Balkanizer

Senator Munoz from Gallup, NM is a Balkanizer in my view.  He wants to gut the Rail Runner that serves the Middle Rio Grande and Santa Fe Communities because his constituents don't use it.  That is true.  They don't use it.  But they do use our airport quite a bit, so any one from his district should pay $100 to use the Albuquerque Airport.  And anyone from McKinley county who uses our CNM educational facilities should pay $1,000 extra to attend this great campus that Beralillo County pays for, mostly.  And then if they want to use the UNMH medical facility, maybe the Munoz constituents should pay extra for that because we pay extra property taxes for that too!  And then we could place the Albuquerque Zoo, Biological Park, Botanical Gardens and Isotopes Stadium off limits too, unless they pay extra.

The point is that this kind of moronic parochialism would never end.  It would carve us up into little city states of legislative districts where there is no common and binding institutions.  Munoz is the kind of politico that would lead a charge to disassemble our infrastructure for his own petty political career.  It is very sad.

Steve Pearce...Read This

I am recovering from the wedding in Wyoming this weekend.  What a great place it is at the Grand Tetons.  It reminds us about what is so special in the west, and yet our politicos on the right would drill every square foot.  So, they might want to read this poll, done by republicans, to figure out where they need to follow the people.

Dead Elk Memorial in Jackson Hole and a Moose

One last evening Jackson Hole.  This was fun.

Skiing Honeymoon

Noelle and Luke at the Teton Village Ski Slopes.

The Wedding

The Setting.  Grand Tetons.

0 degrees...really....they lasted a few minutes without coats.  Luke and Noelle had their day in paradise.  Lots of snow and moose and elk...pics of them later.

The Parents

Bobbi, Sue, Don and Jim

The Vows

Married!

The Cake after a magnificent meal at 9500 feet elevation.

A Fun Weekend

Bobbi and I will be taking off for a three day weekend in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the marriage of our daughter Noelle Alexandra Baca to Luke Currell of Minneapolis, Mn. (Click here to see a quickie movie of our little girl growing up.)

Noelle and Luke had planned a big wedding next May in Colorado but decided a couple of weeks ago that it wasn't worth the stress or money.  They are so smart.  So they are getting a check from us instead of it going to the wedding planner and they will be married at the top of the ski slope Friday evening. Then a nice dinner with not to much to drink at 9,500 feet altitude.   Luke's mom and dad will be there, Sue and Don, along with Luke and Noelles' friends from Fort Collins, Colorado where they have taken up residence, bought a home, work good jobs, and do their heavy outdoor athletic thing.

I should have some pictures and movies posted on Saturday assuming the snow doesn't stop us from getting into the airport.

Caste System

Are we creating a caste system in which former or current public employees are looked down upon as 'untouchables'?   The latest evidence is that of former exempt employees of Governor Richardson being denied unemployment benefits.  The Martinez administration is seeing to it that the wives and children of those former public servants are being made to suffer in her prosecutor's 'revenge' state of mind.  I know some of these people and they are struggling mightily.  No safety net for them!  It is very sad.

And then if you are a public employee you should not get paid your salary if you serve in the legislature.  I can see room for debate on this matter, but if it is good for public employees then it should be good for all of the other legislators to not be paid by their employers too.  Especially those involved in the oil and gas industry and other powerful lobbies in Santa Fe.  Even the self employed should be made to live on $150 a day per diem in Santa Fe.  That is not much money in the state capitol where food and lodging is very expensive.

These public employees are your neighbors, family members, and friends and yet they are being relegated to a second class citizenship by a continuing hate campaign by the right wing.  It is sickening to our democracy.  Who would be next?

An Interesting Read

This is an excellent essay and pretty much represents my views.  Just so you know!

Misc.

There is a lot of finger pointing going on about settling of police misconduct law suits against the city of Albuquerque. Former Mayor Marty Chavez  would not settle lawsuits which was a risky business because runaway juries could end up giving huge awards that would cripple the city's self insurance fund.  Now Mayor Berry is faced with settling a lot of cases that have occurred during his watch.  Many of them from police fatal shootings that were unnecessary.  But, should Mayor Berry get the blame?  He inherited more than a few officers that were recruited willy nilly during the Chavez administration in his effort to bring the police force up to an arbitrary number that he called for in his mayoral campaigns.  Some times less than desirable officer candidates were brought in to meet that number.  Couple that up with the US Marine style academy training and problems were inevitable.

The Albuquerque Journal, which arrived on my driveway and turned into paper pulp in the rain today, is now advertising on its own pages.  In an ad designed to get political advertising it touts the number of democrats and republicans who read its editions on weekdays and Sundays.  There were a lot more democrats than republicans that read the paper and yet the editor still insists on a lopsided editorial page that caters to right wing ideologies.

The New York Times did arrive in a nice plastic bag with out even a drop on it.  I do have to say though that our Journal carrier is a very efficient and punctual person and that this rarely happens.  I read the online version today.  In a way it is easier because I can make the fonts easily readable.

Silver Lining

Perhaps there is one silver lining in the current 'Punch and Judy' republican campaign for the Presidential nomination.  Just maybe there is some insight occurring in the American public's mind about the ability of corporate America to violently fund super pacs favoring one candidate or another.  The right wing led Supreme Court decision that created this situation is a democracy killer in my eyes.  No matter if the left or right uses it.  It all stinks.

If you talk with younger politicos these days who serve in congress you will find out they have no life.  Their days are spent on the phone raising money and kowtowing to business group's pacs.  They are miserable and their efforts are not spent on examining policy or legislation.  They are full time on the money chase.  So it would be great to see some of them, like Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, team up with other sane politicos of their own party and the other side of the aisle to try and pass a constitutional amendment to fix this corrupt system of the rich running everything.  The President should start weighing in on this too.  Big time.

Strangled

It is really quite evident that New Mexico has put many of its eggs into one basket.  That would be the oil and gas industry mainly.  Every time there is a move in the price of natural gas the State's Revenues are overly affected.  During high prices we get a glut of money that the Governors and Legislators spend freely.  During times of falling prices the budget shrivels up like a prune and the ones that get  hardest hit are the poor and education.

The other big revenue source for our state is spending by the federal government on military, research and general federal programs.  That is now under constant attack by the current Governor's right wing handlers.  The budget cutting they want the feds to undertake will devastate New Mexico.

One thing that Bill Richardson did was try to diversify our revenue sources by attracting new industry.  The Space Port and Film Industry got tax breaks but in the long run will pay dividends.   I think Governor Martinez's softening of attacks on these two efforts shows she at least is beginning to understand their value.

The really bad situation here is the effective money laundering into the Super Pacs by  the oil and gas boys that seeks to feather their beds even more.  You don't see that kind of effort and political capital being expended on protecting New Mexico's federal revenues.  Too bad.  It will hurt us greatly in the future.

Misc.

The question is will President Obama now sit and do nothing while the oil and gas industry spends tens of millions of dollars to crucify him for his right minded decision on the Keystone Pipe Line that would bring dirty tar sand oil from Canada to Houston, Texas?  This is the behavior that makes me think Obama lacks any spirit for political combat.  His deer in the headlight approach just doesn't work for me and many of the folks who voted for him in 2008.  Yes, I will vote for him again because there is no choice, but I am not sure all those independents who wanted change will do so.  I for one don't think there is anything wrong with criticizing the President as some of my commenters believe.  That kind of criticism finally caused him to get real about the pipeline decision.

The Bureau of Land Management is unleveling the playing field again.  They are raising fees for citizens visiting some of our great landscapes and monuments while still charging less than ten years ago to the livestock industry for their grazing rights on publicly owned land.  I don't have a problem with them raising fees for visitation if it is put back into protecting these places, but how is it they look the other way on the continued abuses of our watersheds and deserts by the ranching industry.  Many ranchers are very responsible, but when the bad ones act up nothing happens for years.  It drives me crazy.  And the subsidies generated by outrageously generous grazing fees is ridiculous. The GAO in 2009 reported that Feds spend $144 million a year managing that live stock grazing.  The fees that are charged are only around $21 million.

I see the Governor has sat down to chat with the catholic bishops and clergy.  I wonder if she would do that with a group of muslims, hare krishnas or atheists.