Yesterday we learned that Big Labor has pulled out some more big guns to blast a hole in Colorado's economy, in the form of five new anti-business ballot initiatives. Supporters of right-to-work - who are well on their way to getting their measure on the ballot - and union bosses - who appear to be calling their bluff - may be loading up for a real duel, High Noon-style. It didn't take long for Governor Bill Ritter to come riding into town, telling everyone to "holster your weapons":Hoping to avoid an ugly confrontation between business and labor this fall, Gov. Bill Ritter wants the two sides to withdraw their competing ballot measures, his spokesman said Tuesday. "The governor believes the best thing for all of Colorado would be if … [Read more...]
State Democrats’ Budget Extravagance Out of Touch with Man on the Street
The clever crew at Colorado Senate News took questions about the Democrats' state budget to the man on the street and got some predictably disgruntled responses:Just under $700,000 to give more prison inmates their GEDs? How about another $20,000 for the state's wine promotions board so it can promote--what else--wine? Or, $676,000 for salary hikes to the state agency that runs Medicaid health coverage for the poor? And then there's $150,000 in legal fees to defend the governor against a lawsuit charging him with pushing through last year's property-tax hike in violation of the state constitution. Those and other line items in the Democrat-authored 2008-09 budget, now pending before the Senate, were put to the public today when … [Read more...]
Calling All Colorado Pro-Freedom Bloggers: Samsphere Comes to Denver
The details are out... Samsphere is coming to Denver on Saturday, April 19, sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance. Are you a new pro-freedom center-right blogger who wants to meet up and learn the tools of the trade? An experienced blogger who wants to sharpen your skills? Maybe you've thought about blogging, or your friends have said you should start, but weren't quite sure how to get it going and make it work? Whatever the case, come and check it out. I've met the Sam Adams Alliance crew personally: They have a passion about building a successful blogging community on our side and the skills and experience to get you connected. Go here to check out the agenda and register. I'll see you there. … [Read more...]
Democrats Use Your Money to Defend Ritter Taking Your Money without Asking
Democrats in the state legislature are pushing a line item in the state budget that would give $150,000 in taxpayer funds to pay Gov. Bill Ritter's legal costs. For what, you ask? To defend a policy Ritter promoted and signed that levies a property tax increase on thousands of Colorado homeowners and business owners without a vote of the people, in violation of the state constitution. So let's get this straight: Bill Ritter thumbs his nose at the state constitution, choosing to force through a widespread property tax hike. Then he gets sued by taxpayers because he didn't get their permission as the state constitution requires. Now his Democrat allies are working to make sure the very people hit by the tax hike will foot the … [Read more...]
Big Labor Unleashes More Big Guns to Aim at Right-to-Work Initiative
The Denver Post reports today that Big Labor has escalated its political battle with the business community by introducing new proposals for Colorado's fall ballot:The five ballot initiatives filed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 7 include measures that would: • Deny tax breaks and incentives to companies that relocate jobs outside Colorado. • Require businesses to pay more in property taxes. • Allow injured workers to sue employers outside the workers' compensation system. Along with ballot proposals backed by other unions, Monday's filings further set the stage for a fiery showdown between business and labor in November. Big Labor has pulled out the big guns to try to shoot down one … [Read more...]
Local GOP Blogger Declares Candidacy for State Legislature
One of my longest, most consistent friends in the blogging world has decided to throw his hat in the ring. Republican Joshua Sharf has declared his candidacy for House District 6. Since the district is a heavily Democrat enclave, the campaign is much less about personal ambition than principle. Having exposed frontrunning Republican candidate Rima Barakat Sinclair for her anti-Israel Islamist agenda and other suspect credentials, Joshua has decided to petition on the primary ballot to ensure she does not carry the Republican Party banner in the fall. Apparently, a Republican candidate for Congress learned about Ms. Sinclair's history and decided to reject her $500 contribution to his heated primary campaign. That's a strong message, … [Read more...]
McCain’s Appearance in Denver
The most thorough reporting on Republican Presidential candidate John McCain's stop in Denver yesterday can be found at Slapstick Politics. In one key passage El Presidente writes:So when the Democrats and the left target Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for comments he made about Sen. McCain last year that appear critical, ask them how they will handle their party's own squabbles, name-calling, and vitriol. If Schaffer can't offer his opinion and then change/modify/alter it, then it will be tough (even for Democrats) to see either Obama or Clinton offering their support for each other, once the nomination is decided. And the attacks we've seen between those two this primary season make any tension between Schaffer and McCain pale in … [Read more...]
Corry: Colorado Conservatives Uniting?
My Independence Institute colleague Jessica Corry has a column up at Politics West about a Denver event last night that she says holds out hope for re-uniting key wings of the old Reagan Republican coalition. Former Owens adviser Sean Duffy and Colorado Family Institute president Jim Pfaff were two of the panelists:Duffy calls himself a "pro-life, pro-gay" Republican, jokingly claiming that he's been kicked out of the Republican Party multiple times only to come back for more abuse. You may remember him as the right-hand man of former Gov. Bill Owens, a conservative Republican. "At the end of the day, as Republicans, we should all just want the government to leave us alone," he told me. And Pfaff, while frequently identified by his ties … [Read more...]
Statehouse Dems Pushing Colorado Farther Away from Tax Freedom
The Tax Foundation's yearly "Tax Freedom Day" report is out (H/T State Policy Network Blog), and the results as usual are not startling. The average taxpayer both in Colorado and nationwide has to work until April 23 to pay off their share of the tax burden:This year’s Tax Freedom Day falls three days earlier than in 2007. Fiscal stimulus rebates and a projection of slow growth in 2008 are the principal reasons for the earlier celebration. However, if the large projected deficit for 2008 were counted as a tax in the current year, Tax Freedom Day would fall on May 3. “Government continues to dominate the American taxpayer’s budget,†said Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge. “Americans will still spend more on taxes in 2008 than … [Read more...]
Hoping Mark Hillman Runs Again
How delighted I was to see this headline in the Grand Junction Sentinel Political Notebook: "Hillman open to future electoral bids." Former Senate leader and former interim state treasurer Mark Hillman is one of Colorado's strongest, most articulate, most principled, and most genuinely down-to-earth conservative leaders:“I’m not ruling anything out, but at the same time I don’t get up in the morning trying to figure out how to torture myself by running for office,†Hillman told Political Notebook. That's what we need: the kind of leader who doesn't live for the ambition but is willing to step up and run in spite of the "torture." I haven't told Mark this personally, but I would be glad to see him run someday. Hope he is led to … [Read more...]
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