Bill Richardson weighs in on Virus, economic situation

Conservative have LOTS of disagreements with former NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D), but there’s no doubt about two things:

  1. He’s to the right politically of the current Gov. (Richardson was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and achieved major tax cuts);
  2. Richardson is a politically savvy guy who has his finger more or less on the pulse of the current political situation.

He recently wrote an opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal and made some salient points:

While he tries to offer support for Lujan Grisham’s Virus response policies he also criticizes her saying, “leaders need to regionalize some of our response. Southeast and Northeast New Mexico, with far fewer cases, can have their restrictions loosened sooner than Albuquerque, Santa Fe, San Juan and McKinley…And perhaps allow one of my favorite spots, Elephant Butte, which often draws over 100,00 people on a holiday weekend, to allow boating first, then a slow opening of the beaches.”

Continuing on after making several points on a various issues the ex-Gov. writes, “don’t raise taxes of any kind. We need to attract new businesses and, if anything, get rid of the onerous double Social Security tax. ”

At the Rio Grande Foundation we have been circulating a “no tax hike” pledge. Richardson sounds like he’d not only not raise taxes, but with the challenging revenue situation he’s advocating for lower taxes.

Former Gov. Bill Richardson