NMPolitics.net (https://nmpolitics.net/index/category/guest-columns/page/99/)
This is a guest column submitted by the representative from Southern New Mexico. Since he already has declared challengers for the 2008 election, I invited both Democrats to write columns addressing this topic. Bill McCamley’s will run Tuesday. Al Kissling is out of the state and was not able to write a column. By Steve Pearce No issue facing America today is more emotional than immigration. Continue Reading
By Gary King April has been a good month for New Mexico’s ecosystem, especially for the humans and certain fish that share it. As attorney general, it is part of my job to protect both, so I am happy to report on two events that positively impacted the air we breathe and the recovery of the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. First was the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate greenhouse gases from automobiles, despite its prior refusal to do so. That decision was prompted by a lawsuit brought against the EPA by my office, 11 other states, several environmental groups and several municipalities, including Albuquerque. Our argument was, and still is, that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases fit within the definition of “air pollutants” and therefore the EPA is obliged by the Clean Air Act to regulate emissions of such gases by automobiles. Continue Reading
This is the eighth in a series of guest columns debating whether Doña Ana County voters should approve a 1/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. By Karen Perez I will vote “no” on the spaceport tax. As an engineer with more than 18 years of experience in the development of large capital projects, I have three primary concerns: • Should we invest public money in what is essentially a private venture, and what kind of precedent are we setting by making this investment? • Is this a viable capital project worthy of a $7 million annual investment? • Should this project be a priority for Doña Ana County? Continue Reading
This is the seventh in a series of guest columns debating whether Doña Ana County voters should approve a 1/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. By John L. Hummer If you are someone who doubts a commercial space industry can be developed in Southern New Mexico or that such an industry can inspire and change the lives of future generations of children, just think about Kitty Hawk, N.C. It’s the birthplace of aviation and the place where Wilbur and Orville Wright made historic and successful manned flights on Dec. 17, 1903. I would bet, following this historic event, there were skeptics throughout the townships surrounding Kitty Hawk who laughed at the thought of commercial aviation, let alone the development of an aircraft industry in North Carolina. So many unanswered questions. Continue Reading
This is the sixth in a series of guest columns debating whether Doña Ana County voters should approve a 1/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Baseless personal attacks will not be published. By Tamie Smith The idea of travel beyond the boundaries of the Earth – into outer space – has always been an exciting concept to many persons. Continue Reading
This is the fourth in a series of guest columns debating whether Doña Ana County voters should approve a 1/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Baseless personal attacks will not be published. By Greg Lennes Every Doña Ana County resident should vote against an increase in the local gross receipts tax for Spaceport America on April 3 because it is unfair. Continue Reading
This is the third in a series of guest columns debating whether Doña Ana County voters should approve a 1/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Baseless personal attacks will not be published. By Delano E. Lewis One of the arguments most often made by those who oppose the spaceport gross receipts tax is that this project will benefit only the rich. Continue Reading
This is the second in a series of guest columns debating whether Doña Ana County voters should approve a 1/4 percent gross-receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Baseless personal attacks will not be published. By Leon Billstone Another historic opportunity is quickly approaching for Southern New Mexico. Continue Reading
There is widespread agreement that Spaceport America should be built; what is contentious is the proposal to raise the gross receipts tax in three counties to help fund it. This is the first in a series of guest columns I will run before the April 3 election on whether to raise the gross receipts tax in Doña Ana County to help fund the spaceport. I will run one in support of the tax increase, followed by one in opposition, back and forth, and plan to publish a roughly equal number on each side. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Continue Reading
This guest column was submitted in light of the decision by Rep. Joni Gutierrez, D-Las Cruces, to change her vote and revive a proposal to give a massive tax credit for this coal plant. You can read more about that by clicking here. In addition, the Senate version of the bill was tabled on Monday but may be reconsidered today. You can read about that by clicking here. By Robb Thomson The legislature is currently considering a proposal – House Bill 178 and Senate Bill 431 – that would give away $85 million in tax credits over a period of years to the owners of a conventional coal-powered electric plant proposed for the Four Corners region, Desert Rock. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson made his first public presidential campaign trip this weekend, stopping in Northern Nevada and speaking to hundreds of Democrats there. Nevada will hold the nation’s second presidential nominating event for the 2008 election – a caucus on Jan. 19. The first is in Iowa on Jan. 14. Continue Reading
By Sen. Mary Jane Garcia When you think of New Mexican culture, what leaps to mind? The ancient pueblos? The world-famous balloon fiesta? The diverse peoples, languages and religions? Or, are our most vivid cultural images those of illegal gambling and an act of two animals mutilating each other to death? Continue Reading
An analysis of Richardson’s 2008 bid By Jose Z. Garcia A former governor of New Mexico told me not long ago that you cannot compare Bill Richardson with previous governors because “Richardson is in a class of his own. Nobody ever came to the governorship with that kind of political capital.” Well said: Our last three governors included an Albuquerque businessman who believed in legalizing pot and minimalist government, a rancher serving his third stint as governor, and a college professor from a state university. Anybody who’s lived in the penthouse at the Waldorf Astoria – the residence for U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations in New York City – is bound to be viewed with awe in New Mexico. Want more? How about energy secretary under Bill Clinton, seven terms as the congressman from Northern New Mexico, multiple images of grateful hostages rescued by our national hostage-saver, political insider in Democratic circles with access to the glamorous corridors of national power and money? Continue Reading
By Frances F. Williams When Michael Montoya, the ex-treasurer of New Mexico, was hitting up a prospective client of the Treasurer’s Office for a bribe, he said that was “the way we do business” in New Mexico. The recent reelection of Ben Lujan to the position of speaker of the House and the impunity his friend Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos has enjoyed to date, in spite of serious allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, collusion and conflicts of interest against Gallegos, suggest that Montoya might have been right. There were two reports last year that revealed widespread misuse of state money by the housing authority. One of the reviews, ordered by Gov. Bill Richardson, reported gross mismanagement and flagrant violation of state statutes in providing affordable housing for moderate to low income families. The other report, a forensic audit of Gallegos’ Region III Housing Authority and Housing Enterprises, Inc., a related company, was ordered by the State Investment Council after Gallegos defaulted on $5 million in state-owned bonds that were to be used for affordable housing. Continue Reading
The author is a former board member of the Region VII Housing Authority in Las Cruces and is the whistleblower responsible for revealing the corruption that led to the downfall of the state’s housing authority system. By Frances F. Williams I am a proud Democrat who has carried lots of water for the party since 1988. I cannot understand how any legislator we voted for would keep Ben Lujan, the current speaker of the House, in that leadership position, which controls much of New Mexico’s destiny. Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos is a close friend and confidant of the speaker. Lujan appointed Gallegos to the Housing Trust Council, which has oversight of affordable housing funding. Continue Reading