Free Republic

Blitzer headed to North Korea By: CNN’s “The Situation Room” Anchor Wolf Blitzer Beijing, China (CNN) - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson arrived here just a little while ago - a short layover on the way to Pyongyang, North Korea. I am traveling with him covering his four day private visit to North Korea. I've been to China and South Korea - including the DMZ - but never to North Korea and am looking forward to seeing it.

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 8, 2010 4:03pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said on Wednesday he would travel to North Korea from December 16-20, hoping to ease mounting tensions with Pyongyang over its nuclear program and belligerence toward South Korea. "I am increasingly concerned with the recent actions by the North Koreans, which have raised tensions and are contributing to instability on the Korean Peninsula," Richardson said in a statement, saying he was going as a private citizen. "I am not carrying any messages, but I want to be helpful during this volatile period," Richardson said....

Any casual observer can easily see how [NM] state government is structured to prevent things from happening. And that is why, as his eight years in office wind down, I find myself, grudgingly, tipping my hat ever so slightly in the direction of Gov. Bill Richardson. For better and for worse, and, I have little doubt, motivated largely by his desire to be president, Bill Richardson changed a state that is designed to change only rarely. ... Richardson pushed through tax law changes, got the state Constitution amended by popular vote to increase funding for schools, established a Department of...

Gov. Bill Richardson has announced furloughs and layoffs will be avoided in the latest round of state budget-cutting, which takes effect today. Richardson's office just sent out a news release in which the two-term Democratic governor said he'll use $1.4 million in federal stimulus money under his control to help executive and judicial branch agencies avoid furloughs.

Gov. Bill Richardson's job approval rating has plummeted as he nears the end of his second term and nearly two out of three New Mexico voters think the state is on the wrong track. The Democratic governor's approval rating has eroded significantly in the last two years, a new Journal Poll found. The state has been hit hard by recession and budget cutting has followed. The administration has been clouded by investigations of pay-to-play politics. Just 33 percent of proven, likely voters surveyed statewide Aug. 23-27 said they approved of the job Richardson is doing. Sixty-three percent said they disapproved...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Descendants of frontier lawman Pat Garrett personally delivered a message to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that they're opposed to a posthumous pardon for outlaw Billy the Kid, who was killed by Garrett nearly 130 years ago.

Seriously: is Bill Richardson trying to wreck John McCain? Ask yourself: what would be the one thing most likely to undermine McCain with Arizona Republican Senate primary voters? Surely it would be the possibility that if re-elected, born-again immigration hawk McCain would revert to the squishiness that led him to collaborate with Ted Kennedy on a "path to citizenship" for illegals. Yet on this evening's Ed Show, that's exactly what the New Mexico governor—twice—imagined McCain might do. View video here.

PHOENIX — For nearly 30 years, the governors of the states that line both sides of the United States-Mexico border have gathered to celebrate border bonhomie. They issue proclamations and pledges to work together, air grievances and concerns behind closed doors and pose for the cameras in symbolic showings of cooperation. But this year the 28th annual conference has collided headlong with Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration, inspiring bitter recriminations among Mexican governors and rancor among some American ones.... Arizona Governor Jan Brewer happens by rotation to be the chairwoman and host of this year’s conference, scheduled for September at...

Here is video of former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson saying he is "kind of sad about Arlen Specter" losing the U.S. Senate primary in Pennsylvania to Rep. Joe Sestak. Richardson agreed that Specter's loss "surprised him," but said the country is in an "anti-incumbency" mood. Specter has no one but himself to blame. First he was a RINO, then he decided to be a complete turncoat. How can anyone be "surprised" he lost?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington chose New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for a dubious distinction Wednesday, naming him to a list of the nation's most unethical and incompetent governors. Richardson's office called the Washington, D.C.-based group's report on him "ridiculous" and cited the Journal as the culprit for his inclusion. "Governor Richardson has led the way for ethics reform in New Mexico," said Richardson spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia. "It's also difficult to take it seriously, since it relies almost exclusively on the Albuquerque Journal as its source." The CREW group cited Richardson, a Democrat, for using state investments to...

Since the imposition of the state "hiring freeze" in November 2008, at least seven workers in the Governor's Office have moved to jobs elsewhere in government. All but one of them has been given exempt, or political appointee, positions, earning just about the same amount of money they did in the Governor's Office. Under the hiring freeze imposed by Gov. Bill Richardson to help ease the state budget crunch, an exempt position can be filled only if the hiring is necessary and critical to an agency's mission. ~~big snip~~While the administration uses the term "hiring freeze" to describe the employment...

The shady Iranian fundraiser who for years donated lucrative sums to top Democrats—including the president, vice president and secretary of state—has pleaded guilty to a major bank-fraud scheme that could land him in jail for nearly two decades.Disgraced Democratic money man Hassan Nemazee admitted this week that he defrauded three financial institutions out of nearly $300 million in loan proceeds by falsifying documents and signatures to show he had hundreds of millions of dollars worth of collateral. The Ivy League-educated crook then used the proceeds to donate big bucks to the campaigns of federal, state and local candidates. Among them...

Gov. Bill Richardson's office wouldn't answer Journal questions this week regarding the governor's whereabouts and whether he was working in state or traveling outside New Mexico. Turns out Journal reporters weren't the only people left out of the loop. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who is supposed to be in charge of state government when the governor is out of state, said Wednesday morning that she didn't know where Richardson was [and] had only a vague idea of when he would be returning. So are privacy concerns enough to keep his schedule from Denish, too?

New Mexicans should brace for tax increases in 2010, Gov. Bill Richardson warned Monday. "It's inevitable," Richardson told a news conference in the state Capitol. "It's very painful." Richardson ruled out tax hikes during a recent special legislative session called to deal with a projected $650 million state deficit for this year. His remarks Monday represented his strongest words to date on the likelihood of increasing taxes during the regular session that begins in January. Reaction to Richardson's remarks were mixed. Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, agreed with Richardson and said tax loopholes should be closely scrutinized. "We should remember that...

Today is Halloween, but Gov. Bill Richardson has been running around as Dr. Doom all week. Richardson is upset the Legislature approved a 7.6 percent cut in funding for most of his agencies as a means to help address a $650 million budget deficit. Day after day this week, in a well-orchestrated public-relations campaign, Richardson and other administration officials warned of dire consequences ... Senior citizens will go hungry, poor children will go without medical care, state parks will be shut, two prisons will be closed and hundreds of criminals will be set loose to prey on you, the administration...

SANTA FE, N.M. - Gov. Bill Richardson spent almost $139,000 for dinners and receptions at the governor's mansion last year, entertaining thousands of guests including movie stars George Clooney and Robert Duvall. A discretionary expense account covers the costs of the events. Spending from the fund was up 63 percent from 2007, when the governor campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination and traveled extensively outside of New Mexico. Expenditures totaled $138,925 in 2008, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press in response to a public records request. That is up from $85,197 in 2007 from $109,486 in 2006....

ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE, N.M. (KRQE) - One mariner knew a collision with his own boat could not be avoided as a large houseboat with Gov. Bill Richardson aboard and an aide at the helm tried to dock Saturday at an Elephant Butte Lake marina. No one was hurt in the 5:15 p.m. incident that damaged three boats and the marina. However Brian Condit, Richardson's chief of staff, was cited for negligent operation of the houseboat Bloody Mary. Richardson told KRQE News 13 Wednesday that he was napping at the time. "I think it's important that we get the facts out,"...

The wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the political aisle over last week's nonindictment of Gov. Bill Richardson and two former aides is to be expected in a state lacking the rich tradition of political corruption prosecutions they have in places like Illinois or New Jersey. Here in the Land of Enchantment, we're not used to the sharp elbows and eye gouging that accompany such matters. From comments coming from both sides, we don't even know the rules of these contests. And trust me, there are rules. Republicans are complaining that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.,...

(English-language translation) HAVANA (AP) — The United States should implement the announced permission for Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba, and the island should respond by eliminating exit restrictions on its citizens, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson recommended. This was one among a list of suggestions the American devised during his visit to the island, which ended on Friday. "There is a very good environment, the best I have seen in many years," Richardson stated in relation to a possible approach between the two countries. According to the governor, "humanitarian" steps should be taken to stimulate links between people [involved] in...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.