Don’t miss my op-ed that ran this week in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on the secrecy surrounding defense cuts and its potential impact on our national security. You can read the full article here: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/oct/24/ed-forbes24-ar-581163/

What are your thoughts on this issue? You can leave your comments below.

I want to share some statistics with you from a recently released report detailing the actual cost to Virginians for subsidizing illegal immigration, a grand total of $1.9 billion.

Breakdown of Cost to Virginians:

• $1.28 billion a year to educate the children of illegal aliens
• $265 million a year on unreimbursed health care for illegal aliens
• $133 million a year on criminal justice activities for illegal aliens
• $79.8 million a year on welfare for illegal aliens
• $143 million a year for additional state/local operating costs
• $721 annual cost to each of Virginia’s native-borne headed households

New York Times Op-Ed: China, Japan, America (Paul Krugman)
If discussion of Chinese currency policy seems confusing, it’s only because many people don’t want to face up to the stark, simple reality — namely, that China is deliberately keeping its currency artificially weak.

New York Times: China Explores a Frontier 2 Miles Deep 
When three Chinese scientists plunged to the bottom of the South China Sea in a tiny submarine early this summer, they did more than simply plant their nation’s flag on the dark seabed. The men, who descended more than two miles in a craft the size of a small truck, also signaled Beijing’s intention to take the lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor, which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources that the Chinese would like to mine. And many of those resources happen to lie in areas where China has clashed repeatedly with its neighbors over territorial claims.

Defense News: Japan Defense Paper Highlights China's Growing Military Reach 
Japan voiced concern over China's growing military muscle in a defense paper Sept. 10, as a right with Beijing continued over the arrest of a Chinese trawler captain in disputed waters.  In its annual Defense of Japan report, Tokyo pointed to increased Chinese naval activities near its shores, including tense incidents this year in which Chinese helicopters staged close fly-bys of Japanese warships.

Defense Tech: The Asia-Pacific Submarine Buildup; Do They Know Something We Don’t? 
Naval strategist and historian Geoffrey Till, whose recent paper on the balance of naval power in Asia we linked to last week, notices a significant boost in Asia-Pacific submarine builds and buys. Total submarine numbers are expected to increase markedly over the next two decades in Asia-Pacific waters, particularly among smaller powers where small and stealthy submarines are seen as a “force equalizer,” he writes.

New York Times: China Moves to Ease Strain with U.S. 
Top Chinese officials are calling for quiet discussions instead of open friction with the United States, after a summer marked by bilateral disagreements over the value of China’s currency, American military exercises off the Korean Peninsula and American efforts to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Washington Post: As China finds bigger place in world affairs, its wealth breeds hostility 
In a spasm of violence this spring, an angry mob toppled the Kyrgyzstan president, torched his office and ransacked other buildings associated with his hated authoritarian regime. The crowd then turned on a less obvious target: a popular Chinese-owned shopping mall stuffed with cheap clothes and electronics from China.

Defense Tech: Chinese Media Calls For Carrier Killing Missile, Other Weapons 
China not only must develop an anti-ship ballistic missile but it should develop a range of carrier killing weapons to protect the country’s strategic interests, says an editorial in China’s Global Times. The Naval War College’s Andrew Erickson writes that while the Global Times is not an official government mouthpiece, it is sponsored by and produced by the People’s Daily, which is the official community party paper.

Defense News: Chinese Puzzle 
It took at least six separate sets of maneuvers over nine weeks for Chinese satellite controllers to coax a satellite about the size of a household refrigerator into position beside a slightly smaller spacecraft.  The slow-motion ballet performed 375 miles above the Earth began June 12, when the larger satellite, called SJ-12, began methodically creeping closer and closer to the smaller satellite, SJ-06F. Finally, on Aug. 16, the satellites were flying in tandem. SJ-12 may even have nudged 06F, causing a slight change in the smaller satellite's orbit.

• $1,161,000,000,000:  The total cost of the Democrats “stimulus.”  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the cost of the bill will reach $814 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion.

• 9.6%:  The unemployment rate for the month of August 2010.

• 283,000:  The number of jobs lost in June, July and August 2010.

• 3,582,000:  The number of gross jobs lost since the “stimulus” was signed into law.

• 6,249,000:  The number of Americans unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks.

• 45.4%:  The percentage of people between the ages of 16 and 24 years old with a job.  Prior to the stimulus, employment among 16 to 24 year olds had never slipped below 47.5 percent.

As you know, I was one of only 17 Members of Congress to vote against both this stimulus and every other stimulus and bailout under the Bush and Obama Administrations because I believed that they would not work.

As I have said from the beginning, real economic growth comes from generating income and wealth for American families, and income and wealth come from increasing commerce and growing jobs. I believe we need to focus on solutions that provide more opportunities to small businesses, so that they can begin to create more jobs and lead us back on the path to economic recovery.

I want to hear your thoughts – what do you think is the best way to create jobs for Americans?