Rejections of statism in New Mexico and beyond

Last night in a bi-partisan 8-2 vote, SJR 12 which would have amended New Mexico’s Constitution to raid the Permanent Fund in order to finance an expansion of pre-K programs, was defeated. While it could be resurrected, it appears that the plan is dead for another session. Despite data indicating that such costly programs are ineffective in improving education results, it is safe to say that the pre-K expansion was, perhaps along with a hike in the minimum wage, the centerpiece of the left-wing agenda this year in Santa Fe. And now it is likely dead on an 8-2 vote. Ouch.

There’s no doubt that the senators who voted “no” will face the wrath of the powerful and well-funded leftist interest groups who were positively salivating at the possibility of tapping into the permanent fund honeypot to expand the size of government and their control over our children. So, it’s worth noting that Senators Beffort, Burt, Campos, Cisneros, Munoz, Leville, Neville, and John Arthur Smith voted ‘Yes,’ to table SJR 12 (and are worthy of praise and support for their courageous votes).

While the New Mexico pre-K vote is unlikely to generate the same national headlines, another rejection of leftist ideology: the recent vote by workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee to reject unionizing with the United Autoworkers, has. The impact of this rejection is likely to be particularly important given management support for the unionization effort. Union supporters including President Obama have decried efforts by Republican politicians and conservative leaders in opposition to the unionization push, but the reality is that if workers felt they would have benefited from a union, they could have had one. Instead, the unions were rejected in a move that will only quicken the decline of private sector unions in the United States.

Unfortunately, government employee unions which even FDR opposed are the real problem, but unions of all stripes have tended to support the same left-wing policies and politicians.