Fannie and Freddie to be delisted from NYSE

by Rossputin | 10:01 am, June 16, 2010

My thoughts on the delisting of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the NYSE are up on the American Spectator’s blog.  Please have a read here:
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/06/16/how-worthless-can-they-be

Victory in Federal Court!!!

by Jon Caldara | 9:53 am, June 16, 2010

As I hope you know, we have been working to bring to this Fall’s Colorado ballot a citizens’ amendment, the Right to Health Care Choice. Well, we just cleared a massive hurdle.  A federal court judge has placed an emergency injunction on a new state law that made it near impossible to get an initiative [...]

Obama tries to sell Gulf (snake) oil

by Rossputin | 6:50 am, June 16, 2010

For today’s reading, may I suggest my article for Human Events about President Obama’s prime time speech last night regarding the Gulf oil spill.  Clearly, the man has adopted Rahm Emanuel’s exhortation not to let a crisis go to waste.

See “Obama Sells Economic Snake Oil“, Ross Kaminsky, HumanEvents.com, 6/16/10
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37519

White House economist: third-party payment increases health care spending

by Brian Schwartz | 6:00 am, June 16, 2010

Last week I noted that President Obama does not know what health insurance is, and decries real insurance while praising prepaid health plans masquerading as insurance.  I also posted about how ObamaCare, HR 3590, threatens real insurance policies, that is, HSA-qualified plans. Maybe the President should listen to one of his economic advisors.  From the [...]

Meeting with McInnis and Hickenlooper

by PerlStalker | 10:32 pm, June 15, 2010

By an interesting twist of scheduling, two candidates for Governor of Colorado, Republican Scott McInnis and Democrat John Hickenlooper, were holding meet and greets in Alamosa. Fortunately, they were at different times so I was able to attend both of …

Scott McInnis says he opposes eminent domain, Hidden Gems

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 9:41 pm, June 15, 2010

Scott McInnis, the leading GOP candidate for governor, wants the Army to have the right to expand into Pinon Canyon as long as it respects the eminent domain rights of landowners and as long as they have the right to sell their land if they want to. 
Following Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s 

Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero – Part II

by El Marco | 8:22 pm, June 15, 2010

Americans Stand Up Against Radical Islam in New York – We Will Not Submit!
June 16, 2010, New York, N.Y.,   –  by El Marco
On Sunday, June 6th, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of Americans opposed to Islamic violence and intoleranc…

Let Them Build the Mosque

by Ari Armstrong | 6:13 pm, June 15, 2010

I oppose Islam for the same basic reason I oppose all religion: supernaturalism is false, and people ought not believe things that are false. In today’s world, Islam is a particularly destructive force, in many sectors sanctioning the abuse of women, t…

Pro Illegal Rally Final post – SEIU Thugs Off To Jail

by Mr. Bob | 5:58 pm, June 15, 2010

#tcot #teaparty #illegals #redco**updated below with link to story on the arrested.Final thoughts.. as I was leaving downtown to head to my humble abode, there was the paddy wagon with the SEIU faithful (in their purple SEIU shirts) handcuffed and bein…

Is Perlmutter responding to media worries?

by completecolorado | 4:34 pm, June 15, 2010

Two separate stories in the media give an interesting view of the 7th Congressional contest this fall, and it almost makes one wonder if Ed Perlmutter isn’t looking over his shoulder, at least just a little bit.
Start with this article from the AP, a flattering profile of Republican candidate Ryan Frazier:
With an anti-incumbent mood running nationwide, [...]

Reform Immigration Rally – pics, video and comment

by Mr. Bob | 4:21 pm, June 15, 2010

pic of the courthouse steps- empty up until 4:10 pm. At 4:15 the sidewalk was …well…had some protestors on it but not that many really.If you blinked you missed it. 150 to 200 people…max on this “rally” march. They were loud and had the usual fol…

BP needs new CEO, top executives, board and corporate culture

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 2:35 pm, June 15, 2010

Today’s House hearings showed that BP needs a new board, CEO, top managers and corporate culture. The British company’s board hired a CEO who has created or continued a corporate culture that puts cost cutting and making deadlines ahead of ensuring the safety of workers, the environment and shareholders.
The implied criticisms of BP dished out at the hearing by its peers at Exxon, Chevron and Shell were devastating for BP’s top managers. The other companies’ CEOs basically accused BP of cutting corners and taking risks that they wouldn’t take. Hindsight is great, but the comments make it clear that BP’s top executives are way in over their heads and must be replaced.
That all of the companies have the same disaster plan and that it was written by the same consultant only shows that consultants sell a lot of boilerplate solutions. And it shows that the companies’ risk managers aren’t doing their jobs and should be fired for not asking questions and participating in developing their worst case scenario recovery plans. Those risk managers are probably getting an earful from their bosses, and their careers probably are in trouble. The consultant also is probably in trouble with its clients for boiler plating them.
The idea that more laws and regulations would have prevented the oil spill and that more will is very debatable. Extensive FDA regulations don’t keep big pharmaceutical companies from marketing drugs that cause deaths and have to be withdrawn from the market. No regulations can prevent human errors.
What we have here is a tremendous failure of big government, which has failed to marshal the resources needed to protect the environment after the spill and continues to fail in providing leadership in the fight against the spill.
A smaller government with fewer competing power centers, agencies and conflicting laws and regulations would have a stronger chain of command and would have been much more flexible and aggressive in coordinating an effective response to the disaster.

More on Freedom of Choice in Health Care

by Al Maurer | 12:13 pm, June 15, 2010

On May 18 I introduced the petition to preserve Freedom of Choice in Health Care for Colorado. The signatures for many, if not most, petitions in Colorado are collected by paid signature gatherers. We need 120,000 signatures to ensure enough valid signatures to get the petition on the ballot in November.  In El Paso County [...]

Reform Immigration For America Rally – Denver today

by Mr. Bob | 10:55 am, June 15, 2010

#immigration #illegals #arizonalaw #che # teaparty #redcoReform Immigration for America a pro-illegal immigration, anti Arizona law, pro socialist agenda group is marching in Denver today. I hope to be there with camera in hand so I can add a fewphoto’…

Aurora Town Hall Featuring Yours Truly

by Jon Caldara | 10:36 am, June 15, 2010

The only thing better than seeing me at a town hall on the topic of money and politics, is seeing me at a town hall completely outnumbered by various branches of Colorado’s left-wing. And lucky for you, this Aurora town hall meeting has both! Our friend Senator Morgan Carroll is co-hosting an Aurora [...]

Does Research Matter in Education Policy, When We Can’t Fix “Masters Bumps”?

by Eddie | 10:11 am, June 15, 2010

Update, 6/16: Teacher Beat blogger Stephen Sawchuk notes that both Colorado’s own Harrison School District and now the Pittsburgh School District have fashioned pay plans that make master’s bumps “a thing of the past.”
It’s summertime. The Internet isn’t exactly brimming with exciting new developments in the world of education to write about. So instead I [...]

One point for a soccer critic

by Rossputin | 9:28 am, June 15, 2010

Having lived in soccer-mad Holland for a little while, I developed an appreciation for soccer.  I, unlike most Americans apparently, can understand how a game that ends up 1-0 or even scoreless can be a thing of beauty, a demonstration of tremendous athletic skill.

Not that the conversation comes up very often in my life, but I tend to be a defender/supporter of what much of the rest of the world calls football.  Even while realizing that in America it will probably not become anything bigger than a game played by young girls and a few college athletes – at least not until we have a Hispanic population that dwarfs what it is today – I have hoped soccer would gain some traction in the USA.

But on Sunday evening on the radio, I heard the best argument yet against soccer, or rather the best argument as to why it will never be popular in America.  I didn’t catch the name of the talk radio host; if anyone else did, please let me know so I can properly attribute the comment.

Essentially, he said this:

America is a country that loves (American) football and at least likes hockey.  These are games with hard hitting, where we cheer when a guy gets smashed trying to catch a pass down the middle of the field but then gets up to run back to the huddle for the next play.  Where we cheer hockey fights (but not as much as we used to) and appreciate the artistry of a well-executed body check, not sure whether we hope that a guy loses a tooth.

Soccer, on the other hand, is a game in which players flop and dive when another player touches an ankle or looks at them the wrong way; they act like my 2-year old when he doesn’t get the chocolate he wants.

Indeed, perhaps “act” is the most appropriate word.  We don’t watch sports to see guys with enormous legs pretending to be Sean Penn or some other whiny over-acting primadonna.

And I think the commenter was right.  These pathetic dives, this acting to try to get the other guy in trouble, will indeed keep soccer from becoming popular in America.  I don’t want to see even a hint of a tear unless a bone is sticking through a leg.  And neither does any other American.

So, while soccer is still the Beautiful Game, I think I’ve been convinced that it really isn’t an American game.

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold discusses the Colorado Supreme Court, retention elections, and Chief Justice Mullarkey’s retirement at Boulder County Republican Women’s luncheon Tuesday

by CTBC Director | 9:12 am, June 15, 2010

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold discusses the impact of Colorado Supreme Court rulings leading to a massive expansion of government power (at the expense of YOUR constitutional rights) and vastly increased taxation (such as the “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” property tax increase, the “Dirty Dozen” tax increases and of course the Colorado Car Tax (er, “vehicle [...]

Happy Hour Meet Up June 21st

by redrocks | 8:53 am, June 15, 2010

A Rootin’ Tootin’, Straight Shootin’ “D”
Senator Morgan Carroll – Up On The Roof

June 21, 2010

Find out why our next guest speaker and Colorado native, Colorado State Senator Morgan Carroll is despised by the lobbyists and join us for our very first (and long overdue) female guest speaker. Senator Carroll has been instrumental in transparency, property [...]

Scott McInnis answers some questions about his $300,000 Hasan Foundation fellowship

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 7:17 am, June 15, 2010

Ever since the Denver Post reported back in April that the Hasan Foundation paid Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis $150,000 to write articles about Colorado water laws, regulations and issues, Democrats have been asking whether he wrote the articles. Now McInnis has given the Denver Post a copy of his 150-page report, Musings on Water, and the Foundation has published a link on its web site to the 12 articles (see link below) that he wrote during his fellowship. The foundation didn’t publish McInnis’ full report.
“A 2005 memo from McInnis to foundation chairwoman Seeme Hasan noted that he wrote 12 articles, spoke at five events and handled ‘several’ TV interviews,” the Post reported. McInnis didn’t provide a report of his expenses. It isn’t clear whether he wrote the articles, which were written to be published in a series and are very chatty, or paid someone else to write them. They look like they were dictated and then edited. The first six-paragraph article was very brief, not much longer than this post, and it looks like it could have been written or dictated in a few minutes based on McInnis’ years of work on water issues. The subsequent articles are a little longer and probably involved some research. Because the articles were written for general interest newspapers and publications, there are no citations or footnotes. McInnis didn’t report on how much of his 2005-2006 Fellowship years he spent on the project and how much time he spent on other projects and business.
Jason Salzman reports on his BigMedia.org blog that a Hasan Foundation attorney says that McInnis was paid $150,000 a year, or a total of $300,000. Salzman, a Democrat activist, wonders whether the foundation got its money’s worth.

It appears that the Hasans wanted to help their friend start his new career in the public sector, and they wanted to maintain their relationship with him. The Hasans had contributed $14,000 to McInnis’ campaigns over the years, according to the Post.
Thus, the deal seems pretty routine given the parties involved and their goals and relationships.
It appears that the Hasans made the deal expecting that they might have a long-term relationship with McInnis, but he found a much higher-paying job as a lobbyist and rain maker for a Denver law firm, and that may have caused him to terminate the deal earlier than they expected. It will be interesting to see whether the Hasans or McInnis are willing to answer further questions and whether they will make the full report available to the public.
Whether Hasan or McInnis publishes all of the report or not probably doesn’t matter. The mysterious report and fellowship have been explained well enough to kill them as issues for the Democrats to use against McInnis. 
LINKs:

Foundation paid McInnis $300,000 to write and speak, not $150,000; 12 water articles released. Bigmedia.org and Coloradopols.com.
McInnis reaped $150K for one-year stint at foundation. By Karen E. Crummy.
Hasan Foundation pdf with announcement of fellowship, agenda for a meeting that McInnis keynoted, McInnis report to the foundation on his activities his 12 articles. 
Hasan Family Foundation.

It’s not just Israel who is worried about Iran

by Rossputin | 5:15 am, June 15, 2010

People who understand the real world, the real Middle East, the real Iran – which is to say most international leaders outside of EU leadership and our own weak, pathetic, dangerous Dear Leader – are deeply concerned about Iran’s steady push to get a nuclear weapon.

The AP reported yesterday on getting a copy of a 2005 book by a senior Iranian cleric in which he called for Iran to acquire “special weapons”, meaning nuclear bombs.

No rational person believed the summary language 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which claimed that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program.  That document was clearly written by people with a political agenda, not least to harm George W. Bush. (Henry Kissinger wrote an interesting deconstruction of the NIE which you can read HERE.) But with their actions, they did grave harm to the nation and the world by giving cover to a government which truly meets the definition of “Evil Empire”.

Again, despite President Obama’s blasé approach to Iran, those who are Iran’s neighbors are extremely worried.  And it’s not just Israel, despite Israel being the only nation which Iranian leaders have called to be exterminated.  Non-Shi’a Arab neighbors of Iran are also scared to death.

Thus it is not a great surprise – although it probably was to Obama and deer-in-the-headlights Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – to read a report Saudi Arabia has granted Israel the right to fly through Saudi air space if they are flying bombers (and aerial tankers for refueling) to attack Iran’s nuclear facility. (The analysis linked just above is well worth a read.)  It’s also not a great surprise to read that the Saudis are denying the report; after all, Iran is far larger and more powerful than the House of Saud – part of the reason they must publicly deny that they would help support an attack they probably secretly wish for.

My guess is that the core of the report is true and that the Saudis would turn a blind eye to Israeli aircraft overflying Saudi desert.

In addition to the straight-forward desire to have someone else take out their enemy’s nuclear weapons capacity, I suspect another aspect to the Saudi move given recent major news from the Middle East:  The bungled Israeli interception of the Turkish “aid” flotilla did tremendous, perhaps unrecoverable, damage to the relationship between Israel and Turkey, perhaps Israel’s best Mulsim-nation ally until a few short days ago.

I can’t help but wonder whether Saudi Arabia hopes that they can fill in some of the alliance void created by the damage to the Israel-Turkey relationship and redirect to themselves some of the kid glove treatment which America has given an increasingly Islamic Turkey.

In a normal situation in the United States, this calculation – if it’s going on – would be sensible.  But America currently has only its second overtly anti-Israel president (the first being Jimmy Carter) and I doubt that Barack Obama will look particularly kindly on part of the Arab world, to whom he apologizes at every opportunity, doing a favor for Israel.  Obama may bow to King Saud, but that doesn’t mean he’ll agree when the King takes one of the few overtly pro-Israel and anti-Iran actions that we’re likely to see during the course of a decade by an Arab country.

The other potential Saudi calculation is that it could increase its quiet but important business relationships with Israel.

An Arab commentator in a London-based Arabic newspaper believes the entire story might be untrue, a situation which would be quite interesting in itself as perhaps an Israeli move to scare Iran, if only temporarily, into slowing down their nuclear rush.  If so, it won’t work.

As AllahPundit over at HotAir points out, we hear this same story repeated from time to time.  I wouldn’t claim that repetition increases the chances that the story is true, or that it is untrue.  At the end of the day, we won’t know the truth until Benyamin Netanyahu or some future Israeli Prime Minister orders an attack on Iran, an attack which I think is at least a 50/50 proposition in the next five years.

Ross and Sarah Palin

by Rossputin | 5:05 am, June 15, 2010

A few weeks ago, my radio station, Newstalk 710 KNUS, hosted an event attended by thousands of people at which former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin spoke.  Palin was fine…pretty much what you’d expect. A populist sort of conservative who is not hard on the eyes. As I’ve said before, I’m glad she’s out talking about politics – even while I cringe when she suggests greater intersection between religion and government – but I hope she doesn’t run for president, at least not in 2012.  As I’ve also mentioned, Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager also spoke at the event, with Prager giving perhaps the best speech I’ve ever heard.  (Unfortunately, I’ve only been able to find some of his later comments at the event on YouTube. These are also well worth watching. If I find the whole speech, I’ll try to post it here.)

Governor Palin took pictures with some of the attendees.  Here’s my photo with her.  Not the best picture of me ever taken, but whatever.  In Palin’s hand, you can see the book I handed her a few seconds earlier: The Law by Frederic Bastiat.  She hadn’t read it or heard of it before.  I hope she’ll take the time to read what is probably, page for page, the best and most thorough destruction of socialism ever written.  (You can get a FREE DOWNLOAD of The Law from the Foundation for Economic Education, or BUY it in paperback.)

Look for the Union Label

by completecolorado | 6:26 pm, June 14, 2010

Thanks to tea party hype in the recent primaries, analysis has been somewhat scarce that unions haven’t been faring all that well lately at the ballot box.  Meanwhile, there are small bits of news in Colorado that suggest those trends may be taking shape here as well.
Probably the biggest news was in Arkansas, where unions [...]

Monday Media Week in Review – did Clear The Bench Colorado influence Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mullarkey’s retirement?

by CTBC Director | 4:11 pm, June 14, 2010

Media coverage of Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey’s announcement of her intent to retire rather than be held accountable by voters in the November elections over the last week began to go beyond the initial ‘news’ articles mostly just recounting the announcement itself (along with the obligatory paeans to her lengthy career) to [...]

Has John Hickenlooper lost El Paso County and Colorado Springs to Scott McInnis?

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 3:32 pm, June 14, 2010

John Hickenlooper had to come down on the side of the Pinon Canyon ranchers and disagree with his Republican opponent in the Colorado race for governor, Scott McInnis, who supports the Army’s determination to seize their land for an expansion of the Pinon Canyon Manuver Site. 
Hickenlooper has decided that the votes of a few ranchers can be leveraged into securing the votes of independents who believe in protecting the ranchers property rights. Eminent domain are dirty words among independents and conservatives, but the concept of eminent domain, ironically, is supported by spend and tax Obama Democrats—unless they’re running against McInnis.
McInnis long ago came down on the side of economic development folks in El Paso County and Colorado Springs who see dollar signs for themselves if the Army expands on to the ranchers’ lands. When dollars are involved, too many conservatives give up their principles. And that seems to be the case here. Equally important, the military is a big employer in Colorado, and a lot of veterans live here. McInnis is after their votes and probably has most of them.
There are more votes in El Paso County than in Southeast Colorado. Neither candidate is giving up or winning much by taking sides in the Pinon Canyon dispute, because Hickenlooper probably already owns Southeast Colorado, and McInnis owns El Paso County. Only time will tell which candidate’s marginal benefit will exceed his marginal cost on this one.
LINK:
Hickenlooper sides with ranchers; the gubernatorial candidate says he won’t forget state’s rural areas if elected. By Anthony A. Mestas.
Scott McInnis 44%, John Hickenlooper 44%; independents favor McInnis 46%-42%. The Business Word, 5.20.2010.

Memo to Ken Buck: Ron Paul is a big investor in gold stocks

by Donald E. L. Johnson | 12:39 pm, June 14, 2010

Why is Rep. Ron Paul so critical of the Federal Reserve Board and so sold on gold?
Because he thinks the U.S. monetary system is being mismanaged? Obviously.
Because he has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold stocks. Obviously.
Should a Washington Post report that Paul has been preaching his book and encouraging speculators to buy gold make his Colorado friends like Republican Senate candidate, Ken Buck, suspicious of Paul’s economic proclamations? Obviously.
The lede graphs from WaPo:

Colorado’s Untold Education Story: Leading in Performance Standards Progress

by Eddie | 12:24 pm, June 14, 2010

Harvard University professor Dr. Paul Peterson, along with colleague Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón, has unveiled some new research that underscores one of the top untold Colorado education stories of recent years. The issue is how high are states setting the bar to measure student learning in the basic subjects of reading and math–also known as “performance [...]

Democrat Congressman Etheridge assaults questioner

by Rossputin | 11:33 am, June 14, 2010

The other day, I posted a video of a liberal punching a Republican Tea Party activist in North Carolina.  Maybe it’s just something in the water in that state, but today the following video is making the rounds on the web. It shows Democrat Congressman Bob Etheridge whose district is just to the east of the prior assault by a Democrat grabbing a young man by the wrist and then the next after he asked the Congressman a question about supporting the Obama agenda.

It’s time for Bob Etheridge to resign and see a psychiatrist for some anger management issues…

You know that a Republican would be forced out within days of this sort of behavior.  Whether it’s tax evasion or assault, Dems seem to be able to get away with an apology, as Etheridge offered today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60oNUoHBYM

 

Free media training for Democrats from WhoSaidYouSaid

by Kelly Maher | 10:20 am, June 14, 2010

Are you a Democrat struggling with the new media? We’re here to help…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60oNUoHBYMDo you lose it when people ask you on the street if you support Pres. Obama’s agenda? Do you like the credibility that comes with being “tr…

Politico: “Health law could ban low-cost plans”

by Brian Schwartz | 6:30 am, June 14, 2010

From Jennifer Haberkorn at Politico explains how the health control legislation, HR 3590, bans affordable insurance:
Part of the health care overhaul due to kick in this September could strip more than 1 million people of their insurance coverage, violating a key goal of President Barack Obama’s reforms.
Under the provision, insurance companies will no [...]

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