COMING TO AMERICA ?

Can you say, “U.S. National Immigration Policy”?

Over the course of two hundred and thirty-nine years, thirty-seven out of forty-four U.S. Presidents have tried and failed. The other seven, apparently, just didn’t give a damn. Do not lose sight of the fact that the U.S. Congress hasn’t been able to craft a workable solution either, so no political Party is above this short-coming.

The United States has been able to craft the World’s most powerful economy, military, democracy, and progressive society. The Nation has overcome Colonialism, slavery, women’s voting restrictions, Labor abuses, major diseases, one major economic depression, countless recessions, two World Wars, and a slew of natural disasters. Based on this short list, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to assume that the Nation could come up with a comprehensive Immigration Policy that would stand the test of time (as the U.S. Constitution has). At the start of the Industrial Revolution, our Immigration non-policy was necessarily open to the masses. The U.S. needed a work force to fill the emerging factories, and build a solid middle-class for the Nation. This approach is no longer valid given the World economy and the U.S. economy in the twenty-first Century. No one who preaches the historic policies is dealing in reality; the Government needs to step away from that train of thought.

The solution might be multifaceted, and, as such, require folks from all corners and persuasions of the Political, Social, and Economic spectra to actually agree on something other than their own trite, insignificant agendas. A practical proposal would take “a little of this, and a little of that” to construct at least the framework of a comprehensive, long-term plan of action. This may best be served by, first, looking at the short-term; three to five years out. Follow this with a seamless transition to a long-term, permanent Policy, Legislation, and/or an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

There are a number of basic areas that need addressing

in the overall, larger picture of Immigration Policy:

Categories – Normal, modern-day flow of immigration; refugee immigration; student visas; tourist visas; business visas; any more that make sense; permanent vs. temporary; keep it simple; *based on the U.S. Constitution, there is a division between Church and State, so Church will not be a considered

Numbers – in each category, come up with an annual quota amount; leave some room for emergencies (war, natural disasters, etc.)

Tracking – U.S. citizens who leave the Country and end up in a war zone aiding, abetting, or fighting for the enemy will automatically forfeit his/her U.S. citizenship and passport/visa –they will not be allowed to re-enter the U.S., ever; for temporary entrants, a strict no nonsense verification method (a three month, or one semester, re-registration stipulation); any deviation from this will result in immediate expulsion and a ban on re-entry; certain restrictions on Social Services will apply

Entry - airports and seaports designated and fully  equipped to handle the processing of immigrants; as for the borders - the Nation must make a decision to stop invading other Countries with armed forced; The northern and southern borders can then be patrolled by the Army National Guard rotating on a State-by-State basis; Naval Reserve will help enhance to Coast Guard; the Air Force Reserve will secure the air space; this will guarantee that the Nation will have a  “well maintained Militia” as eluded to in the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; appropriate, modern surveillance techniques and hardware will be used in all instances; ( a collateral spin-off might just be a gross reduction in drug and human smuggling across all four borders)

Path to Citizenship – a one-size-fits-all program; must learn to be proficient in English; residency rules will apply; birth in the U.S. does not make one a citizen until parent(s) fully fulfill their obligation; certain restrictions on Social Services between entry and citizenship

It is probably unrealistic to think about a Constitutional Amendment. The current state of the Federal Congress might preclude any meaningful legislation. That leaves a State-by-State nationwide referendum as the most viable way of achieving the goal. A simple 2/3rds majority should seal the deal. The referendum in each State will be identical; no changes allowed; and, definitely no “ear-marks”, or addendums. There will be no list of “exemptions”, thus closing out any attempt at creating “loopholes”. 

PARSING THE PREAMBLE

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a

more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic

Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote

the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to

ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this

Constitution for the United States of America.”

 Let’s take a look............
1)         “We the people of the United States”:

If you are a citizen of the United States, you are “we the people”. 
No discussion necessary.

2)         “...a more perfect Union”:

You can lump three items into this category: a democratic society, a democratic 
form of governance, and a capitalistic economy.

3)         “...establish Justice”:

There is obviously a need for Laws. Just how intricate, obtrusive, and 
overreaching is a subject of contention that needs a lot of clarification.

4)         “...insure Domestic Tranquility”:

This can construed as allowing social regulatory Agencies such as Police Departments. 
This also brings into question the Rule of Law discussion. It may also involve information 
gathering Agencies like the CIA, the NSA, etc.

5)         “...common defense”

The original intent here was to maintain a well-regulated Militia; i.e. the National 
Guard and the Reserves. It does not address a standing Army (Military). 
Please note the word, Defence.

6)         “promote the general Welfare”:

This has nothing to do with modern-day entitlements. It is aimed at the promotion of trade 
between the States, and as a check/balance on runaway Capitalism. It also addresses public 
safety and infrastructure.

7)         “secure the Blessings of Liberty”:

This is a barrier against the State, or the Federal Government, imposing themselves on the 
lives of the citizens of the United States by the passing and enforcing restrictive Laws and 
Regulations. This is the one statement that is strictly for “we the people” and has no intent 
of any governing interference.

Somewhere along the way, 
these seven short statements 
were swept under someone’s rug. 

Truth & consequences

 Actions have consequences, intended, or not. The statement of discovery, below, is a solid insight into how our politicians in Washington time and again hold themselves above the law. And, our democracy depends on law to see to it that democracy actually works. It’s sort of that way by design. 

Now, on matters political, Mrs. Feinstein has held a fairly good record throughout her tenure. When we, the electorate, see one of our elected officials falling over into the dark side, we have a Constitutional duty to send said politician packing. This is the biggest argument for term limits at every level of governance. The longer they stay glued to seats in Washington, the more insidious the greed becomes, and deals like the one mentioned below take place without the batting of an eyelash. On the matter of Blum/Feinstein being “two public service crooks, I believe the Blum side of the equation is in the privet sector, not the public sector.

 

But, all that aside, let’s get to the core of the argument. You may start by asking, “Why would a commercial, private sector company want a barrel full of old Post Office buildings?” Start by looking back in time when the USPS was at the top of its game, and there were a slew of “overnight” courier services available for substantially higher prices. Those courier companies morphed into United Parcel Service (UPS), Federal Express (FedEx), DHL, and a few lesser players.

Their business models have outstripped the Post Office in performance, not only in the domestic market, but also in the international market. I have to believe that this has not occurred without the wheeling and dealing of Big Business. To set the record straight on some facts quoted below, the USPS is not mismanaged. It has been under the thumb of an unrelenting Congress for the last forty odd years. The USPS has been literally robbed of its revenue by acts of Congress, and that is why they are in such financial chaos. The government mandates on their pension system add untold “on paper” losses that keep the USPS in the red.

Now, along come the aforementioned “courier” companies who have set their eyes on the entire mail and package delivery system, worldwide. If the business lobby can force the USPS to go under, their clients can walk right in without firing a shot, and take over the entire show. That’s how capitalism works, when greed is King. So, the number quoted below, $117 billion in the last ten years, is not a very surprising amount.

*********************************************************************************
“The US has entered into a contract with a real estate firm to sell 56 buildings that currently house U.S. Post Offices. The government has decided it no longer needs these buildings, most of which are located on prime land in towns and cities across the country. The sale of these properties will fetch about $19 billion. A regular real estate commission will be paid to the company that was given the exclusive listing for handling the sales. That company is CRi and it belongs to a man named Richard Blum.”“Richard Blum is the husband of Senator Dianne Feinstein and is shown with her in the picture above. (Most voters and many of the government people who approved the deal have not made the connection between the two because they have different last names). Senator Feinstein and her husband stand to make a fortune (at between $950 million and $1.1 billion!!) from these transactions. His company is the sole real estate agent on the sale. CRI will be making a minimum of 3% and as much as 6% commission on each and every sale. All of the properties that are being sold are all fully paid for. They were purchased with U.S. taxpayers dollars.”“Well, the folks in Washington have given the Post Office the OK to do it! Worse yet, most of the net proceeds of the sales will go back to the U.S.P.S, an organization that is so poorly managed that they have lost $117 billion dollars in the past 10 years! No one in the mainstream media is even raising an eyebrow over the conflict of interest and on the possibility of corruption on the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of public assets. How does a U.S. Senator from San Francisco manage to get away with organizing and lobbying such a sweet deal? Has our government become so elitist that they have no fear of oversight? And it's no mere coincidence that these two public service crooks have different last names; a feeble attempt at avoiding transparency in these type of transactions. Pass this info on before it's pulled from the Internet. I even verified it on Snopes:” http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/blum.asp
“And, Snopes usually puts a liberal spin on whatever it reports. It also was verified on TruthofFiction.com, which is a more reliable source for checking Internet rumors. You can read what they said by clicking on:”  http://www.truthorfiction.com/Blum-Post-Office-Sale-061013.htm“Now, here's the test.”“The U.S.P.S. is allowed free and clear, tax exempt use. The only cost to keep them open is the cost to actually keep the doors open and the heat and lights on. The United States Postal Service doesn't even have to pay county property taxes on these subject properties.”             “QUESTION?”                    “Would you put your house in foreclosure, just because                                    you couldn't afford to pay the electric bill?”   “DOES THIS PISS YOU OFF?”
 “If it doesn't, then don't complain about the corruption and the ineptness in D.C. You apparently have given up or have turned a blind eye and don't care.

The second amendment doesn’t work anymore! So, let’s get rid of it.

As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, then-Secretary of State: ^[24]

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state,

the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

24. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=220

If the original intention of Amendment II of our Constitution was properly executed, there would be no Grand National discourse as to how many, and what type of, guns a civilian might be “allowed” to have.

Ideals that helped to inspire the Second Amendment in part are symbolized by the minutemen. ^[41]

                                                                                       41.  Cornell, Gun Control, p. 2

This little piece of our National Constitution in no way mandates that every household in the Country has to have firearms. 

The existence of this Amendment grants only the “right” to “keep and bear arms”, not a mandate that every household needs to be armed to the teeth.

If you interpret this Amendment as it was most probably intended, you can easily come to the conclusion that the British, French, Indians, and Spanish are not going to storm our shores, loot, pillage, plunder and rape any time in the foreseeable future. Based on the size of our National arsenal, I would venture a guess that, save the lone terrorist group, no one will ever attempt to overrun our borders using lethal force.

I know the theory of “monkey see; monkey do” is a statistically valid theory. This is pointed out by the fact that our Nation has been involved in 166 incidents of armed conflict over its 248 year history. That translates into 1 ½ such conflicts/wars every year of existence as a sovereign Nation.

The United States ranks first in a good number of categories. The fact that we seem to like to shoot first and ask questions later might be a category we no longer need to be the best at.

The United States has, for quite some time, had the absolute best Military of any Nation in the history of man. This is a position that is part of our national DNA. We tend to enjoy protecting ourselves against any enemy anywhere in the World. This is not a bad thing, until you start pulling the trigger as often as we seem to.

What does this have to do with our 2^nd Amendment? What our elected officials do by waging war so often, on our behalf, has been replicated in the people’s psyche. It’s as if we all want to be G.I. Joe, or Rambo. Civilian life isn’t supposed to be like that; hence the definition of the word “civil” (Go ahead, look it up. I dare you.).

Since there is no one about to huff and puff and blow your house down, we should get rid of this 2^nd Amendment completely. It has outlived its usefulness, and has, indeed, become a detriment to life as it should be.

Is it really our intention, as a people, to run around shooting our children let alone each other? Can’t we leave the shooting to those we ask to protect us? Let’s get rid of our paranoia and, at the same time, lose the 2^nd Amendment.

The International Disabilities Treaty

A lofty and noble cause, surely, but I have to ask, “What’s this going to cost us?” If you read between the lines just a little bit, you start hearing the alarm bells going off and the red flags popping up. Is this really something our Government needs to be doing right now? The best way to help disabled people the World over is to stop producing them!

21 November 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  November 21, 2013 Statement from Secretary Shinseki on the Disabilities Treaty WASHINGTON -- Ratification of the Disabilities Treaty is important to our Nation's 5.5 million disabled Veterans. Ratification of the Disabilities Treaty is not about changing America.  It’s about helping the rest of the world raise their accessibility standards to the gold standard the United States has set through our ADA.  Ratification will help reinforce America’s global leadership role and reputation, putting us in the strongest position to advance disability rights worldwide. By joining the treaty, we will be helping the 5.5 million Veterans with disabilities and the 50 million Americans with disabilities study and work with dignity and pursue greater opportunity abroad with the same access they enjoy at home. I served for roughly 10 years in Europe as a disabled Soldier following my tours in Vietnam.  During that time, I had to learn to walk and run again.  I had to convince the Army that I could continue to serve, and learn to adjust to a new reality.  I recall the absence of aids for the disabled in many places where I served-ramps, lifts, automatic door openers, among other devices that are commonly available in this country. Our disabled Veterans and service members have put their trust in our country.  Now, it’s time for our country to put its trust in them.  It’s time to ratify the Disabilities Treaty. I urge the Senate to approve the Treaty this year. Contact Us Phone: 703-642-5360 || Email: Adjutant@purpleheart.org || Web: http://www.purpleheart.org

Tell me, again, who is it I’m voting for?

                                                                                                                                       10/6/2012

A year ago, I was excited about this coming General Election Day. I thought it was going to be the culmination of a lot of people working very hard to get the “PEOPLE’S” message heard and acted upon by our Representatives in Washington, D.C.

The list of advocates for the common folk was impressive:

The Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Emily’s List, The War Resistors League, Common Dreams, The Root, Color of Change, United Republic, Center For American Progress, MoveOn.org, Upworthy, The Huffington Post, The Opinionated Liberal, Quiet Mike, Lester and Charlie, The Common Sense Coalition, Mined in America, The Coffee Party. These, and more, seemed to making their collective voices heard all around the Nation. It was like manna from Heaven. The skies were going to part and “WE THE PEOPLE “were to be blessed with a truly democratic government.

The folks listed above, and many, many more, are still ringing their bells and blowing their horns; all with great causes that are aimed at giving us the Country we have long dreamed for. Sadly, however, it seems that things we thought were on their way to being changed for the better have either stalled out, or have taken a trip South for the Winter. It’s beginning to sound like we’re still wallowing in a great big pile of doo-doo with no relief in sight.

Why is it that we insist on electing absolute numb-nuts to run our Country for us? Why do we even consider the incredible con men as an alternative? There has to be someone out there that knows how to do this government thing. Someone must have a block of time available to stand up, tell the Press where to stick it, tell Corporate America to keep their hands out of the cookie jar, and run this Nation as it is supposed to be run.

Think for a minute, if you will, about such entities as the Supreme Court and the entire National Justice System. It is a complete joke. A black Woman from the inner city gets thirty years in prison for an ounce of marijuana, but a White Male Murderer from the Mid-West gets eight to twelve years in prison, with the possibility of parole in four years. Crap, that makes sense to me! Who’s running this dog and pony show? Are you, perhaps, thinking of running for the local school board in, say, Broward County, Florida? That will cost you a measly little $200,000.00 just to get in the mix. When I heard this, from a friend in the know, my jaw not only dropped, it became unhinged (I know; to the great pleasure of many.) Stories like these only confirm our need to erase the entire structure of our government and start over, from scratch.

A great place to start is with the Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our Emancipation Proclamation. Hell, throw in the Federalist Papers for good measure. And then, we need the Second American Revolution to become a reality. Everything under the sun is fair game: our economic structures, our justice system, our social safety net programs, our legislative system, our education system, our Military structure and mission, and our presumed role in international affairs. Only after this is accomplished will the United States of America, once again, be fulfilling its promise to all its citizens.

So, what the heck, are we all up for a little Revolution? Anybody?

A little http://wethepeeps1.blogspot.com is good for the soul.

 

LETS FIX CONGRESS !?

Mr. Warren Buffet – The quotes, below, are apparently commonly attributed to Mr. Buffet in one, or more, of his public interviews. I cannot vouch for the validity of the source, but, in general, this is what needs to be done to achieve a truly representative government. I have taken the liberty to revise and add his comments regarding “term limits”.

Mr. Buffet;
"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of  GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to get ratified!  Why? Simple, the people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure. 

 

Congressional Reform Act of 2012 

1.       No Tenure / No Pension.

2.       A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when

          they're out of office.  

3.       Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security and Medicare like the

          rest of us do.

4.       All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security System,

          immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress

          participates with the American people. It may not be used for any  other purpose.

5.       Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 

6.       Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional

          pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

7.       Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care

          system as the American people. 

8.       Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

9.       All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12  

          [i.e., No Lobbying] The American people did not make any contracts with  

          Congressmen/women; Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in

          Congress is an honor, not a career, and definitely not a stepping stone to further

          governmental and legislative manipulation.

10.    The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s),

          then go home and back to work. Term limits will be set by Law, as they are for

          Presidents, Governors, and the like. Senators will be restricted to four, six year terms;

          Representatives will be restricted to four, six year terms. The length of “term” for  

          Representatives will be amended to six years, in equality to Senator’s “terms”.^[1]

^[1]: Our Elected Officials in Washington, D.C spend entirely too much of their time “in Office” attempting to get re-elected. This is very costly in both monetary terms and time spent away form actually representing their constituency. *On the same note; the Presidential “term” should also be amended to six years, and be available for only two consecutive “terms”.