{"id":22645,"date":"2010-10-20T11:42:43","date_gmt":"2010-10-20T17:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=22645"},"modified":"2010-10-20T11:42:46","modified_gmt":"2010-10-20T17:42:46","slug":"this-election-everyone-has-a-reason-to-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/10\/this-election-everyone-has-a-reason-to-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"This election, everyone has a reason to vote"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n<\/p><\/div>\n

These have been times of challenge and controversy for our state and our nation, but these trials show the steps we need to take to get our economy back on track.<\/p>\n

As we continue to dig ourselves out of the mess created through eight years of\u00a0debilitating economic policies that left\u00a0middle-class families\u00a0out on the streets, fearing for their jobs and security and\u00a0without hope, we cannot forget the resilience of our nation and the\u00a0great swell of dedication and excitement to the political process two years ago.<\/p>\n

Then, we came together to put the focus back on the middle class. This year, we must not lose the momentum captured then. This election is too important for apathy to take hold. These have been tough times for people in\u00a0New Mexico\u00a0and throughout the country, and it is in the hands of every citizen to get out and vote.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone who was kicked off their health care coverage, or was denied due to a\u00a0preexisting condition,\u00a0has a reason to vote.<\/p>\n

Anyone who had outlandish\u00a0credit card rates\u00a0that changed for reasons they didn’t understand has a reason to vote.<\/p>\n

Anyone with a parent or grandparent on\u00a0Social Security\u00a0has a reason to vote.<\/p>\n

Anyone who has served in the military and receives\u00a0veterans benefits\u00a0has a reason to vote.<\/p>\n

Anyone who has a child in the public school system, or a teenager who wants to go to college, has a reason to vote.<\/p>\n

Anyone who has had a hard time in the\u00a0economic downturn\u00a0has a reason to vote.<\/p>\n

Contrast with my opponent<\/h3>\n

I have been standing up for working families here in New Mexico because I don’t believe people should be kicked off their health insurance just because they got sick. My opponent wants to repeal the protections against the insurance companies.<\/p>\n

I worked to stop the\u00a0credit card companies\u00a0from their unfair practices that were hurting New Mexico families.<\/p>\n

I stood up to the Republicans, including my opponent, who want to privatize social security.<\/p>\n

I worked to make sure that if veterans want to go to college, they have access to it. I want to make sure that veterans can always access health care and benefits the way they always have, while my opponent wants to dismantle the VA as we know it.<\/p>\n

I made sure that New Mexico has teachers in the classroom by saving 1,100 jobs in the state. The next generation deserves access to a good education. My opponent wants to get rid of the Department of Education and pull all federal funding for our schools, including the\u00a0Pell Grants\u00a0that are supporting over 58,000 New Mexicans in colleges and vocational schools across our state.<\/p>\n

There is progress to be made<\/h3>\n

These last few years have been hard on working families, and that’s why I fought for the largest\u00a0middle class tax\u00a0cut in the history of the nation. I know that our families are struggling, and the answer is not to leave them out in the cold, it is to cut their taxes, give the small businesses an opportunity to grow, so that they can employ more people.<\/p>\n

As we see the state of the nation, there are irrefutable facts that have to be addressed. We cannot go back to the failed policies of the past that took the economy down with them. This election is not about blame, but, instead, it’s about preventing recession and making sure that families can always pursue the American dream \u2013 that families can stay in their homes, parents can keep their jobs and savings and that we can all hold onto hope.<\/p>\n

People in New Mexico are frustrated, and that is a frustration that I share. And I know that you and I may not always agree, but as a state and as a nation we cannot afford to let that frustration take hold in our hearts and in our common sense.<\/p>\n

There is progress to be made \u2013 and we need to stand up for it. If we forget the causes of this recession, the nation may be doomed to repeat it.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n<\/em><\/a> is the Democrat representing New Mexico\u2019s 3rd Congressional District seat in Congress.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We cannot go back to the failed policies of the past that took the economy down with them. This election is not about blame, but, instead, it’s about preventing recession and making sure that families can always pursue the American dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":794,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[108,118,116],"class_list":["post-22645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-2010-election","tag-economy","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22645","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\/794"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}