When 9News reporter Nelson Garcia wanted a different perspective on school district bond elections, he asked to interview me. If you want to see the video - or just read it in print so to avoid having to look at me - the story is here:Ben DeGrow is the education policy analyst for the Education Policy Center within the Independence Institute, which is a conservative political think tank. DeGrow says too many middle class families are coping with high gas prices and a poor real estate market to think about raising their own property taxes for schools. "This may be a tough year for JeffCo and other metro school districts to be asking for money," said DeGrow. JeffCo is just one of the major districts around Denver poised to ask voters … [Read more...]
Denver Gives Democrat Officials Tax Exemption, Risks Public Resentment
A few days ago I had a conversation with some non-political family members about the pains of hosting a national political convention. One of them lives in the Twin Cities. The rest of us live in and around Denver. Doubtless this means some inconveniences and annoyances for denizens, regardless of whether it's the Republicans or Democrats coming to your town. But the Denver Post today reports a small outrage I hadn't even considered before (H/T Slapstick Politics):Several Denver City Council members are questioning why the Democratic National Convention Committee has a contract with the city to fill up their fleet of vehicles with tax-free fuel. The $466,000 contract, only $9,700 of which has been paid so far by the DNCC officials, … [Read more...]
Jason Janz and Juneteenth
Jason Janz - a personal acquaintance I met through his launching and running the successful Christian website Sharper Iron - wrote a Speakout published in today's Rocky Mountain News about Denver's upcoming Juneteenth celebration:I am not African-American and I am going to Juneteenth. In fact, I believe that people of all ethnicities should attend if they are able. Why? Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and equality, values that every American should embrace. Just because the peak of the civil rights movement has passed does not mean that racial tension in our community is gone. There is still much work to do. By standing next to the African-American community, you are showing solidarity with them as a partner for peace and harmony in … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter Might Wish $250,000 Had Covered Misspent Campaign Debt
The Denver Post's Politics West today reports about recent corporate contributions to Denver's Democratic National Convention:Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter "wrote a thank-you note to Chicago Democratic donor Fred Eychaner for his $250,000 contribution, and got Safeway and Amgen on board in a trip to Washington." Bill Ritter must be wishing it could be easy to find that much money to cover his campaign - er, inaugural committee - debt. With more than enough money left over to fund an investigation to find the conveniently vanished computer potentially containing key evidence about Ritter's campaign fund scandal. If you were hoping for real analysis of the Democratic National Convention, then stop by Slapstick Politics. … [Read more...]
Panning McCain’s Health Care Plan
Republican Presidential candidate John McCain was in town on Friday to lead a townhall discussion on his health care policy. Last week local health care guru Brian Schwartz previewed McCain's arrival with a lukewarm analysis of the candidate's plan to reform health care, summed up here:So this tax-credit idea, while sort of on target, is even more social engineering via tax policy, instead of undoing existing tax policy that has created the problem in the first place. Joshua Sharf, who saw the candidate in person, was left with a more favorable view of the tax credit proposal, but thought the good idea in McCain's policy was watered down with many bits of "nanny-state hectoring." Joshua also noted McCain's well-developed skills of … [Read more...]
Springtime in Denver
It's the first day of May, and big flakes of snow are falling in my backyard. Yesterday it was 80 degrees and sunny. Call it springtime in Denver. Maybe global warming is taking a holiday. … [Read more...]
RTD vs. The American Dream
Via the Independence Institute's (disclosure: where I work) Property Rights multimedia page, here is the "East Denver Story" of Daniel Gallegos, whose family's property was confiscated by the Regional Transportation District (RTD) at well below fair market value: The video is also up at The Property Rights Project blog (along with links to Gallegos' speech and other key documents), at the Caldara blog, at the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Open Market blog, and at Rocky Mountain Right. … [Read more...]
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