Stories of Special Needs Kids Bolster Dougco, Arizona Choice Programs

by Eddie | 2:31 pm, July 19, 2011

It was just last week I introduced you to a new video produced by my friends in the Education Policy Center that highlighted one family’s story to show why the Douglas County vouchers are needed to help save students. (Wouldn’t you like to see more of these brief video profiles that tell the real stories [...]

Barack Obama will have a second term. Here’s why: Part One in a Diagnostic Manual for the Center-Right

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 2:23 pm, July 19, 2011

Our American President is just horrid. Arrogant, unlikeable, not nearly so savvy or clever as he fancies, bubbling over with damning character flaws, getting friendly with all the wrong people, and disgustingly lazy – more given to the “see-the-world-and-have great-parties” aspect of the gig and not so fond of the “get-your-ass-in-the-office-by-seven-and-work” part. Fine, so what. [...]

Do CO Vouchers Pass the Constitutional and Moral Test?

by Ari Armstrong | 10:13 am, July 19, 2011

Douglas County passed a voucher program, prompting a (predictable) lawsuit from the ACLU. The Institute for Justice (IJ) has intervened on behalf of the school district. And the Independence Institute of Golden has taken up a public-relations campaign …

Cut, Cap, Balance and Veto

by PerlStalker | 10:32 pm, July 18, 2011

The debt games continue in Washington. So far, the Republicans have been the only ones offering any real plans. The Democrats have offered only criticism and rhetoric. The latest plan from the House Republicans is the “Cut, Cap and Balance” plan which …

There is a reason Washington treats you like an idiot…

by Eileen McGuire-Mahony | 5:18 pm, July 18, 2011

DC treats us all with contempt, treats us like a piteous assortment of fools and incompetents. How dare they, for shame, and all the stock cries of dismay. Just look at what we allow them to get away with. Consider the outrageous lies they tell, and our blase complacency – a bit of yelping from [...]

Long-term: PERA is in Trouble

by Jon Caldara | 4:38 pm, July 18, 2011

You may have heard that “PERA paints a rosy future” and that “PERA’s future is looking up” from the Denver Post, but I’m afraid it’s not that simple. (Incidentally, you may have heard other things of dubious nature from the Post). I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you ought to listen [...]

Wired Article: Khan Academy Is Boosting More Kids Into Advanced Math and Science

by Eddie | 4:28 pm, July 18, 2011

Don’t ask, because I don’t know what happened to all my time today. Rather than go in depth and expound on something profound, I will just direct you to this fascinating story in Wired magazine about “How Khan Academy is changing the rules of education”:

“This,” says Matthew Carpenter, “is my favorite exercise.” I peer over [...]

Smearing Ayn Rand (Again)

by Ari Armstrong | 9:15 am, July 18, 2011

A couple months ago I wrote about how Ayn Rand — nearly three decades after her death — has become the target of almost daily smear jobs from both the left and the right, and even some “friendly” commentaries greatly distort her ideas.That phenomenon…

Colorado Reapportionment Commission to reveal preliminary legislative district maps for metro Denver districts

by CTBC Director | 7:18 am, July 18, 2011

Colorado’s Reapportionent Commission (charged with drawing our state legislative districts) has completed the first round of public testimony on legislative district boundaries (last week’s marathon session covered six metro Denver counties).  Meetings continue this week, however, with new district maps for metro Denver counties set to be introduced in open hearings, beginning at 9:30AM in the Legislative [...]

Apply to the Leadership Program of the Rockies

by Rossputin | 6:14 am, July 18, 2011

One of the most valuable experiences of my life was going through the Leadership Program of the Rockies (about seven years ago.) It’s not just what you learn that’s so important, but also who you meet. Some of my closest friends and political allies in Colorado are fellow LPR classmates and graduates.

If you live in Colorado and have an interest in being a leader in promoting the values of liberty and capitalism, I urge you to consider applying. Or you know someone who fits that description, I urge you to encourage him or her to apply. The deadline to apply to the next LPR class is August 31, 2011.

If you go to http://leadershipprogram.org, you can find all the information you need about the program and how to apply.

For what it’s worth, I have made a (for me) substantial donation to LPR every year since graduating. I don’t think of it as charity as much as an investment in the future of our state and nation.

Will ObamaCare produce cascade of insolvent Colorado insurers?

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

ObamaCare threatens the solvency of private health plans, which will significantly reduce consumer choice and increase costs. …[In] Colorado, where one large health plan has already announced plans to leave the state, Graham’s analysis demonstrates a “cascade” of insolvency, whereby only five of the ten largest plans in 2009 will be operating in 2017.

Separate Film and State

by Ari Armstrong | 11:07 am, July 16, 2011

The government should play no role in film or art generally, for many of the same reasons it should play no role in religion. (The government should universally prevent force and fraud, as by pursuing thieves of artworks, but in such cases the governme…

Sick leave sickness

by Rossputin | 6:47 am, July 16, 2011

Yesterday, the Denver Post ran my letter to the editor regarding the likelihood of Denver having a ballot measure which would mandate that companies of more than 10 employees give each employee nine days of paid sick leave each year. I think the proposal is not just wrong-headed, but highly self-destructive.

Please read my letter here:

http://blogs.denverpost.com/eletters/2011/07/14/mandating-sick-leave-for-denver-businesses-3-letters/13910/

We Must Default on this Bogus Narrative

by Jon Caldara | 1:30 pm, July 15, 2011

In the la la land of Washington, DC, the secret password has been “debt ceiling” for weeks now. The August 2nd deadline is fast approaching and talks of raising the roof (or ceiling if you prefer), are still raging on with no deal in sight. Because the two sides cannot come to an agreement, we’ve [...]

NYC Study Shines Positive Light on Core Knowledge Program Reading Success

by Eddie | 11:08 am, July 15, 2011

Learning to read is essential to a quality education. Kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it? There has been increased attention in recent years on the importance of phonics and scientifically-based reading instruction. These are crucial features of instructing students in the early grades, ensuring they get off to a strong start in their educational [...]

Flashback: CDLE spending spree

by Amy Oliver | 4:55 pm, July 14, 2011

A hugely “insolvent” unemployment fund, overwhelmed by claims and now preparing to lay off between 30 to 100 employees, Brian Maas of Denver’s CBS Channel 4 reports things are going from bad to worse at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE). According to the article, “Some federal funding for CDLE jobs has run [...]

Criminal Justice Bills in 2011

by Jon Caldara | 12:29 pm, July 14, 2011

Hey, break out the handcuffs for this Friday’s episode of Devil’s Advocate as I am joined by Colorado State Public Defender Doug Wilson and Adams/Broomfield District Attorney Don Quick for a discussion on criminal justice related bills in the 2011 General Assembly and the ongoing work of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile justice. [...]

Nate Oakley Makes Case for Douglas County Colorado School Vouchers

by Ben DeGrow | 12:20 pm, July 14, 2011

In my official capacity at the Independence Institute, I helped to create this newly-released video (narration by Mary MacFarlane, editing and production by Justin Longo, consulting and oversight by Jon Caldara and Pam Benigno): As my juvenile alter ego at Ed Is Watching pointed out: …it’s a story like 13-year-old Nate Oakley’s that brings to [...]

New I.I. Video Highlights Douglas County Vouchers for Nate Oakley, 499 Other Kids

by Eddie | 11:33 am, July 14, 2011

Today I’m going to step back and let someone else do the talking. You’ve probably been following the developments surrounding Colorado’s groundbreaking Douglas County Pilot Choice Scholarship Program. I’ve covered it a lot here. Since the promising program was approved in March, 500 students have won vouchers worth about $4,600 to help cover the cost [...]

VIDEO: Douglas County School Vouchers

by Jon Caldara | 11:23 am, July 14, 2011

If you’ve got 2 minutes and want to learn about the real stories behind Douglas County’s innovative school voucher program, please watch this video. These stories are often overlooked by the mainstream media. Please share these stories with…

Values, Religion, and Politics in Harry Potter

by Ari Armstrong | 11:20 am, July 14, 2011

I’ve taken three shorter videos from my interview with Diana Hsieh about my book, Values of Harry Potter.In the first, I discuss the basic values of the novels. Harry and his allies fight for their lives and safety, for the safety of loved ones, and fo…

The Daily Blogster 2011-07-14 08:56:00

by Mr. Bob | 8:56 am, July 14, 2011

Gov. Rick Perry Sued For PrayingTweet

It bears repeating

by Rossputin | 5:42 am, July 14, 2011

It bears repeating that Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he could not guarantee that Social Security checks would go out if a deal to raise the debt ceiling is not reached before the August 2nd deadline.

It bears repeating, as Senator Marco Rubio pointed out, if Social Security won’t be paid because there is “no money in the coffers”, it means – as many of us have been saying for a long time – that the Social Security Trust Fund is effectively a fiction. If the Trust Fund were real, there would be a couple trillion dollars in savings, in cash on deposit, sitting there to pay benefits once the surplus stops – as it has now (anticipating about a $45 billion deficit in 2011.) But it isn’t and there aren’t. And this should be trumpeted from every rooftop every day until the next election even though, to be clear, Republicans have spent this money just as Democrats have.  After all, any broadly anti-government and anti-spending mood accrues to the benefit of the GOP at this time; we just have to hope that this GOP crew is worthy of our lightly-held expectations that they are no longer the party of Democrat-lite-except-that-they-fear-gays which was saw for much of the last decade.

It bears repeating that the Social Security surplus which we’ve run for decades has each and every year been spent by our members of congress along with their co-conspirators in the White House. Like thieves in the night with a sense of humor, they replaced that cash with government bonds, IOUs from the government to itself. Despite the protestations (i.e. lies) of Democrats, government bonds are not the same as cash. To prove it to yourself, go try to buy food at the supermarket with a bond.

It bears repeating that since government runs a huge deficit, the only way to repay those IOUs is by taxing Americans to pay for benefits which most Americans believed they’d already paid for through their payroll tax deductions. I repeat: Our politicians have spent our Social Security Trust Fund on bridges to nowhere and non-shovel-ready jobs and unneeded second engines for military jets and, in much smaller percentage, on legitimate and valuable functions of government.

It bears repeating that even taking in nearly $200 billion in the month of August, that would only be enough to pay bond interest, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, active duty military salaries, and about $50 billion more, but then not enough to pay for the many other functions of the federal government that we think of (and don’t think of) every day. In other words, we are not spending just slightly beyond our means, but dangerously, immorally, insanely beyond our means, and there is simply no way to fix it without entitlement reform.

And it bears repeating, as Utah Senator Mike Lee said during his radio interview with me and Craig Silverman on Tuesday that President Obama’s willingness to use scare tactics on senior citizens, to use them as pawns in this high-stakes game of political chess, is inflammatory, twisted, and unAmerican.

School Districts “Eager” to Help in Educator Effectiveness Pilot, Questions Linger

by Eddie | 4:35 pm, July 13, 2011

Ed News Colorado reports today that school districts are eager to participate in the pilot for the state’s new educator effectiveness law:

Nearly a quarter of Colorado school districts have applied to participate in field-testing of new principal and teacher evaluation methods.
It was “a surprise and an encouraging message” that the Department of Education received 41 [...]

Purely Personal – I Still Miss My Daughter

by Jon Caldara | 12:46 pm, July 13, 2011

This December will be the tenth anniversary of the death of my daughter Parker.
I remember at the time wondering if there was even a glimmer of a chance that I could survive ten minutes, no less ten years into the future. Thanks to the kind hearts of more people than I could ever thank, I [...]

Harry Potter Themes: Interviews and Articles

by Ari Armstrong | 10:55 am, July 13, 2011

With the latest and final Harry Potter film opening tomorrow night (after midnight), I’ve been busily discussing J. K. Rowling’s novels and my own work of literary criticism about them, Values of Harry Potter.Yesterday I sat down with Diana Hsieh of No…

Utah Senator Mike Lee on Caplis & Silverman

by Rossputin | 5:08 am, July 13, 2011

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit in for Dan Caplis on KHOW’s Caplis & Silverman show. I was pleased to be able to invite Utah Senator Mike Lee to the show and he graciously accepted the invitation. The result is one of the best political interviews I’ve ever heard. I hope you’ll give it a listen here:

http://www.khow.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=391242&article=8822812

Or press the play button below:

Colorado Should Consider an Upgrade

by PerlStalker | 10:06 pm, July 12, 2011

The state of Colorado has been running the same system to manage their financial information for 20 years. Someone just decided that there might be a problem if it fails.

Legacy systems are a problem that every long-lived organization has to deal wit…

Massachusetts Innovation Schools Expand, But Colorado Needs to Take a Close Look

by Eddie | 2:00 pm, July 12, 2011

(H/T Adam Emerson, RedefinED) From yesterday’s Boston Globe, the innovation school idea is starting to take off in Massachusetts:

“It’s really catching fire,’’ said Paul Reville, the state’s education secretary. “I would predict innovation schools in a relatively short period of time could surpass the number of charter schools in the state if the growth continues [...]

Breaking: Ron Paul to retire from Congress

by Rossputin | 11:18 am, July 12, 2011

http://thefacts.com/article_1c9785ea-ac9d-11e0-b2df-001cc4c03286.html

more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/170913-rep-ron-paul-wont-seek-reelection

Congressman Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul, offered this comment: “History will record the legislative record of Ron Paul as an extraordinary one – perhaps unparalleled. There probably has never been a more consistent believer in limited government in Congress. America deserves a statesman like Ron Paul as her president, a man I am proud to call my father.”

My friend Joshua responded: “He’s right.  Never have so many voted against so much proposed by so few.”

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