blog of bile » New Mexico

Not good enough for the gander…

bile — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:06:33 +0000

http://serfcity.wordpress.com/

I’m watching the Senate Health Committee debates. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn (R) introduced an amendment that as far as I could tell required members of the Senate to participate in whatever public plan they create for the common man and woman, apparently instead of the lush plan the taxpayer subsidizes for them now. It always pains me to give credit to Republicans but lets give credit where credit is due. Senator Coburn – on this one you rock.

Chairman Chris Dodd immediately accepted the amendment however, New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman (D) objected. He didn’t see why, since the public plan would be voluntary, he ( and others among the ruling class) should be forced to participate in something that the proposed law specifically says would be voluntary. That’s completely rational.

Of course it might be different if the taxpayer wasn’t subsidizing his royal behind. If he had to deal with the disaster of the US health care “system” created by his chamber and their lower house brethren that public option might look pretty good.

Or would it? The amendment lost.

So I guess the Senate Health Committee doesn’t have much faith in the quality of the public option. They won’t give up their privilege but we have to pay for both their privilege and the public option they won’t subject their families to.

So much for living the change you want to see in the world.

Abusive Border Patrol Agents w/ Nun Chucks at NM Checkpoint

bile — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:43:20 +0000

Highlights:

(5:35) Agent whips out his nun chucks in anger
(7:45-8:00) The agent tells me in less than perfect English, “In the Border Patrol Checkpoint, the person’s rights doesn’t matter here.”
(16:50-17:10) I’m told that the police will arrive in less than 10 minutes to arrest me
(19:00-19:40) I’m accused of being a terrorist
(26:20) I’m told that I’m free to go without being searched

A list of those leading the way toward fascist slavery

bile — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:42:43 +0000

http://www.bethechangeinc.org/…

ServiceNation Summit Co-chairs:

Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Caroline Kennedy, Vice-Chair, New York City Fund For Public Schools
Bill Novelli, CEO, AARP
Alma Powell, Chair, America’s Promise Alliance
Rick Stengel, Managing Editor, TIME Magazine

ServiceNation Leadership Council:

Andi Bernstein
Tom A. Bernstein, President and Co-founder, Chelsea Piers
Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, New York, NY; Chairman, National September 11 Memorial and Museum
Cory Booker, Mayor, Newark, NJ
Richard H. Brodhead, President, Duke University
Neil Bush, CEO, Global XS
Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone
Mortimer Caplin, Former Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service
Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, Former U.S. Surgeon General
Jean Case, CEO, The Case Foundation
Richard Celeste, President, Colorado College
Ray Chambers, Amelior Foundation
Richard Cizik, Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals
Glenn Close, Actress
William Cohen, Former Secretary of Defense; Former U.S. Senator
Janet Langhart Cohen, Author; Founder, Citizen Patriot Organization
Scott Cowen, President, Tulane University
Tom Daschle, Former U.S. Senator
John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University
Manny Diaz, Mayor, Miami, FL
John Dilulio, Former Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; Author, The Godly Republic
Melinda Doolittle, Recording Artist
Paul Fireman, Founder, Reebok
Al From, Founder and CEO, Democratic Leadership Council
Susan Fuhrman, President, Teachers College, Columbia University
Mark Gearan, President, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
David Gergen, Professor of Public Service and Director, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard University
Michael Gerson, Columnist, The Washington Post
Stephen Goldsmith, Former Mayor, Indianapolis, IN
Jennifer Granholm, Governor, Michigan
Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Theologian; Author, The Jewish Way; Founding President, Jewish Life Network
Amy Gutmann, President, University of Pennsylvania
Lee Hamilton, Former Congressman; Former Co-chair, 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group
Jenny Chin Hansen, President, AARP
Gary Hart, Former U.S. Senator
Admiral James R. Hogg, USN (Ret), Director, Strategic Studies Group, Naval War College
James J. Jensen
Martin Luther King, III, Chairman, Realizing the Dream
Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
Sherry Lansing, Founder, The Sherry Lansing Foundation
Jim Leach, Former Congressman; John L. Weinberg Professor of Public and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
Anthony Marx, President, Amherst College
Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Chairman, American Red Cross
Sam Nunn, Former U.S. Senator
Michael Nutter, Mayor, Philadelphia, PA
Martin O’Malley, Governor, Maryland
Lt. General Dave R. Palmer, USA (Ret), Former Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Author
David Paterson, Governor, New York
Kal Penn, Actor
Gregg Petersmeyer, Former Assistant to the President; Director, Office of National Service under George H.W. Bush
Peter G. Peterson, Founder and Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Co-founder, Blackstone Group Management
Rob Portman, Former Congressman; Former Director, Office of Management and Budget
Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Harvard University; Author
Marc Racicot, Former Governor, Montana
Susan Rice, Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama for America
Bill Richardson, Governor, New Mexico
David Shaw, Managing Partner, Black Point Group
Rodney Slater, Former Secretary of Transportation; Chair, United Way of America
Laurie M. Tisch, President, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
Paul Vallas, Superintendent, New Orleans Recovery School District
David Walker, President and CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Silda Wall, Founder, Children For Children
Rick Warren, Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church; Author, A Purpose Driven Life
Harris Wofford, Former U.S. Senator; Former CEO, Corporation for National & Community Service

Is it surprising that a large portion of those in support are directly or indirectly government bureaucrats?

SCOTUS not done yet: Part of McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance law struck down

bile — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:13:33 +0000

http://www.ballot-access.org/…

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law unconstitutional. Davis v Federal Election Commission, 07-320. The vote was 5-4. Here is the opinion.

This case concerned the “Millionaire’s Amendment”, which relaxes contribution limits for any congressional candidate who has a wealthy opponent. Specifically, if any congressional candidate spends at least $350,000 of his or her own funds on the campaign, then the opponents of that candidate are released from the $2,300 limit on contributions to their campaign. The majority opinion, by Justice Samuel Alito, says that the Constitution does not permit the government to set unequal contribution limits. The opinion’s key sentence, on page 16 of the majority opinion, says, “It is a dangerous business for Congress to use the election laws to influence the voters’ choices.” Also, on page 18, “The unprecedented step of imposing different contribution and coordinated party expenditure limits on candidates vying for the same seat is antithetical to the First Amendment.”

This language should make it easier to win lawsuits against state public funding laws which set unequal rewards for some candidates, relative to other candidates. Public funding laws in Maine, Arizona, and New Mexico, treat all candidates exactly the same. The public funding that formerly existed in Massachusetts also treated all candidates equally. But public funding laws in Connecticut and New Jersey, and a pending bill in California, do not treat all candidates the same; qualifications to get public funding are easier for Republicans and Democrats than for other candidates.

Justice Stevens dissented, and said that the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision Buckley v Valeo was mistaken when it struck down limits on campaign expenditures. He expressed the view that too much campaign advertising “obscures the issues.” He also said that “the Constitution does not require Congress to treat all declared candidates the same.” This contradicts his opinion in Cook v Gralike, 531 U.S. 510 (2001). In that opinion, he said states may not “favor or disfavor a class of candidates.” That decision struck down a Missouri state law that provided that candidates for Congress should have labels on the ballot that said what their position is, on amending the U.S. Constitution to provide for term limits for Congress.

Justices David Souter, Ruth Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer voted that the Millionaires’ Amendment is constitutional, but they didn’t join the portion of Justice Stevens’ dissent that said Buckley v Valeo should be overturned.

As I see it the entire McCain-Feingold law is antithetical to the 1st.

Government thug attacks news cameraman

bile — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:32:51 +0000

[clipsyndicate 610534]

Viewers respond to KOB photographer arrest

Eyewitness News 4 has received hundreds of comments since airing footage Thursday of a KOB photographer getting arrested while covering a story.

The photographer was handcuffed and cited for disobeying a police officer. He was released about 90 minutes later.

He was videotaping an early morning crime scene where a driver had exchanged gunfire with police officers in Albuquerque.

The photographer says he was asked to leave the scene and go to a media staging area. However, he says officers did not tell him where that area was located.

More than 600 comments from around the country were posted on the KOB.com forum in response to the arrest footage.

One viewer wrote, “Cops just got shot at and this reporter wants to argue for this officer’s name and badge number?”

Another viewer had a different view, saying “This is a no-brainer. What the cop did was against the law, period. APD needs to take responsibility.”

Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh says an independent review officer will look at footage of the incident.

And I’m sure they will… and chuckle.

Ron Paul fundraising observations

bile — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:08:36 +0000

http://www.cnn.com/…

Ron Paul, as of the end of the 4th quarter 2007, is the number one Republican fundraiser still in the race in the following states:

Montana¹
Alaska¹
Hawaii
Kansas¹
New Mexico
North Dakota²

Is second in:

Washington
Oregon
Idaho
Iowa
Wyoming
Arkansas
Wisconsin
Kentucky
Nebraska²
Minnesota²
Oklahoma²
Indiana²
Tennessee³
Mississippi^2,3
Georgia^2,3
West Virginia^2,3

¹Including Democrat candidates. ² Giuliani raised more before dropping. ³ Fred Thompson raised more before dropping.

Obviously money doesn’t mean votes nor will those locations where he has gained rank because of some dropping out help him much. It is however interesting with regards to how the MSM regards him as a gadfly. He’s raised more from the numerous branches of the military than all other candidates combined. He raised more than twice what any other Republican did in the 4th quarter at nearly $20m. He’s the number one Republican fundraiser in 5 states and second in 8 without removing those who have dropped out.

My ranking of donations per capita has been updated with 4th quarter numbers, top 5:

New Hampshire
Wyoming
Nevada
Alaska
Montana

The Des Moines Register Presidential debates

bile — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:18:26 +0000

http://www.iptv.org/…

Iowa Public Television will broadcast live coverage of The Des Moines Register Presidential Debates among Republican candidates for President on Wednesday, December 12, and among Democratic candidates for President on December 13. Debates will be broadcast live each day at 1 p.m., and will be re-broadcast at 7 p.m. each evening. The debates will also be available to public television stations across the country through PBS.

Confirmed candidates for the Republican debate on Wednesday, December 12 are: Ambassador Alan Keyes; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Rep. Duncan Hunter; Arizona Sen. John McCain; Texas Rep. Ron Paul; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo; and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

Confirmed candidates for the Democratic debate on Thursday, December 13 are: Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; New York Sen. Hillary Clinton; Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd; former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards; Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

You will be able to watch the debates online live here and they are supposed to be shown on your local PBS station. I’m not seeing them listed on the PBS schedule online but it may not show because it’s a special program. In the least there will be on-demand streaming video of the full debate available the night of each event at http://www.iptv.org.

ACLU sues DEA on behalf of truck driver whose money was seized

bile — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 04:41:22 +0000

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/…

http://www.freenewmexican.com/…

Anastasio Prieto, a truck driver from El Paso, Texas, doesn’t trust banks and prefers to carry his savings with him in cash. While this is a dangerous way to manage one’s money, a cursory glance at recent headlines tends to validate Prieto’s concerns about the stability of the fractional-reserve banking system.

During a stop at a weigh station in New Mexico on August 8, Prieto made a critical mistake: He cooperated with the police, assuming that as a law-abiding individual he had nothing to fear from them.

A New Mexico state trooper asked Prieto for permission to search his truck for contraband, such as needles or cash in excess of $10,000. Displaying an ingenuousness that breaks my heart, the truck driver consented, informing the officer that he was carrying nothing illegal — but admitting that he had $23,700 on board.

The police “forfeited” — that is, stole — Prieto’s savings. The DEA agents who presided over the theft “told Prieto he would receive a notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within 30 days and that to get it back, he’d have to prove it was his and did not come from illegal drug sales,” reported the Houston Chronicle.

How terribly disgusting. How exactly does one prove $X in cash is theirs and not made through illegal means? Does anyone keep track of the serial numbers of their cash? I doubt his bank did when they cashed his checks. I’ll be surprised if this guy gets his life savings back. Unless the ACLU can shame the government into doing so. Never volunteer your property to be searched. It can only increase the chances of you losing something.

New Jersey has the worst highways

bile — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:43:30 +0000

http://www.indystar.com/…

Top states: North Dakota, South Carolina, Kansas, New Mexico and Montana.
Where Indiana fell: No. 14, two spots above Ohio and 19 above Illinois. Michigan ranked 42nd.
In the bottom: Hawaii, Rhode Island, New York, Alaska and, most abominable of all, New Jersey.

Having lived in New Jersey almost my entire life I’m very aware of all the comments made about NJ roads and NJ in general. I’ve never felt the roads were all that bad. Sure 1 & 9 is faster to walk most of the time but generally I’m OK with it. Now though… I’m intrigued. I’m going to have to check out North Dakota and South Carolina (my birth state) sometime to compare the worst to the best.

Gasoline related bills currently in the House

bile — Sun, 27 May 2007 07:25:06 +0000

H.R. 2335: The Federal Energy Price Protection Act of 2007
FEPPA? Mrs. Wilson of New Mexico didn’t try real hard on that one. This bill is trash. It doesn’t even define what ‘price gouging’ is. Section 2B says that “Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act” the FTC has to define ‘price gouging.’ You shouldn’t be allowed to pass a law which gets defined later.

Unfortunately at this time these two bills are not available on the Library of Congress site and I had no luck with a quick Google search. When they do become available I’ll update.
H.R. 2448: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the Federal excise tax on highway motor fuels when the weekly United States retail gasoline price, regular grade, is greater than $3.00 per gallon
H.R. 2460: To protect the welfare of consumers by prohibiting price gouging by merchants with respect to gasoline and other fuels during certain abnormal market disruptions

I want to see who authored and sponsored these. See if there are any overlaps. I’d hope not. Given what I know currently… I’m for 2448. The federal fuel tax is $0.184/gallon. I’m sure most people wouldn’t mind a $0.184/gallon reduction. Thing is that since this tax isn’t a percentage of the cost but is a flat rate per gallon and as such you will only save at most $0.184 per gallon, which isn’t bad but the higher it goes the less the percentage of total it is. H.R. 2460 I went over the other day.