With the Minnesota Senate passing a bill that gives financial aid to illegal immigrants for college educations, I sit back and wonder where their minds are. Don't get me wrong. I understand the logic of helping these kids who have grown up here grow and learn. And since many have been here most of their lives, in many ways they are U.S. citizens. But, become citizens before we pay for their education. In order to get a job they are supposed to prove they have the ability to work here. Evidently, the parents have worked here for a long time, whether legally or illegally, in order to support the family. Are illegal immigrants paying taxes toward the financial aid? Do they file income taxes? If they want to live here, why not go through the process of becoming a citizen? I agree with one senator who voiced concerns about paying for the education and then the student not being able to work. With the current economic climate, and the fact that our country is in such debt, it ticks me off that I may be paying for illegal immigrants to get a college education. In essence I will be paying for people of other countries to gain an education while our country continues to go into … [Read more...]
Gun control, or not?
I have been sitting back watching the debate about tightening the gun control laws following the shootings in Newtown and wondering where people's heads are. Let me preface this blog by saying I have never liked guns. When my children were young, the only guns I would allow them to play with squirted water. They were told not to use their hands as pretend guns, and that guns were never to be pointed at people. Then we moved out to rural Minnesota and there were guns in every household. Nearly everyone hunted, so rifles were the most common. I understand using guns to bring home food, and told my childre that when they were old enough, if they were interested in guns, I would send them to gun safety classes so they would at least gain some respect for the tool. I felt they would be safer knowing how to use them rather then stumbling upon guns and someone getting hurt. Fast forward to today and my attitude has changed a little. I don't know if I have been "desensitized" or what, but there are times when I would like to be trained to use a gun. I believe I have that right and I don't want to see it taken away. Has gun control ever stopped criminals from getting guns? I … [Read more...]
Leveling the playing field
My last blog stimulated some GREAT conversation. One of the interesting subjects has been "sharing the wealth," or more accurately "leveling the playing field" financially. When I have asked if we should raid bank accounts of people like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs people have agreed that is not appropriate, but leveling the playing field a little is important. My question is: How do we level the playing field and keep our capitalistic economy, and where does the money come from to level the playing field? … [Read more...]
Occupy Wall Street?
You know, I have been trying to figure out what the Occupy Wall Street movement is trying to accomplish. From what I can tell, the main complaints are corporate greed, the unbelievable salaries of some of the Wall Street executives and the disparity of the “Haves” and the “Have nots” in our country. How can a protest of this kind affect that? I can understand the frustration of unemployment, under-employment and insecure employment. My family has been dealing with all three of those, and I believe those are some of the real reasons people are protesting. But what do they expect the government to do to solve that? And how do they expect the protest to effect change? Are people looking for more government regulations on corporate salaries? Or are they looking for a spread-the-wealth plan? I'm not sure, but I don't believe either would solve our problems. I also believe the financial market salaries and corporate salaries should be separated. People like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs have changed the world with their creativity and work. Should we raid their bank accounts to solve our financial problems? Definitely not! Market capitalism is part of … [Read more...]
