Contempo Magazine Blog

My late mother (not shown in the photo) used to tell me stories about being a poor child with my grandmother during the early 1930’s in the Pittsburg area.  A great aunt and my grandmother did not really expect that the government would do much to help them in the midst of the Great Depression. My estranged grandfather was barely keeping his job as a railroad engineer.

The city was devastated by the collapse of the steel industry. Thousands of steel workers were doing any little odd job they could to survive.  My grandmother learned the funeral business because the government would give an allowance for families to have a proper funeral. The large populations of ethnic Catholics meant there were many traditional wakes.  To help make a little extra money my family learned to how to scrap together resources to prepare food and drink economically to be served at the wake.

As soon as school was over, my mother would join my aunt and grandmother to help in every aspect of the funeral business. With striking auburn hair and green eyes my ten year old mother was told by many that she should someday be an actress or a model so she began to be interested in make-up.  Her learning of the art of make-up lead this ten year old eventually to be doing post mortem make-up for the open coffins of the Catholic wakes for a vital amount of additional income.

Late one night in 1933, my grandmother died suddenly in her sleep in the same bed in which my mother slept.  Hours later my mother awoke to find her mother had passed on. Her level of comfort with the dead strangely overcame her. She carefully positioned her mother in an appropriate position before severe rigor mortis would set in.  Later that day, my mother and great aunt themselves did all the preparation for burial including the final act of death make-up.

Life in the United States has changed quite a lot since those horrible events of the 1930s. President Roosevelt forever changed the relationship of government to the common man from one of rugged individualism and self-reliance to a guarantee of basic necessities.  One cannot imagine today that an eleven year old girl would be so intimately involved with the death process especially of a family member.

Many at that time were rightfully angry at the government and the corporate leaders who had gotten America into the fiscal disaster.  There is however a striking difference in how the common person saw the solution.  No one was particularly asking for tax cuts or handouts in the 1930s all they wanted was a job so that they could sustain their families. Thousands of families were uprooted by the droughts in rural America and migrated to the cities looking for work as noted in the Dorothea Lange historic photograph above. All they asked of the government was that they be given a job so that they could rebuild their lives.

Pittsburg residents did not do things just for themselves. The Pittsburg Post Gazette recently published a story about how many elderly survivors of the Great Depression recalled how those with jobs would help the poor. Miners volunteered to work mines to give coal to the poor. Shopkeepers took on “credit” from poor clients for food or clothes they knew would never be paid back. Foundry workers continued to work without pay to keep a business and their jobs alive.

This Thanksgiving we should be thankful that our country recovered from the Great Depression and gave the children of those who suffered directly in the Great Depression so much opportunity. We can pray for the government to give us direction but know that it is not just what government does that will bring forth recovery.

I am heartened to hear that President Elect Barack Obama is putting an emphasis on creating jobs.  He spoke also of the need for sacrifice we will need to make as a nation to recover.  America needs to find the strength of character held by that eleven year old girl in 1933. Giving money to the mortgage holders with mortgages they should not have or to mortgage lenders that lent money they should not have will not be the best way to create jobs.  Our first priority is to give people who lost their job a chance to work again.  Just as they have in the past, Americans need to roll up their sleeves and tighten their belts to help their neighbors. Ultimately what will get America out of this mess is not the job the government does for us, but what the government does to let the American worker do the job he needs to do to rebuild America.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

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Although many young people today think of the Democratic party as a bastion of progressive values, the recent victory of Barack Obama, many would argue could not have happened without the support and influence of the fastest growing segment of the Democratic party called the “Blue-Dog Democrats“. Since the 1920’s there has always been a wing of the Democratic party that was socially and fiscally conservative. At various times in history it has had names such as the Yellow Dogs and Boll Weevils. The current version was born in 1994 when conservative democrats agreed to support fiscal conservatism, gun rights, and usually pro-life stances but to only become vocal as a party member on fiscally conservative issues. Currently there are 48 official members of the Blue Dog coalition in the House of Representatives.

Obama’s strong stance on national defense, budget accountability, protection of gun rights, vocalization on religion, and rightward leaning ideas on family values are no doubt produced out of respect for the growing political power of the Blue Dogs.  The Blue Dogs are challenging Republican strongholds in the South, Southeast, and Western United States.  It can be argued that having Blue Dogs in the Democratic party actually is responsible for pushing Republicans to the right of centrist policies favored by American voters.

Blue Dogs are not without their critics within the progressive advocacy.  Liberal leaning Salon.com in July of 2008 suggested that it was time to push the Blue Dogs out of Congress because they were too helpful to the Republicans.  It was not the Republicans but the Blue Dogs who put the stop to the big three Detroit manufacturers receiving a bailout when Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler executives jetted into Washington, D.C. on private jets begging for money.

Opinion polls show the public in general is very skeptical and unhappy with the amount of money being given away in the bailouts and this is producing a major foundation for the future growth of the Blue Dogs power. Already Obama is clearly beginning to side with them in delaying a rapid exit from Iraq, promoting more troops in Afghanistan, and in demanding accountability from the big three automakers before they receive any assistance.  Obama reneged on his promise to push for changes in counter terrorism procedures such as wiretaps on the advice of the Blue Dogs. Obama has ignored the recent controversy about gay marriage in California because he does not want to waste political capital or anger the Blue Dogs whose support he desperately needs to pass his ambitious jobs and stimulus plans. Many on the left today are unhappy that many of his economic advisers were not more “to the left”.

For conservatives, the presence of the Blue Dogs gives them an option to vote for either party but for Republicans they find that someone has stolen their thunder. Obama knows that somewhere between 30 and 40% of the voting public considers themselves to be conservative. The biggest challenge for the Republican party in the future will be how to differentiate themselves from the Blue Dogs.  We can expect to see more and more Blue Dogs running in elections challenging not only Republicans but also more progressive Democrats as well. For the moment, Obama has a political halo bestowed upon him by the bloggers and voices of the left but already a few rumblings have started, yet, he seems to be taking the advice of Zell Miller’s best selling 2003 book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat, to heart.

Blue Dog Democrats are also actively developing a new constituency, Hispanics.  They now count not only the Chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, Joe Baca, (CA-43) but also are rapidly spreading to New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas in state and local elections challenging both Republicans and progressive Democrats. Pro-life, pro-military, gun rights, securing of the borders, protection of American jobs, fighting illegal drugs, and emphasis on Christian values are now being touted by those such as Jon Garrido, a Phoenix city councilman, who maintains special websites for Blue Dog Democrats recruiting of Hispanics. Many border Hispanic Democratic Congressmen who are not officially listed as members of the Blue Dog Coalition almost always vote in tandem with the Blue Dog Democrats with the exception of immigration.

The story of American politics is that coalitions and alignments are never stagnant but always in motion.  The political story for the elections coming in 2010 may not be whether Republicans make a comeback but rather how much stronger will the Blue Dogs become? The continued courting of America’s Hispanic voters into the Blue Dog coalition will likely be successful into 2010. Through out the United States we will see Blue Dog Democratic candidates challenging liberals. Who will Obama endorse?

Today Barack Obama announced that he is going to have cut major government programs and that all American’s will be asked to make sacrifices. This was not the influence of Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosi but the echo of the Blue Dogs.  Obama knows that it was not the grass roots of the Democratic Party which elected him, not the left wing bloggers of the Daily KOS, but instead was independent voters like Hispanics, college educated white voters, and middle class workers who are not incoincidentally also the group so moved to the Blue Dogs.  As he spends billions of taxpayer dollars to try to save the economy, Obama knows these Blue Dogs will make or break his path to re-election in 2012. He is already cutting links to liberals rapidly in his economic appointments and budget director appointments.

Republicans need to understand that they will not be facing a left leaning liberal in the next election. They may have to come up with a strategy to fight an incumbent Blue Dog President.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

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This week a fleet of Russian ships including their most powerful ship which can carry 20 nuclear armed cruise missiles will be docking in Venezuela and then carrying out joint exercises with Venezuelan forces in the Caribbean. It is common knowledge that Russia is seeking permanent naval and air bases in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela which could support nuclear weapon deployment.

At this point the historical policies of the United States towards Latin America, the Monroe Doctrine and the Good Neighbor Policy, both seem to have been forgotten.  Although Latin America has been a great buyer of American exports, the attitude of the average American toward Latin America is that all it does is supply drugs and unfair cheap labor to the United States.  Liberals want to stop trade with Latin America because it undercuts American jobs and supports governments that commit human rights violations while Conservatives want to cut off immigration, avoid contact with Latin America’s socialist regimes, and limit our interactions with them to punitive drug enforcement measures.

The American thirst for illicit drugs which is the primary source of revenue for the criminal cartels of Latin America has allowed the development of syndicates arguably  stronger and a greater danger to our national security than many of the weakened Middle Eastern terrorist organizations.The same problems that plague our attempts at controlling terrorism in the Middle East are hampering our efforts in Latin America. Cries of human rights violations are coming from Mexico and Columbia as their governments try to squash defiant drug kingpins.

Even on the economic front while the United States has been cooling in its attitude to being a trading partner with Latin America, the quickly growing Asian countries have been quick to fill the void. South Korea and China are increasing buying metals and other raw materials from Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries. The South Texas border community called the Rio Grande Valley has seen an influx of Asian immigrants who are helping their Asian companies grow in the “maquiladora” factories. China and Mexico recently announced a massive joint venture to build low cost cars in Mexico. Anti-American sentiment fueled by the perception of Mexicans of how they are seen by Americans, no doubt, played a role in the recent decision to seek help from the Australian petroleum industry instead of American companies for the troubled nationally owned oil company, Pemex.

Already whispers have starting calling for a new American policy of protectionism. The liberal media made jest of our lame duck, President Bush, emphasizing the need for the maintainability of free trade in the Pacific region which includes Latin America. Mr. Bush is right on target about this priority.

The United States needs to formulate a consistent policy of constructive engagement with the countries of Latin America. Joint economic development which benefits all the countries involved rather than protectionism is essential.

We must realize that we will never be able to control the illicit drug problem in the United States by actions outside the United States. We can more effectively enforce the laws in our own country than force another country to enforce their laws. A priority must be given to a total overhaul of the approach to illicit drugs in the United States.  Money given to foreign governments to control drugs is probably better spent on our own border security.

Massive foreign aid and sending “volunteers” to Latin American countries as proposed by President elect Barack Obama will not work.  We will not be able to control how the money is spent. Many will see U.S. government sponsored “volunteers” as occupiers or even spies and they will subjected to kidnapping or outright violence.

Instead we need to reinforce positive changes which occur in Latin American countries externally without being seen as interfering in their internal workings.  We must have trade deals that are progressive but not demanding of unrealistic conditions which are doomed from the start.  Trade should remain our major diplomatic tool and should always be favored over saber rattling or handouts to corrupt foreign officials.

Many of America’s leading Hispanic companies have lead the way in promoting and developing trade with Latin America. A shared culture they have with these countries gives them an advantage. But now they see an American government which is increasingly Anti-Latin American in tone and rhetoric from all sides of the political spectrum. President Elect Barack Obama should allow Commerce Secretary designate Bill Richardson to convene a panel of experts from the American Hispanic business community to make suggestions on developing a new trade policy with Latin America.

Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

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