SEQUESTRATION CONFUSION

Some key Democratic politicians have just come out to say they don’t like the sequestration. Where have these people been? Did they just now realize the impact of sequestration and mandatory furloughs for staff? I know the impact. I am a federal employee. All of these impacts are bad, but the one they key in on is Air Traffic Control. Air Traffic Control is important, commerce requires we keep planes flying. But is that the main issue they are complaining about? Someone they know must be missing a flight. What about meat and food inspectors, teachers, law enforcement and the military. If you’re going to complain about your President’s plan, complain about the whole thing.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tweeted “If Republicans will work with us, we can act now to save Americans from millions of hours spent waiting in airport lines due to sequester”. So let me get this right, Obama suggested this plan in an effort to strong arm Republicans into his way of thinking, but now that the Republicans did not cave and sequestration is in place, it is their fault for not caving. Did that sum things up or am I confused?

Now, I don’t think the Republican side is completely blameless. There is a line in the sand that neither side will cross. I honestly think that both sides need to flex and work together. But I do believe that President Obama and his Democratic cronies strong arm tactics drew that line and they need to be the first ones to flex.

Most people also do not realize that furloughs are not the only way government agencies can meet their required budget cuts. Unfortunately the department heads are not given the flexibility to do so. Staff furloughs are mandatory for most agencies. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) tweeted “FAA has flexibility to cut costs w/o delaying air travelers; why won’t President Obama let them?” I for one would like an answer to that question.

Senate Got Things Right

Senate got things right for once. They voted down more background checks for gun purchases and also voted down the assault weapon ban. I applaud the Senate members that voted down these bills and voted for our rights as Americans. President Obama was not happy and stated that the senate caved in to pressure by gun lobbyist. In my opinion they caved in to the will of the majority of the American people. That’s what we elected them to do. Vice President Joe Biden stated that “this is not over”. My comments to him are “Give Up and don’t be a sore loser”. Attached is a full article.

http://news.yahoo.com/senate-rejects-expanded-background-checks-gun-sales-211024951.html

 

Appalled By The Prez

I am completely appalled and embarrassed by our current President and administration. President Obama is snubbing one of our greatest allies in the world, Great Britain. He or none of his cabinet will be in attendance at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. Instead he is sending two aging retired Secretaries of State; James Baker and George Shultz. Granted these men were active with Anglo American relations while Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, but that is a far cry from our current administration sending a high ranking cabinet member. I am equally upset that no former presidents will be attending.

Margaret Thatcher was one of our biggest supporters during the cold war. The “Iron Lady” shared a great relationship with Ronald Reagan. Her government allowed the U.S. to place cruise missiles in Europe and supported our military bases in the U.K. During her time as Prime Minister, relationships between our two great nations were at their best.

TRICARE Another Broken Promise

Okay, back on my soapbox about dwindling veteran’s benefits. Once again TRICARE is at the forefront of this piece. “Do a full career and retire from the military, you’ll get free medical for yourself and your family for the rest of your life”. That was the promise made to millions of people as they join the military. I drank the cool aid and did a full career. It was a very rewarding career and one that I am proud of. I did what was asked of me and held up to my end of the bargain. All I ask for is that the government I defended stands up to their end.

I read an article today specifying that the Obama administration is proposing a salary cap for the military and higher fees for retirees using TRICARE. One, our military members are already grossly underpaid and two, give retirees what they earned. Granted TRICARE is great insurance and the cost is low compared to other plans. But, there is a difference between low cost and no cost. The article goes on to state that premium increases in the future will mirror retiree cost of living rises.

I would like to point out a few things our current elected representatives need to remember. One: remember what you trained the veterans of this country to do. Two: remember what you have asked them to do, and they did it without question. Three: think about what you may ask them to do in the future. Four: our economy is in the toilet, jobs are hard to find, recruitment into the military is easy, wait until the economy is better and see how many young people flock to the military. Especially when they see how present vets are being treated.

Here is a link to the article I referenced: http://www.military.com/benefits/2013/04/11/mil-update-obama-seeks-to-cap-pay-and-up-tricare-fees.html?ESRC=eb.nl

Immigration Reform

There is a lot of debate over immigration reform. I also see that a lot of people are misinformed on the various statuses of people living in the United States. Some people feel that if you make an illegal immigrant legal, you are giving them citizenship. That is not the case. You are making them a legal immigrant and giving them an immigration visa or green card (actually pink in color, guess they were green at one time).

There are basically three statuses of people living in the U.S., illegal immigrants, legal immigrants and citizens. There are also two types of citizens, natural born and naturalized. Natural born are people born in the United States or children of American citizens born overseas. Naturalized are those legal immigrants, that after a number of year living in this country, take a test and fulfill the requirements to become citizens. Citizens have rights that legal immigrants do not. The most important right being the right to vote.

Illegal immigrants are just that, illegal. They do not have a green card, social security number or pay taxes. Legal immigrants have a green card, social security number and pay taxes. Then there are the rest of us, good old taxpaying American citizens.

Do I feel there should be immigration reform? Yes I do. Now, before everyone gets up in arms and starts to think I agree with allowing illegal’s to stay, hear me out. The reform we need is to start enforcing our current laws. We need to secure our borders and deport people in this country illegally. I am all for allowing people to come into this country seeking a better life. Just do it legally. Do I believe we could streamline the process and cut out some red tape? Of course I do. This is a government run program, so the red tape runs deep.

I have firsthand experience of the immigration process. My wife is British. She is a legal immigrant in this country. We married when I was stationed in England with the U.S. Air Force. Just because she was married to me she did not get automatic entrance to the America. About six months prior to coming to the states we had to start the immigration process. We were informed that if her visa was not issued prior to entering the states she would be forced to leave until the process was complete. She was required to take physical exams, have a background check; we had several trips to the U.S. Embassy and were subjected to interviews just to make sure this was not a scam for a green card. When she was finally issued her green card it was only good for two years. At the end of two years we had to go to an immigration office and show the reason she came to the states was still valid i.e. we were still married. Did we complain about any of these rules? No we did not. They are the law and we followed the law.

Bottom line, my wife and I followed the law. Anyone seeking to live in the United States needs to follow the same laws, just because someone entered the country illegally and managed to keep their head down for a couple years does not give them the right to stay. They should be forced to leave the country and apply for an immigration visa. Once the visa is issued, welcome to America.

DISARMING VETERANS

The following is an excerpt from an examiner.com article I read earlier. This report is found on numerous web sites with slightly different wording and different authors:

On Thursday, Michael Connelly, J.D., executive director of the United States Justice Foundation​, said that veterans are receiving letters informing them that the government is about to declare them incompetent to handle their own affairs. As a result, Connelly said, the government will "appoint a stranger" to handle their affairs at their expense, and restrict them from owning firearms. Worse yet, he says, this is being done without due process.
“A determination of incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing, possessing, receiving, or transporting a firearm or ammunition. If you knowingly violate any of these prohibitions, you may be fined, imprisoned, or both pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Pub.L.No. 103-159, as implemented at 18, United States Code 924(a)(2),” the letter reportedly says.

Here’s the deal. I don’t really know if this is factual or if it from some conspiracy theory group. I have read of other cases where veterans have been asked if they own firearms while visiting VA centers. What I do believe is that in today’s political climate things like this are possible. I personally put nothing past our present leadership in this country. I do believe our nation’s leaders sense the unrest in this nation and have let their paranoia kick in.

I am really open to debate on this matter and would love to hear from anyone that has had this happen to them.