If you're a limited government conservative and you want to stay informed, you really ought to be reading Jon Henke and company over at Q and O. I met Jon at Samsphere in Chicago: he has a wealth of blogging experience, key insights into strategic roles of new media, and a realistic, no-holds-barred view of the political landscape. Today, following off a Robert Novak column, he makes a point about the chronic, compulsive inability of many Congressional Republicans to get their act together on spending and fiscal issues, a point that is difficult to refute:Reelecting these guys is like sending Norm Peterson to lead an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. They're whipped by Democrats and by the public choice incentives. There's just no … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter and the Colorado Democrats’ Unauthorized Tax Hike Goes to Court
At long last, court hearings begin today in the case of Gov. Bill Ritter raising Coloradans' property taxes without a constitutional vote of the people. From the Denver Post:The freeze is estimated to bring in $117 million this year and $3.8 billion over a decade, up from an initial estimate of $1.7 billion when it was passed. Richard Westfall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the two sides will call about 10 witnesses, likely including school finance experts, the state treasurer and school board members. Dreyer said Ritter is not expected to testify. "A lot of the discussion is going to be about addressing pretty esoteric points in the school finance act," Westfall said. The trial is scheduled to last a week. It will be … [Read more...]
Debunking “49th in education spending” Colorado Fallacy … Once Again
In a story about the new $18 billion state budget signed by Gov. Bill Ritter, a local Fox TV news station reporter stated:In education spending, the State of Colorado ranks 49th. Of course, this sentence is suspect from the start, because it doesn't tell us whether it's measuring higher education or K-12 education. If the article is referring to K-12 education, then it wasn't true two years ago, it wasn't true last year, and it isn't true this year, either. There are two reliable sources for K-12 education funding data. First, Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show Colorado ranks 36th in "current" per-pupil spending. The lowest possible ranking that could be devised shows Colorado at 47th in spending per $1,000 of personal … [Read more...]
Top 10 Ways Colorado Democrats Have Already Spent Your Stimulus Check
Live in Colorado and getting ready for your federal rebate stimulus check to arrive? Don't get too excited yet. Republican leaders in the state legislature have taken a Letterman-esque stab at letting you know what the Democrat majority has already done with your money:10. Higher auto premiums 9. Higher energy premiums 8. $25 marriage tax 7. Higher fees on everything from birth certificates to tire recycling 6. College tuition hikes for everyone! 5. Up to a $100 dollar car tax 4. Gov. Bill Ritter to an aide: “Recession? Hey, let’s go out and hire another 1,300 state employees!†3. “…and let’s make sure they all have collective-bargaining … [Read more...]
Dem Debbie Benefield Seeks to Strip Charter School Funding “Because I Can”
Face The State reports:A bipartisan state legislative coalition killed an amendment late Tuesday to this year's School Finance Act that would have taken millions away from the state's charter schools. The amendment, proposed during House debate by Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada, would have cut funding for at-risk students by approximately $4.5 million. Benefield justified her amendment, telling the House she ran it "because I can," with her backers saying the amendment addressed concerns that the state's current funding formula does not properly define "at-risk." Benefield maintains that the current formula awards schools money disproportionate to the actual number of at-risk students they serve. It's at least good to see that … [Read more...]
Pueblo Chieftain: “We agree” with Clean Government Payroll Initiative
A ballot initiative proposed for the November 2008 Colorado ballot (and supported by the Independence Institute, where I work) has earned its third major newspaper endorsement, still more than six months out from the election. From the Pueblo Chieftain today:THE INDEPENDENCE Institute, a Golden-based think tank, is circulating petitions for a ballot initiative that would stop governmental agencies from collecting union dues from their employees. In 2001, then-Gov. Bill Owens signed an executive order that stopped the payroll deduction for unionized state employees. Soon after Bill Ritter’s election, the new governor issued a new executive order to resume the automatic deductions. Jon Caldera, president of Independence, says the … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter Announces Earth Day Regulations Out of the “Blue Sky”
From today's Denver Post:Gov. Bill Ritter celebrated Earth Day beneath an unblemished blue sky this morning by enacting several major pieces of his Climate Action Plan, including a statewide greenhouse gas emissions reduction standard. I'm curious to know why the phrase "an unblemished blue sky" was included in the lead sentence. It would have been a lot more compelling to read that Ritter was standing beneath "a smog-filled sky," or that he was "drenched in sweat from the Climate Change-induced heat wave." But then again, Steven Hayward at Human Events explains how the radical environmental agenda has been a victim of its own success:Time magazine this week is running its sixth cover story about global warming, but one of these days … [Read more...]
Sure Signs of a Colorado Democrat
Mark Hillman has a great post on "You Must Be a Colorado Democrat" if:If you think taxing marriage will reduce child abuse, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you plan to pay for new programs with revenues from the oil and gas boom but then punish oil and gas companies with higher taxes and ridiculous regulations, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you believe illegal aliens should get a break on college tuition but decorated veterans should not, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you believe it’s OK to require a photo ID to buy beer or cigarettes but not to vote, you must be a Colorado Democrat. If you believe businessmen and women are motivated by greed but labor union bosses are not, you must be a Colorado … [Read more...]
Sara Gagliardi’s Bad Mortgage Bill
Rep. Sara Gagliardi, D-Arvada, my state representative, earned the special distinction of having a bad legislative idea dismantled by the fair-minded editors of the Rocky Mountain News:Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the American Dream Protection Act of 2008, due to be introduced in the legislature at any time, is that it's not likely to be as bad as many of its counterparts under consideration in other states - and in Congress. Unlike those other measures, Colorado's bill addressing home foreclosures, by Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, and Sara Gagliardi, D-Arvada, would not require substantial public subsidies. Nor would it place taxpayers on the hook for a massive bailout if the credit crunch intensifies. That said, … [Read more...]
“Tiger for the Taxpayer” Mark Hillman Rebuts Cowardly Whisper Campaign
One of Colorado's brightest, most respected conservative leaders - Mark Hillman - is running to represent the state party as Republican National Committeeman. He is running against state senator Dave Schultheis, a rock-ribbed conservative from Colorado Springs. How disappointed I was to see an anonymous online writer quoting unidentified sources to spread misinformation about Mark Hillman's fiscal conservative bona fides vis a vis Referendum C. I am only left to wonder where exactly the cowardly attacks are coming from. Face The State highlighted the absurd flap today, giving Hillman an opportunity to recite his record of opposition to Ref C:As far as the suggestion that Hillman was not aggressive enough in opposing Referendum C, … [Read more...]