Update on Chicken Manure Dumping on State Trust Land

From capitolreportnewmexico.com -A follow-up on the story Capitol Report New Mexico broke back in May concerning a gigantic dump of chicken manure on state trust land in Doña Ana County: Carlos Orozco received two tracts of public trust land that totalled 733 acres in exchange for $28,000 and 41 acres of property near Ruidoso. Two years later, according to KOAT-TV and the Journal, Orozco sold 93 acres of his new property for $750,00 and in 2008 he sold the rest of the property he had received from the state for a reported $320,000. So Orozco ended up pocketing more than $1 million for land he received from the state that cost him $172,000. In the meantime, the 41 acres the state received in the deal has gone unleased and has generated no money. More News New Mexico

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Johnson Blasts Socially Conservative Group

From capitolreportnewmexico.com -A socially-conservative group based in Iowa has circulated a pledge among the candidates running for president in 2012 asking each candidate to promise to agree to a number of issues, including to ”promise personal fidelity to my spouse,” as well as a host of other committments such as ”a steadfast embrace” to the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman, and promoting safeguards for military personnel from “inappropriate same-gender or opposite-gender sexual harassment, adultery or intrusively intimate commingling among atttracteds (restrooms, showers, barracks, tents, etc.).” More News New Mexico
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Front Yard Garden? Face 93 Days in Jail

The Agitator - Their front yard was torn up after replacing a sewer line, so instead of replacing the dirt with grass, one Oak Park woman put in a vegetable garden and now the city is seeing green. The list goes on: fresh basil, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, cumbers and more all filling five large planter boxes that fill the Bass family’s front yard. Julie Bass says, “We thought we’re minding our own business, doing something not ostentatious and certainly not obnoxious or nothing that is a blight on the neighborhood, so we didn’t think people would care very much.” But some cared very much and called the city. The city then sent out code enforcement.
“They warned us at first that we had to move the vegetables from the front, that no vegetables were allowed in the front yard. We didn’t move them because we didn’t think we were doing anything wrong, even according to city code we didn’t think we were doing anything wrong. So they ticketed us and charged me with a misdemeanor,” Bass said . . .City code says that all unpaved portions of the site shall be planted with grass or ground cover or shrubbery or other suitable live plant material. Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are what Basses see as suitable. Read full story here: News New Mexico

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Santa Fe County Sherriff Audit a Disaster

KOB - TV - A forensic audit reveals former Santa Fe County sheriff embezzled more than $70k worth of stolen police equipment to sell on Ebay. The audit also found major flaws in the supply and evidence rooms, which may have allowed the theft, according to the State Auditor. The exact amount stolen by Greg Solano is $73,364, according to the audit. Solano is currently charged with more than 250 counts of embezzlement. The audit report also highlighted several holes in the supply and evidence rooms of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, which include: Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Fast and Furious: ATF Gunrunning

Brian Terry
New York Post - The scandal surrounding the bizarre federal gun sting gone awry -- Operation Fast and Furious -- continues to mushroom. A Phoenix TV station says its investigation of a local drug bust three months ago involving four illegal aliens turned up 43 weapons that had been sold legally to "straw purchasers" in Arizona but wound up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels -- all under the watchful eyes of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. And that's not all. A search of court and ATF documents turned up at least four other local cases in which major drug busts also involved numerous assault rifles on the agency's Suspect Gun Database. Yet ATF agents essentially stood by and watched -- as one critic put it, US law-enforcement agents essentially provided security for gun smugglers working for Mexican drug cartels. That such weapons are turning up in drug cases north of the border is hardly surprising. What's outrageous is that two of them have been linked to an Arizona shootout in which Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry was killed. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Plouffe: "Most People" Won't Vote Based on Unemployment

The Hill - President Obama’s senior political adviser David Plouffe said Wednesday that people won’t vote in 2012 based on the unemployment rate. Plouffe should probably hope that’s the case, since dismal job figures aren’t expected to get any better for Obama and the economy on Friday. The jobs report released on Friday showed the economy added only 18,000 jobs, much less than anticipated. The unemployment rate creeped up to 9.2 percent. It’s looking more and more like Obama will have to do something no president has done since Franklin Roosevelt: Win reelection with unemployment around 8 percent. Ronald Reagan, another president Obama is sometimes compared with, was reelected in 1984 when unemployment was 7.2 percent. Obama isn’t likely to see a number that low. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Rasmussen Poll: 72% Favor Free Market Economy Over One Managed by the Government

Rasmussen - Voters remain strongly supportive of a free market economy over one controlled by the government and still think small businesses are hurt more than big businesses when the government does get involved. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 72% of Likely U.S. Voters believe a free market economy is better than an economy managed by the government. Just 14% think a government-managed economy is better. Another 14% are not sure. Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly prefer a free market approach. Among these segments of the electorate, the number preferring a government-managed economy is in the single digits. Among Democrats, 48% say a free market is better, but 29% think a government-managed economy is the answer. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Chavez: Goodbye, Washington D.C.

Linda Chavez
Townhall - The more things change, the more they remain the same. But just as Americans got through the lousy economy of the 1970s, I'm confident we'll recover from the mess we're in now. Unemployment will recede, and so will government spending -- not because of political deal-making but because Americans will boot politicians who fail to do their job out of office and replace them with those who will. Just ask Jimmy Carter.

I look back on a life in politics that took me from Capitol Hill to the Reagan White House to the public policy and media worlds with as much frustration as pride.
Ronald Reagan
Some of the policies I hoped to play a role in changing -- like racial preferences in hiring and education -- have become so ingrained and widespread many people no longer seem to notice their corrosive effect. But there were successes as well as failures, albeit modest ones. Bilingual education -- which as columnist Michael Barone once quipped is neither bilingual nor education -- has largely been replaced by English instruction for non-English speakers, a goal I advocated for more than 30 years. And I met -- and in some cases worked for -- some truly great Americans during my Washington years. President Reagan tops the list. It was a great privilege to work in the Reagan administration, first as staff director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and later as director of public liaison at the White House.
Even President Reagan's critics acknowledged that he was a true leader, but it has taken time and the publication of his handwritten diaries and speeches for some people to recognize the intellectual skills that those of us who worked with him saw first-hand. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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O'Reilly: Why Clinton Finds Bachmann "Compelling"

Townhall - There is something strange in the air when former President Bill Clinton compliments tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann. Speaking on CNN last week, Clinton said he is not surprised the congresswoman is rising in the polls, because she is a "compelling public figure" and comes across as "real." Since Bachmann pretty much opposes everything Clinton believes in, the question becomes exactly why does he think she's compelling. It can't be her ardently pro-life views. Or her lower taxes and smaller government beliefs. Or even her call to abolish national health care. Clinton wouldn't find those things attractive at all. And the congresswoman absolutely loves the tea party. Is the former president down with that? Can't be.
Michelle Bachmann
So, I sense some gamesmanship in the air, and I suspect it has to do with Sarah Palin. Most Democrats loathe Palin so much that they are happy to see a candidate who is taking up some of her airtime. Both Bachmann and Palin appeal to the same audience: traditional, conservative working folks. Their views are almost identical on many subjects. But Bachmann, for some reason, seems to be easier for the Democrats to accept. Read full column here: News New Mexico

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