Every online retailer who sells to a Colorado purchaser and doesn’t collect sales tax will be required to put a notice in the customer’s invoice.  Colorado purchasers are obligated to pay sales tax , approximately 2.9 percent, in the state of Colorado for their purchases. At the end of the year, online retailers need to provide customer lists and their purchase history to the state’s revenue department. If you don’t pay this tax, the state will come after you for the money.

So whose bright idea was this? The Democrat majority run legislature in Colorado enacted a law that was quickly signed by Governor Ritter (D) on March 1, 2010. This law covers sales taxes on purchase of items online that puts the onus for collecting tax revenue squarely on the shoulders of retailers and consumers.

As a result, online retail giant Amazon.com notified web-based affiliate businesses across Colorado on Monday that it is dropping them because of this new state sales tax law. Amazon will continue to sell to Colorado residents online but will no longer market through online Colorado affiliates. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) ‎has a national network of bloggers and Internet-based businesses that generate commissions themselves by driving sales from links on their websites to Amazon.com.

Who is suffering from this tax law? Small business owners are suffering. They make money as an affiliate to Amazon, now this stupid law is hurting their revenue.

However, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter issued a statement Monday criticizing Amazon.com’s move. He said, “Amazon has taken a disappointing – and completely unjustified – step of ending its relationship with associates. While Amazon is blaming a new state law for its action, the fact is that Amazon is simply trying to avoid compliance with Colorado law and is unfairly punishing Colorado businesses in the process. My office worked closely with Amazon’s affiliates and associates to modify House Bill 1193 to specifically protect small businesses to avoid job losses and provide a fair, level playing field for on-line retailers and Main Street, brick-and-mortar retail shops alike. Amazon’s position is unfortunate, and Coloradans certainly deserve better.”

Well, Governor Ritter and your Democrat buddies, if you were more fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money, you wouldn’t have to impose this idiotic sales tax on online retail sales. Why is it that Democrats are always looking at ways to tax our way of life? We now have a tax on soda, candy and software products. Colorado hiked vehicle registration fees over three years starting at an extra $22.50 up to $29.00 per year to pay for roads and highways. But Mr. Ritter aren’t you getting some Stimulus money for this?  That’s what the $100+ signs say throughout the state. And you still complain that you have to cut additional money from the state’s budget.

What are you doing with our money? Stop taxing us and learn how to work within a budget.

 Until later,

Linda

I’m sure you have heard the latest brouhaha surrounding the comments that Senator Harry Reid made in his book about Barack Obama. Reid wrote in his book that the U.S. was ready to elect a black president, especially someone like Obama who is “light skinned” and speaks “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” While this statement is stupid, does this show that Reid is a racist or a bigot?

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary on-line a “racist” believes that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. A “bigot” is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.

Let’s see which definition applies to Harry Reid. During the past years, Harry Reid has said some insensitive remarks about just everyone and everything. When George W. Bush advocated a surge in Iraq, Harry Reid claimed that the war was lost and we shouldn’t do the surge. However, history showed that the surge worked. Now with the Health Care Reform bill, Harry Reid has done closed-door deals with his democratic senators just to pass his agenda on Health Care Reform. He keeps claiming that the Republicans have no good ideas. Well heck, Harry, you probably haven’t listened to the republicans or even taken in consideration their ideas.

It seems to me even after his remarks in his book; Harry Reid is more of a bigot than a racist. He obstinately or intolerantly devotes his own opinion and prejudices and treats members of a group with hatred and intolerance.

Do we want bigots running our Congress? Do we want to tolerate the divisiveness that Reid has brought to the Senate?

The 2010 election is 10 months away. Can we wait that long to allow bigots in Congress to stay and write legislation that is not for all the people of the U.S.?

My opinion is that Harry Reid should resign.

Until later,

Linda

I am so fed up with the mainstream media (MSM) this political year. Take for instance today’s question from the local Fox 31 channel in Denver. Do you think Sarah Palin’s daughter has an effect on the Republican presidential campaign?

What! How moronic is that? How can a 17 year old daughter of a Vice Presidential candidate determine the outcome of a presidential race? How dare this news channel imply the burden of an outcome on a teenage girl? Do they think we the voters of this country first of all care and secondly gage our attitude towards voting because of a teenage girl?

Now the MSM with the help of mostly left-wing loony web sites are ramping up their lies, deceit and deception of the Republican VP choice as well as the “judgment” of Senator McCain. They claim that the Republicans didn’t fully vett Ms. Palin, that McCain hastily chose Palin. Now how do they know this? Did they get into the mind of Mr. McCain? Pure conjure on their part.

You know what these left wing loonies are doing don’t you? Personal attacks! How can a voter come to solid conclusions when all day long we are bombarded by filth from MSM?  I wrote a column about a show called “Dirty Jobs” awhile back. Well I believe working for a left-wing web site/blogging site as well as working for MSM is truly a Dirty Job!

Stop this nonsense now! Get to the real meat of the candidates and not their personal life or their children’s life. Heaven knows that we only elect the purest and cleanist of them all – like Kennedy and Clinton who both were womanizers! But that’s okay – right?

Until later,

Linda

Last night I was watching the local Fox news channel right after the convention ended. Ron Zappolo and Libby Weaver were broadcasting from the Pepsi Center. All I have to say is that these two news broadcasters are in the “tank” for the Democrats. Ron Zappolo couldn’t stop gushing and beaming after Hilliary Clinton’s speech and Libby Weaver was still gushing over Michelle Obama’s speech the night before.

It was an okay speech, but still didn’t convince me that Mrs. Obama is just an everyday middle-American, who by the way owns a $4 million dollar home.

Of course now the joke is that John McCain owns about 8 homes but he doesn’t know how many homes he owns. They never did mention that some of McCain’s homes are also condos and are owned by his wife and children as well. But that’s the media bias here in Denver.

The only other local news station that seems to try and I do say “try” to be fair in their coverage is the local Channel 9 NBC news. They are definitely not like their parent station NBC or affiliate MSNBC that are all bias to the Democrat’s view point all the time. You won’t get the straight story from MSNBC or NBC.

As we are closing in on the November election, I’ll get my political views from Fox and may tune into CNN occassionally. Fox is the only news organization that brings you both sides of the news. Heck they have Alan Colmes on the program that sometimes irritates the heck out of me with his liberal bias questions. But thank goodness for Sean Hannity, he sets him straight from time to time. Then there is Bill O’Reilly who does bring both sides to the story and is really fair and balanced. He showed a tape from the Primaries when he asked Barack Obama to appear on his show and Obama said after the primaries he’ll be appear. Well Mr. Obama the primaries are over and when are you going to appear on Bill O’Reilly? Oh I know, when hell freezes over. 

It seems as though many of the main Democrats are afraid to appear on Fox. In fact I heard that the word is out that no one from the Democrat party is to give interviews to conservative radio or TV shows. 

Once again, is this the people’s party? I don’t think so. They seem to want to hide the truth from us.

Until later,

Linda 

If you are watching mainstream medium shows – ABC, NBC, CBS – you are probably not hearing the “rest of the story” of the DNC. Here is what I’ve heard according to several cable news outlets.

On Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi passed by a demonstration of pro-drilling protestors. You know the ones who are saying “Drill here, drill now!” Ms. Pelosi turned to them and said “Drill your heads” How juvenile is that? That sounds like something a junior high kid would say. And she is third in line from the President to run this country?

Come on folks, even if you don’t like the Republicans you’ve got to vote them back into the majority in Congress so we can get rid of this do-nothing, junior high mentality of Nancy Pelosi. She recessed the House for 5 weeks and sent them on vacation when gas prices are the highest it’s ever been. She didn’t allow any up or down vote on this nor any debate. Just shut down the House so she could sell her book – which is doing terrible.

She wants to see wind power and solar power. I don’t know about you, but my car doesn’t run on either one. I’ve got no sails or solar cells on top of my car!

When over 90% of us want to drill, you have a bumbleheaded Speaker of the House Pelosi who is sticking it to us. Get her out of there.

Until later,

Linda

According to the latest poll, Colorado is an important toss up state in this year’s election. The polls show that it is neither a red nor a blue state but a purple state. The latest article on 9News.com http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=97901&catid=188 shows that Colorado is going to be a battleground state this year. 

The article goes on to say that the Colorado Democrat Party met at the Governor’s Mansion to talk about how to get the state to tilt towards electing Barack Obama. One comment targeted to Governor Bill Ritter about holding such a meeting in the Governor’s Mansion said, “To hold a partisan event at the Governor’s Mansion is simply not correct. Yet another poor decision by Gov. Ritter that will be brought back to the fore in 2 years.” 

I totally agree with this comment. 

Here is my take on why Colorado is a purple state right now. It’s not because of the split between Democrats or Republicans, it’s not because of the influx of Californians as suggested by another commentator, it IS about a lot more Independent voters who have no party affiliation that will make the decision this year. 

I am an Independent with no party affiliation. I take the time to listen to both sides, research each candidate, listen to their debates – didn’t John McCain do awesome at Saddleback debate the other night! And then make up my mind on voting for the next President. 

I don’t pay attention to the candidates’ ads on TV. These ads are all bias and have little or no meaning to me. I want a President who understands what we the people want. I want to drill for oil on our shores and land and be independent of foreign oil. I want to grow our economy with good jobs and opportunities. I want a leader that means what he says and says what he means. 

How simple can it get? 

Until later, 

Linda 

According to the latest on the Barack Obama Big Show aka Acceptance Speech in Denver, http://cbs4denver.com/politics/dnc.tickets.convention.2.797469.html, half of Invesco Field at Mile High will be filled with Coloradoans. The local news is reporting that the criteria for a “free” ticket was volunteering to work on the Obama campaign wasn’t a requirement is only telling half the truth.

I have it by reliable sources (someone I know applied for a ticket) was told that they would need to put in 6 hours of volunteer time or make a contribution to the Obama campaign. I guess it just goes to show you, you can’t get anything for free.  I thought “free” meant “for nothing.” That means no pay back or volunteering – just show up and they let you in.

As a result, my reliable source is not going to show up for the acceptance speech. I wonder how many other people will be doing this too? Tune in on August 28th to see if Invesco Field at Mile High is filled with 70,000 people or maybe the DNC will digitalize the crowd – just ask the Chinese how they did their opening ceremony.

Until later,

Linda

With the DNC only weeks away, many Denver Downtown residents are cashing in by renting out their homes. Recently the local media http://cbs4denver.com/local/denver.home.rentals.2.790856.html reported that Denver residents are renting their condos and homes to people willing to pay top dollar for housing near the Pepsi Center. From reporters, celebrities, lobbyists (really I didn’t think the Democrats allowed lobbyists in their group!) to other political power-players are renting lofts and condos starting from $750 to $1,000 per night. 

The Rocky Mountain News http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/07/oprah-rents-digs-for-week-of-dnc/ recently reported that Oprah Winfrey has rented a home in the most up-scale neighborhood of Cherry Creek. She is paying $50,000 per week for this home. Must be nice. 

Also rumor has it that Barack Obama will be staying at a home  miles away from downtown Denver in the Cherry Hills neighborhood. This estate home will have all the luxuries fit for the Chosen One. 

So where will Bill and Hillary Clinton stay or Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? Haven’t heard yet, but I’ll keep you posted. You don’t think they would stay in downtown Denver at one of the many exquisite hotels. I’m sure they will be staying at a rented home in the up-scale areas of the Denver Metropolitan area.

But what about conserving gas and being green for these folks? If you leave the downtown Denver area, you need a car to get back into town. Or maybe RTD will accommodate them – it’s a joke folks. Can you imagine these people taking the bus to the Pepsi Center? 

Oh the opulence of the DNC! I thought the Democrats were the people’s party. I guess they want to throw a big party and really don’t care how much it costs. Are they using taxpayer’s money or their own money? Something to think about. 

Until later, 

Linda 

The latest news from Denver is that Barack Obama will be giving his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. He claims that he wants to offer this “historic” event to the “grass roots” community.

What is he talking about?

The DNC is only offering minimal tickets (about 1200) to local people to attend at Invesco. The stadium holds over 76,000 people and if you take into account all the dingbats from the DNC convention that leaves about 40,000+ empty seats.

But this gets better. Now the DNC is offering a free trip to see Obama speech (see the article at http://cbs4denver.com/local/convention.obama.donors.2.765275.html). They are raffling off tickets at $5 or more for a chance to attend the speech.

Isn’t this illegal? Whose checking on this type of “fund raising/”raffle”?

The truth of the matter, it seems as though the people of Colorado are not interested in the DNC at all. Surveys on local channel web sites show overwhelmingly negative numbers when asked if they are planning to attend the DNC and even the “historic” speech at Invesco.

Concerns about the $12 million short fall for the convention is gaining momentum. Local web bloggers are saying that taxes may be raised to pay for the convention.

Right up the Democrats alley isn’t it? Let’s spend and tax the people – Coloradoans are wealthy they can afford this.

I don’t think so.

Until later,

Linda 

Today, July 7, 2008 the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado is officially closed for all sporting events until after the DNC convention starting on August 25, 2008. The DNC officially has the keys to the Center to start construction and clearing equipment and furnishings from the building’s retail stores, storage areas and locker rooms of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche.

All of this is taking place even when the last report in June was that Denver was short about $11m to host the convention. Now rumors are saying that the cost to host the convention is more than the $40.6 million originally asked for. They are calling these costs “overruns.” The contract calls for additional security costs of $1.5 million, another $1.5 million for reimbursement of Pepsi Center suite holders and $900,000 in host committee costs. None of this money is included in the original $40.6 million. The contract also requires almost $10 million of in-kind services, whatever that means. What isn’t raised in donations must be paid for in cash. My question is by whom?

Now the Democratic National Committee wants to move Obama’s acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field at Mile High. The DNC claims that there are no potential additional costs. I don’t think so.

What about security? Security needs to be set up at Invesco as well as a plan for moving all the big wig Democrats to Invesco. TV stations need to move their communication trucks and of course set up for the event. Highways need to be shut down and this is during a workweek. Did I mention that a lot of businesses are planning to let their employees work from home? Also, Denver is going to pay, yes pay you, to take alternative transportation into town during the convention. Where is Denver getting this money from?

Of course, Democratic Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. praised the decision to move the acceptance speech to the larger venue. He said, “Senator Obama and the DNCC have truly brought the community into the Convention. This decision will enable thousands of residents from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West and across the nation to witness history first hand. What a way to fire up our grassroots activists as we head into the fall campaign.”

Once again, the Democrats have shown that they have no fiscal responsibility and are not good citizens. They are demanding from a host city to have their way and don’t care how much they spend other peoples’ money! With a Democrat Mayor and Governor, all the hard-working citizens of Colorado can do is just sit and watch this craziness.

I’m getting this feeling that the Democrat Party just doesn’t care how much money they spend or how much inconvenience they cause a city and their citizens. They are in this for all show and no substance.

I can just see Howard Dean basking in the glow of all of this pomp and circumstance. He wants to show the American people how great the Democrats are. But in reality the DNC convention is going to be nothing but a three-ring circus. Is this the type of “change” Obama is talking about? The only change I see is from our pockets to feed the Democrats’ ego as well as his.

With about seven weeks to go before the convention starts, the good people of Denver and Colorado are in for a rude awakening of how the Democrats actually run their party. Let’s see how responsible they really are and if they leave a huge mess (money mess) for the citizens of Colorado to pick up.