Tomorrow (Wednesday the 28th) evening in Las Cruces, the Rio Grande Foundation is hosting a discussion of economic freedom issues in New Mexico. Specifically, the author of this outstanding international report will be presenting his thoughts on what economic freedom means, what causes New Mexico to score so poorly in the report, and how we can do better.

The author, Nathan Ashby, is an economist at UTEP and he wrote a column that appeared today at NMPolitics.net.

When I saw Winston Brooks’ recent column in the Albuquerque Journal on education reform, I knew right away that he was using weasel-words and was not telling the truth about the role of APS in the last legislative session as it relates to education reform. I noticed for example, that Brooks did not offer any specific reforms that they support. Rather, he and his highly-paid lobbyists (paid for by the taxpayers) in Santa Fe merely supported watered-down versions of real reforms.

He also, again, touted APS’s “average” results among some of the largest and poorest school districts in the nation.

Thankfully, a separate article written by Michael DeWitte And Larry Langley of the New Mexico Business Roundtable set the record straight. They explain how APS worked to kill or weaken each reform proposed by the Gov., but it is worth noting that APS has worked to block the way for a host of other reforms including school choice tax credits (sponsored by Democrats) and charter schools (to name just a few).

I discussed this topic in a letter that appeared this week in the Alibi:

I feel compelled to respond to the letter to the editor outlining the myriad, alleged justifications for population control and using government power to reduce populations. They are all based on the faulty assumption that we are running out of (insert natural resource here).

The reality is far different and was largely settled back in 1980 when free market economist Julian Simon made a wager with Paul Ehrlich who continues to make a living spreading fear about “overpopulation” and other supposed crises.

The two men bet on a mutually agreed-upon measure of resource scarcity over the decade leading up to 1990. Simon had Ehrlich choose five commodity metals. Copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten were chosen and Simon bet that their prices would decrease, while Ehrlich bet they would increase. Ehrlich ultimately lost the bet, and all five commodities that were selected as the basis for the wager continued to trend downward during the wager period.

Prices of these and other commodities fluctuate in the short-term, but over the long-term, humans use the one unlimited resource that exists (human ingenuity) to find and put new resources to use for human benefit. The centuries-long trend is for more people to live more comfortably where their governments allow them to do so.

We at the Rio Grande Foundation love to be attacked by our opponents. It shows that we are making a difference in the policy debates and are threatening the status quo. The latest such attack can be found below. It is an ad that is supposedly running on several morning cable news shows.

The ad attacks the Rio Grande Foundation, Gov. Martinez, and a variety of education reformers in New Mexico and levies the accusation that each of these groups is attempting to “privatize” education because we support charter schools.

The ad doesn’t talk about what’s best for students but focuses on politics. Choices and meeting individual learning needs are good things for students. Does it matter where student success comes from? It should be about the kids – not politics.

Now, we DO support charter schools, but charter schools are public schools open to all children, they’re NOT private.

Rather than attacking those who are attempting to reform New Mexico’s schools, why not be honest and up front about a few facts:

Today, over 14,000 New Mexico students attend one of 82 charter schools across the state. Obviously, many parents feel that their children are not being served in traditional public schools;

This search for options is the result of New Mexico’s education system having struggled for decades.

According to the “Diplomas Count 2011” report from the Education Research Center, New Mexico’s real graduation rate is 57.1 percent. That is 49th in the nation.

On the 2009 reading version of the National Assessment of Education Progress, New Mexico 4th graders beat the reading scores of only one other state.

Clearly, charter schools are a popular option for many parents and students. We at the Rio Grande Foundation are trying to expand the number of options available while increasing accountability within traditional schools. Unfortunately, some special interests don’t like accountability and choice.

As the Supreme Court gets set to determine the immediate future of US health care, the Rio Grande Foundation is again making the case that the new health care law is not what we need to make health care better and more cost-efficient. Our own adjunct fellow, Dr. Deane Waldman had an excellent opinion piece in today’s Albuquerque Journal which explains some of the flaws in the plan that is being touted as a solution for rising costs and lower quality of care.

Parts of the piece respond directly to Sen. Dede Feldman’s defense of the law which appeared in the paper here.

The fact is that donations are great, but nothing is more effective in allocating limited resources than the free market. Too often, we don’t see the power of the free market, but this great video from our friends at the free market Show Me Institute (our sister think tank in Missouri) shows how, when the chips are down after a horrible tornado, the free market makes sure that limited resources are used effectively for the betterment of the human condition.

(Albuquerque) Deane Waldman, MD, MBA, a practicing pediatric cardiologist, adjunct fellow with the Rio Grande Foundation, and author of a book and dozens of articles on health care and health care reform, offers a stinging indictment of the so-called “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” also known as ObamaCare, in a new issue brief released today by the Rio Grande Foundation.

See the full paper here.

While focusing considerable attention on the flaws inherent in the new health care law, Waldman explains how several past “reforms” to health care – including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and UMRA (Unfunded Mandate Reconciliation Act) were ineffective remedies for what ailed the health care system in the past.

Waldman further details the glaring flaws in PPACA which follow in the footsteps of those past, ill-fated reforms including: exchanges, the individual mandate, and IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board).

Lastly, Waldman outlines a path for real health care reform and some of the thought processes and policies needed to transform our current, corporatist system, into a patient-driven, market-based model.

Unlike many other health care “experts,” Waldman has decades of first-hand experience inside the system and a deep understanding of the multi-billion-dollar business that is US health care.

More information on Waldman’s book, “Uproot Health Care” is available here.

The latest dust-up around Albuquerque is over whether the City Council should be able to approve financing for the Paseo del Norte project or whether the issue should be held off and put before the voters in November. Mayor Berry says that Council needs to act now so costs don’t go up and the project is not unnecessarily delayed.

We at the Rio Grande Foundation tend to be big supporters of direct democracy and giving the public a say on major financial decisions, especially when it comes to tax hikes. This project, however, does not require a tax hike. Of course, one could have said the same thing about the Rail Runner, at least initially. Needless to say, I think the Paseo/I-25 project is far more valuable. Ultimately, there is some level of trust we must place in our political leaders.

Oh, and on the issue of giving voters the final say on major infrastructure projects, Benton and O’Malley were on the other side of this issue back when the streetcar was the topic of discussion. As reported in the Albuquerque Journal, they supported pushing the streetcar forward, at least initially without voter approval. Only after a grassroots effort showed that significant opposition existed to the streetcar did Benton, O’Malley, and Mayor Marty back off, not only a public vote, but the project in its entirety.

I tend to think that Paseo and I-25 is just the kind of basic public works project that government should undertake. If there were a serious outcry on the part of the citizenry, I might endorse a public vote, but there is none and Benton, O’Malley, and Garduño are just gumming up the works.

Our true mission here at the Rio Grande Foundation is the pursuit of economic freedom. A secondary, but equally-enjoyable mission is to drive left-wing liberals crazy. Check out this screed by ardent leftist (he told me once that FDR was “too conservative” for opposing public sector collective bargaining) Arthur Alpert.

Another leftist attacked me for having the audacity to be on the board of a startup charter school.

I’ll address these two in order. It almost seems that if lefties simply throw the names Koch, ALEC, and Cato, at you like a slur or an incantation, it should be enough to simply discredit one’s views. In his article he cites the role government played in laying the groundwork for innovations like the Internet, but fails to appreciate that it was the private sector that turned a defense industry initiative into a user-friendly, multi-billion (or trillion) dollar industry. If government was so great, why isn’t Communist Cuba an economic powerhouse?

Regarding Mr. Corso’s rant, he attacks charter schools, but doesn’t explain why, in New Mexico and across the country, parents of all socio-economic backgrounds continue to choose to send their children to charters. Charters are by no means “free market,” but they do represent a mild form of choice in an otherwise monopolistic, socialistic education universe.

Rather than leaving decisions up to the educrats like Corso who always seem know what is best for others’ children, I trust parents. If they don’t choose charters, then they will go away.

The Albuquerque Tea Party is hosting a rally this Friday against the health care law known as “ObamaCare.” In case you haven’t heard, the US Supreme Court will be holding hearings on the issue starting early next week.

Because health care freedom is so integral to Americans’ personal and financial freedoms, RGF president Paul Gessing will be rallying with the Tea Party. Look for him at the rally and ask him for a tee shirt!

Click here for details on the rally.

The Rio Grande Foundation’s raison d’etre is the study and promotion of economic freedom. The author of what we consider to be the definitive report on the topic is coming to New Mexico for a presentation in Las Cruces on March 28.

For more information on the event, check this out and share with your friends.

I read this article (just catching up with my Journal reading) with amusement and frustration. Some so-called “Hispanic leaders” are upset at Education Secretary Hanna Skandera over the achievement gap between Hispanics and whites and for other perceived slights.

I don’t know about the personal interaction Skandera has had with these people, but I can say unequivocally that it is not Hanna Skandera that is causing poor performance among Hispanics.

First and foremost, you have to look at the parents and students themselves. They must be the first point of emphasis in any discussion of educational performance.

Of course, it is easy to blame the parents. We can’t do much to change them, but we can change policies and reform the schools themselves. And, who is it that makes education policy in this State? Hint, it is not Skandera, it’s the Legislature which happens to be controlled by Hispanics. These very same people (like Ben Lujan who I ripped here) have been doing everything possible to stop Skandera’s (and Gov. Martinez’s) reforms.

Here’s my proposal to critics of the Martinez Administration’s education reforms: adopt them. If they fail, then by all means criticize. But, if you don’t like the way New Mexico’s education system is performing, meet with your legislators, complain about them in the media when they vote incorrectly (or fail to bring reform legislation to a vote). Hispanics are not some powerless minority in this state. They run the state and have done so for years. If Hispanic kids aren’t learning in school, they have no one to blame but themselves.

The Rio Grande Foundation focuses primarily on state and local issues with the exception of those big issues at the federal level that could have dramatic, negative impacts on New Mexicans. One under-reported provision of the Dodd-Frank financial services reforms will negatively impact small business loans. It was brought to my attention by a local, independent banker here in Albuquerque.

I wrote a piece that was published today in the Daily Caller. Check it out here.

The Rio Grande Foundation recently released payroll data for several New Mexico school districts here. Our transparency efforts have made waves previously in the Farmington area due to efforts by the Mayor and certain members of the City Council to increase transparency. Our recent efforts were no different.

Read an opinion piece I wrote in the Tri-City Tribune. Also, the Daily-Times covered the story. Along with Gwyneth Doland, the new Executive Director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, I was pleased to accept a proclamation on Sunshine Week from the Bernalillo County Commission last night.

Check this story out about the New York Assembly’s recent decision not to enact needed pension reforms proposed by liberal Gov. Cuomo.

According to the article:

The Assembly refused Cuomo’s suggestion to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 even though the governor stressed that his plan would save hundreds of billions of dollars in costs toward a pension plan expected to consume 35 percent of the government’s budget by 2015. In 2001, it was 3 percent.

Here in New Mexico, some Democrats in the Legislature oppose even far more modest reforms than those being considered in New York. Of course, both states could learn a thing or two from Rhode Island where that state’s Democratically-controlled Legislature enacted needed reforms.

Mathematics is not a partisan issue!

HT: Rob Nikolewski

One of my favorite economics quotes is from the Frenchman Frederic Basiat who says, “There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.”

Nowhere is that more true than in a recent report that, according to reporting from Winthrop Quigley of the Journal, federal “cuts” could cost New Mexico 20,000 jobs by 2014. Leave aside the fact that sequestration will not actually “cut” anything in the federal budget (as seen in the chart below).

The fact is that reducing the growth of federal spending (or even cutting it) will free up resources for more productive uses. That is the “unseen” aspect of economics. Sure, anyone can see news reports of layoffs at the Labs and automatically assume that New Mexico’s economy is in deep trouble, but those resources (including human resources) will then be freed up for more economically-valuable uses in the private sector.

Now, it is true that New Mexico — especially if it remains so economically-unfree — may lose out to other states. That is the kernel of truth in the BBER report. But, who is to say that Gov. Martinez will not succeed in pushing a pro-growth economic agenda through the Legislature that makes New Mexico a more attractive place for business and leads our state to free market economic prosperity?

Why not mandate the government pay for cough drops? This short video asks the question in hilarious fashion:

This article raises additional questions about the need for the federal government to purchase birth control.

When something negative enough comes out about a corporation, the tendency is for the business to respond to public pressure and change whatever is causing the embarrassment. With the government, that is not quite the case.

Take the case of “pink slime,” the unofficial “food” that McDonald’s had at one time used in their hamburger patties. Thankfully, for those who eat McDonald’s hamburgers (or wouldn’t and will now), the company stopped using the substance. Competition from other hamburger chains and the threat of lost market share and profits likely drove the decision.

But government faces no such pressures. So, according to this article: “The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is buying 7 million pounds of beef containing ammonium hydroxide-treated ground connective tissue and meat scraps and serving it up to America’s school kids.” Big shock there. No one competes with the USDA. Their word is law and no one can question it, especially non-voting school kids. We’ll see if the feds respond to public pressure and this spate of bad media by banning “pink slime” in schools (what happened to Michelle Obama’s healthy schools kick, btw?).

Oddly enough, the USDA which is distributing “pink slime” is also the agency in charge of inspecting meat for safety (no conflict there!). A privatized meat inspection service could and would do a much better job. If people want to eat “pink slime,” they should be allowed and if people want higher standards than the USDA sets, they should be allowed to do that as well. Just another case of “one-size-fits-all” government from Washington.

The issue of federal involvement in education policy has bubbled below the surface of American politics for years. President George W. Bush really pushed the federal government into education in a big way with No Child Left Behind. Now, President Obama is using “Common Core Standards” to further involve the feds in the classroom. Among other issues with this is the fact that Obama is doing so without ever having gone to Congress for approval.

Columnist George Will has an interesting article on the issue here while our friends at several free market think tanks have produced a report detailing the legal justifications and lack of legal support for what the Obama Administration is doing in education.

Lastly, I co-signed a letter that was signed by dozens of education leaders nationwide on the problem of what “Common Core” will do to innovation in education.

The Libre Initiative held a conference in Albuquerque at which I had the opportunity to speak last week. Their mission is to spread the message of economic liberty among Hispanics in the United States. One tool they showed the gathering is this excellent video on the special relationship Hispanics have with economic freedom and why they need to be leaders in the fight to restore these freedoms, not only for themselves, but all Americans:

Shame is a powerful human emotion. Unfortunately, governments do everything they can to reduce shame and replace it with dependency. The single greatest problem in New Mexico is the “culture of dependency,” not just among welfare recipients, but among businesses that feel they must rely on government subsidies to succeed.

Unfortunately, the attitudes that have exacerbated the culture of dependency in America seem to be worsening as this story on a lottery winner who still feels entitled to food stamps illustrates. Here in New Mexico, food stamp shoppers go grocery shopping at Whole Foods.

If welfare programs were run, not out of Washington, but at the state or local level, there is no doubt that more accountability would exist. Ideally, charities would be the providers of welfare, (and birth control for those who cannot afford it) however.

Alamogordo Public Schools

Albuquerque Public Schools

Artesia Public Schools

Aztec Municipal Schools

Belen Consolidated Schools

Bernalillo Public Schools

Bloomfield Municipal Schools

Carlsbad Municipal Schools

Central Consolidated Schools

Clovis Municipal Schools

Cobre Consolidated Schools

Deming Public Schools

Dexter Consolidated Schools

Espanola Municipal Schools

Farmington Municipal Schools

Gadsden Independent Schools

Gallup-McKinley County Schools

Grants-Cibola County Schools

Hatch Valley Municipal Schools

Hobbs Municipal Schools

Las Cruces Public Schools

Las Vegas City Public Schools

Los Alamos Public Schools

Los Lunas Public Schools

Lovington Public Schools

Moriarty-Edgewood School District

Pojoaque Valley Public Schools

Portales Municipal Schools

Raton Public Schools

Rio Rancho Public Schools

Roswell Independent Schools

Ruidoso Municipal Schools

Santa Fe Public Schools

Silver City Consolidated Schools

Socorro Consolidated Schools

Taos Municipal Schools

Truth or Consequences Schools

Tucumcari Public Schools

West Las Vegas Public Schools

Zuni Public Schools

It has been reported that Sony is closing its its post-production facility in Albuquerque and moving it to Vancouver. Reason cited? Subsidies, of course. New Mexico “only” offers 25 cents on the dollar to film companies that set up shop in our fair state. Vancouver, Canada, (where much of the work will be sent) offers an astonishing 46% subsidy.

While it is painful to lose those jobs, the fact is that if taxpayers are footing 25% of the bill and a company is still willing to leave the state for greener pastures, there is something wrong. What is wrong? Not even including the inherent problem in taxing one group of people to support another:

1) the film industry is extremely mobile and lacking in location-specific permanence;
2) this means that the industry is always going to look for subsidies and will never be weaned off of them;
3) policymakers are chasing this industry for non-economic or prestige reasons. The economics of these policies are secondary.

Back in December, we at the Rio Grande Foundation hosted a showing of the film “Sick and Sicker” at an event in Albuquerque that was followed by a discussion of health care reform issues. led by Dr. Deane Waldman, a member of the RGF’s board of directors who is also a pediatric cardiologist.

We are hosting another showing and discussion in Roswell at the UFO Museum on the evening of March 15. Also, we will be doing a showing/discussion on Sunday, March 11 from 3pm to 5pm at the Sandia Tea Party’s meeting. If you live in the Albuquerque area and missed our previous showing, come on out.

The US Supreme Court will be hearing the ObamaCare issue later this month, but regardless of the outcome, health care and health care reforms will be important issues moving forward.