Opposing Progressive Ballot Measure, Editor Cites France, Rather Than Neighboring State

Note: Colorado, my home state, is hosting not just a tight presidential and U.S. Senate race, but also a battle over a series of progressive ballot measures that, if passed, would be landmark models for progressive economic campaigns in the future. This post looks at the kinds of dirty tactics the right is using to try to stop these initiatives - tactics that we will likely see all over the country in all different ways as this election season heats up. - D

A good rule of thumb: Beware those who cite silly examples 5,000 miles away, when there are real-world examples just up the road that they could cite - but deliberately ignore because those close-to-home examples undermine their entire point.

Exhibit A is Rocky Mountain News editorial page editor Vince Carroll, who today bases an entire column [1] on his claim that if voters pass a progressive ballot initiative requiring employers to have a "just cause" for firing employees, Colorado will become France - a place Carroll says is being destroyed by "oppressive labor regulations that stifle job creation and economic growth while keeping unemployment artificially high."

"This amendment will turn thousands of layoffs or firings in the private sector into fodder for potential lawsuits, with courts and juries peering over the shoulders of company supervisors and second-guessing decisions," Carroll hyperventilates, adding that Gov. Bill Ritter (D) must intervene to stop the horrific atrocity that would - gasp! - ask employers simply to have a reason to fire a worker.

Colorado as France? Sounds scary. But what about Colorado as Montana? Hmm. Not so scary - in fact, in many ways, sounds pretty good, right?

Exactly.

Montana, as Carroll surely knows but deliberately omitted, already has a "just cause" law on the books. And, as Carroll also knows, those laws have not adversely affected Montana's economy in the least.

As a comprehensive study [2] this month from the American Constitution Society (ACS) shows, there is absolutely no evidence that "just cause" law adversely affected Montana's unemployment rate since it was passed in 1987. You can try to claim ACS is a liberal group, but the government data it cites is not liberal or conservative. That's right - in comparing Montana to all of its surrounding states,
that data before 1987 and after it definitively prove there is absolutely zero negative correlation between "just cause" laws and unemployment rates. Zero.

In fact, over the last few years, Montana has been one of the fastest growing economies in the United States, often outpacing Colorado. Indeed, Montana - with its "just cause" law - is now the sixth fastest growing economy in America [3], while Colorado - with no "just cause" law - is ranks 22nd. Similarly, the last few years has seen Montana wages among the fastest growing in the nation - now far outpacing the growth of wages in Colorado [4]. And, of course, Montana has a massive budget surplus, while Colorado is perpetually struggling with budget shortfalls.

Of course, you can have a principled disagreement over "just cause." You can honestly think that employers should be able to fire anyone at anytime - that, for example, your boss should be able to fire you for wearing a tie he doesn't like. While I would disagree with you, that's your right, and that's your right to make such an argument - and I respect it.

As a personal example, I sometimes disagree with my Denver Post editor Dan Haley when I read his stuff, but he writes with a respect for the basic facts and I haven't ever seen him dip down into the trenches of devious dishonesty, which is what Carroll unfortunately did, and which is what is really unacceptable here.

Carroll used the pages of one of Colorado's largest papers to cite a country 5,000 mile away, when a minimally responsible journalist/writer would have cited (or at the very least, mentioned) a much more relevant neighboring state just a short drive north - a state that has many economic similarities to our state (a state that would take, ahem, exception to a Colorado editorial writer likening it to France - boy, would I love to see Carroll get up the guts to print his assertion in a Montana paper...them's fightin' words, as cowboys say).

His decision to try to deliberately mislead by reaching for France-flavored fearmongering shows just how far right-wing forces will go to try to confuse voters as election day approaches. Here's hoping Coloradoans and Gov. Ritter aren't fooled.