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Barack Obama Campaign Meets Gordon Lightfoot (& Leo DiCaprio)

John Mark Reynolds (H/T Hugh Hewitt) has penned a clever parody of a classic ballad - here's an excerpt (you'll have to imagine your own guitar vocals, or if you're ambitious enough, record an MP3 in hopes of getting on Hewitt's program):Does any one know where the love of Gen Y goes When the press turns the minutes to hours? The pundits all say they’d have made Chesapeake Bay If they’d put Reverend Wright far behind him. They might have split up and so not have capsized; Instead he pressed on and took water. And all that remains is the faces and the names On the Internet lists he was compiling. As a son of Michigan, I know the original Gordon Lightfoot song well, respecting its peculiar and unforgettable blend of the … [Read more...]

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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...]

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Setting the Record Straight

I saw this post from The Colorado Index earlier in the week. Busy at the time, I just shook my head and moved on. But when Rossputin - the subject of the post - brought it to my attention again, I decided it was worthy of a quick response. A watcher is entitled to his opinions and to the manner of delivering those opinions, but a couple factual corrections are in order: 1. A watcher wrote: "'Blogger Extraordinaire' Ross Kaminsky - the self promoter who admits he doesn't read conservative Colorado blogs...." Fact: The implication behind the use of "Blogger Extraordinaire," which was used twice in this post, was that it was a title Ross chose for himself. In fact, it was the Samsphere promoters who devised and used the label. To my … [Read more...]

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Sharing Samsphere Link Love

Promoted with more updates: El Presidente has posted some key video excerpts, and (under imaginary threat of compulsion) here is a post written by one of Jon Caldara's minions. Follow-ups on Samsphere Denver: - Brad Jones' Buzz at Face The State - Bob Agard - Randy Ketner, Night Twister If you were at Samsphere Denver and posted on the topic, but I overlooked you, please drop an email or a comment with a link to your post, and I'll put it up. … [Read more...]

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Who’s at Samsphere Denver?

I forgot to recap the Samsphere Denver established blogger participants, and now it's small-group discussion time. Here's the whole list of bloggers, with those in my group highlighted in bold:CONFIRMED BLOGGERS Anthony Surace at Rocky Mountain Right Denise Mund at Colorado Charter Schools Brian Schwartz at Wakalix John Martin at The Drunkablog Ray Thomas at The Thoma$ Report Randy Ketner at Night Twister Ben DeGrow at Mount Virtus Michael Sandoval at Slapstick Politics Ross Kaminsky at Rossputin Jon Caldara at The Cauldron Brad Jones at Face the State David Harsanyi at David Harsanyi Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom Patrick Sperry at Conservative Libertarian Outpost Bob Ball at The Daily Blogster Marty Neilson at Colorado … [Read more...]

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Speaking Out for Individual Workers’ Right to Choose, Free from Coercion

For the second time in the span of a week, I have been quoted in the Rocky Mountain News. Quite astonishing, really, except for the fact that the writers of these stories on all the political battles over right-to-work and other initiatives must be glad to find a different voice than the standard pro-business and pro-labor mouthpieces. I was glad to be able to give a pro-liberty view to the article:"The Labor Peace Act is unique and offers some protection, but it doesn't offer complete protection," said Benjamin DeGrow, an analyst at the Independence Institute. "Anything that best protects the individual worker's right to decide what they want is the right sort of policy." Instead of addressing the argument in the story, the other side … [Read more...]