Guv Debate: Denish Corners Martinez on Corporate Tax Loophole, Dishonest Attacks, John Sanchez's Illegal Hires, Texas Money

There were fireworks galore in Sunday's first televised one-hour debate between Democrat and Republican Susana Martinez -- and almost all of them were ignited by Denish calling Martinez out on her continuing dishonest attacks, her pocketing of $800,000 from rich Texas developers and oil executives connected to some of the worst players in the Bush administration and her refusal to say she'd fix the tax loophole that allows out-of-state corporations to shield their New Mexico earning from taxes our local small businesses have to pay.

Denish also pushed Martinez to respond to revelations that her running mate, John Sanchez, was caught in the act of hiring undocumented workers for his lucrative roofing business -- not once, but twice. Martinez stonewalled, refusing to comment and going off on another rambling tangent. This from a Republican ticket that has been pushing relentlessly to make "illegal aliens" a key wedge issue in the campaign. Shameless. Click to read the facts on results of INS investigations that found that John Sanchez hired illegal immigrants for his business.

It was satisfying to see Diane Denish put Susana Martinez in her proper place -- in no uncertain terms -- convincingly revealing on live TV just how hypocritical, dishonest and shallow Susana, her campaign and her positions have been. It's about time for people to learn the truth about Susana Martinez. No wonder she's been hiding out behind her attack ads and trying to delay or avoid debates. There's no there there beyond the bumper sticker talking points. No matter what the topic, Martinez mostly returns to pretending that Diane Denish has been governor for the last eight years and whining about Denish's minimal use of the state plane -- when everyone knows virtually every large state has one or more planes so public officials can serve the state's far reaches effectively. It's a no brainer.

Martinez Sides With Corporations
You can see video clips (in 13 segments) of the entire KOAT-Albuquerque Journal debate and I strongly encourage you to take the time to watch them. But if you can't watch all of them, you should definitely check out the video above, which features Denish cornering Martinez on the question of a tax loophole that puts our local businesses at a distinct disadvantage. The exchange came near the end of the debate, when each candidate asked the other a question. Denish asked Martinez,

"Susana, right now big out-of-state corporations take advantage of a tax loophole that allows them to shield their profits. This costs New Mexico families and our businesses $70 million in lost revenue. I want to ask you here tonight, will you close that tax loophole for out of state corporations so that we're not at a disadvantage and NM businesses and our families don't have shoulder that tax burden?

Instead of answering the question, Martinez launches into a rambling statement about how the next governor will face big challenges, and once again conflates the duties and powers of the governor as chief executive with the very limited duties and powers of the lieutenant governor position. She then goes on about how she's against raising taxes but doesn't specifically address Denish's question about getting rid of a loophole that's unfair to local businesses and taxpayers -- which has been closed in almost every other state -- that allows big corporations to avoid paying taxes on their earnings here.

Denish then repeatedly calls Martinez out on her failure to answer the specific question saying, "You didn't answer the question. It's a yes or no question," but Susana won't budge, and instead just keeps repeating robotically that's she's against raising taxes. Denish counters with this:

There you have it. That's the defining moment. She'll come down on the side of those big out-of-state corporations every single time. She won't close that tax loophole. Here's what she'll do. She'll balance the budget by cutting public education. She'll balance the budget by cutting Medicaid. But she won't close that tax loophole that puts New Mexico families and businesses at a disadvantage. [emphasis added]

Susana won't agree that a tax rule that gives an unfair competitive edge to out-of-state corporations over local businesses, but she claims she's supports small businesses? I don't think so.

Denish to Martinez: You're a Liar
Denish took it strongly directly to Martinez a number of times in the debate, at one point calling Susana "a liar" to her face. Why? Because Martinez keeps on running attack ads -- and kept saying during the debate -- that Denish's husband Herb, a land-use planner and consultant, had done something wrong related to the Mesa del Sol development near the Albuquerque airport. As everyone, including Susana, should know by now, the highly respected organization, FactCheck.org, has discredited Martinez's attacks on Denish's family. But Susana just keeps on making the claims, regardless of their being refuted as nothing more than campaign spin. Martinez doesn't seem to care -- she keeps using the dishonest accusations as political talking points. In other words, she's a liar.

Martinez: Beholden to Pay-to-Play Texas Money
In her question to Denish, Martinez brought up the "Susana es una Tejana" meme that's long been under discussion in Northern New Mexico circles and was more recently mentioned in a Denish TV ad. You can see this exchange in this KOAT clip. Denish answered:

Well, certainly I'm very proud of where I was born in the state of New Mexico and I assume you're very proud of being born in Texas, in El paso. But let's be clear, Texas was not interjected into this race by me. Texas was interjected into this race when Susana Martinez took the single largest contribution in the history of New Mexico from a Houston, Texas billionaire developer. [Bob Perry, you can read about it here].

... She's taken $800,000 from Texas -- from friends of Karl Rove, who live in Dallas, from friends of Dick Cheney and from a Texas billionaire -- who run the most deceptive, deceitful ads in the history of America, who funded Swiftboat ads against John Kerry. So, it's not personal, Susana, it's a fact. You're being funded by Texans. You are a Texan with Texas-style ideas, the same Texas-style ideas that drove this economy into the ditch. The same Texas-style politics that drove our economy into the ditch and you're being funded by Texas money.

New Mexicans deserve to know what that Texas money means. 

Yes, New Mexicans deserve to know what kind of pay-to-play favors these big donors expect in return for Martinez signing their massive campaign donation checks. You can bet they have to do with oil and gas -- and weakening or abandoning common sense rules that govern their extraction to protect the environment, as well schemes that may well put our precious water and clean air at risk. You can bet the favors will be all about possible land and water grabs, tax loopholes and anything that benefits moneyed interests to the detriment to New Mexico's working families and New Mexico's valuable resources. The nasty political operatives behind Martnez's campaign have a record of doing just that in Texas and nationally.

Recap
On the main topics, Denish sided with New Mexico families; Martinez sided with her rich campaign donors and corporate interests:

Corporate Accountability: Diane said she’d close the corporate tax loophole that gives big out-of-state corporations tax breaks at the expense of New Mexico's families and small businesses. Martinez’s position: Keep the loophole open, allowing large corporations to continue to hide their profits.

Jobs: Diane outlined her plan to help small business through increasing access to capital, a tax credit for job creation and cutting red-tape. Martinez offered the Bush-era mantra of cutting protections and letting corporations run wild -- the same plan that got our economy into this mess.

Education: Diane pledged to fully fund public schools, expand early childhood education and redesign high school to better prepare students for what comes next. Martinez plans to take money from our public schools and give it to wealthy private schools via a type of voucher system.

On the Budget: Diane outlined her 36-point plan to save taxpayers an estimated $450-million, while Martinez offered little more than sound bites about cutting ... something ... but couldn't be specific.

Powerful Interests Bank Rolling Her Campaign: Republican Susana Martinez failed to answer the $800,000 question all New Mexicans want to know: What are the deep-pocketed powerful Texas CEOs, oil executives and developers going to get in exchange for bank-rolling her campaign? Martinez, who has received $800,000 in Texas money -- including the largest individual campaign contribution in state history -- continually sided with powerful interests during the course of the debate.