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FACT SOURCE--EDITED EXCERPTS New York Times report: Lawmakers generosity on big corporations' tab. Copyright 2012 stltoday.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/article_dfea2768-b95b-11df-bd41-0017a4a78c22.html#ixzz1rfgdnEAe NARRATIVE Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif 43rd) has achieved near celebrity status in his suburban LA district, as much for his record of giveaways — turkeys, scholarships, boots for firefighters — as for anything he has done in the US Congress. Baca's generosity is made possible by The Joe Baca Foundation, a so-called "charity" he and his family set up circa 2008 under the pretext of "aiding" local organizations....

PHOENIX — President Obama’s re-election campaign is dispatching workers across Arizona’s college campuses and Latino neighborhoods this spring, registering as many new voters as they can in an organized, three-month effort to determine whether they can put this unlikely state into play for Democrats this November. By any measure the obstacles are considerable: Arizona has voted for precisely one Democratic president since Truman was in the White House. Yet Mr. Obama’s aides said in interviews that they thought it was possible they could move the needle of history by winning in 2012 a state that analysts believe is heading Democratic...

President Obama is off on Air Force One tomorrow, this time for another summit in Latin America. Not that much will get accomplished at the two-day Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, the sixth in an ongoing series. As with pretty much anything Obama is doing these days, the trip has more to do with election year politics at home than foreign affairs in countries that most Americans hardly ever think of unless they're featured on a popular TV show like "NCIS," as Cartagena was this week. The Democrat wants to be seen lavishing attention on the homelands of...

WASHINGTON -- A few weeks ago, Daniela Pelaez visited Washington. A valedictorian at North Miami Senior High, the 18-year-old had just learned she no longer faced deportation, thanks in part to congressional intervention in her immigration case. She visited the nation’s capital the same week a Fox News Latino poll found Hispanic voters favor President Barack Obama six-to-one over any of the Republican presidential hopefuls. Suddenly, there was new life in the DREAM Act, an immigration bill that offers a path toward citizenship for young people like Daniela who came to the U.S. illegally with their parents. Enter Florida Sen....

Senate Republicans want to alter DREAM Act legislation to steal away Hispanic voters from Democrats. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the only Senate Republican of Hispanic heritage and a possible vice presidential pick, is working on an alternative version of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants who came to the country at a young age and serve in the military or attend college. He declined to provide any details, but confirmed he hopes to have legislation soon. “I don’t have any specifics to announce yet,” said Rubio. “This stuff...

President Barack Obama's 13-year-old daughter, Malia Ann Obama, will be spending her spring break in the Mexican city of Oaxaca with 12 friends and 25 Secret Service agents. The young tourists will be in a downtown hotel in the city known for its colonial architecture and native traditions, reported a state police official. President Barack Obama’s 13-year-old daughter, Malia Ann Obama, will be spending her springbreak in the Mexican city of Oaxaca with 12 friends and 25 Secret Service agents. "We are here to block access to the hotel by other people and escort the vehicles that are carrying the...

Wasteful, senseless and cruel. How better to describe the ridiculous battle that Felipe Montes is waging to be reunited with his three U.S.-born children? Since his deportation, they've been ensnared by the foster care system and are at risk of being put up for adoption. Montes, who had lived in the U.S. illegally for almost 10 years, was sent back to Mexico in 2010 after having been sentenced to probation following an arrest for driving with an expired license, an expired registration and no automobile insurance. He was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at one of his...

(CNN) -- One day, California wakes up and every single Latino has inexplicably disappeared. No business owner, doctor, nurse, soldier, teacher, entertainer, athlete or politician can be found. No bus driver, farm worker, cook, gardener or nanny. All gone. California -- the ninth largest economy in the world -- grinds to a halt because Latinos have vanished. Chaos and tragedy follow. This scenario is what Sergio Arau's satiric film, "A Day Without a Mexican," explores. This modern-day fable provides a cautionary tale on the assumptions we make about the 11 million unauthorized immigrants who live and work in America every...

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he supports the idea of allowing illegal immigrants to have driver's licenses as long as they have been in the United States for a number of years without committing other crimes. Baca's comments Thursday come as Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has also expressed support for driver's license for illegal immigrants. Baca said such licenses should only be issued after illegal immigrants fill out comprehensive applications, similar to those for citizenship. The sheriff also said the licenses should be up for renewal annually, and be noticeably different than those issued to citizens....

About 7,000 people attended a Mexican Flag Day ceremony in downtown Santa Ana on Sunday afternoon, aimed at honoring the Mexican and American flags and educating many in the audience about their Mexican roots. The eighth annual event – which featured flag presentations, live entertainment, a brief history lesson and more – ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Plaza Santa Ana, an outdoor space at the corner of Fourth and French streets. (Click here or on the photo above to see pictures from the event.) The gathering was sponsored by Los 32 Por Mexico en Orange County –...

ARLINGTON, Texas - A two-time “Teacher of the Year” in Arlington is now fighting to keep her job after allegedly telling a Hispanic student to “Go back to Mexico.” Barnett Junior High School math teacher Shirley Bunn has 24 years of teaching experience. But her career could end with what she called a moment of frustration. Bunn admitted she lost her temper on Sept. 30 while distributing Title 1 forms to her eighth grade students. According to public documents, a student who had a history of being disruptive repeatedly asked his teacher for a form printed in Spanish by saying,...

Republicans are demanding an apology Wednesday from President Obama's campaign manager after a tweet that they argue was insulting toward Latino Americans. Jim Messina, who is helming the president's reelection effort, tweeted a line from a column written by The Washington Post's Dana Milbank, in which he argues that Republicans will struggle to attract the Latino vote after coming out against the DREAM immigration reform act. "Line of the day from WAPO's Dana Milbank: 'The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos,' " Messina tweeted. But the comments drew rebuke from Republicans, who argued...

Newt Gingrich Press Availability Following Hispanic Leadership Event, South El Monte, California – February 13 2012 Newt Gingrich Campaign attended an Hispanic Leadership Event at the Cielito Lindo Restaurant in South El Monte, Following the event he held a brief press conference.

The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a new "public advocate" charged with listening to immigrants' concerns about its law enforcement policies — but Republicans said the position amounts to an official mouthpiece for illegal immigrants being deported.

Marco Rubio Says Some Conservatives ‘Harsh and Intolerable’ On Immigration By Liz Goodwin | The Ticket "For those of us who come from the conservative movement, we must admit that there are those among us who have used rhetoric that is harsh and intolerable, inexcusable," Rubio said at a conference for the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network. "We must admit, myself included, that sometimes we've been too slow in condemning that rhetoric." Rubio, a Republican senator to Florida who is often floated as a potential vice presidential nominee for the party in 2012, was interrupted by two protesters raising awareness about...

One thing was missed in Newt Gingrich's victory in the South Carolina primary: Conservatives embraced a pro-amnesty candidate without batting an eyelash. This should come as a wake-up call to those who've been pushing a hard-line anti-illegal immigrant position in the Republican Party. Granted, Gingrich didn't spend a lot of time discussing his position, which favors amnesty for those illegal immigrants who have been here for a long time, have deep family and community ties, and have paid taxes and avoided breaking other laws. But that's the point. He didn't have to spend a lot of time defending his position...

Romney and Gingrich Battle for Florida's Latino Vote Though Gingrich still lags Romney in support from the bloc, he appears to be gaining ground, especially among Cuban Americans. A Univision/ABC poll showed him with a 15-percentage-point advantage over Gingrich among likely Hispanic GOP voters. By Alana Semuels, Paul West and Seema Mehta January 25 Mitt Romney is defending an increasingly precarious position among Florida's Latino voters, a key voting bloc whose growth and diversity has complicated efforts to unify it behind one prospective nominee in Tuesday's Republican primary. Newt Gingrich opened the newest front against Romney on Wednesday by mocking...

MIAMI — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich on Wednesday mocked as an “Obama-level fantasy” Mitt Romney’s plan to deal with illegal immigration by encouraging “self-deportation.” Gingrich made the comment as he began a day of outreach to Florida’s Hispanic voters with an extensive interview on Spanish-language television and a speech at Florida International University in which he called for a more a forceful U.S. role in ending communist rule in Cuba, as well as an overhaul of U.S. economic policies toward all of Latin America. In an interview with the Univision network, Gingrich said it was unrealistic for millions of...

Gingrich: Romney shows no concern for 'Humanity' of illegals"..

Have you ever thought about that? How many times have you seen establishment types posit about how beautiful it would be to have a Romney/Rubio ticket? Even after Rubio has made it clear he isn't interested, I keep hearing it. It can be summed up in one word: Hispanic. The republicans have absolutely nothing in common with a conservative like Rubio, yet every time they mention his name, they always go off on a tangent about how he can win the hispanic vote. Because of his skin color?!?! Yep. The republicans are that superficial. It's that simple. They're in full...