Grant County Democratic Party
Welcome to the Grant County Democratic Party Page!
Welcome to the Grant County Democratic Party page!
We are proud of our "blue" county, our elected representatives, and our great team of volunteers! We have just opened our campaign office at 820 N. Bullard in the historic downtown of Silver City. The office is headquarters for the OFA, the Combined Campaign for the US Senate and House, the NM House districts 38 and 39 races, and our entire local ticket. We are all working together to call, walk, put on events, share lists, etc.
We also welcome visitors to our monthly potluck and meeting, the 2nd Wednesday of every month, starting at 5:30. We hold these at our party headquarters, 3060 E. Hwy 180.
We also cosponsor an in-depth forum series every third Thursday of the month at Miller Library, WNMU. The forums start at 6:30 and are followed by a supper. We get over 100 interested citizens at each forum.
You can also see our calendar and our constantly updated news pieces at www. nmcd2democraticvoices.
Please join us in our plans to win our county again for our Democratic candidates. You may volunteer by emailing us at grantcountydemocrats@gmail.com or calling our phone 575-654-6060. We can use your help in article writing, canvassing, holding a small house party, working at the office. Everyone is welcome!
And you can donate to our cause by clicking the "Donate" button below.
Mary Hotvedt, Chair and Magdaleno Manzanarez, Vice Chair
Make a Donation to the Grant County Democratic Party!
47 Bills Head To Gov Martinez's Desk
As 47 bills head to Governor Martinez's desk, Democratic legislative leadership has blazed a path forward for our state.
VOTE ALERT: Congressman Pearce Just Voted In Favor of Sequester
Congressman Steve Pearce just voted in favor of the sequester – a series of devastating and arbitrary budget cuts that will eliminate 750,000 jobs, force furloughs and throw a wet blanket on the economy. Instead of the sequester, House Democrats have tried to end taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil companies and tax breaks for millionaires, but Congressman Pearce said no.
“The sequester is here and Congressman Steve Pearce is one of the few people in the country who thinks it should stay,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Americans are already seeing job losses, military cutbacks and longer airport lines, but Congressman Pearce would rather protect tax breaks for the well-connected than stop the damage to our middle class. The people of New Mexico want a balanced solution – but Congressman Pearce and his Tea Party extremists said no. There’s now no doubt or debate: Congressman Pearce voted in favor of the sequester and was unwilling to stop the worst effects of these disastrous cuts on the people of New Mexico because tax breaks for Big Oil companies and millionaires are more important to him.”
Before today, Democrats have offered multiple times balanced alternatives that would replace the arbitrary sequester approach with a thoughtful and balanced budget plan that cuts spending and eliminates tax breaks for the well-connected in a way that is not harmful to the economy. Each time, House Republicans refused to vote on these plans.
News outlets across the nation have covered the sequester’s impact, and below is a sampling of headlines about the impact:
- · General: With cuts, Marine Corps will 'cut into bone' [USA Today, 3/4/13]
- · Sequester already causing long lines at airports, Napolitano says [CBS News, 3/4/13]
- · Former NIH director: The sequester will set back medical science for a generation [Washington Post, 2/21/13]
- · College aid cuts will send parents and students scrounging [Reuters, 3/4/13]
BACKGROUND
Congressman Pearce voted against stripping a measure out of the Continuing Resolution that explicitly calls for keeping the indiscriminate cuts of the sequester. [HR 933, Vote #61, 3/06/13]
According to Roll Call newspaper, the Continuing Resolution “Keeps Sequester Cuts in Place” [Roll Call, 3/4/13]
According to the New York Times, “Boehner halts Talks on Cuts, and House G.O.P. Cheers” [New York Times, 3/1/13]
A February 21st USA Today/Pew poll found 76 percent of Americans favor the a balanced approach for addressing the budget deficit while only 19 percent of Americans agree with the approach of Congressional Republicans, to address the deficit through spending cuts alone. [USA Today, 2/21/13]
House Republicans Previously Voted Three Times to Deny Consideration of Replacing the Entire Sequester with a Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction.
TONIGHT: Thanks to Congressman Pearce, People of New Mexico Begin Paying a Huge Price with Sequester
Starting tonight, the people of New Mexico will begin paying a huge price for Congressman Steve Pearce choosing Tea Party extremism over compromise on balanced budget cuts and refusing to stop the sequester. Republican leaders again failed to compromise today, deciding it was more important to keep tax breaks for millionaires and Big Oil companies instead.
Democrats repeatedly offered balanced alternatives to sequester that reduced the deficit, but each time, Congressman Pearce and his radical Tea Party Congress said no.
Because Congressman Pearce failed to solve sequester, thousands will be furloughed, travelers will face longer lines at the airport, 70,000 children will lose Head Start, 7,750 customs and border protection agents could be laid off, more than 250,000 Army employees could be furloughed and 14,000 teachers and school employees could lose their jobs.
“Families in New Mexico are facing another blow to this economy that could cost 700,000 jobs, and they are outraged that Congressman Pearce made it happen – allowing a manufactured crisis to become a real one,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Americans expect their leaders to come to the table and work on solutions, but Congressman Pearce continues to be part of the problem – this Tea Party Republican Congress. The only people Congressman Pearce’s sequester protects are millionaires and Big Oil corporations.”
For more details on the effects of sequester, see here and here.
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RELEASE: Gov Job Has Its Perks - Martinez Approved, Helped Design $100k Taxpayer Funded Mansion Kitchen
February 26, 2013
Contact: Matt Ross (505) 263-4879
Albuquerque, NM - When it comes to priorities, here's an idea we should all be able to agree on: fully fund and equip New Mexico's halls of justice so that judges and law enforcement officials can do their jobs getting dangerous people off the streets. Or how about this: don't take $6 million dollars of direct-to-classroom funding away from schools that are already overcrowded.
But even when it comes to commonsense policies like these, Gov. Susana Martinez can find all kinds of reasons to be stingy with the state's checkbook. She based her whole campaign on railing against the symbolism of the previous Governor's expenditures - whether it was a state plane (in the 5th largest state in the nation) or the Governor's personal staff at the mansion. It wasn't that her reforms would save any meaningful money - they haven't. It was the principle!
Or so we were told. Sadly, Susana's stinginess apparently only applies to matters like education for our kids. When it comes to bankrolling her highfalutin Santa Fe lifestyle, Susana, it seems, can't resist dropping some taxpayer coin on the finer things in life.
According to this story on KRQE, Susana approved and had input on "...more than $100,000 last summer to renovate the public kitchen at the governor’s mansion in Santa Fe, according to officials and purchase orders. And while the upgrades included new countertops, floors and appliances, the project also included a $2,700 built-in, state-of-the-art coffeemaker..."
As Stuart Ingle (R) said, "Hope it makes damn good coffee."
As Dick Knipfing said, "That's a lot of money for any kitchen."
As Governor Susana Martinez said, "It was OK with me whatever they did..."
The most outrageous part of this story? Once KRQE caught on to the Governor's private slush fund, Susana put the spin machine in high gear. According to the story, "After KRQE News 13 began asking questions about the coffeemaker, a governor’s office spokesperson said private donors would now be asked to pay for the appliance, rather than taxpayers."
"So in other words, until she got caught, Susana had no problem whatsoever with using our money to renovate the kitchen at her place at the same time she was taking money away from our schools and law enforcement officials," said Scott Forrester, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.
Forrester added, "Promise one thing, get folks to vote for you, do another. It's a formula that Susana seems all too comfortable with. Maybe being Governor really changes a person. Maybe the power just went to her head. Or, maybe, she never meant a word she said on the campaign trail. Either way, New Mexicans get to have their say next November and they aren't likely to forget the Governor's hypocrisy. After all, it's not the amount, it's the principle."
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- Attracting more jobs to the state is high on her agenda but Ms. Martinez was proud to let go the two personal chefs who had been working at the Governor’s Mansion while Mr. Richardson lived there. Asked who prepares meals these days, she put up her hand. (In her State of the State address in January, she received laughs by saying of her husband, Chuck Franco, a longtime law enforcement officer, “The first gentleman will just have to help out with the cooking.”) - NY TIMES - "New Mexico Governor Rushes to Undo the Agenda of Her Predecessor" - Aug 29, 2011
- "Tax dollars should not be wasted on a stable of chefs at the governor's residence," Martinez said in a statement. "This is a prime example of wasteful spending that exists in state government." - Abq Journal -
" Governor's Private Chefs Are Toast" - Jan 5, 2011
MARTINEZ: Appointments. Exactly. And Governor Richardson had grown the number of exempt employees by over 340. I have it down to I think 212 at this time. I got rid of the two chefs that were assigned to the residence. We sold the jet that Governor Richardson had purchased. We sold the jet in addition to four other planes. We cut the exempt employees. No one was going to earn more than $125,000 for cabinet secretary. And we were going to cut back on salaries significantly. I mean, we went through the budget tooth and nail, from cell phones and takehome cars. And I put a moratorium on the purchase of brand-new cars for two years. I mean, we went through it in a way that had never been done before. We balanced it, and we got a surplus." - Greta Van Susteren Interview: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/
on-the-record/2012/12/04/new- mexico-gov-susana-martinez- future-gop#ixzz2M20v4H6i
Howie testifies at Sen. Rules Comm. Which Approves Straight Party Voting Ballots
www.nmsenate.com/2013/02/21/
With Crisis Looming, Congressman Pearce Skips Town
With millions of jobs on the line, Congressman Steve Pearce voted with his Tea Party colleagues today to skip town without a solution to the sequester crisis – because Tea Party House Republicans would rather protect millionaires than prevent devastating cuts to defense and key domestic investments like medical research, the Army Corps of Engineers, Headstart and job training.
After forcing this scheme on the American people, House Republicans have refused to even try to stop it before it takes effect on March 1. Just today, Congressman Pearce’s Tea Party House Republicans adjourned without adopting a compromise to prevent countless layoffs.
“Democrats are trying to put the brakes on this manufactured crisis – but Congressman Pearce and his Tea Party colleagues won’t budge from protecting millionaires over the middle class, even with millions of jobs on the line,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Democrats are shouting from the mountaintops that we can’t go home to our districts without a solution in place, and we’ve offered alternative plans with a balanced approach to fixing our budget. The days of Congressman Pearce’s dysfunctional Congress that refuses to govern must end – the American people cannot afford House Republicans anymore.”
Background
Congressman Pearce voted to adjourn without a solution to the sequester. [H Con Res 15, Vote #43, 2/15/13]
Sequester Would Cost Economy 2.14 Million Jobs. According to a 2012 study by George Mason Professor Stephen Fuller, the automatic spending cuts affecting Department of Defense and non-Department of Defense discretionary spending would:
- · Reduce the nation’s GDP by $215 billion;
- · Increase national unemployment by 1.5 percent;
- · Cost the U.S. economy 2.14 million jobs.
[The Economic Impact of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on DOD & non-DOD Agencies, Professor Stephen Fuller, 7/17/12]
Tea Party House Republicans are blocking alternatives. Tea Party Republicans have blocked Democrats’ efforts to bring an alternative to sequester to the floor for a vote four times. [Rep. Van Hollen release, 2/14/13]
CBO: Sequester Will Slash 2013 Economic Growth In Half. According to the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch: “Fiscal tightening including the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester would cut U.S. growth in half in 2013 if allowed to go into effect, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday in a new budget and economic outlook. … CBO said Tuesday that growth would be about 1.5 percentage points faster in 2013 if not for fiscal tightening including the sequester.” [MarketWatch,2/5/13]
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DPNM Applauds Passage of Democrat Lead Bill on Closing of Gun Show Loophole
For Immediate Release
February 13, 2013
Contact: Matt Ross - 505 263 4879
Albuquerque, NM - Today on a 43 to 26 vote House Democrats passed House Bill 77, which closes New Mexico’s gun show loophole and ensures that court records regarding dangerous persons with mental illness are reported to the instant background check system.
Below is a statement from DPNM Chairman Javier Gonzlaes on this bill passing the House:
"On behalf of all the New Mexicans who have been personally impacted by gun violence, I want to thank Representative Miguel Garcia
It's never easy to step up to the plate on tough issues, but Democrats in the House are looking out for what's best for New Mexicans, and that's the kind of integrity we need to move this state forward. Their hard work has paid off, and we are one step closer to taking action to prevent gun violence in New Mexico.
DPNM applauds this vote, we hope Republicans in Santa Fe will join us in putting politics aside to move forward together."
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RELEASE: NM Public Education For Sale to Highest Bidder
For Immediate Release
January 31, 2013
Contact - Matt Ross (505) 263-4879
The business of the foundation is to promote public policy that takes taxpayer money out of the public schools and puts it into the pocket of private corporations, getting us little or nothing in return.
Right here in New Mexico, Hanna Skandera gives the foundation broad access and power - even to the extend of re-writing education legislation to better benefit the foundations corporate funders. This is the damning excerpt from the article laying out exactly how far Skandera was willing to go to let this out of state corporate front group remake our education policy:
• FEE staff served as advisers to acting education commissioner Hanna Skandera. FEE, and, by extension, its donors, had great influence over New Mexico legislation. In a Jan., 2011, e-mail, Skandera directs a staffer from the legislature to forward all education bills to FEE’s Christy Hovanetz for edits: “Can you send all Governor’s office ed bill language to Christy, including social promotion?” Another FEE staffer, Mary Laura Bragg, wrote to Skandera, “I’m at your beck and call.”
• The foundation sought to make connections between Skandera (as well as the other Chiefs for Change) and the Hume Foundation for funds for digital learning projects from Hume that “must flow through the Foundation for Excellence in Education as a project-restricted grant.” The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Oct. 21 that Skandera had indeed applied for such a grant, which ultimately could lead to digital learning legislation favorable to FEE funders Connections Academy and K-12 Inc.
• The e-mails indicate that FEE paid for Skandera’s travel, reimbursing New Mexico $3382.91 for her expenses, including trip to Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress.
"Secretary-Designate Skandera was given a sacred trust and a clear directive to look out for the interest of our children above all. She's taken that trust and sold it off to the highest bidder, giving some out-of-state foundation access and power to do the bidding of a few corporations that stand to gain billions of dollars from the slow privatization of the American Public School system," said Scott Forrester, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.
"That's a clear violation of her duty to New Mexico's schoolchildren. We can't trust her to look out for our kids, and I think Susana Martinez needs to step up to the plate here and show some leadership. Unless Skandera was doing this with Susana's full knowledge and approval, in which case this just raises the stakes on the 2014 election that much more," Forrester added.
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BACKGROUND: WaPo Story Here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Will Congressman Steve Pearce Stand Up to the Tea Party on Immigration?
Will Congressman Steve Pearce Stand Up to the Tea Party on Immigration?
Senate Republicans joined with Democrats yesterday to announce a bipartisan immigration reform proposal that is tough, fair and practical.
Despite the bipartisan support, the only group that isn’t willing to compromise on immigration reform appears to be Congressman Steve Pearce’s Tea Party House Republicans. Politico reports that the bipartisan plan “landed with a thud” among Congressman Pearce’s Tea Party Republicans.
The Senate’s bipartisan proposal would strengthen border security and create an employment verification system while requiring undocumented immigrants to register for legal status, pass a criminal background check, and pay their taxes. The proposal would provide a pathway to eventual citizenship, but would require undocumented workers to go to the back of the line and learn English before they could qualify.
“Our immigration system is broken and the American people are demanding Congressman Pearce abandon his Tea Party extremism and back commonsense, tough, fair and practical immigration reform” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Elected leaders on the left and right are willing to support comprehensive reform that is tough and smart – it fixes the broken system with new border security, tough employment verification and legal status for aspiring citizens who learn English and pay taxes, but Congressman Pearce seems too tied to the out-of-touch Tea Party agenda to work for real compromise.”
Background
- · Bipartisan immigration reform plan lands with a “thud” in Tea Party-dominated House. “The Senate’s bipartisan immigration reform plan was lauded by the White House and advocacy groups around town on Monday. But with House Republicans, it landed with a thud.” [Politico, 1/28/13]
- · Boehner “mum” on bipartisan immigration proposal. Speaker John Boehner isn’t taking a position on the bipartisan Senate immigration proposal. [Politico, 1/28/13]
- · McCarthy: We should not provide amnesty to those who “defy our laws.” “We should not provide any amnesty that would benefit those who defy our laws and enter the United States illegally […] We should also ensure that illegal immigrants are not receiving any of the benefits that are reserved for American Citizens.” [kevinmccarthy.house.gov, accessed 1/28/13]
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