Posted on 11/05/2007 7:30:58 PM PST by george76
So, now we know. When he was running for the highest office in the state, we all heard a lot of promises from Bill Ritter: promises about consultation with Colorado’s major constituencies, collaborative government, moderation — all the “new Democrat” codswallop. Maybe you thought we had elected a “moderate.” But at this point, everyone on this side of the sod should know that we elected a weasel.
The governor’s plan to unionize government flies in the face of everything he promised during his campaign. At least, everything he promised publicly. Evidently, there were other, more serious, promises made behind closed doors.
We all know why Governor Ritter signed his executive order to unionize government: It’s a payoff to his political cronies in the labor movement, who worked very hard to elect him. This is Tammany Hall politics, pure and simple.
It’s not about increasing government efficiency, unless someone out there can point to a few examples of unionized workplaces functioning more efficiently than their non-union counterparts. Maybe we should look for one among, say, Detroit’s automakers?
It’s not about “collaboration,” “partnerships” or “communication,” either. If communication between the folks driving snowplows on I-70 or shuffling forms at the Department of Motor Vehicles and their respective front offices is so bad that the former have to rely on union goons to muscle their way to the boss’ desk, there may well be a simpler way around the problem than collectivizing the workforce.
After all, as the Governor reminded us when he signed this fiat, he’s in charge of state workers. So if something is not functioning well in the bureaucracy, might we all not remind ourselves who the boss is?
It’s not about pay either.
(Excerpt) Read more at summitdaily.com ...
Colorado ping
everyone on this side of the sod should know that we elected a weasel.
This time, he didn't just make a mistake, he signed his political death warrant. I don't see he has a way out of this mess.
Colorado’s largest public employee unions hope to avoid a messy turf battle by forming a coalition group that would seek to represent workers in the partnership agreements backed by Gov. Bill Ritter.
The executive order issued Friday allows employees in each of several different occupation categories to pick a single union to negotiate on their behalf. Currently, some unions represent employees in more than one job category.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5739980,00.html
I wish that were true. Ritter still enjoys high approval ratings. This policy is the least of his lunacy. His energy policy is madness and massive corporate welfare.
are they going to let him get by with unionization of the state employees?
Somehow I doubt the public is truly enlightened on how much of a nut he is. If the CO GOP can get its act together, they might actually benefit from this golden opportunity.
Gov. Bill Ritter has signed an executive order giving state government’s 49,000 workers the right to join unions or other employee associations ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1920513/posts
Have we heard from Dick Wadhams ?
He's a Dem so I knew that. I guess I should keep up on CO politics a little better though.
I don't see that at all. He has increased the ability of Colorado unions to dictate the next governor hugely by increasing their membership hugely. (Remember, there's a special labor union exception to the campaign finance amendment. Unions get to contribute. Noone else does.) I haven't heard a single person (outside the normal political folks) who have complained about Ritter's action one little bit. I'd say he's gotten away with it, lock, stock and barrel.
I agree. The Denver Post editorial will not make much difference in the long run. Ritter is playing the editorial as bullying.
Betcha a Santiago's breakfast burrito that Bill Ritter is one term Governor.
Not that I know of. He's probably practicing the maxim not to get in the way of an opponent self-destructing.
Correction: you libs elected a weasel. There are plenty of us in Colorado who didn't vote for that POS because we already knew he was a POS.
A Colorado promise broken
By The Denver Post Editorial Board
Article Last Updated: 11/04/2007 01:49:34 AM MST
When Coloradans elected Bill Ritter as governor, they thought they were getting a modern-day version of Roy Romer, a pro-business Democrat. Instead, they got Jimmy Hoffa.
Ritter campaigned under the guise of a moderate "new Democrat" but now we know he's simply a toady to labor bosses and the old vestiges of his party — a bag man for unions and special interests.
The governor on Friday unveiled his plan to drive up the cost of doing business in Colorado by forcing collective bargaining on thousands of state employees.
We're concerned this may be the beginning of the end of Ritter as governor.
By pandering to unions, and the ever-shrinking 7.7 percent of the electorate that belong to unions, he's broken his "Colorado Promise" to voters. His promise to usher in a new era of collaborative government — where business and labor, Democrats and Republicans, would all be at the table — was nothing more than a sham.
It's unconscionable for the governor of a state that's limped through lean budget years to knowingly drive up the cost of government. And for what? Political payback to unions?
He's even doing an end-run on the legislature, controlled by his own party. Instead of introducing a bill in the legislature that could be debated and fine-tuned — the collaborative process he promised — Ritter junked what has worked for Colorado for decades with the flick of a pen. He didn't even have the guts to stand before the public and announce his plan. Instead, he sent out a press release late Friday afternoon when he hoped no one was looking.
It's government by fiat.
Ritter sailed into office with an unusual but strong coalition of business and labor backing his bid. But he has now corrupted that relationship with business, and the bulk of his agenda is at risk. He also has damaged his party, which enjoys power in Colorado partly because of that moderate face they painted for themselves in recent years.
Without business in his corner, we fear Ritter won't be able to effectively shepherd a comprehensive health care solution through the statehouse. And any plans he may have for a new revenue stream for higher education are dangling by a thread, too.
Perhaps more importantly, we're concerned he's lost whatever business support he had to reform Colorado's budget process. And that could very well doom his governorship. Gov. Bill Owens was able to pass Referendum C, which freed up money for five years from the state's tight revenue caps, because he had a strong coalition of business leaders helping to win support from GOP voters, who happen to be the largest block of Colorado voters.
Ritter will be rudderless if he tries to convince voters to approve an extension of Referendum C.
Experts say collective bargaining can add as much as 30 percent to the cost of doing business. Tell us, how does that make sense for a state that can hardly pay its bills and plans to come to voters as soon as 2009 with its hand out?
Ritter's two Democratic predecessors, Dick Lamm and Romer, were able to govern for 24 years, collectively, without introducing collective bargaining.
State employees are paid well, and treated well. In fact, by one estimate, they already earn 25 percent more than workers in surrounding states and their pay is 9 percent higher than the national average. We're ninth best in the country in paying our state employees, but not long ago we were 49th in the nation in K-12 spending as a percentage of personal income. Strange priorities, indeed.
Had Ritter thought employees were somehow getting a raw deal, he could have waved his magic wand and changed all that. He is the governor, after all. Instead, he's decided to prop up unions.
Now, he runs the risk of becoming Colorado's first one-term governor since Walter Johnson in 1950.
Coloradans bought the Colorado Promise, but may end up with a trail of broken promises.
A governor with such early promise has squandered his future in order to keep his backroom promises to a few union bosses.
And Colorado is the loser.
The Denver Post's editorial board operates independently of the paper's news coverage.
I heard on KOA this morning that Ritter is whining that his plan is being misrepresented by the press, especially the Denver Post. Sounds exactly like Bill and Hillary speak to me.
Now we have California stye global warming executive orders. What is he a dictator?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
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