Our View: Tipton no match for centrist, independent rancher Salazar.
By The Montrose Daily Press
Voters frustrated with incumbents and Democrats must recognize that U.S. Rep. John Salazar is no ordinary Democrat nor a typical incumbent.
Salazar, a U.S. Army veteran from the Vietnam era who still works weekends on his family's San Luis Valley ranch, has voted against the Democratic Party in Congress 57.3 percent of the time.
"I always vote the way I believe the majority of constituents in my district want me to vote," he says.
Indeed, he voted against the cap-and-trade bill because, while it would have benefited coastal states, it also would have radically increased utility bills in the 3rd Congressional District, where coal is key.
He joined with uber-conservative U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave to defeat the Army's expansion of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, thus protecting southern Colorado farmers and ranchers.
And, while GOP candidate Scott Tipton decries federal earmarks, Salazar understands that he can fight to bring those dollars to his district or can watch them go to other states.
Were it not for Salazar, about 50,000 southern Coloradans still could not look forward to the clean drinking water they have been promised for 50 years. Thanks to Salazar, though, the Arkansas Valley Conduit will be to provide that water and 3,350 jobs.
The centrist Salazar is one of the Blue Dog Democrats, who fight for financial and national security. Unlike most of his colleagues, he opposed the $700 billion bank bailout, noting that it would not reform the financial services industry but would suck up federal finances.
A farmer and rancher, he led the effort to pass the Farm Bill.
A veteran, he pushed the Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act, fought for the radically improved G.I. Bill and led the move to add $23 billion to veterans' health care.
A native who appreciates the splendor of our state, he sponsored the bill that designated 210,000 acres on the Uncompahgre Plateau as the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area. And he is behind the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act, which faces a House vote later this year.
A rural Coloradan, he passed the Rural Physicians Pipeline Act, so rural residents can be trained as doctors who will practice in their communities.
"I've never been a partisan person," Salazar says. "I'm running on my accomplishments."
Tipton, meanwhile, has spewed bizarre ideas and flip-flopped so frequently as to cripple his credibility.
During the Republican primary, he said Medicare and Social Security must be phased out. Now he's running a campaign ad saying he would never cut or privatize Social Security.
Earlier, he vowed to dismantle the Department of Education and return its functions to state and local governments. Now he says he would simply whack it and the rest of the federal government in half.
Eliminating half of our government is not only ludicrous and impossible, but also dangerous. That ill-conceived idea makes no provisions to protect the military, veterans, Social Security or Medicare. And it would whack the water projectsand other critical services on which Coloradans depend.
Tipton also recently reneged on his earlier vow to eliminate the 17th Amendment, which allows voters to select their U.S. senators.
In the last legislative session, as a state representative, Tipton battled a bill to increase Mineral County elected officials' salaries. Yet he passed just such a bill for Montezuma County officials a year earlier.
While that's hypocritical, Tipton made matters worse when he said his bill was to beef up his county's police force. The legislation had nothing to do with law enforcement.
Flamboyant statements about slashing the federal bureaucracy, eradicating earmarks and revising the U.S. Constitution may shine the spotlight on Tipton. But we prefer the diligent, determined, studied and thoughtful work of a man who actually achieves progress and obtains important projects for his constituents.
The Montrose Daily Press endorses U.S. Rep. John Salazar for re-election in the 3rd Congressional District of Colorado.
