Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, gave Senate Democrats a basic lesson in economics today, reiterating the theme that tax increases kill jobs and strangle economic growth.
By voting to raise taxes on energy used by the beleaguered manufacturing sector, Democrats effectively hammered the final nail into the coffin of hundreds of jobs. Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo estimated the new tax would cost the company $2 million annually and force them to layoff hundreds of workers.
“Milton Friedman knew the same thing the steel workers in Pueblo know: a recession is no time to increase taxes,” Penry said when presenting Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, with a copy of Free to Choose — Milton Friedman’s classic book celebrating the power of free market economics and individual liberty.
Democrat leaders, however, ignored the pleas of a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and gave the job killing tax final approval this afternoon. The bill received the minimum number of votes it needed to pass, with Morse himself casting the deciding vote.