Swickard: Take the political fundraising out of immigration issues

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   “If you want to understand any problem in America, you need to look at who profits from that problem, not at who suffers from that problem.” Dr. Amos Wilson

             The immigration problems of the last thirty years are caused by politicians who profit from them. Both sides use immigration problems for fundraising with no intention of ever solving the problems.

            No one knows what the immigration laws are any longer so people with legal status in our country and those without legal status have no idea what government agencies are going to do.

            I am sure it is not true that we have the cure for cancer but the medical field and pharmaceutical companies are making so much money they don’t want to cure cancer. Again, probably not true but I hear that said.

            It is true that when it comes to immigration reform, neither party wants to fix this broken system since they are getting political contributions from frustrated citizens on every side of the dispute. More on that shortly.

            But what is the controversy? The immigration laws of our country, specifically, the Immigration Reform and Control Act known as Simpson-Mazzoli Act enacted in November of 1986 is not being enforced. Some people think we need immigration reform while others think we should enforce the existing immigration laws.

            What is the most unfair is that both political parties have spent thirty years fundraising and not dealing with the immigration issues. Namely, there are millions of people in our country without legal status. This is the strategy of both parties to have millions of people who are uncertain of what our government is going to do.

            Recently President Trump started an effort to deport people without legal status who have committed felonies. Both political sides are showboating the issue while millions of people, heck, the entire population of our country, both those with legal status and those without legal status have no idea what will happen.

            In a nation of laws, it is unconscionable to have laws but not obey them. I don’t blame the people in our country without legal status because both political parties have barked about the issue but only looked at it to get political contributions. We should either follow the laws, make more specific laws or amend the laws. We should never ignore our laws.

            The political climate harms our nation in many ways. First, people without legal status often do not get the legal protection of our laws because they don’t want to be involved in a legal system that will note that they are without legal status. Criminals often take advantage of these people because they rarely report crimes.

            It is unfair to immigrants who followed the laws to gain legal status to have millions of people who are jumping the immigration lines. It is especially unfair to have immigration processes that often take more than ten years. We can send people to the moon and back safely, but we cannot operate an immigration system.

            Yes, I know that it doesn’t operate so that politicians can use the fear, uncertainty and doubt to drive their fundraising efforts. I see a whole lot of dysfunction that is intentional.

            So, what to do? Obviously, stop using immigration issues for fundraising. We will never get viable solutions when “There’s gold in them ills.” I see three possible actions which will be opposed by the political animals because they will reduce fundraising.

            First, before enacting immigration reform go back and see what was wrong with the 1986 Immigration Reform Act. Is it a problem of enforcement or wrong solutions? Second, endeavor to not have a shadow society since that isn’t good for anyone except politicians. Finally, find ways to have win win solutions instead of the normal political one side wins while the other side loses.

            I often say to never use a political solution for a non-political problem, be it education, the military, the economy or immigration. Finally, the political trolls on both sides who only want to call people names and make our society unpleasant, they cannot be part of any solution. We must make our society better despite the actions of our fundraising politicians.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Take the political fundraising out of immigration issues

Swickard: A state government too big to cut

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   It’s amazing watching the New Mexico Legislature. They want to name the Green Chile Cheeseburger as New Mexico’s Burger. But they are ignoring that Texas is about to get New Mexico’s crop water in court so the only Green Chile available for burgers may come from Colorado.

            And that’s not all. The Legislature was called into session primarily to deal with a large amount of money missing from the budget. The first thing said by some leaders in the House and Senate was that the New Mexico Government is too big to cut. Too many New Mexicans have been hired to fire any of them.

            They got that from the banking crisis of 2008. It worked for the bankers then and seems to be working now. Thanksgiving will be awful if some of the state worker cousins gets laid off and other do not.

            Since the state government cannot be cut, taxes must be raised. That is exactly what the citizens do not want. But the next election is many months away and many of the leaders in the Legislature didn’t have an opponent in this last election so the citizens have no control.

            Making it worse is the betrayal in the Legislature. Years ago, Governor Bill Richardson, who spent every second running for President of the United State had a plan to make New Mexico better and get lots of press while doing it. The food and medicine tax was abated while that amount of money was made up by raising fees.

            He was celebrated for his plan which almost got him to Washington but for a few details. New Mexico was out the money for his run at the Presidency but no one seems to care. Anyway, that Bill Richardson plan compensated by increasing fees for the loss of revenue from the tax on food and medicine.

            The rank and file New Mexicans paid the same amount of money out of the family budget each month but people who were struggling daily would struggle less. Fast forward to today where since the Legislature cannot cut the too big to cut state government they are going back to taxing food and medicine, but the fees are going to be raised also.

            To make us feel better, if that is possible, the Legislature is not putting all of the taxes back on food and medicine. But the counties were supposed to be held harmless by Richardson’s taking the taxes off food and medicine. The Legislature was supposed to make up the loss of taxes. Then the Legislature decided to not do that but let counties raise that money themselves in taxes. Already then taxes doubled since the fees were raised.

            The revenue was neutral when taxes were taken off food and medicine and fees to the state were raised. Counties then raised the taxes in their county since the Legislature would not share any of that extra state money from fees. Now the Legislature is bringing back taxes on food and medicine while raising the state fees even more. Essentially, the citizens got taken three times.

            And what the Legislature this session was supposed to do is fix the economy and find a way to deal with the loss of so much water in the Texas lawsuit. Without water for crops there isn’t going to be Green Chile, onions, alfalfa and Pecans. There will be plenty of pecan firewood for sale.

            These things will make the state much less attractive for businesses. Taxes going up and minimum wage going up. You know the minimum wage is price-fixing. It’s fixing the price of labor. Politicians don’t care.

            What’s the tipping point in New Mexico? The edge where many businesses and citizens leave? When enough leave, the budget crisis gets worse. Can’t cut the state government because it is too big to cut. If New Mexico had enemies who wanted to harm the state, what would they do differently in the Legislature? Nothing.

            We will find out what Green Chile Cheeseburgers made with Colorado green chile taste like since the Legislature is doing nothing to replace the water lost to Texas. At least the green chile isn’t coming from New York City.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is availableat Amazon.com  

Swickard: A state government too big to cut

Swickard: From video games to real revolution

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.   It seems we, as a nation, are becoming more violent and aggressive. Several of us were talking after the Super Bowl that many of the commercials were very violent. People killing people seemed to be most shown. And it seems to reflect the way people are acting in our society.

            Perhaps we are just oldsters who pine for the good old days of a different century. But today many people are beyond aggressive as seen on Facebook and on our highways. When I was younger this behavior would get you a punch in the nose at the very least.

            It could be something else. I remember writing a column in 1993 that included:

            He was six years old with an innocent angelic face. As I was talking to his mother I noticed him looking at a sales catalog so I asked, “Did you see something you want for your birthday?”

            He said, “I want this video game.”

            The game seemed extremely violent. I asked, “Why this game?”

            He said, “It’s got the very best fatalities.”

            “Excuse me?” I must have heard wrong.

            “It has the very best fatalities,” he repeated. I asked, “What makes for the very best fatalities?”

            He grinned. “When blood spurts out, their bones show and their skin burns off while they die.”

            I was very shocked by this small child wanting the very best fatalities. His mother told me most young kids feel the same way about those games which is why there are so many violent games on the market.

            There has been concern about what appears to be increasing violence in our society. I believe the reason we have so much violence in America is that many Americans simply like violence. The enjoyment of violence is a many year product of the entertainment industry.

            There are gentle people and violent people here in America. It is hard to spot any difference in their general appearance. The lambs and lions lay down together but only one gets up. The lions enjoy violence while the lambs do not.

            There are times when violence is the only option. Still, even after thousands of years, the same blood lust central to the society which enjoyed going to the Roman Coliseum to watch gladiators kill each other, is alive in our own society.

            In a few years, the young boy who likes fatalities may move to real death on the streets. At the murder trial a lawyer may call his mother to the stand. She will admit she allowed her son to enjoy violence. Society must decide what to do with him once it has been established how much he enjoys the very best fatalities.

            That’s what I wrote in 1993. Over the years, I have seen many young people who are far more aggressive than people in past years. There is also the anonymous ability of some people to be jerks without getting the punch in the snout they deserve.

            Which takes us to the violent protestors that have sprung up in the last year in response to police actions and Donald Trump being elected President of the United States. The police are the police and as to the election, like it or not there is no way to go back. Donald Trump is now the president of our country.

            But we are seeing people block highways, set fires and generally throw a tantrum over the election results. They are blocking ambulances and damaging property. People are randomly being assaulted as our society is moving toward ever more violence.

            There is a concern that another Civil War is breaking out with those people unable to accept the results of the November 2016 election. They are acting out against the society. One state, California, is talking about leaving the United States but it isn’t that easy since the people of the state are citizens of the entire country.

            Could it be that so many of these protesters are acting out roles that they have experienced in video games and so are divorced from reality. That easily could be. I don’t know why they seem to enjoy the chaos they cause. But this won’t end well for any of us.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: From video games to real revolution

Swickard: It's raining hard so use the $15B

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  I was wrong recently when I wrote about not using any of the New Mexico Permanent Fund. It’s a resource for when New Mexico runs out of money from the extractive industries. New Mexico has saved a portion from every oil and gas dollar made in a rainy-day fund.

            Proponents of raiding the Permanent Fund are looking for a small percentage to politically increase the number of people working for New Mexico in Pre-school education and family support. They say the $15 billion is just waiting for a worthy project.

            Let’s take it all right now. New Mexico is dead last in almost every category. We as a state are on our backs in a pond with a rock on our chest looking up at the sky with lifeless eyes.

            New Mexico cannot compete against other states because of our problems in education, transportation, job creation, fighting crime, poverty and other measures. Businesses are moving from the Snow Belt to the Sun Belt but not to New Mexico.

            We have billions of dollars for a rainy day. If this isn’t a rainy day I don’t know rainy days. The leaders of New Mexico need to take most of that $15 billion fund and use it wisely.

            Don’t use it as a political bonus for those politicos who won elections such that the winning party members all get thousands of dollars. That would not change anything in New Mexico except for a few people who would now have new boats.

            The Permanent Fund was created by extraction of energy in our state. Oil and gas built the fund over the years. As a nation, our energy industry allows us to have the society we have. Without abundant and inexpensive energy, our nation and New Mexico would not be doing well, even as well as last place New Mexico.

            There are three problems that need to be addressed with the $15B or a large percentage of that money. They are: energy availability at a good price, water availability at a good price. Finally, New Mexico needs a sustainable economy.

            First, let’s consider energy. There are huge changes in the nuclear power generation industry such that the horror of Chernobyl or Fukushima nuclear problems are not appropriate to consider. Why? Because those were first and second generation nuclear systems that failed.

            We are considering fifth generation systems that are very economical and safe. By economical the price of a small modular unit is about $3B to generate 550 MW of power. New Mexico needs three units so they can take one offline for maintenance without disrupting the state.

            Here is what will change New Mexico. Nuclear plants run best at 100 percent so there would be lots of extra power available at times. What to do with it? The first task of excess power is the desalinization of brackish water which New Mexico has lots of to turn into good water.

            New Mexico could have abundant good water for Agriculture at essentially very little cost. Lots of jobs and businesses would follow inexpensive power and plenty of good water. What else to do with the extra power from the three units?

            New Mexico could make hydrogen fuel for the coming generation of clean hydrogen vehicles. The money from electric, water and hydrogen would go to the budget with some rebuilding the Permanent Fund.

            The fund could jump start the state’s ability to attract good companies who would provide good jobs for New Mexicans. To have plenty of good water is essential along with plenty of money for transportation infrastructure. Finally, all the improvements must be sustainable. That’s the tough part.

            Regardless of which political party holds the reins of power, the structure of improvements must be impervious to political design. Not sure we can do it, but we can try. Currently, New Mexico has all that money sitting doing nothing but functioning as a rainy-day fund and giving some money to the budget.

            It is time to make a radical change in the structure of New Mexico’s future. It will take both political parties and the citizens voting to make this happen. If not, New Mexico will continue to be last in everything.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: It's raining hard so use the $15B