Democracy for New Mexico

Los Ranchos Mayor Brags Town Will Pay Zero for Bush Visit

Los Ranchos de Albuquerque's "Independent" Mayor Larry Abraham (right) bragged to the media today that his town's taxpayers won't pay a cent for the abundant extra "security" that will be used for George Bush's visit on Monday, August 27. Bush will attend an expensive private fundraiser and photo op (see invitation) for "Pajama Pete" Domenici's campaign at Abraham's home on 13 acres at 7205 Rio Grande Blvd NW in Los Ranchos. There will be no public events during Bush's visit here, yet Albuquerque and other New Mexico communities will have to provide and pay for extra police and other security services. Los Ranchos has no police force.

As reported in an Albuquerque Journal article:

Abraham said his village contracts with the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department for four deputies who handle day-to-day law-enforcement duties there. But Abraham said the village is not paying additional money for security surrounding the Bush visit.

"Absolutely zero," Abraham said earlier this week. "We're not paying any outside police agencies."

Local police play a key role in security any time the president makes an official-business or campaign visit to a U.S. city, racking up thousands of dollars worth of personnel hours as they escort the motorcade to and from Air Force One, seal off busy streets and beef up patrols.

Monday's visit will involve an estimated 150-plus New Mexico law officers. Most will be from the Albuquerque Police Department and the sheriff's department, though State Police and officers from Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Farmington, Taos and the town of Bernalillo will also pitch in.

"It's not something we could do on our own, either. It takes a large contingent," said Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, a Republican.

Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez agreed that providing security is "an expensive proposition," but added he's not complaining. "Presidents are always welcome in Albuquerque, whether I agree with them or not—and I certainly don't agree with this one," he said.

Another Republican campaign expense to be be borne by taxpayers -- this one by Americans as a whole -- is the cost of Air Force One. According to the Journal, flight costs for Air Force One were estimated at $56,000-plus per hour when Repub Rep. Heather Wilson got a fundraising visit from Bush in August of 2006. And just think, fuel costs have risen dramatically since then.

Attention Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque Tribune and Santa Fe New Mexican: Wouldn't it be fascinating to see a breakout of what Bush's visit on Monday will cost national, state and local taxpayers? Wouldn't it be great if we had a daily newspaper as interested in obtaining that as we are?

Remember when presidents used to add at least one public event to their campaign trips to provide cover for their campaigning on the taxpayers' dime? Of course when you're a president as unpopular and arrogant as Bush, a public event would be more than a little problematic. Besides, Bush doesn't seem to feel any need to interact with the peasantry. Elite donors and controlled audiences guaranteed to be 100 percent loyal to the president are the audiences of choice for The Decider. That way he can remain in his bubble of denial and keep up the guffawing.

New Mexico Democrats and activists will meet at Kelly's Brew Pub on Nob Hill in Albuquerque on Sunday, August 26, from 1-3 PM to collect "Pajama Pete" pajamas and make signs. Demonstrators will gather for a protest of the Bush visit on Monday morning at 8:30 AM at the corner of Rio Grande and Green Valley in Los Ranchos. Click for my previous post about these events and look for future posts on other actions scheduled around Bush's visit to the Albuquerque area.

NM Democrats to Protest Bush's Support of 'Pajama Pete'

From the Democratic Party of New Mexico:

Activists Will Launch Pajama Collection Drive
Albuquerque, NM - As New Mexicans brace for George W. Bush's fundraising visit, the Democratic Party of New Mexico will join with a coalition of organizations to call attention to Senator Pete Domenici's slumberous attitude concerning working families' priorities. 

Bring Pajamas
On Sunday, August 26 at Kelly's Brew Pub in Albuquerque, 3222 Central Ave. SE, Democrats will collect new and used pajamas for protesters to wear at a rally on the day Bush arrives [see below]. The pajamas will be donated to charity after the Monday event. 

"It's time for Senator Domenici to wake up and focus on the important issues that affect all New Mexicans, including jobs, health care, and ending the war in Iraq," said Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian Colon.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26, 2007, 1-3 PM
DEMOCRATS AND PEOPLE AGAINST PETE
PAJAMA COLLECTION DRIVE & SIGN MAKING
KELLY'S BREW PUB
3222 CENTRAL AVE. SE, ALBUQUERQUE

Petition to Demand Domenici and Wilson Come Clean
The pajama collection drive will be backed by a petition demanding that Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson come clean about their involvement in the U.S. Attorney scandal and testify under oath about the pressure they put on former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to push politically sensitive indictments into the courts just before the November, 2006, election.

Domenici is also known as "Pajama Pete" because he was spotted wandering the halls of Congress wearing clothes that closely resembled pajamas. He has tried to claim that he was wearing hunting gear.

Editor's note: More on the pajamas/hunting pants incident: from Raw Story.

(h/t Land of Enchantment)

Where's the Monday Pajamas Demonstration?
The rally against Bush's visit to the Albuquerque area for the big dollar fundraiser for Domenici in Los Ranchos on Monday, August 27th, will be at the corner of Rio Grande NW and Green Valley in Los Ranchos, just north of the Village Hall at 6718 Rio Grande NW (map). Ample parking available at the Los Ranchos Village Tennis Courts just south of Village Hall (north of Chavez Rd). Meeting at 8:30 AM.

What's the Iraq Occupation Costing New Mexicans?

MoveOn.org has released reports, using data from the National Priorities Project, for every Congressional District in America toting up what Bush's failed occupation in Iraq is costing us. To date, nearly a half-trillion dollars has been spent on an unwinnable civil war—money that could have improved our communities. On average, $275 million is spent every day on the war in Iraq—that is an average of $4,100 for every household in the United States over the course of the war. And those costs are continuing to rise with no end in sight.

Last month, Congress voted for an additional $100 billion in spending. That makes the total funding appropriated for the war in Iraq so far $456 billion. The cost to New Mexico taxpayers alone is $1.39 billion. Click highlighted text for reports on Iraq spending in each of New Mexico's three Congressional Districts:

(Albuquerque area): Taxpayers in the 1st congressional district alone are paying $519 million for the Iraq war. What citizens of New Mexico's 1st District could have gotten instead:

• Health care coverage for 153,012 people—or 203,224 kids, or
• Head Start for 74,180 additional kids, or
• 11,093 new elementary school teachers, or
• 132,540 scholarships to make college more affordable, or
• Renewable electricity for 812,254 homes, or
• 5,298 affordable housing units, or
• 13,788 public safety officers to keep the streets safe

(Southern NM): Taxpayers in the 2nd Congressional District alone are paying $395 million for the Iraq war.

(Northern NM): Taxpayers in the 3nd Congressional District alone are paying $473 million for the Iraq war.

The money being spent in Iraq could be used to improve the lives of Americans instead of putting them at risk. Congress must act quickly to rein in this reckless president and bring an end to this war. With the costs of the war expected to ultimately double, taxpayers in New Mexico cannot afford another $519 million to keep our troops stuck in an unwinnable civil war in Iraq—especially when our communities are paying such a heavy price.

Compare actual war spending vs. Bush administration projections: In late 2002, President Bush's Budget Director estimated that the cost of the war with Iraq could be in the range of $50 billion to $60 billion. When Bush's chief economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, publicly estimated that the war in Iraq might cost $100 billion to $200 billion, he was fired. [New York Times, 12/31/02; Time Magazine, 12/23/02]

Speak Up: Congress is currently on its August recess, but we want to make sure our representatives know we mean business. We want them to know what they must do when they return to work next month. Please contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and urge them to stop the war NOW. Congress.org makes it easy.

Network of Spiritual Progressives Hosts Health Care Discussion

From the Albuquerque Network of Spiritual Progressives: Steve Moffat, president of Health Action New Mexico, is presenting descriptions of the health care models studied by Mathematica for the NM health care reform effort. The event is scheduled for Sunday, September 9, from 1:00 to 2:30 PM in the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle, with discussion afterwards. This is a program of "Health Care for All", a covenant action group of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.

ABQ 6th District Council Candiate Forum Set for 9.23.07

From Charlie Bennett, President, La Mesa Community Improvement Association:

An Albuquerque City Council Candidate Forum for the 6th District is scheduled for Sunday, September 23, from 2-4 PM, at the Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE, in Albuquerque (click for map). The event is sponsored by the Sixth District Coalition of Neighborhood Associations and La Mesa Community Improvement Association. It will be moderated by the League of Women Voters. The  District 6 Coalition is a group of neighborhood leaders elected by 15 neighborhood associations that are chartered by the City of Albuquerque.

All candidates running for the District 6 City Council seat currently held by Martin Heinrich (who's running for Congress in NM-01) have been invited to participate. These include Rey Garduño, Blair Kauffman, Kevin Wilson and Joanie Griffin. Albuquerque's municipal election will take place on October 2nd, 2007. Click to of District 6. You can also type in your address there to determine your City Council District.

Sunday: KSFR Radio Interview With Dem Senate Candidates

From Living on the Edge: Is it time for Pete to go? Do the Dems have a candidate who can unseat him?

Living on the Edge radio show, with hosts with hosts David Bacon and Xubi Wilson, will interview the three Democratic candidates who are currently in the running against incumbent Senator Pete Domenici. The three -- Jim Hannan, Leland Lehrman, and Don Wiviott -- are all from Santa Fe. The interview will air this Sunday, August 26th, from 1-2 PM on 101.1 FM, KSFR Santa Fe Public Radio. Join us as we talk with the candidates who feel they can win against New Mexico's longest serving Senator. This will be a very interesting and fun show, and a good way to get introduced to the candidates,their issues, and strategies that they will use to unseat Pete! Websites for the candidates:

• Jim Hannan
• Leland Lehrman
• Don Wiviott

Editor's Note: With KSFR's stronger signal, listeners outside of Santa Fe, including in Albuquerque, should be able to tune in. You can also listen to the station's live feed at their website.

Quagmire: Let's Keep It Going Another 10 Years

... and toss in an attack on Iran. Deja vu all over again. See Democracy Now for another view. Sen. John Kerry issued a statement in response to Bush's speech yesterday before the VFW:

“Invoking the tragedy of Vietnam to defend the failed policy in Iraq is as irresponsible as it is ignorant of the realities of both of those wars,” Senator Kerry said. “Half of the soldiers whose names are on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after the politicians knew our strategy would not work. The lesson is to change the strategy not just to change the rhetoric. We want democracy in Iraq, but Iraqis must want it as much as we do. Our brave soldiers can’t bring democracy to Iraq if Iraq’s leaders are unable or unwilling themselves to make the compromises that democracy requires. No American soldier should be sacrificed because Iraqi politicians refuse to resolve their sectarian and political differences.

“It is unfortunate that President Bush would want to invoke a false comparison of Vietnam to Iraq, but not surprising that he would oversimplify the differences and overlook the tragic similarities. As in Vietnam, we engaged militarily in Iraq based on official deception. As in Vietnam, more American soldiers are being sent to fight and die in a civil war we can’t stop and an insurgency we can’t bomb into submission. If the President wants to heed the lessons of Vietnam, he should change course and change course now.”

Remember that Kerry served honorably and bravely in Vietnam, and worked hard with other Vietnam vets to end the war after returning hoime. Decades later, we have Bush the drunken AWOL Air National Guard cokehead pretending to know what happened there and why. To me, the words "hypocrite" and "ignoramous" don't even begin to convey the depraved nature of Bush in using self-serving, distorted, revisionist history to defend his unyielding push for unending war. Obviously, there's no limit to how low he'll go to perpetrate the myths and bald-faced lies he employs to justify his madness.

Vote: NM Program Finalist for Innovative Healthcare Solutions Award

From Project ECHO:
The New Mexico-based 'Project ECHO' has just named one of the top 10 finalists in a global online competition called "Disruptive Innovations in Health and Healthcare: Solutions People Want." Founded in 2003 by UNM professors Sanjeev Arora (MD) and Joseph Scaletti (PhD) Project ECHO has been been providing world class health care for hepatitis C patients in remote rural areas and correctional facilities all over New Mexico (using a new twist on the telemedicine idea).

"Project ECHO: Knowledge Networks for the Treatment of Complex Diseases in Remote, Rural, Underserved Communities" was selected from over 300 proposals in 27 different countries) and, if they win, they plan to expand to treat additional diseases in New Mexico and to help other people start up new clinics in other areas of the US and the developing world.

Since the subtitle of the competition is "Solutions People Want," the last stage of the competition is an online collaborative public discussion and vote. On August 29th, the top 3 vote-getters will be named as the winners.

If you'd like to support a New Mexico-based project whose goal is to improve the health and healthcare of all New Mexicans (and the rest of the world), please consider consider casting your vote .

In addition to Project ECHO, you'll find several other really cool proposals on the changemakers site that are deserving of your votes (you get to vote for a total of three projects)! Thanks for helping us spread the word about this local project poised to have a global impact!

"Project ECHO: Knowledge Networks for the Treatment of Complex Diseases in Remote, Rural, Underserved Communities"
https://changemakers.net/en-us/node/1036

Editor's Note: It takes a bit of effort to vote because you have to register and then wait a minute to get an email confirming your registration before you vote, but I think it's worth it, don't you?

We The People to Present Two Live ABQ City Council Candidate Forums in September

From WE THE PEOPLE - Albuquerque Cable Channel 27 - Quote-unquote.org, Judith Binder & Mickey Bock, Producers: The first of two forums will take place on September 13th when candidates for Albuquerque City Council Districts 2, 4 and 8 will take questions from a live audience. Candidates for District 6 will be featured  September 27th.

Officers from the League of Women Voters, Albuquerque / Bernalillo County will moderate the TV Forums on Comcast Community Cable Channel 27, located in the Old County Courthouse, SW corner of Civic Plaza. The Forums will begin promptly at 6 PM. Doors close at 5:45. If you would like a personal moment with the candidates, please stay around following the Forums until approximately 8:30 PM.

Tickets: Tell your Friends. Sign up for tickets in the League office at 2403 San Mateo NE, W-16C. Please telephone 884-8441 for details. First come, first served. You may also contact: Judith Binder at 265-4336.

Richardson Counters Bush: Surge Has Failed, Withdraw All Troops

There's a big PR push coming from Bush, the White House and their surrogates to convince us that the "surge" is going well and that we are making "progress" towards a "victory." There's even a new Bushie front group called Freedom's Watch, led by Libby trial witness and former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. It's launching a $15 million TV ad campaign targeting Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, to pressure them to stand with Bush on Iraq instead of standing with the nation and our troops -- kind of a Swiftboating of their own. "Freedom Watch's" first ad buy in New Mexico will total $254,190.

And today Bush , drawing exactly the wrong lessons. It wasn't long ago that Bush was demeaning Iraq War critics for bringing up Viet Nam, remember? And the main lesson we learned from Nam? That the last four years of the war brought huge numbers of deaths without affecting the outcome one iota -- while Richard Nixon diddled for political gain. Sound familiar?

Governor Bill Richardson was one of the first out of the box today to call Bush on his distortions, while on the campaign trail in Nevada. He reiterated that he has the most effective plan to end the war and that the surge has failed. He again called for a withdrawal of all our troops leaving no residual forces. Here's his statement:

RENO, NV -- Governor Bill Richardson, campaigning in Nevada, today released a statement in response to a speech by President Bush comparing a withdrawing of U.S. forces from Iraq to America's withdrawal at the end of the Vietnam War.

"The correct conclusion to draw from our experience in Vietnam," said Governor Richardson, "is that dragging out the process of withdrawal will be tragically worse in terms of U.S. lives lost and worse for the Iraqi's themselves in terms of the ultimate instability we will create by staying longer."

In 1968 Nixon ran on a platform of ending the war with honor. It took 7 years to get the last American soldier out of Vietnam. In the meantime, tens of thousands more Americans died. The costs in terms of tragedy in Southeast Asia itself are a matter of historical record. Millions of civilians ultimately died in Vietnam, in Cambodia and the killing fields and millions more ultimately had to flee their homes.

"We have now been in Iraq longer than it took to win World War II," Governor Richardson continued. "My plan for Iraq is designed to end this war with the least possible number of U.S. casualties and with the least damaging effects of Iraqi's reconciliation process. This means getting all of our troops out as quickly and safely as possible. Leaving residual troops in Iraq as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have suggested will only drag out the process to the detriment of all involved. Reconciliation can only occur when the U.S. has completely withdrawn. Everyday, more and more experts are coming to the same conclusion I drew seven months ago. My position has been consistent and unwavering. A fast, safe withdrawal with no residual troops."

In addition, Governor Richardson reiterated his belief that the so-called "surge" in U.S. forces in Iraq has been a failure, and responded to Senator Clinton's change of heart regarding the lack of progress in the war.

"I am pleased that Senator Clinton, today, recognizes that the surge has produced no progress of any long term significance to the Iraq debacle. That is different from what she said yesterday to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. But, it is that audience, who has sacrificed more than any of us, who deserves to hear a clear statement that our sons and daughters and mothers and fathers are not going to be sacrificed because of an irrational commitment to a failed strategy.

The President is asking the country to wait for next month's progress report from General Petraeus. The chances are that report will be just another White House spin job and attempt to justify this war. This has been the bloodiest summer yet -- our troops have done an admirable job at trying to make a bad idea work, but the surge has failed, the war has failed, Bush has failed. It is time to end this war and bring all of our troops home as soon as possible. I'm glad Hillary Clinton has retracted her comments yesterday and has declared the surge a failure today -- but I still haven't gotten an answer to my question -- a peace in Iraq will fail as long as we leave troops behind -- how many would you leave behind? Every other major candidate would leave thousands of US troops in Iraq for an indefinite. I will leave no U.S. forces there. Zero.

The only way out of the Iraq mess is to remove all U.S. troops, and to use that leverage to get the warring parties to resolve their differences, and surrounding Muslim nations to help stabilize the country. Any residual U.S. force reduces the chances for success, and exposes our troops as targets. Our brave troops, and the American people, deserve better."

(Photo Credit: AP /Charlie Neibergall)