Today at 2am the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the efforts of the New Mexico GOP to hold an Extraordinary Session had failed. BUT! It looks like the Supreme Court is the next step to hold the Governor accountable. I am very concerned about the power grab of many Governors and Mayors and of course the Feds during COVID and now into the future. Trillions of dollars have been spent…….for what? To pay people not to work? To see businesses struggle to be at a full staff? To teach people you do not have to work for a living? This is all messed up. The new America pays people to stay home? It seems that everyday now the Feds throw money at something! Trump spent tons of play money and Biden is spending more. It is all fake money. The federal deficit will hit $3 trillion in 2021 for the second consecutive year, primarily because of the national spending blitz in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday, July 1st. America is broke and spiritually broke… we have drowned in red ink, but this new America acts like a drunken sailor. The Feds spend money like there is not tomorrow. The Governor of New Mexico acts like a Queen. The moral compass is at the bottom of the ocean. I am thankful that the New Mexico GOP is trying to hold the Governor accountable. If not them, who?
GOP effort to convene New Mexico Legislature for extraordinary session fails
This news release from the NM GOP came in late last night, before the Santa Fe New Mexican report:
Republican Leaders ask AG for opinion on MLG billion-dollar money-grab
Santa Fe, NM – As of 4:00 pm this afternoon, the effort to convene the New Mexico State Legislature in an Extraordinary Special Session has drawn bipartisan support, including unanimous support from both the House and Senate Republican Caucuses. However, we are disappointed that a vast majority of Democrats in the House and Senate, who control both chambers of the Legislature, have chosen to silently stand by and let the Governor usurp the legislative branch’s “power of the purse.” This inaction by majority Democrats will set precedence to transfer the Legislature’s constitutional authority to spend unallocated federal dollars to current and future governors, of any political party, and negates past efforts by bipartisan lawmakers who have fought to preserve this fundamental responsibility of the Legislature.
Last week, Legislative Council Service provided each lawmaker with a copy of a petition to convene an Extraordinary Special Session, and has been collecting the signed copies for the past several days.
In response to this troubling decision by majority Democrats to acquiesce to the Governor’s dubious claim she has sole authority to spend federal dollars, Republican Leadership from both the House and Senate have requested the New Mexico Attorney General to provide a legal opinion regarding the constitutionality of the Governor spending federal dollars in the state treasury without a legislative appropriation. In the letter, Republican Leaders appeal to the Attorney General stating, “We strongly believe legislators have a sworn duty to uphold the Legislature’s inherent constitutional powers, and every action possible should be taken to preserve or exert the institution’s authority to appropriate public money.”
There are 24 House Republican members and 15 Republican Senators and in order to convene an extraordinary special session the petition needs three-fifths support from each chamber or 42 House members and 25 Senators. A copy of the joint Republican Leadership letter to the Attorney General is attached.
As America has drowned in red ink….As this new America keeps going…..I have been saying for years and years we have been in a Spiritual Drought! A falling away from JESSUS! COVID was the tipping point to much of our downfall.
Read this please and share it with your Pastor:
This is very important information that I encourage you to share with you Pastor!David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, shared that up to 20% of churches could permanently close as a result of the challenges of the pandemic by early 2022. While it remains to be seen if this prediction will hold true, there is ample evidence that churches are struggling with both keeping people engaged in God’s mission and reaching new people, two critical elements of a healthy church. In the most recent Unstuck Church Report (Q4 2020), churches reported being only slightly down in small group involvement however they showed a 56% decrease in the number of people baptized and a 44% decrease in the number of new people being added to their ministry databases. While tending to the needs of congregants was vital and appropriate at the outset of the pandemic, and ongoing pastoral care is needed, we find ourselves over a year later drifting from the missional call to reach others with the hope of Jesus. Yet it is precisely that life-transforming hope that our neighbors need, and not just need, but it is what they are seeking in these times of uncertainty.
