Republicans in Colorado sure are talking a lot about jobs. Maybe it's because they all need one. But before getting promoted to the job of Congressman - or Governor (Dan Maes), they need to prove they can do the jobs they were originally hired to do.
Take Ryan Frazier - the Republican Aurora city councilman who is running for Congress in the 7th Congressional District. He's trying to get a promotion from the Aurora city council, but he's missed about 30 percent of meetings and votes over the last two years. Aurora city council is only a part time gig - -one that only pays about $1,000 per month, and Frazier hasn't held any other paying job in the past two years. For most people, they would be fired if they missed 30 percent of their work - especially if they are getting paid by taxpayers.
It also should be noted that both Ryan Frazier and Dan Maes - who is the Republican running for Governor, have incredibly thin and questionable resumes, yet spend countless hours talking about how they are or were successful small business people, and therefore they understand how to run businesses...apparently into the ground. Frazier's own company, Takara Systems, has been in existence for more than a decade, yet Frazier continues to bill it is a "start-up." Frazier's small company has been rated "high risk," doesn't have anyone who answers the phone - or return phone calls, and doesn't have a physical office anywhere. All of this despite the fact that Takara Systems says it has offices in Aurora, Asia, and Africa. No one seems to understand what this company does, or where it does business, or even how it makes money. Frazier doesn't report getting paid by them. The only apparent thing is Takara Systems brags on its website that it helps other companies "outsource" jobs overseas.
There are serious questions - even raised by The Denver Post, about Frazier's finances, how he earns a living, supports his family, what his business actually does, where it's located, and why it's philosophy is to promote outsourcing good American jobs, when there are thousands of Coloradans out of work right now.
Dan Maes is another example. He's recently come under fire -- especially on conservative talk radio stations -- for lying about his resume and not being able to establish how he pays for his mortgage or account for his own income.
The Republican Party in Colorado has nothing better to offer voters than candidates with murky, questionable "business experience." Neither Frazier nor Maes have proven they can run anything, and there are more questions than answers about what their companies really do, and how each of them earns money and supports their families.
If they can't be trusted to actually operate businesses with clients who pay them, how can they be trusted to run a state, or a nation, on behalf of taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet and get jobs themselves. In both cases, former Colorado Republican Party chair and Congressman Bob Beauprez, questioned their qualifications for office. In Ryan Frazier's case, he even told the Denver Post Frazier "ought to be hired, not promoted."
Coloradans deserve to be represented by open and honest people who want to actually DO the job of representing the hardworking people of this state and moving it forward, rather than just HAVE the job so they can collect a taxpayer funded paycheck.