JD's Blog

Tomorrow is Independence Day

JD — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:55:50 MDT

With the holiday fast approaching, please take a moment to check out the thoughtful column by Tracy Dingmann over at the New Mexico Independent... Dissent is Patriotic

Memorial Day 2008: True Respect

JD — Mon, 26 May 2008 09:37:12 MDT

On a bipartisan vote of 75-22, the US Senate last week passed the GI Bill for the 21st Century.

John McCain, who is campaigning in Albuquerque this Memorial Day, has joined President Bush in opposition to the new GI Bill. Bush has threatened to veto it when it arrives at his desk.

In view of the huge gulf between the Bush-McCain "Support our Troops" rhetoric and the reality of their actions, here are three items worth pondering on this Memorial Day 2008.

The first is the cover story of the June issue of Technology Review (not on-line). From Brain Trauma in Iraq by Emily Singer:

The U.S. Department of Defense reports that approximately 30 percent of those evacuated from the battlefield to Walter Reed Army Medical Center have traumatic brain injury (TBI). The problem is probably worse than that: The DOD figure does not include brain injuries in soldiers whose wounds were not severe enough to require evacuation or whose ingjuries were not identified until after they completed their tours.

Post-deployment surveys suggest that 10 to 20 percent of all deployed troops have experienced concussions. .. Surveys of troops to be redeployed in Iraq suggest that 20 to 40 percent still had symptoms of past concussions…

Now this from the book, A Time to Fight - Reclaiming a Fair and Just America, by Senator James Webb (D-VA), sponsor of the new GI Bill:

These patronizing litanies from politicians who shield themselves from accountability by claiming that criticism of the Bush Administration's policies undermines the troops is blatant political avoidance and not true respect. Most of our military men and women know this…

A fundamental respect also means that after several years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, those directing these efforts should be able to develop sensible operational policies built on rotational cycles that allow our troops enough time at home between deployments. And a true indicator of respect would be for those who repeatedly call our present-day military men and women "the new Greatest Generation" to support the same level of GI Bill benefits for those who have served since 9/11 as those given to our World War II veterans. We have seen none of this.

Here's a fitting act of respect on this Memorial Day. Visit the VoteVets.org website and sign the petition urging Senator McCain to change his mind and support the 21st Century GI Bill (petition).

The New G.I. Bill: McCain's opposition aligns him firmly with Bush

JD — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:44:49 MDT

Yes, it was a big government program about which former Senator Bob Dole spoke in these glowing terms: "It changed America; it may have changed the world."

Passed in 1944, the G.I. Bill of Rights made available to sixteen million veterans of World War II, like Dole, generous educational opportunities and home ownership. It helped build the American middle class that drove the post-war economic boom of the 1950s.

In a recent NY Times op ed ("Doing the Troops Wrong"), Bob Herbert wrote:

The original G.I. Bill of Rights, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, paid the full load of a returning veteran's education at a college or technical school and provided a monthly stipend. It was an investment that paid astounding dividends. Millions of veterans benefited, and they helped transform the nation. College would no longer be the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and those who crowned themselves the intellectual elite.

Herbert goes on to say that "reinvigorating the G.I. bill is one of the best things this nation could do."

That's why a new GI Bill -- Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act -- has been introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. In the Senate, Vietnam veteran Jim Webb (D-VA) has been leading the charge along co-sponsors Chuck Hagel (R-NE), another Vietnam vet, and John Warner (R-VA), a former Navy Secretary.

A version of the bill has also been introduced in the House and New Mexico Congressman Tom Udall is an enthusiastic sponsor.

But the Bush Administration opposes the new G.I. bill. So does John McCain.

Straight Talk on McCain: Hard times ahead for NM students

JD — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:35:51 MDT

A gloomy picture is revealed for students in New Mexico when one sifts through presidential hopeful John McCain's recent major policy address on the economy.

In face of a deepening recession and the growing Bush budget deficits, McCain is promising to exercise "spending restraint" - while, however, also vowing to pour still more money into the Iraq War, which already piled up an estimated price tag approaching $3 trillion.

A new analysis by the National Education Association reveals that McCain's plan would translate into over $35 billion in education cuts for the 2010 fiscal year. For New Mexico this clocks in at $275 million lost dollars.

For example, McCain's plan would have the following impacts on education funding authorized for New Mexico:

Pell Grants - MINUS $34,300,000 (college students affected - 8,833)

Head Start - MINUS $7,627,232 (low income children affected - 1,010)

Special Ed Grants - MINUS $100,007,813 (children with disabilities affected - 25,350)

Grants to Local Educational Agencies - MINUS $87,697,095

For more information, see NEA.ORG.

Domenici admonished by ethics panel, Wilson still under investigation

JD — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:50:43 MDT

This just in on the U.S. Attorney scandal:

On Talking Points Memo.

On The Politico.

Earlier on Clearly New Mexico.

Questions about McCain-nomics

JD — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:06:02 MDT

A few weeks ago John McCain famously admitted that he didn't know much about economics. Today, with the nation careening into a deepening recession, he sought to rectify that knowledge deficit by trotting out his new economic plan in a major speech in Pittsburgh that, if little else, demonstrated his mastery of the teleprompter.

Once one gets past the obligatory populist rhetoric extolling the virtues of "working men and women" and denouncing the "excesses of traders and speculators", the speech signals no departure from Bush-nomics. And where McCain does go beyond the policies that led to the current economic meltdown, serious questions are being raised that he would only make matters worse.

The heart of McCain's economic plan is his $1.7 TRILLION corporate tax cut on top of making Bush's $2 trillion tax cut permanent. In so doing, McCain is proposing a tax cut that is twice as large as, and far more regressive, than the Bush tax cut he originally opposed in 2001.

Then there's McCain's "gas tax holiday" that would run from May to Labor Day. Even the Wall Street Journal calls that one a "clunker." As Jared Bernstein at TPM observes:

The problem is there's absolutely nothing to stop the oil companies from claiming a big chunk of this subsidy by raising the pretax price of gas at the pump. Prices go up in the summer anyway, and I'll bet you a gallon of premium that they go up even more than usual, such that some of that 18.4 cents/gallon ends up back in Exxon's wallet, not yours.

Which leaves us with a nice little transfer from taxpayers to oil companies.

Of course, such a windfall would only add to the the $4 billion a year tax break McCain is proposing for these same oil companies. And did I mention the nearly $2 billion a year for the insurance companies?

The regressivity of McCain's tax plan is breathtaking - even the proposed dependent deduction is worth far more to taxpayers in higher tax brackets. For a CEO, it's worth $1,225 per child; for a middle income earner like a secretary, it's $525 per child; and for a low income earner like a waitress, zero.

And so it goes. Here are questions about McCain's plan that deserve answers:

Tax Day and Iraq War: Impact on NM

JD — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:39:23 MDT

Tomorrow is income tax filing day, so it's appropriate to review what the Iraq War is costing New Mexico and our country. The human and economic costs of the Iraq war have been enormous. Over 4,000 soldiers have been lost and tens of thousands wounded.

Cost to New Mexico

Cost of war for New Mexico = $1.6 Billion
Cost of Iraq war per family of 4 = $35,000
Total number of NM troops killed = 38
Total number NM troops wounded = 266
NM troops ever deployed (as of Jan. 31, 2008) = 10,983
(NationalPriorities.org)

For the same $1.6 billion that taxpayers in New Mexico have paid for the Iraq War thus far, the following could have been provided:

424,892 People with Health Care OR
2,487,723 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR
41,324 Public Safety Officers OR
30,689 Music and Arts Teachers OR
375,995 Scholarships for University Students OR
187 New Elementary Schools OR
16,225 Affordable Housing Units OR
564,325 Children with Health Care OR
229,074 Head Start Places for Children OR
30,890 Elementary School Teachers

Economic Train Wreck: By the numbers

GOP presidential candidate John McCain famously announced that he envisions U.S. troops staying in Iraq for 100 years. This prospect is sobering given the costs to our economy thus far.

VIDEO: A Green Job in Your Future?

JD — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:21:13 MDT

It's not so hard to imagine. Catch this visionary video from the folks at 1 Sky New Mexico...

It was produced by 1 Sky New Mexico.

Here are some previous Clearly posts on Green Jobs:

Green Jobs, Green Future

Tackling the Energy Challenge

What's up with the "Straight Talk Express?"

JD — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:35:44 MDT

An anniversary worth remembering with a strong dose of ethics reform. This just in from the Public Campaign Action Fund:

On the anniversary of the first meeting that set off the infamous Keating Five scandal, Public Campaign Action Fund renewed its call today for Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to back comprehensive public financing of all federal elections and to make passage of it a priority if elected.

Here's the complete story.

The real story behind the McCain NM ad buy

JD — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:45:50 MDT

What's really going on with the "big news" that the McCain campaign is making its first national ad buy in New Mexico? The NY Times, AP, CNN - and the Albuquerque Journal - all dive into the story like synchronized swimmers, stroking the same line in unison: "For now, the 60-second ad will air only in New Mexico - a signal that McCain plans to compete in that swing state come the fall…"

But the media watchers at News Corpse Blog cut through to the real story about the MSM's non-story:

The truth, however, is likely quite different than these portrayals suggest. The McCain campaign, like most politicians and interest groups these days, knows that they can purchase a small amount of airtime in inexpensive television markets like New Mexico and announce the release of the ad to the press. Then the media will dutifully regurgitate the ad repeatedly, giving the campaign what amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of free airtime.

What middle class tax relief?

As usual, what the MSM refuses to do is analyze the actual claims made in these ads.

"The Fix" taps Heath Haussamen for top blog list

JD — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:23:34 MDT

Chris Cillizza, author of the go-to Washington Post blog, "The Fix", names New Mexico's Heath Haussamen as one of the top state political blogs in the nation.

Credit card customers likened to rape victims

JD — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:45:39 MDT

Here's the latest "Whose Side Are They On?" update: Another example of the corporate lobbyist complex at work. We take you to yesterday's credit card hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives:

Bush stimulus package will hurt NM

JD — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:54:39 MDT

A new report released by the advocacy group, New Mexico Voices for Children, finds that the recently enacted federal economic stimulus will have a negative impact on the state.

Tackling the Energy Challenge — Act on Renewables and Efficiency Now

JD — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:43:15 MDT

Guest Post by Carlos Perea and Bennett Freeman

Neither the global climate change crisis nor our nation's reliance on foreign oil are new problems. But in the last two years, escalating energy prices and continuing conflicts in the Middle East, along with greater public awareness and political focus on climate change, have come together to present new opportunities to transform our energy policy and supply. But even as we demonstrate a new willingness to invest in a new generation of alternative energy technologies that diminish our dependence on fossil fuels, incentives are needed if we are going to be competitive.

Santa Fe goes big for "Clean Elections"

JD — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:49:39 MST

On Tuesday, voters in Santa Fe made it the second city in New Mexico to adopt "Clean Elections" public financing for municipal campaigns.

KKOB News anchor quits after story critical of Heather Wilson and Darren White suppressed

JD — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:00:46 MST

KKOB news anchor Laura MacCallum has resigned after the station pulled stories about an alleged vote-buying scheme to benefit candidates Heather Wilson and Darren White at the recent Bernalillo

Domrzalski breaks it: GOP threatens to slime its own!

JD — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:16:37 MST

State party GOP insiders, including party chair, Alan Weh, threatened one Republican congressional candidate, and forced two others out of the CD1 race with threats of sliming, according to veteran reporter Dennis Domrzalski in his blog today. The smear campaign was undertaken to aid the candidacy of Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White.

The Attorney General's office is looking into the allegations.

Read Domrzalski's great piece of reporting here.

Democracy for New Mexico weighs in here.

FBIHOP features podcast

JD — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:42:09 MST

The Clearly New Mexico team features three blog feeds in its "NM Political News" column. Taken together -- Haussamen, DFNM and FBIHOP -- offer superb coverage of the NM media and political landscape.

Santa Fe has chance to adopt “Voter-Owned Elections”

JD — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:42:20 MST

In the March 4th municipal election, Santa Feans will have a chance to join the ranks of states and cities across the nation that have opted for Clean Elections public financing.

Why the Tribune will be missed: Remembering Welsome

JD — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:25:28 MST

The tributes from the bloggers are rolling in.