Paul Gessing's Archive
A Watchdog for Conservative Ideals
Our friends to the West at the free market think tank Goldwater Institute recently received some good publicity in, of all places, The New York Times. The article clearly showed the Institute to be a principled, conservative voice for free markets and limited government.
It detailed some of the organization’s successes, including upsetting Sen. John McCain. [...]
The latest on the EPA’s New Mexico power grab
William Yeatman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute previously wrote a paper on the issues surrounding the Four Corners Power Plant and the EPA.
He recently posted an update on the situation on his blog here.
Improving education key to surviving economic transition
Recently in the Business Journal Winthrop Quigley discussed the transition taking place in our economy. Key to that transition is an educated, innovative work force. The problem is, as I pointed out in the following letter to the editor, our education system — especially in New Mexico — is woefully inadequate for preparing tomorrow’s work [...]
Indian reservations: tomorrow’s free market bastions?
Everyone in New Mexico is aware that Indian tribes are not beholden to state laws on gambling in the same way that other entities are. The interesting thing is that gambling could be just the start and, if they decide to be entreprenurial, tribes could be a useful check against government overreach. [...]
‘Fracking’ Essential To Future
Mora County Commissioner John Olivas wants a ban on oil and gas drilling in Mora County because he is concerned with the environmental impact of a drilling process named hydraulic fracturing – or “fracking,” as it is colloquially called.
Mora County is not alone in its concern about fracking. Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and San Miguel [...]
Why can’t Santa Fe do transparency?
I provided a few comments for this article which appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican. Seems like the City of Santa Fe would rather not post salaries at all if they can’t provide a searchable database like the City of Albuquerque has done.
Certainly, Albuquerque’s efforts at transparency are to be emulated, but that [...]
An optimistic note for the New Year: China not to be envied
I ran across this excellent column from Jonah Goldberg awhile back. Simply put, while China is to be applauded for adopting freer markets that have helped bring hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, the United States is still in a better position, especially when it comes to living standards.
Certainly, China has surpassed the [...]
In: Uncategorized
Rhode Island shows New Mexico the way on pension reform
The fact is that government pension reform is essential if New Mexico is going to survive economically. The commitments that have been made by our state (and other states) were never viable because they were political, not economic decisions. The Rio Grande Foundation has been a leader in pointing this out here and here, for [...]
In: Uncategorized
What is the mission of higher education in NM?
I co-authored an article on NMPolitics.net on our efforts to better understand what taxpayers are spending their money on in terms of higher education. Check it out here.
Our full report on the issue can be found here.
Another film subsidy corruption story
Last legislative session, Gov. Martinez led the charge (along with Rep. Dennis Kintigh) to restrain and reform New Mexico’s film subsidy program. The cause was helped by the myriad scandals (and here) and shady bookkeeping around the nation.
Well, film subsidies, though reduced, haven’t gone away. And that means that scandals are still happening as well. [...]
In: Uncategorized
