“Ben Ray has been a lifesaver for consumer rights at the PRC. He has worked closely with me
on a number of consumer issues, and in the face of tremendous special-interest pressure,
hehas been a champion of consumer rights.”
-- Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque
Ben on the Economy: An Investment in New Mexico
Working-class families are the heart of our economy, but many are struggling just to pay everyday bills. In New Mexico – and throughout our country – we continue to experience the growing divide between the rich and the disappearing middle class. It’s time to stop this trend and put our economy back on a gainful track that will benefit the hardworking people of New Mexico.
We can pave a path to a bright future for New Mexicans by fostering our state’s tremendous potential to develop and sell our clean, renewable energy, investing in a living wage for teachers, creating affordable, reliable health-care coverage for everyone and providing our veterans the benefits and education they have earned and deserve.
When elected to Congress, I will work hard to revive our economy by fighting for middle-class tax cuts and new good-paying jobs for the people of New Mexico to foster a viable, healthy economy.
Revoking the Bush tax cuts for millionaires is the first step toward helping the middle class and resuscitating our economy. It is time to end the favoritism that has been afforded to the wealthiest at the expense of the middle class.
We must end the Iraq War. We continue to lose precious lives and spend billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars on a conflict that never should have been started. That money should be invested here at home.
As chairman and commissioner at the Public Regulation Commission, I have made New Mexico consumers a priority. Heating, health-care and phone bills are a significant part of the increasingly burdensome cost of living, and at the PRC we have fought to stop corporations from imposing excessive charges on New Mexicans.
Under my leadership, the PRC:
- Took on Qwest when they failed to keep their promise to invest in New Mexico. The PRC forced Qwest to pay $15 million in credits to its customers and invest another $250 million to improve telecommunications infrastructure, increase DSL availability and improve the reliability of the telephone network;
- Froze Qwest residential and business customer rates through 2009 and eliminated Qwest’s $85 “Trouble Isolation Charge” fee;
- Helped fire departments get millions more in funding from the Fire Protection Fund. Now rural fire departments can buy needed first-responder emergency equipment, and better training and equipment for departments should help lower home and business insurance premiums;
- Fought for New Mexicans victimized by the health-insurance industry and opened an investigation into the insurance industry’s claims-denial practices;
- Developed legislation that closed loopholes used by health-insurance companies to deny legitimate medical claims;
- Implemented increased renewable-energy requirements for utilities, encouraging investment in New Mexico’s clean-energy sector;
- Required PNM to offer incentives and rebates to customers who use less electricity.
Prioritizing those of us most in need and investing in our veterans, our schools and a new, clean-energy economy can return America to the path toward a new prosperity.
