ABC News: Bingaman To Hang it Up

Jeff Bingaman

ABC News - Matthew Jaffe reports: Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, plans to announce that he will retire rather than seek another term, ABC News has learned. The 67-year old Bingaman, who has been in the Senate for 28 years, had not raised a lot of money yet or revealed his intentions about a re-election run. Bingaman will now become the fourth Democratic senator to decide not to run for re-election in 2012, joining a group that already includes Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and Jim Webb of Virginia. Read full story here: News New Mexico

ABC News: Bingaman To Hang it Up

Criminal NM Driver's License Scam Uncovered

Governor Martinez

SANTA FE – Governor Susana Martinez announced today that state and federal investigators have exposed yet another criminal enterprise that is using false residential documents to obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. Five illegal foreign nationals of East Indian descent were arrested Wednesday, including a suspected ring leader who is accused of charging $6,000 per individual to obtain a New Mexico driver’s license. This is the sixth incident in the last seven months involving criminal operators bringing out-of-state illegal immigrants to New Mexico for the sole purpose of obtaining a license. All but one of these suspects faces criminal charges in New Mexico for conspiracy, perjury, and the use of fraudulent documents.

All suspects face federal immigration charges. The arrests follow an intensive, ongoing investigation which was being conducted jointly by the Tax Fraud Investigations Division of the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, the Investigations Bureau of the New Mexico State Police, and the United States Border Patrol. The Tax Fraud Investigations Division and State Police were planning arrests of all five individuals prior to being arrested by the Border Patrol at the Albuquerque Amtrak station. Tax Fraud Investigations Division agents had already stopped the licenses from being issued. Read rest of story here: News New Mexico

Criminal NM Driver's License Scam Uncovered

Union's Fight in Madison is a Disgrace

Townhall - The Democratic/government-union days of rage in Madison, Wis., are a disgrace. Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan calls it Cairo coming to Madison. But the protesters in Egypt were pro-democracy. The government-union protesters in Madison are anti-democracy; they are trying to prevent a vote in the legislature. In fact, Democratic legislators themselves are fleeing the state so as not to vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget cuts. That’s not democracy. The teachers’ union is going on strike in Milwaukee and elsewhere. They ought to be fired. Think Ronald Reagan PATCO in 1981. Think Calvin Coolidge police strike in 1919. The teachers’ union on strike? Wisconsin parents should go on strike against the teachers’ union. A friend e-mailed me to say that the graduation rate in Milwaukee public schools is 46 percent. The graduation rate for African-Americans in Milwaukee public schools is 34 percent. Shouldn’t somebody be protesting that? Read full column here: News New Mexico

Union's Fight in Madison is a Disgrace

Cervantes: Calls for Modernizing Education

Joseph Cervantes

Santa Fe, NM – Rep. Joseph Cervantes (D-Doña Ana) would fundamentally alter the school year in New Mexico to reflect a modern educational system and produce students competitive in the global economy. House Bill 407 would increase the number of required instructional days per year from 180 days to 200 days beginning in 2012-2013. It would also modify the annual school year calendar to reduce the extended summer break and promote continuity in education throughout the year. Rep. Cervantes said, “Parents and educators all see the loss of knowledge and student progress with the extended summer holiday–which is a throwback to an era when students were needed on the family farm. We need to make our students competitive in this global economy and to achieve that, we need to increase our students’ time in the classroom learning.” According to Education in Review, the following are the number of days students in other countries attend school: Japan 243; South Korea 220; Israel 216; The Netherlands 200; Thailand 200; England 192; United States 180. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2009 New Mexico students scored below the national average in Mathematics, Science, Reading, and Writing.

Cervantes: Calls for Modernizing Education

Pearce Back in New Mexico Next Week

Steve Pearce

Las Cruces, NM (February 18, 2011) Congressman Steve Pearce will be attending a business forum with the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce this Thursday, February 24, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. The forum will be located at the Good Samaritan Hall on 3025 Terrace Drive in Las Cruces. The forum will be a joint meeting of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, and the Las Cruces chapter of the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Pearce, a former small-business owner, plans to discuss federal spending, the deficit, and his recent work in Congress for spending reduction and job creation. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.

Pearce Back in New Mexico Next Week

Grubesic: Forsaken by Obama

John Grubesic

Capitol Report New Mexico - I never really believed in President Obama. I voted for him, but I didn’t believe in him. At least not the “HIM” that was sold to us. I was always suspicious. I have no idea how politics works on a national level. I saw how it works on the state level. If you don’t play the game as the rules are written and kiss the appropriate asses you end up defending toothless meth addicts. The guy Richardson picked to run against me told me that he was going to spend $250,000 to get my seat. Richardson knew I didn’t have 250k. Heck, by the end of my first session I knew I was done. I did not have enough money, brains or brown paper bags and guys named Guido to help me out. Obama did not climb out of one of the most corrupt political machines in America because he was a bold visionary. He did it by being cunning, ruthless, self-serving and smarter than the other idiots that surrounded him. Most importantly, he never put himself in a position where he could get caught doing something that would have destroyed him. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Grubesic: Forsaken by Obama

Steve Pearce: Start the Jobs, Mr. President

Steve Pearce

Today, a federal court once again ruled against the Obama Administration’s moratorium on offshore drilling that has paralyzed jobs since July. The moratorium, which has affected over 100 offshore drilling rigs and 33 deep-water platforms, has been estimated to have cost almost 100,000 jobs. The Obama Administration, already ruled in contempt, has continued the moratorium despite prior rulings. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman has described the regulators’ actions as “determined disregard.” 

Their disregard is not only for the rule of law, but also for the thousands of unemployed men and women directly affected by unnecessary job-killing regulation. Every policy has consequences. The consequences of this reckless policy are seen in the faces of the thousands of Americans who now wonder how to feed their families. B.P. should be held completely responsible for its actions, but in this time of crisis, America cannot afford to lose one single job.

Drilling platforms are not simply switches that can be turned on and off at will. They are workplaces, sources of livelihood and security for the thousands of Americans who were once employed there. Feldman voiced concerns over the defiance shown by the moratorium’s continuation, but I am struck by its carelessness. It should not take a federal ruling to point out that taking away the incomes of thousands of families is simply wrong. Across the nation, Americans have lost jobs in the industries that once fueled our economy.

The farms in the San Joaquin Valley once fed our nation, but irresponsible regulations have put thousands of farmers there out of work. New Mexico once had twenty thousand jobs in the timber industry. Today it has only a few. I am working to introduce legislation to reverse the decisions that have cost our families so much. I will ask Congress to let our oil workers, our timber workers, and our farmers go back to work. These bills are simple and straightforward. They only ask for what New Mexicans and Americans have always asked for: freedom. The freedom to feed their families, and to do their part in moving our country forward. It’s not complicated. It’s not controversial. It’s the right thing to do. Americans need jobs, and we need a government who will protect those jobs. We are determined not to be disregarded.

Steve Pearce: Start the Jobs, Mr. President

Swickard Column: Faith based Global Warming

by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - Not that I compare myself with Albert Einstein other than our musical enthusiasm is well beyond our competence. But what Einstein did to discover the theory of relativity was to construct thought experiments rather than invest lots of money in test equipment. So let us use think our way through this question. First, if man-made global warming was fact and not faith we would have a target as to the amount of greenhouse gases to remove to stabilize our planet. The expressed target would keep us from removing too much and thereby making things worse for humans. But climate advocates have no target nor do they hypothesize what to do if we go too far changing the environment. Likewise, if we did have the ability to warm the Earth upon a human notion, why should we not. Certainly in Death Valley they can use a little relief, but much of the rest of our country could use a push upwards of temperature to extend the growing season. Why not do that if we can? So, is there a perfect temperature for the Earth? Why not? As a researcher I believe in the predictive power of data, not just the descriptive ability. For someone to convince me of Global Cooling, Warming or Extreme Climate Change I want to see correlations between the change agents in a predictive model and extend both directions. Namely, if too much greenhouse gases cause temperatures to fall, to rise or to be unsteady, let me see that in action over the centuries of data. But the data does not fit the prediction models. Where does that leave us? We just have to fall back on faith that there is such a thing. Faith works for me and God. I guess for some people it works for Global Warming. Read more News New Mexico

Swickard Column: Faith based Global Warming

Found at an Illinois Resort

TMJ4 MADISON - Democratic State Senators who protested the budget repair bill by leaving the state have been found. The lawmakers are in the Best Western Clock Tower Resort in Rockford Illinois. Law enforcement officials have been looking for at least one Democratic senator to bring in for a quorum required for a fiscal measure, but Democratic Senator Jon Erpenbach confirmed to Newsradio 620 WTMJ that he and all of his Democratic colleagues boarded a bus and left the state. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Found at an Illinois Resort

Cut Spending or Shut it Down

Matt Towery

Townhall - It sounds harsh and cruel, but U.S. House Speaker John Boehner's threat to shut down all but essential federal government services if the Democrats on Capitol Hill can't actually reign in spending is not only the fiscally responsible approach, it is also one that would be popular with the public. Enough with the gamesmanship of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the silliness of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. It's time for Republicans to let America know that the GOP means business -- cut the budget deeply, or shut her down! Read full column here: News New Mexico

Cut Spending or Shut it Down

Chavez: End Racial Preferences Now

Linda Chavez

Townhall - As new figures from the Census tell us, the United States is becoming an increasingly racially and ethnically diverse nation -- with a population that doesn't fit neatly into the racial boxes constructed for "diversity" purposes. So why is it that some universities and other institutions continue to use the old paradigm of granting preferences to members of groups that are deemed "underrepresented"? The Center for Equal Opportunity, which I founded in 1995, has been documenting the use of racial and ethnic preferences in college and professional school admissions for more than a dozen years. Sad to say, too little has changed in this period. Except in a handful of states that have banned the use of race or ethnicity in state employment, contracting, and education -- California and Michigan, most prominently -- many public colleges and universities still give preference in admissions to blacks and Hispanics. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Chavez: End Racial Preferences Now

Apocalypse Now: Wisconsin vs. Big Labor

Michelle Malkin

Townhall - Welcome to the reckoning. We have met the fiscal apocalypse, and it is smack dab in the middle of the heartland. As Wisconsin goes, so goes the nation. Let us pray it does not go the way of the decrepit welfare states of the European Union. The lowdown: State government workers in the Badger State pay piddling amounts for generous taxpayer-subsidized health benefits. Faced with a $3.6 billion budget hole and a state constitutional ban on running a deficit, new GOP Gov. Scott Walker wants public unions to pony up a little more. He has proposed raising the public employee share of health insurance premiums from less than 5 percent to 12.4 percent. He is also pushing for state workers to cover half of their pension contributions. To spare taxpayers the soaring costs of Byzantine union-negotiated work rules, he would rein in Big Labor's collective bargaining power to cover only wages unless approved at the ballot box. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Apocalypse Now: Wisconsin vs. Big Labor

Daily Horrors Continue in Ciudad Juarez 13 Shot

(CNN) -- At least 13 people were fatally shot in less than 24 hours in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez on Thursday, authorities said. "They were killed in separate shootings throughout the city. We had 13 killed by 10 p.m.," said Adrian Sanchez, a municipal police spokesman. He did not provide any other details. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Daily Horrors Continue in Ciudad Juarez 13 Shot