Autopsy for a Wolf?

KOB-TV - GRANTS, N.M. (AP) - Authorities say a Mexican gray wolf has been dead in New Mexico from an apparent gunshot wound.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the carcass was discovered April 1 in the El Malpais National Conservation Area south of Grants. They say the dead male was part of a litter born into the Hawks Nest Pack in 2010. The body has been sent to National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Oregon to confirm the cause of death and look for any forensic evidence. Read full story here: News New Mexico
Newsnm note - (Spence) Many questions arise after reading this story. Did taxpayers provide the money to determine which "litter" this predator came from? Why don't the murders of every human being warrant the same concern for forensic evidence gathering as a wolf? How long are we going to allow people who want to spend our precious resources on wildlife predator death investigations remain in charge of the purse strings of government? Where is the $10,000 in reward money coming from? How much in reward money was put up by the same group for the last homeless person found dead from foul play?
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Gaming the Special Education Funding Formulas

Susana Martinez
KOB-TV - Governor Susana Martinez is calling out some school superintendents, saying there are signs that districts could be gaming the funding system. The states public education department tells Eyewitness News 4 that they are currently in the process of auditing the way schools are asking for funding. Sources tell KOB, some districts may be padding their funding by mis-labeling the type of students they teach. Under the schools funding formula, students that need special education or students who are learning English as a second language are worth more in unit values used to calculate how much funding districts will receive. Some of the ways school districts have been able to "game the system" in the past include classifying kids as English language learners because they have Hispanic last names or claiming kids have special needs when they don't. Governor Martinez said today they had found some anomalies when they discovered more units than were anticipated after the legislative session ended. "There are some huge red flags that are going up and we're going to scrub it - we're going to make sure its accurate to determine if in fact there's going to be that kind of a shortfall at all." Read full story here: News New Mexico
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O'Reilly Talks Beck

Bill O'Reilly
Townhall - My pal Glenn Beck is leaving his program on Fox News Channel later this year. This has caused great joy among some uber-liberals who object to free speech, as well as to anything Beck. The Media Matters outfit took just seconds to misstate why Beck is changing venues, but what else is new? George Soros partially funds Media Matters, so why would the website ever say anything truthful when far-left propaganda is so much easier to dish? When you get past all the rubbish, Glenn Beck is really Norm, the guy on the sitcom "Cheers." He sits on a symbolic bar stool and vents. He sees bad things happening to his country and objects. Because his rap is so interesting, millions of Americans want to hear it.
Glenn Beck

What on earth is wrong with that? If you just got off the plane from Mongolia and dialed into the left-wing U.S. media, you might think Glenn Beck is the Antichrist. The hue and cry about Beck is downright hysterical. Why do they care? Beck isn't an elected official; he's not even a journalist. He's just a guy with an opinion. So what's the beef? Well, again, it goes to free speech. Many hard-core ideologues in both camps simply do not want to hear opinions other than their own. And if someone is successfully bloviating views that differ from their orthodoxy, they go ballistic. And Glenn Beck is certainly successful. Read full column here: News New Mexico

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Saunders: Soaking Up Applause and Shifting Blame

Debra Saunders
Townhall - President Obama has dedicated his time in office to soaking up applause and shifting blame. Last year, when Democrats owned the White House, the House and the Senate, Congress didn't even bother passing a budget. Obama didn't seem to mind. But when Republicans put together a stopgap measure to fund the military and prevent a government shutdown, Obama promised to veto it. Obama called the measure "a distraction from the real work that would bring us closer to a reasonable compromise for funding the remainder of fiscal year 2011." There must have been a lot of distractions last year. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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NMSU Board of Regents Hikes Fees and Tuition 7.9%

Javier Gonzales
Newnm note (Spence) Will there be some belt tightening at NMSU? Maybe. Will there be student tuition and fee hikes? Guaranteed.
The New Mexico State University Board of Regents, citing declining state appropriations decided to jack student tuition and fees by a whopping 7.9 percent on Friday. We have invited New Mexico Democratic Party Chairman and current NMSU Regent Javier Gonzales back on the show hoping we can ask him to elaborate on the resource management, funding priorities, and decision-making processes that led to such sharp rate increases on students during difficult economic times.

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Pearce Continues to Says No to Borrowing Insanity

Steve Pearce
Washington, DC - Congressman Steve Pearce issued the following statement on Friday night’s agreement to avert a government shutdown: “In November, amidst an economic catastrophe, the American people made tremendous changes in Congress. Their statement was clear: they wanted the country to move dramatically in a new direction—a direction of smaller government, fiscal discipline, financial stability, and hope for future generations. “While I applaud the speaker and House leadership for their hard work to avoid a shutdown, there must be voices within Congress that hold us to a higher standard. I voted against tonight’s agreement because our goal must be greater than to merely avoid a shutdown. Congress must do better—Americans deserve no less. My vote tonight was intended to hold our leaders to a higher standard, to demonstrate to the country that there are elected officials in Washington that want to truly improve the future of America.
If we are not willing to make tough choices in this partial-year funding plan, then we cannot possibly make the crucial decisions needed on the debt ceiling, forensic budget audits, and next year’s spending bills. “We can never forget that this entire drama was the result of the previous Congress’ failure to act. Though Democrats had the White House and held significant majorities in both houses of Congress, they failed to fulfill their most basic Constitutional responsibilities, and never passed a budget.
It is simply unacceptable that America waited months for a long-term spending plan, and that we came within hours of cutting off pay for our troops. “I voted against tonight’s plan because it is not enough. For decades, both parties have tolerated rampant fiscal irresponsibility. Tonight’s outcome does little to demonstrate that Washington has listened or changed course. The American people need clear direction, bold vision and courageous leadership in these extraordinary and dangerous financial times.”

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Rough Week for Sex Offenders

Capitol Report New Mexico - State Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas and Gov. Susana Martinez clashed on Thursday (April 7th) as the Governor vetoed a bill sponsored by the Albuquerque Democrat, with Maestas touting House Bill 298 as a measure that would strengthen sex offender laws but the Governor countering that the measure would only weaken them. “It’s unfortunate and quite disappointing that the Governor of our great state doesn’t have the first clue how the legislative process works,” Maestas said in a written statement Thursday afternoon. Martinez responded with her own news release saying, “It is unacceptable to allow sex offenders to work as janitors, assistant coaches, and in other supervised positions around children without having to register their place of employment.” Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Rep. Jeannette Wallace Dies

Jeanette Wallace
New Mexico Representative Jeanette Wallace, 77, of Los Alamos passed away Friday according to the Los Alamos Monitor. Wallace passed away at home after suffering various illnesses. At one point in February Wallace was hospitalized during the recently ended legislative session. Rep. Wallace had served New Mexico District 43 for twenty years.

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Too Many "Disaster Averted" Discussions Like This One

Whew! Honey, we Americans just averted a disaster, a catastrophe, I mean a real nightmare. You oughta come in here and watch CNN with me. Can you imagine the absolute horror of a government shutdown? How did we ever manage to avoid such a looming threat when it looked like all hope was lost? I mean really, how did we finally summon the courage to avert this disaster?
Oh, I see. They are saying it right here. A compromise deal was reached by Democrats and Republicans. Hey they are putting some numbers on the screen. The compromise means we as a nation will continue to borrow $4 billion dollars every single day. Hey, wait a minute honey. Let's turn down the volume for a second. Hmmmmm. When I run my calculator that’s more than a $1,000 per month for every taxpayer and $2,000 for a taxpaying couple.
Hey! With that much for a monthly payment, why hell, we could pay off our credit cards pretty fast and then buy ourselves a brand new beautiful house and a new car too. So, honey, tell me, do you think we are going to get a new house and a new car from the government? No? So what you are saying to me is that this $2,000 per month on my calculator screen here is how much the government is already borrowing to give us what we are getting from it right now? Hmmmm.
Well, anyway, I'm gonna turn the channel over to MSNBC and turn the volume back up. Man! I am so glad we averted that disaster and catastrophe of a government shutdown. MSNBC is right! 
What could those racist Tea Party members possibly be thinking of? Why are they so obsessed with trying to change how resources are managed in Washington? I mean you know, to run the risk of a catastrophe like a government shut........hmmmmm, did I say the compromise means the government is going to keep borrowing $2,000 a month for every taxpaying couple in America? Well, whatever, honey we just need to keep staying informed by watching MSNBC and CNN and reading our newspaper every day. Otherwise, how would we have possibly known we really had a close one there. Whew! Well, OK babe. That's enough politics for the weekend. Let's go back to CNN. Hey! Look there. They still have that reporter over there in North Africa. Look, he's dodging sniper bullets and pointing at oil fields again.
I sure hope our boys out there on those ships do good in Libya. Hey honey can you gimme the credit card? I'm out of cash till payday cause I had to fill up the van last night. You know it cost me $85 damned dollars just to fill it up? Do you know how long I have to work for $85?  Ok thanks. I'll be back in a few. I am going to run down to the convenience store. Yea I gotta go back. Last night I forgot to stock up on some beer again and get some more lottery tickets. Hey! don't worry honey. I know the credit card is almost maxed out again. But I'll be applying for another card next week. When our new card gets here things will be just fine and we will avert our own catastrophe just like the government did. Just remember babe. This is America and some day real soon our ship will come in. You want me to get some potato chips for you?

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Martinez Protects Job Creation

Susana Martinez
Santa Fe New Mexican - Republican Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill Friday that reduces payouts to those who have lost their jobs but torpedoed a charge to businesses that would have helped balance the unemployment compensation fund. In wrapping up work on bills passed by the Legislature, Martinez used line-item veto powers to reject a $128 million increase on businesses but preserved nearly $80 million in benefit reductions in a measure to shore up the finances of the unemployment compensation program. With no action by the state, the fund was projected to run out of money early next year.
The governor's action came under sharp criticism from a Democratic legislator, who wants the veto challenged in court. "That's an illegal action," said Rep. Mimi Stewart of Albuquerque. Under the state constitution, the governor can make line-item vetoes only in appropriations bills. The governor defended her veto at a news conference, saying an unemployment fix could be considered during a special session of the Legislature, which is expected this fall to deal with redistricting. "We're going to have time to fix it without raising taxes on businesses right now," Martinez said. Read full story here: News New Mexico

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