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If ever a political party was given a shot at power by discredited incumbents, it would be the Republican Party of New Mexico in 2010. Nevertheless, it is far from clear that Republicans will convince a skeptical public to allow them to govern the state, no matter how eager it is for change. Here’s why. Continue Reading
There is absolutely no reason for Arizona’s new and bad law to be on the books, since the most efficient way of stopping illegal migration is to go after the small gang of criminals who have caused the phenomenon to get out of hand: the employers. Continue Reading
The state’s cash reserves are about to dry up and there’s little reason to believe a good spurt of economic growth will occur this year. That means more budget cuts are coming next summer or fall, plus, perhaps, more tax increases. Continue Reading
New Mexico is facing a double crisis — one political and about the culture of corruption, and the other financial. The two are connected. Continue Reading
By Jose Z. Garcia On Friday, Governor Richardson accepted the “America’s Greatest Education Governor Award” from the National Educational Association, a lobby group for teachers. Among the reasons given for extending the award was his “fighting to put physical education back into elementary schools, and taking junk foods out, increasing teacher pay and restoring collective bargaining rights for educators.” But these accomplishments, after all, have nothing to do with academic achievement and a lot more to do with issues in which the NEA is interested. So we should also ask: Did the Richardson administration, in addition to the benefits cited above, improve the academic record of students in New Mexico, which, for most parents, is the bottom line? In other words, how do Johnny and Maria rank in reading and math? Let’s find out. Continue Reading
By Jose Z. GarciaThere were two kinds of cautionary signals from the very beginning. One had to do with the governor’s bullying style — early rumors of highly aggressive behavior, a speech that Sen. Tim Jennings gave on the floor of the Senate complaining about the use of abusive language, the hardball targeting in 2004 of Democrats who had challenged the governor, and other signs of obvious displeasure against legislators or lobbyists who disagreed. The governor appeared to have mastered the advice Machiavelli gave to the prince: It is better to be feared than loved. The other signal had to do with money: The Richardson administration elevated fundraising to an art form, at an unprecedented level of prominence and glamour, and the dollar amounts broke all records. There were fundraisers in-state, out-of-state, big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones. Continue Reading
By Jose Z. GarciaLurking just beneath the surface in the public outcry and anger over the scandal in the Gadsden Independent School District in southern Doña Ana County is the conflict of interest inherent in the two incompatible hats being worn by Cynthia Nava: school superintendent and powerful state senator. From her point of view, of course, wearing each hat and being able to put one on and take one off must have seemed very convenient, at least for a while. For example, the New Mexico School Board Association, in naming the Gadsden school board its board of the year, was almost certainly thinking about the Senate hat worn by the GISD superintendent, Cynthia Nava. As a powerful state senator — chair of the Education Committee, co-chair of the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force and vice chair of the Legislative Education Study Committee — she might well be grateful for a positive gesture from a statewide education lobby group toward her school board (which hires and fires superintendents, and does very little else) at a moment the school board and Superintendent Nava were under heavy fire. And the gratitude the organization might have been thinking about was almost certainly not gratitude the organization might receive from Superintendent Nava, but from Sen. Nava. Continue Reading
By Jose Z. Garcia Last week Barack Obama was in Española, hoping to energize Hispanic voters there. A few numbers will make clear why. Rio Arriba County, where Española is located, has an estimated population of about 41,000, out of which nearly 30,000 (72.8 percent) are Hispanic. In 2004, Kerry’s margin of victory in Rio Arriba was 69 percent, 4,604 votes out of a total of 14,902 votes cast. In a tight race for New Mexico, that margin of victory could come in handy. Continue Reading
By Jose Z. Garcia Before discussing the political fallout, let me assert that Pete Domenici ranks among the top two senators in New Mexico history. His contributions in reforming the Senate budget process were historic, and if Congress squandered a chance to be fiscally responsible in the last few years, it was not because of him. At the peak of his power his moderate, bipartisan approach to policy, abandoned years ago by Senate leaders in favor of the Gotcha Game, helped produce legislation of which people were actually proud. His work ethic on behalf of New Mexicans is legendary, and there is no one in the state who has not benefited from this work. His modest, unassuming character was rare among first-tier politicians, and he knew how to listen well. Continue Reading
An analysis of Richardson’s 2008 bid By Jose Z. Garcia A former governor of New Mexico told me not long ago that you cannot compare Bill Richardson with previous governors because “Richardson is in a class of his own. Nobody ever came to the governorship with that kind of political capital.” Well said: Our last three governors included an Albuquerque businessman who believed in legalizing pot and minimalist government, a rancher serving his third stint as governor, and a college professor from a state university. Anybody who’s lived in the penthouse at the Waldorf Astoria – the residence for U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations in New York City – is bound to be viewed with awe in New Mexico. Want more? How about energy secretary under Bill Clinton, seven terms as the congressman from Northern New Mexico, multiple images of grateful hostages rescued by our national hostage-saver, political insider in Democratic circles with access to the glamorous corridors of national power and money? Continue Reading