WORDS TO LIVE BY

I had planned to run a compilation of some of my favorite Quotes of the Day from the recent session in the big Legislature wrap-up package in last Sunday's New Mexican. It turned out there wasn't enough space.

That's why God gave us blogs. Here's those quotes:

“In our great state, we have a tradition of working together, Republicans and Democrats, side by side. We have our disagreements. We have our debates. Maybe sometimes I overdo it.”
— Gov. Bill Richardson in his State of the State address.

“Bill Richardson has become ... The Elvis.”
— Playwright/actor Charles Pike performing part of his play Elephant Murmurs in the Capitol before an audience that included the governor.

“His desire is to fund everything that will get him to New Hampshire on time, and not worry about the state of New Mexico along the way. It’s just a sad day for the kids of New Mexico.”
— Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell, reacting on the House floor to a line-item budget veto by Richardson that killed a $330,000 pilot project to provide free admission to school athletic events — in Roswell.

“You have always been a voice for the downtrodden. ... You have been almost like a God to them.”
— Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, speaking in support of former House Speaker Raymond Sanchez, whose nomination to The University of New Mexico Board of Regents won unanimous Senate approval.

“I thought the governor’s airplane was the official state aircraft.”
— Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, during a committee debate on SB 13, which would designate the hot-air balloon as the official state aircraft. Richardson wants the state to buy a $4 million plane for the state.

“If the Legislature does not act on this bill and the governor does not sign this bill, I have to ask, ‘What are they afraid of?’ ”
— Sen. Steve Komadina, R-Corrales, regarding his SB 20, which would have established a program for voluntary drug testing for elected officials. The bill was killed.

“They made money the old-fashioned way. They got up at 4 a.m., drank alcohol and sat in line in their lawn chairs.”
— Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, offering a rousing defense of ticket scalpers in arguing against SB 988, which would have made scalping tickets to professional-sports events a misdemeanor.

“He’s not going to get in any trouble for being here, is he? I know there’s some places he can’t go.”
— Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, after another senator introduced former Rep. Max Coll, D-Santa Fe, who was sitting in the gallery. Jennings was apparently referring to a recent newspaper story about Coll not being welcome to attend a charitable event at the governor’s mansion.

“Egg-Suckin’ Dog/I’m gonna stomp your head in the ground/If you don’t stay out of my hen house/You dirty Egg-Suckin’ hound.”
— Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque, singing the chorus of a song popularized by Johnny Cash, after speaking against SB 432, which would authorize local animal-control authorities to seize and destroy dogs deemed dangerous. Despite Robinson’s vocal talent, the bill passed the Senate 22-15.

“Unless the wolf can read the statute, it confuses the heck out of me who is really responsible.”
— Senate President Pro-tem Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, voicing concerns about SB 72, which would have outlawed wolves that have been released on federal lands from entering state or private lands. The Senate Conservation Committee tabled the bill.

“Wow, look at all these 900 numbers!”
Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, joking about a telephone bill that Senate Republican Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, handed him during the floor debate on a measure concerning telephones in rural areas.

“The best place to have a heart attack is in a casino.”
— Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Albuquerque, talking to the House Government & Urban Affairs Committee about his HB 547, which would appropriate $250,000 to local governments for automatic external defibrillator programs.

“Love is the most powerful, the most powerful, the most powerful force in the universe.”
Sen. Mark Boitano, R-Albuquerque, speaking at a news conference about several Republican-sponsored bills aimed at keeping marriages intact.

“ ‘Love is in the air’ isn’t enough — laws need to be on the books.”
— Headline of Senate Republican news release announcing a news conference about proposed bills to strengthen families.

“Maybe we should put snipers out there. That seems to motivate.”
— Rep. Keith Gardner, R-Roswell, joking with the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee about how to get New Mexico voter turnout as high as that in the Iraqi elections.

“I know you’re trying to make this a homosexual issue. I’m trying to make this a marriage issue. It is a family issue. ... This is not attacking homosexuals.”
— Sen. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, explaining his bill to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. He was responding to a reporter who asked how allowing same-sex couples to marry threaten heterosexual marriages.