Statement by Independence Institute President Jon Caldara
March 21, 2010

On Sunday night the US House of Representatives passed what we call “Obama-care.” This is one of the darkest moments in American history. The federal government has taken a large step towards control of our healthcare, and with it control of our very bodies. The federal government is taking away our decisions over health insurance and, unprecedented in history, forcing citizens to purchase private products, ultimately under penalty of incarceration.

We at the Independence Institute refuse to watch this atrocity corrode the quality of healthcare in Colorado. For months we have been at work bringing forward an amendment to the Colorado Constitution to preserve as a basic human right our “Right to Health Care Choice.” It is my goal to make Colorado a sanctuary state for quality healthcare.

This citizens’ initiative is very close to the petition stage. Soon we will need as many volunteer petition gatherers as possible. We will also need funding to wage this battle. I ask you, right now, to donate to our fight. I desperately need your talents, your time, and your resources to protect Colorado from this affront coming from DC. We can stop Washington.

Read the amendment here.

Give us your contact info to help gather signatures.

And please donate to this fight here. And please don’t wait.

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* Support our education efforts by making a tax deductable donation to the Independence Institute

Forget energy, health care, education or taxes!  Who is Sarah Palin? And can she help Senator John McCain win the west and the important battleground state of Colorado?  Also, we all want to know which celebebs will be rubbing elbows with Republicans in the twin cities? Those are just a few of the hot issues  we will kick around on our 2 1/2 hour, live Republican National Convention edition of Independent Thinking. Some of the best and the brightest from the Independence Institute will join me for this panel event to discuss all things RNC including Health Care Policy Center Director Linda Gorman, Education Policy Analyst Ben DeGrow, Property Rights Project Director Jessica Corry and columnist Jay Ambrose. Tune in to KBDI Channel 12 on Tuesday night from 7 to 9:30 p.m. for the most engaging, live and local analysis on the Republican National Convention.

Protesters? Hillary or Bill? Hollywood stars? Tight security? Traffic jams? Invesco field? What will be the big story from Denver’s Democratic National Convention?  On this special edition of Independent Thinking host Jon Caldara convenes a star-studded media round table that includes Executive Editor of the Weekly Standard and co-host of Fox News Beltway Boys Fred Barnes, Mort Kondracke also of the Beltway Boys, John McCormack of the Weekly Standard and Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi. Tune in Friday night at 8:30 p.m. to KBDI Channel 12; repeated the following Tuesday evening at 5 p.m.

For the next three weeks your favorite public policy TV show Independent Thinking will be moved from our usual Thursday night time slot to Friday night happy hour at 7:30 p.m.  So for the balance of this month, tune in to KBDI Channel 12 at 7:30 p.m. on Friday nights.  As always, you can catch the re-runs on Tuesday evenings at 5 p.m.

Want your state legislative candidates to be intellectually well-armed for battle on the campaign trail?  Then make sure he or she attends our candidates’ briefing on Wednesday, June 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Independence Institute offices.  We gather the state’s leading free market experts on everything from TABOR, to transportation, to education, to property rights, to energy policy and more.  Candidates will leave well-prepared to debate issues and field questions from friends and foes alike.   This event is free of change and open to all state legislative and county commissioner candidates.  Seating is limited.  For questions contact Amy Oliver at amy@i2i.org.  For reservations contact Eileen Mahony at EMMahony@gmail.com.

The Republican Study Committee of Colorado invites the public to attend an ad hoc hearing on Second Amendment rights in Colorado and implications of the D.C. v. Heller case on Friday, April 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the State Capitol.  Featured speakers include our own Dave Kopel, Research Director, who recently appeared before the Supreme Court in oral arguments for the Heller case, and William Perry Pendley, President and Chief Legal Officer of the Mountain States Legal Foundation.  The is a great opportunity to show lawmakers that Coloradans support the Second Amendment. 

All of us at the Independence Institute hold sacred the five freedoms contained within the First Amendment.  Those individual liberties along with other constitutionally protected freedoms are central to our mission of promoting personal and economic freedom. Yet, still it is easy, even for us, to take for granted simple freedom of expression. That’s why our house event next Tuesday, April 22 is so important. Join us for a compelling speech from Ethiopian journalist Habtamu Dugo. A persecuted reporter and academic, Mr. Dugo will share his experiences exposing human rights abuses in Ethiopia, restrictions on freedom of the press and what happens when a journalist dares to defy the brutal Ethiopian government.

Mr. Dugo’s articles have appeared on about 10 opposition websites, mostly operated from the Diaspora in North America and Europe. Examples of these are online portals such as the Sudan Tribune, Gadaa, and on his own blog Free Oromia.

Mr. Dugo will join us for a reception at the II offices on Tuesday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m. followed by his presentation at 6:00 p.m. For more information visit our events page or call 303-279-6536. To RSVP email rsvp@i2i.org.

Kopel goes to Taiwan and gets a TV show? Tune into KBDI Channel 12 on Friday, April 4, at 7 p.m. for a special Taiwan Presidential Election Analysis hosted by Research Director David Kopel.  Taped while he was in Taiwan as an election witness, David hosted this discussion at the Public Service Studios in Taiwan.  David and his two guests, Dr. Yen Chen-Sen from the National Chengchi University Institute of International Relations and Dr. Lai I-Chung from the Taiwan Think Tank, discuss the candidates that ran in the March 22 election and the issues that one of them now face as the newly elected President of Taiwan, Republic of China.  For a sneak peak visit KBDI Video on Demand.

This program was taped on March 20, just 30 hours before Taiwan citizens went to the polls.  Ma Ying-Jeou won the presidential election on Saturday, March 22, capturing 58 percent of the vote, and 20 of Taiwan’s 25 counties.  He will take office on May 20.  Special thanks for this production go to David Kopel; Public Television Service, Taiwan, Republic of China; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan, Republic of China; and Wu Chung-Tao, Producer. 

Get your popcorn, a coke and snowcaps and tune into KBDI.

Just how important is Colorado’s mining industry to the state’s overall economic prosperity? What effect will proposed legislation have on mining?  What role does mining play in meeting Colorado’s energy demands?  To answer those questions and more, Colorado Mining Association President Stuart Sanderson and State Representative Cory Gardner join host Jon Caldara on Independent Thinking Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. on KBDI Channel 12; for a repeat performance tune in the following Tuesday evening at 5 p.m.

David Kopel reviews long-haired guys in tights at Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “All’s Well that Ends Well.”

In a more scholarly pursuit, Kopel analyzes recent Arab/Israeli negotiation for Radio Free Europe, July 26, Russian language edition.

Apparently more people than I thought actually read 600 page books! Maybe Kopel simply has too much free time. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows–One Week Later. July 29, 2007, on “Your Show ,” Hosted by Adam Schrager. Channel 20 KTVD/ 9USA, Denver. Video. Script.Be sure to catch Kopel every other week as a media critic for the Rocky Mountain News. This week he blows a hole big enough to fly a 747 through the myth that long-haul air travel produces more CO2 than driving the same distance in a SUV.