July 7, 2017

Another dem announces for governor - GOP news release?

This was published in the online Grant County Beat:

Albuquerque, NM - Yesterday, Democrat State Senator Joseph Cervantes announced his campaign for the New Mexico governor's seat.

At the same time, Senator Cervantes' launched his gubernatorial campaign by denouncing the idea that New Mexico needs to attract new companies to our state, adding that luring out-of-state jobs have been too much of a priority for legislators trying to bring jobs to New Mexican residents.

Joseph Cervantes has kicked off his candidacy by announcing that he does not see the need to bring jobs and economic opportunity to this state," said Ryan Cangiolosi, Chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico. "Cervantes doesn't seem to understand that our next governor should have a plan to put more people to work."

Cervantes' also enters the race as a direct challenge to Michelle Lujan Grisham, as he becomes the 3rd Democrat to enter the 2018 governors' race against her.

"Senator Cervantes is the third Democrat to challenge politician Michelle Lujan Grisham, and who knows, there will probably be more to step forward against her failed record of carrying water for Nancy Pelosi and her extreme agenda," Cangiolosi stated. "Cervantes and many Democrats see Michelle Lujan Grisham as an inferior candidate who has no real solutions for the people of New Mexico."

Obviously NOT Cervantes' press release!

July 3, 2017

History Lesson

Need I say More?

June 21, 2017

Rolling Stone: republican bill could ruin your life.

This article pulls no punches and shows how totally screwed up the whole thing is:

This is not a bill to improve health care; it's a bill to repeal taxes on very wealthy people.

The House-passed version of the American Health Care Act would strip $834 billion from Medicaid, deprive 23 million Americans of health insurance over a decade and spike premiums in the individual insurance market by 20 percent in the first year alone, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The legislation would leave many Americans with pre-existing conditions without access to affordable coverage, the CBO concludes, "if they could purchase it at all." In addition, the House bill would allow insurers to jack up premiums on rural and older-working-age Americans. In rural Alaska, a 60-year-old would be hit with insurance premiums of $28,000 a year.

The only real winners in Trumpcare are Americans in the top 0.1 percent, who would receive a $200,000 tax break.

McConnell has a political incentive to pass the "meanest" bill he can muster.

There will not be a public airing – at least not one that compares to the 80 days it took for Obamacare to clear the Senate in 2009.

The only thing that could change McConnell's course is public outcry.

What Republicans are trying to put into law is wildly unpopular. The health care of millions of Americans hangs in the balance. Senate Republicans' only ally is darkness.

It's time to shine a spotlight.

June 1, 2017

New Mexico senator slams trump again

This time it's on the Paris Agreement. Here's Marty Heinrich's press release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 31, 2017) — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, issued the following statement on reports that President Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the historic agreement reached by the United States and nearly 200 other countries to address the challenge of global climate change:

"President Trump's inward looking, isolationist vision for America represents a dangerous abdication of our nation's leadership role. Pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement would deeply damage our credibility on the international stage and put us on a path toward very real and costly climate disruptions in New Mexico and around the world. The time is now to act on climate change. We can't afford to wait. We have a moral obligation to be responsible stewards of this earth."

May 17, 2017

New Mexico senators slam trump

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to call for real, bipartisan oversight of the Trump administration in light of the president’s “dangerous” behavior with classified information in a recent Oval Office meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador. Udall said that President Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey – who was overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election and possible ties to Trump campaign officials — and the president’s reported sharing of highly classified information with Russian officials “call into question his fitness for office and further underscore the imperative for independent investigations.”

Speaking about the widely corroborated reports that the president revealed highly classified information to Russian officials in the Oval Office, Udall said "we can already tell that President Trump’s behavior in this incident is very dangerous — dangerous to our national security institutions, and dangerous to the men and women overseas who are serving their country and risking their lives.” Udall called the president’s reported actions “strange,” especially in the context of Russian interference to benefit the Trump campaign in the 2016 elections.

Video and full news release.


WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement on reports that President Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats:

“President Trump continues to display a disturbing pattern of recklessness. This latest incident adds to the growing list of the president’s carelessness in protecting America’s most sensitive secrets.

“For example, the President kept Michael Flynn as his National Security Advisor for weeks after learning that he was compromised by the Russians; he leaves classified lockbags lying around the oval office with the keys still in them; he discussed North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile with Japanese President Abe in the middle of the Mar-a-Lago dining room with dozens of civilian guests present; he claimed the CIA was ‘hacked,’ when no such incidents have ever been acknowledged by the U.S. government; he invited the TASS Russian News Agency into the Oval Office with cameras and electronic equipment; and now he is sharing our nation’s most sensitive secrets with Russia’s Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United States.

“Any one of these missteps would have resulted in punishments ranging from disciplinary action to jail time for any other citizen. But for President Trump, it’s just another day in the White House.

“This cannot be the new normal.”

May 9, 2017

New Mexico Democrats Introduce Federal Legislation to Prohibit School 'Lunch Shaming'

When this horrible behavior by school administrators becomes so widespread that it has to be dealt with on the state and federal level... well, pathetic is all I can say.

Press release

Some excerpts:

Monday, May 8, 2017

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), along with Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), introduced bipartisan companion bills in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to prohibit schools from discriminating against or stigmatizing children who have outstanding credit or don't have enough money to pay for meals at school. The legislation, the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act, would ban schools from singling out children — such as by requiring them to wear wristbands or hand stamps or do extra chores — because their parents have not paid their school meal bills.

The Anti-Lunch Shaming Act prohibits schools from using humiliation or throwing a child's meal away because their parent hasn't paid their school meal bill. It requires schools to direct communications regarding meal debt to the parent, not the child.

"Children who have no ability to pay their debts shouldn't be shamed, punished at school or even go hungry because their parents can't pay their school meal bills," Udall said. "Shaming students or requiring extra chores from kids who need help paying for lunch is inexcusable — not only does it stigmatize our most vulnerable children, it takes away from time they can be spending on schoolwork or with their peers. This meal shaming can sometimes stand in the way of students' only healthy meal of the day — we can't expect our kids to succeed in the classroom if they are hungry. I'm proud of New Mexico for being the first state to outlaw this harmful practice and will do everything I can in the Senate to pass this legislation on a federal level so no child will have to spend their time at school feeling ashamed of a debt they have no power to pay."

“No student should be humiliated in front of their peers because their parents can’t afford to pay for a meal,” Lujan Grisham said. “It is shocking and shameful that this happens to hungry children, but nearly half of all school districts use some form of lunch shaming. This bipartisan bill will put an end to these draconian practices and help ensure that students can focus on their studies without looking over their shoulder to see their friends pointing fingers.”

And is there anything crueler or stupider than throwing away a child’s lunch?

May 2, 2017

Need help with Twitter

Just opened a twitter account. Surely there must be something to click on to pull down the reply thread to a post? Can't seem to find it.
Can anyone help?
Thanks

April 28, 2017

Senators' press conference slams "drain the swamp" lie and more.

" target="_blank">VIDEO
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall led Senate and House Democrats in a press conference to discuss President Trump's many broken promises to "drain the swamp” of special interests during the first 100 days of his administration. As Udall said, in spite of his pledges to return Washington the people, President Trump has stocked his administration with billionaires and lobbyists, refuses to adhere to essential transparency precedents, continues to conceal his ties to Russia, and is caught in a stunning web of conflicts of interests that could violate the U.S. Constitution and other ethics laws.

During the press conference, Udall and the Senate and House Democrats unveiled a special report on the extensive list of broken promises from the Trump administration to "drain the swamp” of special interest power.

Udall was joined at the press conference by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and U.S. Representatives Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Katherine Clark (D-Mass.).

Below are Udall's opening remarks as prepared for delivery.

"As a candidate for president, Donald Trump's promised over and over again that he would 'drain the swamp' in Washington.

"He promised to return Washington to the people, and to rid it of lobbyists and special interests. It was literally Trump's rallying cry.

"It is stunning how quickly he broke that promise. And it's deeply disturbing how many times he has violated it in his first 100 days.

"His cabinet is the wealthiest in modern history. It is stocked with lobbyists and special interest representatives.

"He has rolled back President Obama's ethics standards, and yet has broken his own weaker rules repeatedly.

"He claims to have no ties to Russia, even as the FBI says it is investigating him for his connections.

"He promised open, honest government. Yet he berates the media and he has refused to continue President Obama's policy of publishing the White House visitor logs.

"The American people have a right to information about who has access to the president. But President Trump doesn't want them to know.

"Mr. Trump promised to relinquish control of his business. Yet, he and his family continue to do deals. And they're blatantly profiting from the presidency.

"The list goes on and on. It seems Mr. Trump is determined to dig the swamp deeper, and make it murkier than ever before.

"Just yesterday, he proposed a massive tax cut that would benefit himself and the other multi-millionaires and billionaires in his cabinet.

"But we can't be sure just how much this tax plan would help Mr. Trump and his family — because to this day, the president refuses to release his tax returns.

"You have our report, 'President Trump's Broken Promises to 'Drain the Swamp.''

"It's long. But it represents a mere fraction of the ways Mr. Trump has made himself one of the most ethically challenged presidents in modern memory.

"We are part of a bicameral group of Senators and members of the House who are dedicated to shining a bright light on President Trump's murky swamp.

"We are holding him accountable this week – and as long as he is president.

"My colleagues are joining me today to give more details about the report.”

EDIT: fixed the link

March 29, 2017

Telecom industry bought votes

Look up your republican congresscritters and see how much they took in contributions from the telecom industry. As far as I know, they all voted to allow the sale of your browsing history.


Resistance Report

March 21, 2017

Indivisibles, ProgressNow, ACLU fill Pearce townhall

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM-02) Held a townhall meeting in Las Cruces on Saturday, March 18. Although Pearce's press release claimed he invited Indivisible leaders, it was actually pressure from Indivisible and other groups that persuaded him to hold the meeting. Local Indivisible leader Tony Martinez opened the meeting and introduced Pearce. Nearly 600 people attended, and trump/Pearce supporters were outnumbered by about 10-1. One individual who claimed that protestors were paid by Planned Parenthood and other groups was drowned out by the crowd.

I will give Pearce credit for a couple of things; he did respond to constituent demands for a meeting, he did stay the full scheduled 2 hours plus, despite the intensity of the questions and the loud audience. However, he gave many vague answers, changed the subject several times, and in one case claimed the ACA has collapsed and told constituent that he’d just have to live until he could get on Medicare. Pretty snotty. He said he "leaned no" on trumpcare. He said the wall would be a waste of money and would not improve security, that he "almost always" voted against it, then hedged by saying that if it were included in another important bill...

Although he was evasive and controlled the mike, he definitely heard from his constituents, and clarified a few things.
He feels he was elected on the basis of his own views and agenda and is not obligated to pay attention to input from staff or constituents.
Clarified somewhat his stand on the disposal of public lands: put public lands into private hands so they can be taxed to finance schools. (I'm sure desert and scrub forest is going to generate lots of tax revenue.)
Believes term limits give more power to the ‘unelected’ bureaucracy and staffers. Also results in loss of “corporate knowledge”. (Huh?)
Regarding trump's tax info: “he is elected president”, so not important and would cause tremendous disruption. “Trump will do what he wants.”
Impeachment would be a distraction.

So that's a summary. He also promised more town hall meetings in the future, and one questioner invited him to Silver City.
A member of Black Range Indivisible compiled a table of the questions and answers. If you're interested, message me through this site and I'll forward it.