Accountable Care Organizations: Soviet-style command & control medicine that strangles innovation & quality

by Brian T. Schwartz | 5:30 am, June 22, 2011

Accountable Care Organizations “will become the medical equivalent of the state-run giant collective farms that failed to feed the USSR. Central planning will strangle innovation in American medicine just as it strangled the Eastern Bloc economies during the Cold War.”

Unintended Consequences

by Joshua Sharf | 10:15 pm, June 21, 2011

Should the NLRB prevail in its attempt to tell Boeing where it can and cannot build new plants and direct new work, it will, in the end, only make things worse for places like Washington State, not only for South Carolina. Obviously, South Carolina would suffer, and while my sympathies for them are somewhat limited [...]

Maintaining Boulder open space trails: user fees & sponsorships should replace taxes

by Brian T. Schwartz | 9:58 pm, June 21, 2011

How Boulder County finances its trail maintenance is unjust. The county sales tax forces people to finance hiking trail maintenance, whether or not they use them. Meanwhile, people who don’t shop in Boulder County can use trails without paying. The County should strive to replace tax-funded trails with user fees and sponsorships. Continue reading →

Individual Rights and Vouchers

by Ari Armstrong | 5:24 pm, June 21, 2011

Recently Colorado’s Douglas County instituted a small voucher program redirecting tax money to parents and then, in some cases, to religious schools.Today the American Civil Liberties Union announced it was joining a lawsuit against the program, declar…

Ed Center’s Response to ACLU Suit

by Jon Caldara | 2:43 pm, June 21, 2011

If you haven’t heard yet, the ACLU is filing suit against the Douglas County voucher program. Our Education Policy Center’s response to this suit can be found here:

Lawsuit Against Dougco Voucher Program Draws Fire
Institute Decries Attempt to Stifle Parental Choice through Courts
Golden, Colo.- The Independence Institute, Colorado’s leading voice for free market policy, denounces a [...]

Unemployment Insurance Problems In Your Own Backyard

by Vande Krol | 2:20 pm, June 21, 2011

Did you know that if you hire your neighbor’s kid to mow your lawn, you are liable, under Colorado law, for unemployment insurance for that kid?  The fact is you cannot sell your labor for a price you are willing to accept unless it meets gov…

Legal Complaint against DougCo Vouchers Rooted in Irony, Anti-Catholic Bigotry

by Eddie | 2:12 pm, June 21, 2011

It’s the first day of summer, “longest day of the year” — which may have something to do with trying to get as much attention as possible for a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and friends to try to stop Douglas County’s choice scholarship (voucher) program. Ed News Colorado was among the first to report [...]

More liberal tolerance

by Rossputin | 9:23 am, June 21, 2011

A new Gallup poll suggests that “More than one in five Americans, 22%, say they would not vote for their party’s nominee for president in 2012 if that person happens to be a Mormon, a figure largely unchanged since 1967.”

What’s particularly fascinating, and probably makes the poll less meaningful that it might have been given that the two Mormon candidates are Republicans, is that the percent of Democrats who would not vote for a Mormon is much higher than the percentage of Republicans or independents.

Although Gallup has a reputation as being relatively even-handed, they strike me as using Democrat-leaning spin yet again (as I thought they did regarding polling results between President Obama and a generic Republican candidate). In particular: in the e-mail announcing the poll results, Gallup says  that the 22% who would not vote for a Mormon “includes 18% of Republicans and 19% of independents, as well as 27% of Democrats.” Notice how the percentage of Democrats is 50% higher than the percentage of Republicans, but the Democrats are mentioned last and preceded with “as well as”, as if the Democrat figure is barely noteworthy?

Furthermore, within their article (linked above) about the poll result, they say “The new Gallup poll, conducted June 9-12, finds nearly 20% of Republicans and independents saying they would not support a Mormon for president. That is slightly lower than the 27% of Democrats saying the same.”

So, they round up the Republican and independent figures from the high teens to “nearly 20%” so that the first number is the same “2″ as the first number for Democrats, and then they call it “slightly lower”. But it’s not “slightly” lower. As a percentage of the result, it’s massively lower…fully 50% lower for Republicans than Democrats, and nearly 50% lower for independents versus Democrats.

Gallup is damaging their credibility as impartial by such obvious numerical manipulation and bogus statistical conclusions, though they’re probably right to assume that most readers won’t catch their bias, obvious as it is to this reader.

While it’s not surprising that refusal to vote for a Mormon correlates inversely with level of education, I did find it interesting that younger voters were less likely to vote for a Mormon than older voters.

Other interesting poll internals: 9% said they wouldn’t vote for a Jew. On the one hand, that’s an incredibly high number in 21st century USA. On the other hand, it’s less than half of those who wouldn’t vote for a Mormon. And, dashing any hopes I’d have of being president, 49% said they wouldn’t vote for an atheist. (As an atheist Jew, I wonder if that makes me 29% unfavorable among voters…or 58%?) And if you’re a gay Mormon atheist, just forget about ever running for anything…

Todd Shepherd, Peter Boyles on Media Coverage of the Hancock Story

by Jon Caldara | 8:37 am, June 21, 2011

Interview with yours truly

by Rossputin | 6:34 am, June 21, 2011

http://www.coloradopeakpolitics.com/diary/416/colorados-conservative-conscience-an-interview-with-ross-kaminsky

I’m deeply appreciative – and sort of wondering whether I’m deserving of such a flattering description – of the profile which Colorado Peak Politics has written of me. Their article includes my answers to questions they offered via e-mail. Thanks again, whoever you are…

http://www.coloradopeakpolitics.com/diary/416/colorados-conservative-conscience-an-interview-with-ross-kaminsky

Colorado’s Economy Looking Up

by PerlStalker | 11:39 pm, June 20, 2011

The Colorado Legislative Council put out the state’s quarterly Economic and Revenue Forecast. Colorado looks to be in pretty good shape with expected budget surpluses for this year and next. The bad news for taxpayers, Colorado will not be giving back …

Romney: “RomneyCare” vs. “ObamaCare”

by elpresidente | 10:35 pm, June 20, 2011

Mitt Romney responded to a question by the Denver Post’s Tim Hoover about attendees’ concerns over “RomneyCare” versus the plan criticized as “ObamaCare” by many Republicans–charging that Romney was basically saying “small socialism is good, but big socialism is bad” (Hoover’s characterization of the their comparison): Romney claimed 3 to 1 support for the health [...]

Mitt Romney Visits CO

by elpresidente | 8:01 pm, June 20, 2011

The Statesman on Our Petition Rights Event

by Jon Caldara | 1:30 pm, June 20, 2011

The Colorado Statesman is a great publication. We have long been fans of theirs and this is why we were excited when they came to our assaults on our initiative and referendum process event last month at the University Club. They wrote a great article that summed up the event nicely. They reported on the [...]

The Ultimate Government Jobs Program

by Jon Caldara | 12:56 pm, June 20, 2011

Harping on Colorado’s budget woes is nothing new. In fact, not saying something about our budget crisis ought to earn someone a kick in the pants. Senior Fellow Fred Holden is no stranger to sounding the budget alarm bells. But in his latest op-ed he does a bit more to advance the debate than simply [...]

Colorado Reapportionment Commission continues redrawing state legislative districts, public testimony for central Colorado (Colorado Springs and surrounding areas) this week

by CTBC Director | 7:27 am, June 20, 2011

Colorado’s Reapportionment Commission (charged with drawing our state legislative districts) continues the summer schedule of meetings and hearing of public testimony this week in Denver.
Last week’s meeting (13 June) discussed the preliminary district maps for state House and Senate districts for Region 2 (Eastern Plains) - public testimony on districts in that region actually occurred a week earlier, [...]

Media liberals blame anyone but Obama for bad economy

by Rossputin | 5:43 am, June 20, 2011

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/06/20/dont-blame-us

When it comes to the weakness of our current economic “recovery” (a term we must use loosely given unemployment only 1% lower than at its worst), liberals are determined to blame anyone other than the Obama Administration, using arguments both false and reprehensible.

Keynesian-in-Chief Paul Krugman, in his latest conspiracy-under-every-rock article for the NY Times, argues that “rentiers” who have own large quantities of US government bonds (which is to say who have done Americans the favor of loaning cheap money to our government), benefit from the low interest rates which usually accompany a weak economy.

Therefore, according to Krugman, this “Pain Caucus” works to “protect the interests of creditors, no matter the cost.”  One would think that a Nobel Prize-winning economist (though Nobel’s shine has lost some luster given its awards to Yasser Arafat, Al Gore, and Barack “maybe I’ll earn this one day” Obama) would know better than to offer such claptrap. Or maybe he does know better but assumes – probably correctly – that most of his readers don’t.

Please read the rest of my article for the American Spectator here:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/06/20/dont-blame-us

Stores offer free health care, until “reform” forces you to pay for it

by Brian T. Schwartz | 5:30 am, June 20, 2011

John Goodman describes how Sam’s Club and Walmart offer free health screenings, blood pressure tests, cholesterol tests, etc., the health control bill (HR 3590) will make these obsolete by requiring all health plans to cover such services, and requiring us to pay for them.

Sen. Bennett Doesn’t want to know

by Al Maurer | 9:56 am, June 19, 2011

Sen Michael Bennet claims to represent all of Colorado but really doesn’t want to hear dissenting opinion.

Federalism and Individual Rights

by Joshua Sharf | 8:08 am, June 19, 2011

In a decision released Friday, Bond v. United States, the US Supreme Court ruled that individuals charged in criminal cases have standing to challenge the constitutionality of federal laws on 10th Amendment grounds.  The Court held that federalism, as described in the 10th Amendment, protects individual rights, not merely the states’ sovereignty. Federalism secures the [...]

A Challenge to My Democrat Jewish Friends

by Joshua Sharf | 6:59 am, June 19, 2011

Swing by the Baltimore Center for Jewish Education on Saturday, but don’t bring your children.  Wear a yarmulke or bring something that distinguishes you as Jewish.  Stay for a while.  Listen to the speeches.  Normally, I’d also advise walking right up to the front door and trying to enter the building, but it’s Shabbat, so [...]

Time to Eliminate the Sales Tax?

by PerlStalker | 11:21 pm, June 18, 2011

Texas has become the latest state to look at a taxing Internet sales. Colorado’s own “Amazon tax” has been ruled unconstitutional as is currently under injunction while the courts sort things out. Texas, Colorado and all of the other states that have a…

Rethinking Education Tax Credits

by Ari Armstrong | 11:45 am, June 18, 2011

Should advocates of free markets and economic liberty promote such reforms as charter schools, vouchers, and tax credits for education?In an article for the Objective Standard — and a follow-up reply to critics — Michael LaFerrara argues that voucher…

Backbone Radio, June 19, 2011

by Rossputin | 6:26 am, June 18, 2011

Please join Backbone Radio this Father’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 over the phone by U.S. Congressman Mike Coffman of the 6th Congressional District.  Coffman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, will share his take on the fresh battle between Congress and the President over Libya and the War Powers Resolution, along with the ongoing crises in the Middle East and over the economy..

Then in the second hour, activists Ari Armstrong and Joshua Sharf will chime in their thoughts on the state of the economy and the recommendations of Obama’s “Competitiveness Council.”  We’ll also discuss the merits of a free society – specifically, what makes a country “free” and what must be done to maintain that freedom?

Finally, we will discuss the evolving 2012 Republican candidate field, the White House’s rebound on Obamacare waivers, and the controversy over whether or not the AARP is doing the right thing in finally standing up for Social Security reform.  Plus we’ll examine more allegations over global warming activists’ number-fudging – this time at CU Boulder.

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: Call the studio at 303 696 1971.

Unimaginative recommendation for Thompson School District

by Amy Oliver | 3:35 pm, June 17, 2011

As the Thompson School District “studies” how to get more cash from taxpayers, this might be a good time to remind the Loveland school district that more money does not equate to better education as Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver Cooke wrote in a 2009 guest editorial when her school district sought a $16 million mill [...]

Wisconsin remains “Ground Zero” in collective bargaining court battle

by CTBC Director | 3:03 pm, June 17, 2011

Premature declarations of victory have been all the rage in Wisconsin this year…
April’s hotly-contested Wisconsin Supreme Court elections – putting Wisconsin at “Ground Zero” for an attempted political ploy to overturn recently-passed legislation by seizing control of the state supreme court – saw union-backed challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg prematurely declare victory in what could have been [...]

WSJ: AARP drops opposition to Social Security reform

by Rossputin | 2:30 pm, June 17, 2011

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/06/17/aarp-switch-sparks-fresh-calls-for-social-security-overhaul/

This could indeed be a “watershed moment” in America’s awakening to the need to reform entitlement programs to prevent national bankruptcy. This is not to say that AARP’s eventual reform suggestions will be good ones. But the very fact that AARP has moved off utter intransigence regarding reform and recognizes the need for changes that keep the systems solvent is a very big deal – and a dagger in the hearts of Democrat candidates everywhere.

As my friend (and first editor) Jed Babbin said upon hearing the news, “one thing you can be sure of: AARP is positioned to make money on the deal. They’re the richest lobby in the nation.”

My ‘Use Tax’ Case Resolved, Tax Remains a Problem

by Ari Armstrong | 1:23 pm, June 17, 2011

The good news is that the Colorado Department of Revenue is no longer threatening to seize my property over “use tax” allegedly due. An agent told me over the phone today that the Department would accept the original payment of $436.93 from my wife and…

Hustler wants Weiner

by Rossputin | 11:25 am, June 17, 2011

H/T Aaron Goldstein

Hustler Magazine’s Larry Flynt makes a job offer to humiliated former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-flynt/anthony-weiner-resigning-_b_878667.html

Spreading Carpe Diem-Like Learning Success Requires Colorado Policy Changes

by Eddie | 9:28 am, June 17, 2011

Back in April I brought your attention to Arizona’s cutting-edge, outstanding-results “blended learning” charter known as Carpe Diem. While you might have found my post and Ben DeGrow’s School Reform News feature story interesting, this 9-minute marketing video really brings it home:

Carpe Diem Marketing Video – Final Cut from Nicholas Tucker on Vimeo.
Let’s be honest: [...]

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