Udall Bill Targets Ultralight Drug Smuggling
Gun Industry Sues Over New ATF Gun Rules
5-year train track project near Belen wraps up
From KOB-TV - By: Danielle Flores, KOB.com - KOB Eyewitness News 4 took a ride along the newest railroad tracks in New Mexico that runs through Abo Canyon. A project that added the five miles of track near Belen took five years of construction and required more than 500 rock blasts to clear the route through the Canyon. Railroad officials said the second track means trains will not have to wait up to three hours to pass through, which is good for the economy. "Belen is the railroad hub for the state of New Mexico and the southwest. A lot of our history is founded on the railroad," said Rhona Espinoza of the Chamber of Commerce. The $85 million project brought between 250 and 300 construction jobs over the last five years. Read more
Federal Budget 101
By: DAVID THOMAS Chief Executive Officer Equitas Capital Advisors LLC The U.S. Congress sets a federal budget every year in the trillions of dollars. Few people know how much money that is so we created a breakdown of federal spending in simple terms. Let's put the 2011 federal budget into perspective:U.S. income: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)
It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family.
Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700
Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200
Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Amount cut from the budget: $385
So in effect last month Congress, or in this example the Jones family, sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $385 from its annual budget. What family would cut $385 of spending in order to solve $16,500 in deficit spending? It is a start, although hardly a solution. Now after years of this, the Jones family has $142,710 of debt on its credit card (which is the equivalent of the national debt). You would think the Jones family would recognize and address this situation, but it does not. Neither does Congress.
Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700
Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200
Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Amount cut from the budget: $385
So in effect last month Congress, or in this example the Jones family, sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $385 from its annual budget. What family would cut $385 of spending in order to solve $16,500 in deficit spending? It is a start, although hardly a solution. Now after years of this, the Jones family has $142,710 of debt on its credit card (which is the equivalent of the national debt). You would think the Jones family would recognize and address this situation, but it does not. Neither does Congress.
The root of the debt problem is that the voters typically do not send people to Congress to save money. They are sent there to bring home the bacon to their own home state. To effect budget change, we need to change the job description and give Congress new marching orders. It is awfully hard (but not impossible) to reverse course and tell the government to stop borrowing money from our children and spending it now. In effect, what we have is a reverse mortgage on the country. The problem is that the voters have become addicted to the money. Moreover, the American voters are still in the denial stage, and do not want to face the possibility of going into rehab.
APD: Remember to lock your windows and doors
NewsNM - Swickard: Really now. Do we need to be told that to keep bad people from entering our house and stealing our stuff we have to lock our doors and windows? Sadly, yes we need to be told. From KRQE-TV.com - Albuquerque Police are asking residents to close their windows and doors during these warm summer months to avoid being burglarized. APD Spokeswoman Trish Hoffman says there were 65 burglaries reported in Albuquerque from July 15, 2011 – July 27, 2011 and of those, 29 did not involved a forced entry. Hoffman says this means people are living their doors, windows and garages open.
Parts of Guadalupe Mountains to stay closed
From the Carlsbad Current-Argus - CARLSBAD — Although the Lincoln National Forest reopened for public use last Thursday, certain areas in the Guadalupe Ranger District in the Guadalupe Mountains of the LNF remain closed to all hiking and camping. The purpose of the closure is the health and safety of the public as natural processes stabilize the terrain in the specified areas of the Guadalupe Mountains. For those areas open to the public, Stage 2 Fire Restrictions remain in place for all districts. Those specified areas in the Guadalupe Mountains remaining closed are within the boundaries of the Last Chance and Queen fires. The boundaries are the forest administration line or boundary to the east; Highway 137 from near X-Bar Ranch road west to the Rim Road (F.S. Road 67); the Rim Road north to National Livestock Road (F.S. Road 277); National Livestock Road east to the forest boundary. The Sitting Bull Falls Recreation Site is within the closure boundaries along with the rock climbing area at the head of Last Chance Canyon accessed by Forest Service Road 525A off of Highway 137. Hiking trails in the closure area are 68, 68A, 212, 214, 215, 217 and 226, all within the Last Chance, White Oaks, Sitting Bull Canyon and Sitting Bull Falls trail system area. Read more
Greece in panic as it faces change of Homeric proportions
From the Guardian - In one of the biggest banks in the centre of Athens a clerk is explaining how his savers have been thronging to pull out their cash. Wary of giving his name, he glances around the marble-floored, wood-panelled foyer before pulling out a slim A4-sized folder. It is about the size of a small safety-deposit box – and those, ever since the financial crisis hit Greece 18 months ago, have become the most sought-after financial products in the country. Worried about whether the banks will stay in business, Greeks have been taking their life savings out of accounts and sticking them in metal slits in basement vaults. The boxes are so popular that the bank has doubled the rent on them in the past year – and still every day between five and 10 customers request one. This bank ran out of spares months ago. The clerk leans over: "I've been working in a bank for 31 years, and I've never seen a panic like this." Read more
New Mexican stores prepare for tax free holiday
From KOB-TV.com - By: Joe Bartels, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - New Mexico retailers are bracing for a very busy shopping weekend.The annual tax free holiday begins this Friday. The signs are up, the displays are set and shoppers are ready to get some deals on school supplies. People looking to take advantage of the holiday can buy qualifying items like shoes, clothes and classroom supplies without paying any sales tax. Store managers have been busy with back to school shoppers for the past three weeks and said they are ready for the crowds. Some people out shopping Tuesday afternoon forgot about the tax break. Read more
First day of football practice "should be a national holiday."
NewsNM - Swickard: There is no day like it, the first day of practice. Congratulation to all of the New Mexico students who go out for sports. From the Alamogordo Daily News - Tularosa football head coach Bryan Jones said he thinks it should be a national holiday. Alamogordo head coach Tommy Standefer said he felt the same way he felt when he was 15 years old. High school football is back as official practice for New Mexico schools began on Monday. For this season, practice began a week earlier and teams now have three weeks of practice before their first game. All other fall sports officially start practice on Aug. 8. Read more
Spending Cuts Seen as really an increase in spending
From the New York Times - By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM - WASHINGTON — There is something you should know about the deal to cut federal spending that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday: It does not actually reduce federal spending. By the end of the 10-year deal, the federal debt would be much larger than it is today. Indeed, both the government and its debts will continue to grow faster than the American economy, primarily because the new law does not address federal spending on health care. That is the reason that the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s and its rivals still are threatening to remove the United States from their lists of risk-free borrowers, although the other agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, both said Tuesday that they would watch and wait for now. It is also the reason that many conservative Republicans refused to vote for the agreement, calling it a grossly inadequate answer to a pressing problem. Read more
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