Archive for January, 2011

Surprise, Surprise: John Hickenlooper Calls Todd Shepherd On 850 KOA

Posted on January 17th, 2011 in clean government, Colorado Politics, Fiscal Policy, Journalism, liberty, My Life, PPC | No Comments »

Kudos to my friend and colleague Todd Shepherd (of Complete Colorado fame) for catching a surprise exclusive live interview with Colorado’s new governor. In the middle of hosting the Sunday afternoon show on 850 KOA, Todd’s jaw hit the floor when none other than John Hickenlooper heard his name being discussed and called in to the show while en route from Pueblo to an event in Colorado Springs.

Click here for the full hour’s audio: the Hickenlooper call starts about halfway through (not to be completely overshadowed is Todd’s discussion with Colorado RNC committeeman and former state treasurer Mark Hillman at the top of the hour).

Todd took a few minutes to get the softballs out of the way. But then he went to work with a series of polite but pointed questions made with the urgency of someone who believed he may never get a second chance. Among other things, Todd got Hickenlooper to publicly declare an official policy of transparency regarding his use of cell phones (see the controversy with Colorado’s previous Democratic administration), to clear up conflicting stories about his knowledge of Denver’s infamous 2009 LoDo beatings, and to announce he would be willing to make a return visit to the Caplis and Silverman Show after previously ducking the LoDo issue (MP3). (more…)

How to Get Fired: Mothers Against Debt Takes On Unemployment Benefits

Posted on January 3rd, 2011 in clean government, Fiscal Policy, liberty, National Politics, PPC | No Comments »

A preeminent challenge lying ahead for our elected Congress to tackle is the mounting debt and out-of-control spending that grew under Republican leadership and accelerated in the past few years with Democrats in charge. No one is better prepared to help equip you to do your citizen’s part in taking on this challenge than my friends at Mothers Against Debt. Their new video on the idiocy of unemployment benefits as economic stimulus is a real hoot. Enjoy:

Twenty-Eleven Means I’m Back

Posted on January 3rd, 2011 in Colorado Politics, Commemorative, liberty, My Life, National Politics, PPC | No Comments »

The New Year has arrived, and my long hiatus from serious blogging is over. For any blogger, a long hiatus can be a dangerous proposition — threatening the already tenuously small readership and helping people to forget about you. Look, many of you already were going to forget about me anyway over the Christmas / New Year holiday anyway. And having blogged here for nearly seven years (can you believe that?), I felt secure enough to take the time off.

But one major reason for the break was to gear up mentally and spiritually for the battles that lie ahead. Contributing to all the apparently positive gains in the 2010 elections, in Congress and elsewhere? That took some effort, to be sure. The real challenge lies ahead, however — among other things, in striving to keep our elected leaders in Denver and Washington, D.C., (as well as myself) honest in the fight to limit government power and “to promote the blessings of liberty.”

And while I’m at it, what could be more serious than putting to rest how we name this new year in our everyday conversation: Two thousand eleven or Twenty-eleven? Like this cause, I choose and stand firmly in the camp of the latter. Yes, I’m a year late to the game, but like a new convert I bring a zeal to the “Twenty-eleven” crusade. Watch out!