Democracy for New Mexico

Nonprofits Respond to AG King's Odd Behavior, Threaten "Unnnecessary" Litigation

I'll try to bring you up to date on the story of the manufactured outrage over direct mail pieces distributed by nonprofits to call attention to the voting records of certain long-time incumbents in the New Mexico State Legislature. And the legal wrangling going on as the story evolves.

The Letter from AG King's Office
Besides a recent lawsuit, we have a situation where Attorney General Gary King's office issued a letter in May to the Secretary of State advising that, in essence, New Mexico Youth Organized's status should be changed from a nonprofit to a PAC. The letter was sent the day after State Sen. Shannon Robinson reportedly complained to the AG's office about NMYO. The day after that, the office of the SOS reportedly got a call from the AG's office advising them to ignore their letter about NMYO. That's where action by the AG's office stopped -- until a recent story in the New Mexico Independent apparently prompted them to issue a press release on Friday standing behind the original letter from the AG's office. More on that below.

On What Criteria and Facts Did King Base His Opinion?
By any standard legal measure, it clearly appears the nonprofits -- including New Mexico Youth Organized -- followed the law in their activities. Their goal was to educate the community about who gave money to legislators and how legislators voted, as is their right and even their duty given the goals of the organizations. It certainly looks like they followed the rules and honored the traditional communication timelines. Moreover, they've said that their top-notch legal advisors thoroughly vetted their every action.

As far as I know, none of that has been challenged on specific, documented legal grounds by AG Gary King, either in his office's original opinion letter to the Secretary of State about the matter or in the Friday press release.

Putting the Cart Before the Horse
Oddly, although the AG's office issued an advisory letter to the Secretary of State in May and backed that letter in their Friday press release, they have also said that the matter is still under advisement and that they are performing "due diligence" to study the matter. Why would the AG's office issue an opinion letter and then dig into the case AFTERWARDS? I guess political pressure does strange things to some people. Big time muckety-muck.

Duck Soup
King issued what I think is an incredibly embarrassing press release Friday in lieu of any legal communication with the parties and stated he believes the legal status of New Mexico Youth Organized should be changed to a PAC because, to quote him:

“There’s an old saying that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck. And I think we know a duck when we see one.”

Quite the legal language for the people's top lawyer, isn't it? AG King offered no legal citations or factual documentation in the release to back up his view that the status of New Mexico Youth Organized should be changed. By his own account, King just knows an alleged offense when he sees it. He doesn't define how NMYO crossed the legal line, but apparently he knows in his heart they did. King's statement boggles my mind -- so I can only imagine what it does to minds trained in the law. And since when does the AG's office issue opinions in the media instead of using standard legal channels?

Two Nonprofits Rebut King
The Center for Civic Policy and New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO), two of the local nonprofits being targeted, issued statements yesterday rebutting King and his advice to the Secretary of State:

The United States Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that election officials are only permitted to regulate public statements that explicitly address elections.  They are not permitted to regulate public statements that relate to officeholders' conduct, even though those officeholders may be running for re-election.  This is fundamental to the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech.  The Attorney General's statement that he recognizes what can be regulated on the basis of whether it 'walks like a duck' is an indication that he doesn't understand the law in this area, and he is inviting entirely unnecessary litigation against the State of New Mexico." [emphasis mine]

--John Boyd, Counsel for Center for Civic Policy and New Mexico Youth Organized, Freedman Boyd Daniels Hollander Goldberg and Cline

--Sara Berger, Counsel for Center for Civic Policy and New Mexico Youth Organized

"We are disappointed by Attorney General King's uncharacteristically glib assessment of a serious matter.  At stake is the ability of nonprofits throughout New Mexico to hold elected officials accountable for their actions and to advocate for issues that are critical to their missions.  Further, we are disappointed that the Attorney General is issuing a verdict through the media prior to his office completing its research on this matter."

-- Eli Il Yong Lee, Executive Director, Center for Civic Policy

Why Is All This Happening?
Ever since it became evident that three progressive reform candidates were making headway against entrenched, business-as-usual incumbents in the recent Democratic primary, the minions and mouthpieces of the lobbyists and big donors have been bent on discrediting the nonprofits and the three eventual winning candidates. They've planted rumors and statements on the blogs. They've complained about cheating and nefarious plots. The losing candidates filed a bogus lawsuit. And now this.

Why all the ruckus? Because genuine ethics and campaign finance reform legislation is coming closer and closer to passing. Because genuine health care reform is coming closer and closer to passing. Because domestic partnership legislation is coming closer and closer to passing. Et cetera.

The complainers -- named and unnamed -- and the primary losers have been reliable opponents of change and reform, within the legislature and in its hallways. They've functioned as stoppers, protecting the power blocs that oppose anyone rocking the corporate-steered boat. And now the people are learning the truth and voting accordingly. Damn right the status quo is feeling vulnerable. They're on the run as more and more election challengers and issue-based activists feel strong enough to go up against them. That's a good thing.

But what isn't good is that the erratic, opaque and secretive behavior of Attorney General Gary King related to this matter tends to suggest that he's taking his cues from political bigwigs rather than from the dictates of the law. I'm not saying it IS that way, but it sure LOOKS that way, doesn't it? It looks like certain parties are feeling cornered so they're trying to put the thumb on those who have a tendency to give in easily for one reason or another. I hope that's not true, but there it is. As they say, timing is everything.

Some previous posts on these and related issues:

• August 6, 2008: Griego and Keller Release Statements on Lawsuit by Incumbent Primary Losers; Robinson Talks Melodrama
• August 3, 2008: More Details Revealed on Lawsuit by Defeated Dem Incumbents Robinson, Taylor & Silva
• August 2, 2008: Robinson, Taylor, Silva: Fallen Dem Incumbents File Sour Grapes Lawsuit Alleging Campaign Finance Fraud
• July 30, 2008: Backlash Erupts Against Victories in NM by Ethical Progressives and the Growing Power of Reform Groups
• June 3, 2008: 2008 New Mexico Primary Winners; Upset Victories for Griego, Keller, Chavez
• May 30, 2008: SD 17: Shannon Robinson Hits New Low with Campaign Mailers; Gets Contributions from Vested Interests
• May 30, 2008: SD 14: What is James Taylor Hiding? Fails to Submit Campaign Donation Report
• May 29, 2008: SD 17: Tim Keller Earning Unprecedented Dem Support
• May 20, 2008: SD 17: "Alligators" Uninterested in Shannon Robinson Scandals?
• May 13, 2008: Strong Local Support: Griego Raises Nearly $60,000 for Dist. 14 State Senate Race
• May 7, 2008: Todos Para Tim! Launches to Support Tim Keller for State Senate
• April 3, 2008: NM House District 13: Guest Blog by Dem Challenger Eleanor Chávez
• April 1, 2008: Fooling Around: Hey Joe, Where's That Ethics Contest Winner?
• February 27, 2008: More Crocodile Tears Over "Failures" of Ethics Advocates
• February 11, 2008: Ethics: Aren't You Sick of the Unnamed Alligators?

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Friday: Gov. Richardson Wants to Hear Your Ideas for EXPO New Mexico

Governor Bill Richardson has announced he'll hold a community meeting at 1:30 PM on Friday, August 8, in the auditorium at the African American Performing Arts Center on the State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque. He wants to hear directly from New Mexicans who have ideas for redeveloping EXPO New Mexico (see aerial photo).

“I want to hear from the public, including the private sector and neighborhood associations, to explore every option for renovating the state fairgrounds,” said Governor Richardson.

The Governor will be accompanied by EXPO officials, Finance Secretary Katherine Miller and local legislators, who will be available to the public for questions and comments about the state fairgrounds. The event will be moderated by Tim Keller, Senator-Elect from District 17, where EXPO New Mexico (the fairgrounds) is located.

Governor Richardson is interested in ideas that may include replacing Tingley Coliseum and the Downs Racetrack with a world class EXPO New Mexico Exhibit Center. In effort to maximize the use of the space, the State is open to considering alternative uses for the property, including community green space, multi-use buildings and commercial or residential development.

EXPO New Mexico consists of 237 acres within the city of Albuquerque and contains approximately 1,000,000 square feet of buildings and 7,500 parking spaces.

The community meeting will be held on Friday, August 8, 2008 at 1:30 PM in the auditorium at the African American Performing Arts Center on the State Fairgrounds. This event is open to the media and the public. We urge those who would like to attend, to arrive prior to 1:30 PM.

For more info on the process set out to garner redevelopment ideas, see the website, this New Mexico Business Journal article and (pdf) on Ideas to Redevelop the Property at EXPO New Mexico.

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Santa Fe's Mayor Coss Discusses Urban Issues on MayorTV

Santa Fe Mayor David Coss is featured on MayorTV today, lamenting the feds' "ignorance" in neglecting cities, criticizing overly harsh immigration raids and wondering when we're going to get serious about solar energy. MayorTV is a project organized by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy and The Nation, and it's been interviewing mayors from around the nation about what's going on in their cities and what kind of help they need from the federal government.

Harry Moroz, a research associate at the Drum Major Institute, described the project this way:

One of our goals is to get the presidential candidates to start talking more about urban policy and the issues that really matter to cities- things like health care, infrastructure, public transportation, and education. Taken as a whole, these interviews have spoken to the fact that cities matter and can be the test-centers for policies that could be implemented on a nationwide scale. Often mayors are at the heart of this change and the presidential candidates need to start paying attention.

A few weeks ago, MayorTV visited Miami and interviewed mayors at the Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors including Mayor Coss, who had introduced a resolution calling for comprehensive immigration reform that passed unanimously at the conference.

The Drum Major Institute and The Nation take the position that urban issues -- housing, transportation, infrastructure, crime, education -- are being neglected by the presidential candidates, even though more than 80% of Americans live in cities and urbanites drive 90% of our economy. We've witnessed hundreds of photo-ops of the candidates at county fairs, tractor pulls and other agricultural settings, but much fewer in urban environments.

Have the presidential candidates lost touch with urban America? Are "urban issues" code for poor people and ethnic minorities, and thus to be avoided at all costs? Should the candidates have an urban agenda? What should it be? MayorTV is designed to get answers to these questions and more from those who are on the front lines dealing with city issues.

At MayorTV, you can check out videos of a diverse and influential group of mayors -- like Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, John Hickenlooper of Denver, Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City and Marty Chavez of Albuquerque -- giving their prescriptions for an agenda that supports American cities large and small.

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Join the Effort to Send Rove to Jail

The basics on Rove, Siegelman and the subpoena

I want to strongly urge you to sign the petition demanding that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee declare Karl Rove in contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena related to his involvement in the injustice done to former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. I was very impressed with Siegelman and moved by his story as told to Sam Seder at Netroots Nation, and I posted about it the other day from Austin. More info: SendKarlRovetoJail.com.

Brave New Films, The Nation magazine, Campaign for America's Future, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Progress Now Action and CREDO Mobile will host a press conference in Washington DC next Tuesday, prior to delivering the petition to the House Judiciary Committee urging committee members to "let Rove know he can't decide which subpoenas he obeys and which he ignores." In less than six days, almost 100,000 people have signed the petition. You should too.

"Karl Rove is not above the law," said Robert Greenwald, founder and president of Brave New Films in a media release. "Rove's refusal to comply with a Congressional subpoena makes a mockery of the justice system. Even former high government officials like Rove are accountable to the law.  Rove needs learn that we live in a democracy, not a dictatorship."

"Karl Rove has built a career out of bending the law, but now he seems to feel entitled simply to break it," says Michael Kieschnick, President of CREDO Mobile.  "We expect the House Judiciary Committee to agree that Karl Rove is in contempt and should be sent to jail if he persists in his flagrant disregard for the laws of this country."

Even as the President quietly finishes out his last days in office, Rove's audacious display of indifference in the face of an unambiguous legal directive is yet another reminder of the monarchical attitude toward the rule of law that has been such a consistent feature of the Bush administration over two terms -- an ugly characteristic most closely associated with Karl Rove's machinations.

Learn more about Brave New Films in this New York Times article.

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State Auditor's Task Force Reaches Out to Rural Communities

State Auditor Balderas(right) speaks to group

State Auditor Hector Balderas has launched a new effort to help government entities in rural communities meet their auditing requirements, which can be economically challenging for many. The State Auditor’s Task Force on Rural Accountability held its first meeting on Monday, July 14, at the State Capitol in Santa Fe. According to a statement from the State Auditor's office, Task Force members from communities throughout the state joined State Auditor Hector Balderas, including State Representative Joni Marie Gutierrez and State Senator Phil Griego.

“I was raised and educated in Wagon Mound, and therefore have a deep understanding of the many challenges facing rural communities,” Balderas said. “I convened this task force as a first-step in finding long-term solutions for rural governments that are economically impacted by the annual audit requirement.”

Rep. Joni Gutierrez and others at meeting

Representative Gutierrez added, “I strongly support Auditor Balderas’ commitment to address a long-standing issue facing many of New Mexico’s smaller municipalities and governmental entities. I represent several rural communities that lack the resources to be fully compliant with the annual audit requirement.  I look forward to working with the members of the task force to find a solution to a critical issue that hinders the practice of good, accountable government.”

All government agencies are required by state law to have an annual audit conducted of their financial affairs.  The agencies are also required to pay the audit costs, which can greatly impact the budgets of smaller agencies such as land grants and soil and water conservation districts. The Task Force will gather information and hear testimony from citizens across the state on the effects of the annual audit requirement on rural communities. Balderas has requested that the Task Force examine approaches to solving the problem and make recommendations, which may include proposed changes to state law.

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Taos Earns Fair Trade Town Designation

Good news from the Town of Taos. The Northern New Mexico community has earned the designation as a Fair Trade Town. In February 2008, Town councilors passed a resolution and enacted stringent guidelines to prepare for the coveted designation. Taos is the first Fair Trade Town in New Mexico, and the first in the Western United States. Now, which NM town or city will be next? There are already more than 300 communities in Europe recognized as Fair Trade Towns.

Fair Trade is a rigorous third party certification guaranteeing excellent products for consumers: goods produced in a sustainable fashion; safe and healthy working conditions; no slave, forced or child labor; the encouragement of long-term relationships between producers and buyers; and an internal structure for producers that allow decisions about profits to be made democratically.   

"We know the importance of Fair Trade and recognize our responsibility to help educate others, including art and culture tourists, about the importance of Fair Trade," said Town of Taos Mayor Bobby F. Duran. "We view buying fair and buying local as objectives that are not in competition but are complementary. For example, in Taos, customers can buy Fair Trade coffee through our local Taos Roasters -- either directly wholesale, or retail through our numerous coffee houses or grocery stores," continued Duran.

"Fair Trade is a market model that allows farmers and producers of goods a fair price for their products, and establishes economic sustainability and security for entire communities," said Chris Pieper, Chair of the new Town of Taos Fair Trade Steering Committee, and owner of the local Mudd & Flood Mountain Shop. 

"It is also a designation that means people are being treated better relative to buying non-Fair Trade items," said Steve Gloss, founder of Sustaining Cultures, a nonprofit educational organization in Taos focusing on cultural awareness.

"Now, we must actively educate our local consumers - and visitors - to change our purchasing habits by 'voting with our hands' when we reach for that pound of coffee, bananas, or bunch of flowers for Mother's Day," said Gloss who was the impetus for the town's resolution.

Fair Trade goods are increasingly available in Taos as more retail outlets and grocery stores are carrying Fair Trade lines. Products are easily identified with the TransFair seal (right).          

With adoption of the resolution, the Town of Taos joins only five other cities and towns in the United States who have become Fair Trade Towns. There are over 300 communities in Europe who have adopted these guidelines to become Fair Trade Towns.  Fair Trade Town U.S.A. status requires the qualifying community to have:

• Passed a resolution supporting fair trade.
• Offer a range of readily available fair trade products in the area's shops and local cafes
  and catering establishments.
• Numerous workplaces and community organizations that use fair trade products.
• Media coverage and popular support for the fair trade city campaign.
• A local fair trade steering committee to ensure continued commitment to fair
  trade city status.

For more information about locating Fair Trade products go to TransfairUSA.org and FairTradeFederation.org. For more information on meeting city certification guides visit FairTradeTownsUSA.org. To view the town's Fair Trade Resolution visit:  TaosGov.com.

For more information contact:
Sara Stender,
Fair Trade Towns USA,
(828) 658-1340 or (802) 356-0551
sara@fairtradetownsusa.org
or
Steve Gloss,
Taos Fair Trade Steering Committee
Sustaining Cultures
(505) 751-0959
sgloss@sustainingcultures.org

Technorati Tags:Taos, New Mexico, fair trade, Fair Trade Town

(Updated) Tonight at ABQ City Council: Important Votes on TIDDs et al.

UPDATE: The measure to preclude TIDDs from being used to support sprawl development on Albuquerque's edges was defeated 5-4. All the Repubs voted against the change and only one Dem voted for it. Surprise, it was Marty Chavez's point guy, Ken Sanchez. See Coco for more on the story.
****************
I posted about this last week, but I wanted to give you another reminder: The Albuquerque City Council will be taking up a number of important items related to the environment and development at its meeting tonight at 5:00 PM at the Vincent Griego Chambers, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Building, 1 Civic Plaza. We need to turn out in force to demonstrate our support for a number of important matters.

Besides bills related to toxic mining on public lands and conserving our limited water supply, tonight's agenda includes a critical item on those infamous TIDDs -- Tax Increment Development Districts. The measure to be discussed seeks to limit the use of such financing so that it does not subsidize sprawl growth at the city's edges. TIDDs were originally designed to encourage infill development in the city, not vast subdivisions far from our urban center.

You can learn more about TIDDs in an article by Marjorie Childress at the new online newspaper, The New Mexico Independent. (By the way, I expect that The Independent will quickly become a daily must-visit site for readers seeking aggressive -- but fair -- news coverge about everything from politics to the environment to poverty issues. Go see for yourself.)

Also, today's Albuquerque Journal features an op-ed about tonight's TIDD ordinance by ABQ City Councilors Isaac Benton, Michael Cadigan and Rey Garduño entitled, "Subsidizing Growth on Fringes of City Wrong Policy." Excerpts:

... Rapid development has increasingly occurred on the city's edges, contributing to New Mexico's rank as sixth in the nation for vehicle miles traveled per driver— about 18,500 miles per driver per year. Between 1980 and 2005, New Mexico's population grew by 48 percent, but our vehicle miles traveled grew by 112 percent. As a result, vehicle emissions are the fastest growing and second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the state.

Sprawling growth trends in Albuquerque also mean that the open space and working landscapes that we value in New Mexico are disappearing. Nationally, according to the American Farmland Trust, the United States loses 3,000 acres of farmland to sprawl every day.

Many other cities around the country have made decisions to increase affordable residential options in their urban centers and guide development toward vacant land within the city's core, where residents who need it most can access public transit to and from work.

... The city of Albuquerque, however, with the help of the state's Tax Increment Development District (TIDD) policy, has done the opposite by subsidizing sprawling "greenfield" development on the city's fringe.

Tonight, the Albuquerque City Council will consider an ordinance that would get us moving in the right direction by limiting the city's use of TIDDs.

Although originally used to incentivize urban infill development where revitalization efforts would not occur otherwise, TIDDs could fuel development on the outskirts, providing up to 75 percent of the district's incremental gross receipts and property tax revenues for up to 25 years.

By subsidizing the growth of development on the city's edges, state economists estimate that even more homebuyers and businesses will be lured out of the existing community and into the fringe developments, cannibalizing our urban core and increasing hazardous automobile emissions throughout our city.

... If we're going to reduce pollution and protect what we love about our community, we need to end incentives that drive development to our edges and instead promote smart, infill development and redevelopment. This ordinance will bring forward-thinking leadership to protecting Albuquerque's environment and quality of life.

Lauren Ketcham, director of Environment New Mexico, and Javier Benavidez of Conservation Voters New Mexico also contributed to this commentary.

Technorati Tags:TIDD, Tax Increment Development District, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque City Council, The New Mexico Independent

Action Alert: Environmental Issues at Monday's ABQ City Council Meeting

From Environment New Mexico:
Fewer words spoken about politics are more important to remember than that quote from Tip O'Neill, longtime Speaker of the House in the U.S. Congress: "All politics is local." There's a great opportunity for progress on key environmental issues coming up at the local level next week -- right here in Albuquerque.

This coming Monday, April 21, the Albuquerque City Council* will be considering measures dealing with:

• developer subsidies for sprawling subdivisions
• toxic mining on our public lands**
• conserving New Mexico's limited water supply

That's a lot to cover in one meeting, and we need your help! By attending next week's City Council meeting you'll be letting your Councilor know that you support the important environmental protections being considering and improve their chance of passage.

Please RSVP today for next week's City Council meeting and let me know you'll be joining me in standing up for New Mexico's environment by clicking here. Here are the details for the meeting:

• WHAT: Albuquerque City Council meeting
• WHEN: 5 PM, Monday April 21, 2008
• WHERE: Vincent Griego Chambers, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Building, 1 Civic Plaza, Albuquerque, NM, 87101 (map)
• WHO: You and your friends and family that care about New Mexico's environment

We expect the meeting to last several hours and you'll be able to provide public comment on each bill by signing up in the back of the room. You'll also be able to meet up with other local Environment New Mexico members. Look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,
Lauren Ketcham
Environment New Mexico Advocate
LaurenK@environmentnewmexico.org
www.environmentnewmexico.org

P.S. Please feel free to share this message with your family and friends.

BACKGROUND
* For the agenda of the City Council meeting visit: here
** For more information on our work to protect public lands from harmful mining practices visit: here

Technorati Tags:Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque City Council, Environment New Mexico, mining, water

Guest Blog: Mikhail Gorbachev in Santa Fe

This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox, alternative newspaper managing editor and gallery owner of Santa Fe, who participated in yesterday's press conference in Santa Fe featuring the former President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. President Gorbachev also appeared at a fundraising dinner to benefit the Santa Fe Institute and Global Green USA, and spoke to a standing room only crowd at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.

On Monday I asked former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev if, after November, he would please be so kind as to lead and advise the next USA President as to how to get out of our quagmire. This is Gorbachev's reply, through a translator:

“The Middle East is what the entire world is watching. If things go badly for the USA, things go badly for all of us. America must not abuse the trust it has from its allies, much of which has virtually stopped. I am glad to see in this election a resurgence of interest in international affairs. As I will say in my talk tonight, judging from the USA’s military budget, your nation seems to be at war with the world, and I sense that the American people don’t like this at all. The size of your weapons budget is larger than it was at the peak of the Cold War, and larger all of the rest of the nuclear nations put together. Why do you continue to build these weapons? This is amazing to me!

I think that [former Secretaries of State] George Schultz and Henry Kissinger, [former US Senator] Sam Nunn, and [former Secretary of Defense] William Perry have put together recently a very interesting plan in this regard, for which I appreciate their initiative.

With a background of conflict, military budgets in the USA continue to grow, and you produce more weapons. The next president must show courage and responsibility to resist increasing your arms expenditures. Most serious nations in the European Union are studying the proposal by Schultz and Kissinger, and the USA should heed this proposal.

You must bear in mind, that many nations find it difficult to trust America if it insists on maintaining its weapon superiority.

After January 1, 1986, when I proposed an abolition of Nuclear Weapons, there was an immediate reaction, that many didn’t trust me, because of the USSR’s massive ground forces and conventional weapons. I replied by making some large cuts in spending for conventional weapons, and eventually we signed a treaty in this context in Paris.

So I would put the same question to America and to Americans!”

*****

At the beginning of today’s Press Conference in Santa Fe, Gorbachev defended Putin’s concern over USA building extensive missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, but said that it was good that Bush and Putin took the time to recently meet, once before Bush leaves office.

He also stated that the USA needs to “elect a President who gets along with the world, and doesn’t brandish a big stick and make threats.”

This is “up to the American people to persuade its leaders, and this burden can’t be shouldered by others.” After 15 years of “pushing” since leaving office in 1992, Gorbachev now believes that most world leaders and heads of state are “lagging,” and that what we need next is “planetary glasnost.”

He is encouraged by the progress in Russia of the political party he started, the Union of Social Democrats, given that more than 100 nations have the same kind of party, the Social Democrats. He said the history of the USSR was a 70 year experiment with Communism in its extreme Bolshevik form, and that Russia had “paid the price” for doing so.

Gorbachev reminisced on Yeltsin being pressured by the International Monetary Fund and a few US Think Tanks which came to impose on Russia a free market approach, which did a lot of good. He called it the “Washington Consensus” that was really the opposite ideology and effect of Bolshevism.

*****

I have met and talked with several Nobel Peace Laureates, as well as several others I thought should have won that honorable prize. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 95 individuals and 20 organizations since 1901.

The Laureates I have exchanged extensive correspondence with include His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and Kofi Annan. I have talked at great length with Jody Williams.  I asked Oscar Aria Sanchez, former-and-now-again President of Costa Rica, to help create a branch in Santa Fe of the United Nations University for Peace; Dag Hammarskjold’s nephew Knut was on the Board of Honorary Advisors of this conception, as was Gandhi’s grandson, Arun, and Einstein’s granddaughter, Evelyn. So was former USA Secretary of Interior, Stewart Udall.

As an organization making a huge difference in the world, Doctors without Borders is my highest inspiration daily in my work to get the neurotoxic and carcinogenic artificial sweetener, aspartame, off the market by rescinding its approval to be sold.

Mairead Corrigan of Ireland was the first Nobel Peace Laureate I talked with for several hours at the Second United Nations Special Session on Disarmament in 1978. I also had a very long conversation with Canada's Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and I have always thought he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Certainly, George Mc Govern deserves something like a Nobel Peace Prize, for his lifetime of pacifism.

Yet somehow, today, former President Mikhail Gorbachev was the most compelling. I am certain that because I was asking on behalf of tens of millions of Americans and several billions people in hundreds of nations, that he really will help to advise and guide the next USA President to bring the USA out of the Middle East, and to end the war in Iraq.

There really is no choice.

This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox of Santa Fe. Guest blogs provide our readers a chance to express themselves on topics of interest to the political discourse here, and may or may not express the views of the DFNM blog. If you'd like to submit a post for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Technorati Tags: Mikhail Gorbachev Santa Fe New Mexico Middle East U.S. Military disarmament

Citizen Group Wins Federal Lawsuit Against NNSA for Unlawful Document Delays

From Citizen Action:
Citizen Action, a public interest group, received a victory in a federal lawsuit against the National Nuclear Security Agency/Albuquerque Operations Office (NNSA) for engaging “in a continuing pattern and practice of unlawful delay” in furnishing documents under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Brack states that “In light of the Kafkaesque review process adopted by Defendant, it is not surprising that the delay in this case stretched many months beyond the statutorily-prescribed time frame.” The decision describes a “labyrinthine process for reviewing FOIA requests” that does not justify the delays even for “situations involving national security, sensational, or complex issues.” The decision orders an agreement to be made between DOE and Citizen Action within 30 days for “responding to pending requests and for processing future requests.”

Citizen Action Attorney Richard Mietz, Santa Fe stated, “This is a complete vindication of my client’s right to receive information under the FOIA in a timely manner.” 

This is the second time in a year that Mr. Mietz has successfully persuaded a federal judge that the Albuquerque NNSA office engages in a pattern and practice of unlawful delay when responding to citizen requests for information about the nation’s nuclear weapons facilities. 

The documents sought by Citizen Action seek a wide range of information about Sandia National Laboratories. Dating from requests going back to 2004, these include:

• Ten-Year Site Plans for future activities at Sandia National Laboratories
• High level radioactive waste and release of contamination from nuclear weapons production buried in a Cold War waste site known as the Mixed Waste Landfill and many illegal dumpsites referred to as “Yardholes” scattered about Sandia
• Environmental information about groundwater monitoring, air monitoring, earthquake faulting, radioactive contamination of plants and animals at Sandia

Citizen Action Director, Dave McCoy stated, “This decision should send a strong message to NNSA’s management that NNSA can no longer use delay to create secrecy about Sandia’s dangerous operations. This decision acknowledges that provision of information may be useless if it is not timely. The public needs to obtain information for commenting on Sandia’s current plans. There is a Sandia facility wide permit request pending approval. That would include: open air burning of high explosive wastes; production of neutron generator tubes that leak tritium without air monitoring; leaving radioactive and toxic waste contamination in place without monitoring groundwater over our drinking water, and; Sandia’s plans for future nuclear weapons related production that will generate hundreds of thousands of pounds of hazardous and radioactive waste.”

The decision also builds on and goes beyond an earlier federal FOIA decision in favor of Nuclear Watch in Santa Fe. The Citizen Action decision sets forth a requirement to avoid future violations and to timely furnish the documents from over ten outstanding Citizen Action FOIA requests. Judge Brack cited language from the Nuclear Watch case that “observed this process ‘makes a mockery of the 20-day target set by FOIA and violates congressional intent.’”   

Citizen Action continues to also battle with the New Mexico Environment Department lawsuit to obtain a 2006 TechLaw report about contamination at the MWL. The Environment Department is suing Citizen Action in state court to keep the report secret. McCoy said, “One can only question what the Environment Department hopes to achieve by suing a public interest organization instead of the polluter.” The New Mexico Supreme Court recently denied a request for a stay on the release of the TechLaw report to the Attorney General and Citizen Action’s attorney.