JGL Eye

By JOSEPH G. LARIOSA

(Journal Group Link International)

C HICAGO (jGLi) – When a friend of mine, Renato “Rambo” Avenido, owner of www.usnewslasvegas.com, urged me to write something about his friend, Rory Reid, who is running for governor of Nevada, I told him I will do so only if his campaign has any programs that would uplift the lives of the Filipino and Asian Americans living in the “Silver State.”

Because the mid-term general election is less than two weeks away on Nov. 2nd, and I am pressed for time, I tried to connect to Mr. Reid’s press spokesman, Mike Trask, who e-mailed me a press release that he said he also sent out to several Asian newspapers.

In it, it says, “Throughout his campaign for governor, Rory Reid has made it a priority to meet with leaders from all of Nevada’s Asian communities, listen to their concerns and take their ideas to heart. While typical politicians may attend one or two Asian events, Rory has spent many hours talking with dozens of business owners and community members from all sectors. He has committed to working with the Asian community as governor, and to appointing a diverse staff that is truly representative of Nevada.”

HIS FATHER IS ALSO UP FOR RE-ELECTION

T his one paragraph is all I wanted to know from Mr. Reid, a lawyer, who is following the footsteps of his father, Senate Majority Floor Leader Harry Reid, who is also running for re-election in one of the two senate seats in Nevada.

I just hope if Rory wins in this very tough campaign, where one survey shows he is the underdog, he will stick by his pledge to “listen to their (Asian-Americans’) concerns and take their ideas to heart.”

From my own personal experience, I know a lot of politicians, whom I helped promoted, they are only good on promises. After they are elected into office, the politicians abandon their supporters, like a man's feeling right after his sexual conquest.

And taking advantage of one’s position at the expense of the voters that they vowed to serve is the easiest way to lose such position.

Ask any Nevadans how incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons was soundly rejected by the Republican voters when he became the first four-year term, sitting governor in Nevada's history to ever lose in the primary. They will tell you that Gibbons, a former assemblyman and five-term congressman and a decorated war hero, was coasting on his way to the Governor’s Mansion in 2006 when he suddenly imploded.
 
GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH IS A CHOIR BOY
 
G overnor Gibbons, among others, was accused of assaulting a woman in a parking garage after drinking with her at a bar; a woman said she was an illegal immigrant who worked for Gibbons; and The Wall Street Journal detailed his friendship with a defense contractor who gave Gibbons $90,000 in campaign contributions and took Jim Gibbons and his wife, Dawn, on a luxury cruise while successfully lobbying him for a lucrative defense appropriation. These accusations against Governor Gibbons make unseated Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich a choir boy.

I’m sure Rory or any of Gibbons successors will learn lessons from Mr. Gibbons’ sudden fall from grace.

Because I haven’t heard or read any anomalies and scandals associated with his father, Senator Reid, who has been in public service for nearly three decades, I believe, Rory is a chip off the old block, who could just look up to his father as his role model.

What I like of Rory’s father is that Senator Reid has been a proven friend of the Filipinos. He championed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that granted benefits to Filipino World War II veterans and he introduced Senate Resolution 669, formally recognizing October as Filipino-American History Month.
 
BET ON RORY & HARRY!
 
F ilipino- and Asian-American voters in Nevada should bet their future on Rory Reid, who is the one candidate for governor with the proven experience of helping businesses, creating jobs and managing large organizations. He has detailed plans to diversify the economy and bring new jobs to the state, strengthen K-12 education and make the university system an economic engine to help business and move the economy forward.

As chairman of the Clark County Commission, Rory Reid supported the Small Business Development program, which has helped thousands of small businesses succeed.

 
As governor, Rory pledges to boost access to capital for struggling small businesses by providing capital and loan guarantees for banks.

Rory will make Nevada’s universities and colleges economic drivers that partner with business for technology transfer, new inventions and patents, and incubation of new businesses.

And Rory will take immediate steps to diversify the economy by bringing 21^st-Century industries to Nevada including renewable energy, shipping and logistics and telecommunications. Rory will scour the globe to bring international business to Nevada.

Let’s all get out and vote on Nov. 2nd, let’s vote for Rory Nevada governor and keep his father as Nevada’s senator! # # #

Editor’s Note: To contact the author, please e-mail him at:  (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)