At least one Democrat is willing to debate

COLORADO hasa popular Democratic governor, Jared Polis. He’s a rare Democrat who says, “I’m for more freedom and lower taxes.”

But is he really?

At least he’s willing to come to Stossel TV to debate.

Refreshingly, Polis supports charter schools. He even founded two. Unfortunately, his state’s school choice program only applies to government schools. Florida, Arizona, Utah, Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa and Arkansas now help parents send their kids to any school.

When I tell Polis that Colorado lags, he responds, “I’m not a fan of these voucher programs with no accountability where it can be Joe’s Taco Shop and K-8 academy and they’re getting taxpayer money.” But it’s not true that independent schools have “no accountability.” They are accountable to parents, which is better than being “accountable” to sleepy government bureaucrats.

His state also launched universal preschool. But why? Even the muchpraised Head Start program doesn’t help kids. A federal study found that by third grade, there was no difference between those who attend Head Start and those who don’t.

“Why fund something that makes no difference?” I ask.

Polis responds: “High-quality early childhood education leads to better outcomes.” It probably would. But rarely does government offer “high quality.”

Another Polis mistake: He supported a higher tax on vape products.

“Vaping saves lives,” I point out. “It’s better than smoking.”

“Even though vaping has been effective in helping people get off of smoking,” Polis responds, “it’s also led to more nicotine addiction, especially among young people.”

But nicotine isn’t what kills. At least, when it comes to legalizing marijuana and psychedelics, Colorado leads the country.

“It’s ultimately a matter of personal responsibility,” says Polis. “If you want to use marijuana, if you want to drink, if you want to smoke, that’s your prerogative. The government shouldn’t be deciding that for you.”

Colorado produces lots of oil and gas. Polis is requiring 30 percent reductions for nitrous oxide emissions.

“Sounds like it will cripple the business,” I tell him.

“The oil and gas companies are going to be able to reach that,” Polis responds. “It simply means rather than moving oil and gas on trucks, they use pipelines.”

We’ll see how that works out.

Another area where we disagree: Polis opposed the recent Supreme Court decision that ruled a website designer should not be forced to create a wedding site for a gay couple.

“It’s OK to force me to make a website or cake for your marriage?” I ask.

“If you’re a public accommodation or storefront, you can’t say no Blacks, no Jews, no gays,” Polis responds. “Obviously, you don’t accept a commission to paint something or do something that you don’t agree with. There’s a gray area … what’s creative, and what’s public accommodation.”

I don’t think it’s a gray area. Business owners should be free to make their own rules. They created the business. Consumers have choices. There’s more than one bakery or website designer.

Polis and I talked for almost an hour about crime, equity versus equality, entrepreneurship and more. We disagree but also find common ground. I’m glad he’s willing to debate. You can watch the whole interview at Johnstossel.com.