Last week I filmed a 14-minute segment with my boss at the Independence Institute, Jon Caldara, on his show Devil's Advocate. The topic for discussion was the timely news that members of the Colorado Education Association (CEA) have until tomorrow (December 15) to get back money automatically collected with their dues to support (almost completely one-sided) state and local political campaigns. As I often say, if you like how the union spends your money on politics, you have no reason to complain and absolutely nothing to do. But for those teachers who would rather support their own political causes, or use the money to pay for Christmas shopping or just save for a rainy day, then members need to be informed of their opportunity. One … [Read more...]
Supreme Court Campaign Case Pits Colorado Ethics Watch vs. Colorado Education Association
This little tidbit I uncovered either shatters the grand Colorado Democracy Alliance (CoDA) conspiracy theory or proves it to be even more convoluted and diabolical than previously imagined. But court documents show two of the Alliance's core groups -- sue-happy Colorado Ethics Watch (CEW) and the Colorado Education Association (CEA), the state's largest teachers union -- on opposite ends of a state supreme court case regarding elections law. Back in 2008 CEW filed suit against a couple of Republican 527 groups (Senate Majority Fund LLC and Colorado Leadership Fund LLC) claiming that they had overstepped the bounds of campaign finance law by participating in "express advocacy" of state legislative candidates. The administrative law judge … [Read more...]
Aurora Citizens Denied: Colorado Springs Not State’s Only Front in Push for Open Government Negotiations
In a time when a large fiscally conservative grassroots movement like the Tea Parties have developed a strong voice, we shouldn't be surprised to see calls for greater transparency in government operations. Not only when it comes to the fiscal ledger ("if you can't defend it, don't spend it"), but also when it comes to those union negotiations that drive so much of government spending. Should any government contract negotiations be done behind closed doors? Why should unions be treated any differently? In Colorado Springs a citizen lawsuit has pressured one of the state's largest school districts to concede to opening up one teachers union bargaining session to public observation. (Decisions on future sessions pending... most likely on … [Read more...]
Time to Respond to Denver Post’s Anti-DougCo Voucher Letter Writers
Update, Noon: Here is the one-page summary of official recommendations made to the Douglas County Board of Education by the School Choice Task Force's "Option Certificates" subcommittee. So unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks, you may have heard Douglas County -- one of Colorado's largest school districts -- is considering the adoption of a local voucher-style private school choice program. Independence Institute blogger "Eddie" has covered the story well here and here. With all the coverage in the Denver Post, it's not surprising that plenty of readers wanted to weigh in with letters published in Sunday's Perspective section. I was disappointed to see most of the letters rely on misinformed premises … [Read more...]
Twenty-Eleven Means I’m Back
The New Year has arrived, and my long hiatus from serious blogging is over. For any blogger, a long hiatus can be a dangerous proposition -- threatening the already tenuously small readership and helping people to forget about you. Look, many of you already were going to forget about me anyway over the Christmas / New Year holiday anyway. And having blogged here for nearly seven years (can you believe that?), I felt secure enough to take the time off. But one major reason for the break was to gear up mentally and spiritually for the battles that lie ahead. Contributing to all the apparently positive gains in the 2010 elections, in Congress and elsewhere? That took some effort, to be sure. The real challenge lies ahead, however -- among … [Read more...]
How to Get Fired: Mothers Against Debt Takes On Unemployment Benefits
A preeminent challenge lying ahead for our elected Congress to tackle is the mounting debt and out-of-control spending that grew under Republican leadership and accelerated in the past few years with Democrats in charge. No one is better prepared to help equip you to do your citizen's part in taking on this challenge than my friends at Mothers Against Debt. Their new video on the idiocy of unemployment benefits as economic stimulus is a real hoot. Enjoy: … [Read more...]
Surprise, Surprise: John Hickenlooper Calls Todd Shepherd On 850 KOA
Kudos to my friend and colleague Todd Shepherd (of Complete Colorado fame) for catching a surprise exclusive live interview with Colorado's new governor. In the middle of hosting the Sunday afternoon show on 850 KOA, Todd's jaw hit the floor when none other than John Hickenlooper heard his name being discussed and called in to the show while en route from Pueblo to an event in Colorado Springs. Click here for the full hour's audio: the Hickenlooper call starts about halfway through (not to be completely overshadowed is Todd's discussion with Colorado RNC committeeman and former state treasurer Mark Hillman at the top of the hour). Todd took a few minutes to get the softballs out of the way. But then he went to work with a series of … [Read more...]
Daniel the Maes-siah: “Thou knowest that the only true prophet is the voice that speaketh on the Day of Election”
After seeing deeply flawed and failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes "get biblical" on Facebook (H/T Complete Colorado), I had a late-night moment of "inspired" political satire that ended up as this. Please enjoy: … [Read more...]
Irony, Hypocrisy (and Independence?) in Lefties’ Anti-Koch Brother Campaign
Update, 9:00 PM: Common Cause issued a formal "apology" for the vile behavior of its rally attendees, a statement thoroughly deconstructed by James Taranto, who concludes with the zinger: "For the sake of truth in advertising, Common Cause should change its name to Hypocrisy Hub." Ouch. That's going to leave a mark. Independent new media journalist Christian Hartsock has a compelling piece up at Andrew Breitbart's Big Government blog. Hartsock went to cover an event sponsored by the Progressive group Common Cause. The goal seemingly was to organize a grassroots protest of the pro-free market billionaire Koch Brothers and conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas for some imaginary collusion on the … [Read more...]
2010 Election Predictions
ELECTION DAY NOTE: I will be providing Election Night coverage here, including quotes and photos as available. I am working with a collaborative of organizations on this project -- including Independence Institute, People's Press Collective, Complete Colorado, Who Said You Said, Mothers Against Debt and National Review Online. Go here for the relevant details (including a live video feed), and stay tuned for the best in Colorado grassroots conservative political coverage! Update, 9:00 AM: Despite all appearances, the latest Fox News/Public Opinion Research poll and I did not crib answers off each other. If we're both off the mark, we're off the mark together. Update II, 12:30 PM: Minor tweak to the governor's race … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- …
- 82
- Next Page »