Kneecapping Time

My search for matching a surgeon with my insurance has been instructive.  I am covered under Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NM through Bobbi's workplace at the Forest Service.  My secondary insurance is Medicare.  The first surgeon I went to see is highly recommended.  But he only does surgery at Presbyterian Hospital.  Presbyterian wont work with Blue Cross insurance because really they are now their own insurance company....and a health care provider.....and like all insurance companies they care only about money.   So, I found another really good surgeon who does his magic at Lovelace.  Now, we learn that the new owners of Lovelace and the two hundred or so doctors at ABQ Health Partners can't reach agreement to work together.  Yeah, it is a fight over money.  Not peoples health.  This latest news was announced Tuesday afternoon just as my appointment ended and my surgery was scheduled for knee replacement. Thousands of New Mexicans with Lovelace insurance will need to find new doctors, new insurance, or pay out of their own pockets for life saving care. Luckily, I won't be affected by this latest tribute to Corporate Insurance crimes against Americans.  Or so I am led to believe.

And now we find that some mystery group who don't want to be identified are behind a move to kill an addition to the UNMH hospital complex.  Could it be the other hospitals in the region?  Why don't they just come out and say what they feel instead of lurking in the shadows.  If their reasoning is good then we might agree.

Now,  we need to take these insurance CEO's and Boards out for some surgery on their knees to see if they like the 'out of plan services' we consumers can provide.  (insert evil laugh here)

The Politics of Bullying

Here is how bullying works.  The bully finds someone who is easy pickings.  It can be demonstrated in this new hilarious commercial by the Obama campaign.  It might win Obama the race.

Bullying is alive and well in New Mexico in the Governor's office.  Recent allegations of battery upon an APS female lobbyist by the Guv's Chief of Staff is one example.  The Guv's political henchman Jay McClesky is now specializing in attacking female democratic candidates via huge expenditures of cash garnered from the oil and gas industry.  Although, if these female candidates win they wont be easy pickings at all.  Maybe all them could corner the Chief of Staff at  once in the Capitol hallways and give him some comeuppance.  And of course there is those Governor's appointees and staff who have had domestic violence charges and convictions.  Yes, bullying is alive and well in the state's capitol all while the Governor enjoys her high favorability ratings on the issue of bullying immigrants.

Romney's Enemies

MItt Romney wants to make the Russians our enemies again.  Why?  Okay, Putin is a dick.  So is Romney.  Here is a Russian flash mob at one of the sites we visited in Moscow.  Do these folks look like enemies?  Or just young people having fund!

Misc.

Think about the money we are about to shell out for the Paseo/I-25 interchange if the voters approve a $50 million dollar downpayment on the project on election day.  The total cost would be over $300 million.  This project, which is needed, is really the result of improperly funding growth on a pay as you go basis in the Albuquerque metro area.

Now, the city council and Mayor want to undo the legislation that was meant to alleviate that problem.  They are supporting rolling back the impact fees that would prohibit such sprawl development running up these deficits in infrastructure that the taxpayers end up paying for the developers.  This is a giant step backwards.  If, as is alleged, the system is currently too complex then fix that.  But it appears that the only area that would see an increase in impact fees would be the core areas of the city while undeveloped property on the fringe would see reductions.  How does this make sense?  Well, only in the political prowess of  developers responsible for unbridled  home building and mortgage ripoffs that got us into our current economic mess.

If the Mayor and Council want to help with economic development they should start a giant effort at helping more expansion of the solar equipment industry in this city.  Today's Journal Business Outlook paints a great picture of that kind of manufacturing effort here.  If the city pols are serious on job creation then they could turn us into a national resource center for this kind of work.

Mitt Pong

Bobbi has always thought I am an early adopter.  I always buy the original technology at an inflated price.  One of my first ever digital purchases was the Atari Pong game.  The year was 1975 or so and I brought the game home and hooked it up to the old tube TV.

It was back and forth, back and forth in black and white as we played ping pong with little controllers.  It was real Neandrethal stuff, but it entertained us in a new and weird way.

I bring this up because we are getting a new version of this almost 40 years later.  Mitt Romney is giving it to us with his back and forth, back and forth changing of his position on the issues and political philosophy.  First he is a moderate republican, then he is an extreme right wing nut, now he is back to being kinder and gentler.  The real problem here is that he is doing all this not out of his own personal choices but because the political handlers in his life just stick a new program into him and he automatically regurgitates it out to the public.  Does he have any real convictions?  Maybe that 47% number that got him in so much trouble is really the stat for how often he changes his position on any one issue.

And, the last time I checked the Electoral vote map the news is still bad for Romney, even after a lackluster debate performance by Obama.  Obama is really in good shape there.

Showing Up.

Romney showed up.  An empty vessel, but an empty vessel will float.  It all reminded me of that movie 'Being There' where Peter Sellars is a low IQ gardener who becomes famous for just showing up and muttering vague things that the media overanalyzes.

Obama seemed preoccupied.  Well, he is the President and has a lot on his mind.  

A Message from the Past

Click Here.

Misc.

It is still a mystery to me why the local media has not covered in any detail the the appointment of former NM Secretary of the Environment Ron Curry as the new leader of the EPA's Region Six office.  Today the Albuquerque Journal did a headline story on the proposed solution to the problem of the San Juan coal fired power plant in which two of the units there will be shut down.  Most of this was brought about by the EPA's insistence that something be done about the pollution coming from those old technology generating units.  (This might be a good compromise on the problem.)

Add to that issue the EPA's influence on water, oil, gas, and other environmental problems and Region Six looms large in protecting our landscapes and watersheds.  And yet, the fact that a well respected New Mexican now has that job goes relatively under reported.  One wonders if the fossil fuel boys have so much influence that they manage to squelch the story that they will have a new and honest regulator to deal with.

We were munching burritos this morning and wondering what the real story was behind the secretive deal at NMSU over the firing(?) of the President there.  One of us opined that it probably had something to do with the schools lack of membership in an athletic conference.  Could be, but there just has to be more to that story.

The story that the ex Governor of Santa Ana Pueblo, Bruce Sanchez, and Santa Fe Realtor Tom Keesing have been indicted on ripping off almost $3 million from the All Indian Pueblo Council is a juicy morsel.  One time Keesing, a long time political operative in Santa Fe, interviewed me on a Santa Fe christian fundamentalist TV station.  He insisted we say a little prayer at the beginning of the show.  I just bowed my head.  Maybe he was praying that he never get caught stealing.

NMSU UNM NMTECH

The University President revolving door continues in New Mexico.  The latest to bite the dust is NMSU's Barbara Couture.  The only news the media has been able to ferret out about it is that she will get a $450K severance package.  It is sad that we can't find out from our media what really happened.  But that would take perseverance and work.  It is easier to get police dash cam video and tapes and run inane stories around them than do real the real job of journalism.

Here is one followup the media could do as mentioned by my friend Roy.  Why not go pay a visit to the NM Tech President Dan Lopez and his board of Regents to see how they do things vis a vis UNM and NMSU?  What is the formula there at Tech for stability and team work?  Could it be applied to the other larger schools.  Revolving doors at major institutions are now common and in my opinion mostly caused by the Regents meddling in day to day operations instead of watching over the big picture.

But maybe this case is different.  Will we ever know?  Probably, but only when it is an old story and the staleness will put it on the bottom of the pile.

Polls

Both Martin Heinrich and Heather Wilson released polls this week that showed the independent Tea Party guy, named Barrie,  with as much as 9% of the vote in that Senate race.  Now, I would certainly say that is a lot of potential votes.  Maybe it is time that all the polling firms start including that independent candidate's name in their polls.  Even if no one knows who he is, if he is mustering that much of a percentage then it could affect the race one way or another.  This candidate is supposedly right wing.  Does that mean he takes more votes from Heather or Martin?  I am betting his stealth candidacy probably is hurt Wilson's chances much more.  It would be nice to see the polls enlighten us.

On the national scene we keep reading that the Presidential race is close.  That might be true, but meaningless.  The only thing that counts is the electoral vote and I am predicting that Obama will get over 300.  270 would win it.  

Unlikely

The meltdown of the American team in the Ryder Cup golf matches yesterday should be seen as a metaphor.  It proves even the unlikely can happen if focus is blurred.  After coming into Sunday's individual matches with a 10-6 lead the Americans lost big time on the final day.  The Europeans retained the cup for another two  years.

All I could keep thinking about as I saw this unfolding was, "All right democrats, your in good shape right now for November, don't emulate these guys.  Don't blow it.  Concentrate and focus!"

My friend Rodger Beimer was at the event and he texted that the problem was that Europe sends their young, lean and hungry jocks while America relies on the older guys. I think he is right.  This is athletics where youth and bravado count a lot.  Even if experience is lacking.

If you think about it, that is what is happening in many political races.  I would argue Obama is part of the young crowd, just like Martin Heinrich and Michelle Lujan Grisham.  They are energetic and smart and are easily outclassing their GOP opponents.   Now, they just need to keep their focus.

Time Marches ON

This picture was taken 30 years ago.  The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta mass ascension was underway on the first day of the Fiesta.  I was in my first ever political campaign running for State Land Commissioner.  I won the general election carrying the ticket with the most votes and widest margin of victory.  Even the Albuquerque Journal supported me in those days.  All before the crazies in the right wing took over the media and the GOP.

Shown in the picture are Rosemary Glenn, my wife Bobbi holding our then two year old son Justin.  Rita Longino with their daughter Laura(now working hard for Michelle Lujan Grisham), my brother-in-law Dave Miller who is now the safety officer at the Albuquerque International Airport. Behind  him is Roy Soto(Rita's husband) who became my Deputy at the Land Office.  Pleas Glenn has the sunglasses on.  He headed up the Commercial development department at the Land Office for me.  He did all of the preliminary work on starting up the Mesa del Sol project.  Of course Rosemary, Bobbi and Rita were all highly successful professionals and career oriented women.  And I am up on top of the group with a smile because I knew the race was in the bag.  Those were really good times.

Misc.

So, do you remember the mantra of Governor Martinez and Secretary of State Duran that voter fraud was rampant in New Mexico?  It was pretty much aimed at democrats and immigrants.  Real hateful scapegoating there.  But now after wasting untold funds and man hours on investigations they could only come up with 19 cases of possible fraud.  Spread this over thousands of precincts, legislative districts, city council districts, county commission districts, etc. etc.  And you can only surmise that the real idea behind all of these scare tactics were, well scare tactics.  Especially against immigrants.  All aided and abetted by bigoted media outlets.

The new republican Bernalillo County Commission has just given the christian fundamentalist backed sheriff fifteen new deputies.  If they are needed I am not complaining.  But the budget numbers for this that the republicans used are without a doubt bogus.  It will cost at least 50% more than they say once you buy equipment, patrol cars, and overtime for these new officers.  What a twist!  The GOP growing government under false pretenses.  Look for real tax increases soon from the County.

Here is a question for everyone.  How many of Governor Martinez's exempt employees carry concealed weapons?  We know she does.  When I saw that the armed securities investigator that unjustly had NMFA employees arrested and cuffed for the cameras I began to wonder how many of these folks were allowed to carry weapons.  Why the hell does a glorified accountant carry a badge and a gun.  Does Darren White at NM Expo carry?  How about other state employees hired by Martinez? Are they allowed to carry on to school grounds and into movie theaters?

History

My good friend Eric called from Hawaii to talk a little about Albuquerque's economy.  He says our economy was formed by General Leslie Groves and Scientist Robert Oppenheimer when they opted to center research on the building of the Atomic Bomb here in New Mexico.  More specifically Los Alamos. This decision was paramount in the historical arc of our state's federal based economy.  (We beat out Utah.)  All because Oppenheimer had spent time at a boy's camp near Los Alamos as a youth.

Of course Los Alamos Labs and Sandia Labs were the heirs to the A-Bomb effort.  And it is good they stuck around because New Mexico's leaders for the last few decades pretty much concentrated on one thing only.  Sprawl development was our economic development.  More and more homes meandering into the desert was our means of growing.  Building and buying houses.  That's pretty much it and when things melted down we suffered greatly, except for our federal employment which really softened the impact.  Still, we see the Albuquerque Journal and our local and state political leaders doing everything they can to sweeten the pot for real estate developers.  That is not what we need.  We need manufacturing and development jobs in the private sector.  It would be the third leg in standing our economy on a steady level.  And it would make no sense to gut the federal, state and local government payrolls or the whole thing topples again.

It was hilarious to see John McCain here yesterday for Heather Wilson warning that budget cuts would harm New Mexico.  Aren't budget cuts the GOP's answer to everything.  Talk about the height of double talk by right wing politicos!

Misc.

Bernalillo County issued a press release on their great and ongoing economic development effort.  They will no longer charge a $50 vendor registration fee for vendors in their boundaries.  Doesn't that give you a feeling that  maybe they have reached the end of the line?  And frankly, what is wrong with licensing vendors?  I would like to know there is some record of them in case they are selling tainted food or merchandise.

Down here in the close North Valley the big divisive issue is a planned round-about on a very busy intersection at Rio Grande and Candelaria.  City Councillor Debbie O'Malley, who I sent some money to for her County Commission race yesterday, said she supports it.  Big mistake.  That project will cause constant and daily traffic jams on Rio Grande.  Sometimes well meaning planners who come up with these things just don't seem to see reality.  It is a very dumb project.

The ever masterful Journal reporter John Fleck came up with a great column on a court case that is trying to decide what a beneficial use of water is under New Mexico water law.  It was a well written and informative piece and everyone should try and read it.

They should also read Richard Cohen's column today on how the republicans got where they are with Mitt Romney.  It is absolutely on target.  In fact, even as a staunch moderately left of center democrat, I would like to see the GOP mend itself in order to present candidates that are decent and moderate.  At least it would provide some choices.

"Shocking...Laggard"

No wonder Ajax the cat wants to hide out in the shopping bag.  I am betting Mayor Berry and all of the City Council would like to crawl in there with him.  Allergies or not.

The Journal Business Outlook story today on Albuquerque's economic report card was devastating for the local elected officials.  UNM's Lee Reynis, Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said that the Duke City when compared with other municipalities is the 'laggard'.  She said the situation is 'shocking'.  Reynis is not one to use such words loosely.

One of the big reasons is the fall in government jobs which has been so important to this region.  Both federal and local jobs have been cut to the joy of the republicans.

So, will anyone notice when election time roles around next year?  Doubtful.  City Councillors who wish to be reelected will be.  They are largely invisible and nameless and will be elected by few voters.  Mayor Berry will have to endure some real slings and arrows but there are no strong candidates appearing to take him on.  Certainly, his economic development team needs some shaking up and the Albuquerque business community needs to step up and start helping with strong job recruitment.  So far everyone has not risen to the occasion.  And of course they can expect absolutely no help from the Governor who will only show up for a news conference.

He Isn't Listening

Mitt Romney said on 60 minutes last night that he prays to God every night.  Well, I would have to say the big guy in the clouds isn't listening given the mistakes Romney's campaign has made in the last couple of weeks.  I watched snippets of the interviews last night of Obama and Romney.  We and our guests were enjoying a pretty good chicken Marsala as the Q and A proceeded.  The lamest answer of the hour was Romney's saccharin response to the question of his big goal for the country as President.  He slathered out some totally inane statement on guaranteeing freedom in this nation.

Pablum.  B.S.  A punt.  And he delivered it all with no sparkle of intelligence in his eyes.  I have to say I have never seen this kind of deadpan zombie like rhetoric before.  I had thought he had more in that head than Karl Rove jingoism.

I am actually beginning to think he could bring down the entire GOP apparatus with his disjointed campaign.  Yes.  Even the House of Representatives' Tea Party types could suffer.

All of this could work in New Mexico's long term favor.  If the era of crazy GOP elected officials wanes over the next couple of cycles then our Senators and Congressmen will have accelerated clout in Washington.  And we need it.  Those federal jobs are the only thing that keep us above the water right now.

Ron Curry

Highly respected former New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry has been appointed head of the Region Six Office of the Environmental Protection Agency.  This is great news for any one who cares about the public health, safety and welfare.  Curry never caved in to the polluters in the fossil fuel industry.  He is honest and will put the health of our landscapes and people first.  Click here to see the Region Six website.  A big win for the Obama team with this appointment.

Back

Five days and four rounds of golf.  Cochiti on Monday.  Rest on Tuesday.  Pendairie on Wednesday and Thursday.  Isleta on Friday.  Knee surgery needed soon.  Bummer.

Out

I will be out of town for a couple of days.  Yeah, playing golf at Pendaires.  Have to get a lot of games in before cold weather and possible knee surgery.  Life is too short!