Decaying of America “Part III”- Illegal Immigrants

You will hear it argued, especially by the Democrats and Liberals, that illegal immigration are good, not bad for our country.  They tell you that the jobs the illegals take are jobs Americans will not do.  That simply is not true.  The jobs illegal takes are usually job’s that Americans without a high school diploma or no college would take.  The problem is illegal immigrants will work for far less pay than Americans bringing down the pay scale employers are willing to pay.  We presently have the highest percentage of American’s finishing high school than ever in modern times.  Ninety percent of American’s between the age of 25 and 45 have a high school diploma.  That still leaves 10 percent of working Americans without a high school diploma, That is millions of Americans. If these millions of Americans cannot find work they will go on welfare and other government assistance programs which cost the government. Another problem the illegal immigrants create is they take jobs from students who need to earn money to pay for tuition. In my opinion it does affect the U.S. Government negatively. 

In 2014 there were more than 12 million undocumented workers in America that we knew about, many more that we did not know about. The ones we do not know about makes it difficult to determine the real overall effect on America.  People born in the U.S. into low income families are the hardest hit by illegal immigrants.  They lack education, work skills and money. These people are willing to take janitor jobs and similar jobs. If you go to downtown Houston any night of the week after 10 p.m. you will think you are in Mexico. That’s the time janitors start to finish their tour of duty. 

Most illegal immigrants are low skill workers. Can you please tell me how low skilled workers, from a different culture, speaking a different language, are not familiar with our laws and less productive, benefits our economy? Now those that want to argue they work harder than Americans think about the time spent on instructing them to do a job when there is a language barrier.  Do you think that these low skilled immigrants are trained to use the modern equipment we have in America?  In my opinion the greatest harm they do to our American workforce is they bring down the pay scale.  Few know that illegal immigrants qualify for workers’ compensation if hurt on the job. They do not qualify for unemployment insurance. 

You will be told by Democrats and Liberals illegal immigrants do not cost the government anything.  They will tell you illegal immigrants are not entitle to any benefit programs paid for by the Federal or State Governments.  Since 1982, states are required to provide K-12 public education for students with illegal status.  Who pays this expense - local school districts? Local school districts must set aside 15% of their budget for illegal immigrant students.  The local school districts must provide Spanish speaking teachers which are paid more than regular teachers. They must provide special education classes for disable children.  They must provide federal breakfast and lunch programs.  If needed illegal immigrant students must be referred to appropriate institutions for dental, mental, health and other issues. The government pays for these services. We do no pay for American students to get the same services.  There are more than 840,000 illegal immigrant children going to school according to the last data the government has.

Illegal immigrants do not qualify for Medicaid, UNLESS the woman is pregnant or the situation is considered by medical staff to be an emergency.  But, six states and the District of Columbia ignore this federal law and grant Medicaid to illegal immigrants. Politicians claim we do no pay for health care benefits because they do not qualify for them, but Americans shelled out 18.5 billion in 2016 for illegal immigrant health care. They can also go to community health clinics and be treated for free.  The part the federal government paid of the 18.5 billion amounts to $34 for every US taxpayer. Now our politicians say that amount is so small it is not worth fighting over and it is a humanitarian gesture.  Illegal immigrants are eligible for the federal governments W.I.C. programs.  This programs provides food, infant formula, and immunization for babies. 

Even though illegal immigrants are not considered eligible for any state welfare benefits, some states give it to them anyway. The one that determines who gets state benefits is the county social services. They do not have legal jurisdiction to do it nor are they qualified to determine immigration status. Democrats and Liberals still argue  illegal immigrants do not affect America in a negative way, instead they argue it has a positive effect on America.  Immigrants granted asylum are qualified for all federal and state benefits.  Do you remember when Obama wanted to flood American with immigrants seeking asylum.   

Some states have chosen to ignore federal law because they say illegal immigrants pay about $12 billion in state, local and federal taxes per year and receive only about $5 billion in benefits. Another government agency claims they pay about $10.6 billion in taxes. The C.B.O. claims if we increase the number of illegal immigrants we would collect $48 billion over a decade.  Do you notice the big discrepancies?  Who really knows? Remember now illegal immigrants cost Americans nothing and the majority file federal tax returns – I find that hard to believe.

It is possible for illegal immigrants to buy a house without a social security card. The lending institutions get them what is called an identification number (ITIN).  They can also pay cash and do not need any documents.  Let an American try to purchase a home without a social security card. 

In the Philippines and many other countries foreigners cannot own land.  The Philippines does allow foreigners to own a condo, but they cannot own the land the condo is built on and 40% of condo owners in the building must be Filipino.  If a foreigner is married to a Filipino the land will always go to the Filipino and at death it will go to the heirs of the Filipino that are natural born Filipinos.  In the Philippines it is nearly impossible to get a work permit.  To own a small business you have to employ a minimum of ten Filipinos.  Large corporation like Ford and others must  allow a Filipino to own at least 40% of the Philippine operation.  If people think U.S. immigration laws are tough, they should check the immigration laws in other countries, especially third world countries. 

Now one thing I agree with the Democrats and Liberals on is many illegal immigrants use false social security cards to get jobs.  They usually use the numbers of dead people are infants, those not paying into Social Security.  They cannot ever draw that money out, so it does increase the funds in Social Security.  The money paid in by illegal migrants is about $100 billion over ten years according to SSA.  Since about 1937 the SSA has kept a suspense file of social security payments that cannot be matched to legitimate claimants.  They estimate about 3 million files fall into that category.  Hillary Clinton, Democrats and Liberals say that that it is not fair for us to keep their money. They want the law changed where they do not pay social security at all or can draw a social security benefits upon retirement.  The employer pays half of the social security tax and the employee pays half.  Don’t you think if a law was passed that illegal immigrants did no have to pay social security the employers are going to take advantage of it. They would not be hiring Americans if they could fine illegals to do the job.

The proposals that President Trump is talking about are the exact laws that President Clinton got passed in 1996.  Now President Trump wants to enforce those laws and the Democrats and Liberals are all up in arms. They say illegal immigrants should receive the exact benefits as American citizens because America's uneducated poor citizens do not contribute to the country as much as illegal immigrants.

Do you think we need a border wall? Hillary Clinton, Democrats and Liberals say we don't.  They claim it would weaken the U.S. economy.  They claim open borders improves a countries economy.  They claim with  open borders we could give all immigrants full participation in our government and we would collect more taxes. They are already pushing for illegal immigrants to have the right to vote.  Frankly, I do not want anyone that is not a citizen of the U.S. voting in our elections.  Why should they have a say on who leads our country. California already allows them to vote on school board members.  They also say better skill workers would come if we had open borders.

Is 18 billion too much to pay for a wall?  I believe the wall would pay for itself if it reduced illegal immigrant entry.  President Bush constructed a wall in El Paso, Texas and I did not hear anyone complaining.  Federal data shows that walls do work.  Where Bush constructed the wall, illegal immigration decreased by 89% over a five-year period.  Homeland Security say 1.7 million more illegal immigrants will enter from Mexico in the next ten years if a wall is not constructed.  The I.R.S. pays out billions of dollars each year for child tax credits to illegal immigrants.  The Dreamers Amnesty Act has cost $26 billion the first ten years. These two government illegal immigrant benefits would pay for most of the wall.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau’s count said 62% of illegal immigrant head of household are on the federal dole.  More than double that of American head of household.  Surprisingly the benefits they are not supposed to be getting are the ones they use the most - Food Stamps and Medicaid.  They obtain them through fraud, administrative errors and green card holders.

President Trump often speaks of illegal immigrant crimes.  It has upset four universities so much they have completed a study and claim illegal immigrants do not increase crime rate.  They claim the crime rate for undocumented immigrants shows immigrants commit less crimes than American’s.  I believe there are far more American than illegal immigrants in America so I would expect more crimes would be committed by Americans.  They stated those that say different are racist. Now government federal records say 26% of prisoners in federal prison are illegal immigrants.  The records show 146,243 illegal immigrants  make up the population in state prisons. I suppose if you compare it to the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. the number is not staggering, but who is paying to lodge, guard, feed, clothe and provide health care for these illegal immigrants?  American's of course.  They did not mention the damages done by the illegal to Americans.

One thing is certain illegal immigrants are increasing tension in our country. Some citizens say deport them and other say let them stay and welcome them into our communities.  That is what the Sanctuary Cities are doing. I believe Sanctuary Cities are a violation of Federal Law and I was taught federal law supersedes state law.   

In closing I want to share a list that Democrats and Liberals say that makes illegal immigrants important to America: we are culturally enriched; employers have a ready supply of cheap labor; employers do not have to report them to the government in turn companies save on taxes; employers do not have to provide job benefits, which allows products to be produced cheaper and  consumers can purchase their products cheaper; wealthy American’s and upper middle class have access to affordable labor for jobs around the house, such as child care, cooking, cleaning, drivers, etc. and to care for elderly sick parents.  They also say it is another type of international aid to poor countries.  Am I the only one that read that list and did not find anything that helped middle class or the poor?  It seems to me Democrat politicians are only looking out for themselves and their rich friend.  Do not forget that during the last campaign Democrats harped Republicans are only interested in the top  1% of Americans.   It also appears to me Democrats and Liberal do not respect the law of the land too much and are encouraging people to disobey our laws.

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More Than Infrastructure is Falling Apart in America

If you search what is falling apart in America all you get is hundreds of references to the Infrastructure is falling apart.  I know the infrastructure is falling apart and it has been falling apart for decades.  It is estimated to take 3.6 trillion dollars to repair America’s infrastructure.  The President’s 2019 Budget gives a prominent place to infrastructure policy.  It proposes $100 billion matching funds to state and local governments, as well as $50 billion in funding to rural infrastructure and 50 billion in other infrastructure funding. The Administration plan revolves around a $1.5 trillion spending goal and only $200 billion would come from the Federal Funding.  I am concerned about the $100 billion in matching funds from the States where will it come from. Many states are near bankrupting. Where is the Federal money coming from? All of this on top of the fact that politicians spend less in real cost than they did 15 years ago for infrastructure.

My concern is will it come from Social Security Funds.  The very people who are barely surviving and do not use the infrastructure as much. President Trump, whom I support, has mentioned the booming cost of Social Security and pensions must be brought under control before the problem can really be addressed. The President has suggested higher fuel taxes. It has not been raised since 1993. President Trump has proposed Private Partnership. I think that is a good idea.  Private corporation spend their money to build and repair infrastructure and charge a toll until the project is paid for.  The government regulates the toll charge.

The problem with the Private Partnerships along with state and local participation is the Democrats want the Federal Government to have control over these projects when it comes to bidding, construction and after the construction is finished.  I guess it makes it easier for them to steal funds for their pet projects. They claim they want to make sure the environment is protected.  I also want to note Obama’s stimulus plan failed miserably.  He claims the shovel ready jobs were not shovel ready as he thought and got a big laugh out of it.


We have 15,500 hazardous dams and 2170 are rated as dangerous and must be repaired immediately.  A whopping 45 billion dollars is needed just to repair the dams. There are 67,500 bridges with structural defects. There are 200,00 bridges over fifty years old. Many of the water pipes have been in use for more than 100 years and due to leakage two trillion gallons of water is wasted each year.  The problem cannot be ignored for 50 more years like Washington politicians have done since the 60’s.

Franklin Roosevelt spend a large sum of money for infrastructure in the 1930’ and no large sum of money was spent again until 1950’s and 1960’s for interstate highway systems.  That infrastructure has outlived its life expectancy and we are still using them today.  Also note it was the Republican Administration’s that really tried to address the issue under Eisenhower, Reagan and Trump, but could not get support from the Democrats.

The Democrats are determined not to give the President anything to boast about before mid-term elections.  Politics over country as usual. Democrats claim private partnership would only be interested in funding projects that could produce a toll and they are against that.  I believe something is better than nothing.  Private partnership would certainly help.  Democrat’s do not like the idea because Trump proposed it. Many countries have been doing this type of financing for years.

Robert Farris a former Federal Highway Administration head claims that when the Federal Government participates in any transportation project the cost automatically goes up at least 30%.  He is talking billions of dollars a year wasted because of Washington’s involvement.  One cost increase is the Federal Government requires Union wages to be paid and that alone increases the cost by 22%.  Obama had a law past that any large projects had to hire only Union employees. Nixon had a law passed that requires extensive environmental reviews which has delayed project up to ten to fifteen years. This causes the original cost to be void and the construction cost increases at least 10 percent.  Local bike trails and running trails come out of the Transportation Fund instead of States budgets and cost 2% of the infrastructure budget.  The FHWA and DOT duplicate work at a cost of about 400 million dollars a year.

Who is really responsible for the infrastructure problems today?  It is the politicians for they pass the buck to another Administration for they know the American people do not like to spend money. Therefore, they ignore the problem while they are in office.  The American people do not like to see their money wasted by politician’s but, they are willing to pay when the money is used in a way that benefits them, without waste. The politicians get a D minus for their approach to the infrastructure problems and our present infrastructure is rated at D minus, the same as it got in 2013, by experts.

I think the only solution is to get Private Partnerships involved as President Trump proposed. All projects will not be suited for private partnerships, but many will. Airports should charge a usage tax to the people using the airport outbound.  This would help offset building and maintenance of airports.  The delay now will be Congress has already passed a two-year budget and any additions would take about two years to get approved.  I wish the President would have veto the first budget and if it meant shutting the government down then shut it down. The way I see it we are about $1.4 trillion short in funds needed and funds available.

Tomorrow or in a few days I will comment on how I think our societal problems are contributing to America falling apart.

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS ONLY MY THOUGHTS AND I RESPECT YOUR THOUGHTS.  I DO NOT PROFESS TO HAVE THE SOLUTIONS. I DO KNOW IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE REPUBLICANS CONTROL THE HOUSE AND SENATE IF PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUES TO MAKE PROGRESS – DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER.

USA Import/Export with Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, Germany and the UK

In 2016 the USA exported $3.51 trillion and imported $4.88 trillion dollars.  A difference or deficit of 1.37 trillion dollars. How many USA manufacturing jobs is that? I am not an expert and do not know.  I do know as a businessman I would not like to be buying 1.38 trillion dollars more of product than I was selling.

In 2016 we exported to Canada $266 billion and imported $296 billion; to Mexico exported $229 billion and imported $302 billion; to Japan exported $63.2 billion and imported $130 billion; to the UK exported $55.3 billion and imported $61.6 billion; to China exported $115 billion and imported $385 billion; imported from Germany $118 billion dollars and we exported less to Germany than Germany imported from the Netherlands, France, Belgium or Italy; we imported from France $36.1 billion and like Germany we exported to France less than they imported from Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

The USA are these six countries best customers for their exported products.  Yet, in most cases they buy (import) less from the USA than they do other countries.
Can you see why they do not like President Trumps rhetoric?  We mean far more to them than they mean to us.  They need us far more than we need them!

Previous Republican and Democrat Administration since 1965 have allowed these trade deficits to exist and to grow. The Citizens of the USA have sat by passively and allowed it to happen.  We watched in silence as politicians and political parties strangled our steel mills, textile industries, oil/gas/coal industries, automobile industries, and outsourced our jobs to foreign soil. We even like fools kept electing these same people to office term after term. It took its toll on our manufacturing industries and as a results the economy has plummeted. In 1965 53% of our economy depended on manufacturing jobs, in 1988 only 39% and by 2004 only 9%. When any country lacks a strong domestic manufacturing sector it quickly becomes dependent on foreign nations.

President Trump came to office and immediately began to try and address the problem and the foolish Liberals/Democrats and Rino's attack him. Those of us that are intelligent enough to know that we cannot continue to exist as a nation if we do not begin to make changes have sat  back and allow these fools to get away with it.

Since 1998 the USA has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs. Can President Trump correct the bad political decisions of the past.  I frankly do not know, but I know one thing no previous President Republican or Democrat, since Roosevelt, could or did and thank God President Trump is trying.

The Liberals, Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans are quick to criticize the President, but they have not done one damn thing to address the problems.  If these people criticizing the President are so damn smart why do they not run for the office of President? Why did the Liberals and Democrats not address the problems when they control the Office of President, House and Senate for two years? They only dug the hole deeper.

They could have fixed all the integration problems they now gripe and blame on President Trump. The truth is they do not care about the Black or Brown skin or middle class people and it seems that many in that segment of society are too stupid to realize it. The Liberals and Democrats only care about getting votes.

If America does not manufacture and sell goods, then money only leaves the country.  The USA now imports twice as much as it exports around the world.  This has resulted in a trade deficit that has ballooned to an unprecedented $800 billion on an annualized basis.  Unfortunately, this trend showed no signs of abating until President Trump took office.

Every time an American manufacturer closes and then reopens elsewhere, the foreign country gains American technology.  Not having to spend resources developing technology, foreigners can focus on improving or beating it. Boeing is especially guilty of this by their outsourcing labor in China, Japan and other countries.  They produce 70% of all their airplane parts abroad.

Do not let the globalization admirers fool you by saying only low skill jobs are going overseas because their people are unskilled. As of 2005 China will produce 3.3 million university graduates, all of who speak English.  India will turn out 3.1 million English speaking graduates. China will produce 600,000 engineers and India will produces 350,000 as of 2005.  Compare that to the 70,000 the USA produced as of July 2005.There are no difference in skills the difference is foreign workers will work seven days a week for $1.00 an hour.  Americans may be happier now that they can buy cheaper toys, but this will not last.  One day Americans will no longer be able to afford their toys regardless of how cheap the price.

I have seen what can happen when the USA loses manufacturing jobs.  My dad preached to me college and then go to work in the steel mill. He told me you will be set for life.  He was a Supervisor at Sheffield Steel in Houston, Texas.  They worked 3 shifts a day, 365 days a year.  It is now a rust bucket and has been closed for years.  My dad complained about the electric steel mills the USA give Japan after WWII, but he never dreamed it would be the end of the steel industry in the USA. The days when blue collar jobs were passed down the line to family members are over.

Corporate leaders that have moved their operations overseas for a quick profit are also fools.  They never stop to think that the Americans are the major buyer of their products and one day Americans will not be able to afford their products.  There was a time following WWII Japanese were willing to work for low wages and no benefits, but today their minimum wage is higher than the USA.  China and India will experience the same and then all their products will increase in price.

You had better remember as manufacturing jobs go so goes the nation!

More to follow in days to come.

Give President Trump A Chance

Are you willing to destroy the USA simply because you dislike the current President - That is not loyalty - That is not patriotism - That is not what true Americans do. I tolerated President Obama and it was a difficult pill to swallow, but I put the USA before the person sitting in the Oval Office.

I am nearing eighty years old.  I have reached the point in life where I do not have to appease or satisfy anyone.  I could care less what you think about me or my comments. Do not waste your time trying to get through to me.  I am not going to sugar coat this message to avoid upsetting those that do not agree with me.  I have had enough of those Liberal Democrats and Rino Republicans that are willing to damage the USA simply because they hate President Trump.

Some Liberal Democrats (especially celebrities) threaten to leave the USA for Canada if candidate Trump was elected.  Please leave as you threaten!  We do not need you or want you. Go and destroy some other country as you have tried to do to the USA for decades.

Some of you are so foolish that you are actually hoping President Trump fails in his talks with North Korea.  You would actually prefer the constant threat of North Korea's nuclear power. You would prefer war because most of you idiots have never been to war or served in the USA military.  How foolish you are.

I guess since you favor abortion (murdering babies) war casualties mean nothing to you.  Life means nothing to you. I served in Vietnam and I lost buddies in Vietnam.  You treated me like crap when I returned from Vietnam.  I have no respect for you and I have not forgotten you.

You criticize President Trump for not serving in the military, particularly Vietnam.  Yet, you forget that President Clinton fled to Canada to avoid serving.  You forget that President Bush join the National Guards so he could remain Stateside.  You forget that your "God" President Obama did not serve in any branch of the military and had absolutely no idea how important the military is to protecting the USA. He thought he could buy friendships and failed. I actually think the man thought if the USA was weak others would leave us alone because we could not defend ourselves.

You criticize President Trump for being a womanizer and judge him immoral.  Yet, you forget about the sexual affairs of President Kennedy (swimming nude with sex partner in the White House pool).  You forget about the affairs of President Johnson and his long time affair with his mistress.  You forget about President Eisenhower and his affair with his long time mistress. YOU FORGET about the worse sex abuser of all PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON!

You criticize President Trump for his foul language. I can tell you from my personal experience, at President Johnson's ranch in Texas, no man had or has a filthier mouth than President Johnson.  I was in a group of Texas Young Democrats invited to the ranch for a barbecue, This is just a moment of our endeared President speaking to the photographer, "If you want a Goddamn fucking picture of me and these kids you had better do it fast.  I am not standing out in this fucking sun waiting for you to get your fucking finger out of your fucking ass."  I have never heard President Trump use those words, especially open in front of 18 to 20 years old students.

You try to claim he is ignorant, mentally ill, does not know what he is doing, etc., while he made billions running his business'. He lived in mansions while you may be lucky enough to live in some middle class subdivision.  He flew in his own jet while you may have been able to afford a new Ford every three years.

You find every fault with President Trump's family, but ignore President Carter's daughter smoking pot in the White House or President Bush's girls getting drunk in public, or President Obama's girl's smoking pot and one pulling up her blouse showing her "tits" in public.  Frankly, I think he raised wonderful children.

You criticize First Lady Trump, but thought it was cute when First Lady Obama danced on Ellen's show showing a bulge in the front of her white pants or appeared with President Obama in her beautiful blue dress with a very noticeable bulge in the front.  You made a big deal over none of Mrs. Obama's designers would design clothes for Mrs. Trump.  Why would she want any of Mrs. Obama's designers making her clothes if she was going to appear to have a penis.

I guess you find it easy to ignore the pedophile that was in the White House during Obama's Administration - his name is Vice President Biden.  I suppose I am a dirty old man like you say President Trump is because I remember the days when my niece and I were young and she use to accompany me on function because I was a "priest".  I often bragged about how beautiful she was.  I often touched her with affection (not lust). I have said if I was not her uncle and not a priest I would be trying to seriously date her.  Maybe it is not that either of us are dirty old men, maybe it is you that have a dirty mind and project on us what you think and do.

I have much more to say and I will say more in the upcoming days.  I am thankful that at my last doctor's visit I was told I could die at any time and I most likely do not have another year and two at the most.  I am ready to leave you naysayers behind. I am as sick of you as I am sure you are as sick of me and people like me.  Failing Kidneys, Lungs, Heart, Diabetes cannot take me out of my misery soon enough.  But, in my constant 24 hours of pain I have found that I can withstand the pain caused from my health issues more than I can from all you Liberal Democrats and Rino Republicans fools. 







   

The Cowerding of America - Vietnam

 The first signs I saw of America no longer being the land of the free and the brave was with the onset of Vietnam.  We engaged in a “CONFLICT” not a war and it was never classified as a war.  I would like to add in this conflict (not war) the U.S. Marine Corps lost five times as many dead as in World War I, three times as many dead as in Korea, and more total killed and wounded than in all of World War II.  We sent young men to die and those men did not even know what they were fighting for.  We did know that we did not have the full support of the U.S. Government or the American people.  

We followed orders while celebrities like Jane Fonda called us murders.  Our President Johnson was caught between a rock and a hard place.  He did not want to be the first American President to lose a war (conflict) and yet he did not want the American citizens to turn against him and the Democrat Party.  Our troops were asked to fight in a war which our political leaders in Washington would not let us win. 

Draft evasion (dodging) became vogue.  It was more popular to be a coward than to be loyal to the United States Military or the United States Government.  Draft dodgers were usually college-educated sons of the middle class who could no longer defer induction into the Selective Service System - PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON.  Deserters, on the other hand, were predominantly sons of the lower-income and working classes who had been inducted into the armed services directly from high school or who had volunteered, hoping to obtain a skill and broaden their limited horizons.  Then you had the TRUMPS, BUSH, and other wealthy families with influence who kept their boys out of harm ways.  Let us not forget two other prominent draft dodgers Joe Biden and Dick Cheney.

Starting in 1965, Canada became a choice haven for American draft dodgers and deserters. They were not formally classified as refugees, but as immigrants, there is no official estimate of how many draft dodgers and deserters were admitted to Canada during the Vietnam War. One informed estimate puts their number between 30,000 and 40,000.  Whether or not this estimate is accurate, the fact remains that emigration from the United States was high as long as America was involved in the war and maintained compulsory military service; in 1971 and 1972 Canada received more immigrants from the United States than from any other country.

There were more than 300,000 deserters and draft evaders in total, in which 209,517 men illegally resisted the draft while some 100,000 deserted. 

We do know that it was the largest number of Americans to leave the country to avoid supporting the United States since the American Revolution.  Draft dodging was so popular that books were written on how to do it.  In 1977 on his first day in office President Jimmy Carter pardon the draft dodgers. It is estimated half of them living in Canada returned to the United States with smiles on their faces, while many families stood over graves of their young boys killed in Vietnam crying.

Distinct from draft resisters, there were also deserters of the American forces who also made their way to Canada.  The deserters have not been pardoned and may still face pro forma arrest, as the case of Allen Abney demonstrated in March 2006.  Another similar case was that of Richard Allen Shields: He had deserted the U.S. Army in Alaska in 1972 after serving a year in Vietnam. Twenty-eight years later, on March 22, 2000, while he attempted to drive a lumber truck across the US-Canada border (in Metaline Falls, Washington) he was arrested by U.S. Customs agents and jailed at Fort Sill.  He was discharged from the Army with an Other Than Honorable discharge in April 2000. Not harsh enough in my opinion.  

There were some legal ways to avoid the draft.  Men who had physical or mental problems, men who were married, with children (ended in 1965), attending college or needed at home to support their families might be granted deferments.  Homosexual were exempt and a large number of heterosexual boys claimed to be homosexual to be exempt, while many homosexual hid their sexuality and served proudly with distinction.  It should be said two thirds of the men who fought in Vietnam volunteered for service.  Seventy-three percent of the men that died in Vietnam were volunteers.  

In the ‘60s and ‘70s, young people were referred to as the “Love Generation,” partly because of their insistence on sexual freedom, drugs, hippie lifestyle which they proposed as an alternative (“make love, not war”) to the Vietnam conflict.  I cannot help but refer to them as the loser generation and I am a product of the 60’s.  I credit them with contributing to the downfall of America.  Their goal was to change society and they did.  We have not recovered from what they started.  America slowly became a nation of whimpering slaves to FEAR—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts and fear of North Korea, China, Russia, Middle East and Muslims in general.

                                                            

 Attorney General Holder said, America ' has become a nation of cowards' on race.  This is one of the rare occasions I agreed with him, but we have become a nation of cowards not just on race, but on just about everything and his boss President Obama was the biggest coward of all.  John McCain’s economic adviser Phil Gramm said that this country is a “nation of whiners”.  But, please do not blame today’s ills on the 55,000 Baby Boomers who died in Vietnam! 

There was little to no stigma attached to draft dodgers in the 60’s and there is little to no stigma attached to millennials today.  It seems to be a generational thing where there's no stigma attached to being irresponsible.  Millennials delay getting jobs, their own place to live, in general delay growing up in order to delay responsibilities.  Just as the 60’s love children contributed to the decline of society so will the millennials living in mommy's and daddy's basement.   Some of these parents really don't want their kids to leave because they fear they cannot take care of themselves.  A friend told me a few months ago their 30 year old son cannot move out because he has to pay back his student loans and ask me, “Why are they making him pay it back?  It is so unfair”.  She was a love child!  Every failed generation wants someone to blame.

The media during the Vietnam era and the media today are destroying our nation.  The media defines those that want to serve our country as loser, not heroes.  Regardless of what the gutless media says my heroes are the young men and women who face the issues of war and possible death, and then weigh those concerns against obligations to their country, simple obedience to duty, as they understand it and are willing to suffer loneliness, disease, wounds and the ultimate price death.  Some in media are making cowards of our people! 

I love our America, but I will criticize us and not stand by QUIETLY and watch us become a ‘ONCE UPON A TIME GREAT NATION’.  Many students have told me that they are the most well-informed generation in history; really those same students could name all five Simpson family members, but could not name four of the five freedoms in the First Amendment!  Ignorance breeds cowards! 

I pray that the thousands of Americans in uniform around the word are not paying attention to the current cycle of news stories in Washington coming out of the Democrats and die heart liberals that are upset that President Trump ordered hitting a Syrian Airbase for using chemical weapons against their own people. It must be demoralizing to see the rest of us acting like such cowards—and making things more dangerous for them.  I know it was for us who served in Vietnam.  Have we forgotten the vows we made when the Twin Towers fell, and the Pentagon burned? That we would do what it takes to avenge our dead?

Expats - Immigration Laws - Senior Citizens

I wonder how many U.S. citizens would become expat's if they could use some form of government medical care abroad?  All the talk about Obama Care and cost of maintaining our senior citizen population and that the system is going bankrupt has any of our intelligent politicians ask this question?

First off the senior protection programs are going broke because our intelligent politicians stole from the fund to finance projects that would get them reelected. They not only mismanaged the fund they ROBBED the fund.

They are robbing the younger generation by borrowing money to finance projects in hopes it will guarantee them a lifetime job in government. Sadly some have even found a way to enrich themselves while service in government - they are corrupt!

I have spend more than a decade in the Philippines and have cost the United States Government NOTHING!  I also have paid on average $2500 a quarter Income Tax in the United States  for NOTHING!

I am now in bad health and not able to return to the United States. I am home-bound and need a caregiver. Thus far, I have been able to manage on my extra income from investments that will end shortly and my only income will be Social Security. What happens after the extra income ceases is a mystery to me.

What would it have cost the United States Government if I would have remained in the United States?  My medicine in a Third World country cost over $900 a month which I pay for.  What would that cost have been to the Social Security System in the United States $10,000 a month or more?  What about the cost of about two hospitalizations a year that run about $1000 each time.  The hospital expenses would be ten thousand plus yearly in the United States.  Again it cost the United States Government NOTHING.

Now I am in a situation since I am not married to a Philippine citizens I must leave the country every three years for twenty-four hours and then return. I am unable to meet those requirements.  I am in the process of trying to get some type of exception and praying it goes through or in two months I face a real problem.

You mean the United States Government could not establish some countries as places where Medicare or OBAMACARE could be used. In the Philippines there could be limited private hospitals and doctors allowed to except United States Government elderly insurance in Cebu, Manila and Davao. It would only take limited personnel in the Embassy to monitor these programs and prevent corruption.  The money saved the United States Government could probably be a billion dollars a year if done around the world.

I ADVISE ANYONE CONSIDERING BECOMING AN EXPAT TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU CAN NO LONGER TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY.  THE IMMIGRATION LAWS ARE CRITICAL AND YOU MUST CONSIDER THEM FOR ONE DAY YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO SATISFY IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS.

I do not know why countries like the Philippines have actively not pursued these benefits for it would help their government and the United States Government and those that chose to be expat's.

Most American's consider expat's as some kind of traitor or deserve what they get for living abroad without thinking that most chose to live abroad because they can no longer maintain their lifestyle in the United States because of politicians and the laws they pass without considering the repercussions.

Quite frankly, I do not desire to receive handouts from food ministries because I cannot afford medical care, utilities, food, clothing, etc. in the United States. EXPAT'S DO THE UNITED STATES CITIZENS LIVING AT HOME A FAVOR - WE LEAVE MORE HANDOUTS FOR THEM THAT ARE NOT WILLING TO TAKE THE CHANCE ABROAD.

President Duterte says President Elect Trump is his friend.  If that is so why doesn't he approach President Elect Trump with this idea. I bet he would be speaking to the DEAF!

One thing President Duterte could do would be influence the Philippine politicians to change Immigration Laws immediately and not demand people to leave the country as long as they meet all other requirement for Immigration.  NOT EVEN THE UNITED STATES DOES THAT.  President Duterte talks abut fairness in Immigration Laws in the United States then why doesn't he make Philippine Immigration Laws fair to SENIOR CITIZEN EXPAT'S who can no longer travel and do not want to marry a Philippine citizens because they are already married or like me took vows of celibacy. Mr. President Duterte your predecessors and you plus your men and women in Congress and Senate have talked about attracting Medical Tourism and Senior Expats then why don't you do something to really attract them to the Philippines!

For those that believe this is a matter for my Church please keep in mind that I am RETIRED from my Church and do not want them dictating my life any longer nor do I want their handouts. I have always paid my way and have taken care of myself and I want to continue to do so until I die.

****I just learned from Immigration today (3/15/17) if you get dementia or alzheimer's and are not married to a Filipino you can be deported regardless of how much money you have in the bank even if you have a power of attorney designating someone to take care of you and have access to your funds.  You cannot qualify for one of the resident visa regardless of what size bond you put up if you are over 55 and do not have a health insurance policy that is valid in the Philippines and can pass a physical by a doctor they designate.  The doctor has to certify you are in good health and can take care of yourself if not married to a Filipino. I do not want to leave the Philippines, but if I knew what I know now it certainly would have influenced my decision to spend the remainder of my life in the Philippines.    

Democrat Convention - Played on emotions - little truth

Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim American was ordered to Iraq years ago, his father wanted to talk to Donald Trump about his being an American Muslim soldier sent to war in a Muslim country. While I have great sympathy for Captain Khan’s parents I feel he distorted what Donald Trump has said. I understand in Captain Khan’s grief he may have taken what Donald Trump said and only heard what he wanted to hear. I also believe like many American's he believed the twisted lies of the media and the Democrat Party.

Captain Khan, 27, died on June 8, 2004, after he told his men to take cover and then tried to stop a suicide bomber outside the gates of his base in Baquba. Captain Khan and his parents are not the Muslim’s Donald Trump is trying to protect the American citizens from. Muslim Americans that are outraged by what Donald Trump has said are not putting the interest and safety of American citizens first and foremost.

Mr. Trump’s call for restrictions (ban) on Muslims entering the country is for the safety of American citizens and that should be the first responsibility of the President of any country. Donald Trump has not called for a permanent ban on Muslims. He only wants to give the U.S. Government time to setup procedure and policies that would help prevent terrorist from entering the United States. He is not for open borders which have proven to be a disaster for European nations and the United States. It appears Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party are more interested in being politically correct and winning Hispanic votes than protecting American citizens. I question where exactly does their loyalty lie.

Captain Khan’s father said If restrictions on Muslim immigration had been in place decades ago neither he, a lawyer with an advanced degree from Harvard Law School; his wife, Ghazala, who taught Persian at a Pakistani college before raising three boys in the Washington suburbs; their eldest son, Shaharyar, who was a top student at the University of Virginia and a co-founder of a biotechnology company; nor Captain Khan, who posthumously earned the Bronze Star, along with a Purple Heart, for saving the lives of his men, would have been allowed to settle here. That has nothing to do with the present terrorist problems facing the nations of the world. Donald Trump nor any other American would have even considered putting restrictions on Muslims “decades” ago. The time have changed and in the interest security for American citizens our immigration policies must change to meet the new threats.

The Democrats used Captain Khan's father and that is a disgrace. His speech was emotional and worthy to be told, but not at the Democrat National Convention. Captain Khan's father’s story is worth far more than to simply try and win votes for Hillary Clinton.  I am sure his father is very proud of his family, a foreign family that has integrated nicely into the United States.  I am proud of them and the millions of other foreign citizens that have done the same, but that does not mean I am for open borders at a time like this. Hillary nor the Democrat Party cared about his loss they only cared about how it might turn voters against Donald Trump. Like Hillary said in the Congressional hearings "What difference does it make (to her) now".

Mr. Khan criticized Mr. Trump’s statements as UN-American in an article published by Vocativ just a short time back. Please explain to me why it is UN-American to try and protect American’s from Radical Islamic Terrorist.

I found it interesting that Mr. Khan said Hillary’s campaign asked whether he needed speech writing help or any coaching. It seems they were really concerned that he would said the words that advanced their cause not Mr. Khan’s. 

I served in Vietnam and as a veteran I found it offensive that Mr. Khan took a swipe at the fact that Donald Trump has never served in the military. I might add Mr. Khan nor his other son have ever served in the American military and I do not think that makes them less of an American than their son that did. Mr. Khan needs to realize we have an all-volunteer military and if Mr. Trump was not drafted during the Vietnam conflict then he simply is like thousands upon thousands of other American boys. If I am not mistaken Hillary Clinton has not served in the U.S. military nor has her husband Bill Clinton.

Mr. Khan met his wife at Punjab University in Lahore, Pakistan. They moved to Dubai, where their two eldest sons were born, then arrived in Houston, renting a $200-a-month apartment. Eventually they settled outside Washington, where Mr. Khan worked at a mortgage company and at law firms. I suppose the $200 a month rent remark he gave to reporters for an apartment in Houston, Texas in 1980 was supposed to denote a difficult time. I am from Houston, Texas and in the 1980’s,  $200 a month would have gotten you a very decent apartment. Better than most lower middle class people in Houston lived in. Two hundred U.S. dollars in 1980 is equal to $579.57 in 2016.  A brand new town-homes on Lake Houston with swimming pools, tennis courts, putting range, parking, near parks, airport, malls and The Woodlands which is and exclusive neighborhood is advertised  today - 4 Bedrooms, 2 baths, $1,090 per month with a $200.00 deposit.  What is difficult for one family is luxury for another.

I think we should also note that their son was killed by a MUSLIM does he not want Americans to try and protect their family from the same danger occurring within the borders of the United States.

Khan said that Hillary Clinton, "called my son the best of America." I would think Donald Trump and most if not all Americans would call him the same. Once again the Democrats got the emotional speech they wanted in an attempt to play upon the emotions of American voters and win votes. They did the same when they used the mother’s that had sons killed by the police. There sons were not the best of America, but the Democrats got the boost they were looking for by using these mothers for their purpose.

"Look for the words 'liberty' and 'equal protection of law,'" Mr. Khan said while standing next to his wife, waving the paperback document of the Constitution vigorously and questioning if Donald Trump had ever read the Constitution. The Constitution is for the protection of United States Citizens, not for aliens that have not even entered the United States. That is the very reason Muslim Islamic Terrorist were held in Guantanamo Bay in order to prevent them from having Constitutional rights.

By the time Mr. Khan speech was over I began to wonder if  ethnicity was more important to him than being a United States citizen or in the least were their some conflict in his mind between ethnicity and United States citizenship.

"Like many immigrants, we came to this country empty-handed," he said, believing that with hard work he could raise his three sons "in a nation where they were free to be themselves and follow their dreams." He and his wife both had impressive University degrees so they were not like most immigrants. He should speak with the illegal aliens crossing the southern borders of the United States and then he would understand what EMPTY-HANDED really means. It also appears the United States has been very good to him and his family.

"Vote for the healer," Mr. Khan said, "not the divider." Obama and Hillary are healers of racist tension. Unfortunately Mr. Khan was not in the United States during the 60’s and cannot see how under Obama and Hillary our country is reverting back to the same racial tension we experience then. He has no comparison to use as to what a healer really is. Obama and Hillary both support the Black Life Matters Organization and that organization is not looking to heal racial tension in the United States.

The lack of action that Obama and Hillary Clinton took in Benghazi to protect our people is enough for me not to vote for her. Her failure to use a secured server is another reason I question her ability to be President. The Democrat Party emails released prior to the convention is enough to tell me that corruption is top to bottom in the Democrat Party. They will lie, cover-up, cheat do anything they can for one vote. What will Donald Trump do I really do not know, but I doubt if it will be more of the same failed policies. If he fails then I hope he fails trying something new.

I am not trying to take anything away from Mr. Khan ‘s grief and sacrifice, but his speech contained a lot of emotions and things stated as facts that are not exactly true. I still stand by what I said earlier he was used by the Democrat Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Stop trying to be what you think people want you to be - be who you are!

Many people have crossed my path that were good intelligent people, but for them it just did not seem to be enough. They were perfectly fine as they were, but they felt a need to exaggerate their skills, education, wealth and family background to make themselves sound even more important than they already were. Now remember there was nothing wrong with these people and there was no need to exaggerate.

 You will never be happy in life trying to impress other people. It just doesn’t work, it has never worked and it will never work. You might be able to impress a few people. If you are lucky you may impress a lot of people for a short while. But you will never impress everyone. No one can be all things to all people. No one can satisfy all people. I have found that if you have exaggerated something in your life eventually if people are around you long enough they will catch on to you and it may be the end of a great friendship, business relationship or social relationship.

I know a minster of music who had an outstanding voice, was great with people, never met a stranger and no one ever had a bad first impression of him. He could remain positive in any circumstance. In your worse circumstances he could make you feel better. He simply could not love himself for who he was and would try to make his life story fit what he thought you needed to hear to be impressed.

He casually mentioned in a conversation at church that he had been a realtor and had a license. He told this to some people in the church that owned a real-estate company. Soon after the conversation they got a contract to sell condominium’s in a high rise project on the beach. They needed all the help they could get. They remembered the casual conversation and contacted him. They offered him a full-time position, but were willing to let him work part-time, whatever hours he wanted. At first he declined the offer, but they kept insisting. What was he to do? How was he going to get out of the problem he created?

I went to him and told him he had better take care of the problem immediately. I even told him he could tell them I would not allow him to work part-time. I thought that was what he did until one day the husband and wife realtors came to me and said we have  problem. Immediately I said WE have a problem. They then told me my minister of music had sold quite a few units and a realtor in competition with them had found out that he did not and never did have a realtors license. He was threatening a class action lawsuit. I told him I did not have a problem, the church did not have a problem and the people of my parish did not have a problem, but they and the man they hired part-time had a problem.

In the end they had to contact everyone he had sold a contract to and give them the option to rescind the contract. No one backed out. They praised the man for the good service he gave them. He escape prosecution and you would think he would have learned his lesson. In the end our parish did suffer because the realtors left the parish and we lost $1000 a week in donations.

After I came to the Philippines my lawyer contacted me and said the F.B.I. was looking for the man and wanted to know if I knew where he was. He had posed as a lawyer and had taken some $35,000 from illegal aliens to get them a green card. They finally found him in a small town in Mississippi where he was posing as a licensed psychologist and ordained minister. He now resides in a Federal prison. If the man would have simply been himself he would have done better than fine in life. He had looks, personality, charisma and people skills.

I think even those among us with a healthy self-esteem take notice if one person says something negative about us. I would have several hundred people tell me on Sunday my homily spoke to them, but let just one person say they got absolutely nothing out of what I said and later in the week I could tell you every word the negative person said and not one word of what those that praised me said. We generally go from the negative comment to going over and over in our minds why does this person, I barely know, not like me or could I have done better.

People have a desire to be liked by other people. It’s built into our human condition to want to look and feel important to others. I always laugh to myself when I hear someone say; “I don’t care what anyone thinks about me.” If you think little of yourself, regardless of how great you really are, you will tend to exaggerate (low self-esteem) and everyone cares what others think of them. Some just care more than others.

I do want to clarify the statement I made above - I do not think small children care what others think and I think that when we get in the final years of life we tend not to care as much what others think of us.

Spending your life trying to impress everyone will eventually send you into a state of despair and unhappiness. It’s impossible to impress everyone. We can simplify our lives right now and improve our happiness today by striving only to impress God. If you concern yourself solely with what God thinks then the perceptions of others will take care of itself.

When you come to realize or accept that what others think of your or how they feel about you is something you really have no control over, your life will become a lot simpler, a lot happier and a lot more fulfilling. “…bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt 5:44).

People use words to reach certain goals even when they do not really mean what they say and even if they weren't aware of their unconscious goals. Not everyone is aware that they are exaggerating. They get so wrapped up in trying to be all things, to all people, the words just flow off their lips.

Each person has different psychological goals and unmet needs that he or she tries to reach and fulfill through every possible method available to them. Because those goals and needs differ from person to person ‘why’ one person does something might be different than ‘why’ another person does the same thing. That is why I hesitate to put labels on peoples actions. But, over the course of my business relationships and ministry I have found: (1) When we are not happy with something in our past - for example - if we were bullied in school we may now may want to appear to be braver than we really are,  so we exaggerate our braveness; (2)  If a person believes that others look down on them, which is a common sign of low self-esteem, then they might exaggerate to prove to others that they are much better than others think and (3) Many people would rather be believed even if they know that their arguments are invalid rather than change their opinion or admit they were wrong. I am sure there are many more reasons, but these are the most common ones I have come across as to why people exaggerate.

Why do most politicians (if not all) lie - because they are Narcissists. “Because they can” as the cliche goes. Seriously, narcissists do lie and they lie constantly. They lie about their education, they lie about their achievements, and they lie about extramarital affairs or what they had for dinner. If someone else is boasting about their 2015 Mercedes, a narcissist will claim he or she has a 2016 Mercedes just to make themselves appear more superior. They commonly lie to seek attention. Politicians are not the only ones that are Narcissist.

Narcissists use lying and deception as handy tools to get whatever they want. A narcissist will look you right in the eyes, without blinking, and lie right to your face. Narcissists become so skilled at lying that many of them believe that they are telling the truth. Others use constant lying as a way of controlling the people around them. Bill Clinton said, “I did not have sex with that woman.” Did he lie? He lied by most people’s standards, but by Bill Clinton's standards what they did may not have been sex. Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are perfect examples of unhealthy narcissistic people.

I guess people exaggerate or they are narcissistic because some people need excessive attention and get it by behaving inappropriately. It could be due to lowered self-esteem, a lack of self-confidence, low levels of self-worth or self-love, trying to compete with others especially other family members or feeling insecure. Regardless of the reason it is not healthy and you cannot keep up the charade forever.

I am beginning to think the problem cannot be fixed, but it can be managed. The best way I know to help the person to learn to manage the problem is not to respond to them. Do not give them the attention they are seeking. As long as they continue to get attention they are not going to try to manage the problem.

There is something called  healthy narcissism and it is essential for emotional well-being. We need narcissism to feel confident in ourselves, and to give adequate consideration to others. The healthy narcissist does not focus exclusively on themselves, demanding that the world reflect back their false manufactured sense of self and an image of idealized perfection.

In closing if you do not know it by now even ministers sometimes tend to exaggerate points in their sermons or homilies to make them more significant to you and hope you will remember them better and apply them to your daily lives. Parents also sometimes exaggerate dangers in order for their children to be more careful. Sometimes exaggeration is healthy in order to make a point. Exaggerations are not all bad, but lets not over do it!   

Stop making Christianity look like the religion of fools!

 I feel much more comfortable now that I know GOD told Televangelist Frank Amedia, who leads Touch Heaven Ministries in Ohio, that Donald Trump would be the GOP presidential nominee and he believes God "raised up" the real estate mogul to help pave the way for the Second Coming. I would be more comfortable with his prophetic message if he would have made it public before Trump clinched the GOP presidential nomination.

Amedia also revealed during the interview that he has healed cancer with the power of prayer and stopped a tsunami by appealing to Jesus. If you want to learn more of what GOD  has told this man just watch the evangelical Daystar network. I wish God would have advised Amedia in advance about 9/11, ISIS, Bengasi and the burning of 19 girls in Syria that refused to have sex with ISIS soldiers.

I am not mocking Christianity, but I think men like Amedia do more harm for Christianity than good. People around the world are mocking Christianity because some Christian preachers like Amedia make these ridiculous claims for personal fame and money. I do not really know what Donald Trump thinks of Amedia’s prophecy, but I would be willing to bet he has had a few laughs over it with his family.

I thought Donald Trump would win the primaries not because God wanted Grump to issue in the Second Coming, but because Americans are sick and tired of Republican and Democrat politicians. Just like Filipino's are sick and tired of their government leaders and elected a man like Trump. I think Trump has a chance to win the Presidential election if he stops letting his mouth engage before his brain engages.  I still believe in free will and it is up to voters to make the right choice not God. 

I feel like a foreigner in my own country

I am reading “We the People” by Juan Williams.  I agree with his facts, but disagree with some of his conclusions.  That is only natural since he is liberal and I am conservative. I really do not know if I can define myself as a conservative any longer, since I believe it is time for a change in the Republican Party. I still believe in conservative ideas, but I also believe in moving forward and adapting to cultural changes, technological changes and scientific changes as new knowledge comes available. It appears to me that today’s right ring conservative Republican Party wants to go back to the days of the Founding Fathers. They have their heads buried in the sand.  I wonder if they realize that would include slavery, no rights for women, no social safety nets, etc.

A 2015 poll conducted by Reuters found that 62% of Republicans, 53% of Independents and 37% of Democrats feel like a stranger in their own country. I have not been back to the United States since 2005 and I do not think I would recognize the United States of today.  It is a strange feeling for I feel as if I no longer have a country. I am a foreigner in the Philippines and I think I would feel like a foreigner in the United States. The Right Wing of my party has gone too far. They are no longer open to new ideas, they think like most fundamentalist religious folks - their way is the only way, the party has become the party of bigot’s, hypocrites and judgmental Pharisees.  I support Donald Trump, but I do not like a lot of his rhetoric. I support him because I think he is the only one that can bring change to the Republican Party. Good or bad I am willing to gamble because what we have done for decades is not working.

I have no trust in any part of the government. Politicians (Republican and Democrat) think the solution to every problem is to throw more tax dollars into failed programs. You would think that by now they could see that the school system continues to fail regardless of the money invested in public schools. The welfare programs not only have failed, but poverty continues to increase. Obamacare may have helped some people, but hurt more people than it helped – especially the middle class.

This campaign cycle has proven to us we the people do not control the primary outcome the party bosses do. Hillary will become the nominee regardless of what the people want and ONLY Donald Trump saved us Republicans from Cruz or Bush. The Obama’s Iran deal definitely proved elected politicians will lie to the people in order to get what they want regardless of how dangerous it is to future generations. I guess what upsets me the most they all think they know better what is good for us than we know. They treat us like children.

There is a new America that the Republican Party had better begin to recognize or they will find it more difficult to win national elections in the future. It consist of young people, white women and Asian, black and Latino voters.  That new America is interested in universal healthcare, contraception, school reform, immigration reform, lower taxes and yes climate control. It might surprise most conservative Republicans that there are people among those in the new America that hold a more conservative viewpoint than the Democrat Party and liberals in general, but not as conservative as right wing conservatives. The Republican Party bosses have allowed the right wing of our party to make it known to those people they are not welcome in our Party.

The millennial generation of Americans, those born after 1980 is made up of 40% people of color. They have little to no problem with gays, gay marriage, interracial dating and marriage.  They grew up with women in leadership roles. The Democrats are catering to these voters while the Republicans act as if they do not exist or that they will die off due to some horrendous disease that God will send upon them as punishment.

The vote this week where dozens of House Republicans switched their votes and defeated a measure to protect gay rights is once again a perfect example that the conservative right wing of the Republican Party does not understand the millennials and are out of touch with the majority of American and 2016 culture. President Barack Obama immediately issued an executive order that bars discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors his actions sends a message to moderate conservatives that bigotry is alive and well in the Republican Party.

Our Founding Fathers were great men, but they were mortal and they made mistakes/sinned in both their public and private lives.  I have grown tired of hearing the right wing of our party act as if our Founding Fathers were infallible.

The Founding Fathers did not eliminate slavery. They did not give blacks and women equal rights -  not even the right to vote – racial and gender equality was something they did not understand. Most of them owned slaves. They did not provide any type of safety net for the poor, orphans or widows. Our Founding Fathers forbid people from forming labor unions. Our Founding Fathers did not include God, Jesus and other deities in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution or the Bill of Rights – that was not an oversight. They struggle with religion in politics as we do today. In fact Franklin, Jefferson, Madison Washington and Adams did not even believe in Jesus as the Son of God. The Founding Fathers favored morality over dogma. Ethan Allen a Founding Father said, “I am no Christian.” John Adams signed a treaty that stated, “The United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” Thomas Paine said, “… all churches accuse other churches of unbelief.” Thomas Jefferson wanted to make sure their was a wall of division between government and religion. He did not want any religion dictating public policy.

Thomas Jefferson said, “… no society can make a perpetual constitution or even a perpetual law … the dead should not be a weight on future generations, but that is exactly what the right wing of the Republican Party do with their strict interpretations of the Constitution and trying to apply what the Founding Fathers thought then with their limited knowledge and apply it to to us in 2016. We need to always remember what the Founding Fathers wanted then would not necessarily be what they would want in 2016.

Even if we lose in November we have won a VICTORY!

The people of the Republican Party have shown the elitist in the party that if we the people pull together we can beat them. I pray there days of ignoring what the people of the party want is over. Trump outsmarted Washington!  I now hope the party returns to its roots.  I also hope that Trump is more PROGRESSIVE than conservative (a moderate). I would love to try a PROGRESSIVE conservative in the White House for a while. I do not want  a PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL Democrat or phony Republican elitist that does not know what he or she is in the White House. GO TRUMP! Win or lose in November I thank you for knocking my party leaders on their rear ends!!!!!!!! It is time politician once again realize the people are in charge of our future not them.  

Rubio is the real winner in Iowa.

I am not happy that Senator Cruz pulled ahead in the Iowa Caucus, but there is one bright side to it. A Trump win would have made it more difficult for a mainstream candidate, like Marco Rubio, to mount a comeback later in the season. I would not be surprised to see the Republican establishment get behind Cruz, even though they do not prefer him to be the next President. I think they would prefer Cruz over Trump. They may now take another look at Rubio.

 Momentum is generally overrated in primary politics, but a back-to-back win in Iowa and New Hampshire would have given Trump a chance to run the table through Super Tuesday, on March 1, especially with the establishment backed candidates so divided. It would have certainly told the establishment Trump is not just going to disappear. The party’s establishment is not well positioned to stop Trump if he fares well in the early states primaries.

If the Republican field doesn’t narrow quickly following New Hampshire there will be a real chance that Trump will build a wide delegate lead over a split field on Super Tuesday. I think the establishment is the winner coming out of Iowa because it has bought them more time. If the field of mainstream candidates narrows following New Hampshire someone acceptable to “extreme conservative” and moderate Republican voters, like a Rubio, might weaken Cruz and Trump.

Trump must begin to be cautious with his mouth and come up with sound policies because some of the extreme right wing conservatives that have been supporting Trump because they thought Cruz could not beat Trump could now go back to Cruz following Iowa. People like Trump’s slogan “Making America Great Again!” but, now that we are getting into the primaries we want to know HOW he is going to do that.

Believe it or not there are some of us Republicans that think the extreme right wing of the party is what has caused the Republican downfall. There are moderates in the Republican Party that want and will support a more moderate candidate. We blame the right wing conservatives for the racial divide within the party, for the perception that Republicans do not care for poor, orphans and widows, we blame them for not standing strong against Obama’s socialistic programs, for allowing the Democrats to make the 1 percenters look like demons and for being critical of Obamacare, but not producing a better model. Those are the reasons Trump is attractive to moderate Republicans. 

Just a note: The most segregated places in the United States is the church's. Right wing Republican Christians should pay particular attention to that fact because it does affect how people view the Republican Party and the evangelical vote.

Trump still has large vulnerabilities. I think the establishment would prefer a more moderate mainstream candidate, like Rubio. Rubio needs to show he can be a viable alternative in the primaries. A mainstream candidate would also be able to count on considerable support from many of the party’s better educated voters, especially in the West. Trump hasn’t yet faced a serious paid media campaign and it remains unclear whether he can maintain such a large share of the vote in the face of sustained attacks on his past statements. If Jeb Bush drops out and his supporters money starts to flow to Rubio it could be a game changer.

Things have been going well for Trump over the last few weeks. The mainstream candidates remain deadlocked in New Hampshire. The party hasn’t rallied against him, and there are even signs it might be more open to him than many have assumed. If he could only have come in first in Iowa it would have put him in a very strong position heading into a primary season against a divided Republican field.

On the other hand the lost in Iowa to Cruz and Rubio coming in a strong third may rattle Trump’s cage and make him realize he cannot win by slandering everyone that questions or opposes him.  Trump’s main problem is his ego and Iowa may be what he needed to knock some air out of his ego.

Trump needs to stop his tweet madness, stop his Ted Cruz birther crap and show us some substance. We may not like him personally, but some of us still believe he can get the United States back on track. Over the years some of my best employees were people I did not personally like, but they could do the job I needed done and I supported them. People should not vote for personalities they should vote for who they think will be best for the country as a whole. I do not plan on having Trump over for dinner or paling around with him. I am not looking for a friend I am looking for someone with strong executive abilities. I am also not looking for a personal counselor or pastor either. 

Wounded Warrior Project - SCAM OR NOT?

News reported this week by CBS News and the New York Times claims the Wounded Warrior Project is spending large amounts of money on advertising, lavish parties, and executive salaries, but it is not spending much money to help veterans.

The scandal was supposedly uncovered by an investigation conducted by Charity Navigator, the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. Charity Navigator gathers its information from the Federal Tax Reports filed by the charities. According to Charity Navigator, the Wounded Warrior Project spends less than 60 percent of its total expenses on the programs and services it delivers to veterans.  I think it is important to note that Charity Navigator does not INVESTIGATE any charity organization. It only makes reports from the tax forms that the charity organizations submit to the Federal Government.

Thomas Mangan of the Rochester Independent Examiner claims Donald Trump skipped the last Republican Debate on Fox to attend a Wounded Warrior fund raising project. That is not true so it makes me question if the reports on the Wounded Warrior project are all true. Wounded Warrior did not receive any funds from the Trump veteran fund raisers. He claimed it was a “Wounded Warrior Fund Raising Project” that is not true. It was a Donald Trump veteran’s fund raiser. He claims Trump knew about the scandal and went ahead and supported the Wounded Warrior fund raiser, again untrue. Trump refused to share the money with Wounded Warrior because of the scandal. Trump stated before and after the fund raiser he would not be donating any funds to Wounded Warrior until the scandal was cleared up.

Army Staff Sgt. Erick Millette worked with the Wounded Warrior Project for two years before he quit because of his disillusionment with the way the Wounded Warrior Project spends the money that people donated to the charity. Millette told CBS News, “Their mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors, but what the public doesn’t see is how they spend their money.” Millette said that the Wounded Warrior Project is little more than a scam to bring in money to spend on extravagant and luxurious parties, as well as other non-veteran-related expenses such as the salaries for the charities employees” – (organizations need employees and employees need to be paid) . Millette told CBS, “Donors don’t want you to have a $2,500 bar tab. Donors don’t want you to fly every staff member once a year to some five-star resort and whoop it up and call it team building.” If what Millette says is true he is correct donors, including me, do not want donated funds wasted. But, Millette would not be the first disgruntled employee that exaggerated truths or lied about a previous employee.

Wounded Warrior was criticized for spending money to sue other charity organizations for using their name in fund raisers and advertising. I cannot fault them for that. If I was on the board of any charity organization I would want to protect the name of the charity I was involved with. I would not want the public donating money to another charity thinking they were donating to the organization I represented. Dishonest charities often play off the names of well-known organizations in order to confuse donors.

Kids Wish Network, Children's Wish Foundation International and Wishing Well Foundation all of the names sound like the original, Make-A-Wish Foundation, which does not hire professional telemarketers. Make-a-Wish officials say they spend many, many hour’s yearly fielding complaints from people who were solicited by sound-alike charities.

If Wounded Warrior has gone bad since 2009 they unfortunately would not be the first. CBS and Times claim Wounded Warrior only spent 60% of the funds collected on direct aid. Take a look at other charities that most of us at some time or another have contributed to and there are many more worse than these:

Kids Wish Network – collected $137.9 - spent on direct aid $115.9 million - 2.5%

Cancer Fund of America - $86.8 million - $75.4 million - 1.0%

Children's Wish Foundation International - $92.7 million - $61.2 million - 10.6%

Firefighters Charitable Foundation - $62.8 million - $53.8 million - 7.4%

Intl. Union of Police Association, AFL-CIO - $66.6 million - $50.4 million - 0.5%

Breast Cancer Relief Foundation - $63.9 million - $44.8 million - 2.2%

American Association of State Troopers - $48.1 million - $38.6 million - 8.9%

National Veterans Service Fund - $70.2 million - $36.9 million - 7.8%

Children's Cancer Fund of America - $43.7 million - $34.4 million - 4.6%

Committee for Missing Children - $26.6 million - $23.5 million - 0.8%

Association for Firefighters and Paramedics - $24.0 million - $21.4 million - 3.1%  

United States Deputy Sheriffs' Association - $25.6 million - $17.9 million - 0.8%   

National Cancer Coalition - $42.1 million - $16.4 million - 1.3%

American Foundation For Disabled Children - $15.8 million - $13.4 million - 0.6%

Heart Support of America -$31.4 million - $12.9 million - 3.1%

Police Protective Fund - $37.7 million - $12.2 million - 0.7%

 Veterans Assistance Foundation - $12.4 million - $11.1 million - 10.4%

Children's Charity Fund - $14.0 million - $10.3 million - 2.4%

The Veterans Fund - $12.6 million - $10.2 million - 2.5%

Wishing Well Foundation USA - $12.6 million - $10.1 million - 4.3%

Children's Leukemia Research Association - $9.8 million - $6.8 million - 11.1%

The 50 worst charities in America devote less than 4 percent of donations raised to direct cash aid. Some charities give even less. Over a decade, one diabetes charity raised nearly $14 million and gave about $10,000 to patients. Six spent nothing at all on direct cash aid. Several watchdog organizations say charities should spend no more than 35 percent of the money they raise on fundraising expenses, but that amount does not include salaries paid to employees. If they are correct I guess we have to decide is 5% for WWP salaries acceptable.

It does not make sense to me that a charity with major corporate sponsors such as U-Haul, Bank of America, Raytheon, NFL, Heinz and many others would allow the WWP to use their name and fund their events if they were in fact a scam. It is even more puzzling to me that Bill O’Reilly of FOX would not know if WWP was a fraud. Bill O’Reilly is a big supporter of WWP and generally appears to be very careful to protect his personal name.

The Better Business Bureau rates WWP as meeting their standards and has only had 3 complaints in the past 36 months and all three complaints have been answered by WWP in a manner that satisfied The Better Business Bureau. WWP meets all 20 BBB standards for charity accountability.

Brian Kolfage - A Wounded Warrior - an Air Force veteran and a triple amputee who was wounded in Iraq said he found it appalling to read the horrible things that the Wounded Warrior Project is being accused of and that he did not believe the accusations.

Another thing that concerns me is that a vast majority of the accusation against WWP comes from people who refuse to speak on the record and claim they are afraid of the power that Wounded Warrior Project has. This sounds a bit melodramatic to me.

One disgruntle veteran who would not give his name said, “Everything they do is a dog-and-pony show, and I haven’t talked to one (NOT ONE has been help by WWP) of my fellow veterans that were injured… actually getting any help from the Wounded Warrior Project. I’m not just talking about financial assistance; I'm talking about help, period”.  

The disgruntle veteran claimed all he got from WWP was a backpack maybe he did not know The Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2002 by John Melia and his friends and family. Melia himself was severely wounded while serving in Somalia in 1992. Until March of 2005, WWP operated as a part of the United Spinal Association and is referred to as "United Spinal Associations Wounded Warrior Project."

Its first project was delivering backpacks containing personal supplies to the bedside of wounded warriors. The backpacks include "essential care and comfort items such as clothing, toiletries, calling card and playing cards, etc. all designed to make their hospital stay more comfortable." Melia remembered when he first arrived at the hospital after his injuries he arrived with none of these types of items. WWP started with just six friends packing backpacks to provide items to wounded services warriors at Walter Reed Medical Center and continues the practice to stay in touch with their roots. I would also think that most of the veterans in the hospital appreciated the backpacks and I also think these backpacks and items cost WWP money.

 I know some would object to WWP’s 2014 IRS report which stated $473,015 or   0.19% (less than 1%) of donations was paid to Steven Nardizzi Executive Director. I do not. I have worked in non-profit organizations and I know the importance of having someone at the top that is an expert in fund raising and managing non-profit organizations.  There is a fundamental misunderstanding in the public arena about what it really costs to run an effective nonprofit.

Charity Navigator one of the most respected watchdogs of non-profit organizations gave them the most 4 stars for “Accountability and Transparency”.  I stated earlier that 35% spent on fund raisings was acceptable and WWP spent 34% in 2014 on fundraising.  Charity Navigator gave it three out of four stars overall.

A 2013 independent investigation by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting reported that the charity spent 58 percent of donations directly on veterans’ programs. That year, the figure WWP self-reported was 73 percent. Tampa Bay Times admitted they did not count literature handed out to veterans as direct aid and WWP did. I would consider literature that advises veterans of various aid programs that is available to them, how to write a resume, information on medicines and therapy is charity.

A lot of the veterans that complained are now affiliated with other veteran charity organizations. How much of their criticism is merely jealousy of WWP success and merely fear that WWP was eating up their donor dollars. Believe me when I say there is tremendous jealousy and competition among charity organizations – I know after 46 years in the industry.

At this time I do not believe The Wounded Warrior Project is a scam, nor an ill-meaning charity. Even its fiercest detractors admit that WWP has the right motives, even if they believe WWP can be a lot more effective. We can all do better!  I admit WWP Wounded Warrior Project has room for improvement.

I will not stop supporting WWP at this time. I will wait until it is proven to me that it is not a worthwhile organization. If and when it is proven I will chalk it up to another attempt at doing good gone bad – GREED!