http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_9780962By Bob Ewegen
Article Last Updated: 07/05/2008 07:25:03 AM MDT
George Santayana's maxim, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it," may be the epitaph for the Colorado Republican Party's dream of recapturing control of at least one chamber of the Colorado legislature in this fall's election.
Democrats control the House 40-25 and the Senate 20-15. Simple arithmetic means the GOP could regain control of the Senate by seizing just three seats — thus gaining a veto over initiatives by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter and his allies in the House.
But Republican hopes for picking up those three seats may run afoul of three little words that have led the GOP to ruin before: "right to work."
Thanks to $200,000 from 28-year-old trust fund baby Jonathan Coors that hired professional petition circulators for a supposed "citizen" initiative, that misnamed union-busting measure may well be on the ballot in November.
Despite the label, "right to work" laws don't guarantee anybody a job — unless you're a lawyer. Unions have filed a lawsuit alleging widespread fraud by the petition gatherers hired by the anti-union forces. The challenge could knock the initiative off the ballot, though sponsors have asked for the right to seek extra signatures to "cure" those defects.
It's not often you'll find Republicans cheering on a union lawsuit, but among those elephants who haven't forgotten 1958, that is precisely the case this year.
FULL story at link.