New Mexico’s impending old age crisis: We’ve got the fourth-highest rate of growth 85+

Capitol Report New MexicoIt’s been said that facts are stubborn things. So are demographics. The baby boom generation — some 77 million strong — is hitting retirement age at a staggering rate: an American turns 65 every 10 secondsWhat does that mean for the social safety net in place, namely Medicare and MedicaidSteve Moses, the president of the Center for Long-Term Care Reform in Seattle, says it means financial disaster unless some changes are made immediately. “We can expect those costs for long-term care — care in a nursing home, assisted living or in the home to skyrocket as the aging population grows,” Moses told Capitol Report New Mexico in a recent interview. And New Mexico faces some daunting issues as well. Moses points out that New Mexico has the nation’s fourth-highest rate of growth in population aged 85 or older through 2030. “When Franklin Roosevelt brought us Social Security, there were 35 [workers] paying in for every one taking benefits,” Moses, 66, said. “We’ll soon be down to where there’s only two [workers paying in for every one receiving benefits]. Every working couple will be supporting one us baby boomer oldsters.” Moses says in order to keep the system alive for the truly poor and needy, means-testing will have to done. Means-testing – distributing fewer benefits to people who have more money – is pure poison for any politician who broaches the subject but Moses says it’s inevitable. Read More News New Mexico

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Martinez appoints judge to replace Murphy

Susana Martinez
NMPolitics Gov. Susana Martinez on Friday appointed Nelson Goodin of Las Cruces to replace the indicted Mike Murphy, who resigned in February, on the Third Judicial District Court bench. Goodin, a Republican, was a deputy district attorney when Martinez was district attorney in Doña Ana County. He’s the third attorney who worked for Martinez in that office that she’s appointed to the bench since she became governor. “Mr. Goodin’s broad legal background, ranging from private civil practice to criminal prosecution to governmental agency work, has provided him with the right experience to serve on the Third Judicial District bench,” Martinez said. “I believe that he will continue his strong record of public service by upholding the law with fairness and impartiality in his new position.” Martinez also appointed Beverly Singleman, a registered independent and former Court of Appeals judge, to the Doña Ana County Magistrate Court. She replaces Olivia Nevarez Garcia, who resigned from the bench in November“With a diverse background as an attorney, I am confident that Ms. Singleman will use her experience to serve capably as a magistrate judge,” Martinez said. “She has demonstrated a deep understanding of the law and she will be a strong public servant for the people of New Mexico.” Singleman is a witness at the center of one of two bribery cases against Murphy. His May indictment on four felony charges is based on allegations that he solicited a bribe from Singleman, who was considering applying for an open district judgeship; that he told Judge Lisa Schultz to tell Singleman she needed to pay the bribe; and that he threatened to destroy Singleman’s reputation for telling others that he solicited a bribe from her. Read More News New Mexico

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Oil, gas lease sales net $17.5 million for New Mexico

New Mexico Business Weekly Oil and gas lease sales by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the New Mexico State Land Office in April generated a combined $17.5 million for New Mexico. The BLM, which held its quarterly auction in Santa Fe April 18, offered 28 federal leases in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Bids on 20 parcels in New Mexico generated $31.7 million, with the highest bid per parcel coming from Rubicon Oil and Gas LLC, which paid $7.8 million for a 602-acre lease in southwestern Lea County. Revenue from federal lease sales, and from 12.5 percent royalties collected from production of those leases, is shared with the states. The federal government gets 52 percent, and 48 percent goes to the state where leasing occurs. New Mexico earned a little more than $15 million from the BLM auction. The State Land Office held its lease sale in Santa Fe April 17. It auctioned 28 tracts, which sold for a combined $2.5 million. All tracts were located in Lea and Chaves counties. Read More News New Mexico 

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SAF Sues New Mexico Over Law Barring CCW Permits For Legal Resident Aliens

MarketwatchThe Second Amendment Foundation today filed a lawsuit in federal district court in New Mexico challenging that state's prohibition on the issuance of concealed carry permits to legal resident aliens. SAF filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on behalf of John W. Jackson, an Australian citizen who came to the United States with his wife, an American citizen, in 2007. He obtained permanent resident status in November 2008. They are represented by Albuquerque attorney Paul M. Kienzle, III and Glen Ellyn, Illinois attorney David Sigale. Named as defendants in the case, in their official capacities, are New Mexico Attorney General Gary King and Bill Hubbard, director of the Special Investigations of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. "Legal resident aliens in the United States should have the same personal protection rights as anyone," noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, "because criminals do not play favorites. Mr. Jackson is a productive member of his community, and his plight is shared by many legal alien residents." According to the SAF complaint, the laws of New Mexico completely prohibit resident legal aliens from the concealed carry of guns, in public, for the purpose of self-defense. In New Mexico, only citizens may have the benefit of an armed defense by concealed carry. "Our lawsuit is firmly grounded in the recognition and incorporation of the Second Amendment that came with our Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago," Gottlieb noted. "We also believe the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause renders the State's ban on non-citizens obtaining a concealed carry permit to be unconstitutional. Mr. Jackson and others like him only seek to be treated the same as law-abiding citizens. The Second Amendment renders a ban such as that challenged in our action to be impermissible. Read More News New Mexico

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Congressmen Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich call for uranium cleanup

Photo courtesy of Matt Reichbach
 Farmington Daily Times New Mexico Congressmen Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich are calling on the federal government to take urgent action to clean up hundreds of abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. In letters to the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and Indian Health Services, Lujan, Heinrich, Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva and four other House members say they are they deeply troubled by the federal government's failure to address the ongoing problem. They say the federal neglect is leaving future generations exposed to life-threatening radiation. The mines, which were built to supply uranium for the federal government's nuclear weapons program, have sat dormant for decades. A recent New York Times article was critical of efforts by a multi-agency task force set up to remediate the mines. Read More News New Mexico 

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Spaceport’s new plans draw ire from Hatch

Spaceport America
KRWGSpaceport of America’s new policy for acquiring land for its visitor’s centers has caused friction with Hatch, N.M.’s city government. Hatch, New Mexico had annexed 600 acres of land near the Interstate 25 exit, one that leads to their community. While Hatch officials had meant to offer the land to Spaceport America for it to create a visitor’s center, the Spaceport’s Administration has opted instead to accept offers from individual land owners in the region. Were Spaceport America to locate the visitor’s center at that location, it would have to spend an estimated $2.5 million to extend utilities across the interstate and the Rio Grande river. “We have no idea where it’s going to go now,” said Hatch mayor Judd Nordyke. “We went to the trouble of annexing the area we thought they were going to put it. Now, we’ve got 600 acres of desert scrubland that’s basically within the city limits, but what the future holds? We have no idea. Spaceport America’s change of plans come after the budgets for the visitor’s centers meant to be near Hatch and Truth or Consequences were curtailed, and re-allocated to the runway extension project. Virgin Galactic, one of Spaceport America’s principle clients, had requested the extension after flight tests with the White Knight 2 and Spaceship 2 aerospace craft indicated that an extended runway would be needed for optimum performance and safety. The visitor centers’ budget totalled near $15 million, but the re-allocations reduced it to $10.5 million. While the budget has been reduced, spaceport authority director Christine Anderson says that the centers will still be built. “We will still get the welcome centers we wanted to have, but we won’t own them,” she said. “We’ll lease them from the developer.” Spaceport officials estimate that 200,000 visitors are expected to tour the spaceport annually. Read More News New Mexico

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Sunshine is a foreign idea in Sunland Park

Heath Haussamen
NMPolitics Heath Haussamen - The N.M. Open Meetings Act requires that anyone who wants to be let into a public meeting of a government body be allowed in. Here’s the provision in the law: “… all persons desiring shall be permitted to attend and listen to the deliberations and proceedings.” By all appearances, the Sunland Park City Council tried to make that happen during its search for a new mayor. Councilors postponed one meeting after it got rowdy because there were too many people to fit in the room. They found a bigger venue. But their attempt to involve the public still failed. Police blocked the entrance to the larger room at least 30 minutes before the meeting started because the room was full. Many Sunland Park residents and others weren’t allowed to attend the meeting. Among those kept out were at least two residents who wanted to ask the council to consider appointing them mayor. Absent those choices, the city council appointed 24-year-old Javier Perea, who showed up at the meeting with his résumé in hand and walked away with the task of leading the most scandal-plagued city in the state into a new era of ethics and transparency. Read More News New Mexico

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If I Wanted America to Fail

A chilling new video from freemarketamerica.org

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Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul In El Paso

Congressman Ron Paul
Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul will be at UTEP, on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7pm in Magoffin Auditorium. He will be speaking to UTEP students and visitors. This event is free and open to the public. Ron Paul is a congressman, constitutionalist, veteran, doctor, has been married for 55 years, and currently working towards becoming the Republican Presidential nominee. “Ron Paul is the Republican Party’s best kept secret. We are fortunate to have him seek out El Paso and show his interest in our vote. The essence of Ron Paul’s message is liberty and liberty brings people together, which is exactly what this country needs. We are making history, so I urge everyone to partake in this once in a lifetime event,” says Youth For Ron Paul UTEP Chapter President, Isabel Gonzalez. Parking is available across the street in the parking garage, located on Mesa. For more information, contact Isabel J. Gonzalez, Youth For Ron Paul UTEP Chapter President.


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Gov. Martinez called out for backing Spears

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez
From the Carlsbad Current-Argus - by Milan Simonich, Texas-New Mexico Newspapers - SANTA FE — To the annoyance of at least a few fellow Republicans, Gov. Susana Martinez is not sitting on the sidelines this primary season. Martinez is throwing her might and her political action committee's money behind Angie Spears, who is running for the state Senate in a rural, heavily Republican district. The trouble for the governor is that Spears faces opposition from two other Republicans. They say they do not appreciate Martinez taking a side in a campaign where no Democrats are to be found. One of the GOP candidates, trucking company owner Mark Myers of Clovis, says he is running for the Senate for a simple reason: "I'm not a fan of the good ole boy system in Santa Fe." Asked what he meant, Myers, 44, said one example actually involves women — the governor backing Spears in the three-way primary, rather than pouring her energy into races where Democrats could be defeated. "I'm not associated with the circles of power. My only interest is in the people here," Myers said of Senate District 7, which includes Curry, Quay and Union counties. Pat Woods, 62, a farmer and rancher from Broadview, is the third Republican candidate. "I'm disappointed that the governor got into the race," he said. Woods and Myers said they did not understand why Martinez elected to take sides in a primary. Jay McCleskey, of the governor's political committee, offered this explanation: "Governor Martinez endorsed Angie Spears when she was the only candidate." Republican Clint Harden, the incumbent senator in District 7, announced on Feb. 18 that he would not seek re-election. Spears had entered the race even before Harden decided to retire from politics. She received Martinez's endorsement two days after Harden stepped aside.
Martinez's Susana PAC has since donated $5,000 to Spears' campaign. That was nearly a fifth of the $26,080 that Spears listed in contributions. Read more

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Ex-ATF agent: Ammo load should have been stopped

From the El Paso Times - By Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera - In light of Tuesday's arrest in Juárez of a U.S. trucker with 268,000 rounds of ammunition, a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives questioned the current safeguards at the U.S. side of the border to prevent similar contraband moving southbound. Jabin Akeem Bogan, 27, was detained Tuesday afternoon by Mexican federal customs officers at the Bridge of the Americas with the cargo. His employer and others have come out in his defense, saying the ammunitions were actually headed to Phoenix and that Bogan ended up in Mexico by accident. Regardless of Bogan's intentions, René Jáquez, former assistant country attaché in Juárez with the ATF, said that U.S. customs officers should have intercepted the cargo. "In my opinion, the real question to ask is how is it that our customs agents with all heightened security were able to miss this type of shipment going into Mexico? How was it that this truck was able to get into Mexico with all those ammo?" he said. And if the cargo was indeed legitimate, Jáquez said, U.S. customs officers should have been able to see the ammunitions, check the paperwork and steer the driver in the right direction. "If they would have opened the door they would have seen the ammunition," he said. Read more
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