Colorado's primary elections are upon us. So as Republican candidates in key districts reach the homestretch of throwing slings and arrows at one another, my friend Jessica Corry reminds us in a Sunday column for the Denver Post that the Colorado GOP coalition ain't what it used to be: the big business community has entrenched itself alongside labor unions, bureaucrats, and other "fatcat" special interest groups to work against the guiding principles of limited government and ordered liberty. A major problem, she argues, is that many of the party's insiders simply have not awakened to the fact yet. Should the Republicans wake up to despair then? Not exactly, says Jessica: Republicans, including Beauprez, should find their own real … [Read more...]

In his Saturday media review column for the Rocky Mountain News, David Kopel highlights two Denver Post stories that gave skewed presentations of the illegal immigration issue. The first half of the editorial piece was dedicated to giving a more thorough undressing to a Karen Crummy article first exposed here on this site. (Full disclosure: I work with Dave at the Independence Institute. He was prompted to examine the Crummy story after reading my post. However, he discovered the post on his own as part of his regular blog searches.) … [Read more...]

My observations on the CEA contribution to Kiki Traylor have stirred some attention through the grapevine. As a result, I fielded a phone call this afternoon from Senator Traylor with a very clear message: she does indeed support vouchers for low-income students, like the Opportunity Contract Scholarship Program that Senator Spence sponsored, Governor Owens signed, and the Supreme Court narrowly ruled unconstitutional. Furthermore, Senator Traylor said she made that fact clear in her interview with CEA. Even though she said they don't like her position on the issue, Senator Traylor surmised that CEA may have contributed to her campaign because of her hard work, her integrity, her independent intellect, or because they just figure she … [Read more...]

Slapstick Politics has the lowdown on the ineffectual results of the recent state special legislative session. Republicans have a steep climb to face if they are going to turn immigration and/or judicial activism into winning issues. How about another issue to latch onto: maybe, private property rights vs. eminent domain? Or one of my perpetual favorites ... education reform. … [Read more...]

What else can I say about the deal Owens made with Democrat legislators to close the immigration session? It's bad news for the good guys. Of course, the trouble began when former governor Dick Lamm remembered which party he belongs to and pulled his support from the Defend Colorado Now initiative and cut his own backroom deal with fellow Democrat and erstwhile immigration opponent Federico Pena. Still, Owens held the high cards and had the authority and clout to limit the special legislative session to the narrow matter of addressing the Colorado Supreme Court's judicial activism. Instead of keeping the lid on things and making sure that legislators simply voted up-or-down to refer the Defend Colorado Now initiative to the voters … [Read more...]