Remember that scene from the movie Fatal Attraction? The crazed, psycho-bitch Glenn Close is drowned in the bathtub and we all have this sigh of relief – she’s dead, it’s over, we’re saved. And then she pops up, knife in hand, ready to kill again. Didn’t you feel that same sigh of relief when Scott Brown was elected in Massachusetts – Obama Care is dead, it’s over, we’re saved. But now popping up from the bathtub is Reconciliation. Glenn Close with a butcher knife looks tame by comparison.
Here’s a fun, six-question Health Care Reform survey on Facebook. Check the results when you are done.
Must Attend Events: What are you up to on March 10? I hope you can join us at these two very important events. The first is the Taxpayer Day at the Capitol. From noon to 1pm on the west steps of our State Capitol, we at the Independence Institute will be joined by other taxpayers to show the legislature we — the taxpayers of Colorado — are the most important special interest group!
The second event followed on the heels of Taxpayer Day is our Health Care Policy roundtable discussion co-hosted with the Heartland Institute. This will take place from 2 to 5 PM at the Denver Public Library downtown. You can RSVP online here or call us at 303.279.6536 to register for any event, anytime.
The Audacity to Ignore Results: Obama likes to believe that he’s the audacious type. And what could be more audacious than facing quantifiable clear results in one state and ignoring them completely? In this Wall Street Journal piece, the devastation of Massachusetts’ Romney Care is revealed: “…average Massachusetts insurance premiums are now the highest in the nation. Since 2006, they’ve climbed at an annual rate of 30% in the individual market. Small business costs have increased by 5.8%. Per capita health spending in Massachusetts is now 27% higher than the national average, and 15% higher even after adjusting for local wages and academic research grants. The growth rate is faster too.” And what does our audacious president think about this mess? He wants to take the incredible Massachusetts health care failure and apply it to the entire United States! It’s the health care “big dig!”
Why are We Always Stuck in Traffic?? Senior fellow Randal O’Toole presented on the future of transportation in Colorado just last week. If you were not able to make the event, you can watch it all here on this YouTube playlist. Randal presents devastating facts against “high-speed” rail, RTD’s vision, and the overbudget and underfunded FasTracks debacle. With these critiques come Randal’s suggestions on what ought to be done to reduce congestion, reduce pollution, and get us where we need to be going faster.
A 2nd Look at 21st Century Learning: Speaking of events you may have missed, check out this YouTube video playlist from our February 11 event with guest speaker Randy DeHoff from the State Board of Education. See what 21st Century Learning is, how it fits into Colorado’s new academic standards and future assessments, and whether it’s a passing fad or the wave of the future.
Transparency Update: The Denver Post editorial board has joined the transparency party we’ve been having the past couple years! To that, we say “Welcome!” I wrote a blog entry about the Post‘s investigations into our three biggest school district’s spending habits. Even the Post can’t overlook spending thousands upon thousands on Starbucks, pizza, and trips to Vegas.
Also regularly check out our Colorado Spending Transparency (COST) blog, where transparency czarina Amy Oliver-Cooke keeps us updated on how state and local government spends your money.
Must See TV: We’re about a third of the way through the 2010 Colorado legislative session: Does your wallet feel lighter yet? On this Friday’s Independent Thinking, reporters Ed Sealover from the Denver Business Journal and Eli Stokols from Fox 31 News join me to discuss the legislative session thus far. If you are a Colorado politics junkie, be sure to tune in and get your political fix from the reporters who cover the Capitol. That’s this Friday at 8:30 PM on KBDI Channel 12, Denver.
Must Hear Podcast: House Bill 1330 would create an “all-payer health claims database” in Colorado. Bill supporters claim government can reduce health care costs through “transparent public reporting of health care information.” In fact, the bill is a transparency Trojan Horse. It will make your most personal actions transparent to government officials, officials who have no business keeping track of what kind of health care you buy or what you pay for it. Health Care Policy Center Director Linda Gorman sits down with Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver to discuss this privacy-smashing bit of legislation. Give a listen here.
Perspective: In this week’s op-ed, Linda Gorman reveals the privacy nightmare in House Bill 1330: The Transparency Trojan Horse. Just because a piece of legislation has the word “transparency” in it does not mean it is actually promotes transparency. Unfortunately, the word has been co-opted recently to mean the government spying on us citizens, not the other way around.
Until next week…
Straight on
Jon Caldara
Tags: Independence Institute, Jon Caldara, News, obamacare, Politics
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 