The governors decision on what spending cuts to make would for the most part not have been nearly as necessary had he exercised some initial restraint in hiring literally thousands of new state workers and expanding programs when conservatives were telling him the gravy train could not go on forever.
So when faced with the results of his own miscalculation this governor chooses to utilize the program cuts in a way that fall quite heavily in areas where shall we say his support is... unreliable.
The Governor for instance has chosen to raise the fee for background checks on firearms purchases-which I'm sure is not as much of an issue in his natural haven of Capitol Hill and Boulder but it is a matter of real concern and costs to working people in Western Colorado who buy proportionately more firearms on salaries that are significantly less than a CU professors.
He is also practically cleaned out the nursing program and the number of services available to deeply disabled individuals who are housed at the Grand Junction Regional Center. His budgetary ax has had a fundamentally crippling effect on the entire institution which serves a singular need throughout Western Colorado.
He has also decided to busily redirect energy impact money from counties in Western Colorado which have generated both severance tax dollars flowing into state coffers and had been designated to receive the energy impact monies because of just that, the impact the counties had undergone as a result of upgrading infrastructure to support the energy industry.
It is no secret that Governor Ritter believes Western Colorado in general and Mesa County and its surrounding area in particular are hostile territory, seldom visited and eyed with suspicion if not outright fear.
With that in mind, many are wondering if we have not had our interests protected as much as say heavily Democrat Southern Colorado i.e. "Ritter announces cuts of $320 million; Pueblo mostly spared from impact" Pueblo Chieftain article.
He better hope he finds a lot of votes down South because the rest of the state is not looking so good for Ritter 2010.
