great point right there. you don't have to screw with the Constitution to do what is right to fix things.

"LINK"

(CNN)Birthright citizenship has been a hot topic on the campaign trail the past few days, especially after Donald Trump released a new immigration policy paper calling for an end to granting automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S.

Trump's policy paper said birthright citizenship "remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration."

He's not alone in the GOP field. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in a radio interview last week that the birthright citizenship needs to be "reexamined," and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told MSNBC he supports ending it. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal tweeted on Monday evening that it should be curtailed. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul introduced an amendment that would have restricted birthright citizenship in 2011, but his position today hasn't been clarified.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham called it a "mistake" in 2010 -- and on Monday he lambasted Trump's immigration plan but said citizenship may be an area where they agree, as long as the overall immigration system is reformed first.

On Tuesday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said he opposed repeal of the 14th Amendment. "I'm open to doing things that prevent people from coming to the U.S. to take advantage of 14th Amendment, but I'm not in favor of repealing it," he said at the Iowa State Fair.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush echoed Rubio's sentiment at a campaign stop in South Carolina.

"This is a constitutionally protected right, and I don't support revoking it," Bush said when asked about the 14th Amendment right. "There's a way to use leadership to solve abuses, of people coming into the country having children so their children can become citizens. That's a legitimate problem and there's a targeted way you can deal with this. But to suggest that people born in this country are not United States citizens because they don't have this in the Constitution, I just reject out of hand."

RELATED: Trump issues immigration policy

The issue has come before the nation's highest court -- although the biggest cases on the topic were decided in the 19th century. But that hasn't kept lawmakers from seeking ways to change the current understanding of the key passage of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside."

What is birthright citizenship?
The United States confers citizenship by what's referred as jus soli -- Latin for right of soil -- as opposed to jus sanguinis -- Latin for right of blood. The concept of making all children born in a territory a citizen of that territory dates back to English common law that was imported to the first American colonies. But in the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, the Supreme Court held that birthright citizenship did not apply to the children of slaves.

After the Civil War, the citizenship clause was added to the 14th Amendment in order to make clear that all black Americans and freed slaves were in fact citizens, under to the Constitution.

The Supreme Court further upheld the interpretation that all children born in the U.S. are citizens (aside from those born to foreign diplomats and invading armies) in the 1898 decision in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark. In that case, a man born to two Chinese parents who were living in the U.S. traveled to China for a brief visit before returning to the States, where he had spent his entire childhood, but he was denied entry. The high court held that he was a U.S. citizen, as were all children born to immigrants living in the U.S.

Is the U.S. unique in offering it?
According to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for reducing immigration, 30 countries of the world's 194 have a policy of birthright citizenship, with the U.S. and Canada the only advanced economies to do so.

Why the controversy?
Republicans say that birthright citizenship needs to be changed to stem illegal immigration. They argue that having children become U.S. citizens is a motivating factor for immigrants to come into the country illegally, and that when the child reaches adulthood he or she can try to sponsor their parents for citizenship. The U.S. also rarely moves to deport parents of U.S. citizens, they say.

Critics of birthright citizenship also claim "birth tourism" is a troubling and growing concern. The Center for Immigration Studies this spring compared CDC data on children born to foreign mothers with Census data on foreign-born women reporting having a child, and concluded there are about 36,000 birth tourists having children in the U.S. a year.

In 2010, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that 340,000 out of 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008 were the children of unauthorized immigrants, about 8 percent.

"There's no doubt that it's a growing phenomenon," CIS legal policy analyst Jon Feere said.

In 2010, though, PolitiFact found there wasn't much credence to claims that there is a rampant "drop and leave" phenomenon of mothers having their child in the U.S.

How can it be changed?
There is a dispute over whether ending birthright citizenship is possible without a constitutional amendment.

Some critics of birthright citizenship say it could be changed by law, by defining what "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" means in the 14th Amendment. The provision thus far has only been interpreted to rule out children of diplomats, invading armies and, when the amendment was enacted, Native Americans, who would have had to give up their place on a reservation if they were automatically conferred U.S. citizenship.

One of the biggest political proponents of this position is Iowa Rep. Steve King, a Republican who has introduced legislation to restrict birthright citizenship to legal residents.

"If the Constitution required them to be citizens, anyone born on the United States, it would just say all persons born in the United States are American citizens," King told CNN in Iowa on Monday. "But the clause, 'and subject to the jurisdiction thereof', is the subject of a significant amount of legal scholarship ... Someone who comes in here illegally are not fully subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, they're not subject to being drafted, for example, so you can change it statutorily."

Immigration supporters say there's a reason the issue hasn't come up before the Supreme Court since 1898 -- and it's because it's settled.

"I feel like this is some kind of bad legal Groundhog's Day," said Karen Tumlin, managing attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. "These proposals come up perennially, but there is no gray area here: This is very clear language in a constitutional amendment...We don't alter the constitution lightly in this country."

Which side is right, ultimately would have to be determined by the Supreme Court, Feere said.

quote:

God will always provide

Meanwhile, Carson pulled 12,000 to his PHX session.

Anybody notice how when Trump gets told "one more question" by a member of his staff, he usually says "ok, two more, we'll do two". Its just one of those tiny little things done by someone who is used to doing what he wants to do, making his own decision. Just a tiny thing I noticed, but I like it.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunthelp:

quote:

God will always provide

Meanwhile, Carson pulled 12,000 to his PHX session.

I absolutely love Ben Carson. Seems like a great guy, super smart and kind. I just don't think he's a "President".

^^^I agree. Surgeon General, yes.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunthelp:

quote:

God will always provide

Meanwhile, Carson pulled 12,000 to his PHX session.

Love Carson, great, smart, talented man. Wish he had been our first black President we would not be such a divided Nation currently....But, I'm afraid the first black president has left such a sour taste he will have quite the unwarranted uphill battle. A battle he simply cannot win. Sad but true. Trump is such a political outsider, saying what most of us feel and concur with. That I think his will be a landslide election to rival anything that has previously occurred. Regan included. Trump "will" get the Republican vote, the disgusted good Democrats, and the very,very large silent majority of both parties that has not voted for years. Because they have given up voting for Liars and Cheats of which both parties are guilty of. It is time for a change and a substantial back to basics change. That so many of us have pined for, for too many years.

I really think a black candidate is going to have an impossibly hard time winning a Republican nomination.

And Trump is looking good right now. I just figure he's going to trip over his tongue one to many times on the way to the nomination, and past that, to the general election, to actually win both.

quote:

Originally posted by Fla. Jim:

quote:

Originally posted by Hunthelp:

quote:

God will always provide

Meanwhile, Carson pulled 12,000 to his PHX session.

Love Carson, great, smart, talented man. Wish he had been our first black President we would not be such a divided Nation currently....But, I'm afraid the first black president has left such a sour taste he will have quite the unwarranted uphill battle. A battle he simply cannot win. Sad but true. Trump is such a political outsider, saying what most of us feel and concur with. That I think his will be a landslide election to rival anything that has previously occurred. Regan included. Trump "will" get the Republican vote, the disgusted good Democrats, and the very,very large silent majority of both parties that has not voted for years. Because they have given up voting for Liars and Cheats of which both parties are guilty of. It is time for a change and a substantial back to basics change. That so many of us have pined for, for too many years.

Trump has too many skeletons in the closet. He will implode at some point in time. Then he will go third party. And that is what scares me.

quote:

Originally posted by walker77:
Trump has too many skeletons in the closet. He will implode at some point in time. Then he will go third party. And that is what scares me.

What skeletons would that be?

quote:

Originally posted by walker77:
Trump has too many skeletons in the closet. He will implode at some point in time. Then he will go third party. And that is what scares me.

I would imagine most of Trumps skeletons are out. He's been in the public eye his whole life. Unless it comes out that beats up old people or sacrifices puppies to Satan, he should be ok.

I'm wondering at this point of I should edit the title to upgrade Trump from Ass Clown, First Class to something less...something.

Just add "Former" in parenthesis and you should be GTG.

"Recovering Ass Clown"

Donald Trump is bombastic and egotistical, but...

Everyone said Donald Trump had no chance, but...

Donald Trump is rattling the cages of the establishment...

Geraldo - on Trump's description of a wall at the border. blah, blah, blah-"Trump has basically just stated to all Mexican Americans he doesn't need them..."

This just in, Geraldo is still a douche. He needs to go back to looking for lost treasure.

Trump now leading in NC and FL, here is latest poll from NC:



http://abc11.com/947054/

http://www.publicpolicypolling...-most-match-ups.html

quote:

Finally another declared independent candidate, Deez Nuts, polls at 9% in North Carolina to go along with his 8% in Minnesota and 7% in Iowa in our recent polling. Trump leads Clinton 40/38 when he's in the mix.

quote:

Originally posted by MRBTX:
Geraldo - on Trump's description of a wall at the border. blah, blah, blah-"Trump has basically just stated to all Mexican Americans he doesn't need them..."

This just in, Geraldo is still a douche. He needs to go back to looking for lost treasure.

After that blockheaded stunt revealing troop movements in Iraq, I thought he should be sentenced to life covering Bar Mitzvahs in Baghdad.

quote:

Trump now leading in NC and FL, here is latest poll from NC:

I can tell you one thing for sure. I'll be voting for Deez Nuts before I ever vote for Hillary.

For anyone who still doesn't get why Trump is doing so well, I present this little exchange from a press conference he did yesterday:




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9X1U1Nwwg

quote:

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump debated the use of the term “anchor baby” with a reporter at a press conference in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Trump was asked, “You said that you have a big heart, and that you’re not mean-spirited. Are you aware that the term ‘anchor baby,’ that’s an offensive term? People find that hurtful.”

Trump responded, “You mean it’s not politically correct, and yet everybody uses it?” He then suggested the reporter give him a different term to use, to which the reporter suggested “The American-born [children] of undocumented immigrants.” Trump said in response, “I’ll use the word ‘anchor baby.’”