Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosais an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles, California. Prior to being elected Mayor, he was a member of the California State Assembly, the Democratic leader of the Assembly, and the Speaker of the California State Assembly. After being termed out of the State Assembly, he was elected to the Los Angeles City Counciland served until he was elected Mayor...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth23 January 1953
CityCity Terrace, CA
CountryUnited States of America
You can't just trot out a brown face or a Spanish surname and expect people are going to vote for your party or your candidate.
Actually, as president of the Conference of Mayors, we passed the Simpson-Bowles plan as a template, as a template, as a frame work for moving forward and the president has done the same.
But I will say, I think there are some Democrats that don't want to address pension reform. I have taken on the issue of seniority and tenure. I think we have to address entitlements and the president has done that in his budget. I think we have to extend Medicare and the president has done that. But also reinvest in that program.
I don't want to describe either Governor Mitt Romney or the Republicans as stupid, but I will say this - if you look at their platform, the 2012 platform, it looks like it's from another century and maybe even two. It looks like the platform of 1812.
Look, you're not going to get me to say that Democrats don't make mistakes. We do. I mentioned two areas - pension reform and seniority and tenure. I've done both - I've advocated for both. I've advocated for - seek for reform as well.
We in Los Angeles, who have ourselves been helped to stand up - to recover and rebuild after a disaster - want to help the families and communities of the Gulf Coast,.
Again, if I was going to call Romney and the Republicans stupid, I'm certainly not going to call the Democrats and President Obama stupid.
So laying people off is not something I do lightly, it's not something I relish.
The great thing about our system of democracy is when they call you for jury duty, you have to come... It's an honor and a privilege. I was called and I've got to be here.
My father was predisposed to drunken rages. I would hide under the bed. My sister and I were talking just the other day about the terror a drunken man in a rage can create in a child.
We stand with President Obama - love doesn't have a color, love doesn't care if you're gay or straight. Love doesn't discriminate.
You all know I love L.A., but tonight I really love L.A.,
In no small part I think all of us kind of look in the mirror and feel good or not feel good about the person we seen in the mirror in no small part because of the jobs we have.
I'm not one of the people who have to be in public office.