Democracy for New Mexico

NM Senate Passes DOMA

From Equality NM:
Senate Bill 597, the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, passed the Senate by a vote of 25-12, but we got four more votes than expected.  And two courageous Senators, Mary Jane Garcia and Leonard Tsosie, who had actually signed on to the DOMA as co-sponsors, changed their votes and voted against it.

The debate was civilized and eloquent, with Senators Ortiz y Pino, Grubesic, McSorley, Feldman, Griego, Tsosie, Garcia, Rodriquez, Robinson, and Sanchez all speaking out movingly in support of our rights.  Please take a few minutes to thank them and the other Senators who voted to defeat the DOMA.

Senator Dede Feldman dede.feldman@nmlegis.gov, 986-4482
Senator Mary Jane Garcia, maryjane.garcia@nmlegis.gov, 986-4726
Senator Phil Griego phil.griego@nmlegis.gov, 986-4265
John Grubesic john.grubesic@nmlegis.gov, 986-4260
Senator Linda Lopez 986-4737
Senator Cisco McSorley cisco.mcsorley@nmlegis.gov, 986-4485
Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino jortizyp@aol.com, 986-4380
Senator John Pinto, 986-4835
Senator Shannon Robinson shannon.robinson@nmlegis.gov, 986-4856
Senator Nancy Rodriguez, 986-4264
Senator Michael Sanchez senatormssanchez@aol.com, 986-4727
Senator Leonard Tsosie senate@state.nm.us, 986-4859

The bill will go to the House next week.  Stay tuned.  We'll get you more information as soon as we know it.  We hope we can run out the clock. 

Thanks for all your email, letters, and faxes.  Even Senator Boitano, who spoke in support of the DOMA, noted that he's received "dozens and dozens" of emails urging him to vote against the bill, so our "blast email" and website appeals are clearly being noticed.  For those of you who couldn't attend, we'll publish excerpts from all the testimony on the EQNM website in the next few days.  And thanks again to all of you who were able to sit through the session!
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Editor's Note: And I have to say I think it's a shame that ANY Democrat voted for this bill that emphasizes that GLBT folks are second class citizens.

No Election Reform Action in Senate Rules Committee Today

From Robert Stearns of Verified Voting NM:
The Senate Rules Committee met briefly this morning (WEDNESDAY) but did not get to considering the McSorley Bill. The Ortiz y Pino Bill was SB621, Same Day Voter Registration, and not SB718, his VVPB bill. SB621 was not considered either. The Rules Committee will meet again at 8:30 am on FRIDAY and on SATURDAY also, Chair Linda Lopez said.

Sound Off! Democratic List of Shame

The horrendously damaging federal bankruptcy bill was pretty much written by the credit card block buster MBNA, which is the single biggest contributor to the Republicans. The bill was just allowed to move to a vote in the Senate and imminent passage due to the support of these Democrats, who voted for cloture:

Biden (DE)
Byrd (WV)
Carper (DE)
Conrad (ND)
Johnson (SD)
Kohl (WI)
Landrieu (LA)
Lieberman (CT)
Lincoln (AR)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor (AR)
Salazar (CO)
Stabenow (MI)

Why would any Democrat vote for a bill that punishes working class and poor people for such transgressions as running up huge medical expenses they can't afford, even though they are insured? Despite the fact that the majority of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills, not flagrant overspending? Oh, must be those nice campaign contributions that serve to make Democrats into Republicans-lite, lickety-split.

Personally, I find it despicable that Democrats didn't fillibuster this incredibly biased bill until The Rapture comes. I know that the next time the DNC comes looking for donations, especially to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC), I'll be sending them a nice reply of "no dice" while citing this vote. How about you?

Imagine this scenario: You are a working class family where the dad gets sick. He is hospitalized, can't work for a time, and owes alot of money to the hospitals and doctors. The family gets behind on their credit card payments. They get big late fees tacked on. Then their interest rate goes from 12 percent to 29.9 percent because the credit card companies have now classified them as a bad risk. This new rate, which used to be called illegal usury or loan sharking, applies to the entire balance on the credit cards, not just new purchases. Nothing like changing interest rates retroactively to purchases from months and months ago.

Because they make a few bucks more than the mean salary of American families, they cannot discharge their debts via bankrupcty anymore, according to the new bill.  Instead, they will be forced to continue paying off the cards for years. With the high interest rate of 29.9 percent, they can keep paying and paying what they can allegedly afford, while the balance continues to rapidly grow. One step forward, three steps back.

Voila! The credit card companies have a lifetime debtor on their books! Success for the banking industry! Which, by the way, is already making profits that are way more than healthy. With the new perks, they'll be collecting money from those least able to pay for decades upon decades. No wonder this bunch of deadbeat Dems decided to allow the bill to pass. Right? Remember when Democrats were for the little guy (or gal)? How many years ago was that?

You can read a detailed analysis of the bankruptcy bill at Daily Kos. Please note that CORPORATE bankruptcy rules are left as is. No punishment for the likes of Enron execs, oh no. Click if you want to contact these shameful Dems. --Barbara Wold

Cross-Country Anti-Inaugural: The Movie

From Thomas Prando and the Green Party of NM:

The Green Party of NM presents "Cross-Country Anti-Inaugural: The Movie"

This is a new movie by Albuquerque’s own Thomas A. Prando II, documenting the cross-country bus ride by seven local activists from Albuquerque all the way to DC, to protest the January 20th, 2005 inauguration. Showing at 6 PM, Saturday, March 12th, at the Peace and Justice Center, 202 Harvard SE, Albuquerque Questions? Call 268-9557

NM Democratic Friends Meeting Saturday in ABQ

The next NM Democratic Friends - Democratic Party Meetup will be on Saturday, March 12, at 6:00 PM at the IBEW Hall at 4921 Alexander Blvd. NE in Albuquerque.

The agenda will include a visit from Terry Brunner of Senator Bingaman's office. You are encouraged to bring questions and concerns about national policy issues you'd like to discuss with Terry. There will also be reports on events at the Legislature and from each of the group's committees.

Election Reform Action Today & Tomorrow

From Bob Stearns:
Hi All, This is late notice. Bills are moving fast in these final weeks. Today (WEDNESDAY) the Senate Rules Committee, meeting at 8 AM in Room 321, will consider a packed agenda including the Ortiz y Pino Bill SB621 and the McSorley Bill SB1065.

This afternoon (WEDNESDAY) the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 2:30 PM or a half hour after the floor session in Room 321 to cope with another heavy agenda, including the Judiciary Substitute Bill C/SB 678 on the Voter Verifieable Paper Ballot (VVPB).

On THURSDAY at 8 AM in Room 305 the House Voters & Elections Committee will consider again the Sandoval Bill HB1063 on the VVPB. Hope you can make it.

More info on Verfied Voting New Mexico
https://vvnm.org

Latest on Election Reform Bills

From Bob Stearns and Charlotte Roybal:
Hello Activists, First off, on arrival at 8 AM we found a sign on the door saying the Senate Judiciary Committee’s meeting of today had been cancelled until sometime late afternoon tomorrow (WEDNESDAY). We were tentatively told that the Judiciary Committee will take up the bill (Committee Substitute for SB678) late tomorrow WEDNESDAY afternoon, but this is not confirmed until it appears on the Legislature website.

Twelve of us went on to the other 8 AM meeting of the House Voters & Elections Committee. Chair Ed Sandoval said the plan is to merge HB1063 with amendments and on THURSDAY discuss the bill as a whole (but this is not officially confirmed).

He said the Committee needs to work on the dates in Rep. Martinez’s moratorium amendment or run the risk of losing NM’s HAVA funding. He asked Martinez and SoS Elections Director Ernie Marquez to work on that question for a floor amendment. Martinez noted that all the Committee members want VVPB machines and that maybe the moratorium amendment could rearrange its approach to give the proposed Election Reform Task Force time to look at the situation and the SoS time to check out the available machines.

In answer to Committee questioning, Marquez said that $7-9 million in HAVA funding is available to buy HAVA compliant machines and that the money must be spent by 1/1/06. (Another state finance official testified that the HAVA funds total $14 million and have been set aside in NM’s DFA account since 2003.) Marquez said the SoS office is not planning to buy machines in the near future and is awaiting new federal standards for voting machines expected in June. He alluded to the June 1 deadline for the SoS to certify new voting machines in NM in its every-two-years window for doing such.

He said the VVPB-equipped Sequoia Edge, used in Nevada’s 11/04 election, is HAVA compliant but not yet certified in NM. He said the Edge costs $3500 plus $500-$1,000 for the printer, and $50,000 total for the software and licensing for the state. He said NM has 4,000 voting machines but only 1,500-2,000 would need retrofitting or replacement to provide VVPBs.

We will advise you about the next Key Meeting as soon as we know. Meanwhile watch the Legislature website and your e-mails. (To get on the email update lists about NM election reform, send an email to vvnm@yahoogroups.com or update@uvotenm.org.)

More info on Verfied Voting New Mexico
https://vvnm.org

Celebrate International Women's Day

Bread and Roses

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!

As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.

As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.

As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.

The imagery of bread and roses has been a recurring theme in the history of the labor and women's movements. It was the slogan of women garment workers in New York in 1908 when 15,000 women marched after the death of 128 women in a factory fire. After the slogan appeared on the banner of textile workers during their 10 week strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912, James Oppenheim, an IWW man, wrote the song Bread and Roses, which has been often sung and recorded, and seems appropriate for today's celebration of International Women's Day.

You can read about the history of International Women's Day in the Wikipedia. Or check out the history of the 1912 Lawrence, MA strike by reading Girl Power: The Story of the Bread and Roses Strike.

Democratic Party Ward & Precinct Meetings Around State

The website of the Democratic Party of New Mexico has published information on the dates, times and meeting spaces for ward & precinct meetings around the state. Click to find yours.

I note that while my previous post had the starting time for the meetings in Bernalillo County as 6:30 PM, the web page now says it's 7:00 PM. I'll try to get this cleared up and let you know.

Also, the State Democratic Party is looking for volunteers for a couple of projects, including help in completing a large mailing this week at their headquarters at 1301 San Pedro NE in Albuquerque. If you'd like to help out, please call 830-3650. They can usually set up hours to match your availability.

Finalized Info On Bernalillo County Dem Ward-Precinct Meetings

Bernalillo County Precinct/Ward Meetings
Monday, March 28, 2005
6:30 - 8:30 PM

South Valley Cluster - Wards 10, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B
Westside Community Center
1250 Isleta Blvd. SW

West Side Cluster – Wards 16A, 16B, 23A, 23B, 29
Taylor Ranch Community Center
4900 Kachina St. NW

North Valley Cluster – Wards 11A, 11B, 11C, 15A, 15B, 17A, 17B
Raymond Sanchez Center
9800 4th NW

Sandia Cluster: Wards 24A, 24B, 27A, 27B, 30A, 30B
Sandia High School – Media Center (Library)
Pennsylvania and Candelaria

Highlands Cluster -  Wards 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B, 25A, 25B, 26
Plumbers Hall
510 San Pedro SE

Mountain Cluster – Wards 22 and 22C
Tijeras Community Center

Southeast Cluster – 20A, 20B,  21A, 21B
Operating Engineers Hall
151 Pennsylvania SE

East Central Cluster – 28A, 28B, 21A,  31B
Mascarenas Insurance Agency
11321 Central NE