Yep, disappointment. I bought a DVD on how to deal with disappointment. When I opened the box, it was empty.
We are tenacious here at Independence. We are never content to just research or comment on what needs to be done to advance the Colorado Character. We take action.
After seeing some of the questionable, sometimes downright racist things being taught in public school, we knew parents needed to be empowered to, at the very least, see the educational materials that their children are being subject to.
We worked with State Representative Tim Geitner on a curriculum transparency bill. That was shot down in the very first Democrat-controlled committee it went to. So, we decided to take it directly to the people in the form of a citizen’s initiative, much like the income tax cut we already have on the ballot.
In Colorado, just to exercise your right to petition to get something on the ballot, your initiative must go through a three-member panel called the Title Board. Made up of appointees from the legislature, attorney general, and secretary of state. This board must decide if your initiative has a “single subject.” If they say it doesn’t, your proposal is dead.
Our education materials transparency measure had a very clear single subject—to expand the state open records law to include educational materials. At our first hearing, the Title Board agreed it was a single subject. Who wouldn’t? When legal agents of the teachers union got a re-hearing, the Title Board somehow, magically, changed its collective mind and voted 2-to-1 that it wasn’t “single subject,” effectively killing our initiative effort this year.
Fortunately, we don’t get discouraged, only angry and more focused. We will re-calibrate our plans and find the next, even better attack to empower parents to have the legal right to examine the materials used to “educate” our kids. Stay tuned.
We manage to piss off all the right special interests. If it’s not the teachers union, it’s the energy monopolies, like Xcel Energy.
Fortunately, we had much better luck with the Title Board on a measure to rein in investor-owned utilities’ ability to screw over their captive customers. I explain the need for the reform HERE.
The media sure has taken note of this initiative. Among other outlets, it’s been featured in Westword, Denver Post, Boulder Daily Camera, and on Colorado Public Radio.
Colorado’s rate of inflation is 6 points higher than the national average. We can fairly label it the “Polis Inflation Premium.” My latest column lays it out.
Also in Complete Colorado, Vincent Carroll explains that elites must let go of their fantasy of mass transit as the cure-all for metro Denver’s urban woes.
Cory Gaines reviews a set of proposed ballot measures that want to snatch away your TABOR refunds.
Weld County Commissioner Scott James says the Polis policies squeezing Colorado oil and gas production are actually benefiting Putin’s Russia.
And reporter Sherrie Peif looks at a so-called ‘producer liability’ recycling bill that drives up costs on businesses and the products they produce. To make matters worse, it’s being sponsored by a Republican.
Over the past several months, you have heard us talk a lot about our concerns with the recommended revisions to the Colorado Academic Social Studies Standards. Pam Benigno, Director of our Education Policy Center, sounded the “Take Action Now” alarm last fall.
There was so much public feedback that it has pushed the final vote on the standards from June until November or December, but reports coming from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) show we made a significant difference! For instance, rather than what appeared to many of us as an emphasis on the negative elements of American history, the CDE says the committee has made revisions to provide more balance. And, beginning in first grade in the first proposal, they have removed all references to LGBTQ from below 4th grade. Stay tuned, the standards won’t be finalized until next fall.
If you didn’t have a chance to go to the theater to see Deborah Flora’s eye-opening movie, Whose Children Are They?, it is available on SALEMNOW. It’s a film everyone should watch.
MEDIA ROUNDTABLE
Join me on May 24 for a panel discussion with Mike Krause, Editor-in-Chief of Complete Colorado; Hollywood expert Christian Toto of HollywoodinToto.com; and Wayne Laugesen, Editorial Page Editor for The Gazette. Learn how these industry experts are working to bring a balanced, authentic voice to media and combat the leftward slant in media and Hollywood.
Get your free ticket here.
Have you ever noticed that when media outlets and their scholars rank the Presidents on performance, they somehow always seem to give the advantage to Presidents that liberals like? Rob Natelson, our Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence, has written an essay about how Presidents really should be rated. Spoiler alert: FDR looks a lot worse and Calvin Coolidge a lot better. The essay is available HERE.
I recently sat down with Ashley Chase with the Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative to discuss a new bill in the Colorado Legislature empowering foster children.
Did you know YOU can be part of the Front Range Passenger Rail District? Governor Polis has the authority to appoint you, a Colorado citizen, to one of the over one-hundred boards or commissions. You can change Colorado government from the inside! Click HERE to check them out.
Beyond those, there are appointment opportunities for thousands of boards and commissions (state and local) throughout Colorado. Independence Institute is hosting our next Local Government Class TOMORROW, April 26 at 6:30 pm via Zoom (www.i2i.org/local-gov). This class will teach you what you need to know in order to get appointed! You will learn the why, the how, and the best way you can affect your local government.
Join us!
Think Freedom!
-Jon
