We can play the blame game all day long, but what good will it do?  An old commonplace pattern seems to be repeating with regard to our policies like an old broken record that can’t seem to get out of stuck mode. Politicians in Congress seem to have too much time on their hands because they spend more of their time bickering instead of creating solutions.  We should be developing and creating solutions that will help Americans, our economy and our national security in a practical manner.

In addition to our country being broken, we see other parts of the world falling apart as revolutions spread.  We can never seem to predict what is going to happen from one day to the next in the Middle East – so maybe it’s time to have a stronger back-up plan as we push for a stronger western hemisphere.  After all, we ought to know the ins-and-outs of what is going on in our front and backyard.  In fact, I believe we are putting too much emphasis on the Middle East and we need to balance it out with a push for a stronger western hemisphere.

A notable individual who stands out to me is Carlos Slim.   Slim is a Mexican-born citizen who acquired much of his wealth via communications. He is the richest man in the world and his telecommunications empire involves over 100 million subscribers in the Latin America.  Indeed Slim is no stranger in trying to help our United States economy by providing more jobs when he bought a stake in CompUSA in 1999 for $800 million. Unfortunately, the sales of computers were slowing down at the time because they were more and more obsolete as new technology became available. Carlos tried everything to keep the chain alive but it eventually closed.

Although I know Carlos is a very busy business man, I took some time to see what his views were as it relates to international government policy affecting our continent.  I found his innovative ideas regarding immigration and tourism a path we ought to consider – particularly if it is a win-win for both economies.  He is absolutely right when he said we ought to have more action tanks instead of just think tanks.  I have not seen much recent news with regard to Slim and policy out there, but was impressed when he did say government ought to take care of public education.  I agree.  We ought to introduce into our high school curriculums an educational scope that will offer skill sets in preparation of taking care of our elderly.  Although Slim does not appear active in helping create new policies, I believe he is influential enough to bend his ear a bit regarding education that will solve future challenges.

The Problem:  Aging population is exhausting much of our federal tax revenues coupled with declining birth rates.

The Solution:  Offering a skill set or educational curriculum that will help take care of our elderly, and creating new tax payers instead of burdening the existing ones in an effort that will ensure the security and well-being of our parents and grandparents.

Many of us are at a point where we need to look ahead and think about our parents.  Are we going to stick them in nursing homes?  Or, are we going to hire aids that will help check in on our parents in their own homes?  If you’re a Mexican-American, you will find that many of us choose to have our parents move in with us so that we can have them in our own homes where we can all take care of each other.  Grandparent time is important to us because we do value the older generation passing customs and family traditions to our children.

The United States, Canada and Mexico will soon be facing some serious challenges regarding our aging population particularly when the U.S.  and Mexico have rapidly plunging baby rates and a rapidly growing aging problem.  In 2011, the birth rate of the United States fell to its lowest level recorded in American history.

Eventually both the United States and Mexico will be competing for people to live in each of our own countries.

In addition to this, the AARP has made it extremely clear to Congress to not cut Social Security and Medicare in light of the fiscal cliff deal.  So let’s do the math, shall we?  Since 2010, Social Security has been paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes.  How in the hell can we fund Social Security and Medicare without burdening existing tax payers with more tax increases?  It’s simple — we bring out the good hardworking people who are living in the shadows of society and are already contributing to gasoline, sales, liquor, tire taxes and etc., and we create new official tax payers through them — the immigrants.  It would be in AARP’s best interest to welcome a solution that will sustain our elderly without burdening existing tax payers.

As our elderly rely on prescription medication, and since prescriptions are much cheaper in Mexico we ought to make it easier for them to get cheaper medication.  Indeed one of the biggest complaints by our elderly is the cost of medicine and we know that many of them in the Southwest make trips to Mexico to obtain cheaper medication.  This is where it might be a good idea to look into Carlos Slim’s immigration and tourism ideas when he said:

“[Customs and Immigrations at airports] should not [be] this environment where you feel like you’re coming to an insecure place,” Slim said, in an interview with Mexico Secretary of Tourism Gloria Guevara Manzo and WTTC President and CEO David Scowsill. “[It should be] a warm welcome, not only when you go to the airport, but at the hotel. Immigrations officers and customs [officials] must have this relationship with the ministry of tourism, and bring a friendly aspect [to travel].”

It’s time for the 113^th Congress to shit or get off the pot.  We need them to stop with their partisanship bickering and we need to see action now.  Our elderly are dependent upon solutions.  We must take care of our elderly and Homeland issues.  We ought to work on a stronger western hemisphere – especially as it relates to our continent.