Ideal GOP Political Platform Simplified...

Why is it so hard for seemingly intelligent people tell it like it is?  I'll give a few examples:

Illegal immigration:

The problems are huge but only in volume, not complexity.  40% of illegal immigrants came here legally and have over stayed their visas.  Why would be so hard to track them down and deport them?

14th amendment should be readdressed to reverse the anchor baby issue, which isn't a huge issue by volume, but is also not correct.  Trump is correct that the USA is one of a handful of countries in the world that allow this inane act.  It was originally targeted to native American's and ex-slaves, not women who come to the USA illegally to give birth in order to receive the plethora of government entitlements.

Finally, do we really not have enough immigration laws?  How would we know, when we haven't bothered to enforce many of them for decades.  How about we start enforcing them?

Fully implement E-Verify so that every employer cannot legally employ them.  Prosecute the employers, both companies and individuals who may employ housekeepers or landscapers.  Many will head back across the border on their own if they cannot find a job.

For the people who are left, I'd offer a 1 time chance for the following:

• To register as an illegal immigrant.  You'd get a card and a court date.
• On the court date, if you can provide proof of employment (which would be unlikely given the above restrictions on employment), proof you are legitimately paying taxes and not receiving government benefits, your ID card will become a illegal immigrant green card. 
• The illegal immigrant green card will provide them with a place in line behind all the immigrants legally applying.
• As long as the illegal immigrant maintains steady employment and pays taxes they can stay in the U.S.   
• If for any reason the illegal immigrant cannot, they will be returned to their country of origin
• If the illegal immigrant doesn't show up for their court date, a warrant for arrest would be issued and they'd be permanently denied legal citizenship and once discovered they'd be deported.
• Any illegal immigrant with a criminal record (beyond being here illegally) will be denied citizenship.
• Once an illegal immigrant green card is received, they will not be allowed to receive government benefits or to vote.
• If they came here illegally and went through all this, then they can stay, but you will not be allowed to vote - ever.  The legal children of illegal immigrants would be allowed to vote (i.e., 2nd generation) 
• Finally, what is so difficult about building a wall where it makes sense and installing electronic monitoring everywhere else to tighten up the border?  Just because it'd be a long wall?  Who cares?  If for no other reason, it should be built to keep out terrorists who aren't here already.

Middle East:

The U.S.A. has to be more engaged.  The damage has been done by Obama's leading from behind.  The evidence is everywhere.  ISIS must be defeated and that will likely require troops be returned to the dessert again.  I hate it, but anyone who says differently is naive, ignorant, lying, or some combination.

Israel:

It should be made blatantly clear to the entire world that any attack on Israel is an attack on the US and it's NATO partners.  Mess with them and you'll pay a heavy price.

Russia:

Install missile defense systems in Poland (which Obama reneged on), provide weapons and training to Ukraine and engage in NATO military exercises in the Baltic Sea and the plains of the Baltic States to show Putin the USA is back and we're in charge.

China:

This is really handled through economic policy by allowing companies to repatriate their income if they return manufacturing to the US.  China is not the low cost producer it was in the 80's & 90's.  Once their manufacturing base begins to crumble, they'll be much more amenable to fair trade policies.  Once there is a little chink in the armor we can turn the heat up on human rights issues, their support of N. Korea, and their environmental policy.  We should also fight back (if we haven't already) on cyber terrorism.  We need to rebuild our navy to ensure the free flow of goods & services all over the world, especially the Pacific Rim.

Foreign Aid:

Eliminate all cash foreign aid to countries unless they have signed a treaty of non-aggression to the USA. No government shall receive any foreign unless there are free elections allowed.  This would be particularity applicable to African nations where the dictators receive aid in either cash, which they keep, or food which they promptly repackage so that it looks as if their own country is providing the aid to their population. In the case of the West African nations, we should encourage them to trade oil for food and insist the food be distributed through our own NGO's.  Remaining countries who would like the protection of the USA, should be providing us with payment for such services (i.e., Japan, Philippines, Korea, et al.).

Entitlements:

Welfare state - Reinstate the requirement to be working to receive benefits that Obama suspended. You must also pass drug screening.  Block grant states their benefits based on population with bonuses to those who put more people back to work in real careers.  Provide childcare credits so parents can work and children can grow up seeing their parent go to work everyday in order to make a livelihood. Provide greater benefits to two parent households.

Social Security: Adjust the retirement age up.  60% benefits for those who retire between 62-65.  75% benefits for those who retire between 65-70.  90% for those who retire between 71-73.  100% for those who retire at 74 and over.  Same goes for income.  Anyone receiving retirement income, including union pensions, and tax-free income from muni's, annuities, trusts, etc.. would have their benefits reduced accordingly.  Benefits reduced by 25% for those whose income exceeds 200% of median household income, 50% over 300%, 75% over 400% and 100% over 500%.

The young should be able to opt out with proof of personal retirement investments equal to at least 10% of their pretax income annually.  This would be phases in over the 15-20 years.

Tax Simplification:

Phase 1 (1st term): Simple tax.  Eliminate all deductions, including those for home mortgages.  0% tax on first $50,000, 15% from $50,001 to $100,000, 20% from $100,001 to $300,000, $25% from $300,000-$500,000 and 30% on anything over $500,000.  All investment income taxed at this rate (i.e., eliminate capital gains tax, death tax, etc...)  The income in this example could be adjust to some percent of median income from previous tax year.

Eliminate income tax on repatriated profits of U.S. companies.

Eliminate all subsidies to industries (i.e. "corporate welfare') including all farm subsidies.

Allow companies instant depreciation on capital expenditures.

No special carve-outs for any company, industry or person.

Phase 2 (2nd term): Replace the simple tax with a consumption tax.  See: Fair Tax .

Abortion:

Abortion was made legal in all 50 states 1973 by 12 men in black robes.  Period.  All that is left for discussion are two things:

1. What is the proper age in which a child may be murdered by their mother?
2. Who is responsible to pay for said murders?

End of discussion.

Healthcare Reform:

Repeal Obamacare.  Replace with simple reforms:

• Allow insurance companies to sell benefits across state lines.
• Remove bundling of insurance (i.e., if you are a single man you should not be forced to pay for maternity coverage.)
• Create a safety net pool for those with pre-existing conditions and for the unemployable.
• Increase HSA usage - require it for all newborns and partially fund some HSA's for younger workers.  This money must be portable.  Some portion of you the HSA investment should be inheritable, with the balance going to fund the safety net for the indigent.  For example, if you've been contributing your entire life and you suddenly pass away at age 65 with a balance of $750,000 in your HSA, 75% is inheritable, while 25% goes into a fund (i.e., "lock-box) to fund healthcare for the indigent.  
• No deductions for healthcare expenses, but would provide for lifetime cap, probably based on a multiple of your income.
• This system would eventually phase out Medicare.
• Every attempt should be made to encourage patients to directly pay the doctor, especially for routine visits such as check-ups and simple items to dispense prescriptions for cold,etc..
• Allow drug companies to off-set future earnings by supplying prescriptions to the indigent for free or at a greatly reduced rate.

What's left...?

Cabinet/Department Consolidations:

Combine Departments of Labor, Commerce, Transportation and Agriculture, putting them under the Department of the Interior.  Department of Energy would be put under Defense.

Eliminate Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development

So the Departments would be as follows:

• Department of Defense
• Department of State
• Department of Justice
• Department of Interior
• Department of Health and Human Services (I'd rename it: Department of Social Welfare - so no one would lose sight of it's real purpose.)
• Department of Veterans Affairs (renamed: Department of Veterans Recovery)
• Department of Homeland Security

The federal government should institute a hiring freeze for every department except for the recruiting of soldiers for the Department of Defense and Federal Air Traffic Controllers.  Open positions would be filled by current under-utilized employees from other departments.  Every department would have their REAL budget cut (not the 'Base-line-budget number) by 10% annually for 4 years, then 5% for 4 years.  This would put us back to pre-Obama budgets.

Term-limits:

Every politician seems to run on term limits only to drop the subject once elected.  The POTUS should use his/her bully pulpit to urge the GOP controlled congress to pass the following term limits and reduction of pensions for congressmen & senators:

Congressmen: 3 terms.  Unless you complete all 3 terms no pension.  If you do, your pension would consist of $25,000 for life and be subject to a phase out similar to the Social Security means testing described above.

Senators: 2 terms, unless you served for any amount of time as a congressman, then 1 term and out. Same pension as Congressmen.

Congress should also eliminate all of the sweet benefits they receive, like free haircuts, free gym, etc...

Congress should be subject to Obamacare until it is repealed.

Veterans Healthcare:

Much like education, the money should follow the soldier, regardless of the provider.  If a vet needs common healthcare they should be allowed to go to any provider.  Vets with special needs such as PTSD therapy should be provided that care quickly and completely at Veterans Hospitals nationwide.  In the rare case where the care isn't quickly and easily available, they should be allowed to seek care where they can and have the costs covered.  

Even SNL sees the hypocrisy of Obama's "Executive Memos"....

On immigration...

As the GOP in the U.S. House of Representatives prepare to cave on immigration it's good to be informed. Here is the best presentation I've ever seen on immigration (try not to be distracted by the girl in the Green Bay Packers shirt in the audience):

So, you're a Republican and you still believe that immigrants, especially Hispanics, are largely conservative and will vote for the likes of Marco Rubio or Nikki Haley?

As if on cue, we are about to get a (another, actually) report that refutes this myth.  Read about it before the report comes out:

GOP CRAFTS PLAN TO WRECK THE COUNTRY, LOSE VOTERS

January 29, 2014

Here are some snippets:

According to a Harris poll, 81 percent of native-born citizens think the schools should teach students to be proud of being American. Only 50 percent of naturalized U.S. citizens do. 

While 67 percent of native-born Americans believe our Constitution is a higher legal authority than international law, only 37 percent of naturalized citizens agree. 

Pew also found that only 27 percent of Hispanics support gun rights, compared to 57 percent of non-Hispanic whites. According to Latino Decisions, large majorities of Hispanics favor a national database of gun owners, limiting the capacity of magazines and a ban on semiautomatic weapons. 

While 47 percent of self-described "liberal Democrats" hold a negative view of capitalism, 55 percent of Hispanics do.

The new term: Undocumented Democrats

Associated Press Drops 'Illegal Immigrant' From Stylebook

By CRISTINA COSTANTINI

April 2, 2013

The Associated Press, the largest news-gathering outlet in the world, will no longer use the term "illegal immigrant."

The news came in the form of a blog entry authored by Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Tuesday afternoon, explaining that the decision is part of the company's on-going attempt to rid their Stylebook of labels.

"The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term 'illegal immigrant' or the use of 'illegal' to describe a person. Instead, it tells users that 'illegal' should describe only an action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally," Carroll wrote.

On immigration:

I don't know what is so darn difficult.  The solution is simple:

1) Lock down the southern & northern boarder through fences & technology (sensors, cameras, drones) - deploy the National Guard if necessary.
2) Get all the illegals who are here registered so they start paying taxes.  But:
     a) They must be employed,
     b) They must not be criminals (other than the whole illegal thing),
     c) They are exempt from all govt benefits,
     d) They cannot register to vote for 25 years,
     e) Their kids are not automatically citizens just because they are born here,
     f) if they want to apply for US Citizenship they must get in the back of the line and ASSIMILATE
        (i.e., learn English)
3) Expand the process of coming here to work to make it faster & easier for companies to sponsor workers.
4) Place a tax on money flowing out of the US back to their home countries by these now documented workers (see how long Mexico takes to react to that).

Problem solved.

Probably one the biggest problems with immigrants of all nations is that they no longer need to assimilate.  Having hosted Korean students, I've discovered a large Korean population in Atlanta.  They have their own neighborhoods, businesses, churches, etc...  Go to Atlanta Hwy in Gainesville, GA and you'd think you were in Mexico - not a single sign in English.  Downtown West Liberty, IA had 2 languages on the store signs, 1 Asian (probably Hmong) and the other Spanish and that was 10 years ago!

I've worked nearly exclusively in the protein industry for 14 years.  EVERY plant has immigrant workers.  The mix is changing.  Most Hispanics are now from Guatemala instead of Mexico and in some parts of the country more workers are West African Refugees.  One plant has 12 different languages spoken on second shift.  A plant in IA cannot get locals to work there and they start at $13+ an hour!  People show up, work until lunch and decide its "too hard".

We're in a world of hurt.  We should eliminate the minimum wage.  This would allow a lot more teens/no skill workers to find employment and build a skill set that includes setting an alarm clock and getting out of bed to go to work.

Answers For Illegal Immigration

Let me start by saying that I am a product of immigration. Since my great-great grandparents immigrated from Eastern Europe in the 1870’s they were not subject to any modern day immigration laws.

I believe stemming the flow of illegal immigrants is crucial to preventing further attacks on the US, winning the war on radical Islamic fascists, and protecting our sovereignty as a nation. We could discuss all day long (maybe several days) why the US is such a magnet for illegals. The solutions for illegal immigration are not particularly difficult to implement. Nor are they especially cost prohibitive given today’s technology. The steps are simple, the motivation is great, but the initiative by today’s policy makers is clearly sorely lacking.

The first thing that has to be done is sealing the borders. The process starts with building the double fence across the southern border. The “no mans land” between the double fence would need to be monitored with motion and seismic sensors. Cameras on drones flying over head would be directed to investigate activity. Officer would be sent to capture illegals when they are identified. Next, begin to secure border crossings on our northern border and build the same type of fences along much of the northern border, starting at heavily populated areas. Finally, secure our ports and coastline using drones and satellite imagery. The desired result would be to shut off the influx of illegal immigrants. It should take about 18 months to complete the walls on the southern, using American contractors with American labor.

Once the southern border is closed we need to build a better immigration policy/process. This should begin by identifying how many immigrant workers are required by the US economy, then streamlining the process allowing company sponsorship for legal immigrants. Immigrants with college educations applying for visas to work in healthcare, high-tech, or other high paid professions would move to the top of the list. Companies should be able to apply for sponsorship of employees, be able to hire them for a 90 day probationary period and be able to apply to convert their status to the 3 year work visa via the internet with near real time (hours – not weeks) feedback. Companies would be required to report when probationary employees don’t work out so the government can make sure these immigrants either find new sponsorship or go back to their country of origin. I admit, this puts a heavy burden on companies. However, they are the beneficiaries of the low labor, so they should be required to bear the burden. When combined with the implementation of the Fair Tax (a discussion for another day), which includes the elimination of collecting payroll taxes and the corporate tax their ultimate costs would be lower.

Next enforce the current laws regarding illegal immigration. Begin by cutting off federal funding for “sanctuary cities”. Only law enforcement, hospitals and fire department would be exempt. Any public official (mayor, city board member, etc...) that publically endorses sanctuary cities should be arrested for treason (even if only for “publicity”). State drivers’ license would only be issued to immigrants with proper documentation. States violating this would forfeit federal transportation funding. Also, heads of companies must be held accountable for their hiring practices. Heavy fines/jail time for the owners of private companies and the CEO’s of public companies. This would result drying up the market for illegal immigrants and allow them to be replaced via the new stream lined process for legal immigration.

Change the rights of immigrants. The child of two illegal immigrants should be considered illegal, even if born here. Current illegal immigrants would be required to return to their country of origin and reapply for citizenship. The process for citizenship would require assimilation. Visa’s granted to immigrants should only be valid for them (i.e., they should not be allowed to automatically bring their family). Families would include only spouse and children who would be allowed to join the spouse after one year of proven work history. Families would NOT include brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, in-laws, etc…

The work visas should be valid for three years, with two one year’s extensions allowed. Application for citizenship would be required before the end of the first 3 year term. Substantial completion of the application for citizenship would be required by the end of the second 1 year extension. If the above is not met, the entire family should be deported. Spouse/children would only be allowed to stay if they have their own work visa, they are gainfully employed, and they have met all the application for citizenship requirements on their own.

Being granted citizenship would require: 1) Proven conversational English; 2) Proven reading of basic English (required for driving); 3) Proven knowledge of the REAL history of the US; 4) Sworn allegiance to the constitution of the US; 5) If convicted of a felony before completing application for citizenship, immediate deportation (not jail here first) to country of origin.

I believe this immigration policy would protect our boarders, stem the flow illegal’s, supply businesses with enough workers, and provide the US with the type of immigrants that will grow to be solid, taxpaying citizens.

For a great overview of the Immigration Act of 1965 see:
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/historians/chapter11.htm