Clearing Up Some Misconceptions.

I had another article planned for today, but it will have to wait for another day.  This one is brought on by some comments I have received recently.

1.  Sleeping under a mosquito net in Honduras is a necessity, not a sexy, romantic decoration.  It especially not romantic at 3: AM, when you have to fight your way out to go to the bathroom. 

2.  We did not move to Honduras to avoid paying taxes.  The IRS insists that we pay taxes no matter where we live or where we earn our money.  My Social Security is taxed, even though I paid taxes on the money before it went to Social Security.

3.   We did not lose our rights as US citizens when we moved to Honduras, not even the right to pay our taxes.  We are allowed to vote in any Federal election, either by absentee ballot from our former State, or by absentee or personal ballot at the American Embassy in Tegucigalpa.  Florida allows us to vote in State elections by absentee ballot.  Not all States allow this.

4.   I have no problem being a Democrat and a Catholic at the same time.  I guess this was referring to the abortion issue.  I do not condone abortion.  It would never have been a choice for me.  On the other hand, I do not think I have a right to force my beliefs on others.  I also do not believe we can legislate morals. 

5.  Here comes a sticky one.  I do not believe in socialized medicine, but I do believe in a national insurance program.  I believe that health care is a basic right, not a privilege for those who can afford it.  I don't believe anyone should die because they have no insurance.  Before you start throwing rocks at me, go to http://www.factcheck.com/ and see how many lies have been told about the bill before Congress, on both sides of the aisle.

6.  Here comes another sticky one:  I do not believe in being soft on illegal aliens, but I do believe we need to make legal entry to the U.S. affordable.  My husband came to the U.S. legally.  It took us almost a year to get his green card, and three years to get his citizenship.   It was very expensive.  We were lucky because we both had good jobs and were able to pay.  It cost us another $10,000 to the State Department to bring my Honduran children to the States.   That was 1989.  Today, it costs more that $20,000 for a family of four, very hard to come by when you are working for about $200.00 USD per month and the basic foods for a family of five cost approximately $330.00 USD.  That's a subject for a later blog.

This year we went in the opposite direction and I now have my Honduran green card, only it is blue; and cost a lot less. 

7.  I am not a bleeding heart liberal.  I am actually pretty conservative.