Thread: Baca backing migrant measure; STRIVE

Baca backing migrant measure
By George Watson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/01/2007 01:00:00 AM PDT

Rep. Joe Baca wants to help President Bush improve his image.

It might seem strange that a Democratic congressman from Rialto would willingly choose to boost the deteriorating public perception of a Republican president.

But looking at the wry grin on Baca's face might help explain the sentiments of the Latino lawmaker: He thinks supporters of new legislation that would overhaul immigration have the president right where they want him.

Baca knows Bush wants to reform the nation's immigration system. It's been something the president has sought since his election seven years ago.

And as one of 29 sponsors of H.R. 1645, Baca is hopeful that he will see the passage of the House's ambitious legislation to tackle immigration issues by clearly reaching out to conservatives through several elements that would strengthen the nation's border.

"It will be a positive light for (Bush)," Baca said Friday while taking a break from the Women's Forum in Fontana, which he has hosted since 1992. "In light of the war, the economy, the troubles he has had, this will provide him with the highest mark he can achieve, maybe in all of his administration."

The bill, dubbed STRIVE, for Security Through
Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act, was introduced late last month, and even in name, appears to be an effort to stretch across the political divide.

The bill was introduced by Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a pair of legislators who normally find themselves firmly on opposite sides of most every issue.

"Our current immigration laws are at odds with reality," Flake said when the bill was unveiled March 22. "This bill addresses that problem by bolstering border security, increasing interior enforcement, and creating a temporary worker program that's enforceable and fair."

The measure includes a plan that allows the estimated 12million undocumented immigrants to apply for conditional immigrant status. It would also add more Border Patrol agents and implement a strategy allowing future foreign workers to come onto the nation's soil and fill jobs Americans won't.

Another measure seeks to double the holding capacities for detainees who are being returned to their home nation. Currently, the nation's facilities can hold about 20,000 detainees. The legislation calls for 20 new facilities to be built on former military bases.

Some have speculated that the region's three former bases - San Bernardino International Airport, the March Inland Port near Riverside and Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville - could be chosen.

"It's way too early to speculate," Baca said, adding that no bases have been identified.

In one respect, the idea of more detainee facilities troubles Baca. But if they are built, he sees the economic value in having them come to this region. They would mean more jobs, he said, while adding that the proximity to the Mexican border could make it easier for detainees' families to stay in touch with them until they are eventually deported.

Flake and Gutierrez have been working on immigration reform far before this year. Their reform bill a year ago died in the House, which was why the legislation's current form has far more concessions that conservatives would find attractive.

"You have to give and take," Baca said. "Sometimes, you may feel like you're giving a lot. But to get the legislation, you will sit down and talk about what it's going to take."

Matthew Specht, a spokesman for Flake, said supporters of the legislation knew they would have to be inventive to bring in conservatives.

A main fear, both Specht and Baca agreed, was the need to get the legislation completed and signed by Bush this year.

"There's a sense that if this carries over to next year, that presidential politics could really complicate the process," Specht said, citing the 2008 presidential election.

Added Baca, "That's why it's important to get it done now."

Federal legislators are on a two-week Easter break, but leading figures in Congress have expressed a desire to begin hearings as soon as they return.

Starting the debate is crucial, Specht said, because there has yet to be any in the House, a fact that includes the circumstances involving last year's version. The Senate is further along, Specht said, because members debated their own bill last year.

Flake has already been receiving support from his home state of Arizona, where people generally have been anti-immigrant and strongly in support of better border security.

The congressman's constituents are, as a whole, already supporting the bill, Specht said.

"People are so sick and tired of the federal government's failure to secure the border and enforce immigration laws, we are pretty desperate for something to be done about it," Specht said.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5568937

Hmmm, Kate just sent me some interesting info on BACA tonight.
{Info gratis Kate}

http://www.cleanupwashington.org/blog/i ... _ID=100067
http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6333
Corruption News:
The Hill reports that Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) sent six staff members to California to campaign for his son, who was running for the state Assembly. (Federal law prohibits members of Congress from having staff members work on election campaigns while employed as staff.)

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Transcripts of audio clips of the true agenda of The Race Industry
Transcripts: agendas of MEChA, La Raza, MALDEF, and Southwest Voter Registration Projects
These are transcripts of live, recorded statements by elected U.S. politicians, college professors, and pro-illegal alien activists whose objective is to take control of our country "by vote if possible and violence if necessary!"

http://www.theamericanresistance.com/ra ... cript.html

8. Joe Baca, former CA Assembly member, currently member of Congress at Latino Summit Response to Prop 187 UC Riverside 1/1995 and Southwest Voter Registration Project annual conference in Los Angeles, 6/1996

Baca's RACIST SPEECH

"We need more Latinos out there. We must stand up and be counted. We must be together, We must be united. Because if we're not united you know what's going to happen? We're like sticks - we're broken to pieces. Divided we're not together. But as a unit they can't break us. So we've got to come together, and if we're united, si se puede (it can be done) and we will make the changes that are necessary. But we've got to do it. We've got to stand together, and dammit, don't let them divide us because that's what they want to do, is to divide us. And once we're divided we're conquered. But when we look out at the audience and we see, you know, la familia, La Raza (the family, our race), you know, it's a great feeling, isn't it a good feeling? And you know, I started to think about that and it reminded me of a book that we all read and we all heard about, you know, Paul Revere, and when he was saying, 'The British are coming, the British are coming!' Well, the Latinos are coming, the Latinos are coming! And the Latinos are going to vote. So our voices will be heard. So that's what this agenda is about. It's about insuring that we increase our numbers. That we increase our numbers at every level. We talk about the Congressional, we talk about the Senate, we talk about board of supervisors, board of education, city councils, commissions, we have got to increase out numbers because the Latinos are coming. Because what's going on right now, with 187, the CCRI (CA Civil Rights Initiative against affirmative action), and let me tell you, we can't go back, you know, we're in a civil war. But we need to be solidified, we need to come together, we must be strong, because united we form a strong body. United we become solidified, united we make a difference, united we make the changes, united Latinos will win throughout California, let's stick together, que si se puede, que no? (it can be done, right?)




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The Blotter
Posted: Thursday, March 01, 2007 8:58 AM by Huma Zaidi
Categories: Courts
The Republican 527 group Progress for America, which supported Bush’s re-election in 2004, has agreed to pay a $750,000 fine as part of a settlement with the FEC for violating campaign finance laws by spending more than $30 million on ads and mailings. The New York Times: “The agency found that the group, the Progress for America Voter Fund, operated as a political action committee, soliciting money and financing advertisements… Its actions violated campaign laws because it was not registered as a political action committee that would be subject to strict limits on donations. The agency said it circumvented a ban on corporate money and accepted contributions that well exceeded the caps on individual donations.”

And, as of last night, members of the Hispanic Caucus appeared likely to oust their chairman, Rep. Joe Baca (D), "over the allocation of funds to election campaigns involving Baca’s sons and the accusation that the reviled chairman insulted one colleague, calling her a 'whore.'"

http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=11023

Of course he supports this, it is the "Path to President Baca"!

Here's Sanchez's point of view on Baca:

Sanchez Accuses Democrat of Calling Her a 'Whore,' Resigns from Hispanic Group

By: Josephine Hearn
February 2, 2007 03:16 PM EST

Rep. Loretta Sanchez has quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, accusing the chairman, Rep. Joe Baca, of telling people she's a "whore."

Baca denied the charge.

In an interview with The Politico Wednesday, Sanchez, a California Democrat as is Baca, also cited concerns about whether Baca was properly elected Hispanic Caucus chairman in November and about his general attitude toward female lawmakers. The caucus represents 21 Hispanic Democrats in Congress.

"I'm not going to be a part of the CHC as long as Mr. Baca illegally holds the chair … I told them no. There's a big rift here," Sanchez said. "You treat the women like shit. I have no use for him."

In a statement to The Politico, Baca said Sanchez "has decided to resign from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and has chosen to air baseless statements. Let me be clear; her comments are categorically untrue."

The last time lawmakers withdrew from the Hispanic caucus was in the late 1990s when the group's Republican members left over partisan differences.

Sanchez said she had been approached earlier this year to contribute funds from her office budget to support the CHC's shared staff, a requirement for all its members. She refused.

"I told them to take me off the list, take me off the Web site, take me off everything," Sanchez said.

She said she was surprised and insulted when she learned that Baca had made the disparaging personal comment about her to California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and other legislators last year.

Nunez "is a friend of mine. Did he think he wouldn't tell me?" Sanchez asked.

Sanchez voted against Baca in the election for chairman in November. Four other female lawmakers abstained from the vote, raising concerns about whether the election followed proper procedures.

The Sanchez withdrawal is a blow to Baca and his allies who have been trying to bring the caucus back together after a series of internal spats last year. Many of the more junior members and the women have butted heads with him and senior lawmakers.

Last February, six members withdrew from the group's political action committee after Baca and his allies authorized political contributions to family members who were running for state and local offices.

Sanchez was among that group of defectors, which also included her sister, Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., and Democratic Reps. Dennis Cardoza of California, Jim Costa of California, Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona and Hilda L. Solis of California.

In recent weeks, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Calif., a CHC member who serves in House leadership as assistant to the speaker, had been trying to persuade the six members to rejoin the political action committee, which is known as the Committee for Hispanic Causes/Building Our Leadership Diversity. So far, it appears those efforts have not succeeded. An invitation for a PAC fundraiser to be held Wednesday night continues to omit the six.

Earlier this month, four female lawmakers wrote Baca asking that the caucus repeat his election as chairman because the earlier vote failed to use secret ballots, as required in the group's bylaws.

Sanchez and other female CHC members have repeatedly complained that Baca and some of his male colleagues do not accord them a high level of respect.

"There is a big rift. Hello? Do they not get this?" Sanchez said.

See "Two More Reps. Complain About Treatment of Women in Hispanic Caucus" for additional information on this story.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0107/2572.html