Mount Virtus

Face the State highlights the fraud and deceit behind Michael Huttner’s attacks against Republican State Board of Education vice chair Bob Schaffer. Key passages:

Earlier this year, Schaffer was in the majority of the board when he voted to remand back to the Denver School Board a decision to deny Life Skills Center its charter. While Denver previously denied the mostly-minority school’s charter, it ultimately agreed with the state board and approved the school’s proposal to continue in existence.

After the vote, Schaffer received a campaign contribution to aid his current U.S. Senate bid from David Brennan, an individual who runs a charter school management company that has contracts with Life Skills. Huttner is trying to say that Brennan bought Schaffer’s vote with his contribution. The idea is ludicrious.

And:

In making his media push, Huttner insisted that Schaffer sign a pledge to fully disclose all of his campaign contributors prior to making a vote. Huttner needs to get his facts straight and admit that his latest effort is nothing more than a media ploy. Colorado’s elected officials and candidates are already required to disclose their contributors—a requirement Schaffer has fully complied with.

And:

Huttner also fails to point out that under Colorado’s campaign finance laws, liberal school board members and legislative candidates are at a distinct advantage when it comes to their disclosure requirements.

Their most frequent source of funding comes from union-funded small donor committees. These committees can donate to board members in $4,000 increments—all without unveiling the identities of specific donors. In many cases, individual union members don’t even know their dues money is being used to fund specific candidate campaigns.

All excellent (and true) points conveniently ignored by the Lefty attack machine, eager to dump mud on an honorable political opponent they simply can’t stand. I know it will make their skin crawl, but an honest look in the mirror will show the Lefty attack machine’s fabrications and distortions are more Rovian than Karl Rove himself.

The Rocky Mountain News reports today about a new policy giving labor union leaders privileged access to Colorado state government property. Too bad the administration of Governor Bill Ritter (D) is so fixated on rewarding some of his biggest campaign supporters.

Colorado’s voice of center-right reason on the Western Slope cataloged where these new perks fit into the larger scheme of union payback by Democrats:

Republicans said the policy amounts to Ritter’s second concession to unions after angering them last legislative session when he vetoed a pro-labor bill to make it easier for unions to organize in the private sector.

The first payback, they said, was an executive order that allowed union dues to be automatically withdrawn from paychecks.

“Taxpayer-subsidized e-mail, phones and mail service is just the latest verse in the governor’s mea culpa serenade to the disgruntled union bosses,” state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, said after reviewing the rules Friday. “And I don’t doubt for a second that there’s a lot more mea culpa to come.”

One of the state’s other rising Republican stars puts the development into context well:

Republicans, who read the draft rules obtained by the Rocky Mountain News, said Friday that they amounted to a back-room administrative fiat by a Democratic administration trying to pay back the public employee unions that helped elect Ritter.

“This type of policy change should be addressed by the full legislature and not done behind closed doors during the summer recess through regulatory finesse,” said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma.

“The balloon payment for the unions will be made by the Democrats during the 2008 legislative session, when pro-labor union legislation moves from a pat on the back to a full-blown body massage,” Gardner said.

My snide question then is this: can we expect our Democratic legislature to introduce a bill regulating the practitioners of political massage therapy on organized labor leaders? Oh, wait. Pass a law regulating themselves? Never mind.

First they came in the form of a morning fax. Then mass emails became the medium of choice. Instant messages were attempted, briefly used, then discarded. Eventually talk turned to telepathic messages delivered through implanted neurochips. But now, we may never see them, with word leaked from the White House today:

Karl Rove, President Bush’s close friend and chief political strategist, plans to leave the White House at the end of August, joining a lengthening line of senior officials heading for the exits in the final 1 1/2 years of the administration.

A longtime member of Bush’s inner circle, Rove was nicknamed ”the architect” by the president for designing the strategy that twice won him the White House.

Notably omitted from the story, however, were references to the daily talking points delivered electronically to thousands of Republican automatons like myself. How blogging endeavors like mine can possibly survive, much less thrive, come September 1 remains to be seen.

Then again, this announcement may be little more than a clever ruse to put keen, hard-working Leftists off the trail for awhile. We may yet continue to receive our daily doses of Vast Right Wing Conspiracy propaganda to keep us all on the same page.

(Oh, you know someone at the Daily Kos was thinking it, and may in fact have already written it. Yes, I already feel a tinge of shame for helping to feed the paranoia. But I needed some way to spice up a Monday morning.)

Cyclone Conservatives has all the on-the-scene coverage of today’s Republican Presidential candidate straw poll in Ames, Iowa. Here are the results as reported on Jonathan Martin’s Politico blog:

1. Mitt Romney, 4516, 31.5%

2. Mike Huckabee, 2587, 18.1

3. Sen. Sam Brownback, 2192, 15.3

4. Tom Tancredo, 1,961, 13.7

5. Ron Paul, 1305, 9.1

6. Tommy Thompson, 1039, 7.3

7. Fred Thompson, 203, 1.4

8. Rudy Giuliani, 183, 1.3

9. Duncan Hunter, 174, 1.2

10. John McCain, 101, 1

11. John Cox, 41, .1

Total Votes
14,302

To the absolute surprise of no one paying attention, Mitt Romney won. But my first glance at the results tells me that his win isn’t impressive enough to give him the clear edge he’s hoping for. But if anyone is hoping for a big bounce of momentum from the early Iowa caucuses, it’s definitely Romney - it’s his to lose.

The other top tier candidates all sidestepped the Ames straw poll. Of the three, Fred Thompson (still the non-candidate candidate) did better than Rudy Giuliani or the tanking campaign of John McCain (who saved himself the embarrassment of finishing behind political nobody John Cox).

The biggest political winner tonight clearly is Mike Huckabee, who will need to keep the momentum going as he angles hard for the vice-presidential slot on next year’s national ticket. Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul look like they’ll hang around for a while longer. But here’s the kicker for me: More than 1,000 people came to Ames to cast a non-binding vote of support for Tommy Thompson? And you thought your Saturday was boring and dreary.

After today, not much changes for me. Mount Virtus is still firmly undecided on whom to support in the Republican presidential primary.

Let me encourage you to join in Project “Letters from Home,” sponsored by fellow RMA blogger Jim of Thinking Right:

I’m working with the 1st Battalion 1st Marine Regiment to get every one of their soldiers a letter of support from home. This is where you, my readers, come in to the picture; I need you to write these men and women, and then spread the word about the project to everyone you can. We need about 1000 emails in order to get one to every Marine. Please put letters from home in the subject line.
Update: The address I’ve set up for project Letters From Home is letters@thinking-right.com

I would encourage you to join me in participating in this easy-to-do, yet very tangible, means of support for some of the brave men and women in uniform sacrificing so much for each of us.

With news of the GOP presidential primary non-candidate Fred Thompson’s hiring of a trusted campaign manager comes this insight (maybe it’s appeared elsewhere previously, but I haven’t seen it):

Thompson is expected to officially enter the race Labor Day week…

Having watched previous rumors of entries in May and July gone by, I am truly in a “wait and see” stance. This Republican primary voter and activist remains firmly undecided.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin reports the former U.S. Senator and erstwhile “Law and Order” TV star is planning his first campaign-related visit to Iowa on August 17. As Martin suggests, this might signal a shift from earlier talk that he was planning to bypass the January caucuses. I’m guessing Mitt Romney’s recent momentum may have something to do with that decision.

For the latest on what’s going on with Fred, check out his Colorado supporters’ blog.

Iowa’s Ames straw poll is this Saturday, and the suspense is not in who is going to win. Since most of the top-tier candidates have chosen not to participate, Mitt Romney will walk away with it. Politico’s Jonathan Martin highlights the Romney campaign’s intense battle against high expectations.

Meanwhile, the Denver Post spotlights Colorado’s own Tom Tancredo - they may be cheering for him to beat out the slew of other also-rans for second place. Not necessarily from partisan or philosophical motives, but more from the desire to extend news coverage of the Congressman’s campaign as long as possible before its inevitable demise.

Without any special inside information from Iowa, but as one who follows the political news fairly closely, I believe the Tancredo team may be looking more realistically for a fourth-place finish behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback.

Of greater import, if Tancredo edges out Ron Paul, it might signal a quicker end to the Texan’s quixotic campaign. What about Tommy Thompson, you say? Well, there’s … ZZZZZZZ.

Rev up your engines, my friends! The careful research of one Brit has turned conventional environmental wisdom on its head:

Walking does more than driving to cause global warming, a leading environmentalist has calculated.

Food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance. The climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes. Provided, of course, they remembered to switch off the TV rather than leaving it on standby.

So one is left to ask: why isn’t this guy considered an environmentalist icon?

If you have a devout Green religionist in your life, you may not want to share some of the other observations:

— Traditional nappies are as bad as disposables, a study by the Environment Agency found. While throwaway nappies make up 0.1 per cent of landfill waste, the cloth variety are a waste of energy, clean water and detergent

— Paper bags cause more global warming than plastic. They need much more space to store so require extra energy to transport them from manufacturers to shops

— Organic dairy cows are worse for the climate. They produce less milk so their methane emissions per litre are higher

— Trees, regarded as shields against global warming because they absorb carbon, were found by German scientists to be major producers of methane, a much more harmful greenhouse gas

Makes you wonder: is this guy an environmental activist?

Just asking.

Conservative bloggers who have observed our side lagging a bit in the world of Internet political opinion should consider encouraging this trend:

In a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers is trying to band together to form a labor union it hopes will help members receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards.

Not much could do more to slow the productivity of Lefty blogging and to raise costs for its wealthy benefactors than cyber-unionization. I’m waiting for the first Colorado union blog shop to open up and to expel non-union writers or to extract fees from them. Or what about this tantalizing possibility as a future headline: “Liberal bloggers on strike.”

This is the sort of development that could really level the playing field.

Baseball seasons are long for a reason, but these are the times that try Detroit Tigers‘ fans souls. For a group of fans used to years of futility, the sudden rise to dominance can bring us to a state of insecurity in the wake of their recent 3-8 road trip. Injuries have taken their toll on an overworked, underprepared bullpen, while nearly all of the normally potent lineup has gone cold at once. Somehow, though, they cling to the narrowest of leads in the American League Central division.

After a day off, they have their opportunity to turn things around by coming home to play their next 3 series at Comerica Park. It’s easy to get impatient when things aren’t going your team’s way during the long baseball season. But perspective dictates that I be grateful. Three years ago I would have been ecstatic just to see my team atop the standings at all at the beginning of August. I said before the season that the Tigers’ biggest challenge in 2007 would be fighting the newly high expectations. Even when they’re not dominant, the Tigs are demonstrating real character. Should they stick it out and make the playoffs, I think this will work to their advantage.

El Presidente brings us a Friday reminder of the cost of having Democrats in charge of our state. He highlights a Rocky Mountain News article that tells us how Colorado’s Democrat Commissioner on Higher Education David Skaggs wants to extend in-state tuition privileges to illegal aliens.

Is this the Democrat solution to the higher education funding shortfall? Meanwhile, Governor Ritter ignores a potential energy revenue windfall to fund our state’s colleges and universities. Why? Apparently, Democrats would rather tax hard-working Colorado citizens and spend the excess on privileges for illegal aliens.

El Presidente also makes a clear and strong point on an issue to which he has given repeated attention:

No Mr. Skaggs, the disconnect is how this state or any state could offer the benefits of in-state tuition to children of illegal immigrants and not to CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY who just happen to be from another state. These students have received their federally mandated K-12 education–let them pony up the cash, find scholarships, work while in school or take out loans to pay for college, just like citizens of the USA and residents of this state have to do themselves. As of now, Metro State charges non-resident tuition; however, CU grants in-state tuition.

Notice too how Skaggs finds the only solution to granting in-state tuition can be found through the legislature, and not through referenda or initiatives–something the public could directly determine.

Of course, this only fits the Colorado Democrats’ proclivity to raise your taxes without asking.

Godspeed and Semper Fi to Marine Colonel (and state senator) Steve Ward, whom the Denver Post reports today is being deployed to Iraq for a short-term assignment:

Ward expects to be in Iraq - probably Anbar province in the western part of the country - by late August or early September. “I’m assuming Anbar,” Ward said when asked where he will be stationed. “I go where they send me.”

The short-term assignment to help Iraqis set up a democratic government is scheduled to end in time for Ward to fill his state Senate seat when the assembly reconvenes in January.

Ward was appointed to the state Senate to replace Sen. Jim Dyer, who resigned after he was elected in November to the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners.

I met Steve Ward last December, shortly before his appointment to the legislature. He struck me then as a man of conviction and character, not surprising at all when I also learned he was a Marine.

Ward follows in the footsteps of Colorado Secretary of State (then-Treasurer) Mike Coffman who took leave from his elected post in 2005-2006 to don the uniform and serve in Iraq.

Seeing that one of our state senators is set to be deployed should remind us of our need to support all the troops.

Phil Mella at Clear Commentary draws our attention to a story in the Colorado Springs Gazette about Gov. Bill Ritter’s encounter with a group of Iraqi teenagers. As usual, Phil has a lucid grasp of events and provides keen insights that put Ritter’s “veneer-thin understanding of events on the ground in Iraq” into a broader and deeper context. His conclusion is worth quoting:

Politics has a way of infecting collective thought in ways that create a kind of lemming-like group think which effectively relieves us of the charge of thinking for ourselves. Let’s hope that as real progress continues in Iraq our arm chair strategists such as Ritter begin digging a bit deeper into the situation so that they can rise above the din of the mainstream media’s jaundiced view of the war.

Since I’m fairly certain someone on the Governor’s staff checks in at this blog from time to time, might I kindly recommend taking a look at the work of Michael Yon or Bill Roggio (one could even start by reading John Burns’ dispatches for the New York Times)? Or just head for the Victory Caucus site. It could be enlightening.

Good news: the Independence Institute (where I work) unveiled its strategy today to sue the state for imposing a property tax increase without a vote of the people:

Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute in Golden, also promised to sue the state, claiming that freezing school districts’ tax rates is a tax policy change that requires statewide voter approval.

“There will definitely be a lawsuit,” Caldara said at a news conference at the Capitol. “No question about it.”

Caldara brought a stack of letters - more than 170 for school districts and 64 for county clerk and recorders - that he plans to send requesting records related to previous school district votes waiving revenue limits.

A press release from House Republican leader Mike May shows approval:

It is a shame that our new governor decided to push the boundaries of our constitution and take more of people’s hard-earned money without asking. It was reckless and disrespectful to pass a $1.7 billion tax hike without a vote of the people, and the governor deserves to be challenged in court.

The Independence Institute should be praised for standing up for the rights of the people of Colorado. I wish them luck in their fight against the governor’s property tax hike.

Sad news: The Governor’s office doesn’t want you to pay attention to what he and his Democratic Party are seeking to do. The response is unsurprisingly arrogant:

Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Ritter, called Caldara’s event a “tasteless stunt.”

The funding plan will “help kids, restore taxpayer fairness and help those school districts maintain local control,” he said.

In 175 school districts, voters have approved ballot measures allowing officials to keep revenues over the amount allowed by the state constitution.

The stated three-part opinion is questionable.

1. “Help kids”? Maybe, though not one penny is guaranteed to increase education funding. If it does help kids, then why fear asking voters to approve it?

2. “Restore taxpayer fairness”? Depends on how you look at it. Early on, the Governor made a “winners & losers” concession by picking to give a tax cut to a handful of districts while maintaining the tax hike for many others.

3. “Help those school districts maintain local control”? Apparently, the local control protection in the state constitution isn’t enough, and so school districts need the state to tell them what their voters really meant, rearrange their revenue sources, and keep the excess money raised by the tax hike for other state government priorities. Hmmm, doesn’t exactly sound like maintaining local control to me.

Read the rest of this entry »

To its credit, the Rocky Mountain News editorial board utterly discredited one of four health-care reform proposals made by Gov. Bill Ritter’s 208 Commission. The Rocky picked off the bad, low-hanging fruit of a single-payer, government-run proposal. But the other three plans are only less bad and more palatable by small degrees.

If you wish to learn more about the deficiencies in these proposals, the dangers revealed in other experiences with socialized medicine, and the campaign for a pro-freedom, consumer-friendly reform to our health care system, then you have to bookmark the blog We Stand Firm by Dr. Paul and Diana Hsieh, Lin Zinser, and Ari Armstrong. For compelling visual media that makes the same case, please also visit filmmaker Stuart Browning’s Free Market Cure site.

The call to re-do health care will be the dominant issue in our state in 2008. Therefore, Coloradans need to be educated about the topic and to see that a tax-raising, top-down, government “solution” is not the only approach to reforming the current flawed system. And it’s certainly not the best approach, or even an improvement. Learn more by following the links above. Let’s hope the Rocky’s editors and other influential voices come to this conclusion, as well.

In light of yesterday’s release of CSAP results, the Post’s David Harsanyi gives his diagnosis:

The fact that a third of Colorado students can’t adequately read and that half can’t pass a math test doesn’t mean that Colorado school reform is stalling. It means that some schools and students are stalling and many parents aren’t taking their children’s potential seriously enough. Either Mom and Dad aren’t spending adequate time helping to educate their kids, or they’re not taking advantage of the (still limited) choices Colorado schools offer, or they’re not demanding those in charge to get the job done.

Which brings us to the solution. More Coloradans should act rich.

I can only add in emphasis that acting rich in this case means being persistent. Such persistence is key to yielding more choices and more success in education. But if more parents don’t demand better for their own children or aren’t armed with enough information and knowledge to know what to demand, then the influences of the education union and bureaucrats will continue to dominate.

Harsanyi sums up his point:

Each child is an individual. And each individual parent should demand that their children are educated - whatever the CSAP score tells them. So start acting like a contemptible snob.

When it comes to navigating the education system as an advocate for your child’s education, that advice isn’t so bad.