Adam Kokesh

“An anti-war protesting, socialist-leaning, ex-Marine embarrassment”—that’s what the hyper-conservative blog Jammie-Wearing Fool called New Mexico Republican Congressional hopeful Adam Kokesh today.

“Mr. Kokesh has an extensive and well-documented history of affiliations with radical leftist groups,” claims Gathering of Eagles, the group that unleashed today’s rightist outrage with its “Open Letter to the Republican Party Regarding Adam Kokesh.” The letter goes on to link Kokesh to Code Pink, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Black Panthers.

“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to work with people that have strong disagreements with me philosophically,” Kokesh tells SFR. “I think it’s funny that one of my greatest strengths is being used against me.”

More funny-odd than funny-haha, though. Continue reading »

The Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics have released an extremely timely and thorough expose,
“Curious Clusters“, involving “hidden” Congressional campaign contribution bundling by health care special interests. Here’s their 1-2-3 on the investigation:

The investigation identified outside lobbyists that donated to the same members of Congress as their clients, and strongly suggests that special interest giving is enhanced by the K Street contributors they hire…

There is no indication that the extra giving by lobbyists was part of a planned effort by the healthcare firms to solidify their support among key members of Congress. But whether coordinated or not, the newly-found clusters of lobbyist giving clearly illustrate the intensity of the full-court press that the industry is currently waging on Capitol Hill.

In all, 61 members of Congress—39 in the Senate, 22 in the House, 38 Democrats and 23 Republicans—got money from 10 or more outside lobbyists whose healthcare or health insurance industry clients also contributed to their campaigns.

Sen. Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chairman who recently voted down two public-option amendments, was the third largest recipient after Republicans Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitch McConnell. (click the chart to enlarge). Of the 61 members, only two New Mexican names turn up: Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Martin Heinrich, both Democrats.

According to the research, Udall accepted $2,250 from two health-related organizations—Roche Holdings and UnitedHealth—which was then “enhanced”  ten-fold by $22,700 in donations from 21 lobbyists. Heinrich accepted $2,250 from Amgen, which was then amplified by $9,850 from 11 lobbyists.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, one of the original “gang of six” assigned to hash out a health reform bill and one of the eight Senate Finance members to vote for both public option amendments, was not one of the 61 Congressmen. Nor was Rep. Ben R. Lujan or Rep. Harry Teague.

Tortilla Coast, DC’s unbuckle-your-beltway Mexican joint, is hosting a fundraiser for Rep. Ben Ray Lujan on Sept. 22. That’s a Tuesday and, according to TC’s web site, that means it’s Burrito Night! Yay! Burritos! The menu includes “The Big House” burrito, a veggie burrito, the “Inside Out” burrito, the “Big Tex” burrito, the “Sunset” burrito, and a”BBQ” burrito. Your choice for just $7.99.

Oh, wait. Make that $1,007.99.

The Sunlight Foundation’s Political Party Time site has posted information regarding Lujan’s latest fundraiser, including directions and a flyer. The event costs $1,000 for “guests,” $2,500 for “PAC sponsors” and $5,000 for “PAC Hosts.” Oh, but no nachos for federal lobbyists; your money’s no good with Lujan.

So, who, then, is shelling out the loot for a chance to chew the beans with Ben Ray? Spokesman Mark Nicastre says he’ll get back to us, via email, “We do not have final numbers or confirmed attendees for Tuesday’s event. Any contributions will be reflected on the 3rd quarter report, which will be released on October 15.”

CD-1’s Rep. Martin Heinrich is more of a breakfast man. He had one this morning at Jacob’s House and another brekkie scheduled for Tuesday at Johnnie’s Half Shell, each costing $500 per individual.

CD-2’s Rep. Harry Teague is the busiest fundraiser of all this week (and in all cases, the minimum price is $1,000):

Sept. 23rd, Breakfast @ Tortilla Coast
Sept. 22nd,  Energy Breakfast @ American Gas Association
Sept. 20th, Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants @ Cowboys Stadium
Sept. 17th, Labor Community Lunch @ Tortilla Coast

Lujan flyer after the jump.

Continue reading »

Extra Rock:

If you don’t go to the Santa Fe Brewing Co. on Friday to see the Thermals, this is just a small sample of the fun you’ll miss:

Seriously, go.

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Extra Rich:

Check out the web version of this week’s cover story. It’s got these cool spreadsheets so you can see, in part, how I tried to track down Santa Fe’s wealthiest residents.

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Extra Gloom:

US Rep. Ben Ray Luján’s press rep emails along the Santa Fe Congressman’s gloom, which didn’t make it into our pre-Zozobra gloom survey.

It is, “The health insurance status quo.”

Really?

There was much more to our interview with US Rep. Ben Ray Luján than we were able to fit into this week’s SFR Talk or last week’s health care discussion, including:

* Why he thinks it’s important for the US to stay in Afghanistan

* Whether he thinks PNM, one of his bigger campaign contributors, is doing enough to develop renewable energy

* Why he posed with Truffles the Office Pig

Listen to the full interview with the embedded player below, or download the MP3 right here.

And here are some rough and incomplete topical time stamps, for your inconvenience.

0-3 min.: Life in Washington

3-21 min.: Health care

21 min.: Energy issues

23 min.: Changing the national labs’ mission

26 min.: PNM and renewable energy

31 min.: PRC and Jerome Block Jr

32 min.: Iraq and Afghanistan

43 min.: Commercial space travel

44 min.: Adam Kokesh, miscellany

50 minutes: The stimulus