More constitutional misunderstanding

Linda Lodenkamper wrote a letter to the editor of the Denver Post taking the paper to task for its position regarding Stephanie Villafuerte.

Ms. Villafuerte had been nominated to become Colorado's next U.S. Attorney. A controversy arose and she withdraw her name from consideration.

Ms. Lodenkamper wrote:

Your editorial applauding this action ends with the following statement: “Villafuerte may not have done anything wrong, but from what she’s said publicly, she lacks the ability to prove it.” When did your newspaper change to “Guilty until proven innocent?”

This is an all too common misunderstanding. The concept of "innocent until proven guilty" has exactly one application - in a criminal court room.

It has no application to politics. None.

Makin' history

Just prior to the Senate passing a version of Obamacare, Democratic Senator Tom Hawkin, from Iowa, said "let's make history."

They did.

So did General Custer.

I'll drink to that

A headline from today's Denver Post reads

"Colorado woman wins federal efficiency award."

That's like winning a temperance award from Dean Martin.

Dilbert explains RTD and FasTracks

The backers of this boondoggle said it would cost $4.7 billion. Too many people believed this fraud and said "OK" and approved a tax increase.

Woops. Now RTD says the actual cost will be $7.0 billion. They want voters to approve that, too.

Many will vote for it, thus sanctioning and approving their own robbery.

It starts to get hard to feel sorry for those that willingly submit to fraud. Of course, the bad part is that those voting for RTD want those that have not fallen for the scam to contribute, too.

And, due to the power of democracy, they can make it happen.

Hugo Chavez: An Honest Man.

Hugo Chavez gets to the heart of the matter at Copenhagen:

One could say, Mr. President, that a ghost is haunting Copenhagen, to paraphrase Karl Marx, the great Karl Marx, a ghost is haunting the streets of Copenhagen, and I think that ghost walks silently through this room, walking around among us, through the halls, out below, it rises, this ghost is a terrible ghost almost nobody wants to mention it: Capitalism is the ghost, almost nobody wants to mention it. It’s capitalism, the people roar, out there, hear them.

.…

Socialism, the other ghost Karl Marx spoke about, which walks here too, rather it is like a counter-ghost. Socialism, this is the direction, this is the path to save the planet, I don’t have the least doubt.

...

Our revolution seeks to help all people…socialism, the other ghost that is probably wandering around this room, that’s the way to save the planet, capitalism is the road to hell....let’s fight against capitalism and make it obey us.

"Progressive" radio - same as it ever was.

Yesterday, I was listening to "progressive" talk radio host Mario Solis Marich's show on AM 760.

A caller asked him who was going to pay for the pending government health care takeover.

Mario, like Barack Obama, said it was not going to cost anything.

The caller questioned that dubious statement and asked how it was possible that millions of people were going to get something they do not currently have for free.

Mario, unable to answer that question, asked the caller why he thought that it would cost something. He condescendingly said that "just because Hannity said so isn't a good answer." Heretofore, the caller had not mentioned Hannity.

(The irony was apparently lost on Mario that he believes that free stuff is possible because that's what Obama says.)

When the caller refused to fall into Mario's trap of answering a question with a question, Mario started yelling at him for refusing to answer the question. Which, of course, is what Mario himself did just seconds earlier. (Again, the irony was lost on Mario).

Mario, however, has all the buttons that control the conversation. He used them to silence the caller. Then he mocked the caller for not having answers. (Irony? What irony?)

This brief exchange demonstrates that Fox News does not have a monopoly on misplaced arrogance. Mario Solis is no more interested in civil discourse than Bill O'Reilly.

The immorality of the Copenhagen conference

The Copenhagen delegates, like primitive cavemen dancing around a fire, howling at the moon, offering human sacrifice to appease their false god, are prepared to offer up centuries of progress in a meaningless attempt to appease their false god.

The immorality of the modern day green cultists is staggering. They care not that they will make electricity, heat and basic modern comforts unavailable to the poorest of the world.

They ignore the staggering economic costs of forcing the aged and infirm to quit using cheap fossil fuels to warm their houses in the winter. The aged and infirm are mere casualties in the Green Crusaders’ war against progress - that same progress that allowed them to fly in jumbo jets to Europe, and that same progress that ignites the internal combustion engines in their limousines that idle outside their luxury hotels. That same progress that they, the elite, will be able to afford no matter how much electricity and heat cost the huddled masses.

The cultists have no interest in achieving their goals if the means do not give them control over others. If they actually believed that immediate action is necessary to save the planet from self-immolation, they would be building nuclear power plants.

That solution to their fictitious problem, however, does not allow them to decide who gets how much money. It does not require tribute. It does not require you to succumb.

And you must give tribute. And you must succumb. Or the oceans will boil! (Or some such fantastic tripe).

And, just like false evangelical television stars, they inflame the fear and ignorance of others for their own financial gain.

It is a disgrace.

News Release

_______________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release – Dec. 14, 2009

Contact: Jeff Crank, Colorado State Director, (719) 332-8644

Americans for Prosperity Holds Code Red Rally at U.S. Senate Offices

Coloradans to Visit U.S. Senators at Five Colorado Locations

COLORADO SPRINGS – Thousands of Americans converged on the House of Representatives in November with our Congressional House Calls – both in Washington, D.C. and their home districts – to let them know we don’t want this brand of health reform. We want reform that puts patients first. That bill passed by an extremely narrow margin, showing Congress is divided on this issue.

Now the fight has turned to the Senate, and it’s down to the wire. Coloradans face hundreds of billions in escalating costs, new taxes, and government-forced health insurance backed by penalties of fines and jail time.

The No. 1 reason Congress has taken this long on this issue is the American people – Americans rallying for a fresh start on health reform.

As the Senate nears the end of the health care debate Coloradans have one last opportunity to stand up for health care freedom in a way Senators Udall and Bennet won’t forget.

AFP is hosting a Code Red Rally at the U.S. Capitol this coming Tuesday, December 15th to tell the Senate to keep their hands off our health care. In Colorado, we will be visiting the offices of our Senators at four locations throughout the state.

Event Details:

Code Red Rally at U.S. Senate Offices in Colorado

Time: 11:45 a.m., Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Colorado Springs
Senator Michael Bennet’s Office
409 North Tejon St, suite 107
(meet on sidewalk in front of building)

Contact: Chuck Broerman

Denver
Senator Mark Udall’s Office
999 18th Street ,
North Tower, Suite 1525
(meet on sidewalk in front of North Tower)

Contact: David Williams

Fort Collins
Senator Michael Bennet’s Office
1200 S. College Ave Suite 221
(meet on sidewalk in front of building)

Contact: Debbie Healy

Grand Junction
Senator Michael Bennet/Senator Mark Udall’s Office
400 Rood Avenue
Grand Junction
(meet in front of Federal Building, 402 Rood Avenue)

Contact: Kelly Sloan

Pueblo
The Union Depot
132 West B Street
Pueblo

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 800,000 members, including members in all 50 states, and 25 state chapters. More than 55,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial investment in AFP or AFP Foundation. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org

# # #

A challenge to liberty lovers in the GOP

My good Republican friend Ben DeGrow, in a recent PPC post, tells the National GOP to "Wake Up and FIGHT."

Ben says, "The national Republican party is flirting dangerously with proving itself an entirely ineffectual ally of liberty and limited government."

Flirting?

They've gone past flirting, beyond kisses on the neck, through heavy petting and into individual acts of perversion SO profound and disgusting that decorum prohibits listing them here.

Ben warns that "a national Republican Party that would callously take for granted the votes of fiscal conservatives and friends of liberty at this most desperate hour will prove itself unworthy of loyal support."

I am not quite sure what more they have to do to prove unworthy of that support. I challenge my liberty loving GOP friends to produce a list of things the GOP will have to do to maintain your support.

Then, if they do not, withdraw that support. Otherwise, the threat is just hot air.

Like a victim of battered spouse syndrome, too many believers in freedom take back the GOP because they are told, "This time, Sweetie, I mean it. Can we kiss and make up?"

The cycle will not end until you reject the abuse. And like a battered spouse, you might not have anywhere else to go.

You have to go anyway. You have to rebuild somewhere else.

Or keeping taking the black eyes and telling your friends you ran into the door.

What is on your list, my GOP friends?

A challenge to liberty lovers in the GOP

My good Republican friend Ben DeGrow, in a recent PPC post, tells the National GOP to Wake Up and FIGHT.

Ben says, "The national Republican party is flirting dangerously with proving itself an entirely ineffectual ally of liberty and limited government."

Flirting?

They've gone past flirting, beyond kisses on the neck, through heavy petting and into individual acts of perversion SO profound and disgusting that decorum prohibits listing them here. Ben warns that "a national Republican Party that would callously take for granted the votes of fiscal conservatives and friends of liberty at this most desperate hour will prove itself unworthy of loyal support." I am not quite sure what more they have to do to prove unworthy of that support. I challenge my liberty loving GOP friends to produce a list of things the GOP will have to do to maintain your support. Then, if they do not, withdraw that support. Like a victim of battered spouse syndrome, too many believers in freedom take back the GOP because they are told, "This time, Sweety, I mean it. Can we kiss and make up?" The cycle will not end until you reject the abuse. And like a battered spouse, you might not have anywhere else to go.

You have to go anyway. You have to rebuild somewhere else.

Or keeping taking the black eyes and telling your friends you ran into the door.

Support your local UFCW!

Unions: Taking dues from hardworking people to fight for workers' rights! Right?

From today's Denver Post editorial page:

A golden parachute with four wheels? What do you get as a gift for an ousted union leader accused of nepotism? A Ford F-350 pickup paid for with union dues, of course. 9News reporter Kyle Clark shined the light on the continuing corruption at United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, where ousted leader Ernie Duran Jr. is walking away with his union truck.

And outgoing union secretary Stan Kania is driving away in his union-purchased Ford 500. Both gifts were approved by Local 7's executive committee, and the seventh vice president — not the first through sixth, mind you — told 9News that every other departing president got a vehicle. That's great, except they didn't, according to 9News, which interviewed past presidents. What hogwash.

And don't even get us started on the board's impromptu telephone vote to endorse — and give the maximum amount of cash — to any staff member who runs for public office. Two weeks later, Duran's daughter, who also worked at Local 7, announced a statehouse run.

Sometimes the answer is all too simple.

On Friday, the U. S. House of Representatives approved "sweeping new financial industry regulations."

The bill, among other things,

hands regulators broad new powers likely to impact everyone from the average mortgage applicant to multibillion-dollar financial houses that lord over the global economy.

Among its most applauded — and controversial — components, the 1,279-page bill would create an entirely new regulatory agency, the Financial Services Oversight Council. Its charge would be to protect consumers and give regulators the power to pre-emptively dismantle companies if they conclude those firms threaten the economy.

The premise of such regulation is based on a fanciful idea. Those in favor of regulation such as this believe that government functionaries have some idea how to successfully manage an industry, or at least some portion of it.

This premise has no basis in fact. Even if one believes that Wall Street firms and bankers are evil and must be reigned in, this regulation does not solve the problem.

It merely substitutes the evil bankers with evil, and incompetent, bureaucrats.

More regulation is not the answer. More regulation results in more rules. More rules means more time and money must be spent in complying with those rules. It provides incentives for those that can find loopholes in the rules. It costs money to enforce the rules.

Society eventually ends up spending more time and resources arguing about commas, definitions and exceptions to arbitrary regulations than to actually solving the perceived problem.

The problem can be solved with one rule, and it is already in place:

Do not commit fraud.

All people, even Wall Street Bankers, should be able to engage in any voluntary transaction with any other person as long as no fraud is perpetrated.

This simple rule, however, does not allow politicians to control anything. They do not get to create new agencies. They do not get to hire new regulators. They do not get to pay off political debt. Nor do they solve the problem.

But it is not about solving the problem. It is about control. And the House bill gives Congress plenty of that.

Let's put these guys in charge of health care.

According to an article by the Denver Post's Michael Riley, "Feds settle suit over mismanagement of Indian trust land,"

the federal government agreed Tuesday to settle for $3.4 billion a lawsuit that claims it badly mismanaged millions of acres in Indian trust land over more than 100 years.

...

The federal government would return those lands to tribal ownership, reversing a controversial policy of privatization that dates to 1887, was reversed in the 1930s and is seen by many in Indian country as contributing to a legacy of poverty and underdevelopment that continues to this day.

...

the announcement finalizes a monumental legal struggle that had become a symbol of government neglect and mismanagement, one that a district judge last year called an "irreparable breach of fiduciary duty" by the Department of the Interior.

...

federal officials appeared to have lost millions of critical records dating back decades that were supposed to record income from trust lands and what was done with the money.

And some statists argue it is a moral imperative that we give these same people control over health care. These statists have a misguided faith in the government. They refuse to see the historical, proven inability of the government to manage a lemonade stand, much less the country's entire health care system.

There are none so blind as those that refuse to see.