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Make no mistake, Mitt Romney is the furthest to the right of any
candidate running for President in modern history. The facts are
clear and the differences couldn’t be more frightening for our
community.
While the President’s Recovery Act kept 6.2 million Americans out
of poverty in 2009, including two million Latinos and the tax
cut legislation he signed into law assisted close to four
million Hispanic families, including 8 million Hispanic
children, Mitt Romney supports the Republican Cut Cap and
Balance plan that would have eliminated 700,000 jobs. And while
President Obama provided 150,000 additional Hispanic students
with Pell Grants, investing in the future of our country by
allowing so many talented kids to continue their studies, Mitt
Romney supports a plan that would cut financial aid, or Pell
Grants, rather than do away with subsidies for Big Oil
companies.
The Affordable Care Act, which the President fought to sign into
law and which now provides more than nine million Latinos
affordable health insurance is threatened by Republicans like
Mitt Romney who have pledged to repeal historic health care
reform and who support a plan to cut Medicaid rather than
increase taxes for the super rich, even though Romney himself
knows the Medicare program is particularly important to Latino
children and seniors.
And while the President supports the DREAM Act, is committed
to Comprehensive Immigration Reform and, for the first time
ever, has directed the Department of Homeland Security to
prioritize the deportation of criminals vs. DREAMers, or hard
working individuals with ties to our country and with U.S.
citizen children, or the spouses of active duty military or
veterans through the Prosecutorial Discretion Memo and has
proposed a rule to keep American families together while they
are going through the legal immigration process, Mitt Romney
opposes the DREAM Act, and talks only of bigger, wider walls,
suggesting 11 million undocumented immigrants self deport, and
opposes a clear path to citizenship.
In fact, Romney even went so far as to call the DREAM Act a
“handout” – but no one could rightly characterize a requirement
to serve in the military or work toward a college degree as a
free pass. Romney’s stance is offensive to young Latino
Americans willing to sacrifice and give back to the only country
they’ve ever called home.
If Romney becomes the Republican nominee, his position on
immigration would be the most extreme of any presidential
nominee of our time. He calls our undocumented “illegals,”
sought and accepted the endorsement of Kris Kobach, the author
of Arizona's SB 1070 calling it a model for the nation.
Simply put: Mitt Romney is out of touch with the values we Latinos
hold dear, he is the wrong choice to represent us in the White
House and we must do everything we can to protect the progress
President Obama has made for the Hispanic community.
The contrasts couldn’t be clearer and the choice more obvious. I
call on you to join me in pledging your support for the
re-election of President Barack Obama as we proudly stand
together and proclaim ourselves “Latinos for Obama” ... ˇEstamos
unidos!
--Isabel Framer, Founder and
Principal Partner of Language Access Consultants, LLC
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