Hispanic votes

[DeTHuGoFTHuGS]

Hispanic votes will be extremely important in 2004. I haven't heard anything about the Democratic Party's plan to win the majority of these voters. Do any of you have any ideas what we should do to swing their votes our way?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. If they are important the Dems will refer to them as Latino votes

since many Latinos are offended by the use of the word Hispanic

[TlalocW]

4. That's always a sticking point

I always make sure to refer to Hispanic/Latinos as a general term. I was the temporary Hispanic Student Services Coordinator at Oklahoma State when I was a grad student there, and I had to chide the Hispanic Student Association president for constantly refering to all the hard work that the Hispanic students did for this project between them and the Latin American Student Association. At OSU (and I know it's different everywhere), Hispanic refered to those born in the USA, and Latin/Latin American referred to those students from other countries who were studying in the US. His constant use of Hispanics as a catch-all term pissed off the LASA members at the event.

TlalocW

[TlalocW]

2. Every year...

There's a Hispanic Leadership Conference in Chicago, where a lot of the movers and shakers and future movers and shakers in the Hispanic/Latin community (as well as a few white boys like me) show up, and politicians, if they're smart, go there to court their vote. In 2000 (the last time I went), both Gore and Bush were supposed to show up but couldn't because the debates were coming up quick. I got to shake Jesse Jackson's hand though, and both Al Gore and Bill Clinton have gone to it whenever they could. In all my years of hearing about it, I've never heard of a really important republican going to it. Hopefully the democrats will realize that the Hispanic/Latin vote is even more important in 2004 and send their candidate there.

In the years I've gone, the conference has been over-whelmingly pro-democrat.

TlalocW

[DrFunkenstein]

3. I Think By Supporting Small Business Leaders

Many of the most influential voices in the Hispanic community comes from the small business community. While any of the Democrats can come out strong here, John Kerry has long been a champion of this class of citizens. In fact, beyond his enormously important Congressional investigations, his major claim in the Senate may be his record of support for small businesses.

But I'd say that, in general, the candidates will win over the Hispanic community with the same message that will win the rest of America: job growth, education funding, health care, national security.

---

''I think the Hispanic community ... just wants to be respected like every other American and to see that promises made are promises kept,'' Kerry said. ''My Hispanic agenda is this: the American agenda.''

That agenda, he said, includes improving schools, access to health care and creating more jobs to combat the high unemployment rate.

''There's one American in the United States that deserves to be laid off, and that's George W. Bush, and we're going to do it,'' Kerry said as the mostly Hispanic crowd cheered.

Kerry criticized the administration's policy on health care, noting that one in four Hispanic children in the United States is without health insurance. Kerry said that, if elected, he would fight to ensure health coverage for every child.

---

John Kerry Recibe el Respaldo de Henry Cisneros para la Presidencia

WASHINGTON - Henry Cisneros, antiguo Ministro del Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de Estados Unidos y dirigente destacado de la Comunidad Hispana, hoy ha respaldado a John Kerry para la nominación Democrática a la Presidencia.

Henry Cisneros dijo: “John Kerry es un hombre de gran valentía personal. Ha sido puesto a prueba en las más duras situaciones, en Vietnam, como Fiscal y Senador. Creo que el Senador Kerry defenderá nuestros principios democráticos y tiene el mayor potencial para derrotar a George Bush el próximo año. George Bush está haciendo que nuestro país retroceda y ha puesto en peligro nuestra economía. John Kerry es un hombre inteligente y tiene el conocimiento y la experiencia para crear nuevos empleos y encaminar nuevamente la economía norteamericana.

[lkinsale]

5. Some specifics on Latino issues

NCLR (National Council of La Raza) LAUDS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO INCLUDE THE IMMIGRANT CHILDREN?S HEALTH IMPROVEMENT ACT IN SENATE MEDICARE PROPOSAL June 16, 2003

The amendment, offered by Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), would give states the option of allowing legal immigrant children and pregnant women to apply for federally-funded Medicaid and the State Children?s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) if they are otherwise eligible. Currently, immigrant families who are lawful residents of this country are barred from these programs for five years after their arrival...NCLR strongly urges all members of Congress who care about their Latino constituents and about building healthy families to support the inclusion of ICHIA in the final Medicare Prescription Drug Bill.

National Hispanic Leadership Council Congressional Scorecard

Kerry 82%
Graham 91%
Lieberman 91%
Gephardt 91%
Kucinich 91%

*****


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[DeTHuGoFTHuGS]

6. DREAM Act

DREAM Act is another issue that Hispanic/Latino community stresses. The bill deals with children of illegal immigrants who excel in school but can't attend to college due to their immigration status. Roughly 300 Hispanic/Latino organizations support it nationwide, and much more support from local organizations. Plus, other educational organizations also support this act. The bill is supposedly bipartisan, but most cosponsors are democrats (about 49 to 17). It almost made it to the Senate floor last session, so I think democrats should push for it to become law and gain the support of Hispanic/Latino organizations. Besides the political purpose, this bill makes perfect sense. Look for it at

thomas.loc.gov

Look for HR 1684, the Student Adjustment Act of 2003. The House equivalent of the DREAM Act (DREAM Act has not yet been reintroduced)

[GBD4]

7. It's a no-brainer

This bill should definitely be pushed more. Children have no responsibility for their immigration status, and if they are brought here illegally, they ought not to be penalized. Instead of forcing them to be unemployed which leads to further problems, let them learn and be productive members of society! It's the right thing to do! Tom Tancredo would beg to differ, but no one really cares what he has to say . . .

[sonias]

8. Education and health care

These are still the top two issues for Latinos/Latinas. And as the National Council on La Raza was quoted recently "we're tired of pinata politics". And don't underestimate the immigration issue. I went to one of the workshops on "mobilizing the Latino vote for 2004" at the NCLR conference here in Austin, TX recently, and the hot issue is still immigration. Anytime you get the ugly Pete Wilson type of rhetoric, all Latinos see the racism in it. Doesn't matter if they were born here or naturalized. During that Prop 187 referendum in CA Latino voter turnout increased across the whole country. We need another ugly face like Pete Wilson to motivate La Raza. The most interesting thing I learned is that 55% of the voting Latino electorate currently is foreign born i.e. naturalized. So I can see why the winning issue is immigration, coupled with good schools and health care.

Media coverage is another thing that is lacking. This is the most troublesome. According to the panelists Univision has dropped the ball big time in not encouraging voters to get out and vote like they used to. And now that they are corporate and republican owned you can forget about them getting any reminders.

Su Voto Es Su Voz

Sonia

[DeTHuGoFTHuGS]

9. Tom Tancredo = Pete Wilson

There is another ugly face, and his name is Tom Tancredo....

[JOE_HILL]

10. Howard Dean wanted to dump nuclear waste on poor hispanics

Associated Press, 10/25/98 13:32


Dean: No radioactive waste site in Vermont

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Efforts will continue to find a site in Texas to ship Vermont's low-level radioactive waste, despite the rejection of one location by a state panel there, Gov. Howard Dean says.


Dean rejected calls by some anti-nuclear activists that Vermont should take care of its own waste, storing it above-ground at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernont.

"We have much too much moisture in the ground and too much rain," Dean said. "This is not a big issue. Texas has the responsibility to site this (nuclear waste dump) and they will."

Vermont's low-level radioactive waste comes mainly from Vermont Yankee, and consists of materials other than the more highly radioactive spent fuel rods the plant generates. A small part of the state's waste comes from medical facilities.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

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SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE OPPOSES NUCLEAR WASTE DUMPING AT SIERRA BLANCA IN TEXAS




Senator Wellstone speaks out against the low-level radioactive dumping in Texas. The government contaminated much of Nevada with nuclear testing and now they are going to store radioactive waste in Yucca Mountain northwest of Las Vegas, NV until the end of time. Texans need to keep this from happening at Sierra Blanca. Other states need to take notice, they would like for you to have tons of nuclear waste too.




Statement of Senator Paul Wellstone
Press Conference on Sierra Blanca and S. 270
February 5, 1998

Good morning. The discussion we want to launch this morning is urgent and long overdue. In the coming days or weeks, the Senate will be considering a bill (S. 270) that would result in the dumping of low-level radioactive waste in a small, poor, majority Latino community in rural West Texas. We want to stop that from happening -- not only in Sierra Blanca, but in poor minority communities all over this country.


The best way to do that is to make sure the story of Sierra Blanca gets told. It's an incredible story. After I'm through speaking, we're going to hear from some of the people who've been telling that story for several years. Father Solis, the parish priest for Sierra Blanca and Hudspeth County, can tell you of the anger and anguish of his parishioners. Senator Corella (Co-ray-yuh) and Deputy Torres, two of several Mexican representatives of the border region visiting Washington this week, will tell you that this nuclear dump poses environmental hazards on both sides of the border. We'll also hear from Congressmen Doggett, Rodriguez, and Reyes, who have been fighting in the House of Representatives on behalf of the people of Sierra Blanca. And Dr. Judy Johnsrud of the Sierra Club is here to tell you that local residents have good reason to be concerned.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

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