She tries your heart-strings by stating in the invitation, “A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the New Mexico S.A.F.E. houses throughout New Mexico.”

She does not define “portion.”

This doesn’t sound like a fiscally responsible governor, nor someone trying to help the working class. The invitation reads as an elitist gathering of the haves, without the have-nots. We’ll have to hope this isn’t an indication of her administration and that she makes public all the Bold money she raises.

WATCHING THE GUVS TO BE

It's not only Susana being watched when it comes to inaugural contributions. USA Today hits with news on concern over possible pay-to-play politics:

We blogged recently that Martinez inagural packages are being shopped with a top price tag of $25,0oo. The transition says she will release a contribution report of names and donors. The AP came with the report that Martinez would not voluntarily apply the state's new $5,000 campaign contribution to her inaugural. There were questions raised whether those new limits apply to the inauguration but so far no legal challenges have surfaced.

THE FUN SIDE

Meanwhile, Susana appears prepped to have some fun on her big day.

(AP) - Hey kids! Want to line dance with the next governor?

Gov.-elect Susana Martinez's inaugural committee provided details Monday about the Jan. 1 public inauguration ceremony and children's ball.

Martinez's office says New Mexico children can dance the Electric Slide, Cha-cha Slide and the Two Step with the new governor. Each child also gets an illustrated children's story about Martinez's life, but details about the book will be released later.

The "Two Step?" Well, by the time Susana gets done dancing with the Legislature, she'll know the Two Step better than a Lincoln County cowboy out on the town on a Saturday night.

ABQ Dem US Congressman Martin Heinrich and the US Air Force came with an early Christmas present for his district, although it wasn't a surprise: The flying "Tacos" at Kirtland Air Force Base won't be entirely crunched:

The Tacos have a new mission.

Air Force officials on Monday incorporated the New Mexico Air National Guard's 150th Fighter Wing, known as the Tacos, into the command of the 58th Special Operations Wing, an active duty unit at Kirtland Air Force Base that performs combat search and rescue missions.

Heinrich, a member of the House Armed Services Committee says "most" of the 1,100 jobs associated with the Tacos will be saved. We're sure his political foes will be watching. We'd guess that the jobs are probably safe at least through the 2012 election.

It's true that the legendary Tacos lost their fighter mission, but the jobs and resulting payroll stay. In this budget cutting age that's what you call a win.

THE POLITICS

This is a nice score for Heinrich who was just elected to a second term. He said during the campaign that he had a deal to save the Tacos, but Jon Barela, his GOP rival as well as former Rep. Heather Wilson questioned that. Turns out they were wrong.

It's interesting to watch the Heinrich balancing act. He is the first Democrat and the first liberal to represent the ABQ district. Last week he voted against the Obama tax compromise, arguing against the cuts in it for the wealthy. That pleased his liberal base. This week he announced the new Taco mission, pleasing a more conservative constituency.

He has adapted with some adroitness. An example is his official reasoning on the tax cuts for the wealthy. He said such cuts would add to the national debt. He did not emphasize the historic gap between the rich and the poor in the USA--the obvious reason for voting against the extension. (Senator Bingaman did the same).

SWEET CONTRAST

There was a sweet contrast for the Heinrich camp with that of ABQ GOP City Councilor Dan Lewis who has indicated he will run for Heinrich's seat in 2012. On the day the congressman was announcing the deal to save the Tacos, Lewis's proposal to study whether to fire the federal TSA from Sunport security was being shot down on a 6 to 3 council vote.

Welcome to the brightly lit stage of La Politica, Dan. The score is 1-0. Martin leads.

CLEAN IT UP

The Air Force is also going to be contributing to the economy here in another way. The clean-up on a underground fuel spill continues and its costing millions to get the job done. The key point for us is that Kirtland has been responsive since news of the leak became a major cause of concern, particularly among surrounding neighborhoods in SE ABQ.

A LUMP OF COAL