Florida Latin Connection

Earlier this week, Donald Trump said during an interview that he avoided being called to serve in the Vietnam War because he “got lucky” and “had a very high draft number.” The Smoking Gun reports, however, that appears not to have been the case.

According to the website, Selective Service records tell a different story:

By the time his number (356) was drawn during the December 1, 1969 draft lottery, Trump had already received four student deferments and a medical deferment, according to military records on file with the National Archives and Records Administration. An extract of Trump’s Selective Classification record, seen here, was provided in response to a TSG records request.

(Click here to view the records obtained by The Smoking Gun.)

National Review Online relays what Trump initially told New York-based station WNYW about the matter earlier this week. “I was sitting at college, watching,” he said to the local outlet, “I was going to the Wharton School of Finance. And I was watching as they did the draft numbers and I got a very, very high number and those numbers [they] never got up to.”

The Smoking Gun reports, however, that the draft lottery that took place in December of 1969 came eighteen months after Trump graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

National Review Online questioned the claims made by Trump to WNYW on Thursday. Brian Bolduc wrote:

But in her biography of Trump, Donald Trump: Master Apprentice, journalist Gwenda Blair attributes the Donald’s escape of the draft to another factor: “Donald’s military career ended with NYMA graduation; despite his athletic prowess, in 1968 he received a medical deferment from the military draft.”

Trump has yet to announce whether he plans to run for president in the next election cycle. During a stop in Las Vegas on Thursday night he said he could be expected to make his plans known by June 1. When one woman at the event shouted “run for president,” the billionaire reportedly responded, “I think I am going to make you very happy on that.”

HufPost/ 04/29/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Donald Trump’s Vietnam Draft Claim Called Into Question

Comments (0) Apr 29 2011

The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has written Senate President Mike Haridopolos to warn him that pursuing an Arizona-like immigration bill already is costing Florida tourism dollars and will lead to more boycotts and losses.

Letter here

St.PetersburgTimes/Smith/ 04/28/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Immigration bill will hurt Florida’s economy, Hispanic Chamber warns Haridopolos

Comments (0) Apr 29 2011

For Democrats hoping George Soros will write an eight-figure check to boost their 2012 efforts, conservatives seeking to use Soros as a bogeyman to rally their base and market analysts trying to predict his next play, a top Soros aide has some advice: Read Karl Popper.

The 20th century Austrian philosopher’s theory that ultimate truth is unattainable undergirds Soros’s ideology, “to the extent that he has one,” said Michael Vachon, Soros’s political advisor and spokesman. “Soros’s investment style and his philanthropy reflect that. It is very responsive to reality.”

And Soros’s assessment of political reality could have a lot to do with shaping the political landscape in 2012 and beyond. Political operatives from across the ideological spectrum have become increasingly fixated on the question of whether the Hungarian-born billionaire investor will once again reprise the role he played in the 2004 election, when he contributed more than $20 million to Democratic causes, or whether he will continue to focus his domestic philanthropy elsewhere.

In a brief interview Thursday, Soros did not clarify his intention, begging off a question about whether he intended to make large contributions to outside advertising groups.

Read More: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53902.html

Politico/ Vogel/ 04/28/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

George Soros considers 2012 options

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Comments (0) Apr 29 2011

Another 33 employees in the Florida Department of Corrections received pink slips Thursday. The workers, all dentists or behavioral health specialists, were so-called OPS employees, and agency spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said that they earned higher salaries than full-time state workers. “We’re reorganizing to a government that works,” Plessinger said.

St.PetersburgTimes/ Bousquet/ 04/28/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Another round of layoffs in Florida’s prison system

Comments (0) Apr 29 2011

Don’t let China win the future on clean energy, Harry Reid said after his return this week from a nine-day trip to the rising Asian power.

The Senate majority leader, who took the taxpayer-funded delegation to Asia with nine other lawmakers, said the journey served as “an unmistakable reminder just how hard we have to work to make America competitive with the rest of the world,” particularly on manufacturing and energy, according to The Associated Press.

Reid said he used to be proud that he could see dozens of construction cranes in Las Vegas and other fast-growing areas in Nevada. But now, he said, in China “they have 26 cranes in one block. And they have block after block of cranes,” the AP reported following a conference call with the senator Wednesday.

In a statement Tuesday, Reid had said that “China isn’t investing so heavily in clean energy just because it’s good for the environment — it’s doing so because it’s good for the economy. China knows clean energy creates jobs and, in reducing its reliance on oil, makes it more secure.”

Read More: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53866.html

Politico/ King/ 04/282011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Sen. Harry Reid: Don’t let China beat us

Comments (0) Apr 28 2011

Here it comes again. A bill to ban public employee unions from using payroll deduction to collect their dues was considered all but dead on Wednesday when Senate leaders couldn’t get the votes to pass it.

St. PetersburgTimes/ Klas/ 04/28/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Union dues bills rises again in Gaetz phoenix

Comments (0) Apr 28 2011

America Ferrera snuck out the Northwest Gate of the White House, but Eva Longoria — fake eyelashes, skintight dress, Louboutins — came to the driveway stakeout to answer questions following the president’s Thursday afternoon meeting with prominent members of the Hispanic community. “It was a very candid conversation that went really well,” Longoria said of the meeting with President Obama. “We were able to hear his agenda and his plan for Hispanics.”

Obama convened the private roundtable to talk about a range of issues, notably immigration reform. Other invited guests included actress Rosario Dawson, Emilio Estefan (the husband of singer Gloria Estefan), Telemundo host Jose Diaz-Balart (brother of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida), and radio host Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo of Los Angeles.

“The president asked a couple of us to be here for a roundtable discussion to talk about issues pertaining to Latino community — health care, the economy and obviously immigration and education,” Longoria said.

Read More:

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0411/a_frank_discussion_aed37365-ec77-4f27-bab6-a6015f0c765c.html

Politico/ Mason/ 04/28/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Obama’s celebrity roundtable with Hispanics

Comments (0) Apr 28 2011

He started the conference by calling out NBC’s Chuck Todd directly.

“I can’t get the networks to break in on all kinds of other discussions,” he said. “I was just back there listening to Chuck—he was saying, it’s amazing that he’s not going to be talking about national security. I would not have the networks breaking in if I was talking about that, Chuck, and you know it.”

He then said that part of the reason that he wanted to release the birth certificate was because he was seeing coverage of the issue dominate the media, rather than discussion of the federal budget or other issues.

While the issue has certainly been heavily covered, the Pew Research Center pointed out that discussion of the birther issue made up for just 4 percent of the news coverage during the period Obama cited in his address. However, Donald Trump was the second most covered newsmaker last week, and his recent media appearances have been almost exclusively related to birther issues.

“I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press,” Obama said. “We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do.”

HuffPost/04/27/2011

FLorida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Pres. Obama: ‘We Do Not Have Time For This Kind Of Silliness’

Comments (0) Apr 27 2011

New York Times: ST. PAUL — With the dust settling on legislative sessions around the country, 2011 is shaping up as one of the most consequential years in memory for changes in the way schools are run.

The new policies have many champions, but a little-known common denominator behind sweeping measures in nearly a dozen states is Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, who has re-emerged as an adviser to governors and lawmakers, mostly Republicans, who are interested in imitating what he calls “the Florida formula” for education.

Mr. Bush, for example, has been closely involved in new education bills and laws in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah. One out of five state school superintendents have joined a group that his national foundation created, Chiefs for Change, to rally behind a common agenda. (full story here)

St.PetersburgTimes/ Leary/ 04/27/2011

Florida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Jeb Bush goes across country pitching ‘Florida Formula’ for education reform

Comments (0) Apr 27 2011

Sen. John Thrasher is pulling out all the stops, as expected, to get his bill to ban public employee unions from using payroll deduction for union dues through the Senate today.

He and Senate President Mike Haridopolos have lined up Senate Republican whips to urge Republicans to support the bill. And Thrasher has drafted an amendment to the House version of the bill that, among other things, would tie dues deduction to collective bargaining, allowing employers the option of deducting dues and potentially forcing unions to make concessions to keep the privilege. The big hurdle: Thrasher needs a two-thirds vote of the Senate to take the amendment up. Does he have the votes? Supporters say no.

Senate Democrats have taken a caucus position to oppose the bill, and the amendments — which at last count had 22 votes still opposed.

St.PetersburgTimes/ Klas/ 04/27/2011

FLorida Latin Connection/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

Thrasher pushing hard on union dues bill

Comments (0) Apr 27 2011