La Decisión

Today wasn't supposed to be like this. But with most of the nation's attention still focused on the Boston Marathon tragedy, the US Senate Gang of 8 comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) plan. Yet nonetheless, it's finally been revealed today.

Millions of immigrants living illegally in the United States could earn a chance at citizenship under a sweeping Senate proposal to be released Tuesday that would represent the most ambitious overhaul of the nation's immigration system in three decades.

The highly anticipated proposal from an eight-member bipartisan group also aims to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country by creating tens of thousands of new visas for foreign workers in low-skilled jobs, according to a 17-page summary of the bill obtained by The Washington Post.

In addition, billions of dollars would be invested in new border-control measures, including surveillance drones, security fencing and 3,500 additional federal agents charged with apprehending people attempting to enter illegally from Mexico.

Steve Benen lists more details of the Gang of 8 CIR bill, so let's quickly summarize here what's in it. Basically, most undocumented immigrants will be subjected to a 13 year path to citizenship. Meanwhile, a border security goal will be set to achieve "90% effectiveness" in securing the US-Mexico Border. In the mean time, DREAMers will only face a 5 year path to citizenship while the H-1B work visa program is expanded and a guest worker program is created. That's basically the gist of the Gang of 8 CIR plan.

While the hubbub surrounding today's big reveal has been fairly subdued, civil rights advocates at Voto Latino still held a press conference minutes ago with several House Democrats to speak on this latest CIR development. Nevada's own Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) was among the Members of Congress speaking at this event.



So far, most progressives are sounding at least cautiously optimistic about today's big news. But of course, what everyone is waiting for is reaction from the right. Here's Jamelle Bouie to explain the complicated CIR politics for conservatives.

What ties all of this [Gang of 8 CIR bill] together are a series of border security triggers, to assuage Republicans who fear a new wave of illegal immigration. The first requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish strategies for border security before any unauthorized immigrant can be given "Registered Provisional" status. The second, then, keeps those with said status from becoming eligible for "Lawful Permanent Resident" status until DHS and the Comptroller General can confirm that an employment verification system has been implemented and new border security measures are in place.

There is also a requirement for the federal government to create -- within ten years --an electronic system for checking foreigners as they enter and leave the country through airports and seaports. Overall, these triggers would require DHS to spend $5.5 billion over ten years to enhance enforcement and further extend fencing along the border with Mexico.

All of this should satisfy the various demands and concerns made by Republicans over the last several months. More to the point, it fits broadly with what Republican voters want.

According to a newly released poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution, 62 percent of Republicans support a path to citizenship if it includes specific requirements like paying back taxes, learning English and passing a background check.

In other words, most Republican lawmakers have no real reason to oppose this based on what they've outlined as their concerns. Which is to say that, with this immigration bill, we'll see if Republicans are actually interested in governing, or if they're still completely invested in an approach of constant opposition to anything proposed or supported by President Obama and the Democratic Party.

If only it actually worked that way. Already, "tea party" darling, US Senate candidate, and current Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has not just announced his (expected) opposition to this CIR deal, but he even tried to tie that to yesterday's tragedy in Boston by claiming that the Boston Marathon Bombing "proves" that "national security should be the focus and a path to citizenship should be put on hold". What?! We don't know yet who did this and why, but most likely yesterday's explosions had nothing to do with CIR. But of course, that won't stop "tea party" radicals from drumming up xenophobic reactions to yesterday's tragedy in hopes of killing CIR.

Now, we must wait to see how other Republicans react to the Gang of 8 plan. Will they embrace the proposal offered by top Republican leaders like Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida)? Or will they follow Steve King and the rest of the "tea party" down the rabbit hole of xenophobia powered excuses for further inaction?

The choice is theirs. And once again, whatever Senator Dean Heller (R-46%) decides will be critical to the future of this comprehensive immigration reform legislation. So what will he do? And who will he listen to?

NV-04: Los Delirios de Grandeza de Baby Tark

Wow. I almost forgot saying this nearly 3 years ago.

Excuse me while I step aside to ROTFLMAO. I know, I know, we shouldn't take this for granted. [...]

But come on, this is just too good to resist a good giggle at. If a guy who just happens to be Jerry Tarkanian's son is the best the GOP can do, then they're (still) in deep sh*t.

I said that in August 2009, when Lil' Tark Shark was briefly the G-O-TEA favorite to go against Harry Reid in 2010. Remember how that went? I guess he doesn't.

After all, he's back for more. And today, Danny Tarkanian tripled down on his delusions of grandeur at Hispanics in Politics in Las Vegas. Apparently, he's now taking advice on "Latino outreach" from Dean Heller.

Oh, and Tark must also be copying from Mitt Romney's playbook. Laura Myers' report from the Hispanics in Politics event, and he documented Tarkanian trying to have it both ways on immigration reform while blaming President Obama for all that's wrong in the world and trying to make empty catch phrases sound like "good policy".

Sound familiar? Well, it should. Just like his mentors, Dean Heller & Mitt Romney, Danny Tarkanian is now trying to flip-flop his way to the mainstream and make us all forget his real record. Too bad for him that Google doesn't allow for that. Oh, and too bad for him that none other than "Mr. Tea Party Super-blogger" Erick Erickson said this when endorsing Baby Tark for US Senate in 2010.

Danny Tarkanian has received the endorsement of the Minuteman Project for clear positioning on immigration. Meanwhile, Sue Lowden is wavering on the issue of benefits to illegal immigrants. Check out Danny Tarkanian’s latest ad on immigration and you’ll get the picture. Danny has a clear policy prescription and Sue is muddying the water over whether or not she supports benefits to illegal aliens.

Oh yes, that's right. Erickson favored Tarkanian over the less extreme (??!!) Sue Lowden because he was endorsed by the anti-Latino, anti-immigrant, and pro-xenophobia Minuteman Project! And in May 2010, none other than The R-J's Laura Myers documented how Baby Tark was campaigning on anti-immigrant xenophobia to play up his "populism" and win over the "tea party". I find it funny how he ran so far to the right when he found it politically convenient, but all of a sudden we're now supposed to believe he's better on comprehensive immigration reform than President Obama. Give me a break!

Believe it or not, the $10,000 donation from John Ensign's PAC and the ongoing personal financial scandals are not the worst stories for Danny Tarkanian's campaign. Actually, the worst story for his campaign is the ongoing saga of this incredibly vapid candidate who will stoop to the lowest levels and cravenly flip-flop as many times as possible to gain some kind of political advantage. Really, can Baby Tark run for anything without touting his famous last name?

No Se Puede, Dean Heller.

Remember Dean Heller's much publicized appearance at Hispanics in Politics in Las Vegas this past January? It came shortly after his botched meeting with the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, and it was seen as Heller's "neutralizing" of his own xenophobic record.

Well, it looks like Heller's Latino outreach is going along just smoothly. In January, he pledged to team up with Las Vegas Latin Chamber CEO and fellow Republican Otto Merida to craft a "mutually agreeable [immigration] reform bill". Today, he's endorsing Shelley Berkley for US Senate. Steve Sebelius made an interesting point as he questioned aloud how Heller's and Merida's collaboration on that "mutually agreeable reform bill" went.



Wow. I guess Mitt Romney isn't the only Republican with "a Latino problem". But then again, Mitt Romney isn't the only Republican embracing the extreme xenophobic agenda of Kris Kobach, Joe Arpaio, and Nevada's own Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron Angle.

Even Republicans notice there's a problem.



We'll have to wait and see if Heller ever gets his head out of the sand.

No Se Puede, Mittens.

So Republicans are again claiming they're "The REAL Party for Latinos!" Yes, believe it or not, they're now trying to pin the blame for the filibusters they led on comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act on Democrats. Wow. Who are they trying to fool?

Mitt Romney is reaching for his Etch-A-Sketch because he's desperate to shake up and reset his campaign. His trouble with Latin@ and other minority voters is real, especially in key swing states that he would like to wrest away from Obama. PPP recently showed that Obama's support among Latino voters both here in Nevada and in Colorado is especially strong (so strong, in fact, that Obama now has healthy overall leads in both states), and now even PPP's newest Florida poll shows the same over there. Mittens now realizes he's in deep trouble, so he's grabbing that Etch-A-Sketch in a desperate move to reset his own campaign.

But seriously, can Willard make all of us forget what he was saying during G-O-TEA primary season? Remember that early this year, Willard's BFF Kris Kobach, the man behind such extreme, xenophobic "Papers, Please" state statutes like Arizona's infamous SB 1070 and its "copycats" in Alabama & Georgia, praised Mittens' commitment to anti-immigrant extremism. In fact, he exclaimed that "Romney stands far to the right" of the other G-O-TEA contenders on immigration.



No really, Kris Kobach is on record praising Romney's anti-immigrant policies... And Romney is on record embracing Kobach and his hate-fueled extremism!



Yet now, Romney and his RNC buddies want us to believe that he's better for Latin@ American families than Obama? Are they for real? Another infamous figure behind Arizona's SB 1070, recalled State Senator Russell Pearce, boasted that his and Romney's immigration policies are "identical".

And in case Romney's extreme anti-immigrant views aren't bad enough, there's even more for Latin@ voters not to like. His economic policies also aim to slap hard-working Latin@ families en la cara. Let's not forget this.

First of all, he supports Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plans that would cut Medicaid spending by $700 billion over 10 years, reduce food stamps by $127 billion, and cut in half the funding of Pell Grants. Gov. Romney’s own budget plans seek to impose a cap on overall annual federal spending at 20 percent of the nation’s GDP, which would necessarily slash vital programs for the poor and middle class such as Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and Pell Grants. He also signed the Cut, Cap and Balance pledge promoted by a number of conservative and Tea Party groups.

His proposal to fund Medicaid through block grants to the states would result in deep cuts to a program that is at the crux of Latinos’ access to health care. In fact, according to the National Council of La Raza, in 2009, Medicaid and its sister program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, covered more than one in four Latinos and nearly half (49.8 percent) of all Hispanics under age 18—representing 8.5 million children.

Social Security and Medicare are also of particular importance to Hispanics: Over three-fourths of senior citizens rely on Social Security for their income, and overall, Medicare serves approximately 3.5 million Hispanics. Gov. Romney’s plan to raise the retirement age for eligibility for Social Security would have a negative impact on Latinos because it would amount to an additional 13 percent across-the-board benefit cut. This would be especially unfair to low-income workers who are more likely to have significant health problems, and work in physically demanding jobs. It would also affect the elderly, who have a much harder time finding new work after being laid off.

Gov. Romney has also indicated that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would insure 9 million Hispanics that currently lack health insurance, a position supported by only 29 percent of Latinos.

Finally, while Hispanics routinely cite education as a key issue and strongly support our public schools and access to college, Gov. Romney’s pledge to cut the budget would require cutting funds for Pell Grants—a program that benefits 12.1 percent of Latino undergraduate students.

Even now that G-O-TEA primary season is over, Willard is still pandering to the "tea party" by promising to end the "war on the rich" by showering the 1% with even more "Billionaire Bailout" tax cuts while he slashes the American social safety net to death. Does R.Money really think Latin@ voters love the idea of writing even more economic injustice into our tax code and budget? Es Mittens loco en la cabeza?

Ay, yay yay. And "Los Republicanos" wonder why Latin@ voters keep running away from them in droves?

El Partido Loco

This morning, The Sun published a story on immigrants who have been duped by "notarios" promising work permits and legal residency for clients... But who later fail to deliver

[I]n 1996, [Cesar Silva] saw an ad from an immigration legal services agency saying it secured work permits and legal residency for immigrants.

At the agency, the person helping Silva called over another client. The client showed Silva a work permit and explained how the agency helped him get it in just a few months. Silva, thinking he was on his way to legal status, was delighted.

The agency, however, never helped Silva. After taking roughly $8,000 from him, it only had made it harder for him to eventually obtain a legal status. [...]

Wherever there are significant immigrant populations, there are people trying to take advantage of them with various scams, authorities say. In some cases, people who have no license to practice law misrepresent their credentials, then file paperwork stating their clients are representing themselves. Other times they may take a client’s money and do not file anything, all the better for not attracting scrutiny from the authorities. In other cases, such as Silva’s, scam artists use their knowledge of the convoluted immigration system to give the appearance they are working on their client’s behalf.

Without Silva’s knowledge, the agency filed paperwork for him under an asylum provision that was in place for Nicaraguans. Once the paperwork was filed, immigration services issued a temporary work permit to Silva. Wheels were in motion, he thought, and he willingly paid more fees.

However, his application was bound to be denied as the company filed it with Silva’s Mexican birth certificate, Flores said.

The agency essentially announced Silva’s presence in the country to immigration enforcement and then on the paperwork indicated he was representing himself. Inevitably, Silva received a deportation notice.

“I brought the notice into them,” he said. “They just told me, ‘Oh, it’s fine. That’s all part of the process. We are working on your behalf.’”

Last September, ICE arrested Cesar Silva and planned to deport him... Until a number of folks in the local community threw protests, pushed local elected officials to denounce the deportation, and ultimately shamed ICE into dropping plans to deport Silva after jailing him for a week. Now, ICE is granting him a one year stay while it reviews his case and gives Silva's current legal team time to make a case for granting him legal status.

And Cesar Silva isn't the only immigrant who was misled into believing a "notario" can make all one's ICE problems go away for a "small fee". Crap like this happens all the time.

Yet G-O-TEA hopefuls like Mitt Romney just don't care.





Mitt Romney has actually said he wants to veto the DREAM Act. And Mitt Romney has actually claimed "self-deportation" as "the solution to illegal immigration". And Mitt Romney has an extreme anti-immigrant activist with ties to known racist hate groups writing his immigration policy. And despite Romney's own run-ins with immigration law...



He doesn't seem to want to give anyone else a break. Even though people like Cesar Silva are trying to fix their situation and pursue legal residency, today's G-O-TEA is so mired in nativist, xenophobic fantasy that it lost touch with reality long ago. No wonder why we saw this in Arizona last night.



And it's not just Mitt Romney with his head in the sand. Dean Heller continues to join him there. He may strut into a Hispanics in Politics meeting and talk about a "mutually agreeable" solution, but his view of a "solution" is way to the right of REPUBLICANS like George Bush and John McCain. Heller's embrace of "tea party" nativist extremism is just as craven as Romney's, and his "solutions" that he proposed in the not-so-distant past are just as unworkable. This is why I can't believe the crocodile tears Heller's campaign team are shedding over Heller being compared to that other G-O-TEA Senate candidate who infamously embraced xenophobia.

In turn, [Shelley] Berkley and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have their own Spanish radio ad, tying Heller on immigration issues to the ultimate Nevada bugbear: Sharron Angle, the very right-wing GOP Senate nominee in 2010, who lost to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid despite the national Republican wave.

“The party of Sharron Angle, but this time, in Spanish! Can you believe it?” the announcer says mockingly. “The Republicans have ads that attack Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley and President Obama, who support the Dream Act and immigration reform.

“Who is their candidate now? Dean Heller: the Republican who wants to copy the anti-immigrant Arizona law here in Nevada, who voted to cut funds to Head Start and student scholarships, who is against immigration reform and would deport grandparents and separate children from their mothers.”

She also adds: “In the Republican Dean Heller we have another Sharron Angle.”

As we saw this morning, there are real people who are looking for real ways to earn real legal status in this country. And yes, there are real obstacles getting in the way that we need to deal with. But with the likes of Romney, Heller, and Angle wanting to punish people like Cesar Silva for trying to do the right thing, they just show us that today's G-O-TEA doesn't even want to discuss real, rational, comprehensive immigration reform.

No Se Puede?

So far, it looks like the American electorate in 2012 will be the most diverse electorate our country has ever seen. Earlier today, NALEO released stats to confirm this.

The number of Hispanics who will head to voter booths in November is projected to increase by 26 percent over 2008, a national Latino interest group announced Wednesday.

The bipartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund based its projections on average increases in turnout in previous elections as reported by the Census Bureau.

Hispanic voter turnout in 2008 was 9.7 million, and is expected to reach 12.2 million this year. The interest group said the increased projection is due in part to the estimated 50,000 Latinos who turn 18 each month.

“Latinos continue to reshape the nation’s political map, and the Latino electorate will play a decisive role in Election 2012,” NALEO executive director Arturo Vargas said in a statement.

If the group’s projection holds true, Latinos will account for at least 8.7 percent of the country’s voters in November.

Vargas concluded: “Both presidential candidates and political parties must actively work to engage Latino voters and address the issues they care about. This electorate has shown that it cannot be taken for granted by either party … Latinos played a key role in the 2008 election; they will determine who is sworn in on January 20, 2013.”

So why on earth are Republicans doing everything they can to turn away Latin@ voters? Remember when Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron Angle made her campaign so xenophobic that even Republicans ran away in total disgust?



It now looks like today's batch of G-O-TEA Presidential Candidates are following in her footsteps. And even Republicans are wondering aloud if their Presidential Candidates can tone down the "TEA" flavored xenophobia in time to make inroads with Latin@ voters in the general election.



Now of course, it can be argued that these candidates are just trying to keep up with their "base". After all, they've been demanding a holiday for white people, discriminatory & unnecessary voter ID laws, renewed acceptance of white nationalists, and crazy immigration statutes that cost jobs and hurt the economy. But really, how far must these candidates go to please "the base"?

Look at how far Willard Romney has gone. He's been endorsed by the extreme right Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), the guy perhaps most responsible for Arizona's and Alabama's extreme anti-immigrant statutes as well as someone with well documented ties to white supremacist groups.



Mittens not only opposes comprehensive immigration reform, but he also virulently opposes the DREAM Act, and he's been confronted by Latin@ students over it. And if that weren't bad enough, Romney's economic policies would also hurt Latino families if enacted by stripping away their health care, taking away opportunities to attend college, and destroying Social Security. Oh, and he also has long standing ties to Former California Governor Pete Wilson (R), the guy who ran on the extreme anti-immigrant Prop 187 and ultimately killed whatever chances California Republicans had of ever winning the Latino vote again.

And how are the other G-O-TEA candidates aiming to distinguish themselves from Mittens? Oh, they're also embracing the xenophobia! "Frothy" Ricky Santorum also opposes comprehensive immigration reform, and he's actually gone so far as to endorse mass deportation! Meanwhile, Newton Leroy Gingrich has called Spanish a "language of the ghetto", supports a ridiculous policy on English language that would hurt American business if enacted, and now wants to send tracking devices to undocumented immigrants (HUH??!!). Is there an end to all this G-O-TEA crazy?

Republican strategists must be hoping so, as their candidates' polling numbers among Latinos are becoming absolutely atrocious. Of course, the overall polling data are becoming worse for everyone in the G-O-TEA field. But if they can't close the gap with Latinos, then there's little hope for sustained overall improvement. As we noted above, Latinos are a fast growing part of our electorate. And as long as the likes of Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum continue to bash Latino Americans, they're just sowing the seeds of their own defeat this November.

Muchas gracias, Republicanos, para su estupidez.

Really, Newton?

Really? Really?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I was laughing as I was hearing this. He sounds like the petulant "bad boy" in high school who just stole the annoying rich guy's (aka Mitt Romney's) lunch money... Which may not sound like much, until we realize that annoying rich guy's lunch money is enough to take a whole pack of hungry teens to Morton's!

Of course, never mind that Newton himself has become a very rich man... And is advocating a tax system that slashes his own taxes. Fellow Catholics are calling on Newton and Ricky Santorum to stop "perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes" of poor people. He really did use a form of populism to win South Carolina... But it was an ugly kind of populism centered on ugly racial stereotypes and rampant xenophobia.

Ironically enough, Newt Gingrich rode this wave of anti-establishment populism to win South Carolina despite his tax plan that wildly favors the top 1% over everyone else, as well as his endorsement of Rick Perry's crazy claim that Social Security is "unconstitutional". Funny enough, for all of Newt's (and all the other GOPers') past attacks on Ron Paul, he now seems to be co-opting a whole lot of Ron Paul's extreme libertarian views (and xenophobia) to remake himself as a "populist".

Apparently when G-O-TEA base voters compare and contrast this to Mitt Romney's flip-flops on just about everything, they're choosing Newt... And to a lesser extent, cherry picking the policy positions of "Tea Party Ideological Grandfather" Ron Paul. With Newt, they can "have their cake and eat it, too" with his embrace of neoconservative demands for more wars everywhere, total destruction of the American social safety net as we know it, and a bizarre far right twist on populism that "Mr. 1%" Mitt Romney just can't pull off. Maybe the media pundits really did "misunderestimate" Newton's ability to give "tea partiers" exactly what they want, regardless of how ideologically incoherent we see it.

A New Phase Seeking Genuine Equality

Coolican has a great column this morning where he allows Jim Crow survivors to tell their own stories of escaping "de jure" segregation in The South. It's really worth reading.

However in reading that, I was also reminded of the continuing "de facto" segregation we often face in society today. Even though "de jure" segregation was dropped here in Nevada during the 1960s, the combination of "The Great Recession" and chronic inequality has led to continuing struggles for minority communities here. All one needs to do is drive down Eastern Avenue to (minority-majority) East Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to see the great poverty in our community, then drive back up Eastern to see how well manicured neighborhoods in Henderson's (mostly white) Seven Hills and Anthem have been minimally impacted by the recession.



And it's not just Nevada. Despite the progress toward legal equality since the 1950s, America has been sliding back in the last 40 years as wealth has increasingly become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. And no, Mitt Romney, this is not about "envy". This is a serious problem. Without a functioning middle class, we don't have a stable pool of consumers to buy stuff, and the economy ultimately suffers.

Many folks remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for his work to fight legal racial inequality. And yes, that was a great part of what he did. However, he didn't stop there. He also worked to combat economic inequality. And he laid the foundation for new frontiers of The Civil Rights Movement.



Both Coretta Scott King (Dr. King's wife) and Bayard Rustin (who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington and worked closely with Dr. King) stood with Martin Luther King during his life, and both kept his legacy alive from 1968 onward by reminding us that injustice anywhere means injustice everywhere.

One of the great things that Martin Luther King achieved was the tying together of all these injustices and pushing for the end to inequality and injustice everywhere. And we still need this today. Whether it's unjust wars, poverty in our communities, xenophobic attacks on Muslim Americans, or the denial of full legal equality to LGBTQ Americans, the work has to continue. That's probably what we should think about today.

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.

NV-02: Maybe Xenophobia & Teabagger Scare Tactics Aren't the Answer?

(Also at Daily Kos)



Mark Amodei may be basking in the radioactive glow of his daringly xenophobic campaign ad. But ask Nevada tourism officials about it, and they're getting worried.

That concern is real, said [Republican] Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who has spent considerable energy developing Nevada’s Chinese tourism market.

Krolicki described the relationship with China as important and delicate. He noted the value of Nevada’s exports to China has grown to $456 million from $13.6 million in the past decade.

“Certainly it raised an eyebrow,” Krolicki said of the ad. “But I take it as a flare glaring over Washington, D.C., and its policies and deficits and not a negative to our Chinese partners.”

One economic development official, who didn’t want to publicly criticize Amodei, said he has been contacted by Chinese consulate officials who were irritated by the ad.

“I think they feel like ‘why do you even have to use us in some kind of pejorative way to make a message,’” the official said. “This ad makes you have to go through the calculation of ‘are we being racist or beating up on the horrible financial decisions made in Washington D.C.?’

“The fact is China is a very important trade partner for Nevada and this stuff isn’t helpful.”

So why is Mark Amodei stooping down to use "this stuff" in a desperate ploy to boost his campaign? Maybe the same reason why Sharron Angle stooped down to similar "stuff" last year?





They both have to distract from their own records. We all remember Angle's story... But what about Amodei? Well, it's complicated. First off, he's afraid of NV-02 becoming the next NY-26...

Firing the opening shot on the debt ceiling is also an attempt to pivot away from Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s divisive budget plan and, specifically, the controversial Medicare provisions Democrats view as a lightning rod with the political voltage to rocket the party back within grasp of a House majority.

It’s been less than a month since Democrats’ surprise win in a special upstate New York congressional race that was defined by Ryan’s plan. Though the dynamics of the upcoming Nevada race don’t provide an exact parallel, they feel similar messaging can only pay dividends in a district where they’ll again be underdogs.

“This ad does not mention the words ‘Nevada’ or ‘jobs.’ Considering Amodei announced his support for the Heller-Heck plan to end Medicare last Saturday, it’s no surprise his first ad highlights how out of touch Nevada Republicans are,” Nevada Democratic Party spokesman Zach Hudson saidin a swipe at all three of his GOP targets, including freshman Rep. Joe Heck.

During a debate prior to the selection meeting last week, Amodei praised the Ryan blueprint. “I like a lot of what he has to say in terms of Medicare. I think that’s excellent.”

Oh, yes. You heard them right. Amodei doesn't want us even think of the word "Medicare"... Especially if it's used in the same sentence as Paul Ryan and privatization!





After all, look at what happens when House Republicans have to answer about their support for Paul Ryan's "Kill Medicare" plan!



Hold on, this sounds familiar. Where have we heard this before?



But in one respect, Amodei provides a new angle on this. If he's that serious about not voting for any revision to the federal debt ceiling, then he must support raising taxes, cutting Medicare & Social Security, and/or cutting military spending. So which "poison" will Amodei pick? I have a feeling he doesn't want any of us to remember his own words and deeds in 2003.

The whole McCarthy-esque red-scare theme of the ad is bad enough. But pledging to never vote to raise the debt ceiling is to call for financial suicide on a nationwide scale. It is like telling the bank you are going to stop making payments on your mortgage and credit cards. Banks don’t take too kindly to things like this, and the result would not be good for your credit rating. Not raising the debt ceiling — which would be required even if Democrats adopted the recently-passed GOP budget bill — would destroy the country’s credit rating and cause interest rates on government securities to skyrocket, making the debt problem far, far worse. It’s hard to predict the collateral damage such an action would have on the economy in general, but it wouldn’t be good. [...]

Of course Amodei and other Republicans are playing politics with the national debt, which they had no problem with when George W. Bush was racking up more than $5 trillion on the nation’s credit card, or when Ronald Reagan tripled the debt in the 1980s.

But for Amodei to take the extreme position and say he would vote against raising the debt ceiling is totally uncharacteristic of the person I know. After all, Amodei was the co-sponsor of the 2003 bill that created the largest tax increase in state history at that time, a compromise he worked out with Democrats. This doesn’t sound anything like the Amodei who is now threatening to destroy the country’s credit rating. It’s as if some evil spirit has taken control of the old Amodei and created a monster. [...]

Amodei’s transformation from moderate to crazy conservative happened so head-snappingly fast that it makes me wonder if the man has any core principles. Perhaps the moderate Amodei we saw before was just an illusion, the performance of a politician who just tells people whatever they want to hear, regardless of the truth.

But one thing for certain is that fire of ambition I saw in Amodei before is in total control now. It is his master, and his only constituent. If he does get elected to Congress, good luck trying to get him to do anything that doesn’t involve feeding his ambition.

So who is Mark Amodei? Really? He seemed quite moderate when he served in Carson City. Hell, he even voted for the largest tax increase in state history in 2003! He didn't have a problem cutting that deal before when he knew Nevada needed more revenue.

But now that he's running for Congress and desperate to win the teabaggers' favor, Mark Amodei wants to force America to default on our debt and rip apart at the seams the very social safety net our society depends upon? What happened?

Maybe this is why Mark Amodei wants to distract us with his xenophobic "Red Scare" ad.

NV-Gov: First Sharrontology, Now "Gibbons-Lite" Brian?

Oh, fun. Now our Gubernatorial election gets interesting...

A new Rasmussen poll of the Nevada governor's race shows Republican Brian Sandoval 10 points ahead of Democrat Rory Reid, but Reid appears to be gaining some ground. Sandoval's 50%-40% lead is narrower than the commanding 21-point lead he had in Rasmussen's previous poll from July 12.

Other recent polls have shown Reid -- the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who's also up for reelection in Nevada -- far behind Sandoval, a former federal judge. The last surveys of the contest from PPP and Mason-Dixon both showed Sandoval up 14 points.

By the way, this is the same Razzy poll that actually showed Harry Reid leading "Scary Sharry" for the first time, so this must really stink for the Nevada GOoP!

Well, it doesn't help when Brian Sandoval insults many hundreds of thousands of Nevadans... Including his own family!

All of a sudden, it seems Brian Sandoval is Hispanic. How curious! The saying that you never know where life will take you is definitely true. In fact, on his life journey, Sandoval must have taken a fall, lost his memory and woken up believing what his campaign advisors are telling him -- “you’re Hispanic.” [...]

As for Sandoval, many people were left with their mouths wide open (including this columnist) with the candidate’s commercial recently launched on Hispanic television, which literally says, “With your help, Brian Sandoval can become the first Hispanic Governor in the history of Nevada.” It took a few minutes for me to recover after hearing that for the first time. I couldn’t believe it. Not even Bush, in his best moments of stuttering and muddled thinking, had shocked me as much. I thought it was one of his opponent’s commercials, or maybe it was meant to be ironic. But no, it wasn’t part of the Democratic strategy, or a parody; it seemed like a bad joke, but it was real [...]

Before he launched such an affirmation on television, his campaign must have psychologically prepared him so he wouldn’t suffer some sort of trauma upon seeing himself identified as Hispanic. It wasn’t long ago that he said in an interview on Univision that he vehemently supported Arizona’s anti-immigrant law. In reference to the same law, he was asked how he would feel if he his children were stopped in the street and asked for their papers. He answered, with a note of pride in his voice, “my children don’t look Hispanic.”

So Brian Sandoval is now ashamed of his own heritage? And he thinks he can get away with exploiting the Latin@ community by asking for their votes in front of them, but embracing anti-immigrant xenophobia when he thinks we're not looking? Ridiculous.

As usual, Brian Sandoval flip-flops and tries to be everything to everyone. If you're "Hispanic", he's your hombre! If you're anti-immigrant, he also hates brown people and is glad his kids don't look brown. If you're queer, he supports your equal rights. If you're a homophobe, he believes in the "sanctity of marriage" (even Gibbons'? Ensign's?). If you're concerned about education, he says his plan is better than Rory's. But if you're a teabagger, he promises not to raise taxes or deal with those icky unions.

I guess all Brian's lies are finally catching up with him...





And no matter what Sandoval tries to do to deflect criticism to Rory Reid, he can't hide from the fact that he has nothing to offer... On education, on jobs, on Nevada's future. All we see is empty rhetoric. I guess he's been listening to Sharron Angle too often...