Another election year....

Why does it always has to happen to all of us? It's another election year and everyone is trying to avoid the immigration issue. Trying to find some positive news on immigration but can't find one, Obama is stuck on the economy and congress is still a do-nothing-congress. Climate and Immigration on the "next agenda" in congress, but it looks like they are going to skip immigration and put more focus on the economy and then the climate.

Here is an equation for all of us: politics = false promises + interest groups + corruption ..... infinite

The democrats are all scared that they will lose their precious seats lol

From what I hear, a lot of them will anyways.

Today is slow at work, so I'm on a roll. Read on if you're interested...

Are Hispanics more conservative than we thought?

By John A. Tures
Associate Professor of Political Science
LaGrange College

February 1, 2010 —

In my last column “Did Hispanics Catapult Brown Into The U.S. Senate?” I revealed evidence from a Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll that Republican Scott Brown won 76.9% of the Hispanic vote in a pre-election survey that did a better job of forecasting the race than most national and local polls I showed how important the Hispanic vote was in preventing Coakley from firing up her base, something that mattered more than capturing independents.

What I didn’t reveal was why. After all, we think we know the Hispanic voter. It’s someone who recently immigrated to the United States, who resents the need to learn English, who holds socially liberal views, who came to the U.S. seeking welfare, right?

First of all, only about 40% of Hispanics are identified as foreign-born, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In a Population and Development Review article from 2006, 96 percent of Chicanos reported a preference for speaking English in their homes, even in border areas.

There’s even more evidence that busts our myth of the Hispanic voter. In a survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Forum, people were asked “Is the goal of teaching English to the children of immigrant families very important?” Amazingly, Latinos said yes at higher rates (92%) than even whites (87%).

Hispanics are also far more socially conservative on issues of gay rights and abortion than whites. According to an article in the U.S. Times “A comprehensive national survey of U.S. Hispanics by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 72 percent of Hispanics believe that homosexual sex between adults is "unacceptable," compared to 59 percent of whites. And they were pretty steamed about that Massachusetts ruling on same-sex marriage, which perhaps played into Scott Brown’s hands in giving him a 3:1 edge in the Hispanic vote in that Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll. Maybe that’s why George W. Bush made such an effort to win the Hispanic vote. And it paid off. While Republicans got 21% of the Hispanic vote in 1996. Bush got 35% of the Hispanic vote in 2000 and 44% in 2004, against a Catholic! So why did Hispanics desert McCain in 2008 by giving a man who did his best to woo the Latino vote only 31%?

A lot of it probably has more to do with the demonization of Hispanics by conservatives in 2006 and 2008 under the banner of a vitriolic anti-immigrant sentiment than anything McCain did. Hispanics are proud folks who don’t like taking shots just because of their last name. But clearly Hispanics rejected Coakley’s pro-immigrant policy, showing that maybe Hispanics don’t believe in unfettered immigration or rewarding those who jumped in line ahead of those who came here legally.

It’s a wake up call for Democrats, who not only take Hispanics for granted, but misunderstand what they want. It’s also a message for Republicans: don’t slam a growing segment of the population who is otherwise receptive to your views. Brown seemed to strike the right chord with Hispanics in Massachusetts that’s absent in some “populist” attacks. The Hispanic vote will matter this year, in two years, and beyond. The U.S. Census Bureau showed that Hispanics made up 11% of the population in 1997. By 2050, that number is expected to explode to 25% The political party that actually knows the Hispanic voter is going to be the real winner.

John A. Tures is Associate Professor of Political Science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia

EXACTLY!

If our government were a one man show I am 100% sure Obama would have accomplished all of his legislative goals by now. But we are a democracy and as such we have a legislative branch that writes out the laws/bills.

So let's stop blaming Obama and let's start working on Congress to focus on immigration reform or at the very least the Dream Act!

I've known that for years traditionally Latinos leans towards conservative values example something like 7o% of Mexicans and Central Americans are devout catholics another example look at Cubans in Florida the majority are Republicans. Thats why i find it rather suicidal the way the GOP treat the issue of immigration and for that matter latinos .

I miss the old, and optimistic news that we were used to see everyday. At least they helped me smile and keep my faith....

Well there's a shocker! I did not know that Hispanics are religious bigots. I wonder what this author is going to "uncover" next? That Hitler was kind of a douche?

^^hahahahaha

LOL yeah Hitler was totally not a peach. Eh, what can we say about congress' handling of a comprehensive immigration reform that hasn't been said about Afghanistan

This worries me because if he already spent much of his political capital and wasted a whole legislative year on healthcare reform; and now he is ready to give up? What do you think?

Obama admits health care overhaul may die on Hill

WASHINGTON – After insisting for a year that failure was not an option, President Barack Obama is now acknowledging his health care overhaul may die in Congress.

His remarks at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Thursday night sounded contradictory at times, complicating congressional leaders' effort to revive health care legislation as Democrats hunger for guidance from the White House. Even while saying he still wanted to get the job done, Obama counseled going slow, and bowed to new political realities. Democrats no longer command a filibuster-proof Senate majority, and voters and lawmakers are far more concerned with jobs and the economy than with enacting sweeping and expensive changes to the health system.

"I think it's very important for us to have a methodical, open process over the next several weeks, and then let's go ahead and make a decision," Obama said Thursday night.

"And it may be that ... if Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not," the president said. "And that's how democracy works. There will be elections coming up and they'll be able to make a determination and register their concerns one way or the other during election time."

It seemed to be a shift in tone for the issue Obama campaigned on and made the centerpiece of his domestic agenda last year.

"Here's the key, is to not let the moment slip away," Obama also said.

Sweeping health legislation to extend medical coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans passed both chambers of Congress last year and was on the verge of completion before Republican Scott Brown's upset victory in a Massachusetts special U.S. Senate election last month. Brown was sworn in Thursday, giving Republicans 41 votes, enough to block the initiatives of the Democratic majority.

Now the health legislation hangs in limbo. Lawmakers are looking to Obama for a path forward, but he has not publicly offered specifics. His signals have been mixed. At the DNC event he said Republicans should be part of the process — something they've shown little interest in and that would doubtlessly drag out a legislative effort that many rank-and-file Democrats want to end quickly. The health care bill has become unpopular with the public and a political drag for lawmakers.

"The next step is what I announced at the State of the Union, which is to call on our Republican friends to present their ideas. What I'd like to do is have a meeting whereby I'm sitting with the Republicans, sitting with the Democrats, sitting with health care experts, and let's just go through these bills. ... And then I think that we've got to go ahead and move forward on a vote," Obama said Thursday.

"But as I said at the State of the Union, I think we should be very deliberate, take our time. We're going to be moving a jobs package forward over the next several weeks; that's the thing that's most urgent right now in the minds of Americans all across the country."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Friday that there is no meeting set yet for the president to talk over health care strategy with Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

"There's nothing on the block on this right now," he said. "But I think this just goes to the president continuing to want to hear ideas."

Bipartisan congressional leaders are planning to join Obama at the White House on Tuesday, but Gibbs reiterated that the meeting will be centered on how to create jobs and boost the economy.

Obama had also said Thursday night that "we've got to move forward on a vote" on health care. When asked what the president meant by that, Gibbs said only that White House officials are "still working with Capitol Hill on the best way forward."

Obama's comments came just hours after he met Thursday afternoon with Democratic congressional leaders, but the discussion focused mostly on jobs, and the leaders emerged with no announcement about a path ahead for health care. Rank-and-file Democrats are eager for them to settle on one by the end of next week, after which lawmakers will return to their states and districts for a weeklong recess where they'll likely face questions from voters on the issue.

Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, said Friday that the White House has not requested a sit-down on health care with Republicans.

"The president wants to start over on health care? Sen. McConnell's been saying that for months," said Stewart

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100205/...overhaul/print