Colorado's liberal Governor Bill Ritter has long avoided specific solutions to specific issues. He's relied on delaying tactics like blue ribbon panels to sidestep making any actual decision that would do anything of substance. The two exceptions, of course, being to kowtow to dirty labor union politics and shutdown major segments of Colorado's economy via astronomical tax increases.
One of his favorite targets, also a convenient whipping post for liberal U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall, is the oil and gas industry. He's even gone so far as to propose a half-baked $300 million tax on this specific industry. The money, of course, would go "to the children." None of it -- he promises -- would end up going to labor unions, or Planned Parenthood, or any of Ritter's other favorite government pork projects.
Many times, the result of half-baked ideas is the Law of Unintended Consequences. In this case, Ritter's latest tax increase has had real consequences for Colorado's economy. According to an article in the Denver Business Journal,
"Oil and gas executives put Colorado in the same league as Ukraine, Pakistan and Indonesia in terms of investment potential, according to the Global Petroleum Survey 2008."
If you're in Colorado, we feel for ya. Congratulations. A huge international industry sector once had the potential to bring great prosperity to Colorado thanks to the state's vast reserves of oil, gas, and especially oil shale. But that industry now looks at bringing jobs to Colorado about the same way you or I would look at taking a family vacation to Pakistan.
Is it malice that drives Bill Ritter and Mark Udall's extreme left-wing agenda, or is it simply idiocy? Do they know they are wrecking the state's economy, or is it just a natural byproduct of his desire for a socialist utopia?
Business is packing their bags. Voters should ask Ritter and Udall to do the same.
