January 20, 2007 07:42 AM UTC

What Happened to the Business Friendly Dems

• 1 Comments
• by: motown1

In the days leading up to the election now Governor Ritter and other Democrats running for office assured the business community and many of us voters that they had nothing to fear or be concerned about if all of the houses went Dem.  Less than two weeks into the session we have now seen a bill which apparently will gut the long standing Colorado Labor Peace Act which has been in place for many years.  We have also seen a number of other bills which appear to be attacks on the workers compensation system.  Not a day goes by without seeing more bills which are not only unfriendly to business but downright hostile.

Unfortunately, the Dems seem to have taken a page out of the Repubs book when they controlled all three elected bodies of state government.  In that case they pushed a far right agenda which ultimately led to their demise.  Now, we apparently are seeing history repeat itself as the  Dems push a far left agenda.

When are our political leaders going to realize that the vast majority of voters in our state are moderates.  In the case of labor we neither wish to be a right to work state while at the same time we do not wish to destroy the Labor Peace Act.  Moderates don’t want a far right mandate on the pledge of allegiance in our schools nor though do we wish a left-leaning mandate for business for parental leave.

While I truly hope that the Dems honor their pledge to make Colorado a business friendly state, the early signs don’t bode well.  Hopefully Governor Ritter will veto some of these bad measures and also let’s hope that the centrists in the Dem party prevent more tilting to the left.

Maybe the real answer is that too much power corrupts no matter who wields it.  Possibly the best government for Colorado is one where at least one house is held by the opposing party or the Governor is of an opposing party.  This situation forces compromise and leads to more moderate and thoughful legislation.