Mesilla, New Mexico: Discovering A Different Side Of The Southwest
Gadling
mesilla, new mexico Courtesy of Cisco Photography As you enter Mesilla off of Highway 10 West, there are indications you're approaching someplace special. Walk a couple of blocks down to the historic Plaza, and it's impossible not to be charmed ...

84-Year-Old New Mexico Woman Indicted For Drug Trafficking
The Inquisitr
Albuquerque, NM – An 84-year-old woman has been indicted for drug trafficking, tampering with evidence, and possession. Drug trafficking is an illicit trade which involves cultivating, manufacturing, and distributing substances which are subject to ...

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Downpours and locally severe thunderstorms over the Central states will not only foil holiday weekend activities, but will also put some lives at risk.

They were 12 ordinary citizens who didn't oppose the death penalty.

Under the guise of “public awareness” the Center for Civic Policy has been calling legislators to complain about their support of the recent “tax package:”

A New Mexico nonprofit has launched a “public awareness” campaign highlighting the votes of state lawmakers on a massive tax package approved on the final day of this year’s 60-day legislative session.

They’re correct to criticize the haste and secrecy with which the “tax package” (the main feature of which was to reduce the corporate income tax rate from 7.6% to 5.9%) was put together at the end of the session. But did anyone happen to see if they made similar criticism of the way the (Un)Affordable Care Act was put together with the similar haste and secrecy? It would be nice if political process was open, careful and informative. But, unfortunately politicians, having incentives like the rest of us, act like politicians. It’s time we all recognized that as a fact of life.

Let’s clear up some of the Center’s economic confusion by briefly summarizing some basics of taxation related to NM’s corporate income tax:

Corporations may be legal entities responsible for the corporate income tax. But corporations don’t actually pay the tax, only people pay taxes. The actual tax is borne by the owners of the corporation and its customers.

Corporations are a source of prosperity in that they make up a potential supply side of voluntary exchanges between them and their customers. Those exchanges, voluntarily entered into, would not take place unless both parties to each exchange benefited. Onerous tax policies like NM’s corporate income tax reduce voluntary exchanges and prosperity.

New Mexico has the worst (or close to it) corporate income tax regime in the country. While the rate may now be a bit lower, its formula for determining the amount of income subject to the tax puts New Mexico corporations at a huge disadvantage compared to other states.

Since the corporate income tax is so awful, it’s quite possible that the reduction in its rate will actually increase revenue. That would certainly be the case with even lower rates and a more reasonable definition of income subject to the tax.

Further exacerbating the bleak tax picture for corporations is NM’s gross receipts tax. Since they pay gross receipts tax on many services that are inputs to production, they are at a disadvantage relative to other states where services are not taxed.

New Mexico needs further tax reductions by making the corporate income tax and gross receipts tax less onerous. But if the Center is really concerned about tax revenue (I’m not — government has already overreached), then they should be concerned about actually having someone to tax.

 

Around Northern New Mexico
ABQ Journal
According to New Mexico State Police, Anthony Sandoval, 21, had been in a physical altercation with another man on May 17 before returning to his room at the Coronado Motel. The official autopsy results are pending, according to State Police, and no ...

Editorial: Data show why NM needs education reform
ABQ Journal
Nationally, the education establishment has loved to hate the federal No Child Left Behind act since it was adopted in 2001. More than a decade later, the same attitude unfortunately applies to New Mexico implementing the necessary reforms to make NCLB ...

Around New Mexico
Albuquerque Journal (subscription)
The New Mexico Traffic Safety Division and Safer NM Now selected the department this month as No. 1 out of about 70 for the way it used Operation DWI grant money. Lanny Maddox of Safer NM Now says the Santa Fe Police Department was selected based ...

SI.com
Brian Urlacher never forgot New Mexico roots
Chicago Sun-Times
Speedy Faith describes it as a picturesque day in Albuquerque, N.M., five or six years ago. He and longtime Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher had just finished dinner — on Urlacher, of course — after running a football camp and stepped outside.
Editorial: Url has done Bears, NM athletics proudABQ Journal
Brian Urlacher Hangs Up His CleatsMountain West Connection

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Officials: NM ranch had 1000 emaciated cattle
Farmington Daily Times
ALBUQUERQUE — The discovery of about 1,000 emaciated cows has prompted state officials to consider the unusual move of seizing a herd of cattle on a drought-stricken ranch near Fort Sumner. New Mexico Livestock Board officials served a search ...
Nearly 1000 emaciated cattle found on NM ranchCattleNetwork.com

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New Mexico oil patch county paces population growth
Farmington Daily Times
"I am very disturbed about this," said Jack Baker, the state demographer and senior researcher in geospatial and population studies at the University of New Mexico. "What worries me most is that now we're looking very negative on migration. That's the ...

and more »

Government health officials are investigating several health problems reported with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.

New Mexico's bridges could see trouble
KOB.com
The Washington State bridge collapse has New Mexicans wondering about bridge safety in their state. One recent report shows hundreds of the state's bridges could be in trouble. About 18 percent of the state's bridges are structurally deficient or ...

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W.K. Kellogg Foundation names Alvin H. Warren as NM program officer
Albuquerque Business First
Warren, a New Mexico native and a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo, will work out of the foundation's Downtown office. Before joining the foundation, he was cabinet secretary of Indian Affairs for the state of New Mexico and served two terms as ...
WK Kellogg Foundation names Alvin H. Warren as program officer of New ...The Herald | HeraldOnline.com

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Greater NY Taxi Association Executive Director Ethan Gerber on their fight with NYC Mayor Michael Blomberg.

Mexico's top security official says far fewer people have disappeared during Mexico's drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases.

NM senators want expanded hours for port of entry
Houston Chronicle
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's U.S. senators are asking the federal government for 24-hour daily operation of a port of entry at Santa Teresa, along the international border with Mexico. Democratic Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich sent a letter ...
NM senators want expanded hours at Santa Teresa port of entryAlamogordo Daily News
Senators Want Expanded Hours For Santa Teresa Port Of EntryKRWG
Martinez, Chihuahua governor celebrate remodeled Santa Teresa port of entryLas Cruces Sun-News

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Finance New Mexico: Strategy drives success in social media marketing
Las Cruces Sun-News
Many business owners feel a sense of urgency and peer pressure about creating a social media presence before they're ready because they assume they're losing business to more tech-savvy competitors. Panic, though, is a poor driver of decisions, and ...

Vintage Memorial Day postcard

Originally called Decoration Day, the Memorial Day holiday officially recognizes all who died as members of the U.S. armed forces.

It’s not to be confused with Veterans Day, which celebrates all who have served or are serving, living or dead.

Memorial Day had its beginnings at the end of the Civil War, when the North and South went about commemorating the dead who fell in what remains the bloodiest war in American history.

An estimated 620,000 soldiers died. That’s more than 200,000 more who died in World War II.

And another 1.1 million were wounded between 1861 and 1865. Those are staggering figures for a nation that at the outbreak of the Civil War numbered just 31 million.

To put that in perspective, if you adjust those figures to the population in the U.S. today (315 million), it would translate into well over 6 million dead and 11 million wounded.

One of the survivors of the Civil War was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who, as a Union officer, was thrice wounded at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Antietam, and Chancellorsville, respectively. Holmes later became a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Holmes gave a Memorial Day speech on May 30, 1884 in Keene, New Hampshire, where he concluded by saying:

“Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death — of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen , the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.”

Contact Rob Nikolewski at rob@nmwatchdog.org and follow him on Twitter @robnikolewski

UNDECIDED: Matt Chandler hasn’t made up his mind yet on whether to run for NM Attorney General.

The top law enforcement position in the state is one of New Mexico’s most coveted elected offices but so far, only two Democrats and no Republicans have indicated they’ll run for New Mexico Attorney General.

Current State Auditor Hector Balderas and former Public Regulation Commission member Jason Marks have thrown their hats into the ring and figure to square off next June in the Democratic Party primary but thus far, no GOP candidates are in the field.

Matt Chandler, the state’s district attorney in Curry and Roosevelt counties and a Republican, is being talked about as a GOP nominee but Chandler told New Mexico Watchdog this week, “I’m still weighing my options.”

Chandler ran against current Attorney General Gary King in 2010 but lost by 7 points (53-46 percent).

“I have been encouraged by many individuals across who have urged me to run but I haven’t made up my mind,” Chandler said. The filing deadline for statewide offices is Feb. 4, 2014.

In the meantime, a potential Balderas vs. Marks race matches two Democrats with statewide office experience.

TWO-MAN BATTLE: So far, only two candidates for the New Mexico Attorney General’s race have thrown their hats into the ring.

“We believe we have the strongest record of accountability,” Balderas said of his two terms as State Auditor. “I think our chances will be very good.”

“I think the state needs a strong attorney general who represents the interests of ordinary New Mexicans,” said Marks, who at the first of this year wrapped up eight years on the PRC representing the Albuquerque area.

In fact, Marks stood out at the PRC as one of the few commissioners who went through his entire tenure without any of the personal scandals that dogged other members — such as Jerome Block Jr., who pled guilty to violating federal election laws and running up thousands of dollars on his state-issued credit card; Carol Sloan, who was convicted of two felony charges, and David King, who was sued for sexual harassment.

“With the history of the PRC, you become sensitive to efforts to increase government accountability,” Marks said, who wants to form an independent ethics commission in the state if he’s elected. “We have a perception of misconduct that is driven in part because we don’t get resolution in so many issues” in state governance, Marks said.

Because of term limits, Balderas wraps up his work as State Auditor at the end of this year.

“We believe we have one of the strongest records in the nation in terms of bringing accountability,” Balderas said. “Whether it’s been in our fights with Sunland Park or Jemez Mountain School District or even here within the financial institutions, we have brought reform.”

Balderas may be better known than Marks. Before serving as auditor, Balderas was a state representative and last year he ran against Martin Heinrich for U.S. Senate. Balderas lost by 18 points but his well-received TV ad highlighting his time growing up in the small town of Wagon Mound was seen by potential voters across the state.

“I’m working to increase my name recognition,” Marks said. “I’ve been doing that by travelling across the state and meeting people.”

Even though the race won’t be held until November of next year, an anti-Balderas website has appeared criticizing Balderas for his time as auditor and highlighting some of the political battles he’s had — including those with PRC commissioner Pat Lyons and with the outgoing Attorney General’s Office.

The site is sponsored and paid for by the Republican State Leadership Committee, which is based in Washington D.C. and bills itself as “the only national organization whose mission is electing Republicans to state offices across the country.”

“There are obviously some very powerful out-of-state interests that are very afraid of our record,” Balderas said.

Unless a Republican enters the race, the primary between Marks and Balderas could be the de facto general election for attorney general. And if a Republican does enter, the road to victory could be difficult since New Mexico has not elected a Republican State Attorney General since Hal Stratton in 1986 and only three Republicans have held the office in New Mexico’s 101-year history of statehood.

In the meantime, the two Democrats are each angling for the “I’m for the average guy and gal” vote.

“I’ll bring people on board who can identify with ordinary people and their interests,” Marks said.

“Our No. 1 priority will be protecting families and bringing reform and accountability to New Mexico,” Balderas said.

Contact Rob Nikolewski at rob@nmwatchdog.org and follow him on Twitter @robnikolewski