MLG State of the State: I’m taking your guns, and bankrupting the state

As expected, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham used the annual “State of the State” address to scold New Mexicans at the top of her raspy lungs for lawfully owning guns, and for not spending the state’s rare oil & gas surplus on free daycare.

What was even more unsettling than the governor’s brazen attitude toward snatching guns and raiding state money for frivolous pipedreams was her outright disrespect for law enforcement officials attending the event.

Law enforcement officials were barred from bringing their firearms into the gallery while the governor gave the address. This means that the only people authorized to defend the governor and members of both chambers during the address were a few state police officers and half a dozen octogenarian sergeants at arms, who have been roaming the capitol halls since the LBJ Administration, if not earlier.

Bona fide law enforcement, who defend our state every single day were not only disrespected, but they were barred from doing their duty to protect New Mexico citizens. Estancia Mayor Nathan Dial requested a simple, written confirmation showing that the rules have been changed to not allow firearms of any kind in the House or Senate galleries, which was met with crickets.

Mayor Dial made the excellent point that if the governor is so intent on keeping people in the Capitol safe, why are firearms not banned in committee rooms? “Are [legislators] saying they are more important than their constituents in those rooms?”

Eddy County Sheriff Mark Cage asked, “Are [law enforcement] the threat now? Wouldn’t you want more trained, armed professionals if you were afraid of a threat?… So this is ‘common sense’ gun control?”

Mayor Dial and Sheriff Cage bring up excellent points, especially since they cannot govern as elected officials without knowing what regulations they are held to. The governor’s proposed “common-sense reforms,” meant to ensure “people who should not have firearms, don’t” seem fuzzy regarding the men and women who put their lives on the line each and every day to keep order and uphold the law in their respective communities.

In all fairness to the governor, she did mention public safety officers and promised to go after federal grants to give them raises. We hope Grisham will look into these grants because it is true our law enforcement officers need to be paid fairly. I suppose we will beleive her once we see that she is truly looking for better pay for officers, rather than just giving them more mandates. For instance, the governor said she hopes to “enact community policing reforms,” which did not go into any specifics, however it does not necessarily sound like it was in the best interest of the officers.

Governor Lujan Grisham’s overall disrespect of New Mexico’s law enforcement, her disrespect for our state’s natural resources such as oil & gas, and her disrespect for the state’s permanent fund show just how radical she is.

Lujan Grisham’s proposed “responsible pinch” of money from the state coffers to fund free daycare is an absolute atrocity because the only reason our state has $1 billion in surplus money is because of oil and gas. Her administration is actively trying to kill the oil & gas industry, which means once she pounds the final nail in the fossil fuel industry’s coffin, she won’t have the money she will need for the recurring cost of “pre-k for all,” meaning teachers being laid off, and more cuts to necessary departments (such as law enforcement).

What’s more preposterous is that the governor has nestled an extra $1.2 million in the state budget to fund her office, a 38% increase to pay for her expensive Harvard degree-touting cabinet secretaries, who come from out of state. Lujan Grisham looks to spend as much money as she can, bankrupt the state, and then most likely blame it on the Martinez administration, as she does so often.

No longer should New Mexicans be mistreated, humiliated, and gouged by Lujan Grisham in the name of social justice, with her penchant to turn the Land of Enchantment into the failed state of California. It is time as New Mexicans to stand up to Lujan Grisham, and fight back for our freedoms.

We must speak up in committee rooms when given the opportunity, and tell state legislators how many of the bills backed by the governor will hurt real New Mexicans, the same New Mexicans who will be at the polls next November. We can vote out careless government officials as easy as we voted them in. Let’s take back our state, and work to make New Mexico better.