Friction between council members 
highlights a growing rift in ideology

I find it pays to read the newspaper carefully. Often after a story is reported, there is, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, “The Rest of the Story.” Case in point: the April 24 portion of The Daily Sentinel, titled “Getting It Right.” It sought to clarify an item about the outgoing Grand Junction City Council passing a resolution, reportedly with support from all members except one, asking Councilor-elect Rick Brainard to resign. The April 24 entry corrected a ...

---

Legislators’ 30 percent tax on marijuan could boost illegal distribution

It’s spring, the time of year when legislators’ fancy turns to money. Not that they don’t spend all of their time thinking about how we have their money and why they need it back. But, while many of us dream of tripping through meadows of wildflowers, others dream of a sunshiny day collecting taxes. Outside of just trying to get our money the usual ways, the big push for revenue seems to be with the taxation and regulation of marijuana, subsequent to the passage of ...

---

Democrats run roughshod over GOP 
with partisan, anti-business bills

Most readers won’t have an opportunity to be a member of western Colorado’s legislative delegation to the Statehouse in Denver, so I thought I’d give a suggestion for those interested in getting the sensation of this session. Imagine you’re in a parking lot being pursued by a couple of those clown cars from the circus — you know the kind: tiny, bright yellow vehicles stuffed full of clowns with big red noses and wide floppy shoes. About 20 to a car and they ...

---

Let system play out in Brainard case, consider electing a bona fide mayor

Let’s throttle back that liberal filter to the Miami Herald. I’d like the Orange County Register, but that’s probably pushing my luck. When I say local politics, I’m sure most of you think as I do – a classy operation. Now that we have the sarcasm aside, it can probably be safely said that expectations of local politicians are often disappointingly low. That’s why it’s worth commenting when even those expectations are underwhelmed. I don’t ...

---

Democrats’ legislative agenda leaves 
citizens with a lot of heavy lifting

One of the most important things to remember in modern politics is: Always lift with your legs. That’s because the output of legislative bodies has gotten quite heavy. And I don’t mean in the sense of the “heavy guitar sound” of the ’60s, but actual weight, both financial and gravity-influenced. For example, on Friday the Colorado House of Representatives passed a 582-page, $20.5 billion budget. That’s a pretty weighty matter. I’m not certain if ...

---

Progressives in Colorado Legislature 
demonstrate they care little about jobs

It’s been a revealing week in Colorado politics. Disorganized, foolish and frightening for this legislative session. This Legislature generates the same feeling I imagine would occur if parents told their children there really is a monster under the bed and it’s bigger and hungrier than the one they were worried about. It’s no secret the Legislature’s finger jab to the eye of the Constitution on gun-control edicts caused the firearms-accessories manufacturer Magpul ...

---

Council makes it tough to choose: 
civic responsibility or entertainment

What a dilemma. I felt as though I had my mind made up about what needed to happen at the upcoming Grand Junction City Council elections. It was clear a new brace of oxen needed to be yoked to the city wagon to pull it out of the ditch of fiscal irresponsibility. But then I read last week’s Daily Sentinel story about the March 20 City Council meeting and watched the video. Now I’m torn between civic responsibility and selfishness. The meeting started off with Mayor Bill Pitts ...

---

Council incumbents face worthy challengers

Those living within the city limits of Grand Junction should have received municipal election ballots in the mail by now. The best reason for participating is this is one of the few times in recent memory where significant attention and money have been spent bringing to light the problems and controversies of a sitting City Council. Considering what’s been done the last few years, that should be enough to sweep any dust bunnies out of the corners of the council chamber. Fiascoes, ...

---

Founders’ views have been ignored 
as state Democrats push gun laws

I dislike starting columns with quotes from famous people too often. However, given the actions of our Legislature this week, this one seems appropriate: “No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Thomas Jefferson, draft of the Constitution of Virginia. I recognize that quoting the Founding Fathers to people in favor of limiting the Second Amendment is a little like quoting the Bible to atheists; it not only doesn’t make them listen, it makes them ...

---

Voters can change free-spending City Council

Finally, an opportunity to clean up the mess at Grand Junction City Hall. That’s not a terrifically specific statement, given the number of possible scenarios, but let’s start with the City Council election. The municipal election for City Council members and referred measures falls on April 2. If you’re a qualified city resident, you should be receiving a ballot next week to make your choices. If you’re not a city resident, you should find a candidate or issue to ...

---

Legislature has once more failed 
to pass much-needed ‘Jessica’s Law’

During my time as a prosecutor, I took over, for a time, part of the caseload of a colleague who specialized in crimes against children. If Tom Diester, now District Judge Diester, were to do nothing else in his life other than the care and diligence he put into those desolate cases, his place in heaven still would be assured. I bring this up because this week the Colorado Legislature rejected another opportunity to enact harsher penalties for child sex predators under what’s ...

---

Gun debate brings out the 
looniest bits of legislation

To those folks who thought government resolutions to support the Second Amendment were frivolous, the news this week might change that opinion. Granted, we’re living in exceptional times, normally Constitution bashing types are more surreptitious, so we should be pleased they are being flushed into the open by this gun rights debate. Here are some of the things various public officials feel are reasonable constraints on a citizen’s right to keep and bear arms. In Washington ...

---

Hickenlooper’s support of fracking 
drives some Dems bonkers

To paraphrase the singer Katy Perry, “Governor Hickenlooper tasted fracking fluid, and he liked it! On Tuesday, our governor testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and said that fracking fluids are apparently not much to worry about — something many of us interested in living in the 21st century versus the 19th have been saying all along. In fact, according to the Washington Times, he said, “You can drink it. We did drink it around the ...

---

Legislative package of gun laws will 
do little but cut Democrats’ numbers

It’s been a little bleak for conservatives in Colorado since the last election, but this Tuesday things might have gotten a bit better, courtesy of Colorado’s Democratic legislative majority. As I’ve said before, not many issues can create a sea change in the Legislature, but Second Amendment tinkering and pointless gun laws are a couple. This week the Democratic leadership in Colorado’s Legislature introduced or stated they plan to introduce as merry a ...

---

Legislative Democrats don’t trust 
locals to protect school children

We can all breathe a little easier this week because Colorado’s Senate Judiciary Committee was able to protect us from the stress of self-government by demonstrating what one-party government control really looks like. I’m referring to the committee’s killing, on a party line vote of 3-2, of a bill cosponsored by Sen. Ted Harvey that would have allowed local school boards to explore various security options, including the possibility of allowing teachers and staff the ...

---

President Clinton correct: Gun issue 
could cost Dems in next election

This week, I have to agree with something former President Bill Clinton had to say, and I saw evidence of it right here in Grand Junction. Not that I haven’t agreed with a few things he’s had to say before. After all, there’s no denying that he is one of the cagiest politicians of our age. Last week, he was busily warning fellow Democrats that this recent radical attack on the Second Amendment and firearms was in the process of re-energizing the tea party, which could ...

---

Union paybacks, overreaching mark 
the start of 2013 legislative session

The Colorado legislative session for 2013 is getting under way, and we are able to get a sense of the broad outlines of what’s going to happen. It’s unpleasantly madcap. Now that Democrats have their hands and feet on the legislative rudder in both houses, as well as the governor’s mansion, they are approaching the session with the same level of judiciousness as a 5-year-old who just ate half his body weight in sugar cubes approaches his toy box. One example in support ...

---

Well-trained local volunteers 
could help stop school violence

This week, Mesa County School District 51 officials were presented with the opportunity to consider bold and sensible solutions to possibly prevent violent assaults like those that occurred in Connecticut. Possible changes in the way schools prepare and conduct themselves in the face of what amounts to terrorist attacks have been presented by citizens groups, including the idea of arming some teachers and staff. One local group is advocating volunteer security personnel at school ...

---

Energy industry will face renewed 
attacks in Legislature and elsewhere

Since we’re at the beginning of a new year, we should pick out some of our favorite things from the last one. I have to pick as one of my favorite photographs from The Daily Sentinel last year a photo by Dennis Webb that was published on Dec. 21. In that photo are shown four people at a natural gas well, listening to one gentleman talk while two of the three spectators are wearing respirators. One of the attendees had come all the way from Colorado Springs for the opportunity to ...

---

Predictions for the coming year: 
more on tax hikes, gun control

With the passing of another year, we will endure the parade of “Top Stories of the Previous Year,” often with American Bandstand-like countdowns from 10 to 1. Some stories have a good beat but are, unfortunately, difficult to dance to. So, to break that trend, like a broadsheet Amazing Kreskin, I shall endeavor to predict some of the news stories of 2013. The new, Democrat-controlled state Legislature will introduce a series of gun-control measures as soon as lawmakers can ...

---

Easy solutions won’t halt violent attacks on the innocent

Tragedies make poor times for decisions and unfortunate ones for politics but that seldom stops either from happening. In situations like last week’s horrific school shooting, the evil that animates such actions is beyond reason or political calculation. The need to protect ourselves and loved ones from such unfathomable activity compels us all, and since we cannot undo such evil once done, we can only hope to do whatever possible to prevent a recurrence. The hazard I fear is a ...

---

Don’t get mad, get worried 
at Democrats’ post-election acts

I wish our friends on the left would stop angrily saying conservatives are angry all the time. I even read in The Daily Sentinel I was supposed to be angry, apparently about the results of the election. That’s not true. I’m a little concerned we’re headed toward national bankruptcy, starting a health care system that’s going to deliver the best care that 1937 had to offer and engaging in a foreign-policy where the only people afraid of what we might do are our ...

---

Democratic control of Legislature 
may not be to governor’s advantage

Lost in the fallout of the national election is news here in Colorado that all three elected branches of state government are now in the hands of the Democrats. Since 2006 Democrats have controlled the governor’s mansion, and they’ve held the Senate since 2004. Republicans maintained control of the state House of Representatives by only a single vote this last session. After November’s results, Democrats wrested control of the House back to their side of the aisle with a ...

---

While we focus on national politics, 
we may miss important acts locally

As I’ve been reading some of the papers lately, I’ve had a question: Didn’t the progressives win some of these elections a couple of weeks ago? They just don’t seem very happy. I mean, they re-elected President Barack Obama and killed the Twinkie. You would think that would be pretty fulfilling on the socialism-and-crushing-the-freedom-to-eat-delicious-but-mysterious-foods fronts. But no, the carping continues. Apparently, conservatives aren’t going away ...

---

National issues, economy pose 
problems for Colorado Democrats

So this is what 2004 felt like. I mean this is what it felt like to be a Democrat when George W. Bush was re-elected. I remember watching the returns with a group of Democrats and remember the stunned disbelief that President Bush was about to be returned to office. None of them could believe it. His job-performance numbers were way down, he was unpopular with large portions of the population and the subject of almost constant protests from the left. There was even a permanent encampment ...

---

Keeping the conservative faith 
following a difficult election loss

At the end of the day, you can only do what you can do and if you’ve done everything you can, then there has to be a certain satisfaction from that. While many might be disappointed, there is always the virtue of having fought in a good fight. Most of you are probably pretty tired of dissections of the campaign discussing what happened and what went wrong, as well as the misplaced smugness of victors and equally useless crestfallen words from those not successful in achieving their ...

---

A few Colorado counties show up on campaigns’ radar

Those familiar with America’s struggle in southeast Asia will recall an idea of protecting certain strategic positions to prevent them from falling under communist influence after their neighbors had done so. This was “The Domino Theory,” which assumed momentum gathered from this action would push nations like dominoes on a board, down the same path. This seems much the theory both presidential campaigns have been operating on in the closing days of this presidential ...

---

Criminals developing an appetite 
for engaging in food-stamp fraud

It’s been said that it’s expensive to be poor and to some extent this is true. But it’s also expensive for a nation to have the sort of economic policies that keep a significant portion of its people poor. Not only does it raise the level of misery but, in our case, it makes a few rich and too many dependent, and it creates a criminal class profiting from the often ineffectual policies in place to help the poor. One of the best examples of this problem takes place in the ...

---

Colorado polls offer reason for Obama campaign team to panic

More than a week after the presidential debate, the political class of the left, the far left and eventually the Obama campaign are still in full flap mode, with behavior you would normally see if you kicked the door open on a chicken coop and threw in a basket of hungry weasels. Since it appears the only states that matter are the “swing” states, of which Colorado is one, our polling is important — and the polling has turned frightening for supporters of President Barack ...

---

Government does create jobs, 
but many of them are unnecessary

I have noticed controversy on these pages lately about whether government can create jobs. I assume this means private-sector jobs, since creating government jobs seems as easy as falling off a log onto a mattress of tax dollars. The short answer is: Sure, government can create jobs, they’re just not usually the kind of jobs we like to have too many of. Think tax attorneys, CPAs and criminal defense attorneys to defend people who weren’t well-off enough to afford CPAs and tax ...

---

Sal Pace, like many politicians,

I received another email yesterday from my friend, state Rep. Sal Pace, who, although I’ve never met him, apparently feels familiar enough to keep asking me for money. I’m not really surprised. I know he hasn’t had much work history, certainly not much outside of government, and right now he’s only employed part-time as a state legislator. As a matter of fact, I saw him on television recently with an older gentleman looking as though he was learning something about ...

---

Progress bereft of achievement leaves us worse off than before

I have a framed print in my office. I like it, but it is also there to remind me of something important. The painting is of the interior of the Pantheon in Rome, showing the great dome towering above the figures below. The people depicted are not dressed as Roman citizens of the time when the building was constructed, the beginning of the second century A.D. Instead, they are wearing clothing from the Middle Ages. What makes the painting interesting is that none of the people pictured in ...

---

City Council was quick to punt 
on Brady Trucking zoning issue

Accountability and job performance are sort of moving targets in the political spectrum. If you’re not sure if that’s true, check out most campaign commercials, where the incumbent is stressing how he’s done his job and the challenger is stressing how he has not. It’s clearly an area of poor definition. So, when you see a political entity that is obviously not performing its job function and there’s fairly widespread agreement on it, you know you have ...

---

Gessler unfairly pilloried for vigilance

Since this week finds us in the throes of the Democratic National Convention, let’s start with a quote from one of President Obama’s relatives: “Selective enforcement of the law is the first sign of tyranny.” The speaker was Dr. Martin Wolf, Obama’s cousin, a radiologist and a staunch opponent of his health care law. In this quote, however, Wolf highlighted one of the most troubling occurrences of our time. Having spoken to Wolf, I can say he recognizes the ...

---

Hickenlooper speech at convention 
shows Dems lack future candidates

In sports, a team that has the best chance of winning over the long haul is the one that has the deepest bench. That is the talent coming up from the farm teams and practice fields, people who may eventually play in the big game. Politics is exactly the same, which is why the announcement that Colorado’s Gov. John Hickenlooper has been invited to speak at the Democrats’national convention in North Carolina caught my eye. It made me realize that, as far as candidates for ...

---

Scott Gessler has demonstrated he will fight for voting integrity

If you voted for Scott Gessler to be Colorado Secretary of State because you’re worried about voter integrity, you’re probably pretty happy with his performance. If you think requirements for voting should be about the same as ordering a side of fries from a drive-through window, you’re probably not. Gessler ran on a platform of simplifying the functioning of the office to make it more business friendly and to do everything possible to raise the integrity of the voting ...

---

With nearly empty buses, GVT’s extended hours don’t make sense

Maybe it was my remark about the empty buses looking like mass transit versions of “The Flying Dutchman” or maybe it was just a sense of fiscal responsibility. In any event, I received a number of responses to last week’s column, commenting on readers’ observations of the dearth of riders on Grand Valley Transit buses during much of the day. I took a quick look at some figures from the end of 2011 that showed the operating costs of the transit service as being about ...

---

A local no-plaques policy might slow the drive for costly projects

A couple of years ago I decided it would be better to write this column more about state and local issues than national affairs. It doesn’t mean I don’t comment about them or draw parallels, which are often too clear, between what is happening on a national scale and how that affects happenings closer to home. Sometimes though, it seems more difficult to get folks to examine local issues and stimulate debate than it is with national topics. At first glance I think this seems ...

---

Longmont solar firm has many similarities with Solyndra

Interesting news on a story we have been following here at the bottom of the page for a while that will mainly be of interest to taxpayers, which is starting to narrow the audience. You probably haven’t heard too much about it, as it takes place in a faraway land with the strange names of Longmont, but it is exciting, involving huge sums of money, political maneuvering and one who has been referred to as a member of “the gang of four.” The company is Abound Solar, which, ...

---

Supreme Court ruling is a threat to Americans’ freedom of choice

I missed writing a column last week and, when a couple of people asked me why, I answered as I usually do in such situations: liberal media suppression. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that dramatic. I was out of town and my editor quite understood. But given the temper of the time, I thought it a good opportunity to jump on the victimization bandwagon. One can’t really navigate modern American society these days without being identified with some oppressed group. So this was my ...

---

Hickenlooper sets record straight on fracking and gas drilling

As a fan of the science fiction series “Battlestar Galactica,” I still find it odd to see the term ““fracking” used in polite society since it was a euphemism for a dirty word in the TV series. That is not too far off on how the far-left environmental movement (or as I like to think of it, neoprimitive) is attempting to portray the more down-to-earth usage of the word that is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, a process used to extract natural gas from ...

---

Sheriffs have a unique role in working with federal authorities

There has been a lot of interest recently about the interaction between local law enforcement and their counterparts on the federal level. This very week, there was a forum involving several county sheriff’s to discuss just that topic.  A sheriff’s office should be an example of the relationship between the citizen and government. That is, it should be as close and direct as possible. Moving in the other direction has been the federalizing of criminal law. The idea that ...

---

City purchase of old buildings is not sensible public business

Normally the editorial page is not where we see advertising. However, I think it’s important citizens know the city of Grand Junction is buying distressed properties willy-nilly and readers with decrepit buildings, haunted houses or unexploded World War II munitions on their property should hustle down to City Hall and see what kind of deal they can cut. Don’t know how much the property is worth? Doesn’t seem to be a problem. I’d like to say this is a ...

---

Solar array on federal building is example of trendy, wasteful effort

When I first saw it I thought “well, it’s about time we got our own spaceport.”  After all, why should Roswell or Area 51 get all the visitors? We clearly have had aliens living among us for some time — Mork, Alf, Joe Biden — so they have to be landing somewhere to spend those out-of-town space credits. So the thing’s hideous. At least it’ll bring in some of the extra-solar trade and the really crazy aliens are probably on the way to Aspen ...

---

‘Missy Awards’ given for ridiculous political behavior

With awards season in full swing, we didn’t want to miss our opportunity here at the bottom of the editorial page to hand out our newly minted “Misunderestimated Awards” (The Missys) for political regression. The first Missy is a special category this year, going out to The Best Republican Governor since 2002-there’s a lot of excitement in the air but I think the winner should be obvious as, John Hickenlooper. By never meeting a conflict he doesn’t avoid, ...

---

‘Chop-O-Matic politics’ seek to divide U.S.

Looking through statistics is a little like mining: Sometimes you find something different than what you were looking for originally. In this case, I was looking through the TCAP (Transitional Colorado Assessment Program) scores that are used by the state to assess reading levels among elementary students. I give these about the same credence I would the veracity of the voter rolls of Cook County, Ill., but I assumed they could shed a little light on student achievement. Instead, I ...

---

Marijuana DUI bill would have offered safeguards for accused

If nothing else can be said about State Sen. Steve King’s bill to set permissible blood levels of marijuana while driving, it certainly has received quite a bit of attention. Iconic websites such as, tokeofthetown.com, puffingtonpost.com and the mysteriously named weedorskin.com have all commented. What I take from this is that people who smoke marijuana are very interested in the fact that law enforcement wants to establish a benchmark for how much marijuana one can use before we ...

---

Boulder’s energy plan is a leap toward socialism

I’ve been following the story of a possible government takeover of an energy company recently and I thought it might be useful to share with our readers. Most will assume we are referencing a occupation occurring in some faraway socialist/Marxist enclave. You would only be partly right, it’s happening in Boulder. You’ve probably seen mention of Boulder wanting to establish its own public utility to escalate its battle with common sense by pushing energy generation further ...

---

Jury treated troopers’ confrontations with Kemp as two separate incidents

The recent trial resulting from the shooting of Jason Kemp in Grand Junction by a Colorado State Patrol trooper has generated a wide range of emotions and, of course, opinions. Such situations, happening in even in their most straightforward fashion, are always of deep concern to the public, and they should be. As someone who’s participated in a number of law enforcement shooting investigations, I can say that I’ve never seen an instance where it was treated lightly or where ...

---

Colorado Republicans must forget past differences and work together

Here’s a riddle: What do the movies Rob Roy, Braveheart and Monty Python’s Life of Brian have in common with this last weekend’s Republican state assembly? Sure, an obvious answer is the need for focus. I’m certain some of you took the esoteric route of kilts, face painting and long speeches, but the real commonality is the need to recognize what you’re trying to get done and put that above problems you have with one another. Our historical characters in the ...

---