Martinez Puts Kabosh on EIB Carbon Cap

From errorsofenchantment.com -Great news for New Mexicans and the state economy: Governor Susana Martinez has halted the implementation of the state’s carbon cap that was passed through the Environmental Improvement Board. This is a clear, early sign that Martinez is serious about turning New Mexico’s economy around. If environmentalists want to pass a carbon cap in New Mexico, I highly recommend they pursue it through the democratically-elected Legislature and Governor. We’ll fight them, but at least it is a fair fight when legislators have to stand for election once in a while (unlike the unelected EIB).
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Revoking Licenses of Illegal Aliens in NM

Susana Martinez
From borderalert.org -One of the first priorities for Governor-elect Susana Martinez is to revoke the thousands of drivers’ licenses which have been issued by New Mexico to illegal aliens in recent years. After Arizona passed SB1070, illegal aliens have been flocking to New Mexico which does not currently require proof of citizenship to obtain a license. Outgoing open-borders advocate, Gov. Bill Richardson, made it worse by passing a law banning DMV clerks from asking an applicant if they are in the country legally.  As a result, New Mexico had become a favorite with human smugglers and those who make their living from selling fraudulent documents. A recent study of the New Mexico DMV found a surge in licenses issued to immigrants (both legal and illegal). In fact, there was a 60 percent increase over  the previous year during a 10-week period following the passage of Arizona’s new immigration law while the number of licenses issued to citizens during that same period did not increase.  More here
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Atrocities in Tucson

Gabrielle Giffords
Washington Times - A gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head on Saturday, critically wounding her, killing six people and wounded another 11 at an event the congresswoman was holding in Tucson, Ariz. Dr. Peter M. Rhee at University Medical Center in Tucson said Ms. Giffords was out of surgery Saturday afternoon, countering initial reports that she had been killed. Asked about her chances for recovery, Dr. Rhee said he was "about as optimistic as you can get in this situation." Read full story:

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Capitol Report New Mexico: According to Nunez, Votes are There for Cervantes to Become Next Speaker of the House

Rob Nikolewski
Capitol Report New Mexico  reports that Representative Andy Nunez thinks the votes are there to separate Ben Lujan from his decade long hold on the New Mexico Speaker of the House position. Capitol Report's Rob Nikolewski says Nunez told him “All but two or three” Republicans had indicated to Nunez they would be willing to vote for Joseph Cervantes. This confirms independent reports from guests on News New Mexico including former Governor Garrey Carruthers who said he thinks as many as ten Democrats around state will part ways with the speaker and join about thirty Republicans in the effort to oust Lujan.
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NM Could Lose Border Guard Unit

From KRQE.com -About 100 members of New Mexico's National Guard who patrol on the U.S.-Mexico border could soon be out of a job. Federal funding for the New Mexico Counterdrug Task Force will run out before the end of the month, according to the New Mexico National Guard. The task force was formed through funds secured by Senator Jeff Bingaman through federal earmarks several years ago. In over 5 years of existance, the task force has received more than $16 million in earmarks. An additional $6 million was secured by both of New Mexico's U.S. Senators for 2011. However, the earmark bill was killed during the lame duck session of Congress.  More here
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Obama Planning To Give Commerce Department Authority To Create Internet ID for Americans

From weaselzippers.com -President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today. It’s “the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government” to centralize efforts toward creating an “identity ecosystem” for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said. That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intelligence agencies.  More here
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Ask and You Shall Receive

From newsbusters.com -Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, who last year wrote a lengthy book on the first year of Barack Obama's presidency, looked very displeased on Dylan Ratigan's MSNBC program earlier this week when other guests concurred with accusations of corruption against the White House. "There is zero evidence" of corruption, he insisted. When fellow guest Tim Carney, a Washington Examiner columnist, disagreed, Alter demanded Carney produce evidence. So he did: Ex Google lobbyist Andrew McLaughlin working as the No. 2 tech policy guy in the White House discussing net neutrality with Google lobbyists (registered and unregistered) while Google stood to profit from the administration's Net Neutrality rules. Former Goldman Sachs lobbyist Mark Patterson taking a job as Treasury Department chief of staff within 9 months of his work for Goldman. Former H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst being hired by Obama's IRS and then writing new regulations on tax prep -- regulations that H&R Block has endorsed, and that will help H&R Block. Obama officials meeting off campus for official business for the sake of avoiding the Presidential Records Act.  More corruption here
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Don't Ask Me I Just Work Here

From weaselzippers.com - After reading his prepared remarks on the economy at a window manufacturer on Friday, President Obama sought to take some photos with workers when a pool reporter caught up with him and asked him to explain the connection between the drop in the unemployment rate and the lower-than-expected number of jobs added in December. Obama’s response, according to the pool: “You know, you’ve got to talk to Austan Goolsbee. That’s his job.”  Obama then posed for some photos.
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State Dept. Finds Terms ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ So 20th Century

From michellemalkin.com -Last night I read that the State Department plans to remove the words “mother” and “father” from U.S. passports and replace those offensive and dated terms with “gender neutral terminology” — in this instance “parent one” and “parent two” (protest from three-plus parent families in 3… 2… 1…). The news piqued my curiosity, because this year my wife and are planning to travel to a foreign country (California) and will undoubtedly need passports. I’m expecting an argument to erupt over which one of us is “parent one” and which is “parent two.”  More here
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"Serious Violence to the National Debt and Deficit?"

Townhall - by David Limbaugh - Can you imagine the sheer audacity of outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sermonizing that repealing Obamacare would do "very serious violence to the national debt and deficit"? This is the woman whose four-year tenure as speaker saw the national debt explode from $8.67 trillion to $14.01 trillion. She's the lady who boasted, "Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go." Such is the state of Pelosi's credibility that even 19 of her Democratic colleagues voted against her for speaker. When it comes to a wide spectrum of issues, I'm not sure which planet Pelosi and her ilk of liberals inhabit, but the Obamacare fiasco takes their otherworldliness to another level altogether -- and that's being charitable because it assumes they're innocently unaware of how wrong they are. Everyone knows that with Obamacare's government-mandated increases in demand and in government control over prices, shortages and rationing are inevitable. (That's either why they've established their little bureaucratic boards or their excuse for establishing them; the boards will ultimately dictate decisions concerning choice of care -- including, dare I say it, end-of-life care.) Read full column here:
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