This falls under the rubric of (a) how we can never trust Democrats to do the right thing unless we are willing to make them pay an electoral price and (b) how the power business has is so threatening to a politician that s/he will even break a campaign pledge to make sure that business interests are happy. Over in Colorado, which is all the rage within political circles in its apparent shift to a more “blue” state (god, I hate that “red” and “blue” nonsense…and rarely use it), Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed a bill that would made union organizing a whole lot easier. Remember, this is the same Ritter who won with labor support and PROMISED to sign the bill. Read his phony reasoning:

Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed the controversial pro-labor House Bill 1072 Friday, telling Capitol reporters that he thought the process that brought it to his desk was flawed and the debate rhetoric overheated.

Ritter, however, said he agreed with the bill “in substance” and would have signed it had the process been different.

“Opposite sides dug in, refusing to consider reasonable compromises,” Ritter said in his veto letter. “The bill’s proponents made no effort to open a dialogue with the opponents. At times, the opponents were neither respectful nor civil. It was overheated politics at its worst.”

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Michael Garcia, D-Aurora, did away with the current two-step election process that unions and employers must go through before striking all-union shop agreements. All-union agreements require all of a company’s employees to pay union dues as a condition of employment. While they must pay fees, workers can’t be forced to join a union under federal law.

During the campaign, Ritter told two labor organizations in written questionnaires he would support eliminating the second election.

“But I strongly believe that the way we do the people’s business is as important as what we do,” he said.

Ritter was under heavy pressure by business groups to veto the measure. They said the pro-union bill would send the wrong message to prospective employers looking to expand or relocate to Colorado.

Coward.