I told you last week about our Citizen auditor training series and today marks our foray into the western slope, where our citizen auditor teachers find themselves in Grand Junction. After today, there are still two dates left – one in Colorado Springs on July 29th and the other in Loveland on August 12th. Please make it out to one of these if you can. Aside from learning some super cool skills like wading through the murky waters of the state budget, you can win up to $2,500 in cold hard cash!

However, if you really can’t make it out to train in person, I’m still willing to throw you a bone. Our investigative reporter Todd Shepherd has been THE man to know when it comes to Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requesting. This man knows the CORA statutes like Doug Bruce knows escape routes from subpoenas. The information that floats around in Todd’s head is so valuable, we “talked him into” recording a tutorial video on the how-to’s in filing a CORA request with governments and other public institutions. Check out our CORA class website here, and when you’ve finished the tutorial, join our Google discussion group to learn more and ask any questions you might have.

Now go out and audit government! Because it’s your money they’re spending after all.

If I were going to teach Government 101, the first lesson I’d teach the class would be that the government has no money of its own; it only has what it first takes from us taxpayers. Learning that simple, yet powerful concept is vital to understanding public policy because it pulls the mask off of the cries for more government spending. More government spending ultimately means more wealth taken from those of us who pay taxes. Since government money is in fact OUR money, it becomes obvious that it’s in our interest to make sure that the government spends our money wisely. Every week we hear horror stories of government waste and corruption, but how often do we take a moment to understand that it’s OUR money they are wasting?
Luckily for Colorado taxpayers, Amy Oliver of Colorado Spending Transparency (COST) and Mothers Against Debt always remembers that it is our money they are spending, and reminds us we ought to keep a close eye on how they are spending it.

This is why, with the help of Mothers Against Debt, the Independence Institute, Liberty on the Rocks and Americans for Prosperity, we are sponsoring Citizen Auditor training throughout Colorado. Everything you wanted to know about tracking your money through the bureaucratic nightmare of our state government awaits you in these sessions. After learning how to use the state’s transparency website, how to file Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, and navigate the unfriendly waters of state and local government budgets, you’ll be ready to set off on your own and be a great citizen auditor.

In fact, those of you who become the best citizen auditors will be rewarded with cash for your efforts! That’s right, we’re going to have a little contest for the best example of wasteful, outrageous government spending uncovered by our new legion of citizen auditors. First place nets a cool $2,500! We’ll also be rewarding a second and third place, plus ten honorable mention prizes. If you’re interested in coming out for some training, we’ll be coming to a town near you.

Dates and locations for training:

Denver: Monday, July 26th, 5 to 7pm, at Pasquinis Restaurant, 8101 E. Belleview Ave. Denver, CO

Grand Junction: Tuesday, July 27th, 6 to 8 pm, at the Old Mesa County Courthouse, Multipurpose Room 544 Rood Avenue (east entrance) Grand Junction, CO

Colorado Springs: Thursday, July 29th, 6 to 8pm, at Rockrimmon Library, 832 Village Center Drive, Colorado Springs, CO

Loveland: Thursday, August 12 5:30 to 7:30pm McGraff’s Restaurant, 1602 East Eisenhower Blvd. Loveland, CO

For more information and to RSVP contact citizenauditor@libertyontherocks.org

Reporters, members of the press, they’ve long considered themselves the “Fourth Estate,” meaning they are as essential to a free society as are the other parts of government. And notice how the press won’t say they’re the “4th branch of government” because that might suggest they are not independent of the government.

But look at a reporter’s career track, or career ladder. Once you do, you might conclude that “branch of government” is more appropriate than “estate.”

One thing is clear: For many reporters, the pinnacle of their career will be when they ditch their low-paying journalism job to take a high five-figure or low six-figure government job as a public information officer.

Doubt me? Check out this list of former reporters now on the government payroll:

That’s just a list of current spokespeople who previously held reporting jobs. Go back over the last 10 years, and you’d find the ranks of government equally populated with former reporters.

But it begs the question…if you’re a reporter, say at the Denver Post, are you going to be especially tough on a government agency where you might be applying for a substantially better-paying job in just six months?

PS – I think this list is short on names, so if you could drop us a line and point out some more folks who ought to be on the list, we’d appreciate it.

Senate Democrats are overjoyed with themselves. Their health care “transparency” bill, HB 1330, is currently on its way to the Senate floor for a final vote. If passed, the bill will create a centralized database of medical information. Whose medical information you ask? OUR medical information. The people of Colorado who visit a doctor, dentist, or pharmacy – that’s who.

This massive invasion of medical privacy is meant to “help” us by “making the system more transparent and cost effective.” Okay, so then we get a choice in what information gets collected and centralized right? Wrong.

The bill does not allow entities to opt out of the database. There is no restriction on the information that can be collected. The state can share individual data in any way it deems appropriate. The state can demand detailed data from an individual’s medical or insurer records (the bill calls them provider and payer records). Those data may include information on physical functioning, medical treatment, mental stability, addictions, adherence to government health recommendations, family structure, sexual habits, and financial arrangements. Unlimited fines may be levied on those who refuse to comply.

Health Care Policy Center director Linda Gorman deconstructed the bill and uncovered five major issues that should concern any Colorado resident who cares about their health and privacy.

The bill tasks the Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) with managing the database of information. They happen to be one of the many “public-private” entities that politicians love so dearly.  Public in the sense of state-created and controlled.  Private in the sense of little to no accountability.  What’s not to love right?

And let’s be real, how much do you trust your most private medical information in the hands these people?

Just a few days ago the Denver Post published a great investigative piece on the large amount of wasteful spending our largest three school districts (Denver, Douglas, Jefferson) indulge in year after year. Normally we would shrug at school districts spending thousands of dollars on flip-flops and Starbucks, but these days are anything but normal. With each school district facing budgets cuts in the tens of millions per year, it’s becoming more difficult to justify those taxpayer paid trips to Vegas and that $90,000 tab from Udi’s Food. (What happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas when you’re spending other people’s money….)

But if you’ve been following the Independence Institute at all in the last couple years, this is old news to you.

Friend of the Institute Natalie Menten has been dredging up credit card receipts and the embarrassing spending habits from school districts and other local governments for the past few years. If transparency is your thing, Natalie’s website will put you in a coma with its information. Colorado Transparency Project Director Amy Oliver’s blog called Colorado Spending Transparency (COST) will also whet your transparency appetite. Those two women have been at the forefront of spending transparency and the folks at the Denver Post owe a lot for their hard work. (You’ll notice Natalie is quoted often in their article).

Just today, the Denver Post wrote an editorial touting school district transparency and using new web technology to get the information out to taxpayers. I am happy they are serious about this issue, as having the influence of the Denver Post now strongly in the corner of taxpayers is a great boon. I hope they continue urging sunlight on how schools and local districts spend our money. Because let’s not forget, the money they are spending is OUR money. It’s ethically and morally required that we see how it is being spent.

If you can’t get enough of the transparency issue, look no further than your favorite free market think tank. Recently, education policy analyst Ben DeGrow went on a transparency rampage as evidenced by his Issue Backgrounder, “What Should School District Financial Transparency Look Like?,” his appearance on my show Independent Thinking – “Can the State be as Transparent as Jeffco?,” and this iVoices.org podcast with Lorie Gillis on Jeffco schools’ transparency leadership. In case you hadn’t seen, Jeffco is the shining example of what transparency looks like. Just take a look at this.

I guess what I’m saying is… if you don’t believe transparency is as sexy an issue as say health care or education, you’re wrong. And here’s why.

Colorado’s largest school district has become a national leader in transparency by posting detailed spending online for citizens to search. Will the state of Colorado and other government agencies follow the example of Jeffco Public Schools? On this week’s Independent Thinking, Jeffco’s chief financial officer Lorie Gillis and Independence Institute policy analyst Ben DeGrow join me to explore the growing trend of governments opening up their checkbooks. Tune in tonight at 8:30 PM on KBDI Channel 12, re-broadcast the following Monday at 1:30 PM.

I was looking at the Examiner’s list of new bills introduced on the first day of this year’s legislative session, and a couple of them are goofy, some are not so great, and some are good ideas. One of the good ones in my humble opinion is House Bill 1087 which would eliminate the mandatory withholding of state income taxes. Strangely enough, our Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver discussed this very bill with Mike Krause on iVoices.org.

Aside from the obvious arguments relating to every working citizen in Colorado giving an interest free loan to the government, whether they like it or not, due to mandatory withholding, there is another argument to be made about leaving withholding up to the employee: IMAGINE WRITING THAT CHECK! I wonder how much outrage and hostility your average voter would have if they had to write a check to the government each year. Would that sort of income tax transparency be enough to cause an overall shift in demand for lower taxes and less spending?

Want to learn more about the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and how you can use it to obtain information bureaucrats don’t want you to see?

TOMORROW at 2pm, we will be holding a FREE how-to CORA session here at our office in Golden! That’s right, you heard correctly. A FREE class on open records requests taught by none other than the CORA master himself, Todd Shepherd.

As Todd explains,

A lot of times, the media can make ‘open record requesting’ sound incredibly hard. The opposite in fact is true. Within 60-90 minutes, I can teach you just about everything you need to know about Colorado’s Open Records law, and how to use it effectively.

Please contact Mary MacFarlane if you are interested in taking the class. Either call 303.279.6536 or shoot Mary an email.

Space is limited so please call today!

With the crumbling print media, radio, and television industries, more and more folks are getting their news from Al Gore’s greatest invention since global warming. I for one spend more time on the Internet than I do watching TV, listening to talk radio, or reading much of anything — and it’s not just because the porn is free. Bloggers, citizen journalists or whatever you’d like to call them are doing more than picking up the slack for old media — they are leading the way. Take for example the People’s Press Collective. You could get most of your statewide political news just from that one website. Add in the Rocky Mountain Right, Todd Shepherd (Investigates and Complete Colorado), and a couple choice sports blogs and shizzam! All your news in a matter of minutes.

Case in point, our investigative reporter Todd Shepherd has uncovered some very significant stories in the last year. If you’d ask him how he does it, he’d likely respond with just one word: CORA. The Colorado Open Records Act is the statute that allows ordinary citizens like you and I to make open records requests. Trouble is, most folks who are interested in researching, writing, and doing their own investigations are not familiar with process, and often find it intimidating.

But don’t worry, we at the Independence Institute have got you covered! On Wednesday, December 9th at 2pm, we will be holding a FREE how-to CORA session here at our office in Golden! That’s right, you heard correctly. A FREE class on open records requests taught by none other than the CORA master himself, Todd Shepherd.

As Todd explains,

A lot of times, the media can make ‘open record requesting’ sound incredibly hard. The opposite in fact is true. Within 60-90 minutes, I can teach you just about everything you need to know about Colorado’s Open Records law, and how to use it effectively.

Please contact Mary MacFarlane if you are interested in taking the class. Either call 303.279.6536 or shoot Mary an email.

Spots will fill up fast (much like the lines for “free” health care), so call now!

I can’t help but be impressed with every post I’ve read on the Colorado Spending Transparency (COST) blog run by our transparency Czar (just kidding), I mean Transparency Director Amy Oliver.  Following our investigative reporter Todd Shepherd’s report, Amy’s thoughts on Bill Ritter’s lack of disclosure transparency were right on the money.  She has also been taking the Greeley-Evans school district property tax hike (3A) to task – both on the COST blog and on her own personal blog. After BJ Nikkel successfully passed transparency legislation forcing the state to create and maintain a website that showed state spending in an easy, search-able format, they unfortunately came out with this poor excuse of a transparency website. Amy has written several times on the inadequacies of the TOPS site in providing spending reports, but this most recent assessment shows just how poor TOPS is.  Evidently, transparency still means general rather than specific, while conveniently leaving out any and all semblance of context.  No, I’m afraid that… “we spent $100″ does not constitute transparency in spending.

Also, don’t forget tonight’s episode of Independent Thinking, hosted by none of than the Mistress of Transparency herself – Amy Oliver.

(Amy, you’re choice is either Mistress or Czar.  “Director” is just too boring).