Guest Columns | Colorado Statesman


Not a Member? Search this site: Home NEWS & EVENTS Current News Legislative News 2008 Political Campaigns 2010 Political Campaigns COMMENTARY Letters to the Editor Editorials Guest Columns FEATURES 2008 Democratic National Convention Jerry Kopel InnerView Jay Fox's Dining Guide Politi-Flix Politics Uncorked 'Those Were the Days' SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscribe Online ABOUT Contact Us Submissions & Editorial Guidelines	Guest Columns HILLMAN: ADDING ARROGANCE TO INSULT Colorado Dems ignore the Constitution, and state Supreme Court backs them up 5/29/2009 If Democrats in the 2007 General Assembly were devious for passing Gov. Bill Ritter’s infamous property tax hike without voter approval, the current crop plunges to new depths. In an act of sheer arrogance, this year’s Democrat majority poked taxpayers in the eye just for spite. Read more DAVOREN: THE PAST AND FUTURE COME TOGETHER Goodstein’s new book evokes memories of South Denver’s colorful politicians 5/22/2009 Phil Goodstein. The Haunts of Washington Park. Denver: New Social Publications, 2009. vi + 302 pp. ISBN 0-9743364-4-0. $19.95. maps, illustrations, index. Reviewed By John Davoren GUEST COLUMNIST As a boy, I sometimes traveled across town from my home in North Denver to visit Washington Park. Particularly exciting was plunging off the high-diving tower, about 30 feet above the water, into Smith Lake. After splashing into the water, I remember sinking down, the mud encompassing my ankles. Phil Goodstein’s new book, The Haunts of Washington Park, brought this to mind and many other memories of the people and places that have made South Denver what it is. Read more STRAAYER: THIS IS NO TIME TO SQUANDER $1 MILLION Memo to CSU: Wait! Don’t do it! Oops! 5/15/2009 On May 5, in what appeared to be an attempt to outrace the Legislature’s effort to place some limits on the hiring of college and university presidents and chancellors, the Colorado State University Board of Governors rushed the selection of a chancellor and proceeded to name a single finalist: Joe Blake, the board’s own vice president. Read more MAROSTICA: ARVESCOUG-BIRD HANDCUFFS LEGISLATURE Budget process is broken; SB 228 would fix it 5/1/2009 There’s an old saying that goes, “If it jams, force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyways.” That’s a pretty good summation of where we’re at with Colorado’s budget system. Read more LARSON: AN OPEN LETTER TO MEMBERS OF COLORADO'S LEGISLATURE Time to let higher ed find its own funding 4/10/2009 Having served on the Pinnacol Assurance Board of Directors (when it was still the Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority), I learned a great deal about insurance, actuaries and the difficulty of building reserves. When I was on the board, CCIA was still working hard to overcome the deep hole that was dug by the State Compensation Insurance Authority and subsequently handed to CCIA with instructions to “fix it.” Read more PERKINS: THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN THE 20TH CENTURY Political deals threaten to destroy history of African-Americans in Radio Golf 4/10/2009 Reviewed by Owen Perkins GUEST CONTRIBUTOR “Politics is about symbolism,” mayoral hopeful Harmond Wilks tells his wife in the opening moments of Radio Golf. “Black people don’t vote, but they have symbolic weight.” Read more TOOL: SIMPLY PUT, HERE'S WHY! It’s time to improve Colorado’s budgeting process 4/3/2009 As the legislative debate continues on Senate Bill 228, it has occurred to me that there are three changes that the General Assembly should consider making to our budget process. The changes would be to increase the 6 percent General Fund limit to 7.5 percent (and not eliminate it, as Senate Bill 228 would do), move the state budget to a biennial budget, and institute zero-based budgeting. Simply put, here’s why! Read more LINKHART: MUNICIPALITIES RESPOND TO HARD TIMES Cities and towns throughout Colorado maintain services with shrinking revenues 3/26/2009 The economic recession has definitely arrived on Main Street. More than half of the respondents to a recent survey of Colorado’s cities and towns said that 2008 municipal revenue collections were “worse” or “much worse” than 2007 revenue collections. Another third reported revenue collections as flat in 2008. Looking ahead, 42 percent of the cities and towns expect a further reduction in revenue in 2009. Read more DUBOFSKY: TABOR revenue limit would still be in place Time to modernize Colorado’s fiscal landscape 3/5/2009 Colorado has one of the most complex fiscal systems in the entire country. We are not, in our current form, adequately suited to deal with ever-changing economic realities. The Colorado General Assembly is currently debating a bill, Senate Bill 228, which would repeal an outdated budget formula and untie the state’s hands to get us out of the recession more quickly. Read more HOLDEN: LOOK AT THE NUMBERS TABOR protects Colorado’s taxpayers 2/26/2009 Norman Duncan’s “lobbyist and current Democrat” point of view on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and its attenuating effect on Colorado government and legislative process was insightful and revealing. (“Rule by TABOR flouts the founding fathers,” Colorado Statesman, Jan. 16, 2009) Read more « first ‹ previous … 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 next › last »	Jun. 14, 2013 Vol. 114, No. 24