Brain Freeze

My brain is frozen with cabin fever and the cold.  My garage door opener stopped working because the lubricant in the rollers froze up.  Bobbi needed to take my SUV to work yesterday where she parked under a tree that had flocks of birds.  The front end of the car looks like the bottom of a bird cage.  The car wash wont be open for days and my hoses at the house are useless.

There are some good things to mention.  The Gas Company and PNM have mostly delivered under the highest demand conditions in forty years.  There were bound to be some problems but they are manageable.  We tend to think of those companies as heartless or wrongheaded some times, but they do deliver the goods.

Just like the two state transportation workers who rescued a family of four yesterday from an overturned car near Corona, NM.  The same government workers that many in the Tea Party and our legislature think are vampires sucking away state tax money because they have a pension plan.  It was nice to see the Journal give them some ink.

I keep thinking about sitting on the back porch with my coffee, newspapers and toast.  Maybe in about three months.

Out in the Cold

One of the cats went out in the wind and blowing snow last night.  I don't think they were there for long.  Being left out in the cold is not a good thing.

The Albuquerque Journal Editorial page is ranting about the state retirement plans for state employees.  (I am one of those.)  This is a company that no longer provides any support for its retirement plan.  So, why should anyone else have one?  I think that is their attitude.  I wonder what their employees think when they read that stuff.  They have been so screwed by the publisher  that I can't believe they stay so quiet.  They must live in a fearful work place.

I notice that Tim Korte, an able reporter/editor for the Associated Press has taken a job with the Martinez administration as a PR person for the Department of Finance and Administration.  This really scares me when an AP reporter sees greener pastures outside that great institution.

Finally, I would never put my cats out in the cold.  They have access to Athena the Beagle's doggy door.  Time to get rid of the nose goo on the flap though.  Yeeech!  This is Hermes contemplating a visit outside in a -23 degree wind chill.

Misc.

Governor 'oh Susana' has ordered the police to check immigration status for people accused of breaking the law.  So, if a woman is stopped for violating a traffic law, does that mean she will be deported away from her children who were born here in New Mexico?  I want some reporter to ask that question of her.  Does she see that as a good solution to our immigration problems?  Breaking up families?  Just put your efforts elsewhere Governor.

 Is this more important than creating jobs?  Why make a big deal out of this when there are so many other important issues to address?  I will tell you why.  It is because the new administration is at sea with no rudder.

I keep hearing that many state agencies still have not heard from the Governor's office on policy and direction.  I wonder exactly what was going on during the transition and the first part of January.  I have always felt that transitions mirror the management style of a governor and I think what we are seeing is a style of government where playing catch up is the form we can expect.

Today in the New York Times the oil and gas industry said they are subsidizing the government and not the other way around.  They said royalties subsidize the Feds.  Remember, a royalty is a payment for taxpayer owned oil under federal lands.  But they want it for free while suffering windfall profits and causing suffering on a global scale. These guys are unbelievable.

The republican house legislators (the oil and gas industry) walked out of a House Energy Committee yesterday because they didn't like what they were hearing in a general information session called by Chairman Brian Egolf.  They said the testimony was inappropriate.  I guess because it contradicted their positions.  This shouldn't surprise anyone since the oil and gas industry never listens to peoples concerns anyway.  It is the stuff of two year olds and despots.  It kind of reminds me of what is happening in Egypt where a million people are in the streets telling Mubarak to go and he puts his hands over his ears.

Update:  My sister just gave me hell for using the term 'oh Susana' when referring to our new female governor.  She thinks it is disrespectful of women.  So, in order to keep her happy I will no longer use the term.  I wonder where this leaves us with the nick names for Dave Cargo, known as Lonesome Dave, or Bill Richardson, known as Big Bill, or Gary Johnson, known as Governor No.

How to Fix the New Mexico State Land Office

Amend the Constitution to do the following:

• Create a State Land Disposition Board that has veto power over any permanent land disposal or trade by the Commissioner
• Require that all State Land transactions that affect local governments be subject to at least one public hearing by the land office to receive testimony on local impacts.
• Require a yearly report and public hearings on the affects of state land transactions and leases on the environment.
• Make the land office election for Commissioner fully funded by public financing with no political contributions allowed by any industry sponsored groups, companies or individuals.
• Require that any decision at the Land Office equalize revenue generation considerations with protections of New Mexico's Air, Water and Landscapes. 

These would be relatively non controversial amendments to the almost 100 year old state land office mandates in the New Mexico Constitution.  These reforms will be reviled by the oil and gas industry(the republicans), the real estate industry,  the agricultural and cattle ranching businesses, and the lobbyists that represent them.  Will anyone champion these simple good government reforms?

Ft. Collins

Bobbi and I drove up to Fort Collins, Colorado on Friday to check in on daughter Noelle and her boy friend Luke.  They moved up a few weeks ago because they could no longer stand the hellish,  polluted, sprawled and generally homogenized city of Phoenix.  They made the right decisions.

I haven't been here since 1966 when I was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver.  We would drive up here on the weekends to hang out at the campus and watch the girls.  It was a great way to waste time and make us feel like individuals after our training regimes.  Most of my friends were in the Nuclear Weapons or Intelligence schools but I was in the Photo/Cinema Courses.  I remember they separated the weapons guys from the rest of us in the barracks because they  feared some of them would talk in their sleep and reveal secrets.  As silly as the TSP at the airports.

Ft. Collins  is still a nice town.

Lawyer Up---Works

Not long ago I had suggested that the conservation groups concentrate on 'lawyering up' as a way of fighting 'oh Susana's' pogrom on the environment.  Thanks to the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, the Supreme Court has turned back the Governor and her oil and gas donors on their attempt at stopping regulations aimed at protecting our water, air and landscapes.  I am sure this administration will be much more careful with their approach from here on out and the enviros will need to be on guard.

Also, since oil and gas Senator Tim Jennings wants people tested for drugs before they can get unemployment benefits I would suggest that the same process be used for the oil and gas industry who receive taxpayer subsidies.  We could start with the CEO's, Boards, Officers and administrators of the oil corporations.  Also all of the oil field workers and the suppliers.

Money Pit

We had a tough time with one of our beloved cats this week.  On Sunday we couldn't find Ajax.  He did not come in with Hermes the other cat to wake us up for their much loved canned food. (at 5am every day...damn)  I went all around the neighborhood thinking he had been squashed or something, even though they stay inside most of the time.  You pet lovers will recognize that sinking depressed feeling we had.  And then I saw his tail underneath an end table in the living room.  He was just sitting there in a stupor with his tongue hanging out.  I mean this cat was on death's door.  Quick!  Bobbi to the emergency vet on Montgomery Blvd.  I figured he was a goner.

$600 later, one life down, eight to go.  He spent two days there on an IV to replace his fluids and bring down an astronomical fever of 105 degrees. That is really in the danger zones for cats we are told.  The vets were really good there.  Now he is back with us and we still don't know what was wrong.  Just a bad virus or infection.  He is on drugs but back to being himself.  Notice the shaved leg where the IV was placed.  Maybe we should get him a tattoo.  It could show a heart with the words, 'catnip or death.'

While he was gone Hermes learned to climb to the tallest part of the house.  Surveying his domain.

Water

I got a late start on my daily three mile sojourn into the Bosque near our home.  The light was much different and I took along my small camera and messed around with some new photo software to get this picture of the dormant cottonwoods in the dead of winter.  Hopefully in the future this wont be the same scene in July.

John Fleck at the Journal has been doing some good work on the water situation along the Rio Grande.  Now that the municipally owned water from the San Juan Diversion Project is actually being sucked out of the river we will see some changes.  The cities certainly have the right to that water and the farmers at the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy district are now off their diet of charity water from the cities.  They will complain and conveniently forget that the city slickers pay over 85% of the cost of the district even though they don't use district water and services.  A day of reckoning is coming for the district if they don't get new leadership and step into reality.  I had hoped for a long time that the new board members elected two years ago would bring change.  They have not.  My worry is that the farmers will really be left out in the cold because they couldn't agree on some sensible tax and water policies now.

Misc.

I watched President Obama's speech last night.  I thought it was more like his inspiring campaign speeches than his other recent Presidential addresses.  I gave him a B+ for it.  I certainly give him an A for his remarks on renewable energy.  We will have a successful policy in place when we are off fossil fuels.  I then turned off the TV because I didn't want every single cable TV pundit analyzing it to the point of absurdity.  This constant harping of theirs shows why Americans distrust their government and institutions so much more than other countries own citizens.

The oil and gas industry is worried that Rep. Brian Egolf wont roll over for them in his chairmanship of the House Energy Committee up in Santa Fe.  He already looks successful in my book.  Make them squirm.

Sometimes I think the Russians have it right.  They hold people responsible for malfeasance.  They have already fired the airport managers for having lax security at Moscow's airport where, most likely, religious fanatics blew up innocent people.  Then you can think about how hard it is to fire problematical employees in government in this country.  Bernalillo county is finding that out.  They are tiptoeing around getting rid of the county manager so he cant sue them for millions of dollars.

Having said that there are a lot of dedicated public employees out there.  They are under continued assault by corporate America who want public pension plans scrapped.  Why?  Because they worry their own employees will wonder why they are treated like indentured servants with no benefits.  Today the Albuquerque Journal gave a voice to those corporate bosses on the oped page.  There is always room for some reform, but the corporate boys want no less than a complete eradication of defined pensions.  

Life is too short.

Belated

The New York Times has a story about how the bush administration, under the machinations of Karl Rove, broke the federal election laws in 2006 by using federal money to organize political events.  Big Time.  The story was buried on a back section.  Yesterday's news I suppose.  The feds won't even say if they will prosecute or not.  The dark side wins again.

The dark side has lost, mostly, when the corrupt administration of Patrick Lyons at the Land Office was slapped on the hand by the New Mexico Supreme Court for illegally trying to swap state land for private land in the wildlife rich Whites Peak area in the north.  This swap would  have absolutely screwed local hunters and turned prime lands over to some out of state ranchers and oil men.  I have said for years that these land swaps were unconstitutional.  So are these so called 'development leases' that give real estate developers access to state lands without going to open and competitive bids.  I hope our new Commissioner Ray Powell will look at all of those carefully before jumping into that mud pit himself.  Ray is an honest man so I think he will do the right thing.

Powell will have to reign in his new general counsel, Harry Relkin, who might have some ethical quandries to solve.  Relkin worked for Powell when the land deal was made with Forest City Covington, a reputable developer, at Mesa Del Sol.  Relkin did most of the work on that deal.  Then when Ray left office after being termed out, Relkin became the counsel for Forest City Covington in New Mexico for the Mesa Del Sol Project.  Now that he has left there and gone back to work for the Land Office, Powell will need to be very careful on dealings with the developer so there are no conflict of interest problems.

Red State

New Mexico is a red state according to CBS news.  They portrayed this state that way,  I guess because the color of blood is red. Why did they do this?  Because in this state not one mentally ill person has been entered into the National Crime Information System as one who should not be sold a gun.  Can you believe it?  We are not the only state that way.  Now you can pretty much figure that the recently released mental patient down the street who thinks you are a space alien can go into any gun store and buy a Glock.   Not a comforting thought really.  I don't know why this  has been allowed to transpire, but Governor ' oh Susana' really ought to do something about this.  If her handlers at the NRA approve.  Silly me.

Money Speaks

Have you seen them?  The TV commercials currently filling the airways saying how the oil and gas industry cares about New Mexico and how they make us strong financially.  They even take credit for clean air and water in our state.  They would have you believe they are being charged to much to do business in the Land of Enchantment.  They prey on people's ignorance about taxes and royalties.  Remember, royalties are a payment for the publicly owned resources taken out of the ground.  Same with severance taxes.  They are severing resources from the ground and they should pay for it.  Right?  Not in their handbook though.

And then they say the care about our environment while at the same time getting their new puppet governor, 'Oh Susana' to gut protective regulations on clean water, air and undisturbed landscapes.  But, money speaks and they can pour it into the media and there is no one to respond.  Well, the environmental community needs to get off their butt and start invading Santa Fe to fight this unmitigated propaganda.  How about a few news conferences naming names, like how the republican party is controlled by the oil and gas industry through its former chairman Harvey Yates of Yates Petroleum?  How much money has he put into this group airing the ads?  Are there any journalists left alive at the Albuquerque Journal to ask these questions?

P.S.  The Journal has done a few decent in depth stories recently that reminds me of their glory days as a real newspaper.  How did that happen?

Touche to the Santa Fe New Mexican

The Albuquerque Journal could learn something about Journalism from the Santa Fe New Mexican.  Today they did this story on oil and gas industry tax subsidies.  I had planned on doing this next week but they beat me to the punch.  You probably wont see this story picked up by the Journal because they are in bed with the oil and gas boys in some manner I haven't figured out yet.  Shame on the editors of the Journal for not doing this kind of journalism and instead putting that buffoon Tom Cole on the front page worrying about the legally set Governor's salary.  Just so you know Tom that is set by the legislature and runs for an elected officials full term.  It can't be changed until a new term starts.  At least do your homework.

It is a great thing to see Representative Brian Egolf of Santa Fe ascend to the House Energy Committee's Chairmanship.  He is not afraid to carry through with some tough questions for the 'Oh Susana' administration and its ties to the oil and gas industry.  Just why would she go after film tax credits but not the oil and gas industry?  Well, maybe $900K in campaign contributions is one reason.

Tolerance

It will be interesting to see if New Mexico stays in the top ten for state's showing the most tolerance towards people.  'Oh Susana's' highly negative approach to immigrants with drivers licenses, gay marriage, and support for the death penalty could dramatically move us out of the top ten.  This is the report to read.

Misc.

I noticed the new republican sheriff Dan Houston made it onto the front page of the Journal this morning for promoting to Captain the husband of his campaign advisor.  I hope that is what happened on its face, because it is less scary than my other paranoid suspicion that the guy was chosen because he is a born again christian.  His new Captain talked about that in his interview in the paper.  Here is what Houston said of his own campaign victory on his facebook page.

"Thank you for your trust and confidence. What a great VICTORY. It will be good to go to the house of the Lord tonight and give honor and praise to God for what he has done."

I thought the voters gave him a victory.  Not God.  I am pretty sure even some atheists might have voted for him.

There is a giant bond issue on the ballot for the Central New Mexico Community College.  $70 million.  That isn't chump change, but I will vote for it.  In the meantime I want to make sure that none of it is used to open a new south valley campus for CNM.  At a time when budgets are tight and the wisdom of the state's plethora of branch colleges are rightfully under attack, this seems like a really naive thing to do.  So, don't do it.  If someone can't get themselves  from the south valley to the CNM campus then they should find other alternatives.

The Other Guys

It is not like we have no democrats left in this country in power.  The US House went republican, but the Senate and White House are still strongly democratic.  In New Mexico, we have a republican governor in the ascension of "oh Susana", but the legislature is democratic and most of the other executive elected officials are democrat.  But you would never know it.  Will any of them ever do anything in the way of positively reforming their offices and the state as a whole.  Will they even let the public know they exist in their state government office buildings.

Attorney General Gary King, Land Commissioner Ray Powell, and Treasurer James Lewis are all good, honest and decent people.  But I have become convinced none of them will break out as great elected officials because they all were nurtured in the era of politics that insisted on a 'don't rock the boat' philosophy.  It is a shame because we could really use them all working hard against the hateful and negative policies of the new governor's political masters.  How about a little public push back from some folks?  It would be healthy.  Maybe Ray Powell could at least push back against the anti environmental policies of the new governor.  Maybe Gary King could beef up his folks who look into conflict of interests in  the oil and gas industry and the new administration.  Maybe James Lewis could ring the fire alarm when financial questions need answers.  Come on you guys....we need you to show some guts!

Also, the media has not said a word about who our democratic elected officials  have brought into their offices as exempt employees.  Did Ray Powell hold over any Lyons people?  Who knows because there has been no news releases or media inquiries about it.  The same for the AG and Treasurer.

P.S.   Well, in order to keep peace in my home we are now taking the Albuquerque Journal again.  Under my loving wife's name.  She missed the inserts and early morning ink on  her hands.   We lasted a whole four weeks with out that rag.  But it is nice to have Leslie Lithicum on the kitchen table over coffee again.

OMG

The so called "Prayer Breakfast is being held in Santa Fe tomorrow for the Governor and Legislators.  I hope it doesn't get out of hand.

Here is what the new republican Governor of Alabama said on his inaguration day.

'Anybody who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior … you're not my brother.' 

So, I wonder if any democrat governor would ever be this ignorant.  Possibly, but this Alabama governor is a symbol of what has gone so wrong with the republican party.  It is why that party's days could be numbered. Someone told me the other day that this party is so far right now that no republican with an intellect can any longer count on running for the GOP and being successful.  Even very conservative republicans are now edged out by the lunatic fringe which has taken over much of their party.

I don't think 'Oh Susana', our new republican governor in New Mexico falls into this category just yet.  But you can certainly tell who her handlers are by her publicly hateful policy agenda.  She is acting out for her funders.  Let's just hope she doesn't really sign on to Holy War.  So far she has taken a very negative approach to every thing, thanks to her campaign staff working in the Governor's office.

A Care?

Does anyone really care that the New Mexico State Legislature will begin 60 days of work at noon today?  In the grand scheme of things I would say no.  Of course the lobbyists, the regulated, the contractors, the unions and other special interest groups will be entrenched up there, but by and large the average citizens will not follow this process at all.  It is just not all that intriguing to them.  They could care less who the next Speaker of the House will be.

People will pretty much stay slightly interested with what "Oh Susana" is doing in her first few months as Governor, but not because of the legislature.  It is because she is new and interesting.  They will lose that interest fast if she doesn't chuck her campaign mode and be a leader.  A smile from her on TV now and then would help.  (I wish I had done that more in my career)

And if anyone thinks the Tea Party is a sophisticated political group then try to figure out  how they have railed against the possibility of a coalition in the House where some democrats and republicans make a deal to control the speakership.  The Tea Party says no way should that happen.  They would rather have no power than a shared power.

Budgets

We will be hearing, to the point of nausea, for the next 60 days lots of debate about the State Budget.  We certainly are not in as bad of shape as California, Arizona, Illinois and most of the other states.  But all of the rhetoric  over the next few months as state legislatures convene will be about their budgets.  Revenues, Taxes, expenditures and cost cutting will be the subject of much 'word barf'.  (I heard that term on Bill Maher this weekend.)

As these debates go on it seems that we need another kind of budget discussed.  And that is the 'Moral Budget.'  I am not sure exactly what that should entail as lawmakers set about their business, but I know it is about more than just dollars and cents.  It is about poverty, justice, gun laws, extremism and any other number of topics.  I am thinking this will get little or no attention as the questions of appropriations and taxes get worked over.  But just the same someone should present a Moral Budget to the New Mexico legislature.

Maybe 'Think New Mexico 'could do it.  Or some community and private foundations.  It should become an annual thing that gets at least a bill sponsor and hearing.  It would certainly be time better spent than debating the wisdom of a new kind of license plate for someone's favorite constituency.

Goose and Gander

'Oh Susana', our new Governor, said when she appointed two new legislators down south that she didn't consider others who were recently voted out because they had been rejected by the voters.  Okay, there is nothing wrong with that.   However, does that dogma only apply in certain cases?  Maybe so.

Lets see.  Let me count the ways.

1. Heather Wilson is appointed head of the transition after being rejected by republican voters in her US Senate primary election.
2. John Barela is appointed head of the Economic Development Department after being rejected by general election voters in his congressional race against Martin Heinrich.
3. Demesia Padilla is appointed head of the Department of Taxation and Revenue after being rejected by voters for the position of State Treasurer four years ago.
4. Brian Moore was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for the Governor's Office after being rejected by the voters in the republican primary for Lt. Governor
5. Harrison Schmitt was appointed head of the Energy and Natural Resources after being rejected by voters some years ago in his bid for re-election to the US Senate.

Now having said that it doesn't mean they are 'damaged goods'. Not at all. (Well maybe Harrison is after reading his blog.)  I respect them for jumping into the cauldron of elective politics.  They can do their jobs.  It does indicate, as I have said many times before, that the republican bench is pretty shallow.

Oh, I should mention that after I lost my Mayoral re-election in 2001 that I was hired as State Natural Resource Trustee by Governor Richardson.  I guess I wasn't damaged goods either.

P.S.  I have some good friends who were at the inaugural and they echoed what I have heard so much.  That 'Oh Susana' is very gracious with everyone she meets and seems genuinely to embrace them.  Some how that is not matching her TV appearances where she seems angry and negative about everything and can't get out of campaign mode.  She should stop listening to her campaign managers who she hired into her office and start listening to other less combative and non partisan advisors.