Mount Virtus

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

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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.

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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...]

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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...]

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TNR: Down in Flames?

Wow, this punishing expose by Pajamas Media' Richard Miniter really lifts the lid on some serious problems at The New Republic. Things don't look good for Franklin Foer & crew. Scott Thomas Beauchamp looks to be more of a millstone around the bi-weekly liberal publication than was the devastating Stephen Glass saga of 1998 - primarily because its leadership wasted no time in dealing with the perpetrator of fraud. The "batten down the hatches" plan in action now, as highlighted by Miniter, is doing nothing to rescue their credibility. In fact, the ship of print may be quickly crashing in flames - reminiscent of a real disaster some 70 years past: Quite sad, really, because so much was avoidable on the part of TNR's leadership. So … [Read more...]

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Cesar Chavez Success Revisits Merrifield’s Infernal Email

Congrats to Pueblo's Cesar Chavez Academy (and thanks to Colorado Charters for pointing out the accolades) - one of two charter schools nationwide to be featured as models of excellent education in a U.S. Department of Education documentary video. This must only make more painful the recent episode of an email sent by state Rep. Mike Merrifield (D-Manitou Springs) to Sen. Sue Windels (D-Arvada), indicating that there is "a special place in hell" for "charterizers" and the like. If one remembers, the specific context of the message was in response to efforts to replicate the highly successful Cesar Chavez Academy model in Colorado Springs. Democrat education committee chairman Merrifield summarily assigned people who wanted to try a … [Read more...]

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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...]

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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...]

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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...]