The Susana Martinez administration continues its state of nasty p.r. Case in point is the Taxation and Revenue spokesman, Ben Cloutier, who said in an official statement that a 'left wing blogger' had identified a taxpayer who is alleged by the State Auditor to have been given special treatment by the TRD Secretary Demisia Padilla. That taxpayer was a former client of Secretary Padilla's accounting firm. The so called blogger is a well respected news blog that digs deeper than the shallow minded news media in this state.
The fact that Cloutier is spewing such epithets from an official state government organization is evidence that all government decor has gone off the rails under this hateful administration. In my day as a flack for Governor King or Mayor Harry Kinney, such things were just not allowed. We might have said, "it is regrettable that this information was made known and we will make sure we tighten up our security so that taxpayer confidentiality is protected as the law envisions."
No where in here did Cloutier admit that the documents that were redacted with the taxpayer's name and business could be easily read with a simple program run by a third grader. But maybe Cloutier is only in the first grade, intellectually that is.
The fact that Cloutier is spewing such epithets from an official state government organization is evidence that all government decor has gone off the rails under this hateful administration. In my day as a flack for Governor King or Mayor Harry Kinney, such things were just not allowed. We might have said, "it is regrettable that this information was made known and we will make sure we tighten up our security so that taxpayer confidentiality is protected as the law envisions."
No where in here did Cloutier admit that the documents that were redacted with the taxpayer's name and business could be easily read with a simple program run by a third grader. But maybe Cloutier is only in the first grade, intellectually that is.
4 comments:
It was really heartening to see NM Political Report's reporting of that story. They did what other news outlets are supposed to do and often don't, including questioning Harold Dominguez, the alleged recipient of special tax treatment by the Susana Martinez Administration. The blogosphere might save us yet. I encourage people to support it.
Another thing, I never worked in a state where that kind of information wasn't routinely public record. I think New Mexico has too restrictive an open records act. The general rule of thumb with most public records laws is that if a government document is necessary to doing someone's job, it's an open record.
Remember, there's no need for any secrecy in government whatsoever. It's our government, our funds pay for it, we're responsible for making sure it operates in the exact way we intend it to operate. We pay those peoples' salaries. We levy the taxes, we set the tax rates. We need to know who pays what. We have to know everything that goes on in all government offices all the time, period.
Ditto to Bubba Muntzer's comments. A lot of people have stopped voting they are so disgusted with politics these days. Perhaps that is just what the Republicans want.
I also should have said that a case like this demonstrates exactly why such information should be public record. If we didn't have Tim Keller in the auditor's office and had another Martinez partisan this case would never have come to light. This kind of thing would become rife. Think huntin' trip to Louisiana in lieu of taxes.
Government is supposed to be transparent, but under the Republican regime, it isn't. A case in point is APD. They have been sued many times for not releasing information. And then, they surprisingly release things they shouldn't. It all depends on their agenda. A former employee who worked in the IPRA division says he was told to alter and destroy documents. I am sure this is happening in many branches of the government. The media has been bought and paid for. We all know the "Deputy Mayor", Kent Walz, provides cover to Berry. Channel 7 is connected with the Journal and Channel 4 has an agreement with the City not to come down hard on them if they can get their exclusives. Thank heavens for ABQ Free Press and the NM Political Report. I can't recall a time when things were so bad and dishonest. We better buckle up, because things aren't going to get better for a long time. Instead of voting the crooks out of office, the public is so turned off they simply don't show up at the polls. Maybe that is part of their plan.....
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