{"id":26873,"date":"2011-03-07T08:53:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T15:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=26873"},"modified":"2011-03-10T21:51:36","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T04:51:36","slug":"a-forum-for-diverse-opinions-and-productive-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/a-forum-for-diverse-opinions-and-productive-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"A forum for diverse opinions and productive debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

Regular readers of this site know I have expanded the commentary section significantly in the last year to try to facilitate policy and political debate that is productive. You also know that I participate regularly in that debate.<\/p>\n

Last week I wrote a column<\/a> arguing that a change in leadership in the New Mexico House was needed earlier this year, but most Democrats and Republicans instead opted for the status quo. I asked, while they\u2019re busy playing games, who is doing the business of the people they were elected to represent.<\/p>\n

The column was widely read and generated a great deal of discussion on this site and in the halls of the Roundhouse. Many of you contacted me to say I was right and thank me for speaking out; others were quite upset by the position I took.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fine. My goal isn\u2019t to take positions that will be popular. It\u2019s to say what I believe needs to be said. Through my own columns, and commentaries and comments written by others, I aim to create a forum in which people are free to express their views. I aim for always publishing a diversity of opinions from across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re all welcome to participate by registering<\/a> and posting comments<\/a> on columns that are published here, or by submitting your own commentaries<\/a> for potential publication.<\/p>\n

Donate to help keep NMPolitics.net going<\/h3>\n

But I need your help to continue this forum. Last week, donations poured in, and NMPolitics.net crossed the halfway mark in its goal of raising $12,000 by April 30.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m asking you to make a contribution to help NMPolitics.net reach 100 percent of that goal. You can make a donation at nmpolitics.net\/contribute<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NMPolitics.net is currently at 53 percent of its goal, having raised $6,400. So far, 72 people have made donations.<\/p>\n

Those who gave last week include Cynthia Pacheco of Espa\u00f1ola, Louis Thorp of Carlsbad, Patrick Ortiz of Santa Fe, Clinton Lanier of Las Cruces and John Owens of Lincoln, Neb.<\/p>\n

Thank you to those who have given! Your donations are helping support a site I hope contributes positively to the discussion about politics and government in New Mexico and beyond.<\/p>\n

The rest of you can make a one-time contribution in any amount or sign up to make automatic, monthly contributions of $10 or $20. Those who sign up to make monthly contributions or give a one-time contribution of at least $120 will receive a monthly newsletter containing exclusive analysis and interesting tidbits about what\u2019s happening in New Mexico and news about NMPolitics.net.<\/p>\n

Please, visit\u00a0nmpolitics.net\/contribute<\/a> today and make a donation.<\/p>\n

If you have questions or feedback, e-mail me at\u00a0heath@haussamen.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Haussamen bio<\/a> \u2502\u00a0Commentary archives<\/a> \u2502\u00a0Feed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through my own columns, and commentaries and comments written by others, I aim to create a productive forum through NMPolitics.net in which people are free to express their diverse views. But I need your help to keep this forum going.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[137,107],"class_list":["post-26873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-news-about-this-site","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26873","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=26873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}