Hickenlooper: Colorado’s ‘Backwards Thinking in Rural, Western Areas’
PCuicide
In the wake of NPR’s PC-spasm firing of Juan Williams, consider The Travails of Modern Islam by Daniel Pipes:
QUESTION: In relation to the two questions of what went wrong and how do we fix it, do you see a difference between hardcore Islamists and those that are less committed?
DR DANIEL PIPES: They are roughly the same. Various versions of Islamism exist. For example, in Saudi Arabia women can’t drive, can’t do this, can’t do that. In Iran, they can. The Iranian idea is that they’ve created an Islamic republic where women are safe. In the Saudi vision, danger lurks in every corner and females need to be protected. There are many such differences in both style and substance. But in the end, all Islamists aspire to the same thing which is the application of Islamic law. Islamic law differs slightly in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and India. They have different schools, but these are again details and in general the aspiration to apply Islamic law is common to all Muslims.
The generalizations abhorred by the politically correct need the most scrutiny.
illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is a massive problem that causes your eyes to glaze over when you try to think of remedies in total.
At Tom Tancredo’s meeting in Elizabeth yesterday, however, the question was asked and answered about what percentage of illegal immigrants also end up in our criminal justice process. The answer, confirmed by Tancredo and Sheriff Frangis, is that between 15% and 20% of arrested perps are illegal immigrants.
That’s a huge statistic. Why are we not deporting the 15% to 20% of perps in our criminal justice system who are also known illegal immigrants? What a perfect place to start solving the illegal immigration problem!
Reduce prison load and save a boatload of money from that, make the streets of America safer by deporting a known criminal element, and reduce the illegal immigrant population by its’ most undesirable subset.
Can you think of a good reason why to keep illegal immigrants in our jails and prisons?
Maes is over
People who still support Dan Maes have effectively withdrawn from meaningful participation in this election for governor. Whether Maes goes or stays, you can make a plausible case that voters currently dedicated to Dan Maes are irrelevant to the outcome of the race.
Let’s assume he stays, which seems the most likely case. If all those pledged to him remain loyal and vote for him, they won’t effect the outcome of the race for governor. That race will be decided completely by people who vote for Tancredo and Hickenlooper.
On the other hand, let’s assume Maes withdraws–the unlikely case. Some of his pledged voters will still vote for him, and won’t effect the outcome of the race. Some will choose not to vote at all, and won’t effect the outcome of the race. Some will vote for Tancredo on the principle of conservatism, while others will vote for Hickenlooper purely out of spite. Let’s face it, after all that’s gone wrong with Dan Maes, of the people remaining in his camp today who don’t end up in one of the nullifying outcomes, they’re as likely to go one way or the other (conservatism or spite), and those two camps will cancel each other out.
The bottom line is, whether Maes stays or goes, his voters have become irrelevant. The race is between those who relevantly declare for Tancredo and Hickenlooper, and Tancredo has about pulled even in that contest.
we the people…
…did not found the Elbert County Tea Party and did not elect its self-appointed Chairman. When will the Elbert County Tea Party embrace the consent of the citizens that it claims to uphold and elect its own party leaders? When will the Elbert County Tea Party hold its own leadership accountable for supporting Dan Maes and for siding with the left on Proposition 1A?
tea party and liberal against 1A
Tea Party self-appointed leader Robert Rowland sides with Democrat Whistler on Elbert County Proposition 1A.
ELBERT COUNTY FINANCIAL WOES
by Robert Rowland on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 1:30pm
WE NEED EVERYONE IN ELBERT COUNTY TO SEE AND READ THIS, PLEASE PASS ALONG. ELBERT COUNTY – BALLOT INITIATIVE 1A [Read more…]
Join the Game
Tancredo’s K w/ Colorado
Vote YES on 60, 61 & 101
Blue Book w/out govt bias
“Anyone who accuses the legislative council staff
[who wrote the Blue Book] of bias,
will be ejected from this hearing.”
-Chairman Terrance Carroll opening the only public hearing
With Colorado’s Blue Book Alternative you can avoid our government’s conflict of interest and bureaucratic bias, and get information about ballot initiatives straight from the proponents.
Proposition 101 (Cut car, income, phone taxes)
Amendment 60 (Limit Property Tax)
Amendment 61 (Limit Colorado Debt)
Friday 10/8/10 Morning
holy men vitamins
all litmus tests are not created equal
RE:
Call For The Immediate Resignation of All Republican Officials Openly Supporting 3rd Party ACP Candidate Tancredo
by Cindy Lyons on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 7:54pmI am calling for the immediate resignation of ALL Republican elected officials and party people who are caught openly defying state GOP party by-laws. It is shameful for a liberal reporter to expose so well what was lying under neath all along. When a Republican supports a party not their own they are called RINO: Republican In Name Only under the truest of circumstances. I call for all GOP Party Chairs to enforce this rule.
Cindy Lyons
Patriot
9-12 member
Republican Conservative
It took a systemic failure of the Republican caucus system for a public call to go out to purge the party of its RINO’s. But RINO’s have been comfortably ensconced in Republican Central Committees for years. Why must they suddenly be purged?
Because Maes zealots need someone to blame for the failure of the caucus system that they perpetrated. They abused the caucus apparatus, they screwed it up royally, and now they have bogeyman in the form of Tancredo supporters to blame.
The caucus system was never a good solution; it’s thoroughly corrupt and has been for a long time. But Republicans have an opportunity to really fix something if they have the courage that their professed patriotism and allegiance to conservatism implies.
Expelling RINO’s, even if they could do it which they can’t, will only further cement the caucus problem in place. So, do Republicans have the courage of introspection to analyze themselves and the conduct of their caucus process? Can they admit that the caucus system is the product of a small minority of self-appointed apparatchiks who convince themselves over time that they are representatives of the people at large, and that this bunch blew it big time?
This would be a great opportunity for Republicans to man up, take responsibility for their mistakes, and fix this broken corrupt caucus process.
The tenor of the Elbert County Tea Party however, full of self-righteous indignation, seems to be running away from these real growth opportunities as fast as they can. Electing the leftist opposition will be their legacy, they’ll never admit it, and they’ll go on nursing their coffee clatch political club for the rest of their days.
clock is ticking
Time is almost up to do the right thing Mr. Peterson.
The right thing would be to stop promoting the grifter for governor and get behind the man with real answers, real experience, real leadership and real command of the office he seeks.
And doing the right thing for the greater good would be to support tax limiting proposals instead of big public money interests.
When Republicans align with the NEA, the Colorado Progressive Coalition, the Democratic Governors Association, and the SEIU, it’s time to say goodbye to the Republicans.
Tancredo dominates debate tonight
The Governor’s Forum debate begins at about 23 minutes into this video.
The Closing of the Muslim Mind
The Closing Of The Muslim Mind by Robert R. Reilly
Foreword by Roger Scruton
“The roots of Western civilization lie in the religion of Israel, the culture of Greece, and the law of Rome, and the resulting synthesis has flourished and decayed in a thousand ways during the two millennia that have followed the death of Christ. Whether expanding into new territories or retreating into cities, Western civilization has continually experimented with new institutions, new laws, new forms of political order, new scientific beliefs, and new practices in the arts. And this tradition of experiment led, in time, to the Enlightenment, to democracy, and to forms of social order in which free opinion and freedom of religion are guaranteed by the state.
Why did not something similar happen in the Islamic world? [Read more…]
Essay Contest
Kerchner v. Obama
Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed with the U.S. Supreme Court for Kerchner v Obama
The threat to petitioners’ life, liberty, safety, security, tranquility, and property is actual and concrete rather than merely conjectural or hypothetical. The Declaration of Independence recognizes these rights as “unalienable” and as having been endowed upon an individual by his or her “Creator.” The Constitution recognizes these rights not as being abstract or theoretical rights but rather as concrete and real and needing protection from government abuses. It recognizes these rights as the essence of a person’s being. Petitioners sued Obama after he assumed the great and singular powers of the Executive. Obama was not a mere candidate with no power. Obama has had and continues to have executive and military power to harm the petitioners. He actually exercises those powers on a daily basis. Petitioners cannot rely on Obama, who was born with dual and conflicting allegiances to protect them as a “natural born Citizen” would. The United States Supreme Court has recognized the problems presented by dual nationality and has stated that dual nationality is a “status long recognized in the law” and that a person with such dual nationality “may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both.” Kawakita v. United States, 343 U.S. 717 (1952). But because Obama has yet to and because he cannot conclusively prove that he is an Article II “natural born Citizen” because of his conflicting natural allegiance and loyalty, plaintiffs are not constitutionally expected to nor do they trust him to protect their life, liberty, safety, security, tranquility, and property as would a President and Commander in Chief of the Military who is a “natural born Citizen.” Petitioners must therefore be allowed to challenge Obama in order to protect these concrete rights.
Dems’ Ad Strategy
Ad Strategy Worked: Weak Tea Party Candidate Won Primary
“The most recently filed campaign records from Colorado Freedom Fund indicate that the Democratic Governors Association donated $150,000, while wealthy Colorado philanthropist Pat Stryker gave $108,000. The SEIU Small Donor Committee gave $200,000 and the Public Education Committee, an education union, gave $150,000. Two other groups gave $5,000 each to the committee.
“Democrats spent more money on Maes in two weeks than he raised in his entire campaign,” said Rob Witwer, co-author of “The Blueprint,” a book about the Democrats takeover of Colorado. “They wanted Dan Maes to be the Republican nominee and they got him.”
60, 61, 101 – BIG money game
With nearly $4 million spent so far to defeat these measures, an amount which dwarfs the money for all other political issues and offices in Colorado combined, these measures are the biggest threat to tax and spend liberalism currently on the table. You know, to a point of certainty, that the legal briefs that will challenge these measures are already written and waiting to be filed, should any of them squeak through the liberal firewall. And you know, given the composition of the Colorado Supreme Court, that any legal challenge to these measures will be found sufficient and ultimately upheld. There’s just too much money on the table to enliven the fight.
Still, it’s a fight worth having because it exposes the tax and spend super structure running Colorado. And there’s no other way we’ll ever even see who runs our government.
According to August 2010 reports, Coloradans for Responsible Reform, an opponent of Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and 61, has reportedly received $4.109 million in campaign contributions and has spent $3.877 million. Their current balance is $231,335.98.[29] Compared to May 2010 reports, supporters reported that they had received $777,000 in campaign donations and a total of $671,190 in the bank.[30] In July 2010, state campaign finance records revealed that opponents received contributions from 36 businesses and 11 business & trade groups.[13]
Below is a chart that outlines major cash contributions to Coloradans for Responsible Reform:[31][32]
Contributor Amount National Education Association $400,000 Colorado Contractors Association, Inc. $300,000 Colorado Education Association $250,000 The Colorado Health Foundation $175,000 Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association $150,000 Campaign advertising
- Opponents purchased $2 million of television air time. Their ad campaign is expected to launch after Labor Day.[13]
- On September 8, 2010 Coloradans for Responsible Reform launched a one-minute ad in opposition to Prop 101, Amendment 60 and 61. According to reports, the ad calls the three measures “The Ugly Three.” The radio ad ran on 64 stations in 39 cities.[33] The radio ad can be heard here.
Tactics and strategies
- In May 2010 Coloradans for Responsible Reform launched a website called www.donthurtcolorado.com in order to fight Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and 61. According to reports, the group has raised approximately $800,000 to fight the measures. The campaign group is supported by Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and others. According to Coloradans for Responsible Reform the proposed measures would make Colorado an “investment-flight state.”[30]
- On August 14, 2010, opponents of Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61 gathered at the Robert Hoag Rawlings Public Library, the headquarters of the Pueblo City-County Library District. According to reports, the crowd consisted of about 50 local politicians, school, library and business leaders.[34]
- On August 25 opponents hosted a rally at the Pioneers Museum gazebo from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm to explain and distribute information on the potential impact of the three measures. The rally, according to reports, was sponsored by the Citizens for Effective Government and group of businesses and organizations.[35][36][37]
- The Colorado Progressive Coalition hit the road on September 14 in a ten-day “Civic Engagement Roundtable Ballot Tour” to inform voters of “the costly effects and unintended consequences” of the measures.[38] A list of tour events can be found here.
- On September 27, 2010 opponents met in front of empty seats at Invesco Field to illustrate the 73,000 jobs they argue would be lost should Amendment 60, 61 and Prop 101 be approved by voters.[39]
Other perspectives
-
- 2010 Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo announced in an early September debate that he supported Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and 61. Tancredo said, “The people of Colorado are not under-taxed; we are over-governed” and added “It’s really a reaction to people being overtaxed and taxed without their permission. The passage of these things will be an indicator that things are coming to a change and we’ll have to deal with it.”[40] However, in late September 2010, Tancredo said he was unsure about the measures.[41]