President Barack Obama is on Air force One heading to Mexico today to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. This will be President Obama's only stop before heading off to Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas tomorrow. Topics of expected discussion between the two leaders will center, unsurprisingly, on the drug related violence and immigration issues.
Many Mexican leaders are calling for the US to reinstate the assault weapons ban, lifted under former President Bush in 2004. But even the mention of reinstating the ban earlier this year was met with opposition by both Democrats and Republicans. Since then Obama's administration has made the decision not go any further with the the reinstatement of the ban.
What Obama has done is ask congress for $350 million for US - Mexico border security, and send hundreds of Federal agents and drug sniffing dogs to help fight the Mexican drug cartels. The leaders will meet today to show the United state's solidarity with Mexico as it confronts the cartels and will try to come up with more effective means of battling them.
Let's hope they come to the conclusion that they can't fight these guys with guns. We could bankrupt the cartels by dissolving their marijuana market, but I'm not sure enough people would die if we do it that way...
