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March 07, 2004 Kerry panders to Latinos In response to Bush meeting with Vincente Fox, John Kerry has issued a statement... “Latinos can tell it's an election year because George W. Bush is finally paying attention to them. George Bush lost credibility for failing to make good on his promise in 2001 of immigration reform, but finally laid out a proposal.Well - and I hate to "reopen the wounds of 9/11" for the sensitive Senator Kerry - but one might recall there was a little event back in 2001 that put immigration reform on the backburner for a bit. At any rate, Senator "Voted NO on allowing more foreign workers into the U.S. for farm work. (Jul 1998) - Voted NO on visas for skilled workers. (May 1998) - “Since Bush took office, more Hispanic families are living in poverty, the number of unemployed Latinos has increased by 16 percent....It's difficult to discuss Hispanic poverty and unemployment rates, since it is so deeply tied to, and affected by, illegal immigration. As a result, hispanics - the ethnic group participating in the most illegal immigration, due to the proximity of Mexico - will always face wider economic disparities....exacerbated during recessionary periods. Having said that....the current Hispanic/Latino employment-population ratio is 63.1% - comparable to what it was in 1999, and higher than most of the 1990s.... Year Q1 - Q2 - Q3 - Q3So, Senator Kerry appears to be complaining about near-record employment-population ratios for the Latino community. Except, uh, not in those words. He goes on.... ....and the gap between White and Latino homeownership has increased by seven percent.Or, to put this another way...."Latino homeownership has increased from 46.1% to 47.7% since Bush took office." (per the latest available data from the Census Bureau) One might also point out that the current 47.7% is significantly higher than in any year during the 1990s, but.....well, why go there? Moreover, the rate of white homeownership went from 74% to 75.5% - a change of + 1.5%. Compare that to a change for Latinos of + 1.6%. So, what is Senator Kerry's point? It appears to be the same point he makes about much of the economy: "things are really pretty good, and he's going to put a stop to that, immediately." You might disagree with my last point, of course. For the rest, though....hey, those are the numbers, whether Senator Kerry knows it or not. |