Obama is trying to spook state governors about budget cuts that could effect their states. I say call his bluff. I also say no one can notice my double chin thanks to my manly beard. Watch this 9news piece and see if you can catch my chins.

The November 6 election outcome has many friends of the Constitution dispirited. As so often before, they hoped that by defeating federal candidates contemptuous of constitutional limits and replacing them with others, they could help restore our Constitution.

Obviously, that decades-long strategy has failed—spectacularly.

They also have long hoped that by appointing the right people to the U.S. Supreme Court, they could win case decisions restoring constitutional limits. But after 40 years, that campaign has produced only indifferent results. Actually, worse than indifferent: When, through the 2010 Obamacare law, federal politicians overreached further than they ever had before—by imposing a mandate ordering almost everyone in the country to buy a commercial product—the Court didn’t even hold the much-weakened line. Rather, the Court upheld the mandate.

The fundamental fallacy behind the federally-centered strategy lies in assuming federal politicians and federal judges will somehow restore limits on federal power. That is implausible as an abstract proposition. And practical experience over many decades also shows that strategy to be a failure.

There are several reasons for the failure of the federal election strategy. First, for this approach to work, you have to elect a majority—actually a super-majority (at least 60 in the Senate)—of constitutionalists to Congress. You also have to elect a person of similar views to the presidency. And you have to do this so they are all in office at the same time.

Second, constitutionalists face inherent handicaps running for federal office: Most are by nature non-political, and therefore don’t make good or persistent politicians. Their views prevent them from promising farmers more subsidies, seniors more health care, or students more loans. And those views also discourage campaign contributions.

Third, even when constitutionalists do achieve federal office, a critical proportion of them forget or weaken their commitments amid the enticements of Washington, D.C. and the fleshpots of power.

The Founders foresaw this sort of thing. That’s why they inserted in the Constitution’s Article V language allowing the states to respond to federal abuse by amending the document. At the behest of 2/3 of the states, all convene together to propose constitutional amendments, which 3/4 may ratify.

This provision was designed explicitly to enable the states to bypass federal politicians.

Incredibly, however, the convention method of proposing amendments has never been used. This largely explains why our governmental system is so unbalanced today.

Year after year, well-meaning people have rejected the convention approach in the vain hope that federal elections are the answer. In the light of Tuesday’s results, they need to re-assess. This reassessment is now more urgent than ever, because even more than the Constitution is at stake. So also is our national solvency.

Post-election blues got you down? Go ahead and and stay curled up in a ball on the couch for Devil’s Advocate tomorrow night as I am joined by Denver Post editorial page editor Curtis Hubbard and Colorado Springs Gazette editorial page editor Wayne Laugesen for a dissection of what happened on Tuesday and what it might mean for Colorado in 2013. That’s Friday night at 8:30 on Colorado Public Television 12.

As reported by the Second Amendment Foundation, this morning the Obama administration joined a U.N. majority which called for convening a new conference to create a global Arms Trade Treaty.

Why is this Billboard now across the street from the Denver Post building?

I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, so let me explain. I really miss the days of Denver being a two newspaper town. The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News for a century had a competition which gave Coloradans superior news coverage of state and local issues. Those days are gone. The Rocky went under a few years ago and sadly, the Post is a frail shadow of what it once was.

Much of this demise is not the fault of the Post. Younger people don’t buy papers, they get their news for free online. Online classified ads like Craigslist took away the paper’s largest steady income source. The Post is also straddled with crippling debt.

But the Denver Post is still the paper of record for Colorado. And it needs to act like it.

I want to see the Post survive and thrive. The state needs a trusted news source. But just like when a friend needs an intervention, the Post needs to hear the truth no matter how painful.

To the good and extremely overworked people at the Post, we have to tell you that you are failing to cover news. My guess is you know this. We understand your staff has been slashed to a fraction of what it was and how this economy has hurt your industry. But we rely on you for actual reporting, and you are failing to do that job. Rerunning Associated Press stories and writing about gardening tips and Bronco games are fine. However, you have a responsibility to report the news.

When Denver Public Schools changed their evaluation for teachers, judging them on how well they got our children to get involved in “social justice,” there was no news coverage from the Post. 9News did the story. When DPS reversed this politically-driven policy, there was again no coverage. You could read about it in the Washington Times, however.

When it was found that the co-chair of President Obama’s reelection committee, Denver’s former mayor Federico Pena, was a venture capitalist just like Mitt Romney, laying off a thousand workers and closing three domestic factories, there was no coverage. Rush Limbaugh did a better job informing Coloradans about this story than the Post did.

But hiding from the Abound Solar story is beyond excusable.

In our own backyard is Solyndra on steroids, and not a peep from the Denver Post. A politically-connected solar company gets a $400 million guarantee of government loans. And we learn of the Pat Stryker connection from Complete Colorado. http://completecolorado.com/stories/markey-stryker-pay-to-play.html

When the firm went belly-up the company execs told a Congressional committee it was because of cheap Chinese competition. But when whistle blowers show that the product was so faulty it would catch fire, it was the Daily Caller that told the story http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/02/sources-documents-suggest-government-subsidized-abound-solar-was-selling-faulty-product/. As one worker said – it was a fine product, so long as you didn’t put it in the sun.

When documents were found suggesting Abound falsified its books to secure funding, there was no story in the Post. You had to go to Fox News http://nation.foxnews.com/abound-solar-inc/2012/10/08/congress-local-authorities-investigate-doe-loan-recipient-abound-solar

When the District Attorney of Weld County opened a full investigation into Abound, you could find the story on Channel 7 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/abound-solar-under-investigation-by-weld-county-district-attorney-received-68-million-stimulus but not in the Post.

When the US House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a further investigation into Abound, http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/committee-leaders-probe-does-knowledge-loan-recipients-faulty-solar-panels – now the story made it to Reuters, but not the Post.

We put a billboard across the street from the Denver Post to remind them that they are STILL the paper of record in Colorado. And it’s time they stopped turning a blind eye to news that matters. We want the Post to succeed.

Bad economy got you down? Feeling like you can use a break from the “economy tax?” Well, the Independence Institute is here to provide relief! Come party with us on Friday, October 19th, from 4-6pm here at the Freedom Embassy. We will be providing relief in the form of delicious food, refreshments, and FUN! FUN! FUN! (yes, we’re going to have a big bouncy house)

We will have a drawing for gift certificates for BOTH groceries and gas!

Visit our Facebook event page for more info.

RSVP for FREE with Mary MacFarlane at 303-279-6536, ext. 102 or Mary@i2i.org.

Friday night means the Independence Institute’s tv show, Devil’s Advocate. Tonight, host Jon Caldara is joined by Wall Street Journal columnist Stephen Moore for a look at the presidential race thus far and what we can expect going into November. That’s tonight at 8:30PM on Colorado Public Television 12.

We believe in capitalism.

That means there are winners and losers in the marketplace. But competition makes all players more efficient, which is great for customers. Failing businesses need to radically change how they do things to become competitive again, or they go out of business.

Those business leaders who have the courage to make the tough—and often very painful—decisions, to re-organize in order to save a company from bankruptcy are often rewarded financially. But there are other winners when a business is turned around, including those who are still employed, the investors, the customers of that business, and lest we forget, the government. The taxes collected from employees, stockholders, customers through sales tax, and the business through property and income taxes help keep revenue for governmental services flowing.

While it has become trendy to lampoon venture capitalists who have successfully turned around failing businesses, I believe it is worth recognizing these people who have helped so many by risking their wealth to save a business. In fact, I wish to recognize and celebrate one such man.

Through his venture capital company, Vestar Venture Capital, this man was part of a team that closed a Del Monte Foods plant in California, sadly displacing hundreds of employees…but today Del Monte is still alive and thriving.

His venture capital firm laid-off hundreds of workers at Birdseye Foods…but hundreds are still employed because Birdseye did not fail.

His venture capital firm closed three domestic factories with the Solo Cup Company costing hundreds of jobs…But Solo Cup is still in business, supplying real jobs.

Who is this courageous and successful business man? It’s the national co-chair of the Obama re-election campaign, our former Denver Mayor Federico Peña.

I believe this is a story worth telling. But the media in Denver, including the paper of record, the Denver Post, won’t touch it. I am asking for your help in celebrating the venture capital success of Pena by helping raise the funds needed for a full-page announcement in the Denver Post. If we can raise $23,000 we will run a full-page “thank you” to the national co-chair of the Obama reelection campaign and help educate the hundreds of thousands of Post readers to the importance of capitalism.

If you believe this is a success story that should be shared, a story that should be in the Denver Post, please donate today. Help us celebrate capitalism. You can make this happen – donate here. You may see a mock-up of our ad here.

Please share this with anyone you think might be interested.

Here is our constitution scholar Rob Natelson explaining the ObamaCare Supreme Court ruling on my TV show:

Here is Colorado Springs Gazette editorial page editor Wayne Laugesen on the saga of the Waldo Canyon wildfire.