Miller will be allowed to participate in debate

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KOAT-TV and the Albuquerque Journal have apparently decided to let independent 3rd Congressional District candidate Carol Miller participate in their televised Oct. 19 debate. Miller wrote in an e-mail to supporters today that, after the news organizations came under fire for announcing that they would exclude her from the debate with Democrat Ben Ray Luján and Republican Dan East, they changed their minds and decided to let her participate. “I want to thank you for taking the time to stand up for democracy. Your voice was heard!” Miller wrote to her supporters. Continue Reading

Guns become the focus of the 2nd District race

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This article has been updated. Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley turned the focus of the race to guns last week when he unveiled an ad accusing Democratic opponent Harry Teague of not being supportive of the Second Amendment — and using an eight-year-old quote from Teague to back up the attack. Here’s the 30-second spot, which is airing around the district: “Southern New Mexico values the Second Amendment, unlike Harry Teague. He says he’s not a gun fan, and it’d be fine with him to turn his guns in to the government,” Tinsley says in the ad. “But that’s no surprise, because Harry Teague has liberal views.” The ad cites a Teague quote included in a Feb. Continue Reading

Mental health parity to be included in bailout bill

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When the U.S. Senate votes this evening on a $700 billion bailout plan aimed at boosting the struggling economy, it will also consider mental health parity legislation that Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and others have pushed for years. Domenici’s office announced today that the mental health parity legislation had been added to the bailout bill that will be voted on tonight. It “was a decision made by the leadership, in consultation with other senators,” Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos said, adding that, “Domenici supports the Senate package to be voted on today.” Gallegos said the adding of the mental health legislation doesn’t mean a lot of extras are being slipped into the financial bailout bill. He said the legislation that will be voted on tonight includes the economic bailout proposal, a range of tax relief proposals and the mental health parity legislation. Domenici introduced the first bill to require insurance companies to provide parity between mental health and other medical benefits in 1996. Continue Reading

Senate to vote on bailout; pressure remains on House

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The offices of U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce and Tom Udall continued to be inundated on Tuesday with phone calls and e-mails from people wanting to weigh in on the proposed $700 billion bailout, with most speaking against the bill the House rejected on Monday. But it appears that the Senate, not the House, will make the next attempt to pass a bailout package to try to provide aid to the struggling economy. In a surprise move, Senate leaders announced late Tuesday that they’ll vote today on a bailout plan that also includes a number of tax breaks the House rejected last week. Before that move was announced Tuesday, leaders in both parties were trying to make minor changes to the bailout proposal in an attempt to win about a dozen additional votes in the House to ensure passage. Continue Reading

Bingaman would have voted for bailout bill

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U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman said today that he would have voted for the proposed $700 billion bailout proposal the House rejected on Monday. “I believe there is a need to recapitalize our banking system in order to head off failure by more financial institutions, and that was what this package was intended to do,” Bingaman, D-N.M., said today in an interview with radio reporters. Bingaman said the bill included an important provision requiring “that taxpayers be allowed to share in the profit or the improved economic condition of these companies down the road” since taxpayers would be investing the money up front to help the companies out of financial hardship. He called that and other provisions in the bill presented to the House on Monday “substantial improvements” over the original proposal, and said “it would have been a prudent thing for us to go ahead with it.” Bingaman said it’s important that Congress keep working toward a bill that can pass. The Senate doesn’t plan to vote on a bill until after the House approves it. Continue Reading

U.S. attorney scandal heats up again

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Report details why Iglesias was fired; AG appoints prosecutor to consider criminal charges The 392-page report released Monday about the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys — including New Mexico’s David Iglesias — contains a number of interesting tidbits but not new revelations that significantly change what we already knew: that the reasons Bush administration staffers gave Congress last year for firing Iglesias were hogwash. Perhaps more significant than the report, however, was the news that Attorney General Michael Mukasey has appointed a federal prosecutor to determine whether the situation should lead to criminal charges against former AG Alberto Gonzales and others. You can read the full report by clicking here. The section about Iglesias’ firing starts on page 149. Read about some of the details revealed in the report from the New Mexico Independent and Albuquerque Journal. Continue Reading

Tinsley campaign downplays GOP affiliation

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The campaign of Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley is gaining some national attention because of a video that shows his wife saying the campaign is downplaying Tinsley’s party affiliation. Here’s the video: “When the primary was over, all our signs had Republican on them, and we had to have everything totally redone without the Republican — all our stickers, everything,” Tinsley’s wife Meredith says in the video. The video was first posted by The Politico. “Keep in mind that the district is the most Republican district in New Mexico, and hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 1980. It gave President Bush 58 percent of the vote in 2004,” the Web site’s article states. Continue Reading

Few politicos comment on House rejection of bailout

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The proposed $700 billion bailout defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday appears to be a hot potato for many politicos who didn’t have to vote on it. U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, Tom Udall and Heather Wilson all commented on the bill after Pearce and Udall voted against it and Wilson voted for it. Click here to read their comments. Beyond that, few of the top politicos and candidates for office in New Mexico chose to comment on Monday’s vote. Continue Reading

Another day, another new political TV ad

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Another independent group is running another ad attacking another political candidate in New Mexico. This time, Patriot Majority West is out with the new ad attacking Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Darren White over his stance on the Iraq war. Here’s the ad: This is the second ad the group has aired in New Mexico during this election cycle. In August, it ran a TV ad attacking Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce. New Mexico’s airwaves are currently flooded with political advertising from candidates and independent groups focused on the state’s electoral votes in the presidential race and its one open Senate seat and three open House seats. Continue Reading

Romney visiting New Mexico today to help Pearce

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Former Massachusetts Gov. and presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be in Albuquerque today for a fundraiser for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce, but before that he’s appearing at a news conference with Pearce in Santa Fe. “Romney has been a strong supporter of the Pearce campaign, even appearing at a breakfast fundraiser for him during the GOP convention while Steve attended his father’s funeral last month,” a news release from the Pearce campaign states. “The former Massachusetts governor and businessman is known for turning deficits into surpluses and respects Steve Pearce for his dedication to the same kind of fiscal responsibility.” Romney praised Pearce in the news release. “America faces a new generation of challenges. At this critical time in our nation’s history, Steve Pearce is determined to fight for conservative policies that will strengthen America at home and around the world,” Romney said. Continue Reading

Dems need to condemn senator’s remarks about race

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By Dan Foley Fernando C. de Baca has resigned his post as chairman of the Republican Party of Bernalillo County. I want to state from the outset that his comments that prompted his departure were absolutely wrong, divisive and in fact historically incorrect. I want to get that point out of the way early in this article because I know those of you who are not particularly my fans will be presuming that I did not disagree with his comments. However, I did and I still do. I also want to say that Fernando C. de Baca has proven by stepping down that he has more integrity, courage and loyalty than any of the Democrats who couldn’t wait to get their pictures and comments in the media. Continue Reading

Udall, Pearce opposed bailout bill; Wilson supported it

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This article has been updated. They haven’t agreed on much during this campaign, but New Mexico’s two U.S. Senate candidates agreed today that the proposed $700 billion bailout bill was a bad idea. Their reasons might differ, but U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. and Tom Udall, D-N.M., both voted against the bill. They were among 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats who joined forces to defeat the proposal. Continue Reading

House defeats $700 billion bailout proposal

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The U.S. House has just defeated the $700 billion bailout plan a bipartisan group of Washington politicians had hoped would stabilize an American economy in crisis. The move sent the financial markets tumbling. On a vote of 228-205, the House rejected the compromise plan that had been announced Sunday. Leaders from both parties spoke in favor of the bill before the vote, and after the tally was complete, they held the vote open for a few minutes to try to sway votes, but they were unable to secure the support needed to pass the bailout proposal. The Dow Jones industrials fell 705 points just before the vote on fears that the proposal might fail. Continue Reading