101 Things About Me, Part Eight

I consider myself a moderate liberal. On some topics, such as financial measures, I agree more with the conservatives, so I am fiscally conservative.

I don’t think we should have bailed out the banks or the car companies, to the degree we did. Maybe some form of assistance could’ve been put into place that would’ve helped, but not to the degree it was done.

I stand for the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms, within limits. I don’t think private citizens need machine guns, like M60’s or M134’s. Sporting rifles for hunting, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols (all regardless of how much ammunition they hold) are perfectly acceptable, though. Let’s leave the military-grade stuff to the military.

At the same time, I think laws prohibiting the use of bullet proof vests or personal body armor should be relaxed. If we are going to have private citizens having guns (and I think we should) there has to be a way for people to be, at least marginally, protected from stray gunfire. Allowing armored clothing to the general public is a way to protect innocents. Can it be used by bad guys? Sure. But, that’s what headshots are for.

At the same time, my stance on immigration is probably more centrist than most. A more common sense approach to immigration should be put into place.

In my view, it could look something like this:

1.) For those illegals already here, set a deadline (2-4 months sounds right) for them to turn themselves in to authorities.

a.) If they do, they are fined an amount based on how long they’ve been in America illegally, back tax fines are imposed, and they must immediately show proficiency with English and pass the Citizenship test that all immigrants must pass to become naturalized citizens. If they meet all these criteria, then they are naturalized citizens and we all move on.

2.) If an illegal does not turn themselves in, or does so after the deadline, or cannot meet the criteria as laid out in point 1a, then they are fined, their assets seized, and they are deported back to their home country (unless it can be clearly shown it would imperil their lives to do so).

This, to me, is a more common sense approach to immigration than the ’round ’em up and hang ’em’ approach put forth by some people.

Comments and attacks are welcome.

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