The American Spectator

PRIVILIGED EXEMPTION
Re: Peter Ferrara’s The Obamacare Disaster:

Excellent summary but misses one item — the elites who enacted this legislation excluded themselves from coverage under the law. This fact needs to be commented upon frequently by conservative candidates during this fall’s campaigns and thereafter as an additional reason for repeal.

Please ask Peter to discuss that feature of the legislation as well. an>
— Patrick R. Spooner
Windham, New Hampshire

GAYER, NOT ROSENBERG
Re: G. Tracy Mehan’s Paul Ryan’s Friends:

This article incorrectly cited my name. The post that appeared on TaxVox, the blog of the Tax Policy Center, entitled “In Defense of Congressman Paul Ryan,” was written by Ted Gayer of Brookings and TPC.
— Joseph Rosenberg
Research Associate
Tax Policy Center

G. Tracy Mehan, III replies:
My apologies to Messrs. Gayer and Rosenberg.

PGA PASTURE
Re: Quin Hillyer’s A Badly Wounded Spirit of Golf:

The trouble is the PGA picked what is no doubt the ugliest cow pasture in the world for a major. They ought to pick a course where you can tell the sand traps from fairway, greens and even rough. I wonder if it had been Tiger, Watson, would it still be a sand trap.
— Amo Stephens

IT’S THE STUPID POLICIES
Re: Ron Ross’s This Recession Is Not Like the Others:

The most despicable thing about the current situation, as Dr. Ross intimates, is that all of it could be corrected, and probably fairly quickly, with the right policies, which will never be put in place, because of Mr. Obama and Company’s “doctrinaire” way of doing business. Even now, surely the president understands this; Summers, Geithner, and Biden must understand it, too. But they would all rather sink the nation, than admit that their approach has been incorrect. Dr. Ross used the word “pathetic,” but it is worse than that. It is a blatant betrayal of all their respective offices and oaths stand for, and of the American people, who put them in office, not to mention nearly all of Mr. Obama’s campaign promises. This is not a matter of elected officials bumbling around and doing a bad job; we have been betrayed, in every conceivable way.
— D. Reich
Auburn, New York

SEPARATED BY BIRTH
Re: W. James Antle III’s The Constitutional Amendment Con:

This is an excellent article by James Antle III and speaks eloquently to the problem confronting the electorate. The Republicans always promise to pursue a conservative agenda, but once in office they pursue and agenda that at best could be called Marxism lite and at worst mimics the agenda of the democrat party which I consider to be full blown Marxism. The problem confronting the electorate and conservatives specifically is that there is no real alternative to the Democratic Party. My most fervent hope is that the Republicans will nominate someone like Newt Gingrich, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin or some other progressive in sheep’s clothing. If this happens it will be business as usual with a lot of promises and conservative rhetoric accompanied by little if any real action and change. Given the present political environment I believe this will lead to the demise of the Republican party and the rise of a real alternative to the Marxist democratic party. Just remember when you start touting Newt Gingrich as a viable presidential candidate that he supported NAFTA, the WTO, CAFTA, is a member of the CFR and the Trilateral Commission.
— Paul Martell

We don’t need to change the 14th- simply require interpretation per the original intent.

Sen. Lyman Trumbull 1866 :”The provision is, that all persons born in the US and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens. That means subject to the complete jurisdiction thereof. What do we mean by complete jurisdiction thereof? NOT OWING ALLEGIANCE TO ANYBODY ELSE. That is what it means.”

Rep. John Bingham of Ohio, 1866: “[I]find no fault with the introductory clause [S61 Bill] which is simply declaratory of what is written in the Constitution, that every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of PARENTS NOT OWING ALLEGIANCE TO ANY FOREIGN SOVEREIGNTY is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen.” (NOTE plural parents)