The 14th Amendment and why we should care

There are those who wish to argue for arguments sake and find a scapegoat for all that they find wrong in their own little corner of the world. Frequently that scapegoat tends to be what we would call the "other" or someone who isn't like us. Since our nation's founding certain groups found themselves excluded from the political process and thus the scapegoat other.

At the founding our nation refused, at least until the 1920s, to recognize Native American Peoples as citizens in any real and mean sense. The early Americans began to break and modify treaties with the Natives at will as they pushed the tribes out of their way as we began our westward migration to fulfill what would become to be termed our manifest destiny.

African slaves found themselves counted as 3/5ths of a person until our nation began to undo the institution of slavery and set about incorporating the former slaves into the brotherhood of Americans, which they set out to do with the 13th-15th amendments to our constitution.

Following that the other label fell upon, the Chinese, Italian, Irish and Haitian immigrants in their turn. Americans found themselves in tough times and many blamed their problems or the ills of society on these groups and create a scapegoat so that they may try to find themselves blameless for their current troubles.

Today Mexicans find themselves labeled as the other. Though the U.S. has a sizable Latino population, with people from all over the Latin American world integrating themselves into our society, Mexicans are often blamed for anything someone might find wrong with society. Even though as recent as 40 years ago Mexican laborers were welcomed into the country under programs such as the Bracero program and allowed to pursue their own version of the American dream, Latinos in general find themselves under greater scrutiny as our political discourse trends toward divisive and ofttimes hurtful directions.

Many people point to the 14th Amendment as the root of the problem, specifically the portion which defines citizenship as persons born in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction thereof. Their argument is that this encourages people to come into our nation to have their children and use them to try gaining their own citizenship. The so called Anchor Babies. This is a bit of a fallacy, since the process to gain citizenship in this manner is slow and time consuming, there is still a great risk of a family being deported or separated as the undocumented parents are deported while the child who is a citizen moves in with the relatives. One reason the idea of Anchor baby syndrome is a fallacy is that if it were true then the hospitals who operate in the border communities on the US side would have account to almost all births when compared to their counterparts in Mexico. Since those families who already live on the border would have the least to travel to avail themselves of opportunity to give birth their children in the US. I can't find one hospital in San Diego, or Laredo, El Peso that could produce any data to support the anchor baby claim.

There many great why we should not do anything to alter the meaning of the 14th Amendment. First is to honor the spirit of the Amendment. The writers of the Amendment sought to undo Dred Scott and ensure that the several states and their legislatures would not have the opportunity come up with their own definitions on who it would or would not consider a citizen. Many states in the Deep South passed the so-called Black Codes which reduced the freedmen into a status little better than the slavery from which they were emancipated. Congress along with the States amended the Constitution in such a way where citizenship was defined and could be no longer something nebulous and subject to interpretation. The 14th Amendment made it clear that Citizenship was a right of birth and not something open to interpretation.

Detractors point out that few other countries consider citizenship a birthright as evidence to support their own arguments as to why the 14th Amendment should be changed. America has her own history precisely because we didn't do what everyone else does. We are the first nation to truly make a pact with each other to pursue self governance and not have ones government organs foisted upon her like the rest of the world It is this reason above all why we should defiend the 14th Amendment from attack.

The Man That Wants to Return U.S. and World to the Great Depression

If America thought that in electing more Republicans to Congress that the gridlock and partisan bickering would be a thing of the past, guess again. Not even 48 hours since the elections and a full two months before actually seeing the 112th Congress take their oaths of office and begin the session, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out a plan to ruin the global economy if the Republicans do not get their way.

At some point in the next year the United States will hit its statutory debt ceilling and would be barred from offering for sale further treasury bonds to raise money to operate. Unless Harry Reid and the Senate leadership revise the Senate rules, the Republicans could filibuster the bill authorizing the raised ceilling unless their demands are met.

In any other venue this would be called blackmail or extortion. These tactics could make the government shut-down of 1995 seem like a walk in the park. In an interview with Fox news he said that any cooperation would come with strings attatched and every Republican for the last two days has said thier first priority is to repeal healthcare so that Insurance companies can once again have the right to deny care and recind coverage to enough people so that they can exceed their earnings expectations.

To the Democrats in congress and the President I would say stand strong. It is clear that the Republicans are less in the mood for comrpimse now than they were in the last Congress. Let them run the game of brinksmanship and become the poster children if the global economy tanks. We as a nation have never bargained with terrorists and we should not kowtow to Boehner's and McConnell's strong arm tactics. Let them stall what is in the nation's and the world's best interest at their peril.

Currently, at least according to some economists, our deficit and debt load aren't as important as getting the economy back on track. That should be first priority, any piece of legislation that does not address this should never see debate in either house. We need to spend money on infrastructure and other projects that will take people off the unemployment roles and out working. Once we get stabilized, we do need to begin to get our taxes reworked so that we can get our government on a paying basis. Yes that means the inheritance tax, which only affects less than 5% of estates and serves to collect taxes on wealth that has been tax deferred, income and corporate taxes as well as the royalties on resource exploitation. We can come up with a fair and progressive system without loopholes so that everyone and every company can pay thier fair share and we an continue our investment in the future.

To the Republican Leadership....you got what you wanted....no you have to work on behalf of the American People and deliver. 2 more years of partisan bickering will not be accpetable. If you try to hold the world's economy hostage like some petty crook in a stick up gone bad, you do so at your peril. The world is watching....the voters will remember who forced the shutdown of the government if it comes to that and you will pay the price in 2 years.

I am not voting Republican on November 2nd!

This might be the most powerful ad of the 2010 cycle. Wish it saw more airtime when early voting started. Check it out and spread the word.

On the eve of the elections some things to think about

Tomorrow the nation goes to the polls and we as Americans are faced with important decisions when we go to cast our ballot. We must think with our heads and not just out of abject frustration.

Yes the economy is not where we would have hoped it to be. The dire situation that Barack Obama faced when he took office was not some overnight fluke, it was the product of 2 decades worth of failed policies. Trickle down Does Not Work, or so says Regan's former budget director.

In 8 years George W. Bush took a budget surplus and created systemic deficits by giving tax breaks to the wealthiest in the country. If the Republican mantra of cut taxes, cut taxes were the cure a sluggish economy then the Bush years should have shown explosive job growth not a steady and sure increase in the unemployment. We lost more jobs in those 8 years than we can hope to get back in 18 months.

We have candidates who are running campaigns who want to undo much of the 20th century. There are some like Sharon Angle who wants to eliminate the Departments of Education and Energy while privatizing the Veteran's Administration, Social Security. There are others who would eliminate or cut back on unemployment in the midst of the recession while protecting the tax breaks for the richest of the rich.

In the last 18 months we have seen the beginnings of progress, and tons of great legislation stalled in the Senate. First we have the Stimulus bill. This bill provided tax cuts for about 95% of Americans and some money for public works projects. It has worked but not as well as expected. Reason, tax cuts are the least effective means of stimulating the economy. Putting money into the hands of those who would spend it is the most effective. This bill was too small and not enough money for public works. We have tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure projects that need to be addressed. We have flood control systems that need some attention, you can ask people in New Orleans about what happens when you don't maintain your levees. We have thousands of miles of roads to build, expand and repair. We have bridges that need to be fixed, or they will crumble like the I35 bridge in Minneapolis. We have the need to extend broadband and fiber optics to rural areas. We can begin to convert our energy grid to one that is dependant on fossil fuels to one that is more reliant on solar, wind and geo-thermal. These are projects that would put people back to work which means people will spend money which creates velocity and the money spent on these projects produce a great sum in stimulus to the economy.

The right has attacked the health care bill. They found no problem with insurance companies denying care to sick people to protect their profit margin. They found no problem with CEO's raking in billions of dollars in bonuses, while some of those covered by their insurance company died because they were denied access to care. They Republicans would end the ability of young adults remaining on their parent's policy until they could get their feet wet in their careers after college. The Right believes that it is criminal that we should mandate that insurance companies limit overhead to 20% of premiums.

The difference between the two parties philosophies is stark. The Democrats believe that our best days are ahead of us, the Republicans want to turn back the clock. The Democrats believe our society can help those who are less fortunate, the Republicans believe they should help themselves. This is the difference between seeing unity and relishing in division.

Politics is local...and the decisions we make or fail to make can have long reaching repercussions. Tomorrow, before going to vote, examine each candidate and ask yourself, "What have you done for me lately?" The Democrats have produced the first net gains in jobs since the early 2000s. The Democrats passed the most extensive financial regulatory reform since the 1930s. The Democrats stood strong to make an investment and improve access to higher education. The Democrats want to keep government from intruding in the most personal parts of our private lives (the very definition of small government). The Democrats fought to pass a bill that would encourage companies to stem the tide of outsourcing and keep the jobs in the USA. This isn't the be all, end all but it is a start. If you believe that we have a bright future than you know who you have to vote D and move forward.

If you want to reward the most obstructionist group of policy makers. A party that doesn't see the value of American industry. A party that is fueled by monied interests that that do not favor a strong middle or working class. A party that has offered not one new or original idea to fix what ails us. Then put the car in R and see if we don't hit the ditch again.