Should the U.S have English as the official language?

So I was watching the debates tonight and one of the issues on the table was making English the official language of the united states ( Newt supported this) So I was wondering what is your opinion on English being the official language of the united states, or should it remain the way it is as English as the de facto language of the usa?

are there really people so insecure about their ways that they have to establish anything as law? Or is it that they can ban spanish from official forms or classees? what use does this have? Probably just some words to impress the redneck community. Also having multiple languages in one country doesn't hurt anybody.

Most European countries have a national language.

yes but is there actualy somebody questioning this? I mean does somebody in the us demand to change it?

Yeah like everyone who speaks English and hates Spanish speakers. In the U.S

Official Languages merely kick around minorities. They're pretty worthless otherwise. Everyone knows English is the near Universal language of America, so everything is made in English. Yet a few places have mostly Spanish speakers so it would be foolish not to have the signs and such in Spanish.

In California you get paid more for speaking Spanish as well as English, so This will hurt the economy here a bit.

Why not make both languages official. Several countries speak both english and spanish.

I like this, us spanish speakers can make even more money

Because then everything would have to be in both Spanish AND English. Think about it as twice as much paperwork for the government.

America should not have a national language, because we are not a Nation(-state). We are a federation of states populated by immigrants from many nations, and not everybody speaks english, however, most people do. And even those whose first language isn't english still speak it. It's fine with the status quo.
European countries have national languages because they are actual Nation(-state)s. With their own ethnicities, languages, and cultures. There is no American Ethnicity and there is no American Language, so it is stupid to have a national language.

Well I was going on the lines of each state having their own official languages. Like california, arizona, new mexico, and nevade can have both english and spanish as their state language.

I think some states do that.

But then what about the other crap ton of languages spoken here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation

Map of federal states.






Sure I used Wikipedia. Sue me.
We are a Federation under the constitution, hence the Federal government and the fact that we are subdivided into fifty States represented within said Federal Government. Under the Articles, we were a Confederation. Which is different. But enough of that, I'm curious as to why you would (have) advocate(d) adopting a National Language. Or why anyone would, for that matter. Aside from hating hispanics, which I don't think is you.

Everybody is on the same page linguistically, it doesn't need to be on paper for it to be true. The only thing an official language would do is allow justification for the creation of a second class of citizens in the future, if some kind of nationalist were elected. Or something stupid like that. I just can't think of anything positive that could come from adopting a national language.

I guess you would know more than I would, living nearer to the Mexican border and all. I've just never meet a person who couldn't speak English.