Corrales Passes Historic Building Preservation Rule
Documentary ‘Made in NM’ now showing
Coming together to secure the border
NewsNM (Swickard) As a freshman in college in 1968 I heard that to buy illegal drugs was quite easy any day someone wanted to buy them. Fast forward to today. Drugs are still easy to buy, as easy as in 1968 despite billions of dollars used to make law enforcement bigger. And despite millions of Americans being sent to prison for drug offenses. Here is another law that will not have any effect on the availability of drugs on the streets. "If you do as you always have done, you will get what you always have gotten."
From NMPolitics.net - By U.S. Senator Tom Udall - The new law sets the same penalties for trafficking, whether it’s by plane, automobile or ultralight – up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It also gives law enforcement the tools they need to combat this type of drug trafficking, like adding attempt and conspiracy to the aviation smuggling law, so that the criminals who coordinate these kinds of operations can be prosecuted as well. As drug smugglers develop new techniques for getting illegal drugs into our country, we need to stay toe-to-toe with them by making sure our laws and law enforcement are equipped for the task. This is a good law and I’m proud that we passed it. But it also goes to show that securing our border can and should be a bipartisan endeavor. The flow of drugs into this country impacts every community and ever person – Democrat or Republican. We should be able to pass bipartisan solutions – like this one – to a problem that affects everyone. Read more
Never underestimate anyone....
The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, 'Which do you want, son?' The boy takes the quarters and leaves the dollar. 'What did I tell you?' said the barber. 'That kid never learns!'
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store & says ; 'Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?'
The boy licked his cone and replied, 'Because the day I take the dollar, the game's over!'
In NM, Basic Integrity Violations are Routinely Tolerated
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| Dr. Terry McMillan |
New Mexico legislators serve on a volunteer basis. At least most of them do. The financial sacrifices of some lawmakers like surgeon Terry McMillan of Las Cruces are extraordinary. McMillan is not unique. There are more than a hundred other legislators who sacrifice plenty of personal income to serve the state. Amazingly, for a handful of legislators, the taxpayers continue to pay their salaries while they do work that all others do as volunteers.
Representative Sheryl Williams Stapleton, best known for an infamous rant where she referred to Governor Susana Martinez as the “Mexican on the fourth floor,” and Senator Bernadette Sanchez, both draw their paychecks from the Albuquerque Public Schools while away from their posts for considerable lengths of time. And somehow, nobody seems to know what APS does about the work these two leave undone while away. Perhaps APS pays two other people to also do the jobs of Stapleton and Sanchez?  |
| Sheryl Williams Stapleton |
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| Bernadette Sanchez |
The contradictions, conflicts of interest, and basic breaches of ethical practices involved in the situation surrounding these five New Mexico education system employees are quite remarkable. Clearly with Sanchez and Stapleton, there is no inclination towards self-policing. These two lawmakers both seem perfectly content to be paid by the taxpayers, while all others forego their salaries, and the tasks associated with their full time jobs go undone.
This being the case, the question is, should school districts that are funded by the taxpayers be allowed to cheat? This is exactly what they are doing when they provide wages to lawmakers who do not do their jobs while they serve in an otherwise volunteer legislature.
Barriers to reforming these types of atrocious double standards are put up by the Democratic leadership in the New Mexico legislature as a matter of routine. Nobody should wonder why education reform goes undone in the New Mexico legislature when the path to establishing basic integrity and ethical standards are blocked. And all of this seems to happen without even a hint of public outrage. Corrupt school districts like APS know they can be serial violators of the most basic tenets of integrity without consequences. New Mexico will only deserve better results when voters make sweeping changes in the composition of the House and Senate.
Child Safeguard Legislation Not a Priority for Legislative Leadership in 2012, Will Have to Wait a Year
The Children, Youth and Families department was left stunned. "There are men and women in the field who have dedicated their lives and their careers to keeping kids safe, and they were looking for this additional tool in these new laws." CYFD spokesman Enrique Knell said. The bills died when the 30-day session of the Legislature ended Thursday. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Clovis Senator Clint Harden Will Retire
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| Clint Harden |
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about during the interim, basically since last session,” said Harden, who was appointed to the position in 2002 by then-Gov. Gary Johnson. His predecessor, Patrick Lyons, was elected to become state land commissioner. Harden won two more races for the seat. Harden previously served in Johnson’s administration as secretary of the state Department of Labor.
District 7 includes parts of Curry, San Miguel and Taos counties and all of Quay, Harding, Union and Colfax counties. Redistricting will move the portions in Harding and Colfax counties to another district. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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