Do American Conservatives Fear And Hate Hispanics?

Conservatives, at least in polite company, say they don't hate Hispanics, despite an ugly barrage of the most incredible and vicious hate spewing out of the right-wing radio channels. (Here in L.A. two of the worst racists polluting the airwaves, John and Ken, are going to be broadcasting from Phoenix in honor of SB 1070.) If Rachel hasn't convinced you they're lying (above), perhaps the votes in the House yesterday regarding the future political status of Puerto Rico will. In fact, the House only dealt with one issue yesterday-- Puerto Rico. There were a dozen votes, starting at just before 1pm, when every single Republican voted against even allowing for a debate and all the Democrats (minus 11 reactionary Blue Dogs who tend to vote with the GOP as a default position: Boren, Childers, Donnelly, Giffords from Arizona, Hill, Kirkpatrick from Arizona, Kratovil, Minnick, Mitchell from Arizona, Nye, Taylor and 6 pro-Puerto Rican congressmen who refuse to compromise on any of the issues) voted to go forward. After a solid day of right-wing obstructionism, the bill passed 223-169, 39 Republicans abandoning their racist leadership (including, oddly enough, 2 of their racist leaders-- Cantor and Pence!) and 40 Democrats crossing in the opposite direction. The bill nearly died with a motion to recommit, which passed with only 4 votes to spare, only 6 Republicans voting to keep it alive. So, of the 39 Republicans who eventually voted with the Puerto Rican people, 33 of them tried to kill the bill on a procedural measure (including Pence and Cantor by the way).

So what were they fighting over all day? Here's the official summary of the bill (which was sponsored by Rep. Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico, a non-voting member of Congress) and to which the GOP tried, but failed to force the English language and guns onto Puerto Rico:

Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009 - Authorizes the government of Puerto Rico: (1) to conduct a plebiscite giving voters the option to vote to continue Puerto Rico's present political status or to have a different political status; (2) if a majority of ballots favor continuing the present status, to conduct additional such plebiscites every eight years; and (3) if a majority of ballots favor having a different status, to conduct a plebiscite on the options of becoming fully independent from the United States, forming with the United States a political association between sovereign nations that will not be subject to the Territorial Clause of the Constitution, or being admitted as a state of the Union.

Again, what were conservatives so scared about yesterday? According to the right-wing Heritage Foundation, "the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, contains language that will rig the election in favor of Puerto Rican statehood." Glenn Beck has been screaming and weeping about it all week and the teabaggers seem to have found yet another cause célèbre to be poutraged about.

There is a bill to make Puerto Rico a state. Again, they are trying to pull one over on us and on Puerto Ricans, who have consistently said they do not want to become a state. Read below for more information (from Eagle Forum). This was also discussed by Rep Tom Price on a conference call yesterday.

Please consider this:

* The U.S. would transform, overnight, into a bilingual nation. At least half of Puerto Ricans do not speak English, the language of our U.S. Constitution and founding documents. The Washington Times article, “Puerto Rican statehood,” analyzes all the implications of adding a foreign language-speaking state to the Union.

* It would bring immediate demands for massive federal spending. The average income of Puerto Ricans is less than half that of our poorest state, and infrastructure and the environment are far below American standards. Puerto Rico has a population with a median national income of $17,741, nearly a third of that for the U.S.

* Puerto Rico is already a democracy. Despite the bill’s deceptive title, Puerto Rico already has an elected government and exists as a self-governed commonwealth of the U.S.

* Statehood would give Puerto Rico more congressional representation than 25 of our 50 states! It would inevitably give Democrats two additional U.S. Senators and 6 to 8 additional Members of the House.

H.R. 2499 is stealth legislation designed to lead to the admission of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico as the 51st state, thereby making us a de facto bilingual nation, like Canada. The U.S. Congress should not be forcing Puerto Ricans to vote on statehood, especially since the Puerto Rican people have rejected statehood three times since 1991!

No Member of Congress who describes himself as a limited government, fiscal conservative should be casting a YEA vote for H.R. 2499, as Puerto Rican statehood would cause an immediate increase in federal expenditures, particularly for taxpayer-funded welfare state services.

Is Ted Poe (R-TX) a racist? Yesterday he asked why the United States could prevent "illegal grasshoppers" from entering the country, but couldn't capture much bigger illegal immigrants before they crossed the border. What about Duncan Hunter (R-CA), a chronic alcoholic who often shows up for work drunk on his ass? He's pushing a bill to deport U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. The hell with the Constitution; Hunter says he's "not being mean. We're just saying it takes more than walking across the border to become an American citizen. It's what's in our souls." Quick, someone call Ratzinger to have him do a test on everyone.

Steve King of Iowa is acknowledged as being one of the worst racists in America (as well as certifiably insane) and he isn't taking part in the boycott of Arizona businesses Cold Stone Creamery and U-Haul (or of the poor Brooklyn business unfortunately named AriZona Ice Tea). And here he was on the floor of the House yesterday, advocating for keeping Puerto Rico in what amounts to a colonial status: