‘Pay to sue,’ or supporting Democratic ‘activist’ AGs?

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On Aug. 3, 2006, then-N.M. Attorney General Patricia Madrid signed a contract granting a Houston law firm the right to sue a big pharmaceutical company on behalf of the State of New Mexico. Approximately seven weeks later, on Sept. 27 of that year, the law firm, now called Bailey Perrin Bailey, gave $25,000 to the campaign of the man who would replace Madrid in that office at the beginning of 2007, current AG Gary King. And about three weeks after the first contribution — on Oct. Continue Reading

Richardson raised almost $200,000 from brokers

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Gov. Bill Richardson raised almost $200,000 for his campaigns and political action committees from people doing business with state investment funds, Bloomberg is reporting. The news organization analyzed Richardson’s fundraising reports and found that he “received at least $102,300 from brokers hired by money managers seeking to handle $11.7 billion of state trust funds.”He also “received at least $95,000 from the state trusts’ outside money managers.” The second includes $20,000 from former Quadrangle Group managing partner Steven Rattner, who I’ve already written about. The state opted to invest $20 million with Quadrangle. And it also includes, according to Bloomberg, $50,381 from Leo Hindery, founder of InterMedia Advisors LLC. The state opted to invest $30 million with InterMedia. Continue Reading

Bingaman says he wasn’t involved in Quadrangle deal

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Senator’s office says article wrongly implies that Steven Rattner forged ties in New Mexico through Bingaman and his son Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s office takes issue with a New York Times article published today that claims a man at the center of controversial investment deals in New Mexico and New York forged “close personal ties” in the Land of Enchantment through Bingaman and his son. Citing “a person with knowledge of the meeting,” the Times article states that Bingaman met on at least one occasion with Steven Rattner, who has been linked to a New York pension scandal that has tentacles in New Mexico. A company Rattner was involved with until recently, Quadrangle Group LLC, won a lucrative contract in 2005 with the State Investment Council (SIC), which Gov. Bill Richardson heads. Rattner gave a total of $20,000 in contributions to Richardson’s 2002 and 2006 campaigns. The Times article also reports that Quadrangle employed Bingaman’s son John until earlier this year. Continue Reading

Former land commissioner will run again in 2010

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Ray Powell, who was the New Mexico land commissioner from 1993 to 2002, says he will run for the office once again next year. The Democrat wrote this in response to an e-mail asking if he will enter the race: “The short answer to your question is an enthusiastic YES in 2010!” Powell was term-limited from running again in 2002, but after sitting out four years, he ran again in 2006. He narrowly lost the Democratic primary that year to Jim Baca, another former state land commissioner, but has kept his 2006 campaign Web site online. The current land commissioner, Republican Pat Lyons, is prevented by term limits from running again next year. At this point, Powell is the only announced candidate in next year’s land commissioner race. Continue Reading

Film incentives are a serious public policy problem

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By Rep. Dennis Kintigh At one point during this past legislative session a flood of e-mails, phone calls and office visits deluged the state capitol, begging, pleading, and on rare occasions demanding that a particular piece of legislation be stopped. We were warned that, should this particular bill be allowed to become law, the effect would be catastrophic for New Mexico. I am not referring to a sweeping piece of social legislation such as domestic partner benefits, the Freedom of Choice Act or the death penalty repeal. Rather, the bill that produced this tsunami of reaction was a revenue bill — my revenue bill. House Bill 725 would have repealed the film production expense rebate. Continue Reading

Gary Johnson might run for president in 2012

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Former N.M. Gov. Gary Johnson is considering running for president in 2012, according to a writer for The American Conservative. In an article published Monday, Bill Kauffman starts with a conversation he had with Johnson at Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis last year, an event that coincided with the GOP nominating convention. From Kauffman’s article: “At breakfast the morn of the rally, I sat across the table from a friendly dude wearing a peace-sign T-shirt and looking like an affable old surfer. He introduced himself as Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico. Over the next day, I spent a fair amount of time chatting with Governor Johnson: mountain-climber, triathlete, vetoer of 750 bills. Continue Reading

Article details ABQ mayor’s ‘elephant in the room’

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“There’s an elephant in the room, folks. Nobody’s bringing it up, but we all have an idea of what it is. The day that government exists just for politics and how it can benefit the principals of our municipalities is the day we’re all in trouble. And thank God we have three branches of government.” That’s the money quote in an article published in the Albuquerque Journal this morning detailing allegations that Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez retaliated against a city airport operator because the company refused to provide free or discounted air service for travel to Mexico and during Chávez’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2007, and also because the company raised questions about how public money was being spent. The quote came from District Judge Geraldine Rivera, who in August ordered the city to sign lease agreements it had negotiated with Bode Aero Services Inc., an operator at Double Eagle II airport on the city’s west side. Continue Reading

Embattled Obama Exec. Rattner gave $20K to guv

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Man tied to NY pension scandal gave big to Richardson’s campaigns. Meanwhile, his company was doing business with the State Investment Council, which the governor heads. Steven Rattner, the head of President Barack Obama’s auto-bailout program and a man who has been linked to a New York pension scandal that has tentacles in New Mexico, gave $5,000 to Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign and $15,000 to Richardson’s 2006 re-election bid. That’s according to the money-in-politics Web site followthemoney.org. Richardson heads the State Investment Council (SIC), which manages the state’s investments. Continue Reading

More on NM connection to NY investment scandal

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I wrote on Friday about the State Investment Council (SIC) suspending a contract with a financial adviser because of questions about a third-party marketer the company employed who has been indicted in a corruption scandal in New York. Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal have more details. Most interesting is, according to Bloomberg, that the financial adviser and politico under indictment in New York for shaking down companies that wanted to do business with the state, Hank Morris, helped Quadrangle Group LLC win the contract it has in New Mexico with the SIC. Quadrangle is the firm tied to Steven Rattner, who heads the Obama administrations’ restructuring of the auto industry. Rattner has been described in court documents as having arranged for Quadrangle to pay $1.1 million in exchange for business with the state of New York, with most of that going to Morris. Continue Reading

Kilmer’s ranch for sale: What does it mean?

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In the context of his consideration of the 2010 gubernatorial race, what does it mean that actor Val Kilmer is selling the Pecos ranch he calls home? Maybe not much. But it’s difficult to say. Kilmer has been trying, unsuccessfully, to sell pieces of the ranch — but not his home on the ranch — for some time. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that he has put the entire, 6,000-acre ranch up for sale for $33 million. Continue Reading

Herrera hasn’t issued more rules than predecessors

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Alright, I can finally answer this question with certainty: Secretary of State Mary Herrera has not issued more administrative rules than previous administrations. That despite the recent claim by James Flores, Herrera’s spokesman, that Herrera has “issued more administrative rules and procedures than any past administration.” Flores initially made the claim in an April 9 article about a possible election challenge to his boss in next year’s primary. But I was told the claim was false, so I checked it out, and reported later on April 9 that, at least as it related to elections and elected officials, Herrera trailed the previous two secretaries of state in the number of administrative rules issued. Herrera has brought forth two new rules. By comparison, during her three terms in office former State Rebecca Vigil-Giron enacted nine, and former Secretary of State Stephanie Gonzales issued six during her tenure. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say Block should resign

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr., who is under indictment, should resign. Of 227 voters, 192, or 85 percent, said he should resign, while 25, or 11 percent, said he should not, and 10, or 4 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

King refutes newspaper’s ‘pay-to-sue’ allegations

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Attorney General Gary King says any implication made by the Wall Street Journal of pay to play by him or his administration is false. “That there was a contract that was given for a contribution is totally false,” King said. “That implication is really what concerned me more than anything. … There’s no quid pro quo there.” The newspaper at least implied pay to play on Thursday in an editorial I’ve already written about that accused King, other state’s attorneys general and a Houston law firm of being involved in a national “pay-to-sue” scheme. The newspaper alleges that Houston lawyer F. Kenneth Bailey has taken a “pre-packaged lawsuit” against a pharmaceutical company to a number of states and convinced their AGs to get involved by giving them big campaign contributions. Continue Reading

NM puts contract on hold because of NY scandal

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Because of corruption case, State Investment Council suspends contract with Aldus Equity pending a review of investments The State Investment Council (SIC) has suspended a contract with a financial adviser because of questions about a third-party marketer the company employed who has been indicted in a corruption scandal in New York. The SIC announced at a meeting held today that it had suspended business with Aldus Equity, which has served as an adviser on national private equity funds, because of the New York case, SIC spokesman Charles Wollmann said. The suspension is “pending further review of investments made under their guidance,” he said. In March, Hank Morris, a former aide to the New York comptroller, was among those indicted in the scandal in that state. According to The Associated Press, investigators are “examining millions of dollars in payments that several hedge funds and private equity firms paid to placement agents” — often called third-party marketers — during the tenure of former Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Continue Reading

Been there, done that: Guv says he doesn’t miss DC

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Reading the Washington Post today, you’d think Gov. Bill Richardson was content just chillin’ with his homies in New Mexico. Of course, those who have watched his career know that isn’t really the case, even if Richardson wants people to believe it.The governor’s most extensive interview since withdrawing his nomination to be commerce secretary resulted in today’s Post article, which is headlined, “Bill Richardson, at Peace In the Political Desert.” The governor says he’s had enough of Washington, at least for now. “The end-all, be-all for many in politics is Washington,” the article quoted Richardson as saying. “I’ve been there, I’ve done service in the Congress, Cabinet, the U.N. I don’t miss it one bit. I really don’t.” Richardson was quoted in the article as saying he wishes those who work in Washington well and is “satisfied with what they’re doing.” “I don’t have to be part of it to feel satisfied. Continue Reading