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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Decaying of America “Part II - Spirituality/Religion”

I wrote about our infrastructure and now I would like to discuss Spirituality/Religion. I think Millennial's are less religious today than earlier generations. This is my opinion because studies only go back a couple of years. It may be that it is a temporary phase in their life’s because they are not settled yet, they have not experienced serious illness or deaths and that is usually the time people call on religion to comfort them.

I have read studies where two million young people were surveyed and it revealed twice as many high school seniors and 3 times as many college students described their religion as “none”. In the eight grade and tenth grade 40% surveyed said they had no religious affiliation.  It appears to me that young people have a weak interest in religion or God.  What shocked me is 75% of students in the twelfth grade said they had never attended a religious service and had no interest in doing so. This has a definite effect on our society. I have heard it argued that young people have replaced spirituality for religion if that is the case why did 20% of college students say they were not spiritual.  They also said they are not motivated to meditate or pray. I feel confident in saying young people in America are moving away from religion not towards religion.

Millennial's are less religious than young people have been in six decades.  It amused me that parents stated they are fighting a losing battle to get their kids to church and when ask if they attend church they replied, “No we are too busy or it is the only day of the week we have off”.  In other words, they do not lead by example.

I think a major problem in society today is we focus more on self and less on social rules.  Premarital sex is at an all-time high.  Today’s attitude is if it is good for me the hell with you.  Americans are more focused on individual freedoms than they are social rules.   A more individualistic culture will always be less religious because it means belonging to a group, which means you will adhere to their teaching and practices. Religion also requires respect for authority and Americans today are less likely to respect authority.  America everyday gets to look more and more like Northern Europe where marriage is optional and religious participation is low.  In 2013 41% of babies were born to unmarried mothers.  If you do not think this effects society, think again – homes without a father figure, homes with one parent trying to provide financially in this day and time has little time for children, many have to depend on government aid which is a drain on government and generally education is not stressed as much.  I am not talking about all single parents some do as well as when there are two parents in the home and sometimes the home is better off without the father. But, those that are single carrying the load of two parents need to be seen as heroes. The consequences of discarding a sacred moral code to govern the actions of individuals are far graver than most people realize.

A year before the U.S. Constitution was ratified Edward Gibbon published the final volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He listed five things and one that made the list was Religion.  He believed the lack of religion led to an insatiable craving for pleasure and the breakup of families. He wrote the root cause of Roman societal collapse was their loss of individual morality. You see he believed the laws of morality were as unchanging as the laws of mathematics and physics.  George Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” I think if America falls it will be due to our failure in the area of morality. 

Gibbon and Washington believed the safeguards of society were not the military or productive merchants or prosperous consumers but, high morals and sincere religion. Yet most politicians and educators today reject that belief.  They say that what people do in the privacy of their own homes has no connection to national security or national well-being. For the most part Democrats, Liberals and a lot of Republicans (Rhinos we call them) have rejected the idea that national stability depends on the laws or morality

At one time people knew what character meant. It meant things like honoring your parents, not murdering, not stealing, not lying, not coveting and not committing adultery.  But, in the 60’s a Supreme Court Justice said it was impossible to define character.  That was a radical departure form the past. In short it meant keeping the Ten Commandments, the laws of the Bible were not important..

John Adams wrote in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, “The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion.” During the 18^th Century the United States and Britain held its citizens, families and leaders to a high moral standard.  I realize they had flaws and vices.  Many believed only if they were God fearing would they survive.  Today our educators and politicians want us to believe the founders were not religious men. 

The family structure use to produce good fathers, mothers, teachers, ministers, judges, engineers, orators and statesmen.  Policy makers then understood the connection between family breakdown and societal problems like alcoholism, drug addiction, welfare addiction, juvenile delinquency and violent crimes.  Today a large percentage of our policy makers are adulterous, alcoholics, liars, cheats and thieves. 

At the turn of the 20^th century, educators in the United States and British Commonwealth began to reject the idea laws of morality were not unchangeable.  People began to think what was right in the past may not be right now or in the future.  They believe morality is always changing to suit the times.  What is right for me, may not be right for you, but it is right for me. They embraced Sigmund Feud.

Today only about 3% wait for marriage to have sex, before 1912 it was 80%. Only 20% of Christians wait until marriage to have sex.  The majority of the younger generation do not even see fornication as being wrong. They rationalize a difference between love and sex.  Sex is just pleasure and love is commitment. 

In 1890 there was one divorce for every 18 marriages and today the number is one divorce for every 2 ½ marriages.  You do not think premarital sex and acceptance of pornography has not contributed to the failures of marriage?  Do you not think the lack of morality has not contributed to premarital sex and pornography? 

Children who grow up without a father figure are four times likelier to be poor, nine times likelier to drop out of school, 11 times likelier to commit violent crimes and twenty more times likelier to be arrested.  NOW I KNOW THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS.  There is a direct link between the fracturing of families and major societal problems which have a definite effect on the nation.  According to projections by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, rising entitlement spending and paying the interest on the national debt will consume 99% of all tax revenue in the next decade.  That means only one thing can happen the national debt will sky rocket.

Niall Ferguson a Financial Historian said when the debt exceeds the cost of protecting your borders is when countries usually fail. I guess we do not have to worry about that one because the Liberals and Democrats will not allow us protect our border.

In closing, there are no moral truths because there is no longer a religious basis for morality. The Bible was more than the enlightenment to the original settlers, the Bible was one reason America’s Christians were different from most European Christians.  Regardless of what anyone may say the Bible did have an influence on our Founding Fathers. Today Americans are taught to rely on their feelings to determine right behavior.  It makes me cringe when a child needs correcting and instead of telling the child what is right and wrong the parents say, “Sweetie how do you feel about that.”

If you acknowledge that American society is in decay, it is your obligation to fight to undo the harm that has been done.  If you cannot acknowledge that American morality is in decay then you are the proof that it is. 

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.

Paul Ryan's Health Care Bill is a joke not worth laughing at.

President Trump’s Health Care Bill – NOT – It is Paul Ryan’s Health Care Bill!

This is a failure for Speaker Paul Ryan on many levels. Paul Ryan wrote this bill!  As Speaker of the House he is supposed to create legislation that can pass. On this most basic task, Ryan failed, and failed miserably.  He rushed it through because his calendar was more important to him than health care.

I am not convinced that Paul Ryan did not deliberately sabotage the health care bill in order to hurt President Trump.  Never kid yourself Paul Ryan is President in waiting.  President Trump’s successes reflect badly on Paul Ryan because he did everything he could do to guarantee Trump lost the election.

Conservative Republicans will not vote for the bill because it has more bad policy than any bill that has come before the House or Senate before, even ObamaCare. This bill is a political disaster.  That is why I find it hard not to believe that Paul Ryan planned it to be a disaster.

Republicans were glad to see it die.

Ryan spent the latter half of Barack Obama’s presidency promising to repair the Republican Party’s relationship with the poor (remember Ryan’s “poverty tour”?).  He’s spent every day since the passage of Obamacare saying the Republicans could do better. This is what he came up with? The GOP put their greatest policy mind in charge of the House of Representatives and they got ... this?  I did not vote for Mitt Romney because I did not like him anymore than I liked Paul Ryan.  I have always thought Paul Ryan was a snake willing to destroy anyone or anything in order to advance Paul Ryan.  I have heard people commenting about his “beautiful blue eyes”  well I see his eyes differently – “shifty blue eyes”.

The Republican’s made the same mistake that the Democrats made.  They tried to rush a health care bill through and did not give enough time to debate the issues.  Mrs. Pelosi the Democrat genius in speaking about Obamacare said, “We had to pass it in order to know what was in it”.  If that is not totally asinine I do not know what is. 

I get the impression that President Trump is now disgusted with the health care issue and is ready to drop it and move on – a bad mistake!  If he does that he does not have the bal-s I thought he had when he was campaigning.

It is remarkable that after spending seven years establishing repeal and replace as their top priority, Republicans are abandoning the project less than 70 days after taking power. Doing difficult things in the American political system takes patience. 

If what I was told by a member of the House is true Obama threaten the House and Senate in order to get Obamacare passed.  I did  not know anything about this until he told me.  There was a bill that in 2014 would have forced the House, Senate and Federal employees to take the same health care policy the citizens had.  Obama was prepared to allow the legislation go into effect if they did not pass ObamaCare.  Obama in order to get the legislation passed had them declare Washington politicians and Federal workers as SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYEES.  Small Business exemptions are for employers with 50 or less employees.  The last time I counted there were far more than 50 elected and salaried personnel working for the Federal Government in Washington D.C. 

I believe President Trump could use the threat of rescinding Obama’s ruling if they do not pass a workable health care bill.  He will not in my opinion because he would never get another piece of legislation passed while he is in office.   The elected officials would blackmail the President as they do the American citizens when they do not get what they want.  

The Republican line on the bill’s failure is it’s the Democrats’ fault. President Trump said, “We could have done this, but we couldn’t get one Democrat vote, not one,”. Of course, neither Trump nor Ryan nor anyone else ever tried to get Democrats support. They didn’t meet with Democrats, and from the beginning, they used the reconciliation process precisely because it meant they wouldn’t have to deal with Democrats. Trump is going to have a very difficult time if he does not try to get some Democrats behind him because he will never have the support from the majority of the Republicans in office that did everything to try and keep him from being elected.

I am a staunch REPUBLICAN.  I find nothing redeeming about the Democrat party.  I am even amazed that I feel the way I do about the Republicans and especially Paul Ryan about this health care legislation.

I do agree with President Trump when he says in time ObamaCare will explode.  It is impossible to fulfill all the promises in the bill.  We have already experience difficulty with the bill – higher insurance cost, less doctors involved, less insurance companies involved and higher deductibles.  Regardless of what happens with ObamaCare now President Trump and the Republicans will be blamed for not fixing it as they promised.

I think the first thing that needs to be done is to move health care away from an employer/employee relationship.  Citizens deserve the right to be able to afford and have healthcare regardless of who they work for.  It amazes me that in a Third World Country like the Philippines for $100 a year a citizens can have Phil Health which covers hospital and doctors.  The relationship is between the government and the citizens.  Why is that not possible in the United States?  I am not naïve I do not think it can be done for $100 a year.

Higher cost employer paid health care should be TAXED.  If you are receiving more than others I see that as a salary benefit and it should be taxed. 

I do not believe people that are able to work and choose not to should be covered by government health care.  I am sorry, I am for welfare when deserved, but not welfare give away.

Health care should not come under free market legislation.  Health care is not something you can choose to have or not have like an expensive car, house, boat, clothing, etc.  Everyone needs health care.  The government should regulate health care cost, insurance premiums and pharmaceuticals. 

The exact same medications I purchase monthly in the Philippines from the very same companies would cost me three to four times more in the United States.  I remember when I first came to the Philippines I went to get a heart medication refilled and when told the price it frighten me.  I ask is this the original or a knockoff and was told it was the exact same medication I received in the United States.  I was asked, “Why do you question the medication” and when I said what it cost in the United States the Pharmacist at Mercury Drug said, “Well if it will make you feel better we can charge you the same price as you pay in the United States.”  I was so unsure that I sent the box and bottle to my Cardiologist in the United States to have him inform me it was the EXACT same medication.  I then learned the Pharmaceutical companies have about four pricing tiers and depending on what country you live in determines what you pay.

Paul Ryan would like to eliminate:

Doctor visits - (I would to for those that abuse them, but how would you monitor that – doctors are not going to say a patient did not need to come to the doctor regardless if they did or not. The doctor wants to be paid).

Emergency room visits - (I feel the same about this as I do doctor visits.  If a person goes to an emergency room for something that could be treated by a physician in an office they should be turned away. I know for a fact the poor abuse this at University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.  I have witness it over and over)

Hospital visits - (If a licensed physician says a patient should be in the hospital the government should not be allowed to second guess that.  If they investigate and find the physician abused the system make him or her pay out of pocket or put them in prison for money paid out fraudulently).

Prescription drugs - (There should be a reasonable co-pay based on income)

Pediatric care - (I believe too much medicine is specialized.  Whatever happen to General Practitioners?  Does a child really need a specialist for flu or cold)?

Lab services - (If licensed physicians request it then it should be paid).

Preventive care - (Within reason).

Maternity care - (Depends on circumstances.  I find it difficult to pay for three or four babies from different fathers.  But, I also have a problem not protecting the baby).  As a staunch Catholic I still believe in mandatory tying their tubes).

Mental health care - (It is an illness as real as any physical illness and should be covered).

Rehabilitation services - (If prescribed by licensed physician it should be paid within reason).

These things should be debated not mandated by Paul Ryan.  I am sure many could find reasonable reasons to disagree with me and their concerns should be considered.

33 Congressional Republicans were publicly against Paul Ryan’s bill.  Health care has been an issue of singular importance for the American people for fifty years.  Societies across the world have had the same problems and societies across the world have instituted some variety of public health care, and have not collapsed financially or morally.  There is a solution, but Obamacare and Paul Ryan Care is not the solution. Paul Ryan’s solution is a compromise that nobody seems to want and that nobody can get excited about. 

THE TRUTH IN MY OPINION IS NO ONE REALLY WANTS HEALTH CARE TO WORK EXCEPT PRESIDENT TRUMP!

The Department of Justice under President Obama was and is a joke!

The Justice Department under President Obama and Eric Holder was and is a joke!

Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama made sure that none of their friends in the banking industry went to jail for the crimes they committed. A large number of Covington & Burling’s Law Firm corporate clients are mega-banks like JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America. Lanny Breuer who ran the criminal division for Holder’s Justice Department and Eric Holder were lawyers for Covington & Burling prior to taking positions under Obama in the Justice Department.  Their specialty was protecting corporations, especially banking, investment and savings corporation from prosecution – looking for loopholes in the law that would allow them to escape prosecution if caught.

Covington & Burling was given the American Lawyer “Litigation Department of the Year,” award in March 2014 for getting clients accused of financial fraud off with  only a slap-on-the-wrist fines. if you want to understand what Eric Holder did for the perpetrators and firms of the largest financial fraud in history that blew up the nation’s economy in 2008, you only have to read one line from his former employer praising Eric Holder: “He helped them, get the best deal they could possibly get.”

As for homeowners, they received a raw deal, in the form of little or no compensation for some of the greatest consumer abuses in American history. As far back as 2004, the FBI warned of an “epidemic” of mortgage fraud, which they said would have “as much impact as the Savings & Loan crisis.” They were wrong; it was worse.

By the time the bubble collapsed, the recession hit and Holder took over the Justice Department, Wall Street was a target-rich environment for any federal prosecutor. Physical evidence to an untold number of crimes was available in court filings and county recording offices. The proof was there. Chief Executives could have been easily held criminally responsible for misrepresenting their risk management controls to bank regulators.

In 2009, Congress passed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, giving $165 million to the Justice Department to staff the investigations necessary to bring those accountable for the financial crisis to justice. Keep in mind this was a Democrat House and Senate that gave Eric Holder the funds to prosecute these C.E.O.’s. Yet, not one major executive has been sent to jail for their role in the crisis.

The department has put real housewives in jail for mortgage fraud, but not real bankers. The D.O).J. saved their firepower for people who manage to defraud banks, not for banks who manage to defraud people. Most of the “investigations” of financial institutions over six years was swiftly moved to cash settlements, often without holding anyone responsible for admitting wrong doing or providing a detailed description of what they did wrong.

The National Mortgage Settlement, for example, was touted by Holder’s Justice Department as a $25 billion deal. In reality, banks were able to pay one-quarter of that penalty with other people’s money, lowering principal balances on loans they didn’t even own. Banks were even allowed to satisfy their obligations under the settlements through routine business practices (including some, like making loans to low-income homeowners that make them money.

A series of securities fraud settlements with JP Morgan, Bank of America and Citigroup, which the Department of Justice and Eric Holder approved and claimed cost the banks $36.65 billion, actually cost them about $11.5 billion and shareholders, no executives bore that cost. Wall Street Journal has found out that only 25% of the fines were actually collected from the corporations involved in the banking crisis.

The Department of Justice Inspector General criticized this in a March 2014 report and revealed that that the Department of Justice de-prioritized mortgage fraud, making it the “lowest-ranked criminal threat” from 2009-2011.

The banking sector’s get-out-of-jail free card gave them confidence that they could commit the same crimes again, with little if any legal implications and if you think the problem is not continuing you are naive.

The decision to protect banks instead of homeowners should be laid at the feet of President Obama and his administration. Guess where Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer work today – the law firm of Covington and Burling the law firm that represented the big banks during the crisis.

 Eric Holder was U.S. Attorney General when the world desperately needed the nation’s chief law enforcement officer to hold accountable the elite bankers who oversaw the epidemic of fraud that drove the 2008 global financial crisis and triggered the Great Recession. But, nearly six years in office, Holder announced on Sept. 25, 2014 that he plan to step down, without bringing to justice even one of the executives responsible for the crisis. His tenure represents the worst  failure against elite white-collar crime in the history of the Department of Justice. Eric Holder was careful not to step down until the statue of limitation ran out on prosecuting banking executives.

In both the U.S. savings and loan debacle of the late 1980's and the Enron-era accounting frauds of the early 2000's, there were more than 1,000 successful felony convictions in white-collar crime cases. In those cases Federal Prosecutors prioritized the top executives of the corporations responsible and sought convictions.

In addition to the failure to prosecute the leaders of those massive frauds, Holder’s dismal record includes 1) failing to prosecute the elite bankers who led the largest price-rigging cartel in history — the LIBOR scandal, in which the world’s largest banks conspired to rig the interest rates at which banks were willing to lend to one another, which affected prices on over $300 trillion in transactions; 2) failing to prosecute the massive foreclosure frauds (robo-signing), in which bank employees perjured themselves by signing more than 100,000 false affidavits in order to deceive the authorities that they had a right to foreclose on homes; 3) failing to prosecute the bid-rigging cartels of bond issuance in order to raise the costs to U.S. cities, counties and states of borrowing money in order to increase banks’ illegal profits; 4) failing to prosecute money laundering by HSBC for the murderous Sinaloa and Norte del Valle drug cartels; 5)  failing to prosecute the senior bank officers of Standard Chartered who helped fund terrorists and nations that support terrorism; and 6) failing to prosecute the controlling officers of Credit Suisse who for decades helped wealthy Americans unlawfully evade U.S. taxes and then obstructed investigations by the DOJ and Internal Revenue Service for many years.

How quick minority voters either forget or never knew that Eric Holder blamed them for the banking crisis.  Eric Holder stated on more than one occasion that mortgage fraud was largely an ethnic crime that was committed almost exclusively by primarily ethnic borrowers rather than the officers controlling the lenders.

Eric Holder in June 2016 still maintain the Department of Justice did not have the evidence to criminally prosecute banks – how much more evidence did he need? Eric Holder, for a combination of political and self-serving reasons, held his department back.

Career prosecutors in 2012 wanted to criminally charge the global bank HSBC for facilitating money laundering for Mexican drug lords and terrorist groups. But Holder said no. Aggressive attorneys wanted to prosecute HSBC, but Holder overruled them. From 2006 to 2010, HSBC failed to monitor billions of dollars of U.S. dollar purchases with drug trafficking proceeds in Mexico. It also conducted business going back to the mid-1990's on behalf of customers in Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and Burma, while they were under sanctions. Such transactions were banned by U.S. law. So many people within the Treasury Department were pressuring Eric Holder to charge HSBC than he finally on November 7, presented HSBC with a “take it or leave it” offer of a deferred prosecution agreement, which would involve a cash settlement and future monitoring of HSBC and no criminal charges and no admission of guilt. HSBC negotiated until December getting employee bonus’ guaranteed, a guarantee no employee would ever be criminally prosecuted and the fine reduced and that no one at the bank would ever be tried for aiding terrorist – Eric Holder agreed.

Will President Obama share these facts while on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton or will he continue to blame George Bush and the Republican Party for all that is wrong with the United States Government?

September 16, 2016 - Deutsche Bank stated  today they have no intention of settling with the U.S. Justice Department over their part in the mortgage/banking scandal for $14 billion dollars. They will not accept any offer higher than Eric Holder gave U.S. Banks. 

Appointing Supreme Court Justices has become critical to political parties!

I will be surprised if the conspiracy stories do not begin soon over Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. There were some very important cases about to be ruled on, cases that have tremendous political ramifications.

Among these is Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, a landmark case regarding the mandatory collection of union dues and their use for political purposes. The ruling could have meant the death of collective bargaining and the political might of America’s unions.

The Democrat Party has depended on the union votes for decades to keep them in power. Since Reagan the union’s power has slowly eroded and if employees were not forced to pay union dues their political power would have most likely ended. Without political power to threaten politicians with their block votes and large campaign donations politicians would no longer have a reason to rule in favor of union bosses even when the politicians know their decisions are not in the best interest of the country as a whole.  

After oral arguments in the case in January, The Washington Post indicated the court’s conservative majority, including Scalia, were leaning to rule against the union’s ability to collect mandatory dues. But, with Scalia’s passing and the news that the Republican led Senate will likely not confirm an Obama nominee means such cases could end up with a 4 to 4 decisions. Lacking a majority, the lower court’s rulings would stand in favor of the unions.

Had the Supreme Court ruled that union dues could not be used for political purposes, it would have dealt a major blow to one of the Democrat Party’s most powerful assets.

Another key case is U.S. vs. Texas, in which opponents challenged the legality of the president’s executive orders dealing with illegal immigrants. Signs are now strong that it will be decided at the lower court level and the Supreme Court will not deal with it.

Supreme Court justices take a vote on a case immediately after oral argument, cases that have already been argued, even if no opinion has been written yet, the Chief Justice has an obligation to include Justice Scalia's vote in those cases. In other cases where no vote has yet been taken, we may get tied votes which means the lower court decisions will stand. That means that a number of controversial issues will have to be brought back to the court in new cases when there are nine justices.

Not all legal experts agree with the view Chief Justice Roberts could issue a decision using Scalia’s vote.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, blasted comments by Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader that the Senate would try to block President Obama from nominating a new justice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.

Ms. Warren said, “Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. In fact, they did when President Obama won the 2012 election by five million votes.”

That is not what Ms. Warren and other Democrats were saying in 2008 and 2004 when they were afraid that George Bush would appoint a new Supreme Court Justice prior to elections. The Democrats in 2008 and 2004 like the Republicans in 2016 threaten to block a new nominee for the Supreme Court.

In the 1840’s and 1860 the Supreme Court went two years without nine Justices. That is certainly not an ideal situation, but the Supreme Court operated during those periods and would do the same today regardless of what Harry Reid says about the Court cannot go one year without nine Justices.

There was a time when the Supreme Court exercised its role as final decider on important public issues, modestly, on a non-partisan, non-ideological basis and only when necessary to protect the Constitution from clear excesses committed by the political branches. In my opinion those days are long gone there is no denying the Supreme Court has become just another arena for playing out the same partisan and ideological warfare that dominates the other branches. This is why political parties and politicians fight so hard to have their president make these appointments.

The current size of the court, nine justices, is not established in the Constitution. It has varied over U.S. history from five to ten.  The changes in the size of the court were almost always done for partisan/political/ideological reasons. Constitutionally, the number of justices could be changed again. F.D.R. is the last president to try to change the number on the court, but he failed to do so.

Republicans and Democrats have been obstructionist, mean-spirited and unfair when it comes to appointing Supreme Court Justices. Be careful of what you believe coming from the mouth of politicians from either political parties during this time of replacing Justice Scalia and be careful of the conspiracy stories that will likely begin over Scalia’s death – no autopsy, no heart failure, death due to natural causes, enjoying a hunting trip and vacation the day before he died will only feed them.  

The new education bill ESSA may prove to be another disaster!

 I have written blogs before and made the statement I no longer know what the Republican Party stand for. It seems to me we now have a one party system in the United States – The D and R Party. I put the “D” first because when the Democrats stand up the Republicans bow.

We just saw another example of the one party system last Wednesday; the Senate followed the House in passing the conference report reauthorizing No Child Left Behind. The new bill, called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), claims it will return education control to the states. It is supposed to allow the states to do away with the Common Core national standards, and prohibit the Secretary of Education from dictating standards and assessments.

Don’t be fooled the legislation passed by Washington lawmakers does not give states more control over their schools because the bill does not give states adequate authority and there are no enforcement provisions protecting states against overreach by the federal authorities. We must also remember that it is Washington politicians that control the purse strings.

The president of the 3 million National Education Association members (teachers union) praised what lawmakers have done on Capitol Hill regarding ESSA. Have we not been told repeatedly by Republican politician’s that the teachers union is the cause of school failures. The Public School Teachers Unions like ESSA because it was designed to hurt charter, online and private schools. The only good part of ESSA, if there is a good part is that it continues to exempt homeschool families from any kind of federal mandates.

The Republican politicians could have taken the lead and written an education bill that would accomplish what the Republican Party leaders claim they stand for and conservative voter want. But, instead they fell in line with Obama and the Democrats on a bill that will seriously affect adversely millions of conservative Americans until the year 2020. It was a repeat performance of the passing of Obamacare.

The ESSA text is 1061-pages long and was only released on Monday. We now have a piece of legislation like Obamacare that was passed without many reading it.  Republicans and some Democrats when all the flaws in the bill start to appear will claim they were not given adequate time to study the bill before they had to vote on it just as they did with Obamacare. The new Republican House Speaker, promised transparency, an open process and a more responsive House, so much for that promise.

Opposition was growing among Republican member to ESSA so Ryan jammed the vote through faster than anticipated. Then they pretend they do not know why the Republican base is so frustrated with them that they would support outsiders like Donald Trump.

Speaker Ryan and his fellow Republican Representatives and Republican Senators once again raised the white flag of surrender to Obama and the Democrats. They gave liberal groups and teachers unions a huge victory. Republican leadership surrendered control of our children’s education for years to come to liberals without any kind of repercussions.

Were we not told by Republican politicians the Department of Education should be abolished because it is inefficient and we should return control of our schools to local districts and parents? Did they once again lie to us or did they just not have the guts to fight Obama, Democrats and liberals or are they really Democrats in disguise.

It appears that our elected officials in Washington both Democrat and Republican still do not understand that when they pass a bill, it gets implemented, and when it gets implemented, people feel it. There will be consequences to this bill that will affect millions of Americans for years to come. Our elected politicians have an obligation/responsibility to study every line of any new legislation before voting for it. They passed No Child Left Behind over a decade ago and today few want their name associated with the bill. Every Republican who supported this bill should be looked at closely in upcoming elections.

ESSA according to Jane Robbins, a senior fellow at the American Principles Project, allows the Federal government to continue to lay out particular requirements for state standards and uses code language throughout that gives the federal government the tools to pressure the states to stick with Common Core rather than risking their federal money by adopting something better. It maintains the federally dictated testing regimen and requires states to implement assessments that are expensive, that have been proven in the past to be ineffective and unworkable, and that operate not by assessing students' academic knowledge, but rather by measuring their attitudes and dispositions.

ESSA's new preschool program and President Obama's pet project, "21st-century
community learning centers" are all bad ideas. Obama has pushed the “21^st-century community learning center” idea for some time. It basically allows public schools to be expanded to replace family and church as the center of every child's life, "services" including mental-health programs. Parents should be alarmed that the government will assess the mental health of their children and worse the government will have the right to fix any problem the government claims to have found. I ask all fellow conservative Republicans if this is this is what you send Republican politicians to Washington to do?

ESSA is so progressive it was supported by every single Democrat in Congress. It was supported by Barack Obama. It was supported by the owners of the Common Core national standards testing group. Of course it was they make a fortune off their testing. It was supported by every pro-Common Core and pro-progressive education interest group in the country. It was strongly opposed by over 200 conservative anti-Common Core grassroots organizations.

Rand Paul voted against ESSA. Ted Cruz voted against cloture, but missed the final vote where it counts. He claims he opposed ESSA, but if he truly opposed the bill he should have been present for the vote and cast a vote against it. He certainly has attack Jeb Bush for supporting Common Core and ESSA is Common Core with a face lift. Marco Rubio claims he opposes ESSA, but he not only missed the cloture vote he missed the final vote. Lindsey Graham again demonstrated his love for the establishment and voted in favor of passage. I guess in some weird way I admire Lindsay Graham for having the guts not to dodge the vote. Jeb Bush, ‘Mr. Common Core’, in an interview on Fox News could not praise ESSA and Common Core enough. I never supported Jeb Bush, but after watching his spill on Fox I would not trust him with my dog, much less my child.

I guess Donald Trump will have to speak out and educate the voters and the Republican Party on ESSA as he has on immigration, terrorist and refugees.

ESSA is nothing more than a new name for a previously failed program known as Common Core.

What do you think of politicians who use religion to try and win elections?

Donald Trump knew exactly what he was doing when he said, “I’m Presbyterian, boy, that’s down the middle of the road, folks, in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don’t know about. I just don’t know about.” He was attempting to alienate evangelical Christian voters in Iowa, who like Dr. Ben Carson. In painting a religion as unknown, Trump seems to me to be suggesting there must be something wrong with Carson’s faith. Trump or his advisors knew that Evangelical Christian’s are a bit suspicious of the Mormon and Seven-day Adventist faith.

The church of Carson’s choice has already touched and will continue to touch the lives of millions of faithful followers around the world, even if Trump is ignorant of the denomination. They own and operate hospitals and clinics. In fact The Adventist lifestyle, which encourages abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and meat, is credited with extending lifespan. Studies have proven that those that follow the Adventist lifestyle live on average seven years longer.

In addition to providing excellent medical care the Adventists maintain a large education system, from kindergarten through postgraduate. They train approximately 1.8 million students around the world at any given time.  The low-cost, high-quality Adventist education is often a way up to escape poverty, especially in Third World countries.

Adventism is a Protestant Christian faith granted somewhat different from Trump’s Presbyterian religion. They worship on Saturday instead of Sunday as all Christians did until the Catholic Church selected Sunday as the Sabbath. They use the same Bible as all other Protestant denominations. They strongly believe that religious liberty belongs to all people, everywhere. They do not believe any writings should take preference over the Bible.

Donald Trump’s comment demonstrated his ignorance, but I am sure there are millions of Adventist that would like to inform him about their faith.  Donald Trump is not the first nor will he be the last who will try to use religion to win elections or destroy opponents. Politicians in Singapore created racial and religious riots in the 1960s. The religious issue is used often in Malaysia in an attempt to win elections. I am Republican, but I have to be honest it seems to me that the Republicans play the God card more than the Democrats. Most politicians would use almost anything, God included, to win elections and to maintain power.

Instead of using God and religion to divide us, I would like to see politicians use religion to unite us.  Christianity according to Jesus is to be used to unite and not divide. I am tired of politicians who have probably never studied the Bible using O.T. scriptures to try and influence voters. My party the Republican Party has been cherry-picking from the Old Testament for years to bash gays and justify capital punishment. If I am not mistaken Christianity began with the words, actions and life of Jesus, not Leviticus and Exodus. The use of Old Testament Biblical scripture to justify a "moral agenda" for America is clearly wrong.

A general lack of Biblical and Christian understanding on the part of Americans has allowed the GOP to present itself as "God's Official Party." The reality is that any reading and interpretation of the New Testament will show that Jesus was not conservative, nor Republican.

Our Founders were correct when they proclaimed that the separation of church and state is paramount for our government. The invoking of God and Jesus Christ by our elected representatives is shameful, but not as shameful as Americans who believe that Jesus-God would take sides in a political debate.