David Alire Garcia, who works for the Albuquerque Journal on its editorial/Op Ed staff, writes the occasional column. I wish he did more.
Garcia’s habit is to take a question – yesterday he tackled, "Is Governor Richardson a tax cutter?" – and do the reporting and analysis required to answer it.
A while back, he asked, Is Rep. Heather Wilson really "independent" of the GOP leadership in the House? His conclusion, that she was more reliable than not, outraged the Wilson camp. (Since then, probably coincidentally, Wilson hasn’t followed her leaders on a couple of issues and paid a price for it.)
Garcia’s conclusion yesterday was "Richardson is really a tax shifter." He also noted that lots of New Mexicans pay lower taxes now than when the Governor took office and some pay more.
PS Garcia’s figures are not conclusive, but the more affluent probably are paying less. Richardson’s first move, you will remember, was to cut income taxes on the wealthy to encourage business activity. He is now promoting income tax cuts for middle-income New Mexicans.