Does Udall Hope Nobody Remembers What He Says?

Yet another vote to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government running was killed yesterday. It was done with the help of four of the five members of the New Mexico congressional delegation. Only Congressman Steve Pearce cast a compromise vote to keep the government running. A bill, which passed in the U.S. House, was linked to the cutting and capping of spending, and also sending a balanced budget amendment to the states for approval. Let's analyze what these ominous NO votes by Ben Ray Lujan, Martin Heinrich, Jeff Bingaman, and Tom Udall could mean to New Mexico citizens? Below is a list of three possible consequences.

1. More than 360,000 New Mexicans could be in danger of not receiving Social Security checks depending on what the Obama administration decides to spend social security tax revenue on.

2. Over 300,000 Medicare recipients and service providers could be left in the lurch depending on what President Obama decides to spend Medicate taxes on.
3. Over 174,000 New Mexico veterans would face the prospects that their benefits disrupted depending on which government projects President Obama chooses to fund instead.

Just a few days after NM Senator Tom Udall had gone on the record to suggest the problem was a partisan one, he chose to vote along party lines and only with fellow Senate Democrats, to move the New Mexicans he represents much closer to the three consequences listed above. In doing so he said NO to keeping the government running and NO to restructuring the runaway spending nightmare in Washington. Udall also suggested recently that it was time to do.......“What is right for New Mexicans. We must increase the debt ceiling, and we must do it by Aug. 2.” Yesterday Udall had the opportunity to do just that. And instead he voted to prolong the crisis. Does he hope nobody is listening to what he says before he votes?

Does Udall Hope Nobody Remembers What He Says?

Cut, Cap, and Tax Compromise, Like Everything Else, Dies in the Senate

In the spring President Obama's proposed budget went down to defeat 97-0. Amazingly, he could not garner a single vote in U.S Senate within his own party, for a budget he and his staff spent months developing. Though New Mexico's senators will no doubt use duplicitous "words" to praise the president's efforts at "compromise" they certainly cannot possibly explain their uncompromising votes against his budget and every other budget they have seen. Today after Democrats voted against another measure to keep government functioning Obama stood before the press corps in Washington and pretended all the rejections in the Senate, including rejections of his own budget never happened. Somehow the president clings to the hope that voters will now believe that only HE is a man of "compromise."

Jeff Bingaman

Will these theatrics work for the man who led the nation, in the number of golf rounds played by an elected official in Washington D.C. this summer? Or are the American voters starting to wise up to the colossal mistake they made in November of 2008, when they turned over the national checkbook to this guy? Time will tell. Today Obama used the term "but" countless times during his latest blame shifting afternoon press conference. He did so in the hopes that Americans might not realize that anything he said before he used the word "but," was meaningless.

Tom Udall

After the president said he did not want to point fingers, he proceeded to do just that. And during the entire press conference not one reporter asked him to acknowledge that his budget proposal got zero votes from people he purported to be willing to "persuade." Once again this president was unpersuasive today.

On  Monday morning every working person in America will head off to work knowing full well they pay social security taxes on their wages to the federal government. There are no exceptions on FICA taxes because retired seniors are considered a priority. Will anyone ask the question: Where are all of our social security contributions going if they are not going to finance the checks to current seniors? This question was also never asked or answered at the press conference. Why didn't New Mexico's senators vote in favor of a debt ceiling extension that included spending cuts, spending caps, and a balanced budget? You will have to ask them. You will find their phone numbers here: News New Mexico

Cut, Cap, and Tax Compromise, Like Everything Else, Dies in the Senate

Udall and Bingaman Reject Compromise Impasse Continues

New Mexico's senior citizens wondering about their social security checks arriving on time got bad news from four of the five the elected officials this state sent to Washington this week. Earlier in the week Rep. Martin Heinrich, who wants to be a senator, and Ben Ray Lujan who wants to be re-elected, rejected a compromise bill that would have kept the government running and raised the debt ceiling. And this morning Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall drove a couple more nails in the compromise coffin when they also rejected the same Cut, Cap, and Balance compromise plan in the U.S. Senate. When it was all said and done Senators Udall and Bingaman have voted NO to every proposed budget this year, while proposing nothing themselves. Both New Mexico Senators voted against President Obama's budget, and they also voted against Paul Ryan's budget. Now they have voted against a compromise debt ceiling lifting proposal that passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a comfortable margin earlier in the week. While never getting a chance to vote on the president's budget (since it failed to garner a single vote in the Senate), NM Rep's Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich have also fail to say YES to all budget proposals.

It would seem that Rep. Steve Pearce is the only elected official representing New Mexico in Washington willing to compromise. And it now appears that President Obama will have to decide if seniors get paid next month. No doubt if he decides to stiff the elderly in New Mexico, it won't be Lujan, Heinrich, Udall, and Bingaman that he blames. Instead, and despite the fact that their votes are prolonging the crisis, he will no doubt blame leaders like Steve Pearce who have actually cast votes to keep government running but with the provision that government be put it on a budgetary diet. New Mexico voters should pay attention to the shell game and know  who is going to shut down government and who wants to keep it running.

Udall and Bingaman Reject Compromise Impasse Continues

State airplane blunder interests feds

From KRQE-TV.com - A state plane-related blunder made by the Martinez Administration soon after taking office this winter has prompted a federal investigation into the incident, according to official correspondence. The Federal Aviation Administration wants to know if the state has inadvertently stumbled into the charter business, according to an FAA letter sent to the state in early March.That’s because a Larry Barker investigation discovered that the state of New Mexico in February allowed a Hollywood director and his three assistants to fly from Las Vegas, N.M. to Pagosa Springs, Colo., to scout a location along the Cumbres Toltec Railroad. However, the problem was that only elected or appointed government officials are allowed to fly on state planes. State officials admitted the mistake soon after it came to light. Gov. Susana Martinez – who, after taking office, vowed to clean up a history of abuses related to the three state airplanes – later got NBC/Universal to reimburse taxpayers for the $4,000 cost of the flight. The company was scouting a location for a television show. But by doing right by taxpayers, Martinez may have done wrong by the FAA. To the FAA, it appeared that the NBC flight was similar to a charter flight. And the FAA has strict rules about charter flights and how charter businesses operate. The state of New Mexico is not authorized to fly charters. Not long after News 13 story aired in early May, the FAA started its own investigation into the incident. In a letter sent to the state, the federal agency said operating a state plane commercially and without a permit goes against federal regulations. Read more

State airplane blunder interests feds

Biologists hope insect can help wipe out invasive weed

From KOB-TV.com - For more than 80 years southwestern Colorado has been plagued with a weed that officials have never been able to get rid of. For La Plata County weed director, Rod Cook, the Russian knapweed is a foreign plant that’s adapted to the area. "We're kind of the epicenter for the state of Colorado and southwestern Colorado," said Cook. The weed thrives in the area because of the high mountain desert climate. Cook said it’s also addictive and poisonous for horses, burros, and mules. "Once they reach that threshold of being poisoned they can no longer chew, they can no longer swallow food". Seeds help spread the plant but it’s the creeping roots that make it impossible to pull out. Officials told us sometimes the roots can grow as long as 20 feet. Recently, the Bureau of Land Management released a hundred tiny bugs from Asia called a gall midge. Their primary food source is the Russian knapweed. "Once you put them out there and they go to work for you doing their job...you can't beat that," said Cook. But—like anything else—there are some concerns. "There's really no guarantee that the bug may not adapt to some other plant," said Cook. Read more

Biologists hope insect can help wipe out invasive weed

Major study planned to investigate marijuana as a treatment for PTSD

NewsNM Swickard - Even though I come from the 1960s I have no connection with the drug. Yet, my concern is if a legitimate doctor says, Michael, this could help you, I do not want some politician saying, let him suffer. There should never be a politician between me and my doctor. From the New Mexico Independent - Marijuana may not cure the summertime blues, but there are those who think it can cure post-traumatic stress disorder, especially among veterans. Dave Wanzenreid, a longtime Montana legislator and current candidate for governor told The Colorado Independent earlier this year that veterans would be among the people most hurt when the Montana Legislature passed a bill to severely restrict access to medical marijuana in Montana. Read more

Major study planned to investigate marijuana as a treatment for PTSD

Santa Fe Hospital gears up for strike

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - For the second time in just under a month nurses and other unionized workers at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center have submitted a 10-day notice that they intend to strike. Shirley Cruse, lead negotiator for the local branch of the District 1199 National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, said Thursday the notice was sent to the hospital at 5 p.m. Thursday. "It's disappointing, but not unexpected," said hospital spokesman Arturo Delgado, adding that hospital negotiators still hope to reach an agreement with the workers before the current contract — which has already been extended once — expires July 31. Thursday's notice comes a day after face-to-face negotiations between the parties ended with hospital executives claiming the union had refused the services of a federal mediator and union representatives claiming the hospital had walked away from the negotiating table. Cruse said Thursday that no one from the hospital showed up for scheduled negotiations, but that the union did submit written counter proposals via email which hospital negotiators said they would review. Cruse said she's hoping the hospital's team will return to the table for negotiating sessions scheduled for Tuesday. Read more

Santa Fe Hospital gears up for strike

Perry: No shuttle means astronauts to 'hitchhike'

From the El Paso Times - AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry says the cost-saving decision to end NASA's shuttle program will leave American astronauts with "no alternative but to hitchhike into space." The Republican had harsh words for the end of the shuttle era in a statement released Thursday. President Barack Obama, who rejected last-ditch appeals to keep shuttles flying, has set goals of astronaut expeditions to an asteroid by 2025 and then to Mars. But Perry said Obama is leading federal agencies astray. Perry says space exploration should be defined "not in terms of what we cannot do, but instead in terms of what we will do." Read more

Perry: No shuttle means astronauts to 'hitchhike'

Swickard: The truth when seen with partisan eyes

I struggle with patience for the type of reader who reads not for the ideas but in great hopes of finding a “Gotcha” mistake. They can refuse to see several great points and fixate upon whether I used a semi-colon correctly. Oh well. Then there are the real point missers. I hate to kick ankles when so many readers are so generous with their thoughts, but there is one type of feedback I dislike: the point missers who reads a column and takes one small arcane point, not what the column is about, and they wax on and on.It is a free country so they can do as they wish but I wonder why they put so much effort into missing the point each and every time. Read column

Swickard: The truth when seen with partisan eyes

City of Alb. Wasting Water and Money

From krqe.com -Video from the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Authority shows water gushing into the streets and broken sprinkler heads spraying out of control.  We've all heard the warnings, waste water and get fined. And you're racking up hefty fines thanks to the city. “We have a resource in water that we need to take care of in the city of Albuquerque,” Mayor R.J. Berry said.  So how much water is the city wasting?
News 13 asked for a breakdown of city properties that have been fined by the water authority in the last year. The city's violations take up five pages, and the fines add up to more than $21,000.  The city's Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for all violations that make up the $21,000 price tag.  More News New Mexico

City of Alb. Wasting Water and Money