Steve Pomerance

Against my own better judgment, I have been closely following the fiscal cliff process in Washington. It appears that the wisdom of our Founding Fathers was insufficient to ensure that this collective group of elected officials would address a major crisis in any useful way. I’m starting to wonder if this isn’t the end of the great American experiment in democracy. We apparently have reached near total paralysis, where the big issues are ignored or dealt with in a cursory fashion. I don’t see how this country can operate with a debt load so big and growing so fast that much of the resources our children create will have to be dedicated to paying off this burden. Our tax code promotes rather than reduces income inequality, and our defense budget reportedly exceeds that of the next 17 nations combined. We are faced with a climate crisis that could submerge coastal cities, and cripple our agricultural productivity and water supplies, yet the best Congress can do is extend the tax cred...

On Monday I attended a very interesting meeting that was part of Governor Hickenlooper’s project called TBD (To Be Determined) Colorado. This is a citizen-based effort funded by donations from individuals, foundations and corporations. Its purpose, in short, is to make policy, revenue and expenditure recommendations to the Legislature and the governor to improve Colorado’s quality of life. Apparently 40 similar meetings are to be held statewide, with a second round of meetings in May as well as various follow-up events. Given the attendance at our local meeting, some thousands of people will ultimately be involved. The meeting consisted of video presentations on a number of topics, including education, health, transportation, and the state budget. Each presentation was followed by a discussion in small groups with reporting out of some of each group’s conclusions. There was also a preliminary discussion about why we all value living in Colorado. The clear winner was, no surprise, t...