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"The Judas Kiss"
According to the
account given in the
Gospel of John,
Judas carried the
disciples' money bag
and betrayed Jesus
for a bribe of
"thirty pieces of
silver" by
identifying him with
a kiss — "the kiss
of Judas"— to
arresting soldiers
of the High Priest
Caiaphas, who then
turned Jesus over to
Pontius Pilate's
soldiers.
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The Congressional
Hispanic Caucus
should be re-named
The Congressional
Puerto Rican Caucus
Xavier Becerra
(CA-31)
Nydia Velázquez
(NY-12)
Charles A. Gonzalez
(TX-20)
John Salazar (CO-3)
Ruben Hinojosa
(TX-15)
Joe Baca (CA-43)
Dennis Cardoza
(CA-18)
Jim Costa (CA-20)
Henry Cuellar
(TX-28)
Raúl M. Grijalva
(AZ-07)
Luis V. Gutierrez
(IL-04)
Ben Ray Luján
(NM-03)
Robert Menendez (NJ)
Grace Flores
Napolitano (CA-38)
Solomon P. Ortiz
(TX-27)
Ed Pastor (AZ-04)
Pedro Pierluisi (PR)
Silvestre Reyes
(TX-16)
Ciro D. Rodriguez
(TX-23)
Lucille
Roybal-Allard
(CA-34)
Gregorio Sablan (MP)
Linda Sanchez
(CA-39)
José Serrano (NY-16)
Albio Sires (NJ-13) |
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We should not vote for
re-election in November of Mexican American members of Congress who
supported trading their votes for Puerto Rico rather than for a
commitment from President Obama for Immigration Reform this year.
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The Puerto Ricans Kill
Immigration Reform for Thirty Pieces of Silver
A prime opportunity to obtain Immigration Reform commitment from
Obama squandered for thirty pieces of silver
PHOENIX
(By
Jon
Garrido, The Jon Garrido Network)
April 15, 2010
― There are
obviously many congressmen in Washington
who understand the importance of their
role 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 was more astute than
Congressman Bart Stupak from Michigan.
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
Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
also traded their votes to
support Health Care Reform but did so at the
expense of Immigration Reform.
The
priority requirement for the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus is to care
for the needs of Puerto Ricans
―
not
Mexican Americans.
This mandate comes
from the leadership of
Congressional
Hispanic Caucus chairperson,
Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, a
Puerto Rican American politician.
The Obama White
House knew what buttons to push and they
played
Velázquez for delivery of the Hispanic
Caucus votes by offering financial
assistance to Puerto Rico.
Unfortunately, Immigration Reform was
not a hot button for Velázquez or the
Mexican American U.S. congressmen of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus resulting
in Immigration Reform not given any
consideration.
Puerto Ricans do
not consider
Immigration Reform a
high priority because Puerto Ricans
can come and go to Puerto Rico without
hindrance.
The decision to have the CHC vote "yes" on
Health Care Reform knocked down a huge roadblock
in reaching
the necessary 216
votes for final passage,
outside of steep political concerns
about the bill's impact on the midterm
elections.
Hispanic News does not fault
Velázquez for being a strong advocate
for Puerto Ricans but Hispanic News does
fault the Mexican American members of
congress for not having the same level
of advocacy as
Velázquez.
It is apparent the Mexican American
members of congress were asleep in their
chambers.
The
Mexican American
members of the
Congressional
Hispanic Caucus should have traded their
votes for Immigration Reform
―
unfortunately, 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 said it's scandalous this
Congress has done nothing on immigration
and President Obama has made things
worse.
Representative
Gutierrez
further
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."
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 were the Mexican
American members of the U.S. House of
Representatives in
fighting for health care 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.
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 for
a total of $7.3 billion.
In addition, whereas the Senate bill
strictly limited how new Medicaid
funding could be spent, the
reconciliation bill gives Puerto Rico
flexibility to determine how best to use
this funding to expand coverage and
improve services.
There was no path to
216 votes without
the Hispanic Caucus
on board, and that
meant every member.
This meant the
Hispanic Caucus was
the keystone to
Health Care Reform
approval and with
this much leverage,
the Hispanic Caucus
could have obtained
a iron clad
commitment from
President Obama to
proceed with
Immigration Reform
after Health Care
Reform:
Unfortunately,
Immigration Reform
is not a priority
with
Chairperson Congresswoman Nydia
Velazquez (D-N.Y.). Her priority
obviously is
―
Puerto Rico.
It is acknowledged
the Hispanic Caucus
was stymied in much
the way Bart Stupak
and his abortion
caucus was stymied
but Stupak was
creative and
obtained a
commitment from
Obama not to use
federal funds for
abortion.
This was the
negotiation phase,
and they’ll could
have secured a
commitment for
Immigration Reform
but they did not.
With the present
leadership of the
Hispanic Caucus,
there will not be
hardcore rhetoric or
credible threats
forthcoming from
this group.
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. None of the Mexican
American members of the CHC are national
voices for Immigration Reform. They
should all be replaced in the 2010
elections with advocates for Hispanics
who would have fought to
trade their votes for Obama's
assurance Immigration Reform would
follow Health Care Reform.
Chairperson Congresswoman Nydia
Velazquez (D-N.Y.), told reporters
the broader impact of the Health Care
legislation overrode the other concerns.
She said 8.8 million Hispanics (she was
referring to the Puerto Ricans, not the
Mexican undocumented) would
gain insurance coverage in the
legislation, a "historic opportunity"
not to be missed.
In private conversations, members of the
CHC said the decision was reached after
the unavoidable realization the Health
Care bill couldn’t survive without their
votes.
“The whole yolk of defeat would be on
the 20 people in that room,” a member of
the CHC said. “And that was a fact.”
The CHC vote
for Health Care Reform was ever so
transparent to most USA Hispanics.
None said it better than the National Council of La Raza
who
stood firm against the bill because
of the immigration language.
"The argument
everyone should support healthcare
reform because it's for the 'greater
good' has given national leaders an
excuse to brush off the concerns of
the most disenfranchised and
vulnerable communities that
desperately need results," said
Jennifer Ng'andu, deputy director of
La Raza's Health Policy Project.
"More often than not, appeals to the
"greater good" come at the expense
of the most vulnerable communities."
Immigration Reform Killed in 2010,
2011 and 2012
Nydia Velazquez obviously indifferent to
Immigration Reform was bribed by the
White House for her vote and the vote of
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to
approve Health Care Reform. Velazquez eagerly accepting the
$1 billion provision for
insurance exchanges for Puerto Ricans
and
$6.3 billion for Medicaid spending in
Puerto Rico.
Accepting the bribe, Velazquez effectively killed Immigration
Reform in 2010, 2011 or 2012.
No big
deal for Velazquez and the Congressional
Hispanic Caucus.
Absolutely disgusting and shameful!
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