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Citing probe, guv withdraws from commerce job

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Richardson plans to keep his job as governor of New Mexico and says grand jury investigation will reveal no wrongdoingThis article has been updated. Bill Richardson, who was President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for commerce secretary, withdrew his name from consideration for the position today because of an ongoing federal investigation into allegations of pay-to-play in his administration, NBC News is reporting. “Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact,” NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell quoted Richardson as saying in an exclusive report. “But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.” No date had been set for Richardson’s confirmation hearing, and pressure on the governor has been escalating as national media outlets have been shining increasing light on the grand jury investigation in recent weeks. Richardson, according to the statement provided to NBC News, plans to continue in his role as governor. Continue Reading

The economic crisis: an investment opportunity

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The Health Security Act is a safe investment the state needs to make By Jane Blume We are facing the greatest economic crisis since the depression. Unemployment is increasing, health costs are rising, families are financially strapped, and in 2009 our state Legislature must deal with expanding costs along with a huge deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars. A key factor in the financial problems faced by the Big Three automakers and other businesses is the ever-rising cost of health care. These expenses are also impacting our state budget, which is confronted with increasing health-care expenditures for Medicaid programs and state and local government employees and retirees. These rising costs are putting pressure, once again, on our state lawmakers to decide how to maintain a healthy population with fewer financial resources, while at the same time allocating sufficient funds for education and other state obligations. Continue Reading

Our new leaders need us to stay involved

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The Domenici dominoes and Richardson’s departure mean a number of newbies will be calling the shots in New Mexico. They need us to hold them accountable. It began with U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s retirement, and it ended with President-elect Barack Obama nominating Gov. Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary. In all, 2008 led to turnover in New Mexico politics on an almost unfathomable level. As a result, New Mexico is greener, both in the political and experience senses of the word. Continue Reading

NMSU Regents should give Cruzado a chance

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By Bill McCamley“It might be right, it seems; the wrong decision will spoil all our dreams; don’t change horses in the middle of a stream.” – Tower of Power “You love gives me such a thrill, but your love won’t pay my bills; I want money, that’s what I want.” – The Flying Lizards After reading all of the articles recently regarding the search for the next New Mexico State University president, the decision on moving forward seems clear. Current Interim President Waded Cruzado-Salas should be given the opportunity to show that she can take on the position permanently. I have been lucky to have a rapport with Dr. Cruzado-Salas since she became the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. I have found her to be supremely qualified to take over the reins at NMSU. She is extremely intelligent, and has the experience and understanding to manage the complicated logistics of a Division 1 institution. Continue Reading

Don’t bet against the GOP in 2010

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By Allen Weh Last week I met with the state Republican Party Executive Committee for what I considered to be one of the most important briefings of my tenure as chairman of the New Mexico GOP. The mainstream media and our Democrat opponents continue to taunt us for our 2008 losses, asking “how” and “when” the Republican Party can rebuild. That is why last week’s meeting with GOP leaders was so important. I believe that in New Mexico there is nothing to rebuild. There is only that which we can, and must, continue to build upon! Continue Reading

The poor citizens giving to the rich Robin Hoods

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© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.“My little plum, I am like Robin Hood; I take from the rich and give to the poor.”“What poor?” asks the skeptical Poppy.“Us poor,” replies W. C. Fields as Professor Eustace McGargle in the 1936 movie “Poppy” Somehow W.C. Fields being an engaging dastardly character in a 1936 movie is ever so much more palatable than the just released transcripts of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich enhancing our notion that Illinois politicians are like Robin Hood — they are on the take. He is the fourth Illinois governor in a row to be ensnared by scandal. The last three governors are serving time, as it appears he will. The issue is not corruption; rather, it’s the prevailing sense of illegal personal entitlement that is constant with those leaders. However, the governor of Illinois is innocent until found guilty by a jury of his peers. Continue Reading

2008 review: Bragging about NM and saying goodbye

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By Diane D. Denish As the year winds down and we prepare to spend the holidays with our families and friends, it’s a good time to look back and reflect on all that has happened over the last year. When historians look back on 2008, they will highlight the election of Barack Obama and the increase in youth activism and excitement that carried him to victory, the spectacle of the Beijing Olympics, the historic financial crisis, the continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the see-sawing oil prices that put our state into a budget shortfall.It was a remarkable year! However, when I think back on 2008, I will also remember what happened here, in our communities. While the last year was plagued by economic crisis, forcing many states into unmanageable deficits, New Mexico is riding out the storm and we have some things to brag about. We have seen tremendous growth in the film industry. Continue Reading

Conservative to the end

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Steve Pearce stayed true to his right-leaning views even as his Senate campaign went down in flames. What will he do now? In the end, few would say Steve Pearce didn’t stand by his principles. As the Republican congressman from southern New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District prepares to leave office and face an uncertain future, one thing that can be said about him is that he has consistently held to his right-wing values during his six years in office and his failed campaign this year to replace Pete Domenici in the Senate. Many would say Pearce’s Senate campaign went down in flames at least in part because of his refusal to budge. Continue Reading

2008 brought change, change and more change

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It was a year of almost unfathomable change in New Mexico’s political landscape. Giants retired, lost elections or left the state. A new crop of elected officials will be in charge come January. The economy tanked, and its effects colored the election. In all, the theme that ties it all together is change.Voters are demanding change. Continue Reading

Let’s end racism in college football

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By Bill McCamley“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.” – Lyndon B. Johnson “Right, but… but I’ve learned that we can’t judge people based on what they look like.” – Eric Cartman In a recent column, Dan Foley claims the “word on the street” is that New Mexico State University Athletic Director McKinley Boston is not going to consider a coach from the University of Alabama for NMSU’s head position purely because he is white and Dr. Boston only will consider black candidates. After a long diatribe, Foley concludes that “The ‘color’ of a person you hire is irrelevant. Anyone who tries to tell you it should be a factor used in considering a person is not only wrong, but is also, sadly — consciously or unconsciously — a racist. There’s no place for that in the 21st Century.” This sounds great, but there are two problems with this hypothesis. Continue Reading

SOS stands firm in face of nonprofits’ lawsuit

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The Secretary of State’s Office says it is standing firm in the face of a lawsuit challenging its attempt to force two nonprofits to register as political committees or pay steep fines. “Attorney General (Gary) King said it best: ‘If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck,’” Secretary of State Mary Herrera said this evening in a news release. “We cannot allow organizations with political agendas to manipulate the campaign reporting laws of New Mexico for the sole purpose of benefiting any political party, Democrat, Republican or independent.” Herrera said she’s confident “that justice will prevail, and that the integrity of New Mexico’s campaign reporting laws will be preserved by our judicial system.” But again, as she and King have done in the past, Herrera failed to state exactly why she believes mailers sent out by SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) and the Center for Civic Policy’s New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) two to three months before the June primary targeting several lawmakers, including some who had primary opponents, fit the definition of “political activity” in the state’s Campaign Reporting Act. All they have done is use the “duck” quote. The nonprofits filed the lawsuit earlier this week in an attempt to block the efforts to force them to register as political committees or pay steep fines. Continue Reading

Company selected to build spaceport

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The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced today the selection of Gerald Martin Construction Management of Albuquerque to oversee the building of Spaceport America.It’s an award-winning company founded in 1974 with offices throughout New Mexico and one in Arizona, according to a news release from the spaceport authority. The company’s team, the release states, will include specialists with experience in aviation facilities, fire and emergency facilities that service aeronautic and rocket facilities, and specialists who have worked with NASA. “We are proud to be a part of this historic endeavor,” James Mee, Gerald Martin’s vice president of construction management, was quoted in the release as saying. “Gerald Martin Construction Management has assembled a superb team that will provide specific and focused expertise to all areas of the project at each phase of the project.” Spaceport Director Steve Landeene said the authority is excited to work with the company. “There were many quality applicants in our selection process, and we feel confident that Gerald Martin has a level of experience, cost effectiveness and local knowledge that will give us the edge as we begin construction,” he said. Continue Reading

Political heavy hitters join Kilmer at hoops game

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Who was that making an appearance at a Lobo basketball game on Wednesday night with actor Val Kilmer?As shown in an Albuquerque Journal photo you can view by clicking here, it was Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters on his right and, on his left, Joe Thompson, a lobbyist who works for Peters, the University of New Mexico and others. With Kilmer, who lives on a ranch outside Pecos, recently confirming that he may run for governor in 2010, a public appearance with such political heavy hitters is noteworthy. Peters is close to Gov. Bill Richardson and has contributed well over $100,000 to the governor’s campaigns, all while doing business with the state that has at times been controversial. Richardson himself has praised the idea of a Kilmer gubernatorial run. Kilmer, who recently switched his party affiliation from independent to Democrat, would ostensibly be running against Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who is about to become governor when Richardson becomes commerce secretary, in the 2010 primary. Continue Reading

The schizophrenia of the two hats

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By Jose Z. GarciaLurking just beneath the surface in the public outcry and anger over the scandal in the Gadsden Independent School District in southern Doña Ana County is the conflict of interest inherent in the two incompatible hats being worn by Cynthia Nava: school superintendent and powerful state senator. From her point of view, of course, wearing each hat and being able to put one on and take one off must have seemed very convenient, at least for a while. For example, the New Mexico School Board Association, in naming the Gadsden school board its board of the year, was almost certainly thinking about the Senate hat worn by the GISD superintendent, Cynthia Nava. As a powerful state senator — chair of the Education Committee, co-chair of the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force and vice chair of the Legislative Education Study Committee — she might well be grateful for a positive gesture from a statewide education lobby group toward her school board (which hires and fires superintendents, and does very little else) at a moment the school board and Superintendent Nava were under heavy fire. And the gratitude the organization might have been thinking about was almost certainly not gratitude the organization might receive from Superintendent Nava, but from Sen. Nava. Continue Reading

McCulloch announces run for GOP chairman

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As expected, former U.S. Senate candidate Allen McCulloch announced today that he’s running to be the next chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico.McCulloch made the announcement in a letter to members of the party’s state central committee, which you can read by clicking here. “We are at a cross-road of our Republican future. We can cease on the opportunity to come together and re-build a stronger more responsive party or sink further into irrelevancy,” he wrote in the letter. McCulloch’s announcement has been widely anticipated. He’s already been waging an active, albeit unofficial, campaign that included a guest column on this site in which he laid out his vision for the future of the GOP. Continue Reading