Colorado taxpayers should remember yesterday - May 9. Governor Bill Ritter signed S.B. 199, which includes a huge property tax increase. He refused to ask for a vote of the people. He stuck a finger in your eye. Have we so soon forgotten Referendum C? It's little more than arrogance, sheer arrogance, my friends. More: - Rocky Mountain News: "Plain and simple, TABOR says all tax increases have to go before a vote of the people," Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, said in a release Wednesday. "Those in charge at the Capitol very easily could have asked first before hiking property taxes," said Caldara. "Instead, they've thumbed their noses at the voters and the constitution." - Colorado Senate News: "It's … [Read more...]

Coloradans need to be more aware of and engaged with what's going on at the state legislature, especially when economic freedom, educational choice, individual rights, and good judgment are regularly under attack by the Democratic majority. Hello ... are you paying attention? Well, to help facilitate more interest in the goings on under Denver's Golden Dome, I commend you to check out Backbone America's "Colorado Call to Action" on 710 AM KNUS. I'd be interested to hear from someone who got a chance to tune in for this evening's 7 PM debut, since I was occupied at the time. Of course, if you're a reader of some of Colorado's active center-right blogs - like Best Destiny, View from a Height, The Daily Blogster, Exvigilare, Slapstick … [Read more...]

Today's Rocky Mountain News gives a platform for partisan criticisms from Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG)'s Chantell Taylor of the Senate Republican website Colorado Senate News. Democrats under the Golden Dome are too clever to launch the same frivolous charges and half-baked conspiracy theories that Taylor has made, yet it's apparent they are politically allied. Is there any thing legally or ethically wrong with their political alliance? Of course not. Let's just be a bit more transparent about it, so people can judge fairly for themselves. As far as Taylor goes, she has been exposed before. When she came forward to hurl ethics accusations against Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez and then-Secretary of … [Read more...]

In today's lead editorial, the Denver Post throws itself in front of the careening Colorado Democrat bus and yells out to the driver, "Stop!" The state's leading liberal newspaper implores Governor Bill Ritter not to be "a toady for special interest legislation," and instead to veto House Bill 1072. (On Sunday, Post columnist Fred Brown already highlighted what a political disaster this bill could potentially be for Ritter and the Democrats.) Making his inaugural official appearance on the Mike Rosen Show yesterday, Ritter said the legislation attacking individual workers' rights "is no big deal." That's right: the best defense for HB 1072 has become that it really won't hurt that much. All part of "The Colorado Promise," I suppose. (The … [Read more...]

You can say that again. Frankly, Governor Ritter was left with little choice - nix the labor bill or flush away much of the rest of his agenda. Give him credit: Ritter shrewdly has taken everyone by surprise with his fatherly veto of HB 1072 ("now, now, labor & business ... you two need to stop bickering and get along"). Meanwhile, as the Lefties at SquareState are wetting themselves in anger ("What's the matter with you, Ritter? We were trying to show all the little people out there that we're on their side. After all, we know what's best for them... mushy-minded, socialist groupthink, and nannyist State worship"), a good-natured squabble ensues on the Right to take credit for the defensive victory. As the author of this little … [Read more...]