Friday, October 31, 2014

Why New Mexicans Must Not Re-Elect Susana Martinez As Governor of New Mexico

(What follows is a partial re-post of my April 3, 2014 Blog.)

New Mexico is a beautiful state with wonderful natural resources but with some of the sorriest statistics of economic well-being in the United States. One fifth of the 2 million people in New Mexico live below the National poverty line.

New Mexico is at rock bottom of fifty states measured by 16 key indicators for overall child well-being



The grinding poverty of 31% of New Mexico's children has resulted in an "achievement gap" in educational accomplishments of our elementary school aged children as recently documented by a recent report by NM Center on Poverty and Law:

Table 2. New Mexico achievement gap between low-income and non low-income 
students that are “at or above proficient” in reading and math (NAEP 2013) 
              
    % of low-income students        % of non-low-income students       Achievement gap 
4th grade reading       15 %                                   39 %                                  -24 

8th grade reading       16 %                                   37 %                                  -21 

4th grade math            24 %                                    51 %                                  -28 

8th grade math            16 %                                    39 %                                  -23 

Our college educated young people as well as many of our younger families struggle to find good-paying jobs and are leaving the state for greener pastures.  According to recent statistics, New Mexico's growth rate is stagnate and most recently has experienced a net "out-migration" of population:

In recent years, New Mexico has had more people leaving the state than have come here. In the 12 months that ended July 1, 2013, the state had a net outmigration of 8,809, according to Census Bureau figures. Between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2013, the state’s net outmigration was 9,750, the Census Bureau said.
In January, 2010, a Republican Governor was elected with many promises to improve the state. Her name is Susana Martinez and she is considered one of the "bright lights" of the national Republican Party because she is a female Hispanic Governor in a predominantly Democratic state.  Governor Martinez is definitely on the short-list as a Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party in 2016. 

But her accomplishments are practically nil for the people and state of New Mexico.  Her record on the economy is lackluster.  Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one indicator of economic health. By the start of Martinez' 3rd year in office, the rate of change in the state's GDP had only improved to a mere 0.2% while its southwestern neighbors were enjoying faster increases in their rate of GDP growth and the US rate was accelerating.



In fact, the economic indices for New Mexico have been stagnate for the most part since Martinez was elected in 2010.  There has been some improvement in the unemployment rate which has declined 1.2% and is now at 6.7% as of February, 2014, but BLS statistics indicate only 16,015 net new jobs were created between January, 2010 and February, 2014.  Without enough good jobs in New Mexico, thousands of workers have moved out of state since April, 2010 to find work,.  The real question to be asked is what has Susana Martinez done to attract and retain jobs to New Mexico?

The New Mexico economy is heavily dependent on government, energy industries, agriculture and mining, film and television, and tourism.  Manufacturing, not so much.  Although she touts New Mexico as a tax-friendly state to attract business with a recently enacted 0% corporate business tax for manufacturers and she talks a lot about trying to land the Tesla Battery Manufacturing Plant, the truth is she tried to kill the nascent film industry when she vetoed HB 379 in 2013 which would have continued and improved tax rebates for films and television made here in New Mexico. The film tax rebates were begun under a Democratic administration and therefore were not favored by Martinez. The Democrats in the State legislature and the outcry of New Mexico's citizens caused her to reverse gears when she signed almost the exact same bill a few days later.

There are a few industries that are getting very favorable treatments from the administration of Susana Martinez and that is the mining, dairy and oil and gas companies who provided her with so much political money in 2010.  In 2013, Susana Martinez rewarded her contributors with favorable environmental law revisions to allow the corporate dairy farms and copper mines to pollute ground water supplies - one of New Mexico's scarcest and most precious resources.

Susana Martinez is a member of the political party that shut down the government in 2013 and damaged the state's economy and jobs of a high percentage of New Mexico's citizens.  She didn't take on the Republican National leadership and tell them their antics in Washington, DC were hurting New Mexicans.  Her silence was an extreme disservice to our state.

She has done nothing to alleviate the extreme poverty that is a major contributor to our young people's poor educational preparation and unemployment.  Indeed, it is the horribly high level of poverty that causes the collateral damage to New Mexican families suffering from substance abuse, homelessness, child abuse, crime, poor health and hunger. 

Susana Martinez is more concerned with attaining a higher national office and so her actions are meant to attract the Tea Party and conservative GOP interest nationally, so to show she is a fiscal "hawk", she has acted to cut important government services for the poor and mentally disabled.   In 2013, she stopped funding for behavioral health facilities serving 30,000 persons saying there was mismanagement.  Martinez gave "no-bid contracts" for an auditing firm and behavioral health services to Arizona companies that have provided her with political support.  Now a recent article in the Albuquerque Journal reports findings that 23% fewer New Mexicans are receiving mental health care. Then, $6.6 million of the budget of the state's child welfare department (Children Youth and Families Department) was returned to the state treasury amid rising child abuse and mental health treatment demands. 

When Susana Martinez was elected in 2010, 1 in 5 New Mexicans did not have any kind of health care through insurance or other government programs. After the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010 and offered millions of dollars in federal assistance to set up a state-wide health exchange, Democrats and Republicans in the New Mexico legislature passed a bill in 2011 to set up the exchange.  There had been a year of work with "shareholders" from the industry, business, consumers, and hospitals.  The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce urged the Governor to sign the bill and establish a state-wide health insurance exchange to help 450,000 New Mexicans get health insurance. The newly elected Governor, catering to the far-right hysteria about "Obamacare," chose to veto the bi-partisan legislation. She finally signed a bill in March, 2013 to establish a state health exchange, but with two years lost, the state exchange was not ready to enroll people on its own exchange by October 1, 2013 and individuals seeking health care were re-directed to the over-burdened federal web site. I am one of the people who needed to purchase individual insurance and I can tell you it was one big mess.

On education, her main strategy to "reform education" is to blame teachers for New Mexico's children's poor educational performance.  She brought in as her Cabinet-level Secretary of Education, Hanna Skandera, from Florida at Jeb Bush's recommendation.  Hanna Skandera, who has never been a teacher herself, promotes the "privatization" of education. Her primary "solution" to improve the schools is to implement "endless testing" so that teachers spend long hours teaching "to the test."  This has done nothing to improve the educational levels of our children and it drives veteran teachers to retirement.  Martinez' arrogance and ignorance of the value of teachers can be heard in this audio clip provided by Mother Jones Magazine as Susana Martinez slams teachers who get a year round salary but "don't work...3 months out of the year":



Why has Susana Martinez acted in a way that hurts some of our most needy New Mexican citizens? She does this this to demonstrate that she is a "fiscal conservative" as part of her bona fides for 2016 national political office.  The dailydamage of such policies to the people of New Mexico is staggering and doesn't help promote the state as a desirable place to relocate your home or business.

As mental illness, substance abuse, domestic and child abuse and crime increases in New Mexico, it seems that the solution of our Republican Party leaders (like Albuquerque Mayor Berry and Governor Martinez) is to militarize the police and let them loose to "shoot-to-kill" the homeless, alcohol and drug addicted and mentally disabled citizens. The highly publicized case of James Boyd was treated with initial silence by these leaders with the new police chief even pronouncing it as a "justified" killing.

One more thing I need to say here. Martinez got elected in 2010 on an "anti-corruption" platform and a pledge to have the most "transparent administration" in New Mexico's history. This appealed strongly to NM voters who were weary of political corruption cases. There has been in New Mexico a long history of corruption and "pay-to-play" politics that have affected both political parties, but the swirling controversy over the former Democratic governor, Bill Richardson and his relationship to investment companies who were given favorable treatment for political contributions, helped to defeat his Lt. Governor, Diane Denish, with "guilt by association".  Now we are seeing that Susana Martinez is just as concerned about keeping the voters in the dark about her own "back room" deals. Her missteps have been chronicled recently in some conservative national magazines as well as the Republican-leaning Albuquerque Journal.  Her "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do" rhetoric on "transparency" opens her up to charges of hypocrisy.

There is no question that Susana Martinez must go as Governor of New Mexico.  If she wins in November, 2014, she will be the Republican Vice Presidential candidate in 2016.  We cannot let that happen to our country. 

Post-script (2/6/2015):  and so it begins...chatter about Martinez as a potential national GOP leader..

Friday, October 24, 2014

Don't Let Money Destroy Our Democracy


Time to Vote!

There have been millions of dollars spent in this mid-term election.  Inane and negative political ads are nauseating and turn off the voters from participating in the process.  The powerful wealthy forces behind the ads are using their "right to free speech" according to the Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United Case.  Ordinary people don't have that much money, but we can speak at the polls.

Don't be discouraged.  If the political ads seem hyperbolic and over-the-top, then they probably are not speaking the truth.  Voting will make a difference if you vote for candidates who truly represent you and there are many good people running who just don't have the millions of dollars to SHOUT at you everyday.  Please look at the information and websites of the candidates to see what they have done and what their values and qualifications are.  Especially you young voters must vote because it is really your future if the Senate, House, and State government changes radically in a direction that you will regret or prosper under.  Don't let your "boomer" parents and grandparents make decisions for you.

My daughter voted yesterday and sent me a selfie after she voted.
I voted early on October 20th.  Have you voted yet?  Please vote in the November 4th election.  Don't let money destroy democracy - Vote! 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Deb Haaland, first Native American to run for Lt. Governor in New Mexico



This is one sharp woman and would be a fresh voice in New Mexico government.  I wish she was running for Governor.  She would beat Susana Martinez.  If you are a voter in New Mexico, please get out and vote for Gary King for Governor and Deb Haaland for Lt. Governor.  Our state is suffering from the negative effects of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that says money is speech.  The Republican and corporate money in New Mexico is overwhelming the air waves with negative and false ads that Democrats can't begin to confront, leaving most voters in the dark about who is running and what they stand for.  Democracy is bleeding  to death in this poor state.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

It's Fall in New Mexico...State Fair, Balloons, Green Chile, and Golden Aspen Delight

Wednesday afternoon, Ron and I took a drive to see the fall foliage in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  We drove the Enchanted Circle road from Taos (counter clock-wise) to Angel Fire, Eagle Nest, Red River and Questa and back to Taos again.




The Aspen was all dressed up in golden leaves. The sunny weather was a delightful 59 degrees F.

Moreno Valley at top of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains






Driving through Bobcat Pass to Red River
Here is a video of a road trip on the Enchanted Circle (clockwise) and expanded points in between.



 We stopped for dinner at Old Martina's Hall in Ranchos de Taos across from the famous San Francisco de Assisi adobe church.   The food was good, plentiful and reasonably priced (for Taos).

Old Martina's Hall Restaurant in Ranchos de Taos

My daughter, Amanda, checking out the doll collections
at the New Mexico State Fair last month
Fall in New Mexico also means State Fair in Albuquerque (September each year), green chile harvest and roasting, and of course, the International Balloon Fiesta that occupies this week in Albuquerque.



Roasting green chile fills the air with a sweet smell. 



There are more than 500 balloons registered at this year's Balloon Fiesta. The Mass Ascension yesterday was great and I can see the balloons from our house in Albuquerque.  Today it was too windy and they didn't go aloft.