Visiting Governor Gets His Due

I don't like Governor Richardson's ill-conceived health care proposal. That's probably no surprise to anyone. But, what really irks me lately is Governor Richardson's holier than thou attitude regarding our citizen legislators:

At a news conference just 15 days ago, an upbeat Gov. Bill Richardson repeated two key words for lawmakers as they convened in Santa Fe: health care, health care, health care.

On Wednesday, halfway point for the legislative session, Richardson used the same words — with a much different tone.

"I said before the session that the focus of this 30-day legislative session would be health care, would be health care, and would be health care," he said, "and up until today we saw very little action."

Unfortunately for Richardson's agenda, the only action on his proposal was a vote by a key House committee on Wednesday morning to strip the bill of its mandate to insure all New Mexicans and ship the measure on to its next stop in the Roundhouse.

The governor deemed the move "unacceptable" and called the assembled lawmakers a "do-nothing Legislature, especially on health care."

I've been known to give the legislators a hard time on occasion. Ok, on many occasions. However, I find it more than a bit offensive for the PAID Governor, who has been absent from the state for nearly a year pursuing his delusions of grandeur, to call the men and women who volunteer their time to serve New Mexicans "a do-nothing Legislature" because they don't rubber stamp the most expensive and ill-conceived program of this administration.

New Mexico is facing an impending budget crisis because of the spendathon launched during this Governor's tenure. Mark my words... in 2009 there will be a grab for additional permanent fund dollars to balance the overgrown state budget.

I, for one, am glad our legislators have finally said enough is enough.

A Classic Strategy

The Democratic Party of New Mexico is playing a classic game of "underpromise and overdeliver" when it comes to Tuesday's presidential caucus (subscription):

When Gov. Bill Richardson successfully pushed in 2003 to hold a New Mexico Democratic presidential contest in early February, the goal was to shine more political attention on the state.

The tactic worked in 2004: Candidates made dozens of trips to New Mexico in advance of that year's Democratic caucus. Voters for many weeks couldn't turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper without seeing a reminder of the event.

But lots of other states have since decided to move their contests to early February, too.

Now, Democratic leaders think New Mexico voter turnout for the party's presidential caucus on Tuesday could pale in comparison to turnout the first time around.

State Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón said this week he anticipates 30,000 to 40,000 of New Mexico's 532,000-plus registered Democrats to show up at caucus locations on the Super Tuesday compared to more than 100,000 last time.

In contrast, voter turnout in other states' 2008 Democratic nominating contests has shattered past records as excitement over the race between front-runners Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has mounted.

Mark my words. When turnout in New Mexico exceeds the 30,000 to 40,000 predicted, Democratic leaders will turn around and say:

We far exceeded our expectations. Despite the fact, that significantly less money was spent than years passed, more than [fill-in the blank] the number of people we projected turned out. This is a clear indication that people are eager for a change in Washington. Blah, blah, blah....

I don't often make predictions, but I feel confident about this one.

14th DWI's and Still Driving

You've got to wonder what is actually getting done up at the New Mexico legislature when stories like this keep hitting the headlines:

Joseph Robert Vigil is a hard-core drunken driver.

Laws that allowed the state to revoke his driver's license and send him to prison as a habitual offender didn't prevent the 48-year-old Santa Fe man from getting arrested again Sunday on a DWI charge.

Depending on which records you look at, Sunday's arrest could be the 14th time since 1991 that he's been nabbed, said Thomas Beretich, analyst for the DWI Resource Center in Albuquerque. And Beretich said records indicate that when Vigil drives drunk, he's really drunk.

Vigil's breath-alcohol content during his first DWI arrest, in 1991, was measured at .34 — nearly four times the legal limit. He blew a .33 in 2001 and a .35 in 2006, said Beretich, who obtained the figures from the center's database.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano said Monday that preliminary tests of Vigil's blood-alcohol level after a deputy picked him up Sunday indicate it was about four times the limit. "He fits the profile of many repeat offenders in the eight- to 12-DWI range," the sheriff said.

This man deserves a life sentence because it's only a matter of time before he kills someone. Yet, our system allows him to be back on the road. What a mess.

Debate Brings Character Flaw to Light

I had wanted to see the first debate between the Republican candidates for the 1st Congressional District, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White and State Senator Joe Carraro, but both my kids had early basketball games and politics takes a backseat to family commitments.

Based on news reports, it looks like the most controversial part of the debate occurred before the candidates ever took the stage:

A Republican candidate for Congress objected publicly Saturday when the organizer of a county GOP forum that he and another Republican congressional candidate attended was closed to the media.

"It's a public meeting between two candidates for public office in a public place and it's closed to the media. What are you afraid of?" State Sen. Joe Carraro, who is seeking the GOP nomination in the 1st District, said after the meeting. "It needs to be transparent. We need to not go behind closed doors."

The Republican Party of Bernalillo County sponsored the meeting, which was attended mostly by GOP volunteers and activists and was held at an Albuquerque restaurant.

Ok, normally I would be the first one to agree that all debates by candidates for public office should be open. But, here is the thing. According to the meeting organizer, former State Representative Rory Ogle, both candidates agreed to a "no press" rule:

Ogle said he talked personally with Carraro and White about the rules ahead of time. Carraro denied that he agreed to closing the meeting ahead of time.

Sorry Senator Carraro you're lacking a bit of credibility here. I personally know all three parties involved and only the Senator's story rings untrue. If Senator Carraro had truly objected to the closed meeting ahead of time, he had ample opportunity to raise that objection long before that meeting took place.

Instead, he waited until the morning of the event to try and leverage some earned media by playing the part of the injured party and defender of open government. The problem is that no one is going to believe that Sheriff Darren White, a former news reporter who has never shied away from a little camera time, was personally against press attending the event. Plus, meeting organizer, Rory Ogle, had absolutely no reason to lie.

Senator Carraro's antics leave much to be desired and raise serious ethical questions regarding his personal integrity and character.

Disclaimer: I have made a financial contribution to Darren White's campaign.

Giving Money Back to the People

It looks like we're going to be getting some of our hard earned money back from the government (subscription):

With unprecedented speed and cooperation, Congress and the White House forged a deal Thursday to begin rushing tax rebates of $600 to $1,200 to most tax filers by spring, hoping they will spend the money just as quickly and jolt the ailing economy to life.

Rebates would be even higher for families with children.

The one-time tax rebates are at the center of a hard-won agreement to pump about $150 billion into the economy this year and perhaps stave off the first recession since 2001. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican leader John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson worked out the details in negotiations that stretched into Wednesday night at the Capitol.

About two-thirds of the tax relief would go out in rebate checks to 117 million families beginning in May. Businesses would get $50 billion in incentives to invest in new plants and equipment.

The premise behind this is simple. We've given people back their money before and had good results. People choosing how to spend their hard earned money, not bigger government, is what can stimulate the economy. So, if we know this, why are Democrats so eager to let the Bush tax cuts sunset in 2011? Instead, they ought to make the tax cuts permanent and sunset government spending.

Four Billion Reasons Against Universal Health Care

Just like there are consequences in life, there are consequences in government. The spending party never lasts forever. At some point the bill comes and then those spend, spend, spend politicians start looking at new ways to separate you from your hard earned money. But, don't take my word for it. Look at what one reasonable Democratic party leader had to recently say about the state of our state finances:

Tim Jennings warned his audience that he is a blunt speaker.

The president pro tempore of the New Mexico Senate indeed pulled no punches in addressing the attendees at the Association of Commerce and Industry's business day breakfast in Santa Fe.

"We're $4 billion in the hole," Jennings said of the fiscal challenges facing New Mexico. "But luckily we have $360 million in new dollars to solve that, so things are looking up."

$4 Billion in the hole! Ouch, that's not a pretty picture. I would suggest that any reasonable person would say, time to stop the spending. Any bill that is up in the legislature that requires new recurring funding should be dead on arrival.

In his State of the State the Governor said:

Our sound financial management of our permanent funds has allowed us to invest more than $3 billion into New Mexico schools and taxpayers. And I’d like to assure those who opposed the investment into our schools – our permanent funds have grown from $9 billion to $15 billion and our schools are benefiting from that investment.

Anyone want to bet how long it is going to take before some of our folks start planning another raid on that permanent fund? My guess is 2009.

Stick in the Eye of Business

Governor Bill Richardson blew it. Yesterday, was the Association of Commerce and Industry's (ACI) Business Day at Santa Fe. ACI is the statewide chamber of commerce and industry.

Business Day actually started on Monday night with an event held that included almost all of the chambers from around the state. Great two days, but Governor Richardson was noticeably absent.

Why? Simple...

ACI - at the behest of its members - has not taken a position endorsing the Governor's unfundable universal health care plan. In fact, ACI has taken a stance against putting the burden of universal health care on businesses.

ACI supports individual mandates of coverage, and we support incentives for employers to provide that coverage. We support a private/public partnership that reduces the overall cost of care, increases access to quality care, and improves the method of financing the health care system. We support aggressive outreach to our uninsured who currently qualifies for one of the many public programs available.

Our concerns are that the plan ties health coverage to employment-we need healthy New Mexicans, not just a healthy workforce. We are also concerned that New Mexico does not have the economies of scale to implement such a plan, and the costs are still unknown. How can New Mexico afford this in addition to the other initiatives we already have underway? And while we understand that the cost of doing nothing is significant, we are not convinced that the cost of this Plan is less.

The fact that the Health Care Authority will be able to set the rates that employers pay without any legislative oversight is concerning. It is true that the most an employer will pay in the first year is $500, but as the bill reads, the Authority can increase that every year hereafter. The bill defines a full-time employee as one who works 20 hours or more, and even if the employee only works for 90 days that year, the employer is responsible for paying into the fund for that person even if they are no longer employed at the time of filing.

We are also concerned that the Bill does not guarantee that even one additional person will be covered. Employees can opt out of coverage with no individual penalty, but the employer cannot opt out of paying into the fund.

The reporting requirement for our employers increases dramatically-the paperwork for the required 125 pre-tax plan that must be offered is significant, as is the fact that all employers "shall be required to report to the authority such data about health coverage, services delivered, incidents and infection rates and outcomes achieved in a format required or approved by the authority. . ." Many of our smaller employers fear they will need an additional staff person just to support the new requirements.

ACI does not believe that employment is a requirement for access to quality health care, nor do we believe that we should penalize New Mexicans for providing jobs.

Apparently, the Governor was not too happy about this, and decided to show his displeasure by canceling his schedule appearance at the ACI event. Mind you, the House and Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle and the Lt. Governor, as well as many of the the legislators saw fit to greet and address their business constituents from across the state, but NOT Governor Bill Richardson.

Like a spoiled child, the Governor turned his back on the very business community that had widely supported his run for presidency and most of his other misguided initiatives since he was elected to office. Mind you, the guy is still asking New Mexicans to pay for his gallavanting across the nation.

Had Governor Richardson attended, he would have heard Representative Tom Taylor (R-Farmington), the House Minority Leader recognize the fact that:

Every single solitary dime that [the legislature and the governor] spends comes from business.

Someone should remind Governor Richardson that elected leaders are put into office to do the will of the people. In our Democracy, people are not required to bend and conform to the will of the elected officials.

Now, it should be noted that the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce has put out the following statement:

Earlier today the Chamber’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the Health Care New Mexico Solutions Act. The discussion was spirited as you would expect for a issue with such huge ramifications for business and the state as a whole.

I understand from more than one board member that this decision WAS NOT unanimous. However, the Governor is rewarding the Chamber's kowtowing and blatant disregard of their members interest by attending a luncheon.

I, for one, will not pay for to attend that luncheon, and I seriously doubt that I will renew my membership to the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce until they show some semblance of a backbone when it comes to business issues and facing down the Governor.

As to the Governor, he owes the members of the business community that trekked up to Santa Fe from across the state a sincere apology.

Falsifying Success Becoming an Issue

In just a span of a couple of weeks, the City of Albuquerque has now twice been called to the carpet for fudging numbers. First, there was the expose on the City of Albuquerque's green claims (subscription):

It is a claim every Albuquerque resident who cares about global warming could be proud of: Since 1990, city residents have cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent.

It is also untrue.

The claim was contained in a report that was until recently featured prominently on the city's AlbuquerqueGreen Web site. As the nation's emissions of global warming-causing pollutants is on the rise, ours are going down, the report claimed.

But the report vastly overstated the city's greenhouse gas reductions. City officials acknowledged the problem and removed the report from a city Web site after the Journal requested supporting data.

It is not an isolated case. A Journal review shows the claims of greenhouse gas reductions and other "sustainability" successes made by the city are often exaggerated, misleading or wrong.

Not only is it not an isolated case, the Chavez Administration propensity to overstate success also appears not to be limited to green initiatives as one non-profit group discovered when checking on the City's claims (subscription):

Shortly after the city announced it had found homes for every "adoptable" shelter animal last month, a nonprofit group sent an employee over to check the claim.

The worker— from Alliance for Albuquerque Animals— walked through two city shelters and found 132 dogs and cats, seemingly ready for new homes.

The finding is evidence of a "culture of lying to the public about what's going on with shelter animals," said Debbra Colman, founder of the alliance.

Kind of makes you wonder what else the City may be lying about? Speaking of ethics in government, you can catch the video feeds from my most recent appearance on Eye on New Mexico here and here. The topic of the show was the ethics package being considered once again by the legislature.

The Railroad to Taxation

The proverbial other shoe is about to drop on the railroad:

The six-member statewide commission sent a letter to the governor this week encouraging establishment of the new transit district, which would let participating counties first elect to be involved, then ask voters to approve up to a 1/2 percent gross-receipts tax to pay for services.

And, "the tax-cutting" Governor has issued a statement supporting it. As the Governor's universal health care proposal continues to be pushed, New Mexicans would be wise to remember that so far every "big" initiative this Governor has put forth has been followed shortly after with a cry for a need for new taxes. We're seeing it with railroad. We saw it with Spaceport America, and we'll see it with the health care proposal.

My biggest fear is that in the very near future, we will see another attempt to raid the permanent fund to pay for all of these unrealistic and poorly planned new entitlement programs.

Broadcasting Should Happen

I'm with Heath on this one. I had written before how wrong it was for Governor Richardson to veto prior efforts to get cameras into the Roundhouse for broadcasting. But, now that the money has been approved and is just waiting to be spent, it is wrong for this not to go into effect.

It is disingenuous for the Legislature to be considering any sort of ethics reform package, when they won't even take this simple first step toward providing more open and accessible government.

Governor Richardson's 2008 State of the State

Today, Governor Bill Richardson gave his 2008 State of the State (pdf), and true to form, he laid out an agenda that is much too expansive to be dealt with in the time allotted. Not too mention, that it's not appropriate for a session which is supposed to be focused on budget issues. What makes this worse than usual is that he just got back in to town after almost a one-year hiatus.

They say when you run in a Democratic Primary, you tend to run to the left because the base is far to the left. Well, based on the Governor's State of the State address, someone forgot to tell him to stop running to the left:

It begins with insurance reform.

Today there is a unified voice from business, labor and patients alike -- demanding solutions to the ever-rising cost of care and insurance premiums.

My plan requires that at least 85-percent of premiums must be spent directly on care.

Not on overhead.

Not on bureaucracy.

Not on profits.

Our public programs already require this--private insurers must do the same.

First off, let's deal with the obvious. I'm a member of numerous business organizations, and I can tell you that when it comes to the health care proposal the Governor has put forth, there is NO unified voice from business community.

And, what's this nonsense about limiting profitability of insurance providers? Someone please remind Governor Richardson that it's still legal in America to make a profit. In fact, it - the free enterprise system - is one of the cornerstones of our democracy.

Then, the Governor goes on to say, "Everyone must pay their fair share." Gee, when was the last time you looked at your tax bill and thought, I'm not paying my fair share. The state budget has grown astronomically since the administration took over, and the Governor has the nerve to say "everyone must pay their fair share." What's next? "...from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

After his Socialist Health Care agenda, the Governor proposes:

A new mandate calling on utilities to invest in energy efficiency programs. Programs that will be cheaper and cleaner than building new power plants.

Now, he's telling the utilities how to run their businesses. Who do you think is going to pay in the long run for this mandate? That's right, you and me. We're going to end up paying higher rates. Can you say, "Hidden taxes."

I could go on, but I'm just getting frustrated. Maybe I ought to invest in the campaign to draft Richardson as Vice-President, it's got to be cheaper for me than keeping him in the state.

Governor in For a Rude Awakening

Governor Richardson has spent a year on the campaign trail only to return a week before the 30 day legislative session with big plans (subscription):

We already know the lawmakers will be asked to tackle health care and ethics reform.

There's a plan to change how the state funds public education.

Granting gay and lesbian couples the same rights as married, heterosexual ones, is a familiar and controversial issue likely to return to the table.

By the way, legislators also must craft a multibillion-dollar state budget and might divvy up more than $300 million for brick-and-mortar projects around the state that are better known as pork.

That's just the big stuff; hundreds of additional issues, with legislators pushing their own priorities, will pile up as everyone tries to address a year's worth of problems and wishes in one month's time.

My prediction is that the lame duck Governor is going to make very little headway during this session on that massive health care proposal. Then, he is going to be faced with calling folks into special session or aligning himself with a presidential campaign and going back out on the trail to try and win the Hispanic vote. My guess is that latter. With all of the legislators up for re-election, a special session would not be well-received.

Richardson Makes First Big Mistake

It didn't even take five minutes for Governor Richardson to make his first big mistake. He's back in New Mexico to make his bail out speech from the Presidential campaign, and one of his first acts is to "snub" New Mexico's political reporters:

Richardson's withdrawal was expected. But one surprise today was how he treated the New Mexico press corps. Before Richardson appeared in the Rotunda, his chief campaign flack Pahl Shipley announced that Richardson would not answer questions after his announcement. That in itself isn't exactly surprising. While I was in Iowa and New Hampshire the past few days, practically the only thing that Richardson spokesman Tom Reynolds ever said to me was "The governor's not taking any questions."

But where did Richardson go immediately after his speech? To the Capitol television studio to do interviews on Fox News and CNN.

Watch Matt Grubbs' report on KOAT -- specifically the last part. You'll see campaign aide Katie Roberts telling local reporters to "please show respect" for the governor as he goes about his "official business."

Official business meaning holing up in the television studio for an hout and a half so he could be on national t.v.

Bad move, Governor. These are the folks you definitely are going to need on your side as you try and thrust a bank breaking HillaryCare type of health insurance mandate on New Mexicans during the short thirty day legislative session.

Of course, I'm not buying the Governor's line that he's "back." The man loves the national press just a little too much for his own good, which means he's got two choices at this point.

1. He goes out on the campaign trail for one of the candidates to head up their Hispanic voter efforts.
2. He becomes a talking head commentator on the presidential campaign for the national media.

I just don't see him staying put here. Especially, not after the dose of reality those in the legislature are about to give him this session.

Governor and ACLU See the Light

Governor Bill Richardson's decision to acknowledge defeat in the Presidential campaign (subscription) today is going to go down as the best decision he has made in the entire race.

Stung by dismal showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, and scraping the bottom of his campaign war chest, Gov. Bill Richardson apparently is ending his bid for the presidency.

Richardson's national campaign finance chairman, Ed Romero of Albuquerque, told the Journal on Wednesday that he has been informed the governor will have a news conference today announcing his decision to withdraw from the race for the Democratic nomination.

Romero added that he is already making calls on behalf of Hillary Clinton, who won the New Hampshire primary election Tuesday.

There is nothing wrong with giving it a try and losing, but he was on the verge of looking foolish, and that's not good for the Governor or New Mexico.

Speaking of good decisions, according to a recent press release, it looks like the ACLU has abandoned their frivolous lawsuit against Senator Rod Adair:

Today however, in an unprecedented move for that organization, the ACLU moved to dismiss their own lawsuit, with prejudice, agreed they themselves are liable for all the fees they have incurred for their three attorneys and their entire legal team. As part of the settlement the ACLU was required to issue the following statement:

“The ACLU-NM acknowledges that Senator Rod Adair is a strong supporter of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions.”

Adair acknowledged the clear and total victory in the case, “The statement they released concerning my well-known commitment to civil rights for everyone contradicts, word-for-word, the frivolous complaint they had filed, he said, “I cannot imagine a more complete surrender by anyone in any case in New Mexico history.”

It's like everyone is seeing the light at the same time.

Governor Won't Make it to Super Tuesday

Ok, everyone in the world knows about the "upsets" in New Hampshire. However, the one upset that didn't happen was Governor Bill Richardson. He didn't perform any better than expected. He was in fourth again, but with only five points. A performance that bad puts him much closer to all those who got 0% in New Hampshire than to third place Edwards. Yet, he has pledged to stay in through next Saturday's caucus in Nevada (subscription):

Gov. Bill Richardson vowed to stay in the Democratic presidential race Tuesday night despite finishing far behind the leaders in the New Hampshire primary.

His second fourth-place finish this month, coming five days after taking 2 percent of the delegate count in Iowa, raised questions about how much farther down the campaign trail he'll go.

"This race is going on and on and on," the New Mexico governor told about 150 supporters at a Manchester conference center after the New Hampshire polls closed. "As we head out West the fight goes on!"

The Governor would be wise to drop out before Nevada, or else he risks looking foolish. Right now, he can say he gave it the old college try. Hanging on any longer just starts looking desperate.

Bill Richardson "Created 85,000 New Taxes"

Governor Richardson has done it again. The Daily Show could have an entire segment on Richardon's campaign trail gaffes. When the dust settles tonight in New Hampshire, Richardson's presidential run will officially be over - even if Richardson continues through Super Tuesday.

But, it looks like he is going out in classic Richardson style. I just got this note from a reader:

This morning, about 6:30 am, I was listening to Don Imus on KTBL interviewing Bill Richardson from New Hampshire. The Gov launched into a litany about why being a Gov makes him the best choice to be President. Richardson said “ as Governor, I have created 85,000 new taxes…” when he meant to say “jobs”. Still, I could not help but realize what a Freudian slip that was. I laughed the rest of the way into my office.

Then again, maybe he was thinking about the "85,000 in new fees" that are going to be required to cover the state government spendfest that has been running rampant under the Richardson administration..

There's Fourth and Then There's Fourth

I started to write this on Friday, but I was running late for an appointment, so I didn't get to finish. I've been asked a few times over the weekend, what I thought of the Iowa Caucus results.

On the Republican front, I think it's still anyone's game. There just won't be a clear front runner until Super Tuesday. But, watch for the long knives to come out between now and then. As to the Democrats, it's Obama, Edwards or Hillary - in that order.

There is no amount of spin that can help Governor Bill Richardson save face from the whooping he took last week in Iowa. Sure, the campaign is sticking to its "we finished fourth" line. But, there is fourth, and then there is fourth. When 27 points lays between you and the third place candidate, you're done, finished, kaput.

Yet, is Richardson calling it quits? Not yet. Mind you, he's got a job to do here with the pending legislative session, but he's just not willing to throw in the towel. Why? Well, he likes the national limelight too much. New Mexicans know (or at least they should be now) that Bill Richardson is in the game for Bill Richardson. And, based on the reports of Richardson throwing his Iowa votes to Obama, the Clintons now know it too.

Richardson is a deal maker of the first order. So, what kind of deal do you think he struck with Obama? You don't think he would shun the Clintons without some sort of backup plan, do you?

First Line Shows Bias

Sometimes you can read the first two sentences of a newspaper article and immediately see the bias (subscription):

A 62-year-old Oregon youth counselor was left out in the cold in a high-crime area by Albuquerque police late New Year's Eve.

But police say they were just doing their job when they seized his car.

The reporter has put the police on the defensive. That's absurd. The real story buried half way down in the article is:

Police stopped Vargas about 11 p.m. after they saw him driving too fast over speed bumps in the 200 block of Pennsylvania NE, APD Capt. Murray Conrad said.

Vargas has three DWIs and a revoked license, according to his motor vehicle record. Vargas, who had an Oregon identification card, was charged for driving on a New Mexico suspended license, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint.

Not one, not two, but THREE DWI's and he is still driving on a revoked license. Yet, the guy whose car he is driving, Dennis M. Lufkin of Medford, Oregon, wants an apology from the police.

Give me a break.

The headlines the day before reported that a drunk driver killed two people on New Year's Eve (subscription). I'm thinking Mr. Lufkin owes the people of New Mexico and apology.

Catching up on Videos

In case you missed it, I was on Eye on New Mexico a couple of weeks ago. During Part 1, we talked about Mayor Chavez's idea for planting lawns on roofs around town. Part 2 is a discussion of the various politcal races in the state.

And yes, I was in a cheesy horror flick back in 1995. No, I wasn't a star of the movie, but you have to love alphabetical cast lists.