The Oil Boys

I don't think there is much doubt now that the republican party in New Mexico is actually just a subsidiary of the oil and gas industry. In terms of resources the oil boys, and especially the Yates Petroleum Company, are bankrolling the GOP here.  Yes, I know organized labor is financing the Democrats, but no where near the dollar amounts that energy producers are sending to the elephant crowd.

But there is a little more here than meets the eye.  I noticed that the Potash industry has given a $12,500 donation to Lt. Governor Diane Denish's campaign.  Why?  Probably because for years the oil boys have wanted to drill near the potash mines in Eddy county.  They  have been trying to get approvals for this since I was Land Commissioner in the early 80's.  I wouldn't do it because it could endanger the miners if methane gas escaped from the drilling into the mines.  And I hear that the oil and gas industry once again wants into those mining areas.  It would be a bad move to approve this on a lot of levels, especially mine safety, but also from the standpoint that potash is a valuable resource that should not be endangered.

Some Advice

The Governor, Judges, Public Defenders, County Commissioners, District Attorneys and Mayors of New Mexico have a great opportunity to do something for all of us.  With the revelation of a guy running free after 125 arrests maybe the Chief elected officers of local and state governments might want to take this opportunity to look at exactly, and I do mean exactly,  how this situation came about and who had a role in it.  And then, start making people accountable for allowing these kinds of things to happen.

I mean, how does a guy who gets arrested 125 times remain free?  Even if it is just for spitting on the sidewalk?  125 times.  And he is free again.  Shouldn't he just be chained to a post?  Or drag around a 50lb iron ball?  I know, as a liberal I shouldn't say such things, but frankly this guy and others like him are preying on all political persuasions.

So, the Governor should contact the Municipal League (the mayors) and the Association of Counties (the County Commissions) and others and say, "What do you think?  Shall we all get together and find out what is wrong with the system and fix it.  It might not even be that difficult."

I think the Governor could be a hero along with the Mayors if they take this effort on.

Indecision Finished

Well, I finally bought a car.  A Toyota Highlander 4WD.  Why?  Because I have a project coming up that I will need it for.  It is an ambitious undertaking that will take me a couple of years at least and I need a car that can go off road and has storage space.  The MPG isn't great but Bobbi is making up for that when she gets her Prius in a few days.  How is that for rationalization?  On my part!

Speaking of rationality, I have decided that the TEA party people, educated as they are, just really aren't rational.  There is nothing we can do about it except hope that their bizarre behavior doesn't turn violent.  As Hilary Clinton reminded us yesterday it was this same kind of irrational behavior that brought us to the Oklahoma federal building bombing.

Bewildered

So the Tea Party folks are rallying today against taxes.  Nothing wrong with that.  But I am truly bewildered by them when you look at the fact that they far outstrip the population in general when it comes to getting social security benefits.  I guess they think that money that funds social security benefits comes from God and not from taxes.  And these people generally have a better education than most Americans.  But maybe they never took a logic class.  Certainly, Social Security is the biggest user of tax money but what would happen to these folks if we just stopped those benefits?  Do you think they might be upset?

Intel

The big business news today is how well Intel is doing on its revenues.  That is good for Albuquerque/Rio Rancho.  It is also good for my daughter Noelle, age 25, who works for Intel in Chandler, Arizona.  She is a revenue analyst.  She is attending a two day conference in Santa Clara, California and got to have her picture taken with Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel.  Now, about that promotion Mr. Otellini!

Actually, there were others in the picture but I cropped them out.

Finance Reports

The candidates for this years primary election had to file their financial reports yesterday.  Most news outlets reported on the Governor's races and Lt. Governor races but not the rest of the contests.  One that was left out was the race for State Land Commissioner.  As I write this one thing is still obvious.  The special interests who run the land office under Commissioner Pat Lyons are now throwing their money at various other candidates.  Ranchers and oil field interests still control this race from a financial aspect.  This is their last time around as special interest financing of campaigns will become tougher in the next set of elections in 2014.

As of this writing not all of the candidates reports have been posted, but the biggest fund raiser right now is democrat Sandy Jones.  I have always felt he has a good shot at this if he doesn't let big oil run his life.

I have always liked republican Doug Turner as a person.  But yesterday he got on the big oil and coal band wagon by filing a court action against a carbon cap and trade policy from Governor Richardson.  Just like yesterday, I will again recommend that everyone read Paul Krugman's article on cap and trade in the New York Times magazine.

The sad thing is this move on Turner's part has turned off a lot more people than he will ever rally to him in a republican primary for governor.  And it shows he is not wise on climate change.

You can go to this new site to see the reports.  Just put in the office your are interested in to see how the candidates did.

Misc.

I have always felt having priorities was a good thing.  Some things are more important to get done than others.  So, why do we spend so much time at UNM worrying about the basketball coach while the Mathematics and Statistics Department melts down?  Shouldn't we put more money into that pot to attract and keep talent, rather than wringing our hands over the athletic program?  Just wondering here what the priorities are.  Thanks to the Journal for doing this story.

The lead story yesterday in the Sunday Journal was about how the chimpanzees at the zoo are getting along.  Leslie Lithicum did a great job on it as usual.  But the priorities of the editors make me wonder on its placement.

Everyone should take the time to read this New York Times Magazine Article by Paul Krugman.

I need to make a final decision this week on a new car.  My friends and Bobbi always marvel at how I agonize over what to buy and this time is no different.  I have leased my last five cars, but now that I am retired I will buy one so it has to be just right and last a long time.  I think I know what I want but maybe it costs to much.  What to do.....What to do.  This has been going on for six months.

Bobbi's Tulips

Bobbi's Tulips are great this  year.  Maybe the cold winter helped.  Who knows.  I sure don't study Tulips but I do like them.

Fray Angelico

My uncle, Jaime Baca, called me Friday and asked if I could drive him to Santa Fe for a symposium on New Mexico's prolific author and artist Fray Angelico Chavez.  My uncle knew him and I met him on several occasions.  He spent a lot of time in our family's home town of Pena Blanca where he painted he stations of the cross on the walls of the church using the villagers as models.

He is also well known for his 26 books and 600 short pieces of literature and history.

He was quite a man who left his Franciscan priesthood for a short time and became a full time Santa Fe bohemian until he returned to the church shortly before his death in 1996.

My sister Carlota met us at the event and gave us a tour of the new State History Museum.  I had not been there since it opened on the plaza a year ago. It is truly a world class facility and I urge everyone to visit for a day.

Duke City Finances

We had a great meeting in Boston and funded some solid environmental groups.  We have not had to cut back on our grant making during these economic times.  I think it is because of our focus and smart approach to getting real value for our expenditures.

Now as I return to Albuquerque I see that the budget crunch on city government is very real and decisions have to be made.  As a former Mayor I will put in my two bits worth.

I think there can always be waste trimmed in any government budget.  If elected officials who are in charge of the budget will look around they will find that waste and it will be easy to take care of it.  But I feel that cutting city services is not an option.  I am talking about basic services of public safety, environmental safeguards, parks and recreation and such.  That is why I would be against any permanent slashing of services that citizens have become accustomed too.  I think a furlough system for employees, much like the state is doing, is preferable to pay cuts.  This way employees will not see their long years of service being lessened when retirement comes around.  A three or four percent cut will really affect pensions and morale.

The city employees and their unions must understand that times are really hard and raising taxes to keep the status quo will not be accepted by the public taxpayers.  So the unions must approach this responsibly.  Level heads must prevail here.  This may just be a two or three year problem as there are a few signs the economy is adding jobs which means tax revenues will go up.  Since the city mainly relies on sales taxes for its revenues it will take a while for added spending to show up in city coffers.  In the meantime everyone should just be patient.

Boston

It is supposed to be 82 degrees in Boston today.  And  there is now juniper pollen around.  Good news for me for a day or so. 

Boston

The only thing that matters right now is that I will be where the Juniper pollen is not.  In Boston.  I am off to another meeting of the Wyss Foundation.  It will be an important meeting for us and I am looking forward to it.  And to the efficiency of getting oxygen into my lungs.

Blast from the Past

Rodger and Connie Beimer came over for dinner on Saturday night.  Rodger had been rummaging around in old boxes as he prepares to digitize many images and he came up with this newspaper ad from 1972.   (Notice the young Dick Knipfing.) The Albuquerque Press Club awarded Rodger and I "best news story  of the year" for coverage of  the crash of an RB-57 Air Force plane.

I was driving out of the Television station parking lot on the way to an assignment when I noticed some strange glittering flashes over the Manazno mountains.  I put the news car into the median of University Blvd. and jumped out with my Bell and Howell DR70 16mm news camera and started filming with the telephoto lens.  I wasn't sure what I was filming but it turned out to be the  break up of the aircraft in midair.  The back seat pilot had become unconscious because of oxygen deprivation and the command pilot put the plane in a severe dive to get to a lower altitude.  The aircraft, which had huge wings, broke apart.  Both officers died.  I wish I still had that film.  The USAF came out and took it for an investigation.

Misc.

So the poor students at UNM will pay for an 8% increase in tuition and fees while the football coach gets a two year extension and potential bonuses.  Add  this to the students burden of 7% interest on their loans from the lecherous bankers.  Why don't these people raise some hell?

These two simultaneous PR revelations from UNM are classic.  But not near as classic as what is going on in the Vatican's pedophile priest saga.  How could anyone be so stupid as to compare pedophilia criticism with the holocaust?  It just is something I can't fathom.

I have a book recommendation.   "The Quants" by Scott Patterson.  It is about the Math geniuses on Wall Street who brought us the latest economic disaster.  It is enlightening.  No doubt, these folks are so super smart that they scare the hell out of me.  But when they are wrong...watch out.  I told my mathematician friend Jim King he should read it.  Here is his reply..."A real mathematician, a pure mathematician, would have realized it was a waste of time and gone off to solve something really hard that nobody could use for at least a hundred years.  Applied mathematicians aren’t much better than physicists."      

Invasion

Someone with my name owes money.  I am getting called by every two bit collection agency in town and being interrogated about my real identity and my life history up to this point.  Halfway through the questions I use a profanity involving a deity I don't believe in and  hang up on them.  The only one who didn't give up was the University Hospital who kept calling until I got really nasty.

These collectors are about as welcome as Juniper Pollen.  Did you see the count today?  1200!  Normal would be 90!  Unlike bill collectors with the wrong number you can't curse away the pollen.  If you were to look outside today in Albuquerque you might think that all the crud in the air was dust from our spring time winds.  No, I think it is all pollen from every Juniper tree between here and Pacific Ocean.

I am in a benadryl stupor at night and tired during the day from lack of oxygen.  I thought we were so smart leaving for South America for a couple of weeks and that most Juniper poison would have blown over to Texas by now.  Wishful thinking.

Desert Rock Coal Fired Plant Dead?

Here is a good story on the Desert Rock Coal fired Generating Plant in Northwestern New Mexico.

Advice for President Obama

Okay, you have done something to make the oil and gas industry happy.  It may have been necessary to lease off shore federal holdings.  There are mixed feelings about it.  I am not totally happy with it but it might be something that has to happen in the short term.  But here is a bit of advice for you Mr. President.  The oil and gas industry does not like you.  This leasing program means nothing to them when the next election rolls around.  They will do everything in their power to see you are thrown out of Washington, DC.  They are republicans who could care less about your programs and policies so long as it doesn't affect their profits and subsidies.  I know you are smart enough to realize this but some of your folks may still be a little naive.

One thing I have learned in my political career is that the folks who depend on taxpayer owned resources on the nation's public lands really will never vote for any progressive, centrist, moderate or liberal.  They are for the most part ultra wing nut conservatives who vote for their pocket book only.  Their real attitude is "Give us you land, give us your money, and leave us alone."

City Screwed

I think Mayor Berry is right in calling the state Transportation Commission on their ban of the use of traffic light cameras on state roads.  Berry is now insisting that the state take over the law enforcement responsibilities on those roads in Albuquerque.  If the state doesn't do it then they are endangering lives and mistreating taxpayers in the city and county.  I don't like those cameras much myself, but they have had an overall positive law enforcement affect, if not exorbitant fines.  Sometimes state bureaucrats mindlessly do things that affect other governments.  So does the legislature.

I remember when the state highway department told the city to finish the job  on the new Big-I interchange.  They refused to landscape it and sure enough the city got to ante up the funds up to do it themselves under Marty Chavez.  (They did a good job) I am glad now to see Mayor Berry, a former republican legislator, pushing back a little.

Back in the USA

It is always nice to get home and take up a routine again.  Especially after a high energy vacation.  We pretty much lazed around all weekend and ate  home cooked meals.  We caught up on the news as much as possible.

We now enter the last 8 weeks or so before the political primary elections and things are shaping up pretty much as expected.  I had always felt that Governor  candidate Doug Turner on the Republican side would be the only threat to Diane Denish in the General election in November.  His wise early spending on billboards and TV is showing its effects.  Allen Weh, the Iraq war profiteer and bush worshiper is also expending money and is showing some strength.  He is the kind of candidate that needs the tea party types to get anywhere and they seem to me to be rudderless.  Their captain, Sarah Palin, thinks the world is flat and 6000 years old and she will lead them over the edge.

I had numerous phone messages from candidates seeking money.  I am retired now and won't be giving huge amounts any more.  I think the funding outlook for most of the candidates is not good because of the economy.  The big givers will be the oil and gas industry and they will work mightily against democrats.  Remember the New Mexico republican party is run by oil and gas executives who want no regulation and unbridled and untaxed profits.

Things didn't change a whole lot in the last few weeks while we were gone, except for the fact that Obama has found his stride, passed health insurance reform and got a victory.  Now, if he would just insist that the Department of Interior get rid of the bush appointed State BLM directors everything would be find.  Those directors are not following the wishes of the administration and they need to be transferred to other places.

Movie Show

Did you ever get invited somewhere and then be forced to sit through a slide show of a vacation?  It would be nice if there were an easy way out of enduring it.  So, if you want to have a choice on such a thing you can either watch this vacation movie or not and no feelings will be hurt.  Just scroll down to the movie section and click on the Jim and Bobbi's South American movie.