Santa Fe

I spent the day in Santa Fe yesterday taking care of some state business and stopping by a news conference for people supporting Barrack Obama for President. The trip to Santa Fe and back is becoming almost unbearable and dangerous. My brother said there was a bad wreck on La Bajada yesterday morning and on my way back in the afternoon the State Police were cleaning up wreckage from a fatal accident near Sandia Pueblo. That closed northbound I-25 for hours. That train up to Santa Fe looks better and better every day. I ran into Lawrence Rael yesterday, he is head of the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments, and he says the train will start running at the end of the year. I hope so.

The Capitol building was mobbed yesterday. Lobbyists, including Archbishop Sheehan(I wonder if he has to register as an agent of the Church?), senior citizens, high school groups, veterans and tourists were taking up every square foot of the place. The only peaceful places were in the House and Senate Chambers. I wish they would work on campaign financing reform. The cause for public financing of campaigns is probably lost because so many legislators fear it would cause people to run for office who had no access to big money. That means opposition. I watched one interesting talk by a Senator who was listing the gifts he had received that day. He was sarcastically listing the bag of peanuts, toy windmills, and other trinkets that show up on Legislators desks. I think the message was that some ethics bills were going to far.

Of course outside the Capitol there was no place to park. Another good reason for the train stopping nearby.