Shea Andersen: At the Roundhouse

Whose Kool-Aid is stronger?

Gov. Bill Richardson and New Mexico Voices for Children are duking it out over the value of his tax cuts, but it's interesting to see who each side is using to make their arguments.

For background: New Mexico Voices for Children, an advocacy group whose motto is: "Invest in Children, See the Results" has taken aim at Richardson's cherished income tax cuts. They think they're costing the state too much money, and keeping New Mexico from spending more on child services.

So they did some research, and put out a study that says so. Their chief researcher happens to be Gerry Bradley, who was a former economist in the Richardson administration, in the New Mexico Department of Labor. He would have been the kind of guy who would have been responsible for sending out glowing reports about just how many jobs New Mexicans have.

Not any more: He's a "Voices" guy all the way, and happy to slam Richardson's braggadacio about tax-cut job-creation as "a fairy tale."

Well, right back atcha: When he made his response to the Voices report, Richardson's team made sure to use an old Voices hand: research economist Kelly O'Donnell. How times have changed. Many's the time when she was on the phone with me and other reporters, slamming the Richardson administration's economic policies, namely that derned tax cut.

In his reply, O'Donnell's statement is "We're growing jobs and
building income."

Anyone else getting dizzy up here?

Posted by sandersen at February 10, 2005 06:06 PM