One Thing Johnson Gets Right

[Chris]

[Peter1469]

The left can't get out of the way. The power of the central state is their focus.

[Mac-7]

New mexico is a beautiful state physically.

But it is overrun with illegal aliens from old mexico and very poor.

Its what all of America may look like in 50 years if idiots like johnson can keep the border wide open

[Truth Detector]

New Mexico is a Liberal Blue State....I wonder if Gary Johnson had any hand in that?

[Truth Detector]

Where I agree with Gary J.:

(1) Term limits
(2) Real reductions to bring spending in line with revenues, without tax increases.
(3) Education

Where I do not agree with him:
....everything else.

https://www.johnsonweld.com/issues

[Chris]

Highest job growth rate of any governors. Simply by leaving business alone.

"I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe,—“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient." --Henry David Thoreau


You all liberals--Democrats and Republicans alike--fail to see that but comment on irrelevancies.

[Mac-7]

Highest job growth rate of any governors. Simply by leaving business alone.

"I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe,—“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient." --Henry David Thoreau


You all liberals--Democrats and Republicans alike--fail to see that but comment on irrelevancies.

And yet anarchists who dont vote but merely stand around shouting "THE END IS NEAR!" are only 1% of the population.

[Chris]

And yet anarchists who dont vote but merely stand around shouting "THE END IS NEAR!" are only 1% of the population.

^^Deflects again from a topic he dislikes. Why? P.J. O'Rourke captured is well: "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."


The end is near? Never heard that.

[Truth Detector]

This is what his campaign web site claims on his record:
•Left office with New Mexico as one of the only four states in the country with a balanced budget
•Left New Mexico with a budget surplus
•Used Line Item Veto thousands of times to trim the budget
•Vetoed 750 bills during his time in office; more than all other governors combined
•Cut over 1,200 government jobs without firing anyone
•Created more than 20,000 new jobs
•First New Mexico Governor to challenge education status quo and propose statewide voucher program
•Restored State General Fund reserves to more than $222 million from a low of $28.1 million
•Limited annual state budget growth to 5.0% during eight years in office
•Cut taxes 14 times while never raising them—a first for New Mexico
•Vetoed 32% of the total number of bills submitted for his signature

This all sounds good, right?

Well, no. Yes, the budget rose 5% per year during his time in office. Unfortunately that's a roughly 50% increase in the size of the State Government during those eight years.

That might be ok if the rate of increase was less than the rate of inflation. So let's check the rate of inflation and see if Governor Johnson was telling the truth or if he's being less-than-honest with the public.

In 1995 the CPI index stood at 150.3. In 2003 when Johnson left office it stood at 181.7. That's a 20.9% increase over the same eight years.

In other words Gary Johnson increased spending in New Mexico at approximately 240% the rate of inflation -- or about double and a half as fast as prices rose.

Do you define that as "fiscally conservative" or "responsible"? I do not. Further, can you find any part of spending in this chart that he actually cut during his time in office or did every single one of these bars get bigger?

Then there's the claim of a "balanced budget". That's a nice claim. Unfortunately it was achieved by lying, just as it has been in the other states, because the amount of debt the State Government had outstanding nearly doubled during those very same years.

That's a gross $2.78 billion increase in debt during those years. The population of the state was (as of 2003) 1.87 million, so Governor Johnson added about $1,500 in debt to the financial responsibility of every man, woman and child in New Mexico during his administration and that's only for the state itself -- municipal governments added another billion, so the total was well over $2,000 per person.

Is that "fiscally conservative"?

Nobody should vote for this man believing he will cut their debt load or actually shrink one single line item in the Federal Budget, as his history shows that over eight years as Governor of a small state he saddled every single resident with more than $1,500 worth of additional debt, sanctioned municipal and local governments adding roughly $1,000 more, and in fact added to State Spending in all of the categories he claims he will "control" or "cut" including pensions, health care and education.

Not one of those areas was cut in size during his time in office.

And that, my friends, is a fact.
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=210816

[Truth Detector]

Highest job growth rate of any governors. Simply by leaving business alone.

I cannot find anything to support this claim; would you happen to have a link? I do know that he served during a massive growth phase in America until the 2000 recession kicked in.