Intriguing… A Ryan Frazier Run for U.S. Senate Might Not Be a Bad Idea

by Ben DeGrow | 10:15 pm, January 22, 2009

Update, 1/23: Slapstick Politics has great analysis on the speculation and ideas for the GOP to seize these sorts of unique opportunities that 2010 provides.
Face The State went deep into the rumor mill today:
The U.S. Senate race recently made its way on to Republican radar after Ritter appointed the little known Michael Bennet, who at [...]

Pat Condell Makes Sense for Europe…too much sense

by Mr. Bob | 4:41 pm, January 22, 2009

If only all of the world would listen to such common sense.

Colorado Dems look For New Revenue Streams (taxes)

by Mr. Bob | 2:23 pm, January 22, 2009

DENVER – Nestled in the details of a major transportation proposal this year is an idea that could revolutionize how Colorado pays for its road and bridge projects.

The proposal, from statehouse Democrats, calls for pilot projects to study whether the state should do away with its gas tax and adopt a system in which drivers are charged based on how many miles they drive.

“What policymakers are looking at is a sustainable revenue source that they can count on,” said Jim Whitty, an Oregon Department of Transportation official who has become a guru of mileage-based fees.

States across the country are struggling with the weakening of the gas tax as a revenue stream, due to more fuel-efficient vehicles and the political difficulty of raising taxes to keep up with inflation. Colorado is one of several states, including Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, looking at implementing a mileage-based charge on drivers. READ THE REST AT 9NEWS

For some this may seem like a good thing (like me I don’t drive much) but this is another attempt to keep the taxes flowing in because people now have more fuel efficient cars (or will.) And just how will they keep track of mileage, install a device? When do you pay at tax time instead of at the pump?
What say you?

Kopp proposes special elections for U.S. Senate vacancies

by RMR | 11:00 am, January 22, 2009

Sen. Mike Kopp is proposing a very sensible bill in response to Michael Bennet’s appointment. The Rocky Mountain News reports:

Sen. Mike Kopp plans to introduce a bill this week that would strip the governor of appointing power, and instead require the governor to call a special senatorial statewide election.

"It’s my contention that the people of the state ought to have a greater ownership in filling a vacancy," said Kopp, a Jefferson County Republican. 

The Democrats are firing back by charging that Kopp would not be proposing the bill were Bob Beauprez in office filling a vacancy:

Kopp was asked if would be running the same kind of bill had Republican Bob Beauprez won the 2006 governor’s race and appointed a Republican to the Senate.

"We’re not in that position," Kopp said.

Maybe he wouldn’t be proposing the bill in that situation. That doesn’t mean the Democrats wouldn’t be right to propose the same bill under those circumstances.

Remember, this is the Age of Obama now. It’s not about Republican or Democrat anymore. It’s about right and wrong, and this bill is the right thing to do.

Show Your Solidarity Against Keynes!

by Jon Caldara | 10:21 am, January 22, 2009

John Maynard Keynes may be dead, but his loony ideas sure aren’t. Richard Nixon once said, “we’re all Keynesians now.” Unfortunately, that sentiment still looms large over Washington lawmakers as they continue to work out the details on a massive government “stimulus.” In other words, a gigantic economic fallacy writ large. One that will undoubtably [...]

President Does Not Attend Medal of Honor Ball, VP does attend however

by Mr. Bob | 10:05 am, January 22, 2009

For the first time in 56 years, a newly-inaugurated president did not attend the ball begun by President Eisenhower for MOH recipients. 14 presidents later, here we are.

FORTY-EIGHT MoH recipients were in attendance. That’s HALF of the recipients that are still alive, and pretty much all that were physically able to attend. They sacrificed to be there…to say nothing of the sacrifice they already endured.

Read the rest at BlackFIVE

I did get an email an Obama supporter reminding me that the VP did attend, and to be fair, I should mention that and well as that the new POTUS also did pledge to support the troops that night at the inaugural ball.

Beware the Kremulakian Invasion

by Ben DeGrow | 10:02 pm, January 21, 2009

This may be the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time. (Tell me again why Iowahawk wasn’t even nominated for Best Humor Blog?) I triple dog dare you to read through it without breaking out into uproarious, teary-eyed laughter. And that’s saying a lot, as I also have been perusing through this book recently.

P. J. O’Rourke is right

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 4:31 pm, January 21, 2009

P. J. O’Rourke nails it in this column in the Weekly Standard published shortly after the election of Barack Obama.  It is titled, simply, “We Blew It.”  

Free People, Free Markets: RSVP Now!

by Jon Caldara | 2:27 pm, January 21, 2009

Fiscal Policy Center Director and seasoned professor Penn Pfiffner has been bugging me to remind folks about his class Free People, Free Markets: the Foundations of Liberty. I’m finally finished with that crucial game of spider solitaire, so here goes.  This Saturday kicks off the first of five sessions for the class, so time is [...]

I Sing The Body Electric 2

by ToxicHypoxic | 2:14 pm, January 21, 2009

I’ve had a number of months to get used to this stimulator, and I must say it is a significant improvement over what I’d tried for the previous 20 years. Pharmaceutical approaches are a wonderful option, but it was always only partially successful for me. I wasn’t willing to go the opiate route, simply because [...]

Seditious Thoughts on Wednesday Morning

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 12:38 pm, January 21, 2009

Here I am, pleased to see that the sun rose today and that the world is intact. Just as the current economic mess is not yet anywhere near the Great Depression, Mssr. Obama and his comrades have not yet rent the fabric of America beyond repair. The wails of forlorn National Greatness conservatives aside, this, [...]

Get Smart: Health Care 101

by Jon Caldara | 11:23 am, January 21, 2009

In addition to the great work that Linda Gorman does on health care policy, we’ve got another fantastic policy analyst in Brian Schwartz. Brian posts daily on our health care blog Patient Power and his articles can be found frequently in the Rocky, Daily Camera, and other major newspapers.  So I was thinking the other [...]

Obamathon Day 1

by Mr. Bob | 10:50 am, January 21, 2009

Obama Immediately moves to placate Homosexual Lobby (a special interest group) and Puts Gay Rights Front & Center

On the revamped White House website, the new administration put gay rights front and center. After an introduction from a 2007 speech on civil rights in general, the site targets employment discrimination–with a shoutout “to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”

Obama’s quick action on gay rights did not go unnoticed by the right. World Net Daily had a “news story” that complained mightily about the rapid change: “President Obama had not even finished his inaugural address today before his agenda was posted on the WhiteHouse website, where he promised to ’overturn’ the Supreme Court’s precedents on discrimination claims and to demand new laws requiring employers to provide special protections for homosexuals and others with ’gender’ issues. MORE

To all Christians and supposed conseravtives who did not vote, or voted FOR Obama (basically the same thing) we have you to thank for this and this is just Day 1.

Is Obama Bush Three?

by Mr. Bob | 10:38 am, January 21, 2009

This is hilarious.
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Environmentalism FAIL!

by zombiehunter | 8:13 am, January 21, 2009

  This photo was on the front page of Drudge this morning.  It’s something you’d never see reported by the Left Stream Media.  Kinda makes me wonder, how much do these Obama drones really care about the enviornment?  I mean, they say they care about the planet, but look how they trashed a park in DC…  I’ve [...]

On Best Behavior, Patriotic Opposition Rejects Obama-Lincoln Analogy

by Ben DeGrow | 8:12 am, January 21, 2009

I don’t have time to put down much original thought this morning, so here are three pieces I commend to readers on the Morning After the inauguration.
First, the Denver Post’s David Harsanyi eloquently asks the rhetorical question many of us have wanted to ask:

Do all Americans truly have a yearning to fundamentally “remake” our nation? [...]

GOP’s Mike Coffman supports welfare state

by Brian Schwartz | 12:30 am, January 21, 2009

For an example of how Republicans support the welfare state, consider the reasons Congressman Mike Coffman’s (Colorado, District 6) opposed the expansion of SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. From his website:
Congressman Coffman cosponsored an alternative plan, the SCHIP Plus Act of 2009, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) [...]

1984

by infinity3 | 6:42 pm, January 20, 2009

There are two ways to assess your status: either things are getting better or things are getting worse. Being unemployed gives you lots of time to think about these things. I was about hitting rock bottom today when I suddenly got a phone call and soo…

“Consider Yourself” Ready to Refute Inflated Colorado Child Poverty Claim

by Ben DeGrow | 5:22 pm, January 20, 2009

Oftentimes big, misleading headlines can circumnavigate the globe many times over before the much more nuanced truth gets a chance to catch up. Well, here’s a terrific case in point that figures to pop up in Colorado policy debates.
Last June the Colorado Children’s Campaign released its annual Kids Count report. Latching on to that report, [...]

Belt Squeezing? Perhaps. Armageddon? Nope.

by Jon Caldara | 11:15 am, January 20, 2009

An actual budget cut or a scaling back on a scheduled budget increase?  That was really the heart of what I wanted to get out of our Fiscal Policy Center Director Penn Pfiffner during our latest iVoices.org podcast. My initial thoughts about the supposed $600 million budget “cuts” were pretty much validated.  Not to spoil [...]

Inauguration notes

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 11:09 am, January 20, 2009

Inauguration Comments

by Mr. Bob | 10:58 am, January 20, 2009

Could not help but notice, checking comments on the inauguration; Bush hating is still the most popular sport among Obamites. What will they do in 3 years?

Rocky Mtn Alliance Blog Talk Radio at 8:30 PM: Todd Shepherd, Mark Hillman

by Ben DeGrow | 8:22 am, January 20, 2009

Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 10th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio, the third of 2009. Tonight’s guests are my Independence Institute colleague Todd Shepherd and Republican National Committeeman and former state legislative leader Mark Hillman.
Topics are likely to include the probable demise of [...]

iVoices: What the $632 Million in State Budget Cuts Actually Represents

by Ben DeGrow | 7:50 am, January 20, 2009

More than once I’ve discussed the $632 million or so in state budget cuts being proposed in these rough economic times. But it’s important to note what this figure represents (the drop-off from projected spending) and what it does not (the amount of actual reduction in spending from the previous year).
On this iVoices podcast, [...]

A Day of Transition

by Ben DeGrow | 7:45 am, January 20, 2009

Today is Barack Obama’s day. I see it as a break from taking critical stock of his policies and recognizing both the peaceful transition of power that still is a tremendous blessing to our Republic and the historic nature of installing a non-white person into the nation’s highest office.
This two-fold recognition is a fulfillment [...]

Bush commutes Ramos and Compean’s sentences

by Rossputin | 9:49 pm, January 19, 2009

Jim Pinkerton of Fox News has it exactly right: Better late than never. As one of his last official acts, President Bush commuted the unjust prison sentences of former Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos who were convicted essentially of shooting a drug smuggler and not properly reporting the event. They were each sentenced to more than a decade in prison, while the multiple-time-felon smuggler was given immunity in return for testifying against them. Since then, the criminal has been re-arrested and jailed.

Bush should probably have pardoned the men instead of leaving the convictions on their records, but it’s the best we can hope for out of a man who has so terribly abandoned some truly important principles during his time in office.

It’s possible that a letter from nearly the entire Texas congressional delegation to President Bush on January 15th finally pushed the president off the fence. Whatever it was, I’m glad he finally did something nearly right.

In Which the Washington Bureau Chief Braces for Inaugural Boredom

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 5:29 pm, January 19, 2009

Were I the President-elect, I would cobble together my Inaugural from only the very mushiest snippets of yesteryear’s Inaugural addresses and see if the crowd noticed.  This is an indicator of why I will never give an Inaugural Address. When team Hopealot wanted to let us know how whiz-bang terrific the Obama Inaugural Address would [...]

Reality Television: The Real Threat to Western Civilization

by RMR | 2:00 pm, January 19, 2009

The greatest threat to Western civilization yet is looming large. I’m not talking about the prospect of nuclear terrorism or the financial meltdown. No, the true threat comes from reality television. Consider this bizarre, and sadly true, report from the Hollywood Reporter:

TORONTO — "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek is set to moonlight on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as host of the reality competition series "Canada’s Next Prime Minister."

Canadian-born Trebek, who got his start at the pubcaster, will share the stage March 18 with three former prime ministers as they field pitches from four would-be politicos before choosing a winner.

Last month, the CBC got into hot water after admitting to breaking contestant recruitment rules and contacting political organizations to invite former young political candidates to compete on the series.

The CBC has sold "Canada’s Next Prime Minister" as a format to the BBC.

Canada appears set to begin its descent into the sort of twisted democracy feared by Plato, and the British have cut a lucrative advertising deal to follow into the abyss.

How Much Will Barack Obama’s “Stimulus” – er, Pork – Proposal Cost Us?

by Ben DeGrow | 8:01 am, January 19, 2009

From the Competitive Enterprise Institute:

Observing MLK Day

by Ben DeGrow | 7:59 am, January 19, 2009

From the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech:

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I [...]

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