Thanks as always to The Other McCain, Whores and Ale, Pirate’s Cove and Bacon Time for the Rule Five links! And if I’ve missed anyone who links to us weekly (or whatever periodically) due to the vagaries of the WordPress and Disqus systems, let me know in the comments and I’ll get you in the weekly acknowledgements.
This Monday finds us back in our own Colorado, which may be increasingly nutty but is still head and shoulders more sensible than New Jersey. One of the few good things about our recent stay in the Garden State is learning that, even in New Jersey, there are big red swaths in that otherwise blue state. Just as Colorado’s state government is increasingly dominated by the Denver/Boulder Axis, New Jersey is dominated by Newark, Trenton and Camden, and the folks in towns like Raritan, where you see a surprising number of Trump signs, are overwhelmed.
And here’s a great example; our Governor, elected in large part by the Denver/Boulder Axis, has blown through the a big wad of Imperial cash without consulting the state legislature in the slightest. Excerpt:
The state legislature returns today but they needn’t have bothered.
The King of all Pandemics, Jared Polis, already spent the entire $1.7 billion pot of emergency federal funds without consulting the people’s representatives or utilizing any of those pesky Joint Budget Committee procedures.
Polis’s actions are so egregious, even the Denver Post editorial board threw a flag on the play and insisted the governor “undo” his order.
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton also criticized Polis’s questionable use of the relief fund, saying the billions Colorado received could only be used for expenses due to the coronavirus public health emergency that was not accounted for in the most recently approved budget.
“Nothing about this executive order is collaborative or bipartisan, and local officials I have heard from-on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration about being kept in the dark,” Tipton said.
Tipton says the U.S. Treasury will be examining how Polis used the money.
“I challenge the Governor to explain how money for colleges to ‘increase student retention and completions’ is an allowable use of this money,” Tipton added.
One wonders if Governor Polis’ response will be some variation of “We are not amused!”
This isn’t unique to Colorado. The Moo Goo Gai Panic has resulted in all sorts of overstepping by elected officials and petty bureaucrats all over the country, and has even given rise to a new internet meme, that of the “Karen,” a type formerly immortalized by the Gladys Kravitz-style neighborhood busybody, now grown louder and more confrontational.
The question is this: How do we roll this back now that the Panic is ending? Frankly, given the choice between the Kung Flu and the ever-increasing political power grabs, I’d just as soon take my chances with the virus.
