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Scott Hoffner: No Mitsch Bush

Scott Hoffner

Anytime you see the word sustainable in a narrative from a politician, you know they are well into the politics of the liberal establishment. That is exactly where we find Diane Mitsch Bush. If you look at her positions, you will find that she follows the extreme liberal philosophy.

She follows, in lockstep, the Colorado Democrat coalition, and unfortunately for us, she follows the national Democrat coalition.

First, and most importantly, she supported all of the anti-gun agenda except the fee for background checks. She voted for all of the Hickenlooper/Bloomberg attempts to restrict our rights to gun ownership. This includes but is not limited to: magazine capacity limits and background checks for private gun sales. She also was a co-sponsor of a bill prohibiting the possession of concealed handguns on college campuses. All an affront to our Second Amendment rights.



In addition, she is for same-day voter registration (a sure way for voter fraud to occur, I say), the authorization of civil unions, increased renewable energy standards on rural Colorado and in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

If that is not the full tamale of the liberal agenda, then I don’t know what is.



No wonder she is for Amendment 66. What liberal Democrat wouldn’t be? It taxes … and it spends!

It raises taxes for Routt County families at the median income level by 8 percent and for those with incomes at more than $75,000, 27 percent on the difference. That is $233 more in taxes for families in Routt County at the median income level of $63,000. For a family making $125,000, the increase is $912.

Some argue that this is money well spent. As I understand the bills, Routt County has a problem, though. Some of that money may not come back to Routt County because we have a “rich” district. It will be redistributed to districts that are less fortunate. Routt County will have to make up that loss by raising property taxes. Senate Bill 213, which will take effect if Amendment 66 passes, adjusts the per-pupil formula in an attempt to make state funding equal for every student in the state. In addition, it authorizes mill levy overrides to facilitate this.

The pro-Amendment 66 people have a website that lists a laundry list of benefits “for the children” but does not mention the fact that local districts can use some of the monies to back-fund PERA. Even Gov. John Hickenlooper has admitted to such. Teachers are part of the state-run pension fund called PERA. This horribly run fund has an unfunded liability of $21 billion. What better way of propping up this fund than by raising taxes on hard working Coloradans?

Diane Mitsch Bush was elected in 2012 as, what most would agree, a moderate Democrat. I wonder if her real agenda was known at that time, she would have had as much support? Much like in the cases of Sens. Angela Giron and John Morse, I think not.

I have known Diane for more than 20 years. Nice lady. A very good teacher, when she taught. Very articulate and smart. And, yes, very liberal.

In my opinion, Diane Mitsch Bush is not sustainable for Routt County.

Scott Hoffner

Steamboat Springs


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