While searching through articles that deal with Argentina and the United States I came across the article "United States of Argentina." This article is based upon the history of Argentina's economy, and how the United States economy is going. I found it very interesting, and was wondering what everyone's opinions were on this article.

United States of Argentina

Examiner Editorial
March 31, 2010

When White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel last year advised "never waste a good crisis," he likely was thinking ahead to President Obama's economic stimulus program and health care plan. After swelling the federal deficit by passing the stimulus at a cost of nearly $1 trillion, Democrats in Congress signed off on Obamacare, with a price tag, according to Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., of $2.3 trillion in its first decade alone. With federal spending exploding at such a rate, it's no wonder that Moody's Investor Service recently warned that it would downgrade the U.S. government's credit rating if it concludes "the government was unable and/or unwilling to quickly reverse the deterioration it has incurred."

What the United States government will do in the future may be in question, but we need not look far to find past examples of countries unwilling to get their finances in order. Consider Argentina. In 1914, it was one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and its living standard exceeded that of Western Europe until the late 1950s. Then President Juan Peron squandered his nation's prosperity by introducing a host of redistributionist economic and regulatory policies, nationalizing utilities and foreign investments, and pumping up the national debt. What followed was three decades of political instability, growing dependency, and economic stagnation.

There was a brief period of privatization and booming foreign investment in what the American Enterprise Institute's Mark Falcoff called Argentina's "go go" 1990s. But that was negated by the return of political leaders espousing Peronist principles who created a downward economic spiral by breaking contracts with foreign utility companies that had invested heavily in Argentina. Today, the country has lost its international credit standing and an estimated 10 percent of the population has moved abroad to escape the stifling taxes, regulation and inefficiency. To make matters worse, President Cristina Kirchner recently attracted attention for firing the president of the country's central bank. His sin was refusing to go along with her inflationary spending policies (Argentina's inflation is 17 percent) and challenging her demand that he hand over $6.6 billion in bank reserves.

Besides sending federal spending skyrocketing, Obama has, like so many of the politicians who ruined Argentina, dramatically increased government regulation of business, nationalized major sectors of the economy, and imposed a lengthy list of tax increases. America today is no more exempt from economic reality than Argentina was in years past. Make no mistake, these actions will eventually drain the life from this nation's economic vitality, just as they did in Argentina.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/United-States-of-Argentina-89551242.html#ixzz0jmjrLkPH

Immigration to United States and Misconceptions

Immigration
By: Amanda Noble

Suppose someone from another Country assumed Maine is from Canada, wouldn't you be bothered by this. This has happened to me not just only from another country but, also when visiting Florida. I was annoyed that they would think that I was part of a country that I was not.
Argentinians are sometimes referred or put into the category of Mexicans, mostly because they speak Spanish. However, a lot of people speak Spanish yet, they are not from Mexico. There are people in Northern Maine that speak more French than English and they are still considered Mainers.

Immigration Population

The number one Immigrant population into Maine is Canadians, according to the Center for Immigrant Studies. Argentinians are not even in the top 15 and neither are Mexicans. In the Country Argentinians are the 31st immigrating to the Unite States, so why are mainers caught up into the immigrant reform battle? They're only Canadians right? Where does Maine stand on Immigration Reform and how could Argentinians be hurt or helped if new immigration laws were to come into effect?

MPA- Maine People's Alliance
MPA immigration click for link

MPA brings companies, organizations, and individuals together to bring social and economic issues to the public eye in search or answers to better the lives of those in the states. Some of their projects are passing environmental bills that limit toxins and mercury in our water and oceans, they work with the Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition and helping to stop TABOR along with many others. Their current project includes immigration laws that create immigrants as people not just numbers or a quota. They want to give immigrants rights along with equal opportunities to become citizens, protect families in the United States, not all families are 2 immigrant parent households some are 1 immigrant and 1 citizen families and those families have no rights to be kept together, last they want to expand civil and human rights.

Argentinians here in the Unites States are low-income workers usually laborers. If fees were raised by the government again then the possibly that someone making below minimum wage to about $8 an hour affording to become citizens is too low. And yes immigrants in Maine make below minimum wage because of the fear of being deported and losing their job is greater than the fear of turning a boss in. Another problem is that there are so many 1 natural and 1 immigrant family structures in this state that to make things harder on immigrants will actually hurt citizens. We, as a people in Maine, need to rethink immigration reform and how it can hurt or help people.

My Story Real Quick

My Husband is from Guyana, it's technically part of the Caribbean although confused as being part of Latin America. We are currently going through the immigration process. Until he got his green card he could not work. We also have three children. I was told that I am supposed to make up the lost income that he was unable to earn and DHHS could not help us financially until he got his new green card in. By denying his chances to work our Government created a subclass that technically did not exist because the people were undocumented and therefore do not exist.

What are our Governments priorities and interests in keeping immigrants from becoming citizens? How does these laws affect Argentinians or even your families when they came to the United States, unless you are 100% Native American you are from an immigrant family.

Center for Immigrant Studies Website

Argentina and the United States
By: Amanda Noble

I was going to do this post on the misunderstandings and prejudices of Argentinians in the Unites States however, due to the resent meeting of Secetary Clinton to Argentina I felt this was important and relevant to the immigration population here in the United States. If the United States and Argentina can continue to meet and create a better understanding of each other then I feel that Americans that are not Argentinians will have a better understand and a greater acceptance of those from Latin American.

Over the past few months Argentina and the United States have not been meeting. During Hillary Clinton's tour of South America, she has decided not to visit Argentina. However, at the last minute she decided to add argentina to her list adnd meet with its President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner. According to an article by the New York Times dated Feb 28, 2010 Argentina has been having disputes with England over the Falkland Islands and now England is drilling off the coast upsetting Argentina and the United States has not taken a side in the dispute.


Clinton and Presiden Kirschner

I would imagine that Argentina had seen this as a deliberate attempt to avoid the dispute since Clinton is not willing to visit the country. The long standing problems with S. Americana and the United States goes back a long time. When the United States had passed the Immigration law that forbade migrant workers from mexico this unintentially included all S. Americans. Immigration from Argentina to the Unites States has doubled from 1994 to 2004 according to the DHS office of immigration. Most of the immigrants are positioned in California, Florida, and New York and the rest in surrounding states. To other Americans they are considered Mexican American although they are not from Mexico. The majority of them are in reunification programs that reunites them with their families and so are legal and documented.

I would like to focus this posting on that meeting and the way the United States is trying to build bonds with a country that has the potential to be a strong ally with the United States. Argentina is the second largest power in South America. On the America.gov website the converstaion between Clintona and Kirchner was written down and there are some important aspects to that converstation.

While Clinton talked about the relief aid Argentina has sent to Haiti and the effort to be rid of terrorism, Argentina has a history of terrorism against their country, Kirschner has her own agendas that she presented to Clinton. A few are the issues of a request of mediation between England and themselves to find a middle gound over the Falkland Islands. It was interesting to hear that Clinton beat around the bush about the only request made by the Argentinian president. President Kirschner is scheduled to come to Washington, I am interested if this move will incourage a better understanding of the Argentinian people or create more problems for them. If you would like to read more about this converstaion the link is:
http://www.america.gov/st/testrans-english/2010/march/20100302132819xjsnommis0.2797619.html