News New Mexico: September 2011

Herman Cain: Barrack Obama's Worst Nightmare

Herman and Gloria Cain

Herman Cain was born in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in Georgia. His mother was a hard working cleaning woman and his father worked as a chauffeur. Cain has a modern education. He excelled in the fields of mathematics and computer science. Cain graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. He earned a Master of Science degree in computer science from Purdue University in 1971. Cain's adult life features a wide range of employment experiences. He worked in the field of ballistics for the U.S. Department of the Navy and then as a business analyst for the Coca-Cola Company.

He is the author of four books: Leadership is Common Sense (1997), Speak as a Leader (1999), CEO of SELF (October 2001), and They Think You're Stupid (May 2005). He also has work published in a professional journal, "The Intangibles of Implementation" appeared in the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).

In 1977 Cain joined Pillsbury. He served as a director of analysis in its restaurant and foods group. Next Cain managed 400 restaurants in the Philadelphia area for Pillsbury. Under Cain's command, his region took just three years to leap from the least profitable for Burger King, to the most profitable. Cain's managerial prowess vaulted him into the role as President and CEO of another Pillsbury subsidiary, Godfather's Pizza. He served there until 1996.

Herman Cain's next stint came as the CEO of the National Restaurant Association trade group. Cain also became a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1992. He served as its chairman from January 1995 to August 1996

Cain was a 1996 recipient of the Horatio Alger Award. The Horatio Alger Award is given to dedicated community leaders who “demonstrate individual initiative and a commitment to excellence; as exemplified by remarkable achievements accomplished through honesty, hard work, self-reliance and perseverance over adversity. All potential Members must have a strong commitment to assisting those less fortunate than themselves and be willing to contribute to the mission of providing scholarships for younger generations.”

The Alger Award

Cain’s resume in business is simply remarkable. He served on the board of directors of Aquila, Inc. from 1992 to 2008, and also served as a board member for Nabisco, Whirlpool, Reader's Digest, and AGCO, Inc. Cain’s outstanding communications skills helped him become a rising star in the media. He served as a commentator for Fox Business Channel and also as a syndicated newspaper columnist. Until February 2011, Cain also hosted The Herman Cain Show on Atlanta talk radio station News Talk 750 WSB. It became clear after the turn of the century that Cain has been looking for ways to change the political dialogue in America. In 2009, Cain founded "Hermanator's Intelligent Thinkers Movement" (HITM), which made it a goal to organize 100,000 activists in every congressional district in the United States in support of:
• a strong national defense
• the Fair Tax
• tax cuts
• energy independence
• capping government spending
• restructuring Social Security.

Hillarycare Prededed Obamacare

Though Cain appears to be a political newcomer he actually publicly opposed the 1993/1994 troublesome health care plan of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton that led to their humiliation in the 1994 off-year elections. As president-elect of the National Restaurant Association, Cain challenged Bill Clinton on the costs of the employer mandate that was contained within that bill. Cain openly criticized its effect on small businesses. And at a town meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Cain asked President Clinton what he (Cain) was supposed to say to the workers he would have to “lay off” because of the cost of the "employer mandate." Clinton responded that there would be plenty of subsidies for small businessmen, but Cain persisted. "Quite honestly, your calculation is inaccurate," he told the president. "In the competitive marketplace it simply doesn't work that way."

Cain has political experience too. In 1996 he served as a senior economic advisor to the Dole/Kemp presidential campaign. Cain briefly ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000; he said it was more about making political statements than winning the nomination. "George W. Bush was the chosen one. He had the campaign DNA that followers look for," Cain said. However, Cain went on to state, "I believe that I had a better message and I believe that I was the better messenger."

In 2004, Cain ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, pursuing the seat that came open with the retirement of Democrat Zell Miller. Cain sought the Republican nomination but finished second to Johnny Isakson in the primary. The is no doubt that Democrats are more afraid of Herman Cain than any other candidate because Cain is everything President Obama isn’t while still an intriguing African American success story. And Dems know their iron grip on 95% of the African American vote would be considerably loosened if Cain's resounding record of achievements became public knowledge. Forget anything any Democratic strategist says about any other candidate. Herman Cain is Barrack Obama’s worst nightmare. Will GOP primary voters grasp the opportunity? Time will tell.

Democrats in Senate: Won't Pass Jobs Bill

The Hill - Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said, at the moment, Democrats in Congress don’t have the votes to pass President Obama’s jobs bill, but Durbin added that that situation would change. “Not at the moment, I don’t think we do, but, uh, we can work on it,” Durbin said, according to Chicago radio station WLS. President Obama has been calling for Congress to pass his American Jobs Act since legislators returned from their August recess. The jobs plan is made up of a combination of tax increases on the wealthy, new infrastructure spending, an extension of the employee payroll-tax cut and additional funding for unemployment insurance benefits. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Ron Paul and Progressives Critical of Obama on Terrorist Kill

NewsNM note - Libertarian and GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul and members from progressive media outlets blasted President Obama this morning for taking out Las Cruces-born cleric Anwar al-Awalaki. Progressive - Forgive me while I don’t cheer the assassination of Anwar Al-Awlaki, the New Mexico-born cleric whom the United States just killed in Yemen. He was a U.S. citizen, after all. He had never been indicted for a crime here, much less convicted of one, much less sentenced to death.

Anwar al-Awalki

Still, the President rubbed him out. We are told that he was a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and there is some evidence that his preachings influenced Al Qaeda terrorists, including a few of the 9/11 attackers and the shoe bomber. He’s no angel. No doubt about that. But does that give the President the right to summarily execute a U.S. citizen? Read full column here: News New Mexico

Las Cruces-Born Terrorist Killed

Anwar al-Awlaki

CBS - Yemen's Defense Ministry claimed Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamic preacher believed to be a high-ranking member of al Qaeda's franchise in the region, has been killed. Al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen born in New Mexico, has been linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) attempted bombing of a U.S. passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas day, 2009, and is thought to be a leader of the group. A Obama administration official tells CBS News senior White House correspondent that the U.S. government has "high confidence" the Yemeni's report is accurate, and al-Awlaki is dead. U.S. officials consider him a most-wanted terror suspect, and added his name last year to the kill or capture list - making him a rare American addition to what is effectively a U.S. government hit-list. Read full story here: News New Mexico

"Credit Expansion"

Courtesy of Conservativedailynews.com

Obama Incentives: Oregon's "Performance Bonus"

Newsnm note - Spence - President Obama said America has gone a little "soft." You can watch that video here. Is it any wonder when you see how the incentives are being structured? Judicial Watch - In its quest to promote taxpayer-funded entitlement programs, the Obama Administration has actually rewarded one state with a $5 million bonus for its efficiency in adding food-stamp recipients to already bulging rolls. It’s part of the administration’s campaign to eradicate “food insecure households” by improving access and increasing participation in the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Incidentally, the program was recently changed to SNAP to eliminate the stigma that comes with a name like food stamps. Just a few months ago the federal agency that administers the program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), launched a multi-million-dollar initiative to recruit more food-stamp participants even though the number of recipients has skyrocketed in the last few years. This week Oregon officials bragged that the USDA has given the state $5 million in “performance bonuses” for ensuring that people eligible for food benefits receive them and for its “swift processing of applications.” The money comes on the heels of a separate $1.5 million award from the feds for making “accurate payments of food stamp benefits to clients.” So welfare recipients are clients? It marks the fifth consecutive year that Oregon has been “recognized” by the federal government for “exceptional administration” of the entitlement program, according to the announcement posted on the state’s Department of Human Services web site. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Prostitution charges dropped against ex-UNM prez

From KOB-TV.com -By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Bernalillo County's District Attorney has dropped prostitution charges against former UNM President F. Chris Garcia. However, the decision doesn't mean the nationally known political science scholar is out of hot water. It's a move that buys the D.A. and the police more time to analyze evidence and the build their case against Garcia and other men busted in what police call a prostitution ring. "When we have complex, multi-defendant cases that involve a lot of documents that have been seized, computers that have been seized, typically it takes awhile to analyze all of that," said District Attorney Kari Brandenburg. The law requires prosecutors to take a case to the grand jury within 60 days of the defendant's arraignment. Dropping the charges and re-filing later gives the prosecution extra time – even months. Read more

Telling the truth to the public does not win races

From NM Politics.net - Commentary by Michael Swickard - Many people, including myself, talk about Ronald Reagan as one of the best presidents. But in the middle of exceptional popularity and support he could not bring himself to tackle the Social Security defects. Likewise, while George W. Bush basked in approval following the 9/11 attacks, he gave lip service to the overhaul of Social Security but could not continue. What stopped both presidents from attempting to fix this program? Both realized that telling the truth to the American public would not win and, therefore, truth was discarded. In a recent column I explained exactly the nature of the Social Security program defects. Money people all know these truths about the structure. But the reading public was less inclined to believe the truth because it did not fit their own desires for receiving Social Security. I came to realize that most people would not accept that the trust fund was filled with unfunded debt instruments rather than bonds. No amount of data supporting the truth made any difference to these people. Read column

Punctuation saves lives

Miller: Lawyers Full Employment Act

Jay Miller

Inside the Capitol - It wasn't intended to be a jobs creator but the recent special session stalemate over redistricting plans has effectively produced the Lawyers' Full Employment Act. Without even waiting for Gov. Susana Martinez to exercise her threatened vetoes, three lawsuits were filed within two days of the special session's adjournment. So the courts, once again, will have to do the dirty work, aided by several million dollars' worth of lawyers. Redistricting lawsuits have been filed in Bernalillo, Lea and Santa Fe counties. More may be on the way. It is likely the state Supreme Court will end up consolidating all suits into one and assigning a mutually agreeable district judge to hear the case and draw new maps. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Ronald Pelosi #2 at Receipient of Latest Solar Loan

Ronald and Nancy Pelosi

The Weekly Standard - Despite the growing Solyndra scandal, yesterday the Department of Energy approved $1 billion in new loans to green energy companies -- including a $737 million loan guarantee to a company known as SolarReserve: SolarReserve LLC, a closely held renewable energy developer, received a $737 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee to build a solar-thermal project in Nevada. The 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes project, near Tonopah, Nevada, will use the sun’s heat to create steam that drives a turbine, the agency said today in a e-mailed statement. SolarReserve is based in Santa Monica, California. On SolarReserve's website is a list of "investment partners," including the "PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC." As blogger American Glob quickly discovered, PCG's number two is none other than "Ronald Pelosi, a San Francisco political insider and financial industry polymath who happens to be the brother-in-law of Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives." Read full story here: News New Mexico

Illegal Immigrants Riding School Bus In NM

Pulaski note: I have heard this complaint numerous times from a teacher in Deming for over three years, this is not a new problem. Teachers are saying illegals use the school bus to transport drugs since Border Patrol does not search school buses. From chron.com - Authorities say four more suspected illegal immigrants entered the U.S and then boarded a New Mexico public school bus. The Deming Headlight reports that Deming Public School transportation office director Ray Trejo says once the four were in Deming, the school bus driver notified the school district which in turn notified the Deming Police Department. More News New Mexico

"Job Loss Greeting Card for 2012"

Courtesy of Conservativedailynews.com

What $5 Billion in Aid to Pakistan Can Buy

Washington Times - In Pakistan, thousands of protesters denounced the United States in marches throughout the South Asian nation. Hundreds of demonstrators shouted, “Death to America,” in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik met with a visiting Chinese official in what some analysts interpreted as an attempt to bolster relations with China. He promised to attack Chinese militants hiding along Pakistan’s border with China. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani praised Pakistani-Chinese relations, calling them “higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey,” the Associated Press reported. U.S. concerns about the relationship between the ISI and the Haqqani Network have dominated recent diplomatic meetings, including a 3½-hour session between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Pakistan’s foreign minister in New York last week. Pakistan’s relationship with the Haqqani Network is “complicated,” said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss intelligence matters. Read full story here: News New Mexico

The saga comes to an end: Jerome Block Jr. pleads guilty, will step down from the PRC

From Capitol Report New Mexico - Jerome Block Jr. accepted a plea bargain in Santa Fe District Court on Wednesday pleading guilty to two felonies and no contest to another stemming from scrapes he had with the law this summer and as part of the arrangement with the state’s Attorney General’s Office, Block will resign from the Public Regulation Commission within 10 days and promises never again run for public office. In addition, Block Jr. is expected back before District Judge Michael Vigil in about three to 10 days to plead guilty to three felony charges (embezzlement, violating the election code and conspiracy to violate the election code) stemming from his 2008 campaign that saw him elected to the PRC. Block faces up to four and a half years in prison but Judge Vigil said after the hearing that Block could conceivably spend no time in prison, provided he successfully goes through state-ordered drug treatment court. Block admitted two months ago he has an addiction to prescription drugs. Block did not say anything to reporters after Judge Vigil went over the terms of the plea agreement. The 34-year-old from Española could formally tender his resignation as early as tomorrow when the the PRC holds one of its twice-weekly public meetings. Read more

36 Criminal Immigrants Arrested in NM

From newmexicoindependent.com -Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) just completed a week-long raid that nabbed 2,901 foreign nationals with criminal records living in the United States, 36 of which were apprehended in New Mexico. More News New Mexico

Funding drop-off may raise rail fares

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - Rail Runner fares could go up by year's end to cover an anticipated $5.4 million drop in federal funding for the passenger train service. Three years of funding under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program is about to end. The last of the money will be allocated in December and will run out by July, said Dewey Cave, executive director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which oversees the operation of the commuter trains in metropolitan Albuquerque and as far north as Santa Fe. The increases under consideration would vary depending on how far a rider travels on the Rail Runner, which bases fares on how many zones a traveler passes through. Under the proposal, the regular rate between the Santa Fe Depot and downtown Albuquerque would be $10 instead of $8 for a day pass. A monthly pass would increase from $100 to $110. Riders who travel the length of the train system, from Belen to Santa Fe, would pay $11 for a day pass instead of $9. A monthly pass for that distance would cost $121 instead of $110. Discounted fares are available for students and senior citizens. Cave said he hopes to have a decision on the proposed increase by December. Read more

Richardson Joins the Baker Institute

Gov. Bill Richardson

From chron.com -Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is the Baker Institute’s new senior fellow for Latin America. In this new role, Richardson will provide direction to the Baker Institute Latin America Initiative’s policy focus on crucial issues, including immigration, natural resources and energy, as well as the emerging roles of key countries such as Brazil. More News New Mexico

Federal officials ban medical marijuana users from owning firearms

From KOB-TV.com - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is cracking down on medical marijuana users who own or want to own a gun. Federal authorities say firearms dealers in New Mexico cannot sell guns or ammunition to registered users of the drug. Licensed gun dealers are not allowed to sell guns to buyers who answer "yes" when a required form asks them if they are "an unlawful user of, or addicted to," marijuana or other controlled substances. William Walters is a Vietnam veteran. He is trying to get a medical marijuana card. "They're trying to take away our rights, we have a right to possess a gun," Walters said. A September 21 letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also says dealers cannot sell a gun or ammunition if they have "reasonable cause to believe" the buyer is using controlled substances, even if the state allows it. Valerie Jackson runs Charlie’s Sporting Goods in Albuquerque and commented on the requirement. “It’s going to be hard to tell, I’m not law enforcement,” said Jackson in reference to the gun dealer’s responsibility with the new directive. Read more

The media shouldn’t decide who gets to be president

From NM Politics.net - by Heath Haussamen - Though he has a strong résumé, ideas about how to fix America, and a penchant for being brutally honest, Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign is dead simply because the mainstream media decided he couldn’t win The mainstream media’s successful efforts to shut down the presidential campaign of former N.M. Gov. Gary Johnson are outrageous. I’ve been angry for months about the media’s subjective judging of who is and who isn’t a serious presidential candidate and how it has destroyed the hopes of a candidate who should have been credible. It’s not because I have a high opinion of Johnson or want him to be president. It’s because I believe voters should get to decide whether to take Johnson seriously. Instead, the media has made that decision for them. Read more

At It's Roots, Global Warming Theory/Alarmism is "Interpretation".....Not Science

Dr. Ivar Giaever

Townhall - In truth, global-warming alarmism is not science at all -- not in the way that electromagnetic radiation or the laws of planetary motion or molecular biology is science. Catastrophic climate change is an interpretation of certain scientific data, an interpretation based on theories about the causes and effects of growing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is not "denying science" to have doubts about the correctness of that interpretation any more than it is "denying economics" to have doubts about the efficacy of Kenyesian pump-priming. You don't have to look far to see that impeccable scientific standards can go hand-in-hand with skepticism about global warming. Ivar Giaever, a 1973 Nobel laureate in physics, resigned this month as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) to protest the organization's official position that evidence of manmade climate change is "incontrovertible" and cause for alarm. In an e-mail explaining his resignation, Giaever challenges the view that any scientific assertion is so sacred that it cannot be contested. "In the APS it is ok to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves," Giaever writes, incredulous, "but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?"

Albert Einstein

Nor does Giaever, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty member, share the society's view that carbon emissions threaten "significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security, and human health." In fact, the very concept of a "global" temperature is one he questions: "The claim (how can you measure the average temperature of the whole earth for a whole year?) is that the temperature has changed from ~288.0 to ~288.8 degrees Kelvin in about 150 years, which (if true) means to me … that the temperature has been amazingly stable, and both human health and happiness have definitely improved in this 'warming' period." By now, only ideologues and political propagandists insist that all reputable scientists agree on the human responsibility for climate change. Even within the American Physical Society, the editor of "Physics and Society" (an APS publication) has acknowledged that "there is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree … that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are … primarily responsible for the global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution." Giaever is only one of many distinguished scientists who dissent from the alarmist view on climate change. Among the others are Richard Lindzen of MIT and John Christy of the University of Alabama at Huntsville, both noted climatologists; the eminent physicist Freeman Dyson of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study; and S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus of environmental science at the University of Virginia. Within the population of weather experts best known to the public -- broadcast meteorologists -- The New York Times reported last year that skepticism of the prevailing anthropogenic global-warming theory "appears to be widespread." Read full analysis here: News New Mexico

Block Jr. Pays Traffic Ticket Fine

Jerome Block Jr.

Santa Fe New Mexican - Nearly 16 months after a Santa Fe police officer cited him for reckless driving, state Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. finally appeared in Municipal Court to pay his fine. But, even though court officials gave Block a letter to present to the New Mexico Motor Vehicles Division to get his driver's license reinstated, MVD records show the 34-year-old elected official hasn't done so, an MVD spokesman said Tuesday. "As of this afternoon, his license is still suspended," spokesman S.U. Mahesh said. "Once you get a clearance letter and take that to any MVD office and pay a reinstatement fee, which is $25, they give you a permit for 45 days. Then the driver's license will come in the mail." Asked whether it was possible that Block presented the letter and the agency had not yet processed it, Mahesh said, "Our records show he hasn't produced the clearance letter and paid the reinstatement fee." Block didn't return two phone messages left for him Tuesday. Read full story here: News New Mexico

The Things Government Guaranteed Loans Buy

Bloomberg - The glass-and-metal building that Solyndra LLC began erecting alongside Interstate 880 in Fremont, California, in September 2009 was something the Silicon Valley area hadn’t seen in years: a new factory. It wasn’t just any factory. When it was completed at an estimated cost of $733 million, including proceeds from a $535 million U.S. loan guarantee, it covered 300,000 square feet, the equivalent of five football fields. It had robots that whistled Disney tunes, spa-like showers with liquid-crystal displays of the water temperature, and glass-walled conference rooms. “The new building is like the Taj Mahal,” John Pierce, 54, a San Jose resident who worked as a facilities manager at Solyndra, said in an interview. The building, designed to make far more solar panels than Solyndra got orders for, is now shuttered, and U.S. taxpayers may be stuck with it. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6, leaving in its wake investigations by Congress and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a Republican-fueled political embarrassment for the Obama administration, which issued the loan guarantee. About 1,100 workers lost their jobs. Read full story here: News New Mexico

U.S. Solar Bank (Energy Dept.) At It AGAIN

Forbes - The Energy Department on Wednesday approved two loan guarantees worth more than $1 billion for solar energy projects in Nevada and Arizona, two days before the expiration date of a program that has become a rallying cry for Republican critics of the Obama administration's green energy program. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the department has completed a $737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy for a 110 megawatt solar tower on federal land near Tonopah, Nev., and a $337 million guarantee for Mesquite Solar 1 to develop a 150 megawatt solar plant near Phoenix. The loans were approved under the same program that paid for a $528 million loan to Solyndra Inc., a California solar panel maker that went bankrupt after receiving the money and laid off 1,100 workers. Solyndra is under investigation by the FBI and is the focal point of House hearings on the program. Read full story here: News New Mexico

1st Year of Obamacare: Health Insurance up 9%

ABC - Health insurance premiums shot up 9 percent this year, nearly three times the rate of inflation and the most since 2005, a new study shows. This year, the annual premiums paid out for employer-sponsored programs topped $15,000, according to Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust, which conducts an annual health benefits survey. Average health care premiums rose to $10,944 for employers and $4,129 for workers for a total of $15,073. At a time when economic news is gloomy, the rate of payment may seem troublesome. “This year’s 9 percent increase in premiums is especially painful for workers and employers struggling through a weak recovery,” Kaiser President Drew Altman said in a statement. The rate of increase is faster than wage hikes and general inflation, which rose 2.1 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. The figure has risen a whopping 113 percent in the last 10 years, according to Kaiser. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Enivronmentalists Gather in Santa Fe to Criticize Industries

KOB - TV - A national advocacy group challenged Gov. Susana Martinez’s record on New Mexico environmental issues in a report released Tuesday. In a press conference at the Roundhouse, Food & Water Watch was joined by local groups Conservation Voters New Mexico and the New Mexico Federation of Labor in criticizing Martinez for what it called her practice of giving “special privilege to industries like oil and gas, industrialized dairy, homebuilders and mining at the expense of environmental protection and the local economy.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

"Texas Fire Starter"

Courtesy of Conservativedailynews.com

Miller: Dems Can't Criticize Martinez on Jobs

Jay Miller

Inside the Capitol - Ever since Gov. Susana Martinez presented her initiatives to the Legislature last January, Democrats have accused her of concentrating on wedge issues instead of job creation. Gov. Martinez countered that insisting on no new taxes and reduction of regulations on businesses was the best jobs program possible. Democrats disagreed and argued that more immediate solutions were necessary. Democrats picked up some extra ammunition as the Legislature adjourned in March. A group of Republican senators, upset that some of the governor's priorities were not scheduled for debate, staged a filibuster that caused a big capital outlay bill to die upon adjournment. An omnibus bill, funding public works projects throughout the state is usually always the final item heard on the floor of the Senate before adjournment. The strategy is to preclude senators from last-minute efforts to add projects in their districts. Martinez had no visible connection to the death of the capital outlay bill but it could be argued that she was more interested in issues other than jobs. When the special session rolled around in September, that capital outlay bill was a major priority of the governor. The state's business and labor communities got together to support it. Capital outlay bills are popular because they don't require taxpayer money. They are funded by taxes on the minerals that are mined or pumped out of our state land. Capital outlay bills are especially popular these days since they fund infrastructure projects at a time when our state and nation is becoming aware of our decaying infrastructure. So it came as a big surprise when the Senate Finance Committee pared the capital outlay bill from $213 million to $86 million. Committee chairman John Arthur Smith, of Deming, took the lead in arguing that in a time of such economic uncertainty, we should hold some money back in case there is less income to the fund or in case interest rates on severance tax bonds increase. It was assumed that more moderate Democrats, along with Republican supporters of Gov. Martinez, could push the appropriation back up to its original level. But it didn't happen. Republicans were not united behind the governor's proposal. Any hopes of House members rallying in support of a higher figure were dashed when the Senate passed the bill at its lower amount and then adjourned at 1 a.m. last Saturday morning, leaving the House with no choice other than to accept the Senate's figure or go home empty handed again. Read full column here: News New Mexico

PRC's Jerome Block to resign this week?

From KOB-TV.com - By: Gadi Schwartz, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Big developments are expected this week in the case against PRC commissioner Jerome Block Jr. KOB Eyewitness News 4's Gadi Schwartz says several sources have confirmed that Block is expected to resign sometime this week. Tonight Block himself confirmed resignation is on his mind. For the past week and a half, Block again has stopped showing up for work. He missed a PRC meeting Tuesday morning, and two last week - but last Thursday he did stop by the PRC office to pick up his paycheck. Today Schwartz reached Block by phone, and he said he is thinking about resigning and doesn't want taxpayers to have to pay for his impeachment proceedings. But he also told us he has a status hearing for his 2009 election fraud case scheduled for tomorrow in district court. Neither Block nor the Attorney Generals' office will tell us what the hearing is about. But the hearing comes a little more than a month away from when lawmakers could take up new allegations against Block - based on newer allegations regarding his use of a state-issued gas card. Read more

Editorial: Wasted days, wasted nights

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - Even our low expectations for Gov. Susana Martinez's first special legislative session were not met. In this latest train-wreck excuse for governing, neither she, the Republicans nor the Democratic leadership have emerged with credit to their names. The biggest losers, unfortunately, are New Mexico taxpayers, who spent around a million bucks on session expenses. Now taxpayers are facing millions more in court costs to complete redistricting. Santa Fe now resembles Washington on the Rio Grande, with gridlock, finger-pointing and a lack of will to get the people's business done. At the beginning of this mess, we suggested a way to save money on the session. Pass a dummy redistricting bill, let the governor veto it and send it to the courts. Stay a day, or two, at the most. It was clear that whatever a Democratic Legislature passed, our Republican, red-meat governor would veto. So why stretch it out? The Legislature itself has little to crow about. Our representatives could not even pass a redistricting plan for the state's three congressional districts. What did get through was redistricting of the state Senate, the House of Representatives, the Public Regulation Commission and the Public Education Commission. The governor says the plans are too partisan and promises to veto most, if not all of them. That means the courts will decide where people vote, a process that cost some $3.5 million 10 years ago. Read more

Mexico rejects video call to exterminate cartel

From the El Paso Times - Mark Stevenson AP - The Mexican government said it is investigating videos posted on the Internet in which a gang of masked men vow to exterminate the violent Zetas drug cartel, and said it opposes such vigilante methods. At least two videos have been posted by a group believed linked to the powerful Sinaloa cartel that calls itself the "Mata Zetas," or "Zetas Killers." The Zetas were founded by deserters from an elite military unit and are known for their brutality. In the most recent video, posted over the weekend, the group says it is attacking the Zetas because people are tired of the gang's kidnappings and extortion. "We are the armed wing of the people, and for the people," says a man with a ski mask, who is seen in the video sitting at a table with four other masked associates and reading from a prepared statement. "We are anonymous warriors, with faces, but proudly Mexican." The speaker said his group was prohibited by its ethical code from carrying out kidnappings or extortion. No group has formally claimed responsibility for that video, but the language and style of the declaration were similar to a video released in July, in which about two dozen armed men claimed to be "Mata Zetas" from the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, or New Generation cartel, a group linked to the Sinaloa cartel. Read more

NC governor recommends suspending democracy to focus on jobs

From The Daily Caller - Update - a press person said the governor was just kidding - By Matthew Boyle - As a way to solve the national debt crisis, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue recommends suspending congressional elections for the next couple of years. “I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, N.C., according to the Raleigh News & Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.” Perdue said she thinks that temporarily halting elections would allow members of Congress to focus on the economy. “You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things,” Perdue said. North Carolina Republicans immediately scoffed at Perdue’s proposal, pointing out to her that elections hold politicians accountable for their actions. Read more

Commentary: Obama May Still Cave on Social Security

From The Progressive Magazine - By Matthew Rothschild - President Obama appears to be finally standing up for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. But I’m afraid he’s nonetheless preparing the way for cuts in these programs. First, he’s exaggerating the risks that deficits pose, which fuels the Republican fires. Second, he’s already proposing higher deductibles for people who are just coming into Medicare. Third, his cuts in Medicaid may invite states to kick poor and disabled people off the rolls. And while he didn’t include Social Security cuts in his proposal, it wasn’t so long ago that he was negotiating a so-called grand bargain with John Boehner, where he put everything on the table, including cuts in Social Security and raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Read more

David Axelrod: Obama 2012 Campaign Will Be 'Titanic Struggle'

From the Huffington Post - MANCHESTER, N.H. — President Barack Obama's chief political adviser on Tuesday conceded that a dark cloud looms over the American economy and Obama's political future, describing the president's road to a second term in the White House as "a titanic struggle.""We have the wind in our face because the American people have the wind in their faces," David Axelrod told an audience of New Hampshire politicians and business leaders. "So this is going to be a titanic struggle. But I firmly believe we're on the right side of the struggle."
But even as he acknowledged the stark political reality, Axelrod said the president would ultimately win re-election, in part because of the flawed field of Republican candidates. He characterized their plans to repair the nation's ailing economy as the same kind of deregulation and tax cuts that caused the downturn in the first place. "This isn't new wine and old bottles. This is old wine and old bottles," Axelrod said. Read more

Christie: US Fails to Live Up to 'Tradition of Exceptionalism’

From NewsMax.com - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in a much-anticipated speech at the Reagan Library slammed President Barack Obama for being a “bystander in the Oval Office,” and said the Washington gridlock is ineffective and embarrassing to the rest of the country.Christie addressed domestic and international issues important to Americans, but did not do what many supporters had hoped announce a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.“We watch a president who once talked about the courage of his convictions, but still has yet found the courage to lead,” Christie said. “We watch a Congress at war with itself because they are unwilling to leave campaign style politics at the Capitol’s door.” The address at the Reagan Library gives Christie, who has urged Republican presidential candidates to take a harder line on entitlement spending and debt, an opportunity to expand his influence in national politics and shape the race, according to political observers. Still, supporters were not letting it go. In a brief question-and-answer session after his speech, it was the number two question asked by a supporter. Christie joked that he had expected the "are you running" question to be the first. Again, Christie was pressed by another audience member; he directed people to go to a website that compiled a video version of all his no answers back-to-back. "Click on it, those are the answers," Christie said. Read more

Report: Iran Threatens to Deploy Navy Off U.S. Coast

From The Blaze - Reuters is reporting that Iran has raised the possibility of sending Iranian warships close enough to U.S. shores to ratchet up tensions. According to the official IRNA news agency, Iranian naval chief Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said: “Like the arrogant powers that are present near our marine borders, we will also have a powerful presence close to American marine borders.” Sayyari was speaking at a ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. He didn’t elaborate on the scale or timing of the possible naval deployment. This Iranian saber-rattling comes on the heels of other recent provocations, including the passage of Iranian warships through the Suez Canal a few months ago, which marked the first time the Islamic Republic of Iran has ever deployed warships to the Mediterranean. Read more

Bila: Why Herman Cain Resonates With Voters

Jedediah Bila

Daily Caller - His tea party support is solid and growing. He won the Florida straw poll on September 24, receiving 37% of the vote, more than double that of runner-up Rick Perry. And the latest IBOPE Zogby poll revealed that “Rick Perry has tumbled by more than 20 percentage points over the past month among Republican presidential primary voters and is now second to Herman Cain, who leads the field with 28%.” Herman Cain possesses two ingredients that are resonating with voters quite powerfully: executive experience and no-nonsense candor. A resume that includes regional vice president of Pillsbury’s Burger King division, president and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and president of the National Restaurant Association attracts voters who are tired of politicians with zero business experience lecturing them about free-market economics. But it’s the latter trait — his candor — that I believe has caught voters’ attention more than anything.

I have had the honor of speaking with Herman Cain in person and interviewed him recently. I was impressed on both occasions by his refusal to tell me what he thought I wanted to hear, and to instead simply tell me what he thought. There is a refreshing honesty with which he delivers his message, one that is void of the arrogance and elitist condescension that characterize our current commander-in-chief. Cain is down-to-earth, approachable and in touch with the values that built this country. His love of the American dream comes from having fought so hard to attain it. His commitment to free-market principles comes from the practical knowledge that those principles are key to building a strong and prosperous business, economy and country. His disgust with D.C. politics has driven him to lead a solutions-based campaign. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Zogby Poll: Herman Cain is on the LEAD

Herman Cain

Human Events - A new Zogby poll puts Herman Cain at the top of the Republican field, as the top choice of 28% of poll respondents. (IBOPE Zogby International says the polling sample consists of “all likely voters and of likely Republican primary voters.”) Rounding out the top three are Rick Perry at 18%, and Mitt Romney at 17%. Fourth place goes to Ron Paul at 11%. Paul’s the most solid performer in Zogby’s polling history for the 2012 GOP race – his 11% might as well be chiseled in stone. Interestingly, this poll was conducted after the Orlando GOP debate, but before Cain won the Florida straw poll. It’s a huge surge for Cain, who was polling at 12% just two weeks previously, and was floating at a campaign low of 8% two weeks before that. Aside from that bitter 8% number, Cain has generally done quite well in the Zogby poll, usually good enough for second or third place. On the other hand, Rick Perry’s numbers in the Zogby poll have cratered, falling 19% in just two weeks. His debut last month was also his high-water mark thus far, when Zogby had him at 41%. Michelle Bachmann has also been slipping steadily, chugging in at 4%. That puts her just below Jon Huntsman, which is the same way she finished the Florida straw poll. Bachmann was actually the leading candidate in Zogby’s polling from June 21 through July 25… then she plunged to 9% in the next poll and continued sliding down from there. Romney’s been holding fairly steady in the Zogby poll. He bounces a few points up and down, but seems to hover in the 15-17% range. Read full story here: News New Mexico

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