Rio Grande Foundation President Weighs in on Misleading Column in ABQ Journal
A few weeks ago I blogged a Washington Post story on the supposed trend of voters in Western states moving from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. In a recent column for the Albuquerque Journal, recently added columnist Ned Farquhar made the same point and cited Colorado’s Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights as an important reason for Colorado’s shift from red to blue.
Unfortunately, Farquhar ascribes too much credit to the Republican Party for its role in adopting TABOR in Colorado and he completely fails to account for the fact that Governor Owens led the charge on behalf of weakening the spending limit in 2005. As I point out in a letter to the editor responding to Farquhar’s column that appeared in today’s Albuquerque Journal, it was not Republicans’ “rigid ideology” that cost them votes. Perhaps it was the other way around?
Text of the letter appears below:
I ENJOYED reading Ned Farquhar’s commentary outlining why he believes the Republican Party is losing the West, but many of his facts are simply wrong and in other cases he ascribes trend status to mere political fluctuations.
His focus on Colorado is particularly telling. He argues that Republicans “painted themselves into an ideological corner” and cites that state’s spending limit known as the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights. What he fails to mention is that voters, not Republicans or Democrats, adopted the law in 1992.
And, while voters did suspend part of the law for five years starting in 2005, Colorado voters— unlike New Mexicans— have the final say on any and all tax increases at both the state and local level.
Specifically regarding the politics of the situation, his subsequent mention of then-Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, is interesting. Owens actually led the campaign on behalf of the referendum that ultimately suspended a portion of Colorado’s spending limit. The Republicans did indeed lose Colorado, but it was hardly the result of their supposedly rigid ideology.
Ultimately, elected officials should try to put political calculations aside to do what is best for their states. Cutting taxes and restraining government have been shown to work everywhere they’ve been tried. Western politicians have historically heeded this, and that is why our states are among the fastest-growing in the nation.
PAUL GESSING
President, Rio Grande Foundation, Albuquerque
NM Spaceport Gets National Attention in Washington Post
“If you build it, they will come.” This line from the movie Field of Dreams has been used to justify taxpayer-financed construction of professional sports stadiums for years. Now, as the Washington Post discussed on its pages this Sunday, Governor Richardson and a number of leading New Mexicans and civic boosters in and around Las Cruces have been pushing a taxpayer-financed spaceport in order to allow billionaires like Richard Branson start commercial space flights.
While it is being sold as an economic development tool, the plan requires a significant and economically-harmful hike in the gross receipts tax. With more than three-dozen of these spaceports either complete or under construction, New Mexicans need to understand just how speculative this type of “economic development” really is.
New Mexico’s Misplaced Priorities
Governor Richardson wants the Senate to come back to Santa Fe in part to pass his transportation plan known as GRIP II. While roads are certainly something that even advocates of the most limited of governments can get behind, the episode illustrates some particular flaws associated with politically-driven transportation planning.
Among the items contained in GRIP II is $25 million for the proposed Spaceport for which taxpayer subsidies are already being used. Thankfully, Albuquerque Senator Joe Carraro has said he will vote for the bill only if money is included for improvements to the clogged I-25/Paseo del Norte juncture (subscription required).
I’m not trying to be Albuqueque-centric here; I’m sure there are dozens of transportation projects in cities throughout the state that should be higher priorities than additional subsidies for the multi-millionaire’s who want to go launch their rockets, but I drive the I-25/Paseo corridor on a regular basis and can assure you that something should be done.
Unfortunately, we have a socialized transportation system (how else do you explain the RailRunner) that could use a good dose of market forces in order to better allocate resources. The folks at the Reason Foundation have been beating the drum for such reforms for years and have some really great research on how to bring the free market to transportation.
Conservative Think Tank Head Threatened for Taking on Gore’s Energy Consumption
From the perspective of left-wing adherents to the religion of global warming, Al Gore’s energy usage is apparently beyond question. Drew Johnson of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research recently exposed Gore’s energy usage and felt the wrath of those for whom questioning the global warming orthodoxy or the merits of its adherents is beyond the pale.
Council Gives Taxpayers Half a Loaf
After months of discussion and delay Albuquerque’s City Council finally repealed the November tax hike/extension for Mayor Chavez’s trolley. Theoretically-speaking, the quarter-cent hike in the gross receipts tax will now expire in 2009 as voters originally gave approval for in 1999. As Dr. Messenheimer and I have pointed out, because of its unique nature, even small hikes in the gross receipts tax can create large amounts of revenue and significant economic harm.
Council unfortunately did not approve an amendment that would have given voters final say on any proposed streetcar, so the victory is not complete. Worse, a rigged “study” of the project will now be funded that — due to its makeup — will undoubtedly produce recommendations attempting to justify the project.
Council will most certainly not let this tax expire without a fight, but at least round one goes to taxpayers.
Club for Growth Releases 2006 Rankings
The Club for Growth is one of the groups that not only advocates for real fiscal responsibility, but has the resources to hold Members of Congress accountable for their actions at election time. New Mexico’s delegation did not fare particularly well in their most recent congressional ratings.
New Mexico to become 11th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana
Although it is not something the Foundation has worked on, it has been interesting to watch the debate over medical marijuana from the sidelines. Having failed in the first effort to pass a bill through the House, Governor Richardson did some arm-twisting behind the scenes and urged legislators to pass a bill…thus New Mexico becomes the 11th state in the nation to allow sick people the use of marijuana with a doctors’ recommendation.
Although New Mexico is a poster child for ways in which the debate over drug policy can split otherwise amicable limited government types, it is hard to argue from a limited government perspective that allowing medical patients the freedom to use the treatments that work for them is a bad thing. Perhaps more importantly, as more and more states pass their own medical marijuana laws, pressure will increase on the federal government to give states more freedom to experiment with their own policies as opposed to running everything from Washington.
Ethanol is Not the Answer
At least ethanol is not the answer to our energy problems. It may indeed be the answer to the question, “What biofuel is used by politicians as a political ploy to satisfy environmentalists while they escape making politically difficult decisions?”
Ethanol actually makes gasoline costlier and dirtier. But, conveniently, the benefits of ethanol subsidies flow to politically-connected corporations and farmers, thus making it a potent source of votes even if its usefulness as a source of fuel is suspect.
New Mexico to make cervical cancer vaccine mandatory for girls entering sixth grade
There is seemingly no area of our existence that can now escape the tentacles of government. Soon to be added to that list in New Mexico is mandatory vaccinations for HPV virus for all girls entering sixth grade unless their parents sign a waiver.
Governor Richardson has already said he’ll sign the bill mandating the vaccine, but who will pick up the $400 tab for the shots? Presumably this will fall to taxpayers one way or the other.
We’re all for preventing diseases — that’s one of the reasons we support Health Savings Accounts after all — but governments that mandate you get a vaccine for the sole purpose of protecting yourself — as opposed to vaccinating people in order to stop a disease to spread through the entire population — seems a bit over the top.
Pluto Planet Day?
The New Mexico House of Representatives will vote tomorrow on a resolution that declares Pluto be a planet, and tomorrow, March 13, 2007, as “Pluto Planet Day”. The bill’s sponsor, Doña Ana County Democrat and landscape architect Joni Marie Gutierrez, must have a vastly over-inflated sense of government power. The State of New Mexico has no jurisdiction over the heavens, and might as well attach an amendment declaring the moon be made of blue cheese.
The text of the resolution recognizes that “the state of New Mexico is a global center for astronomy, astrophysics and planetary science” and that we host “world class astronomical observing facilities.” The state government interfering in this regard, denying the scientific definition of ‘planet’ and controverting the International Astronomical Union, is an insult to this scientific tradition. Let’s hope that representatives who do respect science and astronomy vote against this stunning piece of anti-intellectualism.
