Carl Trujillo will challenge Speaker Lujan again

From Capitol Report New Mexico - In June of 2010, Carl Trujillo nearly pulled off a shocking upset as he came within a handful of votes of ousting New Mexico Speaker of the House Ben Luján (D-Nambé) in the Democratic primary. On Friday (Jan. 13), the fellow Nambé resident officially announced he will run again for the District 46 House of Representatives seat. The Pojoaque High School grad who now works as an engineer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory released this statement: Today, I’m officially announcing my 2012 candidacy for New Mexico State Representative District 46. As many of you know, we came within just a handful of votes of victory in 2010 when we first launched our campaign to stand up against the entrenched and outdated Party Machine that has ruled New Mexico for far too long. Read more

Carl Trujillo will challenge Speaker Lujan again

McDonald sworn in 100 years ago

William Calhoun McDonald campaigned to be New Mexico’s first governor with the slogan, "Good government and a fair shake." In his inaugural speech delivered on 15 January 1912, Governor McDonald spoke of the state’s recent victory in becoming a member of the union. “Now, we, the free, independent citizens of New Mexico, have at last come victorious from the battle, waged for full citizenship in a sovereign state, in that union established by their wisdom. As we look into the future, bright hopes of promise appear to some, and dark forebodings may dim the horizon of others. The past is history; the present is the dawn of the future. It is to the future we look and that future will be what we make it.” The governor also spoke of guarding the voter from election fraud, of fair taxation, and of the importance of developing irrigation to be put to beneficial use. Moreover, he spoke about preserving and conserving the public lands so “that the proceeds and revenues coming there from may go to our children as a vast heritage, resulting from the wise management of those who hold them in trust.”

McDonald sworn in 100 years ago

Martin Luther King’s Conservative Principles

From the Heritage Foundation - Martin Luther King Day has arrived once again, and like clockwork, liberals are invoking King’s name to support their causes. In an e-mail to activists, Obama’s former “green czar,” Van Jones, calls King the “original Occupier.” He urges activists to use MLK day meet-ups to energize left-wing campaigning for 2012. Despite these efforts, conservatives should not surrender King’s legacy to the left. Conservatives, of course, have reservations about certain aspects of King’s legacy. For one, he became too close, later in his career, to the welfare state. He was enamored of the theology of the Social Gospel, the movement that undermined much of mainstream Protestantism in the 20th century. Later in life, he was a vocal opponent of American involvement in the Vietnam. And we now know that in his scholarship and personal life King was far from perfect. Nevertheless, there are three ways in which King’s message is profoundly conservative and relevant. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Martin Luther King’s Conservative Principles

Blankley: Governing while drunk on partisanship

NewsNM: Swickard - Tony Blankley passed away a week ago after a long battle with cancer. He will be missed. This is from April 2011 From the Washington Times - by Tony Blankley - If future historians look back on the ruins of the American economy after a U.S. bond crisis struck in the second decade of the 21st century, many causes will be noted. Obviously, it will be seen that for decades before the catastrophe, the United States was spending vastly more than it could afford on government health and retirement programs. Just as after the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11, 2011, blue-ribbon commissions will be incredulous that all the telltale signs of the coming disaster were in plain view yet were ignored. But the central indictment for the catastrophe that ended American prosperity and world dominance will be justly laid at the feet of those Washington politicians who continued to play for short-term partisan advantage even as the economic earth was beginning to move under their feet. Of course, it may be claimed in partial mitigation of their guilt that the politicians, like the witch in Goethe’s Faust, had become acclimated to the noxious brew: “Here I have a bottle, From which, at times, I wet my throttle; which now, not in the slightest, stinks.” But the cup of Washington partisan politics is raising a higher and higher stink amongst the public. And if the crisis comes while some Washington politicians continue to get drunk on their business-as-usual brew, the public is likely to choke on the defense of “governing while drunk on partisanship.” Read more

Blankley: Governing while drunk on partisanship

Hearing Delayed, Richardson's Pit Rule Under Fire

Bill Richardson

A controversial requirement known as the “Pit Rule,” which was instituted during the administration of former Governor Bill Richardson, has come under fire by state regulators. Opponents claim the rule was instituted to line the pockets of Richardson cronies by mandating completely unnecessary and costly processes on energy producing activities. Proponents say the rule is good for the environment.
Late last week the Oil Conservation Commission decided to delay a public hearing that will attempt to reform the so-called “Pit Rule.” Originally, the hearing was set to begin January 23rd. The postponement will accommodate all parties in support of and in opposition to reforming the rule and provide them more time to prepare presentations. The new hearing date has not been established.

Hearing Delayed, Richardson's Pit Rule Under Fire

Fed Members Signal Economy is Stalled

In the latest sign yet that those with the most data on the economy have very little confidence in the recovery, CNBC reports that Federal Reserve officials are seriously considering giving the US economy—and especially the housing market—an added jolt with more quantitative easing.
Fed officials are likely to discuss such a move at their Jan. 24-25 meeting, when the central bank will issue its first quarterly forecast on interest rates under the new communication policy. Two of the new voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest-rate policy, have recently suggested they would support more assets purchases.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that sustained high levels of unemployment, as forecast by many Fed members, "does make an argument that we should have more stimulus." Another new voter, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto, said in a recent speech that economic models indicate the Fed "should be even more accommodative than it is today." Read full story here: News New Mexico

Fed Members Signal Economy is Stalled

Richardson Crony: Faces Lawsuit, Corruption Charges

News NM note - In the Albuquerque Journal this morning, reporter Colleen Heild asks how "did the low bidder lose out on a $38 million road construction contract in southern New Mexico in 2009?" Heild then goes on to document charges in yet another lawsuit against a former Governor Bill Richardson operative. This time it is Johnny Cope of Hobbs.

Johnny Cope

Capitol Report New Mexico - Johnny Cope – one of the most controversial figures during Bill Richardson’s tenure as New Mexico Governor — was removed from the Transportation Commision by new Gov. Susana Martinez on Friday (Jan. 14). Gov. Martinez also announced the firing all of appointed members of the Labor and Industrial Commission and the Spaceport Authority Board of Directors. A longtime friend and political contributor to Richardson, Cope had a Rail Runner car named after him, as well as a building at the Hobbs Airport. Cope was named to the Transportation Commission by Richardson and in one of the commission’s final acts of 2010, it named named a section of freeway in Albuquerque “The Governor Bill Richardson Interchange.” Read full story here: News New Mexico

Richardson Crony: Faces Lawsuit, Corruption Charges

New Mexico Partnership Hires Steve Vierck

Steve Vierck

New Mexico Business Weekly - Steve Vierck has been named president and CEO of the New Mexico Partnership. Vierck is the president of the economic development division of Angelou Economics. He will be responsible for leading the Partnership in its efforts to market New Mexico to companies, decision makers in business and site selectors, according to a release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Prior to working with Angelou, Vierck was the CEO of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance, where he led the recruitment and expansion of 49 companies, generating 3,000 jobs and $146 million in capital investment in southern New Mexico, said the Economic Development Department. Read full story here: News New Mexico

New Mexico Partnership Hires Steve Vierck

Lobos Win MWC Road Opener

The New Mexico Lobos continue to roll. Steve Alford's basketball team opened the Mountain West Conference season with a convincing 72-62 road victory over Wyoming in Laramie. Leading the way for UNM was Kendall Williams with 14 points followed by Jamal Fenton with 13. It was Wyoming's MWC opener too. The Lobos are now 15-2 in the season after a 17-2 run helped ice the game. They have won 13 consecutive games.

Lobos Win MWC Road Opener