Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, 'neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.
Blogger Eyes on Washington: Moving Forward on Immigration
All eyes are on Washington this morning and the second cloture vote that seems increasingly likely to kill the bad "comprehensive immigration reform" bill. If Senators of both parties would listen to the mainstream people of this country from across the political spectrum, it seems they would hear this simple message: Give clear evidence that border security is being addressed as a top priority, and then we can debate other issues - how to deal with the illegal aliens already here, expanding the guest worker program, et al. The large majority of Americans who oppose the bill are not nativists or racists and don't wish to be patronized by elected officials - be they Democrat or Republican (that includes you, Sen. Lindsay Graham). The … [Read more...]
Please Read More Carefully, Cara
Lefty Cara DeGette at Colorado Confidential needs to read more carefully. Her recent diary on GOP State Chair Dick Wadhams' recent visit to Montana painfully stretches to draw a contrast between his remarks to a Republican group in Big Sky Country with those quoted Monday in the Denver Post. To make her "gotcha" point, she conflates two issues. In both venues, Wadhams made confident predictions for the Republican candidate to win Colorado's electoral votes and for Bob Schaffer to win Colorado's U.S. Senate race. The pessimism highlighted by the Post's Karen Crummy was that the GOP didn't expect to take back the Colorado state legislature until 2010, a topic he didn't address to the Montana audience. No hard feelings, just a quick … [Read more...]
Colo. Right-to-Work Initiative? Good Idea, but Unlikely Success
The Rocky Mountain News today reports that paperwork has been filed to place a right-to-work initiative on the Colorado ballot this year. The arguments against it are predictable: [Rep. Michael] Garcia [D-Aurora] said he would oppose efforts to weaken union shops. "Right-to-work laws benefit corporate executives with six-figure salaries, period," he said. "Unions are good for working men and women. "If passed, the right-to-work initiative would make all-union agreements in the state illegal." Garcia argued that the ballot proposal is unnecessary because federal law already prohibits workplaces from forcing workers to join a labor union as a condition of employment. Forcing workers to join, but not forcing workers to pay tribute, … [Read more...]
Push for Coercive Big Labor Bill Falters on Cloture Vote
No surprises here, but definitely good news. HR 800, also very poorly known as the Employee Free Choice Act, couldn't pass the cloture vote test today in the U.S. Senate. The final tally was 51-48, on a nearly strict party-line ballot. Only Arlen Specter jumped the Republican ship to join the Democrats' effort to reward union leaders with special privileges by denying workers the right to a secret ballot. Workers have the right to choose to join OR not to join a union, and they deserve to keep the right to a secret ballot to make that decision. To learn more, you can also listen to a new iVoices podcast I hosted with Ryan Ellis from Americans for Tax Reform (go here for a direct link to the MP3). The bill hasn't gone away forever, and … [Read more...]
Eyes Turning to Fred Thompson – Including Colorado Eyes
As the long race for the White House rolls on, many conservatives find themselves "all agog over Thompson," writes U.S. News and World Report's Kenneth Walsh. His candidacy not yet officially declared, the former U.S. Senator and recognizable actor finds himself at or near the top of most polls among the Republican field. Providing some of the best evidence that Fred Thompson may be the real deal, Politico reports that the Democratic National Committee is using attacks on him to generate fundraising more than a year before the Conventions confirm either party's nominee: Democratic strategists say Thompson's populist style and show-biz allure could prove extremely appealing in a general election at a time when voters are so down on … [Read more...]
GOP Presidential Candidate to Address Liberal NEA Delegates
Although I can't find it on their website, the National Education Association has confirmed eight presidential candidates to come speak at its annual meeting starting next Friday in Philadelphia, at least according to an email sent by the Colorado Education Association affiliate to its members. The eight candidates are listed alphabetically, as follows: 1. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) 2. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) 3. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) 4. Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) 5. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) 6. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) 7. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) 8. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) There are seven complete non-surprises there. But, if you're at all like me, you are wondering what Gov. Huckabee … [Read more...]
Garage Sale Days
Update: The grill is SOLD! But you're still welcome to stop by tomorrow (Saturday) during the day. It's garage sale time today and tomorrow at Mount Virtus. Not a ton of stuff to offer, but plenty of the usual books, clothes, and odds & ends. BUT ... if you or someone you know in the Denver area would like to be the owner of a mildly-used, Brinkman charcoal grill/smoker (needs replacement grates) for a VERY reasonable price, drop me a comment or an email. If one of our non-virtual customers hasn't swept it up first, we'll be ready to make a deal! That's all the blogging here for now. … [Read more...]
George Will (and me) on SCOTUS Worker Free Speech Case
In his latest Townhall column, George Will tackles the problem many union leaders have employing force rather than seeking favor: Democracy is rule by persuasion, but the unpersuasive often try to coerce the unpersuaded. Recent days have provided two illustrations of this tendency, both of them pertaining to labor unions, whose decades of declining membership testify to their waning power to persuade workers that unions add more value to workers' lives than they subtract. Will devotes much of his column to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Davenport case. I won't retread that issue now (previous Mount Virtus coverage featured here), except to say you can tune in at 10 o'clock this morning local Denver time to the Mike Rosen … [Read more...]
Help Sen. Salazar Take a Stand for Workers’ Rights
In today's edition, the editors of the Rocky Mountain News challenge Colorado's junior U.S. Senator with the question: Who are you going to put first - the rights of Colorado workers or the interests of labor bosses? The poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act, which already passed the U.S. House, would rob employees of a secret ballot in workplace organizing elections. It would rig the process in favor of union officials. America is great because workers have the right to volunteer to join and pay dues to a union. But equally respected should be the right of workers NOT to join and pay dues or fees to a union. The Democrat-sponsored legislation does not respect that right. It uses the excuse of declining union membership to justify giving … [Read more...]
Ref C’s $5.9 billion tax hike not enough for Ritter & Company
News comes today from state economists that the Referendum C "forever tax increase" projects to yield $5.9 billion in revenue: That amount is $2.2 billion more than originally expected in November 2005 when voters approved Referendum C, suspending the state constitution's revenue limit for five years. Most telling from the piece in today's Denver Post is the defensive response from the governor's office - responding to questions of how to justify further tax increases (such as this one): Jim Carpenter, chief of staff for Ritter, said voters sent Ritter to the Capitol to "solve problems," which is what the commissions studying health care, transportation and higher education will do. "It's an easy thing to throw out this comment, … [Read more...]
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