by Linda Vega (re-posted with permission of the author and Latinos Ready to Vote)

The ability to adapt in a changing environment is keen to survival.  As a species, humans have managed to survive because they have adapted to different surroundings albeit physical, environment, or social.   Hence, change or adaptation, is a matter of survival for any species.  The Republican Party is failing to adapt to a new environment of a population shift. In fact, the failure to acknowledge this change has made the GOP akin to a dinosaur swirling in a myriad of a complex population shift in the U.S., especially in the Southwest.  We, as Republicans, have lost sight on how to maintain our poise and grace when looking for solutions that will include ALL Americans.  Instead, we jump on board when we hear new parties with solutions that will “take us back” to a euphoria that existed a long time ago.  So, I cry because my Party has refused to adapt and include the new Latino population or species.

The idea of Darwinism, is greeted with resistance by many who are caught in the comforts of the status quo.  Yet, the inability to embrace “change,” as history demonstrates, causes a group, and oftentimes a government to decline.

Today, Darwinism is accepted by many scientists in sociology and even politics; however, Republican politicians have been hesitant in acknowledging its presence in today’s America.  Take for instance the population change in the Southwest.  Prior to 1960, Latinos were the quiet  population as they were rather scarce in the political world.  In the past decades, however, Latinos have exploded into entrepreneurs and politicians.  Where they used to dominate the labor force, Latino’s ability to adapt has thrust them into the mainstream.   The focus on education has managed to change the political and economic clout for the community

During the 1960s, Latinos were already making gains in areas like that of professionals via laws that were meant to heal the scars brought on by racial divides.  Yet, Latinos did not partake in many of the so called “discrimination” roars raised by other groups.  Rather, Latinos rose into the education, labor, and even political power quietly and competitively.

The failure to acknowledge this change has the GOP existing like a dinosaur, walking around in a haze refusing to adapt.   We, as Republicans, have lost sight on including groups that think like us regardless of appearance.  We want to go back to a time that made us feel good.  Why in the world would we want to go back to a time and a place where we were struggling to advance as a Super Power of a Nation?

So the mantra that focuses on “going back” to the founding fathers should make us think,  should we not, instead, go forward to a New Super Power?  Subsequently, I doubt that the founding fathers would want us or accept us in the present state that we find ourselves: confusion.  The reality is that the GOP is shrinking because we are losing our participants and are not reaching out to include new voters.   We hardly hear anyone quote the basic fundamental truth that the GOP is the champion and a fair Party for the population, one particular, that it has helped the most over the years,  Latinos.

During the 1950s, the Southwest co-existed well with the Anglo and Latino communities.  The agriculture sector’s labor is predominately Latino, as the current trends in Alabama have shown us.  From 1942 to 1964, as the demand for produce increased so did the need for laborers in this area.  Thus, the Bracero Program brought in workers from Mexico who wanted to work, and the U.S. needed the work to keep the produce from rotting in the fields, much like we saw in Alabama in 2011.

We, as Americans, wanted to keep the work active and complained when our tomatoes went from .50 (cents) a pound to $1.50 a pound in that time.  We acquiesced to allowing foreign workers to enter the U.S. and pick the crops.  Those who opposed it were members of the Unions who argued that bringing in foreign workers would harm the wages of U.S. workers, and so they managed to convince the public that wages needed to be protected and controlled, thereby they formed unions in the Agriculture sector.  As a result, wages increased because the market did not control the wage increase, but rather the unions and the federal government came in to “protect” the American workers who wanted the higher wage and less hours.  But the motion had been created for the detesting of foreign workers who came to infiltrate our work.  A resentment that exists to this day.    This propaganda initiated by Unions to protect American workers caused more harm than benefit to our economy, because it interfered with the economic productivity of our labor force.

Latinos understand how groups were created to maintain the Civility of Rights for the under-represented groups in America during this time of change. However, those civil rights groups have splintered into those of liberal demagoguery that adds to the hatred of the Republican philosophy.  But present GOP leaders do not protect the philosophy once carefully planted by Ronald Reagan, rather they add to the fire.  The term Republican is no longer synonymous with Conservative, but is equal to what blacks saw as the term for Master during the slave movement and nothing is further from the truth.

The Republican ideology sprang from that of freedom and opportunity.  The seeds of loyalty that President Reagan and others planted in the Latino Community are the same ones that Newt Gingrich talks about.  His presence in the Latino community over this past decade is evident in keeping the dream alive in the community.  He is counting on the Latino hard work ethic and the keepers of the American dream.

Yes, it is my Party and I will cry if I want to because I know that our GOP political leaders are not accepting that the Latino population, growth and change, is a positive acquisition into the party.  They are still looking at Latinos as those foreigners who came to invade the U.S.  But Latinos didn’t invade, rather they came to contribute and become part of the American dream, and for the most part we did.  At present, we hold on to that dream in America and all we ask is that the party reach out and say: Welcome.

Read more of Linda’s articles on her page >>>>

by Bob Quasius

Ann Coulter has made a fortune writing and selling books excoriating liberals, also called progressives, for a range of offenses, often mocking liberals in the process.

Unfortunately, despite extensive research and writing on the subject of liberalism, Coulter is not always able to spot a liberal. In the blog Only One Candidate Is Right on The Two Most Important Issues posted December 28 on Townhall.com, Ann Coulter proved she can be hoodwinked by liberals. Coulter claims:

In the upcoming presidential election, two issues are more important than any others: repealing Obamacare and halting illegal immigration. If we fail at either one, the country will be changed permanently.

She’s right about ObamaCare, which would unquestionably lead to a complete government takeover of health care. However, Coulter then goes on a diatribe about illegal immigration:

But capitulate on illegal immigration, and the entire country will have the electorate of California. There will be no turning back.

and

Just as Americans ought to be able to learn the perils of a welfare state by looking at Greece, we ought to be able to learn the perils of illegal immigration by looking at California.

Massive legal and illegal immigration has already so changed the California electorate that no Republican can be elected statewide anymore. Not so long ago, this was a state that produced great Republican governors and senators like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, S.I. Hayakawa and Pete Wilson.

A short history lesson of California for Ann Coulter is in order. The GOP used to be competitive in California. Then, incumbent Republican governor Pete Wilson, trailing far behind in the polls, jumped on the Proposition 187 anti-immigrant bandwagon to revive his lagging campaign and win reelection. Once elected, proposition 187 was quickly overturned by the courts, to no one’s surprise since immigration is a federal power. Wilson won reelection playing the race card, but once prop. 187 enthusiasm passed the GOP lost legions of conservative Hispanic voters who were appalled at proposition 187 and became Independents or Democrats. The Field Institute analysis of the 1994 California elections found:

An analysis of Republican Governor Pete Wilson’s 55% to 41% reelection victory over Democrat Kathleen Brown shows that Wilson ran strongest among these voter subgroups: those living in San Diego/Orange, the Inland Empire, and the North Coast/Sierra regions, Republicans, conservatives, white non-Hispanics (especially white men), older voters, those with incomes of $60,000 or more, Protestants, and supporters of Prop. 187, the illegal alien initiative.

and

Proposition 187, the illegal alien initiative, which passed statewide by a 59% to 41% margin, carried in all major regions of the state except the San Francisco Bay Area. Support for Prop. 187 was extremely high in the Inland Empire (+40 points), the North Coast/Sierras (+36 points), San Diego/Orange (+34 points) and the Central Valley (+32 points).

Proposition 187 was spearheaded by John Tanton and the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform, and bankrolled with millions in financing from the Pioneer Fund, whose purpose is “to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences“, in other words scientific racism. John Tanton’s own writings show he’s an ardent eugenics supporter, an environut, and population control enthusiast with deep ties to planned parenthood. Tanton’s resume shows he’s not conservative at all but an ardent liberal, the kind that Coulter regularly bashes in her books and columns!

Amazingly, Coulter relies on NumbersUSA, founded by uberliberals John Tanton and Roy Beck, for her source of information on immigration, grading of candidates, etc. Roy Beck is the current leader of NumbersUSA, who was previously publisher of The Social Contract, infamous for publishing racist books and publications such as The Camp of the Saints, among others. For decades Beck has warned of us of the dire consequences of overpopulation of the U.S. If we took his rantings seriously, the world would have starved to death several times over by now!

Tanton, Beck, and their allies have been manipulating both liberals and conservatives for decades. A great example is this “smoking gun” letter from John Tanton’s own papers, donated to the University of Michigan library, in which Tanton brags:

Roy Beck and I think we have come up with an idea that can actually move the battle lines on the immigration question in our favor. While we are working on other ideas to move Democrats, this one involves using the recently released census data to show Republican members of Congress, the Administration, and the party’s leadership how massive immigration imperils their political future. The goal is to change Republicans’ perception of immigration so that when they encounter the word “immigrant,” their reaction is “Democrat.”

and

Our plan is to hire a lobbyist who will carry the following message to Republicans on Capitol Hill and to business leaders: Continued massive immigration will soon cost you political control of the White House and Congress, given the current, even division of the electorate, and the massive infusion of voters about to be made to the Democratic side. We are about to replay the Democratic hegemony of 1933-53, fueled back then by the massive immigration of 1890-1924.

Contrary to Coulter’s assertions, there’s no reason why the GOP cannot be competitive among Hispanics. According to PEW Research:

Among Latino registered voters, 35% describe their political views as conservative, 32% describe them as moderate and 28% describe their political views as liberal.

67% of Hispanics are center-right ideologically, which is a complete disconnect from recent voting trends, which show Hispanics voting Democrat by nearly a two to one margin, yet President Bush was able to gain over 40% of the Hispanic vote! Note the trend:
Year Democrats Republicans Gap
1999 58 25 33
2002 56 25 31
2004 55 28 27
2006 49 28 21
2007 57 23 34
2008 67 31 36
2010 65 22 43

Each year, as Bush engaged Hispanics and made a serious effort to reform immigration, self-identified Hispanic voters increased. With the failure of immigration reform and harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric from some conservative Republicans, no doubt influenced by John Tanton and Roy Beck, starting in 2007 the trend quickly reversed. A recent poll by Latino Decisions shows GOP support among Latinos at 18%, with 31% of Latinos perceiving the GOP as hostile. 14% of Latinos support deportation of all unauthorized immigrants, so a support level of 18% for the GOP shows just how polarizing the immigration issue is to Latinos. If you’re Latino and don’t support a “deport them all” strategy, you’re unlikely to vote Republican!

Assuming Latinos invariably vote Democrat is a self-fulfilling prophecy, with many Republicans failing to make a serious outreach effort, and don’t pause to think how their rhetoric alienates Hispanic voters. However, Bush proved Hispanics can be wooed, a process started by Ronald Reagan, who quipped “Latinos are Republican. They just don’t know it yet.” No wonder John Tanton and Roy Beck have gone to such lengths to convince many Republicans that Latinos invariably vote Democrat!

Original