Latinovations would like to thank Wendy Bruget for her contribution to La Plaza.
When the team at Latinovations asked me to reflect on my recent trip to Copenhagen, I wasn’t sure that my focus area of garbage would be of particular interest to their blog readers. Alongside the Cinderella of the United Nations Summit was its less publicized sister, the International Solid Waste Association’s Conference on Waste and Climate Change( http://www.wasteandclimate.org/.) The purpose of the conference I attended was to bring attention to the relationship of waste and climate change. Continue Reading »
Check out why actor Wilmer Valderrama thinks it is critical for Latinos to participate in the 2010 Census.
On Wednesday, actor Wilmer Valderrama joined members of Congress and national Hispanic leaders at the Capitol Hill launch of Voto Latino’s census campaign, “Be Counted, Represent!”. Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), and Michael Honda (D-Calif.) along with Brent Wilkes, executive director of LULAC, which is an official partner, spoke in support of the effort to ensure participation of Latino youth in the upcoming Census. Continue Reading »
On Wednesday, February 3rd, the California Senate held its first hearing on whether to confirm state Senator Abel Maldonado as lieutenant governor. Democrats, who control the California legislature, are weighing their choice cautiously; on one hand, they would be handing the state’s second highest office to a Republican, but on the other hand it would result in a special election for Maldonado’s current seat which could bring the Democrats within one vote of a two-thirds majority.
On February 2nd and 3rd, business leaders from around the country convened in Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress and voice their support for comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation in 2010. The group included several prominent Latino business leaders who support climate legislation that will limit emissions and create incentives for the development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. They also stressed that clean energy is a way of expanding business opportunities and creating jobs.
Immigration advocates are gearing up for a battle in the Senate in the coming weeks, despite the fact that health care continues to dominate, lessening the chances for immigration reform.
One veteran Senate lobbyist said that “immigration is deader than a doornail”. Further adding to advocates frustration is that fact that President Obama devoted only a single sentence to immigration in his 71 minute State of the Union speech last week, in which he ranked health care and an energy bill as his top legislative priorities. Continue Reading »
In a recent article published in the San Antonio Express-News, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros, argues that if 2009 was the year in which Americans developed a grasp of the importance of health care reform, 2010 must be the year in which it is implemented.
A study released by the California Immigrant Policy Center shows that 84 percent of Latino and Asian immigrant men of working age are employed compared with 78 percent of U.S.-born Latino and Asian men. Immigrant women were less likely to be employed than their U.S.-born counterparts.
Spectacular speech. The President faced his most important moment in his presidency last night and he did it with ease, decorum humor, self deprecation, while he stood firm on an agenda that puts America’s middle class families and small businesses first. He surpassed expectations by cutting through the clutter and haze of the last several months and outlining a very clear and detailed path forward to ensure our country gets back on the right track. Continue Reading »
In his State of the Union speech on Wednesday evening, President Obama appealed to Congress to throw off “the numbing weight of our politics” and embrace bipartisanship. He vowed to make the creation of millions of new jobs his main priority for the coming year in response to the wave of public anger in the U.S. over unemployment and other recession-related issues. In addition, Obama discussed helping small business getting back on track and chided Wall Street executives for their big bonuses. Continue Reading »
Based on its analysis of government economic data, The Opportunity Agenda, a public interest group based out of New York, has released a report that finds that economic conditions declined faster for minorities and women during that past several years than for white Americans. The report, titled The State of Opportunity in America, finds unequal barriers and unequal opportunity for minority groups. Released on the eve of President Obama’s first State of the Union speech, the report calls on government officials to address racial and gender disparities in opportunity, and to closely track the numbers that indicate changes in these disparities including employment, wages, poverty, and education. Continue Reading »
