During the February 21 broadcast of his Newsradio 850 KOA show, Jon Caldara criticized a proposed Colorado Senate resolution calling for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by falsely stating that “resolutions that have to deal with international issues are usually only passed in liberal places. Usually, conservatives don't pass resolutions that have anything to do outside of their boundaries.” In fact, past Colorado legislatures under Republican leadership have passed numerous resolutions addressing national and international issues beyond their legislative jurisdiction.

According to a February 21 Rocky Mountain News article, state Sen. Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) is considering introducing a Senate Resolution declaring that “the United States should begin a phased redeployment of United States troops, under an appropriately expedited timeline ending no later than March 31, 2008.” After reading the article on air, Caldara questioned whether it is “appropriate for a state legislature to send this kind of message to Washington” and whether state legislators should be “worrying about and debating foreign policy.”

Caldara further claimed that “liberals love it when governments step out of their purview, step out of their jurisdiction.” Caldara said that he wants state legislators “to be focused on Colorado. I don't want them to be focused on military spending. That's not their job.” Caldara further stated, “But liberals love to be able to talk about what other people are doing and what other people should be doing, and this is just the logical extension.” Later, he continued:

But people who are more emotional believe, “Oh, that's fine.” And that's why resolutions that have to deal with international issues are usually only passed in liberal places. Usually, conservatives don't pass resolutions that have anything to do outside of their boundaries.

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Conservatives are much less likely to condemn other governments for what they do. It is usually liberal governments that pass things like support for the Kyoto Protocols. Conservatives don't do that kind of silliness.

However, contrary to Caldara's claim, numerous resolutions dealing with national and international issues have been introduced by conservative members of the Colorado General Assembly, which during the late 1990s and early 2000s was, for the most part, dominated by Republicans. Following are some examples of resolutions introduced by conservatives in the Colorado legislature that contradict Caldara's statement that "[c]onservatives are much less likely to condemn other governments for what they do":

• A 1998 House Joint Resolution (HJR 98-1021), introduced by Republicans Rep. David Owen (Greeley), Rep. Ron May (Colorado Springs), and Sen. Tom Norton (Greeley) complained that “Japan's policies to restrict market access have perpetuated the chronic and seemingly intractable trade deficit the United States has with Japan for more than three decades.” The resolution “call[ed] upon the federal government to take all necessary and appropriate action to ensure that Japan establishes and maintains an open and competitive market for U.S. exports.”

• A 1999 Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 99-029), introduced by Republican Sen. John Andrews (Centennial) and co-sponsored by other conservatives in the Senate, criticized the federal government for having “not provided for the common defense of the United States, including Colorado, against attack by longrange ballistic missiles.”

• In 2003, Sen. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) introduced a Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 03-011) condemning China for its “increased deployment of missiles and war games targeting Taiwan” and called such action “a threat to the universal values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.” The resolution stated that “we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, join unanimously to urge the People's Republic of China to withdraw all missiles from its coastal provinces as soon as possible, to cease conducting war games that threaten Taiwan, and to peacefully resolve the issues or disputes.”

Additionally, while conservatives in Colorado's legislature have not passed “things like support for the Kyoto Protocols,” the Republican-controlled House and Senate in 1998 adopted a Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 98-023) titled “Disapproval Of Kyoto Protocol On Global Warming,” introduced by Sen. Don Ament (R-Iliff).

Finally, Caldara's assertion that "[u]sually, conservatives don't pass resolutions that have anything to do outside of their boundaries" is also false, as evidenced by 2003 Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 03-018), introduced by Lamborn and supported by a host of other Republican state senators. The resolution called for “the members of Colorado's congressional delegation to support and vote for all effective efforts to build and deploy a national missile defense system as rapidly as possible.”

From the February 21 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Jon Caldara Show:

CALDARA: Let me see if I understand this. The state legislature, which a few years earlier said, “Way to go, George W.; we're behind you with overwhelming support. Go in there and do what you need to get done,” now says, “We're not behind you. Get the hell out of here, and cut and run.” 303-713-8585. I guess there's two questions: One, is it appropriate for a state legislature to send this kind of message to Washington? Now, you can pass a resolution on anything you want. It's kind of like the Boy Scouts. I mean, they can do whatever they like; it doesn't mean that the federal delegation needs to pay any attention to them. But, number two, do we really want our state legislators worrying about and debating foreign policy? Isn't there enough to debate right here in Colorado? Isn't that their job? You know, I come from Boulder, where the city council loves to spend more time on international affairs, it seems, than taking care of the potholes on my street. Now they pass things about nuclear disarmament, about getting out of South Africa, about apartheid, about the Cold War, about Kyoto Protocols, instead of fixing our streets. Shouldn't the state legislature really do that as well?

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CALDARA: Since Al Gore was unsuccessful in getting the Kyoto Protocols ratified in Congress, he was happy that so many liberal city councils around the country have passed the Kyoto Protocols. For instance, here in Colorado, the city council in Boulder -- the city of Boulder has passed the Kyoto Protocols, which makes me say -- think, “Isn't that -- isn't that special?” So, liberals love it when governments step out of their purview, step out of their jurisdiction and make issues that other governments make. It would be like -- like your local water board making some resolution about what the school district should use as a textbook. You know, it's like, “Wait a second, you guys run the water department. You're the water board. You're not the part -- you're not the school board. Let the school board worry about textbooks; you worry about water.”

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CALDARA: Now, the legislature here in Colorado is also in Democratic hands. They can do a symbolic finger to George Bush. That's fine. I think it's a waste of time, and it steps out of their purview, and it takes -- what I don't like about it is it forces Colorado legislators to think outside of their role of being Colorado legislators. I want them to be focused on Colorado. I don't want them to be focused on military spending. That's not their job. I don't want somebody on the Park and Recs Department board to think about what the school district should be doing. It's not their job. But liberals love to be able to talk about what other people are doing and what other people should be doing, and this is just the logical extension.

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CALDARA: But getting back to the point of governments sending other governments demands. Imagine. I mean, we've -- we've got -- let's see, we've got 50 state governments. If each state had another 2,000 governments inside, imagine how much time we could spend telling other governments what they should be doing. The Park and Recs Department in Pueblo could be telling the Greeley City Council what they should do with a statue being proposed for Main Street. Well, that doesn't make sense. But people who are more emotional believe, “Oh, that's fine.” And that's why resolutions that have to deal with international issues are usually only passed in liberal places. Usually, conservatives don't pass resolutions that have anything to do outside of their boundaries.

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CALDARA: Conservatives are much less likely to condemn other governments for what they do. It is usually liberal governments that pass things like support for the Kyoto Protocols. Conservatives don't do that kind of silliness. When there's a war about to happen, when there's a war going on, a resolution in support of where we're going is much more benign, in my mind, than this. This resolution, which calls for a date-certain withdrawal, is much different. And that's what liberals do.