It is refreshing to see evidence of the good sense of average, hard-working Coloradans. Colorado Senate News once again took a camera to the 16th Street Mall and found plenty of passers-by willing to share their frustrations with Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado Democrats for bypassing the state constitution's requirement to ask voters first when they imposed their massive property tax hike:The upshot? Everyday taxpayers surveyed along Denver's 16th Street Mall all agreed: Whether or not the state really needs the extra revenue--a projected $3.8 billion over the next 10 years--voters should have asked for permission first. They're not alone in that sentiment. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers issued an opinion last year saying that the … [Read more...]
Big Labor Ritter Low on Credibility
As a leading political consultant notes in the Denver Post today, Gov. Bill Ritter planted the pro-union seeds, and now he is reaping the right-to-work whirlwind:Political observers don't have high hopes that the situation will improve. "If (Ritter's) goal is trying to get business to back off right-to-work, I don't think he has the credibility to do it," said Katy Atkinson, a Republican political strategist, pointing out that he is seen as pro-labor. Atkinson said right-to-work bills in the legislature never got off the ground in the past — even under Republicans — because businesses never really saw organized labor as a threat in Colorado. But that view changed, she said, after the passage of an amendment in 2006 to increase … [Read more...]
Sen. Wiens Announces Retirement
Republican State Senator Tom Wiens surprisingly announced yesterday that he is deciding not to run for re-election. Local insider Steven Nielson responded quickly: he is trying to track down Senator Wiens to learn more about his decision, and touts a few potential GOP replacements who could scramble to take his place mere weeks before the crucial 4th Senate District Assembly. At least it's a relatively safe seat. I'll keep an eye on this story, too. … [Read more...]
Michael Yon’s Words Deserve Attention
Mr. Bob points the way to a stellar Wall Street Journal column penned by Michael Yon, who has earned the utmost credibility in Iraq by virtue of spending more time following the action in person than probably any other independent observer. So when he writes:I have seen this war – and our part in it – at its brutal worst. And I say the transformation over the last 14 months is little short of miraculous. The change goes far beyond the statistical decline in casualties or incidents of violence. A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America. Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is … [Read more...]
After Political Prosecution, Cory Voorhis Still Able to Say “God Bless America”
In his latest Human Events column, Colorado's own Ross Kaminsky highlights the amazing character of Cory Voorhis, the politically-targeted federal immigration agent who last week was exonerated in a case that stems back to the 2006 election:Cory Voorhis looked me in the eye and said “God Bless Americaâ€. It was a remarkable statement from a man whose life has been turned upside down by a justice system which was hijacked by politicians and turned loose on this unsung American hero. When I said to Voorhis that it was remarkable he still felt that way, he pointed to his American flag lapel pin and said, still choked up from the news five minutes earlier, “This is what I stand for.†Five minutes earlier, at about 1:45 PM on … [Read more...]
On the Air This Morning
I am scheduled to be a guest on the Amy Oliver Show on Northern Colorado's AM 1310 KFKA this morning at 10:00 AM (Mountain Daylight Time). I will be talking about my new report on Gov. Bill Ritter's union "employee partnerships," including a breakdown of the weak arguments used to defend Ritter's executive order and potential harms that it creates. For those who don't have time to look at the full-blown report, I also have created a two-page overview. You can listen live online here. … [Read more...]
Can’t Blame Tax Day
Tax Day. The Ides of April. The anniversaries of two epic tragedies: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the sinking of the Titanic. Monday / Tuesday. All very compelling reasons - but none actually bear the responsibility - for the sparse blogging in the last day or so. I hope to get a substantive post or two up tonight. We'll see. … [Read more...]
Affirmative Action for Complaints Against Colorado Civil Rights Initiative?
Face The State is onto another big story, uncovering facts about complaints filed against the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative - which recently qualified for the November statewide ballot. Face The State's report has uncovered serious issues with two of the major complaints, issues neglected in the drive-by media coverage. Here's the first:On February 26, Chloe Johnson filed a complaint with Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office alleging that she was tricked into supporting Amendment 46, also known as the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, a ballot effort designed to end race and gender preferences in government hiring, education, and contracting. The complaint was formally dismissed by the state's Office of Administrative Courts … [Read more...]
Government Waste, Toledo-Style
Colorado center-right bloggers take notice: One of the sharp and ambitious bloggers I met at Samsphere in Chicago a couple weeks ago - Maggie Thurber - shows the power of doing a little original research to expose government waste on public swimming pools in her Toledo backyard:For sake of argument, let's estimate that individuals likely to use the pool facilities will do so five times during the season. This seems a reasonable estimate considering the number of days the pools are open. Using this assumption, the pools had about 5,000 unique visitors. The 2006 Census data shows that there are 74,896 children (under 18 years of age) in Toledo. Even if every visitor to the pools was a child, we would be serving less than 7% of the kids in … [Read more...]
Tackling Colorado Socialized Medicine
Every once in awhile I step back and realize that I should bring my readers' attention to people with important ideas who they may not have heard. In that spirit, one of Colorado's brightest and most articulate writers challenging the effort to socialize medicine is Brian Schwartz, who introduced a free market proposal to the state's blue ribbon commission on health care reform (since the proposal advocated for more freedom, it was unsurprisingly rejected). Besides blogging regularly at wakalix, Brian also is quite prolific in penning published columns. His latest, assailing the arguments behind "universal health care," appears in the Pueblo Chieftain (H/T We Stand Firm). If you are interested in health care reform, make sure you … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 155
- 156
- 157
- 158
- 159
- …
- 256
- Next Page »