Facile, inaccurate comparisons are common fare among the Left in Colorado these days. Case in point: Diarist GoBlue on the Dead Governors site, convinced by the fact he has the ultimate "gotcha," publishes a post that compares a Republican proposal that would allow small businesses to pool together to negotiate health insurance policies with a Democrat proposal that would require state and local governments to accept binding negotiated agreements. Memo to GoBlue: There is a vast difference between allow and require. There is no Colorado law, nor should there be, preventing voluntary associations of public employees to meet, express their interests, and air their grievances. Such arrangements already exist. Besides, if Governor Bill … [Read more...]

For your edification, in case you missed it, a great lead editorial from the Rocky today: Somewhat surprisingly, "paycheck protection" is back. And it's encouraging to see that even with a union-friendly governor and a Democratic legislature, this time the campaign could have lasting consequences. Attempts to end the automatic deduction of union dues from paychecks without the prior consent of individual employees have generally gone nowhere. Legislation has failed. So have proposed ballot initiatives. The only paycheck protection measure that had any impact on automatic dues deductions - a 2001 executive order from Gov. Bill Owens that covered state employees - was rescinded by Gov. Bill Ritter this year. The latest foray, however, … [Read more...]

Consider this post a plea for Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) to pick a side of his mouth to speak out of. Echoing today's Rocky Mountain News editorial: Gov. Bill Ritter continues to insist that state employees don't "feel valued," as he said on Mike Rosen's KOA talk show last Thursday, and that a "partnership for the 21st century" is needed to "acknowledge the work of state employees, to take their input, to \[deliver] a better service to taxpayers." Who on earth could oppose any of those objectives? Why wouldn't the public prefer an entrepreneurial state work force that's constantly aiming to improve its performance? And if these are the governor's goals, why doesn't he simply implement them? The self-described "CEO of state … [Read more...]

I'm back (and feeling refreshed) from a weeklong blog vacation. My hope is that I have not lost my entire readership during that brief span. While I was gone, Rocky Mountain News editor Vince Carroll highlighted the illogic behind Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter's attempts to promote state employee unionization: Reminder to Gov. Bill Ritter: You’re in charge. No fooling. So if you want to “strengthen partnerships with snowplow drivers, prison guards and the other men and women who make up the state work force,” as your spokesman says, then by all means, do so. If they’re being overworked or mistreated, then put people in charge who’ll treat them right. If their suggestions and concerns are being ignored, find department heads … [Read more...]

Demonstrating quite a bit of ironic ignorance, the diarist "Go Blue" and commenters at the Dead Governors site latch onto an unsubstantiated attack against former state senator and state treasurer Mark Hillman, using hollow ammunition provided by the Lefties at the Bell Policy Center. As explained yesterday, Hillman co-wrote a report for the Independence Institute on the difference between the promises made in the Referendum C campaign and the promises delivered in state spending. The Bell then released a quick press release ignoring the substance of the report and decrying the analysis as "simplistic," as well as a preliminary research summary that projects FUTURE revenue and spending. Yet pushing along the herd of lemmings, the … [Read more...]