The Rio Grande Foundation has been telling the political class for years that a disproportionately large public sector was stifling our economy. Turns our the Lt. Governor’s–and the Governor’s–own advisers have been saying the same thing. New report from New Mexico Watchdog.
A Costly Ride on the Rail Runner
Like the train has money to burn. How about blowing the annual salary of a teaching assistant on an overnighter to Raton, just to show off? Latest report
on the Great New Mexico Train Robbery at New Mexico Watchdog.org
Attorney General’s Senior Counsel Doubles as President of Law Firm Pushing CO2 Caps
This a a pretty unusual situation. One of the AG’s closest advisors doubles as president of a law firm that sues the state, cities, municipalities, appears before administrative agencies, and lobbies the Legislature. The Environmental Improvement Board is proceeding to hear a petition to cap CO2 emissions statewide. The petitioner is represented by the very same law firm that the AG’s Senior Counsel heads. And it’s the AG who told the EIB they could proceed to hear the petition. Stuart Bluestone is the attorney in question. The law firm is the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Here’s the New Mexico Watchdog report, our latest in a close look at conflicts of interest on the EIB.
RailRunner Costs Are Eating New Mexico Alive
Jim Scarantino and Steve McAllister review the RailRunner’s red ink and its consequences for our state. Read the latest report at New Mexico Watchdog here.
Fed Stimulus Grows NM Government More Than Broader Economy: No Surprise There
The latest report on the stimulus spending shows that government continues to benefit while unemployment rises in the broader economy. I’ve done two reports crunching data from recovery.gov, the official U.S. government website to track stimulus spending and employment impacts. The first showed that the number of jobs funded by stimulus dollars dropped during the last quarter of 2009 by 13% while the cost per job soared over 50% to $484,505 per job. That report is over at New Mexico Watchdog here.
Today’s report shows that government is gobbling up the stimulus dollars, consuming most of the funding and funding most of the jobs claimed. That report is here.
What is definitely growing is the public sector. Unemployment for everyone, though, is up sharply, to 8.3% from 7.8% in the previous quarter.
Did Denish Use Fed Stimulus $$ for Work on Kerry Campaign?
A Denish worker paid with public funds was paid for what appears to be the Kerry train rally and visit to Albuquerque. There are questions about the invoices themselves, too. They appear to have been approved before the work was done. Read my latest report at New Mexico Watchdog.