This morning I had the opportunity to follow up on this week’s Colorado political bombshell with the man at the center of the storm: state senate minority leader Josh Penry, of whom word leaked Monday that he had decided to withdraw from the Republican primary campaign for governor.

As a personal supporter of Penry’s candidacy and seeing evidence of his tremendous support among Colorado’s grassroots Republicans, I was greatly shocked and disappointed. In fact, it’s safe to say I’m still reeling from the revelation. Anyway, without further ado, here’s a quick recap of my interview this morning (please note that the following is somewhat excerpted and a close paraphrase rather than a direct quote): (more…)

Ninety-one years ago today “the war to end all wars” officially ended. Among the millions of dead were more than 100,000 brave American military servicemen out of hundreds of thousands who honorably served (including two of my great uncles: Bill DeGrow and John E. “Ed” DeGrow). In 1954 the commemoration, originally called Armistice Day, expanded to celebrate the service of all American veterans and became known as Veterans Day.

Today I join with the millions of other Americans who honor the men and women who have worn the uniform for their sacrificial service on behalf of our nation. I am especially grateful this year to see so many businesses offering promotions that benefit our active duty personnel and veterans.

It almost goes without saying that the United States is besieged these days by dangers without and dangers within. In that light, may God keep our Republic strong, and may God enfold all our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — and their families — with firm guidance and loving protection.

Happy Veterans Day!

Candidates and politicians let us down a lot. But the philosophical and economic principles that underlie personal liberty and free markets are universal and timeless. So help spread the word. Another Free People Free Markets class has been announced for two Saturdays: January 30 and February 13, 2010. They’ll be here before you know it.

If you haven’t taken the class before, now is your opportunity. If you have, find a friend or loved one to sign up for the class. Sure, it costs $75. But it’s well worth it. Maybe you can put it on your Christmas list, or do the same for someone else: (more…)

PPC already has reported to my great disappointment and astonishment that Josh Penry has decided to withdraw from the Colorado governor’s race. Penry’s friend and former state representative Rob Witwer followed a few moments ago with a short statement:

Josh did an outstanding job framing the debate and articulating the need for change. He raised the level of Republican campaigns in Colorado, and for that he deserves a huge amount of credit. He leaves behind a winning playbook that should help Scott McInnis achieve victory next November.

But more to the story emerges from behind the scenes on this MSNBC report: (more…)

Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. Not exactly breaking news for my well-informed readers, but the significance of the event is hard to overstate. For five minutes of valuable reflection on the power of freedom with a stirring Beethoven soundtrack, check out this terrific video from the Competitive Enterprise Institute: (more…)

I was planning to post a notice today about the need to take action against the Pelosi version of Obama Care. And today is the time to do it! But being busy, I got permission to paste this email (with a couple slight tweaks) from a friend:

Hello to all!

If you want tax dollars funding abortions and for medical coverage to become less available, now is the time to do nothing! The house version of the health care “reform” bill will come up for a vote tomorrow (Saturday). (more…)

In a savvy political move that promotes a good, old-fashioned commonsense idea — something very rare in the halls of Congress — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck has called on incumbent appointee Michael Bennet to join the bipartisan Congressional co-sponsorship of a very important transparency bill:

In an e-mail to Bennet, Buck, a Republican candidate for the Senate seat Bennet currently holds, wrote that “auditing Federal Reserve operations isn’t a political question. It’s a simple matter of good government and financial responsibility.”…

The Federal Reserve Sunshine Act would force the Fed to open its books to the Government Accountability Office. The bill has 30 Senate co-sponsors, and 309 representatives are co-sponsoring the House version of the bill. Six of Colorado’s seven representatives are co-sponsors, the release stated….

Considering Michael Bennet’s months of legendary indecision on union card-check legislation, it may be awhile before he takes a stance.

Sure, Federal Reserve transparency isn’t as controversial or as heavily lobbied as the Big Labor bill, so it shouldn’t take Michael Bennet THAT long to make up hid mind. What’s the over/under on the number of weeks for Colorado’s junior senator to take a stand on this issue? Since the bill was introduced in the Senate on March 16, by my reckoning Bennet has had more than 33 weeks already….

Mount Virtus readers, this post will remain sticky through the end of the survey (November 13). For newer postings, please scroll down.

It’s that time again. Yes, El Presidente and I have commissioned and fashioned another survey that we hope you will take 10 minutes or so to complete — especially if you’re from Colorado.

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill quick-hit polls. Once again we’ve gone a little more in-depth. Some of the questions are the same. Some are new. One interesting added follow-up is asking what the most important factor is for you in choosing to support a Republican primary candidate for governor and U.S. Senate.

Click here to take the November 2009 Colorado online political survey

Your opinion counts. Take a few moments to make it happen. Not only show your support for candidates, but also let us know where you stand on key issues and give us some honest prognostication about the 2010 elections. The survey won’t be there forever, only until next Friday, November 13, 5 PM local Mountain time … Thanks for participating! We’ll get back to you with the results soon. Stay tuned.

Below the fold is the “official” release announcing the survey: (more…)

Everyone and his brother (a particularly strange piece of slang I picked up from my childhood) has been offering spin to explain why on an election night so good for Republicans and conservatives, insurgent Conservative Doug Hoffman came up short against Democrat Bill Owens. I think that’s looking at it the wrong way: given the facts and observations provided by Michael Patrick Leahy, it’s fairly remarkable Hoffman came as close as he did.

I spot three major factors Leahy cites that determined the outcome. First: (more…)

Yesterday Republican state senator Dave Schultheis announced he would be retiring from office in 2010. This evening a press release went out from (and about) one of my Leadership Program of the Rockies classmates:

Representative Kent Lambert, House District 14, will make a short public political announcement on Thursday, November 5, at 12:00 at the El Paso County Republican Headquarters, 205 Sutton Road, Colorado Springs, CO, 80907. An opportunity for media Q&A will follow. [link added]

Connection between the announcements of Schultheis and Lambert? It would be hard to speculate as anything else. You didn’t think Tom McDowell would go unchallenged in his quest for Senate District 9, did you?

No one has a stronger 2009 rating from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers than Kent Lambert.

Quick reflections on last night’s election results …

National

The Bad: In what was a late insurgent campaign, conservative Doug Hoffman loses New York 23 (though Erick Erickson tries to spin it into a favorable light). Tax-limitation initiatives in Maine and Washington went down in flames.

The Good: Obviously, the Republican sweep in Virginia — governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, seven more seats in the state assembly — is the big national victory. And a Republican governor in New Jersey? Priceless.

Colorado Local

The Bad:

• Pro-union, anti-reform forces strike back and claim a narrow majority on the Denver school board
• Reformers Amy Attwood and Natalie Menten both narrowly lose Lakewood city council elections
• On the Jeffco school board, incumbent Richard Rush is taken out by liberal Paula Noonan

The Good:

• The Douglas County school board reform slate sweeps into power
• Other school board victories? Laura Boggs in Jeffco, Patrick Albright in Poudre
• Katie Witt cruised to a spot on the Longmont City Council
• Poorly-timed tax hike proposals were crushed in Colorado Springs and the Greeley School District

There will be time later for more responses and more in-depth analysis. Please feel free to share any results that caught your attention or insights I likely missed.

From CBS4 Denver, foot-in-mouth State Senator David Schultheis (R-Colorado Springs) has pulled a surprise and announced he’s not running for re-election in 2010.

Does this make former blogger and self-proclaimed “big tent” Republican candidate Tom McDowell the frontrunner in Senate District 9?

It’s no secret that Tom once was a frequent visitor to this blog, and has left his share of comments that speak for themselves. All I can say is he seems to like to pick fights over imagined disputes. If nominated and elected, I hope he shows more tact than his predecessor.

The Tea Party Express rolls into Denver today for a 5 PM Election Day 2009 rally featuring Joe The Plumber. Angry about the Pelosi-Obama health care monstrosity? Fed up with the billions in “stimulus” money that’s done so little for jobs and the economy?

Here’s your chance to show your support for limited government, liberty and fiscal responsibility:

Date/Time:

Tuesday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm

Rally Location:
Civic Center – Greek Theater
100 W 14th Ave
Denver, CO 80204

As Joshua points out, today is a busy day of important elections (not to mention the school board election here in Jefferson County) here in Colorado and back East. If you are able to vote in one of these important races (or know someone who is) and haven’t yet, there’s no time to delay further.

In a recent diary at Rocky Mountain Right, Mike Robinson finds that the Obama stimulus bill created 654 jobs in Douglas County at a cost of $131,548 per job. Using the same Recovery.gov website, I learned that Douglas has nothing on my own Jefferson County.

According to my calculations, $244,783,814 in ARRA “stimulus” money has been spent in Jeffco. How many jobs created? 221.39 … For a total of $1,105,667.89 per job. As bad as $230,000 per job nationwide (presuming no union featherbedding is going on) is for stimulus spending, Jeffco really has felt the short end of the stick. Kind of like construction jobs anywhere.

Far and away the biggest single Jeffco award went to Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, in Golden: nearly $160 million for 42 jobs or about $3.8 million per person employed. Other winners were the Jefferson County Public Schools topping out over $25 million, the Colorado Department of Public Safety at $22 million-plus, the Colorado Department of Transportation at nearly $14 million, and the Colorado School of Mines at just under $5 million. The full breakdown is below: (more…)

Is Nancy Pelosi’s 2,000-page version of Obama Care “the worst bill ever” — as the editors of the Wall Street Journal describe it? I doubt it. After all, that’s some pretty stiff competition. But if you’re busy having to defend the so-called health care reform legislation from the charge of “worst bill ever,” the Democrats in charge of Congress risk a massive political backlash in 2010.

Will my own Congressman Ed Perlmutter vote for the deficit spending, middle-class taxes, rationed care, and greater government control of medicine? If so, he’d better be watching out for Republican Ryan Frazier — who quite ably lays out the top 12 reasons to reject Nancy Pelosi’s health care monstrosity.

Check out the Patient Power Now blog to find more reasons why to oppose Obama Care.