In a  recent PODER magazine article David Adams, Tim Pratt, and Carlos de Corboda discussed the effects President Obama’s domestic policy is expected to have on the Latino community’s voter turnout.

Analysts believe the fact that the Obama administration has yet to address immigration reform despite promises to do so Read more »

“It’s Good For America If Young Undocumented Immigrants Go To College And Become Citizens”

Today, NPR’s On Point posted its interview with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, in which he was asked about a bill he supported in 2005 that would have provided undocumented immigrants who met certain requirements with state-sponsored scholarships.

In response, Huckabee stood by his position and perhaps, albeit unintentionally, made a strong case for why Congress should move to approve the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant young, undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents and have lived in the U.S. for most of their lives with a path to legalization. In his interview, Huckabee argued that denying bright, young undocumented immigrants access to higher education doesn’t just wrongfully punish children, it’s also bad for taxpayers and America as a whole:

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This past Saturday, Voto Latino threw its Silicon Valley Be Counted, Represent! 2010 Census concert at the Palladium in Sunnyvale. It was a dance party in which we passed out over 900 iTunes cards and featured 3 great Bay Area Latin alternative bands: Los Rakas, Bang Data and Mexia. Check out the pics below.

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Our co-founder Rosario Dawson was honored with the Redford Center Art of Activism award last Thursday. Upon acceptance of the award, she told the audience about the importance of getting involved politically early and remaining active in communities.

We took some pics…check out below!
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President Obama’s State of the Union speech on Wednesday will be a tough sell for millions of Americans struggling under the weight of an economic recession, political analysts said.

Read more at CNN

President Obama needs to reassure the nation and members of his own party with his speech, analysts said.

President Obama will give his first State of the Union address next Wednesday, January 27, at 9:00PM Eastern.

Comment below on the one topic you’d like the President to discuss and earn the chance to win a new Be Counted t-shirt! One winner will be chosen randomly.

Soaring expectations about the effect of the first black president on U.S. race relations have collided with a more mundane reality, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Racing to help save lives, U.S. ships and planes are rushing to the Caribbean as President Barack Obama vows that the U.S. will give its “unwavering support” to the people of earthquake-ravaged Haiti. The U.S. has already deployed search and rescue teams and has begun flying in aid. Additionally, responding to the devastation from the Haiti earthquake, Obama administration officials on Wednesday temporarily suspended deportations of illegal immigrants from that country.

On a conference call organized by the Office of Public Engagement, White House Political Director Patrick Gaspard said that organizations should try to channel all aid through networks of recognized organizations. Rajiv Shah, recently sworn in as Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development will helm all ground efforts in Haiti.

For people trying to locate missing persons in Haiti, the U.S. Department of State has activated a hot line, 1-888-407-4747. Tina Tchen, Director of the Office of Public Engagement asked people “to be patient as call volumes were very high” but that all calls would be processed.

For more information on international relief efforts please visit the Center for International Disaster Information.

Want to help? Here is a list of charitable organizations working in Haiti accepting donations.

People search for survivors under the rubble of a collapse building the day after an earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday. Ricardo Arduengo / AP

Jezebel editors delve into the recent profiles written about Justice Sotomayor. They play particular attention to the recent piece in Latina Magazine to inform how much was truly at stake with her historic nomination. Although Lauren Collins’s article deserves a deep reading on its own merit,  here are eight items that stood out to me as particularly telling.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this July 13, 2009.

Please read more at Jezebel

Powerhouse Oprah Winfrey wasn’t the only celebrity interviewer to snag a seasonal sit-down with President Obama.  Gloria Estefan, the Cuban-born  multiple award-winning artist spoke with the U.S. president for a special set to air Thursday on the Spanish-language network Univision.

For more please read at  Politico.com

Read more at the Colorado Independent.

Democratic outreach to Latino voters helped Barack Obama win Red States in the 2008 election and deepened a rift between that demographic and the Republican Party.

The 2004 “Viva Bush” Latino outreach campaign did not endure amid conservative voices rallying for border fence proposals and slashing health care choices for illegal immigrants.

These conservative attempts to exploit fear about illegal immigration compromised GOP support of Latinos in 2008, according to Robert List, Republican national committeeman for Nevada. List, who was governor of Nevada from 1979 to 1983, told ScoopDaily that the Republican Party needs to learn a lesson from 2008 about Latinos as a growing voter demographic.

Read more at ABC News.

Joe Biden met with CENTCOM chief Gen. David Petraeus this morning to talk about Afghanistan — an issue that has pushed the vice president into the spotlight, landing him on the cover of the latest Newsweek.

I have an idea for how he can capitalize on all the attention, and do what generations to come will always be grateful for: resign.

by Arianna Huffington

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This is funny.

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from Gawker.com

Sandra Guzman was correct, if soft spoken. The New York Post editor publicly objected to an offensive cartoon in her newspaper. Her boss Rupert Murdoch objected too. But his henchmen just cast her out.

After infamous Post cartoonist Sean Delonas published a panel depicting a dead monkey who wrote President Obama’s stimulus bill, associate editor Guzman sent an email to other reporters saying “I had nothing to do with the Sean Delonas cartoon… I have raised my objections to management.” Naturally, the note went public.

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