Arpaio has
abused his office with politically motivated
investigations
Representative Bart Stupak on
March 21, the day of the health care vote, with a copy
of President Obama’s executive order banning the use of
federal funds to pay for abortions.
For 20 Years, Ed Pastor has been
Masquerading as a U.S. Congressman
PHOENIX
(By
Jon
Garrido, The Jon Garrido Network)
April 14, 2010
―
The late great Speaker of the United
States House of Representatives "Tip"
O'Neil,
an extraordinaire power broker,
once declared — "All politics is local."
Congressman
O'Neill viewed the role of government as
intervening to cure social ills.
The work by Thomas
E. Mann in “Unsafe at Any Margin”
underscores that truism. Mann
asserts the “major conclusion is
congressional elections are local,
not national, events…” Mann argues
elections are candidate-centered
phenomena and it is the individual
characteristics of the candidate as
perceived by the voter that are the key
determinants in deciding congressional
elections.
Congressman
O'Neill was a mastermind of using his
influence not only in the lower chamber
of the House of Representatives in
Washington D.C. but more so, in local
politics back home
in Boston,
Massachusetts.
One
telephone call from
"Tip" O'Neill to any elected official
and/or friend back in Boston would bring
immediate action to honor the
congressman's request. Much of this
influence came from an army of political
supporters ready to vote for whatever
issue or candidate O'Neill wanted to
support back
in Boston.
O'Neill used the phrase "All politics is
local" to attribute the key to longevity
in office is to remain in good graces of
home town constituents primarily
providing jobs to keep the
Boston economy humming along by being
the gatekeeper using federal funds to
fund projects back home.
O'Neill by the power he exerted in the
U.S. House of Representatives bringing
home pork (earmarks) to Boston practiced
what he preached that enabled O'Neill to
be a prime mover with everything that
happened in Boston, Massachusetts.
The biggest
federal earmark ever obtained by a
congressman or senator was funding
downtown Boston's
$14.6 billion
Big Dig's
public works project. The
legendary Democrat from North Cambridge
stoked it with federal dollars, spurred
by his belief it was a transportation
necessity and an economic boost and of
course
―
created jobs and prospered Boston's
economy.
For nearly 34 years, Congressman Tip
O'Neil was the number 1 influential
member
of 435 members of the House of
Representatives,
not only in Washington D.C. but also back home in Boston, Massachusetts.
At the opposite end of the spectrum,
polar opposite of Congressman O'Neill
with absolutely no influence and
understanding of back home politics is
Congressman Ed Pastor, first elected to
Congress in 1991 from Arizona's
Congressional District 4.
With a congressional district population
of 67% Hispanic including a significant
portion being undocumented, f
or
the past nineteen (19) years,
immigration has been the primary issue
in Congressional District 4 located in
central west Phoenix, Arizona,
constituting a major portion of Maricopa
County.
One year later in 1992, Joe Arpaio was
elected Maricopa County Sheriff and was
re-elected in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.
A parallel track
exists for both men starting their
public careers nearly the same year with
immigration being a significant issue
for both men but with profound opposite
views. One man has made immigration the
centerpiece of his office and
the other man has chosen to be silent on
immigration.
Each man is the antithesis of the other.
Joe Arpaio serves
as sheriff of Maricopa County
and claims to be the "Toughest Sheriff
in America" primarily because of his use
of arresting persons with a "brown face"
which has
had tremendous success for Arpaio using immigration as an issue to
promote the beliefs of his political
base of white conservative Republicans
at the expense of everyone with a brown
face in Maricopa County
— namely Hispanics.
Joe Arpaio uses a
standard traditional method of election to advocate
a certain belief and persons who endorse
or support said belief, vote for Arpaio
to support and achieve the desired result.
Not so with Ed
Pastor, who has no belief or strategy
but gets re-elected simply because there is no
other alternative candidate to select.
Pastor wins by default.
The definition of a U.S. Congressman is
to serve the constituents of his
congressional district but
Ed Pastor has
chosen to be silent as a extremely
passive participant in the number one
issue in District 4 neglecting his
responsibility as an advocate for the
human rights of Hispanics.
Pastor should have made immigration a
priority but in the 19 years as a
congressman, representing a primarily
Hispanic district, Pastor is silent to
immigration.
Martin Luther King Jr., accurately
describes this characteristic trait: "One who
silent is just as guilty as the one who
perpetrates it."
Pastor is the only
one in Phoenix, Arizona, who does not
understand the immigration issue
In October, 2007, Arizona State
University (ASU) held a conference
"Immigration and the Public Sector
Public Official" that brought National
immigration experts and academic leaders
to Phoenix for a national conference to
share research, insight and address
questions on the impact of immigration
and immigration policies on people
working in the public sector.
On Channel 8's Horizonte's Jose Cardenas
talked to Dr. Catherine Eden, director
of the ASU Bob Ramsey Executive
Education Center, about the conference
and how people working in this specific
area are dealing with this issue.
Jose Cardenas: "The ongoing immigration
issue impacts government at the state,
local, and federal levels. Last week,
public leaders attended an ASU
conference called immigration and the
public sector, your world is changing.
How do you respond? It was an
opportunity for people facing daily
decisions involving immigration to talk
about their experiences and hear experts
share their research on the impact of
the issue and how they respond in their
local communities. How did the program
come about."
Catherine Eden: "Well, my job is the
school public affairs and what is called
executive education. Public
administrators, I work with them and try
to figure out what it is they need.
Often times it's ethics training,
leadership, organizational management.
What are the hottest issues? The biggest
issue they keep saying to me is
immigration immigration.
If immigration in
the biggest issue in Phoenix, Arizona,
then why has United States Congressman
Ed Pastor, who represents a congressional
district inhabited primarily by
Hispanics, not addressed this issue?
Pastor does
sponsor citizenship classes but these
classes are superfluous in comparison to
the agony of a loved one or friend being
caught in one of Joe Arpaio's
immigration sweeps.
Pastor has done
nothing to address police racial
profiling, immigration sweep
s,
failure to improve jails' medical,
mental health conditions, nor eliminate
intimidation showered on undocumented
and American Hispanics caught in the web
of a 287(g) sweep. ICE has now
eliminated supporting Arpaio's use of
287 (g) but Arpaio has simply replaced
287 (g) with Arizona approved
immigration enforcement.
The record speaks for itself: Ed Pastor
shows little interest in any issue of
District 4
―
not only immigration but
Pastor has no interest in any of the
issues important to Americans and
specifically, the constituents of
District 4.
Congressman Ed Pastor should be leading
the fight to bring to an end
discrimination showered on Phoenix
Hispanics and should have a prime role
in advocacy for Hispanics but Ed
Pastor is nowhere to be found. With 66%
of District 4 being Hispanic,
Congressman Ed Pastor should be a leader
in all Hispanic issues particularly,
national Comprehensive Immigration
Reform in the U.S. Congress, but sadly,
he is not.
In fact, Congressman Ed Pastor is not a
leader in Washington in any issue much
less Hispanic issues.
One look at local daily newspaper
headlines or watching local nightly
television news identifies the major
divisive issue of Congressional District
4 is immigration and all its aspects.
Clearly, Congressional District 4 is an
Hispanic district.
An ideal representative in Washington
would be one who had the best interests
of his constituents as his mandate and
direct his efforts to serve the best
interests of his constituents.
Police racial profiling is a federal
violation. The priority for the
constituents of District 4 is to end
selective police enforcement directed by
Sheriff Joe Arpaio at Hispanics.
It would have been in the best interest
of District 4 constituents if
Congressman Ed Pastor would have asked
the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate any wrong doing by the
Maricopa Sheriff Department and
specifically, in the county jail
― but Pastor has not!
Congressman Ed Pastor should also have
requested the U.S. House of
Representatives Judiciary Committee to
impose oversight and have hearings on
the conduct of the Maricopa County
Sheriff including all operations and
take appropriate action if wrong doing
was found
―
but Pastor has not!
There are presently some
congressional investigations ongoing but
Pastor has no role in any of these.
Using the "Tip" O'Neil handbook to trade
votes for any request
There are
obviously many congressmen in Washington
who understand the importance of their
vote to support issues or to vote to
approve federal legislation.
With the recent
approval of Health Care Reform, votes
became a trading commodity of value and
no one had more success than
Congressman Stupak's playbook on trading
his vote for Obama's Executive Order
stating no funds would be used for
abortion was central to negotiating a
compromise with the Obama administration
in passing the health care bill in
March.
The decision to have the CHC vote "yes" on
Health Care Reform knocked down another
potential roadblock to reaching
the necessary 216
votes for final passage,
outside of steep political concerns
about the bill's impact on the midterm
elections.
At the very least, the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus should have traded their
votes for Immigration Reform
―
but they did
not.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who rates
Immigration Reform as the highest
priority in the USA had originally
threaten to withhold support for Health
Care Reform because of provisions the
Senate added restricting the undocumented
from using their own money to access the
insurance exchanges that would be
established by the proposed legislation.
Illinois Democrat
Luis Gutierrez says it's scandalous this
Congress has done nothing on immigration
and President Obama has made things
worse.
Representative
Gutierrez
said, "This administration of Barack
Obama will exceed the number of family
separations and deportations than even
at the height of George Bush, which is
saying a lot. Understand the fear and
the devastation that are going on. You
know, it needs to get taken care of.
It's the plight of some 12 million
undocumented immigrants that busloads of
their supporters came to Washington on
March 21 to change."
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
did take a page from Congressman
Stupak's play book trading his
opposition to abortion to obtain his
vote for passage of Health Care Reform,
but the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
traded their votes not for Immigration
Reform but for
Puerto Rico's residents $1
billion
to have access to a state insurance
exchange and
$6.3 billion
for Medicaid spending in Puerto Rico.
Obviously,
Immigration Reform is not a priority for
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Immigration Reform should be the highest
Hispanic priority in the USA but other
than Congressman Gutierrez, there is no
national advocacy. It would have been
much better if the CHC would have
traded their votes for Obama's
assurance Immigration Reform would
follow Health Care Reform.
Chairperson Congresswoman Nydia
Velazquez (D-N.Y.), with more than 20
CHC members behind her, told reporters
the broader impact of the Health Care
legislation overrode the other concerns.
She said 8.8 million Hispanics would
gain insurance coverage in the
legislation, a "historic opportunity"
not to be missed.
Nydia Velazquez obviously indifferent to
Immigration Reform and accepting
insurance exchanges for Puerto Ricans by
the White House, eagerly accepted the
provisions for Puerto Ricans and in
doing so, effectively killed Immigration
Reform in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Health Care Reform Leaves Out
Undocumented
As Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, an
American Puerto Rican successfully
traded the votes of the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus to obtain inclusion of
Puerto Ricans, where was Ed Pastor in
fighting for health coverage for the
undocumented?
Restricting undocumented immigrants from
using their own money to access the
insurance exchanges that would be
established by the proposed legislation
were explicitly excluded from the
legislation. The question of whether to
extend coverage to undocumented
immigrants was so politically
contentious, under the approved
legislation, they will not even be able
to buy health insurance in the newly
created purchasing pools called
exchanges if they pay entirely out of
their own pocket.
Ed Pastor Did Not Stand
to End Iraq War
Mr. Pastor chooses
to be silent on immigration but his
modus operati (MO) is not unique
to immigration for on all issues of
vital importance, Mr. Pastor is silent!
On February 17,
2007, I wrote the following editorial:
"Ed Pastor Did Not Stand to End Iraq War."
There are 435 members of the House of
Representatives. Of the 435 Congressman
of the House of Representatives, only
one member chose not to debate the war
in Iraq.
Congressman Ed Pastor of Arizona sat on
his hands and did not stand in the well
of the House to debate the issue
everyone in America was discussing where
two or more were gathered.
The congressman failed to do his duty.
The congressman failed to do his duty to
stand up in the well of the House and
debate to bring Americans home from the
war in Iraq or support the George Bush
surge to send more troops to Iraq. The
congressman sat silent on his hands.
Some have said silence is betrayal.
Residents of Arizona District 4 need
visible representation in the House of
Representatives. Ed Pastor has served
for 19 years and his silence in the well
of the House of Representatives and his
modus operati for 19 years as always
been the same — silence and invisible.
Martin Luther King, Jr., when he spoke
out against the Vietnam War, said,
"There comes a time when silence is
betrayal." And so it is.
Pastor as the only U.S. Congressman
who did not think it important enough to
stand and debate ending the Iraq war,
much less would be to have Pastor take a
position on immigration to help
the undocumented who along with friends and
family make up a majority in
Congressional District 4 which makes
District 4 a "safe district" on
immigration advocacy. In 19 years
in Congress, Pastor has not sponsored
one major piece of legislation — not
one!
There can only be three reasons why:
1. He approves of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's
use of immigration sweeps to arrest
undocumented.
2. He sees no
wrong in racial profiling.
3. He has no knowledge of what is
happening in Phoenix, Arizona
With any one of the three items above,
Congressman Ed Pastor is derelict in the
representing the interests of his
constituents.
Leaders are elected to be visionary and
advocate for the rights of constituents.
Not once in 19 years has Ed Pastor
criticized the tyranny of Joe Arpaio.
Not once! There has never been a request
from Congressman Pastor for the U.S.
Department of Justice to have the U.S.
Attorney for Arizona investigate Joe
Arpaio, nor any request for any congressional
oversight investigation of Arpaio nor
any request to the White House for
assistance.
Congressman
O'Neill was a mastermind of effective
arm twisting to obtain favorable results
in Boston.
There are many like O'Neill back in
Washington but Pastor is not one. In
fact, Pastor's modus operandi is not to
take a leadership role either in
Washington or Phoenix.
The prime example of this is the primary
issue in the 4th Congressional District
of Arizona — immigration and
particularly its impact on Hispanics
residing in the District.
Pastor lives in a "safe" district and
could be a very vocal advocate on Immigration
Reform in Washington as well as
Phoenix but Pastor evidently does not
choose to make immigration a priority
issue in his District.
Obama and Secretary of
Homeland Security Janet Napolitano have
surpassed former President Bush's policy
of reducing the Hispanic population in
the United States using U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Obama's repeated assurances ICE would
focus on dangerous criminals and not on
workers and families is not true.
In a Feb. 22 memo, James M.
Chaparro, head of ICE detention
and removal operations, wrote, despite record
deportations of criminals, the
overall number of removals was
down. While ICE was on pace to
achieve "the Agency goal of
150,000 criminal alien removals"
for the year ending Sept. 30,
total deportations were set to
barely top 310,000, "well
under the Agency's goal of
400,000," and nearly 20 percent
behind last year's total of
387,000, he wrote.
To meet the ICE goal of 400,000, ICE has
now instructed ICE agents across the
United States to arrest all undocumented
working in car washes, McDonald's,
standing at Home Depot and other places
where the undocumented are working or
looking for a job.
Rather than being a leader in
Washington, Pastor simply follows the
herd.
On December 7, 2004, Ed Pastor voted yes
to authorize funding to build ICE
detention centers to hold the undocumented
without rights specifically habeas
corpus included in
the United States Constitution.
Hispanic News calls for Ed Pastor to
retire
The best thing for the constituents of
District 4 is for Congressman Ed Pastor
to retire to provide an opportunity for
someone to become a strong advocate for
Congressional District 4 Hispanics.
Mr. Pastor's silence is betrayal. He
should not run for re-election. We should look for another. Someone who would
stand in the well of the United States House of Representatives and debate with
great oratory the issues facing the Nation. The constituents of Arizona
Congressional District 4 deserve nothing less.
Regarding Ed Pastor
―
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but
where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. In the end, we will
remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Regarding Joe Arpaio
―
"There may be tyrants and murderers, and for
a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end,
they always fall. Always."
Mahatma K. Gandhi.
