With today's coverage in the Rocky Mountain News, the developing Republican primary in Denver's House District 6 has launched into public view:A Middle Eastern native running for a state House seat faces a challenge from a blogger who called her "a terror apologist and an avowed enemy of Israel with no credible conservative credentials." Republican Rima Barakat Sinclair said she has been unfairly labeled because she is a Muslim of Palestinian descent. "I absolutely deny that," she said, of claims she supports terrorism. "What is behind that? Where is the proof? This is nothing but mudslinging." In case you hadn't found it yet, here is the proof. (Note: Rima Barakat Sinclair is NOT a victim.) The 5-minute YouTube video alone, which … [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...]
Hummel Cartoon Highlights Backroom State Ed Board
It figures. I can write a lot of words about the State Board of Education's inability to hold a recorded public vote on litigation surrounding Gov. Bill Ritter's major property tax hike (see posts here and here). But the eminently talented cartoonist (and well-named) Ben Hummel - whom I had the pleasure of meeting in person earlier this week - says it better with a picture. Makes me jealous of visual artists... for a moment. Then it makes me grateful that we have a skilled artist on our side. Keep up the great work, Ben! … [Read more...]
Colorado Democrats Stick It to Taxpayers AND College Students
With Democrats in charge at the State Capitol, we get more reminders than we would like about their party leaders' priorities: 1) Stick it to the taxpayer on the collection end; and 2) Use personal politics to stick it to certain users of state services on the distribution end. What does this add up to? Average Colorado citizens like you and I get stuck. This morning's reminder comes via Rocky Mountain Right, as it appears that statehouse Democrat lawmakers are using their dislike of new University of Colorado president Bruce Benson to undercut the students and faculty on Denver's Auraria campus. Yes, Auraria funding was arbitrarily revoked, leaving a $120 million science facility construction site uncompleted. If you recall, during … [Read more...]
“If we can’t even cut waste, fraud and abuse out of the budget, we shouldn’t be here”
Those are the words of Republican state senator Steve Johnson, as the Democrats in the legislature seek to increase the discretionary budgets for State Board of Education members to dine in style ($200 - $300 a meal for catering from Pour la France?), and enjoy other amenities. Despite what some say, such expenditures cannot best be characterized as "prudent." There's outrage when people learn about this kind of stuff, though many in the public are tuned out, overwhelmed, or just plain cynical. … [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...]
Voorhis Exonerated: Bad for Ritter, But Legal Ethics Reform Still Needed
Good news today on a story I have not covered nearly enough: ICE agent Cory Voorhis has been found NOT guilty, and it didn't take the jury long to decide. The question is what the fallout means for Gov. Bill Ritter's political future. The verdict is a small step in increasing my faith in the justice system, though it would be naive to ignore the real, long-term solution for Colorado: legal ethics reform. … [Read more...]
Iowa, Like Colorado, Bending to Government Employee Union Pressure
The pressure to expand the power of government employee union officials at the expense of taxpayers is not isolated to Colorado. The Des Moines Register reports:Ignoring pleas from the governor and a slew of local elected officials to give Iowans time to weigh in, Democrats in the Iowa Senate today approved a labor-backed bill that would give unions more power at the negotiating table. House File 2645 would give public employees the same power as managers to open up contract talks to almost any workplace subject. The Senate approved the bill on a 27-23 vote. Six days passed between when this proposal was offered and the bill’s passage by both chambers. It marks the first substantial change since the collective bargaining law was … [Read more...]
Big Labor Has Ritter Running Scared
Writing over at Politics West, my Independence Institute colleague Jessica Corry ((no, we didn't collaborate) calls out Gov. Bill Ritter's plea for business and labor to get along as one-sided and politically motivated:A battle over labor issues could cost Ritter and the Democratic Party serious political capital. And with national Democrats coming to Denver this August for their national convention, the last thing Ritter needs is an extremist union agenda to impede his party's effort to appeal to moderate small- and medium-sized business owners. It's no surprise really then that Ritter is being ignored. Cross posted at Ritter Watch … [Read more...]
Top Initiative on Colorado’s 2008 Ballot: Yes on Amendment 46
From the Rocky Mountain News today:The secretary of state certified a measure for the Nov. 4 ballot Monday that would ban race and gender-based hiring preferences in Colorado. Supporters of the the measure, Amendment 46, submitted 128,744 signatures March 10. On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Coffman declared that a random sampling showed that enough of them were valid. The measure is pushed by Ward Connerly, a black Republican who has been vilified by civil rights groups for supporting anti-affirmative action policies. Connerly has led similar successful initiatives in California, Washington and Michigan. Supporters say that the measure's language mirrors the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This should mean Connerly's Civil Rights … [Read more...]
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