What's the answer to worsening relations between U.S. and Mexico?
(PHOTO CREDIT: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with President Obama in Washington today.
The two leaders discussed everything from a trucking dispute that has hurt trade to the increasing violence near and around the U.S./Mexico border.
Relations between the two countries are worse than they have been in a long time. Drug gangs rule the streets in many Mexican border towns, and violence is soaring. Since 2006, the year Calderon took office, 34,000 Mexicans have died in drug-related killings.
Three weeks ago, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was killed and another agent was injured when their SUV was ambushed on a Mexican highway. It was the first time a U.S. agent had been killed in the line of duty in Mexico in 25 years. Investigators believe that the killers were members of the Zetas, one of Mexico's most dangerous drug cartels.
And the violence continuously spills over the border into the United States.
Authorities in Chandler, Arizona, now say a man who was stabbed and beheaded last fall outside Phoenix was killed for stealing drugs from a Mexican drug gang.
The United States is the market for the drugs... and our government refuses to seal our border with Mexico.
The twin issues of immigration and border security are all but ignored by our federal government which is charged by our constitution with providing for our national security. It's an absolute disgrace.
Here’s my question to you: What's the answer to worsening relations between the U.S. and Mexico?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Mideast Turmoil: Time to drill for oil in Gulf of Mexico?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=15240&action=edit#edit_timestamp
Violence in the Middle East has been driving the price of oil higher for weeks now. It has been more than $100 a barrel several times.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/03/03/art.oil.jpg caption="White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel."]
It's times like these that our addiction to imported oil comes back to haunt us. And it has gotten worse since the horrific BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico last spring, which killed 11 rig workers and dumped nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the waters.
Suddenly, virtually all drilling activity in water deeper than 5,000 feet was ordered stopped. The Obama administration has given no sign that drilling there would return anytime soon – at least not to the level it was before the BP spill. The deepwater ban was lifted last fall, but no new permits were issued until just this week. Monday, the Department of the Interior issued the first permit for a deepwater well since last spring.
In a column on Politico.com, publisher and businessman Steve Forbes writes that by freezing U.S. energy assets in the Gulf, the U.S. government is "fueling an energy crisis that could bring this nation to its knees."
An estimated one-third of the oil used in this country comes from the Gulf of Mexico region, he says. And by limiting our drilling there, we become more dependent on oil-rich nations abroad, Libya included.
Here’s my question to you: In light of the Middle East turmoil, is it time to again drill aggressively for oil in the Gulf of Mexico?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Gov. Christie: 'I could win the White House.' Do you believe him?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There is no clear favorite for the Republican presidential in 2012 according to a recent Gallup poll.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/03/02/art.chris.christie.jpg caption="New Jersey Governor Chris Christie"]
No one has said they're running yet either.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is flirting with the idea of running.
Other names have been circulating for months: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, even a dark horse like U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman.
One name that is getting an increasing amount of buzz over the past few months, particularly in this climate of tough budget talk and skyrocketing debts, is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The first term governor is being credited as the leader of the current wave of spending cuts to state budgets by other governors.
And because of that, a lot of Republicans want to see Christie run for President.
Christie has said repeatedly that he won't do it.
But he says that's not because he doesn't think he can win. On the contrary.
In an interview with The National Review the New Jersey Governor said: "I have people calling me and saying to me, 'Let me explain to you how you could win.' And I'm like, 'You're barking up the wrong tree. I already know I could win.' That's not the issue." Gotta love that.
Christie also said that because he's not personally ready to be president, it would only hurt the Republican Party if were elected, and the country on the whole.
Not even two years into his term, Christie says he's still learning every day.
Here’s my question to you: N.J. Governor Chris Christie: "I could win the White House." Do you believe him?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should the U.S. offer exile to Gadhafi?
Gadhafi is pictured earlier today arriving for a ceremony marking 34 years of "people power" in Tripoli. At the event, he vowed to fight an uprising against his 41 year rule. (PHOTO CREDIT: MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The United States said Wednesday it is weighing a possible military role to help the Libyan revolt against Moammar Gadhafi, after the Obama administration has repeatedly asked Gadhafi to step down from power and demanded accountability for the violence and bloodshed he has visited upon his own people.
But the White House has also said all options in dealing with the crisis in Libya are on the table. One of those options may be exile.
Visiting Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States might be willing to accept a deal in which the Libyan leader would voluntarily agree to exile in a third-party country.
Tuesday in a television interview, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice urged Gadhafi to end the violence and his reign of terror and consider exile.
Rice said she's worried the situation in Libya could quickly turn into a humanitarian catastrophe.
President Obama has not yet spoken publicly about Libya this week, but a spokesman said Monday that the president is holding firm on his stance that Gadhafi needs to step down immediately and that exile was one way to make that happen.
Meanwhile, Gadhafi remains in Libya. The violence continues, unrest grows, more refugees head for the borders and the stakes get higher for everyone.
Here’s my question to you: Should the United States offer exile to Gadhafi?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should the U.S. do something to protect Libyans from Gadhafi?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The humanitarian crisis in Libya could quickly escalate into a full-blown catastrophe.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/03/01/art.gadhafi.jpg caption=""]
Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi has made it clear he will not be forced out of power. He continues to attack and kill his own people who dare to protest his dictatorship. It's estimated more than 1,000 people have been killed so far. The country has sunk into a civil war that has caused tens of thousands to flee to the Libyan-Tunisian border.
And it's getting worse by the day. So what's the United States, the world’s only superpower, to do?
After days of not saying much while Americans were evacuated, the White House has started to talk tough, saying all options are on the table with respect to Libya.
The U.S. has frozen $30 billion in Libyan assets. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with top diplomats to discuss possible next steps.
Today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he is positioning two naval warships in the Mediterranean near Libya. He said the focus is on humanitarian assistance and evacuations, and there has been no authorization for use of force.
In a piece for the UK Telegraph, foreign affairs analyst Nile Gardiner asks whether tyrants even fear the United States anymore. He writes, "Just a few years ago, the United States was genuinely feared on the world stage, and dictatorial regimes, strategic adversaries and state sponsors of terror trod carefully in the face of the world's most powerful nation. Now Washington appears weak, rudderless and frequently confused in its approach."
Here’s my question to you: Should the U.S. do something to protect Libyans from Gadhafi?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Would you favor a gov't shutdown until significant cuts are agreed on?
(PHOTO CREDIT: PAUL J.RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There's a pretty good chance now that the federal government will not shut down at midnight on Friday.
The House approved a new spending measure this afternoon that could keep the government running for two weeks past Friday's deadline. Democrats and Republicans agreed to $4 billion in spending cuts - mostly to earmarks and other programs, many of which President Obama proposed in his own budget. The measure now moves on to the Senate.
You can bet those cuts are the easy ones - not any of the heavy-handed cuts House Republicans passed in a bill a few weeks ago that included ending funding to Planned Parenthood and making cuts to education programs and the EPA. And there still isn't total agreement on the $4 billion measure.
The President and some Democrats were hoping for a four to five week extension cutting as much as $8 billion.
According to a recent poll, 58 percent of Americans say they would rather have a partial government shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut than have Congress avoid a shutdown altogether by keeping spending at the same levels as last year.
And since both parties can't agree on how much should be cut from the budget for the rest of the year and which programs should face the ax, a shutdown could be a reality very soon.
Here’s my question to you: Would you favor a government shutdown until significant spending cuts are agreed on?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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