Gonzalez: The GOP Problem is Not Rhetoric

The leader of the Congressional Hispanic caucus says that the problem that Republicans have with Latinos is not the problem they think they have. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-TX, wrote in the Huffington Post that Republicans believe their problem is in their rhetoric. They’ve had at least two conferences, one in Washington DC and another in Miami, where they’ve talked about toning-down their speech so as to not alienate Latinos.  Gonzalez writes:

But their Latino “problem” lies not only in their Party’s rhetoric but rather, and more importantly, in their Party’s actions. Although we welcome national leaders like Gingrich and Bush trying to reach out to Hispanics in a more sensible tone, they aren’t elected leaders, they answer to no constituents and aren’t bound to represent their interests in Congress.

And therein lies their real problem: casting a vote speaks louder than the words you use to court one, and the actions that are being taken by Republicans in congress don’t match the words or the tone that Bush and Gingrich would have them use.

Casting a vote in Congress speaks louder than watching what you say in public. Para muestra, un boton:

Let’s just look at the first two days of the 112th Congress. On day one, Representative Steve King introduced legislation to repeal the 14th amendment – legislation that would create a second-class citizenry of American children. And, on day two, as part of the new rules that House Republicans passed to guide this session, they insisted on stripping delegates representing Puerto Rico and other US Territories of their voting rights – a vote that deprived more than 4 million Hisapnic-American citizens of their official voice in congress.

Health care, which was repealed in the House yesterday, was, according to Gonzalez, the GOP’s litmus test. You can read his HuffPost piece in it’s entirety HERE.