Free Republic

Former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is poised to mount a Democratic primary campaign against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. Urged to challenge Gov. Bill Ritter as he seeks re-election in 2010, Romanoff has instead turned his attention to next year's Senate race, sources close to Romanoff told The Denver Post. One source reported that Romanoff offered a campaign position to a veteran Democratic strategist. Romanoff could not be reached for comment Friday night, but several people close to him said they expect him to announce next month. Wally Stealey, a longtime lobbyist and political mover in Pueblo, said Romanoff called...

Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to cut the state budget through inmate releases could reduce Colorado's prison population by 1,000 in a year and immediately save $19 million. It will also almost certainly accelerate the commission of new crimes, and could force layoffs from a privately run prison. Ritter's plan calls for trimming parole supervision for some inmates already out of prison, and releasing some non-sex-offender inmates early and placing them on parole. A total of 5,700 inmates or parolees could see their status change as a result of Ritter's cut. A Metropolitan State College of Denver professor says it's unavoidable...

Democrat Bill Ritter rode an anti-Republican sentiment into the governor's office in 2006, but a new poll suggests he might have a much harder time in his re-election bid. In the survey of 1,050 likely Colorado voters, Ritter's disapproval ratings are higher than his approval ratings among all voters, including Hispanics and the most crucial bloc of all in Colorado politics: unaffiliated voters. Ritter ... most likely will face one of two Grand Junction Republicans next year: former Congressman Scott McInnis or Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry. The poll shows McInnis beating Ritter, 48-41, and Ritter barely edging Penry, 40-42....

The two cities of El Paso and Denver are 800 miles apart, but they both exist in the rarified world of "sanctuary cities," where mayors and city officials love to proclaim, "We welcome all immigrants, regardless of immigration status." This is PC code for welcoming illegal aliens, but it also means they welcome the prosecution of Border Patrol agents and immigration enforcement agents who take their jobs too seriously. The prosecution, imprisonment and eventual release of El Paso Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean made headlines for two years, but few Americans outside Denver have ever heard of...

What is the breaking point? Where will the resistance form? Heavy questions, but unavoidable in the current political climate. The productive members of society can only be pushed so far, some say. What they envision is not defiance of law or a reversal of the election. It is people's growing disengagement from a new economic order that punishes effort and rewards envy — the creepy future that Bill Ritter and Barack Obama intend for us. Columnist Michelle Malkin calls that withdrawal "going Galt." Malkin was the first speaker last weekend when several hundred Coloradans gathered for a free-market leadership conference...

Gov. Bill Ritter says he would sign a bill giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants if it reaches his desk....

As Gov. Bill Ritter was looking to slash the budget because of the economic downturn, he and nine other state employees spent more than $78,000 for a trip to Asia late last year... During the trip, Ritter and two other top state officials flew business class on state money, paying $6,500 per ticket ... "It would appear that this is above and beyond what was necessary for a trade delegation of this type," said state Sen. Ted Harvey... Ritter...said business class was necessary because the state employees had to be rested to do business on the trip.

Denver Public Schools superintendent Michael Bennet is expected to be named Saturday as the future U.S. Senate replacement for Interior Secretary nominee Ken Salazar, according to two Democratic sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to name his U.S. Senate replacement pick on Saturday, ending a brief but frenzied period of speculation about who will take the seat of Interior Secretary nominee Ken Salazar. The selection would be preliminary, since Salazar is not expected to resign his U.S. Senate seat until sometime after Jan. 15, when he faces a confirmation hearing — and later...

In a confidential internal memorandum obtained by Face The State, the Colorado Democracy Alliance outlines a roster of "operatives" who worked for Democratic victory in the 2006 general election. The document outlines specific tasks for various members of the state's liberal infrastructure, including a campaign to "educate the idiots," assigned to the state's AFL-CIO union. Among the operation's intended targets: "minorities, GED's, drop-outs." Individuals named in the document, marked "CONFIDENTIAL," "for internal use only," and "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE," are high-level elected Democrats including House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, former Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, as well as Gov. Bill Ritter's press aide...

Saying uncertain economic times require tough measures, Gov. Bill Ritter announced a freeze on hiring new state employees on Thursday and ordered a halt to new construction. It was a major reversal for Ritter. On Monday he said it was too early to begin slashing the state budget before Congress approves a bailout of the financial industry.

The Talk Shows Sunday, August 24th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Govs. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Bill Ritter, D-Colo.; Robert Gibbs, Obama campaign spokesman.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Caroline Kennedy, co-chair, Obama's vice presidential search committee; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Govs. Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan., and Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. THIS WEEK (ABC): David Axelrod, Obama campaign senior adviser; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.; Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Rep. James...

Christian leaders gathered in Denver Tuesday in opposition to an anti-Christian censorship law that could open the door to censoring the Bible. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed the state bill, SB 200, which aims at silencing all publications that discriminate against homosexuality. "Section 8 of Senate Bill 200 is a wide open door for any judge to censor anything that condemns homosexuality, including Scripture," Colorado State Rep. Kevin Lundberg said. Many Christians fear that one day the Bible will be considered illegal in America. "I do believe that the Bible is banned, under the plain language of this new statute,"...

Well we know someone who has been knocked off Barack Obama's short list for VP. Colorado governor Bill Ritter was on some talk show the other day and man did he stick his foot in his mouth. http://michellemalkin.com/2008/08/04/oops-democrat-on-vp-shortlist-underscores-obamas-inexperience/ The talk show host apparently asked Governor Ritter why he didn't feel he was a good choice for Obama's VP. Ritter's response was, "Well, just because, I think there are a lot of things that he has to take into consideration. I've been governor for 18 months. My experience before that was as a district attorney. I loved being a district attorney...but...

This is definitely snort-worthy. The foot of Democrat VP shortlister Bill Ritter, governor of Colorado, meets his mouth:“Michelle – check out Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s oops this morning on the Mike Rosen show, hour two (www.850koa.com). When asked about rumors that he was on the list as a vice presidential candidate he remarked (not quoting) that his 18 months of gubernatorial experience were insufficient to be considered for vice president. When asked to compare this to [Obama's] 143 days of experience [in the Senate], he quickly changed the subject.”I’ve transcribed the relevant parts of the exchanges, in which Ritter first...

Greg Kolomitz, former campaign manager to Gov. Bill Ritter, has started a defense fund to pay his legal bills, and his wife has e-mailed friends alleging that Kolomitz has been "falsely accused" of mismanaging campaign and inaugural funds. The e-mail plea never mentions Ritter by name, but leaves no doubt about who the family thinks is responsible for the "false" accusations that led to an ongoing investigation of Kolomitz. "We have found ourselves in a legal battle with someone whom we believed to be our friend. In April, Ritter alleged that Kolomitz had wrongly used inaugural funds to pay off...

District Attorney Will Investigate. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday notified prosecutors that more spending violations have been uncovered from his 2006 campaign, and that a former aide has written his campaign a check for $10,340 to correct the problem. Ritter had told the Arapahoe County district attorney in April that his campaign violated finance laws by improperly paying about $217,000 to 28 vendors last year. He said at the time his campaign and inaugural committee chairman, Greg Kolomitz, also overpaid himself and his company $83,250 out of Ritter's inaugural account. Ritter's spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said the district attorney is...

When a Christian pastor in Canada wrote a commentary on the Bible's perspective on homosexuality, a government commission ordered him to renounce his faith and apologize. When a family owned photography studio in New Mexico refused, on religious grounds, to take pictures at a same-sex ceremony, the fine for such "discrimination" was $6,600. Now the experts say Colorado is joining in the repression of the practice of Christianity. "Getting beyond the bathroom and locker room issue, the biggest danger this law poses is to the religious or moral consciences of small business owners who may object to doing business...

Thursday, June 12, 2008 YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK WorldNetDaily Exclusive Biblical message now criminalized Penalties created for those criticizing homosexuality outside church walls Posted: June 12, 2008 12:45 am Eastern By Bob Unruh WorldNetDaily A new Colorado law is helping homosexual activists achieve their goal of forcing Christians to teach biblical condemnation of homosexuality only behind the closed doors of their sanctuaries. The as-yet untested state law promotes sexual identity "perception" to the level of skin color under state discrimination laws. Some opponents are calling it a "bona fide censorship law," and top analysts for Focus on the Family, the...

Bathroom Wars By Chuck Colson6/6/2008 Related Audio/Video Downloads Potty Politics Three months ago, I told you about a new law in Montgomery County, Maryland, that demands co-ed locker rooms and restrooms in all public accommodations. The law was intended to accommodate “transgendered people”—that is, men who say they perceive themselves to be women, and women who claim they consider themselves men. I said, at the time, that we would see extremists in other jurisdictions attempting to pass similar laws. And that is exactly what is happening.Last week, Colorado’s legislature passed—and Gov. Bill Ritter signed—a law that will open all...

DENVER — Republican leaders are sending a letter to Gov. Bill Ritter demanding he immediately start making budget cuts to cover the $118 million the state has spent from an education tax that a district court ruled was unconstitutional. A copy of the letter, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, says the governor also could call the Legislature back into session to decide which programs to cut if the ruling stands. The letter tells Ritter, "If you refuse to act, we strongly believe you owe the people of Colorado an explanation as to why you are so certain that the...