Boykin: America must choose

by Rossputin | 10:22 am, February 15, 2011

Hello friends and readers.  I’m trying to get well from a brutal bug of some sort and haven’t been able to think clearly, much less write a coherent blog entry.

So for today’s reading, allow me to offer you this interesting piece by William Boykin entitled: “Sharia Law or the Constitution? America must choose.“  (I recommend that you click on “Fullscreen” to make it easier to read.)

http://www.ccu.edu/centennial/review/

A History Lesson for Sen. Bacon

by Joshua Sharf | 11:43 pm, February 14, 2011

This afternoon, the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee took up SCR11-001, what will likely become yet another referred measure from a legislature desperate to keep you, the citizens, from exercising any sort of oversight.  So much so that when it came time for the committee to comment, after grassroots organization after grassroots organization [...]

2/10 Pt 1 – Chat with Amy Oliver, founder of Mothers Against Debt and radio talkshow host

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 7:00 pm, February 14, 2011

In Part One of the 2/10 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger sits down with radio talkshow host Amy Oliver, founder of Mothers Against Debt, director of the Independence Institute’s Transparency Project, and host of The Amy Olvier Show on 13…

2/10 Pt 2 – Analyzing the failed drug war in-depth with Stephen, a CU-Boulder student

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 6:00 pm, February 14, 2011

In Part Two of the 2/10 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger is joined by Stephen, a student at CU-Boulder and an old high school friend of Jimmy’s, for a discussion on the failure of the drug war and what should be done about it.  Shou…

Time to Reform Jury Duty?

by Ari Armstrong | 1:02 pm, February 14, 2011

Surprisingly, some people actually appear not to want to serve on a jury. I would like to serve, but I can’t manage to get seated on a jury. I’ve been called for jury duty twice. The first time I was dismissed before I even saw the inside of a courtroo…

Ben DeGrow (and Cookie Monster?) Talk Falcon Innovation on Jeff Crank Show

by Eddie | 12:39 pm, February 14, 2011

It’s been more than a week since my last update about the cost-saving, cutting-edge innovation going on in Colorado’s Falcon School District 49. Last Thursday, after the Ed News Colorado feature was republished on the Education Week site, one of the Fordham Institute’s Flypaper bloggers reacted favorably by noting Falcon’s innovation could serve as a [...]

Why States go into Debt

by Al Maurer | 11:49 am, February 14, 2011

Let’s cut everything

Youth Concussion Legislation

by Rossputin | 11:14 am, February 14, 2011

One again State Senator Nancy Spence shows up on a head-scratching piece of legislation, at least from the point of view of those who thought that Republicans opposed the Nanny State.  This time it’s Colorado Senate Bill 40, the “Jake Snakenberg Youth Concussion Act”.

In a strangely self-congratulatory note from the State Senate Republican Press Office, they claim the legislation will “help to keep young athletes (from 11-19 years old, not including college/university sports) active and safe in three important ways.”

In short, those ways are :

• Requiring coaches to take annual “concussion recognition education”,
• Requiring coaches to remove a “youth athlete” from a game or other competition “if the coach suspects” the athlete has suffered a concussion, and
• Requiring written clearance by a health care provider before the athlete is allowed to return to competition or practice.

To be fair to the Colorado Nanny Statists, it’s not just them who have been sucked in to the “for the children” pleasantness of “keeping youth athletes safe.”  Arizona, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states have passed or are considering similar legislation after the NFL got involved, “helping craft legislation in states around the country to protect young athletes from the long-term effects of concussions.”  The legislators in the Denver Broncos organization are also supporting the bill.

My homework seems to show that Grandview High School, where the young man for whom the bill is named tragically died after a concussion during a football game, already had rules in place which should have kept a student athlete out  of the game – if the concussion had been diagnosed.

This comment from the Cherry Creek Schools in 2004 at the time of Jake’s death is also worth noting: “His mother is a nurse and his stepfather is a cardiologist, and both were there when he collapsed. His stepfather administered immediate aid.”

The real issue here is that kids don’t want to come out of games; they love to play and they don’t want to look soft. They don’t realize they’re taking their lives into their hands. After all, didn’t we all feel nearly immortal in our teenage years?

Jake’s father said Jake showed no symptoms and admitted no headache, nausea, or any other clue to a concussion.  And a Denver Post story from 2004 discusses three young athletes, including Jake, who died from apparent sports-related head injuries but either felt no symptoms or went out of their way to make sure that parents and coaches didn’t hear about them.  Perhaps the most effective way to prevent this sort of tragic death is to force kids to tell their parents and coaches when they feel bad, strange, “not quite right”, etc., after a collision.  But of course, that’s nearly impossible, and to the extent it can be done, it’s going to have to come from parents and coaches, not from the law.

When I first read the provisions of this latest Nanny State bill – even as someone who thinks that the government has a higher duty to protect children than to protect adults – it struck me as a recipe for two things: Keeping kids out of games in much greater numbers and frequencies than injuries would actually suggest, and creating work for ambulance-chasing trial lawyers.

Wondering if I was being just heartless – something liberals often accuse libertarians of – I asked Republican State Senator Greg Brophy what his view is of the proposed bill.  Here’s Brophy’s take:

Of course not.  It will actually make matters worse.  If coaches follow the law in good faith, no kid will get back into a game after being pulled for concern over possible concussion.  Because only a Doc (and a couple other professionals) can release them to play and many of these kids sporting events aren’t attended by Docs. So a typical boy will hide any symptoms because he knows if he gets pulled, he won’t be put back in.  Duh.

Also, the sport with the most concussions is girls soccer.  They would’t get concussed if they wore mouth guards and had their jaws clenched when the head butt the ball.  Or we could just ban commie kickball altogether.

I may end up being the only vote against this stupid bill.

UPDATE: I am told that Republican State Senators Shawn Mitchell and Kevin Lundberg voted against the bill in committee, so Greg Brophy won’t be the only no vote.

The Road To Socialized Medicine Is Paved With Pre-existing Conditions – The Objectivist – – Forbes

by Brian Schwartz | 6:30 am, February 14, 2011

The government takeover of medicine & medical insurance has been an incremental process. At Forbes.com, read about the “general pattern of the expansion [where] advocates point to some group in real or alleged dire need and declare that Washington has a duty to act.”

I Won and What that Means for this Blog

by PerlStalker | 5:56 pm, February 13, 2011

On 12 February 2011, I was elected Chairman of the Alamosa County Republican Party. I’m honored and humbled at the opportunity. Unfortunately, that means that there will be a few minor changes to PerlStalker’s Ramblings.

First of all, let me assure t…

Backbone Radio, February 13, 2011

by Rossputin | 7:15 am, February 13, 2011

Audio archives for this show:

Segment 1 – Intro; State Sen Greg Brophy on “Constitutional Carry”
Segment 2 – Former Maine Legislator and (current) professional speaker and communications consultant, Chris Greeley
Segment 3 – more with Chris Greeley; Defender of Capitalism Michael Williams; proposed movie ticket tax
Segment 4 – More with Michael Williams on policy and principle in politics
Segment 5 – State Senator Shawn Mitchell on proposed “youth athlete concussion” legislation
Segment 6 – More with Michael Williams; a few financial market prognistications

From Ross Kaminsky:

Please join me for this Sunday’s edition of Backbone Radio on Newstalk 710 KNUS in Denver and 1460 KZNT in Colorado Springs from 5 PM to 8 PM.

In our first half-hour, we’ll speak with State Senator Greg Brophy regarding his proposed “Constitutional Carry” bill which would allow anyone who can legall own a gun in Colorado to carry it without being required to get a concealed carry permit.

Later in the first hour, we’ll speak with former Maine legislator and now speaker and consultant Chris Greeley about effective political communication as well as his experience working in his state’s political system.

In the second hour of the show, our in-studio guest will be Mike Williams. In addition to running money management firm Altius Financial, Mike heads up the Leadership Program of the Rockies “Defenders of Capitalism” program.  We’ll talk about the Republicans’ first swing of the axe at federal budget cuts and, on a local level, a 10-cent per movie ticket tax proposed by two Colorado Republican legislators.  We’ll discuss the importance of principles in politics, what we see happening to principled leadership, both good and bad, and perhaps drift into a little Objectivist philosophy.

In the third hour, we’re joined by State Senator Shawn Mitchell to talk about this week’s State Senate committee hearing on youth concussion legislation.

Please join us by listening to (and calling in to) this week’s Backbone Radio program from 5 PM to 8 PM on 710 AM KNUS in Denver and 1460 AM KZNT in Colorado Springs.

If you’re not in range of the radio waves, you should be able to listen to the show online by clicking HERE.

I hope you’ll actively participate in the conversation with me: Call the studio at 303 696 1971, e-mail me at ross(at)backboneradio.net, or instant message from my site at http://rossputin.com or through AOL Instant messenger to screen name Rossputin.

‘Unlawful Termination of a Pregnancy’

by Ari Armstrong | 2:42 pm, February 12, 2011

An odd Associated Press story published by today’s Denver Post discusses a new bill to make the “unlawful termination of a pregnancy” a felony. What is odd about it is that Colorado statutes already make that a felony. Given the AP reporter didn’t revi…

When asked if you support ag subsidies, Sen. Boozman, the right answer is one word: "No."

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 11:00 am, February 12, 2011

Newly elected Senator John Boozman, R-Ark., spent some time with Jonathan Karl of ABC News recently. His outstanding waffling qualifies him for a job as a line cook at Waffle House:ABC News asked Boozman to get specific on budget cuts — namely if farm…

Atlas Shrugged Trailer

by T.L. James | 10:46 am, February 12, 2011

This would make a great drinking game at your next Objectivist book club meeting: spot the deviations from the book! I guess one has to expect many differences from the source material, given that the producers don’t have a Lord of the Rings-scale budget with which to depict the “period” setting of the book — [...]

Would the US military respond like the Egyptian military?

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 10:24 am, February 12, 2011

The Egyptian military’s conduct in the recent demonstrations is encouraging. They could have easily replicated the Chinese military’s conduct in Tianenmen Square. They did not. Their conduct reminded me of a very important American military movement ca…

Zombie Politics

by Jon Caldara | 5:09 pm, February 11, 2011

Hide the women and children. The zombie son of Referendum O is back and eager to haunt the citizens of Colorado. Like any piece of zombie legislation, this new version of Ref O feeds on brains bipartisan support. If you can remember back to 2008, Referendum O was defeated by voters. It would have made [...]

House Republicans Set to Stealthly Pass Patriot Act

by Lesley Hollywood | 4:34 pm, February 11, 2011

After massive sweeps across the nation in the 2010 election, Republicans are being watched like hawks – especially those whose victories can be credited to the Tea Party.  Yet, after an initial failure passing the Patriot Act extensions in the House of Representatives earlier this week, Republican leadership quietly called for another vote on Thursday, February [...]

Colorado State Board Begins to Wrestle with Kit Carson Innovation Plan

by Eddie | 3:17 pm, February 11, 2011

Yesterday the superintendent of one of Colorado’s smallest school districts came before the State Board of Education. Kit Carson R-1’s Gerald Keefe was there to answer questions about his district’s innovation proposal. This wouldn’t surprise you at all if you listened to one of the newest podcasts produced by my Education Policy Center friends, in [...]

Watch Devil’s Advocate Tonight

by Mike Krause | 2:16 pm, February 11, 2011

It’s the usual half-hour of public affairs excellence, just divided up in two segments.   First, nationally syndicated Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi sits down with host Jon Caldara for a conversation about the state of “civility” in political discourse today. Then former Denver Post columnist Susan Greene swings by to talk about her new [...]

Globetrotting Binz on Reappointment to PUC: No Thanks

by Michael | 1:31 pm, February 11, 2011

A little transparency goes a long way.
The Public Utilities Commission’s chair, Ron Binz, has rejected any possibility of being reappointed to his current position by Colorado’s new Governor John Hickenlooper. Facing ethics concerns revealed by Colorado Open Records Act requests regarding possible backroom deals that benefited Xcel and a penchant for expensive, overseas junkets that [...]

Denver Post Reissues NREL’s Misleading Release

by Ari Armstrong | 12:55 pm, February 11, 2011

There are two stories here. One is that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has put out an intellectually dishonest release touting the organization’s benefits to Colorado’s economy — without counting any of the costs in terms of tax subsidies an…

ProgressNowCO’s Alan Franklin is Colorado Pols, according to SquareState

by elpresidente | 12:09 pm, February 11, 2011

So says “Fong” of SquareState: I used to work at ProgressNow and as far as I can tell, a lot of people already know that Alan Franklin is Coloradopols. He’s the web guy at ProgressNow. I also used to do the books at Soapblox and he pays the bill. For a long time I thought [...]

Is Mubarak’s confusing message really any surprise?

by Rossputin | 8:57 am, February 11, 2011

In his simply terrible speech on Thursday evening (mid-day here in the US), Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he won’t resign but he has delegated some unspecified powers to his vice president, Omar Suleiman, an increasingly unpopular and untenable placeholder for a future Mubarak vacancy.

What was particularly gut-wrenching to the protesters around Egypt and to those around the world who are hoping for a non-violent resolution to the turmoil (whether or not they think Mubarak should stay or go and for what period of time) was the several hours of news reports prior to the speech saying and “confirming” that Mubarak was going to step down.

Please see the entirety of my article, entitled “America’s Amateur Hour” at the web site of the American Spectator:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/02/11/americas-amateur-hour

Just say no to elitist gas tax arguments

by Rossputin | 6:50 am, February 11, 2011

Economist Robert Samuelson wrote an op-ed for Investors Business Daily (which ran on Monday) in which he called for a steadily increasing tax on gasoline.  I sent the following letter to IBD in response:

Robert Samuelson’s call for a gasoline tax because otherwise “Americans might cling to old habits” smacks of the worst sort of Nanny Statism.  Americans switched from horse buggies to cars without imposing a buggy tax, from slide rules to calculators to computers without taxes on slide rules, from oil lamps to light bulbs without a lamp tax.

We neither want nor need Big Brother to decide what’s best for us and impose that view through making our lives less convenient or more expensive. The most visible impact of the existing high gasoline taxes in Europe is the tens of thousands of tiny cars on the roads.  Americans, whether Samuelson likes it or not, enjoy our larger cars.  Indeed, in the Colorado mountains where I live, such a tiny car – which are almost all two-wheel drive – could be a death trap.  Under a high gas tax regime, car makers will either be forced to make smaller, lighter, more dangerous (to the occupants) vehicles, or to build much more expensive cars using high-tech materials to enhance safety, but forcing Americans to spend on a vehicle what they might otherwise spend on education, health care, or recreation.

In short, whether due to true shortages or to supply disruptions, the price signals sent by markets are all the economy needs to transition to other fuels.  In the meantime, Samuelson did get one thing right: America has a huge problem in terms of government regulation, not just in terms of oil drilling but also in the outrageously long process, generally more than a decade, needed to get approval for a nuclear power plant.

America’s problem is not that our “energy policy” isn’t aggressive enough; it’s that the government has an energy policy.  Government needs to get out of the way and allow any and all energy development which does not objectively threaten the health of Americans.  Beyond that, Samuelson and his ilk should keep their “I know what’s best for you” egotism out of our lives.

DMYR February General Meeting feat. Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams!

by Brett Moore | 3:34 am, February 11, 2011

Join the Denver Metro Young Republicans on Tuesday, February 22nd for our Febrary General Meeting.  We are pleased to welcome the Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, Dick Wadhams!!  We will have a frank discussion of recent events and what Colorado Republicans can do to continue our momentum into 2012!  Join us in paying tribute [...]

DMYR February General Meeting feat. Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams

by Brett Moore | 2:16 am, February 11, 2011

[ February 22, 2011; 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ]
Join the Denver Metro Young Republicans on Tuesday, February 22nd for our Febrary General Meeting.  We are pleased to welcome the Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, Dick Wadhams!!  We will have a frank discussion of recent events and what Colorado Republicans can do to continue our momentum into 2012!  Join us in paying tribute to the Chairman’s service to the Republican [...]

"Pay as You Go" Dies In Colorado House

by PerlStalker | 10:12 pm, February 10, 2011

The “Pay as you go” bill that I wrote about yesterday has died in committee. The bill was a waste of time, like many bills that are introduced in legislatures around the country, and unnecessary. I’m glad it’s dead.

Less Government Means More Businesses “Do For America”

by Mike Krause | 7:58 pm, February 10, 2011

The Colorado Springs Gazette’s reliably pro-liberty, pro-free market editorial page editor Wayne Laugesen responds to President Obama’s recent call for business to “do for America” by hiring American workers and supporting the American economy:
Obama wants businesses “to hire American workers.” Because he says so? Businesses will hire workers when efforts to “do for America” result [...]

Sen. Udall and Ken Buck agree on need for balanced-budget amendment

by Michael Sandoval | 5:32 pm, February 10, 2011

Will Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Ken Buck, the Republican who ran unsuccessfully for a Senate seat in November, become the Colorado dynamic duo of federal deficit reduction via a balanced budget amendment?

Opponent Arguments Batted Down, HB 1048 Stuck in Legislative Sausage Maker

by Eddie | 4:33 pm, February 10, 2011

A few weeks ago I told you about the “voucher bogeyman” fearmongering around Colorado House Bill 1048 (PDF) — which would provide non-refundable tax credits to parents or donors supporting a student’s private school tuition or home education. (And therefore, not a “subsidy” as was headlined and reported with a strong anti-choice slant on the [...]

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