NM gets an official state necklace

From KRQE.com - SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico has an official state necklace because of a new law. Gov. Susana Martinez signed a measure Monday designating the Native American squash blossom necklace as the official necklace of New Mexico. The law takes effect June 17. The necklace features silver beads called squash blossoms with turquoise or other gem stones. The necklace joins a long list of state symbols, such as the state flower, bird, insect and cookie.

NM gets an official state necklace

Dan Lewis Is In

Dan Lewis

NMPolitics - As expected, Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis formally entered the race to replace Martin Heinrich in the U.S. House on Sunday. The Republican vowed to help “stop the insanity of rampant government spending” and “protect and promote job-creating small businesses” in Congress, according to a news release. He described his main priorities as creating jobs and assisting small businesses, confronting the looming national debt, and strengthening national security. Lewis is the first candidate to enter the race. One other Republican, former gubernatorial candidate and state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, has formed a congressional exploratory committee. On the Democratic side, State Sen. Eric Griego has formed an exploratory committee as he considers the race. In addition, State Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, announced that he is seriously considering running for the seat. So is Terry Brunner, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s former state director who now heads USDA Rural Development in New Mexico. Heinrich, a Democrat, is vacating the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District seat to run for the Senate seat that is open next year because of Bingaman’s retirement. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Dan Lewis Is In

Kucinich: An Impeachable Offense

Dennis Kucinich

CBSNews-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) told Hotsheet today that it's an "indisputable fact" that President Obama committed an impeachable offense by authorizing a military attack without congressional approval. "The next question is what does Congress do it about it," Kucinich said, adding that he hasn't said he's introducing a resolution for impeachment. "This is a teachable moment," he said. "The American people should understand that our Constitution does not provide for the president to wage war any times he pleases." Kucinich and other lawmakers -- including both liberal Democrats and some Republicans -- are raising concerns about the air strikes the U.S. military is conducting in Libya to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from killing civilians who oppose his rule.

The United States on Monday fired cruise missiles over Libya, after leading a round of air attacks over the weekend. The air attacks are part of an effort to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya approved by the United Nations last week. The U.N. resolution approving the no-fly zone also approved "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians. In a press conference, Mr. Obama maintained today that the U.S. will hand off control of the mission to the international coalition supporting the no-fly zone in a matter of days. But Kucinich said the U.S.'s continuing role in the mission does not change the fact that the president went outside of his authority. "They crossed the line," he said. "The president needs to explain to the nation why he went outside the Constitution to order this attack." Read full story here: News New Mexico

Kucinich: An Impeachable Offense

A Looming Disaster

Lurita Doan

Townhall - Once again, on energy policy and action, President Obama talks the talk, but has no substance behind his teleprompted words. In an address at Georgetown University, Obama touted his Administration's plans for energy dependence, outlined in the 44 page, Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future, recently released by the White House. The Blueprint is a banal and ineffective proposal more reminiscent of a poorly written, high school term paper than a substantive policy paper from the leader of the free world. In it, Obama continues his worrisome trend of avoiding decisions, clouding the issues, and sidestepping any responsibility to lead.

The President should be ashamed. Obama's speech made it clear that while he advocates making hard choices, he has very little experience and no plan for doing so. So when he tried to talk down the price of oil by outlining a new energy policy which would make America less dependent upon foreign oil, the market quickly reacted.

Within hours of Obama's speech, the Stock Market apparently weighed, measured and found Obama's proposals hollow, and ineffective, and the price of oil went up. Clearly, the President’s gift of persuasion is not what it used to be as we become more and more used to his unwillingness to make difficult decision or face problems squarely. Obama said: "we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy." Obama then made a powerful case to demonstrate his own lack of seriousness. Read full column here: News New Mexico

A Looming Disaster

Guantanamo It Is

Guantanamo Bay

WASHINGTON (AFP) - In a major about-face by the Obama administration, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators are to be tried by a military tribunal at Guantanamo rather than a civilian court in New York, a US official said Monday. Attorney General Eric Holder will officially announce the U-turn later on Monday, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity, saying: "KSM will be tried at Guantanamo." Proceedings for co-accused Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, Walid bin Attash, Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi will also be at the US naval base in southeastern Cuba rather than US federal courts, the official added.

President Barack Obama has vowed to close Guantanamo, having held it up as a symbol of all that was wrong with the so-called "war on terror" waged by his predecessor George W. Bush. The high-profile trials of Sheikh Mohammed and the four other alleged Al-Qaeda figures -- a date has not yet been set -- provide the latest evidence that the detention center will stay open for some time. In one of his first acts as president in 2009, Obama halted trials at Guantanamo Bay and announced he planned to close the detention camp within a year. But he has been thwarted in his ambition by legal challenges in prosecuting suspects deemed to be at war with the United States and strong opposition from both friends and foes in Congress. Obama's position softened last month when he lifted a two-year freeze on new military trials for Guantanamo terror suspects, paving the way for Monday's decision. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Guantanamo It Is

Parker: America Badly Needs Leadership

Star Parker

Townhall - As negotiations in Washington on this year’s budget (already halfway into the year that this budget is for) come to a head, the rumor mill points to a Washington-as-usual result. That is, split the differences down the middle. But, as King Solomon taught us, resolving a dispute by splitting the difference is not always a sign of virtue. Republicans want to cut $61 billion from a budget of almost $4 trillion with a deficit of $1.6 trillion. Current interest payments on the national debt, some $200 billion, dwarf these proposed cuts that Democrats are labeling “extremism.” From a purely political perspective, there are reasons to expect Republican feet to start turning to clay. First, Democrats and Republicans know that in the 1995 showdown that resulted in shutting down the government, Democrats and Bill Clinton came up the political winners.

Although circumstances are very different today from then, that history certainly looms large in political minds. Second, it’s a good bet that current polling gives pause to many Republicans. Polls show that although in the abstract Americans are concerned about the size of government and runaway spending and debt, when you get down to specific programs, there is little positive sentiment for making significant cuts in the big areas that would make a difference. And third, there is a critical difference today between the two parties. Ideological differences pose a much greater internal problem today to the Republican Party than to the Democrats. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Parker: America Badly Needs Leadership