Owens given ‘D’ for fiscal policy ( Cato Institute )

The Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. gave Gov. Bill Owens a D grade for his fiscal performance during his last year in office in a report released this week.

The Libertarian-leaning think tank releases a report card every two years for all 50 governors based on 23 criteria gathered from various sources, such as the U.S. census and budget data provided by state governments.

According to the report, Owens “engineered one of the biggest falls from grace in this report card’s 16-year history.”

The institute blasted Owens for his support of Referendum C, which was passed by voters last November and allows the state to retain surplus tax revenues for the next four years.

Instead of asking voters to fix Amendment 23, which requires increased spending on K-12 education every year, and defending the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights budget cap, the report said Owens “chose to team up with the Democrats to lift the cap and endorse a $3 billion tax increase.”

Owens’ final year in office lowered his overall Cato-given grade for fiscal performance to a C.

The report said Owens was “once on every conservative’s short list of possible candidates for higher office,” but will now be remembered as a “turncoat” by conservatives.

Steven Slivinski, Cato’s Director of Budget Studies, said the institute’s criticism of Owens was harsh but not needlessly harsh.

“I used language that I thought was appropriate to depict the fall in the grade,” said Slivinski, who has compiled the report for Cato since 1999.

Owens received an A from Cato in 2002 and 2004. The high marks are mentioned in the biography on Owens’ Web site.

The next two highest-scoring Republicans were Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who got B grades.

The highest-scoring Democratic governors were John Lynch of New Hampshire and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, who also got Bs.

The lowest Current Term Republican governers are:

Bob Riley (Alabama) F
Mike Huckabee (Arkansas) F
Kenny Guinn (Nevada) F
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Cali) D
Linda Lingle (Hawaii) D
Jodi Rell (Connecticut) D
Mitch Daniels (Indiana) D - midterm grade
Bill Owens (Colorado) D
George Pataki (NY) D

Final overall grade for outgoing governers:
Bob Taft (Ohio) F
Mike Huckabee (Arkansas) D
Kenny Guinn (Nevada) D

Out of 26 Republican governers there were 1 A, 4 B's, 12 C's, 6 D's,3 F's. This is far too many below a B.

It was nothing but a political stunt that Sanford was willing to go along with to prevent the Dems from being able to use it against him in November. As it would have indeed put tax dollars back into the pockets of the taxpayer he felt the positives outweighed the negatives so he could support it.

(The above is from my memory of an interview with the Governor by Ralph Bristol on WORD AM950 when it was first proposed.)

It fell though when the legislature wanted the three month tax relief during Aug-Sep-Oct vs Jun-Jul-Aug. (I can't imagine why the legislature would want the cut close to an election.) Governor Sanford said no - it would be peak usage time or nothing. Although he did say that if they would make it a permanent cut they could start it whenever they wanted.

The only reason I wondered if it was used against Mark for Cato's "B" grade was that market manipulation by government is viewed poorly by them. Especially as this one would have most probably resulted in spot shortages due to an artificial price structure.

Bill Owens. No one in our party — not even President Bush through his overspending and support of amnesty — has done more damage to our chances in Colorado, which is why this post fits into so many categories.

Attorney general? Guilty as charged. Owens, through a combination of indifference and ineptitude, let Ken Salazar stay in office and emerge as a moderate Democrat, thereby allowing the now-U.S. senator to build a bipartisan following that has taken him to his current office.

Third Congressional District? As sure as water runs downhill. Greg Walcher, with his support of Referendum A and mismanagement of the state Department of Natural Resources, never stood a chance in the general election — and Owens knew it.

Fifth Congressional District? Amen. As in the 3rd Congressional District, Owens stepped into an already messy primary, one he should have learned from 2004 is not a place to be meddling when the Republican Party faithful hate you.

Seventh Congressional District? As sure as Colfax is populated by prostitutes and pushers. Encouraging Beauprez to leave a competitive seat in a bad year for Republicans was beyond irresponsible.

Governor? You can bank on it. In a year when illegal immigration was sure to be the centerpiece conservative issue, Beauprez was the worst possible choice, given his dismal record on the subject.

Homeland security? Granted. Mike “Office Space” Beasley, anyone? Illegal immigration? Si, senor.

By calling a special session he let the Democrats control, Owens killed all chances of bringing back the ballot measure that would have been our party’s saving grace.

Issue campaigns? Let us list the ways: Amendment 23, Referendum A, referendums C and D. Redistricting? Census says yes.

When he and Beauprez lost us the majority, we lost the ability to responsibly redistrict.

Secretary of state? All signs of foul play point to yes. His appointment, Gigi Dennis, and her shenanigans have made the party look unfair.

State house? Like any man, his home is his castle, and he’s responsible for what happens in it. It’s the one chamber of the Legislature we should never have had to worry about, but Owens lost it in a landslide.

State senate? Snake eyes. He lost it twice.

http://www.totheright.org/?p=227

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