{"id":4608,"date":"2009-05-29T00:06:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-29T06:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/looking-through-the-fog-zanetti-wants-to-change-nm\/"},"modified":"2009-05-29T00:06:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-29T06:06:00","slug":"looking-through-the-fog-zanetti-wants-to-change-nm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/looking-through-the-fog-zanetti-wants-to-change-nm\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking ‘through the fog,’ Zanetti wants to change NM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The only declared 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate stakes his hopes on his ideas to change the state\u2019s economy by ending pay to play and shrinking government, taxes and some regulation<\/span><\/p>\n

As he looks \u201cthrough the fog\u201d of the economic downturn and scandals plaguing state government, Greg Zanetti<\/a> envisions a New Mexico in which the Rio Grande Valley\u2019s high-tech corridor and the <\/span>state\u2019s rural industries are empowered to work together to make the Land of Enchantment the leader in energy and other issues.<\/p>\n

Zanetti, the only declared 2010 Republican candidate for governor, wants to do that through shrinking government, lowering taxes and decreasing the regulation of those more tangible industries in the rural areas, such as oil, gas, dairy and copper. But that doesn\u2019t mean he favors blanket deregulation.<\/p>\n

The Albuquerque financial adviser has been warning for years as a local radio and television commentator about the problems with investment trends. He said the state has been morphing into \u201ca giant casino\u201d with its move into riskier and less tangible investments, and he favors more regulation of the financial industry.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s investment practices have been mired in a pay-to-play scandal in recent months that began in New York and has spread across the nation. Meanwhile, while investment marketers — some with political connections — made millions off of complex investment deals <\/span>that state officials agreed to without fully understanding, the state\u2019s rural industries have been treated as \u201cadversaries\u201d and \u201cpunished\u201d with too much taxation and regulation, Zanetti said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re rewarding based on money, family ties,\u201d Zanetti said Wednesday during an interview in Las Cruces. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019m talking about structural change to the state. I\u2019m tired of being 50th.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I understand money\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Zanetti\u2019s visit to Las Cruces earlier this week was his fourth as a gubernatorial candidate. He was in town to meet with GOP activists and members of the business community.<\/p>\n

The primary is more than a year away, and Zanetti is in the race so early because he knows what it will take for a less-known candidate to win. Though Zanetti has been active — in addition to his TV and radio interviews, he\u2019s twice chaired the Bernalillo County GOP and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor 15 years ago — he said his name recognition isn\u2019t nearly high enough.<\/p>\n

So he\u2019s traveling the state to build connections and become better known.<\/p>\n

Zanetti, who is also an Army National Guard brigadier general, faces potential primary opposition next year from a number of high-profile Republicans. Former state GOP chairman Allen Weh<\/a> has formed an exploratory committee. Former U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce<\/a> and Heather Wilson<\/a> are among the Republicans actively considering the race, as is state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Zanetti said all have their strengths, he has all of those potential candidates beaten on the critical issue for the state during the current economic downturn and financial scandals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs smart as they are — and they are — I understand money better than all of them,\u201d Zanetti said.<\/p>\n

Zanetti is no fan of the path the nation is taking to try to climb out of recession, saying, \u201cYou don\u2019t solve a spending problem with more spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he thinks voters recognize that and are ready for something different. However, asked if he believes 2010 will be a good year for the GOP, Zanetti said he isn\u2019t sure. If the scandals plaguing Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> administration fade away and the economy improves, Zanetti said people might not be as willing to vote for the change he\u2019s pushing.<\/p>\n

But if the scandals grow worse and the economy doesn\u2019t improve, the situation will be entirely different next year. While Zanetti isn\u2019t optimistic that the current economic policies will pull the nation out of recession, he said it\u2019s too early to know what the political climate will be next November.<\/p>\n

The only declared Democratic candidate for governor is Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d rather reward hard work\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Zanetti\u2019s military background means he also understands law enforcement and the importance of securing the border, he said. Among the experiences he cited were being stationed along the Czech\/German border during the Cold War, and one of his battalions being stationed on the New Mexico\/Mexico border in 2006. He also recently completed a year as deputy commander at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.<\/p>\n

In an article<\/a> put out by the joint task force at Guantanamo Bay in January, when Zanetti was wrapping up his time there, Zanetti was quoted as saying he expected \u201cthat bad things were happening here\u201d because of media coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll that turned out to be false,\u201d Zanetti was quoted as saying. \u201cI realized this is the most American place on the planet. It\u2019s where Americans are performing their best. Every expectation I had was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Zanetti\u2019s campaign hinges primarily on his financial knowledge and vision for the state\u2019s future. He said all economic revolutions in history came from the marriage of emerging, high-tech industries with existing industries like those in the state\u2019s rural areas, and he\u2019s ready to help bring about such a revolution as New Mexico leads the way in areas including alternative energy and nanotechnology.<\/p>\n

That starts with leveling the playing field between various industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can give a tax exemption to the film industry, why don\u2019t you just clear the deck\u2026 give it to them all?\u201d Zanetti asked.<\/p>\n

He said his belief in decreasing taxes and regulations for many industries doesn\u2019t contradict with his view that the financial industry needs more regulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather reward people who are producing than people who are consuming,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019d rather reward hard work than entitlement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The only declared 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate stakes his hopes on his ideas to change the state\u2019s economy by ending pay to play and shrinking government, taxes and some regulation As he looks \u201cthrough the fog\u201d of the economic downturn and scandals plaguing state government, Greg Zanetti envisions a New Mexico in which the Rio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}