The Democrats have been waging a well documented war on rural Colorado for quite sometime, so we’re not sure why the Grand Junction Sentinel’s capitol beat reporter, Charles Ashby, is suddenly trying to give them cover. 
Ashby’s most recent story equates Republicans voting down Senate Bill 36, which would have created a government funded grant program to help rural areas affected by layoffs, to Democrats restricting 2nd Amendment rights and increasing rural utility bills.
Sorry, but those are not opposite sides of the same coin. This was a vote against expanding government. What Democrats are guilty of is restricting freedom and making life in rural Colorado more expensive. See the difference?
Also, the major organizations supporting SB 36 were either government entities like the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, or associations that represent government entities like Colorado Counties Inc. Of course those groups want to see more money funneled into government programs that they control! Just because they aren’t corporately funded doesn’t mean they aren’t special interests.
And, let’s not forget that there are already safety nets in place to assist people who get laid off or hit hard times.
We’re not saying that rural Colorado isn’t suffering. But there is a right way and a wrong way to help them.
actually we want to help ourselves with our own dollars……….