Fighting For The Soul Of United States

I thought the title of this was apt for what's going on right now. It's how I feel we are at this point. This isn't about hating politicians nor anger towards lost elections. This post is about issues that may very well bring an end to just about everything I believe should be for this country.

Immigration/Refugees
We can't take in everyone who wants to be here. It would be like a boat taking on too many passengers. However setting reasonable limits on the number there's no excuse to restrict anyone from any place or religion that has been thoroughly vetted. Those who truly value our ideas. I think we have been doing a good job over these past few years. What I'm seeing over the past month is the complete opposite. Our welcome mat has been yanked out from under them replaced with bigotry There's always room for improvement, but that's not what this is.

Deportation
There are those who will argue these deserve it because they broke "the law". Laws are what ever you make them. Those who worked hard improving both themselves, family, contributed to the economy and haven't committed crimes threatening harm to others should receive different consideration. The "dreamers program" and at one time Reagan's granting amnesty is nothing like what we're seeing today. There needs to be some differentiation. Nobody likes a bad apple, but why throw out the whole basket?

When cooler heads prevailed


There's ways to deal with this. Say for example someone not born here but arrived under 18. Someone who has been here for over 10 years and has a clean record and/or family offspring. I'm not saying we have to use those exact standards, but there should be some framework in place that would allow these people to apply for citizenship once they've been tagged having fulfilled something similar to those requirements.

Defense Spending (Robbing Peter To Pay Paul)
The president wants to spend $54 billion more. We've been told the money will come for other agencies and departments. Currently the entire budget for the EPA is $8b. The state department is vital to the military missions yet it too could be slashed. I repeat this isn't about slamming this administration--it's about common sense (if there should be such a thing). In cutting funding to these other departments and agencies we're told "we'll do more with less" at the same time accusing them of wasteful spending.

I'm further concerned about the EPA established under the Nixon administration.

Anyone old enough remembers the huge amount of smog we suffered in the air at the time. Not only did the EPA require emissions and greater mileage on cars so too the removal of leaded fuels we all breathed in. Sewage on our beaches, smoke stacks bellowing out toxins and companies piping whatever unabated into our rivers and streams., Anyone seriously want to go back to that? Same goes for the FDA, USDA and countless others we now take for granted will always be in place. Each are now threatened

Check out a few of these links and see if this makes sense
Pentagon buried study that found $125 billion in wasteful spending: Washington Post

U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds

Military can’t account for $6.5 trillion in spending, so Trump wants to give Pentagon even more money

Trump’s Proposed Increase in U.S. Defense Spending Would Be 80 Percent of Russia’s Entire Military Budget

Reuters (02/27/2017)-- "More than 120 retired U.S. generals and admirals urged Congress on Monday to fully fund U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, the same government functions expected to be targeted for cuts in President Donald Trump's first budget proposal... "We know from our service in uniform that many of the crises our nation faces do not have military solutions alone," they wrote. "The State Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other development agencies are critical to preventing conflict and reducing the need to put our men and women in uniform in harm's way."

I Could Go On And On
The point is I think we are at a crossroads, Hopefully if this goes far enough backwards people will come to realize we're going down the wrong path On the other hand--given what's happening being allowed to continue--the United States will no longer be a nation in which I can feel thrilled to be a part of.


None of this is because I "hate" this administration nor because of some damn election's outcome. Rather because I care--like so many others--of what is to follow if we disregard and throw out all we've accomplished in making this a great nation up to this point. I hate to see it all go to hell because of the resentment and bitterness that's seems to have taken over conservatives these recent days. No matter how far we've leaned either left or right this is nothing I've ever experienced in my lifetime.

Indeed there were far more tenuous situations in the past and this nation still survived. Question is--will we this one? How many times can we end up so fortunate?