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Home Archives for State of the State

1/13/2009 By Ben 1 Comment

Bill Ritter Ginning Up Excuses for His Attack on Taxpayer Protections

Wandering out to the Western Slope on his cross-state jaunt with his U.S. Senate protege Michael Bennet, Governor Bill Ritter yesterday sat down with the editors of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. When asked about his reckless anti-TABOR remarks ("the straightjacket") in his State of the State speech, here's reporter Mike Saccone's retelling of how Ritter defended himself:He started by saying that if Colorado has taken all the money it has refunded under TABOR and kept it in a rainy-day fund, Colorado would not have had to make massive budget cuts in the last recession and an estimated $600 million worth of cuts this year. Here's the problem, though. Bill Ritter already chose to pass up a legitimate chance to put money from Referendum … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: anti-TABOR, Bill Ritter, blame, budget cuts, cross-state jaunt, editors, fiscally irresponsible, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Michael Bennet, Mike Saccone, protege, rainy day fund, Reason, recession, reckless remarks, Referendum C, reporter, retelling, sincere, State of the State, straightjacket, taxpayer protections, U.S. Senate, weak leadership, Western Slope

1/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter in a “Straightjacket” over Colorado’s Taxpayer Protections

Sean Paige at Local Liberty Online made a great catch, picking up on this excerpt from Bill Ritter's State of the State speech earlier today (H/T Complete Colorado):"There is also an opportunity here – a chance to address TABOR and the constitutional and statutory straightjacket* that makes modern, sensible and value-based budgeting an impossibility. Last year, former House Speaker Romanoff started the conversation, and we need to keep it alive. We need to talk about life after Ref C – whether and when to extend it. We have a chance to find a better way forward, a Colorado way forward." Bill Ritter said what? About 2 months after Colorado voters said No to a proposal to gut TABOR refunds forever and rejected two other major statewide … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, General Tagged With: Amendment 59, Andrew Romanoff, Bill Ritter, budgeting, Colorado, comment section, Complete Colorado, creative caption, current budget mess, forward, great catch, House Speaker, Local Liberty Online, photo, politically irresponsible, rainy day fund, Referendum C, revenues, rigors, Sean Paige, silly, state constitution, State of the State, straitjacket, TABOR, TABOR refunds, tax increases, taxpayer protections, voters

1/8/2009 By Ben Leave a Comment

Bill Ritter Publicly Endorses Posting State Check Register Online

Update: Colorado Spending Transparency has a similar response about the devil being in the details. Read the post to get a sense of just what some of those details might be. Face The State's report was correct: During his State of the State speech, just a moment ago, Gov. Bill Ritter announced he would back the Republican plan to post the state government's check register online. It's good to see transparency go forward as a non-partisan effort. The governor's announcement foresees a landmark moment for Colorado government, one that promises to empower the citizens of the state. The city of Fort Collins has set the standard for transparency. With the state moving forward, too, now it would be good to see other local governments - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christianity and Faith, clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: Bill Ritter, check register, citizen empowerment, Colorado government, development, Face the State, Fort Collins, implementation, non-partisan, online, plan, policy, Republican, school districts, speech, State of the State, Transparency

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

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