I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Former Senate Majority Leader and early Barack Obama supporter Tom Daschle stopped by New Mexico on Wednesday to speak with voters about rural and economic issues.
Daschle spoke in Los Lunas to a small group of supporters who assembled on short notice to hear the South Dakotan speak. Daschle spoke in Moriarity earlier in the day and was scheduled to attend the National Indian Gaming Association midyear meeting at Isleta Casino after the Los Lunas economic roundtable.
Daschle harshly criticized John McCain for his policies that affected rural Americans, most notably on McCain’s votes on farm bills.
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle speaking at an economic roundtable in Los Lunas. Photo by Matthew Reichbach
“John McCain has voted against every single farm bill that has come to vote in the Senate,” Daschle declared. “Every single one. Now I can understand voting occasionally against agriculture, but his record is clear as can be. He hasn’t supported one farm bill.”
One question from the audience was about whether or not the country needed a “New New Deal” because of the current economic troubles.
“This country needs a new deal very badly,” Daschle told the crowd.
Teachers involved in the roundtable asked Daschle about the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s signature education reform law. “The day we start teaching for tests and forgetting about the importance about teaching the child to want to learn … shame on us. We have to teach kids to want to learn.”
State Senate Majority Leader Ken Martinez responded, “I have to applaud to that,” and the crowd applauded the sentiment along with him.
The question on the mind of many people was directly related to the economic bailout being considered in the Senate today.
The economic bailout bill, Daschle said, “is the beginning of a reconstruction of our economy.”
The House voted against the bill on Tuesday, including two of the three New Mexico members of Congress. The Senate will vote on a new version of the bill Wednesday evening.
When asked by the New Mexico Independent how congressional leaders persuade their party to follow their lead, Daschle thought that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, did her job in the House.
Daschle noted, “The party voted 2-to-1 in support of it in the House.”
He says the best way to get Democrats to vote for the bill are the new additions to the bill.
The Democrats believe that it’s very important that the homeowners be treated fairly and that the taxpayers be provided opportunities to have the kind of equity in this investment that they have a right to expect. And so equity for taxpayers, fairness for homeowners and oversight for this entire effort is an essential part of it.
Daschle also said the CEOs should not benefit “even more than they already have from a system that’s been so deregulated.”
Daschle said Obama supported limits on how much CEOs of companies are allowed to make.
The former majority leader also said renewable energy can become a key part of the economy. Daschle, who narrowly lost his Senate reelection bid in 2004, said between wind, solar and other renewables, it can be an industry worth trillions of dollars.
“If we continue to grow our alternative energy development in this country, I think it could be bigger than the high tech industry of the last twenty years,” he said. “Much bigger.”
