Piñon Post

NM’s all-Dem congressional reps. vote against lower energy prices

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, which would lower American energy costs “by increasing American energy production, exports, infrastructure, and critical minerals processing, by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting, and production of American resources, and by improving water quality certification and energy projects, and for other purposes,” according to the U.S. House GOP.

The Republican-led effort received bipartisan support, with four Democrats voting in favor of the proposal. 

According to Axios, “The past four H.R. 1 bills received entirely partisan votes. Democrats’ H.R. 1 bill for the past two Congresses was a sweeping election reform package known as the ‘For the People Act,’ which didn’t receive a single Republican vote.” 

“Ironically, since Biden took office, his radical climate agenda has led to MORE emissions up to 6% higher than the previous administration. His anti-energy agenda is creating worse emissions while simultaneously pushing Americans into energy poverty,” wrote the Republican Party of New Mexico, adding, “​​It’ll create good-paying American energy jobs for workers producing the cleanest energy in the world. For comparison, America’s natural gas is 40% cleaner than Russian gas.”

However, all three of New Mexico’s congressional representatives, all Democrats, voted against the commonsense bill to lower Americans’ cost of living and restore U.S. energy independence.

Despite representatives like Gabe Vasquez of the Second Congressional District claiming to “stand by New Mexico’s energy workers,” he joined Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NMCD-3) and Melanie Stansbury (D-NMCD-1) in opposing the bill. 

In subsequent defensive Twitter posts, he tried to justify the anti-energy worker vote by claiming oil and gas CEOs in “glamorous out-of-touch mansions” were making him their “number one target.” 

The Second District encompasses the state’s energy-rich oil patch, which is responsible for New Mexico’s economic stability. Vasquez’s vote against energy workers and industry will likely not fly in his attempt at reelection in 2024.

Former Congresswoman Yvette Herrell, a Republican, is set to announce her 2024 campaign in early April to reclaim the district.

NM House GOP leaders want feds to intervene on DD waiver claims

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

This week, House Republican leaders requested that the Inspector General for the US Dept. of Health and Human Services initiate an investigation into the NM Department of Health. The call for independent investigation arrives amidst reporting from the Santa Fe New Mexican detailing what the Governor calls a “horrific case of abuse.”

House Republican Leader Ryan Lane (Aztec), Republican Whip Greg Nibert (Roswell), and Republican Caucus Chair Gail Armstrong (Magdalena) wrote to HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm asking for an independent investigation into the disturbing disclosure of “at least thirteen cases of possible abuse, neglect, and exploitation of developmentally disabled individuals.”

In the letter, House Republican Leadership states, “A federally sanctioned, independent investigation conducted by your office will ensure complete transparency regarding these suspected and unacceptable incidents. Your investigation will also preclude the inevitable possibility that the New Mexico Department of Health will fail to take necessary steps to prevent such cases in the future.”

The New Mexico DOH DD waiver program is partially funded by HHS. Republican Leadership is seeking an independent investigation in order to ensure transparency and justice for the victims and their families.

The letter continues, “Unfortunately, the State of New Mexico has a rather dismal record of protecting vulnerable populations who are under the care of state agencies and who receive needed services through state administered programs. These recently discovered cases of alleged abuse, neglect and exploitation create a new round of questions and concerns.”

NM Supreme Court rules on judicial pandemic emergency protocols

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

As New Mexico’s COVID-19 pandemic emergency is set to end on Friday, the state Supreme Court has just ruled that face masks will no longer be mandated in courthouses statewide. 

“Face masks will no longer be required in [New Mexico] courthouses after March 31, under [a] decision by state Supreme Court. Jurors will also not have to complete health screening,” wrote Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal.

The decision “comes as pandemic-related public health order set to expire after three-plus years,” he added. 

Earlier in March, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Department of Health announced the end of the emergency declaration. However, the governor continued to urge residents to get jabbed with the COVID-19 inoculation.

“I urge all New Mexicans, and particularly those who are older or who have compromised immune systems, to get vaccinated or get their booster shots if they have not done so already,” she said at the time.

“New Mexico declared a public health emergency at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. Since then, the State of New Mexico has aligned its emergency orders with the federal government to ensure every available resource was utilized in the state’s COVID-19 response,” wrote the Department.

Under Lujan Grisham’s strict pandemic emergency orders, around 40 percent of small businesses in the state shuttered, according to the New Mexico Department of Tourism.

After Vasquez’s pro-criminal vote, top GOP PAC launches billboard campaign

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced it is launching a nationwide billboard campaign targeting vulnerable House Democrats who have embraced pro-criminal policies. 

Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico’s Second Congressional District is a name included on that list, who recently voted to reduce penalties for violent criminal offenders. Vasquez is a freshman won by a little over 1,000 votes in the November 2022 election.

“Crime is surging in these vulnerable Democrats’ backyards and they are signaling they don’t care,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said. “A slap on the wrist for violent criminals is too extreme even for President Biden, but not extreme enough for these Democrats.”

Other House Democrats being focused on include Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. 

The move comes as a crime wave has bludgeoned New Mexico, specifically Albuquerque, which Vasquez partially represents. 

2022 was the deadliest year on record in Albuquerque, with 121 homicides. New Mexico was ranked the state with the highest kidnapping rate in the nation. Businesses are also closing due to the crime epidemic plaguing the state.

Walmart shuttering crime-ridden ABQ location after nearly 40 years in business

37 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

The violent wave of crime plaguing New Mexico, specifically in Albuquerque, is forcing Walmart at 301 San Mateo Boulevard Southeast to close its doors after nearly 40 years in business at the location. The store is located in the War Zone, also known as the “International District,” known for its crime epidemic.

Walmart spokeswoman Lauren Willis said the store, which has 287 employees, was first opened at the location in 1985 — 38 years ago. The employees will be given the option to transfer to other locations in the city.

Business Insider recently reported, “Walmart did not answer questions about whether crime rates at the Albuquerque location were responsible for the decision to close it. But Albuquerque police officers had their hands full with the store in the past year. The Albuquerque Journal reports that 708 calls were made requesting police service at or near the store in 2022.” 

According to a KOB 4 report, “Police were called to the Walmart at San Mateo near Central more than 1,400 times for various calls in 2019. That’s almost four calls every day.”

The closure of the Albuquerque location, as well as locations across crime-ridden states, came after Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon warned last December that certain “stores will close” if high theft rates didn’t slow down.

Cleveland.com reported that the total number of Walmart location closures are as follows: “Arkansas (1 store), Georgia (2), Florida (1), Hawaii (1), Illinois (3), Indiana (1), Minnesota (1), New Mexico (1), Oregon (2), Texas (1), Washington (1), Washington, D.C. (1) and Wisconsin (1).” 

Reports note how the shuttering of the Albuquerque Walmart “will impact lower-income residents,” as KRQE 13 reported. 

Resident Gabriel Sena told the outlet, “It’s gonna be sad for them, you know, because some people don’t have cars, and this is where they go, and all they have is Smith’s now down on Yale, but that might be out of the way too.” 

Exclusive: NM School Boards Assoc. responds to leaked conference audio

19 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Over the past week, Freedom Families United released an undercover video appearing to show a 2022 New Mexico School Boards Association conference training where the trainer, Andrew Sanchez, made remarks that “parental rights end when you send your kids to public school.” 

After the Piñon Post’s request for comment to the New Mexico School Boards Association (NMSBA), the organization’s executive director, Joe Guillen, a former Española School Board member, has issued a response, decrying the video as “clearly mischaracterized” and affirming that the NMSBA has not “advocated for a diminished role of local control or parental rights in determining local educational policy and content.”

The full response from Mr. Guillen is as follows:

Thank you for your message and for sharing the subject YouTube video. Let me begin by assuring you the New Mexico School Boards Association (NMSBA) values and recognizes the important role parental participation and engagement play in the success our schools and students in New Mexico. We encourage our members to make parent involvement a central part of their community outreach efforts to help ensure their policies and programs reflect and meet the needs of their students.

A little background on the process we utilize in selecting breakout sessions at each of four major conferences. Prior to each conference we issue a request for presentation proposals which is distributed to numerous officials, agencies and law firms involved in public education. Upon receipt of presentation proposals we select approximately 18 and place them in three concurrent time slots allowing school board members to pick and choose those to attend among the various topics. See the attached listing of training sessions for our Annual Conference held in Albuquerque last December where the subject session was presented. You will note the wide range of training topics we attempt to offer.

Andy Sanchez, is a well-known and longtime school attorney with over 25 years of experience with the Cuddy & McCarthy Law Firm and more recently with the Himes, Petrarca & Fester Law Firm. He has presented at our conferences regularly on a host of school related topics. We felt the topic of his presentation was very timely given the recent adoption of new social studies standards by the NM Public Education Department.

The presentation, which the website video clearly mischaracterized, focused on the current federal and state laws and the court cases on the role of local control and parents in the curriculum development and review process. The presentation did not discount the role or value of local control or parents in the educational process. To be clear, neither NMSBA or the presenter advocated for a diminished role of local control or parental rights in determining local educational policy and content. Many of those in the audience who were present for the entire session, were complimentary of the information presented. While the session lasted approximately 60 minutes, the website video picked 2.5 minutes of the presentation to attempt to make a point clearly unrelated to the purpose and content of the presentation.

NMSBA remains focused on the topics that most impact students and teachers—ensuring every classroom is staffed with a highly qualified teacher; increasing broadband internet access to close the ‘homework gap;’ supporting historically disadvantaged students; supporting students with disabilities and mental health needs; and addressing the learning loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanchez’s talk appears to have come from a 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. slot on December 3, 2022, at the conference titled “Parent Attempts to Opt-Out of Curriculum and Teachers, including a Review of CRT and Parent-rights.” According to the conference schedule, around 80 people were in attendance. The full schedule for the conference was provided by Mr. Guillen, which is linked here. 

NM school board trainer on hot mic: ‘Parental rights end’ in public school

NM school board trainer on hot mic: ‘Parental rights end’ in public school

28 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

A new undercover audio recording released by Freedom Families United, a group that specializes in exposing educators and systems pushing “woke” policies, appears to show a New Mexico School Boards Association trainer, Andrew Sanchez, teaching school board members anti-parent policies.

“We’re going to start basic, really basic, power of the board. You… shall have the following power: to develop educational policy for the school district,” Sanchez says. 

“So guess what? You are potential targets with regards to any understandings of parental rights and/or subjects of curriculum.”

He told the school board members in training, “Remember, your most powerful governing tool is the power of the pocketbook. The school district doesn’t do anything unless you’re going to fund it, right? These are very fine points of why you’re so valuable and so important with regards to public education.” 

“Parental rights are developed by the common law. The idea of the common law was that only parents had the ability to tell… to say what was important for their child. Religious freedom: What basically the argument that has been happening now is people are arguing that the religious beliefs trump and allow them to discriminate against others.” 

He continued in the leaked audio, “In other words, now they are saying that the constitutional rights have precedence over each other. So you’re going to see a lot more everything based on that religious freedom-type argument.” 

“There are reasons why when you send your kid to school, you’ve given up some of that constitutional right. So, they can make decisions with regards to their [kids] without limitations on the custody and care… but when you send them to school, and by requiring school attendance, you don’t have that fundamental right anymore. In other words, the fundamental right of parents with regards to education is you get to pick the school [the child] goes to. You do not have the fundamental right to tell the school district how to teach your child. Your choice is if you don’t like it, you can go to a private school that was more aligned with your political or your religious beliefs” (emphasis added).  

Sanchez said, “So, this all boils down to parental rights being: They have the right to pick the system they want their kid to enter, but once they enter it, they cannot tell a public school how to teach their child or what to teach your child. You have the fundamental right, but once you’ve entered the public school system, the public school system prevails. Again, parental rights end when you send your kids to public school” (emphasis added).

He also went on to bash free states like Florida, erroneously claiming that the state “doesn’t even teach the Civil War anymore,” which is false. 

He said, “What you teach this generation that will soon be voting — the kids that are graduating next year turn 18 and vote in ‘24 — are instrumental to the future of us as a democracy and as society goes forward,” leaving out that the United States is a constitutional republic, not a democracy.” 

The Piñon Post contacted the New Mexico School Boards Association for comment but has not received a response as of publication. If the Association does respond, its comments will be updated in this article.

Watch the full video here:

Watch a snippet of the longer video here:

New ABQ abortion facility has ‘starting goal’ of killing 75 babies weekly

32 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, “Whole Woman’s Health,” an abortion facility formerly located in Texas, opened a new location in Albuquerque. It is located at 718 Lomas Boulevard Northwest.

The abortion company, which has been active for around 20 years, had abortion mills in Austin, McAllen, Fort Worth, and McKinney, Texas, before the state passed life-affirming laws protecting the rights of children in the womb from abortions.

Axios noted that the new Albuquerque abortion center “will serve New Mexico residents, plus folks from other states, like Texas and Oklahoma,” touting its abortion tourism in the Land of Enchantment. The facility has disclosed that 21 patients from Texas and three from Louisiana have already booked appointments at the Duke City abortion mill to kill their children over opening weekend.

The facility will perform first and second-trimester abortions up to 18 weeks of the child’s gestational age. It plans on expanding those services to late-term abortions “up to 24 weeks in the near future.” Also offered at Whole Woman’s Health are abortion pills at up to 11 weeks while setting a “starting goal” of killing up to 75 babies per week.

Axios reported, “Whole Woman’s Health chose Albuquerque because it’s in a ‘safe state’ and is easy to fly into,” meaning abortion is legal up to the moment of birth in New Mexico with absolutely no safety requirements for mothers, babies, or medical professionals.

The abortion company’s president and CEO, Amy Hagstrom Miller, said, “she chose a city over a small border town so patients and staff could be in a more populated area where they could blend in.”

The news comes after late-term abortionist Curtis Boyd, who is responsible for more infant deaths than any other abortionist in American history, has stopped offering abortions later in pregnancy in his Albuquerque center, Southwestern Women’s Options, which also previously had a location in Dallas, Texas before shuttering. 

Photo rendering of the proposed Holtec consolidated interim storage facility courtesy of Holtec International.

Law trying to ban Holtec project faces imminent court challenge

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

During the 2023 Legislative Session, Democrats rammed through the extreme S.B. 53 despite bipartisan opposition. 

Sens. Moe Maestas (D-Bernalillo) and Jerry Ortiz y Pino (D-Bernalillo), as well as Reps. Ambrose Castellano (D-Ribera), Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), Meredith Dixon (D-Bernalillo), Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup), and Joseph Sanchez (D-Alcalde), joined all Republicans in opposition to the unconstitutional bill.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Doña Ana) and Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Santa Fe), aims to preempt the company Holtec International from being able to safely store used nuclear fuel rods in a temporary facility in Eddy and Lea Counties. Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham quickly signed it.

These safe fuel rods, housed in secure casks, would be transported by rail to the facility on train shipments specifically for storage. The project would account for over 350 new jobs. 

The casks are immune to hurricanes, floods, tornados, earthquakes, and even the impact of a plane crash. There would be no adverse effect on wildlife nor on groundwater, no radiological consequences in the event of a fire, and an inconspicuous design. 

The project, which already has gotten a positive environmental impact statement from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), is set to be approved within the next few weeks following the statement’s positive recommendation.

Despite the safe and secure record of nuclear production and storage from Holtec International, Democrats weaponized anti-nuclear propaganda during the committee process and on the House and Senate floors to claim the safe facility would turn New Mexico into a dumping ground — despite the facility not being permanent. The spent fuel would be stored at the Holtec site “until the Federal Government provides a repository for permanent storage or other permanent disposition as required by law,” according to Holtec. 

New Mexico is ideal for such a facility due to its “typography, arid climate, [the] sparse population at the site’s location, and proximity to transportation infrastructure,” Holtec wrote.

Now, Holtec is signaling a legal challenge against the unconstitutional. Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien wrote, “Passing a bill that is pre-empted by federal law and will be adjudicated accordingly in the courts is a counterproductive action that inhibits the state’s growth in the area of clean energy,” adding, “The project is safe, secure and does not impact the environment negatively and does not interfere with oil and gas production.”

Even former Attorney General Hector Balderas, a Democrat, wrote that the state has no jurisdiction to ban nuclear fuel storage in New Mexico.

He wrote in 2018, referencing case law, “Taken together, both Bullcreek and Nielson clearly establish two principles: first, that the NRC has the statutory authority to license and regulate consolidated interim nuclear waste storage facilities, and secondly, that the comprehensiveness of that federal regulatory scheme preempts virtually any state involvement.” 

Balderas further wrote in the opinion, “While there are a large number of factors that are considered by the NRC in evaluating a license application, state approval is not among them.” 

Even the Joe Biden administration has recognized the need for nuclear fuel, writing that it “made a commitment to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the energy industry by 2035. Nuclear energy is a part of that solution.” 

Despite all sides coming together in support of nuclear energy being a viable solution to our nation’s energy needs, Democrats continue to harp on decades-old fear tactics to keep investment, namely the multi-billion-dollar Holtec project, from investing in New Mexico’s future. However, the court challenge to the unconstitutional law is imminent.

Photo rendering of the proposed Holtec consolidated interim storage facility courtesy of Holtec International.

Haaland cancels Native American village’s Trump-era land agreement

12 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Joe Biden’s U.S. Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland, a former Democrat congresswoman from New Mexico, canceled the Alaskan ​​Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove’s 2019 land agreement between the tribe and the Interior Department.

“The land exchange would have allowed a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge that lies between the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska,” reported Native News Online (NNO).

Haaland’s office claimed the 2019 land agreement, signed by President Donald Trump’s former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, “contained several procedural flaws and was not consistent with Departmental policy” in defense of the cancellation of the tribe’s land deal.

“Tuesday’s announcement kills plans for a road to King Cove, Alaska, where almost 1,000 residents live, without access by a road. Currently, residents must travel by air or boat to get to more populated areas of Alaska,” NNO further reported. 

Haaland said following the announcement, “The debate around approving the construction of a road to connect the people of King Cove to life-saving resources has created a false choice, seeded over many years, between valuing conservation and wildlife or upholding our commitments to Indigenous communities. I reject that binary choice. I am a lifelong conservationist, and I believe deeply in the need to protect our lands and waters and honor our obligations to Tribal Nations. Respecting Tribal sovereignty means ensuring that we are listening – really listening – to Tribal communities.”

Suzanne Downing of Must Read Alaska wrote after the announcement: 

When Haaland was pressured to approve the ConocoPhillips Willow Project, a modest oil field in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, she did so against her will.

Haaland choked up while speaking with a room of Alaska Natives from the radical side of the spectrum who oppose the drilling permit, as she explained her agency had “difficult choices to make,” according to those present at the meeting.

…

​​Now, however, Haaland is in a dark mood. She lost face among Nuiqsut village leaders when she was forced to announce the Willow record of decision, and she was out for blood. She took her revenge on the people of King Cove, about half of which are Alaska Natives, by unilaterally taking back the land the department had already traded.

Haaland’s actions are inconsistent with her stated support for the Natives of Alaska. She denied a life-saving road for the purpose of face saving, virtue signaling and score settling in a corner of the world that the Biden Administration continues to treat as a colony.

Haaland has once again gone against tribal interests to instead side with radical left-wing “climate change” activists who would rather see these nations fail than give the Agdaagux Tribe autonomy.

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