NM GOP Chairman Pearce to MLG: ‘You’re driving a stake into the heart’ of our state
On Wednesday morning, Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman and former Congressman Steve Pearce joined Steve Ducey on Fox News to speak about Democrat New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s response to the coronavirus, which is hitting small business owners and working families hard.
During the interview, Ducey asked Pearce to explain Lujan Grisham’s logic behind the closure of small mom and pop businesses while corporate big box stores such as Walmart are allowed to stay open. Pearce responded, “I can’t explain her logic. It’s totally unfair, it’s discriminatory.”
Pearce then laid out the situation in the state, saying, “New Mexico is big and rural. We have a couple of population centers, but everything else is sparsely populated. Mom and pops drive the state, and so the initial order weeks ago, the Governor said the big box stores can open, no restrictions on them. The small mom and pops had to shut down. Many of them are just going to be forced into bankruptcy and will not be open.”
“In the meantime, counties [that] do not even have one case — the residents of those places — no big box stores are there. They’re having to drive into Albuquerque or Santa Fe or Las Cruces in order to hit a big box store. That puts them closer to people who might have the virus, and it just has never made any sense. But mostly it’s just the patented unfairness that drives our money into the big box stores. They ship it out of New Mexico at the close of the business day. They don’t use local banks, so we’re robbing the state for capital into the future.”
“We’ve been saying, ‘wait, it’s got to be an even playing field. There has to be competition from both sides. There have to be choices. Local businesses, mom, and pop should have the same rights as the out-of-state giant corporations.’”
When asked about a Grants pawnshop facing a $60,000 fine from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Pearce said, “Your average business may make ten percent. That means you have to have $600,000 worth of products in order to get to $60,000. They’re just going to be thrust into bankruptcy. The veteran is disabled. His wife is going to have to close the business, and the Governor is coming in and making an example of them. Five or six uniformed state police officers circled around the building, slapped the notice on the building.
Pearce continued, “The fine is just devastating to that small community because it’s made up totally of small businesses. Even the local sheriffs and police officers are having to drive into Albuquerque to get ammunition that [the local pawn shop] sold there.”
Steve Ducey wrapped up the segment asking what message Chairman Pearce had for Gov. Lujan Grisham. Pearce answered, “The small business owners throughout New Mexico — they’re the heart and soul of our state, and I would just say to the Governor, “you’re driving a stake into the heart and the spirit and the soul of our state. The small communities depend on local business owner…. They’re the ones who support the basketball team and the football team. They’re the ones who are there for the Rotary Clubs and the Kiwanis Clubs. Give them a fair chance.”
On Wednesday, Pearce sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr requesting his help in stopping Gov. Lujan Grisham’s unconstitutional orders barring citizens from work and crippling New Mexico’s state economy.
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