So, you enjoying your $16 Big Mac?

I've been watching with interest our rapidly accelerating efforts to find and deport the illegals here among us.  President Trump seems to be deadly serious about building a Maginot Line*....er....wall and throwing every illegal he can find over it.  Problem is, I don't think he understands the unintended consequences of his plan.  In his view illegals are just here to rip off American taxpayers, sop up free welfare benefits, medical care, commit violent crimes, etc, and are a huge drag on our economy.  The bigger picture says something very different, however.

Statistics show they commit no more crimes than native born Americans.  They commit less, actually.  Investigations have shown that if you stay at a Trump hotel, you're staying somewhere built at least partially (and cheaply) by illegal Hispanic labor.  That new roof put on your home last year after our devastating hail storms was probably done with (some) illegal Hispanic labor.  

That last restaurant you visited probably had illegal Hispanic dishwashers, busboys, and maybe even cooks.  Did you enjoy your salad?  Who do you think picked it?  Whenever I  drive by a new subdivision being developed I wonder how many of those Hispanic guys pouring concrete are illegal?  And those Hispanic day laborers you picked up to plant those big trees in your yard were almost surely illegal. 

The overwhelming majority just want to live here in peace, far from the crime and gangs they fled, and make a modest living for their families.  Truth is, we need and depend on their labor. 

Prez Trump seems to think illegals don't pay taxes.  Not true.  Look at all the Hispanics shopping the next time you're in Walmart.  They're paying sales taxes.  And their landlords pay taxes on their properties, and charge a prorated amount of those taxes to each apartment they rent out to illegals.  Those tax revenues are shared by the cities, counties and states to fund street maintenance, police and fire departments, schools, etc.

Do some take advantage of our generosity?  Do some sell drugs, pimp their prostitutes, and rob us?  Yes!  So let's round them up and throw THEM back over Trump's wall!  Oops....there's even a kink in that plan.  In recent years the Hispanics coming here are more likely to be Ecuadoran, Guatemalan, or El Salvadoran than Mexican.  When our bus shows up in Matamoros and says "Here ya' go Mexico", they're gonna reply, "Nope, sorry, not ours.  They're your problem.  U-turn Gringo."  Getting even the undesirables out will be much more difficult than we seem to think.

So should we just look the other way and pretend no one is here illegally?  Should we just all meet up on the town square and sing Kumbaya?  No, of course not!  But there are options besides just what FOX News and MSNBC spout at the extremes.  Just remember, you can't always play the poker hand you want....you have to play the hand you're dealt.

We need some courageous politicians (yeah, oxymoron, I know) to step up and codify a realistic plan to have illegals who have been here for a while register, without fear of deportation IF they have proven to be good residents.  Criminals, cheats and bums need not apply.  Then we'll know who's here, who's working and paying taxes, who's contributing, etc, and they can come out of the shadows (and yes, learn English, just like previous immigrants from Italy, Poland, and elsewhere did).  In the meantime let's seriously protect our borders with aggressive, smart, flexible measures that won't piss off half our hemisphere.

We can make this a win / win situation.  Right now we're rushing headlong towards a colossal lose / lose mess.

S
  

*  The Maginot Line, a long line of concrete-and-steel reinforced gun emplacements, no more protected France from Germany than Trump's wall IMO will protect America from Mexico.  

Just watch....right behind the construction crews will come the tunnel diggers and the pole vaulters.  Wanna make a fortune?  Sell 20' ladders in Mexico!  We need to be smart and flexible, and not waste our money building a wall likely to be obsolete before the concrete cures.

Here comes the Politician Apocalypse. Run for your lives!

Ted Cruz making another delivery.

Oh goody....It's an election year again.  I believe the politicians have found their way in front of every single TV camera in the state.  Every other commercial here in Texas shows one politician or another trying to "out Cruz" Ted Cruz.  

"Oh yeah?  You want to deport all them dang 'illegals'?  Well, I wanna whack 'em on the kneecaps and let 'em crawl back."

"You wuss.  I wanna cut off all their limbs, then let 'em flop back home." *snort, snort*

"Taxes are too high.  Them kids don't need 12 grades of schoolin'."

"I fought for a balanced budget when I was a Legislature-er."  (Note: A balanced budget is required by our state constitution.)

"Vote for me for Ag Commissioner and I'll fight Obama Care!*

"Vote for me for Juvenile Court #6 Judge and I'll fight Obama Care!"

"Vote for me for Sophomore Class Historian and I'll fight Obama Care!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

If there is a more despicable life form than politicians I'd hate to see it.

....said one politician to another.

Some facts:  We need "illegals".  More specifically we need the WORK performed by illegals.  Without them restaurants couldn't function, potholes wouldn't get filled, and houses wouldn't get built. It's a long list of things they do.  We need to somehow fairly bring them into the system.  

It isn't that taxes are too high.  It's just that the money is spent in the wrong places.  We rightfully feel short changed.  Where we spend taxpayer dollars is laughable.  (Well, not really.  It's sad.  Criminal, actually.)

Obama Care, or blanket health care....call it what you want....isn't going away.  Too many people now have insurance who before were excluded due to "pre-existing conditions", or now have coverage again after their exorbitant bills for serious illnesses maxed out their old policies.  And now politicians are going to take that away from them?  And still expect to get their votes?  Not gonna happen.  

The old system wasn't just folded up neatly and placed in the closet like an old set of towels, ready to be brought out again later if needed.  It has already been hauled off in the garbage truck and is now 20' deep in the landfill.  Bye-bye.

Like it or not, we need to find a way to make health care work. If you don't like Obama Care, fine.  Then show me something better.  I mean a detailed plan.  Show me.  Fix it.  Just saying "NO" doesn't fix anything.

All our established politicians want is to stay on the privileged ladder.  All the up-and-coming politicians want is to get on the privileged ladder.  Us peons are just here to give them something to stand on.

You don't have to agree with me out loud.  Just think about it.

S

The Grand Conundrum

The headline read:  "Romney blames loss on Obama's 'gifts' to minorities and young voters".  

In a conference call with many of his big-money supporters Mitt Romney told them that it was Obamacare (calling it a gift to lower-income Americans, perceived to be primarily minorities), the Dream Act (which prohibited deportation of young illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents when they were very young), and the forgiveness of a considerable amount of the interest incurred by students (who are relying on student loans to get their education) that was responsible for his defeat.  He said these "gifts" to targeted groups bought Obama enough votes to put him over the top. 

Or to put it another way, the status quo didn't work for the Republicans.  This needs to be their wake-up call.  They need to find a way to embrace these groups and broaden their base of supporters.  Making the recent election an "us vs them" affair is no way for Republicans to turn their fortunes around.

Here's the conundrum:  Yes, we need to cut our budget deficit.  We can't go on indefinitely running up a trillion dollars a year in red ink.  But at the same time, we DO need to expand health care.  Where a decade ago 65% of companies provided health insurance to their employees, today it's roughly 55%.  You see the trend?  An unhealthy, broke workforce is not what we need to compete economically with the rest of the world.

And we DO need a highly trained workforce, which obviously requires a highly educated workforce.  The days of getting a high school diploma and then spending the next 40 years working at the sawmill are over.  Education costs lots of money, money most families don't have.  Government does, except it's all borrowed money.

And we DO need immigrants.  While many developed countries actually have a shrinking population, ours is still growing, thanks to births to recent immigrants.  Without them working and paying in to "the system" we won't be able to honor our commitments to our baby boomers now at or nearing retirement.  We need to find a way to expeditiously, responsibly admit new immigrants.  And legitimize many (but not all) of those here now.

It seems we need to do lots of things to stay on top in the world, but they all cost money.  Money we don't have.  What to do?

S