Richardson's budget ignores corruption and graft.

Governor Bill Richardson rolled out his talking points for
dealing with the budget deficit.

Nowhere in his proposal, can I find any mention of saving
money by ending corruption and incompetence in state
government.

State Auditor Hector Balderas has said that if his Office
were funded according to its needs, he could forensically audit
corruption and graft out of existence; conceivably saving
hundreds of millions of tax dollars.

So where, in an already strapped budget, could money be found
to fully fund the SAO and the AGO? In can be found in the reserve fund.

Richardson has proposed leaving the rainy day fund at 8%
of the annual budget; .08 X $6B = $480M. The reserve fund
has been as large as 10% and as little as 5%. (Monahan).

Clearly, one puts oneself at risk by lowering the amount of
money in the reserve fund. Perhaps the risk of lowering the
fund from 8% to 7% would be justified if the benefits were
great enough.

The benefits are a squeaky clean government where it is
impossibly difficult to hide public corruption and incompetence.

There would be huge savings, and a demonstrably more
efficient and effective government. The loan from the reserve
fund could be paid back with interest.

It seems like a risk worth taking.

So why is the prospect not even on the table? Why hasn't
Richardson brought it up? Why hasn't Lt Gov Denish?

Consider the recent scandal in the Jemez Mountain School District, it was reported to State Auditor Balderas that there was a likelihood of current embezzlement. By the time he finished his audit, he had uncovered embezzlement ten years past. The point is, once you start looking, there's no telling where it will stop.

This flies in the face of good ol' boy accountability which says, if don't get caught immediately, the corruption falls under "let's let bygones be bygones" theory of accountability, and is no longer subject to investigation or prosecution.

Once the Auditor's Office gets rolling, who knows what they will uncover.

Being a cynic, it is my belief that, that is the reason why none of the good ol' boys are talking about getting the Auditor's and Attorney General's Offices running at full steam is;

they don't want anybody poking their noses into their bygones.




photo Mark Bralley