Obama in Chicago on Memorial Day? Really?

Obama in Chicago on Memorial Day? Really?

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 26, 2010

Does Barack Obama have no sense of history? Does he have no sense of respect for the fallen who gave their all? Does he have no sense of decorum? Does he have no sense of right and wrong? Does he have no sense?

Just when I thought I could not be embarrassed by this so-called leader any further, he makes the woe begotten decision to spend Memorial Day weekend in Chicago, instead of where he belongs – doing his duty as Commander in Chief – speaking and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

According to The Washington Post, clearly a left of center newspaper, Obama believes it is more important to shun the memories of the fallen who fought to make the world a freer, better and safer place by returning home to Chicago simply because he pledged to do so every six weeks or so. He referred to the trip to the Windy City “as addressing one of the great broken promises of his administration.” (I’ll save the dissection of that comment for another column.)

Obama will also not be attending the breakfast at the White House for “Gold Star” families. These folks are the survivors of those who died in the service to their country. Instead, Vice President Biden and his wife Jill will host the breakfast and participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

Making remarks at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, which is what is on Obama’s agenda for next Monday,  is not an appropriate substitute. Obama can do that next February – it will be more meaningful then. After all, if he plans to be in Chicago, “every six weeks or so,” he can certainly arrange his schedule to coincide with Honest Abe’s birthday.

It’s bad enough most people have forgotten the true meaning of Memorial Day – not just a chance to have a weenie roast and chug some cheap beer, although I have no doubt most of the fallen would enjoy doing just that – but the opportunity to recall with pride and introspection those men and women who made the greatest sacrifice one can make for his or her country.

Is this the legacy Obama wishes to leave for his young daughters? It is shameful enough that most schools don’t even bother to teach their charges about the observance formerly known as Decoration Day.

Memorial Day was proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in 1868 and observed by the placement of flowers at the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

After her 1915 poem referenced poppies and their redness, Moina Michael began the time-honored tradition of wearing red poppies in remembrance of the fallen soldiers. Later, poppies were sold to help raise money for the widows and orphans of the servicemen who did not return home. By the early 1920s the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) was enlisted to make and sell the poppies.

The American flag is to be flown at half-mast until noon on Memorial Day. In December 2000 the National Moment of Remembrance was passed by Congress calling on all Americans to pause from their activities at 3 p.m. and offer a moment of observation, respect and silence. Taps should also be played.

Quite frankly, more than a “moment” should be “sacrificed” in remembrance of those brave men and women who died in the service to our country – the volunteers and the draftees. We take for granted the freedom we enjoy in these United States and Obama is setting a poor example by shirking his responsibilities.

The job of President is a full-time, 24-7 task requiring the attention of the leader at all times. He can take a weekend in Chicago at another time. Memorial Day is a work day for the Commander in Chief and he ought to show his children and our country how it’s done – properly. But only after someone shows him first.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Law-breaking is not an American Value

Law-breaking is not an American Value

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 24, 2010

Kudos to the Times staffers responsible for page layout in the May 20 issue. I appreciate the juxtaposition of my column “One state down, 49 to go,” with that of Lucero Beebe-Giudice’s “Immigration solutions must reflect our values.”

Placing those two columns on the same page gives a clear visual to the readers of who supports the rule of law in a fact-driven tome versus who has taken a page from Barack Obama in a hysteria, fear-mongering manner making false claims to stir up sympathies for people who have broken the law by their mere presence in these United States.

Beebe-Giudice’s use of the word apartheid is a classic move designed to curry favor with the open border crowd. Arizona’s passage of SB 1070 is not anti-immigrant, but anti-illegal immigrant – a huge difference. And as for the notion that immigrants are required “to carry their immigration papers at all times,” is no different than any person – citizen or legal resident alike being required to carry identification with them when casting a ballot on election day, writing a check at the supermarket, or driving a motor vehicle.

There is a major point Beebe-Giudice seems to have conveniently forgotten when mentioning the forgotten “struggle and lives lost to forge civil rights and equal opportunity.” That struggle was waged by American citizens and those lives lost, sadly, were also American citizens. “Liberty and justice under the law” is to be afforded American citizens and legal residents – not illegal aliens who broke the law by sneaking across the border, regardless of the reasons why.

That Alexandria should rebuke certain laws and turn a blind eye to the continued invasion by illegal aliens only serves to demonstrate this city’s transformation from a law abiding entity to a sanctuary city, which will ultimately drive hard working people from its confines to locales where their tax dollars will not be used to pay for education, health subsidies and food stamps for people who have willfully chosen to break the law. Sadly, this is not hyperbole.

“Don’t get me wrong, nobody’s defending criminals,” writes Beebe-Giudice. That is absolutely what the writer is doing, and brazenly so. Immigration may be the complex issue Beebe-Giudice avers, but that is simply due to those supporting rights illegal aliens do not have, nor deserve. The rule of law calls for people wishing to immigrate to the United States to follow a set of laws and guidelines for lawful entry into this country. Doing so is a privilege, not a right, and the more people who remember that, the safer we will all be – citizen and legal resident alike.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Expensive Prom? Drive Yourslef and Get a Job

Expensive Prom? Drive Yourself and Get a Job

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 21, 2010

Prom costs adding up? Here’s a novel concept: get a job!

That is my message to students who believe they are entitled to a gown or tuxedo, a limousine, an after party in a hotel suite or an overnight down the shore (or at the beach if you are not from New Jersey.) It is also my response to the Sunday, May 16 article “From prom to tests, costs add up for parents.”

Parents who are fretting these same costs, stop belaboring the issue and tell your children to start laboring to earn the money to afford such luxuries. Didn’t today’s parents – my peers, have jobs during the early and mid-‘80s to afford the prom tickets et al? Why are today’s parents so reluctant to ask their children to kick in for their own frivolous, yet, rite of passage events? Because they are too busy trying to be their children’s friends, and not teach the life lessons that will benefit them more than caving in and indulging their children’s every whim and demand.

While the prom is a fun event, it is not an entitlement that parents owe their children. If mom and dad want to spring for the expense of pre-prom tanning beds, hair and nails for girls, gown for girls, tuxedos for boys, limos, after parties as well as corsages and boutonnières, then, thank you very much.

I had the privilege of picking up my prom date in the car I shared with my mother. A limo never dawned on me as something I would have wasted money on because I had an after school job. It’s called living within one’s means and personal responsibility – the lessons parents ought to be teaching their children that will ultimately make them better citizens and better parents when it is their turn to send their own children off to the prom in 2040.

The same concept of living within one’s means and personal fiscal responsibility should be applied when dealing with the pre-college costs of visiting campuses, applications to schools and selecting a school. I had an agreement with my father – we would visit the schools to which I applied within a four-hour drive. If none of them appealed to me we would branch out the search only after receiving acceptance letters from those a short flight away. Fortunately, because I loathe flying, the University of Maryland, my eventual alma mater, fell into that four-hour drive category.

Only apply to schools you would actually attend and can afford. I was public school and state school educated K through graduate school. The question of affordability is the 800 pound elephant in the room of course. Again, get a job, enter a work-study program, get loans, peruse books such as Gobs and Gobs of Free Stuff and Free Money For Everybody, both written by Matthew Lesko and The Best Free Things in America written by Linda and Bob Kalian.

There are myriad scholarship programs that sound off the wall but will help defray expenses – scholarships for left-handed people, for Alaskan natives, for racial, ethnic and religious minorities, for American Indians, black Republicans, government scholarships, corporate scholarships and so forth.

Find sponsors to pay for the cost of the SAT, GRE, M-CAT, LSAT. Take your first year of college at the local community college and live at home then transfer the credits to the school you want to attend. Take summer classes at the same community college and graduate early.

As for the concerns parents have regarding some of the more questionable costs and fees, I too am wondering about them as well. Graduation dues? Senior dues? Parking fees at the local high school? Never heard of such expenses – they didn’t exist, dare I say, in “my day.”

At a number of schools, seniors were informed that failure to pay all fees would result in being barred from graduation. I suggest all parents work together in a band of civil protest and all boycott the fees for graduation, etc. Would it still be a graduation if nobody were permitted to partake?

Congratulations to all the graduates and best wishes in your future endeavors – college, military or the work world. Learn the lessons of fiscal prudence and personal responsibility. Do not follow the example of the wayward government.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA. Contrary to popular belief, he did not attend a one-room schoolhouse.

People Who Live in Glass Countries…

People Who Live in Glass Countries…

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 20, 2010

First Amendment to the United States Constitution notwithstanding, who the hell does Mexican President Felipe Calderon think he is coming into our House and badmouthing this country and its right to police itself as we see fit?

Freedom of speech, yes, but with decorum and diplomacy. One does not denigrate one’s host country when invited to speak within the House Chamber on Capitol Hill. And shame on those members of the House and Senate who stood and applauded Calderon instead of standing to walk out while he took to task a foreign government for passing laws to protects its borders while his own country continues to turn a blind eye to that very issue. All those standing, fawning, sycophantic disgraces to their Congressional offices should be targeted for defeat this November.

Calderon disingenuously said there is a “need for a more orderly border.” In fact, it’s to Calderon’s and Mexico’s benefit that little be done to discourage Mexicans from sneaking across its northern border and invade the United States. Once these deadbeat  Mexicans leave their home country, they cease to be Calderon’s financial, legal, educational or medical problems, and they become problems of the United States.

Calderon called Arizona’s SB 1070 “discriminatory toward Mexicans,” for allowing police to question people’s immigration status. The law allows police to question all people’s immigration status should it be warranted, and not just willy-nilly. The law does not discriminate against any ethnic group, but instead those people who have broken Federal or Arizona state laws by committing the crime of entering and remaining in the United States illegally – regardless of their country of origin.

Can United States citizens illegally enter Mexico without repercussions? Can United States citizens demand, upon entering Mexico illegally, that they be provided with free education, health care coverage, food stamps, documents/signs be printed in English and a pathway to citizenship? Absolutely not. In fact, Mexico has immigration laws infinitely more Draconian that those which are on the books in the United States giving his people and those from myriad other countries free passes to the tune of billions of dollars out of the pockets of taxpaying American citizens and legal residents.

Here’s a message to el presidente Calderon: go home to Mexico and fix your own house. If your country were not in the shambles in which it currently finds itself – deleterious economy, a murder rate out of control, rampant drug import/export, pollution on par with China, your citizens would not spend their time sneaking out of Mexico and into the United States – my country.

Calderon is but the tip of the iceberg, as he is on the outside looking in. Barack Obama must shoulder the brunt of the blame, first for continuing the presidential trend of not enforcing the federal laws that forced Arizona to pass SB 1070 in the first place.

Additionally, Obama, a.k.a. the fear-mongerer in chief caused quite a stir by suggesting families with small children on an ice cream outing would be plucked from the streets and summarily deported because he expected the police to violate SB 1070. Obama has problems giving police respect as he condemned the Cambridge, MA police deriding them for “acting stupidly,” when he knew nothing of the facts of the case in question. He just assumed – and we all know what happens when one assumes.

The question of illegal immigration will only continue to worsen before it ever improves and having the likes of a foreign ruler chide this country when he has no control over the affairs of his own state do nothing but exacerbate the already tenuous situation.

Whether it is the continuing invasion on the southern border of the United States, or the gang problem in places like Los Angeles, or day laborer problem in places like Northern Virginia, until incentives to invade our borders are removed, the problem will only remain an unsolvable invitation to foreign miscreants.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

For Specter, Payback is a Bi... Bear

For Specter, Payback is a Bi… Bear

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 19, 2010

Mighty Barack Obama has once again struck out – and it couldn’t happen with a better surrogate at the plate – Arlen Specter (D-PA).

In the case of the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-Democrat for his final coda in politics, it seems that turnabout is fair play and that karma really is a bi… um, bear. When the going got tough, Obama threw Specter under the bus after using him for all he could in the Senate having gotten the octogenarian to vote for TARP, health care and just about any other soon to fail socialist scheme on the Obama agenda.

Specter, who proved his disloyalty to his former patrons, the Republican Party, long before making his re-conversion official, earned his just desserts and comeuppance by losing in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 18 to the more liberal Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7^th) by a 54 percent to 46 percent count. This after citing one of the main reasons for defecting back to the Democrats because Specter believed he could not defeat the eventual GOP nominee Pat Toomey in that party’s primary.

Sestak, although handily denying Specter a sixth term in the U.S. Senate, enters the general election campaign as an underdog to Toomey, who lost to Specter in the 2004 GOP primary.

Specter, long before returning to his Democratic roots, had been saddled with the label of RINO as a liberal Republican. He had been welcomed home to the Democrats by Barack Obama who declared his love and pledged support for the incumbent. However, when the race between the two Democrats tightened, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden could hardly be found on the campaign trail, proving they are with their candidate though thick and thicker; win or tie.

However, the taint of Obama already stuck to Specter, who suffered the wrath of voters for his disloyalty to the Republican Party, for not having been with the Democrats long enough to be trusted, for being an incumbent whose time had long since come and gone and because of his insufferable behavior during the town hall meetings last summer. Apparently enough voters do have long memories.

But for those who don’t have long memories, the names of Martha Coakley (D-MA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Creigh Deeds (D-VA) should be the reminder that Obama surrogates, and by extension, Obama himself is now 0-4. I wish he played for the Yankees – and I’ve seen him throw a baseball. Full disclosure, I’m a lifelong Mets fan.

And to the Democrats who are all giddy over Mark Critz’s victory over Tim Burns in the special election in Pennsylvania’s 12^th Congressional District due to the death of John Murtha, relax. Critz was Murtha’s longtime aide in a district that is 2-1 Democratic in its voter registration.

The more important issue is the defeat of an arrogant incumbent who jumped ship to fend off the very vanquishing that has effectively ended his four-decade career. Like other incumbents already taken to the electoral woodshed, Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Congressman Alan Mollohan (D-WV), are examples of what is to come this November. The voters are tired of being ignored and taken for granted. Their voices are being heard on both sides of the aisle and order will soon be restored.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Thank You, Now Get Out, Dick

Thank You, Now Get Out, Dick

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 19, 2010

A fib is a lie; a lie is a lie; yet in the world of politics a lie is but a misstatement.

Using the very veterans he claims to embrace and support as both pawns and a shield, Richard “Dick” Blumenthal (D-CT) refused to admit he simply lied about serving in Vietnam during the war that continues to launch thousands of scars and nightmares amongst those who actually did serve over there as well as the survivors of the more than 58,000 who give their lives over there.

“I regret that I misspoke and take full responsibility for my words,” said the current state’s attorney general and candidate for the US Senate. Blumenthal, who did serve in the US Marines Corps Reserves, also said he refuses to allow a “few misplaced words to impugn my service to my country,” to the applause and “hoo-aahs” of the veterans before which he spoke on Tuesday, May 18 at, ironically a VFW lodge. Ironic, because the candidate-liar is ineligible for membership in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, having not served in one.

It takes a certain brand of chutzpah to lie about serving in a war and an even bigger set of cajones to dupe the very veterans supporting that person running for public office. Blumenthal offered no apology and instead of dropping his bid to succeed the ethically-challenged Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), hid behind the veterans – bona fide heroes who did serve in Vietnam.

Adding insult to injury, it has also been discovered that Blumenthal also lied about having been the captain of his college swim team, when in reality he never even belonged to the team. Now, he is all wet.

Having violated the public trust, Blumenthal, proving to have a history of lying – yes, lying, not making misstatements, should do the honorable thing and not only drop his bid for the U.S. Senate, but resign as Attorney General of Connecticut. It’s called honor and contrition – words Blumenthal will no doubt need to consult Webster’s to comprehend.

Thank you for your service to both country and Connecticut, now go away, Mr. Blumenthal.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

One State Down, 49 To Go

One State Down, 49 To Go

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

May 10, 2010

I shall go to Arizona!

With apologies to the late great General Dwight D. Eisenhower who on October 25, 1952 famously declared, “I shall go to Korea,” just 10 days before being elected President of the United States.

And if these state legislatures have their way, I shall go to Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina as well. They are in the process of doing for themselves what Arizona has successfully done simply because the federal government refuses to do its job.

On the heels of the murder of Tucson-area rancher Rob Krentz by an illegal alien, along with countless other heinous crimes committed by myriad of the more than 450,000 illegals camped out in Arizona, the Grand Canyon State found itself with its back to the wall and passed SB 1070.

Signed into law by the courageous Governor Jan Brewer (R), SB 1070 uses much of the language of the federal law in an effort to tamp down on illegal immigration. The legislation requires local law enforcement to question people about their immigration status – including asking for identification – if people are suspected of being in the United states illegally. This legislation is much akin to the language in the 1984 US Court of Appeals – 10^th Circuit case United States v. Calderon, which allows law enforcement to question the immigration status of people detained on a routine police stop.

There is nothing racist about being asked for identification. One must present it when voting, buying alcohol, boarding an airplane and in some cases, like writing a check, two forms are required. Are those all circumstances of racism? Am I being profiled when I go to vote or have a gin and tonic at happy hour? Not at all.

Before launching into the litany of reasons why Arizona has done the absolutely right thing, the mandatory rhetorical question must be posed. To all those folks berating Arizona, calling for boycotts of the state, calling Governor Brewer “Hitler’s daughter,” as has been seen on protest signs, what part of “illegal” do you people not understand?

It has been suggested that there needs to be empathy for the poor and downtrodden who sneak into the United States simply to improve their family’s lot in life. Fine – those of you who feel those people who have broken the law and snuck across the border deserve empathy or amnesty or a path to citizenship, adopt a family of illegals, pay the freight for their support, health care, education out of your own pocket.

Those of you supporting the so-called “rights” of the illegals to be in this country, do not complain when they break into your house and steal your belongings. After all, that is what they are doing when they break into our country and demand free health care, free education, food stamps and other support they do not pay for, yet mysteriously is paid for because it comes out of the pockets of honest citizens who pay taxes for such social and welfare programs.

Note to the federal government: stop incentivizing illegals with the aforementioned health care, education, food stamps and citizenship via the 14^th Amendment’s anchor baby disgrace that should be amended. After all, the purpose of the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified July 9, 1868, was to ensure the citizenship of the children of America’s newest citizens – freed slaves – people who had not been citizens prior to the passage of that Amendment.

Amend the 14^th Amendment and cut off all subsidies to illegals and that will keep many of them in their country of origin. Should they decide to pursue American citizenship in the correct, proper and legal manner, they will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by the millions of Americans whose families also emigrated legally in past generations.

Arizona SB 1070 is not political hyperbole. And all the while Mexican President Felipe Calderon talks a good game about wishing to end the drug trafficking and rampant homicides on both sides of Mexico’s northern border, he is completely disingenuous. Try crossing north into Mexico from Guatemala or Belize. The laws in Mexico are infinitely more Draconian than here in the United States.

Barack Obama who called the Arizona measure “misguided,” and “a poorly conceived law” apparently has not read the federal law, and again spoke without enough information as he did when incorrectly saying police in Cambridge, MA “acted stupidly.” It is Obama who is infinitely misguided and completely out of touch with the desires of the rank and file citizens of the United States. A recent Rasmussen poll indicated 61-30 percent in favor of the Arizona law on the whole of the United States, and 70 percent support of the legislation within Arizona itself. Additionally, 75 percent of those surveyed said they believe the southern borders are not protected.

“We had no other choice – we will protect ourselves,” said Governor Brewer, whose approval rating rose from below 50 percent to 56 percent overnight. Brewer smartly does not support amnesty, after all, amnesty failed in 1986 when there were roughly three million illegal aliens in the country. Today, estimates of illegals range from 12 to 15 million on the conservative side to as high as 20 million by some estimates.

After another round of amnesty, just consider how many people will feel emboldened to invade our porous borders – and that is exactly what is happening – we are being invaded, and no longer little by little. Amnesty is wrong and condones illegal behavior by rewarding it with forgiveness and potential citizenship. And make no mistake, this is not a single-party issue – both major political parties are to blame for this immigration debacle.

Democrats do not want to stop the plague of illegal immigration because they see millions of potential citizens and, to them, more importantly, votes. Republicans, who, can’t afford to alienate any ethnic group for fear of being called racist, when there is nothing racist about wanting people to follow the rule of law, have their problem with the business community. If businesses that hire illegals are fined or shut down, the businesses suffer. If the illegals are out of the jobs and legal hires are employed, it will cost businesses more in terms of wages and insurance.

Tough. Illegal is illegal regardless which political party one supports. If I had my druthers every illegal alien would be deported without the chance of legal return. Granted, that is a hard-right tack to take, and before people start calling me a Nazi, I would remind them that there is a tremendous difference between illegals being deported from the United States and the rounding up of Jewish citizens. The people who have snuck across the border either from Canada or Mexico and are in the United States illegally, have broken the law and should be punished according to the law of the land. Jewish citizens of Germany were accosted, rounded up and deported simply for being Jewish.

As an observant Jew, I deeply resent Cardinal Roger Mahony comparing Arizona’s SB 1070 to Nazism. His is an incendiary remark designed to further stir up emotions of people who may or may not have knowledge of the history of the Nazi tyranny and systematic slaughter of European Jewry. Cardinal Mahony should know better.

Tucson Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said he will not enforce SB 1070. For the blatant dereliction of his duties, he should be fired immediately. It’s one thing to voice opposition to the law, but to refuse to enforce it is another issue. Anarchy should not be tolerated.

For those who have called for the boycott of the state of Arizona and its businesses, they are only hurting law abiding citizens who have the right to conduct business. It is especially onerous that such a boycott should be called for by Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva (D). This type of disloyalty to the people he was elected to serve should be rewarded with unemployment this November and his defeat at the ballot box.

Sportswriters calling for the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star game to be revoked from Arizona would be a mistake. Millions of dollars are spent during All-Star “weekend,” and again, the victims of such a boycott would be honest, law-abiding citizens operating legal businesses. The Arizona Diamondbacks baseball organization is not, nor should it be treated as a villain – it hires hundreds of people. Oh, and a note to the “genius” who decided the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns should don uniforms during a playoff game last week reading “Los Suns,” the proper designation would have been “Los Soles.” (Siete anos de espanol, muchas gracias.)

And another by the way, Arizona Iced Tea is a product of Brooklyn, NY for those who rush to judgment without conducting their due diligence.

As a reasonable person, I realize the deportation of 12 to 15 million illegals is damn near impossible. That does not mean the attempt should not be made. However, and again, being reasonable, there are other possible solutions to the pandemic this nation faces as long as it turns a blind eye and continues offering up economic services that will ultimately lead to the bankruptcy of this country.

First things first – secure the borders by any means necessary – electric fence, military on the border, reserves on the border – whatever it takes. This will also put people to work. Until that time, turn the spigot off. Once the borders are secure, then legal immigration can once again be considered.

Residents of countries deemed unfriendly to the United States should not be given permission to enter. People from acceptable countries with PhDs, MDs and other marketable skills that would prevent them from becoming a drain upon the public coffers should be moved to the front of the line.

While I still support the deportation of illegal aliens, and recognizing the severe challenge to such a plan, if amnesty becomes a horrifying reality, it must come with strings and price tags for the recipients. If they are allowed to work legally in this country, they must pay a penalty for having been in the country illegally in the first place. The same should be imposed upon the employers who hire illegal aliens.

The next stick that should be coupled with the carrot of living freely in the United States, is that no current illegal alien should be allowed a path to citizenship or the right to vote, thus taking away the incentive of politicians to kowtow to lobbyists, immigrant groups and succumb to any other pressure they currently face. Before the protesters start calling me a racist and hunting me down with torches, in this country, we call those folks legal residents. They work, they pay taxes, they are not citizens and they do not vote. If they break the law they can be deported.

American citizens of all colors and ethnic backgrounds are flummoxed by how the federal government can give illegal aliens benefits that we as citizens cannot enjoy. Such profligacy will only prove deleterious to the whole of the American economy and before anyone is aware, the United States will become Greece.

The crisis of illegal immigration is one with which the federal government is unwilling to deal. The politicians simply are not honest brokers and the voters will not be assuaged any longer by lip service.

This is why states like Michigan are seeking to pass legislation a la Arizona. In an interview on Fox News on May 10, Michigan State Representative Kim Meltzer (R) said there “most definitely” is a need for a broader federal law. “It’s common sense,” she said, adding people should either “leave or abide by our laws.” The federal government is not enforcing the laws, said Meltzer, and that their move is to “pre-empt what is happening in Arizona from happening in Michigan.”

With Arizona taking the lead and states like Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina hoping to pass similar legislation, perhaps the federal government will wake up, take notice and actually do its job. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.