Immigration reform

I propose immigration reform that’ll be cost effective, not require border fences or cause additional financial expenditure by federal or state governments. It will also open up millions of jobs within one year.

Give every business owner (or individual) a one-year notice that undocumented workers in their business or homes won’t be tolerated.

If an undocumented worker is found to be working in a business after June 2014, that business will have to forfeit 10 percent of its annual value to the government as a fine.

If an undocumented worker is used by an individual, that individual will forfeit 10 percent of his/her yearly income to the government as a fine.

If a second undocumented worker is found to be working for the business or individual, the company or individual will give up another 10 percent to the government. And so on.

This will put a sufficient penalty on every company or individual to ensure that they’ll not hire undocumented workers. This will open up millions of jobs for our unemployed and cause undocumented workers to get documented (via a green card) or go back to their respective countries on their own nickel. These undocumented workers would then be free under the current immigration rules to get in line with others who are applying for citizenship.

FOR RAIL EXTENSION

The city of Wichita, Kan., wants to extend passenger rail between Wichita and Oklahoma City. Expanding Amtrak service to Wichita would be the best thing to happen to Oklahoma in years. Rail transportation is the most energy efficient means of transportation. A modern train is capable of achieving 750 gross ton miles per gallon of fuel. This is measured by weight in tons times the miles per gallon. No other mode of transportation can do this. With all tracks capable of being electrified with power generated from every source of energy, a train could literally go from coast to coast nonstop without burning one drop of oil for fuel. No other mode of transportation can do this.

FINDING THE FUNDS

When discussions start about the state helping schools fund storm shelters, the conversation inevitably turns to the lack of funds available to pay for such a costly project. But according to a recent poll, three out of four Oklahomans would support state-mandated storm shelters in all public primary schools. Like many Oklahomans, I’m concerned about the safety of our students. I wonder what our elected officials plan to do to assist schools in protecting our children. Why can’t Gov. Mary Fallin and the Legislature step up and repeal the recent state income tax cut and redirect that money to schools to build storm shelters?

Repealing the tax cut would make $237 million available annually for shelters and this amount collected annually could go far in helping schools build shelters. When you look at what the tax cut adds to the average Oklahoma family’s take-home pay, it’s between $20 and $81 annually. Unfortunately, this amount won’t do much to help the average Okla- homan. Pooled together, though, this could make a huge difference in helping schools protect our children.

We must hold our elected officials accountable. We need to ask them if repealing the state income tax cut and redirecting the money to the schools to help build storm shelters is a possibility. If not, where could they find the money to help? Do they even plan to try to secure the money?

KEEP SIDEWALKS COMING

Crews are putting the finishing touches on a stretch of sidewalks along NW 23 between Villa and Pennsylvania avenues. Now the 23rd Street corridor, between Interstates 44 and 35, will have continuous sidewalks along this major arterial. It’s been a series of both different sidewalk projects and funding sources that has tied this 6-mile-long corridor together.

Yes, Oklahoma City has a long way to go. In fact, Oklahoma City Councilman Ed Shadid frequently reminds us that we’re paying for the consequences of building no sidewalks for 40 years (1960 to 2000), except those that developers built on their own. Since 2000, however, we’re seeing evidence of new sidewalks all over the city, thanks to a citizenry and the city council who want to see a more walkable city. Let’s keep talking about sidewalks. Let’s keep them coming!

TRUST ISSUES

Before we jump on the Barack Obama “trust us to protect you” bandwagon, consider Franklin D. Roosevelt’s executive order in 1942 “protecting” us from Japanese-Americans by rounding up thousands of them and sending them to “relocation centers” in five states for nearly three years. Another more distant “trust your government” example is the treatment American Indians got under the guise of “preventing conflict” with white settlers, especially since the tribes were occupying land that the settlers wanted!

Without trying to seem paranoid about Big Brother, how much of a stretch is it to be labeled a danger to the government by those in power and be relegated to the same, or worse, fate as the victims in the above examples?

CONGRESS IRRELEVANT

The legislative branch is a scam and a sham. Even if Congress passed a bill putting 1,000 Abrams tanks, deploying 300,000 Marines armed with bazookas and planting a million Claymore mines along the border, and even if they provide 2,500 Apache helicopters armed with stinger missiles and deploy three aircraft carriers in the Rio Grande, it won’t matter because President Barack Obama will ignore the law and do what he wants. He’s ignored many laws of the land, including the Defense of Marriage Act.

So having a Congress doesn’t matter because no one can make the executive branch enforce laws they don’t want to enforce.