Comments on: GOP: Tough Love for Latinos.

By: Mary elizabeth Williams

Mary elizabeth Williams — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:02:59 +0000

I would be greatly surprised if there are only two “segments” of the “Latino” vote. My experience, extending now over 60 years (some of it, obviously, pre-natal)indicates that Americans – all of us – vote in response to a smorgasbord (how’s that for ethnic) of issues, personalities, local conditions, fears – but bloc votes, thank God, we ain’t got. When a large segment of the population responds in the same way to the questions posed by any elections, the system is working as the Founding Fathers envisioned. When there is no clear answer to such questions, the system is working as the Founding Fathers envisioned. We are supposed to consider, debate, investigate and decide, and while “investigate” tends to get short shrift, we mostly do as the FFS intended. Thank God.

By: Davvy Crockett

Davvy Crockett — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:10:10 +0000

It’s amazing the polarization that exists these days. The difficulty with the politics of “The Latino Vote” is that there are two vastly different segments of the Latino population. Those that are legal and those who are not. I work with dozens of latino coworkers of which these two segments exist. I have a huge internal conflict as I see the amount of illegal workers and the constant lying about who they are so they can continue to work and live. They have phony social security numbers, they claim nine or ten on their W9 forms and never file taxes, they pile dozens of checks into a single legal checking account to get their money, etc. They also are extremely nice, giving and hard working with adorable families of US citizen children. I enjoy being with them and having them be a part of my life and my family’s life. But on the other hand, I also see the cost to America (Black, Brown & White) when they go into a hospital with no intention of paying the costs incurred, the use of other people’s social security numbers, having to watch my children wait for three members of their kindergarten class learn English and put their learning on hold until others have “caught up” and the teachers can proceed with the material they have to teach to meet the minimum obligations. Unfortunately, there is an impossibility of treating the Latino population the same until the Latino population will help itself by encouraging themselves to illegally enter the country and constantly be living a lie that is their “rights as an American” instead of someone just living in America. Those who do find the way to attain legal status as a documented worker or citizen suffer because of those who do not. It’s not racism, it’s a single set of standards for two different segments of the population.

By: John Silver

John Silver — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:45:30 +0000

Let’s face it once and get it over with. The republicans are the last stronghold for racism and racists in this country…and that includes latinos.
This fear, that someone (and they generally mean blacks and hispanics) will get something for nothing, is what is driving everything from the retardation of the healthcare debate to immigration reform.
The good news, if there is any, is that the republican party is fracturing into the anti-abortion and racist people and the big business people. Hopefully it will be a fatal fracture for both of them.