House GOP sets sights conservatively on spending

During much of the last decade December has greeted legislators with gloomy revenue forecasts that confirm there won’t be enough money to pay for the spending they budgeted in April.  Drastic budget reductions ensue in order to balance the budget in final few months of the fiscal year.

Generally, legislators respond as if trapped in the Bill Murray comedy Groundhog Day.  Year-after-year they pass budgets in April based on revenue estimates that they surely know will require severe pruning come December.  (Unlike Congress, the Colorado legislature is constitutionally required to balance its budget.)

This week, House Republicans — back in the majority after six years in the cheap seats — signaled that this practice will change, arguing for a spending target nearly $200 million below the more conservative of two forecasts by government economists. (more…)

Cool your own rhetoric, Congressman Perlmutter

Ed Perlmutter, the Democrat congressman from Colorado’s 7th District, is a likable guy, as I discovered while serving with him for four years in the Colorado Senate — even if his political leanings are not to my liking.  However, the Congressman has a tendency to become piously myopic — and inappropriately sanctimonious — when reacting to gun-related tragedies such as the weekend shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford and others in Arizona.

Earlier today in 850 KOA’s Colorado Morning News, he told hosts Steffan Tubbs and April Zesbaugh that we risk tragedies like the Arizona shooting “when you ramp up the rhetoric” in politics. (more…)

What we should expect from Republican majorities

As Republican majorities take the reigns of power both in Congress and in the Colorado House of Representatives, they carry the lofty expectations of their supporters alongside the inconvenient reality that Democrats still control half of the legislative branch plus the executive.

Practically speaking, Republicans can do only so much, but that certainly doesn’t mean they are powerless.  Here’s what a good strategy for the next two years might look like:

First, kill bad bills.  There’s truth in the maxim, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”  Legislation that empowers bureaucrats or creates new opportunities for litigation simply cannot be “fixed,” so kill it. (more…)