Democracy for New Mexico

Uh Oh

Just my personal opinion:
I wonder if the state Democratic Party will ever get it on progressive candidates and politics. Although many in the top echelons of the Party are claiming to be a "progressives" now that Howard Dean is running the DNC, the same old same olds seem to be their choices when push comes to shove.

We are now hearing that the powers that be are pushing Attorney General Patricia Madrid and/or Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron as possible candidates to run against Rep. Heather Wilson in CD1 in 2006.

I guess we'll be very busy working to get a candidate from the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party to run against one or both of these insiders in the primary for this race.

Over at Joe Monahan's site:

I interviewed with the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call (subscription) recently about the 2006 race and they threw out the names of Attorney General Patsy Madrid and Secretary of Sate Rebecca Vigil-Giron as potential Heather challengers. Both high-profile women would not rule it out, but Madrid sounded more interested, if not giddy, than Vigil. Freshman State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino also had his name bandied about as a possible, but political junkie Brian Sanderoff said he doubts Pino will get in.

From the website of the State Party:

Democrats urge AG to consider running in 2006
By James W. Brosnan, Scripps Howard News Service

WASHINGTON - Top Democrats, still angling to oust Rep. Heather Wilson in 2006, are talking to New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid about launching a campaign.

State Democratic Chairman John Wertheim said Thursday he is urging Madrid to run against the Albuquerque Republican and that Madrid was in Washington, D.C., for a meeting Wednesday with the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, an Illinois Democrat.

Madrid, who by law must leave office next year, is reviewing her options, including a race against Wilson, and will make a decision in a few months, said Caroline Buerkle, special projects director for the attorney general.

Buerkle said Madrid's primary reason for being in Washington was the annual meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General.

Sarah Feinberg, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Wilson is one of the group's top targets and "we expect a lot of Democrats to be very interested in the seat."

Wilson first won her seat in a 1998 special election, followed by a general election. Both times, she beat Democrat Phil Maloof. In 2000, she beat Democrat John Kelly. In 2002 and 2004, she beat Democrat Richard Romero.

That record has convinced Wertheim his party needs to nominate a woman.

Wertheim said Madrid would be an "extremely formidable" challenger, because she has impressive credentials and an established record.

Greg Graves, executive director of the New Mexico Republican Party, said Madrid would probably be a tougher challenger to Wilson than Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who also is barred from seeking re-election. But, Graves added, he's not sure Madrid can win a Democratic primary.

Watch for Dem Ads on Bernalillo County Ward/Precinct Meetings

The Democratic Party has purchased two ads to announce the upcoming ward and precinct meetings on March 28 at locations around Bernalillo County. You may recall that Eric Elison of NM Democratic Friends spearheaded a drive to raise money for this after seeing a Republican Party ad in the Journal announcing their county meeting. Prior to this fundraising drive, the Party had plans to run only tiny print legal notices in the legal section of the newspapers.

Thanks are also in order for Jane Ronca-Washburn, who first asked for people interested in working on getting an ad at a meeting of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County and who created the ad, and for Marvin Moss, who was also instrumental in getting the job done.

The sizeable ad appears in the business section of the Sunday Albuquerque Journal today, and will be in the Albuquerque Tribune on Monday afternoon.

Many DFA-DFNM members donated generously to this effort at our last Meetup, along with members of NM Democratic Friends and other progressives. More than $2200 was raised to purchase the ads -- people power in action. Thanks to all who contributed to this truly grassroots effort, and let's hope we have a terrific turnout at the meetings and that we can elect many progressives as ward and precinct chairs.

Santa Fe Precinct & Ward Election Training Set for Tuesday

*WHAT: Training on the Ward and County Election Process

*Purpose of this training is to familiarize yourself with the process, rules and procedures associated with ward elections and county elections. Training will feature a “mock” ward election.

WHO: All registered Democrats in Santa Fe County

WHEN: Tuesday Evening, March 15, 2005 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM.

WHERE: Democratic Party of Santa Fe County HQ
907 W. Alameda
Santa Fe, NM 87501

There will be 25 slots open and they will be filled on a first-come-first-serve basis by contacting the DPSFC (through Doug Schocke) at 982.5727 or sfdparty@qwest.net

Death Penalty Repeal Stopped by "Democrat" Richard Martinez

From the Santa Fe New Mexican blog:

R.I.P. DEATH PENALTY BILL

The effort to repeal the death penalty this year apparently has died.

The Senate Judiciary Committee by a 5-4 vote tabled House Bill 576.

As suggested in the post below, Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Espanola was the deciding vote. Yesterday Martinez, who voted in 2001 for a similar bill, said he was undecided. Today he decided.

Voting to table were Martinez, and Republican Sens. Rod Adair, Kent Cravens, Clinton Hardin and Bill Payne.

Voting against tabling were Sens. John Grubesic, Linda Lopez, Cisco McSorley and Michael Sanchez.

For complete coverage, read Saturday's New Mexican.
***************
Editor's Note: Senator Richard Martinez is the same so-called "Democrat" who voted against the domestic partnership bill and for the "Defense of Marriage Act." I really need to research what his votes have been on other issues important to real Democrats. Why have the Democratic Party support a guy if he apparently votes with the Republicans so much of the time? Only the DLC Republicans-lite know .... You can check out the Senator here.

Bingaman Votes to Pass Unfair Bankruptcy Bill

It was very disheartening to read the paper this morning and discover that our own Democratic Senator, Jeff Bingaman, voted FOR the federal bankruptcy bill, created by the credit card industry. This is the bill that makes discharging debts like massive medical bills almost impossible for the middle class. Meanwhile, it allows wealthy debtors to hide their assets via complex trust agreements and permits them to retain ownership of their expensive homes and other property.

Here's some of what Arianna Huffington has to say about this bill in a :

Instead of cracking down on predatory lending practices, closing loopholes that favor the wealthy, and strengthening the safety net for working people, single mothers and elderly Americans struggling to recover from a financial setback, the Senate put together a nasty little bill that reads like a credit industry wish list. Rubbing salt in the wound, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the bill's chief sponsor, labeled it the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005—even though it does nothing to prevent bankruptcy abuse or protect consumers.

So what does the bill do? It makes it harder for average people to file for bankruptcy protection; it makes it easier for landlords to evict a bankrupt tenant; it endangers child support payments by giving a wider array of creditors a shot at post-bankruptcy income; it allows millionaires to shield an unlimited amount of value in homes and asset protection trusts; it makes it more difficult for small businesses to reorganize, while opening new loopholes for the Enrons of the world; it allows creditors to provide misleading information; and it does nothing to reign in lending abuses that frequently turn manageable debt into unmanageable crises. Even in failure, ordinary Americans do not get a level playing field.

[. . .]
Make no mistake, the inequitable nature of the bill—bending over backwards to help the credit card industry while sticking it to American working people who fall on hard times—is no accident. Time and again over the last week, the Senate shot down amendments that would have made the bill a bit less mean-spirited. They denied proposals that would have made it easier for military veterans, the sick and the elderly to qualify for bankruptcy protection. They even rejected an amendment that would have put a 30 percent ceiling on the interest rates credit card companies can charge. Thirty percent—that's more than Paulie Walnuts charges. But 74 U.S. senators—including John Kerry, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and Dick Durbin—clearly thought that wasn't high enough. Quick, somebody send those guys a Bible bookmarked to Deuteronomy 23:19: "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother."For years, credit-card companies have been claiming that tougher laws are needed to reign in high-flying customers using bankruptcy to game the system. But the truth is that the vast majority of people who file for bankruptcy are middle-class folks who can't pay their bills because they've lost their jobs or been hit with high medical bills or gone through a divorce.

Indeed, a recent study by Harvard University found that half of last year's 1.6 million bankruptcies were the result of crushing medical bills. Put another way: Every 30 seconds, someone in this country files for bankruptcy in the wake of a serious illness. How's that for a shocking stat? Here's another: Three-quarters of the so-called medically bankrupt had health insurance. It just wasn't enough to cover the dramatic rise in health-care costs.

But instead of adapting to this harsh new reality, where hardworking, college-educated, middle-class folks can be financially destroyed by a sudden illness, the Senate is about to approve a one-size-fits-all law that treats a family man who has sunk into debt because of a heart attack the same as a con artist who maxes out his MasterCard, then refuses to pay up.
[. . .]
There has also been an explosion in the fees that credit card companies charge: late fees, balance transfer fees, cash-advance fees, over-the-limit fees. Such fees bring in billions and are partly responsible for the fact that, even as personal bankruptcies in America have steadily increased, so have the profits of credit card companies--which reached a whopping $30 billion last year.

The Dem's yeas for the Act:
  Baucus (D-MT)
  Bayh (D-IN)
  Biden (D-DE)
  Bingaman (D-NM)
  Byrd (D-WV)
  Carper (D-DE)
  Conrad (D-ND)
  Inouye (D-HI)
  Jeffords (I-VT)
  Johnson (D-SD)
  Kohl (D-WI)
  Landrieu (D-LA)
  Lincoln (D-AR)
  Nelson (D-FL)
  Nelson (D-NE)
  Pryor (D-AR)
  Reid (D-NV)
  Salazar (D-CO)
  Stabenow (D-MI)

Click if you'd like to let Senator Bingaman know your thoughts on his vote for this terrible bill.

Quotes on DOMA

There have been some amazing statements made about the so-called Defense of Marriage Act that just passed the NM Senate yesterday. I don't think any commentary is needed. It's easy to tell the fair-minded folks who support equality for all our citizens from the hypocrits out for political gain at the expense of justice, isn't it?

*******Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, invoked the memory of his brother Billy Griego, who died of AIDS complications in 1987.

"My brother and his partner, Jim, were a great couple," Sen. Griego said. "They involved themselves in the community, they helped the family. They went to church with the family and took Holy Communion. At family gatherings we always expected them to be there, because they were a couple.

"When Billy was dying, Jim was there to change him, to bathe him, to feed him. He died in Jim's arms. Nobody on this floor can tell me that relationship was immoral or illegal," Griego said. "I would rather have seen Billy and Jim raise 10 kids than some heterosexual couples."

*******Senate Majority Floor Leader Michael Sanchez said Griego's speech brought tears to his eyes.

*******Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe, referring to the brevity of the bill, said, "This is only four lines. Four lines of fear, four lines of hate, four lines of mistrust, four lines of dissension, four lines of segregation, four lines of telling a group of people, 'You're different than us.' "

"We all know this bill is designed to hurt people and nothing else," Grubesic said. "I don't want to be a party to hurting people and telling them 'You're beneath us.' "

*******Sen. Nancy Rodriguez, D-Santa Fe, said she initially had intended to support SB 597, but changed her mind partly because, she said, the true purpose of the measure was political.

"It's to put us on record for election time," she said. "It's not about morals or family values; it's about election time. Are we relegating Scripture to stature? With a bill like this, that's what we're trying to do."

*******Sen. Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque, said the bill doesn't discriminate against gays. "There are many wonderful relationships in our society," he said. But he said, "It's relatively easy when you view marriage as a union of complimentary opposites; one having convex parts, one having concave parts."

*******"You can't marry your sister," Sharer said. "You can't marry your own mom. Is that discrimination? Is that the Dark Ages because we can't do that? I don't think so."

Above quotes from The New Mexican.

*******"What we are talking about, while it sounds simple on the surface, is in reality a very pointed and negative attempt at telling one group of our citizens that there are certain rights, certain opportunities that are closed to you," said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque.

*******Sharer said his bill aims to provide the best the state can for its children. "Ninety percent of the men in prison today don't have a dad," he said. "Obviously, they have a father, but they don't have a dad. And that's where I'm coming from, how can we help those guys have a dad?"

*******Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, denied the bill would discriminate against anyone. "This has nothing to do with any kind of unlawful discrimination or anything else," he said. "None of the people I know who are advocating this legislation have anything but good will in their hearts."

*******During Senate floor debate, Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, explained her decision. She in the past has said she opposes gay marriage and signed Sharer's bill. She voted against the bill on the floor.

A Roman Catholic who helps serve Mass, Garcia said, "the God that I pray to, our maker, he loves everybody; he's not one to say you can't love this person because he's gay or you can't love that person because he's a Native American."

Garcia said that not everyone in her district would be happy with her vote. "I'll get a big scolding when I get home; I'll get a big scolding probably from the clergy and probably from the church that I belong to," she said. "I don't know if they will allow me to continue serving Mass on Sunday, perhaps not, we'll see. But you know what, I have to stick with my convictions of loving everybody regardless of who they are."

The last set of quotes are from the Albuquerque Journal.

Click to the continuation page for a listing of who voted yes, voted no and who didn't have the guts to show up to vote on this bill.

Here is the Senate's 25-12 vote Wednesday approving a measure (SB 597) to define marriage as a contract between a man and a woman.

Voting yes, in favor of the measure, were 17 Republicans and eight Democrats. Voting against the bill were no Republicans and 12 Democrats. Not voting or excused were one Republican and four Democrats.

REPUBLICANS VOTING YES
    Rod Adair (Roswell)
    Vernon Asbill (Carlsbad)
    Mark Boitano (Albuquerque)
    Joseph Carraro (Albuquerque)
    Kent Cravens (Albuquerque)
    Dianna Duran (Tularosa)
    Clint Harden (Clovis)
    Stuart Ingle (Portales)
    Gay Kernan (Hobbs)
    Steve Komadina (Corrales)
    Carroll Leavell (Jal)
    Steven Neville (Aztec)
    William Payne (Albuquerque)
    Leonard Lee Rawson (Las Cruces)
    John Ryan (Albuquerque)
    William Sharer (Farmington)
    H. Diane Snyder (Albuquerque)

DEMOCRATS VOTING YES
    Carlos Cisneros (Questa)
    Joseph Fidel (Grants)
    Tim Jennings (Roswell)
    Richard Martinez (Espanola)
    Mary Kay Papen (Las Cruces)
    Lidio Rainaldi (Gallup)
    Bernadette Sanchez (Albuquerque)
    James Taylor (Albuquerque)

DEMOCRATS VOTING NO
    Dede Feldman (Albuquerque)
    Mary Jane Garcia (Doña Ana)
    Phil Griego (San Jose)
    John Grubesic (Santa Fe)
    Linda Lopez (Albuquerque)
    Cisco McSorley (Albuquerque)
    Gerald Ortiz y Pino (Albuquerque)
    John Pinto (Tohatchi)
    Shannon Robinson (Albuquerque)
    Nancy Rodriguez (Santa Fe)
    Michael Sanchez (Belen)
    Leonard Tsosie (Crownpoint)

DEMOCRATS NOT VOTING
    Ben Altamirano (Silver City)
    Pete Campos (Las Vegas)
    Cynthia Nava (Las Cruces)
    John Arthur Smith (Deming)

REPUBLICANS NOT VOTING
    Sue Wilson Beffort (Sandia Park)

Flyers for Ward & Precinct Meetings in Sandoval and Bernalillo Counties

We have received flyers from the Democratic Party of NM promoting ward and precinct elections in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties.

It would be much appreciated if folks would download and distribute these in their neighborhoods and to friends and acquaintances. Bookstores, laundromats, grocery stores, libraries and other locations with bulletin boards are good places to post them, and they are perfect for distribution to Democrats in your precinct. Just remember it's illegal to put them in mailboxes. If you need a list of Democrats in your precinct, call Terri Holland at the DPNM at 830-3650 x11.

Download Flyer-BernalilloCountyPrecinct.doc

Sound Off! Democratic List of Shame

The horrendously damaging federal bankruptcy bill was pretty much written by the credit card block buster MBNA, which is the single biggest contributor to the Republicans. The bill was just allowed to move to a vote in the Senate and imminent passage due to the support of these Democrats, who voted for cloture:

Biden (DE)
Byrd (WV)
Carper (DE)
Conrad (ND)
Johnson (SD)
Kohl (WI)
Landrieu (LA)
Lieberman (CT)
Lincoln (AR)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor (AR)
Salazar (CO)
Stabenow (MI)

Why would any Democrat vote for a bill that punishes working class and poor people for such transgressions as running up huge medical expenses they can't afford, even though they are insured? Despite the fact that the majority of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills, not flagrant overspending? Oh, must be those nice campaign contributions that serve to make Democrats into Republicans-lite, lickety-split.

Personally, I find it despicable that Democrats didn't fillibuster this incredibly biased bill until The Rapture comes. I know that the next time the DNC comes looking for donations, especially to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC), I'll be sending them a nice reply of "no dice" while citing this vote. How about you?

Imagine this scenario: You are a working class family where the dad gets sick. He is hospitalized, can't work for a time, and owes alot of money to the hospitals and doctors. The family gets behind on their credit card payments. They get big late fees tacked on. Then their interest rate goes from 12 percent to 29.9 percent because the credit card companies have now classified them as a bad risk. This new rate, which used to be called illegal usury or loan sharking, applies to the entire balance on the credit cards, not just new purchases. Nothing like changing interest rates retroactively to purchases from months and months ago.

Because they make a few bucks more than the mean salary of American families, they cannot discharge their debts via bankrupcty anymore, according to the new bill.  Instead, they will be forced to continue paying off the cards for years. With the high interest rate of 29.9 percent, they can keep paying and paying what they can allegedly afford, while the balance continues to rapidly grow. One step forward, three steps back.

Voila! The credit card companies have a lifetime debtor on their books! Success for the banking industry! Which, by the way, is already making profits that are way more than healthy. With the new perks, they'll be collecting money from those least able to pay for decades upon decades. No wonder this bunch of deadbeat Dems decided to allow the bill to pass. Right? Remember when Democrats were for the little guy (or gal)? How many years ago was that?

You can read a detailed analysis of the bankruptcy bill at Daily Kos. Please note that CORPORATE bankruptcy rules are left as is. No punishment for the likes of Enron execs, oh no. Click if you want to contact these shameful Dems. --Barbara Wold

Finalized Info On Bernalillo County Dem Ward-Precinct Meetings

Bernalillo County Precinct/Ward Meetings
Monday, March 28, 2005
6:30 - 8:30 PM

South Valley Cluster - Wards 10, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14A, 14B
Westside Community Center
1250 Isleta Blvd. SW

West Side Cluster – Wards 16A, 16B, 23A, 23B, 29
Taylor Ranch Community Center
4900 Kachina St. NW

North Valley Cluster – Wards 11A, 11B, 11C, 15A, 15B, 17A, 17B
Raymond Sanchez Center
9800 4th NW

Sandia Cluster: Wards 24A, 24B, 27A, 27B, 30A, 30B
Sandia High School – Media Center (Library)
Pennsylvania and Candelaria

Highlands Cluster -  Wards 18A, 18B, 19A, 19B, 25A, 25B, 26
Plumbers Hall
510 San Pedro SE

Mountain Cluster – Wards 22 and 22C
Tijeras Community Center

Southeast Cluster – 20A, 20B,  21A, 21B
Operating Engineers Hall
151 Pennsylvania SE

East Central Cluster – 28A, 28B, 21A,  31B
Mascarenas Insurance Agency
11321 Central NE

Colorado State Dems Elect Progressive as Party Chair

Progressives and DFA folks are making their mark in Democratic Party politics:

From the : State Dems oust leader: Chris Gates loses post to Pat Waak

Months after their historic wins in November, Colorado Democrats have ousted party chairman Chris Gates in an upset organized by activists angered by his handling of Mike Miles' failed bid for the U.S. Senate. Pat Waak - a nonprofit director from Erie who is little-known in statewide political circles - narrowly edged out Gates in a final vote of 187 to 184 during Saturday's meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee.
[. . .]
Gates' apparent ouster comes less than a month after former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean won the national Democratic chairmanship, promising to return the party's power structure back to its liberal roots.

Dean's message caught on in North Carolina and Arkansas, where state Democrats recently elected insurgent newcomers as chairmen instead of more establishment candidates.

In Colorado, many say Waak's victory stemmed less from a liberal Democratic trend nationally than from a rift in the state party since the 2004 U.S. Senate race. Miles - a Colorado Springs educator who, like Dean, opposed the Iraq war - had been running for the seat for two years when party brass backed Salazar as soon as he announced his candidacy last spring. Miles complains that Gates placed fundraising over political conviction and urged donors not to give to his campaign.

"He created lots of obstacles," said Miles, who distributed a letter Saturday supporting Waak and citing "disturbing evidence" about Gates' record. Gates says he never endorsed Salazar, but he acknowledges that his apparent loss "exposes a disagreement, a rift in the party that is very real."

Best-known politically for her unsuccessful 4th Congressional District run in 2002, Waak is executive director of the High Plains Environmental Center and Foundation in Loveland. She has called for more grassroots Democratic organizing and greater respect for underdogs such as Miles.

Her victory Saturday isn't the first for disaffected Miles backers, many of whom are new to party activism and have e-mailed and met regularly since their liberal candidate lost to moderate Salazar in last spring's primary. Last summer, the group sent by far the nation's largest contingent of Dennis Kucinich delegates to July's Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Art teacher Mark Benner of Hugo was one of those delegates. Under Gates' leadership, he said, "I didn't feel like I was a member of the state party."

Another Miles backer and Kucinich delegate, sculptor Vicki Rottman of Denver, has worked on Waak's behalf, ensuring that "people friendly to our cause were elected to the State Central Committee."

"People are ready for a change," she said.