Editor:
The recent letter to the editor from Charles Sullivan of Albuquerque is typical of the one-sided view of politics currently espoused in our state and country.
He seems to assume that anything Democrats do is bad and anything Republicans do is good. History tells us that there must be compromise between the two parties to get anything done.
Given Sullivan’s letter, it is only fair to outline a few of the accomplishments of Democrats over the years. Among many others, Democratic administrations gave us women’s right to vote, Social Security, the Civil Rights Act and disability rights.
In recent years, New Mexico provided the most funding to child care of any other state, and we are leading the country in access to free higher education, which has helped more than 60,000 students in the last three years. New Mexico has passed stringent environmental reforms.
We have the most controlled greenhouse-gas and methane requirements in the country. The state created 15,000 new private-sector jobs in 2019, and New Mexico is now ranked in the top 10 states in the country for job growth.
In many ways, the most important achievement of our Democratic administration is legislation putting us on the path to increased funding for early childhood education.
This legislation places a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November 2022 that would allot an additional 1.5 percent to education from the Permanent Fund. Research demonstrates that early childhood education is critical to the wellbeing of our children, especially those living in poverty.
While Mr. Sullivan may disagree with all the above Democratic achievements, they have benefited New Mexico in countless ways. Hopefully, there will come a time when we can move away from the current one-sided view of all politics.
No party has a monopoly on good ideas. Civil, factual debates between opponents is, in my opinion, the best way for our state to move forward.
Karen Schafer
Rio Rancho