Immigration

UPDATED with New Events: Progressives, Mark Your Calendars for April Events!

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RonstadtApril3 Update: New events have been added for April 6 and 9.

It’s only April 1, but already there is an impressive line-up of progressive events taking shape this month. In addition to these educational events, there are multiple fund-raisers for candidates, parties, and causes in April.  The list below is not meant to be all-inclusive. (Check out Facebook and the Pima County Democratic Party calendar or the calendar on Blog for Arizona for other events– including multiple opportunities to donate.) The Tucson events included here are all free and are related to one or more Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) core policy issues: economic and social justice, universal healthcare, clean elections, ending corporate personhood, clean environment, or ending the wars.

April 2: Community Vision for the Ronstadt Bus Center

The Tucson Bus Riders Union and the Primavera Foundation are sponsoring a community forum to gather Tucsonans’ ideas on what should be done with the Ronstadt Transit Center on Congress Street. For several years, developers have been eyeing the Ronstadt Center for demolition and relocation out of downtown. If you believe that it is important for a sustainable city to have a bus terminal downtown—near restaurants, retail shops, major employers, and the new street car line—come to this meeting at the Rialto Theater, beginning at 5:30. For more information, call 624-0312 or email busriders@tucsonbusridersunion.com or go to the event’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/events/496939023698809/.

April 3: Solar Energy Efficiency vs the Status Quo

The Tucson Chapter of Drinking Liberally is sponsoring a joint presentation by Bruce Plenk, City of Tucson Solar Energy Coordinator, and Russell Lowes, Sierra Club Rincon Group Energy Chair and Research Director forwww.SafeEnergyAnalyst.org. The DL social hour begins at 6 p.m., with the speakers beginning around 7 p.m. on the patio of The Shanty. For more information, check out DL’s Facebook event http://www.facebook.com/events/104680899727634/.

More events after the jump.

The ‘It’s all about Marco’ meme of the Beltway media villagers

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You may have noticed in recent days an "It's all about Marco" meme emerge from the Beltway media villagers. Apparently we are to believe that comprehensive immigration reform rests solely in the the hands of this freshman Tea Party prima donna, Sen. Marco "Big Gulp" Rubio (R-FL), who already harbors fantasies about running for president (even after his universally panned response to the State of The Union Address).

So where did this sudden "It's all about Marco" meme come from? I bet you can guess, but Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal blog explains in All About Marco:

One of today’s more interesting items of Beltway gabbery comes from deep within the relentlessly beating heart of Tiger Beat on the Potomac (as Charles Pierce has unforgettably dubbed Politico). Yes, it’s an installment
of Mike Allen and Jim VanderHei’s ultra-insidery column “Behind the
Curtain,” and the subject du jour is Marco Rubio’s role in the
development of immigration legislation.

Gerrymandered GOP Ghettos

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The gated country club communities of old white people occurs on a larger scale as well, the gerrymandered "GOP ghettos" of old white people in congressional districts. The New York Times' Charles Blow has an interesting commentary on this demographic problem. The G.O.P.’s Diversity Deserts:

New And ImprovedJust a week ago, the Republicans issued their much-ballyhooed “autopsy”
on why they lost the presidential election last year and how they might
remedy their problems.

They concluded that their principles were fine; the problem was how they
presented communicated those principles. Their witless wisdom is simply to tone down
their rhetoric. They want to turn Teddy Roosevelt’s famous saying on
its side: Talk softly but carry a big stigma.

The establishment Republicans’ push for a softer tone, however, is pure
political scheming and has nothing to do with what most Republicans seem
to fundamentally believe.

And many rank-and-file Republicans are adopting this two-faced tactic. A Pew Research Center report
issued Thursday found that although most Republicans say that “illegal
immigrants” should be allowed to stay in this country legally, most also
believe that immigrants are a burden because they take jobs and health
care, and they threaten American values.

National Council of La Raza’s “National Latino Advocacy Days” in DC

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by David Safier

NCLR_bagI'm visiting DC as a tourist, and I stumbled, almost literally, onto a press conference for the National Council of La Raza's "National Latino Advocacy Days." Over 400 Latinos from 31 states came to DC to advocate for a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. Though the conference room in the House of Representatives' Rayburn Building was packed and overflowing into the hall, most of the advocates were visiting the offices of Representatives and Senators talking about the need for comprehensive immigration reform.

Janet Murguia, president and CEO of NCLR, spoke about the urgent need for immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. "The Latino community will not accept second class status," she said.

NCLR_group

(From left to right: Janet Murguia, Esther Reyes, Elizabeth Perez, Mauricio Calvo)

Jeb Bush: the Goldwater Institute connection

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by David Safier Jeb Bush's presidential campaign is off and running with his new book, Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution. He's doing the news and talk show circuit, saying No to a path to citizenship, unless an undocumented immigrant wants to go home and start over, and a hesitant Yes to legalized status, with … Read more