Democracy for New Mexico

ACTION ALERT: Help Fight Navajo DOMA

From Equality NM:
Please help the Navajos fight a DOMA (so-called Defense of Marriage Act)! They need as many signatures as they can gather by Tuesday night, May 17th. The Navajo Nation Council meets in a Special Session on May 18th to override the President of the Navajo Nation's veto of the Dine Marriage Act of 2005 legislation that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Click here to sign the petition and forward as widely as possible. Also click to read the text of the petition.

Thanks for your help with this important work.

Bolton Nom Passes Committee But Bingaman to Vote No on Senate Floor

GREAT NEWS!

From Terry Brunner, State Director, Senator Jeff Bingaman's office:

Senator Bingaman will vote against John Bolton’s nomination when it comes to the floor.
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If you'd like to express your thanks to Senator Bingaman's Albuquerque staff, call (505) 346-6601.
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Note: Bolton's nomination passed the Senatre Foreign Relations Committee, but without a recommendation:

A divided Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday sent the nomination of John Bolton to be United Nations ambassador to the full Senate for an up-or-down vote. But it took the rare step of withholding any recommendation of its own.

The move kept the contentious nomination alive, leaving its fate in the hands of the GOP-run Senate. But the withholding of a committee endorsement was a slap at the president in one of the first big battles of his second term.

The panel acted after a critical Republican member, Sen. George Voinovich, voiced opposition to the nomination, calling Bolton arrogant and bullying. But Voinovich broke an committee impasse by agreeing to let the full Senate vote rather than joining Democrats in a committee vote to block the nomination.

All 10 Republicans voted to send the nomination to the floor and all eight Democrats voted no. Democrats vowed to try to defeat or block the nomination on the floor.

Click to read the entire article.

Show Up to Support Hike in Minimum Wage in Albuquerque

From Albuquerque Living Wage:
Come testify to the City Council, on Monday, May 16, about Albuquerque's need for a minimum wage hike to $7.15. You must sign up to testify in the Council chambers before 5:30.

The chambers are in the basement of the City/County building, on the northwest corner of Civic Plaza, off of 5th & Marquette.

The Council needs to hear from you! Whether you own a Living Wage business, earn less than $7.15, or just believe it is the right thing to let the voters decide this issue in October, you need to speak out. Our opposition certainly will.

A huge majority of voters support the Living Wage as do many of our Councilors and economists who have studied the impact of higher minimum wage laws. The National Restaurant Association and the Chamber of Commerce, however, are masters of misinformation, so we need to counter their attack at the Council meeting with a physical presence that signifies our deep support and testimony that reflects our diversity.

Please join us.

Editor's Note: Click for more information on this issue and Martin Heinrich's bill. If you can't attend Monday's City Council Meeting, please about this issue.

Remember, the Democratic Party of New Mexico Endorses a Living Wage. On April 23, the state Democratic Party, at its State Central Committee Meeting in Socorro, approved the following resolution:

Whereas the Democratic Party is, and has always been, the party or ordinary working men and women, in recognition of this fundamental relationship, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF BERNALILLO COUNTY that the DPNM is committed to the establishment and enforcement of a living wage for all New Mexico workers.

The $10,000 Challenge for Equality

From Equality New Mexico:
I have wonderful news.  A group of Equality New Mexico supporters got together to offer a special challenge.  If we can raise $10,000 within the week (by May 17th, the first-year anniversary of the Massachusetts marriages), they will donate an additional $10,000 to launch Marriage is a Civil Right, EQNM's year-long education campaign for same-sex marriage rights.

We are asking our friends, families, neighbors, and colleagues to make a special effort to help us meet this target.  If you haven't had a chance to give this year, or if you are able to make an additional donation to us at this time, your financial contribution could be the gift that helps us qualify for the matching funds.  You can track our progress meeting the challenge on EQNM's website, www.eqnm.org. 

To make a secure credit card donation that will help meet this challenge, please use this special link created to record challenge donations:

HELP US MEET OUR MATCH HERE!

For this challenge, pledges or recurring donations will be counted at the full value of one year's total pledge (but you can always cancel a recurring donation at any time).  To pledge a contribution as a recurring donation, please email me at gregg@eqnm.org, and I will see to it that your pledge is included in the challenge totals.

Equality New Mexico understands that not everyone has the ability to give money.  Our philosophy is that everyone can help secure equality for same-sex couples: some attend a rally, some write a letter, some meet with legislators, and some give money.  All of these efforts are required for us to win.  So even if you can't give at this time, let others know and help us publicize the challenge.  We are grateful for your activism, passion, and support.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Gregg Ferran
Executive Director
Equality New Mexico / Equality New Mexico Foundation
gregg@eqnm.org
www.eqnm.org
(505) 224-2766

P.S. Please forward this to your family, friends and colleagues.  Every dollar raised will bring us closer to meeting the challenge!

CAFTA Protest in Albuquerque

Worth a look: Albuquerque blogger Johnny Mango has a couple entries on CAFTA and yesterday morning's protest at an event with El Salvador's president at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Be sure to read the Global Exchange article on the topic that's linked:

https://albloggerque.blogspot.com/2005/05/lot-of-action-on-south-valley-bike.html

https://albloggerque.blogspot.com/2005/05/paper-chains-can-be-as-real-as-iron.html

SOUND OFF: Remember the Party of the People?

Is it just me, or is anyone else put off by Governor Richardson's already large campaign fund for the 2006 governor's race? According to this morning's Albuquerque Journal, Richardson has "more than $3 million in his 2006 re-election campaign account almost a year before the candidate declaration date and before any Republican has mounted a challenge."

The article continues, "The Richardson for Governor committee raised $2,921,449 million and spent $131,085 over the past year, according to a report filed Monday with the state Bureau of Elections. The account's closing balance was $3,066,459."

What peeves me is that we frequently hear "we have no money" when we suggest that the Dems, particularly our County Parties, do something about building our Party BEFORE the next election cycle. No wonder it's so difficult to raise funds for Party activities when the big honcho at the top sucks all the bucks into his own personal coffers for a race that's way down the line.

In my opinion, this is NOT the way to rebuild the Party from the ground up after the devastating losses at so many levels over the past couple election cycles. You'd think it would be clear that the Party needs to spend bucks and time on grassroots activities and candidate development. And you'd think the top Dem in the state would be concentrating on raising funds for that instead of for his own personal goals.

I know that the State Party (with DNC funds?) has financed regional field coordinators around New Mexico and I think that's a very good thing. By all accounts the field staff is working their buns off. However, I'm sure they could always use more resources, along with the essentially broke County Parties, to really kick this effort into high gear. Instead, the dollars are going to ONE candidate who won't, in all probability, even have a serious competitor from the Republican side. Meanwhile, important work goes undone between now and the 2006 congressional election cycle. I know the Republicans aren't sitting on their behinds during this time, that's for sure.

This irks me too. According to the Journal, major contributors to Richardson include Miguel Lausell, a political and business consultant based in Puerto Rico, $25,000 and Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Bloch, real estate investors from Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., $25,000. Hmm. I wonder what they expect to get from such generous donations to a governor's race in New Mexico? We once were truly the Party of the People. What are we now? The Party of the big bucks contributors?

Personally, I hope Governor Richardson sees the light and starts putting more effort into helping the State and County Parties, as well as up and coming Democratic candidates, raise funds. If we don't build the Party as a whole, from the bottom up, we'll be in piss poor shape regardless of whether Richardson wins another term.

To my mind, almost all of our efforts at this point in time should be dedicated to Party building and finding and supporting real Democrats to run in every single race possible around the state -- not to fattening up the finances of one particular Democrat.

What do YOU think?

Barbara Wold

Santa Fe: Greg Palast Benefit for Election Reform

I already posted information about Greg Palast's Albuquerque fundraising event on May 20th. Here's the info on his Santa Fe event on May 21st:

"The State of Democracy"
A special evening with Greg Palast and Friends in Santa Fe

To benefit the critical research and legal work of Voter Action & Voter Action New Mexico.

Come hear Greg Palast and attorneys Lowell Finley and John Boyd speak about the state of voting and democracy in New Mexico, the U.S. & around the globe and find out what you can do to help fix it.

Saturday, May 21st, 2005
5:00 - 7:00 PM
at
Cloud Cliff Cafe and Art Space
1805 Second Street
Santa Fe, NM

Limited seating
Refreshments
$15.00 -Tickets at the door

Greg Palast, award winning BBC investigative journalist and NY Times best selling author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" & his investigative team are joining forces with Voter Action and Voter Action New Mexico to help find the missing votes from 2004.

Learn how New Mexico can help our country move towards more fair and accurate elections.

www.voteraction.org

For more information,
info@voteraction.org  (505)760-6794
Contributions to Voter Action New Mexico are tax deductible.

You're Invited to Social Change Committee Meeting 5/16

Empowering People Social Change Committee Meeting of the Coalition To Take Back our Government:

Next meeting will be Monday, May 16, from 6:30 to 7:45 PM at P & J, 202 Harvard SE.

                  Join us and invite friends!

The meeting discussion will be on The NM Human Needs Council and their efforts for a Housing Trust Fund for New Mexico. And a report on The Southwestern Housing Trust Fund Conference held in Albuquerque on April 10, by the Center for Community Change.

The purpose of the empowering people is to work on social changes to help people help themselves to meet their physical needs and to serve as a catalyst to build strong communities. The long term objective is to have people take an interest in public issues that affect them and all of us. Join us!

Contacts:
Maria Santelli, P & J, 268-9557, mjs1126@hotmail.com
Martha Dominguez, 275-0597, marthacd@earthlink.net
Eric Elison, 271-0271, selison22@comcast.net

RSVP NOW for ABQ Greg Palast Benefit for Election Reform

 

"The State of Democracy"

A Special Evening with Greg Palast and Friends

To benefit the critical research and legal work of Voter Action & Voter Action New Mexico.

Cosponsored by Democracy for New Mexico and New Mexico Democratic Friends.

Come hear Greg Palast and attorneys Lowell Finley and John Boyd speak about the state of voting and democracy in New Mexico, the U.S. & around the globe and, most importantly, what you can do to help fix it.

Friday, May 20st, 2005
5:00 - 7:00 PM
at
IBEW Hall
4921 Alexander Blvd. NE
(Click for map: https://tinyurl.com/7bp7u)

Limited seating
With refreshments, music and fun!
$15.00 or two for $25

Email dfnm_albq@comcast.net or selison22@comcast.net to RSVP.

Greg Palast, award winning BBC investigative journalist and NY Times best selling author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" & his investigative team are joining forces with Voter Action and Voter action New Mexico to help find the missing votes from 2004.

Learn how New Mexico can help the rest of the country towards more fair and accurate elections.

For additional information,
info@voteraction.org  (505)760 6794
www.voteraction.org

Contributions to Voter Action are tax deductible.

MOBILIZE AGAINST CAFTA TUESDAY

ACTION ALERT!!

MOBILIZE

To Oppose CAFTA

Tuesday, May 10

7:00 AM

National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 4th St SW (corner of 4th St & Bridge)

The President of El Salvador will be the guest of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce promoting Free Trade and what it offers to New Mexico.

OPPOSE free trade and the damage it does to labor, the environment, and democracy in the US, Central America and the Dominican Republic.

Show Up!  Bring Signs!  Shout Out!

NO TO CAFTA!

For more information, contact 232-3100 or michael@econjustice.net

Click to download a flyer on this event in English or in Spanish:

Download MOBILIZE.doc

Click for more information on CAFTA.