LCT Remarks for Texas Democratic Convention
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Hello Democrats! Can you hear me! Are we ready to win in November?
My name is Linda Chavez-Thompson and on November 2nd I’m going to be the next Lt. Governor of Texas.
I’m what the State Board of Education considers a figment of your imagination …
That’s right, I’m a Latina who is about to make history.
Have we had a great convention?
Later this afternoon when we walk out of this hall, we’re not apologizing for being Democrats and speaking out for working families.
We’re not apologizing for standing up for the education of our children.
And we’re not apologizing for holding corporations accountable when they put fishermen out of business and leave our Gulf polluted for decades.
This story has played out over and over again. And the result is always the same: Republicans have trouble with the truth.
We may never know what really happened that fateful day when the Governor went out for his jog and came under attack by the fearsome coyote …
But the tall tale that I still can’t get over, are the stories Rick Perry told in his TV ads this past primary.
Did you see any of these? One of them bragged that while Washington was running up massive deficits, Texas had a balanced budget with cash in the bank.
Of course, what Rick Perry and David Dewhurst fail to confess is that they balanced the budget with $14 billion in federal stimulus money. And even at that, a balanced budget doesn’t mean we’ve taken care of our schools, our teachers and our children.
You may have heard that Rick Perry is coming out with a new book called “Fed ‘Up” — I think he should call it “Fess ‘Up” because after being in office for 10 years we’re still waiting for him to tell the truth.
And that cash in the bank he bragged about in that ad — what he doesn’t tell you is that at best, the Rainy Day Fund will cover half of the $19 billion budget shortfall that threatens the education of every Texas child.
Do you know how many zeros there are in $19 billion?
11 when you count Perry and Dewhurst.
And let me tell you why. Because while Perry and Dewhurst put their hand out to Washington to pay their bills, they turned their backs on unemployed Texans who needed help paying theirs.
That’s what makes them zeros in my book.
They say they don’t raise taxes, but tell that to small businesses who just got a hike in their unemployment taxes thanks to the Governor’s short-sighted “tough talk.”
According to CNN, Texas employers are now forced to pay an additional $40 per employee — meanwhile, Texas is still one of the hardest states to qualify for unemployment insurance.
I’m not going to say, “I told you so.” But Republican Senator Kevin Eltife did. He said, “At a time when small business is hurting, the last thing we need to be doing is raise their taxes.”
For those who don’t know my story, I had to quit school after the ninth grade to help support my family in the cotton fields of West Texas. It’s ugly, hard work. So when I got a chance to work as a bilingual secretary for the local construction union, I took it.
Twenty-eight years later, 25 of those with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. I was the first woman of color to serve as the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO.
After a lifetime of working to lift wages up for working families, I’m not going to sit idly by as Republican neglect of education — from pre-K to college — drives wages down.
Perry and Dewhurst like to brag that while other states are hurting, Texas is creating jobs. But a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tells the real story, that Texas has the highest share of minimum wage workers in the nation.
I’ve worked for minimum wage. And for an even longer part of my life, I’ve worked for people earning minimum wage. Let me tell you this, it’s hard to provide for a family earning minimum wage. It’s even harder to be there for your children, and do the real work of parenting when you’re constantly working just to get by.
Here are the facts, 63% of all new and replacement jobs require some college education. Speaking about the state of education in our state, the Texas Association of Business declared we’re facing a “Texas-sized crisis that requires unprecedented leadership.” The Chairman of TDI Industries and Board Member of the Texas Business and Education Coalition added that it’s time for the state’s leaders to “muscle this thing up.”
Well Perry has had 10 years in office and Dewhurst 8. If the boys aren’t prepared to muscle up then it’s time they step aside.
I’m sure you all heard about what happened in Laredo, Texas.
With a population of 250,000, Laredo now has the distinction of being the largest city in the nation without a bookstore. B. Dalton’s bookstore shut its doors for good on January 16th.
And you can put another tombstone in the predominantly Hispanic south side of San Antonio now that Waldenbooks has left, leaving no bookstore for miles.
It’s time Republican leaders recognize that this is an economic crisis of their own making.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, by the year 2014, over 2 million jobs will be created in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
A bookstore would sure come in handy.
But despite the bragging of Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst that Texas is creating jobs, the reality is one out of three students are walking out of our high schools without a diploma. Among Latinos, it’s nearly one out of two.
But dropouts are just a symptom of a larger broken system — a system that has already failed our children before they’ve even entered the first grade. Parenting Magazine, recently spelled out the epidemic that is the early literacy crisis:
“While a child growing up in a middle class neighborhood will own an average of 13 books at any given time, low-income communities average about one book for every 300 children.”
In the face of such a daunting crisis, what does the Republican Party offer? A platform that calls for abolishing federally sponsored pre-kindergarten classes.
They just don’t get it.
Studies show that a child who enters the first grade with reading difficulties is more likely than not to still have reading difficulties in the fourth grade.
They just don’t get it.
From 1999 to 2008 Texas schools took in 659,000 more students. Over 90% of them are classified as low economic status. This problem isn’t going away.
They just don’t get it.
But if the Republican leadership doesn’t want to listen to a lifelong labor organizer and the daughter of a cotton sharecropper, they should at least listen to their own advisors. Steve Murdock, the former state demographer and Bush appointee, warned years ago that, “our fates are intertwined”. “How well our non-Anglo citizens do in Texas is how well Texas will do.”
Murdock warns that if nothing changes — and with Perry and Dewhurst nothing changes — average wages in 30 years will be $6,500 lower than they were in the year 2000.
And that number doesn’t account for inflation, so it’s even worse than you think.
I realize us Texans are known for our big talk. But the outside world needs to know there is some truth to the Texas myth. Because when you’re born in the Lone Star State, you just grow up believing the sky is the limit. It’s true for this daughter of a cotton sharecropper. And in today’s economy, it can still hold true for any Texas child with a book in their hand.
But at the recent Republican Party Convention, the same Rick Perry who has trouble counting dropouts made a bold statement that just knocked my socks off. He said, and I quote, “This is the home of a Hispanic in America: The Republican Party.”
Listen, any home that neglects children like the Republican Party of Texas should be reported to Child Protective Services.
So what is their grand scheme to get the Latino vote?
According to the Dallas Morning News:
• Perry hired a Spanish speaking Press Secretary
• He launched a Spanish language web and twitter site
• And he hired a Hispanic ad agency that sells beer and Domino’s pizza.
Por favor!
To paraphrase my good friend Jim Hightower, you can stuff a jalapeño in a pig but that doesn’t make it chorizo.
But here’s what really gets me. Rick Perry and David Dewhurst haven’t lifted a finger for the children of Texas, yet they have the gall to attack Bill White?
Listen to me carefully … Bill White lifted the aspirations of thousands of kids who had fallen through the cracks. He launched Expectation Graduation — went personally into the homes of dropouts and got them back in school and showed us what it really means to leave no child behind.
Bill White lifted the economy of the 4th largest city in the nation — creating in 6 years more jobs in Houston than 37 states combined.
And Bill White lifted the hearts of a nation when without hesitation, he opened up his arms and his city to the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina — real leadership that doesn’t shy away from the responsibility that we are our brother’s keeper.
When they attack Bill White they’re attacking Texas at its best. And I for one won’t stand for it.
Now we must follow in Bill White’s example.
It’s up to you and me to lift the aspirations of those who have given up hope … it’s up to you and me to lift our economy by electing leaders up and down the ballot who will invest in education … and it’s up to you and me to lift up our hearts and send a message loud and clear that we will not stand for the neglect of any child.
Nosotros tenemos la responsibilidad de luchar por nuestros hijos y nuestros nietos. Y como Demócratas, no olvidamos nuestros responsibilidades.
We have enough challenges, and 11 zeroes is two zeroes too many.
There is a lot at stake in this election.
Today, we gather together as family. But tomorrow we need to take it to the streets. Are you ready?
We need to tell the teacher in Dallas who is worried about her job, “Your home is in the Democratic Party and we’re standing up for you.”
We need to tell the fishermen and women in the Gulf, who could lose their livelihoods if the currents change, “Your home is in the Democratic Party and we’re standing up for you.”
We need to tell the business leaders — from the mom and pop shops to the large employers — “Your home is in the Democratic Party because we’re educating the workforce that Texas needs to compete.”
We win when we lift up our voices. So make sure they hear you. Are you ready to go to work? Are you ready to win? I am. Thank you and God bless. Muchisimas gracias y que dios les bendiga.
Katie Naranjo
Texans for Linda
Pol. adv. paid for by the Linda Chavez-Thompson Campaign, Martina Alvarado, Treasurer.
Linda Chavez-Thompson • P.O. Box 6719 • San Antonio, TX 78209 • P: 210-829-0902 • F: 210-829-0221
Copyright © 2010 Linda Chavez-Thompson – All Rights Reserved
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