Tag Archives: joaquin castro

The Winner of Tuesdays Debate…

Posted on July 31, 2019 | Comments Off on The Winner of Tuesdays Debate…

I couldn’t help but think the same thing, Congressman!

As far as debate performance went, I thought Senator Warren did a great job, especially of defending herself from the mod(erate) squad that was relentless in attacking her and Senator Sanders’ platforms. It’s good to know that she’ll be able to handle similar attacks from the right from Joe Biden in the future.

Bernie Sanders reminded me why I was such a fan of his in 2016.

“I wrote the damn bill!”

Buttigieg, likewise, did OK. While I’m not a fan of the whole soldier thing, I agree with him that the right is going to paint Dems as socialist, open borders, private insurance hating Antifa terrorists no matter where Dems fall on the issues. So, let’s put out a platform promote it and defend it.

Beto was Beto; always trying to be the great white hope.

The rest didn’t leave an impression on me, although, Marianne Williamson said plenty of things that needed to be said on racism and Washington, DC corruption.

Regarding health care, the debate is becoming about keeping private insurance in a “universal” plan since people who can afford insurance don’t want to lose what they have. And while government jobs don’t offer the best insurance choices, some companies do offer some pretty good ones. Let’s remember that platforms are platforms. Let’s remember Obama promised comprehensive immigration reform in the first year of term one and then ignored it completely. So, let’s not get all nasty here because it also takes political capital and using it well to get things done. The key, in this case, is to increase access to the uninsured while lowering prices and ending insurance company corruption. Eyes on the prize!

On immigration, it was Warren who stayed strong on the issue of decriminalizing border crossing, while the others seemed to want to keep the “criminal” designation alive for whatever reason. The mod squad put the blame on Trump, but even Democrats have warehoused immigrant families and deported millions without due process because of this designation. So, it’s better to get rid of it. Bernie came close until he mentioned the idea of more immigration judges. Although I understand his sentiment regarding backlogs in the entire system, the comment reminded me of Hillary Clinton’s “deport the kids” attitude of 2014. And in these debates, sound bytes matter.

As much as people talk about “Russia,” Democrats need to be reminded that US meddling in Latin American elections is still a thing. And, if we want to talk about “root causes” of migration, we may need to start with this fact.

Day 2 of Who Gets Voted Off the Island is today. As always, I’m rooting for Julian Castro. He’s only two spaces away from Joe Biden, so I hope he lands some chingazos (political ones, of course) tonight.

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Joaquin Castro Stays Out of US Senate Race

Posted on May 2, 2019 | Comments Off on Joaquin Castro Stays Out of US Senate Race

I would have loved to see The Congressman run for Senate to take out Cornyn; however, I really don’t want to lose his seniority and leadership potential in the US House. So, Joaquin stays home and that is fine by me.

Left to carry the mantle of the establishment Dems is MJ Hegar, who has the support of Chuck Schumer and Emily’s List; although, why Texans would want to listen to Schumer is beyond me, but he holds the wallet that would go to this race. Of course, polling will decide if money actually comes to Texas.

The progressive in the race is Sema Hernandez, who created a South Texas problem for Beto O’Rourke. Sure, Beto earned the majority of votes in November down in South Texas, but turnout should have been better. If Hegar is the nominee, is she willing to work twice as hard as Beto for South Texas? It’s definitely something we’ll all be looking at. Let’s face it, those who follow congressional politics may know who the leading candidate is, but Texas is a big state, especially south of the Nueces River.

Frankly, after seeing how the establishment has treated candidates like Lupe Valdez (2018), Julian Castro (2020), and even Joaquin in making the announcement that he wasn’t running, I don’t get the warm and fuzzies for 2020 and I’m pretty sure Texas Mexicans aren’t feeling it, either. Hell, some lib-labs still question the actions of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and other women of color. Make me feel warm and fuzzy about the issues that are important to me and my friends and maybe we can talk. For now, I’m skeptical of anything the establishment Dems are offering.

Happy candidate hunting!

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Posted in Cultura, DC Promo

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Julian Castro Begins 2020 Campaign From SAs West Side

Posted on January 14, 2019 | Comments Off on Julian Castro Begins 2020 Campaign From SAs West Side

Thousands of supporters were welcomed by live mariachi music and were sent off with Selena’s music over the loudspeakers at a powerful kick-off for the  presidential campaign of Texas son and former Obama HUD Secretary Julian Castro.

In making his announcement, Castro listed a progressive platform which included Medicare for All, Green New Deal, fixing the immigration system (no wall and yes to family reunification), jobs creation, supporting early education and workforce education, justice/bail reform, and equality and equity. Offering the exact opposite of Trump and the Republicans, Castro set a high bar for the rest of the coming field of Democrats.

As a Texas Mexican, along with many fellow Texas Mexicans, I can say we’ve been waiting a long time for a Chicano candidate with South Texas roots. Given his appointment to the Obama administration and his trajectory in politics, I didn’t know what to expect from his announcement, but I’m glad that, thus far, he seems to be running on his own platform and not one created for him by some moderate think tank.

That said, there is no doubt he will have naysayers; however, those saying he’s too young/too inexperienced have now switched gears to finger pointing on one  particular thing Castro was in charge of while he was running President Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development–dismissing a housing lawsuit against the City of Dallas. One must ask these particular naysayers, though:  Where does the buck stop in the Obama administration?

One other issue that will get some attention is where Castro lands on the issue of the PROMESA bill, which created a US-appointed and unelected oversight board for Puerto Rico, a process to restructure debt (bankruptcy) in Puerto Rico, and placed austerity measures on Puerto Rico, thus, cutting its public service budget. With the US in charge of this, public services could easily be privatized, while its budget would be reallocated to pay debt. After a destructive hurricane, the future of Puerto Rico is at stake, and those more interested in protecting creditors and creating wealth for millionaires, rather than protecting and serving the people, could only make things worse.

NOTE:  Lots of Democrats were on their way to Puerto Rico to discuss the latest on this, while also catching a show by PROMESA supporter, Lin-Manuel Miranda. I believe Julian Castro is included on the guest list and his brother, Congressman Joaquin Castro voted for PROMESA, despite opposition from the people of Puerto Rico and his colleague Congressman Luis Gutierrez (Puerto Rican).

Offering up such a progressive campaign platform, Castro shouldn’t be promising great things for America, while sticking a fork in Puerto Rico’s future. I hope that Castro (both of them) will come to their senses on Puerto Rico and call for reform of PROMESA.

Otherwise, Julian has the best platform I’ve seen from a candidate at this level in a long time. His speech delivery and the energy he received in return is something I hadn’t seen in a long time. I’ve been a fan of the Castros and I identify with their struggle, as do many Chicanos. For all candidates, though, if you run on struggle, it still must match up with policies.

As attacks on Julian Castro will escalate, we will be hearing more about other 2020 prospects. Whether it’s Kamala Harris’ jailing of poor moms because of their kid’s truancy; Klobuchar’s selling out on border wall; Joe Biden being, well,  Joe Biden; and the list will go on, Democrats will get to choose among candidates who have some bad marks. I just want to say ahead of time that criticism should not be thrown only at Julian Castro.

Thus far, given the names announced and talked about, and consideration of bad/good points of these prospects, Julian Castro remains at the top of my list. For Castro, wins in Nevada, California, and Texas would be huge, and my friends in those states are already excited about him.

Still, 2019 is just as important and we must vote in local elections, too.

 

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Posted in 2019, Accion, DC Promo, Democratic Stuff, Elections, Local Politica, Media, Sensible Immigration Reform

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Why Doesn’t Bernie Have His Own Hispanic Millionaire Bundler?

Posted on September 1, 2015 | Comments Off on Why Doesn’t Bernie Have His Own Hispanic Millionaire Bundler?

bernieRecently, Joaquin Castro called out Bernie Sanders’ Hispanic outreach. OK, I guess that’s fair. Then again, some of us believe that Bernie Sanders’ campaign speaks to everyone and that you don’t need to be holding a Chipotle burrito to say you support us.

Castro also called out Bernie Sanders for not going down to South Texas. Well, it’s not Bernie’s fault that he doesn’t have the support of a South Texas Hispanic millionaire bundler.

McAllen developer Alonzo Cantu once said:  “To me, there’s two things that will keep us from being ignored,” he said. “Money and votes. I think we’ve shown we can raise money. That will get us attention, or at least get us a seat at the table, get us in the room.”

On August 7, Cantu held a $2700 a plate fundraiser for Hillary at his mansion. No public events–or actual Hispanic outreach–were held.

And, here, Bernie wants to serve everyone–even those of us with nothing to give–by filling large venues without requiring $2700.

When told that Sanders had attracted huge crowds in Dallas and Houston:

Castro reportedly clarified that he was referring to Texas’ predominantly Latino communities.

Apparently, Dallas and Houston just aren’t Latino enough? I attended the Houston event, and I’d bet the money in my pockets versus the money in Cantu’s pockets that there were way, way more Hispanics at the Houston event than at Cantu’s fundraiser for Hillary.

Or, I can get a little more technical:  Sanders has NOT called for the wholesale deportation of Central American children, like Hillary has and has defended. If either of the Castros wants to defend this, then I’m listening, because Hillary keeps botching up that issue alone.

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Boycotting Buc-ees

Posted on March 11, 2014 | 2 comments

I guess there’s a movement going on now that Congressman Joaquin Castro made it known that Buc-ees is no longer on his list of stopping points on the way to anywhere in Texas.

I can’t blame him. When a lovable looking beaver is pictured with the guy who gets off on dehumanizing immigrants, well, there’s no doubt that those big white beaver teeth are now tainted with the hatred of Dan Patrick and other like-minded bigots.

The Buc-ees corporation is quick to point out that the owners are the Patrick endorsers and not the corporation itself. I guess, in this case, corporations aren’t people? Anyway…

[Update:  If the corporation isn’t supporting him, how does the use of the beaver not say “corporate endorsement”?]

The bottom line is that when the Texas Farm Bureau has something to say in defense of agricultural workers who are usually undocumented, then it is safe to say that Dan Patrick is way off the mark on this issue; and, if anything, he isn’t really supportive of Texas agriculture.

Kudos to the Congressman for standing up against the immigrant bashers. And kudos to all those other Texas elected officials who have joined the chorus, too.

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Posted in Democratic Stuff, Elections, Local Business, Republinuttiness, Sensible Immigration Reform

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