House Speaker Andrew Romanoff’s response to the latest gibe by Republican Leader Joe Stengel falls somewhere between “Killing them with kindness” and “Be careful what you wish for.”
Stengel complained Wednesday that Democrats won’t listen to the spending plans of lawmakers who voted against Referendum C, citing a Denver Post article in which Majority Leader Alice Madden accurately described anti-C activists as people who “chose not to be part of the solution.”
That label certainly fits Stengel, who actually stood with Gov. Bill Owens to support the budget fix before flip-flopping to vote against it a few days later. But it’s important to note that 19 Republicans did join the legislature’s 53 Democrats to put C on the ballot.
Given that the fiscal views of the anti-C lawmakers were opposed by 72 percent of their colleagues – oh, and by the voters, too – you can imagine they may be in the minority again this year.
But it isn’t because Romanoff won’t listen.
“Writing this budget is a hard job, and we need as many brains at work as possible,” the speaker told The Post on Thursday. “I don’t believe we should restrict the game to those who were on the winning team last fall.”
Madden likewise pledged all bills, regardless of their authors, will get a “fair hearing.”
The budget will be a tight one and some bills will fall of their own weight. That’s exactly as it should be.
