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.

“I’m shocked, shocked, to hear that gambling is going on in this establishment.” That quote from “Casablanca” comes to mind every time I hear a politician bemoaning the plague of partisanship. Normally, whining about partisanship is done by someone like Sen. Olympia Snowe who is in the minority party and doesn’t really believe that fighting the battle of ideas is worthwhile in the first place.

But, the case of the latest New Mexico politician to cry “partisanship” is far more interesting: Sen. Cynthia Nava will not be running again despite the fact that she was the Chair of the Education Committee and her party, the Democrats, have been in firm control of the Legislature for decades. How is “partisanship” a problem when you are in control of the process and will have a healthy majority for the foreseeable future (at least in your own body, the Senate)?

Honestly, while Nava is nowhere near the reformer I’d want her to be in terms of leading the charge for school choice, she was a supporter of some of the Gov.’s modest reforms like the 3rd grade reading initiative. It would seem that the “partisanship” Nava is concerned about isn’t coming from Gov. Martinez and the Republicans, but rather from those in her own party who are being partisan in blocking much-needed education reforms just because they are proposed by a Republican Governor.

Am I reading too much into this? Tell me what I’m missing or why I’m wrong.

(Albuquerque) The Rio Grande Foundation has hired Thomas Molitor as the new, New Mexico Watchdog.

Molitor is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, School of Economics. He spent 15 years in the corporate communications field where he occupied senior management roles for agencies inside the four largest communications holding companies worldwide – Omnicom, WPP, Publicis and Interpublic. Living in Silicon Valley at the time, Thomas moved over to the world of venture capital for 10 years, having helped found three internet startup companies.

Since moving to New Mexico in 2005, Thomas has made economics, government affairs and politics a full-time obsession. He ran for the New Mexico state legislature, became a regular columnist for two years on NMPolitics.Net, wrote op-ep pieces that have appeared in the Albuquerque Journal, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal and American Action Forum.

Thomas believes there is a modern day citizen journalist reformation emerging – an Internet Reformation. It is led by the Internet making everything in life more transparent, most importantly government affairs and how taxpayers’ money is being spent.

Prior to joining New Mexico Watchdog as a reporter, Thomas was an adjunct scholar at the Rio Grande Foundation.

Said Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing, “Molitor will be a great addition to watchdog journalism in New Mexico. In recent years, we have made great strides in making government in the Land of Enchantment more accountable and transparent. Thomas Molitor will be working full-time (and more) to expand upon those successes.”

Molitor’s work, including the latest update on the “Earthstone” saga at the State Investment Council, will be available at: http://newmexico.watchdog.org/

I had an op-ed in today’s Albuquerque Journal. You can read it over at NMPolitics.net as well without a subscription.

Anyway, the point of the article is that New Mexico’s political leaders should look at the cuts being made at Los Alamos as an opportunity to generate economic growth at home. Feel free to comment here/and/or at Heath’s site.

Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center — one of our sister think tanks based in Washington State — presented recently in Albuquerque and Santa Fe on “Eco-Fads”: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism Is Harming the Environment. His presentation powerpoint is available online.

Rob Nikolewski of Capitol Report New Mexico did a brief interview as well.

With all of the controversy over whether the federal government should or should not pay for birth control, the average person may be forgiven for not having seen the story that former President Bill Clinton has stepped into a separate controversy, that over the Keystone Pipeline.

To summarize, Clinton supports the Keystone XL pipeline. The fact that Clinton supports it, while Obama opposes it, illustrates one of the big differences between the two men. Clinton is a political pragmatist while Obama is an ideologue.

Only time will tell whether Clinton’s sage advice has an impact on Obama’s policies.

The Rio Grande Foundation hosted an incredibly well-attended luncheon 5 years ago in Albuquerque with prominent political commentator and television host John Stossel. We are excited to announce that Stossel will be returning to Albuquerque for a dinner gala on April 25, 2012. In part, he’ll be discussing his new book No, They Can’t: Why Government Fails – But Individuals Succeed

Reserve your seat today! Details on the Stossel event are available here.

I ran across this interesting report from Maine recently. The relevant information is on Table 1 which shows that New Mexico has a major private-sector tax burden differential with its neighbors:

NM is ranked 9th heaviest, Colorado is 48, Arizona is 33, Oklahoma is 31, Texas 46, and Utah, 36.

Voters in Roswell are heading to the polls now (Election Day is officially March 6) to vote on a gross receipts tax increase. The purpose of the tax will be for “economic development” as outlined in Roswell Ordinance 11- 05. Aside from that, details are somewhat unclear and analysis of exactly how raising taxes will spur economic development are lacking. It would seem that this lack of information would make the average voter skeptical about such a tax increase.

But, if that is not enough, we at the Rio Grande Foundation can add this: raising taxes on the population and business community at large in order to provide incentives and hire bureaucrats to lure businesses to town is a bad idea. It will not result in a more prosperous Roswell, but will benefit a few, favored businesses at the expense of everyone else.

Despite the abject failure of the leaders of the Democratic Party in New Mexico to enact any serious education accountability reforms or school choice, other states like Wisconsin have done so and the data are showing that school choice works.

According to the report:

Among the new findings are that students enrolled in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP)—the nation’s oldest private school choice program currently in operation—not only graduate from high school on time by seven percentage points more than students enrolled in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), but they are also more likely to enroll in a four-year college and persist in college. Tracking of both MPCP and MPS students over a four-year period reveals significantly higher achievement growth in reading for MPCP students, as well as higher levels of science achievement in upper grades.

Read the full study here.

The willingness of some in New Mexico to make excuses for why they oppose change and accountability requires mental flexibility and contortions that resemble the acrobats in the upcoming Cirque du Soleil productions (soon to hit Rio Rancho). Take for instance Michael Corwin, a flack for the Democratic Party, and his recent op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal.

He claims that Gov. Martinez and her reading accountability measures “sold out parents” by taking decisions out of their hands. That’s rich coming from a supporter of politicians that have done everything in their power to halt school choice in this state. Anyway, Corwin claims that if only Gov. Martinez had been willing to give parents the final say over whether a child moves on or not, then every thing would have been great and HB 69 would have passed.

Well, I’d certainly prefer to give parents more choices, but should parents be able to demand their 10 year old be put in 8th grade if that’s where they want him (Corwin and opponents of HB 69 seem to think this is fine)? If a non-reading 5th grader becomes a disruption to her classmates (in part because their parent(s) put her there, can the school do anything about it (Corwin and opponents of HB 69 seem to say no).

It would be great if our schools could offer true parental choice and be tailor made to student needs, but Mimi Stewart, Michael Corwin, et al don’t want this. They want parents to be able to micromanage their child’s education — undermining the authority of teachers and principles — without actually giving them a real choice over where they can send their kids to school.

According to a recent report from the Tax Foundation, New Mexico has the 16th highest combined state and federal “sales” tax. I use the parentheses advisedly knowing full well that New Mexico does not have a sales tax, but has a much more onerous gross receipts tax.

So, to say that New Mexico has the 16th-highest sales tax rate is accurate insofar as it goes, but our state taxes a lot of inputs that other states don’t tax. Gov. Martinez and the Legislature adopted some carve-outs this session, but as I wrote in this article, the gross receipts tax is a tricky tax to reform.

Instead, we’d like to see the tax restored to the low, flat, fair, “tax everything,” philosophy that could see rates as low as 3% and focus instead on reducing and/or eliminating the personal and corporate income taxes.

Yes, we at the Rio Grande Foundation have been critical of the Rail Runner in the past and want to shut it down. But, sometimes it is nice to get an outsiders perspective. In this case, I point you to this article from the Coyote Blog which is maintained by an Arizona-based blogger.

He recently visited our fair state, rode the Rail Runner, ran some numbers, and questions what the New Mexico politicians who set it up were thinking at the time.

With all of the talk about taxes and tax cuts this session, it is time for New Mexico’s elected leaders to get serious about some kind of comprehensive reforms. I explain RGF’s vision for tax reform in the Land of Enchantment over at NMPolitics.net.

The Rio Grande Foundation is pleased to announce that it is working with The Bill of Rights Institute to publicize this upcoming program.

The Bill of Rights Institute is pleased to offer 2 FULL scholarships (each a $1,500 value each) for  New Mexico students to attend the Constitutional Academy this summer. This premier program for high school students to study the Constitution will be held in Washington, D.C. July 9-14, 2012.

The program explores the Founding principles of limited government, freedom of religion, and economic liberty to name a few. While in D.C. students will explore the Capitol, Mount Vernon, the National Archives, and other sites while in D.C. and have reading discussions with college professors. For more information please visit their website at www.billofrightsinstitute.org, or contact Michelle Griffes at (703) 894-1776, ext. 15.