Free Republic

Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, calls Xcel Energy the "corporate antichrist of Colorado,” and he blames state government and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for helping the company achieve that title by giving it a virtual monopoly in metro Denver. The devil's in the details. The PUC was established in 1913 to regulate electric street lights and telephones, among other utilities, replacing what had been the Railroad Commission. In the decades since, it's evolved into its current configuration. Headed by director Doug Dean, a former lawmaker, the PUC has three commissioners appointed by the governor to four-year terms:...

DENVER - Political stuntman Jon Caldara plans to vote Saturday in El Paso County's recall election even though he lives in Boulder, a move critics claim is voter fraud but that Caldara says shows problems with a new election law Democrats passed.

Libertarian Jon Caldara on Friday submitted more than 130,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office seeking to place a question on the November ballot asking voters to exempt Colorado from major portions of federal health reform signed by President Obama... The Health Care Choice for Colorado initiative asks voters to exempt Colorado from recent federal health care reform, including a provision requiring citizens and business owners to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. Caldara says the initiative would also prevent the government from forcing people into a public or private health care plan against their will. Caldara acknowledges...

A Denver District Court judge ruled today that Gov. Bill Ritter's controversial mill-levy freeze is unconstitutional. "However well-intentioned and commendable the purpose and consequences ... this Court must be concerned only with enforcement of the Colorado Constitution," District Court Court Judge Christina Habas ... A group of taxpayers, organized by the conservative Independence Institute, filed suit late last year against the Colorado Department of Education, arguing that the property-tax freeze amounts to an unconstitutional tax increase because voters did not directly approve it. "All that's required to raise taxes in this state is to ask first. Only the most arrogant...

Former University of Colorado President Betsy Hoffman "thought long and hard" before hiring a car last year to wait outside a donor dinner in Seattle for several hours, she said this week. The $534 charge criticized by state auditors Tuesday was an unusual circumstance, Hoffman said. The house was hard to find, it was dark and she didn't want to be late. But a Rocky Mountain News review of CU payments to limousine services shows hired drivers idled outside at least 10 events Hoffman attended, from a dinner at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to the funeral of...

"Referendum C opponent Jon Caldara today had an employee hand-deliver a red rubber bracelet stamped "What would Reagan do?" to Gov. Bill Owens’ office. "

As a kid I hated this time of year. Remember that sick-to-your-stomach feeling when in the middle of your summer vacation, and without notice, you saw it — the newspaper ad for the "Back to School Sale"? While parents may rejoice in seeing those back-to-school ads, they can't be all too jolly about doling out the green for the school supply list they get from their kid's teacher. A reader sent me what I assume is a pretty standard list, from Bear Creek Elementary. You have to wonder if Boulder Valley School District is in collusion with the Crayola Corporation....

Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado is used to praise from conservatives. National Review dubbed him "the best governor in America" on its cover (illustrating a profile by John J. Miller). Conservatives lauded him for, among other things, his record of cutting taxes and spending. In recent weeks, however, Owens has announced a budget deal with Democrats that has some conservatives furious. Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, accuses Owens of "betraying" taxpayers. The editors of the Wall Street Journal have zapped him. Owens's critics say that he is not only raising taxes, but weakening his state's constitutional...

The Column That Couldn't Be Printed Jon Caldara Opinion Editorial May 30, 2004 The office of Homeland Security spent the week warning us that Al Qaeda might be a serious threat this summer.The FBI dispatched a bulletin to some 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies warning of the threat.  The Boulder Police responded immediately by performing an under-age drinking sting in bars on the Hill.When international danger lurks, Boulder swings into action.Believing that the current color-coding system of yellow, orange, and red alerts is insensitive to people of color, city council is re-naming the alert system for Boulder. ...

URL: http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/insight/article/0,1713,BDC_2494_2939137,00.htmlCaldara: We can laugh, but only if it's at the rightJune 6, 2004My column didn't appear in last Sunday's Daily Camera. I wrote it. But my editors chose not to run it. This happens only rarely, but nobody likes getting their work yanked. So when you see that I'm not here, it isn't always because I'm too hung-over to write. Of course it is an editor's prerogative to 86 anything he doesn't want in his paper. Some even think that's his job. And I, along with you, have been amazed that I haven't been given the pink slip a...