Proof of citizenship could reduce voter fraud; Obama hopes to bail out Greece; 25% share same ideological views of Obama; 48% expect another great depression; Obama's covert war in Yemen

My latest Guest Commentary in the Boyne City Gazette:

   Both federal and state laws clearly state that in order to vote in national elections in the United States, one must actually be a citizen.  The problem is that most states have no requirement for those who are registering to vote to prove their citizenship.

  Since the year 2000 elections for both President, national and state offices, we have witnessed non-citizens voting in large enough numbers to affect outcomes.  We should be praising those states such as Michigan and Kansas for attempting to ensure that American elections are not stolen by foreign nationals.  Kansas is now requiring voters to show their I.D., absentee voters to present a full driver’s license and guaranteed signature, and new registered voters must show proof of citizenship.  This differs from 13 states which have Motor Voter laws allowing anyone with a driver’s license to register to vote – citizen or not.  The National Center for Policy Analysis has declared that the law has encouraged ballot fraud, particularly in those states which do not require an I.D. at the voting booth, for it makes it very easy for someone to vote using another person’s name.  Michigan residents get a registration simply by saying they are a citizen – no proof required.  Some 25,000 or more non-citizens have been identified as being on the voter registration rolls in Chicago, for instance, while Michigan had an impossible 102.54% of eligible voters registered to vote in 2008, a number which included thousands of deceased voters as well as those who had moved to other states.  Each of those registered to vote, or someone using their registration, can then vote absentee without ever showing an ID or signature.

   If Americans must show their ID in order to board a plane, to cash a check, sometimes to purchase alcohol, or to purchase a firearm, it seems reasonable that one must prove their ID in order to vote – a quintessential privilege of being an American citizen.

   Donna Brazile, former Democrat National Committee Chairman, made the charge that attempts to prove American citizenship in order to vote are attempts to block the vote of the underprivileged, and therefore are racist.  After hearing former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi calling those in America illegally “true, true patriots”,  we need to be reminded that not only are millions of Mexicans crossing our border illegally each year,  but over 500,000 illegals are smuggled into America from South and Central America right through our Mexican borders .  During the 2008 election campaign, I well remember a female Democrat politician actually telling the newly named "undocumented aliens" who were listening to her speech to be sure to go out and vote – of course they can!

   As stated by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach:  “Voter fraud is a well-documented reality in American elections.”  Colorado recently identified 11,805 illegal aliens registered to vote, 40% of whom actually voted.  Ruth Johnson, Michigan’s Secretary of State, discovered in the 2008 election cycle irregularities in voter registration efforts by members of the group ACORN, as well as finding fraud in the candidate filings of the fake Tea Party.  This fraudulent party was taken off the ballot, ending the attempt to split the conservative vote in Michigan.  As we can plainly see, the integrity of our ballot boxes is at risk, and we should all have an interest in seeing it end. 

   ACORN officials have admitted to or have been proven to have submitted fraudulent voter registration forms in Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, and New Mexico, if not more. Though many illegal ballots were cast, the best defense ACORN can pose is that it was not voter fraud, it was simply registration fraud.  ACORN routinely and illegally pays people for each name they garner during registration drives, ballots have been found in car trunks, high school students were taken by bus to polling places with only Democrat ballots in hand, and 90 absentee ballots came from one email address.   Worst of all, we never seem to get ballots to our military in time for them to vote.

   Polling has shown that 82% of Americans support photo ID laws.  We must be proactive in ending fraud in our elections, no matter what the source!

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged European countries and bondholders to prevent a "disastrous" default by Greece and pledged U.S. support to help tackle the country's debt crisis.  http://www.cnbc.com/id/43321461
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most voters still believe President Obama is more liberal than they are, while just one-out-of-four say they share the same ideological views as the president.  http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/june_2011/only_24_say_they_share_obama_s_political_views
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forty-eight percent say that another Great Depression is likely to occur in the next year - the highest that figure has ever reached. The survey also indicates that just under half live in a household where someone has lost a job or are worried that unemployment may hit them in the near future. The poll was conducted starting Friday, when the Labor Department reported that the nation's jobless rate edged up to 9.1 percent.  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/08/cnn-poll-obama-approval-rating-drops-as-fears-of-depression-rise/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/world/middleeast/09intel.html?_r=1&hp
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Senate legislative leaders have reached a deal to cut pensions and benefits for current public employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The deal would require workers to pay more of their salaries into the pension system, give up annual cost-of-living increases and pay a percentage of their health care premiums in a tiered system based on their salary, this person said. New employees would have to work longer to get full benefits. Current retirees would not be affected by the deal, nor will people who have at least 25 years in the system. http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/06/08/n-j-nears-deal-to-slash-pensions-benefits/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A leading Republican congresswoman will soon introduce legislation that would withhold US contributions to any UN entity that recognizes a Palestinian state or upgrades the status of the PLO observer mission. http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=224171