Pearce: "A Better Deal in January"

Steve Pearce

From NMPolitics.net - If this week’s House and Senate votes on the Obama-GOP tax compromise had taken place next month, the entire New Mexico delegation would have opposed the deal. U.S. Rep.-elect Steve Pearce, R-N.M., says he would have voted against the deal if he had the chance. Of course, Pearce’s opposition isn’t for the same reason that the majority of the New Mexico delegation voted against the bill this week.

 “While I agree with portions of this bill, I believe the American people could get a better deal in January,” Pearce said. “I support the tax portions of the plan. No American should experience a tax increase in these troubled economic times.” “However, spending by the Washington politicians continues to build a debt that the American people cannot pay,” he said. “This bill and some of the others moving through the lame-duck Congress are too costly. After I take office in January, this is the kind of spending I hope to rein in so we can focus on getting our economy moving again to create jobs in southern New Mexico.” Read full story here:

Pearce: "A Better Deal in January"

Sowards to Run for U.S. Senate

Greg Sowards

From NMPolitics.net - Former congressional candidate Greg Sowards of Las Cruces announced today that he’s running in 2012 for the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jeff Bingaman. Here’s the statement Sowards released about why he’s running: “The most pressing fight of our time involves the question: What will be the national atmosphere that our children’s children will live under? Will they have the liberty to experience and learn from those endearing lessons that freedom affords? Or, will they be deprived of that opportunity through governmental intervention and the squandering of their resources by shortsighted politicians? “It is those questions that compel me to step forward and offer myself, my values and the conservative principles on which I will base any action in Washington.” Read full story here:

Sowards to Run for U.S. Senate

Let the Sun Shine

From Capitol Report New Mexico - Want to know who makes the most money of all the members of Bill Richardson’s staff? (It’s Chief of Staff Brian Condit, $140,492.64) Or how much Advantage Asphalt made in state purchase contracts? ($157,345.36 since September of ‘09) How ’bout how many contracts the state has with the potash industry? (That would be 21, worth $548,207.52) Questions like these — from the significant to the trivial – are now available in a matter of seconds, thanks to the debut of the state’s so-called “sunshine portal,” an invaluable online resource that debuted Dec. 16. Read full story here:

Let the Sun Shine

Compromise Prevails in Midnight House Vote

From the Washington Times - Staving off the largest tax increase in history, lawmakers Friday morning passed President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans through the House after fending off a last-minute effort to increase the estate tax beyond what was proposed. The House voted 277-148 to send the plan to Mr. Obama for his signature - all-but ending one of the longest running stalemates on Capitol Hill.

The result followed a long day in which Democrats struggled to overcome the anger of their most liberal members and where both parties griped about the plan's shortcomings, including its impact on the soaring national debt. But enough lawmakers eventually agreed that allowing tax cuts to expire was simply too risky for the economy and would possibly jeopardize the nation's climb out of the recession. "I will vote for this bill because I don't want to see middle-income working people in America get a tax increase because I think that will be a depressant on an economy that needs to be lifted up," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, told his colleagues. "I believe that folks need certainty." Read full story here:

Compromise Prevails in Midnight House Vote

Earmark Laden Ominbus Bill is Dead

From the Atlanta Constitution - Two days after unveiling a 1,924 page earmark-filled Omnibus Budget plan, Democrats last night pulled the plug on the massive budget bill, sparking an hour of bitter exchanges on the Senate floor. What most people probably don't realize is that the Omnibus bill was the product of months of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee, all of which had the backing of Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
In other words - it was Business As Usual in the Congress. "It was a Democratic and Republican bill," complained Sen. Reid. But after the results of the November elections were in - where a dominant message was that Congress was spending too much money - McConnell pulled a 180 degree turn and declared his opposition to the bill, ultimately bringing other GOP Senators along with him.

"There's only one reason why cloture is not being filed," McConnell said just a few feet away from Reid on the Senate floor last night, "He doesn't have the votes." A number of GOP Senators - "Nine" according to Reid - had been ready to back the bill and overcome any filibuster. But in the past 48 hours, they came under huge pressure from McConnell, other Republicans and conservative groups, and were forced to drop their support. "We just saw a rather extraordinary event on the floor of the Senate," said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who for years fought a lonely, losing battle against leaders in both parties over spending and earmarks. "Huge defeat for the big spenders, and a great victory for the American people," McCain said. Read full story here:

Earmark Laden Ominbus Bill is Dead