The Denver Post this morning has up a story by Jeremy Meyer filled with local reaction to the news of Obama speaking to school children next Tuesday. Meyeer quotes several people in the story, but my remarks to him yesterday didn’t make the cut. Here’s more or less what I said:
This has all the signs of the Obama cult of personality. Parents who don’t want to subject their children to the organized hero-worship of a controversial political figure certainly can’t be blamed for wanting to pull them out. The decision should be made at the local school level, but in any case the parents at least should have the opportunity to opt out. That’s perfectly appropriate.
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Healthcare Horserace has obtained possession of the talking points memo the Obama White House is sending out to Congressional Democrats in preview of his big speech next Wednesday. As Ellen Carmichael correctly assesses:
Critics of President Obama’s health care reform agenda argue that the White House will again prove during next week’s press conference that they are relying upon vague platitudes instead of concrete proposals.
But there’s also one specific talking point that demonstrates to me that the President is either willfully, stubbornly ignorant, or just so arrogant as to believe that most of America isn’t paying attention to the debate. The White House memo says:
· After this speech, opponents of health reform will need to either propose their own plan or explain why they think it is best to do nothing while premiums crush American families and thousands lose their coverage every day.
Umm, okay. Here are a few prominent proposals they can’t possibly have missed, by:
This is just a sampling, too. If the Obama administration thinks the only way they can expand government interference into your health care is by continuing to pretend that their only argument is with the status quo, that looks to me like pathetic desperation writ large.
And for one of the clearest explanations of what’s wrong with Obama Care, as well as thoughtfully-defended proposals that parallel many of the ideas presented in the above three plans, check out Cato Institute health care expert Michael Cannon’s new interview with National Review‘s Ramesh Ponnuru.
There’s reality, then there’s Obama’s reality.
At a well-attended Monday Independence Institute event, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gave a rousing speech about the rapidly growing specter of socialism coming from Washington DC, and how liberty-loving Coloradans can fight back.
Lefty blogs have fixated their derision on one comment, prompting the Peoples Press Collective’s El Presidente to respond: “Stay classy, lefties.”
Those who want to see the context of Bachmann’s full speech and Q-and-A session can find the videos posted on Jon Caldara’s blog.
Is Bill Ritter really going to backtrack on all the damage he’s done on the energy arena? Or is it just lip service? From yesterday’s Grand Junction Sentinel:
Natural gas is “where the Western Slope is going to sing†in Ritter’s effort to build a new energy economy, said Don Marostica, director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade. He spoke to an audience at the Business Incubator Center.
Ritter is “very interested†in using natural gas as a clean source of power for electricity generation and no longer views it merely as a “bridge fuel†to an economy fueled only by solar, wind and renewable fuels, Marostica said. [link added]
Showing one reason why he is the strongest candidate to challenge the weak and vacillating Ritter for governor, Josh Penry offers the best reply in the Sentinel piece:
“When Bill Ritter admits that his oil and gas regulations were a catastrophic mistake and fixes them, when he fires the anti-drilling activists that he appointed to the oil and gas commission, when he apologizes to the thousands of men and women who have lost their job and homes as a result of his administration’s extreme policies, then and only then will I believe Bill Ritter has changed his tune on natural gas,†Penry wrote in an e-mail. “Until that time, it’s all just election happy talk, and talk is cheap.â€
Talk is cheap. If Ritter is willing to do more than just change his tune, we’ll give him some credit. Until then, the case for fresh new leadership in the governor’s office grows stronger day by day.
Colorado Republicans and others looking to have a Secretary of State’s office under competent leadership, looking out for fair elections and an honest campaign process, will want to take note of a fundraising event coming up the Saturday after Labor Day in the Denver area.
It’s billed as “a great afternoon all-you-can eat BBQ featuring pints of Guinness & top Colorado microbrews to benefit the candidacy of Scott Gessler, Colorado’s next Republican Secretary of State.”
It starts at 3:00 PM on Saturday, September 12. The suggested contribution is $20. For more information on location and to RSVP, contact Shana -at- ScottGessler.com or call 815.790.1165.
On Friday Ken Buck was ready to bow out of Colorado’s U.S. Senate race. By Sunday he had received a new boost from more than 200 emails and calls from “activists in Colorado” urging him to stay in — a figure he shared with me in a short phone interview he was gracious enough to give this afternoon.
“Everyone who called has been positive and supportive and encouraging,” Buck said. When asked if he was surprised by the outpouring, his single-word answer was “overwhelmed.” Not much else came out of the conversation except that Buck’s campaign is looking beyond the October reports. “I have a longer term goal than quarter-to-quarter fundraising,” he said.
Colorado Independent blogger John Tomasic gives me too much credit for helping to light the fire that switched the course of Buck’s campaign. Tomasic says that the Weld County District Attorney:
may now have new wind in his sails. He’s the populist Washington outsider who’s also now clearly been reverse-coronated by the losing state GOP establishment. Buck’s people couldn’t have planned this wild narrative any better than it turned out, perhaps.
Perhaps. A “reverse-coronation” is no more appealing to me than any other kind of coronation. But only time will tell how crucial a moment in the campaign this proves to be. Who will fare better? (more…)
Word is spreading about the new online petition calling for the National Republican Senatorial Committee to butt out of Colorado’s primary election and call for a fair and open process. Night Twister makes a strong statement.
Yesterday I reported that Ryan Frazier has decided to stay in despite the pressure to bow out. And now I’m learning that early reports of Ken Buck’s announced departure from the field may be premature.
Buck is getting many calls from his supporters urging him to stay in, too — apparently enough to give any candidate pause. I’m not sure that many people expected the outrage from Colorado’s grassroots to be so instant and loud. If the people want to ensure they have a strong voice in a fair primary electoral process, they need to continue speaking out.
With word spreading that Ken Buck will drop out of Colorado’s U.S. Senate primary on Monday, there is very good reason to believe the NRSC’s effort extends to trying to push Ryan Frazier out of the race as well.
However, a trusted source has directly contacted the Ryan Frazier campaign this morning and tells me that Ryan is in it to win it. In fact, Frazier and his team are working hard today at the State Fair in Pueblo. The state of the race is changing quickly, but I am heartened and reassured by the news that it still looks like the people of Colorado still will have the choice of a credible pro-liberty candidate.
In related news, Joshua weighs in on developments in the Senate race and notes:
I spoke with Dick Wadhams yesterday and he said that he hadn’t seen any indications that the NRSC was getting ready to jump in. They do usually coordinate this sort of thing with the state party chairman in question, and he hadn’t heard anything.
My skepticism isn’t yet cured, though. You also can keep up with the latest at Complete Colorado.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is distancing itself from rumors that the national group is planning to intervene in the Colorado U.S. Senate primary on behalf of Jane Norton, reports the Denver Post this afternoon (H/T People’s Press Collective): (more…)
The morning of this week’s deplorable attack that shattered windows at the Democratic Party Headquarters in Denver, state Democratic chairwoman Pat Waak took advantage of the occasion to launch an outrageous broadside against Obama Care opponents:
“We ought to be having a serious, conscientious debate about what’s best for the country,†Waak said. “Clearly there’s been an effort on the other side to stir up hate. I think this is the consequence of it.â€
Complete Colorado has posted audio from yesterday’s edition of Colorado’s Morning News on 850 KOA. Listen to the interviewers give Waak an opportunity to retract her remarks: (more…)
What justifications will the NRSC offer for backing Jane Norton for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat over a series of Republican primary challengers (e.g. Ryan Frazier and Ken Buck? A major one will be an alleged fundraising prowess that her rivals supposedly lack.
Of course, Norton has never won election on her own. The only time she ran for statewide office was on the coattails of popular incumbent Bill Owens in 2002. But she did have her own committee “Friends of Jane Norton” (search the Secretary of State website, be sure to check the “Include Terminated?” box). She edged out the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Bill Thiebault in total fundraising: $99,471 to $90,085.
But put her modest advantage in context. In a race that Owens ultimately won with more than 62 percent of the vote, the incumbent Republican governor outraised Democratic challenger Rollie Heath on the order of $5.6 million to $1.25 million — by more than 4 times. Meanwhile, Norton barely outraised her counterpart Thiebault. (more…)
Hold on to your shirt (and your wallet), as you read new Heritage Foundation research by Brian Riedl:
The Office of Management and Budget has released its annual mid-session review that updates the budget projections from this past May.[1] They show that this year, Washington will spend $30,958 per household, tax $17,576 per household, and borrow $13,392 per household. The federal government will increase spending 22 percent this year to a peacetime-record 26 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This spending is not just temporary: President Obama would permanently keep annual spending between $5,000 and $8,000 per household higher than it had been under President George W. Bush.[2]
Driven by this spending, America will run its first ever trillion-dollar budget deficit this year. Even worse, the President’s budget would borrow an additional $9 trillion over the next decade, more than doubling the national debt. By 2019, America will be spending nearly $800 billion on net interest to service this large debt.[3] [emphases added]
This isn’t CHANGE we can believe in — especially since the only spare change coming into my household likely will be taxed to pay off Obama’s mounting debt. This is much more of the SAME of George W. Bush’s fiscal policies (minus the across-the-board income tax cuts) … only on steroids.
Astounding numbers, when you let them sink in.
If you are a concerned citizen (Left, Right, or anywhere in between), and you only get the opportunity to read one article this week, I highly recommend David Goldhill’s new piece in The Atlantic titled “How American Health Care Killed My Father” (H/T We Stand FIRM).
It’s lengthy, but very insightful and thought-provoking. If you or any of your loved ones ever has had to make use of American medical services (or paid for them in many cases without thinking about it), then you are the intended audience.
Do I agree with every conclusion and proposal the author offers? No. Most of them? Yes. (more…)
I’ve been a member of the Stupid Party for most of my adult life. And when I say the Stupid Party, I mean the Republican Party. Has the Republican National Committee learned anything from the recent election disasters? If anything, the wrong lessons.
I’m talking about today’s Washington Post op-ed by RNC chairman Michael Steele that actually pits the GOP as the pandering “Party of the Entitlement Status Quo” (H/T Jon Henke).
The tide has turned against Obama Care’s government health care takeover, and what do we get? The Democrat-light “seniors’ health care bill of rights,” rather than a serious proposal that injects more freedom and portability into the debate. (more…)
Colorado Democratic State Party headquarters on 8th and Santa Fe in Denver was vandalized last night. Windows broken out, etc. Not good. Obviously the work of someone without respect for private property, and without respect for an honest, healthy debate. A criminal act that should be dealt with appropriately.
However, initial reports quoted the Democratic state party chair trying to frame the incident as the responsibility of opponents of the Obama Care government health care takeover:
“We ought to be having a serious, conscientious debate about what’s best for the country,” [state Democratic party chairwoman Pat] Waak said. “Clearly there’s been an effort on the other side to stir up hate. I think this is the consequence of it.”
The problem? (more…)
