{"id":194,"date":"2006-04-05T23:32:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-06T05:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/04\/cop-killing-makes-death-penalty-a-hot-topic-in-election-year-and-payday-loans-still-an-issue\/"},"modified":"2006-04-05T23:32:00","modified_gmt":"2006-04-06T05:32:00","slug":"cop-killing-makes-death-penalty-a-hot-topic-in-election-year-and-payday-loans-still-an-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/04\/cop-killing-makes-death-penalty-a-hot-topic-in-election-year-and-payday-loans-still-an-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop killing makes death penalty a hot topic in election year, and payday loans still an issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> \u201cExpect the death penalty to become an issue in the next two months.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what one insider told me this week after the capture of alleged cop killer Michael Astorga in Mexico. For anyone who doesn\u2019t know, he\u2019s charged with the fatal shooting of a Bernalillo County Sheriff\u2019s deputy two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

His capture has the governor and attorney general calling for the death penalty.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s interesting, one source tells me, since Gov. Bill Richardson worked a deal to dodge this issue the last time it came to a vote in the legislature. The House voted to repeal the death penalty, but the Senate Judiciary Committee killed the proposal. The deal, the source told me, allegedly involved one member of that committee who agreed to change his vote and kill the legislation. Richardson didn\u2019t want the issue on his desk, the source said, because he would have to choose between alienating the liberal base in the north by opposing the repeal or looking like a liberal in a national field of presidential candidates who will likely all support the death penalty.<\/p>\n

It appears Republican mudslinging at Richardson for not building new prisons and because he appoints the parole board that let Astorga out pushed the governor to take a position.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn rare situations, the death penalty is the appropriate penalty,\u201d he said in a news release earlier this week. \u201cThis is one of those cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney General Patricia Madrid agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it is not only appropriate to seek the death penalty in this case but it is important to do so,\u201d she said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Which brings up the candidates to replace Madrid. Where do they stand on the death penalty? In a tight, three-way race for the Democratic nomination, the candidate who opposes the death penalty gains among the party base, one insider told me. \u201cBut taking that position for June could spell doom in November,\u201d the insider said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. If there\u2019s one candidate the Republicans are excited about this year, it\u2019s Jim Bibb. They believe he can take the attorney general\u2019s office, and with so few interesting statewide races, Republicans are pouring a lot of resources into this contest.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say the Democrats should all jump on the death penalty bandwagon. Many up north oppose the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdd the Catholic lobby to the picture and then it really gets interesting,\u201d one source said. \u201cWith Bill\u2019s call for death in this recent case, will the Catholic Church respond? What\u2019s a candidate to do? Hope nobody asks or pins them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m asking. Let\u2019s hear from you Geno Zamora, Gary King and Lem Martinez. Bibb, let\u2019s get you on the record too.<\/p>\n

Bibb is the son-in-law of former Gov. Toney Anaya who, as one source put it, \u201cachieved fame for his opposition to the death penalty and for commuting all of death row on his way out of the mansion.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it gets even more interesting. The last time the repeal came up for a legislative vote, Rep. Justine Fox-Young, R-Albuquerque, voted to repeal the death penalty. The fallout was harsh, as she had apparently answered a questionnaire before her election supporting the death penalty, a source tells me. Now she has a primary opponent who could use this issue against her.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

New Mexico continues to be a payday lending battleground. The Albuquerque Journal<\/a> reported Sunday that the Democratic Governors Association, chaired by Richardson, took nearly $17,000 in free travel last year from the nation\u2019s largest payday loan company, Advance America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a dozen locations in New Mexico, Advance America has a keen interest in any legislation or regulations involving the booming business in the state,\u201d The Journal article stated. \u201cThe 2,600-store industry giant is one of several payday-loan companies that sued Attorney General Patricia Madrid earlier this year in a successful attempt to stall her plan to impose strict new rules on lenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madrid backed a proposal the industry hated. Richardson backed legislation he said would help consumers, but that was strongly opposed by advocates who said it was friendly to industry.<\/p>\n

Richardson\u2019s people would not comment to the Journal on whether the money to the governors association was used to fly Richardson around, and refused a Journal request to interview the governor.<\/p>\n

Legislators killed Richardson\u2019s proposal on the last morning of this year\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

The issue adds to criticism that the governor \u201cis not pressing what is important for the state or its citizens,\u201d but rather using the \u201cpay-for-play\u201d system, one source told me. \u201cThe treasurer (former Treasurer Robert Vigil) had it right when he said this is the way we do business in New Mexico,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Ouch.<\/p>\n

Something the Journal article didn\u2019t mention is that one key lobbyist for payday lenders is former Speaker of the House Raymond Sanchez, brother of current Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.<\/p>\n

He has an inside with the Senate through his brother, and many connections in the House, which he ran for a long time, one source told me.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true, but it apparently wasn\u2019t enough, since the legislation died.<\/p>\n

Expect this issue to be back next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were so many lobbyists up there, it was unbelievable,\u201d one insider told me about payday lending companies and this year\u2019s session. \u201cThere must be so much money in that industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

In case you all missed it yesterday, I wrote in the Las Cruces Sun-News about several candidates for office in Do\u00f1a Ana County who are quitting their jobs or withdrawing from races because of the federal Hatch Act. Click here<\/a> to read the article.<\/p>\n

I have an interesting political link to show you tomorrow. Come back and check it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cExpect the death penalty to become an issue in the next two months.\u201d That\u2019s what one insider told me this week after the capture of alleged cop killer Michael Astorga in Mexico. For anyone who doesn\u2019t know, he\u2019s charged with the fatal shooting of a Bernalillo County Sheriff\u2019s deputy two weeks ago. His capture has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}