NewMexicoMatters.com

links for 2007-03-31

• Senate votes on highways, ethics bills
  Lawmakers fail to take up other Richardson-backed measures, including domestic partnerships
  (tags: FreeNewMexican DeborahBaker 2007legislature)
• Families feel strain with budget cuts to services
  On March 19, Gomez was stunned when the respite care ended. The worker quit because ValueOptions had notified service providers it would have to stop funding both respite care and early childhood mental health services
  (tags: FreeNewMexican DianaDelMauro ValueOptions Lobbyists NMgovt Outsourcing)
• ABQjournal: State Works Closely With Feds
    "When Gary King became AG, one of first things he did was reach out to our office to see if we could work cooperatively," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathon Gerson, lead prosecutor in the Metro Courthouse corruption case.   
  (tags: AbqJournal GaryKing NMgovt Corruption)
• ABQjournal: Aragon Has Long Raised Eyebrows
  Former state Sen. Manny Aragon has been on the radar of federal and state law enforcement agencies for than two decades. An overview of his highlights.
  (tags: AbqJournal MikeGallagher MannyAragon Corruption)
• ABQjournal: $4.2 MILLION RIPOFF
  Overview of the key players
  (tags: AbqJournal MannyAragon Corruption NMgovt)
• ABQjournal: Powerful Senator Championed Disadvantaged
  Manny Aragon's public career was born in his father's barber shop in Barelas when he was still in college.His uncle, then-state Rep. Bennie Aragon, came by the shop looking for a promising candidate to revive the Bernalillo County Young Democrats group.
  (tags: AbqJournal MannyAragon)
• ABQjournal: Ex-Aide Testifies About Domenici
  WASHINGTON— A former top aide to U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales told Congress on Thursday that David Iglesias was a "skilled lawyer" and that Sen. Pete Domenici's complaints about him may have been "influential" in his firing.
  (tags: AbqJournal Domenici BushAdministration)
• GSA Chief Is Accused of Playing Politics - washingtonpost.com
  congressional investigators of the General Services Administration say a deputy in Karl Rove's office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates
  (tags: WP BushAdministration Corruption GSA)

Democrats respond to Aragon's Indictment

Excerpts from ABQjournal: Senate Mixed on Indictments:

Gov. Richardson: Richardson's office declined to comment on the indictments Thursday.

Former A.G. Patricia Madrid, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., last year, said Thursday she hoped that top Republicans hadn't compromised the indictment and the federal investigation that produced it. Madrid cited what she called the "improper and unethical conduct of Sen. Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson, and Karl Rove and the Bush administration, with regard to the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias."

DPNM State Chair: John Wertheim, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, also mentioned Domenici and Wilson in his statement, saying he hoped their "attempted political manipulation of these indictments" did not play into defense attorneys' hands. "Because if these indictments do not lead to convictions, Wilson and Domenici will be to blame," he said.

Sen. Michael Sanchez: In interviews Thursday, Sanchez said the courthouse case indictments did not change his mind. He recalled that former state Treasurer Robert Vigil was convicted last year on only one of 24 extortion-related counts, although many thought he would be convicted on more.
    "If I recall way back when, everyone had Vigil convicted of every single count that he was accused of. But after a jury heard all the evidence and listened to it all, instead of reacting to the impact of it ... I think that's why you say let the process go forward."

Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, said the FBI had interviewed him last summer as part of the ongoing investigation into the courthouse case, but he said Thursday's indictments still caught him by surprise.
"I just can't imagine a person ... of Manny's integrity, his hard work, his knowledge, the honesty that he portrayed during his term of office, as big-hearted as he was, I never would expect this to happen," Altamirano said.

Technorati Tags: corruption, DPNM, lobbying, newmexico, NM, Politics, reform, voting

Jury Indicts Aragon in alleged kickback scam!

Jury Indicts Aragon in alleged kickback scam

By Steve Terrell

Former Senate leader and three others face charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering in courthouse corruption probe

Manny Aragon for decades was one of the most powerful figures in New Mexico state government.

Today the Albuquerque Democrat stands accused, along with three others, in an alleged scheme to cheat the state out of more than $4 million in the construction of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court House.

Technorati Tags: corruption, Elections, Fundraising, lobbying, newmexico, Politics, reform

links for 2007-03-30

• Consumer Law Help Manual - Telephones and Telecommunications
  (tags: ConsumerResources Telecoms)
• Wireline Competition Bureau Statistical Reports (formerly FCC-State Link Reports)
  (tags: Telecoms FedGovt ConsumerResources)
• General Telecom Industry Reports
  (tags: MarketResearch Telecoms ConsumerResources)
• ACE Electoral Knowledge Network — ACE Electoral Knowledge Network
  (tags: Voting Elections Electionlaw Resources)
• Election Statistics (U.S.)
  (tags: Elections Statistics Rankings)
• The Role of Primary Elections — ACE Electoral Knowledge Network
  (tags: PartyStructure Primaries)
• Salary Wizard
  (tags: ConsumerResources)

links for 2007-03-29

• MotherJones.com | MoJo Blog - Social Issues and Political Commentary: Federal Judge: Supressing Voter Registration Not an Option in Ohio
  (tags: Voing Ohio VoteSupression)

links for 2007-03-27

• MYTOWNDOJ Scandal Will Enhance Democrats in New Mexico
  (tags: 2008elections NewmexicoDP HeatherWilson PeteDomenici)
• New Mexico Measures Impact of Domenici’s, Wilson’s Calls to Prosecutors - Yahoo! News
  Just a few weeks ago, the biggest worry for Pete V. Domenici — New Mexico’s longest-serving senator ever and “godfather” of the state Republican Party — was convincing voters he intended to run next year for a seventh term.
  (tags: IGLESIAS HeatherWilson PeteDomenici 2008Elections)

Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants - washingtonpost.com

Foreclosure Wave Bears Down on Immigrants - washingtonpost.com:
Immigrants are emerging as among the first victims of a growing wave of home foreclosures in the Washington area as mortgage lending problems multiply locally and across the country.

GSA Chief Is Accused of Playing Politics - washingtonpost.com

GSA Chief Is Accused of  Playing Politics - washingtonpost.com:
Witnesses have told congressional investigators that the chief of the General Services Administration and a deputy in Karl Rove's political affairs office at the White House joined in a videoconference earlier this year with top GSA political appointees, who discussed ways to help Republican candidates.

Technorati Tags: Bush, George W. Bush, GOP, lobbying, news, Politics, reform, Republicans, Washington, D.C.

If New Mexico Builds It, Will Space Travelers Come? - washingtonpost.com

If New Mexico Builds It,  Will Space Travelers Come? - washingtonpost.com:
LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Come April 3, the voters of this sun-baked area near the Mexican border will have an unusual question to answer: Are they happy enough as home to some hardy cotton and chile farmers, a branch of the state university and a growing population of retirees from up north? Or do they want quite literally to blast into a very different future?

Technorati Tags: Elections, newmexico, news, Politics, spaceport, Tax credit, voting

Media ignoring Bill Richardson candidacy - The Clarion-Ledger

Media ignoring Bill Richardson candidacy    - The Clarion-Ledger:

The run for Democratic presidential candidacy shows the media's bias. Hillary Rodham Clinton is not the first woman, and Barack Hussein Obama is the not the first black man to run; yet the media treat them as the only candidates.

The first brown man to run is not even mentioned.

Yes, black and white are not the only colors of people: Brown, red and yellow people should not be disenfranchised.

The first brown man - Hispanic- has been a State Department staff member and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member; spent 14 years as congressman from New Mexico; championed eight major Native American pieces of legislation; been chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the Democratic Governors Association, and U.S. Secretary of Energy. He was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and currently is second-term governor of New Mexico.

Technorati Tags: 2008, 2008elections, BillRichardson, DNC, newmexico