Park Service retirees: Repeal Bush-era concealed weapons rule change

Late in 2008, the Bush Administration rushed through a regulatory change that would allow concealed-carry firearms to be possessed in national parks and national wildlife refuges in accordance with state permit requirements. The rule went into effect on Jan. 9.

The previous common-sense rule had been in effect for national parks since the early 1900s, in one form or another. The rule did not prohibit guns, but simply required them to be unloaded, cased and not immediately accessible.

PMA pork-for-pay and the old nontransparency

Republican Rep. Jeff Flake from Arizona is making a name for himself rooting out earmarks to indict the professionalized “pay-to-play” culture of Congress. His Web site tracks the fruits of his investigation so far, listing earmarks tied to clients of embattled big-time lobbying firm PMA, which doled out campaign contributions to members of Congress across the country, including Colorado’s Ed Perlmutter, Mark Udall and Doug Lamborn. This morning Flake had an op-ed in the New York Times on the unspooling scandal.

Republican action heroes

In honor of state Rep. Don Marostica (R-Loveland) and his lone, epic battle among his GOP colleagues to bring fiscal sanity to the state budget.

Job committee’s outdated proposals overlook professional class

As Colorado’s economy shrinks and jobs disappear, it’s hard to draw confidence from the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Job Creation and Economic Growth. The committee’s statements on its discussion in November look even more cringe-worthy today than they did then.

New pack of DC lobbyists keep Oval Office doors spinning

Not even three weeks in office and President Barack Obama is discovering that being in charge is no bed of roses, even when you have a garden of them just outside your Oval Office windows. February’s frost has bitten a bit of the bloom off the new President’s aspirations as the swamp of hypocrisy and partisan inertia that is Beltway Washington took its toll.

ICE fugitive unit inflating arrests with non-criminal immigrants

Bloated federal funding and political pressure pushed a U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement program to meet arrest quotas rather than focus on rounding up criminal fugitives and addressing national security threats, says a damning new report on the controversial agency.

Guantánamo goes to Crawford

^{© Copyright 2009 Patrick Chappatte – All Rights Reserved}

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Use education stimulus for school buildings, not plugging budget holes

As Congress debates a roughly $825 billion economic stimulus package, many interest groups want to make sure their pet programs get a piece of the action.

The education community is no exception.

The 2009 groundhog prediction guide

^{© Copyright 2009 Joe Heller – All Rights Reserved}

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What does Punxsutawney Phil have in store for us this year?

Bringing transparency to Colorado government in three easy steps

As one of his first official acts, President Barack Obama issued an executive memorandum instructing members of his administration “to operate under principles of openness, transparency and of engaging citizens with their government.” There are a number of ways Colorado state and local government can follow suit and join the President in his commitment to an “unprecedented level of openness in government.”