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| Evelyn Madrid Erhard, Candidate for Congress |
Erhard pledges to focus on ‘the plight of the people’
PolitiFiction
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| Pants On Fire |
From National Review Online - he website PolitiFact is going to be truth-squadding the Republican convention speakers this week, delivering verdicts on which claims are “mostly true” and which deserve a “pants on fire” rating. Our advice: Pay no attention to those ratings. PolitiFact can’t be trusted to get the story right. Its recent rulings on Medicare have demonstrated the point thrice over. PolitiFact said that Romney’s comment that Obama had “robbed” Medicare of $716 billion to pay for Obamacare was “mostly false.” Among its reasons: “The money was not robbed in any literal sense of the word.” So if Romney led anyone to believe that Obama had held Medicare at gunpoint and ordered it to hand over its wallet, they can now rest easy, because PolitiFact is on the case. PolitiFact’s other arguments are that Medicare spending will continue to rise and that Obama’s spending reductions are “mainly aimed at insurers and hospitals, not beneficiaries.” Leave aside the economic naïveté of that argument, and focus instead on the irrelevance. Romney said that Obama had taken money that was going to be spent on Medicare and instead spend it on Obamacare, and suggested that this was a bad thing. In other words: an absolutely true claim, and an opinion based on it. If PolitiFact disagrees with that opinion, let it publish its views under a different name. Read more
Obama Team Rejects Catholic Request to Participate, But Will Host 2 Hour Muslim Prayer Event at Convention
The event is being promoted on the official Charlottein2012.com page. You can watch the promotional video, via the Bureau of Muslim Affairs, which is partnering with the DNC for the event.
The first two minutes are rather dry, but around 2:04 a muezzin sings the call to prayer with an American flag background, and the video “picks up” considerably:
Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend the Friday prayers and Jibril Hough, a spokesman for the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (BIMA), said the purpose of the event is to hold political parties accountable for the issues faced by Muslim-Americans. |
| Imam Siraj Wahhaj |
And while Muslim-Americans undeniably face distinct challenges, those who are well-informed on the dangers of radical Islam are expressing their doubts about the event. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and the Founder and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, wrote: “The leaders of this event – Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahhaj are not moderates. They are radicals. These individuals embrace Islamist supremacy and have demonstrated support for radical ideologies.
Expect More Emboldened Voter Fraud Schemes
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| Eric Holder |
Mitchell said Holder’s policies emboldens vote scheming, which, she points out, is a felony. “I think they get more and more brazen and because they know that Eric Holder, the Attorney General, rather than trying to enforce federal laws that would protect us from voter crimes, Eric Holder and his Justice Department have done just the opposite,” she said.
“They have tried to block states and local governments from enforcing the law that we have operated on for decades. I mean it’s illegal. It’s a felony under federal law for someone to register to vote or to vote if you’re not a citizen. But instead of enforcing that law, the Justice Department under Eric Holder is suing the state of Florida to keep them from enforcing it. So that’s why I think that that emboldens those who would concoct schemes to have illegal votes cast.”
Consumer Confidence Falls to Ten Month Low
The Conference Board’s index decreased to 60.6 from a revised 65.4 in July, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. The 4.8-point decrease was the biggest since October. The reading was less than the most- pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey in which the median projection was 66.
Rising gasoline prices, a jobless rate that’s been above 8 percent since the start of 2009 and limited income gains are keeping consumers glum. Persistent pessimism raises the risk of a pullback in household purchases that account for about 70 percent of the world’s biggest economy. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Solyndra: There's More
Units of Argonaut Ventures and Madrone Partners could end up with "significantly more" than $500 million in tax benefits as part of Solyndra's bankruptcy, the Department of Energy and the Internal Revenue Service said in a bankruptcy court filing on Friday.
Under the bankruptcy plan, the U.S. government is unlikely to recoup much of its $528 million loan to Solyndra.
The government agencies asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, to reject Solyndra's "disclosure statement," which describes its plan to repay creditors, unless the company provides more details on the tax benefits.
Under the proposed plan, tax benefits such as "net operating losses" would be preserved for Argonaut, which is controlled by a foundation linked to billionaire George Kaiser, and Madrone. Under a 2011 restructuring, the two firms committed to investing $75 million to keep Solyndra afloat with the condition they would be repaid before the U.S. government.Debra Grassgreen, an attorney with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones, which represents Solyndra, declined to comment beyond saying that the company would file a reply with the court.
NMSU Tries to Close Barn Door at DABCC Nursing Program With "Free" Scholarships
The horse left the barn at Dona Ana Community College. Several years after deficiencies were identified in the nursing program that raised the spectre of lost accreditation the hammer finally came down on the management team at DABCC and NMSU. Earlier this month the National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission denied accreditation for the Dona Ana Community College nursing program.
New Mexico State University and DABCC finally made a much too late effort to close the door to barn yesterday when it issued this statement: "NMSU will provide scholarships to cover tuition and fees for DACC nursing students who transfer into the BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program and the scholarship can be renewed through the duration of the program if the student maintains a 3.O (grade point average).” No mention was made of tuition refunds to current students.In effect the university is encouraging existing and future students to gamble that NMSU and DABCC will regain its credibility and obtain accreditation at some point in the future. The "free tuition" offered in the wake of the breech will only have real value to students if accreditation is regained.
Land Office Takes in $7.4 Million on Oil and Gas Leases
A total of 26 tracts of land covering more than 8,000 acres were sold. Revenues from the oil and gas industry represent 97% of all income brought in by the Land Office. The revenues are used to support public schools, universities and hospitals.
The highest sealed bid of $466,140 was made by Ronald Miles of Roswell for about 163 acres in Eddy County who also placed the highest oral bid - $2 million for about 640 acres in Lea County.
Experts wonder how much more money might have come to the State Land Office if it had not tried to retroactively change the formula for how royalties are calculated on productive leases.
State Land Office Loses Bid to Retroactively Change Oil and Gas Royalty Rules to Increase Revenues
The court’s unanimous ruling last week was a setback for the State Land Office, which contended that producers have shortchanged New Mexico in what they pay for producing gas and oil on land owned by the state. The decision could affect several other pending royalty lawsuits potentially involving tens of millions of dollars.
Wally Drangmeister, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said Monday the court’s ruling “reaffirms the common sense interpretation and application of lease provisions that the industry has employed for decades.”
One of the central issues is whether companies should be allowed to continue to deduct certain expenses for making natural gas marketable after it’s produced at well sites. Those so-called post-production costs include removing water and other impurities from the gas, and then transporting the gas to plants for additional processing before it’s shipped in pipelines for commercial distribution.
Royalties are paid on “net proceeds” and the Land Office sought to limit costs that can be deducted by producers. Some gas is produced from oil wells and the ruling also involves royalties paid on that. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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