Yesterday’s resignation announcement by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis surprised D.C. insiders including some say the President himself. Unlike many staged resignations , common in the rough and tumble of D.C.’s political culture , Solis’s departure was neither planned, requested, or expected operatives close to the Secretary shared on condition of anonymity.
Solis has been a steadfast and outspoken advocate for the rights of working men and women during what most economists would agree has been the most difficult economic period in the history of the United States. Solis is seen as one of the Presidents best surrogates to the Latino community and one of the most energetic members of his Cabinet. Notably Solis had recently shared with friends that she wanted to remain in her cabinet post. The decision by the Labor Secretary has insiders openly speculating and collectively scratching their heads.
Solis had come to the Cabinet after having supported Obama’s then rival Hillary Clinton for the presidency. Obama’s appointment of Solis was seen as an olive branch to Clinton’s Latino supporters and drew praise for his ability to dispense with the usual practice of using cabinet positions as spoils to only key campaign supporters. In fact the appointment of Clinton and Solis to State and Labor seats respectively was key to Obama’s “team of rivals” style of governance.
Solis’s departure leaves only one Hispanic in the President’s Cabinet, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and drops the number of women as well. President Obama has already been under fire for the lack of women in key cabinet positions and Solis’s departure only exacerbates the pressure on him. The lack of Cabinet Latinos is sure to be criticized soon as well due to the Solis departure.
The Labor Secretary’s announcement created an enthusiastic buzz in Los Angeles California. Solis hails from Los Angeles County where a coveted seat on the County Board of Supervisors is soon to become vacant. A single L.A. County board seat is seen as more powerful than most State governorship’s due to the municipality’s enormous size and the wide-ranging portfolios that each of only five supervisors carries. Should Secretary Solis decide to run for Supervisor she would immediately become a front-runner and be positioned to raise the enormous amount of campaign funds necessary to reach the millions of requisite voters. Wednesday’s L.A. news media was almost giddy about her return in sharp contrast to beltway pundits who seemed unable to find a solid answer regarding her resignation.
Details of the Solis resignation will surely emerge as the days wear on. The only matter clear at this time about the Solis announcement is that the Secretary has many political options open to her and that Obama must pull out his BlackBerry to find a replacement for a critical seat during a difficult period.
Freshman Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s statement that he would not have voted for the bill averting the fiscal cliff while not surprising to his state’s political insiders is bound to raise eyebrows in Washington DC.
During Senator Cruz’s appearance on CNN on January 3rd he retreated to Tea Party talking points on issues surrounding the now resolved fiscal cliff debate. Additionally Cruz indicated that he would be willing to use the upcoming approval on the debt ceiling to gain political leverage. “part of the reason we got a lousy deal is that when you have divided government, whoever owns the defaults, whoever wins if there is inaction, has the advantage. With the fiscal cliff, if there was inaction, there would be a massive tax increase. That gave President Obama an advantage. Moving forward to the debt ceiling, I think it is the mirror image” said Cruz to an openly astonished Wolf Blitzer.
Cruz the newest Latino GOP Senator was elected in November by tea party activists and notably gathered only a smattering of Latino votes. Tea Party activists in Texas have been prone to attempt any and all political maneuvers to thwart President Obama including their recent call for their state to secede from the Union. Cruz finds himself tied to the most extreme elements of his party and seems unwilling at this point to differ from them.
The impact of the cross currents in the U.S. Senate and the GOP itself on Senator Cruz while currently unpredictable are sure to be dramatic. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell facing a potentially tough reelection campaign seems to be softening his tone while the newly elected Cruz is invigorated by his recent victory. The GOP anxious to find common ground with Latino voters is sure to tap Cruz as a messenger. However the Republican Party seems reluctant to match their policy stands with those that currently poll well with Latino voters opting instead to attempt to find ways to retool their political style and messaging. This combination of factors leaves Cruz in a position to be the national Tea Party spokesperson at odds with the priorities of his Senate Leader and also unable to deliver new voters for his national party.
While Cruz clearly understands that he won his seat without the support of the majority of Hispanic voters his political future depends on securing a base that has a longer shelf life than the now diminishing Tea Party can promise. Only the future will show how Cruz will maneuver the rough terrain ahead.
Or is it Marco Romney?
Marco Rubio’s vote on the fiscal cliff matter foretells his future of being yet another unsuccessful GOP presidential candidate. Rubio, the presidential aspirant, voted against the Senate bill that became the center piece of the dramatic fiscal debate, and in fact the single piece of legislation, that saved America from at best delaying the struggling domestic economic recovery and at worst complete financial havoc.
While the media pundits speculate that Rubio’s intention was to shore up his conservative credentials the larger ramifications of his action may be missed. Rubio is clearly out of step with America’s Latino voting base and, much like Mitt Romney, has no idea of it.
The GOP leadership has been hoping that Rubio can deliver the key Latino voting bloc to the polls in 2016. Any presidential campaign that is serious about winning understands that no longer will a candidate be able to win the Presidency unless they have at least 35 percent of the Latino vote. The GOP has been home to the nativist movement in the U.S. and has suffered greatly for it. Many in the Republican Party believe that a Rubio presidential candidacy can save their party from national obscurity. This in fact would be a possibility if Rubio were not merely a Latino incarnation of Mitt Romney.
Like Romney Rubio’s political insecurities are in direct contradiction with his real clout. As a high profile senator who is seen as a potential savior of one of only two national parties in the most powerful country in the world Rubio is in a position to be above the fray and demand respect for it. Yet confronted with a key high profile vote Rubio voted like a hackneyed congressman from the diminishing tea party.
Romney spent a great deal of his presidential campaign not realizing that he needed to run for President of the entire United States. Romney spent a considerable amount of energy shoring up his tea party base clearly to compensate for a type of political conservative inferiority complex. The effort was not only unnecessary but damming as his work to promote himself as a harsh conservative put him under the necessary Latino threshold to win the Presidency. This seems to be the fate that Rubio is destined for as well.
While the analysis that Romney sealed his loss the moment that he promised to veto the DREAM Act is backed by real poll numbers it does not mean that promising to sign the pro immigrant bill would have completely offset his other incompatibilities with Latino voters.
Romney had also promised to end “Obama Care” a piece of legislation extremely popular with Latino families according to premier Hispanic pollsters “Latino Decisions”. But Romney’s tin ear went beyond policy and politics. Mitt Romney’s personal ethic, as is Rubios, is outside the mainstream of the cultural norm held by the great majority of Latino voters. When Romney had shown a great deal of disdain for the “47 percent” Latino cultural alarms where detonated. The image of a multi-millionaire disrespecting Americas working class while waiters served his donors tea was right out of a Latin American TV novela. Romney lost Latino voters repeatedly and at various levels. Rubio is doing the same.
Rubio, we are told, has flip flopped his way back to supporting a type of comprehensive immigration reform that includes legalization for those that are currently undocumented. Whether or not Rubio is able to withstand the pressure from his own inner desire to please the tea party is yet to be seen. However even if the young Senator does find the fortitude to be a leader on immigration reform his path will still be blocked by his inability to vote in pragmatic ways on key economic and cultural issues that Latino voters are passionate about.
The Tragedy Facing the Conservative Entertainment Complex
It seemed that almost as soon as the polls closed on November 6th Rush Limbaugh had come up with a plan to explain his wildly inaccurate campaign predictions. The talk show entertainer that has become the defacto national playwright/actor laureate for the conservative movement had predicted a definitive victory for Mitt Romney and a firm rebuke of Barack Obama.
While it was clear that talk show entertainer Limbaugh would have to find a way to bridge the gap between his daily pageant presentation of the American electorate and the reality beyond his shows fourth wall there was some suspense on how he would accomplish the illusion. The question was answered when Rush took the lines from the losing Presidential candidates most startling and unpopular statements and used them as his deus ex machina. In Rush’s new reality Obama had been victorious because Latino voters wanted “stuff”. The words were a reprise of the Romney chorus chant decrying the “47%”.
In a stunning example of art imitating life followed by life imitating the art it inspired Mitt Romney this week repeated the claim that Latino voters chose Obama because the President gave “gifts” to them. The words this time were not given to a quiet den of top political donors but were delivered at length and in detail to a conference call attended by a broader group of supporters.
The difficulty for the GOP was immediately apparent. Many Republican leaders, some of which had previously said that Romney was misinterpreted during his previous remarks about 47% of Americans not wanting to take responsibility for themselves, immediately denounced the former Governors remarks. Both Romney and Limbaugh found themselves abandoned by their party.
Latino voters watching the developments regarding the renewed rhetoric are sure to be wary. The claim that Latino voters emerged as a political force solely to issue a communal call for welfare is not being taken well even by Latino Republicans. The initial post election cast of Latinos as lazy seekers of government aid has reconfirmed the belief within the Latino community that the stereotypes thrown at undocumented immigrants from south of the border as those that only came to the country for government benefits were in fact a slap at the whole community. While Latino leaders have always made the claim that anti-immigrant sentiments were veiled attacks on the entire Latino community Republican Party leaders have always denied it. GOP leaders have consistently claimed that the aggressive claims against undocumented immigrants were only a show of frustration with those that were “illegal”. Now those same leaders confronted with the Romney/Limbaugh statements that most Latinos only seek government assistance are being forced to distance themselves from even their prior defenses of harsh rhetoric.
There is now speculation that the split between the conservative entertainment complex and the Republican Party may have truly begun despite the skepticism of Latino voters. However there is one thing is beyond speculation and skepticism: the split between the GOP and Latino voters has crossed the fourth wall of the conservative entertainment complex into a reality that is potentially for the Republican Party a dramatically fatal tragedy.
Does the Would-be Latino Emperor Have Clothes?
A planned trip to Iowa by Florida’s Cuban American Senator Marco Rubio has sent the signal that he is seriously considering a White House run. Disenchanted voices within the GOP have begun to realize the reality that the path to the White House can be road blocked in the barrios, deserts, and suburbs of that are home to Latino voters. Rubio has been mentioned repeatedly by GOP pundits that are arguing for a more inclusive Party that includes a better brand of Latino outreach.
However two questions remain: is it the messengers or the message itself that the Republican Party and conservatives need to reevaluate? If it is the messenger that the GOP must correct: is Rubio their man?
Sen. Rubio was a surrogate for failed Presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Florida. Rubio stood by Romney’s side in Latino voter rich areas like Miami. In fact should appearances be counted in the Sunshine State Senator Rubio was one of Romney’s most frequent supporters. Yet, as the numbers now tell us, Rubio’s ardent advocacy failed to deliver a majority of Florida’s Latino vote for candidate Romney. More disastrous for the Romney/Rubio effort was that it did not even prove successful with a majority of Florida’s Cuban American vote.
Cuban Americans have been ardent Republican supporters since the cold war. If the false claims that Obama was a “socialist” had any real power to decide a voter majority it would be in the Cuban cafes and cigar shops of Florida. Despite Rubio’s fresh faced articulation of old cold war saws the Senator could not deliver a majority of Cuban voters or other Latinos in his State for Mitt Romney.
Early on in the Presidential campaign Romney had looked into the benefit of having Rubio as his Vice Presidential candidate. Latino GOP’ers at that time whispered that internal polls indicated that Rubio had no overall impact with the national Latino vote. Last week’s election indicates that Rubio has no influence with Latinos’ even in his own State.
Rubio has one consolation: most Republicans do not understand Latino voters. After a year that proved that the now diminishing Grand Old Party is susceptible to bad polling and self serving advice from millionaire con prone political players Rubio may take heart in that he may become a contender in Iowa.
It was election night and the polls where barely closed when Ellee Koss had arrived back to her home in San Francisco. The dust of the Arizona desert was not off her well traveled shoes and her mind was still on matters in Maricopa County.
Koss had left her condominium in San Francisco to go on an election aimed pilgrimage that ended with an arrival at the Grand Canyon State the Sunday before the election to assist in any way possible with the campaign to ouster Maricopa County’s notorious anti-Latino Sherriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio has become a media darling in the same way that bad guy wrestlers gain the spotlight in the World Wrestling Federation. Arpaio has been known to have his officers on motorcycles circle around Latino children causing sand to spray into their eyes in same way that villainous wrestlers blind their opponents with a hand full of salt. Like the announcers of faux wrestling the hosts of cable news shows never question Arpaio on his cruelty they just hand him the mic and bask in Sherriff Joe’s rating gaining bombastic rants.
Koss had noticed a trend as she called voters to remind them to head to the polls. Repeatedly she found that voters that registered for the first time had not received their sample ballots and did not know where their polls were. Many of the first time voters also had requested mail in ballots that never arrived. “Something here is not right” she had told MarioWire during a phone call the Monday before the November 6th election. On election day she told Mariowire.com about the stated election results in Maricopa “these numbers do not add up”. As a numbers prone economist Ellee Koss should know.
“This is a sad commentary on democracy in Arizona” said Randy Parraz who leads Citizens for a Better Arizona. What we are seeing in Maricopa County is a systemic breakdown of the election process”. The group Parraz leads had registered over thirty thousand new voters and has yet to give up on seeing those votes counted. “This is about playing by the rules” Parraz told me on Sunday. There are still over three hundred thousand votes left to be counted in Maricopa County alone. The difference between Arpaio and his closest opponent is eighty thousand down from nightly thousand which was the count before the neglected votes had begun to be counted.
People in Maricopa County have told MarioWire.com that initially the registrar was reluctant to admit the number of votes that were left uncounted. In fact the local election officials initially told concerned Maricopa citizens that there were only seventy five thousand votes that were not yet counted. As pressure grew and more people became aware of the situation Maricopa officials admitted that the count was well over four hundred thousand in Maricopa alone.
The count could still be spoiled as politicians in the state have recently changed rules concerning the counting of provisional ballots. The new rules bar voters from casting provisional ballots in precincts other than their own. This home precinct only rule is unusual in that provisional ballots in most states can be cast anywhere within that state and are subject to verification before they are counted should the gap in votes make them potentially critical to the outcome. In the case of Arizona if a voter did not receive their sample ballot they would have to make what amounts to a lucky guess to make sure that they went to the correct polling place to cast their provisional or emergency ballot in order for their vote to be counted. The combination of misleading information distributed by election officials in the critical pre-election period and robo calls made from GOP U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Flake distributing misinformation on polling locations to Democratic, largely Latino, voters and the new rule is devastating. This anti-voter trifecta would clearly increase the election day confusion and place an unusually high number of voters in the “lucky guess” situation.
To add injury to insult to these provisional voters they will also not have their votes for President or U.S. Senate counted either even though Federal law allows for the counting of provisional ballots from each state. As Randy Parraz concluded “These voters are being treated as if they are not even citizens of the United States”
Limbaugh and Ingraham on the Attack
Conservative pundits have already seemly settled on an excuse designed to assist them as they dutifully lick the wounds of their wealthy donors. Laura Ingraham , Rush Limbaugh, and Karl Rove have decided that the shellacking they received on election night was because “In America there are now more takers than makers”.
Limbaugh who is fresh from a controversy that saw him lose advertisers because of a rash of worst than usual sexist comments has tied the new “takers” line directly to Latino voters saying that Latinos voted for Obama because “they want stuff”. The southern strategy has re-cemented itself into a southwestern strategy even before the final vote has been counted.
Latino community leaders are not convinced that the one election drubbing that their constituencies’ delivered on November 6th is enough to change the behavior of the now receding Grand Old Party. A quick listen to the de facto party message leaders broadcasting on talk radio seems to bear out that analysis.
If Latino voters were taken aback by years of insults aimed at their undocumented relatives, friends, and community members it would be hard to believe that they will somehow warm to the idea of being the targets themselves.
The veiled insult that “now” the country’s majority has been changed by the new “tipping point” made of a gaggle of welfare aspirants is surely not going to be unnoticed or well received by the vast majority of Latino voters.
GOP Latinos have been hoping that the conservative radio talk circuit would understand the implications of the anti-Latino “entertainment” that they have been offering for several years. The current coded message dump inferring that Latinos are lazy is a clear indication that Hispanic Republicans have much work left to do.
The importance of the message is clearly outweighing any efforts that the GOP has made in recent election cycles. The elections of Republican Governors Brian Sandoval, and Susana Martinez have not changed the image of the party by Latino voters. In fact the outreach of Latino GOP Senator Marco Rubio resulted in President Obama winning over a majority of Florida’s Cuban voters for the first time since the cold war. Latinos it seems could not hear to the pleas of Hispanic GOP leadership over the static of conservative AM radio.
The Latino takers of the GOP’s future are firmly rejecting the makers of conservative anti-Latino rhetoric.
Arizona’s motives about to receive the spotlight
After years of Arizona elected officials hiding behind the rhetoric of border security to defend what has been a wholesale systemic oppression of Latinos their true motives may about receive the light of a beacon of truth.
In the dusty and dark back room of the Arizona Secretary of State’s office lay the hopes dreams and aspirations of over 600,000 voters in the form of ballots which are decidedly still uncounted to this day. Over half of these early and provisional votes are from the heavily Latino populated county of Maricopa.
Maricopa County is still awaiting the official certification of the winner of the race that could reelect anti- Latino Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Less than 11,000 votes have kept Joe Arpiao in the lead in a race that the national media has prematurely called for him.
Local activists immediately noticed a huge and unmistakable gap in the vote count that the national media missed and that the Secretary of State initially ignored. In 2008 there were 2 million votes cast in Arizona and this year so far the count has been about five hundred thousand short of that. A slip of voter turnout in Arizona would be an anomaly since all of the other states with Latino populations actually met or increased their participation in this year’s historic presidential election – all that is except Arizona.
Reports from voters that volunteered for this year’s election in Arizona indicate that there was real and systemic voter suppression in the Arizona. The suppression tactics included robo calls from GOP Senate candidate Jeff Flake that mislead Democratic voters about their polling place. Most alarmingly there were also incidents of Latino voters receiving false information via the U.S. mail directly from the Maricopa county election office itself. In an environment of systemic voter suppression that includes even those that are entrusted with the solemn duty of preserving the most important of all American rights there should be no surprise that there are hundreds of thousands of provisional ballots.
The Jan Brewer gang has insisted that there oppressive policies on immigration are not efforts to discriminate against Latinos. Brewer and Arpaio have screamed that they are only concerned about the rule of law. At issue today in Arizona is the rule of law. The question is whether Brewer will make sure the law is enforced in behalf of Latino voters or if she will only continue to harshly enforce laws against them.
Whether or not these votes are properly counted one outcome is certain: the backroom of the Arizona’s Secretary of State’s office will soon go from being dark and shadowy to actually shedding light.
Desert Winds Embrace Obama
The hot climate and dry sand of Nevada has given new life to the Obama campaign. The emergence of the desert state of Nevada as a solid Obama stronghold is an indication that the Latino vote will be undeniably a deciding factor in Obama’s now foreseeable reelection.
While polls indicate that Latino/a voters are not emotionally attached to Obama they are vigorously supporting him for the best reason of all: our families.Obama has demonstrated a talent for steady style of leadership that has boosted jobs and has the ability to reinvigorate entrepreneurship that Latino/a’s understand and respect. In Latino culture respect in valued more than total agreement and Obama has earned our respect.
But beyond this election Nevada is the canary in the GOP’s coalmine. Latino’s in Nevada are the Democrats perfect trifecta of union workers, aspirational immigrants, and young families. The Obama strength in Nevada would only be a simple loss for the Republican history books if this same combination wasn’t multiplying in many states throughout the country. Colorado once a solidly red state is again in the swing column and in the next cycle will be clearly blue. New Mexico once unpredictable in choosing Presidents is clearly now a Democratic Presidential base.
Clearly the Nevada organizing victory was not inherited it was earned. Senate Leader Harry Reid has devoted years working with Latino leaders in Nevada and investing real resources in outreach and voter registration. Reid has consistently used his trademark tenacity and boxers skill to fight for issues known to appeal to Latino voters. Union leaders have constantly worked to organize workers and faced off intimidation by millionaire interests in Las Vegas. Nevada Latinos have responded by showing respect and giving their vote to Democrats.
The timing of Latino voting power could not be more important. Latino voters have the ability to return U.S. policy discourse back to a focus on the American Dream. Latinos inherently believe in the core values that built America’s middle class: Education as the vehicle, entrepreneurship as the highway, and hard work as the toll. Notably though Latinos also understand that a strong safety net and a structure of fairness is necessary for those values to function.
The disgraced brother of top Romney adviser Bay Buchanan, Pat Buchanan, has written that the emergence of Latinos in America would be the end of our beloved country. Buchanan clearly misread. The emergence of Latino voters is the end not of the whole country it is just the final blow to Buchanan’s GOP. America’s dream is not dependent on a single culture it is dependent on a common dream. That dream it turns out it is so strong that once thought dead it can take root and take on new life even in a desert.
Wisdom for Romney
In confusing times it’s good to go back to truisms and proverbs. Perhaps Mitt Romney could use the wisdom that those well known sayings provide.
A Leopards Spots: Mitt says that the road to the White House would be easier for him if he had been Latino; I think he should ask Marco Rubio about that.
A Stitch in Time: Pundits keep calling Mitt minutes long rant on the 47% a “gaffe”, at what time point does it become an opinion?
A House Divided: Harry Reid’s claim that there is a source that says that Mitt did not pay taxes for ten years becomes more relevant as people wonder if the GOP Presidential candidate is part of the 47% that won’t vote for the GOP Presidential candidate.
The Simple Case to Latino Voters
Earlier this week Romney insiders said that they needed 38% 0f the Latino vote in order to have a chance at ending the Obama Presidency. If that is true last night’s speech by Julian Castro provides reason for the GOP to follow their standard bearer’s money and immediately head to the Caymans.
Unlike any of the efforts up to that point the real case for moderate and liberal Latino voters by the Obama camp had only been made piecemeal. Over the last few years Axelrod, Plouffe and company had shown a deep level of amateurishness and at times even slight disdain for the group of voters that will put them over the top in their reelection bid.
The approach of the Administration up until last night was to tell Latino voters that they should be satisfied with the generic efforts brought to the table by it’s appointees and operators. The problem with that approach is that while Latinos may on the surface want the same things as average Democratic and Independent voters we want them for different reasons. Last night Mayor Castro outlined why Latino voters desire more of the distribution of opportunity in America that created the middle class and why we need a President that “gets” that. But the power and impact of the message was not in it’s plea but in it’s rationale.
In his delivery Castro reflected one of the key Latino cultural values – gratitude. Unlike the approach taken by Sen. Marco Rubio Castro did not hide the fact that he has prospered because of a series of policy decisions made by the greatest generation. Like most Latino voters Castro deeply understands his history and is so grateful for it he wishes it extended to the next generation. Unlike the petulant entitled demands of the Romney campaign which believes that the prosperous owe nothing to America’s constant investments Castro respects the meaning of those down payments and gratefully understands their importance to the future of our community and the entire country.
For Latino voters the reason for good paying jobs today is for America’s future generations. The reason for Medicare is respect for those that built the country we all love. The reason for education is to forward the dream for others by living the dream ourselves. The reason for the DREAM Act is the dream itself.
A simple look behind the cold numbers of Latino polling will indicate why Castro is such a good messenger and why, if the Castro message is taken further by Obama, Romney will not succeed. The beauty of Castros speech was that it made the simplicity of the key to Latino voters easily apparent to anyone willing to take notice. In fact I bet more than on political consultant is scratching their heads this morning and saying “why didn’t I think of that?”
RUBIOS AMNESIA
I am told that Marco Rubio has many strong attributes however it seems that a grasp of his own personal history is not one of them. Rubio’s full throated backing of the latest GOP fantasy that government policies had no role in the creation of America’s middle class is made exceptionally remarkable because of his American story.
As the son of Cuban refugees Rubio is the product of one of America’s only ethnic specific entitlement programs. In 1960 President Eisenhower, through an executive order, enacted an open border policy tailored for any Cuban national that would be simply headed to the United States. The executive action was so open ended and generous it can only be described as the DREAM Act on steroids. Financial assistance and services for Cuban refugees were strengthened by President Kennedy. The set aside for Cuban refugees became an entitlement as the executive order was codified in 1966 and added scholarships, business loans, and other forms of generous public assistance. Even though the cold war ended and there are many other nationalities on our planet that could claim economic oppression the Cuban immigration policy remains as the only US ethnic specific entitlement program for non American citizens in existence.
While we can agree that the measure of who we are should be based on what we make of the opportunities given us we must also acknowledge how those opportunities were created. Marco Rubio’s self serving amnesia fails on the second criteria.
In Rubio’s recollection his family only benefited from individualistic industriousness. Gone from his memory banks is the open border cash infused government program that nurtured their dreams.
If Rubio was just an ego driven business man deluded by afternoon martinis into saying that he owes nothing to his fellow countrymen and women his narrative would be harmless. However Rubio has been positioned as a Latino leader that can move Latino voters forward. Rubio’s failed self analysis prescribes a policy posture whose logical conclusion would deny families anything like the ladder his family so skillfully climbed and used to catapult him over America’s class wall and onto the national podium.
Rubio is not alone in his self delusion. The Senator has surrounded himself with other ungrateful conservatives that somehow only remember how exceptional they are but forget the government loans and contracts that funded their enterprises and forwarded their educations. In fact if amnesia were contagious we would be experiencing an epidemic and Tampa would be a hotspot.
When Rubio’s family needed assistance they arrived to a set aside open border entitlement program and realized that a ladder to success had been built for them. What they did on that ladder they should be proud of. However the fact that the ladder was waiting was no accident of nature: Americans- through their government- built it.
The Supreme Court says AZ police can ask for immigration status of those arrested however guts the rest of the bill. Legal team are analyzing the results. MW will have more later.
Update 7:29 AM PT: Here is a link to the decision
Supreme’s : Not a crime for undocumented to seek employment
Homeland Security is set to make an announcement this morning which many say will include a pathway for DREAM act students to avoid deportation. If this is true this is a huge victory for immigrant advocates and many immigrant families. Details to come.
UPDATE: Sec. Napolitano to hold call at 10:30 AM ET on new policy
UDATE 2: Read the DHS Memo hereNapolitanoMemo