OPINION: Talk of the Town

Laid off by President Trump, sort of

The New Mexico Humanities Council is a treasure to all who love history and stories about people.

Sadly, President Donald Trump’s administration slashed funding to the National Endowment for the Humanities and, thereby, state humanities councils across the U.S. The Mellon Foundation kindly provided a large donation to NEH and matched New Mexico donations up to $50,000.

Please visit the state council’s website to see its many activities: https://newmexicohumanities.org/.

Regrettably, the Speakers Bureau was shut down in 2025, including its famous Chautuaquas — portrayals of historic figures.

I portrayed Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg beginning in 2022. My final performance in March 2025 was for the El Morro Valley Arts Council at the old schoolhouse 40 miles south of Grants on N.M. 53, on the way to Ramah, and two hours from Albuquerque. Chautauquas have been performed all over New Mexico.

Subjects also included U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, conservationist Aldo Leopold, Navajo Code Talker Chester Nez, and Isleta Pueblo leader Miguel Trujillo, who in 1948 won the right to vote in New Mexico elections for Native Americans, who could vote in U.S. elections since 1924.

Speakers received modest stipends and reimbursement for expenses. My lay-off as RBG resulted in a tiny financial loss, but I miss the honor of portraying her and experiencing with the audience the pleasure of hearing her story.

In the future, hopefully, funding will increase and the Speakers Bureau will be reinstated.

Dianne R. Layden

Albuquerque 

Survival will be more difficult because of changes to vaccine recommendations

In the past, vaccine decisions have been made by informed professionals and we have thrived. Uneducated and less intelligent people had the benefit and we all thrived. Now that decisions are being made by political hacks or others, we are seeing the rise of preventable deaths. We may see the weaning of less informed or intelligent people who will not get the benefits they previously enjoyed. It takes time and reading skill to stay informed on the value of all vaccines when they are no longer required. Pediatricians will need more time. Parental hesitancy may turn into preventable childhood deaths. Schools will become questionable safe spaces because of vaccine hesitancy as well as guns. Home schooled children already are taught by untrained teachers and that will increase.

We are seeing the elevation of the unschooled and the debasement of universities and professionals. We shudder at medical errors although some are because physicians are willing to attempt difficult treatment. Are we ready for self-taught physicians and surgeons who do not have to get professional certification? How about airline pilots? Why should you have to pass a driving test if you believe that you can drive?

We are watching the 'dumbing-down' of the United States. Untrained people think research means looking something up on Google. There will be survivors just as some of us who are not millionaires or billionaires do manage to get along. But as the unschooled and unprofessional take charge of more decision making, survival will be more questionable. And likely more difficult.

Sandra Penn

Albuquerque

Nuisance v. Mercy

Jeff Tucker’s “Bookstore owner is a public nuisance” (Jan. 4 Sunday Journal) might have alternatively been titled, “Columnist’s mercilessness is a public nuisance.” It is one thing to decry homelessness and the misfortunes both homeless people and the neighbors surrounding them all experience. It is quite another to collaborate on finding a solution equitable to both. Tucker’s lengthy editorial was long on complaint, short on solution; equivalent to “not in my backyard,” but offering no alternative.

Our homeless neighbors would prefer the dignity of a bed and roof over their heads than a toilet-less tent city in the parking lot of a humanitarian bookstore owner. Tucker noted that the city attorney, “said the city would file another motion demanding the encampment be closed immediately, noting there are beds available for the homeless in the Gateway System.” I would counter: When the homeless are humanely housed, whether through the Gateway System or other means, then and only then should the encampments be closed, as they would then no longer be needed.

We are not two weeks past Christmas, but the lesson of mercy for the stranger is applicable year-round. Let us work together and not vilify the homeless nor those seeking to help them. “No room at the inn” requires us to constructively devise ways to make room.

Michael Baron

Corrales 

Unilateral action in Venezuela disregards president's oath

Amy Barela of the Republican Party of New Mexico released a statement on the capture of Nicolás Maduro where she admonishes Democrats’ criticisms of President Trump’s actions in Venezuela, stating that they are “grossly offensive to millions of Venezuelans and Latin Americans who have suffered under this regime.”

I’m not aware that anyone is expressing sympathy for Maduro, or lack of sympathy for the Venezuelan people. Rather, the criticism is related to this: “The Congress shall have power … to declare War…” (Section 8, Article 1, U.S. Constitution). The president took this action unilaterally. Rationale shifted from stemming the flow of drugs (while simultaneously pardoning a major cocaine trafficker), to liberating the people from a leader who doesn’t recognize the results of free and fair elections (note the irony), to getting access to Venezuelan oil (are we using our outstanding military as a mercenary force for the petroleum industry?). Which of these is the real reason? Why was it not presented to the people and to Congress for debate and potential authorization? Is Venezuela really a national security threat to the richest and strongest nation on Earth?

The president’s statements after the raid indicate that oil may have been the main motivation, rather than the altruistic liberation of Venezuelan people from a corrupt leader.

All of this from a president who ran on a promise of reducing foreign entanglements and keeping out of other countries’ internal affairs. President Trump took an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The unilateral action in Venezuela disregards this oath. Would RPNM support a Democrat president doing the same?

This is not a conservative versus liberal issue — it’s about the survival of our Constitution and the checks and balances it upholds for all sides.

Greg Valentine

Albuquerque

America is acting like Russia

Recently, America attacked Venezuela. We bombed Caracas, then kidnapped the president of Venezuela and his wife. We handcuffed them and stuffed them in a helicopter to, in the words of the attorney general, face our “wrath.” Then president Trump told the world that America now “runs” Venezuela — never mind the Venezuelans — and that we will be taking their oil.

There is no defending what we did or what this administration plans to do. It was illegal twice over — a naked act of aggression under international law and a violation of Congress’ exclusive power to declare war. It was morally wrong — we came at night, bombing a country with whom we were at peace. And it was mind-bogglingly stupid — we’ve united Latin America, and perhaps the world, against us. We’ve acted just like Russia: When a weaker neighboring country has something we want, we simply take it by force.

Congress must stop the president. If it does not, then why have a Congress? If a president can, without a single vote in Congress, impose taxes on every American and simply decide to occupy another country, then our system of checks and balances will have failed. The military action cost Venezuela an unknown number of lives and us our standing in the world. If we fail to act we will have lost our Constitution as well.

Van Snow

Albuquerque

As Farmington makes renewable energy shift, Congress is considering America’s energy future

Farmington Electric Utility has made a crucial step toward renewable energy, reminding New Mexicans that the cleanest and cheapest energy is the energy we never need to use.

But Congress is taking up legislation — H.R. 4626 — that would roll back energy-saving appliance standards. The bill would perpetuate energy waste and increase health-harming pollution.

As Farmington begins a new, cleaner future, Congress can temper the environmental and health impacts of pollution from energy generation by protecting energy efficiency standards.

These policies ensure that when Americans purchase appliances like refrigerators or washing machines, they run on up-to-date, energy-saving technologies.

Last year, efficiency standards saved American households and businesses around $105 billion on utility bills.

Efficiency standards save Americans money, reduce air pollution and make doing more with less energy possible. Now is not the time to go backwards.

A vote for H.R. 4626 is a vote for energy waste. I hope Rep. Melanie Stansbury votes “no” on H.R. 4626.

Caitlin Soch

Albuquerque

We are all safer when low-cost prevention and treatment are available

Funding to prevent and treat diseases has been dramatically reduced this past year, both in our country and worldwide. Everyone deserves to have their basic human needs met and that includes access to affordable health care. Here at home, Congress has decided to let tax credits for health premiums expire, and many people are now seeing their health insurance premiums double or worse. Federal assistance keeps premiums lower and affordable. Thank you to the New Mexico congressional delegation, fighting for New Mexicans who need access to health care. Lack of health insurance increases health care costs for all of us. 

Abroad, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria has been an effective tool for the last 20 years, saving 70 million lives by providing solutions to deadly diseases. Last year alone the Global Fund helped provide HIV treatment for 25.6 million people and tuberculosis treatment for 7.4 million people. You might say “why should I care about that?” We care because we live in a very connected world and if we ignore disease outbreaks abroad, it is just a matter of time before those diseases appear in our communities. Logically, the U.S. needs to uphold its commitment to this fund and pay what is owed. The money has been appropriated by Congress but is being withheld by the U.S. Treasury. Is this really in our best interest? 

Ask your representatives to make the Global Fund a priority, release the withheld funds and fully fund the U.S.’s $4.6 billion pledge. And here at home we must support access to affordable health care for all. Whether you live in the U.S. or in another country, we are safer when all of us can get the access to low-cost prevention and treatment available in our world, which includes vaccinations.