They don't call us the "Land of Mañana" for nothing.  City Hall's reaction to the news that for the seventh straight year passenger traffic at the ABQ Sunport has taken a dive says it all. We've now crashed nearly 30 percent from the pre-recession high reached in 2008 but on the 11th floor it's business as usual:

“We’re not having any shortfalls,” said Gilbert Montano, chief of staff for Mayor R.J. Berry. “Our passenger load is what it needs to be.”

Does he mean our passenger load is "what it needs to be" for a town ravaged by business and government travel cuts and a relentless stagnation?

Another one like that Gilbert and your nickname is going to be Gilbert Mañana. . .

(Here's a blog we did in September of last year on our Saturday night visit to the ABQ Sunport when it was so vacant we thought it had been evacuated).

Well, it's anything but laid back around here. Readers continue to pitch ideas to get New Mexico moving, even if they seem to often fall on deaf political ears. Union leader Jon Hendry writes:

We could move up considerably if we just looked to invest more of the money currently under management by the State Investment Council (SIC) in NM and not overseas. Everyone who is not on the board tells the SIC: "More money for Chama before China." 

Overseas investments pay higher rates with much less oversight. But they provide lower returns to the state as there's no economic development advantage like jobs or infrastructure spending. No jobs created. No facilities built. Nothing but "look how smart we are. We have more money you can't spend!" And by managed funds I mean PERA, ERA and the multiple funds under SIC control. If we said we would invest just 5% of them in NM in loan subsidies etc., we could leap. Use our money to create jobs for us. 5% of the managed funds is close to $2 billion. Why not ?

BERNIE VS. HILLARY

The sleepy political summer comes to life as we debate Hillary vs. Bernie. Reader Stephanie DuBois carried Hillary's torch Tuesday but today Dem Fred Moran tries to snuff it out:

Stephanie says “Sanders says all the right things”. That statement is true, but it’s true because that’s what he’s been saying for the last 40 or so years. His conviction has not wavered. On the other hand, in contrast to Sanders, Clinton in 2005 stood in the Senate and adamantly opposed marriage equality until it was no longer politically expedient to do so. She also voted for the Iraq war, the Patriot Act without ever reading it, voted for tougher bankruptcy legislation making it harder for Americans to declare, opposed medical cannabis, voted against Glass-Steagall and voted for NDAA which gave the power to the military to detain US citizens indefinitely without trial. Stephanie also states that "Hillary has always been a Democrat. Wrong again, Stephanie. In 1964 Hillary, a young Republican, was a staffer to the Goldwater campaign who opposed the Civil Rights Act. Do these positions sound like a Democrat to you?

And reader Jeff Nordley pushes back against the Bernie bashing with this:

In response to Ms. DuBois' comment on Bernie Sanders, I can't help but note: I imagine Bernie registered as an independent all these years because he recognizes that the Democratic Party, just like the Republican Party, is utterly controlled by corporate money and interests. Bernie, like other social champions such as Sen. Warren, is trying to force the Democratic Party to ditch its corporate influences and champion the progressive causes its base longs for. Whereas, Hillary's campaign thus far has been little more than a string of endless banalities, rhetoric, and dodging any serious stance on a pertinent issue. A perfect example is watching Hillary duck and dodge on the issues of free trade, the financial meltdown, and criminal justice reform: three issues where Bill Clinton played a major role in creating the current dilemmas.

All this debate on the Dem side of the aisle gets you wondering what New Mexico Republicans are thinking about in their crowded race for the White House. Or are there simply too many candidates to give it much serious thinking right now?

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author