Fix the Leaky Pipe now!

As a conservative, average Joe, looking at the situation this country faces with immigration, it's obvious that a permanent fix needs to be done. According to the constitution, the President of the United States primary job is to keep American citizens safe and give them opportunities to prosper. That is exactly what our current president is attempting to do, unfortunately the Liberal left cannot allow him to succeed or the balance of political power will be heavily Republican for many years to come in all 3 branches of government putting many of them out of the picture and out of work.


Many years ago this country received a gift from France. The Statue of Liberty was given to us to commemorate our alliance during the American Revolution. The Plaque on the base of the statue reads : “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,” she wrote. “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” The United States has been taking in the poor and the needy from all over the globe ever since. For over a century this country has been taking care of the rest of the world to help all who needed it. As this country was initially formed on Christian values this was and still is the right thing to do. Immigrants poured in by the shiploads into Castle Garden Depot and later Ellis Island in New York. New York is called the melting pot as it accepted immigrants from all nations. Well now this countries Melting pot is full.


More than 45 million people, or 14.5 percent of all Americans are living at or below the poverty level. For this reason, President Trump wants to change immigration policies to stop chain migration and limit migration to immigrants that speak enough english to get by, have some funds in hand and have an education or a skill so they can thrive and prosper when they arrive and are an asset to the country, not an immediate liability. Right now the United States needs to help the millions of people already here to get out of poverty, give them food, housing and jobs so they may prosper. Remember, even if Immigration laws are passed now, if in 5- 10 or 15 years down the road our poverty level in the U.S. decreases enough, we can take another look at the policies and make changes if need be. This move is absolutely not a racist move, it's a common sense approach to solving America's problems first.


Now looking at DACA. It is true that these young people were brought here by their parents and most know the U.S. as their only home. Although technically they are here illegally it is no fault of theirs. But here is the issue and let me put this in simple terms. Think of the DACA problem as a leaky pipe. Would you just mop up the water that's on the floor and walk away? Of course not, you would just be right back there in 10 minutes to do it again. So our previous President in his divine wisdom decided to put a bucket under the leak, (he didn't even mop the floor) kicking the can down the road with this executive order instead of trying to fix the problem permanently. Well now the bucket is full and President Trump does not want to just empty the bucket and put it back. He wants to get members of congress and senate to get together on a bypartisan basis and permanently fix the pipe. This can be done by the elimination of chain migration, stopping the Visa Lottery system, implementing E-verify to track Visas, building 700 miles of wall on our southern border and add additional surveillance equiptment, drones, boats and Border Patrol Agents to secure the southern border and stop the leak completely. They can do this along with giving the 900,000 DACA recipients who pass a background check a pathway to legalization after paying a $1000. fee giving you 900 million dollars toward the wall.



We all care about the water in the bucket but we have to fix the broken pipe allowing us to open the faucet when we want more water. Now this is just my humble opinion. Please let me know what you think and leave some comments on the issue. I value your thoughts and input.

Joe Fusco

Motivated by Fear

Motivated by Fear: Civil Rights & Terrorism
September 11th, 2001, a day that will live in the hearts and minds of millions. A day that exposed the brutality and inhumanity of a group of radicals from across the globe, hell bent on the destruction of America. Terrorists is a name given to a specific group who’s goals are to evoke terror and fear to all of its enemies and anyone else that gets in his or her way..
Mankind has been dealing with terrorism for hundreds of years. Innocent people have had their civil liberties violated, because their countries are consumed by their petty differences. From Iwo Jima to Pearl Harbor, thousands of lives have been lost and millions have been impacted by a stroke of a pen from a Politician.
Whether it’s called a war or a police action, a major conflict between countries impacts many. These conflicts cause countries to live in fear which in turn causes paranoia. When a person is forced into a life threatening situation they can make decisions out of panic. Some of these decisions may affect the civil rights of others. The philosophy, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one or the few, comes into play and decisions are made based on the overall potential outcome.
In the United States, civil rights has been a major issue. From Jackie Robinson to Dr. Martin Luther King, politicians have had to deal with maintaining the balance and assuring Americans their constitutional rights that all men are created equal and therefore should be treated equally. Individual civil and human rights have broadened in the years and some rights are still very controversial. Some, like abortion rights and gay rights are still being disputed across the country and will be debated for many years to come.
Although some rights in this country are still being disputed as actually being rights at all as a United States citizen, there is one god given right that has been affected by 911 and that is of cruel and unusual punishment. The excuse for the violation of these rights is explained in two words, National Security.
Issues of torture by members of the U.S. Military has been discovered and documented. These acts on people of Arabic decent living in the U.S. were, at first covered up, then explained by politicians as overzealous members of the military during a very scary time. Acts performed to help the war on terror effort and stop terrorism in the country. These acts as well as other violation of civil rights are often motivated by fear and I’m scared.

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts

With the recent financial problems of the Starbucks franchise causing layoffs and store closings, it would seem that Starbucks may be in trouble. Why? What is the underlying reason why Starbucks is hurting and Dunkin Donuts is not? Is it due to the recent Wall Street mess and massive layoffs of Lehman Brothers, among others, leaving thousands of “well paid” financial junkies unemployed and no longer buying the higher priced hot or cold beverages from one of the coffee bean giants? If we have massive layoffs in our Police Departments will Dunkin Donuts fall?

Although Starbucks has a good product line and impressive storefronts adds to the mystery. Does America run on Dunkin? These are good questions. I think Starbucks coffees are not only too high priced for today’s market but their coffees are very strong as well. I know, we all need a good strong cup of coffee every once in a while, especially the morning after a long night of downing way too many Mojitos’ (I’ve been there). Their selection is nice as well and I do admit I indulge in a cappuccino, mocha latte, Chi Tea every once in a while, it’s the “once in a while” part that’s the issue.

I find that Starbucks is more like a “Coffee Restaurant” and a high end one at that. Dunkin Donuts is more of a “fast food” coffee place, where people on the go will grab a quick cup (or more) to help get them thru the day. Heck they even have drive- thru’s. Besides the fact that you know what size coffee you’re going to get when you go to DD’s whereas you need a translator to figure out what to ask for in Starbucks.

I am an avid coffee drinker and just a regular, hard working, limited income type of guy, so in my humble opinion, in these troubling times of financial recession, I think Starbucks should re-vamp their product line, reduce prices and make their products more affordable to the general public. Knock off the “Grande” crap too, just call it what it is. Small, medium, large or in some cases a small pot. I think people like Starbucks overall and we would hate to see you go. So bite the bullet and start brewing for less. The “Buck” stops here…

Mr. Coffee Cup