Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican checked to see how the sale of the state jet — the one Gov. Susana Martinez made a big issue to sell the state jet in her campaign, calling it the “ultimate symbol of waste and excess.” However, the jet still hasn’t been sold at $2.35 million less than what the state paid for it and it costs about $400,000 a year to fuel and maintain.

He reports:

However, the state hasn’t been spending much on fuel for the jet this year. The plane hasn’t been flown since early December, department spokesman Tim Korte said. It’s stored at the state hangar at the Santa Fe Municipal Airport, he said.

New Mexico’s Cessna is the newest model and the most expensive of the six aircraft listed on Wetzel Aviation’s website.

“There have been some inquiries, some interest,” Wetzel spokesman Bryon Mobley said Monday. But he said the bad economy has presented “challenges” in selling the aircraft.

Mobley said the average time for selling a jet like New Mexico’s is 90 to 180 days. The company was chosen for the contract about two months ago.

The asking price is slightly lower than other 2005 Citation Bravos listed on aircraft sale websites. One such jet in Texas — same model, same year — is being offered for $3.195 million.

Read the full article here.

Johnson said that while he disagrees with Martinez and her position on ending New Mexico’s medical marijuana program, he still voted for her. Johnson voted for her because of the Richardson administration’s excesses according to Terrell.

Johnson advocated for the legalization of marijuana in New Mexico while he was governor.

Terrell reports that Johnson, a Taos resident, also voted for Republican Tom Mullins in the 3rd Congressional District race “though he had to be reminded of Mullins’ name.”

Johnson has spent much of the year traveling around the country as part of his “Our America Initiative.” Some think this is a prelude to a run for President though Johnson has said he cannot say that he is running for President while honorary chairman of the non-profit Our America Initiative.

Terrell was writing about the revelation in a new book from Obama strategist David Plouffe that there was, after all, a deal between then-candidate Barack Obama and Gov. Bill Richardson during the 2008 Iowa Caucus—the two agreed that, in precincts where they couldn’t hope to win, they’d direct supporters to each other. 

The Richardson and Obama campaigns both denied at the time that such a deal existed. This was long before Richardson endorsed Obama, obviously, since he still had dreams of becoming president himself. Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley denied the deal’s existence to Terrell, who was in Iowa following the governor.

It was NMI’s sister site, the Iowa Independent, that first reported on the Obama/Richardson deal in Iowa.

Anyway, it’s time to get past campaign flacks not telling the truth and move onward in the blogosphere. Corey Pein of SF Reeper asks in a post, “Were names named in the undredacted PRC ethics survey?” If you care about open records, check it out.

Also, want an opinion on whether campaign contributions grease the wheels for highway construction in New Mexico? Check out today’s guest blog on Democracy for New Mexico.

NMI’s Danielle Bauer contributed to this report.

Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Steve Terrell, who pointed me to the AMA report, has done a great interview with one of the new medical marijuana non-profit owners. The new non-profit already has a Web site, called The NewMexiCannabis Project, which is available for all to see.

The Web site is under development, but there are already interesting tidbits there.  For example, one of the issues surrounding medical marijuana is the price. Many say that patients have to pay the same rates they would encounter on the black market, which for those who in many cases can’t work due to debilitating illnesses puts the drug out of reach.

The owner of NewMexiCann says his organization will work to solve that problem, and will also help potential patients who use the federal VA system find doctors outside that system who will recommend them for a license:

Are you a Licensed Patient in Hospice or undergoing advance Cancer Treatment who does not have the means to pay for your Medical Cannabis? Let us know. We will do our best to match you up with a sponsor who will pay half the cost and we will match it.

Are you a Veteran with a PTSD diagnosis from your VA psychiatrist but can’t get a Medical Cannabis recommendation because the VA docs hands are tied?  Contact us, we will help you find a doctor outside the VA system. If you are on disability and cannot afford the office visit, we will help with the cost.

Representative Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, (@BrianEgolf) Tweeted that he was unsuccessful in getting his revenue bills through the House Rules Committee.

Senator Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, (@senatorfeldman) used Twitter to criticize the scope of the special session, writing, “Looks like legislators are handcuffed into doing some minor bandaids on our gaping revenue wound thanks to the Gov. and conservatives.”

Other legislators making occasional use of Twitter are Senator Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque, (@tk4nm) and Al Park, D-Albuquerque, (@al_park).

While there are five Democrats on Twitter, the entire Republican Party in the House is on Twitter — kind of. @NMHOUSEGOP is the “official Twitter page of the NM House GOP.”

Governor Bill Richardson, D-N.M., is also on Twitter, with the account @GovRichardson. However, Richardson’s account hasn’t sent a tweet since the beginning of the special session.

Some in the media, and not just at NMI, have embraced the microblogging service.

KOB-TV reporter Gadi Schwartz (@GadiRoget) is one of the most active Twitter users in the Roundhouse. He used the service yesterday to inform followers that Governor Richardson was “sticking with his 1.5% cuts to edu[cation].”

Other media to follow for updates on the special session including Santa Fe New Mexican political reporter Steve Terrell (@steveterrell), Terrell’s employer the Santa Fe New Mexican (@thenewmexican), New Mexico Independent editor Gwyneth Doland (@gwynethdoland) and yours truly, Matthew Reichbach (@fbihop).

A good way to sift through what is relevant to the special session and what isn’t is the hash tag #nmspecial — that is, a phrase that is added to tweets about the special session to make it easier to search for them.

Organizers are hoping to attract thousands. Someone thought Michael Moore might be in his element.

I’ve seen Moore up close and personal once in my life, in 2004, when I covered the Democratic and Republican national conventions. He can deliver a fiery speech. Let’s just say that.

Follow NMI on Twitter and become a fan of NMI on Facebook. Got a news tip? Want to pitch a story idea? Send us an e-mail.

“I asked him point blank if he’s running and he said he indeed is. I’m not surprised,” Terrell wrote. “He was introduced at the recent lieutenant governor candidate forum as a candidate, and he didn’t put up any argument.”

The current Land Commissioner, Republican Pat Lyons, is term-limited and will be running for a Public Regulations Commission seat next year.

Richardson was born in Pasadena, Calif. to an American father and a Mexican mother.

The Milford Daily News, a newspaper from Massachusetts, says an anchor baby is “an offspring of an illegal immigrant or other non-citizen, who under current legal interpretation of the 14th Constitutional Amendment becomes a United States citizen at birth.”

The 14th amendment definition has gained some recent recognition from conservatives because of, in part, a section of a book by conservative Fox News and talk radio host Glenn Beck who mentioned the 14th Amendment and said the “21st century revision” of the amendment is:

All persons who successfully sneak into the country will be allowed to stay indefinitely. All crimes committed by those lawbreakers (i.e., identity theft, fraud, and tax evasion) will be ignored. These non-American Americans will be afforded free health care at emergency rooms, free education, and special in-state tuition deals at colleges, not afforded legal citizens. All children born of these lawbreakers shall immediately become citizens of the United States. Any person attempting to thwart this revision of Section I will be labeled racists, hatemongers, xenophobes, and all-around bad people.

Terrell, a veteran political reporter who has covered Richardson for years, writes of the assertion that Richardson is an “anchor baby:”

The governor’s grandfather was a biologist who collected specimens for several American museums, Richardson wrote. His dad was born when his family was headed to Central America on a field trip. “The fact that he was born outside the country was something my father resented all his life,” Richardson wrote [in his autobiography Between Worlds]. “He had an American upbringing, growing up in Boston.”

Granted, I’ve heard a couple of theories from Richardson haters that the elder Richardson wasn’t a citizen, but I haven’t given much thought to such chatter.

The Wall Street Journal called the Vigil-Giron indictment “the latest blow to New Mexico’s Democratic party” and cited a number of other recent ethics scandals involving Democrats, from Bill Richardson to Manny Aragon, as well as the efforts of other Democrats to clean up the mess by calling for more ethics reform.

On to horrible blog news — La Political New Mexico reports on one of the bloodiest weekends in Ciudad Juarez after 43 people were executed between Friday and Monday. One incident at a local bar left eight people dead after gunmen entered the establishment and began shooting victims at random. The 066 (emergency) number was called, but no one responded.

Next, Steve Terrell writes about the health care forum hosted by Rep. Ben Ray Luján in Santa Fe last night. He sums up the situation as “fairy sedate” and includes links to a couple of his stories in The Santa Fe New Mexican and a fact-checking Web site regarding health care reform funds and projections.

The right-of-center Mario Burgos posts a rather long blog giving reasons why he’s “really not feeling a lot of confidence in the proposed health insurance solutions.” He gives his personal commentary on “government-run” health programs.

It is important to note that his blog was inspired by an article from the ABQ Journal, which has recently come under fire for allegations of biased journalism.

Last, Cocoposts writes on “Impact Fees, ‘Sprall,’ and a Snootful of PGS.” She weighs in on half-built neighborhoods, taxes and growth management. She really has it all in this blog, which is why it’s worth a read.

NMI’s Danielle Bauer essentially wrote this posting. Why is my byline on it, you ask? Good question.