The Independence Institute (where I work) published a study this week titled "State Budget Scrutiny Reveals Ref C Shuffle," detailing how the promises made in Colorado's 2005 tax increase campaign have gone unmet. Lawmakers have increased spending far more in budget areas not connected with the promises of the Referendum C campaign than in the key areas used to sell the tax increase to Colorado voters (i.e., public schools, state universities, and health care). The report is well documented with actual data. Yesterday, the tax increase apologists at the Bell Policy Center issued a quick response that did not dispute the substance of the findings but asserts that the Institute report uses a "simplistic analysis" and criticizes it for … [Read more...]
Udall Losing Respect for Sponsoring Silly Resolution
Michelle Malkin blasts away at the "phony" Congressional resolution attacking Rush Limbaugh: "Bottom-of-the-barrel desperation," she writes, with accumulated evidence to demonstrate that those Lefties hopping on the bandwagon should have used a little more discretion first. They are giving conservative officials a platform to make our case stronger, says Newsbusters. To her credit, Malkin also recognizes the lead role played by our own The Colorado Index in publishing the silly resolution sponsored by Boulder liberal U.S. Rep. Mark Udall. As noted earlier, the Left in Colorado also has assailed Udall as "an embarrassment" for this course of action. Following the lead of a Left-liberal faux "watchdog" to use Congressional time and … [Read more...]
Save the Males?
Just wanted to give a little shout out to Jessica Corry, a good friend of Mount Virtus, who has started as one of the featured diarists at the Denver Post's new Politics West site. In fact, I just came across this excellent piece she wrote on behalf of my "endangered" species. I know we need a lot of help, but ... "Save the Males"? Seriously, she makes a very important point, often overlooked because of its political incorrectness. Check it out. … [Read more...]
Carroll: Colorado NOT Near Bottom in Education Funding
Colorado's public school establishment has gradually been losing its grip on the education monopoly, and it's also been losing its grip on the funding statistics monopoly. No need to retread old roads, but kudos once again to the Rocky Mountain News' Vincent Carroll for reminding readers that Colorado does not rank near the bottom of K-12 school funding but near the middle: [Denver superintendent Michael] Bennet is right that Coloradans don’t spend lavishly on education, comparatively speaking. But we haven’t exactly been Scrooges, either. For those dying to know more, check out my 2006 Independence Institute report "Counting the Cash." … [Read more...]
Lefty Lemmings Need to Read Before They Launch Attacks
Demonstrating quite a bit of ironic ignorance, the diarist "Go Blue" and commenters at the Dead Governors site latch onto an unsubstantiated attack against former state senator and state treasurer Mark Hillman, using hollow ammunition provided by the Lefties at the Bell Policy Center. As explained yesterday, Hillman co-wrote a report for the Independence Institute on the difference between the promises made in the Referendum C campaign and the promises delivered in state spending. The Bell then released a quick press release ignoring the substance of the report and decrying the analysis as "simplistic," as well as a preliminary research summary that projects FUTURE revenue and spending. Yet pushing along the herd of lemmings, the … [Read more...]
Linking with the Western Slope
Proof that we conservative political bloggers along Colorado's Front Range are too easily disconnected from what goes on in our state's Western Slope, it took nearly 8 months for me to run across the witty, reliably conservative commentary of Gene Kinsey at Living the Grand Life. As I learned today, Kinsey is the former mayor of Grand Junction. In addition to his writings on national and state politics (someone else upset by Gov. Ritter's antics!), I'm most keenly interested in Kinsey's regular postings on local political happenings in and around Grand Junction: needed for a more balanced Colorado blogging diet. Check out his site and add it to your blogroll. … [Read more...]
Col. (Sen.) Ward Bound for Iraq
Godspeed and Semper Fi to Marine Colonel (and state senator) Steve Ward, whom the Denver Post reports today is being deployed to Iraq for a short-term assignment: Ward expects to be in Iraq - probably Anbar province in the western part of the country - by late August or early September. "I'm assuming Anbar," Ward said when asked where he will be stationed. "I go where they send me." The short-term assignment to help Iraqis set up a democratic government is scheduled to end in time for Ward to fill his state Senate seat when the assembly reconvenes in January. Ward was appointed to the state Senate to replace Sen. Jim Dyer, who resigned after he was elected in November to the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners. I met … [Read more...]
Ritter: Management or Labor?
I'm back (and feeling refreshed) from a weeklong blog vacation. My hope is that I have not lost my entire readership during that brief span. While I was gone, Rocky Mountain News editor Vince Carroll highlighted the illogic behind Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter's attempts to promote state employee unionization: Reminder to Gov. Bill Ritter: You’re in charge. No fooling. So if you want to “strengthen partnerships with snowplow drivers, prison guards and the other men and women who make up the state work force,†as your spokesman says, then by all means, do so. If they’re being overworked or mistreated, then put people in charge who’ll treat them right. If their suggestions and concerns are being ignored, find department heads … [Read more...]
Slapping Down the Dems on Tuition Privileges for Illegals
El Presidente brings us a Friday reminder of the cost of having Democrats in charge of our state. He highlights a Rocky Mountain News article that tells us how Colorado's Democrat Commissioner on Higher Education David Skaggs wants to extend in-state tuition privileges to illegal aliens. Is this the Democrat solution to the higher education funding shortfall? Meanwhile, Governor Ritter ignores a potential energy revenue windfall to fund our state's colleges and universities. Why? Apparently, Democrats would rather tax hard-working Colorado citizens and spend the excess on privileges for illegal aliens. El Presidente also makes a clear and strong point on an issue to which he has given repeated attention: No Mr. Skaggs, the disconnect … [Read more...]
See Free Market Cure, Sept 19
Having written about health care reform a few times in recent months, I would like to bring your attention to a FREE opportunity to see the Colorado premiere of an exciting new film: Free Market Cure by independent filmmaker Stuart Browning. The event is sponsored by the Independence Institute, home of my day job. Details from the press release: The premiere will be on Wednesday, September 19, at the Shwayder in the Mizel Center for Culture and Arts at 350 S. Dahlia Street in Denver. The movies and Browning's commentary will begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by coffee and dessert. The event is free and open to the public but seating is limited so reservations are requested. Please contact Kay at 303-279-6536 or kay@i2i.org. If you've … [Read more...]
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