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CCM, Rep. Coffman
meet to discuss issues
September 30, 2011 by Jack Ott
Three of the chapter's
Leadership Team spent an hour meeting with Representative Mike Coffman at his Lone Tree
office this morning. The purpose of the meeting was to familiarize the congressman with
the chapter's goals and activities, to determine what we can do to help him and advance
his agenda, and to request his staff's help in obtaining our 501 c(4) status verification.
Roy Caldwell, Donna Aydelott, and Jack Ottdiscussed a wide range of issues with Rep.
Coffman ranging from the National Debt Ceiling to cutting the Defense Budget, and from
reforming entitlements to repealing Obamacare.
An action item coming out
of this meeting was for CCM to initiate an e-mail and/or telephoning our members of
Congress encouraging them to support Rep. Coffman's proposed legislation to reform the
Congressional Pension system.
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We
had over 20 people attend our last meeting; Arapahoe County Republicans, Ron Paul
supporters, writers, and the regular CCM gang. The Libertarians made a huge impression,
mostly good, but there was some tension over accusations of political liability.
Will
Freeman, one of our long time members, would not let the comment go by. He held his
ground, insisting that the Tea Party and the Republican Party made great in roads to make
needed changes on the political landscape in 2010. Will said that by electing new
Republicans in Congress the Tea Party had brought about huge strides for less taxes and
smaller government. Will stated that the Libertarians had not achieved any notable
accomplishments and that instead of attacking us that they should joint us on issues and
election cycles.
Rob
used examples of the 7 Republicans elected to Aurora City Council who voted for larger
government and tax increases. At a Federal level Republicans have voted to increase the
debt ceiling. This was a great dialog and the whole group got into the action.
Rob
McNealy and James Frye talked about “Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government, or
CRAG. They are part of a citizen group dedicated to accountability, transparency and
fiscal responsibility in the city of Aurora, Colorado. They have a great web site and are
currently attending every council meeting. They speak to the council about over spending,
increased taxes and unclear policies.
CRAG
is an issue based group that has taken on projects to exposed increased taxes, reduced
freedom and tax give-always to the corporate welfare system. The principles of activism
that Rob and James laid out can be used in every city. One of the tools that help is CORA
(Colorado Open Records Act), and another is producing video clips and power points for
presentations at City Council meetings.
One
of the big points that were driven home was that citizens have to get involved. Starting
at the lowest level of government certainly is a great training ground. It was pointed out
that this is where state and federal politicians come from.
Rob
and James volunteered to present classes on issue presentation, media press releases and
document research. They hope to make a difference at city council meetings to make conservative changes in our communities.
Rob
McNealy and James Fye made a great impression with the group and we hope to have them back
often. After the meeting, the lights in the Banquet Room had to be shut off to get
everyone to leave. I admire people with a passion for politics, freedom and the desire to
express themselves. This goes down as another action packed informative evening.
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Celebrating the
U.S. Constitution's Birthday
September 20, 2011 by Jack Ott
Members
of CCM-Denver participated in U.
S. Constitution Birthday activities hosted
by Liberty Watch in Loveland on Saturday,
September 17. The day began at 9:00am with an activist training session sponsored and
presented by the national organization American
Majority. The goal of the training provided by this group is for conservative activist
groups to learn and emulate the methods that were successfully used by progressive
political groups such as ACORN and SEIU in the 2008 and 2010 elections. The training
focused on repeated and direct voter contact, which, according to the course material, has
been found to be the most effective voter education method.
In
the afternoon the activities lightened up, with a picnic-style "birthday party"
at the Pinetree Village Clubhouse in Loveland, featuring live music, good food, and guest
speakers. Several liberty groups, including CCM, had booths at the event providing group
information and patriotic souvenirs. The most popular items at the CCM booth were U.S.
Constitution coloring and game books for kids, and a book describing correct U.S. flag
etiquette. Both were given away free to visitors. (continued below)
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Main tent
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Groups' booths
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CCM's booth
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The
guest speaker at the event was former Congress- man Tom Tancredo.
The
afternoon activities came to a close slightly early because of a thunderstorm that
developed and threatened the event. Nonetheless, a good time apparently was had by all.
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A Busy Week
(September 7, 2011 by Jack Ott)
Last week saw our
chapter's leadership being kept busy going from activity to activity as the tempo of
political activity began to pick up.
On Tuesday, Roy Caldwell,
Donna Aydelott, and Jack Ott held a planning meeting to discuss arranging a face-to-face
meeting with Congressman Mike Coffman, as our guest speaker John Ransom recommended at
last month's chapter meeting. Other activities were also discussed, including the
chapter's participation in the U. S. CONSTITUTION BIRTHDAY PARTY in Loveland on September
17. Additionally, it was decided that there was insufficieint lead time remaining to
become involved with the Adopt-A School Program being coordinated by the National Tea
Party Patriots organization. This program's objective is to assist in providing training
on the U.S. Constitution during Constitution Week in mid-September.
On Thursady evening, I had
the opportunity to attend the September meeting of CCM - Colorado Springs at which Deputy
Colorado Attorney General Geoff Blue discussed the ongoing lawsuit Lobato vs. The
State of Colorado. The lawsuit was orginally filed in 2005 by parents across Colorado
who claimed that Colorado’s school-funding system fails to provide a “thorough
and uniform” education as determined by the Colorado Constitution.
According to Blue, the lawsuit's Plaintiffs are claiming
public school children are near starving and stuffed into classrooms. They claim that the
alleged lack of “thorough and uniform” system of education in Colorado forces
schools to cut back classroom hours and electives, such that schools can’t offer
required courses and students can’t get into four-year colleges.
Deputy AG Geoff Blue
The State is fighting the lawsuit because it would
drastically increase the size of the General Fund, and simultaneously dedicates that fund
entirely to public education instead of the variety of public uses it currently provides
funds for. The amount of increase (approx. $3 billion) would also require a significant
increase in state taxes, in direct violation of Colorado's Taxpayers' Bill Of Rights
(TABOR).
The suit is currently awaiting a decision in Denver
District Court, and whatever the outcome there, the case will, in all likelihood, be
appealed to higher courts.
(For more information on this issue, click HERE to see the CCM -
CS video of Geoff Blue being interviewed by Jon Caldera regarding the Lobato case)
The deputy AG also briefly discussed other legislative
issues with legal implications, including the proposed Proposition 103, which will appear
on the November 1, 2011 ballot. Similar in outcome to the goal of the Lobato
case, this initiative would add $3 billion in state income and sales taxes for a five year
period to provide funding for K-12 education, and, like Lobato, it would bypass TABOR.
Friday morning started bright and early for Roy Caldwell
and myself at a Northern Jeffco GOP breakfast in Arvada at which four candidates for two
soon-to-be-vacated Jefferson Co. Board of Education seats were introduced. The candidates
included former Denver Public Radio news announcer Lesley Dahlkemper, former teacher and
community activist Jill Fellman, business owners and community volunteers Preston Branaugh
and James Powers.
Also at the breakfast meeting was current Board member
and recent CCM speaker Laura Boggs, with whom we had the chance discuss the candidates'
credentials. She strongly suggested that we lend our support to Preston and James, who
have been identified as the "conservative" candidates and who have already
developed a joint plan to increase the return on the money spent for education in
Jefferson County.
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CCM-Denver Chapter Recognized by
National Group
(September 7, 2011 by Jack Ott)
CCM-Denver was one of 16 conservative groups
publicly recognized by the nationwide group GOOOH (Get Out of Our House). In an internet
item entitled "United We Will Stand - Group Spotlight", the
organization designated CCM-Denver as one of the leading Liberty groups with the
following:
The Coalition for a
Conservative Majority is dedicated to promoting time-honored American principles
and valued through training, education and grass roots activism. Contact: Roy Caldwell,
President.
Among the other groups receiving recognition
were We the People Foundation, Liberty in America, and the National Veterans Coalition.
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