Illegals, Pork and Those Who Pay

US-Troops-500x271“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave…” ~Patrick Henry

“If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen.”~ Illegal immigrant Zeituni Onyango, Aunt of Barack Obama

About a month ago Speaker of the House John Boehner lamented the idea of a Select Committee to investigate Benghazi, because the government just doesn’t have enough money or time. In essence, what difference does it make; the government’s got more important things to pay for.  When it comes to the most important things, the government has a hard time scraping up the money to pay for them.  When it comes to things such as socialized health care, our government has been promising affordable care for everyone.  Incredibly, many people believe the government is fully capable of doling out care to all, but I wonder if they have considered that our government can’t even handle less than 3 % of the US population?

Who is this small percentage? It is those men and women who have and still fight for our freedoms.  What they do, they didn’t do it for the pay. The pay stinks.  They didn’t do it for the benefits or for fame or fortune. They do it because it’s a part of who they are.  Although they don’t demand bigger sign-on bonuses or seek out publicity, I have to ask- why is it that those who put their lives on the line for all of us, get so little in return?

Unfortunately, with attitudes such as we have in our government where they find enough to pay $350,000 in grants to find out how golfers can putt better it doesn’t seem that there are many politicians who care enough to find solutions to so many problems which plague programs for our Veterans. Then again, since Obama’s a golf fanatic and Boehner seems to be the only Republican willing to golf with him, it’s not surprising after all that government would find money to pay for such a study.

It’s a pathetic state of priorities when our government can find over $18 Billion dollars  to pay for things such as $4.5 billion worth of improper food stamp payments, $3.2 billion for prisoners who take unqualified advantage of American Opportunity Tax Credits,  and $330 Million in Medicaid reimbursements to providers who have unpaid taxes due.  That’s not to mention, $27 million for pottery classes for Moroccans and $1.2 million to study the cognitive improvement of senior citizens after playing “World of Warcraft” video games, in which there was no noticeable improvements.  Yet they can’t find money to fund a select committee which would have subpoena power, to find out long unanswered questions about Benghazi, such as who gave the stand down orders, and why did Obama never give a CBA when he is the only one who can give that authorization.

$18 billion might sound like a paltry amount to a government who is used to dealing in trillions, but how many Veterans could find adequate housing with that kind of money if federal bureaucracy wasn’t involved?   Or perhaps, $18 billion saved from idiotic waste could be better spent expanding, renovating, repairing and keeping up with Arlington National Cemetery which is under budgeted at $103 million. I’m lousy with math, but 103 million out of 18 billion still leaves a shade over $17 billion to play with. I imagine some of the workers at Walter Reed Hospital could retain at least part time work instead of being furloughed. According to Chuck Hagel, furloughs would save the Defense Dept. $1.8 billion.  My fuzzy math tells me that still leaves about $16 billion.

Well maybe $16 billion left isn’t enough to give our Veterans and returning soldiers the best healthcare available, you know, the same kind Congress has themselves.  After all, those plans must be pretty expensive, and to multiply that by the exact number of Veterans in our country, it could be astronomical to pay for.  Where could we find that kind of money?  I suppose we can’t ask Joe Biden or Congress to give up their pay raises.

What kinds of services could be provided our finest if we had $113 billion annually to spend? In a study done in 2010, it was found that Illegal immigrants cost US tax payers about $113 billion every year, with about $84 billion which is paid for through state and local taxpayers depending on the size of the illegal alien population in those areas.  Here in Florida, we have a large population of illegals, and our taxes reflect that. At an annual cost of nearly $52 billion, educating children of illegal aliens make up the largest cost to taxpayers, which again is almost all absorbed by state and local governments.  For someone who homeschools, yet still pays for public education through taxes, I would much rather my tax dollars be spent at our local Veteran’s organizations to help with all the aging Veterans in our area.

Less than 5 % of the public costs associated with illegal immigration are recouped through taxes collected from illegals.  So, while these people have come into a sovereign nation without going through the immigration laws which are already in place, the cost is astronomical, annually and should be spent instead to help our Veterans.

Illegal aliens who are on the public dime receive, $250 million worth of emergency medical care, $2.2 billion in free and reduced costs meals,  $637 million in housing programs, $633 million in child care and development and $1 billion in temporary assistance for needy families.   Speaking of temporary, I guess that depends on personal perspective.  To me, temporary would be about 6 months but according to this lady, she’s been on public assistance for 20 years already. Why would she want to give up free housing, medication, food stamps and a $700 social security monthly allowance?

Why would our government spend this kind of money on an illegal, when we have Veterans who are homeless, who have to wait long periods of time to see a provider at the VA, and more Veterans committing suicide because they’re not able to get help they so desperately need?  This is disgraceful, completely offensive and extremely dishonoring to the men and women who have put everything on the line for the defense of this country. It’s a betrayal by those who have sent them all over the world, many into the most dangerous places.

The problems facing our Veterans and returning troops have been going on for decades, not only throughout this administration, so there is plenty of blame to go around. Yet it seems that under the Obama Administration, the disrespect shown towards members of our military and Veterans has been more prevalent than ever.  From social experiments, willingness to deny their freedom of worship and religion, using their successes for political gain, putting them in harm’s way by implementing ROEs which have resulted in the highest number of casualties since the beginning of this war and cutting out meals for our active duty Marines which provide not just a decent meal, but a time to enjoy it while taking some precious downtime with each other. I could go on and on.  Now, because of budget shortfalls and the sequester that seems to affect everyone but Obama and his administration, retirement benefits for our troops may be on the chopping block, along with charging them more for healthcare and prescription drugs. The Defense Department has sent a budget proposal to Congress which includes increasing co pays for medication and fees for Tri Care. Chuck Hagel has said they have to look at personnel costs because that’s the biggest cost and “We are looking at everything across the board, [such as] entitlement programs, in every way.”

So, those who have fought for their country, who have given up things which the rest of us take for granted every day, many who suffer injuries, life altering wounds and loss, they are not entitled, but those who sneak into our country by the millions are?  Hagel says they can’t sustain the programs which take up over 30 percent of the Pentagon’s budget of almost $142 billion.  Perhaps Mr. Hagel could talk to the Gang of 8 and the other politicians who are pushing Amnesty for all those illegals.

I don’t want to hear one more word about Veterans not being able to receive benefits and care which they so deserve. They have paid the highest costs to earn what they should receive. Our military men and women deserve so much more than they receive and it’s high time things change.

Carolyn Elkins

Carolyn Elkins' PolitiChicks articles have been shared by Mark Levin, NewsBusters and New Media Journal. She writes about everything from military issues, the Middle East, Islam, politics to the Founding Fathers. Carolyn is a guest writer on The Right Scoop and PolitiBrew under the name American Duckie. Born in Canada, but now a proud U.S. citizen, Florida PolitiChick Carolyn is an unapologetic Christian and Constitutional Conservative. She studies the Founders and their writings, and uses what she learns to try and educate others. Carolyn is the founder of the Constitutional Freedom Party, a completely grass roots organization whose foundation is on God and the Founder's intent for a Constitutional Republic. Carolyn is married with one child and has taught American Government and Constitution to her home school co-op group of 12- 14 year olds. You can visit her via the Constitutional Freedom Party blog or on twitter @ABiCduckie and @CFP4US

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