John Block

‘Can’t be justified’: Leftist editorial board scolds governor over lavish staff raises

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, in an unusual turn of events, the far-left editorial board for the liberal Santa Fe New Mexican chastised Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over the extravagant raises she gave her staff, averaging a 22 percent increase per high-level staffer. 

The board wrote, “Take top employees in the Governor’s Office. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has awarded members of her staff whopping salary increases, with raises averaging 22% in recent months. The employees are poised to get another raise in July under the state’s budget, which includes funding for average 6% pay increases across the board.”

“Raises in the Governor’s Office seem especially generous,” the board continued, noting that “it’s not the first time the governor has been generous with taxpayer dollars to reward her favorite colleagues. In 2021, her employees received raises of $7,500 to $12,000 during the pandemic. The increases came at a time when private sector workers were facing pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs.” 

“[S]uch hefty raises — done with little notice to the public — can’t be justified in a state as poor as New Mexico. Big raises deserve discussion and, when necessary, pushback. That way, salaries remain within sensible boundaries.” 

The board concluded, “Pay increases for statewide elected officials, which we supported, had to be scrutinized through the legislative process. That resulted in a decision to increase salaries for most statewide officials to $144,714 this year, with the governor’s raise from $110,000 to $169,714 postponed until 2027, after Lujan Grisham is out of office.” However, Lujan Grisham vetoed pay increases for judges.

The median income in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office is $131,950.00, with the lowest-salaried person, a constituent services deputy director, receiving $41,600.00 with the next-highest salary being $58,760 for a “special assistant.” The highest-paid positions in the office are tied at $185,000. 

The median household income in New Mexico is $54,020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Even the leftist Santa Fe New Mexican editorial board couldn’t ignore the stark disparity between Lujan Grisham’s office and the average New Mexican. 

See how much MLG’s staffers are making after their extravagant raises

‘Can’t be justified’: Leftist editorial board scolds governor over lavish staff raises Read More »

Don’t mess with our gun rights: Like in NM, CO legislature rejects anti-gun bill

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

While Colorado and New Mexico’s legislatures ram through extremist bills regarding abortion up to birth and transgederism, the one commonsense stance they can agree on is not passing bans on high-capacity firearms.

During the 2023 New Mexico Legislative Session, other than one bill regarding firearm storage, every single anti-gun bill died.

The dead gun-grabbing legislation from New Mexico’s legislative session includes S.B. 44 banning citizens from carrying a firearm within 100 feet of a polling place during an election, S.B. 428 targeting firearm retailers and manufacturers with frivolous lawsuits, H.B. 100 banning most firearms over 10-round capacity, and H.B. 101 mandating a 14-day waiting period before firearm purchases.

S.B. 427, which is similar to H.B. 101 banning magazine capacity, died, while S.B. 116, mandating a person must be 21 to purchase a firearm, did not make it across the finish line.

In Colorado, H.B. 1230 was blocked last week, which would have banned high-capacity magazines. 

The bill was blocked Thursday by three Colorado House Democrats and two Republicans in the Colorado House Judiciary Committee. 

According to The Denver Post, “Democratic Rep. Elisabeth Epps, HB23-1230’s primary sponsor, twice attempted to amend the measure before the vote and narrow it to a ban on specific equipment, a nod to the entrenched opposition even among her party colleagues on the committee, but the group narrowly rejected those amendments before nixing the bill in its entirety.”

The Democrat Party “has complete control of state government and a supermajority in the House,” according to the Post. Despite that overwhelming control by leftists, the radical anti-gun bill died.

In New Mexico, Democrats feared even putting their extreme anti-gun bills for a vote in front of the full House of Representatives because they merely didn’t have the numbers to pass their bills to unconstitutionally rip away gun rights.

The lesson to be learned by these Democrat setbacks is that even in states run by far-leftists like Colorado and New Mexico, guns are a part of our states’ fabric and the assault of Constitutional rights to bear arms will not be well-taken, even if Democrats have supermajorities or near-supermajorities.

Don’t mess with our gun rights: Like in NM, CO legislature rejects anti-gun bill Read More »

Edgewood to vote on pro-life sanctuary ordinance Tuesday

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

The Town of Edgewood is considering passing an ordinance making the municipality a sanctuary for the unborn. 

The Town Commission already held one preliminary meeting on April 4, 2023, to talk about it. According to reports from that meeting, “While the workshop was scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM, several trolls chose to interrupt the Zoom call – echoing racial slurs, broadcasting porn, and showing male genitalia. These interferences caused the meeting to start over an hour late.”

A planning meeting is scheduled for Sunday night ahead of the vote scheduled for Tuesday.

Mark Lee Dickson, the founder of Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn, will be in attendance at the Sunday planning meeting held by organizers at 6:00 p.m. 

The group of pro-lifers will meet at Legacy Church’s East Mountain campus located at 379 NM-344 in Edgewood.

The official commission meeting to vote on the ordinance will be held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. and be streamed via the Town’s Facebook page found here. The address for the Townhall of Edgewood Commission Chambers is 171A, State Rd. 344.

According to the agenda posted on the Town of Edgewood’s website for the Tuesday meeting, the proposed Ordinance 2023-002 would entail “Requiring Abortion Providers in the Town of Edgewood, New Mexico to Comply with Federal Law,” brought forward by Commissioner Sterling Donner of the Fifth District.

Edgewood’s potential move toward sanctuary status comes amid news of the City of Eunice filing a lawsuit against Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state Attorney General Raúl Torrez to uphold its similar ordinance that mandates the state follow the federal Comstock Act, which prohibits the transfer of obscene materials between state lines, effectively outlawing abortion pills.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a lower court must rule on an abortion pill case before the Court would prohibit the sale of the product nationwide. The case is set to be heard in early May. 

To learn more about the Tuesday meeting, the Town of Edgewood’s agenda is posted here on its official website.

Edgewood to vote on pro-life sanctuary ordinance Tuesday Read More »

National pro-abortion pundits fear Eunice, NM’s lawsuit ‘may very well work’

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

This week, the City of Eunice announced its lawsuit against New Mexico Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrat state Attorney General Raúl Torrez regarding the city’s ordinance mandating the state follow the federal Comstock Law, which protects from the transport of “abortion pills” or “abortion-related paraphernalia.”

The Eunice lawsuit is necessary after Lujan Grisham signed H.B. 7 from the 2023 Legislative Session, which aims to outlaw local pro-life ordinances. The new court filing seeks to stop the law on grounds it violates federal provisions.

Immediately following the revelation of the eastern New Mexico city’s lawsuit, pro-abortion pundits began freaking out, attacking pro-life attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who is one of the attorneys assisting with the case.

Pro-abortion “journalist and activist” Andrea Grimes took particular exception to Mitchell’s involvement since he was one of the architects of Texas’ successful law that effectively outlawed abortion in the state before Roe v. Wade’s fall in 2022. 

Grimes, in a piece for MSNBC, wrote, “It’s precisely because of New Mexicans’ support for abortion rights that Mitchell has chosen the town of Eunice as the stage for his latest anti-abortion stunt,” referring to the pro-abortion laws in the state that allow abortions up to birth with no protections for women, babies, or medical providers.

The Eunice case comes as another similar one in Texas regarding access to abortion pills was just appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the court is set to act on it Friday. 

In a melodramatic rant, Grimes writes, “But Mitchell and his allies are not gunning for wins. They’re gunning for losses, because losing means getting Comstock’s abortion prohibitions in front of the GOP’s bought-and-paid-for anti-abortion Supreme Court majority — the ultimate goal of America’s right-wing lawyering confederacy.” 

“I use the term confederacy deliberately. Mitchell is engineering a sort of civil war via the court system that flips historic left-versus-right roles on “states’ rights” in the service of implementing a nationwide abortion ban.” 

She concludes, “Mitchell’s strategy allows the GOP to rely on courts to shore up their project of forced pregnancy, and it may very well work…. If he does not succeed in New Mexico, be assured he’ll find another venue in which to challenge the democratic rule of law. If there’s anywhere Jonathan Mitchell wants to be, it’s wherever he can do the most harm.” 

The pro-abortion side of the argument is clearly fearful of the lawsuit’s success, as it is not protected by New Mexico’s pro-abortion state laws but rather federal provisions that preempt any state actions taken. 

National pro-abortion pundits fear Eunice, NM’s lawsuit ‘may very well work’ Read More »

New Mexico NPR station quitting Twitter amid Elon Musk spat

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Last week, the government-subsidized left-wing “news” conglomerate NPR quit Twitter after it was labeled “Government-funded Media” by the social media platform. 

“NPR is stepping away from Twitter, and this includes this NPR Politics feed. Please read the thread to find other ways to find our work,” it wrote. 

“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,” said NPR CEO John Lansing in a statement to staff.

NPR’s decision to leave Twitter includes its 52 associated feeds on the platform representing its various news desks and shows.

Twitter users were quick to point out how the publicly funded outlet has refused to cover newsworthy stories that would shed an unflattering light on Democrats, such as Hunter Biden’s laptop story, which NPR’s editorial board ignored.

At the time the story broke in 2020, the board wrote, “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”

Now, the Albuquerque-based National Public Radio affiliate KUNM-FM said it would “cease sharing its work on Twitter due to both the label and decreased engagement in recent months,” according to one report.

“I’m very worried about the steps (Twitter) took around NPR and labeling of that. Apparently, there were talks with (Elon) Musk and he sort of said, ‘well, maybe I’ll switch it to this and it’s unclear.’ You can’t go around being branded with the same labels like they use for literally government-funded outlets… even the government-funded media is misleading,” KUNM’s news director Megan Kamerick told the New Mexico Political Report.

“Click-through rates have fallen over the last six months as have stand engagement such as likes, comments and retweets, Kamerick said. KRWG, the NPR/PBS station out of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces plans to remain on Twitter for now,” according to the report.

New Mexico PBS will also be continuing its presence on Twitter but is continuing “to monitor, and our stance/use may change accordingly.”

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New Mexico NPR station quitting Twitter amid Elon Musk spat Read More »

Climate activists are ‘pissed’ after Lujan Grisham vetoed EV tax credits

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Following a veto by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for electric vehicle tax credits, which would help mostly the wealthy who can afford EVs, “climate change” groups are livid.

The tax credits were part of the massive omnibus tax package, which was mostly vetoed by Lujan Grisham. 

According to the Associated Press, “The state would provide a $2,500 refundable personal income tax credit toward the purchase of an electric vehicle — or up … to $4,000 for low-income residents, with an additional $300 credit for car-charging equipment and installation.” Those provisions died on the governor’s desk.

Dark money group Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA) spokesperson Sofia Jenkins-Nieto said she was “pissed” with the governor’s vetoes.

“In terms of the governor’s vetoes, of the few small green tax incentives that the 2023 legislature included in the budget – it’s outrageous that she wouldn’t even let that move forward for sure, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that was anywhere near what is needed,” Jenkins-Nieto said. “The legislature failed us, and it did so under the leadership of the governor.”

The far-left dark money group, the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter director Camilla Feibelman whined about the veto, saying, “Those five tax credits represented huge amounts of work and consensus and leadership from the House and Senate, and to have them summarily vetoed is hurtful and it’s harmful.”

The leftist Western Environmental Law Center wrote, “She promised New Mexicans she would act on climate, but has instead opposed multiple comprehensive climate bills and has now vetoed the only major climate action the legislature passed in 2023. Climate legislation is unlikely in 2024’s short budgetary legislative session—the halfway point for Lujan Grisham’s final term. Gov. Lujan Grisham’s promise of net zero emissions has disintegrated into net zero climate action while climate-caused fires and floods have turned large swaths of New Mexico into disaster areas.”

Co-coordinator of 350.org New Mexico, Tom Solomon, wrote, “This governor had a chance to expand the climate leadership she showed in 2019 by passing the ETA (Energy Transition Act). She did the opposite.”

Far-left state Sen. Carrie Hamblen (D-Las Cruces) claimed the state is “out of time” for “climate” action, saying in one report, “The plans have to be twice as aggressive in the next legislative session to approach and address these climate issues. We’re not running out of time anymore, we’re out of time.”

The whining comes after the governor signed 18 bills that the group Source New Mexico has labeled “Climate and Environmental Bills.” 

The governor’s spokeswoman Maddy Hayen claimed Lujan Grisham is a “national leader in the climate space,” adding, “We are by no means stopping there: the governor will continue to pursue meaningful, bold climate action measures in the next session and throughout her second term.”

Climate activists are ‘pissed’ after Lujan Grisham vetoed EV tax credits Read More »

City takes on NM governor, AG in groundbreaking abortion pill lawsuit

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

During a press conference outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., the City of Eunice in Lea County, New Mexico, announced a new lawsuit against the state’s Democrat Attorney General Raúl Torrez and Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The lawsuit revolves around the governor’s recent signing of H.B. 7, preempting local governments from enacting pro-life laws that restrict abortion. It also comes as the state Supreme Court is set to rule on another case spurred by a lawsuit from Torrez regarding local governments and the Comstock Act. This Act relates to interstate commerce, prohibiting obscene materials from the passage between state lines.

“Federal law imposes criminal liability on every person who ships or receives abortion pills or abortion-related paraphernalia through the mail, an express service, a common carrier, or an interactive computer service,” the City of Eunice wrote in the lawsuit.

“These federal criminal prohibitions apply in every state, including states where abortion remains legal, and anyone who violates 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461 and 1462 is subject to five years’ imprisonment for a first violation and ten years’ imprisonment for each subsequent violation. The shipment or receipt of abortion drugs or abortion-related equipment is also a predicate offense under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, which subjects abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood- and each of their employees, volunteers, and donors -to civil and criminal liability under federal RICO.”

The City of Eunice passed an ordinance mandating abortion facilities comply with U.S. law, which trumps state laws.

“The Attorney General of New Mexico has sued other cities and counties that have enacted similar ordinances on the supposed ground that the Constitution of New Mexico confers a state-law right to act in violation of a federal criminal statute. And the New Mexico legislature recently enacted House Bill 7, which purports to confer a state-law right to ‘access or provide reproductive health care … within the medical standard of care’ and empowers the Attorney General to sue local jurisdictions that infringe this newly created state-law right.”

On the Supreme Court steps, local Eunice officials, including Mayor Billy Hobbs, state Sen. David Gallegos, and Councilwoman Erica Jones, Councilman Chris Hanie, were joined by pro-life leadersEthel Maharg of the Right to Life Committee of New Mexico, Southwest Coalition for Life’s Mark Cavaliere, Lea County Right to Life’s Lori Bova, Dr. Michael New of the Catholic University of New Mexico, Sister Dede Byrne, Mark Lee Dickson of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, GraceWay Baptist Church Pastor Brad Wells, and others. A live stream of the press conference can be seen here.

“Our attorney is providing local counsel for Eunice, and we will be bringing you updates as the case proceeds,” wrote the pro-life legal group Abortion On Trial, referencing attorney Mike Seibel. 

In an exclusive interview, Seibel told the Piñon Post, “The biggest testimony for New Mexico conservatives is they are willing to dig in and fight for what they believe is morally right,” adding, “The people are doing this, and I’m proud of them.”

City takes on NM governor, AG in groundbreaking abortion pill lawsuit Read More »

During CBS appearance, MLG pressed on NM’s ‘controversial’ no-limit abortions

25 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

While appearing on CBS News’ Face the Nation Sunday, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham doubled down on her pro-abortion stance, telling host Margaret Brennan regarding a recent ruling by a Texas judge to halt the use of one of the two drugs used in medication abortions, “if we’re going to use the federal courts as a way to bar and ban access, we are looking at a national abortion ban and more. And I think states have to band together to do as much as they can in opposition to that.”

“So, currently, in New Mexico, abortion is legal. But you don’t actually have a law codifying it. I know you want to write one,” said Brennan.

Lujan Grisham responded, “We do—we do now. So the last time I was here, we didn’t. And you were, and thank you, talking about Colorado’s work. We now have a law both codifying [the] right to abortion, abortion care and access, as well as gender-affirming care in the state. So that just got signed by me,” referring to the controversial H.B. 7 passed this legislative session.

The fate of the bill is currently tied up at the state Supreme Court, where a case regarding local pro-life ordinances is being heard.

Brennan asked, “What so, nail down for me then how do you define because up till now my understanding is there wasn’t a limit on when in pregnancy, a woman could receive an abortion? Have you set any limit on that?”

“There are no limits,” answered Lujan Grisham.

“That’s very controversial,” responded Brennan.

“It can be,” noted Grisham, trying to pivot to a statistic claiming one percent of all abortions are after 21 weeks, claiming, “New Mexico’s position, and mine, is that we should not be interfering with a woman’s right medical situation and her decision about that life-threatening potential circumstance. We shouldn’t be doing that.” 

“So your state has become this haven of sorts for the surrounding states that do heavily restrict abortion like Texas,” Brennan said, with Lujan Grisham chiming in that Oklahoma was also on that list of feeder states to New Mexico for abortion tourism.

Lujan Grisham then noted how she wants to work with tribal “sovereign” nations to institute abortions in those areas for those people as a means to circumvent potential laws in states or national laws protecting the right to life. 

Following the interview, Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce, a former congressman, wrote, “Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham doubled down on her decision to keep no limits on abortions up to birth in New Mexico, justifying late-term abortions of viable babies. This very extreme position is far removed from our traditional New Mexican values.” 

During CBS appearance, MLG pressed on NM’s ‘controversial’ no-limit abortions Read More »

Report: After Roe’s fall, national abortion rate nosedives while NM’s spikes

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to a new report from the pro-abortion Society of Family Planning, over 32,000 babies’ lives have been saved since the Dobbs v. Jackson U.S. Supreme Court decision, which overruled 1973’s pro-abortion Roe v. Wade ruling.

“Since the Dobbs decision, compared to the average monthly number of abortions observed in the pre-Dobbs period, there were 32,260 cumulative fewer abortions from July to December,” wrote the group in the report.

CNN reported, “There were about 5,000 fewer legal abortions each month, on average, than there were in the months before the ruling – a drop of about 6%.”

“In the 13 states that enacted bans following the Supreme Court decision, abortions fell more than 95%, with just a few reported each month from July to December. But in the remaining set of states, the average number of abortions ticked up slightly. There were surges in some of those states, including Minnesota and Kansas, that suggest that individuals living in states with more restrictions may travel for care.”

The report notes that before Dobbs, abortion rates were “higher than previous years,” and the pro-life Supreme Court decision made a prolific impact on saving babies’ lives. 

“Thus, the net overall declines in abortion incidence in the US after Dobbs are even more striking given that there were trends of increasing abortion rates just before Dobbs,” wrote the report’s authors. 

However, since Dobbs, New Mexico saw an average of 232 more abortions in the state, according to the reports. This adds up to 2,784 more children in the womb killed in New Mexico annually, likely due to Democrats’ pushing of abortion tourism to get more out-of-state women to kill their children in the Land of Enchantment. Whole Woman’s Health, an Albuquerque-based abortion facility, recently told Axios it is mostly servicing Texas clients.

Abortion, up to birth, is legal in the state, with no protections afforded to mothers, babies, or medical professionals. Recent New Mexico legislation was passed in 2023 to harbor criminal abortionists from extradition to other states while banning localities in the state from passing pro-life ordinances.

The number of children being saved across the country is hopeful for those who value babies’ lives. However, a recent $10 million investment by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to erect a massive new abortion mill on the state’s southern border with Texas and other new abortion outfits having starting “goals” of killing 75 children weekly, New Mexico’s abortion number is climbing. 

NM bill to harbor criminal abortionists signed into law

Report: After Roe’s fall, national abortion rate nosedives while NM’s spikes Read More »

Just how religious are New Mexicans? A new report has the answer

12 Comments / Culture, New Mexico, News / By

The results from the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies’ (ASARB) 2020 U.S. Religion Census report show a growing trend for people of faith in New Mexico.

According to the data in the report, there were 1,111,977 “adherents” (churchgoers) in the state. That is a 7.26  percent increase from 2010’s report, which showed 1,031,198 adherents. 

Despite congregations dwindling from 2,447 in 2010 to 2,405 in 2020, church membership grew.

The ASARB defined adherents as people who “generally are members, children who are not members, and others who are not members but are considered participants in the congregation.”

Catholics were by far the greatest number of church congregants in 2020, with 633,259 adherents (29.9 percent), which is a slight bump of 1.5 percent from 2010’s number of 584,941 adherents (28.4 percent). 

The next largest religious denomination in New Mexico is evangelical protestants, with 277,326 adherents, a slight 1.21 percent decline from 273,956 in 2010. Evangelical protestants make up 12.9 percent of all churchgoers, with non-denominational Christian Churches making up the largest amount of that figure or around 37.6 percent.

The Catholic Church had the highest concentration of adherents in 32 out of New Mexico’s 33 counties, with the only exception being Hidalgo County, which had a higher percentage of adherents belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

Islam had a massive 192.6 percent increase in New Mexico, with 12,046 members of the church in 2020, while there were only 4,116 adherents in 2010.

Judaism had a significant 14.4 percent decline in New Mexico adherents, with 3,698 in 2020 versus 4,232 back in 2010.

According to an analysis of the data by Ryan Roys of Eastern Illinois University, “South Florida and many of the least-populous counties in Texas close to the border with Mexico saw notable growth, as did parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Additionally, counties in Idaho became more religious in 2020 over 2010.”

Nationwide, the Catholic Church remained the leader in religious denominations, with 61,858,137 adherents, and non-denominational Christian Churches came in second place with 21,095,641 adherents. 

See the full results of the 2020 U.S. Religion Census here.

Pew Research Center’s 2015 Religious Landscape Study revealed that New Mexico is the 15th most religious state, with 63 percent of respondents saying they believe in God with absolute certainty and 57 percent of the population being “highly religious.” A similar statistic from the World Population Review revealed that New Mexico is the 18th most religious state, with 57 percent of adults being religious. 

Just how religious are New Mexicans? A new report has the answer Read More »

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