Seng Center 8/19 – Interview with Republican House District 1 candidate Danny Stroud

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 11:00 pm, August 19, 2010

In Part Two of the August 19 edition of Regis University’s Seng Center Radio Show, Republican House District 1 candidate Danny Stroud joins host Jimmy Sengenberger for a conversation focused on the pressing issues facing the state.  In this colleg…

Seng Center 8/19 – Chat with the leaders of R Block Party

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 10:00 pm, August 19, 2010

In Part Three of the August 19 edition of Regis University’s Seng Center Radio Show, host Jimmy Sengenberger sits down with Lori Horn and Nikki Mata of the grassroots activist R Block Party organization.  Together, the trio discuss the origins of …

2010 Federal Deficit Second Largest in 65 Years

by PerlStalker | 8:20 pm, August 19, 2010

Bad news from CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf:

CBO estimates, in its annual summer update of the budget and economic outlook, that the federal budget deficit for 2010 will exceed $1.3 trillion—$71 billion below last year’s total and $27 billion l…

What’s big and bad and will roll over us?

by Kelly Maher | 5:30 pm, August 19, 2010

The answer is: out-of-control government spending. To help visualize the antidote, the folks at Americans for Prosperity have embarked on a nationwide “Spending Revolt” bus tour that started in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco, then rolled through Arizona, Nevada and into Colorado recently.

Will a Balanced Budget Amendment Solve Our Debt Crisis?

by Jon Caldara | 2:22 pm, August 19, 2010

Is a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution the solution to out of control federal spending? Check out this week’s Devil’s Advocate as Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman and Independence Institute Senior Fellow Fred Holden join me to debate the potential merits, and pitfalls, of amending the Constitution to require a balanced federal budget. [...]

They call her flipper, flipper…

by Amy Oliver | 1:28 pm, August 19, 2010

Update to ‘Both Ways Betsy’ where I criticized Congresswoman Betsy Markey for her latest TV ads.
Referring to the 2008 TARP bailout legislation,  Markey claims in her ad, “Maybe it’s my 20 years as a small-business owner, but these Wall Street bailouts really offend me… No one ever gave me a bailout.”
I reminded readers of the other bailouts [...]

New Colorado Charters to See Funding Boost; Liberty Common High Opens Doors

by Eddie | 1:10 pm, August 19, 2010

I learned some good news today: While Colorado K-12 public schools expect to receive $160 million in Edujobs money to save more jobs than were lost and to preserve the status quo, some good news arrived: Colorado also will receive a 3-year, $40.8 million federal grant to help innovative charter schools with start-up expenses. Denise [...]

Tea Party / Liberty Group Leaders, Chime In On State Legislative Races

by Ben DeGrow | 8:08 am, August 19, 2010

To the extent that I have communicated with leaders of Colorado Tea Parties and other liberty groups, I have sought to emphasize the importance of making an impact on state legislative races. In fact, followers of this blog know I have put out several updates ranking the likelihood of seats changing in the state senate [...]

Repeal ObamaCare by choking off its funding

by Brian Schwartz | 8:00 am, August 19, 2010

Sally Pipes argues: With each passing week, it looks more and more like Republicans will retake control of Congress this fall. The latest Gallup poll gives the GOP a six-point edge. Rasmussen puts the Republican lead at seven points. Even if Republicans take back Congress, they won’t be able to undo the Democrats’ legislative accomplishments [...]

Tambor Williams doesn’t help Dan Maes’ chances to become Governor of Colorado

by Rossputin | 6:56 am, August 19, 2010

In yesterday’s blog note, I suggested that Dan Maes is trying to shore up his own weaknesses with his choice of an experienced running mate.  I had never heard of his choice, Tambor Williams, before a few days ago (since almost all of her time in the state legislature was prior to my arrival in Colorado.)

The more I read about Ms. Williams, the more I think that Maes gets little benefit from her other than trying to capture some of the Weld County (and possibly Larimer County) voter enthusiasm generated by Ken Buck.

Williams positions herself – and Maes positions her – as a moderate conservative.  While that is appealing to a segment of voters, Maes absolutely must get almost all Republicans to have a chance of winning; he must keep GOP voters from defecting to Tancredo in addition to trying to thread the needle in a way that keeps himself appealing to independent voters and maybe a few Dems.

I just cringed when reading this Maes statement in the Denver Post: “I have to be humble enough before God and say I know what I lack, and what I lack is Tambor Williams.”

What this statement does is turn off voters who, whether you like it or not, don’t want their politicians to be getting their answers from a non-terrestrial source, while telling conservatives who might appreciate Maes’ heavenly appeal that what he’s missing is a running mate perceived as not being a principled conservative.

I know Maes is trying to appear humble, as he says directly. Instead I think he appears unpalatable, like taking two foods such as garlic and chocolate, obviously delicious separately, and making something rather repugnant by mixing them together.

A friend – more conservative than I am, to be sure – sent me this opinion of Tambor Williams (written, I believe, by a third party):

 

She is pretty smart. Got into big issues at the legislature and generally handled them poorly. She supported Ref C (cabinet head so she had to). A friend sent me this:  http://www.kdvr.com/news/politics/kdvr-maes-picks-tambor-williams-txt,0,3863703.story

This is a disaster for the GOP. Not only was Tambor the State’s top regulator after voting to allow Waren Hern to continue partial birth abortions (HB97-1136), she helped pass the largest tax hike in Colorado history (Ref C) and tried to cripple us with billions more in debt (Ref D).

Tambor Williams is the poster child for everything that caused voters to distrust the CO GOP in the first place.

So why on earth would Dan’s very first decision as our nominee be such an obviously ridiculous choice?

If like me you feared Dan Maes’s campaign was like the Titanic going down, he just pulled aboard the biggest anchor he could find making it sink faster.

Now the base will flee to Tancredo in droves.

And the Dems haven’t even layed a glove on Dan yet.

An amaesingly bad day for the CO GOP.

 

While this view somewhat overstates the magnitude of the impact of Mr. Maes’ selection of running mate, particularly given the potential positive of the appeal of a “moderate” woman among unaffiliated or moderate Republican women voters, it’s basically right in the sense that Maes needed a near miracle: he needed someone who would bring the energy that Sarah Palin brought, at least briefly, to the McCain presidential campaign.

It was a very tall order to begin with since elections are generally not about the running mate, and this one particularly not.  So, I don’t think a great outcome was even possible for Mr. Maes.  I don’t know whether Maes had a better choice available.  I do have reason to believe that at least one other very credible person turned down the request to run as Maes’ running mate.

I don’t think Williams’ abortion views are a problem for any substantial number of voters.  Pro-choice voters whose primary issue is abortion won’t choose Maes anyway.  Her support of limited exceptions, i.e. rape, incest, life of the mother, are not wildly controversial among conservatives, at least not enough to cause most of them to abandon a candidate.   (I know that Tom Tancredo had a perfect voting record in Congress with the National Right to Life Committee; I don’t know whether he would allow exceptions such as those Williams supports.  Tancredo’s web site does not touch on the issue, which is quite rational given the bigger issues of economics, jobs, and immigration which the state is facing now and given a governor’s limited ability to have any impact on abortion other than making sure taxpayer money isn’t funding the procedure.)

I think her support of Referendum C is potentially a big problem, as the writer of the note above suggests.  Maes cannot afford to lose very many Republican voters. But even though the deep wound caused by Bill Owens, State Senator Steve Johnson, Bruce Benson and other Republican supporters of Ref C in 2005 seems nearly healed, my recollection is that Tom Tancredo, while on the periphery of the debate, was against C & D, and is likely to pick at that scab in attacks against Maes.  After all, if it was fair game in attacking Jane Norton, it will be fair game in attacking Tambor Williams.  If anything, Jane Norton had much more plausible deniability in the sense that she doesn’t say she really supported the measures; rather she was supporting her boss.  Williams has already said she really supported C & D with the rather weak caveat that she only supported them if both passed, not if only one passed as ended up being the case.

At the end of the day, Tambor Williams seems like a bland attorney who brings as much negative as positive to the ticket.  She’s not the worst possible choice for Maes, but I doubt she helps him in any substantial way and she may be a slight net negative among conservative Republican voters.

It’s getting near too late for Dan Maes to get out of this race.  I continue to believe he should, particularly given Tom Tancredo’s offer to get out simultaneously (which Maes rejected yesterday.)  And I also believe I should win the Powerball lottery this week.  At this point, it seems the chance of either is about the same.

p.s. I would add that Dan Maes’ trying to create some sort of “gotcha” moment on the radio by asking Peter Boyles if he had Tom Tancredo’s tax returns was weak, pathetic, and showed yet again his utter lack of experience. Did Maes really think that Tancredo would be as unprepared or unwilling to share the information as Maes was, particularly given that Tancredo has been a congressman? Tancredo had his tax returns to Boyles the next day, making Maes look that much worse both for asking the question and by reminding people that he took forever to show his own tax returns as well as the lack of success they showed.  By calling for Tancredo’s tax returns in the way he did, Maes showed again that he’s just not ready for prime time.

Public Service Announcement – sb1070 DOES NOT ban Racial Profiling. It Seems to Mandate It.

by Elliot | 6:44 am, August 19, 2010

With Colorado looking to copy Arizona’s sb1070 law, it is important to take a look at what is actually in that law.  One of the most frequent myths about the Arizona law is that it bans racial profiling.   People who advance such a myth cite to the following language: ““[a] law enforcement official or [...]

Tancredo Offers To Drop Out if Maes Joins Him; Maes Refuses

by PerlStalker | 10:47 pm, August 18, 2010

The Denver Post is reporting that American Constitution party candidate tom Tancredo offered to drop out of the race for governor of Colorado of Republican candidate Dan Maes would drop out too. Maes refused.

Maes’ refusal ended the last hope for def…

Clear The Bench Colorado Poll Results: Classic Case of Good News, Bad News

by Ben DeGrow | 10:17 pm, August 18, 2010

Clear the Bench Colorado today reports the results of a statewide poll that carries some good and bad news. Because the Magellan Strategies survey tests public opinion on the low-exposure issue of judicial retention, to some extent the results would have to be interesting. We’re not talking about the popularity of candidates vying in well-publicized [...]

Rep. Salazar goes all in on ObamaCare

by Kelly Maher | 4:38 pm, August 18, 2010

Give U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., a nod for consistency on ObamaCare. But give the citizens of his Third Congressional District credit for seeing through the smokescreen that somehow more government control will result in better health care and cut the deficit. It won’t.

Statewide Survey Results Show Overwhelming Discontent With Incumbent Colorado Supreme Court Justices

by CTBC Director | 4:11 pm, August 18, 2010

The results are in from the first scientific, statewide survey on the Colorado Supreme Court justices appearing on the November ballot (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, and Nancy Rice).
Survey Results Show Overwhelming Discontent With Incumbent Colorado Supreme Court Justices

ALL THREE JUSTICES REJECTED BY 78% OR BETTER

Made aware of the anti-taxpayer decisions of the incumbent [...]

Obama bans over 100,000 rifles

by David Kopel | 2:00 pm, August 18, 2010

(David Kopel) According to The Korea Times, the Obama administration has blocked efforts by the South Korean government to sell over a  hundred thousand surplus M1 Garand and Carbine rifles into the United States market. These self-loading were rifles introduced in 1926 and 1941. As rifles, they are especially well-suited to community defense in an emergency, as in [...]

Teachers Unions Control Over Non-Union Members Paychecks

by Jon Caldara | 1:59 pm, August 18, 2010

My main minion created this brand new education video about Colorado teachers unions. In it, you’ll hear the emotional story of a mother struggling with massive medical bills who unfortunately missed a deadline to opt-out of union fee paycheck deductions. As a result, she was charged hundreds of dollars that she did not [...]

Ben DeGrow’s Denver Post Edujobs Critique Riles Up Some Responses

by Eddie | 11:35 am, August 18, 2010

I’m pleased to report that my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow’s guest column in the Denver Post taking on the edujobs bailout has garnered some attention — you know, the one I told you about a couple days ago. Without further ado, here they are:

Reason’s Nick Gillespie quotes the op-ed, observing that Congress is [...]

Apply for the Leadership Program of the Rockies

by Rossputin | 9:35 am, August 18, 2010

Without any doubt, going through the Leadership Program of the Rockies in 2004 was the most valuable single thing I’ve done to improve my ability to have an impact (or at least attempt to) within Colorado politics.  Not only do course participants learn a lot, but the value of the networking opportunities among class members can’t be overstated.  Indeed, some of my closest friends and most valued collaborators in spreading the gospel of liberty in Colorado were met in LPR.

I’ve loved the course so much that I’ve sponsored or co-sponsored the first class each year since I “graduated”.  (This year, I’ll be out of town so I’ll probably co-sponsor a later class.)

Applications for the 2010-2011 class are being accepted now, with a cut-off date of August 31, 2010.

You can learn more about the program HERE, and if you haven’t been through LPR yet I offer you my strongest possible recommendation that you apply if you are interested in bringing principles of liberty and limited government to the forefront of both thought and practice in Colorado and the nation.  You don’t have to want to run for office, though that’s a good thing.  Anything you can do to bring principled free-market leadership to the state is of value, whether it’s through political activism, working on campaigns, or via the media, just to name a few.

If you have any other questions about LPR, feel free to ask me.  If you’re someone I know and want a recommendation (needed as part of the application process), I’d be happy to consider it.

Steamboat Institute Freedom Conference Aug 27 & 28

by Rossputin | 8:21 am, August 18, 2010

I’d like to invite and encourage you to participate in the  Second Annual Steamboat Institute Freedom Conference will be taking place in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Friday, August 27th and Saturday, August 28th.

Last year’s inaugural event surpassed the already high expectations of its many attendees and speakers (including me), and with the line-up Jennifer Schubert-Akin has put together this year I expect this year’s conference to be even better.

In addition to the Friday dinner keynote speaker, Karl Rove, others who will address the conference include:

• Ginni Thomas, Founder of Liberty Central and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,
• Sharron Angle, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada (challenging Harry Reid)
• Yaron Brook, President of the Ayn Rand Institute,
• Tony Blankley, journalist and former press secretary for Newt Gingrigh,
• Jason Mattera, author of Obama Zombies and my editor at Human Events magazine whom I will have the privilege of introducing at the conference,
• and many more, whom you can read about here: http://www.steamboatinstitute.org/freedom-conference/

The conference will take place at the fantastic Steamboat Grand hotel and attendees can get incredible room rates. (I recommend the “condo”-style rooms which have a separate living room/dining room/kitchen for not much more money.)

You can register for the conference HERE, and I look forward to seeing you there!

Is it racist to refuse to hire a felon?

by Rossputin | 6:58 am, August 18, 2010

H/T National Center for Public Policy Research

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in one of the most remarkble bits of Progressive-think that I can recall hearing about in a long time, is suggesting to employers that they could be in violation of EEOC guidelines if they refuse to hire someone because of a prior arrest or conviction.

The rationale – are you ready for it? – is because blacks and Hispanics make up a disproportionately large percentage of the prison population and therefore there is a disparate impact against those groups caused by employers not hiring people arrested or convicted of crimes.

The EEOC makes reasonable points that a potential employer should give a potential employee the chance to explain an arrest or conviction.  But they go to far when they say that “using (criminal) records as an absolute measure to prevent an individual from being hired could limit the employment opportunities of some protected groups and thus cannot be used in this way.”

An employer should be allowed to make his own decisions without the ridiculous intrusions by petty micro-managing bureaucrats, even if they’re narrow-minded or unwise decisions.

Putting fear of hiring into the minds of employers will simply keep them from starting or expanding businesses, but then this is all part of the attack by the Obama Administration and Progressivism generally on private enterprise.

Dan Maes tries to thread needle with running mate

by Rossputin | 6:04 am, August 18, 2010

What is one to make of a political candidate who says out loud that his choice of running mate is designed to shore up his own weaknesses?

No doubt it’s true, as Tambor Williams, Dan Maes’ choice for running mate in his quest for the governor’s office, has far more experience in both legislative and executive branch aspects of state government than Mr. Maes has.

It reminds me a bit of my thinking when Barack Obama was choosing a running mate, namely that almost anyone he would choose would serve to reinforce his own lack of experience or qualifications for the office.  With his choice of Joe Biden, Obama was able to pick one of the only politicians who was simultaneously experienced enough to shore up that aspect of the ticket but enough of an idiot to actually make Obama look smart in comparison.

I don’t think that’s what Maes has done; I have no reason to think that Tambor Williams is anything other than a smart and competent lady.

Therefore, Maes is in the unenviable position of having to acknowledge or even emphasize his own weaknesses as an explanation for and introduction to his running mate.

None of this is to criticize Maes.  It takes a big man to admit weaknesses, especially important ones.  But admitting weaknesses, especially important ones, is rarely a winning electoral strategy.

For perspective, has there ever been a presidential election where the choice of Vice President made a huge difference in the final outcome?  The only one I can think that even had a chance was John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin, but McCains’ poll number only received a temporary boost and I don’t think anyone believe’s Palin’s presence on the ticket ended up being a major net positive or negative in that specific race.  Although Dick Cheney certainly had his fans, I doubt his presence on the ticket was the difference in either of Bush’s victories.  And clearly Al Gore wasn’t a reason for Clinton’s wins.  When a candidate has to try to sell his running mate as one of the major reasons to vote for him, you know he faces an extremely uphill battle.

Again, that’s not a criticism of Maes; it’s just an observation about the situation.

The good news for Maes, perhaps, is that Barack Obama proved that in the right circumstance anybody can win an election.

Advice to Ken Buck & other candidates: aim to repeal ObamaCare, not just revise

by Brian Schwartz | 6:00 am, August 18, 2010

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Ken Buck has said that ObamaCare (HR 3590) is wrong.  In Human Events, Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute makes the case that “lawmakers need to scrap the measure in its entirety” and that “incremental revisions just won’t do.” Some excerpts: Incremental revisions just won’t do. This 2,400-page law [...]

Colorado Supreme Court building demolished to “make room” for brand-new $258M judicial complex (the “Mullarkey Monument”?)

by CTBC Director | 10:33 pm, August 17, 2010

“Out with the old, in with the new” - or perhaps more appropriately in this case, “The Queen is dead – Long Live the Queen!”
Sunday’s demolition of the Colorado Supreme Court building to “make room” for a vast, sprawling new “judicial complex” of truly palatial proportions was heralded on the front page of Monday’s Denver Post [...]

Colorado Legislators in Arizona

by Al Maurer | 7:44 pm, August 17, 2010

The following is a press release from the Republican Study Committee of Colorado. I’ll be joining them on Thursday. Stay tuned for more… August 17, 2010 – (Phoenix, AZ) Eleven state legislators from Colorado, members of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC), are visiting Arizona this week to meet with their counterparts in the [...]

“The GOP Made Me Do It”

by Nikki | 2:38 pm, August 17, 2010

Let’s get this straight… Tom Tancredo, longtime Republican, having spent months exhorting various and sundry newly formed conservative grass roots activists not to go third party, to embrace the process, to engage in the Republican Party and change it from within, has gone third party. I first met Tom at just such a grass roots [...]

Steamboat Institute’s 2nd Annual Freedom Conference

by Jon Caldara | 2:05 pm, August 17, 2010

Our friends at the Steamboat Institute are holding their second annual Freedom Conference for two days at the end of this month. The conference is going to be held in the swank Steamboat Grand luxury hotel on Friday, August 27th and Saturday, August 28th. As impressive as the accommodations are, the speaker list [...]

Video: Some Colorado Unions Abuse Non-Union Teacher Paychecks

by Eddie | 9:24 am, August 17, 2010

My Education Policy Center friends truly have done it this time. They produced a 4-minute video about a Colorado school employee’s story that highlights an unjust policy:

Thank you, Colorado teachers unions. From the YouTube summary:
Due to family medical hardships, non-union Pueblo school employee Becky Robertson missed an annual deadline to opt out of union fee [...]

JetBlue Redux: Sen. Bennet hits the slide

by Kelly Maher | 8:41 am, August 17, 2010

Have a laugh at this parody of Pres. Obama telling Senate Democrats (including Michael Bennet of Colorado, in the first row) that he’s headed their way…then have a cry at Bennet’s approval of spending $2.5 billion A DAY.

NPV relies on calculated ‘misunderstanding’

by Amy Oliver | 7:13 am, August 17, 2010

Below is my latest column for Liberty Ink Journal headquartered here in Northern Colorado. Regular listeners to my show and readers of this blog will recognize my scathing critique of National Popular Vote, which threatens our republic. I’ve been warning about this movement for years and now the threat is bigger than ever. Thank you [...]

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