How F-up is the VA

This is to talk about the current VA system and just how bad it is. First, I am a Desert Storm veteran and was over there for all 3 phases. Did you know that if you joined the service after a certain date, which I did in 1989, then you are not eligible for medical benefits unless you pass a MEANS test, which is a financial statement showing that you are a lower income person. What I mean is when I first applied for benefits I was denied because at that time I made 40k a year, but per their test I need to make less than 24k a year. Really, combat veterans need to be poor to get medical benefits? Sorry I have to call B.S. to that. All veterans should be eligible for benefits, not just poor ones.
So here's a kicker for you, last year I was out of work for 1/2 the year and I only made around 15k so yeah, I'm now poor enough to receive benefits. I go down and enroll in the VA- that was about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I currently still don't have my VA ID card because the system to make IDs is still down. Wait, I'm telling you that veterans can't get something as simple as an ID card made, YES that's right. How F-up is a system that can't do something as basic as ID cards.
Now for something more personal about the VA care that I need to tell you. In my opinion and the opinion of my family, the VA is directly responsible for the death of my father. My father was a veteran and he went to the VA for hip surgery after a fall. He had the surgery and was in good spirits when I left the hospital. When I came in next he was catatonic. I found out that he was not given blood thinners after surgery. He had a blood clot that got into his lungs, cutting off oxygen to his brain for up to 2 hours. No one can say for sure how long he was oxygen deprived but not more than 2 hours. What the hell, they can't tell me and my sisters more than that. He stayed like this for several months. He had to be given a feeding tube, which became infected causing sepsis and killing him. I  may be able to use the VA medical now but it will only be for general stuff. There is no way in HELL I would go for any major medical issues unless I have no other choices available to me.
So how bad is the VA? They can't make simple ID cards. They, I pray unintentionally, can kill someone  and what are the consequences of all this, NOTHING. You can't sue, you can't raise to much of a fuss, and they just keep on rolling along without any cares in the world. We have to do something for our veterans, it won't be easy but we must do something. Our veterans risk their lives, we at least owe them more than they are currently getting. Lets look at ways to make them accountable. We also need to see what can be done to improve the overall care.

Immigration Compromise

Let's unify America, not divide it more. President-elect Trump, we have to stop cities like Chicago and states like California from trying to pass laws that are designed to bypass federal law concerning immigration. But remember, we need Americans to come together so we need something that is a reasonable compromise. If you truly want to make America great again, we need ALL of America to do that. You cannot run America strictly like your business; we must compromise, not just direct. Please take a look at a suggestion that I have come up with that I believe is a reasonable compromise and works well for America and immigrants.

During the first 120 days in office, all illegal immigrants may apply for citizenship and get a work visa or student visa without worrying about being deported. This does several things for our great country. One, it helps to create unity and bring us all closer together because we are working towards a common goal. Two, it gives our government 120 days to review, revise, and correct current immigration reform making it easier and faster to become a US citizen, which in the long run is what we all want. Finally, it allows the government time to perform background checks to make sure the immigrants are the type of honest individuals that we want and need in this country.

Here are some thoughts on reform that could be helpful:

1) If an individual has been in this country for 5 years and, during that time, has done everything they can to be a productive member of society, has no criminal record, has paid their taxes, and can pass a citizenship test, then they should be given citizenship.
2) If they have been here 5 years but didn't pay taxes or have a non-violent misdemeanor, then they should be put on a 2-year probationary period at the end of which they can receive their citizenship.
3) If they have been here less than 5 years, they must complete an additional 5 year probationary period.
4) Finally, after the 120-day amnesty period, anyone choosing not to work towards getting their citizenship will be deported if and when caught.

We have to do something to help everyone. This country was founded on the idea that all men are created equal and we were all immigrants to begin with. This country is the greatest country on this earth because of our diversity and we must welcome that diversity.

President-elect Trump's Video on First 100 Days

I have had to do a lot of research about the current president-elect, his transition, and the posting of his first 100 days. So now is the time to really let people see that I am very serious about running in 2020 and start letting everyone know what I think. Some of the things I will be positing about are the first 100 days, the Electoral College, nominees for cabinet seats, and current political parties. I will give you my honest opinion, what I believe is correct, can be improved, and is just not right. Trust me, I'm not saying that everything I believe is correct but it is the best answers I can give with the information I have.

Let's start with President-elect Trump's video about his first 100 days in office. I am going to breakdown each point he brought up.

Trans Pacific Trade Deal - First, he said he will be pulling out of the Trans Pacific trade deal. I'm not going to read over the trade deal because it is currently over 1,000 pages long and and no legal document should be that long. This is ridiculous and, yes, we should pull out if for no other reason than anything that long is going to have so much hidden B.S. in it, well, it can't be all that good for everyone involved. Now we should be willing to throw the current thing in the trash and start over. This time, not in secret and it should never take years to work out.

Energy - He simply said he is going to cancel restrictions on fracking, oil drilling, and more. Well, yes, we do need to cut back on some of these restrictions but let's not get too carried away either. Some, maybe even a lot, were put into place to save our environment. We have to be able to have balance here. You could definitely get started on this in the first 100 days but it is going to take time to really look at them and figure out what works best. Don't just try throwing it all out then hopefully going back and fixing it after shit happens as it always does.

Regulations - He said for every one new regulation, Congress would have to get rid of two old regulations. This sounds good but we need a lot more clarification on what he is referring to. I'm guessing for every new one, then two old ones considering the same regulation must go. Again, not a bad plan but there will have to be compromises on this, as well as a long talk about what to do away with. Also, is he referring to strictly regulations or is he also talking about general laws? All I can say is right idea but we need more information before we can consider this good or bad.

National security - This one really got me: national security. His plan is to go ask for a plan. Duh. I believe they have been doing that for a while. I understand that he may not be in on everything right now, because I know I can't talk about it. I don't know anything they know. But seriously - plan to make a plan? Get real. How about review their current plan then talk about ways to improve it?

Immigration - Next, on immigration, he wants a current review of all abuses to visa programs. That's it? Again, let's get serious. How about something more like this, my idea: I would say all current illegal immigrants have my first 100 days to go register for a visa - work, student, or whatever - without worrying about being deported. After the 100 days, if you chose not to try and do things legally then, if you are caught, you will be deported and have great difficulty ever getting a visa. Then, during that 100 day period, we need to work to make the process of becoming a citizen more viable. I'll expand more on this topic at a later date.

Ethics reform - Finally, ethics reform. To be honest, I'm still doing some research on this topic. However, Trump said he wants a five-year ban on executive officials becoming lobbyists and a lifetime ban on becoming a lobbyist for a foreign government. This makes sense to me so I would go along with that.

Original post from November 29, 2016

Running for President 2020

I am posting this to tell everyone: the election is finally over. But, unfortunately, we had to choose between people none of us really liked. It was more of a matter of wanting the other in office less. So I have decided to run for president in 2020 because I promised myself if we have a situation where all nominees suck then I’ll run. I’ve already been informed that because I am just an average guy I have no chance. Well, I don’t care what others have to say. I’ve decided to get off my butt and at least try and do something about it. So this will be the longest campaign ever, but I have to get my name out there to start with. So please follow me on my campaign Facebook, Twitter, and website (all of which are currently being worked on). That way you can see if I just might be what we need in 2020.


Original post from November 9, 2016