LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF COLORADO BLOG

Bureaucrats quake in fear that citizens will not bow down to new oppressive “fines”

Worried about potential uproar over increased auto-registration fees, Jefferson County has spent nearly $50,000 to hire off-duty cops to provide security at three Motor Vehicle Department offices.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12847490

Whenever you are in any bureaucracy that deals with the public, one thing you will almost always see is an abundance of security, bullet proof glass, metal detectors, etc. The reality is that they know on some level that their job is to steal from people and enforce unjust and unfair rules and government dictates, and this causes bureaucrats to be scared of the public. Is it any wonder that quadrupling of a “fine” on tags that are simply an avenue for revenue collection and government oppression, might rile someone up. If anyone out there has a good argument for why we even need automobile tags I would like to hear it, an argument that doesn’t involve revenue collection or government control/oppression that is. 

Taxpayers pay for cell phones to the "poor"

Thousands of low-income Coloradans reliant on public assistance could get a free cellphone under a plan before the state Public Utilities Commission.

If approved, the plan by TracFone Wireless in Miami would make Colorado the 17th state it has settled into with free cell service for the indigent, a form of wireless welfare that proponents say taps into one of the last untapped markets for the telecom technology.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12838433

I am not sure what to say. Obviously it is not something that libertarians would approve of. The definition of a need seems to be changing everyday. TV has become a need that the government recently felt compelled to subsidize by issuing vouchers for digital converters, now a cell phone is considered a need. Where does it stop? 

Racetack socialism to come to Aurora?

In May, Colorado Springs developer Bill Schuck and Oakwood Homes president Pat Hamill announced separately their desire to each build a motorsports track and complex on land in Aurora near Denver International Airport.

The competing proposals want to take advantage of the recently passed Colorado Regional Tourism Act that would allow developers to receive sales-tax revenue generated from new attractions to pay off bonds used for construction of the projects.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_12818665

This article basically seems like a sales pitch for this project, it goes on about the economic benefits that will be generated by having this racetrack. I am always very suspicious of these types of claims. If a proposal is a virtual guarantee of being successful, then there is no reason for taxpayers to subsidize the project. Most of the time when tax money is involved it is because the proposal is really a stinker from a financial perspective, but it is something that will allow a lot of money to be redirected to the politicians and the politically connected under the guise of doing something for the community.

Governor Ritter rewards friends with your money

As the first stimulus money flowed into Colorado, it was doled out to shovel-ready transportation projects — and some of Gov. Bill Ritter's former law partners.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12806466

As far as I can tell this is just business as usual for the government. Government is about rewarding friends and punishing enemies.

This Is Your War on Drugs

This Is Your War on Drugs

—By Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery

 

"... the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), a.k.a. the drug czar, who in 1998 was mandated by Congress to oppose legislation that would legalize, decriminalize, or medicalize marijuana, or redirect anti-trafficking funding into treatment. And the drug czar has also been prohibited from funding research that might give credence to any of the above. These provisions were crafted by Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Bob Barr (R-Ga.)... Though the vote count was not recorded for history, it got enough bipartisan support to be signed into law by Bill "Didn't Inhale" Clinton.

 

...the drug war has never been about facts—about, dare we say, soberly weighing which policies might alleviate suffering, save taxpayers money, rob the cartels of revenue. Instead, we've been stuck in a cycle of prohibition, failure, and counterfactual claims of success. (To wit: Since 1998, the ONDCP has spent $1.4 billion on youth anti-pot ads. It also spent $43 million to study their effectiveness. When the study found that kids who've seen the ads are more likely to smoke pot, the ONDCP buried the evidence, choosing to spend hundreds of millions more on the counterproductive ads.)

 

If we want a sensible drug policy, ditching the liar's law would be a good start."

 

http://www.motherjones.com/toc/2009/07/editors-note

Cops stop thousands of people in order to catch 17 drunk drivers

Seventeen drivers on South Powers Boulevard were cited for DUI at the checkpoint that's part of the State of Colorado's 100 Days of Heat.

That's 17, out of 2,787 cars stopped in the 400 block of South Powers Boulevard.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/drivers-57937-overnight-dui.html

I am sure the police would call this is win for them, after all they nabbed 17 “bad guys”. However, for thousands of innocent people this was definitely a lose. Not just those who were inconvenienced by the stop, but also all of the taxpayers who had to pay for the wasteful police action. This was on a holiday weekend, so I am sure holiday pay and overtime were in abundance.

Colorado gambling becomes less restrictive

As of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, thanks to events sparked by voter approval of Amendment 50, gamblers could wager $100 instead of $5 and play craps and roulette instead of just poker, blackjack and slots. They can play all night long, instead of stopping between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/money/19921576/detail.html

I think this is a good move to expand personal liberties in Colorado. I know that the ballot initiative was pushed through using extra revenue to the state as driving reason for passing, but just like with drugs and prostitution I would rather see them legal and taxed than illegal and surrounded by the violence that comes from prohibition. I would prefer gambling to be legal and untaxed, but at this point that was not an option on the table. In the end it is better to have people not be prevented by the force of the state from doing non violent things with their own time and money, whether you and I personally approve of their choices or not.

Tune in to the The Common Sense Show, with host Bo Shaffer

Sent in from Bo:

The Common Sense Show, with host Bo Shaffer, has Bob Glass as a guest this week. Tune in to see what this staunch libertarian has been up to and what his views are on current events.

Show times will be Th@7pm (live taping first week), Fr@6pm Sa@4pm, Su@6pm and Mo@8am for all of July.
Viewing is on CCTV54 Comcast Cable Channel 54 in Louisville, Lafayette, Superior and Erie.....
Also Real Time Streaming of the Station can be found at www.cctv54.org along with the full schedule....this is accessible 24/7 worldwide.

Tune in!The Common Sense Show, with host Bo Shaffer, has Bob Glass as a guest this week. Tune in to see what this staunch libertarian has been up to and what his views are on current events.

Showtimes will be Th@7pm (live taping first week), Fr@6pm Sa@4pm, Su@6pm and Mo@8am for all of July.
Viewing is on CCTV54 Comcast Cable Channel 54 in Louisville, Lafayette, Superior and Erie.....
Also Real Time Streaming of the Station can be found at www.cctv54.org along with the full schedule....this is accessible 24/7 worldwide.

Tune in!

Do any bureaucrats read the bills they vote on?

Freshman U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey claims to read bills prior to voting in Congress, but it's unlikely she had the time to do so before voting for federal "cap and trade" energy legislation Friday.

http://facethestate.com/buzz/17113-markey-says-she-reads-bills-voting-how-could-she

Of course she doesn’t read the bills before she votes for them, but the fact is that none of these bureaucrats in Washington read the bills they vote on. I am sure that the republicans will try and score points with this, but they are as guilty as the democrats. It seems like the worse the bill is, the more costly, the more full of pork, the less likely it is that the people voting on it will read the bill.

Some cities couldn't steal enough money from taxpayers to pay for fireworks

Lack of bucks means less bang this July Fourth for many cash-strapped cities.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/fireworks-57621-year-cities.html

I like fireworks as much as the next guy, but I am not sad to see these coercively funded displays go away. It is really not fair for those who enjoy firework displays to force those who do not like such spectacles to pay for an event they will not be enjoying.

You can stop hiding the rain barrels now

It's no longer illegal in Colorado to collect rain water:

It will be legal for homeowners to use rainwater for fire protection, animals, irrigation and household use. It's a touchy issue in the state, which does not import water from other states or regions and is forced by law to send it on to other states downstream.

"People are shocked that some developer or water provider owns the water that falls out of the sky," said Rep. Marsha Looper, a Republican from rural Calhan, southeast of Denver, who sponsored the legislation.

"Every drop of water that hits the ground belongs to someone," said Kevin Bommer, a lobbyist for the Colorado Municipal League, which opposed past attempts to ease the rules.

This should come as a big relief to those of us who were furtively redirecting the water pouring from our gutters (and there has been plenty o' that lately) into cisterns and flowerbeds, looking over our shoulders for the arrival of the SWAT team to drag us away for this heinous crime.

OK, maybe not.  It's not like anyone was prosecuted for "stealing" rainwater.  That such a ban even existed is indicative of the Byzantine water rights plaguing the state.  The concept that a gift of nature falling on someone's property could belong to someone else by government decree is one of the more twisted examples of forced redistribution I've come across.

Still, as laws go, this one is far more benign than the other new laws mentioned briefly in the story: a hike on hospital fees (so the state can feed more deeply at the Federal Medicaid trough) and on vehicle registration fees to pay for highway and bridge work.  Apparently the state thinks money flows like, uh, water.

Texting Ban Unenforceable

House Bill 1094, which bans texting while driving, is set to go into effect December 1, 2009. But local sheriffs across the state are skeptical of the bill's impact, saying it will be "extremely difficult" to enforce.

http://facethestate.com/articles/17082-sheriffs-say-ban-texting-while-driving-will-be-tough-enforce

Of course it will be hard to enforce, but you know what is not hard to enforce, driving recklessly. This bill should have never been written or passed. If someone is driving dangerously it is easy to spot and a police officer certainly can pull them over for that. If someone is placing other drivers in danger, does it really matter what that reckless driver is doing at that time?

This type of law also contributes to the general dumbing down of people. When you have a broad law like “don’t drive recklessly”, it forces people to evaluate everything they do and they must ask themselves if what they are doing is causing them to drive recklessly, but when the government starts making more specific laws like “don’t text while driving” then some people will simply not text, but will engage in other reckless behavior and justify it in their minds as “if this were dangerous it would be illegal, just like texting”.

Humans seem to have a certain tolerance for danger and will generally gravitate to the level of danger they are comfortable with. So as roads and cars have become safer, drivers have generally become less safe. New technology has made driving easier and this has increased the likelihood of people trying to do other things while driving. Think about the difficulty of trying to text and drive if you are driving a car with a manual transmission, it would be nearly impossible except under very specific circumstances. However, if you are driving a car with an automatic transmission the idea of texting while driving might not seem so daunting. 

Health Care Mandates

"76% of Americans want a "public option." That's a mandate, and our lawmakers should start listening to them rather than health insurance lobbyists."

 

by Hunter , Daily Kos

 

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/140767/note_to_the_gop%3A_without_a_public_option%2C_it%27s_not_really_%22reform%22_/

 

As a side note; there are alternate claims that it is 76% opposed to 'public option'. But that's quite a byline!

 

A Public Mandate is a Request.

A Government Mandate is a Requirement.

 

Who works for who?

 

Why would the public request to be forced, even against public opinion, to have government requirements? That is the historic principle of leftism that classic liberals oppose. I advocate the end (benevolence) but oppose the means (brute force). The problems with health care were caused or worsened by government mandates. The left aims to solve the problem by empowering those who caused the problem.

 

"You can't take the effect and make it the cause."

-Jack White"

 

The right is no better and no worse. The social conservative wing of the right coupled with the empire wing... it's not free market if you kill it altogether. A third wing of the right... classic liberals, liberty advocates, libertarians, entrepreneurs. Maximum Liberty, Maximum Justice. Free trade that benefits all. If it's not voluntary, it's not free.

 

On principle for a libertarian, there is 50% to agree with Democrats and 33% to agree with Republicans. Why would a libertarian join either and why does public opinion put libertarians on the right?

 

The first thing to understand is that lobbyists are corporatists, not free market advocates. The insurance company's have been mandated (by government, not public sentiment) to lobby and monopolize or face failure. Only government can provide a monopoly. Nationalization is failure because it kills all competition and choice. Nationalization picks a winner and crushes all competition. It is the same troops who seize other countries resources who seize ours. A double edged sword that cuts both ways; The left wants troops to force people to be fair. The right wants troops to force a secure, international empire but they are shocked when the troops necessarily take the same rights here that they are supposed to be defending and advancing abroad on our behalf.

 

"Those who trade liberty for security receive neither."

-Ben Franklin

 

Those who take others rights end up with theirs taken too.

 

Cap-and-trade is government speak for tax-and-spend

Legislation before Congress could drive up electricity bills by as much as 47 percent, Grand Valley Power is telling customers in a letter.

Grand Valley Power sent the letter as a part of a national effort by electrical associations around the state and country to alert their ratepayers to the potential costs of cap-and-trade legislation, which is due for a vote in the House of Representatives.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/06/17/061809_1a_Grand_Valley_Power.html

I can see the news stories now once this cap-and-trade thing goes through. Be prepared to see stories with headlines like “30% increase in number of people who froze to death after cap-and-trade bill designed to prevent global warming passed”. Then the story will on to explain that poor people unable to afford the increase in heating costs have froze to death in increasingly high numbers.  

Cap-and-trade is government speak for tax-and-spend. 

Recession is proving that government is more about extorting money than about “safety” or “services”

In Denver, government officials are collecting more from parking tickets and might charge more to adopt a pet. In other cities and counties, residents can expect to see fees hiked for everything from bags to business licenses.

The budget gaps resulting from the recession have forced cities and counties across Colorado to look for creative ways to increase revenue without running afoul of tax-raising restrictions.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12652543

Obviously to a libertarian instead of becoming more odious and oppressive in the name of revenue collection during a down economy the politicians should instead look towards budget cuts as a way to balance their budgets. If you are suffering from the recession, the last thing you need is a parking ticket. Politicians don't care if you have to choose between eating and paying a parking ticket, to them the answer is clear and paying the parking ticket is more important than eating. 

Denver Police officer pull gun for slow service at McDonald's

A Denver police officer has been suspended after allegedly brandishing his gun at a McDonald's restaurant in Aurora after his order took too long to fill.

http://cbs4denver.com/investigates/denver.police.suspension.2.1049330.html

These cops must really think they are special if they think a badge can guarantee good customer service at a restaurant. We have all had slow service, even at a “fast food” place, only these guys think they are too important for such trivial things as having to wait for food to be cooked. Here is a secret about fast food places, what makes them fast is that most of the food is already cooked, but if you show up during a slow time you might have to wait while they cook something to order. 

This cop is stationed at DIA, I wonder what he would do if someone thought the "service" provided by the TSA and the other bureaucrats was too slow and so they pulled a gun out to get their point across. 

DIA gets $500,000 in farm subsidies

Over the course of 12 consecutive years beginning in 1995, Denver International Airport has managed to rake-in just under half-a-million dollars in commodity subsidies from the U.S. Federal farm program.

http://www.i2i.org/main/page.php?page_id=261

Big brother is watching, but not very closely

DENVER -- Inside the Denver Police Department, the HALO Command Control Center records video 24-7 from almost 70 cameras across the city.

...

But last year, for the Democratic National Convention, police received $1 million in federal funds to buy an additional 50 cameras, mostly stationed in downtown Denver.

...

Denver police said there haven’t been any studies to show whether the HALO program has reduced crime, but that in the last year, video from the cameras has been used in about 20 criminal cases.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/19731255/detail.html

Whether this is big brother activity or not, it does not seem to be very effective for the type of money spent on it. 20 cases in a year for a program that cost almost 2 million in tax money, once you combine the cost for the first 20 cameras, the next fifty that they got for the DNC and the cost of the bureaucrats they pay to watch these cameras and run the system. 

The article doesn’t say how many bureaucrats work in the “halo” department, but anyone who has ever ran a 24/7 operation will attest to the fact that you normally need at least 6 employees plus one supervisor for full coverage. At an average of $40,000 a year that would be a yearly expense of $280,000. Not very cost effective for solving 20 cases a year, and there is no indication that these are serious crimes either. The only crime talked about in the article is street level drug dealing, which is not a real crime in the first place, and even if it were, it is very petty. Big deals are not going down on the street, nobody is walking up to a neighborhood dealer who hangs around outside and buys 1000 kilos of cocaine, they may be buying a $20 dollar bag of marijuana or a single hit of crack, but is that enough to justify the expense to the tax payers?

Corrections officer rapes woman gets 60 days in jail

A female inmate sexually assaulted by a Colorado Department of Corrections sergeant was awarded $1.3 million Wednesday by a federal judge who said he hoped the damages would be a deterrent to other correctional officers.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12565561

I know what you guys are thinking, your thinking that the bureaucrat who committed the rape is seeing some serious time, after all he raped an inmate in his care, and most likely this was not his only victim, even if it is the only victim we know of. So what did he get? ...60 days in Jail.

I guess the judge agreed and is punishing him via the heavy financial penalty. 

The information I found on the internet indicates that the average sentence for rape is 117 months, and average actual time served is 65 months, this guy got 2 months. 

Speaking of two months in jail, liberty activist Sam Dotson who I blogged about recently, was finally released after two months in jail. For story click here.

Boulder Police threaten naked bikers

BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner today warned that police will ticket bike riders if they expose their genitals during the World Naked Bike Ride, which is planned for Saturday.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/11/police-warning-naked-bikers-will-be-ticketed/

I think the police should not concern themselves with some naked people. It seems that in Boulder the police get all upset by naked people. The naked pumpkin run resulted in some arrests. This will probably result in some arrests. It may seem out of the social norm to bike naked, but it really harms no one. Social ostracism is a more humane way of dealing with people wearing or in this case, not wearing, clothes you find offensive. 

Bag tax back in the news, this time as a local "issue"

AURORA | Carrying groceries out in a plastic bag may become a more expensive prospect in the city.

City leaders will begin discussions about regulating the use of plastic bags in the city through a fee during the Management and Finance Committee meeting on June 10. The committee will examine precedents set forth in Colorado Senate Bill 156, a draft bill that proposed a fee of about 12 cents for every plastic bag distributed by a retailer. The fee would be split between the retailer and the state treasurer.

http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2009/06/10/news/metro_aurora/doc4a2f3e025ce12922930818.txt

The statewide bill was just defeated last year. Now this, even if Aurora does not pass this bill, it is likely to start popping up all over the place. At least this is not being presented as any sort of "sin tax", and is being presented in the more honest "we want more of your money", by the bureaucrats.

Warmonger touts economic "benefits" of Piñon Canyon expansion project

DENVER — Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn is asking Colorado's senators, both Democrats, to help save the Army's plan to expand a training site in the southeast corner of the state.

Lamborn said Friday that Colorado could lose the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site expansion project because of opposition from ranchers and some elected officials.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12481584

This is not a money maker for the people of Colorado, no matter what the government claims. Raising cattle for food is actually a useful and productive. Letting the land go to waste so a bunch of bureaucrats can blow things up, does nothing to improve the wealth of the nation or improve the standard of living for most people. The thing that we have to remember whenever someone from the government is making claims of economic benefits from this government program or that government program is that the government has no money of their own, so any economic benefits we may see comes only at the expense of people elsewhere. Besides the government already owns 36.6% of Colorado and more in other western states, why do they think they need more? If anything we need the federal government to own less of Colorado, so the people of the state can make productive use of those lands.

Here is a great map that shows how much land the governmet owns or is in control of in each state. 

http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/map-owns_the_west.jpg

12 year old arrested at DIA for having a so called “incendiary device”

DENVER -- A 12-year-old boy was caught Wednesday morning trying to take an incendiary device through security screening at Denver International Airport, police said.

Jackson said the device was similar to a flare and was homemade.

The juvenile was arrested and will be charged with possession of an incendiary device, police said.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/19579880/detail.html

I am not exactly sure what is going on here or how dangerous this “incendiary device” actually was, but I can tell you that making homemade fireworks and whatnot is fairly common for young boys to dabble in. I don’t expect that he was intending any harm, and I believe this situation could have been handled in a much better fashion. I expect that taking the thing away from the kid and giving him a stern talking to, would have been as or more effective than arresting him was. 

Fees and state tyranny over county clerks office, set to increase on Monday

Larimer County will join the 63 other Colorado counties in implementing a new state law, passed to raise money for highway maintenance across the state.

Currently, residents are subject to a $10 late fee if they do not renew their registration within 30 days of the due date, register new vehicles within 60 days of purchase, or register vehicles within 90 days of moving to the state.

Monday, that fee increases to $25 per month with a maximum of $100.

Counties are required by state law to implement the fee, said Scott Doyle, Larimer County clerk and recorder.

And unlike the current $10 fee, the county has no authority to waive the late fee.

http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=23298

Besides the fact that the government seemingly wants people to be late in registering their vehicles, it also appears that the state has decided to increase their tyrannical rule just slightly more. They have came in and told the counties that the counties are responsible for collecting these fees and enforcing these rules, but are not given any leeway to waive or reduce the fee as the situation warrants. 

Colorado Statesman article on new LPCO leadership

Colorado’s Libertarian Party, long considered a political stepchild by the major political parties in the state, is trying to revamp its image — and it doesn’t stop with the addition of four new leaders elected a week ago. Former Libertarian Party legislative director David K. Williams, the new state chairman, plans to build the party and recruit unaffiliated voters frustrated with the current Republican or Democratic platforms. He also wants to hammer down and strengthen the vision of the Libertarians.

http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/991035-colorado-libertarians-elect-new-leadership