American journalism has disgraced itself in the matter of the Benghazi terrorist attack.

So President Obama wants to end so-called “tax loopholes” for American oil and gas companies? Sounds like a good idea, until you learn that what the President is really asking. The “Close the Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act” essentially asks American taxpayers and businesses to shoulder the economic brunt of the administration’s ambitious green energy objectives.

Dillie Nerios is a Florida food stamp recruiter. Her job is to sign up 150 seniors monthly in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In Bryan Brinkley’s letter to the editor (“Richardson’s arguments are absurd,” AFN, May 3) he indicates that he is a man of the law. Then let him try this one on: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Casey Bolena, a 2009 Desert Vista High School graduate, has accepted a football scholarship to the Naval Academy. On April 12 the Navy football team (including Casey) traveled to the White House where they received a private tour and then President Obama presented the Commander-in-Chief trophy to the team.

As the gun debate stirs and emotions rise higher and higher, we tend to leave ration and logic out of the subsequent efforts to address what is an important public issue. Emotionally charged solutions seldom fix anything. They simply make a lot of people feel like something positive is being done but they truly accomplish nothing. And marching out victims to use as props for your initiative is a shameless political ploy. Politicians are great at using emotional issues to push their pet plans. Most of the efforts currently in flight to answer the recent tragedies in Colorado, Arizona, Connecticut (all very liberal enclaves I might add) are labeled as “Gun Safety” and “Gun Violence” initiatives. Looking at those terms, who is not for Gun Safety? And who is not for ending Gun Violence?

At a recent fundraiser in San Francisco, President Obama demonstrated his command of the great issues facing our country.

There has been an enormous amount of conversation about the federal Affordable Care Act since its passage three years ago, and sadly there has been a great deal of misinformation conveyed.

On March 1, Congress failed to come to an agreement on a federal spending package, leading to the implementation of sequestration resulting in an $85 billion cut in government spending over the next seven months. Hardest hit are programs that serve our community’s most vulnerable. But, there is hope and that hope lies within us.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government operates 50 different programs for the homeless. There are 23 programs in housing, 26 for food and nutrition, 130 for at-risk youth. They also operate an astounding 342 programs for economic development, which government is notoriously bad at anyway.

City of Phoenix offices will be closed on Monday, April 1 in observance of the Cesar Chavez holiday.

I, for one, appreciate the guest commentaries that the AFN has published written by Ahwatukee Foothills resident Don Kennedy. He has a love for our country and a good understanding of history and of our Constitution. When we forget history and our Constitution, we lose our liberties. Some people can see it happening before others, and I believe Mr. Kennedy is one of those precious visionary individuals. He loves our country. How can he not speak up?

For all the flak that our state’s education system has taken over the years (I’ve dealt some of it), we proudly lead the nation in an important segment: career and technical education.

Whatever valid points Michael Reagan may have had (“The real answer to the immigration question,” AFN, March 8) was lost on me by his persistent need to be snarky, referring to the President as the “golfer in chief” and “part-time President.” While it is arguable that no President gets days off, Mr. Obama took 131 vacation days in his first term, including weekends at Camp David. That would put him on pace for 262 by the time he completes his second term, right around the average and 1/4 the “time off” of his predecessor.

Gov. Jan Brewer rallied doctors and nurses at the Capitol on Tuesday in her bid to get the necessary votes to expand the state's Medicaid program.

When conversations first began about how to achieve the Arizona we want, we set an ambitious goal: Identify a vision and set goals for Arizona that could mobilize people and communities throughout the state.

On Jan. 24, Sen. Diane Feinstein introduced her new bill, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. Here’s a link to her Senate page so you can read it for yourself: http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons.

Judged by his charge that gun-control legislation is Communist-inspired (“When the Communist Party USA cheers..., AFN, Feb. 8), Don Kennedy doesn’t realize that Sen. Joe McCarthy’s anti-Communist racket was rejected nearly 60 years ago, when the Senate censured that pathological liar and sent him to an alcoholic grave at age 46.

To Mr. Don Kennedy and your Communist Party USA rants (“When the Communist Party USA cheers..., AFN, Feb. 8): Throughout your entire word salad about the so-called Communist machine at work to take our guns away, you never once mentioned the murders of the 26 people in Newtown, Conn. The 20 children who were gunned down; some of them hit multiple times.

Gov. Jan Brewer lit the dome on the historic Capitol building Thursday night after protesters tried to drown out her comments.

Folks, we have a really serious problem. The Communist Party USA heartily supports Obama’s gun control plans.

In response to the Guest Commentary by Robert O’Meara (“A shadow in the hallway near the Lincoln Bedroom,” AFN, Jan. 30), even a cursory search of Wikipedia reveals that President Bill Clinton has been quite busy since his time in office. While I am not his biggest fan, one needs to look beyond partisanship and respect peoples’ accomplishments.