Legislature veers hard left

Colorado is not better off as the legislative session wraps up with Democrats having pushed through a hard-left agenda, says John Andrews in the April round of Head On TV debates. Susan Barnes-Gelt disagrees, lauding the session as enlightened and pragmatic. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over gun control, illegal immigration, lapses by law enforcement, and a sweetheart land deal in local government. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for April: 1. LEGISLATIVE REPORT CARD

John: It’s legislative report card time. Voters fired the House Republicans and gave Democrats control. They responded by raising energy costs, empowering trial lawyers, encouraging illegal immigration, attacking gun rights, undermining traditional marriage, and proposing a billion-dollar tax increase. Colorado is not better off.

Susan: Get a grip John – it’s the 21st Century. Colorado’s legislature reflects the rest of the country – diverse, focused on the economy – not the bedroom, enlightened about our fragile ecology, pragmatic. Ferrandino led a strong session, though it’s unraveling a bit ‘cause the days are numbered.

John: Having served in the General Assembly, I respect the goodwill and dedication of 100 representatives and senators making laws for the other 5 million of us. But I’m very glad their grandiose plans are somewhat restrained by the constitution, including a session limit that cuts them off at 120 days.

Susan: Right -if the lege spent 120 days focused on the budget, civic infrastructure and public safety. Instead, too much time is absorbed on social issues thanks to right-wing, small government conservatives, committed to obsolete wedge issues – God, guns & gays – instead of the public’s priorities.

2. CONGRESS DEBATES GUN CONTROL

John: Here’s your clueless politician update. Move over, Nancy Pelosi. Make room for Diana DeGette. Everyone remembers “Pass the bill to find out what’s in it.” Now we have “Ban high-capacity magazines without knowing what they are.” These congressladies are dangerous. Put’em under trigger lock and leave gun regulation to the states.

Susan: DeGette’s stupid gun manifesto reflects how out of touch she is with anything but the beltway bozos. Shame on her, but that’s not the point. That congress may be, possibly reaching consensus on the most moderate controls re registration is the real point. Way to go ladies & gents!

John: Nothing in the Constitution authorizes the federal government to regulate firearms in the first place, nor will the expanded background checks increase public safety. This is just Obama and a bunch of senators grandstanding to boost their power and their poll numbers. And over in the House, constitutional conservatives aren’t buying it.

Susan: Pullleezzz. How can a man as smart as you advocate for the rights of criminals, abusers, terrorists and the insane to but a gun? You can’t drive a car without being tested, licensed and insured. A majority of gun owners support the weak bill in front of Congress. Get real!

3. DRIVER’S LICENSE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

John: The beat goes on with liberals pandering to border-jumpers and visa-jumpers, with the ultimate goal of 10 million new Democratic voters. First it was subsidized college tuitions. Now it’s a Colorado driver’s license for illegal immigrants. Except we can’t call them that any more, according to the Associated Press. Where will it stop?

Susan: There you go again . . .Senate Bill 251 allows undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license upon presenting state tax returns, a federal tax ID and a country-of-origin proof of identity. Licensed drivers are insured, must pass a driver’s test and make our streets and hiways safer.

John: You’re so soothing, almost hypnotic. Don’t fall for it, folks. I repeat: the name of this game is 10 million new Democratic voters. If someone broke the law to come here, and you reward them with a driver’s license, it encourages all kinds of other lawbreaking, including election fraud. Bad idea.

Susan: C’mon John. Licenses will say non-citizen - voter fraud’s not the issue. The more consequential question is, why assume that a majority of recent immigrants are going to vote D? Hard to imagine all the old dogs in the Republican Party are resigned to permanent minority status. Ironic – EH?

4. DESPITE LAPSES, LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVES US WELL

Susan: BIG screw-ups regarding a Denver sheriff deputy aiding a criminal to escape from jail and the brutal murder of State Corrections Chief Tom Clements by parolee Evan Ebel don’t signal a failure of American justice as we know it. However, big cuts to public safety budgets take a toll.

John: The convict who shot the corrections chief was paroled several years early by mistake. He was then allowed off his ankle monitor for several days by mistake. The jailbird who fled with help from a crooked cop was given too much leeway inside by mistake. Too many mistakes. Heads should roll.

Susan: We agree – too many mistakes. Heads should roll. The utter failure of the state parole system had deadly consequences. The Denver sheriff should have gone to his superiors when his life and family were threatened. Let’s hope the powers that be at the state and city figure it out.

John: We tape these debates once a month, and while this one was being scripted, Americans suddenly learned of the bombings in Boston and the ricin letters to Obama and Sen. Wicker. Hats off to law enforcement everywhere, whether here in Colorado or nationally. They have their hands full. Say amen, Susan.

5. QUESTIONABLE DENVER LAND DEAL

Susan: Shame on Mayor Michael Hancock and DPS Super, Tom Boasberg. The behind-closed-doors swap of 11 acres of open space for a fixer-upper at 1330 Fox is a bad deal for taxpayers - a textbook example of why people don’t trust government. The deal may tank Hancock’s re-election.

John: Okay, I read your column about this DPS land deal, and though the details made my head hurt, it does sound cutesy and perhaps shady. But with due respect to your investigative work, Susan, for an urban density advocate you seem strangely worked up about a few acres of crummy flood plain.

Susan: The 11 acres of designated open space belongs to Denver taxpayers who have a contract with their representatives – the mayor, council & school board – to protect and conserve that interest. Hancock will pay for his bad judgment, and so should Superintendent Boasberg.

John: Whether the mayor suffers politically for an obscure real estate swap with no graft involved, I doubt. But I applaud your civic indignation and determination to expose this thing, my friend. With newspaper coverage dwindling and no opposition party to keep Denver local officials honest, we need more watchdogs like you.

Dems insult our intelligence

After weeks of uncivil wrangling, the Democrat-controlled state legislature passed a flurry of gun-control bills. The purported justification for violating our Second Amendment rights is public safety. Despite extensive data, the bills’ supporters aver that draconian gun-control measures are required to reduce violence. Before the newly-passed bills have even been signed, though, those legislators introduced a bill to repeal the death penalty. But isn’t the death penalty supposed to deter violence?

Is this a case of rampant illogic, callous deceit or blatant hypocrisy? Do the Democrat legislators think that we voters are mere unthinking silly-putty? I hope that they’re wrong.

Scalia pilloried for speaking truth

In blaming the Voting Rights Act for "racial entitlements," Justice Antonin Scalia sounded like Archie Bunker, says Susan Barnes-Gelt in the March round of Head On TV debates. Not so, says John Andrews; the VRA does in fact insult blacks and Hispanics with favoritism. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over school vouchers, the federal budget sequester, municipal tracking bans, and the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for March: 1. IS VOTING RIGHTS ACT UNCONSTITUTIONAL?

Susan: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia asserted “voting rights are a perpetuation of racial entitlement”. He sounded more like Archie Bunker than an esteemed jurist. The 1965 Voting Rights Act empowers the federal government to nullify local laws discriminating against minority voters. Scalia’s arrogance demeans informed conservatives and the court.

John: I want to live under a color-blind constitution where all individuals are equal before the law, not where government treats people differently according to their race. Section V of the Voting Rights Act, criticized by Scalia, does in fact discriminate racially. It insults blacks and Hispanics in the guise of helping them.

Susan: Yeah – a place where all the women are strong, the men good looking and the kids above average. Sadly the NO VACANCY sign is up at your fanciful Lake Wobegon. Republicans are going to need more than discriminatory voting policies to regain relevance in the 21st Century.

John: Equality before the law isn’t fanciful. It’s simply right, nothing more nor less. The alternatives are either treating nonwhites as second-class citizens, or tilting the election process so everybody is represented by someone of their own skin color. The second is just as un-American, just as monstrous, as the first.

2. DOUGLAS COUNTY VOUCHERS WIN ON APPEAL

John: Children in Douglas County are Colorado’s luckiest kids. Nowhere else can moms and dads choose a school that works best for their child and have the education funding go along in the child’s backpack. That kid-friendly idea, called vouchers, was on hold by court order, but no more. Educational freedom, here we come.

Susan: K-12 education is in turmoil. From obsolete governance – volunteer elected school boards to the agrarian-based 8-month a year, 6-hour a day calendar – the system doesn’t work for the 21st Century. Charters, vouchers, magnet schools are a sorry attempt to patch a system in need of reinvention.

John: You are so wrong. Empowering educators to innovate through charter schools without union restrictions is very 21st century. So is empowering parents to choose the best school for their kids through vouchers. Unions will mount a desperate Wisconsin-style campaign to take back Douglas County this fall. Educational freedom terrifies them.

Susan: Bottom line on Doug County vouchers? An appeal to the Colorado Supremes will add years and another million to the tab. The district has huge deficits, is cutting curriculum and eliminating staff. It’s a no win for kids, ideologues or reformers. Revolution now!

3. TABOR CHALLENGED IN COURT

John: Detroit has gone from being one of America’s richest cities to one of the poorest. Reckless spending and high taxes were the cause. States like California and Illinois are headed for a similar crash. Fortunately Colorado is protected by TABOR, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Yet Democrats are in court to nullify TABOR.

Susan: Hundreds of local cities, towns and schools districts have opted out of TABOR - that speaks volumes. Five years of a declining state economy and TABOR’s arbitrary restraints mean government can’t meet the demands of a growing population and economy. TABOR’s ratchet is a hatchet.

John: Fallacies, fallacies – where should I start? One, voters removed the TABOR ratchet years ago. Two, in a slow economy when revenues aren’t growing, TABOR doesn’t operate. And three, as you noted, voters can override the limits any time. Colorado is lucky to have this fiscal guardrail, and judges should leave it alone.

Susan: Of course higher taxes should be voter approved– as TABOR mandates. But the stupidity of shrinking government to anorexia – starving public safety, k-12 and higher ed, highway maintenance and human services is nonsense.Wanna build your own highway? School system? Hire your own police force and maintenance crew? Get a grip!

4. CAN MUNICIPALITIES BAN FRACKING?

Susan: Gov. Hick’s softened his stance that he would sue any local jurisdiction that outlawed the controversial drilling method - fracking -within its boundaries. Stiff opposition from Fort Collin’s city council caused the Hick to backtrack. Sometimes it’s OK when a political leader is windsocky!

John: Hydraulic fracturing is the greatest thing for energy independence and higher living standards since America’s discovery of oil itself. The fluids used are perfectly safe, as Hickenlooper demonstrated by chugging a glass of the stuff. Fort Collins politicians are a bunch of chicken littles and lawbreakers. Sue away, Governor.

Susan: Due respect to our lovable governor – he’s been imbibing weird stuff for decades – homemade beer, experimental weed, fracking fluid . . . No wonder he’s so charming and unpredictable. Local government has the greatest stake in the health and safety of its residents. It’s your conservative mantra!

John: The law requires uniformity of access to mineral resources throughout the state. To allow a crazy quilt of local variations to obstruct development of abundant, affordable energy is legal theft – and economically stupid. Opposing hydraulic fracturing, based on junk science, is like opposing a cure for cancer.

5. SEQUESTER SHENANIGANS

Susan: Na-nana-na-na shenanigans over sequester are the last straw for every DC incumbent. Both parties deserve a trip to the woodshed. Libertarian Senator Rand Paul is the only stand-up elected. He put himself and values on the line in a successful 13-hour filibuster regarding the use of drones in the U.S.

John: The two parties actually differ sharply, Susan. Democrats are bawling like spoiled children over a couple of pennies on the dollar in slower growth – not cuts, just slower growth – to our bloated federal budget. Republicans, though worried about weaker defenses, have embraced the savings like grownups. And the public is with us.

Susan: The public is fed up with DC brinksmanship. The Congress and the White House have lost touch with what’s happening on the streets of this country. Let’s begin the sequester by not paying Congress and the White House. Bet that’ll bring ‘em to the negotiating table.

John: Fortunately, our two-party system gives Americans a choice between the self-perpetuating government approach and the advocates of fiscal sanity. Once again, it’s D versus R. In this corner, Obama and Harry Reid, the tax and spend guys. In that corner, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, the constitution guys. It’s no contest.

What's your family story?

(Denver Post, Feb. 24) When a prominent man says he is stepping down to spend more time with his family, it’s usually a fib. He invokes the family as a fig leaf for failure, embarrassed to admit the horse bucked him off. But nothing like that is the case, I believe, with Ken Salazar’s return to Colorado after serving as a senator and secretary of the interior. The veteran Democrat’s words rang sweet and true to this Republican's ear when he spoke of living up to “my highest moral responsibility… helping my family.” If there were a medal of honor for unsung homefront heroism, give one to Ken. Our society, however, does not heap honors on fathers and mothers and kids and kin who quietly do right by each other and, in so doing, build the future. It’s a pity, because the institution of the American family is disintegrating before our eyes. The household has literally become a homefront, a battlefield – and the me-first forces are winning everywhere you look.

According to the 2010 census, fewer than six in ten babies are now born to a married mom and dad. For Hispanic children, it’s fewer than five in ten. For blacks, fewer than three in ten. Getting married before getting pregnant is the best single anti-poverty strategy for a woman and her kids. Yet public policy, social signals, and the cultural climate are massively aligned against it. A soft suicide is in progress.

You probably didn’t notice the recent celebration of National Marriage Week. Meager funding and elite indifference doomed it. Most of our tax dollars, philanthropic dollars, advertising dollars, and entertainment dollars pour into America’s selfishness machine. Kids and adults alike are encouraged to believe that people are my instrument, love is my wish list, and sex is my plaything. Me, me, me.

Contrarian groups that work to build a marriage culture through classes and seminars, relying on the best science with a non-religious, non-judgmental tone – such as the Center for Relationship Education under Joneen McKenzie and Friends First under Elycia Cook, to name two of my local favorites – have to scrap for budgetary leftovers as they stand against the flood of money propagandizing for value-free lifestyles.

The collapsing family in our time represents a generational betrayal with few precedents in history. With shameless hedonism, we are abdicating the trust our children and grandchildren ought to be able to place in us. Families are qualitatively ever more dysfunctional and quantitatively ever smaller. A new book by Jonathan V. Last, “What to Expect when No One’s Expecting,” runs the numbers, and they are scary.

What’s to be done? Top-down policy solutions are the smallest part. Attitudes have to change from the bottom up. My family has vowed to do three things. One, respect the long run. Two, stop the selfishness machine. Three, help build the ark.

“In the long run, we’re all dead,” Lord Keynes’ cynical crack, has done worse moral harm in the world than all the harm of his economic theories. We must secure the blessings of liberty to our posterity as well as ourselves, the Founders taught. That means recognizing the far-flung ill effects of modernity’s selfishness machine, calling them out, and resisting them.

And because things may get worse before they get better, we’ll need a vessel of rescue. Every simple word and act that affirms family and fidelity, relationships and self-giving, is another plank in the ark that will float us above the coming flood. Our house has joined the builders. Will yours?

The Salazars of San Luis have a great story. But so do countless other Colorado families. Just putting them on record and praising them is a start. What’s your family story, or a family hero you admire? Email me with nominations. Let’s be the change.

Can we keep America exceptional?

President Obama insists that America is not exceptional. Yet for his flawed economic policies to work, he must rely on an amazing degree of exceptionalness. Like any nation, we are not exempt from the consequences of ill-considered choices. We have the advantage of observing the outcome that decades of overspending and social profligacy have caused in Europe -- welfare dependency, oppressive taxation and insurmountable debt. And riots.

America is indeed exceptional in many important ways: freedom, innovation, opportunity, honor. But bloated government outlays and intrusive, business-thwarting regulations bring economic collapse, even here.