John Block

Ungrateful NM legislators complain about ‘not getting paid’ despite per diem, pensions

3 Comments / Editorial / By

For years, New Mexico lawmakers have complained incessantly about being the only “citizen legislature” that does not receive an annual salary. Legislators from the Democrat Party and the extreme “moderate” wing of the Republican Party have repeatedly whined about it.

However, these elected leaders knew full-well when running for their place in the House or Senate that their positions were intended as a mostly voluntary position, one of service to the community and one meant not for self-enrichment, but for representation to one’s community.

But some legislators have fallen out-of-touch with the idea of the citizen legislature, such as Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Doña Ana) who claimed in 2019 while sponsoring a bill to pay legislators a salary, that the current system has people “being left out of the system.”   

Recently, Sen. Bill Soules (D-Doña Ana), who has been in the New Mexico Senate since 2013, tweeted a picture of a dollar bill, writing, “#nmleg. ‘Another day another ………’. Oh wait.  That’s right.  The New Mexico Legislature is unpaid.  The only unpaid legislature in the country.” 

First-term Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Bernalillo), who is already looking for a promotion to a higher office (U.S. House of Representatives), is already complaining about the Legislature not paying members a traditional salary, chiming in on Soules’ conversation, writing, “Being unpaid and part-time makes this branch of government weak.” 

“Moderate” Rep. Alonzo Baldonado (R-Valencia), while defending Rep. Kelly Fajardo’s (R-Valencia) vote in favor of Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “mini” Green New Deal, wrote, “For all of you out there that think making votes and not getting paid to do it is easy….I say you go do it.” In 2022, many conservative Republicans will do it, and hopefully, strong patriots who do not cower will run against Reps. Fajardo and Baldonado to bring true representation to the Legislature—actual servants of the people who will not complain about the job they knew full-well they were getting into. 

Multiple other “moderate” Republicans and leftist Democrats have complained about the pay strucutre of New Mexico legislators.

But despite all the misinformation from ungrateful supposed “public servants,” legislators in New Mexico do get reimbursed through a daily per diem for their work, which is $184 a day and 58 cents a mile. They also get a hefty pension for their service. After ten years, it amounts to $10,824.00. 

The point of New Mexico’s legislature is for it to work for New Mexicans—not the other way around. Just remember, senators and representatives in the U.S. Congress get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for not doing much at all. Having regular citizens who work jobs in the time they are not in the New Mexico Legislature (usually 10-11 months each year) serving as our representatives, brings them closer to the people they are supposed to represent, and makes them more accountable to their constituents.

Let us never forget that public servants are supposed to represent us. Those who are quick to complain about the trust we have placed in them or are putting their own well-being above that of New Mexicans should not be rewarded by getting another term in any elected office, much less a seat in the New Mexico House or Senate.

Ungrateful NM legislators complain about ‘not getting paid’ despite per diem, pensions Read More »

Even Gov. MLG won’t tolerate far-left lawmaker’s insane proposals

5 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

During the 2021 Legislative Session, far-left Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D-Bernalillo) has proposed multiple bills to ram through his extremist agenda. However, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has been an ally of the fringe left-wing, won’t even go for Candelaria’s bills.

One of his legislative proposals seeks to erase governors’ ability to use the “pocket veto,” which is a de-facto veto of legislation after a certain date if the Governor decides not to sign the bill. Candelaria reportedly called the pocket veto an “unnecessary, anti-transparency, anti-good government provision in our Constitution.” The Governor’s office called Candelaria’s legislation “too burdensome,” and Democrat Leader Peter Wirth voted against it. 

Another far-fetched proposal by Candelaria sought to eliminate private prisons in New Mexico. The Associated Press reported that “The top prison official under Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham voiced opposition to a bill that would make it unlawful for the state and local governments to contract with private prisons across New Mexico,” dealing another major blow to Candelaria’s whack ideas. Candelaria has also voiced support for “demilitarizing” the police. 

A sad Candelaria wrote on Twitter, “Disappointed that @GovMLG opposes bill to end private prisons in NM.” 

Candelaria has long been a laughing stock of New Mexico after he marched with Black Lives Matter insurrectionist domestic terrorists over the Summer and then offered to defend looters and rioters in court pro-bono.

Then, in October, once one of his constituents got tired of his whining, they sent him some nasty messages, which resulted in him calling the police, begging for protection from the benign threat.

He then used his position “as a Senator” to threaten officers who responded to his call, invoking the name of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, claiming he would call them on the state police officers. Once the officers explained to him the supposed threat could be interpreted in many different ways, he snapped and threw the helpful officers out of his domicile. 

Once his constituents started calling him out for his hypocrisy, he targeted them, including a Catholic priest, who Candelaria sent GIFs of scantily clad male models with the strange caption, “I LOVE BEING GAY! That’s a fact.” He also targeted Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales. 

Later, in November 2020, Candelaria made a fool out of himself by posting a picture of a luxury French fashion box that presumably contained hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of designer goods, and wrote an eyebrow-raising caption to the post in the attempt to show off his new goods. He wrote, “Treat yo self. [sic] The road is long and the fights are hard—-celebrating your joy is a seditious act.” It is unclear what Candelaria meant by “seditious act.” 

He’s subsequently used his Twitter account to lash out at elected officials in higher offices, such as Gov. Lujan Grisham and Republican U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell (CD-2). It is unclear what Candelaria’s mental state is like. However, he claims he has “PTSD” from the alleged nasty messages he received in October. Now, even Gov. Lujan Grisham won’t take his calls and is shooting down his whack legislation for being even too whack for her. 

Even Gov. MLG won’t tolerate far-left lawmaker’s insane proposals Read More »

‘Worse’ red-flag law proposed, anti-life bills to be heard Friday

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The 2021 Legislative Session is in full-swing and here are some updates on some of the most divisive anti-gun and anti-life bills:

Anti-Gun Bills

On Thursday, it was revealed that far-left Democrat lawmakers in the New Mexico House of Representatives are looking to ram through even more divisive anti-gun legislation, this time in the form of an amended “red-flag” law, H.B. 193, which will make Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2020 version of the bill signed into law even worse. 

According to the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association’s Zac Fort (NMSSA), the bill was proposed because Democrats became “frustrated that the initial law has hardly been used.” The bill would give the authority to a police officer to request an “extreme risk” red-flag order directly, further circumventing the process and making it easier to violate due process rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Fort notes that “The order would allow the police officer to search the home of the defendant and seize any firearms the officer finds.” 

“The red-flag gun confiscation order has been a failure, as has every gun-control law passed in New Mexico. No one has been made safer, we only have fewer rights to show for it. Rather than making a bad thing worse, we need to repeal the red-flag law to protect New Mexicans civil liberties,” writes Fort. 

Another overtly anti-Second Amendment bill, H.B. 166, is also being considered, proposing bans on multiple types of firearms components and self-made firearms, turning owners of such firearms into felons. Read the Piñon Post’s full analysis of the bill here.  The bills will be considered in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. Members of the Committee can be found here. 

Anti-life bills

Also coming down the pipeline are two anti-life bills, H.B. 47 and H.B. 7. The first bill, H.B. 47, is an anti-life physician-assisted suicide bill that includes some horrifying language. The bill, sponsored by a far-left friend of Gov. Lujan Grisham, Rep. Deborah Armstrong (D-Bernalillo), alongside Senators Liz Stefanics (D-Santa Fe) and Bill O’Neill (D-Bernalillo), proposes a signed document where an individual requesting to have a medical professional help them kill themselves acknowledging the following:

“I understand the full import of this request, and I expect to die if I self-administer the medical aid in dying medication prescribed. I further understand that although most deaths occur within three hours, my death may take longer.”

The bill would dehumanize New Mexicans living with a terminal illness and leave them open to self-administering a fatal poison that could not only not work but could leave them in more pain than they started with, among other concerns. 

The assisted suicide bill will be heard on January 29, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. in the House Health and Human Services Committee. Members of the Committee can be found here.   

H.B. 7, the abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill would strip critical life-saving protections for babies in the womb and mothers. It would also strip out essential protections of conscience for medical professionals, safeguarding them from being forced to perform abortions. Because the statute is flatly stripped out, the bill would allow underaged mothers to get abortions without their parents’ consent, opening up unsafe opportunities for human trafficking and abuse. The bill would allow any medical professional (not just a doctor) to perform the abortion, leaving women in risky positions, where they could face life-altering injuries and death. 
The abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill will be considered in the House Judiciary Committee on Friday, January 29, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. Legislators in the committee can be found here.

‘Worse’ red-flag law proposed, anti-life bills to be heard Friday Read More »

Democrat-loving NM Oil & Gas Assoc. ‘encouraged’ by Biden’s drilling ban

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

On Wednesday, the Santa Fe New Mexican ran an article detailing the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s (NMOGA) willingness to work with the rabidly anti-oil and gas Joe Biden administration to “work through” problems to “find middle ground.” 

Unfortunately for NMOGA and its executive director Ryan Flynn, Joe Biden and his anti-energy choices in the Cabinet, such as Green New Deal-loving Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), his designated choice for Department of the Interior, want an all-out assault on the oil and gas industry.

Joe Biden has already signed a slew of anti-energy executive orders in his first few days banning all new leases and permits for drilling on U.S. land indefinitely, canceling the Keystone XL pipeline with Canada, and re-entering the United States in the Paris Climate Accord, which the United Nations itself admitted is a sham. 

Now, despite Flynn’s whining about the New Mexico budget being aided by oil and gas, his organization still naively thinks it can find a supposed “middle ground” with Biden to “strike that balance then that will help ensure there’s not unnecessary damage on the industry in New Mexico.” 

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

A key official [Ryan Flynn] within the state’s energy industry said he is encouraged by the Biden administration’s yearlong moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands, which he contends is better than the U.S. Interior Department’s halt on leases announced last week.

Flynn even said appeared to expect his industry to collapse, telling the Santa Fe New Mexican, “It’s not like a transition away from oil and gas products is going to occur in a week or year or even in the next 10 years.” 

For years, the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association has aided Democrats in their efforts to enact radical anti-energy policies, including their “neutral” stance on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “mini” Green New Deal (Energy Transition Act), which they and multiple “Republican” members of the New Mexico Legislature helped get passed. The law will completely wipe out the oil and gas industry by the year 2050. 

Those “Republican” legislators who voted for it include Rep. Kelly Fajardo (Valencia), Rep. Bill Rehm (Bernalillo), Sen. Greg Baca (Bernalillo and Valencia), fmr. Sen. Candace Gould (Bernalillo and Sandoval), Sen. Ron Griggs (Doña Ana, Eddy and Otero), Sen. Mark Moores (Bernalillo), Sen. Cliff Pirtle (Chaves, Eddy and Otero), and fmr. Sen. James White (Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe, and Torrance). 

But not only did NMOGA refuse to fight against the Democrats’ assaults on the energy industry (which they purport to represent), the organization directly funded radical Democrats with tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions to help them do it. 

A Piñon Post report details NMOGA’s political contributions to Democrats, including $25,000 to Democrat Speaker Brian Egolf’s PAC in the 2020 election cycle, which helped elect ruthlessly anti-oil and gas extremists to the Legislature, $5,000 to then-Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, in her 2018 bid for governor, and countless others.

Even Republican leaders in New Mexico have called NMOGA and Ryan Flynn out for his betrayal of the industry, with many top Republicans penning a scathing op-ed calling out the weak, spineless, and anti-energy approach the organization has used. 

Here’s a snippet from the op-ed: 

So, what is Flynn’s motive? We aren’t exactly sure, but this pattern of lies has effectively destroyed any trust we had in him to be a fair advocate for NMOGA. While we cannot dictate to NMOGA who should be running its organization, we would suggest the association consider putting a person in its leadership who does not spread misinformation and puts personal political preferences ahead of the interests of the oil and gas industry and the workers it supports.

Now, Flynn wants to “work” with the Joe Biden administration to find “middle ground,” and even though it is unlikely, it doesn’t’ seem like NMOGA is too worried about fighting for their industry, since Flynn is expecting to “transition away” from oil and gas in ten years’ time. 

Democrat-loving NM Oil & Gas Assoc. ‘encouraged’ by Biden’s drilling ban Read More »

GOP NM state rep. betrays constituents—votes for abortion up-to-birth and infanticide

5 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday, the New Mexico House Health Committee heard the House version of a radical abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill, H.B. 7, that would strip away critical life-saving protections for babies in the womb, women, and health care professionals. 

“This bill does not address current practice or availability of abortion. It’s a repeal of an antiquated 1969 law,” the bill sponsor, Rep. Deb Armstrong (D-Bernalillo), said of her bill. Other sponsors and “experts” repeatedly used the term “antiquated” to describe the life-saving current law on the books.

Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Santa Fe) noted how her office received over 6,000 calls from constituents, most of them asking her to vote against the radical anti-life bill.

During the testimony part of the hearing, a labor and delivery nurse said, “I’ve held pre-mature babies and I can tell you they are very much alive.” 

Rep. Phelps Anderson (R-Chaves, Lea, and Roosevelt) said during his time to speak, “It is of my belief that if this bill passes, nothing changes,” which the bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Ferrary agreed with him on, despite the bill’s passage ripping critical protections away from multiple groups.

He then added the following:

“If nothing changes, why then did I in the last 24 to 48 hours receive literally thousands of forms of communication, largely urging a ‘no’ vote, but there were… there were… messages urging votes both ways. And I think, well… I read some of them and I think ‘well, this person is in for [a] disappointment because they’re urging a vote that is not going to affect what it is that concerns them in this message’ and that has given me a great deal of consternation about your bill, not because I—I’m just sort of thinking ‘what is it—what are we doing?’ Do we really have a bill here that really doesn’t do anything? Why not? Why not, Representative Ferrary?”

“Because in my opinion, Roe v. Wade made the 1969 New Mexico abortion law unconstitutional. So I think, ‘Okay, Representative Ferrary wants to repeal an unconstitutional law passed in the State of New Mexico fifty-two years ago more or less.’ And I find myself trying to say, ‘Now what part of that do I disagree with?’ I’m pro-life. I don’t—of many of the people who have spoken to me in the last day or two have expressed strong opinions and many of which I share. But I find myself at the end of this debate long day saying ‘I’m not sure that…voting yes or voting no changes anything—and that is very important to me in this vote—and secondly, I think the issues that have been raised are simply not encompassed within this vote.”

“So, with that, Representative Ferrary, I wanted to say the one thing that I appreciate your comment because the one thing I have heard today that I do think might change based on testimony is the conscience clause, and that will make a difference in how I vote on the House floor if I go and believe that the conscience clause is not—is being removed. And I kinda think that I believe right now that that’s not what this repeal is doing, but I will—but we will see this bill again. With that, thank you, madame chairman, thank you Representative Ferrary.”

After testimony from the public and questioning the bill sponsors, who refused to say their bill would legalize abortion up to birth, the measure came up for a vote. After stalling for a while, supposed “pro-life” Rep. Phelps Anderson (R-) voted with all the radical Democrats on the committee in favor of the abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill. The measure ultimately passed on a vote of 8-3. The bill now goes to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.

The betrayal by Anderson is a revelation of the pro-abortion “Republicans” hiding in the shadows in the New Mexico Legislature, who are slowly revealing what side they truly are on. Find Rep. Anderson’s contact information here.

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NM unions, leftist public officials complain after MLG finally lifts ban on in-person learning

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On Tuesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham delivered her “virtual” State of the State address, in which she announced in-person learning would resume at New Mexico schools. She said, “every school district in the state will be able to welcome all ages of students safely back to the classroom on February 8.” 

The move comes after New Mexico ranked as the state with the highest suicide rate in the United States, with the rate for children ages 4-15 increasing by 88%. To deal with this, the Governor claimed her proposed budget has an 800% increase for suicide prevention. 

During the speech, Gov. Lujan Grisham touted her “solid, epidemiologically-sound plan for a safe expansion of in-person learning for all age groups, supported by union leadership.” The Public Education Department outlined the three options school districts have, per the Albuquerque Journal:

All schools throughout the state may bring back students on a hybrid model in which 50% of students return at a time to maintain social distancing.

Districts and schools with fewer than 100 students can bring back all students as long as no more than six people are in an enclosed space at one time.

Schools and districts that aren’t ready for the full hybrid return can expand small-group instruction to all grades.

However, liberal teachers unions and leftist public officials cried about the decision, with Albuquerque American Federation of Teachers president Ellen Bernstein complaining that “The teachers still need to get vaccinated. They still need COVID leave.”

National Education Association of New Mexico (NEA-NM) reportedly lauded the Governor’s decision, claiming she “has done just about everything that a governor can do to keep citizens in this state safe. She has shut things down. She has required people to wear masks. She has fined people for not doing so,” but they want teachers to be the “priority in the vaccination rollout.”

Far-left state Rep. G. Andrés Romero, a teacher at Atrisco High School in Albuquerque, said he “worried that switching from remote learning to a hybrid model could be an added stress on teachers and students who already strained. He urged caution to districts considering the option,” according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Albuquerque Public Schools Interim Superintendent Scott Elder said of the Governor’s decision that “There’s a lot of excitement and truthfully some trepidation over the governor’s announcement today,” but he would work with state officials on a safe re-opening plan.

The move by the Governor comes after months of pressure from Republicans across New Mexico, who have urged her repeatedly to reopen the state, such as the Republican Party of New Mexico, who urged the Governor to take after Las Vegas’ example: 

Following the Governor’s address, New Mexico House Republican Whip Rod Montoya (R-Farmington) released a statement, saying, “I am glad that the Governor’s interpretation of the science is finally lining up with our neighbor states when it comes to reopening our schools. It is unfortunate that our school children have had to sacrifice a year of education under this Governor’s extreme executive orders. I fear that the Governor’s effect on our failing economy will be just as long-lasting as her effect on our student’s academic regression.” 

“It is about time that the Governor is finally viewing this crisis through the lens of medical science and not political science,” added House Republican Leader Jim Townsend (R-Artesia), who has been critical of the Governor’s COVID-19 response throughout the pandemic. 

NM unions, leftist public officials complain after MLG finally lifts ban on in-person learning Read More »

NM bill would criminalize multiple firearms and components

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On Monday, state Rep. Tara Lujan (D-Santa Fe) filed House Bill 166, which would criminalize the ownership and manufacture of multiple types of guns. 

The legislation would add to the New Mexico Criminal Code language making it a felony for anyone to manufacture, “produce or otherwise assemble” a firearm “unless that person is a federally licensed gun dealer or manufacturer” and anyone who possesses, sells, transfers, or purchases such a firearm would be made a felon as well. 

It would also make anyone who uses a three-dimensional printer or similar device to “manufacture or produce a firearm or firearm component unless that person is a federally licensed gun dealer or manufacturer.” All sales, transfers, and purchases of such a device would also be subject to a felony. 

Even the dissemination or creation of digital instructions on how to manufacture a 3D-printed firearm component would be a felony. As well, the bill criminalizes any sale or manufacture of “covert” firearms made from a “kit, a firearm frame or receiver that is not imprinted with a serial number registered with a federally licensed gun manufacturer unless that person is a federally licensed gun dealer or manufacturer.” 

The New Mexico Shooting Sports Association has already voiced its opposition to the bill. The organization released the following statement: 

In just-filed 2021 HB166, Representative Lujan from Santa Fe wants to make it a felony in New Mexico to manufacture or possess a firearm made from an unfinished receiver, a firearm made at home in any fashion, or a firearm that includes any components manufactured on a 3D printer not owned by a FFL. This would include firearms made from an 80% lower receiver.

If you already own such a firearm, this bill would make you a felon for doing so. If any component of any firearm you own was manufactured on a 3D printer, this bill would make you a felon. The bill would even make it a felony to provide code for making a firearm component on a 3D printer to anyone in New Mexico.

We are opposed to this legislation and will keep you updated on its progress.

The bill has been referred to the New Mexico House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee (HCPAC) for consideration. Those who would like to reach out to their representative to ask them to oppose the measure can find them here. HCPAC members can be contacted here.

NM bill would criminalize multiple firearms and components Read More »

NM Senate committee approves abortion up-to-birth bill in 5-3 vote

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On Monday, the New Mexico Senate Health & Public Affairs Committee held a hearing on SB-10, the abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill proposed by Sens. Linda Lopez (D-Bernalillo) and Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe). 

The Committee resumed its business shortly after 3:00 p.m. following a slew of technical issues where some senators could not log onto the virtual meeting, the audio wasn’t working at one point for the chairman, Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, who said “I can’t hear a damn thing,” and an influx of New Mexicans tuning in caused the system to lapse. 

However, once the technical issues were finally resolved, the Committee began its proceedings, introducing the bicameral bill and its sponsors. Sen. Lopez said of her bill, which would strip away all protections for women, doctors, and babies, that “We must respect and support those who support such a decision and must take politics and the law out of” abortion despite her own sponsorship of the bill seems to put politics into the conversation.

Sen. Wirth noted how he was “honored” to support the anti-life bill. He read off a few canned talking points, claiming the current law, dormant due to Roe v. Wade, is “archaic” and that he “respects” the decisions of New Mexico women to kill their children in the womb.

Rep. Micaela Cadena, a co-sponsor of the abortion bill in the House, said during the committee that she understands “pregnancy is sacred, and as such, we must trust a woman, a pregnant person” to make the decision to abort. 

During the proceedings, New Mexicans on each side of the issue were allowed to speak in support or in opposition to the bill for increments of 30 minutes on each side, during which doctors, midwives, nurses, post-abortive women, and mothers spoke on the pro-life side. Multiple activists and “social justice” lawyers spoke in favor of the bill on the pro-abortion side.

Sen. Gregg Schmedes (R-Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe) repeatedly asked the bill sponsors why the bill had stripped away conscience protections away from the bill, despite the previous 2019 version of the bill adding an amendment to explicitly protect health care professionals from being forced to abort children. Sen. Wirth could not answer that question, claiming as a lawyer the bill did not need that explicit conscientious objection clause. Wirth also admitted that the bill would not only allow non-physicians to perform abortions but that the dangerous practice is already happening in New Mexico. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) legal expert that Democrats brought in to testify in support of the bill, Ellie Rushforth, could not answer basic questions from Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eddy and Lea) regarding if a healthy mother could abort a healthy baby in the State of New Mexico. The witness dodged the questions, saying, “These are very complex medical decisions.” that they could not answer. 

The Bill ultimately passed the Committee on a party-line vote of 5-3, with Democrat Sens. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, Bill Tallman, Brenda McKenna, Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, and Liz Stefanics voting for the abortion up-to-birth measure. Republican Sens. Gregg Schmedes, David Gallegos, and Stuart Ingle voted against it. 

The bill now moves to consideration before the entire New Mexico Senate, where Democrats believe they have the votes to ram it through. New Mexicans are advised to contact their state senators to vote against the bill when it is brought up to the Senate floor. The name of your senator and their contact information can be found here.

The whole committee hearing can be viewed here. 

NM Senate committee approves abortion up-to-birth bill in 5-3 vote Read More »

TODAY: NM Senate committee to hear abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill

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On Monday, the New Mexico Senate Public Affairs committee will convene at 1:00 p.m. MT to consider the passage of SB-10, an abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill.

In 2019, New Mexicans successfully defeated a radical abortion up-to-birth bill, HB-51, which would have stripped away protections for women and their children in the womb and removed “conscientious objection” protections for physicians and medical professionals. 

The bill is back in the form of SB-10, the same cookie-cutter legislation proposed in 2019, but this time it is being proposed in the New Mexico Senate, the same chamber where HB-51 was defeated. State Sen. Linda Lopez and Majority Leader Peter Wirth are co-sponsoring the bill, which is a single page (and seven lines in length), flatly stripping the statute off the books–and thus harming countless New Mexicans.

The Democrats believe they may have the votes to ram through the bill, due to the deaths of pro-life Democrat senators and the election defeats of pro-life Democrats by radical anti-life extremists. The newly grasped pro-abortion advantage by Democrats is why it is such a top-priority for anti-life extremists and Democrats in the Legislature.

Planned Parenthood abortion business has already been lobbying New Mexico legislators with misleading and false statements to support an abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill, as reported on previously. 

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, “Public comment will be limited. At each hearing, groups on opposing sides of the issue will get only 30 minutes or up to 10 speakers to argue their case.” The link to watch the hearing live can be found here once it is available.

It is critical for Piñon Post readers to reach out to the legislators in the committee and demand they vote “NO” on SB-10, the abortion up-to-birth bill. Please email the committee members below:

EMAIL SENATORS ON THE COMMITTEE TODAY

NOTE: if the link does not work for you, please copy/paste the below emails into the BCC line of your note to these senators and the below body text into the body of your email: 

Senator emails to copy into your BCC line: 

jortizyp@msn.com, bill.tallman@nmlegis.gov, gregg.schmedes@nmlegis.gov, david.rsi@hotmail.com, stuart.ingle@nmlegis.gov, brenda.mckenna@nmlegis.gov, a.sedillolopez@nmlegis.gov, lstefanics@msn.com 

Draft email language to copy into your email:

Dear Senator, 

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I am asking you to vote against SB-10, the abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill proposed by Sens. Linda Lopez and Peter Wirth.  

This ill-conceived and hastily drafted piece of legislation (which is only seven lines in length) would flatly strip out a life-saving New Mexico state statute that protects women, children, and health care professionals, of which we all should be mindful.

An essential part of the current law that these senators look to rip out protects health care workers who have conscientious objections to performing an abortion. Without these protections, our health care heroes will be at risk.SB-10 puts doctors at risk of losing their medical licenses and face criminal prosecution or other sanctions.

Also, stripping the statute would remove physicians’ requirements to perform abortion procedures, leaving women exposed to sub-par care. 

SB-10 allows sex traffickers and child abusers to take a pregnant minor in for an abortion without any parental knowledge or involvement–not to mention without any reporting criteria. 

With this bill, a pregnant mother would be allowed to have an abortion at any pregnancy stage. It is a medical fact that the risk of death or serious injury to women increases to 76.6% in abortions after five months. 

This bill is ill-conceived and leaves gaping holes in state law for women to be maimed or potentially killed during an abortion, and I urge you to please vote against SB-10 for the children, the women, and the health care heroes we must protect. 

Thank you so much for listening to my concerns and for voting against this bill.

Sincerely, 

[YOUR NAME] [ADDRESS] [EMAIL] [PHONE NUMBER]

————————————————————— 

Thank you for emailing these senators and for your urgent action to protect human life in New Mexico. If you would like to call these senators, their numbers are below:

Chairman Ortiz y Pino (505) 243-1509

Senator Bill Tallman (505) 397-8854

Senator Brenda McKenna  (505) 397-8834

Senator Antoinette Lopez (505) 397-8847

Senator Liz Stefanics (505) 397-8851

Senator Gregory Baca  (505) 397-8815

Senator Gregg Schmedes, M.D. (505) 397-8846

Senator Stuart Ingle (505) 397-8829

Senator David Gallegos (505) 397-8824

TODAY: NM Senate committee to hear abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill Read More »

‘You voted for it’: Conservatives scold NM after Biden assaults the energy industry

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On Saturday, the Associated Press published an article detailing New Mexicans’ outrage over Joe Biden’s complete and total assault on the energy industry (as promised) in the state. It interviewed people of both political parties and the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association (NMOGA), encompassing how they felt betrayed by Biden. 

But the cries of outrage come after years of warnings from the conservative side of the aisle that Joe Biden’s destructive policies would harm New Mexico—a heavily oil and gas reliant state. And NMOGA bankrolled the Democrat Party in the 2020 election and well before that, even taking a “neutral” stance on New Mexico’s “Green New Deal,” which will completely wipe out the fossil fuels industry by 2050. Now, the end to that industry looks like it’s coming a lot sooner. 

Last August, the Piñon Post ran a story about how Joe Biden’s fracking ban would decimate the New Mexico economy, but the state went blue in 2020, whether that victory for Biden was legitimate or not. Now, conservatives are yelling “I told you so!” on social media after New Mexicans’ worst fears have become a reality. 

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote on Twitter, “Who could possibly have predicted this?”

“New Mexico voted for Biden so they are getting what they signed up for. Hard to feel sorry for people who drive their car off a cliff and then complain on the way down,” wrote author and conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza. 

Tim Murtaugh, communications director for President Donald J. Trump’s 2020 campaign wrote, “If only someone had warned that Biden would be an enemy of the energy industry and imperil energy-producing states.” 

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wrote an encouraging note to New Mexicans, saying, “WV welcomes the opportunity to work with New Mexico and any other state which care about protecting energy jobs and want to preserve America’s energy independence.” 

Steve Deace, television show host on The Blaze wrote, “You voted for it, New Mexico. Own that poop. Receive your reward in full. And kneel before Zod.” 

Podcaster Vince Deo tweeted a comical video about the Biden administration’s assault on energy producers: 

Joel Pollak of Breitbart News wrote, “Biden and the Democrats don’t want people to provide for themselves. They want people to be dependent on the government — without a thought as to how the government is supposed to generate revenue. Notably, @JoeBiden has hardly ever had an actual job…. Imagine doing this to an industry in the middle of an economic crisis. Oh — yeah, they voted for him. They knew. Or they would have known, if the media were not such shameless liars.” 


The criticisms keep on flowing in on social media, however, the message appears clear as day: New Mexico voted for Joe Biden and they are getting what they deserve. Biden “won” New Mexico, but he very well could have been aided by massive voter fraud, as detailed in the Piñon Post’s report here.

‘You voted for it’: Conservatives scold NM after Biden assaults the energy industry Read More »

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