Latinos For Texas Blog

President Bush is scheduled to push for his guest worker program in Arizona this week. Not exactly the thing to rally his conservative base. In fact, look for Republican House members J.D. Hayworth and Tom Tancredo to push to centerstage in opposition to Bush’s plan. They’ll call it “amnesty” and talk about law-breakers.

I must admit, I have no clue what Bush is trying to do politically with this move. His immigration plan isn’t exactly the thing to win back the center in time for ‘06 and I don’t know how many Republicans up for re-election are going to sign on. Maybe he really just wants to match “a willing worker with a willing employer” and suck the lifeblood out of the people who build this country without giving them any hope of becoming full members of our communities.

Post your thoughts, comments, predictions, and reactions to this week in the thread, amigos.

While not on its face Texas-specific, I think this bit of (non-surprising) news is worth mentioning as a reminder to certain Texas-dwellers that sometime the slowly grinding wheels of justice actually, well, grind out some progress.

Calif. Rep. resigns after bribery plea

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a California Republican, resigned on Monday after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for help in securing Defense Department contracts.

Cunningham, 63, an eight-term congressman and decorated Vietnam War veteran, had been under federal investigation for his ties to Washington-based defense contractor MZM Inc. since the summer.

“I am resigning from the House of Representatives because I’ve compromised the trust of my constituents,” Cunningham said after the court hearing.

He entered guilty pleas in San Diego federal court on Monday to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion….

read more…

UPDATE:
CNN scores points with me for best use of an old phrase ready to be launched back into the popular mind: “crooked congressman” as in “Near tears, crooked congressman resigns”

nice, no?

hola all,

we have been upgrading the blog, encountering a few issues along the way - surprise!

please pardon random weirdness in the meantime.

thanks!
mario

From BOR and The Paris News:

God, if only we had this on video…it would make a great ad. And we need to hammer the fact that Republicans control, Republicans control the Senate, Republicans control the executive branch ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL too. In other words, if you don’t like the way things are going, vote for Democrats!

Read the following message below that I got from a friend at the Equal Justice Center:

Support Day Laborers!
City Council is proposing to expand a city wide anti-solicitation ordinance that would make it illegal to look for work at informal corners in Austin. This would violate day laborers constitutional rights to free speech, and criminalize honest workers. We need your support: come to the hearing, wear white to stand in solidarity with Austin day laborers.
November 17th 6pm Public Hearing at City Hall (S. First and Cesar Chavez).
December 15th City Council will vote on the proposed Amendment.
If you can’t come to the meeting on the 17th you can still take action: tell City Council to vote NO! on the proposed ordinance amendment by registering your opinion at the kiosk at City Hall: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (Nov 15, 16, 17) between 8am and 6pm.

Essentially police would have the power to fine/ticket/arrest anyone “loitering” around Home Depots (or other locations) in Austin where they have traditionally found day labor jobs. The official day labor site in Austin, First Worker’s, is run by the city and operates on a lottery system and usually only the first 75 people get work on any given day.

This is a big middle finger to the immigrant labor force that keeps Texas running. Record your opposition to this proposition.

And for the record, I think that people who stand on street corners with signs asking for money are usually not in need. There are plenty of resources in Austin to feed, clothe, shelter and help lift up the least among us.

to my Dad, Grandpa, my favorite Uncle (the rest of them, too)… and everyone else who has served our country in the military.

Thank you.

Check out Rep. Aaron Pena’s blog for his chroncling of the March of Honor with Valley Veterans. Kuff and the Tejano Insider also have some info, as well as, MySA.com.

We all know Travis is the Lone Ranger in bucking the oppressive political trends of late in Texas. Lucky us, but where are our friends? K-T’s latest post at the BOR is a round up of the Top 10 county Prop 2 results and turnout.

Interestingly, Brewster County, where St. Rep. Pete Gallego is stationed in Alpine, came in third of the counties going against 2. Gallego voted for HJR6 on the floor before he voted against it.

Statement of Vote:
I was shown voting yes on Record No. 395. I intended to vote no.

Gallego’s district comprises not just Alpine, but larger parts of Uvalde and Del Rio which voted for Prop 2 overwhelmingly. What did Gallego do? He used Save Texas Marriage’s message while arguing against it on the floor. Smart politics? Someone once said he could make Gallego Governor.

The BOR list also mentions Bexar who came in seventh. Woo hoo. From my poor number crunching:

- 57 precincts (out of 680 something) went against Prop 2 by 50% or more.
- Another 51 went 40%+.
- Of the top 10 precincts, 8 were in City Council District 1 which is 69% Hispanic and represented by St. Rep. Mike Villarreal and Sen. Leticia Van De Putte (both voted nay on the floor).

From Pink Lady:

Villarreal: “I believe in the institution of marriage so much that I believe we should encourage it. It’s a blessing. If there are two adults willing to make a long-term commitment, they should be allowed to do so.”

These same precincts also went 53%+ Kerry in ‘04.

We won 2 governor’s races, lost NYC big time, but stuck a fork in Arnold’s meaty back.

Here in Texas, Prop 2 passed by a huge margin.

Should Rep. Bob Menendez be promoted to New Jersey Senator by Gov-elect Corzine? The Hispanic National Caucus has endorsed him, but many DNC leaders are worried about his chances.

Your thoughts on these things, and more, por favor.

A new ABC/Washington Post poll finds that voters favor the Democrats over Republicans on almost every issue.

Read the rest of the story>

More than 1,000 marchers protest against President Bush in Argentina.

To read the rest of the story…

Just 35 percent of the public said they approved of how Bush is handling his job in the CBS News poll, lower than any two-term president in the last 48 years except Richard Nixon, according to the network’s data. The Zogby International poll found his job approval rating at 39 percent, as did the Washington Post/ABC News survey.

If you haven’t voted yet, please do so! And join us for blockwalking on Sunday (see front page of the lft site).

Oh, and FYI, Central Presbyterian Church (my place of worship) voted as a Session to formally oppose Prop. 2. Yay! We are “Deliberately Diverse, and Fully Inclusive.”

In a rare stand of courage and commitment against an administration that refuses to investigate faulty intelligence resulting in thousands of American lives, Harry Reid spoke out for thousands of American soldiers serving and dying in Iraq.

In the wake of the rising death toll in Iraq and the indictment against Scooter Libby for undermining national security, our American troops demand respect, honesty, and answers. Disgracefully, our American troops are not getting that from our current administration.

Instead of investigating breakdowns in intelligence gathering resulting in over 2,000 American deaths, the Bush Administration prefers to discuss bird flu pandemics and radical Supreme Court nominees.

What are they trying to hide?