Columnist Peggy Noonan is a master of language and understanding human nature.  Her most recent Wall Street Journal column suggests what we, as average taxpaying Americans, would like to hear from those who played roulette with our money and lost big.

“Let’s be real. This is what happened the past 10 years. You, for political reasons, both Republicans and Democrats, finagled the mortgage system so that people who make, like, zero dollars a year were given mortgages for $600,000 houses. You got to run around and crow about how under your watch everyone became a homeowner. You shook down the taxpayer and hoped for the best.

“Democrats did it because they thought it would make everyone Democrats: ‘Look what I give you!’ Republicans did it because they thought it would make everyone Republicans: ‘I’m a homeowner, I’ve got a stake, don’t raise my property taxes, get off my lawn!’ And Wall Street? We went to town, baby. We bundled the mortgages and sold them to fools, or we held them, called them assets, and made believe everyone would pay their mortgage. As if we cared. We invented financial instruments so complicated no one, even the people who sold them, understood what they were.

“You’re finaglers and we’re finaglers. I play for dollars, you play for votes. In our own ways we’re all thieves. We would be called desperadoes if we weren’t so boring, so utterly banal in our soft-jawed, full-jowled selfishness. If there were any justice, we’d be forced to duel, with the peasants of America holding our cloaks. Only we’d both make sure we missed, wouldn’t we?”

Sadly you won’t find that in the official record because it was never spoken. But Noonan is correct it “would be a kind of breathe of fresh air.”   We’ve got a better chance of proving anthropogenic global warming than hearing that kind of raw honesty.

Here’s what we really heard this week when former Citibank CEO Charles Prince testified in front of the Financial Inquiry Commission and explained why we are experiencing the worst economy since the Great Depression. A commissioner asked Prince if he knew why American homeowners experienced a 30 percent decline in property values, Prince responded:

Yes, we haven’t had such a decline “since the Great Depression.” The reason is before the crash there was “a bubble.” There was too much “easy money.” Then the bubble popped.

With that kind of insight, it is no wonder that Citibank was granted $45 billion in taxpayer bailout funds.  Meanwhile a beautiful and historic home right next to mine has lost nearly 50 percent of its value.

Last year the Democrats tried (and failed) to destroy the Electoral College. This year Speaker Terrance Carroll (D-Denver) wants to “reform” the entire process with a new bill that State Senator Kevin Lundberg calls the “voter fraud” bill.  According to the Denver Post, Carroll will introduce his legislation some time next week.  However provisions within the bill already have been made public including “pre-registration” for 16 year olds, almost same day registration, and mail-in ballots for all elections.

Adding insult to injury, Carroll simply dismisses the fact that voters soundly rejected a similar measure in 2002, “Eight years is a long time. Because something fails on the ballot at some time in the past doesn’t mean it’s off-limits.”

But here’s the kicker — the you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me-what-the-heck-are-they-thinking kicker: third party organizations will be allowed to pick up and deliver the ballots.  Think ACORN.  Think corruption.  Think Mickey Mouse will be voting in Colorado’s next election? I bet he’ll be registered.

In the end, Congresswoman Betsy Markey could not say no to Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and the tax-and-spend lobby.

A couple of months ago during my weekly radio segment with Coloradoan editor Bob Moore, who has a good, working relationship with Markey’s office, I wondered that if push comes to shove, could Betsy Markey say no to Nancy Pelosi?

Bob posed the question to her and reported Markey’s response the following week.  Apparently she said, “I’m a mom.  I’m used to saying no.”

Being a mom myself, I know exactly where she is coming from.  I have said “no” in the face of relentless lobbying efforts on behalf of my three teenagers.  They push as far as possible, but as soon as I shoot them a certain look they know to back off.  The conversation is over; further discussion could lead to unwelcome consequences.

But Markey didn’t do that.  Instead of standing firm, when push did come to shove, Markey proved a pushover.  After voting no (sort of) on the House health care bill, she was one of eight democrats who switched her vote to yes on the Senate bill.

Now, she obediently tows the party line with fairy tale assumptions about this massive expansion of the welfare state such as, “Particularly in the out years there’s significantly more deficit reduction and I have to say this is going to be the largest deficit reduction bill that I will ever vote for.”  Not sure if she meant deficit or debt but I’m sure she is sincere.

In a prepared statement and reported in the Coloradoan she added: “My vote today isn’t about politics. It’s about bringing down health-care costs and doing what’s right for the people of Colorado.”  I believe that statement as much as I believe there are unicorns in my backyard.

The reality is that Markey couldn’t say no in the face of relentless lobbying.  Voting against the majority in the 4th CD, she proved she would rather face the wrath of voters than the wrath of Pelosi.

In November, constituents have an opportunity to cast a vote against her. My guess is she will be out of a job.  With yes votes on unpopular legislation like cap and trade, the stimulus package and health care coupled with her sponsorship of the job-killing card check,  that’s not much of a prediction.  But I do have a bottle of really good tequila riding on it.

Results of the Weld County straw poll:

Governor: Scott McInnis 664, Dan Maes 590, John Hickenlooper 1

Senate: Ken Buck 982, Jane Norton 213, Tom Weins 74, Cleve Tidwell 19, Steve Barton 5, Vincent Martinez 1

4th CD:  Cory Gardner 688, Diggs Brown 192, Tom Lucero 159, Dean Madere 54

2nd CD: Stephen Bailey 88, Bob Brancato 56

Once again, I want to extend a big huge thank you to State Rep John Kefalas!  As a mom I can’t imagine how I would “manage” raising my kids without the  Fort Collins Democrat to make my parenting life easier.

According to Colorado News Agency reporter Debi Brazzale, Kefalas’s legislation HB 1147 will make it a crime for anyone under the age of 18 to ride a bike, scooter, skateboard and even in-line skates without a helmet.

The proposed new law doesn’t carry any real punishment.  According to Kefalas the purpose of the law is to provide parents with another idol threat with no real consequence.  Brazzale quoted him, “We’re saying ‘It’s the law. You have to have a helmet if you’re a minor, but we’re not going to punish you.”  I’m sure my kids won’t see through that!

The bill passed the House Transportation Committee and is awaiting second reading.

I want to send a thank you card to State Rep John Kefalas (D-Fort Collins).

In a press release bragging about the House Health and Human Services Committee passing his “Transparency Trojan Horse” bill, a.k.a. HB 1330 The Health Care Cost Transparency Act, Kefalas said, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”  In other words, Kefalas needs to measure the quality of my health care so that he can manage it for me and my family.  Thank Goodness!  I’ve been waiting for someone to take care of me and my children.  What a relief!

HB 1330, the All-Payer Database,  is dangerous because it creates a database with all your personal health care transactions.  It grants unlimited power to the state’s Executive Director of Health Care Policy and Financing to mandate the collection of any health care data, to conduct audits, to give the data to third parties without seeking permission and to impose unlimited fines for refusing to provide data to the database.

Just think…all your personal health care information forced to be made available to the state so it can “manage” it for you!

Independence Institute Health Care Policy Center Director Linda Gorman warns the state may have access to individual information on physical functioning, medical treatment, supposed mental stability, marital problems, family structure, sexual habits, addictions, adherence to government health recommendations, and individual financial arrangements.

Remember it’s for your own good.  How else can the state “manage” your health care for you?

Also troubling, transparency means citizens get to see inside government, and NOT the other way around.  Funny, some Democrat lawmakers were so worried about privacy issues when Rep BJ Nikkel presented her Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act that required the state to provide detailed spending information.  No such concern from them with HB 1330.

Check out Linda Gorman’s excellent analysis of the “Trojan Horse Transparency.”  Also call John Kefalas and thank him for being willing to “manage” your health care.

At the end of last year Congresswoman Betsy Markey (CO 4) joined the Blue Dog Coalition, a self described group of 54 conservative and moderate Democrats that focus on fiscal issues including a balanced budget and the national debt.   A review of Markey’s voting record leaves one to wonder if her support for fiscal reform is all bark and no bite.

Markey is a freshman democrat lawmaker from a conservative district (voter registration favors republicans by nearly10 percent) that voted for John McCain in 2008.  She is the first democrat to represent the 4th CD since Wayne Aspinall in 1973.  The Cook Political Report calls the 4th CD a “toss up” for 2010, which is why Markey has tried so hard recently to appear as a fiscal conservative.

Early in 2009 she voted for or supported unpopular legislation such as the stimulus package, card check, and cap and trade.  My friend and fellow blogger Randy Ketner did an excellent job of highlighting Markey’s short legislative tenure.  His lengthy “Colorado Political Analysis 2010” appeared on Red State.

It seems that Markey is reading the tea leaves, which are telling her to move to the right or at least look like she is moving to the right.  Recently Markey has voted “against” her party on both health care and raising the debt limit, but in reality she voted with party leadership on all procedural and amendment votes only voting against leadership on the final vote.  That way she can position herself as independent of the democrat leadership without upsetting them.

Take health care for instance. Markey says she voted against H.R. 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act because she claimed it did not do enough to “cut health care costs that crushing our businesses and families.”  She claims to support health care reform just not this specific piece of legislation. 

If that is true, then why did she vote no on a motion to recommit the bill?  According to GovTrack, Markey voted no on House Vote #866 which was “a final opportunity to revise” it before passage.  A motion to recommit sends legislation back to committee with instructions on how to fix the bill.  It can be used constructively or can be used to kill a “bill before it moves to a final up-or-down vote in the House.”  If Markey is serious about health care reform but not this bill, why vote to move it along instead of fixing it in such a way that she can support it?

Another example of Markey voting with democrat party leadership on rules and procedures for unpopular legislation then voting against them on the final tally is H.J. Res. 45 to increase the statutory limit on public debt.  This one is interesting because 38 Democrats voted not to raise the debt limit, 22 are freshman lawmakers facing competitive races in the fall, 17 are Blue Dogs.  Of the 17 Blue Dogs, only four enabled party leadership with procedural votes that allowed the debt limit resolution to go to the floor of the House.  Markey was one of those four. 

Markey voted yes on Roll Call Vote #45, which ordered the question: “Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 45) increasing the statutory limit on the public debt.”  She then voted no on Roll Call Vote #46 on “agreeing” to an increase. 

Markey played the same game with H.R. 1106: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which allows bankruptcy courts to modify mortgage contracts.  She enabled democrat leadership when she voted no to recommit and yes to proceed.  On the final vote she said no. 

These aren’t the only examples.  I’ll highlight more as we get closer to the November vote.

The 4th CD is the heart of Ag country in Colorado.  Weld County is the 8th largest Ag producing county in the United States.  While Congresswoman Markey can claim to be a fiscal conservative, our sensitive olfactory receptors can detect a load of manure when we smell it.

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should…

I get it.  Democrats are in charge in Colorado and therefore they can pass or defeat pretty much whatever legislation they want.  They do not need Republicans at all.  But just because they can doesn’t mean they should.

Tonight the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs defeated SB 51 along a party line vote.  This bill, sponsored by Senator Scott Renfroe and Representative Jerry Sonnenberg, would have eliminated the Governor’s authority to suspend or limit the sale, distribution and/or transportation of firearms during a time of state disaster emergency.  

This bill was designed to prevent the gun confiscation that occured in New Orleans right after Katrina.  So at a time when Coloradans will be most vulnerable, government can limit our ability to protect ourselves.  You can thank Democrat Senators Rollie Heath, Bob Bacon and Betty Boyd.

Not to be left out, House Democrats killed Representative Glenn Vaad’s excellent bill on priority based budgeting.  HB 1126 would have created a biennial priority-based budgeting process.  One way to kill a bill is to weigh it down with an unrealistic fiscal note.  That’s exactly what happened with Vaad’s bill.  According to legislative council, it would cost taxpayers roughly $350,000 over the next two years for the state to prioritize its budget.  The real question is how much does not prioritizing the budget cost Colorado taxpayers every year?

During the Long Term Fiscal Stability Commission meetings I learned that Colorado state statuted requires a zero-based budgeting process.  I was told by Democrat Representative Mark Ferrandino, a member of the Joint Budget Committee, that the process has been abandoned because it is “too hard.”

Of course, Ferrandino’s bill, HB 1119, which would require performance-based budgeting and strategic planning, has a fiscal note of a mere $25,000.  It passed out of committee just before Vaad’s was defeated.

Also killed, HB 1087 Republican Representative Spencer Swalm’s bill to change employer state income tax withholding from mandatory to voluntary. It was tagged with the most absurb fiscal note of nearly $19 million and over 60 FTEs over three years.  Although that may be cheaper and create more jobs than some stimulus projects. The fiscal note was so bad, Swalm said even some Republicans wouldn’t support his bill.

Barring a miraculous, last minute stay of execution, Representative Amy Stephen’s bill concerning transparency in gifts, grants and donations will be dead tomorrow.   It has NO cost to the state and would allow taxpayers to see what organizations are funding legislation and interim committees.  It is simply a good governance piece of legislation.  And chances are it won’t pass because Stephens is a Republican.

Democrats would be wise to remember that power is cyclical.

State Senator Suzanne Williams (D-Aurora) has come to senses.  She pulled her Indian mascot bill.  SB 107 was a silly attempt to force public high schools and charter schools to get permission to use any kind of an Indian mascot or pay a fine.  Even those sympathetic to her politics criticized her for trying to legislate political correctness especially when the state faces more pressing issues.

Looks like the Eaton Fightin’ Reds mascot is safe — at least until my University Bulldogs beat the Fightin’ Reds in baseball this spring.

From Coloradoan editor Bob Moore’s blog:

The first debate among Northern Colorado’s four congressional candidates is coming up Feb. 4, and we’re asking voters to submit some of the questions.

The debate will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at Windsor High School. The public is welcome to attend but if you can’t make it, the debate will be livestreamed on coloradoan.com and 9News.com.

Is there a question you’d like to see asked in the debate? If so, e-mail it to me at bmoore@coloradoan.com by Tuesday. I’ll forward the questions to Adam Schrager at 9 News, who will be the moderator of the debate.

We have just a couple of guidelines for the questions. Phrase the question so it can be asked of all four candidates, and include your name and hometown in the e-mail. We want to give proper credit to questions submitted by voters.

The four candidates appearing at the debate are Loveland businessman Dean Madere, University of Colorado Regent Tom Lucero, former Fort Collins City Council memberDiggs Brown and state Rep. Cory Gardner.

Also, KFKA will be airing the debate live.