You thought Governor Bill Ritter’s ethical troubles with his inaugural fund were old news? You thought the saga of Ritter staffer and Obama US Attorney nominee Stephanie Villafuerte would only make one headline today?
Well, my friends, things may have grown much more intriguing with the revelation in [...]
Denver Post editorial page editor Dan Haley and I at times certainly disagree. But one observation in his Sunday column deserves a hearty “Amen”:
Too bad voters can’t be trusted with such matters as electing their leaders. At some point, party insiders need to shed their irrational fear of [...]
Climategate deniers, unready to admit that the emperor has come undressed before their eyes, are aptly parodied in a YouTube video that’s worth the 3 minutes of sheer amusement:
[...]This post will remain at the top through December 15. Please scroll down for newer entries.
Update, 12/8: You have two chances tomorrow morning to hear me talk about the CEA’s Every Member Option political refund (December 15 deadline). At 11 AM, I’ll be on the Mike Rosen Show [...]
A few items to commend to readers: Michelle Morin has eloquently recounted the historical origins of Thanksgiving Mr. Bob has posted a nostalgic video of a Thanksgiving greeting from our former president Ronald Reagan. Don’t forget you can find my 2008 series of “What I’m Thankful For” on one convenient [...]
No politics today, nothing that juicy or intriguing to break the fast on the eve of Thanksgiving. If you’re bored over the holiday and looking for some amusing reading — especially if you’re looking to stage a new play or produce a new movie — then check out the two-act [...]
So some Colorado GOP leaders have crafted a Prosperity Platform and rallied behind Scott McInnis as the gubernatorial candidate.
Meanwhile, some in the grassroots remain thoroughly unconvinced and stand behind hard-working longshot Dan Maes. The issue is not the rhetoric or the substance of the 20 governing principles that [...]
The exciting opportunity for a Republican pickup in Senate District 16 with a departing incumbent Democrat Dan Gibbs has taken some interesting turns in the past week. State senate minority leader Josh Penry’s most highly touted replacement was Cheri Gerou. But the HD 25 representative told me today her [...]
The antithesis of the conservative reform agenda now being heavily touted by many Colorado Republican leaders is the sort of stale tax-and-spend thinking that emanates from the many taxpayer-funded commissions appointed by Bill Ritter and the Democrat legislature.
Such an example is the Long-Term Fiscal Stability Commission. Three of [...]
Huffington Post is running video of our appointed junior U.S. Senator Michael Bennet saying he will vote for Obama Care socialized medicine even if it means losing his job. In other words, he’s completely ignoring you.
But sounds like a good idea to me. A few sensible Democrats remaining in [...]
Word has leaked to the Grand Junction Sentinel that state senate minority leader Josh Penry will formally announce his endorsement of former rival Scott McInnis for Colorado governor. The endorsement was contingent on the McInnis formally agreeing to 20 conservative governing principles.
“These are the principles that swept the GOP [...]
I am slated as the keynote speaker this coming Monday, 7 AM, at the Jefferson County Republican Men’s Club (follow link and scroll down for information). The topic? “What Do Teachers Unions Negotiate from You?” Find more about my areas of research here.
[...]A devastating story for the scaremongering “climate change” religionists breaks today because of illegal hacking activity:
Climate Audit, “Mike’s nature trick” Ed Morrissey, Hot Air, “Do hacked e-mails show global warming fraud?” Paul Chesser, American Spectator, “Get that hacker a pimp coat”On a different note, George Will has a [...]
As Don at Business Word notes, the Ryan Frazier campaign yesterday touted a list of endorsements from “nearly one hundred influential Coloradans” in his bid to be the next Congressman from the 7th District. Yes, the list contains the names of some heavy-hitters — including Phil Anschutz, Pete [...]
This evening the Independence Institute celebrates its 25th anniversary with a sold-out Founders’ Night dinner featuring keynote speaker P.J. O’Rourke. It should be a good family reunion of sorts. Count me as one of the crazy, freedom-fighting cousins.
No one in the area is better at leveraging the media [...]
This was forwarded to me a little while ago. Someone named Kathy from Evergreen apparently (and doubtless with good reason) is not happy with the responsiveness of Congress to her concerns about Obama Care and a rapidly growing and spending federal government.
She took a mechanical form letter from Colorado [...]
Last Saturday I reported that thousands of Colorado state employees who never signed up to join a union were barraged with membership cards from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) — one of the union partners in the “Colorado WINS” coalition brought to life by [...]
If you live in the Denver metro area, Ryan Frazier, a Republican candidate for Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, is advertising a volunteer opportunity for you that does not involve stuffing envelopes, knocking on doors or waving signs. Rather, it’s a way to help those in the community who are [...]
Update, 12:30 PM: If you have the same experience as I did, you’ll find the voice mail in Senator Bennet’s D.C. office to be full. Then go ahead and call the regional office near you. You’ll likely talk to a tired-sounding staffer who will take your message in opposition [...]
Update, 11/18: Count out another one, too. Ali Hasan left a comment following my earlier speculation that included his name as a possible candidate: “Sorry Mount Virtus, but I won’t be getting into SD16 at all – I got my eyes on a different race. Honestly, Don Ytterberg ran a [...]
Earlier this month I did a little research on the Obama administration’s multimillion-dollar Recovery.gov website and found that one Jefferson County, Colorado, job was created for every $1.1 million spent.
And now we find that dollar figure in fact may be low! Why? Among other reasons, $6.4 billion of [...]
Introducing the top-line results from the 3rd edition of the survey of Colorado’s political temperature. Participation dropped to 281, but results still demonstrated some remarkable consistency. As always, thanks to those of you who took the time to help out!
Coming later in the month will be an analysis of [...]
New RMA member Don Johnson reports that Democrat state senator Dan Gibbs will not run for re-election in his mountain district in 2010. A good opportunity for the Dead Guvs to pine that state lawmakers aren’t paid well enough.
Suddenly, SD16 has to look a lot more appealing to [...]
(H/T Gene Kinsey) It appears President Obama could have used some world leader greeting etiquette refreshers before giving a deep, subservient bow to the emperor of Japan:
Yes, there are more pressing issues at hand. But for having just a few minutes to spare this evening, I couldn’t pass up [...]
Because I’m finally getting around to putting out a press release (below the fold) with the important details — click on “Fullscreen” for easy readability:
For those not clever enough to catch on yet, the above document is a [...]
Last year at this time I was in the middle of writing a 20-part blog series on “What I’m Thankful For.” While I have no plans in reprising the series for 2009, I have created a new permanent page on the site with links to each post — [...]
Chuck Plunkett is one of the more liberal members of the Denver Post’s editorial board, but he’s a straight shooter. And his Friday posting on the state of Colorado’s Republican primary for governor — “Whither Tancredo?” — is full of spot-on insights, such as:
Party insiders say the problem [...]
Reports indicate that thousands of Colorado state employees received AFSCME (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO) union membership cards in the mail yesterday. Many of them are wondering just why they received them, as they never signed up to join any union — especially not one [...]
So yes, my Representative Ed Perlmutter voted for the costly, restrictive monstrosity known as Pelosi Care (HR 3962). But how does he justify his positions? How did his office respond to last week’s House Call on Congress rally? And how were citizen-journalists from the People’s Press Collective received when they [...]
Our current survey of Colorado’s political temperature has inspired more than just a series of click-in-the-box responses.
Having read one of our test issue statements — It is important for Republicans to employ a “big tent” policy when considering candidates for office. — Karen Kataline decided to deconstruct the term [...]
For the first time in quite awhile, the Rocky Mountain Alliance has started to grow again. We have two new members who represent excellent additions. I invite you to check them out and add them to your regular blog reading (if you haven’t already):
The Business Word by Don Johnson [...]This morning I had the opportunity to follow up on this week’s Colorado political bombshell with the man at the center of the storm: state senate minority leader Josh Penry, of whom word leaked Monday that he had decided to withdraw from the Republican primary campaign for governor.
As a [...]
Ninety-one years ago today “the war to end all wars” officially ended. Among the millions of dead were more than 100,000 brave American military servicemen out of hundreds of thousands who honorably served (including two of my great uncles: Bill DeGrow and John E. “Ed” DeGrow). In 1954 the commemoration, [...]
Candidates and politicians let us down a lot. But the philosophical and economic principles that underlie personal liberty and free markets are universal and timeless. So help spread the word. Another Free People Free Markets class has been announced for two Saturdays: January 30 and February 13, 2010. [...]
PPC already has reported to my great disappointment and astonishment that Josh Penry has decided to withdraw from the Colorado governor’s race. Penry’s friend and former state representative Rob Witwer followed a few moments ago with a short statement:
Josh did an outstanding job framing the debate and articulating [...]
Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall came down. Not exactly breaking news for my well-informed readers, but the significance of the event is hard to overstate. For five minutes of valuable reflection on the power of freedom with a stirring Beethoven soundtrack, check out this terrific video from the [...]
I was planning to post a notice today about the need to take action against the Pelosi version of Obama Care. And today is the time to do it! But being busy, I got permission to paste this email (with a couple slight tweaks) from a friend:
Hello to all!
If [...]
In a savvy political move that promotes a good, old-fashioned commonsense idea — something very rare in the halls of Congress — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck has called on incumbent appointee Michael Bennet to join the bipartisan Congressional co-sponsorship of a very important transparency bill:
In [...]
Two years ago today I posted a brief memoir in honor of what would have been my Grandpa’s 100th birthday. It was uplifting to go back and re-read what I wrote then — something that seldom happens with the many things I write here.
I wouldn’t change anything, except to [...]
In a Denver Post column today, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis justifies his decision not to engage in debates with his primary opponents Josh Penry and Dan Maes: “I will work diligently over the next year to ensure that our party is unified, and that we avoid past [...]
Mount Virtus readers, this post will remain sticky through the end of the survey (November 13). For newer postings, please scroll down.
It’s that time again. Yes, El Presidente and I have commissioned and fashioned another survey that we hope you will take 10 minutes or so to complete — [...]
Everyone and his brother (a particularly strange piece of slang I picked up from my childhood) has been offering spin to explain why on an election night so good for Republicans and conservatives, insurgent Conservative Doug Hoffman came up short against Democrat Bill Owens. I think that’s looking at it [...]
Yesterday Republican state senator Dave Schultheis announced he would be retiring from office in 2010. This evening a press release went out from (and about) one of my Leadership Program of the Rockies classmates:
Representative Kent Lambert, House District 14, will make a short public political announcement [...]
Despite all the hoopla (much of it well-deserved) about the election results, let’s not lose focus on an easily overlooked issue that should factor into some of our important decisions for 2010 — namely, the Colorado Supreme Court delving into political questions of how our schools are funded in [...]
Quick reflections on last night’s election results …
National
The Bad: In what was a late insurgent campaign, conservative Doug Hoffman loses New York 23 (though Erick Erickson tries to spin it into a favorable light). Tax-limitation initiatives in Maine and Washington went down in flames.
The Good: Obviously, the Republican sweep [...]
Channel 7 investigative reporters Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia have exposed Democrat Governor Bill Ritter’s so-called “hiring freeze” for what it really was:
Gov. Bill Ritter promised a hiring freeze last year to help bridge the budget gap, but a CALL7 investigation found that as many as 2,300 employees [...]
From CBS4 Denver, foot-in-mouth State Senator David Schultheis (R-Colorado Springs) has pulled a surprise and announced he’s not running for re-election in 2010.
Does this make former blogger and self-proclaimed “big tent” Republican candidate Tom McDowell the frontrunner in Senate District 9?
It’s no secret that Tom [...]
The Tea Party Express rolls into Denver today for a 5 PM Election Day 2009 rally featuring Joe The Plumber. Angry about the Pelosi-Obama health care monstrosity? Fed up with the billions in “stimulus” money that’s done so little for jobs and the economy?
Here’s your chance to [...]
In a recent diary at Rocky Mountain Right, Mike Robinson finds that the Obama stimulus bill created 654 jobs in Douglas County at a cost of $131,548 per job. Using the same Recovery.gov website, I learned that Douglas has nothing on my own Jefferson County.
According to my calculations, [...]
Is Nancy Pelosi’s 2,000-page version of Obama Care “the worst bill ever” — as the editors of the Wall Street Journal describe it? I doubt it. After all, that’s some pretty stiff competition. But if you’re busy having to defend the so-called health care reform legislation from the [...]
