Former Whitman housekeeper alleges she was treated like 'garbage"

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman was accused today by Nicandra Diaz, an undocumented immigrant employed as a housekeeper for nine years, of mistreatment and abuse.

The revelation is sure to influence the ongoing process of an already close race with former governor Jerry Brown.

Diaz is being represented by Gloria Allred, who has drawn attention to numerous attention-grabbing cases.

Additional revelations about Diaz' experiences as an emloyee of the Whitman household are expected.

The complete article from the LA Times:

Former Whitman housekeeper alleges she was treated like 'garbage'| PolitiCal | Los Angeles Times

Paul Krugman: Downhill With the G.O.P.

In this article Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman examines the Republican Party's "Pledge to America", focusing on the fiscal implications of the document.

In addition to pointing out that the document is at war with arithmetic, Krugman observes that, more than anything else, it reflects the vision of conservative intellectual Irving Kristol.

The late Irving Kristol, one of the intellectual godfathers of modern conservatism, once wrote frankly about why he threw his support behind tax cuts that would worsen the budget deficit: his task, as he saw it, was to create a Republican majority, “so political effectiveness was the priority, not the accounting deficiencies of government.” In short, say whatever it takes to gain power. That’s a philosophy that now, more than ever, holds sway in the movement Kristol helped shape.

Krugman concludes:

Realistically, though, Republicans aren’t going to have the power to enact their true agenda any time soon — if ever. Remember, the Bush administration’s attack on Social Security was a fiasco, despite its large majority in Congress — and it actually increased Medicare spending.

So the clear and present danger isn’t that the G.O.P. will be able to achieve its long-run goals. It is, rather, that Republicans will gain just enough power to make the country ungovernable, unable to address its fiscal problems or anything else in a serious way. As I said, banana republic, here we come.

The link to the article:

Op-Ed Columnist - Downhill With the G.O.P. - NYTimes.com

Video of Stephen Colbert Testifying in Congress About Immigrant Farmworkers in America

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Stephen Colbert To Testify Before Congress On Immigration; Today's Episode of Colbert Report to Cover His Work in Agriculture

Television personality, comedian, and faux conservative, Stephen Colbert, apparently will testify in US congressional hearings on immigration. He is scheduled to join United Farmworkers Union (UFW) president, Arturo Rodriguez, in the calls for an AgJobs program.

Earlier this summer, Colbert participated in the UFW's "Take Our Jobs" campaign, designed to draw attention to the agricultural industry's dependence on an undocumented immigrant labor force. Colbert spent a day performing farm labor and that experience will be aired today in the Colbert Report.

The complete note on the Huffington Post:


Stephen Colbert To Testify Before Congress On Immigration

GOP Battle Plan: Deprive Rivals of Cash

The potential GOP victory at the polls in the November election is leading them to consider different strategies to reverse the reforms that have been implemented by a US Congress under the control of the Democratic Party. Among the targets: the recently approved health-care overhaul.

As the Wall Street Journal article indicates, a preferred strategy is to deny funding to opposed programs.

The complete article:

GOP Battle Plan: Deprive Rivals of Cash - WSJ.com

Poverty Rates Increase for the Nation as a Whole, for Hispanics, for Foreign-Born

The Bureau of the Census released the following data regarding poverty in the nation (all numbers in thousands):

People in Poverty
2008 38,829 million (13.2% of national pop.).
2009 43,569 million (14.3% of national pop.).

Hispanic Origin in Poverty
2008 10,987 (23.2% of pop.).
2009 12,350 (25.3% of pop.).

Foreign Born in Poverty
2008 6,536 (17.8% of pop.).
2009 7,162 (19.0% of pop.).

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/pdf/cb10-144_tableb.pdf

New Census Report: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009

A new Bureau of the Census report with the latest socio-economic data:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, SEPT. 16, 2010

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009

Summary of Key Findings

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income in the United States in 2009 was $49,777, not statistically different from the 2008 median.

The nation's official poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008 — the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004. There were 43.6 million people in poverty in 2009, up from 39.8 million in 2008 — the third consecutive annual increase.

Meanwhile, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 46.3 million in 2008 to 50.7 million in 2009, while the percentage increased from 15.4 percent to 16.7 percent over the same period.

These findings are contained in the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009. The following results for the nation were compiled from information collected in the 2010 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC):

Income

Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)

• Among race groups, Asian households had the highest median income in 2009. Real median income declined between 2008 and 2009 for non-Hispanic white and black households, while the changes for Asian and Hispanic-origin households were not statistically different. (See Table A [PDF].

Regions

• In 2009, households in the West and Northeast had the highest median household incomes. (The apparent difference between the two regions was not statistically significant.) Real median income declined between 2008 and 2009 in the Midwest and West; the changes for the Northeast and South were not statistically significant. (See Table A [PDF].

Nativity

• In 2009, households maintained by naturalized citizens had the highest median income. Native-born households and those maintained by noncitizens experienced income declines from 2008 to 2009, in real terms. The changes in the median income of all foreign-born households and households maintained by a naturalized citizen were not statistically significant. (See Table A [PDF].

Earnings

• In 2009, the earnings of women who worked full time, year-round were 77 percent of that for corresponding men, not statistically different from the 2008 ratio.
• The real median earnings of men who worked full time, year-round rose by 2.0 percent between 2008 and 2009, from $46,191 to $47,127. For women, the corresponding increase was 1.9 percent, from $35,609 to $36,278. (The difference between the 2.0 and 1.9 percent increases was not statistically significant.)

Income Inequality

• The change in income inequality between 2008 and 2009 was not statistically significant, as measured by shares of aggregate household income by quintiles and the Gini index. The Gini index was 0.468 in 2009. (The Gini index is a measure of household income inequality; 0 represents perfect income equality and 1 perfect inequality.)

Poverty

• The poverty rate in 2009 was the highest since 1994, but was 8.1 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available. The number of people in poverty in 2009 is the largest number in the 51 years for which poverty estimates are available.
• In 2009, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 11.1 percent and 8.8 million, respectively, up from 10.3 percent and 8.1 million in 2008.
• The poverty rate and the number in poverty increased across all types of families: married-couple families (5.8 percent and 3.4 million in 2009 from 5.5 percent and 3.3 million in 2008); female-householder-with-no-husband-present families (29.9 percent and 4.4 million in 2009 from 28.7 percent and 4.2 million in 2008) and for male-householder-no-wife-present families (16.9 percent and 942,000 in 2009 from 13.8 percent and 723,000 in 2008).

Thresholds

• As defined by the Office of Management and Budget and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2009 was $21,954. Since the average annual CPI-U for 2009 was lower than the average annual CPI-U for 2008, poverty thresholds for 2009 are slightly lower than the corresponding thresholds for 2008. (See <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/cpstables/032010/pov/new35_000.htm> for the complete set of dollar value thresholds that vary by family size and composition.)

Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to people reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)

• The poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites was lower in 2009 than it was for other racial groups. The poverty rate is not statistically different from the 2008 poverty rate for Asians, but increased for all other race groups and for Hispanics. Table B [PDF] details 2009 poverty rates and numbers in poverty, as well as changes since 2008 in these measures, for race groups and Hispanics.

Age

• The poverty rate increased for children younger than 18 (from 19.0 percent in 2008 to 20.7 percent in 2009) and people 18 to 64 (from 11.7 percent in 2008 to 12.9 percent in 2009), while it declined for people 65 and older (from 9.7 percent in 2008 to 8.9 percent in 2009).
• Similar to the patterns observed for the poverty rate in 2009, the number of people in poverty increased for children younger than 18 (14.1 million in 2008 to 15.5 million in 2009) and people 18 to 64 (22.1 million in 2008 to 24.7 million in 2009) and declined for seniors 65 and older (from 3.7 million in 2008 to 3.4 million in 2009).

Nativity

• The 2009 poverty rate for naturalized citizens was not statistically different from 2008, while the poverty rates of native-born and noncitizens increased. Table B [PDF] details 2009 poverty rates and the numbers in poverty, as well as changes since 2008 in these measures, by nativity.

Regions

• The poverty rate increased from 2008 to 2009 in the Midwest, South and West while all four regions had increases in the number of people in poverty. (The 2009 poverty rate for the Northeast was not statistically different from its 2008 poverty rate.) See Table B [PDF].

Health Insurance Coverage

• The number of people with health insurance decreased from 255.1 million in 2008 to 253.6 million in 2009. Since 1987, the first year that comparable health insurance data were collected, this is the first year that the number of people with health insurance has decreased.
• Between 2008 and 2009, the number of people covered by private health insurance decreased from 201.0 million to 194.5 million, while the number covered by government health insurance climbed from 87.4 million to 93.2 million. The number covered by employment-based health insurance declined from 176.3 million to 169.7 million. The number with Medicaid coverage increased from 42.6 million to 47.8 million.
• Comparable health insurance data were first collected in 1987. The percentage of people covered by private insurance (63.9 percent) is the lowest since that year, as is the percentage of people covered by employment-based insurance (55.8 percent). In contrast, the percentage of people covered by government health insurance programs (30.6 percent) is the highest since 1987, as is the percentage covered by Medicaid (15.7 percent).
• In 2009, 10.0 percent (7.5 million) of children under 18 were without health insurance. Neither estimate is significantly different from the corresponding 2008 estimate.
• The uninsured rate for children in poverty (15.1 percent) was greater than the rate for all children.
• In 2009, the uninsured rates decreased as household income increased: from 26.6 percent for those in households with annual incomes less than $25,000 to 9.1 percent in households with incomes of $75,000 or more.

Race and Hispanic Origin (Race data refer to those reporting a single race only. Hispanics can be of any race.)

• The uninsured rate and number of uninsured in 2009 were not statistically different from 2008 for Asians while increasing for all other race groups and for Hispanics. See Table C [PDF].

Nativity

• The proportion of the foreign-born population without health insurance in 2009 was nearly two-and-a-half times that of the native-born population. The uninsured rate was not statistically different for naturalized citizens but rose for noncitizens and the native-born.
  Table C [PDF] details the 2009 uninsured rate and the number of uninsured, as well as changes since 2008 in these measures, by nativity.

Regions

• The Northeast had the lowest uninsured rate in 2009. Between 2008 and 2009, the uninsured rates and number of uninsured increased in all four regions. See Table C [PDF].

The Census Bureau's statistical experts, with assistance from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, the Economics and Statistics Administration and other appropriate agencies and outside experts, are now developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure. The Supplemental Poverty Measure will provide an additional measure of economic well-being. It will not replace the official poverty measure and will not be used to determine eligibility for government programs. See Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009, for more information.

The Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement is subject to sampling and nonsampling errors. All comparisons made in the report have been tested and found to be statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level, unless otherwise noted.

For additional information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates for the CPS, visit <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/p60_238.pdf>.

Newsroom: Income & Wealth: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009

Transmisión en Vivo de la Celebración del Bicentenario de la Independencia Mexicana

Ahora puedes encontrar en el sitio la transmisión en vivo de la celebración del bicentenario.

Felicidades al Pueblo Mexicano al Celebrar el Bicentenario de su Independencia!

Esta noche México celebra el bicentenario del movimiento independentista que inicio el cura Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla en el pueblo de Dolores, Guanajuato.

Felicidades a todo el pueblo mexicano, incluyendo a los que se encuentran fuera del territorio nacional pero recuerdan y reconocen la importancia de este evento histórico.

Increase in American Poverty Rates Expected

New Census reports will be issued next week and one of the expected developments will be the documentation of increases in the poverty rates in the nation, a consequence of the recession the nation is still going through. Some predictions point to the possibility that the poverty rate will rise to 15%, approaching the levels in existence in the 1960s, before the War on Poverty policies were implemented.

Let's keep in mind the origins of the recession and the pre-existing trend towards greater inequality in the nation before laying all the blame on the Democrats.

U.S. Student Became Mexico Drug Kingpin ‘La Barbie’ - NYTimes.com

A New York Times article examines the roots of Edgar Valdez Villarreal "La Barbie", from his middle class background in Laredo to the top of Mexican drug cartels.

U.S. Student Became Mexico Drug Kingpin ‘La Barbie’ - NYTimes.com

Piden crear Comision de Asuntos Migratorios

En respuesta a problemas graves, tales como el asesinato de 72 migrantes en Tamaulipas y aprobación de la ley SB 1070 en Arizona, el senador priista, Heladio Ramirez Lopez, ha presentado una iniciativa en el Senado de la República para que se establezca una Comisión de Asuntos Migratorios, la cual trabaje de manera explicita asuntos relacionados a este tema. En la actualidad, temas relacionados son abordados por diversas comisiones, incluyendo una sobre relaciones con Norteamérica.

Hay que señalar que el mismo problema existe a nivel de la Cámara de Diputados.

Asimismo, hay casos, como en Michoacán, donde el poder legislativo estatal ya estableció una Comisión de Asuntos Migratorios.

La nota completa:

Piden crear Comisi�n de Asuntos Migratorios - El Universal - M�xico

Video de Casa de "La Barbie" en el Estado de Mexico

Este vídeo de Milenio Diario muestra la casa en el Estado de México donde fue capturado el narcotraficante, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, mejor conocido como "La Barbie".

Choca trailer que transporta cuerpos de migrantes

Lo que faltaba:

El trailer que transportaba 56 cuerpos de los migrantes asesinados en Tamaulipas ha chocado contra dos vehículos al transitar por el Distrito Federal, rumbo a las instalaciones del Servicio Medico Forense.

La nota del Universal:

Choca tr�iler que transporta cuerpos de migrantes - El Universal - DF