August 17, 2009 08:07 PM UTC

Kent Lambert on the JBC

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• by: smellykat

Interestingly no posts today on Kent Lambert’s appointment to the JBC.  Yes, he is very conservative.  But he is a decent human being.  What will be interesting to see is if, like many before him, his idealogical positions are changed when he begins to learn how Colorado’s budget really works.  So many have decried public spending, or waste fraud and abuse, but then they have learned the truth about how little Colorado spends on various things like public education, disease prevention and health care, services for domestic violence and other crime victims, environmental enforcement, higher education, and correctional services.  

After sitting through various presentations on these matters most JBC members have become convinced that Colorado’s fiscal house is in an awful mess. What I hope Kent Lambert will do is ask good questions, listen intently, and start to gain a thorough understanding.  

Even fiscal conservatives like Ronald Reagan believed in a social safety net and in a compassionate society that did not abandon the least of these.  Unfortunately that message has been drowned out lately by those who decry “big gubment”.  Well yes, when anything gets big, be it corporate America or government it gets hard to control.  But as Ken Gordon was wont to say, “lets not make the perfect the enemy of the good”.  In survey results the recipients of medicare, are much happier with that system than are recipients of private insurance.  While its not perfect – government can do good things and has a legitimate role in people’s lives.  We are no longer a society where volunteers and charity can make up the private sector gaps.  I know Kent has a good heart, and I hope he will keep his mind open.