GOP senators: Dems are fiscally AWOL

(Press Release, Dec. 18) According to Legislative Council, which presented its fourth quarter revenue forecast to the Joint Budget Committee today, Colorado is still facing a $600 million shortfall, a total of $631 million shortfall when including the increase in Medicaid caseload. Despite reports that the recession is over, the sobering news for the current budget year has Republicans calling on Gov. Bill Ritter and majority Democrats to step up and show some true fiscal leadership. Just last week Ritter painted a cheerful picture of the budget's future, telling reporters he was hopeful there wouldn't be another shortfall or a need for more cuts. Republicans believed Ritter's comments were naïve and overly optimistic. Ritter has consistently underestimated the budget shortfall beginning in the Fall of 2008 when his office projected the state's budget would actually grow, even in the midst of a historic collapse of the nation's financial markets.

“All the happy talk we've been hearing doesn't obscure that our budget situation continues to deteriorate,” said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction. “So I ask the question again: when will the Governor stop hiring new employees, when will the Democratic monopoly in the Capitol implement a serious plan to consolidate departments, agencies boards and commissions, when will they implement meaningful and permanent spending reductions rather than relying overwhelmingly on one time gimmicks and federal bailouts, and when will real scrutiny be applied to the battery of new programs created since the Democrats gained unfettered power in 2006?”

Over the past few months, Ritter and fellow Democrats have offered a laundry list of band aids to address Colorado's budget crisis. Of Ritter's proposed fixes, 82 percent are one time solutions, such as federal bailout dollars, cash fund transfers, accounting gimmicks and money raided from state trust funds. This will push the majority of the shortfall, which is anticipated to be $1.5 billion, into the 2010-11 fiscal year.

“How many different ways can we implore the governor and ruling democrats to take our advice and slim the bureaucracy, get off the backs of people trying to create real jobs, and eliminate wasteful spending programs so that our government can get out of the rudderless ship mode it's in?" asked Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton.

Ritter has also proposed closing part of the budget gap with a host of tax and fee increases. “We've been warning Democrats for years to curb their tax and spend approach to government. Ritter still doesn't get that we need to live within our means and stop pounding the people for more dollars while families across Colorado are still struggling to make ends meat,” said Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Loveland.

Polidays & Holidays

Slated on Backbone Radio, Dec. 20 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver... 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

Conservative politics and policy, our mainstay on Backbone Radio every week since 2004, will share the spotlight today with Christmas and the turn toward 2010. Join us for an overview of all the issues from health care, Copenhagen, and Afghanistan to the Colorado budget, Zhu Zhu hamsters, and the coming campaign year. Plus our holiday special including a theologian's perspective on how Jesus' birth changed the world and a columnist's wrapup of the old year and forecast of the new. (My wrapup and forecast are in Head On TV, just below.)

Here's our guest lineup for Dec. 20... 5:30 Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies 6:00 Lang Sias, Republican candidate for CD-7 6:30 Jimmy Lakey, Republican candidate for CD-7 7:00 Jay Ambrose, Scripps Howard columnist 7:30 Sid Buzzell, Dean of Theology, Colorado Christian University

The reason came is that a Man came saying that he is Truth, and that if we followed him we'd know the truth and be made free. Vast human betterment has been the result, including the miracle called America. Ample reason to celebrate!

Yours for truth and life, JOHN ANDREWS

Colo. sports thru Texas eyes

As one of the many transplants who have moved from Texas to Colorado, I’ve picked up on several interesting differences between the sports scenes in Houston and Denver. Denver is one of the most unique sports cities in the country with an eclectic mix of competition for fans to take in.

Obviously there are the big four with the Broncos, Rockies, Nuggets and the Avalanche, but there is so much more. From Major League and Arena soccer to Arena and Australian Rules Football. There are even two professional lacrosse teams in town, not to mention the array of high school and college sports.

In Texas it is no secret that football is king, from high school all the way to the NFL. But while support for the Texans has continued to grow through the years, Houston is light years behind Denver when it comes to supporting an NFL franchise.

High School football is another matter. While it has increased in popularity in Denver, the entire state of Texas is infatuated with that level of football, and the majority of the State champions at the top levels over the last decade have come from the Houston area.

Prep baseball in Houston is far superior to that in Denver, with a laundry list of top MLB players originating from Houston. Meanwhile the biggest MLB player from the Denver area at the moment would probably be Brad Lidge.

Of course that’s not a surprise considering the climate here and how difficult it is to play baseball in cold weather. Anyone who has ever caught a 90 MPH fastball in sub-50 degree temperatures or hit a ball off the end of the bat would agree.

I guess the most obvious difference between the two cities when it comes to sports is the variety. While Houston has the Rockets and the Houston Dynamo, which has won the MLS championship, it is dominated by football and baseball from the professional ranks down to high school.

Denver provides more options which sports fans clearly enjoy, and while the Broncos obviously reign supreme, fans relish the opportunity to take in the plethora of athletic competition the city provides.

Austin Corder has covered sports for the Amarillo Globe and San Antonio Express as well as his hometown Houston Chronicle. He now lives in Genessee, equidistant between Invesco Field and the ski areas.

Listen Tonight * Gov. Candidates 2010

Tune in tonight, Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7pm on 710 KNUS in Denver and streaming at 710knus.com, when Centennial Institute presents the Republican finalists for Governor of Colorado, Scott McInnis vs Dan Maes. Recorded at Centennial's candidate forum on Nov. 3 and edited to reflect Josh Penry's exit from the race. McInnis leads incumbent Bill Ritter by 48-40 in the latest poll. What does the potential next governor have to say for himself? What makes Maes, the dark horse, run?

See video highlights of both the Governor and Senator forums on the Centennial Institute blog at Centennialccu.org.

Is Christmas still relevant?

As Christmas comes, reactions abound. Since the fourth century AD, when Roman Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity, church service attendance in Western Civilization is greatest at Christmas and Easter. Prior to Constantine, Christianity was illegal and thus did not attract people who were not deeply committed. Ironically during this period of intense persecution the number of Christians grew at a phenomenal rate, with an organic underground-style network of small home-based churches (much like China has been experiencing since the rule of Mao Zedong). That amazing growth, before Constantine, laid the foundation for Christianity’s widespread acceptance leading to a more organized Christianity.

Yet in many ways organizing Christianity stifled the life-transforming power that grew the earlier organic Church. And in more recent decades the spike in attendance at services for Christmas and Easter has decreased, while critical reactions toward or around these two special Christian days has increased in both number and intensity.

The name CHRISTmas forces most people to consider at some level: Who was Christ and why should his living two-thousand years ago make any difference to us today in our hectic modern life where we are bombarded with ideas trying to answer life’s most basic questions?

Many find this season warm and joyous. Yet others respond from indifference to an outright repulsive reaction to Jesus Christ’s claim to be God, the creator, sustainer and restorer of humanity and the world.

Some reject Biblical moral boundaries, while other rejections are connected to horrific acts done in the name of Christianity, or at least by self-identified Christians. While it is important to acknowledge such acts as horrific, it is just as important to ascertain if such acts are condoned or condemned by Biblical teaching, lest we throw baby Jesus out with the filthy and corrupt bath water.

As Americans, does the Christmas story have anything to do with: our freedom to think and express ideas; our freedom of religion; the equality of people; or even ideas like the size and reach of government?

Clearly the individual rights and freedoms that have long-defined America are not because of where America sits on the globe, but rather they fall directly from a worldview that sees humanity as unique and special and worthy of protection. And Christianity, which teaches that people are created in the image of God and that God came in human form and gave his life to provide a means for every person to have a restored and harmonious relationship with their Creator, puts a value on human life that is arguably much higher than that of any other set of ideas.

Cultures, which have embraced the Biblical value of humanity, have delivered the greatest level of individual liberty. While not all American founders embraced orthodox Christianity, they did embrace the Biblically-based view of human nature and that every person is created equal “with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The American experience, just like our own life experience, has had its struggles putting these profound ideas into practice. Yet had these ideas not sprung from a real foundation the American experiment in liberty would have been a futile effort, like every other culture that does not value humanity.

In recent decades some in America have been pushing America away from its foundation, with the result being increased chaos. Chaos has been answered by increasing the size and reach of government, leading to a decrease in personal liberty and making our personal and national future much less secure. We would be wise to look at the results of godless national experiments before we take the leap.

If atheism or any other set of ideas is true then by all means let us live life accordingly, but let us not take that jump without first investigating the idea which arguably has most radically and positively changed the lives of people and civilizations: Biblical Christianity.

Granted Biblical Christianity, unlike most other sets of ideas, does not align well with human logic, where might makes right, or utopia is achieved through personal effort. Does that not suggest that Biblical Christianity is not a human creation, but more likely revelation from our Creator? Even apart from the continual historical and archeological validations of Biblical history, Biblical teaching on human nature, the human condition, and the path to restoration, ring incredibly true with human experience.

Humanity is creative and desires to express that creativity. True faith cannot be forced upon someone. Vast power (control of resources) invites corruption, whether in business, politics, government, or religion. Left unbounded by inner moral guides or external militant guides, people and cultures self-destruct. Incredible transformation and healing does result when people bond with their Creator. Indeed these human experiences align with the Biblical presentation of humanity.

Ideas do have consequences. Ideas that ring true with life experience yield better results for us individually and for cultures. This Christmas, consider investigating genuine Biblical Christianity directly from its source document and resting your future in ideas that ring true and truly transform.

Mark Shepard writes from Vermont, where he formerly served as a state senator.