence of anybody else.  I’ll never even notice a person who looks like they belong.  I probably would notice a man in a dress.  And I definitely would notice if someone were watching me in an inappropriate way, no matter what they were wearing.

BOTTOM LINE:  If you are dressed like a woman, look like a woman, and act like a woman, use the Women’s room.  If you are dressed like a man, act like a man, and look like a man, use the Men’s room. No one’s going to do a Penis Check.  Perverts who take advantage of this will stand out (no pun intended) and be caught, just as they always have.

We don’t need any new laws. Let each individual establishment set their own policies, just as they always have.

The real issue here should be the disgusting attempts by lawmakers to discriminate against people and then cloaking that discrimination under the guise of protecting our religious freedoms. The only freedoms in jeopardy today are the freedoms of the ones being discriminated against.

Politicians and their Rhetoric

Politicians on both sides are using inflammatory rhetoric to convince people that our country has failed, and only they can make it great again.

I take great offense to that. America has been, will be, and STILL IS the greatest country on Earth. We may not be #1 on everything. Every country has something special going for it. But it is the totality of our freedoms, our economic prosperity, our diversity, our heritage, and our military strength together that makes this country great.

These candidates are not running for King. They are running for the office of Chief Executive, whose main job is to execute (hence the title, “Executive”) the laws passed by Congress. No one man is going to single-handedly solve all of our problems on Day One. I can’t remember any speeches by any of our greatest leaders ever blanket-condemning the other party. Our greatest Presidents spent their time bringing us together, not tearing us apart.

We do have issues that need addressing. But the only real way to solve any of them is for level-headed people from both sides to sit down together, compromise, and come up with solutions that will work for everybody. A true leader will act as mediator and unite our people, not divide them further.

Sadly, I don’t see a single candidate running today that has 10% of the character and integrity of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Lincoln, Kennedy, or either of the Roosevelts.

Immigration Reform

Over 100 years ago, in 1907, Theodore Roosevelt, one of our greatest Presidents, said:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American ... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

It was drilled into us throughout middle and high school social studies classes that the United States is a “Melting Pot”.  We are not made up of a single race, nationality, or class or people. We are Italians, English, French, Greek, Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Indians, and much more.  Let’s not forget that all of us are immigrants or descended from immigrants. Even the “Native Americans” can over from Asia via the land bridge many moons ago.

It is this heterogeneous mixture that gives us our strength. We are a diverse group of people who have united for a common cause. We need to maintain our diversity to maintain our strength. And that means welcoming good, hard-working people into our country who want to join us.

Right now, our immigration system is a complete mess.  All these candidates keep bringing up that there are 11 million illegal immigrants here today.  But what the always fail to mention is that it is virtually impossible for many people to get in legally.  Even if you have family already here, it can take over twenty years to get legal approval to immigrant here.  If you do not have a connection with someone already here, your chances of getting in are virtually zero.  That is just ridiculous!

We need people who will make our country better.  So, if you have a clean criminal record, and are willing to come here, obey our laws, get a job and work hard, and learn to speak, read, and write English, you should be welcome.  You must learn our culture and our language.  After all, it is you who are coming to our country, so don’t expect us to change for you. But, just like every drop of dye added to a can of paint will slightly change that can, we know that we will also benefit from the culture that you bring to us.

Non-citizen residents of our country should NOT be eligible for Food Stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, or other types of welfare and government assistance.  A felony conviction should result in immediate deportation, after you serve your sentence, of course. If they want to become citizens, and we should encourage this, they should be able after five years.  (This is the current law.)

We desperately need immigration reform, and here is how I would do it:

First, we need to control our borders.  People who want to come into our country need to do so through legal means. But I seriously doubt a $12 billion dollar wall will stop all the illegals. A ten foot wall can be defeated with a twelve foot ladder.  Or a tunnel.  What is needed is better surveillance technology to detect border crossings, and many more border guards to ensure a swift, physical response. The E-Verify program to be used by Employers is a great idea.

Second, we need to provide a better system for entering our country legally. Immigrating legally should be a short and easy process.   If you meet the basic requirements, agree to our terms, and have either sufficient funds to take care of yourself or have a sponsor who will help you get started, welcome aboard!


We must also address the issue of the 11 million people who are here illegally right now. Most of these people are hard-working, and have jobs.  Many have families here, and many have children who are U.S. Citizens.  Deporting them is ludicrous. They should be required to come forward and register, pay any back-taxes they may owe, and pay a fine. They must agree to live under the same terms as those entering the U.S. legally. And No Welfare!  AFTER that have paid their back taxes and fines, the Five Year clock should start, and they should be eligible for citizenship just as anyone else.

Think about it this way:  It takes a very driven individual to leave a country where he was born and raised, and move to a place where he has to learn an entirely new culture and a new language. A place where he is not made to feel welcome. As a non-citizen, he will be at a disadvantage, and will not have the opportunities the rest of us take for granted. He has to agree to terms, such as being told that he has to get and maintain a job or else be deported, that we would never agree to ourselves. Even with all of this, these people want to live here.

It seems to me that these people love America better than many of our own citizens.

With 11 million illegals, there are bound to be some bad apples. And when one commits a crime, the media blows it all out of proportion. But, for the most part, the illegal aliens in this country are probably better behaved as a group than our own citizens.  For they know that if they get caught even for a minor crime, they will lose everything that they have worked for.

There is the argument that these immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans.  But to what extent?  For the most part, immigrants take the jobs here that no one wants. Even Donald Trump admitted during the last debate that he has hired illegal aliens to work at his hotels because he could not find Americans willing to fill the positions he was offering. Most of the immigrants coming to our country are young and will work hard for many years. They take the low-paying jobs that nobody else wants.  Many of these people used fake social security numbers to get their jobs.  That means that they are having taxes taken out of their pay each week that they will never benefit from.  They are paying INTO social security and Medicare, but will never get the benefits from those programs.

When Social Security was created just beforer WWII, it was estimated that 10 people would be paying into it for every person receiving benefits. Now, there are only three people paying into for each person taking out. This is due not only to people living longer, but also to the fact that our workforce is aging. In 1992, the average age of U.S. workers was 38 years. Now, it is 42 years.Our workforce needs revitalization! Immigrant workers will help reduce our average workforce age, and help stabilize the Social Security system.

Right now, the fertility rate in the U.S. is 1.88 births per female. We need a rate of at least 2.1 just to sustain our population. Since we are below that rate, it means that our population would be shrinking if it were not for immigrants.


We DO need immigration reform.  We have needed it for many years. But our current system, as flawed as it is, has not destroyed our country. The 11 million illegal aliens here provide a labor force that we cannot do without. The contributions they make to our society offset many of the problems they cause. The Immigration problem is nowhere near our most pressing issue. ISIS, the Economy, Health Care, and Education are far more important to us right now.


Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have chosen to make Immigration Reform a major issue.  WHY?  Rule 101 in Politics is to gain supporters by giving them a common enemy. Illegal Immigrants make a great scapegoat. They can’t defend themselves. They ARE breaking the law. So, let’s make them the cause of all of our problems. Blame them for our shortcomings. We all want to believe that somebody else is to blame for whatever ails us.

Trump himself admits that Immigration was not a major issue until he made it one. That’s one of the points he keeps shouting out to Ted Cruz during the debates. But now that Trump and Cruz have made this the central issue, they have used it to propel themselves to the top of the pack.

It’s a proven strategy that works.  It certainly worked for Hitler.

Appointing a new Justice

When our country suffered a great loss Saturday with the death of Antonin Scalia, it was sad, but not surprising, that many politicians immediately made the choice of his successor a political issue.

Most Republicans are calling for Obama to NOT appoint a successor and leave that decision to the next President. THEY ARE WRONG!  I am ashamed of every one of them. Current Senators who are stating that they will not confirm ANY Obama appointments should be impeached for violating the oath to the Constitution that they took when they assumed their office.

It is vitally important that we appoint a new justice as soon as possible, for a couple of reasons:

First, the next President will not take office for over 11 months.  To allow such an important post to be vacant for almost a full year will be a disgrace.

Second, and more importantly, it is imperative that the new justice be a person of integrity, who will follow the Constitution and the laws of our country when deciding cases, and not let political concerns guide his or her decisions.  Frankly, I have my doubts that either Republicans or Democrats have the political courage to put aside politics and choose the best candidate.

Right now, the Court is pretty well divided between liberals and conservatives.  We need a non-partisan justice with integrity to take Scalia’s place.  What we do NOT need is a radical liberal or a radical conservative.

One of a President’s most important duties is to appoint Supreme Court Justices.  With the Republican controlled Senate, there is no chance a liberal candidate will be confirmed.  So, if Obama wants to do his duty and appoint someone who will actually get confirmed, he must carefully choose a candidate that has a record of following the law and setting aside political issues.  The contrasting desires between the Democratic President and Republican-controlled Senate will ensure proper vetting for any proposed candidate.

On the other hand, if we wait until after the election, it is possible that both the Presidency and Senate will be controlled by a single party. This would allow the party in power to push through whatever radical justice they desire, with no true vetting.  A lop-sided Supreme Court packed with justices that put politics above the law would be a disaster for this country regardless of what side they lean.  If the election results in different parties controlling the Presidency and the Senate, then we will be in the same position that we are in now, but we will have wasted a year.

I am calling on Obama and the Senate to put your political differences aside, and to remember that you are AMERICANS first, and follow the oath that you took when you were elected to your office. In case you forgot, that oath requires your loyalty be to the Constitution, not to your political parties.

United We Stand

Throughout my school days, we were taught how America was the “melting pot”.  Our country is completely made is up of immigrants from other countries.  Even the “Native Americans” immigrated here over the land bridge from Russia thousands of years ago.  It is this very make up of many different peoples that gives our country its strength.

No other country in World History has been as diverse as we, and it is that diversity that allowed our country to grow from a few scattered colonies to the greatest nation on Earth in only 200 years.

The first rule of warfare is to divide and conquer.  Because we are such a diverse population, it is very difficult to find a single line that can divide us.  And as long as we stay united, we cannot be defeated.  Indeed, the lowest points in our history are those few times that something caused a major division in our country.  The biggest, of course, was the issue of States Rights and Slavery, and that division led to the Civil War.  A war that resulted in more casualties that all of our other wars combined. We faced another divide in the sixties over civil rights and the Vietnam War.  That divide, of course, paled in comparison to the one a hundred years earlier, but it still threw our country into fifteen years of turmoil.

The only other nation that rivaled ours was the Soviet Union.  For almost 50 years, it was the only other Super Power.  But let’s not forget that we did not defeat the Soviet Union; they failed from within. They failed when their unity collapsed.  And let’s not forget that collapse happened virtually overnight.

I am very concerned that several of the candidates running today, (specifically, Trump, Cruz, and Sanders) are leading us down another slippery slope of division.  This division could easily become the greatest crisis facing our country today, for the only enemy who can ever truly defeat America is ourselves.

We need a leader that will unite our country; not divide it.

This attitude where the Republicans are against everything the Democrats stand for, and where the Democrats are against everything the Republicans stand for has got to stop.

Democrats blaming George W. Bush for all of the problems we face now is nonsense. George W. Bush is a good and decent man who lead our nation through its darkest hour in the past 60 years. His policies kept us safe after September 11.  But he was wrong about the existence of WMD’s in Iraq. But being wrong does not mean he lied. We all believed that Iraq had WMD’s at that time. It turned out that we all were wrong. In hindsight, maybe the Iraq War was a mistake.  Maybe not.  Only time will tell.

Equally nonsensical is the Republicans going around saying Obama has destroyed America over the past seven years.  Barrack Obama is also a good and decent man who is doing the best he can do in an impossible job; a job made even more difficult because the Republicans have opposed almost every single thing he has said or done, regardless of its merits.  Even the Democrats supported W. on many of his issues.  Our economy is in much better shape than it was seven years ago.  Obamacare has allowed millions of people to obtain healthcare when they previously were unable to. On the other hand, I feel that his foreign policies have weakened our country.

As our first Black President, Obama was in a unique position to help heal the racial divide that has been present here for some many decades. Unfortunately, in this aspect, he has failed miserably.  Racial relations are at their worst since the 60’s. Our police are being attacked.  We all seem to have forgotten that, as President, Obama is not only Commander in Chief of the Military, he is also our country’s Top Cop.  (Law Enforcement falls under the Executive department, and the President is head the Executive department.)  While he has no direct control over state and local law enforcement agencies, examples of proper leadership would trickle down.

Because we are such a diverse nation, we will never elect a President who reflects all of our views. Hell, there is not a candidate running now that even reflects all of my own views, and I am just one person.  I have not made a decision on who I would support.  Every candidate has some ideas which I fully support, and every candidate has a taken a position on some topics which I fully oppose.

In the end, I will vote for the candidate, regardless of his or her party, that I feel has the strong leadership skills, the character, and the integrity, to best heal this growing division in our country today.  And I pray that you will, too.

Your Fair Share

The growing gap between the richest and the poorest in this country concerns me greatly. I believe that the mega-corporations and banks have far too much power today, and that some, if not most, of them are misusing that power. But that is a topic for another day.

Today I am going to rant about the rich paying their fair share.

I shudder every time I hear a Politician shout out that the rich need to pay their fair share.   The top 10% of Americans already pay over 70% of all of the Income taxes collected each year, while the bottom 45% of Americans pay no Income taxes at all.   30 Years ago, the top 10% paid 55% of all of the Income taxes collected that year.

One of the most basic of our founding principles is that all men are created equal.  One person.  One vote.  When it’s election time, Bill Gates gets one vote.  Warren Buffett gets one vote.  You get one vote.  I get one vote.   So how is it fair that 70% of the Income taxes are paid by the rich and almost half of everybody else pays nothing?   (Maybe if everybody actually had an extra 10% or 20% taken out of their paycheck every week for taxes, then maybe the general public would be more concerned about the out-of-control Federal spending and decide to do something about it!  But I digress….)

The truth is that the rich pay far more than their fair share. They always have and they always will. Total Income taxes collected last year were 1.5 trillion dollars. That comes to over $5,000 for every man, women, and child in this country, or around $12,000 per household.  I know I did not pay nearly that much in Federal income taxes.  But the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is the Rich.

And still, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are demanding that we raise taxes on the rich because they are not paying their fair share!   What a crock!

The government costs a lot of money to operate, and most of that money will come from the rich. The poor simply don’t have it to pay even if they wanted to.

It is very likely that taxes will have to be raised in the future, and I am not saying that they shouldn’t be.  But it will be the rich who bear the brunt of those increases.

So let’s get off our high horse and stop trying to justify raising taxes on the rich because they are not paying their “fair share”. Let’s just be honest and say we need more of your money to fund our lifestyles. Or, and by the way: Thanks!





While we on the subject of the evil and greedy rich who don’t pay their fair share, consider what these richest of the rich did with the money that they didn't pay in taxes:

Andrew Carnegie used his wealth to build over two thousand five hundred libraries throughout the World.  By 1919, near HALF of the all of the libraries in the United States were built with funds provided by Carnegie.

John D. Rockefeller gave away approximately $540 million (over $10 billion in today’s dollars) before his death in 1937 at the age of 97. With that money, he created two of the world’s greatest research universities, helped pull the American South out of chronic poverty, educated legions of African Americans, jump started medical research, and dramatically improved health around the globe.

Gordon Moore, founder of Intel, has given away almost $7 billion.

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to give away at least half of his wealth, and has already given over $500 million.

Warren Buffet has pledged to give away 99% of all his wealth, and has already given away $23 billion dollars.

Finally, Bill Gates leads them all with over $28 billion dollars already donated.