Democracy for New Mexico

RSVP for Children's Cabinet Town Hall on Building NM's Workforce

From :
As chair of the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet, I want to hear from YOU. Please join us, along with youths, business leaders, educators, and community groups at the Children’s Cabinet Career Cluster Initiative Town Hall on Monday, June 30th, from 9 AM to 3 PM. This is an AmericaSpeaks 21st Century Town Meeting and will take place at the Hilton Albuquerque Hotel located at 1901 University Blvd. NE.  Breakfast, lunch, and parking will be provided.

We will be developing a long-term plan for building a more powerful workforce in New Mexico. You can contribute recommendations that the Children’s Cabinet will consider over the next 6 months and into the January legislative session on how to strengthen New Mexico’s workforce. The Town Hall will use technology to meld small-group discussions into large-group priorities. Key constituencies will join forces to build a more powerful workforce in New Mexico and the focus of the day is your input.

The goals of the Town Hall are:

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More on Bingaman and FISA

I posted about Sen. Jeff Bingaman's vote for cloture on the FISA bill yesterday, and received a response from the Senator's staff providing an explanation of the vote. According to State Director Terry Brunner, Sen. Bingaman "believes it is reasonable to debate the bill to allow it to be altered." In that vein, Sen. Bingaman has drafted an amendment to the bill -- designed to fix problems with the telecom immunity provisions -- that's currently being circulated in the Senate to garner co-sponsors.

A number of watchdog groups have signed onto a letter (doc) describing Bingaman's amendment and urging Senators to support it, including the ACLU, People for the American Way, Constitution Project, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The amendment "would delay the effective date of the immunity provisions in Title II of the FISA Amendments Act, H.R. 6304, until ninety days after an Inspectors’ General report on the President’s warrantless surveillance program and related surveillance activities is submitted to Congress."

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NM-Sen: 21st Century Democrats Endorses Udall

Yesterday, 21st Century Democrats endorsed nine "progressive leaders" including Rep. Tom Udall, who's running for Senate in New Mexico. According to their email, Udall and the others "represent a cross section of Americans who are dedicated to putting our country back on the right track."

21st Century Democrats is seeking donations to help them place what they call "highly trained grassroots organizers" in the field for the nine candidates. Every dollar they raise before the 4th of July will be matched by one of their longtime supporters -- doubling the number of organizers they can put on the ground. The nine candidates:

• Tom Udall - US Senate, New Mexico
• John Adler - US Congress, New Jersey
• Gary Peters - US Congress, Michigan
• Suzanne Kosmas - US Congress, Florida
• Larry Kissell - US Congress, North Carolina
• Hannah-Beth Jackson - State Senate, California
• Michael Calderin - State House, Florida
• Anton Gunn - State House, South Carolina
• Summer Starr - State House, Hawaii

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(Updated) Bingaman Votes for Cloture on FISA

UPDATE: Also see my later post on this that includes a response from Sen. Bingaman's staff.
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Given Sen. Jeff Bingaman's recent cave-in on offshore drilling, I'm not surprised he's again taking what he apparently believes is the politically easy way out on the surveillance state. Even so, I'm still disappointed that Bingaman voted yesterday evening for cloture on the so-called FISA "compromise" bill that was passed previously by the U.S. House.

The cloture measure passed with 80 Senators voting yes, 15 voting no and 5 abstaining or absent. A total of 31 Democratic Senators and 48 Republican Senators and Joseph Lieberman voted for cloture on the Motion to Proceed with the FISA bill. The list of Dems with spines and a genuine respect for the U.S. Constitution, its Amendments and accountabilty for lawbreaking is short indeed:

NAYs ---15
Biden (D-DE) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Cantwell (D-WA) Dodd (D-CT)	Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Harkin (D-IA) Kerry (D-MA) Lautenberg (D-NJ)	Leahy (D-VT) Menendez (D-NJ) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Wyden (D-OR)

Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain didn't believe the vote was important enough to show up and take a stand:

Not Voting - 5
Byrd (D-WV) Clinton (D-NY)	Kennedy (D-MA) McCain (R-AZ)	Obama (D-IL)

Continue reading "(Updated) Bingaman Votes for Cloture on FISA"

Tom Udall Votes Against NM National Lab Cuts

Rep. Tom Uall (NM-03) was the sole nay vote yesterday against a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water FY09 budget proposal that includes spending cuts related to nuclear weapons for New Mexico's two national labs.

Provisions in the bill would reportedly eliminate about $145.3 million in funding for a billion dollar plutonium pit production program at Los Alamos National Labs and effectively shut down the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead project. It also cuts about $100 million in construction funds -- mostly for LANL's Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) project, which is already being built. The new CMMR building is designed to replace several aging strucures involved in nuclear materials research. The measure would also reduce spending related to nuclear weapons at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque.

Udall released a statement explaining his vote and stressing that he believes the labs need to look to the future and expand their mission beyond a Cold War focus. Excerpt:

“For more than a year, I have worked extensively with our labs to encourage growth in new areas of research as a way to ensure their long-term viability and to move towards the future. In addition to their indispensible role maintaining our essential nuclear arsenal, I believe the labs’ work should grow in the areas of nuclear nonproliferation, homeland security, counterterrorism, intelligence analysis and expanded energy research. We also must provide adequate funding for the cleanup of hazardous legacy waste from the labs.

“By collaborating with the lab leadership and the NNSA, I believe my goals of diversifying the labs and growing them in new areas are beginning to be realized. But there are still obstacles in our path.

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Obama Names Adrian Saenz as NM Campaign Director

A press release today from the Obama campaign announced that Adrian Saenz, who was Obama's state director for the Texas primary and caucuses, will lead the New Mexico campaign. Saenz recently served as Chief of Staff for Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D,TX-23) and was previously the Press Secretary for Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D, TX-20).

NM-Sen: New Udall Ad Stresses Looking Out for New Mexico Interests

Tom Udall, running for U.S. Senate in New Mexico, launched a new TV ad today called "Desert." It points out how many in Washington view New Mexico as "nothing but desert" and don't think about our people or jobs. Udall then explains that he's been an advocate for preserving Cannon Air Force Base and expanding the mission of Los Alamos National Labs to counter-terrorism and energy research so that the Labs will continue to prosper. The ad ends with Udall saying, "We have to do what's right for New Mexico."

In a press release, Udall Campaign Manager Amanda Cooper said, “Tom Udall has fought to protect New Mexico’s economy, job base and families. He successfully defended Cannon Air Force Base when the BRAC Commission targeted it for closure. And Tom Udall has fought tirelessly for the future of LANL by working with the lab to encourage growth in new areas of research such as nuclear nonproliferation, homeland security, counter terrorism, and intelligence analysis to ensure their long-term viability and to move towards the future.”

Udall's previous ad, Crush, about the ways in which the Bush economy is crushing ordinary people, has become something of a hit on YouTube, with almost 2500 viewings. That's a lot for a Senate race video. You can see all of Udall's TV ads and campaign videos here.

Other recent Udall news:

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DFA Campaign Academy Draws Praise; Plus New DFA Nightschool Session Tonight on Getting a Campaign Job

NM-03 candidate Ben Ray Lujan, DPNM Chair Brian Colon

See more photos from this event at Flickr.

DFA Chair Jim Dean, NM-01 candidate Martin Heinrich, Jon Blair

Democracy for America's intensive, two-day Campaign Academy held at the UNM Law School in Albuquerque this past weekend was received enthusiastically by everyone I spoke with. Don't take my word for it -- read what two participants in the weekend training have to say about the experience. Check out posts about the Academy by Matt Reichbach and .

Martin Heinrich (NM-01), DFA Chair Jim Dean, Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03)

DFA trainers Matt Blizek, Jennifer Coken and Michael Cook presented the bulk of the material, with Allan Oliver of Governor Richardson's office and Joe Casados of the Democratic Party of New Mexico providing specialized instruction in communications and the Party's VoterBuilder file. The Campaign Academy included lecture presentations as well as small, hands-on breakout sessions, and was jam-packed with info useful to anyone involved in progressive politics. The workbook handout alone was worth the (very reasonable) price of admission.

Michael Cook conducts breakout session

On Saturday, Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Brian Colon welcomed the attendees to kick off the weekend. We were also delighted to have DFA Chairman Jim Dean in attendance to remind everyone how critical New Mexico will be on November 4th and, most importantly, how dedicated we need to be to grassroots activism if we want to help create a True Blue New Mexico.

Continue reading "DFA Campaign Academy Draws Praise; Plus New DFA Nightschool Session Tonight on Getting a Campaign Job"

Check Out Encouraging Report on ABQ "Green" Businesses

Great news about green businesses in Albuquerque today, and opportunities for an abundance of green jobs in the future. Now if the old economy politicos and officeholders would just wake up and smell the green, we might start moving energetically into the new economy that will dominate the 21st century. Stop the push to drill in ANWR and offshore and start the innovating -- and pass the legislature we need to encourage and nurture it.

The non-profit groups New Mexico Youth Organized and the 1 Sky New Mexico Campaign today announced the release of a new report that details great potential for emerging “green” businesses in the Albuquerque area. According to the announcement, the Albuquerque Green Sectors report, which was commissioned by NMYO & 1Sky NM, suggests the possibility of huge growth in such green job sectors as construction, manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical services throughout the Albuquerque area.

The Albuquerque Green Sectors report provides valuable analysis that will be utilized immediately. New Mexico Youth Organized has worked with the Albuquerque City Council to introduce legislation creating green jobs training through local workforce development institutions.

“This report shows that if we don’t prepare for the ‘green’ wave, Albuquerque and New Mexico will be left behind,” said Keegan King, director of NMYO. “Our City has the potential to lead the country in ‘green’ manufacturing and ‘green’ technology development but only with investment and a workforce to support it.”

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NM-01: Heinrich #5 in ActBlue Fundraising Last Week; 2Q Deadline 6.30

Martin with DFA Chair Jim Dean at Saturday's DFA Training Academy

Read all about it. Then add your donation, whether small or large, to make sure Martin Heinrich has the resources necessary to kick off his general election campaign against Bush-clone Darren White. Heinrich is trying to "fill the balloon" with donations to reach a goal of $35,000 before the June 30th FEC end-of-quarter financial report is due. Reminder: If you donate now, whether at True Blue New Mexico or the campaign website, you'll be entered in a drawing to win a hike with Martin on one of his favorite trails here in New Mexico. Very cool. Can't donate? Think about volunteering for the campaign, where there's lots of work to be done. Give 'em a call at (505) 244-0022 in Albuquerque.

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