( - Promoted by Heston's Ghost - )

In a bold move that is sure to get our economy moving again, bringing an end to the Ritter Recession, Gov. Ritter yesterday sat back as his massive car tax went into effect.

Responses ranged from outraged to totally outraged. As the Denver Post Reports:

Yolanda Suazo's voice and hands shook as she pointed to papers indicating she had just paid $393.37 to register her 2007 Chevy Trailblazer — almost $100 more than she had expected.

"I ended up having to get an extra $100 out of the ATM, and I'm just hoping my mortgage check doesn't bounce," the Westminster woman said. "I was already struggling as it was, and now this."

Weren't we warned by Democrats during debate on this new car tax that the fees would be nominal? Yet here we are.

One can only wonder how many Yolandas are out there who are already feeling the pain of the Ritter Recession only to see their taxes go up once again.

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Major Step in Campaign to Restore Vision, Experience, Leadership & Results to Governor’s Office

In a major step forward in his journey to the Governor’s Office, Scott McInnis today filed the necessary documents with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to create his campaign committee and begin raising funds.

He said his first campaign contribution of $100 came from Harold Piper, a small businessman from Rifle, who has been the first contributor to each of Scott’s campaigns.  He was the first contributor for the successful run for the State House of Representatives, for Congress, and now governor of Colorado.

“Our challenge is to demonstrate the vision and leadership to move Colorado forward, and the experience and skills to take the common-sense steps we must take to create jobs, jump start our economy and restore basic fiscal discipline.” Scott said.

Scott said the numerous challenges the state faces can be met with a return to strong leadership and a clear vision for Colorado’s future.

“We need a commitment to restraint in spending taxpayers’ money, not just rushing to cut anything when tough times hit,” Scott said.  “We need to strengthen taxpayer protections, not tear them apart.  And we need a climate where Colorado is once again a magnet for small business and entrepreneurs, not a state that demonizes companies that offer family-sustaining jobs – and tax revenue.”

Scott said that he has been traveling the state extensively and listening to the concerns of Colorado families and businesses.

“Coloradans are hungry for positive, strong experienced leadership,” he said.  “They want a decisive vision for how we can get our state back on the right track, creating jobs and offering real opportunity in every corner of Colorado.  And they want an end to stealth tax hikes and massive fee increases that hurt family budgets that are already stretched thin.”  

The campaign website – www.ScottMcinnisForGovernor.com -- will launch on Thursday morning, giving Coloradans a detailed introduction to Scott’s background experience, leadership, and lengthy deep record of accomplishments for Colorado.

Equally important, the website will offer Coloradans a unique opportunity to share their vision for Colorado’s future through letters, photos and video.  

ABOUT SCOTT MCINNIS

A native of Glenwood Springs and a resident of Grand Junction, Scott McInnis’ Colorado roots go back generations. A rancher, businessman and public servant, Scott has served his community, Colorado and our country, beginning as a police officer and volunteer fireman.  He entered elective office as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, rising to the leadership positive of Majority Leader.  His service in the State House was marked by a wide range of practical accomplishments and a willingness to work across the political aisle to achieve the best results for Colorado.  He went on to serve in the U.S. Congress, and continued to deliver results for the state, including the creation of two national parks.  Eager to return home to Colorado, he decided to leave Congress and was recruited to join the Colorado office of a major international law firm.  He and his wife, Lori, have grown children, and one grandchild, and live in Grand Junction.  

#  #  #

Democrats are clearly struggling with the loss of George W. Bush as an all-purpose boogeyman. They're discovering that it's tough to scare their activists into donating without being able to invoke some looming horror that President Bush is about to unleash.

State treasurer Cary Kennedy is at least making a noble, if somewhat ineffective, attempt to elevate Colorado Republican chairman Dick Wadhams to the same level as Bush previously held. Her latest email soliciting donations started out slightly fixated on Dick Wadhams (chair of a political party) and his (shocking) desire to remove her (an elected official of the opposing party) from office:

We are not going to let Dick Wadhams bully us around. Cary Kennedy is not someone he can just "take out." The strongest way for us to send that message, at this stage of the race, is to make a contribution today.

We have thirty-four hours left to send Dick Wadhams a strong message, help Cary Kennedy build a strong campaign by making a contribution of $50, $75 or $100 today!

Dick Wadhams doesn't care about the state's finances, he only cares about winning elections. This is about more than just winning elections, this is about the future of Colorado's economy. Cary Kennedy is someone Coloradans can trust with public funds--that's what really matters.

Kennedy's infatuation with chairman Wadhams wasn't quite over, the email closed out by inviting supporters to "sound off" about Wadhams:

P.S.  If you want to sound off about Dick Wadhams, be sure to check out Cary's Facebook page and Twitter site. 

In case you're wondering what it looks like when a Democratic activist "sounds off" about Dick Wadhams, here's a sample from her Facebook page:

I just cannot get behind Ritter, especially after the appointment of Michael Bennet for US senate. Still recovering from the shock of that. Go Cary! ps. How's your tennis game?

A clear lack of focus. Wadhams just doesn't seem to focus them like George Bush did. What a shame.

Of course, this isn't exactly the first time Kennedy has gotten carried away. During the last election she pledged to help "drive a stake though the heart of TABOR."

ANTI-SOCIALIZED MEDICINE GROUP TO TARGET MICHAEL BENNET: "As a 501(c)4 organization, Patients First is able to target individual lawmakers by name in advertisements, encouraging constituents to put pressure on their senators and congressmen to oppose Obama’s health plan. Patients First will launch its new ad next week in 11 states, including Colorado, aimed at Sen. Michael Bennet, Louisiana, aimed at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and Nevada at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. " (Human Events)

Read more about the group at JoinPatientsFirst.com.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

The latest Washington Post/ABC poll is as biased for liberals and Democrats as the recent New York Times/NBC poll. The NYT poll’s bias has received a lot of attention; the Post’s poll’s biases aren’t being discussed.

Both polls found substantial support for changing the nation’s health insurance markets even though most of the respondents to the polls are pretty satisfied with their insurance and health care experiences.

However, as reported below, the Post/ABC poll shows that 78% to 84% of those polled earlier this month are very worried that the health legislation going through Congress would reduce their health insurance coverage, reduce the quality of their care and limit their choices of doctors or treatments. They fear that the legislation would increase the cost of their care and that it would sharply increase the federal budget deficit.

Because politicians and pundits focus on the stories that the sponsoring newspapers and TV networks publish about their polls, not on the validity of the polls, they make bad political and policy decisions and judgments.

But, but, Bill Ritter and the Democrats kept telling us that the new oil & gas regulations had no effect on the industry. CBS 4 reports:

Surveys and magazine rankings routinely list parts of Colorado as the best places to live. But one survey says for oil and gas companies Colorado is the worst place in the country to do business.

The survey covered 143 locations worldwide. Colorado ranked last among the states and 81st in the world.

In 2007 Colorado was among the best places for oil and gas.

Some executives say Colorado has fallen out of favor because of new regulations.

Gov. Bill Ritter and environmental groups say those new rules protect the environment and wildlife

This video from Ryan Frazier's campaign has been making the rounds, even getting some attention at Politico:

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Highlands Ranch (6/26/2009)

The Douglas County Republican Party had its monthly meeting in Highlands Ranch, CO today with a full meeting attendance. The speaker was David Petteys of the Act! For America organization. Act! for America is a nationwide organization of concerned Americans who are uniting to speak out against the rising tide of Islamofascism and the "political correctness" that excuses it. The organization is based in Virginia Beach, VA.

Petteys displayed video and documents to show the attendees that the rise of Islamic Jihad is real and is infiltrating the U.S. "The Muslim Brotherhood started many of the moderate Islamic Organizations...Any efforts to limit Saudi U.S. influence must come from the bottom up." Petteys said. Petteys told the crowd about the Islamic Trilogy which consists of the Quran, the Sira which is a bio of the life of Mohammed, and the Hadith which concerns political issues of Mohammed. According to Petteys, the Islamic definition of Jihad is "to war against non-muslims and to establish the religion of Islam"

Petteys said there are 4 methods of Jihad: (1) by mouth (2) by pen (3) by the sword and (4) by money. Petteys told the crowd that money raising is the principal U.S. problem concerning radical Islam.

The Douglas County Republican Party meets in Castle Rock, Parker and Highlands Ranch on a rotating weekly basis. Anyone interested in attending a meeting may find out more info at the Douglas GOP web site of www.dcgop.org.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry, P.C., a Castle Rock law firm.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

With the strong possibility of a competitive primary for governor, there are no shortages of opinion about whether or not primaries are good. Lost in this discussion though are the positives and negatives of the method of accessing the primary ballot the candidate uses. To discuss one subject, you must discuss the other; and since the latter hasn’t gotten as much attention lately, I figured we could discuss it.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Last December, Co-Governor Bill Ritter seemed to be the last person in America to believe that our country (and state) was in a recession.  While fishing in Montana and hunting in Wyoming the Governor seemed to proclaim: "Let them eat cake." 

Earlier this year, Minority Leader Josh Penry predicted that the state budget would stay in balance only for 45 days.  He was wrong -- it took 47 days to be out of balance. 

While Penry might not be the candidate with the most gray hair in the race for Governor, it sure as hell looks like he's the only one to actually sit down with a calculator to crunch numbers and actually understand the budget.

This article from the Sentinel pretty well sums it up:

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/06/23/062309_1A_state_budget.html

It's approaching the end of the fundraising quarter for campaigns and they're starting to send out their last-minute pitches for donations. Bill Ritter's pitch oddly goes out of it's way to mention former Sen. Ken Salazar, Sen. Mark Udall, and Barack Obama:

We've reshaped the electoral map, sending forward-thinking leaders like Barack Obama, Ken Salazar, Mark Udall, and many others to represent our voice in Washington. And we've changed the dynamic here in the state capitol, too.

But as The Hill reported last week, "Party of Nope" leaders believe their resurrection begins with taking back the Mountain West in 2010. In fact, they have already recruited a challenger to my re-election effort, who quietly filed his candidate papers late last month.

How odd that Bill Ritter would mention Salazar but not the man who replaced him. Does Bill have some internal polling showing that people are upset with him over Michael Bennet's appointment?

ARE TWO DENVER STATE HOUSE DISTRICTS VULNERABLE?: Jeremy Pelzer writes that the Republican Party may target House Districts 1 and 3 in Denver.

DAN HANNAN IN DENVER: European MEP Daniel Hannan will be in Colorado for an Independence Institute event on Friday. Ben DeGrow has more details. If you haven't seen him before, take a look at the below video in which he takes Gordon Brown to task.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

Castle Rock, County Seat of Douglas County, Colorado

Douglas County has two state senators and three state representatives that serve the county's interests in the state legislature. Douglas County taxpayers pay more in state taxes to fund thegovernment than most other counties because we earn more and Colorado has a flat state income tax.

Using 2007 economic figures, the average Douglas County resident pays 46% more to the state government than the average Boulder County resident. Boulder County has a state senator named Brandon Shaffer who is currently the President of the Colorado State Senate. Although his constituents pay less to fund the Colorado Government than we in Douglas County do, Shaffer is still the man to see because he has control of the state's purse strings.

This month, Senator Shaffer held a posh two-day retreat for political bigwigs concerning "conflict resolution" and "team building". He decided that this kumbaya event was important enough to spend taxpayer's money, including money disproportionatelyprovided by Douglas County taxpayers. This in spite of the fact that the state government is broke and furloughing workers to horde cash. So how many of Douglas County's five representatives got the gold ticket to attend the posh two day retreat?

None.

Nada.

Zilch.

Our county had no representation at this affair. Our county was taxed, and taxed heavily, to provide Mr. Shaffer the money for this affair. It looks an awful lot like "Taxation Without Representation".

In Boston, back in the 1770's, a lot of people got pretty upset about this "Taxation Without Representation" business . They got so fed up that one night they stormed aboard a ship and tossed boxes of tea into the harbor. The government in Britain had increased taxes on the colonies to pay for the Empire's excesses. Sound familiar?

On our Independence day, Saturday, July 4, 2009, there will be a gathering at 100 N. Wilcox Street, Castle Rock, CO behind Town Hall from noon till 2:00 pm. It is the Castle Rock Tea Party, part of a national movement to protest the spending of trillions of dollars which will leave our great-grandchildren a debt they must pay. There will be live music, food, speakers and a military flyover.

Unfortunately political despotism didn't end with the Revolutionary War. After all, last year State Senator Shaffer wanted to move up to Washington, as the U. S. Congressman from the 4th District. Perhaps a few moments in the private sector would do him some good.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at the Castle Rock Law Firm of Robinson & Henry, P.C. Mr. Robinson was assisted in writing this story by Ryan Wood, an Associate with the firm.

Sen. John McCain paid tribute today to the young woman named Neda who was gunned down in cold blood by Iranian government forces while standing on the outskirt of a protest.

For the record, I don't fault Obama for staying largely quiet on Iran. The Iranian state media and government loyalists have been blaming the protests on the CIA, Mossad, and the BBC among other organizations. Having the president come out directly would only fuel the Iranian regime's efforts to quash the protest movement.

Nonetheless, John McCain is free to condemn Iran all he wants in his position without really providing any ammunition to the Ayatollah's propaganda campaign.

( - promoted by Rocky Mountain Right - )

In today's Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12661207), 

Bill Ritter's Chief of Staff admits that it's he and Don Elliman who are administering the state government.  With these two in charge, just what is Bill Ritter doing?  How is the Governor of Colorado getting a free pass for hiring people to manage the state while he goes out to campaign for 18 months!? 

All together now...RECALL, RECALL, RECALL, RECALL!  Enough is enough.

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The Denver Post's Ed Quillen maintains his record of writing uninformed columns.

Today's is a classic, and I've "Fisked" it in the Post's comment section. Here's my gentle response to poor old Ed:

Ed, your logic and facts make no sense:

1) Republicans hate trial lawyers. 

There is no way Obamacare is going to cross the trial lawyers who are some of Obama's biggest campaign contributors. Indeed, Repubicans should oppose Obamacare because it will be run by politicians for their biggest campaign contributors, not for patients.

2) Republicans admire Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990. Ed, U.K. politics were and are quite different than American politics, demographics and culture. Just because Thatcher had other priorities doesn't mean she wouldn't have killed the NHS if she'd had the time to do it. Lousy example, Ed.

3) Despite their public statements, Republicans actually like government health care, and they ought to come out of the closet and say so. Ed, the health plan that covers members of Congress and other gov employes is not government health care. It is employer-provided health insurance like the insurance that covers most Americans not covered by Medicare/Medicaid, etc. Poor example, Ed. Written like someone who just did a little reading about health insurance.

The feds and all other employers should be taken out of the health insurance biz because they do a lousy job of buying plans that are best for workers and not the employers. The very rich benefits plans that the Fed offers its employes was written by the employes (members of Congress), which means the plans screw taxpayers.

4) Republicans say they oppose "health-care rationing." But it's already rationed, based on factors like how much profit an insurer can gain by denying claims. 

Again, Ed, you don't know what you're talking about. There is a huge difference between rationing by the market and rationing by the government. 

In the private sector, insurers do a lot less gate keeping than HMOs did in the mid 1990s. As exposed by Betsey McCaughey in the WSJ last week, Kennedy's $1.6 trillion plan would return us to the days of extreme gate keeping by HMOs, which consumers hated. It won't work. Just think about how members of Congress will react when they are held accountable for the government sanctioned gate keeping. They'll be on the phone dealing with angry constituents so much that they'll repeal the new Obama Medicaid HMO in the next session of Congress. 

I'd much rather have insurers doing the gate keeping than faceless government bureaucrats who answer to politicians who make policies that favor their biggest campaign contributors.

Comparing rationing by governments that cut health budgets in a flash (see what the states are doing with Medicaid and what Congress wants to cut out of Medicare to make Obamacare look affordable) with what goes on in today's health insurance markets is dishonest and disingenuous.

5) The GOP believes in a productive workforce.

You really don't understand the health insurance markets and politics, do you Ed. Obama and the Dems want to force employers to offer health insurance and subsidize their premiums. If they wanted real reforms, they would get employers out of the insurance business because employers are dishonest brokers. They offer the insurance that meets their needs, not the needs of their workers who should be free to buy the insurance that meets their needs.

I live in Colorado and blog on health policy and stocks at

Colorado's Iranian community and supporters of their cause turned out at the state capitol this morning to protest the Khamenei regime and the fraudulent Iranian presidential elections results. Here are a few photos from the rally:

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It's about 14 months until the Republicans pick their candidate for U.S. Senate. That long wait hasn't deterred at least three candidates from throwing their hats into the ring. To date, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, Denver Businessman Clive Tidwell and Aurora Councilman Ryan Frazier have taken the formal steps to become candidates. Apparently waiting in the wings are Bob Beauprez, Dan Caplis, Troy Eid and Tom Tancredo. Whenever any or all of these heavyweights jump into the race, it will become quite interesting. But right now, Buck, Tidwell and Frazier are making the rounds, county by county.

On Friday, June 19th, Councilman Ryan Frazier visited the Douglas County Republicans at their monthly meeting in Castle Rock. Frazier has an interesting background that could serve him well if he becomes elected.

After five years of service in the U.S. Navy with the National Security Agency, Frazier was honorably discharged. He used his Navy skills while working at Raytheon before becoming a partner at Takara Systems. He ran and was elected to the Aurora City Council where he presently serves. He is married to his wife Kathy and they have three good-looking kids.

Frazier is tech savvy and it shows. If you google him you get a lot of hits and he is on facebook, twitter, flickr, youtube, etc. A lot of more experienced candidates are slow to embrace the new social networking tools. Not Frazier.

As Frazier addressed the Douglas GOPers, he had some interesting takes on a number of subjects. He zoomed in on the Dems defeat of the D.C. Scholarship Opportunity Act. Shutting down this program cuts offinner city kids from getting a decent education. He accused the Dems of being anti-choice when it comes to education. Frazier embraces home schooling, charter schools and other alternatives to the traditional public education system;not because one is necessarily better but because parents should have a choice. He is adamantly a free market supporter. He said, " We need to incentivize the producers to produce."

In keeping with his  Naval background, Frazier advocates that law enforcement officers become eligible for security clearances so that local police agencies can work hand inhand with the federal agencies.

Concerning Iran and North Korea, Frazier shared his concerns that these countries may become unstable and then sell weapons of mass destruction to third parties. He thinks the Iran election is suspicious.

All in all, Councilman Frazier made a good impression on the Douglas GOP and he is a welcome addition in the U.S. Senate race.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock law firm.

This was linked to from Mir-Hossein Mousavi's Facebook profile. It has some of the higher quality pictures I've seen leaked out of Iran since the government began to crack down on internet use. The Iranian regime has limited bandwidth in the country so it's nearly impossible for digital media to escape the country except in the form of low-resolution images and text: