Going to the Republican National Convention as a blogger never was really an option for me this year. But my friend and colleague El Presidente is on location and filing dispatches. Hadn't heard any complaints really until I flipped over to Pajamas Media and saw this report from Rick Moran:Here on what is passing for “Bloggers Row,†there is plenty of grumbling about the accommodations supplied by our hosts. Some descriptives are not printable. Most reflect a huge disappointment with the way the GOP has shunted most of the bloggers off to the side, far from the action, dispersed throughout a gigantic “Press Filing Center†where the working media comes to hook up to the net and file their stories.... ...The dungeon that the … [Read more...]
Alaska Can Have Bill Ritter … Colorado Will Take Sarah Palin Any Day
After last night's amazing speech, I'm jealous. Alaska, you can have Bill Ritter. Can we have Sarah Palin? Then I thought, in a few months she has a very good chance of being our vice-president. I'll settle for that. Interestingly, the Denver Post reports today about Gov. Ritter's lackluster speaking performance at last week's Democratic National Convention. A broken teleprompter appears to have been part of his problem. It seems Sarah Palin faced the same teleprompter problems, but went on unfazed to deliver a homerun. Could the same be said of Bill Ritter - or for that matter, Barack Obama - when they're off teleprompter? Broken teleprompter or not, I like this take from Michael at Best Destiny:But let me just leave this first … [Read more...]
Peter Blake Chronicles Amendment 49 for the Rocky Mountain News
Peter Blake yesterday wrote a great Rocky Mountain News column about one of the major initiatives on Colorado's statewide November ballot - Amendment 49:As [Jon] Caldara, head of the Independence Institute, likes to put it, government would no longer be able to act as "the bagman for political special interests."... No doubt passage of No. 49 would make it more difficult for unions to collect dues. But Caldara said that in the age of automatic bank transfers, union members can easily arrange to have dues deducted if they want. "Taxpayers don't have to be on the hook for doing the accounting, the bookkeeping and collection work for special interests and their lobbyists." Caldara maintains it's a conflict of interest for, say, school … [Read more...]
More Sarah Palin Tidbits
A source in El Paso County tells me that this Saturday's John McCain-Sarah Palin event in Colorado Springs has long since exhausted its 10,000 ticket supply and has put thousands more on waiting lists. I'm told this is bigger than President George W. Bush's appearance in Colorado Springs in 2004 - not surprisingly, as the conservative base has received its biggest jolt of inspiration since Ronald Reagan was running for President. Also, remember in last night's speech when Sarah Palin pointed out that her husband is a member of the United Steelworkers Union? Today, National Right to Work sends an open letter to Todd Palin informing him that he is inadvertently helping to fund attacks against his wife but can get some of that money back. … [Read more...]
Putting Today’s Economy in Perspective
It's national election season, which means perspective on the economy is badly needed. Thanks to Rossputin for highlighting this article from economists Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein. Read the whole thing for yourself, but interesting tidbits are that family income last year hit its first all-time high in 7 years, income inequality declined faster than at any point in the previous 45 years, and the poverty rate stayed below its pre-1999 norms. Yes, economic growth has lagged, causing the country to flirt with recession. But according to Wesbury and Stein, "these figures bolster the case that the underlying fundamentals of the US economy were sound in 2007, before the Federal Reserve decided to try to inflate our way out of financial … [Read more...]
School Leaders Seeking More Taxpayer Money in Presidential Election Year
In an article printed today, the Denver Post's Jeremy Meyer asks why Colorado school district leaders are pushing a massive slew of construction bond proposals on the ballot:But presidential elections produce large voter turnouts, and 90 percent of Colorado school ballot issues pass when they are on the general election ballot. "My hypothesis is the larger turnout means (districts) are reaching into a voter base that is generally less informed about local issues and more inclined to give money to schools because it sounds like it is the right thing to do," said Ben DeGrow, education-policy analyst for the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank based in Golden. On the other hand:DeGrow, however, said he thinks Colorado … [Read more...]
Sara Gagliardi’s Do-Nothing Record Puts a John Bodnar Sign in my Yard
Michael at Best Destiny points out the inconsequential, do-nothing record of his and my state representative Sara Gagliardi - and the representative for most of Arvada, Colorado:Among things she did NOT sponsor, she did manage to join her party voting to extend unionization into the state government (which had to be vetoed, only to reappear via Executive fiat . . .er, order); she did manage to vote against increasing academic requirements for graduation, but vote to create standards for Sex Education in the schools. So the entire track record of Sara Gagliardi's first year in office as a part of the majority was: --no academic standards --Sex Ed standards --banned smoking in casinos, which encroaches on personal rights and hurt … [Read more...]
Barack Obama: Question of Human Life “Above My Pay Grade”
Not only is Barack Obama's record on human life atrocious and frightening, but he seems utterly unable to give a clear, honest, or reasonable answer on the topic: "Above my pay grade"? So the buck stops where? More Americans need to wake up to the hollowness of the Barack Obama candidacy, and to think seriously about what kind of leader they want. Perhaps Barack Obama is genuinely confused about when human life begins and should be protected. After all, in some cases his confusion seems to extend beyond the point of birth (Scott Johnson at Powerline has more). No matter how he tries to dress it up, it's hard to deny that Obama is in the pocket of the abortion absolutist lobby. Meanwhile, one Red State diarist is just thankful … [Read more...]
Union Members and Fee Payers Foot Bill for Leaders’ DNC Invesco Suites
From Bloomberg.com (H/T Mike Antonucci):Seven unions, including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, have stepped in to help pay for the Democratic National Convention in Denver after the host committee announced in June it was $10 million short of its fundraising goals. The host committee, as a private organization, can accept unlimited corporate, union and individual contributions. And while presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee are refusing contributions from registered lobbyists, the ban doesn't apply to the convention. Mike Antonucci also cites a Los Angeles Times piece that indicates donors can get "stadium skyboxes" to watch the Obamessiah's big … [Read more...]
AG John Suthers’ Taxpayer-Friendly Brief Unlikely to Sway Political Court
Mike Saccone reports some pleasing but unsurprising news: Attorney General John Suthers has submitted a friendly brief to the Colorado Supreme Court on behalf of the people of the state, and the district court decision that upheld their rights to vote on a tax increase. But Governor Bill Ritter is probably resting easier than he should, knowing that the political High Court has every reason to favor the Democrats who appropriated them money to construct a new courtroom building. Color me cynical, and hope that I am surprised. … [Read more...]
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