The Piercing Truth

This is right from the dictionary and seems to describe Albuquerque, Berry and Schultz. Fascism (f ash ,izem) noun An authoritarian right wing system of government and/or social organization. (in general use) extreme right wing, authoritarian, chauvinistic and/or intolerant views or practices. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one group over another, national, ethnic, especially social strata or monetarily; a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach. Compliments of one of our Eyes

May 24, 2010

A Tight One

With just over a week to go, it looks to be a photo finish for Susana Martinez and Allen Weh. In last week's Eye Poll Eye On Albuquerque readers gave their indication of exactly how close the Republican Gubernatorial Primary is going to be.

Sliding in on top of our unscientific poll is Susana Martinez with 44% of the vote. Now, before the Martinez folks break out the bubbly, Allen Weh came in second with 43%. The difference? Just one vote.

Doug Turner took 3rd place with 9% and Janice Arnold-Jones and Pete Domenici, Jr. rounded out the voting with 2% each (view the results here). Unless there's a substantial change between now and June 1st, it's going to be a very late night for at least a couple of Republicans.

Lost in all of the gubernatorial hoopla has been that other statewide office - Lieutenant Governor. You know, the office that Diane Denish held before becoming a Republicrat (see the TV ad here).

In any case, believe it or not we've got 8 candidates in two parties vying for the number two spot in the state. On the D side it's Brian Colon, Lawrence Rael, Jose Campos, Gerald Ortiz Y Pino, and Linda Lopez. On the R side, Brian Moore, Kent Cravens, and John Sanchez are asking for the R vote. Tell us what you think in this week's Eye Polls!

May 18, 2010

Inquisition

If you watched the Albuquerque City Council for just about any amount of time during the trumped up "immigration debate," you were treated to an example of political grandstanding Albuquerque style. We're all used to this type of "debate" from Congress but the council's not usually quite as blatant in their pursuit of sound bites and political brownie points.

In Congress you can usually spot grandstanding when a senator or representative starts to question a witness, corporate executive, or bureaucrat with question like "don't you think that...?" Then follows those four words with a 10 minute speech about what the poor schelp testifying should be thinking.

Monday's little council melee' was an exercise in fear-mongering. Councilors Sanchez, Garduno, O'Malley and Benton were attempting to conjure up horrific images of citizens of Hispanic decent being dragged from their beds in the middle of the night to be handed over to ICE for interrogation and of victims of domestic violence who are here either legally or illegally being afraid to contact police because of a immigration status check.

The policy itself only applies to those who are arrested and taken into custody. Then it applies to everyone who is arrested regardless of race, creed, or color. Everyone is finger printed. Everyone is checked for immigration status. Just like everyone will be run through NCIC.

The fingerprinting policy alone could result in numerous arrests for outstanding warrants. The truth is most criminals tend to commit more than one crime. Those that have come here illegally have already committed a crime when they chose to ignore U.S. immigration law. How is checking immigration status any different than searching for wants and warrants?

Officers generally check to see if you're wanted for other crimes any time they make a stop. If you're speeding or your brake light is out, they're gonna check. The simple fact is - that information could save their life if they come into contact with someone suspected of a violent crime. Mayor Berry's new administrative policy won't go into effect unless and until a suspect is taken into custody.
[Sidebar]
Much of last night's debate involved whether or not the new "procedure" was a policy. Councilors Garduno and Sanchez were in a bit of a twist over the distinction. They claimed that if it was a "policy" then the city council should have been consulted.

The City of Albuquerque has a strong executive form of government. The mayor and his designees are charged with setting administrative policy. If the council wants to weigh-in they have the authority to do so through their charter granted legislative authority. Their efforts failed.
[End Sidebar]
As we've said before, Mayor Berry's new policy might have prevented the rape of a 6 year old girl. And oddly enough, Governor Bill Richardson agrees.
Gov. Bill Richardson on Monday told the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department to start reporting violent juvenile criminals who are foreign nationals to immigration authorities.
CYFD has not been reporting them to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2006, when Mary-Dale Bolson, then secretary of CYFD, suspended a state regulation requiring CYFD to do so, CYFD spokeswoman Romaine Serna said Monday.

But that regulation, which required CYFD to report all foreign nationals entering its system, was in place when Juan Gonzalez, a Mexican national who's now 20 years old, was accused in 2005 of raping a 6-year-old boy and molesting a 3-year-old girl.
 Look... The idea that immigration should only be enforced at the border is an abrogation of responsibility. In fact it encourages illegal immigration by removing the threat of deportation if an illegal can just make it far enough into the country.

Monday night's council meeting reminded us of the Spanish Inquisition with Councilors Sanchez, Garduno, Benton, and O'Malley acting as Grand Inquisitors. All that was lacking was an order to tie Mayor Berry's representatives to a rock and throw them in Tingley Beach to see if they float. If they float, the policy's evil and can be burned at the stake. If they drown, then... well... oops.

May 17, 2010

Political Theater

Councilors Ken Sanchez and Rey Garduno are looking for their time in the political spotlight. The two have alerted the media that they plan to try and add Mayor Berry's new APD illegal immigration policy to tonight's council agenda. Their objective is to prevent the mayor from checking whether or not a criminal has already committed a crime by entering the country illegally.

In addition, the two intrepid councilors are proposing that the city join the few states, schools, and cities that are "boycotting" Arizona. Siding with Sanchez and Garduno is none other than Isaac Benton.

This isn't Benton's first foray into international affairs. Back in January of 2009, Benton characterized the Israeli conflict with Palestine as "genocide" (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

Look... Mayor Berry's new SOP, is no different than checking those who are arrested for wants and warrants. We'd argue that the policy doesn't quite go far enough, but the truth is Berry's policy could have prevented the rape of a six year old girl earlier this month.
Juan Gonzalez told police he has "problems touching little children" after he was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl at an Albuquerque gym, officials said.

Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Mexican national, was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center late Thursday on a $200,000 cash-only bond, jail records show. He is charged with criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and evidence tampering. 
Not all immigrants are criminals - not even illegal immigrants (except for that whole illegally being in the country thing). But what Sanchez, Garduno, and Benton are proposing is that police officers intentionally ignore the crime of entering the country illegally when performing a legal investigation.

This looks to us like a case of political "me toos" designed to garner support from a far left constituency. It certainly makes for good political theater, but in reality a majority the public wants a secure border and Mayor Berry's new policy is a step toward that goal.

When You Can’t Attack the Content

The Chavez administration - according to our Eyes - was obsessed with finding "The Eye." Now it seems new (and a few of the old) power brokers have launched a campaign against an individual they think is the Eye. While the attention may be flattering, the question is why does it matter?

“Thus, an ingenious attacker makes the defender at a loss how to defend; an ingenious defender makes the attacker at a loss how to attack.” Zhang Huimin

The individual formerly known as the Almighty Alcade died a slow political death of a thousand cuts. Eye on Albuquerque along with a number of other sites and media outlets, simply presented the issues and information as they were occurring. In truth, most of the cuts were administered by the Almighty Alcade and his minions themselves. Painful for a man with an Ivy League Education I know, but he must have missed the history class about Marcus Junius Brutus. (More on this later.)

As you watch politicians on the news, they will often use a common device. When they cannot answer a question they employ a distraction or avoidance technique. If they cannot evade, they attack the messenger. Again this is a normal political tactic.

One would hope they would be smarter than that. Recently our sources tell us that some city power brokers have become “concerned” and have tried to entice reporters to write articles about The Eye on Albuquerque. Yet, there are new posts and even new contributors. Priceless!

In my opinion it was more entertaining watching the chess games being played with the Almighty Alcade. When some of the new members stepped in, the games turned from chess to checkers. A good quote or sound bite is rarely a substitute for a sound strategy and never a substitute for honesty and integrity.

A bombastic nature is truly one of the greatest assets that can be developed in the media and provides for great entertainment. It can also be utilized to effectively distract the public.

You (as citizens) should ask some serious questions. We have a new administration that ran on a platform of lean government, transparency, and fighting crime. If this is true why do we have almost the same APD leadership? Why do we have a new public safety Czar? What does the position truly bring to the City of Albuquerque? What are the citizens getting for the salary? Why was this position kept when there are so many budget shortfalls? Was this a political payback, and if so for what?

Eye on Albuquerque was and is intended to be anonymous. Not to hide, but to allow a river of communication to emerge. It has emerged; in fact there are now thousands of posts and comments. This provides for something called content. It would appear the administration (past and present) has been unable to find a way to stop citizens from reading and posting about the issues that concern them.

Now some power brokers think they know who they should attack. Again, with vigor and zeal they march forward not knowing or understanding who or how to attack. Worse they have no concept of the stage on which they will be forced to perform.

Is the content so disconcerting? Is the message so dangerous?

Who am I? Who we are we? I am a shadow, one that is always there, one you will never see. Nice try, but you‘re not even close. As far as the content, Eye on Albuquerque will continue to post what we see, and let the readers decide. Remember you will always have a Shadow.

May 16, 2010

Down to the Wire

The traditional Albuquerque Journal Brian Sanderoff poll hit doorsteps all over town Sunday. (We won't dwell on the diminishing number of doorsteps being hit by rolled up paper and ink.) Sanderoff's poll usually comes out a few weeks before an election and some believe it may have an impact on the election itself.

The Sanderoff poll places Allen Weh and Susana Martinez in a statistical tie with 31% and 30% respectively. Pete Domenici, Jr. came in next with 10%, Doug Turner with 6%, Janice Arnold-Jones came in with 3%, and there were 20% undecided (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

Needless to say, the leaders are busy trumpeting that they're "in the lead" in speeches, mailers, websites, and via email, while the trailing candidates start talking about election day surprises. The simple fact is that barring a miracle, it's a two-way race as we come to the wire.

So... What better time to bring back The Eye Poll? This week we're asking who you think will prevail in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Don't forget to vote!

May 13, 2010

Albuquerque Moves Closer to Arizona

It only took a graphic example of what could have been prevented, but today at least the City of Albuquerque took a step closer to Arizona. Mayor Berry announced APD's new policy regarding illegal aliens which boils down to if there's suspicion that a person who's arrested is in this country illegally ICE will be notified. It will then be up to the Feds to determine whether or not the suspect is held for an immigration violation.

Unfortunately the move came too late to save a 6 year-old girl from an alleged rape, but at least police officers will be able to notify immigration authorities when they have an illegal in custody for another crime. Obviously the blame for the previous sanctuary policy rests squarely on the shoulders of previous administration. This new policy is a good start, but may not go far enough.

Welcome Shadow

Our last post was the 700th post on Eye On Albuquerque. It seems like a perfect time to introduce a new contributor. It's with great pleasure that we introduce our newest Eye... Shadow.

The one thing that's impossible to shake is your shadow and our newest contributor is busy following the power brokers and bureaucrats around the halls of government gathering all of the dark secrets ferreted away in those dark recesses. We look forward to a new contributor and a whole new set of revealing Eyes.

May 10, 2010

Doing Time

The war on APD overtime continues. The department is holding fast to its policy of making individual officers identify, arrest, and prosecute each and every suspected DWI. According to Public Safety Director White, the policy is working and the department has saved over $5 MILLION.
White says the police department has saved roughly $5 million in overtime since Mayor Berry took office. In that time, he says overall crime is down and overall arrests are up.

"There's been a lot of emphasis put on controlling the overtime throughout the entire department and it's paying off," says White.
Our Eyes behind the badge assert that while the city is raking in the bucks, DWI arrests are down 73%. Strangely, APD seems perfectly capable of calculating "savings" but utterly incapable of determining whether or not DWI arrests are down a month after instituting their new policy.
Eyewitness News 4 specifically asked city officials if DWI arrests are down because of the new overtime policy. They answered that the policy has only been in place for a month, so it's too early to tell.
One wonders whether The 5th Floor is using the same accountants that lost $16 MILLION over at APS. Here's generally how it's done. Count the number of DWI arrests in April 2010 and then subtract them from the number of DWI arrests in April of 2009. A negative number would be bad.

All of that said there is one department where overtime is not discouraged - records. In fact our Eyes tell us that the folks over in the records department are being forced to do time or at least overtime.

Back in January we told you records was some 22,000 reports behind at least partially due to the implementation of Crapper... uh, Copperfire (read it here). Now, records personnel are doing time on our overtime dime.

Understand, the judicial system runs on records - without them nothing gets done and criminals end up on the street. Frankly, we've got too much of that going on already. But what The 5th Floor has done is place data entry, uniform crime reports, and report review above imminent harm.

Of course there is an upside... since arrests are down, so are the number of reports that the records department will have to deal with. Or at least that would be the case if alcohol involved accidents hadn't doubled and generated a whole new crop of accident reports. Oh well... at least we're saving money.

May 5, 2010

America’s Energy Health

by Marita Noon

A pundit gushed over President Obama’s busy-ness since pushing through historic healthcare legislation. After enumerating accomplishments, she closed, "Frankly, I worry about his health."

Obama has been busy. Trying to keep up with just his energy-related activities makes my head spin. There is no way the average person could follow all the plans, proposals, bills, or executive orders.
While the concern expressed was for Obama’s health, my concern is for the health of energy in America—and ultimately for America itself.

Here are three recent news items, some of the busy-ness, that worry me about America’s energy health.

On March 31, Obama’s offshore announcement was big news. While it made for a good story, it will have no impact for years, does not open up any new drilling sites, and actually puts more areas off-limits. To really increase domestic energy production and minimize the transfer of American dollars to unfriendly countries, he could use that executive order pen to open up areas of known reserves where accessing the resource is either prohibited or severely restricted and a trained workforce and onshore infrastructure exists. Forbes summed it up this way, "Though the plan added acreage for possible leasing, some choice sites there were yanked. Drillers still have to wait for environmental studies before a lease sale may be held. Even then they’d need to do seismic surveys and get federal air permits before touching drill bit to earth. Expect environmentalists’ lawsuits, too."

While the offshore announcement got lots of attention, this slipped under the radar. In late January, it was leaked that the White House’s plans to create additional national monuments. The list contains 14 possible locations totaling more than 13 million acres. The sites "may be good candidates for National Monument designation and the Antiquities Act." Many of them--such as Otero Mesa in southeastern New Mexico—have known energy resources.

March 18, Governor Richardson sent Obama a letter in support of "protected" status. An environmental supporter waxed eloquent over the potential of the "wild and beautiful grassland," saying, "It has become a tourism destination," and "It will create a place that more people will take an extra day to visit." Additionally, it "will allow for sustainable long-term jobs."
 
While most of us support job-creation in this economy, expecting tourists to go to the vast empty spaces of Otero Mesa is not the way to do it—especially when making Otero Mesa a National Monument will eliminate the possibility of extracting the natural gas reserves. The average tourism job pays about 45K a year. Oil-service workers: 75K.

On April 16th, the White House sponsored the "White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors" with the goal of bringing "together leaders from communities across the country that are working to protect their outdoor spaces." While this may be a laudable concept, it hardly seems like a priority when Americans are begging the administration to focus on jobs!

Next, Cap and Trade—a tax on energy—is back. As New York’s Nassau County Executive found out, Americans do not want more energy taxes. Thomas Suozzi was a rising political star. A well-funded incumbent, Souzzi was thrown out by an unknown, under-funded, upstart—all over energy taxes. Reports stated, "Disenchanted voters were frustrated by a new Home Energy Tax."

Cap and Trade will take a great deal of political maneuvering to pass. "Partisanship" will likely blame Republicans for the bill’s struggle, but in fact when a bill’s good, it often passes overwhelmingly. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act passed the House in February on a vote of 422 to 5. The Veteran Retraining Act passed last November: 356-0. Yet after months of discussion, debate, and public dialog, Senators still doubt whether or not they have enough votes to pass cap and trade. House members who voted for it last July fear losing their seat over their vote.

Despite the lack of popularity, regardless of the evidence putting the foundation of the cap and trade in question, a so-called compromise bill is being introduced with supporters expecting passage in June or July.

Yes, Obama’s been busy. As a result, frankly, I’m worried about America’s energy health. The United States has built a $14 trillion-per-year economy that’s based almost entirely on cheap energy. Now, at a time when we need jobs and cheap energy there is a head-spinning amount of busy-ness aimed at changing the energy that’s made America great!

Marita Noon is the executive director of the Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE), a nonprofit organization that operates from the platform of "Energy Makes America Great" and supports all domestic energy development. She can be reached at marita@responsiblenergy.org or www.responsiblenergy.org.

May 4, 2010

Eye Told You: About Time

We've been telling you about The Formerly Almighty Alcalde's Eco-Folly for two years now. Marty's move to the green was designed more to capture headlines than to save the planet and Albuquerque taxpayers got to pay for it.

Finally, after two years of telling you about the damage and the cost of E85 Eco-Fool, the Berry Administration has pulled the plug on the program and moved the city back to good ol' unleaded.
"It's no longer cost-effective for us to run on ethanol," said John Soladay, director of the city's Solid Waste Management Department.
And Ford's failing fuel pumps?
Police Chief Ray Schultz said in some cases, the fuel pumps on police cars failed in the early morning hours, with no way to get them fixed immediately. The administration also said some sedans in the Fire Department fleet were unable to respond to emergencies.
Chief Schultz didn't do the problem justice. Our Eyes tell us Marty's Eco-Fool program caused fuel pumps to fail about every 2,000 miles. With 700 plus vehicles - a large portion of which are Ford Crown Victorias - it's pretty easy to see that there were a large number of vehicles out of service at any given time.

It's about time common sense broke out at the city hall and the Berry Administration deserves credit for making the right move. What was even more shocking is that even Councilor Benton is on board.
City Councilor Isaac Benton said he isn't concerned about the switch, especially because ethanol takes a lot of energy to produce.
"Even though it's made from agricultural products, it could be a problem in and of itself," Benton said in an interview. "I know there have been real questions about the mileage per gallon you see with ethanol. I don't really consider it to be a sustainable product."
 Not sustainable... Eye've been tell you that for some time (read it here). The simple truth is that when an "alternative" fuel costs more and requires over a gallon of fossil fuel to produce a gallon of the alternative fuel - not to mention some 1,700 gallons of water - it really isn't much of an alternative.

May 3, 2010

Immigration - Einwanderung - (名) 移住; 出入国管理; 移民 - Immigrazione - иммиграция - Inmigración

Believe it or not, it's possible to send the entire Industrial Media-Progressive Complex into apoplexy with one single word... "(名)  移住; 出入国管理; 移民" or more commonly known in the English speaking world as "immigration." There are two types - legal and illegal.

Until 1927, there really was only one form of immigration - legal. Those were the heady days of "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." The doors through which most immigrants passed were held wide open just like the American West where many risked life and limb in order to find a new life - a free life.

These immigrants may have passed through Ellis Island, crossed over an imaginary desert line in the sand, or fled the Great White North of Canada (eh), but they all came here understanding that nothing was guaranteed and that they would have to largely take care of themselves.

FDR's New Deal began an inevitable march toward government dependence that added a new and dangerous incentive to immigrate to the US - entitlement. Social programs designed as a safety net became a staple and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free became the masses looking for free things.

Don't misunderstand, there are those hardworking immigrants who only want an opportunity to better themselves and provide a better life for their family. The difference today is entitlement. Regardless of an immigrant's motives, their very presence here makes them eligible for all sorts of government goodies paid for by citizens and legal immigrants. Enter the new Arizona immigration law.

Arizona is broke. So broke in fact, that the state held an auction in January to sell off government buildings (read it here). It's estimated that Arizona is home to some 470,000 illegal immigrants - all of whom are eligible for some form of state funded assistance despite their less than legal status. Then there's the crime that is often associated with illegal immigrants. Phoenix has become the kidnap capital of the U.S. It's hard not to draw a correlation between the abductions in Arizona and the kidnappings in the Kidnap Capital of the World - Mexico City.

There's little doubt that crime and entitlement led to the new Arizona law - a law that is more rhetorically reprehensible than actually a threat to civil liberties. In fact, the law has at least one very positive effect - it makes Arizona immigration policy uniform.

Uniformity in law enforcement is imminently desirable. In Bernalillo County alone we have at least two different enforcement policies - one for the Sheriff's Department and one for the Albuquerque Police Department. And despite the mayoral campaign promises, our Eyes tell us that there has been no change to the APD SOP regarding illegal immigrants. Officers are prohibited from contacting federal authorities unless the suspected illegal is accused of a violent crime (read it here).
[Sidebar]
We understand that filling a $20 MILLION budget hole only to have to fill a $64 MILLION hole takes a large shovel and a lot of time. But, Mayor Berry needs to make good on his campaign promise and direct Uber-Chief White and Chief Schultz to make the promised adjustments to the APD SOP.
[End Sidebar]
Look... everyone in this country - including American Indians - came from somewhere else. Whether trekking across the Bering Strait, braving the Atlantic, or wading across the Rio Grande, all of us are or came from immigrant stock. Most of us came legally. But since 1927 the federal government has restricted immigration and if they won't enforce the laws they created, it's up to the states to do so. More importantly, in today's entitlement society it's economically unsustainable to continue to support those who have chosen to ignore our laws and enter this country illegally.