Democrats gutting immigration compromise

From the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC):

DENVER, CO: General Assembly Democrats are forcing a last minute bill through the legislature that would weaken provisions of the employer identification law, HB06-1023, passed during last summer’s special legislative session. Members of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC) are leading the charge against this change.

The measure, HB07-1314, sponsored by Representative Mike Cerbo (D-Denver) and Senator Peter Groff (D-Denver), extends rule deadlines for the Department of Revenue applicable to the identification of those who receive state benefits. The measure could also allow non-secure documents to be used as valid forms of identification.

The bill is expected to have a 3^rd reading vote in the Senate tomorrow, but even on its current fast-track the measure won’t reach Governor Bill Ritter’s desk until the end of the week, failing to properly extend the March 1^st deadline outlined in HB06-1023.

Read their full press release here.

Money quote:

“HB07-1314 is a backdoor attempt by the Democrats to reverse last session’s immigration identification laws through bureaucratic technicalities and procedural double speak,” said Lambert.

Wednesday's Warrior: Marilyn Musgrave

The Editorial Staff of the Colorado Conservative Project are pleased to announce that this weeks Wednesday Warrior is Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave. Congresswoman Musgrave has been the defender of conservative values that others have tried to emulate since being elected into the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002. A Reagan Republican if there ever was one, Marilyn truly cares about her constituents and has been a staunch defender of Veterans, lower taxes and agriculture while in office. Others have taken note of Marilyn’s leadership and in the last month she has received the Taxpayer’s Friend Award from the National Taxpayers Union, retained her position as Policy Chair of the Western Caucus and even convinced Democrat John Salazar to join with her in pushing for permanent repeal of the Death Tax.

The Congresswoman has vastly broadened her repertoire of legislative leadership since coming into Congress and has recently taken up the fight to promote renewable energy research and hybrid vehicle technology. While these issues are not generally associated with Republicans, we applaud Congresswoman Musgrave for reaching across the aisle in support of issues that should matter to all Americans regardless of political persuasion.

Thank you Congresswoman Musgrave for all you have done for the people of the 4th District as well as how you have influenced other Colorado Conservative heroes to take up the good fight.

(Editors note: We have received numerous emails as to why we had not featured Congresswoman Musgrave as our Wednesday Warrior earlier on, and we can only say sorry that it took us this long to recognize a true conservative hero like Musgrave.)

370 Days & Counting

Feb 5th is D-Day in POTUS Primary World. Click here to read this article from The Hill. Expect attack ads on Romney, Clinton, Giulliani, McCain, Obama and Edwards to start airing by monday.

(Editors note: Upon reading my own post I decided it did not make sense, I was referring to Feb 5th of 2008 and attack ads starting 5 days from now......which is really early for attack ads to start see? Nevermind, it was not that funny to begin with and I'm not helping things now)

Make My Day Better Supported by Everyone, Except Dems

While Rep. Cory Gardner and Sen. Ted Harvey's "Make My Day Better" bill was killed in committee on Monday, it appears that everyone in the state is in favor of the extension of exsiting law, except for Sen.(s) Peter Groff, Sue Windels and Chris Romer.

From today's Colorado Springs Gazette:

Our View - Wednesday

February 28, 2007 - 1:13AM

Shot down
Democrats revert to criminal-friendly form
Senate Democrats on Monday gunned down a commonsense extension of Colorado’s “make my day” law that would have protected people who use deadly force while defending themselves in a place of business. And what a bunch of criminal-coddling ninnies they seemed while doing so.
A citizen’s right to self defense is God-given and absolute, whether she is at home, at the workplace, riding in a car or walking down a sidewalk, so it always struck us as silly and superfluous that such laws are needed in the first place. But given the evident failure of some people to grasp the concept of an indivisible right to self-defense, we suppose such bills are a necessary evil.
All this one would have done is grant business owners the same protections all Coloradans enjoy if they have to use deadly force during a home invasion. But Democrats evidently believe the right to self defense changes with the scenery, and killed the bill on a 3-2 committee vote — using arguments that seem to confirm their reputations for caring more about criminals than for the rights of average citizens.
According to a report, Sen. Peter Groff, a Democrat from Denver, worried “that store owners could end up shooting teenagers they were fearful of just because they were talking too loud, wearing their baseball hat backward or listening to the rapper Snoop Dogg. Or he said a shooting could break out over shoplifting. ‘What we’re trying to do here I think is create some street-imposed death penalty that may be executed, excuse the pun, over a Milky Way bar,’ he said.”
That’s a twisted reading of what the bill would have done. Extending make-my-day protections to places of business wouldn’t have allowed a business owner to use deadly force for trivial purposes, but only in self-defense, if an intrusion was occurring or the owner felt he or she was in real peril. No one would escape prosecution for gunning down someone who swipes a candy bar — unless the thief is armed and dangerous, or the situation is escalating toward violence.

Read the rest of the editorial here.

Right & Wrong

Democrats have managed to get it right and wrong in one fell swoop of unmitigated liberal brain storming. Democrats get something wrong? I was as shocked as you are, but yes right now they are trying to end 527 money while propping up public financed campaigns. It's like watching the smallest player on the little league baseball team crush the fastball thrown at him only to see it go foul....IT WAS OH SO CLOSE AND GOT YOUR HEART RATE GOING, BUT ULTIMATELY LEFT YOU FEELING EMPTY AND SORRY FOR THE LITTLE GUY.

Read this story from The Hill for more on this crazy talk.

Good Thing: Stop 527 Money "The mistakes made by Congress wouldn't be so bad if the next Congress didn't keep trying to correct them." - Cullen Hightower
It's not like they have realized that their beloved McCain-Feingold bill is plain wrong, but more so that they have realized that they are not the only ones benefiting from the 527's anymore. Republicans are starting to wake up and see that right now 527's are a major force in elections and should be taken advantage of. Now this does not hold true for Colorado where our big money folk like to talk big but leave us empty handed early November. Everywhere else though the 527 coffers are starting to benefit the guy with the (R) at the end of his name.

Bad Thing: Publicly Finance Campaigns
Really? I thought this died out in the early 90's and all of a sudden in 07 we got Obama putting this kind of crazy talk back into action. What else is the Obama craze gonna bring back from the 90's? Parachute pants? Slap bracelets? A decent Cowboys team? Enough said. Publicly financed campaigns are not what this country needs, it curbs free speech while inflating our government even more so. In their eyes two horrible wrongs make a fantastic right, and so goes the liberal brain.

Colorado Top Priority Again

Not really news to anyone, but the Senate seat being vacated by conservative hero Wayne Allard is ranked #2 nationally by National Journal. Click here to see their full rankings.

Republicans will have their work cut out for them in retaining the seat, with 33 Senate seats nationally up for election only 12 of those are held by Democrat incumbents. While the Dems should be able to defend all of their own seats, they will also be able to take a shot at the 21 seats held by the good guys. The Republicans on the other hand will have to pick and choose who they are going to help based on polling #'s as well as the campaigns COH (cash on hand) at any given time. If the Republican nominee here in Colorado is down by 12 points in September of 2008 and John Warner over in Virginia is only down by 3 points, guess where the NRSC is gonna put their money at?(Again that's a hypothetical situation, and we all know that all R's will have double digit leads at that point) It's all about the #'s to the NRSC, as well as it should be. Their biggest thing is keeping our folk in office and if that means baling out on old friends, then they have no problem doing so. It's not a science by any means, and at times mistakes are made as in the case of money being pulled from Conrad Burns of Montana last election. Burns who lost by just a little over 2,500 votes in 06 would have easily won had national money been there, credit a good campaign team to keep Burns so competitive without the moolah.

My advice for whomever our Repubican candidate might be is to at all costs make sure you are competitive two months out from the general. If that means spending your ad money early and conceivably going dark later on, then do so. If it is competitive the national money should be enough to keep you on air going into election day.

Mr. Wadhams, you have your work cut out for you.

1st Amendment Attack

Human Events has a great story on the assault on the 1st Amendment by liberals. Read the story so you get the full picture of what is going on, but in essence it is an attempt to shut down conservative talk radio by drudging up old FCC regulations requiring equal airtime to opposing view points. A radio station runs a Rush Limbaugh program, they are now required to also run Al Franken for an opposing view point. A station runs a Mike Rosen show, they are now required to also run that idiot from Boulder. It's absolutely ridiculous and reminds me of the same assault done on campaign finance. The good thing about it is that......um.....well there is nothing good about it, I meant to say that the sad thing about it is that this will all be done in the name of free speech, I swear to you it will, while in reality it is anything but.

Allard saves Clinton?

So lead a story in the Denver Post today:

Sen. Wayne Allard has stepped in to save President Bill Clinton - at least a portrait of Clinton that is hanging in the State Capitol Rotunda.

Allard, R-Colo., has written a letter to the National Archives asking that the portrait be permanently loaned to the state.

Read more here.

Quote of the Week

"Whether it's good enough I think is between her and her conscience. It's not for me to judge." - POTUS candidate John Edwards obviously judging POTUS candidate Hillary Clinton on the first of many snips to come in the race for Dem nomination.

Tylenol wil do

By far the most illustrative moment to date of the er...migraine that Amendment 41 has had on the state is when Andy Kerr D-Lakewood had to suffer through a headache after he was forced to turn down aspirin offered to him by a lobbyist because of A-41. Well you get what you vote for in more ways than one.

Brophy, Kopp slam Boulder liberal over war, troops

Senator Greg Brophy (R-Wray) slammed Senator Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) yesterday over Tupa's anti-military, anti-war resolution.

From the Rocky Mountain News:

"If you introduce this, I'm going to come uncorked," Brophy told Tupa on Monday.

Further from the story:

"They are not reading my proposal correctly because it is nonpartisan," Tupa said.

But Republicans say the measure is hypocritical because Tupa and a majority of Democrats joined with Republicans in the 2003 session to support the war.

"I'll have a medic standing by for when you break your ankle jumping off the bandwagon," Brophy told Tupa.

"Dear God, have you talked to these soldiers' parents? They feel these resolutions are undermining their effort in the war," Brophy said. [Emphasis added]

Senator Mike Kopp (R-Littleton), an 82nd Airborne veteran, is introducing a resolution that will be a statement of support for the troops.

“Our service men and women don’t deserve this resolution and shouldn’t be caught in the middle of the political game,” said Kopp.

The real case against direct democracy

This month's copy of State Legislatures, a publication of the National Conference of State Legislatures, has an interesting piece about the unintended consequences of the direct democracy, initiative process.

While the piece is by lefty-loon, CSU professor John Strayer, it makes a strong argument against the myth of the "sacred will of the people". The central argument of the pro-initiative crowd comes from the often cited Latin saying "vox populi, vox Dei" (trans.: the voice of the people is the voice of God.) by Anglo-Saxon scholar Alcuin of York.

"The voice of the people is not the voice of God, for the voice of the people sent Jesus to the cross." - Grove Johnson.

Read more about Grove Johnson from the History News Network here.

The Viles of The Internet

In the age we live in absolutely nothing is secret anymore, especially when you take the liberty of putting your drinking accomplishments on the internet. So goes the sadness and humor of a new website targeting children of members serving in Congress.

The Political Pale Horse has a humorous account of pointing the finger while avoiding reality.

(Editor's note: At the time of writing this post it appears as though the website in question, www.congresskidsgonewild.blogspot.com, has been taken down. We are not sure as to why, but we assume it has something to do with it being too WILD for the internet. But, please send in $25 for not one but two DVD's and you too can experience all the wildness of Congressional kids out of control.)

Tim Gill: Destroying democracy one election at a time

Tim Gill, the leading member of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, reveals his under-the-radar strategy for advancing his radical, liberal agenda.

Read the full story from The Atlantic here.

Wednesday's Warrior: Cory Gardner

Representative Cory Gardner is truly a champion of gun rights. His leadership on HB07-1011, the well named "Make My Day Better" Law is an an outstanding step toward empowering the people of Colorado to defend themselves. Gardner is a champion of a great many other conservative issues, but today we're celebrating guns, 'cause who doesn't like guns?

That is why Dirty Harry and the Editorial Staff of The Colorado Conservative Project names Rep. Cory Gardner as Wednesday's Warrior.

Gardner is,without a doubt, the coolest guy in politics *without* a website.

Separated at birth?

or

Same smiling mug, same pearly-whites, same stylish hair cut... I'd say we have a family resemblance!

Gardner is a member of the Republican Study Committee of Colorado (RSCC). You can read their press release on the Gardner/Harvey "Make My Day Better" Law here.

(Editor's Note: I certainly hope that Gardner uses a more effective caliber handgun than Dirty Harry's .357. We at The Colorado Conservative Project believe that God made man (& woman) and that a .45 makes everyone equal.)

RINO WATCH: Taylor and Kester sell out 2nd Amendment

This morning on the State Senate floor, 2nd amendment rights were betrayed by Senator Jack Taylor (R - Steam Boat Springs ) and Senator Ken Kester (R - Las Animas).

SB07-34 was up for a 2nd reading vote. As previously mentioned, this originally anti-gun bill was hijacked by Senator Greg Brophy and Senator Dave Schultheis who amended it into a pro-2nd amendment bill.

This morning Senate Democrats, joined by Taylor and Kester, repealed the amendment and passed the bill on 2nd reading as originally written.

Shame on Kester and Taylor for selling out their rural constituents.

NFL = Never Fails to Let down conservatives

Forgive me for the cheesy acronym, though I think it is better than half the stuff I see on Monday night football. I don't even know if the NFL has ever had anything to do with immigration before (I'm sure it has not)but I needed a slightly witty title for the post so get off me already!
Read this article from The Hill.

The New Era of Campaigning: BLOGS

Roll Call has an interesting story about the role blogs will play in campaigns
Click here to read the article.
Since you are reading this, it should not be anything new to you that blogs have an effect on the outcome of campaigns. However not all have been traveling with us on the information superhighway and the fact that Roll Call would run this story shows that the blog world is growing and that it is a new tactic in campaigning.

The next big strategy in campaign tactics........Candidate Chili Cook Offs.

2008 TV Ads on the way

National Journal's Hotline On Call Blog is reporting that former MA Governor, and major flip-flopper, Mitt Romney will be going up on Iowa TV tomorrow.

Wow, the election season just keeps getting earlier and earlier.

Romer tries to hijack Gardner, Kester Bill

Senator Chris Romer (D - Denver), son of former Governor Roy Romer and all-round gas bag, is trying to hijack a bill sponsored by Representative Cory Gardner (R- Yuma) and Senator Ken Kester (R - Las Animas) that would create energy transmission lines to rural Southeastern Colorado.

Romer is trying to hijack the bill by greatly expanding the size and scope of the program and add additional government mandates to Gardner and Kester's bill.

Money quote:

"What I want to do is get my bill passed," Kester said emphatically. "And then if there is other legislation that's needed, I'll be happy to carry it, support it, do whatever's necessary. But today I want my bill to pass so we can help the rural counties in Southeast Colorado. I want my bill to move forward, and I also want it to happen in the next 30 days."

More from the Pueblo Chieftain here.

Amendment 41 continues to plague Colorado

Backers of Jared Polis' Amendment 41 have been robo-dialing to force legislators to fix Polis' poorly worded amendment. Representative Ray Rose' (R-Montrose) district has been getting robo-calls demanding a d "fix" to A-41.

Money Quote:

"This is just another stunt from the backers of Amendment 41," Rose said. "A lobbyist can't buy me a cup of coffee anymore but they (the backers) can spend money on these calls to tell us to fix problems we didn't create and we warned were going to happen."

Apparently the hypocrisy is apparent to everyone, except Jared Polis.

Judd Believes Denver is War-zone

Representative Joel Judd (D-Denver) is "tired of the blood in the streets."

At least that's his justification for infringing upon our 2nd Amendment rights. Judd has introduced HB07-1278 which would allow municipalities outlaw the carrying of handguns in vehicles of those who do not possess conceal carry permits.

Under current law, anyone who has a legal right to possess a firearm, may carry a handgun in their car without a conceal carry permit.

Capitol Dome Re-opens

The Colorado State Capitol Dome re-opened last week. The Dome even has it's own website, www.colorado-dome.org.

Ward does Polis' Dirty Work

RINO Senator Steve Ward (R-Centennial) is doing Jared Polis' dirty work in the legislature, now he's carrying Jared's water in the press.

From the Denver Post:

"There is a lot of crying wolf about (41) in the name of throwing mud at Jared Polis," Ward said. "I don't like Jared Polis. But it's wrong to put a fight with Jared Polis over kids. But for the fact that Jared Polis sponsored this, we'd already be looking at an enabling law."

Comments about Ward having a man-crush on Polis aside, working for Polis is only going to hurt Ward.

Money Quote:

"I really don't want to be flogged politically any more than I already have been," Ward said.

Sorry to hear that Steve, but you're going to be "flogged" for helping out an activist liberal millionaire for the rest of your political career.

Adam Smith's mug on money

In the spirit of today's Anglophile tradition, the Bank of England is going to putting famed conservative economist Adam Smith on their 20pound note.

Thatcher statue to watch over Commons

The great lady of English conservatism and the Reagan era, Baroness Margaret Thatcher will forever watch over the members of the House of Commons in the form of a 7' 6" bronze statue in the Members Lobby.

Gardner Gets Some Rocky' News Love

Rep. Cory Gardner (R - Yuma) got some love today from the Rocky Mountain News' Editorial Board, Fortify "Make My Day".

Money Quote:

"...business owners should not have to stand aside when someone breaks into their establishment and signal for the fellow to help himself. Nor is it wrong for someone who's endured repeated break-ins to act as a sentinel on his own property."

Wednesday's Warrior

Yes, it is indeed that time of the week where we, among other things, announce Colorado's Conservative Champion, its Republican Rambo, its Reagan Renagade yes folks prepare yourselves for this weeks WEDNESDAY WARRIOR!

This weeks wednesday warrior hails from the distant land of Senate Distrct 13. It is none other than Scott Renfroe. While Scott is a newcomer to many political insiders, he won't be for long. Scott beat longtime political player Dale Hall in last summers Republican primary and went on to absolutely trounce his opponent in the general. I'd give you a name for the guy Scott beat in the general, but I don't recall it, you see the beating Scott gave the guy was so bad that it caused memory loss of all things not Scott Renfroe.

All kidding aside, Scott really does have a bright future ahead of him. He is a true Conservative, instantly likable, extremely smart, and unlike many of our representatives is quite keen politically. For those of you in the game, ignore Scott at your own peril.

Three Quick Facts About Scott Renfroe (unashamedly taken from a Chuck Norris site)
1.There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals Scott allowed to live.
2.Scott Renfroe can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.
3. Scott is the reaon why Waldo is hiding.

Self-Defense Bill Passes House

This morning, Representative Cory Gardner's "Make My Day Better" bill, HB07-1011, passed the house on 3rd reading with a 34-31 vote in favor of the bill.

The HB07-1011 now passes over to the Senate where Senator Ted Harvey is the prime sponsor.

The bill expands Colorado's current self-defense laws, to afford places of business the same self-defense "castle" provisions that private residences have.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't expect this bill to get far in the Senate, but with the change in fortunes of Morse' anti-gun bill yesterday, anything could happen.

The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners support HB07-1011.

Common Curse and the Initiative Process

The Rocky Mountain News has a very interesting piece about the unintended consequences of the initiative process in general and specifically Common Curse's (aka. Common Cause) last two successful initiatives, Amendment 27 & 41.

A real fight is brewing with in the Democrat's ranks over the implementation of A-41, which can only be good for the Republicans.

However the boarder reaching issue is that most voters really don't understand the amendments that they are voting on.

Speaking about the problems with A-41, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said, "I think the supporters need to go back to the voters. And quite frankly, the citizens need to do a better job of educating themselves on what these ballot measures really do."

The the real problem is that the initiative system makes several basic and flawed assumptions.

It assumes that the electorate is well informed enough to fully understand the consequences of initiatives that even lawyers can't explain. It also assumes that the people we elect to represent us in Denver aren't going to do a good enough job, and we need to circumvent the expensive legislative process.

What do we pay our legislators for, if we are unwilling to let them write our laws? The initiative process is nothing more than an instrument of bad public policy and bad politics.

Money quote:

"If the voters didn't trust us enough to let lobbyists buy us a sandwich in the Capitol basement, imagine how they would feel about a legislative rollback of their handiwork," Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany R-Colorado Springs.

UMM....THANKS

Why in the same week long time span that we gave kudos to Bill Ritter for vetoing HB07-1072, are we again saying something nice about a Democrat?

Perhaps this cold weather is indeed freezing some of the liberal brain cells, also known as the idiot gene, in some of our states prominent Democrats. Perhaps the apocalypse is upon us. Perhaps the swine I saw outside my TED flight to DIA was not just my imagination again.

I am not sure why all the conservative plays by Democrats, but we appreciate it.

Here it goes, THANK YOU Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, for introducing a measure that would have lifted the state smoking ban in taverns. Not surprisingly the bill was still killed by those Democrats who are not affected by the apocalypse, see 'demons', but it was still good legislation none the less. Many of the 30 some bar owners who testified about the measure are losing their livelihood due to the smoking ban. Also thanks to Sen. Tochtrop for being one of the 3 Democrats to sign onto the recent gun bill.

Quote of the Week

"I believe that I am the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child. That being the case, I find it necessary to withdraw my name for consideration for the '08 presidential race."

Rep. Al White R-Winter Park

State Senate GOP Continues to Flex Muscle

This morning Senator Dave Schultheis (R - Colorado Springs) and Senator Greg Brophy (R - Wray) pulled a fast-one on the gun grabbers in the Colorado State Senate.

John Morse's SB07-34, which would have completely gutted Colorado's conceal carry law, was up for a second reading vote. SB07-34 was fast tracked out of committee and has been laid over for the past several weeks.

It was brought up on second reading today, but Schultheis and Brophy were able to pass a "strike below" amendment, which changed the bill language to allow Colorado to recognize all conceal carry permits issued to legal residents of the United States. The amendment passed with three Democrats voting in favor of the amendment.

Due to the drastic change in fortunes of his bill, Morse asked for the bill to be laid over again. The tough choice in front of Morse and Majority Leader Ken Gordon will be whether or not to kill the now good bill in the senate or try to "fix" it in the house.

We can only hope that the week continues to go poorly for the Majority Party.

[UPDATE]
Brophy and the Minority Press Office take a couple of shots at Morse, here. (See money quote below)

- Box of .45 shells: $14

- CCW Permit: $100

- Protecting the Constitution while taking a high-profile Dem out to the woodshed: Priceless...

Some of Morse's fellow senators dubbed the development an embarrassment to him and the Democrat leadership. Morse, a rookie legislator serving in his first elective office ever, watched in silence as his first bill was manhandled by critics--including three members of his own party--and rewritten into the opposite of what he intended.

“He never saw it coming,” said Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray. “The next time that Senator Morse wants to take away the rights of law-abiding citizens, he’d better get up a little earlier in the morning." [Emphasis added]

Abortion Ban falls in Committee

Senator Scott Renfroe's ban on abortion-on-demand, SB07-143 was killed in committee last night.

Despite moving testimony in favor of the bill, it was killed on a 4-3 party line vote.

Read the RMN's story here.

From the story:

Chelsea Warne, 17, who was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, said no one, including her mother, had the right to decide if her life had value or if she would be a burden on society.

''If I have no value nestled in my mother's womb how can I have value in a world who sees me as broken, a mistake, and somehow less?'' said Warne, who plans to enter the pre-nursing program at the University of Northern Colorado in the fall. [Emphasis added]

[Update]
ColoradoSenateNews.com has more here.

Abortion Ban Before Senate Committee

Senator Scott Renfroe's (R - Greeley) SB07-143, which would ban abortions in the state of Colorado, is up for debate today in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

While SB07-143 isn't expected to pass out of committee, it will be a good litmus test for the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. Renfroe sits on the committee, as well as, Steve Ward and Shawn Mitchell.

Renfroe's principled stand got coverage last night on CBS4.

The Senate Judiciary Committee meets at 1:30pm today, in SCR352.

Ritter bows to Pressure from Senate Republicans, Small Business

Governor Bill Ritter just bowed to the pressure from Senate Republicans and small business owners by vetoing HB07-1072, the Big Labor Pay-off, closed shop union bill.

Not six weeks into his first term as Ritter has already estranged himself from his party and the union activists who put him in the Governor's Mansion. The veto was certainly good public policy, but it clearly ends Ritter's honeymoon in office.

[UPDATE]
The Denver Post has more here.

Ritter's justification for offending half of his base of support? It wasn't politically expedient.

"...During the campaign, two labor organizations asked me in written questionnaires if I would support an amendment to the Colorado Labor Peace Act that eliminates the second organizing election ratifying an all-union agreement. I indicated that I would, believing that requiring a second super-majority election seems, on its face, undemocratic.

It also interjects government into what should be a private negotiating process between employer and employee.

I recognize how deeply disappointed my friends in organized labor will be with this decision. I know that members of my own party in the legislature stood firm in the face of outrageous, unprecedented and shameful partisan rhetoric done only for political sport. [Emphasis Added]

...Over the last several days, I have listened intently to people I respect who worried deeply about the impact this change would have on our ability to attract new business to Colorado, to create new economic opportunity for all..."

The startling thing about Ritter's letter is that he admits that he's own party "stood firm in the face of outrageous, unprecedented and shameful partisan rhetoric done only for political sport," while he buckled under the pressure of his real political fight.

For the record Governor Ritter, defending the freedoms of individual employees and small business owners isn't "shameful".

Ritter Press Conf.

Governor Bill Ritter is having a press conference at 2:30pm MST to announce what he will do with BH07-1072 the Big Labor pay-off, closed shop union bill.

Will he sign it?

Will he veto it?

Only time with tell....

Developing...

McElhany, Groff stick it to Polis, Ward

Senate President Pro tem Peter Groff (D-Denver) and Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany (R-Colorado Springs) just announced that they are introducing legislation to fully implement Jared Polis' Amendment 41, as written.

This is a major escalation in the pressure on Polis for his poorly worded, and generally daft "ethics" amendment. Full implementation of A-41 is very, very bad for Polis' public image, as well as, being generally bad policy. This is a well calculated move my McElhany to use Groff's personal dislike of Polis (and ties to Fitz-Gerald) to strength the position of the Republican party.

This is also a shot across the bow of Senator Steve Ward who, as previously mentioned, is Senate Sponsor for a Polis backed legislative "fix" of A-41. Ward is crossing the good of his party, the will of the Minority office, and good public policy to score cheap, "bi-partisan" political points.

Developing Story....

[UPDATE]
Read McElhany and Groff's full comments here.

Jared Polis: Billionaire Bully

Jared Polis, chief backer of the infamous Amendment 41, is now threatening others if they do not fix his mistakes. During a meeting with House Minority Leader Mike May, Polis told May that if Amendment 41 is left unfixed that Republicans could lose more seats in the next election. He also reminded May that he was one of the primary contributors to the 527's that caused so many Republicans to lose seats in the past.

I guess open threats are now apart of Colorado's political culture, "Do something for me or I will throw millions of dollars at you in your next re-election." That my friends is what we call a slippery slope!

Polis henchman Steve Durham was quick to defend the Billionaire Bully by saying that May "could have interpreted Jared's remarks as a threat, but it was not so intended." If Jared's remarks were not meant as a threat, how precisley were they intended? What is the point of bringing up the fact that your money caused Republicans losses and then saying that more losses could come if Amendment 41 is not fixed?

Oh Jared, the number one rule in bullying is to outright lie when caught in a threat, don't try to rationalize it. If principal Ritter brings you into his office for trying to take Bill Cadmans milk money, you lie about it and say it never happened. You definetely don't try and say that Bill misinterpreted the wedgie you gave him as something more than just good clean fun.

Principal Ritter needs to step in and put the bullys in detention before he is seen as pandering to their side.

Quote of the Week-Honorable Mention

"I vote for this every year because Ronald Reagan is the reason I got involved in politics."
-House Majority Leader Alice Madden (D-Boulder) on the resolution to honor Reagan

Musgrave Retains Policy Chair for Western Caucus

Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (CO-4) will continue to serve as the Policy Chair for the Western Caucus.

Musgrave said she, "will continue to support our western and rural communities by backing development of renewable fuel technology that will move our country toward energy independence and provide a sustainable way of life. The west can play an important role in developing renewable energy resources and we can revitalize our rural communities by generating home grown fuel."

This is good news for Musgrave, who continues to raise her profile and influence as a member of Colorado's congressional delegation.

Read more in the Greeley Tribune or the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

Quote of the Week

The Quote of the Week goes to State Senator Josh Penry (R-Fruita).

"Did he [Ritter] have his fingers crossed when he signed the Colorado Promise?" said during floor debate on HB07-1072 the Big Labor Pay-off closed shop union bill.

Amend. 41 "Fix" Would Shatter GOP Gains

Up until now, General Assembly Republicans had done a good job of sticking together and getting out of the way of the liberal legislation express train that has the potential to run the Colorado Democrats into the ground. The Caucus has generally held together well, and let the Dems shoot themselves in the foot, with anti-business, big government legislation.

There have been a torrent of rumors coming out of the statehouse about what was going to happen with Amendment 41 (A-41). Who wanted to fix it, and how it could be fixed were hotly debated questions.

It was strongly sensed that Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald didn't want anything done about A-41 since her potential CD-2 primary opponent Jared Polis was the financial power and brains behind A-41.

However, according to today's RMN, Senator Steve Ward (R-Centennial) and Representative Rosemary Marshall (D-Denver) will be sponsoring legislation to "fix" A-41. This is a bad idea not only for Ward, but for the Republican party in Colorado.

A-41 is the brain child of one the liberal-billionaires who bought the state legislature for the Democrat Party in 2004 and 2006. Polis' poorly worded Amendment was meant to "fix" the influence of lobbyists over politicians, instead it prevent municipal employee's children from receiving college scholarships.

Polis screwed up and he knows it. The hostility that has risen over A-41 is very good for Republican. There has been a plethora of finger pointing news articles, featuring Dems bashing Dems. This is great for the Republican party and the conservative cause (two issues which don't always walk hand-in-hand).

A-41 is bad policy, so why try to fix it when it could be repealed it all together?

Could Ward be trying to burnish his "moderate" credentials for a potential run in the CO-6 primary? Ward also broke ranks with his pro-life colleagues to vote twice in favor of the Dems Emergency Contraceptive Bill (SB07-60). Ward is out of his mind if he thinks he can run to the left and win a Republican Primary.

From the article:

Ward said he decided to sponsor the legislation because he feels it is the duty of the legislature to tackle the issue instead of "punting" it to the courts.

He said he voted for Amendment 41 and talked last weekend to numerous constituents who want the law's problems fixed.

He also is bracing for stiff opposition and indicated that he might not support the bill later if he feels it violates the intent of the voters. [Emphasis added]

That is truly a political contortion in the fashion of the prime contortionist himself, John Kerry. Ward will supporting changing A-41 so long as he feels that it is politically expedient for him to do it.

Ward's trip off the GOP reservation have raised the hackles of Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany:

[McElhany] said Wednesday the bill would drill "a truck-sized loophole" through the new law.

McElhany called the measure "unconstitutional" and a "full- blown rollback."

Read McElhany's full remarks at ColoradoSenateNews.com.

Reminder

For many Republicans out there you will be having your county central committee meetings this coming weekend. It is vital that good Republicans attend these meetings, you will be deciding the fate of your countys leadership for the next two years. That could make a huge difference from everything to who is the next county mortician to the future of the state House to who will be our next Senator, I'm S-E-R-I-O-U-S! While I am sure you can think of a thousand reasons not to go, here is one reason you should.
President of the United States
Billary Clinton
(yes, I know how I spelled it)
Start warming up your car now.

Wednesday's Warrior

Today, being Wednesday, means that for those of us working stiffs, the work week is almost half over. To celebrate these momentous occasions, each and every Wednesday, the Colorado Conservative Project is going to recognize truly heroic political feats, in honor of surviving half a week.

Wednesday's Warrior: right-to-work champion Sen. Ted Harvey (R - Highlands Ranch).


The Rocky Mountain News' Business Section has a piece on Harvey's SB07-93, which is a right-to-work bill. Harvey has been the prime sponsor of right-to-work legislation every year he has been in the legislature; a testament to his belief in this issue.

Today, in the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee, Harvey's bill is up for debate and testimony. Committee Chair Sen. Jennifer Veiga (D-Denver), senate sponsor of the Big Labor pay-off, closed shop union bill (HB07-1072) is expected to lead the charge to kill Harvey's bill.

For those with a disposition toward schadenfruede, the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee will be meeting at 1:30pm in SCR354 at the Colorado State Capitol.

El Paso County GOP Shake Up

Colorado Pols has a ridiculous post about the internal goings on of the El Paso County Republican party, that requires at least brief commentary.

In a nut shell, new El Paso County GOP Chair Greg Garcia and the executive board removed one John Hazelhurst from his position as precinct committee person for violating the county party's bylaws. The bylaws say that all party officers, which includes precinct committee people, are forbidden from publicly supporting any candidate in a general election other than the Republican candidate.

Hazelhurst publicly support three Democrats in the 2006 general election, including John Morse, claiming he was the "smart, reasonable" candidate.

Mr. Hazelhurst was justly removed from party leadership, and his claims to be "heart broken" about it ring hollow with me.

It's important to look at Morse record so far, to see how egregious Mr. Hazelhurst's support of Morse really was. Morse defeated State Sen. Ed Jones in 2006, as a moderate, riding the Anti-GOP Establishment wave.

The question I have for Mr. Hazelhurst is this; are anti-family, anti-gun, anti-business, big government policies "smart, reasonable" or anywhere remotely similar to the platform planks of the Republican party?

John Morse in office has proven to be anything but "smart" or "reasonable".

For the Record, here's the case against Morse:

Anti-Family
Morse joined established liberals like Betty Boyd to "celebrate" the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in the United States. Pictures of a smiling Morse holding a "Bridge the Gap: Roe in 2007" standing next to the Director of Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood can be found here. He is a co-sponosor of SB07-60 requiring hospitals to counsel the use of emergency contraceptive measures. He also voted twice for SB07-80 which would require 12 year old girls to be vaccinated by their school for HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Anti-Gun
Morse has staked out a strongly, anti-2nd Amendment stance. He is the the author of SB07-34, which would strip Colorado's conceal carry reciprocity laws.

Anti-Business
Voted and vocally supported HB07-1072, the Big Labor pay-off, closed shop union bill.

Big Government
Morse sponsorship of SB07-26 (Full Day Kindergaden), SB07-136 , & HB07-1263 (DOJ Training Fee Increase) reflect his dedication to greatly increasing the size of government.

John Morse has three more years before he is held accountable by the voters of El Paso County. It will be interesting to watch how much more liberal he becomes over the next few years and how much he alienates his constituents with his far-left voting record.

Fresh From the Rumor Mill - "Mayor Paccione" ???

Well they say that egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity and no where is that more true than in Larimer county where it is rumored that Angry Angie Paccione will try to run for Mayor. Angie's campaign gurus are not what one would call coherent, much less politically savvy, so it is indeed possible that Angie may throw her hat in the ring. What Angie would do after losing a congressional campaign and a city mayors race in less than a year? I am not quite sure. Though the obvious choices would be:
1. Bankruptcy Consultant
2. Professional Wrestler
3. Hair Stylist
4. "Rogue" Campaign Staffer
5. Ethics Committee Member For The FEC
6. Angry New Yorker

HB1072

Yesterday, with little of the fan fare of Friday's filibuster, the Colorado State Senate passed HB1072 to Governor Bill Ritter's desk for signature or veto.

My money is on Ritter to sign the legislation. For those of you that have been living under the same rock that I have been blogging from for the past four months, HB1072 is a close-shop Union pay-off Bill that was railroaded through the General Assembly by the Democrat leadership.

Upon passage of HB1072, House and Senate Minority leadership and members held a joint press conference outside the Governor's office, announcing they will sustain Ritter's veto of this bill, should good sense prevail. Unfortunately, House Dems got wind of the press conference had held the House in session voting on redundant committee of the whole reports, until the TV cameras left the capitol.
Colorado Senate News has a report on the activities.... [having trouble finding MSM coverage of the event...]

The bottom line: Bill Ritter is at a crossroads that will, in the end, define his first term as governor. If he vetos HB1072, he solidifies his image as a moderate and mollifies the business community enough that they continue to sit on their hands (and wallets). If he signs HB1072, the baby goes out with the bath water; and Ritter is tagged, correctly, as a liberal and cements the business communities financial support of the Republican party for at least two more elections.

Mr. Ritter, please sign HB1072.