Heller Wants Latino Votes... But Still Farts in Their Faces (& I Commend Coolican!)

He likes them, he really likes them...

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller waded into unfriendly territory today, speaking to a breakfast meeting of Hispanics in Politics and facing tough questions about his stances on immigration. [...]

Expectations were high for the meeting, after an incident last year in which Heller literally turned around while on his way to a meeting with the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Heller’s staff objected to the presence of a staffer for his Senate rival, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, and a camera at the chamber event.

But Heller stood his ground and sought to identify commonalities with his Hispanic audience Friday morning, promising Latin Chamber President Otto Merida that he’d sit down to discuss an acceptable immigration reform bill.

No, he really doesn't.

He opposes the Dream Act, which, according to The New York Times, “would provide legal status and a path to citizenship to young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children and receive a college education or want to enter the military. Under the bill, students who came to the United States when they were 15 or under, have been in the country continually at least five years, present ‘good moral character,’ graduate from high school or obtain a G.E.D., and complete two years of college or military service in good standing would qualify.” [...]

Heller opposes it. Why? Because the Republican base hates it. Well, that’s not what he said. He said he doesn’t believe American citizens should be denied benefits accrued to noncitizens.

What on earth does he mean by that? During a news conference after the breakfast, he said that under the Dream Act a Nevadan who qualifies for such benefits could go to Nevada state universities and pay in-state tuition, while an American citizen living in Utah would have to pay out-of-state tuition at Nevada state universities.

Are you for real?

Then there’s the dreaded “anchor babies.” Heller signed on to legislation that would end automatic citizenship for babies born in the United States, instead requiring that to qualify for citizenship one parent must already be a citizen.

You can imagine how this utterly un-American policy might offend Hispanics. It offends me because more than likely my ancestors would have been disqualified for citizenship. They came over on a boat from Ireland and had a lot of babies.

I know I've sometimes had spirited disagreements with Patrick Coolican before, but this time he's on the money. Heller is being completely disingenuous... As usual.

We're supposed to applaud Heller for chiding Mitt Romney's disgusting characterization of the DREAM Act as a "handout"... And ignore that Heller is just as cravenly opposed to the DREAM Act as Romney and the rest of the G-O-TEA buffoons?

Does Dean Heller really think Latin@ voters are that stupid? He claims he will work with fellow Republican and Latin Chamber of Commerce President Otto Merida to craft a "mutually agreeable reform bill". Ummm... Hello, Dean Heller! That "mutually agreeable reform bill" would be the same comprehensive immigration legislation that Republicans like recent Republican standard bearers George W. Bush and John McCain supported!

Of course, this isn't new for Dean Heller. He's regularly scapegoated Latinos for basically every perceived moral wrong one can think of! He's regularly twisted the facts and engaged in disgusting demagoguery to win the hearts and minds of paranoid teabaggers. But now that he's managed to show up at Hispanics in Politics and spew out a bunch of "moderate" hot air, we're supposed to forget about what he's actually done in Congress to block progress on comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act?

Oh, and by the way, Latin@s care about more than just immigration. They want health care. They want education. They want opportunities to succeed just as much as the rest of us. So how on earth are they supposed to cheer on Dean Heller cheering on Wall Street robber barons as he proposes more painful, job killing, and all in all economically destructive "austerity" on all of us in the other 99%?

Coolican rightly pointed out today that Heller's "civility" at Hispanics in Politics does absolutely nothing to make up for his cowardly pandering to xenophobic teabaggers. If Heller really cared about Latin@ Nevadans, he'd actually match his "civil" words with real actions.

Oh, and by the way, this is why Ralston is probably wrong on his predictions for this year. Latin@ voters proved to be the key to Democratic wins here in Nevada in 2008 and 2010. And as long as Heller and his G-O-TEA buddies continue to fart in Latin@ Nevadans' faces, it won't be that hard for Shelley Berkley to prove Ralston and the other pundits wrong. Mark my words... And take note of the last R-J/8 News poll.

Pity Reno? Maybe Vegas Should.

As more holidays draw closer, I wanted to spread some good cheer. But alas, Coolican is playing Grinch again. This time, he's laughing at poor Reno's despair.

In the new Muppet movie, Reno appears as a sad sack dump for Fozzie Bear's failed solo career. The TV show “Reno 911” has long mocked the city’s police department, and to add insult to injury, the show isn’t even filmed in Reno — where this week two bins of “Toys for Tots” were stolen from a Walmart only to be returned.

And then on “Saturday Night Live” last week, “Weekend Update” host Seth Meyers had this to say: “According to a new list, the least happiest city in America is St. Petersburg, Fla. But that’s only because Reno, Nevada, finally killed itself.” (Las Vegas is actually the suicide capital of America, but moving on ...)

Well, Reno is fighting back!

Some genius in an editors’ meeting of the Reno Gazette-Journal decided he’d had enough. (Somehow I know it was a he.) The paper asked its readers to contribute to an “open letter to Seth Meyers” that will be published Sunday from the people of Reno, a city known for the purity of its methamphetamine.

(Note: The SNL joke on Reno starts just after 9:00 here.)

But wait, it gets worse. RGJ editors started a campaign earlier this week to fight back by turning the joke on Seth Meyers, but Coolican won't have any of that.

The problem here is that these aren’t funny. In fact, the whole flaw in this plan, as I noted on Twitter on Tuesday (@jpcoolican), is that Seth Meyers is funny. Whereas the people of Reno — where the dirt flooring of the homes serves for both sleeping and eating — and the editors of the Reno Gazette Journal are not funny.

If they were funny, they wouldn’t be living in Reno, where we all hope girls will be permitted to go to school someday. They’d be in New York City getting paid to be funny. (Same goes with me, s’pose.)

Wait, how does that old saying go about people who live glass houses throwing stones? Remember all the sturm und drang over Mindy Kaling saying something stupid about Downtown Las Vegas and Luv-It Frozen Custard? And remember all the fire and brimstone being directed at President Obama for speaking obvious common sense in decrying gambling with our tax dollars or our kids' college funds?

Yes, Coolican, we have our own moments of embarrassing overreactions to otherwise inoccuous comments. For heaven's sake, we were even criticizing the President of the United States for criticizing banks misuing taxpayer supported TARP bailout funds on Las Vegas pleasure junkets! So maybe, just maybe, we should lay off Reno as they're engaging in their own moment of overreaction to silly throwaway comments by far away celebrities.

Sure, I understand that perhaps a few tourists really do base their travel decisions on shit Seth Meyers or Mindy Kaling says. And maybe some big multinational banks really were pressured out of wasting Americans' tax dollars on another "conference" on The Strip after President Obama chided them for misusing TARP funds. But seriously, Las Vegas, Reno, and really all of Nevada have bigger problems than shit celebrities say. I mean, come on, we all deserve to be the punchline of jokes when we don't take investing in our own people and our own success all that seriously. Maybe we should actually reform our 19th century tax code to start giving our kids the 21st century education they deserve so we no longer invite the rest of the country to declare us "The Armpit of America"?

Oh, but who am I to point out Nevada's unique talent of sparking "OUTRAGE!" over others pointing out our own shortcomings? And who is anyone in The South to mock The North for taking a well worn page out of our playbook? Sometimes, a joke is just a joke. Lighten up.

NV-0X: Horsford's In, Dem Field Is Set... And This Is a GOOD Thing

In case you've been hiding under a rock this past week, the big news is now official. Count Horsford in!

Steven Horsford, Nevada's Democratic majority leader, plans to run for the U.S. House in a bid that could see Nevada elect its first African-American to Congress and put the state Senate under the GOP's control.

Horsford told The Associated Press he will formally declare his candidacy Thursday in North Las Vegas. He hopes to succeed Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.

"It's a decision that I've taken very seriously," Horsford said Wednesday. "I'm very proud of many of the things we have been able to accomplish in the state Senate and I would like to build on some of those accomplishments in Congress." [...]

As the majority leader, Horsford was an early critic of Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval's efforts to reduce education dollars and lobbied for higher taxes to pay for social services. He is a loyal Democratic player, serving as a national Democratic committee member and campaigning for President Barack Obama in 2008. Horsford's campaign website features a picture of his family with Obama in the Oval Office.

Republicans and Democrats alike describe him as charming, but a tough negotiator. In one instance, Horsford ordered all senators into their chamber and told sergeants-at-arms to find three missing lawmakers after the Legislature failed to compromise on public employee and retiree benefits during the 2009 session.

"We could argue all night and get up and shake hands," said Republican Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea. "He definitely has political savvy and clarity."

While the political powers that be have known this for several weeks, now everyone knows. And it's really not a bad thing.

Why has Patrick Coolican been in such a foul, lousy mood lately? I know we've seen some frustrating headlines, both locally and nationally, lately, but I don't get why he's been lashing out at Nevada's Congressional Candidates so harshly over it. He threw a fit last month when Ruben Kihuen announced he's running, and now he's doing the same to Steven Horsford. What, are no sitting legislators allowed to run for Congress?

I typically have great respect for Coolican and what he writes, but I don't get his logical pretzel twists over this. He says:

[... O]bviously it matters who controls Congress. Sometimes Congress gets stuff done.

For the most part, however, Washington is broken, mostly because of the godforsaken Senate filibuster, which forces Reid to get 60 votes out of 100 in the Senate just to start debate.

End the filibuster, and then I’d encourage our best and brightest, Republican and Democrat alike, to head to Washington to craft policy that will get America out of this slump.

Until then, I hate to see our finest young leaders waste their talents in such a wasteland while pressing needs at home go unmet.

But here's the thing: If we don't send better legislators to Washington, Congress will remain broken and "stuff" will never get done. And Coolican admitted himself that Horsford has a proven track record as a good legislator. So isn't someone like Steven Horsford exactly who we need in Congress right now?

Last month, he was saying that the likes of Horsford and Kihuen "can't solve our problems from Washington". Well, I have a news flash for him: On many issues, the solutions MUST start in Washington. Last I checked, Congress controls the federal purse strings. And Congress sets health care policy. And Congress can set in place new home foreclosure assistance. And perhaps most importantly, Congress can make the most difference in putting people back to work!

Yes, Coolican does have a point about Nevada needing tried and true leaders in our own legislature. However, I think we can find them even with Horsford and Kihuen gone. Hell, I think we caught a glimpse of one yesterday when Kyle Hansen, one of Coolican's colleagues at The Sun, profiled Senator Shirley Breeden (D-Henderson). I see strong progressives like Senator Sheila Leslie (D-Reno), and Assembly Members Peggy Pierce (D-Las Vegas) and Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno), as emerging leaders who can do plenty of good in Carson City in the not-too-distant future. I especially believe Horsford will leave Senate Democratic leadership in good hands (and hands that won't easily lose grip to a sleazeball like Mikey Roberson [R-Jerk]).

However, Nevada also needs to send tried and true leaders to Washington if we want to see progress on our policy priorities. And if Coolican still thinks they "can't solve our problems from Washington", I have two words for him: HARRY REID.



Harry Reid has led the way on many issues Nevadans care deeply about, such as creating green jobs now and building our renewable energy future. Really, where would we be without having the US Senate Majority Leader? Does Coolican really think that "doesn't matter"?

The fact of the matter is that who Nevadans send to Congress really does matter. And considering the outsized influence of the current crop of G-O-TEA crazies in Congress now, I would much rather have strong legislators who have learned to put their principles into practice in a pragmatic way than continue to suffer under extreme ideologues who only got to where they are now thanks to a few ideologically extreme billionaires who want to control, then destroy, every aspect of American government. And considering all the madness that's taken hold on the GOP side, it's good to see Nevada Democrats fielding strong Congressional Candidates who will be able to work with President Obama in 2013 and beyond on getting Nevada and the country back on track.

So with Horsford now in, it looks like the Democratic field is pretty much set. And as decor diva Martha Stewart would say, this truly is a good thing. Steven Horsford, Ruben Kihuen, John Oceguera, and Dina Titus are all experienced legislators, and especially Horsford and Titus have exceptionally strong track records of making progressive policy wishes into reality. So what's to complain about? And for that matter, why can't Nevada Republicans cough up more of their own candidates for Congress? Really, what are they afraid of?