The Bill Richardson Watch, 2/23/2007

[bigtree]

By THE NEW MEXICAN
February 23, 2007
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/57476.html

And then there was one: governor in the race, that is. Tom Vilsack of Iowa dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination this morning. He was behind the polls and behind in fund-raising ­ with experts predicting candidates will need $20 million in hand by June 2007. Bill Richardson now is the only governor in the race.

The New York Times weighs in on Richardson' s candidacy, in this piece by Ralph Blumenthal and Dan Frosch (formerly of the Santa Fe Reporter). The lead:
"When a governor runs for president, local issues can suddenly loom large. Take cockfighting. Gov. Bill Richardson has come out against it after ignoring the question for years." (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/us/politics/23richardson.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print)

The piece also discusses some of the controversies of his term, including the appointment of Tommy Rodella as magistrate judge in Rio Arriba County and Richardson's reputation for being touchy-feely.


From Nevada Up North, a shout-out to the Richardson campaign: "Aside from Hillary¹s secret service, Richardson¹s campaign was the most visible." The same post also mentions a discussion with an undecided attendee who left the event a Richardson fan. http://nvupnorth.blogspot.com/2007/02/forum.html

Making news: Richardson promises to have a cabinet position for the Secretary of Indian Affairs, moving it out of the Department of Interior. Read the interview with Indian Country Today¹s Sonny Skyhawk .
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414557

Meanwhile, Bill Richardson keeps right on campaigning and traveling the country ­ off to Florida this weekend and then to the National Governors Association yearly meeting in Washington, D.C.

Two views: A postive note from John E. Carey, who blogs at www.nowpublic.com, (http://www.nowpublic.com/american_politics_bill_richardson_our_kind_of_guy) who calls Richardson the "most highly qualified candidate" in the race and rejects a snarky post from the "advice goddess," AKA Amy Alkon, who writes a syndicated advice column. She claims that Richardson lacks swagger.
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2007/02/giuliani_formay_1.html

more: http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/57476.html


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[bigtree]

1. kick

:kick:

[k_jerome]

2. i'm starting to really like Richardson. nt.

[Gloria]

3. Note: He's trying to shove a spaceport down our throats, with sales tax

increases to pay for it. Richard Branson is involved and we're getting a big propaganda push, with very little discussion, to vote for the tax. A rally was held at a school a few weeks ago..CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC....during which the kids were told to go home and tell their parents to vote for it.

Richardson is NO PRIZE. He's got an awful lot of similarities to a DLCer.

[bigtree]

4. I saw that. How much does he want to invest? $100 million?

How's it moving in the legislature?


Writers on the Range
February 6, 2006

What price New Mexico’s sky?


In December, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Companies, announced that Branson hopes to build the world’s first "spaceport" here in the state. Customers would pay about $200,000 to take a two and a half-hour trip into space; the company has already taken $11 million in reservations. As part of its proposal, Virgin Galactic’s headquarters and mission control would be located at the airport in Albuquerque, while the spaceport would be built in the state’s southern desert. Richardson is asking legislators to set aside $135 million of state money for Branson’s project.

Then, in mid-January, a for-profit business called the Rocket Racing League announced its intention to hold mile-high races in the desert near Las Cruces. The planes would race one another around a two-mile long course, dodging virtual objects projected onto the pilot’s screen. Fans below could watch the event on big screens.

The venture could yield the state $15 million to $30 million in what the governor calls "economic activity" by 2010. The deal hinges on the spaceport, and the city of Las Cruces is still negotiating with the company, but it has already promised to donate land and hangars.

According to Gov. Richardson: "As the future home of the Rocket Racing League, we look forward to welcoming the hundreds of thousands of people who will come to New Mexico to enjoy NASCAR in the sky." I guess he’s already courting those NASCAR dads for 2008.

This brings us back to that billion-dollar energy surplus. Lest anyone forget, New Mexico has one of the highest rates of poverty in the country. In fact, 30 percent of New Mexico’s children live below the poverty line. More than a quarter of New Mexicans do not have health care, and that number is growing. Other chronic problems in the state include failing schools, high rates of alcoholism and drug addiction and low rates of literacy. In other words, there is no shortage of social programs in the state that could benefit from even a small chunk of change.

There’s also the problem of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, an area the governor has said he’s concerned about. It turns out that aircraft are a major culprit. According to the U.S. Transportation Department’s Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting, about 70 percent of an aircraft’s emissions are made up of carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide is the number-one contributor to climate change. The Federal Aviation Administration points out that in addition to a plane’s emissions, travelers use gasoline to go back and forth from airports, and the airports and landed planes require electricity, as do the ubiquitous construction crews found at any airport.

Currently, aviation accounts for 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, and about 3 percent of the total greenhouse emissions in the United States. That might not seem like a lot, but consider that the use of aircraft is growing, and the FAA estimates that emissions will increase 60 percent by 2025.

It’s time for New Mexico’s leaders to ask themselves some hard questions about what constitutes economic development. Besides, now that I’m about to increase my own carbon emissions — by adding a daughter to the planet — I’m hoping that I don’t have to tell her "when I was a young woman" stories about the once-glorious skies of New Mexico.

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.WOTRArticle?article_id=16107

[bigtree]

5. this post for some balance

from GOAT High Country News: http://blog.hcn.org/goat/category/news-shorts/


New Mexico’s foray into the final frontier

Thursday, July 27, 2006

No, it’s not the latest South Park movie. “Spaceport America” is the new name for a space hub that’s being built on 15,000 acres of state land in southern New Mexico. “Southwest Regional Spaceport” was too cumbersome, so state officials and Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire owner of Virgin Galactic, brainstormed a new name and logo.

Governor Bill Richardson and the state legislature have already promised more than $100 million toward the $225 million project – which will shoot into space for two and a half hours those customers with $200,000 to spare.

According to the state’s Economic Development Department:

New Mexico is expected to benefit in the form of new jobs, revenue to the state and capital investment as a result of overall spending from suborbital and orbital activities, and research and development activities directly related to the Spaceport. A New Mexico State University study projects spending of $1 billion, payroll of $300 million, and employment reaching 2,300 by the fifth year of operation.

Support for the private spaceport seems widespread, especially given positive coverage of the project in the state’s major newspapers. Now, here’s hoping the state’s suborbital spending really does pan out in the long term for New Mexico, which has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in the nation.

[Gloria]

6. A whole lot of people don't support it ...jobs? How many high level

jobs will be created and how many of them will be filled by "imported" engineers. The location is about 50 miles from Las Cruces...how many janitors can even afford to drive up there??

Meanwhile, Branson has his fingers in other countries developing spaceports. There is one spaceports in West Texas, California and even in the Mid-Atlantic states. They've been sending up payloads already. BTW, the "test" run here FAILED, but they keep saying it was success anyway.

This has been top down from the start. We now find out that the location is smack dab on the old Camino Real, a designated historic site. Also, the environmental studies have been pushed back. Ranchers have been paid very big bucks for the use of the land...we're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Already a done deal, and all of a sudden, they are "allowing" us to vote. This is what I especially resent.

Not only is NM POOR, but Las Cruces schools have a shortage of computers, students share books, and kids sell, sell for every activity.
Kids with little money have to rent instruments because there aren't enough to go around for music classes.....Oh, a few years ago, we had to campaign to keep music. And some of the charities struggle to stay afloat and there is the yearly begging for winter coats.

We hear about all the "educational" value of this project.....maybe they should start with some textbooks and computers.

[bigtree]

7. I'm with you on this. It looks like they're trying to force it. Too much corporate nonsense.

thanks for your perspective.