Nation Building

We all cherish our freedoms in this country, after all it is one of the main reasons that so many people immigrate here, and so it is only natural that we would want to give that experience to everyone else in the world. It makes since, if we have likeminded trading partners and allies it could only benefit us as a country, economically and militarily. The problem is that the United States is bad at nation building; in fact you could say we are downright terrible at it.

After World War II, the European countries where left in ruins and only the United States and The Soviet Union where left as major players and both countries where as opposite as they could be. Since at right war was out of the question each country tried to convert other countries to its cause. The end result was conflict after conflict, from Korea to Vietnam, the skirmish created turmoil for both sides. Even though the United States eventually would win out, this nation building only created new enemies for U.S.

Today the Bush administration is continuing in the long line of failures with Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Sadam Husain was given power, in the form of weapons by the United States to fight the Ayatollah Khomeini, who ironically enough came into power after over taking a corrupt government backed and implement by the US. Now yet again we are in the process of installing a new government to help prevent terrorism in the region, (if you don’t believe that it’s not just for oil), and again ironically enough to stop terrorist that where created by US nation building.

With the Presidential race heating up this is a huge topic on what to do with Iraq. We can’t make the past mistakes, not another Vietnam, Grenada or Haiti. We need our Government to take in these mistakes examine what went wrong and get past it bi-partisan nature, to find a real solution not just for the American people or our troops in Iraq, but for the people of Iraq whose countries we invaded and turned upside down.

That's why they'er called ILLEGAL

View for background article.

We are a nation of immigrants, that being said we are also a nation that has established its own Identity and become one of the elite super powers in the world. It is an honor and privilege to live here and is seen as such by many all over the world, but there is a process to emigrate here, and this should be respected by all.

There is a reason that the term illegal is tagged to the term illegal immigrant, and that is because it is an unlawful entry into a nation. Illegal immigration is the same manner as a robber breaking into a house, and one could argue that an immigrant does steal jobs and what little social services that our country provides. As far as the term illegal is concerned you don’t need to commit a capital offence to commit an illegal act, jaywalking is illegal, boot legging is illegal, it’s all going against a law that has been established by a country. There is due process and procedures to immigration and these laws should be followed by anyone, and not doing so belittles the efforts of people who spend years even decades in their own nation, many of which are war torn and very impoverished, waiting to come and begin a new life here in the United States.

Our boarders should be tougher, not just to stop migrant workers, but to stop anyone with ill intentions. We have all seen that there are people and nations who don’t like the United States, and we should have secure borders to help protect ourselves from them more so than the other illegal immigrants.

Who is to blame?

The United States government is a slow nonreactive behemoth, ill-equipped to deal with the issues of modern life. Our technological advancement is growing at an outrageous rate and knowledge and information is more shared and wide spread than ever before and yet our government, created three centuries ago, is trying to keep pace. The reality is that it can’t.

Issues from the economy to the environment are stacking up, and yet our politicians are arguing more about the President giving the Dali-lama an award or the validity of ancient cultures more than checking the oval office or finding a solution on how to save a healthcare bill that would protect millions of uninsured children. The question is; where does the problem lie? Is there an inherent flaw in the system or do we look to ourselves as the culprits?

The system itself is flawed and to say that there is some perfect government is irrational. The problem may rest in the shear mass of the federal system. Do we really need 437 people in the House of Representatives? More isn’t necessarily better and they don’t always represent their constituents as they should. Perhaps there should be some way of telling our politicians what we feel as a nation should be the priorities. If the people think that a decree that water is better than Gatorade then so be it but it should be something that the people want. The fact that the government is more concerned with a nation on the verge of civil war on the other side of the planet more than me paying into a bankrupted Social Security is very concerning to me, and no one is there to hear my outcry, or act on it when they do.

I think there real issue should be placed on us. We did elected a man who makes up words to president 2000 but we as a nation did elect this same man to stay in office. The American people hold the most power in the entire county but as a majority chose not to use it. We as a society are vastly uneducated on the topics when it comes time to vote and apathetic do so as whole because of a broken system. Maybe we need to hit rock bottom before we can wake up and take action. Maybe in some sad way we like the comedy that is produced off an ignorant person as our leader. But maybe there will be a grassroots movement to educate the population on just who holds the power. Maybe the system that has worked for this long will continue forever, and in a time of great peril come to the rescue of its people, and those in charge will finally tackle the issues that plague its citizens and not its special interest.

Belittled not Forgotten

Social Security was spawned as a preventative measure to help the working man after the Great Depression. People who had worked hard their entire lives lost their life saving in the blink of an eye. The rational was that people would pay in and then one day instead of you pouring money in to Social Security, it would begin to pour money back to you. A system backed by the United States Government, the greatest country in all the land, would surely be infallible.

Jump to 2007 and times are bleak, and the system that would take care of us when we get old is in trouble. Surely a system backed by the United States, in which I pay my x% into every pay check would have money for me when I get old right? The simple fact is no it won’t.

The bread and butter of any campaign is to appeal to the middle class. This is going to be by and large the one section of the country that can take you from senator to president. Promises will be made, solutions given, and at the end of the day the middle class is taken care of: again not so much.

The article goes on and on about all the attention the so called “forgotten middle class” gets but when you get down to the end of the day, these people are forgotten. One minute the government is calling for the American people to put money into the economy and now in the middle of one of the largest housing crisis, that same government turns it back. The President when offered legislation that would expanded program a healthcare program to the middle class turns a veto’s it saying that would hurt private industry, and that it effects people who don’t need it.

The Presidential candidates are going on and on about wanting to help the middle class but are they providing any real solutions? Senator Clinton’s solution to the Social Security problem is to set up a 401(k) type account. Those who make up to $60k a year would get a $1000 dollar tax cut. The issue with this is that it sets up a volatile investment, and if there where another crash in the market, or if you retire in a down turn you return could be impacted monumentally.

John Edwards in Iowa was talking about ethanol and helping farmers who raise corn get back money in the form of subsidies. I know that his speech is geared to impact his performance in the Iowa caucus but the bottom line is that the percentage of corn farmers that grow corn for ethanol is about next none when you look at the middle class as a whole. Seriously how does this solve the major issues that face the average middle class worker. Not only is ethanol not a widely available product I don’t have the money to buy a flex fuel car because I’m too busy trying to save my house from foreclosure mean while worrying about how I will send my kids to college, while trying to save money for my retirement because the government was too busy giving subsidies to corn farmers, and fighting wars in far off countries to worry about the small issue’s like Social Security and healthcare that really do matter for the middle class.

(orginal article) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601537.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

The Poor Kids...

On October 3, 2007 President George W. Bush, vetoed only his 4^th piece of legislation. The bill that he halted wasn’t for some kind of bi-partisan agenda, it was a health care bill designed to extend the SCHIP program.

SCHIP is designated to grant insurance to low income families that either cannot afford insurance and is not provided for by an employer. In its current form only kids in households of families that make $17,000 a year can qualify. The proposed new bill would have extend that to a large number, including children in a household up to $83,000 but supporting most at less than $40,000 dollar range.

The rhetoric that the President used as his basis to veto the bill, was that the health care industry would move from private industry to a completely government run system. This would hurt the private sector by eliminating a whole sector of the healthcare industry. Sabastian Mallaby of the Washington Post brings up some very interesting numbers to quite the contrary, and while the article is prior to the veto the information is still relevant due to a possible congress override of the veto, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001035.html).

The President said that Millions of kids would leave private insurance to go to the State funded programs. The reality is that about 10 million uninsured would now have the health care they need, that’s about 2/3 of the eligible. The other 1/3 has gaps in their current coverage that could be filled by SCHIP. The other fact is that private companies administer the benefits, and patients will still see private doctors and nurses.

Bush also believes that people should be held accountable for their own health and if they can rely on government than they don’t have to do that. Mallaby makes good points about people in socialized healthcare countries actually live longer than here in the United States, but let’s step away from that. The bigger issue is that this bill only affects kids and no matter what reality TV will tell us these kids can’t take care of themselves. Under the law kids aren’t held accountable for most actions, and they can’t be made to have to make decisions such as how to take care of themselves, what drugs they should be taking if they are sick.

The bottom line is that the President vetoed a bill designed to help a segment of our population that can’t help themselves, and due to the outrageous cost of healthcare their families can’t provide either. It is my hopes that Bush can sleep well at night knowing that he has no problem spending billions of dollars on a war for people in another country but can’t allocate 35 million to help kids in his own.

Protect America Act

“Liberty is the soul's right to breathe and, when it cannot take a long breath, laws are girdled too tight” - Rev. Henry Ward Beecher

After September 11^th, 2001 the American outlook was shaken, and we as a people were brought to our knees. In a knee jerk reaction the President of the United States passed through Congress a series of laws to combat terrorism. The Patriot Act armed at fighting terror not only became a tool for authorities against the “Bad Guys,” but gave the Federal government the authority to decimate the 4^th Amendment and our Civil Liberties.

The President is tiring to enact the Protect America Act which will allow the government to tap anyone’s phone who is communicating with someone outside the U.S. The question that should be posed in all of this is where does it stop. We as a people and a Nation are headed down a slippery slope, one that if we do not protect or freedoms we may end up losing them. For more information go to:

Washington Post: Bush Calls for Expansion of Spy Law