On Caplis & Silverman, no challenge to GOP lawmaker's assertion that Rep. Bruce "has refused to vote for all resolutions"

Summary: Appearing as a guest February 13 on The Caplis & Silverman Show, state Rep. Kevin Lundberg (R) responded to a question from co-host Craig Silverman referencing state Rep. Douglas Bruce's (R) refusal to co-sponsor or vote on a resolution honoring military veterans by claiming that Bruce "has refused to vote for all resolutions." Neither Silverman nor co-host Dan Caplis pointed out that Bruce has co-sponsored three resolutions so far during the 2008 legislative session.

On the February 13 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show, co-host Craig Silverman asked his guest, Republican state Rep. Kevin Lundberg, about state Rep. Douglas Bruce's (R-Colorado Springs) February 13 refusal to co-sponsor or vote on a joint resolution acknowledging Military and Veterans Appreciation Day. After Silverman said that Bruce "refused to support the military," Lundberg insisted, "No, he didn't -- he refused to vote for a resolution," and added that Bruce "has refused to vote for all resolutions." However, Silverman and co-host Dan Caplis failed to mention that Bruce in fact has co-sponsored three resolutions during the current legislative session.

Stating that Lundberg was "the only person in the Republican caucus to vote against censuring" Bruce for kicking a photographer on January 14, Silverman asked Lundberg if he regretted his vote:

SILVERMAN: Representative, before we let you go, Doug Bruce back in the news -- you were the only person in the Republican caucus to vote against censuring him. Do you regret that vote in light of what he did today?

LUNDBERG: What did he do today?

SILVERMAN: He refused to support the military.

LUNDBERG: No, he didn't -- he refused to vote for a resolution, which he has refused to vote for all resolutions -- this is a complete misconstruction of what --

SILVERMAN: I'm just quoting [state House Minority Leader] Mike May, who said the guy is shameful and without honor.

LUNDBERG: Well, I'm disappointed that we can't get back down to the facts, and that is what I was trying to do by not supporting the censure vote is, that was out of proportion. I stated most clearly at the mike before the vote that I didn't approve of what he did, I thought it was wrong, but it was not the correct step to call it censure; it should have been a rebuke. And I don't mind to stand on what I believe is right and correct, and I'll honor my colleagues when they try to do the same.

SILVERMAN: Fair enough, sir.

However, Lundberg did not note -- and neither Caplis nor Silverman brought up -- the fact that Bruce has co-sponsored three resolutions during the 2008 legislative session: one commemorating the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., one "[c]oncerning civility in the Colorado General Assembly," and another designating January 28 as Colorado 4-H Day.

As the Rocky Mountain News reported online on February 13 (a print version of the article appeared on February 14), Bruce "infuriated fellow lawmakers by being the lone legislator who refused to cosponsor a Joint House-Senate resolution honoring Military and Veterans Appreciation Day. He would not say why he did it." The News further reported:

The rookie lawmaker has often protested other ceremonial resolutions, including an annual one honoring President Ronald Reagan's birthday, as a waste of lawmaker's time that could be better spent working on legislation.

Yet Bruce did cosponsor resolutions honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Colorado 4-H Day.

He did it again after the military day honor, asking permission to not vote on a resolution urging universal health care coverage for Colorado Children by 2018. He called it "a waste of time."

The request was denied by fellow lawmakers on a 55-10 vote.

—C.H.