Their view: State disproportionately impacted by federal cuts

Paul Gessing, president of New Mexico's Rio Grande Foundation, a research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico, writes about the perilous condition of the federal budget.

Generally, the Rio Grande Foundation focuses primarily on state and local policy issues. Nonetheless, given New Mexico's status as one of, if not the, most reliant states on federal spending within its borders, the perilous condition of the federal budget must be of concern to all New Mexicans.

Particularly in this political season, the tendency is for the media and politicians to ignore what then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, called, "The biggest threat we have to our national security is our debt." After all, no one running for office wants to be seen as taking government benefits away from people.

Tax rates can be raised and lowered, but they cannot solve the problem. For starters, if the federal government simply confiscated all of the wealth of anyone in the country who earns $250,000 or more annually, we'd have about enough to bridge the deficit for one year. But, taking that wealth is a one-time operation. What do you do beyond that?

The reality is that spending must be the focal point of any serious discussion about New Mexico's fiscal future. And, while eliminating or dramatically scaling back the Departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, Housing, and others is laudable, getting rid of them comes nowhere close to closing the gap between what the government takes in and what it spends on an annual basis.

If America is going to get back on track, we must go after the proverbial "big fish" in the federal budget: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the military.

The thing about New Mexico in this discussion is that it is in line to be disproportionately impacted. We have major federal installations under the Departments of Energy and Defense. We also have among the poorest populations in the nation which makes us heavily-reliant on Medicaid (New Mexico currently receives a 3-1 match from Washington for each dollar it spends on Medicaid).

Despite our reliance on the federal government, New Mexicans would be wise to accept an ounce of prevention now because the "cure" for fiscal incontinence will not be pretty.