Invitation To Meet, Greet And Question Your Local County and State Elected Officials

I hope the political junkies and the members of Delaware Right will allow me this small detour from the usual political flavor of this site. Writing is how I work through things.

Some people close to me already know that my father, Frank Knotts, passed away in his sleep sometime in the early hours of Monday morning, I think most would agree, that if we could choose how we go, this was a good way. He was 87 years old. My father had been married to my mother, who is still with us God bless, for 58 years, and had raised myself and my sister who passed away in 2005 from pancreatic cancer.  He had six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

My father was born in 1926, which means he grew up during the entirety of the Great Depression as one of seven children, him being the third youngest.

He, like his father, worked on farms his entire life. In his life he plowed fields behind mules, he drove tractors with iron wheels, and at the end of his working days, he operated many of the largest and most modern of farm equipment, such as combines and tractors.

His was a tough life, in his younger days he was what was known as a rounder. He made the rounds of the beer taverns and honky tonks. He drank hard and was known to fight a time or two.

My father was not an educated man in the sense of the word, he only went as far as the fifth grade before he had to drop out and work on the farm. I know that many equate intelligence with the number of years someone spends in school. And maybe my father never earned a college degree, but I can tell you he was a success in the yes of his family. This is not to say that we didn’t have some hard times. My father was an alcoholic for the first ten years of my life, and then one day he chose to stop, cold turkey, no programs, no help beyond his own will power. One of my most vivid memories is of my father wrapped in a heavy quilt next to a space heater shivering and being sick as he fought the DTs.

I truly believe that it was this experience that gave me strength when I had to fight my own addiction demons later in life. You see, my father had shown me that it could be done.

I learned many things from this man who had only a fifth grade education. I learned what it meant to work hard, he missed very few days from work, even when he was drinking and hung over, he would get up and go to work, and when he didn’t, it was because he was truly sick.

I learned that you work for the things you want, he never asked for help from family, friends, and certainly not the government. I was told that if I wanted a car I had better find a job and save my money, which I did.

I learned how to forgive from him also, because he forgave me. In my youth I did things that would have caused some parents to run me out of the house. I drank and drugged, and stole and was arrested, one might say I was a rounder too, I caused my parents an unknown amount of grief. And even so, they loved me enough to keep trying to help me.

My father only made it through the fifth grade, and the first time I can remember seeing him cry was when I graduated from high school, I realized how much it meant for him to see his son get further than he did, and in seeing that, I have worked to make it possible for my daughter to go to, and to graduate from college, I only wish that he could have been there to see her march and to know, that in some way, he made that possible as well. But of course he will be there with us for every step.

Yes I learned much from my father, I learned about individual strength, I learned my work ethic, I learned the value of family, I learned forgiveness, I learned that just because we make mistakes in our youth doesn’t mean that we can’t change.

So for all of you who read this, whether you hate me, like me, or love me, you have my father to thank. I got my temper from him, I got my smart aleck sense of humor from him, I got my stubbornness from him, but I also got my honesty from him, my integrity from him, I got my view that you stick to your guns.

I am only sorry that I can’t grant my fathers last wish about how he wanted to go, you see my mother will not allow it. My father had told us not so long ago, that when he went, he wanted to be buried face down, so the whole world could kiss his ass. Sorry dad, mom won’t have it.

I am proud of the life my father lived, and if I am half the man he was, then I am proud to be like him, you see, I am my father’s son.

I will not be allowing comments on this, I appreciate anyone who would give me their well wishes, but I want this to be about my father, not about my loss, I would ask that all who read this to please say a prayer for my mother, it has hit her very hard. God Bless and thank you.

Here are a couple of videos from Delaware State Treasurer Chip Flowers from four years ago. Considering the current mess he finds himself in over the misuse of state issued credit cards, and his inability to get his story straight, these videos go far beyond ironic.

The first one is titled “Revamping State Agencies”.

The second one id titled, “Fiscal Responsibility”, now that is funny!

“Deferred compensation”? “Making sure every dollar spent is spent efficiently”?  “Innovative financial practices”?  WOW! If only we had known what that meant four years ago.

Deferred compensation means spend what you like with the state’s credit card and don’t pay until you get caught.

Efficient spending must mean $7o.00 breakfasts on the states credit card.

And innovative financial practices can only mean losing records of spending until cornered, and then finding them, but still refusing to disclose them.

Even as the Obama administration works to convince the American public that the Affordable Health Care Act is not the unmitigated failure that it obviously is, they are currently also working to build the next puzzle  piece in the Obama legacy. Immigration reform. Or as many will see it, amnesty.

As even the most ardent supporters of the President are forced to admit that Obamacare has been a failure out of the gate, be it the ever-growing number of large companies that were exempted by the administration, right up to the failure to launch of the website, to the abysmal lack of interest by America’s young adults, the very people needed to make this scam work, we see the Obama administration working to shift the focus off of that failure onto immigration.

The question is, will the opposition handle the immigration reform battle any better than they did the battle against Obamacare?

There is no question that there is an ever-growing problem in the form of illegal immigrants moving into this country. But how to solve this problem?

As always it will be defined as a left v. right in the media, and of course the fringe elements on both sides of the political spectrum will happily play their roles.

We will have the hard left shouting about how the right is racist for not wanting to allow open borders, and the hard right will be shouting about how the illegals are stealing jobs and resources.

So who is right? Well as always, there is truth on both sides.  The immigrants that come here do take jobs that could be filled by American citizens, and they do avail themselves of the ever-growing list of entitlement programs that are available to all who apply.

And on the other side, there is clearly racism embedded within much of the rhetoric of the hard right. Often the opposition to the immigrants is hidden beneath the call for constitutional justice, when in reality the opposition is simply the fear and loathing of a people who are different from ones own self.

I will leave the discussion of the left’s point of view to people who see themselves as being better suited to discuss, and defend that view. I, seeing myself as a conservative, will address the views, and the goals of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.

Anyone paying attention should see that Pres. Obama and the Democrats are building towards making immigration the next big campaign issue. They have pushed through Obamacare, and in doing so demonstrated the GOP’s inability to deal with a PR nightmare, that being the faction within the GOP that sees itself as being the face and the voice of the new GOP. This faction chose to use carnival sideshow barker tactics to gin up support for their fight against Obamacare, which in the end backfired, and caused more Americans to move away from the conservative message. It also allowed the President, and the Democrats to look reasonable, while implementing the single most radical change in the history of America.

So, will we see the same tactics again employed, to oppose the radical ideas of the Obama administration when it comes to immigration reform? I am afraid that yes we will. The radical faction within the GOP is obviously blind and deaf, if only they were mute, when it comes to political maneuvering. They are actually out there making the argument that losing by a close margin in the governor’s race in Virginia is somehow a victory. Do these people understand, that you don’t get to govern, if you don’t win?

In my view, the GOP must do a better job of messaging on all issues, and especially on immigration. Right now the GOP is seen as race haters, that we are for breaking up families, and are against people seeking the American dream. We have allowed the media to paint us in this manner, in large part, by allowing race haters to be the loudest voices on this issue from the right.

In my opinion the GOP should take a position of prioritizing the problems facing the nation on the issue of immigration.

Instead of the sweeping all or nothing, “we have to pass it before we will know what is in it”, mentality that lead us into the fiasco of Obamacare, the GOP should be pushing for calmer heads this time. We should be talking about one piece of the puzzle at a time. In my view, the most important and pressing factor on immigration reform is border security.

We cannot talk about how to create a path to citizenship for those already here, until we staunch the flow of immigrants that simply walk into the country over our southern border. However, border security is not a simple case of fences and guards, we must also remove the benefits of coming here illegally.  Controlling the influx of immigrants that come here outside the laws of this nation is a multi-pronged issue.

The number one issue of immigration reform is stopping, or at least slowing, the number of immigrant coming into the country illegally, or as undocumented, if that feels better for you. To do this, we will need more border guards, we will need more fences, we will need laws that punish employers who hire people without documentation of citizenship, or other forms of legal status that allows them to be a positive contribution to the nation, rather than a negative drain on the infrastructure.

Until America has at least gotten a reasonable hand hold on this problem, then there is no reason to address the other issues of immigration, such as a path to citizenship for those already here.

This does not mean that we should simply turn a blind eye towards those who managed to get in under the radar. If an immigrant breaks the laws of this nation, then they should be punished, if they are a non-citizen, then they should be deported.  If we are to be a nation of laws, then those laws must be enforced equally.

What I expect to see on immigration reform from the left is an all out offensive to pass reform that creates a path to citizenship, and bestows all of the benefits of citizenship, without any real focus on border security.

What I would hope to see from the right is a push to secure the borders, and to sanctify the act of becoming a citizen of this nation, beyond simply being able to avoid detection.

This brings me to messaging. In the past the right in general, and the GOP specifically have been demonized for their position on immigration. This has not been hard to do considering some of the rhetoric coming from the right, be it talk radio, or other organizations that see themselves as patriot guards of all things America.

Too often this rhetoric, while replete with words like, “liberty, justice, constitutional, patriotism”, is at best window-dressing for the underlying feelings of those most passionate about this issue. When one listens carefully, one will also hear words like, “these people, those people, Mexicans”, and in some cases even more overtly racist statements.

We on the right must first realize and address the fact that many who oppose immigration reform do so simply out of fear of things unknown, or different from themselves. They oppose all reform because they see any immigrant as being a negative influence on their view of what it means to be an American, which considering our history is beyond ironic.

If the right, and the GOP, are to change the views held of our stance on immigration, then we must first recognize that it is not the immigrants themselves that we should be opposing. It is our government, and coextensively, our own failure to address this societal problem. We must shift the focus from the individual immigrant, to the cause of this problem, which is a lack of enforcement of existing laws on the part of our federal government.

We should not however allow ourselves to be seen as opposing people who wish only to come here to share in the American dream of Liberty and prosperity while insisting that they do so legally. In most cases these are hard-working family oriented people, not unlike anyone of us who were born of this nation. They work so as to support their families, to raise their children to live a better life then they have had themselves. They seek to buy homes, to start businesses, to be members of a community. Unfortunately they have begun this journey in a way that forces them to live within closed self-contained communities, which prohibits them from becoming members of the larger national community. This only adds to the fear and mistrust of the American citizens that see them as invaders.

This issue has morphed from being one of national security, into simply a political football. It is no longer about the sovereignty of  America’s borders, but is painted as being solely about the people seeking to enter this nation. The left shares as much fault in this as does the right. The left has played on the emotions of people by portraying this as an issue of purely the individual impact of the people coming here, the right has played on the emotions and fears of people who see the immigrants as invaders.

When really the issue is about the rule of law, and the equal enforcement of those laws, and about the impact upon the nation as a whole. I would encourage my fellow conservatives to focus not on the immigrants themselves, but to focus on the failure of the government to do that which it is charged with, upholding the principles and values, and laws of this nation.

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Below is a letter sent to Delaware State Treasurer Chip Flowers, on behalf of the Delaware State Senate Republicans from Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson of Milford, and Minority Whip Gregory Lavelle of Wilmington.

Let me first thank Senators Simpson and Lavelle for getting the ball rolling, and I would hope that if Treasurer Flowers ignores the suggestion of seeking outside aid in the investigation of the misuse of state issued credit cards, then the Senators should next form a committee to have Treasurer Flower testify in front of under oath, to answer to the citizens of Delaware.

 November 5, 2013

The Honorable Chip Flowers
Delaware State Treasurer
820 Silver Lake Blvd.
Suite 100
Dover, DE 19904

Dear Treasurer Flowers:

It’s time for you to get your office in order and it’s clear to us that you need help in doing so.

The ongoing allegations, confusion and inability to consistently and factually document the use of taxpayer funds for travel in your office need to be addressed immediately.

The News Journal report over the weekend was very troubling. In it you indicated that the records in your office are in disarray and that many are missing. You noted that you have lost your two most important employees and it isn’t clear if the positions have been filled. You also suggested that it might take 60 – 90 days for you to determine exactly what is going on with respect to travel and other financial records. You even suggested that criminal charges might be appropriate. Taken individually, these points would be concerning. Taken together, they suggest an office that is out of control.

The editorial in today’s News Journal certainly reflects much of what we have been hearing from constituents over this issue. We are also concerned that your current management practices might be impacting your office’s critical function of managing almost $2-billion in state tax funds.

We encourage you to proactively reach out to appropriate state agencies, including but not limited to, the Office of Management and Budget, the Division of Finance and the Attorney General’s office to assist you with your internal investigation into these serious matters. 

We would also like to know the exact status of Erika Benner. It is unclear to us if she has resigned or is out on short-term disability. If on disability, there must be policies and procedures in place that manage this status and we would like to know if they are being followed.  It appears to us that Ms. Benner is still being paid while she awaits a new position in state government. If true, we would like to know how long taxpayers will be expected to pay her salary.

It has been suggested to us that you are of the opinion that your office cannot be investigated since you are an independently elected office.  Let’s be perfectly clear, no elected official is above investigation.

We hope that you will more fully engage these issues and actively bring in outside and independent assistance to ensure the citizens of Delaware that they can have confidence in the effective management of their tax dollars, regardless of the amount.

Sincerely yours,

Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson

Senate Minority Whip Greg Lavelle

Cc: Gov. Jack Markell, Sen. Patricia Blevins, Sen. Gary Simpson, Sen. David McBride, Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf, Rep. Valerie Longhurst, Rep. John Viola, Rep. Daniel Short, Rep. Deborah Hudson, Secretary Tom Cook, Secretary Jeff Bullock, Director Ann Visalli, State Auditor Tom Wagner

Notice the people who were CC on this letter. So one has to ask, where are the Democrats on this? Why are they not calling on Treasurer Flowers to come forward with documentation of the misuse of state issued credit cards?  I also must in fairness point out state Auditor Tom Wagner and his silence on this issue.

I await a letter to be sent from the Democrats in the Senate, or the Governor, or from Speaker of the House Schwartzkopf. I fear I will be waiting a very long time.