GeL Knows What She's Talking About...EXCEPT No One Listens.

For my fans...

2011-03-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

ok, my small base of supporters -- After months of delay, I have finally decided to pursue blogging on a full-time basis. If you would like to continue to follow me and my blog, you can find me at www.RubioDispatch.com and on Twitter @anrubio or @rubiodispatch

Thank you for your support and I hope you can continue to support me at www.rubiodispatch.com

Peace and Love.

Angelica

2011-03-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Last night I re-watched Roger and Me by Michael Moore. Although the movie was filmed a long time ago, it definitely resonated with what we're currently facing right this second. There are no factory shut downs, at least not to the level experienced in Flint, Michigan, but the working-class is under attack all over again, yet this time, the risk of its demise is much greater.

The working class is fighting for its survival in the state of Wisconsin, Ohio and other pro-union states all across the country. Their legislative branches are currently in session and many Republican-led state governments are targeting unions, particularly educators who are currently having to defend their profession. As Republicans move forward with their "union busting," I'm thankful for a rise in populist support, which in all honesty I have never seen and did not think it actually existed. Like something Howard Zinn once said, "to be passive, is to collaborate." My fellow Democrats are not being "passive" and I believe that many on the other side, are starting to see what their leaders really do represent.

The elections of 2010 were very disappointing to many of us Democrats. I moved on the day after the elections, with a heavy heart, unable to understand how to proceed. Later in the lame duck session, a change in Democrats appeared in which I was reenergized due to their strength of pushing through legislation that we never thought would happen, least of all in a lame duck session like this one. In January we were finally introduced to the Republican's and to Congressman Boehnor's first day as Speaker of the House, an outspoken Republican, who all through 2010 criticized the Obama administration for doing very little to create jobs and campaigned on the notion that him and his fellow colleagues would create the jobs that the Democrats never did. With all this rhetoric, the Republican's campaigned on this message with the support of the tea party movement, lying to their constituents in order to win an election.

This shouldn't be a surprise. I have always believed that the Republican party, particularly in the last fifteen years, are nothing more than a group of individuals who are focused on their position in power and wealth and manipulating a poor, uneducated and angry constituency. Their focus on social issues like abortion, gay rights, destroying the middle class, are policy issues they do not campaign on but use the issue of the economy as a facade in order to get elected and their consituency seems to believe them each and every time. They claim that in America, if you work hard you can become rich, but if you are poor you do not work hard enough. The bottom line is that the Right hates the working class.

SInce the rise of unions in the early 20th century, Democrats have greatly represented the working class, women and people of color. Overtime their representation has exemplified the definition of what it means to be a Democrat. Unions scare the hell out of Republicans. When you look at what is occurring in Wisconsin and Ohio, this is not some random situation. It is something that was planned all along. After Governor Walker's phone call with a fake Koch brother, you understand this notion of "union busting," isn't just something that this legislative branch decided on in a whim. The Right campaigned on creating jobs and repealing government run policies, making statements on how they were going to put American's back to work. Their constituency like always believed them, but what the GOP did is hijack a policy platform and deconstruct it to play out what we're seeing today.

Tonight, the Republican's in Wisconsin illegally moved forward on their plan to end union rights for collective bargaining by stripping budgetary pieces of the legislation to move it forward without Democrat involvement. How they did it and how quickly it was done is still mind-blowing. I'm outraged by how the Right has viciously undermined constitutional procedures to defeat something so sacred to the working class. If majority of American's do not feel the same sense of dissatisfaction as I do, I can only hope that our democracy survive.

Polls do show that the majority of American's support the teachers and union's maintaining their collective bargaining rights. I can't emphasize the importance of maintaining this populist momentum and continued pressure on Wisconsin Republican's and other GOP leaders all over the country. We need to stop these horrid acts of constitutional defiance and in turn, serve the working class. Our democracy is at risk of falling apart, all at the hands of rich, white men and the plague they call the tea party.

2011-01-30T20:46:00.001-08:00

There used to be a time in my life when I would give anything in the world to hear my family discuss politics. I looked forward to the day when a topic would arise and I wouldn't be the only one speaking and being told to stay quiet. Lately though, my family has, in fact, become a bit more aware of politics and conversations at the dinner table have become more interesting. The question though is, when did they become right-wing nut jobs?

This is the question I have been asking myself for the last three to four hours. Normally, listening to the other side spew disgusting diatribes is something I find entertaining. Keeps me on my toes and I can actually feel my personal sense of passion for my progressive philosophy grow inside of me. Today, however, those negative views were not from your typical right-wing talk radio hosts, but from my own family.

There are two issues that have really been killing me at the local level since the legislative session began here in New Mexico two weeks ago. The first is Governor Susana Martinez' commitment to repealing a law that allows undocumented driver's access to driver's licenses and the second, is a bill introduced by my former boss, which states that all those applying for unemployment benefits will be drug tested. *gasp*

Honestly, I used to think of New Mexico politics as somewhat progressive. I mean, c'mon! We are one of only a few states that allows undocumented people to get driver's licenses. This is no longer the case. Tonight was no exception.

My family got together this afternoon for a mini family reunion (If you know my family though, these reunions are constant and quite exhausting) Not sure why I thought this, but I knew something political was going to come up tonight during this little family get-together. I mean, as a political junkie and policy wonk, it's encouraging to see so much discussion over politics. The difference however, is that my family is not on my side when it comes to my political philosophy, and as far from the Left as I would have liked.

For example, the conversation came up when "someone" we know, who happens to be on welfare, was being discussed (gossip in small towns) First off, (and let me get this off my chest) I hate when someone is attempting to vocalize their beliefs on a certain issue based on "someone" they know, with the certainty that everyone falls into this category. In this case, this "someone," like all other welfare recipients, takes advantage of the system AND...should all be drug tested! Mind you, I had a mouthful of Coca-Cola in my mouth the instant this issue sprung up. Drug testing welfare recipients? Well why not? They're all driving around in Cadillac's, so they must be involved in drugs and should be tested. Better yet, they should be forced to tie their tubes so no further children are conceived. All this coming from die-hard Catholics, who are of course...pro-life. Ah, irony.

First and foremost, all American students should be forced to read the United States Constitution because their is this little thing called our 4th amendment right, which specifically "guards against unreasonable searches and seizures when the searched party has a "reasonable expectation of privacy." I'm no constitutional lawyer or anything, but this sounds pretty important. No you can't force anyone to take a drug test for unemployment benefits or welfare checks! Why? Because it's against your civil rights!!! When did we get to this place? When did we, as a collective, decide that the constitution no longer mattered? Sure, let's tie up all women's reproductive organs to stop procreation! It'll solve all of our problems. What's worse, one family member sarcastically implied that we couldn't do it because...boo hoo..."civil rights"

Sarcasm aside, this is utterly ridiculous. There was a reason for our constitution and I like knowing that it is there to protect me. Yes, there are those few (not all) few...who yes, do take advantage of the system but you do not punish an entire group of people for the few who have lived in this cycle for far too long and have no way out. How about we find solutions to the drug problem and/or increase opportunities for those who struggle with drugs? Why criminalize them when this is a public health issue? The conversations held this afternoon was devastating to me because I couldn't understand how a family, who has had its struggles but survived, can look down on someone and condemn them the way millions of other conservative American's do? When did this country become so judgmental? F***!! When did my family become so self-righteous?

Not much time later, another family member was discussing his support for repealing the law allowing undocumented people to get driver's license. This coming from someone who's own spouse migrated to this country illegally and now has the benefits of a United States citizen. Then again, these are the same folks that claim that they became legal the "right" way...if there is such a thing under our current immigration system.

I'm encouraged by the degree of political discussion taking place within my family, yet disheartened by the fact that they fall for the same misinformation millions of others do every day listening to Rush Limbaugh and/or Glenn Beck. People defend their beliefs on bogus claims everyday. This morning, after breakfast, a truck parked outside of the restaurant we were eating at had a display of the confederate flag. Jokingly, my nephew pointed out that it was about tradition, not racism. But is it? When you look at poverty and drug use, those affected are people of color. When will people finally realize that it isn't just coincidence that people fall into these cycles? This has been going on for generations upon generations. When only a small percentage of the country's population is salivating in wealth and the other 98% are fighting for what remains, there is a problem.

When legislation is introduced, much like drug testing unemployment benefactors or welfare recipients, you know we've reached a point in our domestic policy that is not at all reasonable. When the likes of Orin Hatch from Utah are legitimized and taken into account, it goes to show how far behind we are moving as a country.

When President Obama asked us last week to be "great," his idealism was encouraging, but the idea made me the pessimist that I hate. Why do I feel like the America JFK spoke to in 1960 is still not that America in 2011? Could it be that we're just falling further behind? I'd like to think that we're not, but after the conversations I witnessed this afternoon, I'm not so sure. Will we ever have that "Sputnik" moment?

I hate to be such a debbie downer...(that's my middle sister's job) but,I can't be wrong on this, can I? That's the million dollar question.

2010-12-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

I'm heading off to bed this evening, preparing to rest before my big LSAT exam tomorrow morning. However, it was going to be impossible for me to fall asleep without making a very necessary post. This week has been one of the most tumultuous weeks in politics that I have ever experienced in my life (as far as I can remember) I haven't been around a lot of years and perhaps I don't know much but what I do know is that I'm completely disillusioned. My fellow progressives insist I should be pissed at the President, but he's the last of my concern. My real concerns are about the number of friends and colleagues around the country insanely upset at the President's tax "compromise" with the Republican's this week. Believe it or not, as the biggest Maddow fan out there, I was extremely disappointed in the reaction from Rachel in regards to Obama's decision to move forward on this tax plan. After Rachel elaborated on her disdain for this plan, I was floored. For months she has been defending President Obama's policies and celebrating his accomplishments, despite the difficulties of a disastrous economic downturn and right wing nut jobs hijacking the media platform. But through all of that, understanding that the Dems are weak and unwilling to fight and the Repubs obstructing with every opportunity they have, Obama has in essence failed and has sealed the fate of his presidency.

After days of listening to friends, colleagues, and of course, Rachel and Keith and my numerous exchanging of tweets with fellow progressives, I was so happy to go on to Rachel Maddow's blog this evening and see this comment of the day, which was posted and shared with her readers. It stated:

Comment of the day (so far)
By Laura Conaway - Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:00 PM EST
On the tax deal -- what else -- @Just1MoreVoice writes:

Honestly, it isn't Obama I am upset with. He has consistently tried to get the results that we progressives are looking for through what he considers to be the best approach, which is through legislation and not executive action.

I am, on the other hand VERY upset with our legislators in D.C. They had everything they needed to put really forward-thinking policies into law, and the only time we have seen actual unity from them was when they voted on this recent resolution to send a resounding "No" to the White House concerning these taxes. Why couldn't they have shown us that unity a little sooner? If they had, if the Democrats in Congress had just held the line from the start, we would not be where we are today.

Let us all remember that our President is also a professor of Constitutional Law and give him a little credit for knowing the best way to go about this, even if we wish that he would maybe abuse his authority just a little more on our behalf.

I'm relieved to read that I am not the only person that believes this. The last few days have been unbearable, surrounded by my fellow progressives who are so upset and ready to throw the President under the bus. Yes, this compromise sucks! But the arguments, which have been stated throughout the last 72 hours, with such conviction mind you, is a bit too late. President Obama did what he had to do this week because the Dems didn't do it these last two years as a majority. Let's be honest, when Obama won the presidency, his base stopped paying attention. It's infuriating to me that for months Obama has been criticized for pursuing his "agenda," but the minute he goes off that agenda and appears to be a "moderate" (which he campaigned as, so there is this is no surprise) we are still critical. I agree with Jon Stewart's segment last night. The media should not focus on our own irritation with the President, because it's obvious he's irritated with us.

My hope is that Dems and progressives finally realize what we have not done in the last two years and make sure that we get organized and fight the necessary fight and remain united. I don't know how well I'll handle the next two years with a majority of Republican's in the House of Reps. But one thing is for certain, there is no way I will handle a Sarah Palin as President in 2012.

2010-11-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

I was going to write up something the minute the midterm elections concluded two weeks ago. However, I just did not feel right. Perhaps it could be because we got our asses beat and I was left with very little to say, but it was a bit more than that I think. Since the evening of the election and recreating the evening over and over in my mind, I have come to the realization that things went bad, but they could have been a lot worse.

Yes, we now have a majority of Republican's in the House. This I get. But c'mon, I studied political science. Poli Sci 101 specifically taught me that House members, while important, generally are more, radical. They tend to each vote based on their political ideologies but that the Senate in the end, being more practical, can put out more realistic legislation in the end or stop legislation from going through at all. Despite how much Lawrence O'Donnell scared the beejeesus out of me on election night, I think Republican's can do very little in the next two years because at the end of the evening of election night, the Senate still belonged to the Democrats, which however way you see it, was good news in the end.

I have no idea if the previous paragraph made much sense and I really do not want to go back and revise it, but the bottom line is that we're still ok, I think. I mean, we're still not going to get shizz done in the next two years, because if the Republican's were already obstructionists prior to the election, it will be worse now. The silver lining however, after all this misery is that perhaps American's will finally get on the ball and realize where we are headed if we continue to support a right wing agenda from the likes of Boehner and Cantor and all their "young guns" bringing forth their "new plan" January 1st.

On another scarier note, yesterday I read about a Pew study that was recently conducted about how a little under half of American's surveyed had no idea that the Republican party had taken control of the House. Yes, almost half of American's do not know this. Yet most of American's are spending their time and effort voting for the Bristol Palin's and Justin Bieber's of the world on reality TV and actually consider Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman relevant in our political debate.

I still remain an optimist. Believe me, it isn't easy. Considering that I am currently living in a state where we elected our first Hispanic female governor Susana Martinez...I'm barely hanging by a thread. My only hope is that constituencies across our great country will finally...FINALLY wake up and realize that the road the Right-wing nut jobs are taking us is quite awful and reconsider what they produced two weeks ago.

The next thing we have to do as progressives is make sure that this election is capitalize on what could have been but did not occur. The Tea Party is not that powerful. If anything, they hijacked our political debate and materialized in huge campaign when in fact it was all an illusion produced by the media, both left and right. Progressives need to continue to push our agenda in the next two years, while still accepting and defending our progress in the last two years. I mean c'mon...we did a lot of great work! Why didn't we defend it this campaign season? We should not wait until the last minute to spur any momentum because by then it is too late. We need to begin now otherwise, what was ultimately predicted this last election, will become reality in 2012. That I cannot handle.

Land of Enchantment...or Entrapment

2010-10-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

After several months, I'm finally sitting down to blog. It's not to say that I haven't had much to say...believe me, that would be an understatement. I just haven't had the motivation to sit down and finally put it all down in written form. Mostly because life happens, which is kind of weird because I thought that by leaving LA ten months ago, and relocating to my hometown of little LA (aka Lake Arthur, New Mexico) I'd have more time to concentrate on extracurricular activities, like blogging. Well, this is not the case. Instead, I'm working more than ever in my day job, a second job and trying to get Dems elected and/or re-elected here in New Mexico. The challenge? Southeastern New Mexico, where my hometown is. I've grown up in this small town most of my young life but for the last thirteen years, I've been off wandering the world, living mostly in Los Angeles. Last December, however I decided to return to my home state. 1)To apply to law school at University of New Mexico (of which the application is about to be submitted, so cross your fingers) and 2) hopefully make a long lasting difference in my own community.

If you're smart enough, one thing you and I will agree on is that there is more to the state then just Albuquerque and Santa Fe (well, unless you're a northern NM elitist, which believe me, they exist unfortunately) Sure, it's great to have two great urban cities within a state with such wide open space, but c'mon...there is more to it then that. What really makes our state so incredibly awesome is its increasing diversity, especially (and surprisingly) in rural and Native American regions of the state. Some folks, mostly those north of I-40 (the northern elitists), will tell you that nothing exists south of here, well...anything that matters to them anyway. That is not true at all. There are those of us, like me(!), who are here and working night and day to make this place...this very conservative place, as progressive a place as possible, despite its ongoing challenges.

So the reason why I'm writing about this right now may have something to do with the fact that in thirty days, we face an election night like no other. All over the country, Congressional and Governor seats are up for grabs and it's wide open for either candidate. But most importantly, just like every other election this state, in particular, has ever had, has resulted in my Democratic brothers and sisters continue its historical routine of forgetting my region of the state.

If you've studied New Mexico politics, you will learn that southeastern New Mexico is very conservative. Ok, let me put it this way, it's so conservative that it's called "little Texas" and by that I mean, like west Texas-style politics. If you need a clear picture, imagine a totally hippie looking VW Beetle (my car), driving along a county road, heading north to Roswell on my daily commute to work, then being confronted by obvious, distasteful looks in my rear-view mirror from the car behind me, eyes glaring straight at my "Latinos for Obama" bumper stickers. In front of me, a big redneck truck driving the opposite direction with its confederate flag as a license plate. Ok, now this isn't all the time, but I'm sure you get the picture. Most people who live around me are involved in the oil and/or farm business and in many cases, have Rush Limbaugh stuck on their radio dial. So, "why do you live here?" you might ask. Aside from the politics and the sometimes (ok, most times) backwards thinking, it's home. My entire family is here and it's honestly where I feel great comfort and an obligation to do good for the communities around me.

So what does this all have to do with politics and election night? Everything.

Like the rest of the country, the Democrats are facing stiff challenges on election night, particularly in conservative regions of the country. Now, when I say stiff challenges, I definitely do not mean that the opposition has better policies and/or greater ideas for improving the lives of Americans. That would just be hilarious. Instead, what I mean is that somehow people across the country, and especially southeastern New Mexico, American's have forgotten how incredibly awful things were under the GOP Congress. Dems have have also done very little, in my opinion, to talk up their progress, which have proven to be successful in the last four years. Instead what I'm seeing are apologies from them. Apologies for attempting to provide basic needs to the middle class and low income families. I mean, seriously? We're apologizing for reform? Is there something completely wrong with this picture? There is a list of priorities that the Dems and its base have successfully accomplished in the last four years and yes, there is still more to do, but why are we allowing the Right to counter anything we say with proposals they have recently introduced, which are obviously the same old thing and are proof of what did not work?

I know that conservative regions of the country are a lost cause for many Democratic candidates. I mean, believe me...it would be very difficult to take on a Republican opponent even in my neck of the woods. But to completely forget about these regions where there are still some great Democrats amongst the ocean of Republican's is in my opinion, idiotic. Yes, it has a lot to do with election tactics and strategies, but honestly for southeastern New Mexico, Democratic candidates have done nothing but ignore these communities all along the southeast part of the state and I find it upsetting.

Right now in New Mexico you have two women fighting it out for the governorship of New Mexico. Despite everything that is going on with this particular campaign, it's awesome to see my state giving two women the opportunity to fight it out for the most important political office in the state. No matter who wins, it will be the first time in the history of the state where we will have a female governor and that is pretty kick ass. However, I'm rather disappointed with our Democratic candidate, Diane Denish. She's been our Lieutenant Governor for two terms already, and has done a pretty good job. Most importantly though, she's from southeastern New Mexico. I may be wrong about this and someone can correct me if they'd like, but considering that she's from this region of the state, you would think she'd actually do some campaigning here. She really hasn't. Instead, its as if she's been contaminated by the northern New Mexico mindset that nothing exists south of the I-40. This to me is disappointing because yes, I am living in a sea of right-wing Republican nut jobs, but it's overwhelming to see the amount of support the Republican candidate is getting, someone who has done very little for the state, particularly for this region and honestly, she scares the shizz out of me with all her far right rhetoric. For a Latina woman like myself, I'm highly offended by her ability to ignore her own Latino roots and dismiss it like its an accusation she should deny on all counts. But aside from all of that, my point is that like other Dems in middle America, our own candidates are dismissing us because we're located in areas where they will not win.

While this may be a good tactic come election day, what good will it really do in the long run? What if Diane Denish does end up pulling an upset and winning this thing? Where will those of us south of the I-40 do or think? No matter what, I will be supportive. However, I do feel neglected by my own candidate, knowing that she did very little to engage her voter base, from her own community.

Yes, I have described my region of the state as a God-awful Republican sea of lunatics, yada, yada, yada. But I also love this place. Not because of what it has stood for all these years, politically...but for the challenges that await me and the excitement I get thinking about the future and how I will be a part of what will shake the core of the conservative mindset around here. Yes, right now people up north don't recognize those of us south of the I-40 But you know what? They soon will.

I hate banks...yeah, I said it!

2010-04-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

In 2006, I began working for a community development corporation, specializing in affordable housing development in East Los Angeles. At the time I was hired on as Housing Counselor, providing the typical information any first time homebuyer should use when purchasing their first home. For about a year I provided the typical budget counseling, reviewed and made recommendations on credit scores and helping families identify ways to prepare for the purchase of their first home. Mind you, I was working for a non-profit organization, which provided this counseling for free and about 98% of our clientèle was low to moderate income levels, furthermore...it was in 2005, the height of the housing market.

In East LA, you could easily find a 2bd/2ba home for $500k...easy. The problem though, which I encountered time and time again, was the constant self-defeating feeling I'd get each time I had to tell the family across the table from me that they were in absolutely no position financially to purchase a home. Now, usually this isn't a huge deal right? Most people can take advice and say, "oh well! better luck next time!" But for the families that I worked with, many of whom were incredibly hard working, had saved for so many years, who had decided to wait for the perfect moment, were being told that under the current market, it was almost impossible for them to buy.

This was part of my job for the entire year of 2006. But right before it ended, I was met with some unexpected events, that would change my professional career upside down. Around the holidays of that same year, I had a walk-in come by. It was a young family, monolingual...who were interested in having me read over their loan documents. Now, at this point my only real experience with loan documents were 30yr fixes, low interest rates...the usual decent loan. This young family however came in with a completely different document that I hadn't ever seen. They were loan documents from Bank of America, and to be frank, they were rather obscene. Yes, I'm an educated woman...I have a graduate degree with lots of work experience, however what I was seeing in front of me were documents that even your most skilled attorney would have trouble reading. Furthermore, I'm trying to explain these loan documents to this monolingual family, and while I did my best...I could tell that they were drawing a complete...blank. The loan documents in front of me were for the home they had purchased three years prior. What they did not understand however is that in just a few months, their current interest rate (which hovered at around 5%) was about to jump to close to 9%. In addition to this, they also had a 2nd...ok? Just trying to explain it right now is giving me a headache. The bottomline is that this family had no idea that for the last 3 years they had been paying on a loan which was not only "not fixed for 30 years" but that they were also paying on an additional loan, the 1st which covered 80% of the purchase price, fixed for three years and then adjustable thereafter, while the 2nd, was the down payment, a small payment at 10% for 15 yrs, amortized as a balloon payment.

You're confused right? Right?

Basically, this family at origination was told that they were locking in this 5% interest rate for 30 years, not knowing that it was only fixed for 3 years and that the reason they didn't have to put a down payment down was because they were sold a 2nd at a higher interest rate, which would have to be paid in full at the end of 15 years. Let's just say that it was soon after this meeting that I was introduced to adjustable rates and balloon loans, both of which had prepayment penalties attached to them.

I was officially introduced to the foreclosure/mortgage crisis. An issue I have unfortunately become an expert on, but also a staunch advocate, publicly opposing the lies of financial institutions and their inability to own up to this crisis and defending the rights of families facing foreclosure in Los Angeles.

My reasons for posting about this tonight is because after watching The Rachel Maddow Show tonight, and sitting through her interview with Elizabeth Warren, I got to thinking. Almost every question Rachel asked tonight was the same questions I, and countless other advocates all over the country, have asked time and time again for the last four years. The greatest question tonight being, "why can't we force the banks to work with families facing foreclosure?" Right Rachel?!? Right?!?

But no...

The numbers Elizabeth Warren provided tonight were both informative, yet discouraging. I recently left Los Angeles to pursue other opportunities, so I'm no longer on the front lines of the foreclosure crisis, but when I left I felt that I had done all I could for my community in Los Angeles and that things might improve. However, tonight showed a different perspective.

Why Banks Suck and Foreclosures are Never ENDING!

The financial institutions began to have their financial problems in the fall of 2008. At this time, the Treasury Department, under Paulson (remember his one pager?haha)recommended that we bail out the financial institutions and provide them with enough funds to prevent any meltdown, primarily in the housing market. So in the fall of 2008, the federal government approved TARP, Troubled Asset Relief Program. Under this program financial institutions would be provided with enough funds to stay afloat with the caveat of continuing business as usual. They were expected to continue lending to families who were interested in investing in small businesses or a home. Let me just be frank and say that this never happened. Through the end of 2008 and all of 2009, until my last day in Los Angeles, there was no financial institution interested in lending any money out. Not to any of our clients, and surely not to anyone else in LA County. That is the truth. Furthermore, financial institutions have and still make it impossible to find any solution for families facing foreclosure. While modifications are to be considered, they are not.

When President Obama took office in January of 2009, within months he introduced the Making Home Affordable Program, which would be implemented that Spring and financial institutions who received funds through TARP were expected to participate. I'll be frank...once again (My apologies for always being frank), and say that while this was a sigh of relief to many of us advocates, we soon realized that it was not going to work. You see, when the banks were failing and were going broke because of all the bad investments they made, you know? Like selling really bad loans like the ones I talked about in previous paragraphs? It was going to be a national...No! GLOBAL catastrophe! Something had to be done immediately in order to save our financial system right? Well, we did that. We gave you guys the money you needed to survive. But what you also did was pay obscene amounts of bonuses to your executives, and forgot (or dare say, didn't give a crap) about Juan and Maria, who are living around the corner and about to lose their home because you refuse to answer your phone and accept a modification packet that will not only help the family, but will help YOU TOO!!

I'm a huge fan of President Obama. I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Warren. I'm also a very huge fan of others in the federal government try to do what is right to help families stay in their homes, but I have to be honest. I'm so tired of hearing some of the solutions, when in fact they are not working and are only recommendations made by those in the banking business. With Making Home Affordable for example, banks were incentivized if and when they worked with a family to get a loan modification, however this participation was "optional." The federal government was not mandating that they participate. So the numbers Elizabeth Warren provided tonight on Rachel Maddow should be indicative of how irresponsible financial institutions have been all along and how advocates like myself and others, have not been fully utilized to provide the solutions necessary to prevent a continual up tick in the foreclosure crisis.

To hear Elizabeth Warren tonight, talk about how only about 150,000 families have been helped by the Making Home Affordable Program, while on average of 200,000 families are being foreclosed on per month, that tells you something. It also tells you something when Bank of America and Citi are both sitting in front of lawmakers today, explaining how they are apologetic about what has occurred but that they are unable to do what is necessary to help families. If this isn't infuriating enough to people, I don't know what is. The banks can put the blame on the families, stating that they bought "too much" house, but at the end of the day, the banks should be held accountable for this travesty of a financial meltdown. It is obvious to every single American that they have done nothing but squander our tax payer money, and for the federal government to not hold them accountable and mandate that they do help families remain in their home is indecent.

For years I have been requesting that advocates like myself be included in discussions being held at the national level. We have the solutions, we just haven't been asked. But when will we finally be invited? We are the people on the front lines working with families directly, one on one, every single day for the last 5 years, so shouldn't we be the one's helping to make the decisions on how to move forward? Shouldn't we be the experts in identifying what the best remedy is for this foreclosure crisis?

So thank you Rachel Maddow! You finally asked the one question we all have been dying to ask. It's just a matter of time now in which advocates like myself will be called upon to meet with the President. So I'm here, waiting...we're ready... waiting for that call.

March Madness...

2010-04-11T22:13:00.001-07:00

I missed a huge opportunity to blog in March and I'm so bummed. So much political activity has taken place over the last month, but what can you do? I'll try to make up for it now and in the coming days. I've recently returned to my hometown of Lake Arthur, New Mexico, so I'll be honest and say I have a lot of time on my hands. Hopefully for just awhile, but who knows. Time will tell.

One thing that I have gained from moving back temporarily is an ever growing motivation to stay involved politically, even if just through social media outlets. Coming home, while a great opportunity to connect with family and friends, has also lead to an incredible feeling of political isolation. Let's be clear, I'm surrounded by two types of people. 1) People who just don't give a f*** about politics and its ever growing polarization and toying with our political system and 2) People who do care about politics, but are mostly if not all ill-informed about the current political climate. Most if not all Republicans in this overwhelmingly, conservative region receive most, if not all their political information from Glen Beck at Fox News and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. (I know I'm repeating "mostly if not all", so I guess I should be just say all, but trying not to generalize" Listen, I am not gonna lie as I too engage and frequent in my own leftist indulgences such as Keith Olberman and of course, the very objective and wonderful Rachel Maddow. However, with my obvious leftist leaning, I do still try to remain as objective as possible, reaching my own conclusions and furthering my personal research on political and policy topics of the day, outside of Keith and Rachel. I mean, you kind of have to be objective...right?

Well, I'll be frank and say, from what I have seen in 2009 and since relocating to southeastern New Mexico, this has not been the case with group #2 (or the GOP in general for that matter) They have earned the name "the party of No" for a reason and it may get worse. What I will say about group #2 though is unlike the non-doers of group #1, they are involved in some form of the political debate, regardless if I find them crazy or not (and let's be honest, most of the time they are crazy) Nonetheless they are participating in the civic life of this country and while my concerns are growing with this particular group, I will say that my greatest concern is by far group #1. (I'll get to #2 in a few)

Group #2 had me extremely worried early on in 2008, election year. I think we all know why and it's simple, would they go out and vote come November 4? Fortunately, many of those whom I felt belonged under group #1 came out in overwhelming numbers and voted for our current president, Barack Obama. What was even more impressive is in the way in which they represented the vote. We gained so many new and young voters, I was confident that after election night we could finally begin the work necessary to definitely take on the campaign motto of "Yes We Can!"

Well, then came January 20, 2009. President Barack H. Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. Despite the fact I was one of thousands holding on to the infamous "purple ticket," unable to make it out of the tunnel and watch the most historic day in the country's lifetime, the country did in fact enter into a new era and there was a hint of change in the air. An era I hoped would be incredibly productive and one that many of us would be a part of, bringing change to a country that had been beaten down for eight long years.

The result was instead this:
Group #1 somehow forgot that there was more to do then just elect a new president. In fact, they completely forgot how to maintain their civic duty and remain as involved as possible in the political process, in particular to reform and help make the big political decisions facing this country, then and now. How could a movement so big and involved during the 2008 elections, just disappear? It's simple. Many just assumed that with a new administration in the White House, all would be fixed come January 21, 2009. It's obvious to many of us that this would not be the case, not at all, but I don't think the rest got the memo.

But like I've said time and time again, and something that many would definitely back me up on, we are a country that thrive on instant gratification. Already, within the first few months of 2009, we were already looking for an end to two wars, the economy reaching 1990s heights and living happily ever after, the end! What they didn't realize however was that in fact, the work had just begun!

2009 was a year in which we met our first real challenge and it was to reform our health care system. This was the greatest fight for America, attempting to make a significant stride to get millions of families insured. This was a challenge in which the country had debated for close to 100 years, but never ever succeeded. This was the time to get the job done, we had the President and the majority in Congress to do it. However, what occurred instead was the greatest hijacking in politics I have ever seen in my thirty years of life. (I know it's not long, but c'mon? I remember the Reagan/Bush years) Now, I'm not going to give the hijackers that much credit as I'm not convinced that they're that influential, but instead the blame goes to the one and only...group #1. Where the hell were the millions of voters who came out enthusiastically in 2008? Where was their attendance during the lengthy month of August where town halls were held all over the country? THEY WERE NOWHERE!!...instead...the entire healthcare reform debate was hijacked beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

Group #2 are a collection of people, both bitter and I'll be honest and say led by a lot of angry white men. They are a mixture of people who voted against President Obama and/or voted for Obama but became dissatisfied with his politics the minute he set foot into the White House. They are committed to "taking back" America (from whom, I have no idea) Furthermore, this small group of people represent a very small minority, yet have taken over the entire political conversation, healthcare and everything else the President attempts to accomplish. This group has evolved into the infamous "Tea Party Movement." Their mission: "A community committed to standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to protect our country and the Constitution upon which we were founded!" Hmm. Really? Where were you guys during the Bush years when civil liberties were taken from American's and decisions were made bypassing Congress? Oh yeah, it didn't matter then right? It matters now because...

Group #2 is destroying our country. They have retreated to protesting every aspect of the presidents policy platform, questioning his every move and authority and have gone as far as questioning his "American" authenticity. They have done nothing but divide a country and create a movement that has not proven to take a step forward, but has instead retreated back to a time in which this country faced the greatest of challenges. This "tea party" movement, has brought out a bigotry which I thought was long gone, but instead it was just hidden, under a very thin surface, waiting for the appropriate time to uproot itself and show its disgusting face. It appears, according to the Tea Party movement, that that time is now.

Rather than make an educated attempt to understand the logic behind President Obama's policies and how in fact they do help stimulate our economy and put us back on the right track, with inclusion of debate of course, the decisions by this movement are obvious. They don't care what the President proposes. Even if he were to negotiate peace on earth, in the eyes of this movement, they would still not be satisfied. The Tea Party has hijacked our political conversation, boldly objecting to our political system and informally implementing a backwards ideology which has thus been embraced by most if not all of the conservative movement, all for political gain and in an effort to "physically" take back this country. They are a group of people that are in fact scared of diversity and are freaked out that this country's fabric is no longer what they are used to. They are racists, plain and simple. When they chant "Take back America" they are not talking about taking Dems out and replacing the majority with Repubs, they are proclaiming their dissatisfaction with the current makeup of this government.

As a Latina woman, I am scared. I am scared that this group of people have been legitimized by the public, by the media and by the GOP Senators and Congressional representatives who stand behind them. I am utterly disgusted by this show of apparent "tea party" solidarity, which in my opinion is nothing more than a disgusting example of fundamental racism. Anyone who says otherwise is insane to assume that this group should be taken seriously. I have never sided with an anarchist and I will never side with the likes who side with treason.

Despite all this however, after almost a year of debate, back and forth, death panels and all...health care reform was passed and the last of the health care bill was signed into law on March 30, 2010. FINALLY! (take that tea party!)

So now, April 11, 2010...what is next? Well, the week the President signed healthcare reform, he also met with the Russians begin to take steps to put an end to nuclear proliferation, furthermore he made some decisions on offshore drilling and there appears to be a goal to get financial reform done before Memorial Day. Will it happen? Will we be able to accomplish financial reform before then or will it be another year-long fight like healthcare? Will we ever get to immigration reform?

There are so many things that we need to accomplish and I hope that with the momentum we have gained with the healthcare reform victory, we will lead many from group #1 to finally come to the realization that this does take work and that they will finally join us and keep our mission in tact.

In the meantime, I am here...in Lake Arthur, trying to survive a political undertaking of the conservative persuasion, and do my part in helping the Progressive movement...progress.

Wow!...What a week!!

2010-01-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

First, last weeks 7.0 earthquake in Haiti has affected most, if not all of us, in some way or another. We have all felt extreme sadness throughout the last 12 days, watching on television as thousands have died and watching the thousands who still remain, figuring out the recovery and the future. Then, in Massachusetts an unknown State Senator Scott Brown, beat Martha Coakley on Tuesday, winning overwhelmingly in a special election held to replace Ted Kennedy's US Senate seat. This was then preceded by Thursday in which the Supreme Court of the United States, in a 5-4 decision set a huge precedent by beating down campaign financing reform and ruling that corporations could finance political campaigns because it was their First Amendment Right. And finally, to make matters worse, Conan O'Brien hosted his last Tonight Show after just seven months on the job, leaving millions of fans, like myself...extremely disappointed. Ok...so Conan leaving NBC's the Tonight Show really isn't the end of the world. But I will say that it was sort of the last that I, and many others who do love Conan, could have done without. However, through all that has happened, you got to admit...there's got to be a silver lining, right?

Haiti: Aftershocks continue, while Haitians are still being pulled out of the rubble, many miraculously still alive even after 12 days. CNN's Anderson Cooper has given us the capability to witness a lot of the tragedy on television, but ironically...even a bit of joy and happiness. Case in point, Kiki, the little boy pulled out of the rubble yesterday. He was in the rubble for 8 days. EIGHT DAYS!! Just seeing the picture of him being pulled out made me realize how fortunate we are to experience something so profound, even under the current circumstances in which hundreds of thousands have perished. There has been a great sense of unity throughout these 12 days though and that is the reason that I have hope for the human race once again. Unfortunately it always happens under these circumstances, but it happens and I guess that is what matters right? I mean think about it...from day one, I like millions of others used our cell phones to donate money to the Red Cross and/or other organizations helping directly. Then there was Twitter and other social media networking tools, in which millions came together to share their deepest thoughts, an experience of unity which I don't think I had ever truly experienced with random strangers. Of course, throughout the course of all of this, I've also witnessed the worst in people. Many stating that Haiti should take care of themselves, etc. Not sure why people like this exist, but they do. People seem to not realize or even care that much of the agony the Haitians have dealt with in years past is a result of things America has done to the country. This is the least we can do. Last night though brought something pretty special which helped me to ignore all of the negativity surrounding this situation. The Hope for Haiti telethon, organized by George Clooney was televised in almost all of the major networks and cable channels. Wait up...don't start up on the celebs. Sure, they can be quite annoying...however last night was pretty incredible, with so many participating and performing for a great cause. I witnessed something pretty remarkable as I sat in my new apartment outside Santa Fe, laughing and crying, tweeting with others and thinking about all that was going on at this very instance, some thousands of miles away and how we truly were making a difference, even if it is from out couches. In tragedy, we have witnessed the worst and the best of people...but I choose to look at what could be the best. The world came through to help and even though there are some issues with getting things to the people due to lack of infrastructure in Haiti, I'm hoping that things will remain positive. I have faith in the world that in times of tragedy...we can all come together like we have and make a difference that will last a life time.

Scott Brown: This loss was unbelievable!! OK, maybe it wasn't all that surprising as we all knew what kind of candidate Coakley ended up being in the last month, but for me and like many other progressives, it wasn't so much that we lost this seat to a republican per se, but it was so much that we lost the Lion's TED KENNEDY'S seat. I sat at home on Tuesday night glued to the television and twitter, waiting to hear the results to only be utterly disappointed when around 8pm MST, I received notice that Coakely had called Brown to concede. The Dems obviously still hold the majority with 59 seats, which is great, but the problem though is getting them to use this majority effectively...cause they haven't at all this last year. This has been the greatest issue many of us progressives have had with the Dems since early 09. Let's take for example, healthcare reform. The Dems have given up so much with this reform bill, all because of their attempts at bipartisanship. Since before the summer, we all knew that the Repubs would never vote for anything we put out there and yet the Dems continued to cater to them, specifically the Blue Dogs. The Repubs, since the President took office last January, have all decided to say no to everything that Prez and the Dems have put on the table. Yet the Dems and the Prez refuse to do what the Repubs do best push stuff through without bi-partisanship. The Repubs do it all the time and accomplish nothing except ruining our country. We know the Dems have good policies, which is why we voted for you in 08. Now take the charge, play the Repubs game and accomplish what needs to be done! We lost Ted Kennedy's seat within the state of Mass, which some would consider a pretty progressive state. Bottom line, peeps are pissed and if Dems and the Pres don't get it together pretty soon, Mass will be replicated come November. Silver lining? Dems and the Prez seem to have gotten the message within the last 72 hours. While some were rather astonished by the results on Tuesday night, one in particular (Barney Frank) looks like we might in fact push this healthcare bill through within the next few weeks (hopefully). Secondly, the Prez Obama was in Ohio yesterday doing a town hall and for the first time in probably a year, I saw the guy that I worked my ass off to get to the presidency. He was on the attack and seems like he really is ready for this fight against the Repubs. And yes, I don't care what anyone says, but this IS a fight against the Repubs. They are they reason the US is facing its current challenges, but as a united front we got to make sure we get things done asap. Finally, after Obama's town hall yesterday in Ohio, we got confirmation this morning that David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager during the presidential election will be rejoining the team, to make sure that all goes well this coming November. This makes me giddy only because...well, if you followed the election last year and have since read the Audacity to Win, this is huge because it puts us back to where we should have been all year. Obama being guided by good people, like Plouffe, who really understands the challenges we face but also knows how to get things done.

The SCOTUS: 5 to 4 ruling FOR corporations. If this doesn't tell you that the Supreme Court judges who ruled for this are not right wing sympathizers, then stop reading now. What gives them the right to think that Corporations of any kind have the same rights that the rest of us have? With this ruling, corporations will be influencing elections with greater ability then ever before. In my opinion, this is the greatest threat to our democracy. Already campaigns in the last few years have exceeded funds of up to billions of dollars and some would say that it has in fact won elections for certain candidates. But now? It will be worse, unless we the People do something about it. SCOTUS silver lining? This one's a bit trickier, but...well; I'm an optimistic so I'll do my best to explain. We need a revolution. I'm not talking about rebelling against the government or anything like that...instead I'm talking about American's coming together with one common goal and rebelling against the corporations who have the capability to turn this country into a corporatist state, more so than what they have already done in the last 20 years. I hate to even say this, but this is the sort of thing I think we could even join the Tea Party movement on. WAIT! Hold up! Let me finish. I can't stand those freaks...AT ALL! They are an absolute disgrace to this country and to the word "American." However, if they truly are who they say they are, and then this ruling is the sort of thing that should piss these freaks off and use this as leverage to help us progressives politically. On Thursday when the ruling was announced, Republicans up in Congress were the only one's cheering this thing on. The Tea Party is a break from the GOP and if anything it is good for us progressives if we can keep them somewhat involved in this particular issue, but irrelevant with everything else, otherwise it could backfire and lead to a "Vote for Nader is a vote for Bush" situation which we obviously don't want. But with this issue in particular, I think something good could come of this and the Dems and the President can feed off of this and use this to gauge the populists all over the country and make sure we keep our country in tact. Demonstrate to the rest of the country that the corporations will not decide our fate and that the People are still in charge. Ok...I think I've already had too much wine if I'm already talking about how we can join the tea baggers on this so let's just put that to the side and pretend I never said anything. What I will say is that this decision should really be pissing a lot of people off all over the country. In order to survive this thing, we need to work hard to make sure that we get everyone out to vote at every single election and I mean EVERYBODY and prevent any corporation from deciding our fate.

Finally, Conan O'Brien. What can I say except that this is probably the classiest man EVER! I have always liked him, but the fact that he was such a cool cat throughout this whole situation with NBC makes me think that we're pretty lucky to have had him, even if it were just for 7 short months. His final farewell, speaking of cynicism and how much he hates it, literally had me in tears. Why you ask? Because I think that all week long, a lot of us progressives have been down in the dumps with all that went wrong. Believe me...I have been pretty sickened by everything that has been happening politically and in Haiti. However when Conan said what he said last night, I was like...Hellz yeah Conan!!! We can't be cynical about all that has occurred these last two week. We have to just get back up and make things happen and make sure that we're fighting on for the progressive cause. No one should hold us back, and that staying optimistic can go a long way. So...what will the future bring after this tumultuous two weeks? Not sure, but I hope that we can all think about where we're headed and understand what is at stake and do our best to make sure that in the end it's for the good of the planet and all people.

I Don't Want To Get Old...

2009-12-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm an optimist. I tend to look at the bigger picture and see the good in everyone, doing my best to not generalize and take every individual for who they really are. I also feel strongly about the world in which we live in. I am completely aware of the obstacles that surround us, but feel incredibly optimistic about what we are capable of doing in the future. The present times are tough, no doubt about it, but I look for the good and hope for the best, in everyone and everything. Last night, however...I experienced something utterly depressing. People questioning my idealism and naivety. I pray to god that I never become such a disappointment as I get older, because these old people ARE a disappointment.

My reason for dismay last night had nothing to do with CSPAN and the debate on health care reform, which quite frankly, is affecting many of us liberals right now. Instead what really got me was a discussion that was had in my own sister's back yard. I witnessed a conversation held by 50 to 60 year olds, who all claim to be die-hard Democrats, and saying some of the most backwards and awful things. I found myself transported in time to the height of the Civil Rights debate and wishing to wake up from a nightmare I obviously couldn't wake up from.

The conversation began quite nice actually, by a friend of my sisters talking about his youth in central California and how his mother met his dad at a rodeo near Cal Poly. Then without further notice, the conversation went from this nostalgic and fascinating historical account to when this story teller finally realized "what a real N***** was?" I was floored! Unable to speak right away because I was completely taken aback on how this conversation had all of the sudden changed in just a few seconds. When I finally did speak up and stated my dismay for the use of the N-word and I was verbally attacked by everyone around, including my oldest sister. They were trying to explain to me, and with much conviction I might add, "how the use of the N word is appropriate and how I just don't get it because I have never lived the lives they have." Sounds confusing right? I know...I'm still confused because I don't understand how we went from speaking about this guy's youth in central California to his right to use the N word whenever the f*** he wants. Even more disturbing was my sisters utter defense for anyone's bigotry.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I decided to move back to NM after 5 years in Los Angeles. The reason for moving is because of my love for my home state and passion for wanting to do good for the people of NM. However, last night throughout this discussion and my attempts to defend my stance on this debate and it's utter inappropriateness, I realized that I may have made the wrong decision. Why would I want to live in such a backwards place, with such backwards thinking people? Or could it be that everyone over 50, regardless of where they live, may just in fact think this way? Now think back to my earlier paragraph. I don't like to generalize but we are being represented at all levels of public life, by so called "progressives," many 50+ year olds, but are they really progressive? Do they in fact have skeletons in their closets that represent ideas that are not so progressive?

Last night, the discussion preceded to move on to another idea that not only are there really "N******" but that of all those on welfare today, at least 90% are taking advantage of the system. 90%!?! They didn't show any references or sources from where this number may have come from...instead, I was told that it had to do with their own professional experiences in the field of work they tend to and that is enough to prove their theories. Furthermore, "people choose the life they live, because they have the option to do right or wrong." All those in this conversation at this point were utterly surprised to hear me denounce everything that was being said.

#1, the N-word is never acceptable. It brings back harsh memories of the worst of our country from years past and a reminder of how awful racism is. I also believe that it is unacceptable to use the term in a conversation between African American's (even if they may think it's ok). I hate hearing AA use the word, it's just not right, even if used in rap music or any other kind of popular culture. I've always believed this and always will. Continuing to use this word in whatever context is both irresponsible and a reminder of the ignorance that has existed and continues to exist...even my sister's back yard.

#2 No one chooses to be on welfare. Many are forced into the cycle of welfare because it may be all that they have ever known and it is very difficult to let go of something that has been one's livelihood for so long. It is even more difficult because injustices still exist. As much as we would like to believe that everyone is created and treated equally, many people still face discrimination which can lead to individuals inability to gain employment, forced to live off of government support. Moreover, to say that 90% of those on welfare are taking advantage of the situation is also false. I'm not going to deny that there are people out there living on welfare and taking advantage of the system but that does not mean that all recipients are that way. Furthermore, generalizing that all those on welfare are African American and driving around in their Escalade's looking to collect free stuff during the holiday's is utterly ridiculous.

#3 If you're going to be running a charity drive for the holiday season, like what was discussed last night, or any other event, do it because you're doing it out of the kindness of your heart and not to use it as a venue to begin judging on who is collecting welfare and what they are driving and guessing who can and should work and who can't. That's not what these events are for. It is about doing good, not increase your level of judgement just because you think you can and unwilling to get off your high horse.

I do not want to claim to be one of those libs many GOPers accuse us of, and that is so called "liberal intellectuals" or "elitists." But you know what? Fuck them! I AM an elitist and I AM an intellectual and I am better than a lot of those right wing crazies, disguised as progressives. I'm all about a good debate and working for compromise with those who disagree with me, however bigotry cannot and will not be tolerated. It is the reason this country cannot move past our historical short comings because people like this still exist and are given a public platform. Furthermore, this is not what Democrats, progressives, nor liberals believe in and those participating in the discussion last night, labeling themselves as such, are unequivocally wrong! These ideas or thoughts are something you would expect from a GOPer, right wing nut job, but never something from a progressive movement and its foundation. I was utterly disgusted, disappointed, and so angry last night over what occurred and it was imperative that I share.

Those expressing these ideas (and I am generalizing now) represent generations who were around when racism and social injustices were at their peaks. However I remain optimistic as I await patiently for the day when those who think like this no longer are representative at higher levels of service and those of us, who were around when we elected Barack Hussein Obama as POTUS and Annise Parker, the first openly gay mayor for Houston, will fight to eliminate the world of these false assessments of people and look for the good in all.

Absent...

2009-11-24T00:34:00.000-08:00

Leaving LA in less than 5 days. Very sad about saying bye to LA and friends, but feeling that excitment I get when I'm starting something new. Reason why I haven't written in awhile, been so busy.

On the politics front? Still #hcr!! Saturday the Senate voted to start the debate, however at least 4 Democratic Senators have already said they're going to vote no against a public option. I swear, these Blue Dogs are seriously annoying the heck out of me. I know the imporance of fiscal responsibility, however...everyone deserves healthcare at whatever cost. Let's do this already. The President is expected to make an announcement on Afghanistan on 12/1. We're all expecting him to send troops, but how many? Should I begin to write letters letting the Fed Govt know that I'm against the war and I'd like my tax dollars to go to #hcr? This is the Republican argument on federal funding going to pay for abortions, why can't we have the same argument with the war?

Anyways, there may be a vote on #hcr through xmas eve...ill be watching from New Mexico...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Big LA....Little LA

2009-11-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

August 28th, 2009. A day that will live in infamy. OK...maybe it was not as dramatic as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but for the tiny world in which I exist, this day will be remembered for a very long time. It marked a day in which I made the difficult decision to leave Los Angeles after more than four years and return to my beloved home state of New Mexico.

Leaving LA will not be easy. It is a city in which I have grown to love. A city that has provided to me one of many second families. I have a fantastic job as Director of Community Wealth with East LA Community Corporation and set personal goals of making significant strides to impact my community of Boyle Heights and unincorporated East LA. I am comfortable, things are really good. But...

As a young person growing up in Lake Arthur, New Mexico and now as a grown adult, I have always felt an obligation to the public interest of rural communities in New Mexico. I have always felt a strong obligation to serve my people in the capacity of public service, providing for the greater good of all. However living in Los Angeles can sometimes distract you from your true love and can lead you to not so great paths; such as fame, money, etc (which I possess neither of those things) The point is, I have become distracted....forgetting for awhile my true purpose in life.

Believe it or not, a historical event took place two days before my "day of infamy" and is quite frankly, responsible for changing the course of my life, forever. If you are the one person who has read my posts the last few months, you will have come to the conclusion that I am a staunch liberal/progressive (whichever you prefer) and it was 8/26 when one of my favorite Senator's, from one of the most notorious political families in the United States, died. Like many other American's I too had known over a year that Senator Kennedy was extremely ill and his death was inevitable. However for me...his death took a tremendous toll on me. I called in sick the day after Teddy's death and I sat on my green chair and watched as C-SPAN reported on the lines of people forming and waiting in Boston to catch a glimpse of this man. The last of the Kennedy's and one of my personal hero's.

Many have criticized the Kennedy's, making insensitive statements about how they became so influential. But the bottom line is this: the Kennedy's really did want to make the world a better place. Ted Kennedy truly wanted to see the world improve for all people. I was intoxicated by the events transpiring on my television and lead me to reflect intensely that on 8/28, after watching hours upon hours of the history of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, I came to the realization that I too needed to make a mark in history. But for Angelica M. Rubio, I needed to finally leave my comfort zone here in Los Angeles and return to my home state of New Mexico, where I will be greatly challenged.

In 27 days, I will return to New Mexico for good. I will return for the first time in over four years. I think back on all the incredible things I have learned during my time in Los Angeles and I think about the incredible impact I could make in my own community and state. However, while I feel confident about my decision and I am so inspired by my return, I also worry about the challenges that I will face as I look ahead to the future.

I grew up in Lake Arthur, New Mexico, the smallest town in the world. I joke around about its "rural-ness," but I do it with love. While it is the smallest place in the world, it is also a place where very few of its citizens believes that he or she can make a difference in their community. I believe it is a feeling that has always existed and continues to be a belief even today. This is a challenge. What is also challenging is that these same feelings exist up and down the Pecos Valley in southeast New Mexico, which may reflect an unwillingness to changing the status quo. There seems to be no desire to make the necessary changes to improve the quality of life for all within their own community. So I worry. I worry that I may not be prepared to confront those who may be responsible for creating the status quo. I worry that I am not fully prepared to confront the realities that exist and my idealism will be tarnished and eventually fade away. But as I think all of these things, I also wonder if I am, what many conservatives call, "an elitist." Those so-called liberal intellectuals who are consumed by the wrongs of the world, blaming it on ignorant honky's, unwilling to see beyond "big city" progressive thinking. Hands down, I will defend my beliefs and my thinking until the day I die, nevertheless...what gives me the right to assume that I know more than the people I think I need to save? What gives me the right to assume all rural people have tiny little brains, incapable of thinking for themselves?

During the eight years that the Bush Administration was in office, I lived and worked in Lake Arthur, New Mexico, and worked whole-heartedly for the Kerry/Edwards campaign in 2004 and was so convinced that I could sway conservative retirees and get young people to get involved and vote for Senator Kerry. I obviously did not, as we all know how the election turned out. What was sad though and continues to be depressing is that in a place as small and rural as New Mexico, people have greater problems to worry about then voting in a bunch of rich, white men who may or may not make the situation better for them. Those living in the rural parts of our country are demographic who time and time again have been disenfranchised by the left and the right and now may have chosen at one point or another, to be complacent with the present and disregard any form of civic duty. If this is the case, that is fine and I can respect that. I have no doubt in my mind that people choose to stay out of politics because politics is what has screwed them over time and time again. What I do find disheartening and very concerning however, is a small percentage of those who are disenfranchised, are looking to the wrong people to speak on their behalf. We have the Glen Becks, the Rush Limbaugh's, the Michelle Malkin's and the Sarah Palin's, dictating what this rural group of people should believe in, while these Tea Party pundits sulk growing wealth and fame, giving tyrannical speeches, insulting the so-called "crazy liberals" and blaming us for the screwing up the country, at the expense of those who continue to make them rich, and all the while these rural communities like Lake Arthur continue to suffer. No quality, affordable health care, high unemployment, no end to a war in Afghanistan and an increasing High School drop out rate. I am not stating that the Left has all of the answers, believe me, I know we don't. Nevertheless, as someone from the Left and like many others on my side, we do our research and make our own decisions on what to believe in, without being influenced by the Keith Olberman's and Rachel Maddow's (however I do heart Rachel Maddow) It is imperative that my community do the same. That they speak for themselves and make a conscience decision on how they move their community forward. Will I have something to do with that? I don't know...I guess that is what makes me excited and still, very highly challenged.

So I return to Lake Arthur at the end of the year. Preparing myself for the obstacles I say confront and who knows...maybe some surprises. I may have my community all wrong. It may turn out that I just needed to grow up a little, return and maybe educate myself on what my own community may already know.

Capitalism: A Love Story

2009-10-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

Say what you will about Michael Moore, but after watching Capitalism: A Love Story tonight, I am once again reminded of why I am devoted to the public interest of this country. We all know who Michael Moore is. He's known for his films and those on the right see him as an utter insult to the America, however...and I am obviously bias as I'm just as progressive as Mr. Moore, but in all honesty...how can you possibly disagree with what is portrayed in this film? Yes, I am a person, like many others who have benefited from capitalism. There is no disputing that. But we also live in a democracy, which I believe supersedes any capitalist ideology in existence today. "I refuse to live in a country like this...but I'm not leaving," is by far the greatest line ever in the film! Why? Because remember 8 years ago and then 4 years ago...when both times we had to deal with George Dub being "elected" then "re-elected?" All of us liberals declared an end to our United States citizenship, threatening to jump the border into Canada because we "refuse to live in a country like this..." We're still here.

We're about a week and a half away from reaching our one year anniversary of American's like myself, coming together to change the direction of this country. We were sick and tired of the corruption, chaos and madness that took place for 8 solid years under the Bush administration and we demanded an alternative to the destruction we had all been witnessing. Not to give all the credit to President Obama, but while we're still relatively fucked right now...things I'd say are better than they were one year ago today. Am I wrong about that? Financially, things are still pretty bad, millions of people continue to lose their homes to foreclosure, hard working American's continue to lose their jobs every single day and households who are receiving income are seeing the majority of it go to pay of extremely high debt. Moreover, we have two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the threat of prolonging one of those battles and possibly engaging in further battles with Iran and Pakistan. In addition we are reaching the end of a third month of the health care debate. Ok...so things aren't so great.

I'm utterly disgusted with the arguments the talking heads on the right and left have in regards to Obama's performance in the last 10 months. When are they finally going to realize that they are in fact contradicting their support of Bush when they point out Obama's inability to turn things around? So things were bad right?!?! Where were these talking heads 4 to 8 years ago, when all the bad things began to take place?

I know Obama is pissing a lot of us off. Here we have health reform and the public option being handed to us and there is Obama...freakin courting Olympia Snowe! It's frustrating and I pray to God that he's got some strategy behind this because a lot of us still believe in him. While the rest expect him to fail, we still expect him to be the President we elected him to be. That said, those of us that did all we can in 2008 to get Obama elected, to help protect the greater good of this country, we cannot led up. We need to step it up and make sure that we are not screwed over by this President the way we were with Bush.

Capitalism: A Love Story, was a just a reminder of what we can do if we work together. As easily as we elected a President and Congress, as easily we can remove you. But let's be smart about this...hopefully things will begin to turn around in the coming months...if not? Ten words. R-E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N

Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T06:18:00.001-07:00

I understand we are all frustrated about the POTUS, with not seeing immediate results to correcting a lot of what was brought upon us during the Bush years. With that said, I still think that we need to support him, while holding him accountable. Today's win of the Nobel Peace Prize is really quite spectacular! Think about it. Unlike our previous administration, our POTUS is finally doing or attempting to do something we have yearned for but have not seen in a very long time and that is diplomacy and a sense of international community. Some of us may feel like he has not done anything so far to deserve this prestigious award, but obviously the rest of the world feels differently. It just seems that the world has embraced his ideology for peace and a sense of community and that right there is a major win for America, not just Obama. I am a huge proponent of ending the war in Afghanistan and I see this Nobel Peace Prize win from the committee as not just an award for Obama but as a symbol and perhaps a silent call to the President that "the world is watching" and is looking to him to stay the course and move towards peace and maybe an end to a 9 year war.

Will Sen. Grassley ever fight for the rights of the people he represents?

2009-10-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Months after the health care discussion began, Sen. Grassley still does not seem to understand how to compromise. The word "no" seems to be the only word which seems to exist in his vocab. For someone that has been in the discussion from the beginning, making agreements and participating in discussions and then to finaly go against what he previously agreed upon, is just plain awful. Sen. Grassley, this isn't a game, this is our lives your messing with. You're seriously politicizing this whole debate. When will you finally wake up and realize that what you're doing is making the situation worse and prolonging relief for all of us?

For someone like me, who really does belief in equal rights for everyone, including the notion that health care is a right not a privledge, I'm disheartened at how this debate has turned into the battle of our lives. Who could possibly disagree with the notion that all Americans should have access to high quality health care? Sen. Grassley that's who! And not just him, but also every other highly ranked Republican in Congress, in addition to all the right wing pundits on the radio and the television. Listen, I know its all about limiting government interference and decrease our deficit, but seriously? Why haven't they been more committed before? For over 50 years, we've pushed this idea fiscal responsibility and small government yet its never worked and instead, our country has spiraled out of control. People want health care reform all over the country, and as we continue to live in a nation attempting to pursue a democracy, it is the wishes of the American people that should be taken into consideration, not have Congress listen to corporate lobbyists who happen to be making billions off all of us. How can anyone support that?

There is a reason that the Dems won last Novemeber. They won because things have obviously not been going well the last 8yrs under the Republican party's leadership. Dems need to step it up! We have a lot of work to do and we need to make it happen, otherwise...November 2010 will come real quickly and the legacy of the Democratic party will be, leaders appointed to represent the people, who can't deliver.

Sen. Grassley, for a man who I once respected, you have become a major disappointment. How can you possibly live with yourself, as you influence your party to rob the American people of their right and entitlementto affordable, quality healthcare?

Anyway, I'm venting. I saw Sen. Grassley on the senate floor this afternoon regarding his new argument towards the new state public option "opt out" discussion now floating around and I was seriously overcome with anger at the thought that this is the Republican leadership right now. Its quite sad and frightening, all at the same time. I'm hoping forthe best, however, its hard to think positive when our Dems are scared to rul and th Repubs are being, well...Repubs
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It's been 10 months...

2009-10-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

and already President Obama is losing support from both sides of the aisle. Of course, it's to be expected from the Republicans...we always knew their whole platform from the beginning was to see him and his administration fail. But what is more surprising to me however, is how quickly Obama supporters have jumped ship. I understand that we elected President Obama for a reason; an opportunity to leave behind the Bush days and move forward onto a path for better days. But just 10 months into his presidency, many of the staunch supporters from a year ago, have already turned their backs on our president and furthermore, from what I read and hear...many are more critical of Obama then they ever were towards George W. Bush...the worst American President EVER!

Bottom line. The GOP is not going to change. The Right will undoubtedly continue to not support the President and that is a fact. We have seen it for the last 10 months and unless there is this weird, much needed awakening of the Right and they begin to think about moving forward rather than politicizing everything they will continue to hate on Obama and his decisions, even despite Obama's continued effort for bipartisanship. That's the Right...now the Left? That's another story. The Left needs to push the President and put Congress to serve us for the reasons we elected them for. The problem is we have not done that. We are not holding them accountable for anything, instead...we are giving up and already looking to not re-elect them in 2010. Yes, we need to hold that threat up, however we also have to advocate. How is it we were able to mobilize millions of people during election season a year ago, but we can't mobilize people now for the health care debate or the war in Afghanistan? Yes, Obama did make promises when he was on the campaign trail and when he was inaugurated, but we also made a commitment ourselves. The commmitment was, "we would take back America and prevent it from spiraling out of control."

We can't blame Obama without blaming ourselves a little bit. We all had this belief that somehow on January 21, 2009...all our problems were going to be resolved. We were convinced that Obama was going to cure all our ills within the first 100 days, but come on people...let's be realistic. If anything, what the President has done is actually show us how bad things really are. Think about it, things were bad under GWB, but with our new President, Obama has uncovered the realities that truly existed...things are truly worse than what we had actually expected and we can't expect everything to be solved in just 10 months.

1) Healthcare -- We are up against a lot of people in an effort to pass health care reform. I hate to say this, but the US has moved on to be a corporatist state. Its an ideological tendency, embedded into many serving us in Congress and we face a major risk of not getting anything out of health care this year because so many of those serving us in Congress are in bed with corporations who have taken over our country. Until we break away from this ideological perspective, the idea of privatization, we're not going to get anything done when helping our people and our communities. Corporations make too many of our decisions and we need to put an end to this.

2) Afghanistan -- We need to get the hell out of dodge. It was great to see Obama announce to the world this year that we would be exiting Iraq soon. But when will the same announcment be made for Afghanistan? We won't. Whoever is advising the President, he's being told that we have to stay and defeat the Taliban. Increasing troop levels in a highly dangerous region, sounds a lot like Vietnam to me. I understand where Obama is coming from and his belief that we need to go in and end this thing, but it's not a winnable war and I wish he'd finally understand that. But rather than putting it all on the President, what we need is an effective anti-war movement. We have become so consumed with our daily lives that we do not realize how important this debate is and maybe we do realize its importance, but we choose to ignore it as we've become comfortable with the status quo. As a people against the war in Afghanistan, we need to step it up and become the democracy of people we are meant to be.

To reach a path we're meant to be on as a country, I'd say we're on the right track. American's realized that the GOP were not doing anything during the last 8 years, hence Obama's election and the Democrats taking Congress. However we shouldn't have ended it there. The same passion and conviction we had as voters a year ago, we should be organizing our efforts towards pushing our representatives to vote in ways that will help our country and it's citizens. I'm tired of feeling as if these radical righties are representative of the nation as a whole. The majority of the country still supports the President and we need to show that support by not ditching him in the gravest of times, but by countering those who are wishing on the failure of our country.

Re: So there goes Healthcare Reform?

2009-09-15T16:19:00.001-07:00

Wendell Potter spoke before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee today giving a straightforward position on Senator Baucus' plan today. Once an insurance executive, now turned whistle blower, Mr. Potter was pretty much begging the committee to support public option. Stating that Baucus' plan "would create a government-subsidized monopoly for the purchase of bare-bones, high deductible policies that would truly benefit Big Insurance. In other words, insurers would win; your constituents would lose."

When will we stop being so concerned about the insurance companies and their feelings?! They've screwed us long enough yet they manage to stay and even facilitate this health care debate. Baucus seriously needs to grow a pair or get out. He's obviously not in this for the American people and strictly protecting his butt from the insurance companies who are obviously responsible for his longevity in Congress. Talk about campaign financing.

Dems seriously need to get with the program, come together and pass health care reform now! Otherwise, we'll go elsewhere in 2010.

2009-09-02T22:01:00.001-07:00

Obama may stick with public option and will ask Dems next wk to move forward with a Dem bill! This convo shoulda been had a month ago. Better late than never.

Rest In Peace Teddy...

2009-08-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

It was the summer of 2001. I was interning in DC for a Senator from New Mexico and like many interns, it was another world, but it was magical. Roaming the underground halls of the Capitol...moving from Hart Building to Russell and back...I became lost in my thoughts and looked at the possibilities of one day doing my part in public service. On one of those days where I was lost in a trance, not paying any attention to the chaos that surrounded me, there in the Russell Senate Building, was a tall burly man, with a very large poodle by his side. It was Senator Kennedy. I was lost amongst the crowd and had just witnessed something great, even for just a brief second.

Last night as I sat at home, relaxing with the Bravo channel on my television, I received a tweet from @cnnbrk and there it was...Ted Kennedy was gone. The thing about this loss is that his death, like those in his family before him, are so close to many of our hearts. Growing up, my parents, who came to the US from Mexico, knew and spoke of the Kennedy's like they were people they knew personally. Like we had been family friends for years. Why? Because despite their fame and fortune and the prestige of America's version of Camelot, they were a family that could have chosen a different life, but instead chose public service -- to serve and push for issues so close to the hearts of our communities.

When John was killed in 1963...and Robert in 1968, the country mourned and American's felt a huge loss. Not just for the country and the obstacles it faced without them, but for the family that was left behind. Ted Kennedy was the youngest of his family but after the deaths of his brothers, he had to take on whatever responsibility he was handed over, unintentionally, by these losses. Ted was not the best early on, but overtime, he became great.

Today as I listened to NPR, it finally hit me...Ted was really quite extraordinary. So many legislative bills that he submitted or signed on to, have become American law and incorporated into our daily lives. The freedoms and opportunities those of us my age (and younger) take advantage of all the time, are the same freedoms and opportunties that did not exist before us but do so because of Senator Kennedy's committment, influence and extremely powerful liberal voice. While yes, we would have preferred that he be much more to the left...he did enough to get the job done for all of those social issues that we hold dear to our hearts.

While television and internet gives us a great look of our Kennedy history, I am so glad that I was able to see it first hand, the greatness that was Ted Kennedy. I hope that all the great things we loved about Senator Kennedy, will be replicated amongst our present Congress and and our future leaders. That politics be put aside and that serious issues be dealt with immediately and head on, with great passion and conviction. It's ironic that Senator Kennedy's death comes in the middle of the biggest policy battle that this country has seen since the Civil Right's era and an issue he has advocated for years. I still believe in this great democracy and I hope that his spirit lives on as we move forward. As in the Senator's own words, "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die..."

WTF Ridge?!

2009-08-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

2004 Presidential election. Just having moved back from Washington DC, and spending some time in El Paso, Texas, I decided to move back home to New Mexico, specifically Roswell, New Mexico a very VERY, conservative town. It was election year and it was finally time to get the Bush administration out of the White House, and put our country back on track. My interests in politics were slightly on the obsessive side and in my early and mid-twenties were, what some would say, slightly over the top. But like many progressives, I did not trust Bush and his administration. We believed he had stolen the election in 2000, we wondered why the hell he sat for 7 minutes at a children's school in Florida on 9/11, we were totally against the invasion and inevitable war in Iraq, very much against the terror and scare tactics of the administration and its continuous fear mongering and absolutely sick of the "if you don't vote for us, you will die!" politics. (whew!) In 2004, it was time to put an end to all of this.

While John Kerry was not the quintessential ideal candidate, I felt that he was the right person for the job as POTUS and the best person to dethrone George W. Bush from his self appointed and stolen position as President of the United States. But we also knew it would not be easy. Early on in 2004, I was led to the Chavez County Court house to pick up some voter registration forms. It was time to get people registered and ready for a fight in November. In addition I joined the Chavez County Democratic Party and began my volunteer work. It was here, starting in the summer of 2004, that battle began.

It was definitely not easy. I mean seriously, we're talking about a county populated by people who were mostly republican and if registered democrat, were moderates, large percentages of retirees, many...you guessed it, Veterans. No one in their right mind was willing to vote against Bush. Why? Because there was a war on terror that needed to be won and we couldn't win with John Kerry. The reason was plain and simple, while John Kerry did serve his country in Vietnam, people believed he lied! On or around August 12, 2004, just a few days after the Democratic convention and a huge poll jump for John Kerry, the Swift Boat smears began. Here was a group of Vets being used by conservatives, to basically come out and say that they were with John Kerry in 1968, and countered Kerry's claims of heroism and that frankly, John Kerry was a liar. How could I go door to door, to residents of Roswell, New Mexico, with the smear campaign all over the news, keeping John Kerry from winning the election in November!!

John Kerry went to war, Bush did not. In fact, Bush pretty much was AWOL during Vietnam and yet Bush was considered the most qualified to protect our country? Why would we elect a new president when we were facing threats from terrorists? The US was under extreme levels of terror threats!!...Or was it?

One thing us progressives and crazy liberals were accused of back in 2004 was this notion that we were conspiracy theorists. That anything that came out of our mouths, when debating against the policies of Dubya, were pure fiction and rightfully false. We could never win and we were seen as crazies and our opinions were never taken with validity.

It's been almost five years to the T, in which we saw poll numbers for Kerry drop significantly after the Bush administration announced the terror threat would be raised, coincidentally soon after Kerry's convention speech (which had given him a huge bump in the polls) and then again right before the 2004 presidential election. There were those of us progressives that were seriously pissed because for us it was not coincidental. It had to be freakin intentional! We believed that the Bush administration was very much manipulating the war on terror in an effort to stay in office. Our theories were seen as ridiculous and we were asked to STFU. In November's presidential elections, we lost.

Today, 5 years later...we find out that we were in fact duped. In fact we have found out that we were right all along.

According to the Associated Press,

"Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge claims in a new book that he was pressured by other members of President George W. Bush's Cabinet to raise the nation's terror alert level just before the 2004 presidential election."

When I read about this this morning, I was not only stunned but heartbroken. Like many of us in 2004, we were seriously committed to our purpose of getting the right person into office. We needed a president that would make the necessary changes to put this country back on track. We needed to end the terrorizing our communities, to end the war in Iraq and to bring back our stature as a reputable democracy in the international world, but instead, we were left with four more years of Bush and a very broken country. What is more disheartening is that Ridge, just a few weeks after the election in 2004, decided to resign. Did this man not have a conscience? Did he not see how wrong this was, to not only be misled by his own boss, but then to lie to the American people? Why come out now? Why do it this way? It's easy...money. He's got a book coming out and this sells.

What is interesting now is that when we finally get our shit together by electing Barack Obama, "WITH A MANDATE"...we have protests from the other side. Just 5 years ago we were ready to get the hell out of dodge. We were dealing with real issues. We were confronted with a lack of leadership and intelligence. However now, when we think we're going to accomplish some goals and fix what was broken, we now face protests for all the wrong reasons. The same people who supported Bush in 2004 and believed that he would protect them from the threats of terror, are the same people protesting today on health care and other domestic issues that can really change the course of our lives for the better. When will they finally realize that they have been misled all this time and they too are being duped by the conservatives? What will it take for them to trust the POTUS, who right now is the person to put this country back on the right track?

Yes, we should move on from the past and not keep bringing up "old shit" (as Smokey says on Friday) but in order to move forward we have to learn from the past. Had Ridge told us early on in 2004 what we had suspected all along...so much of our country's problems might have been prevented. Even those protesting health care today, might they have thought they were seeing the real deal then, perhaps today they would in fact, see a real big mess!

2009-08-20T13:24:00.001-07:00

Yay! Now blogging from my BB! If I weren't already trying to stay connected through Facebook, Twitter, etc...now prepare for updated blogs on political rubbish

2009-08-20T13:18:00.001-07:00

Check check!!

Summer of Hate Reaction

2009-08-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

I'm reading the Daily Beast, and focused on John Avlon's blog titled "Summer of Hate." http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-08-13/25-signs-of-hate/?cid=hp:mostpopular1 And quite frankly...I'm highly disturbed. It's not the blog itself that bothers me, but the comments from the readers.

Routinely, when reading news or blogs online, I go down to the comments immediately because I want to read what people think before I develop my own opinion. Usually it doesn't really influence my thoughts because most of the comments are pretty redonkulous, but what it does do for me is give me a pulse of what is going on nationwide. However, after reading the comments on "Summer of Hate," and the blog itself, I'm actually pretty frightened for the future of this country.

Example? North49. His/her comment states:

"MSNBC parrots the Obama party line. FOX NEWS at least to some extent tries to expose the nature of the beast that seeks to expand the state, while the Obots blindly sing the praises of enslaving statism. There are an abundance of "Harvard scholars" following BO like he's the Pied Piper, methinks. Does the over "edjumicated" elite know how idiotic they appear pretending to oppose slavery as one of America's worst sins, while embracing enslaving socialism of the Bolshevik Obama?"

It wasn't this specific comment that worried me per se, but instead the thread of comments that proceeded it. There is a lot of hostility and anger going on right now regarding health care reform and what is even scarier is the threat of violence that we are seeing all over the country. Now, the thread didn't specifically state a type of threat, however the comments, as you can probably tell, does illustrate a highly heated discussion with some surprisingly unintelligent remarks or responses. Let me just put it this way, as a hard-core, progressive, social liberal, these conversations taking place online and offline scare the bejesus' out of me. If the Republicans losing the elections in 2006/2008 elections, and their faltering popularity in the last 8 months gave some indication of their demise...the health care debate is slowly reviving the conservative movement and its agenda, specifically from the grassroots movement of the conservative party.

Yesterday, as I was watched CSPAN, the Americans for Prosperity conference came on. Now, some will say it is a copy-cat of a progressive conference for bloggers that already exists, (Netroots Nation Conference), but for the purpose of sticking to my point, I'll let this one slide. So, Americans for Prosperity. The speaker that was highlighted was Michelle Malkin. I do not know much about her, but what I do know is that she is now one of the new faces of the Republican party (and the new Ann Coulter of the conservative party, in my opinion BUT a bit smarter) From the sounds of her latest book and what she was vocalizing this weekend at this bloggers conference, is that conservatives at the grassroots level, are hating on today's GOP. In addition, it seems that they also despise those within the Republican party who think the party should go through a "re-branding" process. Michelle Malkin, like those in the audience I presume, believe that the Republican party should stick to the ideology that they have always been known for and in regards to the current health care debate, she insinuated that those attending the town hall meetings all over the country, should stick to their guns (literally speaking) Ok, the latter part about the guns...may not have been said, however she did insinuate that those protesting had every right to be there, guns or no guns. In all honesty, her speech was really powerful and had I been a cut throat conservative, card carrying member of the NRA, with a loaded .45 in my car, I would have been truly inspired and ready for war against those socialist and liberal fascists, as the conservative base calls us.

Honestly, if you were not scared before...you should be now. Listening to Michelle Malkin scared the shit out of me! Why? Because if I am someone in the conservative movement, still pissed that Barack Hussien Obama won the presidential election by a mandate in November 2008, and in my ear I have conservative pundits like this Michelle person, in addition to the Rushes of the conservative radio world, telling me to go to the mattresses...(add country accent here) "you're gawd damn right I'm gonna do somethin!" Specific leaders in the GOP, in addition to popular conservative talk-show hosts, have inadvertently and/or have outright supported some of the most vocal (and honestly, very scary) protests going on all over the country these last two weeks and Michelle Malkin is another potential person adding fuel to an already out of control fire.

Believe me, I'm one of those people who tries to limit myself to as little corporate-owned news media outlets as possible. I know that these news outlets tend to sensationalize the news more often then not, however the last few weeks have prompted me to be overly concerned over our current health care debate and the antics going on at these town hall meetings. Not even the news network cannot over-hype. It is no longer a debate about health care reform, but a platform for a people to speak freely about their dissatisfaction over a president they were never going to like. Furthermore, the conservative grassroots movement has taken the same stance as the Republicans in the Beltway, who have unanimously taken on a decisive position to watch President Obama fail. Republicans have allowed and openly engaged members of their party in "death panel" politics allowing it to overwhelm the real health care debate.

As Bill Clinton stated at his speech during the Netroots Nation Conference in Pittsburgh this weekend, "America is closer now than ever before" in regards to passing health care reform. Yet what is frustrating is seeing Obama prioritize his political capital over policy making, not at all considering all we have had to put up with as Progressives for the last 8 years and everything we have had to work for to get a majority in Congress. Today we hear that Obama is considering dropping public option from the table, in order to ease tensions, I presume. Bottom line President Obama, you drop public options, you lose a large supporter base. Furthermore, the conservatives don't care what you do because in the end, they will still defy you. Republicans will never support you Mr. President. They have blatantly and publicly stated this outpouring of distaste for your presidency and they will not stand down. While I commend you for all you have tried to do, trying to build a bridge between the two party lines...the fact is that the conservative movement will never back down. You have majority Mr. President. Stop peddling around and get this country moving again. We need to protect and sustain our progressive majority and we need to pass health care reform this year, with public option!

Angeles

2009-05-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite Elliott Smith songs.
I'm currently in my room listening to music, in addition to the sounds of cars and trucks driving by along the very loud, 101 freeway.
I haven't written on here in awhile as I've been very unmotivated and quite frankly, uninspired.

Angeles is a great song. Not sure if Smith was talking about LA per se, but when I do hear this song specifically it brings me back to reality, and me thinking to myself, "I freakin live in LA!" August will be four years that I've lived here and each day I still wake up as excited about this then the day before.

Yes, in fact I am a transplant from NM, but I have completely embraced Los Angeles as my new home and truly believe that I was meant to start a life here. A New Mexican will always believe that they're NM'ican forever...and I confess that the same will apply to me. But for how much longer?...and that's kinda scary.

Yesterday I got a call on a prospective endeavor in New Mexico, which many ambitious people, like myself, would probably take on in a heartbeat. However, my killer instinct, which about 99% of the time is accurate (on good days), told me to say no and not to even consider it.

Now, I really REALLY hope that yesterday was a good day for that killer instinct to kick in because I'm not the type of person that handles a state of "dwelling on things" very well and there may be times in the coming days where I could feel as if I should reconsider. However, as Angeles by Elliott Smith ends...and my interpretation of the song absorbs in my head and heart, I'm convinced that not only is living in LA awesome...but LA is now in fact my home and honestly, there is no looking back only forward.

I like watching the puddles gather rain....

2009-02-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I last wrote. Nothing too eventful has been going on except the financial collapse of our markets...but other than that, that's pretty much it.

Since we're all facing economic hardships, last night I decided to go on craigslist.com to find a couch for my place and of course, stimulate the economy by spending some money. I'd been looking for one for a few months and last night i figured that i'd take a chance and look again. Finally...after a few scrolls down the list of prospective peices of furniture, I was seriously in love with a pastel green, slightly faded, comfy looking chair. It was perfect. I figured it would be a perfect match for my avacado green colored walls and of course...my days of wonderous lounging. It looked ultra comfy and so inexpensive...you can't beat a measley $50 right?

I got to the owners house...ALL THE WAY out to West LA...passed the 405. I figured I'd be stuck in traffic, but for some reason I flew and made it from Boyle Heights in under 30 minutes. When I got to the house, I was slightly frightened by some barking coming from the home...then I realized it wasn't a dog, but some guy on the other side of the door asking me who it was...I was like..."it's me?" (as if he could possibly know who "me" is)

A girl finally came to the door and said...sorry about that...the dogs are going crazy...(right)

She led me through a small house and finally to the "chair." I was impressed. Considering how unruly the house that I was in looked, the chair didn't seem too bad. I wanted to take it...but how would I take it back to my place...? 1) I was 13+/- miles away from my house...which in LA times is an eternity 2) I drive a VW Beetle convertible and finally 3) It looks as if there will be a down pour from the looks of the dark clouds above me.

Some background about craigslist...if the stuff is good, it will sell...so it's absolutely necessary to not only be aggressive, but also impulsive. I confirmed with the owner by stating "50 right?" = SOLD!!!

I ran to the ATM down the road, pulled out some cash and drove back to the home, where I pulled in in reverse. Prior to pulling into the long drive way...i pushed the necessary button to start pulling back the top of the convertible. Not only did I notice some really dark clouds above my head, but for some reason my damn convertible top was not going down correctly. I didn't have time to fix it...I had to get the chair.

It took what seemed like hundreds of minutes and constant switchbacks to finally making it to the door where the chair would be brought out. The "boyfriend" came out and looked at my car and must of thought..."this girl is crazy" He gave me a look of disbelief...not at all thinking that I could put that chair in the back of my two seat backseat. I looked at him with a gaze that said..."I don't know how the hell I'm going to get it clear across the city, with no rope to tie the chair down, but I'm going to do it" look. He was seriously concerned asking, "you're not taking the freeway are you...?" Of course not...

I drove off...

Now...I'm pulling on to Olympic Blvd and head east. It will clearly take me back to Boyle Heights...but I was clearly west of the 405 and in my mind I kept thinking...how the heck am i going to get home? I stayed calm, turned down the radio and tried to ignore the stares from ongoing traffic. As I drove 15...20....25 minutes...i realized that things weren't so bad. At about Robertson Blvd, I noticed drops of rain...but figured they were just figments of my imagination. Eventually...about 40 minutes later, I saw the LA skyline and the sign pointing out that Staples Center was straight ahead. I gave a sigh of relief.

As I'm crossing Figueroa....i feel drops of rain fall onto my head...hand...steering wheel and now my chair. I kind of begin to freak out, but I try to calm down...breathing in and out....then without really thinking and remembering...i completely forgot that Olympic stops for a bit near and around skid row and so i'm now thinking damn...i gotta turn left. LUCKILY there is no traffic because as I'm heading North...completely preoccupied with getting home asap and dry, I run a damn red light!!!! At this point I'm so freaked out...not only am I driving in my convertible Beetle, with the top down, carrying this gigantic chair in the rain...but I'm obviously putting my life in danger.

I finally get to 7th street, make a right....try to miss all the red lights and finally see the 7th street bridge to take me into Boyle Heights...IT BEGINS TO POUR!!! I haul ass....driving up and down the bridge and as I'm doing this, I notice someone on my right screaming at me.... "you need to put a trash bag over that" I know that you fool!!! It's not like i'm doing this for fun. As i'm driving...I'm yelling at this guy "i live nearby!" which wasn't true, because I still had several blocks....anyway...i'm beginning to get soaked...saved by a few underpasses who intercept whatever rain drop that is on its way down....and then finally...FINALLY, i drive into my driveway and with the amount of adrenaline I had, I scooped my chair out of my car and into my tiny little house, where it sits tonight in my living room...perfectly.

Some will say that this was utterly ridiculous...however, I find it to have been adventurous. Well...now I do. At the time it was an utter mess :)

Trafficologist....

2009-02-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

I was on the treadmill early this morning when i happened to look up at the TV at the gym and noticed that the channel 4 news has an actual person reporting called "Trafficologist." I almost slid off the treadmill because I could not believe it.

What is this world coming to?

Superbowl recap...

2009-02-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

As an NFL die hard fan, I'd have to say that tonight's performance by both teams was exceptional. I've been watching this sport for years now and usually by the time you get to the actual Superbowl game, you already have an idea of who will come out on top and you know it's probably going to be a blow out. This is exactly what I was thinking prior to the game. I could have honestly seen the Steelers take it by more than 20 points...however, the Cards put up a pretty good game. You look back and wonder, had they not had close to 100 yards in penalties, would they have taken it all? Possibly, but we'll never know and I guess you can't take anything away from the Steelers either because they played a great game, except for that bone head play by James Harrison in th end. He had a great 100 yd run, but that personal foul in the 4th could have ended it for Pittsburgh. Overall...it was a great game and it's sad to see football over for now...

Also, regarding the half time show by "the Boss," I was nostalgic and my eyes I think glistened a bit when the E Street band played Glory Days. Had they performed Dancing in the Dark, I think I would have lost it. I think it was funny early on in the performance when Bruce slid on his knees towards the camera man...I'm thinking he had to have gotten racked pretty hard I'd say.

It's Monday in 44 minutes...yuck!

Jason Mraz is underrated...

2009-02-01T00:55:00.001-08:00

I just got done watching SNL, which I rarely do nowadays because the writing is so bad, but tonight I happened to be skimming through my channels when I noticed that Jason Mraz was about to perform. I've always had this sort of teenage crush on him from back in the day in 2003 when I was driving out to Washington DC and his song "The Remedy" was pretty popular and everytime I hear that song I always think about that particular road trip...anyways, tonight...seeing his live performance, I was once again convinced of why this tiny crush exists.

Not sure if anyone cares, but his new song..."I'm Yours," that single was released like 3 years ago, but it wasn't until a concert he did last year, in which he performed it, did it become so popular and he re-released it and I think it's actually topped much higher on the charts then any of his other popular songs. I always did like that song. Anyways...he performed tonight and it was a really great performance.

Superbowl is tomorrow (or today) and I am seriously considering not watching. Not sure why I'm not interested, as it is usually a big event for me. I have not missed watching a superbowl since I was like nine or something...Go Steelers?

Public Trans + City of LA = So will never happen...

2009-01-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

Something that just came to mind as I was parking my car in the driveway this evening...

When I was living in Washington, DC, one of my favorite things to do (and still is when I'm visiting) is riding on a bus or the metro . A car is absolutely unneccessary. Public trans is seriously the best way to travel in and around the city, plus it's cheap and convenient as hell and so easy!!

LA...on the other hand, is a completely different story. Public trans in Los Angeles is not practical and very inconvenient. Believe me...I've jumped on the blue line from Long Beach to downtown LA and it's taken me 2 hours....2HOURS!!! In my car....20 to 40 minutes depending on traffic...TOPS!

I have friends that are totally psyched about the gold line coming through east LA because they think that it will be something that they will use all the time and "oh so convenient..bar crawls here we come!"

That's bogus. Take me for instance...I live three blocks from work and I still drive most days. Yeah, yeah, i should be embarrassed to say that but it's more convenient and if you ask every other Angeleno they will tell you the exact same thing. We are madly in love with our cars!! We are conditioned to depend on them and there is just this strong connection for that four wheeled machine. That is our culture and it will never die. If you were to put a metro stop right up the street from your home, people will constantly come up with an excuse as to why they're better off driving then taking public trans. It is a proven fact...believe me. It's not to say that it's right...but it's done enough to prove me correctly.

I was thinking about this early this morning as I was trying to get to bed and I thought it was particularly funny. I was laughing to myself as I lay in bed. I don't know if it was the effects of the drugs I had just taken for my cold or what, but it was a hysterical laughter that I could not contain. As I was driving in to my house this evening and bypassing people at the corner waiting for the bus, I began to wonder about it once again, except this time...not so funny.

Cars mean freedom. I've always believed this personally and coming from a girl who started driving when she was 7 years old (rural New Mexico folks...there is nothing to do but drive around and cruise) I know this to be true. I always thought how cool it would be to just drive forever...travelling to all parts of the country. Now, mind you it's different here in LA, where you would think people would lessen their driving because of the traffic, but they don't. So I have absolutely no explanation except for that we just love our cars too much and that public trans, while convenient and cool to some in other parts of the country, will never become in vogue in LA. The idea of public trans here in LA has just taken to long to incorporate into the planning of the city and into the minds of those living in this city...we are too afraid to let go of the key in the ignition. Higher gas prices didn't really change that lifestyle in 2008...not sure exactly what will. When you find out the answer...let me know.

Oh how I've missed you...

2009-01-30T00:19:00.000-08:00

It was 7 years ago this month that I began my own personal blog. Back then it was just random jibberish I would type up during my uneventful days working at the New Mexico legislature. I would sit at my cubicle...looking at a long list of democratic bills needing to be analyzed and my mind would just go...blank. My mind wandering in every direction, I would always go back to my hotmail and stare at my empty inbox. "Where was everyone?" I would ask myself, not at all understanding that on a Wednesday afternoon, about 2pm...people worked. Somehow I had a hard time grappling with this and it was infuriating. Some would say that it was out of boredom, but it was mostly done out of spite. I began to write random emails about my daily life and I would email them to everyone that I knew. The thought of writing random paragraphs about my life in boring Santa Fe, New Mexico gave me such a high that when I would click send, it was absolutely exihilarting. Into the world wide web this email would go, being delivered to the inboxes of all my friends and family. Fewer than five found this to be funny and entertaining, while most blocked my address or asked me to remove them from my list. Others would respond with concerns of possible psychological imbalance on my end. However through that process, I did eventually gain a small audience of about 3, who even to this day continue to ask "when will you make your grand return?"

Well...

Tonight...maybe because I am miserable with a cold, with LA weather outside at 80 degrees, and an inability to sleep, I have decided to once again take a chance and put my brilliant thoughts and ideas on paper...er, blogspot. I do not like that it's 12:48am and I'm sitting here wide awake, nose dripping, head aching...while the rest of the world sleeps. It's time.

I'm not sure exactly what I will write about, but what I do know is even though they may be words of high intellect and of great importance... I hope to entertain people once again. Seven years ago, I always thought that my words of wisdom would eventually lead to major fame and fortune. Some will tell you that I have in fact reached a certain pinnacle of fame, yet fortune is something I continue to lack...but still thrive for. This continues to be true.

Maybe 2009 will be good to me...just maybe...

"How often will you write?" my followers will ask. Just look out for it, is my only reply. Words of wisdom and knowledge have a difficult time escaping from this thing we call a brain...

What Next...?

2007-08-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

So this afternoon, I was talking with a friend regarding the course of my life. I'm 28 years old and while I have no complaints about my life thus far, I've seem to hit a bump in the road in which I'm wondering what is the next step for me. I'm about to finish graduate school, I have a great job and great friends, however, I seem to have made a complicated turn on the road of life and am now wondering....what next?

Ten years ago, I knew exactly what I was going to be doing by the time I turned 30. I was going to be working as an advisor in Washington DC, for the President of the US who would be pledging to make America a place like no other (Not Bush though) My job would be something similar to Josh Lyman on the West Wing...actually exactly like that character. While yes, it is a fictional character...his job is what I always envisioned Totally in control and working for a really great president, someone like Martin Sheen of course. But that's not the case at all.

There are many reasons for this....1) I don't live in Washington DC. When I was living there I could never catch a break. It seemed that everywhere I went I was competing against folks who were or had attended schools that were far superior than the school I had recently graduated from. 2) The job that I had while living there didn't allow for much upward professional movement. While I tried my best to be very proactive, it was always discouraging knowing that my efforts were sort of...well, not working. Finally, 3) I'm not, what you would call, a good kiss ass. Now, this might probably be the easiset thing to do, but for me, it was probably the worst part of living in the DC metro area....if you didn't know someone in the field of interest you were looking into and unwilling to pursue any form of kiss assing, well....you might as well get out of dodge. And yes, after about a year, I did just that.
I realized that my hopes and dreams which were supposed to happen in the great city of Washington, DC, would not. I would have to flee to the southwestern part of the country, in hopes to regain any desires I might have lost during my time in the political city out east.

So i move to Los Angeles. The city of grassroots organzing and active social justice. I've been here two years and I have yet to attend my first march....I have yet to become involved in anything at all political and now i'm wondering....what have I been doing these last two years. Should I have just stayed in DC and become the the kiss ass i know I could be?

Ok...kiss ass might be slightly offensive to my friends back east, but for me....i find using the word somewhat liberating. The city is filled with just that. No longer is it the city of change and progressive politics but instead a version of my own worst nightmare. the "magical" city, which is what I once and still continue to call has seemed to have lost it's magic in my own eyes. DC is now filled with politicians that are no longer speaking their mind and doing what is right. Instead they are saying what they need to say in order to stay in office. It's no longer an office that you want to hold with pride and hope to acheive as much for the country as possible, instead it is a job in which you take and hope to maintain, saying just enough and doing just enough to make the voters happy and keep you on for another few years.

It's my first posting, so bear with me. I'm kinda all over the place but only because their is a ton of things going through my head right now and I'm not sure how to formalize and structure it all. All I know is that I need to just sign off right now and hopfully bring back something more constructive tomorrow. I'm just going to sign out.

Or Is It?

2007-08-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks i've continued to be in a contemplative mood. I've been thinking a lot about life and what my professional life will look like in the coming years. Currently, i'm not too happy with how things are going. I feel as if my professional life is at a standstill and once again I'm having the exact same feelings that I had one month ago when I last posted. Shouldn't this give me any indication of what I should already know and that is, move on? I'm really scared about moving on, or scared that i can't do it anymore....for the last ten years of my life, moving on to something different - making a change in my life has always been so simple. Everything that I owned could be easily packed up I would be at my new destination without problems. But after living in LA for 2 years, it's not as simple anymore. I feel that at my age i can't do the same things that I did during my early 20s. I mean think about it.... when you graduate from college, you're in a place where if you fuck up, people are going to be like..."you know, she's at that age where she needs to experience life." I'm no longer at that age. I'm at the age that if I do something crazy like get up and move without having a job and some security, i would be seen as someone that is irresponsible and definitely not an adult. No, i don't really care what people think of me but i think that society has conditioned us (i think) to follow a specific timeline.

I was watching this movie the other day on Lifetime (this channel may be the result of my self-destruction) and it was about a girl my age that lost her mother as a little kid, but right before the mother died, she made a timeline of how this girl should live her life. Now, the mother didn't expect for the daughter to intentionally follow the timeline exactly, she pretty much wrote it as a symbol of her existence (not sure if this makes sense) but this girl took it literally. LIke everything that was written down, she did it. But she did it without realizing that all the things that she accomplished was for the sake of her mother, but never because she truly wanted to do it. So she realizes later on that yes, she needs to leave her job as an attorney and instead become an artist which she really wants to do and that she should marry boyfriend #6 and not #7....(yeah, this is the trash they show on lifetime)

Anyways, my point is....and i did have one, is that i feel that i'm 28 and that i should already be in a certain place in my life because that's what society expects of me but i dont' really like where i'm at. I'm lacking the excitement that I always looked forward to as i was going to undergrad all those years ago. I always said...when i graduate...when i graduate. but i've been out of undergrad for 6 years....about to finish a masters degree in which it gives me no purpose and the only thing that's exciting in my life is happy hour on tuesday nights. Now, i'm not going to complain about happy hour on tuesday nights because it's so much fun, but theirs got to be more than that.

i'm flying out to san francisco tomorrow and i love that damn city. Maybe after this trip it'll give me some perspective. Otherwise, i'll have to wait till my trip home to NM in september, where I will spend 10 days with my family and i think it might be enough time to be thankful for living in LA.

Just maybe....