LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF COLORADO BLOG

Teens charge for drug possession after school called police on them

Three eighth graders, two girls and a boy, from a Lakewood middle school have been charged in Jefferson County court with possession of the drug Dilaudid.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/29/lakewood-eighth-graders-charged-drug-possession/

Nothing says compassion, like sending kids to jail for stealing a pill from their parents medicine cabinet. The fact that it was the school officials who called the police instead of calling the parents should give everyone pause when sending their kids to government school.

Government Discount Drug program costs more than paying retail

Coloradans using a new state prescription program for lower-income people will end up paying more for most drugs than they would at chain pharmacies, according to a Denver Post cost comparison.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8400050

This is another example of good intentions gone bad in the hands of government bureaucrats. Drugs under the government program cost more than at the pharmacy. This doesn’t even include all of the tax money being funneled towards this program in order to pay for the government administrators of this flawed and failed program.

More than 1 in 100 people in prison in the US

NEW YORK (AP) -- For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.

Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 - one out of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PRISON_POPULATION?SITE=CODER&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

There is an obvious and easy answer to solve this problem, legalize drugs and prostitution. This would eliminate all of the extra prisoners. However it would take a politician more brave than currently exist to admit that the only reason we have so many criminals is that we incarcerate non-violent, victimless crimes at rates far higher than any other country in the world.

Law Makers again claim to be too stupid to understand Amendment 41

Colorado lawmakers and government workers were tossed back into confusion Monday when the state Supreme Court reinstated what some consider an ambiguous and invasive ethics law.

Legislators once again were struggling to interpret Amendment 41, wondering whether they should eat at a bankers' association luncheon Monday or cancel a trip to a convention.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8362741

Why do the Colorado legislators seem to be having so much trouble figuring this out? They should simply not accept any gift from anyone, and make the decisions on how they plan to vote utilizing their own brain power or speaking to their constituents. Even if you did not support the original Amendment, watching these legislators wring their hands over it, like they are just too stupid to understand what the phase "no gifts over $50" means, is not just silly, but makes me question not only their ethics, but their intelligence.

Payday loan regulation bill moves forward

A bill tightening regulations on payday loans narrowly passed the House on Monday after critics said it would run short-term lenders out of business — hurting, rather than helping, the poor.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8362972

Those who support this bill, I hope you understand the law of unintended consequences. It will simply remove another choice for people. It will not suddenly make poor people rich. This is what Reason magazine had to say about payday loan bans:

Reason, March 2008, Page 10-11, Katherine Mangu-Ward

“A new report finds that banning payday lending, makes customers worse off.”

“Authors Donald P. Morgan of the federal reserve and Michael R. Strain of Cornell University found that the citizens of those states (the states where payday lending is banned) bounced more checks, complained more about lenders and debt collectors, and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy more often. The correlation between reduced payday lending and increased credit problems, they write “contradicts the debt trap critique of payday lending, but is consistent with the hypothesis that payday credit is preferable to the substitutes such as the bounced –check ‘protection’ sold by credit unions and banks or loans from pawn-shops.”

Bill to increase gun rights dies in committee

DENVER – Two northeastern Colorado lawmakers were unable to make any headway again this year in their persistent legislative attempts to strengthen the right of citizens to bear arms as a deterrent to crime.

With majority Democrats in control, the Senate State Affairs Committee — frequently called “the kill committee” in the halls of the State Capitol — on Monday dispatched District 1 Sen. Greg Brophy’s gun-related bill to the graveyard on a straight party-line 3-2 vote.

http://www.metrowestfyi.com/story_display.php?sid=8595

Via: http://www.rationalreview.com/news

I would have been more surprised if the bill had made headway. With the democrats in charge we may be able to make headway on loosening alcohol restrictions, maybe even pot restrictions, but we will have a fight on our hands to trying to get more gun freedom and financial freedom.

Sunday Liquor sales my be coming

Liquor store owners can pop their champagne corks. They may soon be able to sell liquor on Sundays after a 40-year ban.

Senate Bill 82 sailed through on second reading this morning without any discussion. A few opponents voted against the bill on a voice vote, but none spoke up. The bill now proceeds to a final reading on Monday morning, then if it passes as easily as it did today, will head to the House.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/22/sunday-liquor-sales-okd/

With all of the negative news on the pro-freedom front, even a tiny win like the ability to buy liquor on Sundays seems like a victory of massive proportions. After 40 years that relic from prohibition of alcohol may be at an end. 

Cab regulations may loosen

A bill making it easier for new taxi companies to start operating in Denver passed a House committee today over the objections of existing cab firms who said it would hurt service.

House Bill 1227, sponsored by Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder, and Sen. Abel Tapia , D-Pueblo, would lower the burden on start-up taxicab companies, requiring them only to show that they are "operationally and financially fit" to provide service.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8326637

There has never been a situation where more competition has hurt consumers. The course of history shows that competition always leads to better prices and service. The real crime here is that the government has interfered with the marketplace creating rules that virtually enforce a taxi cab monopoly in Denver. They should get out of regulating cabs altogether.

Tourism silliness in Aurora

Aurora does have a Visitors Promotion Advisory Board, which is funded by an $8 per $100 lodgers tax that goes into the city's general coffers. It generates about $4 million a year, and the board gets about 10 percent of that for tourism promotion.

Kevin Hougen, chairman of the VPAB and president of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, said with a world-class medical campus, an international airport and Buckley Air Force Base in and around Aurora, the time may be right for a convention and visitors bureau.

"I think we have a real opportunity here," Hougen said. "Aurora is a tourist mecca that nobody knows about."

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8318712

What is it with governments wanting to waste tax dollars on promoting tourism? They try and justify it with the false assertion that by spending tax dollars now they will gain more in future tax revenue.

Aurora should focus on keeping taxes low and encouraging people who work in Denver and elsewhere to move because of a lower cost of living, less restrictive taxes and a better standard of living. Low residential taxes (like sales and property taxes) would do more to encourage growth than any half baked tourism idea. Let's face it, Aurora cannot compete with the natural beauty of the mountains to attract tourists.

Pot bust in Thornton

Six men accused of participating in a large-scale marijuana grow operation in the basements of their homes are facing federal drug charges, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8313611

Of course this is a waste of time and resources, and these guys are not a danger from society (at least not for growing plants), it is not worth paying to prosecute and imprison them. If you follow the link, I found it refreshing to see that very few of the comments took the side of the police, and the vast majority were on the pro-freedom side of the issue.