{"id":65717,"date":"2015-07-15T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=65717"},"modified":"2015-07-16T08:31:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T14:31:06","slug":"martinez-makes-her-spin-the-air-we-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/07\/martinez-makes-her-spin-the-air-we-breathe\/","title":{"rendered":"Martinez makes her spin the air we breathe"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> Politicians often have sophisticated spin machines. Former Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s was formidable. But Gov. Susana Martinez takes it to a new level.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

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

After a judge slapped the Public Education Department<\/a> (PED) with a fine earlier this month for failing to respond to a records request in a timely manner, the Martinez administration was, as usual, on message.<\/p>\n

The public-records fight is part of war over the governor\u2019s controversial teacher-evaluation system, which relies heavily on student test scores. Martinez has repeatedly said<\/a> we needed a new system because the old found 99 percent of teachers effective.<\/p>\n

The National Education Association sought documents to back up the 99-percent figure. PED took months to respond, then referenced a study it didn\u2019t release.<\/p>\n

After being busted for illegal secrecy, PED spokesman Robert McEntyre changed the subject: \u201cThe fact remains that under the old, broken system, 99 percent of teachers were rated effective even though only half of our kids were proficient in reading and math,\u201d the Albuquerque Journal quoted him as saying<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem? PED can\u2019t back up that alleged \u201cfact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 99-percent figure \u201ccame from a study done by the University of New Mexico,\u201d a letter<\/a> from PED to the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government states. But PED \u201cno longer has a copy of the study,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

The sunshine group\u2019s Susan Boe said it best: \u201cWhen public officials cite statistics in official speeches or comments, they should be prepared to quickly produce the facts that back up their statements.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would require transparency and willingness to engage in substantive public-policy discussion.<\/p>\n

Instead, in our polarized times, too many politicians spout superficial talking points and dodge transparency. Richardson claimed in 2010 to have no records related to 59 exempt employees he fired. The attorney general called that \u201cimplausible.\u201d<\/a> The media called Richardson out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other words, we didn\u2019t believe him.<\/p>\n

The Martinez Administration more effectively infuses its spin into our collective consciousness.<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s Human Services Department (HSD) insisted in 2013 that federal regulations required it to freeze Medicaid funds to 15 behavioral health agencies during an investigation.<\/p>\n

New Mexico In Depth (NMID), where I was working, showed that the state could have chosen<\/a> to not abruptly halt funding. The payment freeze threw into chaos a system that aids tens of thousands of vulnerable citizens.<\/p>\n

Rather than owning up to the turmoil it created, the Martinez Administration continued blaming the feds. Even after we reported the truth, HSD repeated the same line over<\/a> and over<\/a>. Many news organizations continued spreading the spin without question<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, HSD refused to answer many questions. NMID filed dozens of records requests as we sought to understand the agency\u2019s actions. Some requests remain unanswered to this day. HSD instead deflected, complaining about our requests on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today there are fewer reporters working at a more frantic pace and, as a result, doing journalism that\u2019s sometimes superficial. It\u2019s difficult to keep up with a politician whose messaging is clear, consistent, firm and well-funded \u2013 even when it\u2019s disingenuous and superficial.<\/p>\n

The Martinez administration knows this. So it repeats lines over and over. Martinez political committees spread messages with paid ads and mailers. The spin becomes part of the air we breathe.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really frustrating. People need access to information about their government\u2019s actions. They deserve government that engages in substantive discussion to help them form educated opinions and act accordingly.<\/p>\n

When government hides information and disseminates spin, as the Martinez administration has done, we have something closer to social control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politicians often have sophisticated spin machines. Former Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s was formidable. But Gov. Susana Martinez takes it to a new level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[125,117,134,107,706],"class_list":["post-65717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-education","tag-health-care","tag-media","tag-roundhouse","tag-transparency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65717","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=65717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}