December 1 is World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day.

AIDS is an affliction which impacts the lives of over 33 million people across the globe. Established in 1988 by the World Health Organization, World AIDS Day seeks not only to educate those unfamiliar with the epidemic but to focus positive action-oriented attention.

In America alone, over 1,000,000 people are living with AIDS.

In New Mexico, the number of people living with AIDS is over 2,700.

In a proclamation from President Obama, he notes that while the global AIDS number of people living with AIDS is high,

" . . . the death rate is slowly declining due, in part, to our Nation's global effort through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. However, HIV remains a leading cause of death worldwide. Women and children around the world are particularly vulnerable due to gender inequalities, gaps in access to services, and increases in sexual violence. While the statistics are distressing, new medications and scientific advancements give us reason for hope."

This news is encouraging, but there is a long road still ahead.

President Obama also calls for us to take part in appropriate activities which remember those lost to this disease as well as activities which comfort those who are living with AIDS.

In New Mexico, New Mexico AIDS Services provides education, support and community outreach to at-risk communities throughout our State.

They offer a variety of community-based health classes and even specialized education for women.

Like many other organizations which exist in our community, New Mexico AIDS Services relies heavily on donor support.

No matter how you choose to spend the day, the DPNM encourages you to remember those around you who may be living with AIDS or those in your life who have lost the fight against AIDS.

Will NM GOP Candidates Accept a Palin Endorsement?

Albuquerque, NM – As noted by New Mexico reporter Steve Terrell, Sarah Palin wil be in Roswell on December 1 to promote her new book, Going Rogue.

But will she pledge her support --solicited or otherwise-- for a Republican candidate for Governor while she’s in town?

According to Terrell's article, three of four NM GOP candidates for Governor have stated they would not be present at her book signing, simultaneously avoiding the all-important question: Would they accept a Palin endorsement?

“Some Republican candidates for governor have said they wouldn't actively seek a Palin endorsement, but they have also not ruled out accepting one,” said Josh Geise, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. "Now is the time for candidates to explicitely state whether they would accept a Palin endorsement or their reasons for not accepting it.

"New Mexicans deserve candidates who are willing to go on the record with their beliefs, but none of the Republicans seem willing to do so."

Former US Senator Weighs in on NM Governor's Race

**** This opinion column originally ran on Nov. 28 in the ABQ Journal

Way Too Early for All This GOP Mud-Slinging

By Fred Harris, ABQ Journal

I've been around politics for many years. I know how elections are won and I know how the game is played.

But I also know, and firmly believe in my heart, that there should be honor in the political process. After all, the winner of the coming governor's race will be referred to as "The Honorable" for the next four years.

Unfortunately, from the Republican candidates for governor, we've seen very little of that.

None of the four candidates running for the Republican nomination is well-known. None has ever held statewide office and they're all just now beginning to introduce themselves to New Mexicans.

However, instead of introductions founded on ideas and solutions for our state, the Republican candidates are introducing themselves by publicly tearing someone else down. That someone, of course, is the front-runner, Democratic Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.

New Mexicans won't go to the polls for another year. But already, the Republicans are attacking Denish with the malice and recklessness that we usually don't see until the weeks right before an election.

As a voter, I simply don't have the appetite for an entire year of this.

Take two weeks ago for example. Denish announced several key reform ideas to save New Mexico taxpayers money, including overhauling the capital outlay system and eliminating double-dippers. These are solid, much-needed reforms that I believe must be implemented, but at the very least, they're worthy of public debate and discussion.

Yet, the Republican candidates didn't offer their opinions. They didn't even offer constructive criticism. Instead, on the day that Denish proposed these reforms, the Republicans just found another reason to irresponsibly attack her character.

The Republicans don't only attack Denish when she makes a statement herself, but they attack her for virtually anything that may appear in the news on a given day. If a state bureaucrat gets into trouble, the Republicans point their guns at Denish. When Gov. Bill Richardson makes an announcement, they unleash a flurry of press releases attacking Diane. When the Lobos lose another football game, the Republicans blame Diane. (Well, that hasn't actually happened yet, but wait.)

I'm a little bit old school. I keep resisting being on Facebook and I don't "tweet." But if I did, my in-boxes would be filled every day with Republican attacks. Is this really the best way to use these new technologies?

I've known Diane Denish for many years. While her positions on the issues are fair-game, there is nobody in New Mexico who has served our state with more honor and distinction.

So to my Republican friends in the race, I say this: Elevate the level of discourse, please. Tell us where you stand on the issues. Tell us how you would balance the state budget or how you would strengthen the education system or create new jobs.

But if the Republicans think Diane Denish is going to sit quietly and take this, then they don't know Diane Denish.

Fred Harris is a UNM Professor Emeritus of Political Science. The former U.S. Senator from Oklahoma sought the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination.

GOP Spinning Health Care -- Again

With every legislative hurdle that Health Care reform clears, its chances of passing becomes more likely.

Even hardened opponents to health care reform admit that Democrats achieving 60 votes to bring the bill to the Senate floor for debate increases the bill's eventual success:

"Any senator (who) votes for this bill has to know that there's a 97 percent chance that this bill ends up passing" -- Sen. Kyl (R-AZ)

We aren't sure where that number comes from, but we'll take those odds. Kyl, by the way, is the minority whip in the Senate, so his words are pretty telling of Republican fortunes.

So, as usual, Republicans have resorted to doing what they do best -- trying to scare and mislead the public.

The latest attempt to do so has been the rather outrageous claim that the health care reform bills amount to a stack of paper which is longer than "War and Peace." While the bill is large, you would have to combine both the House and Senate versions of health care reform to get near the length of Tolstoy's tome.

So instead of spinning the issue beyond recognition, lets break down the number of what health care reform will mean to New Mexico:

• 434,000 uninsured New Mexicans would get insurance coverage through reform,
• 249,000 residents would be eligible for tax credits to purchase coverage,
• 292,000 seniors would receive preventative care services,
• 22,700 businesses would be eligible for tax credits to help make insurance more affordable

These numbers are nothing to scoff at -- in fact, they represent just a small portion of the way in which health care reform will benefit our citizens. Read more ways which health care reform benefits New Mexico.

Once again, the GOP is only trying to divert attention from the fact that they continue to offer no real solutions to our country's biggest challenges.

Dobbs for President?

Earlier this month, Lou Dobbs made international headlines when he left the airwaves of CNN after more than 25 years with the cable network.

He had been under increasing pressure to do so based on his perceived anti-immigration views and statements. Now, Dobbs is taking to the airwaves to share his feelings post-CNN.

Describing himself as "liberated and emancipated" since leaving the network (and while he is entitled to his own opinion -- however wrong it may be) his positioning towards elected office should raise our collective eyebrows.

In the same interview with WTOP, Dobbs said a presidential run in 2012 is "not crazy":

Again, we disagree with Dobbs on this point.

Among the reasons why Lou Dobbs would fail to make a good president are that he has given credence to the "birther" movement, calling into question President Obama's leadership; repeatedly asserted that Mexicans were trying to "take over" the Southwest (New Mexico included) and that illegal immigration is the single biggest threat to the American middle class.

Were Dobbs to enter the GOP-fray for the 2012 nomination, you could expect him to be among the far-right of the party on this issue -- such as renegade Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio or Tom Tancredo.

Personalities like Dobbs attempt to make immigration to the United States an 'us vs. them' issue, an over simplification which does not give credence to the multitude of aspects implicit to this debate.

Perhaps with Dobbs absent from the airwaves (for now) we have have a logical debate which helps to do what is just for all involved.

This Weekend's Showdown: Health Care Reform

After a dramatic lead-up to passing Health Care Reform in the US House of Representatives, it is now the US Senate's turn to do the same.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has no easy feat on his hands. Whipping support among his fellow party members -- some of whom are in tough re-election scenarios -- is about as easy as herding cats. (Luckily for New Mexicans, our two Senators are behind the reform efforts.)

With the Democratic Party providing little in the way of a litmus test for candidates, our proverbial "big tent" houses lots of folks from a diverse set of backgrounds.

So as Reid soldiers on towards reform in the Senate, we are happy to hear this morning that Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- a fairly conservative Senator from an even more conservative state -- has indicated his support for bringing the issue of health care reform to the Senate floor.

This leaves two Senators -- Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu -- the focus of Reid's efforts to bring the bill to debate. Recent polling has shown that voters in Kansas, Louisiana, and Arkansas overwhelmingly support both bringing the bill to the floor for debate as well as eventually voting on the bill.

We don't understand the harm of debating the bill and given the positive score from the Congressional Budget Office, there is even less of a reason for delaying debate on this bill -- which includes a public option.

The longer the delay to debate, the higher the chances of hacks like Glenn Beck can mislead and misinform the American public. In his latest rant, Beck compares the health care reform bills to the unmitigated downfall of America as we know it(!):

Arianna Huffington (while on MSNBC) accurately calls Beck's outbursts "fear-mongering." The Anti-Defamation League concurs.

While we New Mexicans are notorious for resisting the influence of others -- recently noted by Vice President Joe Biden on a stop in Albuquerque -- it is hard to stay immune to such pernicious speech.

With visits to New Mexico from RNC Chairman Michael Steele and an upcoming visit by Sarah Palin, as much as we try to resist, folks like Beck & Co. will be trying harder than ever to leverage their influence in the upcoming elections -- it is up to us to call them out on it.

Today is "Feed America Day"

As we noted yesterday through a release from the Democratic Party of New Mexico's Chairman, Javier Gonzales, the state party is fully supporting and encouraging all New Mexicans to donate what they can to their friends and neighbors across the state.

Links to charitable organizations can be found below:

Road Runner Food Bank -- Albuquerque
The Food Depot -- Santa Fe
ECHO, Inc. -- Farmington
The Community Pantry -- Gallup
Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico -- Las Cruces
Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico -- Clovis
The Salvation Army Southeastern New Mexico Food Bank -- Hobbs

While we are encouraged by the outpouring of support we have witnessed already due to this event, we are troubled that one of the proposals being considered to narrow the budget gap is a gross receipts food tax.

According to the report, before the food tax was repealed in 2004, average New Mexican families were paying $225 per year on food tax alone. With the economy already challenging us on a daily basis and many New Mexicans out of work, taxing essentials such as food would put even more strain on budgets.

The news of this proposal comes on the heels of a report which states that taxes in New Mexico are already regressive -- meaning that the poorest New Mexicans are taxed disproportionally to their income.

Taking food off the table is never a good choice, and while we're not opposed to tightening our belts, it shouldn't be because we can't afford to purchase food.