Update, 10:30 PM: In an email this evening, Republican candidate Tim Leonard responded to the charge from his Democratic opponent as follows:After one debate together, she clearly knows that her statement of my position is erroneous. I have used clear language to state that my position is to reduce our state government spending to equal our tax revenues -- currently estimated to be a $1.1B budget decrease. And I have been equally clear that I support an "across the board" reduction in all the funded areas of our state government. So to represent to the public that I would support absorbing 100% of our budget shortfall within public education is a purposeful misrepresentation for the benefit of fooling voters. This is the very … [Read more...]
How Will Colo. Education Groups’ Political Giving Match Election Results?
Ed News Colorado posted an interesting piece by Todd Engdahl this morning on the political support of the five in-state education interest groups that endorse and contribute to candidates: Colorado Education Association (CEA) American Federation of Teachers Colorado (AFT) Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) Stand for Children Colorado (Stand) Unsurprisingly Engdahl reports:Of the more than 130 contributions or endorsements by the five groups, 90 percent went to Democratics [sic]. Only CASE (seven of 32 total) and Stand for Children (five of 18) endorsed Republicans. (Stand also endorsed the legislature’s only independent, former Democratic Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison.) The … [Read more...]
Obama Administration Burdens Private Colleges with Intrusive Regulations
Winning back one house of Congress will be nice, but lovers of liberty and limited government will have to wait longer to undo some of the damage done by executive order. One of the latest cases in point: Obama's Department of Education asserting federal government power into the private higher education accreditation process, providing a threat to academic freedom. Cal Thomas, one of my favorite syndicated columnists, brought attention to the story in his Wednesday piece -- with a special focus on Colorado:Former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, now president of Colorado Christian University, wrote a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan on July 30. In it, he warned of an "all-out politicization of American higher education, endangering … [Read more...]
Ironically-Named Accountability for Colorado Dishing Up Vicious Anti-GOP Smears with Teacher Union Money
As a political junkie, among the funniest things I find are the terribly misleading names given to those 527 groups. The Lefty Democrat big donors and unions have operated a slew of them. Remember the misleading Coloradans for Life from election cycle past? Well, in 2010 we have the Lefty 527 group Accountability for Colorado... And what could truly be less accountable? Spewing poison and slander about conservative state legislative candidates, and no one there to answer a reporter's phone call. A couple examples have been documented by local newspapers: The Pueblo Chieftain reports the group has attacked Republican state house candidate and local businessman Keith Swerdfeger: "The music sounds eerie and the announcer's voice is full … [Read more...]
Labor as Management: Ohio, D.C. Offer Two Different Ironic Approaches
What happens when the union becomes management? Just wanted to bring your attention to a couple of recent stories that highlight two different ironic approaches to their separate labor situations: Take the hard line in staff bargaining negotiations: Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence Agency (EIA) reports on the plight of the Ohio Education Association -- whose employees today went on strike against the state teachers union Contract picketing duty to non-union workers at minimum wage: Christine Hall of the Competitive Enterprise Institute highlights a new video of CEI's Vincent Vernuccio crashing a carpenters' union protest in Washington, D.C., only to find the picketers marching and chanting in the August humidity were … [Read more...]
Colorado Unions Abuse Non-Union School Employee Paychecks
This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for newer content. I know I'm biased, but watching this video is 4 minutes well spent if you want to understand how some Colorado unions representing teachers and other school employees put money and power before common decency. Watch non-union Pueblo school employee Becky Robertson tell about the year she missed the September deadline to opt out of paying union fees because of family medical emergencies, and what happened when she asked for the money back: Thank you, Colorado teachers unions (not to mention the school district negotiators that agree to make these deals). And yes, it's entirely legal in Colorado. For more information on the school districts where non-union teachers and … [Read more...]
Absurd Accusation Against Candidate Owen Hill Shines Light on Shoddy Journalism, Political Hackery
Republican state senate candidate Owen Hill was blindsided yesterday by a Colorado Springs Gazette story with fabricated claims that Hill plagiarized statements off his Libertarian opponent's website. A friend of mine, quoted in the story, does his job of defending his Party's position and candidate, but issued his quote carefully:“My understanding is, from Doug, that Doug had written the stuff, and he noticed it was on his opponent’s website and was not pleased with that discovery,” said David K. Williams Jr., chairman of the Libertarian Party of Colorado. [emphasis added] Essentially hearsay. Unfortunately, the Gazette opted for a sensational he said / he said story rather than perform a little basic investigation. Owen Hill's … [Read more...]
Gallup Survey of Institutions: Congress Rock-Bottom, Presidency Falling Fast
For what it's worth, if you want a glimpse of the public mindset concerning 16 major institutions in American society, you should check out the new Gallup survey (H/T Mike Antonucci). The following are some salient observations on how favorably Americans view the 16 major institutions: … [Read more...]
Politically Correct University’s Robert Maranto Tonight at LOTR Red Rocks
Just how politically correct are today's colleges? Are the faculties at American universities really as ideologically imbalanced as you have heard? What are the effects of that imbalance on students and their futures? Are there any promising and politically achievable reforms for academia? If these questions pique your interest, then you should look at obtaining a copy of the new book The Politically Correct University, a collection of insightful essays on a range of topics under the theme. Even better, if you live in the Denver metro area, you can meet one of the volume's editors -- Robert Maranto from the University of Arkansas' Department of Education Reform -- this evening at Liberty on the Rocks Red Rocks: … [Read more...]
Does CEA Care More About School Funding or Political Allies?
This article was originally posted at Ed News Colorado. Sure, the Colorado Education Association loves to increase funding for K-12 schools and retain member jobs. But sometimes, its pleas for school funding simply don't add up. Yesterday's CEA blog entry "Amazon: play fair, support school funding" is just such an example:In other words, Amazon firing its affiliates does nothing to impact the fact that Amazon.com is still required to collect sales tax or, at a minimum alert their customers to this requirement under state law. The giant retailer is using its political weight to protest losing its tax-free status and having to compete on par with other Colorado retailers. Why should you care? Because sales tax revenues fund public … [Read more...]
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