Karita Hummer's silver Pen Award
Reposted from www.JohnEdwards.com blog site.
One of the key issues in 2008 Presidential Election should be: How to solve immigration standstill? by asaiyed777
http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/8/29/23059/3299#9
user icon asaiyed777 in Action Feed of
8/30/2007 at 3:08 PM EST
In a larger sense, problem of the undocumented aliens is not theirs, but America's. Illegal Immigration is the Frankenstein created by America itself. One of the key issues in 2008 Presidential Election should be: How to solve immigration standstill?
If we do not solve this, then, I am afraid, America is headed for economic doom. Many companies will pack up and move to neighboring Mexico, Canada and other countries and we would be left with a legacy of unemployment increasing unstoppably at a much faster rate than ever before. As our nation's economy is very much dependent on immigrant labor legal or illegal, it is an exigency that we solve this once and for all. We cannot sidetrack this issue. IF NOT AMNESTY, A CHANCE TO LEAGALLY WORK IS A MUST.
America's core value is life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The power of America emanates from the respect for the individual; the infrastructure of America is the propagation individual rights and freedom. This is far more important than punishing 12.1 undocumented aliens and now demands a practicable solution to immigration standstill.
To preserve and maintain Quality American Life, overpopulation and cheap labor have to stop and most Americans want this to happen. If these undocumented aliens are legalized in some fashion, as I am proposing, some of the good things that can happen are: (1) most of the people will be documented, (2) border infiltration will be highly discouraged and shall stop over time, (2) wage exploitation might stop, (3) IRS will receive revenue in billions, (4) travel and tourism shall increase and as a result, businesses will bolster and more jobs will be created, and very importantly, (5) Social Security and Medicare will be protected.
One of the reasons that the Immigration Reform failed in the Senate was for the fact that most conservatives were adamant not to grant any kind of concession to the undocumented aliens until and unless the borders are fenced and secured. Actually, it was meant to stop the flow of people entering into the United States illegally by securing the borders with fences. They are right in that sense. Because if the flow of illegal intrusion is not stopped, granting any kind of concession to the undocumented aliens will not solve the immigration problem that needs to be addressed more urgently right now than at any other time. However, they are not right in the sense that securing the vast borders with fences is not a pragmatic idea. Fences are destructible; they can be blown off, torn down, or destroyed by natural causes. Preservation and maintenance of the fences would require 24-hour surveillance and deterrence against any kind of subversive or destructive attempts to the fences, and cost, time and effort wise that would be staggering.
The challenge of building, preserving and maintaining the fences reminds me of a story: Shoes were not invented then. A king, who had always walked on carpets, could not resist the urge to walk on the ground one day and had dusts on his feet. He got very angry at the dusts and wanted to do away with the dusts forever. He ordered his subjects to cover his entire country with leather, so that no dusts can ever come out and touch his feet again. That was a formidable order and nobody could figure out from where could they gather that much leather? Finally, one man told the king that if the purpose were not to have dusts on feet, then the king would be better off covering his own feet with leather instead of covering the entire country. It worked and shoes were invented.
Berlin Wall did not exist. How could we expect the fences to exist? America lures people from all around the world with life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. No, Berlin Wall, no fences will ever daunt them from coming to the United States. They, definitely, will find ways to outsmart those fences. The Alps could not stop Hannibal, the Mount Everest could not stop Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the North and the South Poles could not stop the explorers. Construction of fences along the vast borders and preservation, maintenance and surveillance would, therefore, not only be formidable and staggering tasks but also would be impractical. The clever and practicable way to stop infiltration through the borders, is therefore, take the lure away. To do something that shall discourage illegal infiltration through the borders. If this can be done, then the border will be secured without being enforced by means of fences and shall save lots of time, efforts and money. Here is how it could be done:
Department of Labor can establish Bureau of Guest Employee Relations. Set a time limit, say December 31, 2007 (cutoff date) by which time anyone who is in this country illegally can register oneself, without fear of deportation and expulsion, with the Bureau of Guest Employee Relations by paying a fee and obtain Guest Employee Number (GEN), which shall be used instead of Social Security Number. The undocumented aliens who register by the cutoff date shall be assigned G category and shall be allowed to work until retirement age, that is, 65. Their GEN will start with the letter G, for example, G12-345-678. The undocumented aliens who register after the cutoff date shall be assigned the H category and shall be allowed to work for six years with extension options. Their GEN will start with the letter H, for example, H12-345-678.
Once an undocumented alien obtains GEN, he or she is documented and can legally seek employment. The prospective employer shall follow the following guidelines: (a) the guest employee must be paid the prevailing wage set aside by the Department of Labor for that specific occupation, (b) the H Category Guest Employees could not be offered more than 40 hours of work in a week. Following the guidelines, the prospective employer can then file Offer of Employment with the Bureau of Guest Employee Relations with a processing fee. The Offer of Employment shall have the guest employee's GEN, occupation and wage information. The Bureau of Guest employee Relations can then process the Offer of Employment, verify that it complies with wage regulation and issue NOC (No Objection Certificate). The would be guest employee can then file his Application for Permission to Accept Employment with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services along with appropriate fees. The NOC and Offer of Employment must accompany the application. The application form to be used for Permission to Accept Employment shall contain the following questions: (a) What position and in what occupation being hired for? (b) What wage or salary would be paid?
The EAD can be issued for 18 months. The renewal application can be filed 3 months prior to the date of expiry and must be accompanied by Employer's letter expressing the intention to keep the engagement, copy of W-2 and income tax return and three most recent pay stubs. The G Category Guest Employee can renew their EAD until age 65. The H Category Guest Employee can renew their EAD for three more terms. The H Category Guest Employees can renew their EAD for further terms if there are needs for them, and the Bureau of Guest Employee Relations can decide on that. Otherwise, The H Category Guest Employee must return to his home country after six years of work and stay there for two years before they can come to the United States again and work for another 6-year term as a Guest Worker. During the entire period of their stay in the United States, the G and H Category Guest Employees can freely go anywhere in the world and come back to the United States for as many times as they want; however, the total stay outside the United States during one life cycle of EAD (18 months) cannot exceed 90 days and a single stay cannot exceed 45 days. In this way guest employees can visit their families multiple times in a given year.
No Social Security and Medicare Taxes shall be withheld from the pay of guest workers. The employer shall only withhold the Federal, State, City and Local taxes from the guest employee pay and report to Internal Revenue Service. When guest employees file their income tax returns, anything overpaid shall be returned to them. If less money is withheld, then the balance owed must be paid along with the return. The employer must cover his guest employees with health insurance coverage and pay at least twenty five percent of the premium. The employee must pay any premium portion not covered by the employer. These premiums should be taken away from the paycheck and be forwarded to the insurance provider.
Service Companies can offer guest employees the following: (a) Insurance companies can offer short-term unemployment/disability insurance, health and life insurance, (b) financial companies can offer them retirement portfolios. Both G and H category guest employee can take these benefits with them when returning back to their country for good.
After the cutoff date, visitor's visa should be made easily available and the restriction on work while visiting should be taken off. Anyone coming to the United States shall then have the option to register with the Bureau of Guest Employee Relations and apply for H Category GEN. Depending on labor shortages in specific occupations, the Bureau shall decide whether to grant the GEN or not. The Bureau can maintain a database where prospective employers can input their demands and based on that the Bureau can provide the visitor a list of prospective employers at certain geographic locations. And the process of obtaining employment shall be similar as described before.
If we implement as what I have proposed so far, then we shall see the following:
Illegal infiltration through the borders shall be highly discouraged. Who would want to take the risk and remain in the shadow forever, when one can legally come to the United States fairly easily and have a chance to be properly documented, legally seek employment and be fairly compensated, live freely and can see family members whenever they want, can go back to home country with the benefits earned and accrued?
Travel and tourism shall increase and the government shall earn revenue. Business will bolster. More jobs will be created, as there will be more servicing companies to serve the guest employees.
Undocumented aliens will come out of the shadow and move to different locations for better jobs and pay and eventually will take significant burdens off from the sanctuary cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etcetera.
The taxing as mentioned would take the burden off of our Social Security and prevent it from going bankrupt in future, as some predict.
Quality of goods will improve. No doubt that quality of American life and goods have been compromised a lot. When the pay is better, quality improves and businesses improve as a result.
Hopefully, this will create an economic boom. With this, America one day shall have almost everyone documented in this country and our broken Immigration System will be restored. Won't this be a nice thing to have?
Ashiqul Saiyed
Globally Concerned For Humans. USA.
http://www.immigrationsolved.com
Very thorough and very thoughtful. (none / 0)
What ideas do you have for health coverage for H and G guests?
Karita Hummer
San Jose, CA
by Karita Hummer (KaritaHummer@therapyplus.us, Therapy Plus)
on 8/29/2007 at 3:25 PM EST [Flag this Post]
[ Reply to This ]
Health Coverage For G and H Guests? (none / 0)
Dear Ms. Hummer,
Thank you very much for your question? The idea that I posted was not about giving health care coverage to G and H guests when forty-three million Americans live without health care coverage. The idea was about saving our Social Security and Medicare through solving the immigration issue. However, I did mention that the employer would have to pay at least twenty-five percent of the health coverage premium and the remaining seventy-five percent of the premium has to be paid by guest employee, or it can be any in other proportions but strictly by and between the employer and employees. We need to provide healthcare coverage to forty-three million uninsured which is possible through universal health care and as Mr. John Edwards has boldly proclaimed that he would bring this about, I support him and I want him to be the next President.
The proposition I made was about giving a chance to the guest employees to earn a living and leave with their accrued personal financial portfolios. They will not be a part of our Social Security and Medicare System, and you know what, since they will not be in our SS and Medicare System, the employer will not have to pay half of those taxes as they presently do and which is one of the reasons some employers pay under the table and our government looses billions every year. With the implementation of what I proposed, the employers will have no problem to pay the employees by check, report to the IRS and the income tax will be collected. We can invest this money to implement the Universal Health Care System, to say fry the fish in fish oil.
I shall very much appreciate your rejoinder.
Regards
Ash
by asaiyed777 (asaiyed@optonline.net, http://www.immigrationsolved.com)
on 8/30/2007 at 12:21 AM EST [Flag this Post]
[ Parent | Reply to This | ]
G and H Guests (none / 0)
Hello asaiyed,
Again, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I do understand your point about 43 million uninsured Americans (I think that the number is 47 million now, if I am not mistaken) needing attention. However, I still am concerned, because people, G and H Guests, or American citizens, get sick. They need care and right now, they go to our public, mostly county, hospitals at considerable expense to the public. This fuels resentment among the citizenry.
Now, I see you suggest that the employer would be expected to cover 25% of the health insurance for such an employee, leaving the guest worker with 75% of the cost, which, in fact, might end up being more than they are being paid. How, then, could this work, and how could this dilemma be solved.
Karita Hummer
San Jose, CA
by Karita Hummer (KaritaHummer@therapyplus.us, Therapy Plus)
on 8/30/2007 at 1:57 AM EST [Flag this Post]
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
Reply to Karita Hummer (none / 0)
Hi Ms. Hummer,
I think your figure (Forty-Seven million) is right, as mine (Forty-Three million) is an old one and that raises the concern even more. Thanks for correcting me.
Now you raised concern about how a guest employee would be able to pay 75 per cent of the premium, as you think that 75 per cent of the premium would take the lion share of the paycheck. That is not correct. First let's figure out what could be the yearly health care coverage premium? Say, roughly $ 5,000.00, which is less than $100.00 a week. The guest employee's share would be $ 75.00. Now, remember what I said: I said that the guest workers would not be in our SS and Medicare System. I hope you know how much is taken out from an American's paycheck for SSN and Medicare. In New York, the minimum wage is $ 7.25/Hour and for a 40-hour workweek, the gross is $ 290.00 and the employee's portion of SS and Medicare Tax is about $ 21.00. So, the guest employee will be required to pay less than $ 54.00 toward weekly healthcare premium. With respect to the minimum wage, the premium is less than a day's pay. But remember, that I mentioned about Prevailing Wage, set forth by the Department of Labor, which would be much higher than the minimum wage. This prevailing wage shall protect our jobs and also help us fill in jobs where there truly are labor shortages. With prevailing wage it will be an easy ride for a guest employee to pay for healthcare coverage. Furthermore, the employer can chip in 50 percent instead, as I mentioned previously that this would be exclusively by and between the employer and employee in any feasible proportions. I thank you that your concern certainly did echo a serious concern that we are being lowly paid. Implementing American Standard Pay for Americans, Universal Health Care for Americans, Protection and Preservation of our Social Security for Americans, Medicare for Americans and other things would be possible with guest employee being hired and paid at prevailing wage, not a penny less than that.
Regards.
Ash
by asaiyed777 (asaiyed@optonline.net, http://www.immigrationsolved.com)
on 8/30/2007 at 4:18 PM EST [Flag this Post]
[ Parent | Reply to This | ]
Good! (none / 0)
Well put,
and would you accept my nomination for Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Award. If you do, I will publish your piece and our exchange on my blogspot site. www.passionateprogressivepatriot.b logspot.com
Thank you,
Karita
by Karita Hummer (KaritaHummer@therapyplus.us, Therapy Plus)
on 8/30/2007 at 4:58 PM EST [Flag this Post]
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Nomination for Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Award (none / 0)
Most gladly! I will be much obliged to work for our country. I take it as an honor to work with you.
Best of regards.
Ash
by asaiyed777 (asaiyed@optonline.net, http://www.immigrationsolved.com)
on 8/30/2007 at 7:34 PM EST [Flag this Post]
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Thank you! (none / 0)
You can find the award of Karita Hummer's Silver Pen Award on my blogsite at:
http://passionateprogressivepatriot.blog spot.com/
Many thanks,
Karita Hummer
by Karita Hummer (KaritaHummer@therapyplus.us, Therapy Plus)
on 8/31/2007 at 3:29 AM EST [Flag this Post]
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[new] p.s. I enjoyed seeing yur web-site (none / 0)
and will look forward to more of your insights on this all important subject of immigration. My father came as an immigrant, yes, 104 years ago, and I must say it makes my heart leap to think of it, as a boy of ten years of age - from Sicily. His was a great contribution of patriotism, character and integrity.
I especially liked your combining of reason and passion as your web-site mantra, two of the most essential elements of human existence - very well stated.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insight,
Karita Hummer
by Karita Hummer (KaritaHummer@therapyplus.us, Therapy Plus)
on 8/31/2007 at 3:36 AM EST [Flag this Post]
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