Democracy for New Mexico

The Myriad Horrors of Too Much Money in Too Few Hands

Go ahead, read what Barbara Ehrenreich has to say and consider what the uber-rich are doing to the West and many other places of beauty and character. Meanwhile, the middle class deteriorates and people can't afford to go to the dentist, buy decent groceries or keep up with their rent or mortgages. Bravo corporatism, tax-free investment gains and the unrestrained "free market." Excerpt:

About ten years ago, for example, a friend and I rented a snug, inexpensive one-bedroom house in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from wealthy Jackson Hole, Wyoming. At that time, Driggs was where the workers lived, driving over the Teton Pass every day to wait tables and make beds on the stylish side of the mountains. The point is, we low-rent folks got to wake up to the same scenery the rich people enjoyed and hike along the same pine-shadowed trails.

But the money was already starting to pour into Driggs -- Paul Allen of Microsoft, August Busch III of Anheuser-Busch, Harrison Ford -- transforming family potato farms into vast dynastic estates. I haven't been back, but I understand Driggs has become another unaffordable Jackson Hole. Where the wait staff and bed-makers live today I do not know.

.. Of all the crimes of the rich, the aesthetic deprivation of the rest of us may seem to be the merest misdemeanor. Many of them owe their wealth to the usual tricks: squeezing their employees, overcharging their customers and polluting any land they're not going to need for their third or fourth homes. Once they've made (or inherited) their fortunes, the rich can bid up the price of goods that ordinary people also need -- housing, for example. Gentrification is dispersing the urban poor into overcrowded suburban ranch houses, while billionaires' horse farms displace rural Americans into trailer homes. Similarly, the rich can easily fork over annual tuitions of $50,000 and up, which has helped make college education a privilege of the upper classes.

... When I was a child, I sang "America the Beautiful" and meant it. I was born in the Rocky Mountains and raised, at various times, on the coasts. The Big Sky, the rolling surf, the jagged, snowcapped mountains -- all this seemed to be my birthright. But now I flinch when I hear Woody Guthrie's line "This land was made for you and me." Somehow, I don't think it was meant to be sung by a chorus of hedge-fund operators.

Having bought up most of the beautiful locales in the nation, sent prices skyrocketing, screwed up the housing and finance industries, jacked up the stock exchange with bubbles, sunk the dollar to record lows and arranged to have poisonous food and other commodities imported into America, the uber-rich "investor class" is now searching about for places to put their huge sums of excess cash. Enter outrageous speculation, often beyond the reach of the law. Wonder why commodity, food and energy prices are exploding? Check out the games being played by the wealth elites to get even more bang for their capital. The crony capitalists are still hungry for more.

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NM-01: More Chardonnay Sippers for Heinrich?

I don't know if the folks shown in these videos sip chardonnay or not. I don't know if they drive Volvos. And I certainly don't know if they drink expensive lattes to keep them going. I really don't think it  matters, do you?

What I do know is that they're ordinary, hard-working New Mexicans who strongly support Martin Heinrich for Congress in NM-01 because of his strong record on issues that matter to them. I also know this flies in the face of the "wisdom" imparted by certain naysayers who claim Martin's support comes from "elites" of some kind. But facts are facts, and cliches are cliches, and anyone paying attention can easily see the difference. (You can see more videos of folks explaining why they support Martin here.)

Heinrich is making economic fairness, more and better job creation and ensuring that ordinary folks get an even break major issues in his campaign -- just as he did on the Albuquerque City Council and in his work with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility board. Working people get it.

If you get it too, consider volunteering now for Martin's campaign. As the June 3rd primarily looms, and with early in-person voting starting on May 6th (see ), Heinrich's campaign needs all the help it can get with phone calling and other tasks every single day. Sign up here or give the campaign a call at 244-0022 in Albuquerque.

Also consider attending an upcoming Heinrich campaign event or make a campaign donation online.

DFA-DFNM has officially endorsed Martin Heinrich for Congress. Please do what you can to support his campaign.

Technorati Tags:Martin Heinrich, NM-01, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Democrats, labor, working families, minimum wage, primaries

NM-01: More Muddled Monahan Mush

For someone who prides himself on being politically savvy, Monahan doesn't seem to have any idea who supports Martin Heinrich for Congress in NM-01. In his latest silly knock on Heinrich (and Obama) supporters, he gurgles forth the usual canned, cliched mush that often emanates from those who haven't dirtied their fingernails in decades and don't hang out with anyone who does:

ABQ Dem congressional candidate Martin Heinrich, already the love-child of the Chardonnay sippers and the left wing of his party, made a swerve to where the election will be decided when he interviewed for the Sunday Journal's candidate profiles. Said the former city councilor of his Missouri parents:

"(They're) middle class, blue collar. They were the people who took a shower when they came home from work at night, not before they went to work."

Heinrich can capture his party's nomination by consolidating the Obama liberals, but it is working class (read Reagan) Democrats who have kept the GOP in control of the ABQ seat for 40 years.

Come Out Into the Light
Hey Joe, you really ought to venture beyond the haunts of monied lobbyists and leaking lounge lizards to mingle with the people who are supporting Heinrich and other common sense, reform-minded Democratic candidates.

Hint, hint: it's people who work hard for a living, it's people who don't have lavish expense accounts, it's people who don't have health insurance, it's people who are nearing retirement without hundreds of thousands of dollars in 401Ks, it's people trying to save money from their stagnant paychecks for their children's education. I'm one of these people and I'm among these people most of the time. I don't see much Chardonnay sipping, but I do see a lot of fretful and worried faces because ordinary folks know they've been getting the shaft from Republicans, and Democrats who vote like Republicans, for a long, long time now. And unless we work to elect candidates who know what it's like to be at the mercy of the fat cats, nothing will change.

Martin Heinrich and the Chardonnay sippers?

Who's Really Supporting Heinrich & Other Dems?
In Democratic grassroots political circles, I see people struggling and juggling to make ends meet. I see people who still make a decent living, but who are bothered in their souls because so many no longer can. I see people who care about the community, the common good, the future of the American middle class and the planet itself. When the price of groceries rise and their paychecks don't, they suffer, immediately and personally. They're not out gossiping at expensive watering holes with those who've been profiting from the misery of others; they're walking door to door to try and bring economic fairness and opportunity for all back to the halls of Congress and our Legislature.

Mr. Monahan, I suggest you venture out into the real world and see for yourself. Visit Heinrich's campaign office and see who's volunteering. Visit a local Dem Party meeting and see who's attending. Stop in at a grassroots political Meetup or candidate forum and see who's devoting time out of their busy, work-filled lives to help rebuild a level playing field for ordinary Americans. Check out who's registering voters and making small donations and licking envelopes. You'll see lots of people who teach our kids, deliver our mail, answer the phones, pound the nails and visit our senior centers. Who you won't see much of are the wealthiest bank presidents, CEOs, real estate speculators and VP-types -- who sip the expensive stuff -- because they're backing the GOP candidates and the GOP cause. Everyone knows that. They like things just the way they are.

Working Class LABOR
You say that Repubs have retained control of CD1 because of support from the working class. You know that's not true. For instance, has Heather Wilson EVER had the support of the unions that represent working class people? Heinrich does. Here's a list of unions that are supporting his campaign so far:

• American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
• Albuquerque Federation of Teachers Local 1420
• Carpenters Local 1319
• Communications Workers of America (CWA)
• International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 823
• Iron Workers Local 495
• Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 251
• Sheet Metal Workers Local 49
• United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1564
• United Transportation Union (UTU)

Are you saying that painters, carpenters, janitors, grocery store workers, iron workers, fire fighters, teachers and the other hard-working members of these unions are elitist "Chardonnay sippers" without a care in the world? I guess they all drive Volvos and down lattes too (not that there's anything wrong with that). Come on down to any grassroots Dem political gathering and check out the cars in the parking lot, Joe. They'll look a lot more beat up than the ones you're used to seeing at your Alligator-GOP-filled soirées where all the liberal bashing goes on. And you'll see a lot more bikes. And people who take the bus. I guarantee it.

Who's Really Working for Workers?
Real working people know that Heinrich and other Dems are working on their behalf because they've witnessed it in the real world. It wasn't Heather Wilson or the lobbying class or the monied GOP investor class or the Darren Whites of New Mexico who've been struggling against those who have the most to get the have-nots a raise in the minimum wage. It's been Democrats like Martin Heinrich and Eric Griego and Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Tom Udall and Dede Feldman and Mimi Stewart and Debbie O'Malley and Rey Garduno and many others who've been fighting the good fights for better wages, health care for all, improving education and creating blue and green collar jobs for the future. In case you haven't noticed.

Cut the Mush
So before you write another shallow analysis of who's backing whom, remember that the key positions of genuine Dems and our candidates are those of mainstream Americans, as shown in poll after poll after poll about values. It's your pals who lean in the hallways of the Roundhouse and hang out with you in the dark corners of expensive bistros who are the real elitists. Clearly, their mockery and yours is meant to keep the working and middle classes right where they are -- under the thumb of America's most selfish elements. Cut the mush.

And check out the facts about how working people have fared of late. You'll see who's really been sipping the expensive Chardonnay thanks to the Bush agenda -- a set of regressive and greed-based policies that have been backed enthusiastically by Heather Wilson, Steve Pearce, Darren White and just about every other candidate running on the right side of the aisle. Not us.

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Who's Really Out of Touch? Bush III, Er, McCain

For a painful picture of the horrible economic impacts to New Mexico of the Iraq occupation -- and McCain's Iraq and tax plan proposals -- see this post on Clearly New Mexico. Already, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has show in a recent report that New Mexico ranks 6th in the nation for income inequality. This will only get worse if McCain is allowed to carry Bush II's agenda into another presidential term. Know anyone who seems attracted to the "maverick" McCain? Make sure they get the facts.

Technorati Tags: John McCain George Bush Out of Touch Progressive Media

Bitter? Why Would Anybody Be Bitter?

Obama answers Hillary and McSame in Terre Haute IN

Have you been following the latest spin barrage being aimed at Obama by Team Clinton: The Dynasty, almost hand in hand with the GOP's assault? Oh, it was just so condescending of Barack to mention at a small fundraiser how folks in small town, Rust Belt and middle-class America might be feeling bitter about their lot in life. So bitter and cynical that they no longer believe the promises of politicos to bring them good-paying jobs, access to quality health care or level playing field justice.

So trampled in body and spirit that they turn insular and cling to their guns, religion, ethinicity or family -- or whatever else helps them feel more secure. And that this can make them vulnerable to the craven use of wedge issues by the right. And that they often end up voting against their own economic interests. Sound familiar? That analysis has been conventional wisdom for years but, to the Clintonista camp and its backers, the concept is suddenly scandalous and insulting. My, my.

What I like about Obama is that he -- unlike so many Dems -- doesn't run from gotcha spin that distorts what he says and what he believes in. Instead, he goes at the issue head on, confidently and clearly explaining how his words are being twisted, and why. Listen to what he says in the video above, to a crowd in Terre Haute, Indiana. Watch how they stand and cheer at the end. I call that connection. He doesn't cower. He clicks in. This is why he can win in November, with an electorate sick to death of the slick spinelessness that characterizes so many insider pols of all stripes.

Here's what Obama said:

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Clinton Campaign in Full Drudge Mode
The Clinton II campaign has seized on this, enlisted their big media buddies and instructed their operatives to spread the word that this statement shows that Obama is elitist, doesn't understand middle class Americans and would be a weak candidate. One quote:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has criticized the remarks with zeal, saying Mr. Obama is trying to divide the country between “those who are enlightened and those who are not.”

And how about this:

... the Clinton campaign fueled the controversy in every place and every way it could, hoping charges that Obama is elitist and arrogant will resonate with the swing voters the candidates are vying for not only in Pennsylvania, but in upcoming primaries in Indiana and North Carolina as well.

... They handed out "I'm not bitter" stickers in North Carolina, and held a conference call of Pennsylvania mayors to denounce the Illinois senator. In Indiana, Clinton did the work herself, telling plant workers in Indianapolis that Obama's comments were "elitist and out of touch."

What Hillary and her cohorts are doing, once again, is using the kind of branding long used by Repubs against Dems -- and doing it against one of their own. We all know by now that Democrats are allegedly "elitist," and "out of touch" and "latte drinking Volvo drivers." You know the litany that's been used for years, uttered by right-wingers who really have been working for decades to create the present economic tragedy that's now building to a crescendo across America and the globe. We've all seen the deregulate everything, greed-market movement at work -- and how it's destroyed so much of the middle class while creating an investor class that's wealthy beyond belief, reason or merit.

I guess Hillary sees herself as one of them, using their favorite slurs to try and wring out votes and manage to stay in her unwinnable race by any means necessary -- no matter who or what she hurts in the process. Think about it. Isn't it "smart politics," from the Clinton point of view, to smear Obama and try to force him from the race? Or make sure he won't win in November? Why else would the messaging about this molehill coming from the Clinton camp be exactly the same as the messaging about it coming from the GOP and McCain?

As Jane Smiley puts it:

So now, Barack Obama tells the truth about conditions as we know them--that the countryside and the small towns are dying in many places in our country, and that the corporatocracy doesn't care enough to do a thing about it. He points out that immigrant-baiting, gay-baiting, gun-baiting, and religious pandering have helped to destroy those towns and that countryside, that those being destroyed have been cynically enlisted by their very own destroyers to provide the votes that help accomplish the destruction. And this is what Senator Hillary Clinton says about it: "Senator Obama's remarks were elitist and out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans."

The Masks Fall Away
I submit that the last remaining threads of the "for the people" and "for the Party" masks that Bill and Hillary have long used to cover their special brand of political expediency and corporatist zeal have finally fallen away. What is revealed is an ugly truth about their amoral and immoral ambition. Shame on them. I don't understand how any real Democrat can support them any longer.
*******

PS: In need of some black humor hysterics after this dour post? Go read Hunter. I still haven't caught my breath after reading it ....

Technorati Tags:Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, middle class, economy, working class, Democrats, Pennsylvania, Indiana, bitter

Quote of the Day: They're Attacking Us

We say, "There’s something wrong with the economy," rather than, "I’m getting screwed by the oil companies, the banks, and my employer." Things get mystified and depersonalized. We say there’s a "recession," as if were some sort of bad weather, rather than pointing our fingers at the people who brought it down on us and who are, for the most part, profiting still. Maybe, instead of talking about "the economy" and "the recession" we should be talking about the ongoing looting and concerted attack on our standard of living --which will likely end only when there’s nothing left to squeeze out of us.

This isn’t just semantics. If there’s something wrong with "the economy," we call in the economists, we think about intervention by the Fed, and things on that level. But if someone is actually attacking us, we’re more likely to focus on how we can start working for change right now, with whatever tools are at hand.

-- , TPM Cafe

Technorati Tags:Barbara Ehrenreich, TPM Cafe, working class, economy, recession

Sen. Bingaman Announces $1 Million Award to Community Action New Mexico

From Community Action New Mexico:
Senator Jeff Bingaman this week announced a Federal Grant of $1,000,000 to Community Action New Mexico to further its statewide work in asset development. The purpose of the grant is to fund Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) for low income, working New Mexicans. The assets that may be purchased in this matched savings program include a first home, higher education and the capitalization of a small business.

“IDA's are a powerful response to community poverty. They offer individuals and families the possibility of a more secure future, while creating jobs, increasing skills and developing a stronger tax base in the communities where participants reside,” Bingaman said. 

This is the second million dollar IDA award to the agency from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Assets for Independence Program. The first award funded 474 matched savings accounts through the development of the New Mexico Assets Consortium; a partnership between three statewide organizations (Community Action New Mexico, the New Mexico Project for Financial Literacy, and TAX HELP New Mexico), 25 community-based and tribal partners, and the Center for Working Families at Central New Mexico Community College.

Together the partners have provided comprehensive financial education to over 700 families, free tax preparation to thousands statewide, and are celebrating with family after family as they purchase their asset. 

Ona Porter, Community Actions' Executive Director, calls the Asset Consortium, “the people’s economic development plan,” noting that it provides a very specific and tangible way for families to find their way to a share in the American Dream. “We are finding that people can make permanent improvements in their lives with a little bit of capitol.”

Community Actions' goals of reducing poverty, revitalizing low-income communities, and empowering low-income families and individuals to become fully self-sufficient are all achieved with this grant.

The New Mexico Assets Consortium is an initiative of Community Action New Mexico, a non-profit association of six Community Action Agencies. Believing that assets are critical to weathering the storms of life, the Assets Consortium works to build and preserve assets in low income families and communities.

Commemorating Dr. King: Green Jobs Can Create Pathways Out of Poverty

From NMYO: April 4 marks the 40th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. To commemorate the event, staff and volunteers from New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) will travel to Memphis, TN this weekend for the Dream Reborn conference. Dream Reborn is an effort to honor the legacy of Dr. King by simultaneously addressing the issues of climate change, job creation and civil rights. 

NMYO Executive Director Keegan King explained, "Green jobs-blue collar jobs in green sectors of the economy-can create pathways out of poverty for young people. This goes to the core of Dr. King's teachings about equality for all. By providing job training for such things as solar panel installation, manufacturing, water treatment, recycling and sustainable agriculture, we can develop promising career paths right here in Albuquerque."

Over the weekend, NMYO and thousands of others will delve deeper into the concepts behind green jobs and their connection to civil rights, as well as how to get training programs started in cities across the country.

For more information about New Mexico Youth Organized and their campaign to promote green jobs,  check out their video above or 1SkyNewMexico.org.

April 9: Equal Voices for America's Families Town Hall Meeting

From EVAF: Equal Voices for America's Families is a campaign for a family-led movement for social change. The goal is to change attitudes and policies affecting poor and working families. Over the next year, America will hear directly from families. Campaign members are hosting a series of town hall meetings across the US to develop and mobilize support for a national platform that addresses issues of concern identified by famlies. The campaign will also hold a national town hall in Los Angeles, Chicago and Birmingham on September 6, 2008.

EQUAL VOICES FOR AMERICA'S FAMILIES
ALBUQUERQUE TOWN HALL
APRIL 9, 2008, Registration begins at 5:30 PM
SOUTH BROADWAY Cultural Center, 1025 Broadway SE

Food, child care, and transportation available. For More info: Call Pat at 298-0577 at 6-9 PM or email at Phines44@aol.com.

Working together - we can change local, state and national policies to create a more just society. Representatives from ABQ Town Hall will be invited to Los Angeles. COME HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Elected officals are invited to listen!

ABQ Campaign Endorsers: Marguerite Casey Foundation; United South Broadway Corp; Community Coalition for Health Care Access; Anti-Racisim Training Institute; Kalpulli Izkalli, La Colmena, Inc.; ABQ Neighborhood Action Group; Americans for Indian Opportunity; Isshin Ryu Club; St. Joseph Community Health; Inspired Leadership/KUNM; Church of God in Christ;  Ron Wallace, Fighting AIDS in the Homeland; African American Health and Social Services; Cuidando Los Ninos; St. Francis Parish; Jerry Ortiz Y Pino; HELP-New Mexico; St. Francis Xavier; Teresa Brito Asenap; APS Center of Extended Learning; James Lujan, Principal Eugene Field Elementary; IPCC/IPM; Southwest Organizing Project; Anjelica Anaya Allen, Senior Citizen Law Office; City of Albuquerque Office of Neighborhood Coordination; John Marshall Multi- Service Center; Dr. Callie Cone; West Central Communtity Development Group; Urban Indian Advocacy Program; God's Way Church; Health Action NM; Southwest Network for Economic and Environmental Justice; Chris Baca, YDI.

Americans for Democratic Action to Launch Working Families Win Project in NM

From Americans for Democratic Action (ADA):
ADA is America's most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization. In the spirit of the New Deal and ADA founders Eleanor Roosevelt, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and former Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey we lobby through coalition partnerships, through direct advocacy, and through the media.

Our Working Families Win (WFW) project is non-profit and non-partisan and will work to change the economy in favor of working families, provide education about economic decisions made in Washington and the impacts within our local communities, and engage individuals through neighbor to neighbor communication to hold our elected officials accountable.

In 2007, our WFW project kept the fires burning around the country. WFW organizers worked in dozens of communities educating the public and elected officials about our core platform: guaranteed health care for all, fair enforceable trade agreements, and economic policies that create good jobs at living wages. WFW will stride into 2008, ready to seize the moment for working families.

In addition to our ongoing work in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, we will be expanding. If you're interested in supporting our organization in New Mexico or volunteering  please contact Deema Tabbara at (805) 907-6681 or adanewmexico@gmail.com.

Visit www.workingfamilieswin.org for more information on the project and visit www.adaction.org to make a contribution to our work. Also visit our blog at https://adanewmexico.blogspot.com/.