Santa Fe County Democratic Party
Santa Fe County Democratic Activities!
Santa Fe Democratic Headquarters is rocking! Phone banking Monday-Saturday and door to door Saturday. The campaigns include People for Ben, Denish for Governor, Organizing for America and Brian Egolf.
There are also trainings and other activities! Visit HQ at 1420 Cerrillos; check out the schedule of who is doing what when both at HQ and other events in town at www.santafedemocrats.org; call 505 467-8514 or e-mail info@santafedemocrats.org for more information.
Fun, comradeship, and most of all success in November!
Immigration Reform Advances in U.S. Senate
Comprehensive immigration reform legislation advanced in the United States Senate yesterday, passed by a bipartisan 13-5 vote in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
The Bill, sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and co-sponsored by the so-called bipartisan “gang of eight,” now advances to the full Senate for debate. If passed the Immigration Reform Bill will create a pathway to citizenship for 11.5 million immigrants, currently resident in the United States. The legislation also creates a new program for the legal employment of low-skilled foreign labor and would permit highly skilled workers into the country at higher levels than is currently the case. At the same time, the requires the government to take additional security steps to secure the borders against future illegal immigration.
The Bill, which has been strongly supported by Hispanic civil rights organizations, is a legislative priority of President Obama. New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have also announced support for immigration reform.
In a statement issued yesterday, President Obama praised the work of the Judiciary Committee:
“I congratulate the Senate Judiciary Committee on completing its work on S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Leahy and a bipartisan group of eight Senators, the legislation that passed the Judiciary Committee with a strong bipartisan vote is largely consistent with the principles of commonsense reform I have proposed and meets the challenge of fixing our broken immigration system. The process for considering this legislation has been open and inclusive with multiple hearings, and more than a hundred amendments were considered and adopted, in many cases with bipartisan support. I applaud the Committee members for their hard work, especially ‘Gang of Eight’ members Senators Schumer, Durbin, Graham and Flake. None of the Committee members got everything they wanted, and neither did I , but in the end, we all owe it to the American people to get the best possible result over the finish line. I encourage the full Senate to bring this bipartisan bill to the floor at the at the earliest possible opportunity and remain hopeful that the amendment process will lead to further improvements” President Obama said.
The bipartisan legislation, S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, was introduced on April 17, and the Senate Judiciary Committee began consideration of the legislation on May 9. The original text of S. 744 can be found here. The Sponsors’ Amendment is an update to the original text of S. 744 and is considered a substitute amendment. All amendments are referenced to this Sponsors’ Amendment.
President Obama Responds to Oklahoma Tornadoes
This morning, President Obama delivered a statement on the devastating tornadoes and severe weather that impacted Oklahoma. He described the response efforts underway, and assured the people of Moore and all the affected areas that they “would have all the resources that they need at their disposal.”
“For there are homes and schools to rebuild, businesses and hospitals to reopen, there are parents to console, first responders to comfort, and, of course, frightened children who will need our continued love and attention. There are empty spaces where there used to be living rooms, and bedrooms, and classrooms, and, in time, we’re going to need to refill those spaces with love and laughter and community.”
“Americans from every corner of this country will be right there with them, opening our homes, our hearts to those in need,” President Obama said. “Because we’re a nation that stands with our fellow citizens as long as it takes. We’ve seen that spirit in Joplin, in Tuscaloosa; we saw that spirit in Boston and Breezy Point. And that’s what the people of Oklahoma are going to need from us right now.”
Thoughts from Chairman Sam
On Saturday, I was honored to give the keynote address to the State YD Convention, here in Albuquerque. Nothing is more exciting than seeing Young Democrats at work, showing their excitement and passion for the Democratic Party. These young men and women are our future leaders, not only for New Mexico but for the nation.
The Democratic Party supports affordable options to help with student loans, like the law President Obama signed in 2010 that allows students to lower their rates to 10% of their income, which caps student loan repayments. The Affordable Care Act eliminated pre-existing conditions for minors and allows the option to stay on a parent or guardian’s health plan until the age of 26. More choices, more options, more freedom while making plans for the future.
DPNM endorses all efforts to defeat voter suppression--the Republican war on voting. Photo ID bills passed by Republican legislatures and signed by Republican Governors have one goal—prevent youth, seniors and minorities from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Our party supports full inclusion for EVERYONE, excluding NO ONE.
We need, want and support YD energy, passion and involvement in all aspects of the state Democratic Party. DPNM is ready for Young Democrats to help us BUILD THE FUTURE.
NEW LOOK, NEW FEEL
Hope you like our new logo! DPNM Facebook and Twitter sites have incorporated this logo already and it will be on the website soon. Look for more changes in the coming months. We’re just getting started!
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.
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
Luján: New Report Reinforces Need to Prevent Sequester
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 25, 2013
www.lujan.house.gov
Luján: New Report Reinforces Need to Prevent Sequester
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District highlighted a new report that was released by the Obama Administration that reinforces the need to prevent the sequester’s indiscriminate cuts from taking place. The cuts are scheduled to begin on Friday, and threaten to harm the economy and result in significant job losses in New Mexico and around the country. The sequester was part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which Luján voted against.
“From education to public safety, the sequester’s arbitrary cuts will hurt our economy at a time when too many New Mexicans are already struggling to get by,” Congressman Luján said. “This new report further outlines the impact these arbitrary cuts will have on our state and reinforces the need for Congress to come together and find a compromise on a balanced approach to prevent these damaging cuts.”
According to the White House report, the sequester will impact New Mexico by cutting:
- · $6.1 million in education funding, including putting 80 teacher and aide jobs at risk,
- · $4.4 million in special education funding for about 50 teachers, aides, and staff,
- · Head Start and Early Head Start services, eliminating access to early education for approximately 500 children,
- · $1.2 million in environmental funding to ensure clean air and water along with $877,000 in grants to protect fish and wildlife,
- · $135,000 in Justice Assistance Grants that support law enforcement, crime prevention, and drug treatment and enforcement, and
- · $257,000 in funding for job search assistance and training to help people find work.
In addition, approximately 7,000 civilian Department of Defense employees across the state would be furloughed, reducing gross pay by approximately $42 million. The threat of sequestration has already impacted the national labs in New Mexico, as Los Alamos National Laboratory took steps in 2012 to control spending in the face of budget uncertainties this year. Additional furloughs at the lab remain a possibility if the sequester occurs.
“It is disappointing that with the clock ticking, Republican leaders recessed the House last week instead of staying in Washington and getting to work,” Luján added. “I am hopeful that with the House returning this week, my Republican colleagues who have started to think the sequester is a good idea, will have had – as I did – conversations with constituents who will be impacted by these cuts. Their voices and their stories, on top of this latest report, should make it clear that we must find a better way forward.”
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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/