Multitasking mania…

Calling in from the road while attending the Steamboat Institute’s inaugural Freedom Conference - Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold joins Jeff Crank on his “Crank It Up!) radio show Saturday morning during the 8:30 AM segment (KVOR 740 AM or www.kvor.com ).

From the station promo:

“Have you heard about Governor Ritter’s new “gun tax”? It is one of the new schemes that the Governor is planning to use to balance the budget. Matt Arnold, of Clear The Bench Colorado, will be joining us to talk about this.”

Tune in Saturday at 8:30 AM to learn more about the new “Gun Tax” and the role of the Mullarkey Majority on the Colorado Supreme Court in enabling this latest assault on your constitutional rights…

Exercise YOUR right to vote “NO” on retaining the four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your homes and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold met with the Examiner’s Colorado Correspondent Michael Schaus for an interview last Friday, discussing the increasingly prominent grassroots movement to restore accountability to Colorado’s judiciary.  The interview was published in the Sunday edition.

Some excerpts (for the complete interview, click here):

Four of the Colorado Supreme Court Justices are up for retention in the 2010 elections. The power and reach of the Supreme Court is far greater than most people within the state seem to realize. Judges are rarely a center of discussion when elections come around, and even the ["Blue Book"] ballot “information” booklets fail to give any adequate review of the judge’s performance. So what is the importance of educating yourself on judges? What is the importance of voting on retaining judges that have been appointed to the Court? More importantly, why does the director of Clear the Bench Colorado want every one of those judges up for retention voted out of office? …

As appointed defenders of the State Constitution, our justices are supposed to preserve the rights our Constitution guarantees us. And yet, too often, their “interpretation” is one of ideological activism rather than lawful conclusions. …

Clear the Bench Colorado is a grassroots effort to persuade Coloradoans to vote against retaining the Supreme Court Justices in the next election. In an effort to utilize the opportunity handed to the citizens of Colorado every ten years, Matthew Arnold hopes to let the Supreme Court of Colorado know that we citizens of this great state will not be subjected to their activism any longer. …

But too many voters relegate the importance of evaluating judges to a casual dismissal. “Judges you have never even heard of are responsible for influencing your life and our laws.” Matthew explained. The role of the judiciary is not supposed to be one of ultimate arbitration or rule; rather, it was formed to help quell the tide of unlawful governance. But in today’s world the courts are often enablers of the congressional attempts to circumvent the will of the people.

“But in Colorado we are lucky,” Matthew explained, “Every ten years we have an opportunity to vote on whether or not we want to retain the judges.” And, he argues, that opportunity should be taken seriously in 2010. “Too many people buy the fiction that courts have the final say in all matters.” He explained. And he is right; the Supreme Court of Colorado is ultimately responsible to we the people of this great state. For that reason the opportunity for the general public to vote on their retention is extended to us.

Here, in Colorado, we have the opportunity in 2010 to remind the Supreme Court, and the ideologues who hope to secure the activism on the bench for their own political agendas, that we the people are the ultimate arbitrators.

Exercise YOUR right to vote “NO” on retaining the four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your homes and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!

Welcome to another belated edition of the Friday Funnies (hey, our graphics guy is on vacation - and artistic talent is NOT tied to the Y chromosome in my family) for the latest in our continuing cavalcade of canine & kitty clips…

The last week has brought even more additions to the litany of backdoor taxes (er, “fees”) being foisted on Colorado citizens.  Apparently unconcerned with widespread opposition to the Colorado Car Tax, Governor Ritter picked a showdown with Colorado gun owners by proposing more new taxes (sorry, “fees“) on gun sales and concealed-carry permits to “balance the budget.”  Hmmm, and I thought that “fees” were supposed to be related to the cost of providing a particular government service?  Oh, right - that quaint notion was swept aside (along with other constitutional protections against tax increases) by our activist Colorado Supreme Court.

Sooner or later, though, our governor and legislature will run out of people they can target for tax hikes - can going after kittens and puppies be far behind?

Don’t let the Mullarkey Majority unleash even more taxes (er, “fees”) by our rabidly spendthrift governor and legislature - support Clear The Bench Colorado and vote “NO” on these unjust justices before they can make even more Colorado puppies and kittens sad.

Well, that didn’t take long.

In Monday’s article predicting that new “fees“, not new taxes, would be the preferred approach of the Governor and the Colorado Legislature to address our state’s “fiscal crisis” (in reality more of a spending issue, not a revenue shortfall), I’d thought (paraphrasing Will Rogers) that my wallet was safe until the Legislature was back in session.  Although that’s still technically true (since the latest proposed “fee” increases still require legislative approval before going into effect), less than a day passed between my prediction and the first new “fee” proposal by Governor Ritter.

Ritter’s Colorado Gun Tax is the latest scheme to target a maligned minority group (gun-owners) to bear the burden of additional charges (pardon, “fees“) in order to exercise a constitutional right.  Under Ritter’s proposed budget plan, the state would levy “a fee increase for background checks on gun sales” as well as increasing the fee for Concealed-Carry Weapons (CCW) permits.

This follows on the heels of the 2009 Legislative Session’s Tobacco Tax increase, HB1342  (technically, an elimination of the long-standing Colorado state tax exemption for tobacco products).

Does anyone think that our governor and legislators will stop with targeting gun-owners and smokers?  Not by a long shot (pardon the pun); they’re just getting warmed up:

He [Governor Ritter] talked vaguely about “options other than budget reductions” for next year’s budget. Some Democratic leaders want to eliminate some of the nearly $2 billion in tax credits, incentives and exemptions in state law.

The “nearly $2 billion in tax credits, incentives, and exemptions in state law”- which includes exemptions on taxing groceries, internet access, gasoline, fuel for residential heat, etc.  (view the complete list) - was previously shielded from legislative raids on your wallet by TABOR, until the Mullarkey Court declared “open season” on these credits as part of the “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” ruling.

Ritter and the Colorado Legislature were similarly prohibited from bypassing TABOR - and TABOR’s requirement for a vote of the people on tax increases - by raising taxes disguised as “fees” until the Mullarkey Court’s “November Surprise” ruling in the Barber v. Ritter case.

The Mullarkey Majority has been aiding and abetting the sticky fingers of state government in YOUR wallet.  It’s high time to hold them accountable - vote “NO” on retaining these unjust justices in 2010.

Let’s Clear The Bench, Colorado!

 As I’ve been around the state in the last few weeks speaking before various groups about the Colorado Supreme Court’s assaults on the Colorado Constitution (to be fair, it’s actually only the five “unjust justices” of the Mullarkey Majority, four of whom - Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey - are up for retention in 2010), I’ve been telling audiences that there’s good news and bad news for their finances.

The good news is that, despite the state’s fiscal crunch, the Colorado Legislature most likely WON’T be raising taxes next year (one good thing about an election year, I suppose).

The bad news is that they won’t have to - thanks to the Mullarkey Court, and their rulings in the “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” case (affecting not just property taxes, but also a whole slew of existing tax credits and exemptions) and the Barber v. Ritter case (essentially erasing the distinction between taxes and “fees”), the Governor and Legislature can just impose new “fees” and eliminate current tax credits.

The word is getting around.  As noted in a recent commentary (”Fiscal Epiphany for Ritter & Bennet?“):

Ritter told a gathering of municipal leaders that he won’t ask for a tax hike in 2010.  The AP report didn’t mention whether Ritter’s proclamation was met with audible laughter or just snickering.

Here’s a governor who convinced the legislature and the state supreme court that legislation increasing property tax revenue isn’t really a tax increase and therefore doesn’t trigger the constitutional requirement for a public vote.  As a result, property owners will pay some $200 million more this year than they would have without Ritter’s “tax freeze.”

In the wake of that ruling, Ritter and the Democrat legislature used a new loophole manufactured by the supreme court to enact an additional $125 million in tax increases - also without a vote of the people.

Just this year Ritter championed two new “fees” so large as to make taxes superfluous.  First he enacted his famous vehicle fee to raise an estimated $250 million by increasing the cost of licensing almost every vehicle in the state by $41 to $51 annually.  Then he signed a “hospital provider fee” that will, when fully implemented, raise $600 million a year from new charges on patient services.

With fees like that, who needs taxes?

Who needs to raise new taxes, indeed?  THAT would require a vote of the people - and this governor, along with the current majority in the Colorado Legislature, aided and abetted by an agenda-driven Colorado Supreme Court majority, just can’t have that.  They apparently prefer Coloradans as subjects, not citizens.

Exercise YOUR right as a citizen, not a subject, to vote “NO” on retaining the four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your homes and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and “NO” vote on retaining these unjust justices in 2010!

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold made a special studio appearance on Thursday’s 850 KOA Mike Rosen show (hosted by Tom Tancredo).

Listen in to learn more about the grassroots movement to restore accountability to Colorado’s judiciary.  The four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your homes and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!

During a trip to Grand Junction, Colorado last week to spread the word on Clear The Bench Colorado, Director Matt Arnold was interviewed by Grand Junction’s local ABC affiliate, KJCT (Channel 8).  Part of the interview aired Sunday evening (9 August) and additional footage is scheduled to be featured on a more in-depth treatment of the topic later in the week.

The video link is (hopefully) coming soon, but the station meanwhile posted a brief description on their website (”Group seeks changes for State Supreme Court“)

Exercise YOUR right to vote “NO” on retaining the four unjust justices of the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) who need YOUR approval to continue taking away your rights: your right to vote on tax increases, your right to defend your homes and business from seizure by rapacious governments, and your right to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, not rule by activist, agenda-driven “justices.”  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!

Welcome to a very special (and somewhat late) edition of the Clear The Bench Colorado Friday Funnies - a full-color Sunday Special!

And what better to mark the passing of the “dog days of summer” than to introduce our “Gone to the Dogs” spokespup Nola in the first of a series of “biting” commentaries on our state Supreme Court?  Watch for more upcoming articles as Nola and the rest of the Clear The Bench Colorado team sink their teeth into the Colorado Car Tax, “Mill Levy Tax Freeze” property tax increase, Telluride Land Grab and other Mullarkey Court decisions that are making Colorado puppies (and people!) sad.

Don’t let our Constitution - and our Supreme Court - go to the dogs.  Help save Colorado’s puppies and kittens by fighting back against our state’s unjust justices…  Support Clear The Bench Colorado with your voice (Sound Off!), your contributions, and “NO” vote on retaining unjust justices in 2010!

Clear The Bench Colorado continues to spread the word (NOT spreading the wealth) around the state, with speaking engagements, press interviews, radio appearances, and a television debut.  Another extremely busy week, with Director Matt Arnold appearing at multiple events around the Denver metro area and featuring a CBTC road trip to the Western Slope:

Monday, August 3rd: speaking at Liberty On The Rocks (Red Rocks), 5-7PM, Old Chicago, 145 Union Blvd., Lakewood, on the rooftop patio.

Tuesday, August 4th: speaking at the ACRW luncheon, 11:30-1 at the City Buffet (Northglenn), 107th & Melody

Appearing on the Independent Thinking television program with host Jon Caldara and fellow guest John Andrews for a discussion on ”Voter Approval of Supreme Court Justices” at 5PM on KBDI Channel 12 for Clear The Bench Colorado’s broadcast television debut (re-broadcast from Friday).

Thursday, August 6th: speaking at the Western Slope Conservative Alliance event, 6:30-8:30PM  at City Hall in Grand Junction

Saturday, August 8th: speaking at the DRWC “Breakfast in the Park” event at Eisenhower Park (just east of Colorado Blvd on Dartmouth Ave, Denver), 9-11AM

and wrapping up the week by attending (not a scheduled speaker) the Tom Tancredo roast, 6-10PM at the Red Lion Inn at Parker/I-225 (RSVP/BUY TICKETS: 303-779-1115)

Meet up with Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold at one of these events this week (if you can catch him standing still) and learn more about the grassroots movement to restore accountability to our judiciary in Colorado.  Let’s Ditch the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) by voting “NO” to retain these unjust justices in 2010! Let’s Clear The Bench, Colorado!

Clear The Bench Colorado Director Matt Arnold appeared on the Independent Thinking television program with host Jon Caldara and fellow guest John Andrews for a discussion on ”Voter Approval of Supreme Court Justices” at 8:30 last Friday on KBDI Channel 12 - a CTBC broadcast television debut.  The show will be re-broadcast Tuesday, August 4th at 5PM.

For the impatient or more techno-savvy among you, the show can also be viewed (in 3 segments) on YouTube:

Watch the show Tuesday at 5PM on KBDI Channel 12, or view the video clips, to  learn more about the grassroots movement to restore accountability to Colorado’s judiciary.  Ditch the Mullarkey Majority (Justices Michael Bender, Alex Martinez, Nancy Rice, and Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey) by voting “NO” to retain these unjust justices in 2010! Let’s Clear The Bench, Colorado!