I am critical enough of the Colorado Education Association and the National Education Association. But to be fair, NEA/CEA has been outdone by their counterparts to the South: Mexico’s National Union of Education Workers. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has documented the waste and corruption and horrible inefficiencies of the Mexican education system due to the union’s political power and influence (H/T Mark Krikorian at The Corner).

Teachers unions in this state and country have caused their own significant share of problems, but their work is cut out for them to match the scale of abuse and destructive influence that CIS has documented about their sister union south of the border. Wow.

At the American Spectator, Paul Chesser writes about some of the highlights of his work he has documented, connecting the dots to compare how different states adopt climate change policies. His conclusion should be upsetting to taxpayers:

Every state amazingly produces the same strategies: increased taxation upon coal-fired energy generation; higher electric bill surcharges; increased tailpipe emissions standards to encompass CO2; subsidized mass transit; “green” standards in school curricula; and more.

Can you feel the pain? CCS and the climate commissions can’t. Seems they promise only positives, as the new taxes and regulations that they always recommend are amazingly said to save state economies money and create jobs. Indeed, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter promises to create an entirely “new energy economy” for his state — quite a feat for government bureaucrats.

Perhaps we should thank these folks for saving us from our freedoms. Undoubtedly they know what is best for the rest of us, as demonstrated by their insistence on stifled debate, limited consideration of actions, exclusion of information, and rosy-outlook economics.

“Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter promises to create an entirely ‘new energy economy’ for his state — quite a feat for government bureaucrats” – That statement makes me chuckle. The irony is effective enough on its face, but only becomes more ridiculous when you realize Ritter’s serious mismanagement of his own campaign funds (and the quandary it puts him in).

This tidbit from Chesser’s article should make my brother laugh, as he can relate from personal experience:

But Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle did not get the rhetoric memo, clumsily calling his appointed group the “Task Force on Global Warming.” No wiggle room there for a state — known for its nasty lake effect–that has experienced its harshest winter in memory. A “climate change” moniker might not have been so easily laughed away.

At least spring has arrived to thaw away the bad memories of cold, wet winters in Wisconsin and Colorado.

If you’re like me, you may identify closely with the famous Barack Obama phrase: “typical white person.” But I was never moved by the entrepreneurial spirit like a couple friends of mine who created the Typically White website, where you can go to order “Typically White” shirts and bags.

Who knows? You might find a great present to one of your conservative – or any typically white – friend or family member.

Every once in awhile I step back and realize that I should bring my readers’ attention to people with important ideas who they may not have heard.

In that spirit, one of Colorado’s brightest and most articulate writers challenging the effort to socialize medicine is Brian Schwartz, who introduced a free market proposal to the state’s blue ribbon commission on health care reform (since the proposal advocated for more freedom, it was unsurprisingly rejected). Besides blogging regularly at wakalix, Brian also is quite prolific in penning published columns. His latest, assailing the arguments behind “universal health care,” appears in the Pueblo Chieftain (H/T We Stand Firm).

If you are interested in health care reform, make sure you are reading what Brian Schwartz has to say.

Colorado center-right bloggers take notice: One of the sharp and ambitious bloggers I met at Samsphere in Chicago a couple weeks ago – Maggie Thurber – shows the power of doing a little original research to expose government waste on public swimming pools in her Toledo backyard:

For sake of argument, let’s estimate that individuals likely to use the pool facilities will do so five times during the season. This seems a reasonable estimate considering the number of days the pools are open.

Using this assumption, the pools had about 5,000 unique visitors. The 2006 Census data shows that there are 74,896 children (under 18 years of age) in Toledo. Even if every visitor to the pools was a child, we would be serving less than 7% of the kids in the city. If we consider total population, those estimated 5,000 unique visitors represent less than 2% of the population.

Yet the city is planning to spend about $600,000 for this – which is about $120 per person served. It would be cheaper to buy every kid in the city a membership to the Boys and Girls Club ($5 per year for 16-18 year olds, but only $3 for 7-15 year olds) which would give them access to ALL activities, not just the pools.

Add one more entry to the encyclopedia of examples of government waste and inefficiency.

Face The State is onto another big story, uncovering facts about complaints filed against the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative – which recently qualified for the November statewide ballot.

Face The State’s report has uncovered serious issues with two of the major complaints, issues neglected in the drive-by media coverage.

Here’s the first:

On February 26, Chloe Johnson filed a complaint with Secretary of State Mike Coffman’s office alleging that she was tricked into supporting Amendment 46, also known as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, a ballot effort designed to end race and gender preferences in government hiring, education, and contracting. The complaint was formally dismissed by the state’s Office of Administrative Courts because Johnson never registered to vote.

Uh-oh. Face The State made another catch yesterday:

A Face The State investigation has revealed that one of the individuals alleging voter fraud against a campaign devoted to ending racial and gender preferences is a longtime liberal activist with ties to multiple organizations promoting such policies.

On April Fool’s Day, Dara Burwell spoke at a widely covered Capitol press conference, alleging that she was misled into signing a petition in support of Amendment 46, the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, an effort certified for the November general election ballot by Secretary of State Mike Coffman, and one that seeks to abolish the use of gender and race preferences in government, education, and public hiring decisions.

Memo to the Left: You are going to have to try harder. Affirmative action isn’t going to validate misguided legal complaints against the Civil Rights Initiative.

Tax Day. The Ides of April. The anniversaries of two epic tragedies: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the sinking of the Titanic. Monday / Tuesday. All very compelling reasons – but none actually bear the responsibility – for the sparse blogging in the last day or so. I hope to get a substantive post or two up tonight. We’ll see.

I am scheduled to be a guest on the Amy Oliver Show on Northern Colorado’s AM 1310 KFKA this morning at 10:00 AM (Mountain Daylight Time). I will be talking about my new report on Gov. Bill Ritter’s union “employee partnerships,” including a breakdown of the weak arguments used to defend Ritter’s executive order and potential harms that it creates. For those who don’t have time to look at the full-blown report, I also have created a two-page overview.

You can listen live online here.

In his latest Human Events column, Colorado’s own Ross Kaminsky highlights the amazing character of Cory Voorhis, the politically-targeted federal immigration agent who last week was exonerated in a case that stems back to the 2006 election:

Cory Voorhis looked me in the eye and said “God Bless America”. It was a remarkable statement from a man whose life has been turned upside down by a justice system which was hijacked by politicians and turned loose on this unsung American hero. When I said to Voorhis that it was remarkable he still felt that way, he pointed to his American flag lapel pin and said, still choked up from the news five minutes earlier, “This is what I stand for.”

Five minutes earlier, at about 1:45 PM on Wednesday, a 13-member jury unanimously returned two “not guilty” verdicts on the charges filed against Cory Voorhis by the US Attorney for the District of Wyoming. It was a case which the US Attorney’s office should never have accepted, but did so, in the view of many observers, because of political pressure trickling down from the office of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.

After a trial that included shoddy lawyering by the prosecution and a government investigation obviously tainted by politics, Cory Voorhis is today a free and vindicated man. But it is a bittersweet victory indeed, as Voorhis has been nearly bankrupted by the government’s outrageous abuse of power, selective prosecution, and intentionally incomplete investigation.

It was a bad week for Gov. Bill Ritter, but certainly a relief for a duty-bound civil servant who despite the financial and mental anguish can still proclaim “God bless America.”

Read the entire article, including Ross’s exclusive interview with Cory Voorhis. I was left with a newfound admiration for him, and if you are able and so inclined, Ross reminds us:

For those interested in helping Cory Voorhis pay off some of his $250,000 debt for legal bills, please visit http://www.corylegaldefense.com and make a contribution. My money is where my mouth is.

Cross posted at Ritter Watch

The idea was great the first time, so it’s good to see fellow RMA blogger Jim Cannon pursuing it again:

In other news, it’s time for a new Letters from Home project. This time I will be collecting letters for the Navy. I’ll be sending them off to the USS Russell — DDG-59. So, just like last time, please send generalized supportive emails to me, and I will make sure that they get to the men and women aboard the Russell. When you send your email, please be sure and put “Letters from Home” in the subject line. We’re aiming for about 250 emails, so I’m hoping to have them collected and packed up by the end of the month. As with last time, anything you all can do to help spread the word would be greatly appreciated.

I encourage you to join me in giving up a little time to do a small part to help raise the morale of some of our brave servicemen. If you want to figure out what you can write about, Jim points us to a truly interesting blog kept by the sailors on the USS Russell – it might give you an idea or two.

Mr. Bob points the way to a stellar Wall Street Journal column penned by Michael Yon, who has earned the utmost credibility in Iraq by virtue of spending more time following the action in person than probably any other independent observer. So when he writes:

I have seen this war – and our part in it – at its brutal worst. And I say the transformation over the last 14 months is little short of miraculous.

The change goes far beyond the statistical decline in casualties or incidents of violence. A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America. Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about “GoArmy.com.”

Or:

Over the past 15 months, we have proved that we can win this war. We stand now at the moment of truth. Victory – and a democracy in the Arab world – is within our grasp. But it could yet slip away if our leaders remain transfixed by the war we almost lost, rather than focusing on the war we are winning today.

We should be paying attention to what Michael Yon has to say. The reality-challenged crew in the U.S. Senate Democratic caucus and their online spin machine need to read this more than most, but it’s likely they will miss it altogether.

Republican State Senator Tom Wiens surprisingly announced yesterday that he is deciding not to run for re-election. Local insider Steven Nielson responded quickly: he is trying to track down Senator Wiens to learn more about his decision, and touts a few potential GOP replacements who could scramble to take his place mere weeks before the crucial 4th Senate District Assembly. At least it’s a relatively safe seat.

I’ll keep an eye on this story, too.

In today’s Denver Post:

Colorado State Fair champion Sen. Abel Tapia has spent eight years in the Capitol corralling money for the fiscally faltering enterprise while his engineering firm received nearly half a million dollars in fair contracts, records show.

As the Pueblo Democrat rose to power atop an influential budgeting committee, so too rose the fortunes of his district’s fair and the price tags on the contracts he received.

Nothing known to be illegal happened in this case, and I’m not writing this to throw stones at Sen. Tapia. Rather than rehashing the details here, you can peruse the Post article. It just points to a problematic loophole in Colorado government ethics that needs to be resolved – because as the article points out:

None of the fair’s engineering contracts are awarded through competitive bids.

Instead, facility managers either select an engineer from a state-managed pool for smaller projects or choose a contractor through interviews and rankings. The process follows state procurement rules.

In the Pueblo region, there are more than two dozen firms similar to Tapia’s from which fair and other state agency officials can choose. The companies sign up through the state to handle contracts worth $50,000 or less.

Tapia’s firm received eight contracts or amendments to contracts from the State Fair in an eight-year stretch. They totaled $481,483. [emphasis added]

A story like this one makes the case for proposed ballot initiative # 59, titled “Restrictions on Campaign Contributions from Government Sole-Source Contractors”, for which signatures are being collected to appear on the statewide Colorado ballot in November.

Today, two Colorado newspapers ran stories about growing unionization in state government. I was quoted in both articles, as the issue is one I’ve researched and have an Independence Institute publication being formatted for official release on Monday. There’s only so much space in a news article. But that’s what makes a blog a wonderful venue for revising and extending my remarks, as a way to press the debate forward.

First, Chris Barge in the Rocky Mountain News introduces the issue:

The unions that pushed the hardest for Gov. Bill Ritter’s executive order granting them a larger voice in state government could soon see a nearly fourfold increase in membership….

The unions, which had fewer than 6,000 dues-paying state workers on their rolls before the Nov. 2 order, could soon exclusively represent the vast majority of the state’s 32,000 qualifying workers.

Then the part where yours truly comes in:

Benjamin DeGrow, education policy analyst at the conservative Independence Institute, plans to release a competing report on Monday called “A Shaky Foundation, a Potential Threat: Analyzing Colorado State Union ‘Employee Partnerships.’ “

He argues that Ritter’s executive order granting union representation through so-called “partnership agreements” is misguided, unnecessary and ultimately will result in unions holding Ritter and lawmakers hostage to their demands for higher wages and benefits.

Ritter has emphasized that his order specifically bans strikes, prohibits binding arbitration and bars unions from charging dues to nonmembers. Last week he signed a state worker strike ban into law.

Unfortunately, Gov. Bill Ritter only gets credit for one out of three on that recycled claim.

(more…)

Over at Schaffer v Udall yesterday, I took on the Left’s attempt to smear Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer with broad strokes of the “Jack Abramoff” brush, despite no evidence of any direct connection whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Index continues to expose the lack of credibility from the Mark Udall surrogate whose comments at SvU prompted a full response.

While the lemmings on the Left salivate and gloat that their Big Blue Lie Machine slime job will bring down Bob Schaffer and clear the way for avowed liberal Mark Udall to win, Mike Saccone at the Grand Junction Sentinel‘s Political Notebook offers a more (mentally) balanced assessment:

In the short-term, it could embolden Schaffer’s supporters, much like a New York Times article that was critical or GOP president candidate John McCain did earlier this year. Expect Schaffer’s supporter to return to his campaign manager’s statement to The Denver Post: Schaffer never met Abramoff and didn’t know of Abramoff’s connection to privately sponsored island getaway….

It’s also fair to estimate that the Schaffer article could have almost no impact by the time November roll around. After all, it is only April. Most voters probably are not tuned into the race at this point. Though it will surface in broadcast ads over the summer and into the fall, its initial punch was felt today.

Then again, this could have sticking power. Only time will tell.

Bob Agard says Schaffer needs to take the opportunity to respond, pointing to some larger questions raised by the Denver Post. I agree, and I’m glad to use this platform to clear the air.