Analyzing the tax rebates
During the recently-completed special session, the New Mexico Legislature passed a tax “rebate” program. As has been discussed here and elsewhere, the “rebates” weren’t so much designed to give money back to taxpayers, but to redistribute money from those who paid taxes to those who do not.
The following information underscores just who pays and does [...]
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Tagged with: Decidedly New Mexican
On the Air in Alamogordo
I was down in Alamogordo over the weekend and had the opportunity to stop by and visit with Mike Haymes and the gang over at AM 1230. Check out the podcast from August 15 (at the bottom of the top-most list) at this page. We discuss the proposed Spaceport tax increase for Otero County, [...]
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Return surplus to taxpayers, abandon health care boondoggle
If you follow what happens in New Mexico politics, you are probably aware that Governor Richardson has called a special session which is set to begin in about a week. Although the session was called, at least in theory, to work on health care, the Governor has proposed a tax rebate package (which also [...]
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Visiting Deming
Recently at the Rio Grande Foundation, we have been working harder than ever to get our message out in the community and around the state. A particular emphasis of our work is to reach out to those in areas, like Deming, that are often forgotten by denizens of Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Recently, I had [...]
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Discussing Downtown Development
As I just discussed in a blog posting, Albuquerque’s leaders are overly focused on downtown at the expense of taxpayers and other areas of the City. The schedule for the New Mexico First discussion at which I’ll be a panelist can now be found online. A background report (including comments from the Rio Grande [...]
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Downtown Obsession
Apparently, Albuquerque’s City Council has been listening to too much Petula Clark recently, because their obsession with downtown is approaching fever pitch. First and foremost, the recent decision to allocate a whopping $700,000 to study an arena and events center has seemingly placed this latest redevelopment issue on the fast-track with New Mexico First set [...]
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Tesla Stays Put in California
Today’s headline in the Albuquerque Journal says it all: Tesla will be making its electrically-powered roadsters in California, not New Mexico. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
California’s offer includes the state’s purchase of $100 million in manufacturing equipment, which it will then lease to Tesla. The company will have the option to buy the [...]
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Legislative Candidates Surveyed
A few weeks ago I blogged about the importance of candidate surveys from Project Vote Smart. With the primary election on Tuesday, the Rio Grande Foundation and several other New Mexico-based non-profits surveyed candidates on several issues of interest to each group.
The results of the House Candidate surveys can be found here and the Senate [...]
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Stossel Luncheon Wrap-up
If you missed the luncheon hosted by the Rio Grande Foundation and the New Mexico Prosperity Project last Wednesday, you missed out on a really outstanding event. The folks over at AWOL Civilization were kind enough to blog about the event here.
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Balloon Landing Debacle
Recently, I praised Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez for his relative budget restraint. While I stand behind that praise, the ongoing debacle involving the City’s efforts to buy 22 acres of land near Vista del Norte, ostensibly for a balloon-landing site (but really to keep Wal Mart from building a store there) undermines efforts to strengthen [...]
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