Latinopundit

I knew this was coming, but I can't help being pissed off about it:

Bill Richardson's withdrawal from his commerce secretary nomination Sunday didn't just leave a major gap in the new administration, but it also sorely disappointed Latinos who view the New Mexico governor as their most prominent representative.

[W]ith Richardson stepping aside from consideration for commerce secretary amid an ethics investigation relating to a company that has done business with his state, only two Latinos are now set to serve in the new Cabinet: Labor secretary-designate Hilda Solis and Interior secretary-designate Ken Salazar, neither of which, some critics have argued, will hold a prominent Cabinet post.

"Only" two.  And not prominent enough.  Bull****!

The prospect of having only two Latinos on Obama's Cabinet riles some members of the Hispanic community who say their support of Obama was crucial to his success on Election Day.

"It's disappointing at least for now that this administration doesn't have three Latinos as members of its Cabinet," said Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"That would have been one of President-elect Obama's immediate legacies, to have appointed three Latinos to full Cabinet positions," Arturo added.

Emphasis added.  Didn't Mr. Vargas get the memo regarding Richardson's withdrawal?  He was in.  And he felt he had to get the heck out of Dodge because of a federal investigation on a pay-to-play scheme that may lead all the way back to Richardson's governor's office.  In other words, (1) he quit, and (2) he quit because he was, how shall we phrase this . . . oh yeah, "ethically challenged" at this time.

If token appointments is what you are looking for - and it sure looks like that's what Vargas is saying since he suggests that "two's no good, but three's alright" - I want no part of it.

"We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson," Murguía of NCLR said. "It's not out of a sense of entitlement, it's really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role."

"Historic precedent"?  WTF is that?  That Obama already nominated a Latino for that post so now Secretary of Commerce is a Latino post?

I tend to agree with this comment - which CNN.com placed at the end of the article as a sort of throwaway quote to purportedly provide some "balance" on this issue:

"I think we are beyond that at this point. We need to have the very best people in these jobs. I hope that they pick someone equally brilliant and highly experienced. We are all in it together," said Fernando Espuelas, host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a Los Angeles Spanish-language radio talk show.

Emphasis provide.  Amen to that!

I can't say I'm surprised by this little piece of news today:

Citgo Petroleum Corp, the U.S. arm of Venezuela's state oil company, has suspended its program to provide free heating oil to hundreds of thousands of low-income U.S. families, the head of the nonprofit organization that distributed the fuel said on Monday.

The Andean nation attributed the move to the sharp drop in the price of oil as well as the spreading world economic crisis, said Joseph Kennedy, chairman of Citizens Energy, which had distributed about $100 million worth of Venezuelan oil for each of the past three years.

You could see it coming: oil prices are now about 1/3 what they were before everything started going to hell in a handbasket with the economy.  Now, I find this oddly amusing.

Citizens Energy said it encouraged U.S. families to write directly to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and ask that Citgo continue to provide the U.S. poor with "much-needed" heating oil aid.

Emphasis added.  Now, that's a beauty!  We've demonized Chavez for the past, what, five, seven, eight years?  We've pretty much equated him to Fidel Castro, and Lenin, and the President of Iran.  We've pretty much called him "evil incarnate" - in what must have been a constant tag-you're-it game between Chavez and Bush - and now we want his help?  For the "U.S. poor" who, in most Latin American countries would pass for middle class?

But it gets better:

Chavez, who considers U.S. President George W. Bush his nemesis, widened the heating oil aid program as prices surged in recent years, while accusing the Bush administration of neglecting the U.S. poor. Chavez has described the program as "humanitarian aid," even though average incomes in the United States are about 10 times those in Venezuela.

Which is shorthand for "lets embarrass Bush."

Kennedy asked why no U.S. oil companies have stepped up to fill the gap.

"What about U.S. oil companies?" asked Kennedy, the nephew of slain U.S. president John F. Kennedy. "How come I can't get one barrel of oil from U.S. oil companies?"

The suspension of the heating oil aid would come as easing oil prices make heating oil more affordable for many U.S. families this year -- though rising unemployment has given them a new economic worry.

Emphasis added.  And that is the key question.  A guy who has no business helping us, and who helped our poor because he could do it and it made for fabulous PR - as in "public relations," not "Puerto Ricans;" otherwise, "fabulous" would be superfluous - had that opportunity because the oil companies wouldn't do it.  (To my "free marketer" friends, yes I know, they don't have to do it, but then, these are the type of ridiculous results you get.)

And even now, when their oil is worth 1/3 of what it was, they're still not stepping up to help.

Now, who does this affect?

The program served 180,000 U.S. households, 250 shelters and 37 Native American tribes, in the winter of 2006 into 2007, Citgo said on its Web site. It expanded last winter, when heating oil rose above $3 a gallon. The price fell to $2.33 a gallon as of Dec. 29, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. 

It actually expanded to benefit as many as 235,000 U.S. families in 23 states.

Chavez started the program after meeting the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a U.S. civil rights leader. The program formed the basis of advertising campaigns still visible at the program’s Web site.

“Thanks to oil donated by the people of Venezuela at Citgo, there’s finally help,” Kennedy said in one of the ads.

Not that the Wall Street Journal cares, though.  Rather than focusing - or even mentioning - the impacts to persons - you know, human beings? - the WSJ only cares about what this says about Venezuela and Evil Hugo:

The move raises questions about whether Mr. Chavez can afford to continue his oil-fueled largess. Venezuela gives cut-priced fuel to many Latin American nations and sends some 100,000 barrels a day of oil and oil products to Cuba in exchange, in part, for the services of 30,000 Cuban doctors, nurses, dentists, and sports trainers. In 2007, Cuba valued total Venezuelan aid at $7.8 billion. Some analysts say Venezuela is now as big a donor to cash-strapped Cuba as the U.S.S.R. was back in the Cold War.

Doesn't it make you feel better?  "We're screwed but so is Cuba!!"

And before you go and tell me that the price of oil and heating fuel is much cheaper now, it probably doesn't do you any good if you don't have a job or if you're at risk of losing yours.

Not only did Bill Richardson withdraw his nomination for Secretary of Commerce, it so happens that, IMHO, the most qualified and most knowledgeable Latino in Obama's cabinet is now out.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is withdrawing his nomination to be commerce secretary, citing the distraction of a federal investigation into ties to a company that has done business with his state.

"Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing, I could not in good conscience ask the President-elect and his Administration to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done."

The general outline of the investigation goes as follows:

The investigation concerns CDR Financial Products Inc., a Beverly Hills, Calif., company that in 2004 was awarded two consulting contracts worth about $1.4 million to advise the State of New Mexico on a large bond issue for building infrastructure, one of Mr. Richardson’s initiatives. The company’s president, David Rubin, a major Democratic contributor, gave about $100,000 to two political action committees controlled by Mr. Richardson, as well as $10,000 to his re-election campaign in 2005, according to published reports.

However, this is what I thought did Richardson in:

The F.B.I. began examining the contracts last year; in August, the inquiry was reported in the New Mexico news media. But an Obama transition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president-elect’s team, while aware that one of Mr. Richardson’s donors was being investigated, did not know that the inquiry extended to Mr. Richardson until after Mr. Obama announced the New Mexico governor as his commerce secretary choice in early December.

Emphasis added.  You know, it's one thing if Richardson doesn't know he's being investigated, but this is a pay-to-play scheme he's accused of being involved in.  He had to know something was cooking.

Since August, federal investigators have been examining how CDR Financial Products Inc., of Beverly Hills, Calif., got two consulting contracts in 2004 worth about $1.4 million to advise the state on a large bond issue for building infrastructure, one of Mr. Richardson’s initiatives. The investigation was first reported in The Albuquerque Journal.

In 2003 and 2004, CDR’s president, David Rubin, a major Democratic contributor, gave about $100,000 to two political action committees controlled by Mr. Richardson, as well as $10,000 to his re-election campaign in 2005, according to published reports.

An individual with knowledge of the grand jury proceedings, who requested anonymity because the proceedings are secret, said a grand jury was investigating “how CDR gets business in New Mexico and whether the governor’s office was involved in getting them business here.”

Specifically, the person said, the jurors were hearing testimony about whether someone in the governor’s office had pushed the New Mexico Finance Authority to give business to the company.

Emphasis added.  As bad as I feel for Richardson, I also want to grab him by the neck and slap him.  Even if he didn't do anything improper or unethical, you have to know that, at the very least, it appears to be improper.  Specially if there's a grand jury looking at it.

All that aside, I do wish him the best.  He is an inspiration to most politically-active Latinos in the U.S. and I would hate to see him go down in a cloud of corruption.

But hey, it's politics so nothing would surprise me.

But obviously, the Republicans think otherwise:

While millions descend on Washington for the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20, some Republicans see it as an occasion to get out of town.

“What better way to mark the Obama Inauguration (and his millions of adoring fans that will be in D.C.) than to get out of town to fabulous Las Vegas!” Charlie Spies, a Republican lawyer and former CFO to Mitt Romney’s campaign wrote in a blast e-mail to GOP friends. “We hope you can join us for dinner and a fun evening on Monday, Jan. 19, to celebrate the last few hours of our Republican president in the White House.”

Spies and his wife Lisa, a Republican fundraiser, have gotten about 15 takers so far for this last supper or, as they billed it in the e-mail, their own “Inaugural in Exile.”

They’re far from alone. Others will usher in the new era from the slopes, the islands, the NFL playoffs and even on a serendipitously timed honeymoon. Full Democratic control of Washington may be a bitter pill, but it’s easier to get down from a lodge, beach, 50-yard-line or, especially, honeymoon suite.

Emphasis added.  I wonder if the Republicans will be paying for, say, a few regular Joes - or even for a few "Joes the Plumbers" - on that trip.  Somehow, now I understand why this country is as f***ed up as it is: the economy is in shambles, unemployment is rising, the financial sector and the automobile sector - the one significant manufacturing sector left in the U.S. - are nearly done for, and the people who've run this country for the last eight years - or, perhaps, ran it to the ground - decide to go "into exile" to Vegas, lodges, and all sort of - clearly - middle class retreats, instead of trying to figure out how to make themselves useful.

That's O.K.  I'm pretty sure the "common folk" can relate to the idea of running away from it all and sticking your head in the sand.

Now, if they could only remain in permanent exile . . .

Since the "false start" on my previous post, we can say there will be at least three cabinet-level Latinos in Obama's cabinet.  We all know about Bill Richardson for Commerce and how that was supposed to be a "consolation price" for not getting the Secretary of State gig.  Like I commented on my previous post, he probably is the most qualified candidate for the SoS slot regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity.  I think it was equal parts qualifications and political calculation on Obama's part what landed H.R.C. the SoS gig.  But that's all water under the bridge.

Next we had Ken Salazar to become Secretary of the Interior.  Here's the Cliff Notes version of Who in the World is Ken Salazar.  Some details:

Would bring to the job: A decade’s worth of practice in water and environmental law in the private sector; two decades in government working on Western land-use issues, including water and natural resources; and experience in an assortment of political offices, including currently as a United States senator from Colorado, where he has been a supporter of renewable energy development. He also brings Latino roots and a powerful personal story: One of eight children, he grew up on a remote ranch in Colorado’s impoverished San Luis Valley without electricity or running water.

In his own words: “How we improve our energy security and reduce our dependence on foreign oil is the central national security, economic security and environmental security challenge of the next decade. It will determine whether we will continue to be entrenched in conflicts over resources in every corner of the world. It will determine whether we will triumph in our fight against oil-funded extremists and terrorists. And it will determine whether our economic fortunes will hinge on the price of oil that OPEC sets, or whether the U.S. will stand independently, as the world’s innovator for clean energy technologies.” (speaking at the Denver World Affairs Council, Nov. 16, 2007).

Obama also selected Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary.  Who is she?  Check out what the N.Y. Times had to say about her:

There is no doubt that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a labor secretary who could be a transformative force in a long-neglected arena. The question is whether he will let her.

Hilda Solis, a United States representative from Southern California, is the daughter of immigrant parents with union jobs. She has been an unfailing advocate of workers’ rights during eight years in Congress and before that, in California politics.

Ms. Solis has been a leader on traditional workplace issues, like a higher minimum wage and an enhanced right to form unions. She also has helped to expand the labor agenda by sponsoring legislation to create jobs in green technology, and in her support for community health workers and immigration reform.

Her record in Congress dovetails with the mission of the Labor Department, to protect and further the rights and opportunities of working people. It also dovetails with many of the promises Mr. Obama made during the campaign, both in its specifics and in its focus on the needs of America’s working families.

All three are quality persons who will be in key positions in the next administration.  And they all happen to be Latino.

Oh, and btw, Adolfo Carrión did get . . . something.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. is slated to direct the newly created White House Office of Urban Policy, sources familiar with the appointment said last night.

The moral of the story?  Don't count your chickens until they hatch.

It seems that way, unless his lack of discretion ends up costing him the nomination:

Adolfo Carrion Jr. revealed in New Haven Friday night that he’s being nominated for a top post in the incoming Obama administration.

Carrion imparted the news at a gathering at Yale’s Slifka Center for Jewish LIfe, according to people present.

During a question and answer session following the talk, Carrion, telling listeners that he was speaking off the record, said he received a call that day from President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition team informing that he will be nominated for a Cabinet post.

Carrion reported receiving text messages and calls throughout the evening congratulating him, including a call from Obama’s choice for secretary of state, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Either he's pretty sure he's in, or he's pretty cocky.  In any event, I wouldn't be breaking the news beyond my immediate family and close circle of friends until my boss did.

In any event, maybe those clamoring for more Latino faces in the Obama administration can calm down a little bit now.

Cross-posted at Telling Stories.

In the aftermath of Obama's historic election, you heard people - in the "know" and on the street - talk about it in transcendental and historic terms.  Some people were even wondering if we were indeed moving towards a "post racial" era.

However, it only took a few appointments from the Obama administration to have some Latinos complain about the same old thing.  From that always-reliable source of conventional idiocy, Ruben Navarrete,

to Latina Lista

Of course, the question was brushed aside with Obama emphasizing, “Commerce secretary is a pretty good job.”

But it wasn’t the high-profile position that would have showcased Richardson’s diplomacy expertise nor the position that several Latino organizations had been actively campaigning for on behalf of the nation’s only Hispanic governor.

to the Coconut Caucus

and Brown Pride

among others, many in the Latino community and blogosphere see the lack of Latino appointments - particularly Richardson's non-appointment as Secretary of State - as a snub.

I, for one, don't have any qualms about it.

I really don't care who gets appointed to do what.  I didn't vote for Obama because he was black - or mulato, if you want to be technical about it, - or in spite of it.  Nor did I have an expectation that if Obama was elected his Cabinet would work around Saturday's Sábado Gigante.

I voted for Obama because I believe that he will be able to lead this nation out of this self-inflicted debacle of the last eight years and because I believe he will be better for everyone, not just Latinos.

I only care about results.  If over the next four years, the Obama administration adopts and implements a sensible immigration policy, manages to create a better and fairer economic environment for everyone, helps fund education, combats illiteracy, and establishes or makes significant strides towards universal health coverage, I can deal with not having brown faces on the Cabinet standing right behind Obama's.

Besides, you only need two words to make the case that because a Latino is running the show, things may not be better for Latinos at all:

Alberto Gonzales.

As Maegan la Mala noted,


I do disagree a bit.  I does guarantee that your tormentor and top torturer may end up looking strangely familiar to you.

Which is Spanish for "Yes We Could!"  At least those are the numbers regarding Latino vote in the 2008 Elections:

DENVER (AP) — Latinos are hailed as a key voting bloc, even though they show their power at the polls only sporadically. When they turned out in record numbers to vote for Democrat Barack Obama, they not only erased recent gains by Republicans but shattered the myth of a black-Latino divide.

Amid worries about home foreclosures and economic recession and driven by an unprecedented get-out-the-vote effort and the acidic debate over illegal immigration, Latinos helped Democrats flip the battleground states of Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Florida.

I would hold off on celebrating the shattering of the Black/Latino divide just yet.  The fact that Latinos overwhelmingly supported Obama may or may not be a watershed moment in Black/Latino relations - since many Latinos may think of Obama as a mulato rather than a Black person - but it represents a significant improvement.

Anyhow, here are some more numbers to ponder:

The nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials estimates that between 9.6 million and 11 million Hispanics voted in the election, compared to a U.S. Census estimate of 7.6 million in 2004. Latinos comprised 9 percent of all voters this year, compared to 7 percent in 2004, according to Associated Press exit polls.

Nationwide, the AP polls suggested about two-thirds of Latino voters chose Obama over Republican John McCain. About three-fourths of Hispanics under the age of 30 supported Obama.

In Florida, where President Bush won 56 percent of the Latino vote in 2004, Obama earned 57 percent of the Hispanic vote to McCain's 42 percent. Obama won three-fourths of Latino votes in Nevada, and nearly 7 in 10 favored him in New Mexico, where he would have lost without them.

In Colorado, Hispanics supported Obama at nearly the same rate as Democrat John Kerry in 2004 — about 6 in 10 — but they made up 13 percent of the electorate this year, compared to an estimated 8 percent four years ago.

"In many respects, the Hispanic vote in this election has redrawn the electorate map," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, an immigration reform advocacy group. "Four states that went for President Bush in 2004 went for Obama in 2008, and the critical factor was the huge turnout and the huge trend by Hispanic voters to Democrats."

Gone are the significant inroads by Bush among Hispanic voters. Bush won over many in 2000 by saying he would build a solid relationship with Vicente Fox, then president of Mexico. Their relationship later soured.

"If you're a Republican strategist, that should make you break into a cold sweat," Sharry said.

Emphasis added.  The question remain, however: does this represent an aberration in Latino voting patterns or does this represent a fundamental realignment and the final awakening of the Latino "sleeping giant"?  We'll have to wait and see.  If the Obama administration is successful and is able to address many of the Latino community concerns, this may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between Latinos and progressive politics.

CNN & MSNBC just called it for Obama after picking up California, Oregon, and Washington.

There are no words to describe how immensely ecstatic I am right now.  I am so lucky to have been able to witness history in the making.

Enjoy, America.

Yes, it's a tease.  But Puerto Rico is electing everyone today.  Governor, Legislature, Mayors, Resident Commissioner, the works!

Voting ended at about 2:00 PM EDT and the first official results won't be known until around 5:00 PM.  However, the largest newspaper on the Island, El Nuevo Día, is conducting exit polls and with 65% of its sample tallied, it looks like the pro-statehood New Progressive Party is headed towards a massive landslide over the pro-Commonwealth Popular Democratic Party.  The breakdown is approximately 56% for the NPP and the PDP with 37% of the votes.

More news later, maybe.

UPDATE - 4:30 PM EDT: With 80% of the sample tallied the 56/37 split seems to be holding.  Another sign of the impending disaster for the PDP is that they are providing very few "unofficial" results from their headquarters.  In P.R., that's a sign that things aren't going too well.

Congratulations to Governor-Elect Luis Fortuño and Resident-Commissioner-Elect Pedro Pierluisi.

More news later, maybe.

(Cross-posted at Telling Stories.)

This is what "Talkie Sarah" Palin said today:

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks.  Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

Emphasis added.  Lets look at the actual text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

First point:  The First Amendment prevents Congress from abridging freedom of speech or freedom of the press.  Therefore, the First Amendment protects the people's right to speak their mind without unwarranted government intervention, e.g., don't yell "fire" in a crowded theater.  The legal standard any governmental measure must meet if it seeks to curtail speech is pretty high.  Not impossible, but pretty close to it.

Second point: The "freedom of press" clause is pretty much indistiguishable from an individual's freedom of speech.  As noted here,

Despite popular misunderstanding the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression. It does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general.

In other words, if I have the right to call out Palin because I believe she's engaging in negative campaigning, so can the press.  The fact that they have a bigger megaphone than I do only makes them louder.

Like I've always said: freedom of speech does not equal freedom from criticism.  And it's particularly scary that someone who would be so close to being president is not aware of that.

So, lets get it done.

¡ A votar Latino !

It seems that Hugo Chavez is finding out that putting all your eggs in one basket is not a good idea after all.

With crude reaching $145 a barrel this year, the leftist leader has been able to pour billions into social programs at home and lavish the rest abroad, sending subsidized oil from Nicaragua to New York – including up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba, discounted by as much as 40 percent – and making pledges to invest in infrastructure, refineries, and agricultural programs everywhere in between.

Now that lower prices are a new norm, at $71.85 a barrel Friday, the clout such largess has earned him could begin to wane. Commodities prices overall are slipping, generating new concern in a region heavily vested in exports of soy, copper, and crude. But it is Chávez who could stand the most to lose: a new report from Deutsche Bank says that Venezuela needs prices to stay at $95 a barrel in order to balance its budget.

Coupled with production declines, Chávez's days as the ultimate benefactor could be coming to a close.

Emphasis added.  Like many American investors, Chavez has found out the hard way that "what the market giveth, the market taketh away."

Go read "Why I Blog," by Andrew Sullivan - it's a good read!