First there was Caplis & Silverman. Then there was Colorado’s Morning News. Now we have a couple of strange Scott McInnis gems in writing (no transcripts, no audio) from his recent “InnerView” with the Colorado Statesman.
First, in regards to closing the budget gap:
You need to say, “Okay, here’s what we have.†The state Senator up there, Dan Marostica. He’s got some ideas, and he’s a numbers guy. That’s what you need. Frankly, the governor should have hired that guy the first day he was in office.
Those are the kind of people that I’m going to put in place.
No doubt gubernatorial candidate McInnis meant Representative (until recently) Don Marostica. Hey, mistakes on details like title and first name happen. But why bring Marostica up in the first place?
A quirky political calculation to highlight by far the least taxpayer friendly Republican lawmaker of recent sessions — especially when coupled with this phase of the interview:
CS: Is there one area where you agree with Governor Ritter? Where you thought he was heading the state in the right direction?
SM: Well, he showed up for work. He’s got a good work ethic, I guess.
I mean, he’s a nice guy, and in good times, maybe there’s not (so much) demand on leadership. These aren’t good times.
Except for the fact that Ritter and McInnis have one thing here in common: the only Republican lawmaker they are willing to praise and single out for a promotion to work for their administration is Don Marostica. A strange political calculation, indeed.
Then there’s McInnis’ views on term limits — the second item he cites as part of the changed political landscape since he first started running for office in the 1980s:
It’s like term limiting the surgeon of the local hospital. After you’ve got eight years of experience, you’re out. The basic problem with term limits is it takes away the right to vote.
I’m always interested in a libertarian who supports term limits — they haven’t really thought out the fact that that takes away the right to vote, which they swear they’ll die on.
Those are two changes I think were negative.
Term limits is a debatable issue, but the argument McInnis made here is somewhat convoluted. Personally, at the federal level, I don’t think term limits work so well. At the state level, I think you avoid most of the problems this libertarian argument against term limits conjures up.
Anyway, those are just two examples. If you can muster up the time and courage, delve through the entire interview. I’d be interested in your feedback. Democrat office-holders in Colorado clearly are weakening … but are they weakening that much?
Every point McInnis makes these days seems to be convoluted. Are we watching a once stellar, skillful statesman implode?