Joni Ernst Wants to Make English the Official Language ::posted Fri, 24 Oct 2014 21:23:31 +0000:: ift.tt/12sVuQ0 Joni Ernst has latched onto pretty much every idea favored by the tea party. On Thursday afternoon, while campaigning in western Iowa, Ernst endorsed another concept favored by the grassroots right: officially declaring the United States an English language country. I think its great when we can all communicate together, Ernst said when a would-be voter at a meet and greet in Guthrie Center, Iowa, asked if shed back a bill making English the official national language. I think thats a good idea, is to make sure everybody has a common language and is able to communicate with each other. Ernst spent the day campaigning with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the main architects of the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Democratic-run Senate, but not the GOP-run House, in 2013. Ernst has opposed Grahams bill to put some undocumented workers on a path to citizenship, and regularly attacks President Barack Obamas possible use of executive authority to allow immigrants to remain in the country as amnesty. Making English the official language is a longtime cause of Ernsts fellow Iowa Republican, Rep. Steve King (Guthrie Center is just outside Kings congressional district). As a state senator in 2002, King pushed a law that made Iowa an English-only state. In 2007, King and Ernst, then a county auditor, sued Iowas then-secretary of state, Democrat Mike Mauro, for offering voter forms in languages other than English. [Forwarded by the MyLeftBlogosphere news engine. Link to original post below:]
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 07:34:24 +0000