Results of the RMR Senate primary straw poll

by RMR | 10:00 am, February 12, 2009

The RMR Senate straw poll closed down automatically at noon yesterday, and if the results are indicative at all of the party as a whole then we could see a very fiercely contested primary. Ryan Frazier is the winner of the poll, enjoying a razor-thin victory of only 3 votes out of 155 over Mark Hillman. Bob Beauprez managed to pull 19% of the votes to come in third place, which indicates he still has some base of support out there but would face an uphill battle in a primary. Bentley Rayburn, who is said in some circles to be looking at the Senate race just as he did in 2008, barely registers.

Ryan Frazier 40% (62 votes)
Mark Hillman 38% (59 votes)
Bob Beauprez 19% (29 votes)
Bentley Rayburn 3% (5 votes)

Stay tuned for a gubernatorial straw poll later today.

Rocky Mtn News Reports: “Panel Votes to Ban Plastic Retail Bags”

by Ben DeGrow | 8:26 am, February 12, 2009

And Colorado is a step closer to once again being safe for democracy:
The bag ban was the brainchild of a teacher and a group of students at Kent Denver School, who approached lawmakers with their idea. Sen. Jennifer Veiga and Rep. Joe Miklosi, both Denver Democrats, agreed to sponsor the measure.

Maybe we can poll some [...]

Dear Fed, STOP PRINTING MONEY!

by zombiehunter | 7:10 am, February 12, 2009

For any of you primative screwhead leftists and progressive socialists who think the government can spend its way out of our current economic situation, I suggest enrolling in Professor Beck’s Monetary Policy 101 class:

British science office tells climate alarmists to pipe down

by Rossputin | 1:34 am, February 12, 2009

The UK’s Guardian newspaper reports that the British Met Office, one of the most prestigious governmental scientific organizations in the world, has issued a sharp criticism of global warming alarmists.

The Met Office comment, “Scientists must rein in misleading climate change claims” is just the latest in a string of bad news and criticism for the world’s greatest hoax since another anti-capitalist, Paul Ehrlich, told us in 1968 that overpopulation would cause mass starvation.

In a slightly amusing bit of demonstration of bias, both the Met Office note and the Guardian article about it mention that recent Arctic sea ice loss could be due to natural variation and aren’t indicative of “global warming.” What’s amusing is that neither deems it relevant to mention that Arctic sea ice extent made it’s fastest-ever recovery late last year and that Arctic Sea Ice Extent now stands near the top of the range going back to 2002. That’s not evidence of global cooling, but it most certainly is evidence against global warming and fear mongering.

Even when government and media want to act as if they’re acting rationally, they can’t help remaining to some degree on the side of the cult of Algore and his dangerous, expensive, and hypocritical hoax.

Amendment 54 Attacked by Special Interests, Again

by zombiehunter | 5:18 pm, February 11, 2009

The public-sector unions (funded by your tax dollars) probably should have spent more than the $30 million they did to try to defeat Amendment 54. But they didn’t.  And now they’re not being very good losers about it. What are they going to do? Fill your mailboxes with more flyers threatening attacks by Godzilla? Nope, [...]

Obama’s First Three Weeks – the guide

by Mr. Bob | 12:52 pm, February 11, 2009

#TCOT Randall Hoven at the American Thinker has a great article and wrap up on Obama’s first three weeks as President. He’s been real busy and getting a lot done…and that’s not good news. It definitely has my vote as the read of the day.

How to attract the sick, uninsured, and uninsurable to Colorado

by Brian Schwartz | 9:20 am, February 11, 2009

Some politicians and activists in Wisconsin are suggesting a that the government monopolize the health insurance industry in the state.   This is similar to Colorado’s HB 1273.  One consequence of such a bill is to attract people who are sick, uninsured, and uninsurable to the state.  Researchers at the Wisconsier Policy Research Institute

Markets to Obama Administration: Here’s what we think of your bailouts

by Rossputin | 8:19 am, February 11, 2009

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 382 points, or about 4.6%, to 7889, its biggest drop since December 1st, 2008, its lowest close since November 20th, 2008, and its second-lowest close since March 14, 2003.

And what happened on Tuesday? The Senate, with the help of 3 RINOs, at least one of whom (Arlen Specter) I hope to see lose a primary challenge in less than two years, passed its version of the “stimulus” bill. And Treasury Secretary Geithner announced the Administration’s newest version of the TARP plan, a plan which will not only get government much more deeply involved in the operation of banks, but will also, according to Geithner, involve up to $1 trillion, most of which is taxpayer money. Some analysts think it will be much more.

I’ve written in other articles that 1) the market doesn’t lie, at least not for long, and 2) the market doesn’t feel very good about the Obama administration. The market made its point louder and clearer on Tuesday.

While many liberals have argued that bailouts should be spectacularly large (a “triumph of hope over experience” as Carlos Alberto Montaner in THIS must-read article), investors voted on the simultaneous passage of two grotesquely massive wastes of our money and the vote was an unmistakable thumbs-down.

Many in the media are spinning Tuesday’s sell-off as the market “not having enough details” about the TARP expansion. But I don’t think that’s it at all. I think the market has all the details it needs. Despite the media, I think what investors really want is a signal that Geithner and Obama realize that bigger government action will not fix the problem in the short term and will exacerbate our national bankruptcy in the longer (but not very long) term.

Obama, Pelosi, Dodd, and friends keep reminding us that the Democrats won the election. Indeed they did, and although it’s costing me money, I eliminated most of my stock investments some months ago because I expect this to look in retrospect like a much better selling opportunity than buying opportunity. I hope I’m wrong. But despite the pleas of some liberal readers who probably have very little in investments, buying stocks is not a patriotic duty. What is a duty is protecting one’s capital in order to be able to provide for one’s family.

An IDB/TIPP poll shows very strong support for cutting taxes to help the economy:

And a Rasmussen poll shows “62% of U.S. voters want the plan to include more tax cuts and less government spending.”

What does this mean? As I wrote in October, just before the election, “Liberals will learn the wrong lesson from the election“. Senior Democratic politicians believe, erroneously, that Democrats did so well in the election because voters substantially like Democratic policies. This is just as untrue as Republicans winning in 2004 and believing that the public’s biggest issue was gay marriage. No, the Democrats won because people were justifiably sick of the GOP, but not because voters support big government liberalism. This wrongly-learned lesson will cost the Democrats dearly in the next couple of elections if and only if the GOP can put up solid, essentially libertarian candidates who focus on limited government and low taxes and not on abortion and gay marriage. In the meantime, we’re living the maxim that people get the government they deserve. And boy are they getting it now…good and hard.

It’s only a liberal who could think that one of the worst stock markets in American history is due to government not spending enough. It’s only a liberal who can’t seem to remember that the government doesn’t have it’s own money…it has yours. (Except of course for the money it just prints, which is little different from just taking yours.)

There’s an often-quoted phrase: “If you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging.” The Obama Administration just keeps buying bigger shovels, however, and the stock market just keeps falling deeper into the pit, and your retirement savings, your kids’ college funds, and the solvency of our own state, local, and even federal governments.

One thing I should apologize for: During the election, I said that I thought the economic turmoil would curtail the Democrats’ ability to turn us into a socialist country. I was wrong. McCain’s behavior in the past week makes me wonder “where the hell was that guy four months ago?” He’s been right on target in opposing this “stimulus” which will stimulate only the massive and permanent growth of government. If only he’d been today’s John McCain when the first stimulus vote came around. In any case, the stimulus bill now includes a heavy poisonous dose of Daschle-care. So, to the extent that I caused anyone to have some hope that an obviously socialist president might not be able to destroy our economy and our capitalist system, I apologize.

Politicians are no smarter or wiser than most other Americans. And they certainly live in an insular world of power-grabbing. This means that the Democratic leadership will continue to believe that they won the election because voters like their ideas. It’s a self-delusion, but one whose cure will be extremely painful to the rest of us. The worst thing that happens to Chris Dodd is that he’ll retire into his “friends of Angelo” mortgaged-home with his large government pension and benefits. As for the rest of us, we’ll be paying for the economic sins of him and his idiot Keynsian leftist colleagues for the rest of our lives…and if you think that’s hyperbole, read some history of the New Deal. No, friends, we have a generation or more of suffering coming because the GOP was stupid enough to give stupid voters a reason to vote in stupid liberals in essentially incontestable majorities. Yes, we’re all getting the government that Obama voters deserve. The stock market is just making it clear to those who were still, through all this Congressional cluster-f$%k, too stupid to notice.

Dow Jones Industrial Average to Obama and Geithner: “Take your bailouts and shove them.”

A Timeout for Some Non-Partisan Props to Senate President Peter Groff

by Ben DeGrow | 6:02 am, February 11, 2009

I’m a conservative and a partisan Republican. I offer up a lot of criticism here of Democrats – most of it well-deserved. But as this article that appeared yesterday in Colorado Senate News shows, if the Democrats have to be in charge, our state is well-blessed to have Peter Groff as senate president:

“When the chips [...]

RMA 2.0: Rocky Mtn Blogs Radio Show #13

by elpresidente | 9:18 pm, February 10, 2009

**NOTE: New time and extended format–Every Tuesday–next show February 10, 8:30 pm.

The Blog Talk Radio version of the Rocky Mountain Alliance. A weekly discussion about politics–national, state, and local–featuring RMA members bloggers led by featured host and producer Joshua Sharf, with rotating co-host duties from Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus, Randy Ketner of Night Twister, and Michael Alcorn of Best Destiny.

February 10 lineup–State Rep. Cory Gardner (R-63), probable candidate in the CD-4 GOP primary, and Leondray Gholston, Republican activist and candidate for state GOP vice-chair.

Last week (all shows archived): February 3 lineup–Daveed Gartenstein-Ross from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Mike Saccone of the Grand Junction Sentinel.

Next week–TBD.

January 27–Guests included elections expert Jan Tyler and State Sen. Greg Brophy.

January 20–Guests included Todd Shepherd, Independence Institute and Mark Hillman, Colorado Republican National Committeeman.

January 13–State Rep. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango (HD 59) and State Senator Mike Kopp, SD 21, R-Littleton.

January 6–CU Regent Tom Lucero, chairman of the successful Amendment 54 campaign and a candidate for CD 4 in 2010.

December 30–RMA took a look back at a dismal year in their 2008 year-in-review.

December 23–Joshua and fellow commentators (including yours truly) hosted Jim Pfaff of Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Opinion Times. Pfaff discussed the AFP Colorado report “Keeping Colorado Competitive” and bridging the Christian/libertarian gap.

On December 16 we hosted State Rep. Kevin Lundberg (District 49), and discussed the Salazar appointment as the Secretary of the Interior in the Obama cabinet.

The December 12 edition featured Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier.

**Bookmark the new RMA Radio home page, with embedded player and calendar of upcoming shows and featured guests.

Stream the show live, or play/download the podcast at your convenience.

I’ll update co-host and guest info for each episode as it becomes available. Stay tuned . . .

RMA’s shows are archived–if you missed any of them, be sure to check out the archive page to stream or download, or scroll down this page a bit, for the embedded archive player.

Colorado Watchdogs, Face The State Launches Investigative Reporting Award

by Ben DeGrow | 8:15 pm, February 10, 2009

Face The State is looking for aspiring journalists and assorted government watchdogs to ply their skills for the chance to win some cool cash:

From the governor’s office to the local waste water office, government must be held accountable. And why not win a cash prize while doing it?
That’s why Face The State is excited to [...]

Growing Labor Clout Puts Michael Bennet in Bind Over Card-Check Bill

by Ben DeGrow | 5:33 pm, February 10, 2009

The first big line in the sand this year for Colorado’s selected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and not-so-senior partner Mark Udall was the vote in favor of the massive federal spending (so-called “stimulus”) bill.
Next on the docket is the poorly-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would take away employee secret ballots in workplace [...]

Andrew Romanoff may challenge Michael Bennet

by RMR | 2:44 pm, February 10, 2009

Roll Call is reporting that Andrew Romanoff is fairly likely to challenge Sen. Michael Bennet in the 2010 Democratic primary.

This isn’t all that surprising. Frankly, you would have a hard time finding in anyone in either party (aside from Bill Ritter) who would tell you that Michael Bennet would be a better U.S. Senator than Andrew Romanoff. A telling sign has been the fact that Andrew Romanoff’s political allies have been the most openly skeptical among Democrats of Michael Bennet’s appointment over the last few months.

Keynes Was Probably Buried in a Blue Shirt

by Jon Caldara | 11:31 am, February 10, 2009

If you’re accidentally wearing blue, take your shirt off. Little Eddie from Ed Is Watching alerted me to the American Federation of Teachers “wear blue in support of the stimulus bill day.” (Which is today). With the choice of such a ubiquitous color, millions of people are unknowingly showing support for a gigantic [...]

Dem flacks cover for Ritter’s illegal Gitmo/SuperMax proposal

by Captain Arapahoe | 11:05 am, February 10, 2009

Wow – a guy goes out of town for a bit, gets in a little mountaineering and jumping out of airplanes, and comes back to all this attention.  Almost flattering that Bill Menezes, director of Colorado Media Matters, was apparently so riled up by this issue that he went and posted 3 comments all by [...]

Schumer speaks for us…American people don’t care about pork

by Mr. Bob | 10:05 am, February 10, 2009

#tcot #stimulus

Via Michelle Malkin

2009 County GOP Elections In Colorado Reveal Lingering Tensions Within Party

by elpresidente | 9:18 am, February 10, 2009

Recent county elections for GOP leadership–in **Denver, El Paso (h/t The Colorado Index), Douglas, and Larimer County–have revealed that in many ways, the Republicans continue to look both forward to 2010 AND back to the last few election cycles, simultaneously positing the conflicting strategies of the “big tent” approach (Denver) and ideological purity (El Paso). These counties represent four of the top nine counties (along with Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, and Jefferson, Weld) by population, and the rifts still in existence will continue to place a drag on the party’s prospects as a whole.

It is clear from a couple of the posts above, along with insider information from those attending other county elections (Douglas County in particular), that there is still a drive to enforce an ideological litmus test on those running for party positions of power. Not an explicit standard to be sure, but intimations on the sidelines that working together to effect electoral victory will take more than simply jumping on the party bandwagon, and that in certain counties, particular positions on a variety of issues will be frowned upon by other party activists. How this will play out in contested primaries and the general election in 2010 remains to be seen, but it appears that the tensions between so-called “social” and “fiscal” conservatives will continue to exist.

Note to folks of all stripes in the GOP–the 2008 election cycle is over, as are the heated 2004 Senate and 2006 gubernatorial primaries. 2010, aside from the ever-present foundational fundraising and recruitment challenges, will see five high-profile state-wide elections–Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, U.S. Senate, and Governor. As the Denver County GOP election revealed (short bios of those elected), the focus should be on turnout, and maximizing that turnout in Democrat dominated counties especially. “Turning out the base” has run its course in the Colorado GOP, and as Denver GOP Treasurer Kelly Maher indicated, the party needs to “maximize” its presence everywhere. Reinvigorating Republican voters who have been ignored recently or who have chosen to sit on their hands for any of a variety of reasons will be a top priority. This maximization strategy will obviously extend to returning independent voters (a bloc that has exploded in registration since 2004) to the GOP and particularly those that lean to the center-right, who have either stopped voting for Republican candidates or have actually moved into the Democrats’ column over the last decade. And with a probable continuation of the raft of Amendments that have become a biannual ballot challenge, conservatives need to work together on those issues that are not overtly partisan. Transparency is not a Republican or conservative issue, but a good government and accountability issue. Better aggregate turnout percentages are key, and continuing to abandon areas in Denver or elsewhere will not make the task any easier.

None of this will be possible, however, if the party reverts to infighting rather than looking to the base principles of free markets, individual liberty and responsibility, and limited government, and creating policy initiatives instead of becoming a “party of no.” Even if the candidates themselves try to remain above the fray, rivalries among the party activists and operatives will slow the party’s exit from the wilderness. We know that the key domestic issues will focus on the economy and job creation, and fighting the awful stimulus and pork packages and other Democrat-inspired legislation will continue to be hot-button topics nationally, and some of the same bread-and-butter legislation and rhetoric will be a priority here in Colorado. GOP primaries should be focused on these factors, and not on candidates trying to out-Reagan one another, or devolving into an exercise of “more-conservative-than-thou” mudslinging. The Democrats should provide enough electoral fodder on these issues to last several cycles, and will give the Republicans their clearest path to victory.

Republicans can and should continue the conversation about overall campaign strategies and highly targeted tactics in particular areas. Republicans and their donors also need to figure out how to make use of social networking and new media and better integrate the tools into their campaigns, but even potentially look to leapfrog the left (as success may breed stagnation for Democrats, and failure can only provide opportunity for Republicans). Success in 2010 will necessitate a concerted effort of allied individuals committed to the common principles outlined above. Candidates and elected officials are certainly fair game and should not be above scrutiny; however, applying preemptive preclusionary tactics to fellow party activists smacks of ideological narcissism and a failure to draw better conclusions from the electoral results of the last few years. Let’s focus on the 95% common ground we share, and agree to disagree on the other 5%.

**EP was selected as precinct committeeperson and chair of Senate District 34 in Denver at the Denver County GOP election.

Rocky Mtn Alliance Blog Talk Radio at 8:30: Cory Gardner, Leondray Gholston

by Ben DeGrow | 8:07 am, February 10, 2009

Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the sure-to-be-lucky 13th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio.
Tonight’s scheduled guests are state representative Cory Gardner, a rising legislative star to talk about transportation and other issues at the State Capitol, and Leondray Gholston, Republican activist and candidate for Colorado [...]

How to Craft a Stimulus if You Absolutely Must & Why Obama’s Will Fail

by Julian Dunraven | 8:00 am, February 10, 2009

By Julian Dunraven, J.D., M.P.A.

Honorable friends:

Last night, sounding quite defensive, President Obama gave a press conference to resentfully explain his stimulus package to the nation and insist that it be passed without further delays or questions—or we risk catastrophe. So much for the change we were promised. I have heard this tune before, from Mr. Bush. Pass the Patriot Act immediately for the safety of all Americans; yet we ended up mutilating the Constitution and the Supreme Court is still performing reconstructive surgery. We must invade Iraq or be destroyed by WMDs; but there were no WMDs. We must pass the TARP bailout now or the economy will collapse; and it is still collapsing with no sign of recovery on the horizon. Now our Dear Leader, singing the same song with a new voice, wants us to pass an even bigger ‘stimulus’ package lest the economy collapse . . . further. Whenever a politician asks to be trusted on faith alone and for action to be taken without delay or question, that is the time to settle comfortably into your chair, pull out your spectacles, and peruse the supposedly vital proposal most closely. So far, I have not found much to be pleased with—starting with the pork.

Mr. Obama’s claim that the stimulus bill does not contain pork is laughable. While it does not contain any earmarks inserted by individual lawmakers, it does fund a host of local projects that look identical to traditional earmarks. This might not be so objectionable if the projects stood a chance of building an economic infrastructure that generated more wealth than we are spending. It does not. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of this bill alone will increase our annual budget deficits by $884 billion over the next ten years. It represents approximately one tenth of our GDP. Add to that the $9 trillion we have spent on prior bailouts and federal backstopping and we have devoted almost our entire GDP to deficit spending on bailouts. Thus, the stimulus will hurt us, not help us.

The money for this cannot even be financed with debt any longer. U.S. Treasury bonds are becoming increasingly difficult to sell as the world loses confidence in our ability to handle our massive debt. As such, the U.S. must either raise taxes or print the money. Even the Democrats seem to be leery of raising taxes during such hard times, which means the money must be printed. As Dick Army has stated in The Wall Street Journal, “If the government prints the money, it will increase inflation, which will decrease the value of the dollar. That would, in effect, rob Paul to pay Paul back with devalued currency.

“Taking money out of the private economy — either through taxes or inflation — and spending it in a way that doesn’t offset the loss of money with real economic gains is worse than doing nothing.”

Doing nothing is exactly what some economists argue would be best right now, given the damage the current stimulus could do. Even those economists who want to see some sort of stimulus are not confident in Mr. Obama’s plan and certainly against taking any overly hasty action to pass it. On the right, Martin Feldstein argues that “The problem with the current stimulus plan is not that it is too big but that it delivers too little extra employment and income for such a large fiscal deficit. It is worth taking the time to get it right.” On the left, former CBO Director Alice Rivlin echoes the need to carefully consider the stimulus and its long and short term goals, warning that acting too quickly on one giant bill could ensure that “money will be wasted because the investment elements were not carefully crafted,” and, “that it will be harder to return to fiscal discipline as the economy recovers if the longer run spending is not offset by reductions or new revenues.”

These economists are correct. Too much is at stake to rush into this massive stimulus package just because Mr. Obama wants his first hundred days to be wildly productive. A good stimulus plan should include a large reduction in taxation so as to free up money for investment. Currently, the tax cuts in Mr. Obama’s package are too small and too brief to have any real effect. Second, a good stimulus should focus heavily on infrastructure and production. Currently, the stimulus bill devotes only about 5% of its spending to true infrastructure. The great bulk goes to social service spending such as unemployment, food stamps, et cetera. While such social service spending may be noble, as Jim Puplava has stated on the “Financial Sense Newshour,” it is like giving people fish instead of teaching them how to fish. Once they have eaten the fish, they will be hungry again.

When Japan experienced its terrible recession of the 90’s, its government quadrupled its debt in an attempt to spend its way to recovery through public works. The effort failed. Only when Japan reinvested in infrastructure, boosted productive capacity, and started selling their products to China did they begin to recover. In short, they had to create a “fishing industry,” rather than just distribute fish. America, too, must create a “fishing industry” if it wants to recover. The current stimulus contains nowhere near enough infrastructure spending and virtually nothing that could boost our productive capacity.

Even if these deficiencies were corrected though, the problem of financing any stimulus with our massive debt remains. The people supervising the process are still the same people who failed to see the problem coming, who failed to manage the first bailouts effectively, and who now fail to properly pay their own taxes. No one in Washington is even attempting to reform the banking and securities laws or the Federal Reserve’s meddling which brought us here. Trust has been lost. Moreover, the U.S. cannot possibly afford the trillions of dollars it would take to counter the contraction in consumer spending. We are entering a depression, characterized by massive deleveraging. The stimulus, as written, is doomed to failure and, at this point, can only add to our woes. Truly, it would be better to do nothing and allow the market to purge itself.

None of this, of course, will stop our government from passing the stimulus package. That will require a great deal of anger on the part of the people. Ben DeGrow of Mount Virtus has issued an appeal to speak out against it and I echo that call. We will not be able to stop it entirely, but we might convince Congress to take the advice of Ms. Rivlin and Mr. Feldstein to continue working on it for a while so that it is not a complete shambles.

Outrage: Senate Stimulus Costlier

by Ben DeGrow | 7:55 am, February 10, 2009

While many now are justifiably irate about Senators Arlen Specter and Susan Collins for their politically and economically destructive behavior, and President Obama sets up strawmen to make the case for Democrats’ massive spending spree, it’s important to remember that the so-called compromise Senate version of the so-called “stimulus” bill is actually more costly than [...]

Stimulating Welfare (RMN)

by Brian Schwartz | 7:21 am, February 10, 2009

The Rocky Mountain News has a good, and scary, critique of how Obama’s so-called “stimulus” package expands health care entitlements.  Funny how this crisis brings on leviathan, as historian Robert Higgs has written.  Here’s an excerpt:
It would be bad enough if the … [visit site to read more]

Sneaking It In, Part II

by T.L. James | 12:40 am, February 10, 2009

Once again, Barack Obama shows that he’s learned from the mistakes of the Clintons – this time, by not trumpeting changes to how the Census is conducted, but simply bringing the entire bureau into the White House with no discussion or fanfare: President Obama said in his inaugural address that he planned to “restore science [...]

Global warming advocates say white is black

by Rossputin | 12:38 am, February 10, 2009

I just love this story from the UK’s Telegraph newspaper: “Snow is consistent with global warming, say scientists.”

The subtitle: “Britain may be in the grip of the coldest winter for 30 years and grappling with up to a foot of snow in some places but the extreme weather is entirely consistent with global warming, claim scientists.”

It’s almost enough to make you laugh except when you realize that these scientists are doing their very best to attack both political and economic liberty in the interest of increasing their own grant money.

A wide range of data continues to show the “global warming” scare to be a hoax:

* CO2 levels lag, don’t lead, planet temperature changes
* Arctic sea ice recently made it’s largest one-season gain ever and is at or above its average this decade
* While anecdotes are not data, enough anecdotes of unusually cold weather around the planet suggest something real

There are dozens more bullet points one could add, but I’m going to keep this short.

The main point is that you know the alarmists are getting desperate when they say that unusually cold weather fits neatly into their claims of an overheating planet. It’s clearly, patently ridiculous.

Of course, they’re getting desperate to maintain the inflow of money from muddle-headed liberals and environmental radicals, as well as the few (in my view traitorous) corporations who are piling on to the junk science in order to sell us ethanol or compact fluorescent light bulbs. (They’re terrible…stay away!)

So now they’re telling us that global warming will slow the closure of a southern hemisphere hole in the ozone. Or that the ocean is getting more acidic. It’s been the tactic of the alarmists to release one outrageous “sky is falling” claim after another for several years now.

One other interesting thing I ran across: This article describes a 90-year old scientific study which demonstrated that the “greenhouse effect” of atmospheric gases does not exist.

The current economic crisis will somewhat impede the ability of those whose real aim is to attack capitalism and/or the energy industry under the guise of saving the planet. But only somewhat. After all, the so-called “stimulus” bill contains several hundred millions of dollars for the liar-in-chief, NASA’s James Hansen, to continue spewing his junk science into the world because it pleases Democratic politicians.

Fighting this dangerous climate alarmism is something we can’t be complacent about. Just because rational people realize that something must be wrong when someone says that a very cold season or a very cold year means the planet is overheating, that doesn’t mean liberals will realize it.

Allow me to leave you with this interesting article about one of the men who created global warming hysteria, and an apparent end-of-life change of heart:
see “The Amazing Story Behind the Global Warming Scam“

Sneaking It In

by T.L. James | 11:59 pm, February 9, 2009

The Clintons proudly trumpeted their healthcare nationalization scheme as a gift from on high to the ought-to-be-grateful masses only to see it soundly rejected in the Congress.  The Obama administration learned a valuable lesson from this experience:  if you want to socialize medicine, you need to do it fast and stealthily, lest the intended beneficiaries [...]

Down with the MTV ‘Libertarians’

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 10:35 pm, February 9, 2009

When someone tells me he’s a libertarian, or an anarchist, or a Marxist, or a NeoCon, I’m interested to hear what that means to him.  Some political philosophy terms are umbrellas for a wide range of tenets, some are hotly debated, and some are woefully misused. Like ‘libertarian’.

Watchlists and Socialists

by zombiehunter | 9:09 pm, February 9, 2009

This video’s from July 2007, but given that Rahm Emanuel is now Lord Obama’s Chief of Staff and the proposed HR 45 “Let’s Start a Civil War” Bill sits in Congress, this video is relevant.  Essentially, what he’s saying is that he’d like to see anyone who is on the suspected terrorist/no fly watch list [...]

The Case at Cherokee Trail, and Cracking Down on “Zero-Tolerance”

by Ben DeGrow | 5:12 pm, February 9, 2009

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 [...]

Gun Free School Zones

by zombiehunter | 12:05 pm, February 9, 2009

Marie Morrow is a 17-year-old senior at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora and member of the Young Marines, who plans on attending the US Merchant Marines Academy next year.  She’s also missed her after-school, off-campus drill practice last week because she was busy being suspended for having three of the drill team prop rifles [...]

Colo. High School Suspends Marine Drill Team Member Over Fake Guns

by Mr. Bob | 11:18 am, February 9, 2009

FROM REDSTATE #redco #tcot I am wondering if the Color Guard will be next…you know they use fake guns too in their routines with the Marching Band.

So why are the administrators in the Aurora, Colorado public school system harassing and punishing one of those very young people that we should be celebrating? With actions such as this, liberals are not only destroying our schools but also our traditions and our very social fabric.

High school senior Marie Morrow, 17, of Cherokee Trail High School is serving an illicitly sentenced 10-day suspension and her expulsion from school is on the line within the month. Miss Morrow is a team leader of the Young Marines youth leadership group and participates in the group’s drill team.

Miss Morrow has never been in any trouble before and plans on attending the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy after graduation — if the idiots at her high school let her graduate at all, that is. Young Miss Morrow has even received the necessary recommendation from her local congressman as the first requirement to be admitted into the academy.

The principal for Cherokee Trail High School is Brooke Gregory. S/he could very well be not yet fully aware of this situation: give him/her a call at 720-886-1904 and politely inquire.

The Superintendent for the Cherry Creek School System is Marie Chesley, and she would no doubt like this problem to go away. You can reach her at 303-773-1184 – just to make sure, though.

The Congressman for CO-07 is Ed Perlmutter (D). Call him up at 202-225-2645 and ask him if he supports the expulsion of students trying to do rifle drills. If you live in the District, his number there is 303.274.7944.

Mark Udall (D) is the senior Senator for Colorado. Call him at 202-224-5941 (877-768-3255 if you’re from Colorado) and ask him the same question, assuming that you can get through from all the people screaming about how we’re about to pass a trillion dollar debt bill. On the other hand, they’d probably be ecstatic to have something less minefield-like to work on, at this point.

Michael F. Bennet (D) is the junior Senator for Colorado. Call him at 202-224-5852; if/when you get through, be sure to ask whether he would have sanctioned this when he was running the Denver school system.

Change indeed, Democrats by the numbers

by Mr. Bob | 8:44 am, February 9, 2009

#tcot As bad as our previous Republican president allowed things to get, he was at least honorable, and did his best (as poor as that may have been sometimes) to warn of impending doom in the economy. It doesn’t compare to the outright thievery happening now.
Here are just some of the numbers in scandals involving Democrats:

$34,000: the amount of federal taxes that Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (D) failed to pay during his employment at the International Monetary Fund despite receiving extra compensation and explanatory brochures that described his tax liabilities.

$75,000: the amount of money that the head of the powerful tax-writing committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), was forced to report on his taxes after the discovery that he had not reported income from a Costa Rican rental property. His excuses for the failure started with blaming his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn’t speak Spanish.

$93,000: the amount of petty cash each Congressional representative voted to give themselves in January 2009 during the height of an economic meltdown.

$133,900: the amount Fannie Mae “invested” in Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, presumably to repel oversight of the GSE prior to its meltdown. Said meltdown helped touch off the current economic crisis. In only a few years time, Fannie also “invested” over $105,000 in then-Senator Barack Obama.

$140,000: the amount of back taxes and interest that Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle (D) was forced to cough up after the vetting process revealed significant, unexplained tax liabilities.

$356,000: the approximate amount of income and deductions that Daschle (D) was forced to report on his amended 2005 and 2007 tax returns after being caught cheating on his taxes. This includes $255,256 for the use of a car service, $83,333 in unreported income, and $14,963 in charitable contributions.

$800,000: the amount of “sweetheart” mortgages Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) received from Countrywide Financial, the details for which he has refused to release details despite months of promises to do so. Countrywide was once the nation’s largest mortgage lender and linked to Government-Sponsored Entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

This is only half the list……READ THE REST

Here is a little video on the increase Congress just gave themselves…in CASH

« go back — keep looking »

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