Last week, CNN and MSN reported that the Obama Administration wants to do Immigration Reform by the end of the year.
The idea of Obama taking this on is rather amusing. Healthcare Reform AND Immigration Reform in the same year?? What two subjects are more controversial? If Immigration Reform is next (presumably after Bank Reform), then Obama has got balls of steel.
I could not find out exactly what he wants to do, or even what his ideas might be.
That's why, while waiting, I wrote up an Immigration Reform of my own. Keep in mind that immigration is not a bad thing. The United States does not have a self-sustaining population. Future growth will come from immigrants, and the U.S. will need population growth and a thriving economy in order to compete with China and India for setting the world's agenda in the future.
Keeping all of that in mind, here is Joey Hornbuckle's Immigration Reform:
1. Create effective gateways for immigrant college students to become American citizens
2. Double number of foreign college students in the United States (from 1 million to 2 million)
3. Double number of visa workers in America (from 700,000 to 1,400,000) and create more effective process for them to become naturalized
4. Create system for 500,000 Mexicans to become American citizens (over 1,000,000 Mexicans illegally immigrated in 2007)(the choosing process should be based off academic success)
5. Mandate that all immigrants go to free ESL classes for at least three months and pass a standard English test (this will create jobs for ESL teachers)
6. Require that immigrants are sponsored by a University, corporation, church, any kind of religious institution, or a non-profit organization or friend or family member. (A sponsor helps the immigrant become adjusted to a new country)
7. Build a secure wall between America and Mexico (make it a stimulus project--it will create jobs in the construction industry)
8. Grant amnesty to the illegal immigrants in the nation (this will grow our GDP by $2 trillion)
Comments? Questions? Criticism?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Final Thoughts on Health Care Reform
Now that Health Care Reform has finally been passed, I am wreathing in curiosity for what the Obama Administration will solve next.
Will it be immigration reform? Bank Reform? A fix to the No Child Left Behind Act? Will they save Social Security?
I wonder if they feel confused. Obama and the Democrats were voted in by people who wanted to see them create and enforce common sense solutions. That's what they did. They developed a health care overhaul with bipartisan ideas and yet half the country doesn't like it and about a third is now in a state of paranoid fear that the nation will fall apart.
They think this new health care system is dangerous and might swell up like Medicare and Social Security did. I can't blame them for being worried.
However, their fears are not subject to reality. This system will not increase government spending by an extraordinary amount. It will cost the United States Government about $150 billion a year. Next year's budget is expected to be approximately $3,700 billion. This means it will increase government spending by 4%.
Even the worst case scenario--health care growing from 17% to 25% of our economy--would only increase government spending by 2% as a result of Obama's Health Care plan.
Still, healthcare is not solved and the health care debate is not over. Medicare will need saving again one day and if we face a further shortage of doctors, the effects of supply and demand will cause their pay to skyrocket, and the costs of healthcare will go with it.
But for the time being, the Obama Healthcare Bill is a success. It removes $60 billion of waste and fraud from Medicare and Medicaid annually and it brings down the cost of healthcare, according to the Congressional Budget Office, by 13-19%. It creates healthcare exchanges that promotes capitalistic competition, enforces many common sense rules, and subsidizes (helps pay for) health insurance for people who have difficulty affording it. It does not affect small businesses, except for the law allowing small businesses to pool health insurance to bring costs down.
This bill will lower costs, so people can spend their money to grow other parts of the economy. And this bill saves the last capitalist health care system on the planet. I think that's what's important.
Will it be immigration reform? Bank Reform? A fix to the No Child Left Behind Act? Will they save Social Security?
I wonder if they feel confused. Obama and the Democrats were voted in by people who wanted to see them create and enforce common sense solutions. That's what they did. They developed a health care overhaul with bipartisan ideas and yet half the country doesn't like it and about a third is now in a state of paranoid fear that the nation will fall apart.
They think this new health care system is dangerous and might swell up like Medicare and Social Security did. I can't blame them for being worried.
However, their fears are not subject to reality. This system will not increase government spending by an extraordinary amount. It will cost the United States Government about $150 billion a year. Next year's budget is expected to be approximately $3,700 billion. This means it will increase government spending by 4%.
Even the worst case scenario--health care growing from 17% to 25% of our economy--would only increase government spending by 2% as a result of Obama's Health Care plan.
Still, healthcare is not solved and the health care debate is not over. Medicare will need saving again one day and if we face a further shortage of doctors, the effects of supply and demand will cause their pay to skyrocket, and the costs of healthcare will go with it.
But for the time being, the Obama Healthcare Bill is a success. It removes $60 billion of waste and fraud from Medicare and Medicaid annually and it brings down the cost of healthcare, according to the Congressional Budget Office, by 13-19%. It creates healthcare exchanges that promotes capitalistic competition, enforces many common sense rules, and subsidizes (helps pay for) health insurance for people who have difficulty affording it. It does not affect small businesses, except for the law allowing small businesses to pool health insurance to bring costs down.
This bill will lower costs, so people can spend their money to grow other parts of the economy. And this bill saves the last capitalist health care system on the planet. I think that's what's important.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Can Obama Handle the Deficit?
Governments with deficits suffer weakening currencies, higher inflation, and increased tax spending to pay for the deficit’s interest. Deficits are BAD, and right now, the United States is falling into debt faster than at any time in history since World War II (in comparison to GDP).
The government will spend $3.75 trillion this year, but will only collect $2.2 trillion in taxes. That leaves a deficit of $1.55 trillion.
I hope Barack Obama has a plan. But just in case, here’s a six-step strategy that would close the deficit and give the United States a surplus in less than four years:
1. Of this $1.55 trillion deficit, about $500 billion stems from lower tax revenue due to a bad economy. $250 billion more comes from increased spending on welfare programs for the unemployed. Then, an additional $150 billion comes from temporary spending under the stimulus package. When the economy turns around, the Congressional Budget Office shows the deficit will be slashed from $1,550 billion to $650 billion.
2. Next, thanks to Obama’s spending freeze on all non-military discretionary funding—and his removal of tax cuts on oil companies and the super-rich—the deficit will shrink by an additional $100 billion, decreasing the $650 billion deficit to $550 billion.
3. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost $150 billion annually, so if Obama ends those wars (which he has promised to do), the deficit will fall from $550 billion to $400 billion.
4. Medicare and Medicaid are wasteful systems, and the Obama administration has vowed to fix this. Reform in Medicare and Medicaid would save $100 billion every year, bringing the deficit from $400 billion to $300 billion.
5. Next, Obama has promised Social Security reform, which would make rich people pay the same flat 6% rate on the pay roll tax as everyone else, adding $200 billion more in revenue. This would save the Social Security System and bring the federal government deficit from $300 billion to $100 billion per year.
6. The final $100 billion can be finished off in several ways: ending the Obama tax cuts, a freeze in military spending, or more growth from a powerful green economy.
As improbable as it may seem, Obama and the Democrats have the incredible opportunity to turn their historical deficits for 2009 and 2010 into surpluses in as soon as 2013 and 2014.
The government will spend $3.75 trillion this year, but will only collect $2.2 trillion in taxes. That leaves a deficit of $1.55 trillion.
I hope Barack Obama has a plan. But just in case, here’s a six-step strategy that would close the deficit and give the United States a surplus in less than four years:
1. Of this $1.55 trillion deficit, about $500 billion stems from lower tax revenue due to a bad economy. $250 billion more comes from increased spending on welfare programs for the unemployed. Then, an additional $150 billion comes from temporary spending under the stimulus package. When the economy turns around, the Congressional Budget Office shows the deficit will be slashed from $1,550 billion to $650 billion.
2. Next, thanks to Obama’s spending freeze on all non-military discretionary funding—and his removal of tax cuts on oil companies and the super-rich—the deficit will shrink by an additional $100 billion, decreasing the $650 billion deficit to $550 billion.
3. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost $150 billion annually, so if Obama ends those wars (which he has promised to do), the deficit will fall from $550 billion to $400 billion.
4. Medicare and Medicaid are wasteful systems, and the Obama administration has vowed to fix this. Reform in Medicare and Medicaid would save $100 billion every year, bringing the deficit from $400 billion to $300 billion.
5. Next, Obama has promised Social Security reform, which would make rich people pay the same flat 6% rate on the pay roll tax as everyone else, adding $200 billion more in revenue. This would save the Social Security System and bring the federal government deficit from $300 billion to $100 billion per year.
6. The final $100 billion can be finished off in several ways: ending the Obama tax cuts, a freeze in military spending, or more growth from a powerful green economy.
As improbable as it may seem, Obama and the Democrats have the incredible opportunity to turn their historical deficits for 2009 and 2010 into surpluses in as soon as 2013 and 2014.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Why I Chose a Political Party
I have always maintained the powerful idea that human beings are not naturally evil and that they must mean well. Growing up with a liberal mother, a conservative extended family, mostly conservative friends and teachers and mentors in Georgia, I have learned to respect the following fact—No matter what someone’s political beliefs are, they are doing what they think is best...even if they are wrong.
Growing up, I took in the opinions of my conservative friends and conservative family and put them against my naturally liberal opinions that I mostly concoct alone. For some reason, I always agree with the Democrats before I know what they believe in. I took the conservative values projected onto me and melded them with what I felt was right—which was the left.
That’s why I’ve been an independent. I listen to the viewpoints of Republicans, even though I have to force myself to see it their way, and meld it with my solutions. In the meantime, I have tried to understand why Republicans think so differently. Why am I such a crazy liberal?
For a long time, I have felt guilty about my natural liberal tendencies, and I have crossed them out with certain Republican beliefs to make me an independent to show that I am not a crazy liberal, and to show that I am free from any party telling me what to think.
This Christmas Break, with a relentless energy, I have used the time left over from parties to spend studying constantly the political policies of both parties since World War II. And the more I know about every issue, the more I fall in support for the Democrats.
In the meantime, I have done much inquiry to the single question: why do Republicans think the way they do? I have talked politics extensively with friends and even more with friends’ parents, and I have come to a conclusion.
I have discovered two kinds of people. The first kind of people, when presented a problem, will feel guilty, and they will solve the problem to relieve their guilt.
The second group of people, when presented a problem, will create an excuse so they don’t have to feel guilt. They put up protective bubbles to protect them from harsh realities such as the following:
Racism still exists. Whites receive an occasional lick of racism; but blacks receive a daily tongue bath.
Poverty still and always will exist, and not because poor people are lazy or because they chose to be poor.
Global warming is a real problem with mounds of evidence and the world could suffer immensely if nothing is done to stop it.
Homosexuality is a real trait possessed by real human beings, not a choice.
War is not about glory and honor. It’s about families being torn apart by destruction and death.
These people don’t want to accept the guilt that others have it worse in life. They want to see nothing but sunshine. America is the best in every way and it always will be!
I am not one of these people. I am a liberal. And it amazes me that people use this term so harshly, as if liberal equals hippy or socialist. I discovered, however, that “liberal” is another way of saying open-minded. After all, between a conservative and a liberal, who is more likely to be racist? Who is more likely to accept global warming, and evolution, and science in general? Who is more likely to be a gay-hater? Liberals are open minded people, and yet America is picking on them…for being open-minded. But conservatives, who put up protective bubbles and stand together in a foam of denial—I ask you, honestly, is this not bigotry?
To all my discomfort, that is what I have discovered about the Republican Party and conservatives in general. Not all of them, but most of them, are bigots who are too lazy or too emotionally weak to accept the harsh realities that face us. They turn on Fox News and conservative radio, which do three times better than their liberal counterparts, and these conservatives listen indefinitely to Fox and the radio for arguments so they can get excuses that justify them to do nothing, therefor relieving them of their guilt. This way, they won’t feel guilt for the poor, the gays, the African Americans, the soldiers…
As stated before, I have discovered two kinds of people. One kind of people, when presented a problem will feel guilty, and they will try to solve the problem.
The second group of people, when presented a problem, will create an excuse so they don’t have to feel guilt at all.
I don’t know about you, but I know which group I’m in.
Growing up, I took in the opinions of my conservative friends and conservative family and put them against my naturally liberal opinions that I mostly concoct alone. For some reason, I always agree with the Democrats before I know what they believe in. I took the conservative values projected onto me and melded them with what I felt was right—which was the left.
That’s why I’ve been an independent. I listen to the viewpoints of Republicans, even though I have to force myself to see it their way, and meld it with my solutions. In the meantime, I have tried to understand why Republicans think so differently. Why am I such a crazy liberal?
For a long time, I have felt guilty about my natural liberal tendencies, and I have crossed them out with certain Republican beliefs to make me an independent to show that I am not a crazy liberal, and to show that I am free from any party telling me what to think.
This Christmas Break, with a relentless energy, I have used the time left over from parties to spend studying constantly the political policies of both parties since World War II. And the more I know about every issue, the more I fall in support for the Democrats.
In the meantime, I have done much inquiry to the single question: why do Republicans think the way they do? I have talked politics extensively with friends and even more with friends’ parents, and I have come to a conclusion.
I have discovered two kinds of people. The first kind of people, when presented a problem, will feel guilty, and they will solve the problem to relieve their guilt.
The second group of people, when presented a problem, will create an excuse so they don’t have to feel guilt. They put up protective bubbles to protect them from harsh realities such as the following:
Racism still exists. Whites receive an occasional lick of racism; but blacks receive a daily tongue bath.
Poverty still and always will exist, and not because poor people are lazy or because they chose to be poor.
Global warming is a real problem with mounds of evidence and the world could suffer immensely if nothing is done to stop it.
Homosexuality is a real trait possessed by real human beings, not a choice.
War is not about glory and honor. It’s about families being torn apart by destruction and death.
These people don’t want to accept the guilt that others have it worse in life. They want to see nothing but sunshine. America is the best in every way and it always will be!
I am not one of these people. I am a liberal. And it amazes me that people use this term so harshly, as if liberal equals hippy or socialist. I discovered, however, that “liberal” is another way of saying open-minded. After all, between a conservative and a liberal, who is more likely to be racist? Who is more likely to accept global warming, and evolution, and science in general? Who is more likely to be a gay-hater? Liberals are open minded people, and yet America is picking on them…for being open-minded. But conservatives, who put up protective bubbles and stand together in a foam of denial—I ask you, honestly, is this not bigotry?
To all my discomfort, that is what I have discovered about the Republican Party and conservatives in general. Not all of them, but most of them, are bigots who are too lazy or too emotionally weak to accept the harsh realities that face us. They turn on Fox News and conservative radio, which do three times better than their liberal counterparts, and these conservatives listen indefinitely to Fox and the radio for arguments so they can get excuses that justify them to do nothing, therefor relieving them of their guilt. This way, they won’t feel guilt for the poor, the gays, the African Americans, the soldiers…
As stated before, I have discovered two kinds of people. One kind of people, when presented a problem will feel guilty, and they will try to solve the problem.
The second group of people, when presented a problem, will create an excuse so they don’t have to feel guilt at all.
I don’t know about you, but I know which group I’m in.
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