Arizona Immigration Law

During the summer I was seeing and hearing a lot of controversy with the Senate Bill 1070 which caused a lot of outrage with Arizona and multiple states. SB 1070 enforced more strict policies on the immigration status in Arizona. The bill was revised under U.S District Judge Susan Bolton and went into effect on July 29.

The article I read in USA TODAY,   Ariz. immigration law three months later: no arrests , has stated that basically nothing has happen in the last three months since the Bill became active. I, however, feel that a lot has happen even though no one has exercised their rights under the Bill. I think that by having no arrests that people are being aware and cautious of performing any illegal acts under the Bill.

In the article, it seems that all local law enforcement agencies are somewhat relaxed on the policies. Several agencies are coming up with their own policies to enforce, while others will exercise the Bill fully when the need arises. I do not think that these responsibilities should be left to local law enforcement and should be left to federal agencies. Local law enforcement agencies should stay concentrated on public safety and not immigration policies, unless it interferes with the safety of the public.

I think that the Bill is still fairly new and has a lot of ifs about how the laws are regulated and enforced. I feel that it needs more time to predict if it was worth the effort or not. The Bill could have several effects to the U.S economy. It could decrease immigration in a good way and bad way. The way it would be beneficial is that it would encourage immigrants to obtain work and citizenship in the U.S. which would help the economy by increasing the number of workers. The negative way is that it would scare immigrants away that want to work and would decrease the flow of migrant workers.

Immigration will always be an issue in the United States, as many see the U.S. as a better place to live and work than their current country. I believe that until we can find a neutral and equal zone to have all parties involved benefit from this, the people of the United States will always struggle with this issue and how it can be better handled.

Tax Cut Facts

The blog editorial Tax Cut Facts: How Obama’s Tax Cuts Are Helping American Families is intended for the American public and was posted by Jared Bernstein who is Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President. Bernstein is assuring the American public that the recent tax cuts are helping families. These tax cuts are helping kids go to school by paying tuition, covering health care and offsetting the cost of energy efficient home improvements.

Bernstein states that the Recovery Act provided billions of dollars to states to assist in avoiding Medicare cuts and provide an opportunity for teachers to keep their jobs. Although the Act provided money to each of the States, many of them still had to increase their State taxes to offset the funding provided by the Federal Government.  This increase made Americans feel like there were getting shorted since they saw the increase.  Also taking place, the Work Pay Tax Credit reduced the taxes withheld from taxpayers.  This reduction was withheld in small increments throughout the year and many Americans did not notice it since it wasn’t provided as a lump sum payment as had been done in previous years.

He also states that without the Federal Government programs and stimulus money the United States would have suffered a more severe blow to the economy then what happened during the recession.  This was shown in the graph from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The real private income has dropped as the real personal disposable income steadily increased. According to Bernstein, this graph is proof that tax cuts are having a positive effect on the economy.

He also adds that there are other tax credits that are helping families and small businesses to build up the economy such as a 65 percent tax credit for people who lost their jobs by providing health care and making their first $2,400 in unemployment benefits tax free, child tax credits which reduced the earned income credit for low and moderate income families, and increased the earned income tax credit.

The facts that Jared Bernstein showcased in his blog do show a positive outlook on how the tax cuts are helping American Families.  It appears to be working as I have noticed that people seem to be ready to spend money, although I anticipate that they will be more cautious with their future purchases

Closing the Case on Cole

This editorial entitled,  “Closing the Case on Cole” written by Ali H. Soufan is intended for the American audience regarding prosecution and lack of government involvement in terrorist acts upon the United States. It seems from the author’s point of view that the U.S. Government did little to aid with the investigation of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. The author states that the government seemed like they just brushed it under the rug, leaving many different agencies including family members of the victims without any hope of justice.

The author also argues that after pushing forward and apprehending the known terrorist, the Yemen Government released the terrorist due to Presidential pardons and various rehabilitation programs. The terrorist that were released either confessed or were accused by other known terrorists and/or evidence found at the crime scene indicated that they were involved with the bombing. The confessions from the terrorist were impermissible due to the interrogation tactics used. Even the confessions after the tactics ceased were still not rendered legitimate.

While the Yemen Government was being distracted by internal affairs and with the U.S. Government’s little involvement, Yemen became a safe haven for terrorist organization.  This has only grown over the years since the attack. The author does state that the U.S. Government does want to send aid to Yemen, but is concerned with the on and off relationship with the Yemen Government. He feels that the Yemen and U.S. officials should come up with an agreement that guarantees the Yemen Government has full and continuous involvement in the fight against terrorism. He believes that a good test of commitment is how the Yemen officials respond to the handing over of known terrorists, Mr. Badawi and Mr. Quso, to U.S. officials.

The author’s credibility comes from first hand involvement as a F.B.I. special agent with the investigation of the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and the relationship with the Yemen Government. The author recalls the on and off again aid from the Yemen officials and the continuous death threats and obstacles that plagued the investigation.

The author believes that the lack of involvement from Washington which enabled the terrorist to walk free is an insult to the victims and family members of the Cole. He believes that it puts a damper on national security.  Furthermore, he believes that it could have prevented the attacks on 9/11, if the members of Al Qaeda would have been properly prosecuted and detained

U.S Warns of Terrorist Attacks in Europe

I found the article entitled, “Japan, Sweden join U.S., U.K. in terror warning” written by Thomas Frank, Laura Bly and Kevin Johnson,  article interesting and worth reading, because it lets Americans know that we can never let our guard down for unfortunately, there will always be potential for a terrorist attack. This article summarizes the importance of terrorist alerts and the importance of having a plan in order in case something like it would happen. It is warning Americans and other countries about being extra careful when visiting Europe. The reason why the Department of Homeland Security is stressing on Americans being vigilante when visiting Europe is due to the high volume of visitors, whether from school or on vacation.  It also stress that a likely attack would be on public transportation or popular tourist attractions.