OPINION: The Fourth of July is supposed to be the time when we not only celebrate the founding of our country but remember the founding fathers too. Yet in a country, that according to Pew Hispanic research was 12.6 percent foreign-born in 2007, and where the majority of citizens can trace their ancestors’ arrival to these shores to a much more recent time than 1776, the Fourth of July is a two-fold celebration.

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GUARDIAN NEWS: A Rio Grande Valley veterans’ leader has called on local congressmen to include a VA hospital in any future federal stimulus package. “Supposedly there is a second stimulus package coming. We need Congressman Ortiz, Congressman Hinojosa to put a veterans’ hospital for the Valley part in the next stimulus package. That would help our economy. It would create jobs,” said Jose Maria Vasquez, commander of America’s Last Patrol.

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OPINION: The U.S. medical system, without question, is the best and the worst in the developed world. We have the best medical schools and the best educated doctors. We have the best medical facilities. Many U.S. hospitals literally are “state of the art.” More advances in health care--new treatments, procedures, equipment, medicines--are made every year in the U.S. than any other nation. The U.S., by far, has the most expensive health care system in the world. Of the 30 OECD nations, the U.S. spends at least 50 percent more than 21 nations.

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OPINION: All sides of the current health care debate acknowledge that American health care is in crisis and that changes must be made. But the consensus disappears when it comes to choosing the path toward successful health care reform. The proposals coming from Washington, D.C., put federal bureaucrats in charge of health care decisions, the fast track to government-run health care. A better approach, rooted in principles of individual freedom and choice, would provide patients with greater access to treatments and medical providers, and less interference from insurance companies, bureaucrats, and politicians.

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OPINION: Despite the recent lack of rain, a malady currently affecting many parts of the country, the “grass” in Texas is much greener than in most states.  At least that’s the picture according to the U.S. Census Bureau and recent rankings by Forbes and Business Week. The combination of rising unemployment, rapid market undulations, stingy credit, diminished home values, and consumer restraint in regard to major purchases has left many Americans finding that the careers and communities with which they have identified themselves for lengthy periods are no longer as economically dependable as they once assumed.

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