PerlStalker's Ramblings

Seeing Stars: Catholic Church to Feds: No!

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

<Insert witty comment here.> Seriously. I can't come up with anything. I think it's an exotic humor disorder which requires large quantities of someone else's money to fix. You, too, can help someone with a humor disorder by pointing at them and laughing. Known sufferers of chronic humor disorders include every politician, many Liberals and the religious right.

On to the links.

Colorado

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would require parental consent for minors to use tanning beds. My question is "why the heck to kids think they need to use tanning beds in the first place?"
CPP has a convenient list of scheduled appearances by GOP presidential hopefuls. Sadly, they are all 3-4 hours (or more) from me. Ah, life in the sticks.
What's good for the goose is, apparently, not good for the gander.

Everywhere else

The Catholic Church has stated that they will not obey Federal contraception mandates. I'm sure the phrase "up yours" would have been used but the Church sees sodomy as a sin.
Which states are coming out of the Great Recession fastest? I'll give you a hint. It's not the Democrat controlled, union coddling states.
The nature of cyberwar.
A Federal court in Oregon and ruled that it's a Forth Amendment violation for cops to seize your camera and search through the pictures without a warrant.
Here's what's on the Congressional calendar this week. Among the bills are an attempt to repeal the CLASS act, outlaw Congressional insider trading and "reform" of the USPS.
CBO: "Federal civilian workers with no more than a high school education earned about 21 percent more, on average, than similar workers in the private sector, whereas federal workers with a professional degree or doctorate earned about 23 percent less, on average, than their private-sector counterparts."

Government Gone Wild: Electricity Edition

2012-01-30T19:15:00.001-07:00

Here's a perfect example of what happens when government tries to control an industry.

The hard fact for ratepayers is that the Black Hills rate hike was sought and granted to help pay for a $478 million power plant north of Pueblo that was only needed because Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy) canceled its long-standing agreement to sell power to Pueblo's electric utility over the years. Now that Black Hills has built its new plant, Xcel is citing the loss of its Pueblo customers as a major reason the PUC should grant it a major rate increase.

This is a bit confusing so let's see if I can sort this out.

Black Hills provides power to parts of Pueblo.
It did that, in part, by buying power from Xcel.
Xcel arbitrarily canceled a contract to sell power to Black Hills.
Black Hills built a new power plant so that they could continue to serve their customers.
Xcel is asking the PUC for a rate increase because they are no longer selling power to Black Hills.

Isn't that pretty? Oh, wait, it gets better.

That irony isn't lost on the PUC staff, which filed a sharply worded recommendation last week urging the three-member commission to reject Black Hills request to add a third, $100-million LMS 100 turbine to its new Pueblo plant — a cost that largely would be passed along to ratepayers.

The PUC staff says in its analysis that Black Hills should purchase any needed additional power from Xcel Energy, not add another major turbine.

Black Hills tried that and Xcel arbitrarily cut them off. Being forced to buy from your competitors really sucks. Black Hills needs more capacity so it wants to build a new plant to provide it but here comes the government saying, "Nope. You can't do that. Why don't you go buy power from the guys who cut you off in the first place." I don't blame Black Hills in the least from wanting to stay away from Xcel. As a side effect, Black Hills is unable to grow and provide real competition to Xcel. The PUC is ensuring the Xcel's monopoly remains intact.

Adding to the fun, Black Hills is shutting down a coal plant. The new plant would take that load as well as provide the added capacity. Do you remember the state Assembly passing legislation a couple of years ago requiring most of the coal plants in the state to be converted to natural gas? This would do that as the new turbine that Black Hills wants to use is gas fired.

It's not just the PUC that wants to prevent the construction of the new plant.

This Black Hills case is being watched by closely by groups ranging from the Colorado Gas Association, which is an advocate for the use natural gas-fired turbines like the LMS 100, to the Colorado Independent Energy Association, which is made up of independent power producers. That trade group wants the PUC to require Black Hills to purchase electricity from existing plants, not build more capacity.

A group of energy companies wants to force their competition to buy power from them them rather than build their own plant. The PUC has the power to make that happen. It sounds so much like the laws passed in "Atlas Shrugged" that I beginning to wonder if the Black Hills leadership will spike their generators and disappear.

Seeing Stars: 2012 GOP Primary is the Pro Bowl of Politics

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

In the National Football League, the best players in the league (who decide to show up) play in a meaningless game known as the Pro Bowl. Yesterday's Pro Bowl ended with with the AFC all stars beating the NFC all stars 59-41. Why should you care? You shouldn't! The game is meaningless. It's an exhibition game where those who have decided not to risk their careers in a meaningless game go to pretend to be big shots for a while.

It's not unlike the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. Anyone worth watching has decided not to play so we were left with Mitt, Newt, Rick, Ron, Rick, Jon, Herman and Michele. Oh, and Tim. Now the top contenders are blowing each other up while ignoring their real opponent, Barack, while the others work to parley their time in the game into book deals.

Meanwhile, the fans who truly care about the sport are crying in their beer over the lack of anything resembling good play despite the theoretical skill of the players. The rest are ignoring it while they wait for the main event, blissful in their ignorance.

On that happy note, on to the links.

Colorado

What does it say about an industry when a company says that it can't survive without massive tax credits?
I'm all in favor of banks being able to foreclose when they have the right to but it they better be able to prove that they have that right.
Democrat Crestina Martinez has decided to run for the newly created SD 35. She claims to support rural areas but her biggest supporters will be in urban Pueblo.
Here's a great idea! Let's take away one of the ways parents can force schools to listen to them.

Everywhere else

Is it any surprise that the people behind SOPA and PIPA are "uncomfortable" with the Internet?
Eric Holder knew of Brian Terry's death the day it happened and knew that it was his Fast and Furious program that killed him. That's several months earlier than the date he testified to in court.
There's been no global warming since 1997. Also, the sun, apparently, has little impact on global climate change. Did these scientists even both to check their theories against reality?
In civil societies, one doesn't go around killing one's family simply because one doesn't like the guy one's daughter is dating.
Tax policy shouldn't be about "fairness".

Tom Massey: Big Government Republican

2012-01-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

Rep. Tom Massey is his last year in the Colorado House before term limits force him out. His final list of bills has enough big government programs on it to make a Democrat blush.

I've already ripped his attempt to let the American Heart Association leach off school budgets. He's also trying to add to the nanny state by banning trans-fats from school menus. The real fun, of course, is the movie industry welfare act.

That's not what he calls it, of course, but that's exactly what it is. He wants to take money from Coloradans and give it to movie companies. He's trying to pass it off as a "jobs bill" just like every other corporate subsidy. That's not the point, though.

Just like subsidies for oil and solar companies, this is just another form of corporate welfare and crony capitalism. It's a way of funneling your money into the pockets of businesses that he likes. In Rep. Massey's case, it's the American Heart Association and the movie industry. For others it's solar, natural gas, oil, banks or who knows what all. I don't especially care how many jobs it creates, this behavior leads to the corruption the Tea Parties and Occupiers have been fighting against.

It's fortunate that this is Rep. Massey's last year in the House. We can only hope that voters are smart enough to keep big governments types like him out of office.

Seeing Stars: There's Good News?

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Enjoy the links than enjoy the weekend. I'm sure everyone out there could use it.

Colorado

Looks like everyone took an early weekend. There are 30-some odd bills coming to the floor on Monday. I should be an interesting week next week.

Everywhere else

President Obama called for more spending on green energy while at a campaign stop in Colorado. After all, it worked out so well for Solyndra and Ener1.
The good news is that we're getting back all those TARP billions. Oh, wait.
More good news. The debt "limit" is now $16.4 trillion.
Obama: "If you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down." He's got it backwards. Taxpayer support is going down leading to increased tuition.
"There is no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to “decarbonize” the world’s economy."
You thought SOPA was bad? ACTA is just as bad and few have even heard of it.

In-state Tuition for Illegals is a Bad Deal

2012-01-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

I know this comes a shock to many of you but I'm opposed to rewarding people who break the law. I know, I know. I'm a radical but there it is. That's one of the reasons that I'm opposed to any law granting benefits to illegal immigrants. Today, though, I'm not going to talk about that aspect but about the financial aspect of the law that is being glossed over by nearly everyone.

Let's start with a couple of assumptions. First, let's assume that there exists a state university named Wassamatta U. Let's also assume that it costs Wassamatta U. $10,000 per semester to educate a student. Finally, let's assume that the Department of Higher Education gets their way and that is split evenly between an in-state student's tuition and taxpayer dollars. (In reality, students pay a higher percentage at some schools but this makes the math easy.)

To round out our assumptions, let's set our cast of characters. First we have Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel who are in-state students starting their first year. (Bullwinkle got a football scholarship.) Next is Peter "Wrong way" Peachfuzz who is a student from out of state. Finally, we have Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale who are illegal immigrants.

Rocky and Bullwinkle get in-state tuition and only have to pay $5,000 per semester. The state pays the other $5,000. Peter Peachfuzz, who wanted to get away from the coast, is paying the full $10,000 per semester. In each of the three cases, Wassamatta U. receives enough money to pay for the costs of educating the students.

Now come Boris and Natasha. If they are treated as in-state students, they'd each pay $5,000 per semester. Under the original plans for the DREAM Act and similar, the state would pick up the tab for the rest. Many people, including me, are upset that we giving taxpayer money to people who are actively breaking the law. The bill in the Assembly says, "Fine, that we won't do that," and does not pay for the other half of Boris and Natasha's tuition. That means that Wassamatta U. is only getting half the amount needed to pay for providing their education. Now, the university is losing money.

Since the state, correctly, isn't paying for Boris and Natasha, Wassamatta U. needs to do something to make up for the money it's losing on Boris and Natasha. The obvious solution is to raise the tuition paid by Rocky, Bullwinkle, Peter Peachfuzz and every other student to make up the difference. Oh, look! Now the cost to attend college is up. The more illegals get this deal, the more the university needs to hike their tuition to make up the difference. Not only can fewer students afford to go but taxpayers are having to pay more to cover their half. Let me restate that to make sure you get it. Taxpayers are paying more because illegal immigrants have been given in-state tuition. In effect, they are still subsidizing the tuition of illegals.

In short, there is now way providing in-state tuition to illegals doesn't result in taxpayer subsidies of illegals while in-state students pay less than the total cost of attending. Those students (and their parents) will be rewarded for breaking the law.

I have seen people argue that such subsidies are an investment in the future but remember that even after the students graduate, they are still illegal immigrants. (States cannot confer citizenship. Only the Federal government can.) That means that those new graduates cannot legally work in the United States. There will be no return on investment from those students.

Giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition is a bad deal. Everyone loses except illegal immigrants.

Seeing Stars: Who Needs to Compete When You Have the Government

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

There's so little going on nationally of interest to me that I have shared only a single link. There's even more Colorado news but you'll have to read my previous posts.

May your links be merry and bright!

Colorado

Another version of the DREAM Act his the floor of the state Senate. No matter how it gets dressed up, it's still subsidized education for illegal immigrants.
In a highly biased article, the Chieftain reports that Scott Tipton is leading Sal Pace in the race for the 3rd CD.
"[Bureaucracy] grows because businesses, trades and professions are always asking government to help them limit competition and thus keep prices up."

Everywhere else

Oh, lovely. Another "green" company has gone belly up.

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." -- Ronald Reagan

Senate Bill Pushed to End Forced Union Membership in Education

2012-01-26T20:26:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm cheating a little bit pulling two blog posts from the same link.

Also introduced Wednesday was Senate Bill 12-100, which would ban employers from requiring, as a condition of employment, employees to become or remain union or to pay dues to a union, charity or other third party. The bill would apply to school districts and higher education institutions.

This is a fabulous idea. It will never make it through the Senate where the Democrats will kill it. After all, much of their financial support comes from the teacher's unions.

I hate forced unionization. There's nothing that justifies forcing a person to join an organization whose positions they don't agree with. It's even worse when that organization gets to pull a percentage from your paycheck without your say so. I know Colorado WINS would just love to forcibly take two percent of my income regardless of the fact that I need that money to feed my kids and in spite of the fact that I oppose their agenda.

Government unions are a prime example of government largess and cronyism. Government unions rob their members to pay to elect politicians who then pass bills to give the unions more money and power. The circle continues and it's the taxpayers left holding the bag.

In the private sector, companies that give in to union demands eventually collapse. See the recent examples of Hostess, American Airlines and General Motors for proof. When those companies disappear, smaller, more agile and more efficient companies take their place. That's not true of government.

Government unions must be stopped and killing off their food supply is best way to do it. Stopping the money from being automatically withdrawn would be best but it's essential that employees have the freedom to not be part of such organizations if they don't want to.

American Heart Association Wants to Live off Colorado Taxpayers

2012-01-26T19:55:00.001-07:00

Colorado students would have to know CPR and how to operate automated external defibrillators in order to graduate from high school under a new bill introduced Wednesday.

Look, I support first aid training for everyone who wants it. I was even on the board of my local Red Cross chapter for a while but I can't support this. Schools are have been unable to successfully teach the basics and now someone wants to throw another requirement in? No, thanks.

There's something else going here though which is amusing.

The bill is being pushed by the American Heart Association, which is advocating such legislation in other states.

The "someone" who's pushing this bill is the American Heart Association. It's easy to see, on the surface, why they'd want CPR taught. After all, they're all about heart safety. In fact, they offer classes in CPR. If this bill passes, do you thing schools are going to hire a new teacher to teach CPR to the students? Not likely. Instead, they'll contract that out to someone else like, say, the American Heart Association.

That's right friends and neighbors. AHA is pushing this bill and ones like it in other states so that they can have a guaranteed revenue stream paid for with your tax dollars. Just because the corporation is non-profit, doesn't mean it's not corporate welfare.

This bill needs to die like so many others of its type.

(via State Bill Colorado)

Seeing Stars: Collapsible Schools

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, a number of Colorado schools are of the collapsible variety. Work is being done to shore up the poor design of an incompetent at Neenan Co. who designed the buildings. I wonder how many of these schools will be repaired before Neenan goes bankrupt.

It's linking time!

Colorado

Every state funded school build by Neenan Co., including two in Alamosa, have serious structural problems.
Colorado's high-risk health pool is running twice the cost of the US average. Count me among the unsurprised.
Legislators are working up a bill that would give college credit for work and military experience. I have a better idea. Eliminate the general education requirements. That will eliminate at least a year of study unrelated to a student's future career.

Everywhere else

The USDA has issued their new dietary rules for schools. Here's a great idea. Let's serve more food that kids won't eat.
A memo from Obama's economic team shows that they knew exactly what they were doing.

Lt. Gov. Garcia: Kids Can't Learn Without the Nanny State

2012-01-25T07:32:00.002-07:00

Colorado's Early Childhood Education Commission wants womb to workforce "guidance" of students.

“Early literacy, we know, is a key to long-term education success,” said Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, who was instrumental in developing the plan. “We also know it’s not something that begins and ends in third grade, or even begins in kindergarten. It really begins at birth.”

Okay, I'm with you so far. We started teaching our kids early and, by the time they were kindergarten age, they were doing second grade material. At that point, we decided that homeschooling would be a better choice but it goes to show that kids are ready for academic learning much earlier than people realize. They're not always ready for school but they are certainly ready for the ABCs and 123s at three and four.

It transcends digestion of the written word and hinges on the interplay of nutrition, health care and other support services government provides to families, Garcia said.

Wait, what? Did he really just say that kids can't be educated without huge nanny-state programs? It sounds like another round of "it's for the children" to create new government programs and protect existing ones from cuts.

The article goes on to talk, briefly, about the pros and cons of higher standards for childcare centers. Having high standards isn't a bad thing in and of itself but increasing the standards will almost certainly increase the costs of childcare. If a family can still afford childcare, they will have even less money for the rest of the family's needs.

The increased cost of childcare will then provide lawmakers with an excuse to create another big government program to confiscate money from everyone to help pay for childcare for "the poor". Don't forget Lt. Gov Garcia's claim that all of the other government support services are essential. The have to have more of your money, too.

This is sounding more and more like another big government power grab. Don't worry though. "It's for the children."

Seeing Stars: Rerun of the Union

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

Obama used his State of the Union speech to push socialism. Again. And again, he dragged out the line that it's not "fair" that a wealthy person might pay a lower overall percentage that his secretary. If I were the Republicans in the House, I would have a quick and ready answer and it's simple. Just say, "We agree," and introduce a Flat Tax. The pitch goes something like this:

"We agree with President Obama that it is totally unfair for a rich man to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. Therefore, we are introducing this Flat Tax that will ensure that everyone pays the same rate. We are sure that President Obama's plan to ensure a fair tax will pass quickly and that the Senate will pass President Obama's plan."

Obviously, I'm not a speech writer but you get the idea. Republicans can use President Obama's own words -- his own demands for "fairness" -- to push the Flat Tax. They can get out in front of the spin and build off of Obama's own speech. Every time they talk about the bill, they should tie Obama to it. Yes, he'd get some credit for it if it passes but I'm okay with that. On the other hand, tying him to it means that he gets to take his share of the blow back and it gives the Republicans legislators a hammer to wield in Congress. Every time a Democrat speaks out against it Republicans can respond with "We don't understand why Senator So-and-so doesn't want to support a fair tax rate like President Obama called for."

Sadly, I think the Republicans in the House are too timid to do it.

Anyway, on to the links.

Colorado

Fraudulent ballots were cast in Colorado and Kansas. How can that be when Democrats keep trying to convince us that there's no voter fraud thus no need for voter ID.

Everywhere else

Mitt Romney followed through with promise to release his tax returns. The Blaze has the breakdown for you. He donated more to charities than was confiscated by the Federal government.
The Fifth Amendment took another hit when a Colorado judge ruled that Ramona Fricosu is required to turn over the encryption keys to her laptop.
Who's up for nationwide drone surveillance by DHS?
Obama's State of the Union was last night. Hot Air has linked to both Obama's speech and Mitch Daniels' rebuttal. Heritage has their own reaction.
What's the point of being President if you can't use your power to benefit your friends at the expense of the rest of the country.

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." -- Will Rogers

Seeing Stars: 1,000 Budget Free Days and Counting

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

President Obama will be giving the annual State of the Union address tonight. It will likely be full of socialist and Marxist rhetoric that is sure to please his base. In other words, it's a campaign speech. At least one Congressman, Colorado Rep. Doug Lamborn, has decided to skip the event.

I'm sure Obama will forget to mention the fact that the Senate hasn't passed a budget in 1,000 days. Democrats have controlled that body the entire time which, of course, gives him even more incentive. Talk about a "do nothing" Congress.

Colorado

The Independence Institute has a list of transparency legislation introduced this session.
Unsurprisingly, Democrats killed off a bill that would grant Coloradans greater freedom to defend themselves.
Teacher tenure reform was passed unanimously out of a joint committee and looked to be headed to a quick pass through the full Assembly.
The state has officially appeal the Lobato case.

Everywhere else

Everyone knows that the proper way to thank someone for giving you a place to sleep is to steal their stuff and pee on the floor.
In a win for the 4th Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled that cops need to get a warrant to track you're vehicle with a GPS tracker. There's a fairly detailed analysis at the SCOTUS blog. The government made out pretty well, though.
Newt Gingrich has pulled ahead of Mitt Romney in Florida. Newt is overcoming his various character flaws to gain support.
It's scenes like this that make nullify the "socialization" argument against homeschooling.
The FDA is looking at approving marijuana-based prescription drugs.
Just because he was appointed illegally, doesn't mean that he should stop receiving a paycheck from the unions he's supposed to oversee. I'm sure there's no conflict of interest or anything.
LightSquared tried to bribe Sen. Chuck Grassley to get the FCC to drop its probe. That won't help its chances in getting approval.

"Newt f***s women. Obama f***s the country." -- Wendy Sullivan, Brass Balls Radio

Seeing Stars: She Turned Me Into a Newt

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

The big story this weekend was Newt Gingrich's big win over Mitt Romney in South Carolina. Newt has the honor of being the first not-Mitt to survive despite scandal. All of the others have collapsed at the first hint of scandal. We'll see if Newt's popularity lasts through Florida.

For some reason, I have the Monty Python scene below in my head with the GOP electorate crying out "She turned me into a Newt!" Will we later hear the subdued comment "I got better" from primary voters? As King Arthur says later in the movie, "We shall watch and pray."

Colorado

It was a quiet weekend in Colorado politics. The sparks will fly again this week and flame wars will begin again for the entertainment of everyone.

Everywhere else

It's no surprise given the drubbing he received in the South Carolina primary. Mitt Romney has decided to participate in the upcoming debates in Florida. He's also decided to release tax returns.
You want exit polls, I got exit polls. (via Hot Air)
Rep Gabrielle Giffords will resign from Congress this week. It sucks that she was had to leave this way. It would have been better for her to lose an honest election than have to quit due to injuries caused by a madman.
Arizona is opening and investigation into Operation Fast and Furious.

Seeing Stars: Of Guns and Votes

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Colorado Republicans are working on better gun laws while one Congressional Republican is calling to end the primaries before the majority of the country votes. There's an interesting contrast there.

On to the links.

Colorado

Republicans have proposed a series of bills promoting gun rights and eliminating many of the regulations surrounding gun ownership.
Gov. Hickenlooper has standardized the rates Colorado agencies can charge for open records. The new rates are not cheep.

Everywhere else

If raising taxes was all that was needed to get governments out of debt, Illinois would be rolling dough. It's not.
What would you expect of a failed company that received hundreds of millions of dollars in government loans? How about throwing out brand new parts.
A Texas school has eliminated their sports program to throw the money into fixing their actual purpose: education.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor wants the GOP primary race to end before everyone gets a chance to vote. Long live democracy.

"Think of what would happen to us in America if there were no humorists; life would be one long Congressional Record." -- Tom Masson

Alamosa City Council Debates Unfair Business Incentives

2012-01-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

The Alamosa city council is, again, debating giving new businesses tax breaks and other incentives.

[Donna Wehe] also encouraged the city council to take the political heat off itself by working with area economic development groups to deal with potential new businesses so decisions would not fall so much on the council’s shoulders as on the larger group.

Right. Let's foist the question off on unelected bodies so that the politicians don't have to take the heat. It would be a shame if they ticked off their donors by giving their competitors a tax break.

[Councilwoman Marcia] Tuggle added that the city has to consider existing businesses and whether giving incentives to a new business might give it an unfair advantage.

“It definitely gives them an advantage,” Wehe responded. “The unfair part is subjective.”

The government is giving a business an advantage over another. By definition, that's not fair. There's nothing fair about it. It reminds me of this comic from the strip "Calvin and Hobbes".

It's not that the new business thinks that the tax break is fair. They know that it's unfair in their favor.

City Manager Nathan Cherpeski said one of his roles in his position in California before moving to Alamosa was to enforce such contracts. A company that defaulted on its contract would have to reimburse the city for incentives, he explained.

“If you have incentives, you have to have some sort of contract in place,” Cherpeski said. “We have never gotten to that point here.”

This much is right. If the city requires certain benchmarks from the business, the incentives become more of a loan and less of a gift. If a city is going to give incentives to new businesses, there has to be some proof that the businesses are fulfilling their part of the bargain.

Teens Didn't Think They Could Get Pregnant "The First Time"

2012-01-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

I think our sex education programs are missing something. (emphasis mine)

In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn‘t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant.

But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.

Isn't the whole point of sex ed to teach kids about sex, the consequences and how to avoid those consequences? Apparently, some kids are missing the connection between sex and pregnancy.

About half of the girls in the survey said they were not using any birth control when they got pregnant. That’s higher than surveys of teens in general, which have found that fewer than 20 percent said they didn’t use contraception the last time they had sex.

If you read further in the article you'll see that availability wasn't a problem. These kids know about them, where to get them and how to use them but they aren't using them.

It all goes back to what I've been saying. If you don't want to get pregnant, don't have sex. It's as simple as that.

Seeing Stars: My Eyes, They Burn

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my body choosing to inflict pain to rival watching another GOP presidential debate, I'm working on very little sleep. On the plus side, my level of snark is up. Sadly, little of it made it into this post. For as little as one comment a day, you can give the gift of snark to an underprivileged blog post. Won't you do it for the children?

Colorado

Sal Pace will be getting a lot of help from the national Democrat party. Keep that in mind when he starts complaining about "outside" money influencing the race.
As long as Colorado has to tighten its governmental belt, someone will complain about being unable to spend money.
The House passed a bill calling for a Constitutional Convention to repeal ObamaCare. Not only is a convention unnecessary but you don't amend the Constitution to repeal a law.
Diana DeGette is running for a ninth term in the House. Denver would elect a sack of rocks if it had "Democrat" stamped on the side.
On the other side of the coin, Sen. John Morse has decide not to run for Congress. He's content to screw over Coloradans.
Once again, Democrats show that they are more than happy to eliminate free speech.

Everywhere else

Rick Perry has a fever and the only cure is more ... Newt Gingrich. Newt's own fever was cured by an open marriage or not.
A 100 percent tax on income above "a reasonable profit"? It's like the Democrats are pulling ideas straight out of Atlas Shrugged.
18 senators bailed from PIPA when they realized that Americans don't like censorship and were quite vocal about it.
You know, if you're going to push a bill targeting copyright infringement, you may want to make sure you're not infringing yourself. SOPA author Rep. Lamar Smith was among the humiliated.
Democrats have savaged Mitt Romney over his time at Bain Capital. That hasn't stopped them from pulling in more Bain Bucks than Republicans.

"I’d like to challenge Obama to 3 hour Lincoln Douglas debate … he can use teleprompter, I’ll use knowledge." -- Newt Gingrich

Seeing Stars: Let's Hear it for Big Government Republicans

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

In this case, it's Rep. Tom Massey. His tale of woe is below along with other stories that will dazzle and amaze you. (Some exceptions may apply.)

Colorado

Rep. Tom Massey his proposed legislation that would ban trans fats in Colorado schools. Another big government bill from a Republican.
Isn't that nice? The Department of Labor and Employment is going to reduce over payment from 17 to 10 percent. I'm not impressed.
There could be multiple marijuana initiatives on the ballot in November.

Everywhere else

The Supreme Court ripped a number of works out of the public domain and put them back under copyright.
Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. "This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline..."
Websites opposing SOPA "is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today." It's an abuse of power to oppose legislation?
Most of the government's attempts to lower Medicare costs have been failures.
In general, I disagree with government vaccine mandates but, at least, I understand them. Forcing people to be injected with untried vaccines is dangerous and immoral.
The House held a meaningless vote to stop the debt ceiling increase. His Majesty, Obama I, laughed off their pathetic attempts to limit Federal spending.
Let's hope that Mississippi and Florida don't plan on using electricity in 2014. Thanks to the EPA, it won't be there.

Seeing Stars: SOPA Strike Begins

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today will be filled with stories of all the web sites that are going dark to protest SOPA and PIPA. I'm just as opposed to SOPA as everyone else but if everyone shuts down, where will everyone else get their information? Oh, right. Twitter.

On to the links but beware that some of the sites below may have gone dark until tomorrow.

Colorado

What is it with Democrats wanting to represent districts that they don't live in? My guess is that they don't want to represent anyone. They just want to be in Congress.
Colorado farmers: Let's get rid of farn subsidies and replace them with government insurance.
Denver is looking at axing the DPD horse unit. The Post article is wrong on, at least, one point. The strength of the horse unit is not in responding to everyday calls but in crowd control.

Everywhere else

The first challenge to Obama's recess appointments comes as part of an existing case.
"A US man who had been convicted on a second-degree murder charge will get a new trial after a computer virus destroyed transcripts of court proceedings." Have you backed up today? (via Schneier on Security)
Junk food sales in schools does not lead to overweight students. At least, not compared to students in schools where such "evils" are not available.
Oh, look! New economic recommendations to ignore. Remember what he did with the deficit recommendations?
The AFL-CIO is launching an ad campaign to combat "declining membership and growing hostility to organized labor". Maybe there would be less hostility if unions hadn't threatened the world's Twinkie supply.
Creating value and earning a profit are not bad. (via @ariarmstrong)

"I know among the politically correct you are not supposed to use facts that are uncomfortable." -- Newt Gingrich

Colorado Farmers Willing to Give up Big Government for More Big Government

2012-01-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

Colorado farmers are willing to give up their Federal subsidies if they get something else.

In exchange, farmers, and their powerful lobby — the Farm Bureau — are pushing a government-backed insurance program that would safeguard farmers should they be plagued by drought, pests or something worse.

Yup. They're willing to give up their big government handouts for more big government handouts. Even Tea Party favorite Rep. Cory Gardner is in favor of the plan. Private insurance companies are available to provide such "safeguards". There's no more reason for the government to get (more?) into farm insurance than there was to get into health insurance.

The environmentalists are having all sorts of fun.

Environmental groups tracking the issue urge subsidizing some farms but broadening them beyond the top commodities to local food systems. They also are urging Congress to create more incentives for farmers to conserve more of their land.

It's not enough that the Feds pay farmers to grow things. The environmentalists want the government to pay farmers not to grow things. Making food more scarce is just the thing needed to help, not only our economy, but starving people around the world. Of course, limiting the amount of food will help with that obesity problem I keep hearing about.

In all seriousness, ending subsidies is the right thing to do, regardless of the industry. It is morally wrong to use taxpayer dollars to help fund private businesses. The goal should be the total elimination of subsidies not replacing them with other subsidies.

Seeing Stars: Accountability Failure

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Slow news days lead to short news run downs. Take some time and enjoy life but be sure to read the links first.

Colorado

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade is supposed to give the Assembly some numbers to show how effective various corporate subsidies are at creating jobs. It fails.

Everywhere else

Just in case you needed more reasons to oppose SOPA.
OpenSecrets.org has published a new site called MapLight which lists the top corporate campaign contributors.
Oh, yeah. There's was another GOP debate. Is anyone still paying attention?

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it. -- Terry Pratchett

Seeing Stars: Michelle Obama Booed

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

This may come as a surprise but kids don't like vegetables and they tend to take a dim view of adults who try to make them eat more of them. Yes, kids should eat vegetables and there are a good many of them who choke them down. There are even weird ones who like veggies. The majority of them, however, will drop them in the trash instead of eating them. So, when Michelle Obama addressed a group of kids and told them that she was working to increase the amount of vegetables in school lunches, their response was pretty predictable.

Actually, that's pretty close to the response my blog gets. While you read these amazing links, I'm going to go cry in my hot cocoa.

Colorado

I like knowing that movies and TV shows are being filmed out here in the sticks but I don't like my taxes going to pay for it.
The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing failed their audit in 51 different ways. Aren't you glad the government is looking out for your health?
Gov. Hickenlooper have his State of the State address. I had a few comments..

Everywhere else

A group of school kids booed Michelle Obama when she talked about adding more vegetables to school lunches. She seemed surprised. Did she expect them to cheer?
SOPA is on hold in the House. That's a good thing but the bill's not dead yet. We need to keep working to make sure it doesn't revive when supporters think everyone is looking somewhere else.
Jon Huntsman is dropping out and endorsing Mitt Romney. Both people who care are named in that sentence.

Gov. Hickenlooper Calls for Civil Unions in Colorado

2012-01-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper gave his State of the State address a couple of days ago. I've decided to go through the speech and point a few things that I found interesting. You can read the full text of the speech here.

Skipping over the early platitudes and thanks-for-comings, Hickenlooper encouraged the members of Assembly to work together. This session looks to be contentious with Republicans still smarting after the epic beat down Democrats gave them in redistricting and reapportionment and Democrats struggling to remember that tax hikes aren't the only way to balance a budget.

If you account for inflation, the state's general fund revenue is $1 billion less than it was five years ago when the state had fewer people and was economically stronger. . $1 billion . and demand for government services has surged.

The number of children enrolled in public schools has increased significantly and more people are enrolled in Medicaid.

These facts are why we want to focus property tax relief on the seniors most in need, until we can restore the full senior homestead exemption.

Now he's starting to take a stand on things. What he's offering is a compromise with Republicans. They've been making noise about restoring the homestead exemption to property taxes. Democrats have opposed it, of course. Hickenlooper is offering a reasonable middle, i.e. means test the tax cut. It also puts the Republicans in the hard place of trying to argue for "tax cuts for the rich" when an alternative "tax cut for the poor" is on the table.

For example, in the Lobato case, a district court judge has ruled that the state is deficient in meeting school funding requirements under the state Constitution. We will appeal the decision to secure a final resolution of the constitutional issues raised in the case, but the question of finding additional revenue for education is one of our greatest budget pressures.

Colorado voters, nevertheless, rejected a proposed tax increase to fund schools.

That is one reason job growth is so critical.

The Lobato ruling is disastrous for the budget. The catch is that the majority of voting Coloradans disagree. They voted down a tax hike for schools last November. By reminding the Assembly of that, Hickenlooper is discouraging the Assembly from putting their hopes in a tax hike that voters will probably shoot down again. It also sets the stage for a series of "jobs bills" that will either cut regulations, make government more intrusive or throw more taxpayer money into the corporate welfare pot.

Hickenlooper goes on to talk up the corporations that have moved their headquarters or factories to Colorado. It sounds, to me, like he's going to push for more corporate welfare. Speaking of which ...

On the heels of the Level 3 merger and the good news about Arrow, GE announced it would expand its investment in Primestar Solar by more than $300 million and build a thin-film solar manufacturing facility in Aurora. This facility, one of the largest of its kind in the world, will create 350 jobs and produce enough panels each year to power 80,000 homes. Jeff Wyatt, the general manager of Primestar Solar, and one of the original founders of the company, Russell Black, are here with us today.

I suppose this would be a bad time to mention that the demand for solar panels is collapsing and solar companies around the country are going bankrupt.

The inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge last summer was viewed by a worldwide audience of more than 20 million people and generated more than $80 million in economic activity in Colorado.

USA Pro Cycling Challenge CEO Shawn Hunter is here today — we can hardly wait for the race to return in August.

We will follow it a month later with "Pedal the Plains" — a bike tour for the rest of us.

We think a bike tour across the Eastern Plains will not only be great for the sport of cycling, it will also give folks an opportunity to see where our food comes from.

One-time events are great and all but they don't help with long-term economic growth. One could argue that it will increase tourism and it does for short time after the event then tourists are wooed by the next shiny thing. Tourists can be fickle and with a bad economy, fewer people will be traveling.

It is worth noting that Colorado agriculture is leading the state out of this recession. Agriculture exports have grown more than 20 percent — I'll say that again, 20 percent — which really makes us Colorado Proud!

This is a great. I love food. I makes one wonder, though. If Colorado's economic hopes are pinned on agriculture, why are we replacing potato farms with solar farms?

We are working with Mayor Hancock and an exploratory committee to consider the feasibility of hosting the Olympic Winter Games in 2022. Any pursuit of the Olympics, if that happens, should be done in an entrepreneurial way and with an eye on making Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. Let's use sport as a way to promote better health.

Leaving our diversion into actual economic growth, we're back into fantasy land. The Olympics? Really? Do you know how much it costs to put on an Olympic games? Denver and Colorado are running pretty hefty deficits right now and struggling to keep the budget balanced. How the heck do Hickenlooper and Mayor Hancock think they're going to pay for it?

We know that the core business of government is not to create private sector jobs — entrepreneurs do that.

But we can help. What we do here and how we do it matters.

Translation: We know that it's not the role of government to create jobs but we're going to try anyway.

We need to make government work better. Part of that means making government efficient, effective and of course elegant.

Last year we began a rigorous review of state rules and asked for examples of unnecessary regulation from Coloradans across the state.

We are scrubbing every state agency to eliminate red tape. Our plan is outlined in the report we issued this week called "Pits and Peeves."

This is a really good thing. Government doesn't create jobs but certainly prevents others from doing it. Minimizing the number of road blocks in the way of businesses, large and small, will go a long way to bringing businesses to the state. As an example, if Colorado eliminated the sales tax, you can bet every online shipping company from Amazon or would be in a rush to put facilities here. On a related note, repealing the Amazon Tax would be help, too.

In addition to eliminating red tape, we are continuing to consolidate state services and programs where appropriate.

...

Another way we can make state government more effective and realize cost savings is to bring the state's antiquated personnel system into the 21st century.

Agency consolidation is often a good thing and the departments he mentions are a good example of that. A lot of the red tape that gets mentioned is intra-governmental. Automating internal processes will help make the most efficient use of taxpayer money.

The state Constitution is riddled with personnel rules and administrative procedures that are obsolete and should be reformed.

We are working with state employees on a package of reforms, but we need your help to go to the ballot this year with a proposal that will improve the way we manage state personnel.

Seriously, there's no reason personnel rules should be in the Constitution. Stripping that out is a good thing. It's important to see what it's replaced with. You can bet Colorado WINS is going to try to screw over taxpayers in favor of their own pockets.

We established the Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) to foster collaboration and idea-sharing across private sector, academic and public lines, including the 29 research laboratories in Colorado. This will multiply occurrences like Primestar Solar, where an innovation at the National Renewable Energy Lab translated into more than 400 jobs in Colorado.

COIN gives us a unique opportunity to incubate entrepreneurship and facilitate the transfer of new ideas to the marketplace. Ajay Menon, our Chief Innovation Officer and driving force behind COIN, is here today. Thank you for your work.

While COIN is privately funded, we are asking for a modest public investment to continue the success we had with Arrow and GE.

And here's where he pushes corporate welfare. Why does every government official, Republican and Democrat, seem to think that it's okay to give taxpayer money to businesses?

We are requesting $6 million to support the work of the Colorado Economic Development Commission . and $3 million for a revolving loan fund to provide low-risk gap financing so Colorado can compete with other states for film, video gaming and electronic media productions.

These investments will repay the state many, many times over.

Of course they will.

Heckenlooper then spends some time on education. There's not a lot of substance there other than asking for continued funding to continue the reforms that have been made over the last couple of years.

The link between higher education and economic development is very clear. They go hand in glove. So if we agree on a new future for Pinnacol, we hope you will also agree that funding for scholarships makes sense.

Wait. Funding for scholarships? Where did that come from?

Moving on, Hickenlooper talks up fracking and developing the newly discovered natural gas deposits.

Hick spends some time talking about health care funding and transportation funding. I'll let you dig into those as I move on to the headline.

We don't believe we should legislate what happens inside a church or place of worship, but government should treat all people equally.

It's time to pass civil unions.

I've said it before, I'm all for civil unions for any consenting adults. However, civil union laws shouldn't mean that homosexual couples get to force churches to perform marriages that are contrary to their doctrines. The Pueblo Chieftain has some of the legislators' responses.

The rest of the speech is platitudes. We'll see if anyone listened to him.

CO Department of Health Care Policy and Financing Fails Audit

2012-01-14T09:35:00.001-07:00

The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has a lot to answer for as state auditors "rip" the agency for failing to implement 51 audit recommendations.

Most serious, auditors said, are failure to properly document proof that Medicaid recipients are eligible for the program and deficiencies in record-keeping that assures health care providers are approved to treat Medicaid patients.

Rising Medicaid costs are putting enormous pressure on the state budget and the DHCPF can't even ensure that the people they are paying for are even allowed to be in the program? Come on guys.

[Sue Birch, executive director of the department,] defended the department’s overall performance by highlighting that Colorado’s Office of the State Auditor applies scrutiny greater than federal standards in some areas. Birch also said her department has a payment-error rate of about 1 percent, while the national average is about 6 percent.

Just because Colorado holds you to a higher standard than the Federal government, that doesn't give you license to violate those standards. I've never felt the defense "See, everyone else is worse," to be valid. Even a one percent error rate is too high. While I don't expect perfection, when you're spending my money, they better be darn close.

I'd also like to point out something else that was said.

“As a taxpayer, it’s kind of insulting,” said Sen. Joyce Foster, D-Denver. “I am so frustrated with this kind of bureaucracy. I guess that’s what leads to people concerned about big government.”

You're partially right, Senator. The larger the bureaucracy grows, the more money it tends to waste but that's not all. "Big Government" isn't just about a waste of money, it's about the intrusion of government into the lives of citizens. The first tends to be caused by the second. The urge for government to meddle leads to bloated, wasteful programs. The fewer such programs exist, the better off Colorado will be.