Sound the alarm on Bill Ritter’s re-election chances. Hard-core Democrats are swearing they’re going to abandon ship, at least if you take the Dead Governors at their word.
But really, Ritter’s sagging popularity is not exactly newsworthy for those who have been paying attention the past couple months or so.
The real reason I gave a link to Colorado Pols was the unintentional humor behind a new union political group aimed at challenging (or at least threatening) Colorado’s incumbent Democratic governor:
A group calling itself Labor Initiatives Against Ritter – or LIAR – has filed the paperwork needed with the Internal Revenue Service to begin raising money for political purposes.
Mark Johnson, an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers member from the Colorado Springs area, is listed as the group’s agent. He declined to comment on LIAR’s plans.
Plenty of Colorado union members and agency fee-paying workers may have wondered where all their hard-earned money goes. But now we will be able to say with much greater certainty that a portion of it is going to a LIAR.
“Trust us.”
It won’t be the first time I write it, nor likely the last. But Republican officials in Washington D.C. cannot hope to return to power simply by pointing out that they aren’t as socialist as the Democrats. A vital piece of a successful 2010 and beyond involves the need to unite aggressively behind an affirmative platform of fiscally responsible government reform.
Robert Romano on the Americans for Liberty blog brings our attention to a specific bill that represents a golden opportunity to do right by the taxpayer:
Most of the financial bailouts have been conducted by the Federal Reserve, and on February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Banks. Recent efforts at providing a clear insight—and oversight—have met with a stiff arm and stone wall. And there’s a reason why.
(more…)
Remember the story of the Black Panthers intimidating Philadelphia voters on our most recent Election Day? Well, there’s an interesting update at The Next Right that strongly suggests the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is happy to let the issue drop.
Author Mike Roman makes some cogent points in his conclusion:
These actions raise a number of troubling questions. For example, why did the Civil Rights Division voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit that they had effectively already won, against defendants who were physically threatening voters? Is the Division concerned that this dismissal will encourage the New Black Panther Party, or other groups, to intimidate voters? Why did the Division seek such limited relief against a defendant who was actually carrying and brandishing a weapon at a polling station on election day?
Don’t expect to see this story at the top of your network news broadcast or anywhere near the front page of the New York Times.
The other day I highlighted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s indefensible statement and the need for repudiation. But more serious than a statement at Berkeley is Sotomayor’s actual judicial record.
It certainly is interesting to see serious criticism directed at Barack Obama’s nominee from outside the center-right political spectrum — and not because she is insufficiently liberal. Take the Denver Post‘s Chuck Plunkett, for example:
You’re supposed to say out-there stuff at Berkeley. Otherwise everyone thinks you’re dull and boorish.
But while wearing the robes of justice you’re supposed to be fair. And the Ricci v. New Haven decision Sotomayor was involved in looks just terrible – even to some prominent Democrats. [link added]
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I participated in the latest edition of Right Wing News’ “Rightosphere Temperature Check”. In case you’re wondering, I happened to vote with the majority on each of the seven A or B questions. Digging further into the details likely would yield more disagreement, but when you only have two options….
From Fox News, a reminder that the federal government has nowhere near cornered the market on petty tyranny:
Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.
“On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county.” David Jones told FOX News.
Wow … simply wow. Just a friendly reminder that we need fellow liberty-loving citizens representing us at all levels of government.
As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports today, the day of reckoning draws closer for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to decide on the bad policy that is SB 180 — a costly favor to Big Labor.
The Sentinel today also editorializes strongly against SB 180 — using many of the same arguments I’ve brought forward before, and even one I haven’t really emphasized:
Strikes would be prohibited under the legislation, but there are no sanctions listed in the bill for those who violate the provision.
Now it would seem that Bill Ritter has an opportunity to start mending fences with folks on the Western Slope, where his popularity is low and heckling is a common greeting for him, by vetoing SB 180. He could listen to Grand Junction mayor Bruce Hill, for example:
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,†Hill said, “and why fix it in Denver instead of in our own community?â€
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Great piece by Vince Carroll in today’s Denver Post on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court appointment:
If racial and gender bigotry truly have no place in American public life today, then Judge Sonia Sotomayor, during her confirmation hearing for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, needs to utterly repudiate her 2001 assertion that “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
Putting that statement “in context” or explaining what she “really meant” will not do. Nor can Judge Sotomayor credibly argue that her assertion was an ill-considered mistake, since it was part of a prepared speech at the Berkeley school of law. No, she needs to reject it as the expression of bigotry that it was.
Vince Carroll is correct. (more…)
Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM local Mountain time for the 28th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. Guests for tonight’s show are:
- Longtime GOP political consultant Patrick Davis to dissect the state of play in Colorado’s major statewide races for 2010, as fields of Republicans seek to challenge Governor Bill Ritter and appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet
- Jessica Corry from the Independence Institute, to talk about the ongoing budget controversies at the University of Colorado and possibly the increasing attention on the drug legalization debate
If you miss the live show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus.
Here’s a great quick read to get you back into the routine following a long holiday weekend … Ari Armstrong’s Sunday guest column in the Colorado Daily makes a point I have seen seldom argued in the debate over so-called credit card reform — namely, that Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall’s bill protects the irresponsible and punishes the responsible.
With those kind of incentives, the biggest surprise is that nearly 70 members of Congress actually voted against it.
Click here to watch a Complete Colorado video commemorating Memorial Day with a local flavor.
Also, The National Moment of Remembrance recommends taking a special respectful moment of silence at 3 PM local time in honor of all the brave American servicemen and women who have fallen in wars past and present.
On this Memorial Day, I can’t think to do any better than point you back to last year’s remembrance:
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.
Today, pay your respects to a fallen soldier, sailor, airman, Marine – and to their loved ones still with us. And don’t forget to thank the troops you meet for their service to us all. Happy Memorial Day!
Otherwise, I defer to this Saturday Wall Street Journal column by Peggy Noonan (H/T Steve Meyer) on the need to renew American fascination with the military hero. (more…)
For the handful of you out there who aren’t tired of hearing me talk about teachers unions, contract impasses, and sick-outs this week, you can listen to a new interview with Brad Jones on the most recent Face The State weekend edition (Segment 3). You also can hear an interview with U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell and discussions on some of Face The State’s big Colorado stories from the week that just passed.
Angry about the NRSC’s endorsement of Arlen Specter-like Charlie Crist over fiscal conservative Marco Rubio in the Florida open primary, and want to do more about it than gripe or even sign a petition?
Then please join me in contributing $10 to Marco Rubio’s campaign. As Red State’s Erick Erickson correctly points out in his email appeal:
The NRSC endorsement has everything to do with making Rubio not viable by cutting off his access to money.
Show the NRSC you’re not going to stand for its unnecessary and harmful meddling in Florida’s open Senate primary. Fill out the form below and give what you can to Rubio’s campaign. (more…)
It’s been a couple weeks since my last update on the baseball season for Civil Sense.
A great piece in yesterday’s Detroit News recounts the amazing feat of the 1984 Tigers’ 35-5 start. A quarter century later, this year’s Detroit squad is nowhere near the caliber of dominance of the franchise’s last world champions.
But the Tigers — winners of six straight — are like their 1984 predecessors in that they are in first place at the 40-game mark of the season. In this case, 8.5 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians.
Happy Friday!
