Immigration issues

Dear editor,

On public television I viewed a segment about the struggle of the Italian immigrants when they first arrived on our shores.

They came here to escape incredible economic hardship and the crushing political cruelty they faced in their country.

When they came here, no one offered them anything for free. If they were able to find a job, it paid very little and often was dangerous.

They were exploited economically and the police executed some of them because the public and the authorities conjured up the idea that many Italians belonged to what they termed the Mafia.

Actual organized crime came much later. A protest march against police brutality probably wouldn't have been received well.

There should have been a law against how they were treated, yet they persisted. The men who lived and were able to make enough money brought their families from the old country to our shores and struggled to start over and build a new life in spite of any hardships.

Let's fast-forward all the way to President Obama's 2015 State of the Union address. He is such a gifted speaker and I admit I was a bit mesmerized thinking many of his ideas seemed like really good ones.

But after catching the news from various sources and reading a bit, reality is setting in. And now, I'm thinking his proposals are a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic to make everyone comfortable while ignoring the eminent dangers below that are threatening to sink us for sure.

Giving parents paid sick leave and child care tax credit seems like an excellent idea, but providing free college and tapping into our already faltering Social Security fund by giving free benefits to illegal immigrants might not be advisable. The reason we shouldn't do that is because somebody has to pay for it and that somebody is us, and we are already $18 trillion in debt.

We owe 120 trillion dollars worth of entitlements to our own citizens. We would crash and burn without borrowing staggering amounts of money. We owe japan almost much as we owe to China.

If we don't become more fiscally responsible our grandchildren and great grandchildren may have to do without a lot more than an affordable college education.

ISIS has grown from an organization with 5,000 members to a formidable army of 20,000. The FBI admits they can't begin to keep track of U.S. citizens who have joined ISIS and may have returned home or other suspect individuals who reside within our shores who may wish to do us harm. Homeland Security is running out of funding.

If Oliver North is telling the truth, President Obama has reduced our nuclear arsenal from 3,000 to 1,500 warheads and would like to reduce it down to 300. All the departments of the military have been drastically slashed and plans for new fighter jets and other more advanced weaponry has been abandoned.

Iran has missiles capable of reaching our cities, and it seems that negotiations are not going well. Their Iranian minister has been screaming at John err and insisting they need 120 times more plutonium enrichment than they already had.

China and Russia have multiplied their nuclear arsenals. China has far surpassed us economically.

If we keep shrinking back from world leadership perhaps China or Russia may step up to the plate. I wonder what the wold would be like with ruthless communists in charge.

Making all things equal is a nice idea, but perhaps our government should focus on their more basic functions outlined in the Constitution. That being to keep order, balance the budget and to defend us from our enemies.

A recent NRC survey asked if people thought we ought to have a missile defense system similar to israel's Iron Dome. Sounds like a winner to me.

if the children who live near Ellis Island or on the shores of Louisiana where the Italian immigrants first arrived are killed in a terrorist attack or by nuclear means paying for their college won't be a concern.

It is said that Democrats have more compassion and that Republicans are better at reasoning. If we don't start using our heads, some really bad things could happen.

An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure and a boatload of political correctness. Foresight is the highest form of compassion. Call your congressmen.

Janine Hall,

McCook, Nebraska