While Coloradans struggle under unemployment rates of 7% to more than 9% under Governor Hickenlooper and his Democrat predecessor (noteworthy: the state’s unemployment rate was a mere 3.7% when Governor Owens left office), behind closed doors Democrat lawmakers joke about the so-called “jobs bills” that they sponsored in the legislature this year.

Friday, Ed Sealover of the Denver Business Journal offered this troubling insight into the thinking of House Speaker Mark Ferrandino:

“The joke of the session was there’s no jobs bills. We said everything’s a jobs bill,” said Ferrandino, recalling floor debates in which some of his caucus members would stretch the definition of “jobs bill” mightily to argue that, for example, a survey of minority and women-owned businesses would help to create jobs.

It is nothing short of insulting to the citizens of Colorado that their elected officials would consider something as frivolous as a survey of minority-owned businesses a jobs creation bill.  In the mean time, Colorado Democrats trotted out one strange and confusing “jobs bill” after another, instead of focusing on simple, proven pro-growth fundamentals such as reducing regulation and lowering taxes.

I guess the joke is on us.