Democracy for New Mexico

ACTION ALERT: NM Rep. Lujan Introduces Minimum Wage Bill

Great news: Yesterday, House Speaker Ben Lujan introduced HB258, his version of the minimum wage bill. It would raise the NM minimum wage to $7.50 as of January 2007 and permit localities to enact a higher rate. Contrary to early reports, the bill would provide automatic annual increases based on the rate of inflation.

Click to read the bill. Its provisions echo those supported by the coalition group, New Mexicans for a Fair Wage. It differs significally from Governor Richardson's proposed bill (not yet introduced), which would raise the minimum in three phases to $7.50 on January 2009 and contains no automatic increases tied to the inflation rate. The Governor's proposal also stops localities, except for Santa Fe, from enacting a higher minimum wage for five years.

HB258 was referred to the House Labor & Human Resources Committee. Democrats on that committee include Chair Miguel Garcia (D-14 Bernalillo), Vice Chair Manuel Hererra (D-39 Grant & Hildalgo), Rep. Rick Miera (D-11 Bernalillo), Rep. Harriet Ruiz (D-16 Bernalillo) andRep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D-19 Bernalillo).

Take Action Now: You are urged to contact Rep. Lujan to thank him for introducing the bill, and to communicate with members of the House Labor & Human Resources Committee to encourage them to pass the bill as submitted. You can also contact your legislators to express your support for Rep. Lujan's bill over that of the Governor. You can find contact information for all legislators at the NM Legislature website.

Recent polling data indicates that Americans overwhelmingly support a raise in the minimum wage. In a recent Gallup poll, 83% supported Congress passing legislation that would raise the minimum wage. Of course, with BushCo dominating Congress, it's safe to say no raise in the minimum wage will be coming anytime soon at the national level. In the interim more and more states are stepping into the breach to raise the rate at the state level.

Ruy Teixeira on has this to say about public attitudes about the minimum wage:

Public opinion on many policy issues can be very complicated; there are nuances to the nuances, so to speak. Raising the minimum wage, however, is not one of those issues. Public support for raising the minimum wage has been, is, and likely will continue to be very, very high. People just think it’s the right thing to do and decades of attempts by conservatives to convince the public otherwise have been an abject failure.

... support for raising the minimum wage is remarkably high across partisan affiliations. In the November poll mentioned above, not only did 93 percent of Democrats favor a boost in the minimum wage, so did 80 percent of independents and even 73 percent of Republicans. The public’s view couldn’t be clearer.

Court Permits NM Voting Machine Lawsuit to Go Forward

From Voter Action:
On January 18, 2006, New Mexico District Judge Eugenio Mathis authorized the plaintiff voters in Lopategui v. Vigil-Giron, et al. to proceed with the collection of evidence and preparation for a trial in which plaintiffs will seek a permanent injunction against use of inaccurate and unreliable electronic voting machines in New Mexico elections.

At an afternoon hearing in Las Vegas, NM, Judge Mathis denied a motion for summary judgment filed by defendant Rebecca Vigil-Giron, the Secretary of State, seeking to dismiss the lawsuit. He also lifted a stay of discovery he had imposed in December, 2005. Finally, Judge Mathis granted motions to be dismissed from the lawsuit that had been filed by the county clerk defendants, but only on the condition that they agreed to be bound by any injunction subsequently issued against the Secretary of State.

The court’s rulings are a victory for the plaintiffs, who may now subpoena testimony, documents, and voting machine inspections.  The new evidence will augment the substantial evidence plaintiffs have already amassed of the inaccuracy and unreliability of electronic voting systems used in New Mexico elections.

In the meanwhile, an agreement remains in effect that temporarily prevents the Secretary of State from spending millions of dollars on hundreds of additional Sequoia AVC Edge touch screen voting machines. The agreement was negotiated between attorneys for the plaintiffs and for the Secretary of State prior to the January 18th hearing. The agreement will remain in effect until the court rules on the matter, probably in late February or early March.

On January 12, 2006, Governor Bill Richardson announced a plan to convert all of New Mexico to voting on optically-scanned paper ballots. Plaintiffs support rapid adoption, funding and implementation of the plan. Unless and until that occurs, however, plaintiffs intend to push forward with the lawsuit as the only means to assure that inaccurate and unreliable electronic voting systems are never used again in a statewide New Mexico election.

Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center www.voteraction.org

Contact Legislators on Common Cause NM Ethics Reform Proposal

From :
New Mexico has had its own ethics scandal recently, with the indictment of the past two state treasurers over an extortion and kick-back scheme. Ethics and accountability in government have been core Common Cause New Mexico issues for years. As you know, clean elections are also important to us. But, before we can have a binding clean elections law at the state level, like we now have in Albuquerque, we first need ethics reform. That's why we've developed our own proposals for ethics reform legislation for the upcoming 2006 legislative session. But to be successful, we need you to contact your legislator and tell them you support reforming the ethics process during the upcoming session. Click here to find your legislator.

Here are the details of the Common Cause New Mexico ethics reform proposal:

1.  Our state needs a general ban on gifts to public officials. Gift bans in other states prohibit contributions to public officials from persons having a financial interest in their official actions (with the notable exception of campaign contributions). Currently, only persons registered as lobbyists with the Secretary of State's office have to report non-campaign gifts to public officials.  Everyone else is allowed to make non-campaign gifts, such as meals, sporting event tickets, or trips without reporting the gifts.  As we've learned from watching the Abramoff scandal, corrupt individuals do attempt to bribe lawmakers, and a gift ban is necessary to prevent even the attempt to influence a public official in this way.

2.  New Mexico needs stronger financial disclosure requirements for lobbyists. Specifically, Common Cause believes the public has a right to know who lobbyists are being paid by, how much they are being paid, and what bills they are interested in influencing during each legislative session.  Currently, lobbyists are not required to disclose this information, and thus the public does not have a clear picture of what takes place during any given legislative session.

3.  We need stronger campaign finance disclosure laws. We ought to require public officials to report campaign contributions more than one time per year, outside of campaign cycles. Contributors should be required to list their employer on campaign finance reports. They currently are not required to do so.

Call, write, or email your legislator today and tell them we need ethics reform during the upcoming session. The governor is proposing a good reform package, but our reform package would go further in the areas of lobbyist disclosure and the creation of a gift ban. And remember, you can always find the Common Cause New Mexico ethics reform proposal on our website .

Thank you for all that you do for democracy in New Mexico!

Sincerely,
Matt Brix
Executive Director, Common Cause New Mexico

Alito Not a Done Deal: Call Sen. Bingaman

Editor's Note: Read this New York Times story on what many consider to be the weak and dispirited response of Democrats to the Samuel Alito nomination. Makes you angry, doesn't it? Have these politicos ever heard of educating the public or launching a many-pronged persuasive effort to communicate the incredible dangers posed by Alito and his dedication to expanding an already imperial presidency? Time to make a last ditch effort to convince our Senators that refusing to filibuster Alito paves the way for BushCo to continue their assault on the Constitution. Read Al Gore's speech if you need a refresher on what's at stake here.

From People for the American Way:
If you've been reading the papers, you know that some people are trying to make it look like no one's fighting Samuel Alito's nomination. Yesterday's New York Times quoted Steve Schmidt, who managed Alito's nomination for the White House: "The American people see Judge Alito and say, that's exactly the sort of person we want to see on the Supreme Court."

Does this Bush deputy speak for you? If not, you need to call Sen. Jeff Bingaman right now at (877) 851-6437.

Your activism may never matter more than it does TODAY. Tomorrow at lunch, Democratic senators will meet to decide their Alito strategy. Some senators seem to think you won’t mind if they fail to do everything possible to defeat Alito.

Tell Sen. Jeff Bingaman that you're counting on senators to do everything possible to defeat this nomination.

If there was ever any doubt that Alito's nomination is one of the most important showdowns for the progressive movement in a generation, Alito's testimony last week made it abundantly clear: If confirmed, Alito will likely condone the abuse of power by the president, vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, and help curtail Congress' ability to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the American people. (Visit https://www.SaveTheCourt.org/AlitoHearings to read our complete coverage.)

Tomorrow's meeting is about more than Alito's confirmation — it's about the future of the country. Don't let Sen. Jeff Bingaman  go into that meeting without hearing from you.

(877) 851-6437

Let us know how your call goes by visiting SaveTheCourt.org/CallReport

Gore Roars on Constitutional Crisis Created by Bush

Al Gore delivered a barnburner of a Martin Luther King Day speech this morning at Constitution Hall in DC that accuses the Bush administration of egregious attempts to circumvent the U.S. Constitution and institute what amounts to an imperial presidency. Gore was introduced at the speech before the America Constitution Society by ex-Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, a Republican. You can watch a video of the speech at the CSPAN website. Chances are good it will be rebroadcast later today one of the CSPAN television channels.

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars now has video up of speech highlights. Irregular Times has a podcast of the entire speech. Entire video also on Live Journal along with highlights

Bottom Line Quote: "What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently."

Daily Kos has a transcript. This speech is a MUST READ. Here's how the speech begins:

Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens-Democrats and Republicans alike-to express our shared concern that America's Constitution is in grave danger.

In spite of our differences over ideology and politics, we are in strong agreement that the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power.

As we begin this new year, the Executive Branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress to prevent such abuses.

It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored.

Contemplating the Message of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 77 years old yesterday, had he lived. In honor of his birthday and the MLK holiday, here's one of his seldom-seen and most controversial, visonary speeches: Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (text version). It was delivered on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was assassinated, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. You can also download or stream an mp3 of the speech. It is, perhaps, even more timely today than it was in 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War. Nothing I can write about the message would better convey his expanding vision for American and planet-wide peace and sanity than the words of Dr. King himself. Excerpts:

... A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

... They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one "Vietcong"-inflicted injury. So far we may have killed a million of them -- mostly children. They wander into the towns and see thousands of the children, homeless, without clothes, running in packs on the streets like animals. They see the children, degraded by our soldiers as they beg for food. They see the children selling their sisters to our soldiers, soliciting for their mothers.

... I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words:

"Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism."

... I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

... The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

... Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. With this powerful commitment we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when "every valley shall be exalted, and every moutain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain."

... If we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

Many of the landmark speeches of Dr. King can be found on the website of Stanford's King Research and Education Institute.

NM Voters' Lawsuit Plaintiffs Applaud Governor's Decision; Lawsuit Remains Until Plan Fully Implemented

From Voter Action:
January 13, 2006, Albuquerque - On Thursday, January 12, 2005, New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson and Attorney General Patricia Madrid demonstrated bold leadership by announcing a plan to make New Mexico an all-paper-ballot voting state. This is a great day for New Mexicans because it means that we will be able to cast our votes with confidence that a mechanism is in place that will allow all votes to be counted and tallied and the results verified.

The Governor said that he will introduce legislation next week, at the beginning of the 30-day 2006 state legislative session that, if adopted, will accomplish two things:  1) it will mandate the use of optical scan paper ballots in all New Mexico elections, and (2) it will provide $11 million in state funding to purchase the necessary voting systems. If the legislation is adopted by the legislature and implemented before the next election, inaccurate, unreliable and insecure electronic voting machines that produce no voter-verifiable and auditable paper record will be a thing of the past. 

This Governor’s proposal is a great victory for the many concerned citizens and organizations who have tirelessly advocated the change to paper ballots. And it is a great victory for the plaintiffs in Lopategui v. Vigil-Giron, a lawsuit in which the plaintiffs sought this very result. The lawsuit, filed in January 2005, seeks an injunction barring future use of the same unreliable, paperless electronic voting machines that will be replaced under the Governor’s plan if the legislature adopts it.  A catalyst for the Governor’s decision was the Lopategui plaintiffs’ recent and successful effort to temporarily restrain the Secretary of State and county clerks from beginning the purchase of additional unreliable touch screen machines.

New Mexico’s next statewide election is in June, 2006. Thus it is critical that the Governor’s proposal be implemented immediately so that all New Mexico voters will have confidence that their votes and will count and can be verified. For this reason, the Lopategui plaintiffs intend to press forward with their lawsuit, particularly with their efforts to gather evidence needed to obtain judicial relief if the legislature does not adopt the Governor’s plan , or if the statutory changes and funding adopted are too little or too late.

In the Lopategui litigation, Plaintiffs have already obtained critical evidence in discovery about the untrustworthiness of touchscreen voting systems and the serious inadequacy of the Secretary of State’s process for auditing election results.  By gathering more evidence through depositions and inspection of voting systems, plaintiffs will be in a position to seek timely judicial relief should the Governor’s plan not be implemented.  As soon as New Mexico can assure that all voters, regardless of the color of their skin, where they live, or their physical ability are able to cast their votes on verifiable, auditable paper ballots, plaintiffs will give final, hearty congratulations to Governor Richardson, Attorney General Madrid, and the state legislature for protecting our democracy.

Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center. www.voteraction.org

Great News: Gov. Richardson Pledges $11 Million for Paper Ballot Voting Machines Statewide

Editor's Note: Governor Richardson invited a number of grassroots activists from Voter Action, United Voters of NM, Verified Voting NM, NM Democratic Friends and Democracy for New Mexico to meet with him and participate in today's press conference in Santa Fe. Those in attendance included Terry Riley, Paul Stokes, Charlie Strauss and Steve Fettig, in addition to legislators, clerks, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, Ernie Marquez of the Secretary of State's office and members of the Election Reform Task Force, who all spoke on behalf of effort. Also invited were Ana Canales and myself. Unfortunately, Ana couldn't make it due to a terrible sinus infectiona and I got stuck in a massive traffic jam on I-25 that made me miss the event. Such is life, and all I can offer now is this press release. Great news though!

From the Office of the Governor of NM:

SANTA FE - Governor Bill Richardson today announced that he will work with the Legislature to provide $11 million over two years to purchase new voting machines for all New Mexico counties. The Governor will propose a uniform system of machines with a paper trail that allow voters to verify how they voted.

“I am proposing a bold step forward by standardizing the election systems in all of New Mexico’s 33 counties – a standardized system relying on paper ballots that many vendors already provide, and that 11 of our counties are already exclusively relying on,” Governor Bill Richardson said.

Currently, there is no statewide voting system standard. There are at least six different voting systems used throughout the state. Under Governor Richardson’s plan, all counties would use a paper ballot “marksense” system.

Attorney General Madrid added, “I applaud the Governor’s initiative in seeking to standardize voting in New Mexico with one uniform paper ballot verifiable system. I am hopeful this will provide needed voter confidence in our elections.”

The Governor’s plan could save taxpayers as much as $27 million because the Secretary of State estimates it would cost as much as $38 million to bring our current mix of voting machine systems into compliance with the law.

“It makes no sense to spend four-times the money, and end up with the same complicated mix of voting systems that only frustrate the voting public, complicate the efforts of our dedicated precinct boards, and worse, discourage New Mexicans from going to the polls,” Governor Richardson said.

UPDATE: Here's an article just posted on the Vote Trust USA site that talks about this initiative.

ACTION ALERT: Hearing Set on NM Voters' Lawsuit

From Voter Action:

WHAT:  New Mexico District Court Hearing on defendants' motions to dismiss the complaint in Patricia Rosas Lopategui, et al. v. Rebecca Vigil-Giron, et al.

WHEN:  Wednesday, January 18, 2006, 2:00 PM

WHERE:  San Miguel County Courthouse, Suite 203, 500 West National, Las Vegas, NM

BACKGROUND:  In Lopategui v. Vigil-Giron, a diverse group of New Mexico voters seeks a permanent injunction against use of inaccurate and unreliable touchscreen voting machines that lack an auditable and voter verifiable paper ballot.  The defendants are the Secretary of State and 11 county clerks, all sued in their official capacities.  The lawsuit was filed in January, 2005.  In December, 2005, plaintiffs also filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the Secretary of State from buying over 800 more of these machines, as she had planned to do that month.  The Secretary of State has agreed not to make the purchases, pending the court's decision on the motion for preliminary injunction.

PURPOSE OF COURT HEARING:  At the hearing on January 18th, Judge Eugenio Mathis will hear oral arguments on whether to grant motions filed by the defendants, asking the court to dismiss the complaint.  Plaintiffs will ask the court to deny the motions and allow them to continue with the discovery of evidence and preparations for trial.  If the court denies the motions to dismiss, attorneys for the plaintiffs and for the Secretary of State will ask the court to set a schedule for deciding plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction to block purchase of more touch screen voting machines.

This important hearing is open to members of the public, who are invited to attend. For questions or transportation / carpooling information email info@voteraction.org or call 505 823 6362.

Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center

Revenge of the Mutt People

Today's recommended reading: the provocative, rough-hewn and politically incorrect Revenge of the Mutt People by Joe Bageant, courtesy of Smirking Chimp. It's making the rounds of the listserves and blogs. I've included a couple of excerpts below. Your reaction?

... About half of the Americans killed in Iraq come from communities like Winchester, Virginia or Romney, West Virginia or Fisher, Illinois or Kilgore, Texas or... . About forty-five percent of the American dead in Iraq come from communities of less than 40,000, even though these towns make up only twenty-five percent of our population. These so-called volunteers are part of this nation's de facto draft--economic conscription--the carrot being politically preferable to the whip. The carrot does not have to be very big out here where delivering frozen food wholesale to restaurants out of your own car entirely on commission is considered a good self-employment opportunity. I'm serious. One of my sons did it for a couple of months. Once you grasp the implications of such an environment regarding the so-called American Dream, the U.S. Army at thirteen hundred bucks a month, a signing bonus and free room and board begin to look pretty good. Even a nice long ass kicking tour of the tropics killing brown guys becomes attractive. Especially compared to competing with other little brown guys at home, humping "big-roll sod" across ever-expanding MacMansionland. In the process, we mutt people learn worldly lessons that the post graduate set raving about the jobless economy cannot know. For instance we know firsthand that there is no way to beat little brown sod balling guys willing to sleep in their cars and live on canned beans and store brand soda. Better to go "volunteer" for the army ...

... The problem is this: pit bulls always escalate the fight and keep at it until the last dog is dead, leaving the gentler breeds to clean up the blood spilled. We mutt people, the pit bulls, have always been your own, whether you claim us or not. And until you accept that you are your brother's keeper, and help deliver us from ignorance, you will continue to have on your hands some of every drop of blood spilled... from the sands of Iraq to the streets of East L.A. All the socially responsible stock portfolios, little hybrid cars and post modernist deconstruction in the world will not wash it off.