I don’t think I need to say more than this…

Posted: February 4th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

There’s been a lot of talk bandied about in this period preceding the Colorado Senate Democratic primary.  There are folks that use the term “progressive” when they refer to Sen. Michael Bennet, and I want to make sure that we really understand what this means.

Now, in all fairness, I am very psyched about the fact that Sen. Bennet signed on as a co-sponsor of the Dream Act, and I even shook his hand publicly at a Democratic Party picnic and thanked him for his courage.  Also, he did sign on the the Lily Leadbetter Act, which guarantees equal pay for equal work.  I am glad that he decided to act as your garden-variety Democrat would act.

However, I just have to remind everyone of one of Sen. Bennet’s first actions when he arrived at the Senate, which was to join the “ConservaDem” faction led by Sen. Evan Bayh.  Right out of the gate, the ConservaDems trumpeted that they wanted a slowdown to spending and even threatened to slow down the President’s agenda.  Remember Rachel Maddow’s report back in March 2009:

Here’s the thing.  We need Democrats to act like Democrats.  We need them to be strong on labor, on consumer protections, on re-regulation of the finance and insurance industries.  When they can get those no-brainers down, then we will have a strong coalition to wage the war for comprehensive immigration reform, for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.  These social issues are going to take a whole lot of testicular fortitude to win,  and they will only be won when we Democrats win the confidence of the American people again.  They will be on the side of social change when they no longer live lives that are fraught with economic despair.  Let’s not forget that the first thing that many middle-class people say about undocumented residents is that “they take our jobs.”

Aren’t we listening to Middle America?

Posted: November 13th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

Andrew Romanoff

Andrew Romanoff visited our House District 2 Democrats meeting today.

He answered my question about why he seemed to not support tuition equity in Colorado. Now, keep in mind that SB-170, the tuition equity bill from last session, did not happen while he was in the state House. He personally felt that it was more of an injustice to the kids to let them go four more years to school and still not be able to legally work, etc. I said that for us, that gesture was important, that as Latinos in Colorado, we need to know that our presence is valued. He listened and felt and UNDERSTOOD in his typical Romanoff way. I am confident that he respected what I said and that it resonated deeply with him. Therefore, though I am not in 100 percent agreement with why he arrived at his opinion, I am comfortable with his reasoning because he was HONEST about how he got there.

He told us publicly that he supports the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration reform because of the immorality of perpetuating the broken system as it exists. He supports tough enforcement of labor protections that would hold irresponsible employers accountable for exploiting foreign workers and for not following our employment laws in the first place.

I am satisfied that he tried to use his best judgment to form an opinion about tuition equity, and it’s up to us Latinos to stay connected with him to ensure that he fully “gets” it. I feel strongly that the importance of comprehensive immigration reform and the Dream Act are things he already “gets.” These are no-brainer issues to him.

He also addressed the special legislative session of 2006. As I already knew, there was a movement afoot that year to block undocumented residents from any type of service that was not federally mandated. He used the example of a citizen being able to sue the Parks Department for not having some sort of checkpoint ready to check the immigration status of people using the park. He was able to stave off the move to create a constitutional amendment that was hateful and anti-immigrant and PERMANENT, and instead maneuver some state laws (statutory) that can be fixed later on. Now, it’s our job as Latinos to ensure that we’re working hard to elect those state candidates that will take on this bull by the horns and FIX what Andrew’s legislative brinkmanship allowed us to fix.

We need this legislative experience to help us get laws that will make life better for us.  I am fully aware that the current state of the Republican side of the aisle in Congress resembles exactly what happens in our Colorado legislature.  I want the person who will represent us in the United States Senate to know what he’s doing.

Additionally, the lion’s share of Andrew Romanoff’s war chest is local to Colorado. We have to ensure that our candidates maintain as much local contact as possible, because otherwise their funders have more of a say in their voting record than do We the People of Colorado.

It’s for these reasons, as well as many others, that I support Andrew Romanoff for Colorado’s U.S. Senator.

Posted: November 7th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

Watch this…any questions?

Posted: September 14th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

No more messing around, Congress. We need the public option RIGHT NOW!!!

Posted: September 8th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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I’m so excited to learn about Lucia Guzman’s candidacy for Senate District 34.  If you haven’t met her yet, she is a long-standing advocate for Denver county residents, from her work on the Denver school board, to her work with the Agency for Human Rights/Community Relations with the City and County of Denver.  We here at Liberal Latina endorse Lucia Guzman for Senate District 34!

For more information about her campaign, visit http://www.luciaguzman4colorado.com.

Here is a video from her recent campaign kick-off celebration:

Posted: July 17th, 2009 under Economic Justice, Uncategorized.
Comments: none

As many of you know, I am the captain of the House District 2B Democrats (Southwest Denver). I’m in a state of emergency because of all the precincts under my purview, only 23% of them have at least one precinct committee person (PCP) listed or active.

I don’t have to tell you how important it is to make sure our Democratic Party structure accurately represents the true demographics of our neighborhoods. One of the biggest problems we have in some of these Senate vacancy races, for example, is that the people who will vote to fill the vacancies, PCPs, do not truly represent the ethnic make-up of the residents of the district. Since we are going into a legislative session with potentially only 5 minorities in a body of 100 representatives, we need to make sure our “bench is strong,” to coin a phrase. Also consider the rumblings about a potential Senate District 34 vacancy.

If we want Latinos in the legislature, we need to have Latinos staffing the vacancies in the Denver County Democratic Party. It’s that simple, friends.

Here are the vacancies I have. Please consider where your friends live, and please have them step forward to contact me about filling those spaces. They should be at least 18, already be registered Democrats or willing to register as one (and wait 30 days). They should also be citizens (I’m sorry I have to point that out), since they have to be citizens to vote in a vacancy election. My personal, other requirements are that they also be pro-union, pro-immigration, and pro-gay rights…in a word, PROGRESSIVE (though I’m happy with as close as I can get). Spanish speakers are a premium, though not necessary. I will interview each candidate!

The primary responsibilities of the PCP include GOTV functions, but my vision for 2B is for them also to be point-people for their neighbors on whatever issue surrounds them. Here is more information on the Party’s view: http://denverdemocrats.net/node/317

And here are the vacancies…

Precinct 201
Boundaries: Federal to the South Platte River, Colfax to 6th Avenue
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0201.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 204
Boundaries: Federal to Yuma, Bayaud to 6th Avenue
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0204.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 215
Boundaries: Meade/Lowell to Federal, 1st Avenue to Alameda
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0215.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 216
Boundaries: Federal to Raritan, Alameda to Bayaud
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0216.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 221
Boundaries: Alameda to Morrison Road, Sheridan to Utica
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0221.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 222
Boundaries: Morrison Road to Utica to Alameda (triangle-shaped precinct)
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0222.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 223
Boundaries: Morrison Road (south side) to Lowell to Kentucky
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0223.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 224
Boundaries: Alameda to Kentucky, Lowell to Federal
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0224.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 225
Boundaries: Alameda to Exposition, Zuni to Federal
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0225.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 226
Boundaries: Zuni to Raritan/Shoshone, Alameda to Mississippi
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0226.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 227
Boundaries: Sheridan to Raleigh, Louisiana to Kentucky
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0227.pdf
Need at least 1 person

Precinct 228
Boundaries: Federal to Tennyson, Kentucky to Mississippi
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0228.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 229
Boundaries: Federal to Zuni, Exposition to Mississippi
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0229.pdf
Need 1 person

Precinct 232
Boundaries: Federal to Zuni, Mississippi to Louisiana
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0232.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 233
Boundaries: Zuni to the South Platte, Mississippi to Louisiana
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0233.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 234
Boundaries: Sheridan to Osceola, Louisiana to Florida
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0234.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 235
Boundaries: Federal to Osceola, Louisiana to Florida
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0235.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 236
Boundaries: Federal to Zuni, Louisiana to Florida
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0236.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 237
Boundaries: Zuni to Lipan, Mexico to Louisiana (Ruby Hill area)
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0237.pdf
Need 2 people

Precinct 238
Boundaries: Florida to Jewell, Zuni to the South Platte
Map link: http://denverdemocrats.net/precinct_maps/prct_0238.pdf
Need 2 people

Posted: June 4th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

During the campaign, I talked to lots of people about the pro-choice issue, and my own talking points were usually centered around the fact that even the Right to Life organization recognizes that women typically have abortions because they feel they cannot afford to raise a child. I was glad to hear President Obama take on this issue head-on, and here is what ABC’s Talking About Faith has to say about the issue. Click the link below to watch!

playerIndex?id=7657046

Posted: May 23rd, 2009 under Pro-Choice.
Comments: none

When is a progressive not a progressive? When she pulls crap like Morgan Carroll did yesterday at the Colorado Senate by killing SB170, also known as the tuition equity bill.

I attended her early-morning town hall yesterday, when she told the assembled crowd that she was voting no because she was “certain” that federal immigration law would override any law that Colorado passes to confer “benefits” to undocumented residents. So that was reason one.

Senator Jennifer Viega argued over and over on the Senate floor yesterday that Senator Carroll’s reason for her no vote was completely unfounded. Ten of the eleven federal court challenges to state laws offering similar “benefits” to undocumented youth have been thrown out of court, and the eleventh is pending in California. And yet, even though her weak reason for the no vote was thrown out handily by Sen. Viega, she still voted no.

Fast forward to today, on her blog. Today’s reason for voting no is now because she feels it would be unfair in the current economic climate with the current budget shortfall.  Here again, she is lying.  She is making it sound as if the legislation would have given money to undocumented students for school, when she knows  that this is not true.

I have to give her blog team props for actually posting my comment, which was:

Let’s be clear, folks. This bill was a net ZERO financial commitment for the state. It would have cost the taxpayers NOTHING.

Second, Sen. Carroll’s reason for not supporting the bill yesterday was that there was federal law that would override the state law. However, Jennifer Viega stated over and over that this was a false premise; that in every case except one, the federal action was overturned in court. The one that hasn’t is still pending.

Sen. Carroll’s reason for not supporting this, therefore, is false. She knows it. The reason she states on this page is not the reason she stated in her town hall yesterday. Which one is it, Senator?

A progressive that cannot understand basic justice and votes with xenophobic right-wingers is no progressive. If you cannot understand how this situation is just like women who cannot vote through no fault of their own, or people of color who are blocked from voting through no fault of their own, then you really are a bigot at heart.

You have a chance to make this up in your heavily Hispanic district, Senator. It will be back next year. Your ambitions for Attorney General will be fruitless if you cannot see basic justice.

As of right now, Hispanics are mobilizing, and Chris Romer has vowed to fight another day.  We will definitely see similar legislation back in next year’s session.  Anyone who is truly a progressive needs to keep a long memory of this bigoted action and vote accordingly.  The Hispanics of this state vow to help you remember.  As my home boy Rodolfo Martinez says, “despair is not an option.”

It’s on!

Posted: April 7th, 2009 under Tuition Equity, civil rights, immigration.
Comments: none

One of the most disturbing realities of today’s struggle for comprehensive immigration reform is the lack of support that comes from native-born Hispanics here in the United States. I have heard some of the most racist, anti-immigrant vitriol coming out of the mouths of people who are just as dark-skinned as the very migrant workers they villify. I often scratch my head about this.

I used to think that this behavior was a way to forget the racism we native-borns have felt here, to distance ourselves from being relegated to second-class status. I have heard so many stories from older folk from Colorado’s San Luis Valley about how their troubles in the school yard, when they would be punished if they let some of their household’s Spanish slip. It always seemed to me that we were trying hard to put our painful past behind us, using the newer Hispanic immigrants as the objects of scorn, as a way to leapfrog away from our pain.

But you know what I think it really is? While I think leapfrogging has something to do with it, I also thing that this is related to the fact that our education flat-out stinks.

Case in point: I just finished watching PBS’ production of American Experience: A Class Apart, a show about the landmark Hernandez v. State of Texas case in the 1950s, that declared that Mexican-Americans were a protected group under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Now, let me ask you. How many of you knew about this? Now, I was a great student in school, but NO ONE ever taught us about this landmark ruling that made life completely different for our people. I can imagine that today’s kids are not learning about this either, since CSAP is really the name of the game.

The philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

It’s my job as your sister in the journey to give you a link to this program’s page on the PBS website. Watch, learn, read…and teach your children. Maybe by remembering our past we can be better allies to our brothers and sisters that are here now, that need our support. See if you hear anything familiar to the conversation about immigrants we hear today.

Let’s not so easily forget our past.  Click here to watch the episode online, then come back and tell me what you think.

Posted: March 28th, 2009 under civil rights, immigration.
Comments: none