Here Is a Clue Cruz...If You Want Your Kids Left Out of Politics, STOP USING THEM AS PROPS IN YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS!

This is just too sad...Cruz is running around trying to raise EMERGENCY MONEY because one cartoonist used his kids in a cartoon.  Don't get me wrong, I feel that the children of politicians should be left out of politics UNTIL you yourself, like Cruz did, make your children a part of the process.  It was OK for him to place his children front and center in a You Tube political commercial, then wants to jump up and down like an irate gorilla when someone points out your hypocrisy by launching a similarly themed cartoon featuring Ted Cruz with his children!   Here is your clue Ted...if you want your children left out of the political circus that is the Presidential Campaign, then you need to leave them at home, and out of your commercials....otherwise, THEY ARE FAIR GAME.   

For those who missed Ted Cruz using his children as props, want to put the above cartoon in context, and understand why the cartoon is NOT OUT OF BOUNDS, here is the You Tube video commercial that stars Ted Cuz and his two daughters.

Democrats and Republicans; Please Stop Marginalizing White Voters

Make Your Vote Count...DUMP YOUR PARTY!

Compared to most, I am a bit of a news junkie, falling asleep, waking up to CNN each and every day, my television spending the better part of every 24 hour day on one news channel or another, my brain absorbing news as I go about my day.  The big news item from now until November of 2016 is the circus we call the  "Presidential Election".  

From politicians to pundits, everyone of them seems interested in pandering to this special interest group or the other, is worried that they are not wooing enough Latinos (and Illegal Immigrants), Blacks (Black Lives Matter), or some other ethnic group that could STEER THE ELECTION their way.  This kowtowing to special interest groups is all well, fine and dandy, but not when it comes at the expense of the largest (and most marginalized) voting block in America, "The White Voter".

Here's a clue...a full 72 percent of those who bothered to vote in the 2012 Presidential Election were middle class white voters.  Yet, we have been marginalized by both sides of the aisle, neither Republicans or Democrats giving us the time of day, spending no time out on the campaign trail addressing our needs, and our concerns.   What makes us chopped liver, what gives these two political parties the right to simply IGNORE US, and more importantly, what do we need to do to have our issues placed on the table for discussion and redress?

Attention WHITE TOAST VOTERS...let's first and foremost stop showing so much PARTY UNITY...we are split down the middle on a small handful of issues, almost always vote along party lines and this allows politicians to ignore us, instead spending all their time courting various and assorted pockets of minority voters of various and assorted interest groups and nationalities.

There is something wrong with the system when politicians spend so much political capital talking too and about illegal immigrants (criminals according to the law) in the hopes of winning a larger percentage of the Hispanic vote, and no time addressing the concerns of 72 percent of the voting electorate.  Latino's in the 2012 election represented ten percent of those voting in the election, while white voters represented 72 percent of those who voted in the election...yet, WHERE IS OUR VOICE?   "Black Lives Matter", but guess what, so do white lives, and where is Hillary Rodham Clinton when it comes to speaking to and specifically addressing the concerns of this very large white voting block?  Women are talked to of all colors, same with the LGBT, Black and Muslim communities, but rarely if ever does she speak to white men directly about their hurts and pains.

As White Voters we can only blame ourselves, have marginalized our voting block by being party faithfuls split down the middle, half of us siding with Republicans, the other half siding with Democrats while both parties take our votes for granted.  Let's put our rubber-stamp votes away, become a block of issues centric voters united across party lines for candidates that represent and address our needs and our concerns.  I am all for equal rights, support some form of Immigration Reform, pro Marriage Equality, support Black Lives Matter, gun ho for Gay Rights, Women's Rights, but am also really tired of feeling marginalized, even demonized as a White Male Voter.  When and where do we get spoken to about our concerns?

Lets become confrontational, lets demand that our voices be heard for a change...the militant actions of the "Black Lives Matter" movement have gotten them two private meetings with Hillary Clinton, and a promise from her that their concerns will be a part of her concerns as she maps out her plan for a "Greater America" and kudos for them.   Illegal Immigrants and their supporters have both sides of the aisle sitting on their hands refusing to enforce our current laws out of fear that they might lose some of their share of that ten percent of the voting pie....HELLO....we marginalized white voters represent 72 percent of the ENTIRE VOTING PIE...how about asking us what we want, and plugging our issues into your plan for the future?  Of that 72 percent, half of them (women) are being included by one candidate or another, but what about that other half, the 35-36 percent of voters who are White Men...other than Donald Trump, no one is speaking to us, and I could never vote for that man.

As long as we "White Voters" continue our history of voting along party lines, we will be marginalized, not just during the elections, but in our day to day lives.  

Affirmative Action...lets change that program around a bit.   Perhaps instead of Affirmative Action being a program that gives a hand up to people based on their ethnicity or sexual orientation, it should be a program that lends people a helping hand up the ladder based on their economic needs.  Does not a poor white child face the same obstacles to a better life as a poor Black or Hispanic child does?   Shouldn't they get those same advantages being doled out to people of color or a particular sexual orientation instead of being denied based upon the color of their skin?     Like it or not, reverse discrimination does exist.

Amnesty for those who are in America illegally...FORGET ABOUT IT unless we address as part of immigration reform helping those who have been hurt my illegal immigration.   First, like it or not, every illegal immigrant is a criminal, has broken our laws as they exist at this moment in time. Furthermore, every illegal immigrant in our work force has contributed to lowering of the wage base of the American Worker, and has taken a job away from an American.   BASIC FACT....a company has to get the work done, and if there is not an illegal immigrant standing at the door offering to work on the cheap, the employer will raise wages to a level that provides him with the legal employees he/she needs to get the work done and keep the doors of their business opened.   Immigration Reform MUST START WITH ENFORCEMENT, not AMNESTY!

Urban Renewal...how about some RURAL RENEWAL!  What, too many white folks living in Rural America?  Poor people (a lot of them White) live in Rural America, in the Midwestern rust belt are doing just as badly as the poor in Urban America's large population centers, but too often are forgotten about.

It may offend some in the "Black Lives Matter" movement, but all lives matter, and that does include the 72 percent of voters who are white.   Curious, and be honest...how many in the "Black Lives Matter" movement have gotten upset at politicians who have stated all lives matter, and how many of you would be livid if there were suddenly a large social/political movement on the national stage who's stated name and purpose was "White Lives Matter".   Isn't that more than a bit hypocritical? Why does everything have to be so divided along color lines, when people suffering, hurting all deserve a hand up?  Black Lives do matter, and the group has focused attention on a VERY REAL MATTER, and deserve credit for that, and I applaud and support their movement...but I also wish to damn hell that we Whites and Blacks who are struggling, having a hard time holding onto the bottom run of the economic ladder could figure out a way to get on the same team, and on the same game page.

In the CNN debate tonight, I would like to see politicians answer one question:

"The costs of taking care of illegal immigrants and their anchor babies (ugly term) runs into the tens of billions of dollars each and every year.   If elected president, would you be willing to sign an immigrants and their offspring if it meant you could forgive the college loans of every single Legal American Citizen?"   

I believe we need Immigration reform, but lets work from a position of TRUTH ON THE MATTER.  Illegal Immigrants did broke the law, and some Americans were hurt as a result of their actions in working illegally in American.  Let's provide a pathway to citizenship, but do it in a way where those hurt by Illegal Immigration are made whole in the process.  Anything short of a solution that makes those hurt whole, while also providing a pathway is, in my mind an unacceptable untenable solution that must be opposed.

Think about it Republicans and Democrats...do you want to be doling out goodies to illegal immigrants and their children that are paid for with citizen tax dollars, or instead would you like to see the Federal Government forgive every single college loan on the books?   What positive changes would occur in voters and voters family's lives if they were suddenly free of that college debt? As a voter of any color, regardless of your party affiliation, would you be willing to vote for a candidate that was willing to implement this one singular action on the first day of their presidency through an executive order if it could be done, if it freed you and your children up from tens of thousands in college loans?   Not meaning here to pick on those who came here illegally, they are doing what they can to take care of their own families...in fact, I blame government, and big business....if law enforcement were coming down hard on the employers, this issue would not even be on the radar, and the Immigration Reform issues would have been solved long ago.

This is a call to action....stop allowing politicians to marginalize the largest voting block in America! Become a issue focused white voter today and abandon your single party loyalties.  Maybe if we do that, it will be a step to seeing voters Unite along economic lines, instead of dividing along ethnic, religious, sex/sexual orientation lines, and in that we then can turn our attention to the politicians and demand accountability, and laws that make America work for ALL CITIZENS, instead of just the few in the top ten percent, the UBER RICH who are oppressing us all.

Some Questions For Presidential Candidates

THEY ALL LOOK AND SOUND THE SAME!

The biggest problem with "Presidential Elections"...everything is scripted, who has access to the people running for the office controlled (except in Iowa and New Hampshire) and scripted.  Real access only granted to the rich, elite and power of our nation.   That is not democracy that our forefathers envisioned over 200 years ago.    Though the questions will not get answered (politicians are very adept at answering questions with answers full emptiness), going to pose a few here that I would like to receive straight forward answers to.

On Immigration

America has some of the most liberal immigration laws in the entire world.   For those who follow the rules, there is always a warm welcome, and a helping hand up the ladder as they begin their quest of living the American Dream.  Those who support illegal aliens want us to believe the costs of deporting illegal aliens is far too costly, choosing to ignore the facts...illegal aliens and their children cost America over $200 Billion dollars a year in assorted costs such as schooling, food stamps, and incarcerations, they depreciate American wages by over $200 Billion dollars a year, and starve America's economic engine by hundreds of billions a year through remittances sent back to their countries of origin.  Despite those who would have us believe otherwise, history tells us we can deport 11 million illegal aliens...simply look back to the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and you will see America shut down the jobs magnet, orchestrated neighborhood and work place enforcement raids, and in 24 months deported over six million illegal aliens.

1.  Do you understand the difference between legal and illegal immigration, and why is it that you keep trying to treat/present these two diverse groups as one and the same?  

2.  Illegal aliens and their supporters claim illegal aliens pay taxes, using the fact that they pay sales tax on items they purchase as proof.  What percentage of those here illegally do not pay FEDERAL INCOME TAXES (underground economy), and shouldn't they have to pay all those back taxes with penalties and interest (as all law abiding citizens would have to do), as a part of making restitution for their breaking our laws in coming to and remaining in America Illegally?   Almost every proposed law would waive penalties/interest on these unpaid taxes, and would only require a illegal alien to pay back three years worth of unpaid Federal Taxes to GET RIGHT WITH THE LAW...how do you justify such a "Tax Amnesty" for these people when an American citizen who failed to pay his Federal taxes for 10-20 years could face prison time.

3.   Do you support E-Verify which is over 98 percent effective in telling employers (including families hiring household workers), and would you support it becoming the law of the land, making it mandatory for any one/any company employing people?   Would you support under E-Verify stiff penalties (including jail time) for employers caught hiring illegal aliens?

4.   Under a flawed interpretation of the 14th Amendment, over six million people born to illegal aliens have gained birthright citizenship.  If you are elected president will you introduce legislation to end this flawed and costly program that gives instant citizenship to any one born in America?

5.    With the global migration crisis (caused by the unrest in the Middle East) other countries such as Croatia and Hungary are successfully locking down their borders...yet politicians here in America would have us believe that the most powerful country in the world cannot build a wall and secure our southern border with Mexico.  If elected president, what steps are you prepared to take on your first day in office to secure our Southern border and stem the flow of illegal immigration into America?

On Jobs and a Living Wage

There is a lot of push back on raising the minimum wage.   Additionally, those who support raising the minimum wage seem to have a benchmark bottom wage base of $15 per hour.   The average employee working a 40 hour work week at $15 per hour would have a gross yearly income of $31,200.   However; gross pay is not take home pay...Social Security Taxes, Federal Taxes, Workers Comp, and State Taxes quickly see that gross pay scaled down to in hand dollars of $24,960.   A quick look at the average monthly expenses (rent, utilities, car payment/insurance, phone/cable/internet) and you quickly total up fixed mandatory expenses of $22,800 per year, and that does not include food, or health insurance.   You cannot purchase health insurance and feed yourself on that remaining $2,160 a year.   Which means you have to start looking at what you can cut out of your budget, what you can survive without.   A large contingent of those who are running for office would have us believe that America's wealthy and elite create jobs, while ignoring the other half of the equation which is the fact that all those hard working Americans who are working for slave wages are the ones creating that wealth through their efforts and hard labor.

1.   Would you support raising the minimum wage to $25 per hour, which would provide the average American family with what amounts to a living wage.

2.   Would you support limiting how much money is paid to executives and owners of companies big and small, so that fairness and equity is returned to they system, so that all workers share in the success of a business?

Equal Rights and Gay Marriage

Let us start with SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.    A marriage license is issued by an agency of the government, not by the church.   A church blesses a couple's marriage vowels, while an agency of government issues a legal document that authorizes and recognizes the legal joining/binding of two lives into one union.  Equal rights under the law...why have we even been having this argument.  One person or groups religious beliefs should not dictate what rights will or will not be bestowed on others.

1.   As a litmus test to hold political office, do you support "Equal Rights" for all citizens, and will you abide by the law of the land when it comes to granting gay couples the legal right to be married under the law with all the rights and responsibilities that come with that legalized union.

Pro-Choice verse Pro-Life

For the record, I support a woman's "freedom of choice"...even God grants us this "freedom of choice". My question...with all the far more important social and world issues on the agenda, why is this on the list of things to do any way?  It was settled with Roe VS Wade, so can we move on to the far more pressing issues facing America and its working class?  For those wondering, yes this is a bit of a Rhetorical Question...the fringe right wing of the Republican Party derives far to much pleasure from beating this dead horse every four years to rally their base...sad really.

There are a lot more questions that average Americans would like to ask, but sadly, there is not one of the current crop of candidates that will actually give us STRAIGHT answers to the questions posed in this article...that said, my comments page is open.   Fiorina, Trump, Hillary, Jeb....any takers that are up to this task?

Stop Letting Illegal Aliens Shape The Immigration Debate and Discussion

ANCHOR BABIES.....We  undocumented citizens (illegal aliens) cry foul!  Do not demean our children that way!  We are citizens and human beings too. (Here in America illegally.)

ILLEGAL ALIENS.....OMG, don't use that term, and if you do use it you are a BIGOT! (No, by Federal law and statute if you are in America illegally you are an ILLEGAL ALIEN.)

Undocumented workers/citizens....give us a break, you are in our country illegally.

Dreamers...The Dream Act...give us a break, it is amnesty for YOUNG ILLEGAL ALIENS.

Let's have the discussion...a large percentage of Illegal Aliens here in America are of Latino descent, are coming to America in various ways, primary among the ways being the illegal crossing and entry into America via our porous Southern Border with Mexico.   However, if we are going to have this discussion on Illegal Immigration and possible Immigration reform, lets do it fairly....fairly means that illegal aliens and those who support them do not get to shape the tone and direction of the conversation by eliminating terms/words that portray those who have/are breaking our laws in a negative light and replacing them with warm and fuzzy phrases meant to evoke sympathy.  That is unfairly tipping the scales, unfairly controlling the tone and direction of the conversation.

Anchor Baby...

1. used to refer to a child born to a non-citizen mother (most of the times a Mother (WHO BROKE THE LAW) in a country which has birthright citizenship, especially when viewed as providing an advantage to family members seeking to secure citizenship or legal residency.

This is an accurate descriptor for those in our country illegally who decide to have a child while here, or who deliberately come to America to pop out a baby to gain current and future benefits for their offspring and their families.  How many times do we hear, "Don't break up the family, let their parents, Aunt, Uncle or whoever stay in America, it is the only fair thing to do for the CHILD."  Let's be honest...It is a scam of the worst kind perpetrated on America with illegal aliens using an innocent child.  It needs to be stopped, and the best way to stop it is to simply eliminate "Birth Right Citizenship."  Secondly, we need to send the mother and her child back to their country of origin, and when and if the child has a legal resident of America willing to adopt him/her, or until the child reaches the age of maturity the children of Illegal Aliens stay with their parent in their home country AS IT SHOULD BE.  We cannot allow illegal aliens to use innocent children as Human Shields to avoid DEPORTATION.

Illegal Alien...

Under United States laws and statutes, any person not a citizen or national of the United States is an Alien...an Alien in our country illegally is thus simply stated and Illegal Alien.

The term is not racist, it is simply the proper legal classification of those who are within the borders of America illegally.   If a person comes to our nation legally, is here legally and abiding by the laws of our nation, but not a citizen or a national, they are an alien.   The second you enter, or stay in America in a fashion that breaks our laws, you are an ILLEGAL ALIEN.

OWN IT!

Illegal aliens and their supporters would like us to compose a sentence in the following fashion:

"The poor undocumented workers/citizens just came to America for a better life, to live the American Dream, and America should show its compassion as a nation and provide them with a pathway to citizenship."

Those of us opposed to AMNESTY, who want illegal aliens deported would compose a sentence far differently:

Illegal Aliens deliberately broke our laws, are in America illegally, stealing our jobs, depreciating the lower and middle class wage base, placing an unfair financial burden on our communities, and if America is a "Nation of Laws" these common criminals should be deported to their country of origin as the line for "Legal Immigration" starts in a citizen's country of origin... not here in America.  Come to America legally, abide by our immigration laws, or do not bother coming at all as you will be found out, incarcerated and deported.

A part of the discussion on illegal aliens and "Immigration Reform" has to include those who are aiding and abetting illegal aliens in being/staying in America illegally.   Those who provide housing (landlords) and those who hire illegal aliens in the name of having a CHEAP SUPPLY OF LABOR. We could throw the Catholic Church into this mix, but they have enough troubles right now defending their condoning of Catholic Priests molesting children in the name of God.  We will though include in this mix "Sanctuary Cities" like New York and San Francisco as their "look the other way" mantra greatly contributes to the scourge on our society that is illegal immigration.

To HARSH?  Get over it, political correctness is ruining America.

Every employer knows that E-verify if fully implemented as the law of the land is 98 percent effective in telling an employer (or landlord) if someone is legally entitled to take a job here in the United States of America.  Shut off the jobs/housing magnet, and at least 75 percent of illegal aliens currently residing here in America will self deport.  This combined with both work place and neighborhood enforcement raids will solve our illegal immigration problem.   But, let's give E-verify some serious teeth!  From the average America family hiring an illegal alien nanny to America's largest firms should face both hefty fines and prison time if they are caught hiring/employing an illegal alien.  No excuses, you are going to pay a serious fine, and are going to spend some time behind bars if you insist on hiring illegal aliens.   If E-verify is so effective, it can just as easily be effective in determining one's legal status before a landlord rents them living quarters...so, make E-verify and its penalties the law of the land for landlords as well.  Rent to an illegal alien, and you are going to do some prison time.

Sanctuary Cities...Can we say SANCTIONS?   We use sanctions internationally to bring a nation's actions into line when they are acting in a way that runs against America's interests...think Iran.  Let's use these same sanctions to rein in Sanctuary Cities that refuse to abide by Federal laws and statutes regarding illegal aliens.

Disagree?  Opposing views are welcome, that is why I have a comments section on this blog, and I do love a good debate.  Let's have this discussion, but don't tie one of my hands behind my back by telling me what words I can use in presenting my position.  For those that will want to paint me into the corner of being a rabid far right wing radical conservative, on most issues I am the complete opposite.  I consider myself an Independent with strong Democratic leanings, am very progressive on most social issues such as Abortion and Gay Rights, and believe that the drug war never worked, and that the time has come to legalize and tax Marijuana in the same way that we tax alcohol.

On Rich People Creating Jobs...just a thought.

The Republicans (and the wealthy) are fond of telling us Main Street Americans that rich people create jobs.  

OK, we'll give them that...but, doing a Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story.  Rich people create jobs, but it is us working stiffs who create their wealth.

Though some might disagree, perhaps the time has come for some wealth redistribution?  When Billionaires are purchasing Billion dollar yachts as play toys, when the Trump's of the world are whisking around in 7 million dollar helicopters, the time has come to SHARE THE WEALTH with those who helped you accumulate it..