The observations made by the Denver's archbishop are hardly anything new or unreasonable, but the Rocky Mountain News reports that his words are stirring up the blogs (which ones? not clear):Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput told a Canadian audience this week that some Catholics are treating President Barack Obama with a "spirit of adulation bordering on servility." "In democracies, we elect public servants, not messiahs," he said. [link added] And:"Americans, including many Catholics, elected a gifted man to fix an economic crisis. That's the mandate. They gave nobody a mandate to retool American culture on the issues of marriage and the family, sexuality, bioethics, religion in public life and abortion," he said. [emphasis … [Read more...]
RMA Blog Talk Radio Tonight at 8:30: Filmmaker Evan-Coyne Maloney, Nadeem Esmail on Health Care
Gloomy about the Obama administration's intervention halting economic recovery and pushing the markets down so we can party like it's 1997? Then I have just the cure. Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 15th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, with two very interesting guests. First is Evan Coyne-Maloney, creator of the film Indoctrinate U, which exposes and challenges political correctness run amok on our nation's college campuses. His on-air discuss with the RMA crew comes two days before the movie's showing at Liberty on Film Thursday evening in Denver's LoDo. With proposals to further socialize health care looming at the State Capitol, the second guest is the Fraser Institute's … [Read more...]
Obama “Stimulus” Overreaches, But Republicans Still Have Much to Prove
A candid word from liberal Mickey Kaus about a major effect of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Generational Theft Act:But the reference to liberalism isn't irrelevant, because the now-undermined welfare reform was the key to rebuilding confidence in (liberal) affirmative government. As Bill Clinton recognized, voters may well have been willing to let government spend, but they didn't trust old style liberals not to spend in actively destructive ways, like subsidizing an isolated underclass of non-working single mothers with a no-strings cash dole. It's a 75-25 values issue. Work yes. Welfare no. Even if welfare spending was only a tiny portion of the liberals' spending agenda, it poisoned the rest of it. Only when Clinton's New Democrats put an … [Read more...]
Rocky Mtn Alliance Blog Talk Radio at 8:30: Obama in Denver, Chris Maj
Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 14th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. The show will feature an extended review of President Obama's visit to Denver to sign the Porkulus bill (aka Generational Theft Act) and the organized response at the State Capitol (please join us for the noontime event). Tonight's scheduled guest is Denver-based political activist Chris Maj, also an affiliate of Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty. Here is the bio he offered:Chris Maj (pronounced May) is a self-employed computer programmer in the telecommunications industry, avid sportsmen and home brewer. After recovering from many different political parties back east in tax shackled upstate New York, he and his … [Read more...]
Come Roast a Pig – and the Porkulus Bill – Tomorrow at the State Capitol
You don't want to miss this! From a note just sent out by the Independence Institute's Jon Caldara:President Obama is flying his corporate jet to Denver to sign a bill putting my children into debt. I want to give him a proper mile high welcome. The Independence Institute, along with Americans for Prosperity and other groups promoting sanity, are organizing a protest tomorrow, Tuesday, at noon at the west steps of the state capitol, and I hope you'll be there. We'll have over-sized checks you can sign to show your family's $30,000 commitment to the bill. I'll be joined by Michelle Malkin, Mike Coffman, Bob Beauprez, Jim Pfaff from AFP and many others. I'm not usually one for public protests, because like so many on our side, I have a day … [Read more...]
Rocky Mtn News Reports: “Panel Votes to Ban Plastic Retail Bags”
And Colorado is a step closer to once again being safe for democracy:The bag ban was the brainchild of a teacher and a group of students at Kent Denver School, who approached lawmakers with their idea. Sen. Jennifer Veiga and Rep. Joe Miklosi, both Denver Democrats, agreed to sponsor the measure. Maybe we can poll some children for the best way to balance the budget, too. And maybe Senator Veiga and Representative Miklosi could help carry all those re-usable bags into Wal-Mart (oh wait, not that evil store where people can save money....) Because we know they don't want to create a renaissance of paper bags and destroy the forests. … [Read more...]
A Timeout for Some Non-Partisan Props to Senate President Peter Groff
I'm a conservative and a partisan Republican. I offer up a lot of criticism here of Democrats - most of it well-deserved. But as this article that appeared yesterday in Colorado Senate News shows, if the Democrats have to be in charge, our state is well-blessed to have Peter Groff as senate president:"When the chips are down on issues like this one, you close ranks and move ahead with a common purpose," said Senate GOP leader Josh Penry. "I've found Peter's vision goes way beyond the usual partisanship, and his openness to some of our ideas on tax relief has made all the difference," Penry said of the Denver Democrat.... "Even though the distinction between the two parties has never been sharper on a wide range of policy issues, we also … [Read more...]
Residents in Wake of Latest RTD Expansion, See Property Rights Project
Denver's Regional Transportation District (RTD) says it needs to condemn 56 properties in northeast Denver for light-rail expansion. Maybe we can hope RTD has learned some lessons from arousing the ire of property owners on the west side of Denver. The stories of Daniel Gallegos, Kim Snyder, Galen Foster, and others should be instructive. But don't hold your breath. Residents who may be affected by RTD's latest expansion should empower themselves by checking out the resources provided by the Independence Institute's Property Rights Project. … [Read more...]
Coloradans, You Can Make a Difference for School Financial Transparency
Update, 1/29: More coverage on Colorado Spending Transparency and Ed News Colorado, as well as a kind link from the Open Records blog. This morning the Colorado Senate Education Committee got a bit of a surprise, it might seem, with a slew of concerned citizens coming forward to testify in support of Senate Bill 57 (PDF) (sponsored by state senator Ted Harvey) - which would bring something akin to full-fledged financial transparency to Colorado public schools. It's unusual to see more than 15 average citizens come forward to testify for a piece of legislation - and rarer yet, to have many of them do so quite eloquently. Most were from the metro Denver area, a couple hailed from Weld County, and one of them drove three hours over the … [Read more...]
On Second Thought, I Guess the State Capitol Isn’t as Dangerous as All That
So I've heard the State Capitol has become a rough place these days (yes, Denver truly is the Wild West!), but I had no idea it had come to this, as disclosed in the Headline of the Week: "Brophy bill to protect homeowners killed in committee". My first thought was, How many homeowners have been killed in committee meetings lately? I especially have reason to be concerned, seeing as how I plan to be under the golden dome tomorrow to speak on a new media/blogger luncheon panel to the Senate GOP Caucus. I will be joined by the famous Vodkapundit (aka Stephen Green), Zombyboy, Rossputin (aka Ross Kaminsky), Charles Martin, and Face The State editor Brad Jones. Frankly, I'm humbled to be with this group of accomplished bloggers / new … [Read more...]