Seeing Stars: What’s a Quarter Million Between Friends

by Randall Smith | 7:00 am, December 22, 2011

Slow news cycles make for short round-up posts. Tomorrows will be even shorter. Non-existent in fact as I have church meetings and work tomorrow evening and night. I’ll be back over the weekend but may be spotty after Christmas as I’ll have family visi…

Ranking the Top Political Stories in Colorado for 2011

by elpresidente | 6:21 am, December 22, 2011

People’s Press Collective has thrown together a quick, informal, and non-intended-to-be-scientific-but-fun-anyway survey for our readers to rank their Top Political Stories in Colorado for the past year. There have been some doozies, which would be an understatement.

China’s Imminent Economic Meltdown

by Bob Adelmann | 5:56 am, December 22, 2011

China’s economic experience is classic Keynesian policy proving once again that it is a failure – assuming that improving peoples’ standard of living is the objective. On the other hand, if the purpose is to impoverish and strengthen totalitarian government, it works very well indeed.

How many does it take?

by Vande Krol | 7:12 pm, December 21, 2011

Government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. Henry David ThoreauThe number of bills that became law in Colorado in 2011: 330. Average number of pages of new rules issued by Colorado per year: 15,000. T…

Psychology with Shawn Smith, House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino

by Jon Caldara | 2:11 pm, December 21, 2011

This week’s Devil’s Advocate is the usual half-hour of public affairs television excellence, but in two fifteen minute segments. First, Denver psychologist Shawn Smith sits down to talk about his new book, “The Users Guide to the Human Mind,” and helps me figure out just how many voices I have in my head. Then new [...]

North Korea’s “Great Successor” Inherits Political, Economic Quagmires

by Bob Adelmann | 12:28 pm, December 21, 2011

His death is unlamented, except in the liberal mainstream press. Even there, some of the truth is getting out. This guy was a monster, and he is arranging for his brother to teach his son the same monstrous behaviors. I weep for the citizens – no, the slaves – who live there and can’t get out.

New Center for Ed Reform Research Compiles Charter School Closure Data

by Eddie | 11:18 am, December 21, 2011

Not long ago I told you how the number of Colorado students enrolling in charter schools was rising quickly. This followed closely on the heels of a national study debunking anti-charter mythology and showing where the real strengths of this public education option tend to stand.
One of the oft-cited advantages of charters is the greater [...]

No fault of their own

by Rossputin | 7:00 am, December 21, 2011

In Tuesday’s House of Representatives debate, Representative Chris van Hollen (D-MD) said that Congress had a responsibility to extend unemployment benefits to those who are “unemployed through no fault of their own.” Minority leader Nancy Pelosi used the same rhetoric in a floor speech a week ago, saying that the Senate’s two-month payroll tax and unemployment benefits band-aid “would secure a critical lifeline for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.” The Democratic Party’s web site crows “Democrats have provided relief for hardworking Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.”

In a recent Michigan state legislature debate about insurance reform, a Democrat state rep discussed “those, who through no fault of their own, will lose insurance coverage…” Democrats in Washoe County, Nevada, ruing the failure of the US Senate to pass the DREAM Act, said of illegal aliens who were brought here as children “These are young men and women who, through no fault of their own, came to this country and consider this country their own.”

It’s an interesting rhetorical device, and one which Democrats everywhere are clearly singing from the same sheet of guilt-inducing music. But, at the risk of sounding like Rick Perry’s “have no heart” believers in liberty, limited government, and the power of incentives, why should the question of fault be an important factor in how the federal government treats adult Americans?

Charity is only charity if given willingly. Money taken by threat of force, whether by a mugger or by government, is theft. As for the latter, Fredric Bastiat properly termed it “legalized plunder.”

Please read the entirety of my article for the American Spectator here:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/12/21/no-fault-of-their-own

Seeing Stars: I’m Sure There’s Money Here Somewhere

by Randall Smith | 7:00 am, December 21, 2011

Enjoy the links.

Colorado

The good news is Colorado looks to collect more money than expected. Unfortunately, there’s some disagreement over what to do with the money. Legislators are being especially cautious.

Everywhere else

200K a year to …

Is the Economy Slowly Gaining Momentum?

by Bob Adelmann | 5:11 am, December 21, 2011

Part of me wants the economy to improve and reduce the suffering of millions of people out of work or working only part-time. Part of me wants the economy to tank, successfully sealing Obama’s fate so we can drop him down the memory hole.

More DPRK Weirdness

by Anthony Surace | 7:07 pm, December 20, 2011

The Korean Central News Agency, the propaganda agency of the DPRK, is continuing to pump out videos for western consumption showing how grief stricken North Koreans are over the death of Kim Jong-Il. Here is a compilation of their bizarre “man on the s…

More DPRK Weirdness

by Anthony Surace | 7:07 pm, December 20, 2011

The Korean Central News Agency, the propaganda agency of the DPRK, is continuing to pump out videos for western consumption showing how grief stricken North Koreans are over the death of Kim Jong-Il. Here is a compilation of their bizarre “man on the s…

Function or dysfunction?

by Rossputin | 3:10 pm, December 20, 2011

Wherever you go on news or business TV today, all the talk is about congressional “dysfunction” or the travesty of the House Republicans refusing to pass the Senate’s utterly lame two month extension of a payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits, and a “doc fix” for Medicare.

Let’s make this very clear, this is the House of Representatives functioning as it should – and as dozens of freshmen members believe is their mandate from their constituents.

Just because senators in a rush to get home for the holidays passed a spineless, pointless bill which has the potential to create incredible confusion in payroll systems across the nation does not mean that the House should have gone along.

To be sure, messaging can be a problem for the GOP. It always is.

On the floor of the House, one Democrat called Republicans the “Grinches who stole Christmas” while another, the hyper-anti-intellecutal Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), said that the GOP had lit the Christmas tree on fire. And in today’s winning entry for mixed metaphor award, Lee said that Republicans were causing Americans to “drown in dusty and dark waters.” I kid you not.

In a brief press conference after the House vote to appoint conferees to work out a deal with the Senate – in a conference which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says will not happen unless the House passes the Senate bill first – a reporter asked John Boehner about President Obama’s saying that House Republicans should be more helpful, to which Boehner said, with an unusually aggressive edge, “I need the president to help out.”

Democrats everywhere are crying crocodile tears about a tax hike of over $1000 for the average American because of House Republicans’ actions. But, like everything Democrats say about economic policy, it is a lie. The $1000 number represents roughly the average benefit for a full year of the tax cut extension. For two months, the amount is about $160.

When it comes to this payroll tax cut, to extending unemployment benefits, and to a “doc fix”, no deal is better than the Senate deal. I, for one, am very happy to see the House Republicans stand up for economic common sense by arguing that a two month tax policy could be as damaging due to the uncertainty it causes as beneficial due to its economic impact.

And even that begs the question of the economic value of one of the most Keynesian tax cuts possible, focused only on consumption rather than on encouraging production or employment.

Nobody needs this payroll tax cut extension more than Barack Obama. He wants to run as the champion of the middle class and as a tax cutter, as laughable as that is. So while he’ll try to argue that Republicans are obstructionists, people will also see this as yet another complete failure of him to lead. Now Obama will be in the uncomfortable position of possibly needing to nudge Harry Reid to walk back his promise not to bring the Senate back this year.

Of the two positions, the House has the better economic policy than the Senate, simply because it doesn’t try to enact tax policy two months at a time. When it comes to the political “optics”, Republicans will have to do a better job than they usually do of making Americans understand why they’re not political Grinches, burning Christmas (and Hanukkah, for my tribe), and drowning people in dusty waters. The story is there to tell if they can only find the words.

2012 is Coming, Time to Gear Up for the Second National School Choice Week

by Eddie | 2:25 pm, December 20, 2011

Can it be nearly a year since the first-ever National School Choice Week? You remember what a big deal I made of it then. Well, here’s fair warning that the second annual National School Choice Week is only a month away, with a great video to share in telling your friends about it:

It’s getting too [...]

Jed Babbin: Iraq in the Rearview Mirror

by Rossputin | 6:02 am, December 20, 2011

For today’s reading, I’d like to suggest everyone closely read Jed Babbin’s piece (actually published yesterday) on the past and future of Iraq:

Iraq in the Rearview Mirror

Seeing Stars: Letting it All Hang Out

by Randall Smith | 11:52 pm, December 19, 2011

Thar be links below. You better be reading them or … um … something really bad will happen. No really. It’s so bad that I can’t talk about it. It’s almost as bad as this. *shudder*

On to the links.

Colorado

The Denver Post has finally realiz…

Dan Caplis on Tebow Time

by Jon Caldara | 4:02 pm, December 19, 2011

Tough, tough game yesterday against the Patriots huh? Here’s a little Tebow talk with KHOW’s Dan Caplis to help lift your spirits:

I’m Dreaming of a “Green” Christmas

by Jon Caldara | 2:32 pm, December 19, 2011

Christmas is the time of year for giving. For example, I’ve been giving myself seconds and thirds at all the holiday parties I’ve gone to. (I’m still accepting invitations through the rest of this week). Amy Oliver and Michael Sandoval have been hard at work the past month giving the world a much needed dose [...]

Denver Post Tackles Long-Studied Problem of Tax-Funded Teachers Union Release Time

by Eddie | 2:17 pm, December 19, 2011

Update, 1/5/12: Chris Tessone at the Flypaper blog also makes note of the Denver Post story, correctly observing: “It’s difficult to make an argument that taxpayers should be directly subsidizing union leaders. Organized labor already extracts indirect subsidies by skimming dues from teachers’ paychecks, sometimes against the desires of teachers.”
Guess what! Just over a week [...]

EPA report is blessing in disguise for fracking advocates

by jlongo | 1:32 pm, December 19, 2011

by Donovan Schafer
In a recent report, the EPA linked groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming, to the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing (”fracking”) used to extract oil and gas. You can almost hear the collective “Hooray!” from anti-fracking advocates. But the actual data in the EPA report make it clear that fracking is safe.
The Wyoming report [...]

Monday thoughts

by Rossputin | 9:44 am, December 19, 2011

In my interest to manage my time a little better, I’m going to be aiming for slightly shorter blog notes going forward, in addition to my usual writing for the American Spectator.

Kim Jong Il is dead. Or maybe it was Kim Jong Ill.

Now what I imagine we’ll learn to be his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, has been named the “great successor.” I can’t wait until Trey Parker and Matt Stone get done with him. In the meantime, the succession period poses heightened risk on the Korean Peninsula and disputed islands. Some people theorize that the North Korean attack on Yeonpyeong island in November, 2010 may have been KJU proving himself to the DPRK’s military leadership.

Although I generally support an aggressive posture against DPRK, right now I think the US should be pretty quiet and make efforts to let DPRK know that we are not interested in trying to use KJI’s death to somehow try to destabilize the regime.

KJU is reputed to have spent a little time studying in Switzerland. No comfort should be taken from the idea that exposure to the west will somehow make the son of a power-hungry semi-madman fall any further from the tree. For a perfect example, you need look no further than Bashar al Assad who runs Syria as tyrannically as his father, Hafez al Assad, did despite having spent some time studying (ophthalmology) in London.

And here at home, the House appears likely to refuse to agree to the Senate’s “compromise” regarding the payroll tax cut, which was a two-month extension combined with other small proposals and a provision which will cause Barack Obama to refuse to permit the Keystone XL pipeline again in 60 days.  John Boehner is right that it’s ridiculous to do tax policy for two months at a time. And this particular tax cut is NOT a tax cut in the way that supply-siders support tax cuts because it is temporary and it has, at least so far, been only given to employees rather than the job-creating employers.

The politics of the situation are fascinating, with each side thinking it’s getting the advantage on the other. It’s too dynamic a situation to really say who’s winning the political battle, but when it comes to actual policy, Boehner is right and Harry Reid is wrong, not that we’d expect anything else. Reid has said he won’t bring the Senate back to vote on a House bill. Boehner should call his bluff.

Speaking Out on Reforming Colorado’s Campaign Finance Laws

by CTBC Director | 7:19 am, December 19, 2011

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
1st Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified 15 December 1791
Abridging [...]

North Korean state media reacts to Kim Jong-Il death

by Anthony Surace | 7:17 am, December 19, 2011

The Korean Central News Agency, the propaganda arm of the DPRK, published this video to their website. While most of it consists of residents of Pyongyang wailing in grief, they choose to finish off the video with interviews of North Korean citizens pl…

North Korean state media reacts to Kim Jong-Il death

by Anthony Surace | 7:17 am, December 19, 2011

The Korean Central News Agency, the propaganda arm of the DPRK, published this video to their website. While most of it consists of residents of Pyongyang wailing in grief, they choose to finish off the video with interviews of North Korean citizens pl…

Seeing Stars: Hail to the King, Baby

by Randall Smith | 7:00 am, December 19, 2011

What do snow cone machines, hazardous materials and electric cars have in common? They’re all in the links below.

Colorado

Colorado’s application for Federal Race to the Top funding was denied. Again. Here’s a brilliant idea. How about we quit be…

Bill of Rights Day: Celebration or Mourning?

by Bob Adelmann | 5:57 am, December 19, 2011

This was hard for me to write as there isn’t much good news. Both the Democrats and the Republicans overwhelmingly have voted to abrogate our rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights. That’s correct: our own elected representatives, who swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, are now guilty of treason by ignoring it and imperiously mandating controls and limitations on citizens never dreamed of in our founders’ worst nightmares.

What being “green” says about you!

by amy | 8:44 pm, December 18, 2011

This may be the best column that Michael Sandoval and I have ever written. First, we use the Environmental Protection Agency’s own report to expose how “green” technology actually is polluting, not saving, the planet. Second, what does the need to be “green” say about those who advance an energy policy that makes no sense [...]

Institute for Justice: Licensing Tour Guides is Unconstitutional

by Bob Adelmann | 12:56 pm, December 18, 2011

The more I read about IJ the better I like them. I’ve heard one of their attorneys speak about one of their cases, and was impressed. When I called the lead attorney in the Tait case (see the article) he was cordial to a fault, and he graciously allowed me to quote him in the article. Sorta changes your mind about attorneys, doesn’t it?

Trump Claims He was Blackmailed by Republicans

by Bob Adelmann | 7:55 am, December 18, 2011

Of all the people who are disappointed that Trump won’t be moderating the debate (if there is one), Trump himself is probably the most disappointed. According to The Donald, “millions of people are following what I say,” and now he won’t be able to say it.

Rand’s ‘We the Living’ Opposes Tyranny

by Ari Armstrong | 12:15 am, December 18, 2011

Hannah Krening reviewed the anti-totalitarian theme of Ayn Rand’s novel We the Living, as well as its literary qualities. This was a December 17 talk for Liberty Toastmasters.

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