Morning Word
First of all, I have to say my thoughts and prayers go out to Heath Haussamen. He
for a family emergency. I do not know what happened, and would not reveal it if I did.
---
But I hope you all will join me in wishing Heath, a personal friend and former coworker at the New Mexico Independent, and his family the best.
We're with you, Heath.
Now onto the news you may have missed and today's Word:
- Wow. The Albuquerque Journal
- editorial board breaks with Gov. Susana Martinez
- on taxing online sales.
- "The Martinez administration has made championing New Mexico business a major issue," the editorial states. "It’s time to support the real drivers of the state’s economy and level the paying field."
- Speaking of a Journal opinion piece, Thom Cole
- looks at a key part of the debate on gun control
- -- how much effort should be put into keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
- In another high profile rejection of Martinez, the State Investment Council once again
- rejected the governor's preferred candidate for vice chairman
- .
- Members of the State Investment Council on Tuesday elected Peter Frank as their vice chairman, again rejecting Gov. Susana Martinez's favored candidate. Frank defeated former Republican state legislator Leonard Lee Rawson of Las Cruces in a 5-4 vote.
- In the U.S. Senate race, Heather Wilson is
- the first to go negative
- . Another sign that Wilson's campaign knows that they need to make up ground on Martin Heinrich.
- Legislators will
- review the fake New Mexico Finance Authority audit
- The vote by the Legislature’s New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight Committee occurred after an appearance by Finance Authority Chief Executive Officer Rick May. May told the committee gathered at the Santa Teresa Country Club that he had been advised by staff attorneys not to discuss the case to avoid interfering with several ongoing investigations.
- Martinez vows to
- resist any efforts to tap the state endowments
- , even to fund education.
- A report finds that 420,000 New Mexicans under the age of 65
- would be unable to afford health insurance without the health care reform law
- recently upheld as Constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court because of pre-existing conditions.
- A big Martinez donor is the company
- behind some massive tax increases
- for Grants, Jemez Springs, Hobbs, Clayton, Causey and Guadalpue County. ProgressNow New Mexico writes:
- Though the state had never notified the municipalities that an appeal was underway, nor that their revenues were in jeopardy if the state lost the appeal, it demanded immediate payment. In response, Guadalupe County stopped payment to a municipal fire department, a local paper reported.
- Martinez will
- circumvent a state judge
- who told her to take classified employees off the Sunshine Portal by moving it to another website.
- Albuquerque City Councilor Ken Sanchez says
- voters should decide
- who the police chief is.
- U.S. Sen. Tom Udall
- again pushed for a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United
- .
- “James Madison argued that the U.S. Constitution should be amended only on ‘great and extraordinary occasions’,” Udall said. “I believe we have reached one of those occasions. I know amending the Constitution is difficult. And it should be. But I believe the growing momentum demonstrates that this is the right time for Congress to act," said Udall. "Our elections no longer focus on the needs and interests of individual voters, but are instead shaped by multi-million dollar ad campaigns funded by special interest groups with unlimited resources. Americans’ right to free speech should not be determined by their net worth.”
- Three
- judges want positions in the New Mexico Supreme Court
- -- at least temporarily. Whoever is appointed by Martinez would face election in November.
- New Mexico would
- benefit from a long-term plan for solar energy in the Southwest
- .
- All together, the government estimates 23,700 megawatts of new renewable energy will be developed in the 17 zones and the additional acreage — enough energy to power 7 million homes.
- Jon Barrie is
- running for Senate
- . I would bet money that he doesn't make the ballot in November, let alone be a factor in the race.
- Speaking of third-party candidates, Dylan Matthews says
- don't believe the polls on Gary Johnson just yet
- .
- It’s difficult to know for sure whether Gary Johnson will end up swaying the election in November. Something dramatic could change between now and then and make Johnson a real factor in the race. But be very, very suspicious of early polling.
- I missed this before, but
- is "megadrought" the new normal for the Southwest
- ? The torrential rains that hit parts of Albuquerque Tuesday notwithstanding, it has been an extremely dry summer, and winter, and spring, and... well, you get the idea.
- Martinez named
- a new leader of the New Mexico National Guard
- .
- Santa Fe
- wants to attract younger tourists
- . The town isn't exactly known for its youth culture.
