BackboneAmerica

Here’s more on the issue of detainees in the Global War on Terror, the story that just won’t die. After railing for years against (more…)

“The Presidency is the ultimate prize.” “Congress matters most for the issues I care about.” “The world won’t end if the other side takes over our statehouse for a while.” Listen to the political talk for any length of time, and you will hear those three thoughts expressed. You have probably expressed them yourself. Are they generally true? Yes. But they’re not the whole story. Important as the stakes are in Washington DC for this election year, it also matters a great deal who holds the governor’s chair and who leads the legislative majorities, down at your state capitol. (more…)

Who’s replied, who hasn’t, listed below

Colorado legislators preparing to vote on bills to close a yawning $13 billion deficit in PERA, the state pension system, owe the public a frank declaration of what financial stake, if any, each state Senator or Representative personally holds in PERA. Out of 100 members in the legislature, 79 have yet to provide such disclosure.

Claremont Institute wrote each member personally on Feb. 21, asking for a yes or no on PERA membership and, if yes, the year of joining and the amount of additional service credits purchased. The list below gives a fully tally of written replies received as of the requested deadline, March 3, along with several oral replies provided since then. (more…)

John Andrews, former Senate President and now a fellow of the Claremont Institute, today called on Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff to encourage full disclosure of all 100 legislators’ PERA membership status — followed by divestiture into a non-PERA pension plan — as an assurance for arm’s-length handling of PERA reform bills awaiting Senate action soon.

Steps must be taken to assure the public there will be no self-dealing on proposals to shore up the deficit-ridden state pension system “at this time of ethics charges and shaken public confidence,” Andrews said in a letter to Fitz-Gerald and Romanoff (see full text of letter below). (more…)

(John Andrews in the Wall Street Journal, Aug. 18) My new favorite CD is “Don’t Let It Stop You,” by local mother-daughter singers Linda and Jessica Storey and their band, the Alleluia Blues. “Hold onto your dreams, though mountains fall,” sings Linda. “Don’t ever give up the will to survive.”

The song was written after Sept. 11. But it also evokes the life story of this 51-year-old rocker, who has battled multiple sclerosis for almost 30 years. She didn’t let that stop her from building a marriage, raising two children, founding Musicians Against MS–and recently, helping to pilot a revolutionary approach to Medicaid in Colorado. (more…)

Former Senate President John Andrews and former Speaker of the House Lola Spradley, along with two of their Republican predecessors in legislative leadership, held a news conference at the State Capitol yesterday announcing their opposition to the Referendum C tax increase. Andrews and Spradley were joined by Ray Powers and Bev Bledsoe in signing a letter to the 28 current legislators who opposed the tax hike and defended TABOR. (more…)