Up in smoke: Gary Johnson loses Willie Nelson endorsement

From Capitol Report New Mexico - One day after the former New Mexico governor touted the country singer’s endorsement of Johnson in the 2012 presidential race, Nelson posted Wednesday (May 18) that he’s changed his mind. Nelson e-mailed the National TeaPot Party, which the singer is a co-founder of, writing: “My bad. Sorry. I still think he is a good guy but so Is Dennis [Kucinich] and if he decided to run I would personally vote for him. If it came down to either him or Gary I’m already commited to Dennis.” Kucinich received Nelson’s support in the race for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008. When one of the National TeaPot Party organizers pointed out that the Johnson endorsement was only for the Republican ’12 nomination, Nelson still wouldn’t change his tune, saying, “This will blow over and the world moves on. No harm done. We sound like a bunch of pot smokers, that’s all… The more I get into politics the more I realize that I am a guitar player.” You can read the entire recantation account here on the National TeaPot Party blog page. Read more

Up in smoke: Gary Johnson loses Willie Nelson endorsement

Don't Endanger the Economic Life of NM

Dennis Kintigh

NMPolitics - Sadly most New Mexicans do not know how critical the oil and gas industry is to the economic health of our state. Currently 16 percent of the state’s revenue comes directly from the oil and gas business. Another 11 percent comes from interest on the permanent fund, which is filled with moneys from oil and gas sales. These figures do not include corporate income tax from oil companies, sales tax on equipment purchases for the oil fields, or income tax on the 23,000 individuals directly employed in the oil and gas industry. Whether we like it or not, this state’s economic health is dependent upon oil and gas operations more than any other activity. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Don't Endanger the Economic Life of NM

Riordan Defended and Sued by State

Kate Nash

Roundhouse Roundup -My colleague Kate Nash had a very interesting story about former Bill Richardson pal and former Game Commissioner Guy Riordan late last week. As Kate reported, state records show that since September 2009, the state has paid $58,210 for defense costs associated with Riordan, who is a defendant in the Frank Foy whistleblower case. In one of those only-in-state-government twists, while the state is paying thousands to defend Riordan, it's also suing him. He's one of several defendants in two lawsuits filed this month in an attempt to get back the third-party marketing fees paid to various political figures by investment firms. (Among the other defendants are former State Investment Officer Gary Bland, Richardson political adviser Anthony Correra and his son Marc Correra and several figures involved in the New York investment scandals.) Read full story here: News New Mexico

Riordan Defended and Sued by State

Write Your Congressman (Or Congresswoman)

We ran across a very interesting website earlier today. It is called National Write Your Congressman. It provides citizens with non-partisan, unbiased information and makes it easy for them to communicate with their lawmakers. National Write Your Congressman claims to be the leading source of constituent mail received by Congress. We test drove some of the features and liked what we saw. They seem to have established a site that allows responsible Americans to use their site to influence Congress, by letting their voices be heard. It is worth checking out. Visit site by clicking here: News New Mexico

Write Your Congressman (Or Congresswoman)

Apple Crop Was Ruined by Record Cold Temperatures

KOB - TV - It's hard times for New Mexico's most famous apple orchard - bad winter weather has almost completely destroyed this year's crop at Dixon's Apples, near Cochiti Lake. Growers blame the terrible deep freeze cold snap of early February for strangling the crop before it even blossomed. Dixon's has only about 5 percent of its usual crop this spring. Old Man Winter gobbled up the other 95 percent. Dixon's Apples owner Becky Mullane said it's only the second crop wipeout since she started working there with her grandfather, Fred Dixon, 25 years ago. Dixon started the orchard in 1944 on the site of an old dude ranch. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Apple Crop Was Ruined by Record Cold Temperatures

Will Vigil-Giron Walk Without a Trial?

Gary King

New Mexico Watchdog - In an Albuquerque courtroom Monday, a defense attorney accused Attorney General Gary King’s office of procurement violations. Another said attorneys working for the state’s top prosecutor flouted a judge’s order and ignored a deadline. Yet at the end of the day, it was the Attorney General’s office that got what they asked for. Second Judicial District Judge Albert Murdoch on Monday gave the AG’s office another 30 days to find a replacement prosecutor to argue charges against former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three co-defendants. Defense attorneys want the case thrown out because they say their clients haven’t received a speedy trial in the August, 2009 grand jury indictment.

Rebecca Vigil-Giron

Vigil-Giron’s attorney on Monday noted that the AG had not asked for a stay that would have set aside the April 29 deadline Murdoch had set for the AG’s office to find someone else to take the case. No replacement prosecutor has yet notified the court they will handle the case. Vigil-Giron – a former two-term Democrat secretary of state – along with Elizabeth Kupfer, Joseph Carl Kupfer and Armando Gutierrez are charged with fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and giving, taking or soliciting kickbacks. News New Mexico

Will Vigil-Giron Walk Without a Trial?

Like Sardines and Heading to a Border Near You

UK Daily Mail - Packed together in the tightest of cabins, with little air to breathe and no space at all in which to move, the migrants in this picture show just how far some will go to try to sneak into America. Mexican police found the 513 agonisingly squashed together in two trucks just outside Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas - an eye-watering 18-hour-drive away from the nearest US border. They were caught when the trucks sped through a vehicle scanner at a police checkpoint. After the astonishing X-ray image came up on screens, police gave chase, finding 240 people in one truck and 273 crammed into the other. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Like Sardines and Heading to a Border Near You

Williams: The Law of Lower Class Culture

Armstrong Williams

Townhall - Call a spade a spade. There is an absolute lower class culture. The victimization values of this culture create behavior that keeps poor people poor. It is not bigotry or prejudiced, nor is it condescending to call them lower class. They have a culture that is antithetical to creating wealth and accomplishment. This culture blames problems on others as opposed to making accountability a priority. As a result, the victims are discouraged from improving themselves; they are discouraged from working hard for the “man.” It promotes a zero-sum mentality leading to crime, especially theft, and welfare dependence. It disparages educational excellence. It encourages misogyny which leads to the breakdown of the their family structure and contributes to the lack of traditionally successful male role models. I can go on and on. The vast majority of positive accomplishments from this culture revolve around sports and entertainment, especially popular music. Unfortunately even the popular music tends to extol the negative aspects of this culture.
What they need most is a check, a reality check. Lower class value systems do not believe in planning for the future. They do not believe in sacrificing today for your own benefit tomorrow. There is a conflict between delayed gratification and the high that comes from fulfilling fleeting desires. As a result, lower class culture suffers from an epidemic of immediate gratification regardless of future consequences. Prudence, patience, and planning are not lauded enough, if at all. And yet, these are the very facets of character that allow a person to grow, accomplish, and, should they persevere, achieve excellence. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Williams: The Law of Lower Class Culture

Williams: Income is Earned Not "Distributed"

Walter Williams

Townhall - The liberal vision of government is easily understood and makes perfect sense if one acknowledges their misunderstanding and implied assumptions about the sources of income. Their vision helps explain the language they use and policies they support, such as income redistribution and calls for the rich to give something back. Suppose the true source of income was a gigantic pile of money meant to be shared equally amongst Americans. The reason some people have more money than others is because they got to the pile first and greedily took an unfair share. That being the case, justice requires that the rich give something back, and if they won't do so voluntarily, Congress should confiscate their ill-gotten gains and return them to their rightful owners. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Williams: Income is Earned Not "Distributed"

Malkin: Need Full Disclosure on Waivers for Favors

Michelle Malkin

Townhall - Pelosi and the Golden Ticket Administrators in Washington deny preferential treatment for waiver beneficiaries. But the stench of waivers-for-favors won't be dispelled until and unless the Obama administration releases a full list not only of those who won exemptions, but also of those who applied and were denied. With San Francisco businesses caught with their hands in the waiver jar, Pelosi's office could do nothing else but pout: "It is pathetic," said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill, "that there are those who would be cheering for Americans to lose their minimum health coverage or see their premiums increase for political purposes." It is far more pathetic to have cheered, as Pelosi did on the one-year anniversary of Obamacare, the law's onerous benefits limits from which thousands of her own constituents have now been exempted. Once again, the rest of America wants to know: Dude, where's my waiver? Read full column here: News New Mexico

Malkin: Need Full Disclosure on Waivers for Favors

If Only New Mexico Had Democrats Like These Two

Mary Landrieu

Redstate - Democratic politicians once ruled the energy-producing states, but they are becoming quite a rare breed. Republicans scored strong electoral gains in the Congressional elections of 2010, particularly in Texas. Here in Louisiana, both houses of the state legislature have swung red, by a combination of election and defection; it’s no secret who owns the moratorium and a host of other energy-hostile policy initiatives. Sen. Mary Landrieu remains the sole remaining Democrat in a statewide elective office in the Pelican State.

Mark Begich

Mary and the other energy state Dems know upon which side their bread is buttered. Democrats in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana have a long history of working cooperatively with the oil and gas industry as a engine of jobs and economic growth in each of their respective states. But now, an openly hostile regime in Washington puts a strain on those historic ties. And back home, the energy state Dems must distance themselves as far as they can manage from Obama, Reid, and the national party leadership. Read full story here: News New Mexico

If Only New Mexico Had Democrats Like These Two

Richardson Denies "Pay to Play" Appointments

Bill Richardson

Santa Fe New Mexican - Former Gov. Bill Richardson, implicated by a Las Cruces judge in an alleged pay-to-play scheme, said Tuesday that campaign contributions had nothing to do with his judicial appointments and that "any suggestion to the contrary is outrageous and defamatory." Richardson, though a spokeswoman, emailed a statement to reporters in response to last week's indictment of state District Judge Mike Murphy on bribery and intimidation charges. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Richardson Denies "Pay to Play" Appointments