As a Latino immigrant, I have long been aware that Democratic candidates often try to appeal to Hispanics on issues of identity politics and social justice. Still, Latinos care more about the economy. Below we reproduce an article written by me for The Kennedy Beacon newspaper, which has the support of American Values 2024 Super Pac, a political group for which I am a Latino consultant.
What, then, are independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s economic policy positions that will be most impactful to Latinos?
To learn more, I interviewed Libio Amaury Matos Cordero, a business leader and certified public accountant who has relationships with hundreds of owners of Latino small businesses.
Libio’s home is in Philadelphia, where he is a well-known financial planner, credit counselor, and business consultant. His expertise draws on 35 years of work with over 3,000 small businesses. He was eager to talk to The Kennedy Beacon about RFK Jr.’s candidacy and why a Kennedy presidency would benefit Latinos.
“The Latino community,” he said, “is suffering the most serious consequences of the economic mistakes of the Biden administration. The US public debt has increased with all administrations but currently exceeds $31.4 trillion.”
With high inflation negatively impacting Latinos’ lives, Cordero blames both political parties, Democrats and Republicans, for abusing the power the people gave them. “Hispanics have a pessimistic outlook on the economy because they believe President Biden’s economic policies do not work for them,” Cordero said.
His personal experience matches the results of a September 2023 survey conducted by the Libre Institute. It found that only 29% of Hispanic voters think the country is heading in the right direction, while 71% think it is heading in the wrong direction. Most Hispanics disapprove of the president’s overall job: 69% of those surveyed said they dislike Biden’s work, while only 31% said they approve of his administration. Only 21% rate the current state of the economy as excellent or good, while 79% rate it as fair or poor. Regarding the future, most are pessimistic:
• 38% expect things to stay the same in 2024.
• 42% expect things to worsen.
• Only 21% believe the economy will improve.
The most significant concern among Latinos is inflation: 84% of those surveyed agreed that their quality of life has been negatively impacted by inflation. Worries about inflation extend beyond political affiliation: 91% of Republicans, 88% of independents, and 79% of Democrats agreed that inflation has hurt their lives. This undoubtedly contributes to the economic pessimism among Hispanics and their disapproval of Biden’s policies.
Many Latinos connect with Kennedy over the economy because he first suggests reversing the mistakes of the last 50 years. “We can restore the American middle class,” he promises. “The massive amount of military machinery has almost bankrupted this country. As workers have left the middle class, rampant corruption in Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest. Although official unemployment is low, most new job opportunities are in the service sector, paying low wages.”
Kennedy has also discussed how the country’s wealth disparity peaked in the last century. “Over 60% of US citizens rely on daily income and lack emergency funds,” he said. “Since Biden took office, net income after inflation and taxes has decreased by 9%. Under Biden’s leadership, mortgage rates have doubled, and the price of an average home has increased from $250,000 to $400,000. Rents have followed the trend, putting more and more families in jeopardy. But we can change it. It is unnecessary to work more hours to have a decent life, so we propose higher wages and lower bills.”
Biden has brought the economy to the brink of an abyss, while Kennedy proposes to restore it. This is vital for Latinos, who contribute $3.2 trillion to the US gross domestic product (GDP).
Democrats and Republicans have fostered societal division; meanwhile, Kennedy proposes to heal that division. As the second most prosperous community in the United States, Latinos need a government like the one Kennedy promised to build.
According to Cordero, Latinos specifically support Kennedy’s proposals for reducing US living costs and promoting economic healing. To understand the interest of the Latino community in Kennedy’s economic healing proposals, he emphasized that it is necessary to appreciate how much our community contributes to the GDP.
He cited data from “The 2023 Official LDC U.S. Latino GDP Report,” prepared by the nonprofit Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC), stating that between 2011 and 2021, the economic contribution of Latinos in the United States represented 20.9% of the country’s GDP. If Latinos were a nation, we would be the fifth largest economy in the world, surpassed only by the United States, China, Japan, and Germany. The latest Latino GDP is $3.2 trillion, and Latino purchasing power is $3.4 trillion.
Libio said the Latino economy is expected to compete with China’s growth rate soon. He added that the Latino economy has maintained an annual growth rate higher than that of all other communities converging in the US economy, at 4.7% compared to 1.9%.
Pointing out that the Latino workforce is also essential to the success of individual state economies, he cited the millions of Latinos recently hired in Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona. He also noted that the rate of Latino labor force participation in the US is 5.4% higher than that of non-Latinos.
The pandemic struck the Latino community hard, but there has been a significant recovery: in April 2020, the unemployment rate among Hispanics skyrocketed to 18.1% after hovering around 4% before the pandemic. However, much more economic recovery and healing is needed, and Latinos dissatisfied with Biden are finding a lot to like in RFK Jr.
“The Latino community has been vacillating between the Democratic and Republican parties, not supporting either but contributing a punitive vote,” said Cordero. “They do not vote for one candidate but against another. It is obvious that Latinos are connecting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s proposals, based on the structural changes needed in the American economy and society, because such a productive community as Latinos requires a president who restores American values and focuses all resources on the economic healing proposed by RFK Jr.”
Esteban Cabrera is a consultant for American Values 2024, which funds The Kennedy Beacon.
