State lawmakers preparing citizenship legislation

The efforts by the state legislators come amid calls to change the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Supporters cite costs to taxpayers for services provided to illegal immigrants and their children.  lawmakers in at least 12 other states besides Arizona and Pennsylvania said they were making their own announcements about working on the citizenship legislation. Those other states: Alabama, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. Legislators from a total of 41 states are involved in a Metcalfe-founded group concerned with immigration issues.  "We're going to address the issue of the unconstitutional declaration of citizenship to those born to non-citizens, "It is a violation of the 14th Amendment."

USS Cole

The lack of U.S. response to the Cole attack — under both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — has re-emerged as a painful issue this week, as crew and family members gather at the U.S. naval base in Norfolk, Va., to mark the 10th anniversary of the bombing, which killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured 38.  Newly declassified documents show the frustrations of top White House counterterrorism officials over the U.S. failure to respond to al-Qaida’s October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole despite evidence that Osama bin Laden was reading poetry about the murderous attack and publicly taking credit for it.
At 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2000, the Cole — a billion dollar destroyer armed with the most advanced weapons in the U.S. naval arsenal — was docked off the coast of Yemen for refueling when it was approached by a small skiff packed with explosives and manned by two suicide bombers. The resulting explosion was a chilling precursor to the attacks on Sept. 11. It ripped a 60-by-40-foot hole in the ship’s hull, trapping the bodies of many of the dead crew members in the wreckage.
My son, served in the Navy and I remember the times, that I would worry for his safety, when he would be on a tour of duty.  My heart goes out to these families and friends of the USS Cole...........

The Greatest Threat to America

What?

Candidates are getting the message. Republicans called for a spending freeze in the party's recently released "Pledge to America," and President Obama is making budget control part of his message as he stumps for congressional candidates.  Maybe it's human nature to look for something — or someone — to blame when circumstances get difficult. But it doesn't make the solutions any easier. The other reality is that if you want to balance the federal budget, the ways you do that are very unpalatable to most people.  Anger is something of a constant in American politics and circumstances like high unemployment and a big, getting bigger deficit can heighten it. People are frustrated with the economy, frustrated that we're in two wars, frustrated that we can't seem to get out of this situation. American's are going to send a message in November.