You must be a Colorado Democrat!

Updated April 27

If you think private and religious colleges that take no state tax dollars should be regulated by state bureaucrats, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think taxing marriage will reduce child abuse, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you plan to pay for new programs with revenues from the oil and gas boom but then punish oil and gas companies with higher taxes and ridiculous regulations, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you believe illegal aliens should get a break on college tuition but decorated veterans should not, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you believe it’s OK to require a photo ID to buy beer or cigarettes but not to vote, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you believe businessmen and women are motivated by greed but labor union bosses are not, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think making someone pay higher taxes is a "freeze," you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you believe trial lawyers want to sue for more money to help their clients, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think there’s really a difference between a tax and a fee, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you really believe in governmental efficiency or bureaucratic flexibility, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you believe an unemployed trial lawyer is a bad thing, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think freedom of religion doesn’t apply to churches, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you believe good education comes from relaxing academic standards but getting tough on soft drink sales, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think we should raise taxes on working families to hire more college professors, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you worry more about the cost of keeping criminals behind bars than the cost of putting them back on the streets, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think its wrong for government to legislate morality — except when it pays for that legislation with other people’s money, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you think the way to pay for affordable housing is by raising taxes on housing, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If you would rather pay OPEC $115 a barrel for oil than tap oil and gas resources right here at home, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

If your sense of humor has been surgically removed, you must be a Colorado Democrat.

MUST READS: The Obama File

Obama’s flaws multiply – John Fund, Wall Street Journal
Barack Obama’s San Francisco-Democrat comment about how working class voters "cling to guns or religion" is already famous.  But his aides tell reporters that he is bewildered that anybody took offense.

Hey, Barack, it’s about freedom – Investors Business Daily
You wouldn’t know it from listening to Barach Obama disparage "people in small towns," but they "cling" to their guns and their faith because of a document called the Declaration of Independence, signed in Philadelphia, where church bells rang out on July 4, 1776. (more…)

Health care psychosis

Samuel Johnson called second marriages "the triumph of hope over experience." The same might be said for the latest health care reform bill at the State Capitol.

For more than 20 years, crusading politicians have promised to deliver better health care to more people for less money simply by saying "make it so." With rare exceptions, the resulting legislation exacerbates economic distortions, makes insurance impractically expensive, drives insurers out of the state, and creates worse problems than originally existed.

Senate Bill 217 seems to be a desperate attempt to "do something" while buying time to figure out what to do. What it does best is to create case studies in irony, hubris and cognitive dissonance. (more…)

MUST READS: Health care

Mandating health insurance is big mistake – Paul Hsieh, MD, Denver Post
Sen. Bob Hagedorn would force all Coloradans to purchase mandatory health insurance because it would be "immoral" to "sit on our hands and do nothing."  Massachusetts also requires all residents to purchase health insurance, but rather than creating high-quality affordable health care, the result has been skyrocketing costs, worsened access, and lower quality health care. (more…)

Moralizing with other people’s money

It’s an article of faith among Democrats that the state budget is a "moral document." However, if the state budget reflects the morality of Democrats then it’s all too obvious that they still worship at the altar of big government.

The fiscal shenanigans at the root of the Colorado state budget should cause anyone who’s paying attention to ask if the Democrats’ morality is still inspired by Bill Clinton.

The latest estimate from the legislature’s nonpartisan economists forecasts a decrease in expected revenues of $693 million over five years, echoing spreading worries of an economic slowdown. But this year’s proposed budget calls for no slowdown in spending. (more…)