Friday, August 31, 2012

Republican National Convention and the American Dream

Ladies, we have all had dreams of being the Egyptian Princess to Charles Heston’s Moses, where he takes you into his big strong arms and kisses you passionately. Maybe the damsel in distress that Dirty Harry saves a he drives into a crowded area guns a blazing. Alternatively, maybe that charming cowboy who rides up on his big white horse with the white hat like Ronald Reagan. You know the cowboy who sweeps you off your feet as you rap your arms around his waist and then the two of you ride off into the sunset.


Do not all movie fantasies start that way? The problem is that the Republican Party is not offering the American Dream but our worst nightmare. Most horror films start out with the fantasy but quickly become something else entirely.

The cowboy with the white hat turns out to be from Brokeback Mountain and after two children and a large home mortgage; he rides off with his new boyfriend not even to pay child support. You are left to support parents with no social security and children with only a voucher that does not pay the entire cost for their schooling.

While waking up from your dream Moses turns out to be a rapist, nine months later after you are forced to carry his child; the vile fiend is demanding join custody of the baby. Of course, there is no morning after pill since all forms of birth control have been outlawed.

Lastly, Dirty Harry is not there to sweep you off your feet. Ronald Reagan made sure that the mentally ill in this country could not be force to stay in a hospital or take their medications. The AK-47 is pointed at you and the young children you have in tow because there is no preschool due to budget cuts. Your parents are too slow to move out of harm’s way because of a lack of good affordable healthcare.

After the shooting is over and your wounded body is laying on the floor bleeding out, the nutcase with the legally purchased guns, thanks to the NRA lobbyists, leans over you to explain that his next stop is your older children’s school. Due to budget cuts and tax cuts for the very rich, the police are few and far between and do not have the firepower that is a right ensured to private gun owners.

Sometimes you feel like the person watching these events unfold on a screen. You are screaming at the people to look around them and see the old man who is talking to the empty chair. See how nuts what he is saying truly is before it is too late. Your are screaming at the voters to vote for the Democrats before the American Dream becomes the American Nightmare.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Governor Martinez on the National Republican Stage

Now I know that Governor Martinez would never attempt to speak for all New Mexican women. I have yet to meet one single woman who can cover the diversity of viewpoints held by the women of this state. New Mexican women have strong views on a number of issues and they do not always agree on one single approach to any issues.

Governor Martinez held great promise when she first ran for her position on the fourth floor in Santa Fe. The pity is that she had completely failed in her first term as governor. She promised to clean up Santa Fe and make government open and honest. Yet we find secret deals being made with lobbyist who have private email accounts.

She promised to improve our children’s educational system. Instead, she allowed Heather Wilson to bring in a woman from Florida who has only made the problem worse. Governor Martinez’s drivers cannot even respect the school zone laws while driving her to visit our schools in this state. If she is going to put our children in harm’s way by running them down with her big SUV, them we do not want her near our schools. What kind of example is her drive sitting for other New Mexicans?

Governor Martinez promised more jobs. Yet, we see that our state is losing jobs while all the other states around us are gaining jobs. She made it her mission to drive the film industry out of our state the very first year of her term in office. She has promoted ghost towns while making our larger cities into economic ghost towns.

Yes, small business owners work very hard to build their businesses and deserve all the support that the federal government can give them. The Republican Party and Governor Martinez have failed in many ways to support small businesses while giving the tax breaks to large corporations. Why has the governor not supported closing loopholes in this state that favor corporations over own homegrown small businesses?

Governor Martinez is a women but she has done nothing to support women in this state. She has done everything to promote male denomination over women. She does not support cultural diversity or fund programs that do support women’s issues in this state.

If anyone should be taking responsibility for their failures that would be Governor Martinez since she has not lived up to her own promises when it comes to New Mexico.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Republican Party National Convention – Ann Romney

Ann Romney was right last evening when she said that women have it harder than men do in the United State. We understand that thanks to republican policies of the past that women make less than men for doing the same jobs. The men in the business world simply label the jobs with different job titles. We also understand that electing a republican to the oval office would roll back all of the gains that working women have achieved over the past sixty years.


What Ann Romney does not understand is that the Republican Party’s “War on Women” is not going to get the boy who took her to that dance so many years ago a job in the oval office. What she does not understand is that just because she was willing to have five sons that every woman in this country would also be willing to have large families because of a lack of access to affordable safe birth control.

As a working woman raising a teenage daughter, I just have never been able to understand why some women want to have every detail of their lives controlled by a husband or for that matter the federal government. In my marriage, my husband and I were equal partners for life. Yes, there are men in the Democratic Party who respect women and value their views. I hope to find another one someday.

We need a president who values the working women in this country. We need a president that will tap a U.S. Supreme Court candidate who can bring back balance and fairness to the court system. We need a president who can give all Americans healthcare. A president who will protect our parent’s social security checks from privatization and outrages cuts.

What we do not need in the oval office is some rich out-of-touch white man who will cut taxes for the rich while destroying the middle class in this country. A middle class made up mostly of working women.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Why Chose a Woman for the New Mexico State Supreme Court

Many will ask why should we select a woman to run for the State Supreme Court this weekend. Given the fact that all of our candidates are experienced, talented, well educated, and passionate about the law what becomes to one factor that is not the same?

The New Mexico State Supreme Court is made up of five individuals. Four of which are old men. The one woman on the court may retire in the not so distance future. Four men representing all the women in New Mexico and attempting to understand complex legal issues that deal with problems faced everyday by women.

We have managed to put more women on the United States Supreme Court not just because they are women but because they are top in their field women who are as skilled if not more skilled than their male counterparts. The law should not be a male dominated profession in this state.

The top legal job for a lawyer should not be solely male dominated. Women bring a unique perspective on how to apply the New Mexico State Constitution and State Statues when it comes to women’s legal cases that face the court.

All you have to do for a prime example is look at  the news lately. Who would you want defining the term “Rape?” Would you want a man born before 1960 being the one to review a criminal case where the victim was a female rape victim? Could they even begin to understand why the law should be applied more liberally or more limited in such cases.

I am not saying that the male justices are totally lacking in understand but they would benefit from the prospective of more women on the court. Men tend to attempt to dominate when dealing with only one woman in a group discussion. Another woman on the court would provide balance. 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Interview with State Supreme Court Candidate Catherine Baker Stetson

Attorney Catherine Baker Stetson is a candidate for the State Supreme Court's open position. The State Central Committee will select one candidate to place on the November ballot on August 25.


Interview with State Supreme Court Candidate Michelle Hernandez

Attorney Michelle Hernandez is a candidate for the State Supreme Court's open position. The State Central Committee will select one candidate to place on the November ballot on August 25.


 



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Interview with Judge Barbara J. Vigil

Judge Barbara J. Vigil is a candidate for the State Supreme Court's open position. The State Central Committee will select one candidate to place on the November ballot on August 25.



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Interview with Candidate for NM Second District Court Jeff Rein

Jeff Rein a local criminal defense attorney is looking to be appointed to the ballot this weekend by the State Central Committee for the open position on the Second District Court here in Albuquerque.



The State Central Committee will chose a candidate to be placed on the ballot for this position on August 25.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Interview with Judge Edward Benavidez

Judge Edward Benavidez is attempting to get on the Democratic ticket for the seat the is open due to Judge Baca's retirement at the Second District Court. The state central committee will pick one individual on August 25 to run in the November general election.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Interview with DPNM Chairman Javier Gonzales

Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Javier Gonzales speaks to how the party approaches the important issues of Jobs and Education in the State of New Mexico and the County of Bernalillo. He speaks about the important of women when it comes to voting and supporting party values for our families. Chairman Gonzales is a proud father with two young daughters.





On the third videos Chairman Gonzales encourages the Women of Bernalillo to become active in electing democratic candidates in order to protect the values we all hold dear and to protect our children for the hard that could be caused to them by the Republican Party and their extreme candidates.



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Interview with Judge Frank Sedillo

Judge Frank Sedillo is a candidate for the open position at the Second District Court. One individual will be selected by the Democratic Party of New Mexico State's Central Committee.





A judicial candidate will be chosen on August 25 at the State Central Committee meeting.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

No Free Parking for the Handicapped in State Run Parks

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has a handicapped sister. One has to wonder if she keeps the poor woman locked up in a back room some place. Martinez has never appeared very sympatric toward the handicapped in this state. Her state policies reduce funding for care and access. As one state park ranger put it “that is how we make money.”

President Obama and the first lady support getting people to visit national parks. The national park system has the Golden Access Pass for the elderly and the handicapped that reduce some rates and does away completely with others.

Because of limited mobility, handicapped individuals see handicapped parking as a end to pain and torture at the end of a visit to a park. Handicapped individuals still need to get out and enjoy the world but it is not always easy. Close proximity access parking can and is often a god send.
State run park in Albuquerque NM
Clearly the state park rangers enforce the important rules.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Paul Ryan too Extreme for Our Country

Just who is Paul Ryan? And exactly where does he stand on major issues that affect women in this country.

Women’s Concerns:

When it comes to Social Security which supports our parents, he would be no better than a gambler with their funds. The stock market is far to risky to count on for retirement funding. Every investment adviser will tell you not to invest money that you cannot afford to loss.

When it comes to our children: Ryan would cut financial aide to our children through reducing the Pell Grant. Not good! He would cut funding to teacher education at all levels. Seriously? He has no real view of how to fix the educational system in this country.

When it comes to healthcare, Ryan would hand us over to HMOs and private issuance companies. No one but the top two percent would be able to afford healthcare in this country if Ryan gets his way.

Ryan would tax us to death while eliminating taxes for himself, Romney, Major Corporations, and the top two percent of the richest Americans. Not the way to pay their fair share. Than again I have to wonder if either Ryan or Romney has paid taxes in the past.

Ryan would do away with environmental protections that could destroy the health of all Americans. He would want no restrains on corporations when it comes to pollution. We saw how well that went over in the Gulf Coast area. 

Ryan is a tea-partyer  but we do not want him partying with our money anytime soon.

Ryan fails to understand the real needs of this country.

He fails to value women and their families.

We cannot allow this man to destroy the American Dream for this country.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Heather Wilson too Extremely A National Republican for New Mexico

Heather Wilson wants us to believe that Martin Heinrich is too extreme because he did not support the Keystone Pipeline. A pipeline that would not have brought one single job to New Mexico. A pipeline that would have possibly taken away jobs in our southern oil fields.

Why is Wilson not promoting the building of a clean new oil refinery in the southern part of New Mexico. A solar powered clean refinery would lower gas prices in this state and produce five thousand jobs right here in New Mexico. Wilson’s hand picked state administration is too busy rising the cost of construction and putting construction workers out of jobs to promote job creating businesses in this state.

Wilson is too busy supporting other states and other countries to be bothered with creating jobs in New Mexico. Tell Wilson and her state administration that we don’t need anymore ghost towns in this state.

Martin Heinrich is the one who has been running employment events to connect employees with employers in this state. He has been the one to protect teacher's, police's and firefighter's jobs with federal money in this state.

Heather Wilson would cut those funds and increase unemployment in this state if elected. New Mexican’s need a Federal Senator who will protect jobs in this state over those of other more powerful entities.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

NMFA Scandal a Sign that Martinez’s Administration Lacks Qualified Appointees

Yesterday, Governor Martinez looked like a deer in the headlights when asked about the NMFA scandal. No one expected the Governor to know everything about all the parts of her government. What the voters do expect from the executive on the fourth floor in Santa Fe was that she knows how to appoint capable experts to cabinet post and boards.

State Senator Tim Keller looked more composed and knowledgeable when it came to the affects this scandal could have on our state’s ability to build schools and other projects. His professional background enables him to better project the consequences of this scandal. It is sad that the governor has not shown an ability to build better relationships with State Senators who could have given her better advice on financial issues.

Governor Martinez is going to go down in history as one of the weakest governors this state has ever seen if she does not start to clear house of the appointed officials that were handpicked by senatorial candidate Heather Wilson. We have no idea at this point just how many of these appointees are waiting for their chance to take advantage of New Mexico taxpayers.

What we do know is that they appear to have no ethics when it comes to sharing personal private information with the Republican Party. We also know that they are not above making back room deals when it comes to public assets. We know some of the board members failed to do their job when it came to oversight of one of our most important financial agencies in this state. We as voters all have to fear what could be next when it comes to the people appointed by Governor Martinez’s transition team.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

National Night Out in the International District 2012


If there is one place where residents in the city come out in force for National Night Out, it is the International District. They have more than good cause to show the criminal element that they care about their communities. Only a few short years ago the area was renamed from the “War Zone” to its current name.

Last year while driving home from the activities in the park, I stopped at the McDonalds to get my daughter an ice cream. While in the drive through line, my daughter informed me from the backseat that she could see a man with a gun in his belt in the parking lot.

State Senator Tim Keller just extended his district into the troubled area along Gibson and San Mateo. He said that he would be spending some time in the area to see how he could help improve safety for residents.

Senator Keller is running for reelection this year. His opponent is no other  than Shannon Robinson a democrat turned republican after losing his seat because of a drinking problem and a failure to support improvements in the district. Because of former State Senator Robinson negative history with the area, he has not been much of a change for the current state senator. Clearly, the residents of that state senate district want someone is Santa Fe who will fight to improve the area.

Others who showed up were City Councilman Ray Garduño and Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins.

I asked Commissioner Hart Stebbins about jobs and she said that the county commission was working on bring businesses to the county. She also said that the commission was working to improve condition at the county jail.

City Councilman Ray Garduño, who has always been a strong supporter of the International District, was enjoying the evening talking to local residents. His wife as always was by his side.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Liar! Liar! Liar!

When Governor Susana Martinez ran for office, she promised to be a stay at home governor. She said that her attention would be focused on jobs, our children, and our state government. Martinez promised open government, no cigar smoke filled backroom deals. If she had kept her word than there would have been no reason to point out her failings as a first term governor.

She kept her word about not being another Governor Richardson. She has driven off the film industry. She has driven off green energy jobs. She has failed to support small business development. She has failed to support front-line educators. Yes, we can say that she is not Bill Richardson. The unemployment figures are proof of that fact.

Heather Wilson does not get to rewrite history. She did not leave the congress to run for the senate. She left office because of the U.S. Attorney scandal. We did not push for procuration because she agreed to leave office without a fight.

We all knew that it would be a very bad idea to let the corrupt Heather Wilson hand pick Governor Martinez’s administration. The results are backroom deals brought to our attention by emailgate. New Mexico Finance Authority board members who were handpicked by Heather Wilson are now guilty of criminal activity or at the very least incompetence when it comes to a fake audit.

Darren White who was handpicked by Heather Wilson and R.J. Berry is now running the Downs Racine after leading the Albuquerque Police Force. The same police force who now has a reputation of shoot first and asks questions later. The federal government is considering looking into that same police force for excessive use of force.

Why does this all matter because Governor Martinez is supporting Heather Wilson for the Senate Seat? She will be a major speaker at the Republican National Convention where she will try hard to gain money for local republican candidates.

If she does manage to bring back employers that are interested in our state, they will be looking for slave labor. We will be looking at employers who mistreat their employees, the environment and expect support from a republican controlled state legislature.

Now is not the time to give Governor Martinez a pass because she is not running for office herself. The Governor of any state holds a great deal of political power. Let us make sure our governor uses her political power to benefit New Mexicans from both parties. Tell our governor to do her job and stop seeking the national spotlight!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Where is the Jobs Mayor Berry?

The City of Albuquerque in the month of May lost 2,300 jobs or .6 percent of our workforce. The mayor is not only failing to bring jobs to our city but now he is allowing the ones we have here to leave. Mayor Berry should be held accountable for these job losses.

Colorado, Arizona and Texas have all seen job grown in the month of May. We need a mayor who can bring jobs to the largest city in the state. Albuquerque never had problems with job growth while Martin Chavez was mayor.

So is it the mayor’s inability to keep our city safe from its own police force. Is it his lack of a real vision for a direction for our city? Is it his failure to support the film industry and green energy jobs? Is it his single-minded devotion to the rich and their property?

Some visitors are beginning to call The City of Albuquerque a ghost town. Travel down San Mateo and you will see a number of empty stores. Small business owners are usually women and we know how well the Republican Party supports women.

The governor is a women but she still finds no way to support women in this state. She has turned her back on the women of this state for back room deals with large money donors.

She has brought a white woman by the name of Hanna Skandera from Florida to run the school system statewide. We now have a grading system that even the experts do not understand. Skandera makes decisions without the support of educators in the classrooms. Any green fresh out of college executive understands that employee buy in is half the job when making changes.

How much longer can we afford the failures of the Republican Party and their elected officials in this state? We may well have to suffer another two years under these failed administrations in state government but we can send democrats to the state house to try to fix some of these problems.

We can also prevent this from happening again on a national level by sending democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.