W. Branstetter's Blog (77)

In the December 7, 2012, issue of the New York Times, David Kopel wrote an opinion piece about the recent U.N. treaty that was not ratified by the United States senate.  If you missed it, the treaty concerned persons with disabilities but there were some areas that bureacrats with the United Nations would fill in the details later--at least that was my understanding. 

Recently there was a video of Anderson Cooper grilling Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) on the failure of the senate…

Matthew Continetti has written an article about a meeting that took place recently that was not covered by the media.  It is consistent with a group of people who is discussed in the book by Adam Schrager and Tim Witwer titled "The Blueprint:..."  The article simply helps draw attention to people and organizations that do not get enough attention.

http://freebeacon.com/see-no-evil/

Richard Mgrdechian, is the founder, President & CEO of Purple Eagle Entertainment and manager of the popular pro-American rock band Madison Rising.  He has written an excellent opinion article titled "How Short-sighted Leadership Has Sabotaged Conservative Pop Culture."  The group "Madison Rising" joined the pop culture a few years ago along with other artists, but in recent months the group released their version of "The Star…

"Coalition of businesses and politicians aims to pressure Congress on deficit reduction" is an article by Peter Marcus in The Colorado Statesman that may be of interest to all. 

Under the heading "Colorado congressional delegate reacts", both Senators Bennet and Udall responded however there are no comments from the congressional representatives.

This article…

Andy and Cori Peth have just posted several very short video clips with messages of about 40 seconds to clearly articulate a conservative (generally Republican) view on select issues.  The topics are:  "war on women", oil companies, choice and small government, booing God, Romney vs. Obama positions on abortion. 

So many people ask for a better way to message and Andy and Cori have boiled their workshop training down to these quick messages that may help with those last…

Senator Andrews has posted a list of issues and candidates he is recommending.  He has several RTD Board candidates to recommend.  Perhaps this will be a helpful reference for those looking for information on issues and more.

http://backboneamerica.net/2012/10/20/colorado-voter-guide-2012/

Trevor Loudon from New Zealand has toured the United States on at least two extended trips over this last year.  He has addressed many groups in Colorado.  He has prepared a message that he would like people to hear. 

Urgent message, October 2012:…

In the October 10, 2012, Denver Post is an opinion piece by Vincent Carroll titled "Millionaires for gutter politics."  If you the campaign advertisements of this or previous years, whether television or mailers, leaves you perturbed, you should read this article so you can know some of the people to thank. 

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Dr. Jill Q. Vecchio has been doing short messages on KLZ 560 radio and other Crawford Broadcasting stations (10 markets) with a great deal of interest.  They are working the messages into Hispanic messages to air on other radio stations.  Please read her message and help if you can.

This healthcare talk stuff is really taking off! As you may know, I'm now doing daily commentaries for Crawford Broadcasting in 10 cities across the country and they…

Whether you are interested in the USA's military and its ability to defend the country or just have not thought of it much, please read this article by Trevor Loudon (from New Zealand) who is sounding an alarm based on information and reports he is seeing.  Is it possible that in four more years a main function of the the military might be to deal with global warming or other matter that the Founding Fathers would never have envisioned? 

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Thomas Sowell has offered this short but very insightful article titled "'Issues' or America" and comments on one of those old adages--cannot see the forest for the trees.  He reminds us of the Constitution and only a few things that have been done to dismantle it. 

Please read the article.

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There is a C-Span.org program that shows former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor providing testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The program is just under 1.5 hour and is quite interesting.  Check out the hearing at:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/CivicsE

There is a mention of a web site or educational program that Justice O'Connor is involved with to advance civics education in schools…

The Colorado public trustees for the 65 counties are seldom in the news.  In fact, my impression was that the term was a nebulous description, but apparently it is actually a position that is in some instances appointed by  the governor.  The position has apparently come under some scrutiny as reported recently in the Denver Post.

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May 18, 2012

Joshua Sharf has posted two good articles on energy, especially renewable, in Colorado and the video of Senator Mark Udall in a senate hearing would have the Colorado standards made more stringent and far reaching.

http://www.jsharf.com/view/?p=1859

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The Open Government Institute (OGI) has announced the winners of the Burke-Carr awards.  There were four categories for champions of transparency:  elected representatives, bloggers/new media, journalists, and citizens/grassroots guardians.  On-line ballots were completed by about 1,000 people in the final selection.

For complete details refer to the press release:…

In Jefferson County, Colorado, there are serious questions about a survey known as "Make Your Voice Heard" that was given by school staff to the students.  Unlike previous surveys that were totally anonymous, this survey employed the use of the computers and student ID for completion which means that it is feasible to trace the responses to the student and therefore the household.

While many of the questions may seem quite innocuous, other questions are leading and may leave…

Check out this web site for Principles of Liberty that is now up.  The legislative score card for Colorado from 2011 is now up and the 2012 will be posted soon. 

http://principlesofliberty.org/

Richard Bratten has been doing a legislative report recently on Grassroots Radio Colorado on KLZ 560 AM announced this web site.

The link has been added to the list on the main page of the Arapahoe County Tea…

In an article titled "Gen O Discovers Washington's Debt Bomb" at Real Clear Markets, there is a reference to an app called "Debt Bomb" has been created to allow calculations of taxes based on the true cost of the federal government's expenditures.  The app also includes being able to e-mail or "tweet" the President or your legislators.  This sounds like an app worth investigating. 

The article:…

"Federal Funds Transparency Act" (HB12-1009), sponsored by Rep. Cheri Gerou, has been signed by Governor Hickenlooper.  This bill expects to bring transparency to the Colorado budgeting process for the funds that are provided by the federal government to the various agencies and identify strings attached.  May it be successful.

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Professor Rob Natelson has written an article, "Republicans Pushing Mandates on State Courts," that explains the problems or ramifications of voting either "aye" or "nay" on this revised H.R. 5 that may be on the docket for Monday, March 19, 2012 in the U. S. Congress.  Here is one bill that should be single issue bill and stop with the mandates. 

1.  "THE FIRST PART of revised H.R. 5 is a resurrected zombie that was the original H.R. 5. Although promoted as “medical…