Gov. Wolf adopts Detroit economic plan

MORE SPENDING, NO EFFICIENCIES, MORE TAXES

BUDGET WILL HASTEN THE ECONOMIC DECLINE OF STATE

Governor Wolf 's new budget for 2016-2017 is an escalation of the 2015-2016 budget that is still stalled in Harrisburg. The budget is $32.7 billion, a 9% increase over last year's budget, which has not yet been passed. It requires a sales tax of 6.6% and an income tax of 3.7%. This is a 10% increase in the sales tax and a 20% increase in the income tax. I would like to know how many of the states residents have had a 20% increase in their income?  Pennsylvania is now rated as the tenth highest tax state in the country, it looks like the governor is shooting to be number one.  He also wants to borrow $3 billion to help pay for the state pension fund, in an attempt to pass on this obligation to our children and grandchildren. PSERS reports that the contribution to the state teachers' pension this year is 30.03% of teachers salary. This pension fund has annually paid out 2.5 billion in excess of contributions and investment return for the last 5 years. These differences in the return on investment are made up by the taxpayers of the state. It is now unfunded by over $51 billion. You can see by the chart below the projected contribution by the school districts, this is assuming a 7.5% return. This return is highly unlikely and the reality will be much more. Borrowing money to subsidize the pension fund will not fix this problem, nor will raising taxes on the citizens.

PROJECTED EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION RATES AND TOTAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS *(Presumes a 7.5% rate of return)
Fiscal Year Ending June	Total Employer Contribution Rate %	Projected Total Employer Contribution
16/17	30.03	$4,068,765,000
17/18	32.04	$4,376,026,000
18/19	33.27	$4,662,017,000
19/20	34.20	$4,919,810,000
20/21	33.51	$4,951,277,000
21/22	33.51	$5,087,398,000
22/23	33.75	$5,262,621,000
23/24	33.84	$5,416,727,000
24/25	33.94	$5,574,748,000
25/26	34.18	$5,759,285,000

If you look at the economic path this governor is charting, it is exactly the same kind of fiscal mismanagement that has led to the decline of cities like Detroit and that is also threatening many northeastern states. The policy is to not address unsustainable policies of the past. The most pressing unsustainable policy is the benefits of government workers, that are way out of line with the private sector. By raising taxes to try to accommodate public union workers, thus transferring money from the citizens to the government employees, leads to less business activity and then another round of tax increases to sustain the revenue. Pennsylvania's population has been stagnant for years.  As this pattern continues, businesses continue to leave or not settle in the state, younger workers follow the job opportunities and lower taxes in the south and west. Public workers use their political power to ensure their benefits are maintained, then often retire to low tax states in the south and west. The population becomes older and less affluent, if this cycle is not broken the state will continue to decline until it reaches a tipping point that will be almost impossible to rescue. Pennsylvania had 30 US representatives in 1963, in 2013 it now has 18 seats and is due to loose 2 more US representatives in the future.

Raising the sales tax will create a disadvantage for the businesses located in the state. People have many more options to purchase items from other states without the tax. I see many empty stores in the area now - raising the sales tax will put the remaining stores at a further disadvantage. If state income declines due to less activity caused by the higher taxes, then the pattern is repeated to increase the taxes to sustain the revenues; this is a recipe for disaster. The legislature has attempted to break this cycle...it is resisted primarily by the government worker unions, who believe they deserve elite benefits compared to the rest of their neighbors. The Governor has now openly stated that there will not be any compromise on his budget and is willing to make the 2016 elections a referendum for higher taxes and elitist benefits for his political supporters. This is great gamble on the Governor's part, I believe there will be a brutal fight coming.

Stars aligning for Trump

NEVADA AND SOUTH CAROLINA SOLIDIFY LEADERS

CRUZ CAMPAIGN STUMBLES

 

Hillary Clinton stops Bernie Sanders momentum in Nevada and with Hillary polling way out in front in South Carolina it looks like she is on a straight line to the nomination. While Sanders may be able to challenge in some states, Hillary has outbid Sanders for the minority vote, which is making up a large share of the Democratic voters. This and the fact that she has the inside line on the super delegates it is very unlikely that Sanders will prevail.

Donald Trump wins in South Carolina by 10 points. This looked to be a brutal struggle in this state where there were definitely some winners and losers. Trump was knocked down some by the negative campaign of Cruz and Bush as well as his poor showing in the debate. Cruz had more self damage in the amateurish attempts at dirty campaigning, using photo-shopped lies with Rubio, and using statements by Trump that were out of context. Cruz had plenty of legitimate ammo to fire at Trump, but the obvious misrepresentations hurt his credibility.  This, along with his tricks against Ben Carson in Iowa, may have permanently damaged him. Then there were statements by his campaign ally Glen Beck, that stated,"Scalia's death was a sign from God that voters needed to vote for Cruz to name his replacement." I believe that this will hurt his chances of being a vice-presidential candidate or a supreme court justice. He should have immediately chastised Beck if he wanted to have a chance in the future.  Rubio was the surprise second place finisher and came out of  South Carolina stronger than he went in. Rubio has now become the obvious establishment candidate, with endorsements by Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and I assume a flood of other endorsements. This may be the death knell for Rubio as establishment endorsements may hang like a weight around his neck. Jeb Bush finally ended his campaign, which was the best thing for him and his family. It was never meant to be; he would be wise to just stay out of this race in any way.

Looking ahead, Trump is polling very well in Nevada and the races on Mar. 1. There is a debate on Feb. 25th and he needs to now become presidential and above the fray. He can dismiss most of the incoming as the attempts of desperate candidates. He can label Cruz as dishonest, and Rubio as boyish and desperate. He if settles down, slows down in his delivery, and better articulates his positions, he will not likely be stopped. In a general election he has a good chance of bringing many democrat voters to his side. Hillary has been forced by Sanders to pander to black voters and black lives matter types. It is likely if this campaign goes long, Sanders voters, who are many and enthusiastic, will not be in a hurry to work for or come out for Hillary. While everyone thinks Trump can't beat Clinton, I would not underestimate Trump's ability to identify Hillary's weaknesses, which are many. While it may go down as the campaign of the century, Trump has at least a 50/50 chance of prevailing.

Has the Pope become the first global community activist.

POPE CONDUCTS POLITICAL RALLY ON U.S. BORDER

TRIES TO INFLUENCE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Is it a coincidence that the Pope makes his second visit to Cuba and conducts a rally on the US border during a crucial time in the Republican Primary Process?

A little history on Cuba. As a kid, I used to listen to my radio on a regular basis as I went to sleep. I remember as a 14 year old listening to the celebrations in New York City and the excitement of the media when Fidel Castro marched into Havana in 1959. I knew nothing about the real politics and assumed this was a great day, as everyone was leading us to believe.  I don't remember how long it took, but it was not very long that to our astonishment, we found out that Fidel and his cohorts were communists. We were led to believe that Fidel was a great deceiver, but in hindsight Fidel never tried to fool anyone. The media, and I can only assume many in government, knew very well who Fidel was.

It was not long till the realities of actual communism became apparent... firing squads, confiscation of property, torture and imprisonment of dissidents, millions fled to escape the great socialist experiment. When the economy failed, as it was destined to do, the Soviet Union stepped in to subsidize and support the country and the Castros. Over the years we have heard university professors and the media extol the virtues of the socialist state of Cuba. I wonder why none have repatriated themselves to this great place only 90 miles from Miami.  After the Soviet Union disbanded in the early 1990s, they were no longer in a position or had an inclination to support their allies in Cuba. But with a great sigh of relief, the Castros were saved by their new benefactor, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Hugo happened to also have his own firing squads, imprisonment policies, and confiscated private property. Chavez was praised by the same professors and media elites as a great savior of the poor and less fortunate. Due to oil wealth of the country, he was able to subsidize Cuba until the Venezuelan economy collapsed, as all socialist economies are destined to do. It was recently reported that there was not enough food and shortages of most basic necessities in Venezuela. The Castros were truly at a crisis moment.  Is it a coincidence that low and behold, we have a visit to Cuba by the Pope and again extolling the virtues of the communist state?  Is it also a coincidence that our great leader Barak Obama found that our policy was really the problem with the economy of Cuba and we will fix this by opening up relations with Cuba. The Castros have not changed their ways - they still imprison dissidents, do not allow private property and I doubt if they or their successors will. This is nothing more than a US bailout of the last bastion of communism in the world.

Now to the Pope, he has been traveling the world, condemning capitalism and free enterprise and trumpeting the virtues of socialism and the redistribution of wealth from the so-called prosperous (but if you objectively looked at their debt, near bankrupt nations) to less fortunate around the world.  So while we have Bernie Sanders and Obama doing all that they can do to confiscate and redistribute the wealth of the responsible and industrious in the USA, we also now have the Pope advocating the looting of America to redistribute to the world.  Again, is it a coincidence that he scheduled his itinerary to include a trip to the Mexican border in last days of the crucial South Carolina primary? Or that he called out Trump by name as being non-Christian for wanting to secure the border thereby being a reactionary to the causes of social justice.  It is sad to say that every advocate of redistribution will attempt to make Christian people feel guilty in order to attain their political agenda. This is being done to a point of asking them to commit cultural and economic suicide. 

The real teflon Don

TRUMP, BUSH, ON FOREIGN POLICY

IS TRUMP INVINCIBLE?

The new polls that came out today have shown Donald Trump holding a large lead in South Carolina and an even larger lead in Nevada. He is also leading in every poll in every state and in the nation. The opinion of all the analysts and all the supporters of the other candidates was that after his disparaging remarks about the reputation of former president George Bush, Trump's numbers would be collapsing in South Carolina. The conventional wisdom was that South Carolina is a military state, with large numbers of military personnel.  Bush has been proclaiming that he has been endorsed by long lists of generals and admirals, but the generals and admirals (all who are retired) have not been deployed to foreign lands, nor have they watched their friends and family members seriously injured and killed for a foreign policy that has shown no positive result for them or their families. I have little doubt that they and their families are ready for a reexamination of our foreign policy; they have sacrificed more than the politicians in Washington and the Republican establishment both of which are ever ready to interfere around the world.

While Trump's articulation of his positions may leave a lot to be desired, he has made it clear that he will not be assuming the same foreign policy that we have been following for the last 30 years. I do believe that Mitt Romney's insisting on continuing the same interventionist policy of the past was part of the reason for his defeat. The military is not opposed to war, but is tired of fighting battles with no end game, with no goal of victory, with no outcome to compensate them for their loss of blood and lives. Does anyone ever ask what this has done to the families of these soldiers? They cannot be expected to sacrifice endlessly. If your intention is to destroy the morale of your military, no one could have done a better job than Bush and Obama. I hear other candidates articulating how we need to depose Assad and establish democracy in the Middle East. They go as far as to say we may need to be there another 20 years. This is bullshit, plain and simple. We cannot afford to spend 20 years nation building anywhere, let alone the Middle East. 

The only other candidates who have articulated a change in foreign policy were Rand Paul, who is now gone, and Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton has pursued a similar policy of deposing foreign dictators without a plan of who will replace them. We have spent trillions and killed and wounded thousands with no positive result. Are we going to continue this policy, because it is what is on the conservative list of positions? Who has had the courage to question the wisdom of our foreign policy?

I see that Donald Trump lacks many qualities, but I see no point in expounding on them. I do believe that many Americans like myself see our country declining in many ways. Electing the revolving door of lawyers and politicians who deal exclusively in words and philosophical debates has not changed the direction of our country. I pretty much know where guys like Bush, Kasich, and Clinton will take us - they will manage the decline till there is nothing left to rescue. Bernie Sanders, I believe, would speed up the decline. I believe that Americans think we need to try something different and Trump seems to be who is there right now. If he is not successful, there will emerge someone else in the future. I don't think the political landscape will ever be the same. 

Yes, Bernie the game is rigged!

DELEGATE COUNT: CLINTON 394  SANDERS 44

BERNIE, FIGHT  INJUSTICE  IN  YOUR  OWN  PARTY  FIRST.

We hear from the Democrats that they are going to fight injustice wherever it may be, except in their own party. It was recently revealed that the Democrat party has a rigged primary system, where Hillary Clinton is assured of over 700 delegates before the voting begins. Yes, they can change their minds, but I doubt that Sanders can outbid Clinton with favors or positions like Hillary. Hillary has a good record of taking care of party insiders. Sanders is suspect; it's not known whether he will deliver the goods if elected.

  

Sanders had an overwhelming victory in New Hampshire and a dead draw (if not a win) in Iowa, and has now earned 36 delegates to 32 for Clinton. BUT adding in the SUPER DELEGATES, who are political hacks loyal to the Democrat establishment, the real count is Clinton 394 to Sanders 44. Where are the protesters, where are "Democrat votes matter" marchers? Where are the cries of fairness and justice? We will see how many hypocrites complain.

It takes 2382 delegates to wrap up the Democrat nomination. There are 712 super delegates, most of whom are committed to Hillary. So in effect Clinton has 30% of the delegates needed before any votes are cast.

Now, the Republicans are a little behind in rigging the game. They try to do it with proportional delegate counting and making certain states (where the insiders are hoping to do well) winner-take-all states. I don't think its going to work for the Republican establishment.

The Democrats have a much stronger chance of controlling who the candidate will be, but I do believe this election will be a turning point for both parties. They better play by fair rules or both parties may end up with a 4-party system with the old parties being a decided minority. No one can deny that Trump and Sanders have aroused the populace, and any shenanigans will not go unnoticed. 

ESTABLISHMENT GETS FLOGGED

OUTSIDERS  OVERWHELM  IN  NEW HAMPSHIRE

BUSH CLINTON ERA IN JEOPARDY

Bernie Sanders overwhelms Hillary Clinton with 60% of the vote in New Hampshire primary. Sanders has shown that his big crowds and strong support has allowed him to win with every category of voters except over 65 women. I at one time believed Sanders was a sparring partner for Clinton, but if that was the case, it is no longer. He has proved to be a strong campaigner with a solid message. While too far left for me, he is to be congratulated on his strong performance. It doesn't hurt that he does appear to be a genuinely honest politician, especially compared to his opponent. It will remain to be seen if he can duplicate this performance in South Carolina. If he can, Clinton will be in serious trouble. While it is no secret that the Democrat establishment has no use for Sanders, if he overwhelms Clinton, they will have to do the best they can with him. It is too late to bring in anyone else and if they try any shenanigans at the convention there will really be a revolution.

Donald Trump exceeded his polling with 35% of the vote in an 8-way race. His closest finisher was John Kasich with a distant 16%, Ted Cruz was third with 12%, and Jeb Bush fourth with 11%. Kasich spent most of his time in New Hampshire having 110 town meetings. He hasn't much preparation in South Carolina. While Cruz is fairly well-positioned in South Carolina, Trump has been ahead in the polls for some time. Jeb Bush will have to do well in South Carolina or he will be doomed.

Donald Trump is really in the best spot for South Carolina, having been to the state more than anyone else. The other 3 will need to crush the people next to them before they can really go after Trump. Trump will most likely spout a positive message and attempt to stay above the fray. The next debate will be interesting as it may be the last stand for several candidates.

The establishment Republicans have no use for Trump and even less for Cruz, but the day may come in the not too distant future, that it may be out of their hands. 

HEIGH -HO NOW THE WOMEN NEXT TO GO

YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY

WOMEN WILL SOON BE REQUIRED TO REGISTER FOR THE DRAFT

DO EQUAL RIGHTS ALWAYS REQUIRE EQUAL RESPONSIBILITY?

In testimony this week, Marine Corps Commander Gen. Robert Neller and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley agreed that the current policy, which requires only males to register for the Selective Service System, should be changed after restrictions that barred women from combat jobs were lifted last year.

"Every American who's physically qualified should register for the draft," declared both Neller and Milley at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The Supreme Court ruling in 1981 upholding Congress's restriction on requiring women to register for the draft was on the basis that women were restricted from combat therefore they would not be needed in the event of a draft. "The existence of combat restrictions clearly indicates the basis for Congress' decision to exempt women from registration,"  declared Justice William Rehnquist.

The above restrictions no longer apply. Although it is supposedly up to Congress to make this decision, it will be decided by the courts, who will now have no choice but to declare that the current policies are discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The military, while currently meeting their enrollment quotas, has been complaining that the quality of many new recruits is below the standards needed in a modern military. Adding women to the mix would double the number of available candidates.

The active military and the reserves have been subjected to 12 years of almost constant deployment. This will no doubt eventually have an effect on their ability to recruit qualified people at some point in the future. In the last draft era there were college and other deferments, these also will definitely be struck down in the future by the courts.

If this policy is consummated, and I believe it will be, it will result in the largest increase in the birth rate since post WW2.

Rico Abreu, an inspiration to all

RICO ABREU THE NEW AUTO RACING PHENOM

YES YOU CAN

Rico Abreu was born January 30, 1992, his racing started with dirt bikes, then moved to outlaw carts at age 15. In 2011 Abreu met Kyle Larson who introduced him to Sprint car racing. During his first year he won his first Outlaw sprint car race. He would win Rookie of the Year in the 360 sprint car division that year. In 2012 he won the rookie of the year award in the USAC National Midget series. In 2013 he won the Bellview Midget nationals, the Johnny Key classic at Ocean speedway, the 4 crown Nationals at Eldoro and the USAC gold crown at Tri city Speedway . In 2014 he won the WoO race at Thunderbowl raceway and later the USAC Honda Midget Series Title. In 2015 He won the famous Chili bowl. In 2016 he repeated his win at the chili Bowl.  Below is a video of his victory celebration after his win last week at the 2016 Chili Bowl. 



Rico is 4 ft. 4" and weighs 94 pounds. He was born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that is the common cause of dwarfism. His race cars are specially modified so he can reach the pedals and controls. He is signed in 2016 to drive in the Nascar Truck series. If you find what it is that you love to do, anything is possible.

Hillarys private server, emails

FBI, OBAMA AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT COLLISION

THE COMING SHOWDOWN AT THE NOT-OK CORRAL

"OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE" Sir Walter Scott, 1808

If there was ever a famous quotation that applied to current events it is the above by Sir Walter Scott. I guess it is sort of an eternal truth - lies beget more lies. The ongoing saga of Hillary Clinton's emails and private server brought new revelations this week as it was revealed that 22 emails were classified as "too secret" to release to the public. Additionally, there were many emails that had the involvement of the President and they were to remain secret due to executive privilege.  This is just the latest in the release of thousands of emails that have been dribbled out by the State Department. There are still many questions to be asked and many to be answered. I have a few questions that I have not heard answered.

1. Why did Hillary have a private server, which was against all federal government rules that require all communications to be archived? She claims it was for convenience - she did not want to change her email address and wanted to use 1 device. This was a lie because she has been videoed using many different devices. She and her husband have been in Washington for nearly 25 years - 8 of those years in the White House - she knew the rules. Let's face it - she didn't want any record of her official or unofficial communications.

2. What was she doing that she wanted to hide from the government that she worked for?  Hillary has spent more time traveling the world than most Secretaries of State. It appears that often no one really knew what she was doing.  There is much evidence that she was soliciting funds for the Clinton Foundation. There also seems to be a connection to the funds received by the Foundation and  speaking gigs for Bill Clinton and for her after she left the State Department. Bill alone earned over $90 million in speaking fees since 2001. Hillary gets up to $250,000 per speech; many are at private events without press coverage. What better way to launder kick-back money than a 45-min speech for $250,000. Bill also received a $500,000 speaking fee for a 45 min speech in Israel.

3. The Clinton Foundation has officially raised over $2 billion since its inception. This includes $10 million from Saudi Arabia and $2.35 million from a Canadian mining financier that Hillary helped to get a mining concession in Kazakhstan. It has also been reported that up to 1100 other foreign donations have never been reported.

4. We have been told that the NSA is monitoring everything in America. Did they know about the private server and the e-mails? Did anyone ask?

5. Who else in the Obama administration is using or has used an unofficial server?

The next question is will the Justice department indict Hillary Clinton for things much more severe that those of General David Petraeus, who was fired and prosecuted? Is Obama going to hold the indictment over Hillary as leverage, so she will not run against his record? Are Hillary's underlings, Huma Abedin and others, willing to take the fall for this in the hope that she will be elected President and can then pardon them?

HILLARY WINS 6 COIN TOSSES IN ROW

FINALLY, VOTING IN 2016 RACES

CRUZ HAS STRONG SHOWING

Bernie Sanders almost wins in Iowa, or maybe he will still win in a couple of weeks. The Democrat Party and Hillary Clinton have declared victory even though the votes from 90 districts are still missing. Hillary Clinton, (Wonder Woman) not only seems to have won by 0.2% of the vote, but in the same fashion as she was able to make $100,000 in the cattle futures market, she was able to win 6 other tied districts by a flip of a coin...6 for 6 is a wonder indeed. Bernie better get UN inspectors to watch the voting if he hopes to have any chance of winning. Why is it no one trusts the Clintons?

As for the Republicans, the greatest show on earth now moves to New Hampshire. Ted Cruz won Iowa by 4% of the vote, which is actually the percent he was ahead till the last 2 weeks of the election.  Even the 28 to 24 margin over Trump was very close to those polls. Trump went up and obviously back down; was this due to him skipping the debate or is it all a New Yorker can expect to get in Iowa? Who knows. The big surprise was Marco Rubio coming in a close 3rd with 23%  of the vote. He'll now need to put on a helmet and a flack jacket, as he will be taking incoming from Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich and probably Ted Cruz. Hopefully it will not get so severe as to have New Hampshire voters move out of the state till after the election.

While Iowa was the must-win state for Ted Cruz (as it was his state to lose, which he did not), New Hampshire will be the graveyard for a long list of establishment candidates who have staked their run on this state.  Most of the establishment did not strongly participate in Iowa and a poor showing in New Hampshire will send them packing. After New Hampshire probably 4 more will give it up.

If  Marco Rubio does well in New Hampshire (at least 3rd) he will get the backing of the donor class. He can expect unlimited money and also assistance in destroying Cruz and Trump. If this turns out to be a long brutal primary, it will probably not go well for the Republicans.

 

Greatest migration since WW2

IMMIGRATION HAS BECOME GLOBAL ISSUE

CRISIS WORSENS IN EUROPE

Watching some of the Republican debate the other night, it was obvious the conversation about illegal and legal immigration has become a very controversial issue. The United States has had a lax policy on enforcing our borders for many years. In the early days of the Republic it was common for people to cross between Mexico and the United States without checkpoints or regulation. Most of the early populations of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona were there before those states became part of the US. I doubt that many would now choose to become part of Mexico. Of course, in the early days we did not have welfare, public education, food stamps or any other socialist programs. This is where the problems began. There have always been migrant workers that crossed the border for work. This benefited both Mexican laborers and US employers. As the US expanded the benefits that are available, more decided it was better to stay and take advantage of those benefits here because they were far superior to any across the border. There are many people who advocate open borders without limits, including libertarian advocates as well as politicians with other agendas. Many businesses like the fact that immigrants depress wages in all labor type jobs. Most Democrat politicians want to issue drivers licenses and give legal status so they can add these people to the voter rolls and then use the threat of  deportation to keep the migrants voting for them. There are probably 30 million people south of the border who would enter this country if they perceived it to be risk free. If anyone believes we could absorb this many mostly uneducated unskilled immigrants and their children without a straining of the social services of this country and a general lowering of the standard of living of resident Americans, they are in fantasyland. In the 1980s President Reagan agreed to a package of immigration rules that legalized 3 million illegal immigrants with the understanding that the borders would be secured and this was a one time deal. The immigrants were legalized, but the border was not secured. This is why immigration reform failed in the last few years - because no one believed that Obama would ever secure the border and another 10 million would be legalized.  This would encourage another 30 or 40 million to head for the border. It is now assumed that no further action will be taken on this until the border is secured and the visa programs are upgraded.

In the last few years we have watched as thousands, and maybe millions, of uncontrolled immigrants and refugees have headed for Europe. One of the rules of the EU is that people can cross the borders of member countries without regulation. If they can make it to a member country like Greece they can then travel wherever they want in Europe. You will take notice they are not trying to get to Russia or Poland or other countries without universal social services. Members of the EU must provide services to refugees according to their charter. It is no wonder that most have set their sights on Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and those countries with the most liberal benefits. I watched an interview with a Middle Eastern immigrant on C-Span - he was living for 9 months in an isolated apartment building in Germany with others and they were receiving food, medical care, and a monthly check. He stated he had yet to have a conversation with, or had seen, a German. We have seen the New Years Eve attacks in Cologne, Germany where hundreds of women were being attacked, abused and raped by young immigrant men.  It has been common practice of these young men, who do not share western values concerning women, to grope any women who is available.  We now see that the governments of Europe are beginning to question the situation and are deporting and restricting the increase in migrants. This situation has slowed for now, but when spring arrives, I would not be surprised if we will see more restrictions and eventually the deportation of large numbers of these people. It will then become a crisis beyond imagination.
 

We have just focused on the quantitative problem of the influx of immigrants, not even mentioning the possibility of potential terrorists from the Middle East and the agents of the drug cartels from the south. There is also the problem of human trafficking of the poor people who are just trying to find a better place to live. A strict control of our borders would allow a systematic and regulated legal immigration in numbers that could be assimilated into our system in a orderly way.  While we now have a serious problem with illegal immigration, not just across the southern border, but from many parts of the world, including refugees from the Middle East, we still have the opportunity, if we take action now, to keep this a manageable problem that will not be a risk to our social and economic well-being.