RGF President Paul Gessing recently appeared on "In Focus" on KNME Channel 5. The discussion covered Afghanistan, the "Occupy" movement, San Juan County's junk ordinance, and several other timely issues. View the full show below:

Watch October 14, 2011 (s5e16) on PBS. See more from New Mexico In Focus.

(Albuquerque) Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing made the following statement relating to the organization’s 2011 “Tax Friendliness Report”:

“It has come to our attention that several factual errors were made in The Rio Grande Foundation’s recent report which purported to analyze and rank the relative ‘tax friendliness’ of New Mexico’s 10 largest cities based on property and gross receipts tax burdens. We apologize for these errors and have retracted the report in its entirety. The report is no longer on the organization’s website, www.riograndefoundation.org.

“Pending a full review of the report,” Gessing concluded, “we may re-edit and re-release the report at a later date.”     

I recently sat down with Jeremy Jojola, the investigative reporter at Channel 4, KOB, to discuss some expenditures made by state workers on out of state travel. While legal, the purchases certainly seemed unnecessary at times. Check out the full report here:

Without actually debating the issue head on, the concept of federalism is back as a central focus of American political debates. Federalism, at least as conceived by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, meant that the central government in Washington had a few, strictly-limited powers, but that an overwhelming majority of what was to be done was to be left to the states and people.

The belief that Washington’s powers were few and limited was so important to the Founders that two separate amendments essentially re-stated this. The 10^th amendment clarifies the issue, simply stating “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The Rio Grande Foundation, New Mexico's free market think tank, is pleased to alert New Mexico high school students to the following opportunity:

The Bill of Rights Institute is pleased to offer 1 FULL scholarships (a $3,000 value) for a New Mexico student to attend the Constitutional Academy this summer. This premier program for high school students to study the Constitution will be held in Washington, D.C. July 24-31.

The 6-week program, with 5 weeks of reading (Federalist papers, Founding documents) and online discussions and then 1 week in Washington, D.C. explores the Founding principles of limited government, freedom of religion, and economic liberty. While in D.C. students will explore the Capitol, Supreme Court, Mount Vernon, the Archives, and other sites while in D.C. and have reading discussions with college professors. For more information please visit their website or contact Laura Vlk at (703) 894-1776, ext. 31.

The Rio Grande Foundation is part of the State Policy Network, a 50 state network of free market policy think tanks. These organizations are providing the ideas that are fueling conservative majorities in the various states to reform education, tax, spending, and labor policies in a more market-based direction. Naturally, the left-wing finds our ideas threatening and -- at least when it comes to liberal talker Ed Schultz -- is almost hysterical. Check out the video here:Obviously, we disagree with the story in its view that our efforts are undermining the middle class. It is government policies that, more than anything, are preserving benefits for the elites and government workers while destroying our economy, but Schultz is right in touting our effectiveness. If you support our efforts to bring free markets to New Mexico, please donate here.

Those who follow this space are undoubtedly aware that Ayn Rand’s individualist anthem Atlas Shrugged has been made into a movie. It looks like the only theater in New Mexico that is planning to show it on opening night is the Century Rio 24 in Albuquerque.

Opening night is April 15 (appropriately enough), so get out and protest with your local tea party group and then enjoy an evening at the movies. More information on tickets and showtimes can be found here, but I will be attending the 7:45pm showing.

Thanks to all of you who “demanded” the movie. And, it is good to see that at least one theater has responded. The only way to make sure that Atlas Shrugged is shown widely around the nation and eventually the world is to get out there and see it. So, get your tickets and we’ll see you at the movies!

(Albuquerque) The Rio Grande Foundation is pleased to announce that it has hired former Santa Fe New Mexican report David Collins to head up its investigative projects at New Mexico Watchdog.

David Collins proved his mettle as a professional reporter covering civil unrest in Wisconsin in 1989. Since his first professional assignments as a talk-radio host and news producer at a rural, tribally owned radio station, he has reported for several print publications as both a freelancer and a staff writer. He has held positions as a cops-and-courts reporter, a business writer, an investigative journalist and a general-assignment news hound.