Mount Virtus

Clarification: It has come to my attention that some confusion has arisen regarding the nature of action taken by the School Finance Interim Committee at its Tuesday, September 27 meeting. No formal votes were taken, but at the request of Senator Sue Windels - Committee Chair - informal straw polls were taken to indicate the committee’s interest in taking future action on various ideas for legislation proposed by committee members. When Senator Windels introduced her “Referendum E” proposal, a straw poll of committee members showed four of the 10 objecting to taking future action. The significance of the legislators’ interest in promoting a tax increase beyond Referenda C and D remains.

DENVER - Amid a heated election contest to suspend taxpayer refunds, a leading Colorado Senate Democrat has moved forward in her plan to urge voters to adopt another tax increase to fund K-12 education.

At a Tuesday meeting, an Interim School Finance Committee composed of 10 state lawmakers agreed to proceed with crafting legislation recommending Colorado voters approve a new funding source to finance the state’s schools. Committee chair Senator Sue Windels (D - Arvada) proposed the idea, which she styled as “Referendum E.”

Windels said she would consider putting the measure on the statewide ballot in 2007.

Four committee members objected to forwarding Windels’ idea for immediate action, including Senator Ron Tupa (D - Boulder), who cited the current contentious election battle over Referenda C and D as poor timing to raise the spectre of more taxes.

“I could see the Jon Caldaras of the world saying, ‘Look, the government is out for more money,’” Tupa said. “My heart is with you, [Senator Windels], but my head just isn’t.”

On the ballot November 1, Referendum C asks voters to forfeit an estimated $3.7 billion in refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) over the next five years and ratchets up the state government’s spending forever. Referendum D, dependent on the passage of C, would authorize the state to borrow an additional $2.1 billion for transportation and school construction projects, and police and fire employee pension bailouts.

In a handout given to committee members and guests, Senator Windels described her proposed Referendum E as “Everyone’s Effort for Equity and Excellence in Education.” The plan calls for increased funding for full-day kindergarten and preschool with no price tag yet specified.

Senator Nancy Spence (R - Centennial) proposed that the committee should “craft a trade-off” by also endorsing the removal of Amendment 23 from the State Constitution.

Windels rejected the idea, stating that she did not want “to put K-12 on the chopping block” before voters make a decision on Referenda C and D.

For more on Referenda C and D, visit TaxIncrease.org.

And I have it on good word that the op-ed to be released later this week in the Independence Institute’s weekly newsletter will address the ever-timely issue of school funding in Colorado. You can sign up for the newsletter here.

Belated Update: Peter Blake of the Rocky Mountain News picked up the story and included it in his Saturday column.

Mike at Best Destiny has already commented on the story of Colorado Democrats being caught and receiving an unprecedented penalty for illicit 2004 campaign activities, so I can’t add a lot. Kent Lambert of the Republican Study Committee deserves commendation for his perseverance and his thoroughness in pursuing the prosecution of an election law penalty, something with a high burden of proof.

Mike is right - of course, we shouldn’t be surprised. Hugh Hewitt wrote all about it in his 2004 classic, If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat. If you haven’t read it, or need a refresher, pick it up and give it a good perusal before the 2006 elections.

Peter Blake of the Rocky Mountain News brought Lambert’s intriguing story to light, one that nonpartisan political insiders in Colorado would have been intrigued by. But the partisan Democrat Dead Governors - usually reliable sources for bringing attention to inside political information and other lesser-known political stories in the state - must have lost the memo.

Too busy posturing in support of the forever tax increase, I guess.

Yes, the rumors are true… I will be joining fellow Alliance member Joshua in the 2006 class of the Leadership Program of the Rockies. Proof of powerful alumni influence? That might be a more plausible theory if he were in the country.

But I’m grateful to be aboard and look forward to sharing reports of the upcoming adventure with my readers.

From a Christian camp director in Louisiana - affiliated with the work of Operation Renewed Hope - who is housing evacuees from the areas most directly hit by Rita’s fury this morning:

I thought I would give you all an update while we still have power. We currently have around 250 evacuees housed at the camp. Our staff is doing a great job taking care of them and feeding them. The people have been very patient and understanding in the midst of a difficult situation. We are still a couple of hours away from the strongest part of Rita hitting us but we are not expecting too much damage. Most of the folks with us are from the hardest hit areas in South Louisiana and Texas. Many of them will be going home to nothing. We are already starting to hear rumors of terrible destruction, but I have been encouraging the folks to understand that they are simply rumors unless it comes from a first hand report. I have our van and trailer stocked and ready to go with food, water, and equipment and will head south as soon as I know our people and property are out of danger. I hope to be in the area of devastation by Monday at the latest. We have several churches in the area that we will be helping. Please pray for God’s wisdom and protection for His people during this time. We just lost one leg of our power so I am going to send this now.

Todd Sasek, Director
Southland Christian Camp

Psalm 107:8, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Please keep these people in your prayers and praise God that the storm wasn’t worse, as had been predicted.

The cannon fire is gaining strength within Colorado’s Republican camp, as the Marc Holtzman team shoots back and asks where rival Bob Beauprez has been on the Referenda C and D campaign.

Lest the Holtzman attack gets carried away too far, there is no doubt that Beauprez opposes the twin tax increase measures, though he may feel conflicted about making too public an opposition to his friend Bill Owens.

Both sides have elements of truth on their side. Holtzman has been in the limelight and absorbed the public backlash far more than his opponent. Gradually, he is establishing himself as the political leader on the issue, building inroads into the GOP’s fiscally conservative base and trying to establish his credibility for next year’s big showdown.

As his campaign coordinator stated, Beauprez undoubtedly has been talking up his opposition to Referenda C and D while on the campaign trail. But he hasn’t given it as much emphasis and has eschewed the airwaves on the issue. The Dead Governors’ recent revelation that Beauprez may be wavering in his decision may be raising some eyebrows right now, but we’ll believe it if anything comes of it all.

More related reading…
In his monthly blog posting from Tuesday, candidate Holtzman recounts his recent experience debating Ref C & D on the Western Slope.

You have to love this tidbit caught by Rocky Mountain News political columnist extraordinaire Peter Blake:

You’ve seen the TV ad a dozen times by now. A couple of teachers are promoting the Vote Yes on C and D campaign.

While a teacher identified as Elizabeth Henry is talking, the yellow caption on the ad says: “Kids takes [sic] the hit.”

Better vote yes. Maybe the state will collect so much extra money there will be enough left over to subsidize the return to syntax school of big-time copywriters and media producers.

Fodder for ScrappleFace or some other talented Web satirist?

The ad’s producers could have been less subtle and said: “Vote for C and D so the state can spend more money on remedial education.” Though, of course, that begs the question of whether the existing problem of the K-12 education system is primarily due to a shortage of funds. I contend that is not the case.

Any day now… Debunking the myths about K-12 education funding in Colorado….

The following review is made possible by the hard work of Stacy Harp at Mind and Media.

Your mind trapped in a world that ends at the United States borders? Living a life of relative comfort and ease? William O. Levi’s The Bible or the Axe might be just the wake-up call the average Christian in America may need.

The Bible or the Axe recounts Levi’s early life journey, which began with a large, tightly-knit, strongly-rooted Messianic Jewish family in east Africa before he endured persecution at the hands of Sudan’s Islamic regime in the 1980s and ultimately escaped to the United States. He later founded Operation Nehemiah, a mission still actively helping the Christian community in Sudan rebuild its broken walls.

Levi tells his story with candor and confidence. Reading the book is the visual equivalent of listening to a capable storyteller recount his experiences on the foreign mission field - everyday tales of trust through trials intertwined with accounts of the providential, even the miraculous.

The young man’s baptism by his warm but revered Grandfather forms the crystallizing moment of truth - leading Levi from contemplation to action - that gives the autobiography its poignant title. The piercing interrogation by Levi’s grandfather grows larger than life in the turbulent context of Sudanese persecution: “When your enemy comes to destroy you, which weapon will you choose?” the old preacher asks.

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This story in the Las Vegas Weekly has some of the richest irony I have ever seen:

The shade from the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market sign is minimal around noon; still, six picketers squeeze their thermoses and Dasani bottles onto the dirt below, trying to keep their water cool. They’re walking five-hour shifts on this corner at Stephanie Street and American Pacific Drive in Henderson—anti-Wal-Mart signs propped lazily on their shoulders, deep suntans on their faces and arms—with two 15-minute breaks to run across the street and use the washroom at a gas station.

Periodically one of them will sit down in a slightly larger slice of shade under a giant electricity pole in the intersection. Four lanes of traffic rush by, some drivers honk in support, more than once someone has yelled, “assholes!” but mostly, they’re ignored.

They’re not union members; they’re temp workers employed through Allied Forces/Labor Express by the union—United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). They’re making $6 an hour, with no benefits; it’s 104 F, and they’re protesting the working conditions inside the new Wal-Mart grocery store.

“It don’t make no sense, does it?” says James Greer, the line foreman and the only one who pulls down $8 an hour, as he ambles down the sidewalk, picket sign on shoulder, sweaty hat over sweaty gray hair, spitting sunflower seeds. “We’re sacrificing for the people who work in there, and they don’t even know it.”

Compare with this section later in the story:

Inside, the store manager at the Stephanie Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market says he’s perfectly happy with his job, and that his insurance is fine.

“The average rate of pay for Nevada Wal-Mart workers is $10.17 an hour. We have a good insurance program, and every associate—even part-timers—are eligible for the 401k,” says Mark Dyson. “There’s actually different levels of insurance, dental and medical—I have a $500 deductible, but there’s no cap on it. Some other companies’ plans have a $1 million cap, but here there’s no cap. For example, not long ago we had an associate whose husband needed a liver transplant, and that alone was $600,000; but they didn’t have to worry about a cap.”

For the least comprehensive medical coverage, Wal-Mart workers pay from $17.50 for individual coverage and $70.50 for family coverage biweekly, according to the company website.

What has happened to today’s labor union? Do they really care about the plight of the worker, or are they more interested in bringing down Wal-Mart? Reminds me of a recent column I wrote….

Giant hat tip to Mike Antonucci and his weekly Communique.

The release of a new report from the Independence Institute (formerly known as Piglet) detailing wasteful government spending, and an emotionally-charged rally at the State Capitol yesterday featuring a large, pink papier-mache pig, have taken the campaign over the forever tax increase to a new level.

Yesterday, pro C & D spokeswoman Katy Atkinson, a self-described “homegrown flack,” made some inappropriate personal attacks against gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman for his televised opposition to the “pork”-laden measures. Atkinson set the model for others who have taken the pig reference personally.

Officials’ scare tactics have frightened people into believing that without C and D, legislators’ hands will be completely tied as they take away vital services from the poor, sick, and elderly. They have also hoodwinked people into accepting that C and D will solve all their problems. Neither is true.

It’s easy to emote compassion and point fingers at the opponents of a tax increase and say that they just don’t care. It’s a lot harder to roll up your sleeves and work to spend the money of the people of Colorado in a way that is fair, efficient, and responsible - making the genuine cases of the sick, poor, and elderly to be real budget priorities and not stage pawns in an effort to make a legislative spending spree easier.

As for the recent tactics of the heavily-subsidized pro C & D spin doctors? They could easily be interpreted as desperation.

Even the Post now reports that people learning the facts are changing their minds in a direction that is upsetting the tax-and-spenders:

Across town, Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and former Senate President John Andrews, a Republican, debated the measures in front of the Denver Rotary Club.

Steve Mast, a small-business owner, said the debate changed his mind.

“I’m more inclined to say no now,” he said. “Leaves me with concerns with how it’s going to be spent.”

Reading this story in today’s Rocky Mountain News, I’m reminded that I wasn’t the only one who sat and suffered all day through yesterday’s School Finance Interim Committee meeting at the State Capitol.

Weeks before, the Interim Committee (under the direction of State Senator Sue Windels, D - Arvada) charged a task force of school officials, school finance experts, and a variety of interest group representatives to come up with a report making recommendations for a new way to fund K-12 public education in Colorado. The Task Force has sat through the series of meetings, as have I, listening to a variety of presentations, the details of which I will not bore you with.

But today’s story in the Rocky reflects the problem with the one-sided view of most of the Committee, Task Force, and even the audience. (I am one of a few exceptions.) Look in the story for an alternative point of view on the Task Force’s proposals for a massive tax-and-spend increase. Any alternatives out there?

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Devoted fans of Clay Calhoun and View from a Height finally get to see what two of the Denver area’s finest bloggers look like in the flesh (or at least in digital photography), thanks to the Denver Post today with a Jim Hughes article on “Colorado activists” playing a role in the Judge Roberts confirmation hearings.

Here’s one interesting graf in the story:

In addition to NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, the coalition includes the American Association of University Women, the Colorado Education Association teachers group, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado National Organization for Women. [emphasis mine]

I can’t be the only one bold enough to ask why the state’s largest teachers union (and why call it a “teachers group”?) takes a position either for or against the confirmation of a federal judge. The union’s stance against Judge Roberts may reflect the view of a majority of its members, but most certainly they were not polled to find an answer. Rather, CEA is following in lock-step the orders coming from national headquarters, with its liberal agenda. An interesting story for the Post to do would be to sample CEA members to find out how many favor their union’s stance on the Roberts confirmation - or better yet, to find out how many are even aware of their union’s stance. Such a story would be very telling, indeed.

Meanwhile, Joshua is able to offer up a firsthand refutation of the Post’s silent bias in the story.

As Joshua Sharf has already ably recounted, he and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Rep. Bob Beauprez last Friday. The Republican gubernatorial candidate graciously shared an hour of his time with us and addressed our questions with candor and confidence.

Rather than rehash Joshua’s assessments (too much), I’ll supplement his remarks with some of my own. Beauprez confidently asserted his conservative bona fides to strengthen his case for why he deserves the Republican nomination: his executive experience, his Washington connections, his traditional Colorado values.

I believe the candidate’s assessment is correct that “the governor’s race is ground zero” for reestablishing Republican leadership in other areas of Colorado government, namely the General Assembly. The candidate who can best unite the party around a clear, positive, conservative platform is the one who merits the support of the GOP base. Beauprez made a strong case that he fits that bill, and his experience both as state party chair and of bringing factions together after a tough party primary in 2002 for the 7th Congressional race is strong evidence.

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Could supporters of Referenda C and D be so desperate as to try to exploit the hurricane tragedy to sell their forever tax increase? So then, creating a parody Web site that compared sound arguments against the tax increase with calls to deny aid to Katrina victims seemed like a good attempt at political discourse?

The perpetrator of the now-defunct tasteless screed is, according to the Denver Post, a Web developer for and devotee of the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network, Colorado’s congregation of left-leaning political activists. At least someone in the group deserves commendation for pulling the plug on the phony Web site.

Meanwhile, supporters of the tax increase have undertaken the less controversial but much more symbolic “Great March South,” moving along the Front Range from Wyoming to New Mexico a few manageable miles at a time with their snack-laden RV in tow. If you’re going to go down, you might as well go down in style.

Is Pete Maysmith, the man that gave us Amendment 27, interested in defending the spirit of the campaign finance laws he masterminded and supported, or will he and his group show themselves to be loyal Democrats? Now that Wayne Rutt and Paul Marrick have appealed the administrative law judge’s decision in their complaint against the Poudre Education Association and Colorado Education Association, will Colorado Common Cause file an amicus brief supporting the complaint? Or will they say it’s okay for Democrats and unions to coordinate on candidate campaigns but not for Republicans and outside groups?

Read Peter Blake’s column today in the Rocky Mountain News. Great stuff for political junkies, and for anyone interested in the rule of law and a fair electoral process.

And if you are inclined to support Rutt and Marrick, or just want to get an update on what’s going on, you can check out the Parents for Truth in Education Web site, as always.

In case you missed this, here is a must-read: a Wall Street Journal editorial titled “Blame Amid the Tragedy” by Evergreen Freedom Foundation president Bob Williams. Here’s a key section:

The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

Mr. Williams is a respected personal acquaintance who I will gladly tout to you for his vast experience and his keen intellect, among other favorable traits. And his op-ed today is simply spot on.

Operation Renewed Hope, which is doing terrific work in organizing relief efforts to the victims of Hurricane Katrina - sharing the love of Christ through very real personal ministry - is looking for help from churches and Christian individuals. Read on…

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An update on your opportunity to donate to Operation Renewed Hope. An active online donation link is up that you can access. Click the “Donate Now” button, and you can submit your donation with the requested information. Be sure to put “Hurricane Katrina Relief” in the “Designation (Optional)” blank.

More on Operation Renewed Hope can be found on its main Web site and at this SharperIron post by Greg Linscott.

Whatever organization you choose to contribute to, please be sure that it is legitimate, credible, and does good work. Some examples include the American Red Cross and Feed the Children. And check out Rossputin’s challenge to match some donations - you might want to take him up on it.