According to 24/7 Wall Street (as received from Yahoo!), New Mexico is the 2nd-worst-run state in the entire nation, beating out only California. Astonishingly, the publication ranked us lower than Illinois a state that has been a basket case for years. According to the report’s entry for New Mexico:
The state’s debt load relative to its size was average, and its budget shortfall of 8.3% for going into fiscal 2012 was better than many states. Outside of fiscal management, however, New Mexico performed poorly in several areas in several areas. The state was among the worst 10 nationwide for violent crime, high school graduation rates among adults, and health insurance coverage. More than one in five residents lived below the poverty line in 2012, worse than all states but Mississippi. Last year, state GDP grew by just 0.2%, worse than all but a handful of states.
The specific rankings and tools contained int the report are relatively broad and somewhat unrelated, but when taken as a whole, they certainly don’t contain good news for the Land of Enchantment.
49. New Mexico
> Debt per capita: $3,914 (21st highest)
> Budget deficit: 8.3% (31st largest)
> Unemployment: 6.9% (tied-19th lowest)
> Median household income: $42,558 (6th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 20.8% (2nd highest)
New Mexico ranked this year as the second worst-run state in the country, scoring better than California by only a small margin. One measure that helped put it above California was its credit rating. Standard & Poor’s rates the state AA+, and Moody’s gives it a perfect Aaa rating. The state’s debt load relative to its size was average, and its budget shortfall of 8.3% for going into fiscal 2012 was better than many states. Outside of fiscal management, however, New Mexico performed poorly in several areas in several areas. The state was among the worst 10 nationwide for violent crime, high school graduation rates among adults, and health insurance coverage. More than one in five residents lived below the poverty line in 2012, worse than all states but Mississippi. Last year, state GDP grew by just 0.2%, worse than all but a handful of states.
Never discussed concerning the NM poverty figures is what portion consists of families with one or more illegal aliens. The state actively encourages illegal aliens to settle in the state, offering no restriction drivers’ licenses and in-state tuition rates to illegals. Statistically, the average adult illegal alien from Latin America has not completed high school, has low job skills and poor English comprehension. Is it any surprise that such persons live in poverty?
The comments from Charles pretty much sum it all up! We also do virtually nothing with our tax structure to encourge businesses to locate here. We’re pretty much the worst in every catagory and the “elephant in the room” is that we’ve been governed by the Democrat Party for at least the last 70 years! Until we rid ourselves of the “good ol’ boys” in the Legislature, we have virtually no chance of improving.
Part of the problem is that the mindset of government employment pervades New Mexico’s culture. A disproportionate number of legislators are current or former government employees. There are a few ranchers and small business folks, but the corporate sector is largely missing.
One result is economic illiteracy: Many of our decisionmakers have no experience in the private sector, do not understand how capitalism works and distrust the profit motive. So the prevailing belief is that government drives the economy.
Another result is lack of accountability. Elected officials and voters who have never been held accountable for results in their own careers are unwilling to impose standards of performance or conduct on government employees. So there’s more tolerance here than in other states for public employees who are incompetent or dishonest.
I would argue that the less government interference with the people’s choices the better. Therefore having a relatively dysfunctional government may be a blessing for the average person.