Governing by Committee

Upon seeing this cartoon the other day, I had a good chuckle. Thanks to the artist Benjamin Hummel for the permission to repost it here:



If there's anything for which our current governor has a proclivity, it's hiding behind the decisions of well-crafted panels, councils, and commissions. It's interesting to note how the "blue ribbon panel" has been a recurring theme here at Ritter Watch:

In November we wrote: "Last year he set in motion a bunch of blue ribbon panels whose goal, individually and collectively, was to spend Colorado taxpayers into poverty. He appointed roadbuilding hawks to the roadbuilding panel and health care hawks to the healthcare panel, and so on."

Later we clued readers into this report: "Governor Bill Ritter's 32-member blue-ribbon panel is recommending a $100 average increase in vehicle registration fees as part of its $1.5 billion plan to pay for much-needed transportation infrastructure maintenance and improvements."

It's not just transportation, but education, too.

Sometimes, though, a good picture really does tell the story better. So hats off to Hummel for his clever cartoon - we invite you to check out all his work on his site.

Indecisive Ritter Leans Toward Raising Vehicle Fees

After nearly a year of having a transportation panel in place, Gov. Bill Ritter still isn't sure what he's going to do about Colorado's roads:

Senate Republicans were flabbergasted today after Gov. Bill Ritter said he remains unsure how he will fund Colorado's most critical transportation needs--weeks into the 2008 legislative session and almost a year after he set up a panel to study the issue.

But if Ritter had to choose, he is leaning towards a plan that will hit the family pocketbook:

The plan the governor's transportation panel has been touting involves up to $100-a-vehicle registration fee hikes. Ritter admitted to lawmakers at today's gathering that a fee hike, "...is something that can happen without going to the voters."

In this instance, while Ritter is going astray, Republicans are on the right track. The opposition party is arguing for a constitutional change that ensures transportation funds are used for their intended purposes, not spent on other pet projects so Democrats can leave roads and bridges unfixed and come back begging for a tax increase:

[Senate minority leader Andy] McElhany said asking voters for permission to raise revenue not only is the right thing to do, but it is also the only realistic way to fund transportation.

"If you don't go to the ballot and secure any transportation funding in the constitution, I have full faith the General Assembly will fritter away those funds on other programs sooner or later," he said. "If the governor doesn't understand that, he is naive."

Fiscal responsibility is certainly not a hallmark of Colorado's current Democratic administration.

Ritter Transportation Panel Calls for More Taxes

Another panel commissioned by Gov. Bill Ritter, another set of recommended tax increases:

Governor Bill Ritter's 32-member blue-ribbon panel is recommending a $100 average increase in vehicle registration fees as part of its $1.5 billion plan to pay for much-needed transportation infrastructure maintenance and improvements.The road funding proposals include:

• Increase vehicle registration fees by $100 on average.
• Raise gas tax by 13 cents a gallon.
• Icrease [sic] the fee on hotel rooms and car rentals to $6 a day.
• Increasing the state sales tax by 0.35 percent.
• Increase severance tax by 1.7 percent.

This is starting to sound like a tired theme. I don't know about your middle-class family, but all these proposals alone would take a significant chunk out of my household budget. Is this what Coloradans voted for when they elected Ritter to be governor in 2006?

Cross posted at Colorado Union of Taxpayers