With most of the media focus covering the health care reform bill (more on that momentarily) a massive immigration rally held in the nation’s capital was mostly overlooked.Tens of thousands of people from around the country (“overwhelmingly Latino immigrants” per the New York Times) converged at the Washington Mall yesterday advocating for immigration reform. “If (Obama) doesn’t keep his word, we’re not going to vote,” said one protester to the Christian Science Monitor echoing the discontent of most protesters against those in power.
Politicians, activists, civil rights leaders, and even the president himself (in a videotaped message) spoke during yesterday’s rally. Several spiritual figures including Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney of Los Angeles took to the stage as well in acknowledgement of the increased role played by church groups in the immigrants’ rights movement. As pastor and executive member of the Latino Leadership Circle Gabriel Salguero wrote recently:
Immigration reform is a moral issue that requires us to live up to the highest of our values. This is not an easy issue but I will march because I believe that our country has the moral capacity to welcome immigrants. If Christ welcomed me unconditionally should I do any less with others?As we alluded to before, the House of Representatives approved by a narrow margin yesterday a major health care reform bill. Though the soon-to-be-law is expected to extend health care coverage to 32 million people, legislators excluded illegal immigrants from participating in “state-based exchanges.” Hence, undocumented immigrants will either have to pay private companies for their health insurance or not have any coverage at all.
Image- PRESS TV
Online Sources- New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, CNN, CBS News, Washington Post
The two things : Immigration and Health Care have many interconnections, bridges and tunnels.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that this march took place and that it was peaceful and enthusiastic.
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Americans like winners. They tend to vote for winners and last night, the Democrats looked like winners - Nancy Pelosi in History : Great Deserved Power
Nancy Pelosi deserves the power that she has earned with Hard Work and Great Intelligence - She is the most powerful Woman that America has ever seen. She also deserves a great place in History Books.
True/Slant
Why Nancy Pelosi Deserves the Credit for Health Care Reform
By Japhy Grant
Japhy Grant is an adopted Californian, web TV producer and journalist living in Los Angeles. He has written for Salon, Out, The New York Observer, The Advocate and has directed music videos for bands like Grizzly Bear, as well as creating ads for BCBG/ Max Azria.
March 22, 2010
Why Nancy Pelosi Deserves the Credit for Health Care Reform
http://trueslant.com/japhygrant/2010/03/22/why-nancy-pelosi-deserve-the-credit-for-health-care-reform/
Some excerpts :
Whether you agree with the Health Care reform package passed by the House or not, there’s no denying that its passage makes Obama, whose been in office a little more than a year, the greatest President in the past 50 years. It is by far the most sweeping legislation of a generation.
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Americans like winners. They tend to vote for winners and last night, the Democrats looked like winners. Among all the Democrats smiling, none was happier than Pelosi. At an early morning press conference following the vote, Pelosi kept talking about “this evening”. When a reporter pointed out it was now technically morning, she smiled broadly, swung her finger in exclamation and declared, “Not in California!”, which the punch drunk press corps lapped up.
When the history books are written, it’ll be Pelosi’s cajoling, wrangling, consoling and corralling of the fractious big tent Democratic majority which will get the credit for passing Health Care reform. House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn puts it simply, ”If she’s not the best (Speaker) to do this job, she’s certainly in the top two or three in history.”
White House insiders privately admitted last month that they thought they’d lost the chance to pass the bill, with Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel arguing the bill should be broken up into easier to pass individual pieces. It was Pelosi who argued for keeping the bill together. As Democrat Rep. Anna Eshoo said, she “kept the steel in the President’s back.”
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While Pelosi shares many of the same values as the progressive movement, she never showed any qualms about keeping the perfect from being the enemy of the good. She practiced her own brand of Obamian pragmatism; recognizing that when you’re the leader of a big tent, consensus is key and so is recognizing that if you’re at ‘A’ and you want to get to ‘Z’, there’s a whole bunch of letters you need to deal with along the way first.
As someone whose watched the Speaker a lot these past few months, I’m struck by her style. She’s unflaggingly polite, yet never wavers. When Rachel Maddow interviewed her before Rep. Stupak had agreed to sign on to the bill, Maddow tried to get her to publicly put the heat on Stupak. Pelosi demurred, praising the Congressman and making a point of saying she respected where he was coming from, all the while dismissing his concerns as an inaccurate reflection of the bill.
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