GOP Supply-Side Policies Devastate Another State - New Mexico

We already know that GOP supply-side economic policies have decimated the state of Kansas and are currently having a detrimental effect in Wisconsin where Scott Walker is trying to get the state's taxpayers to potentially pay around $1 million per job for around 3,000 Foxconn jobs. We can also add New Mexico to the list of failing states that follow GOP economic policies.

Ever since the Republican Susan Martinez became governor and began implementing tax cuts and deregulation, the state has fallen farther and farther behind its competitive neighbors. Now the state is losing population at an extraordinary rate, an incredible feat for a Sunbelt state in an era where retiring baby boomers are flocking to the region.

In the prior six years, 53,000 more people actually left New Mexico than moved in and it was only new births that allowed the state's population to grown by just 1.1%. That compares to population growth anywhere of 4.6% and 10.8% for its three neighboring states, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona. In addition, the majority of the people leaving the state were working age adults between the ages of 30 and 60.

Part of this exodus is due to the fact that the state is more reliant than most on government funding for its major employers such as hospitals, universities, and research laboratories. Martinez's commitment to balanced budgets, deregulation, and tax cuts have unsurprisingly put those employers under pressure and led to reduced funding for basic services such as health care and education, making the state a less attractive place to live. In addition, again unsurprisingly, the tax cuts have not generated the jobs that Martinez promised.

According to various surveys, New Mexico was rated the worst state to live in and ranked in the bottom five in terms of opportunity and education. With a declining labor force participation rate, anemic population growth, and Martinez's supply-side policies, those ratings are unlikely to get much better any time soon. That is truly hard to believe for a beautiful state in the Sunbelt and once again shows the failure of GOP economic policies.