In Case You Missed It...Yesterday Senate Democrats came to the rescue of our struggling economy with H.I.R.E. (Helping Incentivize Real Employment) - the Democratic plan to create jobs and lay the foundation for long-term economic success.

Their 11 proposals make up the first comprehensive jobs package to be introduced in the Legislature or announced by any elected officials this year - including the Governor. And don't be fooled - the Governor's "Jobs Package" is nothing more than a symbolic gesture and yet another tax cut for corporations - it's not big enough or targeted enough to create a single job!

DPNM Chairman Javier Gonzales set the tone for what this means when he said:

"The Democratic HIRE Jobs Plan addresses everything from education to incentives to lowering the cost of doing business at every stage of the production cycle. Cutting taxes by a few hundred dollars a month on a few thousand businesses is a nice break for small businesses in tough times, but it's not going to get people hiring again, and that's not good enough.

The Democratic HIRE Jobs Plan is more than just a stop-gap, more than a symbolic gesture. Our economic situation requires a plan that is comprehensive, and Democrats have met that challenge!"

Stay tuned for more to come on what you can do - on what we all need to do - to support this critical legislation and demand it's passage!

Excerpts from the articles below, or read the full version here, here, or here.

Democrats aim to trump Martinez on jobs, taxesState senators say their plans will have quicker economic impact than Martinez's
Trip Jennings | The New Mexican
Posted: Monday, January 23, 2012

...Senate Democratic lawmakers pitched several ideas Monday that they said would spark New Mexico's economy faster and better than tax cuts proposed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

"A lot of these ideas are big ideas. They are ideas that would put a 'Now Hiring' sign out in front of almost every storefront in New Mexico," said Sen. Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque. "We think it will make a difference right away."

Gov., Dems Offer Dueling Job-Growth Plans
By James Monteleone and Dan Boyd / Copyright © 2012 Albuquerque Journal on Tue, Jan 24, 2012

The package unveiled by Senate Democrats on Monday included 11 measures, more than half of them proposing new tax credits, that supporters said will lead to more hiring, companies moving to the state and less reliance on the oil and natural gas industries.

The plan includes $5,000 per year for hiring a graduate of a state university, lower income taxes for increasing the wages of current workers and a tax break on transporting agricultural crops outside state lines.

But Senate Democrats said their package of proposed legislation – dubbed the HIRE initiative (Helping Incentivize Real Employment) – would boost the state’s economy without providing “giveaways” to specific companies.

“What we’re asking in each of these bills is true investment in New Mexico before a credit goes out the other end,” said Sen. John Sapien, D-Corrales.

The plan also includes Senate Democrats’ take on how to address the state’s tax pyramiding for businesses and a tax credit for private companies that give pay raises to their New Mexico workers.

Democrat senators offer jobs package
The Alamogordo Daily News
By Milan Simonich Texas-New Mexico Newspapers
Posted: 01/23/2012 12:27:50 PM MST

SANTA FE -- Senate Democrats said Monday their business this session is business.

Seven senators outlined 11 bills that would give tax breaks to businesses that add employees, expand product sales or improve wages. Another component of one bill would close tax loopholes, offsetting costs of providing certain incentives.

Sen. Michael Sanchez of Belen, the Democrats' leader, said the collective effort is called HIRE -- Helping Incentivize Real Employment. He launched the campaign last summer with the help of corporate managers, unions and rank-and-file workers.

Sanchez said one myth of politics is that Democrats are not so interested in job creation as the rival party. Never has that been true, but the jobs package makes it especially plain this session, Sanchez said.

January 11, 2012

Contact: Scott Forrester, (505) 934-5681

Albuquerque, NM - The following is a statement from Javier Gonzales, Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, on the approval of a compromise redistricting plan for State Senate districts:

"This compromise plan is not a victory for one political party or another, it's a victory for New Mexicans and the constitutional principle of one person, one vote. Judge Hall chose a map based on fairness and equality for every voter.

"While this is a victory in the Senate, the fight to protect the power of the vote in New Mexico continues. It was a shame to see the Governor's cynical game plan to not participate in redistricting, hire a partisan map-drawer and attempt to win the favor of the court when there were multiple other plans that were less partisan, more fair to voters and more reflective of the massive population shifts we are experiencing.

"The Governor vetoed the democratically drawn map, forced the taxpayers to pay for her lawsuit, then pulled a fast one to rig the game in Republicans' favor. That never should have flown with the judge, and we will continue to fight for every New Mexican until all of our legal options have been exhausted."

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Mitt Romney’s biggest enemy: Mitt Romney
By Brian McGrory

Admittedly, and please don’t hold this against me, I always kind of liked Mitt Romney.

I liked when he told me, fresh off his gubernatorial election, “I want to do a better job for people who need government’s help,’’ and when he oversaw the landmark health care reform and when he restored hundreds of thousands of dollars in the budget for the homeless.

But somewhere around the time he was disavowing his stands on abortion rights, on sensible immigration policies, on pretty much the entire role of government in society, I came to realize one true thing: I liked the concept of Mitt Romney more than I liked the man himself.

The concept is the businessman who neither needs nor craves the elective job. The concept is the fully formed adult who refuses to get caught up in the petty semantics and intellectual gymnastics that consume so many career politicians. The concept is the person more devoted to ideas than ideology, someone who doesn’t sweat every poll.

By the time he got to the cornfields of Iowa and the strip malls of New Hampshire four years ago, the man and the concept had irreparable differences. He distorted his past. He contorted his views. Mitt Romney seemed diminished by what should have been a grand pursuit.

Still, when this campaign rolled around, and the economy was the focus, Romney seemed like the man for the moment. He was a titan in business. He had governed Massachusetts out of a recession. He is uncommonly intelligent. And it doesn’t hurt that he basically comes across as Abraham Lincoln compared to the assorted cranks and crackpots who make up most of the Republican field.

He’s even pushed an early, effective message, one that goes like this: Voters in 2008 put their faith in a young, untested candidate in Barack Obama, as is the American way. Nothing against him, Romney says, but time has shown he isn’t up to the job. The message may work, because it may be right.

But then came last week’s television ad, the first of Romney’s campaign, and everything old is new again. The spot shows Obama saying, “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.’’ Problem is, as has been widely reported, Obama was repeating and mocking what a John McCain aide said about the GOP strategy in the 2008 race. The full Obama quote went like this: “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.’’

Which brings us to Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom. He may or may not be better than his recent zero-for-six record reflects, though he was great as CrazyKhazei on Twitter, circulating anonymous insults in the Massachusetts Senate race on behalf of Scott Brown. Then his identity was revealed, and he looked like he was running for student council at a reform school.

Of the Romney ad and the out-of-context quote, Fehrnstrom bizarrely told the Globe, “It’s all deliberate.’’ Of the outcry from Obama’s camp: “Their reaction was quite hysterical.’’ Of the obvious deception: “If you do your job, [voters] will learn about it.’’

So basically, Romney deliberately deceived the public; he’s laughing because his opponent thinks it’s wrong; he feels no obligation to the truth. Is that about right?

And with that, Mitt Romney has yet again relinquished his role as the adult in this race, the serious-minded reformer who soars above the fray to tell it like it is. Romney, yet again, is just another politician willing to sacrifice what’s left of his integrity for a vote.

If he deceives in an ad, does he deceive in a speech? Does he have that little respect for the voters? In this environment, with these opponents, is he really incapable of making an honest, straightforward case?

Romney and the concept have never been so far apart. At a time when nothing good ever seems to get done in government, he’s showing himself to be another face in the crowd.

Hispanics Won’t Buy Into GOP Spin
By Javier Gonzales / Chairman, Democratic Party of New Mexico on Fri, Nov 25, 2011

Last Monday, New Mexico GOP Chairman Monty Newman reminded us that Hispanics face a “harsh economic reality” (“Hispanics Want Real Solutions, Not Pandering”).

But that statement about the economic situation was the single accurate point in a baseless article asking Hispanic New Mexicans to support Republican presidential candidates. Newman clearly forgets that Republicans want to take us back to the exact same policies that created this economic reality.

Newman asks us to vote for the same Republicans behind a dangerous “cut, cap and balance” budget plan that would eliminate 700,000 jobs. Who would rather privatize schools than help students – one in four of whom is Hispanic – succeed. Who claim to represent Hispanic voters, but block responsible immigration reform, make it harder for us to vote, then try to keep us from voting them out of office.

New Mexicans need a president who fights for the middle class. That’s why we’re behind President Obama, who has helped put money back in the pockets of the middle class and made sure that all Americans – including Hispanics – have access to high-quality health care through the Affordable Care Act, which ensures all Americans are eligible for health insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions.

That’s not all the president has done for America’s Hispanic community. He kept his promise to make college more affordable for everyone by extending Pell Grants to 150,000 more Hispanic students. By helping so many of our talented kids continue their studies, he’s not just investing in New Mexico’s future, but in our country’s future.

And the message is getting through. Someone tell Monty that it’s important to read the whole poll before using it, because the very same Univision poll he quotes to prove that jobs are important to Hispanics also shows we overwhelmingly believe in President Obama’s efforts to create them. That’s why in this poll we picked the president over Mitt Romney (67-24), Rick Perry (68-21) and Herman Cain (65-22). I know Republicans think they can spin almost anything, but to take a poll that gives the president margins like those and try to spin it as bad news truly tests the limits of credibility.

By the way, did Monty really need a poll to tell him Hispanics care about job creation?

What Monty and the Republicans don’t get is this: Every Hispanic knows the path to prosperity centers on good-paying jobs, a fair playing field and the American promise of respect for the seniors in our community. Hispanics make up significant portions of our public and private sectors and still believe hard work ought to ensure success. Republican candidates either don’t recognize these facts or choose not to – either way is frightening.

Mitt Romney and the other Republican candidates would rather play partisan politics than put New Mexico’s middle-class Americans back to work.

President Obama knows we can’t wait for Congress to act. That’s why he has taken action to make it easier for college students to repay their federal student loans,and for homeowners to refinance their mortgages.

Here’s the bottom line, Monty: Hispanics, like all working-class families, are hit hard by Republican economic policies designed to favor the richest 1 percent. And in New Mexico Hispanics make up the majority of working-class families. If you really want solutions that will bring jobs, opportunity and economic relief to Hispanics in New Mexico, then you need to rethink your support of the obstructionist Republican Congress, and support our president in passing his much-needed economic programs.