Mount Virtus

Face The State has an interesting story today about possible conflict of interest behind a school district’s attempted lawsuit to get rid of an innovative online public charter school:

An education official involved in a lawsuit against an online charter school and the state school board is acting with conflicted interests, say some of those impacted by the legal action.

Critics charge that Michael Poore, the assistant superintendent for Colorado Springs School District 11 and chairman of Colorado’s Online Learning Advisory Board, faces a conflict when it comes to his district’s legal action against Hope Online Learning Academy and the Colorado State Board of Education.

Specifically, they object to the fact that he has been permitted to craft regulations that govern online programs with learning centers in multiple districts, and then use these regulations to sue Hope and the state board.

“How can [Poore] lead the lawsuit when he’s the one writing the rules?” said Lisa Villanueva, director of a Hope learning center in central Colorado Springs.

Check out the whole story. See what the education establishment won’t try to get rid of a competitor that some students and families have chosen as a better option.

Denver Post business writer Al Lewis made an interesting revelation yesterday (H/T Labor Pains blog):

What’s so great about being in the union?

Half of Colorado’s United Food and Commercial Workers would stop paying union dues if they could, according to the group’s local president.

In a May 1 letter to members, Ernest Duran warns that the right-to-work initiative headed for Colorado’s November ballot would decimate his ranks of dues-paying members.

“If this amendment passes, we will enter all future negotiations divided,” Duran wrote. “In my opinion, we will enter with less than 50 percent of the workers as union members.”

Do you wonder now why union leaders are so frightened of Amendment 47, the statewide ballot initiative that would empower individual workers to decide whether they wish to pay union dues or fees?
(more…)

The hearts of Coloradans are struck by the extensive destruction wrought by yesterday’s Weld County tornado.

The Rocky Mountain News has a rolling feed of live coverage on events in Windsor and the surrounding areas – truly a 21st century newspaper feature. Fellow blogger Bob Agard has posted video from the opening of last night’s MSNBC News coverage – reminding us how truly amazing it is that the storm resulted in only one fatality.

Meanwhile, of most importance, if you are able to do anything to help our neighbors in need – the Centennial Chapter of the American Red Cross is collecting donations for local relief. And please remember to utter a prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down.

We should also be reminded of much larger international tragedies of late – and find good ways to help the victims in Myanmar and in China, such as World Vision or Caring for China.

Yesterday, as reported by the Rocky Mountain News, ballots were mailed out to 21,000 Colorado state employees for the purposes of choosing exclusive representation. Workers vote yes to be represented by the Colorado WINS labor coalition or vote no to keep the status quo and the right to represent themselves if they so choose.

Unfortunately, the Rocky ended their story with a misleading statement:

[Gov. Bill] Ritter has emphasized that his order bans strikes, prohibits binding arbitration and bars unions from charging dues to nonmembers.

It makes you wonder whether Bill Ritter has read his own executive order. The order does not bar unions from charging dues to nonmembers – it leaves the door open to coercive fees being charged on non-members through private bargaining negotiations. I’ve read the order many times: trust me, it isn’t there. At least one national labor expert who read the order strongly noted the danger of this omission.

But you are welcome to look through every jot and tittle of Bill Ritter’s order to find the non-existent prohibition on collecting fees from non-members.

Ballots are likely to start arriving at workers’ homes today, with a deadline of June 10 to return them. It is a majority of ballots cast, not a majority of workers, that will determine the election. Workers who would otherwise vote No but choose not to participate make it easier for the unions to win exclusive representation power.

You can learn more about Bill Ritter’s executive order and its many problems through a number of sources I’ve written or recorded for the Independence Institute:
- Denver Post commentary
- iVoices podcast
- 2-page issue brief
- Full-length issue paper

Two of Colorado’s most established center-right bloggers weigh in on what’s happened to the Republican Party brand and what can be done about it.

Michael at Best Destiny takes a look at a Face The State story on the Republican’s recent plight in Denver’s northwest suburbs and opines loudly about what needs to be done to overcome messaging problems:

. . . .TALK TO EVERYBODY, NOT JUST THE BASE; TALK TO THEM ABOUT KITCHEN TABLE ISSUES, NOT GOP MEAT AND POTATOES; KNOW WHAT MATTERS TO PEOPLE like the economy, stupid; like education, stupid;…

Michael should get paid for his political consultant’s work. I concur that messaging is part of the problem, but in some ways the problem runs even deeper.

Meanwhile, Joshua at View from a Height goes more in-depth to contemplate the life cycle of political parties. While showing he understands the depth of the problem of a Republican Party unmoored from principles and reality, Joshua also advises against what he calls the “worse is better” approach:

The fact is, instead of cynically rooting for disaster, we would be better served to begin rebuilding the party brand now. We should be looking for candidates who stand for something, rather than being happy with the, “well, we’re better than them” line, which has been played out for several elections.

We should be looking for candidates who can begin pushing the Constitutionalist ideals which the rank-and-file expect it to. We should be supporting those candidates.

Agreed. While there may be a cathartic appeal to washing one’s hands of the mess and retiring to cheer for Republicans to be greeted by the electoral woodshed, it’s better to focus positive energy on candidates who have demonstrated a fidelity to “Constitutionalist ideals” – including candidates like Joshua himself.

Build for the future, without needlessly subjecting the nation to extended governance by the Left.

Is this really a story?

A government watchdog group criticized the state’s attorney general for stepping in as legal counsel to the new Independent Ethics Commission, saying in a statement Tuesday that the setup presents unavoidable conflicts of interest.

Attorney General John Suthers on Monday told the commission, responsible for forming ethics rules, that his office would do its lawyering unless lawmakers allow an outside attorney.

Suthers’ office by law acts as counsel for all state agencies, an attorney general spokesman said.

Then we see who the “government watchdog group” is:

Chantell Taylor, head of the nonprofit Colorado Ethics Watch, said the commission should be independent of the executive branch. [emphasis added]

Yes, this Chantell Taylor, whom I blogged on in 2006:

A two-minute Google search would have identified Taylor’s affiliation with the ACLU of Colorado and her active role as a district captain for the Denver Democratic Party. And less than five minutes searching the contribution records on the Colorado Secretary of State Web site would have shown that Taylor is a contributor to Ken Gordon, the Democrats’ candidate for Secretary of State.

Taylor’s resume as a Democrat activist also includes directing the 527 BlueFlower Group, which works to raise money for Democratic women political candidates who favor abortion rights.

I also chronicled the need for better transparency concerning the phony “watchdog group” last August.

In writing about one of Taylor’s complaints a few months ago, the Post at least noted that her group is “generally seen as left-leaning.” Today’s story couldn’t even bother to give that much information, but featured the frivolous attack nonetheless.

Powerline has the goods: Within less than 24 hours, the Obama messiah completely contradicts himself:

Barack Obama, last night in Portland, on Iran: “They don’t pose a serious threat to us.”

Barack Obama, today, in Billings, Montana, on Iran: “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.”

Powerline also has video.

So which is it: Is Iran a serious threat, or not?

Or is it beyond us mere peons to dare question the great Obama?

Are Coloradans awakened yet to the union takeover of Colorado? On this site, I’ve covered Big Labor’s controlling influence on the legislature (last year’s House Bill 1072) and on Gov. Bill Ritter (union “partnership” executive order, anyone?). One that hasn’t received as much play is the unions’ controlling influence on the Colorado Supreme Court.

What, you say?

There’s hardly any other way to explain the Court’s 5-2 ruling yesterday that the teachers union is exempt from certain campaign finance restrictions in the state constitution.
(more…)

Linda Gorman from the Independence Institute (where I work), in a recent posting on John Goodman’s Health Policy Blog, highlights a myth from the advocacy group Families USA being cited as facts in the current health care policy debate:

Medicaid spending, the group says, creates jobs. By their reasoning, a law diverting the entire GDP of the United States to the Medicaid program would leave the U.S. awash in jobs. By contrast, the group claims the Bush administration’s efforts to rein-in Medicaid spending will leave tens of thousands of people unemployed.

Gorman quickly picks apart the assertion in four points, using a little fact-checking and basic economic analysis. First:

Roughly speaking, for every four jobs created by spending, five jobs (or their equivalent) will be lost by the taxes needed to finance that spending.

Then:

As it turns out, the Bush Administration has not proposed any Medicaid budget cuts!

Next:

Ignoring where the money comes from, if a 0.3% cut leads to a loss of X jobs, the administration’s 7.1% proposed increase must lead to a gain of about 24X jobs.

And finally:

…[E]xpansion of health care spending for the poor often comes at the expense of other services (food, housing, education) they may value more….

Check out the post for more facts and links to sources.

The Rocky Mountain Alliance of Blogs is back, with a new look:

Some of the original cast remain, strengthened by the fresh blood of some high-quality newcomers. The goal of the Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 is to promote our shared conservative vision of limited and accountable government, freedom, and personal responsibility – in Colorado and in our nation, the result of the most brilliant and noble political experiment in human history.

You also may have noticed the updated logo and running feed of latest posts from RMA 2.0 members on my sidebar. Experienced and consistent center-right Colorado bloggers with at least a passing interest in state or local issues who are willing to collaborate with others and improve their effectiveness are invited to apply. Feel free to contact me.

El Presidente has started the 100-day countdown to Denver’s Democratic National Convention, wrapping it up with this teaser:

We’ll see just how many “amateurs” cover the DNC, providing alternate content–the stuff they won’t show you on TV.

If you have any interest in the DNC and the moonbattery it attracts, you simply ought to be making regular stops at Slapstick Politics and The Drunkablog.

From the Rocky Mountain News:

A laptop owned by the former campaign manager that Gov. Bill Ritter publicly disowned has been reported stolen, raising unanswered questions about its contents.

Ritter accused Greg Kolomitz on April 15 of writing himself and his company $83,250 worth of unauthorized checks. The governor also produced an audit finding Kolomitz improperly paid $217,164.56 in campaign bills with money donated for the Democratic governor’s inauguration.

Three days later, on April 18, Kolomitz reported to Denver police that his Dell laptop had been stolen from inside his locked Colfax Avenue political consulting firm, Solutions West, sometime between the afternoon of April 16 and the morning of April 18.

“Unknown suspect(s) took the listed laptop from the victim’s locked office by unknown means and fled in an unknown direction,” the report reads. “The victim stated that only the building cleaning crew had keys to the offices.”

Police said they have no leads, and Kolomitz declined to comment for this story.

The story about the mismanaged campaign funds broke on April 15. And the public isn’t supposed to be skeptical of the timing of Mr. Kolomitz’s computer disappearance? The formal complaint filed on April 22 very well may be missing access to key evidence.

Exactly what evidence has been lost from the missing laptop computer? Is it evidence that would have hurt Gov. Bill Ritter? Did someone order a cover-up, and if so, who?

Which intrepid journalist is going to follow the leads of this investigation? Which intrepid journalist will even question the governor about it?

Do you live along Colorado’s Front Range, want to contribute to a good cause, perhaps even enjoy playing a round of golf? Then please check out the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Cup Golf Tournament, scheduled to take place on Monday, June 9, at the Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden. Proceeds go to support the Employee Assistance Fund to aid members of the Sheriff’s Office who face serious financial need because of illness or death in their family.

What a great cause – giving back to help those who sacrifice to protect and serve us in Jefferson County.

A friend who is serving as a volunteer fund-raiser for the Tournament brought this to my attention, and I’m glad to help advertise for him. I not only have another friend who serves in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, but also have a heroic brother who is a police officer in a different Jefferson County.

If you are interested and able to participate in the Sheriff’s Club Golf Tournament, here’s a brochure you can print, fill out, and return. Or read the instructions to find out how to contribute by PayPal.

Calling all Colorado candidates for state and county office! Want to catch up on your policy homework? The Independence Institute (where I work) is sponsoring an important event on June 11:

Want your state legislative candidates to be intellectually well-armed for battle on the campaign trail? Then make sure he or she attends our candidates’ briefing on Wednesday, June 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Independence Institute offices. We gather the state’s leading free market experts on everything from TABOR, to transportation, to education, to property rights, to energy policy and more. Candidates will leave well-prepared to debate issues and field questions from friends and foes alike. This event is free of change and open to all state legislative and county commissioner candidates. Seating is limited.

DATE: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
TIME: 8:30 a.m to 4 p.m.
LOCATION: Independence Institute, 13952 Denver West Parkway (Building 53), Suite 400, Golden Colorado 80401 COST: Free of charge for state legislative and county commissioner candidates; other candidates included as seating allows.

TOPICS: (to include but not limited to) TABOR, health care, education, property rights, energy and environment, transportation, second amendment and grass roots organizing.

The Independence Institute will provide lunch and materials.

For questions contact Amy Oliver at amy@i2i.org. For reservations contact Eileen Mahony at EMMahony@gmail.com.

RSVP for this Event

Please spread the word.

Earlier this evening I asked if the results of recent special elections had thrown enough cold water on Congressional Republicans to get them to wake up and return to their conservative senses. Well, the master satirist Iowahawk has painted the picture of the Congressional GOP’s downfall better than I can with a series of letters from fictional Congressman Jerry Bristol. Check it out.

The other good news to cheer up my day? Fred Thompson is back, with his inspirational and no-nonsense conservative commentary as a Townhall blogger (H/T Michelle Malkin). I was a loyal Fredhead for a couple months there, before the wheels came off his campaign. He wasn’t destined to be President, but perhaps he’ll do much better as an online conservative prophet. It gives me a little more hope.

Just another day of wilderness wanderings….