A new story from the files of government authority run amok... Following shortly on the heels of the Michigan woman harassed by social services for watching some neighbor kids before they catch the school bus, comes a doozy from Nevada. Vin Suprynowicz recounts the story of Delinda Epstein's costly brush with the County Transportation Authority when she tried to make private arrangements to drive someone to the airport. Read this story and ask yourself: Is it anything but common sense to insist on limiting the size and scope of government? … [Read more...]
Is Maine’s Question 4 a Belwether of Limited Government Sentiment?
A lot of people are looking at the Virginia governor's race -- or even the New York 23 race -- as a belwether of conservative, limited government political sentiment and activism going into the 2010 midterm elections. Me? I'm looking at a ballot initiative in Maine that would institute tax and spending limits similar to those in Colorado. As Question 4 trails in the polls, citizen activists have uncovered opponents using legislative resources to promote pay-to-play scheme. Enough to turn the tide? Perhaps, but not likely given conventional political wisdom. But what might be interesting to see is if the 2009 version generates any late momentum or outperforms the 2006 Maine Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, that lost 54-46. It might offer us … [Read more...]
Rasmussen: GOP Congress Out of Touch, Democrats Even Less Trusted
I've spent the past several days trying to reach a coherent synthesis from these two poll results taken by Rasmussen: 73 percent of Republican voters say Republicans in Congress have lost touch with their base -- men and older voters are more likely to share these sentiments; and (unsurprisingly) far more voters obviously are concerned about economic, fiscal, and national security issues than domestic or cultural issues General election voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on all 10 key electoral issues -- with double-digit advantages in national security, Iraq, taxes, economy and abortion So what should Republican politicians and candidates learn from these results? I mean, besides the fact that it's hard to make too much … [Read more...]
Josh Penry Wins Hometown Support; Bill Ritter Wins Root Canal Crowd
The Denver Post this morning published a pair of follow-up stories analyzing the campaign finance reports in the race for Colorado governor: "...Grand Junction residents overwhelmingly voted with their wallets for state Sen. Josh Penry over former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis in the opening salvo of their primary battle." As they say, those who know the two hometown candidates best.... "Gov. Bill Ritter can thank dentists, satellite TV executives and unions for a big chunk of the $450,000 he raised last quarter for his re-election bid." Despite all the loud noise, there's no big surprise some labor groups still will pour the maximum into Ritter's campaign. But dentists? Well, the governor's car tax and accompanying late fees have felt … [Read more...]
How Bill Ritter Has Made Union Leaders Feel at Home on Taxpayers’ Time
Have any doubts that Ritter's union executive order has made Big Labor feel all cozy at home in state government? The intrepid Colorado Loses team reports on their union counterparts soliciting for members at an official meeting, on taxpayers' time:This past week, WINS organized and held a budget information meeting at the unemployment office. There was some budget guy from the state, there, along with a couple of union thugs. After the budget guy showed us the state of the state economy, a union guy got up and started soliciting for members. “We need to organize in our communities and in our offices.” WINS used a formal budget information format to seek membership. THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE USE OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS! … [Read more...]
Evading Serious Questions Ties Bill Ritter and Obama Nominee Villafuerte
President Obama's nomination of Stephanie Villafuerte to be Colorado's next U.S. Attorney has put Governor Bill Ritter in an unwanted situation. Serious questions remain unanswered about Villafuerte's role in the political smear of federal ICE agent Cory Voorhis during the 2006 election that led to his near conviction. But Ritter thinks it's too much trouble for us to bother with the questions now:She also declined to answer questions this week about whether she provided the FBI with a complete accounting of any contacts she had with the DA's office about [illegal immigrant Carlos] Estrada-Medina. A message and detailed e-mail left by The Post for Villafuerte were returned instead by Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Ritter. He said Villa fuerte, … [Read more...]
Another Norton-McCain Connection?
(H/T Complete Colorado) The Colorado Independent reports on another connection between Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton and our last presidential nominee John McCain -- thanks for the links. In the race for a little more than five weeks now, the former lieutenant governor has been hitting the campaign trail on the Western Slope recently. As the Grand Junction Sentinel notes, Norton certainly is hitting the right talking points early on. This blogger still has some skepticism, some questions to be answered. An interview may be in the near future: Stay tuned.... … [Read more...]
Obama’s Solons of Racial Politics Overrule Local N.C. Voters’ Decision
Update, 12:30 PM: Rossputin also offers up some cogent thoughts on this outrageous story. From a Washington Times story yesterday (H/T Red State), in which the Obama Justice Department overruled a North Carolina city's popularly-approved decision to have nonpartisan local elections:The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats.... As noted by American Thinker essayist Ed Lasky, the good intentions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that enabled this federal power grab have been turned on their head:Racism - and partisan politics and a prejudiced view of the South - seem alive and well in Eric Holder's Justice Department. A local twist? The notion "that white voters...will vote for … [Read more...]
Support for Education Reform Funds = Support for Bill Ritter’s Re-Election?
Update, 10/24: Received a third pro-Obama Care email from Bill Ritter (and Mark Udall and Michael Bennet) today, still nothing on education reform ... Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has a page set up where you can sign a petition to support the state's effort to receive federal Race to the Top competitive grant dollars that support education reform. If you sign the petition, you end up on some sort of mailing list for Ritter's re-election campaign. In the two weeks since I signed the petition I've received two mass emails urging me to back Obama Care! Here's the complete text of the online petition: … [Read more...]
State Treasurer Fundraising Update: Stapleton’s Advantage Even Greater
Last Thursday, in quickly responding to the release of fundraising numbers in Colorado's state treasurer's race I wrote:Stapleton’s GOP primary rival J.J. Ament — who won out over Stapleton in our most recent survey of Colorado’s political temperature — brought in a very respectable $86,000. No cash-on-hand amount was reported, but clearly he is behind both his Republican rival and the incumbent Democrat. Upon further review, there's more to the story that could call into question my initial use of "very respectable" to describe Ament's fundraising numbers. In that $86,000 total, about $9,300 came in the form of in-kind contributions (including about $7,300 contributed directly by the candidate). As a result, Ament was left with a little … [Read more...]
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