Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

Ben on Social Media

Mount Virtus?

Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, 'neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.

Colorado Ballot Reviews

Sometimes the choices are daunting or confusing, sometimes they're as clear as a Mile High view.

By Leave a Comment

FTS: Ritter Mulls Collective Bargaining Executive Order

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter looks to be more serious about his payback to Big Labor leaders than even earlier anticipated. As Face the State reports today - having uncovered key communications - the Governor is seriously considering an executive order to institute collective bargaining for state employees. The problem with the governor's proposed policy change is identified well by Republican state senators Kester and McElhany in a recent commentary for the Pueblo Chieftain: Why the secrecy? Maybe it is because they know collective bargaining is a train wreck waiting to happen. Just look at the cost incurred by other states that have gone down that path. Washington's state government, which began its experiment with collective bargaining … [Read more...]

By 1 Comment

Schaffer v Udall Dead Heat: Unsurprising, Cause for GOP Hope

More than a year out, Colorado's U.S. Senate race is polling right at expectations: Republican Bob Schaffer is in a dead heat with Boulder liberal Rep. Mark Udall, with a hefty share of voters undecided or unsatisfied. Despite recent history and all the clamor about divisions within the state's GOP, including this: Ciruli said Schaffer is attracting a lower percentage of voters from Republicans, Democrats and the unaffiliated, but there are 130,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, keeping Schaffer competitive. “It’s still very early in the campaign, but Schaffer’s challenge will be to unify his party and attract more unaffiliated voters as the public begins to make up its mind,” Ciruli said. Ciruli's observations … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Carroll: Colorado NOT Near Bottom in Education Funding

Colorado's public school establishment has gradually been losing its grip on the education monopoly, and it's also been losing its grip on the funding statistics monopoly. No need to retread old roads, but kudos once again to the Rocky Mountain News' Vincent Carroll for reminding readers that Colorado does not rank near the bottom of K-12 school funding but near the middle: [Denver superintendent Michael] Bennet is right that Coloradans don’t spend lavishly on education, comparatively speaking. But we haven’t exactly been Scrooges, either. For those dying to know more, check out my 2006 Independence Institute report "Counting the Cash." … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Rockies 9, Padres 8 (13 inn.)

One of the best baseball games I have ever seen. What a contest from start to finish. Controversy, comebacks, power, pitching, good defense, clutch hitting, and after an improbable ending, the Colorado Rockies are in the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Un- be- lie- va- ble. And somewhere in it all, Matt Holliday secured a NL batting title (and maybe an MVP), Troy Tulowitzki all but locked up NL Rookie of the Year, and the Rockies broke a Major League team season record for fielding percentage. Closest to most fan's hearts, though, is the fact Todd Helton - the long-time face of the franchise - finally gets to punch a playoff ticket, a fitting tribute to his career. Seeing this city go baseball crazy in October does my heart … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

Udall Losing Respect for Sponsoring Silly Resolution

Michelle Malkin blasts away at the "phony" Congressional resolution attacking Rush Limbaugh: "Bottom-of-the-barrel desperation," she writes, with accumulated evidence to demonstrate that those Lefties hopping on the bandwagon should have used a little more discretion first. They are giving conservative officials a platform to make our case stronger, says Newsbusters. To her credit, Malkin also recognizes the lead role played by our own The Colorado Index in publishing the silly resolution sponsored by Boulder liberal U.S. Rep. Mark Udall. As noted earlier, the Left in Colorado also has assailed Udall as "an embarrassment" for this course of action. Following the lead of a Left-liberal faux "watchdog" to use Congressional time and … [Read more...]

By 3 Comments

Boulder Student Socialists Demand “God”-less Pledge

Update 2 (move to top): Michelle Malkin has picked up the story: Diversity worship? Check. Enviro-worship? Check. “Choice?” The kind that Planned Parenthood supports, no doubt, and not educational vouchers, I’m sure. File under: Reason number 10,000,000 to homeschool your children. Couldn't have said it better myself. Though we're left to wonder why the word "comrade" was omitted from the Student Worker pledge. Update: The latest version of the Rocky story contains a photo from this morning with the student club's banner showing a large red star - an unmistakable symbol. It's sad, these kids seem to have no idea what great evil was done and human misery caused in service to this symbol. You can also read their absurd … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

10 Straight Wins – Go Rox!

Colorado baseball fans have stood up and taken notice at the amazing, unexpected run made by our Rockies down the regular season homestretch. Ten straight wins in September? Coming back from the brink to the thick of playoff contention? One game back in the wildcard with a chance to win the NL West Division? It's a feel-good story for a young ball club that is gelling a season sooner than this amateur pundit expected. Clutch hitting, quality starts and fine work from the bullpen have anchored this underdog team. Michael, a fan with a longer history of Rockies loyalty than myself (Colorado is my favorite National League squad, but all bets are off when they face my Detroit Tigers), has blogged his enthusiasm. Now I'm just waiting for … [Read more...]