NM Railrunner Express:Groundbreaking or Boondoggle?

From newwest.net -Riding the Rail Runner Express commuter train between Albuquerque and Santa Fe is a distinctly New Mexican experience. As soon as the train doors close with a Looney Toons-style Road Runner meep meep chime, the crew warns passengers not to snap photos out of the windows because the train will soon cross the Tewa Pueblo and other sacred Native American lands in the Rio Grande Valley. With a wave of GOP hostility toward commuter rail projects across the country, that experience is uncertain following the election last fall of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who has long questioned the need and cost of the Rail Runner Express, the first inter-city commuter rail project in the Rocky Mountain region. One of Democratic former Gov. Bill Richardson's most visible legacies, the Rail Runner Express connects cities in New Mexico's most populous region, ushering commuters from the state's largest city to the state capital. More News New Mexico

NM Railrunner Express:Groundbreaking or Boondoggle?

NM Small Business Agency Has Lost $9M

From capitolreportnewmexico.com -Chances are you’ve never heard of the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation (SBIC). But back in 2001, the state legislature OK’d a plan that sends 1 percent of the Severance Tax Permanent Fund per year to the SBIC so that it can help small business create jobs in New Mexico, through micro-lending and equity programs for start-ups and Mom and Pop operations.
Now 1 percent doesn’t sound like a whole lot but when you consider that the severance tax fund is run by the State Investment Council, which manages some $15 billion in assets, well, suddenly that 1 percent is not so measly. On Tuesday (April 26), representatives of the SBIC appeared before the board of the State Investment Council (SIC) — including Gov. Susana Martinez – and a pointed conversation ensued in which some SIC members questioned the very nature of the SBIC’s relationship with the SIC while the SBIC’s chief financial advisor vigorously defended the agency.  More News New Mexico

NM Small Business Agency Has Lost $9M

Bureaucrat: "There's Just No Data to Support That"

These days being an unelected bureaucrat involves the wielding of enormous power. How so? First, YOUR job is among the safest on the planet no matter what you destroy. Second, you can burn all the fossil fuel you want driving around in your government-owned vehicle. Many bureaucrats burn plenty of gasoline every day while purporting to save our planet. Third, despite being a scientist in an unrelated field, if you are a government bureaucrat, you can actually make economic assertions at news conferences without having done any research to support your claims. And most of the time, the news media will print your claims without question let alone dispute. Accordingly, bureaucrats often enjoy the profound luxury of simply ignoring all of the little people while developing and implementing reckless economic policies. Defending the resulting destruction of other people's jobs becomes a involuntary reflex. A bureaucrat's power includes the ability to drive up the cost of energy as well as New Mexico's state budget deficit. Need some proof of these claims? Just take a look at the claims made in this editorial piece disguised as a news story. It ran in many of the New Mexico media outlets earlier this week.

No Data to Support That!

Here is the rest of the story. After using the spotted owl as an environmental ruse to destroy thousands of timber industry jobs in New Mexico a few years ago, the radical environmentalists in charge at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are at it again. This time their New Mexico industry target is the oil and gas business. And their "species du jour" is a lizard. New Mexico citizens are finally starting to push back. With jobs and energy revenues dwindling here, many people are finally beginning to make their voices heard. They are learning how the industry killing game gets played. And they know that these unelected bureaucrats don't even have to bother do any economic impact studies before they kill jobs. All they have to do is "purport" to save a type of owl, minnow, or lizard. Recently when confronted with the damage their radical agenda could do to oil and gas production in New Mexico, the unelected bureaucrat's response during a so-called press conference was predictable. "There's just no data to support that," said Charna Lefton, a spokeswoman for the wildlife service's regional office in Albuquerque. How wonderful it is to get paid to regularly to study lizards while leaving the desperate fighting for real jobs to somebody else. Apparently if you want to save your way of life from the vagaries and whims of a radical bureaucrat, it is YOU that needs supporting data, not the bureaucrat. Mel Brooks needs to do a new movie. It could be a dark comedy entitled, "It's good to be the bureaucrat."

Bureaucrat: "There's Just No Data to Support That"

Why I Oppose Ryan's 10 Year Plan

Joseph Farah

From wnd.com -While many conservatives and Republicans are holding up Rep. Paul Ryan's 10-year plan as the model for deficit reduction and a return to constitutionally limited government, I see it as capitulation to Washington business as usual. First of all, America doesn't need another 10-year plan to restore economic prosperity and responsible government. Washington needs to put the brakes on all borrowing now and start living within its means today – not 10 years from now. The old Soviet Union, which America is more and more resembling, was famous for its five-year plans – which never quite lived up to their rosy projections for turning around the command-and-control economy of that model tyranny. A 10-year plan in America is meaningless because it gives the opportunity for five new congresses and three new presidents to renege, reverse course, change priorities.  More News New Mexico

Why I Oppose Ryan's 10 Year Plan

Brigette Russell: Pass a DWI Bill Next Session and Save Some Lives

Brigette Russell

From New Mexico Watchdog -When Scott Owens was acquitted of vehicular homicide last week, emotions ran high in Santa Fe, the outrage in the community palpable. He was drunk – with a blood alcohol content double the legal limit four hours after the crash – and four kids were dead. They were dead and he was drunk, but walked away a free man. The headline stunned me, but after I read the details, it made sense. The mechanic’s testimony made it impossible for the jurors to convict Owens of vehicular homicide. Had they done so, they would have been acting out of emotion rather than following the law. Prosecutorial overconfidence left them no choice, since there were no lesser charges on which they could have convicted him.  More News New Mexico

Brigette Russell: Pass a DWI Bill Next Session and Save Some Lives

Group Urges NM Support For Presidential Popular Vote Plan

Tom Golisano

From timesunion.com -A national group is pushing for an elections change in New Mexico and other states to ensure the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote nationwide will occupy the White House. A proposal by National Popular Vote calls for New Mexico to enter into a compact with other states to award their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationally.  The group wants the New Mexico Legislature to consider its proposal next year, but it faces a tough assignment because GOP Gov. Susana Martinez favors the current electoral system. The governor sets the legislative agenda during 30-day sessions and Martinez's support is needed for legislation to become law.  Most states, including New Mexico, have a winner-take-all rule in which electoral votes are awarded to the presidential candidate getting the most votes in their state.  More News New Mexico

Group Urges NM Support For Presidential Popular Vote Plan

Obama's Regulatory Tsunami Worse Than Tax Hikes

Lurita Doan

Townhall - As Obama travels about the country, speaking of the need for “shared sacrifice” and the need to increase taxes, he doesn’t say a word about the tsunami of new Obama regulations ranging from light bulbs to ozone pollution to painkillers to foreign travel to vending machines that is about to hit America. Their impact will be huge and do serious damage to our economy.
Obama's regulatory tsunami began during his first month in office and has continued relentlessly since. Each week, new, more intrusive rules are rolled out, some through Executive Order, but many issued from federal agencies, often without any fanfare or publicity. In every month since his inauguration, President Obama has heaped regulations on unsuspecting Americans, non-profit organizations, large and small businesses.

You can argue that some of these new regulations are not destructive to our economy, but just look at the number of regulations. Their range, their grasp and their intrusiveness into American life is staggering. And to think, several thousand new pages of new regulatory guidelines and added bureaucracy are still being drafted by the Obama Administration as required by healthcare, recovery act, financial reform, small business and TARP legislation. These new regulations will be piled atop the Mt. Everest pile of regulations Obama has already produced. Here's a sample:

January 2009-Housing Voucher regulations - February 2009-PLA (Project Labor Agreements) forcing government contractors to provide bids that show union labor as a component. - March 2009-Stem Cell regulations - April 2009-Hedge Fund regulations - May 2009-EPA issues new fuel standards - June 2009-Regulations issued to influence Venture Capital activity - July 2009-EPA Training requirements for workers on building renovation projects - August 2009-E-Rule (electronic rulemaking) regulation - September 2009-EPA issues ozone pollution regulations - October 2009-Greenhouse gas reporting requirements - November 2009-Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) regulations - December 2009-Natural Gas Pipeline safety regulations - January 2010-Visa regulations - February 2010-Organic Foods Program regulations - March 2010-Credit Card regulations - April 2010-Residential Water Heaters regulations - May 2010-Coal Ash regulations - June 2010-Truth in Lending regulations - July 2010-Revised ADA regulations - August 2010-Bedbugs and Pesticide regulations - September 2010-Portland Cement regulations - October 2010-Truck regulations - November 2010-Perfume / Fragrance regulations - December 2010-CAFE standards, MPG regulations - January 2011-New Cuba Travel regulations - February 2011-"Conscience protection" rules for health care providers - March 2011-Menu and Vending machine rules issued - April 2011-Tougher Painkiller regulations - Read full story here: News New Mexico

Obama's Regulatory Tsunami Worse Than Tax Hikes

High Gas Prices Leave New Mexicans Stranded

From kob.com -in the first few months of 2011, Triple A has seen a 21 percent increase in the number of drivers requesting emergency gasoline assistance because their tanks went empty. Officials say that’s because many are choosing to drain their tanks all the way because of high gas prices instead of filling up just when it gets low.  Jenny Hartzog was stranded last month when she ran out of gas, because she could only afford to put five or ten dollars in her tank.  More News New Mexico

High Gas Prices Leave New Mexicans Stranded

ABQ Tortilla Co. sells for $8.8 million

From KOB-TV.com - The world’s biggest tortilla company has bought out Albuquerque Tortilla Company, owned and operated by a local family since 1987. Mission Foods, part of the multi-national Gruma Corporation, says it paid $8.8 million for the corn and flour tortilla portion of Albuquerque Tortilla’s business. The Martinez family will retain the company’s frozen food line under the Albuquerque Tortilla brand for now, but they expect to establish new brand names soon. The family thinks the future lies in the freezer. “ We still have the tamales, chile rellenos, all the chile, red and green of course,” said Chris Martinez. “A whole line of prepared foods for retal and food service.” The new company, called Authentic New Mexico, will aim for a national market for New Mexico food products. Read more

ABQ Tortilla Co. sells for $8.8 million

Pearce Seeks to End Wilderness Protection

Steve Pearce

From nmpolitics.net -U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., is backing a proposal that would end wilderness-like protections for about 32,700 acres of land in Doña Ana County, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting. The lands are currently designated as wilderness study areas and have all the protections for land granted the permanent wilderness designation – the federal government’s most restrictive. Mechanized vehicles aren’t allowed in wilderness areas, which is at the heart of the battle surrounding H.R. 1581. More News New Mexico

Pearce Seeks to End Wilderness Protection