Democrats are at it again. Back in 2005 they urged Coloradans to tweak our constitution’s spending limit … to spend more money on “stuff.” Ref C won.
They promised they’d spend some extra cash on tourism promotion. The “estimated economic impact from tourism-related promotion [was] $2.6 billion,” said the liberal Bell Policy Center.
With 20/20 hindsight, did that work out?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures all jobs in “leisure and hospitality.” In the four years before Ref C, Colorado had averaged 1,722,099 of these tourism jobs. The next year (2006) we added 41,152 jobs or growth of 2.4%. That may be what made Bell so ecstatic. Not,sadly, the real picture.
Tourism jobs in the whole US increased, measured the same way, 5.5%. So Colorado fell well behind the US as a whole in job creation. It’s hard to pat ourselves on the back when we are doing just half as well as every place else.
Nor was that a one-time shortfall. In 2007 we were 4.0% behind the US, then 4.3% behind the next year (2008). Jump forward. For 2012 Colorado is actually 1,023 jobs down from the 2005 employment level … while the US as a whole added 998,396 jobs. The way Democrats spend money doesn’t help the economy, does it?
Promises, promises
Having now raised their first million bucks to push the $1 Billion tax hike of 2013, Democrats will promise goodies for K-12 education. The Denver Post has done its part; they sad-sacked about “limited funding” for preschool in Sunday’s edition. You gotta love the coordinated messaging between the Post and Curtis Hubbard – now tax-raiser-in-chief, quondam Post opinion writer.
ColoradoPols is promising the $1 Billion tax hike campaign will have “the resources it needs.” Expect a fib a week from the campaign.
After all, little white lies are ordinary tools of the trade for Democrat campaigners, as the Morse/Giron team has proved.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks