ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Signs Point to Voter Apathy

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that there seems to be far fewer political signs this primary season than usual?

This is just a gut feeling. I haven’t made any scientific measure to measure against the number of political signs per square feet in Santa Fe from the last election.

It just seems that there aren’t as many as usual. The municipal election earlier this year seemed to have far more than the primary. By the end of that election, as is the case for most elections, I was so sick of seeing yard signs that I couldn’t wait to see them go. This year, I keep waiting for the signs to appear.

One indicator: I haven’t received any calls from candidates complaining that their opponents are stealing or defacing their signs.

But the strangest thing about the signs in this election is that for every one I see for a gubernatorial candidate, I see four or five for various judge candidates. I mean no disrespect intended for the esteemed and important office of probate judge. But if campaign signs are any indication, people seem more excited about that primary race for that part-time position than they are about the governor’s race.

For the rest of this column see The Santa Fe New Mexican

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Liberal Radio Talkers Dropping

Bring back Jerry Springer?

Fans of KTRC, the liberal talk radio station in Santa Fe — and fans of liberal talk radio everywhere for that matter — have taken a couple of vicious blows in recent days

On Thursday, syndicated radio host Ed Schultz — who promotes himself as “America’s Number One liberal talker” — announced that he’s quitting his three-hour weekday radio show.

The way he made it sound, he just wants to go fishing. However, Schultz said he’ll continue doing his weeknight television show on MSNBC and he’s going to start doing an hourlong audio show that will be available on his website.

That was last week. The week before that, another popular syndicated host, Randi Rhodes also called it quits.

For the rest of Sunday's column go to the Santa Fe New Mexican's site.

UPDATE 4:15 pm I just got word from KTRC about their new weekday schedule:

Next week Thom Hartmann will move permanently to 10a-1p and will be live. Then Sam Seder will be on live 1pm-4pm. Seder is one of the hosts of Ring of Fire which airs Sundays 5pm-8pm on KTRC,

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: UN Coming for Your Guns?

Does U.S. Sen. Tom Udall really want to “turn over our constitutional right to bear arms to the United Nations for regulation”?

I’m getting dark visions of jack-booted U.N. troops parachuting in, kicking down my door and confiscating my guns as Tom Udall looks on smiling.

Wait a minute. I don’t own any guns.

But the claim that Udall wants gun rights turned over to the U.N. comes directly from one of the Republicans running for Udall’s Senate seat. In a recent fundraising appeal, GOP hopeful Allen Weh was up in arms over an arms treaty coming out of the United Nations.

In that email to supporters, Weh attacked Udall over a United Nations treaty concerning the international gun trade.

For the rest of this column, go to The New Mexican site

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Beneath the Underdog

I don’t always chuckle at campaign emails. I get about a zillion a day, so usually I just glance at them, make sure there’s nothing relevant I need and hit the delete button.

But one that caught my eye early last week came from Florida U.S. senator and possible Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio. ... “Susana [Martinez] is facing a fundraising deadline and your contribution will help her catch up to her opponents, who have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money into their campaigns.”

Susana needs to catch up? ...

But Martinez certainly isn’t the only frontrunner with a huge cash advantage trying to come off as an underdog. ...

Find out who else at the Santa Fe New Mexican site 

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Involuntary Transparency

‘‘Gov. Susana Martinez has ushered in a whole new level of openness, and this administration is the most transparent in New Mexico history.”

That’s the basic mantra of the governor’s spokesmen whenever a reporter asks to comment about situations in which one might think the administration isn’t being very open — such as when some news organization is suing Martinez for withholding public records or when the governor’s lawyers argue that a court enforcing public records laws would be unconstitutional.

But last week I decided that indeed, this administration is the most transparent in New Mexico history — though not in the way Martinez and company intended that statement to read. Thanks to a series of leaks going back a couple of years, New Mexicans have been able to see and hear way more behind-the-scenes glimpses than the administration ever intended.

For the rest of this column see The New Mexican's site: 

Also, you should read Rob Nikolewski's column for a different aspect on the same subject HERE

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Curses! Pinged Again!

“Steve pinged me on this again and says he needs an answer for a Sunday column he’s writing.
“How do we want to respond? Another ‘don’t have responsive documents’ response?”

This was the only response I got last week from Gov. Susana Martinez's office to questions I'd asked about a public records request they had earlier denied.

To get the whole story, see my Sunday column on The New Mexican's site.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: The Politix Fireball Saga

After a few stormy days as Congressman Steve Pearce’s press secretary, Rebekah Stevens, better known to New Mexico’s political Tweetosphere as “Politix Fireball,” was forced to resign.

It’s pretty rare for a politician’s spokeswoman to become a news story, much less a campaign issue. But that’s what happened with Stevens.

Her resignation came the day after Pearce’s Democratic opponent for the 2nd Congressional District seat, Roxanne “Rocky” Lara, used Stevens to try to raise funds.

... But I’m going to go out on a limb here. I believe that even though she was far less tactful than most Republicans I know and frequently went over the top in her tweets, I think it’s unfair to label her a racist or anti-Semitic. I’ve followed her tweets and read her blog, and have not found anything to back up such charges.

For the rest of this column go to The Santa Fe New Mexican HERE

Note: Sometime after I wrote this column late last week, the PolitixFireball Twitter account has gone from "protected" (private) to public again. The online version of the column has been changed to reflect that.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Ain't No Sunshine

The sun has set on Sunshine Week this year.

No, that’s got nothing to do with solar energy or John Denver songs or the importance of using sunscreen. According to the Sunshine Week website, it’s “a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.”

It’s also a time in which reporters like to write stories about examples of government agencies not living up to its stated goals of of open government and freedom of information. Of course, we like to do this as much as possible throughout the year. But somehow it’s more fun to write about the dark clouds of government secrecy during Sunshine Week.

My contribution to the cause this Sunshine Week was a story about trying to get information on how much state money was used to pay for the travel of Gov. Susana Martinez and her entourage for various out-of-state trips last year.

Basically, I’ve waited almost six months to get the first batch of expense reports and more than three months for the rest. While the Governor’s Office has provided me with dates and destinations of the trips, the state Department of Finance and Administration has claimed my requests were too “broad.” So, I’ve been told, more time — months and months more time — is needed to compile the information.

The rest of this column is at The Santa Fe New Mexican site

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Whereas There are Too Many Dang Memorials ...

House GOP Leader Don Bratton

I’ve covered I don’t know how many legislative races in the past 30 years, but I don’t remember any candidate ever saying, “Vote for me and I’ll introduce more memorials than my opponent.”

Nevertheless, people who dropped in on a House or Senate floor session at any given time in the first three weeks or so of the recent legislative session more likely would have heard lawmakers “debating” some memorial than any actual bill.

Though lawmakers always argue that they eventually get to the serious stuff, one not versed in the ways of the Roundhouse — and some, like House Republican Leader Don Bratton of Hobbs, who are deeply knowledgeable of the system — might tend to think this amounts to a lot of wasted time.

If I had to choose a “Quote of the Session,” it probably would be something that Bratton said during a committee meeting following a lengthy debate over a nonbinding piece of legislation:

“I’m not sure why we’re killing trees for these memorials.”

For the rest of this column read it HERE at The Santa Fe New Mexican.

And though I normally don't plug columns at other New Mexico papers, Walt Rubel of the Las Cruces Sun News takes on the same topic and it's a good, funny read. That's HERE.

And if you can't get enough of the underlying politics of the recently-concluded session, see my story about the effect of the session on the governor's race.

I'm taking the next week off, so there probably won't be much happening on this blog. See you in March.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Not All Dems Always Opposed the Downs Deal

Several Democrats in the Legislature last week expressed concern and criticism over the New Mexico State Fair and its controversial 25-year lease negotiated between Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration with The Downs at Albuquerque to operate a racetrack and casino on the fairgrounds.

But not all Democratic lawmakers were always against The Downs deal. Back in early November 2011, at least two lawmakers on the D side wrote letters of support for what some opponents have since dubbed “The Dirty Downs Deal.”

For the rest of this column see The Santa Fe New Mexican

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: More Freebies from Lobbyists

New Mexico is the last state with a Legislature whose members don’t get a salary. The modest per diem paid to senators and representatives often doesn’t cover their expenses, especially those who have to travel long distances and stay in Santa Fe’s expensive hotels and eat at our expensive restaurants.

But to cushion that blow, there are lobbyists, who provide food, beverage, entertainment and gifts for those doing the people’s business at the Roundhouse.

According to lobbyist expense reports, the most expensive gift filed in the past week or so are passes given by the New Mexico Golf Tourism Alliance on Thursday. The total value of the passes, which allows legislators to play on five courses around the state, was listed as $28,500. This is an annual gift the golf industry group bestows upon lawmakers.

As is the case with the ski industry, which gives ski passes to legislators every year, there is no legislation this year that directly affects golf courses, except, arguably, the Tourism Department’s budget.

On the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Stuart Ingle of Portales thanked the alliance for the gift and praised golf as important to tourism in the state.

Read the rest of this column HERE


My previous story on lobbyist reports ran Jan. 31. You can find that HERE

My story about the top 10 political contributors among lobbyists is HERE

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: House Leaders Still Wary of Webcasting

The state Legislature has been webcasting floor sessions and some committee meetings for years. You’d think that everyone would be used to it by now and all the awful fears about showing the public what goes on in this House of Round proved to be as insignificant as the open-government, pro-transparency crowd said.

But apparently not. Something happened in the House last week that showed resistance to webcasting still is alive and well.

It happened when Rep. Jeff Steinborn’s House Resolution 2 was introduced formally. This measure would require the Legislative Council Service to save all webcasts of House committee meetings and House floor sessions, so anyone with a computer could watch any of those meetings at their convenience. (So far there has not been a similar move in the Senate.)

Tp read the rest of this go to Santa  Fe New Mexican website HERE

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Will Fireworks Bill Set the Woods on Fire in This Year's Legislature?

One type of bill that’s almost guaranteed to be a dud (caution, bad pun setup) in the New Mexico Legislature is legislation restricting fireworks.

For instance, remember back in the hot dry summer of 2011, when the Las Conchas Fire was raging near Los Alamos, and Gov. Susana Martinez called for a bill that would give the governor the legal authority to impose a ban on all fireworks in the state? She got a bipartisan team of legislators to push such a bill, but it went down in flames (sorry, I can’t help myself).

With what some believe could be another hot, dry summer ripe for forest fires in store, Martinez again is calling for a fireworks bill. She sent a message to the Senate last week that allows the Legislature to consider it in the current 30-day “budget session.” The message applies to Senate Bill 94, sponsored by Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, who helped derail the 2012 fireworks bill.

To read the rest, see The New Mexican's website, HERE

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: The Treasurer Candidates Spat

It must be frustrating for candidates in down-ballot races to draw attention to their races.

Take the office of state treasurer for instance. Though handling the state’s money is an extremely important job, usually the treasurer campaign is pretty sedate. However, a couple of treasurer candidates, Democrats John Wertheim and Tim Eichenberg, actually caught my eye last week with a bitter email spat.

The third Democratic treasurer contender, former Bernalillo County Treasurer Patrick Padilla, didn’t get drawn into this scuffle.

In a fundraising email, Wertheim, a former state Democratic Party chairman, started with a question:

“Ever heard of Harold Morgan?”

For the rest, see the full version in The Santa Fe New Mexican.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Expect to See More Activity by Social Welfare Groups in NM Politics

The murky world of “social welfare” organizations with a political bent was in the news here last week. First, State Democratic Party Chairman Sam Bregman filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against an entity known as New Mexico Competes, claiming it was illegally coordinating with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

But there will be others competing with New Mexico Competes during the upcoming political season.

But the Dem-friendly New Mexico Prosperity won't be among them.

See more in my Sunday column HERE.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP:Richardson and his Pals on the Right

Former Gov. Bill Richardson, in an interview with Newsmax last week, admitted that he’d “screwed up” in trying to negotiate a hostage release in Cuba a few years ago.
There are a couple of things about this that are pretty amazing:

• Bill Richardson admitted that he’d made a serious mistake. That never comes easy to any politician.

• Bill Richardson gave an interview to Newsmax, one of the most conservative online news sites out there. ...

But maybe I shouldn't be surprised about that last one. Richardson actually had pretty good relations with some national conservative media figures and entertainers throughout most of his administration.

For more, see the full version on the Santa Fe New Mexican website,

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: McCleskey Himself Becomes an Issue.

Thanksgiving for the New Mexico Democrats running for governor came early this year in form of a scathing article in the Washington, D.C.-based National Journal targeting Gov. Susana Martinez’s political consultant, Jay McCleskey.

As I pointed out in the paper, the lengthy article written by Daniel Libit — with the headline “The Man Who Discovered Susana Martinez Could Also Be Her Downfall” — was one of, if not the only national media piece on Martinez that wasn’t entirely flattering. Using entirely Republican sources, including former GOP state Chairman Harvey Yates and current Chairman John Billingsly, it portrayed McCleskey as a divisive, slash-and-burn Svengali who has way too much influence over Martinez.

It looks like the Democrats felt a little left out. The candidates who want Martinez’s job all have had something to say.

For more see The New Mexican website.

Roundhouse Roundup: Ironic That Abortion Issue Sunk Janice Arnold-Jones

Republican Janice Arnold-Jones lost a close Albuquerque City Council race Tuesday. And one of the major reasons for that defeat — the abortion issue — strikes me as ironic. During her years in the Roundhouse, she never really was known as a social conservative.

Arnold-Jones in her outlaw webcasting days

Jones served eight years in the state House of Representatives. And she was highly regarded by the Capitol press corps. She’s smart and accessible. She had a real independent streak. She once voted against her own GOP floor leader for House speaker. She was one of a handful of Republicans to vote to repeal the death penalty.

And, on the government transparency front, she became known for an outright act of rebellion — using her own laptop computer to live-stream meetings of committees on which she served and doing so without seeking official permission. This helped open the floodgates. Four years later, we all take for granted legislative webcasting and the fact people no longer have to travel to the Capitol to watch their elected officials make laws.

But webcasting at the Roundhouse probably wasn't on the minds of Albuquerque voters last week. ...

For the rest of this column go to The New Mexican's website

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: There Oughtta Be a Law ...

Much of the time when a new problem pops up in society, the simplest way for our political system to deal with it is simply to make it illegal. Never mind that this type of knee-jerk mentality tends to clog the courthouse and fill the jails.

That’s one reason why a subcommittee of eight legislators soon will begin the task of rewriting the state’s criminal code, which has been amended piecemeal over the years. This, some lawmakers say, has led to inconsistent, sometimes unfair penalties.

As explained to me recently by the co-chairwoman of this group, Sen. Lisa Torraco, R-Albuquerque, one of the tasks of the subcommittee will be to find laws on the books that are obsolete, unnecessary or just plain weird. (That’s my characterization, not the senator’s.) Many of these are misdemeanors, which means there’s little if any jail time involved. But as Torraco pointed out, technically, someone could serve more jail time for a “silly” crime than for a first-time drunken-driving offence.

Read more, including a few words on the state's valient effort to protect children from obscene drive-in movies, on The New Mexican's site

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: More Fun With Common Cause's Lobbyist Report

What industry had the most lobbyists working the New Mexico state Legislature this year? Was it the oil and gas industry, which is responsible for a huge portion of state revenues? Was it the big pharmaceutical companies? The liquor industry? Ranchers? Chile farmers?

None of the above, actually. According to the study released last week by Common Cause New Mexico, the special interest that hired the largest number of lobbyists was government, including local and tribal governments as well as public educational agencies.

The study found (based on information from the Secretary of State’s website and the Institute of Money in State Government) that there were 250 lobbyists hired by government agencies working the Roundhouse halls during the last session, which ended in March.

Look at it this way: There are 112 legislators, so there were more than two government lobbyists for every lawmaker.

For more check out today's New Mexican.

For my story on the lobbyist report last week CLICK HERE

For the Common Cause report itself CLICK HERE