For 15 years I have been a professional. For 13+ of those 15 I have worked for a regional Midwestern company. I have had the opportunity to hire many employees. When a new employee is hired, one of several items of paperwork that we do is to fill out an I-9 form. An I-9 form is officially an 'Employment Eligibility Form' which is distributed by the Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service. (I believe the official form number is OMB No. 1115-0136, but don't quote me.) This form requires one or several combinations of identification to establish an employee's legal right to work in the United States. There are many acceptable forms of identification which I will not list here, but believe me when I say that it would be nearly impossible for anyone who is legal to not be able to produce an item on the list.
So where am I going with all of this?
This country is suffering from porous borders and a steady influx of aliens that we cannot identify, track, and, were it up to many in our society, incarcerate (unless of course we give them all of the legal rights that are afforded a REAL US citizen). Excuse me for being blunt, but that is bullshit.
While I realize that this world has become global in many ways, especially economically, I think that Americans had better be vigilant in guarding the sovereignty of the United States of America. We don't not need to seek a permission slip from the UN or any foreign entity to do what is in our best interest. What we do need is for the American public to wake up and realize that we need to establish what our best interests are. They are not necessarily global, and they had better never become something that is suggested by or in the interest of the United Nations. Again, those of you in the center, pay attention. Those on the Left have already decided that we should abandon our sovereignty. Unfortunately, most in Washington DC have decided that the voting base that illegal aliens could provide far outweighs anything that could be perceived as a national interest.
So, what do we do?
I am not against immigration or guest workers , etc., etc. I am against the free flow of pretty much anyone into this country. And, I believe that we must require US citizenship of anyone who wishes to come here for good. (I defer to Bill O'Reilly on the first point and Newt Gingrich on the second. Watch Bill's show and read Newt's most recent book, they spell it out as well as I can.) But how can we stop this?
First, we must get serious about closing and guarding the border. That is a simple fact. Politicians argue it, but they do not have the average citizen's best interest in mind. Regardless of party affiliation, they are worried about votes. Americans must clamor for this and it must become reality. If Mexican President Fox had his way, Mexico would basically become the 51st state and we would bail that country out of its financial and societal woes. I hate to say it, but we may have to fight an armed conflict to stop it if Americans don't wake up.
So, once we close the borders, then what. Well, we can use the old I-9 form to hold employers accountable for employing aliens. This won't stop "guest workers", the kind that George Bush insists are ok if they do the jobs that no other Americans will do (although, I am all for giving those jobs to welfare recipients). If we maintain control over student visas and the like and actually keep track of the coming, goings, and goings-on while in the United States of any non-citizens, then we have a chance to keep America safe.
So back to employers. If they employ an illegal, the employer will be fined $10,000 per worker, per incident. No negotiating. The illegal would not be incarcerated, but given a choice of getting into a proper program and receiving proper documentation or getting sent back to from where ever they came. Temporary workers could remain temporary. Someone who really wants to stay could get put on the path to legal citizenship. The only requirement for the illegal would be to check in periodically to a representative of INS to be sure they are doing as they have selected. It may sound like a visit to a parole officer, but that is too bad. Remember, they are illegal. They got caught as an illegal. We are being compassionate and giving them a choice as to what their legal status will be. That is not too much to ask.
So, now all of those in the food service industry and construction are freaking out. Again, too bad. We are assuming that we can close the borders and not have this dilemma. But the enforcement might just have to start prior to the slow down of the influx of these illegal aliens. BE PROACTIVE. You can fill out the I-9 and set up a potential employee who is not legal. My guess is that we could even find a tax credit for businesses that get on board. But remember, the penalty for having illegals in your business will be $10,000 each, period. It is designed to cripple your business if you are non-compliant. I am not for that crippling effect, unless you as a business owner are not with the program. Then, you too are breaking the law and there needs to be consequences to that. If we (pay attention DC) are serious about this problem, there are many ways that we can force change. We can require documentation and we can keep tabs on those documented "visitors". That will in no way prevent them from being here and the "system" as it is now would really not have to change. We just need to have everyone comply with laws that are already in place and we need enforcement of those laws. It can be done, and I am proof-positive of that.
Like pretty much any other issue in America, we need less (how about zero) political grandstanding and a serious debate, plan, and implementation of said plan. Believe it or not, like it or not, this is an issue that is serious and could be catastrophic if not addressed. We can use the "guest workers" in the best way possible. We can make strides towards eliminating those amongst us who might do us harm. We could accept immigrants the way the United States always has and eventually welcome them as proud naturalized citizens if they choose to become citizens. But we must be proactive. That must start somewhere. That somewhere is on our borders and in our places of business. We do not need wrong-headed politicians or misguided World organizations telling us what to do. We need to address the situation ourselves and be serious about doing so. No short-cuts or exceptions should be made. The future will likely depend on it.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Saturday, February 19, 2005
A fair tax system
Much is being made in politics and the media about the fiscal future of the Untied States of America. Depending on your political party or ideological leanings, you have even been "prepped" on what to believe. But what about those who are truly independent, middle of the road, or just (sadly) plain uniformed? I have news for you, the word "crisis" is for real, whether it is politically correct and expedient to mention so or not.
Without going into boring economic and accounting figures that no one really understands (and which are generally always slanted for a particular argument), I will say that if you do a little searching on the internet, you can find volumes of good analyses about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the like. If you read what you believe to be non-political studies and research and are intellectually honest with yourself, you will come to a very simple conclusion: There is no way that the American taxpayer can or should be asked to pay the bills that our government has created in the last half century or so.
It is a basic fact that the entitlement programs that are in place will eventually cripple the economy of the United States. Again, do a bit of research and be intellectually honest about it. Each side postures and demagogues these issues relentlessly in an attempt to "secure votes" and win over other interest groups, etc. And if you go through a 2.5 TRILLION dollar lean budget, my guess is that every American can find a few items to cut.
We have a major problem here...regardless of political party, the government spends too much. They spend money that they do not have...OUR MONEY!
We can again debate the merits of all of these programs, what should be cut (more likely have increases reduced) and how wrong and evil one party or the other is "to the children". That has been regurgitated past nausea for me, however. BUT, I have come up with a fair solution for everyone. It won't cripple any particular group of taxpayers, won't unfairly award others, and could provide for the entitlements and give-aways that politicians so love, fairly...remember, we are being intellectually honest.
We need to reform the tax system and it needs to be a serious reform. I am not sure of what we would go to, but I feel a flat-tax income tax is the best and it serves my proposal better. Everyone pay, say 15% income tax. We can set up a reasonable poverty level and exempt certain people to be sure. However, we would likely need to guard against fraud in that area, but it is possible. So, we have a flat tax system which would be policed by a lean Internal Revenue Service to catch people who are somehow cheating the system in reporting actual income. That standard could be set similar to how it is done now, where high paid CEO's etc. can't claim artificially low income but have to be in the realm of a "market average". Plus, contractual deferments could be factored in by the IRS (much like the NFL salary cap) so the "the rich" couldn't defer enormous amounts of money to get out of paying taxes (does Teresa Heinz come to mind?). I realize that you may think this is far-fetched, but there are much greater minds who devote themselves to tax reform out there and they have it figured out...trust me.
So what "new" do I have to say? After developing a fair flat income-tax...make extra taxation voluntary.
WHAT?!
We have developed into an entitlement nation. No one looks out for themselves but expects someone to do it for them. Perhaps that someone is the union or another group. But, it is generally the good ol' US Government which is really "We the Taxpayer". So, make extra tax paying voluntary. You make $475k a year and pay your roughly $71k in taxes, but you are truly worried about the baby boomers...drop an extra $25k into voluntary tax and specify the Social Security fund for your extra donation. I would think that the Hollywood types could really get behind this. We could take care of everyone and they could be seen in all of their star-studded glory giving extra and could then use their bully pulpit to tell everyone how great they are. (Research the estimated $50 million that Michael Moore made from FarenHype 9/11. How about a few bucks for the poor people of Michigan, Mike?) But would they really give? A US Senator or Representative could solicit those special handouts he needs for his constituents by convincing a colleague and that colleague's constituency that they should give extra to fund this much needed program to help his people. Not to bash the Terminator, but didn't he just go make this case in Washington DC a week ago? Arnold wants a proportionate amount of what is paid by Californians to go back to California. Well, shy of not paying the tax to the feds to begin with, perhaps a better way of getting this money would be to tap the better-than-well-off's on the Left coast to give that extra to help their own. I know what you're thinking. First, this smacks of "charity" and not a fair tax system. Second, it almost could lead to a return of State's rights (God forbid!) when it comes to governance in this country. What is a true, patriotic believer in limited government to do?
Now, what about the "poor people" and the underprivileged areas? What about them? The true socialists, excuse me, progressives in this country can rally for any cause that they want...remember, it is voluntary. Think tsunami relief concert, all day, every day. What could be better than that!
This is about being fair, promoting the will to be successful (read: make more money), and the eventual consequences that an expanding tax base could provide. It is also about the tax and spenders in this country taking their hands out of the wallets of those they represent and finding real, affordable solutions. And lastly, it is about ending the socialistic process of redistribution of wealth in this country and making those who put up (with our money) shut up and do something real to fix a problem. It is really that simple. Perhaps everyone should write to their elected representatives on all levels and suggest that they think about this, and be intellectually honest as they do so.
Without going into boring economic and accounting figures that no one really understands (and which are generally always slanted for a particular argument), I will say that if you do a little searching on the internet, you can find volumes of good analyses about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the like. If you read what you believe to be non-political studies and research and are intellectually honest with yourself, you will come to a very simple conclusion: There is no way that the American taxpayer can or should be asked to pay the bills that our government has created in the last half century or so.
It is a basic fact that the entitlement programs that are in place will eventually cripple the economy of the United States. Again, do a bit of research and be intellectually honest about it. Each side postures and demagogues these issues relentlessly in an attempt to "secure votes" and win over other interest groups, etc. And if you go through a 2.5 TRILLION dollar lean budget, my guess is that every American can find a few items to cut.
We have a major problem here...regardless of political party, the government spends too much. They spend money that they do not have...OUR MONEY!
We can again debate the merits of all of these programs, what should be cut (more likely have increases reduced) and how wrong and evil one party or the other is "to the children". That has been regurgitated past nausea for me, however. BUT, I have come up with a fair solution for everyone. It won't cripple any particular group of taxpayers, won't unfairly award others, and could provide for the entitlements and give-aways that politicians so love, fairly...remember, we are being intellectually honest.
We need to reform the tax system and it needs to be a serious reform. I am not sure of what we would go to, but I feel a flat-tax income tax is the best and it serves my proposal better. Everyone pay, say 15% income tax. We can set up a reasonable poverty level and exempt certain people to be sure. However, we would likely need to guard against fraud in that area, but it is possible. So, we have a flat tax system which would be policed by a lean Internal Revenue Service to catch people who are somehow cheating the system in reporting actual income. That standard could be set similar to how it is done now, where high paid CEO's etc. can't claim artificially low income but have to be in the realm of a "market average". Plus, contractual deferments could be factored in by the IRS (much like the NFL salary cap) so the "the rich" couldn't defer enormous amounts of money to get out of paying taxes (does Teresa Heinz come to mind?). I realize that you may think this is far-fetched, but there are much greater minds who devote themselves to tax reform out there and they have it figured out...trust me.
So what "new" do I have to say? After developing a fair flat income-tax...make extra taxation voluntary.
WHAT?!
We have developed into an entitlement nation. No one looks out for themselves but expects someone to do it for them. Perhaps that someone is the union or another group. But, it is generally the good ol' US Government which is really "We the Taxpayer". So, make extra tax paying voluntary. You make $475k a year and pay your roughly $71k in taxes, but you are truly worried about the baby boomers...drop an extra $25k into voluntary tax and specify the Social Security fund for your extra donation. I would think that the Hollywood types could really get behind this. We could take care of everyone and they could be seen in all of their star-studded glory giving extra and could then use their bully pulpit to tell everyone how great they are. (Research the estimated $50 million that Michael Moore made from FarenHype 9/11. How about a few bucks for the poor people of Michigan, Mike?) But would they really give? A US Senator or Representative could solicit those special handouts he needs for his constituents by convincing a colleague and that colleague's constituency that they should give extra to fund this much needed program to help his people. Not to bash the Terminator, but didn't he just go make this case in Washington DC a week ago? Arnold wants a proportionate amount of what is paid by Californians to go back to California. Well, shy of not paying the tax to the feds to begin with, perhaps a better way of getting this money would be to tap the better-than-well-off's on the Left coast to give that extra to help their own. I know what you're thinking. First, this smacks of "charity" and not a fair tax system. Second, it almost could lead to a return of State's rights (God forbid!) when it comes to governance in this country. What is a true, patriotic believer in limited government to do?
Now, what about the "poor people" and the underprivileged areas? What about them? The true socialists, excuse me, progressives in this country can rally for any cause that they want...remember, it is voluntary. Think tsunami relief concert, all day, every day. What could be better than that!
This is about being fair, promoting the will to be successful (read: make more money), and the eventual consequences that an expanding tax base could provide. It is also about the tax and spenders in this country taking their hands out of the wallets of those they represent and finding real, affordable solutions. And lastly, it is about ending the socialistic process of redistribution of wealth in this country and making those who put up (with our money) shut up and do something real to fix a problem. It is really that simple. Perhaps everyone should write to their elected representatives on all levels and suggest that they think about this, and be intellectually honest as they do so.
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