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Patronizing Parents Who Want a Better Education

Are you a student at a charter school or the parent of one? Or maybe just stuck on one of the long waiting lists to get in? In the past week we've learned that the now-ex-chairman of Colorado's House Education Committee Mike Merrifield (D-Manitou Springs) thinks you're worthy of eternal damnation - Mike Littwin thinks it's a big joke: This wasn't a Deanna Hanna or a Joe Stengel scandal. This was Mike Merrifield writing that backers of vouchers and charter schools deserved a "special place in hell." That's it. It was written on private e-mail, but, apparently, not private enough. Windels' e-mails went the way of a public records request from a new conservative Web site - facethestate.com - and, when it went public, Merrifield had to … [Read more...]

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SCOTUS: Individual Free Speech Trumps Union Free Speech

Michael at Best Destiny highlights yesterday's huge U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of individual workers' free speech rights (Davenport v Washington Education Association). More information available at the Independence Institute website. The big takeaway from the case? The First Amendment free speech rights of individual workers trump the First Amendment free speech rights of unions. If you want to use a worker's money for politics, just Ask First! Michael writes: The REAL question for us here in Colorado, is how to make use of this ruling. We can be fairly certain that this state legislature will NEVER pass a law saying that unions have to get permission to use dues for politics--Big Education would have a cow! So it is … [Read more...]

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McInnis is Out

It's now official. I like the headline over at the Coloradoan: "McInnis abandons Senate race; 'all eyes' on Schaffer." That Schaffer would be the next focus makes sense and jives with the test poll results of Colorado Republican political insiders here at Mount Virtus. As of 9:00 PM MDT, with 48 votes cast, the rankings are: Bob Schaffer - 27 (56%); Bill Owens - 6 (13%); Tom Tancredo - 5 (10%); Scott McInnis - 3 (6%); Mike Coffman, Marc Holtzman, and Bob Beauprez - 2 each (4%); Dan Caplis - 1 (2%). Considering the fact that Owens and Tancredo are mostly wishful thinking, McInnis has bowed out, and Republicans will be reluctant to embrace either Holtzman or Beauprez after last year's divisive primary, I think the field is clear for … [Read more...]

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Consequences of Supporting a Property Tax Increase

What happens when you vote to jam a property tax hike down your constituents' throats? People from the other major party can't move fast enough to file the paperwork that will enable them to run against you in the next election. Just ask Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction: Between six and 10 local Republicans are considering a run against incumbent Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, next year, according to senior members of the Mesa County Republican Party. Alan Farina, chairman of the candidate search committee, said his committee has attracted a series of serious candidates who could run against the two-term incumbent next year. “We actually have several people expressing interest,” Farina said, “some really, really … [Read more...]

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I’m #4!

BlogNetNews has launched its rankings of the most influential Colorado political blogs, and Mount Virtus has been ranked number four. Heh. I'll keep aiming higher. Most intriguing to me is that 3 of the top 5 and 5 of the top 10 are right-leaning blogs. It's trade secrets, of course, but I'm curious what the BlogNetNews methodology is. All that being said, I will continue to wield my (great? hmm...) influence wisely and carefully. … [Read more...]

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Democrats Officially Married to Iraq Defeat

It's official: the Democratic Party has married its political future to American military defeat, voting 218-212 in the U.S. House of Representatives today to send a gift telegram to Islamist terrorists and Iraqi insurgents. Trapped in their political bubble, Congressional Democrats have convinced themselves that the United States can't prevail in establishing even a measure of stability in Iraq and thus are working to fulfill their own hand-wringing prophecies: "The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The American people see the reality of the war, the president does not." I'm left to wonder if Pelosi and her cohorts didn't come away from the last election … [Read more...]

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Rocky Lauds Davenport Decision

Excellent editorial in Saturday's Rocky Mountain News on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding individual free speech rights: It is perfectly OK to require unions to get permission from workers before spending their dues on political activity, the U.S. Supreme Court said this week in a unanimous decision. Yet when Dennis ruled that unions obtain permission annually from every member before making donations to political campaigns from their "small-donor" committees, the outcry was such you'd have thought she'd raided Fort Knox. We agreed with critics that she acted without sufficient public debate, but we never doubted the basic good sense of her decision. Nevertheless, the courts went against Dennis, with the state appeals … [Read more...]

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Straw Poll Deadline

Thanks to all those who have voted thus far in the Colorado Senate GOP straw poll. After the early rush, the voting has slowed down. But since the campaign is in no hurry, I'll keep the polls open until Saturday, March 31, Noon MDT (or as soon thereafter as I get time to deal with it). … [Read more...]