Hispanics

The Coming Battle For The GOP Presidential Nomination: Marco Rubio Vs. Ted Cruz, With Rand Paul As Wild Card!

Ronald 86 Comments

It is becoming increasingly clear that the battle for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2016 is going to be between Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky being a “wild card”!

The possibility of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, or Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to be the nominee seems very distant.

So it will be two Hispanic (Cuban) Senators battling one another, one trying to work with Democrats on an immigration reform bill, and the other on the warpath against all Democrats, as well as Rubio himself, unwilling to make any deals or promote any cooperation with the “enemy” And hoping to benefit from the battle between Rubio and Cruz is Rand Paul, who with his libertarian bent, will have a major problem attracting many conservatives, including the neoconservatives and the Establishment Republicans of Wall Street.

In the end, it will not matter, as no Republican can overcome the Electoral College advantage of the Democrats, as outlined yesterday in a blog entry.

And the concept that Cuban American Senators, who represent three and a half percent of Hispanics and Latinos, will be able to convince large numbers of Mexican Americans, who are 65 percent of all those with Spanish heritage, to vote Republican, is laughable.

So it will be an interesting sideshow, the battle among Rubio, Cruz and Paul, but at the end, we are likely to have Hillary Clinton as our next President!

The Hopelessness Of The GOP In The 2016 Presidential Election Is Clear Cut!

Ronald 15 Comments

Republicans and conservatives live in illusion and fantasy, and their horrible Congressional performance—working against women’s rights, college students, minorities, the middle class, the poor, young people, the elderly, gays and lesbians, the environment, labor—will insure that they will never become the majority in a Presidential election for the long haul!

One would think that after having lost the popular vote for President five of the past six Presidential elections, that they would have realized the wrong of their ways, but instead, they are doubling down, appealing to the Religious Right, the Neoconservatives, the Social Conservatives, and to the top two percent, as if that is a winning strategy. Somehow, they think the dwindling white older population will sustain them in the long term, and in that belief, they are truly delusional!

If they had any common sense or brains, they would realize that the Democrats have won 18 states and the District of Columbia over the past six national elections since 1992, and a total electoral vote of 242 electoral votes, and NONE of these states are likely to be lost in the future to the right wing GOP! So the “Blue” states are:

Maine
Vermont
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Rhode Island
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
District Of Columbia
Illinois
Michigan
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Washington
Oregon
California
Hawaii

Plus, three other states voted Democratic five of the six national elections, a total of 15 electoral votes, bringing the total up to 257, 13 short of the 270 needed to win the White House, including:

New Hampshire (except in 2000)
New Mexico (except in 2004)
Iowa (except in 2004)

So the GOP, if it does not radically change its tune and quickly, will NOT win the Presidency any time in the next few generations, with the growing Hispanic-Latino vote, and the dying off of the white conservative senior citizens who wish to prevent the future, and are failing at that long term, in Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio, and in the near future in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Montana! The “Red” States are dwindling rapidly!

College Graduates Now One Third Of Those Ages 25-29: The Highest Percentage Ever

Ronald 37 Comments

Higher education has reached more and more Americans over time, and now among those 25-29, one third have at least a four year undergraduate degree.

More Americans have started and graduated college in recent years, spurred on by the Great Recession, and the recognition that unemployment levels among college graduates is 3.3 percent for those ages 25-34, compared to 11.8 percent for high school graduates.

Still, too many students fail to finish a four year, or even a two year degree, and in many states, the graduation rate is much lower than in others, with the trend being that the “Blue” states have higher graduation rates than the “Red” states, another indication of two Americas in our midst, one in the 21st century, and the other moving back socially to the 19th century in many ways, sadly!

And low income American families still see only about one out of ten of their children going on to college and graduating in a six year period, while high income families see seven out of ten children gaining a college degree.

And women are graduating at higher rates than men, another disturbing issue regarding the emotional maturity of young men, many seeing just having any job as enough, making more women more highly educated than men, and in many cases, choosing not to marry someone of lesser educational attainment.

And Asian Americans continue to have higher percentages of college degrees, followed by whites, blacks and Hispanics, respectively.

The road to the future in a technology based and digital economy is higher education, so those not attaining that goal are at a long range disadvantage in the American economy of the future.

National Spelling Bee Champion Brings Up Issue Of Our Educational System NOT Teaching Spelling As Important Skill!

Ronald 4 Comments

It was thrilling to see 13 year old Arvind Mahankali of Bayside, New York, win the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC on Thursday evening.

His accomplishment, and the fact that he had competed three earlier years and been in the Top Ten all three times, is something to honor and admire, as much as any athlete doing well in any team or individual sport.

But does such an accomplishment get the kind of attention it deserves, as compared to sports? Of course not, and in that, there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

It is not “cool” to be smart, to be intellectual, to have academic skills, and it might very well be that this talented young man, for all that he has accomplished, might face bullying or taunting, as not being “masculine” enough, because his accomplishment is in that lost art, spelling.

But it is not just spelling; it is also history; it is also science; it is also geography; it is also poetry; it is also ANY intellectual area of knowledge!

And in that fact, we have a long range problem. And it is in the loss of economic growth, competition with other nations, and in the future of our children.

Why is not spelling emphasized in the school system, and why is it allowed that young people, including many of my own students in the past and present, cannot spell, and do not see that weakness as a big deal they need to work on?

Why is it that ignorance is seen as bliss, and that we have people in Congress who display their ignorance regularly, showing their lack of knowledge or acceptance of science, of truth really in any area of learning, and in fact, wish to cut expenditures and investment in education and in teachers?

And as wonderful as it was to see boys and girls of South Asian heritage being the top ten finalists, why is it that white Anglos of European heritage, and Hispanics-Latinos and African American young people did not end up competing with these kids from South Asia, and often in the past, from East Asia as well?

Could it be the role of parents, emphasizing spelling and history and science and geography and poetry and other fields of learning at home, and could it be also the fact that education is the way that past generations of immigrants and their descendants succeeded in America?

We, as a nation, need to look within ourselves, and work to promote the levels of excellence that these children of South Asian heritage demonstrated, putting the rest of us to shame!

Ultimately, we must praise and give honors and attention more to academic excellence than our worship of sports, as good as it is to promote that field of human endeavor!

Role Of Women Has Changed In Last Sixty Years, But Republicans Are Still In The 1950s!

Ronald 4 Comments

American women have made tremendous strides, economically and socially since the 1950sl, but the Republican Party and the conservative movement still seem to want women to be obedient and submissive, and stick to the kitchen and the bedroom, and have no control over their lives!

This is why, ultimately, the GOP is doomed, more than the growing Hispanic-Latino vote for the Democrats.

As long as the Republican Party follows the ideas of Michele Bachmann and other Neanderthal Congresswomen of their party, a total disgrace to womanhood, they will be unable to win enough of the women’s vote in future Presidential and Congressional elections!

Women will not be dictated to, ordered around, and told what to do with their bodies, and they will demand better labor conditions, rather than cutting back overtime pay and benefits!

It is reality that 40 percent of American households have a woman as the primary or only breadwinner. But single mothers make only an average of $23,000, while married women, who are more likely to be white and college educated, make an average of $80,000 if they earn more than their husbands. Twenty four percent of marriages now have a wife making more than her husband, up from six percent in 1960! More women now attend and graduate college, making them less dependent on the man in their life for economic survival!

A depressing statistic is that 44 percent of single mothers have never been married, as compared to 4 percent in 1960, and almost all are poor, and from minority racial and ethnic groups.

The conclusion is that women play a much greater role in American economic life, and are not about to have any men dictate what direction their lives will follow!

The Heritage Foundation, Jason Richwine, And Racist Report On Hispanics And Latinos!

Ronald 4 Comments

Jason Richwine wrote a doctoral dissertation at Harvard University, accepted despite its racist, bigoted assertions about Hispanics and Latinos, and somehow, received a Ph. D. from the number one university in the nation!

Harvard should be ashamed of itself, for granting the doctorate for such a piece of garbage, and the professors on that committee have lost all credibility, no matter what else they are known for and have published, and this coming from an individual, myself, who had to please a distinguished committee of three professors, before gaining the honored degree 38 years ago, and then, publishing a revised edition with Johns Hopkins University Press six years later!

The Heritage Foundation is a despicable right wing organization, and just looking at who its leader is, former Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, already is telling, as he is one of the absolute worst Senators in the history of that legislative body, and is the heir, in many ways, to John C. Calhoun and Strom Thurmond!

So now it is Hispanics and Latinos who are “inferior” and have “low IQs”, instead of past groups said to be so, including Native Americans, African Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Polish Americans, Jewish Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans and every other group one can imagine!

The fact that it is poverty and deprivation and discrimination, that make it difficult to succeed in the short run are now being used to make broad judgments on an ethnic group, ironically the fastest growing group in American society!

Jason Richwine is a disgrace, and should have his doctoral degree revoked, and it is good to see that he resigned from the Heritage Foundation, but he will probably go to some other right wing organization, or end up on talk radio, and be defended by the likes of Michelle Malkin, a Japanese American, who became originally noticed for her defense of the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II!

The right wing knows no limits, and no insult is enough, beginning with our first African American President, and fighting against the tide of the American future, by attacking Hispanics and Latinos, who are smart enough to realize that the conservative movement and the Republican “Neanderthals” have no concern about their status and future!

So let the right wing continue to advocate its poison, and the response of Hispanics and Latinos will be overwhelmingly what it was in 2012, 70 percent and more for the Democrats and the progressive future, which wishes to advance the “American Dream”, rather than deny it to new generations by racist hatred!

If Hillary Clinton Runs, Will ANY Democrat Challenge Her For The Nomination?

Ronald 12 Comments

Based on public opinion polls and general perceptions that are out there, Hillary Clinton is a shoo-in for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, if she chooses to want it and run for it.

The hints are that she will run, and polls indicate more than 60 percent want her as the nominee, and only Vice President Joe Biden is in double digits with 12-13 percent, and Andrew Cuomo the only other person to really have even a few percent.

IF she does not run, there is an open season, with Joe Biden having the advantage, but certainly not a “slam dunk” against Cuomo, Martin O’Malley, Deval Patrick, and several possible women candidates, including Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Amy Klobuchar.

It seems clear that Hillary Clinton, who even this author thought would not run, IS likely to run, and seemingly, be “crowned” the nominee, although there are skeptics who point out that she seemed in the same position in 2006-2008, and lost to a newcomer named Barack Obama.

But now , with extra experience as Secretary of State, it seems as if she is “unstoppable” if she chooses to make the run.

And the GOP is already starting to attack her, because they know it will be extremely difficult for ANY GOP nominee to stop her, as she could lose some of the states that Barack Obama won, and still win the election. The odds of Texas going to her, along with Georgia and Arizona, and the return of North Carolina to the Democratic column, seems possible, with growing Hispanic and Latino population and voting participants, and the likelihood that a higher percentage of women would vote for her, along with African Americans and young people, that how could any Republican nominee be able to come up with 270 electoral votes?

Wealth Gap Has Widened Due To Economic Recession: Danger For America’s Future!

Ronald 4 Comments

While almost everyone, except the very wealthy, suffered from the Great Recession and its aftermath during the past five years, what is most distressing and dangerous for the future of America is the widening wealth gap among the races.

The average white family earns TWICE what the average African American or Hispanic family makes, and has SIX times the total wealth of the average minority family..

White families lost eleven percent of their wealth due to the recession, as compared to 44 percent for Hispanic families and 31 percent of black families.

Unless “Baby Bonds”, an investment in a child’s future, are given to all poor families, the future of minority youth to overcome their poverty and deprivation will be impossible, and the wealth gap will be impossible to narrow over future decades!

Barbara Bush Is Correct, But That Is Negative For The Republican Party Future!

Ronald 1 Comment

Former First Lady Barbara Bush is disarmingly frank and outspoken, and her statement that her son Jeb Bush, the former Florida Governor, was very well qualified to run for President, but should not, as there have been enough Bushes in the Presidency, is an assertion which will reverberate through the Republican Party, and not for the good of the party’s future!

The fact that the former First Lady said this on the day of her older son’s opening of his Presidential library, with just about everyone knowing that his administration was a near total disaster, is telling.

It is clear that Jeb Bush is smarter, more competent, and would have made a better President than George W, but that is water over the dam!

The fact is that she is correct that a family should not have a monopoly of the Presidency, and that we should not have dynasties, and the reality that the Bushes took up twelve years in the White House, plus eight years in the Vice Presidency, is certainly enough for any family, more than any other family in history!

But when one looks at the potential Republican field of Presidential candidates for 2016, one has to say that, in many ways, Jeb Bush MIGHT be the best candidate the party could field, other than Jon Huntsman, former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China, but it is clear Huntsman has ZERO chance to be the GOP nominee for 2016, because he is too smart, too qualified, too mainstream, too sane, to be chosen by this disaster of a party in 2013!

What is left is Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Chris Christe, Scott Walker and a few other also rans, and when one looks at this list, it is clearly pitiful for a great political party with a dignified and distinguished history of great Governors, Senators, and even a few Presidents!

So if a sane, competent guy, who can also appeal to Hispanics and Latinos, but sadly has the wrong last name, and a mother telling him not to run, decides to stay out of the Presidential race, then ANY chance of a real Presidential competition in 2016 is totally over, and the GOP might as well concede to Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat who might be the alternative!

The Film “42” About Jackie Robinson A Brilliant Portrayal, And Reminder Of How Much Is Left To Do About Discrimination!

Ronald 2 Comments

The new film that made its debut this past Friday, “42”, about the challenge faced by the first African American player in major league baseball, Jackie Robinson, 66 years ago tomorrow, is a brilliant portrayal of the racism and prejudice faced by Robinson, and how he overcame it with brilliant performance and tremendous personal dignity.

It is a good lesson for the many people in America who have no personal memory of Jackie Robinson, with many not even knowing who he is, due to our poor education in the field of history and public affairs, causing many Americans to have no clue on the past, as well as present day issues.

We are now in the midst of another massive revolution on the issue of acceptance of sexual orientation, which has caused just as much, if not more, violence and mistreatment of gays and lesbians over many years, than even that faced by the African American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian American, Jewish, and Catholic population, as each group has struggled to be treated equally under the law.

The issue of discrimination against gays and lesbians is reaching its peak, as the Supreme Court will soon determine the issue of gay marriage rights, and at the same time, bullying and actual physical attacks on gay and lesbians has been encouraged by so called “religious” preachers who claim to be true believers, but with the reality that their ancestor preachers promoted racism and bigotry in the past generations of American history against the various ethic and religious groups mentioned above.

But the pace of progress is moving forward, as it did for other groups, and no matter what the Court decides, change is coming to America, and will not be stopped by bias, prejudice, and narrow mindedness!

And this includes the likelihood of organized sports, which took a long time to integrate, soon to see gay athletes declare themselves, and start to change the image of narrow mindedness of American sports, and the conclusion that everyone should be judged by their performance and skills, not their religion, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation!