Democracy for New Mexico

Coming Soon: 2006 Native American Voters Alliance Convention

Building Native Power Through Voting and Action: Get complete details here. Register NOW!

WHERE: Albuquerque Convention Center
401 2nd Street NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102

WHEN: March 16 - 17, 2006
FEE: $50.00 (Scholarships Available!)

Registration is fast, easy and secure. There are two ways to do it.

REGISTER BY MAIL - Simply print and complete the registration form using the link below. Include a check for the $50.00 registration fee and mail to the address provided. Download registration form.

REGISTER ONLINE - The SAGE Council website has a secure donations page that allows you to pay the registration fee with a credit card. GO THERE NOW!

ASK ABOUT SCHOLARSHIPS - Scholarships are available to cover all or a portion of the registration fee and, for some out of town guests, a portion of your travel costs. To apply, simply call Bineshi Albert at 260-4696 or send an email to NativeVoter@SageCouncil.org.

CONVENTION AGENDA
Building Native Power Through Voting and Action   

Thursday, March 16th, 2006

• 08:00 AM Registration Opens, East Building 2nd Floor Foyer
• 09:00 AM Welcome & Keynote address
• 10:30 AM Power Plenary - this skills building session will demonstrate the power dynamics to achieve political gain.
• 12:30 PM Luncheon Plenary – How do we build political power for the Native community?
• 02:30 PM Power Mapping – Defining the potential of Native power in relation to players, including allies, opposition, decision makers and media, in the NM political arena.
• 04:15 PM Workshops – Basic organizing tools & Technologies, Voting Rights Act - Implications & Reauthorization, NM Voter Election Laws & Changes, New & Young Voters
• 06:00 PM Reception – Invitees include New Mexico elected officials, tribal leaders, community leaders and convention participants
• 07:30 PM End

Friday, March 17th, 2006

• 07:45 AM Breakfast (Continental)
• 08:30 AM Morning Plenary –Mobilizing the Native Vote in NM: A Showcase of Successful Models
• 10:30 AM Message Development – How to garner broader political support for Native issues?
• 12:00 PM Luncheon Plenary – Realizing a Native Agenda: Working with your Elected Officials
• 02:00 PM Workshops – Basic organizing tools & Technologies, Voting Rights Act - Implications & Reauthorization, NM Voter Election Laws & Changes, New & Young Voters
• 04:00 PM Open Forum - Sound Off
• 05:00 PM Wrap-up & End

SAGE Council is sponsoring this historic event along with Zia Pueblo, the National Indian Youth Council and the New Mexico Secretary of State's Native American Election Information Program. SAGE Council is a Native-led advocacy non-profit dedicated to building self-determination and relationships through organizing, education and leadership development. We are committed to impacting the social, economic and political decisions affecting our communities, and using the teachings of our ancestors to prepare future generations. We maintain spiritual and political values that respect Mother Earth, Native American sacred sites and all People.

SAGE Council
510 3rd St SW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
505.260.4696
nativevoter@sagecouncil.org
https://www.sagecouncil.org

Sunday Trickster Bird Blogging

Our birds are feeling rowdy today. Must be the early Spring weather here, or our recent victory with the paper ballot bill. Maybe a little of both. Here you have Sunny the sun conure swinging on a star, er, swinging upside down from his ceiling. You can hear me prompting him with praise. Such a good bird! He's a ham alright. Just think about what kinds of videos I can get once I understand how to use my digital camera properly. I got this video by mistake. Though of course Mr. Freud would say there are no mistakes....

Click for QT video clip of Sunny

Bosco the peach-faced lovebird is also feeling tricky today. Here he is strutting his stuff to show he's revved about grassroots activism:

DFNM Member Checks in From China

I recently got several emails from Dave Poyer, who is spending a year in China teaching English. Dave is also writing columns about his experiences overseas for the Albuquerque Tribune. His latest columns are here and here. Go here for a collection of all his columns from China. You may recall that Dave worked for David Steele's campaign for Albuquerque mayor and attended our Meetup. Here's Dave checking in from Beijing:

Hi  Barbara,

Just wanted to say hello and thank you. I'm a NM DFA  member who's decided to go to China to teach English for a year. I've decided that this is the type of action one person can do to make  a difference in the world. Especially since President Bush has done our nation's reputation such damage with his reckless foreign  policy. The breach must be repaired little by little.

Many people  here in Beijing know and love President Clinton. Many also took Kerry's 2004  defeat to heart as well. They know how important the differences are.

Barbara, living in a country where political activism is punished with a bullet to the brain, I appreciate what you do now more than ever. What you do is often hard, and may seem thankless.  But this New Mexican acknowledges and appreciates all that you do.  You and all the NM DFA folks, now more than ever.

Many brave Chinese people maintain political blogsites at incredible risk to their lives and their family's lives.  They hunger for what so many in our land take for granted. Most here do not know what it means to vote, or to call a Congressman, or to protest injustices.  An angry letter to the editor is not possible here.

Thank you all for fighting the good fight back home.  I realize how lucky we are to have you folks.

Take care,
DAVE  POYER
poyerd@hotmail.com

Editor's Note: Dave would love to hear from you at the email address above.

Madrid and Edwards Talk Healthcare

From Suzanne Prescott:

Albuquerque, March 2, 2006: Congressional Candidate Patricia Madrid and Senator John Edwards were hosted by the Alamosa Community Center and First Choice Health Care at a meeting yesterday.  Madrid and Edwards met with health care providers and clients to talk about the health care challenges they face, particularly with regard to the failings of the Medicare prescription drug program. Madrid reported that both providers and seniors repeated an increasingly heard message, "the program is broken and it doesn't work." She added, "It only works for insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies."

The frequent complaints from seniors stand in sharp contrast to what Congresswoman Heather Wilson and President Bush say, which is that the program is working. Wilson claims that a majority of seniors have coverage because of this program. Madrid pointed out that the number is misleading. The fact is that only 23% of New Mexican seniors who can voluntarily sign up have signed up -- a large discrepancy from the claim made by Wilson that 70% have signed up. The reason that the number is misleading is that it includes many seniors who have been involuntarily signed up by the program. Madrid explained that 149,689 seniors had been involuntarily dumped into the new program from Medicaid or other programs under which they already had coverage.

According to the US Dept. of Health & Human Services there are 106,853 New Mexicans eligible to voluntarily enroll in the new plan. To date only 24,712 of those who can voluntarily sign up have done so. That means that only 23% have signed up -- a far cry from the Wilson claim that over 70% have signed up. According to Madrid this discrepancy is intended to hide the failure of the drug program from view.

Madrid is insistent that the Medicare drug plan needs a complete overhaul. Madrid says, "At best it (the plan) is inept and confusing and at worst it is corrupt."  Madrid offers a new plan which will fix the problems of the failed Wilson Bush plan.  Madrid's plan calls for

• extending the enrollment deadline beyond the current May 15 date and/or eliminating the penalty which seniors will experience if they do not enroll by May 15.
• simplifying the plan so that there are not 48 different plans to have to evaluate and choose from
• eliminating the requirement that seniors have to join an HMO or leave their long time personal doctors in order to get the drug plan of their choice
• closing the coverage gap, now called the donut-hole (which might more aptly be called a 'sink hole')
• allowing state and federal governments to negotiate the purchase of drugs in bulk just as the VA already does

Madrid states that her plan "provides more coverage to more people at better value." Madrid added "Misleading statistics won't fool New Mexicans. They know that the Medicare prescription drug program is not working and they're ready for a change."

Senator Edwards, former Kerry running mate in 2004, reinforced Madrid's message and reported that the clients and patients at First Choice very strongly described the problems they had experienced with the Wilson Bush plan. He added that as a candidate for New Mexico's first congressional district, Madrid is a woman of "strength, conscience and vision who knows where America needs to go and she'll make sure that the folks we just met with will have a real advocate in Washington." Edwards condemned the Medicare plan saying, "The people who are going to get hurt the worst by that maze are people who struggle the most, people who are less educated, and people who are poor and they’re the ones who are most vulnerable to this system which could just eat them alive." 

Edwards further explained how the Medicare drug legislation was passed.  Drug company lobbyists who were paid millions and millions of dollars were all over Capitol Hill during the time the Medicare bill was being debated. The drug companies, according to Edwards, got everything they wanted from Bush and Cheney, everything they wanted from the Republican leadership in Congress. The lobbyists effectively stopped the importation of drugs from Canada, stopped the government from using its bulk buying power (forcing tax payers to buy drugs at highly inflated prices). “This is insane, that we let drug companies charge whatever they want and our government can't even negotiate the best price. This is a situation where it was clear what was right and what was wrong."

In Madrid's closing remarks she pointed out that in order to pass a new Medicare law, Democrats will need to take approximately 15 seats in Congress from across the country. A Congress of like-minded legislators who intend to repair the crippled drug program can create and pass a Medicare program that responds to the needs of citizens and not just the pharmaceutical companies.

Bingaman Delivers With Votes Against Patriot Act

Core Democrats have been very critical of Senator Jeff Bingaman's votes on such issues as the bankruptcy bill, CAFTA and the Alito filibuster. However, I think it's important to applaud him when he steps up to the plate and takes a brave stand.

He made two such stands yesterday to stop the Patriot Act as currently constructed. Senator Bingaman was among a handful of Democrats willing to confront the Bush administration on a number of repugnant anti-democratic provisions that remain in the Patriot Act. These actions are on a par with Senator Bingaman's vote against the Iraq War in terms of drawing a line in the sand against BushCo follies, and I think he should be commended. You can contact Senator Bingaman here.

According to Bingaman's office, "Senator Bingaman feels that the conference report does not adequately address Patriot Act provisions he is concerned about, including: sneek and peak provisions and access to library and medical records."

On the cloture vote to halt debate on the Patriot Act, which passed in the Senate 84-15 with Sen. Inouye not voting, Sen. Bingaman voted no along with 13 other Democratic Senators:

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Maria Cantwell (D-OR)
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Sen. Bingaman also voted against the Reauthorization of the Patriot Act itself. Unfortunately the bill passed the Senate yesterday 89-10 with Sen. Inouye again not voting. Sen. Jim Jeffords, an Independent, also voted against this measure. The list of Democrats who voted no according to the Washington Post:

Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Why generally progressive Senators like Boxer, Cantwell, Dayton, Dodd, Durbin and Sarbanes voted against ending debate (essentially, for a filibuster) and then went ahead and voted for the Patriot Act itself is beyond me. I guess the Republican noise machine's eternal bleating about Dems being "soft on terrorism" is still scarier than we think to some Dems.

I am particularly peeved at our Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, who made this weak and inane statement about Democrats who voted for the Act:

Our support for the Patriot Act does not mean a blank check for the president.

Heavy, Harry, heavy.

The ACLU released this statement on the Senate vote:

The Senate today failed to take steps to fully protect the fundamental freedoms and privacy of all Americans. The Patriot Act contains too many intrusive powers that lack meaningful checks and balances. We applaud the efforts of those Senators who sought to include much needed reforms in the Patriot Act reauthorization bill and stood firm in their commitment to protect our freedoms. The Patriot Act debate is far from over: secret record searches must be reformed so they are focused on suspected foreign terrorists and not used to invade the private records of ordinary Americans. Congress can, and must, take steps to fix the Patriot Act to keep America both safe and free.

Here's Senator Russ Feingold's floor statement against the Patriot Act.

I suppose there is some hope left given that Senator Arlen Spector has indicated he will revisit the Patriot Act to make some changes to add "extra protections," but I won't hold my breath.

Every Vote Counts in NM!

Above: Gov. Bill Richardson signs the Count Every Vote Act

Go watch Governor Bill Richardson sign the Count Every Vote Act -- the bill requiring paper ballots in every County of New Mexico. The video is now archived and available, along with video of Governor Richardson's State of the State speech: . Even more important, while you're there be sure to sign the petition to get every state to join New Mexico in passing legislation to make every vote count.

Above: Gov. Richardson passing out the magic signing pens he used to make this Act a reality.

Above: Big thanks to Terry Riley, Rep. Ed Sandoval, Sen. Linda Lopez, Speaker of the House Ben Lujan and Paul Stokes, all of whom worked like crazy to make this happen during the 30-day Legislative Session.

I'll have more to say about this event and more photos soon. It was a momentous day that deserves alot of ink. Right now, however, I'm off to our DFA-DFNM Meetup to celebrate this victory and to keep on keepin' on. Our work is never over, is it? Certainly all Democrats can agree on that.

DFA-DFNM Meetup to Feature New Dem Field Organizers

Our regular DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup is set for Thursday, March 2nd at 7PM at the First Unitarian Church on Carlisle and Comanche. If you plan to attend, please RSVP.

Our special guests are two of the new DNC field organizers in NM who are charged with outreach and Party building. Joe Casados and Anathea Chino will be explaining their roles, reporting on their activities and plans and explaining how we can help. We want to build a good working relationship with the field coordinators and this is an excellent opportunity to connect.

Howard Dean with Irene Para, Anathea Chino, Angela Chavez, Joe Casados
(Photo courtesy DPNM)

We'll also be hearing about the paper ballot bill, which will be signed by Governor Richardson the morning of Meetup, and what we need to do to make sure the machines are purchased in every county as soon as possible. In addition, we'll have announcements from several folks and a chance to discuss last week's visit to NM by Howard Dean.

Hope to see you there!

LIVE WEBCAST: Governor Richardson Signs Paper Ballot Bill Thursday Morning

At last! Senator Linda Lopez's bill requiring paper ballots and optical-scan machines to be used in all New Mexico counties (SB 295) will be signed by Governor Bill Richardson tomorrow morning:

March 2, at 11:00 AM
Second Floor, Santa Fe County Building
102 Grant Avenue, Santa Fe

The chamber holds about 200 people, and election reform activists are encouraged to attend. Please RSVP to Terry Riley at this email if you plan on coming.

The bill signing ceremony will also be WEBCAST LIVE as it happens. This link will go live tomorrow morning, where you can watch the bill signing on your computer:

Governor Richardson's leadership on this issue, coupled with long hours and hard work by a multitude of grassroots activists, election reform groups and legislators, makes our state a model for others facing similar challenges.

As we've said before, this is a major victory in the campaign to have our votes counted accurately. DNC Chair Howard Dean also noted the importance of this successful effort when he visited New Mexico last week.

Be a part of history: attend the bill signing in person or by checking out the live webcast!

Click to view two statements released by Governor Bill Richardson on this important event: Download Email-Announcement.doc and Download OpenLetter.doc.

For background on the paper ballot bill and how it came to be, check out these earlier posts on DFNM (latest posts come first):

Victory on Paper Ballots!

Paper Ballots Bill Passes House

Paper Ballots Bill Passes Senate

Paper Ballots Bill Heads to Senate

Paper Ballots Bill Passes in Senate Rules Committee Despite Republican Rants

Push Now for Senate Paper Ballots Bill

Click to Support Paper Ballot Bills

NM County Clerks Balk As Paper Ballot Legislation Moves Forward

NM Sen. Lopez Introduces Paper Ballot Voting Machine Bill

A Message From Paul Stokes

Agreement Reached On NM Voting Machine Purchase Freeze

NM Voters Seek Order Barring Purchase of More Touchscreen Voting Machines

Further Investigation Reveals NM Voting Machine Purchase May Violate State Law

Report: Yesterday's Election Reform Task Force Meeting

Sign Petition for Net Neutralilty

From Common Cause:
Our work is paying off:  a recent New York Times editorial page echoed Common Cause's call to action on net neutrality, and legislation may be introduced soon in Congress to protect our freedom on the internet.  Here's what the Times had to say:

"When you use the Internet today, your browser glides from one Web site to another, accessing all destinations with equal ease.  That could change dramatically, however, if Internet service providers are allowed to tilt the playing field, giving preference to sites that pay them extra and penalizing those that don't. … Congress should protect access to the Internet in its current form."

Please add your name to our petition demanding strong net neutrality legislation.  We need our representatives in Congress to know that there is widespread support for legislation that protects the democratic nature of the Internet and prohibits telecom companies from blocking, impeding or prioritizing any online content or services.

https://www.commoncause.org/ProtectNetNeutrality

Earlier this month, Common Cause members sent tens of thousands of letters to the telecom execs and asked them to abide by net neutrality principles. But it's clear now that we need a law to protect the Internet from being privatized by Verizon, AT&T and other greedy media corporations.  Here's more from the New York Times:

"The Senate held hearings last week on "network neutrality," the principle that I.S.P.s - the businesses like Verizon or Roadrunner that deliver the Internet to your computer - should not be able to stack the deck in this way.  If the Internet is to remain free, and freely evolving, it is important that neutrality legislation be passed. …Some I.S.P.s are phone and cable companies that make large campaign contributions, and are used to getting their way in Washington.  But Americans feel strongly about an open and free Internet.  Net neutrality is an issue where the public interest can and should trump the special interests."

We need you to tell Congress to protect freedom and openness on the internet. Thanks to each of you who has helped Common Cause become a leader in the fight to preserve internet freedom, and thanks for all you do to hold power accountable.

Sincerely,

The Common Cause Media Reform Team
Celia Wexler, Lauren Coletta & Dawn Holian

P.S.  Lobbyists for Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and other telecom giants are heading into the halls of Congress to enshrine their own plans in telecom legislation now being drafted in committee.  We need to stop them. Please sign the petition supporting net neutrality: https://www.commoncause.org/ProtectNetNeutrality.

Gov. Richardson Appoints Martin Heinrich as Natural Resources Trustee

From the Office of the Governor:
(Santa Fe, NM) – Governor Bill Richardson yesterday appointed Martin Heinrich as the Natural Resources Trustee for the State of New Mexico.

“Martin Heinrich is a proven conservationist,” said Governor Richardson. “He is someone who has successfully worked to protect our land and water for the benefit of the people of New Mexico. As our state’s Natural Resources Trustee, I am confident Heinrich will continue that commitment to New Mexico’s environment.”

The Office of the Natural Resources Trustee (ONRT) is charged with the restoration of damaged natural resources, and when that is not possible, with the replacement or acquisition of equivalent natural resources to those which were lost or impaired. When possible, the Office of Natural Resources Trustee accomplishes these goals through a cooperative process with the responsible parties.

Martin Heinrich currently serves as the President of the Albuquerque City Council. He has worked on numerous successful preservation and restoration projects on both public and private land. These have included working cooperatively with New Mexico’s congressional delegation and the Pueblo of Zia to create the Ojito Wilderness and preserve over 10,000 acres of archeologically unique land in Sandoval County, restoring ponderosa pine forest on private land in the Zuni Mountains, and preserving several hundred acres of the Sandia Mountains as Albuquerque Open Space.

Heinrich replaces Jim Baca who recently stepped down as Natural Resources Trustee. Baca was appointed by Governor Richardson in 2003.

“Jim has served the state, our people and our resources well,” said Governor Richardson. “He has been an excellent steward of the state’s natural resources and especially of our water. I thank him for his service and wish him the best.”