City of Hope: What Osama’s Death—and Obama’s Triumph—Mean for New York

The towers were down and there were warplanes screeching over Manhattan. Thousands were dead in a smoking ruin that looked like a scene from another war in another city in another time. But it was here and it was now, and it was said on the streets and in private conversations that we would never be the same. Irony was dead, it was proclaimed. Mindless media banter would give way to a new seriousness of purpose. Personal aggrandizement, the pursuit of shallow celebrity or hollow riches or both, now looked worse than a mere exercise in vanity. Now it was shameful.

By Terry Golway. Please continue reading the original article

President Obama Wants Education Changes Including Helping Latino Youth

President Obama is working hard to fix the education system in the United States. In contrast with previous leaders of America, Obama is not contemplating to just make small changes, he wants to go into every aspect of education in America and revamp the entire system from the top to the bottom.

One important issue President Obama is looking to address is the lack of attention given to Latino students who do not speak the language well.

The present education system requires everyone to pass state tests on English composition and literature at levels higher than they are capable of. Many students have not been in the United States very long and are not capable of passing these tests for obvious reasons. They are still held to the same standards as those who have spent their entire lives in the USA and English has been their first language since first learning to speak. These students are at a great disadvantage with the current system.

One thing that makes the situation more difficult is that many ESL  students only speak English at school. The great majority go home to a household where English is rarely spoken.

It is a fact that in the United States, the Latino population is constantly growing and so is the percentage of Latino students in American public schools. Right now, more than twenty percent of students in the public school system are Latino.

Arne Duncan, the Education Secretary, said that Latino and other ESL “students face real and growing challenges that we have to address.” He went on to say that barely fifty percent of those students graduate high school at the age they are expected to and that only one in eight make it through four years of college. The statistics are not much better when city and community colleges are factored in.

Obama is looking to change this situation. He wants to revamp the education system in order to make sure that every single child has a fair chance to succeed.

The changes President Obama is contemplating to implement are from the bottom up. He wants to improve the entire educational system. He recognizes the United States must lead the world in education and focusing on the Latino population is very important to accomplish that goal.

Weekly Address President Obama Says the Mission in Libya is Succeeding

In his weekly address, President Obama talks about the military mission in Libya and the progress that has been made. He praises the bravery of our men and women in uniform.

“Every American can be proud of the lives we’ve saved in Libya and of the service of our men and women in uniform who once again have stood up for our interests and our ideals. And people in Libya and around the world are seeing that the United States of America stands with those who hope for a future where they can determine their own destiny”.

In Places Like Arizona, Young Latinos Feel Unwelcome

United We Win is a campaign about the American future. We have one main message = Latino issues are American issues, and American issues are Latino issues.

Right now, many young Latinos don’t feel fully part of America. In places like Arizona, young Latinos feel unwelcome, and across the country, young Latinos have felt the brunt of job loss, reduced educational access, and the general state of the country. And while the rest of America is experiencing that as well, the rest of America had a hard time understanding why American Latinos were upset about SB 1070. Racial profiling – and the politics of race-baiting – affects everyone, though; it affects the young and the old, and it betrays the progress we’ve made as Americans.

United We Win is about young people claiming our role as the next Greatest Generation. United We Win asks us to unite – white, black, and brown – to build a legacy for ourselves. Let’s live our new patriotism – after all, we’re all part of the same America, and united will we win.

The Latino Youth Vote

Nearly one quarter of the U.S. population is under 18 years old and just about 13% of the population is 65 years or older.

A recent study out of the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of voters ages 18-29 identifying as Democrats with a 62 percent total in 2009, while those identifying as Republicans the percentage was 40.

The latest census data present a particularly acute challenge for the Republican Party: the dramatic growth of the nation’s Hispanic population over the past 10 years.

A recent poll out of California found an uphill battle for Republicans hoping to make inroads with Latinos, the largest and fastest growing minority in the United States.

The survey, conducted by a GOP pollster and consultant, found that young Latino voters and latinos in general, hold “widely negative” views about the Republican party. Envisioned as a way to “begin the process of understanding both the challenges as well as the opportunities for future Republican candidates in gaining a greater share of the Latino vote,” the poll found Hispanic voters tend to view GOP candidates as overly conservative and distrust Republican views on immigration.

While California is unlikely to play a defining role in the 2012 elections, the poll could have implications for states like Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, where Hispanics have increasing political influence.

Health Reform: A Phone Call from the President

Because of the Affordable Care Act, young adults can stay on their parent’s health insurance plan up to the age of 26. This and other parts of the law are making a difference in the lives of millions of Americans like Erick Moberg.

Latino Voter Impact On The 2010 Election

The latino vote had a great impact on the 2010 Midterm Elections. Their
vote made a huge difference difference in the outcome of numerous
Senatorial and Gubernatorial races across the country. In states like California,
Colorado, Florida and Nevada, the Latino vote made the critical difference in
the outcome of several candidates’ close races, demonstrating the importance
of the Latino vote to Republican and Democrat candidates alike. The following
are some of the key observations regarding outcomes determined by the Latino
vote in 2010. Latinos Delivered California Democratic Candidates Back to Office.

LATINO VOTE FOR CA GOVERNOR
Jerry Brown: 86%
Meg Whitman: 13%
Latino share of voters: 18%
Latino contribution to Brown: +13.1

LATINO VOTE FOR CA SENATE
Barbara Boxer: 86%
Carly Fiorina: 14%
Latino share of voters: 18%
Latino contribution to Boxer: +10.1

Source: Latino Decisions Nevada election eve poll. Poll was co-sponsored with the
National Council of La Raza, SEIU, and America’s Voice.

Latinos Voters Saved Harry Reid in Nevada

LATINO VOTE FOR NV SENATE
Harry Reid: 90%
Sharron Angle: 8%
Latino share of voters: 12%.
Latino contribution to Reid: +9.8

According to the Washington Post, 50% of Latino voters took advantage of early
voting opportunities in Nevada. This represents a 13% increase since the last
midterm election. One quarter of Nevadans are Latino, many are children, too
young to vote, or immigrants who have yet to become citizens. 12% of all of
the registered voters in Nevada are Latino. And yet Latinos made up 16% of
voters taking part in this election. In other words, Latinos rejected Sharon Angle’s
racist ads, showed up in record numbers, and outperformed other voters when it
counted.

Sharon Angle did herself no favors with Latinos. Reid’s turnout efforts
focused strongly on the Hispanic community, a key swing demographic
in Nevada elections. Early polling suggested Hispanics wouldn’t turn
out because of frustration with the economy and a lack of movement on
immigration reform. A Republican operative even aired an ad explicitly
telling Hispanics not to vote.

That, coupled with Angle’s inflammatory ads using images of Hispanic
youth dressed as gang members drove some Hispanic voters to

the polls.That was the final straw,” said Gilberto Ramirez, a Reno concrete worker
who recently obtained his citizenship and voted for the first time. He told
the Las Vegas Review-Journal “Sharon Angle was depicting me as a gang
member. I served seven years in the Marine Corps.”

The Dream Act

The Senate crashed the dream of hundreds of thousands of American’s brightest, most patriotic youth.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Forty-one predominantly Republican senators voted against a bill which would have provided young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents a path to legalization by pursuing a college education or serving in the U.S. armed forces. Fifty-five senators voted in the affirmative. In an incredibly disappointing vote, a minority of Senators prevented the Senate from doing what most Americans understand is best for the country. Voto Latino, the nation’s leading non-profit, non-partisan Latino youth civic engagement organization, has been at the forefront of youth activism on behalf of the DREAM Act.

“It is a truly sad day when a minority of obstructionist senators would choose to block a bill that has tremendous long-term benefits to our nation,” says Voto Latino Executive Director Maria Teresa Kumar. “Sacrificing the dreams of hundreds of thousands of our brightest youth for shortsighted political gains flies against America’s guiding principles and values. The Latino community will not forget those political leaders who today chose to obstruct progress for personal gain.”

So-called “moderate” Republicans, including Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), and George Voinovich (R-OH) voted against the DREAM Act. They were joined by a handful of Democrats: Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT), Mark Pryor (D-AK), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Ben Nelson (D-NE), and Jon Tester (D-MT). Only three Republicans voted in favor of the bill. After the vote, Univision anchor Jorge Ramos posited the question of how Republicans will be able to ask Latinos to vote for them after blocking the DREAM Act.

Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced the DREAM Act would raise over $2 billion in revenue for the U.S. and cut the deficit by over $1 billion over the next ten years, landing the legislation even more support among moderates in Congress. Additionally, several members of President Obama’s cabinet, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, have recently come out in support of the DREAM Act.

The Obama Generation, Revisited

Not everyone at President Obama’s healthcare rally at the University of Maryland on September 17 was as “fired up and ready to go” as he was. There were frat boys clowning around, students excited to see a president–any president–young men in matching T-shirts who were there solely because of their sheet metal workers union and one antiabortion activist with remarkable lungs. But it’s safe to say that on that drizzly day, the Comcast Center was packed with 12,000 mostly young people. Please continue reading the original article…

Inauguration of Barack Obama

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C., marked the commencement of the four-year term of Barack Obama as President and Joseph R. Biden as Vice President. Based on the combined attendance numbers, television viewership and Internet traffic, it was among the most observed events ever by the global audience.

“A New Birth of Freedom”, a phrase from the Gettysburg Address, served as the inaugural theme to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth year of Abraham Lincoln. In his speeches to the crowds, Obama referred to ideals expressed by Lincoln about renewal, continuity and national unity. Obama mentioned these ideals in his speech to stress the need for shared sacrifice and a new sense of responsibility to answer America’s challenges at home and abroad.

Obama and others paid homage to Lincoln in the form of tributes and references during several of the events, starting with a commemorative train tour from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. on January 17, 2009. The inaugural events held in Washington, D.C. from January 18 to January 21, 2009 included concerts, a national day of community service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the swearing-in ceremony, luncheon and parade, inaugural balls, and the interfaith inaugural prayer service. The presidential oath as administered to Obama during his swearing-in ceremony on January 20 strayed slightly from the oath of office prescribed in the United States Constitution, which led to its re‑administration the next evening.

In addition to a larger than usual celebrity attendance, the Presidential Inaugural Committee increased its outreach to ordinary citizens to encourage greater participation in inaugural events compared with participation in recent past inaugurations. For the first time, the committee opened the entire length of the National Mall as the public viewing area for the swearing-in ceremony, breaking with the tradition of past inaugurations. Selected Americancitizens participated in the train tour and other inaugural events, and a philanthropist organized a People’s Inaugural Ball for disadvantaged people who otherwise would be unable to afford to attend the inaugural festivities. Among the celebrations for the inauguration, the committee hosted a first-ever Neighborhood Inaugural Ball with free or affordable tickets for ordinary citizens.