The Wild West

I can't imagine this guy is ever going to make it beyond being a freshman legislator. He makes Bengie [subscription] look like a pussycat.

Update: I just had a thought. Maybe the Senator is in training to make a run for Governor. It is quite possible he is reading a training manual that suggests developing skills like this and this.

Who are the REAL Criminals?

ACORN encourages fraud in its petition drive practices and then pretends to be innocent:

[Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren] White said the woman told investigators she gathered signatures legitimately at first, then "saw somebody else being paid for signatures that were clearly forged." [emphasis added]

Oh, I know what you're thinking. ACORN did all that was expected of them:

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, paid workers $1.25 to $1.50 for each valid signature. The group required workers to attend a 40-minute training session and sign agreements acknowledging they could face prosecution if they forged signatures.

Now where have I seen this before... think, think, think.

Corporate fraud is not a new phenomenon but comes along in cycles where "greed overrides fear" in sanctions for wrongdoing, said Senator Jon Corzine (D-New Jersey). In the 1990s, there was "too much emphasis systematically on financial values instead of moral values. That, unfortunately, spilled over into individual actions."

Just take those last two sentences and replace "financial" with "organizational" and you have a clear picture of what is occuring at ACORN. I mean seriously, if a signature gather is able to determine that others are turning in fraudulent signatures, don't you think the ACORN staff accepting them can tell?

Of course, no one at ACORN is taking responsibility

What If...

Now here's a question worth pondering.

Going No Matter What

Ever get the feeling the Governor really doesn't enjoy spending time in New Mexico. That whole visit-with-the-North-Koreans thing (subscription) didn't go over too well in Washington, but Governor Richardson wasn't about to let US foreign policy get in the way of some R & R in Asia, so he managed to come up with this:

Richardson is scheduled to meet in Tokyo with many of Japan's top business and political leaders, his office said in a news release.

New Mexico is emerging as a leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cells, solar, wind and biomass energy. Japanese companies are looking to partner with companies in the U.S. to take advantage of the technologies, Richardson said.

So now the Governor is a business development officer for New Mexico tech start-ups. Too bad, he doesn't feel the same way about advertising agencies.

A selection committee representing Gov. Bill Richardson's office announced the nine finalists Tuesday.

But only one New Mexico candidate made the cut -- Albuquerque-based Rick Johnson & Co. -- and that has some observers wondering if the effort isn't really aimed at helping Richardson become a viable presidential candidate.

The administration went out of their way to change the rules of the RFP so that companies with no intention of bringing jobs to New Mexico would compete.

Some national firms got into the act in May, when the state dumped a clause mandating that out-of-state agencies set up shop in New Mexico within 60 days of winning a contract.

I guess Governor Richardson is not a very big believer in New Mexico's creative class.

The Criminal Mind

This quote from yesterday's Journal (subscription) is infuriating:

"I don't have a problem drinking, but when I do drink, I get caught," [Moises] Gonzales said last week in a telephone interview.

This is from a habitual drunk driving offender who has already killed three girls. Yet another threat to society who should be put away for life. Instead, State District Judge James Hall gives this homicidal repeat offender his license back.

Taxpayer Funded Elections - BAD IDEA

There is a rundown here on mayoral fundraising, and somehow it morphs into a rationale for taxpayer funded elections -- a terrible idea. In order to make the case, a link is provided to these "myths vs. facts." Let's take a look at just the first two "Facts."

Fact One:
"The cost of Clean Elections is minimal. In 2004, some $12.1 million was given to Arizona candidates running under the Clean Elections system."

Reality Check:
That minimal amount is nearly four times the amount allocated for the new underfunded pre-school program.

Fact Two:
"The Clean Elections enforcement system works. There will always be people who take advantage of the system, whatever the system is."

Reality Check:
There are grey areas when it comes to "taking advantage of the system." Consider this little tidbit:

Judith Espinosa - $55,822 raised
This is the really big surprise in the reports. She's been running since October. Yet, when you subtract her personal check for $16,000, her ex-husband's $4,600, and another $6,000 from other family members, she's basically raised just $29,000 in ten months. That includes a $1,000 contribution from Westland Corporation (and that's a bit of an eye opener - see Coco.)

One theory has it that Espinosa is just taking a lap around the track to build name ID, so she can run for Attorney General next year in what looks to be a crowded Democratic Primary field. The last time the AG's office didn't have an incumbent in the race was in 1998. Judith started up a campaign run that year, but quickly aborted it when Patricia Madrid and Marian Matthews jumped in.

Now imagine if taxpayer funded elections were in place. Ms. Espinosa would not have to spend any of her own money to build name ID. Anyone and everyone would be eligible to spend taxpayer money on increasing name ID. We're talking about the potential of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars year after year.

I could go on and on debunking these "Facts," but then this post would be too long.

Two ID's

I've got a limited time to blog due to a tee time in 45 minutes. So, here is an article worth reading. I'm not crazy about the whole federal ID thing, but if Richardson gets his way, we'll have to carry to pieces of identification in our wallets. Why? Because he doesn't want to inconvenience the illegal immigrants.

It's a New World

American courts seizing private property for the "good of the state" while the Russians abolish death taxes. Times are a changing. (Hat Tip to the Rio Grande Foundation).

Sen. Bingaman Leads Hispanic Snub

I received a lot of grief on this site here and here and here when I pointed out that Republicans have a better record of appointing minorities to key positions. My favorite of all the responses was this:

Actually, since the Democratic Party has alot more minority members in its ranks than the Republican Party, minorities have a bigger voice in what the Party does. This hardly qualifies as the Party telling minorities how to think. It entails members of the Party telling the Party what positions to take. Of course there is always room for alot of improvement in this regard within the Dem Party. That's what people are working on these days.

In light of recent news, all of those minority members of the Democratic Party had better get moving on telling those "leaders" what positions to take. Right now, they are taking all of the wrong positions. For example, let's look at this little gem of recent news, shall we?

Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Joe Lieberman, neither of whom is Hispanic, will head the Democratic Hispanic Task Force in the U.S. Senate in the 109th Congress.

Bingaman, a New Mexican who is fluent in Spanish, has served as the task force co-chair for a decade, according to his office.

So, even though there is a Hispanic Democratic Senator, Ken Salazar of Colorado, non-Hispanic Senator Bingaman and his cohorts demonstrate their unwillingness to relinquish the seat of power. Now mind you, this was a true test to see how much Democrats, and specifically Senator Bingaman, value Hispanics. This is only the third time in the history of the Senate that the Democrats have had a Hispanic amongst their members. And by all accounts, they just failed the test.

Why? Well, that is a very simple answer:

Though it may seem logical for Salazar to head such a task force, Cook Political Report analyst Jennifer Duffy said that in the ways of the Senate, it isn't.

Lieberman and Bingaman are up for re-election in 2006 and need to build support among Hispanic voters, while Salazar doesn't have to run for five years and already enjoys great support from Hispanics. "Inside the Capitol building, it makes sense," Duffy said. "Outside the Capitol building, it makes no sense."

Finally, the truth comes out. For Democrats, like our Senator Bingaman, moving Hispanics forward takes a back seat to personal political agendas. This is intolerable coming from a man who is supposed to represent the interests of a state with the largest percentage of Hispanics in the nation. It's time for a change

Buy Drugs Cheaply

No, this isn't about those spam emails you receive on how to save on your Viagra prescription. Instead, it is an interesting post on the new ActiveAdultNM blog [disclosure: my company launched this blog] about where you can save significant money when buying prescription drugs.

Yesterday's News

The ongoing dialogue about cell phone use in cars is really getting old. Yesterday the Journal had a front page story on a new study which is really not all that different from these findings from four years ago. Which make laws like these about the ability to issue more citations as opposed to improving safety.

Place Your Bets

Get your odds on the 2008 horse race here.

Running Tally

A perfect example of the fiscal policy shortcomings of the executive branches of our state and city administrations. So let's see, in the last few weeks alone we have $7,050,000 squandered on unnecessary office space, jets and now pandas.

Can You Keep a Secret?

Interesting analysis worth reading here.

Governor Prefers Travel to Governing

On the heels of his European tour, the Governor is considering yet another international jaunt (subscription) with questionable benefit to New Mexico taxpayers. Frankly, I'm having a real hard time understanding how Governor Richardson could possibly find the time to visit with the North Koreans. After all, he has already been forced to outsource policymaking to a Pennsylvania firm despite growing the number of exempt employees serving at the pleasure of the governor by nearly 50 percent (subscription).

Writing Is on the Wall

Well, that didn't take long. The new pre-K funding is released and already the school district is complaining in the Journal (subscription) that they are underfunded:

State preschool funding is not going to reach as far as Albuquerque Public School officials hoped when the new pre-K program begins this fall.

APS will have two state-funded pre-kindergartens, eight less than district officials had bid for.

And school officials say the amount of money they will receive from the state will barely cover the basic costs of running the preschools.

Consider this a foreshadowing of things to come. Our districts won't be happy until we follow in Georgia's footsteps (subscription).

Flushing Your Money

I wonder how much water could be saved if Governor Richardson stopped flushing taxpayer money down the drain?

Gov. Bill Richardson has hired a consultant to help his administration develop new policy ideas.

The job was advertised as paying up to $200,000 a year, plus travel and expenses. Pennsylvania-based Public Works LLC was selected to advise Richardson. The team of experts will focus on at least five major policy areas.

Here I thought Bill Hume, Governor Richardson's senior policy advisor, was already being paid to do this job. Then again, maybe it's a better idea that someone who writes letters to the editor like this (subscription) is not tasked with developing new policy ideas..

They're at It Again

The folks on the Santa Fe City Council are just bent on eliminating any remnants of the free enterprise system in the City Different. The propopsals just keep coming. Now there is a push for even more government controlled housing to complement the artificial wages being forced on the business community, and here I thought the cold war had ended.

FEC Regulation of Blogs

July 4th is as good a day as any to review our First Amendment Rights as guaranteed under the Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Kate Nash has a column in today's Tribune that addresses this issue in the context of the Federal Election Commission's proposal of new regulations for bloggers:

The commission, which enforces federal election law, is considering requiring online political ads to wear disclaimers stating who paid for them.

Not a bad concept. Just like on television, on the radio and in newspapers, voters have a right to know who is saying whatever they are saying about a candidate. (Of course, those disclaimers aren't always as clear as they could be, but that's another topic.)

However, there is a big difference between the online world and that of the mass media (i.e. television, radio and newspaper). This fundamental difference is the cost barrier to entry. There is none for blogging. Many public libraries provide free online access. Blogging tools like those available at Blogger are provided at no cost. "The press" is now available to every man, woman and child. For every website put forth by a special interest group, there is at least one blog that provides the other side of the story.

A final thought on disclaimers...

When Thomas Paine published "Common Sense" in January 1776, it was done anonymously.