Monday, October 1, 2012

Five Weeks To Go and We are still Ignorant


I realize that people place the blame on people rather than the system. Our country has become so polarized that I don't care who is in office or who has control of Congress will make much of a difference. Americans have to stop pointing the finger at others and become knowledgeable. As long as the American citizenry continues to be truly ignorant of the facts then we will have the best government money can buy.  The mantra of "I got mine so what" has to stop. If we look at some of these hot button issues during this election we will realize that backers behind the super-PACs are betting on us to believe their message and not do our homework.

 Social Security and Medicare-if we increase the income limit if will hurt business, baloney, we can leave the threshold that employers have to match at the same level, but for those who make more than the threshold they should pay their share up to $ 1 million. Television ads keep trying to confuse everyone between “payroll taxes” and income taxes. The payroll tax has been set at 6.2% for the worker to pay and 6.2% for the employer to pay, i.e. social security and Medicare. If you are self-employed you pay the total 12.4%.  For the last few years, the worker share has been 4.2% so that more money could enter back into the economy; drawback being less money going to fund Medicare and Social Security.  Because that temporary tax deduction had a built in self -destruct mechanism, no one is “increasing payroll taxes”. Pay attention to those who want to monkey around with income taxes; they seem to change every year and deductions and credits can truly effect the middle class, one way or another.

 Illegal immigrants- they are here and the vast majority of them pays taxes and performs jobs that most Americans would not. For those who complain about illegal immigrants causing them to lose their job and who have had their unemployment benefits stopped, large agribusinesses have lots of jobs. There is always a need for migrant farm workers.  Will you pick tomatoes for 5 cents per 100 pounds, or be part of a cleaning crew at minimum wage or even less. I don't know about you but I can't afford to pay $4 a pound for tomatoes or more for other produce. Those that are here and honestly working let's document them and for those who are truly criminals, deport them. Period!

Healthcare-I am a retired medical department officer. I don't like paying for health care anymore than any other person (especially when my recruiter told me that if you do 20 years, you get free medical care), but it’s much better than my colleagues in the private sector.  The "Obama-care" started out as a noble idea to ensure that every American has some access to basic medical care. It ballooned into a 2000 page monstrosity thanks to special interest groups such as the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the Healthcare Insurance Industry, AARP and the list goes on.  The magic question: Is basic healthcare a right or a privilege? It can't be in-between. If you claim that your faith is Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Buddhists, the basic premise is to take care of your brother. If those of you who do not believe that each American should have some basic healthcare, then you are a hypocrite.  Enough said.

I served 28 years and as a Naval Officer I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, including all of the Bill of Rights. I guess that makes me a Liberal (defined as supporter of liberty) and yes I am a card-carrying member of the ALCU because their sole purpose is to defend the bill of rights. Bottom line, we need to come together and fix our country with humane ideals and those visions that made us a great nation, not believers of the 30 second sound bite of campaigning rhetoric!

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