Free Republic

It is a poor state that only supports itself with the O&G revenue plus income from the two national labs and three Air Force Bases. Other than Intel in Rio Rancho no big manufacturing plant is present. The state likes to brag about big tech coming but most, if it comes, are big green scams. Business taxes are high (gross receipt taxes on services).

The education system is governed by teacher’s unions so no support of private schools or vouchers; NM is #50 in education so families don’t come and kids leave for better opportunities. Recent SNAP figures have NM at 21.5% of the population on food stamps, higher even than any other state and including DC. Trial lawyers control the Democratic legislature and there is no cap on medical lawsuits so doctors leave because the cost of medical insurance is unaffordable. Rural health care is sparse and waits for a doctor, especially specialists, are months.

“Nuff said?”

Another good one:

Maxwell and Stansbury. Stansbury has a shady past, ...

I didn't know that, thanks for the link.

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The lengthy article is available for free at the link.

BTW, NM's three Dem US Reps voted last night to keep the government closed. To them it's more important to keep the party line than to support the state's needy residents.

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New Mexico production accounts for 17% of domestic production in the continental US. Lea county alone produces over a million barrels per day of crude.

Far left Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and her legislative cronies blame oil and gas operations as a cause of climate change and generally hate the industry. However, they just love the revenue it produces and last fiscal year had a budget surplus of several billion dollars. Instead of giving it back to the residents, they created more left-wing programs such as child care for all and increase in eligibility for SNAP payments. But no money for vouchers for school children - just more money for unionized teachers who don't teach basics.

If the water is tied up in land-based ice, wouldn’t that lower the oceans? (Not tongue in cheek)

It would, but the first sentence in the article said it would cause rising sea levels.

An ice age would mean lower sea levels

I caught that article misstatement too.

Burn scars from overgrown forests prohibited from selective harvesting of wood or forests denuded from wood cutting suffer the same effect - flooding and landslides from lack of vegetation on hillsides. It’s not the change in weather causing the problems (severe storms have always existed), but man’s stupidity in treating the land either as to be completely protected, or to be used to the point of destruction.

Not funny. They did have; either went to Syria or buried in the desert sands. As to amount, strength or viability, who knows.

The headline and first two paragraphs appear as if the story was from the Bee. Reading the rest of the story makes it seem the demon Dems want to keep it up until next fall’s elections. Pubs need to jump on his comments and hard: Ads in print, TV and the Net. Make them appear as the “we don’t care” and evil party that they are.

I’ve noticed that everybody is labeled “mentally disabled” these days and eligible for these benefits. If you look at Mrs. Aragon’s social media it appears she goes on vacations with her husband and that she has never been employed. There are several photos of the couple all dressed up in cowboy/western gear (not inexpensive.

And labeling all that receive SNAP benefits as disabled in some form or another is the intention of the left wing media these days, isn’t it? They say government must provide for all that put forth an excuse for not working whether the claim is real or not. And, yes, it is very difficult if not impossible to investigate each case and that makes it tempting for fraudsters. The end result is that it is easy to award benefits to those that might be too lazy to get off their butts and get a job that can provide both a comfortable food supply and pay for the fancy SUV and wide screen TV they desire.

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Remainder of state SNAP info can be found at the link below:
SNAP Reliance and Benefits by State – 2025 Study

Percent and number of population with SNAP, average monthly SNAP payment per person
1 New Mexico 21.49% 457,699 $176.51
2 Oregon 18.09% 772,893 $182.17
3 Louisiana 17.49% 803,988 $186.90
4 Oklahoma 16.91% 692,477 $186.85
5 West Virginia 15.46% 273,566 $167.74
6 Nevada 15.21% 496,848 $171.80
7 Massachusetts 15.08% 1,076,187 $215.64
8 Pennsylvania 14.97% 1,958,047 $181.70
9 New York 14.91% 2,962,913 $218.44
10 Illinois 14.79% 1,879,564 $195.94
11 Michigan 14.53% 1,473,832 $175.44
12 Alabama 14.27% 736,178 $193.08
13 California 13.93% 5,494,318 $190.25
14 Kentucky 12.97% 595,155 $178.94
15 Rhode Island 12.83% 142,726 $200.95
16 Florida 12.59% 2,943,012 $181.97
17 North Carolina 12.48% 1,378,291 $174.75
18 Ohio 12.21% 1,450,955 $186.03
19 Georgia 12.13% 1,356,493 $186.08
20 Mississippi 12.13% 357,042 $180.46
Data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for May 2025. Population estimtaes come from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2024.
Source: SmartAsset 2025 StudyGet the dataEmbed

"From the article: The funding freeze has left 460,000 New Mexicans with empty accounts."
For reference, there are slightly over 2 million people living in NM.

You are correct. State percentages were scrolled on a news video shown on Fox this past weekend. New Mexico had the highest percentage at 21.5% of the population and beat out Washington DC with 20+%. IIRC, Utah was one of the lowest at just over 5%.

From the article: The funding freeze has left 460,000 New Mexicans with empty accounts.

New Mexico is one of the poorest states, right? It’s basically a couple of cities and one vast Indian reservation, plus a heck of a lot of federal land. It’s not a typical state and is unlikely to be the start of any nationwide trends.

I posted an article on this when it was announced two months ago (MLG plans to massively expand expensive socialist ‘free’ program (NM governor, child care for all)). Even some of the remaining sane Dimocrats objected to it:

But the plan comes with an enormous price tag. New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department already spends $463 million annually on subsidies. Expanding the program statewide will require at least another $120 million every year — pushing the total tab toward $600 million in recurring spending. The governor says she will ask lawmakers during the upcoming 30-day session to cover the shortfall.
Critics are warning of the consequences. Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, questioned how the governor expects to sustain such massive recurring costs. “I don’t know how they’re going to explain to people they don’t have the money to pay for everyone’s child care,” Muñoz said.

Right now the state is flush with billions of dollars in oil revenues (Number 2 producer in the nation behind Texas) so it can afford lots of things, but not the types that would help the population become more resilient and self-supporting. It's like giving an alcoholic freedom in a bar - they will drink like there is no tomorrow.

The radical environmentalist political management in Santa Fe, while loving the rainfall of cash, also positively hates the industry and the people who actually do the work (they cry that fossil fuels must be eliminated to prevent climate change). They spend money on giving these freebies while preventing the poor population from getting school vouchers for private schools so children can get a real education instead of the woke-DEI socialist crap they currently get in public schools. Statewide percentage scores for reading and science proficiency are in the 30's and for math in the 20's with only minor improvement since Covid.

The current state SNAP percentages show New Mexico having the highest at 21.5% of the population beating out even DC. On Sunday a local TV station had an interview with a woman who had been on SNAP/Foodstamps for three decades (KOAT 7 interview: Woman who has been on SNAP for three decades fumes):
“When I heard, ‘Zero dollars,’ my chest went into my throat,” Aragon told KOAT 7 News, describing the fear and panic that set in when she discovered her benefits had been cut off due to the ongoing Democrat-led government shutdown. “It’s detrimental to my life.”