As we approach a new year, I want to examine some issues that could shape our future.

I want to see our southern border brought under control. Since the Biden Administration came into office, they have pursued an open border policy not because they are incompetent but because they sense that an influx of illegal aliens will change our nation because they see the illegal aliens as potential Democratic voters. Also, the Biden administration believes that by encouraging huge numbers of illegals to enter our nation the immigration system will be overwhelmed with many illegal aliens being released and disappearing into our nation,

Something that should concern every American is the amount of illegal drugs coming across the border, particularly the artificial opiate Fentanyl that in the last year saw sufficient doses enter this nation to kill the entire American population. I believe Fentanyl is produced in Mexico by the drug cartels using ingredients produced in China. In this process the cartels make a lot of money and China is able to weaken American society. We have to find a way to end this, or our grandchildren may live in a far different nation than we do.

We also must end our dependence on China for many of our life saving drugs, medical equipment and even the ingredients used to make over the counter pain killers. Further it is dangerous for this nation to depend on China for computer chips and other components essential to our national security. Rather than passing the recent bloated “omnibus” spending bill filled with “pork” we should have allocated some of that money to encourage returning the production of goods essential to our national security back home.

While things seem reasonably normal in upstate New York, at least for now, in much of the country our criminal justice system is a mess. We have prosecutors in many places who return hardened felons to the street where they can strike again all in the name of some misguided and confused form of social justice. Also, we are treated to the sickening sight of young people stealing from retailers with impunity knowing that unless they steal more than a ridiculously high dollar amount, they will not be arrested and charged. We continue to hear radicals calling for defunding our police or even replacing them with some sort of social worker. In reaction to all this we find many policemen and women leaving the profession with police departments having difficulty replacing these loses.

It now appears that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or at least an important part of it is more politicized than we ever thought. The suppression of the Hunter Biden lap top story just prior to the 2020 election and the FBI’s collaboration with Twitter in determining what individuals and subjects would be suppressed during that same period smacks of government control of free speech and is one investigation that must take place. If we cannot trust this national police force to be above politics, our democracy is in serious trouble.

We cannot allow the current situation in our criminal justice system to continue, or we risk going from superpower to banana republic in a single generation.

The $32,000 pay raise approved by members of the New York Legislature is an unconscionable affront to the hard-working taxpayers of New York who are being forced daily to deal with inflation that puts many in the position of having to choose between putting food on the table or adequately heating their homes. However, I am happy see that State Senator George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell were vocal opponents of the pay raise.

New Yorks Climate Action Council continues on its merry if totally misguided way in approving a plan that will eliminate carbon emissions from the state by 2050 and begin the phasing out of propane, gas, and oil heating. What this means is that to heat our homes during future winter storms like the one that struck this past weekend we will be dependent on electricity produced by wind and solar placing an even greater strain on our rickety power grid that will also be attempting to recharge those electric cars favored by the council. Good luck!

Finally, I hope that in 2023 we will be told that the new Brooks Hospital plan has been approved and that state money to build it has been released and a firm groundbreaking date announced. However, I won’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

I want to close by wishing everyone a HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND PROSPEROUS 2023.

Thomas Kirkpatrick is a Silver Creek resident. Comments may be sent to editorial@observertoday.com