Fossil Fuel Production on Public Lands at 9 Year Low

From directorblue -Last fall the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration reported a 40 percent decline in oil and natural gas production on federal lands compared to 10 years ago. The White House and prominent liberal in Congress protested. They said EIA, a trusted source for reliable energy information, was wrong. They complained that EIA hadn’t accounted for all data from the Department of Interior.  EIA released an updated analysis last week. And while the number isn’t as drastic as originally reported, EIA confirmed the Obama administration is overseeing a sharp decline in fossil fuel production (coal, oil, and natural gas) on federal lands, which recently hit its lowest point in nine years...More News New Mexico

Fossil Fuel Production on Public Lands at 9 Year Low

Malia in Mexico for Spring Break

Malia Obama

From pjmedia.com -Have you heard that Malia Obama, the president’s daughter, is reportedly spending her spring break in Oaxaca, Mexico? Allegedly, she’s jetting off with some of her classmates and 25 Secret Service agents to a country that the State Department has said all Americans should avoid. But something is different about the latest “Obama vacation controversy” references to it are disappearing from the Internet — and fast. Around 3:00 EST, a Telegraph story reporting on the event was the first to vanish.  More News New Mexico

Malia in Mexico for Spring Break

Executive Order Authorizes Peacetime Martial Law

From thenewamerican.com -President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order on March 16 giving the White House absolute control over all the country’s natural resources in case of a natural disaster or during a time of war.  In the order, the National Defense Resources Preparedness Order, the President granted to himself the authority to approve the dispensing of all domestic energy, production, transportation, food, and water supplies as he deems necessary to protect national security. Despite the national defense hurdle that ostensibly must be jumped in order for the order to take effect, the text of the document itself does not limit implementation to a time of war. In fact, the specific sections of the order make it clear that the President may take complete command and control of the country’s natural resources in peacetime, as well.  More News New Mexico

Executive Order Authorizes Peacetime Martial Law

Apple Says $60B Will Remain Overseas Until Tax Law Changes

From thehill.com -Apple made an aggressive pitch for a corporate tax holiday Monday, stressing that it plans to keep more than $60 billion parked offshore until Congress makes it easier for companies to bring those profits home.  The warning from the nation’s most valuable company came as Apple announced it would pay a dividend to shareholders and buy back stock, moves that will cost about $45 billion over three years.   But Apple — which, like several other Silicon Valley titans, has spent months lobbying for more flexibility to repatriate offshore profits — said it will rely exclusively on domestic cash reserves for the transactions and will not touch the billions in profits held abroad.   More News New Mexico

Apple Says $60B Will Remain Overseas Until Tax Law Changes

Sunland Park Police Chief Arrested

From kob.com -Authorities have arrested the chief of police in the troubled border town of Sunland Park. State police spokesman Robert McDonald confirms that Luis Monarez was arrested Monday on charges of bribery and conspiracy.  He is the eighth person arrested in the southern New Mexico town since allegations surfaced several weeks ago that now Mayor-Elect Daniel Salinas and others tried to force his opponent out of the race with a secretly recorded video of the man getting a topless lap dance.  Since then, the state has launched in-depth probes of the city's elections process and the city's finances. All of the people arrested are current or former city officials accused of voting fraud or playing a role in the alleged blackmail plot.

Sunland Park Police Chief Arrested

Lujan's Aide Denounces Claim of Socialism

Ben Ray Lujan

From daily-times.com -Republican Rick Newton is guilty of spreading falsehoods by saying that U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan is a socialist, the congressman’s press secretary said today. Newton, 65, is seeking the GOP nomination to run against Democrat Lujan in November. At the New Mexico Republican pre-primary convention on Saturday, Newton during his speech called Lujan is a socialist. He amplified on his statement in interviews, saying Lujan was one of 70 members of Congress who are registered with “the Socialist Party of America.”  Newton said his evidence was a website listing. Andrew Stoddard, Lujan’s spokesman, said in a telephone interview that Newton’s claim is false. The congressman probably would make a statement later today, he said.  Lujan is only the latest Democratic congressman to face such a claim. For instance, blog posts last year claimed that New Jersey Congressmen Donald Payne and Frank Pallone were socialists. The publication PolitiFact denounced the claim. “Misinformation and smear campaigns are part of political life. But these persistent claims about socialists are riddled with errors and outright lies,” it said in giving the postings a “Pants on Fire” rating.

Lujan's Aide Denounces Claim of Socialism

Report Shows NM Graduation Rates Have Declined

From koat.com -Arizona and New Mexico have both reduced the number of their dropout factories - those high schools with chronically low graduation rates. They have also increased the percentage of fourth- and eighth-grade students who can read proficiently. And more students in both states are taking advanced placement tests than several years ago. However, a report released by a group of education organizations shows Arizona, New Mexico and other western states are lagging behind when it comes to making improvements in their graduation rates.  The report says Arizona's rate dropped from 74.7 percent in 2002 to 72.5 percent in 2009. New Mexico's rate went from 67.4 percent to 64.8 percent
More News New Mexico

Report Shows NM Graduation Rates Have Declined

RNC Chair Reince Priebus to Appear on NewsNM

Reince Priebus

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus will appear on News New Mexico at 7:30am tomorrow. Priebus will discuss the upcoming visit to the state on Wednesday by President Obama.
Priebus is a previous chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Priebus graduated cum laude from University of Wisconsin–Whitewater in 1994, where he was elected student body president and earned his bachelor's degree in political science and English.
After college, he worked as a committee clerk in the Wisconsin Legislature and then went to law school at the University of Miami School of Law where he was president of the student bar association and where he received his Juris Doctorate cum laude in 1998. During law school, he interned for the NAACP legal defense fund in Los Angeles.

Priebus met his wife Sally in high school, where the two attended prom together. They married in 1999 and have two children.

RNC Chair Reince Priebus to Appear on NewsNM

Lack of Records at Sunland "Staggering"

Susana Martinez

It became abundantly clear soon after the press conference in the office of Governor Susana Martinez began this afternoon that what has been taking place within the municipal government in the City of Sunland Park, New Mexico is not just an isolated pocket of problems. Governor Martinez said the problems are "Across the board," and "New Mexico is better than this."

Hector Balderas

According to State Auditor Hector Balderas, who also participated in the press conference, “Part of what makes the auditing of the city unprecedented is, "Allegations of criminal activity in addition to civil mismanagement and malfeasance.” Balderas also said, “The volume of records that are missing is staggering.” Balderas revealed that the auditing process has already caused his office to share information with federal agencies regarding possible violations of federal laws. Balderas added that there are incomplete payroll records, incomplete purchasing records, and a complete lack of supporting documents for travel expenses, payments to city officials, and water utility operations. The State Auditor said he is, "Exploring use of certified fraud examiners," to make sure the lack of resources in his office does not become a problem. Balderas says Governor Martinez agrees that additional resources may be required to finish the job. Apparently all divisions of the government are under scrutiny.

“There is a culture of fear,” at city hall and the criminal charges filed against both the old and new mayor makes the investigation more difficult, Balderas said.

It was also made clear by Governor Martinez that advantage was taken of the absence of a photo voter identification law in the state. There have been numerous reports of widespread voter fraud in latest municipal election in addition to all the other elements of corruption that have now given the area in Southern Dona Ana County a reputation for being one of the most corrupt municipalities in the nation.

Lack of Records at Sunland "Staggering"

Not the First Solar Scam

Washington Examiner - A heavily subsidized solar company received a U.S. taxpayer loan guarantee to sell solar panels to itself. First Solar is the company. The subsidy came from the Export-Import Bank, which President Obama and Harry Reid are currently fighting to extend and expand. The underlying issue is how Obama's insistence on green-energy subsidies and export subsidies manifests itself as rank corporate welfare.

Here's the road of subsidies these solar panels followed from Perrysburg, Ohio, to St. Clair, Ontario. First Solar is an Arizona-based manufacturer of solar panels.

In 2010, the Obama administration awarded the company $16.3 million to expand its factory in Ohio -- a subsidy Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland touted in his failed re-election bid that year. Five weeks before the 2010 election, Strickland announced more than a million dollars in job training grants to First Solar. The Ohio Department of Development also lent First Solar $5 million, and the state's Air Quality Development Authority gave the company an additional $10 million loan.

After First Solar pocketed this $17.3 million in government grants and $15 million in government loans, Ex-Im entered the scene. In September 2011, Ex-Im approved $455.7 million in loan guarantees to subsidize the sale of solar panels to two wind farms in Canada. That means if the wind farm ever defaults, the taxpayers pick up the tab, ensuring First Solar gets paid. But the buyer, in this case, was First Solar. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Not the First Solar Scam

Martinez and Balderas to Hold Press Conference

-BREAKING NEWS-

SANTA FE – Today Governor Susana Martinez and State Auditor Hector Balderas will hold a press conference to discuss the status of the State’s efforts to address the financial situation in the City of Sunland Park. State Auditor Balderas will provide an update on the progress of his ongoing special audit of the City. The press conference will be streamed live over the Internet at 1:00 p.m. at the lobby of the Office of the Governor in the Roundhouse.

Martinez and Balderas to Hold Press Conference

NM Republican Convention Roundup

Heather Wilson

From alamogordonews.com -Heather Wilson carried the day by a wide margin, but she may not have shaken Greg Sowards in the Republican competition for the U.S. Senate nomination. Wilson, of Albuquerque, received 83 percent of the delegate votes at Saturday's Republican pre-primary convention. In raw numbers, she defeated Sowards 654 to 134. With 17 percent of the vote, Sowards was 3 points short of gaining a spot on the June primary ballot. He left the convention immediately and without comment, but in a previous interview he said he would petition onto the ballot if he failed to meet the convention threshold. Wilson, 51, a former congresswoman, used her speech to criticize U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, the Democratic frontrunner for the Senate nomination. She charged that he is part of an irresponsible spending machine in Washington. So fragile is the U.S. economy that "we're where Greece was at in 2008" she said of that insolvent country.  Wilson also asserted herself as a conservative on a social issue, saying "marriage is a union of one man and one woman."  In the race for the 3rd Congressional District, Rick Newton of Taos captured 65 percent of the convention vote. He also delivered the most explosive allegation of the day. Newton charged that the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, actually is a socialist. Newton said after his speech that he meant it literally. "He is a member of the Socialist Party of America," Newton said in an interview.  More News New Mexico

NM Republican Convention Roundup