Democracy for New Mexico

Albuquerque Charter Deal for Inauguration Protest in DC

A chartered Greyhound bus will depart for the Counter-Inauguration protests  in Washington DC on January 17th at 7:00 PM at the Albuquerque bus terminal at 300 Second Street NW. The bus will arrive in DC very early on the morning of January 19th. The group will be staying at the Motel 6 on Georgia Avenue.

The bus will depart DC on the morning of January 21st and arrive back in Albuquerque late on the evening of January 22nd or very early on January 23rd.

The bus and 2-night motel package is priced at $500 per person, double occupancy. If you sign up by December 10th, there's a savings of $100, with an early bird price of $400.

Call Thomas Prando at 385-4938 or email him at tprando2@yahoo.com for more information or to reserve your space.

For frequently updated information on the demonstrations, visit the Counter-Inauguration website.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition website is another good source of information on Counter-Inaugural activities, as is the .

Also check out the Turn Your Back on Bush project.

Speech Today on Future of the Democratic Party

Uniform Madness

What is that he's wearing and where did it come from? Courtesy of Atrios

Mountainair T-shirt Company Lets American Travelers Go Canadian

From an article on CNN.com:

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- An American T-shirt company has a solution for their fellow citizens who want to vacation in Europe without having to answer questions about U.S. politics -- pose as Canadians. For $24.95, T-shirtKing.com offers the "Go Canadian" package, full of just the kind of things an American traveler needs to leave their country and its politics behind. There's a Canadian flag T-shirt, a Canadian flag lapel pin and a Canadian patch for luggage or a backpack. There's also a quick reference guide -- "How to Speak Canadian, Eh?" -- on answering questions about Canada.

It's the brainchild of employees at the Mountainair, New Mexico-based company known for novelty T-shirts it sells worldwide on the Internet.

Click here to read more.

Action Alert: Contact Members of House Judiciary Committe on Vote Fraud

From Sonja Elison of NM Democratic Friends:

On Wednesday, The Alliance for Democracy will present evidence to a "forum" of the Judiciary Committee, held by John Conyers of Michigan. They will present evidence that the Republicans stole the Ohio election. The Judiciary Committee refuses to hold hearings. Only the Chair -- Orin Hatch -- can schedule formal hearings.

We need to find out about this -- and call members of the Judiciary Committee and make our feelings HEARD! Even if they prove that Kerry won the election there will be more work to be done to get these *bleeps* to admit it and give back the presidency.

You can go to the TheAllianceForDemocracy.org/ or GregPalast.com to get more information. We need to absolutely blitz the Congress with calls, emails, and even letters. Go to Firstgov.gov, click on Federal Legislative and then on House of Representatives, then Committees to get the list of members of the House Judiciary Committee (or click here for a direct link). It might be a good idea to write down and share the telephone numbers with your friends, so we can all call them with the least amount of work (looking up phone numbers).

Editor's Note: Another excellent site with tools that make it easy to contact members of Congress, local and state government officials, local and national media and more is Congress.org, powered by powerful CapWiz software. It also has extensive information on legislation and issues. Check it out.

Public Hearing on ABQ Toxic Waste Site Extended

From Sue Dayton, Director, Citizen Action New Mexico

The public hearing for the Mixed Waste Landfill has been extended this week to Wednesday, Dec. 8th and Thursday, Dec. 9th. If you and/or your organization have not yet testified and would like to do so there is still time to do it!

The state has been very accommodating in allowing members of the public to read their comments at any time during the day. However, we are urging those members of the public who would still like to submit comments to attend the hearing on Wednesday Dec. 8th at 7 p.m. to testify as to what they think should be done with the dump. There is no time limit as to the length of your comments. The dump and its estimated 100,000 cubic ft. of radioactive and hazardous waste is sitting in unlined pits and trenches over Albuquerque's sole source aquifer on Albuquerque's East Mesa adjacent to one of Albuquerque's fastest growing areas.

The public hearing begins at 9 a.m. each day and ends at 10 p.m., and is being held at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 2500 Carlisle Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, just off I-40 and Carlisle Blvd. exit. There is plenty of parking. Once you're inside the hotel just follow the signs to the 'Cavalier Room.'

Citizen Action - and many other organizations and members of the public- supports a plan that calls for complete excavation and clean up of the dump to GUARANTEE that Albuquerque's groundwater is protected over the long-term. However, the plan proposed by Sandia/DOE that has received initial approval by the state calls for covering the dump with dirt and abandoning the waste in place without a financial assurance mechanism to ensure continued monitoring. Sandia's plan proposes monitoring of the dump for approximately 100 years - even though much of the radioactive and hazardous waste will remain hazardous essentially forever.

To date some of the organizations that have testified at the hearing in support of clean up of the dump include the Sierra Club, the New Mexico Public Health Association, the Albuquerque/Bernalillo Groundwater Protection Advisory Board, the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation, members of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association, Citizens Against Radioactive Dumping, Gray Panthers of Albuquerque, Unitarian Universalist Church. Please feel free to send this announcement to your listserves.

For more information call Sue Dayton, Director, Citizen Action New Mexico: (505) 280-1844.

Dean on the Future of the Democratic Party

t r u t h o u t | Perspective 12/6/04:

Since Election Day, there has been a lot of predictable moaning and groaning about the future of the Democratic Party. Particularly predictable are the suggestions that we need to be more like Republicans in order to win. Democrats need to learn by our previous mistakes - we have tried being "Republican-lite" and it does not work. It is a mistake to run away from the things we believe and I think we can win in the so-called Republican states by being real Democrats.

We have to realize that there are no red states and no blue states, just American states. I believe the country is still more in sync with Democratic values than Republican values. Our task is to remind ourselves and the American people of the hallmark issues that distinguish Democrats from Republicans.

For example, Democrats historically tackle economic issues with bold, common-sense policies. Our last Democratic president created 22 million new jobs in this country. In the last four years, George W. Bush oversaw the loss of over 1.5 million. Democrats balance budgets, Republicans do not. Democrats consistently try to pass legislation that would provide some kind of affordable health care, Republicans do not. Democrats believe we ought to raise the minimum wage to help the average worker keep up with the cost of living, Republicans do not. Democrats believe corporations have too much power over our daily lives; Republicans do not - and to prove it, they have given away billions of dollars of our tax money to the biggest corporations in the world over the last four years.

On each of these issues, the majority of the American people are with Democrats not Republicans. Democrats have the right beliefs to win; we just execute a poor public relations plan. And, despite the enormous improvement in our ground game, the Republicans executed a more effective strategy. Republicans are far more successful because they work in a more unified, disciplined way with local supporters, especially with their base. They also avoid the Democrats' chronic pitfall of listening to pundits from inside the Beltway.

I truly believe that Democrats can return to national dominance. But, we must not be afraid to compete in every race, in every district and in every state. We can start rebuilding the Democratic Party from the bottom up. Through my organization, Democracy for America, we have already started that process. This past election cycle, we endorsed over 100 candidates, at all levels of government – from school board to U.S. Senate and we contributed to almost 750 candidates around the country.

These candidates helped return Democrats to the majority in the Vermont, North Carolina, Oregon and Colorado State Houses; as well as the Senate in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. These candidates included more women than men, 25 percent were African American and there were members of nearly every other minority group, including American Indians. Nearly ten percent of the victors were from the gay and lesbian community, which included wins in places like Idaho and Missouri. And, 15 of the candidates we endorsed that won never ran for office before.

Democrats can win by simply being Democrats. Reinventing ourselves as Republicans is the death knell of our party. We need to get back to basics and start listening to people from outside Washington. Only then can we save the greatest nation on the face of the earth from the twin Republican perils of enormous deficits and constant misadventures abroad.

Protest "Something Fishy" at ABQ Federal Courthouse on Wednesday

From Tina D.

The ad hoc group that's been holding demonstrations in downtown Albuquerque for the last few weeks is having one last go at it on Wednesday, in front of the Federal Courthouse at 3rd and Lomas from 4 to 6 PM.

The local news has come at 4 and so there's only been a few people, which makes for a skimpy lookin' crowd.  At 5 we covered the block, so this time, we're asking everyone to be there at 4 and we're telling the newsies to come at 5. 

The "issue" is voting reform in New Mexico.  The "theme" is "Something's Fishy" which is good to know if you're one of those creative types who can make eye-catching signs that draw motorists into the text.

The NM recount begins the next day, or so I'm told, so we're hoping the press will consider the demonstration a good lead-in story.  Basically, we're trying to raise awareness of what's going on in Ohio, Florida and NM, and so the local news bite's important.

51 Capital March

From Kip Humphrey of The 51 Capital March:

JOIN WITH US! "YOU STOLE MY VOTE" 51 CAPITAL MARCH
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12TH 2004
at Noon Everywhere!

On December 12th, 2004, at 12 noon, before the steps of your State Capital and the Federal Capital, join with us to protest the theft of our votes and our voting rights in the 2004 election. As citizens, it is our duty to protect those basic rights that insure the survival of our democracy and constitution for present and future generations of Americans.

Egregious infringements of our voting rights occurred in the 2004 election: our voting systems were compromised and our votes violated. The line was crossed: we no longer trust our voting systems. As citizens, we must stand together and demand of our fellow citizen electors:

Do NOT cast your vote for President and Vice President until state election officials provide a complete, accurate, and verified vote recount.

Of our state and federal election officials:

Provide a verified, accurate, and complete recount of the votes cast in the November 2nd elections.

Of our state and federal representatives:

Immediately investigate the root causes of voting system and voting process failures during the 2004 elections Act to ensure the integrity of all future elections.

Join with us in a people's uprising, a citizen protest. Volunteer to help mobilize the citizens of your state to converge on your state capital in peaceful protest of our stolen rights. On December 12th, go to your state or federal capital and make your voice heard. Make a sign and show up!

There's more Information at the 51 Capital website. Another source of information on scheduled protests around the nation is at Solarbush.org.

Note: No coordinator for New Mexico has volunteered to coordinate a protest at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on December 12th. If you would like to volunteer for that role, sign up at the 51 Capital March website. Otherwise, it's been suggested that you make a sign and show up in Santa Fe at Noon at the Roundhouse.

Note New Time

That's 10 AM Mountain Time.