The Daily Sun raises the question whether we are ready for a Florida President and unwittingly answers their own question by summarizing the non-positions of the two likely candidates, Senator Rubio and former Governor Bush.
Consider their “positions” on IMMIGRATION: Rubio would deal with the border before dealing with immigration. In politico speak that means he doesn’t want to offend anyone. Bush, on the other hand welcomes immigrants while upholding the fourteenth amendment. Like Rubio, Jeb will not offend anyone to get elected. Nothing gets solved.
Here are a few specific immigration questions for both:
- • Florida has had seven counties identified as “sanctuary counties”. One of those counties is where you both reside. Why haven’t you done anything about this to date? What are you going to do if elected?
- • The guest worker program has been exposed for its abuse by the IRS, the White House and guest workers given ITIN numbers, as a substitute for Social Security. They do not hide in the shadows as both of you pretend. They enrich themselves by extorting billions of dollars each year from the Child Tax Credit. Why hasn’t anything been done about this, Senator Rubio? And Jeb, you plan on continuing this broken system?
Again, SOCIAL SECURITY and MEDICARE are, once again, hot button issues. Rubio chooses to kick the can down the road to our children while assuring current seniors that nothing will change. Bush is “Feeling the Bernie” camp by seizing on the war between rich and poor.
Let me point out a few problems with both positions:
- Most of those considered “rich” already have their benefits taxed courtesy of Bill Clinton under a Republican Congress…as high as 80%.
- This year the benefits have been reduced by as much as 15 percent thru the magic of means testing. Who approved this initiative? Were Republicans asleep again in Congress? They must have been at the Benghazi hearings.
- In all probability, the “rich” were the employer who also kicked in 50 percent of your benefits.
- Rather than give up their benefits as some have proposed, the “rich” would prefer to donate their money to a charity of their choice rather than leave it in some government cesspool of waste and abuse.
- • Finally, to fix a problem you need to know what the problem is. The problem, that Republicans and Democrats refuse to identify, is the mixing of Social Security Funds into the General Slush Fund of vote buying.
- Stop spending the money and invest it!!!
- The “shortfall” that both sides will scream about will need to be made transparent to the public.
- Those items that are in the shortfall will be “needs-tested.” If more taxes are necessary, then raise taxes. The public can accept that. Social Security funds should no longer be a general fund hiding place for earmarks and pet projects.
- Get some backbone, Senator Rubio or Jeb and take a real position.
Then there is Obamacare: Repeal or replace with a market driven alternative. I understand repeal, but what is the market place alternative you have to offer, Senator?
- Obamacare was presented as a cure to 40-50million uninsured in this country. We still have 30 million uninsured.
- Obamacare has been cited as the largest tax increase in American history…carried over the finish line by none other than John Roberts…a Bush appointee to the Supreme Court…in spite of denials by Democrats that it was a tax.
- Obamacare has been described as a lifetime annuity for the permanent political class to continue to extort monies from insurers, pharmaceuticals, device manufacturers and, yes, the wealthy.
Again, to fix a problem, you need to know what the problem was that needed fixing. Access to healthcare prior to ACA was available to everyone. The problems were and still are:
- Costs for care are higher than anywhere in the world.
- Insurance for pre-existing conditions was unreasonable.
It would have been far less costly and less destructive to subsidize the costs for those with pre-existing conditions than change the entire system.
Finally Obamacare has shown that a single payer system does nothing to control the costs. I am not “Feeling the Bern.”
- We pay too much for our drugs because we subsidize every other country in the world who can buy those drugs at reduced prices. Why???
- Our healthcare needs to be viewed through the same lens as a public utility…where the public has a place at the negotiating table along with the providers and insurers.
Sorry Florida, no message …no President this cycle.
Richard Sobieray is a Villager and frequent contributor to Villages-News.com