Editor,
The Legislature should have balanced the budget by docking the governor’s salary one day’s pay for every time he left the state without letting the lieutenant governor know. His pay should have been docked at double the rate for every time he refused to say where he went. He should be fined a substantial amount for each time he refused to provide information to the media and the people. He should be fined for every time he “helped” one of his buddies in so many ways — the millions spent to pay for state investments that did not benefit the state.
This huge deficit is his fault — he hired many people and overpaid them. He claims to have let 59 employees go; however, he will not provide their names, and it seems that several just transferred to another position. He inherited a financial situation that was in good shape. However, he found ways to spend money that appear to have been to enhance his profile when he ran for president. He bought a jet for himself that he did not need.
The number of people he hired to work for him is perhaps three times the number of people hired by former Governor Gary Johnson. It often appears that he and his friends are above the law that and he has no concerns about what his policies and practices are doing to our state and the people. He most certainly would not allow cutbacks in the tax breaks that he, like Bush, gave to wealthy New Mexicans. He approves of reinstating the food tax — which will greatly harm the poor.
These actions along with others that have been and are being investigated could be called ethically criminal. Richardson has harmed the wallets of New Mexicans, so his wallet should be part of the solution.
Alice Rogers
Daily Lobo reader
