Both an idealist and a Democrat

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This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you? By Ellen Wedum I confess I used to be rather apathetic about politics. I only voted in presidential elections and was barely aware of who my congressional representative was, let alone my state representative. As a graduate student at the University of Oregon I did campaign for Eugene McCarthy in the Oregon presidential primary in 1968 — which he won! He had a rally at UO, and I carried a sign that read “Welcome to Eugene, McCarthy!” Then in 1980 I campaigned for John Anderson, and was appalled when Reagan won (especially when he went on to triple our national debt). Continue Reading

Don’t surrender your principles: Be independent

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This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you? By C.J. McElhinney I identify myself politically as independent. Should not every American, regardless of political affiliation, be an independent voter? I am independent because it gives me the freedom to exercise my political choice as I see fit and not according to the whim or pressure of a political party. When I cast my vote, I base it not on the letter next to the candidate’s name, but on what kind of person they are, what they have accomplished in their life, what ideas they have and how well they will lead. Continue Reading

‘Crisis?’ ‘Emergency?’ Don’t buy government hype

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By Marita K. Noon Remember the old commercial that said, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen?” The modern version might be, “When the government talks, don’t listen” — at least, not when the government uses the words “crisis” or “emergency.” The dictionary defines crisis as, “A stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, esp. for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.” Emergency is defined as, “A serious situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate action.” There is drama in these words: “If we don’t do something now, the world will end!” They demand action, and, when used by government officials, lead American citizens to believe they must support the cause or face certain demise. With this in mind, here are a few recent cases in which we were led to believe there was a crisis: Immigration During the last election cycle, the phrase “immigration crisis” was commonly heard. But this crisis is not a new idea. Journalist Robert Scheer says, “Having intermittently covered this issue for the Los Angeles Times over 30 years, I can well recall the peaks of panic in which we reporters were dispatched to the border and out into the fields to witness the arrest of people desperate to find work.” Bush had grand plans to deal with immigration and Senators McCain, R-Ariz., and Kennedy, D-Mass., both worked on the issue. Continue Reading

Stats show the reality of the guv’s education record

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By Jose Z. Garcia On Friday, Governor Richardson accepted the “America’s Greatest Education Governor Award” from the National Educational Association, a lobby group for teachers. Among the reasons given for extending the award was his “fighting to put physical education back into elementary schools, and taking junk foods out, increasing teacher pay and restoring collective bargaining rights for educators.” But these accomplishments, after all, have nothing to do with academic achievement and a lot more to do with issues in which the NEA is interested. So we should also ask: Did the Richardson administration, in addition to the benefits cited above, improve the academic record of students in New Mexico, which, for most parents, is the bottom line? In other words, how do Johnny and Maria rank in reading and math? Let’s find out. Continue Reading

High-level regulations hurt the ‘man on the street’

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By Marita K. Noon Each day the news is full of stories about some legislation that is being pushed through. In 2008 Congress passed 285 new bills. Some, such as red-light cameras, have obvious impacts on our lives. Others are more obscure. The hidden impacts often come from regulations that seldom make the news — or if they do, the cost to the average person’s life is unclear. Continue Reading

The best fix is a national health care option

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By Ellen Wedum In 2005, Toyota chose to locate its RAV4 assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. One of the major selling points was Canada’s national health insurance system, which saves the auto manufacturer large sums in benefit payments compared with costs in the United States. The United States spends 15-17 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, which provides a mishmash of coverage for only 85 percent of Americans. For France and Germany, that drops to around 11 percent to cover everyone. Canada and Sweden pay roughly 10 percent and 9 percent of GDP respectively for a basic national health care program for all. Continue Reading

Will Teague hear what his constituents are saying?

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There’s been some discussion on the Internet about a meeting U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., held in Roswell last week, with the commentary being largely critical of many who attended the meeting with Teague. Here’s another view: By Herb Atkinson Early last week I received a recorded telephone call from Congressman Harry Teague announcing he was going to be conducting a public meeting at Pepper’s Grill in Roswell on Wednesday afternoon, and I was invited to come. When I arrived, I joined about 60 other Americans there to meet with, and hear from, their congressional representative. Everyone was asked to gather in the west-end meeting room. The only problem was that Congressman Teague was sitting in a corner booth in the restaurant, not in the meeting room with the people. Continue Reading

Bill would create a new framework for energy, growth

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By Sandy Buffett For the last several years and thanks to the vision of Governor Richardson, the N.M. Legislature and our growing community of entrepreneurs, New Mexico has paved the way toward building a clean-energy economy. From renewable energy tax credits to recently-passed green jobs legislation to attracting new solar manufacturing companies and the nation’s largest solar plant, the Land of Enchantment is poised for a clean-energy boom. At the same time, the Albuquerque Journal reported recently on new findings of the impacts of climate change on New Mexico. This study confirms what many New Mexicans are already observing and experiencing. Global warming from greenhouse gas emissions threatens to reduce our water supply, diminish our snowpack and lead to earlier runoff. Continue Reading

The wrong target for new taxes

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By Gov. Jerry Apodaca Thirty years ago, when I was governor of New Mexico, the world of commerce was markedly different. China’s economic rise was still on the horizon, international trade was hindered by a variety of barriers, and exports accounted for only a small percentage of the U.S. economy. All of this has changed dramatically in the last two decades as the result of innovation, diplomacy and new public policies in the United States and abroad. The United State cannot turn back the clock — nor should it try. Unfortunately, a key component of a new proposed federal tax plan would do just that by imposing an estimated $200 billion levy on the overseas operations of U.S. businesses. Continue Reading

Mount Taylor decision came while we were sleeping

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By Marita K. Noon June 5, 2009 was the culmination of a 17-month battle for Mount Taylor where the decision to make the temporary Traditional Cultural Property designation (TCP) permanent was announced — New Mexico’s 1 million acre land grab. An opponent to the decision said, “I could hear the jobs, stability and growth in our community suck right out of our town as the vote was cast. Corporate dollars will be spent in other communities where progress is encouraged and growth is a way of life.” The television news cameras were all there to record the contentious decision. While I gave my comments to ABC news, locals stood behind the cameras and mouthed “thank you.” A documentary news crew that sought out my thoughts following the meeting asked if I’d been out to the reservation to talk to the people. “No, I have not because this is not about reservation land. Continue Reading

Taxpayers deserve to see what they’re paying for

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By Rep. Dennis Kintigh As a first-time state legislator, I have been surprised by the intensity of the interest in my position on the film industry subsidy, or as some call it the “film incentives.” The film-subsidy program requires the state to pay film-production operations 25 percent of their qualifying expenses. This program will cost New Mexico over $50 million. The question is whether this is worth it. When my legislation to repeal the film industry subsidy died in committee on March 3, I expected that to be the end of the matter. However, a few days ago, Mr. Eric Witt, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, published an essay critical of my position. Continue Reading

A new day for Otero Mesa

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10th Circuit ruling means we need to now focus all of our energy on permanent protection for this Serengeti of the Southwest By Nathan Newcomer April 2009 will be a time to remember for the campaign to preserve Otero Mesa. On April 28, at 11:45 in the morning, we received a document from the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on our lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas drilling plan for Otero Mesa. The decision couldn’t have been more forthcoming. The court ruled that the BLM’s original resource management plan amendment, which opened the vast majority of Otero Mesa to oil and gas leasing and limited protection for the desert grasslands, was fatally flawed due to its failure to consider protection for Otero Mesa and the salt basin aquifer. The court declared that the BLM had to consider an alternative that closed Otero Mesa to oil and gas leasing, admonishing the agency that “(d)evelopment is a possible use, which BLM must weigh against other possible uses — including conservation to protect environmental values…” The court ruling underscores what has been at the heart of the Otero Mesa debate for the past eight years. Continue Reading

Setting the record straight on NM’s film incentives

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By Eric Witt In a recent guest column, Rep. Dennis Kintigh argued why he believes the state’s film incentives are bad public policy. Unfortunately, the representative used bad information to back up his stance. Rep. Kintigh wrote that “two studies” have been done on the return on incentives for New Mexico’s film industry, producing wildly differing conclusions: “One study claims the return to taxpayers is $1.50 for every tax dollar paid out. The other study identifies the return to be only 14.5 cents on the dollar.” He implied that the scope and methodology of the two studies is somehow comparable, and that they simply reach different conclusions regarding the same phenomena, making it difficult to tell which provides the truer picture. This is entirely inaccurate. Continue Reading

Jennings is exploiting investment issue to score points

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By Gilbert Gallegos This column comes in response to a Thursday guest column about the growing investment scandal in New York and New Mexico written by Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings. Not surprisingly, Sen. Jennings doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Nevertheless, he’s trying to exploit the issue to score political points. First, the governor was not aware of any deals between fund managers and marketers. The state is not part of those deals, nor do we pay those fees, which are legal. Continue Reading

Lawmakers must better oversee state investments

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By Timothy Z. Jennings Revelations that politically connected and influential friends of the governor were paid millions of dollars for steering state investments to their clients are an alarming wake-up call for legislators to better oversee how and where state money is invested. The New York pay-to-play scandal involving Aldus Equity has spilled over to involve the New Mexico State Investment Council (SIC). The tangled and troubling tale that has emerged is one in which politics seems to have played a role equal to that of investment fundamentals in decisions about how the state invests billions of dollars of trust funds. While various law-enforcement and regulatory authorities investigate possible wrongdoing, the state Legislature must assert itself to help restore the public’s confidence in its government. The Legislature has already taken some steps to fix the mess. Continue Reading