As if to underline what I blogged about yesterday, my article on some of the economic issues associated with renewable energy appeared in the Albuquerque Journal today. The basic points are twofold: Yes, PNM (to name just one New Mexico utility) is raising rates for reasons unrelated to the state’s renewable mandate, but the mandate [...]
Read MoreI love environmentalists like the folks from the Renewable Energy Industries Association who just had an opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal. The author asserts that solar power is the solution to higher electricity costs. That is news to me because those noted right-wingers at the New York Times say that: “The cost of solar [...]
Read MoreOur new Capitol Reporter, Rob Nikolewski wrote a really interesting story over at Capitol Report New Mexico today about the lack of responsibilities, and heavy costs of, the Lt. Governor’s job in New Mexico. Given the budget problems facing New Mexico these days, it would seem that now is as good a time as ever [...]
Read MoreAccording to a recent analysis by the Rio Grande Foundation, Doña Ana Community College (DACC) is New Mexico’s low-cost leader when it comes to higher education. This is certainly praiseworthy and laudable, but it brings up even more questions. 1) What can other institutions of higher ed learn from DACC? 2) How can those institutions [...]
Read MoreIt’s never a good idea to politicize a pending criminal case just to score points in an election campaign. There are consequences. NM Watchdog reports.
Read More Denish, Diane Denish, New Mexico WatchdogWhether you agree with him or not, George Will is consistently one of the most insightful pundits in America. His recent article, which ran in today’s Albuquerque Journal, but can be found on the Washington Post website, views the last 100 years of public policy debates through the prism of the differing worldviews of James [...]
Read MoreRecently, Albuquerque resident David L. Jackson replied to an article by RGF scholar Micha Gisser’s article on property taxes. As you may recall, Gisser’s basic point was that “If in the marketplace your home is worth twice as much as my home, the dollar value of your property tax must be twice the dollar value [...]
Read MoreThis isn’t how anyone would invest funds for their child’s college tuition and expenses. But New Mexico, under the Richardson/Denish administration, has invested state funds in a fish company, an electric libretto designer (appropriately named “Figaro”) and a company that uses crushed glass to produce toilet bowl scrubbers (what, you don’t have one of those [...]
Read More SIC, State Investment CouncilObamaCare was supposed to force health insurance issuers that provide dependent coverage of children to make that coverage available until that child reaches the age of 26. But it looks like someone at the New Mexico Public Schools Insurance Authority didn’t get the memo. So, according to this recent article from the Albuquerque Journal, a [...]
Read MoreReality intrudes. Where’s the money? Cut through the hype, the warm fuzzies of “green jobs,” and you still need money, lots of it. There’s lots of gullibility in the mix–from Bill Richardson to Jeff Bingaman to the city fathers of Rio Rancho–what’s missing is real money. New Mexico Watchdog still on the trail of Green2v [...]
Read More GP3, Green2v, New Mexico Watchdog, Rio Rancho