The Implementation of SB 191: A Reason for Little Me to Get Old and Skeptical?

by Eddie | 11:02 am, April 18, 2011

When (or should I say if) I get older, maybe I’ll acquire a healthy dose of that battle-worn cynicism about highly-lauded education reform initiatives like Colorado’s Senate Bill 191 — also known as the “Great Teachers and Leaders” law. Sometimes I think I’m too young to adjust my expectations appropriately. But if someone as smart [...]

Liars figure as the 2012 campaign begins

by Al Maurer | 10:50 am, April 18, 2011

There’s no spending problem, there’s a revenue problem. You’re not paying enough.

Listen to a Couple of Journalists on Reporting, This Year’s Session

by Jon Caldara | 9:42 am, April 18, 2011

What’s a Horcrux?

by Ari Armstrong | 9:00 am, April 18, 2011

On the same day Atlas Shrugged came out in theaters, the seventh film of the Harry Potter series arrived on DVD. I’m very interested in both films; see my reviews of Atlas I and Hallows I.Central to the plot of the Potter novels is the Horcrux, an obje…

S&P lowers US debt rating

by Rossputin | 7:47 am, April 18, 2011

At about 9 AM Eastern Time this morning, S&P downgraded the outlook for US government debt to negative (from stable) while reaffirming the current AAA rating.

While noting that the US economy is “flexible”, Standard and Poors points out that we have higher debt and deficits than other “AAA peers”.

They then offer a little political warning: “We believe there is a material risk that U.S. policymakers might not reach an agreement on how to address medium- and long-term budgetary challenges by 2013; if an agreement is not reached and meaningful implementation is not begun by then, this would in our view render the U.S. fiscal profile meaningfully weaker than that of peer ‘AAA’ sovereigns.”

In response, US 10-year interest rates rose a substantial 7 basis points, the dollar weakened, and gold and silver spiked up, with gold going up about $16 in 10 minutes. (After giving back about half of that gain, gold has moved up again and is near an all-time high now around $1497/ounce.)  S&P 500 stock index futures plummeted, trading down 18.50, or just under 1.5%, going into the market opening.

This should be quite a wake-up call for our politicians, if only because the market reaction. A spike up in 10-year note yields represents “Danger, Will Robinson!” for future US deficits as the cost of servicing our already nose-bleedingly high debt increases. Furthermore, although the weaker US dollar does help our export industries, it is inflationary at a time when inflation represents a substantial risk to our economy.

More fundamentally, the weakening US dollar represents the savings and assets of Americans (other than precious metals) becoming worth less. It’s not something that most Americans pay attention to on a daily basis, namely currency cross-rates, but that doesn’t make it any less important. The markets’ reaction to our government’s inaction is to make us all poorer and there’s no reason to expect that to change given President Obama’a and congressional Democrats’ fundamental unseriousness about getting government spending under control.

Atlas Shrugged, Part 1

by Rossputin | 7:18 am, April 18, 2011

A few brief thoughts on Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, which my wife and I saw on Saturday.

In short, it was good – not great, not terrible.

The best part of it was probably the cinematography. The scenes were generally at least as visually compelling and interesting as they were rhetorically (i.e. based on the words of the characters) interesting.

The acting was also good enough. You never felt like “I’m watching an actor”, though you were also never blown away by a potentially Oscar-winning performance.

My reaction to the movie was less the great appreciation for the productive members of society (though to be fair, that aspect of the story develops more later in the book and, with luck, in parts 2 and 3 of this movie series) and more a disgust for “progressive” redistributionist government and for crony capitalism.

As far as the characters and actors, Taylor Schilling does a nice job as Dagny Taggart. Although perhaps a little younger than I would have pictured from the book, she basically carries off Dagny’s intensity and determination. To the extent that Schilling’s performance was a little flat in spots, I think it was more a question of an inexperienced director than an actress who isn’t up to doing a great job.

Similarly, I found little to fault in Grant Bowler’s portrayal of Hank Rearden, and Rebecca Wisocky’s performance of his loveless wife, Lillian, was right on target.

The one bit of casting which I think threw quite a few readers of the book was Matthew Marsden as James Taggart, Dagny’s politically scheming and basically incompetent brother. Marsden’s acting is good. The question is that he appears so young, perhaps early 30’s, that it just quite seem to fit with the perception that most of us had going into the movie of an older, more established, more “good old boy” sort of guy.  Anyway, that’s not Marsden’s fault and generally he plays the character well.

Michael Lerner, one of the most established actors in the cast, does a solid job as ultra-bureaucrat Wesley Mouch, essentially the key face of villainhood in this part of the story. Mouch, working with others, devises rules and laws intended to hamstring the most capable and competitive in society using broad like “for the broader good.”  Another gov’t functionary gives a similar viewpoint when he suggests that there is no company’s profits he wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice for the broader benefit of the nation, obviously completely unaware of the unsustainability of such a policy.

Similarly, other actors with smaller parts are people you’ve seen around before, such as John Polito as Orren Boyle and Patrick Fischler as Paul Larkin, and they all do a good job.

Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, was made in just over a month on a budget of roughly $10 million (because it went over budget.) Given that, the movie is actually rather remarkable.

Because of constraints of time – they had to make a movie fast or producer John Aglioloro was going to lose the film rights – they probably didn’t have the best writer or director for the film, using a writer (in addition to Aglioloro) whose primary experience was with co-producing horror films and a director whose primary experience is television acting.

They did a good job, but there is also plenty of room for improvement. If Mr. Aglioloro, who is funding the production himself (as I understand the situation) has more time to make the next two parts of the intended 3-part series, I’d hope that (despite the loyalty I’m sure he feels) he trades up in quality of writer and director.

The primary feeling that I walked out of the movie with was a hatred – and I don’t use that word as hyperbole – for our current administration in Washington, DC. The Obama Administration, particularly with the exclamation point of President Obama’s Wednesday speech, is the real-life expression of all the political destructiveness and evil (and I don’t use that as hyperbole either) which Ayn Rand was predicting and warning against with her novel.

Whether it’s Barack Obama himself, or his many czars or his Secretary of This or Secretary of That, we’re living under a tyranny of dozens or hundreds of Wesley Mouch-es. Obama, despite his cries to the contrary, does both dislike and take for granted the productive members of society. He, like Mouch, sees them as little more than sources of money for him to redistribute to others who are not “fortunate” enough to be successful.

I’m looking forward to Atlas Shrugged, Part 2, while hoping that it makes some improvements over Part 1. Despite that, I’m glad I saw Part 1, and I’m extremely grateful to Mr. Aglioloro for risking his own money to finally turn one of the most important novels in history into a film.

Washington Post & CBS Corp. get ObamaCare money

by Brian T. Schwartz | 5:30 am, April 18, 2011

Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP)

An attempt to explain liberty to my statist friends.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 9:34 pm, April 17, 2011

Let me try to summarize, for my statist friends, why government “solutions” are immoral: The government can not accomplish any goal, no matter how well intentioned, without using force to make people act in a way they would otherwise not act. Even if y…

Pres. Obama echoes the rabble-rousers: “Tax the rich!”

by Kelly Maher | 8:03 pm, April 17, 2011

Listening to Pres. Obama’s speech on deficit reduction, I couldn’t help but be reminded of standing in the middle of MoveOn.org and labor rallies in Denver earlier this year. The President echoes the sentiments we’ve heard over and over by the hard left and the unions, including “Tax the rich!”

Aurora Citizens Denied: Colorado Springs Not State’s Only Front in Push for Open Government Negotiations

by Ben DeGrow | 6:13 pm, April 17, 2011

In a time when a large fiscally conservative grassroots movement like the Tea Parties have developed a strong voice, we shouldn’t be surprised to see calls for greater transparency in government operations. Not only when it comes to the fiscal ledger (“if you can’t defend it, don’t spend it”), but also when it comes to [...]

Rand and Cloward-Piven

by Joshua Sharf | 5:43 pm, April 17, 2011

Leaving the movie aside, since I haven’t seen it yet, this certainly ranks as one of the weirdest criticisms of Atlas Shrugged: For the past two years Glenn Beck has successfully demonized what he calls the Cloward-Piven strategy amongst his conservative audience.  Using a 1966 article written by academics Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, [...]

Notes From a Train

by Joshua Sharf | 2:43 pm, April 17, 2011

Yes, literally from a train.  I’m writing this on Amtrak’s #5, the westbound California Zephyr, on my way home from Omaha for Passover.   I’ll confess a weakness for trains.  In this, I’m not unlike most Americans, although unlike the Americans running the government, I recognize the economic limitations of passenger trains in a country [...]

Backbone Radio, April 17, 2011: Atlas Shrugged; federal budgets; children and values

by Rossputin | 5:46 am, April 17, 2011

Audio archives for this show:

Segment 1 – Ross Kaminsky and Joshua Sharf ponder news of the week, including FBI bust of online poker sites
Segment 2 – State Senator Greg Brophy on CO Democratic maps for redistricting
Segment 3 – Budget debates; public polls on the importance of the budget
Segment 4 – Michael Sabbeth, author of “The Good, the Bad, and the Difference: How to Talk With Children About Values”
Segment 5 – Ross discusses Atlas Shrugged, Part 1 with Michael Williams
Segment 6 – More with Michael Williams; closing

It’s been a remarkable week in American politics…and in American film.

Congress passed a controversial budget for the remaining half of the current 2011 fiscal year and the House began voting on several 2012 budgets, though it appeared on Friday that Paul Ryan’s plan would come out victorious.

On April 15th, which is normally tax day but isn’t this year because of an obscure holiday in Washington, DC., the film Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, was released.

In the first hour of this week’s Backbone Radio, we’ll discuss this week’s major political and economic events, the implications of the various budget deals and votes, and the impact of the Tea Party movement as Denver just hosted its third annual Tax Day Tea Party on the capitol steps with someone less of a crowd than in prior years.

In our second hour, we’ll take a little break from politics and economics as we’re joined by Michael Sabbeth, author of “The Good, The Bad and The Difference: How to Talk with Children About Values.” Sabbeth believes, and it’s hard to disagree, that “we are in a war for the souls of our children.” As a parent of two young children myself, and as someone who (along with my wife) is intent on raising thinking, ethical future adults, I’m looking forward to talking with Mr. Sabbeth about such things as “crucial conversations with children”, about how we should speak to our children and what we need to know about them to make our words as impactful as possible. Michael’s web page where you can learn more and buy the book is http://www.kidsethicsbook.com/

And in our third hour, I’ll be joined by Michael Williams, financial advisor and head of the Leadership Program of the Rockies’ “Defenders of Capitalism” program to discuss the film (and the book) “Atlas Shrugged” and this week’s budget shenanigans.

Please join me 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.

Atlas Shrugged Audience Reactions

by Ari Armstrong | 12:57 pm, April 16, 2011

After the Atlas Shrugged Part I opening in Westminster last night, I asked audience members what they thought of the film. Of course, I could catch only a few people, and some didn’t want to be recorded. (One lady who declined an interview said the fil…

The federal government isn’t hurting for money. It’s hurting because of bloat.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 8:09 am, April 16, 2011

The wails of anguish from the D.C. political class that the federal leviathan doesn’t have any money to provide basic services is bollocks. The federal government has too much money. It only needs more money to feed the bloat. To wit, the United States…

Kristof’s "Raise my taxes!" is shameless demagoguery and Newspeak.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 7:42 am, April 16, 2011

In his April 14, 2011 New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof proudly proclaims, exclamation point and all, “raise my taxes!”He, and others, use this tactic to show how magnanimous and selfless they are. Of course, it is complete and utter nonsense. It…

Michael Filozof: Why our democracy bodes poorly for our budget

by Rossputin | 6:01 am, April 16, 2011

H/T Ken (Old Texican) for the link

In this rather intense and gloomy but probably on-target article for the American Thinker, Michael Filozof explains that our electoral system, especially our frequent elections of legislators, is reason for extreme pessimism when it comes to getting our fiscal house in order.  It’s an interesting and important read, even if I don’t quite share his degree of pessimism:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/the_federal_budget_and_the_cri.html

Go See Atlas Shrugged Part I!

by Ari Armstrong | 1:13 am, April 16, 2011

As I mentioned earlier in the week on Twitter, I had never been so excited to see a film for which I had such low expectations. But I truly enjoyed the film adaptation of (the first part of) Atlas Shrugged.I see that one lonely reviewer listed at Rotte…

First Colorado Redistricting Maps Are Released

by PerlStalker | 9:38 pm, April 15, 2011

The Redistricting Committee has released their first drafts of the congressional maps. The Republican maps have only relatively minor changes. Most of them bring Chaffee county into the CO-3. Given the testimony shared at the committee meeting in Alamo…

Friday Night Means Devil’s Advocate

by Mike Krause | 1:28 pm, April 15, 2011

Tune into the Independence Institute’s pubic affairs television show Devil’s Advocate tonight as host Jon Caldara is joined by Durango Herald statehouse reporter Joe Hanel and Complete Colorado’s Todd Shepherd for a check up on the Colorado legislative session. If you are a Colorado politics junkie, get your fix at 8:30 PM on Colorado [...]

American Prospect Boosting Mike Miles’ Reform Cred? & Other Twitter Questions

by Eddie | 9:56 am, April 15, 2011

The must-read, full-length education story of the week is a piece by Dana Goldstein at the American Prospect, titled “The Test Generation.” Before you think this little guy has gone completely loony tunes, you have to know a couple things:

The article is all about Colorado, and mainly about the implementation of Senate Bill 191, but [...]

Hsieh Reviews Rand’s View of Rights and Capitalism

by Ari Armstrong | 9:13 am, April 15, 2011

Diana Hsieh reviewed Ayn Rand’s ideas earlier this month at Liberty On the Rocks, Denver. Here, she discusses Ayn Rand’s theory of rights and addresses luck and capitalism.

Some Tax Day Thoughts on the Tax Code

by Joshua Sharf | 7:55 am, April 15, 2011

As Americans, for the third year running, hold Tax Day Tea Parties, it’s worth setting down a few thoughts on the tax code itself. 1) It’s too progressive The US has the most progressive tax structure in the developed world. More progressive than the Japan, more progressive than the UK, more progressive than Sweden, for [...]

Today is not tax day!

by Rossputin | 7:25 am, April 15, 2011

Because of a little-known holiday in Washington, DC, Monday, April 18th, rather than today is the deadline for filing your federal income taxes this year.

Colorado is following DC’s lead: “Therefore, the due date for Colorado income tax returns and estimated income tax payments normally due on April 15 will be extended to April 18. Returns filed on Monday, April 18 will be considered as timely filed. However, note that returns filed on Tuesday, April 19 will be considered four days late.”

Dennis Kucinich, ventriloquist

by Rossputin | 7:09 am, April 15, 2011

H/T Rusty Staff

You really do have to applaud Kucinich for having a sense of humor…though I wonder if he knew just how the Daily Show was going to edit the tape…

Thank you, CBO

by Rossputin | 6:24 am, April 15, 2011

Yesterday’s vote on the FY2011 budget deal was made more controversial by a CBO report stating that only about 1% of the reported $38.5 billion in savings will be cash savings realized this year. The deal passed anyway – to which I say “so what?” – but the bigger point is that the CBO’s report is probably good news for the bigger picture of upcoming budget negotiations and the 2012 elections.

Please read my article on the subject for the American Spectator:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/04/15/thank-you-cbo

Is A Government Bail Option Better Than A Government-Sponsored Bail Monopoly?

by Mike Krause | 6:01 pm, April 14, 2011

Republican State Representative Mark Waller and Democrat State Senator John Morse are the sponsors of Senate Bill 11-186, which would allow Colorado’s judicial districts to establish an “alternative” bond program that would exist alongside the private-sector bail bonds industry. At first blush, it sounds like big-government wanting to crowd out the private sector, but [...]

What’s ‘Values of Harry Potter’ All About?

by Ari Armstrong | 3:46 pm, April 14, 2011

For those curious about my book, Value of Harry Potter, I’m reproducing a summary I just posted to the book’s web page.The release of the Expanded Edition of my book Values of Harry Potter offers a good opportunity for me to walk people through the boo…

Xcel and Colorado Lawmakers Exchange Promise Rings

by Jon Caldara | 1:43 pm, April 14, 2011

I want to alert my readers with an update to yesterday’s post on Xcel’s friendly relationship with our state legislature. Amy just posted on our Environmental Policy blog new evidence of an even further deepening love affair between Xcel an…

2011 Denver Tax Day Tea Party Livestream

by elpresidente | 12:14 pm, April 14, 2011

People’s Press Collective will have live streaming video coverage of the Denver Tax Day Tea Party, starting at 10pm MT Friday, April 15. Follow on Twitter @peoplespress with #coteaparty hashtag.

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