A4 Tuesday, April 12, 2011
OPINION
Roswell Daily Record
Film industry, share the wealth with small towns
Last fall, after a dismal tourist season for Red River, film crews arrived to make “This Must Be the Place.” They filled hotels and restaurants and boosted gross receipts, which saved Red River, according to Rep. Bobby Gonzales. Well, maybe it didn’t save the town, but “it certainly helped,” says a local business woman, who supports the industry and the incentives that keep movie makers here. “It was a big influx of cash.” Going into the legislative session, film incentives loomed as an issue, but the governor and the industry were both making conciliatory noises, so it was surprising to see incentives become a lightning rod. Instead of rational discussion, we got emotional bombast. “I am not willing — not willing — to give Hollywood a subsidy of 25 percent on the backs of our kids,” said the governor, as if
SHERRY ROBINSON ALL SHE WROTE
there were no other options. She wanted another $25 million to add to the budget. Other states had the same problem and solved it, according to Sherri Burr, a UNM Law professor, by identifying other funding sources. Film proponents responded, “Job killers!” Jobs number around 3,000 with another 7,000 in support positions, according to NMedia, a new industry trade group. On “Film and Media Day at the Legislature” industry businesses and organizations filled the rotunda. One day, when it wasn’t a film day, I met makeup artist Jennifer
McDaniel, a New Mexico native who grew up in Clovis and now lives in Bernalillo. “For the past eight years I have had full-time employment with health insurance,” she wrote, all because of film incentives. She’s bought a house and two vehicles, pays for her husband’s tuition at UNM, and last year spent $15,000 locally on makeup supplies. If the industry leaves the state, students in training programs would have to leave, as would thousands of New Mexicans working in the industry, she says. Ther e ar e hundr eds of McDaniels out there. NMedia’s members range from studios, hotels and travel agencies to construction firms, telecom contractors and banks. The Motion Picture Association of New Mexico and kindred groups represent thousands more industry professionals. It shouldn’t be that har d to measur e economic
impact, except that the question is now so politicized that I wonder if anybody can produce a study all the players could agree on. So it’s a small miracle that legislators managed to compromise long enough, fireworks and all, to pass four bills. One tightens the definition of “resident” in tallying tax credits for workers and vendors and codifies reporting mechanisms; a second calls for a detailed study of the industry this year. Local independent producers were excited about a third measur e that would have allowed them to participate in the loan program; it was vetoed. The gover nor wanted to reduce rebates from 25 percent to 15 per cent with a cap on annual production — the death knell for the industry, said opponents. Lawmakers pr eserved the 25 percent credit, avoided a cap, and limited pay-
outs to $50 million a year, with cr edits above that amount spread over three years. And they handed the governor $28 million (mor e than she was seeking). Said Rep. Dennis Roch, “I voted with 14 members of the Tax and Revenue committee on a compr omise, which means everyone got a little of what they want and must accept a little of what they don’t want. State agencies will have to roll up their sleeves to sort out how this will work in practice. Film people and their allies are rehashing the session and planning for the next one. Here’s a tip for the industry: Raise your profile in rural areas. Of 155 productions, 98 were shot in Albuquerque and 61 in Santa Fe. If you want more Red Rivers (and their legislators) to sing your praises, show them, don’t tell them. © New Mexico News Services 2011
EDITORIAL
Donor transparency
The U.S. Supreme Court seems to be rolling back the restrictions on free speech, especially as it relates to political campaigns, which had begun to be imposed in 1974 after the Watergate scandal. The new development occurred recently, when the court heard arguments concerning Arizona’s so-called Clean Elections Act, passed by the state’s voters in 1998, which provides for public-funded elections. A ruling is expected later this year. Opposition to the Arizona law is being led by the Goldwater Institute of Phoenix. Nick Dranias, director of the institute’s Center for Constitutional Government, was in the high court during the arguments. He said his perception was that “the court saw through the arguments of the state of Arizona that the law is constitutional. The court is clear that a law that punishes a candidate by distributing money to his opponent is unconstitutional.” It seemed to Dranias that a majority of justices is forming to reject the Arizona law. This would be similar to the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision of January 2010, when the court overturned federal restrictions on campaign spending by corporations. In that 5-4 decision (for the main parts of the case), the majority was comprised of Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito. Justice Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion: “If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.” Dranias said an important point was brought up by Justice Scalia, who asked: Would a $500 fine against a candidate be unconstitutional? The question was rhetorical because the obvious answer is “Yes.” Justice Scalia’s point was that Arizona does precisely that by giving tax money to opposition candidates. It’s a penalty imposed on one candidate to benefit another. We are sympathetic to the argument that special-interest money holds too much sway in politics today, but the solution lies not in new restrictions on candidates, but in reducing an ever-expanding government, and thus the impulse to influence government decisions. We see little or no evidence to suggest that post-1974 campaign finance limits have created a more responsive, lesswasteful or less-corrupt political system. We also object to the Arizona law in this way: if your cause raised more money than your opponent, your own tax money would be taken from you and given to your opponent to equalize funding. A better approach would be full donor transparency — timely reporting the amount and source of contributions on the Internet, then letting voters decide — as the best safeguard of First Amendment freedoms, particularly those that relate to political campaigns. Guest Editorial The New Bern Sun Journal
D E A R D R . G O T T : Yo u recently had a column indica t in g th e us e o f li q u i d nitrogen for the removal of se e d w a rt s an d t h a t i t i s av a ila b l e a t p h a r m ac i e s without a prescription. You have got to be kidding me! Where? My local pharmacy ac t ed a s i f I w a s a n a l i en as k in g f o r m o o n d u s t. I thought maybe it was the Freeze Away over-the-counter, but they indicated that wa s n o t l i qu id n i t r o g e n . Please help. DEAR DR. GOTT: In a recent column in my local newspaper, you stated that liquid nitrogen could be purch as e d o ve r - t he - c ou n t er wit h o u t a pr e s c r i pt i o n. I have asked two pharmacists,
Haitians face even more trouble Remember Haiti? Remember those sad photos that broke your heart, images of dust-covered bodies being dumped into common graves? Remember that sick feeling we had about how that could have been us — snatched from this world by an epic natural disaster? Since that tragedy in January 2010, our world has witnessed many others — most recently the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But we are so busy trying to make it day by day in our own country. Which is why I want to update you on the Haitian
Doonesbury
ASK DR. GOTT UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE
and they said “no way.” Can it really be purchased somewhere OTC? DEAR READERS: I apologize for the confusion. Liquid nitr ogen is NOT available over -the-counter. Instead, the pr oduct that r emoves warts in a similar process uses dimethyl ether (DME). It only cools to about -59 C, wh e r ea s l i q ui d n it r o ge n
MARIA HINOJOSA SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
people. They need us again. In Haiti, poverty remains as entrenched as before. Haitians are still the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere. After the quake, people who never thought much about Haiti realized that it shares an island (Hispaniola)
reaches approximately -195 C. Both can be dangerous and will cause serious injury if used improperly. DEAR DR. GOTT: I find your column interesting and useful, but I am often frust r at e d by s om e of y ou r answers when they concern muscle or joint pain. In your column about tennis elbow, yo u l eft o u t a v er y l ik ely cause of the problem, but you seemed to disregard it or are unaware of it. T rigger points may well cause this person’s tennis elbow and, while the pain could be coming fr om the forearm as you suggested, it could also be coming from t h e t r icep s. Th e t r i gger po in ts c an b e c au s ed b y
with the Dominican Republic. In fact, the first people to help the Haitians were their brotherly neighbors, Los Dominicanos. This brief column isn’t long enough to capture the bloody history between these two countries. Haitians, a oncepowerful people who were the first in the Americas to overthrow their colonial rulers, invaded their neighbor and colonized them for decades. Years after they fought to free themselves from the Haitian yoke, the Dominican dictator Rafael T rujillo massacred 30,000 Haitians in 1937. Race
t rau ma or o ver use of t h e muscle; but physical therapy, heat and massage treatments will not cure them, j ust pr ovid e s h or t -t er m r eli ef. T r igger po in t s a r e small knots in the muscle t hat ca n c au se c on st an t pulling at the tendon, resulting in tendonitis. If you don’t release the trigger point, you w on ’ t cu r e t h e p r o blem . Physical therapy, heat and massage may relax the trigger point, but it will tighten up shortly after treatment and the pain will return. Trigger points can cause referred pain in just about any part of the body, including joints, cause headaches See GOTT, Page A5
was always used as a divisive tactic even though both countries trace roots back to Africa. After the 2010 earthquake, images of Dominican mothers nursing Haitian orphans cut through all of that historical hatred, and the true spirit of humanity came through. It was a beautiful thing. Yet here is what you need to understand about the present-day dynamic of these two countries. Haitians are the “Mexicans” in the Dominican Republic — the undocument-
25 YEARS AGO
See HINOJOSA, Page A5
April 12, 1986 • The Chaves County 4-H and FFA Fair Board recently awarded a $500 scholarship to Paula Reading, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Reading. Reading, a freshman majoring in psychology family counseling at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, is a 1985 graduate of Goddard High School. • Amber Higgins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bill McKnight, was selected by the Roswell Independent School District as the Office Education Association Student of the Week in honor of her on-the-job achievements. Higgins is employed at Casa de Medicina, where she performs office duties for Doctors Jerome A. Dominic, Frederick French, Thomas Ramage and Orson Treolar. She will now attend the State OEA Conference in Albuquerque and is to enter the same competition with students from throughout New Mexico.