Jon Caldera, John Hickenlooper, and the wisdom of investment

On Fridays, I try to make time to watch Independent Thinking, the show where "hard-pressing conservative host" Jon Caldera hosts "lively - and sometimes heated - debates among elected officials, journalists, activists, concerned citizens." The show is typically littered with distortions and falsehoods. But Caldera is interesting. And it's always good to expose yourself to different points of view.

But I've just about had it with Caldera's insistence that tax dollars spent on transportation, education and healthcare should not be considered investments. This is hogwash. For instance:

1. For every dollar invested in education through the G.I. Bill, "it is estimated that nearly seven dollars was returned to the American public."

2. Money invested in public transportation provides "an economic stimulus far exceeding the original investment - as much as six dollars for every dollar invested."

3. Democratic Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's plan to reduce homelessness may save the city $1.5 million.

The investment meme scares Republicans for the same reason that the Fighting Dems and Western Pragmatists do. They all disprove the assertion that the Democratic Party is made up of dewey-eyed idealists, raising taxes to fund half-baked schemes.

The Democratic Party of the year 2007 is about results. And the GOP can't deny it any longer.

Cross-posted at SquareState.