Memo to Colorado Lawmakers: Collective Bargaining in Government Different than in Private Business

by Ben DeGrow | 4:49 pm, May 10, 2011

Slipping under the radar late in Colorado’s legislative session (sine die is tomorrow, hallelujah!) is House Bill 1320 — sponsored by two conservative Republicans, Rep. Janak Joshi and Sen. Bill Cadman — a rare two-page piece of legislation that would essentially outlaw collective bargaining in state and local governments. It’s not going to pass, and [...]

Will Arnold Be The New Al Gore?

by Mike Krause | 2:33 pm, May 10, 2011

A quick Internet search turned up this 2009 piece by then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urging us all to reduce our energy consumption by 20 percent. How you ask? According to Arnold:
Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot; wrap your water heater in insulation; adjust your thermostat by two degrees Fahrenheit [...]

Let’s Smear Ayn Rand!

by Ari Armstrong | 12:54 pm, May 10, 2011

With the release of the mediocre Atlas Shrugged film, smearing Ayn Rand has practically risen to a national pastime. No other literary figure I can think of has been subjected to such relentless and dishonest attacks. Usually, those who most viciously …

Michigan Governor Calls For More Parent-Friendly Open Enrollment (a la Colorado)

by Eddie | 11:57 am, May 10, 2011

Open enrollment is something I haven’t told you much about lately, but now it’s in the news as Michigan’s governor looks to break down a barrier to parental choice and educational opportunity in state law. The Detroit News yesterday highlighted Rick Snyder’s plan to allow any public school student access to an open public school [...]

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold testifies on constitutional guidelines for Colorado Congressional Redistricting

by CTBC Director | 7:15 am, May 10, 2011

As the 2011 Colorado legislative session draws to a close (and with it, the prospects for the General Assembly to exercise its decennial constitutional obligation to re-draw Colorado’s Congressional Districts, the final chance for Citizens to weigh in comes down to the wire. Since the legislative session MUST conclude by midnight Wednesday, and sufficient time [...]

Democrats Fail to Pass Their Own Redistricting Map

by PerlStalker | 7:13 am, May 10, 2011

You want proof that Colorado Democrats weren’t serious about their redistricting map?

Democratic Senators filibustered on their own redistricting map drawing measure, Senate Bill 268, today, letting the clock run past midnight Monday night–effecti…

Stephen Dinan’s economic malpractice

by Rossputin | 5:27 am, May 10, 2011

The Washington Times, not the usual stalking ground for Keynesianism and other disproven economic theories, offers a remarkable bit of media malpractice in furthering the liberal myth that high tax rates are what is required to increase government tax revenue.

It’s not just the title of Stephen Dinan’s article, “Higher taxes keep federal deficit in check” (Washington Times, 5/7/11), which bears critique, but it’s a fine place to start: One of the reasons for the economic ignorance of the American public is their media-fueled conflation of higher tax rates and higher tax revenues. The Times’ poorly qualified “Higher taxes” is unnecessary, though perhaps intentionally given what comes later, confusing. One could be forgiven for mistaking the headline as saying that higher tax rates are helping the deficit, even though that’s not the case.

Those who have been paying attention over the past 6 months will recognize that Republicans forced Barack Obama to agree to an extension of the Bush tax cuts despite cries from the Democrats and other supporters of static modeling, i.e. the idea that people’s economic behavior does not change when their economic environment changes, that the cuts would “explode the deficit.”

Those who live in the real world said that tax revenue will exceed those projections if the tax rate cuts were extended because of the pro-growth impact of continuing the lower rates. Indeed, throughout our history (except when a tax cut happened going into a recession), tax revenue has always surpassed estimates after substantial cuts in marginal tax rates. (Those on the left who want to give Bill Clinton credit for a budget surplus even though he raised marginal income tax rates conveniently forget that the surplus did not appear until after Clinton went along with Republican demands for a large reduction in the capital gains tax rate. Not all tax cuts completely “pay for themselves” but that one did several times over.)

Thus it is little more than liberal propaganda for Mr. Dinan to argue – the way an editorial writer would but a reporter shouldn’t – that the lower-than-expected April deficit, due to higher-than-expected tax revenue, happened “despite last December’s tax-cuts deal.”

No, Mr. Dinan, the revenue is higher than expected because of the tax-cuts deal. If the deal had not happened, the Congressional Budget Office would have estimated tax payments under the assumption that nobody would have curtailed his or her entrepreneurship, hiring, and other economic risk-taking in response to the more punitive tax rates. That would have been, as it always has been, wrong, and then we would lower-than-expected tax revenue.

On Mr. Dinan’s own web site, he admits that he is “no expert on the economy,” something which becomes even clearer with his support of taxing financial market transactions. But then he’s also no expert on the First Amendment as he supports banning corporations from any involvement in elections.

Given Mr. Dinan’s self-admitted lack of expertise, one has to wonder why the Washington Times would let him report on economic issues, much less allow reporting to be used as a platform for dispensing hackneyed economic misinformation.

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

Bin Laden’s capture: should the U.S. military use “scapels” or “sledgehammers”

by Brian T. Schwartz | 10:04 pm, May 9, 2011

“A scalpel, not a sledgehammer, should be our primary counterterrorism tool,” notes Cato Institute policy analyst David Rittgers, a former Special Forces officer in Afghanistan.

Don’t Buy That Cake

by Jon Caldara | 1:47 pm, May 9, 2011

Thanks to America’s extremely high level of productivity, our low income citizens face some unique challenges. For example, instead of starving like in centuries past, today’s poorest Americans suffer from obesity. Instead of being cutoff from the rest of society, they have Internet access and smart phones. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, [...]

Anti-National Curriculum Manifesto Worth Signing in (Virtual) Ink, Not Crayon

by Eddie | 12:55 pm, May 9, 2011

If you gave me a big box of crayons and asked me to write a manifesto, it’s probably not what I would have come up with. But I am glad to give it a big thumbs up, and hope that lots of big people sign on. What am I talking about? Closing the Door on [...]

Why I’m Not a Libertarian

by Ari Armstrong | 8:04 am, May 9, 2011

Given my past activism with the Libertarian Party of Colorado, it is no surprise that lots of people still think of me as a libertarian. At the same time, libertarians think it odd that I disclaim the title. So I thought I’d make another attempt to add…

Pension Legislation in Congress

by Joshua Sharf | 8:00 am, May 9, 2011

Kudos to State Treasurer Walker Stapleton for testifying before Congress in favor of H.R. 567, Rep. Devin Nunes‘s Public Employee Transparency Act, which would require states to use reasonable rates of return when calculating the financials for their pension plans, and would also require that they use proper discount rates based on US Treasuries, rather [...]

The lasting impact of bin Laden’s death

by Rossputin | 7:25 am, May 9, 2011

People of all political stripes along with the media are dissecting the not-yet-dead carcass of the Obama Administration’s behavior following the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs.

A Washington Times article entitled “Obama, aides struggle with post-raid miscues” is a perfect example. Replete with outside and self-criticism of the Administration about its first reports on the raid, “should we or shouldn’t we” debates about pictures of bin Laden, presumably with a bullet hole in his head (and, really, could there be a better place on earth for a bullet hole?), the media frenzy is a tempest in a teapot.

Here’s my take on how the Administration is handling these various posthumous details: Who cares?

Come election time, nobody will remember or care about whether bin Laden’s wife tried to shield him or whether there was a “firefight” or just a few gunshots. Already nobody except some American Indian (or am I supposed to say Native American?) activists with nothing better to complain about care that the mission was called “Geronimo.” (If you were a Native American, wouldn’t you be extremely proud rather than irate at the choice, anyway, asks this Washington Redskins fan?)

Please read my entire article for the American Spectator at this link:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/05/09/from-osama-back-to-obama

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

Another One Bites the Dust? Unpopular ‘Amazon Tax’ may be 3rd of the “Dirty Dozen” tax increases to be repealed this year

by CTBC Director | 5:11 am, May 9, 2011

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” – Mark Twain (1866)
Occasionally, however, the legislature can succeed in undoing previous acts putting one’s life, liberty, or property at risk…
State legislators made some progress this week towards repealing another one of last year’s “Dirty Dozen” tax increases (which exploited a Colorado Supreme [...]

Colorado SB 11-213: Parents can afford higher child health plan fees

by Brian T. Schwartz | 10:01 pm, May 8, 2011

Colo. SB 11-218: Households earning twice the federal poverty limit can afford higher fees for the Colo. Child Health Plan Plus. Many kids in such households have commercial insurance, & the poorest U.S. households spend more than $100/month on booze, sweets, tobacco, & entertainment. $20/month for one kid isn’t too much.

College Republicans announce 2011-2012 Leadership and Priorities

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 12:00 pm, May 8, 2011

I received this press release from my friend and now-former College Republican colleague Troy Ard, Chairman of the Colorado Federation of College Republicans. Troy, along with Vice-Chair Colton Vaughan, will join me TONIGHT to talk about this and more as I fill in for Ross Kaminsky on Backbone Radio from 5-8pm on AM 710 KNUS. [...]

Diversity of Opinion

by Al Maurer | 10:45 am, May 8, 2011

The Republican Party stands on principles, not personalities. Or it should.

Graduating college host & PPC contributor to guest-host on AM 710 KNUS′s “Backbone Radio” TONIGHT from 5-8

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 10:00 am, May 8, 2011

Guests will include Matt Arnold, Andy McKean, Troy Ard & Colton Vaughan. Listen live on 710 Denver, 1460 CO Springs, online at 710knus.com ————————— Jimmy Sengenberger, host of Regis University’s pioneering Seng Center Radio Show and a PPC contributor, will be filling in TONIGHT (5/8) for the first time as a guest host on AM [...]

Arnold Testifies on Campaign Laws

by Ari Armstrong | 8:18 am, May 7, 2011

Matt Arnold of Clear the Bench Colorado was sued under Colorado’s campaign laws — even after he sought out guidance from the Secretary of State’s office.Arnold makes the shocking, but I think correct, statement, “Under Colorado’s campaign finance rule…

How Online Education is Disrupting Class

by Jon Caldara | 8:09 am, May 7, 2011

Backbone Radio, May 8, 2011: Jimmy Sengenberger & Guests

by Rossputin | 5:59 am, May 7, 2011

Audio archives for this show:

Segment 1 – Intro; Jimmy’s thoughts about SB200 aka “AmyCare”
Segment 2 – Jimmy discusses Obamacare and SB200 with Matt Arnold
Segment 3 – Jimmy and Matt discuss redistricting
Segment 4 – Andy McKean, founder of Liberty Day
Segment 5 – Troy Ard and Colton Vaughan of Colorado College Republicans
Segment 6 – More with Troy Ard and Colton Vaughan

Please join Backbone Radio this Mother’s Day Sunday as Jimmy Sengenberger sits in for Ross Kaminsky.

From Jimmy Sengenberger:

In the first hour we’ll begin by talking about some of the hot news of the week before being joined in-studio by Matt Arnold of Clear the Bench Colorado, a U.S. Army vet who served in Afghanistan. We’ll spend an hour with Matt discussing the battle over redistricting, which he has written about at ClearTheBenchColorado.com. We’ll also pull on his wartime experience and break down the significance of bin Laden’s death.

Then Andy McKean, president and founder of Liberty Day (www.LibertyDay.org), will join Jimmy to discuss his valiant effort to educate youth about the contents of the U.S. Constitution and share details on an exciting program last week in Wyoming, where over 200 attorneys gave out copies of the Constitution and spoke to almost every 5th grader in the state!

Finally, we’ll chat with Troy Ard and Colton Lee Vaughan, the incoming state chair and vice-chair of the Colorado College Republicans, about engaging young conservatives and College Republicans in the political process. Just how dominant are liberals on college campuses, and what’s it like fighting to conservative fight in schools?

Please join Jimmy 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 Jimmy: Call the studio at 303 696 1971.

Original post at http://backboneradio.net, online home of Backbone Radio with Ross Kaminsky.

Keynes vs Hayek, Round 2

by Rossputin | 5:40 am, May 7, 2011

The latest and definitely greatest rap by George Mason University economist Russ Roberts…

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

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

How Online Education is Disrupting Class

by Jon Caldara | 3:21 pm, May 6, 2011

Tune in to The Devil’s Advocate with yours truly Pam Benigno, on Colorado Public Television (Channel 12 in Denver) tonight at 8:30 PM and this coming Monday, May 9, at 1:30 PM. The Innosight Institute’s Michael Horn, co-author of the groundbreaking book Disrupting Class, and Jefferson County Public Schools director of student online learning Judy [...]

FOX 31 FAIR AND BALANCED ON EDUCATION? We Report, You Decide Part Three

by Ben DeGrow | 1:39 pm, May 6, 2011

Originally posted at Colorado Peak Politics. Re-posted here with permission. As author, I am solely responsible for the content. On FOX 31 last night, political reporter did a sit-down with Governor John Hickenlooper for one of the School Cuts 101 series segments. The result? Unremarkable. Hick has been focused on budget issues, rightly so, and [...]

More AngloSpheric Election News

by Joshua Sharf | 12:28 pm, May 6, 2011

UPDATE: Apparently, I misread the results. The Conservatives now control 157 of 279 local councils, and have over twice as many locally elected councilors as Labour. As my fellow AngloSpheric fan, an Australian friend of mine, had pointed out to me, local councils are, in the absence of anything like states, the training ground for [...]

Three Years of Five-Year-Old Blogging: Great Time to Appreciate Teachers

by Eddie | 10:11 am, May 6, 2011

As usual, I’m taking the weekend off for extra Lego time and lots of playing outdoors in the beautiful Colorado sunshine. Since tomorrow is an important anniversary, I decided to observe it today. On May 7, 2008, I began my three years of blogging here as a 5-year-old with a post titled “Denver Parents Want [...]

Independence Institute Writers In The News

by Mike Krause | 9:33 am, May 6, 2011

ObamaCare health exchanges, our fiscally irresponsible Congress and overcriminalization in Colorado are all topics of published work by Independence Institute writers this week.
First, check out research associate and health care blogger Brian Schwartz in the Denver Post as he warns us against getting mugged by a politically controlled insurance exchange.
Then check out Mothers Against Debt [...]

CO Campaign Laws Chill Speech

by Ari Armstrong | 7:47 am, May 6, 2011

Diana Hsieh, who fought the anti-abortion “Personhood” ballot measures in 2008 and 2010, had to endure the onerous reporting requirements of Colorado’s campaign laws — just so she could spend a few hundred dollars (in 2008) and nearly $3,000 (in 2010)…

Colo. SB 11-200: Don’t get mugged by a politically controlled insurance exchange

by Brian T. Schwartz | 6:54 am, May 6, 2011

In the Denver Post: “Say a street thug breaks your nose, robs you, and then offers to “help” by driving you to the hospital. Would you accept? But some Colo. legislators are accepting – by supporting the Washington-controlled health insurance exchange in Senate Bill 11-200.”

Scott Elmore: Quitting NFIB over SB200

by Rossputin | 6:07 am, May 6, 2011

A regular reader of these pages, Scott Elmore, has abandoned his company’s many-year affiliation with the National Federation of Independent Business over that group’s support of Colorado’s SB200 which would set up a government-run (or at least quasi-government-run) health care “exchange” in our state. Many opponents of the bill, including me, believe it plays into the hands of the health care fascists (and I use that term in its literal economic sense, not as hypberbole) who support Obamacare. Here’s Scott’s note on the subject:

I don’t claim this to be a literary masterpiece, but it is factual and from the heart:

I recently took an incredibly hard-nosed stance against the National Federation of Independent Business, AND our State director. I went so far as to remove my family’s decades long membership from the member rolls of NFIB. Although I was angry, it was not a decision I made lightly.

The straw that broke my back was the NFIB getting behind the Republican House Majority Leader backed, “SB 11-200”. Rep. Amy Stephens, a purported Republican, spent a good deal of her time enjoying her media spotlight; but one interview caught my ear on KLZ’s “Grassroots Radio Colorado,” where she defended her support of the bill with an argument that was akin to, “Colorado workers need relief from their employers choosing their health plan. My support of this bill is because it will relieve workers from the burden of their employer choosing their health plan, and give them options”. I don’t claim that to be an exact quote, but it certainly was her premise. Just for fun, let’s stop there, for a minute.

As a small business owner, my family business has a mere 17 employees. 20 if you consider myself and my parents. Not ONE of my employees is “enslaved” to the small group health plan I have chosen. Every one of them has the option of not participating. What Rep. Stephens carefully worded argument leaves out, is that IF my employees make that choice…I DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT! Our contribution to our employee’s healthcare is a voluntary benefit that we provide to attract and retain the best employees that we can. Interestingly enough, in an industry where the average tenure is 3-5 years, in our 38 years of business we’ve had two folks retire with 25+ years of service, and I just celebrated the 20th anniversary of another employee with lunch at a great local restaurant. Our current average tenure is roughly 10 years. My employees are not “stuck”, they are very happy to have the benefits that they have. For the record, until last year, I paid 75% of employee AND all dependent’s healthcare. Last year, I had to dial it back to 60%, and my staff was grateful that I didn’t undue paying for their families. (My industry standard is to pay for employee only). This cost to my business is second only to payroll, and averages somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 a year for the aforementioned employees and their families.

It is an absolute insult to me as an employer that Rep. Stephens would (seemingly knowingly) employ the “poor worker” tactic as a selling point for her faulty pet legislation. My staff has already realized the “benefit” (sarcasm added) of Government intervention in health care. They are thankful, and incredibly aware of the garbage legislation that they fear will screw up the good deal that they currently have.

It was a MUCH bigger insult that NFIB would jump on her bandwagon. State Director Tony Gagliardi was slow to respond, but after he let his comments soak through the weekend news (with no challenge), he did finally respond to me privately with the usual talking points and rhetoric. To understand where I’m coming from, and why I kicked NFIB to the curb, let’s take a look at NFIB’s ambiguous back and forth record on small business healthcare in Colorado, if for nothing else, just for fun…because the contradictions actually are humorous, unless you’re in my position, then they are just depressing.

I will admit, I was in high-school then, and I can only provide anecdotal evidence from my hardcore NFIB involvement from 2002-2006, but it was clear to me that, NFIB members, following the, “Leadership” of the NFIB in Colorado, pushed HARD for HB 94-1210. This is my often quoted mandate bill, which “entitled” small group members in Colorado to a vast array of mandated health care treatments, including, but not limited to, free prostate exams, free mammograms, free pre-natal care, etc. Small business was REALLY excited about this. In fact, according to http://www.facebook.com/l/5726f3Tt1tNuMOBwPNb6WyUUN2Q/www.dora.state.co.us/insurance/rtfo/2011/rtfoSmallGroupMarket2010Report050211.pdf ,
“Between 1994 and 1998, Colorado’s small group market increased from 25,381 groups and 413,643 covered lives to 71,126 groups and 536,367 covered lives.” Take a look at the number of groups, vs. the number of covered lives…could this mandate have caused a huge amount of sick people to jump into the small group pool? Well, let’s look at some more numbers, again provided by our State report:, “By 2003, the number of groups dipped to 50,826 and the covered lives decreased to 392,538.”

Well Golly Gee, why in the world would that happen? Here’s why, according to Colorado Health Institute, “Small group health insurance premiums increased an average of 84 percent between
1996 and 2002.” Well, of course they did. We guaranteed coverage, and new additional coverage to LOTS of sick people, and they jumped in the pool and raised costs! What happened next? Can I say, duh? Of course it costs more to insure and guarantee coverage for lots of sick people, and people seeking tests that they don’t need! Additionally, a bunch of small group members, my staff included, got drunk on the idea that everything just cost a co-pay, and the rest is “free”. The idea of personal responsibility, or intelligent personal health care decisions disappeared.

What happened next, is “I” got involved. I don’t mean me personally, (although I did)…but there were a BUNCH of other “I’s” that got involved too. We got downright pissed.

We rallied (initially under the NFIB banner) to reform Small Group Healthcare in Colorado. We sat in a major meeting in Pueblo at a hotel, listening to a panel of healthcare providers speak. They said they couldn’t do what we wanted, because of the mandates on them. I stood up and said, “Then let’s change that!” (The mandates, that is)

A LOT of other people joined me in that thought.

However, apparently NFIB didn’t like what our membership had to say, nor what our leadership council said, because this became one of the most contentious issues ever between me and my good friend Tim Jackson, who was then the state director for NFIB. It only takes a simple google search to see that we butted heads on this issue in 2002 and 2003…ultimately, a compromise was reached, and NFIB and myself stood up and supported HB 03-1164 , which was passed, with the help of a lot of good legislators, and signed by Gov. Owens into legislation. I was blessed to be asked by the former Governor to speak at the press conference when he signed the bill.

For MANY in the small group market in Colorado, our rates went down almost instantaneously (according to the provisions of the bill) by 25% in our next renewal, This incredible reduction in rate (compared to our 14-40% increases under the ridiculous state mandates) continued for a number of years. Unfortunately, political power shifted, as did the stance of NFIB.

In 2006 and 2007, Mr. Gagliardi, surely following his handlers, supported a complete undoing of my, and other small business owner’s cost saving reforms when he supported HB 07-1355. The result of this bad legislation was a staggered, or tiered, increase in my small group’s discount from 2008-2010. This is probably where NFIB lost me. I still paid our dues, but for an organization that I AM A PAYING MEMBER of to take my health care premiums and pretty much single handedly increase them by 25% over three years…DOH! You guys (NFIB) lost me.

Take all of the above facts, and tie them in to NFIB Colorado’s support of SB 200? Holy cow! What am I paying my small business lobby for? My employees do not need protected from me. My business does not need the government’s help! We need the government to get out of the way, like they did after we passed HB 03-1164. Of course coverage went down…people had to start to take personal responsibility for their health care.

I’ve got a family obligation out of the country for a bit over a week starting Saturday morning. Don’t let that appear that I’m avoiding any argument that comes forth; I welcome it. I probably left some stuff out, and may have emotionally overplayed some…but my facts are facts, and I’ll gladly address any argument that comes after I get home.

Suffice it to say, my folks don’t want YOU Rep. Stephens messing with what they have. I don’t want you screwing up what my family has.

NFIB Colorado, since our reforms of 2003, has been on a progressive track of screwing up healthcare even more.

Tim W. Jackson is a good guy, and I know him well, and only tagged him here for factual reference. I don’t know him well, but I believe Tony Gagliardi to be a good guy, who has his hands tied by NFIB’s agenda. NFIB’s agenda, coupled with some really screwed up Republican leadership in Colorado, has created this situation.

Take care all, I don’t have hard feelings, I just only give my money to people who are looking out for me. NFIB stopped doing that, so I stopped giving them money last week.

Respectfully submitted,

Scott Elmore

Link to Original post at Rossputin.com.

« go back — keep looking »