The U.S. Supreme Court has gone too far when it comes to Women’s Issues!

Justice John G. Roberts has allowed his court to lean to the far right once too often. It is the responsibility of the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the rights of women in this country. The court in its Hobby Lobby ruling today sided with corporations against women in this country. No man let alone an employer should be allowed to control the reproductive rights of women. The court has crossed the line on this ruling.

I for one call on President Obama to create two new positions to the U.S. Supreme Court. Women in American with the support of their U.S. Senators can than appoint justices that will respect the will of the people over the will of Corporate America when it comes to their basic rights to privacy and self-determination. Two new positions would allow the U.S. Supreme Court to regain its respect of the American Women. It would allow them to hear cases that would lead to more acceptable rulings when it comes to women’s rights.

Justice John G. Roberts has no one but himself to blame for his failure to protect the power of his court. A Justice that respects the will of the American people over the will of corporations would not have allowed this type of overarching.

President Obama was supported by the women of this country to prevent just this type of rulings that women in America find to be disrespectful and invasive. He has the power to create new positions to the U.S. Supreme Court. He would have the support of the America People when it comes to this action.  

It's The Economy Stupid!

New Mexico is now in yet another recession because of the failure of Governor Martinez to work with the federal government and her inability to convince any company that New Mexico would be a good place to open a business. Her failure is hurting families across the state. By the time someone else is elected our state will have dried up and blown away with the winds.

Mayor Berry has shown that he knows nothing about how to run a city as large as Albuquerque. His police force is out of control. It is driving away any hope of attracting outside businesses. His Chief Administration Officer is causing problems.  Mayor Berry spends his time in public meetings on $300,000 artwork while businesses close all around him. People are leaving the state because they cannot find jobs in the state’s largest city.  He is rude to anyone that points out his failures. He might as well install a giant violin downtown.

We need a Democratic Party Chairman who can raise the funding to get Gary King elected to the governor’s seat before it is too late. Our current chairman should be organizing a ground game but little is heard from the man. Where is the money to get King elected? Where is the statewide ground game? Where is the fire this chairman promised the voters? 

Mayor Richard Berry a Failed Administration

Ok, Mayor Berry had to dismiss Darren White because of his misconduct when it came to appearing at the scene of an accident that his wife caused. Now the Chief Administration Officer of the City of Albuquerque Rob Perry is allegedly rumored to have a drinking problem and is showing up at shooting scenes by the Albuquerque Police Department drunk and unable to drive. Never mind that this behavior should get the attorney disbarred for creating an appearance of impropriety. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has stated that the Albuquerque Police Department is guilty of violating individual’s constitutional rights with the usage of excessive force. How is having a drunken attorney at the scenes screaming at officers going to help?

Berry’s administration has hired an expensive attorney on the taxpayer’s dollar to defend his administration. The public is being kept in the dark as to the process of those talks with the DOJ. Mayor Berry’s office has shown a callus disregard when it comes to the citizens of the city and their safety. You would think that if the Department of Justice was serious about fixing the problems with the police department that they would at this point take over the department. The police are spying on peaceful protesters. One of the officers that shot an individual was at the last protest with a camera taking shots of the protesters and we still do not know what was done with those photos.  That behavior in and of itself displays the lack of respect that the mayor’s office has for citizens of this city. Mayor Berry has been careful to remain in hiding from the public as his office circles the drain.   

We are also looking at the fact that making national news because of these issues are driving away businesses; therefore, adding to the lack of high paying jobs as the city and state continue to lose jobs even as other states around us gain thousands of new jobs. One has to wonder where Governor Martinez is while this is going on in one of the largest cities in the state. At what point is she going to demand a Department of Justice takeover? 

Lawsuit to open elections

When I first heard about this lawsuit to open the primary elections I hated the idea. It would allow people who refuse to support a party to influence that party's decision on who would be their candidate.

Now after taking the time to think the issue over I have decided that the primary elections should be wide open to all voters. If someone does not want to declare a party than they should have the right to vote in the primary, I do however feel that they should not be limited to voting for candidates in one party. I think to be fair that all voters should be allowed to vote for a candidate no matter which party they are affiliated with in the primary elections. The state constitution does not wish to limit the opinions of voters in any manner. Why would anyone wish to limit voters to one party’s candidates when that person has already decided that they are opposed to that system in the first place? Clearly the right approach is to have fully open primaries so that anyone can vote for any candidate no matter what the candidate’s party affiliation.  

What makes someone a great candidate for judge?

In a little over a month a small group of people who hold the position of County Central Committee members will have to decide among various candidates who to put on the ballot for the open positions. The members of this committee are very well educated voters who know what to look for in a candidate. The candidates will spend a great deal of their time talking to these committee members so as to explain why they would be the best fit for the ticket.

What should a committee member be looking for in a candidate?

• a history of being a successful attorney
• an ability to listen to someone when they speak
• a willingness to believe in the voters and value their decisions 
• a desire to educate the voters about the legal system
• a solid family life with a supportive environment
• a desire to be an active member of the community
• a full knowledge of the law
• an understanding that people can make mistakes 
• a desire to keep the system open to the public
• a person who values human life over money
• an ability to organize their time effectively
• a view that not everyone is a criminal
• a understanding that their judgment can have a profound effect on someone’s life
• a need to work hard and deliver an honest fair judgment on issues
• a willingness to keep an open mind on all things related to work
• a sincere desire to work with the public as a servant
• an ability to develop strong friendships across social and economic boundaries 
• an ability to work well with others

                                                  And most of all

• Respect for the voting public

This task before the committee is no easy job but the future of our local legal system and our local communities depends on these people understanding that it will be their judgment that has a profound effect on others in the future. 

Save Our Centers Campaign Email

Governor Martinez's people at work again to harm the children in our state. The CYFD need fixing before things like this get out of hand and our children have no place to go. 

From Save Our Centers,

The Save our Centers Campaign fights this week to stop the Children, Youth & Families Department from paying child development centers LESS than the cost of care. Dozens of centers have closed in the past few years because CYFD reimbursement rates simply don't cover their costs.

Now CYFD is rolling out FOCUS—a plan to increase quality and reimbursement rates to centers. The problem? FOCUS makes demands of centers that cost more to implement than the increased reimbursement rates.

Center owners are just beginning to understand the flaws in FOCUS because the new program was designed without their input and its details have been kept under wraps until recently. CYFD needs to learn what most people already understand: Quality can only improve at child development centers if teachers and center owners are leading the process.

Write CYFD Secretary Yolanda Berumen-Deines at yolanda.berumen-deines@state.nm.us. Tell her it was a mistake to cut child development center owners and teachers out of the process. Do not implement FOCUS until teachers and owners have had a chance to identify flaws in the program that CYFD is committed to fix. Otherwise, we'll have to keep fighting to Save Our Centers, and FOCUS will be be just another well-intended fix that makes things worse for our hard-working preschool teachers and center owners.

Gary King for Governor

Gary King is faced with replacing his campaign manager right after the primary race. King is faced with the fact that he is running against the Koch money machine and a popular governor. It did not help that his first choice for campaign manager turned out to be a very bad one. I would strongly encourage that he chose a woman for his second choice.

The people of New Mexico do not understand all of the flawed the current governor has managed to display over the past three years. Unless you are a political junkie, you most likely have not listened to the tapes where Governor Martinez is heard allowing her staff to make horrid remakes against teacher, women, Hispanics, and disabled individuals. Unless you are an accountant you may not understand just how bad it was that the people she appointed to the New Mexico Finance Authority did not even bother to read documents before they signed them. If you do not live in the international district of Albuquerque you may not understand that she sold the Downs Racetrack to the highest bidder while disrespecting the wished of the  people who live in that area of the city. I could go on and on about her failures but the biggest one is that while all the other states around us are adding jobs she has managed to create an environment that drives business away therefore resulting in negative job growth.  Her money allows you to think that she is a saint while she is far from that when it comes to her behavior in office.

Gary King is no saint but he does have core democratic values mixed with good old-boy, male views that has cause him problems in the past. His saving grace is that his parents were strong influences when it comes to how you run this state. Martinez on the other hand wishes nothing more than to be accepted as a white individual in a group that hates Hispanics. She will do anything to win their acceptance even if it harms New Mexicans in the process.

I suggest that since Martinez has too much money therefore King should work on developing a grassroots campaign much like the one run by President Obama in 2012. He should start with house parties where individual supporters are encouraged to share why they think King would do a better job than Martinez. Get people to express why they feel Martinez has failed them as governor. There is no better campaign approach than having neighbor speak to neighbor. It worked well for President Obama. Having young people who never give up on encouraging people to show up is also a good idea. Zack just would never take no for an answer much less I am too busy with life child.

The cold hard truth is that New Mexico cannot afford another four more years of Governor Martinez’s fail government policies that hurt all New Mexicans.   

Judicial philosopher-priest or just judges

Should judges be viewed as philosopher-priests? Has the New Mexico Supreme Court failed to see the value of having them be connected to the communities they serve during election years? If attending a political event can affect their decision making skills, what other types of activities could also biases their judgment on legal issues. Should judges be place in monasteries the minute they are elected and secluded from everyone in their community or even their family and friends. After all if something they hear or someone they speak to at a political event can affect their ability to make sound judgments than surely a family member, lawyer, or even a friend would have a better chance of doing much more harm.

The Supreme Court must think that judges have very poor abilities when it comes to making decisions on their own if so little exposure to politically active individuals can have such a profound effect on their ability to make decision on factual information. They must truly be weak and flawed if a politically active individual can force them to make decisions on court cases based solely on what other people think or say.  

I believe that anyone who can pass the bar exam and practice law for three years or someone who can meet and marry a person of good character or someone who can raise children and develop a successful home life while developing a successful career in the field of law cannot be that easily influenced by the views of someone they meet at a political activity. The New Mexico Supreme Court has it wrong and should do away with their rule that keeps judges from attending political events. The rule was created as an overreaction to a few flawed individuals.

The rule allows rich private individuals in the community to have far more access to those judges than the people the judges serve in the community.  I believe this limited exposure to people does have a profound negative affect on judges and their judgment when it comes to cases. I believe that lawyers and rich business leaders are allowed to influence the behavior of judges by the mere fact that the events judges do attend are solely attended by those individuals.

Judges only see middle class and poor people in their courtrooms and at their worst and lowest point in life. How could this not affect how they view those individuals? How could that not affect their judgment when it comes to cases before them? The New Mexico Supreme Court should either do away with this rule or force all judges into monasteries at the point when they are elected to the bench.