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We’ve previously discussed right-wing Jefferson County Board of Education member Laura Boggs, censured last December for her “erratic, disrespectful and inconsistent” behavior toward other board members–the first such action against a board member in the history of the district. From fighting against desperately needed grants to physically sneaking into a JeffCo teacher’s union meeting, Boggs’ brief term on the JeffCo school board has been lively to say the least. Boggs even actively campaigned on behalf of the “Bad 3” initiatives, last year’s Amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101, after voting with the board to officially oppose them.

Having failed to gain traction for…whatever her agenda is from present fellow board members, it would appear that Boggs is calling for “Tea Party” backup. And some GOP big names.

Boggs is sponsoring a meeting at the Arvada Public Library on June 15th to discuss JeffCo school board elections in November (details follow). JeffCo’s school board will have two seats vacated by current members who are term-limited. According to the announcement, a “Tea Party”-sounding group, Revive Our American Republic (ROAR), is hosting this meeting.

ROAR is registered with the Secretary of State’s office as a nonprofit, with the filing agent listed as notorious GOP attorney John Zakhem. What we’re hearing about the JeffCo school board today is eerily similar to ambitions expressed by Republicans prior to the takeover of the Douglas County Board of Education in 2009. High profile elected Republicans like Sen. Ted Harvey joined in that battle, which ended in GOP “nonpartisan” victory–this year bearing fruit in the form of a controversial new voucher program funding private schools.

A voucher system to siphon resources from an already strapped–but still very proud–school district would face a much more uphill fight in Jefferson County, with much greater political consequences. Our first thought is that JeffCo surer than hell isn’t DougCo, and were it not for a heavy hitter like Zakhem involved, we would dismiss this as a fringy fool’s errand.

But given the history, maybe we’d better not be so dismissive…

Most of the backlash against the EPA in the early stages of 2011 has involved the Clean Air Act and their use of the act as a way to levy taxes against businesses and factories. The mandates from the EPA would be potentially harmful to the US economy, putting a hold on many of these businesses and not allowing them the proper job growth as well.

Throughout recent times, the EPA has continued to use the Clean Air Act as a vehicle to push through with a number of political stances and repeated levies of complex and expensive regulations. The EPA’s desire to regulate greenhouse gas emissions is a major debate for many members of the GOP and business leaders. They see the regulation of emissions as completely unnecessary and even worse as a major strain on business and job growth.

With the high number of taxes and regulations, it’s hard to find the end result in the actions of the EPA. It’s a wonder why they don’t focus their efforts on more pressing matters like cutting down environmentally related diseases such as asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. Asbestos removals are needed all over the country and the EPA doesn’t flex its arm fully in the abatement process. A more focused initiative on doing this would help some people from experience life threatening results, for example mesothelioma life expectancy is very severe.

Luckily, the GOP have been adamant in introducing budget proposals and acts in the early months of 2011 that are aimed at cutting down the EPA’s unneeded reign of power over businesses. A budget cut of around a third to the 2010 slate for the EPA was proposed and would do wonders to cut down on some of the power they have been wielding through taxes and regulations.

James Inhofe, a senator from Oklahoma, has even gone as far as to help the introduction of the Energy Tax Prevention Act. This would serve to put an end to the EPA’s cap and trade agenda, in turn taking away the regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Inhofe was clear on his goal to take power away from the EPA by saying “The Energy Tax Prevention Act also imposes accountability. It takes power away from unelected bureaucrats and puts it where it belongs: in Congress, where the people can and should decide the nation’s climate change policy.” The GOP will most likely turn to Congress for help with the process of de-funding some of the EPA’s regulations. This seems to be one of the last lines of defense against the EPA.

Hopefully with the introduction of the Energy Tax Prevention Act and the current budget proposal, combined with the fight of senators like Inhofe, the reign of the EPA on business will lessen in the coming months.

The county assemblies have already passed, but several Jefferson County races still do not have candidates running to challenge the incumbent. Republicans have done a better job of finding candidates than Democrats, although some of those running are little more than names on a ballot.

Here’s the current list of which races are still looking for a complete slate:

No Announced Republicans

No Announced Democrats

Of all these races, HD-24, HD-25 and SD-22 are the least surprising, since all three districts have voter registration advantages that make it tough for the other Party to really compete.