Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
‘LIVE YOUR DREAMS’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for some Tennessee high school graduates: Strike your own path in college and life and work to overcome inevitable failures with determination and grit. Mrs. Obama spoke to the graduates of Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School on Saturday. The ceremony took place in the gymnasium of nearby Tennessee State University. - PAGE A7
TOP 5 WEB
For The Past 24 Hours
• Monterrey kids sing ... • Janice and Tamara: They’re stronger, ... • Carrasco pleads no ... • Hispano Chamber ... • Blach, Brown claim ...
INSIDE SPORTS
THE OXBOW INCIDENT
BALTIMORE (AP) — A pair of not so over-the-hill Hall of Famers pulled off a huge upset in the Preakness and ended any hopes of a Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont Stakes. Thanks to Oxbow’s wireto-wire win Saturday over Kentucky Derby winner Orb, trainer D. Wayne Lukas and jockey Gary Stevens have themselves another classic to add to their stellar resumes. “I get paid to spoil dreams,” the 77-year-old Lukas said after his record 14th win ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Ardell H. Wieman • Olen Featherstone II • Marilynn Hardcastle • Dorothy A. Skelton • Lyndal Duane Collis - PAGE A7
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
IRS ignored most influential groups
Vol. 122, No. 120 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s an irony in the Internal Revenue Service’s crackdown on conservative groups. The nation’s tax agency has admitted to inappropriately scrutinizing smaller tea party organizations that applied for tax-exempt status, and senior Treasury Department officials were notified in the midst of the 2012 presidential election season that an inter nal investigation was under way. But the IRS largely maintained a hands-off policy with the much larger, big-budget organizations on
May 19, 2013
SUNDAY
www.rdrnews.com
the left and right that were most influential in the elections and are organized under a section of the tax code that allows them to hide their donors. “The IRS goes AWOL when wealthy and powerful forces want to break the law in order to hide their wrongful efforts and secret political influence,” said Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat who is among a small Senate group pushing campaign finance reform measures that would force these big outside groups to disclose their donors. “Picking
on the little guy is a pretty lousy thing to do.”
Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS and the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity were among those that spent tens of millions of dollars on TV ads and getout-the-vote efforts to help Republicans. Democrats were aided in similar fashion by Priorities USA, made up of for mer Barack Obama campaign aides, and American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, an opposition research group
AP Photo
Demonstrators at Americans for Prosperity rally try to block the signs of Occupy Wall Street protesters, who showed up at the rally in New York, Sept. 20.
153 NMMI grads poised to ‘stand like beacons’ See IRS, Page A3
college and 76 high school graduates. Haley’s speech sparked the beginning of an emotional ceremony that featured keynote speaker Gov. Guiller mo Padres Elias, of Sonora, Mexico, a NMMI alumnus, whose son graduated Saturday. Many of the 153 newly graduated cadets will go on to military academies, some will venture on to traditional universities and colleges, and some will return to NMMI in the fall. The year’s senior “quote” Haley said was about a “song’s pause.” “The song’s pause means you think the song will end, but then it isn’t over,” Haley said. “But then it does end, and at that time the end is real. Class, the song may end some day, but it is definitely not over yet.” Kristin Andrews, of Roswell, delivered the valedictory address as a graduating junior college cadet, speaking about Mark Wilson Photo family, education and criminal justice. New Mexico Military Institute cadets celebrate their graduation following commencement ceremonies, Saturday morning. “(NMMI) provides a safe ing class sat for a memo- mortar, bugle calls and we’re prepared to embark place to discover your JILL MCLAUGHLIN rable ceremony under a friendships they built on a new journey,” high leadership style, but also RECORD STAFF WRITER valedictorian pleasant mid-mor ning behind campus walls. school sun, many marking a final “We have the entire Robert Haley, of McLean, The New Mexico Military Institute’s 119th graduat- break from the bricks and world ahead of us, now Texas, told the 77 junior
NMEDD head: Legislative tax package saved jobs See NMMI, Page A3
SANTA FE (AP) — A massive tax package passed by lawmakers in the final days of the legislative session is having a positive effect on jobs, the head of the New Mexico Economic Development Department told lawmakers this week. Secretary Jon Barela said that in addition to saving roughly 1,500 jobs, about 200 jobs are expected to be created in the next several months in response to the tax package. Barela made the com-
ments Friday during a legislative hearing in Santa Fe as debate over the measure simmers. “We need to get competitive from a tax standpoint,” he told the Albuquerque Journal following the hearing before the Legislative Finance Committee. Barela declined to name the businesses that might have left New Mexico if the tax package were not enacted. Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, said he’s
Waiting in the wings
skeptical of the job retention claims. “I don’t think that making public policy based on threats is a good thing to do,” he said. The legislation will gradually trim the state’s corporate income tax rate from 7.6 percent to 5.9 percent and will phase out the “hold harmless” payments the state currently makes to cities and counties. It also included an expansion of the film tax credit for qualifying television shows
HIGH ...94˚ LOW ....60˚
filmed in New Mexico. An estimate by legislative staff released after lawmakers approved the package indicated it would cost the state more than $70 million in lost revenue in the 2017 fiscal year. However, the estimate shows the state would stand to gain about $15 million in additional tax revenue during the next two budget years. An analysis by the state Department of Finance and Administration concludes that the tax package will
ultimately generate $29 million in new revenue in 2030, when the legislation will be fully implemented. “I think over the long term this is going to be a net positive,” Barela said. Some top-ranking Democrats have also expressed support. Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith of Deming has described the package as the closest thing to “true, total tax reform” in his 24 years in the Legislature.
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........C4 COMICS.................C3 GENERAL ..............C4 HOROSCOPES ........B5 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................B6
AP Photo
Emergency workers arrive at the scene of a train collision in Fairfield, Conn., Friday.
Broken rail eyed in crash
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Youngsters from Folklorico wait to perform during the 2nd annual Roswell Kids to the Park Day, Saturday, at the Cahoon Park.
BRIDGEPOR T, Conn. (AP) — The commuter train derailment and collision that left dozens injured outside New York City was not the result of foul play, officials said Saturday, but a fractured section of rail is being studied to determine if it is connected to the accident. National Transportation
Safety Board member Earl Weener said Saturday the broken rail is of substantial interest to investigators and a portion of the track will be sent to a lab for analysis. Weener said it’s not clear if the accident caused the fracture or if the rail was See RAIL, Page A3