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Social services can't cope with illegal aliens

To the editor,

Beginnings of Honesty "The Wound that Won't Heal"

To America the sovereign,

As the superpower of the known world, it is interesting how our government solves its social problems. The current fix is to put a Band-Aid on a wound that simply won't heal. Covering up a deep gash over time will only allow the wound to fester and become infected causing more problems than were originally diagnosed. This is certainly the case with America's 21st century social agenda.

For instance the most pressing issue is the current status of illegal immigration. Originally when the wound was diagnosed in 1986 under the Reagan administration the government decided the cure was amnesty. This giant Band-Aid was an attempt to block all outside elements from continuing to enter the wound. What happened, though, as time went on and the wound never successfully healed the Band-Aid wore thin. It was not able to protect from the outside elements. 2006 has come and now that simple cut has become a huge gash that is threatening to take an arm or leg with it in the form of the working-class economy. If we had originally required that those lawbreakers make decisions and return to their proper country of citizenship then this would have never been an issue. Instead now this illegal formation of such a poverty-stricken working class has infected every aspect of our social system, including all of its programs. This infection has spread burden to the working class with the depletion of the job force and the depression of worker wages. The leaders of America must now diagnose the problem and prescribe the proper treatment. Those who break the law must be held accountable. Without this treatment the infection may spread to the mouth and brain.

When talking about illegal immigration don't forget the wound that was created from our social programs. Social programs such as Medicare, welfare, and numerous others were all created in a very dark day in the history of America. They were created during a time of need to move everyone out of the Hoovervilles and back into their own homes. Never intended to be anything more than temporary fixes, these programs have grown to be such a wound on our economy that the American taxpayer will never be able to support such programs. Our government-subsidized housing is reaching its maximum occupancy and food stamps are being used to buy booze and drugs. What was created to be a temporary fix has now become a lifetime decision passing from one generation to the next.

Brett Smith
Originally published August 16, 2006