'We've Left a Lot of Children Behind'

Press Release

'We've Left a Lot of Children Behind'

by Mark Howell
Solares Hill

A breath of fresh air wafted into the Solares Hill office last week in the person of Annette Taddeo, the Democrat candidate running against Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for Florida's 18th Congressional seat in November.

She is a successful businesswoman who chants the now almost universal mantra, "Clean up the mess in Washington!" Anti-incumbent sentiment, she says, is at an all-time high throughout Florida and voters are "fed up with Ros-Lehtinen's 18 years of partisanship."

Taddeo grew up in Colombia, lives in Pinecrest, attends the Beth David Congregation and is founder/CEO of LanguageSpeak, a company that for 15 years has offered comprehensive tutoring in more than 100 languages for businesses and individuals. We asked her what her husband, Dr. Eric Goldstein, a clinical psychologist, thought about her bid for Congress.

"He's a wise man," she replied. "He knows I'm determined to do it and he's very supportive."

As step-mother to twin 17-year-old daughters and mother of a 2-year-old daughter, Taddeo knows about education. "My issue with No Child Left Behind is that it's about punishment, not funding. It has a nice name - something Republicans are good at - but the funding is not there. We've left a lot of children behind."

Two weeks ago, Solares Hill reported on Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's anger that her mentor, President Bush, had deliberately sidestepped her on foreign affairs by going directly to the media about Syria, Iran and nukes. That anger, said Taddeo, "is seven-and-a-half years too late."

So, what has brought Taddeo to run against such an obstinate opponent? She replied that people had come to see her and encouraged her to develop an already-established interest in Tallahassee and Washington. On business trips to the state's capital, she would often encounter Ros-Lehtinen who was "always available for a photo op." But not available for leadership, she said.

"You could see the problems mounting. Ros-Lehtinen was ineffective, most definitely. How much legislation has she passed in 18 years? See for yourself. Not resolutions - legislation. "Five of her bills are about Cuba."

Taddeo was most enraged by Ros-Lehtinen's refusal to support the SCHIP program. "There are 250,000 children in South Florida alone who now lack health insurance, even though they were prequalified and on a waiting list. One in five children in the state - more than half a million kids - cannot afford health insurance in the richest country in the world. This is simply unacceptable. Inexcusable. That was my tipping point.

Annette Taddeo knows about the medical scene. She was born with a cleft lip that took 19 surgeries to correct, the last at the age of 22. "I'm a mother now," she said, "and I put myself in the shoes of apparent who must choose between paying rent or buying medicine. How can Ros-Lehtinen rubber stamp a president who ignores children? Should that be happening in the United States? How did we get to this? " If the nation cannot resolve the issue of children's health, she asked, "how can we resolve anything else?"

All of a sudden the nation's leaders wish us to be fiscally responsible, she said, while the war in Iraq drains the treasury of $250 million a day, day after day.

"I have built a business on my own," she said. "I know how to run a business. I have more business experience than Ros-Lehtinen. An everyday business background is what Congress needs to fix things. "And they are fixable," said Taddeo.

"We can get back to what America is about." On one condition: "I don't want to be like her," she said, referring to Ros-Lehtinen. "She is very, very partisan in a district that is diverse and quite centric. I'm shocked at how far to the right she is." We need to be "balanced in everything we do." Taddeo's experience in public service has shown her how to do that. "I'm really good at it," she said.

Through involvement in the Women's Enterprise, and by chairing a collective of South Florida chambers of commerce, Taddeo has unified groups of as many as 7,000 people toward successful goals.

Regarding Cuba, Taddeo seeks no change in the trade embargo until the regime makes genuinely democratic changes and frees political prisoners. "I believe strongly that our government should encourage family reunification, not prevent it. I believe that people-to-people contact helps brings about true change. Cuban-American families should be able to visit their families on the island, and help them financially as well."

A bit of backstory: District 18 is made up of 84 percent Miami-Dadevoters and 16 percent Monroe County voters. In party registration the district is 35 percent Democrat, 40 percent Republican and 26 percent Independent. After carrying the district by 8 points in 2004, President George Bush is now viewed negatively in recent polls by 70 percent of the district's voters. Nearly 60 percent have a "major problem" with Ros-Lehtinen voting in lock step with the President 85 percent of the time.

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