Taking Back America – This Is My Country! Part Iv.

April 1, 2008 - PRLog -- What are the targets for change?

7.  Agriculture – Food Testing, Ingredients and Source

You go to the grocery store, check the fresh meat, see something that looks nice and red and fresh and buy it.  Or maybe you buy the chicken to fry up for dinner.  Then again you might buy pet food for your favorite dog or cat.  Now did anyone tell you fresh meat like beef should not be red?  Did they tell you color dyes and carbon monoxide are used to give the cuts of meat that color and they are injected in the butcher shop?

Did they tell you the chicken was raised in a hen house and pumped with hormones, steroids and God knows what else to fatten it up for the slaughter?  Did they tell you about everything you just bought included rendered animal parts?

Did they mention rendering plants use raw product including thousands of dead dogs and cats; heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses; whole skunks; rats and raccoons?  Did they mention the millions of maggots swarming over the carcasses?  Did they tell you the carcasses would be ground up and cooked to create batches of yellow grease, meal and bone meal, and that the meat and bone meal would be used as a source of protein and other nutrients in poultry, swine and pet foods?

That the animal fat is used as an “energy source” and millions of tons will be trucked to poultry ranches, cattle feed-lots, dairy and hog farms, fish-feed plants and pet-food manufacturers where it is mixed with other ingredients to feed the billions of animals that meat-eating humans, in turn, will eat.

When you look at the ingredient label and it says the meat included protein it sounds good but is that protein from the rendered carcasses and what are the health consequences of eating a standard diet of rendered byproduct?  The deadly Mad Cow disease was caused by feeding rendered products to cattle.

8.  Campaign Reform – Empty Promises and Empty Wallets

For the first time in our history the presidential campaign alone in 2008 is expected to cost over one billion dollars.  Now that is a whole lot of money being spent to win a job that pays $400,000 a year and only lasts four years.  One billion dollars spent to make $1,600,000.  If that is the result of capitalism then we might have a problem.

Campaign reform has been talked about more and acted upon less than any other issue facing congress and the president.  Political advertising costs are criminal.  Some campaigns spend more money raising money than they do getting elected.  Special interest groups give to candidates, give more to national political parties, more to state political parties and then spend money themselves to influence elections.

Over $1 billion will be spent running for president and that can be changed if the president and congress have the guts.   Paid ads can be stopped, special interest funding can be stopped, and a logical schedule for primaries can be held.  Candidates can receive free media time since all the airways are government regulated.  Voter registration can be increased.

There are about 226 million people eligible to vote in the USA and about 142 million are registered to vote.  In 2004 about 121 million did vote for president.  That means about 53% of the eligible voters participated in the last presidential election, a pretty weak total for the citadel of democracy in the world.  That needs to be fixed.  Require automatic voter registration with social security cards or drivers licenses if need be but get people back involved in the process.  We can’t make people vote but we can make sure they have the opportunity to vote.

9.  Immigration Reform – The Slumbering Social Issue of the Day

So far the candidates have done a masterful job of avoiding the issue of Immigration reform although before the campaign heated up they had a variety of ideas to offer.  Now it seems the ideas have been taken off the table in hopes no one noticed they flip flopped on an issue.

There are a few areas of agreement.  For one everyone agrees we need to strengthen border security on both the Canadian and Mexican borders.  We also acknowledge that there are millions of Mexican workers illegally in the USA gainfully employed at jobs typically not wanted by Americans.  What to do about them is a huge problem.

Since there is widespread opposition to any kind of amnesty program allowing them to remain without consequence perhaps a better alternative would be to allow those illegal immigrants and their families to remain with a permanent work visa if they are gainfully employed and have paid taxes in the United States.

They are here and they pay our income and sales taxes.  They have cars and drivers licenses.  They are making a substantial contribution to Social Security even though they cannot draw benefits.  What amnesty are we giving them?  If we throw them out don’t we owe them back their income, sales and social security payments?  I say they have paid enough already for a permanent visa and they should be welcomed if they complete our citizenship requirements.

If the illegal immigrants that are gainfully employed and contributing to our tax and social security system are granted permanent work visas, overnight we will reduce the border security issues saving substantial money and improving relations between our two countries.  This will free up resources to pursue the criminal elements from foreign countries that come illegally for far more sinister reasons.

Not only do millions of illegal immigrants pay taxes and provide services we would not otherwise have but they are also victims to hordes of unscrupulous people involved in car sales and repair, medical treatment, legal assistance, and many other areas because they have no way to protect themselves.  They cannot go to law enforcement agencies for help, as they would be prosecuted.  The simple act of granting well-earned permanent work visas would stop predators from taking advantage of their status.

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