Democracy for New Mexico

PACE New Mexico and Others to Join NM Voters' Lawsuit

From Voter Action:

What: PACE New Mexico and others join the Lopategui vs. Vigil-Giron lawsuit. Santiago Juarez, Executive Director of PACE New Mexico and other community leaders to speak. Attorneys to plaintiffs respond to the Governor’s election reform initiative.

When: Thursday, January 12, 2006, 1:30 PM
Where: The Rotunda - New Mexico State Capitol Building

January 11, 2006, Santa Fe- Six plaintiffs are to be added to the Lopategui vs. Vigil-Giron lawsuit in a motion to amend the complaint to be filed January 12, 2006. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin use of electronic voting systems responsible for inaccurate and unverifiable results in the last election and before. The new plaintiffs are PACE New Mexico, Voter Action New Mexico, Linda Yardley from Taos Pueblo, Joyce Bartley of Albuquerque, Marilyn Ernest of Las Vegas, and Michael Withnall, also of Las Vegas. Mr. Withnall is legally blind and joined the lawsuit due to his desire for equal access to verifiable voting. “As a visually impaired voter, I have always had difficulty with voting and am strongly in favor of paper ballots that voters like myself can mark and verify with a voter assist device. Only paper ballots are truly verifiable and auditable. I believe I should be entitled to the same access to verifiable voting as a non-visually impaired voter.”

PACE New Mexico - the Progressive Alliance for Community Empowerment - helped with voter registration across the state and particularly in South Albuquerque which saw high numbers of undervote rates when voters voted on electronic voting machines versus low undervotes on paper ballots form those same precincts. “We have been on the sidelines of this issue way too long. Speaking as a lawyer, the evidence is overwhelming that something is awry. We cannot justify our presence in the community requesting democratic response if we cannot assure them and ourselves that our votes will be counted in a way that is accurate and verifiable.” said Santiago Juarez, Executive Director of  PACE.

For more information:
Holly Jacobson / Voter Action 206 769 7185
Santiago Juarez / NM PACE 505 927 2734

Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center

MergingLeft Strikes Again

The latest billboard from the grassroots group MergingLeft is now up on Gibson just West of Girard and is facing west bound traffic. Nice job!

MergingLeft has developed and is maintaining a progressive, alternative media campaign in Albuquerque by using:

Bumper stickers

Bus advertising

“Regional billboards (6ft x 12 ft) along major Albuquerque thoroughfares

You may recall a previous billboard and bus ad by this group, which can be seen here. The ad campaigns are financed entirely by small donations. To learn more or make a donation for future projects, check out their website. Money well spent.

You can check out our previous posts on Merging Left here and here. Grassroots power in action!

ACTION ALERT: Hearing Set on NM Voters' Lawsuit

From Voter Action:

WHAT:  New Mexico District Court Hearing on defendants' motions to dismiss the complaint in Patricia Rosas Lopategui, et al. v. Rebecca Vigil-Giron, et al.

WHEN:  Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 2:00 PM

WHERE:  San Miguel County Courthouse, Suite 203, 500 West National, Las Vegas, NM

BACKGROUND:  In Lopategui v. Vigil-Giron, a diverse group of New Mexico voters seeks a permanent injunction against use of inaccurate and unreliable touchscreen voting machines that lack an auditable and voter verifiable paper ballot.  The defendants are the Secretary of State and 11 county clerks, all sued in their official capacities.  The lawsuit was filed in January, 2005.  In December, 2005, plaintiffs also filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the Secretary of State from buying over 800 more of these machines, as she had planned to do that month.  The Secretary of State has agreed not to make the purchases, pending the court's decision on the motion for preliminary injunction.

PURPOSE OF COURT HEARING:  At the hearing on January 18th, Judge Eugenio Mathis will hear oral arguments on whether to grant motions filed by the defendants, asking the court to dismiss the complaint.  Plaintiffs will ask the court to deny the motions and allow them to continue with the discovery of evidence and preparations for trial.  If the court denies the motions to dismiss, attorneys for the plaintiffs and for the Secretary of State will ask the court to set a schedule for deciding plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction to block purchase of more touch screen voting machines.

This important hearing is open to members of the public, who are invited to attend. For questions or transportation / carpooling information email info@voteraction.org or call 505 823 6362.

Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center

Support Coss for Santa Fe Mayor

From Committee to Elect David Coss for Mayor of Santa Fe:
Our campaign for mayor of Santa Fe is heating up, and I am writing again to request your financial support for our campaign.

I am very excited about how our campaign has taken off since the New Year began. We have truly built an organization that reflects our city. We have over 500 community members who have publicly endorsed our campaign, representing a wide spectrum of your friends, neighbors, and family. We have over 450 dedicated volunteers whom you may have already seen knocking on doors and making phone calls every day until the election just 8 weeks from now.

There are very important issues at stake with candidates who have real differences on how the city should be run.

My campaign is about creating a city that works for all of us.

For Santa Fe, we must restore the Santa Fe River and watershed, do much more on conserving water and protecting our environment, pool our health care costs and other City expenses with the County and State to hold the line on City spending, and take serious steps to eliminate domestic violence. We also have to work with and nuture our local businesses so that we can achieve the goals of our economic plan to make Santa Fe the alternative energy and arts and culture capitol of the country.

In order to achieve our goals, we also have to know how to get things done. Recently, I helped resolve the Civic Center issue, working with Pueblo leaders, local merchants and civic leaders. In that spirit, by working together, we can and will make Santa Fe a city that works for all of us.

We need funds to get our message out to voters. Please give what you can, either online or by mailing a check payable to the Committee to Elect David Coss for Mayor, P. O. Box 6078, Santa Fe, NM 87502.

Thank you so much,

P.S. The election is just 55 days away! Please contribute today!

Editor's Note: The Democracy for America Santa Fe Meetup group has endorsed David Coss for Mayor.

Revenge of the Mutt People

Today's recommended reading: the provocative, rough-hewn and politically incorrect Revenge of the Mutt People by Joe Bageant, courtesy of Smirking Chimp. It's making the rounds of the listserves and blogs. I've included a couple of excerpts below. Your reaction?

... About half of the Americans killed in Iraq come from communities like Winchester, Virginia or Romney, West Virginia or Fisher, Illinois or Kilgore, Texas or... . About forty-five percent of the American dead in Iraq come from communities of less than 40,000, even though these towns make up only twenty-five percent of our population. These so-called volunteers are part of this nation's de facto draft--economic conscription--the carrot being politically preferable to the whip. The carrot does not have to be very big out here where delivering frozen food wholesale to restaurants out of your own car entirely on commission is considered a good self-employment opportunity. I'm serious. One of my sons did it for a couple of months. Once you grasp the implications of such an environment regarding the so-called American Dream, the U.S. Army at thirteen hundred bucks a month, a signing bonus and free room and board begin to look pretty good. Even a nice long ass kicking tour of the tropics killing brown guys becomes attractive. Especially compared to competing with other little brown guys at home, humping "big-roll sod" across ever-expanding MacMansionland. In the process, we mutt people learn worldly lessons that the post graduate set raving about the jobless economy cannot know. For instance we know firsthand that there is no way to beat little brown sod balling guys willing to sleep in their cars and live on canned beans and store brand soda. Better to go "volunteer" for the army ...

... The problem is this: pit bulls always escalate the fight and keep at it until the last dog is dead, leaving the gentler breeds to clean up the blood spilled. We mutt people, the pit bulls, have always been your own, whether you claim us or not. And until you accept that you are your brother's keeper, and help deliver us from ignorance, you will continue to have on your hands some of every drop of blood spilled... from the sands of Iraq to the streets of East L.A. All the socially responsible stock portfolios, little hybrid cars and post modernist deconstruction in the world will not wash it off.

NM Secretary of State Candidate Envisions Open Door Policy

Letitia Montoya has attended several DFA-DFNM Meetups to talk about her candidacy for New Mexico Secretary of State. She'll be one of those running in the June Primary to get on the ticket on the Dem side. She passed along a recent Taos News article on her candidacy that's worth a read if you're interested in her take on the Secretary of State job. A few excerpts:

... "Back when I decided to run for secretary of state, I noticed a lot of problems that were going on with our voting issues," she said. "I started my campaign a year ago."

Montoya said she seems to be the only candidate stumping for votes and petition signatures throught the state. She realized that voters were beginning to question whether their vote was being counted. In the last General Election, 6,000 provisoinal votes were thrown out in Bernalillo county -- the state's largest group of voters.

"That's 6,000 votes that could have gone for the Democratic candidate," Montoya, a Democrat, pointed out. "That's scary" ...

... "When I become secretary of state, it's public record. I would allow you to come in and check the machines so that you feel good and you know your vote is counted", she said. "When you shut that door, people ask why you won't let them in (on the process)."

The Bernalillo county Clerk has taken the opposite action, Montoya said. She now faces a lawsuit from voters who are demanding an audit of the machines that were used.

"I don't blame these groups. It's the largest county," she said. "I'm a Democrat, and she's a Democrat, but she's not opening the door. It bothers me, and what I've been learning about these machines scares me for the next election."

The Latest Polling: Does Corruption Matter?

New Mexico Matters is doing a great job of tracking polling data in response to the current corruption scandals. What they come up with as a result may surprise you. Or not. See Part 2 of their series on "Does Corruption Matter? Taking a Look at the Numbers," based on the freshest polling data released late today.

P.S. New Mexico Matters is also an excellent source for the local headlines of the day from around New Mexico, including story links broken down by categories like Politics and Money, Railroading NM and Letters to the Editor. They usually post headlines from all of the New Mexico dailies by 8 AM, Monday thru Friday, and put up analysis in the afternoons.

SWOP's 25th Anniversary History Celebration on KUNM 89.9 Tonight

Espejos de Aztlan, a production of the Raices Collective at KUNM, will be airing a special live radio show on the Southwest Organizing Project's (SWOP's) 25 years of social justice tonight, Monday, January 9, 2006 at 7:00 PM on 89.9 KUNM here in New Mexico. The broadcast can also be found streaming live on the net for folks outside the broadcast area at www.kunm.org/listen.

The program takes place in anticipation of the organization's 25th Anniversary Celebration dinner and dance, scheduled for 6:30 PM on Saturday, January 21 in the Hyatt Regency in downtown Albuquerque.

Hosts Roberta Rael and Henry Gonzales will be talking to a pretty fantastic group of people:

Richard Moore, a founder and former director, and Roberto Contreras, a founder and current board member, will be discussing the founding of the organization.

Loretta Naranjo Lopez (Martinez Town), Eleanor Chavez (District 1199, former board member), Michael Guerrero (former co-director), and Gabe Lucero (Las Vegas) will be talking about building local power in local communities.

Eileen Gauna, (Southwestern Law School), Ruben Solis (Southwest Workers Union), and Pam Tau Lee (Northern California), will be on hand to discuss SWOP's role in helping to build a regional and national Environmental Justice Movement.

Teresa Cordova (Bern. Co. Commissioner), Eric Schmieder (Duranes, ABQ) and Steve Viederman (formerly with Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation), will have a discussion about SWOP's corporate accountability campaigns.

Fernando Abeyta (ABQ), Rosina Roybal (Jovenes Unidos Coordinator) and Celia Fraire (ABQ) will talk about SWOP's youth organizing work.

Robby Rodriguez, SWOP director, will talk about current and future SWOP work.

For more information, contact Javier Benavidez at javierbenavidez@hotmail.com.

Abramoff: A Republican-Only Scandal

Republican talking points about the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal claim that Democrats, as well as Republicans, are involved. It's evident that many media pundits are picking up on this highly inaccurate characterization. Here, DNC Chair Howard Dean and CNN's Wolf Blitzer discuss the Abramoff story with Wolf trying his best to assert that Dems also took money from Abramoff. Dean flattens him:

BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?

DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.

BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.

DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There is no evidence...

BLITZER: What about Senator Byron Dorgan?

DEAN: Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth. They have misled the American people. And now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.

BLITZER: Unfortunately Mr. Chairman, we got to leave it right there.

Notice how quickly Blitzer ends the exchange when his take on this is completely refuted. You can watch a video of this exchange on Crooks and Liars.

We need to repeat these facts every chance we get. The Abramoff corruption web is entirely a Republican corruption web. Period. This isn't to say that all Democrats are lilly-white in the money for influence department. Far from it. But in what may well be one of the biggest illegal money for influence schemes in our history, it's Republicans and Republicans alone who set up Abramoff to create the intricate web of illegal payoffs and tradeoffs, and it's Republicans and Republicans alone who benefited from the huge sums raised and paid.

Here's a comprensive post on Daily Kos that includes excellent suggestions for effectively countering the Republican spin on this.

As the Senate hearings on the Samuel Alito appointment to the U.S Supreme Court begin today, forewarned is forearmed. It's obvious that Republicans are prepared to do almost anything to change the subject from the Abramoff mess. According to a detailed Time Magazine cover story on the White House reaction to the crimes:

Republican officials say they are so worried about the Abramoff problem that they are now inclined to stoke a fight with Democrats over the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in an effort to turn the page from the lobbying investigation. Outside groups plan to spend heavily, and the White House will engage in some tit for tat with Democrats as the hearings heat up.

Sunday Bird Blogging

Here are the latest photos of Sunny, our new baby sun conure. About six months old now, Sunny has come a long way in trusting his (or her) new human friends. He's still awaiting his first molt at about nine months old, when he will gain a full set of adult feathers. In the meantime, he's having fun testing out all his toys and exploring his new world.

His favorite foods so far are unsalted peanuts in the shell, bits of pumpernickel bread, sunflower seeds and fresh celery. Believe it or not, he seems to prefer old rhythm and blues and soul music, and we got him to dance on his play gym the other day to Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder. A sun conure dancing is a sight to behold.

One of his favorite toys is this red chain. Sunny likes it when Mary Ellen holds the chain so he can explore both the toy and her fingers. He's very skilled at fingernail cleaning and cuticle trimming. Nibble nibble. He's much less likely to bite hard these days, and likes to be carried around the house on your shoulder while he grooms your hair, tickles your ears and picks threads on your clothes.

Note the I See Dean People sign in the background above. Not surprisingly, Sunny is a big fan of Howard Dean, just like his humans. The other day he quietly squawked that his early pick for president is Senator Russ Feingold and that he wants to work hard to defeat that culture of corruption cohort, Heather Wilson. Now if we can only train him to phone bank and canvass...