Free Republic

Early in the new year, the first of what are expected to be several dozen Democratic presidential wannabes are making preliminary announcements to supporters and the media of their intentions to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020. The first Latino politician out of the gate is Julián Castro, who announced his candidacy on Saturday, January 12. Castro is the 44-year-old former mayor of San Antonio who served as the secretary of housing and urban development during the last three years of the Obama administration. He is the grandson of a Mexican woman who "crossed" to the U.S. in 1922. Almost...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A skeleton crew of substitutes welcomed students to Los Angeles schools Monday as tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job for the first time in three decades, but parents wondered how much their kids were learning in the nation’s second-largest school district.

Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico share the fundamental aspiration of statehood, although framed within different historical and constitutional contexts. Both jurisdictions are subject to the powers of Congress and have one non-voting member in the House of Representatives. There is also a broad recognition by the majority of the American citizens in each jurisdiction that the only way they can each achieve effective and politically meaningful representation in Congress is through statehood.

If it feels like the US has become increasingly divided along race, gender, and other identity lines — it's because it has. A report released by the Haas Institute at the University of California-Berkeley last week found that the US has become less inclusive -- in other words, less welcoming to women, minority groups and people with disabilities -- compared to the rest of the world since 2016. . . . .Meanwhile, the five least inclusive states have all enacted anti-Sharia laws, an indicator that the Haas Institute used to predict discrimination against all religious minorities.

The former San Antonio mayor and secretary of housing and urban development (Hud) under Barack Obama has already held events with prospective donors for a 2020 campaign. He told Rolling Stone in October that he is “likely” to run. Among all of the speculated contenders in the 2020 presidential race, Castro will probably be the only prominent Latino Democrat. The 44-year-old has been a rising star in the Democratic party since he became mayor of one of the country’s largest cities in 2009. Three years later, he was the first Latino to give a keynote speech at the Democratic national...

Julián Castro, the former San Antonio mayor and secretary of Housing and Urban Development for President Obama whose 2012 Democratic National Convention speech transformed him into a national leader overnight, is a hard man to keep track of. For months, the 44-year-old Castro has been hopscotching between Nevada, Florida, Arizona and other battleground states to campaign for Democrats ahead of the 2018 midterms. He dutifully trekked to the Iowa State Fair in August for a turn on the famous political soapbox. Last weekend, Castro was back in Iowa to stump for Democrat J.D. Scholten, who is challenging alt-right-winger and neo-Nazi...

Former Vice President Joe Biden, mulling a possible 2020 presidential run, ripped into the Trump administration’s immigration policies on Friday -- calling them “one of the darkest moments in our history” at a rally held by a Latino civil rights organization. Biden made his fiery remarks in Phoenix, Arizona, at an event for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). He specifically targeted the Justice Department’s “zero tolerance” policy on prosecuting all illegal border crossers. “Grotesque lies, lies about immigrants, about crime, about costs to the community,” said Biden. “This administration’s policies that literally rip babies from the arms...

As debate continues over the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy, questions are being asked about a non-profit group that has collected huge amounts of government money to house and care for thousands of immigrant children being held in the system. Texas-based Southwest Key Programs has taken in roughly $1 billion in federal contracts since the Obama administration, and is expected to receive about $500 million this year to house and provide services for immigrant children, according to reports.

It's late, I'm exhausted, won't get back to this before 9AM, BUT .... Southwest Key Programs is the entity that holds the contract to "shelter" illegal immigrant kids. They have taken down their website today and replaced it with a generic info page. I looked up The Board of Directors, not easy but doable, and found that every one is connected to La Raza. What the effing hell. Does this make libs happy? Or not?

Southwest Key Programs has received many hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to house children who arrived in the US illegally. Their detention center is located in a converted former Wal-Mart in Brownsville, Texas. It is staffed through local temporary agencies, while its executives draw salaries in the high 6-figures. Southwest Key Programs Inc is run by Dr. Juan Sanchez, who is a member of the National Board of La Raza and asks detainee children to address him as "El Presidente" Southwest Key Programs Inc recently refused access to a US Senator, and are now facing increased scrutiny....

Before resigning to run for Congress, the mayor of America’s fifth-largest city gave a political open-borders ally millions of taxpayer dollars to complete a job in an area it suspiciously has zero experience in. Under the shady deal, the radical La Raza group Promise Arizona (PAZ) will receive $2.4 million from the city of Phoenix to conduct “Business Assistance” during construction of a light rail extension. Some Phoenix City Hall insiders believe it’s a payoff by the outgoing mayor, Greg Stanton, to support his upcoming congressional run. Stanton, who will resign on May 29 , and PAZ Director Petra Falcon...

Elder Patriot – Attorney General Jeff Sessions has finally announced an investigation into the use of federal money to fund radical leftwing advocacy groups. In making the announcement Sessions cited that at least six billion dollars was funneled into what was essentially a slush fund for Obama’s army of street activists. It’s almost a certainty that that amount is going grow significantly. The groups receiving the money included La Raza (now UnidosUS), NeighborWorks America, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Operation Hope, Black Lives Matter, and a spin-off of Acorn The Mutual Housing Association of New York, among numerous other extremist groups....

The House Committee on Ethics released a series of reports on Friday and ordered Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D., Ill.) to repay the government after allegations he misused federal funds. Gutiérrez has been told to repay $9,700 to the Treasury as a result of what was called "inadvertent" use of funds provided to his office for its operation, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Illinois Democrat had hired former chief of staff Doug Scofield to advise his office, resulting in questions as to whether Scofield was acting as official staff. "The OCE Board recommends that the Committee on Ethics further review the...

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who sparked national outrage when she undermined a federal immigration raid last month, worked with illegal-immigration activists before she warned the public about the raid-- a move that ICE said led to hundreds of illegals evading detention. Schaaf took to Twitter to warn the public about the raid, and has stood by her decision despite a number of hardened criminals being caught -- and ICE officials warning that potentially hundreds of other criminals escaped as a consequence of the tipoff. "It is Oakland’s legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any...

Multiple suspected Anaheim gang members face drug charges after being arrested by local and federal officials during a large sweep last week, and nine were still being sought Monday. The Wednesday morning arrests wrapped up a 2 1/2-year investigation into two Anaheim street gangs, said Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department. Federal indictments were returned on five suspects: Delia Partida, 38; Antonio Partida, 32; Augustina Ortuno, 52; Juan Casillas, 30; and Uriel Castaneda, 37, all of Anaheim, on suspicion of distribution of methamphetamine. Delia and Antonio Partida also face conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. They are being held by...

The California Democratic Party will not endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s re-election bid this year, with delegates at the party’s annual convention giving the majority of votes to her top primary challenger, progressive State Sen. Kevin de Leon. De Leon got 54 percent of the vote, compared to 37 percent for the more moderate Feinstein, according to results released Sunday. But neither Democrat will receive the state party endorsement because they failed to reach the 60 percent threshold. The vote totals were not a surprise, considering the state party’s liberal leaning. And Feinstein leads de Leon by 29 percentage points in...

The California Democratic Party decided not to endorse in the U.S. Senate contest on Saturday, an embarrassing rebuke of veteran Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Feinstein, who has represented California in the Senate for a quarter-century, is facing an insurgent bid by a fellow Democrat, state Senate leader Kevin de León. He earned nearly 500 more votes than the senator, who was first elected in 1992. De León has cultivated relationships with the party’s delegates. He still faces a significant challenge in trying to topple Feinstein, who trounces De León in all public polling and fund-raising. The party also did not endorse...

On the heels of its horrific failures to repeal Obamacare, the troublesome Senate has finally gotten its act together enough to pass a $1.6 trillion tax cut. If it passes as expected, Americans can finally get the tax cut for Christmas that they elected a Republican Congress for, following years of Obama-era tax harvestings and stagnation. But it was a close call. One name stands out as a stinker here, and it still stands out as a stinker even though he's now voting yes: Senator Marco Rubio. The supposed conservative from Florida was willing to derail the whole thing for...

Democratic sources said Monday evening that veteran Congressman Luis Gutierrez will announce his retirement. He has been one of the more high-profile Latino politicians in the country, advocating forcefully for immigrant rights, since he became a U.S. representative 25 years ago.

NBC 5 has learned Congressman Luis Gutierrez will announce Tuesday he is not running for re-election after 24 years on Capitol Hill, sources say. Guitterez telephoned key democratic leaders late this afternoon to let them know of his plans. Calls to Guitterez tonight have not been returned. Already printing petitions Monday night-- to begin the process of getting signatures before next Monday's deadline -- is Cook County Commissioner Jesus Chuy Garcia. Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa is considering a congressional race. This will also leave an opening on the county board should Garcia opt for Guitterez's seat.