It's not often I laud Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, but he is to be commended today for choosing good public policy over political pressures by vetoing Senate Bill 180 -- the firefighter collective bargaining legislation. While Ritter's official statement put the matter more diplomatically than I have, he didn't buy the phony argument about firefighter safety:Third, the debate on this bill raised important issues about firefighter safety, but there are better ways to address these issues than mandatory collective bargaining in certain communities. We must address firefighter safety at the state level. Doing so ensures that all areas of Colorado can benefit. Under this bill, however, the safety issues would only be addressed in the … [Read more...]
The Principled Politician Brings True Tale of Colorado Statesmanship to Life
It's been awhile since I've done any sort of book review. But having just completed Adam Schrager's The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story, it seemed an apt time to change that. Those who won't want to miss this book include students of Colorado history, fans of the World War II era (especially the home front), and anyone interested in a sadly forgotten inspirational story that seems foreign in today's all-too-jaded and polarized world of politics. As introduced to readers in The Principled Politician, Ralph Carr (1887-1950) -- Republican governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943 -- was a rare model of statesmanship. Fittingly, he held deep admiration and adulation for our nation's 16th president Abraham Lincoln. He recognized the … [Read more...]
Legislation to Unionize Colorado State Government: Coming 2010 Battle?
Via the Right to Work blog comes news that the new Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer has repealed her predecessor's executive order granting union powers to state workers. This scenario (and others like it before - witness Missouri and Indiana as examples) is precisely why the Colorado WINS labor coalition will not rest satisfied with Bill Ritter's November 2007 executive order that introduced collective bargaining to our state government. Odds are strong that the political winds will favor Big Labor pushing a broad piece of government employee collective bargaining legislation in 2010. The question is whether the Democrats in charge at the State Capitol by then will have backed off the cliff's edge, and from governing away their … [Read more...]
What Kind of Online State Spending Database Will Colorado Get?
Update, 4/4: The editors of the Denver Post agree with my commonsense observation, saying "We would prefer to see Ritter's project hew more to the kind of details espoused in the legislative proposal." What kind of online state spending database are Coloradans going to get if they are going to hope to keep an eye on state government and help find cost efficiencies to save us all money? This is the question of the hour, after Governor Bill Ritter's weak executive order came out yesterday. We're also learning that the Governor is working to kill bipartisan House Bill 1288, which would provide the real detail that is lacking from his watered-down order. The highly impressive new State Representative B.J. Nikkel is the sponsor of HB … [Read more...]
Rossputin Explains Why The Current Recession is So Uniquely Bad
A few days ago I raised the question based on a provocative American Thinker essay by Randall Hoven: How deep is this recession? Is it really the worst crisis in 70 years? I am not that well versed in - nor closely attuned to - macroeconomic data and the trends they indicate. Something seemed incomplete in the essay. So I'm glad to see that Rossputin has weighed in with a thoughtful and thorough response, disagreeing with Hoven. Whether you are more swayed by Hoven or Rossputin, Rossputin's conclusion is something we all should easily be able to agree with:The Democrats’ medicine will be worse than our current illness, and will turn what should have been a moderately annoying case of the fiscal flu into a devastating economic … [Read more...]
Friday Satire>>The Sacred Word of Obama and Other Experts Questioned
The true-believing capital-L Liberals are the unquestioned experts on your life, the universe, and all that. Supposed experts who appear to disagree? Well, they are just a delusion of Right-wing fantasy. When it comes to the great all-encompassing theory of climate change, pay no attention to these highly-respected international scientists (or the scientist formerly in charge of many NASA climate projects). When the great Barack Obama speaks ex cathedra, we must listen. Not only on climate change, but also on the economic recession. Recently he told us: "There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy." The President's glorious speech supersedes the more than 200 … [Read more...]
No District Office for Rep. Betsy Markey: Different Kind of “Hope” and “Change”
Face The State reports:Seventy-seven days after being elected to serve Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, a Democrat, still has not set up an in-state office to serve her constituents. Staff in Markey’s Washington, D.C. office confirmed she does not have a district office set up and said there is no concrete timeline for when that will get done, but it will be “soon.†Hey, don't hurry up with that or anything. No pressure. Hmmm, the only question left unanswered is "why is it taking so long". As the story points out, Mike Coffman - another newly elected member of Colorado's House delegation - has had an office set up for weeks now. So who knows? Maybe Betsy Markey is ready to put down roots … [Read more...]
Democrat Leader Tapdances Around His Party’s Push to Kill Secret Ballot
After their impressive electoral victories, the Democrats on Capitol Hill are feeling their oats. Can you blame them? It's payback time to the Big Labor leaders who have bankrolled the campaigns of many a Congressional Democrat. Top of the list therefore? The unpopular and poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away workers' rights to a secret ballot in union elections. Watch how House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland), appearing on Fox News Sunday, tapdances around Chris Wallace's question contrasting the union bill with the House Democrats' own procedures for electing officers within the caucus: "Why is a secret ballot okay, and desirable, for Congress, but you want to take it away from workers?" (H/T … [Read more...]
A Promising Step to Test the Bounds of Colorado Teachers Union Power?
My post-election commentary on the impact for teachers unions and education reform was published today in the Denver Post. A key section to whet your appetite:Peter Groff's Democratic peers voted to re-elect him as state Senate president, and Rep. Terrance Carroll was selected to become the new speaker of the House. … [Read more...]
A National Media Double Standard on Florida Congressional Scandals?
The radical shift in polling numbers after the explosive news about the sex/bribe scandal of Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney - who replaced the infamous Republican Rep. Mark Foley - ensures that Florida Congressional seat shifts back to GOP hands. But where are the national media's incessant demands to find the facts about what Democratic leaders knew and when? I guess the question answers itself. The liberal media establishment doesn't want to drive its favored party into the ground and harm the chances of its chosen candidate (read: Barack Obama). Mark Foley at least had enough shame to do the decent thing and resign over his illicit messages to Congressional pages (and as I said then of Republican leaders, "if they knew and withheld … [Read more...]