SOAPBOX #1

 

SOAPBOX #1---

You know what they say about opinions…’everyone has one’.

So, here’s mine for this week. You are welcome to comment back to me if you want to discuss.

Anyway, all of us in this country (except for the Native Americans or Indians) came from some other country at one time or another. It might be of interest to you to know that before the America revolution, England sent their convicts to Maryland and Virginia. They started sending them to Australia after we won our independence. So, those of you in those states might not want to go back too far on Ancestry.com and be surprised that your great+ grandparents were pickpockets or worse. Might put a damper on that Mayflower story you’ve been passing around for years.I have no problem with immigration if it is done legally. Aside from the 100,000 or so convicts sent from England, I am fairly certain most of our ancestors came in the legal way, not just walking across the border.

So how does this relate to todays opinion piece?

Well, here’s how. In today’s news there is a story about an old guy (88) named Ed Bambas of Brighton, Michigan. Old Ed worked for General Motors for over 20 years and lost his pension when the GM entity went bankrupt in 1999. He is a ex-Army veteran as well. He lost his pension and his health care. His wife was sick, he sold everything, and she died 7 years ago. Now he works at a grocery store 8 hours a day, 5 days a week to support himself. A reporter heard his story and set up a Go Fund Me page for him at gofundme ed bambas. They have collected over a million dollars for him so far.

Good for them. Good for the folks who have chipped in and tried to help.

But my question is this….how many more Ed’s are there in our country who are in similar circumstances? How many have lost their pensions or life savings after years of hard work?

We are having a national debate at this time about the illegal immigrants living in our country at this time. I have no idea how much they are supported by the taxpayers. Do they get housing, food, cell phones and health care? We cannot absorb the population of the entire world.

Don’t we have an obligation to take care of our own citizens first? Shouldn’t we be looking to help Ed and others who have paid taxes and served in the military before we fund someone who entered into our country illegally?

I am in favor of regulated immigration for those who want to contribute to our way of life. I am not in favor of providing everything needed for their existence to those who do not want to work or assimilate into our culture and society. We need to provide for more people like Ed and less for those who want a free ride forever and who actively despise our nation and it’s ideals.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it.

See you next week----Peary Perry

pperry@pearyperry.com