Governor Bill Ritter’s political future looks bleaker and bleaker. It sure looks like the phony hiring “freeze” issue will come back to haunt him. If you think I was hard on Ritter, check out Rossputin’s hard-hitting essay:
I think it’s just one more step toward Bill Ritter being a one-term governor. He ran as a “pro-business Democrat.” In fact, what he really is is a “pro-business-as-usual Democrat,” something rational people knew we couldn’t afford before and someone whom I hope the rest of the voters are coming to realize is clueless, ineffective, and reckless with their money.
Clueless. Ineffective. Reckless. I see the wheels turning in Republican strategists minds as they imagine campaign ads for 2010.
Meanwhile, the Denver Post – which endorsed Ritter in 2006 – is feeling the heartburn:
In a time when the average Colorado business is struggling to survive and laying off employees, it behooves state government to act prudently in its own hiring practices. Moreover, as state tax revenues are shrinking and budgetary constraints are growing, the hiring of non-essential workers is a luxury Colorado simply cannot afford.
The Ritter administration has no business calling this slowdown in new government hires a “freeze” (even with provisos). But it is perplexing that the governor, knowing full well that public records would uncover what was going on, had not pre-emptively explained his thinking.
Now, Ritter has another minor controversy of his own making. In the past few weeks alone, he has had to deal with two other easily avoidable situations.
The good news? Plenty of material for us Right-leaning Colorado bloggers. The bad news for the state and its taxpayers is evident enough.
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