Free Republic

DENVER -- Colorado is raising its minimum wage again in 2018 to $10.20 an hour. The increase is part of a constitutional requirement voters approved in 2016. It will be $12 an hour by 2020. ... not everyone is pleased with the hike. "I think we are going to see more and more restaurants use technology because it cuts down on costs -- your computer is not going to call in sick," said Sonia Riggs, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association. Riggs said most restaurants don't make much profit, and another sharp increase is resulting in potential menu increases and...

For the first time in years, there is an emerging consensus that the biggest racket in national politics deserves to end. Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and 10 other Republican senators held a luncheon summit at the White House with President Trump with the goal of drastically reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard, the federal mandate that annually funnels $13.5 billion from the wallets of American fuel and food consumers into the coffers of agribusiness giants. Before the national nightmare of Obamacare, there was the RFS, the most sweeping and intrusive federal intervention in the American economy undertaken in...

The goal was to promote the city of Colorado Springs as "Olympic City U.S.A." But the method — erecting a big blue frame at the edge of a scenic overlook at Garden of the Gods Park — drew anger from residents. Just days after it was put up, the frame was taken down. The frame, seemingly meant to add pizzazz to park visitors' photos, sparked "sustained outrage" instead, member station KRCC reports. Its arrival last week took many residents by surprise. It was taken down on Monday, without ceremony. "It seemed like a very strange thing to put in this...

Colorado Democrats have renamed their annual “Jefferson Jackson Dinner” the “Obama Dinner” to honor the legacy of the 44th president and his wife. Barack and Michelle Obama are the ones that the Colorado Democratic Party has been waiting for — to usurp a fundraising event named after the third and seventh U.S. presidents, respectively. Party spokesman Eric Walker had two words for critics of the decision: “Damn right.”

After California’s then-Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced felony pimping charges last year against the two owners of Backpage.com — a classified-ad website that is a hub for sex trafficking and prostitution, one of the men cut a $10,000 check to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s super PAC. Mrs. Pelosi’s political action committee, House Majority PAC, has resisted giving the money back, and an aide to Mrs. Pelosi said the California Democrat knows nothing about the contribution. The uproar over sexual harassment that began with the Harvey Weinstein scandal has intensified the scrutiny of political contributions linked to Backpage, which...

Connecticut has the most underfunded pension system in the nation, amassing more than $127.7 billion in liabilities.. The study entitled Unaccountable and Unaffordable showed Connecticut’s pension system dropping below Illinois and Kentucky when its pension liabilities were calculated with a “risk-free” discount rate equal to the rate of a U.S. Treasury bond. Connecticut’s unfunded pension liability rose from $99.2 billion in ALEC’s 2016 study to $127.7 billion in 2017, leaving the pension system only 19 percent funded. The debt from the public pensions amounts to $35,721 per person in Connecticut, the second highest per capita debt in the nation behind...

DENVER (AP) — Denver authorities shut down 26 legal marijuana businesses Thursday and arrested 12 people suspected of illegal distribution of pot after a yearlong criminal investigation. Potential charges relate to marijuana sales exceeding limits set in state law, police said. Colorado allows people 21 and older to possess an ounce or less of marijuana under a measure approved by voters in 2012. The city department that regulates marijuana businesses issued the order to close the businesses based on the police investigation, spokesman Dan Rowland said. It marked the first time the city has issued an open-ended suspension to any...

Check out the full Kate’s List below: Kathy Steinle Kathy Steinle Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA) (202) 225-4215 (Facebook) Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) (202) 225-5816 (Facebook) Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) (202) 225-2371 (Facebook) Rep Mark Amodei (R-NV) 202 225-6155 (Facebook) Rep Mike Coffman (R-CO) (202) 225-7882 Facebook Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA)(202) 225-4540 (Facebook) Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) (202) 225-3011 (Facebook) Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) (202) 225-4276 (Facebook) Rep. Peter King (R-NY) (202) 225-7896 (Facebook) Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) (202) 225-2778 (Facebook) Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) (202) 225-4315 (Facebook) Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) (202) 225-3761 (Facebook) Rep. John Faso (R-NY) (202) 225-5614...

New Year’s resolutions: get outdoors more often, read more books, and stop hanging out with people who only bring up the Holocaust as a way to illustrate unrelated arguments and never to talk about the systematic murder of six million Jews. This week the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune published an editorial, “Wedding Cakes And Conscience,” contending that a baker in Colorado being forced to design a wedding cake for a gay couple would constitute a violation of his freedom of expression. To illustrate the point, the Tribune encouraged readers to understand Colorado baker Jack Phillips’ predicament, saying, “imagine...

This week, the Supreme Court hears Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Jack Phillips, proprietor of Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused to create a wedding cake ordered for a same-sex marriage on grounds that it would force him to create a cake expressing a value opposed to his Christian convictions. The gay men who ordered the cake filed a sexual orientation discrimination claim against him with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and the Commission ruled against Phillips. It was clear that this was not a matter of Phillips refusing to do business with these men because they are gay. He offered...

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said during oral arguments on Tuesday that Colorado did not appear to show religious tolerance when it used its public accommodations law to force baker Jack Phillips to create speech via a custom cake for a same-sex wedding that defies his religious beliefs. The line of questioning garnered attention because Kennedy often serves as the divided high court's key swing vote, and a split vote could form again in Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Kennedy pointedly criticized Colorado for not being "tolerant" of Phillips' religious beliefs. 00:21 / 01:00 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a landmark case Tuesday on LGBT rights and whether same-sex couples can be discriminated against under the cover of religious freedom. Jack Phillips is a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple, David Mullins and Charlie Craig, in 2012. The couple was wed in Massachusetts and hosted a wedding reception in Denver one year before gay marriage was legal across the U.S. They wanted a cake from Masterpiece Cakeshop, where Phillips decorates cakes for weddings, graduations and other celebrations. He refuses to design custom cakes for Halloween, divorce...

It’s astounding how many defenses of the state’s position in Masterpiece Cakeshop depend on misrepresentation and misconceptions. Last week I wrote about the most common misrepresentation — that Jack Phillips discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation when he refused to design a custom cake for a same-sex-wedding celebration. After all, he served all customers — regardless of race, sex, or sexual orientation. He just consistently refused to design cakes that advanced messages he disagreed with. No person of any identity has the legal authority to compel an artist to use his talents to advance a cause the artist...

The Supreme Court is taking up the highly anticipated case of the Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Tuesday’s clash at the high court pits baker Jack Phillips’ First Amendment claims of artistic freedom against the anti-discrimination arguments of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, and two men Phillips turned away in 2012. The commission ruled that Phillips violated the state’s anti-discrimination law when he refused to make a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins. The argument is the first involving gay rights since the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that states...

A University of Colorado, Denver administrator worries that white children may “forfeit their humanity” if they aren’t raised by sufficiently progressive parents. In an academic article, Naomi Nishi, who facilitates educational programs for professors and periodically teaches classes, argues that parents should employ “critical race parenting” to prevent white children from committing “racial microaggressions” against their peers.

That case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, takes aim at a Colorado law that bars discrimination based on perceived sexual orientation in places serving the public. Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, says the law violates his free speech rights by forcing him to “create expression that violates his sincerely held beliefs about marriage.” The dispute has attracted a lot of attention from the business community, including an amicus brief signed by 35 companies including Amazon (AMZN), Pfizer (PFE), and Apple (AAPL), which asked the court to rule against Phillips. Another group with an interest in the...

The GOP tax plan was passed through the Senate Friday night in a 51-49 vote. There are a number of things included in the last-minute text, including a provision by Sen. Gardner of Colorado that exempts Kombucha, a fermented tea drink, from alcoholic taxes and regulations. Why it matters: These are small examples of what got slipped in the bill last-minute as the Senate vote neared, and reveals some of the senators' pet projects back in their home states. Odd amendments included in the tax plan: Sen. Orrin Hatch Prohibit things like cash and gift cards to be given as...

This coming Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court has the chance to set the record straight on religious freedom for everyone in the U.S. In 2012, Jack Phillips of Colorado's Masterpiece Cake Shop refused to provide a cake for a same-sex "wedding" based on his faith convictions. That case – Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission – is now before the nation's high court. Jack Phillips doesn't design cakes for all events-he never has. He has a set of values based on his religious beliefs-a moral code-that guides his life, including his work. When an event conflicts with Jack's...

November 27, the Denver Post set into motion its latest round of layoffs just over a year after shrinking the newsroom staff by 26 employees through the combination of a buyout offer and supplementary dismissals. Seven positions included in the Post's contract with the Denver Newspaper Guild are affected, and another four employees working non-union gigs also appear to have been discharged. "The Post gave the required two-week notice of layoff in seven union covered positions," notes the DNG's Tony Mulligan, corresponding via email. "Four are in the newsroom and three are in advertising support." ... As for why the...

At first glance, the Masterpiece Cakeshop case — for which the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on Dec. 5 — looks easy. In 2012 Charlie Craig and David Mullins attempted to buy a wedding cake at Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo. The owner, an evangelical Christian named Jack Phillips, refused to sell them one. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission found Phillips liable for sexual-orientation discrimination, which is prohibited by the state’s public accommodations law. State courts have upheld the commission’s decision. The reason the nation’s high court is giving the case a second glance is Phillips’s First Amendment...