Could it be that Senator John McCain and the Republican Party have made peace with the gay and lesbian community — but not the Latino community?

It would appear so given the mutual love fest between the two.

According to a press release issued by the Log Cabin Republicans:

John McCain, participated in an interview with a gay publication. In a Washington Blade exclusive, Sen. McCain answered questions on a variety of issues important to gay & lesbian Americans and asks for our votes in November.

"Sen. McCain's outreach to gay and lesbian voters is unprecedented from a GOP presidential candidate," said Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon. "Log Cabin is proud to endorse him. We know his inclusive vision for America will draw strong support from LGBT voters."

"The gay left has been trying to define John McCain as another George W. Bush on gay issues. His words in this interview further undermine that ridiculous argument," said Sammon.

It is heartwarming to see McCain figuratively, at least, embrace the gay community with this interview. But I find it somewhat insightful that the McCain campaign should find the issue of same-sex marriages to be less politically threatening than issues important to Latinos.

With only a few hours till the vice presidential debate, Sarah Palin is probably nervous. She has good reason to be. With every interview that she's done, with the possible exception of one with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo where she talks about energy issues, she has come across as being, well, clueless.

Of course an argument in her defense, when talking about the Couric interviews, is — can anyone name a Supreme Court decision besides Roe v Wade when blindsided during a recorded television interview? Maybe not, but anyone should be able to name at least one periodical. Not even the hometown newspaper got a nod.

If Palin does well tonight, and I sincerely hope she does, she may redeem herself in her critics' eyes but it won't mean that she's any more suited than last week to assume the second highest position in the country.

As First Lady Laura Bush said, Palin's a "quick study" but it's one thing to cram for an exam, it's another to actually comprehend what's learned.

Now that the House of Representatives has signed off on the $700 billion rescue/bailout plan, people are breathing a sigh of relief that credit will finally start loosening up to get those car and college loans. They're also doing what should have been done a long time ago — looking at what caused the mess that made passing this bill not just necessary but imperative.

Unfortunately, when looking at what caused this mess — the granting of subprime mortgages — conservative politicians and commentators are running to blame Latinos and blacks for the financial meltdown.

According to them, if it wasn't for the fact that Latinos and blacks qualified for home loans under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which was specifically set up to grant loans to people who have historically been denied homeownership, then none of this would have happened.

Well, only in a conservative's world where people of color are made the easy scapegoats for what goes wrong in this nation, can this be true. When time is taken to look at the facts, the truth emerges and it's a whole lot different than what conservative pundits are saying or want us all to believe.

Today is the last day to register to vote in 19 states. During the rest of the week, another ten states will close registration for the Nov. 4 election.

From church pulpits and college and high school campuses to city fiestas, the effort to push Latinos to register to vote has been unprecedented in this election.

And Latinos, of all ages, understand the importance of this race. Yet, registering to vote is only half the battle — and it was the easy part.

BJ Lawson is a Republican congressional candidate running for North Carolina's Fourth District. He looks like a nice guy. Successful. Educated. Entrepreneur. Husband. Father.

North Carolina Republican congressional candidate BJ Lawson

When I found out that Lawson had linked to a Latina Lista (LL) post, I was curious. Given the fact that this North Carolina transplant is aspiring to join the ranks of the now infamous "House Republicans" — a suit-wearing DC gang unto themselves, I shuddered at how he might be using a LL post.

Yet when I found the link on his site, the context of the paragraph wasn't any different than what I was advocating in my post. Then he shifted gears and began to sound like a House Republican already.

The piece left me a little confused and I can't help but think that maybe Lawson is too.

About an hour before last night's presidential debate, I received a press release entitled "Experts Available to Discuss Immigration After Tonight's Presidential Debate." Ten people with knowledge on immigration issues had cell phones in hand ready for any media questions that were bound to come their way had only the candidates gotten around to the topic.

Senators John McCain and Barack Obama "smile" after Tuesday night's debate in Nashville, TN.
(Source: Berna Rosario)

But with the way the debate rules seemed to change throughout the evening, it's no wonder there wasn't any more time for questions. It's particularly disappointing that immigration wasn't addressed in light of another massive immigration raid that took place only 263 miles away from the debate site.

Had the candidates had time to answer a question on immigration, it should have been one question that would not have dealt with the regular issues that pit them against other members of their party like amnesty, border security or the border fence.

It would have been the one question that neither candidate has addressed but because of the situation in the country, it's imperative that they do:

Do you support a moratorium on immigration raids?

Here's a tale about two sheriffs with two very different views of the communities they serve. One saw the hurt and panic of his constituents and made a bold stand. The other sees the hurt and panic of his constituents and feeds it with callous and inflammatory remarks.

Some will argue that any comparison between the two is like comparing apples and oranges. But in highlighting the differences in how both of these men treat their constituents, it underscores the fact that there are times when humanity takes precedence over rule of law. And it's an official who can see the bigger picture that understands when that must happen.

Illinois Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart has taken the bold stand of refusing to evict anymore people from their homes in Cook County, which also includes the city of Chicago.

Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart

The people whose welfare Sheriff Dart is looking out for are tenants in buildings where the landlords have failed to keep up with their mortgages. But it's not just the landlord that suffers in these cases, it's the families who live in the buildings who have obediently paid their rents and bills only to find all their belongings sitting out by the curb when they get home from work.

Sheriff Dart had enough. He declared that he no longer was going to evict innocent people for the mortgage companies. That didn't go over very well with the Illinois Bankers Association who accused Dart of being in contempt of court for ignoring the eviction orders.

But Sheriff Dart doesn't care what the town's bankers say.

"When you're blindly sending me out to houses where I'm coming across innocent tenant after innocent tenant, I can't keep doing this and have a good conscience about it."

At least that's one sheriff with a conscience.

A new report circulating in media circles attempts to discredit the Latino vote with unfounded allegations of potential widespread voter fraud. Yet, what lies at the heart of the report is a fear that the strength of the Latino vote is soon to be realized.

This week was the last week to register to vote in 29 states. Organizations holding voter registration drives targeting Latinos were reporting moderate to high levels of success in getting people to sign up.

Enthusiasm is rampant across the country in the belief that this is the election that will awaken the proverbial “sleeping giant.” Already unprecedented follow-up campaigns are underway in communities to make sure Latinos deliver on their potential to show up and vote.

Expectations have even been validated with projections from the National Association of Latino Elected Officials’ Educational Fund that 9.2 million Latinos will vote in this year’s national election. However, while the Latino vote is on the cusp of coming into its own, there has surfaced an attempt to discredit it before it can be exercised.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bring attention to what can only be described as racism at its worst if it were not for the fact that the author of the report-in-question is regarded by traditional media as an unbiased source on immigration.

Given the recent unfounded claims by conservative politicians and pundits that Latinos were to blame for the Wall Street meltdown, it’s safe to assume that the content of this report will also be repeated as fact when, in reality, it is far from the truth.

Continue reading The Latino vote under siege by report claiming voter fraud

Last week, it was reported on Latina Lista that an inflammatory report was making the rounds accusing non-citizen Latino voters of fraudulently registering to vote, thus posing the threat of impacting the presidential election.

Brooke Rodriguez, 19, of Fontana, California says a voter-registration volunteer at San Bernardino Valley College switched her from Democrat to Republican without her knowledge or permission.
(Source: Stan Lim/The Press-Enterprise)

The report was released on the heels of the Republican Party establishing a Voter Fraud alert campaign as that party is leading the charge of voter fraud among Democrats.

Now, comes a story that voter disenfranchisement is coming courtesy of the Republican Party. In California, voters are approached by clipboard-carrying "signature gatherers" who either outright tell people they are switching their party affiliation or misleading them into signing petitions, that range from supporting tougher laws for child molesters to lower gas prices, but being told their signatures don't count unless they switch parties.

Of course, the Republican Party denies any sort of wrongdoing. Yet, in light of all of this activity, it begs the question:

Today, the McCain-Palin campaign issued a list of endorsements from 50 Hispanic business leaders mostly from Texas and California.

Ordinarily, Latina Lista would receive a press release alerting us to this fact but for quite sometime Latina Lista, along with some other online Latino sites, has been steadily ignored by the McCain-Palin campaign. We found out about the endorsements from a site called Politicker NJ.com.

Though we do admit that our commentary has been critical of McCain, Palin and specifically the House Republicans, we at Latina Lista continuously tried to reach out to the McCain campaign for them to present their side. While we were critical, we were always open to hearing what the McCain-Palin campaign would have to say — if they would tell us.

The campaign's insistence on treating Latina Lista and other Latino/immigration blogs as if we don't exist only serves to illustrate how those of us with different opinions would be treated under a McCain-Palin presidency — ignored and dismissed.

Hardly the kind of leadership that is supposed to represent everyone, regardless of opinion or party affiliation.

For that reason, we decided to go on the record — Latina Lista officially endorses Obama-Biden campaign.

Though there are a few issues where Latina Lista does have issue with Obama-Biden, there is a lot more hope that a solution can be reached simply for the reason that the Obama-Biden campaign has made an effort to respond to our questions and include us on their press mailing lists — in other words, talk to us.

It's much easier to work with someone who doesn't pretend you don't exist just because they don't like what you write about them.

That would be real change in Washington when that happens.

While financial experts agree that the Bush Administration is not solely to blame for what has happened on Wall Street in the last two weeks, it did happen under their watch and it was their response all along to Wall Street practices that eventually aggravated the problem that didn't just pull down the U.S economy but threatened global economies as well.

One would think there is a lesson to be learned by the Bush Administration on how economies work. Yet, in light of a new report on immigrants' state contributions released today by researchers at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) coupled with current Administration policies, there's little doubt that the learning curve is still too steep for this Administration to fully understand that their actions targeting a vital part of the economy will have unforeseen repercussions.

In the report titled “Nebraska’s Immigrant Population: Economic and Fiscal Impacts," university researchers took an objective look at exactly what the costs were to the state for having an immigrant presence. It quantifies, for the first time, how immigrants, both legal and undocumented, don't just have an impact on the state — they have a multibillion dollar impact on the state's economy, and it's in the form of giving rather than receiving.

What they found was that if immigrants disappeared and weren't replaced in three of Nebraska's key industries, the state would lose 78,000 jobs, including those filled by U.S.-born workers. Also, the state's immigrant population contributed about $154 million in the form of property, income, sales and gasoline tax revenue in 2006. It boils down to a $1,554 in per capita contributions. The native-born residents, by contrast, have a per capita contribution of $1, 944. A difference of $390.

In fact, the researchers discovered that the immigrant group pays in about 7 percent more than what it uses in terms of government support.

Yet, the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, under the direction of the Bush Administration, wants us to still believe that undocumented immigrants sap the life out of local economies without giving anything back.

It would seem that on its current course to eradicate the undocumented from the United States the Bush Administration should not repeat its mistake of misreading the economy or it just won't be Wall Street that suffers but every side street off Main Street plus rural communities and the businesses that are the foundations of Main Street USA.

We know undocumented immigrants contribute to the local economy in terms of labor, sales and gas taxes and, if using a false Social Security card, employment taxes. With news that cities, like Boston, are experiencing major economic downturns, it's not hard to imagine that smaller towns whose labor force is in part dependent on immigrant labor are or will be suffering the same if not much worse fates.

If the Bush Administration doesn't want to be known as the presidency that brought down the entire country of Main Streets USA, then they should suspend immigration raids and let people do what they came here to do — work.

In the long run, it's what keeps local economies afloat.

Too often immigration is seen as a negative separate influence on the nation’s economy. Yet, a new report shows that immigration has a much more positive impact on the future health and stability of the nation’s economy when it’s looked at via Main Street USA.

During these extraordinary times, it’s not surprising that the economy is on everyone’s minds. How can it be otherwise? Retail sales are the lowest they’ve been in three years. Daily reports of layoffs. Home and auto loans increasingly hard to qualify for and the stock market rises and plummets faster than a Six Flags roller coaster.

But even with all these things happening they comprise only one of the issues that face our next president. Fortunately, in the three presidential debates, the candidates addressed the other major issues like education, foreign policy, energy and health care. Yet, they forgot one more major issue — immigration.

Immigration is one of the most important issues facing 12 million people and directly impacting, to some degree, 15 percent of the nation. Yet, it wasn’t even broached by either candidate in any of the debates.

The closest we came to hearing about it was in the final debate last night when Sen. McCain said to Sen. Obama, “You’re running ads that misportray completely my position on immigration.”

For those of us who have been waiting to hear what each candidate would do about the ongoing immigration raids, profiling of Latino citizens, the construction of the U.S./Mexico border wall, the prolonged detention of undocumented immigrants in federal custody and the forced separation and deportation of children without their parents, McCain’s mention of the word excited anyone who cares about the issue into thinking that finally the time had arrived.

Unfortunately, it quickly vanished.

Continue reading Immigration is ALL about the economy

The issue of unaccompanied minors — those children who cross the border, either on their own or with a coyote or another family member not their parent but who get caught by Border Patrol and are run through the legal system with the intent of deporting them — has been a pet issue of Latina Lista since we first heard about the abuses by our government towards the deportation of these children.

Most of these children come here in search of their parents. Yet, even after being reunited with them, because they were caught by authorities before finding their parents, they are subjected to the immigration process which means they must go before a judge. It's reported that approximately 8,000 children are subjected to immigration proceedings and separated from their parents. Half of these children do not have money for legal counsel and so suffer the consequences.

Those children who do have legal counsel usually fare better.

In a surprising partnership, the computer software giant Microsoft has teamed with actress Angelina Jolie to form a new national children's advocacy initiative called Kids in Need of Defense (KIND).

The mission is to provide pro bono legal counsel to unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. so that they receive fair and compassionate treatment in the immigration system. More than 25 law firms and corporate law departments have joined the initiative.

Right now, KIND is in nine cities: Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, Boston, New York, Newark, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. Since it is a volunteer-based organization, they have a need for volunteers to help with clerical duties, serve as translators and, of course, legal help.

The organization's immediate goal is to work closely with private law firms, corporate legal departments and their attorneys to recruit, train, and mentor attorneys to represent children in those cities where there is a KIND office.

The ultimate goal is that by 2010, KIND will represent more than 2,100 children annually: every unaccompanied child where KIND is located who would not otherwise have an attorney.

"These children often have nothing; no money, no support and no family, yet they come to America seeking its promises of a better life," states Angelina Jolie. "But many end up becoming lost, traumatized, and ultimately forgotten. KIND provides each of them with the ability to have their legal rights protected and their voices heard."

They are the smallest victims with the most to lose and for too long have been harshly ignored. The time for compassion and moral duty is long overdue.

Latina Lista applauds and endorses KIND's mission.

In this final stretch of the presidential campaigns, a lot of focus has been on those voters who have not made up their minds who they want for president.

However, a new documentary released by an exciting new organization called Engage Her, reveals that maybe it's not those "Independent" voters who haven't made up their minds that the campaign should be targeting but those registered party voters who fit two criteria: female and minority.

Engage Her, a new online organization focused on educating and empowering minority women to take action through voting and participating in leadership initiatives, reveals in a new documentary that because of social and cultural influences minority women failed to do their part in the 2004 election.

According to the documentary, "Engage Her: Getting minority women to lead and vote," "70 percent of Asian Americans, 69 percent of Latinas and 40 percent of African American registered women voters FAILED to vote in the 2004 elections."

The popular sentiment expressed by the women in the film was that the decision had already been made and their votes really didn't matter.

That was then, this is now.

Or is it?

The tally of newspaper presidential endorsements is showing something that political pundits expect to see at the polls come November 4 — a wide margin between the two candidates.

(Source: www.roibal.net/blog?)

So far, the Obama-Biden ticket has racked up 121 endorsements versus McCain-Palin's 42. Editor & Publisher, which is tallying the endorsements and keeping daily tabs, points out that 26 papers which had endorsed Bush in 2004, are now endorsing Obama.

Only four newspapers flipped for McCain.

But does anyone really care about endorsements anymore anyway? Whether they be from newspaper or blog? And the real question — do they matter?

Perhaps only if you agree!

Gardasil, a vaccine that protects against the sexually transmitted virus genital human papillomavirus (HPV), is being hailed by many throughout the world as a cancer breakthrough. The vaccine helps in the prevention of cervical cancer, the world’s second leading cause of cancer deaths among women.

For most women it’s a choice as to whether or not they want the vaccine. Not so though for immigrant families with young daughters who are applying for U.S. citizenship.

The only choice they have is to either abide by the mandate or give up their American Dream.

Continue reading The American Promise needs a shot in the arm when it comes to immigrant rights

In an exchange with a Tampa Bay reporter today over immigration, glimpses of the old John McCain peeked through the campaign veneer that has been his mask since winning his party's nomination. For a few seconds, McCain shows he understands the immigration issue much more than his party. By the same token, he should have understood the line of questioning too given his party's part in the current treatment of undocumented immigrants.

Answering questions about Gov. Palin's wardrobe costs at a Florida rally, McCain had a testy exchange with a local reporter.
(Source: AP)

At one point in the interview, McCain grew frustrated with a Tampa television reporter during her questions on immigration issues. McCain twice said illegal immigrants who have committed crimes would be rounded up. Katie Coronado of WFLA-TV asked if that meant using raids to round up immigrants.

"What did I just say that had any connotation of raids?" McCain said, raising his voice with impatience. "Let me try one more time."

He again explained the idea of forcing illegal immigrants out of the country by issuing ID cards and fining employers who hire illegals. He then softened his tone.

"I apologize," he said to Coronado. "I understand how important an issue it is. I didn't mean to be flip."

On a day, that reports are filtering in from the San Francisco area that 17 homes have been raided today by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, it's encouraging to hear someone in a position of leadership in the Republican Party advocate for more humane measures in dealing with a people who may not have the proper paperwork but only want to work.

It's obvious that McCain's hardest campaign is not for the Oval Office but in trying to make his party colleagues see the inhumanity of rounding people up like animals without regard to their families.

No human being should want that inflicted on another.

Almudena Carracedo, a budding LA-based filmmaker, happened to catch a news item in her local paper about five years ago. It was a story about the sweatshops in Los Angeles, the west coast fashion center of the nation.

Filmmaker Almudena Carracedo proudly wins her first Emmy for Made in L.A.

As Almudena read the article, she was appalled to discover that immigrant workers were being subjected to conditions expected of third-world countries, but not the United States.

Intent on capturing on film the atrocities immigrant workers are subjected to in making cheap clothing for U.S. consumers on U.S. soil, Almudena embarked on a journey that spanned five years and resulted in an Emmy award-winning film that showcases the struggles of immigrant workers, their bravery and the one thing that has been a constant in all their lives — never giving up on their dream to succeed in the United States.

In the process of documenting the lives of the main subjects in her film, Almudena's life has taken on a new mission — to educate people everywhere about the abuses directed at immigrant workers.

At the web site for Made In L.A., Almudena illustrates her newfound commitment to empowering immigrant women and improving their work conditions by supplying readers not only with the obligatory supplemental information about the film but with a wealth of sources for readers to learn more about the issues of immigration, immigrant rights and specific steps on how to become a conscientious consumer and supporter of sweat-free businesses.

I’ve spent the last seven years on an extraordinary journey making and distributing a film about three courageous Latina immigrants, which has amazingly, just won an Emmy. The film, Made in L.A, started as a small grassroots project, and with much effort and a lot of community support grew into a feature documentary that would ultimately be broadcast nationally on PBS POV series and be shown around the world.

This journey has also made a deep impact on me emotionally, and I am grateful to have been invited to write a guest blog here at LatinaLista to share this experience.

Made in L.A. follows the remarkable story of Lupe, Maria and Maura, three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from trendy clothing retailer Forever 21. In intimate observational style, the film (which is completely bilingual English/Spanish), reveals the impact of the struggle on each woman’s life as they are gradually transformed by the experience. Compelling, humorous and deeply human, Made in L.A. is a story about immigration, the power of unity and the courage it takes to find your voice.

Over the last year we have done hundreds of community and campus screenings, and we have traveled the world with the film. Audience responses have been extremely emotional –above all, Made in L.A. provides a deeply human window into the immigrants’ struggle, which is repeated around the world regardless of the country of origin or destiny.

We have seen a group of Moroccan immigrant restaurant workers cry after seeing the film in Paris; we’ve had crowds cheer and embrace each other in Mexico City and in Michoacán; and we’ve had packed houses in Madrid where immigrants, fashion students, low wage workers and regular folks have engaged in extremely emotional hour long discussions after each screening.

And while there’s tragic backlash and resentment directed towards recent immigrants wherever we go, our experience has been that the film has been able open a door for people to discuss these issues on a very human and emotional level.

Today, the Obama campaign announced how they were spending the last of the $20 million budgeted to reach Latino voters — Obama will deliver a 30-minute "commercial" on Univision this Wednesday night.

It will be a translated version of an infomercial-type ad that will run in English on CBS, FOX and NBC. It's called "Barack Obama: Historias Americanas," or "Barack Obama: American Stories."

The 30-minute piece is the last installment of an advertising series targeting Latino voters. During a telephone press conference announcing this 30-minute piece, another ad in the series, called "Oportunidad," was discussed. It's about Obama's intention to provide a $4,000 scholarship to students to go to college if they commit to working in some community service program upon graduation.

While I'm in favor of such a program, I couldn't help but think if those students who are considered "Dream Act" students would qualify for such a program. Seeing that Senator Obama has always been vocal in his support of these students, it seems a perfect way to also subsidize their education and allow them to work after graduation.

Well, I was told by Gov. Bill Richardson and an Obama campaign representative who were on the call that the Dream Act is a separate program and that those students wouldn't qualify for these scholarships. Actually, I coudn't tell if they were uncomfortable that I asked the question given the nuclear explosiveness of the politics on the issue or just thought it was a stupid question.

But I knew what I was asking.

At this stage of the election game, there's no disputing that Obama, a.k.a. the Democratic Party, is enjoying unrivaled support from the Latino community.

A Pew Hispanic study back in July (2008) showed that Obama enjoyed the support of 66 percent of Hispanic voters versus 23 percent for McCain. It's natural to assume that today there is an even wider gap in the percentages since more Latinos have made up their minds in favor of Obama.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

From everything that has been reported, Latinos sided with Obama and the Democratic party for three main reasons:

1. The pledge to help middle-class American families with taxes, funding college education for their children and the economy.
2. The pledge to get more families healthcare coverage.
3. The pledge to bring about immigration reform

While immigration may not be on the top of every Latino voter's list, it is still among the top 3 issues that are important to Latinos and did initially serve as the impetus for many immigrant advocates/bloggers/voters to throw their support behind Obama.

Yet, recent remarks from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, one of the key factors in any true immigration reform measure, is giving Latino supporters reason to pause and ask ourselves: Were we duped into supporting Obama?

While everyone is naturally excited about the election, there is a group of people who can't wait for it to be over with so the new President (and fingers, toes and eyes are being crossed for Obama/Biden) can put a stop to one of the most dangerously damaging domestic policies to emerge from the Bush Administration — the border wall.

Border wall construction has begun south of Weslaco, Texas.
(Source: Border Ambassadors)

Because of intense public displeasure by the people whom this wall directly affects, the government is a lot farther behind schedule in constructing it than they thought they would be. By the end of the year, their goal was to have completed 670 miles of fencing; they've only achieved 370 miles.

One would think that a government or political party which claims to be responsive to their constituents' wants would recognize that an opposition comprised of municipal and state politicians, local dignitaries, professionals and residents are more than just a rowdy group opposing the government.

They are a highly credible group that have done their homework about the true impact of such a structure in their backyards. The latest group to lend their research expertise to what this border wall really signifies is the University of Texas Working Group that declared the border wall in no undeniable terms violates human rights.

Yet, the government stubbornly holds onto the fantasy that this wall will stem the flow of people crossing the border illegally and seems intent to perpetuate a false threat.

Low-income women of color have been marginalized by Washington to the point where little value was placed on voting in minority communities. Yet, it is time for change and it starts with both sides reaching out to one another.

If there is one lesson that has been learned in this election, it’s the fact that people don’t just want their voices heard but they want to be included in the process.

Some groups are better at doing that than others. Yet, low-income women of color have always had a much harder time in getting both heard and having a seat at the proverbial table. These women have been overlooked and marginalized when it comes to Washington recognizing and responding to their specific needs. It’s an ironic situation since it’s these women and their children who bear the burden of failed federal economic policies.

In turn, this group has historically felt so disconnected from politics that they see little value in their votes. As the economy plunges deeper and these households are hit the hardest, talk of “Six-pack Joe” or “Joe the Plumber” aren’t resonating with these voters, and it’s time Washington understands that.

It’s documented that in the 2004 presidential election, 40 percent of all African American women, 69 percent of Latinas and 70 percent of Asian American women who were eligible to vote did not go to the polls. Engage Her, a new online organization dedicated to educating and “activating” women of color to get involved with those issues that affect their lives and their communities, released a short documentary online exploring the reasons why women of color have a poor voting track record.

The reasons offered by the women interviewed in the film were varied but the common thread among the different speakers is that their voice/vote would have had little impact on the final outcome of the election and so why bother.

It’s a feeling shared among lower-income women of color that is only exacerbated by the current economic crisis.

According to the US Census, the highest percentage of family groups that live in poverty are those households headed by a female. With poverty rising among Latinos and remaining statistically high for blacks and Asians, it’s obvious that the economic crisis is taking a silent toll on those who can least afford it, and it’s getting worse.

Continue reading "Creating political change in the nation means placing value on people as much as votes"

By Marian Wright Edelman

Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Washington, D.C.-based Children's Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is "to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities."

Marian Wright Edelman

Her name has become synonymous with children's rights and throughout her illustrious law and nonprofit career has championed time and time again the rights of those who are most vulnerable, innocent and voiceless.

As Election Day draws near, Ms. Edelman shares with Latina Lista the barometer she uses to determine which candidate has proven to be on the side of children and families, and in turn, who shares her belief that children must be a priority issue in Washington for true change to happen across the country.

During nearly two years of presidential campaigning, the candidates have made claims and promises about how they would perform if they are elected to the White House. Some of the criteria we might use to judge a candidate’s fitness and temperament for leadership are difficult to quantify. But one concrete and objective way to assess how candidates measure up on crucial issues is by examining their voting records.

In this election year, when three of the four nominees for President and Vice President are sitting U.S. Senators—Barack Obama (D-IL), John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Biden (D-DE)—each has a record of roll call votes cast in Congress. Every year, through its Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard, the Children’s Defense Fund Action Council selects congressional roll call votes to illustrate how the Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted on key issues affecting children and families.

I learned the passage, “By their works ye shall know them,” in Sunday School a long time ago. And a look at the voting records of the candidates, as reflected in the CDF Action Council® Scorecard, clearly reveals who among them is working for children and who isn’t.