State of Colorado Archives: on Budget & Economy

John Hickenlooper: Increase budget reserves; extend job-creation tax credit

• increase the state's budget reserve
• extend the job-creation tax credit from five years to seven, enabling more businesses to maintain employees and hire new ones
• form a non-profit enterprise dedicated to fostering public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure projects such as transportation and water
• allocate an additional $100 million for higher education, which would cap tuition increases at 6 percent and put college within reach of more families
• support Coloradans with developmental disabilities and their caregivers, including addressing the current waitlist, family support services, and transitional services.
  Source: 2014 State of the State address to Colorado Legislature Jan 9, 2014

  John Hickenlooper: Rebuild reserve fund after Great Recession

  Rebuild reserve fund after Great Recession Today, with an improving economy, we have the beginnings of a reserve fund and we should protect it. We are restoring funding for education--not enough to make up for the $1 billion shortfall we experienced in the Great Recession--but our steps are Rebuild reserve fund after Great Recession We expanded this engagement process with TBD Colorado. Coloradans told us that excessive red tape, including unnecessary and duplicative regulations were holding back job creation. Source: 2013 Colorado State of the State address Jan 10, 2013

  Michael Bennet: Stimulus bill avoided Depression; now we need infrastructure

  Q: You helped the stimulus get passed. You say there's nothing to show for it but more debt. Isn't that an admission that the major piece to help the economy simply did not work by this administration?

  BENNET: Absolutely not. In fact, what I was saying is true, because we have $13 trillion of debt on the balance sheet and nothing to show for it. We have not even had the decency to maintain the assets that our parents and grandparents built for us: our roads, our bridges, our wastewater systems, our sewer systems; by the way, those weren't Bolsheviks, those weren't socialists that built those things for us--much less build the infrastructure we need for the 21st century.

  Q: But the president acknowledges that infrastructure spending has not been really dealt with in this stimulus bill.

  BENNET: Transportation, transit and energy infrastructure as well. That stimulus package saved us from going into the second Great Depression. But that's hardly enough.

  Source: NBC's Meet the Press: 2010 Colorado Senate debate Oct 17, 2010

  Ken Buck: We spent $787B on stimulus with nothing to show for it

  Buck said he would never have voted for the $787 billion federal stimulus spending bill. "We were promised that unemployment wouldn't rise above 8%," Buck said, noting it is much higher. He also mentioned Bennet's comments last summer that Congress had increased the national debt to $13 trillion "with nothing to show for it."

  Bennet said the stimulus bill hasn't been more effective because the U.S. recession was even worse than initially believed.

  Source: Pueblo Chieftan coverage of 2010 Colorado Senate Debate Oct 8, 2010

  Michael Bennet: Stimulus bill limited because recession worse than expected

  Buck said he would never have voted for the $787 billion federal stimulus spending bill. He also mentioned Bennet's comments last summer that Congress had increased the national debt to $13 trillion "with nothing to show for it."

  Bennet said the stimulus bill hasn't been more effective because the U.S. recession was even worse than initially believed. "But 37% of that legislation was in tax cuts," he argued, a claim that Buck's supporters scoffed at.

  Source: Pueblo Chieftan coverage of 2010 Colorado Senate Debate Oct 8, 2010

  Jane Norton: Economic recovery depends on lower taxes & balanced budget

  Strengthening our economy is the most pressing issue our Congress currently faces and economic recovery and growth depends on a few key principles:
  • Lower taxes
  • A balanced budget
  • Reduced national debt
  • Fiscal restraint and smaller government
  • Regulatory reform
  Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, janenortonforcolorado.com Dec 25, 2009

  Michael Bennet: Transparency on paying for tax cuts and spending programs

  Our fiscal solvency is dependent on our economic recovery. We will not be able to eliminate our budget deficit with a shrinking tax base, and we cannot pay off our national debt until our economy starts to grow again. As a result, our first priority must be to invest in those programs--education, renewable energy, and health care--that we know will provide for stable economic growth in the future. Though it may seem counterintuitive, I believe our future fiscal stability depends on our willingness to spend the money necessary to get our economy moving in the right direction again.

  We still have more work to do. Both the House and Senate are now required to find a way to pay for most new spending programs or tax cuts. I believe that these rules could be stronger so that Congress, just like every Colorado family, is required to figure out how to pay for what it spends.

  Transparency must be improved by every Member of Congress and throughout the system as a whole.

  Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, bennetforcolorado.com "Issues" Jul 2, 2009

  Bob Schaffer: $700B bailout is dead hand of government making things worse

  Q: You said you didn’t like anything about this bailout bill. You described it as the dead hand of government making things worse.

  SCHAFFER: There’s nothing to like about the notion that there is a $700 billion fix needed with respect to a collapse on Wall Street. That’s about $10,000 to $11,000 per American household. It’s essentially a tax. So you’re correct. For the Congress to suggest that there’s something to celebrate is exactly wrong.

  Q: Chris Cox, the chairman of the SEC, said it’s not the dead hand of government, but the blind eye of government. He now apologizes for deregulating. So isn’t it time to reinstitute closer regulation of Wall Street?

  SCHAFFER: In some areas, perhaps, with respect to transparency, & with respect to certain areas of accountability. But not in a way that slows or constrains the ability of the economy to grow.

  Source: 2008 Colorado Senate Debate on Meet the Press Sep 28, 2008

  Bob Schaffer: Congress’ 2007 laws made private sector pay for bailout

  Q: Isn’t it time to reinstitute closer regulation of Wall Street?

  UDALL: What we can’t do, is return to the policies that Schaffer supported & supports today, which are tax breaks for CEOs & companies that offshore jobs.

  SCHAFFER: That’s not true.

  UDALL: That’s not going to get us to health in our financial system. Schaffer supported a lessening of regulation.

  SCHAFFER: That’s not true either. You voted against several amendments. You voted against establishing minimum capital levels for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. You voted in 2007 to further loosen Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s credit limits. That leads directly to the crisis we’re seeing on Wall Street today.

  UDALL: This is [the result of deregulation during] 10 years of the Bush administration, of the Reagan revolution coming to its logical conclusion.

  SCHAFFER: Those of us who’ve been back home in the private sector working hard for the last 6 years are sick & tired of these kinds of votes that make all of the rest of us pay.

  Source: 2008 Colorado Senate Debate on Meet the Press Sep 28, 2008

  Bob Schaffer: $700 billion bailout is necessary but essentially a tax

  Udall and Schaffer sparred over who is to blame for the policies that have led to talks of a bail out of the financial industry.

  Udall accused Schaffer of supporting the policies that have led to the economic crisis, while Schaffer responded that Udall has voted against having more oversight for companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

  Schaffer said the proposed $700 billion bailout is necessary but “essentially a tax.” Udall says the plan is not supported by his constituents.

  Source: 2008 Colorado Senate debate reported by AP in Boston Herald Sep 28, 2008

  Mark Udall: Financial bailout results from Reagan & Bush GOP policies

  Q: Isn’t it time to reinstitute closer regulation of Wall Street?

  UDALL: What we can’t do, is return to the policies that Schaffer supported and supports today, which are tax breaks for CEOs, tax breaks for companies that offshore jobs, tax breaks for the wealthiest among us.

  SCHAFFER: That’s not true.

  UDALL: That’s not going to get us to health in our financial system. Schaffer supported a lessening of regulation.

  SCHAFFER: That’s not true either. You voted against several amendments. You voted in 2007 to further loosen Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s credit limits. That leads directly to the crisis we’re seeing on Wall Street today.

  UDALL: This is [the result of deregulation during] 10 years of the Bush administration, of the Reagan revolution coming to its logical conclusion.

  SCHAFFER: Those of us who’ve been back home in the private sector working hard for the last six years are sick and tired of these kinds of votes that make all of the rest of us pay.

  Source: 2008 Colorado Senate Debate on Meet the Press Sep 28, 2008

  Mark Udall: $700 billion bailout is not good for my constituents

  Udall and Schaffer sparred over who is to blame for the policies that have led to talks of a bail out of the financial industry.

  Udall accused Schaffer of supporting the policies that have led to the economic crisis, while Schaffer responded that Udall has voted against having more oversight for companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

  Schaffer said the proposed $700 billion bailout is necessary but “essentially a tax.” Udall says the plan is not supported by his constituents.

  Source: 2008 Colorado Senate debate reported by AP in Boston Herald Sep 28, 2008

  Ken Salazar: Cut national debt and close tax loopholes

  As Senator, one of my highest priorities will be to work to create jobs and economic opportunity. I will be a strong voice for fiscally conservative policies that don’t saddle our children with even more debt. I will support responsible tax cuts for working families, not just the wealthy. And I will fight to close unfair tax loopholes that allow big corporations to move their headquarters overseas to avoid paying taxes. Source: 2004 Senate campaign website, SalazarForColorado.com Mar 10, 2004

  The above quotations are from State of Colorado Politicians: Archives. Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy. Click here for other issues (main summary page).
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  Page last updated: Sep 08, 2014