Author Archives: Lib-Whisperer

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About Lib-Whisperer

Hello and thanks for visiting the Lib-Whisperer blog site. The Lib-Whisperer is the expression of personal opinions. I hope to grow the site as time goes by and enthusiasm grows. I am sarcastic by nature, but always well intended. I am an admitted history & policy-wonk. I enjoy discussions with people who are curious, flexible and above all else, informed; willing to have their convictions tested through polite fact-based discussions. I’m informed through studying the works of giants like Bastiat, Montesquieu, John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Sowell, Milton Friedman, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, our U.S. Constitution, The Federalist Papers, the pamphleteers & landmark SCOTUS opinions to name a few. The Lib Whisperer site hopefully offers insight into the core principles & ideology of a segment of American citizens who believe urgent course changes are necessary to guide our country toward fiscal responsibility, national security, Federalism, conservative values and true representative government. A foundational belief I hold is constituencies constantly form & harden around single issues. History is replete with examples that prove these singular constituencies are routinely high-jacked by traditional established groups and purposely used to divide folks along narrow ideological lines. We must find ways to re-unite citizens who have allowed themselves to become labelled and isolated, and worse, conscripted & unknowingly aligned with larger ideological groups that espouse the need to destroy our country’s historical foundation. For example, witness the origins of the Tea Party and what it eventually became. Mocked & derided by the traditional Left, and then co-opted by the traditional Right. The high-jackings are not always sinister; rather, they are a more a consequence of natural human behavior. There is power in groups, and existing groups who are organized, funded and like-minded typically see new ones as either threats or opportunities. If they are threats- they need to be diminished and eliminated; if they are opportunities, they need to be purposely subordinated, conscripted and melded with the larger group. The intrinsic threat of a new group is it will siphon off members from the established ones. Power, money, prestige and influence moving en masse away from traditional groups is a powerful motivator. Our nation’s two party political-system is a perfect example of hardened constituencies. Labels- once adopted by individuals provide comfort but can induce a subtle intellectual laziness, diminish curiosity, and polarize the adopter. Fiscal cliffs, nuclear Armageddon, financial system instability and corruption, porous borders, the collapse of our public education system, endless wars on drugs, terrorism, polarized ineffective leadership…this is what we are greeted with each day. The future for our kin hangs in the balance; we cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different results. Better ideas are required to solve our problems. Agreeing on what hasn’t worked seems to be a good place to start. Thanks for joining me in the modern “public square” to make sense of all of this.

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A collision occurred this morning between fond thoughts of our family trip to Italy this past Christmas, and the fine print of the GOP blueprint for immigration reform released yesterday.

During our trip, we experienced Italy’s newest insult to visitors.  As one romps about Italy, a daily government fee is imposed and collected by the hotels.  It’s nominal, but imagine how the money adds up based on millions of visitors per day.  The offered explanation is that the fee off-sets the burden of tourist costs on the city.

I had a pretty good laugh at that one as I peeled endless Euros off my travel bankroll while “burdening” the host cities.  Somehow I couldn’t make the mental leap that we were costing them money during our visit.   Imagine a toilet paper roll hanging from my pants belt, but with tear-off Euro notes instead of Tee-Pee.  I couldn’t turn a corner without feeling the tug on my pants.  Bear with me as I connect the dots between Italy’s newest tax and US immigration reform.

Yesterday, during an annual planning retreat, the GOP inauspiciously unveiled its blueprint for wholesale immigration system reform.  The GOP is convinced that this legislation will forever re-define their party as welcoming but tough…their new party moniker- “Sweet & Sour”…a paean to the hoard of Asian immigrants who until now overwhelming vote Democrat once inducted into US citizenship.  Speaker of the House John Boehner boldly asserts that it is a stepped legislative roll-out beginning with border security.  Please track down the release and read it.  The proposed border security provisions establish an entry and exit system, guards the gates, and enforce immigration control.  The bad news is that it is just words, and even worse, true enforcement will further bloat the colossus that is the Department of Homeland Security.  The proposal includes an Entry/Exit Visa system.

Italy’s- Tax The Tourists scheme inspires a bold and new approach that must be included in the new US Visa system.  I call it VTWFP- Visitor & Temporary Worker Fee Program.  It is pronounced- Vee-Twiff-Pah

OK…I know the name sucks.  Whichever US Government department, division, bureau, agency or other slice of Federal bureaucracy is in charge of clever multi-lettered abbreviations (MLA’s) will have to invent a better one than “Vee-Twiff-Pah” so it rolls off the lips so smoothly that each visitor delights as they take part in such a fantastic invention.

Here’s how it works.  First, Uncle Sugar has to conduct the usual multi-hundred-million dollar study to determine the total annual costs associated with tracking down and expelling Visa violators. No “small-ball” here…pork it up.  Make it fat…don’t forget the trickle down costs at the State and Municipal levels for scoundrels over-staying their visas.  The costs of those entering the country illegally by inner-tube, submarine, cargo-trailer, desert hiking adventure, rock & wall climbing excursion and all other surreptitious means must also be factored in. Then divide the total annual cost by the predicted number of annual visas.

The result is the individual VTWFP fee.  As part of your visit to the US, you simply pay the fee when you apply for a visa.  In effect we would then have a self-funding tracking and deportation system for non-citizen law-breakers.

Now here is where we can get really creative so the program is fun and profitable.  This is where Italy got it wrong.  In the land of the Great White Satan, Corporate sponsorship of your VTWFP charge should be featured.  Imagine the possibilities.  Let’s say your VTWFP charge is $75, and you’re planning your itinerary.  As you peruse the infinite possibilities from Disney World to Times Square, Honolulu to Hilton Head, you will be treated to companies of every sort offering VTWFP refunds if you do business with them.   Rental Cars, Hotels, Restaurants, Touring companies, Theme Parks, Golf Courses, etc…With a little imagination and some entrepreneurship, we could make this a win-win.  Thanks Italy!!!