New Democrat Update - April 1997
Debating the Future
The Colorado Democratic Leadership Council is conducting a debate entitled "The Future of the Democratic Party: What Are We Fighting For?" Former US Senate candidate Steve Leatherman and Denver City Auditor Don Mares will debate this important topic on Thursday, April 10, 5:30 PM at the Embassy Suites, 1881 Curtis Street in downtown Denver. Tom Strickland - the Colorado Democratic Party's US Senate candidate in 1996 - will moderate this critical discussion on our party's future. Audience members will have opportunities to ask questions and make comments.
If you have not already, please make your reservation as soon as possible (and at any time of the day) by calling the DLC Reservation Hotline at 303-629-4846. After you hear the voice mail message, please RSVP by leaving your name and day phone number on the recorder. The forum is priced at $5 per person to cover the cost of the facility and hors d'oeuvres.
Doing Welfare Reform Right
Colorado's new welfare plan should require recipients to engage in work activities as soon as they receive assistance - as opposed to the 24-month Republican waiting period. To make that happen, we must make work pay and replace the current program with a competitive employment system. The system should link welfare recipients to private labor markets through job placement firms and nonprofit organizations in competition with government agencies.
Unfortunately, Republicans in the legislature are aiming to do reform on the cheap, passing the buck to counties. Without adequate resources for child and health care, welfare reform in Colorado is destined to fail.
Real welfare reform means work that pays.
Changing Democrats and Labour
In a recent column, Denver Post Political Editor Fred Brown provides an update on the battle to reform the Colorado Democratic Party. Interestingly, that same fight has gone international.
As leader of Great Britain's Labour Party, Tony Blair has wholeheartedly embraced centrist New Democrat principles in his campaign for prime minister. In a radical departure from a socialist past, Labour is saying it will “save and invest” rather than tax and spend, transform “welfare into work” and manage national finances prudently.