Aside from party affiliation, what is the difference between incumbent Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart and former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez?
The Herald reports the race "likely to be one of the most hard-fought congressional races in South Florida in years." Then, what is it about? The Herald sheds no light, other than the Castro issue. "There is a real desire and appetite for change," Martinez said to the Herald. What kind of change? For God's sake, be specific!
It is not clear that Diaz-Balart represents anything more than clan politics.
Apparently, Martinez has been raising a lot of cash: "more than half of the contributions came from Republicans, though that claim could not be confirmed."
It is a given, that the majority of campaign cash in Hialeah comes from Cuban American developers and allies in the supply chain of platted subdivisions and suburban sprawl, represented by the Latin Builders Association, US Century Bank and its board of directors. Is the Congressional vote in the District only about changing hat sizes?
There must be some meaning, worth exploring by voters, if these Republicans are jumping ship to the Democrats.
Certainly, Martinez has proudly represented the kind of unsustainable development, pushing the edges of zoning changes in his and other's districts, as well as any Republican builder. In 2005, Martinez successfully lobbied for moving the Urban Development Boundary in Hialeah, wedged in the front row of the county commission between Armando Codina and Sergio Pino, with a phalanx of the county's most powerful lobbyists sitting behind.
Maybe Martinez had some rational arguments for the specific location of the UDB change at the time, but how does Martinez now feel about applications to move the UDB, like Lowe's or others that the Crist administration has objected to and that will be voted on, in a just a few weeks, by the same county commission that Martinez lobbied only two years ago?
When the Republican/developer AM radio mouthpiece, WQBA, cancelled Martinez' radio show last September, the county Democratic party issued a press statement saying, ""Just when we thought a strong, progressive voice had finally made its way on to the Spanish language airwaves in Miami, WQBA and its management decided to blackmail Mayor Martinez, refusing to allow him to continue his radio show unless he promised not to pursue elected office - a decision he has yet to make."
If Martinez is a strong progressive voice, let us hear that argument how Martinez is "progressive" for his District and South Florida. Let's hear Martinez' position on the role of developers and greedy investors who massaged local zoning changes in order to foment the biggest speculative bubble in housing markets in Florida's history.
Given that the outcomes of the housing market crash are the most significant drag on Florida's economy leading to the November election, I hope the mainstream media will not hesitate to probe, in depth, the role of Miami Dade's political leadership.
What we need, here, is an "Accountability Project".
Certainly Raul Martinez does not lack for self-esteem. But if Diaz Balart is just a Republican guard of a discredited political elite, how is Martinez any different?
11 comments:
God, is it really that hard for you guys to connect the dots between builders and Miami ??
Let me explain as long as the US has the "dry foot wet foot" policy and the 20,000 Visa *Lotto* with Cuba, this will remain ...
It means that Miami - mostly SW Kendall, Tamiami, Hialeah (which is were most choose to reside) is GUARANTEED about 25k new residents per year. Connect that with the automatic citizenship and government assistance and just this keeps the GROWTH MACHINE licking their chops and stumbling over each other to make new housing.
In fact what type of residents we get does not matter for them (uneducated spanish speaking) to push their interest and to fill up these houses and put more strain on a already saturated infrastructure. They will keep packing immigrants until the boundary lines must be pushed.
I still think their plan is flawed as any change on this one way migration policy puts the whole growth scenario at risk and more importantly filling a city with *uneducated spanish speaking only* residents with an average salary of 25k does not mesh well with 300k housing and growing living costs.
So until none of that changes the main focus in Miami, will always be to keep stuffing it with as many Cubans as possible as this plays right into the cards of all the political clowns and developers running around MIA.
Melting Pot ... ??
I think not !! more like a PRESSURE COOKER waiting to pop
GIMLETEYE writes:
The dots connect, but not in a way that warrants racial overtones.
The context is cultural, but that's another topic. The anon observer is correct about the math. South Florida's immigration WAS an ATM for homebuilders.
But cramming immigrants into new suburbs-- generating a reliable cash flow stream for the south Florida builders-- only worked as long as lending and mortgage rules were ignored and as long as the politicians (Republican) pressured the process called the "ownership society".
This was the true purpose of the anti-regulatory atmosphere of the past decade, and it worked even better on Wall Street where the engineers who bundled the mortgages for South Florida builders took a percentage fee and commissions on the AGGREGATE leverage generated.
Not only is NO ONE going to jail for this, US taxpayers are holding the bill.
I couldn't agree more with you. Not only is the "wet foot-dry foot" policy stupid and discriminatory but puts our country at risk. All arrivals from Cuba are immediately released into the community w/o any background check. Are Cubans exempt from commiting crimes that we are so liberal accepting them here on their word? Not only their illegal actions (smuggled in by a criminal mafia) go unpunished, but they are handsomely rewarded with food stamps, monthly support checks, and Medicaid. Unable to find work, I applied for government assistance. It was denied because I'm collecting unemployment. I've never asked for any help from my government and have paid taxes all my life and it irks me to see how generous we're with people from Cuba, who are not being persecuted, blatantly violate our laws and immediately upon their arrival file for disability benefits to continue to live on our dime. Have our government officials become insane? When did we become socialists and a "Nanny" state?
The change, to be specific, is from a Republican to a Democrat.
Anonymous No. 1
I did not post this post. Gimleteye posted it. We are two different people that disagree on quite a bit but also agree...two distinct voices on this blog
G.o.D.
Anon #4. Who do you think instituted the "dry foot-wet foot" policy? President Clinton, a Democrat, not a Republican. Maybe if the Democrats win the election, they'll also have the gutts to eliminate this ridiculous and dangerous policy. Not only Cubans are arriving via Port Key Biscayne, but through Mexico, Central America, by plane overstaying their visitor's visa. God forbid if a person from another nationality does the same, he/she is handcuffed, jailed, mistreated and eventually deported.
Speaking of being mistreated, why is there so little coverage about the hunger in Haiti? People are dying from the food shortage....
"GIMLETEYE writes:
The dots connect, but not in a way that warrants racial overtones."
My comments are NOT racial in any way, they just point to actual US policies and GUARANTEED number of cuban migrant visas issued each year.
You think developers don't take these numbers into growth projections ??
I believe their whole business plan is partially based on these GUARANTEED settling on theses mentioned areas - SW Kendall, Tamiami, Hialeah.
Sort of if you build them they will come policy.
I bring this up as I think it is aligned with Miami politics and the growth obsessed developers.
If I really wanted to be a racist I would write stuff like -
"Just think of all the new possibilities for these new cuban migrants -
- PIP Fraud
- Medicare Fraud
- Mortgage Fraud
- Human Smuggling
- City Commissioners
- City Mayor
Catch my drift ?
Clear distinction between the objective first post !!
Yep, not racist. Not one bit. Nope.
The difference is that Martinez is fatter. They both, along with Vile Natacha, have imported Castro's brand of comunism into South Florida. Hialeah is a little Cuba.
The Difference is one is Honest and the other is a Corrupt abbusive Politician... Does Lincoln talk Cuba yes, but does he get things done: Yes. 100 million dollars for the United States Southern Command, Millions of Dollars to Higher Education... The Ryder Trauma Center anyone? For over 16 years Lincoln has represented the residents of South Florida with Honesty and Integrity..
Raul Martinez is the Boss Tweed of Miami, This man is a thug remember the beating on 826? The felony charges? The way he made the Hialeah Tax Payer pay for his legal defense? The way he claimed back pay? even though he took a job with a chrony while he was being prosecuted? Go to www.raulmartinez2008.com it's all there documented by the Media Raul is a text book definition of a Courrupt Politician!
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