Swickard: Do what works and stop doing what doesn't work

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  The New Mexico Legislature is set to start and there are many plans being foisted upon the citizens for what needs to be done this session. Most do not address the reasons New Mexico is dead last in many categories and will not help the state arise from the bottom.

            Some want to spend lots of legislative time on DWI laws. But over the years all rational people have given up drinking outside their home. All that are left are the people that do not follow laws and young drivers who do not realize that if you drink and drive it will mess up your life.

            What New Mexico needs are the types of laws and rules other states have making them competitive for businesses and jobs. The biggest anchor around our collective necks is the lack of Right To Work laws. Those laws in other states prohibit unions requiring employee membership, dues and fees to be employed.

            The unions have a political death grip on New Mexico so it is unlikely to change. Many companies with jobs bypass New Mexico. If this legislature wants to kick start the economy, it is the first thing they should do.

            The main thing the legislature need to do is push the things that work rather than do the things that do not work. Example: If your horse dies, stop spurring and get off the horse. Find another one that is alive. What that means for New Mexico is quit doing what we have been doing for years and look at other prosperous states to emulate what they do to bring wealth to their citizens.

            This is not rocket science but when I look at what leaders want to do in this session it seems none of them have noticed New Mexico is last in many lists. If not last, the state is close to the bottom. What we need to do is to copy states that are doing well.

            It is not easy to become last in almost every category and it won’t be easy to stop being last because there are some politicians who prosper in an environment of failure and poverty. Still, this legislative session should endeavor to lift New Mexico out of the last places.

            It seems that when the representatives in Santa Fe look at the decades upon decades of poverty in our state they would do something different. But they don’t. How long has it been this way? It makes me think of New Mexico Territorial Governor Lew Wallace in 1881.

            Most remember him for his novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, partially written while in New Mexico. He was appointed territorial governor in 1878 and by 1881 could not wait to leave since he found corruption, gangs, violence and daily battles. Governor Wallace cautioned, “All calculations based on our experiences elsewhere fail in New Mexico.” That’s the New Mexico that was then and appears to be now.

            One of the plans to make New Mexico better will do the opposite. We should already know it but it doesn’t seem that our representative understand. The plan is to take more money from the Permanent Funds to fund more stuff rather than cut back on government. They want to spend more money when our problem is not enough money.

            New Mexico has a spending problem. We have too much government and even this session some want to increase the size of government when we can’t pay for what we already have. That’s the problem with raiding the Permanent Funds.

            Know this: the reason for New Mexico having Permanent Funds is that extractive resources of New Mexico are finite. One day they will all be gone. The oil, gas, uranium, copper, potash, coal, lead, tin and other minerals will one day be gone.

            Smarter leaders than we have now set up the Permanent Funds to compensate for extractives being mined out. Those funds provide lots of money for New Mexico. Now some want to take even more of the funds which may ultimately deplete them.

            Other states have foolishly lost those kinds of resources. Let’s not do the same to New Mexico. They should remain a permeant resource.

Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: Do what works and stop doing what doesn't work

Swickard column: I pledge no more lying

© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” Abraham “Honest Abe” Lincoln

             I won’t lie to you, I do lie. Michael Swickard is a big fat liar. Well, I am big and no one calls me my nickname of “Slim” any longer without laughter.

            This year my resolution is that I am going to cut out lying. It is such a habit for me to lie. Sometimes it seems the only thing I can do. Often the people that I am dealing with know that I am lying and they prefer a lie.

            Example: I am at the hospital for a routine blood test. Every time I go I must start from scratch. I was born as a small child at Holloman Air Force Base August 24, 1950 at 11:35 a.m. in delivery room B. Yep, we get all the paperwork out there with my numbers and names which are always photocopied again. Then the lie.

            I am given my paperwork to read and either initial where indicated showing that I read that paragraph or at the bottom of some pages to sign and date to show I read it all. What a liar I am. I rapidly scribble my initials and sign the bottom of the many pages and hand the packet back.

            The counter person always sees I didn’t read anything but doesn’t rat me out for being the liar that I am.

            Same at Comcast and Verizon. I am handed a couple pounds of paperwork and told to read and sign it. I am done in less than a minute. The representative doesn’t blink that I read lightning fast and, get this, I understood what I had read before I initialed and signed the many sheets of paper.

            This is a quandary for me because I hate lying. As I grew up, lying was a real offense. Get caught lying and the day turned sour. While there were three of us kids, my mother seemed to know which one of us was not telling the truth.

            One time I told my rehearsed lie and my mother said, “Michael, that is a lie. I can see it on your forehead. The next time I told a lie, I held my hand over my forehead and she still saw through it though she turned to my father and said, “He gets that from your side of the family.”

            Incidentally, she could see through both hands and a cap. And there were severe consequences for not telling the truth. So, in my family we were plain-spoken and just said what the truth was without trying to hide it. The punishment for doing wrong was much better than the punishment for doing wrong and lying about it.

            This is why it pains me to tell such big lies about actually reading the paperwork that I was supposed to read. Therefore, this year I am turning over a new leaf and when I must initial and sign paperwork I swear I will read it. All of it. You have my word on this.

            I intend to pack a lunch and drink whenever I go to places that have those many pages of lawyer words that are supposed to be signed. You have seen the documents that read: … the party of the first part with the party of the second part and the party of the first part with the party of the second part with the party of the first part and second part blah blah blah.

            Perhaps I should take a pillow also since that puts me to sleep. I know if anyone really understands those words, some lawyer will get fired since they are not meant to be understood. And the terms on the paper are not negotiable even if you somehow understand them.

            Further, I promise to not repost hoax news. This will be a snap because I can look stuff up easily. You have my word on this to only post what I know is true. I will forego political sites since lying and politics are bedfellows.

            I’ll let you know how the counter workers handle me spending hours reading every last word.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard column: I pledge no more lying

Swickard: For 2017 let us wag more and bark less

© 2009 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  The year 2016 will go down as being extra contentious. Every presidential election brings out the barbs by partisans but this one was worse. I hope 2017 features the mantra: wag more and bark less. I saw that on a bumper sticker and liked it.

            The problem is that many people continue spewing hate from the election which didn’t change things then nor now. There are many still trying to change the presidential election but that hay is in the barn. Others have gotten addicted to the ways of spewing poison and do so whenever possible.

            This is very apparent on our roadways where nice driving is an exception rather than the rule. The other day I was behind a woman who was waiting for someone to finish their turn. Neither the woman nor I could proceed but the person behind me was losing his mind. Yes, it was a young man. He was honking and waving at me but I couldn’t move.

            We were making this young man be several seconds late. Oh, my. He finally came by me waving and cursing and swerving at me and the lady in front. Oh, my. It appeared he intended to pull in front of me and come back and punch me which would not have ended well since I was armed.

            Instead he screeched off and ran a red light. Oh, my. In a matter of seconds his road rage almost caused several accidents. Why did this person feel entitled to act like an idiot? Perhaps it is because he does so online continually and his troll behavior has gone to his driving.

            There is an epidemic of rage driving and dare I say new rules might be needed. I’m not one to want more legislation since we have a million rules for every person. Still, this might need something like if you are caught driving aggressively the first time, you lose your driver’s license for five years. That will make you older and you will be so glad to get your license back.

            * Note, I have been told that if you take the driver’s license away they will just drive and threaten people anyway. I believe we can incarcerate them until they are too old to drive if they want to be mule-headed.

            Wait. I was wanting to talk about wagging more and barking less. Shuckins, it is so easy to bark. And there are things that should be barked at but I want this next year to be one of more wagging and less barking. So first, we must heal the partisan wounds and become one nation rather than two fighting camps.

            Again, that won’t be easy since many of Americans have gotten such a thrill out of being a jackass to the other people in our country. Mostly, this is online and in the media. When I lived in a small New Mexico town for many years this was rarely done.

            The reason was simple: if you said something rude about one of the people you would see that person at coffee break and at lunch and at the town meeting. That person would play pitty-pat with your head for being such a wise guy. So, we were a bit more genteel because any slight was dealt with right away.

            To their credit there are some media editors that attempt to take the slights out of discussion but it is like trying to wipe the stripes off a tiger. We Americans are getting wrapped around the political axle about Russia or China or countries in the Middle East.

            The truth is contained in a statement made in 1848 by Henry John Temple Palmerston, “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”

            The same is true for both of our political parties where it doesn’t matter which party, it matters which interest. My interest is that Americans get along better and not be so belligerent to those around them. For the year 2017 and beyond let us Americans wag more and bark less. A very Happy New Year my friends.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard: For 2017 let us wag more and bark less

Swickard: Christmas Holiday Constitutional Amendment needed

© 2009 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  In 1870 our country had thirty-seven states. By then thirty-three of these states already had done something that the United States Federal Government finally did that year. It was name Christmas an official holiday. Alabama was the first state to name Christmas as an official holiday, doing so in 1836.

            On June 28, 1870 President Ulysses Grant signed the legislation to make the federal holiday of Christmas. There wasn’t opposition because most politicians didn’t want to be known as opposing Christmas.

            I have written about this previously but it still seems we Americans are conflicted. People seem glad to have the day off but the core issue involves the question: is Christmas a religious holiday?

            Of course, since it celebrates the birth of Jesus. Can this religious federal holiday be allowed by the United States Constitution? We have done it for a very long time and we are doing it this year for certain.

            The Supreme Court did not stop Nativity Scenes in 1984 but the high court has not ruled directly on the constitutional issue of the Federal Holiday of Christmas. I do not want the Supreme Court deciding if Christmas should be a federal holiday. Rather, this should be decided in the legislative process.

            The only way to insure Christmas remains a federal holiday is to pass a Constitutional Amendment naming December 25th as the Christmas Federal Holiday. When passed by Congress then the constitutional amendment must be passed by thirty-eight states to become a part of the United States Constitution.

            To take the other side, if enough federal or state legislators vote against the constitutional amendment then that’s the answer as to if our nation should have a Federal Christmas Holiday. But an overwhelming group of federal and state legislators would rather set their hair on fire than be known to have voted against Christmas.

            I am willing to see the federal holiday of Christmas be retired if enough members of Congress and members of state legislatures put their name on a vote against the Christmas amendment. This would settle the issue on constitutional grounds.

            We must do so because the “Politically Correct” crowd has threatened lawsuits on many government entities including public education. In most public schools, Christmas became Winter Holiday without a vote in Congress.

            This spilled over into the business community. Citizens quelled it when they announced no Christmas greetings, no shopping from us. The stores caught on. They can also say Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah or anything else but they cannot omit Christmas greetings and still get our business.

            When some of our laws are in effect repealed by special interest groups without elected representatives voting, our representative form of government ends. The only way to proceed is a up or down vote on Christmas in our country. Our representatives must be put on the spot to vote up or down.

            I do not blame public schools for casting off Christmas songs, plays and pageants when our Representatives and Senators do not stand up for Christmas. They have let unelected people force the issue.

            Now I do not have any trouble with the separation of the biblical story of the Baby Jesus in the public schools. Leave that to the parents and Churches. However, in the effort to not say Christmas, traditional songs cannot be sung.

            Also, Santa Claus is politically incorrect so students are not permitted a classroom “naughty or nice” song. Teachers are instructed in many schools to have nothing to do with Christmas.

            For me it will always be the Christmas Holidays. Some of my most treasured memories are of Christmas with my family. Friends have come and gone, loved ones are around me while others have passed. They still figure brightly in my memory.

            I agree with Erma Bombeck, “There is nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.” Or to be able to celebrate Christmas with a child.

            There is a need for a Constitutional Amendment on Christmas so some Federal Judge does not take it away from our country or even the Supreme Court. Merry Christmas to you if you celebrate Christmas. Happy Holidays to you if you do not. 

Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel,   Hideaway Hills, is availableat Amazon.com

Swickard: Christmas Holiday Constitutional Amendment needed

Trying to measure the immeasurable in education

© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” Albert Einstein

             Sorry Albert, the first death in a heavily administered public school education system is student curiosity. Most students initially come to school curious about everything but if their curiosity is not nurtured it dies as does their desire to learn.

            To really learn using literacy and numeracy the student must perceive an internal need for those abilities. This is where higher order thinking skills develop. But these activities are on the decline because of testing-fixated administrators.

            America has gone on a journey to measure education which is immeasurable for administrators fixated on accountability. The core of education: curiosity, is being ignored so that the administrative testing mission can be achieved.

            Example: lately there is a push to constrain teacher absences even when teachers are sick. New Mexico reportedly saved three million dollars last year by strong-arming teachers to come to school even when sick and therefore not use substitute teachers. How does having a teacher with active pneumonia in school help anything?

            An army of armchair accountants in the public schools are counting things to be able to say which schools are good or not. They count teacher absences and what parents answer on surveys and how the bulletin boards look and which bubbles children mark on tests.

            It’s a scam and most people in education realize that public school education has been hijacked by administrators intent only upon gaining power and money. They are enabled by politicians only intent on gaining power and money. If America had enemies, what would they do different in our public schools? Nothing! They are being destroyed as if an enemy were intent on their destruction.

            When I judge public schools, I look for active curiosity in that school’s students. If they sit in mind-numbing silence preparing for an endless supply of mind-numbing tests, they are intellectually dead. Mostly, the testing-fixated administrators cause the intellectual deaths of the school’s students.

            Very active student led classrooms are run by teachers who give lots of items of curiosity to the class and direct gently the students to uses of literacy and numeracy. These isn’t one model of a curiosity based classroom, it depends on the students that year in that classroom not the curriculum directors.

            Teachers must be agile to find what each year’s students find interesting and tie it back to the need for literacy and numeracy. It can be done but not in schools dominated by top-down testing fixated administrators.

            Those administrators who live by the constant use of tests are trying to measure the immeasurable when it comes to education. They focus on tests to induce teachers to juke the system by having students study for the accountability tests rather than spending their time on learning activities.

            One of the most stressful jobs is being a bus driver since there is a time schedule but the driver cannot control the traffic. Likewise, teachers are put in a system where curiosity, the core of learning is removed yet their job evaluation is put on testing to which the students have no interest. Very stressful.

            I would like to see schools return to a curiosity based curriculum where there are many activities designed to stimulate student curiosity. Return Art and Music to prominence along with having an active garden in each school tended by students. They will plan and direct the growth then harvest and use the products.

            Also, I think that elementary school in the fourth grade should start teaching students to fly using flight simulators. It stimulates geometry and percentages and the language of flight. I also think a virtual zoo should be at every school so that teachers can see which animals capture the attention of their students.

            We must do away with the notion that if students are happy, they are somehow not getting a good education. Nothing could be further from the truth.

            Walt Disney wrote, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” If this current generation of administrators kill the curiosity in our young people, what will be our nation’s future? Very bleak.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is availableat Amazon.com

Trying to measure the immeasurable in education

Swickard: Good presidents and bad

© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” Plato

             The first President in my memory was Dwight Eisenhower. I was born when Truman served but don’t remember him. My father was a career military man. He happily had a badge, “I like Ike.”

            As someone who studies Presidents, it seems that in a hundred years people may consider Eisenhower the best president of the Twentieth Century. What he did with power was good and he didn’t tell the press.

            What makes me think of this is social media proclaiming the best and the worst Presidents without research. We must agree on how to judge a President. Many Presidents were very popular during their lives and subsequently dropped as details of their presidency came out. Warren G. Harding was one.

            Here are my five worst presidents: absolute worst was Teddy Roosevelt. Next was James Polk. Then Andrew Johnson. Next was Lyndon Johnson and fifth worst was Herbert Hoover. I can write a thousand words about their actions that landed them on my bad list. Maybe later.

            My pick for best presidents involves them doing things that others of their generation would not have done. Washington set the bar high. After him I admire Abraham Lincoln who no one expected to be nominated. He was awful his first year as he tried to grow into the job. Then providence smiled upon him for the ages.

            Lincoln almost single-handedly ended slavery in our country. He didn’t run to do it but came to understand how he needed to use his presidential powers. Likewise, Thomas Jefferson was bright but there were a dozen bright politicians when he decided to run for President.

            Once in office Jefferson allowed his curiosity of plants and animals to evolve into sending the Corps of Discovery under the command of Lewis and Clark across North America. In a three-year period, what was known about the North American West was increased way beyond anyone’s expectations.

            Speaking of a good president: Calvin Coolidge agreed to be Vice-President but did not have greater expectations. He was a quiet effective person who when thrust into the presidency took us out of a bad economic time and give us the “Roaring Twenties.” He like Eisenhower did not toot his horn so many people do not realize how good both were at being president.

            Ronald Reagan likewise took our nation out of a bad economic time and gave us nearly two decades of prosperity. He almost single-handedly took the Soviet Union down when no one thought it could be done. And he inspired many Americans with his presidency.

            Which brings us to Donald Trump. No one can tell how he will be viewed in a hundred years and as the saying goes, “A hundred years from now it is all new people.” But there are things we can see both good and bad that give us a framework to watch him as he conducts his four years of being president.

            Trump already is someone that does not do like the swarms of politicians do in our nation’s capital. That may be both good and bad. Not many thought he had a chance to win but he did. In that he is like Lincoln who ended up with the nomination while the political leaders scratched their heads and wondered how he did it.

            Lincoln also was a polarizing figure where he was loved or hated. In fact, nine states seceded from the Union before he was inaugurated based on their hatred of him. Trump is also like Jefferson in that he is interested in lots of stuff, but not politics.

            We can see that Donald Trump is his own man and no one waving money will get his attention. Like Lincoln newly elected Donald Trump is hated by the press.

            He can grow into the job of the presidency or not. Only time will tell. He may join the others on my list as a great president but he must do things, not just talk. We have had enough talk, it is time for action to get our people back to work and the economy going. Let’s see how he uses his power.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is availableat Amazon.com

Swickard: Good presidents and bad

Swickard: When budget cutting must be done

© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  There is a huge push in our country to talk about the office of the United State President without any data. Example: there is a notion that the protests about the election of Donald Trump are unprecedented. When Lincoln was declared the winner in 1860, nine states seceded from the Union. Our nation fought the Civil War.

            So far, our nation has not had any states quit but there is still time before Trump takes office. California is one state with citizens wanting to secede. They can’t because they have spent themselves into the poor house and only federal money can keep them going.

            California has overspent its budget 127 billion dollars. In round numbers that’s $3,500 per every person, dog, cat and hamster in the state. So, California is not going anywhere other than the poor house.

            New Mexico is over spending this year’s budget by about 500 million dollars. That’s about $250 for every person, dog, cat and coyote. Our representatives in Santa Fe need to stop spending everything in the coffers they can find and a little more each year. Restraint is needed.

            There is good news (hooray) and bad news (shuckins) as to the New Mexico budget. First the good news. It isn’t hopeless like what is happening in California. It can be fixed and New Mexico can live within its means with effective management from the representatives in Santa Fe.

            The bad news is that the solution will hurt. Some people will lose their jobs through no fault of their own. This cannot be helped. What has put New Mexico in dire straits (not the band) was the election of Bill Richardson in 2002. Previously Governor Gary Johnson had New Mexico as one of only five states with a rosy financial picture.

            But Bill Richardson came to New Mexico and the governorship with only one goal: to become the President of the United States. Every moment, action and tax dollar available was used to get Bill Richardson on the world’s stage as a top-tier presidential contender. This push to get Richardson the presidential nomination didn’t come cheap.

            Richardson worked to be declared the “Education Governor” of the United States. He won that moniker which came with a propensity to hire lots of people into the Public Schools. This was supposed to make New Mexico number one in education nationally. Sadly, spending lots of New Mexico tax dollars didn’t make Richardson president nor did it lift New Mexico education.

            Worse, once people are hired they expect to keep their jobs. With the downturn of oil and gas revenue the state of New Mexico has less money available and must do something. Most of the quick cures have already been done so this time it must be drastic. There are only two places to get this money.

            The first is to raise the gross receipts taxes substantially. In many places the gross receipts tax is above seven percent. Taking it to ten percent or more would cripple the economy. Don’t look to Corporate Taxes since they are only about ninety million dollars a year.

            The only place left to really make a cut is education. To balance the budget New Mexico needs to cut about ten percent from education. This is despite the education mantra that it doesn’t have enough money even now and need lots and lots more money.

            Most of the education budget is spent on people. That is why what must be cut are some of those people who were hired during the Richardson orgy of spending. There is one rule. NEVER fire or change the pay for teachers. The cuts must be with administration and everything else such as the legions of consultants in schools.

            Shrink the administrative overhead to balance the budget. It can be done without harm to the students. The representatives will need to cut other things but the main thing is to cut education. Politically that is almost impossible but the next election is as far away as possible so maybe it can be done.

            Finally, quit spending everything the state has and a little more than the state has each year. Don’t turn our state into a California.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com

Swickard: When budget cutting must be done

Swickard Column: Thankful for Thanksgiving

© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  A caller to my radio talk show a few years ago said, “If you had not come to North America, the Native Americans would still be living free in a glorious land all by themselves. Shame on you for ruining it for them.”

            My first thought was: I’m old, but I am not that old. I replied, “If Europeans had not come, Russia or another organized culture would have conquered these tribes.”

            Those North America populations lacked a cohesive organization. Any time within a couple decades of Europeans landing the native populations could have suddenly and thoroughly wiped out all Europeans if they coordinated their efforts.

            That way of life was doomed by the tribes not being organized. But what was done is done. All we today can do four hundred years later is treat those indigenous descendants fairly and with cultural sensitivity.

            Our country has been uniformly unreliable in dealing with the indigenous populations. Most 19th Century agreements were broken. Americans did not care. However, many of us do care now but it is impossible to right those wrongs. I think of this each year especially on Thanksgiving.

            One thing totally American is the Thanksgiving holiday which developed long after the Pilgrims. Most of the heavy lifting to make this the holiday that it is goes to Abraham Lincoln. The final placement was tied to Franklin Roosevelt in World War Two.

            It’s a holiday I’ve celebrated all my life. I am thankful that my ancestors did come to these lands. Two branches of my family came about the same time and were in the Revolutionary War. They were on opposite sides. But during my lifetime the two branches enjoyed Thanksgiving… my mother and father.

            Our simplistic discussion of the “First Thanksgiving” has some aspects of truth but not a general truth. Regardless, that was then and this is now. Many of us, myself especially, have so much to be thankful for that a holiday focused on being thankful is perfect.

            We in the 21st Century are not the people of the past. In the last two hundred years, this nation has dealt with most of the human rights issues that were a blight upon our nation. As such we have a president with an African heritage and we almost elected a woman president. We are a nation trying to be a better people.

            We have stumbled a bit with the election since it seems to have brought out the worst in some people on both sides. I for one am very happy that it is over. Hopefully we can do some work before we must stop and have another election.

            This is the American way. In my life thankfulness is a way of life. Much of what we have with prosperity and freedom was paid for by other Americans. Often we never know their names but we see the effect of them in our better lives.

            One major task remains. In the coming years, we must heal the final American wound, that of the indigenous people. While none of those people treated so badly are still alive, the Native Americans, as a whole, continue to not enjoy a prosperity equal to other minorities in our nation.

            How to do so is something that I do not know. There is a need to have justice with the Native Americans in our country. We are troubled by the word sovereignty. Are they or not? I don’t know. We are wrong to think they should be thankful that our ancestors came and conquered their ancestors.

            But should Native Americans celebrate thankfulness at this holiday named Thanksgiving. Absolutely, if they so desire to focus on the individual act of thankfulness. They can ignore the “First Thanksgiving” that is mostly made up. And those moments that destroyed their ancestor’s world. But we are alive now.

            We all should celebrate thankfulness, not for history or politics but for the human emotion of hope and individual thankfulness.

            I’m personally thankful for my loving family and friends. Also for the many years I have been allowed to write a weekly newspaper column. To all of you reading this I am grateful and wish you peace and happiness.

 Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is available at Amazon.com 

Swickard Column: Thankful for Thanksgiving

Swickard: New Mexico can’t afford politician promises

© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “The politicians say ‘we’ can’t afford a tax cut. Maybe we can’t afford the politicians.” Steve Forbes

             The election is over so we must stop talking election politics and have these who were elected start making the tough decisions. I don’t care who is running in 2018 or 2020, we must fix serious problems now.

            Running for office has little to do with fixing New Mexico’s financial problems. In fact, it may make our problems worse since running for office often entails making elaborate promises to spend more money. We don’t have more money, we have less. The problem is two-fold.

            First, in the last New Mexico Legislative session in January New Mexico legislators put in the budget a far rosier revenue projection than what has actually been collected this year. No amount of posturing by politicians can change this shortfall. Hard choices must be made since New Mexico is spending more money than available.

            New Mexico’s budget is unlike the federal government since New Mexico cannot spend more money than it has. The New Mexico Constitution is clear that New Mexico cannot deficit spend.

            The New Mexico 2016 budget is running in the red and it is likely the same problem will be for the 2017 budget when the Legislature meets next January. Some people running for office have not worried about this problem since they put their entire attention on winning their election. Now the price for victory will be paid.

            One of two things must be done. New Mexico must spend less or collect more. Perhaps they could do both. Raising taxes is problematic since it is dynamic. The higher the tax rate goes up, more New Mexicans will take legal actions to avoid those taxes. I didn’t say evade which is illegal, rather, they will avoid them.

            One dramatic way is to move to a state with no state income tax such as Texas. While a pain in the keister to move, it does happen and the New Mexico budget suffers. The legislators could retroactively tax which would make it hard to avoid paying the tax but that would also drive taxpayers out of the state.

            New Mexico has a great climate and yummy green chile but there are states near that have good climates and no state income tax. Yes, you would have to change the spelling to chili which doesn’t impress me. The state could tax businesses more but again it causes some businesses to leave and therefore less rather than more money to be collected.

            The sensible thing would be to cut the budget down significantly but the big spending party ran the political table in much of the recent election so I do not expect this to happen. Promises of more money for many things were made and were rewarded with election victories.

            What I am hearing is that these are extraordinary times so extraordinary actions are needed. New Mexico has lots and lots of money in Permanent Funds which are not supposed to be touched. But this is extraordinary.

            Some people wish to spend money from NM’s Permanent Funds. It won’t be easy but it can be done. Should it be done is a better question. In a word: no. Alaska is in a big political whirl because the residents are used to getting lots of money for being a resident and the decline of oil revenue is making this impossible.

            New Mexico’s troubles likewise go to oil and gas revenue which is not providing as much support as the legislators want to spend. The budget over just a few years has gone up fifty percent but going down ten percent for some legislators is out of the question.

            This January New Mexico has the best chance to solve their financial woes without an election immediately on the horizon. Regardless, some wish to confiscate NM’s Permeant Funds and go on a spree of spending the likes of which this state has never seen.

            One day the Permanent Funds will be gone. These politicians will sneak out of public service with their retirement. It will be our children’s problem. I refuse to betray them this way. I hope you will refuse also.

Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is availableat Amazon.com

Swickard: New Mexico can’t afford politician promises

Swickard column: The always watching society

© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.  “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” Thomas Jefferson

            Thomas Jefferson was more right today in his quote from two hundred years ago than when he was alive. Back then only if people were watching could they see what happened. Yes, someone could tell them what happened but to see it for themselves they had to be there when it happened.

            With amazing changes in our technology, we are now a society that is always watching and recording whatever happens anywhere. When anything happens, out comes the cellphones and the product goes on the Internet almost instantly so that lots of people know within moments.

            When I was younger and would come upon a traffic accident people would pile out of their cars to see if they could help those involved. Today people pile out of their cars and most jerk out their cellphones to record and instantly post what is happening rather than provide any help either for those injured or to direct traffic so no one else gets hurt. They just stand being of no use in a crisis.

            This would predict a respectful and lawful society since whatever you do will probably be recorded in security tapes, personal cellphones or other recording devices. But it seems we have a society that knows it is being recorded and acts badly despite the fact there always is a record of their actions.

            Often when confronted with the evidence they have done something wrong their response is: are you going to believe me or believe your own eyes? And we seem to believe the liars because we have a need for what they are lying about and so will be hopeful rather than truthful.

            With an always watching and recording society it is prudent to assume anything you do outside of your own home is being recorded. Not necessarily watched every moment, there are not enough people on our planet to watch everything as it is being recorded. But anything you do can be seen if there is a reason to look.

            I am so surprised when I see people doing things in stores which uniformly have security cameras. There is little chance that someone can do something without it being available for people to see and judge. This is especially so at athletic events, even local sports events.

            Example: recently it appears to me that at a New Mexico high school football game the referees cheated one New Mexico high school out of a victory in the last minute of the game. Frankly, this has happened before but what is different is that the theft is being watched by thousands of people on the Internet.

            The people who were broadcasting the game selected the last minute of the game where the game officials cheated and posted it on the Internet which is where I saw it. To those interested, it was a New Mexico high school football game between Artesia and Goddard high schools.

            Artesia won the game several times but the referees cheated which is shown on the recording. Least you think I am an Artesia supporter, no, I went to Goddard High School in the Fall of 1966. I have no dog in this controversy other than it is obviously a theft that was recorded.

            If you want to see this use the search term, “The final 37 seconds of this high school football game took asurreal 17 minutes.” I have watched it a couple times and those seventeen minutes are beyond belief. Each time I watch this I cannot believe that there was no action taken by the controlling authorities.

            Previously when these kinds of things happen you had to be at the game to see it or perhaps you could get a look at what each school had recorded. And even with the evidence so easily seen, the authorities are ignoring the theft and the given game stands. Sad.

            What has left the always watching society is truth. We cannot get the truth back into our society because so much of our always watching society loves to cheat and lie. I’m so very sad and that’s the truth.

Email: drswickard@comcast.net - Swickard’s new novel, Hideaway Hills, is availableat Amazon.com

Swickard column: The always watching society