Richardson's disinterest leaves bad taste behind

What began as an upbeat reception ended in disappointment a week ago Monday in Santa Fe when presidential candidate Bill Richardson ignored two requests to address his position on Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Given the financial uncertainties plaguing LANL and Sandia National Laboratories, we thought the former secretary of energy and our current governor would jump at the chance to clear up the conflicting messages he's recently expressed on the subject.

We were wrong.

What has us troubled is that Richardson, as governor, sent a letter to Congress last month voicing opposition to a proposed 3.2-percent budget cut to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which funds LANL and Sandia. Then he turned around the next day, as presidential candidate, and proposed a 53-percent cut to NNSA's budget.

We wanted to know why he gave opposite messages to opposite audiences. We wanted the people of Los Alamos to know why, too.

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