Whatever your opinion about climate change, you have to find this pairing of headlines in today's Denver Post to be ironic: "Report: Global warming man-made, unstoppable" The world's leading climate scientists said global warming has begun, is "very likely" caused by man, and will be unstoppable for centuries, according to a report by a group of hundreds of scientists. "Powerful cold grips Front Range" - If seven weeks of snow haven't been enough, Denver set a new record this morning for cold when the mercury dropped to 18 degrees below zero. If global warming is "man-made," then we denizens of the Rocky Mountain region must really be slacking off to lead us to such frigid temperatures. If global warming is "unstoppable," then I … [Read more...]
Filibuster!
A good, old-fashioned filibuster is going on in the Colorado Senate today as the legislative body debates House Bill 1072. Hurrah for the Republicans taking a united stand in defense of workers' rights and good business. Kudos especially to Senators Shawn Mitchell, Josh Penry, Ted Harvey, Greg Brophy, Mike Kopp, Scott Renfroe, Nancy Spence, Tom Wiens, Ron May, Ken Kester, and Steve Ward, who have carried the brunt of the debate on a LONG series of amendments designed to mitigate the negative effects of the bad legislation. It looks like they could keep this up well into the evening. Good thing to see the GOP Senate with a full-grown spine and the willingness to delay such a bad bill by shining the light so heavily on it. HB 1072: the … [Read more...]
Lefties and HB 1072: They Just Don’t Get It
The collectivist gang at SquareState doesn't get it, but what's new? HB 1072 a victory for workers? Are they serious? I shouldn't be terribly surprised that they don't know the difference between union bosses and the rank and file. People like this commenter are living in another century: I think some of the "business community" may overestimate how in touch they are with the mainstream of Colorado. Having a very public fight where the Republicans play their traditional role of standing up for the big guy, while Democrats slug it out for the little guy, can only help the Democrats. Just look at the Republicans put up amendment after amendment that are obviously designed to screw the union in any way possible, from full blown "right to … [Read more...]
GOP Legislators Unveil New Site
The Colorado Senate Republicans have launched an official online news service. Check out Colorado Senate News. Leading the news there, not surprisingly, is the breakdown on the Democrats' efforts to ram through the pro-union bill HB 1072. Speaking of HB 1072, my latest op-ed on the topic ran yesterday in the Pueblo Chieftain as a counterpoint opposite labor professor Raymond Hogler. My piece comprises the latter half of the Web page, so please scroll down if you would like to read it. … [Read more...]
Denver Dailies Duel over Dennis’ Decision
This morning Rocky Mountain News editorial page editor Vince Carroll is indeed on point in his defense of embattled Secretary of State Gigi Dennis. After careful hearings and public deliberation, Dennis issued a series of rules on August 2 to clarify Colorado's election laws, including a provision that membership organizations must ask their members' individual written permission before using part of their dues in political campaigns. Seems fair enough, right? While the principle behind the rule stands clear and strong, some have called the timing of its delivery into question. Some union bosses are used to automatically taking members' money for political purposes and claim that having to ask permission of all their members would be an … [Read more...]
Bad Press Day for Colorado Dems
And about time, I should say. Why not take a minute to point out a couple of interesting stories highlighted in today's Rocky Mountain News? First, the latest in the controversy about Nayyera Haq, the staffer for Democratic Congressman John Salazar who verbally lashed back at Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo for defending the Pope's right to free speech. The Rocky reports that Haq has taken a temporary leave from Salazar's campaign. Meanwhile, the Rocky took a miss on Haq's unfair distortions of Tancredo's comments as anti-Islamic and her role in inviting Islamic extremists to Capitol Hill, which have been documented by the local blog To the Right and the national blog Red State. And a Google News search for the name Nayyera Haq or … [Read more...]
Supremes to Decide Union Member Rights
If there's one case I'm going to be following in the U.S. Supreme Court's new docket, it's this one: The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to decide whether public employee unions must get special permission before spending some workers' dues on political causes. Justices accepted an appeal from the state of Washington that involves fees paid to the Washington Education Association by teachers who decline to join the union. Those workers still can be charged dues by the union to help pay for labor negotiations that affect them. But they can't be forced to pay for the union's political activism, under a string of Supreme Court rulings that reach back nearly 30 years. At issue is whether the union needs teachers to say "yes" before the … [Read more...]
The NIE: Putting Iraq in Perspective
I usually leave the details of the bigger issues of the GWOT in the hands of experts more capable than I. If you want to pick a fight on this issue, take it up with one of them. Let me start by answering a few common questions about Iraq that get tossed about. 1. Have we made mistakes in prosecuting the war in Iraq? Yes (but isn't that every war?) 2. Is the violence in Iraq between Shi'ites and Sunnis troubling? Yes (but civil war can still be averted) 3. Are American forces viewed as friendly liberators by most of the Iraqi population? No (but many more are eager to make the democratic experiment work on a permanent basis) 4. Therefore, it was a mistake to go to war in Iraq, right? Wrong! 5. Were there other justifications for going … [Read more...]
New Poll Shows Beauprez Down Only 3 Points
Finally, Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has something to be cheered about: a Wall Street Journal/Zogby poll released shows Beauprez trailing Democrat rival Bill Ritter by 3 points (margin of error +/- 4 points). In light of two recent polls that showed a much more distinct advantage for Mr. Ritter, I wouldn't stake my credibility on this survey signifying a huge momentum swing in the Republican's favor. More polling data over the coming weeks will have to corroborate some sort of trend. At the same time, it has to be sobering news for the Ritter bandwagon and perhaps can energize the GOP base here in Colorado. Yes, the Beauprez campaign got a late start. My druthers would have been to see a more aggressive … [Read more...]
GOP Super Saturday: Jeffco Style
Poll numbers for Colorado Republicans have been less favorable than any would like to see, but in the crucial weeks leading up to the 2006 election the Party is putting another weapon into play: volunteers. I was pleased to see several dozen volunteers show up at GOP Victory Headquarters in Wheat Ridge this morning to see Rick O'Donnell and the legendary Hugh Hewitt. After a brief rally, volunteers split up to work their separate state house districts - dropping literature, making phone calls, stuffing mailers. I was told many more volunteers who never showed up at Victory HQ went to work hitting the streets this morning. Jeffco's big "Super Saturday" volunteer push is part of a statewide GOP effort. So if you're a registered Colorado … [Read more...]
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