Democracy for New Mexico

Ritter: Iran War Coming

Ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, made several appearances in New Mexico recently. Here's what the Santa Fe New Mexican reports he had to say at his speech yesterday in Santa Fe. Excerpts:

The former U.N. weapons inspector who said Iraq disarmed long before the U.S. invasion in 2003 is warning Americans to prepare for a war with Iran.

“We just don’t know when, but it’s going to happen,” Scott Ritter said to a crowd of about 150 at the James A. Little Theater on Sunday night.

... He predicted the matter will wind up before the U.N. Security Council, which will determine there is no evidence of a weapons program. Then, he said, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, “will deliver a speech that has already been written. It says America cannot allow Iran to threaten the United States and we must unilaterally defend ourselves.”

“How do I know this? I’ve talked to Bolton’s speechwriter,” Ritter said.

Ritter also predicted the military strategy for war with Iran. First, American forces will bomb Iran. If Iranians don’t overthrow the current government, as Bush hopes they will, Iran will probably attack Israel. Then, Ritter said, the United States will drop a nuclear bomb on Iran.

The only way to prevent a war with Iran is to elect a Democratically controlled Congress in November, said Ritter, a lifelong Republican.

MAKE CALLS NOW: House Votes on Lujan Minimum Wage Bill Today

6 PM UPDATE: According to Kate Nash's Roundhouse Report, "House members met briefly this morning, and then went to caucus, presumably on the minimum wage bill on the House floor calendar today." She called it the "probably the most worked-on bill so far this session."

From New Mexicans for a Fair Wage:
The Committee Substitute for HB 258 (Rep. Ben Lujan) raising the minimum wage to $7.50 will be heard and voted this morning (Monday) on the House Floor. The votes of the following representatives are CRUCIAL for this important bill to pass. Here's the latest version of the bill.

Please call the offices of as many as you can this morning and urge them to support the Committee Substitute for HB 258 (It is particularly important if one of these representatives is from your own community, that you let him/her know that you support HB 258.):

Rep. Ray Begaye (Shiprock) 986-4436; Rep. Joe Cervantes (Las Cruces) 986-441; Rep. Mary Helen Garcia (Las Cruces) 986-4435; Rep. John Heaton (Carlsbad) 986-4432; Rep. Rhonda King (Stanley) 986-4438

Also SB 449, the Governor’s proposal, is on the long agenda for this afternoon’s Senate Corporations Committee at 2:00 PM in room 303. Call the following senators, and ask them to amend the Governor’s proposal by removing preemption and adding indexing:

Senator Shannon Robinson, Albuquerque (986-4856); Senator Bernadette Sanchez, Albuquerque (986-4267); Senator Diane Snyder, Albuquerque (986-4375); Senator Carlos Cisneros, Questa (986-4861); Senator Phil Griego, Santa Fe (986-4265); Senator Cynthia Nava, Las Cruces (986-4834); Senator Stuart Ingle, Portales (986-4702); Senator Dianna Duran, Tularosa (986-4701); Senator Mark Boitano, Albuquerque (986-4366).

ACTION ALERT: Help Get Medical Marijuana Bill Through the House

From the Drug Policy Alliance NM:

Medical Marijuana Bill Passes the Senate! Your Help is Crucial for Success in the House:

Congratulations everyone! This week we reached our half-way mark: the Senate! Thanks to your calls and emails, Senate Bill 258 passed the Senate with an incredible vote of 34-6! Many thanks to the patient advocates who have helped us every step of the way. We couldn't have done it without you. A lot happened on the Senate floor, so be sure to read the stories that ran in The New Mexican and The Albuquerque Journal.

Now, we move on to the House of Representatives. In 2003, a similar bill failed in the House 46-20. We need to show the Representatives that their own constituents support this bill. It takes substantial resources to effectively mobilize our community members, and we need all the help that we can get. With less than two weeks to go until the end of the legislative session, we are pulling out all of the stops. We want to organize a phone campaign that will get at least 60 supportive calls to each targeted Representative from his/her own district. This campaign will cost us an estimated $5,000, but is worth every penny!

Please donate today so that we can target these swing districts and win this battle for reform!

https://secure3.ctsg.com/dpa/donation/index.asp?Item=18&MS=NMMedMj020206-aa

And now for the bad news: we've just learned that SB 258 has been assigned to the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. This will be a huge hurdle: this committee has never heard this bill before and we are not sure that we have enough support to get out of the committee. Let's work hard to convince every single one of these Representatives that standing up for patients' rights and compassion is the right thing to do. We have to put pressure on this committee to pass Senate Bill 258, and to do this, we need your help - please call these committee members right away!

Again, this new committee assignment means that your phone calls are more important than ever. Please make your voice heard to the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee by noon on Monday, February 6th. Committee members act on behalf of all of us when they vote on bills, so everyone can contact each member - regardless of whose district you live in. However, if you live in one of the districts below, please be sure to let the office know that when you call.

House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee

Please ask these committee members to support SB 258:

Representative Joe M. Stell
(Eddy and Otero Counties)
505-986-4423

Representative Ray Begaye
(San Juan County)
505-986-4436

Representative Joseph Cervantes
(Dona Ana County)
505-986-4411

Representative Richard P. Cheney
(San Juan County)
505-986-4227

Representative Andy Nunez
(Dona Ana County)
505-986-4233

Representative Sandra L. Townsend
(San Juan County)
505-986-4214

Representative Don L. Tripp
(Catron, Socorro, and Valencia Counties)
505-986-4220

Tips on Making a Call:
Most legislators' staff answer their phones during the session and log all of the messages. Each call only takes a minute, so you can call all of them in about 10 minutes.

Be courteous, positive, and brief.

Identify yourself and mention if you are a constituent.

Ask the legislator to support Senate Bill 258, to be heard by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee.

Feel free to briefly tell them why you personally support the bill.

Here is how your support will make a difference:

This bill would allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy--to use marijuana for relief from their symptoms. Feel free to refer to our fact sheet or talking points before you call.

Thanks so much for calling - and please feel free to forward this information to other individuals and email lists that might be interested. The more voices that speak up for this legislation, the more likely it is to become law. If you are interested in attending the hearing, please call us at (505) 983-3277. We are coordinating attendees and speakers.

Sincerely,
Reena Szczepanski
Director, Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico
https://www.improveNewMexico.org

Learn More About the Bill:
The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act would allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses - such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and epilepsy - to use marijuana for relief of their symptoms. The law would require a patient to receive a recommendation for cannabis (i.e., medical marijuana) from his/her medical provider. The patient could then apply to participate in the program through the Department of Health, and an independent review board of doctors would consider each application. Upon approval by the board, the patient would receive a registry identification card from the New Mexico Department of Health, certifying that he/she was a participant in the Lynn Pierson program. By registering in this way, the patient and the patient - primary caregiver would be allowed to possess only enough cannabis to treat the patient. Only providers who already can prescribe controlled substances could recommend patients for the program. The Department of Health will develop regulations for licensed producers within the state, identifying standards for safety, security, and distribution.

The new law would not allow medical marijuana use in public, and would penalize lying to a law enforcement officer regarding the medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health would keep a registry of participants so that law enforcement officers could confirm the validity of a patient's registration card. Patients under 18 years old could only participate with parental consent.

Learn More
Contact the Drug Policy Alliance:
Drug Policy Alliance
70 West 36th Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Superbowl Sunday Bird Blogging

Sunny the baby sun conure is finally getting more feathers. In the next few months he'll start looking like a sun conure should, replacing those grey downy feathers with gaily colored orange, yellow and green ones. You can compare today's photos with the ones we took when he first arrived. We know now that Sunny is definitely a boy. His DNA test results confirmed that he's a male, and his other lab tests gave him a clean bill of health.

He gets more tame by the day and enjoys sitting on our shoulders and playing tug-o-war with us using his toys. He likes being hand fed with sunflower seeds, peanuts and pieces of fruit. He can still be very territorial around his cage though, which you can see is filled with attractive toys. He spends most of his time on the top of his cage and atop his adjacent gym, alternating between rowdy playfulness and pooped out napping. His home in our den, with many windows, provides him a bird's-eye view of the skies, trees and outside birds that visit our backyard feeders.

Sunny's all wet above, after a bath in his water bowl. He likes to be sprayed with a water bottle too, so he can get soaked in all the places he can't reach himself. He says his bath yesterday was in preparation for today's Superbowl. Sunny is avidly rooting for the Seahawks, him being an avian and all, but the humans in the house are both Steelers fans. Let's hope he doesn't drown out the game with his squawks for the Hawks! (Click on photos for larger images.)

Let Them Eat Sopapillas

Monarchy lives. King George and his consort, Queen Laura, breezed into Albuquerque on Thursday afternoon for private meetings with potentates and banquets with Lords, all courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. Remember the pre-monarchy days when Presidents traveled the country speaking to ordinary citizens? Seems as old-fashioned as a now, doesn't it?

I don't know what went down on the top three floors of the Marriott Hotel, where the King's massive entourage hung out that afternoon, but the Royal Couple held court at in the North Valley Thursday evening. At the Royal Table were majestic members of New Mexico's Congressional delegation and Knights from the local high-tech and military-industrial complex. I imagine a fair amount of groveling was required. I'm sure everyone felt compelled to keep laughing along with all of Emperor George's jokes about oil addiction and Katrina relief. Potentates can be such cut ups.

When the topic of rag-tag serfs came up, several regal syncophants were heard to proclaim "let them eat cake." This being New Mexico, however, the other Royal Dinner Party guests drowned them out with a loud "let them eat sopapillas." King George reportedly chugged down some cheese enchiladas with red chile and pined for the margaritas and brews all around him. A dry drunk can get very thirsty in the high desert.

Friday morning the blocks-long parade of limousines, cop cars, 72 (count 'em) police on motorcycles, Secret Service men and Fatherland Security operatives headed over to the Intel chip plant near Rio Rancho. Blindly passing the protest signs (see below), the Royal Cavalcade proceeded to a private rendezvous with a couple of obligatory "youth" reps, princely bigwigs from Intel, Counts and Countesses from state and local government, and Dukes from Lockheed Martin, Sandia Labs and Los Alamos Labs -- many of them knee-deep in the big nuke muddy. A couple hundred hand-picked Courtiers provided the applause on cue. Afterwards, the exit road was cleared of at least one dangerous lawbreaker who dared to step off the curb before the Bush processession had even left the building. (More on that in a later post.)

(Intel protest photo courtesy of Tom Soloman)

The "discussion" was about making Americans more "competitive" with engineers and scientists in China and India, who earn perhaps a tenth of what similar professionals earn here. Solution? A proposal to hire more math and science teachers. Not a bad program as proposed by Senators Domenici and Bingaman, even if it looks like Bush intends to fund only about half of it and omit the part about science scholarships. Even worse, just the other day he had to cut student loans and funding for the National Academy of Science. Our own St. Pete had to admit that Bush was constrained by what he called budgeteers in funding the science and math intiative. Other "constraining factors" might include 1-2 billion dollars going to the Iraq occupation each week, the huge deficits caused by generous tax cuts for the rich and the fact that we owe China billions of dollars thanks to "free trade."

No word on any addition of art, history, music, language or gym teachers. We like our graduates single-minded, uncritical in their thinking, out of shape, blind to history, speaking only English and culturally ignorant. Monarchies are like that. God save the queens. Especially the Republican queens.

Hearing Saturday on House Paper Ballot Voting Machine Bill

From Paul Stokes, United Voters NM:
Your phone calls are needed right away to members of the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, urging support of HB 430, which mandates use of paper ballots in NM elections. The bill is set to be heard tomorrow, Saturday, February 3, at 8:30AM in Room 315. Please be there to show citizen support. From here, it presumably will go to the House Voters and Elections Committee on Tuesday or Thursday.

House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee:

Representative: Gail Chasey (D)
Dist. 18. Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4844
E-mail:  gailchasey@msn.com

Representative: Irvin Harrison (D)
Dist. 5, McKinley and San Juan
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4464, Office: 863-121
E-mail:  irv4u@cnetco.com

Representative: Thomas A. Anderson (R)
Dist. 29, Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4226
E-mail:  kb5ysg@arrl.net

Representative: Keith J. Gardner (R)
Dist. 66, Chaves, Eddy, Lea and Roosevelt
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4211, Office: 622-6500
E-mail:  gardners@prodigy.net

Representative: Joni Marie Gutierrez (D)
Dist. 33, Dona Ana
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4234, Office: 647-5577
E-mail:  jonig@zianet.com

Representative: Dianne Miller Hamilton (R)
DIst. 38, Grant, Hidalgo and Sierra
Capitol Office Phone:  986-4221
E-mail:  dianne38john4132@zianet.com

Representative:  Al Park (D)
Dist. 26, Bernalillo
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4234

Monday Senate Hearing on Two Important Bills

02/04 UPDATE: Hearing date change -- Senate Memorial 11 on withdrawing the NM Guard from Iraq, introduced by Sen. Ortiz y Pino, will NOT be heard along with SB 295 in the Senate Rules committee on MONDAY. It is now set for WEDNESDAY morning, Feb.8, Room 321, at 9:30 AM.

Sen. Ortiz y Pino's Senate Memorial 11, which requests that the Governor bring home New Mexico's National Guard troops from Iraq, will be discussed in the Senate Rules Committee on Monday Wednesday. The Committee will meet on February 6 8, at 8:00 9:30 AM in Room 321 at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

Sen. Linda Lopez's Senate Bill 295, mandating paper ballot voting machines, is included on this same agenda will still be heard in the Senate Rules Committee on Monday, February 6, at 8:30 AM. This is very exciting. Both items are of tremendous importance.

Click to contact members of the Senate Rules Committee.

Compromise Lujan Minimum Wage Bill Headed to House Floor

From New Mexicans for a Fair Wage:
Speaker Ben Lujan's $7.50 minimum wage bill (HB258) passed the House Business & Industry Committee yesterday afternoon on a 7-5 vote with Dona Irwin (Luna County) the sole Democrat opposed. The bill now heads to the House floor for passage.

Please call Representative Jose Campos to thank him for the critical motion that got the bill out of committee (986-4242). Then call your representative to urge him or her to pass the Speaker's bill without further amendments. Cick for contact information.

Speaker Lujan and members of the New Mexicans for a Fair Wage met with other B & I Committee members and opponents from the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday to discuss the opposition's concerns. Consequently, the bill was amended to include a phase-in to $7.50 by January 1, 2008, but it retains indexing, so the wage will rise with the cost of living in years to come. The amendment to the bill also preempts other municipalities, except for Santa Fe, from passing legislation that sets higher local minimum wages. 

Needless to say, these are concessions we were not happy with, but the proposal remains the strongest in the legislature and would get the state's minimum into the top 50% of states with higher minimum wages. 

Some coalition members may continue to fight to remove the preemption language from the bill in the interest of Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and other local wage coalitions that are planning to fight for local increases.

From Carter Bundy, AFSCME:
Now we have to win on the House floor--that means we need at least 35 votes, and your calls can shore up or persuade some of the following to join our fight to give New Mexico workers a $7.50 minimum wage with inflation indexing.  Please call as many as possible, even if you're not from their district. 

It's rare that you'll get through directly to the Representative, so be sure to treat the man or woman answering the phone with respect--they'll get the message to the Representatives, and the Representatives are very aware of how many people call in favor of a bill.  Then get 5 friends to call, too.

Try to call on Friday, because it may be tougher to leave a message over the weekend:

Rep. Ray Begaye (Shiprock) 986-4436
Rep. Joe Cervantes (Las Cruces) 986-4411
Rep. Kandy Cordova (Belen) 986-4243
Rep. Mary Helen Garcia (Las Cruces) 986-4435
Rep. John Heaton (Carlsbad) 986-4432
Rep. Rhonda King (Stanley) 986-4438
Rep. Andy Nunez (Hatch) 986-4233
Rep. Joe Stell (Carlsbad) 986-4423
Rep. Jeanette Wallace (Los Alamos) 986-4452
Rep. Don Whitaker (Eunice) 986-4420

Albuquerque Bush Watch

(See Updates below.) According to unnamed sources (!) President Bush will be arriving in Albuquerque sometime today (Update: He arrived at the Marriott about 3:15PM today with a massive motorcade) and is staying at the Uptown Marriott Hotel at 2101 Lousiana NE. Eyewitness reports (!) indicate that groups of police, men in suits and military vehicles have converged on the site. There are roped off areas already in place and the top three floors of the Marriott have become off limits. The last time Bush came to town, he stayed at the Marriott.

Bush is scheduled to speak at Intel in Rio Rancho Friday morning, participating in some sort of panel discussion. Some business leaders and politicos have allegedly been invited. Unnamed sources (!) report that Bush will be speaking in the first floor cafeteria of the building called RR7. This is the furthest south office building (4 floors), just south of the 3-tiered parking garage on the Intel site. I've also heard that 528 will be closed to traffic for a time when Bush arrives. The roundtable will take place around 7:00 or 8:00 AM.

UPDATE: A Presidential Rally organized by New Mexico PACE will be held on Friday, February 3rd, at 8 AM at Haynes Park in Rio Rancho. Gather on the West corner of 21st St. and HW 528.

The rally will focus on the issues of not cutting the budget for education or health care to pay of lobbyists. They will be shutting down HW528 for a time when Bush arrives so people should try to arrive early to be sure to get through. There will be signs if people can't bring their own. If enough people are there at 7 the event will start early. Any questions please call Esteli at 255-4266 or email at esteli3@yahoo.com. Click for a Rally Flyer (doc).

You can rest assured that no-one will have to be dragged from the event, handcuffed and jailed for wearing a teeshirt displaying the number of US troops killed in Iraq. The "screening" of attendees should be tight indeed. By the way, five more casualites yesterday bring the total American military deaths in Iraq to 2,247.

Although the administration has described Bush's four-city, post-State of the Union trip as a chance for him to explain his plans to the public, this morning's Albuquerque Journal reports there will be no events open to the public during Bush's Albuquerque visit.

Today's must-read delineation of Bush's unlawful actions? Senator Russ Feingold's diary on Daily Kos entitled Pre-1776 Mentality. Quote:

I've seen some strange things in my life, but I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday's State of the Union speech, listening to the President assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on.  It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause?  All for violating the law?

Gov. Richardson Threatens Veto of Weakened Minimum Wage Bill

According to an article in Kate Nash's Roundhouse Report, Gov. Bill Richardson said he would veto a measure that emerged from the Senate Public Affairs Committee that weakened his proposal to raise the wage to $7.50 an hour over the next three years.

The bill was amended by Sen. Mary Kay Papen (D-Las Cruces) to raise the wage to only $6.15 an hour over two years. I guess pecan growers have clout. SB449, sponsored by Senate President Ben Altamirano, now goes to the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee.

On the House side, Speaker Ben Lujan's bill, HB258, is reportedly under negotiation. Rep. Lujan has been meeting with both opponents and proponents of raising the minimum wage to concoct a compromise.  An amended bill is expected to be heard by the House Business and Industry Committee this afternoon.