Governor Fails to Acknowledge Cuts to Classroom Education

Governor Martinez thinks that if she says it often enough that people will believe her when she says that she did not cut the classroom funding in this state. The reality is that when you cut teacher pay by 3.25% you cut funding to every classroom in this state. You also cut spending in the towns and cities of this state. Teachers often take money out of their own pockets to help support poor students in a state where a lot of children live near or below the poverty line.

Martinez has also cut school funding by 5% to K-12 public schools across the state which will result in even future cuts to instructor salaries. I fail to see administrators taking that money from their own paychecks.

You should make no mistake that community college presidents are getting ready to cut frontline workers pay at the same percentage rate they are forced to cut top administrators. Higher Education got a 7.5% cut in the state’s largest community college which I am sure will come out of the classrooms and out of teacher and support staff salaries. Why college presidents think it is ok to cut the salaries of people making less than $25,000 a year at the same rate they cut administration salaries is beyond my understanding. Clearly these people live a self centered it’s all about me and my money life style that has nothing to do with the reality of our current economic crisis.

People should call the governor so as to let her know that we do not buy the sugar coated lies coming from her and her less than honest open administration.

Smart Politicians Saying Stupid Things

“A person who disagrees with you isn't necessarily unintelligent. Sometimes, smart people say stupid things simply because they haven't gotten all the facts.” Or in the case of Republicans like Congressman Steve Pearce they simply disregard the facts in favor of large corporations.

Well that about sums it up for Congressman Steve Pearce. He wants to cut down more trees in this state and drive some poor little owl into extinction just to provide jobs that will not last very long in the first place. I think he would have been just the right congressman for this state in the 1800s because they tried sanctuaries (Reservations) with Native Americans but it just does not fly presently.

Now for all of us who are dealing with high pollen counts this spring cutting down all of those trees does not sound like such a bad idea at first. Since our state is an arid environment with very little water how could that be such a bad idea but I don’t think the spotted owls would be very happy with the results. And I don’t think our children and grandchildren would thank us over the long run.

Once upon a time New Mexico had a lot fewer trees back in the 1980s but with the building of more homes has come more trees. Maybe the Congressman should have all of the trees in our cities cut down instead of the ones that are there naturally in the forests around the state. Who knows it could create jobs for people who cut trees down and make a lot of people much healthier at the same time. I am sure the spotted owls don’t live in the cities of this state so what harm could it do except to make some home owners a little unhappy. But if they did not have to water their non-native trees maybe we could also save some water at the same time which I am sure would make the republican mayors happy.

All sarcasm aside cutting down our forest to create jobs that will not last is no way to create long lasting jobs for New Mexicans. We need new green jobs that will last a lot longer and provide high paying wages that can support state government. Harming our environment is no way to fix the problem of unemployment in this state. Republicans have to stop thinking in the past and start working for a better future for all New Mexicans.