By Brian Ochsner baochsner@aol.com Salena Zito's piece today on Real Clear Politics is pretty accurate describing Republicans in Washington, D.C. If Colorado Republicans haven't yet gone this hog wild drinking the pork-flavored koolaid, some are certainly leaning in that direction. The Zito commentary shows three examples of principled, conservative leadership that Republicans around the country -- and in our state particularly -- should emulate. (Note: her advocacy of cloning is presumably tongue-in-cheek. In any case, mine is.)
Balkan sons of liberty soldier on
(John Andrews abroad ) This week I had a couple of vivid glimpses of what it must have been like to participate in American political life in the first decades after independence. One was experiential, the other literary. Both confirmed my "Claremont conservative" conviction that the principles of the American founding lose none of their truth across time, geography, or cultures. The International Republican Institute, funded by USAID and dedicated to advancing democracy around the world, had invited me to Macedonia and Serbia to share the perspective of a think-tank entrepreneur and former legislator with leaders of center-right parties there.
The acclaimed biography of Alexander Hamilton [link] by Ron Chernow went along in my suitcase. After each long day of meetings in Skopje or Belgrade, unwinding at the hotel, I traveled back with Hamilton to New York or Philadelphia in the 1780s and '90s -- where one finds some notable parallels to the Balkan drama of today.
GOP at crossroads after Katrina
By Jim Windham Editor, The Texas Pilgrim There is now a second event to be added to the one on 9/11/01 that will dominate George W. Bush’s place in history, dictating as it will the future of “small government conservatism”, the concept of federalism as we have known it, and as a result, the future shape of the Republican Party.
No less an authority than Bill Clinton has remarked that the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will force a debate on three questions: (1) what is our obligation to the poor?, (2) what is the role of government?, and (3) how do we pay for it? He is correct, and the answers will determine the future of the electoral revolution began by Ronald Reagan in 1980 that has been sustained for 25 years.
Milton Friedman Says No To Refs C & D
By Jessica Peck Corry (Jessica@JessicaCorry.com) Milton Friedman, winner of the Nobel Price in economics, has denounced Refs C & D for what they are--a massive tax increase that won't help bring accountability to our ever-growing government.
According to aGreeley Tribune article that ran on September 14th, Friedman said the following: "I strongly urge the voters of Colorado to reject Referendum C, or any action that would suspend Colorado's Taxpayers Bill of Rights. I strongly favor the continued and uninterrupted use of TABOR, including it's so called ratchet mechanism. The ratchet is one of the best features of TABOR. It is the only thing that will reduce out-of-control government spending."
The Fight to Protect Good Teachers
By Jessica Peck Corry (Jessica@JessicaCorry.com) In America, you can criticize your doctor. You can make all the lawyer jokes you want. You can even interrogate your preacher. Call into question the abilities of your kid’s teacher, however, and you’re likely to have an entire teacher’s union screaming outside your window. It’s a lesson Arnold Schwarzenegger learned the hard way yesterday.
After the California Governor posted a form on his website asking Californians for stories about inferior teachers, the teacher’s union went ballistic. The form asked: “Have a story about a teacher who just might not be cut out for the job, yet nothing can be done because of tenure? Please tell us. We’d like to share the stories of Californians like you!”
The form, which was quickly pulled off the site after a reporter’s inquiry, was part of Schwarzenegger’s campaign for Proposition 74, an innovative plan that would lengthen the probationary period for new teachers to five years from two. The reason: it’s simply too hard for school districts to fire bad teachers who have tenure.
As of this morning, Alliance for a Better California, the shell group organized to oppose to the measure, was planning a counter-attack. “Why do teachers have to point out to him that it’s a bad idea to attack them? Why are he and his campaign staff playing these sorts of political games?” the group's spokeswoman Robin Swanson huffed. “The governor should have more respect for teachers in his state.”
More respect?
What could be more respectful of good teachers than seeking ways to get rid of bad ones?
Our kids deserve better than business as usual. Schwarzenegger’s only mistake was to pull the form off his site. Parents across California need a voice—the form may have been their only option against the ever-powerful over-funded union special interests.