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DES MOINES, Iowa – Speaking to Democratic activists at a fundraising dinner here on Saturday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lashed out at the Republican Party and said a Mitt Romney presidency would halt progress won under President Barack Obama.
"Today, between the Tea Partiers, the climate change deniers, the birthers and the flat-earthers, I hardly recognize the Republican Party anymore," Villaraigosa said, telling the crowd that as a mayor he has sought to work across party lines.
"Republicans used to stand for something,” he said. “And now they just stand in the way."
Villaraigosa was in Des Moines to headline the Iowa Democrats' Jefferson Jackson dinner, the state party's annual marquee fundraising event.
In an interview, he called the invitation a great honor. Past keynoters have included other Democrats on a national trajectory, including a turn in 2007 by then-candidate Obama.
But if it seems like Villaraigosa is eyeing a White House bid, he wouldn't say.
"My aspiration right now is to get the president elected," he told NBC News.
Villaraigosa will be term-limited next year in Los Angeles and said he wants to "finish strong."
Though he supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2008, he has since emerged as a visible surrogate for President Obama.
In September, he served as chairman of the Democratic National Convention, helping to raise the profile of the Hispanic community at a time when both parties are battling over the country's largest-growing demographic.
Villaraigosa said during the interview that he predicted Obama would win more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in August – a time when the president, though still enjoying an advantage, was polling in the low 60s.
"I still maintain that when it's all said and done, Latinos will vote overwhelmingly for President Obama," Villaraigosa said Saturday.
He cited Republican opposition to the DREAM act, which would provide a path to citizenship for children who moved to the United States illegally as children, and which he said Republicans say is a "handout."
Asked about Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the rising Republican star who makes frequent references to faith, family and free market principles – ideas that some conservatives say will lead Hispanics to the Republican Party – Villaraigosa was polite but said the GOP has "gone so far to the right."
"I have a lot of respect for him," Villaraigosa said of Rubio. "But that's not the point of view reflected in the Latino vote."
(Rubio has said the Republican Party needs to soften on immigration, and has proposed alternative legislation which would not include the DREAM Act's pathway to citizenship.)
While Villaraigosa called for moderation from the right, he was outspoken in his defense of the broad reforms enacted by the Obama administration that Republicans have called divisive and have pledged to undo.
During his speech, he called the election a decision on the country's "fundamental direction."
"What people don't realize about those first two years with Nancy Pelosi and Democratic majority in the House and Senate, and President Obama," he said, "it actually was the most productive congress since the Johnson administration."
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How's those dumbocraps working out for you in Lala land. Southern California is a bankrupt cess pool.
Thanks Arnold
"Republicans used to stand for something,” he said. “And now they just stand in the way."
This is coming from man whose State and City are on the verge of bankruptcy. That's just plain funny. This is some serious butt kissing to avoid taking responsibility for bankrupting his city. Please Mr, president, borrow some more money from China or print more so my city won't go bankrupt. I'm on my hand and knees, please, please, anything, anything you need or want.
Better start taking comments like that as fact, denial is the first indicator of dysfunction. Fact is the GOP's brand is in serious trouble. The above statement is exactly why I left the Republican party in 2005 after "W" wrecked this country.. First move....dump anyone who stands in the way of moving this country forward into the street.
O & Joe 2012
Here are the facts on immigration
The United America Party mandates a 5 year moratorium on immigration into the USA. Read our Federal mandate on immigration at www.unitedamericaparty.org Federal Mandates, then join us.
Giving millions of people legal status and the right to work where they want will lower wages and alot of people will loose their jobs.They will no longer want to work the jobs they are doing now.Low wage jobs like farm work and others won,t be able to find workers anymore to work 60 to 80 hours a week for little pay.Goverment and companies know this, that,s why they don,t do much about it.
Gringo Bob: what???
It's not just the jobs, it is all of their relatives they'll be able to sponsor into this country that is the "elephant in the room". Let's be conservative and say that everyone made legal will sponsor five... do the math. And that's conservative, considering Mexico is a third world Catholic country ....
hmmm
Why is it that every Mexican politician in the US considers illegal immigration legal? Big difference. The US is already shouldering the education and healthcare of illegals and their "legal" children, to the detriment of mulit-generational Americans. This crud just has to stop. If we actually enforced our immigration laws, we would not be in the mess that we're in. Mexico has immense resources and wealth, but they push their peons (illiterate and uneducated) hoards across our borders, so they don't have to live with their mess. We do, and this country is starting to suck ... big time!
Too bad you weren't around when Romney's family crossed the border from Mexico. Maybe you could hvae kept those illiterate low lifes out of our country and we would have been much better off.
Romney/Ryan is not only deficient on Immigration but on every other issue that is important to our nation.
Al Gore's Current TV is going bankrupt...it failed miserably!!! ...but don't shed a tear for him. Democrats know how to make money....they steal it from the taxpayers!!!
.
“Fourteen green-tech firms in which Gore invested received or directly benefited from more than $2.5 billion in loans, grants and tax breaks, part of President Obama’s historic push to seed a U.S. renewable-energy industry with public money.”
Villaraigosa you are one out of touch politician. Obama panders to the Latino community. Immigration is a good thing when it is legal. Vilifying Romney is not the answer. Regardless of political affiliation we do need immigration reform. My good friend that I grew up with is the offspring of illegal immigrants. there does need to be a path to citizenship as well as coming to this country legally. before you castigate the conservatives, look deeply on what the so called liberals are doing
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/20/obamas_teflon_on_immigration
Villaraigosa is spot on. He's right and California will go Obama.
"Former ACORN employee Turned Whistle-blower blasts Democrats on War on Women Political Game"
"Rep. Stevens blasts Democrats on marriage amendment"
"U.S. Rep. Andy Harris blasts Democrats on taxes"
When did a blatantly partisan campaign speech become news?
Here are the facts about Obamas super majority that my Republican friends seem to want to repeat saying He had both house and shoudl have passed all his legislation:
Apparently everyone forgot the President needed 60 votes in the Senate to pass legislation. Newsflash!! The healthcare bill was passed using "reconciliation", because there were not 60 Democrats in the Senate.
Immigration, Gay Rights could not be passed with the same process because it is reserved for budgetary matters. The Stimulus was hijacked by the Republicans and job-creating measures were traded for tax cuts because...there were not 60 Democratic votes to pass it.
Apparently no one remembers that Scott Brown was sworn into office in February of 2010. At that time, the President had only been in office for ONE year. Most folks remember that the election of Scott Brown reduced the number of Democratic senators to 59. So the President could not have possibly had Congressional control for two years.
Here's the timeline:
When the election dust settled, Democrats had won 59 seats; the Republicans 41.
January 20, 2009 - After suffering a seizure during Barack Obama's inaugural luncheon, Senator Kennedy’s health forced him to retreat to Massachusetts. Also Senator Al Franken of Minnesota had not been seated because the previous Senator, Norm Coleman challenged the election results.
So at the beginning of his Presidency, Democrats had 57 elected senators…55 Democrats and 2 Independents.
Why do you think he had to compromise with Republicans on the Stimulus bill? He didn’t have enough Democrats to pass the bill! Why don't you people who moan such disappointment know this?
April 28, 2009 news outlets issued the following report:
Republican Sen. Arlen Specter has switched parties, which would give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60 seats. You do remember the filibuster? The Republicans employed it more than in any time in history for the express purpose of stalling legislation.
Despite the fact that the media hailed the party switch of Arlen Specter and claimed it gave Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate, the Minnesota seat still remained vacant. The Senate had 56 sitting Democratic members and 2 Independents. Technically, the Senate was two members short, but I'm counting Senator Kennedy even though he was at home ill because he did cast a vote in June. 59
May 15, 2009 Senator Robert Byrd was admitted to the hospital reducing the number of sitting Senators to 55 Democratic members and 2 Independents. 57
July 7, 2009 Al Franken (D) was sworn in after the election dispute over the Minnesota seat was decided in his favor. Senator Kennedy continued to recuperate at his home in Massachusetts and was unable to cast any more votes; Senator Byrd was still in the hospital. The Senate had 56 sitting Democratic members and 2 Independents. 58
July 21, 2009 Senator Byrd returned to the Senate making the count 59 seats. No Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy died August 25, 2009.
The Kennedy seat was vacant from August 25 - September 24 when Paul G. Kirk was appointed to occupy his seat until the completion of a special election. The swearing-in of Kirk gave the Democrats a 60-seat majority.
Democrats had a 60 seat majority from September 24, 2009 thru February 4, 2010. 4 months; not 2 years!!
This does not account for the number of days Congress was not even in session during that time. If one subtracts the number of days Congress was out, the time that President Obama had a Democratic majority in Congress is further reduced by more than 30 days, or another full month.
Of a possible 94 legislative days during that period, the Senate was only in session for 67 days, while the House only labored for 54.
The health care bill was not passed by reconciliation. It passed 60-39 with one abstention. Both independents sided foolishly with the democrats.
JJD
The main bill in the senate was passed. However, I seem to remember that the final amendment WAS passed by reconciliation. Wasn't that Scott Brown's whole campaign slogan "41" - that they would have enough GOP votes to fillibuster so Reid just did an end run and used the reconcilitaion process?
Mom,
Jesse's statement was the health care bill was passed by reconciliation. That is incorrect.
Many amendments were discussed and added (or not) to the bill prior to it being voted on.
Mayor Villaraigosa has absolutely NOTHING to do with moving anything forward and neither does President Obama. They are both rich and powerful and the only thing that matters to them is staying that way, at the expense of the people of this country. President Obama had 4 years to do the things that he promised, but instead, he played golf, took expensive vacations, told the American people "neener, neener, neener! WE'RE in charge now, and we'll do what we want!" Then he and his fellow elites shoved socialized medicine down the throats of the American people RIGHT AFTER THEY EXEMPTED THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES FROM IT. Mayor Villaraigosa is no different. He takes care of himself first. Now, after setting the cause of minorities back DECADES, when it looks as though his buddy in Washington might get his butt kicked out of office, NOW he takes his hand out of the public cookie jar just long enough to cry like a little girl that "someone else is responsible" and we're all supposed to be stupid enough to listen, AGAIN? I don't think so. Cheats and liars, the lot of them. Let their swell Hollywood pals vote for them because they won't get mine.
fortunately the people of California are smart enough, enlightened in many ways are quick to recognize the monetary value of our immigrants. take downtown LA for example which is now populated by business owners from all latin countries, korea, the Phillipines, Thailand, Japantown and Chinatown. this results in a viable and economically agressive business and economic base which pays its share of taxes.
to the douchebags who call other people douchebags, stick with your Ohio and Pennsylvania mentality and continue to allow your GOP puppets to steal your rights, your voting rights and decimate your working class people, while in California there is a tax inititive on board and this will pass because the citizens know that its a GOP fairy tale that we can cut into our deficits by cutting taxes for the wealthy. this is the mitt and paulie boy approach which is backed by two ruthless children from another planet, Norquist and his henchman the cowardly Karl Rove. Both would be run out of California on a rail should they enter. make them persona non grata America and vote for true American values, not the fostered upon you values of a corrupt, bigoted, racist, and KKK attitude,
should the GOP win and the next war appears, i hope oyr troops refuse to fight and then let mitt and his five cowardly kids go to war and see what its really like.
Obama/Biden 2012
You make me sick.
To WilliamSmith, Do you have to work at sounding like a moron or does it just come naturally?
Villagariosa forgets to mention the party of panderers with false hopes full of lies and promises to Hispanics, women, LGBT, college students, unions and Honey Boo fans who are no longer fooled.
The polls are showing Democrats and their Pinocchio in Chief have lost their luster and lead quickly sinking because hope and change has become change for the worse with little hope. This Prez's last 4 years have been a total disaster for our country and he still can't defend his dismal record.
Mr. Mayor, you confuse "progress" with an infestation. The services your "progress" sucks up are disgusting. Heck, your own city is buried under a Hispanic load so overwhelming you will never dig your way out. Look up the word infestation, it fits.
To those of you who try to group legal and illegal aliens in the same category, my question to you is "what part of the word illegal are you to stupid to understand?". There is a difference. Perhaps you could explain the difference between someone breaking and entering into our home and someone breaking and entering into our homeland. Tell me what the difference is in your minds? Because as far as I know, they are both illegal activities. And anyone who thinks it's perfectly okay for illegals to swarm across our borders is aiding and abetting a crime. We have laws on the books that are there for a reason, and you can not just ignore the ones you don't like. If that was the case, I say if you don't like paying taxes, just ignore them. Don't want to stop at that red light, then don't. Don't want to yield to another car, then don't. The only problem with that kind of reasoning, is unintended consequences. And that's what we are seeing now with all the illegals. They are stealing taxpayers money by taking jobs from Americans, getting free education for their children, free health care at emergency rooms across America, just to mention a few. It's a disgrace! Enough already.
I agree. Illegal is breaking the law, and skirting the law like Obama has done, is still breaking the law.
Obama has pressured the courts to skirt the law at every turn, and has made it clear with his dealings with AZ governor that he believes he is above the law and can do what ever he wants.
This traitor and jackas*s mayor want to be mayor of a Mexican county, go live in Mexico.
So ya if the Reps stand up and defend the law, and make the INS do it's job, more power to them.
Just look to Europe, the latest being the U.K. and see what the liberal social democrats will lead us into.
The big boys, at the top, just like in the U.K. will of course get their share, but the guys at the bottom will be no better off, and more than likely better off under a different form.
The U.K. is a liberal, socialist Democratic government, it is not working there it will not work here. But that is what Obama is working for.
How many immigrants can the U.K. keep taking in and giving them free money, medical, housing and all they have to do is be a warm body. That is what this jackas*s Mayor want the tax payers of this country to do.
Good for the Reps if they can put a stop to this. We have to support our families with taxes, (that are going up for all of us) and then we are suppose give our taxes to illegals for free rent, food, medical care, just because they are a warm body.
My great grandparents suffered persecution, oppression and corrupt governments but they still had to come legally into this country. What makes the Mexicans or any other people think they are better than my grandparents were. They are not.
Vote Obama/Biden 2012! End this Blockade of our Countries Recovery by the Republican Party.
( finally realized it is not worth talking to the lost and not found anymore see you nov 6th. )
Seems California and some of it's Cities are having a little economic trouble. perhaps a few too many Illegal Aliens? The Selective Enforcement used by the current administration is Treasonous, we are either a Nation Under Rule of Law or We are a Nation Going Under, there is No Neutral Ground. The mention of the situation in the U.K. is really a sad one, you would have to see how severe this problem is to appreciate it. Just returned from two weeks there, there are almost as many foreigners in the U.K. as there are Illegals in California. Going Bankrupt California, I wonder Why??
What progress? Paraphrasing the host on Univison, "Hussein, where in the hell have you been?"
What progress? They haven't deported them yet!
California should be annexed to Mexico.....all problems solved.
Immigration is such a hot issue, its unfortunate that our country cant put together a policy that helps our country without allowing in all the poor and uneducated immigrants. Allowing in the best and brightest yes does help the country, however what we are getting is the poorest. There are billions who would love to immigrate to the US or other western countries, and overpopulation is just going to increase the pressure of immigration. If we want to keep our country the land of the free and plenty then we need to start cherry picking immigrants and not letting whole families immigrate.
"it actually was the most productive congress since the Johnson administration." O yeah very productive. Over 5 trillion in new debt, economy spiraling downward, enemies killing our diplomats, and the worst health care package in history. More like most destructive congress.
And again this mayor confuses immigration and illegal aliens. My wife of 35 years is from South America. She came here legally, not crossing the border at night. We are currently in our 6th year of working to obtain LEGAL residency here for her sister, not sneaking here in on a tourist visa.
People like this mayor will not be content until we turn over California and the lower half of the US to Mexico.
What do you mean "people like this"?
I am getting very sick of the left conflating immigration reform with ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Yes, the process needs to be streamlined, more efficient and less expensive. HOWEVER:
1) Every single person in the world who wants to live in the US should NOT be granted a VISA. Criminal background checks and A QUANITIY LIMITED TO WHAT OUR ECONOMY CAN SUPPORT need to be a part of the equation. It seems to me that it's the lower income, less skilled workers that have the most trouble getting legal status.
2) When both sets of my grandparents immigrated to this country, they had to PROVE that they had family or friends to support them until they were able to support themselves. None of this living off the government handouts that we see so much of today. And if you don't believe me, go hang out at your social service center and see how many of the people in line DON'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH - in my area, 90%. They get all kinds of public money yet they virtually all have expensive cell phones. Go figure.
3) We MUST SECURE OUR BORDERS. This free for all has to stop.
4) Deporting 15 million people seems to be an overwhelming task. However, amnesty is not acceptable. I would prefer a permanent guest program as long as there is ABSOLUTELY no criminal record (including DUI etc). For those who are granted permanent guest status, absolutely no government assistance of any kind, absolutely NEVER considered for permanent citizenship and the ceasation of granting citizenship to children born in theis country if at least 1 parent does not have legal, permanent citizenship.
According to your 4th point, you DO believe immigration reform should be conflated with undocumented immigration. You just have stiffer requirements.
Good job, once we have common ground, we can work out solutions.
I think there has to be some realism in the process. But, if it comes down to one or the other, I would rather have no status issued to illegals than blanket amnesty, which was tried under Regan and was a collasal failure.
Fortunately, there's isn't anyone supporting blanket amnesty.
Unfortunately, there are scores of people supporting massive deportation.
The Issue is Illegal versus Legal. Can't you Liberal Democrats understand.
Most cirmes have a pardon/rehabilitation process. So if it were simply a "legal v. illegal" issue, we'd definitely have a Dream Act and different consequences for juveniles.
Try again