With $3 billion in corporate spending to influence the interim elections, accurate information about policies (including tax cuts) that benefit common folk over corporate profits doesn't have a chance. The messaging is too skilled and truth is reversed. Therefore, being forced to spend money to avert a new depression became proof of the Democratic Party's communist leanings; the 30 years of Republican policies that caused it are not discussed.

Pay no attention to our fantastical "financial market" of no substance built on 30 years of deregulation, a tax policy that has my family paying more federal taxes than Exxon, and the rise of a billionaire class at the same time that the standard of living of the great majority declined: those socialists are trying to take away our freedom!


Jobs will go

It is unbelievable that New Mexico has instituted cap-and-trade regulations. Raising electrical costs by $110 million will make the state less desirable for existing businesses and remove it from consideration for many new businesses. New Mexicans will have fewer jobs and higher utility bills because of the rules.

In his post-election remarks, the president acknowledged that there is no potential to pass this type of legislation on a national level. New Mexico will unfortunately provide one more example to the rest of the country on why not to impose high costs just to transfer carbon emissions, and the jobs associated with them, to places that ultimately get the work that leaves this state.


Not if, but when

ChemRisk's report on the potential for contaminants from Los Alamos National Laboratory to pollute drinking water via the Buckman Diversion Project lists seven Los Alamos aquifers that contain radionuclides and hazardous compounds; admits that data on the migration rates for these toxins is limited; and then concludes that there is no significant risk to water consumers.

Have we lost our ability to think critically, or do we no longer grasp the concept of risk? Both, I believe. Risk is calculated by multiplying the probability of an unfortunate event by the severity of the event's consequences. Since LANL toxins are already flowing into the Rio Grande above Buckman via migration pathways that are strengthening over time, and accelerated by storms that are increasing in intensity, I would say the probability of LANL contaminants eventually entering Santa Fe's water supply is roughly 100 percent. The risk, therefore, cannot be insignificant. It must be addressed.


Pass the plan

Santa Fe County has released its Sustainable Growth Management Plan for final public review and hearing. The Board of County Commissioners must act next Tuesday to approve this plan and move on to the enforcing code. The county should be proud of the plan, which creates a community-focused, future-oriented plan aimed at sustaining our land, water, community character and livability. It balances public and private interests, while addressing the urgent need to change in the face of climate change. The plan includes a transparent, democratic process for reviewing and approving new development.

We all need this plan, now. The commissioners can approve the plan and be on record as forward-thinking people who care about their community. Or not. It's up to them.


Tea party wish list

I voted straight Republican, but it was only because I couldn't vote straight tea party. I'm not interested in compromise with the left. I look forward to the day when it will be politically incorrect to say that people should pay taxes to the government or that medical care is a right.

We want to restore limited, constitutional government. We want courts to strike down laws not specifically authorized under the Constitution. We want to abolish unions, the Fed, the Patriot Act, Obamacare, Social Security and Medicaid. Instead of war, we want it to be legal for private citizens to hunt down and kill terrorists. Instead of TARP, we want banks to fail. We want to live in a peaceful, civil society, as opposed to a government-run prison run by a warden named Obama. We want freedom for ourselves and our children.