Dear John Hall:
You WON...we won! In less than two months, you will be sworn in as a part of a large new class of Freshman members of Congress. We here in the 19th District are proud of you, and excited about your future in Washington, DC. There are LOTS of issues that will need to be addressed upon your arrival in the capital, issues that have divided our district, and divided our nation. I want to discuss those issues, give you one simple citizen's views on some of those issues.
Iraq War-Stay the course verse Cut and Run. If only it were actually that simple of a choice. One thing is crystal clear...Bush's failed Stay the Course plan is not working, and Rumsfeld needs to go (IS GOING....great news!) at all cost. Question is, where do we go from there, and what is going to be the Democratic Plan to effect POSITIVE change in Iraq, and see our efforts properly focused on the War on Terror. Obviously, as one lone citizen, I am limited in what I know on Iraq, much of what goes on hidden from my eyes. Based on what I have been able to discern, seems we only have two viable choices.
1. Greatly increase our troop strength in Iraq, and get back on a war footing until we actually weed out and defeat the insurgency, and as a part of that, we have to defeat and disarm the local militia's. I do not see this as a viable reality unless we are willing to put at least 400,000 troops on the ground in Iraq who are properly trained and equipped. Is this a viable reality without re institution of the draft? Are we as a nation willing to make that large leap away from our all volunteer military, do we even have a choice at this point?
2. Embrace many of the concepts and ideas expressed by Congressman Murtha, and redefine our entire involvement in Iraq. If a civil war is unavoidable in Iraq, we cannot leave our troops stuck in the middle of it, and cannot afford to chose sides in such a fight.
There are NO PRETTY CHOICES. We want our troops home, and sooner than later...the question becomes, how to do it in a way that still makes political sense, not just here at home, but on the larger global stage. Which leaves us still with the war on terror. I think we owe Afghanistan more of a commitment, and think we also owe our own citizens far more than we have gotten so far from President Bush and his administration. First thing on the home front has to be TRUE BORDER AND PORT SECURITY...which in turn brings us to what I feel is the second biggest problem on the laundry list of items needing immediate attention, what to do about illegal aliens, and the 12-20 million already here, the majority of them being from Mexico.
Early on in the primary it was apparent you and I saw this issue from different perspectives, but I was/am impressed that you were willing to openly discuss the issue, and were willing to LISTEN...something few in office seem capable of doing, and it was that willingness to listen and discuss such a hot button issue that impressed me, and won me over to your side. Now you are Congressman John Hall, and will be dealing with this issue, as our nation depends on Washington finding solutions. This contentious issue, perhaps more than any other is the key to Democrats holding on to the important gains they made in last nights elections. The only workable solution I see, is dealing with the issue comprehensively, but singularly.
1. Secure our border, stop the influx of NEW BODIES illegally entering our nation. Yes, we have to figure out what to do with those already here, but we cannot really deal with that problem until we solve the more immediate problem, which is the ever growing number of illegal aliens in America. With each passing day, week, month and year that the federal government ignores this problem, the larger the number grows, and as that number of illegal aliens grows, so grows the cost being paid by those of us in the lower and middle class sectors of American society. Don't try to tell us our jobs are not being stolen, or that our wages are not being depressed, as they are. I know it first hand, have watched my own chosen livelihood slowly disappear like vapors burned away by the suns early morning rays. Further, local police and governments refusing to be involved in finding workable solutions are negatively impacting many of us...I would encourage you to speak to families, homeowners who have the misfortune of owning houses in neighborhoods being taken over by illegal aliens, take a serious look at the declining values of our homes because of neighboring homes that now have 30-40 people living in them. These problems will only grow worse if we refuse to secure our Southern Border, and stop the flow of illegal aliens coming into America.
2. Shut off the JOBS MAGNET. Honesty and integrity in government...that's a part of what this new sweeping Democratic Majority is supposed to be about. Well, a big part of why we have 12-20 million illegal aliens here, is BIG BUSINESS has a love affair with cheap wages, and this large pool of illegal aliens provides that huge pool of bodies that allows these corporations to keep our wages down. It's a basic rule of economics called supply and demand. A large supply of ready and available workers allows companies to offer less in wages, and less in benefits such as major medical coverage, and retirement benefits. So, it is time to create SERIOUS sanctions against any one who hires an illegal alien. More importantly, these new enforcement measures are meaningless if A) the money is not budgeted to actually enforce the sanctions, and B) if government at all levels (local, state and federal) do not play an active role in finding, identifying and prosecuting everyone and any one who employees an illegal alien.
3. Close the anchor baby loop hole that sees illegal aliens doing whatever it takes to give birth to a baby on US soil. Right now, by conservative estimates America has over 4 million anchor babies who's parents are here illegally. This was not the original intent of the 14th Amendment, and this law needs changed to shut down this additional magnet. Those already born here should be allowed to have US Citizenship, but the policy has to be changed.
4. What to do with those already here is a difficult problem, and solving it requires hard choices, and not everyone is going to be happy, no matter what approach is taken. Allowing all those already here to stay is simply not acceptable, and would be patently unfair to legal American citizens in the lower rungs of our economy. Sending all 12-20 million back home also is not acceptable, though could be workable...the solution is to be found somewhere in the middle, and I would suggest that middle ground is found with the cut off date of January 1st, 2001...we have to draw a line in the proverbial sand, and then stick to it. If you were here before then, you would qualify for some kind of a pathway to citizenship (barring any criminal prosecutions or a criminal record), but if you arrived here after that, sorry but you have to go back to your home country, and stand in line.
5. Chain immigration...when a person decides to migrate to a new country, that is a personal decision. It is unfair to America and our citizens to have artificial limitations on our immigration policy by allowing immigrants to use the backdoor to bring more people here. Family unification is something that should be thought about and decided on before someone decides to migrate, and it should not be our responsibility to MAKE EXEMPTIONS in the name of said family unification's.
6. Guest Worker Programs...this always has been, and will be a very slippery slope. How many illegal aliens who are here now came in to work as migrant farm workers? How many already here came in for one job, and then moved into another? Further, is it fair to bring in certain workers (IT comes to mind) because they will take a starting salary which is lower than the prevailing wage of an American worker in that industry?
The whole issue of wages brings us to minimum wage. The Democrats are promising to raise the minimum wage to $7.50 and hour in their first ONE HUNDRED HOURS...so what, the minimum wage in Ireland is now $9.50 and hour. At 7.50 and hour, working a forty hour work week, a minimum wage worker grosses only $300 a week. Take out all the deductions for social security, federal taxes, state and local taxes, unemployment, workers comp and the like, and that three hundred drops quickly, and we still have not factored in sales taxes on goods purchased, state and federal taxes piggy backed onto gasoline, and you can quickly see that raising the minimum wage to $7.50 an hour is inadequate at best.Being generous, take home pay at $7.50 an hour would net someone $13,000 a year...can we say POVERTY?
We can do better than that! How much has the wage of a Congressman/woman gone up since say 1996?
Cheap wages, cheap prices...it's a TRAP! Like it or not, we are a consumer driven society, and until or unless we change that reality, cheap wages risk killing our economic machine and throwing America into a depression as you wipe out the middle class, and the ability for our citizens to better themselves. The rally cry for some seems to be a chiding, "Go to college, better yourself, make yourself more marketable." Have we as a country become so callous as to believe those without a college degree are somehow less deserving of a living wage, and some respect for their contribution to the whole? Further, how can someone struggling to get by on slave wages realistically afford a college education?
There are so many areas of our government that need addressed, so many problems that need to be solved, and I cannot begin to touch on all of them (such as Social Security) in one open letter, but shall bring up one more....campaign finance reform, and TERM LIMITS. This American is tired of the special access given to BIG MONEY brokers. When Sue Kelly was in office, she did not have TIME to meet with people like me, I was a nobody, along with around 95 percent of the district. No money, no access was/is the rule of the day. It was a bit disheartening last night to see you make a BEE LINE to one small circle of men hiding over in the corner after you finished your interviews last night. Even more disturbing to see you rush off, guarded by huge menacing body guards, sad watching you hide behind the curtains, then rush out and leave without taking the time to move around among those who GOT YOU THERE, it smacked of BUSINESS AS USUAL with many of us feeling dismissed and once again removed from the process...not saying it was or is so, but telling you how it felt. We support(ed) you because you seemed to be one of us, and made us believe that our voices would be heard in Washington...for that to happen, we need serious limitations on PAC Money, and on money doled out by lobbyist and other special interest groups....one man one vote SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING inside the Washington Beltway. Further, we need TERM LIMITS...back in 1994 we had been promised term limits, Sue Kelly herself said 12 years, or six terms...that promise was not kept, and I would encourage you and the new Democratic majority to fulfill that promise made to Americans in that last revolution.
I congratulate you on your remarkable win, and am proud to have played a small part in making it happen. If I can be of any help, feel free to contact me, and I will be at your disposal. It's my greatest hope that you will make all of us in District 19 proud of you and your accomplishments as our Congressman. It's my greatest fear that I'll wake up in two years and realize that nothing changed, and that Washington, DC is still the same old same old.
Respectfully,
Porgie Tirebiter
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