TresSugar

Richardson as Commerce Secretary to Spark Racial Tension?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:30:39 -0800

President-elect Obama named New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as his commerce secretary nominee today, putting Richardson on track to be the voice of the US business community in Obama's cabinet. Richardson will also lead international trade missions, watch over the 2010 census, and oversee the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Office (an agency involved in the climate change debate).

But not everyone is pleased. Chinese-American activists in California have planned a nationwide protest to the appointment of Gov. Richardson, who enjoys popularity among Latino Americans as his demographic's most prominent politician. The Chinese-American group maintains that when Richardson was President Clinton's energy secretary he handled the case of Taiwanese-American Wen Ho Lee in a way that made all Chinese-Americans seem like potential spies. To find out more about this controversy, read more.

In 1999 the Clinton Administration accused Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear scientist at UCLA, of stealing the "crown jewels" of America's nuclear weapon program to give to China. But later the government admitted that none of the information was classified and 99 percent of it was available to the public. Richardson acknowledged that he made errors in his handling of that case, during a Democratic presidential debate years later. But many Chinese-Americans still wait for an actual apology.

Do you think Richardson should apologize to the Chinese-American community?

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Markets Rally as Obama Narrows in on Economic Team

CitizenSugar — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:00:28 -0800

The Dow Jones shot up yesterday, closing almost 500 points ahead, after news broke that President-elect Obama would tap Timothy Geithner to be treasury secretary. Geithner currently serves as the chief of the New York Federal Reserve. The news helped reduce uncertainty in the markets, and pushed the Dow above 8,000 points.

Geithner, 47, served in the Treasury Department under Clinton's secretary Larry Summers. He has helped current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson try to steer the US out of the financial mess. An official announcement is expected Monday. Obama will also name New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Commerce Secretary, according to reports.

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Bill Richardson Endorses Barack Obama

CitizenSugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:00:01 -0700

Governor Bill Richardson, former energy secretary in the Clinton administration, has given his coveted endorsement to Barack Obama. In his endorsement statement released this morning, Richardson said,

“I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America’s moral leadership in the world. As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama’s unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation.”

The nation’s only Hispanic governor, Richardson could provide Obama with help among Hispanic voters, who have been steadily voting for Hillary Clinton in the primaries so far.

Shown here together at Sen. Harkin's annual steak fry in Iowa last summer, the pair will undoubtedly have lots of non-meat-based time to spend together. Richardson is said to be heading out to make a formal announcement an Obama fundraising event in Portland, OR, today.

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Lighten Up: Richardson's Wild West

CitizenSugar — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:01:33 -0800

Here's one more from the vault. Though the campaign lost the funniest presidential candidate (and we sure missed him at the debate last night) we're serving up one more helping of his delightfully goofy brand of politics...

Is it always this much fun in New Mexico?

Ad-rageous: Bill Richardson's Job Interview

LibertySugar — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:05:51 -0800

As a last, fond farewell for former candidate Bill Richardson, here's a very appropriate send off. I loved this ad highlighting his extensive foreign-policy accomplishments, executive experience as governor of New Mexico, and that sense of humor!

Richardson's résumé definitely made him a qualified candidate. Even though he couldn't pull off the nomination, he would be a wise choice for vice president or a cabinet position.

Headline: Bill Richardson Ends His White House Run

CitizenSugar — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:25:14 -0800

After distant finishes in both the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, Governor Bill Richardson formally ended his Presidential bid today. Richardson's campaign, while never garnering a lot of official support via the ballot box, added a positive and policy-nuanced layer to the discussion. One of the most experienced candidates, with a cabinet position and a governorship under his belt, he campaigned hard, keeping what became his signature sense of humor during debates and on the trail.

Shortly after his announcement, he appeared on CNN's Situation Room, saying, "I feel I did all I could, so I leave satisfied that I helped shape the process."

He's not endorsing any other candidate presently, saying that he wants to let the primaries shape themselves and for now, focus on being a good governor of New Mexico.

Were you a Bill Richardson supporter? Are you sad to see him go?

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Front Page: New Mexico Repeals the Death Penalty

CitizenSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:38:23 -0700

New Mexico has become the 15th US state to ban the death penalty. Gov. Richardson said signing the bill was the toughest decision he's made in public life. - New Mexico Independent
Natasha Richardson's peers in the entertainment world offer words of tribute for the actress, who has died at the age of 45 after a skiing accident. - BBC News
President Obama is in California discussing the stimulus plan. He will appear on Jay Leno's show tonight. - LA Times
AIG's top executives are asking employees to return half of their bonuses. - New York Times
Josef Fritzl has been sentenced to life by an Austrian court. - Guardian

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Day 3: What's Happening at the Convention Today

CitizenSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:55:42 -0700

Wow. Following Hillary's speech and a night of events (full story coming soon, but let's just say Wyclef Jean, Everclear, and Chris Daughtry are pretty amazing live!) today will have to work hard to top it, but it's going to sure try:

Liberty is checking out a panel with Ariana Huffington.
The much anticipated, albeit probably brief roll call vote of the states is tonight.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is hosting an event called UnConventional '08.
At the podium tonight, a real line-up: Bill Clinton, Harry Reid, Bill Richardson, Evan Bayh, and Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Kanye West is headlining at the ONE event to stop global poverty.

We'll keep you posted as the day goes on, with the full story of last night is coming very soon!

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Interactive Info on Ads: Who Spent How Much & Where

CitizenSugar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:00:05 -0700

We've been soaking in a bathtub full of political ads for so long, my fingers are beyond pruney. Though there's great talk of who has how much money to spend on making the suckers, it's not until you can see the true data behind of the ad campaigns compared side by side that you can get a real fix on it.

Ever the masters of the interactive graphic, the Times has maps that let you pit the groups with money side by side to see how much was spent, and where ads were bought. The McCain vs. Obama number is interesting ($90,415,962 to broadcast 57 television ads compared to Obama's $145,064,338 to broadcast 86 television ads) but I was most struck by the DNC vs. RNC as shown in the maps above: $436,015 to $10,080,774. That's a discrepancy. Most of the RNC dough as you can see is pretty geographically targeted.

There are more fun features to play with, read more.

The feature lets you search by issue as well. For instance, a total of $1,356,628 was spent to broadcast five ads related to the presidential campaign on the issue. For comparison? My pal T. Boone Pickens spent $24,026,256 to broadcast nine ads.

It all makes me remember a wackier time in political ads, when Hillary wrapped up some Christmassy goodness, and Bill Richardson gave a pretty stellar and funny job interview, and who can forget - "my plan to secure the border? Two words: Chuck. Norris.

What do you make of the differences in spending?

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More Permanent Than a Bumper Sticker. Would You Get One?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:00:36 -0700

Why settle for slapping on a silly bumper sticker? Stickers are for little girls! Get your political allegiance stamped into a hunk of metal - that's for the truly hardcore.

New York resident Tibi Vasilescu is the proud owner of the OBAMA 08 plate pictured above. His statement cost him $68 and gets him lots of attention - he's already been offered $1,000 for it. Vasilescu's first choice candidate, Bill Richardson, dropped out so his plate went Obama. Funny it's not affixed on an American-made car. . . . The New York database also shows a MCCAIN 08 plate on record.

What do you think?

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