Thursday, January 24, 2019Raise Taxes? Already? Will R's Score Points As Dems Start Tax Talk Amid Historic Surpluses? Also: The Sad And Tawdry End Of Susana; Lawsuit Alleges Affair With Trooper Bodyguard That May Have Cost Taxpayers --Raising the gas tax by ten cents a gallon to finance road repairs as proposed by the D' is seen as a political loser. Taxpayers are already scratching their heads. You have a $1 billion surplus for the current budget year that ends June 30 and a projected $1.1. billion surplus for the one that starts July 1 and you want to raise taxes? Already? --Speaker Egolf and the legislative leadership have already agreed to tap a bunch of that surplus for one time road repair projects, particularly for the hard hit roads in booming oil country. --The problem with the tax package, which includes raising the income tax for the highest earners who now pay the same rate as low and middle income taxpayers, is timing, timing, timing. --R's are already scoring points shouting out that when it comes to Dem tax hikes: "We told you so!" Rio Rancho GOP State Rep. Jason Harper effectively twisted the knife, saying, “It’s gonna hit our middle class, all these teachers they just gave a raise to, it’s going to hurt them.”
--It's always painful to raise a regressive tax that aims squarely at the lower and middle classes like that on gasoline. Many recall how Dem Bruce King lost the governorship in '94 due in part to attacks on his support for such a hike. And that one was only for two cents a gallon.
--MLG and the Dem's best political and policy bet is to raise the income tax on the higher earners and begin the process of restoring a progressive tax system. And freeze the failed corporate income tax cut--that never delivered the promised jobs--and use that savings for the roads. That would be just fine with the vast majority of New Mexicans, if not the R's and their biz backers. --Not that this isn't a good time to raise the gas tax. Prices per gallon are sinking below two bucks a gallon so a tax hike will not be as noticed. But a ten cent a gallon boost is over the top given the surplus. They could pull it back to maybe a nickel, but new Dem state legislators from ABQ's NE Heights will still have a tough time defending it when seeking re-election in 2020. WHAT A LEGACY  A bodyguard for former Gov. Susana Martinez says in a new lawsuit that state police officials retaliated against him for raising concerns about misconduct by another member of her security detail, including concerns about the misspending of campaign funds. New Mexico State Police Officer Tony Fetty claims officials around the governor instead sought to protect her ex-bodyguard, Ruben Maynes, and alleges the two had a personal relationship. The lawsuit adds to questions other state law enforcement officials have already raised in recent months about why Maynes received a $200,000 out-of-court settlement from the New Mexico government after leaving the governor’s security detail and what relationship, if any, he had with the state’s top elected official and her family. Martinez's apparent sham marriage, her excessive boozing and the manipulation of the government she purportedly led by her Shadow Governor Jay McCleskey is her real legacy. And all the slick mailers and media enablers in the world will not be able to change that history. Enjoy your retirement, Susana, or something. . . IN THE MONEY Now that NM is in the money this reader--we lost their name--answers the question: "How do we invest in ourselves?" With the newly discovered oil reserves in the Permian Basin, and discussions about whether and how to spend the increase in revenue, what does “invest in ourselves” mean? I would like to propose a two year experiment. Three or four school districts should volunteer for year round school and longer school days (8 am to 5 pm), coupled with higher teacher pay. The cost for this experiment can be paid from the oil reserves. The current 8-9 month school year is based on a 19th century agrarian model. For working families, keeping kids in school until their parents get home is safer for the kids, and safer for the community. Let each school decide how to keep the kids engaged during a longer school day – sports, music, academic clubs, etc. Teachers will have to be paid more because they will be asked to do more, but that strikes me as a win-win for the teachers and for the kids. If New Mexico wants to escape being at the bottom, it needs to stop doing things the way they always have been done. If New Mexico is serious about climbing the social-economic ladder, its motto needs to evolve from Land of Enchantment to Land of Education. That's it for today. Join us tomorrow for Friday Photo Fun. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019 |
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