Richardson & Rio Grande Foundation

Paul Gessing of the Rio Grande Grande Foundation, the New Mexico conservative think tank, got his national shot at Gov. Bill Richardson in the July 14-15 weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal. Gessing began by crediting Richardson with cutting taxes, which became true, on an overall basis, only after the 2007 legislative session. The theme of the article is that "there is more to Richardson's fiscal record that tax cuts. He's also a profligate spender..." Gessing's check list starts with the 11 percent increase in general fund spending awarded this year. He moves to covering adults with money from the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Railrunner commuter train, which is ecpected to need a $10 million subsidy annually after the state kicks in to replace $75 milliond of capital money that didn't appear. Gessing's analysis ran as part of the Cross Country department of locally originated political columns.