Casualties of War

I am not in a good mood. Truth be told, I haven’t been in a good mood since the Wisconsin recall fiasco, it is so bad that I promised to take a few days off from politics, but it is easier said than done.

I encountered a person in Facebook that confronted me saying that I have to be less aggressive, more persuasive and basically to go with the flow, this person obviously doesn’t know me; otherwise that would have never been suggested. I can never hide or masquerade my ideals in order for others to like me. I can carry a debate, we can have a difference of opinion but I will not change my values and if I am wrong, I will be the first one to admit it. I will try my best to offer the other person all the facts I may know or have at hand, but I will never lie in order to make others happy or others to like me. No one pays my bills but me, I have to be honest with myself first before I can be honest to others, those that don’t agree can either accept me for what I am or leave, as most things it’s a matter of choice.

I keep hearing that President Obama might lose the elections because the unemployment rate went up by half a point. I can’t believe that people are so stupid! How can they be so blind and not realize that the private companies are purposely not hiring in order to get rid of our President? To me it is so obvious, so clear that makes it incomprehensible that people are so quick to flip… and Latinos, Latinos are beginning to flip because they think Mitt Romney will be more pro immigration than Obama! They will hit Mexico before they can say “Orale” and if they vote for Romney, it will serve them well… I hope they enjoy the ride.

For those Latinos that haven’t done their homework, I will provide them with this entry from Wikipedia about where Mitt Romney stands on Immigration, gay marriage and minimum wage from the time when he was the governor of Massachusetts, I truly don’t think his views have changed any and if they have, I can assure you they are now worse, not better.

Illegal immigration

Romney vetoed a bill in 2004 that would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain in-state tuition rates at state colleges if they graduated from a Massachusetts high school after attending it for at least three years and signed an affidavit affirming that they intended to seek citizenship. Romney argued that the bill would cost the state government $15 million and that Massachusetts should not reward illegal immigration. A study by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicted that the legislation would generate over $5 million in state revenues; the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform disputed this conclusion. In 2005, the bill was reintroduced to the House and brought to a vote on 11 January 2006. The legislation was defeated 96-57.

On December 2, 2006, it was reported that a landscaping company Romney contracted to perform yard work at his home had been suspected of employing illegal immigrants. Romney said that he was unaware of the immigration status of the company's employees. A year later it was reported that the same company was still using illegal immigrants to work on Romney's estate. After this second report, Romney fired the landscape company.

Later in December 2006, Romney signed an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency that would have allowed Massachusetts State Police troopers to arrest and seek deportation of suspected illegal immigrants they encounter over the course of their normal duties Under the terms of the agreement, a group of 30 troopers would have received specialized training allowing them to question and detain suspected illegal immigrants, charge them with a violation of immigration law and place them in removal proceedings.

The executive order pertaining to state police was consistent with Section 287(g) of federal immigration law. Section 287(g) is a program of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 that deputizes state and local law enforcement personnel to enforce immigration matters.

The agreement was never implemented because governor-elect Deval Patrick, who had expressed strong opposition to the agreement before it was signed, revoked it a month later when he was sworn in.

Minimum wage

As a candidate for governor in 2002, Romney proposed indexing the minimum wage to inflation and raising the hourly pay for the state's lowest-paid workers from $6.75 an hour to $6.96 an hour starting January 2004, saying, "I do not believe that indexing the minimum wage will cost us jobs. I believe it will help us retain jobs.”

In July 2006, the legislature passed a bill increasing the minimum wage to $8.00 an hour, and he vetoed it. "I have spent hours reading a wide array of reviews on the minimum wage and its impact on the economy, and there's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs, and the loss of jobs is at the entry level," said Romney when he vetoed the bill. He proposed an increase to $7.00/hour (which represented a 25 cents an hour increase over the existing rate.) The legislature voted on July 31, 2006 to override his veto (unanimously in the Senate) thus setting the minimum wage at the higher amount.

Same-sex marriage

Romney strongly opposed same-sex marriage during his governorship. He emphasized his desire to "protect the institution of marriage" while denouncing discrimination against gays and lesbians. "Like me, the great majority of Americans wish both to preserve the traditional definition of marriage and to oppose bias and intolerance directed towards gays and lesbians," Romney said in 2004.

Romney attempted to block implementation of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that legalized same-sex marriage in 2003. Romney criticized the decision as harming the rights of children:

“They viewed marriage as an institution principally designed for adults. Adults are who they saw. Adults stood before them in the courtroom. And so they thought of adult rights, equal rights for adults…Marriage is also for children. In fact, marriage is principally for the nurturing and development of children. The children of America have the right to have a father and a mother.

Romney subsequently released a statement in support of a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts state constitution defining marriage as existing only between "one man and one woman" in order to overrule the court's decision. His statement said, "the people of Massachusetts should not be excluded from a decision as fundamental to our society as the definition of marriage."

While consistently rejected same-sex marriage, there was a rhetorical shift in other emphasis around this subject during his time as governor, culminating with Romney rarely talking about protecting gays from bias and instead characterizing himself as a conservative stalwart in the battle against same-sex marriage and in support of heterosexual families.

The above, according to Wikipedia, is Mitt Romney’s proven record. Don’t be a fool and believe that he has changed his mind about any of these so important subjects, keep in mind the “etch a sketch” analogy used by his campaign manager… nothing he says in his campaign is true, except that analogy.

Mitt Romney will be the worst thing that could happen not only to Latinos, minorities and the middle class but also to America as a whole. There is no question why the Koch brothers are backing Romney and most Republicans… they are trying to secure cheap labor and increase their already obscene wealth at whatever cost necessary. For them, you and I are just casualties of war.

We must vote in great numbers even greater numbers than in 2008. Those of us that are unemployed should volunteer to be an election’s worker – not only will you have something to do but you can use the time there to make sure nothing strange or corrupt takes place or go to the nursing homes and offer to help the elderly fill in their absentee ballots, be prepared, be informed and clarify any doubts they may have. Offer a ride to the voting sites to those that don’t have transportation. If they have a disability and can’t stand in line offer to stand in line for them, do whatever it’s necessary but move and vote, vote for the Democratic or Green Party… our way of life depends on it.