Democracy for New Mexico

TODAY, CHENEY THE CHESHIRE FAT CAT IN REP. WILSON’S WONDERLAND

From the Democratic Party of NM:
[Albuquerque, NM] – Vice President Dick Cheney is in town today to reward Rep. Heather Wilson’s flip-flopping with some big fat checks from his fat cat friends.  At a $1,000 per plate luncheon, Cheney is playing the Cheshire cat* in Wilson’s Wonderland – a place where the real world’s worries are whisked away with nary a whisper.

“In Wilson’s Wonderland, her policies are as vexing to her constituents as the tendencies of Cheney the Cheshire Fat Cat.  But we are the ones caught in a bad dream.  I can only presume that Wilson is serving up her trademark waffles at today’s luncheon,” said John Wertheim, Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

In Wilson’s Wonderland gas prices are cheap, Social Security urgently requires benefit cuts and privatization, the ethical scandals of House Republican Leader Tom Delay do not demean the entire Congress as an institution, and Medicaid cuts will benefit the 400,000 people in New Mexico who depend on them.

But if Wilson’s constituents want to wake up from this nightmare that Rep. Wilson helped the Republican leadership to created, they must  do more than wake up; they must speak up and vote her out of office next November.

In Wilson’s Worriless Wonderland, her waffles come in many, many varieties.

Medicaid: Wilson voted in favor of an extra $20 million in cuts to the Medicaid program in Bush’s budget.  Wilson made a big deal of a letter she wrote opposing the cuts (after she voted for them).  The House then voted overwhelmingly to instruct budget conferees not to include Medicaid budget cuts in the final resolution.  But the budget resolution Wilson supported commands cuts of $10 billion or more from Medicaid.

Social Security: Wilson has supported privatization, and opposed privatization, and now she just pretends privatization isn’t a problem.  However, Wilson supported the Bush Budget, which raids the Social Security Trust Fund of more than $1.1 trillion over the next five years. 

Ethics: After voting in favor of Tom Delay's bid to deadlock the House Ethics Committee in January, Wilson caved under public pressure and switched her vote - but only after Delay gave her permission to do so.  [H. Res. 240, Roll Call 145, 4/27/05]

*The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat appearing in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It appears and disappears at will, engaging Alice in amusing but sometimes vexing conversation. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_cat] 

Senator Lopez Sheds Light on Repub Distortions

Today's Albuquerque Journal contains a guest column by Senator Linda Lopez  that provides a compelling rebuttal to Republican Party Chair Allen Weh's recent distorted letter to the editor on the election reform bill that passed the NM Legislature this year.

Senator Lopez, you nailed it! Click to the continuation page to read her commentary.

Bipartisan Effort Led to N.M. Election Reform
By Sen. Linda M. Lopez
Albuquerque Democrat

New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Allen Weh's commentary regarding the new election reform law is a mixture of misstatements and inaccuracies that would be amusing if not for the disservice he is perpetuating on the public.

Weh's statement about the need to "focus the light of truth" is the epitome of hypocrisy in a letter rife with duplicity. Perhaps, as the prime sponsor of the election reform bill, I can focus this light of truth that seems to have eluded the chairman of the state's Republican Party.

During the last legislative session the Senate Rules Committee, which I chair, began hearings on the need for election reform. From these hearings we learned that voter fraud and election law violations are almost nonexistent. But, we did find instances where the election process did not meet the high expectations of our citizens.

While holding our hearings in the Senate, we monitored the proceedings in the House, where a much larger number of election bills, including the governor's, had been introduced and were eating up precious committee time. Shortly after the midpoint of the legislative session I thought it wise for the Senate to have its own election reform bill ready in case there was no movement on the House side.

Based on the testimony we had received during Senate committee hearings on several election related bills, and in consultation with committee members, I introduced the Senate Rules Committee Substitute for Senate Bills 678, 680, 718 and 735.

Weh now makes the outrageous claim that the bill was written by political operatives from the Governor's Office. Nothing could be further from the truth.

After all the hearings had taken place, the language in the committee substitute was hammered out in several arduous sessions between myself, Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, who was the prime sponsor of several election measures included in Senate Bill 718, and our legislative staff.

All the proposed legislation was on the table and we selected what we considered the most innovative and best common sense remedies that had been put forth by the secretary of state, the governor, the attorney general, nonpartisan citizen election reform groups, and Democratic and Republican legislators.

\The result was a well thought out bill containing meaningful voter identification provisions; a chain of custody for certificates of registration and absentee ballot applications; standardized training, policies and procedures for county clerks; requirements that voting systems have voter-verifiable and auditable paper trails; regulation of voter registration groups; expedited absentee voter ballot counting; voter registration cards mailed to every voter prior to a statewide election; updated absentee voter procedures; and, a uniform process and set of criteria for the counting of provisional, absentee and other paper ballots.

Subsequently, after several lengthy hearings, the committee substitute was passed to the House. There it received a long hearing in the House Voters and Election Committee, and an even longer hearing on the House floor, before being passed and sent to the governor for his signature.

Weh, in his commentary, further asserts that a political emissary of the governor emerged with a substitute bill on day 58 of the 60-day session. His statement is not only a complete fabrication, but also a slap in the face of all of the individuals who spent considerable time and energy pushing real election reform forward in New Mexico.

Lastly, Weh and some Republicans continue to criticize the voter identification provisions of the election reform bill.

In developing the identification requirements we were mindful of days past when poll taxes, property ownership requirements, gender, literacy tests and ballot box placement were used to subvert and harm the very foundation upon which our government is built.

The voter identification provisions in the election reform bill are designed to provide elections that are fair and honest, while not discouraging our citizens from exercising their fundamental right regardless of age, ethnicity, income level or any other demographic consideration.

I think everyone would agree, when everything is said and done, we do hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal with certain unalienable rights, and selecting the people who will run our government may be the most important right guaranteed to all of us.

ABQ Wage Hike Proposal Already Getting Flack

Even though Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich introduced a bill merely to put a hike in the minimum wage on the ballot during the mayoral election this Fall, the proposal is already getting significant negative reaction. I mean, this isn't a bill to raise the miniumum wage or ensure a Living Wage in Albuquerque -- it just puts a minimum wage proposal before the voters. If approved by voters, the minimum wage in Albuquerque would rise from $5.15 to $7.15 an hour and exempt employers with fewer than 10 employees.

From this morning's Albuquerque Journal:

Brad Winter:  Said he had cold feet but will want to hear the debate and public comment as the legislation progresses. "I think it's a federal issue and we should not be dealing with it on a local level."

Michael Cadigan: Said he favors an increase in the minimum wage but it should be handled by Congress, not on a local level. He said he's inclined to vote against putting the issue on the ballot.

Craig Loy: Said the city should not establish a local minimum wage. "One of my pursuits has been to increase wages in Albuquerque, but you can't do that by mandate. You let the market do it."

Tim Cummins has already made derogatory statements about the proposal. Eric Griego was out of town during yesterday's City Council meeting but supports the proposal. Council Vice President Miguel Gómez voiced support for the bill, while Councilor Debbie O'Malley said it's an issue worth looking at. Mayor Chavez has said it's a federal matter.

Perhaps the most hypocritical comment about the wage bill was made by my very own City Councilor, Sally Mayer, as reported in the Albuquerque Tribune:

"Making it a public referendum is ridiculous," said District 7 Councilor Mayer, who is writing her own bill that would ask Congress to re-examine the federal minimum wage. "It's the closest thing to paying people to vote."

She ought to know about such things, given her rumored close relationships with corporate development firms and her very positive voting record on any and all development, regardless of what it will to do to the community. Does that mean she supports corporations paying councilors to vote? It does beg the question, doesn't it?

Since the federal minimum wage hasn't risen since 1997, it seems highly cynical for these folks, particularly the Democrats, to say we must depend on the Congress to raise wages. As for "the market" taking care of it, I haven't seen any evidence of that. Housing, energy, healthcare and other costs continue to escalate while middle and working class wages stagnate. As jobs are increasingly sent overseas to China and Thirld World countries, it seems obvious the "market" is experiencing a race to the bottom in terms of wages.

The Economic Policy Institute has a wealth of information about the minimum wage, including Congressional testimony that demonstrates raises in its rates do not hurt small businesses. Of course Republicans and some Democrats continue to insist that it does, despite proof to the contrary. I think they should be required to provide some documentation for this much ballyhooed excuse. More than 100 cities and towns across America, including Santa Fe, have instituted some form of Living Wage in their communities. Why not Albuquerque?

If you agree, get involved. Check out Albuquerque Living Wage.org or Albuquerque ACORN.

This Thursday's DFA-DFNM Meetup will feature a presentation by Matt Henderson of ACORN on their Living Wage Project. If members agree, DFNM plans to make the Living Wage effort an important focus of our activism in the coming months.

The "Albuquerque Fair Wage Initiative" is scheduled to be voted upon by the Albuquerque City Council on May 16. Click to on this issue.

By the way, the Democratic Party of New Mexico officially supports legislation to achieve a Living Wage for all in the state, according to the Living Wage Resolution that passed unanimously at this month's State Central Committe meeting of the DPNM. If only our Democratic elected officials would take note.

Boy Scouts Occupy Valle Vidal to Block Drilling

Read all about it at James Scarantino's Real Side blog.

Then go do something about it at the website of the Coalition for the Valle Vidal.

Heather and The Hammer

Rep. Heather Wilson has been named by the League of Conservation Voters as one of the top ten members of Congress who are financially tied to Rep. Tom DeLay and his oil interests. These companies, many of which have donated to Wilson's campaigns, are seeking to eliminate any financial liability they have in terms of MBTE pollution, a gasoline additive, in the current energy bill.

See pages 32 and 33 of the LCV report , entitled "Tom DeLay's Tainted Team: An Analysis of House Members Who Side With Tom DeLay and MBTE Special Interests Over Their Constitutents," for information exposing Heather's financial ties to DeLay and the oil industry.

Enlightening, isn't it? Pass it on.

ACTION ALERT: ABQ Living Wage Press Conference & Bill Intro

From ACORN: Living Wage Press Conference Rescheduled

City Councilor Martin Heinrich has moved the living-wage ordinance press conference to SUNDAY, May 1, at 1:00 PM, at the home of Danielle Pedrol, an ACORN member and a low-wage worker, 1012 Mary Ellen NE in Albuquerque(directions below).

ACORN, which is spearheading the drive, is also seeking low-wage workers willing to speak at the press conference and your presence.

"Speakers at the press conference will include Martin, a couple of low-wage workers, and a friendly economist.  We will then have weekly press conferences that focus on different constituencies: small business supporters, people of faith, etc.," according to an ACORN announcement.

"Following Sunday's event, we want people to come to Monday's Albuquerque City Council meeting at 5:00 PM and speak out in support of Councilor Heinrich's living wage bill during the public comment at the start of the meeting."

If you or your organization can help, please reply to nmacorn@acorn.org

(Directions to 1012 Mary Ellen NE: Take Eubank north from I-40.  After Lomas, take a right on Marble.  Mary Ellen is your first left.)

(Editor's Note: Council Meetings are held in the Vincent E. Griego Council Chambers on the basement level of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Center building, One Civic Plaza NW. All meetings begin at 5:00 PM. All meetings are open to the general public.)

Wertheim on We The People Tonight

WE THE PEOPLE - APRIL 28, 2005 -  Albuquerque Channel 27 - 7 PM

HOST:     Mickey Bock
GUEST:   John Wertheim, NM Democratic Party Chairman

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative call-in television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments. We hope to remind viewers of their legacy and heritage coming from the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution--with the Bill of Rights that gives us our FREEDOMS.

Watch us every Thursday 7-8 PM
Community Cable Channel 27
Albuquerque, NM

Call-in or e-mail us and we will try to answer your questions and concerns.

https://www.1776wethepeople.com
Contact Information - Email: mickbo@earthlink.net
Call 265-4336

Letters to Editor Needed on NM Election Reform

Does anyone want to take a stab at replying to the letter to the editor in yesterday’s ABQ Journal from the Chairman of the NM Republican Party calling the election reforms a joke? We know better. Let's help Albuquerque Journal readers learn the truth on this. Click to the continuation page for Allen Weh's distorted take on this:

Governor's Voter Reform a Joke
New Mexico attracted some national notice in 2000 when 500 votes— all for Al Gore— turned up from Doña Ana County and tipped the state from Red to Blue.

And last year the nation watched as New Mexico wrung its hands about which provisional votes should count, for days and weeks after the polls had closed. News reports that thousands of voters were suspect, and that 13-year-olds got voter ID cards in the mail, didn't do our reputation as an honest and able democracy much good either.

And as if all that were not bad enough, our two-term secretary of state squandered millions of federal dollars, meant to strengthen the election process, on ads that featured her repeating her own name for us— over and over again.

So when the 2005 Legislative Session came around, there was supposedly all this bipartisan agreement that real and meaningful reforms needed to be enacted, not the least of which was supposed to be Voter ID.

But a funny thing happened on the way to adjournment. On day 58 of the 60-day session, an emissary of the governor named Eli Il Yong Lee, who runs a far left political consulting operation called Soltari, emerged with a substitute bill for the consideration of the Legislature.

This election reform bill was such a railroad job, the House Voters and Elections Committee chairman himself had to get permission to bring an "expert witness" onto the floor to help him with it. That expert? None other than campaign consultant Lee. Talk about putting a fox in charge of the henhouse.

You can forget about meaningful Voter ID at the polls with this new law. The specification for bona-fide government-issued ID is gone. Also stuffed into this bogus bill is a provision that allows for a suspension of Voter ID requirements altogether if it is decided that asking for ID is holding things up.

But there's more tucked into this 80-page plus gem that just about nobody got a chance to read before having to vote on it, and which was evidently written from the governor's office by political operatives. Anyone who failed to show ID at the polls and had to therefore cast a provisional ballot, can now show up days after the election and produce ID before the election canvass.

Clearly, New Mexico needs good election reform. And just as clearly, we took one step forward last month and two steps back with the worst kind of smoke-filled-room lawmaking.

And where were the advocates of open government and honest elections when we needed them? Unfortunately, most the veteran New Mexico journalists who could have focused the light of truth and held Santa Fe to a higher standard are now on the Richardson payroll.

ALLEN WEH, chairman
Republican Party Of New Mexico
Albuquerque

Albuquerque Citizens Respond to "Justice Sunday," and Form Group to Combat Misuse of Religion

From Eric Elison:

Ecumenical Voices for Democracy Announces Its Formation

Events, which include the 2004 Presidential election, the Terry Schiavo case, Family Research Council’s “Justice Sunday,” and the intolerance exhibited by Kansas-based,  Rev. Fred Phelps, have convinced some New Mexico citizens of the need to take action. Today concerned Albuquerque citizens are announcing the formation of a non-profit group called Ecumenical Voices for Democracy.

The group has membership from varied walks of life, religious and political persuasions. Retired Ministers, High Tech Executives, Homemakers, and Small Business Owners, Catholics, Protestants,  Jews, Unitarians, and Agnostics make up its ranks.  The group is applying for non-profit status, and plans to hold a series of moderated panel discussions throughout the year. Group organizers have met and agreed on a Mission for their new group.

Retired Presbyterian Minister and group co-founder, Don Wales says, “It is the mission of Ecumenical Voices for Democracy to combat the misuse of Religion by encouraging a conversation that reflects Constitutional Values, promoting Human Worth, Individual Liberty and the Common Good.”

• The group’s strategy will be to use interpersonal communications and public forums to engender a civil discourse on religion and politics.

• Citizen’s interested in joining Ecumenical Voices for Democracy are encouraged to contact Tom Solomon at 856-1244, TASolomon@earthlink.net or Eric Elison at 271-0271, ericelison@comcast.net.

• The group is also establishing a website at www.Evoices.org.   

Contact: Eric Elison
Ecumenical Voices for Democracy
Phone 505-271-0271
5408 Camino Arbustos, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87111
www.Evoices.org

(Editor's Note: This afternoon's Albuquerque Tribune is scheduled to have a story on this written by reporter Joline Gutierrez-Kruger, with a follow-up next week.)

GOP Endorses Chavez for Mayor

That's what James Scarantino is saying over on his Real Side blog.

What do you think?