TDP: Hispanic Republican Summit Too Little, Too Late

by: Michael Hurta

Sun Jul 29, 2012 at 04:30 PM CDT

They're trying to mobilize conservative Latinos...

The Texas Democratic Party reminds us that it should be too little, too late. Hispanic voters ought to look at the actions of these politicians, and then they will see where priorities truly lie. We already know about Rick Perry's exploitation of Hispanic Texans for political purposes.

The TDP also outlined some of the problems with Canseco and the Republican Congress:

o   The House Republican budget supported by Congressman Canseco ends Medicare and replaces it with an inadequate voucher to buy private insurance even though 3.3 million Latinos rely upon Medicare for health care.  [Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 10/4/11]

o   Congressman Canseco has expressed opposition to the DREAM Act that would benefit 285,000 kids in Texas. [Migration Policy Institute, 7/8/10]

o   Canseco supports privatizing Social Security which  would have a particularly damaging impact on Hispanics who rely on Social Security as their sole income more than any other group.[Canseco Interview, 7/13/10; Washington Post, 2/01/10]

o   Among Hispanic seniors, 36% of married couples and 62% of unmarried seniors relied on Social Security for 90% or more of their income in 2009. [SSA]

o   As many as 30 percent of Hispanics escape poverty each year because of the monthly Social Security check they receive. [AARP]

Canseco is the representative in CD23, where BOR endorsed State Representative Pete Gallego. It's an important primary on Tuesday, because knocking off Canseco is our best chance to get rid of an enemy and put a friend of constituents in Congress.