Politics

Defend Colorado Now campaign will continue

    (Note by John Andrews) Multiple subjects can't be addressed in one initiated constitutional amendment or statute to come before Colorado voters, and on Monday, June 12, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 that the proposal called Defend Colorado Now -- ensuring tax-paid services go to legal residents only -- violates that requirement. So barring a reversal of the decision, the measure is dead for 2006. There is not time to start over with a narrower petition(assuming any such thing could be devised). As a proponent of sweeping judicial reform, I have my own personal thoughts about all this. But as co-chairman of the Defend Colorado Now campaign, I issued the following press statement Monday afternoon. A followup press statement, after Gov. Owens entered the fray on Tuesday, is found in comments below.

Today's decision by the Colorado Supreme Court against our ballot issue strains common sense and conflicts with prior rulings on the single-subject requirement. We will move for the court to reconsider, in hope of a more just decision next time.

This setback on a legal technicality cannot diminish the tremendous grassroots support for voters saying "enough" on the flood of illegal immigration in our state. Defend Colorado Now will continue full speed ahead with our petition campaign, already gathering signatures by the tens of thousands. Citizens want this issue on the November ballot.

Cutting off tax-paid services to illegal aliens, except in emergencies or when federally mandated, is obviously a single subject. Not only that, it is the single most urgent subject on Coloradans' mind in this election year. The will of the people won't be denied forever.

    The full Supreme Court opinion is here. The early AP story from DenverPost.com is here. Trenchant analysis by Joshua Sharf, my associate on Backbone Radio, is here.

Beauprez's advantage shown in graduation speech

By John Andrews andrewsjk@aol.com Bob Beauprez, the Republican congressman running for governor, spoke for less than 10 minutes at the D'Evelyn High School graduation on May 27, and his "personal reflections" to the graduates included not a word about politics or issues.

But his eloquent, moving statement of America's goodness and greatness summed up the advantage Beauprez holds in this year's bitterly contested election. Bob's unapologetic faith and patriotism connect him to the average Coloradan in a way the other candidates simply can't match.

Leadership deficit dragging down GOP

By Brian Ochsner baochsner@aol.com The biggest deficit that our state and country face today isn’t the financial variety. Our federal budget and foreign trade deficits are only symptoms of the cause. A verse in Proverbs sums it up best: “Without vision, the people will perish.”

Without strong, wise, decisive leadership, our country will struggle longer and harder to overcome these challenges. Here's my take on why Bush’s poll numbers have dropped like a rock, and why Republicans need to lead if they want to maintain their majority in 2007 and beyond:

What are congressional spenders smoking?

By Krista Kafer krista555@msn.com I first engaged in deficit spending in high school. In between paychecks I borrowed money from my parents to buy cloths, cigarettes, diet coke and other “needs.” In college I combined deficit spending via credit cards with creative accounting measures like check floating. These monthly deficits led to thousands in debt. Paying it back, much like say quitting smoking was far more difficult that I expected when I started. I learned that spending more than one makes to pay for things one doesn’t need leads to hard times in the future.

This kind of behavior is somewhat understandable in a 20 year old. What excuse does Congress have?

Colorado proposal threatens political free speech

By Bill Armstrong wlarmstrong@qwest.net

    Editor's Note: Denver businessman Bill Armstrong, a Republican former member of the US Senate, US House, and Colorado Senate, fired off an email alert from New York to friends at home on Monday afternoon, voicing his concern about last-minute legislation that would further restrict freedom of expression in state campaigns. With Armstrong's permission, here's the text of that email.

Dear John: As I was leaving town yesterday for a week on the road, I read an article in the Sunday Denver Post that made my hair stand on end. HCR06-1010 has been introduced with bipartisan sponsorship in the Colorado House and, if adopted, would have the effect of drastically curtailing the so-called 527s, the independent political committees that have flourished in the aftermath of efforts to reform political campaigns by limiting candidate spending.

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