October 28, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Owens Explains Things (A Bit)

•  
• by: Red Hawk

Governor Owens has sent a letter to national conservative think tanks defending his position on Referenda C and D.

According to the Denver Post:

On Oct. 12, Owens mailed more than 100 letters to think tanks at the expense of the Vote Yes on C & D campaign to reiterate his position that suspending TABOR refunds is the only sensible fix for declining state revenues. Conservatives across the country accuse him of abandoning fiscal conservatism. 

“Would I prefer to not be asking our taxpayers for help to shore up our state budget? Of course,” Owens wrote. “Have we considered every alternative – including possible cuts – to avoid these referenda? Yes.”

Whats interesting in all of this is both the timing and language of the letter; he could have easily sent a similar letter months ago (say, when the issue was first introduced) and to time it now might be a hint of things to come is he really concerned fiscal conservatives outside of Colorado dont understand the issues behind C and D? Or is he hearing this thing might really fail?

Both are possibilities, but even more relevant is the response hes been receiving:

According to Slivinsky, of the CATO Institute, “The letter didn’t seem to yield much in the way of new argumentation. It seemed more like an attempt at damage control.

Critics say the letter is an effort by the governor – for years a national star in Republican politics – to protect his conservative legacy, which has taken a beating since he helped craft Referendums C and D.

And from Grover Norquist:

Young Republican children years from now will be scared in campground campfires by stories about Bill Owens – the tax-cutting Republican who magically turned into a tax-increase bad guy, and they will not be able to sleep all night.”