It’s a Doozie…Fair Warning!

Well, it’s been a long while since I’ve written because I promised to not write unless something was really on my mind and the day has arrived.  It’s a unique position too, because I’m not 100% sure what I think at this moment, pretty sure but not 100%.  This blog may serve as a way for me to work that out, ya know?

This one is gonna be about an emotionally charged, political and social topic that is very real right now where I live in Alabama; the new Immigration Law.  Is it awful or just the “hard choice” to make?  Is it racist or does it just hit one group more than others?  Are we bad for being happy or bad for being against it?  These are a few of the questions I hope to gain some ground on.  For starters, let me go ahead and lay some groundwork to this discussion.  I didn’t write the stupid bill, I didn’t sign it into law, and I’m not picketing on the streets for it.  This is simply a blog of thoughts and stuff that is on my mind, so in the same vein that I’m not here to demonize any one person or group, I am here to shed some light on ILLEGAL immigrants…not legal ones.

I’ve admittedly grown to be short-tempered about one  thing in my life that just drives me nuts.  Our society has got this one-sided acceptance of opinion thing going on and I don’t like it.  You want me to accept your point of view and not demonize you or judge you personally, or embarass you, or talk to you like a dog because of how you feel?  That goes both ways, so, with that said, I’m just typing and you can hit the little “X” or hit “Apple-Q” at any point you wish.  With that said, let’s go.

I do belive that there’s an issue currently that needs to be dealt with.  Let’s look at just unemployment and the immigration problem alone, for starters.  I don’t even think that this needs a lot of explaining really either.  There are tons of people who need jobs in our state.  The obvious problem with the immigration status as it is right now is simple…these jobs need to be given to people who pay taxes and are here legally.  Plain and simple.  If part of your business plan as an owner is to hire people who aren’t legally allowed to work in the U.S., pay them peanuts, under the table, and not report taxes or pay any, then you are a P.O.S. in my opinion and have no business; running a business.  If you can’t afford to run a business because you’re following the rules, then you again, need to close up shop.  I mean really, you’re a dirtbag.  You should leave our state too, so other good businessmen who do things the right way can have your market share and give good jobs to people who deserve to be working…asian, black, white, hispanic, I don’t care as long as they’re following the rules to be here and accepting responsibility that comes with being allowed to work here.  Now on to the lack of taxes generated…

Don’t we all hate to look at pay stubs when we get paid to see those taxes coming out?  Or at least wishing that we had that money in our pocket for other stuff?  I know I do.  Now, think of how much of the money that people who are paying taxes pay, over the course of their lives to their state, feds, and cities for upkeep, services, and protection, fire departments, etc.  That’s a ridiculous amount of money.

Now, let’s think about how many people live here, take advantage of the same upkeep, services and protection, and don’t pay crap…on purpose!  I mean really.  I would love to be able to keep my money in my pocket and spend it on what I want to, when I want to, and get the same benefits as everybody who actually follows the letter of the law, but you know what?  I can’t.  I don’t want to.  I want to do my part.  I didn’t feel that bad about having to take unemployment for a little while at the beginning of this year, because I’ve PAID TAXES SINCE THE BEGINNING OF MY WORKING CAREER WHEN I WAS YOUNGer!  Not only do they enjoy the same services and benefits that those of us who pay do, but it goes a step further and places a burden on our infrastructure.

If a truck has a payload of 3200 lbs. and that’s what it’s meant to carry and no more, then what do you think it gonna happen when it has to bear the burden of another 1500 lbs.  If it doesn’t break all together, it will put such a strain on the structure that it will cease to work efficiently or effectively.  And, what would be the only way to get it working correctly again?  Either rebuild it for more payload (meaning you would have to raise taxes ON THE ONES THAT WILL ACTUALLY PAY THEM TO JUST CONTINUE TO BEAR THE BURDEN OF THOSE WHO DON’T! AND FORGET THE ONES WHO ACTUALLY CAUSED THE PROBLEM PAYING THEM BECAUSE THEY WEREN’T TO START WITH) or lighten the load (enact a law that will encourage people to get the hell out of the truck who aren’t supposed to be there!)  Or how about a sinking ship analogy…

The luxury liner has enough lifeboats to save 2500 people, so they don’t sell more than 2500 tickets.  It’s at capacity but manageable.  But what happens when 200 stowaway sneak on the ship?  Now we have a few problems.  Where do they sleep?  What do they eat?  What about using the restroom?  Is this ship made for 2700?  No, it’s meant for 2500.  Now, what happens when the ship goes down?  Do we think that the people who were there “illegally” are going to say, “Well hell, we weren’t supposed to be here anyways, so I guess we’ll just let them have the boats and we’ll drown.”  Whatever.  I mean really, since they obviously cared so much about the food, safety and comfort of the other 2500 to start with, AND DOING THE RIGHT THING, surely now they will carry that same concern over to saving their own hides?  I would think so.  It’s also sort of the same thing as my number one argument against registering guns.

When the government finally gets a bill pushed through, they’ve been trying forever, that forces all gun owners to register their firearms, what do you think will happen?  I’ll tell you what, because it’s been proven in other countries countless times before.  The law-abiding citizens (the ones that would pay taxes and do their part for their society and communities; to avoid being leaches) would turn their guns in because that is what their told to do and because they actually respect the law.  The criminals who have guns (the ones that didn’t care about your well-being or the ones who don’t care about pulling their weight to be functional citizens) will jump for joy because now the “prey” just got disarmed.  Sounds like a great plan huh?

So, maybe I didn’t have to think this part out after all.  I’m pretty sure what I think about dirtbag leaches, of any race, who try to just cheat the system and live on the backs of other people, with no regard for the problems, burdens, and strains they put on other individuals.  Who cares if they cripple a city’s, or county’s, state’s, or federal infrastructure because it can’t support the number of people who are mooching off the system?  Who cares if some of us have a hard time paying bills, feeding families, or bettering our situation, because we’re actually paying taxes and contributing in other ways, like WE’RE SUPPOSED TO?  I mean that for anybody, any race, any background.  Have some dignity, hold your head high, and do your part.  If you need to, I don’t care if you take part of systems (unemployment, welfare, WIC, etc.) that you have paid into or truly deserve.  But, now some questions.

I saw it asked today online at www.al.com,”What sort of message are we sending the children of the illegals?  That education isn’t important?  That they need to quit?”  ARE YOU SERIOUS?  I get it, I really do.  I want everyone in this entire world to have the education opportunities that we have here.  I understand how awesome that can be.  I know that I do not fully understand the desire to better a child’s life as I do not have them yet.  I do however, understand a few other things.

Is it not enough that we allow anybody born in this country at any time to be a citizen?  Seriously, is that not enough?  No, apparently not.  When I worked for an apartment company, I was shocked at how many people would come there wanting me to lease an apartment, so they could have an address that would put their kids into school.  There was a problem though.  They had no SSN#, no state issued ID, no nothing that could get them an apartment.  Really?  Again, here we go with the mooching.  Don’t you get that the entire reason their asking for proof of residence at school is to prove that you pay taxes in this city/county?  They want to see that you pay state and local taxes to “do your part”.  Let’s not mention the horror stories of other apartment companies that lease an occupancy limit of 8 and they totally disregard this too and put 14 people in it, trashing the apartment, and leaving whenever they get ready, only to never be found again.

I think the bigger lesson is this.  If you want to find a place where you can teach your children that education is important AND that you don’t have to follow any city, state or local laws, then just keep looking.  Go somewhere else.  Maybe that place is out there somewhere.  If you want to teach your kids to be mooches and irresponsible members of society, who care about nobody around them in their community, and the strain their sheer presence puts on the “system”, I don’t think any amount of education will matter personally other than to have an intelligent mooch and that is probably worse than a stupid one. Oh, and don’t forget the most important lesson.  The one where you know you’re in the wrong, the one where you know exactly what you’re doing, and then cry victim when a state finally puts its foot down and says “no more”.  Do you have no integrity or shame?  Really?

We say, if you want to come here and contribute to make this state a better place, then please come join us.  Just do your part.  If you’ll just come work like everybody else and pay your taxes, we even have some government programs to help, and the education for your children is great!  JUST DO YOUR PART.  We even have free clinics for healthcare and lots of way to help you out…IF YOU JUST DO YOUR PART!!!  WHAT THE HELL IS SO HARD ABOUT THAT?  JUST…DO…YOUR…PART!!!!!

Then there’s the audacity to call people who care about this state, who contribute to this state, and who were born and raised in this state, racist because we’ve had enough.  Racist?  You say we “targeted” one group.  I didn’t read that in the law.  I read where it was basically anybody who can’t prove citizenship. Some may be pissed at me because maybe some of this blog seems to steer one way, but I’ve mentioned numerous times that it goes for anybody…european, african, asian, hispanic, european, russian, etc.  If you have a picture in your own mind of who you believe I may be thinking of, look inside your own mind and figure out where that picture came from.  I think that if a law’s enacted, and it affects say, 60% of one ethnic group, then it’s pretty hard to call someone else racist.  I mean there’s clearly a problem,within that group, and I can’t help that.  I would understand it if the law called out a group in writing but it didn’t.  I know that it’s not everybody in any one immigrant group either.  There’s good and bad in every walk of life, but don’t go calling “racist” because a law’s passed that nails one group to the wall based on their own lack of actions to be functioning parts of society.  Don’t be a baby and cry victim when it’s your own fault you’re meeting the criteria of someone under the microscope now.

I mean, hell, you’re upset because you’re driving without a license (IS IT SAFE FOR YOU TO BE DRIVING?  OUR 15 YEAR OLDS HAVE BEEN BETTER TRAINED THAT YOU ARE AT 40!!), because you wanna fly under the radar so you can’t get one (BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOTHING AUTHORIZING YOU TO BE HERE), you get pulled over and it’s discovered that you’re here illegally?  How is that my fault, or the cops, or it makes us racists because we enforce a law?  If you don’t wanna get caught killing someone, don’t kill anybody.  I guarantee you this…you will never be caught being a thief if you don’t break into someone’s house and steal their belongings.  I promise!    IF YOU DON’T WANNA BE SENT PACKING, JUST TAKE THE STEPS TO BE HERE LEGALLY!  IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT.

I guess the only real problem I have is are the children.  It’s shameful and sad to me that these kids who could use a good education and have opportunities handed to them, can’t have them because their parents willfully breaking the law and when asked to answer for it, they flee.  If I cared that much about my children and this law was passed, then I would not cry about it, or start calling people racists.  I would get off my lazy ass and start contributing, I would get whatever paperwork I needed to, and do my best to provide a life for my family…the right way.  I think that’s more of what the law is trying to do personally.  I think it’s trying to say, do your part or get the hell out and go be someone else’s problem.  We the people, of Alabama, have had enough.  We want to give the jobs that are taken up by people who don’t give a crap about us, to the people who do care and deserve them.  I’m not saying you should be put in a wagon at a traffic stop and shipped off.  I’m saying I think you should be given an opportunity to fix it and if not, then you just made your bed so lie in it.

Oh wait, then here come the Feds.  They wanna get us to take it back?  They wanna say it’s un-Constitutional.  I thought the Constitution covered CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.  Secondly, is it not States’ right if the Constitution doesn’t explicitly cover it?  I don’t see them saying,”Hey, we get it that there’s a crisis going on in Alabama…let us help so we can get rid of this law.”  Nope, they couldn’t say that to us because they can’t even balance their own checkbooks or pay their own damn bills.  I know I get in trouble when my bills aren’t paid, but not our precious government.  They do what they want, and when a state actually tries to better itself, they try to say “no you can’t do that”.  A humanitarian crisis? Really?  How are we creating a humanitarian crisis by asking them to follow the law.  I get it that they’ll need to find elsewhere to go…not my fault.  Go back to Russia, or England, or Mexico, or Korea, or Canada, or wherever….UNLESS YOU WANNA JUST.DO.YOUR.PART!  THEN YOU’RE MORE THAN WELCOME!

When a law enforcement officer apprehends an illegal immigrant, it makes no sense to simply release that individual who has been breaking our laws with no threat of sanction or penalty.
Bobby Jindal

As Congress continues to debate ways to address illegal immigration, we must remember the many hard-working legal immigrants that contribute so much to our nation’s economy and culture.
Bob Filner

Well, you know, I think in conversations with members of the Senate and others, they all recognize that the issue of immigration is important. It’s important to our nation, it’s important to our public safety, it’s important to our security, it’s important to our economic well-being moving forward. And it’s not something that’s going to go away.
Janet Napolitano

In closing, there’s times when I turned a blind eye to these issues because I didn’t see it hitting me, but I do now.  When health care goes up to the point that I know plenty of people with no insurance, or have lost their hard-earned savings, or just can’t afford meds because health care costs have gone up so bad…it does bother me.  Anyone who does the research sees illegal immigration as a huge cause of this and why?  Because we still don’t turn them away (I’m not saying we should).  We do provide so much for individuals who couldn’t care less about the strain they put on our country’s infrastructure.  It’s sad, and I for one am proud to see our state actually do something to help our “citizens” of Alabama!  I know when I turned 18 and was proud to be a voter, I had to register to defend this country if called upon.  It’s a responsibility of my citizenship.  Taxes are a responsibility.  Obeying laws is a responsibility.  There are privileges.  Sure.  But it’s getting to the point that there are millions of jobs taken up by non-citizens of this country or people who aren’t even authorized to work here.  What would happen to the unemployment rates in this country if those millions of jobs were given to American men and women.  Summer jobs from high school and college are few and far between now and why?  You answer it.

This isn’t about race.  This isn’t about ethnicity.  It’s about our country, our states, our cities and our counties enduring a great strain that it can’t bear much longer.  We as American’s are feeling this in our health care, our economic well-being, our schools, and in many other areas.  How much longer can we watch ‘our’ fellow citizens struggle for jobs and a means to provide for their families while the citizens of foreign nations are coming here and contributing largely to the problem?  This is a serious issue in our state and our country and deserves good debate.  It deserves honesty.  It deserves an bi-partisan approach.  If we don’t do something about it now, with unemployment what it is, health care costs rising, a housing crisis, and a failing economy, we won’t be able to provide the “American Dream” for much of anybody, because we will have just got pulled under while trying to keep the world from drowning.  If you don’t watch the news, you should.  We almost defaulted just a months ago.  It’s a real problem that doesn’t need to be ignored anymore.  You want to save our economy?  Put the money in the hands of the people who will spend it here and not hoard cash or send it to some other country.  This immigration issue is not just one small part in my opinion but a large part that if remedied, could help spur on great change in our good ole U.S. of A.