Democracy for New Mexico

North Valley Coalition Candidate Meet & Greet Set for 10/2/08

The North Valley Coalition (NVC) would like to invite you to come and meet your candidates for political office for the November election. This event will take place Thursday, October 2, 2008 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at the Los Griegos Health and Social Service Center located at 1231 Candelaria Rd NW, Albuquerque. The NVC Candidate “Meet and Greet” will give you the opportunity to interact with the candidates one-on-one and talk to them about the issues that matter most to you! The following Candidates have been invited:

U.S. Senate: Tom Udall, Steve Pearce

U.S. Congress, NM-01: Darren White, Martin Heinrich

NM Legislature, District 17: Edward Sandoval, Ronald Toya

NM Public Regulation Commission: Tim Cummins, Jason Marks

Bernalillo County Clerk: Maggie Toulouse-Oliver, Richard Abraham

For additional information, please contact Chris Catechis at 271-9876.

NM-Sen: Udall Explains His No Vote on Bailout Bill

The campaign of Dem Senate candidate Tom Udall layed out the reasons for his no vote today on the bailout bill in a
diary on Daily Kos, (where you can weigh in on your views):

Tom Udall wanted me to get you this statement as quickly as possible, now that the bailout bill has gone to a vote:

I cannot in good conscience vote for a rushed $700 billion taxpayer funded bailout to shore up Wall Street while ignoring our middle class and the nation's underlying economic flaws that caused this crisis in the first place. I will, however, continue fighting to do what's right and fix our financial markets to prevent similar crises from occurring again.

Tom Udall laid out his priorities for any bailout bill that he could support last week:

"The Administration's proposal, as it has been presented to Congress, needs significant changes. First, any plan that puts taxpayer money at risk must ensure that taxpayers get paid back before shareholders, bondholders or executives—so that corporate CEOs do not get a golden parachute while taxpayers are left to pay the bill.

“Additionally, Congress should act further to keep Americans in their homes by addressing the crisis in the mortgage industry as well as the one in the financial sector. Any economic package that allows tens of thousands of Americans to lose their homes is simply inadequate.

“Finally, there must be accountability. If we invest taxpayer dollars to protect our financial markets, we should make sure that money is spent effectively and efficiently, with proper oversight and accountability. No administration should be given unlimited authority over the spending of $700 billion or more of taxpayers’ dollars. Any bailout plan needs to ensure that those managing the bailout are responsible to Congress and the American people.”

Tom has carefully considered the current version of the bailout bill, and has decided that it falls short. It does not meet the principles he laid out at the time this bailout was proposed, and does not address those who are hurt the most by this crisis. Tom Udall knows that we can do better.

NM-Sen: Submit Text or Video Questions Now for Udall-Pearce YouTube Faceoff

This week, YouTube News and Politics announced the latest match-up in their You Choose '08 Spotlight series (youtube.com/youchoose08). This time, it's our U.S. Senate race between Dem Tom Udall and Repub Steve Pearce. Both Udall and Pearce have agreed to answer questions from YouTube users, which can be submitted either as video responses or text comments to this call-out video.

The top 5 questions (based on rankings and view counts) will be posed to both Udall and Pearce, and their video answers will be presented side-by-side on youtube.com/youchoose08 on Tuesday, October 7th.

Both Udall and Pearce have their own YouTube channels at UdallForUsAll and PeopleforPearce, where you can get some background to help you come up with pointed questions. The DEADLINE to submit questions is this coming Monday, September 29th, so upload your video or submit your text question today.

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NM-Sen: Pearce Votes Against Law to Rein in Deceptive Credit Card Practices

Tom Udall's new TV ad on treating our vets right. .

Another unbelievable act by a Republican on a day that's been full of them. Get this: Today, Steve Pearce cast yet another vote that put the interests of the privileged few over those of the middle class, voting against a bill to crack down on deceptive, abusive, and unfair practices by credit card companies. Congressman Tom Udall and Congresswoman Heather Wilson both voted to pass the bill.

“I don’t see how anyone could oppose this bill,” Udall campaign spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said. “These are common-sense protections that should have been law a long time ago. Yet even in the midst of a financial and mortgage crisis that is squeezing the middle class to the breaking point, Steve Pearce still doesn’t get it. He has chosen to put the interests of big corporations ahead of those of ordinary Americans, just as he’s done throughout his career in Congress.”

Known as the “Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights,” H.R. 5244 will provide crucial protections against unfair and all too common practices by the credit card industry. Among many more protections, the bill:

--Requires card companies to give 45 days’ notice for all interest rate increases.

--Allows consumers to set their own fixed credit limits.

--Requires card companies to mail billing statements at least 25 days before the due date instead of the current 14 day requirement.

--Establishes standard definitions of terms like “fixed rate” and “prime rate” to crack down on deceptive advertising.

--Prohibits card companies from knowingly issuing cards to individuals under 18 years old.

Credit-card debt in the United States is at record highs. The average American household’s credit card debt is now $9,840, up from $2,966 in 1990. The credit card companies, meanwhile, collected $18.1 billion in penalty fees in 2007, while the industry as a whole raked in $40.7 billion in profits last year.

Why did Pearce vote against this bill? I guess he approves keeping consumers in the dark. More bucks for the investor class!

PPP: Obama Opens Up Double Digit Lead in New Mexico; Udall Up by 20 Over Pearce

The upward trends for Democrats keep on coming. According to a Public Policy Polling phone survey, Barack Obama has jumped to an 11 point lead over John McCain in New Mexico at 53-42%, with 5% undecided. A total of 93% said they were "firmly committed" to their choices.

Meanwhile, Tom Udall is whomping Steve Pearce in the race for U.S. Senate by a margin of 57-37%, with 6% undecided. In this poll, he's winning women voters by a huge margin of 62-32% and men voters by 51-43%. He's beating Pearce with Hispanic voters 61-33% and with white voters 51-43%.

PPP conducted their survey of 1,037 likely voters from September 17th to 19th, and it has a margin of error of +/-3.0%. According to PPP:

Key to Obama’s performance is that he is only running behind 49-47 to McCain among white voters. In a state with a significant Hispanic population that level of competitiveness with whites will seal a win. He leads 59-35 with Hispanics.

And overall, Obama has a 16 point advantage with independents. Now that's impressive And he's 20 points up with white women voters and 1 point ahead with male voters.

Sarah Palin isn't helping. Only 38% said her selection made them more likely to vote for McCain, while 46% said it made them less likely to support him.

Even worse, 47% of independent voters said her place on the ticket made them less likely to vote Republican. As to Joe Biden, 35% say his choice makes them more likely to vote for Obama versus 32% who say it makes it less likely.

... “New Mexico is probably the state Bush took in 2004 that Barack Obama will have the easiest time winning this time around,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Part of this large lead may be a product of last week’s economic crisis but even if things return to normal this is a place where the Democrats are going to have a significant advantage.”

None of this, of course, means we can let up even a fraction in our efforts. Things can turn on a dime in a volatile election cycle like this one. Keep on keepin' on with volunteering and donating for all our candidates from the top of the ticket on down. There are NO guarantees.

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NM-Sen: New Udall Ad Says Pearce Parrots Big Oil Talking Points

As many of you know, our place is home to several birds, including Sunny the sun conure and Bosco the peach-faced lovebird -- both of whom hail from the parrot family. So, naturally, we love Tom Udall's new ad featuring a talkative green parrot, even though he or she is parroting Steve Pearce who's parroting Big Oil's talking points about energy and Tom Udall. We know in our hearts that the parrot doesn't believe what it's saying -- it's just parroting the words and drawing attention to Pearce's doubletalk. Our parrots would never parrot Pearce or Big Oil, unless they were doing it for a higher purpose -- like acting in a TV ad to get more support for Rep. Udall. They're big fans.

Our favorite part of the ad comes at the end, when Tom papers the bottom of the parrot's cage with Pearce's negative ads. Bravo! We'll have to follow suit the next time we clean our parrot cages. It'll give Bosco and Sunny something satisfying to aim at. Even bird brains can see through Pearce's parroting. Seriously, check out the Fact Sheet and you'll see why.

Oh, I almost forgot. This is fun too. Go to www.pollybigoil.com/ where you can enter a message to your friends and have it parroted by the Big Oil Polly. I think it would be fun to have Polly spread the word that the latest SurveyUSA poll has Udall up over Pearce 56-41%. Aye, matey.

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The Party That Ruined America

Just read it: by James Howard Kunstler. Now repeat after me: "The Party That Ruined America." Say it again. Put it in every email, every blog comment, every diary, every post. Pass it on. Mention it to those you canvass and those you call. Tell it to your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues. It is the truth and we can use it to beat them, at last, as we must. And then we can see if that means anything. And it must. And it will, if we unite and make it so. (h/t to my fellow traveler in Ft. Worth)

Thursday: North Valley Candidate Forum

Candidates’ Forum
NM House District 15 & 17, NM Senate District 10
US Senate, US House of Representatives Dist. 1
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, 7 PM - 9 PM
Raymond G. Sanchez Community Center
9800 Fourth NW, Albuquerque
Sponsored by the Alameda North Valley Association

See agenda and participating candidates below.

AGENDA

7:00 – 8:00 PM: NM Legislature Candidates, Moderator, Debby Potter

7:00 PM: Announcement from Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office (poll workers needed)

7:05 PM: Introduction of NM Legislature Candidates:

Representative Edward Sandoval (incumbent), Ron Toya

Representative Teresa A. Zanetti (incumbent), Bill B. O’Neill

Senator John C. Ryan (incumbent), Victor Paul Raigoza

(Note: All the Candidates with the exception of Rep. Sandoval have confirmed they will attend the forum. Rep. Rick Miera will attend to represent Rep. Sandoval.)

7:10: Candidates’ Opening Remarks (2 minutes each), All Candidates

7:25: Question and answer session: 2-minute response per question. Prepared questions and select audience questions

7:50: Candidates’ Closing Remarks (1 minute each), All Candidates

8:00 – 9:00 PM: US Congressional Candidates

8:00: Introduction of US Congressional Candidates or their representatives

Congressman Tom Udall, Congressman Steve Pearce; Martin Heinrich, Sheriff Darren White

(Congressman Udall will be represented by Dr. Ray Powell, Congressman Pearce has not confirmed, Martin Heinrich will be attending, Sheriff White will not be attending nor will he be represented.)

8:05: Overview of Candidates’ Platform, All Campaigns, 15 minutes each

9:05: Adjourn

Note: If you have questions for the candidates please respond to this email. We will start the meeting on time so please try to be a little early. We invite you to attend this important meeting! Please share this information with your neighbor.

For additional information, please contact: Steve Wentworth – 505-897-3052 or Dr. Deborah Potter – 505-897-8621

NM-Sen: Study Proves Pearce Ignored Root Cause of Higher Gas Prices

GOP Senate candidate Steve Pearce likes to spout off about energy, but what he says often has no basis in fact. Take gas prices, for instance. Pearce constantly proclaims that the only way to help lower gas prices is to -- as rightwingers love to chant -- drill, baby, drill, everywhere, regardless.

First off, we all know by now that any positive affects on price of much of the proposed expanded drilling wouldn't kick in for 8-10 years. No help for prices in the short term. And now we know, for a fact, that out of control speculation was the primary culprit in recent gas price hikes. Unfortunately, Pearce sees no merit in trying to fix that. His loyalties always seem to lie with the speculators and tycoons, not with ordinary people.

An independent study by Masters Capital Management said that speculation by large investors was the primary cause for the rise in oil prices this year, not supply and demand. The Associated Press on the study on Wednesday.

According to a statement by the Tom Udall campaign, that means Steve Pearce’s July vote against the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act, which would have cracked down on excessive oil speculation, was a vote that ignored the primary cause of high gas prices and only put more money into the pockets of Big Oil.

Tom Udall voted for the bill, which narrowly failed to pass the House.

“If voters are looking for someone to blame for high gas prices, look no further than Steve Pearce and other disciples of George Bush’s failed energy policies,” Udall campaign spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said. “Steve Pearce’s record on energy has been abysmal. His vote against cracking down on oil speculation only reinforced Pearce’s refusal to put the interests of middle class Americans ahead those of Big Oil.”

According to the Associated Press: “The report by Masters Capital Management said investors poured $60 billion into oil futures markets during the first five months of the year as oil prices soared from $95 a barrel in January to $145 a barrel in July. Since then, these investors have withdrawn $39 billion from those markets as prices have retreated dramatically, the report said.”

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NM-Sen: Join Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich and NM Professional Fire Fighters Association at Monday Rally

From Tom Udall for Senate: You are invited to join U.S. Senate Candidate Congressman Tom Udall, NM-01 Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich and the New Mexico Professional Fire Fighters Association for an endorsement celebration:

The National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 4th Street SW
Monday, September 15th, 2008
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Click for a Flyer (pdf)

Join us for a rally with New Mexico first responders. For more information or to RSVP please contact: Andrew Marshall; (505) 884-3055; amarshall@tomudall.com.