It’s Fact: Obama as Left as They Come HAVING READ Eugene Robinson’s column, “Swift Boat Author Out To Torpedo Obama As ‘Leftist,’ ” I am left with the question is he that dumb or is he just willfully blind? Frankly I doubt that Robinson is dumb, so it must be a case of him having something to hide on behalf of Obama! It is a fact that Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate. [Fact: That’s based on a single analysis of a few bills. I think Ted Kennedy would object.] He tells us that he wants to soak the rich and redistribute income on a “fairer” basis. [Fact: I haven’t heard any of those words in any such combination from Obama. Stop lying.] The socialists and communists believe “from each according to his ability to each according to his needs.” [Question: Relevance? Who are the socialists and communists in America? Come on, have the balls to spell it out.] He wants to allow the George Bush income-tax reductions to expire. [Yes! Please!]Then he wants to raise the rate of capital gains tax from 15 percent to 28 percent, which means that the federal government is going to take an additional 13 percent of the yearly earnings on your retirement accounts in tax. If you should sell your house and make a profit on the deal in inflated dollars, Obama wants to take 28 percent of that profit rather than the 15 percent presently taken. He wants to give us governmental-run medical and hospital care. Check with anyone who lives under a government-controlled medical system. The immediate effect is to ration medical care. Every one of these programs Obama wants to install is socialism — right out of Karl Marx’s “Das Capital.” [Yeah, I get it, you can’t call Obama a communist but you can keep implying it. Gutsy guy.] Jerome Corsi [a self-serving criminal right wing nut case] calls Obama a “leftist” [Is that a big insult among your ilk?] because that is exactly what he is. Obama is a socialist [Took you long enough], and you cannot get any further left than that, unless you are willing to take up arms to bring about the dictatorship of the proletariat — doing the same thing through ballot box rather than by the muzzle of a gun. The end result is the same. The only real difference between socialism and communism it how you get from here to there. Be very careful what you wish for, the price may be very high in deprivation of your individual freedom. HAROLD A. TEETER
You poor, sad, pathetic man. How do you live with so much fear? No one has done more lately to curtail freedom in AmeriCo than Duhbya and Company. Wake up. peace, mjh
Albuquerque Shootings Show GOP Is Based in Hate A FEW WEEKS ago a gunman walked into a Universalist Church and shot and killed a number of people. Last week another gunman walked in Democratic headquarters in Arkansas and fatally wounded the chairman of the Democratic Party. In both instances the perpetrators were white males who hated “liberals.” Nobody has ever heard of a “liberal” shooting, stabbing or otherwise harming any other human being, because they espoused a different political ideology. The above incidents occur because the Republican Party — and its talk radio — constantly espouses hate. They do this through portraying all those who hold what they label as “liberal” views as unpatriotic, un-American, trying to destroy America and other characterizations structured to make people angry and to hate. ALAN PEZARO
GOP Going Down as It Heads Far Right THE NOMINATION of Steve Pearce, Darren White and Ed Tinsley and the election of Pat Rogers as GOP national committeeman indicates that the extreme right wing has taken control of the Republican Party. The Republican Party of Sen. Pete Domenici, Gov. David Cargo and Rep. Heather Wilson no longer exists. That party as we knew it is gone with the wind. The positions of these candidates as promoted in their advertising are as far right as any candidate has ever taken in New Mexico. The extreme right-wing views of Rogers are known to everybody who has followed politics in this state. This move to the far right will have dire consequences and may well cost the GOP a Senate and a House seat. Any chance of retaking the governor’s mansion will also be affected. For those who think that the election of John McCain will move the party to the center, forget about it. The senator, to placate the so-called base, has begun pandering to it with a flip flop on such issues as Roe vs. Wade, tax cuts — which he twice opposed — and immigration. So much for the “straight talk express.” I see nothing but disaster for the GOP so long as it insists on promoting extreme right-wing views and candidates. BOB BACA Albuquerque
Ranchers Don’t Own Our Public Lands LIKE THE majority of residents in New Mexico and Arizona, I am in favor of the wolf-reintroduction program. Wolves are a distinct, unique part of our natural heritage. They never should have been eliminated and should be reintroduced in a way that will allow them to successfully sustain a permanent population. The Endangered Species Act should not be sabotaged by a radical minority, which represents a special interest. Of course the interests of cattle ranchers must be taken into consideration, but they cannot be allowed to doom the program to failure. That is what is currently happening. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just pick and choose the laws we personally want to follow? But that’s not the way America works. Most cattle ranching is done on public lands. Those are our public lands. I would like to see all cattle ranching done on private lands, but that is not the law. When people from areas where cattle ranching is a way of life come to the big city, they have the same right to use public facilities and infrastructures as everyone else. For them to claim that I should have no say on how my public lands are used, simply because I don’t live nearby, is very wrong. … DANNY RUPPERT Albuquerque
Limit Voting to Vets, Property Owners A RECENT front-page article reported on skyrocketing property taxes. Of course, the main reason for this is that fewer and fewer of us are supporting more and more of us. My contention is this. I believe that the only people who should be able to vote are active or retired military personnel and those who own property. That would encourage people, perhaps, to own real property, and it would put the exploding population of do nothings right where they should be, and that is OUT, with a capital “O.” JT, Albuquerque
I give JT the benefit of the doubt that he doesn’t realize he’s just endorsed a view long held by racists, slave-holders and fascists. I don’t assume – based on one letter – that he is any of those things. However, it is quite clear he is an idiot. peace, mjh
A Can-Do (Everything Wrong) Party CONSERVATIVE PUNDIT Cal Thomas is right — the Republicans and conservatives are certainly the “can-do” party of the United States. They can continue to ignore the millions of Americans who have no health coverage and bleat “socialized medicine” every time a remedy is suggested. They can trash and exploit the environment. They can turn a blind eye when the U.S. president ignores, undermines or circumvents international treaties and laws like the Geneva Convention. They can gleefully slash taxes for the wealthy and for corporate America. And they can turn a billion-dollar budget surplus into a trillion-dollar deficit in order to finance a war that was predicated on half-truths and fear mongering. If the Republican Party has not demonstrated their absolute unfitness to rule this country, what more will it take? Do we dare wait for the smoking gun to take the form of a mushroom cloud? BRAD JAFFE Albuquerque
Drill the Leases You Have, Not Our Last Wilderness THE DEBATE over America’s energy needs is often riddled with misinformation and fear mongering. The level of propaganda by the pro-drilling forces has reached a pinnacle of disgust. As Sergeant Friday once said, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued for public lands, both onshore and offshore in the United States, increased 361 percent. This is a staggering statistic that should not be overlooked when debating energy needs in this country. The Bureau of Land Management has issued over 28,776 permits to drill on public land. Yet today, only 18,954 wells have been actually drilled. In other words, 10,000 well permits have been stockpiled by the already cash-bloated oil and gas industry. In addition, 47.5 million acres of onshore public lands are leased by oil and gas companies. Only 13 million of those acres are actually in production. America cannot afford to stoop so low as to allow the oil and gas industry to drill the last, best, wild places left in the country like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or Otero Mesa. … Conservation, fuel efficiency, renewable energy, tax incentives for businesses and strong-willed leadership by our elected officials in Congress is the right answer. Misleading propaganda by an industry and its allies in Congress will only take us further down the path of high energy prices and destruction of our last wild places. NATHAN NEWCOMER New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Albuquerque
This weekend, I heard a pundit say, “We will not conserve our way out of this problem. We will not ‘green’ our way out of this problem.” (Clever dick.) News flash: We will not *solve* this problem if the solution involves oil, a finite resource which we are going to run out of some day, whether tomorrow or in a hundred years (in your dreams). When you are rushing towards a cliff, don’t mock people who suggest slowing down. When you call yourself a conservative, try conserving something. Oil in the ground is money in the bank.
Gas will *never* be as cheap as it has been. Supplies will *never* keep up with demand — unless the economy collapses. We will *never* drill our way out of this dead-end. Wake up. Stop whining. Change. peace, mjh
Thank Environmental Wackos for $5 Gas CONGRATULATIONS to the politicians in Santa Fe on their recent decision to haul waste products from drilling locations from sites in New Mexico. This is just another sample of the irrational thinking that has brought us to seeing $4 per gallon gas when we fill up our cars with this product. This started when Bill Clinton vetoed drilling in that beautiful ANWR that a lot of folks will visit. We also have coming down the tracks the Lieberman/Warner Climate Security Act that has just come out of Barbara Boxer’s Environmental and Public Works Committee. This will add an estimated $1.50 to $5 per gallon of gas to the current price, according to industry experts. The energy industry is not faultless with their record-setting profits. Let us send Santa Fe some $5 per gallon gasoline from the San Juan Basin and perhaps the legislators can jump on King Bill’s train and go up to the Galisteo Basin and enjoy the beautiful environment. They might also stop and buy some corn on the cob at $5 per ear — thanks to ethanol — and have a snack. Everyone else can have a nice day pedaling their bikes around town and take time to thank the idiotic environmental whackos! ROGER BILLINGS Farmington
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams