9-6 Guv's Eye Now on Nevada

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Figure on Gov. Bill Richardson spending quality time in Nevada the next two years. No, not at the gambling tables. He hasn't shown the compulsion of former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards or former Education Secretary Bill Bennett.
Gov. Richardson's compulsion is running for president and Nevada suddenly has become much more important. The Democratic National Committee recently stuck a Nevada presidential caucus ahead of New Hampshire's primary election.
In a way, it was a set-back for Richardson, who had been trying to organize a Western regional presidential primary early in the selection process. But organizing his fellow Western governors to get anything done had seemed to be like herding cats.
Nevada had not been a prime mover in pushing the Western primary but now it has catapulted ahead of New Hampshire, perhaps with aid from U.S. Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid.
That doesn't mean that Richardson's efforts to organize a Western primary in early March will be abandoned. It just means that he can be expected to be a frequent visitor to the Silver State.
Nevada was chosen because of its growing Hispanic population. Since Iowa and New Hampshire have very few minorities, the DNC decided it needed to be more representative in its early primaries. South Carolina was moved up for another early primary because of its high Black population.
Another criterion was that the four early states be fairly small. Large states don't have nearly as much worry about getting attention. But was Nevada the best choice of a small state with a large Hispanic population?
Nevada's Hispanics are fairly new, attracted by jobs in the gambling industry. Its biggest advantage may be that it is a swing state and growing fast. Another advantage may be that top DNC officers and staff like the idea of spending time there.
Arizona might have been a better choice. It is larger, has more Hispanics, is growing rapidly and can be a swing state. And what about New Mexico?
We have the highest percentage of Hispanics and still carry the honor of being the best bellwether of any state in the nation.
The DNC's decision to stick another caucus in front of New Hampshire may not be without problems. New Hampshire has threatened to move its primary up further. The DNC has countered that it would encourage candidates not to campaign there, and those that do might not have their New Hampshire delegates recognized.
That could create a messy situation at the Democratic National Convention, something that Democrats anxiously fear. Remember two years ago when the convention rule was that no speaker could say anything bad about Republicans?
But New Hampshire may already have that confrontation headed off. As soon as he heard about the DNC threat, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch quickly secured written pledges from 10 potential Democrat candidates that they would campaign in New Hampshire. Bill Richardson was one of those ten.
In other presidential primary news, Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Richardson has registered his gubernatorial political action committee in New Hampshire so he can make political contributions in that state. His first contribution, Terrell says, was $2,500 to the New Hampshire Senate Democratic Caucus.
Richardson has received some political help from Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez who has advised him that to win the presidency, he will have to take a stand against cockfighting. Gov. Richardson didn't take a stand when the issue came up in last year's legislature.
Cockfighting is sure to surface again in next year's session and Richardson says he plans to address the issue then.
Meanwhile a brutal murder in Texas has revealed a nationwide ring of dog fighting that law enforcement officials say is probably as big as the underworld drug business.
Sounds preposterous, but if true, it could crowd chicken fighting out of the news.
WED, 9-06-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

9-4 Labor Day

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Most of this column was written for Labor Day last year. But it is even more relevant this year because of recent events.
On May 5, I columnized about the poor judgment of illegal aliens in choosing May Day instead of Cinco de Mayo for their demonstrations aimed at convincing Americans of the value of immigrant workers.
In addition, we've heard much recently about Wal-Mart worker policies, and this column touched on that.
Why do the United States and Canada celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September while the rest of the world celebrates it on May 1?
Actually both observances had their beginnings in the United States in the early 1880s. But May Day events had more of a class struggle slant to them. They were often rowdy and ended with police action.
Labor unions were strong in those days. Workers were getting tired of 16-hour days, six days a week, in dangerous working conditions. And they were ready to do whatever it took to change things.
Political leaders, realizing they would have to do something to lessen worker unrest decided they would have to recognize the legitimacy of labor unions. One way to do that was to set aside a day to honor them. And it wasn't difficult to decide which day to choose.
So May Day observances gradually faded out here while spreading and gaining popularity in the rest of the world. Later, May Day became associated with communism. In the '50s, the Cold War and McCarthyism spelled the end to May Day labor events here.
In recent years, Labor Day observances also have dwindled as we have moved from an economy influenced by Henry Ford, who wanted workers paid enough to afford to buy his cars to an economy influenced by Wal-Mart, which wants an economy with wages low enough that workers will have to shop at discount stores.
The contribution of American workers toward making our nation the strongest in the world is recognized less every year by the public and media. Look at your newspaper today.
Several articles and many ads will mention Labor Day, but not in terms of recognizing workers. The only thing getting close may be an item noting that the percentage of workers belonging to labor unions is dwindling.
Beating out news addressing the purpose of this national holiday, will be the ninth annual rehash of Princess Diana's death. Something might be said about Mother Teresa, who died the same week, but not likely. Mother Teresa has been put on the fast track to sainthood, but in the public eye, Diana attained it immediately upon her death.
Also receiving less than its due recognition this weekend was V-J Day. The end of the most horrible war in human history certainly deserves a holiday as much as some of the others we celebrate. The end of World War I is accorded a holiday even though that armistice treaty ended up resulting in an even bigger war to settle matters.
Of course two national holidays in one week wouldn't work. Even moving it up to August 15, the date Japan announced it would surrender, is still a little close.
But like Pearl Harbor Day on December 6 and D-Day on June 6, there should be considerable recognition of such a significant event. Why should we recognize an attack that began the war more than the end of that war?
Is it because we used atomic bombs and aren't too proud of it? Regardless of what you may think about that decision, World War II, unlike World War I, ended in a manner such that no world wars have been fought since. And nuclear weapons haven't been used since.
Some evidence has surfaced that one reason Japan took so long to admit defeat was that it hoped it could hold out until its atomic bomb would be ready.
MON, 9-04-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

9-1 Pluto Demoted

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Well, at least Pluto had its 75 years of fame. Considering the age of the solar system, that may be equivalent to about 15 minutes.
New Mexicans aren't the only ones peeved about the decision to downgrade Pluto to a dwarf planet. Think of all the school children who had to memorize the planets.
Then there are those who liked Pluto because he's an underdog -- or Mickey Mouse's dog. And what about dwarfs? They may want to join the revolt.
Why are New Mexicans mad? Pluto's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, spent his last 50 years in New Mexico, making him as bona fide a New Mexican as anyone.
Tombaugh grew up in Kansas and made his famous 1930 discovery in Arizona. But he came to New Mexico in 1946 to work at White Sands Proving Grounds as the German V-2 rockets were being brought in for testing.
In 1955, Tombaugh went to New Mexico State University at Las Cruces where he led the astronomy department to international recognition.
Following his retirement, Tombaugh continued his involvement at New Mexico State, touring the United States and Canada, with his wife Patricia, giving lectures to raise money to bring astronomers to NMSU for post-doctoral research. The Tombaugh Scholars Fund now is a permanent endowment.
All Americans had reason to be disappointed at the decision by the International Astronomical Union. Pluto was the only planet discovered by an American. The NASA team that launched the New Horizons probe, due to approach Pluto in 2015, wasn't too happy either.
There is just something about Pluto that captures people's imagination, maybe because it is so small and far away. Next to Earth, it probably was the best known planet.
Most people know they can see Venus and Mars. They know there is a big planet and one with rings around it, but aren't sure which is which. And then there's Neptune and Uranus that are somewhere way out there. And, oh yes, there's that little one near the sun.
The closest most students come to remembering the names and order of planets is to use a mnemonic device. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas had its variations, but now the race is on to devise a new one for the remaining eight.
Substituting Nachos or Noodles for Neptune are early efforts. But an enterprising astronomy professor thinks he has found a great way to increase enrollment. He suggests My Very Exotic Mistress Just Showed Up Naked. Of course, that would get any elementary school teacher fired.
And what's going to happen if indigo is eliminated from the rainbow? I can't see it in there, but the Biv family will have a fit.
What if the top line of the treble clef music staff were eliminated? Every good boy no longer would do fine. We have enough trouble with the younger generation now. That would mess them up forever.
And no, Pluto wasn't named for Mickey Mouse's dog. He was Rover until 1931, when the new planet's discovery made such a hit. Google Pluto and you will find 38 entries for the planet before the dog is mentioned.
There's also a lot of anger on the Internet about the change. Some are calling it a communist conspiracy. The change was made at a meeting in the Czech Republic. It is a former communist state, but not willingly, for sure.
E-bay already is full of opportunists eager to make a buck on protest paraphernalia, but for the most part, the reaction is amusement and not anger.
Even the Tombaugh family in Las Cruces, although disappointed, is not letting it send them into orbit. Clyde's reaction before he died was that he discovered something out there and it doesn't matter too much what they call it.
We got to sit next to the Tombaughs at the 1976 dedication of the Space Museum in Alamogordo and quickly appreciated his great wit.
FRI, 9-01-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-30 New Mexico Quarter

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- It's finally our turn. The New Mexico quarter may be in the last group released by the U.S. Mint but our state is first in the amount of history, geography and diversity from which to choose a design.
Those are the three aims of the U.S. Mint in its Commemorative Coin Program Act. It wants to educate youth about each state's history, geography and diversity. States get to choose a design for the reverse side of the quarter.
New Mexico's design proposals are due at the U.S. Mint by September 1. A commission has been working since spring to reduce proposals from New Mexicans throughout the state down to three. Engravers at the Mint then create designs based on the proposals and the state gets to pick the one it wants.
Last April, I voted for space travel, envisioned by Robert Goddard and his rocketry experiments near Roswell. The realization of that dream will come with the nation's first licensed commercial spaceport in New Mexico.
It's a combination of New Mexico's history with its future and it would add to the economic development efforts that have attracted Virgin Galactic, the X Prize Cup and several other space ventures.
Gov. Bill Richardson's choice is something similar to New Mexico's Rose Parade float. That takes care of the diversity, for sure. It had a mountain, trees, a pueblo and Smokey Bear, along with participants representing four cultures.
The float was an attempt to include everything possible about New Mexico. Although it didn't win an award, it received good reviews and seemed to fit in with the Rube Goldberg contraptions that characterized most of the floats.
But that may not be the best idea for something the size of a quarter. The numismatists haven't announced any competition for best quarter design, but last year the North American Vexillology Association named New Mexico's flag the best in the nation.
NAVA said simplicity is of overriding importance when designing something that has to be seen atop a flag pole. That also may be true for something that has to be reduced to the size of a quarter.
Not that I'm suggesting we put the Zia sun symbol on our quarter. We don't want to escalate that battle. But something simple might be a good idea. You've likely seen some of the quarters that try to squeeze in the state flower, animal, insect, fish, fossil, bird and butterfly.
And we may not want to include any of our numerous geologic formations. Those have had bad luck. Nebraska's Chimney Rock is continuing to erode and could soon meet the fate of New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain, which completely collapsed three years ago.
I also suggested last spring that since New Mexico was spending money on developing a brand, that it be seriously considered for our coin. But, alas, that effort has been discontinued. Could it be that the animal cruelty folks thought it would look like something on the rear of a cow?
There's no report yet on how many New Mexico quarters will be coined. It's likely that not as many are made for small states since we don't have as many coin collectors and that's a moneymaker for the U.S. government.
But the best way to generate demand for a coin is to have a misprint. Wisconsin had that honor when some of its coins showed up with what appeared to be an extra leaf on a cornstalk. They are selling for upwards of $1,000 apiece.
The mistake might have resulted from a last-minute change when the Wisconsin governor overruled his advisory commission on the design. There won't be any such confusion in New Mexico. Gov. Richardson's Web site says he will choose among the three designs from the Mint.
And since the governor makes the decision, expect to a design with many ethnicities represented. After all, they're all voters.
WED, 8-30-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-28 Mary Skeen Congrats

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Congratulations to Mary Skeen on her appointment to fill the state Legislature vacancy left by the death of Rep. Avon Wilson of Roswell.
Skeen is the widow of the late U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen, who represented southern New Mexico in Congress for 22 years. Mary stayed home and ran the family's 15,000-acre sheep ranch in Picacho while Joe went to Washington.
But Mary didn't just stay on the ranch. She was frequently out about the area helping Joe's constituents. My first encounter with her was at a Lincoln County Republican Women's luncheon. It was 1987 and I had just started writing this column.
As the guest speaker, I had the place of honor, sitting next to Mary. She was gracious and charming. We had a pleasant conversation, which I no longer remember. But I do remember her final words. "You tell that Bill Richardson to stay out of my husband's congressional district."
Rep. Richardson had visited the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant project near Carlsbad the weekend before. By 1987, Richardson was in his third term and his campaign slogan had changed from "Fighter for the North" to "Fighter for New Mexico." Mary had him pegged.
She may feel a bit more charitable toward Gov. Richardson now that he has appointed her to a legislative seat. But Skeen knows that it isn't Richardson to whom she owes her gratitude. It is the Chaves County Commission that recommended her in a controversial vote.
Normally when a legislative seat becomes vacant, the appointment depends on the political makeup of the county commission. This district is spread over three counties, so each county makes a recommendation to the governor.
Otero and Lincoln counties, both Republican controlled, recommended Nora Espinoza, who won a close GOP primary election for the seat. The expectation was that the Chaves County commission would do the same and Gov. Richardson would have to appoint Espinoza.
But a political rift in Chaves County surfaced. That close Republican primary for the vacant legislative seat exposed two factions in the county that are not going away. In fact, they are likely to go statewide and could affect next year's selection of a new state GOP chairman.
Apparently three of the four Republicans on the five-member Chaves County Commission are aligned with the faction that did not support the winning candidate in the GOP primary.
By recommending someone other than Espinoza, the commission gave Gov. Richardson the opportunity to not appoint the Republican candidate in the November general election for the legislative seat.
It is assumed that an appointment to a vacant seat gives a candidate an advantage in the upcoming election. Espinoza would have been able to call herself the incumbent, but she couldn't have claimed any legislative experience that would make her better qualified.
That's because there are only a little less than five months remaining in the term and no special session is contemplated between now and then.
So the interim appointment actually was not that big a deal. It appears this really was just another test of strength between the rival factions.
Espinoza is not really hurt by not being appointed to the vacancy. She still is highly likely to be elected to the seat in November. The only thing she loses is the head start in seniority she would have had on the class of new legislators next January. And a few months seniority doesn't count for a whole lot in the New Mexico House.
The Chaves County commissioners kept the playing field level, as they phrased it, by appointing Skeen, who is not a candidate for the seat.
So why not let Mary Skeen see this as an honor for past service rather than being cast as an unwitting participant in a coup?
Gov. Richardson may have taken pleasure in appointing someone other than the Republican House nominee, but he may also have enjoyed honoring the wife of a longtime colleague.
MON, 8-28-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

I'll be out of office thru 8-25. 8-30 column will be sent 8-28. Cell 505-699-9982.m I'll have my computer but won't turn it on often.

revised 8-25

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Anyone who has lived in New Mexico for any length of time during the last 40 years has had an opportunity to fall in love with the newspaper articles of Western writer and historian Marc Simmons.
Simmons' work, including more than 40 books, is interesting, well-written and well-researched, mostly from original documents. His subjects range widely through New Mexico and the American Southwest. His specialty is Spanish colonial history.
As Simmons says, having written about New Mexico history for more than 40 years, it was inevitable that a few of those articles would be on Billy the Kid, the one New Mexican whose name is known around the world.
It also was inevitable that after the modest success of a collection of my columns on Billy the Kid, Sunstone Press would convince Simmons to do the same. If a novice can do it, the master is sure to enjoy success.
Simmons' collection of articles is not the life story of Billy the Kid. It is a selection of new and unusual fragments of his story. Often the vignettes are a sketch of another character whose life intersected with Billy's in an interesting way.
And maybe their lives never really did touch Billy's. When we're talking about the world's most famous outlaw, many pretenders would like to become part of the action.
Billy faded from the world's consciousness for many years before he was resurrected by Walter Noble Burns' book and a series of movies beginning in the 1920s. By that time, few people still were around to argue with an old-timer who claimed to have been part of Billy's story.
Simmons tells some of those tales but is careful to note when no corroborating evidence exists to back up the claim. Simmons is a careful enough historian that when he adds new information to Billy's story, he lets the reader know just how believable it might be.
And Simmons knows when he may be adding something new. Although he doesn't claim to be a Billy scholar, it is evident he has the Kid's story straight.
As you might guess, my favorite chapters deal with Billy's pretenders and where Billy is buried. Simmons devotes a final lengthy chapter to the question of where Billy's bones now may lie.
We are taken on a ride through the history of the military cemetery at Fort Sumner from the day Billy was buried to the present. The possibilities are numerous that Billy might not still be there.
The Las Vegas Daily Optic reported soon after the burial that grave robbers already were plundering the Kid's remains. In 1904, the cemetery was flooded to a depth of four feet and some of the land was washed away.
In 1906, all military remains were disinterred and reburied in Santa Fe's National Cemetery. Some evidence exists that 21 civilian bodies also may have been moved.
It is known that Billy's grave markers, and later headstones, disappeared often and were replaced, sometimes years later, from memory. And those memories always differed, depending on the individual.
Nevertheless, Simmons comes to the conclusion that Billy still is buried in his original grave and that it is somewhere in the vicinity of the present caged marker.
And then there are those who say Billy lived a long life somewhere else. A story that has received some support from our neighboring state to the east is that Billy went to Hico, Texas and became known as Brushy Bill Roberts.
Simmons tells the fascinating story of Roberts' trip to New Mexico in 1950 to ask Gov. Tom Mabry for the pardon former Gov. Lew Wallace had promised.
Brushy Bill claimed to be 91, which would have been Billy's age at the time. But Mabry told him he looked more like a man in his 70s and rejected his request.
For more of the action, pick up Simmons' book, "Stalking Billy the Kid."
FRI, 8-25-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

This has book title nearer beginning

8-25 Stalking Billy the Kid

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Anyone who has lived in New Mexico for any length of time during the last 40 years has had an opportunity to fall in love with the newspaper articles of Western writer and historian Marc Simmons.
Simmons' work, including more than 40 books, is interesting, well-written and well-researched, mostly from original documents. His subjects range widely through New Mexico and the American Southwest. His specialty is Spanish colonial history.
As Simmons says, having written about New Mexico history for more than 40 years, it was inevitable that a few of those articles would be on Billy the Kid, the one New Mexican whose name is known around the world.
It also was inevitable that after the modest success of a collection of my columns on Billy the Kid, Sunstone Press would convince Simmons to do the same. If a novice can do it, the master is sure to enjoy success.
Simmons' collection of articles is not the life story of Billy the Kid. It is a selection of new and unusual fragments of his story. Often the vignettes are a sketch of another character whose life intersected with Billy's in an interesting way.
And maybe their lives never really did touch Billy's. When we're talking about the world's most famous outlaw, many pretenders would like to become part of the action.
Billy faded from the world's consciousness for many years before he was resurrected by Walter Noble Burns' book and a series of movies beginning in the 1920s. By that time, few people still were around to argue with an old-timer who claimed to have been part of Billy's story.
Simmons tells some of those tales but is careful to note when no corroborating evidence exists to back up the claim. Simmons is a careful enough historian that when he adds new information to Billy's story, he lets the reader know just how believable it might be.
And Simmons knows when he may be adding something new. Although he doesn't claim to be a Billy scholar, it is evident he has the Kid's story straight.
As you might guess, my favorite chapters deal with Billy's pretenders and where Billy is buried. Simmons devotes a final lengthy chapter to the question of where Billy's bones now may lie.
We are taken on a ride through the history of the military cemetery at Fort Sumner from the day Billy was buried to the present. The possibilities are numerous that Billy might not still be there.
The Las Vegas Daily Optic reported soon after the burial that grave robbers already were plundering the Kid's remains. In 1904, the cemetery was flooded to a depth of four feet and some of the land was washed away.
In 1906, all military remains were disinterred and reburied in Santa Fe's National Cemetery. Some evidence exists that 21 civilian bodies also may have been moved.
It is known that Billy's grave markers, and later headstones, disappeared often and were replaced, sometimes years later, from memory. And those memories always differed, depending on the individual.
Nevertheless, Simmons comes to the conclusion that Billy still is buried in his original grave and that it is somewhere in the vicinity of the present caged marker.
And then there are those who say Billy lived a long life somewhere else. A story that has received some support from our neighboring state to the east is that Billy went to Hico, Texas and became known as Brushy Bill Roberts.
Simmons tells the fascinating story of Roberts' trip to New Mexico in 1950 to ask Gov. Tom Mabry for the pardon former Gov. Lew Wallace had promised.
Brushy Bill claimed to be 91, which would have been Billy's age at the time. But Mabry told him he looked more like a man in his 70s and rejected his request.
For more of the action, pick up Simmons' book, "Stalking Billy the Kid."
FRI, 8-25-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-23 Financing Political Campaigns

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- What does Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl think about public financing of political campaigns?
Gov. Bill Richardson's task force on ethics has suggested public financing of campaigns as a way of addressing voter perceptions that big contributions are buying officeholders .
The task force also looked at statements of former state treasurer Michael Montoya explaining that he began to get himself in trouble when he wrestled with how to handle the large campaign debt he accumulated while running for office.
Dendahl has said that one of his campaign issues will be the excessive war chest his Democratic opponent has built up. I wrote a column two weeks ago listing the ethics panel recommendations and referring to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that limiting campaign expenditures violates free speech guarantees.
A reader in California informs me that there are ways to get around that problem. Craig Dunkerley, a volunteer with the California Clean Money Campaign , says systems of public financing that have been working quite well in Arizona and Maine for almost a decade solve that problem with matching funds provisions.
Under those laws, if a wealthy candidate decides not to accept public financing in order to avoid spending limits, opponents who receive public financing will get matching funds, up to a cap, so they can continue to be competitive.
Dunkerley also says if contributors, instead, donate to independent expenditure groups that run ads targeting a publicly-funded candidate, the same matching funds are triggered with the same effect.
Evidently the laws are proving to be effective and are being accepted by the public as a way to keep elections clean. They evidently aren't being quite as well embraced by candidates, especially by Republican candidates, according to an election source I contacted in Arizona.
Imagine the money Dendahl would be raking in at this point. He is reported to have about $200,000 in his campaign coffers while Gov. Richardson is wallowing in millions.
I didn't bother contacting Dendahl about his view on campaign financing, because I already knew his answer. He has long been an avid supporter of campaign donations being a protected form of free speech.
As a libertarian at heart, Dendahl can't be accused of opposing limits on campaign expenditures just because Republicans typically have an easier time raising money. He actually believes that's what's right.
In fact, Dendahl is quoted by Jim Belshaw in the Albuquerque Journal as saying five years ago that public financing of campaigns is a "proposal only a communist could love."
That was 12 years after the fall of communism in Europe and Dendahl still was worried about it creeping out from under the bed in America. He may have moderated a little in the past five years.
Now it's socialism Dendahl is worried about. Responding to a report that many New Mexico schools are failing their students, Dendahl said it is because, instead of the three R's, New Mexico teachers are spending time on the three S's -- sexuality, self-esteem and socialism."
I was around teachers much of my earlier life and found most of them committed to teaching whatever the school board directed. And I never met many socialist school board members. I do know there is a lot of pressure to teach human sexuality in the schools.
What I want to agree with Dendahl in a big way on, however, is his self-esteem remark. As schools are preparing to open for the year, the usual talk is circulating about making all our students feel good about themselves.
Some schools prescribe uniforms so no child will be better dressed. No valentines can be given unless there is one for everyone. Scores will not be kept at games and trophies will be presented to all students.
Maybe that's the socialism Dendahl is talking about. Those kids are not being prepared for the competitive world they soon will enter.
WED, 8-23-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-21 Are state investments getting too risky?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Are the state's high-risk investments getting a little too risky? The Ohio investment advisers hired to make recommendations appear to think so.
According to an article by Andrew Webb in the Albuquerque Journal, Fort Washington Investment Advisers balked at performing due diligence exams of space-related companies and complained about having to work with two other companies that already were in the state investment portfolio.
The advisers reportedly said that the proposed investments are more like economic development projects than venture capital transactions.
A few years ago the state decided to invest some of its huge permanent funds in startup companies that want to move to New Mexico. It would be good for economic development and if one of them happened to hit it big, the state would be on its way to the prosperity it always has sought.
State economic planners never will forget the move of Microsoft from Albuquerque to Seattle for want of $35,000. That was in the late '70s. New Mexico's permanent fund was booming back then too, because of a worldwide energy crisis and 20 percent interest rates.
Lawmakers weren't sure what to do with all the money. They passed yearly income tax rebates until, finally, they made it permanent with the "Big Mac" tax cut. And, as always seems to happen, energy prices and interest rates soon plummeted and New Mexico was back to being a poor state again.
But the one big change made by state officials during those plush years was to establish a second permanent fund, made up of severance tax receipts from the state's extractive industries.
The state's Severance Tax Permanent Fund is now up to around $4 billion and that's the money being tapped for over $200 million of investments designed to stimulate New Mexico's economic growth.
It is fun to daydream about what might have been if New Mexico had used $35,000 of the money it set aside in a second permanent fund to purchase Microsoft stock in 1978. We might not still be debating tax cuts vs. rebates, because we wouldn't have a state income tax.
Those were the infant days of the personal computer industry. We're now in the infancy of the space travel industry. Could there be a Microsoft hiding somewhere? Maybe personal space travel will never take off. But consider the state of airplane travel at this time last century.
So maybe it's not too far off to be betting some of our chips on Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic or on t/Space's bid to build a new space shuttle for NASA.
Those were the projects the state's investment adviser was queasy about recommending whether we should invest up to $20 million in. You've heard plenty about Virgin Galactic's reservation list of passengers wanting to pay $200,000 for a trip into space.
t/Space is vying for a contract to build a privately operated replacement for the space shuttle. If it is awarded the contract next month, t/Space has announced it will move from Virginia to New Mexico.
The investment advisers say the space companies are outside the purview of its existing contract with the state and are beyond the call of duty. Both sides accuse the other of not complying with industry standards.
Also at issue is another $46 million pool of money invested directly in technology companies. The investment advisers want to stay involved with that one because it is making money and they get to share in the profits.
State Investment Officer Gary Bland says the technology fund is making money because of the success of Eclipse Aviation, another controversial investment by the state, which already was in the state's portfolio when the current investment adviser took over.
So is the investment adviser trying to limit its liability on future investments while cashing in on the state's past good investments? It likely will take a court to decide.
Bland says it is like a divorce with a child involved.
MON, 8-21-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-18 The Kinkster

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Thank goodness we have some interesting political races to talk about this year.
One we won't say about much is the 1st Congressional District contest. There's too much talk about that already. Never has the mute button on my TV set gotten such a workout. That race is just plain unpleasant. And no newspapers in that district carry this column anyway.
So we'll talk about the other two congressional distracts even though both incumbents are supposed to win their usual easy victories. At least the two challengers are interesting people and deserve some ink. And the same can be said of the U.S. Senate challenger.
Where it gets fascinating, however, is in the state races. The gubernatorial contest hasn't been as exciting as expected so far, but don't worry, it will be. Republican candidate John Dendahl is busy trying to put together some money right now so he can get his provocative remarks on the airwaves. It will be fun.
The attorney general race will pit the son of a former governor against the son-in-law of another former governor. Those governors didn't happen to get along very well, although their families do, and both come from the Moriarty metropolitan area.
The land commissioner race will be a classic, matching up a cowboy and an environmentalist. One is the incumbent and the other has held the office twice.
The secretary of state race will be a biggie in Albuquerque between two local ladies virtually unknown in the rest of the state. We'll give it a little coverage since we all need to make a decision in that contest.
And then there are the auditor, treasurer and Public Regulation Commission races. If we don't nod off, we'll tell you a little about them.
But please humor me today and let me describe the kinkiest contest in the nation. You guessed it -- the Texas governor's race. Those of you close to the border may have a pretty decent seat in the bleachers for it, but the less fortunate don't even know who we're talking about yet.
Singer, song writer, mystery novelist and comic Kinky Friedman is taking on the big boys, and girl, in a four-way competition that could end up evenly divided.
Rick "Governor Good Hair" Perry is the incumbent. Although he pulled 58 percent of the vote four years ago, he hasn't been doing well since.
One of his challengers is a fellow Republican, running as an independent. No, it's not Joe Lieberman, it's the mother of former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan. She's picked up too many last names to mention here, but suffice it to say she's popular. She's the state comptroller. She polled a quarter-million more votes than Perry in 2002 and she's raising big money.
Oh yes, there's a Democrat in the race.
And then there's the Kinkster. He's everything a politician shouldn't be -- but then so were Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura and Gary Johnson.
His nickname fits him perfectly even though he got it because of his hair. You may have heard of him first when he was a successful Western singer and songwriter back in the '70s, with Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys.
But Kinky couldn't stay serious. One of his most popular songs likely still has voters in El Paso miffed. So he began writing detective novels, featuring himself as the main character. Notice I didn't say hero. If you want to know the real Kinky and his real friends, buy any one of his 20 books. You'll love 'em.
If you want to see Kinky on TV, get up early and tune into Imus on MSNBC. Kinky made his gubernatorial announcement on the I-Man's show.
Can Kinky win? His straight talk will appeal to angry, alienated voters. Jesse Ventura won by doing it in Minnesota and he didn't raise the money Kinky has. Ventura had a great campaign manager, Dean Barkley. Kinky now has Barkley in his corner.

FRI, 8-18-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-16 World Peace Conference

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- If I were Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign manager, I would be scared, very scared, about the upcoming, state-sponsored World Peace Conference.
Originally scheduled for next month, it now will be held next May. That lets Richardson escape any embarrassment that might ensue during his gubernatorial campaign.
But let's just assume the governor wins reelection in November. He'll have his presidential campaign cranked into high gear by nine months from now. So what could happen during New Mexico's attempt at a World Peace Conference?
Maybe Richardson could get United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan back to Santa Fe -- assuming Annan also wins reelection. His term also ends December 31. And maybe the governor can get some other prestigious figures here.
But who else might come? Some grassroots peace groups already are complaining about being left out of the conference planning. In case you hadn't noticed, New Mexico has more than its share of peace activists.
There are the groups that descend on Los Alamos in early August every year during the anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
There is the group that strung a banner across Taos' main street urging the firing of Donald Rumsfeld, a part time Taoseno before being tapped by Dick Cheney as secretary of Defense. Those folks make the news every time Rummy visits. The biggest demonstration was when the vice president accompanied him.
Santa Fe has peace events all the time and Albuquerque has its share. The largest and most dignified peace event is a Sikh retreat in the mountains of northern New Mexico.
But Sen. Shannon Robinson of Albuquerque felt all this wasn't enough. He got $420,000 out of two legislative appropriations to put on a world conference in Santa Fe to promote what he calls "peace tourism."
Peaceniks seem to be willing to travel a long way to promote their worthy cause, but I'm not sure how much money they drop into the local economy once they get there. Will New Mexico recoup its $420,000 from this event?
There are sure to be prominent invited guests to bring some international esteem, but what about the uninvited guests? Won't New Mexico's shunned peace activists bring in their own Cindy Sheehans and Michael Moores to take advantage of the media attention?
How's that going to look for a likely presidential candidate who doesn't want to lose the peace vote, but always has run as a centrist?
Maybe it will turn out well for Gov. Richardson. Maybe Sen. Joe Lieberman's defeat in Connecticut will embolden Democrats' anti-war stance. But it�s a big risk.
This really isn't Richardson's conference. An influential legislator came up with the idea and sold it to his colleagues. But the governor signed the bill and if anything goes wrong, he'll get the heat.
The conference planning is well away from his office. The money was allocated by the Legislature to the state Tourism Department, which has contracted with an "event production specialist" to do the planning.
Marjorie Mann, who moved to New Mexico last fall, describes herself as working "indirectly" for the governor's office. Don't be surprised to see that become more direct as the event nears.
Mann took over the conference when it was on the ropes. Only one speaker had been confirmed with less than three months remaining. The Albuquerque Journal said she was "taking the reins of a wild horse."
But Mann said she likes making "order out of chaos." Ironically, that was the campaign slogan of another popular New Mexico governor.
Clyde Tingley campaigned for office during the Depression. The previous governor had recently died and the lieutenant governor had been summoned from Clovis to take over.
"Order out of chaos" was an appropriate campaign slogan, except that "chaos" was a little outside the colorful Tingley's somewhat limited vocabulary. He pronounced it to rhyme with Taos.
WED, 8-16-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-14 Asia Rising

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- Two recent Inside the Capitol columns have spoken to the rapid advancement of science in developing nations and America's dwindling technological advantages.
The columns were sparked by "The World is Flat," by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, whose message is that the world's playing field has flattened to the point that a kid with access to a computer anywhere in the world has the same chance at success as America's privileged youth.
Those columns have sparked considerable reader response. Ray Keller of Ruidoso e-mails that National Public Radio reports that by 2010, a mere four years from now, 90 percent of the earth's scientists, engineers and technologists will live in Asia.
And guess what, it doesn't mean they are all getting ready to move to Asia. They already are there, studying away at institutions emphasizing rigorous science and math education.
The United States has long led in that field. But now the only students coming here to study math and science are those who can't get into the really tough schools in their home countries.
For several decades, Asia has been seen as the factory of the world. Technologies developed in Silicon Valley are manufactured in Asia. But Asian nations now want a piece of that action. A big piece.
They understand that science and engineering are what has produced the high American standard of living. And they yearn for their share of the good life.
While they yearn for the good life, American youth expect it. This complacent attitude that we can depend on our "knowledge economy" to keep us number one in the world is about to get us in trouble as the "tiger nations" and other developing Asian economies rush to pass us.
Another reader sends an article from Nature, the international weekly journal of science. Nature announces that Asian nations are catching up with Europe and the United States in scientific output as measured by publications in scientific journals.
Again, that publication also sees the date 2010 as the point at which Asia passes us. Over the past decade, the number of scientific papers published by Americans has remained flat, while article output in China rose fivefold, sixfold in Singapore and Taiwan and by 14 times in South Korea.
How do they do it? Research funding has been greatly increased and research performance is now increasingly evaluated by publications in journals.
Even more performance pay is awarded to those who publish in prestigious journals indexed by Thompson Scientific, the leader in providing the best scientific information from throughout the world to its customers.
The paymasters also look at how often research articles are cited in other scientific papers.
What does all this mean, Keller asks? Maybe the headquarters of our major technological companies move to Asia. Maybe our military hardware will be created and produced in Asia.
Creativity is something that worries Keller. As developing countries throughout the world concentrate on the hard sciences, the United States is de-emphasizing it, to be replaced by the option of creation science and a decrease in research funding.
I also received communications about a sign from a Chinese factory that I quoted in a column about Friedman's book.
"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up and knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or die. Every morning a lion wakes up and knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or starve. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better start running."
To me, the allegory was an indication of the challenge Americans must face from workers in developing countries who want their jobs. But to some readers, it was an example of the employee abuse in emerging countries that must be eliminated.
Take your pick. I happen to think it is time we face reality.
MON, 8-14-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-11 Lincoln National Historic Park

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- It is impossible that any state could have as rich a history as New Mexico.
To begin with, we had a head start. The first human presence in this hemisphere dates as far back as 25,000 years to Sandia Man. We also had the first permanent European settlement in 1598.
But three events in the past year make that claim even stronger. The first came last November when the Camino Real International Heritage Center, between Socorro and Truth or Consequences, opened.
The museum is a joint federal-state project, designed to give visitors a feel of the arduous trek from Chihuahua to Santa Fe in the 1600s, across the Jornada del Muerto, the Journey of Death.
The second event was the visit by a team from the National Park Service to New Mexico sites associated with the Manhattan Project. New Mexico, of course, would be the focal point of any national park commemorating development of the first atomic bombs.
Later this year, the National Park Service team will forward its recommendations to Congress. Regardless of what one thinks about the development and use of those bombs, the Manhattan Project was voted the top news story of the 20th century. It happened here and should be recognized.
The third event took place during Old Lincoln Days, this past weekend, when Robert Utley, the world's leading Billy the Kid authority, delivered a lecture on the significance of the Lincoln County War.
Utley contends that the Lincoln County War was the most significant example of frontier violence. And he believes that frontier violence is likely what shaped America's violent nature. We are a society that still honors the Code of the West in which vengeance is sought and men do not back down.
The other unique feature of the Lincoln County War was the emergence of Billy the Kid, who captured the public's imagination like no other frontier figure.
And it was the Code of the West that Billy put into action. Upon the death of his boss and father figure, John Tunstall, at the hands of a large posse, Billy vowed to not rest until every man in that posse paid the same price as Tunstall.
Billy's short, tragic life became a symbol of the western frontier that has been captured in countless books and movies. He was portrayed by many of the leading actors in Hollywood for decades.
Utley had many kind words for DeeAnn Kessler and her Lincoln State Monument staff, who now handle the town's 11 state buildings. And Utley sees even bigger things in Lincoln's future.
He wants to see it become a National Historic Park, managed jointly with the state Monuments Division, similar to the Camino Real International Heritage Center.
Utley wants to see all sites related to the Lincoln County War brought under that umbrella, similar to what is being studied for the Manhattan Project National Historic Park.
That will involve federal legislation. Sen. Jeff Bingaman accomplished that task for the Camino Real International Heritage Center and the Manhattan Project National Park. He is the ranking Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees national parks and Pete Domenici is the chairman of that committee.
It would be a good place to start with simple legislation requesting the National Park Service to study the possibility of a national historic park similar to what it is doing with the Manhattan Project.
An even better place to start would be with Rep. Steve Pearce, in whose district the national park would be located. Pearce would be a natural, since his is chairman of the House National Parks Subcommittee.
From an historical perspective, it is something that should be done. And the tourism prospects are especially exciting.
Gov. Bill Richardson has indicated an interest in expanding state monuments. It would be great to see all of our leaders get together on this one.
FRI, 8-11-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-9 Ethics Reform

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Ethics reform. That was the battle cry last year in the wake of scandals at the state treasurer's office.
Reform packages were on the lips of state officials as the Legislature moved into its 2006 session in January. But when the session ended, only one minor piece of ethics legislation had made it through.
Too busy, said lawmakers. It was a short, 30-day session, intended mainly for budget considerations. And certainly, making sure everyone got a share of the big pork money was the top priority.
Perhaps if ethics reform could have applied to just the treasurer's office, it would have been easier.
Lawmakers did that last decade when they created the Public Regulation Commission to replace the old Corporation Commission, which had been riddled with allegations of excessive campaign contributions and gifts from industries regulated by the commission.
Special rules now apply to candidates for the PRC. So why not do that for the treasurer's office too?
But lawmakers weren't about to get by with that again. The public was wise to it. If it can happen at the Corporation Commission and the treasurer's office, it can happen anywhere in state or local government.
So, if ethics laws are to apply to the people who make those laws, it is extremely important that they be very carefully written. It would be terrible if anyone were to be too inconvenienced.
Consequently, nothing happened in the 2006 Legislature. That means there will be no new laws applying to candidates running for state office this year. That's especially nice for Gov. Bill Richardson, who raises huge chunks of money and who likely won't be running for state office again.
Richardson did introduce a package of ethics legislation, which got nowhere. Then he appointed a task force on ethics reform to report to him by October so he can have some well-considered bills to introduce in the 2007 Legislature, assuming he still is governor then.
It is a strong task force, headed by former Gov. Garrey Carruthers. Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Stuart Udall, is a member, as well as my favorite, Maralyn Budke.
Budke was chief of staff for Carruthers as well as for former Gov. David Cargo. She also headed the Legislative Finance Committee for more than 20 years. Budke not only is the reigning expert on state government, she is without question a paragon of ethical values herself.
So we're likely to get some good suggestions out of these folks. The panel has narrowed its focus to exploring five main issues: limiting gifts to public officials; capping campaign contributions; using public money to finance campaigns; paying salaries to New Mexico's citizen legislators; and creating a state ethics commission.
Limiting or eliminating gifts to public officials addresses a major problem in the treasurer's office. It also affects the gifts to and entertainment of legislators by lobbyists.
Capping campaign contributions is common in most states and the federal government. But there seem to be ways around every law, allowing candidates to still accumulate huge war chests. And the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that capping campaign expenditures is a free speech violation.
Public financing of political campaigns is now being tried by some states and in presidential campaigns. But to get around the court decision, participation by candidates must be voluntary, allowing well-heeled candidates to get around it.
Paying salaries to legislators is now a practice in nearly all states. In New Mexico, the change requires a state constitutional amendment. Numerous past efforts have failed despite support by many different citizen groups. Prospects for passage any time during this millennium appears equally unlikely.
The argument for legislative salaries is that most people can't afford to give up the time or money to serve, so salaries would significantly increase the pool of possible candidates.
And then there is the possibility some lawmakers are forced to solicit gifts in order to make ends meet.
WED, 8-09-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-7 Spaceport America

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- What a name for a spaceport. New Mexico's gamble on the commercial space industry received a promising boost when promoters changed its name to Spaceport America.
New Mexico isn't the first state into the commercial spaceport business. Five others already are operating, with more to come. None has received federal certification yet. New Mexico hopes to be first in that category.
But New Mexico already has grabbed a name that sends the message that this is America's spaceport. Years ago, the Dallas Cowboys captured the name "America's Team" and the rest of the National Football League will be forever upset.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson had much to do with choosing "Spaceport America." When he was in New Mexico for opening Day of the Legislature last January, he talked about branding and his plans to help brand New Mexico as the capital of commercial space travel.
Later that day, on the way to the site of the state's future spaceport north of Las Cruces, he and state economic development officials came up with the name change.
Southwest Regional Spaceport, the name chosen by economic development officials a few years ago, wasn't bad. It regionalized the spaceport concept. But why not capture the entire country? The name was there for the taking.
Although New Mexico has many competitors in the commercial space market, we appear to be positioned better than other states. Branson's Virgin Galactic isn't the only company in the business of taking tourists into space. But it's the 800 pound gorilla.
As a result of his contract with the developers of X Prize winner, SpaceShipOne, Branson is the first to have a proven spacecraft design. He was the first to start selling seats for the ride into space. And he's far and away the best marketer in the bunch.
Branson's a guy who built a small record shop in London into a recording company, railroad line, airline and now a space fleet. And the names Virgin Records, Virgin Airways and Virgin Galactic have been a part of his success.
Back in the early '90s, startup companies in the rocket business approached more than a dozen state legislatures with big plans for commercial satellite launches. More than a dozen states got into the act wooing those companies and a few actually built launch facilities. New Mexico came close, but decided against it.
Good idea. New technology reduced the number of satellites that were needed, so the new spaceports had very little business. It appears now that space flight for very rich people is a viable business.
Virgin Galactic has signed up hundreds of future passengers willing to pay $200,000 for a 65-mile-high trip and five minutes of weightlessness.
Think that's steep? Another company already has sent three people to the International Space Station on Russian rockets at $20 million apiece. And now, for just $10 million more, passengers can take a space walk.
So it appears New Mexico has landed the best anchor for its spaceport. The downside is that it is costing us more for the privilege. Branson goes in style, so he wants a stylish spaceport. But then, shouldn't Spaceport America be the best?
Spaceport America already is attracting other tenants. UP Aerospace is planning the spaceport's first launch in September. An October launch will carry the ashes of astronaut Gordon Cooper and actor James Doohan, who portrayed Scotty on Star Trek. They will be accompanied by the ashes of some 100 other paying customers.
Beyond-Earth Enterprises has relocated from Colorado Springs to Roswell. It will launch its rockets from Spaceport America, beginning with a November 15 launch carrying mementos it sells for as little as $34.95.
U.K.-based Starchaser Industries is setting up operations west of Las Cruces. It plans to launch passengers into space but will also build a "22nd century" rocket theme park and technology center, called Rocket City, at exit 116, off Interstate 10.
MON, 8-07-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

8-4 Who Gets the New Area Code?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- It is a distinct pleasure to have the opportunity to say something nice about the state Public Regulation Commission.
It isn't often that the opportunity has presented itself. Since its creation in the late '90s, the PRC has been fraught with controversial decisions, controversial hirings and infighting among its five members.
The last time the PRC talked about adding a new telephone area code in the state a huge uproar ensued. Many claims were made that the change was sprung on the public without notice.
But this time, no one can claim the area code change comes as a surprise. It has been well advertised. Twelve hearings have been held around the state. And a Web site has been set up at www.nm575.info.
The change may end up being just as controversial as it was previously, when a last minute decision to alter the way new numbers were allocated, allowed a postponement. But this time, a decision will have to be made by October, we are told.
Expect regional differences to be front and center once again. Last time it was a battle between Albuquerque and the rest of the state, with all the venom between the big, bad bully and the hicks from the sticks coming to the surface.
And it appears headed that direction again. The Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce has taken the position that since Albuquerque is big, it shouldn't have to change.
I've had trouble understanding that reasoning. It would seem that the division of the state would be into two rather equal parts. So neither part would be bigger.
Actually, if Albuquerque wants to make the argument that it is growing faster than the rest of the state, the Albuquerque portion should be smaller, since it would use up its new telephone numbers faster.
It may be that Albuquerque has more businesses that would be adversely affected by having to reprogram their phone systems, reprint stationery and whatever else might have a phone number on it.
I haven't seen the numbers on that, but I will grant that businesses and governmental agencies will have more of a hassle from a change than would individuals. I personally don't care which way it goes. I can handle it either way.
Actually, I will remain a little confused with either area code. New Mexicans who received their Social Security cards at about the same time I did have a number, the first three digits of which are very similar to either area code.
I still need a little convincing that the Albuquerque area has more businesses and governmental agencies than the rest of the state. Think about it.
Albuquerque has one city government. The rest of the state has a hundred. Albuquerque has one county government. The rest of the state has 32. Albuquerque has one school district. The rest of the state has 88. Similar comparisons can be made in the business sector. I just don't happen to have those numbers.
The argument is made that the majority should rule on who gets to keep the old area code. Ostensibly, they mean the big city should rule. But it's not in the majority.
The majority will rule. And the only people voting will be the five PRC members. Most likely, they will vote the wishes of their constituents. One of those five members is from Albuquerque.
Three of the other four members have districts that include small portions of Bernalillo County. But the majority of at least three PRC districts are made up of people outside Albuquerque's proposed area code region. The Albuquerque folks have some real convincing to do.
An alternative this time around is an overlay system in which new numbers will receive the new area code. It will require everyone to dial the area code on every call, which doesn't sound too difficult.
But the same folks who don't want a new area code oppose this system too.
FRI, 8-4-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

7-21 Buffett & Gates

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Could you do a better job of spending your "death taxes" than the government does? Bill Gates thinks he can. Warren Buffett agrees.
When the two richest men in America make announcements within a couple of weeks about giving a major portion of their estates to charity, rather than to the federal government and their children, do you suppose they might start a trend?
Who knows? Many folks, especially the rich, complain about the debilitating effects of welfare. Warren Buffett says he hears it all the time at the country club in his hometown of Omaha.
But, says Buffett, these guys leave their kids a lifetime of food stamps. "Instead of having a welfare officer, they have a trust officer. And instead of food stamps, they have stocks and bonds, Buffett says."
The nation's second wealthiest man says he has left his children enough money so that they can do anything -- but not enough so they can do nothing. Buffett says he has never made his distaste for inherited wealth a secret to anyone.
But those rich enough to have to worry about "death taxes," as they call them, are still working hard to get inheritances repealed in Congress. Those on the other side of the measure call the bill the "Paris Hilton Relief Act." Poor Paris, we'd hate her and those like her to have to change their lifestyles.
If you give your money to charity rather than to the government, you'd be limited to charitable causes rather than some of the other matters on which the government spends its money. But it's the government's charitable contributions that seem to tighten jaws, especially of the rich.
It is the poor about whom both Buffett and Gates are concerned. Buffett contends that with six billion people in the world worse off than he is, he just can't be an enthusiast for dynastic wealth.
It's true that many of Americas rich and poor have an entitlement mentality -- and many in the middle class do also. This column has previously reviewed the recent book, "The World is Flat," by Tom Friedman of the New York Times.
In that book Friedman identifies a new generation of youth, first noted by a magazine in India. They are called zippies and can be recognized by the zip in their stride. They ooze attitude, ambition and aspiration. They are cool, confident and creative. They seek challenges, love risks and shun fear.
And they can come from any socioeconomic background. Friedman explains that with the flattening of the earth, mainly by the Internet, almost any youth, anywhere in the world, has an equal chance to find the good life. All he or she must do is really want it.
How many zippies do you think Friedman found in the United States? Forget about it. Americans aren't hungry enough. Zippies are found in India, millions of them, and China and Russia and in developing countries throughout the world.
And these Zippies are in direct competition with our youth. Anybody who loses a job in the United States isn't likely to lose it to the guy next door. He or she will lose it to someone halfway around the world.
Although we are slipping behind the curve, we're still the envy of much of the rest of the world for our hard work, efficiency and output. On our recent European trip, we heard more than once that Europeans work to live, unlike Americans, who live to work. Americans are interested in success, they told us. Europeans seek the good life.
That's going to put Europeans even farther behind the curve than us. The average American is still willing to work hard., we just want to be paid more for it than do people in emerging nations.
It will cause some economic pain to many in this country until that discrepancy balances out. The secret is to be adaptable and look for jobs that can't be outsourced.
Or be born the great grand daughter of former New Mexican Conrad Hilton.
FRI, 7-21-06

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com