My Page: Heath Haussamen
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Transparency? We Don’t Need Transparency…Would you believe that the House Appropriations and Finance Committee actually had the gall on Wednesday to table a bill that would open legislative conference committees and some other currently closed-door meetings to the public?
That even in these times, when the Richardson administration is dogged by pay-to-play allegations, when the former Senate president has admitted to using the legislative process to help steal millions of dollars in taxpayer money, when scandal after scandal after scandal is further jading an already skeptical public, the majority of members of the committee voted to shelve a proposal that would increase transparency and public confidence in the Legislature?
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Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Obama’s Spending Spree Won’t Fix This MessLet me get this straight: With the new stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama this week, we’re borrowing more money so we can spend more money to generate more spending of money so that we'll have more money to spend -- when this started with spending money we didn’t have in the first place. [more]
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Killing Ethics Reform Yet AgainThis isn’t Washington, where dollars for bridges to nowhere get added to controversial legislation to legally bribe lawmakers into voting for it. In Santa Fe, binding together a number of contentious proposals only increases the number of opponents of the bill.
If I didn’t know better, I’d be tempted to think the omnibus bill was an attempt to kill ethics reform once again. Oh, wait -- this is Santa Fe. Of course that’s what the omnibus bill is about.
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Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Trying a Case or Swaying Public Opinion?It’s no secret that most judges don’t like their cases tried in the media. That’s why most attorneys don’t turn their clients’ lawsuits into media circuses. So the actions of Victor Marshall and his client, Frank Foy, who is alleging in a civil lawsuit a pay-to-play scheme involving the Richardson administration, should raise eyebrows. This isn’t the ongoing federal, criminal grand jury investigation into allegations that the Richardson administration traded a lucrative state bond contract for $110,000 in contributions to Richardson political committees and his 2006 gubernatorial campaign. This is the allegation that the administration made state investments with Vanderbilt Financial and affiliated companies in exchange for a little more than $15,000 in contributions to Richardson’s 2008 presidential campaign. [more]
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Webcasting Would Change Santa Fe’s CultureThe simple truth is this: New Mexico is the fifth-largest state in the nation, land-wise, and it’s one of the poorest states around. For the vast majority of residents, traveling to Santa Fe -- a drive that could be as long as five hours -- to attend a legislative hearing is at least impractical, if not impossible. Many opponents of webcasting know this, and I suspect they like it because it gives them more power. [more]
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Learning From Bush’s Mistakes
The pressure is already on Obama from some corners to abandon his lofty ideals in favor of a more partisan scheme. Obama’s potential is great, but I hope he takes heed of Bush’s failure so he can avoid making the same mistakes. [more]
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Acting Like ‘Dictator Bush’Gov. Bill Richardson’s current troubles have me thinking back on past allegations that he was playing loose with the rules and bullying people. And that inevitably brings me back to my first real experience with the governor, during which I once compared him in a column to “Dictator Bush.” Richardson’s egregious actions actually inspired me to, for the first time, take advantage of my constitutional right to petition my government. [more]
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Shouldn’t Obama Have Seen This Coming?When Barack Obama announced his nomination of Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary in early December, my initial thought was something along the lines of, “That must mean the federal investigation of the governor’s administration has ended.” How wrong I was. [more]
Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Richardson Drops Another Bomb on NM politics
Since October 2007, New Mexico politics have been in a state of flux as the transition to the post-Pete Domenici era unfolded at the same time that the progressive takeover of American politics shifted the makeup of the state’s congressional delegation and Legislature.
We thought the dust was about to settle. Domenici was out. So were Wilson and Pearce. And Bill Richardson -- well, we all knew he came back to New Mexico to run for governor primarily so he could get another job in Washington, and we started 2009 thinking he was leaving to become commerce secretary.
Which would mean Diane Denish would become, in the coming weeks, the first woman to be governor of New Mexico.
But Richardson dropped another bomb on New Mexico politics on Sunday when he withdrew his nomination to be commerce secretary.
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Diary of a Mad Voter: Heath Haussamen
Newly Elected Officials Need Us To Stay InvolvedIt began with U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s retirement, and it ended with President-elect Barack Obama nominating Gov. Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary. In all, 2008 led to turnover in New Mexico politics on an almost unfathomable level.
As a result, New Mexico is greener, both in the political and experience senses of the word. It was a year of great opportunity for politicos who wanted to rise in the ranks, and many did. Of course, in this left-leaning year, most of the newbies are Democrats.
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