My name is
d'Lynn. I'm a disabled Vietnam vet. I don't look too bad for a beat-up old fart,
do I? And that's my ride.. She's looking pretty good also,
especially when you consider that she'll
turn twenty this summer. That's right, it's a 1990 with a 1990 sidecar.
I can't ride a solo bike, ergo the sidecar rig. It's my sole means of transportation - rain or shine, snow or
wind, and this summer also marks a
milestone in both of our lives, as I
will finally be able to pay her
off. Twenty years old? What?
Why did it take so long? You
weren't paying attention, were you? It's right at the beginning of this
paragraph.
I am a disabled vet,
which means I receive a veterans
administration disability pension, which also means "I'm broke!" Just one
step ahead of being homeless every month, and that's not an idle statement or an "Oh,
woe is me" dire complaint. There’s a point to this, so hang in there a minute or two and
read on.
There's a 25-year-old illegal immigrant woman living in Florida , with
eight kids. Yes, eight "anchor babies" and she receives just shy of $1,500 per month per
kid, plus medical, plus food stamps.
Oh, wait. I've been informed that I shouldn't call them Food Stamps anymore. That's not
PC. It's all called “Social
Assistance” now. You do the math on that yourself.. I'd say that she was schooled early in
how to make it in the system. Twenty-five years old, eight kids. . . . .
yep, she started early.
You can whip out the
calculator if you want, but this woman,
who never has paid a dime in taxes of any kind, (and still doesn't – she's 'illegal,' remember?) is here in this
country illegally. She hasn’t paid out one cent in medical for all the “anchor babies,” makes
more in one month, legally, than I
receive in over a year and a half in
disability payments and I can't even get
food stamps! Oops, I mean “Social
Assistance.”
Technically I am eligible for “Social Assistance.” I was told it would be a walk through – a
gimme – being disabled. No problem, and in the very next breath I was also informed that
under the law the amount I received in
“Social Assistance” would be deducted from
my disability pension.
Let's say I take a great photograph. It was just
luck, a one of a kind accident, in the right place at the right time
shot. My local newspaper offers me fifty bucks to use the
photo in a featured story. (I live in a
small town and fifty bucks is all they could afford.) I have to report that fifty dollars to the VA as earned income, which will
immediately be deducted from my next month’s disability check.. If I don't report it I’m in violation of federal law and technically
they can stop my disability pension and prosecute me under a federal felony.
Pretty cool, eh? For fifty bucks.
I see no point in
dealing with two federal bureaucracies,
so I don't bother. What's the point?
She's here illegally
and with just one kid would make over
twice what I receive per month. She has eight and she’s not a stand-out
case. She’s not alone. That's the way the system works.
Millions of illegal immigrants
know this, know how the system works and
know how to use it. (Haven't you
seen the pamphlet? It's handed out all along our borders, "The Illegal Immigrants'
Guide to Keeping America Just The Way It
Is.") and that's just the way it
works.
Did you know that the
federal government provides a “refugee”
in this country with a monthly “stipend”
of $1,890, plus $580 a month in “Social
Assistance?” That’s $2,470 a month,
tax-free. That's two and a half
times what I’m allowed to receive as a
disabled vet. And just what did they do to earn this? All
you have to do is show up on our collective doorstep, raise your right hand and swear
that you're a refugee and, bingo,
receive $30,000 a year, tax-free. That's more than someone making $15 an hour, and they have to pay
taxes to boot!
Now, in defense of the Veterans Administration, they are
doing what they can with what they've got.
This is precious little compared to what they should have to get the job
done. At least this country has a VA.
It's the Senate that keeps passing laws, rules and guidelines, cutting their budget,
denying requests for more staff and
computer systems to handle the massive
work flow. Their hands are tied by the
very government that's supposed to give them what they need to get the job
done, by the government you voted into
office. Don't scream at the VA. I have.
It's misguided anger.
The point to this
“story?” Just why are you paying such
high taxes to support this incredibly screwed-up government? Why?
And I’m not proposing you stop paying your taxes. That's wrong. There are good programs and reasons to pay
your taxes and support our government.
What am I
proposing? It's quite simple. Vote.
The government, our
government, is broken and we as the
voters serve as the maintenance crew. We
fix it . . . . . by voting. If your
state Senator has been in office more than two terms, vote 'em out at the next
election. If your state representative
has been in office more than two terms,
vote 'em out of office. We put term limits on just about every publicly-elected official in the
country except the House and Senate.
Why? Believe me,
they know this and love it! Ahhh - the
power!
I don't care how much
you believe your Senator or
Representative is doing a good job.
They're not! Look at the
government you have....that we
have. How can you state they are doing what you want as the
voter that put them there? How?
Vote them out of office.
Do it.
Change the course of
this country's history by what you are
granted and guaranteed under the law.
Vote! And if you have the guts,
the anger, the outrage, start a petition
in your state for a state-wide
initiative to be placed on your next
state ballot. Limiting the terms of office for your state senators
and state representatives to your
federal government to two terms.
The federal
government will never pass such a law,
but you can. You can get it
done. You can force it. You can make it a law.
This is the first step in “getting it right.”
Just vote. It's simple. It's easy, dammit! This first step will send a very clear message. It’ll work. It’ill put “us” back in control of
“them.” As it should be. As it was intended in the first place.
Are you an American?
Born and raised? Then vote!
Side note: I sent
this e-mail to a little over one hundred
on my e-mail list. If you believe I’m
wrong or misguided or you simply don't
agree, that's fine. Go right ahead and delete this e-mail.. No
problem. Sorry to have bothered
you. But if you think I just might have
a worthwhile idea, something we can
easily accomplish, something that could
be a small part at getting this country
back under “our” control, then please pass this along.
