A few days ago Mr. Bob reminded us that Bill Ritter’s car tax was a-comin’. Well, count me among the lucky ones who has a vehicle due to have the license renewed in July, and be hit by the tax first.
Yesterday the notice came in the mail from the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder. Usually, as the car ages and depreciates, the registration fee drops from year to year. This time it increased by more than 31 dollars. We’ll find out what the damage is on the family van in a couple months — probably about the same, methinks.
The signs of Bill Ritter’s sagging popularity should only proliferate at this point — especially among those with newer cars and/or farm tractors.
In the meantime, Bill Ritter is soliciting applications for more state employees amid the phantom “hiring freeze”. Thank you, Governor!
Earlier today Representative Ed Perlmutter responded to my letter urging him to vote against the Waxman-Markey massive energy “cap and tax” (no doubt with boilerplate language):
As you may know, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is important legislation to help build a new clean energy economy. This bill will create millions of clean energy jobs, put America on a path to energy independence, and help limit carbon emissions which contribute to global warming. As a supporter of green energy initiatives, I am fortunate for the opportunity to represent Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, which is home to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) located in Golden. I am a proponent of wind and solar energy as well as other forms of renewable energy and will continue to do all I can to work toward the advancement of a sustainable energy policy to meet our nation’s growing energy demands. It is essential to collectively move in the direction of energy sustainability.
Pleasant words unencumbered by economic realities. A Heritage Foundation analysis released today finds that Colorado’s 7th Congressional District — represented by Perlmutter, where I live — would be in for a major economic shock if Waxman-Markey is enacted. (more…)
Lovers of liberty, it’s not time to be resigned or downtrodden. It’s time to stand up and be heard. This week the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the massive energy tax sometimes known as the Waxman-Markey bill or “Cap and Trade”.
FreedomWorks not only tells you why this bill is bad but provides easy links for you to take action and contact your representative. I already contacted Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s office.
(Of course, we also have the problem of an already very long piece of legislation that has suddenly added several hundred pages. Unlike the stimulus bill, will our Congressman be able to read it all in time? Consider me skeptical.)
As it turns out, the timing of the House vote is proving to be quite ironic. At American Thinker, Larrey Anderson explains how the tide has turned against global warming mythology. There also appears to be more anti-climate hysteria evidence being conveniently covered up by the Environmental Protection Agency.
More specifically, Robert Tracinski and Tom Minchin write over at Real Clear Politics that Australia is getting ready to sink its own proposed “Emission Trading Scheme” — thanks in large part to the scientific work of Ian Plimer.
But even if you accept the “climate change” mantra, the Waxman-Markey bill would do very little (if anything) to stop it at a devastatingly high cost to our economy. Now is the time to stand up.
Say what? The Washington Examiner reports that Democrats are proposing to exempt unionized workers from the massive tax hike needed to fund government health care:
With cost estimates already as high as $1.6 trillion, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed paying for the bill in part by taxing health care benefits for workers who earn more than $100,000, or $200,000 for married couples, according to those familiar with the discussions.
Baucus is also weighing a tax based on the value of health care benefits that exceed a yet-to-be determined cap. A tax on benefits that exceed the cap by a mere $3,000 could amount to $750 in taxes annually for a worker who earns as little as $34,000, say experts.
But those union members serving under collective bargaining agreements would not be subjected to the tax, according to proposals under discussion.
Talk about adding insult to injury. Bad for liberty, bad for the economy, bad for health care, bad for taxpayers. And now this? (more…)
Colorado Democrats … arrogant? Can’t exactly say I’m shocked. But the brazenness of using taxpayer dollars for a Democrats-only team-building retreat only heightens my desire to make Brandon Shaffer’s term as state senate president as short as possible.
The least we can hope for (and work for) is divided government. Republicans should have their sights set on the governor’s mansion and one of the two house of the state legislature in 2010.
In the meantime, Mr. DNA at Rocky Mountain Right has some good advice:
I hope every reader of this blog will join me in calling their leadership office and telling them that I am not going to stand for this kind of pork.
Remember all the pomp and circumstance of four months ago when President Barack Obama flew out here to Denver to sign the “stimulus” bill? The legislation that had to be rushed through? The legislation that was supposed to prevent “irreversible decline” in our economy?
While anyone with decent sense knew the “stimulus” was long-term poison, I can’t say I anticipated how badly it would flounder even in the short-term. The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Hans Bader put together a well-documented Open Market blog post noting that public opinion clearly favors canceling the $787 billion spending spree.
How many of them have watched this unforgettable video?
A few days ago, Mr. Bob posted up the now well-circulated graphic showing how doing nothing would have been better for our nation’s employment situation than the so-called “stimulus”. Yet the Obama administration and fellow Democrat leaders steering the ship of state are convinced the problem is that government isn’t spending the money quickly enough.
God save us. Stand strong, sons of liberty. Get off the sidelines, and get involved.
So some of y’all must be thinkin’ … Whatever happened to that thar’ swine flu thing? Apparently, the World Health Organization is set to issue an alert for a “level 6 pandemic” — the first such designation in 40 years.
Before you start stampeding through the streets in panic, take note:
The declaration of a global epidemic was expected Thursday as WHO officials huddled in an emergency session in Geneva in the wake of 141 swine flu deaths worldwide, including 12 in New York City….
If WHO moves from level 5 to level 6 on its pandemic alert scale, it would be the first flu pandemic declared since the Hong Kong flu killed an estimated 1 million people in 1968.
On Wednesday, WHO reported 27,737 cases worldwide, most of them mild and requiring no treatment.
Are you scratching your head, too? How can a mostly mild H1N1 strain that affects about one-fortieth the number who were killed by the Hong Kong flu evoke the same designation and any meaningful comparison between the two? (more…)
Update: It’s also worth noting that EFCA supporters have engaged in a full-fledged campaign of deception. Someone should ask Senator Michael Bennet if he’s buying it.
We know the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (aka card-check):
Now, thanks to a new report released by the Workforce Fairness Institute, we see more clearly and concretely the real beneficiaries of this three-headed monster legislation: (more…)
Update, 6/11, 10:30 AM: Impressively, HR 1207 now has 208 Congressional co-sponsors. But only two from Colorado: Republican Doug Lamborn and Democrat Ed Perlmutter. Open government is an important non-partisan issue.
I recently brought readers’ attention to the need to persuade Republican Congressman Mike Coffman to sign on in support of transparency for the nation’s Federal Reserve bank. It’s good to see Face The State join the cause and raise the stakes by urging members of Colorado’s delegation across the political spectrum to back HR 1207.
Update, 9:30 AM: AFL-CIO press release in response to Ritter’s SB 180 veto pasted below the fold. Also, Amy Oliver notes that several legislators from northern Colorado went against the will of the people in voting for SB 180 — having benefited from thousands in labor campaign contributions.
Yesterday I gave Governor Bill Ritter kudos for the veto of SB 180. Today’s Denver Post follow-up by Lynn Bartels is headlined with the statement that Rep. Edward Casso and organized labor interests see the decision as a “tipping point”.
It could be my imagination, but I got the impression from reading the story that Ritter essentially is saying something like this to the unions:
So yeah, I have this penchant of making a wide spectrum of different groups really mad at me. But you guys are labor, and I’m a Democrat. Where are you going to go? I had a better chance of creating an open enemy in the Chambers of Commerce and the Municipal League, so I decided to keep them happy. Go ahead. Deal with it for now. I may try to find a way to make it up to you later. But if not, what will you do about it? Seriously?
In other words, Bill Ritter’s decision to veto SB 180 was good policy, but promoting good policy may not have been his primary motivation. But is it a dare? How far will he go before Big Labor takes him up on it?
Honestly, though, it’s hard to figure out. Was Bill Ritter really indecisive about this issue enough to wait to the last minute to make his intentions known? Was he waiting for something to change his mind? Why string along the labor unions?
From the standpoint of good politics it doesn’t make sense, even if the final outcome prevented bad policy. (more…)
It’s not often I laud Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, but he is to be commended today for choosing good public policy over political pressures by vetoing Senate Bill 180 — the firefighter collective bargaining legislation.
While Ritter’s official statement put the matter more diplomatically than I have, he didn’t buy the phony argument about firefighter safety:
Third, the debate on this bill raised important issues about firefighter safety, but there are better ways to address these issues than mandatory collective bargaining in certain communities. We must address firefighter safety at the state level. Doing so ensures that all areas of Colorado can benefit. Under this bill, however, the safety issues would only be addressed in the jurisdictions required to engage in collective bargaining, which would unfairly limit the scope of the needed reforms to protect firefighter safety. I have heard from Colorado fire chiefs who have urged me to veto this bill since it would not create a statewide standard for firefighter safety.
Unfortunately for Democrats, this decision is only likely to escalate intra-party warfare. The question of the hour is how long it will take for the Big Labor LIAR to open fire against the incumbent governor. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem too likely that Bill Ritter will gain much politically (except sparing the wrath of the Colorado Municipal League) from today’s veto announcement.
Today’s Denver Post news story on Governor Bill Ritter’s signing of Senate Bill 228 offers the generous headline: “Colorado’s fiscal knot loosens”.
I’ve taken the liberty to complete the thought with my own sub-headline: “Noose nearly large enough to fit around taxpayers’ necks”.
The article is correct insofar as it points out that the impact of this bill in repealing limits on the growth of discretionary government spending likely won’t be felt for a couple years. But that provides little solace, especially when you listen to the righteous confusion coming from the Democratic cast of characters behind this anti-taxpayer legislation. (more…)
Update, 6/4: Thanks to a comment left by Politically Correct Death author Francis Beckwith, I refer you to his newer and more relevant book Defending Life. I’ll have to check it out myself very soon.
Update, 9:30 PM: My final thought (for now) on the matter, from Doug Wilson: “The question is whether you would be willing to reduce a society to anarchy for the sake of saving that kid, when you (should) know that the anarchy you introduce is going to be responsible for the deaths of far more children than you managed to save.” And for further edification, I will commend the thoughts of Dr. Albert Mohler as being squarely right on the matter.
Thanks to one of the more thoughtful liberals I know, David Thielen, a link to this morning’s post about Dr. George Tiller and Private William Long was added in a ColoradoPols diary. Here are some of the more colorful comments it generated, along with my replies. (more…)
Last night I wrote about my personal connection to a General Motors plant closing. To put that into meaningful (and frightening) perspective, you simply have to read Rossputin’s insightful account of the travesty that is the wildly unpopular government takeover of GM.
It’s the lead story at Human Events, and for good reason. Congratulations, Ross!
Several weeks ago I brought your attention to a sign of Bill Ritter’s sagging popularity. As the Denver Post’s Tim Hoover reports today, it seems the handmade signs attacking Ritter and his tax hike policies are popping up all over the place in different parts of Colorado.
The article raises the query of who is responsible for the homemade, roadside creations. All I can tell you is they aren’t being paid for by taxpayer dollars — which cannot be said about Bill Ritter’s highway re-election signs.
I cannot tell a lie. (more…)
Here’s a good bit of important advice to candidates for major political office that apparently isn’t self-evident to all — Don’t go posting comments online under a false identity:
Cleve Tidwell was posing as someone named “Craig Platon” and posting about how “he gave me and everyone else that waited in line all the time we needed and seemed only interested in what I had to say.” He also describes himself as a “warm individual.” This is a little narcissistic even for a would-be politician.
It is troubling to say the least that a candidate for United States Senate has no apparent ethical qualms with posting as imaginary people supporting himself. Simply posting under a psuedonym [sic] and dropping a comment saying something positive about himself would be bad enough, but posting this elaborate backstory is downright bizarre. [link added]
(more…)
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…)
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?”
(more…)
