New Mexico Sees Increase In Foods Stamp Use

From koat.com -More people in New Mexico are turning to food stamps to make ends meet. New Mexico ranks fourth in the nation for food stamp use, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Currently, 400,000 New Mexicans rely on food stamps to get by.   More News New Mexico

New Mexico Sees Increase In Foods Stamp Use

Bingaman and Udall Renew Wilderness Efforts

Senators Bingaman and Udall

From newstimes.com -New Mexico's two U.S. senators renewed their effort Thursday to set aside more than 530 square miles along the state's border with Mexico as wilderness and as a national conservation area. This marks the second time Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall have tried to push the measure through Congress. The legislation includes compromises reached last year after opponents raised concerns about the ability of law enforcement to access the area. "This bill strikes the right balance between securing our border and protecting treasured landscapes like the Organ Mountains for generations to come," Udall said in a written statement. The Democratic senators are seeking to protect the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces and the Potrillo Mountains just north of the Mexican border in Dona Ana County. The legislation would establish 241,000 acres of wilderness and a 100,000-acre national conservation area.  More News New Mexico

Bingaman and Udall Renew Wilderness Efforts

Martinez Draws Line on Liability Blanket

Susana Martinez

Santa Fe New Mexican - Taxpayers won't be picking up the legal tab for two men involved in the latest lawsuit related to alleged pay-to-play schemes in the former Gov. Bill Richardson administration. That's the decision of Gov. Susana Martinez's administration. In a letter this week, administration officials informed former state investment officer Gary Bland, one of the defendants, that he's on his own for legal expenses. Bland had asked if the state's Risk Management Division would pay his legal tab, the officials said. Former state Game Commissioner Guy Riordan has yet to ask, Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said, but if he does, the answer will be no. Riordan, a former securities broker, also is named in the suit. The state won't pay the lawyers' bills in the case because state law dealing with tort claims "was not intended to provide defense for state employees when the state itself pursues legal action against them," Darnell said. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Martinez Draws Line on Liability Blanket

Like All Predecessors, Obama Offers Taxpayer's Borrowed Dollars to Hate-Riddled Middle East

Daily Caller - President Barack Obama’s speech on Middle East policy combined a notably hardline toward allies Israel and Bahrain, favorable references towards President George W. Bush’s policies, and unsentimental and unflattering depiction of Arab economies, societies and hatreds toward Israel. The speech marks a major rhetorical and strategic shift from Obama’s 2009 speech to Middle Eastern Muslims, during which he repeatedly flattered his audience, demeaned his predecessor and offered little of substance. Since that speech, the people he was speaking to have deposed two dictatorships and revolted against at least four others, while the talks that he wanted to take place between Israelis and Arabs collapsed once Arabs raised their demands to match the president’s public opposition against Israeli home-building near Jerusalem. This time around, the president didn’t repeat widespread yet unsupported local claims about Muslims’ tolerance of minorities or of Islamic scientific accomplishments, but instead declared that “Coptic Christians must have the right to worship freely in Cairo, just as Shia must never have their mosques destroyed [by Sunni rulers] in Bahrain…[and] if you take out oil exports, this region of over 400 million people exports roughly the same amount as Switzerland.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

Like All Predecessors, Obama Offers Taxpayer's Borrowed Dollars to Hate-Riddled Middle East

Blame Taxes Not "Big Oil"

Andrew Moylan

Townhall - Washington’s debate over so-called oil "subsidies" signifies a fundamental misunderstanding about who pays taxes in America. University of Michigan economist Mark Perry emphasizes that real people, not corporations, ultimately pay taxes. Higher taxes on any industry – particularly a sector such as energy which feeds into every aspect of our economy – translate to higher prices for consumers, lower wages and fewer jobs for employees, and/or lower returns for shareholders. These realities hardly qualify as common knowledge. And because taxes are a very complex issue, special interest groups can easily exploit public confusion. The liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, for example, tries to paint major oil companies' tax burden as "lower than the average American’s." Yet, federal data shows that’s just not the case. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Blame Taxes Not "Big Oil"

More Global Warming in New Mexico

KOB TV - Wet and snowy weather hit much of northern and central New Mexico Thursday. Scattered light rain and snow was expected to continue through the mid-afternoon hours. Up to two inches of snow was expected in the San Juan Mountains of northern New Mexico, mainly above 9,000 feet. A winter weather advisory remained in effect through 6 p.m. Thursday. Read full story here: News New Mexico

More Global Warming in New Mexico

Terrell: Some Lawmakers Decide Against Hawaiian Trip

Steve Terrell

Roundhouse Roundup - Last week, I reported that Gov. Susana Martinez's vetoes of parts of the Legislature's budget led lawmakers to talk seriously about cutting back on their own travel spending. I noted that these cutbacks could even affect our legislators' attendance at the annual meeting of the Council of State Governments --West in Honolulu this summer. State-paid travel to the Aloha State, of course, is a proven political hot potato. Such trips have come back to smack at least a couple of legislators in the form of campaign attack ads by opponents. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Terrell: Some Lawmakers Decide Against Hawaiian Trip

Judge Martin Will Not Hear Criminal Cases

Judge Doug Driggers

NMPolitics - Third Judicial District Judge Jim T. Martin won’t hear criminal cases for the time being because of an investigation that has already resulted in bribery charges against another judge and has led Martin to retain an attorney. Douglas R. Driggers, the chief judge in the Third Judicial District, confirmed today that he has taken Martin off criminal cases. “As a result of the investigation and what’s going on at the present time, I decided it was in the best interest of the court, to maintain the integrity of the judicial system, that Judge Martin not be assigned any criminal cases during this time,” Driggers told NMPolitics.net. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Judge Martin Will Not Hear Criminal Cases

Must See Video

The video entitled Government Gone Wild is a must see. You can view the video by clicking here . The piece explains what taxpaying households are up against when it comes to spending cuts and reforming the size of government. You should take three and a half minutes out of your busy day to watch this video and then forward this link to all of your friends. When you hear your elected officials pretend that raising taxes is the only way out of our economic mess you will know better.

Must See Video

Throwing Good Money After Bad

KRQE TV - Construction on a new $7 million addition to the Rail Runner Express commuter rail system is expected to begin in September. The announcement was made Tuesday morning at the site on Montano Road NE near the railroad tracks between Edith Boulevard NE and Second Street NW. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Throwing Good Money After Bad

New Gas Competition in Roswell

KOB - TV - An all out gas war has erupted in Roswell. Three stations on north Main Street in Roswell are competing for business by dropping the price of gas. Driving long distances is a way of life in southeast New Mexico and when gas prices spike it hits especially hard. "I live in Carlsbad and we have to come to the doctors in Roswell and we have to come anyway so we are still spending," said Jolene Goodwin, a Roswell resident. Local drivers are reaping the benefits of the gas war thanks to a new Murphy Express that just opened up and dropped its price of gas. At $3.37 a gallon, Judy McCabe says she could not pass up the chance to fill up her RV which has sat since last year. "We just don't camp as much," explained McCabe. "We haven't been since last summer because of gas prices," she said. Read full story here: News New Mexico

New Gas Competition in Roswell

Elder: Providing for the "Common" Defense

Larry Elder

Townhall - When not rapping, Common stays in touch with his inner Klansman. Like the Klan, Common condemns interracial dating. Sticklers might recall the heat then-presidential candidate George W. Bush took when he agreed to speak at Bob Jones University, which, at the time, forbade interracial dating among students without parental permission. When asked about "mixed-race relationships," Common explained: "I disagree with them. ... Sometimes to get back up to the level of respect and love, you've gotta stick with your own for a minute and build a certain amount of strength and community within yours so that other people can respect and honor your traditions." Unlike the Klan, Common approves of interracial sex, in which he admits having indulged. He opposes only interracial relationships, like the kind that produced ... President Obama. Maybe Common will rap about that at next year's poetry night. Until then, peace out. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Elder: Providing for the "Common" Defense

NM Schools Will Have $2.3 Billion Next Year

KOB - TV - SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A new report to legislators says public schools are facing a nearly 3 percent reduction in state aid in the upcoming budget year. The Legislative Finance Committee received preliminary budget estimates Wednesday showing a $66 million reduction from the current year in what will be distributed to school districts through the state's funding formula. Schools will get about $2.3 billion next year. Read full story here: News New Mexico

NM Schools Will Have $2.3 Billion Next Year

S.F. Ballot Measure Would Prohibit Circumcision

WSJ - SAN FRANCISCO—A group seeking to ban the circumcision of male children in San Francisco has succeeded in getting their controversial measure on the November ballot, meaning voters will be asked to weigh in on what until now has been a private family matter. City elections officials confirmed Wednesday that the initiative had received enough signatures to appear on the ballot, getting more than 7,700 valid signatures from city residents. Initiatives must receive at least 7,168 signatures to qualify. If the measure passes, circumcision would be prohibited among males under the age of 18. The practice would become a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to one year in jail. There would be no religious exemptions. Read full story here: News New Mexico

S.F. Ballot Measure Would Prohibit Circumcision