A Growing Membership Option for Colorado Teachers
Colorado teachers aren’t required to join or pay fees to a union. What other membership options do they have? Megan Leatham, director of membership for the two-year-old Professional Association of Colorado Educators, explains what her fast-growing organization offers (and does not offer) to professional teachers for a fraction of the annual union cost. More information on teacher membership options is available at IndependentTeachers.org.
Latest End Run Around TABOR Weakens Taxpayers’ Say Over Local School Funding
State lawmakers have stacked the deck against voters and their authority to decide how to fund local schools. Signed into law this spring by Governor Ritter, Senate Bill 291 weakens taxpayers’ rights by limiting voter options and evading the clear intent of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) to provide reasonable limits on government growth.
Prison Spending and Sentencing Reform
Run Time: 0:24:40 MP3 08/25/09 Senior fellow Mike Krause interviews Christy Donner of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition about runaway prison spending in Colorado, and the ongoing work of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Mike Krause Justice Policy
PERA Falls Off A Cliff
The Public Employees Retirement System (PERA) in Colorado is experiencing a funding crisis. The recent collapse of financial markets has resulted in a significant decrease in the value of the PERA portfolio. But the funding crisis in PERA is not just the result of problems in financial markets.
7th Circuit Says Gun Registration is OK
Originally published on Volokh.com Last week, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided a case involving the Cicero, Illinois, gun registration ordinance. Full coverage of the decision is available in an article for CBS News, by Declan McCullagh. (And be sure to check out Declan’s new Taking Liberties weblog.) The decision is written by Supreme Court […]
Michael Bennet Should Oppose Democrat Health “Reform”
Senator Michael Bennet says that “health care reform must shift control from insurance companies to doctors, nurses and their patients.” If so, he should oppose the Democrats’ so-called health care “reform.” Insurance companies have too much control because politicians have handed it to them through tax laws that give preferential treatment to employer-provided insurance.
Second Circuit Rules in Favor of Firearms Dealers on Procedural Due Process
Originally published on Volokh.com Spinelli v. City of New York was decided on August 7, by Judges Calabresi and Walker. Judge Sotomayor had been on the panel, but did not participate in the decision, due to her elevation to the Supreme Court. Angela Spinelli had been doing business a licensed firearms dealer in the Bronx for […]
Second Circuit Rules in Favor of Firearms Dealers on Procedural Due Process
Originally published on Volokh.com Spinelli v. City of New York was decided on August 7, by Judges Calabresi and Walker. Judge Sotomayor had been on the panel, but did not participate in the decision, due to her elevation to the Supreme Court. Angela Spinelli had been doing business a licensed firearms dealer in the Bronx for […]
Tenth Circuit Split on Gun Ban for Misdemeanants
Published on Volokh.com The Tenth Circuit divided 2-1 today on the constitutionality of banning guns for persons who have been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor. The issues arises because federal prosecutors petitioned for a Writ of Mandamus, to stop a Utah district judge from employing a jury instruction which the prosecutors did not want. The […]
8/13/09
Newsletter August 13 2009
National Education Association Spends Member Dues for Government Health Care
We are in the midst of a very divisive and controversial debate in our nation over legislation that would greatly expand the role of government in providing health insurance. If you were a full-time member of the National Education Association (NEA) through joining your local teachers union, then you sent money during the 2007-08 school […]
Health Care Protests on Target
Now we know the enemy in the health-care debate, the really, truly despicable people, the worms who ought to be stuffed back in the dirt they crawled out of. It’s ordinary citizens who have had the temerity to show up at meetings of their representatives in Congress, asking in so many words — “What in the name of heaven are you planning to do with our lives?”
