Could "Fast and Furious" eventually become President Obama's Watergate?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"President Obama's Watergate" is how some critics describe the growing controversy over the "Fast and Furious" gun walking program.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa wants Attorney General Eric Holder to appear before his committee early next year. Issa says the hearing will focus on what Justice Department officials should have done to stop the program.
Operation Fast and Furious started in 2009 and allowed illegally purchased guns to "walk" from Arizona gun stores over the border to Mexican drug cartels. The program was meant to monitor the flow of weapons, but it went horribly wrong.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of weapons went missing... and they've been linked to the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans along with U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
In light of the botched operation and what some see as the Justice Department's botched response, dozens of leaders are calling for holder to resign. More than 75 House members have signed a resolution expressing "no confidence" in his leadership.
Washington Times columnist Jeffrey Kuhner suggests this scandal is President Obama's Watergate. He writes there's been systematic coverup, and that Holder and his aides are guilty of high crimes including perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Kuhner believes this is even worse than Watergate, since no one died during the scandal that brought down Pres. Nixon.
For his part, Holder insists he's not going anywhere. In testimony before the Judiciary Committees earlier this month, Holder acknowledged mistakes were made but said he won't resign. He also said he doesn't think any of his top aides should step down.
Holder played the race card in an interview with the New York Times. He said some of his critics are motivated by racism, since both he and President Obama are black.
Here's my question to you: Could "Fast and Furious" eventually become President Obama's Watergate?
Tune in to "The Situation Room" at 5 p.m. ET to see if Jack reads your answer on the air.
And we'd love to know where you're writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Illegal aliens leaving U.S., returning to Mexico for better life?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In case you needed it, here's yet another sign of just how bad the economy is:
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/08/03/art.mexican.jpg caption=""]
Illegal aliens are leaving the United States and returning to Mexico in search of a better life.
You heard that right. One Mexican official tells the Sacramento Bee that Mexico has "become a middle class country" where it's now easier to buy homes on credit, get higher education and find a job."
Not so here in the U.S. where the employment picture remains grim. Just today came announcements from Cisco and Goldman Sachs that they're cutting thousands of jobs.
Plus - a report from payroll processor ADP shows that although the private sector added jobs in July, growth is below what's needed for a steady recovery.
Meanwhile - As we wait for the monthly jobs report Friday, consider this: Mexico's unemployment rate is 4.9%... compared to 9.2% in the U.S. You do the math.
It's estimated that about 300,000 illegal aliens have left California alone since 2008.
Experts say the weaker U.S. economy along with rising deportations and tougher border enforcement means fewer illegal aliens. But - there have also been significant improvements in Mexico's society.
Its economy is growing at 4-5% and, according to the UN, Mexico's average standard of living - which includes things like health, education and per capita income - is higher than in Russia, China and India.
Turns out Mexicans might just have better luck of achieving the American Dream south of the border.
Here’s my question to you: What does it say that illegal aliens are leaving the U.S. and returning to Mexico in search of a better life?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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?
Does Mexico have a right to complain about Ariz. Immigration law?
Mexican President Felipe Calderon addressed a joint session of Congress this morning. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Mexican Pres. Felipe Calderon has a lot of nerve coming to this country and complaining about Arizona's immigration law - when all the state wants to do is protect itself against a flood of illegal immigrants from his country.
But instead - Calderon and Pres. Obama are both whining about the Arizona law. Calderon, who also took his message to a joint meeting of Congress, is calling the law discriminatory.
As for President Obama, he says he wants a federal fix to the immigration crisis in this country - which would have to come from the same federal government that has refused for decades to enforce laws already on the books. It's patently absurd. Pres. Obama complains about Arizona trying to do something about a problem he - Pres. Obama - and the federal government have created and choose to ignore.
And with all this criticism of Arizona coming from Presidents Obama and Calderon, the Justice Department, the Homeland Security department - our government officials, like Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano can't even be bothered to read the law they're criticizing.
If they did, they'd find out that parts of the law are word-for-word the same as the federal statutes on immigration. But the only thing that matters to the administration is pandering to Latinos ahead of the midterm elections.
Felipe Calderon should spend his time trying to create opportunities for his own citizens so they aren't driven by poverty and desperation to sneak into this country illegally. This country doesn't meddle in Mexico's internal affairs, Pres. calderon, and you ought to keep out of ours. Our border security is quite frankly none of your business.
Here’s my question to you: Does Mexico have a right to complain about Arizona's immigration law?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Mexico issues travel alert over Arizona immigration law
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Arizona's tough new immigration law hasn't even gone into effect yet, and it's already working:
Mexico has issued an alert for Mexicans traveling to Arizona. The country is urging its citizens to be careful... that they may be "harassed and questioned without further cause at any time" should they go to Arizona.
That's not the case at all, but it is ironic. Travel warnings usually work the other way around... with various countries warning their citizens not to go to Mexico due to drug-related violence.
However, no good deed goes unpunished.
The Obama administration might challenge Arizona's new law in court. They're concerned the law could take away resources needed to target criminals. How utterly absurd. How about the 460,000 people who are in Arizona illegally now? The reason Arizona did this is the federal government refuses to enforce our immigration laws.
Meanwhile seven members of the city council have signed a proposal for Los Angeles to "refrain from conducting business" in Arizona, and San Francisco's mayor has imposed an immediate moratorium on city-related travel to that state.
But Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer says she's not worried about possible boycotts. And she points out that the new law is about the safety of Arizona's citizens.
And she's getting support from at least one legislator in Texas who wants the Lone Star State to pass a similar law. President Obama should be embarrassed by this.
Here’s my question to you: Is it a good thing that Mexico is issuing a travel alert over Arizona's new immigration law?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Illegal immigrants entering U.S. with criminal records
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The people of Arizona are fed up when it comes to illegal immigration. And they ought to be.
Almost one in five of those caught trying to enter the state illegally from Mexico has a criminal record.
It's one reason why Senators John McCain and John Kyl are calling for 3,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to Arizona's border with Mexico.
They also want federal funding for an additional 3,000 U.S. customs and border agents, a double-row border fence, increased mobile surveillance and hardship duty pay for border patrol agents.
But it's not the only reason... at least for McCain. Can you tell he's in danger of losing his Senate seat this November? Where have all the clowns in Washington been on this issue since 9/11? Virtually nothing has been done to secure the nation's borders... because Democrats want the Mexican vote and Republican donors want the illegal aliens to work for them.
President Obama insists his administration is committed to securing the borders and has taken "unprecedented" steps over the past 14 months. What a load.
The fact is it's unlikely anything will be done about illegal immigration now that we're in an election year for the reasons laid out above.
But Arizona is taking measures into its own hands. The state Senate has passed a tough immigration bill that would force police to arrest people who can't prove they're in the country legally.
Critics say it would lead to racial profiling. So what? The state's governor has five days to veto the bill or sign it into law.
Here’s my question to you: What should be done about border security if almost 20 percent of illegal immigrants entering Arizona from Mexico have criminal records?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Drones to patrol U.S. border with Mexico?
The MQ-9 Predator aircraft would patrol the southern border of the U.S. in order to stop the illegal entry of thousands of Mexican nationals and drug runners. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Despite a deepening crisis along the U.S. border with Mexico, our government refuses to get serious about security.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked the federal government for unarmed predator drones to patrol the border. It's a request he's made before, but is now renewing after three workers at the U.S. consulate in Juarez were murdered.
Perry asks: "How many Americans will have to die before our federal government takes serious action along the Texas-Mexico border?"
Chances are Texas will have to wait. Some more. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says she's considering Perry's request, but insists the government is constantly watching what's happening at the border. Watching is about the extent of it.
Napolitano also announced she's holding up funding for plans to build a virtual fence along the border. She says it's because the system of sensors and cameras has had many problems, including cost over-runs. So Napolitano wants a review to be completed first.
Exactly what we need - another review of border security. The government can continue to do nothing while drug-cartel violence along the border keeps getting worse.
Texas recently issued a warning to parents not to allow their children to go to Mexican border towns on spring break. And the State Department has put out a travel warning to delay visits to certain parts of Mexico. Maybe it's time for Americans to boycott all trips to Mexico - spend our vacation money somewhere else..
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the border city of Juarez in the last two years.
Here’s my question to you: Should drones be used to patrol the U.S. border with Mexico?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Troop plan for Mexican border delayed over money
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/13/jcmeixcan0813.jpg caption=" How serious is the U.S. about national security if the plan to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border is being delayed over money?"]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
A plan to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border is being held up as our government bickers over the cost.
Pres. Obama called for the 1,500 troops in June to help stop violence from Mexican drug cartels from spilling into the U.S. The temporary boost in troops is estimated to cost $225 million.
Yet while the president was in Mexico this week spouting empty rhetoric about the U.S. doing its part to secure the border, stem the flow of drugs, weapons and money – the program to put these National Guard troops on the border is mired in arguments. The Pentagon and Homeland Security Department are mostly hung up over the money, although there are also apparently issues about where the troops would be stationed and what they would do.
This is absurd. This country has done next to nothing meaningful about border security since 9-11. And, as we've been showing on CNN every day, the Mexican drug cartels are becoming stronger and more violent. It's estimated the drug violence has already killed 11,000 people.
The U.S. border states are frustrated they haven't gotten the extra troops yet, and rightfully so. And our government can't decide who will shell out the $225 million to pay for the program.
No one is going to believe anything we say if this kind of stuff continues.
SO HERE'S THE QUESTION: How serious is the U.S. about national security if the plan to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border is being delayed over money?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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