Constitutional Rights Rally Draws Big Crowd

Steve Pearce
Congressman Steve Pearce, Dona Ana County District Attorney Amy Orlando and many others participated in the Southern New Mexico March and Rally for the Protection of Constitutional Rights and Religious Freedom in Las Cruces yesterday. The march was planned after the federal government announced that it will require religious organizations to purchase products that violate their principles.
Amy Orlando
“The federal government is dismissing our Constitution, and forcing religious organizations to violate their conscience by adopting the agenda of the Obama administration’s favored special interests,” said Pearce. “This is an abhorrent assault on our fundamental liberties, including our right to live the way our faith prescribes. The government is interfering where it has absolutely no place—in our personal, spiritual lives.”
“It was an honor to take part in this march and rally,” Pearce continued. “By speaking out and making their voices heard, the people of New Mexico practiced the most fundamental rights of Americans today. I will continue to stand alongside New Mexicans in fighting for our Constitutional freedoms.”
Peter Ibarbo, Public Relations Coordinator for the march, commented on the participants and the message of today’s rally. "I was very proud to see such a large group of religious and community leaders come out to support something as basic as defending religious freedom and Constitutional rights,” said Ibarbo. “This will be a spark for a nationwide movement that sends a clear message about religious freedom.”

Share/Bookmark

More Stray Bullets in Juarez

El Paso Times - Authorities on both sides of the border don't know whether a 16-year-old boy who was shot in a leg and found on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande late Thursday was wounded in a shootout involving federal police in Juárez.
Border Patrol agents found the teenager, whose name has not been released, with a gunshot wound to one of his legs about 11:15 p.m. He had crossed the dry river and was found between the river and the border fence near Fonseca Drive and Cesar Chavez Border Highway. The teenager was taken to University Medical Center for treatment and remained sedated most of Friday, Border Patrol agents said. His condition was not made public.
Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero said on Friday that the teenager is from Mexico and has spoken with Mexican Consulate officials. He has also met with relatives at the hospital. Cordero added that authorities were waiting for the shooting victim to be released to talk to him about the incident. Mexican Consulate spokes-man Luis Adrián Sosa said that officials had met with the teenager but that he was not authorized to share any information. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Share/Bookmark

Espanola A Different Sort of Place

KRQE - The city manager of Espanola will keep his job while he faces felony charges for allegedly accepting bribes from an asphalt company while working as Santa Fe County's public works director.
James Lujan, another former city employee and the owners of Advantage Asphalt and Seal Coating were indicted on Feb. 24 by a Santa Fe County grand jury. They're charged with bilking the county out of about $1 million by filing false paperwork and charging the county for materials the county already owned and for labor performed by the county's own employees.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the city council in Espanola voted on Tuesday to reject Lujan's resignation letter and keep him on unless he is convicted. He is charged with multiple counts of fraud, bribery and racketeering. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Share/Bookmark

Debit Card Use for Gas Gets Complicated


KOAT -TV - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Many gas stations around town are putting holds of more than $100 on debit card accounts when people fill up. Mylea Perry, said she was on her way to work when she realized she was low on gas. She said she filled up $5.45 of gas at a Chevron gas station on Isleta Boulevard. She said she later found out that $126 had been put on hold in her bank account.
"When you're going to the gas station, I don't think anyone has the slightest idea someone is going to reach into your bank account, take that kind of money and hold it for three days," Perry said. Perry said she couldn't even fit $126 worth of gas in her car. Chevron said it is policy to hold $126 for any debit card purchase at the pump. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Share/Bookmark

Voter Fraud Allegations at Sunland Park

NMPolitics - Despite a report from the secretary of state alleging multiple cases of voter fraud, a district judge denied a request today to delay the Sunland Park municipal election, saying the district attorney hadn’t proven that “irreparable harm” had been done. That means the election will proceed as planned on Tuesday even though law enforcement and elections officials believe Texas residents have already voted illegally in the New Mexico city, compromising or at least calling into question the integrity of the process.
A petition Orlando filed in court states that the problems investigators uncovered have so compromised the integrity of the election that “there is no confidence that the election will accurately reflect the wishes of the qualified electorate of Sunland Park.”
The decision from District Judge Susan Riedel to allow the election to proceed caps a two-week period that saw the arrests of mayoral candidate Daniel Salinas and others on charges related to an attempt to use a lap-dance video to force another candidate out of the mayoral race, the investigation into election problems, and the initiation of a state audit into financial problems in the city. In addition, the FBI is scrutinizing city contracts. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Share/Bookmark

Education Changes Coming?

KOB TV - If you have a child in public school, big changes are coming to the way they learn. Educators across the state met this weekend in Albuquerque to work on those changes. The governor's pen hasn't even cooled down from signing over new money to education, and already educators are focusing on putting those dollars to work.
"80 percent of our kids now don't read proficiently at fourth grade level so what we have to do is make sure from kindergarten to third - our money is where our mouth is and that we're investing $90 million more dollars on education," said Governor Susana Martinez. $90 million that will shape new common core standards for New Mexico - kicking "No-Child-Left-Behind" to the curb. "You're going to be able to see and follow the progress of your child throughout the year," said Martinez. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Share/Bookmark

Looks Like Another $400 Million Flushed Down the Toilet on Abound Solar

ABC - Another recipient of Energy Department loan funds has run into financial trouble. Colorado-based Abound Solar announced this week it has been forced to lay off 180 of its 400 workers as it tries to retool to produce a more efficient type of solar panel in order to keep a technological edge on Chinese manufacturers who are flooding the market with less expensive models. Abound received approval in 2010 for a $400 million government loan. "As you know the solar market has been extremely difficult for all manufacturers," said Craig Witsoe, the CEO of Abound Solar, in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday. "To continue to make the panel we make today, to have to sell it below cost, it's a tough environment to operate in." Read full story here: News New Mexico




Share/Bookmark

Amazingly, Martin Heinrich Admits That He Opposes the Keystone XL Pipeline

His own words demonstrate just how "in over his head" Martin Heinrich is as an elected official. With zero command of the pertinent facts regarding who owns and controls oil reserves around the world, or just how critical intelligent energy policy is to the U.S. economy, Heinrich simply wanders from photo op to photo op around the state parroting the talking points of fellow economic illiterates in the radical environmental movement.
Martin Heinrich
Even as gas prices skyrocket Heinrich doesn't seem to get it. Late this week he admitted to Rob Nikolewski of Capitol Report New Mexico that he was against the economic development and supply relief the Keystone XL Pipeline could bring to the U.S. “We’ve got to stop being dependent on Exxon Mobil and the big oil companies to determine the health of our economy,” Heinrich chirped.
While Exxon Mobil might be a convenient target for Heinrich and somewhat easy to demonize, if you combine the total reserves of Exxon with those of Chevron and Conoco you will find they control less than 7% of worldwide oil reserves. If Heinrich cared to become educated instead keeping domestic oil companies handy for disparagement, he would quickly discover that “Big Oil” isn’t Exxon Mobil, Chevron, or Conoco. Big Oil is Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia. Big Oil is OPEC and our domestic oil companies have no more control over suppies coming out of Russia, Iran, or Saudi Arabia than Martin Heinrich does.
Anyone listening to Congressman Martin Heinrich should quickly realize he either chooses to remain ignorant about energy realities or he is intentionally misleading New Mexicans. Either way he is not leadership timber. Astonishingly, in the wake of the bankruptcy of Solyndra, which cost taxpayers more than $525 million and the announcement earlier this week that yet another green energy government loan recipient, Abound Solar, will lay off half its workforce, Heinrich continues to support the idea of throwing money at these subsidy dependent alternative energy losers as a means of creating jobs in America or in New Mexico. In the meantime he opposes policies that would hold gas prices in check.
Of course Heinrich is not his party’s nominee yet. He must get past State Auditor Hector Balderas in the Democratic primary. But if Heinrich actually prevails over Balderas, the choice for New Mexico in November is a no-brainer. Whether it is Heather Wilson or Greg Sowards, New Mexicans need to send Heinrich packing before he can cast one more boneheaded vote that squanders our dwindling resources on hair-brained schemes like Solyndra and Abound Solar. Enough already of taxpayer losses, future layoffs, and politicians who cannot grasp the basic essence of economic futility.

Share/Bookmark

Gov Signs State Budget, Vetoes $2M

The Roundhouse 
Albuquerque Journal -  Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has signed a state budget that increases spending by 4 percent next year and provides a boost in take-home pay for educators and state workers. The governor cut almost $2 million from the budget with line-item vetoes, including $75,000 to promote “adventure tourism” in McKinley County and $50,000 for “salary adjustments” for Northern New Mexico College faculty. The budget allocates $5.6 billion for public education, colleges and government programs in the fiscal year starting July 1. That represents a $219 million increase over this year. The governor signed the bill on Friday. The budget provides nearly $50 million for higher government payments into public employee pensions next year, allowing worker contributions to drop by a similar amount, which boosts the take-home pay of workers. (Subscription required) Read More News New Mexico


Share/Bookmark

Governor Prepares to Veto Pork Proposals

KOB TV- Governor Susana Martinez is sharpening up her pork knife, threatening to use her line-item veto powers to slash some state lawmakers' pet projects in the capital outlay bill - the stuff politicians call pork. The Republican Governor says she is studying the bill, looking for "wasteful" projects, whether they are backed by Democrats or Republicans in the legislature.
"Some things the cities could do for themselves," said Martinez. "Maybe they could repair cabinets in a senior center, versus a big road project or a big dam repair, something that we're responsible for."
Exhibit A, $80,000 for musical instruments and bathrooms for a mariachi music program for at-risk kids in Roswell.
Exhibit B might be $25,000 for improvements to the rose garden at Albuquerque's Tony Hillerman Library.
Read full story here: News New Mexico
Share/Bookmark