Eric Holder: Drone Strike on Americans in U.S. Conceivable

From United Press International - Washington could conceivably launch lethal combat-drone strikes on Americans on U.S. soil without trial, Attorney General Eric Holder said. "It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the president to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States," Holder said in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Paul had sent a letter to President Barack Obama's CIA director nominee, John Brennan, asking for the administration's views on the president's "power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial." Paul had threatened to block Brennan's confirmation until he got an answer to his question.
Holder responded in a letter Monday that Paul made public Tuesday. Brennan, who awaits full Senate confirmation after being cleared for the post by the Senate Intelligence Committee 12-3 Tuesday, said in a separate Monday letter to Paul the CIA had no authority to use lethal force against Americans on U.S. soil.
Paul said after receiving Holder's letter he would still filibuster Brennan's nomination. Holder's "refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening -- it is an affront [to] the constitutional due process rights of all Americans," Paul said in a statement.
The attorney general's letter said, "The U.S. government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so. "As a policy matter, moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat," it said.
In explaining a hypothetical example, he said, "For example, the president could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland in the circumstances of a catastrophic attack like the ones suffered on Dec. 7, 1941, and Sept. 11, 2001," Holder said, referring to the World War II attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. Read more

Eric Holder: Drone Strike on Americans in U.S. Conceivable

Branco Cartoon – Manufacturing Crisis

Branco Cartoon – Manufacturing Crisis

Bill to ban texting and driving stuck in Senate logjam

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Steve Terrell -  Early in the current legislative session, it appeared that Sen. Peter Wirth’s bill to prohibit texting and driving was dead. Then there was a comeback, and the bill seemed to be alive again. But since then, it seems to be in legislative limbo. The strange saga of Senate Bill 17 illustrates the arcane procedures of the Legislature and how even bills that seem to have widespread support — similar legislation has passed both the House and Senate in recent years — and no real organized opposition can get gummed up in the sausage-making machinery.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 6 initially voted to table the bill. Normally that means a bill will never again see the light of day for the rest of the session. But then Wirth, D-Santa Fe, agreed to craft a substitute bill answering some of the concerns of the bill’s opponents. On Feb. 18, the Judiciary Committee gave a do-pass recommendation to the new version of the bill on a 6-2 vote. Telephone companies AT&T and Verizon have testified that they support SB 17. The only opposition at the Judiciary Committee came from the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
But if that seemed like a miraculous comeback for SB 17, it soon became apparent that the bill’s newfound momentum would be short-lived. The bill has been sitting on the lower end of the Senate floor calendar every day for nearly two weeks. But SB 17 has not been moving its way up the agenda, getting closer to the top as other bills get debated. Just the opposite. Last week, the bill was No. 28 on the calendar. On Monday, it had sunk to No. 38. By Tuesday, it wasn’t even in the top 40 anymore. It was No. 50.
According to Senate rules, bills that make it through the committee process don’t get heard on the floor in the order they come out of committee. The agenda is the responsibility of the majority floor leader, Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen. Concerning SB 17, Sanchez has not made a secret of his opposition. He was one of the two members of the Judiciary Committee to vote against the latest version of the bill. Sanchez, a lawyer, has been consistent throughout his career in the Senate in his opposition to imposing stricter penalties for crimes. Read more

Bill to ban texting and driving stuck in Senate logjam

Lawmakers consider lottery scholarship expansion

Students who wait to go to a two-year- post-secondary school would be eligible for a Lottery Scholarship under a bill that just passed the House.   

The House Education Committee Substitute for House Bill 27 sponsored by Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton cleared the House by a vote of 49-13.   

The legislation will extend the Legislative Lottery Scholarship eligibility to students who are accepted to attend a two-year state educational institution within two years of completion of a high school curriculum at a public or accredited private NM  high school,  receiving a high school equivalency diploma or beginning service in the US armed forces or honorable service or medical discharge from the service.

Lawmakers consider lottery scholarship expansion

Diane Denish won't run for Mayor

Diane Denish

Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish announced on Facebook last week that she won’t run for mayor of Albuquerque.  

Denish, a Democrat, said in a written statement that she hopes the campaign will force candidates “to take on the real challenges our city faces such as the crushing lack of job creation, the threatened rights of workers and their opportunity to make a living wage, and making much needed changes in the approach to protecting all of our citizens from crime and gun violence.” 

In the race so far are: Former City Councilor Pete Dinelli, a Democrat; incumbent Richard Berry, a Republican; retired police Sgt. Paul Heh, a Republican; Jay Flowers, an office worker and Republican; and former Albuquerque first lady Margaret Aragon de Chávez, a Democrat. 

Diane Denish won't run for Mayor

House approves legislation to crack down on DWI

Convicted drunken drivers with an ignition interlock will be prohibited from buying alcohol under legislation approved by the House.

 Democratic Rep. Brian Egolf of Santa Fe says the proposal will help prevent offenders from drinking while they are driving. New Mexico law requires convicted drunken drivers to have an ignition interlock, which are intended to prevent vehicles from operating if the driver has been drinking. Offenders without a car don't need the devices, however.

 Egolf said he developed the legislation after seeing a man buy a soda and two miniature bottles of whiskey at a convenience store, mix them and drive off in a vehicle equipped with an interlock. 

The bill passed the House on a 59-5 vote Monday and goes to the Senate for consideration.

House approves legislation to crack down on DWI

Senate passes minimum wage bill, heads to House next

Shooting ourselves in the employment foot

From Capitol Report New Mexico - A bill that would raise New Mexico’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour  which would make it the fourth-highest in the country, passed through the state Senate Monday (March 4) on a party-line vote with all 25 Democrats voting for the $1-an-hour increase and all 17 Republicans opposed.
“It is the absolute moral and right thing to do,” Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, said while Republicans warned that the raise would endanger small businesses already struggling in tough economic times and could well lead to increased prices for consumers.
The bill – Senate Bill 416 – had been amended before coming to the Senate floor to exempt businesses with fewer than 11 employees, which is estimated to include about 75 percent of New Mexico employers. The amended bill also exempts agricultural workers and “trainees” for one year.
The debate on the Senate floor sometimes got passionate and the bill survived a couple of floor amendments, including one from Sen. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, who called for raising the minimum wage all the way to $21.87 an hour. Sharer said if raising the wage improves the economy as its supporters say, then it would logically follow that raising the wage to an even higher figure would improve economic fortunes even more. “Let’s quit piddling around,” Sen. Sharer said.
But the amendment was voted down and in the end, SB416 passed 25-17. “It’s real hard to pull yourself up by the bootstraps when you were born with no boots,” said one of the bill’s supporters, Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque. The bill now heads to the House where Democrats hold a 38-32 edge. But even if it gets through that chamber, there is doubt whether Republican Gov. Susana Martinez will sign the increase into law. Read more

Senate passes minimum wage bill, heads to House next

Skandera confirmation hearing still not done — and why all this may not matter much

From Capitol Report New Mexico - After a couple of hours on Friday and five more on Saturday, the confirmation hearing for Hanna Skandera still hasn’t wrapped up. In fact, the members of the Senate Rules Committee haven’t even begun to ask questions of the Public Education Department Secretary-designate who has been on the job for two years and waiting for an up or down vote.
On Saturday (March 2), committee chairwoman and Skandera critic Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, allowed one and all to come before the committee to voice their support or opposition to the 39-year-old who has been the face of the public education reforms that Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has pushed since coming into office.
The crowd was so large that the committee moved its hearing to the full Senate chamber and the testimony ran so long that Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez cancelled all legislation to be debated on the Senate floor. By the end of the exhausting day, Sen. Lopez gaveled meeting to a close and told reporters the hearing may resume on Monday and could be delayed until later next week.
Ironically, it’s become evident all the debate over Skandera may not amount to much in a practical sense. Here’s why: First, if the Senate Rules Committee — made up of six Democrats and four Republicans — ends in a 5-5 tie to recommend Skandera, the confirmation will not go to the full Senate because in the event of a tie, no committee recommendation can be sent to the Senate. That would mean that Skandera will remain as Secretary-designate.
Second, if the full Senate does conduct a confirmation hearing and even if it rejects Skandera’s nomination, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Gov. Martinez would have to name a new PED secretary. In theory, Martinez could simply name Skandera deputy secretary, not name a replacement and simply assign Skandera all the duties and responsibilities of the job. As John Robertson of the Albuquerque Journal has pointed out, that’s exactly what other governors such as Garrey Carruthers did in similar circumstances. Read more

Skandera confirmation hearing still not done — and why all this may not matter much

Skandera has something in common with US Sec of Ed

Hanna Skandera

From Capitol Report New Mexico - On the eve of a crucial confirmation hearing in the Senate Rules Committee, opponents of Hanna Skandera have based some of their criticism of the would-be secretary of the Public Education Department on the grounds that she has never been employed as a classroom teacher. But neither has current U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

     In fact, a review by New Mexico Watchdog shows that only two former heads of the country’s education department have K-12 teaching experience and only one served as a faculty member on the university level. Skandera’s confirmation hearing has gripped the Roundhouse as a political showdown shapes up between Skandera, who has served for two years as the secretary-designate and close advisor to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, and Democrats who have clashed with education reform measures Skandera and the governor have been pushing.

According to the New Mexico Constitution, the leader of the PED must be a “qualified, experienced educator.”

But Skandera has never worked as a teacher or administrator at a K-12 public school. “I don’t think we should close our eyes to that issue,” Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, has said on a number of occasions. Read more

Skandera has something in common with US Sec of Ed

Rich is ever so much better than poor

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. It’s better to be rich. - Gertrude Stein

     Picture all of the rich folks in Congress looking into news cameras and talking loudly about the evils of rich people in society. Does anyone else think it strange for them to have so much reach and power because of their own wealth yet they trash being rich. Are they that stupid? I think they know that being rich is better.
     In everyday life it is an interesting moment when people smack the rich for being rich and do so with a lottery ticket in their pocket. They malign the rich but have dreams of riches when they look at their lottery ticket. Is it more honorable to be made rich by chance? Is it different than if we are made wealthy by the sweat of our brow? Need I say that for every rich person made by the lottery there are thousands upon thousands of rich people made rich by their own efforts?
     How do people become rich? Most, but not all are made rich by a liberal application of preparation, inspiration and perspiration. Most people in our society who become rich spend decades becoming an overnight success. Most are lucky to get good instruction as children. Know this: most are wealthy because they do the right things, not the wrong.
     Seems some people think that rich is a four letter word. Well, it is, but most people aspire to be rich. Most rich people become so by trading things of value for money. Most cannot cheat their way into riches. A few do, but the majority of the cheaters are exposed and at times incarcerated. Trading fairly is a better way of becoming wealthy than trying to find suckers. Of course, the wealthy get envied for their wealth.
     In discussing the rich we need to find a functional description of being rich. For some there is never enough money. They may look rich but to me they are not. The people who do not worry about money are quite rich. When I was five years old I was given a five dollar bill for my birthday and could not spend all of it in the local mercantile. I bought all I wanted and had money left over. It was the richest I have ever been. Read column

Rich is ever so much better than poor