Free Republic

DENVER -- Mayor John Hickenlooper paid back $52,486 to the Internal Revenue Service in 2008 because of questionable conservation tax easements he participated in over the past decade, CALL7 Investigators have learned. After CALL7 Investigators started questioning the easement's value, Hickenlooper campaign staff provided 7News with a letter from the IRS telling Hickenlooper he could settle a claim to avoid litigation. "This letter is to inform you that (the IRS) has considered the federal tax implications of a group of returns reflecting charitable contributions of conservation easements in the state of Colorado," the IRS letter said. "Because your conservation easement...

Magellan Strategies’ new poll in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District shows Republican candidate Ryan Frazier with a narrow 1 point lead, 40-39, over Rep. Ed Perlmutter. Jim Geraghty at the Campaign Spot sees the Frazier/Perlmutter battle as a potential election night surprise.

If any recent president's life is the stuff of operas, it's Bill Clinton's. There's been comedy, drama, back-stabbing, shouting, crying, death, and many miraculous comebacks. But that's real life. Now art will be imitating life in a project coming together in Little Rock and meant to show how his struggles as a kid raised by a fun-loving mother influenced the making of the 42nd president. Billy Blythe features "a snapshot of a day of his life in Hot Springs in the 1950s," says the opera's producer, Bonnie Montgomery to our Suzi Parker. "Clinton's life is very operatic, over the top,...

Blanche Thebom, one of the great operatic mezzos of the postwar era, died at her home in San Francisco on March 23. Increasingly isolated due to dementia, Miss Thebom, as she was known to most, or “Miss T,” as she was called by many of her students, died a week after contracting pneumonia.During her career, Thebom was prized equally for the rich maturity of her voice, her face and figure (which also received their due in a number of films, including The Great Caruso), her profound acting ability and innate musical intelligence, and even her long tresses (at one time,...

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday that it "sickens" him that Massachusetts GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown could block healthcare reform if elected. Dodd, a longtime friend and ally of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), blasted the Republican candidate to permanently fill Kennedy's seat over Brown's stance against the health bill before Congress. "Health care was the cause of my friend Ted Kennedy's life," Dodd said in a fundraising letter for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). "So it sickens me that the Republican running to take Ted's place is vowing to be the 41st vote to kill health...

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will not enter the race for Colorado governor and will endorse Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for the post. Salazar made the decision after talking with his family and advisors. He intends to remain in the cabinet of President Barack Obama, who had previously indicated to Salazar that he would not object to a decision to run for governor.

Four Republican opponents lead Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) in potential general election matchups, according to a new Rasmussen survey. On top of trailing each Republican by at least 8 points and never reaching even 40% support, 55% say they hold an unfavorable opinion of the second-term senator.

Unbelievable! Kristol just said his sources have internal polling showing Brown pulling within 6 and slightly ahead among those most likely to vote.

FRAMINGHAM — State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, today filed legislation that would require the state Attorney General to receive and document proof of citizenship or right to work in the United States for wage enforcement cases. Historically, the Attorney General’s office has adopted a policy of not asking about immigration status of employees when proceeding with a wage enforcement case against an employer. Under the bill filed by Brown, who is also a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, wage enforcement cases would require valid proof of citizenship or immigration status before proceeding. “This is a responsible and effective immigration reform...

[Excerpt discussing the media's initial reaction to Ft. Hood] A shroud of political correctness settled over the conversation. Hasan was portrayed as a victim of society, a poor soul who was pushed over the edge by prejudice and unhappiness. There was a national rush to therapy. Hasan was a loner who had trouble finding a wife and socializing with his neighbors. This response was understandable. It’s important to tamp down vengeful hatreds in moments of passion. But it was also patronizing. Public commentators assumed the air of kindergarten teachers who had to protect their children from thinking certain impermissible and...

WASHINGTON — Limits on medical malpractice lawsuits would lead doctors to order up fewer unneeded tests and save taxpayers billions more than previously thought, budget umpires for Congress said Friday in a reversal that puts the issue back in the middle of the health care debate. The latest analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that government health care programs could save $41 billion over ten years if nationwide limits on jury awards for pain and suffering and other similar curbs were enacted. Those savings are nearly ten times greater than CBO estimated just last year.

President Barack Obama said he will accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, though he said he feels he does not deserve to share the honor with many of the award's previous recipients. In a Rose Garden speech, the president said he was surprised and humbled by the Nobel Prize committee's decision to award him the prestigious prize, adding that it should be shared with many of the other human rights advocates across the world. "I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee," Obama said Friday. "To be honest, I do not feel that I...

Former CENTCOM Commander Anthony Zinni said the Obama administration was dangerously close to “dithering” on Gen. McChrystal’s troop request ,saying “We’ve had a strategy since March… I don’t understand why we’re questioning his judgment at this point, and I just hope this doesn’t go on for much longer.”

DENVER -- The massive FBI probe that triggered raids in New York City is focused on a potential Denver-based terror cell plotting another attack on the scale of 9/11, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday. CALL7 Investigators have learned that the Governor's office of Homeland Security has been involved in the investigation and believe there is no imminent threat in Colorado. (snip) A law enforcement source told CALL7 Investigators that the investigation has been going on for two weeks. A Denver area man, detained and then released Monday in connection with the New York City terrorism raids, had recently...

A doctors' group and an organization that advocates for the interest of the inner-city poor have joined forced to sue the Obama administration, charging that its abortive effort to collect criticisms made by those opposed to President Obama's plan to change the U.S. health care system infringed on their First Amendment rights. In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and the Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education said the White House had attempted to "unlawfully" collect information on protected political speech when it asked Obamacare supporters to report any negative comments...

- Bedbugs have sent Bill Clinton and his staff fleeing the former President's offices, a source tells us. No word on whether WJC actually has a bed in his Harlem suite, but the infestation is said to have been so bad that exterminators told Clintonistas to take a few days off.

So here we are in August, time for a little summer vacation. President Barack Obama is taking Michelle and the kids out on a Western swing to see some of America’s most famous national parks. Next Friday, August 14, they will fly out to Bozeman, Montana and the next day will visit Yellowstone National Park, home of the Old Faithful geyser, in nearby Wyoming. Later that day they head to Grand Junction, Colorado. On August 16, it’s on to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. They end up in Phoenix for the president to address the convention of Veterans of Foreign...

What's everyone so upset about? That was President Obama's response Thursday night during an ABC News interview when asked if he regretted his "acted stupidly" comment during Wednesday night's press conference. "I am suprised by the controversy," Obama told ABC's Terry Moran. "I think it was [a] pretty straightforward comment that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home." And while Obama did not apologize for his strong jab, he attempted to soften its impact by offering compliments to the police officer at the center of the Henry...

Barack Obama has been notoriously tough in hiring lobbyists in Washington and therefore, headhunters have been retained to search for hard to fill positions. Obama's administrators have reportedly interviewed large search firms Korn/Ferry International, Russell Reynolds Associates and Heidrick & Struggles. (snip) Obama said, “A lot of people who we think are about to serve in the administration and Treasury suddenly say, ‘Well, you know what? I don’t want to go through some of the scrutiny, embarrassment, in addition to taking huge cuts in pay.’ ”

Raul Castro prompted widespread speculation last week that the U.S. and Cuba could be headed toward a thaw in nearly a half-century of chilly relations, when he said Cuban leaders would be willing to discuss "everything" with the U.S., (snip) Obama responded by saying Washington seeks a new beginning with Cuba but he also said that Cuba should release some political prisoners and reduce official taxes on remittances from the U.S. as a sign of goodwill. Fidel Castro wrote in an essay on Tuesday that Obama "without a doubt misinterpreted Raul's declarations."