Stimulus plus Appropriations = double dipping

by Mr. Bob | 2:38 pm, March 3, 2009

Jared Polis Delights in the Demise of the RMN

by Mr. Bob | 1:34 pm, March 3, 2009

RMA 2.0: Rocky Mtn Blogs Radio Show #16

by elpresidente | 1:12 pm, March 3, 2009

**NOTE: New time and extended format–Every Tuesday–next show March 3, 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.

March 3 lineup–two candidates for Fort Collins City Council, Aislinn Kottwitz (District 3) and Andrew Boucher (District 5), and Tom Stone, who is challenging Dick Wadhams for state party chairmanship.

Last week (all shows archived): February 24 lineup–Evan Coyne Maloney of Indoctrinate U, whose film of the same name was shown at the inaugural Liberty on Film last Thursday, and Nadeem Esmail of the Fraser Institute, discussing the dangers of single-payer (socialized) medicine from first hand experience.

Indoctrinate U trailer:

Plus two special editions of RMA Radio–the Pork Roast/anti-stimulus rally edition from the steps of the state capitol, as well as extensive coverage of the Larimer County Lincoln Day dinner.

February 17 lineup–Denver-based political activist Chris Maj, also an affiliate of Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, and a look back to today’s anti-stimulus/pig roast rally at the state capitol.

Next week–TBD.

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.

February 3 lineup–Daveed Gartenstein-Ross from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Mike Saccone of the Grand Junction Sentinel.

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 22, 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.

Democrat Rep. Jared Polis Gleeful Over Demise Of Rocky Mountain News, Credits Progressive New Media

by elpresidente | 12:23 pm, March 3, 2009

Speaking at Nutroots Netroots Nation (full audio of quote, first 2 minutes):

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, who made his fortune selling greeting cards and flowers online, gave a shout-out to the blogosphere Saturday, giving it — and himself — credit for the “demise” of traditional journalism.

“I have to say, that when we say, ‘Who killed the Rocky Mountain News,’ we’re all part of it, for better or worse, and I argue it’s mostly for the better,” Polis said at the Netroots Nation in Your Neighborhood event in Westminster, according to a recording posted online. The group supports progressive politics.

“The media is dead, and long live the new media, which is all of us,” said Polis, a Boulder Democrat.

The Rocky shuttered its operation Friday.

Polis also told those at the event that “since we killed the newspapers” and “own the media,” bloggers and citizen journalists have a responsibility.

“We can’t just kill it and walk away,” he said. “It’s important for all of us to reach out to some of those . . . on the other side and present the progressive point of view,” he said.

Polis, sensing a backlash for his irresponsible and insensitive statements given the present economic downturn, has already issued a mealy-mouthed response (h/t Drunkablog):

The end of the Rocky Mountain News was a blow to all of us in Colorado. We were proud to have a city that had two powerful voices, two daily venues for informing the public, and a diversity of editorial voices. Not only has Colorado lost over 200 jobs, but the voice of the RMN has been silenced.

Indeed, some of the blame rests with new media. While there are many other factors that have contributed such as the recession and a decline in advertising, the very fact that we are discussing this issue here, in the online forum of the DP, is demonstrative of the rise of new media. The newspaper industry has yet to figure out how to monetize online traffic, and until they do, I worry not only about the demise of the RMN but I worry about the future of a strong third estate across our great nation.

Jared Polis

The Post traces the development of the story, from short blurb by a citizen journalist who attended the Netroots Nation conference on Saturday, to a full follow-up by Post staff. Polis’ office coughed up the audio, so there isn’t a “lack of context” to the quote.

The Post concludes:

Polis said what he said with glee. He giggled as he talked about how progressives shared much responsibility in the Rocky’s passing.

Carroll is preparing a column for tomorrow’s paper that goes into the audio in greater detail – and shows how some key statements Polis told Carroll in yesterday’s interview are at odds with the facts.

There is a footnote for citizen journalists of all political stripes–get the facts straight by providing citations and links whenever possible, and even better, get it on tape so that you can’t be accused of taking quotes out of context:

To wrap it up, The Post followed traditional journalistic values to provide fast-paced commentary and news on this story.

Some question whether responsible journalism will survive the Internet. Yesterday is proof that responsible journalism only benefits from the Internet and makes good use of the technology.

The example that mainstream media represents is a high bar we expect citizen journalists of all political stripes to meet.

Or be ignored.

I’m not sure how high that MSM bar has been recently, but citizen journalists should take care to maintain credibility. Leave the partisan hackery to the partisan hacks. Cite sources, and if documents are provided (such as through a CORA request) make them available to readers. Where possible, use audio or video to bolster your claims. And always follow up.

So how about that new media eh, Polis?

RMA Blog Talk Radio Tonight at 8:30: A Look at Fort Collins, Tom Stone

by Ben DeGrow | 10:01 am, March 3, 2009

Tune in starting at 8:30 PM local Mountain Time this evening for the 16th edition of Rocky Mountain Alliance Blog Talk Radio. In the early slot, two candidates for Fort Collins city council join us to discuss issues facing one of the best places to live in the United States, and their vision for the [...]

Democrats’ Anti-Taxpayer Shell Game Demands a Principled “Party of No”

by Ben DeGrow | 8:54 am, March 3, 2009

The other half of Colorado Democrats’ shell game rolled through the state senate last night – with one of the longest debates on a state legislative bill in recent memory. Senate Bill 228 would repeal the state general fund’s 6 percent spending limit and allow additional funds to be diverted from transportation to pet government [...]

Obama’s energy plan mixes fascism and socialism

by Rossputin | 4:44 am, March 3, 2009

Over at Human Events, Christopher Horner has written a very good article explaining the economic and the politics of the “cap and trade” proposal in Barack Obama’s budget. The only think Mr. Horner might have done more of is to explain just how huge a tax it really is…on every American person and every American business.

see “Obama’s ‘Cap and Trade’ Plan Imposes Huge Tax“, Christopher Horner, Human Events, 3/2/09

Essentially the plan mixes fascism and socialism, with the government moving to dominate the energy industry and partly redistributing revenue derived from it, all at a massive cost to business and individuals.

A couple quotes from a Bloomberg article on “cap and trade”:

““Cap-and-trade system will have some effects on households,” White House budget director Peter Orszag said today.”

“Obama has acknowledged it would cause an initial spike in energy costs and is proposing to use $60 billion a year from the auction of carbon trading permits to help finance his “making work pay” tax credit program for lower-income families.” In other words, he’s going to raise energy prices so much that he knows it will cost him votes, so he’ll take some of the money and try to buy the votes back.

Although one would like to think this won’t pass without a fight, there may be a way that the Senate can pass this without needing 60 votes. And they almost certainly can’t get 60 because of opposition from Democratic “rust belt” Senators among others, even if John McCain were to go along with it. And it’s quite likely to pass a Democrat-dominated House of Representatives. If it does pass, it will simultaneously mean a body blow to an already extremely weak economy and a massive pick-me-up to the energy and likely political fortunes of Republicans in 2010.

The public may have had blinders on for the giant leap toward nationalization of health care that occurred in the stimulus bill. They feel like they might be getting something, and they don’t yet understand that “free” health care will cost them much more than the current system. But “cap and trade” will be far easier for the public to understand, when they see the cost of everything go up. It will be easy for opponents to point out that the scheme not only is being used as welfare, but it also funnels money to certain corporations which are going along in an effort to feed at the trough…those companies will be rightly pilloried and, I hope, boycotted. Let’s start with General Electric.

Also, even if Obama redistributes some of the income, he won’t be able to buy back most of the votes that desert him based on cap and trade. What will happen is that they’ll come to believe that their transfer payments are simply entitlements and that the government has to “do something” about higher energy prices, which of course the government won’t do because their radical environmentalist supporters specifically want higher energy prices.

The Bloomberg article also notes that “Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, says capping such emissions would cost taxpayers as much as $330 billion a year.”

I wrote before the election that Obama’s “cap and trade” policy ideas are more dangerous than his tax-increasing ideas. In a weak economy, that’s truer than every. I believe a major part of the destruction you’re seeing in financial markets in the past few days comes directly from the market slowly but surely agreeing with me, recognizing that “cap and trade” is a policy which will make it nearly impossible for American businesses to thrive or compete, and which will force hundreds or thousands of business to shut down, some to re-open in other countries and some to be gone forever.

Federal Government Bureaucrats Misplace Two Forklifts

by zombiehunter | 7:57 pm, March 2, 2009

I finally get it. We need a “Stimulus” Package for increased government spending because incompetent government bureaucrats keep losing their toys. Now I might be able to understand if they lost a $200 hammer or a $500 toilet seat. But Homeland Security lost not one, but two forklifts?!?! Seriously. Show of hands: who still thinks [...]

On Fascism . . .the other “F” word.

by Joss Armstrong | 6:28 pm, March 2, 2009

You’ve more than likely seen “fascist” thrown around a LOT–and I’ll bet you dollars to donuts when you’ve seen it the meaning has been a tad inconsistent.   After performing many a google search for contextual references to “fascist” and “fascism”,  I found George Orwell made offering up the word’s internet flame-fest definition easy: The word [...]

Backdoor Bill Ritter Strikes Again!

by Jon Caldara | 5:35 pm, March 2, 2009

“FASTER” is a disaster.
Everyone knows the first couple of paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, you know, the good stuff about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Fewer people read on to the list of grievances against King George. (BTW if you’d like to listen to the whole Declaration do it here.)  One of [...]

Transparency Call to Arms

by Justin Longo | 5:04 pm, March 2, 2009

Alright you transparency rabble rousers.  Get ready to show your love for transparent and accountable government! Via Amy Oliver: If anyone could be at the capitol this Wednesday morning (the 4th) at 8:45 am we would greatly appreciate it!  State spending transparency (HB 1288) will be heard in the house finance committee upon adjournment.  We [...]

What on Earth is GOBASH.org?

by Jon Caldara | 1:34 pm, March 2, 2009

I know what you’re thinking… Another new website from the Independence Institute? Really? I know, I know. We’ve got more websites than the Tim Gill hack organizations can even keep track of, which is nice, because the more websites we have, the more difficult it becomes to continuously feign outrage.

GOBASH.org is [...]

Denver Gadsden Society Freedom Rally Video Recap

by elpresidente | 11:48 am, March 2, 2009

Ben DeGrow and People’s Press Collective have photo recaps, where approximately 80 people gathered to support the foundation of the Gadsden Society, including Republicans, Libertarians, and yes, even a few Democrats!

This movement won’t die if we don’t let it–the vigilance for our freedoms doesn’t stop at election time.

For those of you who were out of town and unable to attend, here is the video from yesterday’s Gadsden Society “Rally for Personal Freedom”:

Part 1: Introduction, Gadsden Society, President David K. Williams, Jr.

Part 2: VP Lenina Close, Liberty for All

Part 3: John Brackney, CEO and President, South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce

Part 4: Justin Longo, Liberty on the Rocks

Part 5: State Sen. Morgan Carroll (D), SD-29

Part 6: Ross Kaminsky, rossputin.com

Part 7: Wesley Dickinson, People’s Press Collective

Part 8: CU Regent Tom Lucero

Part 9: Ryan Frazier, Aurora City Councilman

People’s Press Collective You Tube Channel

by Mr. Bob | 10:32 am, March 2, 2009

#tcot #redco PPC has been making a name for themselves getting video and stories out about National issues, Denver and Colorado issues and how those affect each other. The guys have been working hard uploading videos into a our own channel on Youtube. Become a member today.

Change in the wind – another half billion in pork?

by Mr. Bob | 9:51 am, March 2, 2009

#tcot #stimulus

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will break a campaign pledge and sign a budget bill laden with millions in lawmakers’ pet projects, administration officials said.

Administration budget chief Peter Orszag and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel both downplayed the $410 billion spending bill and signaled Obama would hold his nose and sign it. Orszag said: “We want to just move on. Let’s get this bill done, get it into law and move forward.

Said Emanuel: “That’s last year’s business.”

So let me get this straight. The Democrats ran on ‘Bush was disastrous because he spent like a drunken sailor’!. Anyone paying attention, knew they were lying and anyone who was fooled into thinking that meant the Dems would spend less is ignorant.

Since this is “last year’s business” we are just going to pass it?….right after we passed a 1.5 trillion dollar spending package. This is a power grab, plain and simple folks. Our country is being destroyed, much faster than I even thought the liberals were capable of. we do not have this money, it is our children’s, our grandchildren’s money and more. READ THE REST if you can stomach it. Emmanual blames…….you guessed it Bush.

Stock futures reflecting national economic destruction

by Rossputin | 1:48 am, March 2, 2009

As I write this just before 9 PM Mountain Time on Sunday, stock index futures are pointing to another very weak open on Monday morning, with Dow Jones futures trading well below 7,000.

Asian stocks are getting slammed, with shares of HSBC halted and the market anticipating weak earnings, a dividend cut, and a large sale of stock at a highly discounted price. And that’s a bank that’s doing well.

The market was stung on Friday and appears to continue to be so by a downward revision in Q4 GDP, from -3.8% to -6.2%, far worse than most expectations…but not worse than mine.

As if the overall economic picture weren’t bad enough, we also have the government getting larger just as the rest of our financial picture is getting bleaker, meaning our taxes are going up just as our ability to save for ourselves and our children’s futures is diminishing. That’s right: the only one of the GDP components which did not drop was government spending.

And I’ll bet that this quarter’s number will be about as bad as last quarter’s. Why wouldn’t it be?

I had written last week that I thought there was a chance for a technical rally, that is a market rally driven by brief oversold conditions and massively negative sentiment. But every time government announces what it’s doing next, and as it becomes clearer that Barack Obama intends to destroy American capitalism, we are eliminating the reasons for anyone to buy, and the many billions of dollars of “cash on the sidelines” can find no reason to move off the sidelines.

In other weekend news, Spansion, one of the largest makers of flash memory, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The EU has refused to consider a broad bailout of other European nations, and AIG is about to destroy another $30 billion in taxpayers’ hard-earned money…the fourth time government is letting it pick the pockets of citizens. And as if the AIG news isn’t bad enough, with government taking controlling stakes in financial companies with our money, now we learn that AIG is going to repay recent loans with stock in its divisions rather than pay us back our cash, with interest, as promised.

Of course, the real wet blanket on the market is Barack Obama’s budget and its wishful thinking…bordering on lies…about future tax revenue. First, it assumes a much smaller decline in economic activity in 2009 than we will have, and then it assumes a historically normal growth rate for 2010! These errors alone are likely to make the deficit from Obama’s budget top $2 trillion! In terms of “cost savings”, the Obama lie that’s getting the most light shined on it is his claim to be saving money from the Iraq war by assuming that it would have gone on forever, at about $170 billion per year, without him, so any spending less than that is being called budgetary savings! Now you know why Obama seemed so pleased to be bringing the war spending fully into the budget.

Although I thought there might have been a chance for a temporary technical rally, and still may be, I maintain my bigger picture view that stocks are NOT cheap at these prices and that we are not yet at the bottom of this bear market. Furthermore, after we have reached the bottom, we will not get back over 9,500 in the Dow for at least 18 months at a minimum, and probably longer. (If we do, it will not be by much and not for more than a day or two, and it will be a great selling opportunity.) In general, I think any rally of 10% is a sale (but I’ll play it by selling out-of-the-money calls so I have some wiggle room because I don’t ever expect to buy the absolute bottom or sell the absolute top.)

(For those of you interested in an interesting discussion of whether stocks are cheap or not, John Mauldin had a good piece last week making two main points: 1) The p/e at the time you invest is critically important, and 2) Every situation is different, and even though that seems obvious too many people assume that market history will repeat itself.)

Back on the budget, I believe people are finally realizing the smoke and mirrors surrounding Obama’s claim that he’ll get a lot more tax revenue by raising taxes on the top 2%. First of all, the income in that group will be dropping dramatically due to market conditions. Second, that’s the group that can either afford to find ways around generating taxable income, or can afford to work less since their incentive to take entrepreneurial risk is under assault.

And finally, but maybe most importantly, the market is probably realizing the massive tax hike – and a particularly regressive one – that Obama’s “cap and trade” system would impose on the economy. It will make his income tax like look like nothing, and it will destroy what is left of our economy in the short run.

Obama’s budget represents anything but “hope” and “change”. It’s more of the same from the Democrats, more of what they’ve done from FDR to LBJ and wanted to do since then but not had the power until now. History shows that it always fails, as it must based on such a flawed model as Keynsian stimulus. But this isn’t about economic success, it’s about government control of our lives. Until the public fully realizes that, we’re in for a tsunami of economic fascism and devastation that will leave many people wondering what happened to their country.

“Stand Up for Liberty!”

by Ben DeGrow | 11:27 pm, March 1, 2009

Update: El Presidente has posted a video recap of the different speakers at yesterday’s rally.
Earlier today was the kickoff rally for Colorado’s new Gadsden Society. About 70 to 80 people showed up on a Sunday afternoon at the State Capitol. Tell your friends to come out and join us for the next one. Check back [...]

Gadsden Society Rallies for Liberty in Denver

by T.L. James | 11:14 pm, March 1, 2009

What? Another rally in support of liberty, small government, and capitalism? Why yes – it seems to be a trend…

There’s a hole in the bucket.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 6:48 pm, March 1, 2009

« go back

Featured Posts

• Judge Rules Americans Can Be Forced to Testify Against Themselves

  In order to protect our rights, our security must be protected. In order to protect our security, our rights must be invaded. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

• World Economic Forum in Switzerland: Global Elites Celebrating Hypocrisy
• SCOTUS decision on warrantless GPS surveillance produces an expected friend of privacy
• You didn’t want your Fifth Amendment rights, anyway, did you?
• Keynesian Economists Finally Catch Up and Agree: China to Have Hard Landing
• The Beauty of Private Property—from China?
• Regime Uncertainty, Regulatory Surge, and Unemployment Numbers