When I caught Hillary on TV last Saturday all comfy on her flowered sofa announcing her plans to run for President, she made an offer that we have a ‘chat’. So I thought… hmmmm… I’ll take her up on it. So, I sent her this email. Let me know what you think of what I said to her and maybe what you would have said to her. Or better yet, tell her yourself.

Dear Hillary:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to post my views about our wonderful country and where we are headed. I am extremely upset by the current administration’s agenda of promoting big oil and corporate interests. For the past six years President Bush has focused solely on the rich elite and only given lip service to some of this country’s most serious issues. Two of these at the top of my list are global warming and immigration. I will put the Iraq issue aside for now because that has received enough attention as it is. Although, my one comment about what to do in Iraq is to go back to the “bi-partisan” Iraq Study Group Plan to guide us out of this mess. It’s the best shot we have.

Now, back to global warming and immigration. These two issues are related in the fact that as we allow as many as 1,000,000 legal and 1,000,000 illegal immigrants into this country per year, they are exponentially taxing our resources. And there is one resource in particular that is tied to global warming and our Middle East dependency — oil.

My partner and I have written several articles on our blog regarding immigration’s impact and the numbers are alarming. The impact of the immigration issue need serious consideration. Let’s look at the numbers. We produce about 2.5 billion barrels a year domestically and consume about 7.5 billion. We have an estimated 29.3 billion barrels left in our reserves. With our current consumption trend of 25.3 barrels of oil per person per year and add to this the additional demand of 2 million legal and illegal immigrants’ consumption per year, we have about 4 years left in our reserves if we were oil independent. This, of course, is if we tried to become oil independent. Or there actually could be a more catastrophic scenario in which we could be totally cut off from foreign oil. This projection also precludes the fact that we do not let anyone else in this country. So, if we decided to be totally free of foreign oil or if we were cut off from foreign oil, we would have four years left in our reserves. Pretty scary proposition.




What I suggest to secure our country’s future and avoid the above grave situation is to first and foremost reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We are an incredibly strong nation but in this area, we are incredibly weak and vulnerable. Therefore, I suggest we clamp down on oil consumption through tax credits and incentives for more fuel efficient cars, higher gas efficiency standards, caps on CO2 emissions, and perhaps even a “gas guzzler” tax. There must be consequences for our continued blind reliance on cheap oil. And, there must also be incentives for private investors to research and develop workable energy alternatives. We need to turn “oil companies” into “energy companies” whose interests are served by developing new non-polluting energy. We are the most advanced technological country in the world, and yet we can’t even produce a decent form of non-polluting transportation. Shame on us.

The next thing I would do is put some real clout into the immigration issue by enforcing serious legal consequences for employers of illegals and stop allowing instant citizenship for their children born in the U.S. These two factors contribute greatly to the surge in illegal immigration simply because currently there are no serious consequences when crossing the border. As you know, there is a huge cost associated with our porous borders not only in natural resources but in other areas as well such as the drain on our education and health care systems. And most importantly, our security is greatly compromised as well, allowing for undesirable drug and terror elements inside the country. We have to stop it! And now!

The funny thing about this, is that this is all doable and within the reach of the very elected representatives we have voted into Congress. And, I feel if our President had these issues at the top of his or her agenda, it could be done. Maybe this person is you. I don’t know. But if you outline an agenda that addresses these two key issues in a serious and substantive way, I will support you and I know there are millions of other Americans who would too.

Thank you again for this opportunity to let you know what’s on my mind. I am excited that a woman is finally being taken seriously in a Presidential race and am thrilled that you are given this chance to make a difference. Make all women proud and all Americans ready to stand behind you. I say, good luck and “Go get ‘em”.

Pat L.