Pueblog USa
Monday, February 14, 2005
That Unmistakable Sucking Sound
Words will not stop it.
Mr. Rawlings had a nice editorial in the Pueblo Chieftain last week. It was all about how everyplace between Commerce City and Monument Hill is eyeing the water in the Arkansas River Valley to meet their growing demands for clear liquid gold. Lots of comments on how speculators are trying to buy up the water in order to sell it to the metroplexes.
It’s nice to see Rawlings and Company spreading the alarm. Unfortunately, spreading the alarm is not going to solve the problem. Even MORE unfortunate is the fact that our electing people who will fight for the water of the Arkansas to stay in its valley isn’t going to do much good either. Why is that? Well, it all goes back to the early 60s when the Brennan Supreme Court overthrew the constiutition of the Great State of Colorado, along with every other state constitution; Baker v. Carr (1962). It’s called the One-Man/One-Vote ruling and it destroyed the balance of power between the urban and rural communities in every state, save Nebraska. It has a one-house legislative body. It did this by making the state senate nothing more than a glorified state house of representatives.
As it is now, eventually, the metropolitan areas will win out because they have the controlling votes in both houses of the legislature. As an example of this, I cite the results of the recent legislative effort to require that water out of the ‘system’ should be put back in, or exchanged, at the same quality. HB 1181, initiated by Rafael Gallegos (D-Antonito). It was shot down in flames because the concept ‘went too far’. (See Pueblo Chieftain article.) Admittedly it was shot down in a house committee. And the house, whether the One-Man/One-Vote ruling is overthrown or not, will always favor the metroplexes. But that’s only right. It would be interesting to see what would happen if this bill was sponsored by a state senator. I’ll wager that the metroplex dominated state senate would do the same thing.
Everybody thinks the Great Compromise that exists at the national level, in Congress, is a great idea. I wonder why they can’t see the importance of it at the state level as well. And if it is such a good idea, why the heck aren’t they fighting to get it back?
Brennan’s decision is probably the most egregious example of judicial activism in American history. And we, here in Pueblo and the Arkansas River Valley are having to live with the consequences. If the Pueblo Chieftain really wants to get into the thick of it, it will start looking for a case to spearhead an attack on the infamous Brennen decision to get our state legislature to look, act and behave as the Congress does, where there is balance between the populous areas and the rural.
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