Opinion: In today’s pages: Jobless benefits, Mexico - and what happened to Tom Saenz?
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In today’s opinion pages, the Times editorial board calls on lawmakers in Sacramento to quickly accept federal unemployment aid.
The main sticking point over ABX3 23 was the possibility that the state - or rather, employers located here - might be left holding the bag for $900 million in extended unemployment benefits after the federal aid runs out in June 2010. Backers of the bill disagreed, but its sponsor, Assemblyman Joe Coto (D-San Jose), has been working with state officials to eliminate any potential ambiguity. With the state’s unemployment insurance fund on the edge of insolvency, the concern about the cutoff date makes sense. But that’s no excuse to stall this crucial bill, not when so many people need the help.
The ed board also notes that Buick - Buick! - has scored at the top of J.D. Power’s dependability survey. Now why is that a surprise? Detroit apparently has been turning itself around, but still has some serious image retooling to do - and that may play an important role in efforts by General Motors and Chrysler to get a favorable bailout deal from Washington. Plus, the board scowls at the Final Exit Network, which is giving legitimate efforts to help the terminally ill die with dignity.
On the Op-Ed side, Denise Dresser keeps an eye on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Mexico this week, and calls for her to bring with her a ‘clear, unified message from the Obama administration regarding the sort of relationship it wants with Mexico.’
Historian Joyce Appleby sees parallels between President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first mid-term election, in which he secured his hold on his New Deal reforms, and the 2010 mid-terms that Barack Obama will face.
The two men share a lot. As president, both face the awesome task of reviving the economy. Obama’s personal popularity outstrips support for his party, as did FDR’s. Of necessity, Obama’s hope for matching Roosevelt’s successful record of reform and recovery is going to rest on his pulling off an electoral victory in 2010 like FDR’s 76 years ago.
Columnist Gregory Rodriguez examines what happened to Thomas Saenz, the former lawyer with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund who became counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Saenz was believed to be headed toward nomination to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, but someone else got the job. Was it because Saenz was an effective campaigner for immigrant rights?
The positive spin from Obama supporters is that the White House wanted to keep its powder dry for a future full-on fight over immigration reform. And perhaps that’s true. But to think that anti-immigrant extremists could kill the nomination of a man most would describe as a mainstream liberal, not to mention someone who is on the record as being opposed to the idea of open borders, is bothersome.