What I saw at the big protest

Many folks in Denver are mad and appear not ready to accept our government as it currently stands. More than 5000 people made it a point to congregate at the state capitol under a sunny, warm sky at noon on Wednesday, TAX DAY. The most accurate statement that can be made about the rally is that: Once again, the people “get it,” but the politicians and the media, still do not get it. Let me make my point:

The people really do get it: There were signs all over the place decrying the rise of socialism, higher taxes ahead, government bailouts, the loss of economic freedom, etc. There was even a sign saying, “I left a socialist country for this?”

Most notably there were constant calls for Tax Ritter to show up. A mom likened herself to a rattlesnake that warns its prey before its deadly attack. Politicians take warning was her final statement. Another man told the crowd how “pissed off” he was. To make his point, he repeated his chant as he listed all the ills of our current government policies. He did this to repeated cheers from the crowd. Another speaker called for a third party, as he reminded us that both the Dems and the Repubs got us into this mess. I loved the guy that opined: Kick all the bastard out!!!

Now we get to the media. I’ve got to call out the Denver Daily News. The headline read: Tea-d off over illegals” by Peter Marcus. Wednesday April 15, 2009.

I called Mr. Marcus who told me he had no agenda by highlighting the Illegal issue. When I challenged him, he told me he mentioned the tax issues in the second paragraph and that showed he didn’t have an agenda. Folks, this is the problem with the media today. For someone to take that stand; shows either complete disregard for reality or an agenda. That agenda being, let’s highlight the Illegal Immigrant issue rather than the real tax issues.

It has also come to my attention that many of the major media outlets treated the Tea Party rallies with the same approach. That being: This is just another right wing attempt to rally the Republicans for the next election cycle.

The media's approach just makes my point: The media thinks it makes the news and they hate the fact that they are losing power over the people.

Don't miss Tea Parties 4/15

Tax, spend, borrow and regulate are the four horsemen of American socialism under Obama and Ritter. Intrusive government now tramples our liberties with a brazenness that would amaze those old Boston patriots who dumped the tea in '73. Tea Party protests will happen in many cities on Tax Day, Wed. April 15. I'll be taking part and so should you. Here's the information you need. Denver Metro Area City: Denver When: April 15, 12:00pm - 1:30pm Where: West steps of the Capitol, 200 East Colfax

El Paso County City: Colorado Springs When: April 15, 12:00pm - 1:30pm Where: Acacia Park at 225 N Nevada

Routt County City: Steamboat Springs When: April 15, 12 noon Where: County Courthouse Lawn

Mesa County City: Grand Junction When: April 15, 12:00pm - 1:30pm Where: Soccer stadium at 12th Street and North Avenue, corner across from Mesa State College

Larimer County City: Fort Collins When: April 15, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Where: Fort Collins City Hall, 300 Laporte Avenue

City: Loveland When: April 15, 4:00pm - 7:00pm Where: 205 E Eisenhower Blvd, Loveland, CO 80537

Weld County City: Greeley When: April 18, 11am – 2pm Where: Bittersweet Park at 35th Ave. and 11th St.

Pueblo County City: Pueblo When: April 15, 4:00 pm Where: Pueblo County Courthouse, 215 W. 10th St.

Fremont County City: Cañon City When: April 11, 12:00 pm Where: Veterans Park

Contact names for these and other Colorado cities, along with Tea Party details for many other states and cities, are at this link. To sort by state, scroll to the bottom of that page. Site also lists numerous organizers and contacts for the three events mentioned above.

The Tea Party phenomenon of 2009 is one of the most powerful grassroots movements our country has seen in a long time. People are rising up to defend individual freedom, personal responsibility, limited government, and free markets.

Be part of it on April 15! I'll see you there.

Sign up for alerts from Ritter Watch

With Gov. Bill Ritter already positioning for a 2010 reelection bid, and Republican challengers lining up, here's a handy clipping service with weblinks on Ritter's media coverage, emailed to you regularly upon request. To sign up, send an email to Colorado Springs political consultant Patrick Davis.

Motorists shafted by Dems' tax trick

Beginning July 1, Colorado drivers will pay higher taxes--we're told to call them "fees"--on every vehicle every year when we renew our license plates. The increase of $29 to $51 per vehicle is projected to generate $250 million annually to repair unsafe roads and bridges, Gov. Bill Ritter said when he signed the "fee" hike into law.

All this occurs under the guise of economic stimulus as Colorado Democrats learn from their Washington counterparts to strike quickly while the economy is on the ropes and the public is too worried about their own finances to pay attention to statehouse shenanigans.

To be fair, transportation funding from Colorado's fuel tax has been stagnant in recent years because it's calculated on a per-gallon, rather than a per-cent, basis. Higher fuel prices and better fuel efficiency keep total fuel consumption relatively flat. For the last 10 years, the state's share of fuel tax receipts never fell below $379 million but never grew above $430 million.

When the economy is booming, roads and bridges receive a tremendous bonus from the general fund ‹ income and sales taxes ‹ which nearly matched the fuel tax, adding $1.3 billion to the transportation budget from 2005 to 2007.

However, just hours after Gov. Ritter signed the vehicle fee hike into law, every Democrat in the state senate voted to sever this general fund lifeline to transportation.

If it sounds like Democrats are talking out of both sides of their mouths, it's because they are - at least, so far. One day, they say our roads and bridges are unsafe and demand more money from Colorado drivers. The next day, they take a hatchet to transportation funding.

Any sane person can be excused for wondering what they're drinking or smoking at the state capitol.

Sadly this is nothing new. Dating back to former Gov. Roy Romer, Democrats' favorite tactic has been to grow social welfare spending and leave transportation with scraps. Romer's approach was to tell voters that if they wanted more money for transportation, they should vote for higher taxes.

In 1997, Romer and Republicans reached a compromise that guaranteed the aforementioned bonus source of highway funding and limited general fund spending increases to no more than six percent per year.

Republican Gov. Bill Owens staunchly defended that compromise and worked out a similar agreement with Democrats in 2002.

Now that Democrats hold a monopoly at the state capitol, they seem intent upon smashing those agreements in order to boost social welfare spending.

Senate Bill 228 would eviscerate the limit on general fund spending, end a vital source of transportation funding, and allow rapid expansion of entitlements. Even Gov. Romer didn't suggest repealing this limit without the required public vote, but today's Democrats are above consulting lowly taxpayers.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. John Morse, nearly stepped in it recently when, reacting to opposition from Denver chamber of commerce, he declared, "Let's let the people's elected representatives decide that - not the chamber."

Better yet, Sen. Morse, let's let the people decide for themselves, as the constitution ­ which you pledged to uphold ­ requires.

Ironically, proponents suggest that eliminating a spending limit to facilitate more spending on social welfare will help Colorado "get out of a recession."

That's an argument with rife with economic illiteracy. If all spending limits disappeared tomorrow, state government still couldn't spend an extra dime. In a recession, it's the economy that limits spending. Moreover, Colorado's government doesn't fund the economy; the economy funds government.

If Democrats want to expand social welfare spending, they should be honest about it. If they believe transportation needs more money, they should first protect every existing resource. And if they want to repeal state spending limits, they should follow the constitution by asking the voters.

Mark Hillman served as senate majority leader and state treasurer. To readmore or comment, go to www.MarkHillman.com

No jihadists to Supermax, continued

Seems I hit a nerve with my post about Gov. Ritter's collision with international law if Gitmo prisoners are moved to Colorado SuperMax. Indignant comments by Bill Menezes on this site and at PoliticsWest.com claimed I'm all wet. But his objections shatter on the clear text of the Geneva Conventions and relevant case law. His attempt to obfuscate salient facts with irrelevant minutiae fails the test of common sense, as well as established national and international legal precedent.

As mentioned in my original post, the salient fact is the prohibition on internment of combatant detainees (both actual prisoners of war and “unlawful combatants” – more on that later) in civilian penitentiaries.

In the operative provision, Menezes puts undue weight on the qualifying language before the comma: "Except in particular cases which are justified by the interest of the prisoners themselves, they shall not be interned in penitentiaries."

Common sense will inform the reader that the “particular cases” exception to the general rule is applied to individual detainees who are, for whatever reason (generally certain medical conditions, threats from fellow prisoners, or conviction of a civil crime in addition to their combatant detention status) better served or cared for in a civilian facility. Note that this exception is expressly in the interest of the prisoners themselves, not for the convenience or political benefit of the detaining power.

However, since common sense appears to be in general short supply, there is also an established body of case law and the commentary of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that applies:

“Internment of prisoners of war in [p.183] penitentiaries is in principle prohibited because of the painful psychological impressions which such places might create for prisoners of war.” Citation here.

So in summary: The facts of international law and treaty (Geneva Convention III Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War) and our obligations under those laws (and U.S. statute) are clear: persons falling under military jurisdiction as prisoners (irrespective of their combatant status) are NOT to be detained in civilian penitentiaries as a matter of policy.

Some exceptions MAY be made on a case-by-case basis, in the interest of the prisoners themselves, but in practice and precedent this is applied VERY restrictively. Ergo, Governor Ritter’s proposal to bring detainees from Guantanamo en masse to Colorado’s civilian SuperMax prison would in fact violate international law and our treaty obligations.

PS - The non-functioning link correctly pointed out by Bill in the original post has now been corrected. We apologize for the typo. The link goes to the Yale University Law Library’s “Avalon Project” – a superb resource and reference for documents on international law.