The morning-after pill

by Rossputin | 7:35 am, December 8, 2011

In a remarkable move for a left-wing administration, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA on Wednesday and did not permit the Plan B contraceptive, often called the “morning after pill,” to be available to girls under the age of 17 without a prescription.

I am pro-choice and my gut reaction to the ruling was an angry one, thinking initially that it was just another example of political fear of social issues conservatives.

But after thinking about it for a bit, I’ve changed my mind.

First of all, this administration is most certainly not afraid of angering or alienating socially conservative voters – because they probably could not be more angry with or alienated from this government than they already are. That said, The Hill reported that “Some Republicans had threatened to cut the FDA’s budget if it allowed women younger than 17 to get Plan B without a prescription,” a risk that Sebelius might not have been interested in taking.

Second, and more importantly, government has a different level of responsibility when it comes to protecting children than to protecting adults. To be clear, I do not believe “it takes a village” or that government should in any way try to be a substitute parent.

But not allowing that pill for young women who have not reached adulthood is not making the government act like a parent. Instead, it appropriately guides the young would-be takers of the drug to consult with her parents about what is not only an important decision but one which implies that the child has already made a different important decision, and one which is, even if uncomfortably, within the parents’ realm of legitimate interest.

Therefore, as much as I am pro-choice and as much as I think Kathleen Sebelius is a creature straight out of Orwell’s 1984, I think she made the right decision in this case – even if she did so by accident.

Yes Gary, we’re thrilled!

by amy | 7:26 am, December 8, 2011

Part three in a series responding to a Denver Post guest editorial titled “Is Colorado addicted to oil?” from Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action.
The impetus for Wockner’s column seems to be a comment from Governor John Hickenlooper regarding the recent announcement from Anadarko Petroleum about increased investment in the Wattenberg Field due to the [...]

Seeing Stars: College Remediation Doesn’t Work

by Randall Smith | 7:00 am, December 8, 2011

In memory of Dragnet costar Harry Morgan (who was also great in “Support Your Local Sheriff”), it’s just the links.

Colorado

Remediation in college “is wholly ineffective.” The solution is to improve K-12 education.
A group of voters is challengi…

Institute for Justice Celebrates 20 Years of “Litigating for Liberty”

by Bob Adelmann | 5:53 am, December 8, 2011

Just when we get to thinking that all lawyers are cunning manipulators of the law, seeking loopholes to weaken the protections we have against overweening government, and along comes IJ in the nick of time to rescue us from damning them all!

Campaign Finance & Free Speech + Beer = LOTR Happy Hour!

by amanda | 10:58 am, December 7, 2011

[ December 7, 2011; 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. ] Join Liberty On the Rocks Denver for a spirited discussion of free speech in the context of Colorado’s campaign finance laws. Diana Hsieh and Ari Armstrong will discuss the nature of those laws and their adverse impact on the free speech rights of political activists. They’ll also review the proposed campaign finance rule changes to [...]

More Families Flocking to Public Charter Schools, as Successful Models Improve

by Eddie | 10:36 am, December 7, 2011

Today’s Denver Post features a story by Yesenia Robles that notes significant growth in public charter school enrollment. Here in Colorado, 13 new charter schools opened and 8,500 students were added to the rolls, marking an increase of nearly 12 percent. Nationally, charter school enrollment surpassed 2 million as 500 new charter schools opened and [...]

More reasons for Jews to vote Republican, or at least not Democrat

by Rossputin | 8:51 am, December 7, 2011

We are living through the most anti-Israel US administration in history. Even Jimmy Carter – who is a rabid anti-Semite and hater of Israel in these days of his dotage – was not as bad while in office as Barack Obama and his henchmen, including Hillary Clinton, are.

Recently, Obama told some of the few Jews still blinkered enough to support him that “This administration – I try not to pat myself too much on the back – but this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration.” I would laugh but I’m too busy feeling sick about the damage that Obama and team has done to one of our most important and strategic allies.

If that’s not bad enough, the US Ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, who is the Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor, is now the center of a firestorm following comments he made on November 30th. A quote being attributed to him, but which is really a reporters analysis of what Gutman said, is causing the trouble: “A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned, and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.” Again, this line was part of a newspaper article, not a quote from Gutman himself and the left is falling all over themselves to defend Gutman on that basis.

However, Gutman’s actual remarks, while less inflammatory, are still troubling.

Early on, Gutman says “There is and has long been some amount of anti-Semitism, of hatred and violence against Jews, from a small sector of the population who hate others who may be different or perceived to be different, largely for the sake of hating. Those anti-Semites are people who hate not only Jews, but Muslims, gays, gypsies, and likely any who can be described as minorities or different.”

Really, is there a substantial number of anti-Semites who also hate Muslims? Yes, Europe has its share of neo-Nazis. But what Europe is really facing is a large and rapidly-growing Muslim population. According to a Pew study, “The number of Muslims in Europe has grown from 29.6 million in 1990 to 44.1 million in 2010. Europe’s Muslim population is projected to exceed 58 million by 2030. Muslims today account for about 6% of Europe’s total population, up from 4.1% in 1990. By 2030, Muslims are expected to make up 8% of Europe’s population.” France is already near 8 percent Muslim population, and Belgium 6 percent.

And we’re supposed to believe that anti-Semites are just like (and just as few) as haters of Muslims or gypsies?

Gutman also sees “a tension and perhaps hatred largely born of and reflecting the tension between Israel, the Palestinian Territories and neighboring Arab states in the Middle East over the continuing Israeli-Palestinian problem. It too is a serious problem.”

Notice the word “too”? It implies that the virulent and violent anti-Semitism of Muslims is not THE serious problem, but some sort of secondary problem. The use of “too” diminishes the word “serious”. A better construction might have been that anti-Muslim sentiment “is too a serious problem”…except that it isn’t – and certainly not in America.

Gutman continues with the left’s worst bit of moral relativism: Anti-Semitism based on the Israel-Palestine conflict “is the area where every new settlement announced in Israel, every rocket shot over a border or suicide bomber on a bus, and every retaliatory military strike exacerbates the problem and provides a setback here in Europe for those fighting hatred and bigotry here in Europe.”

So, for Gutman, Israelis building an apartment in Israel or retaliating against terrorist targets is as big a problem as the Palestinians’ murdering Israeli civilians.

I understand that the primary religion of most American Jews today is liberalism, not Judaism or Zionism. But at some point, more of my tribe must wake up to the fact that the Obama administration and liberals in general are inclined to side with murderers over the only democracy in the Middle East. Obama and his team are truly giving aid and comfort to the enemy with their words, their moral equivalencies, their apologies, their pandering for Muslim approval.

The danger this causes is not just to Israel, but to western civilization, and I do not offer that as hyperbole. It is time – far past time – for Jews to abandon the ever-less-subtle haters led by Barack Hussein Obama.

[Robert Goldberg has a good article at the American Spectator today discussing these and other issues, including Hillary Clinton’s anti-Israel rhetoric.]

More reasons for Jews to vote Republican, or at least not Democrat

by Rossputin | 8:51 am, December 7, 2011

We are living through the most anti-Israel US administration in history. Even Jimmy Carter – who is a rabid anti-Semite and hater of Israel in these days of his dotage – was not as bad while in office as Barack Obama and his henchmen, including Hillary Clinton, are.

Recently, Obama told some of the few Jews still blinkered enough to support him that “This administration – I try not to pat myself too much on the back – but this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration.” I would laugh but I’m too busy feeling sick about the damage that Obama and team has done to one of our most important and strategic allies.

If that’s not bad enough, the US Ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, who is the Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor, is now the center of a firestorm following comments he made on November 30th. A quote being attributed to him, but which is really a reporters analysis of what Gutman said, is causing the trouble: “A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned, and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.” Again, this line was part of a newspaper article, not a quote from Gutman himself and the left is falling all over themselves to defend Gutman on that basis.

However, Gutman’s actual remarks, while less inflammatory, are still troubling.

Early on, Gutman says “There is and has long been some amount of anti-Semitism, of hatred and violence against Jews, from a small sector of the population who hate others who may be different or perceived to be different, largely for the sake of hating. Those anti-Semites are people who hate not only Jews, but Muslims, gays, gypsies, and likely any who can be described as minorities or different.”

Really, is there a substantial number of anti-Semites who also hate Muslims? Yes, Europe has its share of neo-Nazis. But what Europe is really facing is a large and rapidly-growing Muslim population. According to a Pew study, “The number of Muslims in Europe has grown from 29.6 million in 1990 to 44.1 million in 2010. Europe’s Muslim population is projected to exceed 58 million by 2030. Muslims today account for about 6% of Europe’s total population, up from 4.1% in 1990. By 2030, Muslims are expected to make up 8% of Europe’s population.” France is already near 8 percent Muslim population, and Belgium 6 percent.

And we’re supposed to believe that anti-Semites are just like (and just as few) as haters of Muslims or gypsies?

Gutman also sees “a tension and perhaps hatred largely born of and reflecting the tension between Israel, the Palestinian Territories and neighboring Arab states in the Middle East over the continuing Israeli-Palestinian problem. It too is a serious problem.”

Notice the word “too”? It implies that the virulent and violent anti-Semitism of Muslims is not THE serious problem, but some sort of secondary problem. The use of “too” diminishes the word “serious”. A better construction might have been that anti-Muslim sentiment “is too a serious problem”…except that it isn’t – and certainly not in America.

Gutman continues with the left’s worst bit of moral relativism: Anti-Semitism based on the Israel-Palestine conflict “is the area where every new settlement announced in Israel, every rocket shot over a border or suicide bomber on a bus, and every retaliatory military strike exacerbates the problem and provides a setback here in Europe for those fighting hatred and bigotry here in Europe.”

So, for Gutman, Israelis building an apartment in Israel or retaliating against terrorist targets is as big a problem as the Palestinians’ murdering Israeli civilians.

I understand that the primary religion of most American Jews today is liberalism, not Judaism or Zionism. But at some point, more of my tribe must wake up to the fact that the Obama administration and liberals in general are inclined to side with murderers over the only democracy in the Middle East. Obama and his team are truly giving aid and comfort to the enemy with their words, their moral equivalencies, their apologies, their pandering for Muslim approval.

The danger this causes is not just to Israel, but to western civilization, and I do not offer that as hyperbole. It is time – far past time – for Jews to abandon the ever-less-subtle haters led by Barack Hussein Obama.

[Robert Goldberg has a good article at the American Spectator today discussing these and other issues, including Hillary Clinton’s anti-Israel rhetoric.]

“Addicted” to economic growth

by amy | 8:19 am, December 7, 2011

We can be energy independent and grow the economy. Watch this short video from Energy for America. This is the energy economy we should be promoting.

Seeing Stars: Where Judges Make the Rules

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

Colorado reapportionment and redistricting are both in the hands of judges. Isn’t it great that the future of our state is in the hands of unelected officials? I’d feel better about it if I was sure the justices on the Colorado Supreme Court were actua…

Seeing Stars: Where Judges Make the Rules

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

Colorado reapportionment and redistricting are both in the hands of judges. Isn’t it great that the future of our state is in the hands of unelected officials? I’d feel better about it if I was sure the justices on the Colorado Supreme Court were actua…

Central Bank Easing Misses the Point

by Bob Adelmann | 5:04 am, December 7, 2011

The patching together of an unworkable and liberty-destroying system – the European Union – continues to be sold as the best thing to do in a bad situation. All without mentioning that the main theme is to use the crisis to promote the Euro-dictatorship: “From out of chaos, order.”

Still Unclear on What Blended Learning Is? Here’s a Fun, 5-Minute Video for You

by Eddie | 4:33 pm, December 6, 2011

One of my big themes for 2011 has been on the growth of blended learning opportunities. “Blended learning” is a difficult term to define precisely. Several months ago I told you about the Innosight Institute’s report The rise of blended learning: Profiles of emerging models, which introduces readers to a wide array of innovative programs. [...]

Vern Bickel Award Reception Videos

by Jon Caldara | 3:58 pm, December 6, 2011

If you did not have the opportunity to join us last month to honor retiring Colorado Springs Gazette editorial cartoonist Chuck Asay with our prized Vern Bickel award, have no fear. Thanks to our great friend Michael Sandoval, we have video of my opening remarks and those of syndicated editorial cartoonist Henry Payne of the [...]

Colorado Reapportionment Commission files new state legislative maps with Colorado Supreme Court; appeals on tight timeline

by CTBC Director | 3:03 pm, December 6, 2011

The Colorado Reapportionment Commission (charged with drawing our state legislative districts) officially submitted state legislative district maps rammed through on a party-line vote last week (6-5, with technically unaffiliated Chairman Mario Carrera joining the commission’s other Democrats) to the Colorado Supreme Court for review late Monday.

House Map: House Resubmitted Plan Maps and Reports
Senate Map: Senate Resubmitted Plan Maps and Reports
Google [...]

Smear Me Baby One More Time

by Jon Caldara | 12:46 pm, December 6, 2011

Here we go again. The Left’s latest attempt to defame the Tea Party movement appears in the latest issue of Vanity Fair magazine. In the article, “Debt and Dumb,” the authors distort the founding era record and our Constitution to vilify Tea Partiers. As we’ve seen recently, the Constitution is back in vogue and even [...]

Officials Wage War on Colorado Businesses

by Ari Armstrong | 9:44 am, December 6, 2011

Colorado bureaucrats and politicians are expanding their war on businesses in the state, threatening the recovery.Economists with the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business thinks Colorado job growth will outpace the rest of the nat…

Officials Wage War on Colorado Businesses

by Ari Armstrong | 9:44 am, December 6, 2011

Colorado bureaucrats and politicians are expanding their war on businesses in the state, threatening the recovery.Economists with the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business thinks Colorado job growth will outpace the rest of the nat…

Is Colorado “addicted” to economic activity?

by amy | 8:39 am, December 6, 2011

Part two of a series responding to a Denver Post guest column titled “Is Colorado addicted to oil?” from Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action.
Gary Wockner’s editorial is long on conjecture and short on facts. It’s little more than 20 questions, which could be answered if Wockner bothered to do a modicum of research. I [...]

Seeing Stars: CO Supreme Court Lets Democrats Get Away With Gerrymandering

by Randall Smith | 7:00 am, December 6, 2011

Colorado

The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the Democrat’s redistricting map. I can’t say I’m surprised. The Pueblo Chieftain has the map, if you need a refresher. Colorado Peak Politics looks at how the changes will affect the Republican incumbents.

…

MF Global and CFTC’s Epic Fail

by Rossputin | 6:42 am, December 6, 2011

In late 2010, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission considered a rule change which would have prevented futures brokers from investing their firm’s money or borrowed client money in foreign sovereign debt.

Jon Corzine, then CEO of MF Global, lobbied against the rule change – to his former Goldman colleague Gary Gensler who currently runs the CFTC – and the change was stopped in its tracks.

Now, after about a billion dollars of misappropriated customer funds and another billion in lost shareholder value following MF Global’s collapse due to investments in foreign sovereign debt, the CFTC has approved that same rule change.

I would laugh if it weren’t so expensive a failure. (I actually know two people who will lose money they had in customer accounts with MF or its subsidiaries or clients.)

One thing I can promise you: the reaction by the left will be to claim that the CFTC is underfunded.

MF Global and CFTC’s Epic Fail

by Rossputin | 6:42 am, December 6, 2011

In late 2010, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission considered a rule change which would have prevented futures brokers from investing their firm’s money or borrowed client money in foreign sovereign debt.

Jon Corzine, then CEO of MF Global, lobbied against the rule change – to his former Goldman colleague Gary Gensler who currently runs the CFTC – and the change was stopped in its tracks.

Now, after about a billion dollars of misappropriated customer funds and another billion in lost shareholder value following MF Global’s collapse due to investments in foreign sovereign debt, the CFTC has approved that same rule change.

I would laugh if it weren’t so expensive a failure. (I actually know two people who will lose money they had in customer accounts with MF or its subsidiaries or clients.)

One thing I can promise you: the reaction by the left will be to claim that the CFTC is underfunded.

Unilateral Disarmament

by Joshua Sharf | 7:12 pm, December 5, 2011

Among the products of 2011′s Great Reapportionment Debacle has been a claim by State Representative Amy Stephens that Democrats on the Reapportionment Commission have been particularly aggressive in targeting Republican women legislators, combining their districts with others represented by sitting Republicans. Her comments have produced a fair amount of tut-tutting and cluck-clucking, not from the [...]

Colorado Supreme Court upholds Denver District Court Judge Robert Hyatt’s ruling on Colorado Congressional Redistricting

by CTBC Director | 4:11 pm, December 5, 2011

In a surprisingly rapid decision following last Thursday’s oral arguments in challenges to a Democrat-drawn Congressional Redistricting map previously approved by Denver District Court Judge Robert Hyatt, the Colorado Supreme Court announced in a court order issued Monday morning (5 December) that it affirmed Hyatt’s ruling in the lower court and the ‘Moreno South Map’ [...]

Paul Keeps His Honor, Rejects Trump’s Debate Invitation

by Bob Adelmann | 1:39 pm, December 5, 2011

The closer I look and the more I learn about Donald Trump, the more he repels me. Just take a look at who he hires for legal advice: a “pit bull” for Heaven’s sake! A man can smile and smile and still be a devil.

Tell Hoover Institution Your Best and Worst Education Events of 2011 (Vote #1)

by Eddie | 1:16 pm, December 5, 2011

One thing December brings is the obligatory year-end lists. If you are even a casual reader of this blog, then you should be interested in taking a moment to vote on the “Best and Worst in American Education, 2011″ — brought to you by the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education.
Being of [...]

Today’s reading: Babbin & Andrews

by Rossputin | 8:34 am, December 5, 2011

As I’m spending my day on business and preparing to be on 850 KOA tonight for Michael Brown (7 PM to 10 PM), I’d like to offer you two pieces of reading (not written by me).

First, by Jed Babbin, this excellent piece about the high-stakes farce going on in Europe as they try to salvage their common currency from years of building up unsustainable debt:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/12/05/the-eus-big-kazoo

And second, the American Spectator’s review of my friend John Andrews’ book “Responsibility Reborn: A Citizen’s Guide to the Next American Century”:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/12/05/free-to-be-responsible

Today’s reading: Babbin & Andrews

by Rossputin | 8:34 am, December 5, 2011

As I’m spending my day on business and preparing to be on 850 KOA tonight for Michael Brown (7 PM to 10 PM), I’d like to offer you two pieces of reading (not written by me).

First, by Jed Babbin, this excellent piece about the high-stakes farce going on in Europe as they try to salvage their common currency from years of building up unsustainable debt:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/12/05/the-eus-big-kazoo

And second, the American Spectator’s review of my friend John Andrews’ book “Responsibility Reborn: A Citizen’s Guide to the Next American Century”:
http://spectator.org/archives/2011/12/05/free-to-be-responsible

Are you “addicted” to civilization?

by amy | 8:28 am, December 5, 2011

The Denver Post gave Gary Wockner of Clean Water Action prime newspaper real estate in Sunday’s perspective section. Wockner’s guest editorial “Is Colorado Addicted to Oil?” was nothing more than a list of typical anti-fossil fuel questions that he tried to associate to Colorado’s and Weld County’s economic struggles as a result of the Great [...]

Screening for Terrorists vs. Screening for Cancer

by Brian T. Schwartz | 6:30 am, December 5, 2011

Our government currently tells air travelers, “Submit to our screening despite the dubious effectiveness, bodily invasion, and needless emotional distress” while simultaneously telling patients, “Don’t undergo cancer screening because it might lead to further bodily invasion and emotional distress.” Continue reading →

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