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--- Begin Message ----Caveat Lector- First, a note to readers outside the U.S.: California votes tomorrow (Tuesday) on whether to recall its elected governor (Gray Davis) and, if recall carries, then who to replace him with. If the latter, the winner will either be film star Arnold Schwarzenegger, of Bush' Republican Party, or the present Lieut. Governor, Cruz Bustamante, Democrat. Because we are in our majority a country of immigrants or the children or grandchildren of immigrants, and generations elapse before discrimination against the most recent immigrant population is eliminated and/or dies out, voters of that ethnic origin predominantly favor candidates of their own ethnicity. In California that is reinforced by the fact that it was taken from Mexico in the 19th century, and the largest number of Latinos are of Mexican birth or descent. Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born, is hardly thought of in terms of ethnicity, because he is European and, of course, white. In our peculiar psychology, that makes him essentially American. The fact that he knows German plays no role. Bustamante speaks fluent Spanish as well as English, as is the rule among Latinos born, as he was, in the stupendous agricultural Central Valley of California, and generally the case among those in cities like Los Angeles, our greatest metropolis, San Jose, and San Francisco. To the 31% of Californians who are Latino, that makes him "one of ours." For a Latino to have been nominated for lieutenant governor in the last election is due to the fact that Gray Davis needed a Spanish name to accompany his own, in order to win. He won by the tiniest of margins, and the number of Latino votes cast for him made the difference. Now to Californians, and Americans in general. Neither retention of Davis or election of Schwarzenegger will change this country nor, very much, the state. In the former case that is self-evident. In the latter, there will be the opposition to Schwarzenegger's proposals from the Democrats who control the state legislature, led by a tough liberal, John Burton. The Republicans would interpret a Schwarzenegger victory as an endorsement of the president now in office, who shows no signs whatever of changing his policies. The interpretation is invalid because no one regards the election as a vote for or against the Democratic Party on a national level. It is a vote on Davis' failings. A VICTORY FOR BUSTAMANTE WOULD FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE STATE BECAUSE ALL OPINION POLLS SHOW LATINOS TO BE SECOND ONLY TO BLACKS IN PROGRESSIVISM ON SOCIAL ISSUES, AND BECAUSE HIS ELECTION WOULD STIMULATE A LEAP IN LATINO VOTER REGISTRATION FOR FUTURE ELECTIONS. Bustamante is no hero, possesses no charisma. But because his core constituency is Latino, his platform is more progressive than that of, for example, any Democratic candidate for the presidency other than Kucinich and Sharpton. His article in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle could not be more specific. He wants "fully funding K-12 education" (pre-school through high school). He wants the tax on automobile ownership, which was tripled last year, to be reduced or eliminated. He specifically would exempt vehicles costing under $20,000, which is the category driven by low-and-medium-paid working people including, for example, those, particularly Blacks who, living in ghettoes, need a vehicle in order to get to work. California is notoriously weak in availability of public transportation. He wants to reinstate the top income tax level. He proposes to eliminate the loophole in Proposition 13, to permit more frequent reassessment of real property values and particularly that of commercial property. My own city, Oakland is suffering a destructive loss to public education because the last previous superintendent of schools brought it the largest budget deficit of any school district in history. The change Bustamante proposes would bring a massive increase in income from Oakland-based firms such as World Savings, a six-BILLION-dollar institution, Clorox, which sells half the bleach this whole country uses, the stupendous Shorenstein holdings of office buildings, and from American President Lines, a major world shipper. Bustamante writes: "I support legislation to provide health care benefits to one million working Californians by requiring large businesses to either provide health insurance or pay into a fund so that the state can buy it for them." He speaks to the issue that is probably more responsible for the disgust with Gray Davis than any other: "As lieutenant governor, I filed a class action lawsuit against the energy companies and got $1.8 billion back. But that is not enough. I want to...stop the gouging by oil companies. We have 21 oil refineries in California. We ship gasoline to Nevada and they pay less for gas than we do. In fact, we pay more than any other state. As governor, I will regulate the oil companies." Until I did the research for this post, I was vastly less interested in Bustamante than in increasing registration of Latino voters, because pursuit of their needs will automatically turn the state in a progressive direction. But Americans are exceedingly practical people. They want results now. They want to know what the man they elect is committed to. So I was very pleasantly surprised to discover what I have described above. My primary interest was actually in learning the potential for increasing Latino registration. Until 1974 it was negligible. Then, in consequence of the rebellion among Latino youth, primarily in Los Angeles, awareness of the importance of the vote increased. Today there are 2,300,000 Latinos registered in California. That is between 12 and 15% of the registered voters, depending upon the source one reads. But with Latinos 31% of the state's population, another 2,000,000 can be added to the voting lists. Three-quarters of Latinos vote Democratic. In the last election, the figure for Bustamante was even higher: four-fifths. At this writing, all that can be done is to cast one's ballot tomorrow. On recall, the situation is nip and tuck. But there is a presidential election next year. California, being the most populous state, has a larger vote in the Electoral College than any other. A large increase in Latino registration in the next year can drive Bush back into the bushes. For the world, that would offer the opportunity of a reversal in present American policy of open imperialism and wars to control the oil resources of the planet. For Latinos, it would end a situation in which they comprise the largest component of American deaths in Iraq, because the army is the way for poor youth to make a living. As the Latino population is expected to continue rising, participation in elections in proportion to population would restore this state to the progressivism that marked it until Reagan. If Latinos provide even 25% of the state's vote, there will be no more Reagans and Nixons coming from here for at least a generation to come, probably much longer. Most readers of this post are not Latino, but that does not stop others from participating in voter registration. And the one thing they can do more of than Latinos, because "white" incomes are higher, is to donate to the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, which has an office in Los Angeles. Since 1974, it has registered 2,200,000 of the 8,000,000 Latinos registered nationwide. Look it up on Google. I have no association with it, and did not know of its existence until I began this research.William Mandel ======================================================== The title of my autobiography, SAYING NO TO POWER (Introduction by Howard Zinn), is based on my demolition of Sen. Joe McCarthy and later of HUAC in hearings of 1953 and 1960. It is a history of how the American people fought to defend and expand its rights since the 1920s (I'm 86) employing the form of the life of a 30s AND 60s activist, one who was involved in most serious movements: student, labor, 45 years of efforts to prevent war with the USSR and Cuba, civil rights South and North, women's liberation [my late wife appears on 50 pages], 37 years on Pacifica Radio [where I reinvented talk radio, of whose previous existence I had been unaware], civil liberties, and opposition to anti-Semitism and to Zionism. You may hear/see my testimonies before McCarthy and, later, HUAC on my website, http://www.billmandel.net I am the author of five books in my academic field, have taught at UC Berkeley, and earlier held a postdoctoral fellowship, by invitation, at Stanford's Hoover Institution. The book may be ordered through all normal sources. For an autographed copy, send me $24 at 4466 View Pl.,#106, Oakland, CA. 94611 ======================================================== www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
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