Jan 11, 2022
COVID cases at record levels in New Mexico. More than 4,000 cases for the first time EVER. Lujan Grisham extended the universal indoor mask mandate yet again on Friday. Only WA, OR, CA, HI, IL, and NM have universal indoor mask mandates.
SCOTUS heard case on Biden COVID mandates. The ignorance of several justices, especially Sotomayor was striking regarding basic COVID issues:
· We have over 100,000 children, which we've never had before, in serious condition, and many on ventilators." he current seven-day average for this age group is 766 hospitalizations.
· Omicron just as dangerous as Delta;
· “I’m not sure I understand the distinction why the states would have the power [to institute a mandate such as OSHA’s], but the federal government wouldn’t,” (police powers).
Breyer: “750 million new cases” of coronavirus had been reported in the United States on Thursday.
If the Court were to rule in support of this vaccine mandate it would be one of the most sweeping expansions of federal power in American history. The Court has ruled in favor of state-level vaccine mandates and unfortunately refused to hear New Mexico’s which was implemented by MLG on her own, but has NEVER allowed such a sweeping mandate at the federal level imposed by the President.
Finally, Australia is refusing Tennis player access to the nation due to vaccine mandate. Djokavic had COVID and an exemption, but JUST received a ruling that allowed into the country to play in the Australian Open;
AOC has COVID after partying in Florida. Omicron is easily spread but mild. This MAY finally be the end of the pandemic.
Chicago’s teachers’ unions are refusing to teach (generating national outrage and even with the Mayor). So far the same hasn’t happened in New Mexico and schools remain open;
The CDC after two years is finally going to study those hospitalized WITH COVID as opposed to because of COVID;
MLG releases her budget proposal for the upcoming session with 13.5% annual increase:
- She doesn't explicitly discuss her small GRT cut in her budget. I went back and found an old Bill Richardson budget online and you can bet HE mentioned cutting taxes! With the State experiencing banner growth in the budget thanks to the oil and gas industry (and Washington money-printing), cutting taxes SHOULD be a much higher priority.
That said, even if the Legislature goes along with her .25% GRT rate cut, she is NOT a tax-cutter. She raised taxes on personal income, motor vehicles, hospitals, and in 2021 health insurance taxes.
- In her budget, Lujan Grisham claims, "This administration has created more jobs during the pandemic than the prior administration created in eight years – roughly 40,000." She provides ZERO footnotes or citations for her assertion which is made on page IV of her budget. We used data from Bureau of Labor Statistics and found a very different story. Using the "total civilian labor force" for the beginning/end/most recent month available (November 2021) we see that the number of jobs grew by 7.1% under Martinez while Lujan Grisham is at-2.1 percent.
- Lujan Grisham's budget request includes $2.5 million to create a 15-person “Climate Change Bureau.” (page XIX). The newly-created bureaucracy would cost taxpayers more than $166,000 per employee and would give the Gov. a paid group to push her radical environmental agenda.
- Finally, while there are many items contained in the budget to take issue with, Gov. Lujan Grisham proudly repeats one of her most disturbing lines. On page III she touts "a cradle-to-career education system for all New Mexicans." You don't have to be a raging libertarian to be skeptical of a government that pushes its long tentacles into the cradle.
What will happen during the upcoming 30-day session?
Voting bill is bad news: it would extend the early voting period to the Sunday before election day, creating a permanent absentee voter list, automatically register people to vote with a transaction at the MVD, allow electronic signatures for nominating petitions, create a straight-party ballot option. It would also allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections, like school board elections.
Conservative legislative group ALEC calls MLG “worst governor in the nation” https://errorsofenchantment.com/new-report-lujan-grisham-worst-governor-in-the-nation/
Worst 5: Cuomo, Pritzker (IL), Newsom (IL), McKee (RI), and MLG;
Best 5: Noem, Cox (UT), DeSantis, (Polis), and Little (ID).
ALEC rates their Gov.’s on a 5 to 1 star basis. NM is surrounded by 5 star Gov.’s with only OK’s a 4 star Gov. More evidence that NM is a bastion of bad governance in a region of strong governance.
As expected, US greenhouse emissions rose in Biden’s first year: https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-greenhouse-emissions-rose-2021-110721259.html
Emissions rose by about 6.2 percent in 2021 over 2020. Still, emissions remained about 5 percent below 2019 levels;
Lawsuit filed by former CFO over alleged fraud totaling $200 million. Allegations are against: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Attorney General Hector Balderas, New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colón, Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Alicia Keys, and current managers at Spaceport America.”
https://errorsofenchantment.com/lawsuit-filed-over-spaceport-corruption/