It's October, and the health care debate presses on. Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee joined Republicans to vote down the so-called "public option"; meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has adamantly come out stating that health care reform indeed will take the big step toward a government takeover. Against this backdrop of events are two great new columns you should read: My Independence Institute colleague Jessica Corry writes for Human Events on the human cost of Canadian socialized medicine Dr. Paul Hsieh eloquently explains "the real stakes" of the national health care debate in a new Denver Post piece Just two of the many Coloradans speaking up loudly and clearly for individual rights and medical sanity -- … [Read more...]
Call Colorado Ethics Watch: Only One Ritter Cabinet “Conflict of Interest” Report
(H/T Complete Colorado) In his latest edition of Independence Investigates, my colleague Todd Shepherd reports a troubling fact about the Bill Ritter administration:Governor Ritter's office has only one "conflict of interest" report on file for the fifteen members of his cabinet, despite an executive order that requires each and every member of his cabinet to file such a disclosure. With this revelation, it's easy to say now that it hasn't been a great PR day for Ritter. Memo to the governor: Get your cabinet members to file the disclosures, or revoke the order and end the ethical pretense. Simple as that. Hey, why doesn't somebody call Colorado Ethics Watch and see if they'll file an official complaint about this apparent breach of … [Read more...]
Jon Caldara Groupies of the World, Unite on October 8 at Golden Hotel
Pay attention, all you Jon Caldara groupies. Next Thursday is your big chance to schmooze with Jon and "the good folks behind our TV show Independent Thinking." A $10 donation to KBDI gets you into the Golden Hotel on October 8 from 6-9 PM for this special event. Come if you can (it won't be Friday night, so no need to be stuck in front of your TV set watching medium-brow local PBS public affairs broadcasting), and spread the word. … [Read more...]
Stephanie Villafuerte Nomination Resurrects Voorhis Affair for Bill Ritter
From today's Denver Post:President Barack Obama has nominated Stephanie Villafuerte to be Colorado's next U.S. Attorney. Villafuerte, currently deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Ritter, previously served as Denver's chief deputy district attorney. She worked on Ritter's campaign and has focused on community outreach as his deputy chief of staff. [emphasis added] Remember Stephanie Villafuerte? Still scratching your head? While with Ritter's 2006 gubernatorial campaign, she worked with the Denver DA's office as they accessed the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database to go after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Cory Voorhis. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation went after Cory Voorhis for accessing the … [Read more...]
Idea for Michigan’s Budget Impasse: Stop Harassing Baby-Sitting Moms
Creating a little 2007 deja vu, the state of my nativity has officially shut down non-essential government operations as Republicans and Democrats bicker over the budget and a daunting $2.8 billion deficit. Welcome to Fiscal Year 2010: Oh Michigan, my Michigan... It won't solve the impasse by itself, but one part of the state budget that could be chopped is the Department of Human Services, at least the office that harasses moms who watch neighbor kids for a half hour a day while they're waiting to catch the school bus. Sheesh! … [Read more...]
Enjoying (and Sweating Out) the Tigers’ and Rox’ Late-Season Chases
If you live in my world, politics largely has taken a back seat this week. My two MLB teams -- the Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies -- are respectively locked in the races for the last two playoff berths. Last night, in probably the most consequential game of the Tigers' regular season so far, ace Justin Verlander got it done and the team survived some last-minute cardiac-inducing pressure from the ever-pesky Minnesota Twins. Meanwhile, everyone in Colorado knows about Chris Iannetta's 11th-inning pinch hit walk-off homer to take down the Brewers at Coors Field. Result? With five games to go, Rockies have a three-game lead and a magic number of three to claim the NL wildcard, and the Tigers have a two-game lead and a magic number … [Read more...]
Covering Government Health Care Stories North of the Border
Some of my Independence Institute colleagues have taken the show north of the border, organizing a conference to introduce journalists to the real-life stories of Canadians adversely affected by their government health care system's painfully long waiting lists. Great coverage in the Los Angeles Times (shock!) and Washington Times. For more, the prolific Gateway Pundit has been live-blogging the event -- he also has conducted a compelling video interview (or two) of Canadian health care horror stories. … [Read more...]
The Deadline Approaches: Time to Send a Message with Your Money
We're two days away from the close of the political fundraising quarter. And maybe you've been getting harassed by the same amount of emails and other contacts as I have, urging you to give before the next reports come out. But I'll repeat it, too: If you have a clear favorite in one or more of Colorado's Republican primary races or you just want to tell the NRSC and Washington bigwigs to take a hike, nothing sends a message like a campaign donation. If you're like me, you aren't going to come close to making the max contribution ($1,050 for governor and other statewide races, or $4,800 for U.S. House and U.S. Senate). But if you want to earn the right to complain, you ought to put your money where your mouth is. A multitude of 10 … [Read more...]
Beneath Surface of Sept. Survey: Josh Penry’s Biggest Gains with Older Voters
For those who wish to dig a little deeper, today (at the end of this post) we release some more analysis of the results of our September survey of Colorado's political temperature. A few highlights -- in no particular order: The biggest gains fueling Josh Penry's surge in the latest poll come among those in the over-50 age group Of the eight candidates in the governor's and U.S. Senate races who received at least 10 votes of support, five are favored most often because of agreement on key issues, while three were primarily chosen for their past record -- none of the other five options registered as the main factor for support No surprises: Significantly more Ryan Frazier and Ken Buck backers think primaries are good and that national … [Read more...]
Colorado GOP Straw Poll Analysis: Depends on the Definition of “Clobber”
From the Department of Bad Headlines comes yesterday's Grand Junction Sentinel piece: "Penry, Norton clobber field in GOP straw poll". Yes, by winning nearly 80 percent of the vote, Josh Penry clobbered Evergreen businessman Dan Maes and no-show Scott McInnis -- earning nearly 8 times as many votes as his nearest competitor. But Jane Norton -- backed by Washington, D.C., powerbrokers and touted by the Denver Post as a campaign "game-changer" -- flexed her high-powered campaign machine to win just 34 percent of the vote and best her rivals Ryan Frazier and Ken Buck by only 25 votes. Clobbered? Hmmm, not exactly. Another example that new media often is more on top of its game, better understanding and interpreting political news than … [Read more...]
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