Patrick M. Brenner is the President and CEO of the Southwest Public Policy Institute, a research institute dedicated to improving the quality of life in the American Southwest by formulating, promoting, and defending sound public policy solutions.
Before launching SPPI, Patrick worked in public relations and marketing, then took charge of the donor engagement and government transparency litigation programs at the Rio Grande Foundation as the Vice President of Development. Patrick’s experience, advocacy for transparency, and desperate longing for accountable government have primed him for leading the American Southwest’s state-of-the-art think tank, where he empowers liberty through a data- and technology-fueled grassroots movement.
Patrick is the author of numerous policy studies. He has appeared in newspapers and on radio and television throughout the nation, including The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Fox Business, American Banker, The Washington Times, The Hill, National Review, Yahoo, The Daily Caller, Newsmax, Albuquerque Journal, Deseret News, The Daily Signal, The Federalist, Las Cruces Sun-News, The Center Square, Santa Fe New Mexican, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, RealClear Policy, RealClear Markets, The Deming Headlight, and more.
Patrick lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with his children, Charlotte, Marie, and David. He is a pilot, avid cyclist, amateur historian, ballroom dancer, and former aquarist. The family enjoys frequent trips to historic sites across the American Southwest.
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The Latest from Patrick
- The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Reply Is the Real Joke
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s slow, self-serving defense of the 30-year mortgage proves that lifetime debt, not homeownership, is the product they’re really selling. - Modernizing the Bank Secrecy Act: Cutting Red Tape and Ending Debanking
Congress must update the Bank Secrecy Act for the 21st century… - Albuquerque Journal: The first of its kind? A tribally owned professional sports team
Originally published at abqjournal.com on October 18, 2025. Jeff Tucker is right about one thing: New Mexico needs to think big. His recent call for a billion-dollar NBA arena in Albuquerque is exactly the kind of visionary thinking our state has lacked for decades. But where Tucker sees an opportunity for government to build a… Read more: Albuquerque Journal: The first of its kind? A tribally owned professional sports team - Compounding Interest: The Case Against the Confused Case Against the Case Against 30-Year Mortgages
In his letter responding to my column in The Wall Street Journal, “The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” former Freddie Mac executive David Andrukonis defends the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as a transparent, borrower-friendly product. In “A Confused Case Against 30-Year Mortgages,” he argues that such loans are fully prepayable, giving homeowners flexibility to refinance or pay… Read more: Compounding Interest: The Case Against the Confused Case Against the Case Against 30-Year Mortgages - Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part IVWhen you publish in The Wall Street Journal, you have to expect a few readers to come out swinging. Some disagree on principle; others on tone. And then there are those who lecture you like you just flunked Econ 101. Read the full series here. Meet Jay Wright, Adjunct Professor of Finance at Georgetown University.… Read more: Compounding Interest: Reader Replies, Part IV