We are beginning to see the fallout of yesterday’s health care compromise by the Senate Democrats. Some progressive Democrats are against the compromise, which would eliminate a public option but lower the age of eligibility for Medicare, while others are in support. Republicans are not fans. But the compromise [...]
A staffer for Congressman Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., will meet with anti-gay marriage activist Bob King according to the Washington D.C. blog the DCist. The Washington D.C. city council voted to approve gay marriage earlier this month and King is a part of Stand4Marriage, a conservative Christian group which opposes [...]
Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the Bush administration should have abandoned the idea of firing U.S. Attorneys in 2008 because they could not count on Republicans to stop an investigation. His comments appear in Esquire’s Meaning of Life issue.
Al Kaman of the Washington Post picked [...]
It increasingly looks like all the talk of people from certain states not being able to travel after January is more of a way for the Department of Homeland Security to push their preferred PASS ID legislation than a real possibility.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman told KRQE that [...]
The Las Cruces Sun-News, reporting on last month’s Las Cruces municipal elections, writes about the cost per vote that candidates paid. What is that cost? “Loosely translated, based on the 4,977 votes that were cast in the three City Council district races, those figures mean that the candidates raised [...]
Senator Tom Udall, D-N.M., joined in with ten other Senate Democrats to introduce a package of amendments designed to “encourage innovation and lower costs” in the health care reform bill currently being debated in the Senate.
“Months ago, our freshman class decided that we weren’t going to sit [...]
The U.S. Senate appears to have reached a deal, although the New York Times reported that the agreement isn’t final, according to officials who could not speak on the record. The AP wrote that the officials said “Democrats had technically agreed only on submitting proposals to the Congressional Budget [...]
The U.S. Senate today voted to table an anti-abortion amendment introduced by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. The amendment would have put severe restrictions on abortion funding in the health care reform bill that is currently making its way through the Senate. The Senate vote of 54-45 effectively kills [...]
On a day when PNM personnel worked hard to repair the damage from a snow storm that crossed through northern New Mexico, the company announced that CEO Jeff Sterba will retire in March. Sterba will continue to work as chairman, though.
PNM’s board selected Pat Vincent-Collawn, currently PNM [...]
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napalitano gave testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee last week and declined to say she would allow an extension to the REAL ID Act and instead urged passage of the PASS ID Act.
The REAL ID Act calls for more stringent [...]
Once again, the big news of the day is all about health care reform debate in the Senate. The Senate is debating and voting on amendments at a pace similar to that of over the weekend. As of this writing, there have been votes on two amendments today, [...]
Comcast, a cable and internet provider which has a deal in place to buy NBC from General Electric, has broken from the Chamber of Commerce on the issue of health care. Last week, Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts wrote a letter to President Barack Obama backing the Senate health [...]
In an apparent attempt to pacify progressives, the Senate is looking into the possibility of lowering the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55, the Huffington Post is reporting.
Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein cites “Democratic sources on The Hill” for the information.
“Crucial details — such as [...]
Former U.S. Representative Steve Pearce was in Alamogordo Saturday, campaigning at a Young Republicans meeting. Pearce is running for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District against incumbent Democrat Harry Teague.
While talking about health care reform, Pearce made some comments that might not have been completely true, according to Factcheck.org.“Let’s take care [...]
The Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) has an online poll asking readers which district the firm should poll next. Two of the options are New Mexico’s 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts.
Here are the descriptions of the districts by PPP:
NM-2: Harry Teague won last year when [...]
The Senate worked through the weekend on health care reform, so here’s a quick recap of what they got done during that time. The answer is, actually, not all that much.
President Barack Obama spoke to Democratic Senators for about half an hour behind closed doors. Notably, he did not [...]
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Doug Turner blasted the REAL ID Act which could force New Mexicans to use a passport for domestic travel after the new year if the state is not granted an extension. This is because New Mexico drivers licenses would not reach the standards of the REAL [...]
Health care is proceeding at a snail’s pace in the Senate, but there is some movement; the Senate has begun voting on amendments. The Senators will spend the weekend in Washington D.C. continuing to debate and vote on amendments. An amendment by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, R-Ark., would hit the [...]
A bill which would extend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) passed the Senate Indian Affairs Committee yesterday and now will head to the Senate floor. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., an original cosponsor of the bill, sits on the Indian Affairs Committee.
Marissa Padilla, a spokeswoman [...]
New Mexico will be getting up to $100 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help build and run a New Mexico integrated biorefinery project near Columbus, New Mexico. The demonstration-scale facility “will cultivate algae in ponds that will ultimately be converted into green fuels, such as [...]
Don’t worry, no Tiger Woods news here, just a roundup of some tidbits from Washington today.
Yesterday, Harry Teague floated an idea to end funding for TARP and use the money to pay down part of the national debt. There is another idea, however, for the unused TARP money — [...]
With 11 months until the midterm elections, two veteran election watchers have put Teague on the endangered list. The Cook Political Report, named for Charlie Cook, says Teague’s race is a toss up. Stuart Rothenberg puts the district on his “dangerous dozen” of House seats.
Rothenberg writes:
Rep. [...]
Earlier today, I wrote that Democrats are complaining about Republicans using all sorts of delaying tactics to avoid votes on a health care reform bill. Well, it looks like the Republican Party is divided on how aggressively to obstruct.
One Republican, New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, has [...]
Congressman Harry Teague has introduced a bill to end the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that passed last year — and use the remaining money to pay down the national debt.
“I opposed the bailout because it did more for Wall Street than it did for Main Street,” said Teague. [...]
Senate Democrats are growing weary of obstruction and delaying tactics by the Republicans on the health care reform bill that Democrats hope to pass by the end of the year, Talking Points Memo reports.
As Talking Points writes:
After an impromptu caucus meeting on health care, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) [...]
In a speech on primetime national television from West Point, President Barack Obama outlined his proposal to increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan by 30,000. Obama pledged that the troops would begin leaving by 2011.
“As Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital [...]
The Senate and the House are back in session and the topic of discussion is mostly on two fronts, health care reform and Afghanistan. However, a new study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), showing that the stimulus program has helped the economy, has also been a topic of discussion.
Tonight, [...]
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish is in Washington D.C. today, where she spoke at an event for the Democratic Governor’s Association (DGA). The event was attended by many current Democratic governors and gubernatorial candidates from across the country, and covered by the national press. Politico, for exampl, called Denish the anti-Bill [...]
According to a recent poll, which included New Mexico, most Latinos expect both health care and immigration reform legislation to be finished by the 2010 midterms. And if Congress does not pass both, Democrats should expect lower turnout from the reliably-Democratic-leaning demographic.
President Barack Obama also received approval from 74 [...]
Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall have sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napalitano asking for an extension to the REAL ID Act, which would require new drivers licenses be designed for New Mexico.
New Mexicans would need a passport to travel by plane if New Mexico’s drivers [...]
For the first time ever, the disbursements of the U.S. House of Representatives and individual House members are available online to the public. The disbursements were released today at disbursements.house.gov.
The summaries for the three members of the House from New Mexico are available below.
“Today’s release will mark [...]
According to a press release from the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh, his campaign bus, “Freedom1″ was destroyed in a fire Friday night while it was in a storage facility in Belen. The cause of the fire is still unknown, but the fire [...]
A report in The Daily Beast this morning showed that Sarah Palin is less John Madden and a more automotive industry executive — at least when it comes to what was billed as a “bus tour” for her best-selling book Going Rogue.
The Daily Beast reports [...]
The Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee unanimously approved a proposed bill that would create a state ethics commission at a meeting this week. The legislation will be introduced during January’s legislative session.
Committee co-chairs Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, and Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque, praised the decision.
“The Committee’s action [...]
“One of Our 50 is Missing” is a popular and long-running feature in New Mexico Magazine. It features stories from New Mexicans who have mistakenly been identified as being from a country that isn’t the United States.
Now, this situation may be getting a little worse with new rules with [...]
According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, former Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the third-most discussed news story of the week from November 16-22, trailing only health care and the economy. The “uproar created by a recommendation that women [...]
More than half a million New Mexicans could benefit immediately if health care reform passes Congress and is signed into law by President Barack Obama, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The report is available on HealthReform.gov.
According to the administration’s [...]
Last week, Politifact looked at the claim by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that the Senate version of health care reform is longer than War and Peace. The claim was “barely true,” found Politifact, a Pulitzer-prize winning fact-checking Web site from the St. Petersburg Times.
New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall also thinks [...]
A new iPhone app allows users to shake the bobbly-jeebus out of their Congressional representatives. “Bobble Rep” features full contact information, as well as caricatures of all 540 members of Congress; when you shake the phone, their heads bounce…not quite like a real bobblehead, but well, close enough.
Paul Schmelzer, [...]
New Mexico State Sen. Kent Cravens announced earlier this week that he is running for lieutenant governor. In a video of Craven’s announcement by reporter Peter St. Cyr, Cravens says “CO2, I didn’t think, is a harmful thing,” Cravens said. “I thought that’s what plants need. I don’t [...]
Governor Bill Richardson echoed concerns made by sportsmen today about a land swap in the Whites Peak area. The Stanley Ranch is expected to get the land by exchanging 3,300 acres of its land for the 7,000 acres the State Land Office currently holds in the Whites Peak area.
[...]
Governor Bill Richardson’s Budget Balancing Task Force is meeting in Albuquerque at Expo New Mexico and the New Mexico Independent is on hand to liveblog and webcast the proceedings. Come join us as we see what options the task force will be discussing to bridge the budget gap that [...]
According to a post by New Mexico Watchdog, money was given to “phantom districts” in New Mexico (and others nationwide) from the recovery package. At least according to recovery.gov, the Web site designed to track recovery funds.
On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Vice President Joe Biden said [...]
The U.S. Senate introduced its version of health care reform Thursday night. Senate majority leader Harry Reid said that he expects the battle over health care reform will be a long one.
“We all know that this legislation is tremendously important,” Reid said at the news conference according to the [...]
Expect for the Senate health care reform bill to be a big topic in Congressional Roundups for the foreseeable future — especially with the news that the Congressional Budget Office scored the Senate version of health care reform.
The CBO says the bill “will cost $849 billion over 10 years, [...]
Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh says he is opposed to trying accused terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal civil court, citing a Wall Street Journal opinion piece from Saturday.
“Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to provide a ‘fair’ day in court on U.S. soil for the same terrorists who seek [...]
The New Mexico Independent plans on liveblogging and webcasting the Budget Balancing Task Force meeting Thursday, which is set to be held from 1 p.m to 4 p.m. at the Leon Harms Youth Hall at Expo New Mexico.
The task force, appointed by Gov. Bill Richardson, [...]
Sarah Palin is headed to a town near you… provided you live in the conservative town of Roswell, New Mexico.
Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican reported today that the former Republican Vice-Presidential candidate is headed to Roswell on December 1 as part of promotional tour for her [...]
We know you’ve missed your daily dose of DC here at the Independent, but never fear, the Congressional Roundup is making its triumphant return. With Congress back in session after the Veteran’s Day recess, attention once again turns to the Senate where health care is the topic of the day [...]
Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, who is now among those prosecuting detainees at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, was profiled in this month’s edition of Esquire magazine. Iglesias spoke about waterboarding (”I don’t know if you’ve ever seen waterboarding, but it’s torture.”) and his belief that military commissions are the [...]
Governor Bill Richardson took to his official blog to unveil a draft plan to implement the five days of furloughs he announced last week.
The initial plan for the furloughs, which would include all employees except for “critical public safety and welfare positions,” is as follows:
The draft plan outlines the [...]
Vice President Joe Biden appeared in Albuquerque for a fundraiser for potentially vulnerable Democratic Congressmen Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague on Monday. Congressman Ben Ray Lujan was in attendance but was not a focus of the fundraising.
Biden spoke for a little more than half an hour at [...]
A $5,000-per-ticket “national innovation conference,” hosted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and attended by senators including New Mexico’s Jeff Bingaman, is being criticized by a consumer watchdog group that says it gives the appearance of “pay to play.”
“Senators should discuss public policy issues in open forums accessible to anyone who [...]
Governor Bill Richardson announced a budget balancing task force as promised at yesterday’s press conference announcing his budget decisions. The task force will be chaired by Rick Homans, Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department.
The task force will hold a public meeting on Monday, November 16th from [...]
Gov. Bill Richardson announced his decisions on the state legislature’s special session budget fix today in a press conference at the state capitol. The Independent webcasted and live blogged the event. Click the box below to read a transcript of our conversation.
Governor Bill Richardson special session press conference
[...]On Thursday, technology permitting, the New Mexico Independent hopes to webcast and live blog two events at the State Capitol: Gov.Bill Richardson’s press conference on budget fixes at noon and, an hour later, a presentation on combined reporting during the Economic and Rural Development Committee (ERDC) committee meeting.
For [...]
While budget problems continue to confound New Mexico, other states do seem to have it worse. California is one of the hardest-hit, according to a Pew Center on the States report called “Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril.”
The report compares “six measurable factors” that contributed to California’s budget crisis (a [...]
According to the Pew Research Group, the number of people who would like to see their own U.S Representative re-elected has reached a low point — the same type of low point seen in the 1994 and 2006 midterms when the parties in power suffered large losses.
“About half (52 [...]
Congress is recessed for Veteran’s Day, so members of Congress are in their districts. The news out of Washington D.C. is still mostly focused on health care reform, but the attention has turned from the House to the Senate.
Talking Points Memo reports on dueling timelines on health [...]
Congressman Martin Heinrich is among the “endangered Democratic Members” of Congress who are receiving thanks from Health Care for America Now and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), according to Roll Call. Heinrich is among 20 members of Congress who voted for the bill and will [...]
Former Governor Gary Johnson will be speaking at UNM this week according to Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Steve Terrell. Terrell, writing on his blog, notes it will be at an event put on by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).
The event, scheduled at 7 p.m. tomorrow at [...]
After hours of debate, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of a bill designed to reform the health care system. The bill passed by a 220-215 vote with one Republican voting for the bill. Thirty nine Democrats, including New Mexico Congressman Harry Teague, voted against the bill
[...]
Although some news outlets reported that there would be no vote on health care legislation until Sunday, a unnamed House Aide told MSNBC’s First Read that there will be a vote tomorrow in the House on health care reform. One New Mexico Congressman, Harry Teague, says he will [...]
Congressman Harry Teague, D-N.M., issued a release late Friday afternoon saying that while he believes “we need to reform our health care system,” he will not vote for the House version of a health care reform bill.
The statement says Teague is voting against the health care bill because it fails [...]
PNM Resources has joined a group that is designed to aid passage of a climate bill through Congress. This comes after PNM dropped out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the Chamber’s anti-climate change legislation stance.
PNM joined the American Businesses for Clean Energy [...]
Congressman Ben Ray Luján sent out a press release today highlighting the more than 40 events he’s attended throughout his district, to listen to his constituents’ thoughts on health care reform.
Luján has said many times that he favors a health care bill which includes a public option, and this release [...]
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White is resigning his position effective November 30. White was appointed Albuquerque chief public safety officer by Albuquerque mayor-elect Richard Berry last month. The Bernalillo County Commission will appoint a new sheriff who will serve out the rest of White’s term, which ends next [...]
A poll (pdf) by the Mellman Group, a Democratic polling firm, found that a majority of voters in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District see global warming as a “real and serious threat that is happening now.”
Perhaps the most politically relevant question in the poll was, “Do you favor [...]
According to Santa Fe New Mexican political reporter Steve Terrell, a mailer posing as a census mailer has appeared in New Mexico — and Talking Points Memo says our state is not alone. Terrell notes that the mailer was sent to Earl Potter, a Santa Fe lawyer who [...]
According to a project by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, just “3.2 percent of the 3,285 recipients of ARRA-related contracts were also donors to state-level political campaigns during the 2008 and 2009 election cycles.” In New Mexico, 7.9 percent of the 89 recipients of contracts related [...]
On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. and gubernatorial hopeful Diane Denish unveiled several proposals designed to streamline government and save money. Included in a press release was the suggestion that state government consider switching “from current systems to Google Apps,” which “could generate as much as $1.9 million in recurring savings.”
Google itself [...]
While two governor’s races went well for Republicans on Tuesday, two Congressional special elections gave Democrats something to celebrate. California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi retained California’s 10th Congressional District for Democrats and Democrat Bill Owens defeated Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman to win New York’s 23rd Congressional [...]
Steve Terrell has an interesting look at one proposal to help close the budget gap in New Mexico — raising the tax on alcohol. The tax, known a “sin tax,” is one of a number of revenue-enhancing plans that will be considered in January.
State Rep. Brian Egolf, [...]
New Mexico Republicans looked east for inspiration Tuesday night after big victories by Republicans Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie. Republican Party chairman Harvey Yates, Jr. said, “We may be witnessing the beginning of a trend in which the citizens of this state and of this nation have begun to return [...]
There won’t be a vote on a health care reform bill this year, “senior Congressional sources,” told ABC News today. Democratic Congressional leaders as well as the White House wanted to repeatedly have said they wanted a health care reform bill voted on before the end of the year.
“Getting [...]
Perhaps inevitably, Republican gubernatorial candidates are attacking Democratic candidate Diane Denish over Governor Bill Richardson’s statement that tax increases are “inevitable” during January’s legislative session.
“It’s hard to know which is worse: having the Richardson-Denish administration give up without a fight and raise taxes to solve a budget [...]
Foremost in the attention of many this week is the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. The race saw a dramatic change in dynamics when Republican Dede Scozzafava pulled out of the race — and endorsed the Democrat, Bill Owens over Doug Hoffman, who is running [...]
Democratic State Sen. Tim Eichenberg recently made waves throughout the New Mexico blogosphere when he said that he didn’t believe that Lt. Gov. Diane Denish could win the gubernatorial race next year. Now he’s backing off, with a statement e-mailed to political bloggers saying, “I find it unfortunate that [...]
Controversial Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio and former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias are involved in a controversy related to an FBI investigation, Talking Points Memo highlights. Arpaio, known as “America’s toughest sheriff” is currently under investigation by the FBI for targeting his political foes in apparent retaliation, [...]
Former Vice President Dick Cheney told the FBI that he doesn’t know who leaked the identity of former CIA agent Valerie Plame according to a transcript (pdf) given, by court order, to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility an Ethics in Washington (CREW). Plame and her husband, former [...]
Friday is traditionally the day when politicians release potentially embarrassing stories. The theory is that nobody’s really paying attention on Friday afternoon, and by Monday the news will already seem old (especially in the days of 24/7 cable news networks and internet reporting).
But for those same reasons, Friday can also [...]
Congressman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., objected to including a renewal of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) legislation today. This is a proposal that Congressman Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., fought to have included in the final health care bill.
“Tying reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to [...]
In an announcement sent out today, Gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh credited “a strong grassroots effort” for helping him get the 2,124 signatures necessary to qualify to be on the primary ballot.
Lt. Gov. and Democratic candidate Diane Denish, the only announced Democratic candidate, collected more than 6,000 signatures by October 7. Denish [...]
The health care reform bill that was recently introduced by the U.S. House of Representatives “would result in a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $104 billion over the 2010–2019 period” if enacted, the Director’s blog at the Congressional Budget Office says.
The blog post reads, [...]
Much of the news coming out of Washington D.C. today is, unsurprisingly, about health care reform, after the House version of health care reform was unveiled this morning. Two of the three Representatives from New Mexico issued press releases talking about health care reform.
Rep. Martin Heinrich reiterated his [...]
Former U.S. Representative Heather Wilson announced Thursday morning that she will not be running for elected office in 2010. In an e-mail to supporters, Wilson said: ”l am aware of the demands and limitations of elected office.” There had been much speculation that Wilson would possibly run for governor in [...]
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to introduce a health care reform bill on Thursday, the Washington Post says. The bill will include a public option, as many had expected.
Nancy Pelosi and House leadership are scheduled to introduce the bill today at 8:30 a.m. New Mexico [...]
With Senator Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., saying yesterday that he would filibuster any health care bill that he doesn’t agree with, Congress watchers have been thrown for a loop.
And Lieberman says he will not vote for a bill that includes a public option.
The liberal blog Firedoglake [...]
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., says the whip count list that showed that Congressman Harry Teague as a “no” on the public option is not authentic, The Hill reports today.
“That document did not come from our office,” Kristie Greco, a spokeswoman for Clyburn, said to The Hill.
The [...]
An internal poll of Democratic members of Congress, leaked to The Hill, shows Rep. Harry Teague is a “no” vote on the most robust version of the public option the paper says.
Those not on the list (pdf), including Congressmen Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich, are [...]
Governor Bill Richardson isn’t happy with the budget solutions passed by the state legislature during the week-long special session that concluded on Friday evening, the Associated Press reports. Richardson told the wire service, “every possible action, including vetoes, will be on the table.”
The reason is that Richardson [...]
Congressman Ben Ray Luján spoke on the House floor this morning and said “we must demand a public option,” referring to a public health insurance option. Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama hope to pass health care reform legislation by the end of the year.
On the House floor [...]
New Mexico Congressmen Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, both Democrats, took to the floor of the House Thursday to advocate for solar energy in backing H.R. 3585, the Solar Technology Roadmap Act. The bill, which passed, the House of Representatives 310 to 106, would help aid solar technology [...]
According to the Pew Research Center, the health care debate was the number one news story of the week, at least when it comes to media coverage (though, in what may be a sad testament to the state of the media, balloon boy was number three — edging out [...]
Governor Bill Richardson has made it three in a row — that is three days in a row that he has used his blog to push back at criticism from legislators. This time, it is over his hiring freeze, which legislators say is a freeze in name only.
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