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Use better carrots and sticks

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© 2007 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. It is odd that we Americans are so sensitive to battlefield deaths yet accept 40 times as many fatalities on our highways each year. Being killed suddenly and violently in combat is not much different than dying in a collision. I do not accept that it is inevitable that 40,000 people must die on our highways each year. They are killed and injured without much more than local notice. The carnage exists because we, as a society, are not providing the right carrots and sticks to control the behavior of drivers. Continue Reading

GOP lawmakers jump into health-care debate

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In the face of mounting momentum to create universal health care systems on the state and federal levels, a group of GOP state lawmakers from the eastern side of New Mexico are touting a private plan they say will help people without insurance. On the federal level, the House has approved and the Senate is debating expanding funding for a children’s health insurance program that President Bush has threatened to veto if it exceeds $5 billion – which the final version likely will. In addition, the Democratic presidential candidates – including Gov. Bill Richardson – are talking about reforming the health-care system. On a state level, the lieutenant governor and other Democrats are hoping to make the creation of a universal health-care system the main policy issue considered during the 2008 legislative session. This afternoon, a group of Roswell-area Republicans sent out a news release announcing that, tomorrow, they’ll be talking to the public about a private program to help the uninsured save money on prescription drugs. Continue Reading

Sun-News also asks AG for help on NMSU issues

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The Las Cruces Sun-News has also asked the Attorney General’s Office to weigh in on whether e-mail records requests are valid under state law and whether documents that have been discussed and approved in open meetings are public records. The questions arose last week after New Mexico State University told both the Sun-News and me that requests we made for a copy of a new agreement with the NMSU Foundation weren’t valid because they were sent via e-mail and, even if they had been valid, the document wouldn’t be released because, though it had been discussed and approved publicly by the Board of Regents, it hadn’t yet been signed by all parties. I contend the later is a flagrant violation of the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act and that the first might be as well. I asked the attorney general last week to investigate, and his office is doing that. NMSU eventually backed down under pressure from me and the Sun-News and released the document before all parties had signed it, but the university still contends that e-mail requests aren’t valid. Continue Reading

Funding for children’s health insurance is critical

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By state Sen. Dede Feldman In today’s polarized political climate, there are few issues that unite Democrats, Republicans, businesses, doctors, insurance companies, hospitals and consumer advocates. But over the past 10 years, a solid consensus has emerged in New Mexico, and across the nation, that we need to ensure that our children have health insurance and the early care it brings. A key element of federal funding for such insurance has been the State Children’s Health Insurance Program – more commonly known as SCHIP. It is now at risk in Washington as the president reverts to an ideological objection to the program as “government-run” health care while the House and Senate debate the proper level of funding. For New Mexico, the stakes are high. Continue Reading

Domenici’s support climbs for first time in months

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After falling for several months as a result of the U.S. attorney controversy, support for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has climbed in the newest SurveyUSA poll. In the newest poll, conducted July 13-15, Domenici’s support was at 55 percent. The poll was released last week but went unnoticed by the print and Internet media (including me). Thanks to Steve Terrell for noticing it. With the Democrats yet to find a top-tier candidate to take on Domenici next year, the newest poll is likely to deter some who might be considering getting in the race. Continue Reading

Secretary of state’s son charged with battering her

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The secretary of state’s son has been charged with shoving her to the ground last month, the Albuquerque Tribune is reporting. Mary Herrera told the newspaper her son is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan. Nathan Herrera, 29, was arrested at his mother’s home in Albuquerque on July 4 and charged with battery on a household member. He was booked into the jail in Bernalillo county and released July 12 after posting a $5,000 surety bond, the newspaper reported. According to the criminal complaint, during an argument and after believing that his mother had threatened to scratch his car, Nathan Herrera shoved her to the ground. Continue Reading

New Moore film: The system is the SiCKO

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By Steve Klinger My Webster’s Dictionary defines “sicko” (actually cross-referring to “sickie”) as “a person who is mentally or morally sick.” Where that leaves the title of Michael Moore’s new film makes for an interesting exercise in metaphor speculation. Perhaps tongue in cheek, Moore is describing himself in the eyes of his critics. Or maybe he is taking creative liberty and describing – with pity or condescension – the poor composite victim of the American health care system. My theory is that the movie’s title SiCKO, whether intended as noun or adjective, refers to the system itself. In his best film yet, evoking everything from laughter to tears, Moore makes a compelling case that, like American culture itself, the health care model of the world’s richest nation is morally bankrupt, delusional and maddeningly, tragically inhumane. Continue Reading

Newspaper reports on NMSU Foundation controversy

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The New Mexico State University Foundation’s practice of keeping information about donors secret is under increased scrutiny today after the Las Cruces Sun-News published an article on the topic. Today’s article by reporter Diana Alba is about the legislators who will ask the attorney general for a legal opinion on whether the foundation can keep its donor list secret. It’s likely to be picked up by the Associated Press and run, in a shorter version, in other newspapers around the state. The Sun-News reported that Rep. Jeff Steinborn will probably join the group of lawmakers who will sign a letter asking for the attorney general opinion, but Rep. Joni Gutierrez and Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson won’t sign the letter. Rep. Joseph Cervantes told the Sun-News he hasn’t yet decided whether to sign the letter. Continue Reading

Architects picked to design main spaceport facility

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A team of U.S. and British architects will design the primary terminal and hangar facility at Spaceport America, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced today. The American firm URS Corporation will team with Foster + Partners of the United Kingdom to design the facility, which is to be leased for at least 20 years by Virgin Galactic. The announcement was originally scheduled to be made at a news conference in Las Cruces on Friday. It was delayed because of a Thursday explosion that killed three people working on a rocket Virgin Galactic plans to use to fly paying customers into space from New Mexico. Though initial renderings are complete, they aren’t being released until the news conference can be rescheduled. Continue Reading

Article explores issues surrounding donor records

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I think regular readers of this site have a fairly comprehensive understanding of the arguments in favor of requiring the New Mexico State University Foundation to open its donor records to the public. I came across an article today that highlights the complexities of the issue and thoroughly explores arguments against making such records public. It’s a 2005 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that explores what has been a national controversy – whether state university foundations are, for purposes of government-transparency laws, public agencies. You can read the article by clicking here. Continue Reading

Guv at Obama’s heels in Iowa; Edwards up in N.H. poll

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Gov. Bill Richardson is within two points of Barack Obama in the newest independent poll of likely Iowa Democratic caucus goers. The news is huge for a candidate who recently moved ahead of John Edwards and into third place in New Hampshire in one poll and, for several weeks, has been gaining ground on the third-place Obama in polls in Iowa. It also comes as Richardson’s campaign began airing another clever television advertisement in Iowa on Tuesday. But the news isn’t all good for Richardson supporters. Another new poll shows Edwards ahead of Richardson in New Hampshire and Richardson’s support at a dismal 2 percent in South Carolina and New York. Continue Reading

The new top career choice – educator/public official

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By Whitney Cheshire Does twice the salary mean we should expect double the results? There’s a growing trend in New Mexico politics. More and more school administrators and teachers are pulling double duty, working their education jobs by day and serving as politicians by night. This would sound like the makings of Spiderman IV except for the fact that their so-called night jobs are not really night jobs. That, and there’s the whole tight, red spandex suit thing… Continue Reading

Representatives rumble in D.C.

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By Carter Bundy Round 1: foreign agribusiness vs. hungry kids Congressional Republicans did something quite amazing during this week’s farm bill debate: They advocated letting foreign multinationals pay almost no tax on earnings from farming in America. That really says it all, doesn’t it? A party so owned by big corporations that it turns its back on American farmers and American taxpayers. Here’s how the Delta Farm Press (required reading if there ever was) described the battle: “(Foreign agribusiness) lobbyists also became concerned about the House leadership’s inclusion of a proposal to raise $7.8 billion by ending a practice that allows foreign-owned companies operating in the United States to shift earnings to countries with lower tax rates. Continue Reading

Evans’ wife to run for his county commission seat

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The wife of District 4 Doña Ana County Commissioner Kent Evans will run for his seat next year, when he is forced from office by term limits. “Kent and I see the world in much the same way,” Anna Mae Evans, who like her husband is a lifelong Republican, said in a news release. “Over the past seven years of his term, I have come to know the issues facing Doña Ana County quite well.” Evans, who has attended almost all commission meetings during her husband’s tenure, said she is “well versed on where we’ve come from, where we are and where we need to go from here.” She has also attended a number of meetings of other local government committees and been involved in issues through her husband’s work. Evans has lived in the district for 32 years. She is a mother of three and grandmother of seven who has volunteered with a number of local organizations, including the Whole Enchilada Fiesta and Girl Scouts. Continue Reading

Lawmakers to seek AG opinion on NMSU Foundation

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A number of Doña Ana County lawmakers will ask the attorney general for a legal opinion on whether the New Mexico State University Foundation can keep information about its donors secret, and at least two are considering legislation to address the issue. State Sen. Mary Kay Papen and Reps. Andy Nuñez and Mary Helen Garcia will ask Attorney General Gary King for the opinion, and Reps. Joseph Cervantes and Nate Cote said legislation is a possibility. Though Cervantes doesn’t plan to sign the letter to the attorney general, Cote said he will probably do it. Continue Reading