June 2014 Archives

The California state Legislature approved a record $108 billion budget Sunday night June 15, 2014 - but you probably should hold your applause. Among other things, not included in the budget, was an increase in Medi-Cal providers' re-imbursement rates which were lowered during the economic downturn and has resulted a diminishing participation of medical providers and a waiting list for medical care.

            The budget does include a plan to fully fund the teachers' pension system but no mention is made of the corresponding under-funded CalPERS program which is forcing many California cities on a path to bankruptcy.

Dear DNC Chair-person,

            I have received and responded to this mail-out "Offical 2014 Democratic Party Survey."  Possibly, you have been cooped up in our nation's capital so long that you have lost touch with the national mood - or simply don't care (which is worse).  The point is - and all the national surveys conclude the same thing - the average American is not happy with what's going on in Washington DC - or what we now term as "Wah-Wah Land!"  So you send out a survey - which I presume is to find out what your Democratic constituents are thinking - but your survey is limited to a list of incredibly dumb questions:

Do you support President Obama's goal of comprehensive immigration reform . . .?"

Reform?  Really?!  Most of us would like to see someone enforce the existing immigration laws!  Some might recall former President Ronald Reagan's 1987 amnesty program for 1.4 million illegal aliens also included a requirement for employers to verify legal status of their employees - so what happened?  If an illegal cannot secure a job, he cannot survive but the better argument is that if word gets out that the U.S. is enforcing its immigration laws to include employers, then it follows the only path into America is by securing some form of legal entry.

Obviously, if more than 11 million illegals crossed our borders in the 27 years since the Reagan amnesty, the employer check of legal status simply did not work because no one bothered to enforce the law.

            In fact - it is difficult to know what Obama's immigration policy is . . .the President put in place a policy that local jurisdictions were to hold prisoners to determine their legal status in the U.S., but then allowed California (my state) to get away with Assembly Bill AB 4, introduced by Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from detaining people for deportation if they are living in the country illegally and are arrested for a "minor" crime (whatever that means).

But there's more.  In contradiction to a long standing rule of law, local Assemblyman Luis Allejo (D-Salinas) introduced AB 60 which would allow drivers licenses to be issued to persons unable to prove their residence is in accordance to federal law.  Well . . . we are waiting for someone - President Obama or the Attorney General - or anyone in a responsible "Legislative" position -  to step in and put a stop to this outrageous breach of Federal law.

            And what about the "Motor-Voter law" which allows the DMV to register licensed drivers as voters? 

American citizenship: a privilege!

            I'm sure you can recall a time when it was considered a privilege to be an American Citizen.  People from all over the world respected our nation's immigration laws and assumed the responsibility of learning our language because they had a compelling desire to be an American citizen.

            The Cuban Adjustment Act, enacted in 1966, is the only law in history that has paroled foreign nationals into the U.S. for more than four consecutive decades.  But the real question is why has this country allowed the Cuban Adjustment Act to continue?  Any political danger and persecution of Cubans associated with the ill-fated overthrow of the Castro regime has long since passed. 

            I could go on and on, but the real question here is: "If we were actually able to determine what Obama's immigration policy is . . .does it follow that he is willing to actually enforce the laws resulting from that policy?!"

            Your survey goes on to pose more vague and thoughtless questions i.e. raising the minimum wage, or closing tax loopholes or equal pay for equal work or allowing American workers to gain modern job skills . . .

            What's the real issue here?  American workers are simply too expensive because State and Federal Legislators keep passing more and more laws which burden the nation's employers with incredible expense - not only is it an effort to know what these laws are but excessive costs created by more and more benefits has led to the unemployment problem this nation is faced with today.

            Moreover, raising the minimum wage has become necessary because this administration has borrowed $-trillions (the national debt has doubled under the Obama administration) thus rendering the American dollar (which was once a worldwide standard currency) to a smaller and smaller value. . . which means the average worker needs to make more because of the resulting loss of value.

            Your survey is a disappointment because it ignores the real issues facing this nation.  And, to add insult to injury, your very partisan questions concerning the "other" party taking over the House implies the very thing most voters are angry about - the battle between Republicans vs Democrats seem to take precedent over what's best for the country.

            Possibly, if you had phrased your questions in a form that offered reasonable questions which might lead to a reasonable solution you might get a reasonable answer.  Instead, this questionnaire appears to be a poorly disguised attempt to get political donations!

I'm sure you can do better than this . . . if not, well - not only is the Democratic party in trouble, but I fear for the nation as well.