All Hands on Deck in Support of upcoming Public Affairs Impeachment Hearing - Senator Jeff Bingaman at the New Mexico Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 10 AM - We May Get a Chance to Petition Him on Iran and Impeachment
Senators Mary Kay Papen and David Ulibarri are the swing votes on Public Affairs. Please call their offices via the Capitol Switchboard: (505) 986-4300. Also please call Senate Public Affairs Committee Chairwoman Senator Dede Feldman encouraging her to schedule the hearing this week (Friday or Sunday) and thanking her for her leadership on the issue and her positive vote in Rules. Basic Background Here.
by Leland Lehrman h: (505) 982-3609 o: (505) 473-4458
This is it folks, over the next three to five days we are looking down the barrel of the Legislative gun. Dona Ana County Senator Mary Kay Papen, in a frank and cordial exchange of views, declared her disinclination today to support the resolution to impeach. However, it was not a hostile no, and sources close to her office consider her undecided. She expressed her openness to constituent opinion and responded favorably when I offered her a press packet with several editorials, news articles, the NM Democratic Party Platform and talking points. It is now essential that members of the Dona Ana county Democratic Party remind Senator Papen of the Democratic Party's official resolution to impeach made with overwhelming support in March of 2006. The Republicans have indicated they plan to attend the hearing. If they do, and either Ulibarri or Papen vote with them, it's over.
Public Affairs Committee Chairwoman Senator Dede Feldman decided not to take the resolution out of her committee today, fearing Republican opposition. She also asked that we limit the number of speakers at the Public Affairs Committee to five, which number I hope is still negotiable. It is essential that citizens be on standby to arrive early to get a seat at either Friday's 2:30pm hearing or Sunday's hearing if scheduled. Final date confirmation should come tomorrow. We will get a show of hands audience vote at the hearing and our presence will not be overlooked. I am also asking that those willing to support my testimony please send me their name, city and phone number such that I can invoke you all when I testify and present our petition to the Committee.
There are other things we citizens can do since urgent political action is necessary. Please contact Senator Papen's Dona Ana County Democratic Party Chairwoman Melinda Whitley at (505) 523-0470 and Vice-Chair Carlos Riis Gonzalez at (505) 202-1040. Please also call Senator Ulibarri's Cibola County Democratic Party Chairman Bruce Boynton at (505) 285-4242 and Vice Chair: Elisa Bro (505) 287-4915. (Extra Credit: Call the Valencia and Socorro County Democratic Party Leadership) Ask them to call an emergency meeting to put forward a new resolution in support of SJR 5 and to call their Senators in support. Santa Fe and Grants County have already put forward new resolutions, thank you. At bottom please find the official letter from the Santa Fe County Democrats. Feel free to use it as a template in your own county. Here is the news story on the Grants County Resolution in Support of SJR 5 Impeach Bush and Cheney:
http://www.scsun-news.com/news
We do have plenty of support down South. Majority Whip, Dona Ana County Senator Mary Jane Garcia signed the bill and is expected to vote in favor on Public Affairs. She - along with Reps. Antonio Lujan and Mary Helen Garcia who are also supportive - should be contacted through the switchboard (505) 986-4300 and urged to impress upon Senator Papen the importance of voting for impeachment: warrantless wiretapping, lying to congress to provoke war, ordering torture and the suspension of habeas corpus.
News Recap from the Rules Committee Hearing
Bulletin: Citizens Inspire New Mexico Rules Committee in 5-0 Vote in Favor of Impeachment Despite Republican Boycott.
When President Pro Tem Senator Ben Altamirano, the swing vote on the Rules Committee, seconded the motion to impeach, it was clear the people had done their job well. Well over one hundred people, nearly fifty of whom spoke, crammed into the Rules Committee hearing room. After impassioned speeches from the citizenry, the Democratic Senators made intelligent, straightforward comments in favor. When the final vote to impeach was cast, applause could be heard all the way outside in the halls of the Roundhouse. But there is much more to do. We have just one month to get through two more committees, the Senate floor vote, the House committees and the House floor vote.
A good summary of events at the Roundhouse last Friday can be found on the Democracy for New Mexico blog here:
But today I will focus on what we need to do now. The swing votes on the Public Affairs committee are Senators Mary Kay Papen of Las Cruces and David Ulibarri of Grants. It is essential to mention to them that the New Mexico Democratic Party overwhelmingly supported the Impeachment Resolution at the March 2006 Platform Convention:
http://www.nmdemocrats.org/ht
Senator Papen was confused on this point, suggesting to me that the support was lukwarm. However, the unanimous opinion of the delegates I know who were there is that of the 1200 delegates, there were only 22 or so against. The thunderous standing ovation in favor took the gavel of the Chairman to quiet. Senator Ulibarri has spoken favorably about the resolution to us, but has not committed his vote either way.
The people of New Mexico brought us to tears in Rules. A man with his son shipping out to Iraq this week, a former CIA officer, Judge Anne Kass, Republicans for Impeachment, youth, Veterans for Peace, a Rabbi - it was amazing. There was not a single voice of opposition, as even the Republicans on the committee hid throughout the proceedings.
Although Senator Papen's vote may be difficult to get, the right amount of support from her constituents should bring it around. It certainly did in the case of Senator Altamirano. If the next committee hearing is as impressive as the last one, Senator Papen may change her mind on the spot. But in order to keep the momentum building, we need your help.
Furthermore, we urgently need to raise money for video production and extra people to monitor the press and stay on the Senators. This is where those not in New Mexico can help greatly, because with money, we can quickly turn around video production like the above and post it on Google Video. Volunteers are great, but they frequently cannot work quickly, something we must now do.
We lost time and energy due to the fact that our Senators were not aware of discouraging and erroneous information that came out in the media. We need to keep a close eye on the press and make sure that such stories are countered effectively and immediately. Extra full-time eyes and hands on the scene are now essential such that foolish mistakes don't cost us more time.
The best way to help Mother Media's impeachment efforts is to buy an advertisement in this newsletter or in our print partner, The Northern New Mexico Sun News. You can send support via paypal to leland@33o.com or by clicking the link at the top. Checks can be sent to the address below. Thank you for helping us prevent further catastrophe at the hands of this ruthless and lawless Executive Branch.
Leland Lehrman
163 Old Lamy Trail
Lamy, NM 87540
h: (505) 982-3609 o: (505) 473-4458
leland.lehrman@gmail.com
To Santa Fe County Democrats,
State Senator John Grubesic of Santa Fe joined Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque in sponsoring Senate Joint Resolution 5, Impeach President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. The resolution is in line with the Democratic Party Platform as established at the platform convention in March of 2006 where impeachment was put on the platform with thunderous applause by more than 95% of the 1200 delegates present.
We hope you will voice your support for the resolution by calling President Pro Tem of the Senate Ben Altamirano and Majority Leader Michael Sanchez to urge their support for the resolution. Their support is necessary for passage. Call any legislator at the switchboard: 986-4300. We also need Senators Rainaldi, Papen, Ulibarri and Martinez of the Public Affairs and Judiciary Committees.
The resolution may come before the Senate Public Affairs Committee as soon as this Friday, February 23rd around 2:30pm in Rm 303 at the Roundhouse. It will be officially posted on the Senate Committee schedule:
http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs
later this week. We hope you will make time to attend the hearing and voice your support for the resolution.
As the President ignores the American people and Congress on the subject of Iraq and prepares for war with Iran, it becomes more and more obvious that the duty of citizens is to impeach. The resolution itself lists four charges, which under Jefferson's Rules of the House can be transmitted by a State Legislature triggering Federal proceedings:
1. Lying to Congress to provoke war. 2. Ordering warrantless wiretapping. 3. Ordering torture. 4. Ordering illegal detentions.
Any one of these charges is grounds for impeachment. In the case of ACLU vs. NSA, federal judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled that the President had "indisputably violated" not only the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, but also statutory law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
How long can we allow the Executive Branch to put itself above the law before our cherished Democratic Republic is destroyed, taking the world with it? Now is the time to act. Please attend the Rules Committee Hearing this Friday morning around 9 AM and call Senator Ben Altamirano and Majority Leader Michael Sanchez asking them to support the Democratic Party platform and the welfare of the American people and the world.
Sincerely,
Connie Salazar, Chair Santa Fe County Resolutions Committee and Member of the NM Democratic Party Resolutions Committee
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