On KNUS, Independence Institute guest host fawned over GOP's Wadhams, let him mislead about Ritter panels

Summary: KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio guest host Jessica Peck Corry on January 17 failed to challenge misleading statements from Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams about Gov. Bill Ritter's (D) blue ribbon commissions and their recommendations regarding education, transportation, and health care. Wadhams asserted that Ritter "has totally backed off his health care agenda" and claimed that his education reform panel "is a non-starter." In fact, Ritter has stated his commitment to address all three areas gradually, due to the lack of funding that would be required to implement all the panels' recommendations in full.

On the February 17 broadcast of KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio, guest hosts Jessica Peck Corry of the "free market" Independence Institute and Brad Jones of the "news" website Face the State uncritically allowed Colorado Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams to assert that Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter "has shelved every one" of his blue ribbon commissions studying and proffering recommendations on how to address statewide issues related to education, transportation, and health care. Wadhams further stated that Ritter "has totally backed off his health care agenda"; in fact, Ritter recently stated that his health care reform plan "would incorporate some of the less expensive but important recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission for Healthcare Reform," according to the Rocky Mountain News. Moreover, in December 2007, Ritter announced education reform plans that he based on recommendations submitted by his P-20 Education Coordinating Council. As Wadhams later acknowledged, Ritter also has supported the lowest-cost recommendation of the Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel.

Neither Corry nor Jones noted that Wadhams also omitted Ritter's widely reported reason behind the gradual implementation of his health care proposal -- that due to Colorado's tight budget, full funding of any of the reform plans would require voter approval of a tax increase because of restrictions under Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR). As the News reported on February 12, Ritter said he thought that "Colorado's fiscally conservative voters aren't yet ready to pass" a new tax.

After stating that Wadhams recently coined the nickname "Blue Ribbon" Bill Ritter, Corry stated, "You, Dick Wadhams, are the master; you came up with it, you can say it much better than I. What does that mean, and tell us why people should be concerned." Wadhams answered, "[W]hat's interesting about Ritter, he formed all these wonderful blue ribbon commissions, on education, transportation ... and a lot of good people served on these commissions to find solutions to these big problems, and all those areas, and to find financing for all these areas. And now, all those folks must feel like orphans now, because he has shelved every one of those commissions." Wadhams then asserted that Ritter "has totally backed off his health care agenda. The guy who was going to create a whole new health care system in Colorado has now basically totally retreated from it. He ran away from recommendations of his own transportation commission. His P-20 education commission, I don't think -- is a non-starter."

However, contrary to Wadhams' claim that Ritter "has shelved every one" of his commissions, the governor publicly has stated commitments to address the state's health care, education, and transportation problems gradually, due to the lack of funding that would be required to implement all the commissions' recommendations in full.

According to the February 12 News article, "Ritter cautioned that he might not be able to find the $43 million that would be needed for a bill being introduced this week to expand coverage to more than 65,000 of the state's approximately 180,000 uninsured children." The News continued:

Ritter said in his first State of the State speech 13 months ago that he wanted to give every Coloradan access to basic health insurance by 2010. He said Monday that while health insurance for just the state's uninsured children is a worthy goal, it would require a new tax that Colorado's fiscally conservative voters aren't yet ready to pass. [emphasis added]

Reporting on Ritter's February 13 news conference, the News reported on February 14:

With lights on and cameras rolling Wednesday, Gov. Bill Ritter laid out a health care plan that was largely the same as one he announced in November.

The governor reiterated his vows from his Nov. 1 budget announcement as well as his State of the State address last month in saying that he would devote $25 million to covering about 17,000 more of the state's 180,000 uninsured children.

He said he also would incorporate some of the less expensive but important recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission for Healthcare Reform.

The "building blocks for health care reform" package took the first significant steps toward the vision he still holds of someday bringing universal health care to Colorado, Ritter said. [emphasis added]

Similarly, reporting on the same news conference, The Denver Post noted on February 14 that "Ritter said he would not ask voters for a tax increase this year for health care. His administration must prove it has cut needless spending, such as duplicate medical tests and paperwork, before hitting voters up for more cash, he said."

Addressing Colorado's problems in education, on December 5, 2007, Ritter announced a reform package based on recommendations made by his P-20 Council, which Wadhams called a "non-starter." As the Post reported on December 6, 2007, "Ritter unveiled a $115.5 million plan Wednesday to get more at-risk kids in preschool, send 22,000 students to full-day kindergarten and hire dozens more guidance counselors to keep high schoolers from dropping out." The Post further noted:

By 2017, Ritter wants to cut the statewide dropout rate in half and cut the achievement gap between white students and their counterparts on statewide tests. He also wants to double the number of college degrees and certificates awarded in Colorado.

[...]

Ritter's plans were gleaned from recommendations by the governor's education panel, which is studying reform from preschool to college. The governor said he still is working out the budget details of one of the panel's main recommendations: higher teacher pay.

The legislature would have to approve most of the proposals, though Ritter asked that the state Department of Education change some policies. [emphasis added]

Later in the broadcast, Wadhams stated, "[W]hat's interesting about his [Ritter's] transportation commission -- the only thing that he seems to embrace out of that is a $100-a-vehicle auto registration fee." Wadhams characterized the proposal as "a terribly regressive tax," stating, "The lower down the economic ladder you go, the harder that hits people, the more it hurts." However, Wadhams did not note that Ritter has stated he would support the transportation panel's recommendation for the registration fee increase because it would generate funding for maintenance of Colorado roads without requiring a tax increase.

As the Post reported on January 31, "Gov. Bill Ritter is working on legislation that would increase car registration fees an average of $100, raising $500 million for road and bridge repairs." The article further reported:

The governor said Wednesday that he was "involved in conversations" to launch the recommendation from his transportation commission -- one of two revenue-generating proposals that would not require a vote of the people.

The panel says an additional $500 million a year is the minimum needed to maintain the state's deteriorating road system and that $1.5 billion per year in new money would be required to fix roads and bridges.

Ritter has said he is not ready to move forward on the commission's plans for tax hikes to pay for larger transportation needs in a year when lawmakers are also faced with multibillion-dollar requests for health care and education. [emphases added]

Similarly, the News reported on January 31 that Ritter "called on the legislature Wednesday to look at increasing auto registration fees to pay for a $500 million-a-year catch-up effort on Colorado's highway maintenance backlog." The article added:

But that "Fix It Now" proposal is only a third of the package his blue-ribbon panel on transportation funding recommended. Fees can be hiked by the legislature, but voters would have to approve a tax increase to cover the rest of the package, and Ritter said now is not the time to ask them.

"We probably haven't made the case yet to get that on the 2008 ballot," Ritter told a packed meeting of the legislature's transportation caucus at the Capitol.

From the February 17 broadcast of KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio:

CORRY: Well, you are the man who is able to give the best political nicknames. And we were hearing for long time "Backroom" Bill Ritter, but you came up with a really good one last week -- "Blue Ribbon" Bill Ritter. See, I can't even say it. You, Dick Wadhams, are the master; you came up with it, you can say it much better than I. What does that mean, and tell us why people should be concerned.

WADHAMS: Well, what's interesting about Ritter, he formed all these wonderful blue ribbon commissions, on education, transportation; he took ownership of the health care, the 208 commission that actually was formed under Governor [Bill] Owens. But he basically took ownership of it after he got elected. And he empowered these commissions, and a lot of good people served on these commissions to find solutions to these big problems, and all those areas, and to find financing for all these areas. And now, all those folks must feel like orphans now, because he has shelved every one of those commissions.

CORRY: Well, let's talk about some of those ideas -- the radical ideas that came out of these commissions.

WADHAMS: Yeah, I mean, he has totally backed off his health care agenda. The guy who was going to create a whole new health care system in Colorado has now basically totally retreated from it. He ran away from recommendations of his own transportation commission. His P20 education commission, I don't think -- is a non-starter. And particularly, what's interesting about his transportation commission -- the only thing that he seems to embrace out of that is a $100-a-vehicle auto registration fee. Which is the most incredible thing he could have ever come out of that commission. Because that is a terribly regressive tax. The lower down the economic ladder you go, the harder that hits people, the more it hurts. And now he's got ownership of it, and all those Democrats who are with him have ownership of that idea too. Whether they like it or not.

—C.H.