Do you still need more reason to understand why union bosses are so keen on taking away the secret ballot from workplace elections? On the Colorado LOSES website, state employee Dave Ohmart gives an account of his experience trying to attend the Colorado WINS union's rally / lobbying event at the State Capitol on Wednesday:Ryan Webber, a union organizer, immediately came to me and asked, “You’re not going to say anything, are you Dave? I’ll have to toss you out of here if you do.†Another security-type person came over and stood behind me. Ryan then asked, “You’re not going to write more lies about me, are you Dave?†(Don’t think I ever have!) I assured him I was not there to make a scene. Governor Ritter spoke … [Read more...]
Jeffco GOP Unites Behind New Chair Don Ytterberg – Ready to Go Forward?
I was at the Jefferson County Republican Party Central Committee meeting this evening. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of drama (but a wonderful deal of hot dog, chips, and bottled water for $2). Special guest speeches were made by state senate minority leader Josh Penry and Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. I was told the Arapahoe County GOP meeting was at the same time, which may have prevented us from being greeted by more ambitious politicos. Don Ytterberg was elected by acclamation to be the new chairman. Tina Francone was elected by acclamation to be the new secretary. The only contest was for vice-chair - as current vice-chair Art Onweller lost to outgoing chair Renee Nelson. God bless her, Renee has been a fantastic leader for … [Read more...]
The Case at Cherokee Trail, and Cracking Down on “Zero-Tolerance”
Over at Ed News Colorado, I authored a post today titled "The Absurdity of Zero-Tolerance Zealots" - about the incident at Cherokee Trail High School. (Just in case you wanted to see my thoughts on the matter.) Mr. Bob wonders if the crackdown is coming on the Color Guard next. Meanwhile, the state senate minority office reports proposed legislation may be coming to address the overreach of "zero-tolerance" policies on students in military-oriented youth groups: … [Read more...]
Rocky Mtn Alliance Blog Talk Radio at 8:30 PM: Jan Tyler, Sen. Greg Brophy
Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 11th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, the third of 2009. Tonight's scheduled guests are locally-based elections expert Jan Tyler and state senate assistant minority leader Greg Brophy (R-Wray). Don't forget. If you miss the live broadcast of tonight’s show, you can go back and download the podcast, or just use the handy widget on my sidebar to listen directly from Mount Virtus. More information on past and future episodes is posted at Slapstick Politics. … [Read more...]
Mark Hillman Credibly Criticizes Dems for Failure to Save State Money
Mark Hillman - former state senate majority leader and former state treasurer - once again has established himself as a leading voice of fiscal sanity in Colorado. In an op-ed in today's Denver Post, he assails Governor Bill Ritter and his Democratic colleagues at the helm of the state legislature for their ongoing mismanagement of the looming budget crisis:Balancing a budget during a recession is a difficult job, certainly. But balancing this year's budget didn't need to be this hard if only the leaders at the Capitol had learned from the last recession — or listened to those who experienced it. Last spring, as the economic storm clouds gathered, Gov. Bill Ritter and legislative leaders had opportunities to take precautions. One … [Read more...]
Democrat Rollie Heath Wants to Use Economic Downturn to Kill TABOR
It only took seven weeks after the voters of Colorado said no to a statewide proposal that would have gutted the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) - a proposal pushed by a campaign that heavily outspent the opposition - for the Democrats to be back at it again. From today's Denver Post:Rollie Heath, a Boulder Democrat elected to the Senate, said that as lawmakers grapple in the coming session with cutting as much as $600 million from the budget because of declining revenues, they should also look at TABOR, a revenue-capping provision of the state's constitution. The state is in a timeout from TABOR's tax-revenue limits, but that timeout expires in 2010, when Colorado will have to begin refunding to taxpayers any revenue it collects … [Read more...]
Terrance Carroll, Josh Penry: Good Choices for Statehouse Leadership
Colorado soon will have a black Speaker of the House to go along with a black Senate President (Peter Groff). The Denver Post reports today that the Democratic caucus in the state house has thrown its support behind Denver's Terrance Carroll to replace Andrew Romanoff in one of the state's highest political positions. Moving beyond race, Carroll is someone with whom I obviously have many political disagreements. However, on the issue of school choice that I care about deeply, he is as good as the Democratic caucus has to offer. I feel a little better about the hope for defending and advancing gains in educational freedom with him at the helm than with the alternatives. But we'll remain diligent at our post. In other news, Republicans … [Read more...]
Denver Post Backs Grassroots GOP HD27 Challenger John Bodnar
The Denver Post gave its complete endorsement round-up for Colorado state house races today. It's impossible for us mere mortals to divine the rhyme or reason behind the Post's endorsements. As expected, the center-left editorial board has backed more Democrats than Republicans, and nearly every incumbent. But interestingly, the Post threw its lot behind two Republican challengers over Democrat officeholders. One of them is here in Arvada, where a hard-working, truly grassroots, common-sense candidate has emerged:HD 27 (Jefferson) — First-term incumbent Democrat Sara Gagliardi, a nurse, has focused primarily on health care. But we're more impressed with Republican challenger John Bodnar because of his balanced views on energy and … [Read more...]