From the Denver Post:A bill that would have barred back-room ballot initiative deals got the heave-ho at the state Capitol Tuesday. House Bill 1069, from state Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, would have made it illegal for anyone with a ballot initiative certified by the secretary of state to then withdraw that initiative because of a deal offering money, gifts or any “other valuable consideration.†A provision like that already exists in state law when it comes to candidates for office. It's official: your Democrats in charge at the Colorado statehouse once again come out against clean government. In voting down House Bill 1069, they have winked at the use of the citizens' ballot initiative process for political blackmail by … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2009
Nearly Half of Coloradans Admit They Don’t Know Who Michael Bennet Is
Congressional Quarterly says Michael Bennet "needs to get better known" -- who? Oh yeah! Colorado's junior junior U.S. Senator. The Democrats' Public Policy Polling - in a herculean effort to put an impossibly meaningful spin on an election that's more than 21 months away - finds almost half of Coloradans will admit they don't even know who Bennet is. (How many of the 54 percent were fibbing, or thought maybe pollsters were asking about this AFC West rival running back?) We're a long way from knowing much of anything about the dynamics for the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Colorado. But we'll at least begin to have a good idea of the terrain when we see how Bennet casts his vote on union card-check legislation. With the announcement … [Read more...]
Rocky Mtn Alliance Blog Talk Radio at 8:30 PM: Jan Tyler, Sen. Greg Brophy
Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 11th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, the third of 2009. Tonight's scheduled guests are locally-based elections expert Jan Tyler and state senate assistant minority leader Greg Brophy (R-Wray). Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. More information on past and future episodes is posted at Slapstick Politics. … [Read more...]
Financial Transparency Makes Public Education a More “Public” Enterprise
The Colorado state legislature has been a place of little significant action lately. But one bill first scheduled to be heard in committee this week is Senate Bill 57 (PDF), which would open up the spending of school districts and other local education agencies in an online searchable database. Read about the advantages of this sort of policy change in my new Independence Institute op-ed:Colorado has a tremendous opportunity to lead the way in making public education a more truly public enterprise. School officials should place detailed and useful spending information where citizens can access it freely: the Internet. Such a simple and highly cost-effective approach promotes public accountability and transparency. Public schools … [Read more...]
Nancy Pelosi Triangulated by Japanese Corporations, California Octuplets?
These three stories all appeared today: Nancy Pelosi has no apologies for saying birth control is economic stimulus Japanese corporations cut workday to boost birth rate California octuplets join Houston set as 2nd of kind God truly has a sense of humor. And if you haven't read it already, now is the time to pick up a copy of Mark Steyn's masterpiece America Alone. … [Read more...]
On Second Thought, I Guess the State Capitol Isn’t as Dangerous as All That
So I've heard the State Capitol has become a rough place these days (yes, Denver truly is the Wild West!), but I had no idea it had come to this, as disclosed in the Headline of the Week: "Brophy bill to protect homeowners killed in committee". My first thought was, How many homeowners have been killed in committee meetings lately? I especially have reason to be concerned, seeing as how I plan to be under the golden dome tomorrow to speak on a new media/blogger luncheon panel to the Senate GOP Caucus. I will be joined by the famous Vodkapundit (aka Stephen Green), Zombyboy, Rossputin (aka Ross Kaminsky), Charles Martin, and Face The State editor Brad Jones. Frankly, I'm humbled to be with this group of accomplished bloggers / new … [Read more...]
The Democrat “Stimulus” Bill: “Serious times call for silly, self-serving solutions”
Here's my new slogan for the day: "Serious times call for silly, self-serving solutions." At least as it applies to Democrats and their approach to addressing the current economic downturn . The Wall Street Journal sorts it out very nicely in today's editorial "The Stimulus Time Machine":The stimulus bill currently steaming through Congress looks like a legislative freight train, but given last week's analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, it is more accurate to think of it as a time machine. That may be the only way to explain how spending on public works in 2011 and beyond will help the economy today. According to Congressional Budget Office estimates, a mere $26 billion of the House stimulus bill's $355 billion in new spending … [Read more...]
Night Twister’s Online Guide to Colorado Conservative Political Activism
Fort Collins' Randy Ketner - better known to online readers as Night Twister - has just officially entered his name into contention for 2009 Colorado Conservative Activist of the Year. How is that? See what Randy compiled over on his RedState page: "Getting Connected in Colorado". It's a seemingly comprehensive list of government officials, political organizations, online conservative organizations (including my Independence Institute), bloggers and talk radio shows, Colorado Web 2.0, Colorado "mainstream media", and online national groups. If you see anything missing, leave Randy a note so he can keep it updated. When it comes to local political blogging, Randy is a relative newcomer - only about 18 months under his belt at Night … [Read more...]
A Glimpse at the Not-So-Softer Side of Barack Obama’s “Hope” and “Change”
Once upon a time the word bipartisanship was one of the most sacred words in the liberal lexicon. Now the concept is well on its way to becoming an inconvenient obstacle to the superior virtue of Obama-worthiness. Fox News has afforded us the first glimpse into the hubris of bare-knuckled, Saul Alinsky-radical, Chicago-style politics that moved into the White House less than a week ago. It took less than four days to show the less seemly side of what hope and change really mean ("Keep hoping all you want, but America only gets the kind of change I say they're getting. End of story.") I could go on, but Ken the Blue Collar Muse already has tackled this one pretty well. As Rush Limbaugh astutely told Byron York, President Obama is … [Read more...]
No District Office for Rep. Betsy Markey: Different Kind of “Hope” and “Change”
Face The State reports:Seventy-seven days after being elected to serve Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, a Democrat, still has not set up an in-state office to serve her constituents. Staff in Markey’s Washington, D.C. office confirmed she does not have a district office set up and said there is no concrete timeline for when that will get done, but it will be “soon.†Hey, don't hurry up with that or anything. No pressure. Hmmm, the only question left unanswered is "why is it taking so long". As the story points out, Mike Coffman - another newly elected member of Colorado's House delegation - has had an office set up for weeks now. So who knows? Maybe Betsy Markey is ready to put down roots … [Read more...]
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