Illegal Aliens and Border Security

Hello again all,

I know it’s been a while since I’ve responded to the questions last asked. For that I apologize… I’ve been going through some personal issues as of late, but never fear, my thoughts have not strayed far from my blog or my goal. Now let me address the questions from the last entry…

Illegal aliens and border security…

I think there are several reasons that have placed us in the situation we find ourselves in currently with illegal immigrants. First of all, the Federal government has made it so that a hospital cannot refuse to treat a patient or that schools have to teach everyone, legal or illegal. These are wonderful ideas in theory, but it also makes it very enticing for an illegal alien to make the trek across the border. If they cannot receive the healthcare or education in their own country, why not come here and mooch off of our system? Who wouldn’t do that? So I cannot really blame them for wanting to come to the “Land of Opportunity”. Secondly, our government has made the process to become lagal citizens painstakingly slow. I know, you’re saying “Rich, you cannot possibly tell me that there is a federal process that has been turned into some ridiculous, near-impossible task set up for failure”, but I’m here to tell you it’s true. When they do apply, it takes over five years for some to even find out that they’ve been denied! By then, they are settled into their community, have had a steady job, and now receive a letter saying “get out”. So as far as I’m concerned, our government has failed us in that aspect because during that time period, we are making up for their lack of tax paying. I can only imagine that there are not enough people in the department to process any faster (especially given the speed at which a lot of Federal employees move given the fact that they know they have job security). Thirdly, we have always had this problem, but for some reason, it is just coming to light now. I’m not quite sure why it is in the spotlight all of a sudden when there are plenty of other topics to discuss in the news. I do have my own ideas but it’s a bit beyond the scope of this blog. So what’s my solution?

Here are my ideas… First, we streamline the process of becoming a legal citizen of this country. Add more people, create less paperwork, and get rid of those within the department who are making the whole process sluggish. Second, we provide harsher punishments for illegals after a period of time to allow those currently here illegally to either leave or become citizens. We still can provide them with healthcare, but when they are done at the hospital, they are deported back to their country of origin. No getting belongings from home or telling anyone… just on the next plane out. After a second time this happens for any individual, they will be considered a criminal and will be transported to a country of our choice. They will also have zero chance of becoming an American citizen from then on. There will be no third chance for health care. At that point, we have been more than gracious hosts and will not carry the burden any longer. I am thinking prison would be a great idea until they have paid off their previous two airfares and the upcoming third by doing prison work (I have discussed my ideas on prisoner jobs in two previous posts). Third, we deal with those that are currently here illegally. Sure, they can apply for citizenship and then live here legally, but what about the time they spent here mooching off of us? My solution is time spent in the military as part of the clause to become citizens. One member of each family must provide four years of active duty to make up for the time spent here not paying taxes. That would bolster our forces until I can implement my military for college plan (discussed previously) and impress some American discipline and values on them. Lastly, there will be no schooling for illegal immigrants mandated by the Federal government. As previously discussed, I plan to give control of public schools back to the States and local communities. Therefore, it would be up to the local citizens if they want to pay for illegal immigrants to be schooled on their dime or not.

Now, as far as border security goes, I think our border patrol agents have been doing an outstanding and commendable job thus far. We have underfunded them, undermanned them, and held them back on what they can and cannot do. I say we need more personnel, more equipment, and more understanding of what they go through each and every day, protecting us from not only illegal immigrants, but also from drug dealers and possible terrorists. As far as I’m concerned, they should be another branch of our military, equivalent to the Coast Guard. Maybe even combine them with the Coast Guard and renaming them the National Guard. And still keep our current National Guard, but call them what they really are… National Guard Reservists or MinuteMen (from the days of old). And real quick, while I’m on the topic (and please don’t think that it’s merely a side bar), I think it’s completely despicable that our current President, the man who is supposed to represent our culture and beliefs, has let Scooter Libby off for the crimes he committed, yet has not given a second thought to the two border patrol agents who were defending our country from a drug runner! And shame on Congress for taking so long to even hold sessions on what to do about them. Somebody sign the damn papers and free them now! Do not make this a political cause, trying to use it to get a jab in on Republicans. Do not try to win the office by being sneakier than the others, Try to win it by doing the right thing and having the right beliefs, and by being recognized for doing what’s right for our country. I say again, free them – NOW! What we don’t need is a big wall keeping others out. That would be a huge waste of money because it would just be another obstacle (this one an eyesore) that the illegals would overcome. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Spend the money on the current process that works but has been severely underfunded as of late instead. I really don’t want to have to say “I told you so” about the wall.

Whew, and that was only one question…


Alternative fuels and the impact on the oilfield workers…

An interesting question, perhaps asked because I currently work in the industry. Here’s my opinions on this topic: Let me start by saying that you cannot believe that there has been any conscious effort to replace the conventional fuels. I believe any ideas that are introduced are nothing more than scams to appease society while the oil companies get richer yet. Let me ask this… if we reduce oil consumption, do you really think it will make life better? The alternative fuels will be more expensive, hurting you in the wallet. And the oil industry will still want to make their money, so they’ll raise the cost per barrel even more than it currently is. Look into these alternative fuels…Does E85 really burn cleaner than gasoline or diesel? I think in this case, we have to play within the unfortunate rules that are already in place and with those who make those rules. Conventional fuels are not going anywhere. What we can do is make it as clean burning as possible. Create only diesel engines from here on out…, require that all cars receive a minimum 100 miles per gallon of fuel. That would reduce consumption by 66-80% (and it is possible between hybriding with electricity, using braking energy to then accelerate, and using more efficient fuel injectors)…, and by creating scrubbers that convert the harmful emissions into beneficial ones. And, I know, I still haven’t answered the question (oh no! I must be turning into a politician!)…

If, by some miracle, an alternative fuel is created that replaces conventional oils, it will have minimal impact on the oilfields across our country. First of all, a vast majority of our drilling these days is for natural gas, which is in high demand all over the world, so I don’t see that portion as being affected. Secondly, we are set up so that this cannot occur overnight. Even if a new fuel is created, it would take at least a decade to run oilfield workers out of a job. And that’s within our country only. Developing countries will rely on oil for a very, very long time. We’re talking (my best educated guess) a lifetime at least. Therefore, I’m saying even a new fuel would not run out the existing workers from their jobs, so there are no worries there. If the next generation loses their jobs, it’s not like they wouldn’t have seen it coming, and therefore, I can’t really feel sorry for them.

And even more far-fetched of a miracle, our oilfield workers are without a job all of a sudden because of some alternative fuel supply, I’m sure that there will be a vacancy for jobs to supply the new fuel and a number of people looking for jobs. We could also make it enticing for the companies of the new fuel to provide training and hire oilfield workers by supplying tax breaks for them for a period of time.

Well, I know I only answered two questions so far, but I’ve probably lost half of my readers by this point by putting them to sleep. Next blog will tackle (hopefully) the next and final two questions from the last entry. Please, anyone, if I have not explained these two topics sufficiently, please let me know what I need to expound on.

And, of course once again, thanks for taking the time to stop by and read what I’ve written. Take care,

Rich

Hello...hello...hello...Is There Anybody Out There?...

Do me a favor, people. I don't have a counter of visits on this blog. I need to know that somebody out there is listening othere than Dan. So if you've been reading, just give me a shout out please.

Thanks,
Rich

Our Current Judicial Situation (Finally answering the question!)

Finally, after doing a bit of research into the subject (just a drop in the bucket of what I should’ve done though but didn’t have the time), I’m finally ready to address the topic of our current judicial system that was posed by Dan and Andrew weeks ago…

I’ve been concerned about what we hear as far as sentences go. Why does someone who does a heinous crime get a lighter sentence than someone who is caught with marijuana? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying those who have drugs should be set free, but what I am saying is that the punishment needs to more aptly fit the crime.

We have a system in place that is not perfect, but is probably the best there is. That being trial by a jury of our peers. I haven’t heard any real issues with the results of these trials. What I have issues with is when a sentence is handed down by a judge unfairly. And I’m not talking about Paris Hilton either… she was handed a sentence that I think was more than fair, nevermind the fact that others get away with the same exact crime with less or no jail time. I say good for this judge and shame on the others that let crimes go.

I’m talking about putting people who do minor crimes in jail for more time than they should be in for. Why do they do it? Maybe the following excerpt from the article found at http://social.jrank.org/pages/1348/Prisons-Prison-Industries-Excellent-Idea-or-Exploitation.html has something to do with it…

Federal and state prisons put inmates to work producing goods for sale to government and on the open market. Private companies ... contract with prisons to use convict labor, and private prisons employ their own inmates for private profit, either for themselves or for outside companies. Prisoners who work may have time subtracted from their sentences. Prisoners who refuse get longer sentences and lose privileges (Erlich).

It is a smart move by the companies to hire such cheap labor and probably not need to pay for healthcare, but it’s too easy for it all to be corrupted by money from the big companies. Let’s think about this… You are a major company who is employing prisoners for less than a dollar an hour instead of, at the very least, minimum wage. Wouldn’t it be worth the cost of kickback to a judge to ensure that the people thrown in jail are of a higher quality to perform the necessary work than the dredges who should by all accounts get harder punishments? Of course it would. Think about that when asking why the punishments seem to be unfair these days.

Well-Known Companies That Use Convict Labor

3Com

Microsoft

AT&T

Motorola

Boeing

Nordstrom

Compaq

Nortel

Dell

Prison Blues® ("Made to Do Hard Time")

Eddie Bauer

Pierre Cardin

Honeywell

Revlon

IBM

TWA

Jostens

Texas Instruments

Kaiser Steel

Toys R Us

MCI

UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries)

McDonald's

Victoria's Secret


Of course, there’s the easy solution to this from a citizen’s point of view… don’t do anything wrong. But is that even possible anymore? Our local, state and federal governments have made so many laws, that it is near impossible to not break the law. And add to that the requirement of some police departments to hand out tickets as seen on this site (the responses to the simple statement are very good reading material) … http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Police_In_Colorado_Must_Hand_out_2_tickets_Per_Hour

So we are currently damned if we do and damned if we don’t. What are we to do? I mean it is not just on the local and state levels. Look at our Attorney General, for goodness sakes. What ever happened with his trial? What was the outcome? Do any of us know? Do any of us care? He was on all the news channels as a “bad guy” and the day his hearing was supposed to begin, we had the VA Tech “massacre”. That took up all the news time for how long? I’ll tell you it was long enough for us to forget about the “bad guy”. Our general public was not force-fed news about him, so we didn’t care anymore. I mean if Fox News or CNN don’t cover it, it must not be important, right?

Wrong.

Here’s the solution (and amazingly enough, it is very similar in nature to most of my other solutions)… it comes in two parts...

1. Get involved. 2. Vote me in as President

That's all there is to it to start making a change. Okay, the second one doesn't necessarily need to happen, but the first one absolutely does. I have some questions for you all...

Does anyone go to court to see what is going on anymore?
Does anyone know who their judges are?
Or what their salaries are?
Or what their records of judgement are?
Does anyone know the status of the prison in their town?
Who is in there?
For how long are they in there?
Why are they there?
What are they doing while in there?

These are questions that we all should know the answers to as active members of our community. If I were President, I know I’d appoint only the ones with the best records, the ones with the good of our Nation in mind instead of their personal gain. If we start at the top, good and right can funnel its way down to ensure a safe and secure nation once again.

Other sites that talk about prisoners working…

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_n12_v43/ai_21283789

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950311/03110298.htm

http://www.celcee.edu/publications/digest/Dig06-06.html

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/05/587.asp

http://www.pe.com/localnews/transportation/stories/PE_News_Local_D_traffic18.38d1adc.html

http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&q=police+quotas+tickets

Now, about our over-crowding situation in prison.

Why do we even have over-crowding? Why has our society fallen so far as to have so many criminals? Of course, it's a combination of things that make up the answer, but it's not too late to turn the tide. Some things of note...

The number of dual-income families has risen since the 1960's.
Prayer was outlawed from public schools in the 1960's, taking away the choice from the local communities.
The value of our dollar has depreciated greatly since the 1960's.
And somewhere along the way, it became the norm to simply be observers while our society has gone downhill right in front of our eyes.

What do we have to offer these latch-key kids? Television, which is full of sex and violence. Computer games, which are full of gore and violence. The internet, which is full of sex, gore, and violence. And no supervision, which leads to all kinds of trouble.

Why do we need dual-income families? To keep up with the Jones'? To maintain our lifestyles of having anything we want when we want it (Just look at how many people bought the iPhone in the first weekend)? To keep up with the credit card bills that we ran up and now the government has raised the minimum amounts due? Or is it to keep up with the ever-increasing taxes they throw upon us? We can stop that if I'm elected. The President does not have the power to change things alone (actually this one does, but that's another story and a power that i will give back when I'm in), but I can promise the American people that I will lead them to make change in this country. You can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink, right? I can lead you all to learn how to get your public servants to do your will, but I can't make you actually do it.

Why have I stated all this? Does it answer the topic? Of course it does. If we care more about raising our children than what our car looks like, or where we live, then our children grow up feeling loved, knowing people care about what they do, and are a lot less likely to become criminals. That would be a step towards reducing the prison poulation in the future. As for the here and now, I have a plan for that...

The plan starts off with the sentence "There is no such thing as over-crowding in prison". The more criminals, the less space for each one is all. Federal prisons should have a certain amount of money for each facility. The more people that are in there, the more guards you need and the more food you need. Therefore there's less money for quality of life issues. If the prison can't afford cable TV or weight sets, then that's just too bad. IT'S PRISON!!!! You broke the law, now pay the damn price. It's not fair to us law-abiding citizens that we can't afford cable ourselves yet our taxes go to you all living it up. And forget the different levels of prisons, white collar versus blue collar. A criminal is a criminal. And the State and local prisons can be run however the States and local communities want, with the Federal government keeping their nose out of it altogether. Now before those out there say that miserable conditions just breed more crime, hear this. A) There weren't any issues with over-crowding when conditions were worse because people actually wanted to stay out of prison, B) we can create a charity to supplement prison funding thereby requiring everyone to pay a small amount through taxes, but those who want better conditions can offer more on their own, and C) I would make it mandatory that school be taught to the inmates. We're talking high school level courses and such to educate them. And if they're gonna work, I can guarantee you it won't be for any company. They can do local government work, such as mowing the sides of highways and picking up trash. It worked in the past, and the present way is not working. Maybe we need to step back, analyze, and go back to the chain gangs for prisoners.

That’s about it for now on the subject. Once again, very wordy, I know. But I hope I answered both Dan and Andrew’s questions to their satisfaction. If not, please let me know and be more specific with what I missed.

Thanks, and God bless.

Rich