The “State of the State” is…?

I like Gov. Martinez. She hasn’t raised taxes. She’s supported things like “Right to Work” and accountability in education. Unlike her predecessor she hasn’t saddled New Mexico with vanity projects like the Rail Runner and Spaceport. More importantly, she got elected Governor of a blue state…twice.

And that’s probably the biggest difference between her and a think tank CEO.

In her State of the State address yesterday, Martinez was relentlessly upbeat about both the economy and New Mexico’s education system. I just don’t see it. I actually agree with Democrat Sen. Joseph Cervantes who said the “state of the state” was “unacceptable.”

What gives? Despite having a Republican Governor for six years and a Republican House for two years, New Mexico remains a very “blue” state that has NEVER had conservative governance (unlike more economically-prosperous “blue” states like Colorado or even California).

So, my State of the State speech would have gone something like this (and this is probably why I’m not governor):

New Mexico has the 2nd highest unemployment rate. Our young people are fleeing. Dependency on the government is growing (in part due to my decision to expand Medaid under ObamaCare…oops). And, most sadly, 2016 will be remembered for as a year in which unspeakable acts were done to our children and our already-high crime rates rose dramatically.

For two years I supported and the Republican House passed bills to reform New Mexico’s failing economy and broken education system, but we were stopped at every turn by the Democrat-controlled Senate. In their infinite wisdom last November, rather than ridding us of an obstructionist Senate, voters instead chose “more of the same.”

I’ll spend the next two years trying to prevent further damage to our economy with my veto pen, but once I’m gone “all bets are off.”

Good luck New Mexico, you’ll need it.