To Our Elected Representatives,

 

The nation is wondering what is going to happen over the coming weeks.  We want to know if we are going to bring in unlimited number of undocumented workers, and how we will account for them.  I have read highlights of this bill that is being pushed through and I am not pleased.  Instead of taking the time to write good law it seems we are instead pushing reform for the sake of pushing it.

 

We are at war and it seems foolish to allow citizens in from countries that supply the greatest number of our enemy’s army into our country without great restriction.  There is no clause in this bill to make it easier for us to police ourselves or for that matter to simply exclude our greatest threats.

 

I am by no means encouraging we create interment camps like those imposed during WWII.  It stands to reason that we should use wisdom as well as intelligence when it comes to whom we allow into our own home.  We are after all at war with a very ferocious foe.

 

The war isn’t the only issue that leads to our concern however.  Many Americans are well aware of the cost of citizenship.  We are also aware of the cost of illegal workers on our society.  Education, medical care, law enforcement, the costs go on and on.  This bill actually asks to forgive the tax debt of some illegal workers who would be allowed to stay.  I understand not asking for it all up front but why not ask for wage garnishment over an extended period of time?  Why are we not encouraging a payment plant of sorts?

 

The next issue since we know it is coming is Social Security.  We know for a fact that the current illegal population is going to be awarded Social Security later in life.  I know it and I hate it but I know it anyway.  This means that as Illegal Workers come forward we are going to be issuing them Social Security cards.  For the workers already in the system it will be hard to judge exactly what they owe, and what they are to be awarded.  But somehow I know this is going to happen too.  Again I know it and I know it is wrong. 

 

I wonder why we are going to award people from coming here illegally, when so many people came here and worked hard the legal way.  At the same time this is not the first time in our great nation’s history that we have done this; Chinese, Irish, Russian, German, and Italian are all people who have come here in the past undocumented and allowed to stay.  The Italians WOPs (Without Papers), made it the Irish Catholic Protestant and Black Irish all were allowed to stay and granted subsequent citizenship. 

To just shut the door on people who genuinely wish to work here seems not only foolish but stupid. 

 

Our current national unemployment sits at around 5%, and our current estimated illegal employment sits at an estimated 4.9 %.  Does this mean we should rid ourselves of every Illegal worker, I say no.  The very cost to ride ourselves of each illegal worker is too high.  But there are steps that can be done to minimize the number of Illegal Workers who come in.  This bill offers fines for businesses that get caught with Illegal Employees.  It has yet to go through an adequate vetting process and offers no estimate on how much it would cost to enforce these new fines and regulations.

 

I offer a better solution and a proposal to amend the bill.  Under the current system all businesses are required to keep a copy of the Social Security Card and the Id used when hired.  Instead since we are going to be offering a Social Security Card of sorts to the new Illegal Worker anyway why don’t we simply offer Tax incentives to businesses who adequately check the Social Security number with the national database.  This proposal has a few advantages as noted below.

1.      Increased Tax revenue by increasing the number of documented workers.

2.      Massive decrease in undocumented employees because no intelligently run business would pass up an opportunity to lower their tax burden.

3.      A decrease in identity theft.  Under the current system many Illegal workers are in fact working under a Social Security number but not their own.  It sets them up to steal the Identity of the person they have the number for and gives them some training on how to do it again.

 

Finally we need to build a wall.  I know the fears, but we are not East Germany and we are not the Soviet Union.  That wall was designed to keep people in, all I want to do is to control the number that come in.  We cannot allow mass immigration without jeopardizing the dream that is the United States.  We need to bring people in absorb them as they absorb us and repeat.  A wall or a fence is the best way to control the inflow on our southern border.

 

Now I know that this bill is getting pushed through.  I wish that there was more time to craft something that was comprehensive and useful but I understand the art of compromise.  I urge you however to consider what I have addressed. 

 

We need:

1. To have a way to minimize the amount of immigrants coming from countries supplying the greatest number of Terrorists.  Top of my list would be Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. 
2. To provide tax incentives as well as fines for business.  Tax incentives directly related to a business’s attempt at hiring only legal workers.
3. A fence a wall something to help deter illegal workers from coming here.
4. Finally we cannot reward people for coming here illegally.  If they want to change their status they need to go to the end of the line and start fresh like all those good citizens who did it the right way to begin with.

 

Failure to do even one of these things without addressing why will seriously undermine my trust in you and cause me to send funds into the campaigns of those who would oppose such reforms.  I might not make much but I do contribute.  I not only contribute but I campaign.  I not only campaign but I also vote.  I ask you to look into your own Patriotic heart.  What I am asking isn’t unreasonable.  I don’t expect you to kick people out, in fact I would encourage a greater flow of Legal Immigrants who wish to work in the freest country on earth.

Today marked the 21st annual Coronado Bridge Run.  I completed it with a time of 44:30 seconds, 34 minutes if you take into consideration I didn't even check in until 10 minutes after the race started. 

I am scratching my head after reading the most recent approach by Republicans on immigration reform.  It seems yet another useless approach.  I want to set my credentials on the table here before I get into the argument.  From June of 1997 until December of 2006 I was gainfully employed in a number or restaurants.  I stayed at three of those for periods of over one year, two of them were for more than three years.  I did everything from cook to manage a whole store.  I know the hiring process and I do know how illegal workers make it into the workforce. 

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->

A little over a year ago I left this line of work.  I felt under utilized and now that I am working on starting a family and a grown up life I wanted a chance to move finish my education and make this country a better and safer place for my wife and my little girl.  I joined the United States Navy and have not regretted this decision since my wife and I made it.

Illegal workers are a fact of life.  We are going to get them here in the states.  I know it you know it, and they know it.  There are however factors that can be done to lower it and control it.  Our current system fails not so much for lack of a system but lack of enforcement.

I repeatedly hear people say we need a system in place so employers can regulate whom they hire.  Yet there seems to be little to no talk of penalizing employers who do not adhere to the current law. 

There already exists a system to check and verify if a perspective employee is in fact legal.  It is called the Social Security Administration.  Sadly from my experience most employers do not take advantage of this system. 

I started working for LeeAnnChin after they implemented this policy. I was immediately impressed with their approach to the matter.  They took a pragmatic approach in that they would not hire a new illegal at least not knowingly.

The process is really simple.

1. You call up the social security agency. 
2. You verify who you are as far as being an employer. 
3. Tell them why you are calling.
4. Give the Social Security number.
5. Give the tax information from the W4 form and the I 9. 
6. The agency confirms the number or informs you that the number does not match.

From my experience most restaurants instead will get a photocopy of both the Social Security Card and the Drivers license as well as fill out an I 9and the W4 and just hold onto the copy.  From my experience most employers do not call and double check with the social security agency instead they just hold onto the documents as evidence that they checked an employee’s documentation.

Of course neither method is a guarantee.  Just because somebody’s social security number matches the agencies database does not mean that they are technically legal or eligible to be employed in the United States.  Legal immigrants will have a Social Security Card with a printed message clearly stating immigrant status and the necessity to check their immigrant id to see if the perspective employee is eligible for employment.

Over the course of my employment in the food service industry I have encountered many immigrants of questionable status.  The first one I worked with for 2 years, before he changed names yet still worked for the same company.  When I met the man he had 3 American born children.  The next one I met was arrested for a DWI with no insurance I was sent back to Mexico.  He came back into work a month later and was informed by my boss at the time that he couldn’t come back to work.  Three years later, my former employer gave him a job again.  In the interim period he worked for Dominos pizza and for a cattle slaughterhouse. 

It is no secret in that forgeries are easy to come by.  It was rumored that on University Avenue in St. Paul MN there was a great ID fake shop in the basement of a professional photographer’s home.  Every one of my immigrant coworkers prior to my promotion to management had a Wisconsin Id despite their residency in either St. Paul or Minneapolis. 

My last encounter with an illegal was a man who came to work in the United States in 1978.  He was both a coworker and later one of my employees.  One day when I was giving him a ride home he informed me he had to go talk with immigration because he received a letter telling him that his status as a legal immigrant had expired.  The man spoke broken English, some Italian and of course being from Mexico he spoke Spanish.  As it turns out he was still legal but unfortunately there was a glitch in the system or somebody just didn’t file the paperwork properly and my employee had to go through quite a bit of red tape.  Had he been arrested, or pulled over during this time he very likely would have been detained or sent back to Mexico.

I like to think of the problem of immigration as you would a flooding ship.  The first thing you do is find ways to reduce the flow, the second thing you do is remove as much as possible until a patch is implemented or you can get it fixed altogether.  As it stands we have a system available to help reduce flow, but employers are not taking advantage of it.

I am not advocating the removal of all illegal immigrants.  Personally I think that would be economic suicide.  I am not advocating allowing them all to stay either, again economic suicide.  And I am most certainly not endorsing a porous border.  I am just stating the facts as I have seen them working in an industry that is heavy in both legal and illegal workers. 

From a former manager the way I see it the best solution to the problem involves three things.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->A wall or fence along the border.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->An enforceable and reasonable scheme of punishments for violators, but employee and employer.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->A tax credit for employers who make an honest effort to hire only legal workers.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->

JERRY FALWELL passed away this morning at 11:00 AM Eastern Time.  The man was a well meaning and a devoted Christian.   He passed away this morning.  The world has lost a shepard.  Do not mourn but instead rejoyce for him.  Do not weep instead look to the man's lead. 

It is our duty to tend the flock.  Contact services such as young life, donate to Liberty University, give to your church.  Donate your time do something.

I remember when Napster first came on the scene.  FTP was the greatest thing to the college bound thieves.  I know because I was in the dorm with most of them.  In the aftermath of Napster came Kazza.  It was another similar program, though it came in two forms a pay for use and a free for use version.  The pay for use was quasi legitimate but with its association to the illegal version I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

About 4 years ago I got tuned into blogging and have attempted to blog with some success in different arenas I have a few that I recently quit contributing to or started up but did nothing with over at blogger.  www.blackandwhitesquares.blogspot.com being my most active role.  At the same time I started toying with blogging another interesting thing caught my eye, Linux. 

Why did this catch my eye, well my senior year in High School I took a class on computer networking, and I had been taught the basics of Cysco Networking and how to wire a home, office etc for simple networks.  At the time I discovered linux I was looking for an affordable way to set up my own home network and insert a media center into the home for music, video and phone all through one interface.

What most people don't realize is that in order to do this it does not need to cost in realm of tens of thousands of dollars.  Most companies that are out there now all started shortly after I explored and set up my first home prototype.  Many Linux users actually were doing it long before I even got the idea, as were many rich MAC users and Microsoft Users. 

I was looking for an affordable solution, I found this in Linspire.  At the time it was, and in my opinion it still is the most user friendly version of Linux available.  I was attracted to this  particular flavor of Linux, because it was the only version at the time that provided a means of legally obtaining proprietary Code to use DVD software.   Over the past few years Linspire has been a leader in open source projects.  They blend the concept of shared software and of proprietary projects.

They took advantage of the very same technology that others were using to steal intellectual property and turned it into a way to sell their own intellectual property via mirror sites and more importantly Bit Torrent.  More importantly their leadership is set on competing with the leaders of the Operating System world MAC and Microsoft, not through lawsuits like their competitors.

Sure Linspire filed some counter suits here and there competitively, but they have been far more concerned with competition and offering a viable product than anything else.  Microsoft threatened to put them out of business at the very time I became aware of them.  It was the 17th identical law suit against Linspire by Microsoft that caused Linspire to undergo a name change.  17 lawsuits in 17 countries all claiming the same thing in order to put a competitor out of business.  Microsoft judge shopped not across the United States but instead across the world.

If you are truly interested in supporting good business innovation and competition give Linspire a look.  The low cost and compatibility will astound you.  If you don't want to pay for the Operating System don't worry they have recently put together a completely Open Source version known as Freespire.  You don't even need to install, download it and put it on CD it will run entirely within your CD drive without over writing a single bit of your saved information or programs.

Started working on my own blog using Radio.Userland it can be found @ Tactical Chess