Comments on The Belmont Club"And Last"

There are a few basic beliefs that I have about my country.

1a) Forms, procedures, precedent and Constitutional structures should be respected.
1b) We should always be open to innovation and Amendment and reject proven failure.

2a) Federalism is the most successful system ever devised for harnessing diverse communities in liberty.
2b) Neither the States nor the Federal government are filling their proper functions at the present time.

3a) Illegal immigrants should be removed from America and their children should not be granted birthright citizenship.
3b) America is a vast empty nation that should welcome more legal immigrants then we presently admit.

4a) Admission to the Union, as a citizen or as a state is a privilege that should be difficult to obtain.
4b) Just as America should welcome new immigrants it should remain open to the accession of new states.

5a) Both Cuba and the Philippines were opposed at different times by interests from the North and South that discouraged them from seeking statehood in the Union. These forces represented racial, religious and commercial partisans that at different times encouraged or discouraged efforts to admit these territories and further expand the United States.
5b) Our histories and fates are closely bound together and we have suffered by our rejection of those who believe in the American ideal more then many Americans do.

-------
The logical conclusion of these beliefs is that it will be a good day for America when we can welcome the people of Manila and Baguio and Cebu to join us if they so choose as fellow citizens of our Commonwealth.