Dunn said he decided to criticize Martinez publicly because she recently wrote to him seeking money for her Susana Political Action Committee, so it could support Republican candidates.

"Your letter is disingenuous at best after your PAC, Reform New Mexico Now, funded by Big Oil out of Artesia, placed positive ads for my Democrat opponent, Phil Griego," Dunn wrote in a letter to the governor.

The Republican budget plan devised by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, beloved by the Tea Party, proposes a draconian future for this landmark program that would hurt all older American and especially American Indians. [...] [Last] week, the National Congress of American Indians voted unanimously for a resolution to support Social Security without cutting benefits for recipients. The tribal leaders represent most of the 3.4 million Americans who identify themselves with a tribe.

New Mexico’s ranchers must deal with the unpleasant fact that the state has the driest grazing land in the nation. Federal officials have rated 85 percent of the rangeland in “poor” or “very poor” condition, meaning little or no grass for cattle to eat. “We’re topping the nation in bad conditions,” Les Owen of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said during a meeting Friday of the state’s Drought Monitoring Working Group.

In the case in question, Rael told the commission that he issued the restraining order to prevent any further conflict between two Questa men who were in his court to dispute damages inflicted to one of the men’s vehicles, causing some $2,700 worth of needed repairs.

In a written response to the commission filed Dec. 22, 2011, Rael said he felt that he had to violate the law in order to make peace between the two families. Rael elaborated that he had “known both of these young men since they were infants and I know them both to be very arrogant.”