Live in Colorado and getting ready for your federal rebate stimulus check to arrive? Don't get too excited yet. Republican leaders in the state legislature have taken a Letterman-esque stab at letting you know what the Democrat majority has already done with your money:10. Higher auto premiums 9. Higher energy premiums 8. $25 marriage tax 7. Higher fees on everything from birth certificates to tire recycling 6. College tuition hikes for everyone! 5. Up to a $100 dollar car tax 4. Gov. Bill Ritter to an aide: “Recession? Hey, let’s go out and hire another 1,300 state employees!†3. “…and let’s make sure they all have collective-bargaining … [Read more...]
Chesser Documents the State Template for Climate Change Rip-Offs
At the American Spectator, Paul Chesser writes about some of the highlights of his work he has documented, connecting the dots to compare how different states adopt climate change policies. His conclusion should be upsetting to taxpayers:Every state amazingly produces the same strategies: increased taxation upon coal-fired energy generation; higher electric bill surcharges; increased tailpipe emissions standards to encompass CO2; subsidized mass transit; "green" standards in school curricula; and more. Can you feel the pain? CCS and the climate commissions can't. Seems they promise only positives, as the new taxes and regulations that they always recommend are amazingly said to save state economies money and create jobs. Indeed, Colorado … [Read more...]
New Poll Shows McCain Upsetting Left’s Plans to Turn Colorado Blue
Via Politico's Jonathan Martin and Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, a new poll shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain with a commanding, double-digit lead here in Colorado versus either Democrat contender - Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton: McCain 51, Obama 39 McCain 52, Clinton 40 Something is happening on the way to the Left's plan to turn Colorado blue: Their leaders are generating more disdain than those who have sold out conservatives on the Republican side. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. While it takes longer for things happening at the state level to reach the average voter, one can almost imagine some of the reaction against Obama and Clinton trickling down to their inept liberal buddies - like Gov. Bill Ritter … [Read more...]
What Was All That Money Doing in Ritter’s Inaugural in the First Place?
The problems with Gov. Bill Ritter's $200,000-plus in misspent inaugural committee funds raises more questions beyond his apparent gross lack of oversight. In total, about $300,000 in inauguration funds were spent on campaign expenses. Campaign manager Greg Kolomitz returned the $83,250 that was paid to himself and his company, leaving roughly $217,000 still improperly spent. But a question I have yet to see answered is why so much money was needed in Ritter's inaugural fund in the first place. Seems quite extravagant. A quick trip back in time to the tenure of Colorado's last Democratic governor, Roy Romer, hints at a sharp contrast. From the January 3, 1991, edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette (no direct link available):In … [Read more...]
Podcast on Ritter’s Union Partnerships
For the auditory learners out there, check out my new podcast with Jon Caldara on Gov. Bill Ritter's union "employee partnerships." Visual learners can turn to the full report, or if you're short on time, the two-page nuts and bolts version. … [Read more...]
Algore’s Climate Fearmongering Not Catching on with Americans
Following up on Bill Ritter's Earth Day "climate change" regulations, I ran across this recent Gallup survey report on Americans' environmental concerns (H/T Bill Smith). As I noted before, it seems like an appropriate way to commemorate Earth Day by celebrating the remarkable progress made in cleaning our air and water in the last 35 years. Public opinion seems to evidence that trend. According to the Gallup poll, Americans' greatest environmental concern consistently has been water pollution, yet even so the percentage of Americans "worried a great deal" about the problem has declined from 72 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2008. After multi-millions spent to scare people into joining High Priest Algore's Church of … [Read more...]
Bill Ritter: Tough on SPAM
From today's Rocky Mountain News:Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday signed into law the Spam Reduction Act, which provides state enforcement authority similar to federal authority against unwanted e-mails. To Ritter's credit, Spam Reduction is an act of bipartisan goodwill, a positive headline needed to take attention away from a serious $300,000 campaign finance violation. Bill Ritter (invoking classic Monty Python): "I don't like Spam!" Cross posted at Ritter Watch … [Read more...]
Nancy Pelosi Confuses “Sacred” Eco-Theology Text with Old Testament
Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has conjured up a Scriptural passage from whole cloth to sanction her Left-liberal environmentalist agenda: In her April 22 Earth Day news release, Pelosi said, "The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children's children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature." Cybercast News Service repeatedly queried the speaker's office for two days to determine where the alleged Bible quote is found. Thus far, no one has … [Read more...]
Harsanyi: Choice Key to Overcoming Union Obstacle to Dropout Problem
In today's Denver Post column, David Harsanyi brings attention to the new America's Promise Alliance (APA) report on the dropout "crisis." Knowing the report will fuel the cry for more money to solve the problem, Harsanyi explains:Teachers unions place culpability for education woes on a lack of funding and "cuts." This is a myth. Obviously, schools could always benefit from an infusion of cash but, in most of the failing systems, funding per pupil is at an all-time high. According to a study by the right-of-center Hoover Institution, in 1982 per-pupil spending was $5,930 and rose 60 percent by 2000 to $9,230 in inflation-adjusted dollars (in high-population districts, the number is far higher). In Utah, a recent school-reform … [Read more...]
State School Board Should Stop Hiding from Public Vote on Tax Hike
The latest update in the saga of Gov. Bill Ritter's "school" property tax hike ... The State Board of Education, one of two defendants in a lawsuit from taxpayers who say they should have been asked first under the requirements of the state constitution, is hiding from public view:When deciding whether to fight or effectively bow out of a lawsuit challenging a politically volatile property tax freeze, the state's education board opted for secret meetings instead of a public vote, records show. E-mails obtained Monday by The Denver Post reveal internal turmoil between a cadre of Republican members, who argue that the governor-backed freeze is unconstitutional, and the panel's Republican chairwoman, who has blocked attempts at public … [Read more...]
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