New Study Details Difficulty of Oil and Gas Investments in New Mexico

As oil and gas prices rise, theoretically, New Mexico’s oil and gas industry should be booming and bringing a great deal of revenue to the state. Unfortunately, with an ever-increasing regulatory burden, the industry is moving elsewhere (particularly to Texas) where taxes, regulations, and corruption do not place such a heavy burden on those attempting [...]

Posted on June 25, 2009 at 1:58 pm by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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An Opening for Obama on Cuba Trade?

We have certainly been critical of President Obama’s bailouts and his interventionist federal policies, but he has a real opportunity now to bring another nation, Cuba, into the fold as a trading partner. This opportunity is something Obama can take credit for and following through on the logical next step, eliminating the US trade embargo [...]

Posted on April 23, 2009 at 2:05 pm by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Title Insurance Reform Achieved During 2009 Legislature

Kudos to our friends at Think New Mexico who achieved a big success in the recently-completed legislative session with the reform of title insurance, a form of insurance that is required when you purchase a home. As Fred Nathan, the head of Think New Mexico, pointed out, until the passage of these reforms, “Only three [...]

Posted on April 3, 2009 at 10:25 am by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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An Unregulated Free Market?

Has the current economic crisis been caused by “an unregulated free market” as some in the media would have us believe? To a libertarian or small-government conservative, the answer is clearly “no,” but specifically listing the many ways in which government policies have led us down the current, destructive path is another matter. This is [...]

Posted on February 6, 2009 at 9:32 am by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Are We Living Atlas Shrugged?

Depressing as it may seem, at least for those who are familiar with the book, as Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal points out in this interesting article, we seem to be living in the world of “Atlas Shrugged.” After all, government is standing the way of success and subsidizing failure like never before [...]

Posted on January 14, 2009 at 10:33 am by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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We’re Against Everything…

At least that is what the folks over at the blog Urban ABQ believe. Apparently, we’re also intellectually lazy. But is it true?
Yes, we at the Rio Grande Foundation oppose the taxpayer-financed Albuquerque streetcar, the taxpayer-financed Rail Runner, and the taxpayer-financed Albuquerque arena. But does that mean we oppose “everything?” I believe the evidence points [...]

Posted on November 19, 2008 at 9:12 am by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Killing Economic Development in Albuquerque

We at the Rio Grande Foundation have been quite critical of the powers that be when it comes to economic development in Albuquerque. While some projects like the streetcar, Winrock Mall, and the downtown arena/convention center (to name just a few projects) receive special treatment in the form of tax breaks and taxpayer subsidies, other [...]

Posted on November 8, 2008 at 11:22 am by Paul Gessing · Permalink · One Comment
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Presentation on Federal “Card Check” Legislation

I presented on an issue I normally don’t get to talk about at the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s legislative panel today. Federal “card check” legislation will be a top priority of the next Congress, particularly if Obama is elected President. The following are my brief comments:
Passage of the “Employee Free Choice Act” is one of [...]

Posted on October 28, 2008 at 8:43 pm by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Redistributing Wealth

Barack Obama has clearly expressed his desire to redistribute wealth in American society. Unfortunately, while such sentiments may sound nice to the average voter, there are a number of major political and moral problems with such redistributionist policies. Who is to be in control of redistribution efforts and what right do they have to simply [...]

Posted on October 27, 2008 at 2:01 pm by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Big Surprise: Financial Intervention Failed

While it will take quite some time to discern the success or failure of the massive government intervention we have seen throughout the US economy in recent weeks, one policy — the ban on short-selling — has already been proven a failure. As the article points out, “The short selling ban hasn’t stopped the [...]

Posted on October 12, 2008 at 10:51 am by Paul Gessing · Permalink · Leave a comment
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