The Routt Report

State of the State

 These are historic and somber times. And in the context of the historic occasion of the leaders of both chambers of the General Assembly being Black, and a state, national and global economic recession of yet unknown depth, in his address Colorado's Governor spoke to our legislative body in a specifically state-centric if not understated tone.

   Public officials do not get to choose how historic, or how difficult their term of office will be on the outset, but it is their choices once they take office that determine how history will view them in the long term. Senator Groff, and Representative Carroll have admirably set aside the revelry in their historic charges in favor of quickly attending to the shared challenges of our state. With a budget shortfall that is conservatively estimated at 600 million dollars and will likely be proven to be significantly larger, both the speaker and the president have demonstrated leadership in character, and as this legislative session begins they will have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership through policy.

  Governor Ritter made reform the theme of his speech. History and current events do not discount the continuation of the structural challenges our state government has, flaws  that are at once exacerbated by downturns and the cause of the undue severity of them. Bill Ritter's pledges to reform education and TABOR where bold pieces of rhetoric in the context of a fiscally constrained state that will be reducing it's expenditures by at least 10%. In stating "We need to address TABOR which puts a straight jacket on state government preventing the ability to have rational need based budgets" (I'm paraphrasing) the Governor struck a chord that has resonated with municipal Governments border to border, most notably and recently with the leadership of the City of Colorado Springs. I will state here that while I fully support the idea of taxes being approved by the voters, however there are provisions of TABOR that independently and in concert with other parts of our state's constitution that are awkward at best, prevent our elected leaders from reacting to challenges or capitalizing on opportunities in the middle and at the very worst provide a mechanism for the shady fiscal practices TABOR meant to address, (Fund transfers anybody?).  TABOR in the guise of soothing the distrust of our legislature has in its own way caused fiscal inefficiency and relieved our electorate of the personal responsibility of electing thoughtful representatives. It may have seemed like a good idea to tie the hands of our representatives but the better part of wisdom, and the understanding of the principles of diminished responsibility tell us that for the sake of a more effective state house and a more informed electorate it would benefit the State of Colorado for our elected officials to have more control (responsibility) in creating our budget, which as the Governor stated in his remarks should be viewed as a moral document, a statement of the values we elected these people to forward and protect. Further with the knowledge of increased ability to do harm, the electorate will have the increased responsibility to elect good representatives. In a state that is governed by the law of man, it is reckless to punt fiscal responsibility to the charge of policy on lifeless, unthinking, inflexible paper. 

  The choices are either major reforms of TABOR or an endless line of Referendum "C"'s  and County "1A's". The good provisions of TABOR deserve to be retained and hopefully the general assembly will respond to the Governor's charge to begin this work in a bipartisan way.

  There was optimism in the Governor's  address, partly because leadership demands it, but also because there is good news in Colorado. We have a lower unemployment rate than most of the nation, (the under-employment story is VERY different and one can easily argue, as I would that that is worse). Our investments in energy of all types both renewable and traditional have yielded returns, (granted returns offset by declines in other employment sectors). Well maybe "good news" is a strong word in practical terms, however, the Governor renewed his commitment to educational reform. While we do have one the nations most educated workforces, that level of expertise is not majority homegrown. It is not enough to import skilled labor as we cannot always count on costal exodus, and further with our current infrastructure problems from transportation to water, relying on constant in-migration is as derelict to Colorado's children as it is irresponsible to her natural resources. We can and must address transportation, congestion and water rights and storage, but on the other hand we must make Colorado's workforce a competitive and homegrown workforce. The economic vitality as well as the social fabric of our state is dependent on being able to retain the lion share of our graduates. It is only through the life labor of future generations that our investments in education are repaid, and it is only through continuity that the values that make Colorado the best state in the Union, the values of environmental stewardship, the love and preservation of the lands that sustains us, and the deep spirit of community and civic pride, in both rural and urban Colorado that are strongest when transfered organically through generations from childhood, that build the foundation for Colorado's future. While I myself am not a native born son, I have  developed a great love for my adopted state. The spirit of Colorado is too precious to risk that all who come from without her borders can in such short time recognize and celebrate the prize that is Colorado. The only security we have is to educate Colorado's children and provide for economic growth so that the tools they learn may be applied to provide for their families and their children. If we can meet the challenges of the 21st century economy we can ensure that Colorado of the 22nd century will continue to be the ideal of the American way of life, and that our mountains, our plains, our City's and Town's will remain recognizable in both body and spirit.

  The Governor quoted a Japanese leader when he stated that "it is the role of government to ensure the transfer of the world from our ancestors to our children" not entirely different from the sentiment of Thomas Jefferson when he said that the world belongs to the living in that while we honor the past it is important that we prepare constantly for a future that will have unknown challenges and opportunities. In that context however we must not forget the urgency of now. May we all give our support to Governor Ritter and Colorado's General Assembly as they for the next 120 days work to lay the foundation for the State we will call home for the years and decades to come.

Give him a break . . .

  Colorado has a new Junior Senator designee named Michael Bennet. As the news of this appointment broke, approximately 24 hours before the press conference in which the Governor made the announcement, the airwaves and newspaper blogs where filled with opinions ranging from illogically radical support to equally unthoughtful political doomsday prophesy. 

   

  I am in general a supporter of Governor Ritter, though as all politicians that I support he sometimes disappoints me. I am disappointed that since the Governor in his choice of Bennet, has demonstrated his ability to be independent did not appoint a non-Front Range person. As I stated in this post, for the interest of equal geographic (and by extension ideological) representation and political advantage ahead of a re-election campaign, the appointment of a political dark horse from the western slope or hero from the eastern plains would have been pretty practical.

 

  I was prepared however to be disappointed. I realize that my dogged dedication to equal representation, particularly representation for those with whom I disagree is naive in the context of the political realities of an appointment. I further recognize that preventing the undue influence of urban Colorado on rural Colorado is  a paranoid concern as a working majority of our leaders in Colorado recognize and celebrate the cultural and economic symbiosis of the various regions of our state. But I was prepared to be disappointed because I just assumed the Governor would have chosen a more predictable appointee. The bench is long with Colorado Democrats. Granted most are Front-Range but Speaker Romanoff, Mayor Hickenlooper, Congressman Perlumutter and former candidate Miles would have all been reasonable, expected and safe choices. 

 

  A friend of mine opined,(see paragraph 7) with which I agree, that the national party will take care of Colorado's junior senator. The challenge is how to rally the state party, which seemed to support Romanoff (unofficially), the progressive left who supported Miles (very officially) and build a coalition that not only elects Bennet but also re-elects Ritter in 2010. An interesting criticism on the appointment from the supporters of other people for the post was "he's not the people's choice". There was some objective and valid criticism of his record at Denver Public Schools, and that he's never held elected office, but the majority of critics were upset that he was not "their" choice.

 

  Ok so he wasn't "your" choice. But unless you happen to be Governor Bill Ritter, it wasn't supposed to be your choice. This was an appointment, and it's over. Instead of hand-wringing over whether Bennet can keep the seat for the Democrats, or prematurely condemning him for positions he hasn't taken yet, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's decide if he's a good Senator once he becomes a Senator. Further let's trust the people of the State of Colorado to determine if he should continue to represent us in 2 years. If democrats want to keep this seat, then we must help Mr. Bennet be a great Senator for Colorado, however as Americans, our first priority and first loyalty must be to sending the best representation for Colorado to Washington D.C.

 

 This past election was about change, about a different style of Government. And the driving force behind that mindset was the people. Now without a hint of irony, the people are decrying our Governor for departure from the very business as usual politics we voted against. Would Michael Bennet have been my choice? No.  But to hang the blame of loosing the Senate Seat and Governorship around the necks of Governor Ritter and Senator designee Bennet 2 years before the election is unfair. We have nearly 2 years, and in that time, not for the sake of my party, but for the sake of my State and my Country I intended to give both Our Governor and our full Delegation Including Congressman Lamborn (R CD5) and Congressman Coffman (R CD6) and Senator Bennet, my full support. Remember that fully supporting our leaders means paying attention and questioning them when we disagree. With that in mind, and in the context of the urgency of our nation's struggles, now is the time to rally together to heal our democracy's wounds. Let's give our Governor and our delegation the benefit of the doubt, the tools to work effectively on our behalf, and the ability to make their electoral success or failure a condition of their work.

 

   Let's worry about partisan victories two years away, two years from now. Today let's focus on ensuring Colorado's delegation to Washington has the full support of her people. Let's today put Colorado and America first and worry about our party later.