Things you might not know about Bill Richardson

[seasat]

Richardson supports tying human rights to trade with China.

He cosponsored H.R.5318 back in 1992 which stated:

United States - China Act of 1992 - Declares the sense of the Congress with respect to the actions of the People's Republic of China (China) in the areas of human rights, weapons proliferation, and unfair trade practices. Urges the President to: (1) direct the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate and take appropriate action with respect to China's continuing unfair and discriminatory trade practices which unreasonably restrict U.S. commerce; and (2) encourage members of the Missile Technology Control Regime and other appropriate countries to develop a common policy on China's transfer of missile technology to other countries. Declares that current sanctions against China should be continued and strictly enforced. Urges the President to direct the Secretary of Commerce to consult with and encourage American business leaders with significant trade or investments in China to adopt a human rights code of conduct covering specified points.

He stated recently in a speech on US-Asian Relations:

China must also improve its human rights record and respect the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. In my experience as a diplomat, public scoldings do not work, but economic incentives often do.

· Accordingly, we should negotiate firmly with the Chinese on human rights, and develop trade agreements should be used to incentivize human rights improvements.

He has been consistent in this policy over his career in public service.

Bill Richardson voted against the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy regarding gays in the military while in the US legislature. He has called for its repeal on several occasions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/06/AR2006120601878.html">Richardson opposed the border fence with Mexico from the beginning.

While http://www.democraticgovernors.org/content/103">chairperson of the Democratic Governor's Association, he led us to a gain of 6 governorships in the 2006 elections.

Here's Bill Richardson on Global Warming:

If we are to succeed in ensuring environmental security in the face of great challenges to the sustainability of our planet, the United States must firmly commit itself to serving as an international leader in devising and abiding by practical and appropriate multilateral approaches.

The fact is, the major environmental challenges from climate change to protecting our oceans and preventing desertification and the destruction of endangered species are global problems. They affect people from New York to New Delhi and they can only be solved with global solutions.

This speech would not be notable since the vast majority of Democrats are saying similar things except that is from a 1998 speech to the UN while he was US ambassador. He was addressing environmental issues like global warming and species diversity before it was cool to do so.

Barbara Richardson, the first lady of New Mexico, made increasing childhood immunization her cause. Bill Richardson pushed through legislation working to increase child immunization rates. As a result, New Mexico went from 49th to currently 15th in the nation in child immunization rate.

[monmouth]

1. He continues to look better with time. More and more is coming

out about his past works (thanks to your post, by the way). As I stated before he came under my radar when Imus really pushed him to jump in and run. Since Don Imus is a registered repug that caught my attention. Imus then detailed the good things Richardson had done and his generosity towards "the ranch" and other good stuff in NM. I also liked the way he handled the Gonzales question they couldn't wait to ask him. Poor guy, trying and succeeding, thank God, to stand up in a way for Gonzales. I thought he handled it pretty well. He will become more and more prominent in the future, it's still early days.

[Lobster Martini]

2. Richardson said five words on the "Tonight" show that impressed me

When asked about energy policy--something he knows a bit about--he used these five words: "sacrifice for the common good."

Voters, as a rule, don't want to hear about sacrifices, so it was not an answer that would buy him many votes, but it was an honest answer. Good for him.

[snowbear]

11. OMG... someone besides me saw him on the Tonight Show... YAYYYYYY!!!!

I asked DU'ers the other night if they intended to watch it, and my thread dropped to the bottom of the DU Ocean like it had lead weights attached to it..

It aired 4 hours earlier on the east coast than it did here in Anchorage, so I figured at least one person here had seen it. I guessed wrong.


I thought he did a wonderful job!!

Jay Leno had asked the audience two nights in a row (the night before he came on, and the night he was on) if they were familiar with the New Mexico Governor, and wow.. not too many people there were familiar with him.

He drew quite a bit of applause from the audience and it's amazing to me more people aren't familiar with him. I guess at this stage, it REALLY is "name recognition"!

He's been completely open about the baseball ordeal, and if he starts to gain traction in our primary.. I'm sure we'll hear all about his staff member saying that he's too "touchy feelie", but overall, I don't think either of those complaints will hurt him too much.

But he DOES have to continue gaining traction and name recognition. He has a lot to offer as a candidate.

~~~ ~~~

[knight_of_the_star]

16. Ok he's officially my candidate

If the General doesn't jump in then Richardson has my vote, if nothing else than for being willing to say something that politically damaging but true.

[Honeycombe8]

26. What does he mean by that? nt

[illinoisprogressive]

3. Richardson is my second choice and he is just cool

[billbuckhead]

5. Anyone who would lie about being a pro baseball player is unacceptable

We need a truthful person.


<http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/35485.html>

[JNelson6563]

9. Interesting story

Not good.

[seasat]

10. Richardson claims it was an honest mistake.

However, if all he has against him is an exaggeration about being drafted by a baseball team in 1966, then he ought to have no problem in the general election. That's a heck of lot better than lying about a National Guard record. The guy isn't perfect and I disagree with him on several issues but overall he seems pretty straight forward for a politician.

One of my criticisms is that he actually speaks too honestly. I find it appealing but he needs to follow scripted points a little more like the other candidates if he wants to move up in the polls. He tends to say things that are easily misinterpreted especially if taken out of context.

[snowbear]

12. It's not even a mistake.. if you see his documentation, you can see why he thought what he did ...

And despite what the anti-Richardson people say ... it won't go anywhere.

[skipos]

4. I don't share his views on everything, but he would be the best President imo.

I'd love to see him in the "top tier."

[seasat]

6. Forgot an import one: He opposes the Patriot Act

PDF press release from 2003

SANTA FE – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Attorney General Patricia
Madrid want New Mexico to join the long list of communities that oppose controversial
provisions in the U.S. Patriot Act.

Governor Richardson and Attorney General Madrid urged the New Mexico Legislature,
which will convene Monday in a special session, to pass a similar resolution opposing
many provisions in the Patriot Act.

“It is important, especially now that Congress is evaluating the impact of the Patriot Act,
that we send the message that New Mexico opposes the infringement of civil rights and
liberties,” said Governor Bill Richardson. “The United States can fight the war against
terrorism without eroding America’s precious freedoms.”

He also opposes the Real ID act.

[CK_John]

7. Sect. of State is where Richardson would be most effective. n/t

[Sherman A1]

8. Agreed

But, he might be good in a #2 slot as well.

[YankeyMCC]

13. I very much liked his response in the recent debate

where he put acting on global warming and environmental issues in general very near the top of his list of first things to do if he gained office. But as someone else suggested Sec of State might be a more effective position for him.

Still my 08 decision is far from written in stone and I'm watching him closely.

[IdaBriggs]

14. He and his administration did whatever they could to prevent investigating (NM) Election Fraud 2004.

This was done so that he could run in 2008.

That means he helped keep Junior in office during the last four years for his own political aspirations.

I haven't forgotten, and I haven't forgiven.

I was there. I remember, and I care, even if no one else does.

And before you ask for "links" (since my knowledge comes from being on the conference calls and helping to investigate), go either google or yahoo "New Mexico 2004 Presidential Election Fraud."

ON EDIT: Clarification that he was just doing his part in New Mexico.

[seasat]

15. For the hundreth time, the Democrats did not request a recount.

I did research it and posted a journal article on it. Neither Kerry nor the Democratic party requested a recount. The recount was requested by the Green and Libertarian Parties. The problem with New Mexico was a high number of undervotes on the electronic machines. Repolling an electronic voting machine is going to give you the same number each time. The undervote on the countable paper ballots were just under 4000. The paper ballot undervotes were the expected normal percentage for an election. * won by 6000 votes. It did not make sense to challenge for the Democrats.

IMHO, the Greens and Libertarians were looking for some publicity and decided to request a recount. Since New Mexico law requires the person requesting the recount to foot the bill for it if the recount doesn't change the election results, the NM election commission requested that the Greens and Libertarians put up a 1.4 million dollar bond before they started the recount. They refused, challenged NM in court, lost in all courts, and the recount never happened. Richardson, at great expense to one of the poorest states in the US, scrapped the electronic machines and pushed through a model voting law requiring paper ballots with an auditable trail.

The reason your conspiracy theory doesn't make sense is that NM only has 5 electoral votes. If Richardson thought Kerry would have won a recount, he could have pushed it through. He would have ticked off his state voters for the waste of money, but won over some folks nationally. Kerry still couldn't have been elected without Ohio's 20 electoral votes and did not need New Mexico's electoral votes to win. However, if Kerry had still lost the recount in NM (as was likely based on the data), folks like you would have still accused Richardson of all sorts of outlandish things.

[IdaBriggs]

17. For the THOUSANDTH time, I *KNOW* the Democrats didn't do it --

that's why we had to turn to the Greens and Libertarians. The Democrats were (what is the word? oh yes -- I've got it now!) USELESS.

The Greens and Libertarians were doing something *really* good for this country -- they were actually "safeguarding democracy." You see, the whole thing started when I figured out the problems in New Hampshire. (Not to minimize other people's contributions, including the good folks in Ohio.) Only three people could request an investigation, and those were the three men on the ballot: Bush, Kerry & Nader. There where only THREE DAYS before everything became off limits, and I wasted two and a half of those days trying to get the Kerry people to pay attention to the anomalies (not because of the 3 votes, but because we computer people "copy" our code, which means we don't bother to reinvent the wheel every time we write vote counting or switching software, which meant if we could get to the bottom of things in New Hampshire, we could probably identify the "magic glitches" elsewhere).

So anyway, when it finally became apparent that the Kerry people weren't going to help (and I spoke with them, and that is an entertaining story in itself), in desperation, we turned to the Nader people. Go do some searches in the election forum on my name -- I reported the whole thing as it happened, with only some then confidential conversations not being recorded.

Yes, I know about the "invisible New Mexico voters" -- the problems were so blatant as to be INSANE. The idea was a simple one, however: identify the problems EVERYWHERE since the same techniques were being used in SMALL STATES as were being used in bigger ones.

Richardson jacked up the price of the recount so high as to make it nearly impossible, and then, when we (meaning the grass roots effort to investigate the situation) were able to come up with the hundreds of thousands of dollars (and I was on those conference calls, too), they increased it into THE MILLIONS. Result: Invisible Votes -- and Junior in office.

Now, to be fair, Richardson was simply one of the establishment Democrats who was so busy looking out for his own political future that he was not doing his job, but its one of those silly little things that makes me not like him.

Oh, and as for New Hampshire, the people there apparently figured out how to make sure their elections quit having those silly little "anomalies" and for the first time in over a hundred years, the state went PURE BLUE in 2006. It was "a miracle"! But I met the folks there, and let me use a word that I don't think applies to the gentleman in question: they have INTEGRITY.

Your guy didn't want things investigated because of his own political aspirations. I was a part of it, and that is what we were told "unofficially" at the time. It was disgusting then, and its still disgusting now.

I'd love for it to have been just a 'conspiracy theory' but unfortunately, it is/was reality. I WAS A WITNESS, so bite me if you don't believe me. Support him if you want to, but don't deny the truth. Your guy is a Pragmatic Politician, and he knew EXACTLY what he was doing/allowing to happen.

It was a testament to his REAL character, because it was stuff that they weren't really worried about coming out. After all, Junior won "fair and square" right?

:eyes:

But don't think Richardson didn't know EXACTLY what was going on. He did. We made sure of it.

[seasat]

19. So you've insulted Kerry, Richardson, and Democrats with no evidence.

It's awful convenient that your tinfoil hat theory has no official documentation other than your word. No one has shown me any evidence that a New Mexico recount could have changed the election. Kerry and my party recognized it. Are you accusing Kerry of also helping out *? Are you accusing the Democratic party of also helping out *? If you are going to make these wild accusations against my party and candidates, you're going to have to present some evidence.

[w4rma]

20. It was a close election and Richardson had the files deleted before an investigation or recount.(nt)

[seasat]

22. No he didn't. They were deleted by the NM Sec of State's orders.

The elected NM Secretary of State is in charge of elections. She was in office before Richardson was elected. The machines were finally cleared on Jan 14th, 6 days before * took office. Kerry had conceded, NM would not have helped him in the election, NM admitted that there were problems with the electronic voting machines, and Richardson pushed through an expensive voting reform bill that is a model for most states. Richardson was elected in 2002 and inherited the voting system from the previous administration. What do you think an investigation could have turned up that wasn't already known?

[IdaBriggs]

24. Your guy was a MAJOR part of that decision making process.

(The deleting of the votes/code.)

Chuck Herron said it best: “The best part is that if anyone tries to question the results, you can ridicule them and call them sore losers!  Conspiracy theorists!”

Go here: https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapState&cat=ALL&start_time=&start_date=&end_time=&end_date=&search=&go=Apply+filter&state=New%20Mexico and download some of the "incidents" that were unworthy of investigation. Do a search on the Magical Albuquerque votes -- I think the quote went something along the lines of "we know which 6000 votes to delete" BEFORE the election. You see, there was a GLITCH in the vote counting software, and it kept adding about 6000 votes....oh, and the precincts with 85% registered Dems, and ZERO Kerry votes? Unworthy of investigation!

Nothing to see. Move along. Etc.

[IdaBriggs]

23. "Wild accusations " -- ROFLMA!

Why don't you go google me? Or do a search on the Election forum? The whole thing was recorded as it happened at the time. I was quoted PERSONALLY in national newspapers at the time, and was even mentioned by name by Keith Oblermann on the Countdown.

My credentials are impeccable, and my integrity in unquestionable. The evidence is there, and I've told you where to look. As I said, I WAS THERE, and the good folks of DU were my witness. (They also helped out A LOT.)

Oh, and I was a precinct captain for Kerry. He was still completely USELESS when it came to investigating why he isn't the President. He didn't want to be called a "sore Loser" aka Gore in Florida.

Support your guy if you want, but don't do it blind. You've been told the truth, told where to find the supporting documentation, and if you want to hear it from me in person, PM me your phone number, and I'll call you.

But watch the self righteous tone of "tin foil hattery" because it pisses me off, especially when folks are attempting to display Willful Ignorance about little things like "democracy".

As I said, I was there. It wasn't pleasant. Its two and a half years later, and I'm still pissed. Then again, the damage from Junior is still happening, isn't it?

:mad:

[seasat]

25. I did a search for you. I'm not impressed.

Though you seem impressed with yourself. You got New Hampshire to do a recount and it made little difference in the vote totals. Again, what would a recount in NM have accomplished? They admitted the system was flawed and fixed it. There is no evidence a recount would have turned the election to Kerry and even if it did, he still didn't have enough electoral votes.

The bond amount for the recount was 1.4 million not millions. The NM courts upheld this bond. When the NM Supreme Court refused to hear the Greens and Libertarian case, the Secretary of State authorized the machines to be cleared on January 14th because they had school elections on February 1st.

Now you've said so far in this thread:

That means he helped keep Junior in office during the last four years for his own political aspirations.
...
The Democrats were (what is the word? oh yes -- I've got it now!) USELESS.
...
Oh, and I was a precinct captain for Kerry. He was still completely USELESS when it came to investigating why he isn't the President. He didn't want to be called a "sore Loser" aka Gore in Florida.

You've insulted Kerry and the Democratic Party. You've accused Bill Richardson of crimes. All of this is based on your supposed superior knowledge. Yes. I think you're a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist.

New Mexico only has 5 electoral votes. How would five electoral votes changed the election?
Kerry had 251 electoral votes to *'s 286. Kerry needed 18 electoral votes to win. For a manipulated election to work, it would have required Iowa (a much closer election with more electoral votes) to have Tom Vilsack manipulate the election. They would also have to collude with the Republican governor of Nevada to get above 18. That scenario is silly. A much more logical conclusion is that the Republicans focused their vote suppression efforts on Ohio and Florida.

The math doesn't add up to how Richardson could have manipulated this election for * or why he would have bothered with it. It would have made more sense if he had manipulated the election to Kerry. Kerry still would have lost but he wouldn't have folks like you accusing him of all sorts of bizarre stuff and Richardson could brag that his state went Democratic in '04. Now without trying to impress me with your credentials, please explain how a recount in NM would have resulted in Kerry wining the election.

If you want to start threads on your own regarding this crap, then I'll ignore them. Especially now that I've seen what you are all about. However, if you're going to throw this stuff in one of my threads, then I'll debate you until the mods lock the thread.

[w4rma]

18. He doesn't mean it then. Tying human rights to trade with China will end trade with China.

Richardson is a free-trader and has always been one of free trade's biggest supporters.

[seasat]

21. He supported it in both 1992 and in 2007. Of course he means it.

If you've got evidence otherwise post it. Richardson does believe in free trade but with support for environmental, labor, and human rights standards.

But for trade agreements to be fair, environmentally-beneficial, and politically-sustainable, they need to take account of the huge gaps in levels of development around the world.

* Trade accords must have enforceable mechanisms to insure respect for core ILO standards, including work conditions, minimum wages, occupational safety, child labor, the right to collective bargaining and the prohibition of compulsory and slave labor.

Trade agreements also must incorporate environmental protections.

* The United States should not enter into trade agreements with countries that do not sign the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
* The US also must join the Kyoto Protocol, negotiate a new global warming agreement that goes well beyond Kyoto, and make participation in it a condition of future trade agreements.

The United States, like all countries, has the right to enforce trade agreements. This means using the WTO and U.S. trade remedy law to prod trading partners when they violate their commitments. With respect to China, the United States has the right to impose countervailing duties on subsidized exports, so long as we do it in a fair and reasonable manner and in accordance with our WTO commitments.

Our trade with China is not free trade. They manipulate their currency to math ours and provide lower tax rates to foreign companies over domestic companies to encourage off shoring. They are a much greater threat to US workers than Mexico ever was.

BTW, didn't your candidate, Edwards, vote for permanent Most Favored Nation Status for China?

[ooga booga]

27. I think it's more of a game of chicken with the Chinese

China and the US need each other, so we are in a rather complex relationship. We want the cheap goods. They need a market for those goods. If we make human rights an issue and carefully apply some real economic pressure, they might blink and move on human rights a bit.

Also, as the Chinese people continue to prosper, the Chinese Communist Party will have a harder time keeping the lid of their society. In the long and colorful history of the Middle Kingdom, they've never had anything close to democracy, but many of them know about it and yearn for it. What we saw in Tienamen Square in June of 1989 will appear again someday.