Denver Metro Young Republicans

Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute explains that this fall’s Amendment 49 is not about attacking unions, but about ethics in government:

“Amendment 49 is not a labor issue and I’ll repeat that,” he said, which he did.

What is it, then? “It’s a restriction on government. It’s an ethics issue.”

His proposal would prohibit all state and local governments in Colorado from deducting payments that benefit “private organizations and special interests” from paychecks they issue. It doesn’t mention unions specifically, but they clearly would be most affected.

Deductions for taxes, Social Security, Medicare, liens, garnishments, child support, retirement plans, health insurance premiums and charitable gifts wouldn’t be affected…

Caldara maintains it’s a conflict of interest for, say, school board officials to be funneling money to local unions through paycheck deductions and then getting a check back from the same unions in the form of campaign contributions.

Automatic dues deductions also make it easier for unions to raise the money it takes to fight against citizen amendments they fear might cut in to their power…in this case, some $25 million in dues diverted from members’ paychecks to fight Amendments 49 (no special interest withholding) and 47 (right to work) and other issues in this election cycle.

That’s a whole lot of wages — withheld, processed, and disbursed to unions by government employees whose time is paid for with your taxes. Meanwhile, Caldara is trying to raise a mere $500,000 to promote passage of Amendment 49…without the benefit of automatic deductions.

Here’s a recap of the unrest we’ve already seen today:

• Gateway Pundit describes his press/delegate bus being bombed with bags of sand and/or cement from an overpass;
• Atlas Shrugs reports on the anarchist mini-rampage (AP report here);
• Powerline describes a protestor gang attack on a busload of Cub Scouts(!).
• The Connecticut delegation was surrounded by “60 to 80″ protestors and doused with bleach — one 83-year-old delegate had his credential snatched, but it was later returned.
• Fox has a good general roundup of the lefty violence.
• Ohdeargodinheaven, they arrested Amy Goodman?!?!? Yawn. This might be the world-ending development the FDL’ers think it is if mainstream America actually knew who she was.

Naturally, the lefty sources are spinning the events in St. Paul as political repression of innocent, peaceful protestors by jackbooted facist police doing the bidding of the eeeeeeeevil GOP. We saw the same spin here in Denver, however, and one needs only look at the photo essays on PPC to see how bored the cops were with the whole thing, and the analysis by Zombie at LGF to know the truth of at least one of the phony “incidents” being whined about by the moonbats.

Working the protests last week confirmed something I’d always suspected with these things: take the reports of the left (and the often-sympathetic or simply drama-seeking mainstream media) with a HUGE grain of salt when they claim police brutality and the like.

All the real anarchists and rioters were in St. Paul, getting ready for the RNC, instead of embarrassing their not-radical/violent/crazy-enough would-be friends in the Democratic Party here.

If they’re already rioting in the streets and dropping bags of sand and cement on GOP buses, on the (storm-deferred) opening day of the convention, imagine how ugly things could get by Thursday.

(Eat your heart out, Spagz.)

UPDATE: rumor has it that this may have been the plan all along…that Spagz and company get the half-assed local protestors and traveling demo-kiddies for Denver, with lots of talk of protests and unrest ultimately amounting to nothing, while the serious anarchists and troublemakers converge on St. Paul to “recreate Seattle” there. Hmm…

Well…this is certainly an interesting way to handle a scandal:

Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father, a senior aide to Sen. John McCain confirmed to CNN Tuesday.

Republican presidential candidate McCain was aware of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy before he chose her mother for his running mate, the aide said.

“Senator McCain knew this and felt in no way did it disqualify her from being vice president,” said the aide. “Families have difficulties sometimes, and lucky for her she has a supportive family.”

The 17-year-old, a senior in high school, is about five months along, in her second trimester, according to the aide.

The aide said it was decided the campaign would reveal this information now because of rampant Internet rumors that Sarah Palin’s 4-month-old baby, who has Down syndrome, was actually Bristol’s.

Honesty We Can Believe In!

Sadly, this won’t do anything to quiet the attacks on Bristol from the sewers of the left. No matter that the announcement shows the campaign to be honest (rather than secretive and bullying) about private matters, or that the situation the family is in itself illustrates personal responsibility (one of those principles Republicans are supposed to stand for), it’s blood in the water. The imagery experts at Kos and elsewhere who spent the past three days poring over every photo and video of Gov. Palin and her daughter looking for telltale signs of a “baby bump” will regard their efforts as a brilliant success rather than a lucky shot in the dark, and will be emboldened to continue and even expand what they’ve been doing.

Which sucks for the Palin family. And for civil discourse. I can only hope that the silver lining in all of this is that there is so much blowback against the unhinged left that the Democrats are finally forced to marginalize them.

If you’re hungry for coverage of the weird goings-on at the DNC this week rather than the carefully stage-managed primetime events that will be covered by the MSM, check out the Peoples Press Collective.

PPC is a consortium of Colorado and national bloggers, who have banded together to shine a light into the dark and scary corners of the Democrat convention where Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Wolf Blitzer, et al, dare not look. We are covering the mayhem with blog posts, photo essays, video, and even live video streams of major events and breaking news.

…he has never expected anyone else to carry his mortgage.

Recall, dear Readers, when one John McCain hinted at naming his Veep and didn’t and the media got all huffy and deleted his number because no one likes a boy who plays games?

Anybody else here think that’s what Barack is doing right now?

Yet the mainstream press is still babysitting the phone in case he calls.

Where: Pioneer Monument, on the northwest corner of Colfax Avenue and Broadway
When: Sunday, August 24th10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Americans from near and far will assemble in Denver, CO to show their support for our troops and their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For details and updates: www.LookingAtTheLeft.com

American Victory Coalition has a permit for a rally at Pioneer Monument Park in Denver on Sunday, Aug. 24th. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, will be there, as will Vets for Freedom.

SPEAKERS:Debbie Lee, (click name for video) Gold Star Mom, is the mother of Marc Allan Lee, the first Navy Seal killed in Iraq. She will be talking with us about her efforts to support our troops, her recent trip to her Iraq AND–the well-known Berkeley City Council quest to rid the city of the Marine Corps’ Recruiting office. With Move America Forward she responded to Berkeley calling the Marine Corps ‘unwanted intruders’.Major Diggs Brown Jr. gives patriotic, inspirational and motivational presentations in which he uses his own incredible military experiences to help audiences understand that each of us can make a difference in this world. Team effort and cooperation play a central part in this stirring story of soldiers and civilians combining their efforts to help disillusioned souls a world away. You will learn how the Global War on Terror is being won through the compassion of US citizens, the “Winning of Hearts and Minds.”
Vets for Freedom representative Brian Evers served three tours with the Marines in Iraq.
Steve Ward, a colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, has served tours of active duty at Special Operations Command, in Afghanistan, atNorthern Command, at the Pentagon, in Thailand assisting with recovery from the 2004 Asian tsunami and, in 2007, on an assignment in the western Pacific. In August 2007, Ward was called up to active duty in Iraq as part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, where he served as a military inspector general based at Camp Fallujah. He returned from his Iraq deployment in early February 2008.

Our goal is to show the world America’s true colors: strength, patriotism and resolve in the war on terror. The Democratic National Convention will be a left wing free-for-all with mass media trumpeting radical anti-war messages. If you respect our troops, their commanders and their mission, this is the opportunity to make your voice heard. Media attention on Americans who actively support victory is almost non-existent. This is an opportunity to change that. It’s important for the public to see that the “silent majority” is silent no more. Also this rally will be directly in view of the delegates to the DNC, who clearly need to hear this message. The organizers welcome anyone who wants to show their support for victory in the war against Islamonazis and the regimes that support them.

SECURITY: Many people interested in participating want to know if this will be a safe environment. Security during the convention is being taken very seriously by the Denver Police Department and other agencies. We are coordinating closely with the authorities, who have assured us that with their massive budget and planning order will be maintained. We have been promised that at least one police officer will be amongst us, and the area will be secure.

WHAT TO BRING: A sign to express your opinion supporting victory or critisizing those who undermine the national war effort. Various grass-roots groups and individuals will bring plenty of extra signs, so it’s fine to come without a sign as well. The important thing is to come, even if you can’t stay the whole time. Signs that are effective should have brief, legible messages. Please do not bring signs containing profanity. • Hat, sunscreen, water: check the forecast. Be prepared to be out in the elements. There is shade nearby, and places to buy refreshments and use bathrooms.• Kids: only bring them if they’re old enough to understand the issues and not be upset in the event of acrimonious debate with anti-war or anti-American leftists.

PARKING & TRANSPORTATION• RTD (Denver’s public transportation system) offers extensive options via light rail or bus from all over the metro Denver area. Be sure to check the new schedule after Aug. 17.• Parking is expected to be not so bad because it’s a Sunday in a business and civic district. Meters are free on Sundays. The earlier you get there, the closer you will be able to park. Numerous nearby pay-lots will be available also, so bring some cash.

I will expect to see more, much more of this kind of thing in the coming weeks, from the McCain campaign and from people fed up with Obamassiah’s messianism.

And if by some chance they should run out of material, there are plenty of his platitudinous “collectivism with a smiley face” preachings out there.

As some of you already noticed, I’ve created a DMYR group on networking site LinkedIn.

And for those of you who were waiting patiently while I was away on vaction, I finally approved your pending membership requests.