Obama declares war on people of faith

Republicans will suffer politically from their "overreach on family planning" in response to a minor mistake by HHS, says Susan Barnes-Gelt in the January round of Head On TV debates. Nothing minor here, replies John Andrews; Obama's mandate on religious institutions is a declaration of war. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over the Komen Foundation vs. Planned Parenthood, Iran's threat to Israel, Colorado legislative ethics, and the presidential race. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for February: 1. HHS MANDATE ON RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

Susan: It took the Obama administration a week to acknowledge Secretary of HHS over-reached in requiring Catholic-owned hospitals and non-profits to include birth control in employee health plans. The compromise –already implemented by 24-states - calls on insurance companies to cover the cost. Good for Obama for addressing the problem.

John: Obama personally, not some cabinet secretary, broke his promise to Catholics about insurance regulations that would respect their religious objection to contraceptive drugs. Obama personally brutalized evangelicals with his mandate for their churches, charities, and schools, including the college where I work, to provide abortion drugs. He has declared war.

Susan: You’re at war on too many fronts – lacking the resources to battle Repub overreach on family planning. How is it that small government conservatives want to regulate individual choice and what happens in the bedroom. Keep it up. The R nominee is bound to get a couple thousand female votes.

John: Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists – one thing we all have in common is cherishing America as the land of the free, a place where government won’t trample our religious beliefs. But Obama on his left-wing power trip obviously doesn’t care. People of faith won’t let this one stand.

2. KOMEN FOUNDATION BOWS TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD

John: The issue of abortion raises two questions. Legally, when can a woman end a pregnancy? Culturally, how much do we value life at every stage? America has developed a culture of death since Roe v. Wade. The Komen Foundation knuckling under to Planned Parenthood proves it yet again. Really sad.

Susan: I’m puzzled when small government conservatives –adamantly opposed to government overreach, passionately support government’s role in the bedroom, free choice and a very blurred line between church and state. Shame on former Komen VP Karen Handel for politicizing a formerly worthy charity.

John: This was two private organizations, not government. Komen decided its work of saving lives by fighting breast cancer should not be entangled with Planned Parenthood’s work of taking lives by performing abortions. The liberal firestorm wasn’t about 1/1000 of Planned Parenthood’s budget, it was about perpetuating the culture of death.

Susan: No John. Komen’s disgraced VP – Karen Handel is an uber-conservative Georgia Republican who lost her bid for governor. Her single-issue platform? Anti-choice, targeting Planned Parenthood. Successful non-profits rely on political neutrality. Komen has done irreparable harm to its reputation and long-term viability.

3. ISRAEL AND IRAN

Susan: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons. And the string of recent attacks thought the region - is an escalation that threatens Israel. State Dept officials believe Israel could attack Iran this spring, in order to stop Tehran from building a nuke. Time for diplomacy – on steroids.

John: The worst weakness of this weak president has been his non-resistance to Iran’s goal of nuclear blackmail. Equally bad is Obama’s moral and strategic blindness in treating Israel as America’s adversary, instead of our ally. Israel has stopped two other neighbors from going nuclear. If they strike Iran, we must support them.

Susan: Pul-eeeze! The President took out bin Laden, his key operatives; brought the troops home from Iraq, toppled a Libyan dictator and has strong public approval for winding down the irresolvable mess in Afghanistan. None of his potential Repub opponents has the foreign policy chops to take him on.

John: Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map, dominate the Middle East, neutralize Europe, destabilize Latin America, empower North Korea, and intimidate the United States. In the face of this threat, Barack Obama is the Neville Chamberlain of our time – indecisive, inept, timid, and weak. Thank goodness Netanyahu is strong.

4. PRESIDENTIAL RACE YET AGAIN

John: The roller coaster of Mitt Romney and his rivals, from Perry and Cain to Gingrich and Santorum, is like nothing I’ve seen in watching Republican politics since 1960. The weak leadership of Barack Obama is like nothing you Democrats have had in the White House since Jimmy Carter in 1980. This year is crazy.

Susan: Every month the R’s look for a candidate, President Obama gets stronger and stronger. Flavor of the month Santorum is forcing Mitt further to the right, making it tough for him to recapture the chameleon character he’s depending on in November. Can’t wait for Pawlenty to join the race.

John: Obama getting stronger? What planet is your pollster on? His numbers are poor, and the DNC trails the RNC in fundraising. Hence Obama’s sudden chumminess with the super PAC’s. Hence the vote-buying on foreclosures and student loans. Catholic and evangelical voters hate his mandate on abortion drugs. Even the black vote is soft.

Susan: With every Republican primary mudfest, Obama’s numbers get stronger. Right wing-nuts, forcing their potential nominees to debate birth control instead of job creation send key swing voters – center right independents – straight to Obama. Americans want to vote FOR the future. Not fight 19th Century social issues.

5. ETHICS CASE ROILS LEGISLATURE

John: Did state Rep. Laura Bradford have one too many that night? Did the Denver Police handle it badly? Those matters are soon forgotten. What we shouldn’t forget is how squeaky clean the Colorado General Assembly is, compared to legislatures in most other states. The ethics rules are uncomfortable, but they work.

Susan: Yes, Coloradans are lucky – our state legislators are cleaner than most, in spite of a toothless ethics code. I’d say it has to do with Colorado being a place where voters are uncomfortable with old-style backroom shenanigans. Sadly in the case of Rep. Bradford, Denver Cops were out of line.

John: Legislative ethics have teeth. I served there and saw members get bitten. Kudos to Speaker McNulty for invoking the process against his fellow Republican, Bradford, despite threats of a party switch. Democrats have done likewise. TABOR and term limits also help keep government clean. Corruption is less when power is limited.

Susan: Thank you John, for opening the garage-door of opportunity. Let’s talk Doug Bruce’s TABOR policy. The icon of the strangle-government movement is going to jail for cheating, lying and swindling. Doug Bruce’s story is a cautionary tale for lawmakers who operate outside the law.

Candidates in stark contrast

Obama's goals and record will make a stark contrast with those of Mitt Romney or whoever the GOP nominates, says John Andrews in the January round of Head On TV debates. Hardly, scoffs Susan Barnes-Gelt: Romney's positions are vague and the overall Republican field is weak. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over the upcoming legislative session, policing in Denver, the Lobato school case, and the National Western Stock Show. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for January: 1. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR: HERE GOES

Susan: The economy is beginning to recover and employment is finally going in the right direction.  Obama will have a tough race this November, but so far – the Republican looks weak.  If Romney is the strongest in a weak field, your party’s in trouble.

John: Romney believes in a bigger economy for all to share. Obama believes in a bigger government for all to support. Romney believes in a stronger America for the world to respect. Obama believes in a weaker America for the world to push around. It’s a very clear choice. Advantage Romney.

Susan: We don’t know what Romney believes in because – despite numerous debates – he’s failed to articulate a vision for America. Bashing the president and reciting America the Beautiful while he lies about the number of jobs he’s created and brags about firing people, is not going to win an election.

John: What you just heard, folks, is the whole Obama campaign. Throw mud, discredit the challenger. At all costs, distract the voters from the incumbent’s record of failure. It’s time again for the Reagan question: Are we better off than four years ago? We’re not, so we need a new president.

2. WHITHER THE NATIONAL WESTERN STOCK SHOW?

John: I’ve enjoyed the National Western Stock Show for over 50 years. My son and his son have enjoyed it. It’s a Colorado treasure and a Denver economic powerhouse. The Stock Show must go on, no matter what. If we can bid for the Winter Olympics, surely we can preserve the National Western.

Susan: Yes the stock show is a Denver institution. And that’s where it belongs – in Denver - central Denver. However, the 2-week event needs to become part of year-round job generating campus. 21st Century management and vision must refresh the 160 year-old institution.

John: Just so the whole thing is done with voluntary financial contributions and good old free enterprise. When you say “year-round job generating campus,” I hear boondoggles and subsidies, taxpayers on the hook and special interests at the trough. Horses and cows at the trough, fine. Special interests, no.

Susan: 95 acres in the middle of town, used less than 3 months a year – primarily for special events – is a boondoggle. The National Western notwithstanding – we’re not a cow town anymore. The site needs to generate jobs, revenue and enhanced property tax – no taxpayer bailout, buyout or bond.

3. DOES DENVER NEED AN INDEPENDENT POLICE MONITOR?

John: As the father of a police officer, I am not objective about law enforcement. It’s a good thing – hard work, dangerous work. The dedicated people who do it deserve the benefit of the doubt. Denver’s independent police monitor and oversight board are needlessly adversarial to law enforcement. Why have them at all?

Susan: A handful of rogue cops, an ineffective internal review process and a series of abusive conflicts mean citizens don’t trust the police department. That’s why Mayor Hancock took the unprecedented step of bringing in a police chief from outside the department. Accountability is key.

John: To protect public safety, we grant government a monopoly of force. To prevent tyranny and protect liberty, we have watchdogs to watch the watchers. It’s a balancing act. But the outgoing police monitor, Rosenthal, lost the balance. His call to bring in the feds, an Obama administration that’s anti-police, is wrong.

Susan: Agreed. The police dept doesn’t need a federal investigation. On the other hand, the department has been rogue since Paul Childs was murdered in 2003, I expect the new chief and manager will clean things up. But an independent monitor can give them cover and reassure the public.

4. PRIORITIES FOR LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Susan:  It’s an election year for the state legislature, so we can anticipate a lot of posturing and empty rhetoric. However, Colorado faces big challenges - K-12 & higher ed funding; job creation, transportation, human services and infrastructure – to name a few.

John: Friction between, and within, the political parties makes that big agenda all the tougher this year, Susan. The top Senate Democrat, and two leading House Democrats, hope to take away GOP congressional seats. Hard feelings remain from the reapportionment battle. And bitter primaries may split the Republicans.

Susan: You’re right, John. A serious lack of leadership and vision plagues Colorado and the same lack of civility in the US Congress, is trickling down to state and local government. The unintended consequence of legislative term limits has created a revolving door for career politicians.

John: Take it from a senator who left because of term limits. The limit is a helpful safeguard against legislators settling in forever and getting captured by the system, at the expense of our liberties and our pocketbooks. If this legislature just concentrates on economic growth through free markets, I’m happy.   5.  Lobato & the schools – now what?

Susan:  In December a Denver judge determined Colorado’s school funding system was “irrational and inadequate.”  The state Board of Ed and the governor are appealing. If the ruling holds, the cost to state taxpayers will be enormous.  Though it’s tough to argue resources are adequate or equitable.

John: It’s called the Lobato case, and everyone watching better hope the Colorado Supreme Court overturns it. The ruling by Judge Sheila Rappaport points the state toward bankruptcy, and in pursuit of the impossible. Her idea of adequate school funding envisions every child above average. The constitution doesn’t require that.

Susan: The constitution requires fair and equitable. Of course you can’t legislate – or fund – equality. However, crumbling schoolhouses, insufficient digital equipment, furniture and books impact low-income districts and schools. Well-to-do districts and schools raise money from parents. Schools serving low income kids don’t have that option.

John: All the constitution requires is, quote, “thorough and uniform.” By no stretch does that justify the $3 billion budgetary hit demanded by teacher unions and rubber-stamped by the judge. America has doubled real dollars per pupil in government schools since 1970 with no gain in test scores. More spending is not the answer.

2011 valedictions & 2012 predictions

Fantasy presidential nominations for Ross Perot, Olympia Snowe, and John Hickenlooper, along with bouquets for Douglas County school vouchers and brickbats for the Denver police, enliven the air waves this month as Head On completes its 15th year on Colorado Public Television. John Andrews on the right and Susan Barnes-Gelt on the left offer their annual backward glance at winners and sinners of the old year and gaze into a cracked crystal ball for headlines of the year to come. This month John and Susan also spar over Hickenlooper's report card, Obama's chances in 2012, and fracking. Here are all five scripts for December. 1. WINNERS & SINNERS OF 2011

John: Thanks so much for listening as Head On completes 15 years on Colorado Public Television. It’s time again for Colorado winners and sinners of the old year. Thumbs up for Douglas County vouchers, the Pat Sullivan arrest, and the amazing Tim Tebow. Thumbs down for Aurora corporate welfare and the redistricting mess.

Susan: Thumbs down to Curt Fentress’s faux federalist, new state courthouse at 14th and Lincoln; the clueless National Western Stock Show and the Regional Transportation District’s breathtaking incompetence. Thumbs up to the new Clyfford Still Museum, David Tryba’s Colorado History Museum, and Denver’s new Crime Lab at 14th and Cherokee.

John: So, a crime lab connoisseur, are we? More of my winners and sinners include thumbs up Scott Gessler and Walker Stapleton, shaking up state government, and for the taxed-out voters who crushed Proposition 103. Thumbs down for the power-grabbing judge who ordered billions more in state aid to education.

Susan: Sinners: Text messaging Denver cops; Scott Gessler - a partisan political hack, not a statewide elected official accountable to every voter; Wall Street bankers who hedge against their clients; Winners: Coloradans. All of us are lucky to live in a state replete with natural beauty, a gentle climate and Colorado Public Television 12.

2. FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR 2012

John: Goodbye, 2011. Hello, Susan and John’s fearless predictions for 2012. Put on your crash helmet, Barnes-Gelt. This is gonna be a wild one. The stock show moves to Limon, out where the cattle are. Occupy Denver moves to Glenwood Springs for a bath. A deadlocked Republican convention drafts Hickenlooper.

Susan: U.S. Senators and Congressionals are permanently attached to lie detector machines; the occupy movement and tea partiers form a successful third party and nominate Ross Perot; text messaging goes the way of the phone booth; the Catholic Church ordains women and pigs fly!

John: Air traffic controllers land those pigs – which is called bringing home the bacon – as Facebook buys the US Postal Service, Diana DeGette leaves Congress to replace Whoopi Goldberg on The View, and Donald Trump’s hair is enshrined at the Smithsonian. What a year we have ahead!

Susan: Repub’s nominate Olympia Snowe for president; Colorado voters abolish Amendment 23, TABOR & the Gallagher amendment; Washington DC reverts to a swamp and Denver becomes the U.S. capitol. My button bracelets become the decade’s fashion rage and each and every one of you have a happy and healthy 2012!

3. ELECTION YEAR ALMOST HERE

John: Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, politically written off last summer, was on the comeback trail as 2011 ended. But Iowa and New Hampshire will have their say as 2012 begins, and Romney or some other Republican could jump ahead again. The ultimate comeback would be an Obama victory in November. Never underestimate the incumbent.

Susan: Mitt, Newt, Newt, Mitt, Newt Mitt – hmmmmmmm. When petulant professor, 1990’s whiner Newt is the flavor of the month for the Republican – not-Mitt posse – cast about for a viable alternative to Hope & Change. I’m betting on a third party candidate – Ron Paul? Trump? What a circus!

John: Barack Obama will go down as one of the worst presidents in history, and he’ll lose next fall. Economic futility and foreign policy weakness disqualify him for a second term. Perry, Santorum, Bachmann, Romney, Gingrich, or Huntsman could all do better. Not party, not ideology, but simple competence will decide this one.

Susan: Competence: Huntsman’s the only competent choice and he won’t get there. Perry doesn’t know there are 9 members of the Supreme Court? Repubs who served with Gingrich say he’s unpredictable and mercurial; Romney – which one? The moderate, the conservative? The hedge fund bandit? The liberal governor of Massachusetts? Flop! Flip!

4. FRACKING SPURS ENERGY BOOM, BUT IS IT SAFE?

Susan: To frack or not to frack? Hydraulic fracking, the trendy new oil & gas production technique used in Colorado and other mountain states has been linked to groundwater pollution. Fracking pumps fluid into wells under pressure, fracturing rock and releasing oil and gas. OOOPS – here we go again.

John: One country on earth, America, impairs prosperity, quality of life, and national security by denying its people the full benefit of their own energy resources. Reason enough right there to fire Obama and the Democratic Senate in 2012. The phony panic over fracking is a green hoax as bad as global warming.

Susan: John, you’re too smart to ignore science. It’s not just the greens who worry about damage to the environment. Maybe you don’t care if your water is tainted by fracking or the air you breath full of particulates. Reality doesn’t go away because you chose to ignore it!

John: Hydraulic fracturing to release oil and gas reserves on a Saudi Arabian scale is producing tremendous benefits to Colorado, a dozen other states, and our whole country in terms of jobs, wealth, energy independence. More benefits await. Fracking only occurs with tight environmental safeguards. Don’t let Chicken Little shut it down.

5. HICKENLOOPER REPORT CARD

Susan: One year into his first term, John Teflon Hickenlooper continues to be popular. His aw shucks, a-partisan, can’t we all just get along approach to governing is particularly refreshing compared to the venal and mean-spirited personalities of most partisan-pols. His approach is good for Colorado.

John: A flat economy isn’t good for Colorado. Neither are mediocre schools and crowded prisons. Voters didn’t hire Gov. Hickenlooper to be the likable feller in a Western movie, the sequel to City Slickers. They hired him to be the chief executive of our state, and so far he’s done zilch.

Susan: I wish that Governor John Hickenlooper could wave his magic wand: create jobs, fix the schools and overhaul the prisons. Sadly – neither he nor any other elected official has that power. A healthy economy, great schools and a rational penal system depend on rational people negotiating rational decisions.

John: No question Hick is probably a great guy to have a beer with. He could brew the beer for you. But that was two jobs ago. After a year in his current job as Colorado CEO, the ambitious Hickenlooper has no accomplishments or vision to point to. That’s a C in my gradebook.

Disgusted with the Occupiers

The Occupy movement is a childish tantrum that is taking on Brownshirt overtones, says John Andrews in the November round of Head On TV debates. Wrong, replies Susan Barnes-Gelt: it's an authentic protest widely echoing that famous movie line, "Mad as hell." John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over the off-year election results, the presidential race, and the decline of newspapers. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for November: 1. THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT

Susan: In Paddy Chayefsky’s movie, Network, Peter Finch’s character yells, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” galvanizing the nation. That’s the Occupy Movement, a diverse group fed up with the narcissism and double-speak of the status quo. Elites ignore this message at their own risk.

John: America offers more freedom, more opportunity, more generosity, more openness, more participation, more creativity, more tolerance, and more upward mobility than any other nation on earth, and it offers those things to everyone, excluding no one. The Occupy protesters aren’t making a political statement, they’re throwing a childish tantrum.

Susan: The Constitutional government of the United States includes lofty principles and practices. On the other hand, when a handful of influence peddlers, plutocrats and special interests combine with mean-spirited, jingoistic extremists to create public policy, the people should speak out and leadership better listen.

John: The extremists in this picture are not our democratically-elected policymakers. They are the radical leftists and street thugs of Occupy Wall Street and all its copycats. This growing menace is similar to the Brownshirts who destabilized Germany in the early ‘30s, and equally purposeful. ACORN organized it to help Obama.

2. ON & ON IN RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

John: In starting the presidential campaign way, way early, Republicans are bleeding their finances and bruising each other in a way that can only delight the Democrats. At least the eventual nominee will be battle-hardened -- and our side is going to need that, because Obama will have to go negative to win.

Susan: Battle hardened is one way to assess the current melee among Repub’s. I’d say the nominee will be in intensive care, on life support. $20+Mil in flip/flop ads against Romney will deplete his oxygen. And the rest of the field? Even IV miracle infusions won’t work.

John: After such a four disappointing years, Obama can’t run again on hope and change. His only chance this time is fear and loathing. Democrats will try to scare us away from Republican policies and disgust us with dirt on the GOP nominee. 2012 will be ugly, but I predict Barack is done.

Susan: Nothing can’t beat an incumbent. The only Republican with a shot at beating Obama is John Huntsman. He’s a smart, reasonable and moderate guy. Good for Dems that your party is lost in la la land, and will nominate a wing nut or flip flopper instead.

3. DOES NEWSPAPERS’ DECLINE DAMAGE DEMOCRACY?

John: Thomas Jefferson said a free society could get along better without government than without newspapers. The lifeblood of liberty is open debate, unfettered information, not politicians and laws and spending. These days the latter are madly increasing while newspapers are dying. Can democratic institutions survive in a Facebook nation?

Susan: A more pointed question is whether local and state government will survive without quality local coverage? Daily oversight of city halls, school boards and the state capitol are critical to public awareness. Spin machines and biased blogs have picked up where journalism’s failed. That’s a problem.

John: The Rocky is gone and the Denver Post gets thinner all the time. CU closed its journalism school. Commercial TV does some hard reporting, but a lot of frothy infotainment. Public channels like CPT provide good analysis but little firsthand coverage. What becomes of the media’s watchdog function to restrain government?

Susan: Sadly the local daily newspaper is going the way of the pay phone. Until the industry figures out how to attract and monetize the web, every interest from greedy corporations, K-Street lobbyists and corrupt elected’s will further inflame public distrust.

4. WHAT VOTERS SAID ON TAXES

Susan: With the exception of a couple local open space and public amenity approvals, tax proposals tanked this November. Even liberal Denver said NO! to statewide proposal to fund public education. Voters don’t trust government and won’t pay higher taxes unless they’re 100% sure the money is well spent. BIG trouble ahead for the Regional Transportation District.

John: Thank goodness for TABOR with its requirement for the spending lobby to ask permission before digging deeper into our pockets. So many families with paychecks gone or shrinking in this endless Obama recession are not about to approve a price increase from government. Raise taxes next year for light rail? No way.

Susan: RTD will need a complete overhaul – from senior management on down and out. Voters might support a transit initiative if they believed RTD’s board, leadership and consultants were credible. Taxpayers have lost faith in their institutions. Political and civic leaders better pay attention.

John: Voters sent a message that the political class in Denver and Washington should pay attention to. “Do it for the children,” a tax-increase pitch that seldom fails, fell flat. In defeating Prop 103 by almost 2 to 1, Coloradans told the legislature and Congress, “It’s the spending, stupid.”

5. WHAT VOTERS SAID ON SCHOOL BOARDS

Susan: In Denver, only school board incumbent Arturo Jiminez eked out a win over a slate of three reform candidates. Backed by big dollars from a few individuals, the election was more heat than light. Replacing Teresa Peña with Happy Haynes is a trade up and a new board chair could hold promise.

John: Teachers are great, but teacher unions are a negative force, and voters are realizing that. The union in Denver failed to recall Nate Easley earlier and now failed to take over the school board. In Douglas County they lost a referendum on vouchers. Only in Jeffco did the union diehards prevail.

Susan: Ah that it were so simple. Fixing public ed will take more than demonizing unions and deifying vouchers. Accountability from top to bottom is part of the answer. Longer school years and days, better-trained teachers, engaged families and improved instructional materials are important too.

John: Eighty percent of the people tell pollsters America is in decline. One symptom is the generation-long slump in learning performance while dollars per student were doubling. Selfish unions, distant bureaucrats, and leftist ideology have ruined our public schools. If you want proof, see the documentary film, “Waiting for Superman.”

Class warfare won't work

Obama's class warfare theme, learned from Alinsky and abetted by the Occupy Wall Street movement, won't save him in 2012, says John Andrews in the October round of Head On TV debates. Don't underestimate its Main Street appeal, replies Susan Barnes-Gelt. John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month over No Child Left Behind, the GOP presidential contenders, the PERA pension fund, and Aurora's lavish land development subsidies. Head On has been a daily feature on Colorado Public Television since 1997. Here are all five scripts for October: 1. DESPERATE OBAMA TURNS TO CLASS WARFARE

John: Barack Obama learned his lesson well from radical agitator Saul Alinsky. If you’re losing an argument, change the subject, target a convenient enemy, and go on the attack. His economic mess and failed flirtation with socialism spell certain defeat in 2012. The solution? You guessed it – vicious class warfare.

Susan: “Occupy Wall Street’ is catching fire across the country. People of all ages, political persuasions and backgrounds are demonstrating against myopic greed and corruption. Obama’s populist rhetoric is a lot more resonant with the concerns of Main Street than the vapid rhetoric of the status quo.

John: Envy, resentment, divisiveness, scapegoating, and victim politics, all used as a smokescreen for the failures of Obama and his Democrats, won’t work, Susan. This poisonous stuff isn’t the American way. It demeans the Presidency. Obama should be ashamed. The Tea Party patriots, not the Occupier socialists, will win in 2012.

Susan: Oh please – you sound like a plutocrat. The tea partiers and the occupiers have more in common than you acknowledge: utter frustration with a corrupt system controlled by special interests and lobbyists. No transparency, no commitment to the future –education, vital infrastructure. Chaos reigns while the establishment dozes.

2. LATEST ON PRESIDENTIAL RACE

John: I love our American system of self-government. Incompetence can’t hide, and the people can’t be denied. Voters get a chance to clean house. Obama’s utter failure gives Republicans an opening. Palin and Christie stood aside. Cain and Perry are interesting but not dominant. The next president could be Mitt Romney.

Susan: You assume that Mitt – for universal health care; against universal health care; for Roe v. Wade; against choice; ant-school voucher; pro voucher Romney. Will the real Mitt please stand up? The value voters control the primaries and once they find him, maybe they’ll buy his multiple choice approach.

John: Forecasting the presidential race 7 days ahead, let alone 7 months when the Republican nominee emerges, is like forecasting Colorado weather. Good luck. But the awful economy, along with Obama’s weak leadership, makes any Republican formidable. Romney, Cain, Perry, Gingrich, Bachmann – I’ll take any of them over Obama.

Susan: And don’t forget Pallin, Paul and Huntsman. Oops – not Huntsman, the sole Republican contender who is reasonable, experienced and moderate – just like most of the country. No wonder the guy who might be electable is in single digits with the Republican base. Obama – 4 more years!

3. TREASURER SUES PERA

John: It seems like shaky pension plans are everywhere you look. The exception is pensions that aren’t. Unwise decisions and the recession are to blame. It’s not purposeful. But Colorado pension officials should cooperate with State Treasurer Walker Stapleton for a solution. I hope he wins his lawsuit for key information.

Susan: Amazing – you and I agree on this one. State Treasurer Walker Stapleton has every right to ask for all the information he needs to assess the health of the state pension fund. PERA’s forecasts are hopelessly optimistic. Colorado public employees and taxpayers will pay the bill for insolvency.

John: State employees not only get a sweet deal on their retirement, they also have ironclad job security and a much less competitive work environment than Joe and Jane Lunchpail out in the real economy. No wonder the PERA board is obsessed with secrecy. Government workers are soaking the taxpayers.

Susan: Don’t try to lump the PERA board and their secrecy in with hard working public employees. Unfortunately, more than a decade ago when fools believed a hot economy would never cool, reckless decisions inflated benefits and softened restrictions. Treasurer Stapleton must continue his scrutiny.

4. GAYLORD PUBLIC SUBSIDY

Susan: The $300+ million public subsidy to Tennessee-based Gaylord Entertainment from Aurora, to build a private convention center in is the richest in the history of Colorado. What’s the public purpose in a 1500-room private hotel/conference center? Tennessee-based Gaylord’s private facility should be built on their dime – not mine!

John: Amen, Susan. The massive giveaway to Gaylord is not responsible government, it’s crony capitalism – as bad as anything Obama did for GE or Solyndra. Thank goodness for elections. Aurora voters can cancel this obscenity by electing Jude Sandvall as mayor. The other candidates, unfortunately including Republicans, all support it.

Susan: Not one resident showed up at the public hearing September 26, when the city council unanimously approved this fat giveaway. Whoever Jude Sandvall is, he’s completely MIA in the debate. Shame on the citizens of Aurora for allowing Ed Tauer and his colleagues to make a deal behind closed doors.

John: You can call the Gaylord subsidy crony capitalism or corporate statism. It smells bad either way. Hard-working Aurora taxpayers don’t belong in the hotel business. Government at every level, federal, state, and local, is way out of bounds. I wrote the book “Responsibility Reborn” to rally Americans against this madness.

5. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Susan: The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, attempted to standardize public K-12 curriculum and force accountability. A decade later, this well-intentioned effort hasn’t demonstrated results – annual improvement in reading and critical thinking. The law needs reform. More and more states try to opt out of the program.

John: No Child Left Behind was one of the worst things that Bush and the Republican Congress ever did. Their first mistake was forgetting that schools are a state responsibility, none of Washington’s business. Their next mistake was letting Ted Kennedy write the bill. Waivers aren’t enough. Let’s repeal the whole thing.

Susan: Well John, you’re half right. NCLB must be repealed and recrafted. And yes, public education is a state mandate. On the other hand – every student from Maine to Mississippi from Oregon to Iowa, to must meet basic standards if America is going to compete in the ever-shrinking global economy.

John: Those basic standards in No Child Left Behind aren’t being met, which is why educators in Colorado are now trying to move the goalposts to legitimize mediocrity. The next president should abolish the Department of Education, take on the teacher unions, and push for educational excellence through the free market.