During our March visit to relatives in Harrison, Arkansas, we scheduled a two-hour appointment with the Clintons at their home in Little Rock. We were most impressed with their hospitality plus the down-home feeling of being at ease while in their home. Carrying on a conversation also gave us the at-ease feeling. Even their two little doggies accepted us as a normal everyday occurrence. (I guess that’s all part of Southern hospitality.)
Our purpose for being there was our concern for the Democratic Party in the next Presidential election. Both Bill and Hillary confirmed that she wanted to run in 2016. They asked us not to mention our visit until after May 15, as they wanted to use some of our ideas in the Presidential platform Hillary would be running on (seems the Democratic Party chairperson had to give the okay).
Hillary called Genie and gave us the okay to disclose our ideas for a sure win in 2016. Here they are:
• Increase the minimum wage in every state to $10.25 an hour. (An interesting item is the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa are currently at $10.25 an hour for all reservation employees in Minnesota.)
• Let Mexico plus Canada become part of the United States. How many states there would be in Mexico and how many in Canada could be decided by the current divisions in each country. (This would mean no more expensive border crossings or border controls. The residents of Mexico would be earning a minimum wage, as all the employers would be under the current Federal guidelines – thus no more illegal residents. This would also eliminate most items smuggled across the border, plus less of a difference in price.)
• A Foreign Aid policy of no money and no military help to any country that has a history of fighting with its neighbors or within its borders. (Think of the money and lives this policy would save. Our policy would still be, “If you attack us, you can run but you can’t hide.”)
• A tax of one percent on all sales to get us back on a balanced budget with the excess used to pay down the debt. (Remember under Bill Clinton the U.S. debt was reduced and now Hillary could do the same.)
• A tax of one percent on all our sales to help our transportation system – especially the freeways. (Both parties agree we have major road problems.)
In conclusion, to you the reader, even though Genie and I have voted Republican many times in the past, we submitted these ideas to the most likely Democratic Presidential candidate, as that party is more open to change than the conservative Republican Party. We feel the continual going-in-debt plus the loss of lives of U.S. military personnel on foreign soil have both got to be reduced. Amen.
P.S.: Remember this column is “Fact or Fiction: You Decide.”
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Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent, currently working on his master’s degree in Volunteering. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in Volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. Bob says if you enjoy his column, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of wisdom: There is always room for God.