Democracy for New Mexico

Dem Secretary of State Forum Set for 4/11

All of the Democratic candidates for NM Secretary of State have been invited to appear in a candidate forum at the April 11th Sandoval Democratic Club meeting at 7:00 PM at the Rio Rancho Inn-Best Western, which is on Rio Rancho Blvd. at Sara Road. Each candidate will have 5 minutes to speak and then they'll answer questions from the audience. All are welcome.

The invited candidates include Stephanie Gonzales, Letitia Montoya, Shirley Hooper and Mary Herrera. Click to see how these candidates finished in the voting at the March 18th Democratic Pre-Primary Convention.

Give Now to Madrid Campaign & Help Take Back the House

Patricia Madrid with Joe Wilson (L) and John Edwards (R).

SPECIAL NOTE: The Madrid Campaign has confirmed that Patricia will be the special guest at our DFA-Democracy for New Mexico Meetup on Thursday, April 6, 2006, at 7:00 PM, at the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

As you may know, March 31 is a very important day for the Madrid campaign. It's the end of the first quarter, when financial reports must be submitted that show how campaigns are doing with fundraising.

The Madrid campaign is in an all out push to get as many contributions as possible by that critical deadline. You are urged to give today, even if it's a few bucks. Let's show the Republicans that Patricia Madrid has the support of ordinary people. Many modest donations add up quickly, as we saw in the Dean campaign for president.

While Heather Wilson has been raking in thousands from Washington lobbyists and special interests, 72% of Madrid's contributions have come from New Mexicans committed to electing a representative that will fight for people -- not powerful Washington interests. During the final quarter of 2005, the Wilson campaign raised nearly $600,000 -- 45% of her total contributions -- from "political action committees" funded by lobbyists, politicians and other special interests. Check it out.

A recent New York Times article includes analysis of the Madrid-Wilson race that should keep Wilson campaign advisers up nights. More and more people, including moderate Republicans and Independents, are turning against Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq, and many of them are deciding to vote for Democratic candidates for Congress to support a change in direction for the nation.

The Madrid-Wilson race has been deemed one of the key contests in the 2006 mid-term election. This week's Time Magazine includes commentary on this key race, and many other political analysts are stressing its importance to Dems in their quest to take back the U.S. House.

What if the Democrats recapture the U.S. House in November? Think about the sweet consequences! Here's a small slice of who'll be leading when Democrats win back the House:

• Nancy Pelosi: a progressive, becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives
• John Murtha: a veteran and anti-war champion, would become chair of the House subcommittee on defense appropriations. He would be in charge of the budget for the war in Iraq
• John Conyers: who forced a national debate on the Downing Street Memos, would be chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
• Henry Waxman: who would be chairman of the Government Reform committee, has a bulls-eye on war profiteers like Halliburton
• Barney Frank: who has led efforts to rein in out-of-control CEO pay, would be in charge of the Financial Services Committee
• David Obey: who led opposition to the Republican budget, would be chair of the House Appropriations committee protecting Medicaid, food stamps, veteran's benefits, student loans and more
• Charles Rangel: who predicted the Medicare debacle, would be chair of the House Ways and Means committee protecting Social Security
• George Miller: a big advocate for working people, would be chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and could bring a vote to raise the minimum wage.

Six of these eight are either members or founders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. And if we gain control of the House, we gain control of issuing subpoenas, launching investigations and more.

Madrid has already gained the support of progressive organizations like Emily's List and Senator Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots. We can win this seat IF we all work hard on this race, starting NOW. You know what to do!

Meet the Candidates This Thursday

From the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County:
The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County is hosting an evening dedicated to our Pre-Primary Convention Delegates getting to know the candidates and all other interested Democrats.  It will be held on Thursday, March 16th from 6:30 PM until 8:30 PM.  We are offering fun and information, no speeches, just a social evening where your candidates will have a chance to answer questions and convince you to vote for them  It will be held at Plumber's Hall - 510 San Pedro SE.  We hope that you will be there!!!! All Democrats are welcome.

Terri Holland, Executive Director
Democratic Party of Bernalillo County
O-505-256-1855

VIDEO: Joe Wilson Whomps Heather/DeLay/Bush in ABQ Appearance for Madrid

Great stuff from Suzanne Prescott. If you missed Ambassador Joe Wilson's visit to Albuquerque to stump for Patricia Madrid's campaign against Washington apologist Heather Wilson, check out Suz's video of his speech at the downtown Flying Star. And when you're done, you might just want to head over to Madrid Campaign's website to volunteer or donate. Aren't you tired of having a politician at the mercy of radicals like Tom DeLay and the Bush administration as your member of Congress?

On March 2, 2006, Ambassador Joe Wilson visited Albuquerque, New Mexico in support of 1st congressional district candidate, Patricia Madrid. He talks frankly about Heather Wilson and her failure to pursue an investigation into the Bush administration's domestic spying operations.  He levels harsh criticism on the current Bush administration, which has jeopardized our rights under the constitution and our democracy.

Click for the video of Ambassador Wilson's speech. (Be patient as it loads. Well worth the wait!)

NM Municipal Election Results

The good news: Democrat David Coss, endorsed by the Santa Fe DFA Meetup group and many other progressive and liberal organizations, will be the next mayor of Santa Fe. Here are the election results for Santa Fe. According to an article in the Santa Fe New Mexican:

Coss, 51, is the first mayor in Santa Fe’s history with a labor union background. He was an officer in the Communication Workers of America when he worked for the state Environment Department. As Public Works director and then city manager under Mayor Debbie Jaramillo in the mid-1990s, Coss helped negotiate the first union contract between the city and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Now the bad news: Republican Kevin Jackson, founding member of the evangelical New Mexico Family Council, ousted incumbent Jim Owen in the Rio Rancho mayoral race. Of course, Owen was very conservative as well, so I guess it's a wash out there on the West Mesa, one right-wingnut replaced by another. I pity the Democrats who live out that way. An Albuquerque Tribune article provides this info on Jackson:

Jackson, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, is active in social groups such as the local Boys and Girls Club. He also founded the New Mexico Family Council, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving "family values."

His wife, Kathy, is a member of the Rio Rancho school board, which grabbed headlines last fall when it approved a policy allowing classroom discussions on alternative ideas about the origins of life, such as intelligent design, which questions Darwin's theory of evolution.

KOAT-TV provides the results of other municipal elections around the state. And local blog New Mexico Matters has a collection of articles from many areas of the state in its Election Roundup.

I'm not familiar enough with these races to provide any commentary but if anyone else out there knows about them, feel free to leave a comment.

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.

Madrid Campaign: Breakfast With Joe Wilson, Lunch With John Edwards

The Madrid for Congress campaign is holding two exciting fundraising events this week:

Patricia Madrid Hosts Breakfast
with Ambassador Joe Wilson
March 2nd, 7 - 9 AM
The Flying Star Café
723 Silver Street SW, Albuquerque
Donation: $50/person minimum

Patricia Madrid Hosts Lunch
with John Edwards
March 2nd, 11:30 AM - 1 PM
Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town
800 Rio Grande Bvld. NW
$100 minimum donation

Click for more information or to RSVP.

Madrid & Feldman Launch Medicare Drug Petition Drive

From Madrid for Congress, 505-242-6000:

Who:  Attorney General Patricia Madrid & Senator Dede Feldman

What:  Launching a petition drive calling on Congress to extend the May 15th deadline for seniors to sign up for the Medicare Plan D Prescription Drug Program.

Where:  Barelas Senior Center, 714 7th St. SW, Albuquerque

When: 10:30 AM, Wednesday, February 22

Madrid to Give National Dem Radio Address Saturday Morning

UPDATE: New Mexico Matters has an excellent report by guest blogger Suzanne Prescott  on Thursday's press conference by Patricia Madrid on ways to make the Medicare Drug Program work. Well worth a read.

From Madrid for Congress:
New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid – as a sign of the strength of her campaign to unseat Rep. Heather Wilson – on Saturday will be the first Democratic challenger of the 2006 cycle to give the national Democratic Radio Address when she speaks to a national audience about the failed Medicare prescription drug legislation and the failing policies of the Bush Administration and Republicans in Congress. Madrid's radio address can be heard locally on KKOB-770 AM at 9:06 AM MST on Saturday, February 18.

Madrid to Present Prescription Drug Plan That Works

From Madrid for Congress:

Please Join Attorney General Patricia Madrid to discuss her Alternative Medicare Plan:

Friday, February 17, 2006, 10:00 AM
Duran's Central Pharmacy
1815 Central NW
This event is free and open to the public

For Details, Please call Cory Medina: 505-242-6000
cory@madridforcongress.com