No column June 3. Back on June 5.

GOP expected to field full slate of candidates

53113 GOP candidates

SANTA FE – Recently we talked about negative GOP campaigning directed against two Democrats, one not even an announced candidate yet.
We also mentioned that the announced Democratic candidate, Hector Balderas for attorney general, doesn't even have a Republican opponent yet. It is a woeful commentary on the American political system that negative campaigning now starts first.
Sometimes the GOP isn't able to fill out a slate for statewide offices. This year, I'm guessing it will. With all the money that is being made available by court decisions, it is enough to attract candidates into every race.
So the movement to find some GOP candidates is beginning to take shape. Much of this information comes from a Joe Monahan blog of two weeks ago.
The only definite Republican candidates for next year's elections appear to be the incumbents: Rep Steve Pearce in the 2nd Congressional District; Gov. Susana Martinez; Lt. Gov. John Sanchez and Secretary of State Dianna Duran.
Very likely the GOP will field a candidate in the 3rd Congressional District but with little to no hope of winning. Likewise, Democrats will field a candidate against Rep. Pearce with slim hopes, although Democrats are on the increase in that district.
Excitement could break out in the lieutenant governor's race. John Sanchez has never been in the Martinez camp of the Republican Party. Past governors and lieutenant governors seldom have fared well. Full time lieutenant governors really just get in the way. The position never was meant to be full time.
But Sanchez is making the most of what he has to deal with, traveling the state as an unofficial ombudsman, while forging political alliances everywhere.
There has been talk of the governor cutting him lose and backing another candidate in next year's primary. Back in 1994, Diane Denish talked of taking on Lt. Gov. Casey Luna, who had been giving Gov. Bruce King much grief. Luna turned the tables by running against King in the primary and perhaps ruining King's chances for another term.
Too many minefields are in the path of switching lieutenant governors. Besides, as we've said, they just get in the way.
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall will draw opposition, maybe Allan Weh? He has been very active since his 2010 GOP primary loss to Susana Martinez. Udall has been hard to beat so there may not be many seeking to knock him off.

The GOP will put up a good battle for the 1st congressional district slot won by Michelle Lujan Grisham last November. Republicans have held the seat much longer than Democrats. So far Simon Kubiac, an Albuquerque businessman is the only name we have heard mentioned.
Republicans always make a strong bid for attorney general. Clovis District Attorney Matt Chandler made a good bid in 2010 and is expected to get back into the race this time. He is close to Susana Martinez and may see significant backing from her.
The state treasurer's office seems to be an enticing position for Democrats this year. On the Republican side, state Taxation and Revenue director Demesia Padilla is getting the most mention. She ran for the office before. She could be stronger this time because of support of Gov. Martinez.
If Padilla were to win, she would be the third statewide office holder who is female, Hispanic and Republican. Secretary of State Dianna also is in the group. U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham is a Democrat but she also adds to the female Hispanic power in the state.
The state Land Office is very important to ranchers and oil and gas interests. Democrat incumbent Ray Powell has won three non-consecutive terms and always is a strong vote gatherer but Republicans have often won the seat and will have big financial backing in this election.
The GOP is looking at current Public Regulation Commissioner Patrick Lyons return to the Land Office spot he has held twice before. House Republican Whip Nate Gentry also is a possibility.

5-29 Gov's popularity still going up

52913 Gov 66%

SANTA FE – Gov. Susana Martinez's popularity is still climbing. A recent poll by Survey USA shows her at 66 percent popularity. The polling group isn't one of the best in the nation but it seems to show a continued upward trend in the governor's popularity.
It is difficult to pinpoint the source of that popularity. The state's economy is the only one in the area not to be recovering. More people are leaving the state than arriving. And there seems to be a general acceptance of federal cuts in budget and personnel without much complaining.
Gov. Martinez was able to push through the 2013 Legislature a last-minute measure to cut business taxes. Then we were told the numbers on which the measure was sold were faulty. The cuts were supposed to keep businesses from leaving but so far those businesses have not been identified.
The oil boom in the Hobbs area is the one bright spot in the economy. Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Two will bring us some notoriety when it finally gets off the ground. Sir Richard Branson says that will be Christmas but he has been pushing back the date for five years. And the space travel won't bring in much money right away.
Meanwhile New Mexico is undergoing what is being called its worst drought in history. Combined with the wind, the conditions seem much like they were in the 1950s.
Preston Jones, a classmate of mine at the University of New Mexico in the late '50s, wrote a play called "House on the Magdalena Flats," in which the villain was the wind that blew throughout the play. The characters all became a little crazy before it ended. The play was depressing but believable for those of us who had lived through the '50s.
The old adage, "Whiskey's fer drinking; water's fer fighting" has seldom been truer. Water users along the Pecos are fighting a priority call for water by Carlsbad and now Midland, Texas is pumping just the other side of the state line and draining all of Jal's ground water. Midland city officials say they want to be good neighbors so they will be glad to sell Jal the water it is pumping out from under Jal.
That is pretty typical of the way Texas has treated our state from the beginning. In order for New Mexico to become a state, Texas insisted that it get a 500,000 acre strip of New Mexico's Eastern border. Have you ever wondered why New Mexico has a little notch protruding from its Northeastern corner? That is our border with Oklahoma, which didn't demand a piece of New Mexico in order to vote for our statehood.
Many New Mexicans are demonstrating the true meaning of being good neighbors. They are coming to the aid of the residents of Moore, Oklahoma, who lost so much in the recent tornados.
The federal government is running into problems with providing its own help. Funding cuts for the Federal Emergency Management Agency mean there won't be enough money to pay the damage claims without a special appropriation.
Oklahoma's two U.S. senators are complicating the matter by insisting the money to help the citizens of Moore be taken from other federal agencies. It also doesn't help that these senators have voted against all other states that have experienced disasters. The citizens of Moore are going to have to hope other members of Congress are more understanding.
The main complaint the Oklahoma senators seem to have is that there always are some senators who will not vote for disaster relief unless their state gets a goodie in the bill. Evidently Kentucky asparagus growers want a piece of the action. And the Virgin Islands are asking for something.
Fortunately good-hearted New Mexicans are providing help even though we are the only state in the area that hasn't recovered much from the recession.

try, try, again

HEADS UP

Dear friends, I t has been great working with you the past 26 years. Jeanette says I won't know what to do with myself without the column but we are needing to move to the Scottsdale area, preferably before the next snow fall in Santa Fe.

I don't know exactly when all this can happen. Selling and buying houses takes a while and Jeanette is recovering slowly from a serious foot injury. I'll let you know more when we know more. Meanwhile I will continue writing for a little longer.

 I began this column June 1987, buying it from Fred McCaffrey for $20,000. Much has happened since then with 24-hour news channels and the blogosphere successfully c competing for attention. Several of my original subscribers no longer are with us.

 

Several of you have been with us for the entire 26 years. Those include Bob Trapp in Espanola, the Ely family in Silver City, The Roswell Daily News and the Lincoln County News.  Thanks to all of you.

 

Will Harrison started Inside the Capitol in the early 1950s. Since Will, it has been written by Charlie Cullen, Fred Buckles, Bob Huber, Carroll Cagle and Fred McCaffrey.  Mine was the longest tenure, which may be another good reason for my stopping at 75.

 

This business has never been a gold mine but it is even less so now. I don't imaging anyone will be willing to pay much for the honor of following in the footsteps of some of the great New Mexico columnists.  I can say that it has been a wonderful way to keep my finger in the political scene and not be a pest around the house.

 

More later,  Jay

Heads Up, again

I wrote this two weeks ago but didn't attach the message. Things are still a bit indefinite. I'll keep you posted.

5-27 Memorial Day Celebrated In Many Ways

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Did you know that Memorial Day is commemorated in different ways and on different dates throughout our nation? The observance had its beginnings during the Civil War, which is a good hint that there would not be uniformity.
More than two dozen cities and towns lay claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day, and each had its own customs. There is evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War.
Following the war, towns in the North decided it would be a good idea to honor their military dead also. In 1868, "Decoration Day" was officially proclaimed. It was so named because the emphasis was on decorating graves of fallen soldiers.
By 1890, it had been adopted by all northern states. Most southern states refused to observe the national day because of lingering hostilities. They continued with their own state observances, spread throughout the year.
It wasn't until after World War I that the South began recognizing the federal Decoration Day. Many men from both North and South gave their lives in that war, making unification finally possible.
In 1967, approximately a century after the first Decoration Day, the name was changed to Memorial Day. A year later, Congress passed the Uniform Holiday's Bill, which moved four holidays from their traditional dates to the closest Monday in order to create some three-day weekends.
All states have now adopted the holiday, although most southern states still observe a separate day to commemorate those who died fighting for the Confederacy.
Memorial Day customs in various areas of the country still differ. In most areas, the emphasis is on honoring the dead from all wars our nation has fought.
Some communities, however, want to pay their respects to all their dead by cleaning cemeteries and decorating all graves. The practice may help distinguish the observance from Veterans Day.
Recent Memorial days have meant more to Americans as our young people are dying again in the service of their country. The shift in the nature of warfare has meant that fewer lives are being lost than before.
Most of us do not have a close family member who has been killed in any war and the media is prohibited from showing the flag-draped boxes bringing young Americans home.
But the cost of our nation's defense is still counted in lives and not in dollars. The real cost of liberty, the real price of the freedoms that too many take for granted, is measured in lives that won't be fulfilled.
New Mexico has contributed its share and more to the defenders of freedom. Even before we became a state, our predecessors proudly joined the Rough Riders who charged San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt.
A half century later, we were the fighting 200th Coast Artillery, that slowed the Japanese march down the Pacific until our nation could recover from the devastating losses at Pearl Harbor.
Few of our World War II veterans are still with us to remind us of their sacrifices. But we must remember because it is those memories that put into perspective the consequences of future actions.
Mothers remember. It has been said that if mothers were in charge, nations would get along better. The same can be said of generals, who understand the horrors of war. Our problem is the swaggering politicians, most of whom avoided military service and haven't had to suffer the loss of sons or daughters.
So this Memorial Day, before we launch into a celebration of the summer's first long weekend, let us remember the sacrifices of those who gave their lives to protect the constitutional guarantees we take for granted.
And let us also remain ever watchful that no government ever uses a national crisis to justify taking away any of those rights and freedoms.
MON, 5-28-07
JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

5-24 Watch for big money in politics

52413 $$

SANTA FE – Do you remember the days when we had a year off between election campaigns? Even better, we had a year off from negative political advertising.
No more. Announcements for next year's gubernatorial campaign began even before the 2012 elections. Governor Susana Martinez never quit fundraising. She just had a big fundraiser in Taos and Palm Desert, California that made the news. It isn't unusual for first-term governors to raise money year-round for four years.
Attorney General Gary King announced for governor long before the 2012 elections. He had been asked to make a politically controversial investigation and decision so felt he had to reveal his conflict.
Soon after the 2012 general election Sen. Linda Lopez, of Albuquerque, and Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield announced their Democratic candidacies for governor. There likely will be several more announcements shortly.
In fact, some possible candidates, such as Howie Morales, of Silver City have announced they may announce for governor.
Most confounding of all is a negative Republican campaign that has already begun against Democratic Sen. Tim Keller, of Albuquerque. Keller has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate but has not announced.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the Republican Party of New Mexico has prepared a web video calling Keller "an extreme left-wing liberal posing as a business-friendly moderate."
I think that without doing any research, I am going to pick Keller in the Democratic gubernatorial primary even though he isn't a candidate yet.
The GOP is spending quite a bit of money on some pretty fancy stuff already and I'm guessing they know more about what is going on behind the scenes than any mere political commentator.
Within days of his announcement for state attorney general, current state treasurer Hector Balderas was targeted by the national Republican State Leadership Committee.
A website called "Breaking Balderas" was established carrying old articles from the Albuquerque Journal and KRQE-TV about a 2008 charge against Balderas, which since has been dropped by the attorney general's office and the district court.
The charges originally were made through an anonymous message on a phone line the treasurer's office had established to handle charges against government agencies.
The charges were referred to the attorney general's office. Reportedly there were some tensions between King and Balderas at the time. King long has had his eye on the governor's office and there was speculation Balderas might want to run for governor in 2014 also.
King first broadened his request for information from the auditor's office but eventually the matter cooled and King announced there was no evidence of any criminal action.
Balderas announced that he would not be seeking the governor's office in 2014. Instead he will run for attorney general.
In 2012 Balderas ran for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. He lost to then-Rep. Martin Heinrich in a race that became known for the gentlemanly conduct of both candidates.
But it doesn't appear there will be much gentlemanly conduct in the 2014 races. With two Washington D.C.-based GOP groups already on the attack against Keller and Balderas, the game already is on.
The choice of "Breaking Balderas" for a website title suggests the hard-ball nature of the game that will be played. "Breaking Bad" is the title of a popular television show being filmed in Albuquerque. Its main subject is drug dealing.
Why are campaigns getting started so much earlier now? It's because there is a lot more money in the system.
The U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010 allowing corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money to campaigns opened the floodgates.
Political spending was much more massive in 2012. Remember when each Republican presidential candidate had his or her own billionaire to help finance their primary campaigns?
The guess is that corporations were acting a little cautiously last year and we are about to see another big increase in spending this year and next.

Should NM have open primaries?

52213 open primaries

SANTA FE – Should all voters get to participate in selecting general election candidates? The answer has long been no. Everyone has an opportunity to join a political party that most suits their beliefs and participate in that party's primary election.
But with political parties falling in such disfavor with voters, most states have now gone to a system that allows independents to vote in primary elections.
New Mexico is not at that point yet but Think New Mexico is now pushing it. This isn't your garden variety think tank that decides what people should be thinking and then hopes the general public will agree. Think New Mexico decides on a cause and then sets out to make it happen.
The group has been highly successful. Last year, it set out to reform the state Public Regulation Commission by way of three constitutional amendments. It had to get those amendments through the Legislature by super-majorities and then convince voters to approve them.
The success rate was 100 percent. I could go through the years of other successes but that is old news. We are here to talk about what's happening next.
Some 33 states now have a type of open primary system. Think New Mexico believes we should join them. New Mexico's election statutes currently bar independents from voting in primaries. But the U.S Supreme Court case has held in a Connecticut case that it is unconstitutional for a state to mandate closed primaries.
The court said, in essence, that a state cannot stop a party from opening its primary to unaffiliated or independent voters. You can tell from that wording that it can be up to a state political party whether to allow independents to vote. In New Mexico, we call independents "decline to state." That keeps them from being confused with minor political parties that contain the word "independent" in their name.
All this means that instead of getting a legislative or constitutional solution to primary election participation, the Republican and Democratic parties are free to choose who to invite to vote in their primary.
In other words, a political party can invite not just independents but also members of all other political parties to vote in their primary. That is what most states do. If only independents are invited and not members of other parties, that is called a semi-open primary.
Fred Nathan, head of Think New Mexico, has written to both parties asking them to consider his proposal. John Billingsly, head of the state GOP, isn't especially impressed with the idea, according to Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican. He says it would allow too much mischief.
Indeed, that is exactly what radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh tried back in 2008 when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were the leading candidates for president on the Democratic side.
Limbaugh urged Republican voters in states allowing party members to cross over and vote in the other's primary election. Limbaugh suggested Hillary Clinton would be easier to beat in the general election so Republicans should vote for her in the primary. He called it "Operation Chaos." It didn't work.
Before he left office, state Democratic Party Chairman Javier Gonzales told Terrell he liked the idea of open primaries because they strengthened democracy by letting more people vote. But his term is up and Sam Bregman has been elected the party's new chairman. None of us have heard from Bregman yet.
What would happen if Democrats opened their primary and Republicans didn't? Four states have that situation. It just means that independents have to vote in the Democratic primary or not at all.
My guess would be that those independents might be more willing to vote Democratic in the general election or at least for those Democrats they supported in the primary election.
The matter could be taken to the Legislature but if neither party wants it, why bother?

Legislature not willing to share the pain

52013 share the pain

SANTA FE – Share the pain. That refrain was heard often during the past two legislative sessions as lawmakers debated how to fix the state budget.
Their decision five years ago was to put the biggest hits on the two public employee retirement plans. Both the Public Employee Retirement Act and the Educational Retirement Act were changed to have employees pick up a good sized share of the employers' contribution.
This was only to be temporary until the state was in the black again. But when the state got in the black last year, lawmakers changed their minds. They wanted more from employees at the state, county, municipal and school district levels.
Various plans were submitted last year to change the benefit formulas. None of them passed so lawmakers said they wanted employees, employers and the two retirement boards to get together on a proposal that would share the pain among retirees, active employees and those yet to be hired.
That was accomplished after Gov. Susana Martinez made her own proposal to have employers pay less than their share. But there was one segment that didn't share the pain at all.
Legislators didn't take their share of the hit. They have a retirement plan much more generous than public employees do but lawmakers didn't share that pain.
The legislative retirement plan received considerable publicity recently when former Rep. Dan Foley, who represented Roswell at the time but now sells insurance in Rio Rancho, was revealed to be profiting handsomely from the retirement plan.
Foley didn't do anything wrong. It was his for the taking. Foley left the Legislature at 39. He had made $5,000 in contributions to the plan during the 10 years he served.
When Foley becomes eligible for Social Security at 67, he will have received $450,000 from the plan, according to an Associated Press article. Those figures don't meet the actuarial soundness the Legislature was trying to achieve for the employee pension plans.
Why should legislators put some skin in the game? They are such a small group it really wouldn't help the fund. But it would help employee morale. It's called leadership by example.
The same principles hold for Congress too. The majority of them are quite proud of the across-the-board sequestration cuts. The only problem is that the Obama administration cut the wrong areas. It wasn't supposed to cut programs the congressional majority liked. They say those cuts were political.
The president couldn't cut anything in the legislative branch of government. And Congress isn't going to cut any of its perks.
Actually, Congress did cut its cushy benefits once. Until 1984, Congress' retirement plan was incredibly generous. It looked much like some of the descriptions you see on the Internet around election time every two years. But those rants now are almost 30 years old.
Members now have a retirement plan very similar to that of federal employees. They pay into it and they also contribute to Social Security. Beginning next year, they will be covered by Obamacare and will choose a plan from an insurance exchange. And they voted in 2009-2011 to not take a cost-of-living salary increases.
So there has been some pain sharing at the federal level. Unfortunately for Congress, it hasn't helped its popularity. So Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican, is making another go at it.
Coffman has introduced H.R.423, which would eliminate defined benefit pension plans for members of Congress completely. He would keep "The Thrift Savings Plan," which is a defined contribution plan.
Don't expect to see Coffman's legislation succeed. But it might be an indication of at least a small tendency to share the pain.
My wish is for Congress to work a little harder. They get paid $174,000 salaries for working Tuesday morning to Thursday noon and taking numerous weeks of vacation. It seems like maybe half salary would be about right.

Global warming a political issue in NM

51713 TASSC

SANTA FE – I was a little too brief as I ended a column on Bill Richardson last week. I mentioned former Govs. Richardson and Garrey Carruthers, along with two companies – APCO and Phillip Morris all in the last paragraph.
I shouldn't have done it but, frankly, I was running out of room and felt I just had to get those tidbits in. I heard about it from readers so here's the rest of the story.
Arnold & Porter Company is a huge Washington, D.C. law firm. Years ago it decided to add a public relations consulting arm so it created a subsidiary called APCO. Margery Kraus headed the subsidiary and it now has become independent.
APCO is the second largest privately owned public relations firm in the world. It has offices in the major business, financial, political and medial capitals of the world. It gets involved in all issues and it doesn't matter which side.
And that is how it got involved with Phillip Morris in creating The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition to fight a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report that identified secondhand smoke as extremely hazardous to health.
In order to appear to be an independent grassroots coalition, TASSC broadened its focus to other scientific topics, most notably global warming. TASSC now appears to be defunct. The "coalition" no longer exists. It is now a "center."
This all happened before Richardson was hired. During his terms as governor, Richardson was a champion of environmental causes and alternative energy. It is highly unlikely he ever would have been involved in such a project.
But Garrey Carruthers was involved with TASSC in the years immediately following his term as governor.
The issue did arise during the selection process for the New Mexico State University presidency. Some Democratic lawmakers from Las Cruces sent a letter to the president of the NMSU Regents. Carruthers was questioned about his TASSC activities and beliefs. His answers apparently were sufficient for any concern of the regents.
But they apparently wouldn't have been enough to get by the New Mexico Legislature's Senate Rules Committee. Astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt was nominated by Gov. Susana Martinez as her cabinet secretary for energy, Minerals and natural resources.

Schmitt's resume was impressive. He graduated in geology from Cal Tech, MIT and a prestigious school in Norway. He was selected to go to the moon because he could use his knowledge of geology to train fellow astronauts in what they would be finding on the moon.
He was the last astronaut to set foot on the moon so the program could be sure that it had its top scientist finish the exploration with the best information possible. Sure enough, Schmitt made the most important find – a rock that provided evidence of a magnetic field on the moon.
Schmitt returned from space to spend a year and a half traveling New Mexico in a pickup campaigning for the U.S. Senate. He beat incumbent Joe Montoya convincingly.
After his defeat by fellow Silver Citian Jeff Bingaman, Schmitt went into private practice, much of it aimed at encouraging the development of resources on the moon. He still lives in Silver City.
It looked as though he had the perfect qualifications for the cabinet job except some of his time was spent with organizations questioning whether the human race has anything to do with global warming. None of those organizations appear to be TASSC affiliated but many other groups have been formed over the years and Schmitt speaks at their conferences and participates in their leadership.
The New Mexico Legislature is run by Democrats. Environmentalist groups tend to support Democrats. It wasn't hard to convince state Senate leaders that New Mexico's future lies in alternative energy. It is the Senate Rules Committee that decides whether Gov. Martinez's recommendations are recommended to the Senate floor.
Dr. Schmitt ultimately withdrew his name over a dispute about the committee's questionnaire but that may not have been the only reason.

5-15 Is NM Most Corrupt State?

51513 NM Corruption

SANTA FE – Has anyone ever told you New Mexico is the most corrupt state in the nation? I've heard it for years, including from an FBI agent, who investigated our financial corruption mess.
Since I was a kid, I remember hearing that some powerful New Mexican, maybe Dennis Chavez, as saying that if you want to get a degree in political corruption, go to Chicago. If you want to get a Master's Degree, go to Louisiana. But if you want a doctorate, go to New Mexico.
If you ask people from the East Coast, they'll probably tell you that New York and New Jersey are the most corrupt states. It just depends on where you're from.

New Mexicans can point out that former Sen. Manny Aragon still is in federal prison in Colorado for getting kickbacks from the federal courthouse in Albuquerque and that several others pled to lessor offenses.
They also can tell you the two state treasurers went to prison recently for pocketing money. And then there is the State Investment Council and its bad deals that greatly enriched a few and made the rest of us put off retirement a few more years.
And then there is former Gov. Bill Richardson, who is reported to have received big campaign donations in exchange for the bad campaign advice. The pay-to-play investigations, suits, countersuits and grand jury proceedings are slowly working their way through the system but no one has gone to jail and Richardson has remained untouched.
The allegations did force Richardson to withdraw his nomination as secretary of Commerce, however. So far, there has been much smoke but no fire. Richardson got himself into some hot water but contrast that with Illinois, which has had seven governors arrested for corruption since 1850. At least one is still in prison for attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
New Mexico began its statehood efforts in 1850 and it may have been the closest we got for the next 62 years. President Zachary Taylor wanted to make us a state but he died after a July 4 party.
New Mexico's governors were appointed by presidents until 1912. A few of those may have landed in jail for falling under the influence of the Santa Fe Ring. Instead the president removed them from office and sent a replacement.
This lawlessness surely was among the reasons it took New Mexico so long to become a state. It settled down some in the late 1800s when Edmund G. Ross became the first New Mexican to be appointed territorial governor.
Ross was a man of principle. He cast the deciding vote against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in the mid-1860s despite knowing it would cost him reelection to the U.S. Senate. His story was one of John F. Kennedy's profiles in courage.
So New Mexico got off to a bad start with its corruption image but studies compiled in recent years indicate that we aren't doing so badly in spite the evidence listed above.
I wrote a column several years ago that cited a study showing New Mexico ranking 19 in corruption among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
John Robertson of the Albuquerque Journal wrote a piece more recently citing a Daily Beast report putting New Mexico at the 45 worst state for public corruption.
An even more recent report lists New Mexico in 39th place in risk for corruption. It looks at what each state is doing to prevent the corruption. It includes factors such as public access to information, executive, legislative and judicial accountability, lobbying disclosure and ethics enforcement agencies.
We did not do well at all but some states must be even worse. Gov. Susana Martinez tried to fix some of these areas but her House Bill 13 didn't make it out of its first committee this year.

Heads Up

Richardson staying busy but not out of trouble

51313 Richardson

SANTA FE – As long as we have been talking about Gov. Susana Martinez and former Gov. Garry Carruthers, we don't want former Gov. B ill Richardson to feel left out.

While our current governor darts around the nation and world, our immediate past governor, Bill Richardson is doing much the same. He is serving on numerous boards, some of which he heads. He is speaking at prestigious universities.
And he is writing a book, "How to Sweet Talk a Shark." It tells of his experiences successfully negotiating with dictators.
Richardson says the secrets are to connect with them personally. Let them vent about how badly the United States has treated them. Find out what they really need, not what they say they need. And use humor.
Negotiating with dictators is dangerous business. Richardson was basically by himself with no protection other than his own wits. He always had quiet approval of the presidents he served and he was a U.S. official.
But it all was taking place on a back channel. Richardson was good at it and has lived to tell the story. The book comes out this fall but he already is being interviewed on television and in newspapers.
And Richardson is still getting invited to prestigious events in our nation's capital – like Vice President Joe Biden's Cinco de Mayo party at his residence in Washington, D.C. Yes, that is the same party to which Gov. Martinez was invited. Neither was aware the other was invited.
They were both seated at the head table but staff members report neither spoke to the other during the entire party.
Two days later, on the real Cinco de Mayo, Richardson was asked on an ABC News web interview if he felt new Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was Hispanic enough to represent Hispanic views. Richardson said he wasn't because Cruz's views on immigration were so opposed to the views of most Hispanics.
GOP leaders were incensed, calling it an insult. Richardson tried to walk back his comments on Fox News the next day but it was an unconvincing response.
But there could be more to this than has met the eye of any reporter I have read thus far. Cruz doesn't speak much Spanish and it has given him some grief even from Republicans.
In the Texas GOP primary, a Republican opponent, who isn't Hispanic but can speak Spanish, challenged Cruz to debate in Spanish, knowing Cruz couldn't accept. Richardson may have been trying to twist the knife a little.
Richardson seems to be enjoying retirement. At first he said he was looking forward to taking it easy. He spoke of buying a car and visiting every Major League Baseball stadium in the nation. He established a website but it didn't have much on it for a while. But now it is crammed with information about all his activities.
Richardson seems to enjoy being a private citizen. When he was criticized for going to North Korea on a business trip, he answered that he now is a private citizen and can do what he wants without fearing political repercussions.
Earlier this week, he said he wants to stop the horse slaughterhouse in Roswell and do it as a private citizen. Richardson, by the way, loves horses. He kept a horse at a Northern New Mexico ranch while he was governor and probably still does.
Richardson doesn't say much on his website about the organizations he works for. During the year after he left his cabinet spot at the Department of Energy, Richardson worked for the Henry Kissinger lobbying firm and didn't say much about it until it became a minor issue in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Now Richardson now is involved with a company called APCO. It is the nation's second largest public relations firm. One of its many clients is a coalition created by Phillip Morris that brought some grief to Gary Carruthers last week.

NMSU wise to pick Garrey Carruthers

51013 Carruthers

SANTA FE – The New Mexico State University did what it probably should have done 20 years ago. It named former Governor Garrey Carruthers its president.
Carruthers left the governor's office on January 1, 1991 and entered the world of business, primarily as president of Cimarron Health Care. He then went back to NMSU, where he has served a Dean of the Business school along with various other university jobs.
I got to know him well as governor, partly because of his openness. Every Monday morning he held a cabinet meeting with his department heads. Every Monday afternoon at 1:30 sharp, he held a press conference to inform the Capitol press corps what the government would be doing. He also answered every question asked.
I also had an added advantage. He was a committed churchgoer, as was our family. Every Sunday morning we had an opportunity to talk before services at St. Johns Methodist Church. Occasionally he would pass a note to me with additional information.
Carruthers always sat on the end of the back row, nearest the door. I'm sure it wasn't to avoid people because he was an active church member, serving the congregation in other ways that involved interacting with others.
The reason the governor sat where he could make a quick getaway was in case of an emergency. Two state policemen waited for him in their car during the service. Usually they didn't chauffeur the governor. He had a light blue Thunderbird convertible he loved to drive. And he enjoyed trying to ditch the officers following him.
Gov. Carruthers also had a very helpful press staff, which included Eddie Binder, Bruce Donisthorpe and Mike Cook. Toward the end of the administration all three went to Washington, D.C. where they worked for U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen.
If Gov. Carruthers has as open an administration as NMSU president as he did as governor, the university will thrive. He already has all the contacts he needs at the university, in the community and in the state and nation.
The new president has deep roots in Las Cruces and isn't likely to leave as quickly as past presidents have. Since Carruthers left the governor's office in the early 1990s, NMSU has had five presidents and four interim presidents. None stayed as many as four years.
Of course, since Carruthers did not get his presidential opportunity until age 73, his tenure won't be especially long. But Carruthers is very energetic and up for the job.
As might be expected, Carruthers brings some baggage with him, some good, some bad. He was a strong supporter of education and economic development during his term as governor and still has that reputation.
During his business career, he had affilitions with Phillip Morris tobacco and an organization casting doubt on global warming. That bothers several Democrats in the Las Cruces legislative delegation. Carruthers says he has no position on global warming. The issue could raise its head at an agricultural university.
The five members of the NMSU Board of Regents split along political lines. The three members appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez voted for Carruthers. The two holdovers from the Bill Richardson administration supported another candidate with NMSU ties.
I have always felt that hiring people from out of state is risky. Despite the selection process, so often there are surprises. In this case, our three research universities (UNM, NMSU and New Mexico Tech) have New Mexicans at the helm.
In selecting Gary Carruthers, we not only got a New Mexican, we got a true country boy to run the agricultural school. He grew up in rural San Juan County and he loves country music.
Those who have been around him know how much he likes country songs and often will quote their lyrics in political situations. His favorite expression may be "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

Everything's Turning Up Roses

50813 Susana

SANTA FE -- Gov. Susana Martinez is leading a charmed life. Recently we have talked about the governor out-maneuvering Democratic Legislative leaders to get nearly everything she wanted in the state's big budget bill.
That was followed by President Obama appointing her to the four-member delegation to Rome for the new Pope's inaugural activities. Then it was her selection by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

And now we hear that our governor polled three percent in a Massachusetts presidential primary survey of possible 2016 candidates.
That's without even trying. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson travelled that state relentlessly in 2011 and didn't score any better.
And to top it off for this month, Gov. Martinez was invited by Vice President Joe Biden to his Cinco de Mayo party. The two evidently became good friends while on their trip to Rome.
Incidentally, both the governor's trip to Rome and her Cinco de Mayo invitation to Biden's Washington residence came with just a day's notice.
Gov. Martinez was invited on Wednesday to the Friday party. She departed on Thursday and returned Saturday morning.
Evidently someone got a little mixed up with the quick change in plans. The governor was shown on television Friday night speaking to a New Mexico group on Friday afternoon when she was in Washington.
With better than a 60 percent popularity rating within the state Susana Martinez definitely is leading a charmed life. Will that bubble ever burst?
It could. Her lack of enthusiasm for the spaceport and film incentives hurt business for both.
It would be a huge feather in her cap if Virgin Galactic could pull off its first passenger trip to the edge of space before the 2014 elections.
Very recently Spaceship Two made its first powered trip. It achieved a height of 55 miles. The goal is to take it to 62 miles above the earth by the end of the year.
That is sure to require more testing, both in California and New Mexico. Then there are the licensing permits that will be required.
Considering the slow pace at which development of the SS2 has proceeded thus far, it may take more than a year and a half to start flying passengers. So the governor may not get her wish.
But it was encouraging to see Virgin Galactic announce that the SS2 will be flying out of Spaceport America. Executive Director Christine Anderson says whenever the SS2 is ready, we are ready.
When is that big hotel to be built? That is Virgin Galactic's responsibility but I haven't heard them say anything about it lately.
Gov. Martinez is sure to take credit for Virgin Galactic's accomplishments. About the only thing she has done is to help push a bill through the 2013 Legislature to limit liability for space suppliers. Meanwhile Space X and Orbital Sciences already have sent cargo ships to the International Space Station. Neither one of them blasted off from Spaceport America. We no longer have the lead in space.
Attracting movies and television productions to New Mexico for filming is the other area where Martinez has had some problems.
A partially successful effort to cut back on incentives got Gov. Martinez in hot water in Hollywood.
While we were putting limits on how much the state will pay out for incentives, other states were increasing their incentives and leaving us in their dust.
But tweaking the incentive program from 25 percent to 30 percent for shooting TV series and big pictures that use local sound stages has caused a flurry of new productions according to the state film office.
It isn't back to where it once was but with the good luck Gov. Martinez has been having lately don't bet against her. Oh, and an anonymous donor paid for that $2,800 coffee maker, so it no longer comes out of state money.

following column

The following column was intended fgor the state employees newsletter. It isn't intended to be my Wed. May 8 column. I will send you a shorter, more appropriate column tomorrow. Sorry for the confusion.

Gov's Popularity Increases

RTR May 2013
GOV'S STATUS INCREASES
Last month we talked about Gov. Susana Martinez being selected by President Obama as one of four U.S. political leaders to represent the United States at the new Pope's installation activities. We also talked about her seeming to get her way with the Democratic Legislature this year.
Now the talk is about the governor being selected by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential leaders.
I'm surprised at there was so little chatter about it in the media or from the Governor's Office. Let's hope she uses that notoriety to promote our state to the world.
And now we hear that our governor polls three percent in a Massachusetts presidential primary survey of possible 2016 candidates.
That's without even trying. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson travelled that state relentlessly in 2011 and didn't score any better.
And to top it off for this month, Gov. Martinez was invited by Vice President Joe Biden to his Cinco de Mayo party. The two evidently became good friends while on their trip to Rome.
With better than a 60 percent popularity rating within the state Susana Martinez is leading a charmed life. Will that bubble ever burst?

SPACEPORT
It would be a huge feather in her cap if Virgin Galactic could pull off its first passenger trip to the edge of space before the 2014 elections.
Very recently Spaceship Two made its first trip. It achieved a height of 55 miles. The goal is to take it to 62 miles above the earth by the end of the year.
That is sure to require more testing, both in California and New Mexico. Then there are the licensing tests that will be required.
Considering the slow pace at which development of the SS2 has proceeded thus far, it may take more than a year and a half to start flying passengers. So the governor may not get her wish.
But it was encouraging to see Virgin Galactic announce that the SS2 will be flying out of Spaceport America. Executive Director Christine Anderson says whenever the SS2 is ready, we are ready.
When is that big hotel to be built? That is Virgin Galactic's responsibility but I haven't heard them say anything about it lately.
Gov. Martinez is sure to take credit for Virgin Galactic's accomplishments. About the only thing she has done is to help push a bill through the 2013 Legislature to limit liability for space suppliers. Meanwhile Space X and Orbital Sciences already have sent cargo ships to the International Space Station. Neither one of them blasted off from Spaceport America. We no longer have the lead in space.

FILMS
Attracting movies and television productions to New Mexico for filming is the other area where Martinez has had some problems.
A partially successful effort to cut back on incentives got Gov. Martinez in hot water in Hollywood.
While we were putting limits on how much the state will pay out for incentives, other states were increasing their incentives and leaving us in their dust.
But tweaking the incentive program from 25 percent to 30 percent for shooting TV series and big pictures that use local sound stages has caused a flurry of new productions according to the state film office.
It isn't back to where it once was but with the good luck Gov. Martinez has been having lately don't bet against her. Oh, and an anonymous donor paid for that $2,800 coffee maker, so it no longer came out of state money.

BILL RICHARDSON BUSY
While our governor darts around the nation and world, our immediate past governor, Bill Richardson is doing much the same. He is serving on numerous boards, some of which he heads. He is speaking at prestigious universities.
And he is writing a book, "How to Sweet Talk a Shark." It tells of his experiences successfully negotiating with dictators.
Richardson says the secrets are to connect with them personally. Let them vent about how badly the United States has treated them. Find out what they really need, not what they say they need. And use humor.
Negotiating with dictators is dangerous business. Richardson was basically by himself with no protection other than his own wits. He always had quiet approval of the presidents he served and he was a U.S. official.
But it all was taking place on a back channel. Richardson was good at it and has lived to tell the story.
The book comes out this fall but he already is being interviewed on television and in newspapers.

RETIREMENT
After several unsuccessful tries at fixing the financial difficulties of the Public Employees Retirement Act, the 2012 Legislature mandated that both the PERA and the Educational Retirement Boards present the 2013 Legislature with a plan that had the support of everyone.
Lawmakers also mandated that the plan involve a shared sacrifice by current retirees, current active members and future members.
That was accomplished although at the request of the governor, the employer's share was reduced from 1.5 percent to 0.4 percent.
It is unfortunate that the biggest shared sacrifice was on the part of employees. They had the least to do with the funds' financial problems.

-30-