next january will be three years since i got my green card, time flies when you’re having fun. although i have my green card, i can’t vote.
after many years of writing in none of the above on various ballots in elections in trinidad, i find myself in a position that is truly frightening. i don’t even have the option to voice my dissent in a public forum. isn’t this how the boston tea party happened? the people were tired of paying unreasonable taxes without having a voice. some friends of mine just moved from DC back to Trinidad and i was meaning to ask them for their tags so i could put one on the front of my car. i think the thing that burns me is my inability to make a contribution to in any form about where my taxes dollars are spent.
i’m not about the handout. not to anyone, the bear sterns bailout pisses me off just as much as the people on welfare for years. i firmly believe there should be a cutoff point for welfare, what do you mean you can’t find a job. in the last three years there have never been less than four W-2s delivered at the end of january, in 05, i think we had an all-time high of seven and two 1099s and these were concurrent jobs. maybe that’s why there’s a problem in the labour market, we’ve got all the jobs. and the concept i’m paying to bailout a privately held billion dollar company makes my blood boil.
and i wonder how many people are in the same boat i’m in, i’d be curious to see actual numbers. what percentage of taxpayers are non-citizens? what percent of the tax burden is carried by these people, especially considering all the people in specialty industries on H1B visas?
in january, i’ll have had my permanent card for three years which makes me eligible to apply for citizenship. on the face of it, it’s another $600+ to the USCIS, plus whatever documentation they require and the indeterminate wait, a trip to Memphis for an interview and the quiz. it will give me the right to participate in government – local, state and federal and as i understand it i wouldn’t have to give up my Trinidadian citizenship however the downside of this is an issue with the tax system that that forces citizens to pay taxes when they live abroad. how is that fair or right to pay tax on income in the country of residence and the country of citizenship? basically you’re paying a premium to be a US citizen.
i`m not a citizen, but i am a taxpayer. there is no immigrant lobby, so i effectively have no say. if you are eligible, get out there and do it.
VOTE! IT IS YOUR RIGHT!
i really don`t care who you vote for, just as long as you do.
when i was in Trinidad i was one the disenfranchised. i mean, i had the ability to vote, but i didn`t think it was worth it, it was six of one and half dozen of the other. but i did go to the polls, because if i didn`t i had no right to complain about the people that were supposed to represent me. since 1990, i voted in every local and general election that was held, the last couple of times i put `none of the above` on the ballot making it useless.
where is the irony in that you ask? here i am and worried, almost to the point of paranoia that i don`t have a voice. i can`t vote, i can`t affect change. i don`t have the right. by this time next week, i`ll be employed and a tax payer, but i`m not a citizen and i have no voting rights.
during the week of July 12 the senate is voting on the Federal Marriage Amendment, which states: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman”
according to my mother in law, i should pick the fights i know i can win, but that`s never been my MO. i know that the world isn`t black and white, there are things i`m willing to let slide, because i know no matter how had i try there`s never going to be a change, but there are some things that are so fundamentally wrong, that silence just compounds it. i felt that way about what was going on here on journalspace, so i spoke up, i feel the same way about gay marriage.
i do have an axe to grind, no i`m not gay, but the same arguments that are being used to oppose gay marriage; up until quite recently in some states; are the same arguments that would have made my marriage to vic illegal. that`s right, think on that for a moment, if i`m not mistaken the miscegenation statues were not removed from the state law of MS until 2000. i have gay friends, i`ve been to a commitment ceremony, what makes their dedication to each other and their desire to have it recognised any different from any of us?
this act is just one of the many pieces of legislation that scare me and the thing that scares me most is i have no recourse. i have to live with it for the sake of my love and my overall happiness.
what i`m really trying to do is encourage those who have the power to do something. now. in November. whenever you can. do something!
