Debunking One Lefty Lie about Ritter’s Executive Order

Rather than take on all the lies and distortions in the debate over Gov. Bill Ritter’s unionization executive order en masse, it makes more sense to deal with them one at a time. For starters, in two previous posts (here and here), I highlighted the internal contradictions and patent inaccuracies in the Left’s attempt to deny that the order constitutes “collective bargaining.”

Lefty political hit man David Sirota, who recently appeared on a TV show hosted by my boss Jon Caldara at the Independence Institute, told this to his “progressive” buddies at the national Left-wing echo chamber known as Huffington Post:

The most absurd attack on Ritter is the one that claims he acted in secret – even though, of course, he campaigned on a pledge to support more rights for workers and even though he has long ago responded to the GOP’s Open Records Act requests about his deliberations over employee partnerships. [emphasis added]

Sirota cleverly uses very vague and elusive language: “a pledge to support more rights for workers.” Calling it the “most absurd attack,” his defense of an alleged open process behind Ritter’s policy stands on: 1) A claim that Ritter campaigned publicly on the issue and 2) An acknowledgment that Ritter turned over some documents related to the crafting of the policy when asked. The second point is weak, filler material: What if no one had asked?

Re the first point, in the same post Sirota links to “research materials” generated by his own Progressive States Network organization. In those materials, one of the points reads:

During his campaign for governor, Bill Ritter promised to support giving state workers a bigger voice. In speeches as a candidate, he said he supported collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Neither in his post nor in the alleged “research materials” is a source or reference given to substantiate this claim. The burden of proof lies on Sirota and his cohort to produce the documentation, video or audio of Ritter publicly declaring his desire to authorize the unionization of state employees during his gubernatorial candidacy. A search of Colorado media sources generates not a single mention of the topic, and the Lefties know that the campaign included no such debate.

But the utter lack of evidence hasn’t stopped the repeated assertion that our governor campaigned on the plank of instituting collective bargaining for state employees. “The most absurd attack” – does Mr. Sirota wish to make a retraction? Or does he wish to publish the verifiable evidence that supports his claim?

Another Lefty lie debunked, more to come….