Free Republic

Think how much money we could save! In his June 13 New York Times op-ed, Tyler Cowen wrote, “Medicare expenditures threaten to crush the federal budget.” The title of the article was “Something’s Got to Give in Medicare Spending.” Got it. Old people cost too much money to keep alive—and you younger disabled people on Medicare, you’re not helping either. So, what’s Mr. Cowen’s solution? Let’s limit health care benefits to old and disabled people. Boggles the mind. One of the proposals coming out of the Obama administration is to limit end-of-life care. What exactly does that mean? In 1974,...

The Denver Police Department announced today that they have made 32 arrests during a sweep to end a four-month spree of what police said were racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver, including the LoDo entertainment district. A task force comprised of the Denver Police, FBI and the Denver District Attorney's Office investigated 26 incidents in which groups of black males verbally harassed and then assaulted white or Hispanic males, according to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman. Many of the victims were robbed after being assaulted. Three suspects, Allan Ford, Torrance McCall and one juvenile are still at large....

Activists Gather To Read Mayflower Compact, Sing Songs. About 100 people are expected at the Colorado Capitol Saturday afternoon to sing traditional Thanksgiving songs and to read historic documents from the nation's founding. The sing-along and reading are sponsored by Tea Party activists, who decry federal spending and call for a return to more limited government.

Racially motivated downtown attacks Denver Police announced today that they had made 32 arrests related to racially motivated robberies and assaults. From left, Allen Ford and Torrence McCall. Denver Police say they have arrested 32 people, part of a sweep to end a four-month spree of racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver. (Denver Police Department) The Denver Police Department arrested 32 men and juvenile boys after a months-long undercover investigation into what police said were racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver, including the LoDo entertainment district. A task force composed of Denver police, the FBI and...

Colorado has received millions in stimulus funding for projects in the 8th, 24th, 45th and 64th congressional districts, according to a federal website tracking the money. But the state has only seven districts. It turns out that the misclassifications were the result of mistakes, faulty interpretations and even guesses born of frustration with the stimulus-reporting software, said recipients of the money who were responsible for reporting to the federal government where it was spent. By late Wednesday, all of the payments to nonexistent congressional districts had been removed from the website, lumped together and labeled as "unassigned." It's the latest...

Unaffiliated voters leaning toward GOP. Less than a year from the 2010 elections, there's a chance for Cortez Republican Scott Tipton to pull a major upset over John Salazar, the incumbent Western Slope congressman, a respected pollster told Denver-area Republicans on Wednesday. Floyd Ciruli... recent elections around the country show unaffiliated voters leaning toward Republicans, while Democratic voters tended to stay home. He pointed to Tipton and Ryan Frazier of Aurora as two Republicans who might benefit. "I think the Republican Party wisely saw that lightning could strike out there. This could be one of those exceptional years," Ciruli said....

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

23 projects statewide affected by bill. The 2010 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill that was signed into law on Oct. 30 by President Barack Obama has reached the Western Slope, and has brought the Glenwood Springs wastewater treatment facility project, and many more around the state, to a screeching halt. the word came last week that the project would have to be put on hold, indefinitely, awaiting further clarification from the Environmental Protection Agency. Hecksel said that he was unsure as to why the Glenwood project would be included because the project was not seeking federal funding... The intent of...

Colorado Springs on Sarah Palin's book-signing tour LANCE BENZEL THE GAZETTE Sarah Palin will make a December stop in Colorado Springs as part of a book-signing tour in support of her newly released memoir “Going Rogue,” according to a local bookseller. Border’s bookstore in the Chapel Hills Mall said it plans to issue about 1,000 wristbands in advance of the book signing, scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 8. Wristband holders will be guaranteed a spot in line and at least one copy of the book, the store said. “We would probably have more of a turnout than she could handle...

SNIPPET: "TERROR mastermind Rashid Rauf has been linked to a fresh Al Qaida plot to launch attacks on the US. The Birmingham-born extremist has been named by witnesses due to testify against Najibullah Zazi, who was arrested for plotting suicide bombings in New York. MI6 officers have linked the plot to a complex terror network said to be directed from Pakistan by Rauf and fellow jihadists. Zazi, 24, was identified through an intercepted communication, and was further implicated by US national Bryant Neal Vinas, who was captured in Pakistan last November. Vinas, 26, allegedly admits meeting Rauf and receiving training...

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo appears to be inching closer to getting into the Colorado gubernatorial race. While he has yet to formally declare his candidacy or fill out paperwork with the secretary of state's office, the Littleton Republican on Thursday told a Westword reporter he "fully intends to run."

The parents of the "Balloon Boy" are about to land - perhaps behind bars. Richard Heene and his wife, Mayumi, reached a deal with authorities to enter guilty pleas over their October hoax that transfixed the country, their lawyer said Thursday. Heene, 48, will plead guilty to a felony - attempting to influence a public servant - while his 45-year-old wife will plead to a misdemeanor charge, attorney David Lane said. Although Lane initially said the deal would spare the couple from jail time, the lawyer later said he expected prosecutors to request some time behind bars - 90 days...

State Sen. David Schultheis said he didn't intend for a Twitter post accusing President Barack Obama of "flying the U.S. plane right into the ground" and ending with "let's roll" as a threat or a reference to United Flight 93, which crashed during the 2001 terrorist attacks. "Let's roll" reportedly were the last words of Todd Beamer before he and other passengers tried to gain control of their hijacked jet. The plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field short of its intended target. The tweet stirred ire and some support for the Colorado Springs Republican, whose standard eschewal of political correctness...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado parents who reported their 6-year-old son floated away in a helium balloon in what authorities say was a hoax to drum up publicity for a TV show will both plead guilty to charges in the case, the attorney for the boy's father said Thursday.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort's five-year effort to push its ski area onto nearby Snodgrass Mountain hit a barrier. The U.S. Forest Service rejected the resort's master development plan and blocked its application for National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, review, a vital hurdle to expand the ski resort by 276 acres onto undeveloped terrain on neighboring Snodgrass Mountain. "It was a difficult decision; the Upper Crested Butte Valley is very divided on this issue, with strong opinions on both sides," said Charlie Richmond, supervisor of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, who signed the letter rejecting the expansion....

A cross-section of opponents of health-care reform legislation making its way through Congress crowded into the Durango office of U.S. Rep. John Salazar... An orderly 50 or so protesters... represented at least three interest groups - Republican women, the Tea Party movement and the 9-12 Project started by conservative radio and television commentator Glenn Beck. The protest was part of a nationwide effort, which included thousands of conservatives rallying at the Capitol on Thursday against the Democrats' health-care overhaul plan, labeling it a government takeover of the nation's medical system. Health-care reform misses the target on all fronts... It's too...

State Sen. Josh Penry intends to drop out of the race for governor. Penry, 33, of Grand Junction, is facing former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis and Evergreen businessman Dan Maes for the Republican nomination. But Penry has been meeting with people today to let them know he would leave the race. One source said an announcement was imminent and that Penry met with McInnis Monday morning to inform him of the decision. Penry explained he was leaving the race for "personal reasons," the source said. Penry collected about $400,000 in his first quarter of fundraising, coming in second to McInnis'...

Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput will address parishioners on health care reform — and more specifically abortion — in a letter to be read at Masses this weekend. In his column in the Denver Catholic Register on Wednesday, Chaput said President Barack Obama has failed to keep his promise to not provide public money for abortion in his health care plan. Chaput said he is asking Catholics to demand their senators and representatives change congressional proposals "to respect Catholic and pro-life concerns." As it stands, federal law prohibits using federal funds to pay for abortions, except to save a pregnant...

While roaming the grounds of the US Capitol yesterday, Kristinn Taylor obtained a list of possible democrat defectors of the now infamous “Healthcare” bill. Kristinn was asked to post this list of wobbly democrats on FreeRepublic in an effort to mobilize our forces and overwhelm these members with phone calls and e-mails asking them to vote NO on the socialization of our healthcare. We also learned that Nancy Pelosi had just scheduled the vote for tomorrow; Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 6:00 PM. For all those who were unable to answer the call to surround the Capitol yesterday, here is...

November 01, 2009 03:37 pm Sheriff detectives searching for a wanted man shot and killed a dog early Friday that belonged to a department volunteer. Bull, a 9-year-old black labrador mix, was shot in the eye by Detective Robbe Newsom, said the dog's owner, Rick Pendleton. Also known as Bo, the dog was mild-tempered and well liked in the neighborhood, Pendleton said, who is a volunteer member of the sheriff department's search and rescue team. Charlene Graham, chief of the department's law enforcement bureau, said Newsom and members of the civil fugitive unit went to Pendleton's home seeking information about...

"You really should go read the John Kane opinion as opposed to just reading Vince Carroll's column," Gov. Bill Ritter told a KOA audience Monday, because Judge Kane's "findings were that nobody in the DA's office did anything wrong." By all means, let's review Kane's remarks last year regarding the contacts between Ritter's 2006 campaign and the Denver district attorney's office following an attack ad released by Republican candidate Bob Beauprez. The episode is suddenly relevant because President Barack Obama nominated Ritter's deputy chief of staff and former campaign worker, Stephanie Villafuerte, as Colorado's next U.S. attorney. As Ritter suggests,...

An Army recruiter used a gay slur and an expletive during military-supervised testing at Durango High School last week, an incident that has raised parents' ire. DHS students who overheard the comment confronted the man, whose identity was not released, and notified school personnel. Juniors and seniors were required to attend a testing session Thursday that was overseen by recruiters from the U.S. Army Denver Recruiting Battalion, or to do an alternative project as part of a career day. More than 500 students took the test. During the military aptitude test, several students overheard the soldier use the expletive and...

<p>DENVER – The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.</p> <p>Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote.</p>

I just got back from the Tea Party Demonstration at Fort Collins, Colorado. The major topic of the event was opposition to the Health Care Bill which is under imminent consideration by the Senate. I estimated the peak crowd size at 900-1100 people. One of the organizers said she was very pleased with the size and duration of the turnout. The crowd was civilized and appreciative toward the speakers. There were plenty of home-made signs and flags among the participants and an organized sale of campaign buttons, T-shirts, and other paraphernalia did a modest business. “Joe the Plumber” spoke on...

Budget Committee Senator Says Freeze Was Mismanaged. Gov. Bill Ritter promised a hiring freeze last year to help bridge the budget gap, but a CALL7 investigation found that as many as 2,300 employees were hired during the “freeze.” “We have taken a number of steps to shore up our fiscal house: imposing a hiring freeze, stopping several new construction projects and halting non-essential spending requests,” Ritter said in his January 2009 State of the State speech. But a CALL7 investigation found that the number of state employees increased during Ritter’s hiring freeze, and Ritter’s top staff, who were tasked with...

Special Alert from the Traveling Press Room of the Tea Party Express II...CONTACT: Levi Russell - levi@FrontLineStrat.com or 509.979.6615 JOE THE PLUMBER TO FLY OUT FOR COLORADO "TEA PARTY EXPRESS" RALLIES ON TUESDAY, NOV. 3RDWe are pleased to announce that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher - famously known to most Americans as "Joe The Plumber" - will be joining the Tea Party Express tomorrow as our convoy heads through Colorado and holds rallies in Ft. Collins and Denver.Here are the details of the Colorado tea party rallies that will take place on Tuesday, November 3rd:FT. COLLINS, CO - 2:00 PMWashington Park...

912 Denver News Blackout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-26FPN2ov4 Can You Hear Us Now? Denver Rally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS4Z5aJ1zlQ

Castle Rock, Colorado—Despite the first major snowstorm of the season, and unrelenting efforts by malicious Darwinists to prevent people from registering, a huge crowd of around 1,000 people showed up Friday night to hear Dr. Stephen Meyer present the DNA evidence for intelligent design based on his new book Signature in the Cell. Meyer, Michael Behe, David Berlinski, and myself are in Colorado to speak at the Legacy of Darwin ID Conference sponsored by Shepherd Project Ministries. On Saturday, Michael Behe will present the evidence against modern Darwinism from his books Darwin’s Black Box and The Edge of Evolution;...

WALSENBURG, Colo. – Bernice and Jerry Angely like to show visitors the singed T-shirt a friend was wearing when their water well exploded and shot flames 30 feet high. The friend wasn't hurt. But that and an explosion at another home weeks earlier forced Colorado to suspend natural gas drilling around this southern plains town until someone could find out why dangerous levels of methane were getting into the groundwater.

Police in Boulder, Colorado, were reportedly successful last night in stopping yet another annual "nude pumpkin run" -- in which men and woman run down a pedestrian mall naked with carved out pumpkins over their heads. The local American Civil Liberties Union is outraged over what he claims is the denial of a constitutional right. Liberal Boulder residents and public officials in the ultraliberal city also are upset, according to a Wall Street Journal article on police efforts to stop the informal annual rite that the local police chief say has gotten totally out of hand. Last year, the event...

<p>Need some FReeper help! The Tea Party Express is coming to Wyoming & Colorado on Wednesday for a series of tea party rallies and we're working hard in the short time that remains to get the word out and build up the sizes of the crowds.</p>

The federal government reported Friday that Colorado created or saved 8,094 jobs through grants, loans and contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Problem is, the figure is wrong, according to an analysis of recovery.gov data by The Denver Post. Although a Colorado Springs Head Start program reported it had created or preserved 269 jobs, the real number was three, according to an interview with a program manager. And although the largest private contract in the state funded with stimulus dollars was estimated at $166 million, the number was off by tens of millions, apparently because of a...

Driving around the Denver, Colorado metro area is a mess and giving people major headaches as they try to get around town. The biggest storm to hit Colorado in October in twelve years is leaving roads packed with snow and ice and while crews are being credited with doing a pretty good job of keeping roads cleared, the snow is falling faster than crews can clear it.Traffic for the last two days has been at a crawl and it likely won't get better until Friday when the storm moves out and sun starts to peek out again. Many areas in...

An early blast of winter walloped some western states with deep snow and slowly pushed into Nebraska and Kansas Thursday, bringing blizzard conditions to the eastern plains and causing treacherous roads, closed schools and hundreds of canceled flights. The fall storm spread 3 feet of snow and left much higher drifts across parts of northern Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, before its leading edge hit neighboring states just to the east. Wind-driven snow built to blizzard conditions over much of eastern Colorado. The weather service warned most area roads would be impassible Thursday night because of blowing snow and near-zero visibility....

Investigators Searching DIA Clerk's Bank Account For Missing Taxi Fees. Denver police are investigating the embezzlement of $170,000 from Denver International Airport taxi fees. A search warrant obtained by 7NEWS shows the scam went undetected for nearly two years. At least 16 cash collections made by DIA Ground Transportation Department workers between November 2007 and late June 2009 vanished en route from that agency to the airport finance department without making it to the bank. The probe was triggered when a random DIA internal audit found a $10,000 collection missing in June, sources told 7News. Police said they were alerted...

Patients Who Benefit From Marijuana Disturbed By 'Abuse'. An ear ache, $50, and eight minutes of a doctor's time was all that was needed to obtain a Medical Marijuana certificate from the state of Colorado. A CALL7 investigation found people in medical marijuana clinics and dispensaries coaching potential customers on how to obtain a certificate from the state with something as simple as an earache. the medical marijuana business in Colorado is booming because the fear of federal prosecution vanished with the election and recent statements of President Barack Obama, who said the federal government will not get involved in...

DENVER - After pounding Colorado's Front Range and metropolitan Denver for more than two days with snow, a powerful Winter Storm pushed into eastern Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas Thursday evening. The snow and wind created blizzard conditions and forced the closure of several major highways, including Interstate 70 which was shut down from Aurora to the Kansas state line. Also closed were I-76 from Brighton to Neb., US 34 from Brush to Neb., CO 71 from Neb. to Ordway, CO 61 from Sterling to Otis, and CO 59 between I-76 and Yuma.

This is a statement that was read over the public address system at the football game at Roane County High School, Kingston, Tenn., by school principal, Jody McLeod: "It has always been the custom at Roane County High School football games, to say a prayer and play the national anthem, to honor God and country. Due to a ruling by the Supreme Court, I am told that saying a prayer is a violation of federal law. "As I understand the law at this time, I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it 'an alternate...

Blizzard continues across northeastern colorado Strong north to northwest winds and moderate to heavy snowfall will continue across the northeast plains of colorado tonight. At sunset the heaviest snow extended from northeastern Weld County across morgan county to the limon area. Further east the snow Intensity was increasing...and periods of heavy snow are expected In those areas as well during the night. Northwest winds at 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph and visibilities of 100 to 200 yards Were common. The center of this storm will move slowly eastward from far Southeastern colorado into western kansas by...

A 28-year-old man died early this morning in Pueblo while trying to steal electrical wiring from a high voltage electrical box... The man, Brian Repinski of Pueblo, was brought unconscious to Parkview Hospital suffering from high voltage burns. Duran said interviews were conducted with associates of Repinski. They said the electrocution occurred on Greenhorn Drive while Repinski and an accomplice were attempting to steal the wiring. Detectives are continuing their investigation to determine whether Repinski and his associates were involved in other recent thefts and burglaries.

Republican Sen. John McCain, along with four of his colleagues on the Hill, yesterday introduced a bipartisan post-9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act, which expands and modernizes the current Troops to Teachers (TTT) program with the goal of having more troops continue their service in the classroom.

We need to start blasting all his phones, emails , twitter account, facebooks, and writing to the newspapers. Even if you don't live in his state you need to still be active on them and tell them no business in Colorado if Bennet votes in favor of Obama's reckless Obamacare and cap n trade. Offices 1.Denver Metro Office 2300 15th St., Suite 450 Denver, Colorado 80202 Phone: (303) 455-7600 Toll Free: (866) 455-9866 Fax: (303) 455-8851 2.Four Corners Office 835 East 2nd Avenue, Suite 203 Durango, Colorado 81301 Phone: (970) 259-1710 Fax: (970) 259-9789 3.Pikes Peak Office 409 North Tejon...

Anyone who has had an eye on getting a new Tesla Roadster, but has been waiting for the sale price of the car to drop from its $109,900 price point to a more reasonably $70k-ish will have a really good day after hearing this news (assuming you live in Colorado). The state of Colorado is offering a special tax credit that is designed to allow purchasers of electric vehicles to save big on the purchase price.

DENVER (Reuters) – The mother of a Colorado boy thought to be aboard a homemade helium balloon has admitted to investigators the whole thing was a hoax, according to a court document made public on Friday. ... "The motive for the fabricated story was to make the Heene family more marketable for future media interest," the affidavit states. The document also says the Heenes, who had starred in the reality television show "Wife Swap," had devised the hoax about two weeks before and had instructed their three children to lie to authorities and the media.

LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Oct. 23, 2009 – Army Sgt. Carlos Medina is relaxing in his room at Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam here when his radio breaks the silence. Medina and his unit are needed to provide field artillery support. Soldiers fire an M-198 155 mm howitzer at Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam in Lagham province, Afghanistan, Oct. 3, 2009. The artillerymen help support forward maneuvering elements. U.S Army photo by Spc. Derek L. Kuhn   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Medina leaps into action. “Fire mission!” he yells to the other artillerymen who live in the rooms adjacent...

President Barack Obama's nominee as Colorado's next U.S. attorney told the FBI two years ago that she never spoke to anyone in the Denver District Attorney's Office about an illegal immigrant who became a controversial figure in the 2006 gubernatorial race. FBI interview summaries describe Stephanie Villafuerte as saying she had "no conversations" with anyone at the DA's office about the illegal immigrant, Carlos Estrada-Medina. But the FBI apparently never asked Villafuerte, the former chief deputy DA who was then working for Bill Ritter's campaign, why she left a phone message for DA spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough that Kimbrough noted was...

Combing through Colorado GOP Senate candidate Jane Norton’s campaign filings this week, Congressional Quarterly finds Rick Davis among the many notables on the impressive Norton donor list, a collection of interested parties that generated a cool half million dollars in 16 days. Who is Rick Davis? Grassroots Colorado Republicans not in the know already will be interested to learn he was an adviser to John McCain during last year’s failed presidential bid. Davis is yet another McCain connection for Norton, who has been taking heat from state conservatives as a doomed McCain-driven national party pick since even before she announced...

A stop livestock movement exercise is taking place on the Oklahoma/Kansas border on Oct. 22. The goal is to practice stopping animal movement across borders during times of contagious animal disease. Traffic will be screened at two border locations; one three miles north of Turpin on Highway 83 and the other at the intersection of Highways 160 and 183 near Sitka, Kansas.

... The medical marijuana review business is booming as states like Colorado and California have seen an explosion in the number of pot shops. ... A Denver alternative newspaper recently posted an ad for what some consider the sweetest job in journalism - a reviewer of the state's marijuana dispensaries and their products. ... The Denver paper, Westword, has already has gotten more than 120 applicants, many of them offering to do the reviews for free. When the newspaper settles on a permanent critic for its new "Mile Highs and Lows" column, industry watchers say, it will be the first...