D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
May
2009
Editor's Note
Page: 2- The bloating of state government. As one Desert Exposure letter-writer pointed out last month, in the first six years under Gov. Bill Richardson, state government spending has increased by 54 percent and the number of employees by 24 percent (5,100 jobs). Many of those new jobs have been created at the top end, in high-paying administrative posts filled at the discretion of the governor.
- We've been pretty hard on Gov. Richardson in these pages lately, but we
will give him credit for having the political courage to veto the creation
of a Department of Hispanic Affairs — another excuse to bloat the bureaucracy
that really wouldn't have brought a benefit to ordinary Hispanics statewide.
- The Spaceport America boondoggle. As we've reported in-depth, the state's
multimillion-dollar investment in this scheme — which is far behind schedule — to shoot rich tourists into near-orbit is unlikely ever to pay the economic dividends its starry-eyed backers promise. Still a believer? Ask yourself when the Rocket Racing League — supposed to produce $62 million in economic activity and 630 new jobs by 2015, and integral to spaceport financial promises — will actually take off. (The first races were supposed to be in February 2007.) And yet shoppers in Las Cruces are paying extra gross receipts taxes to fund this "pie in the sky" notion.
- The lack of transparency in how New Mexico grants tax breaks. As pointed out in a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, New Mexico is one of only nine states not requiring a "tax-expenditure report" — enabling citizens and legislators alike to monitor state tax exemptions, deductions and credits. Are such tax breaks accomplishing their original goals? Since most are written into the tax code, they continue indefinitely, costing the state coffers millions. New Mexico gives away almost as much tax revenue this way as it spends in the general fund budget.
It's praiseworthy for last month's Tea Party activists to have turned Americans' attention to the important issues of taxes, big government and soaring deficits. Next April 15, however, we hope they and fellow New Mexicans focus their energy on specific, workable solutions. Nobody likes paying taxes, but at a minimum we have a right to expect taxes to be fair, uncomplicated and designed to stimulate rather than hinder economic growth. And we'd like to at least get what we pay for from our government.
Write On!
Unleash your inner author and enter our writing contest.
If it's spring, it must be time once again for the annual Desert Exposure writing contest, where we invite our readers to turn into writers. Send us your stories, essays, articles and poems; pretty much anything goes — including fiction — as long as the writing in some way evokes life in Southwest New Mexico. You can submit as many entries as you like, as long as you like (though as a practical matter we wouldn't have room for any winning entry longer than, say, 8,000 words), and of course there's no entry fee. The contest is open to all, veteran scribblers and novice authors alike.
The deadline for entries is July 18, giving us time to pore over the pile and pick a grand-prize winner plus four runner-ups to publish in the September issue. The grand prize comes with a $100 award, and each runner-up wins $25.
To enter, send your submission(s) to Desert Exposure Writing Contest, PO Box 191, Silver City, NM 88062. You can also email your entries — either as an attached Word, RTF or plain text (TXT) file, or simply copied and pasted into the body of an email — to contest@desertexposure.com Be sure to include your name and complete contact information including postal address so we can give you the good news if you win. Keep a copy of your entry, as submissions cannot be returned.
Even if you don't win, we'll consider your entry for possible future publication in Desert Exposure at our usual rates.
As you're running to your computer to fire up your word processor, by the way, take a moment to visit www.desertexposure.com/survey and tell us what you think about the usual content in these pages. Our annual reader survey remains open until May 8. You can use the form in last month's issue, or simply click a few buttons online to have your opinion be counted. Remember, 10 lucky respondents will be picked at random to receive a free thank-you of a Desert Exposure mouse pad.
Take it from us: Those spiffy mouse pads are just the thing for stimulating your creativity to come up with an entry in our writing contest.
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.