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Judge in Foley case is pushing ethical limits

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The attorney for Dan Foley, the GOP state representative from Roswell who is facing charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and resisting arrest, has requested a postponement of his Aug. 2 trial date, the Roswell Daily Record is reporting. Municipal Judge Clyde McKee told the newspaper on Tuesday he hadn’t seen the request for a continuance but would most likely approve it. “I have no reason not to,” the newspaper quoted him as saying, adding that such requests are “normal procedure” and “usually not refused” when they’re reasonable. Foley’s attorney said he has about 50 witnesses to interview and needs more time. Continue Reading

King to consider legality of cabinet secretary pay

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It looks like Attorney General Gary King will be weighing in on the legality of the plan to have two state universities help pay members of Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration. Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and chair of the Legislative Finance Committee, asked King in a Friday letter to investigate, saying he “and other LFC members have serious concerns about the legality and propriety of these compensation agreements,” the Albuquerque Journal reported. The Richardson administration recently gave two new secretaries and one deputy secretary huge pay increases over what their predecessors were receiving. Higher Education Secretary Reed Dasenbrock will be paid $257,250 – the same amount he was paid as provost at the University of New Mexico. The university will pay almost $100,000 of the cost for the Higher Education Department. Continue Reading

State’s revenue will likely exceed projections

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It looks like the state’s coffers are going to be overflowing once again when the Legislature meets in January. The state should collect about $130 million more than anticipated in the current fiscal year because of economic growth and energy prices, the Associated Press is reporting. In addition, the Legislature and governor should have almost $450 million in new money they can add to the budget, use to cut taxes or put away for a rainy day. The forecast, which the news service reported will be presented to the Legislative Finance Committee at a meeting today in Ruidoso, was prepared by the Richardson administration and the Legislature. So state leaders will be in what has become a familiar position when the Legislature meets in January: Does the state continue to increase spending significantly, give large tax cuts or save for the day that oil and gas prices drop and the state’s revenue takes a hit? Continue Reading

Udall makes tough decision on lab funding

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I wrote in June about U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., being in a sticky situation when the House approved cutting funding for Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories by $400 million after rejecting his proposal to reduce the proposed cuts by $192 million. Most of the cuts were for LANL. Who would want to be remembered as the representative for LANL when its funding was severely cut? The proposed cuts come in part because of security breaches at the lab and in part because some Democrats want to shift the lab’s mission from nuclear weapons to energy research. According to the Associated Press, Udall voted for the cuts on Tuesday in approving the House Energy and Water Appropriations Act. Continue Reading

Popular superintendent leaving Gadsden schools

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The popular superintendent of the Gadsden schools is leaving behind a tenure of turmoil and progress to take a similar job just across the state line. Ron Haugen will become the superintendent of the Anthony, Texas Independent School District on Aug. 1, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting. He leaves the Gadsden Independent School District after 26 years, including six as superintendent. Haugen was fired from the top job in 2005 by a board that was mired in scandal. Continue Reading

New ad continues Richardson’s effective campaign

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You might recall me writing a few weeks ago about how Gov. Bill Richardson often looks wooden and insincere when talking to massive crowds or television cameras. That problem doesn’t exist in his newest television commercial. The 30-second spot, set on a hillside in New Mexico, highlights the governor’s plan to get all American troops out of Iraq. The ad, which began airing today in Iowa, shows a comfortably dressed Richardson talking about how New Mexico, Iowa and every other state has lost “too many soldiers” in Iraq. “We have to end this war now,” Richardson says in the ad. Continue Reading

Senate kills Iraq withdrawal bill

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While most of us were sleeping last night, members of the United States Senate were debating a proposal to require that President Bush begin withdrawing American troops from Iraq within 120 days and complete the pullout of combat troops by the end of April. The measure needed 60 votes to pass, but only received 52. Four Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for it. The measure is different than one Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., has signed on to in that it’s more rigid because it sets a firm withdrawal date. Domenici favors a goal of withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq by March 2008 and implementation of other recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, and he voted against the proposal that was debated last night and this morning. Continue Reading

Pearce will win big, but race could be interesting

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By Whitney Cheshire Is Congressman Steve Pearce poised for another ho-hum, boring, 20-point victory in 2008? How about another typical, pound-them-into-the-dirt, two-to-one fundraising operation? Are you yawning yet? That’s easy to do when it comes to this third-term Republican and his sizeable and soundly devastating victory history in New Mexico’s second district. We could go back to talking about Albuquerque city politics if this subject puts you to sleep… or not. Continue Reading

Grover and Cocky Boy: wrong again

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By Carter Bundy Paul Krugman had a great line this week. One of the top “failures” anti-government extremists like Grover Norquist point to is Canada. No, not because they can’t win the Stanley Cup, but because their public health insurance system is slow. A favorite rant is that hip replacements take far longer to get in Canada than in the United States. But Krugman points out that “the large majority of hip replacements in the United States are paid for by, um, Medicare.” It’s our great public insurance system that betters Canada – not our private system. Continue Reading

King’s human trafficking task force meets in Cruces

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Attorney General Gary King will be in Las Cruces on Wednesday for the first meeting of a task force whose aim will be developing legislation that would criminalize human trafficking in New Mexico. Legislation that would do that, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, failed during this year’s session, in part, King said, because of conflicting information that confused lawmakers. The task force will seek to clear up confusion and help create new legislation. It will also discuss services for victims of human trafficking and training for law enforcement in ways to recognize and deal with trafficking, which is on the rise in New Mexico. “It is important for all interested parties to come together to craft a human trafficking bill that will have wide support and, therefore, stand a better chance of passing in the next legislative session,” King said. Continue Reading

Richardson moves ahead of Edwards in N.H. poll

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For the first time, Gov. Bill Richardson has moved past one of the top three Democratic presidential candidates in an independent poll in an important primary state. Richardson is in third place, and two points ahead of John Edwards, in the latest CNN/WMUR/UNH poll released today. The new poll has Hillary Clinton in the lead with 36 percent, Barack Obama at 27 percent, Richardson at 11 percent and Edwards at 9 percent. A month ago, Clinton led with 39 percent, Obama had 24 percent, Edwards had 14 percent and Richardson had 11 percent. So Richardson hasn’t gained any ground in the last month, but Edwards has fallen. Continue Reading

Heinrich, McCamley make important money list

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Martin Heinrich and Bill McCamley are two of 24 Democratic House challengers across the nation who had more than $100,000 on hand at the end of the second quarter of 2007. A poster on the liberal blog MyDD compiled the list of Democratic challengers to GOP incumbents who have that much cash. The poster doesn’t report how much each has beyond $100,000, and he doesn’t rank them, so I did, to get an idea of where Heinrich and McCamley stand. I couldn’t find Federal Election Commission reports for all of the candidates listed, but I did for most, and at least 13 have more money on hand than Heinrich, who had almost $153,000 at the end of the quarter. At least 15 have more on hand than McCamely, who had just over $133,000. Continue Reading

Can guv balance campaign with 2008 Legislature?

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I’ve been thinking today about what the 2008 legislative session is going to look like in light of Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential run. The governor has raised enough cash so that, no matter what the polls say, he’s likely to be in the race at least through Feb. 5. At least four small states will hold presidential nominating contests in January. So many states are holding their contests on Feb. Continue Reading

Polling analysis site predicts guv will win Iowa

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A well-read national Web site that analyzes polls is predicting that Gov. Bill Richardson will win Iowa’s Jan. 14 caucus – the first-in-the-nation contest that could catapult him to the Democratic nomination. An analysis on USA Election Polls points out that Richardson, six months ago, was at about 1 percent in both Iowa and New Hampshire but, if you average out recent polls in those states, he’s at 9.8 percent in Iowa and 8.7 percent in New Hampshire. The site also considers a recent poll conducted by Fairbank Maslin Maullin and Associates for the Richardson campaign that had him at 13 percent in Iowa and, if only the most likely voters are considered, 18 percent and ahead of Barack Obama in that state. Before the 2004 Iowa Caucus, the site points out, Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt were considered the frontrunners, but they came in third and fourth, respectively, in the state. Continue Reading