Politics

Dems seek to make NM’s minimum wage the highest in the nation

27 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Despite even mainstream news organizations shining a light on the harmful ramifications of the newly increased $12 per hour minimum wage, Democrats in the state legislature are doubling down on their attempts to raise the wage even higher.

State Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), who chairs the New Mexico House Taxation and Revenue Committee, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that she is “introducing a bill to raise the minimum wage to $16 per hour by January 2024, which would be the highest statewide minimum wage in the country.”

The outlet further reported, “Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, also plans to introduce minimum or ‘living wage’ legislation raising it above $15 per hour.”

“Fifteen dollars might not be enough for a living wage,” she said. “Right now I’m leaning toward something higher than $15.”

Currently, the highest minimum wage in the country is in California at $15 per hour.

Mainstream TV station KOAT 7 admitted the extreme dangers of minimum wage increases this week in a report, writing that such policies will result in employers forced to “cut hours, automate tasks and demand more.” 

The station interviewed an associate professor of finance at the University of New Mexico, Reilly White, who said, “As rates increase, that does help a lot of people employed at the minimum wage.” He added, “But, on the other side of it, it does interesting things, particularly to businesses.”

“White says it could also come at a cost to workers. He says some employers might reduce hours, demand more work out of their employees and automate some jobs like grocery store registers,” KOAT reported.

“It affects the types of people hired,” White said. “Another example is employers usually forgo hiring inexperienced workers like teenagers in favor of older, more experienced workers, making it harder for younger people to get a start in the market. So, it’s an interesting dynamic that affects a lot of different things across the workforce.”

“If we would have been $15 [in 2019] and indexing all along, we would be in the neighborhood of $16 now,” Chandler said. “It reflects the reality on the ground. It’s what workers need to earn a living wage. The past bill was a good bill, but it was a compromise that didn’t go far enough.”

The extreme increases in the minimum wage will certainly harm businesses and workers, but the Democrats are intent on pushing these wage hikes at the cost of the business owner and the taxpayer.

Dems seek to make NM’s minimum wage the highest in the nation Read More »

KOAT 7 report admits minimum wage increase harms businesses, workers

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

This Sunday, New Mexico’s minimum wage is set to increase to $12.00 per hour or 50 cents more than the current wage. The new wage will be mandated beginning the first day of the New Year. Despite leftists using increases in the minimum wage to claim it is for social justice reasons, the increase will harm businesses and workers.

Mainstream TV station KOAT 7 even admits it, writing that the increase will result in “cut hours, automate tasks and demand more.” 

The station interviewed an associate professor of finance at the University of New Mexico, Reilly White, who said, “As rates increase, that does help a lot of people employed at the minimum wage.” He added, “But, on the other side of it, it does interesting things, particularly to businesses.”

“White says it could also come at a cost to workers. He says some employers might reduce hours, demand more work out of their employees and automate some jobs like grocery store registers,” KOAT reported.

“It affects the types of people hired,” White said. “Another example is employers usually forgo hiring inexperienced workers like teenagers in favor of older, more experienced workers, making it harder for younger people to get a start in the market. So, it’s an interesting dynamic that affects a lot of different things across the workforce.”

New Mexico Senate Finance Chairman George Muñoz (D-Gallup), a business owner, criticized the wage increase, saying that despite him already paying his workers above the $12 new minimum wage, he is “worried about the future.”

“What’s the next thing? What are they going to tell us?” he said. “So they’re going to say, ‘Well, you know what, we need to do some price controls. We’re going to tell you how much you should charge for your burrito.’” 

According to the IZA World of Labor, “minimum wages reduce employment among low-wage, low-skill workers. Second, minimum wages do a bad job of targeting poor and low-income families. Minimum wage laws mandate high wages for low-wage workers rather than higher earnings for low-income families.”

More companies are automating tasks and cutting staff due to increases in minimum wages, which decrease available jobs and force employers to cut back on critical investments in their businesses.

KOAT 7 report admits minimum wage increase harms businesses, workers Read More »

Heinrich continues his crusade against gas stoves

28 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In his latest move, Democrat U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is once again attacking his most fierce nemesis — the gas stove. You read that right. While New Mexicans struggle to heat their homes and feed their families, Heinrich is passionately joining a crusade of enviro-Marxists working to ban gas stoves. About 35 percent of Americans have gas stoves, according to the Census Bureau. Heinrich wants to make that zero percent.

In a December 22 tweet, Heinrich wrote, “Many people are unaware of the high level of dangerous indoor air pollutants emitted by gas stoves. That’s why I joined @SenBooker and a number of our colleagues in urging the Consumer Product Safety Commission to help protect Americans from these hazards.”

In an attached letter to the tweet, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) write, “In addition to the climate impacts, these emissions represent real health risks to millions of Americans. Both NO2 and PM2.5 are known to exacerbate respiratory conditions. Short-term exposure to NO2 is linked to worsening asthma in children, and long-term exposure has been determined to likely cause the development of asthma. Both pollutants have also been linked to cardiovascular impacts and a range of other adverse health issues. Even low-level CO exposure can exacerbate cardiovascular illness among people with coronary heart disease and other vulnerable populations.”

The lawmakers, including Heinrich, demand the following measures be taken to limit gas stoves:

• Require gas stoves to be sold with range hoods that meet mandatory performance standards, assessing their efficiency of removing the pollutants, 

• Where feasible, issue mandatory performance standards for gas stoves that address steady-state-off leakage, including requiring automatic shut-off valves, 

• Where feasible, issue mandatory performance standards for gas stoves that address the health impacts of hazardous emissions, 

• Require labels on gas stoves that educate consumers about their exposure risks, 

• Launch a public education campaign on the health risks of cooking with a gas stove, and steps that consumers can take to minimize their risk. 

Previously, Heinrich made a big stink about gas stoves, claiming using one was comparable to letting one’s babysitter smoke around a child. 

It’s unclear what Heinrich’s obsession with banning gas stoves is all about, but Heinrich has been on this tear for years. 

In July of 2021, Heinrich wrote on Twitter, “When you trade out your gas stove for an electric one you lower your monthly energy bills, create jobs, and move us closer to a zero-emissions future. And a bill I’ll be introducing would give you money back for doing that. This is how we build a clean energy powered economy.”

Heinrich previously bragged on social media about supposedly electrifying his home, sharing a video of him installing a new heat pump to supposedly save the planet. 

Heinrich has his most unhinged take yet — this time about gas stoves

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NM Supreme Court to hear case against Dems’ gerrymandered maps in January

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On January 9, 2023, the New Mexico Supreme Court will hear arguments in the suit brought by the Republican Party of New Mexico (RPNM) against the Democrats’ congressional maps, according to reports. The map drawing came after the 2020 Census required by law that reapportionment of district boundaries happen based on population.

RPNM is suing after Democrats rammed through extreme partisan gerrymandered maps last December that shifted the congressional map extremely in their favor. In the Second Congressional District, represented by GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell, the gerrymandering swung the seat from favoring Republicans by 14 points to now favoring Democrats by four points, according to FiveThirtyEight. That made Democrat Gabe Vasquez narrowly win the seat in the November 8 election.

The lawsuit claims Democrats illegally designed the new map to damage the reelection chances of the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation, which now has proven to be an accurate assertion following the November 8 General Election.

The “drafters intentionally ‘cracked’ Republicans in southeastern New Mexico, thereby substantially diluting their votes,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that Democrats intentionally split communities of interest for political gain.

The Democrat-drawn map, which was originally made by the dark money George Soros-funded group the “Center for Civic Policy” (CCP), achieved the partisan gerrymander by plunging the Democrat-dominated South Valley of Albuquerque into the Second District while putting more conservative areas such as Hobbs and Roswell in the First and Third Congressional Districts.

In April, District Judge Fred Van Soelen of Clovis ruled it was too late to hear the case due to the approaching June 7, 2022, primary election. That has sent it to the state Supreme Court, which has taken the case. All five members of New Mexico’s fully Democrat Supreme Court either have been supported by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who signed the maps into law, or were appointed by the governor. 

Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Roswell’s Democrat Mayor Tim Jennings, State Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice), and a group of Republican voters. 

Leftist groups caught offering $50 bribes for testimony backing partisan redistricting maps

NM Supreme Court to hear case against Dems’ gerrymandered maps in January Read More »

Sen. Luján hints at higher ambitions while promoting Hispanic Dems

16 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Friday, the Washington Post published an article claiming New Mexico is “a model” for Democrats to win elections, pointing to the Hispanic Democrats elected statewide and in the composition of the state Legislature.

First-term Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who was elected on the coattails of his father, former state representative and Speaker of the New Mexico House Ben Luján, claimed Democrats “showed up in places that Republicans usually don’t have to worry about showing up.” He claimed, “It’s how I was raised. It’s how dad did it. It was part of our strategy when we were successful before — you need to go talk to folks.”

The senator, who was previously the assistant House speaker, never showed up in New Mexico during most of his congressional tenure. Instead, in election years such as 2018, he wasn’t even spotted on Election Day in the state, opting to be in Washington, D.C., with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

In the article, Democrats tried to paint New Mexico as the model for other states to elect Democrats, with state Rep. Javier Martínez (D-Bernalillo) claiming the recent tenure of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez from 2011 to 2019 was a fluke. He said Martinez was able to “break through the ranks and able to appeal to a wider range of voters.” He said now that Republicans’ “nominees have been candidates that do not relate to large enough numbers of voters.”

Luján hinted in the article at his own ambitions to run for Senate leadership, taking after former Sen. Dennis Chavez. 

The Washington Post article noted, “The first Hispanic senator, Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo, a Republican, was elected in 1928. The second was Dennis Chavez, a Democrat, who Luján said he tries to emulate, a sign that his goal is moving into Democratic leadership. Chavez was the fourth ranking Democrat when he died in office in 1962.” 

Others claim Republicans running in New Mexico are “extremists,” and that is how they have not been able to win in recent years, despite recent nominees, such as Mark Ronchetti for governor, being moderate. 

Sen. Luján hints at higher ambitions while promoting Hispanic Dems Read More »

Congress OKs plan to rob Permanent Fund for socialist ‘free’ daycare

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a leftist stop-gap bill filled with $1.7 billion in mostly pork along with the final stamp of approval by Congress for New Mexico to further rob the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund of billions of dollars to delve out socialist “free” (taxpayer-funded) daycare programs. The bill now heads to Joe Biden’s desk, where he is certain to approve it.

All members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation voted for the measure except for U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell of the Second District.

The portion was hidden in the sweeping 4,126-page bill that included things such as $45 billion in further aid to Ukraine, the partisan “Electoral Count Act” said to “prevent another January 6,” more security for lame duck House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among millions of dollars in enviro-Marxist policy measures. 

Previously, the second to final hurdle was met by New Mexico to fund the socialist program after around 70 percent of voters in the 2022 General Election voted for the program.

“Voting in favor of this bill is a dereliction of our duty on all counts,” 31 current and incoming House Republican lawmakers said in an open letter published Wednesday to their Senate colleagues before the chamber had 18 Republicans join Democrats to ram through the costly bill.

Now, the state of New Mexico can rob the Permanent Fund of another 1.25%, which adds up to hundreds of millions annually. 

The new spending approved by Congress will further exacerbate the United States’ $31.5 trillion in debt.

Congress OKs plan to rob Permanent Fund for socialist ‘free’ daycare Read More »

Enviro-Marxists rejoice after Farmington fails to save San Juan Generating Station

12 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

“With a heavy heart,” the City of Farmington has decided to abandon its plans to salvage hundreds of jobs connected to the San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) by retrofitting the plant with carbon capture technology. 

The Albuquerque Journal reported, “The city announced its decision late Tuesday to end all efforts to acquire the plant from Public Service Company of New Mexico and other co-owners after an arbitration panel for transfer negotiations refused to block PNM and the other utilities from moving forward on decommissioning and demolition preparations. The city said the arbitration panel’s position struck a ‘catastrophic blow’ to the plant conversion effort, which Farmington has pursued for more than four years with private development partner Enchant Energy Corp.”

“Given PNM’s and the other co-owners’ actions to quickly dismantle SJGS, and the (arbitration) panel’s recent decision to allow them to do so, we have arrived at a point where those actions directly undermine the viability of successful implementation of the carbon capture project,” Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett wrote in a statement.

Farmington owns a five percent stake in SJGS, which closed on September 30, 2022. 

According to PNM, the Generating Station will begin to be demolished in the spring of 2023, expected to last two to three years. 

With the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, it has purged countless jobs, with only around 80 employees able to retire. “For the rest of the employees, though, they’re going to have to go find some other form of employment,” said plant manager Omni Warner. 

The AP reports, “El Paso Electric, a utility that serves customers in southern New Mexico, also is expecting a capacity gap next summer. Like PNM, El Paso Electric will have to buy power from other producers to ensure adequate capacity when customers crank up their air conditioners during the hottest of days.”

With the critical energy plant shuddered, utilities are being forced to raise their rates, such as PNM, which is requesting to raise rates due to the enviro-Marxist “Energy Transition Act,” the state’s version of the Green New Deal signed by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2019.

After the news of the San Juan Generating Station’s imminent demolition, radical environmentalists rejoiced. 

Mike Eisenfeld, the “energy and climate program manager” with the eco-left San Juan Citizens Alliance, said, “The city needs to reevaluate its perspective on energy development and focus on renewable energy to create jobs and improve the environment.”

PNM asks to raise rates by up to nine percent due to MLG’s Green New Deal

Enviro-Marxists rejoice after Farmington fails to save San Juan Generating Station Read More »

For second straight day, ambulance spotted at ABQ late-term abortion mill

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

For the second straight day in a row, an ambulance was spotted at the Albuquerque late-term abortion mill Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO). 

On Tuesday, another ambulance was spotted at the abortion facility picking up a patient from another potentially botched abortion.

Regarding the Wednesday ambulance dispatch, pro-life legal group Abortion On Trial wrote, “For the second day in a row witnesses saw an ambulance leaving Curtis Boyd’s Southwestern Women’s Options late-term abortion facility. This is beyond a point of abortion position. This facility is a danger to the public.” 

The abortion facility proudly advertises abortion up to and after 32 weeks gestation — full-term abortions. 

Abortion up-to-birth is currently legal in New Mexico, with no protections for women, babies, or medical professionals. 

SWO is operated by abortionist Curtis Boyd, who is responsible for tens of thousands of children’s death via abortion. He and his associates are also large donors to pro-abortion Democrat politicians such as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who signed the 2021 abortion up-to-birth bill into law.

Patient transported by ambulance from ABQ abortion mill

For second straight day, ambulance spotted at ABQ late-term abortion mill Read More »

Patient transported by ambulance from ABQ abortion mill

21 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, an ambulance was spotted transporting a patient from the late-term abortion mill Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) in Albuquerque.

The pro-life legal group Abortion On Trial shared the photos taken by pro-life sidewalk counselor Christina Garza with the caption, “Yet another person was sent away from Southwestern Women’s Options in an ambulance today.”

The group commented, “When will the state of New Mexico start caring about the fact that this facility is a danger to women?”

The abortion facility proudly advertises abortion up to and after 32 weeks gestation — full-term abortions. 

Abortion up-to-birth is currently legal in New Mexico, with no protections for women, babies, or medical professionals. 

SWO is operated by abortionist Curtis Boyd, who is responsible for tens of thousands of children’s death via abortion. He and his associates are also large donors to pro-abortion Democrat politicians such as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who signed the 2021 abortion up-to-birth bill into law.

As Gov. MLG signs abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill, she decries ‘dehumanization’

Patient transported by ambulance from ABQ abortion mill Read More »

Dems’ Jan. 6 panel refers Pres. Trump, his NM-based lawyer for prosecution

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

During the last day of the partisan Nancy Pelosi-sanctioned January 6 committee hearing, the committee’s members referred 45th President Donald J. Trump, among others, including his former lawyer John Eastman, for prosecution. Eastman lives in Santa Fe and has been constantly harassed by far-left protesters outside of his residence for months.

“We believe that the evidence described by my colleagues today … warrants a criminal referral of former President Donald J. Trump, John Eastman, and others,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland).

The sham committee referred Trump for prosecution on the following counts:

  • Obstruction of an official proceeding;
  • Conspiracy to defraud the United States;
  • Conspiracy to make a false statement; and
  • Conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by assisting, aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection

Eastman faces the same referral on alleged “Obstruction of an official proceeding.” Legally, on January 6th, no such “insurrection” took place. There was no such conspiracy to defraud the country nor false statements made before the partisan committee.

Eastman’s legal representatives at Burnham & Gorokhov, PLLC wrote following the news, “A criminal ‘referral’ from a congressional committee is not binding on the Department of Justice and carries no more legal weight than a ‘referral’ from any American citizen,” adding, “In fact, a ‘referral’ from the January 6th committee should carry a great deal less weight due to the absurdly partisan nature of the process that produced it.”

“At its inception, the January 6th committee had the resources and mandate to make important contributions in the area of Capitol Security, Electoral Count Act Reform and other areas of potential legislation.  Sadly, this opportunity has been squandered in favor of concocting a pretend ‘criminal case’ from pretend prosecutors designed to create political advantage for the Democratic Party and stigmatize disfavored political groups.  The American people have been ill-served by the January 6th committee and its members,” the firm continued. 

According to the Albuquerque Journal, “A 154-page executive summary to the committee’s full investigation was released Monday. The summary mentions Eastman 166 times.”

Criminal charges are not mandatory of the Department of Justice and are at the discretion of special counsel Jack Smith.

Editor’s Note: Mr. Eastman is a donor to Piñon Post editor and founder Rep.-elect John Block’s campaign for state House District 51.

Dems’ Jan. 6 panel refers Pres. Trump, his NM-based lawyer for prosecution Read More »

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