Hispanic Caucus Threatens to Vote Against Health Care Bill

We are in the final countdown to an up-or-down vote on healthcare reform in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers are beginning to realize that now is the time to make their voices heard on the issue.

The Hispanic Caucus is meeting with the White House today to discuss their concerns about certain immigration-related provisions in the health care bill. They threaten to vote against the bill if the Senate language that bars undocumented immigrants from buying insurance from the proposed exchanges with their own money isn't removed.

President Obama is pushing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "to go further than Obama has previously disclosed" to strip the special deals for individual senators from the final health care reform bill. These include Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) 'Cornhusker Kickback' and a handful of other deals.

It is never good when your secret backroom deals go public and get a name, like 'Cornhusker Kickback', attached to 'em! I bet Sen. Nelson wishes he had just supported the bill in the first place ... without using his blackmail techniques to get special treatment.

Justice for Luis Ramirez

Many villagers joined this blog in calling on Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell to speak out against the brutal, racially motivated attack on Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez. You helped raise the call for justice, and now justice is being served: after a yearlong investigation, the federal government announced hate-crime and corruption charges in the case.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division filed charges against Ramirez's assailants and the local police officers who allegedly covered up the attack. Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were charged with a hate crime for fatally beating Ramirez while shouting racial epithets, and Shenandoah police officers Matthew Nestor (the town's Chief), Lt. William Moyer and Jason Hayes were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice during the investigation.

While the indictments can only soften the pain of Luis Ramirez's family, federal charges send a strong message that racially motivated violence against Latinos will not be tolerated in this country.

As Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said: "Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities." The truth of Perez's words is known all too well among Latinos, who have seen a rise in hate crimes over the past five years -- a trend exacerbated by economic tensions and a growing anti-immigrant sentiment.

This blog appreciates the work of Presente.org who first made public the injustice of Luis Ramirez's killers being acquitted by an all-white jury in the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Presente.org took on this issue because it graphically shows the racism and xenophobia that still smolder in some parts of this country, and the clear need to speak out against bigotry of all kinds. The federal hate crime charges are a vindication of their efforts, and of the power that we have when we speak with a unified voice against injustice.

National Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Today is National Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD).





Visit the National Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Day website for resources, fact sheets, video, and other media. One of the most powerful aspects of this website is the testimonials of Latinos living with HIV/AIDS.

Another resource available to you is the Department of Health and Human Services website.

Finally, I encourage all villagers to join our HIV/AIDS Awareness Groupsite to stay informed year-round.

Isabel Garcia Mocked in Hateful & Racist Manner by Tuscon Radio Station

Drumbeats from All About Race introduced us to Isabel Garcia heads up the Public Defender's office in Tucson AZ. She is a talented lawyer working to provide quality legal representation to those who could not otherwise afford it.

Apparently, she threatens the manhood of white conservatives in Arizona. One of them is Jon Justice who works for local radio station. Justice filmed a "webisode" of his show where he caressed and fondled a piñata intended to be the likeness of Isabel Garcia.





I'm pleased to see that the Latino community organized quickly to contact radio station advertisers and local Pima County officials to express their displeasure. The immediate reaction from this community is an object lesson for Black activists when we next have to deal with racism and hatred in our community!

I encourage all villagers to take any steps possible to end the racism and hate whenever it rears its ugly head!

Latina Blogger Endorses Barack Obama

I found this post in cyberspace and it made me smile.

---

I am a women.

I am a Latina.

I am a feminist.

I am working class.

I like Hilliary Clinton.

I am voting for Barack Obama in the primary. Barack Obama is the best candidate for women, latinas, feminists and the working class.

---

Elena Mary may be the exception to the rule ... however, she is welcome to our village anytime!

Young Latinos Say Obama or Nada

Many Black political bloggers have wondered why Latino voters favor Team Clinton over the 'O-Man'. Of course, it wasn't too long ago that the same thing could be said about Black voters. Many of us were posting about whether or not Black women would vote for Obama before the South Carolina primary. It was only after that primary that the vast majority of Black voters demonstrated support for Obama's campaign.

Can the same thing be happening in the Hispanic community? LatinoPundit pointed me to surveys conducted after the Potomac Primaries last week show that a growing majority of young Latino voters are excited by the Obama campaign -- but if he doesn’t win his party’s nomination, they may not vote at all in the November general election.

Click here to read the full story

Do you have any sense on the reasons that Hispanic voters favor one candidate over the other?

Latino Super-Delegate Calls Clinton 'Dumb as a Stump'

There may be a crack in the support that Hillary Clinton receives from Latino population around the country. The Latino vote is credited with providing victory for Clinton in California and Nevada contests. Steve Ybarra is a super-delegate from California. He circulated a sharp e-mail saying the removal of Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle was disloyal to Hispanics and should give "pause" to superdelegates and voters.

Ybarra told The Post that the loss of Solis Doyle, a child of Mexican immigrants, just weeks before the Texas primary, where 36 percent of the population is Hispanic, was "dumb as a stump." [Source]

Will Bill Richardson Become the Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson for Hispanics?

I think that Bill Richardson is an honorable man. He is a lifetime politician who has a strong resume. Nobody else from either party can talk about experience in national politics as governor, Secretary of Energy, US Ambassador to the United Nations and a 14-year congressman. He participated in 24 presidential debates over the past few months. He was a strong advocate for ending the war and bringing our troops home from Iraq. He also felt strongly about the need for a comprehensive energy policy.

However, he never got traction with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. As such, he pulled out of the presidential campaign today. He joins Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton as a former presidential candidate. Jackson and Sharpton have been treated as the 'de facto spokespersons' for any and every issue impacting on the Black community since they became former presidential candidates. Others have noted the same thing. If something happens tomorrow morning that impacts on the Black community ... then the mainstream media will use their speed dial to contact Jackson or Sharpton for a comment.

Now that Richardson is the first Hispanic person to run a credible campaign for national office ... and he is now a former presidential candidate ... I wonder if he will become the face of the Hispanic community within the mainstream media?.

Did you ever wonder why no other community has so-called national spokespersons like we are given by the mainstream media in our Black community. If the Asian community jumps off into some controversy ... who does the mainstream media call? If the Italian community is upset by a movie that portrays their culture in a negative light ... who does the mainstream media call?

Villagers, will the mainstream media call on Bill Richardson the next time there is a national crisis in the Hispanic community now that he is a former presidential candidate? What say u?