Most likely one of the final big stories broken by the Rocky Mountain News: Gov. Bill Ritter names Denver Public Schools superintendent Michael Bennet to replace Ken Salazar in the U.S. Senate. Honestly, I never gave this possibility serious consideration. My initial impressions? Fresh and outside-the-box, obviously. Bill Ritter definitely outperformed his Democratic gubernatorial colleagues in Illinois and New York with their appointments. But Ritter also has rolled the political dice. Besides being pretty good on education reform issues for a Democrat, where does Bennet stand? The next two years of votes on big issues like the Employee Free Choice Act will define him quickly. While the state and national GOP should be perking up at … [Read more...]
Rocky Mtn News Features Providence Bible Church, Denver’s Newest
The cover of the Christmas Day edition of the Rocky Mountain News featured a story on two churches - Denver's oldest and Denver's newest. The latter is the Providence Bible Church. Several years ago I met the eventual pastor and co-founder of Providence, Jason Janz, and have since agreed to be a prayer partner for the growing church. I am excited to read the updates of this exciting ministry that Jason sends out. It's a blessing to see more attention brought to this work:Providence Bible Church is a multiethnic congregation launched 12 weeks ago in Five Points. Using the media-savvy instincts of his generation, Pastor Jason Janz, 35, spent early donations on creating a DVD to tell Providence's story. The one-time rebel knew what kind … [Read more...]
Great Resource: Election Neutrality Now
At Founders' Night I briefly met former Denver elections official Jan Tyler. She introduced me to her website Election Neutrality Now, a great resource on conducting clean and fair elections, as well as issues related to voter fraud. Jan had a Speakout in the Rocky Mountain News published a few days ago. It's also worth a read. … [Read more...]
Amendments 47, 49, & 54 Good as Grandma’s Freshly-Baked Cookies
Update: Link added below First, there was the real-life absurd "Godzilla" flyer created by Protect Colorado's Future. Then the Denver Metro Young Republicans fired back with the "Kittens for Amendments 47, 49, and 54" ad - famously featured in the sidebar of today's Rocky Mountain News print edition Rocky Mountain News Stump blog. To keep the spirit alive, here's my own contribution to the cause: *WARNING* Satire *WARNING* Satire *WARNING* … [Read more...]
Well-Heeled Union Lobbyists Flout Law to Oppose Ethical Standards
The Rocky Mountain News reports on a complaint filed yesterday by Amendment 49 supporters:Backers of Amendment 49, which would prohibit union dues from being deducted from public payrolls, have filed a complaint with the Colorado secretary of state alleging that an opposing group failed to disclose its intention to campaign against them. Instead, Coloradans For Middle Class Relief states in its registration with the secretary of state that it would campaign against Amendment 47, according to the complaint by Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute and author of Amendment 49. But Caldara said Coloradans For Middle Class Relief has sent out fliers on other ballot measures as well, including Amendments 49 and 54. The Denver … [Read more...]
Believe “Nonsense” Against Colorado Amendment 49? “Don’t Be Stupid”
The Rocky Mountain News today provides the most systematic deconstruction of the grossly misleading, multi-million dollar Protect Colorado's Future campaign against 49:There's no obligation for political campaigns to be fair, let alone balanced, but there are times when messages go beyond the pale. Case in point: the advertising, largely bankrolled by labor unions, to defeat Amendment 49, the "ethical standards" initiative. Muzzle workers and endanger public safety? "In what way? The amendment doesn't say unions can't collect dues. It just says government can't collect dues for them." Threaten public employees' paychecks? "Nonsense." Silence small business? "Bizarre." Backed by multinational corporations? "What a joke." Or as … [Read more...]
Front Range County Sheriffs Refute Campaign Lies against Amendment 49
Readers of this blog are now well familiar with the orchestrated deception by a group called Protect Colorado's Future (PCF) against Amendment 49, the Ethical Standards initiative. In addition to numerous Colorado newspaper editorial boards, respected public figures like former U.S. Senator Hank Brown and former state treasurer Mark Hillman have refuted the lies. Many of PCF's false claims center around purported negative effects on the ability of law enforcement and public safety workers to do their jobs. Who better to refute the lies than respected law enforcement officials whose jurisdictions already have an Ethical Standards policy in place? In today's Denver Post, three Colorado county sheriffs took their turn at batting down the … [Read more...]
State Should Charge Protect Colorado’s Future with Extortion Processing Fee
The Rocky Mountain News Stump blog reports:Colorado spent more than $200,000 in printing costs and extra postage this fall because the deadline for withdrawing ballot measures comes too close to Election Day, according to a study from the University of Denver. Amendments 53, 55, 56 and 57 were withdrawn by labor groups by an Oct. 2 deadline. But it was too late to keep them off the printed ballot. DU's Center for Colorado's Economic Future offered some advice for the state legislature: rethink the law that allows ballot initiatives to be pulled as late as 33 days before the election. Changing the law on the withdrawal deadline may not be a bad idea, but here's an even better one. Seeing as how Protect Colorado's Culture of … [Read more...]
My Young Free Market Friends Showcase New Online Political Activism
The Saturday edition of the Rocky Mountain News featured the proverbial quadrennial story about the energized youth vote. Do we have reason to believe that more young voters will cast their ballots this year? I don't know. But one of my young free market friends astutely suggests that the state of the economy has re-engaged many of them:Wesley Dickinson, a 30-year-old Denver engineer, thinks the economy is forcing people near his age to confront politics more so than at any time since the 1970s economic downturn created a generation of Reagan Republicans. Since then, people have been able to live relatively comfortably and didn't care so much about what the government did; that no longer is true, he said. "They haven't had to worry … [Read more...]
Buescher “Favored”? Deceptive Attacks on Cancer Survivor Say Maybe Not
Today the Rocky Mountain News highlights the hottest state legislative race on Colorado's Western Slope, as Republican challenger Laura Bradford faces down Democrat incumbent Bernie Buescher in HD55:"I think her chances are great," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who was among Republicans who stopped in Grand Junction while on an RV tour of the state. "One thing she said was, 'Gov. Ritter will not be whispering in my ear what to do.' People loved that." Buescher, however, says he doesn't hew that closely to Gov. Bill Ritter. "They're going after me on some issues, but it seems to me the fundamental attack is that I'm too close to the administration," he said. "The fact is I pushed the administration as much as any Democrat in the … [Read more...]
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