The choice for Governor of Colorado is showhorse vs. workhorse, hip guy vs. square guy, says John Andrews in the April round of Head On TV debates. And he notes that Scott McInnis, the square Republican, leads cool Democrat John Hickenlooper in the polls. But Susan Barnes-Gelt scoffs that McInnis has a mistaken-prone style as well as baggage on his resume. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over Obama's nuclear policy, the Catholic sex scandals, the financial reform bill, and Tea Party influence in Colorado's US Senate race. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for April: 1. HIP vs. SQUARE IN GOVERNOR’S RACE
Susan: Scott McInnis's refusal to release his tax returns is big blunder. What does he have to hide from Colorado voters in November's gubernatorial election? Hickenlooper is a rich guy and not afraid to release his financial records. McInnis is not the kind of leader Coloradans can trust.
John: The choice for governor is between a Democratic showhorse and a Republican workhorse. The financial strip search is an irrelevant media stunt. Colorado is hurting. We need jobs and economic growth. Gov. Ritter and Mayor Hickenlooper have flunked that test. Scott McInnis will get government out of the way. That’s why he’s leading.
Susan: Other than employing his wife as part of a defunct congressional campaign, just how many jobs has McInnis created? Perhaps a few to make the signs when he named 123,400 acres in Mesa County the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. He is a career politician - period, the end.
John: After just three years, Bill Ritter was thrown by the bucking horse that is Colorado’s governorship. Who will voters put in the saddle next? The hip candidate is Democrat John Hickenlooper, a former brewmeister from Lodo. The square candidate is Republican Scott McInnis, a former cop from Glenwood. Polling favors McInnis.
2. OBAMA’S NUCLEAR POLICY
In refusing to use nuclear weapons to defend our country against chemical and biological attacks, President Obama endangers all Americans and invites our enemies to do their worst. We’ve never had a president so committed to deliberate weakness in defending the United States of America. FDR and JFK would be horrified.
Susan: Puh -leese John - The biggest risk to our security is stateless terrorism and cyber war. Nuclear arsenals were an issue 60 years ago and certainly served as deterrents. In today's world, nuclear disarmament among legitimate governments makes sense. FDR & JFK would be proud.
John: Disarmament has never worked and never will. Presidents of both parties understood that overwhelming military strength is the best way to prevent and win wars, until the time of Jimmy Carter, Mr. Weakness. Now we have Mr. Apology, Barack Obama, taking weakness even further. God help this country.
Susan: The new policy is both revocable and subject to review and modification if circumstances warrant. The recent summit of 47 nations to deal with nuclear risks advanced global cooperation. Any nation that attacks us with biological or chemical weapons can count on a rendezvous with their stone-age ancestors.
3. CATHOLIC SEX SCANDALS
John: Sexual molestation of a child by an adult cannot be tolerated by any organization under any circumstances. School systems, youth agencies, and religious institutions have all fallen short of this standard. The Catholic Church, to name one, has been far too lax in the past. But since the 1980s it has improved vastly.
Susan: The Catholic Church has been lax in coming to grips with sexual abuse of a child by an adult - throughout its history. For the Pope to believe that acknowledging the "church has been wounded by its sins" is an insult. The church is facing its biggest institutional crisis in centuries.
John: Anti-religious critics apply a dishonest double standard in their eagerness to discredit Christianity. Here in Denver the Catholic archbishop instantly suspended an accused priest, at the same time teacher unions were stonewalling a policy to notify parents if a public school employee is arrested. What hypocrisy.
Susan: The issue is one of the richest and most powerful world institutions consistently abusing basic principles of trust and then protecting the violators. Because of the worldwide stature and moral authority of the Catholic Church, the crime and hypocrisy rises to a higher level. All politics is NOT local.
4. SENATE PRIMARIES
Susan: The decisions by Dem incumbent senator Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Jane Norton to pursue the signature route to qualify for the August primary reveal the weakness of both with the base of their parties. Neither Norton nor incumbent Bennet appeals to their party's base.
John: On April 15, Tax Day, thousands of us protested at the State Capitol against big oceans of debt engulfing our grandchildren, government out of control. Democrat Senate candidates Bennet and Romanoff don’t get that. A Republican victory for Jane Norton, Ken Buck, or Tom Wiens will depend on capturing that Tea Party spirit.
Susan: The typical tea partier? a well-to-do, educated, older, white male. The movement threatens the Republican Party. Fiscal conservatism is one thing - mean spirited, libertarian populism is another. Want to build your own roads? Deploy your own fire department? Have a tea bag.
John: Susan, Susan, jealousy does not become you. The Tea Party is ordinary Americans pushing back against big government. When liberals tried to start a Coffee Party, it flopped. As far as Colorado’s next senator, it will not be Bennet the empty suit or Romanoff the labor guy. This one’s going Republican.
5. BANKING REFORM
Susan: Watching Mitch McConnell call banking reform a recipe for bailouts, challenges reality. McConnell has raised $2.7 million from Wall Street and his colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee have collectively raised more than $12.5 Million & House R's,, nearly $11 million. Nearly $25 Million - just thru March!
John: The financial crisis of 2008 and the recession since then were mainly caused by government itself, sending false signals to borrowers and lenders until the crash came. The worst culprits were the wildly corrupt Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, which aren’t even addressed in Obama’s financial reform bill. It’s a dud.
Susan: And the tooth fairy left a million bucks under my pillow. Financial deregulation began with Clinton and went on steroids with Bush and resulted in financial meltdown. The antics at Goldman Sachs illustrates that government intervention is essential in the face of unregulated trading favoring rich insiders.
John: The insider money machine better known as Government Sachs gets no sympathy from me. But there’s a bad smell about their cozy relationship with Obama’s campaign fund, Obama’s personal lawyer, Obama’s SEC board, and Sen. Dodd’s legislation. This is a Chicago-style power play that deserves to fail.