The Denver Daily News follows up on ProgressNow Colorado's "early Christmas present" -- a copy of the Colorado budget -- to former congressman Scott McInnis.

McInnis asked on his plans to balance budget

Former Congressman Scott McInnis is being asked by his opponents for concrete details on how he plans on balancing the budget if elected governor.

But the McInnis campaign maintains that it is too early to be suggesting specific budget-balancing measures, noting that the budget McInnis might receive as governor in January 2011 would likely be drastically different than what lawmakers are currently working on.

The issue has become a talking point for Democrats who are fighting McInnis’ chances to beat Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010.

ProgressNow Colorado sent McInnis an “early Christmas present” last week when they showed up at his campaign headquarters in Greenwood Village with the state budget in hand. The group is citing a recent interview with McInnis in which he said he wouldn’t have an accurate budget to work with for at least a year.

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But McInnis campaign spokesman Josh Green says his opponents are taking the comment out of context. He said what McInnis was referring to is that the current budget doesn’t give a truly accurate picture of what McInnis would need to begin balancing in 2010 if elected governor.

“We’re still nearly a year out from the election — it’s been one of the earliest cycles in memory — Scott naturally is not going to come out with a detailed plan for the budget, and frankly, as the legislative session goes forward, the budget is going to change and everything’s going to change itself,” said Green. “To say Scott doesn’t have a plan, that’s not quite accurate.”

[...]

But Democrats keep turning their attention back to McInnis’ budget-balancing strategies, arguing that the former congressman from Grand Junction has no real ideas.

“If he’s going to criticize his opponent’s position, then he needs to actually have positions of his own,” said ProgressNow member Bobby Clark. “It’s a cop-out to say he doesn’t have a copy of the budget.”

The last word from ProgressNow's Bobby Clark (disclosure: my boss) is what's most important: Scott McInnis has indeed offered many suggestions for the budget -- where it suits him, like calling for the repeal of FASTER and its millions for badly needed transportation maintenance. McInnis offers specifics when it suits him, then claims he can't offer any specifics when doing so might not cast him in the most positive light. The point he makes is that budget conditions are almost certain to change between now and the time he would hypothetically take office as governor, but doesn't that call into question the promises McInnis has made?

I've been doing this for a while, I certainly understand that challengers benefit from being able to nit-pick at an incumbent's decisions without having to make them. But for the good of our state in these difficult times, we need to insist these come-lately right wing 'saviors' put their budget plans in writing. Our future is too important to let "McLobbyist" have it both ways.