Say It Ain't So Already

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) Panders to Conservatives

September 9, 2010 at 10:23 AM 6 comments

Senator Michael Bennet, the man who Colorado Governor Bill Ritter appointed to replace Ken Salazar after President Obama appointed Salazar Secretary of the Interior, is in the midst of his first campaign.

Though he won in the primary against Andrew Romanoff, many Democrats, including me, see Bennet as a bought and paid for corporate hack.  (In fact, he is second only to Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) amongst Democrats who’ve received the most money from big oil.)

Earlier this week, Bennet added another notch to his conservative bedpost when he became the first Democratic candidate to voice opposition to President Obama’s proposed $50 billion infrastructure investment plan.  That, despite the fact that Colorado, like the rest of the nation, is in desperate need of help in that area (the second item alone on the list below is enough to make you sick):

18% of Colorado’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

There are 352 high hazard dams in Colorado. A high hazard dam is defined as a dam whose failure would cause a loss of life and significant property damage.

9 of Colorado’s 1,935 dams are in need of rehabilitation to meet applicable state dam safety standards.

2% of high hazard dams in Colorado have no emergency action plan (EAP). An EAP is a predetermined plan of action to be taken including roles, responsibilities and procedures for surveillance, notification and evacuation to reduce the potential for loss of life and property damage in an area affected by a failure or mis-operation of a dam.

Colorado’s drinking water infrastructure needs an investment of $5.32 billion over the next 20 years.

Colorado ranked 34^th in the quantity of hazardous waste produced and 33^rd in the total number of hazardous waste producers.

Colorado reported an unmet need of $440 million for its state public outdoor recreation facilities and parkland acquisition.

32% of Colorado’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

31% of Colorado’s major urban highways are congested.

Vehicle travel on Colorado’s highways increased by 79% from 1990 to 2007.

Colorado has $2.13 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs.

Colorado’s 2008 budget spent $66 million less on non-transportation infrastructure projects than state agenicies believed they needed.

So, despite the fact that Colorado could use the money (jobs would be created here too), Michael Bennet, the “Democratic” candidate for Senate, is acting more like a John Boehner than the “liberal” he pretends to be.

Bennet is the kind of “Democrat” we’ve got to send to the unemployment line.

Entry filed under: 2010 Election, Democrats, Including Blue Dogs & "Liberals". Tags: .