New Democrat Update - May 2000
FINDING COLORADO'S “VITAL CENTER”
Coloradans turned out to be the real losers of the 2000 legislative session. As their demands for centrist, mainstream and pragmatic solutions go unheeded, they grow increasingly tired of an old left-right debate that is more focused on rehashing old arguments, rather than building the future.
On two of the biggest issues facing the state, the legislature thumbed its nose at the public and even their own Republican governor. The public has consistently identified smart growth as its major - if not top - priority, while also strongly supporting effective crime-fighting and reasonable public safety initiatives.
New Democrat legislators were ready to lead - strongly advocating a “Livable Communities” initiative, giving Colorado's local governments the tools they need to manage growth and shape their destinies. The agenda included empowering local communities to develop enforceable plans for their futures and the responsibility for deciding whether to make growth pay its own way through impact fees on new development.
Unfortunately, the GOP killed repeated attempts to do anything meaningful - killing 21 of 23 bills related to smart growth. In the end, they only created another bureaucracy and tinkered with some minor technicalities.
On another front, State Rep. Bob Hagedorn had a tough and smart anti-crime proposal to protect law-abiding citizens and help residents to make their neighborhoods safer. Preventing crime and punishing criminals, “Targeting the Trouble” works with local communities to systematically target high-crime areas, putting cops “on the beat” and assigning prosecutors and probation officers to neighborhoods. Republicans simply said no to that proven approach.
Before the session, gun-safety proponents had some reason for hope when Gov. Bill Owens proposed safe storage of firearms, strengthening background checks especially for guns purchased at gun shows (closing the gun-show loophole), raising the age for purchasing handguns from 18 to 21 and getting tough on “straw purchasers” - people who buy guns on behalf of children and criminals.
With the minimal exception of cracking down on straw purchasers, the legislature's solution is aimed at getting more guns into circulation by keeping the identities of the concealed weapon permit holders secret and providing special legal protection for the firearms industry. Not coincidentally, the only gun-related proposals that saw the light of day all received the National Rifle Association's seal of approval.
With support from the public and a governor from the same party, why did the legislature refuse to do anything meaningful on growth and crime? Why didn't the Republicans deliver on solutions sure to generate public support?
Owens and the legislative leadership have consistently avoided twisting the arms of their GOP colleagues, taking on the extremists in his party, and building a coalition of centrist Republicans and Democrats. Leading is not merely calling a news conference and professing support. It takes hard work, sticking your neck out, prodding constant public pressure and nitty gritty coalition-building.
If a role model is needed, Owens and other GOP leaders should look no further than the work of New Democrats in Colorado and across the country. The DLC has challenged Democratic orthodoxies, taken on tough, bitter fights and continues to successfully move the Democratic Party back into the mainstream. Two examples are worth mentioning.
New Democrats have faced down the protectionists in our party and reached across the aisle to work with Republicans to pass NAFTA, GATT and hundreds of free trade agreements around the world. For a quarter century, Democrats were justifiably accused of taking money from people who work to give it to people who don't. But New Democrat President Bill Clinton stood up to the defenders of the status quo in his party and ended welfare as we knew it.
Ironically, the legislature's failures give the governor opportunities to demonstrate such tough leadership. Vetoing special legal rights for the gun industry and hiding concealed carry permit information would be a start. Demonstrating true public leadership on the ballot initiative to close the gun-show loophole is another.
Until the GOP leadership becomes willing to pay the price, state Republicans will continue to be outside Colorado's mainstream. Reforming a political party cannot be done “on the cheap.”
New Democrats know that reality too well.
TAX REFORM
While reducing sales and income taxes, the legislature also could not resist giving 24 narrow tax breaks to its favorite special interests, reducing the average taxpayer's refund by $114. Besides, while delighting those on the right, tax-cutting generates little voter enthusiasm these days. One reason is that for the large majority of taxpayers, the bigger bite - federal levies - is decreasing.
The average federal-income tax rate for a family of four is now 7.5 percent, the lowest it has been since 1966. In fact, households earning half of the median income are paying a negative income tax rate. The after-tax incomes of the top one percent of earners have risen by 24 percent since 1987.
Unfortunately, progress at the state level has not been as impressive. That's why New Democrat legislators called for reform that will keep the prosperity going while reducing the tax burden on working families.
The legislature took a small step in the right direction by creating the Colorado Commission on Taxation. That panel will make recommendations to update the system for the first time in four decades.
Nonetheless, the heavy lifting will be closing special-interest loopholes that have no valid public purpose, enacting a research and development tax credit to boost innovation and keep prosperity going, as well as progressive measures like an expanded earned income tax credit and property tax relief for the elderly. In contrast to this one, we can only hope that a future legislature is up to modernizing our tax system.
Next month, an in-depth look at the education reform debate this session and where we go from here.
STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE!
The new issue of Blueprint shows policymakers how to create a health care revolution that will put people patients and consumers at the center of our health care system, not doctors or insurance companies. The latest issue of The New Democrat magazine takes a close look at the vital center of American politics and the keys to victory in this year's presidential election, including Al From’s Political Memo on why winning centrist voters requires education reform and trade initiatives.