www.latinotimes.orgJanuary 2013 1

Latino TimesFREE | GRATIS - January 2013Vol. 12 Num. 1

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Un Servicio final para los Fieles

A Final Service to the Faithful

Global Perspective for a Local Audience

See Global Page 2

By Jennifer Torres Even small local businesses depend on an understanding of the economic and political forces at play on the na-tional and global stages, say members of the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who for the third year are presenting the Business Forecast Conference. “If you’re not thinking globally today, then you’re going to get left behind,” said Sylvester Aguilar, Se-nior Vice President of Bank of the West and President-Elect of the His-panic Chamber. “You need to know, what is the real impact of those global decisions on what’s happening locally.” But while large companies often have access to detailed economic

By Jennifer Torres More than 100 years ago, in May of 1880, Archbishop Joseph Alemany of San Francisco came to Stockton to consecrate what was then San Joaquin County’s new Catholic cemetery. Today, the cemetery at 719 East Harding Way endures as a sacred place of faith and remembrance for San Joa-quin County families. “We do help our Catholic families,” said Albert Vigil, Director of Catholic Cemeteries for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton. “We are here to help them.” According to church records, the county’s first Catholic cemetery was lo-cated on a city block just south of what is now the Crosstown Freeway. The space – about 300 square feet in size – had been donated in 1852 by City founder Captain Charles Weber. Before long though, as the city’s population continued to grow, a larger cemetery was necessary.

Then, in 1879, Weber donated to the church 17 acres of land adjacent to Stockton Rural Cemetery. The diocese, over the years, went on to purchase more land there so that the cemetery today is about 52 acres in size. (Re-mains that had been interred at the original Catholic cemetery in south Stockton were moved to the new loca-tion in the late 1800s.) The diocese also operates two ad-ditional cemeteries, both with long his-tories in the county: St. John Cemetery, located in Escalon and established in 1878, and St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Modesto. Spanish speakers are available to assist families at all locations. While the San Joaquin Cemetery provides for the rituals and services typically associated with death, Vigil said, it also strives to be a place that celebrates the life of the church. Each year, at least two – and some-times three – special masses are cel-ebrated on cemetery grounds. Masses

held in honor of Memorial Day and All Soul’s Day are celebrated in the ceme-tery mausoleum and can draw as many as 200 to 300 people. An additional mass, in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe – especially revered among Latinos because she is patron saint of the Americas and is said to have appeared before a poor peasant

analyses, small businesses have not typically been able to leverage the same sort of expertise, Aguilar said. The Business Forecast Conference was launched to bridge that gap. “There are a number of companies that have the op-portunity to hear from econo-mists and to hear forecasts, but most likely, those are the larger clients of the bigger banks,” Aguilar explained. “We want to make that same commentary avail-able to all the small businesses within our region.” This year’s Business Forecast Conference will be held from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Jan. 17 at San Joaquin

County’s Robert J. Cabral Agricultural Center. Its lineup of speakers was selected to give participants a broad range of perspectives on issues that affect local business: •MichaelStead,DirectorofCapi-

tal Markets and Executive Vice Presi-dent for Bank of the West •JeffreyMichael,DirectoroftheBusiness Forecasting Center at Univer-

MichaelStead Wiley Aghazarian

Hace más de 100 años, en mayo de 1880, Joseph Alemany arzobispo de San Francisco vino a Stockton para consagrar lo que entonces era el nuevo cementerio católico del condado de San Joaquín. Hoy, el cementerio localizado en el 719 East Harding Way perdura como un lugar sagrado de fe y de recu-erdos para las familias del condado de San Joaquín. Albert Vigil, Director de Cementerios Católicos de la Diócesis de Stockton dice “Nosotros ayudamos

a nuestras familias católicas”. “Estamos aquí para ayudarlos”. De acuerdo a los archivos de la igle-sia el primer cementerio católico estaba localizado en unos terrenos localizados una cuadra al sur de lo que ahora es el Crosstown Freeway. El terreno de unos 300 pies cuadrados había sido donado en 1852 por el fundador de la ciudad, el Capitán Charles Weber. Conforme la población de la ciudad crecía la nece-sidad de un cementerio más grande

se hizo necesaria. Entonces, en 1879, Weber donó a la iglesia17 acres de terreno adyacente al Cementerio Ru-ral de Stockton. La diócesis, a través de los años, compró más terreno ahí mismo para contar con una superficie de 52 acres misma que se mantiene hasta ahora. (Los restos de las personas localizados en el cementerio original fueron trasladados al nuevo cementerio a finales de los años 1800) La diócesis opera otros dos cementerios, ambos

con largas historias en el condado: St. John Cemetery, localizado en Escalon el cual fue establecido en 1878 y St. Stanislaus Cemetery en Modesto. Per-sonal que habla español esta disponible para asistir a las familias en todas las locaciones. Mientras que el cementerio de San Joaquín cuenta con los servicios asociados normalmente con la muerte también celebra la vida de la iglesia.

Por Jennifer Torres

man in Mexico - is celebrated in De-cember. “We try to hold that one outside by the statue of Our Lady of Gua-dalupe itself, Vigil said, “unless the weather is bad.” For more information on the local Catholic cemeteries and services of-fered, call (209) 466-6202.

Latino Times Magazine January 20132

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sity of the Pacific •Greenlaw“Fritz”Grupe,Chairmanand founder of The Grupe Company •GregAghazarian,formerCalifor-nia Assemblyman, currently practicing law with Beattie & Aghazarian LLP •DonWiley,PresidentofSt.Jo-seph’s Medical Center Topics to be discussed will include the global, state and local economic recoveries, and their implications for the San Joaquin Valley region. The conference is held early enough in the year, Aguilar said, that participants are able to adjust their business plans and strategies based on

what they learn. “The conference is designed to have some takeaways that people can use when doing their business planning,” he said. “We want to bring good, solid information to all the members of our business community. The more information that they have, the more successful they can be and the more opportunities they can create.” The Business Forecast Confer-ence is open to the public, and tickets are $75. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Com-merce at (209) 943-6117. Cada año por lo menos dos veces y en

ocasiones hasta tres se celebran misas. Algunas de estas misas se celebran en el mausoleo del cementerio en honor del “Memorial Day” y del “Día de todas las Almas” y a las cuales asisten entre 200 a 300 personas. Una misa adicio-nal se celebra en honor de “La Virgen de Guadalupe” que es reverenciada especialmente por los latinos debido a que la consideran la “Santa Patrona

de las Américas”. La leyenda dice que se le apareció a un campesino pobre en México, la misa se celebra en el mes de diciembre. Vigil dice “Siempre tratamos de celebrar la misa junto a la estatua de la Virgen de Guadalupe solo cambiamos de lugar cuando hay mal tiempo” Para más información sobre los ce-menterios católicos locales y los servicios que se ofrecen llame al (209) 466-6202.

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with amazing freestyle action during the Monster X Tour! Plus, you can meet the drivers and see the trucks up close at the pre-event Autograph Pit Party! The latest information may be found at www.Monsterxtour.com or by calling (480) 773-6822. For facility information visit www.stocktonlive.com

THW #1 MONSTER TRUCK EVENT IN 2012 IS RETURNING!

www.latinotimes.orgJanuary 2013 3

Publisher & FounderAndrew Ysiano

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Marco MorenoCo-Editor

Contributing WritersNew America Media

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Latino Times

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Job Opportunities in the Central Valley

Marketing and Fund Developer El Concilio has an immediate opening for a full time Marketing and Fund De-veloper. This position involves being responsible for the implementation of a marketing strategy, promoting El Con-cilio’s programs, develop fundraising and planning special events. Must have excellent writing skills, effective com-munication is a must for public speak-ing engagements and presentations. Must poses leadership qualities and have the ability to multi-task assign-ments for major projects. A minimum of a B.A. and four years’ experience, valid California Driver’s License and be able to clear background check. Full-time position with benefits. Applica-tions accepted until filled. Differential Response Case Manager El Concilio has an immediate open-ing for a temporary fulltime bilingual English/Spanish Differential Response Case Manager. This position involves home visits, assessment, extensive record keeping and caseload manage-ment. Effective communication skills are necessary to facilitate an open communication while working with San Joaquin County Child Protective Services, service providers, families. A criminal record clearance is required for this position along with a minimum A.A. degree plus three years’ experience working in child development or edu-cation, social work, nursing or coun-seling; or a B.A. in lieu of experience. Bilingual, English/Spanish is required for this position.

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El Concilio has an immediate opening for part-time in our After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens program (AS-SET). This position will assist students after school with credit recovery, academ-ic tutoring, academic intervention pro-grams, High School Exit Exam prepara-tion classes, homework help, community service-based activities, cultural activities, and much more. Applicants must have the ability to effectively communicate in English and/or other language verbally and in writing; accomplish organiza-tional goals by adherence working with El Concilio and Procedures; Must have a valid California Driver’s License. This is a minimal part- time position. Applica-tions accepted until filled. Latino Behavior Health and WellnessMental Health Clinician - MSW

El Concilio has an immediate opening for an experienced, bi-lingual mental health clinician with a Masters in Social Work to perform one on one counsel-ing, facilitate groups, provide presen-tations, outreach and engagement. Position will include the maintenance of client records, managing assess-ments, progress notes of caseload that include one on one group observations. Requirements: familiarity with San Joaquin county community, agencies and resources; Valid CDL, clean DMV record, must pass DOJ clearance, must be proficient with both Spanish and English. Full time position includes benefits. Deadline for application sub-mission is: open until filled.

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Latino Times Magazine January 20134

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Free Financial Literacy Courses Offered Sus Finanzas, a non-profit organiza-tion, and Oak Valley Community Bank have successfully maintained their New Year’s Resolution of making a positive im-pact in our community. Thanks to Oak Valley Community Bank’s donation of $2,500.00 to Sus Finanzas, the non-profit organization will be able to continue pro-viding free financial literacy courses and free monetary matching programs to low-income minority families in San Joaquin County. San Joaquin County is home to one of the most diverse populations in the United States; the majority of the population is Hispanic and many families earn low to moderate incomes. The potential for im-proving hundreds of minorities’ current fi-nancial hardships is enormous. But, many minorities have no voice, no visibility, and limited resources to survive. Sus Finanzas was established to address this critical need and to provide comprehensive financial guidance and accessibility to financial solu-tions.

To inspire and encourage good finan-cial habits, Sus Finanzas Lead Financial Instructor Joe Diaz has been providing a series of interactive financial literacy cours-es at no cost to participants that visit the California Human Development Agency for job and small business start-up train-ing. His experience and dedication has influenced participants to achieve financial stability. In addition, Sus Finanzas has had bankers from different financial institu-tions attend several of these courses to an-swer participant’s specific questions about their products and services. By doing this, the participants are able to make informed decisions after comparing the advantages and disadvantages each financial institu-tion has to offer. Thus far, financial insti-tutions such as Bank of the West, Wells Fargo, F&M Bank and Community Bank of San Joaquin have attended these cours-es. Sus Finanzas is happy to add Oak Val-ley Community Bank as another financial institution to provide useful information to participant’s unique financial questions. As an added incentive, participants who complete all stages of the educational program and begin depositing funds in their newly opened savings account at a bank of their choice will receive a cor-responding match up to a maximum of $250.00. In light of Oak Valley Com-munity Bank’s donation, Sus Finanzas will be able to continue rewarding more participants who complete the Matching Program and earn their corresponding match.By collaborating with different financial institutions and other non-profit organi-zations such as the Hispanic Chamber, El Concilio and COMA, the innovative financial program that Sus Finanzas offers will continue to thrive.

The window to pass immigration laws next year is narrowing, as the effort competes with a renewed debate over gun laws and the lingering fight over taxes and the budget, according to con-gressional staffers and outside advocates. Key congressional committees are preparing for a package of gun control laws to be negotiated and possibly intro-duced in Congress during the first few months of next year. The shift would push the debate in Congress over immi-gration reform into the spring. But as budget negotiations continue to stir tensions between Republicans and Democrats, and as lobbyists take to their corners over gun laws, some are con-cerned that the heated atmosphere could spoil the early signs of bipartisan coop-eration on immigration that emerged after the election. In phone calls over the holidays, White House officials sought to reassure advocates that the push for gun control won’t distract President Barack Obama from his promise to stump for new im-migration legislation early next year. The uncertainty is feeding jitters that Obama may be unable to deliver on his long-standing promise to create a path to citizenship for the 11 million people in the U.S. unlawfully.

Will Immigration Reform Be Overlooked in Congress?

Leandro Vicauna , Sus Finanzas and Kathy Ghan, Oak Valley Bank

NewAmerican

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www.latinotimes.orgJanuary 2013 5

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From Fiscal Cliff to Debt Ceiling - Watch Your Head Paul Kleyman - NAM SAN FRANCISCO--Ah, Washing-ton. The good news is that our national leaders saved our butts (for the mo-ment) from bottoming out off the “fis-cal cliff.” The bad news is: Watch your head—it’ll soon come crunching up against another unnecessary “debt ceil-ing” crisis. The most important Good vs. Bad News about the New Year’s Day cliff dive is that the Ugly—the prospect that Congress’ failure to raise the debt-ceiling could actually cause the United States to default on its international debts with genuine economic conse-quences—is now put off, but only until March. While Tuesday’s deal has many complexities—with pundits and politi-cians on both sides of the aisle grousing about its imperfections—those who thought they voted for positive change in November should be aware of how the White House and Congress have cut a deal affecting average, and not-so-average Americans. Here are some highlights from the fiscal agreement—both the good news and the bad. Good News on Taxes: President Obama swore he’d preserve the middle-class range of the Bush tax cuts below $200,000 for individuals/$250,000 for couples filing jointly. And he did—but up to $400,000/$450,000. Top tax rates for the wealthiest 2 percent above that level will revert to the pre-Bush level of

39.6 percent (up from 35 percent). Also, the tax on capital gains income for in-vestment moguls like Mitt Romney will edge up slightly from the Bush-era rate of 15 percent to 20 percent. Bad Tax News: While the wealthy dividend divers get slightly smaller pearls with a tax rate of 20 percent on investment earnings, speculators will face no tax on the kind of risky invest-ments that got us into this recessionary mess in the first place. And although the increased income-tax on the rich—if preserved—would raise $600 billion in the next de-cade, the fiscal deal will fall about $200 billion short of the revenue that would have been raised had the president not agreed to raise the income level for the tax cut. Will that $200 billion come from even greater program cuts? Oh, yeah, and heirs to estates up to $5 million get a free pass, instead of the $1 million limit that Democrats proposed. Those who leave $10 million will see their estate tax level rise from 35 percent to 40 percent, still below what it was only four years ago. The deal was so sweet for the right that even anti-tax hawk Grover Norquist blessed it for making most of the Bush cuts permanent. Good News for Working Stiffs: First, the budget pact extends unem-ployment insurance for one year, vital for 2 million Americans. In addition, the fiscal bargain preserved the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax

Credit and the Opportunity Tax Credit , which subsidizes college education, for up to five more years. Tax credits are important to lower-income families, because they not only allow taxpayers to deduct a set amount, but the credit actually provides a cash refund to those who don’t earn enough to take advan-tage of the tax break. The Bad News: Those middle-class tax credits got only a five-year extension—while the Bush tax cuts

mentioned above are now permanent. That’s right, the Democrats, fresh off a substantial electoral victory that rendered the GOP leadership in disar-ray, failed to make the tax reductions temporary, such as the original Bush tax cuts, which were on a 10-year timer enabling the country to reconsider now. The fiscal-cliff deal left average Americans to regroup for another fight for their tax credits in only five years—

See Fiscal Cliff Page 8

Latino Times Magazine January 20136

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short of the 10-year time frame for other key parts of the bipartisan deal. Good News on Payroll Taxes: The payroll-tax “holiday” over the last two years provided a welcome stimulus to everyone’s paychecks—but had it con-tinued would have increased a worri-some amount of Social Security’s long-term deficit. By letting the temporary payroll tax break lapse (the employee’s amount will go back up from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent of wage) there should be no long-term hit to the pro-gram. Bad Paycheck News: Democratic deal-cutters evidently missed that most workers are still struggling, and they did nothing to replace the extra cash from the payroll-tax holiday that most Americans have been spending, thereby boosting the economy. For most low- to middle-income workers, the differ-ence of perhaps $30-$40 a month will mean less food on the table. What’s a poor White House to do? Misters Obama and Biden never seri-ously considered reinstating the presi-dent’s own Make Work Pay Tax Credit, which put that kind of cash into work-ers’ pockets for the two years of his stimulus program. Not only would this program have boosted workers’ pay-checks without adding to Social Secu-rity’s debt, Congress could have limited the credit to, say, $800, placing most of the money in the pockets of working people. You see, the 2 percent payroll tax wasn’t a great deal for many Ameri-

cans. While the affluent banked up to over $2,000 per year, many lower-income Americans saw only a couple of hundred dollars, if that, each year. Still, now workers will feel the pinch of an emptier pocket—and grocery basket. The Good News on Medicare: The so-called “doc fix” is in—Medicare will freeze its current rates for physicians and not chop the 26.5 percent from their fees that would have gone into effect in 2013. Congress made up for that spending, for instance, by trim-ming reimbursements to hospitals, many of which have a talent for gaming the system for higher fees, anyhow. The agreement also preserves crucial protec-tions for low-income Medicare benefi-ciaries for one year, such as the Qualify-ing Individual program that picks up Medicare premiums for doctor and outpatient services. Negotiators agreed to extend access for patients at or near poverty to physical, occupational and speech therapy for another year Medicare Side Effects: Congress and the administration did little to ad-dress underlying health care inflation, such as in the drug industry, running up all costs, not just those in Medicare. Also the budget bill killed the long-term care insurance program champi-oned by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. The consequences are unclear. The program would have done little if anything to help the growing ranks of family care-givers in the short run. Passed as part of the Affordable Care Act, the program

(called Community Living Assistance Services, or CLAS), would have en-couraged employers to offer long-term care insurance to their workers—but on a voluntary basis. The Obama administration put the program on hold after the Congressio-nal Budget Office found that it could not sustain itself financially. The new budget deal does create a commission to study long-term care for seniors and people with disabilities—which is covered in one way or another in most other democratic nations. But it remains to be seen whether the big-gest health care issue for aging America hasn’t just been swept back under the budgetary rug once more. Good News on the Fiscal Cliff: The U.S. economy went over the Dec. 31 deadline and lived another day, as if it were beyond the Mayan calendar. Those feared automatic, across the board federal cuts and tax increases didn’t happen. Federal education spending alone would have felt the budget ax by 8.2 percent. Bad Debt Ceiling, Bad Debt Ceil-ing: It’s ba-a-a-ck! Remember the debt-ceiling showdown in 2011—when congressional Republicans threatened to let the United States default on its international bond obligations and see its global credit trashed unless the Democrats agreed to massive budget

cuts and slashed benefits? You know, those weeks of headlines that left most Americans scratching their heads—un-til Occupy Wall Street refocused the country’s attention on real and deepen-ing inequality. Our leaders are about to slug it out over the same debt ceiling, again. Those same automatic “sequestration” cuts Washington just kicked down the road will dominate the headlines again in two months. Despite the Democrats superior bargaining position now, nu-merous observers believe they ended up with the same ‘ol short end of the deal. If the fiscal accord turns out to be as weak as it seems to many observers, one upshot is that even though Medi-care, Medicaid and Social Security ben-efits have been spared major reductions for now, they could well be back on the negotiating table before spring. And a newly emboldened GOP may well be pressing a weakened Barack Obama for new concessions, along with other sig-nificant domestic program cuts. As to why the presumably trium-phant Democrats should have capitu-lated on issues that seemed to be their strengths, perhaps Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Pri-orities said it best: “This is a predictable outcome of a political system with no effective firewalls between big money and politics.”

SJCHCC to Present 3rd Annual Business Forecast Conference

(Stockton, CA) The San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Com-merce will host its 3rd Annual Busi-ness Forecast Conference on Thursday, January 17, 2013 at the Robert Cabral Agricultural Center. The conference is designed to help local businesses better prepare for what to anticipate from the economy in 2013. The program will feature keynote speakers Michael Stead, Director Capitol Markets for Bank of the West and Jeffrey Michael, Director Business Forecasting Center for University of the Pacific. “We received so many positive comments after last year’s event that we really wanted to give our businesses even more information this year,” stat-ed Sylvester Aguilar, Bank of the West and Chair of the Planning Commit-tee. “This conference aims to better prepare businesses for strategic plan-ning based on economic analysis. It also allows business owners to mitigate risk by making sound decisions based on concrete economic data.”

The forum will also feature a ques-tion and answer session with a panel of three local experts. They will talk about how the economy, the No-vember elections and other regional dynamics may impact local business and what opportunities can be found during the next year. The panel will consist of Greenlaw “Fritz” Grupe, Chairman of The Grupe Companies, Greg Aghazarian, Beattie & Aghazar-ian, LLP and Don Wiley, St. Joseph’s Medical Center. Cost for the event is $75 per per-son. Registration and Breakfast will begin at 7:30 am and the program will begin at 8:30 am. Sponsors include: San Joaquin County Hispanic Cham-ber of Commerce, San Joaquin County Enterprise Zone, San Joaquin County WorkNet, Wells Fargo Bank, Food 4 Less/Rancho San Miguel, Bank of the West, La TriColor 100.9, University of the Pacific, Central Valley Fund and Kaiser Permanente. For more information contact the chamber office at 209-943-6117.

www.latinotimes.orgJanuary 2013 9

Banks Settle Foreclosure Charges for $8.5 Billion Ngoc Nguyen - NAM SAN FRANCISCO – In light of a recent $8.5 billion settlement between federal bank regulators and 10 big banks, 3.8 million homeowners can expect to get a check in the mail. The agreement, announced Mon-day, calls for $3.3 billion in direct payments to eligible homeowners – people who had home loans with one of the 10 banks in the agreement and who were in some stage of foreclosure in 2009 and 2010. Another $5.2 bil-lion is set aside for other forms of relief to homeowners, including loan modifications. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board crafted the deal with the banks, which includes Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, PNC, Sovereign, Sun-Trust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The settlement ends the regulators’ much-touted Independent Foreclo-sure Review program that allowed foreclosed homeowners to potentially recoup money from their bank for wrongful foreclosure by requesting a review of their file by a consultant. The OCC and Federal Reserve Board publicized the program for more than a year, and as of the Dec. 31 deadline, nearly half a million homeowners had requested a review. Instead of a review and the possibil-ity of compensation for some, lump sum payments will go out to a larger

pool of millions of homeowners. “All 3.8 million eligible borrowers serviced by these 10 companies will receive a check,” said OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard, adding that the settle-ment provides “the largest cash payout to borrowers affected by foreclosure to date.” The payments range from “a few hundred dollars to $125,000.” Hubbard said that the “lump sum is determined by the type of error that could have occurred during the bor-rower’s foreclosure,” and borrowers will be segregated based on the “character-istics of their loan.” For example, those eligible for the highest level of compen-sation are active duty military members and homeowners who were never delin-quent whose homes were foreclosed on, he said. People who previously filed a request for review would receive “higher pay-ments” in each category, Hubbard said. The foreclosure review process came out of enforcement actions by federal regulators in the wake of the “robo-signing” controversy, when it was re-vealed that banks wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners without verifying the underlying documents. The April 2011 consent decree required banks to over-haul their foreclosure practices and set up a process for redress to borrowers who suffered financial harm. Debby Goldberg, special projects director with the National Fair Hous-ing Alliance, said the recent settlement “jettisons the idea that they [regulators]

have the ability to find the harm” done to homeowners. It offers compensation to a greater number of people, but “the amount of money on the table is not enough,” she said. If each borrower were to receive the same amount, it would work out to less than $900 per person, she said, but in reality, “some people will get more and some people will get less.” Housing advocates and counselors agree that the foreclosure review pro-cess was flawed. News reports revealed the program was biased toward the banks and expensive, with consultants reaping billions of dollars. Regulators had pushed back the deadline several times and beefed up their outreach because of low participation. Goldberg said efforts to publicize the foreclosure review program were inadequate, with “little targeted out-reach to communities of color hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.” “The flawed outreach raises a real concern whether prioritizing people who filed requests for review is appropriate,” said Goldberg, noting that it could rein-force inequities in the process. Cheyenne Martinez-Boyette, hous-ing counselor lead for the San Francis-co-based Mission Economic and De-velopment Agency, said he found the foreclosure review program troubling from the beginning. “What I think happened is that there were a number of discrepancies and issues with the independence of

these consultants and the process,” Martinez-Boyette said. “And the regula-tors and the banks just took the easy way out.” Going forward, Goldberg said, oversight of the settlement terms are needed to ensure accountability. Housing and consumer rights orga-nizations are calling for an independent monitor to oversee the process. Gold-berg said regulators should incentivize banks to offer assistance that will help homeowners remain in their homes; for example, giving more credit for loan modifications with principal reductions than for short sales. Goldberg said half of the 3.8 mil-lion borrowers eligible for relief under the settlement are still in their homes. Martinez-Boyette said relief has been slow to trickle down to homeowners. “Funds [from the settlement] are also supposed to go toward modifica-tions, but how can we track that and make sure it is reaching the people who were affected by the reason this process was put in place to begin with—which is the robo-signing scandal?” he said. Hubbard, the OCC spokesman, said an analysis of the files reviewed under the program found that “6.5 per-cent had incurred a compensable error.” Without the settlement, Hubbard adds, the “total pot of money would have been less.” Hubbard said borrowers would be contacted by March with details about payment.

Latino Times Magazine January 201310

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Every American will have a thinner wallet in 2013 due to tax increases and Obam-acare. On average, an $80. payroll tax increase plus an average $150. increase in family healthcare premiums that went into effect on January 1, 2013 will cost the av-erage American family $230. per month. Also, two married doctors or other profes-sionals making $225,000 each, after incur-ring costs and years of advanced schooling, will be penalized for being “rich” and for being married. If they also sell any invest-ments, such as a home or stock, there is additional tax increases as well as 3.8% Obamacare fees. Obama has used socialist rhetoric to make “the rich” pay their “fair share”; but then bundled a tax loophole of political paybacks for Hollywood and Green En-ergy donors. Yet, other industries that hire workers must pay higher taxes and Obam-acare fees. As a result, businesses will close, hire fewer workers, outsource their busi-ness to other tax-friendlier nations, or pass along the additional cost to the American people within the cost of the product. As a result, all Americans will pay more for products and many Americans will contin-ued to be unemployed. Not only does America have a socialist tax problem, created through class war-fare that punishes success, we have a “live for now” spending problem, which will lead to a real fiscal cliff that will cause our economic collapse. Government spend-ing will top $4 trillion this year, while we take in $2.7 trillion in taxes, leaving a $1.3 trillion debt. Our national debt is already $16.4 trillion and expected to be $21.6 trillion before Obama leaves office. This means every American household’s share of the debt will be $270,000.each. When

you count unfunded liabilities, such as Social Security, which Americans paid the government only to have the government spend the money on a promise to pay it back, our unfounded debt is really over $122 trillion according to www.usdebt-clock.org<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdebt-clock.org&h=EAQEFHrCe&s=1> . America needs to cut spending or we, as a nation, are in real trouble. Weneed to stop funding billions of dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt, and other nations that hate America. We need to care for our own. We need to cut out government waste and pork attachments to bills. The federal government should eliminate agencies such as the Dept of Energy, which was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to reduce our de-pendence on foreign oil. Instead, we are even more dependent on foreign oil, the yearly budget is over $242 billion with 116,000 employees. Government needs to shrink. However, Obama is increasing the size of government like a cancerous tumor leading toward the death of our nation. This is a far cry from the original founder’s intent of “limited government”. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be be-cause we destroyed ourselves.”

Frank AquilaMantecaPresident, South San Joaquin Republicansmantecarepublicans@yahoo.com

Letter to the Editor

Celebrating 25 Years of Building Healthy Communities1987-2012

Luis H. Sanchez

Central Valley Region ManagerNeighborWorks® HomeOwnership Center-Stockton

3133 W. March Lane, Ste. 1000Stockton, CA 95219

www.nwsac.org

(209) 473-4363 • (209) 473-4563 FAX

HAPPY

NEWYEAR

By Brian McBride A couple of months ago, I finished paying off $26,500 in debt -- most of it student loans. It took less than two years to save up that cash. During that time I became a pro bargain shopper, tested my limits with expiring foods and briefly re-sorted to using food stamps. Like most 20-somethings, I thought I’d be saddled with debt well into my 30’s and possibly 40’s, just like my parents. But here I was, just 25 years old, and debt-free. My mission to wipe out my debt kicked into high gear right after gradu-ation from Arizona State. I had landed my first job as a local reporter in Green Bay, Wisc., making $13 an hour. Not only did I have $20,500 in student loan debt, but I also owed another $6,000 for my 2003 Honda Civic. I tackled my car loan first since it charged a higher 8% interest rate. I also had six months before I had to start mak-ing payments on my five student loans. After taxes, I was taking home roughly $1,900 a month and spending roughly $1,300 of it on rent, utilities

and other living expenses. My goal was to save $1,000 a month -- so I scaled back. Even while working 10- to 12-hour shifts, I’d skip meals -- eating a protein bar or drinking Ensure shakes to get

me through the day. The occasional “splurge” entailed spending $5 at Mc-Donald’s for a Sunday breakfast of hot-cakes, sausage and two hash browns. I used leftover food stamp money from my final months of school to help cover grocery costs and I avoided turn-ing on the heat during the (very long) Green Bay winters to keep my utility bills low. Within six months, l I finally had enough to pay off my auto loan. The timing was impeccable. Just as I paid

Paying Off $26,500 in Debt in Less Than 2 Years

See Debt Page 11

www.latinotimes.orgJanuary 2013 11

Debtcontinued from Page 10

SURVIVING HUMAN TRAFFICKINGLocal Women’s Organizations to Host 4th Annual FREE Stop Human Trafficking Workshop STOCKTON – Several local women’s organizations are teaming up to host the fourth annual Stop Human Trafficking Workshop on Saturday, January 12 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Bear Creek High School in Stockton. The event is free and open to the public. The event is co-hosted by the Women’s Center – Youth & Family Services, Soroptimist International of Lodi and Lodi Sunrise, the Lodi branch of the Salvation Army, and the Lodi branch of the American Associa-tion of University Women (AAUW). Keynote speakers for the workshop, Adam Cortes from En Una Sola Voz (In One Voice) in Lodi and Elizabet Medina from Opening Doors in Sacra-mento, will speak about the trends of human trafficking in Northern Califor-nia. Vendors will be selling items made

by trafficking survivors living in other countries, and there will be raffle tick-ets available for purchase for a variety of prizes, the proceeds of which will support organizations aiding trafficking survivors in Northern California. The workshop is intended to instill knowledge in the public, promote advocacy for victim’s rights, and draw the community to action. Come and learn what you can do to help stop the violent trade in human lives. For free tickets to the event please contact Maxine Crow at 474-2796 or e-mail her at maxinecrow@att.net. Free tick-ets will also be available at the door. Sponsors are welcome. Sponsors mak-ing a donation of $100 or more will have a sign posted at the event and be listed in the program. En Una Sola Voz (In One Voice) is an organization working to create

unity among the Hispanic community in California and working to raise awareness in the Spanish-speaking community about the serious problem of human trafficking and the disap-pearance of children in California. For more information, visit www.enunaso-lavoz.com. Opening Doors’ Survivors of Hu-man Trafficking program addresses hu-man trafficking with community out-reach, education, and training. Once survivors are free, Opening Doors’ caseworkers provide them with the tools, resources and support they need to restart their lives. For more informa-tion, visit www.openingdoorsinc.com. Human trafficking is modern slav-ery. Through force, fraud, or coercion victims are manipulated into the com-mercial sex industry, involuntary ser-vitude, debt bondage or slavery. It is a

crime of exploitation. Sex trafficking or slavery is the exploitation of women and children, within national or across international borders, for the purposes of forced sex work. Some sex traf-ficking is highly visible, such as street prostitution. But many trafficking victims remain unseen, operating out of unmarked brothels in unsuspecting neighborhoods. Sex traffickers may also operate out of a variety of public and private locations, such as massage parlors, spas and strip clubs. Adult women make up the largest group of sex trafficking victims, fol-lowed by young girls. Sex trafficking can be extremely lucrative, especially in areas where opportunities for edu-cation and legitimate employment may be limited. Organized crime is largely responsible for the spread of international human trafficking.

off the car, my student loan bills started coming due. The sobering forecast: for the next 10 years, I was expected to pay the gov-ernment $235.65 a month. I realized that making $13 an hour wasn’t going to do the trick this time. But then something incredible hap-pened. I landed a job as an associate pro-ducer at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta making $25 an hour -- almost double what I was making in Green Bay. Things were looking up. I was in a new city, had a great job; but despite all that, my student loan debt continued to weigh me down.So I crunched the numbers and made

a plan. I would spend no more than a quarter of my monthly income on essentials -- rent, utilities, phone bills and groceries -- and the rest would be stowed away in savings. Simple plea-sures like dining out and partying were put on hold, or rationed when living in solitude became too much to bear. While my new rent was much higher -- $930 a month in Atlanta compared with $670 in Green Bay -- I cut back on other expenses. I got rid of cable and replaced it with an AT&T U-Verse Internet connection and streaming Netflix account -- slashing my bill from $135 to just $55 a month. An employee discount helped me cut

my cell phone bill from $100 to $70 a month. And by living only a couple of miles from the office my commute cost me just $40 a month in gas. I also became entranced with “super saving.” Cooking meats past the expira-tion date -- yes, a couple of times I paid the price for this -- or rinsing the mold off a pruned vegetable became routine. Grocery shopping became a scav-enger hunt to find the cheapest deals. I always paid extra attention to the “temporary price cuts” sections, seeking out the “buy 10 for $10” deals. And I would bring it to the attention of the cashier when my usual box of Pasta Roni had skyrocketed to $1.14 from 99 cents and would hold off on a bundle of bananas because I recalled seeing them at another store for 14 cents each,

not 23 cents. Though I often went to bed hungry, left the heater and air conditioner off during the winter and summer months until my 115-pound body couldn’t take it anymore -- I never lost sight of the bigger picture. It’s been well over a month since I have received a notification from my bank that an automatic payment for a student loan was due. Now that I’m not tied down to any debt, I have the freedom to make decisions I couldn’t before. I can make a purchase without worrying about overdrawing my bank account or falling behind on my bills.Even though I’m pretty much back to where I started when I first arrived in Atlanta -- with just about a couple thousand dollars to my name -- I still feel like I hit the jackpot.

Latino Times Magazine January 201312

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