By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 14, 2007
You’ve gotta pay
For your right
To lobby!
OK, so it ain’t exactly Brooklyn’s Beastie Boys fighting for their right to party.
But the beastie boys and girls who make their money lobbying to influence public policy in Colorado are fighting. They’re fighting for the right to keep buying stuff for state legislators.
The cost […]

((more))

For those who saw me on Colorado Inside Out Sept. 13 and are having trouble finding the pictures of the actual toilet and stall where Larry  Craig sat. Here is the link:
http://spencerspeaks.com/2007/08/30/intrepid-columnist-tests-craigs-wide-stance/

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 13, 2007
The promises made in behalf of the 2008 Democratic National Convention are mind-boggling: $160 million pumped into the metro Denver economy, a piece of that financial pie for just about anyone who wants it, the “greenest, most innovative” presidential nominating meeting in history, “software to map every venue by the […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 12, 2007
Only one way exists to change the direction of the war in Iraq before January 2009, Colorado Congressman Mark Udall said. Though Democrats control both the U.S. House and Senate, the fate of a strategic shift in the next 15 months rests with Republicans.
“If we’re going to change before 2009, […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 11, 2007
My son flies from the East Coast to the West Coast today. The cost of his flight is absurdly cheap. That’s because today is a day when people are still afraid to fly. Today, of course, is the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
President Franklin Roosevelt called the Dec. 7, […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 10, 2007
The standards do not seem outrageous for young people who must compete in a high-tech world. Kids who go from Colorado’s high schools to its public colleges and universities must have taken four years of English, three years of math and three years of science.
The problem is, thousands of them […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 7, 2007
The commercials which sponsored Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate featured a legless vet, who lost his limbs in Iraq, and a grieving mom, whose son was killed in the war. Both told viewers that the United States is succeeding in Iraq and will win the war if given time.
That point […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 6, 2007
This column comes with an upfront disclaimer.
I recently lost my job because I had no union protection. Had I been in the bargaining unit, the boss who “involuntarily separated” me from my post could not have laid me off without first canning everyone in my job classification with less seniority.
You […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 5, 2007
Consequences.
Rookie Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn talked about consequences in a phone message he left for a pair of GOP constituents. The pair had criticized Lamborn in a letter to the editor.
“There are consequences to this kind of thing,” Lamborn warned on the answering machine of Jonathan and Anna Bartha.
You bet […]

((more))

By Jim Spencer
SpencerSpeaks.com

September 4, 2007
A controversial $1,000 campaign contribution that a gambling company made in January to Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn arrived back in the company’s offices more than six months later wrapped in a plain piece of paper with a handwritten note that said: “Thank you. But we are unable to accept your check.”
The […]

((more))