Latino Governors Don’t Make The GOP Better For Latinos

By Being Latino

Former Treasury Secretary Rosario Marin has something to say to those who criticize the Republican Party for not welcoming Latinos into the fold: “For all the hoopla about the Democratic Party, and how much it cares about Hispanics, the party doesn’t seem to be promoting them as much as Republicans are.”

The former treasurer under George “Dubya” has written an op-ed for Fox News Latino in which she blasts the Democrats for not having as many prominent Latinos in government as the GOP.

“[W]e enjoy having three Latino sitting governors, while there are no Latino Democrat governors.  

Our Republican governors are Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Susana Martinez of New Mexico, the first Latina governor in the history of the United States, thank you. 

Together they are the greatest resource Republicans have to attract the Latino vote. They all have proven to be very successful governors.

We also have our pride and joy in the U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio of Florida.”

Marin has a point. When compared to the Republicans, the Democrats have done a lousy job at encouraging Latinos into higher public offices. The party’s shortcoming is especially grievous when you consider that Latino registered voters are much more likely to vote Democratic than Republican by a margin of 65 percent to 22 percent, according a 2010 study conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center. So it’s at least a little sketchy that the Democrats aren’t sporting at least one Latino governor or potential VP pick, while the GOP flaunts a few of each.

Despite its achievements, at the end of the day, the Republican Party still does next to nothing to support the general Latino population:

“Overall, Latinos receive a lower share of safety net spending than their share of the population. While they represent 16 percent of the population, they only receive about 12 percent of safety net benefits. But the types of cuts in the [Paul] Ryan budget would have a pronounced effect on Latino families.

For example, more than 4 in 10 Latino workers are working in jobs that don’t pay enough to keep a family out of poverty, nearly twice the rate of white workers. Yet the Ryan budget would slash the very work and income supports that help low-wage working families keep their head above water.

The House GOP budget proposal would take an axe to tax credits for working families, and slash domestic spending that contains investments such as early childhood education, housing, and nutritional supports for pregnant moms and babies. These cuts would hit Latino families especially hard. For instance, a 2005 Head Start study showed that 32.9% of Head Start children were Hispanic, and 2008 data show that Latinos represented 23 percent of public housing recipients and more than 40 percent of participants in the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program.”

The Republican Party may enjoy more Latinos in higher elected offices than the Democrats, but Republicans themselves — along with their Latino toadies — support policies that would slice across large swaths of the Latino community. And when you’re cutting programs that Latinos care about and depend on, in the end, that it’s a Latino governor holding the scissors makes little difference.

This Article was first published in Being Latino.

[Photo by martineztransition.com]

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