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There seems to be a lot of rhetoric on this issue, but little firsthand knowlege, so before you all start flaming me, think about what I’m saying.

My wife is a dual citizen of the US (naturalized), but born in Italy. She is proud of her US citizenship, and even though at the naturalization ceremony they asked that you rescind your citizenship of birth, she can’t: Italy won’t allow you to give it up, even if you tried. Once you’re Italian, you’re always Italian.

We live and work and pay taxes in the US, and NOT in Europe, so we both play our part, and despite being European, she’s actually moderately conservative. She, like I is disgusted by the leftward bend this nation is taking and is amazed that we find ourselves having to look to France, Italy and other conservative administrations in Europe for cues on how to run a conservative government. We don’t know what will happen in November, but it doesn’t look good. Did you know that Berlusconi just eliminated property taxes on first homes in Italy? Try getting either US party to pull that rabbit out of their hat...

I keep hearing the same mantras about US: love it or leave it, but having dual citizenship doesn’t mean you have to hate the US or love another country. It’s a simple matter of having more choices in life, whether you use them or not. No country is perfect and ultimately, the balance of pros and cons of either will determine where you should live.

Now think of this: we’ve thought of doing missionary work in nations that are openly hostile to Americans. Being known as an American will get you killed or persecuted, however having a passport from a “neutral” country can save your life. Wouldn’t you want to have that trap door? Think of St. Paul, who gained direct court with the Roman Emperor, simply because he was a Roman citizen, despite being from Judeah. That was a perfect example of making use of a second “citizenship”.

As the years go by, I have come to recognize that neither the Dems or the Pubs really give much of a rat’s rear-end about the average Joe in the US, and are in it for themselves. If my government doesn’t care about me, except at tax time, why should I feel an overwhelming sense of devoting to the politicians? I love this country, but I mourn for what she’s becoming. She is not the US I grew up with.

Two final things: why all the emphasis on the value of being a US citizen, when we leave the borders open and try to grant amnesty to millions of illegals? Does that not cheapen the value of who we are as a nation? Does that not make you feel that your rights as a citizen are no better than an illegal’s? Voting rights? This is not a direct democracy...our votes are for trends at best. In the long run, the electoral college and faceless “delegates” decide who gets nominations and elected.

Taxes: did you know that the US and Libya are the only two countries (that I know of) that track their citizens worldwide to pay taxes, even if you don’t live in the US? You pay taxes in your host country AND in the US. Granted there are tax treaties with many countries, it it still double-dipping on the part of the IRS. My wife doesn’t pay taxes to Italy, for example. Did you know that non-US citizens don’t pay capital gains on money invested in the US? But the Obamination now wants to double our percentage to nearly 30%?! Wake up and get informed. It pains me to say, all is not rosy in the good ol’ USA anymore. We’ve been sold a bill of goods, and until we take back our country to the roots it was founded on, options to “wait it out” overseas isn’t all so bad anymore. Funny, we fought a Revolutionary War over far less offenses than we tolerate from our government today. Unbelievable.....