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...]

The Independence Institute (where I work) published a study this week titled "State Budget Scrutiny Reveals Ref C Shuffle," detailing how the promises made in Colorado's 2005 tax increase campaign have gone unmet. Lawmakers have increased spending far more in budget areas not connected with the promises of the Referendum C campaign than in the key areas used to sell the tax increase to Colorado voters (i.e., public schools, state universities, and health care). The report is well documented with actual data. Yesterday, the tax increase apologists at the Bell Policy Center issued a quick response that did not dispute the substance of the findings but asserts that the Institute report uses a "simplistic analysis" and criticizes it for … [Read more...]

The Rocky Mountain News reports today about a new policy giving labor union leaders privileged access to Colorado state government property. Too bad the administration of Governor Bill Ritter (D) is so fixated on rewarding some of his biggest campaign supporters. Colorado's voice of center-right reason on the Western Slope cataloged where these new perks fit into the larger scheme of union payback by Democrats: Republicans said the policy amounts to Ritter's second concession to unions after angering them last legislative session when he vetoed a pro-labor bill to make it easier for unions to organize in the private sector. The first payback, they said, was an executive order that allowed union dues to be automatically withdrawn … [Read more...]

In today's Face the State report, at least one Colorado labor union leader is twisting numbers to recruit allies in their attack on a proposal that would "protect a worker’s right to choose whether or not to join or pay fees to a union as a condition of employment." This kind of statistical manipulation would make Media Matters proud. The rightness of Aurora city councilperson Ryan Frazier's cause is one thing, but the realities of deep union coffers suggest that passing a statewide Right-to-Work ballot initiative in 2008 figures to be an uphill battle. The question is whether defenders of freedom will let the truth become victimized in the political arena. I hope not. … [Read more...]