Press "Enter" to skip to content

Denish Proposes Secession from the Union

Okay, maybe that title is a little misleading. Lt Governor Denish didn’t actually advocate for New Mexico to secede from the Union at a recent NAIOP meeting, but she did say:

“I want a New Mexico where a business succeeds or fails based on the quality of its products … not just because they have connections to certain lobbyists,” Denish told about 300 people attending a lunch sponsored by NAIOP, a commercial real estate group.

Heck, I want a nation where that is the case. Of course, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Insurance companies, banks and automobile manufacturers top the list of those whose business continue because they have connections to certain lobbyists.

Actually, in all fairness to the lobbyists, the problem is the politicians who will trade votes for favors or contributions, not the lobbyists who advocate for or against a given company or issue. There are lobbyists on both sides of every issue. They are part of the process, not the problem. Let’s be real here.

As to the relevance to New Mexico pay-to-play scandals, it’s a little too little, a little too late as far as I’m concerned. The Lt. Governor spoke up when the Governor pinched her leg, but until recently, never said a word about the rampant pinching of contributors in return for lucrative state contracts.