Democracy for New Mexico

Santa Fe Reporter Unveils Online Citizen Muckrakers Guide

What a resource -- I love it already. Dave Maass and the folks at the Santa Fe Reporter have put together a comprehensive guide to snooping on the powers that be (and others) in New Mexico. The Citizen Muckraker's Guide to New Mexico, subtitled A reference manual for digging up dirt on politicians, corporations, and other citizens, is described as follows:

It reveals the data-capturing tools employed by investigators, bounty hunters, landmen and journalists. With it, you’ll be able to find out which city councilor had a bench warrant issued against her in Clovis for a two-year-old speeding ticket (Patti Bushee). You’ll be able to download a mugshot of Kent Nelson, the investment advisor who admitted dishing out $3 million in kickbacks in the New Mexico Treasurer’s Office scandal. And you’ll do it from the comfort of your local wireless cafe.

... There aren’t enough eyes in the media to watch everything all the time in the Information Age. SFR hopes this guide will inspire readers to join us as independent watchdogs and personally hold the powers that be, in the government and corporate worlds, accountable.

To learn more about how the new digging tool can be used, you should first check out Dave's article, The Paperless Chase. It explains how the online guide is organized, and offers tips for using it for tasks like running a basic background check, connecting campaign contributions to legislative earmarks, tracking corporate maneuvers, fact checking claims about the War on Terror and finding out who's exploiting natural resources.

There are sections on Campaign Finance, Crime, Courts and the like, where you can chase down People, Politicians or Corporations. There are also links to data related to topics like The War on Terror; Land, Environment and Natural Resources; and Health, Doctors and Drugs. You can also access info by using the Guide's Complete Link Roll, The Citizen Muckraker's Guide on Del.icio.us or a Del.icio.us Tag Cloud.

Maass says they'll keep adding to the Guide as time goes on. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet, but I certainly intend to dig in soon -- and expect to get lost for hours in the links. Who knows what evil lurks in the URLs of the Guide? Try it and see. And if you find anything particularly juicy, let Maass know at davem@sfreporter.com. They'll be keeping track of newfound dirt in New Mexico as it filters in from all corners of the internet. (Does the internet have corners?)

I expect that the bloggers of New Mexico -- and other dirt diggers in the state -- will have a field day being modern-day muckrakers for the cause, uncovering crime, corruption, waste, fraud and abuse (and maybe some data on that weird guy down the street).

Friday: Special NM In Focus on Healthcare in NM

Public television station KNME will air a special on healthcare in New Mexico this Friday, January 4, 2008 at 7:00 PM with a repeat on Sunday at 6:30 AM. "By the People: A New Mexico In Focus Special" hosted by Gene Grant will include an interview with Lt. Gov. Diane Denish outlining the administration's healthcare agenda for the 30-day 2008 New Mexico Legislative Session that begins on January 15, 2008.

Required Reading: Single Payer Health Care the Only Solution

This concise New York Times op-ed says it all. It's written by David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, professors of medicine at Harvard and co-founders of Physicians for a National Health Program. Let's hope our legislators read it before they decide to go down the same unworkable path that other states have traveled to utter failure to provide effective universal coverage. Excerpt:

The “mandate model” for [health care] reform rests on impeccable political logic: avoid challenging insurance firms’ stranglehold on health care. But it is economic nonsense. The reliance on private insurers makes universal coverage unaffordable.

With the exception of Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic presidential hopefuls sidestep an inconvenient truth: only a single-payer system of national health care can save what we estimate is the $350 billion wasted annually on medical bureaucracy and redirect those funds to expanded coverage. Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama tout cost savings through computerization and improved care management, but Congressional Budget Office studies have found no evidence for these claims.

In 1971, New Brunswick became the last Canadian province to institute that nation’s single-payer plan. Back then, the relative merits of single-payer versus Nixon’s mandate were debatable. Almost four decades later, the debate should be over. How sad that the leading Democrats are still kicking around Nixon’s discredited ideas for health reform.

Here's what you can do right now to help New Mexico's legislators see the light on health care coverage:

From The Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign:

Urge Your Legislators to Co-Sponsor the Health Security Act! We're excited to let you know that the Health Security Act will be introduced in the coming legislative session (January 15 to February 14, 2008). The legislation will be sponsored by Rep. Bobby Gonzales in the house and Sen. Carlos Cisneros in the senate.

Please call your legislators NOW and urge them to co-sponsor the Health Security Act. If possible, call them in the next day or two and let them know that the Health Security Act will be available for them to sign at the health care briefing on Monday. Rep. Gonzales and Sen. Cisneros will have the bills at that time. (New rules, by the way, make all this possible.) After Monday, the bills will be available for signatures in the house and senate clerks' offices. It is so very critical to have a lot of signatures on the legislation to show broad support among legislators.

If you're not sure who your legislators are, you can call your county clerk or access the legislator search page on the legislature's website: https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legislatorsearch.asp.

Reminder: Legislative Health Care Briefing on Monday: This Monday, December 17, the Legislative Council will host a special health care briefing for all legislators from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 307 at the State Capitol in Santa Fe. This meeting is open to the public, and we encourage you to attend.

At 9:30 AM Dr. Mary Ruggie, Harvard professor of comparative health policy, will present an overview of health care reform and various state efforts. At 10:45 AM Dr. Deborah Chollet of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. will present the data from Mathematica's updated report. This will include a cost comparison of the governor's proposal to the other originally studied models, including the Health Security Act. Apparently "adjustments" have been made to reflect updated data, including possible Medicaid cuts.

The Real Study Numbers: Several people (including one legislator) have been presenting inaccurate information about the results of the Mathematica study made available in July. They claim that all the models cost in the $6 billion range and that the differences between them are minimal.

This is completely untrue. To recap:

In the first year of operation (according to the July 2007 Mathematica report), only the Health Security Act costs less than the current system. The other models cost more than the current system. By 2011 (five years later), the Health Security Act is still the only one that results in savings over the current system. The others increase health expenditures.

In the fifth year of operation (2011 in the study), the Health Security Act costs $698 million to $887 million less than the current system (meaning that health expenditures are reduced by $698 million to $887 million). In contrast, the Health Choices model costs $336 million to $383 million more than the current system, and the Health Coverage model costs $70 million more than the current system.

In sum, the Health Security Act costs over $1 billion less than Health Choices, and $768 million-$1 billion less than Health Coverage. These are substantial differences that cannot be ignored!

If you have any questions, contact Josette at 505-771-8763 or jhaddad@cableone.net. Or visit our website at www.nmhealthsecurity.org.

Let's Move to Scandinavia

Komen Community Challenge Coming to ABQ on November 28

From Susan G. Komen for the Cure:
Every woman diagnosed with breast cancer is someone’s sister, mother, best friend, or child. And until we find a cure that helps every one of them beat it, we need to keep looking. You get it. We get it. But how can we make it happen?

This year, more than 1,000 New Mexico women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and not all of these women will have an equal chance at survival. What's more, this breast cancer diagnosis will be much deadlier for low-income and underinsured women, who are too often ethnic and racial minorities. We find this unacceptable, and we're doing something about it on Wednesday, November 28, from Noon to 2:00 PM at Salon Ortega at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque! RSVP today!

Breast cancer survivors and activists will be joined by Lt. Governor Diane Denish and State Senator Dede Feldman, along with health care professionals, community leaders and other decision makers to discuss disparities in breast cancer screening, treatment and survivorship and how we can partner to "Close the Gap". We intend to be a community without gaps - one where every woman will have access to early detection and quality care.

Join breast cancer survivors, advocates, community leaders, health care providers, researchers and legislative leaders at a forum on closing the health care gap. With the need so great and resources so limited, it promises to be an engaging and spirited discussion.

What: The New Mexico Komen Community Challenge - "Close the Gap!" Forum

When: Wednesday, November 28, 2007, Noon - 2:00 PM

Where: Salon Ortega, National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th St. SW, Albuquerque, NM

Who: Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, State Senator Dede Feldman, breast cancer survivors and families, health care officials, breast cancer experts – and you and your colleagues, friends and family!!

How: It’s easy! RSVP today! Or call 505-401-5974.

We’re on a mission to end breast cancer forever. Too many New Mexico families are being torn apart by this disease – and we will keep fighting until none of these women fall through the “gap” in detection and treatment. Thank you for helping us to turn this goal into reality.

NM Interim Health & Human Services Committee Endorses Health Security Act by 10-1 Vote

From the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign:
The New Mexico State Legislature's Interim Health & Human Services Committee endorsed the Health Security Act yesteray afternoon by a vote of 10-1, on a motion made by State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino (D-Albuquerque).

This was the last scheduled meeting of the Interim Committee before the regular legislative session begins in January of 2008.

The Committee did not consider endorsing Governor Bill Richardson's universal health care proposal.

The Health Security Act has also been endorsed by 132 diverse organizations statewide, and by 27 New Mexico municipalities and counties, including Albuquerque and Las Cruces and Bernalillo and Dona Ana counties.

The Health Security Act sets up a health insurance cooperative that guarantees health coverage for most New Mexicans regardless of employment, economic or health status. It guarantees choice of doctor (even across state lines), a comprehensive benefit package, and would be run by an independent, non-governmental, geographically representative Commission.

The role of private insurance companies would be shifted to provide supplementary insurance, just as they did under the original Medicare.

Click to read more about the Health Security Act or Governor Richardson's universal health care proposal.

4th Annual Health Policy Legislative Forum Set for 12/6/07

From the New Mexico Public Health Association:
It's that time again! Time to begin preparing for working with our partners statewide on legislative issues for the 2008 session. Here's a chance to hear what others are planning AND to take advantage of a chance to learn about how the state budget process works or get some basic skills in policy advocacy or media advocacy. This year's Forum is being planned and presented in collaboration with New Mexico Voices for Children. Here's what is happening...

The 4th Annual Health Policy Legislative Forum will be held on Thursday, December 6, 2007, at the CNM Workforce Training Center at 5600 Eagle Rock Avenue NE in Albuquerque. Last year's Forum broke records with over 130 people in attendance. This year's Forum will kick-off with two state legislators speaking about priority health and human services issues for the 2008 legislative session. This will be followed by roundtable discussions for sharing of policy issues and legislative priorities by participants. Lt. Governor Diane Denish has been invited to give the luncheon address regarding health care reform.

The afternoon sessions will include the following:

Behind the Curtain - Demystifying the New Mexico Budget Process: This training will focus on understanding how, when, and where budget/funding decisions are made by the NM Legislature -- with presenters including current and former legislators, state agency staff who are experts in the budget formation and decision process, and NM Voices for Childrens own state budget expert. Space will be limited to the first 75 registrants.

Policy Advocacy 101: What is the legislative process for advocating for health-related issues in New Mexico? How do you communicate with legislators and other policymakers on health care reform? What specific steps do you need to take to promote legislation?

Media Advocacy 101: What is media advocacy and how can we frame our message to the media for successful health policy campaigns? What kind of preparation and planning is needed to be effective? What are the basic tools and rules of accessing the media?

Registration: You can choose to register for the full day, the morning only or the afternoon only. We are offering a discounted registration fee to NMPHA members this year, so take advantage of that! Please see the attached flyer-registration form (doc) for more details and how to register.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you there!

Marsha McMurray-Avila, Executive Director
New Mexico Public Health Association
(505) 715-9004
mcavila.nmpha@comcast.net

Register Now for Sicko-Health Security Act House Party

Jason Call, who's running for Congress as a Dem in NM-01, is organizing a house party in support of the New Mexico Health Security Act on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 7:00 PM at his house in Albuquerque's NE Heights. Those gathered will view Michael Moore's movie SiCKO and discuss strategies to get the Health Security Act passed in the State Legislature in the next session. To learn more or RSVP, visit this DFA Link page. For more info on Call's campaign visit his website at Call4Democracy.org

Guest Blog: NM Health Security Act & Legislative Health & Human Services Interim Committee

This is a guest blog by Terry Riley, who is an advocate for the Health Security Act for New Mexico:

New Mexico needs health care reform as badly as any other state in the union. We are in a very fortunate position because our legislature has been studying the problem over the last two years at least and there are several proposals being considered. There is only one proposal that is significantly different from the other proposals. I have been attending the Health and Human Services Interim Legislative Committee all around the state this year. There have been some very amazing presentations from experts from outside of New Mexico and from within New Mexico. I have learned a tremendous amount about the problems of health care financing as have our legislators. I believe that they have enough information to make an intelligent decision.

The Health Security Act is offered as a co-op and as such is the closest thing to a single-payer universal coverage plan. All of the other plans being considered protect the position of the private-for-profit insurance companies. The insurance companies provide a service that has nothing to do with your care.  In addition to the cost of processing the claims from health care providers and collecting the premiums from their clients, the health insurance companies have to provide a profit to the investors of their companies.  One company, United Healthcare, paid out a retirement package to their CEO upon retirement of $1.6 BILLION.

I like to consider how many medical procedures could have been paid for out of that obscene payout. I also ask you to consider how much more could the insurance company have paid their base employees if they had not paid this huge retirement?

The most recent sessions were held this month in Espanola on Wednesday and in Santa Fe on Thursday and Friday, Oct 17, 18, and 19. I attended the hearing on Thursday Oct 18th. During the previous meetings around the state I have been impressed with the overall tone of the discussions. Thursday I became terribly disappointed. Chaos prevailed! My best assessment of that session is that nobody wanted to be responsible for the decision. Individual legislators were strong in their support of the Health Security Act or the other plans but the committee wanted nothing to do with the decision. 

At one point the committee chair, Senator Dede Feldman, called for a straw poll by ballot for who supported a single-payer system and who supported an insurance industry system. The results were 8 supported a single-payer system and 6 supported the insurance industry system. Senator Feldman moved quickly on to further discussion. NOTHING was done about the vote that supported a single-payer universal health care system!

Call Senator Feldman and ask her why she did this! She suddenly reminded me of House Speaker Nancy Peloci. I doubt that the committee will be able to propose any legislation other than the Governor's plan. The Governor's plan may be the worst legislation that he will have offered in his whole term as Governor of New Mexico. You can contact Senator Feldman at:

Senator:  Dede Feldman, District: 13
County(s): Bernalillo
Senator Since: 1997
Party: Democrat
Occupation: Public Relations
Address: 1821 Meadowview NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
Capitol Office Phone: 986-4482
Office Phone:   
Home Phone:  (505) 242-1997
E-mail:  dede.feldman@nmlegis.gov

The New Mexico Legislature almost always has a public input period in committee hearings. I would like to share with you what I had to say. The very last part of my comment had to be trunkated because I ran over the two minutes allowed. I cut it off of the recording because it did not make sense because I did not finish my statement. Download rileyclip.wav

Information regarding the Health Security Act is available from www.whatifyouknew-nm.com and www.nmhealthsecurity.org . You can read the Health Security Act on either web site and you can read the Mathematica Report on the www.whatifyouknew-nm.com web site.

Terry Riley
Advocate for: Health Security Act for New Mexico

Editor's Note: This is a guest blog by Albuquerque activist Terry Riley. Guest blogs provide our readers with an opportunity to express their opinions on relevant issues of the day. They may or may not express our views. 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.

Local Reaction to Defeat of SCHIP Override, Peace's Vote Against It

In the U.S. House, the attempt to override Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill was 13 votes short of the needed two-thirds majority. The vote was 273-156. None of the 151 Republicans who voted “no” on Sept. 25 switched sides today. Instead, six Democrats switched from “no” to “yes.” Rep. Steve Pearce (R, NM-02), who has announced he's running for U.S. Senate, voted no. Here are some of the statements from New Mexico politicos in response to today's vote:

Don Wiviott, Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate:
"Steve Pearce faced a choice before today’s vote: New Mexico's children or President Bush. Once again, he chose President Bush to the detriment of our state. He has become a reliable rubberstamp for this White House, instead of a champion for the people he is supposed to represent.

"No matter what excuses the Congressman tries to make for his vote, he can't change the facts. With one vote, he has denied millions of children - thousands of them in New Mexico - an opportunity to receive the health care they need and deserve. Even in the face of such obstruction, it is my hope that the Democratic leadership in Congress will continue to reach across the aisle for the sake of those who need health care the most. I don’t believe this should be about politics. It is about doing what is right, and standing up for New Mexico values.”

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM):
"Millions of American children lack health insurance. In our state, more than 100,000 young people are uninsured. I am extremely disappointed that the president vetoed this bill, and that the House of Representatives fell just shy of an override. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which crafted the Senate version of the bill, I will continue pressing for enactment of strong SCHIP legislation that extends health care coverage to our nation's most vulnerable citizens."

Rep. Tom Udall (D, NM-03):
"This is a sad day for millions of working American families whose children face losing their health care because President Bush continues to put politics ahead of their welfare. American taxpayers provide Congress and the president the best health care benefits in case we get sick, yet this president refuses to extend the most basic coverage for children who go without. By continuing to fuel this battle over S-CHIP legislation that a clear, bipartisan majority of the Congress and the American people support, the president has shown just how far removed his priorities are."

"What makes this discussion particularly frustrating is the shocking amount of misinformation that has been spread by opponents of S-CHIP. S-CHIP is not government-run health care; it does not provide health care for wealthy families; and, it does not give benefits to illegal immigrants. Members of Congress faced a choice between helping children and not helping children. S-CHIP opponents have spread misinformation because they don't want to talk about this choice."

Brian S. Colón, Chairman, Democratic Party of NM:
"With today's unconscionable vote, Steve Pearce helped prevent 27,900 uninsured New Mexican children, and 3.8 million children nationwide, from getting health insurance - all in the name of attempting to make an extreme ideological statement.

"However, the message that the people of New Mexico heard loud and clear today is that Steve Pearce lacks the leadership to represent them in the U.S. Senate. Once again, Pearce confirmed that he values marching in lock-step with a failed President more than the health of New Mexico's children.

"Steve Pearce and President Bush are happy to spend half-a-trillion dollars on their mismanaged War in Iraq that has no end in sight, yet they lack the compassion and wisdom to vote to ensure that millions of poor children can see a doctor if they are sick, without adding a dime to Bush's record deficits.

"This cruel action ignores the wishes of 43 of our nation's governors, as well as bipartisan majorities in Congress, and 8 in 10 Americans. This vote therefore firmly places Steve Pearce in the ideological extreme of our state, and confirms that his values are vastly different from the mainstream of the people of New Mexico."

Pulling Out All the Stops: Rep. Pete Stark (D, CA-13):
The harshest criticism of Bush's veto came before the vote, on the House floor, by California's Congressman Pete Stark:

"First of all, I'm just amazed they can't figure out, the Republicans are worried we can't pay for insuring an additional 10 million children.  They sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq.  Where ya gonna get that money?  You going to tell us lies like you're telling us today?  Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement.  This bill would provide healthcare for 10 million children and unlike the President's own kids, these children can't see a doctor or receive necessary care.
[...]
"But President Bush's statements about children's health shouldn't be taken any more seriously than his lies about the war in Iraq.  The truth is that Bush just likes to blow things up.  In Iraq, in the United States and in Congress."