New Mexico in Focus; 217; District Attorney Race and Congressional District 3 Race

You You Election Day is drawing close in this historic election year. It can be hard to keep up with all the key races ahead this week. It's the only televised showdown in the hotly contested Bernalio County district attorneys race. Plus I sit down with the three candidates for the third congressional district seat

vacated by Congressman Tom Udall. The line panelists are also ready to sound off on both those races and we get an election perspective from another of our insightful citizen journalists all ahead on a program that's informed in depth and involved New Mexico in focus. After running unopposed in 2014, District Attorney Kerry Brandenburg is in a tough fight this year. She's had two terms. She's looking for a third. The Republican Lisa Tarako is a tough candidate. It looks like a tough year for Republicans, but it's a fascinating race. We'll have that later in the show. You'll be talking about that with the line, but I know that's not the only thing. Yeah, we want to definitely touch on that DA's race. It's a big one. Some tough shots are going back and forth and we talk a hope to get a little perspective on what exactly does a district attorney do. She had some light on that, but we've also got some stuff coming up on the third congressional district campaign and we'll hear from Democrat Ben Ray Luhan Jr.

of course the independent Carol Miller and then we've also got Danny's does the Republican and we've got all that coming out. It's a great race too and I mean we have this embarrassment of riches this year with the congressional races, the DA's race, all that up ahead. But of course before that one of our favorite parts of the show, we get a unique take on the elections from another of our citizen journalists. First, though the battle for Bernalio County District's attorney. There are outstanding allegations. I'm sure you know that ACORN has perhaps committed voter fraud. How would you approach that issue in terms of prosecuting potential cases of voter fraud? Well, actually we are involved in that and some information was given to us by the county clerk several weeks ago. We are working in partnership with U.S. Attorney's Office and that is part of an ongoing investigation at this point in time. That's pretty much what I can say because of my ethical and professional responsibility. Any kind of philosophical approach, though, to pursuing these sorts of cases? I think it's critical that these sorts of cases are investigated and pursued to the best of our ability to pursue them because we need to know a democracy needs to have a

legitimate voters voting and people have to have faith that their vote is going to count. Lisa Tarraco, any disagreement on this particular issue? Voter fraud and how the DA should approach that issue? Well, I wish that the voter fraud issue was approached a little quicker because now we've already got people voting and there's a question about the integrity of the voting system. You know, every person's vote has the right to count and when there's voter fraud and perhaps illegal votes being cast, it certainly diminishes the right of every person's vote. The problem here that I see is that I know Maggie Toulouse Oliver sent a letter to Ms. Brandon Berg. Right. Thank you. The Bernalillo County Clerk sent a letter to Ms. Brandon Berg September 2nd of this year and here we are voting has started. Early voting is underway. Absentee voting has gone underway and we have yet to hear anything. This is the first public statement that I've heard from Ms. Brandon Berg that she's looking into it and I believe that she's dragging her feet. My concern is she doesn't have a tough record on public corruption

and the fact that she's dragging her feet on this kind of continues that same pattern. What specifically do you mean? What should she have done since last month that she hasn't? As far as I know she's done nothing for us. So for her to come to the table and say we're looking into it to me makes it sound like a delay tactic. When in 2004 there were allegations of voter fraud and that it put Heather Wilson over the top Ms. Brandon Berg immediately had people investigating within 24 hours and making public statements. So I haven't seen that kind of reaction in a year where she's now in a hotly contested race. Quick response to Kerry dragging her feet. Clearly false. When we get a case into our office it has to be investigated. These cases have not been investigated. I would think within days or if not hours after we received the letter and Maggie to lose wrote the US Attorney wrote my office and the AG's office all with the same letter asking us all to look into it. We were in communications had made a phone call to the AG's office and we're in communications with the US Attorney's office. I would say that we are spending time on this on

a daily basis following up and partnering with the US Attorney's office. We get cases from law enforcement agencies as referrals and then we prosecute those cases. So we have to rely on others to investigate. We are relying on others to investigate and I say that our response to this has been immediate and so has the US Attorney's office response been immediate. Okay, switching gears a bit Lisa you mentioned an issue a case that has been in the news quite a bit the case of Clipton Bloomfield. Do you think that Kerry Brandenburg made a mistake in your opinion when she did not see when she decided to take the death penalty off the table for this accused killer and instead got him to plead guilty to five homicides. Was that a mistake in your view? I think that in that particular case she did the right thing and the disappointing part of that David is that there have been tons of other murder cases that she didn't handle correctly and finally when the heat is on and she's in a hotly contested district attorney race and she has a viable competitor who is highly qualified because I have been around prosecutions

my entire career. Now suddenly she's able to step up to the plate and the disappointing thing for me is that she hasn't done that before in a myriad of other murder cases. Can you cite maybe one example in which this Clipton Bloomfield case in your view was an exception to a different kind of rule? Well the murder of Norma Gutierrez de Moia I believe was poorly handled she pled that to a second degree felony she didn't try to plead that to a first the murder of Mr. Padilla she pled that to a second degree she didn't plead that to a first you know and people need to understand first degree murder convictions there's no guarantee that person's ever going to get out. A second degree murder conviction there's a guarantee that when they finish their time they're going to be released back into the community. Now a first degree murder conviction when the person's done their life sentence they go before the parole board and the parole board makes a decision whether they made use of their time in prison or not and has the option to let them out

or to keep them in and we aren't seeing a lot of first degree murder convictions out of the DA's office what we're seeing is a DA who has banned the repeat offender division which was a highly successful division under the previous administration. Ms. Brandenburg came in banned that division and so now there's no targeting of repeat offenders the problem with the bloom field cases he was a repeat offender he was looking at over 40 years and I'm talking about the crime that he had committed previous to the murders he was looking at over 40 years she gives him a sweet plea deal he essentially gets to walk out of jail and that's when he committed those murders if she had done her job he would have been looking at mandatory time if she had handled it the way a repeat offender you're referring to the armed robbery home invasion issue beforehand do you think all such cases then those types of individuals should be put behind bars never outlet out on probation is out you're saying well I'm certainly saying you don't give him the key to the jail

jail cell and have him walk away let me talk to you about the bloom field case and this has been discussed in the media Mr. Bloomfield is now serving 195 year sentence if he lives two lifetimes he will never walk the streets again and I think that that's really critical what are we on in terms of this it underline case what we had is is a a number of different charges over time we had a two of the victims one woman who couldn't identify him another individual who was senile and we basically had no evidence we ended up getting a plea to armed robbery which was quite an exceptional result in view of the fact that we had no witnesses he was given a three year sentence and put on CCP and was out one of the the disappointing things about the criminal justice system and I've been called a murderer by my opponent is that no one in the criminal justice system be it the courts our office the defense attorneys probation or parole can predict future criminal behavior in all cases that that may have tragic consequences in this case it did

we did what we could with what we had at that point in time she mentions the boy a case and that was a case where the victims families wanted us to process the trial and we had an opportunity of getting a 34 year sentence 34 years first degree carries a 30 year sentence she mentioned the pedea case in that case we got a the defendant got a 37 year sentence again first degree is a 30 year sentence this individual got a 37 year sentence we work with victims and their families and try to see that they get some measure of justice I wanted to take one step back and talk about this subject of plea deals it comes up in this campaign maybe beginning you with Ulysa a general question about your philosophy in terms of plea deals what under what circumstances is a plea deal in your view a good idea every case is different but when you're saying limited resources what I repeatedly hear from Ms. Brandenburg is constant excuses about she has no

evidence and she has limited resources you need to know she has a handful of investigators in her office that can be investigating these cases that she claims have no evidence and she has a 19 million dollar budget so when I am constantly hearing from her that she has to plea out all these cases and that she's getting good deals when there's no evidence I don't buy it I understand you're a critic of the plea deals but I'm trying to understand is what philosophy would you bring to the office I'm going to bring in a position of strength and we're going to evaluate a case and we're going to decide what kind of time the person needs or if they need a second chance or if they need rehabilitation and we're not going to give the criminal what they want which is what's currently happening but we're going to decide what the community needs I think that please are a necessary part of the criminal justice system and I think if we did away with please then we would diminish our ability to get convictions and there would be more criminals on the street one issue that that seems to defied both candidates Lisa is your proposal to reorganize the DA's office

change the way defense are charged using fewer grand cherries more preliminary hearings can you explain exactly briefly please what that means exactly for folks who aren't lawyers and why do you think that's a good idea okay a grand jury is conducted in secret and the evidence doesn't all get out to the community and a lot of times especially in controversial cases are cases involving police officers the facts then trickle out and people are confused as to what happened preliminary excuse me the preliminary hearing system offers transparency and it offers accountability for the district attorney and it allows the public to know what's going on in these cases so preliminary hearing is held in the open with a judge with the defendant and with witnesses the grand jury system is held in secret and only the district attorney is there the defense attorney doesn't get to be there and the defendant doesn't get to be there hearing the evidence and a lot of times in the current administration it's simply done by a police officer reading the police report and then an indictment is handed down so what's the if the current ratio is X in terms of

grand juries versus preliminary hearings what would you like to see it be um I think the current ratio is 100 percent grand juries I know that Ms. Brandenberg's promised some preliminary hearings but those promises didn't come through so I would like to see at least 10 to 15 percent of our cases go to preliminary hearing to make some accountability and some transparency if that's successful we increase the number you've heard this proposal of course before I've proposed before not I think that it's ridiculous and how is she going to pick those 10 or 15 percent and not show a bias or be accused of having some kind of prejudice right now we indict over 4,000 cases a year now the grand jury process is secret at the time it's going on but the defense attorney has a copy to a tape and everything that occurs in that proceeding and all they find is probable cause and return with the true bail or return with the Nobel not finding probable cause I think for her to put that burden on a system and we need the courts to buy in a DA's office can't do that on their own um to put that burden on the criminal justice system isn't going to result in more effectiveness it's going to result in a breakdown of the system

and once again I think this shows my opponents inexperienced lack of understanding of the system not only of the DA's office but the court system and law enforcement and everyone that has to work together it will result in a breakdown and it will be a heyday for criminals in Bernalio County a brief response Lisa how would you choose she says you can't there's no reasonable way you would choose how would you choose those 10 to 15% of cases um I have policies and procedures set up as to which cases need to go but I do I do want to respond which ones which ones would need to go the preliminary hearing round um police officer shootings police officer involved shootings need to go domestic violence cases where the victim later recants gang related cases need to go where gang members then disappear philosophical question this has come up in the campaign the issue of conviction rates uh I know there's been a backing forth in terms of what the rate has been is it high enough uh you know too low but I'm curious do you think that is the accurate measure of whether or not the district attorney's office is doing its job I think it has something to do with it but anyone who who measures their performance on conviction rate and conviction rate alone and I believe it came

up when my opponent took six months out of eight years and said well their trial conviction right is only 35% our job our job our job is to seek justice it's not just about convictions and any association professional association for prosecutors will tell you to judge an office solely by their convictions to judge an office solely by their convictions at trial it's an inappropriate if not unethical measure it's about doing justice it's not just about convictions your response your answer do you see it differently I do see it differently and Ms. Brandenburg continually says that she's doing justice but I'd like to ask the 12-year-old rape victim that she had arrested last year around Christmas and sat in jail for 10 days because she wouldn't cooperate with Ms. Brandenburg's investigation if that's doing justice and as the mother of a 13-year-old I say that that office is not doing justice um when I when we looked at the first six months of this year which I thought was a fair sample Ms. Brandenburg's office wins only 37% of those cases she lost more than she won

I think my question to the citizens of Bernalillo County is would you go to a surgeon who only wins or only succeeds in 37% of the surgeries that he does well what about K. Brandenburg's argument that that's not the right measure it's not just about getting prosecution convictions if we were arguing over whether she was successful in 80 or 85 or 90% of the trials then I would agree with her but with a tragedy a travesty like a 37% conviction rate I think everyone should wonder about well wait are those other 70% of people are they innocent are the other 70% of the people are those people that she's not skilled enough to get convictions on and she's letting bad guys go I mean we're not talking about arguing whether she wins 80 or 90% we're looking at a rock bottom conviction rate and those numbers are extremely deceptive she looked at six months we went back four years two-thirds of the people who take a gamble of going to trial get convicted if you look at four years you can go back four years you had to go back four years in order to have something acceptable

you've been listening to Bernalio County District Attorney candidates Kerry Brandenburg and Lisa Tarako make their case to voters what you just watch over was an edited down version of their conversation with David if you want to watch the full segment just head to our website in Mexico and focus.org now it's the lines turned a sound off on this race but before we get to those opinions let's introduce our panel for today starting with regulars Margaret Montoya who holds appointments at both the schools of law and medicine at UNM Jim Scarentino moderator of the online political forum nemexicalliberty.com and soon to be columnist with the Albuquerque Tribune back again Margaret did I say Tribune I just said Tribune wow back with us again is our old friend Marco Marco I'll get everything wrong tonight. Rodrigo Gonzalez with module spurling former Republican candidate for the Congress and the Third District and joining us again Dave Moss old friend with the Santa Fe reporter David good to see you again thanks for coming back now let's back up a little bit on this Jim one and we have three attorneys at the table and I realize you're in

attorney also Dave okay you can be tonight right knowing none of you are criminal attorneys so it's a little bit of a different different animal here but let's back up Marco and talk about something in a very broad context the role in the in the the duties of a district attorney what are they? Well I think that the primary duty of a district attorney is to protect its citizens from the criminals violent criminals especially but all kinds of crime that happens that takes place in Albuquerque and you know looking at this race it really seems after eight years that there's a record out there for Kerry Brandenburg and it ought not to be about Republican or Democrat but about what the facts are and you know it seems like she's got it upside down where she's putting the bad guys back on the street and allowing the good guys to go to jail just in Tuesday's Albuquerque journal is reported that there have been 16 murders that have been committed by 13 different criminals that were put out on probation and I think what's most telling in this whole race

for me at least anyway is what Kerry Brandenburg's response with was and it was basically I'm surprised by that number I would be interested to know what the circumstances are whenever something like that happens I want to go back and say what happened how did we miss it so there you have an admission that she missed it and you know I don't think that the the New Mexican people in Berlio County can afford that and then we also know about the what she's done in terms of putting good guys in jail you know there was the case that she prosecuted against the Iraq war veteran and then even worse there was a guy named Robert Gonzalez who was mentally deficient and he was brought up on charges of rape and murder of a young woman it turned out that there was no evidence linking him to the case he spent three years in jail it was a based on a confession but he's mentally retarded the confession was actually thrown out as unconstitutional and he sat in jail for almost three years those are some very very serious issues that I think need to be considered and at the

end of the day we know about the other candidate which is a Mr. Arasco who has 16 years of prosecutorial experience which Ms. Brandenburg didn't have day one has also been a professor at UNM Law School teaching and preparing future district attorneys across New Mexico and I think that she's very well qualified for the job and wants to change. Let's do this I still want to I appreciate that but I will stay on this tact of broadening the discussion just a little bit I mean when they go to Jim on this what what is a voter supposed to do when they go in the booth about judging the qualifications for either the incumbent or a challenger Marco pointed out a couple of things but again what are the metrics that people can go into a voting booth with to say this person either I feel keeps the job or doesn't keep the job. Well we we have had eight years of Kerry Brandenburg so there is a record there have been numerous reports on cases that have gone well for her office in cases that haven't gone very well one of the things that has troubled

me during her regime has been the DWI prosecutions that failed because they weren't brought in time because police officers didn't show up and if we have a serious problem in this state it is certainly DWI and there have been a lot of people that fell through the cracks during Kerry Brandenburg's term I was I wasn't looked at a resume I was surprised to learn that she is not a prosecutor she's not prosecuting cases she was a criminal defense lawyer with her father she was with the public defenders office she's taught classes at the law school but she's never taught anything on being a prosecutor. Let me interrupt for a second why is that important having prosecutorial experience in your background. I was a prosecutor both in Philadelphia and here in New Mexico I was also a criminal defense lawyer it is you're down in the trenches first of all you need to know how the system works you need to know what you're dealing with in terms of victims in from both sides and in terms of doing justice yes you're the chief law enforcement officer as the district attorney

but we were always told that your primary duty is to do justice that means do justice to the victims to the system and to defend it. Being a prosecutor is a very very tough job you have a crushing case load it's unbelievable you were frequently outgunned particularly by private lawyers and you really need support you really need leadership at the helm it helps with morale it helps with setting standards it helps with you know just getting out there every day and knocking yourself out for not a very great salary we haven't really seen from Kerry Brandenburg that a spree decor among her prosecutors it's shown in for instance in those DWI cases in prosecutors not showing up at court we've seen those cases too where they're just not there Lisa Tarako has been a prosecutor you know we don't have a record on how she did as a prosecutor but there's just been enough problems enough questions raised about Kerry Brandenburg and the failures of her as a district

attorney that maybe the voters are going to want to change that will be their metric are they satisfied with what they've seen do they feel safe and do they think it's time for a change. Margaret I'm the furthest thing from an attorney certainly but it just seems at a base level how is actually one prepared to be a district attorney it seems like this is a learn on the job let me pick up some of what Jim said this is the largest law office in the state and the prosecutor goes in representing the state of New Mexico that's the client okay and when Jim says that the mandate is to do justice that's really talking about prosecutorial discretion and what that means is that it is up to the prosecutor to decide after weighing the evidence whether there is enough evidence to proceed or not so that the idea isn't that the prosecutor is going to be measured by the number of cases brought or won but really whether the criminal

law has been well implemented and what that means is that as we are looking out and measuring what it has meant to put so many people in prison and jail that perhaps the measure of a good prosecutor today and going forward is going to really be are there other sentences are there other ways of deciding how to correct wrongdoing other than putting people in jail and in prison is a get tough stance really good for the state of New Mexico I think that I will agree with both Marco and Jim that I think Carrie Brandon Bird's record is mixed I think any prosecutor would have

a mixed record I think that DWI is or DUI is an incredibly difficult crime I think that New Mexico has done a lot but it is really having the legislature the executive and the courts working together I don't think that it can be laid at on the sort of the doorstep of the DA sure let me swing to Dave here just a little bit short on time sorry about that the public perception of this is always the difficulty you know the Mr. Rocco is making a lot of noise about Miss Brandon Berg's record for plea plea bargains and who is going back on the streets and who hasn't and all that kind of thing how is this playing in the politics is this idea of that she please a lot we don't know if that's the norm through DAs around the country on a similar pattern we have no idea oh well it's a bit difficult for me to answer because you know I'm covering Santa Fe where we're having an uncontested district attorney's race but you know what I like to keep mine is that we're going

through a you know huge economic turmoil at the moment and usually when this happens crime goes up and a lot of times these are crimes of desperation you get a lot more alcohol related crime theft burglary fraud things like that and it's really important to keep in mind that you know you know it doesn't actually need to be about tough justice but actually looking at you know rehabilitating people and getting them back into the system you know this may be off the point but I was looking at you know Mr. Rocco's you know online resume and I was very impressed by the you know the extent of her service the extent for experience especially regarding women's issues but then she's got this press release you know this press release where she's really hitting on this acorn issue and and and she describes it as voter fraud and I'm like I know that's a main republican sort of talking point at the moment but it's it concerns me when you have a district attorney who is not clearly distinguished between voter fraud and voter registration fraud which are two completely different things we have to wrap this segment sorry Jim there we got so much to talk about but in fairness to both it seems to be part of the issue is how do you manage

a budget in these kind of things there's lots of other things that go with being DA and perhaps we'll get to this after this is all said and done now we return to David for his one-on-one discussion with the three candidates for the congressional district three race this is something I've been contemplating for the last couple of years I'm just fed up I think with the rest of America with the majority of our congressional leaders today I honestly believe that they've lost touch with with you and I and it's time that we get some leadership some business leadership back in the halls of Congress that that that is truly going to bring a value back to the taxpayers back to the district and back to the back to our state specifically how have Congress how has the representatives here Tom you'd all perhaps been out of touch well and we can go back to recent developments with what we've had today and we can go right back to right now the the economic crisis that we're on that we're in if you look at the the polling data that's out there or the data from the you know the constituents roughly 65 or 75 percent of the people weren't in favor

of the rescue plan we can come back to our energy crisis that we've been in for two or three years and 65 or 75 percent of the constituents want a plan put together well we don't still have an energy plan put together and within a two-week period we have an economic rescue plan put together that so that's that's just a good example of of our elected leaders not paying attention to their their constituency you raised the rescue plan some people called it a bailout I think I think the president president Bush preferred the rescue terminology many others did who voted for it did you think that nothing no action was required I take it you oppose the bill that finally was passed my concern is and I understand the the principle behind it that that we are in the credit crunch and and we needed to step in but within a two-week period you know Congress is supposed to work slow methodical to take care of you and I the taxpayer to make sure that we don't have that case where they had to act quickly add that quickly but yet we're also in

an energy crisis and an energy crunch that we've been in for several years now we still don't have a package put together with that so I'm concerned that this bill is hasn't doesn't have enough safeguards in it does it have a proper oversight within within the financial markets that we need to date does it have the the the proper forms of management in there to make sure that the investments that that our government is purchasing that United's taxpayer are going to be able to recoup those down the road you mentioned a lack of oversight I can't help but notice on your website you tout some endorsements you've received where your support for less regulation is touted on your website you talk about supporting the free market many people say it's less regulation and a free market run a month that has brought us into the situation actually that's that that's not true now I do believe in less regulation I don't believe in total non-regulation some regulation is good we have a lot of redundancy in regulation out there today and we have a

regulation that doesn't make any sense that is hindering the free markets to go forward but when we go back to this current credit current that that we're in right now in the housing market the the subprime loans and everything is built up to this this was actually brought on over 10 years ago with the Community Reinvestment Act that that was brought up in the late 1990s on the Clinton administration for affordable housing now I'm all four people to get into housing but if you can afford it you shouldn't be afforded that alone you you wrote I should say that you would ensure that health care is affordable and accessible for all now that's something I usually associate with what a democratic candidate might say how would you do that do you really mean that well yes I do and it's not government run I you know it's I totally disagree and I'll fight against universal single-payer type health care you know the way that we can get health care costs down today are are one we can look at tax credits for for individuals who purchase private insurance

we can look at tax credits for companies that provide tax or health insurance for for their employees association health care plans you know I'm a small business owner and and a member of an association and if my association had health care it it it it titans a package up to makes it more affordable we can look at how savings accounts recently there was a public poll that came out by the albuquerque journal that had luhan the democrat in first place but well under 50% 41 it had yourself in second place at 19% Carol Miller the independent candidate at 14 seems like a tough lead to surmount can you surmount it do you buy the accuracy of that poll actually actually I don't if you look at the by-line underneath that poll they pull 136 people out of we're expecting 200,000 people to vote so 136 is not a very large number to come up with and plus they have a margin of error in there of almost 8% so you I don't take a lot of value

within that poll as we travel the district I can tell you you listen to people and you see how times are really tough how they're just looking to try to get by and the work that I've done on the commission and what I hope to be able to do in congress when elected is to continue some of that work just trying to make the lives of people better really taking on the health care problems continuing to improve consumer protections closing loopholes that allow health insurance companies to unfairly deny people their claims advancing renewable energy generation policies that will not only stimulate the economy but get people back to work making sure that we're looking for better ways to bridge gaps so that our kids can get into college you mentioned the public regulation commission you were just about to finish your first four-year term on the commission I think you spent a good chunk of time as the chairman of the commission I'm curious what about your tenure on the PRC this very powerful regulatory body many people may not know about it many people do what about that experience in your view qualifies you to be in congress you're right David

I was elected in 2004 took office in 2005 and really honored that my colleagues elected me chairman the first three years on the commission but the work that we do and that I've done on the commission is directly related to the work that needs to be done in the 11th congress the work that I did with working with my colleague senator dd felman bringing attention to some consumer protections that needed to be put in place in the area of how health insurance companies treat people's claims so one of the concerns was the loopholes that did exist to allow health insurance companies to deny those claims and one of the successful pieces of legislation that came out of the special legislative session addressing health care was to close those loopholes the commission I understand is the main thing you point to in terms of experience I'm curious aside from your tenure on the PRC is anything you'd point to in your background that also you believe qualifies you to serve in congress the experience that I bring forward from my days working in the HR field working with people

directly understanding the importance of benefits making sure that we're treating people and employees and respecting their rights is an experience that I'm glad to bring to this really that respect for making sure that you're looking out for the betterment of people as well helping them make decisions within the their their their career paths that will not only offer them additional opportunities but make sure that the benefits that they are a pain for are truly providing them the covers that they need all of that experience I bring to this well it's almost national laboratories is smack dab in the middle of the district you'd like to represent in congress I'm curious do you support an ongoing nuclear weapons mission for the lab even if that included the design of a kind of next generation a new generation of nuclear weapons is that something you'd support well what's almost national laboratory is absolutely critical not only to New Mexico the third congressional district but I believe to the future of solving problems facing us as a nation I support bringing together the community and truly coming up with a long term plan there's

programs in Los Alamos that we need to continue to build upon the non proliferation research computer modeling cyber security solving the renewable storage problem but we also have to recognize that we need to utilize a brain trust and the investment that's been made with where there is nuclear research taking place what about new weapons though well with what we need to do I believe is to utilize the brain trust and the experience that we have in Los Alamos the facilities that have been invested to truly understand how we can reduce our arsenal reduce the number of warheads continue to move forward with non proliferation commitments that we as a nation have made reduce the arsenal does that mean you would oppose a new or next generation bunker buster nuclear weapons that many people many conservatives have proposed for the Los Alamos to have a pardon is that something you oppose well I believe we as a nation need to again there's some commitments that we've made as a nation with the arsenal that we have today the number of warheads we need to continue to reduce the number of warheads that we have and lean upon the experience that we have in Los Alamos utilize the brain

trust that we have there to continue to look into these areas you said you would pay for your proposal to enact universal healthcare by closing corporate tax loopholes and ending the war in Iraq in the last few weeks the federal government has just been borrowing a lot of money to bail out banks to bail out AIG the major insurance company do you believe you need to re-evaluate that plan given the mountains of debt we piled on in the last few weeks can we really afford universal healthcare you know given these financial constraints I think the question really is David is how can we not afford to move forward with universal healthcare and the example that I used with the 100 billion dollars that we as a nation are losing as a result of offshore tax havens for corporations is one example of where we can find the additional revenue every year to pay for universal healthcare as a nation we do need to look at our priorities the health of our nation has to be at the top of that list I'm running for congress because I think I'm qualified to be the representative the third congressional district I've got the education the experience and I think that people really want

an option to the two party system given the current financial crisis and some of the other issues that are going on I think this is the perfect time for people in the district to come together and show that they want real change what would you say is your qualifications well I'm well educated I've worked I've had two presidential appointments in the Reagan and Clinton administrations I've worked on rural healthcare and rural economic development issues for many years and I've worked in congress not as a staffer but as an advocate for communities for many years so I know members of congress I know how the system works I've testified in congress numerous times and I just think that that creates a background in an experience that's really essential to the crisis our country is facing right now this is very rare that an independent wins a federal race a congressional race what gives you you know specifically what gives you any hope that you can pull this off well what gives me hope is the way that the voters and the people

citizens around the state are acting when they meet me and when they hear what my positions are I am being so supportive by people so I think that there's a lot of yearning for something beyond partisanship your two opponents Democrat Ben Ray Luhan Republican Dan East what would you point to is one or two or three major differences on the issues with those two candidates well I'm not sure where they stand on the issues because as we go around and maybe you'll have better luck actually getting real working plans from them what is their policy I just find that I have heard a lot of sound bites about what we're going to do for healthcare that don't even the dots don't even connect where you say you're going to work on universal healthcare then you start talking about health insurance we're never going to get to universal healthcare through an insurance system you would say no role for insurance companies well I'm promoting what's called Medicare for all every poll of the American people where they say what's the best government program they say

it's Medicare because it's a privately delivered oh well maybe they do it's a it's a publicly financed privately delivered healthcare system with a choice of physicians that's what people say they want Medicare has an administrative cost of less than 5% we are never going to cover everyone in this country unless we remove the role of the insurance companies they drain off over a third of the money and their business is only solvent if they actually collect more money than they give people in healthcare one of your opponents you're leading opponent according to recent public polling Ben Ray Luhan the Democrat has served as a member of the public regulation commission are there any specific issues on energy or energy regulation issues that you differ with him well well there are and and some of those are I think we have to really start talking more about conservation first increasing efficiency and then moving on to some of the renewables but we're going to have to have a very comprehensive energy plan you favor more drilling offshore drilling and more nuclear power

well I'm I'm absolutely opposed to nuclear power I think smashing an atom to boil water is really not a very good way to to get us into the future of the new energy economy nuclear power is so expensive per kilowatt hour and it's so dangerous people many people don't realize this even the people who say they're for it it's so dangerous that you cannot ensure nuclear power plant you mentioned the bailout earlier another big issue that certainly been the headlines lately you said you you would vote against it what was ultimately passed the reformed amended version my question is what would you do though to shore up US credit markets we're not sure the bailouts even working I mean there's still some fallout that indicates that it's not working and I come from a public health background so we actually make sure we've diagnosed the problem correctly before we start treating and I feel like we had the treatment before we understood what the disease was I called immediately for a moratorium on for closures and evictions what we really had to do was refinance

all of the loans that were out there that were unaffordable to people and back those up with the government funding but I also in the short term said we need to have companies come to Congress because Congress is the appropriators under the Constitution and say and for a company to have say this is how much money we need this month why can't they be on month to month or a quarterly thing yeah I believe it was unconstitutional to create basically what's extra constitutional fourth branch of government just handing a lot of billions hundreds of billions of dollars over to the Secretary of the Treasury to dispenses he sees fit that's not the way we're supposed to work in this country so there could have been a short term fix we could have gotten through the election and the heat of the political season jumping into the financial mess and actually let people who are economists on both viewpoints study the problem and come forward with a more rational decision once again none of the candidate's answers were edited but some of the question

and answer exchanges were edited for times you can catch the entire discussion online by going to New Mexico and focus dot org now the third congressional district race and issues Marco going to turn you for this you ran against any eastern lost in the district in the primary but I'm curious what your thought is for the biggest challenger east is going to have as the Republican in that seat before that seat I should say the biggest challenge that he's going to have is obviously convincing enough democrats and independents from the district that he's the right person for the job and I thought that he's been very strong on giving them the reasons why to vote for him you know if you want to be taxed more and you're a small business then vote for you know Ben Ray Luhan and for for the independent but if you want lower taxes and job creation tax policy then vote for Dan East if you want a government run healthcare vote for either of

the two other candidates if you want a healthcare that's affordable and accessible and you're going to have the choice of what you want and vote for Dan East I thought he also made a very very strong remarks relative toward Los Alamos National Laboratory which I really heard the others Carol Miller basically said she's against the nuclear mission and Ben Ray you know he basically is saying that he wants to switch the mission over which is going to be there will be a real significant bathtub and there will lose jobs and that's going to be bad for Northern New Mexico Jim on that point about Los Alamos so we all did our reaction to the debate a few days ago up there and Los Alamos was a big subject we didn't get to talk about as much as we would have liked is mr. Reese or any of them coming from a point where you see a clear winner at this point well there's a clear winner in Los Alamos itself which who should be Dan East I mean he was the one who was most supportive laboratories as Marco said Carol Miller you know you get the sense she

just assume seems shut down that may be a little hyperbole but I don't think it's far off the mark I will say this if that Ben Ray Luhon he seems to know the labs issues it's one of his stronger subjects he does want to see the transition in in the mission I don't know if that would cost jobs or not I don't know why it's an either or question that's what's always mystified me about this why can't it be both let me ask do you have that same question you know how is this playing on the ground up there as you and you're reporting about this very issue of the of the labs well I you can tell you the truth I don't think we've seen much of Danny's to caramel around the Santa Bay area you know and I think there's an obvious reason for that I think Ben Ray pretty much has locked at this point you know we've had we've had pretty much all of them in we you know for endorsement interviews we've spoken to them and you know I think I agree with Jim that that Lannel seems to be something that Ben Ray has I think his messages proved quite a bit since the primary and he's gotten really sort of polished with it but then again you know he has a lot of people talking to him and sort of giving him the right answers to give at this point um you know

I don't necessarily think people are caring so much about that I mean I think nuclear proliferation and I mean obviously jobs are a big part of it but I think people are really more concerned with the economy as a larger picture at the moment we're good what do you think you don't have to talk about Los Alamos necessarily but well let me actually say that um I think that um the mission for the national labs is likely to change I think that we have some issues including global warming that are going to take the best minds to solve um I think that when Ben Ray Luhan talks about spent fuel and waste problems that is probably going to be part of the mission for the national labs to solve that problem so that it makes nuclear energy a greater possibility um I don't agree that the physicist would shy away from from this mission I don't I mean I understand that there is a commitment to nuclear weaponry but if in fact there are other priorities

I think that the national labs have a role to play that having been said I think that the discussion is going to be about the economy up north I think that um it is about bringing down health care costs and I do not hear Obama talking about a single payer system he's never said that I don't think it is the other thing I think that uh Joe the plumber is really the the illustrative case here um and I think that what the media have told us over the past 10 days or so is that he does better under the Obama tax plan um that he is not in the market to make a quarter of a million dollars that was that was um great exaggeration if the issue if the issue Jim however is jobs up north and in the labs it's all tied together as Dave's pointed out has has been right in essence drawn down the advantage Dan might have on this issue I think he has I think he's talking to people who

realize there may be a change of mission at the labs maybe he's looking forward some people though may be too nervous about losing their jobs because there's not going to be a smooth transition there will be people losing their jobs the physicists that do nuclear weaponry you know are not going to be working on solar power oh if I may say something that our friend Marco can't say but the GOP missed a bet here and I've said this before that they virtually have seated northern New Mexico in this election across the border and a number of races not only the congressional race but the PRC race um Marco Gonzalez I think he's I hope I don't embarrass him I think really would have made a race out of this and that the GOP is not going to win this race and they cannot hope to win northern New Mexico during an election season it's got they're going to have to build that party in between election seasons they definitely have some advantages there are socially conservative Hispanics up north there are small business people who you know who don't want taxes and I don't know where they're going to go from here but I don't know they you know they they they they should

have come in and said Marco Gonzalez would have been our better candidate for a number of reasons they need to start laying the groundwork and having people in every county up there if they ever want to stand a chance in northern New Mexico I would agree with that by the way Dave what's your sense of this it just makes a very good point the amount of party activity up north for Republicans first I like to say that uh just sort of add that uh that our paper did in Doris Marco during that period uh but but no no I mean I think it's I think I think all right especially in this PRC race where we've ended up with a Democratic candidate who's so scandal-addled that you know you know we have a green party candidate who has you know a pretty decent chance of winning at this point I mean I think and it's not like there's any polls to really look at but yeah no I mean you know we heard early on what was it during the primary like you guys weren't getting much help at all you know we're I don't even think that you were returning your phone calls or inviting you guys places um yeah you know I I feel like uh I mean it's obviously a very democratic district and a lot of people are just going to pull the crank straight down so it's

you know without even really looking at anything below the presidential level but you know I mean if if not this you know this election cycle you could have made uh you know a major impact with especially this PRC race to make people think about the Republicans you know say come 2012 Marco gotta go to you to finish this of course not asking you to to comment necessarily about your own party's uh ability to work with you or not or do something for you but in hindsight was there something that could have been done differently if not just for you but for Mr. East as well uh well you know I think at the end of the day the the Republican Party in Northern New Mexico needs to get excited about the Republican Party in Northern New Mexico and uh we really you know have had a difficulty in bringing a reason why we ought to be excited to the people and uh you know that's what everybody who stands up and tries to run for Congress or whatever elective office is does but the problem is is that it's suffered the third district so long from just uh uh being beat up literally at the polls by Democrats Republicans aren't willing to give

money money a speech speech don't get out nobody hears the word or the message makes it much more difficult and uh you know that's the problem that Dan East is also facing uh and uh Republicans need to stand up and help him. Are you running in 2010? You run but the last time Carol Miller won a Republican did get into office so that's true that's true we have to think about that that's all the time we have for this week's segment of the second of the line but our panelists still have a lot more they want to talk about so with that in mind just head to our website at nemexicoandfocus.org as we move our popular on the clock segment online on top this week Colin Powell backs Barack Obama many arrogance fall from grace is complete now and new questions about the way you and him is spending money but right now we want to put the spotlight on another one of our citizen journalists they've been working hard this election season going and blogging all over town their thoughts and observations about the election they've also been busy with camcorders in hand documenting

the people and the issues of this historic election here's just another example. The original citizens of this country the Native Americans have watched helplessly as their funding has dwindled to nothing. Critical issues both on and off the reservation have been largely ignored. The basic needs and major infrastructure issues remain unaddressed. What are some of the issues and what are some of the solutions? We ask native communities to expound on these issues. Issues that go unaddressed and regional and national campaigns. Environmental I think what has to happen in a very real and direct way is for America to take notice of the Native American legacy with regard to the philosophies the understandings the ways of relationship with the natural world that have been a part of the indigenous history of America and to begin to bring those ideas and perspectives forward. For most people the

reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act is very important to most Native nations and it's especially important to those living in urban areas. We need all of our Native American people need access to healthcare. With regard to health we are working closely with the Department of Health. They have an American Indian Health Advisory Council and I sit as a member of that advisory council. They also have an office of Native American Health headed by Dr. Ron Reed. So we work closely with them. They have a network of tribal health councils that are funded by the Department of Health. How are they going to address those issues? How are these people going to get the healthcare that they have been promised? Take a look at the promises that have been made and not delivered on and look at the issues and look at the concerns and look at the solutions. Awareness, education, it affects all of us because we certainly know what the image is of Native people in a non-native community and those things have to be changed because that is not

indicative of all Native people. We have to have healthy relationships with each other. We've got to stop the divisiveness in the communities amongst each other, amongst your tribe, my tribe, historically tribes have always fought with one another but that has to stop because we're all Native American people. Our first Americans should not be last in opportunity and I certainly believe that and we've often been last in everything. Healthcare, education, where we don't have to settle for that. In order for our people to have better healthcare, we need to be able to take care of our own and I think what we need to do is try this need to offer more scholarships, more opportunities for Native American students to go to school and obtain a degree in medicine. For example, my grandmother lives out south of Gallup in Renderwagon until this day she still

has like no running water or electricity. Because we have a voice and it's important for us, especially like individuals around my age. We really need to learn how to have effective communication skills so that way we can go out into the real world and discuss these issues. Indian America has a place to has a voice and that voice is becoming stronger. So I think given this election and the nature of this election is a historic moment, I think that we will have some very significant impact with regard to how hopefully candidates and campaigns are conducted in the future with regard to the indigenous population of America. The issues concerning Native Americans are relative to the umbrella theory. Education is the key for the prosperous future of Native Americans. Through open discussions and collaboration of minds, Native individuals, groups and communities will develop a voice and through numbers,

power will develop. I believe it is possible for all nations within the United States to unite in an effort to address solutions for problems facing Native Americans and America. Unfortunately, we don't have time to show you all of our citizen journalists during the show, but not to worry. You can watch all of their stories and keep up on their opinions and their insights on their blog. Just head to New Mexico on focus.org and click on the by the people for the people channel. I've been enjoying those. I think they're great. Now while you're there, be sure to vote in our online poll. This week, we want to know what you really think about all those negative ads. We all say we hate them, but do they actually work? Log in, sound off, and don't forget we love to hear from you about anything. Shoot us an email in focusacanemy.org. Up next week on the show, we go inside the first congressional district race and the U.S. Senate race. So until then, have a great week, and thanks for watching.