America for sale

When news broke that the Trump 5-million-dollar gold card visa was coming to the marketplace in a few weeks, I nearly choked on my Cheerios. The president’s pitch was that this card would replace the EB-5 visa card that allows immigrants to invest in US companies as a pathway to citizenship. America could use the extra wealth to pay off the deficit. Good news. Yes?

 Elon Musk came to the US in 1997 on an EB-5 visa. His heritage as an immigrant is South Africa and Canada. There is no question that investment into his companies has made billions of dollars for him. There is also no question that lot of investment in his companies has come from US resources.

 38 billion dollars in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits over ten years have reaped a great bounty, not for our deficit or for the needy, but for him. 6.3 billion dollars came to him from state and local governments in 2024. Musk is the gift that keeps on giving.

 The plaque on the Statue of Liberty that reads “give me your tired, your poor” will need to be sand blasted and replaced with a gold plaque that says, “you are welcome here if you have 5-million dollars to invest in the Trump Gold Visa Card.”

 In 1883, as the Statue of Liberty was being erected, Emma Lazarus wrote the poem as part of the fund-raising effort for its construction. In the1800s, immigrants were coming from Europe because they saw the US as a beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity. Hopes for a better life drove huge numbers of people Lazarus called, “your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” to flee poverty and oppression for a chance at a better life.

 Since it was commissioned in 1886, The Statue of Liberty has stood as a welcoming light for all people to come and share the blessing that is America. Our values and founding principles carry the spirit of those who want to be free from dictators and kings, and to enjoy the civil rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

 The pendulum is swinging far from that notion. I don’t think we will be better for it.

 Even Fox News is speculating that the Gold Visa Card plan “could raise new fraud and possibly be a national security risk.” Everybody seems alright with rounding up and shackling - not only criminals – but any people of color who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. These “huddled masses” are not welcome here anymore. But the Oligarchs of the world are.

 I thought about who might take advantage of this golden offer:

1.     A cartel in a dark smoky South American cantina. The boss says, “I have 5-million dollars. I think I will get a gold visa card and become an American citizen. We can really do business there. They like gangs in the US.”

2.     An Italian Mafia boss in a corrupt game of poker. “I have 5-million dollars, let me get American citizenship. We can set up shop. Get a little operation going and make more money than we can imagine. We are so good at disappearing people, mainstream America will hardly know we’re there”

3.     Saudi Arabian oil tycoons. “Here’s my 5-million, skimmed right off the top. We will become citizens and be part of the drill-baby-drill scheme.”

4.     Oligarchs from around the world. “Let us become citizens. With no regulation,  no oversight and almost no taxes, we can be fat cats who rule the world.”

Foreign movie stars, business tycoons and other millionaires will want to come here because they all know this is the land of opportunity. Money upon money is their goal. Screw the little guy. Huddled masses, your time in America is upHow did we get here? Somehow money and machismo have become the American dream, fueled by misinformation. Let’s take away rights. Let’s take away jobs. Let’s take away the basics, like weather information and books, and words, for pity’s sake. Somebody wants us crippled, uninformed, ignorant and docile so we can be spoon fed bologna that is coming toward us at warp speed.

 Makes me sad that so many in this state are blind to what is truly going on. The rich getting richer and the poor getting crumbs. That’s the way it goes. Look at Russia. Another art of the deal is on the American table.

Billionaires owning America may be the least of our worries. I am not so sure Americans still have enough fight in us to resist the madness.

 Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com