Which begs the question, Which Bum?
Many times, during the course of our radio program, To the Point with Mick Rich (airs on KKOB AM 770, FM, 96.3 FM, online, podcast). I will turn to “my good buddy” (you are a good buddy if you read our articles or listen to our program), and producer, Amarie, and I say in unison, “What are we going to do?” I respond, “We are going to throw the Bums Out.” But which bums is the question?
Which bums are worthy to be “Thrown Out?”
Incumbent Democrats have kept New Mexico and Albuquerque at the bottom of all the good lists and at the top of all the bad lists for decades.
NM Senator Pro Teim Mimi Stewart has been in the legislature for thirty years and as an APS teacher for just as long. Her sidekick, Sheryl Williams Stapleton, would still be the NM House Speaker and APS teacher if the US Attorney General’s Office did not indict her. Those two and their fellow Democrats in Santa Fe had kept our students at the bottom while their unions amassed power and money.
Any school board member, incumbent or not, who receives endorsements and or campaign contributions from teachers' unions is a BUM. We must throw them out and elect school board members who will put our children first.
In Bill Richardson's first year as Governor of New Mexico, he recognized public employee unions, increased the number of public employees, and awarded wage increases. What Richardson did was create powerful and wealthy unions that were loyal to him first and second to the Democrat Party. It was those loyalists that helped launch his presidential campaign. While wages and jobs increased year after year for those loyalists, wages and job growth were stagnant for the rest of us.
Any city and county candidate, incumbent or not, who receives endorsements and or campaign contributions from public employee unions does not deserve your vote. That candidate, if elected, will serve their benefactor and not the hardworking people of New Mexico.
If you can’t “Toss the Bums Out,” then “Starve them Out”
The Albuquerque Journal recommended passing the Two Mill Bond measure. The bond measure would keep the current tax rate while providing forty-four million dollars for much-needed upgrades for Albuquerque Public Schools. What was not mentioned is that APS enrollment has been down by thousands of students, saving APS between sixty to one hundred and eighty million dollars a year. What happened to those saving, or did APS continue spending as if there was no tomorrow?
New Mexico has been ranked in the top ten states with the most public employees per 10,000 population over the past ten years. In contrast, Arizona is ranked one or two with the least public employees per 10,000 in the last ten years per the website RichStates/PoorStates. This election we reject tax increases forcing state and local governments to be more efficient.
The New Mexico GOP Leadership is not Immune.
New Mexico GOP leaders have given up on the NM GOP. Pearce signed off on the Respect New Mexico campaign that did not mention Republicans, when McCleskey abandoned Republicans to run a losing Democrat’s campaign for Albuquerque Mayor.
The November 7 election results are not just about which candidate won and lost. It is also a referendum on New Mexico GOP leadership. If Republicans gained more seats at the table in county, city, and school boards, we must congratulate our NM GOP leaders on a job well done. However, if it is just another Democrat wave election, then we must ask those NMGOP leaders to step aside.
We cannot wait until after the 2024 election to make a change.