Immigration; How can we permanently and compassionately fix the problem?

........so now we finally have a President who wants to solve immigration problems by building a wall. This is akin to stopping a leak in a dam by sticking your finger in the hole; The water stops flowing in, but the dam is still broken. It treats the symptom but the cause remains. 
When we finally get around the tragic clown posturings of Donald Trump, what will actually have been accomplished? How can we stop the inflow of desperate, undocumented people in a fair, compassionate and effective way?

A good place to start in solving the immigration problem would involve bringing the rest of the Western hemisphere into the 21st century. If  the people of Mexico, Cuba, Central America, South America, et al could earn a living wage in their countries, the incentive to come here to work would diminish.

I propose levying an import duty on any part, product or service that is sold in this country when the workers making the product or providing that service earn less than the US minimum wage. Corporations could avoid paying this duty by paying the prevailing minimum wage to their employees. 

This would help our economy in at least five ways:

1. It would slow down the the loss of jobs caused when companies move their operations "offshore" seeking to cut labor costs.

2.  It would give the people of other countries more money to spend on American products thereby increasing our exports and lowering the trade deficit.

3. It would stop the hiring of illegal immigrants in this country who will work for low wages thereby taking  jobs from Americans. This would decrease unemployment and stimulate the economy.

4. It will drastically cut back on the number of immigrants who come here to find work, fall into poverty and must resort to social services in order to survive. This will lessen the amount of taxpayer money needed to provide such services.

5. The taxes collected from "underpayers" would help offset the costs to the American people brought about by the immigration of those seeking better employment.

The situation we are in now is largely a result of NAFTA which helps promote a culture of  worker exploitation in Hispanic countries.
 Ross Perot was right. NAFTA turned out to be a disaster for American workers. The only people it benefits are rich CEOs and business owners. The rest of us are paying the price in lost jobs and lower wages.

Building walls, guest worker programs, making it a felony to be an illegal immigrant and "sending them all back" won't work. We can waste time and money on these programs or we can address the true cause of illegal immigration; extreme poverty beyond our borders.

We have got to find a way to improve the quality of life for our neighbors to the south and elsewhere in their native countries. Fleeing to America must cease to be their only salvation from poverty.

2018

               Ya know, somehow "I told you so" just doesn't quite say it.... 
   
      Liberals, having managed to snatch defeat from victory with their bickering and divisiveness, are now fuming in their social media about the results they helped bring to pass. Thanks to the Hillary haters, the Bernie Bashers, the hard core Bernie Bros, and the "both parties are the same" delusionists, we are now ensconced in a full-on Republican fascist theocracy. All that needs be done is a redefinition of the Establishment Clause by the Supreme Court and you'll be living on a 6k year old Earth and religion will be in every classroom and courthouse.
   
       It should be clear by now, to even the most incredibly obtuse, that the parties are not even remotely "the same" and that a Clinton Presidency would have been far more desirable to the one we are about to experience...yet i continue to see people who refuse to let the Hillary subject die....still fanning the flames of division as the country goes to hell in a handbag. If you want change, this has got to end!
     
       So what to do now? Impeachment (if it could be accomplished) would only give us President Pence....no better than Donald Trump, and it's not likely to be an option with this Congress anyway. There will be no recount on the election. Democrats have wimped out on that before (2000) and the time for that has passed. All the rancorous memes and demonstrations in the world won't still the Republican onslaught of executive orders and bills that will now sail easily through the Republican Congress and be rubber stamped by the new POTUS. You can make your Hitler/Holocaust analogies, complain about Trump's pussy grabbing and moan on about Melania and it will have exactly no effect on our current situation....it's just preaching to the choir. We can stamp our feet and rant all we want and that won't make this nightmare go away.

      First and foremost we have got to reform Congress. That is now priority #1. We are not going to reign in this administration by overturning the events 2016. We're not going to do it by criticism in social media or by marches on DC alone. We must begin TODAY to prepare for the 2018 midterms. Only this can save America from the disaster of a Trump/Pence led fascist religious theocracy.

            The time for division is over...the stakes are too high for us to lose again....
                                HELP PUT YOUR LOCAL PROGRESSIVE IN CONGRESS!
                                                 #reformcongress2018


 

It's time to get serious.....

https://www.popvox.com/

As we proceed to what will likely be the most contentious presidential inauguration in history, it's plain to see Republicans and Democrats have learned nothing from this last election cycle. Republicans are still baiting haters with racism and trying to remove the very social programs that they themselves benefit from. Democrats are still crying "unfair" over the primaries and general election and clinging to their conspiracy theories.

All this does us exactly no good. Time to stop pissing and moaning about the media and big money (who played little, if any, part in the election's outcome). Time to stop posting memes about Melania's naked pics and Donald's hair and get down to what we're going to do about the coming policies that Republicans are going to push for in the next four years. When the dystopian bills start to come through Congress and Repubs try to reverse Roe v Wade, no one will give a rat's about snarky social media posts and why Bernie or Hillary lost. For gods' sake, Democrats, get your heads out of the sand. Stop the useless wars on GMOs and the anti-vaxxing nonsense and concentrate on the coming armageddon of Republican legislation that we will face as this administration comes to power.

Our priority now should be Congress, not the 2020 Presidential election (fercryinoutloud!). Reforming Congress in 2018 is our last chance to put the brakes on a Republican agenda running wild. Past voting turnout for Midterm elections has been absolutely embarrassing. It's as if we don't know how our government works. Let's get focused on what counts...This is for all the beans. PAY ATTENTION to what Republicans will be proposing in the next two years. Contact your Congressperson. One of the best ways to do that is by opening an account at POPVOX and voting there early and often. The votes and comments go directly to your Congressperson. There is no more important thing you can do right now than try to control Congressional authority. I see Republican voters using POPVOX constantly...the numbers there always favor them. Why is this? Instead of crying over the spilled milk of the 2016 election and posting the latest  Melania meme, MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD WHERE IT COUNTS!
https://www.popvox.com/

It's Official...

....the USA has officially chosen Donald J Trump as the 45th President. I don't know about you....but this is as close to the Twilight Zone as i've ever been. Despite all of his unethical business practices, poor articulation, obvious ignorance, prejudices and pussy grabbing, a substantial number (although not the majority) of Americans gave the nod to him over the well-hated Hillary.

I'm now being told by my Conservative friends and acquaintances to  "give him a chance" and that he will "go down in history". Well, on the first item i'd say "no". If they could trash a decent, intelligent President because he was obviously Liberal and (holy jesus!) black, i suppose i can hold Trump's feet to the fire for being a lying, cheating, mostly illiterate racist and misogynist. It seems fair to me.
On the second, i'd have to agree; I remember some of the same people assuring me that George W Bush was going to "go down in history" as the greatest President ever. Turns out they were half right. He went down all right....and he'll certainly be remembered for it. But the only "great" he was, was as a liar and a loser. So, i'm now supposed to trust the judgement of these people who got it so tragically wrong in Y2K?

Here's my prediction (for what it's worth). Despite giving corporations and the wealthy more tax deals and "incentives" (actually ransom), good paying jobs with benefits will continue to diminish. Public schools will lose funding. There will be more privatization of prisons, schools, and health insurance. Health insurance costs will absolutely spike. College educations will become more expensive. COLA for Social Security will diminish (or disappear) and Medicare/Medicaid will lose funding and they'll try to go for a voucher or "health savings" system. We'll become butt buddies with Russia in the Middle East....again subverting democracy there. Look for more "boots on the ground" leading to more deaths and injuries in our armed forces, who will then be totally ignored when they return. The great "law enforcement President" will give the impression that the police are infallible, leading to more abuse, beating, arresting and shooting of minorities. More social unrest will ensue. Lots more shootings, accidental and otherwise, as the gun monkies get more and bigger death toys.

On the bright side; No wall will be built, millions will not be deported and Hillary will not go to jail for being snarky. So Conservatives will still have to cry in their beer over those.....Maybe they can find some random Democrat to blame.

I'm totally looking forward to being proved wrong over the next 4 years.....I'd hoped i was wrong about Bush. It didn't take him but a few months into his administration to prove me right.
.....and some are still in denial that he sold us out for the promise of some oil and profits for the Military-industrial Complex. But hey, that's history.

So to Conservatives i'd say; Hell no! If this guy screws the pooch, i'll be right there calling him on it. No chances. If he happens to do something right (as in something ACTUALLY right. Not just in line with Rightwingnutism) then you can let me know.

Let the games begin!

Looks like it's once again the season for my Holiday rant....

 I can't believe i've waited a whole year!

Every year there's a big to-do about what to celebrate and what should be wished. Can we say Happy Holidays or will the Christmas fanatics descend upon us again and shame us for our lack of Christian tradition? Well, i'm sorry to say it's already begun and the very people who have an enormous tree put up in NYC just to honour their Holiday are already claiming repression. I feel for them....but i can't quite reach.

I don't really celebrate Christmas. I do, however, have a Holiday that happens to coincide with it. That's Winter Solstice. The two fall only days apart and i'm convinced that the reason is that most early iron-age people didn't notice there was going to be a lengthening of the days 'til a few days after it had begun to happen. So Christmas is on the 25th of December instead of the 21st. No matter really....that's close enough for religion.

So, why do i choose Solstice over the more common American Holiday?
Well, it just seems to make more sense. It's older than Christmas. In fact its observance is older than all of the religions. If we accept that Stonehenge is the oldest physical indication that ancient people knew about the Solstices, that places that realization at some 5 thousand years ago (3,000 BCE). There may be evidence that even before that monument our ancestors knew when the sun had ceased its northward march and was "coming back". It was an important event back in the Neolithic. Knowing how soon they could expect spring was literally a matter of life and death...it's no wonder they were concerned about it. That makes the Solstice celebration the oldest traditional winter Holiday of them all.

Another reason i like the Solstice Holiday is that it's essentially non-controversial. There can be no argument about when Solstice happens or why. It's a physical thing we can all see, understand and experience. It doesn't matter what religion you believe in. It doesn't even matter if you don't believe in any religion at all....Solstice can be shared with everyone.

Good Solstice to ya!

The War On Everything But Christmas

Yes, it's that time of year again; When you can't say Happy Holidays because if you do someone will claim they can't say Merry Christmas because you did.  And so we have to hear it on FOX "News" and all over social media ad nauseum until the Season is over: "I WILL SAY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND THEY CAN'T STOP ME!"

This has gotten to where it is primarily as a result of the media and many retail outlets using "Happy Holidays" during the winter holiday season because they realize that all of their customers aren't Christians. What this is is just good marketing. It leaves no one out...it's generic (and actually INCLUDES Christmas) so customers all feel like they are welcome. It's an attempt (and a mostly effective one) to make everyone happy.....
Except Christians i guess, because they apparently don't want anyone but Christians to have a "Happy Holiday".

To put this totally into perspective, lets do a brief analysis of the words involved.
"Christmas" means literally, "Christ Mass". It's a celebration of the birth (whether he was actually born on this date or not is disputed) of Jesus Christ. So if you celebrate Christ Mass this is for you.
"Holiday" is derived from "Holy Day". If you use this you are wishing everyone (even Christians!) a good Holy Day. So there really is NO DISPUTE HERE. Christians are not excluded. But that doesn't seem to be their problem. The issue for the complainers is that others are included...and they don't want that.

So how many Holy Days do they want to leave out so that their Christ Mass can be truly Merry?
Here is a link to just the December Holy Days and festivals celebrated by various religions and cultures around the world ;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multinational_festivals_and_holidays#December

As you can see, many are Christian and many are not. I've left off New Years essentially because it comes in January...but that's normally included when one says "Happy Holidays" as well. So i suppose that in order that Christians won't feel attacked (War on Christmas!), all of those others would have to be ignored....and Happy New Year would have to be wished separately just as a precaution.

The thing is, we who say Happy Holidays really don't care if someone just wants to say Merry Christmas. I know this is hard to believe, but it's true. The problem REALLY is that they don't want to hear anything BUT Merry Christmas. Because if one wants to take notice of any other Holiday in the season it's considered an attack on their Holiday.

I personally celebrate Winter Solstice. But that's just me. I might say "Good Solstice" to those people i know who celebrate it... or i might say Happy Holidays if i'm talking to someone who doesn't. But please feel free to say "Merry Christmas"...i won't hate you... i'll say "Happy Holidays" and i promise, i'm not making war on baby Jesus.

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans! 

I really started out to celebrate this day with a good degree of optimism and good will...BUT....
I have to say i'm dismayed by the number of people who use this day as an opportunity to essentially crap on their country...posting derogatory memes that paint the USA as some kind of dysfunctional aberration. This is a shame, because we have some things we can really celebrate and be proud of in America.

We started with a really well thought out, but admittedly imperfect, democracy 239 years ago. Since then we have abolished slavery and championed equal rights for everyone. It has been slow in coming....but it has been progressive and inevitable. As Americans, we realize perhaps not entirely individually, but as a whole, that freedom must be the right of all people, regardless of faith, ethnicity, age, color or gender. We set out to do this in the beginning, and we are accomplishing it.

We have been leaders in science, education, medicine and technology. Our inventions and discoveries have made the world a better place. We were the first to set foot on another world. 

That's not to say that we haven't done things we should not be proud of. The list of our sins is somewhat longer than we should expect from a country that praises itself as a leader in liberty, democracy and morality. It's a good thing to criticize America and point out where we went wrong...informed criticism actually makes us stronger.

But today is not the day to trash America for its shortcomings. It's a day to celebrate our accomplishments. Tomorrow we can roll up our sleeves and work to make things better...to fix what doesn't work and improve what does.

Today, let's celebrate our Independence Day!